15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, and a c reature
shackled to the chair can slip free of these bonds with a
successful DC 25 Dexterity {Sleight or I land) check.
The mind flayer has telepathically interrogated Zaibon
and learned about a House Auvryndar plot to conquer
Skullport, as well as mounting tensions between the
drow houses or Auvryndar and Freth. The mind flayer is
gelling ready to implant an intellect devourer in Zaibon's
skull, then use him to undermine the drow plot and fo-
ment war between the drow houses. (Were Zaibon less
useful, the mind flayer would have extracted his brain
and turned it into an intellect devourer instead.) Zaibon
knows nothing of the fate that awaits him.
Mind Flayer. If the characters haven't already dealt
with Nihiloor, the mind flayer interrupts as they interact
with Zaibon, entering from area X26 with an intellect
d e vourer in its hands. If Zaibon is free or the chair, he
tries to get as far away from the mind flayer and its "pet"'
as he can. Nihiloor doesn't pursue anyone who flees,
trusting that they won't gel far.
X25. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
This magically lit room contains these features:- The room reeks of death and carnage.
Three wooden tables are arranged corner to corner,
forming a triangle, in the middle or the room. The
floor around them is stained with blood.
Atop two or the tables, held down with leather straps.
are two humans (commone rs ) dressed like homeless
men. One looks dead, and the other gibbers like a
madman. The third table is bare except for an area of
s ticky blood at one end.
Unhappy Meals. The Xanathar Guild captures home-
less Waterdavians and brings them here for Nihiloor to
feed on. After devouring their brains, the mind flayer
gives their corpses to his kuo-toa thralls to eat.
The two men, a locksmith named Skarn Zarphoul
and a broadcrier named Holvan Ebberek, recently
heard a dwarf getting his brain sucked out. Skarn is
stunned and catatonic from the shock or it, and Holvan
is a gibbering lunatic. A greater restoration spell or sim-
ilar magic restores either man's sanity. The men were
hooded and brought here separately, so they know noth-
ing of the dungeon's layout or occupants (other than the
mind flayer). If their sanity is restored, they are eager to
return to their families in Waterdeep.
X26. DEVOURER SPAWNING POOL
This room has the following features:- In the middle of the area is a 10-foot-diameter, 2-foot-
deep circular pool containing luminous green brine.
Swimming in the brine are four intellect devourers. - If it has not been encountered and defeated elsewhere.
Nihiloor the mind ftayer (see appendix B) is standing
in the pool with the intellect devourers.
Rusty manacles are bolted to the walls. (Hosts for the
intellect devourers are chained in these locations.)
The brine is a magical substance that radiates an aura
of transmutation magic under the scrutiny of a detect
magic spell. Nihiloor uses it co transform humanoid
brains into intellect devourers. The process is far from
perfect. A full^90 percent of the brains left in the brine
rot and die, while the remaining^10 percent transform
after marinating for ld4 + J days.
Nihiloor and the intellect devourers make their stand
here. If the characters flee, the mind flaye r sends the in-
tellect devourers after them and stays behind.X27. PRISON
Nihiloor the mind flayer uses this prison to confine
potential hosts for his brood of intellect devourers. Cap-
tured characters might find themselves incarcerated
here until they can be made into hosts. The area con-
tains the following features:
Eight locked iron doors lead lo cells, some of which
have bars separating them.
Three kuo-toa whips stand guard here and attack any
creature other than Nihiloor that enters, including
other kuo-toa. One of the whips carries the keys to the
cell doors on a ring.- A I-foot-tall figurine of an otherworldly creature rests
atop a slime-covered alabaster pedestal against the
east wall, between two cell doors.
Cells. A character outside a cell can pick its lock with
a successful DC^20 Dexterity check using thieves' tools.
Each cell contains a reeking chamber pot and no other
furnishings.
Imprisoned in the westernmost cell along the north
wall is Hyustus Staget, a captain of the City Watch
whom the characters have met (see "The Watch Ar-
rives:· page 27). He was kidnapped while off duty and
is without his armor and weapons. lf Hyustus has died
for whatever reason, replace him with a female human
Watch officer named Cressa Galavarco (LG female
Tethyrian ve te ran with no armor or weapons). Whoever
is here has a date with an intellect devourer.
God Figurine. The figurine on the pedestal is crudely
fashioned out of clay. H has the head of a hammerhead
shark, the upper torso of a bare-chested male, dragon
wings sprouting from its shoulders, and octopus tenta-
cles where its legs should be. The kuo-loa modeled it
after an imaginary god they call Garshoogah.
X28. GUILD RECREATION HALL
Deafeningly loud music and chatter fill this magically lit
room, which is decorated like a tavern:- Ten human bandits (members of the Xanathar Guild)
sit around two trellis tables. drinking Wyrmwizz Ale.
smoking pipes. clapping their hands, and stomping
their feei while two goblins wearing chamber pots on
their heads dance and sing atop a third table. - If he's not with Xanathar in the arena (area X6),
Noska Ur'gray (see appe ndix B) is here. drinking with
the others. - A wooden rack along the east wall holds five large ale
barrels with spigots punched into them. Protruding
from the ceiling above the barrels is a ghostly eyestalk
(scrying sensor).
Xan athar Guild Members. These villains are cele-
brating the capture of an off-duty City Watch captain
(see area X27). Characters who eavesdrop on the chat-
ter hear one guild member say, ··we caught ourselves a
CHAPTER^5 I SPRING MADNESS