BAS-RELIEF MURAL
The mural depicts Lord Vanrak Moonstar as a skeletal
death knight, riding on the back of Umbraxakar, the
shadow dragon. Lying at the dragon's feet are piles of
withered corpses with hideous s hadows hovering ove r
them. Characters who examine the mural closely and
succeed on a DC^15 Wisdom (P erception) check no-
tice four !-inch-diameter holes bored into some of the
corpses. Keresta uses these holes to pass through the
wall in mist form.
Secret Door. The mural covers a stone secret door
functionally identical to the one in area 30a.
32. UMBRAXAKAR'S LAIR
Umbraxakar the shadow dragon dwells here and cannot
be surprised by the characters, whose presence he has
sensed since they first stepped into the Shadowfell.
Characters who experienced the vision in area^17 rec-
ognize this hall as the same one seen in that vision. The
hall contains the following:
Shadows. The 40-foot-high vaulted ceiling is buttressed
by eight stone columns, around which gather eleven
shadows and four shadow assassins (see appendix
A) under Umbraxakar's command. (These undead act
immediately after the dragon in the initiative count.)
Dragon's Dais. To the south, stone steps climb^10 feet to
a dais, where Umbraxakar is perched.
Statues. A double door at the back of the dais is flanked
by two 20-foot-tall, black marble statues, one depicting
Shar as a cloaked woman wielding a dagger in each
hand and the other showing Halaster Blackcloak
clutching a staff. The statues glare at one another like
mortal enemies.
SHADOW DRAGON
Umbraxakar is a Huge adult bronze dragon with the
shadow dragon template, which causes the following
changes to his statistics:- Umbraxakar is neutral evil.
He has resistance to necrotic damage. While in dim
light or darkness, he has resistance to all damage that
isn't force, psychic, or radiant, and he can take the
Hide action as a bonus action.
His Stealth skill modifier is +10.
While in sunlight, he has disadvantage on attack
rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that
rely on sight.
His Lightning Breath becomes Shadow Breath, deal-
ing necrotic damage instead of lightning damage. A
humanoid reduced to^0 hit points by this damage dies,
and an undead shadow rises from its corpse and acts
immediately after Umbraxakar in the initiative count.
The shadow is under Umbraxakar's control.
Umbraxakar and the shadows under his command
try to destroy intruders as quickly as possible, enabling
the shadow dragon to revel in their misery rather
than his own.
Umbraxakar 's Despair. The dragon has spent more
than a century lamenting the fall of Vanrak Moonstar,
his friend. As the dragon ages and becomes more pow-
erful, his despair causes Vanrakdoom to sink deeper
into the Shadowfell. Halaster has made no effort to pre-
vent this from happening because it intrigues him to see
part of Undermountain pulled away in such a manner.
He's happy to let adventurers kill the dragon and return
Umbraxakar's s hadowy domain to Undermountain
where it belongs.
Characters can try to turn Umbraxakar back into
a bronze dragon by ending his despair and breaking
Sbar's hold over him. To accomplish this, they must
present the shadow dragon with items he cherishes
and succeed on three separate ability checks to lift his
spirits (see below). If they fail more than one such check,
they won't have enough gifts left to turn the shadow
dragon back into a bronze dragon.
As an action, a character can give Umbraxakar a gift
that holds emotional significance for the dragon. Four
such items can be found in Vanrakdoom:- Vanrak's polished coral ring in area^5 (a symbol of
friendship) - Vanrak's sun blade in area^8 (a symbol of light) ,,.--
- Vanrak's mithral armor in area^15 (a symbol of preser-
vation and resilience) - The gold horn in area^17 (a symbol of guilt)
While gifting one of these items, the character must
speak sympathetic words to the dragon and succeed on
a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Other characters
can't help on this check; it is made with advantage, how-
ever, if the character claims to be an emissary of House
Moonstar or refers to the dragon by his true name,
Glyster. If the character tries to deceive the dragon in
any way, replace the Persuasion check with a DC^20
Charisma (Deception) check. On a failed check, the
dragon is not swayed by the characters' words but still
keeps the gift.
With each successful check, the dragon becomes
visibly more conflicted as moonlight magically flickers
across his scales, making them appear more solid and
less translucent. A character who sees this magical
moonlight can sense, with a successful DC^20 Wisdom
(Insight) check, that it's of divine origin. (The moonlight
is a blessing from Se!One, though there's no way for the
characters to confirm this.)
Three successful checks are needed to rid the dragon
of his despair, whereupon he dismisses any remaining
undead under his command, causing them to vanish and
never return. His spirits lifted by the characters' gifts
and words, Umbraxakar changes back into an adult
bronze dragon, returns the characters' gifts, and insists
on being called Glyster henceforth. He offers to help the
characters clear out the rest ofVanrakdoom as well as
to explore deeper levels of Undermountain in the hope
of finding a gate that he can use to escape from Under-
mountain. Glyster would like to take his collected trea-
sures with him (see area 33) and offers the characters a
few choice items if they help him transport the hoard.
Glyster is an archetypal bronze dragon who likes to
assume a variety of humanoid and beast forms. For role-
playing guidance, see the "Bronze Dragon" entry in the
Monster Manual.
L'EYEL 18 I VANRAKDOOM