Descent into Avernus

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

a spy imprisoned in the dungeon (area V29), can advise


the characters that taking the box to Candlekeep is their


best bet for learning what it contains (see page 4S).


The box bolds a copy of the contract Thavius forged with


Zariel to doom the city or Elturel.

The padlock on the chest can be picked by a character


with thieves' tools who succeeds on a DC lS Dexterity


check. The chest weighs SO pounds and contains a jum-


ble of wrinkled garments, red wax candles, quills, blank


sheets of parchment, and jars of ink. it also holds an
unlocked wooden coffer containing^73 gp,^120 sp, and a
potion of healing, as well as a black-covered tome titled


Apocalypto- a poetic prophecy by an unknown author


envisioning the end of the multiverse (worth SO gp).


Vl4. MORTLOCK'S BEDROOM


This dark room contains a bed, a wooden chest with


clawed feet, and a night table. The chest weighs 2S

pounds and contains a few drab garments made for a


man of Mortlock's size, a few worthless personal effects,
and a stuffed troll doll from Mortlock's childhood.

Vl5. AMRIK'S BEDROOM


This tastefully appointed room contains a bed, a side


table, a claw-footed iron bathtub, a fireplace. and an


iron-banded wooden chest. A three-foot-wide, six-foot-

tall mirror is mounted to the east wall opposite the fire-


place. The mirror's varnished wooden frame is carved


with images of rats, ravens, and spiders.


Treasure. Amrik's chest contains neatly folded and
tailored apparel to fit a slender noble, and a jewelry box

carved from bone (10 gp). This tiny box contains a gold


signet ring (S gp) bearing the Vanthampur motto, "Stone
hearts never bleed."

Vl6. DUKE'S POWDER ROOM


This room contains a vanity topped with a framed oval


mirror, bottles of perfume, brushes, cosmetics, needles,

and spools of thread. Other furnishings in the room


include a folding wooden partition adorned with a bird
or prey rendered in gold leaf, a tall black wardrobe filled

with corsets and fine clothes, and a decorative gold rug


laid out in front or three unlocked wooden chests. One


chest is full of shoes, another contains three old bridal

gowns, and the third contains seasonal hats.


Treasure. The vanity holds six bottles of fine per-


fume (20 gp each), a silver hairbrush inlaid with lapis
lazuli (100 gp), and a wooden jewelry box with electrum
filigree (7S gp) holding a pearl necklace (2SO gp), a plat-
inum cameo shaped like a winged cat (SO gp), and two
potions of healing in thin crystal vials.

Vl7. MASTER BEDROOM


Duke Vanthampur retires to this chamber when she


needs to rest or shake off a headache. She also takes


most of her meals here. Food is delivered via a dumb-


waiter in the southwest corner (see area VS for details),


which has a cord that rings a bell in the kitchen. Other


features of the room include a canopied bed with a gos-


samer shroud for keeping insects at bay, a freestanding


wooden privacy screen, a cast-iron bathtub with clawed

feet, a fireplace, and a padlocked iron chest. The padlock


is cast in the shape of a horned devil's scowling visage.


CHAPTER I I A TALE Of TWO OITJJ!S

Thalamra Vanthampur carries the key to the padlock


(see area V28), which can be picked by a character with


thieves' tools who succeeds on a DC^17 Dexterity check.

Treasure. The chest weighs 6S pounds and is trapped


(see "Trap" below). It contains three thin, black-covered


ledgers with entries written in Infernal (records or Duke

Vanthampur's legitimate business dealings), a set of


calligrapher's supplies (lS gp), a poisoner's kit (SO gp), a


coin pouch made from a sheep's bladder (containing^22
pp, 8S gp, and^113 sp), and pipes of the sewers.

Trap. The chest has a false bottom underlaid with


metal springs. The combined weight of the items in the


chest holds the false bottom down, but if three or more


items are removed, the false bottom rises and pulls the


cork out of a thin glass vial hidden underneath it. The


uncorked vial releases a cloud or poisonous gas that


fills a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on the chest. The
cloud is stationary and lasts for 1 minute, or until it's

dispersed by a strong wind. Any creature that starts its


turn in the cloud must succeed on a DC^13 Constitution
saving throw or take 11 (2d10) poison damage.

Vl8. DUKE'S STUDY


An oak writing desk angled to face the middle of the


room has a matching chair behind it and two black


candlesticks atop it. Other furnishings include three


bookcases and a freestanding suit of black plate armor


topped with a bucket helm and equipped with a long-

sword and a shield. A wrought-iron spiral staircase


leads up to area V19.


The suit of armor is a helmed horror that was fash-


ioned on Avernus. The construct understands Infernal


but can't speak, and it is immune to the following spells:

fire bolt, sacred flame, and shocking grasp. The only


creatures permitted in this area are Duke Vanthampur


and her sons. If any other creature enters the room un-
escorted, a fiery orange light fills the helmed horror's

hollow interior as it attacks. The helmed horror pursues


intruders beyond the room, returning here only after the


trespassers leave the villa or are hacked to pieces.


Bookcases. Duke Vanthampur abhors reading but


keeps a modest library of fine literature for the sake of


appearances. Her study contains two hundred books. A

character who spends 1 hour sifting through the collec-


tion can find twenty rare first editions (2S gp each). The


remaining books are worth S gp each to interested buy-


ers, except for a worthless book titled Last Charge of the
Hellriders. A cavity cut into its pages holds a small iron

ring with two keys hanging from it. These keys unlock


the cages in area Vl 9.


Vl9. TOWER PEAK
lf the characters climb the wrought-iron spiral staircase

from area V18, describe this room as follows:


The spiral staircase climbs fifteen feet to a square room
with crisscrossing rafters ten feet overhead and a peaked
roof above that. An empty bookcase dominates the west
wall, and two filthy padlocked cages stand on the floor.
Each cage holds a human prisoner and a chamberpot.
Free download pdf