The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces was donated to Candlekeep with the rest of the library of the mage Fistandia, following her untimely disappearance. In her will, Fistandia bequeathed her collection to Candlekeep in appreciation for the many years she spent in its hallowed halls. This book is a treatise on extradimensional spaces similar to those created by the
Many researchers perused this book over the years it spent in Candlekeep, but knowledge of the command word was useless without the location of the gateway to the mansion—until a chance discovery by the sage Matreous, an expert in the application and removal of curses. Upon arriving at Candlekeep to further his expertise, Matreous cast
Forgetting about his earlier purpose, Matreous asked for any knowledge of who might have created such a gateway. Research by the Avowed revealed that Fistandia requested this room each time she visited the keep. They also turned up mysterious reports that she rarely left the room for weeks at a time. Rumors said that she was not even seen to eat or sleep during her visits. She would, however, go missing for hours at a time. Matreous concluded that she must have gone through the gateway during those absences. By searching through the books Fistandia donated to the library, he found the command word to open the portal and stepped inside.
Finding the Book
The characters have come to Candlekeep seeking aid for a stricken town, which could be the home of one or more of them. The settlement has withered this year. Crops have failed, the livestock stands in the fields like stick figures, and the rain has dwindled. A local mage determined that a curse had been levied on the land and recommended that the town seek aid from a sage named Matreous. After some inquiries, the mage found that Matreous was studying in Candlekeep and sent the characters to find him.
Alternatively, the characters could discover The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces while researching one of the following topics:
- Creating permanent versions of existing spells
- Demiplanes, pocket dimensions, and other spaces that exist outside the Material Plane
Tied to The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces are two mysteries. The first is the whereabouts of the missing sage Matreous. The characters can resolve this question by opening the portal to the mansion. The larger mystery, however, is how to escape once they are trapped inside.
Book Description
The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces is a heavy tome. Its thick covers are made of ornately tooled leather decorated with gold filigree. Of particular interest is the illustration on the cover: the bust of an imposing spellcaster. A character who succeeds on a DC 12 Intelligence (
Opening the Portal
When the characters are shown into the private study room assigned to Matreous, they find it unoccupied. Only the sage’s personal effects and a handful of books remain. The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces is open to the pages with Fistandia’s handwritten notes. A character who succeeds on a DC 13 Intelligence (
Once the command word is spoken, shimmering, translucent doors appear in the middle of the room. The doors begin to slowly fade, and it’s apparent that they’ll disappear entirely in a matter of minutes.
When the characters enter the portal, they appear in area area M1.
Fistandia’s Mansion
Fistandia’s mansion was created using a
Outside, a swirling indigo miasma hovers 20 feet from the building on all sides. A creature that enters the miasma feels increasingly uneasy during the first minute of exposure. If it remains in the miasma, it gains 1 level of
Puzzle Books
Opening the portal from inside the mansion requires another command word, which Fistandia hid in the form of a puzzle. She created seven books, each with a single gilded letter on its spine. When placed next to each other in the proper order, they spell the command word, “liberty.” The books bear not only the lettered spines but also the same image of Mordenkainen that graces the cover of The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces.
Imp Figurine
The imp figurine in Matreous’s possession (see area area M1) appears to be a very detailed carving of an imp made from onyx. It’s not a statue, however, but a real imp that Fistandia summoned and transformed into a statuette. Removing the figurine from the mansion breaks the enchantment and releases the imp.
Encounter Locations
Fistandia’s mansion is eerily quiet. Rooms with windows to the outside are lit by the indigo miasma swirling outside the mansion, which colors everything in the room with its tint. In the larger rooms it tones down the warm light of the oil lamps.
The following locations are keyed to the map of Fistandia’s mansion.
Middle Level (M1-M9)
M1. Foyer and Hallway
The characters emerge from the portal in the grand foyer of the mansion. On this side, the portal looks like a double door.
The ceiling arches to fifteen feet overhead, and long hallways stretch out on either side of the foyer. Standing in the middle of this area is a middle-aged man wearing gray robes.
Matreous, a neutral human sage (see the area stat block), is startled when the characters appear. After his initial surprise, he introduces himself to the characters and expresses his delight that they have opened the portal to the mansion. He has been trying different command words for the last half hour to get the portal to reopen.
Matreous takes on a thoughtful expression and pauses for an instant, tapping his chin in thought. The mansion must be a treasure trove of information, and there’s no telling what wonders it holds! As an example, he shows the characters an intricately carved figurine of an imp that he has found and is taking back to Candlekeep for study.
Matreous explains that he would dearly like to continue to explore the mansion’s mysteries himself, but he could be much more useful back in Candlekeep. Thanks to the research he conducted to find the mansion, he has the skills to keep the portal open from the other side. If the characters take this chance to explain their errand to him, he is willing to accompany them back to their village in exchange for their time and efforts exploring the mansion.
If the characters agree to explore the mansion, Matreous steps through the double door leading back to the study room. When he does, the characters hear Matreous shriek as the doors slam shut, locking them inside the mansion. (Matreous lets out the shriek as the imp figurine in his possession reveals its true nature. The characters can’t help Matreous until they find a way to reopen the portal.)
Exits
The foyer gives way to a long hallway that runs the length of the extradimensional mansion, with several doors on the wall opposite the entrance.
M2. Patio
A semicircular patio paved with gray flagstones is nestled against the building, lit by the swirling indigo miasma that surrounds the mansion.
M3. Library
Tall shelves filled with books line the walls of this room. Two more shelves run through the middle of the room with a ten-foot-wide aisle between them. Several stacks of books are piled high throughout the room. There are small reading desks with cozy scarlet chairs in the corners.
The shelves contain books on Fistandia’s favorite subjects: arcana, natural science, religion, astrology, and planar travel, as well as volumes of poetry, mythology, and folk tales.
Book Attack
One of the heaps of books is a swarm of animated books. As the characters move through the room, the swarm knocks one of the 10-foot-wide freestanding sections of bookshelf over onto the characters. Any creatures in the affected area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked
Treasure
Sitting on the reading desk is a jeweled letter opener worth 20 gp.
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter R on its spine is on one of the shelves. Any character who has a passive Wisdom (
M4. Exercise Room
This room contains a battered wooden mannequin and a weapon rack holding staffs and daggers, all lit by indigo-tinted light streaming through a window. The floor is stained and scorched. At the far end of the room, a broom hovers in the air, sweeping the floor by itself!
This room was where Fistandia practiced her martial and magical skills (at the expense of the fine floors). The mannequin has numerous cuts and chips. The weapons in the rack are mundane but finely made. There are four
The broom is an animated broom. If left alone, it goes about its duties cleaning the floors and ignores the characters. If a creature attempts to grab it or menace it in any way, it attacks.
M5. Study
The door to this room is left ajar so the cats can come and go as they please.
The entire far wall of this room is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. Even more books are resting on several large scarlet armchairs and small wooden tables, and there are several paintings on the walls. A fluffy black cat is curled up on one of the chairs.
If the characters enter the room, the cat sits up, meows plaintively, and approaches. If they feed it or pet it and make a successful DC 10 Wisdom (
If the characters spend 30 minutes investigating the books in this room, they discover the following facts:
- Almost all the books in this study were written by someone named Fistandia. Most are her memoirs.
- Fistandia was a powerful mage as well as a priest of Mystra. She frequented Candlekeep to further her studies.
- In exchange for Fistandia’s pious service and achievements in expanding the arts of magic, Mystra granted Fistandia a permanent extradimensional mansion for her to reside in when studying in Candlekeep.
- Fearful that a guest might become trapped in the mansion, Fistandia hid the command word to open the portal to Candlekeep on the spines of seven books in her mansion.
Paintings
There are three paintings hanging on the walls: a landscape scene with a large green dragon emerging from a grove of pine trees, a study of a pegasus in flight, and a portrait of a unicorn in a wooded glade.
Secret Door
There is a secret door behind the left bookcase on the far wall. When the bottom leftmost book in the bookcase is pulled, the bookcase slides forward to reveal the passage behind it. A character who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter I on its spine is sitting on one of the armchairs.
M6. Kitchen
The door to this room is left slightly open so the cats can enter and exit.
The aromas of cooking permeate this kitchen. A large iron stove takes up one wall, and the rest of the room is filled with large tables and racks lined with hanging pots, pans, and cooking utensils. Everything is sparkling clean.
The kitchen is run by two Homunculus named Cumin and Coriander. Most homunculi can’t speak, but these ones have the ability to speak Common. When the characters enter the room, the homunculi greet the new arrivals in squeaky voices:
With a flapping of wings, two small forms land on the nearest table. They bow low before you and ask, “How can we be of help to our honored guests? Cooking? Cleaning? Mending your clothes, perhaps?”
The homunculi have had only the cats and the faerie dragons in area M9 to cook for or clean up after for ages, so they practically trip over themselves in their eagerness to provide any service to the characters. They pester the characters for tasks to do and insist on serving them fresh bread and soup.
The duties of the homunculi are confined mostly to the kitchen and the adjoining dining room (area area M8). They don’t know much about what happens in the rest of the mansion, but they can answer direct questions with the following information:
- Cumin was created by Fistandia, while Coriander says that a mage named Freyot created it.
- Their masters went away a long time ago.
- They have been warned by their masters not to touch any books that have single letters on their spines. (The homunculi don’t know the significance of these lettered books.)
- Fistandia used to go into the planetarium (area area M12) and disappear for a long time afterward.
- Something keeps building piles of books in the library. (The homunculi are unaware of the swarm of animated books in area area M3.)
- The imp that Fistandia summoned hasn’t been seen in some time.
- The faerie dragons in the arboretum (area area M9) are mischievous but harmless. Try to stay out of their way.
Cats
In one corner of the kitchen, several small ceramic bowls painted with stylized cats are filled with water and kitchen scraps. Any cats the characters have encountered in the mansion are found again here, along with an additional cat the characters haven’t yet seen. The cats are eating from the food bowls and occasionally batting at one another to get the choicer morsels.
M7. Pantry
The shelves in this pantry are stocked with sacks of flour, vegetables, preserved meats, and other staples—all the dry goods needed to sustain a household.
Fistandia’s and Freyot’s Homunculi
A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
Arcana ) check knows two vital facts about the homunculi in area area M6. The first is that a master can have only one homunculus at a time. The second is that a homunculus dies when its master dies. This fact suggests that Fistandia and Freyot are still alive. Characters might encounter one or both mages in a future adventure.
M8. Dining Room
Large windows form the entirety of one wall, looking out on three planted beds filled with vegetation. Within this room, a crystal chandelier hangs above a table made of dark wood. Six matching wooden chairs with scarlet cushions surround the table. A seventh chair sits alone in the far corner.
In addition to the furnishings described above, this room is adorned with unremarkable tapestries that depict grapevines and the process of making wine.
Mimic Chair
The reason for the odd number of chairs is that the Mimic Chair closest to the door to area area M6 is a mimic that escaped from area area M19. It moved the real chair to the corner and took its place, hoping to capture any creature entering from the kitchen. It has been able to ambush only the occasional cat or faerie dragon, so it’s in a weakened state and has the following changes to its stat block:
- It has 30 hit points.
- The DC to escape its grapple is 10.
Treasure
The buffet contains silverware and a service for six, worth a total of 20 gp.
M9. Arboretum
The door leading from area area M1 is partially open.
This end of the building is an arboretum with open, arched walls. Flowering shrubs and small trees grow between paved paths that meet in a semicircular patio. There’s no sun, but two glowing globes hang above the plants, bathing them in light. There are colorful blossoms everywhere, filling the air with their perfume.
Two
Treasure
The two glowing orbs are
Upper Level (M10-M16)
M10. Stairs
The landing at the top of the stairs is occupied by a suit of armor holding a longsword, point down. It sits upon a wooden stand in front of a large window. The armor is clearly decorative, though the helmet and the sword are genuine items of good quality.
Above the armor is a trapdoor that opens upward into an attic that runs the length of the building. The attic is stuffy, dimly lit, and covered in a fine layer of dust. A character who has a passive Wisdom (
M11. Laboratory
Most of this room is taken up by long wooden tables that are covered with glass vessels and books. Cabinets with glass doors line the walls, and they contain all manner of specimens. Just below the ceiling in the middle of the room, colorful globes circle each other in an intricate dance. The far wall is almost completely covered by a map of the night sky, with a golden sunburst in the center above a closed door.
The cabinets are crowded with skulls, bones, mounted animals, rocks and minerals, dried plants, and jars with creatures floating in liquid. Measuring devices, glassware, and other scientific apparatus sit on the tables between books on the natural sciences, astronomy, astrology, physiology, and natural philosophy. Complex charts and mathematical formulas are drawn on a mobile blackboard.
Star Map
The map on the wall is the solution to the planetarium puzzle in area M12. Most of the stars are represented by mere dots or small circles, but the five most prominent stars are rendered as blazing silver suns. Those are the five bright stars to which the telescopes must be pointed to open the door to area M13.
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter T on its spine is among the books on the middle table.
M12. Planetarium
The door opens into a dark, open space offering a view of the starry firmament of the night sky. Five telescopes mounted on bronze plates point toward the constellations above. In the middle of the space, a one-foot-diameter sphere of clear crystal sits in a circular brass stand.
The room is a detailed and convincing illusion of a grassy knoll on a moonless night. Springy turf compresses underfoot, and when the doors to the room are closed, the starry night sky is visible in all directions. Terrain more than 20 feet away at ground level, however, is shadowy and indistinct; only the sky above seems sharp and clear. In fact, the stars shine down with an almost fierce light. Anyone who explores the room discovers that this effect is an illusion and can determine the size and shape of the actual space.
If the characters try to manipulate the telescopes, they find that it’s easy to change the orientation of these well-balanced instruments. The telescopes cannot be moved in any other way, however, and are sturdily mounted to their pedestals. The crystal ball is also firmly fixed and cannot be moved.
Planetarium Puzzle
The planetarium is a useful feature for anyone who wants to gaze upon the stars. Its other purpose is to open the secret door to area M13. In order to solve the puzzle, the five telescopes must be pointed into the sky at the five brightest stars shown on the map in area M11. When all five telescopes are aligned, the light of the stars is focused through them onto the crystal ball and refracted to illuminate a secret door on one wall. The secret door to area M13 can be discovered only by solving the planetarium puzzle. From inside area M13, however, the door is plainly visible.
M13. The Chained Library
To reach this room, the characters must solve the telescope puzzle in area M12 or break through the ceiling from the attic above area area M10.
This room is bare except for a bookshelf covered in chains against one wall, a plain wooden bench, and a reading desk built into the shelves. A book with the bust of a mage on its cover sits on the desk.
The three shelves are filled with books bound in iron covers, which are attached to chains that secure them to the shelves—a chained library. The reading desk is used to support the chained books while they are being read. This chained library has been enchanted to be jealously possessive of its contents. It attacks any creature that comes within its reach (use the accompanying animated chained library stat block).
Fistandia’s most treasured knowledge is kept here. There are rare tomes on the sciences, arcana, and alchemy, as well as books about planar lore and the summoning of fantastic creatures. All the books are firmly affixed to the shelves by enchanted chains and can’t be freed without being destroyed.
Treasure
If the characters defeat the animated chained library, one of its books breaks free with a length of chain still attached and functions as a
Puzzle Book
The book on the reading desk is the puzzle book with the letter L on its spine.
M14. Trophy Room
Each corner of this pleasant parlor has a scarlet armchair and a reading table piled high with books. A cheery fire burns in the fireplace. A pair of swords sits in a rack above the fireplace, and the heads of various animals are mounted on the walls.
The books are all poetry or heroic fiction meant for entertainment. The trophy heads—a stag, a wolf, a peryton, a hell hound, and a black dragon wyrmling—are purely decorative. The fire is an illusion that looks pleasant but provides no heat. The swords above the mantel are two Flying Sword that attack if anything in the room is touched.
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter Y on its spine can be found on the table.
M15. Bedroom
The door to this room is left ajar, as is the one at the end of the hall to area area M10, to let the cats roam as they please.
This is an open and airy bedroom. A canopied bed with rich scarlet curtains occupies one corner. A jug and a washbasin stand on top of a chest of drawers, and a fluffy black cat is napping on a scarlet easy chair. One wall is covered with a large painting of a gold dragon perched heroically on a mountaintop.
When the characters enter the room, the cat jumps down from the chair and stretches. It then follows the characters around the room, mewing at them. If they feed it or pet it and make a successful DC 10 Wisdom (
The top drawers of the dresser contain elegant, well-made robes. The lower drawers hold more utilitarian tunics and dresses.
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter E on its spine is sitting on the chest of drawers.
M16. Balcony
The door from the bedroom leads to a wrought iron balcony lined with slate flagstones. The greenery and colorful flowers of the arboretum are visible below.
The oppressive miasma seems to press in even closer above the mansion here than at ground level.
Lower Level (M17-M19)
M17. Alchemical Laboratory
The air here smells of astringent chemicals. Long wooden tables stretch across the room, laden with vials, beakers, and flasks holding various liquids and powders. Books are stacked between the glassware and chemicals. Yellowed paper charts and blackboards full of complex formulas cover the walls.
The books here cover chemical science and alchemy. A character who examines the charts and formulas and makes a successful DC 13 Intelligence check determines that the main goal of the research here was to transmute various materials into gold. Judging by the numerous scorch marks and acid burns on the furniture, the laboratory was the scene of several spectacular failures.
Four clay figures rest on a table in the middle of the room. They range from a rudimentary, barely humanoid shape to a small, winged body so lifelike that it almost appears to be a real creature that is merely asleep. A character who makes a successful DC 13 Intelligence (
Treasure
Several of the reagents here are quite valuable. By searching the room, the characters can gather 50 gp of alchemical materials. In addition, two of the vials contain
Puzzle Book
The puzzle book with the letter B on its spine is propped up against a large beaker.
M18. Summoning Room
This dark, stone-walled room contains only a few objects. A five-foot-diameter circle of intricate runes covers the floor. There’s an empty wooden bookstand opposite the door and bronze braziers at the other three cardinal points of the circle. Whatever material they contained has long ago burned to cinders, but the room still smells of charcoal and sulfur. Sitting next to the bookstand is a warty toad.
This is the room where Fistandia summoned the imp that would become the figurine found by Matreous. The current resident of the room is a quasit in toad form. It waits for a creature to approach and then attacks.
M19. Preserved Menagerie
Smells of alcohol and brine permeate this room. Glass vessels large and small stand in rows on the floor and tables, ranging from one foot to six feet tall. Inside each vessel is the body of a creature floating in clear liquid. One four-foot-tall container is missing its lid and has no occupant.
Fistandia considered herself to be a knowledgeable natural philosopher, and she collected many rare specimens to study. She kept examples of common and natural creatures in area area M11, and rare or aberrant creatures in this room. The collection includes a cockatrice, a flumph, a giant fire beetle, a small grell, a myconid sprout, a pseudodragon, four severed hands in the same jar, and a slaad tadpole that’s still alive and attacks if its jar is opened.
The empty container once held the mimic found in area area M8. Gravely injured when it was captured, it feigned death until it could recover and escape into the upper levels of the mansion.
The four severed hands have absorbed enough magical energy to become Crawling Claw. They push the lid off their jar and attack when any creature comes within 5 feet of them.
Assembling the Books
The command word to reopen the mansion’s portal is “liberty,” and it must be spoken within 10 feet of the portal to cause it to open.
Once the characters have recovered all (or most of) the lettered books, they should be able to guess the command word. When it is spoken, a pulse of power ripples through the mansion as the double door in area area M1 swings open, forming a portal that leads back to the study room in Candlekeep. The doorway remains open only for a minute, but the characters can simply speak the command word to reveal it again.
Conclusion
When the characters return to the study room in Candlekeep, they find Matreous’s body sprawled on the floor and the imp figurine missing. When the imp was taken from the mansion in its figurine form, the enchantment binding it ended, allowing it to sting and kill Matreous. The imp is now
Any treasure, books, specimens, or weapons the characters acquired while in the mansion remain in their possession. Anything else taken from the mansion evaporates into smoke as they pass through the doorway.
Further Adventures
What will the characters do to save the village now that Matreous is dead? If they’re willing to spend more time in Candlekeep, they might be able to find another sage who possesses the expertise they require. Alternatively, they might need to undertake new quests to earn enough money to have Matreous raised from the dead.
Fistandia and her wizardly colleague Freyot are alive, as evidenced by the homunculi they left behind in Fistandia’s mansion. What are these two wizards up to, and where are they now? One or both of them might return to Fistandia’s mansion some day. If the characters are using the mansion as a place to rest, how will Fistandia and Freyot react to the presence of uninvited guests in their home? These questions are left for you to answer.