Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage

290

1. No RETREAT

Arch. The north wall is set with a stone arch, its key-

stone bearing Halaster's visage whose animated eyes

follow any creature that approaches the arch. Carved

into the wall above the keystone is a sigil.

Statue. An alcove to the south contains a life-size,

painted stone statue ofHalaster perched atop a 4-foot-

tall granite plinth like a vulture, squatting with arms

outstretched and fingers curled like talons, as though

ready to leap down and claw at anyone who stands be-

fore it (see "Halaster Statue" below).

Frescoes. Six 10-foot-square painted frescoes adorn the

walls around the arch: two flanking the arch on the

north wall, two side by side on the west wall, and two

side by side on the east wall. Each fresco displays a

magically animated image of Halaster performing one

or more mundane activities: stretching and yawning,

juggling rods, sweeping the floor with a broom, trying

to escape from a straitjacket, doing handstands, and

shadowboxing.

Secret Door. Hidden behind the fresco that depicts

Halaster stretching and yawning is a secret door.

Targeting an animated fresco with a dispel magic

spell has no effect other than to cause Halaster's image

to silently mock the spell's caster. The images become

motionless while in the area of an antimagic field.

ARCH GATE T O LEVEL^22

The sigil inscribed above the arch is Halaster's personal

rune. Both it and the face carved into the keystone

are harmless.

Halaster can open the gate for 1 minute by touching

the arch. The gate cannot otherwise be opened from

this side. A creature that passes through the gate ap-

pears in area 35 on level 22, in the closest unoccupied

space next to the gate located there.

HALASTER STATUE

Anytime a creature other than Halaster tries to cast a

spell in this room, the statue's arms animate and per-

form the quick series of somatic gestures needed to cast

counterspell. After casting its spell, the statue reverts to

its inanimate state until triggered again. The counter-

spell attempt s ucceeds automatically.

The statue is a Large object with AC 17,^50 hit points,

and immunity to all damage except force damage. The

statue falls to pieces and loses its spellcasting ability if

it is reduced to 0 hit points. Destroying the statue trig-

gers a magic mouth spell; the mouth appears amid the

shattered remains and says, "Is this the end of Halaster

Blackcloak? Ha! I think not."

2. REVERSED LIBRARY

Everything in this room is upside down because gravity

in the room is magically reversed. The room is fur-

nished thusly:

Bookshelves. The walls are lined with upside-down

bookshelves, fully stocked with upside-down history

books from the many parts of the world Halaster

has explored.

LEVEL 23 I MAD WlZAIU>'S LAIR

Desk. In the middle of the 15-foot-high ceiling is an

upside-down desk topped with a stack of tomes held

between two golden, upside-down bookends shaped

like bulettes bursting out of the ground.

The reverse gravity field can't be negated, though it is

suppressed within an antimagic field. Unless anchored,

held down, or affected by a fly spell or similar magic, any

creature or object that enters this room falls up toward

the ceiling.

The desk is empty except for the array of nine books

held between the bulette-shaped bookends. Eight of the

books contain essays pertaining to the eight schools of

magic, one book dedicated to each school. The cover

and the pages of the ninth book appear blank.

Placing the other books in alphabetical order

by school of magic between the bookends causes

Halaster's rune to appear on the cover of the ninth book

and spells to appear on its pages. This tome is one of

Halaster's spellbooks (see "Treasure" below).

TREASURE

The gold bookends are worth^500 gp for the pair, while

the eight books detailing the schools of magic are worth

100 gp each.

Halaster's spellbook contains the following spells:

Bigby's hand, color spray, crown of madness, enlarge/

reduce, fabricate, false life, gaseous form, gust of wind,

hold monster, ice storm.jump, maze, Otto's irresistible

dance, reverse gravity, sleet storm, and weird.

3. T ALKING HEADS
   This 10-foot-high room has wooden shelves covering the
   walls from floor to ceiling. Hundreds of wide-mouthed
   jars line the shelves, each containing a severed head
   floating in brine.
   The heads in the jars are specimens that Ha laster has
   collected throughout Undermountain: goblins, drow,
   kuo-toa, duergar, troglodytes, githyanki, mind flayers,
   and other creatures. Although detached from their
   bodies, the heads remain alive and sedate as a result
   of Halaster's magic. Tapping on a jar is enough to stir a
   head to consciousness. The heads speak only the lan-
   guages they knew in life and have no recollection of how
   they ended up in their disembodied state. A character
   can prompt a head for information, which it's happy to
   provide. Each head shares one Undermountain secret
   determined by drawing a card from the Secrets Deck
   (see appendix C). A head can also confirm that Halaster
   spends a lot of time on this level of Undermountain.
   Removing a head from a jar or removing a jar from
   this room ends the magic that animates the head, which
   immediately dies.


4. HELMED HORRORS
   Six helmed horrors float in the alcoves marked H on
   map 23. These constructs attack intruders on sight and
   fly after those who flee.