Xanath ar Guild Members. Wheo they're not watch-
ing a tournament in the arena (area X6) or listening to
Xanathar give a speech in the audience chamber (area
X 18), ten human band its, members of the Xanathar
Guild, sleep here. They're so drunk that, for the next few
hours, they awaken only if they take damage. Also, they
are poisoned while they remain intoxicated.
XlO. NOSKA(^1) S QUARTERS
Xanathar's enforcer, Noska Ur"gray (see appendix
B), resides in this magically lit room when he's not
in the arena (area X6). The room contains the follow-
ing features:
A marble bathtub with clawed feet rests in the middle
of the room, next to a large wooden cage containing a
rust monster.
- Along the walls are piles of broken and rusted hel-
mets, shields, and weapons. - Hanging from hooks on the back wall a re three man-
nequins made of straw and canvas, with a multitude of
crossbow bolts sticking in them.
Noska keeps the rust monster as a pet and feeds it
items from the piles of discarded helms, shields, and
armaments. He uses the mannequins for target practice.
The bathtub, which he has converted into a bed, is pad-
ded with straw and mangy furs.
Wooden Cage. A simple latch holds the cage door
shut. The rust monster can't harm anyone while
trapped inside.
Treasure. Hidden under a pile of rusty weapons is a
wooden chest containing Noska's personal hoard:^37 gp,
151 sp, 360 cp, and four bloodstones (worth^50 gp each).
X I I. AHMAERGo's COLLECTION
Xanathar's majordomo fetishizes minotaurs and has
decorated this magically lit room accordingly:
A stuffed, glowering minotaur stands at the north end
of the room. A large greataxe rests on a wooden rack
in front of it.- In the middle of the room is a 10-foot-long, 5-foot-
wide, 3-foot-high rectangular slab of stone with a
hand-carved, miniature model of a stone maze atop it.
Ston e Maz e. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of
conjuration magic around the model maze. A creature
that touches the maze becomes the target of a maze
spell (save DC 15). Once the effect triggers, it can't do so
again until the next dawn.
Stuffed Minotaur. When someone other than Ah-
maergo opens the southern door, the skeleton of the
stuffed minotaur erupts out of its skin, becoming an
animated min otaur skeleton. and arms itself with the
greataxe. It attacks all intruders, pursuing any who
flee into area X8 or X12. The minotaur skeleton obeys
Ahmaergo's commands.
X12. AHMAERGO'S QUARTERS
The magical lights in this room have been dispelled, ren-
dering the chamber dark. Characters who have a light
source or darkvision can discern the following features:- T he room has been converted into a maze, its walls
made of stacked crates nailed together with boards.
The walls rise to meet the 20-foot-high ceiling.
Humanoid bones litter the floor. (Ahmaergo gathered
the bones from Undermountain and put them here as
grisly decorations.)
The maze fills the entire room but for a IO-foot-square
area in the southwest corner, where Ahmaergo keeps a
wooden chest and a bed made from the skulls, bones,
hide, and fur of minotaurs.
Getting through the maze takes time but isn't difficult,
except that Ahmaergo has rigged a tripwire halfway
through. A character in the lead who is searching for
traps spots the tripwire with a successful DC 12 Wis-
dom (Perception) check. Once spotted , it can easily be
avoided or disarmed. If the trap is triggered, the walls
of the maze come crashing down. Every creature in the
collapsing maze is hit by debris and must make a DC
12 Dexterity saving throw, taking^10 (3d6) bludgeoning
damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much dam-
age on a successful one.
Treasure. Ahmaergo's chest contains^12 1 gp in a sack
made of stitched flesh, a carved malachite figurine of a
minotaur (worth^250 gp), and a potion of healing.
Xl3. ThORVIN'S WORKSHOP
Double doors swing open into a magically lit chamber
containing the following:- Thorvin Twinbeard (see appendix B), Xanathar's en-
gineer. is building a large contraption in the middle
of the room. Floating nearby is an albino gazer (see
appendix B). - Tools cover stone tables throughout the room. (There
are enough tools here to assemble two sets of mason·s
tools, one set of smith's tools, and two sets of tin·
ker's tools.) - Other furnishings include a cot and a stack of wooden
casks filled with Wyrmwizz Ale (a Skullport brew).
Al bino Gazer. Xanathar dreamed this gazer imo ex-
istence and sent it to spy on Thorvin, whose loyalty the
beholder is beginning to question. The gazer is itself d is-
loyal. A wizard character can befriend it with a success-
ful DC 11 Charisma (Persuasion) check and turn it into
their familiar with a find familiar ritual. When the gazer
becomes a familiar, its alignment cha nges to match that
of ils new master.
Thorvin Twinbeard. When it is finished, Thorvin's
contraption will enable Xanathar to pulverize creatures
that it petrifies, turning them into a fine powder that can
be used to make plaster. The pulverizer consists main ly
of a tall stone bin with grinding gears at the bottom, and
a chute where the powdered stone pours out.
The pulverizer is a pet project ofThorvin's that allows
him to hang around Xanathar's lair and gather i nfor-
mation, which he sells to the Harpers. (Thorvin puts
the coin he earns from the faction in a bank, far from
the beholder's prying eyes.) ff one or more characters
approach him and claim to be Harpers, Thorvin is upset
that they would risk exposing him as a spy, pointing to
the albino gazer. If the characters befriend the gazer
and promise to go away, Thorvin truthfully answers as
CHAPTER 5 I SPRING MADNESS