ing telepathic warning in a language they know: "The
Mad Mage waits for you beyond the next door. Prepare
yourselves!"
MAD MAGE SHOWDOWN
Halaster Blackcloak (see appendix A) awaits the char-
acters in this room, which has the following features:
Raised Alcove. Steps ascend to a raised alcove that
contains a purple marble throne surrounded by stacks
of aged books. Carved into the wall behind the throne
is Halaster's personal rune, and beneath the rune is
a locked iron chest. (Halaster sits in the throne and is
invisible when the characters enter.)
Statue. On the opposite side of the room from the
throne is a life-size stone statue of a nude Halaster
wearing a cowboy hat and riding a donkey.
Magic Circle. Inscribed on the floor in the middle of the
room is a 40 -foot-diameter circle of glowing runes.
Halaster uses it to summon an empyrean who owes
him a favor. (The circle serves no other purpose.)
When he is seated in the throne, Halaster remains
invisible even while attacking or casting spells. When he
sees one or more characters enter the room, he waves
an invisible hand and causes the circle of runes on the
floor to summon Nalkara (see "Na lkara the Empyrean"
below). He then uses the power of the throne to throw
his voice so that he doesn't betray his location when he
speaks to the empyrean.
Halaster orders Nalkara to slay the characters, re-
gardless of his feelings toward them. If the characters
pass the test by defeating the empyrean, Halaster again
uses the throne to throw his voice and congratulates
them. His next actions depend on his current goal (see
"Halaster's Goals," page 11):
- If the characters took any actions to further Ha laster's
current goal, he greets them warmly, thanks them for
their help, returns any magic items they sacrificed to
reach this level (see area 35 on level 22), and allows
them to leave his tower by way of the standing gate in
area 36 (which he activates for them). The characters
gain no XP for "defeating" Halaster in this fashion. If
they refuse to leave, Halaster becomes annoyed and
attacks them. - If the characters took any actions to hinder Halaster's
current goal, the Mad Mage expresses his displeasure
and attacks them.
Five minutes after Halaster dies, the demiplane
containing his tower collapses, scattering its contents
across the Astral Plane (see "Conclusion," page 302).
- If the characters took any actions to further Ha laster's
HALASTER'S ThRONE
The throne has the following magical properties:- When seated in the throne, a creature can use a bo-
nus action to turn invisible or to end the effect. The
invisibility ends automatically when the creature is no
longer seated in the throne. - A creature that speaks while seated in the throne can
choose to throw its voice, making it seem to originate
from any point in the room that the creature can see.
NALKARA THE EMPYREAN
Nalkara is the neutral evil daughter of Auril, the god of
winter, and Thrym, the god of the frost giants. She looks
like a strikingly beautiful frost gia nt with pale blue s kin,
cold blue eyes, and crackling blue flames for hair. When
she is happy, everything around her seems bright a nd
warm. When she's unhappy, her surroundings become
darker and colder.STATUE OF HALASTER RIDING A DONKEY
When he is not incapacitated, Halaster can touch this
statue to teleport himself and anything he is wearing or
carrying to a space within 5 feet of the s tatue in area^22
or the statue in area^28 (no action required).TREASURE
Hidden behind the stacks of books are any magic items
the characters sacrificed to reach this level (see area^35
on level 22).
Most of the books piled around the throne are worth-
less, rambling texts on the nature of magic and the mul-
tiverse. Among them are nine leather-bound spellbooks
bearing Halaster's personal rune. Collectively, these
spellbooks contain every spell on the wizard's spell list
in the Player's Handbook. Individually, each book holds
the spells of a specific level, 1st through 9th. Add spells
from other sources you see fit.
Hidden in the cut-out pages of a leather-bound novel
titled Longsaddle Sunset is a revolver loaded with six
bullets (see "Firearms" in chapter 9 of the Dungeon
Master's Guide).
The iron chest behind the throne has an arcane lock
spell cast on it that Halaster alone can ignore. A knock
spell or similar magic opens the chest, as does a s uc-
cessful DC 25 Dexterity check made by a character us-
ing thieves' tools. The chest contains a gold-plated her-
ald's trumpet (250 gp); a coral beer stein painted with
scenes of underwater life (500 gp); a cloak made of giant
eagle feathers (750 gp); a delicate, multicolored, blown-
glass lily trimmed with gold (1,250 gp); and a rolled-up
painting of the Battle of Emridy Meadows, a conflict that
transpired on a distant world called Oerth (2,500 gp).- FLYING SAUCER
This room contains one of Halaster's magical creations:
a 20-foot-diameter flying saucer made of gleaming metal
with its three landing struts extended. Surmounting the
saucer is a hinged metal dome that is opaque from the
outside and transparent from the inside. T he entrance
to the cockpit is 10 feet off the floor when the saucer
is landed.
The saucer is a Huge object with AC 19,^200 hit
points, a flying speed of^60 feet, the ability to hover, and
immunity to poison and psychic damage. It is not air-
tight. Provided it has 50 or more hit points remaining,
the saucer can be repaired as follows:
- Each casting of the mending cantrip restores 1 hit
point to the damaged saucer.
A character who has tinker's tools, proficiency in the
Arcana skill, and^10 gp worth of replacement parts
can s pend 1 hour making repairs; at the end of the
hour, the saucer regains ld4 hit points.
LEVEL 23 ~fAI) WIZARD'S 1..AIR