ALTER DEEP
Unconscious creatures in psipods experience the equiva·
lent of a shared dream as they appear with all their carried
possessions in Waterdeep-or rather, an alternate version
ofWaterdeep created by Extremiton.
Through extensive telepathic contact with Waterdavians,
the ulitharid has created a realistic simulation ofWaterdeep
that is constantly being refined for greater authenticity.
Within "Alterdeep," the ulitharid takes on various personas
and quietly observes how creatures that are projected into
the setting by the psipods interact with each other and the
fake creatures and objects around them.
Alterdeep looks, sounds, smells, and feels like Water-
deep. Prolonged exposure to this alternate world, however,
increases the possibility of detecting a flaw that betrays its
true nature. Although Extremiton has created an impressive
facsimile, characters who are drawn into the environment
notice slight discrepancies in the way familiar NPCs act, or
pick up on minor details that the ulitharid has gotten wrong
or can't reasonably duplicate: slight changes in decor,
books that are blank between the covers, foul-tasting elven
wine, dwarves unable to speak Dwarvish, and so on.
As soon as a character encounters such a discrepancy,
the ulitharid also becomes aware of it, since their minds are
linked. When confronted with an error, Extremiton either
ta kes steps to correct it or tries to draw attention away from
it. For example, it doesn't know Dwarvish well enough to
cause the residents of Alterdeep to speak it fluently, so it
might subtly remove all known Dwarvish-speaking charac-
ters from the simulation until its familiarity with that lan-
guage improves significantly.
The Yawning Portal. The most accurate and fleshed-out
location in Alterdeep is the Yawning Portal. Extremiton is
particularly fascinated with the establishment, its owner,
and its clientele. Most newcomers to the simulation
awaken here, and Extremiton tries to create enough situa·
tions of interest in the tavern to keep its captive audience
engaged. Extremiton appears in the Yawning Portal as itsLarge object with AC^15 ,^50 hit points, and immunity to
poison and psychic damage. A creature inside a psipod
has total cover against attacks originating from outside
the capsule.
UNCONSCIOUS HUMANOIDS
Eight of the humanoids in the psipods are common ers
of mixed race, alignment, and ethnicity. Their names
are Daundarak Steelfist (LG male shield dwarf),Jarana
Hammerstone (LG female shield dwarf), Falain Tlan-
drue (CG female moon elf), Merrily Shadowstep (NG
female lightfoot halfting),Jagtar Uythrapp (LG male Mu-
lan human), Lament (N male tie.fling), Stormal Voss (LE
male Illuskan human), and Lander Hellwind (CG male
Illuskan human). All were abducted from Waterdeep.
Apply racial traits to them as warranted, and remember
that dwarves, elves, and tieflings have darkvision.
The ninth humanoid is Selphorn Amcathra (NE male
Tethyrian human noble). A resident of the town of Am-
phail, he was abducted after attending the funeral of a
cousin in Waterdeep. Selphorn promises a reward of
500 gp for his safe return to the City of Splendors and
makes good on his promise, but he puts his self-interest
above all other concerns. Characters from Waterdeep
would know that House Amcathra is one of the city's
wealthiest noble families.
gruff proprietor, Durnan, though it can inhabit other fake
N PCs as well. The ulitharid has focused most of its atten·
tion on the Yawning Portal because that location sits atop
the entrance to Undermountain and is a hotbed of human·
oid interaction.
Damage, Death, and Healing. Creatures can be hurt,
healed, and killed in the simulation just as they can be
in the real world, and a character reduced to^0 hit points
makes death saving throws as normal.
Any creature that joins the simulation by entering a psi·
pod and dies in the simulation also dies for real from the
shock, as though it had taken enough psychic damage to
instantly kill it. Creatures immune to psychic damage can't
be killed by this kind of system shock and stabilize auto·
matically inside the simulation.
Leaving Alterdeep. If characters in the simulation try to
escape Alterdeep's city limits, Extremiton creates situations
to dissuade them: bad weather, a city-wide lockdown, a
festival-whatever it takes. The ulitharid hasn't researched
areas outlying the city. Consequently, nothing but thick fog
lies beyond the city gates. The same is true for Alterdeep's
version ofUndermountain; characters who descend the
well in the Yawning Portal taproom find themselves en·
shrouded in fog with nowhere to go but back up. Extremi-
ton, in the guise of Durnan, discourages exploration of Un·
dermountain by claiming that the Mad Mage has magically
sealed it off.
Characters who are brought into the simulation can es·
cape only if Extremiton allows it or if their psi pods are shut
down. The ulitharid might remove one or more characters
from the simulation if it finds them too disruptive, in which
case they're taken out of their psi pods and confined to area
10 until they can be fed to the neothelid in area 8. The char-
acters can also try to form an alliance with the ulitharid. Ex·
tremiton might release them if. in exchange, they promise
to destroy the githyanki that are threatening the mind flayer
colony. You can roleplay these interactions or have the
characters make ability checks to convince Extremiton to let
them back into the real world.- PSIPOD NEXUS II
This room is identical to area 14, with these alterations:
- The room contains twenty empty psipods in various
stages of completion. (Half of the psipods are fully as-
sembled and functional.) - Three mind flayer s are busily assembling one of the
unfinished psipods.
- OLD DWARVEN HALLS
The doors in this area are made of stone and sealed
with Qualith door locks (see "Qualith Door Locks," page
222). Unless they are held open, the doors automati-
cally close and lock. Rooms here are^20 feet high with
10-foot-high corridors connecting them.
16A. NORTH GUARD POST
Scaladar. Two modified scaladar guard the hall. They
are described in more detail below.
Furnishings. Water seeps into the hall through cracks
in the arched,^20 -foot-high ceiling, spilling onto a
40-foot-long stone table surrounded by stone chairs as
big as thrones.
Dishware. Shallow niches in the walls hold stone
dishes and tankards. Some of the dishware containsLF.VF.L 17 I SEADEEPS