PAINTING OF A DWARF MINER
A painting of a dwarf miner priced at 5d 10 gp can be
found each day a character spends searching art shops.
A character proficient with painter's supplies can create
a painting that qualifies as this key. rt takes 3d6 hours to
finish the painting.PAIR OF BUGBEAR EARS
The Xanathar Guild employs bugbears, and characters
can chop the ears off any of them. A live bugbear also
counts as this key.PERFORMANCE OF "YOUR BEARDY FACE"
The dwarf love song, ''Your Beardy Face," is a duet per-
formed by bagpipers. The characters can obtain this
music easily for 1 gp and hire two performers to play the
piece for 10 gp each. A character who has proficiency
with bagpipes can perform the song, though a success-
ful DC 10 Charisma (Performance) check using bag-
pipes is required for the performance to count as this
key. A glass jar in Cassalanter Villa (see chapter 6, area
C3) plays this song when it is uncorked.SEVERED DROW HAND
This ghastly key can be forcibly obtained from a mem-
ber of Bregan D'aerthe or some other dark elf. If the
characters have encountered no drow, they might hear
rumors that Xanathar employs a drow advisor.SHAPECHANGER
Any living creature of the shapechanger subtype, such
as a doppelganger or a wererat, serves as this key. Bon-
nie the doppelganger (see "Familiar Faces," page 20)
can be persuaded to accompany the characters if she
is friendly toward one or more of them. The characters
can also reach out to the Shard Shunners, a local gang
of halfiing wererats. For an up-front payment of 500 gp,
the wererats happily oblige.SILVERED WARHAMMER
The characters can buy a silvered warhammer for 115
gp, or they can give a silver bar to Embric and Avi (see
chapter 2, area T3) and have the genasi smiths craft one.
SUNLIGHT
Since the vault lies deep underground, natural sunlight
is difficult to come by. Clever characters can buy twenty
steel mirrors (5 gp each) and arrange them in places
(and at the proper angles) so that sunlight from outside
can be reflected underground and shone upon the vault
entrance. Setting up these mirrors and getting their
alignment just right takes 2d4 + 2 hours regardless of
the number of characters involved.
UNICORN
Although conjuring up a real unicorn is likely beyond
the abilities of the characters, they could ask Laeral
Silverhand or Vajra Safahr to cast the summon celes-
tial spell. The characters can gain an audience with
Laeral or Vajra through Renaer Neverember or another
well-connected NPC. If the characters tell Laeral or
Vajra the truth about the Vault of Dragons and prom-
ise to turn the gold over to the authorities, either one
CHAPTER 4 I DRAGON SEASON
agrees to accompany the characters to the vault and cast
the spell.
The unicorn need not be a real unicorn to serve as
this key. The Sea Maidens Faire (see chapter 7) uses a
unicorn float in its parades, and a stuffed unicorn can be
found in Cassalanter Villa (see chapter 6, area T18).Vault of Dragons
Once the characters have the Stone of Golorr, they can
use it to determine the location of the Vault of Dragons
and the keys needed to enter it.VAULT FEATURES
All areas of the vault have the following features:- Any spell that tries to contact a creature in the vault
fails, as does any spell that attempts to scry on the
vault interior or any creatures within. Teleporting into
the vault from outside is impossible. - Walls are made of mortared stone. Doors are solid
stone slabs with stone handles and hinges. - Except in area V9, there are no light sources.
AREAS O F THE VAULT
The following locations are keyed to map 4.9.Vl. VAULT DOOR
A 20-foot-high, 20-foot-wide stone corridor ends be-
fore an adamantine double door bearing Dwarvish
runes. The doors have neither handles nor hinges. The
writing on them reads, "THE THREE KEYS. BRING
THEM FORTH."
The doors part, sliding back into the walls, when the
three correct keys are brought with 5 feet of them. They
remain open until Aurinax or someone else speaks the
command word to close them ("Azaam"). The keys can
open the doors from either side. The doors can't be
forced open or damaged in any way, and attempts to cir-
cumvent them with magic fail automatically.V2. ENTRANCE FOYER
This vast chamber has the following features:- Three age-worn columns support crumbling stone
bridges 60 feet overhead, with the ceiling rising an-
other 20 feet beyond that. - Set into alcoves are twelve sets of double doors
made of iron. Each door is 10 feet wide, 10 feet high,
and embossed with images of dwarf warriors in
plate armor.
Cr um bling Bridges. The bridges connect area V4 to
adamantine doors that seal off areas V6, V7, and V8.
The eastern half of the northern bridge and the western
half of the southern bridge are unstable. Either bridge
collapses if more than 150 pounds of weight is applied
to it. A creature standing on a section of bridge when
it collapses must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving
throw or fall 60 feet to the floor below.
The middle bridge has a 15-foot-wide gap in it. A char-
acter can clear this gap with a running jump-but part
of the bridge breaks away under the character's feet on