Waterdeep - Dungeon of the Mad Mage

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ARCTURIA

ARCTURIA

Arcturia is a Heh, with these changes:

• In addition to her walking speed, Arcturia has a flying
  speed of 60 feet and can hover.


• She can cast the alter self spell at will and uses the
  following list of prepared spells:
  Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
  1s t level (4 slots): detect magic, magic missile, shield,
  thunderwave
  2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, enlarge/reduce, Melfs acid
  arrow, mirror image
  3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, fireball, slow
  4th level (3 s lo t s): blight, polymorph
  Sth level (3 slot s): animate objects, telekinesis
  6th level (1 s lot): disintegrate,jlesh to stone
  7th level (1 slot): reverse gravity, teleport
  8th level (1 slot):feeblemind, maze
  9th level (1 s lo t): true polymorph
  Unable to abide normalcy and consistency, Arcturia
  fixates on transforming herself, her surroundings, and
  other creatures. Her moods are ever-changing as well.
  If the characters destroyed her phylactery on level 14,
  Arcturia knows what they did and attacks them at once.
  Otherwise, she has no grievance with the adventurers
  and is happy to let them go on their way, neither helping
  or hindering their efforts.

ANIMAL-HEADED HUMANOIDS
Like Rabbithead in area 14, these six creatures are an-
imals transformed into humanoids by Arcturia's magic.
They have the following traits in common:

• They are unaligned.


• They can't speak and know no languages.

The three humanoids wearing armor are champions
(see appendix A) with the heads of a dingo, an iguana,

LEVEL 23 I MAD WTZARD'S LAlR

and a stork. If Arcturia becomes embroiled in a battle,

two of them fight on her side. The one with the dingo

head, who secretly despises Arcturia, sides with her en-

emies against her. Each guard carries a yellow sapphire

(see "Treasure" below).

The three servants are unarmed commoners with the

heads of an aardvark, a moth, and a shrew. Whenever

Arcturia snaps her fingers and points to a spot in the

room, these servants begin dusting that location and

don't stop until she snaps her fingers again. They other-

wise avoid combat.

SOUTHEAST DOOR

This door has a stone wall behind it, inscribed upon

which is an elder rune (see "Elder Runes," page 12).

Determine the rune randomly by drawing a card from

the Elder Rune Deck (see appendix B). The rune targets

the creature closest to the open door. It then vanishes

until the door is closed, whereupon another elder rune

appears in its place.

TREASURE

The harp played by the butterfly swarm is an instrument

of the bards (Anstruth harp).

The yellow sapphires carried by the animal-headed

guards fit into the pillars in area 8. Each gemstone is

worth 1,000 gp.

18. ANIMAT E D HALLWAY
    This 250 -foot-long, downward-sloping hallway has
    been set into permanent animated motion by Halaster's
    magic. It twists and undulates continuously, making it
    tricky to negotiate. Any creature that enters the corridor
    or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 15 Dex-
    terity saving throw or take 5 (ldlO) bludgeoning dam-
    age as it is knocked about. If the creature is standing,
    walking, or running on the floor, the ceiling, or a wall
    when it fails this saving throw, it tumbles 20 feet down
    the tunnel before landing prone. A flying creature has
    advantage on the saving throw and doesn't tumble or fall
    prone if it fails the save.


19. DOUBLE DOOR ROULETTE
    Double Doors. Seven sets of double doors, six of them
    at the end of short hallways, stand closed.
    Scintillating Pillar. A pillar at the center of the 20-foot-
    high room has deep notches cut into it, which pulse
    with a shifting rainbow of light.
    Behind most of the double doors are blank stone
    walls. Only the southern set of doors holds a path
    forward: pulling open these doors reveals area 22 be-
    yond. Creatures that pass through the doorway get no
    sense that they're leaving Undermountain and entering
    Halaster's extradimensional tower.
    Whenever a double door in this area is opened-ex-
    cept the one to the south (see above)-the pillar emits
    colored rays from its myriad notches, duplicating the
    effect of a prismatic spray spell (save DC 22) that targets
    all creatures within 60 feet of the pillar. Any creature
    that would be transported to another plane by this ef-
    fect instead appears in the arms of the Halaster statue
    in area 22.

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