Island Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 1.

Ahoyhoy

The tortle fort of Ahoyhoy (see map 2) is situated on the northwest coast of the island. Tortles come here to socialize, lay eggs, and meet with traders. The place has no government. Tortles and guests are expected to be on their best behavior, and those who become a nuisance are asked to leave-or forced out, if necessary.

At any given time, Ahoyhoy is home to 4d6 adult tortle (see “Tortles,"), 2d6 young tortles (noncombatants with AC 14 and 2 hit points each), and an old tortle druid named Mudgraw (for roleplaying notes, see “Tortle Guides,"; for statistics, see “Tortles,"). Four of the adult tortles stand watch on the ramparts (two in area 3 and two in area 9). The remainder sleep on woven mats or busy themselves with crafts and projects (making crossbow bolts, gutting fish, repairing weather damage to the fort, and so forth). The tortles prefer to sleep without roofs over their heads. They lay their eggs in special areas covered with rope nets to protect the eggs from large flying predators.

If the characters prod the tortles of Ahoyhoy for lore about the island and its inhabitants, each tortle they talk to shares one piece of useful information. Roll a d8 and consult the Ahoyhoy Lore table to determine what information is shared.

Ahoyhoy Lore

The fort is built atop a rocky shelf that overlooks a sandy beach. Visitors are free to set up tents on the beach and conduct trade at the fort. Once every few months, a ship will drop anchor a few hundred yards offshore and send crew members in rowboats to trade with the tortles. For more information on trading with the tortles, see area 9.

Two trails lead away from Ahoyhoy. The north trail cuts into the jungle and ends at the Mud Pits of Florrb. The south trail leads up the mountainside to Dangwaru.

1. South Gate

If the characters approach the fort from the south, read:

A multi-tiered fort stands at the water’s edge, its sturdy stone walls adorned with large tortoise shells. The trail leading to the fort ends at a wooden double door. Two guards stand watch atop the wall east of the gate. They look like overgrown, bipedal turtles armed with crossbows. Outside the gate is a beach where a couple of wide-bottomed fishing boats are tethered to piers.

See area 9 for more information on the tortle guards. They are friendly toward visitors who show no outward signs of hostility.

The double door at the south gate is unlocked but can be barred shut if the need arises. Forcing open the barred door requires a successful DC 27 Strength (Athletics) check. The barred door can also be smashed open; it has AC 15, a damage threshold of 10, 120 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The door is 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide, set into a 15-foot-high stone wall. The surrounding walls are also 15 feet high.

Wooden stairs lead down to the beach. The tortle fishing boats are functionally identical to rowboats (see chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information on rowboats).

2. North Gate and Courtyard

If the characters approach the fort from the north, read:

A multi-tiered fort stands at the water’s edge, its sturdy stone walls adorned with large tortoise shells. The trail leading to the fort ends at a wooden double door. Two guards are posted, one on each of the ramparts to each side of the gate. They look like overgrown, bipedal turtles armed with crossbows.

The gate doors are identical to those found in area 1. Two tortle (see “Tortles,") stand guard on 10-foot-high wooden ramparts that hug the inside of the wall. Ladders in the courtyard provide easy access to the ramparts.

Tortles often repair fishing nets in the courtyard, which is covered with a thin layer of sand. Short flights of stone steps ascend to adjoining areas. A roofed stable contains 1d4 boar and 1d4 mule in pens, plus 2d8 chickens in coops. Food for the animals is stored in a loft. These animals are not indigenous to the Snout of Omgar; the tortles procured them from visiting traders.

3. Living Area

The ground here is covered with sand. Tortles come here to sleep on woven mats, sit under shady awnings, hang fish and meat to dry, cook food over small fires, and drink from a central basin that collects rainwater. They also come here to socialize with one another.

4. Fishing Space and Storage

Fishing gear and other supplies are stored here in crates and barrels. Extending out from the walls are several long, wooden rods that tortles use to catch fish in the shallows. A polished metal star attached to a wooden post is used to catch and reflect sunlight and moonlight. Tortles use this star as an alarm to warn fishing boats in the western waters of an attack on the fort.

5. Amphitheater

Ahoyhoy’s tallest feature is a walled amphitheater where tortles gather to discuss community matters and share stories. Story time is an occasion the tortles of Ahoyhoy look forward to, and storytellers are expected to weave their tales in as entertaining a way as possible. Visitors are free to participate, either as listeners or storytellers.

6. Egg Hatcheries

Ahoyhoy has two large, sand-filled areas set aside as tortle hatcheries. Ropes are strung across these areas from the tops of the walls, forming nets that prevent pteranodons and similar flying predators from stealing the eggs.

There’s a 20 percent chance that a hatchery contains 1d12 tortle eggs. If eggs are present, 1d2 elderly tortle (see “Tortles,") watch over them. Each tortle egg weighs 5 pounds. A newborn tortle is usually confined to its hatchery for a few months, until it learns to walk on two legs.

7. Gong

A gong of beaten bronze wrapped in stitched lizard hide stands in the middle of the fort. A mallet hangs from the post it’s attached to. The tortles of Ahoyhoy use a simple set of gong signals:

• One bong indicates the arrival of visitors by land.
• Two bongs indicates the arrival of visitors by ship.
• Three bongs is a call to gather in the amphitheater.
• Four bongs indicates that an attack is imminent.

8. Smithy

The tortles use the easternmost area of the fort for crafting tools, shields, and weapons. It contains a stone forge and equipment for metalworking, stone carving, and hide tanning. In the middle of the area is a primitive wooden dummy the tortles use for weapon testing.

9. Market

This walled area contains the trappings of a market. The ground is covered with sand, upon which rest woven mats, wooden stalls, and display tables. A stone sundial stands in the middle of the market, and stairs lead up to wooden ramparts that line the southern wall. Tortles gather here to trade with friendly visitors.

Two tortle (see “Tortles,") stand guard on the ramparts, keeping an eye out for visitors or trouble approaching from the south.

The tortles often acquire things they don’t need from visitors so they can sell them to other visitors. If a character is looking to buy an item on the Weapons table, the Adventuring Gear table, the Tools table, or the Trade Goods table (all in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), there’s a 25 percent chance that the tortles have such an item to sell, or to trade for something of equal value. The tortles buy and sell shields, but not armor.

The Ahoyhoy Goods table contains unusual creatures and items that can be procured in the tortle settlement. If the characters want to obtain more than one of a particular creature or item, roll a d4 to determine how many the tortles have to sell or trade.

Ahoyhoy Goods

Dangwaru (The Typhoon Palace)

The Typhoon Palace (see map 3) has stood for almost a century. If the characters are of 3rd level or lower, they will need to rest and recuperate between palace encounters. They might even need to retreat and regroup a few times. Characters of 4the level or higher should be able to clear out the palace with few (if any) rests.

Built by tortles, the palace is a sturdy, multilevel stone edifice with terraces carved out of the mountainside. Its name, Dangwaru, loosely translates to “high home” in Aquan. No one remembers the name of the cleric for whom the palace was built, but the tortles of the island know the following bits of lore about Dangwaru and its original inhabitants:

• Almost a century ago, a storm caused a ship to crash near High Horn. After pulling human survivors from the wreckage and the water, the tortles tried to make the humans feel at home.
• The ship’s captain was a charismatic woman whom the tortles admired. She worshiped a sea goddess and told stories about terrifying sea monsters, great ship battles, and magnificent island palaces. The tortles built the Typhoon Palace for her so that she could feel at home on the island.
• The captain and her crew lived in the palace for the rest of their lives. The last of them perished more than fifty years ago.
• The palace is dilapidated and haunted. Young tortles occasionally explore the ruins in search of treasure. Most don’t get far before strange sounds and shadowy forms frighten them away.

The tortles built the Typhoon Palace to withstand storms, earthquakes, and the passage of time. Most of the damage it has sustained is due to neglect, and the damage is mostly superficial.

Ceilings within the palace are 15 feet high unless otherwise noted. The walls are made of plaster-covered stone. Embedded in the plaster are decorative stones, oyster shells, starfish, and branches of coral. Doors are fashioned from thick wood and have no locks.

Several areas contain magical wards that can be bypassed by anyone wearing a holy symbol of Umberlee. The characters can find such a device in the wreck of the bitch queen (see “High Horn,").

1. Ruined Portico

If the characters follow the trail south from Ahoyhoy to Dangwaru, read or paraphrase the following:

The trail clings to the mountainside and winds along the island’s rocky coast for miles before ending at a stone palace built thirty feet above sea level. Waves crash against the rocks just below the palace walls.

The palace’s grand entrance features a colonnade of vine-wrapped pillars that leads to a stone double door carved with foamy waves that part in the middle. Sections of the portico’s roof have fallen in, and palm trees and ferns sprout from between the cracked flagstones. Scores of harmless lizards use the shaded areas of the portico as a den. East of the portico is a ten-foot-tall statue choked with vines. It has the head and torso of a woman and a twisting wave of water where her legs should be. Beyond the west side of the portico, an overgrown garden terrace overlooks the thundering sea.

Slanting beams of sunlight or moonlight shine through the holes in the portico roof, depending on the time of day or night. Although the tiny lizards are harmless, a hostile giant lizard lurks amid the plants in the southeast corner of the portico. Characters who enter the portico can spot the giant lizard with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. Anyone who comes within 20 feet of it or the portcullis (see area 4) is attacked. The giant lizard is hungry and fights until slain.

The double door is unlocked and pushes open on rusty, squealing iron hinges. If the characters have found a holy symbol of Umberlee amid the wrecks of High Horn (see “High Horn,") or elsewhere, they realize that the splitting waves carved on the double door closely match the symbol.

2. Statue of Umberlee

A 10-foot-tall statue of the sea goddess Umberlee stands to the east of the palace’s portico. The statue, described in the read-aloud text for area 1, is harmless.

The ground slopes up to the south, rising 5 feet until it meets a 5-foot-wide, 8-foot-high crack in the palace wall that provides access to area 7. The crack is clearly visible to anyone who enters this area.

3. Overgrown Garden

Wild ferns and palms dominate this overgrown garden. Three statues, two depicting sharks and one depicting an octopus, are mounted atop a three-foot-high stone retaining wall overlooking the sea. Everything here is damp with spray from the crashing waves. A stone staircase climbs ten feet to a crumbling stone balcony that stretches southward as it hugs the palace wall.

It’s a 20-foot drop from the garden to the sea. During the day, the garden is home to harmless lizards, snakes, and spiders, but nothing dangerous. At night, seven Topi lurk amid the plants and other wildlife. They try to surprise any character who wanders into the garden. No treasure is hidden here.

4. Antechamber and Portcullis

The palace doors open into an antechamber with a torch bracket mounted on the west wall. Set into the south wall is a heavy iron portcullis that can be raised and lowered using the winch in area 5. Although the portcullis is too sturdy to be damaged by weapons, casting a knock spell on the portcullis raises it. A character can also lift the portcullis with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check, and a Small character can squeeze between the portcullis bars with a successful DC 20 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

5. Feast Hall

A rusty iron chandelier hangs by a chain above a once grand dining table situated in the middle of a large room. Light dapples the table through holes in the roof, and a few harmless tropical birds flap about. The tiled floor is littered with broken dishes, bird droppings, and other detritus. A wide staircase to the south climbs five feet to a raised gallery that surrounds the room. Old, framed pictures of sailing ships hang on the gallery walls. Three closed sets of doors lead from the upper area to other parts of the palace. A fourth doorway in the southeast corner is almost completely blocked by rubble.

This ruined feast hall contains nothing of value. Characters who search the walls, however, find a small iron key hidden behind one of the framed pictures. The key, which has a head shaped like an anchor, unlocks the painted chest in area 18.

The winch mechanism to raise and lower the portcullis (area 4) is on the east wall in the northwest section of the gallery.

The debris in the southeast corner is the result of a partial collapse of the roof. It can be cleared by a single character in 4 hours, or in proportionately less time by two or more characters working together. Once the debris is cleared, the doorway leads to area 9.

6. Abandoned Quarters

This room contains a number of beds, couches, and other furnishings, all of which have seen better days. Plaster has fallen from the ceiling and walls, adding to the refuse and disarray. Across from the double door, a narrow window looks out toward the sea.

A search of the room yields nothing of interest or value. The window is wide enough for a Small or Medium character to crawl through.

7. Ruined Bath

Characters can enter this room through the door on the west wall or the 5-foot-wide crack in the north wall.

A sunken bath choked with plant life dominates this room, the plastered walls of which are set with colorful coral branches and shells. More plants erupt through gaps between the flagstones, creating a veritable jungle in here. A bat flutters about, alerted by your presence.

In addition to the harmless bat, the ruined bath is home to several harmless lizards, snails, and spiders.

Treasure

A character who searches the 3-foot-deep sunken bath and succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check finds a holy symbol of Umberlee (25 gp) in the undergrowth.

8. Shrine

A stone pedestal stands atop a circular dais in the middle of this room. Atop the pedestal, facing the double door to the east, is a ten-inch-tall wooden statuette of a woman holding a trident, with a shark’s tail instead of legs. Four iron torch brackets are bolted to the damp walls, which are covered with peeling plaster and set with colorful coral branches and starfish. A narrow window across from the double door looks out toward the sea.

The window is wide enough for a Small or Medium character to crawl through.

Trapped Relic

The statuette on the pedestal represents Umberlee. A tortle carved it out of driftwood, painted it, and gave it to the palace’s Umberlee worshipers as a gift. It was placed here so that visitors could prostrate themselves before the sea goddess.

A glyph of warding spell triggers the first time the statuette is removed from the pedestal by a creature that is not wearing a holy symbol of Umberlee. A character who studies the statuette and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots the nearly invisible glyph, which is inscribed on the trident. When triggered, the glyph erupts with magical energy in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on it. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

9. Crab Pool

A partial collapse of the roof has filled the western doorway with rubble. Characters can’t use the doorway until the rubble is cleared away (see area 5 for details).

The plastered walls of this dark room are slick with moisture and set with colorful stones, starfish, shells, and coral branches. Extruding from the east wall is a stone sculpture of a giant crab, its pincered arms hugging a ten-foot-wide stone basin. A trickle of water flows from the crab’s mouth into the basin. Holes in the basin’s rim serve as drains to keep the pool from overflowing. Through a narrow window in the south wall comes the crash of tidal sea water flowing in and out of a cave.

The tortles built a cistern on the roof that catches rainwater and channels it through the crab sculpture into the pool. If a creature bathes in the pool, a dozen crab scuttle out of holes in the giant stone crab sculpture to clean the bather. The process takes 10 minutes. The crabs are harmless and can be killed normally.

A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation magic emanating from the pool. The pool has the following powers, which an identify spell can ascertain:

• A creature that speaks a prayer to Umberlee while tossing 10 gp or more worth of treasure into the pool gains the magical ability to breathe water for 24 hours while retaining its normal mode of respiration. The treasure vanishes as the blessing is conferred.
• Any creature that damages the basin must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be transformed into a crab for 24 hours. The effect is otherwise identical to that of the polymorph spell.

Window

The window in the south wall is wide enough for a Small or Medium character to crawl through. It looks out into a flooded sea cave (area 12) and is 25 feet above the water level.

10. Crumbling Walkway

A stone walkway above the water’s edge has partially collapsed into the churning sea, leaving wide gaps. What remains of the walkway is structurally sound. To cross the damaged area safely on foot, a creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. If the check fails, the creature falls 30 feet down a rocky slope, taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall and landing in 10-foot-deep water. Characters who ascend the walkway from the north can circumvent the damaged section by crawling through the window into area 6, moving through the palace, and exiting through the window in the west wall of area 8, from where they can continue to the south.

Seaside Entrance

At the south end of the walkway is a stone double door. The doors are carved with foaming waves that part in the middle, and they swing into area 11 on rusty iron hinges.

11. Throne Room

During the day, sunlight slips through cracks in the ceiling and a window in the west wall, dimly illuminating the area. On clear nights, moonlight does the same. The sound of crashing waves is constant, day and night.

Peeling murals adorn the plastered walls of this throne room, depicting tentacled sea monsters dragging storm tossed ships to their doom. Set into the plaster are white coral branches and mosaics in the form of sharks made of decorative stones and shells. Pillars carved to look like thick strands of kelp support the cracked, thirty-foot-high domed ceiling. Two pairs of wooden statues of turtle-like humanoids stand on opposite sides of the room. Between the southern pair extends a dark hallway. A dais against the east wall supports a granite throne carved to resemble an octopus. Behind the throne is a double door, next to which stands a tall clay urn. Set into the wall opposite the throne is a nine-foot-tall, arched window that looks out over the sea.

Four shadow lurk here. These undead remnants of long-dead Umberlee worshipers do their utmost to surprise and kill intruders. They have arms that look like tentacles, and their Strength Drain attacks have a reach of 10 feet instead of 5 feet. Otherwise, their statistics are unchanged. The shadows can’t go outside, nor can they communicate. They fight until turned or destroyed.

The room also contains a mimic, disguised as the clay urn on the east wall. The mimic preys on creatures distracted by the shadows or waits to attack someone who inspects the eastern doors. If the mimic is reduced to half its hit points or fewer, it attempts to withdraw. The shadows and the mimic ignore each other.

Statues

The four wooden statues are carved and painted to look like tortles. They stand 6 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds each.

Throne

The granite throne weighs 3,000 pounds and radiates a strong aura of transmutation magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell or a similar effect. An identify spell reveals its magical properties:

• A humanoid that sits in the throne can use it to cast the control weather spell without needing components. As long as the creature remains seated in the throne, it doesn’t need to concentrate to maintain the spell. Leaving the throne ends the effect, whereupon the weather gradually returns to normal.
• A humanoid that sits in the throne can transform itself into a sea gull (use the raven statistics without the Mimicry trait) or an octopus. The effect is identical to that of a polymorph spell, except the duration is 8 hours and the creature can end the effect on itself at any time (no action required).

12. Sea Cave

Sea water rushes in and out of this damp cave, crashing against the walls and filling the cave with a cold spray. Clinging to the wall beyond the door is a semicircular stone balcony. Near the back of the cave hangs a sagging bridge made of frayed ropes and wooden planks, Between them, carved into the north wall midway between the balcony and the bridge, is a narrow open window.

The water here is 20 feet deep and tumultuous. Any creature that starts its turn in the water must succeed on a DC 10 Strength saving throw or be dashed against the walls, taking 2d6 bludgeoning damage, and dragged 1d6 × 5 feet westward or eastward by the current as the water rushes into the cave or recedes.

Balcony

The stone balcony is 30 feet above the water and connected to the throne room (area 11) by a stone double door.

Bridge

The bridge hangs 30 feet above the water and connects areas 22 and 24. Many of its planks are missing, and those that remain are rotted and unsafe. When a character uses the bridge, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, a plank snaps underfoot, forcing the character to succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall into the water below. Roll only once per character per crossing. Each time the bridge loses a plank, increase the DC of future saving throws by 1.

Window

The window in the north wall is wide enough for a Small or Medium character to crawl through. The opening is 25 feet above the water level.

13. Ruined Guard Room

Characters can enter this room through an open doorway in the west wall or the stone double door to the east.

The outside door of this room has fallen in, and vegetation has crept inside. Vines and plants grow amid wrecked furniture, and tropical birds nest on shelves and in niches. Stairs to the west curl down to a vast, multilevel garden terrace.

The furnishings fall apart if disturbed. A search of the room yields nothing of value.

14. Terrace Garden

During the day, six blood hawk circle the garden at a height of 60 feet. These aggressive, red-feathered birds prey on lizards and other small animals, and they gang up on a character who explores the terraced garden alone. The blood hawks aren’t present at night.

Waves crash against a rocky promontory, built atop which is a spectacular, multilevel garden, its terraces overgrown with vegetation and hemmed in by stone walls with statues of sharks at their corners. Stone steps connect the lower terraces with the higher ones. Built atop the highest terrace is an ornate, vine-draped gazebo flanked by palm trees. Cracked steps east of the gazebo rise to a landing in front of a set of doors carved to resemble a giant wave that parts in the middle.

Elevation markers on map 3 indicate the heights of the various terraces above sea level.

In the gazebo lurks a hungry decapus (see “Decapus,") that attacks the first creature that comes within reach. The decapus has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide under the gazebo’s roof.

Treasure

The floor of the gazebo is littered with the remains of past meals, including lizard bones, blood hawk feathers, and two tortle shells. Amid the refuse is a ring made of lapis lazuli (25 gp). The ring has a magical quirk that causes its wearer to experience a recurring nightmare after sleeping for more than 1 hour with the ring on. The nightmare is vivid: the wearer is engulfed by a sperm whale while clinging to a floating barrel on a stormy sea. After being swallowed whole in the nightmare, the ring wearer awakens, no worse for wear.

15. Cleric’s Chambers

The Typhoon Palace’s resident cleric of Umberlee claimed these rooms for herself. The double door to this suite has a glyph of warding spell inscribed above it that triggers when a creature passes between the opened doors. Only a creature wearing a holy symbol of Umberlee does not trigger the glyph and can pass through the doors safely. A character who studies the door frame and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots the nearly invisible glyph. When triggered, the glyph erupts with magical energy in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on it. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

When the characters first lay eyes on the cleric’s bedchamber, read:

This palatial bedchamber is eerily quiet and still. Cracks have formed in the blue plaster walls, set into which are colorful coral branches and seashells. Pillars carved to resemble tentacles support the vaulted ceiling, which features a large dome painted to look like the night sky. Beneath the dome and between the pillars, a large bed stands atop a wide, circular dais. The bed’s wooden frame is carved to resemble surging waves. Set into the north wall are two doors. Dust covers everything.

The bedchamber contains nothing of value. The doors to the north lead to smaller rooms described below.

Bathroom

The eastern door off the cleric’s bedchamber opens into a tiled bathroom. The bathtub is a long, rectangular stone basin set in the floor. Pipes connect the basin to a rain-catching cistern on the roof. Next to the basin is a stone plug that can be used to keep the water from draining out through the hole in the bottom of the basin.

Vestibule

The western door off the cleric’s bedchamber opens into a vestibule where the cleric of Umberlee kept her personal belongings. Stone shelves stand against the bare stone walls, and two wooden chests rest in the middle of the floor.

The shelves contain worthless wooden statuettes of sea creatures given to the cleric of Umberlee by tortle admirers, as well as four moldy books that are the logs from her days as captain of the bitch queen . These old logbooks chronicle the ship’s voyages and are worth 25 gp each to an interested buyer in any port city. The chests are locked, and their keys can be found in area 24. Picking a lock requires thieves' tools and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. One chest contains five outfits of traveler’s clothes sized for a large human female. The other chest holds priestly vestments befitting a cleric of Umberlee and eight iron keys of different shapes and sizes. The keys open eight of the nine chests in area 18. (The ninth key was taken and hidden in area 5.)

16. Kitchen and Storage

This kitchen has not been disturbed in years, and its contents are covered with dust and cobwebs. A stone oven is built into one wall, and narrow doors open into storerooms and pantries.

Characters who search the room can salvage enough material to assemble five mess kits. Any food that was once stored here has long since perished.

17. Hallway

This arched hallway is reinforced with stone buttresses, between which are painted murals depicting gloomy underwater scenes. A large double door stands to the west, and a flickering orb is embedded in the wall at the east end of the hall. Along the hall’s length are two more sets of double doors, a single door, and two clay urns covered with dust and cobwebs.

The orb at the east end of the hall is made of crystal and radiates an aura of conjuration magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell or similar effect. The orb, which is 1 foot in diameter, sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Whenever a creature touches the orb, roll a d6. On a roll of 2 or higher, the orb teleports the creature to area 24. On a roll of 1, the orb malfunctions and emits lightning in a 100-foot-long line as wide as the hall. Each creature in the area of effect must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The orb can’t be removed from its wall fixture. It has AC 10, 1 hit point, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. Destroying the orb extinguishes its light and renders the pieces nonmagical.

The doors along the north wall open into the rooms beyond. The doors to the west and south have hinges on this side and open into the hallway.

The clay urns are purely decorative and contain nothing of value.

18. Treasury

When characters peer into this area from area 17, read:

Beyond the double door is a twenty-foot-wide, twenty foot long hallway leading to a dark, pillared chamber strewn with chests, crates, and other containers. Everything is covered with dust, but not enough to conceal the broken bones and weapons lying on the hallway floor.

The remains on the floor belong to a pair of long-dead thieves. Characters who brush away the dust also find bloodstains and deep scratches on the floor. These clues suggest the presence of a trap.

Crusher Trap

The 20-foot-square area south of the double door contains a mechanical trap with a magical sensor. When a creature enters this area, giant spring-loaded gears hidden in the walls cause blocks of stone on either side of the hall to slam together. Only a creature wearing a holy symbol of Umberlee can move through the area without triggering the trap. A character standing north or south of the trapped area can discern, by looking at the scratches on the floor, that the walls are movable blocks of stone, but there’s no way to identify the trap’s trigger or the method of bypassing it without experimentation or the use of divination magic. A creature between the colliding blocks of stone must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a success, the creature leaps out of the way in whichever direction it prefers, north or south. On a failed save, the creature takes 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this damage is crushed to a pulp. After they slam shut, the blocks take 1 minute to retract into the walls, whereupon the trap resets.

Sculpted Visage

A wide alcove in the east wall is not visible from the northern entrance. When characters see the alcove for the first time, read:

At the back of a recess in the east wall is a giant stone visage rendered in bas-relief. The face is that of a divinely beautiful woman with kelp for hair, eyelids like seashells, and a vaguely menacing half-smile.

The face, which is 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide, represents the sea goddess Umberlee. It radiates an aura of transmutation magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell or similar effect. When a creature openly wearing or brandishing a holy symbol of Umberlee comes within 10 feet of the face, its mouth opens wide, creating a 5-foot-diameter opening that allows access to the caves beyond (area 22). The opening is lined with rows of triangular teeth similar to those of a giant shark, but they are easily avoided. The mouth closes after 1 minute but can be reopened from either side.

Treasure

This room contains booty ransacked from shipwrecks, held in two sealed barrels, nine locked wooden chests, four clay urns, and four sealed crates. The Treasury Containers table describes each container and its contents. Keys that unlock chests 1 through 8 can be found in area 15; the key that unlocks chest 9 is hidden in area 5. A character using thieves' tools can unlock a chest with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.

Treasury Containers

19. Glass Statue

This dark, rectangular room contains a seven-foot-tall glass statue of a scowling woman with octopus tentacles for arms emerging from dark ocean waves. Three dusty rugs lie at the statue’s base.

Close inspection reveals that the statue is hollow and filled with swirling water. The statue has AC 10, 10 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. If the statue is shattered, the water spills out and takes the form of a water elemental under the command of the one who released it. The elemental understands Aquan only and does not heed commands it can’t understand. It disappears 1 hour after being set free.

20. Haunted Cage

Hanging by a chain from the ceiling of this dark, rectangular room is an old diver’s cage with barnacles clinging to it. The cage is eight feet tall, five feet in diameter, and dangles two feet off the floor. Tattered rugs are splayed out before it. Other furnishings include bare shelves and painted clay urns, all covered in dust and cobwebs.

The largest rug is a rug of smothering. It attacks the first creature that disturbs it. The urns contain the skulls and bones of six dead Umberlee worshipers.

The cage was salvaged from the bitch queen (see “High Horn,"), where it was used for deep sea salvaging in shark-infested waters. It was also used by the captain to torture and drown prisoners. If a living creature touches the cage, a neutral merfolk ghost materializes inside it. The ghost is all that remains of Siburrath, a male merfolk who was captured and tortured by the bitch queen ’s captain over a century ago. Siburrath’s ghost can’t leave the cage unless it possesses someone, and it can’t rest until its torturer is slain.

The ghost tries to possess the first character to come within 5 feet of it, with the intent of using the host to find and kill its torturer. If the ghost fails to possess someone, it tries to persuade the characters (in Aquan or Common) to help it find peace. The ghost can sense that its torturer is nearby, but can’t discern the exact location. If the characters kill the slug creature in area 24, the ghost is laid to rest, and the characters receive XP as though they had defeated the ghost in combat.

Treasure

When the ghost is laid to rest, it leaves behind a pearlescent conch shell that weighs 2 pounds. The conch radiates an aura of evocation magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell or similar effect. An identify spell reveals that the conch is a single-use magic item with the following property: a creature can use an action to blow the conch like a horn, creating an effect identical with that of a Leomund’s tiny hut spell. The conch disappears once the spell takes effect. The effect ends if the creature that blew the horn leaves the spell’s area.

21. Lounge

Two sets of double doors lead into this chamber, and a narrow window between them looks onto an overgrown garden terrace. The furnishings here have deteriorated with age. The plastered walls are peeling, and tropical birds have made nests in the cracked ceiling. A staircase flanked by marble pillars climbs to a raised stone platform decorated with tattered rugs, cushions, and tapestries. About the room are three clay urns painted with images of sharks and octopuses, and two rotted couches.

Six Topi hide in the clay urns, two per urn. All six emerge and attack if any urn is disturbed or if the double door to the west is opened.

22. Caves of Worship

This area consists of three natural caves connected by tunnels. Sea mist sprays from the north, and the noise of crashing waves echoes throughout. Within each cave is a 5-foot-deep pool of water. Harmless crabs scuttle across the floor, and glistening snails cling to the walls. A few smashed barrels and crates are scattered about.

As the characters move through the caves, a hungry xorn emerges from a wall behind them and demands food (in Terran). If the characters don’t quickly feed the xorn at least 50 gp worth of gems or coins, it attacks them. If the xorn is properly fed or reduced to fewer than half its hit points, it sinks back into the stone.

23. Blow Holes

At unpredictable intervals, seawater erupts through four holes in the floor of this 80-foot-long tunnel and then rushes back into area 12, dragging creatures in the tunnel along with it. Roll a d6 at the end of any turn in which one or more creatures are in the tunnel. On a roll of 1 or 2, water erupts from the blow holes and quickly recedes, forcing all Medium or smaller creatures in the tunnel to make a DC 10 Strength saving throw. Any creature that fails the save is flushed into area 12, taking 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage as it plunges down the nearest blow hole. If the creature is secured by a rope, it is swept away only as far as the rope allows but still takes damage. A character flushed into area 12 can make a DC 15 Dexterity check to ride a wave back up through one of the blow holes. On a successful check, the character takes 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage and lands prone in the tunnel.

24. Shrine of Umberlee

Rising up from the floor of this damp, dark cave is a grotesque, ten-foot-tall statue of a sea monster with glistening eyes and tentacles. A raised stone basin, its base carved to resemble a surging wave, stands nearby. Against the walls are two smashed crates, two clay urns, and three rotted wooden chests.

The statue depicts a kraken-one of Umberlee’s many forms. Characters who approach the statue see a creature clinging to the ceiling behind it:

Clinging to the ceiling behind the statue is a nine-foot-long slug with glistening black skin and tentacles sprouting from its head. It opens its mouth, revealing sharp teeth.

The giant slug used to be the cleric of Umberlee for whom the Typhoon Palace was built. The sea goddess transformed the cleric as a punishment for some unknown offense. The giant slug has no recollection of its previous life and has the statistics of a carrion crawler, with the following changes:

• The giant slug has 66 hit points.
• It has a walking speed and climbing speed of 10 feet. It can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
• It can innately cast each of the following spells once per day, requiring no components: guiding bolt, sanctuary, and spiritual weapon. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11; +3 to hit with spell attacks).
• When the slug takes damage in this cave, it can use its reaction to animate one of the tentacles of the kraken statue and cause it to make a melee weapon attack (+3 to hit) against one creature within 20 feet of the statue that the slug can see. The tentacle deals 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage on a hit.
• It has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
• It understands Abyssal, Aquan, and Common, but can’t speak.
• It has a challenge rating of 3 (700 XP).

Also present are two shadow similar to those found in area 11. They emerge from behind the kraken statue and attack if the giant slug is harmed. If the slug is reduced to 11 hit points or fewer, it casts sanctuary on itself and cowers behind the kraken statue.

Statue and Holy Symbol

The statue weighs 5,000 pounds and is covered with slimy mildew. Lying on the floor behind the statue is a holy symbol of Umberlee (25 gp) that has a minor magical quirk: when carried or worn by someone who is not a worshiper of Umberlee, the holy symbol fills its owner with a sense of dread. This holy symbol once belonged to the cleric of Umberlee, but she has no use for it in her current form. See handout D for an illustration of the holy symbol.

Stone Basin

The cleric of Umberlee used this basin as a scrying pool. Pipes built into its base fill the basin with seawater until it overflows. At the bottom of the basin, under 10 gallons of seawater, are two rusty iron keys. The keys unlock the chests in area 15.

Treasure

The smashed crates, the clay urns, and two of the rotting chests are empty. The third chest is unlocked and contains 120 sp and 70 cp in a moldy sack (tribute to Umberlee), two potions of healing in flasks made from hollowed-out sea urchins, a driftglobe, and a coral crown (250 gp).

Development

Killing the giant slug lays the spirit of Siburrath (see area 20) to rest.

Geonid Caves

The mountains are riddled with natural caves that have been taken over and expanded by geonids. Each lair is a small labyrinth of twisting tunnels and chambers inhabited by 2d6 geonid (see “Geonid”).

Each cave system is strewn with the bones of the geonids' past meals (bats, rats, and lizards, mostly). There is a 30 percent chance that the geonids share their lair either with a flail snail (see Tomb of Annihilation or Volo’s Guide to Monsters) that doesn’t react kindly to intruders or a gluttonous xorn that demands gemstones for safe passage.

Treasure

Geonids hide their treasure at the back of their lairs. A thorough search of the deepest cave uncovers 2d10 gp worth of stone jewelry and art objects (carved figurines, talismans, and the like), as well as 1d4 uncut gemstones worth 10 gp each. Each time the characters find such a hoard, there’s a cumulative 20 percent chance that the trove includes a 6-inch-tall obsidian figurine of a coiled serpent god (25 gp). Only one such relic can be found. A geonid stole it from the Shrine of Fangs, and its return completes a quest (see “Shrine of Fangs”).

High Horn

Standing atop a rocky crag at the northernmost tip of the island, facing northwest, is a thirty-foot-tall stone statue of a turtle-like humanoid with a large stone horn held up to its mouth. Below the monument is a stretch of sandy beach covered with shells. Black, moss-covered rocks jut from the water like teeth worn down by time. Just beyond these “teeth” are several barnacle-covered shipwrecks.

The statue depicts a long-dead tortle named Gumdarr, who heard a ship crash on the rocks and stood atop the crag to get a better look. He blew a horn to lure other tortles to the beach, and together they fished out the survivors of the shipwreck.

Six ships have crashed here in the past one hundred years, including the ship that brought the cleric of Umberlee and her crew to the island. At high tide, three of the wrecks (the bitch queen, the carcerius , and the sea mare) are submerged, while the others (the dawn avenger , the dirty dastard , and the virago) are at least partially visible above the waterline. At low tide, all six wrecks are visible to some extent. Each shipwreck is described below.

A two-headed plesiosaurus prowls the water around the wrecks at high tide. The creature withdraws to the northern strait when the tide goes out. It has the statistics of a plesiosaurus, with these changes:

• The two-headed plesiosaurus has 100 hit points.
• It has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, or knocked unconscious.
• It can use its action to make two bite attacks, one with each head.
• It has a challenge rating of 4 (1,100 XP).

Bitch Queen

The bitch queen was a floating temple to the goddess Umberlee. When the ship capsized and was thrown onto the rocks during a storm almost a century ago, many of the crew were trapped in flooded cabins. The tortles who rescued them and pulled them ashore were smitten by the bitch queen ’s human captain, who painted Umberlee in a more flattering light than she deserves. Eager to please the captain and her deity, the tortles looked after the survivors and built a palace for them on the mountainside overlooking the sea.

Of the bitch queen, little remains except its bowsprit and wooden figurehead, which is carved in the likeness of a screaming woman with long strands of kelp for hair and waves breaking around her. Part of the ship’s aft castle lies nearby, on its side and lodged amid the rocks. The wreck is completely submerged at high tide; at low tide, the bowsprit and half of the figurehead are visible, as is a small, sun-bleached corner of the aft castle.

Treasure

Hooked on a section of splintered railing still attached to the bowsprit is a tarnished silver holy symbol of Umberlee (25 gp). A character must dive underwater to find it, but it glitters in the light and is easily spotted. See handout D for an illustration of the holy symbol.

Carcerius

The caravel carcerius was transporting slaves around Chult when it was caught in a storm seventy-five years ago. The crew was swept off the deck, leaving the slaves chained below. When the ship finally slammed against the rocks and sank, all of the slaves drowned.

Three sections of shattered hull form a triangle, and most of the carcerius is buried in the sand. The wreck is completely submerged at high tide, and two sections are half-exposed at low tide. Scavengers have picked clean the wreck, but one can still find rusty manacles bolted to rotten beams alongside skeletal remains.

Dawn Avenger

The captain of the dawn avenger was an aasimar cleric of Lathander. A little over a year ago, she came to the south shores of Chult with a charter to hunt pirates and instead ran her ship aground. Thick clouds of smoke from the volcanoes to the north, which hampered visibility, were to blame. Seven survivors including the captain made it to the Snout, but they didn’t stay long. They used salvaged rowboats to cross the northern strait, landed on the mainland, and disappeared into the wilds of Chult. No tortle on the island met the survivors, so no one knows what became of them.

The dawn avenger broke in half. Its aft section was dragged out to sea by the current, but its forward section is lodged between rocks, canted to one side with its broken mast pointing south. The wreckage is entirely visible at low tide, and the starboard half becomes submerged at high tide. The tortles have picked it clean, leaving nothing of value.

Dirty Dastard

This pirate ship sank nine years ago. It sits upside down on a rock bed, its masts and upper deck sheared off, its exposed belly crusted with barnacles and snails. At low tide, the hull is fully above the water. A gash on its starboard side makes an adequate doorway. Everything but the ship’s keel is submerged at high tide.

Plundered by tortles shortly after it sank, the Dirty Dastard recently became the lair of a sea hag named Myldryd Urchinspine. The vile hag lurks in the boat’s dark interior, ready to devour anyone who drops in uninvited. The sandy floor of her lair is covered with half-eaten raw fish, seaweed, and broken shells. Hidden under the sand and detritus are two giant crab that obey the hag’s commands.

Treasure

The hag brought with her an old, unlocked sea chest containing her possessions. The chest lies buried under sand and rocks. Characters who spend at least 15 minutes searching the hag’s lair uncover the rotting chest with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. The check is made with disadvantage if the wreckage is underwater.

Myldryd’s chest contains three trinkets (determined randomly by rolling on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the player’s handbook), 200 cp, a comb made out of whalebone (5 sp), and a stuffed parrot with a carnelian gemstone (50 gp) hidden inside it. A secret compartment in the chest’s lid can be found and opened with a successful DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check; it contains a medallion of thoughts .

Sea Mare

The sea mare was a merchant ship that fell prey to pirates twenty-four years ago. After the pirates killed the ship’s crew and looted the hold, they tried to set the ship ablaze before abandoning it. A rainstorm extinguished the flames before they could do much damage, but strong winds blew the derelict vessel to its doom. Of all the wrecked ships found at High Horn, the sea mare is the one farthest from shore, nestled in a hole and lodged against a coral reef. It’s mostly intact but lies completely underwater at high tide. Even at low tide, only the battered remains of the crow’s nest can be seen above the water.

Tortles have tried numerous times to plunder the wreck, to no avail. With her dying breath, the ship’s captain pledged her soul to Orcus and was transformed into a wight that lurks in the ship’s hold. Though she carries no weapons, she guards what’s left of the cargo (see “Treasure” below).

Within the flooded hold, amid skeletons picked clean by fish, the characters can find an airtight stone sarcophagus carved in the likeness of a demon with folded wings. The sarcophagus weighs 2,000 pounds, and its lid has an arcane lock spell cast on it. Opening the sarcophagus requires a knock spell or a successful DC 28 Strength (Athletics) check. It contains the mummified corpse of an archmage who perished after failing to become a lich. The corpse is wrapped in a black shroud. A stoppered bronze scroll tube rests at its feet, and a staff fashioned from a single branch of pale white wood (see “Treasure” below) lies beside it.

The scroll tube contains a dry sheet of parchment bearing the following message in Abyssal: “Orcus, claim your prize! The secrets of lichdom remain yours, but my deeds and magic will live on, as will my soul in the Abyss.”

Treasure

The top of the archmage’s staff is shaped like a demon’s claw. The staff is not magical, but it radiates a false aura of conjuration magic when studied under a detect magic spell or similar magic. Casting dispel magic on the staff removes the false aura. The staff is worth 25 gp and can be used as an arcane focus.

Virago

The virago was a merchant vessel out of Zazesspur. Thirty-odd years ago, it ran afoul of pirates and was chased around the Chultan peninsula. The virago would have escaped had it not sailed into a pyroclastic ash cloud and caught fire. The burning ship drifted for days before the current bore it to High Horn. There it sank. The burnt nub that was once the mast is the only part of the ship visible at high tide; at low tide, the scorched top deck of the virago is above water; the rotted-out lower deck and keel are buried deep in the sand below. Nothing of value can be salvaged from this wreck.

Mud Pits of Florrb

In the heart of the island’s jungle are three pools of mud heated by geothermal vents. Each pool is within sight of the other two and is 5 feet deep, 50 feet wide, and roughly circular. (The pools shown on map 1 are not to scale.) A detect magic spell reveals a faint aura of abjuration magic around each pool. The tortles of the island like to bathe and relax in the mud pools for hours at a time, singing and bellowing to pass the time. A winding foot trail connects the mud pits to the tortle fort of Ahoyhoy.

The “lord” of the mud pits is Florrb, a mud mephit with 1d10 temporary hit points (which he gained by swimming in the mud pits). The mephit and the tortles share a common language (Aquan). Through words and gestures, Florrb urges visitors to bathe in the mud and enjoy themselves. It demands no payment but insists on joining those who bathe. Florrb likes being in its natural element, but the longer the mephit remains in the mud, the more dour it becomes. A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that the mud mephit seems to be waiting for something to happen. Florrb doesn’t want others to know what’s really going on and reveals the cause of its anxiety only if magically compelled to do so.

Florrb’s Problem

When the mud pits formed a hundred years ago, Florrb and two other mud mephits were transported into them from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The other two mephits found a way to get back to their home plane, but Florrb was left behind. It wants to return home but doesn’t know how. The other mephits were swimming in the mud pits when they disappeared. In the years since, other creatures have disappeared while bathing in the mud pits, but Florrb has yet to figure out the trick to activating them. With a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, a character can help Florrb recall that each of other mephits disappeared during a volcanic eruption, as ash and embers were falling from the sky.

A legend lore spell reveals that all three mud pits are portals to the Elemental Plane of Earth and that a special “gate key” is needed to unlock them from this side. The gate key is any open flame. (The flame and the mud pit symbolize the coming together of the four elements: earth and water in the mud, fire and air in the flame.) Whenever an open flame is burning within 10 feet of a mud pit, the pit becomes a portal linked to a similar but larger mud pit on the Elemental Plane of Earth. At such times, any creature that fully submerges itself in one pit emerges in the other. An open flame is not needed to travel from one of the mud pits on the Elemental Plane of Earth to its corresponding mud pit on the island.

Mud Pit Effect

Any creature that bathes in a mud pit for at least 1 hour gains 1d10 temporary hit points. Mud removed from a pit loses this property.

Shrine of Fangs

Nested at the foot of a mountain is an ancient yuan-ti shrine dedicated to Merrshaulk. Yuan-ti abominations once offered sacrifices here, hoping to wake their slumbering deity or gain flickers of divine insight.

Near the base of the mountain is a giant carving of a snake’s head, its forked tongue forming a ten-foot-wide, twenty-foot-high stone ramp. Stone fangs descend from the roof of the serpent’s mouth, which forms a canopy over a dark, ten-foot-wide tunnel leading into the mountain.

The tunnel at the back of the serpent’s head is 200 feet long and corkscrews gently down into the mountain, ending before an unlit oval chamber. Characters who have a light source or can see in the dark can discern the room’s features:

The tunnel ends at a domed oval room thirty feet deep, twenty feet wide, and twenty feet high. The walls are carved with frescoes depicting swarms of snakes. At the far end of the room is a cracked, bowl-shaped altar, three feet tall and six feet in diameter, caked with dried blood. Set into the base of the bowl is an empty niche, and hanging from the ceiling above the altar is a bloodstained iron hook at the end of a rusty chain.

A search of the wall frescoes reveals that the snakes' eye sockets once held precious gemstones. Xorn living in the mountain plucked out and ate all the gems, leaving behind empty, faceted indentations.

Yuan-ti liked to impale their sacrifices on the hook above the altar. The victims' blood would pool in the altar’s stone bowl, and the yuan-ti would wash themselves in the blood while calling Merrshaulk’s name, hoping to rouse the god from his slumber.

Talking Snakes

Lurking behind the altar are two awakened poisonous snake named Ssura and Y’zleth (pronounced SOO-rah and EEZ-leth). They slither out of hiding to confront anyone who approaches within 5 feet of the altar. Each awakened snake is unaligned, has an Intelligence score of 10, and speaks Common. The snakes claim to have useful information to share if the characters are willing to complete a quest for them.

Six months ago, a creature with a boulder-like shell (a geonid) entered the shrine and stole an icon of Merrshaulk. The icon is a serpent figurine carved from obsidian. Ssura and Y’zleth want it found and returned to the niche in the base of the altar. The thief and its kind live in caves that riddle the mountains (see “Geonid Caves,"). The snakes warn the characters that they might need to search several caves to find the figurine.

As servants of Merrshaulk, Ssura and Y’zleth are opposed to other yuan-ti deities. In particular, they seek to thwart the machinations of yuan-ti that are devoted to Dendar the Night Serpent. If the characters complete the quest, Ssura and Y’zleth reveal the following information as their reward:

• A locked gate beneath the Peaks of Flame leads to the realm of an apocalyptic god known as Dendar the Night Serpent. If the Night Serpent emerges, she will devour the world. Her yuan-ti followers are searching for a relic called the Black Opal Crown, which is said to have the power to open the gate to Dendar’s realm.
• For ages, a mysterious god named Ubtao stood watch in Chult and built mazes to prevent Dendar’s worshipers from finding and releasing her. Ubtao has since withdrawn from the world, leaving no one to guard against Dendar’s release.
• Ras Nsi, one of Ubtao’s fallen champions, has joined forces with the yuan-ti and become one of them. Ras Nsi and his fellow yuan-ti have built a temple under the ruined city of Omu, west of the Peaks of Flame.
• One of Ras Nsi’s greatest enemies is a naga named Saja N’baza. The naga dwells in a fallen kingdom called Orolunga. Neither Ssura nor Y’zleth knows how to get there.

Ssura and Y’zleth learned everything they know from yuan-ti visitors to the shrine. They might know other facts as well, at your discretion. The awakened snakes won’t leave the shrine willingly, and they attack anyone who tries to capture or kill them.