- GHAUNADAUR SHRINE
Intelligent Oozes. Clinging to the 20-foot-high ceiling
are three intelligent black puddings that were once
drow worshipers of Ghaunadaur (see "Intelligent
Black Puddings," page 244). These oozes are hostile
toward all intruders. (A battle here also attracts the
Huge gray ooze in area 14.)
Shrine. Nestled in a 12-foot-high alcove at the back
of the cave is a misshapen granite altar. Staring out
from it is a !-foot-diameter purple disk inscribed with
a black, glaring eye. Looming behind the altar is a
9-foot-tall statue carved in the form of an amorphous,
forward-lurching pillar that reaches out with a dozen
clawed human arms.
The disk embedded in the altar can be removed by
turning it 360 degrees counterclockwise. Removing the
disk causes copper coins to spill out from a hollow cav-
ity inside the altar (see "Treasure" below).
If the altar is opened, the multiarmed representation
of Ghaunadaur animates and attacks creatures within
10 feet of it or within 5 feet of the altar. The statue is a
Large object with AC 17, 50 hit points, a speed of^0 feet,
and immunity to acid, poison, and psychic damage. It
has the following ability scores: Strength 14, Dexterity
10, Intelligence 3, Wisdom 3, and Charisma L It has
blindsight out to a range of^10 feet and is blind beyond
this radius.
As an action, the animated statue makes a single
melee weapon attack (+10 to hit) with its claws. On a
hit, the claws deal 22 (5d6 + 5) slashing damage to the
target, and any nonmagical armor worn by the target is
destroyed.
TREASURE
The altar's hidden cavity contains 2,000 cp.
- THE SCAVENGER
The Scavenger is a 290-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, 25-ton
s pelljamming vessel- a ship designed to travel through
space. Halaster detected the vessel as it orbited Tori!
and lured it through a magic gate into Undermountain.
He then boarded the vessel, stole its spelljamming helm
(the magic device that propels and steers the craft), and
took the helm to level 23, leaving the captain and crew
to fend for themselves.
Mind flayers constructed the Scavenger to resemble a
giant cuttlefish. Its hull is made of an alien resin as hard
as thick wood. Behind the ship's tentacle-shaped rams
are two circular windows of transparent crystal resem-
bling eyes, and an upper deck (area 13a) equipped with
four ballistae manned by gray slaadi. An open hatch on
the upper deck provides access to the lower deck (areas
13b through 13h). The ceilings on the lower deck are^10
feet high.
The ship sits in a 5-foot-deep pool of ooze in an
immense cavern, the ceiling of which varies from^30
to 50 feet high. A character can climb the ship's hull
with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check;
the distance from the cavern floor to the upper deck is
roughly 20 feet.
LEVEL 19 I CAVERNS OF OOZECAPTAIN N'GHATHROD
The captain of the Scavenger is an illithid pirate named
N'ghathrod. N'ghathrod is a mind flayer arcanist (see the
sidebar in the "Mind Flayer" entry in the Monster Man·
ua0 with 111 hit points. It uses a crystal orb as an arcane
focus and dresses·in pirate garb. A wooden peg replaces
one of its feet, which it lost in battle years ago. Tucked in
the pockets of its overcoat are four fist-sized gray gem-
stones-the control gems for the gray slaadi that guard
the sh ip's upper deck. N'ghathrod carries a rapier as an
affectation but it not proficient with the weapon.
Before it turned to a life of space piracy, N'ghathrod lived
in a mind flayer colony on the ringed planet of Glyth, which
is farther from the sun than Toril. A few weeks after the
Scavenger became trapped in Undermountain, N'ghathrod
turned on its orog crew out of hunger, killing four of them
and eating their brains. The remaining orog crew members
fled to avoid a similar fate. The arrival of adventurers pro-
vides N'ghathrod with an unexpected but welcome food
source. It tries to separate one party member from the
others with a wall of force spell. It then uses its Mind Blast
to stun its prey as a prelude to extracting its brain.
If N'ghathrod is reduced to 55 hit points or fewer, its
survival instinct supersedes its hunger, prompting it to
surrender telepathically. The mind flayer apologizes for its
assault and proposes an end to hostilities. Given a chance,
it recounts how the Scavenger was orbiting Tori I when it
was pulled through a magic gate to its current location. It
also reveals that the ship's spelljamming helm vanished
shortly thereafter (spirited away by a wish spell, though
the mind flayer doesn't know it). If the mind flayer and the
characters establish a truce, N'ghathrod offers to "guard
the ship" while the characters set out to retrieve the stolen
helm. If the characters succeed, N'ghathrod allows them
to claim the vessel as their own, accepting a demotion un-
til it finds a way to get rid of them.
Lair Actions. When fighting aboard the Scavenger, N'gha-
throd can take lair actions. On initiative count^20 (losing
initiative ties), N'ghathrod can take one lair action to cause
one of the following effects:- N'ghathrod creates a magical duplicate of itself any-
where aboard the ship. Formed out of psionic energy,
this duplicate lasts until it is reduced to 0 hit points,
until it is dispelled (DC 15), or until N'ghathrod takes
another lair action. The duplicate has the statistics of a
normal mind flayer and is friendly toward N'ghathrod,
but not under its control. It cannot leave the Scavenger. - N'ghathrod fills all interior areas of the ship with
mind-warping images and sounds of the Far Realm that
last until initiative count 20 on the next round. Any crea-
ture that isn't an aberration that starts its turn inside the
ship must succeed on a DC^15 Wisdom saving throw or
take 10 (3d6) psychic damage.
The Scavenger is buoyant but has no sails, oars, or
other means of propulsion without its spelljamming
helm. The vessel can hold up to^10 tons of cargo, and its
standard crew complement is twenty. It has AC^15 ,^400
hit points, a damage threshold of 20, and immunity to
poison and psychic damage.
Only a carefully worded wish spell can free the Scav-
enger from the cavernous depths of Undermountain.
Characters who free the ship from its confines can sell it
for 20,000 gp, minus 50 gp for each point of damage the
ship has taken.