270
- GRAND VESTIBULE
Blood. Blood leaks down the walls and across the decor
of this once grand hall.
Pi11ars. Four stone pillars buttress the 30-foot-high
vaulted ceiling. The middle third of each pillar is
carved to look like a scowling dwarf with bulging
muscles that supports the column's upper third on
its broad shoulders. Blue sapphires glitter in the
dwarves' eyes.
Double Door. The doors in the east wall stand 18 feet
high, a carving of a mighty waterfall spanning their
surfaces. Mithra! inlays make the carved falls look
like they are running with molten metal.
Curtain. A 40 -foot-long, 20-foot-high curtain of black
dragon scales hangs from an iron rod bolted to the
west wall. (The scales have become brittle with age
and are not valuable.)
Hanging Horn. Suspended from the ceiling by iron
chains is a 20 -foot-long iron horn with etched Dwar-
vish runes coiling around it.
The giant horn weighs 2 tons. It dangles 20 feet above
the floor on three thick, 5-foot-long iron chains. The
Melairkyn dwarves forged the horn and placed it here to
guard the treasure in this hall (see "Treasure" below).
A detect magic spell or similar magic reveals an aura
of conjuration magic around the horn. A character who
understands Dwarvish can translate the horn's runes
not all of which are visible from the floor. The runes '
visible from the floor read, "If you blind us." A character
must fly up to the horn or climb above it to read the mes-
sage in its entirety, which is "If you blind us, shall we
not revenge?"
Removing one or more gemstones from the pillars
causes the horn to magically emit a somber tone. As
the horn sounds, the spirits of thirteen dwarf warriors
appear in unoccupied spaces throughout the hall and
attack all other creatures in the area. These unaligned
spirits use the champion statistics (see appendix A),
except that they wield greataxes instead of greatswords.
They understand Dwarvish but can't speak, and they
can't leave the hall. They disappear after 1 hour or when
they drop to 0 hit points. Once the horn has sounded, it
can't sound again until 7 days have passed. If no gem-
stones remain in the pillars when this time elapses, the
horn becomes nonmagical and can no longer summon
dwarven spirits. Removing the instrument from the hall
also renders it nonmagical.
TREASURE
Eight blue star sapphires (1,000 gp each) are embedded
in the eyes of the dwarf carvings-two gemstones per
pillar. Each gem is set 18 feet above the floor and can be
pried out with a dagger or similar tool.1 4. SHRINE OF LADUGUER
As a gesture of goodwill toward its new duergar allies,
Fazrian had this waiting chamber converted into a
shrine of Laduguer, the duergar god of labor and slavery.
Presiding over the shrine are two arcanaloths named
Aximus and Exekarus. These fiends use alter self spells
to appear as duergar priests. Valtagar and the duergarLEVEL 21 I TERMINUS Ll!VEl.under his command avoid the shrine, finding the yugo-
loths' presence insulting and their motives suspicious.
The room has a flat, 10-foot-high ceiling. Although
blood often flows from gaps between the room's wall
tiles (see "Regional Effects," page 265), Aximus and
Exekarus regularly use prestidigitation cantrips to clean
it away. The room's other contents are as follows:
Haze. A thin, smoky haze fills the room. (The haze
doesn't obscure the room's other features.)
Braziers. Alcoves in the north wall contain two braziers
fashioned from melted-down iron armor and weapons.
Each is alight with burning coals that shed bright
light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an addi-
tional 10 feet.
Altar and Shield. Between the alcoves, an iron al-
tar traced with silver and shaped like a giant anvil
rests beneath a round, 10-foot-diameter iron shield
mounted on the north wall. The shield bears the sym-
bol of a broken arrow with a jagged arrowhead. Stand-
ing before the altar are a pair of duergar (Aximus and
Exekarus) in drab robes.
To prepare for their roles, the arcanaloths learned
everything they could about Laduguer's principles of
conduct. To their surprise, Aximus and Exekarus found
these principles compelling. Some of the arcanaloths'
favorite maxims include:- "No matter how much wealth and power you have, it's
never enough." - "The fight never ends. Take what you deserve and de-
stroy all who stand in your way." - "Let no emotion rule you. Abandon joy, love, pride,
anger, and ambition, for they are signs of weak-
ness. Know your role and perform it to the best of
your ability."
Laduguer's dogma guides Aximus and Exekarus as
much as it does any duergar, and the yugoloths try to im-
pose these principles on all who claim to serve Fazrian.
If the characters haven't encountered Fazrian, Aximus
and Exekarus insist on taking them to meet the plane-
tar, whom they admire. Those who refuse to accompany
the arcanaloths are left behind as Aximus and Exekarus
proceed to area 23b to inform Fazrian that visitors have
arrived. Obedience to Fazrian is all that matters to Ax-
imus and Exekarus- at least until someone convinces
the arcanaloths to switch allegiances.
The arcanaloths' attitude toward the characters is
indifferent at the start, though the fiends quickly turn
hostile if attacked. The arcanaloths' attitude changes to
friendly if the characters appeal to their love of magic by
giving them a single very rare magic item, multiple rare
magic items, or a spellbook containing at least one spell
of 6th level or higher. Aximus and Exekarus make their
love of all things magical known to anyone that seeks
their assistance. If their attitude toward the characters
is changed in this way, the arcanaloths repay the party's
kindness any way they can-short of placing themselves
in harm's way. Their helpfulness doesn't last long, how-
ever. After 24 hours, the arcanaloths' attitude toward
the party becomes indifferent once more, and further
bribes are needed to regain their assistance.