- DETENTION FACILITY
The mind fl.ayers use this detention facility to hold "cat-
tle"-the term they use to describe humanoids they con-
sider a food source.
The door to the cell block is made of stone and sealed
with a Qualith door lock (see "Qualith Door Locks,"
page 222). Unless it is held open, the door automati-
cally closes and locks.
The cell block is 10 feet high throughout and contains
the following:
Cells. Spaced along the corridor are ten cells with doors
made of sturdy iron bars through which a Tiny crea-
ture could squeeze. Each cell door is fitted with a Qua-
lith door lock (see "Qualith Door Locks," page 222).
Prisoners. Three prisoners are locked in separate cells
when the characters arrive: a foul-smelling troglo-
dyte, a young male human veteran wearing the uni-
form of a City Watch constable of Waterdeep, and an
elderly female grimlock in a soiled gray robe.
The three prisoners subsist on a slimy but nutritious
gray mold delivered to them in bowls once a day by il-
lithid thralls.
The troglodyte, Glorz, has a dinner date with the
neothelid in area 8 and, given its chaotic evil alignment,
can't be trusted to behave itself if set loose.
The City Watch constable, Ishan Toru (LG male
Kozakuran human), waits to have his brain devoured by
the illithids. Toru's weapons were taken from him and
discarded, and he plans to meet his death with whatever
courage he can muster. He remembers being lured into
an alley by a young girl who claimed her father was
being accosted by ruffians. Toru was knocked uncon-
scious by an unseen foe in the alley and awoke in this
cell. If set free, he joins forces with his liberators and
helps them in any way he can, but is eager to report to
his superiors in Waterdeep about what he has witnessed
here. He also has parents and siblings who are no doubt
wondering what happened to him.
If his death seems likely, Toru asks one of the char-
acters to take his City Watch badge and return it to his
father in Waterdeep. If this is done, Toru's mother- a
renowned jewelry artist-gives that character a sapphire
bracelet or pendant worth 2,500 gp as a show of her
gratitude.
Ahpok, the old grimlock, has an intellect devourer in
her skull. She is used by the mind flayers to lure other
grimlocks to the colony to have their brains devoured.
Ahpok has been unable to leave the colony in recent
weeks because of the githyanki, so the illithids have sta-
tioned her here with orders to keep an eye on the other
prisoners. The grimlock speaks Undercommon. Ahpok
claims to know this level of Undermountain by sound,
smell, and touch, and offers her services as a guide if the
characters agree to set her free. If the characters follow
her, Ahpok leads them to the neothelid to be killed and
consumed. If the intellect devourer is deprived of its
host, it teleports away to seek a new one.
LEVEL 17 I SEADEEPS
11. HALASTER ls GLOWING
The stone doors to this chamber are sealed with Qua-
lith door locks (see "Qualith Door Locks," page 222).
Unless they are held open, the doors automatically close
and lock. The ceiling here is 10 feet high. The room has
the following features:
Arch. Embedded in the middle of the east wall is a stone
arch. Carved into its keystone are three human-like
stick figures holding hands.
Statue. In the middle of the room, a statue of a thin,
bearded, wild-haired man wearing a robe covered
with eyes stands atop a 3-foot-high block of stone. The
statue is surrounded by a faint nimbus of multicolored
light and points a stony finger at the eastern arch.
The glowing statue depicts Halaster Blackcloak. It is a
magic trap that casts a prismatic spray spell every time
a creature emerges from the arch gate in the east wall.
(Simply passing between the statue and the gate doesn't
trigger the trap.) The rays created by the spell originate
from the statue's pointed finger and target all creatures
between the statue and the gate (save DC 19).
A detect magic spell reveals auras of abjuration magic
and evocation magic around the statue. It melds seam-
lessly with its base and the floor, as though one with
both. It can' t be toppled and is impervious to damage.
Close examination of the statue reveals that the eyes
carved into its robe, twenty in all, have lids that are
locked open. Casting an arcane Jock spell on the statue
closes the eyelids on all the robe's eyes and deactivates
the statue. Encompassing the statue in a darkness spell
suppresses the trap for the duration.ARCH GATE TO LEV EL 14
The arch is one of Halaster's magic gates (see "Gates,"
page 12). Its rules are as follows:- If three humanoids hold hands while standing within
5 feet of the gate, it opens for 1 minute. - Characters must be 13th level or higher to pass
through this gate (see ''.Jhesiyra Kestellharp," page
10). The first creature to pass through the gate trig-
gers an elder rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12). - A creature that passes through the gate appears in
area 39b on level 14, in the closest unoccupied space
next to the identical gate located there.
- DYNAMO
The central feature of the mind flayer colony is a psionic,
quasi-magical turbine powered by a thunderous u nder-
ground river that flows through it.
River water entering the dynamo is channeled along
10 -foot-deep troughs. As the water courses through
each trough, it passes U-shaped, gold-plated metal
conductors bolted to the sides and bottom of the trough
at 10-foot intervals. The energy from the water is trans-
ferred to the conductors and used to power the appara-
tus in area 12g and the psipods in areas 14 and 15. After
fl.owing through the dynamo, the water exits through
submerged, rough-hewn tunnels carved into the sides of
cisterns. The underground river then resumes its natu-
ral course, eventually emptying into the Underdark.