A bar brawl in the Yawning Portal proves that nowhere is safe from the gang war between the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild. In this atmosphere of danger, the characters are offered a quest by Volothamp Geddarm. Volo promises a reward if they can rescue his missing friend, Floon Blagmaar, who he fears has been caught up in the conflict. Volo’s quest is a straightforward introduction to the streets of Waterdeep, providing the characters with an excuse to explore the city.
In their hunt for Volo’s friend, the characters might make allies and enemies who can resurface throughout the adventure. Following the completion of Volo’s quest, the characters gain a home base with an address in Trollskull Alley, in Waterdeep’s North Ward. From their new base, the characters can plot their own course, whether it involves interacting with Waterdeep’s people, joining one of the city’s many factions, or simply poking around for danger.
Where to Start
This adventure assumes that the characters have already formed a party and are presently in the Yawning Portal, perhaps knocking back a pint of Shadowdark ale and wolfing down a plate of quipper and chips. Alternatively, you can begin this adventure as the characters first enter the raucous tavern, or by having them all meet for the first time as Volo hands them their initial quest.
Tavern Brawl
As the characters are relaxing in the taproom of the Yawning Portal, a fistfight breaks out. Read the following to set the scene:
You sit around a sturdy wooden table lit by a brightly burning candle and littered with plates cleared of food and half-drained tankards. The sounds of gamblers yelling and drunken adventurers singing bawdy songs nearly drown out the off-key strumming of a young bard three tables over.
Then all the noise is eclipsed by a shout: “Ya pig! Like killin' me mates, does ya?” Then a seven-foot-tall half-orc is hit by a wild, swinging punch from a male human whose shaved head is covered with eye-shaped tattoos. Four other humans stand behind him, ready to jump into the fray. The half-orc cracks her knuckles, roars, and leaps at the tattooed figure-but before you can see if blood is drawn, a crowd of spectators clusters around the brawl. What do you do?
The human combatants are five members of the Xanathar Guild (CE human bandit). The one with the eyeshaped tattoos on his bald pate is their leader, Krentz. Their foe, Yagra Strongfist, is a half-orc employed by the Zhentarim (see the Yawning Portal Friendly Faces handout in appendix C). Yagra fights for her pride.
Getting Involved
If the characters choose to join the fray, have everyone roll initiative. But the fight is almost over by the time they push through the rowdy spectators. Krentz has only 3 hit points remaining and is trying to escape from underneath Yagra, but the four other Xanathar Guild members are poised to tackle her.
Pulling Yagra away from Krentz requires a successful Strength check contested by Yagra’s Strength check. Yagra thanks the characters if they help her, but is disappointed that they interfered in the fight.
Remember how the characters deal with Krentz in this scene. If he survives, the characters might meet him again in one of the Xanathar Guild’s sewer hideouts (see area Q5, page 28).
Hanging Back
If the characters don’t interfere in the brawl, Yagra knocks Krentz out cold but is then beaten
Troll and Friends
In the third round of the brawl, trouble arises from out of the gaping well in the middle of the Yawning Portal’s taproom:
Shouts of alarm suddenly ring out as a hulking creature climbs up out of the shaft in the middle of the taproom-a monster with warty green skin, a tangled nest of wiry black hair, a long, carrot-shaped nose, and bloodshot eyes. As it bares its yellow teeth and howls, you can see that a half-dozen bat-like creatures are attached to its body, with three more circling above it like flies. Everyone in the tavern reacts in fear except for the barkeep, Durnan, who shouts, “Troll!”
The troll, which currently has 44 hit points, has crawled up from the first level of Undermountain to feed on tasty humanoid flesh, bringing nine stirge with it. Once in the taproom, the troll rises to its full height of 9 feet and rolls initiative. The stirges also roll initiative, but only the three flying above the troll pose a threat. The remaining stirges are bloated, having drained copious amounts of the troll’s blood, and fly back down the shaft to digest their meal. As the troll regenerates, the effects of its blood loss become less apparent.
Most tavern patrons and staffers flee or take cover at the sight of the troll. The stirges attack the nearest characters as Durnan (see appendix B) draws his greatsword, springs over the bar, and confronts the monster himself. As he attacks, he calls on the characters to focus on slaying the stirges and then douse the troll with lamp oil and set it on fire when it falls. Yagra joins the fight if she’s conscious. To any characters who help defeat the troll, Durnan says matter-of-factly, “You fought well.”
If any of the characters are reduced to 0 hit points during the fight, employees of the Yawning Portal step forward to stabilize them.
Meeting Volo
Once the troll and the stirge are dealt with, Volo pushes against the tide of patrons staying clear of the monster to greet the characters, lavishing praise on them for their bravery (whether justified or not): “You be adventurers, am I right? I could use your help. Let’s find a table to talk, shall we?”
Volothamp Geddarm is known to most Waterdavians as a braggart and a notorious embellisher of facts. For all his faults, though, Volo is a soft-hearted sort who cares for nothing as much as his friends. At present, he is grievously concerned for the well-being of one of them. He begins his request with an air of charm and mystery, but it quickly devolves into tearful sincerity.
The figure who approached you strokes his mustache, adjusts his floppy hat, and tightens his scarf. “Volothamp Geddarm, chronicler, wizard, and celebrity, at your service. I trust you’ve noted the violence in our fair city these past tendays. I haven’t seen so much blood since my last visit to Baldur’s Gate! But now I fear I have misplaced a friend amid this odious malevolence.
“My friend’s name is Floon Blagmaar. He’s got more beauty than brains, and I worry he took a bad way home a couple nights ago and was kidnapped-or worse. If you agree to track him down with all due haste, I can offer you ten dragons apiece now, and I can give you each ten times that when you find Floon. May I prevail upon you in my hour of need?”
Volo gives each character a small pouch containing 10 gp simply for accepting his quest. Characters who want to discover his intentions must make a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check. On a success, a character discerns that Volo is honest but might be stretching the truth about how much he can pay. (Currently low on cash, Volo is awaiting royalty payments from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. To make more coin, he began work on a new book, Volo’s Guide to Spirits and Specters. As it happens, his knowledge of spirits mostly concerns the alcoholic variety, and the writing has not been going well.) If pressed, Volo urges the characters to trust him, and promises he’ll have the rest of the reward, 100 gp per character, ready to deliver once Floon is returned to him alive.
Volo describes Floon as a handsome human male in his early thirties with wavy red-blond hair. He was dressed in princely garb when Volo last saw him. Two nights ago, before Floon disappeared, he and Volo were drinking and merrymaking at the Skewered Dragon, a dark, bawdy tavern in the Dock Ward. Volo recommends that the characters start their search there.
What Happened That Night?
Volo is embarrassed to admit he might have gotten his friend Floon in trouble, and he resists providing all the details of what happened the night Floon disappeared.
Beset by writer’s block, Volo met Floon Blagmaar for drinks at the Skewered Dragon two nights ago. They drank and gambled for a few hours, and then Volo left. That’s the last he saw of Floon.
Unbeknownst to Volo, not long after he departed, a drunken Floon met another acquaintance, Lord Renaer Neverember, at the tavern. The two left together, with Renaer offering to walk Floon home. Five Zhentarim thugs working for Urstul Floxin (see appendix B) jumped both Floon and Renaer. They took them to a warehouse in the Dock Ward, so they could question Renaer-the son of Lord Dagult Neverember-about the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr and his father’s hidden cache of dragons. Before the interrogation could begin, members of the Xanathar Guild ambushed and killed the Zhent guards in the warehouse. The new arrivals mistook Floon for Renaer, knocked Floon
Floon was taken to a Xanathar Guild hideout in the sewers. A small gang of kenku was left behind at the Zhentarim warehouse to kill any other Zhents who might show up at the warehouse. The presence of the kenku has prevented Renaer from trying to leave the warehouse.
Finding Floon
Volo last saw Floon outside the Skewered Dragon, a dubious (and Zhentarim-owned) tavern between Net Street and Fillet Lane in the Dock Ward. The following encounters kick off the characters' investigation.
En route to the tavern, “Blood in the Streets” is a chance for characters to see the City Watch in action. If the characters decide to look around, “Searching the Dock Ward” gives them a feel for their surroundings, and they might discover a strange place, “Old Xoblob Shop,” that warrants further exploration. Once they arrive at their destination, “The Skewered Dragon” is an opportunity for the characters to get information from the patrons, which leads them to “Candle Lane,” where their quest continues.
Blood in the Streets
As the characters travel through the Dock Ward, they come upon the aftermath of a bloody clash between the Xanathar Guild and the Zhentarim:
As you turn a corner, you find yourselves on a street that has been cordoned off by the City Watch. Lying on the cobblestones are a half-dozen corpses, seemingly the victims of some terrible skirmish. Watch officers have disarmed and arrested three blood-drenched humans and are in the midst of questioning witnesses. One of the officers sees you. “Get on,” she says. “Nothing to see here.”
The skirmish that occurred here has nothing to do with Floon’s disappearance but represents an escalation in the conflict between the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild. A dozen guard of the City Watch have arrested three bandit and are questioning witnesses while waiting for wagons to take away the criminals and the corpses. The survivors of the skirmish have been stripped of their weapons and forced to kneel with their hands on their heads. All three, loyal Zhentarim agents (employed by Urstul Floxin; see appendix B), are likely to be accused of murder. They coldly catch the eye of anyone who passes by, but the City Watch won’t let the characters anywhere near the prisoners.
Searching the Dock Ward
The Dock Ward is unsafe. You can set the mood by reading the following to the players:
Tall, densely packed tenements leave most of the neighborhood in shadow at ground level. Most of the streetlamps have had their glass smashed and their candles stolen, and the smells of salt air and excrement linger as you pass by rows of run-down buildings.
On the corner of Zastrow Street and Fillet Lane is a shop with a peculiar window display:
One nearby shop stands out from the others. It has a deep purple facade, and in its window hangs a stuffed beholder. Above the door hangs a sign whose elaborate letters spell out “Old Xoblob Shop.”
If the characters check out the shop, continue with “Old Xoblob Shop.” If they don’t, they find the tavern without further incident; see “The Skewered Dragon” below.
Old Xoblob Shop
When the characters enter, they quickly get a sense of the strangeness of the place:
A cloud of lavender-scented purple smoke trails out of the shop’s door as you peer inside. Every wall is painted purple, and every dusty knickknack on the shelves is dyed a deep violet. The hairless old gnome sitting crosslegged on the counter wears plum-colored robes. His cheeks are decorated with nine purple face-painted eyes.
The gnome lowers a pipe and exhales a cloud of lavender smoke before raising a hand. “Hail and well met! Come browse the shelves of the most curious curiosity shop in the world!”
The shop is named after the stuffed beholder in the window-a fixture that is actually a magical sensor, through which Xanathar can peer whenever it wishes.
The shopkeeper is a wizened deep gnome (svirfneblin) who spies for the Xanathar Guild. A few years ago, he survived the detonation of a gas spore in Undermountain and inherited some stray beholder memories. Driven by a compulsion to carve out his own domain, the gnome settled in Waterdeep, bought the Old Xoblob Shop from its previous owner, and tried renaming it after himself, yet everyone kept calling it the Old Xoblob Shop. He therefore restored the old name and changed his name to Xoblob. “No relation to the eye tyrant hanging in the window!” he says.
Trinkets
The gnome sells an assortment of trinkets. As the characters search the shelves, roll on the
Floon’s Fate
The gnome doesn’t know Floon by name, but he recognizes his description. He is reluctant to share information, but offering him a new purple item or succeeding on a DC 13 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check loosens his tongue. He says that Floon and a well-dressed fellow of similar appearance and bearing (Renaer Neverember, though the gnome doesn’t know his name and didn’t recognize him) were jumped outside the shop by rough-looking men in black leather armor. Xoblob thinks there were five attackers, but none of them looked familiar. One of them had a black tattoo of a winged snake on his neck.
The Skewered Dragon
The Skewered Dragon faces an alley that runs between Net Street and Fillet Lane in the Dock Ward, not far from the Old Xoblob Shop. When the characters approach it, read:
The Skewered Dragon looks like a ruin. Both of its front-facing windows are smashed, and a ship’s anchor is lodged in the roof. Through the windows, you can see a group of haggard patrons drinking from huge tankards.
Floon has not been at the Skewered Dragon since the night of his disappearance, and the dive’s dockworker patrons are loath to talk to strangers. A bribe or a successful DC 13 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check gets them to open up.
Floon’s Fate
Several of the regulars remember seeing Volo and Floon drinking together a couple of nights ago. After Volo left, Floon stuck around long enough to meet with another friend: Renaer Neverember, the son of Waterdeep’s previous Open Lord, Dagult Neverember. “Chip off the old block, that one!” sneers one patron. “Just another spoiled, rich noble who likes to rub our noses in it!” says another.
The two drank and played a few rounds of Three-Dragon Ante before leaving around midnight. Five men followed them out, and no one in the tavern knows what happened after that. The men who left shortly after Floon and Renaer haven’t returned to the tavern since, but they’re known to frequent a warehouse on Candle Lane. “Look for the snake symbol on the door,” says one of the tavern regulars.
Candle Lane
The buildings on either side of Candle Lane are so tall and so tightly packed together that light touches the street only at highsun.
Gloom envelops a narrow alley as dark as a dungeon-and as odorous as one, too. Nearly all the streetlamps have been smashed. The only light that pierces the darkness is a faint flickering from down the lane, like a distant candle.
The flickering comes from the one streetlamp still intact on Candle Lane, kept alight by a
Zhentarim Hideout
The hideout on Castle Lane (see map 1.1) is a ramshackle two-story warehouse. The Black Network has other sanctuaries in run-down buildings like this one throughout Waterdeep (meaning that the floor plan of this locale can be reused for other Zhent hideouts).
The warehouse stands at the back of an outer yard behind a high fence. The gate on the fence isn’t locked. The building’s three points of entry-a front door, a large warehouse loading door, and a painted-over window-are locked. The front door has a sliding peephole that can be opened from the inside. Either of the doors or the window can be unlocked by a character who makes a successful DC 12 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or can be forced open with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
Knocking at the doors or the window alerts a group of kenku inside that someone is coming. The kenku scramble to hide behind toppled furniture, making a ruckus that any character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 or higher can hear. These kenku are all that remain of the Xanathar Guild force that murdered almost everyone in the warehouse after the five Zhentarim thugs captured Renaer Neverember and Floon Blagmaar and brought them here. Floon was taken away, but Renaer succeeded in staying alive by hiding. Now, the young noble is trying to figure out how to slip past the kenku, who are lazily searching the warehouse for loot while waiting to see if any more Zhents show up.
Z1. Main Room
The Black Network’s main business is recruiting, training, and equipping sellswords. Crates packed with weapons, rations, boots, black uniforms, and other gear fill the warehouse.
When the characters try to enter, determine if the four kenku inside are aware of their presence before reading the boxed text.
A character with thieves' tools can pick the lock on a door or the window with a successful DC 10 Dexterity check. Characters who enter quietly can try to catch the kenku by surprise. If the characters knock before entering or announce their arrival in some other way, the kenku hide as described above.
Tables and chairs have been carelessly tossed across the floor. The corpses of a dozen men lie along the walls, their rapiers and daggers lying nearby. On the north side of the area, stairs rise to an open level above.
If the kenku aren’t hidden, add:
Four short, avian creatures with long beaks and black feathers look over in surprise from where they stand in the middle of the warehouse. Each wears a hooded cloak and wields a shortsword.
The corpses belong to five human Zhentarim sellswords (the same ones who kidnapped Floon and Renaer) and seven human Xanathar Guild thugs, all of them clad in leather armor. Each Zhent has a black tattoo of a winged snake on his neck or forearm, and one of the Xanathar Guild members has a black tattoo on the palm of his right hand that looks like a circle with ten spokes radiating out from its circumference (the symbol of Xanathar).
The kenku fight until two of them are
What the Kenku Know
When kenku speak, they mimic sounds and voices they have heard before. Under interrogation, they repeat the following phrases:
- In a deep voice with an orcish accent: “Xanathar sends its regards.”
- In a thin, nasally voice: “Tie up the pretty boy in the back room!” and “Follow the yellow signs in the sewers.” (This remark refers to tunnels in the sewers that are marked with Xanathar’s symbol where they lead to the Xanathar Guild hideout.)
- In a scratchy voice: “No time to loot the place. Just get him to the boss.”
Z2. Storage Closet
The door to this back room hangs loosely on broken hinges. The cramped chamber beyond smells strongly of sour fish and vinegar. It is filled with discarded ropes, canvas tarpaulins, and splintered wood from smashed barrels. Renaer Neverember (see appendix B) is hiding here, having slipped free of his rope bonds. The characters can hear his ragged breathing coming from under a tarpaulin at the north end of the room.
Roleplaying Renaer
Renaer is unarmed. Marred by grime and the lingering stench of rancid pickled herring, he speaks with grace and articulation, as befits his noble upbringing. His trust is easily gained but impossible to restore once broken.
On the night of the abduction, Renaer was concerned that Floon was too intoxicated to find his way home by himself and offered to escort him. The two were jumped by five thugs as they left Fillet Lane and headed north on Zastrow Street.
Renaer feels guilty that Floon was taken, since he believes (correctly) that they mistook Floon for him. If the characters ask Renaer to join their search for Floon, he agrees to do so, arming himself with a dagger and a rapier scavenged from the dead Zhents in the warehouse.
If a character asks Renaer why the Zhents kidnapped him, he gives the following truthful reply:
“The Zhentarim thinks that my father embezzled a large amount of gold while he was Open Lord, and that he hid the dragons somewhere in the city. They think they can find it by using an artifact called the Stone of Golorr, which was in the hands of the Xanathar Guild until recently. Apparently, someone stole it. The Zhents thought I knew something about all of this, but I don’t. My father and I haven’t spoken in years.”
Z3. Secret Room
This room is hidden behind a secret door that can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. When the secret door is opened, the characters can hear the faint sound of a bell ringing in the offices above them (area Z5).
Treasure
The Zhents have stashed two wooden crates here. The first, stolen from the docks, contains four wood-framed paintings wrapped in leather. The paintings depict the cities of Luskan, Neverwinter, Silverymoon, and Baldur’s Gate and are worth 75 gp each.
The second crate, stolen from a caravan on the High Road, contains fifteen 10-pound silver trade bars, all black from corrosion but still worth 50 gp each.
Z4. Balcony
The open second level is stacked with crates where it overlooks the main warehouse. Characters who search through the crates find all sorts of junk, including motheaten bolts of cloth, bottles of spoiled olive oil, and hundreds of pairs of wooden-soled sandals that were all the rage last summer but are now out of fashion. None of this junk is valuable.
Z5. Offices
The upper floor contains a suite of offices that get little use by the Zhents. The rooms have desks, chairs, and bare shelves covered with dust and draped in cobwebs. Harmless rats skitter about.
Mounted above each office door is a steel alarm bell. The bells are connected by wires to the secret door in area Z3, and they ring loudly when that door is opened.
Treasure
A character who searches the offices finds an unused
The Watch Arrives
Shortly after the characters find Renaer, a captain of the City Watch named Hyustus Staget (LG male Illuskan human veteran) leads a dozen veteran to the warehouse. Having received a report of suspicious activity, they barge in and try to prevent anyone from leaving. Kenku that are still alive and present are taken into custody, and it doesn’t take long for the City Watch to conclude that the dead men are members of the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild, since violent encounters between the two factions are becoming ever more frequent. While his constables search the warehouse, Captain Staget questions the characters.
Captain Staget is an uptight man who helps keep the peace in the Dock Ward. Every shopkeeper, guild member, innkeeper, and tavern keeper in the Dock Ward knows him, and most respect him regardless of their opinions of the City Watch in general. Staget doesn’t believe in rumors or gossip, he doesn’t drink, and he doesn’t let anger get the better of him. His job is to curb the violence in the Dock Ward, but he has been dragging his heels. After all, he reasons, if the Xanathar Guild and the Zhentarim want to destroy each other, why not let them?
Staget once had the warehouse under surveillance, but elected to pull the detail to bolster patrols throughout the Dock Ward-a decision he now regrets. That surveillance was part of an attempt to catch a known Zhent instigator named Urstul Floxin, a “big fish” rumored to be responsible for much of the recent strife. Staget doesn’t share this information with strangers.
Staget and Renaer recognize each other, though they aren’t well acquainted. The involvement of a Neverember noble prompts the captain to be on his best behavior. He is prepared to overlook any crimes committed by the characters as long as Renaer is with them, but he gives them a folded sheet of parchment with the Code Legal written on it and encourages them to read it. (Give the players a copy of the Code Legal handout in appendix C, if you haven’t done so already.)
If the characters ask for the Watch’s help in locating Floon, Staget makes it clear that he won’t send a force into the sewers in search of someone who might well be a Zhent or Xanathar Guild spy. If they appear intent on involving themselves further in the conflict between the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild, Staget imparts some free advice before letting them go:
- “Best not to meddle in criminal matters. Leave this dirty business to the City Watch.”
- “Not all City Watch officers are as nice as me.”
- “Keep the blood off the streets, okay?” (This is a common saying among City Watch officials, who care more about what happens in the city above than what happens in the sewers below.)
Characters who stir up trouble in the Dock Ward are likely to run into Captain Staget again. Though he is secretly pleased to have adventurers doing some of his work for him, he can’t let them overshadow his own efforts to keep the peace without risking a reprimand from his superiors.
Tracking Floon
At this point, the characters likely know that Floon was kidnapped by Xanathar Guild members who mistook him for Renaer Neverember, and that he was taken to a hideout in the sewers. If the characters didn’t learn from the kenku where Floon was taken, asking questions of the locals can reveal that many people saw him being dragged off. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check or 5 gp in bribes allows the characters to trace the kidnappers' path through back alleys to a circular metal cover inset in the pavement. The cover is easily lifted, revealing a ladder down into the sewers.
Navigating the Sewers
The sewers have no natural light. Characters without darkvision need light sources to see.
A putrid stream flows along this sewer tunnel, which leads in two directions. In one direction, you see a tiny symbol drawn on the wall in yellow chalk: a palm-sized circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from its circumference.
The hideout of the Xanathar Guild operatives who snatched up Floon is deep in the city’s labyrinthine sewers. At every location where characters must make a decision about which direction to go, a symbol scrawled in yellow chalk-a stylized representation of Xanathar-is marked next to the tunnel that leads in the right direction. The symbols are erased by members of the Xanathar Guild or the Dungsweepers' Guild every few days, but these markings have yet to be removed.
Gazer Guard
Before arriving at the Xanathar Guild hideout, the characters have an encounter in the sewers:
After an hour of following signs through the tunnels, you come to a three-way intersection where a ladder leads up into a stone shaft capped by a circular metal cover. One of the familiar chalk symbols is marked on a wall nearby, and floating near the symbol is a spherical, grapefruit-sized creature with a bulging central eye and four stumpy eyestalks. It bares its teeth at you.
A hostile gazer (see appendix B) that is in league with Grum’shar, the local Xanathar Guild boss, guards this intersection. Once the characters defeat it, they can press on, following the corridor where the chalk symbol is located; they reach the hideout after following the correct tunnel for 5 minutes.
Ladder
Characters who climb the ladder and push open the metal cover find themselves in the cellar of the Spouting Fish, a tavern in the Dock Ward.
Xanathar Guild Hideout
The Xanathar Guild has hideouts throughout Waterdeep’s sewers. The floor plan of this locale (see map 1.2) can be reused for other hideouts.
The boss of this hideout is a half-orc named Grum’shar. When the characters arrive, Grum’shar is interrogating Floon Blagmaar in area Q7. His display of torture techniques is a ploy to impress his other guest: a mind flayer named Nihiloor (see appendix B).
All the doors in the hideout are unlocked. Grum’shar assumes that only those who have guild business will be able to find their way here.
Q1. Central Hub
The characters approach this area from the east, slogging through 1-foot-deep water and sewage.
The main sewer tunnel expands into a circular hub with a pair of arrow slits carved into its outer walls, directly across from each other. Two passages continue on to the north and south. A stone door is set into the back wall of a stone ledge to the west.
If the characters talk loudly or otherwise make a lot of noise here, the goblin sentries in areas Q2a and Q2b awaken and shoot arrows at them through the arrow slits. The slits provide the goblins with three-quarters cover.
Secret Door
A secret door in the wall of the tunnel that leads south can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
Q2. Watch Posts
Two goblin are stationed here, one in Q2a and one in Q2b. Allies of the Xanathar Guild, they came here from Undermountain. The goblins rely on darkvision to see and are supposed to be watching area Q1, but both have dozed off. Characters who succeed on a DC 9 Dexterity (Stealth) check can sneak past the sleeping goblins without waking them.
Treasure
Each goblin carries
Q3. Messy Room
Rusty weapons and threadbare clothing litter the floor of this area, which serves as a coat room and armory. It contains nothing of value.
Q4. Empty Sleeping Area
This room contains six tattered, straw-stuffed mattresses and nothing of value. If the occupant or occupants of area Q5 have not been dealt with already, the characters hear the sounds of activity in that room through the thin wooden door that separates these two chambers.
Q5. Sleeping Area
This room contains six tattered, straw-stuffed mattresses and a hostile member of the Xanathar Guild, a duergar named Zemk. If Krentz (CE human bandit) escaped from the Yawning Portal after the tavern brawl that kicked off the adventure, he’s here as well.
When the characters arrive, Zemk is using pieces of furniture to barricade the door to area Q6. If Krentz is here, he’s trying to explain that Zemk’s approach won’t work, and is telling him to plug the gap at the bottom of the door with blankets. Neither of them notices intruders right away unless the interlopers make a lot of noise.
Once combat starts, Zemk fights to the death. How Krentz reacts to the adventurers depends on how they treated him earlier. If they helped him, he gives them a chance to leave in peace, but he fights alongside Zemk if they refuse to withdraw. If the duergar is killed, Krentz flees if he can or surrenders if he must.
Neither Zemk nor Krentz carries any treasure. Both report to Grum’shar (see area Q7).
Q6. Lavatory
This room has a hole in the floor that opens into a cesspit. A gray ooze has emerged from the pit and killed two goblins that were sent into the room to dispose of it. The goblins' bones float amid the ooze’s gooey form, and their pitted weapons lie on the floor nearby. None of the gear is salvageable.
Q7. Boss Fight
Threadbare curtains hang on the east wall of a long hall, in the middle of which a muscular half-orc in dingy robes stands with his foot on the chest of a male human with wavy red-blond hair. Fire burns around the orc’s clenched fist, and his victim cries and squirms helplessly beneath him.
Seated on a raised platform to the south is a nightmarish figure wearing black robes. It has large white eyes and rubbery purple skin, with four tentacles encircling its inhuman mouth. It cradles and gently caresses what looks like a disembodied brain with feet.
The tentacled creature is Nihiloor (see appendix B), a mind flayer that is caressing an intellect devourer. Upon seeing the adventurers, Nihiloor rises from the stone chair, sets its pet down, and glides across the room, intending to leave through the double door in the west wall. The mind flayer expects Grum’shar and the intellect devourer to cover its escape.
Nihiloor carries a 3-inch-diameter stone orb carved to resemble an eyeball, similar to what one might see at the end of a beholder’s eyestalk. This stone eye is the key to activating the magic portal in area Q11. The mind flayer uses it to return to Xanathar’s lair (described in chapter 5). It uses
The half-orc is Grum’shar, a low-end Xanathar Guild boss. As soon as his minions retrieved who they thought was Renaer Neverember, the half-orc begged Nihiloor let him witness the interrogation of the captive, not realizing until after he did so that he had mistaken the prisoner’s identity. Grum’shar attacks the characters in the hope of salvaging his reputation. He is an apprentice wizard (see appendix B), with these changes:
- Grum’shar is chaotic evil.
- He has these racial traits: When reduced to 0 hit points, he drops to 1 hit point instead (but can’t do this again until he finishes a long rest). He has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. He speaks Common and Orc.
Roleplaying Floon
As a result of Grum’shar’s torture, Floon Blagmaar (see appendix B) has 1 hit point left. If he is healed by the characters, he is eternally grateful and shows his affection by hugging them. He stays close to them, trusting in their ability to protect him. If Renaer is with the party, he can shoulder the burden of protecting Floon.
Treasure
In a satchel, Grum’shar carries his spellbook, which contains the following spells:
Tucked behind the stone chair is a small, unlocked wooden chest containing two
Q8. Getaway Passage
This room looks empty, but a thorough search accompanied by a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a rough-hewn tunnel hidden beneath a loose flagstone. The low tunnel leads north to area Q9.
Q9. Private Cellar
An innocent halfling family, the Peabodys, brews beer in this cellar, which lies beneath their home on Fishgut Alley in the Dock Ward. Their cellar contains brewing supplies and lots of worthless clutter.
The halflings haven’t noticed the secret tunnel that leads to the Xanathar Guild hideout; it’s concealed beneath a large flagstone that requires a Strength score of 10 or higher to be lifted.
Development
If the characters ascend out of the cellar and enter the Peabodys' small house, the halflings are initially alarmed but can be easily calmed. Upon learning of the secret trapdoor, they vow to seal it up again but allow the characters to make use of it if the need arises.
Q10. Sleeping Quarters
Straw pallets lie on the floor, and rusty manacles are bolted to the walls.
Q11. Back Door
This hideout contains a secret route to Xanathar’s lair.
In the middle of this otherwise empty room is a stone pillar carved with a small symbol: a perfect circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating outward from its circumference. In the middle of this circle is a smaller circular indentation that bears a passing resemblance to a lidless eye.
If the stone eye in Nihiloor’s possession is pressed into the circular indentation, an opaque black doorway magically opens in the south wall. The opening is 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Any creature that passes through it appears in area X22 of Xanathar’s lair (see chapter 5). The door is a one-way portal, and it closes again 1 minute after the stone eye is removed from the pillar.
Not-So-Secret Door
The secret door is plainly visible to anyone who approaches it from the east.
Q12. Hostel Cellar
A narrow passage leads to the cellar of a halfling-owned hostel on Spices Street in the Dock Ward. Medium characters must squeeze to reach this area from the tunnel. The hostel is used as a base by the Shard Shunners, a gang of halfling wererats. They are aware of the Xanathar Guild hideout, and the two gangs are tenuous allies.
Roscoe Underbough, a Shard Shunner in hybrid form, guards the cellar. He hides in the northwest storeroom, ready to jump out and scare away anyone who heads for the stairs. Not eager to commit murder, Roscoe allows retreating characters to flee back to the sewers. He is a wererat, with these changes:
- Roscoe is Small and has 27 (
6d6 + 6 ) hit points. - He has these racial traits: He can move through the space of a Medium or larger creature. He has advantage on saving throws against being
frightened . He speaks Common and Halfling, and he knows thieves' cant.
Development
If the characters defeat Roscoe or slip past him, they can make their way up into the hostel, which caters to a mostly halfling clientele. With none of the other Shard Shunners currently present, the characters are greeted warmly by staff and patrons, who point them in the direction of the nearest bathhouse.
Completing Volo’s Quest
Returning to the Yawning Portal with Floon Blagmaar in tow marks the end of this introductory quest. All that remains is for the characters to collect their reward.
Rewards
Volo is drinking alone in the Yawning Portal while anxiously awaiting news of Floon’s fate. He springs up and runs to embrace the characters and his friend as soon as he sees them.
A Good Deed
If the characters reunite Volo with Floon, Volo gives them a rather sheepish look as he explains their reward:
“I confess that I have but few coins to spare. But never let it be said that Volo reneges on a promise. Allow me to present something much more valuable.” He holds out a scroll tube. “The deed to a remarkable property here in Waterdeep! We’ll need a magistrate to witness the transfer of ownership. I’ll arrange a meeting with one after you’ve inspected the estate and deemed it satisfactory.”
The tube contains a deed to Trollskull Manor, a historic building in the North Ward that the characters can claim as a home base. The deed has been notarized and appears legitimate (because it is). Volo recently bought the property because it is rumored to be haunted, and he was hoping that investigating it might yield a chapter for his next book, Volo’s Guide to Spirits and Specters.
If the characters accept their reward, Volo sets up a meeting with a tiefling magistrate named Kylynne Silmerhelve. The brief session takes place at a courthouse in the Castle Ward at highsun. Magistrate Silmerhelve witnesses the transfer of the deed, rendering the new ownership official, with the impatience of one who has more important matters to attend to. She also collects an estate transfer tax of 25 gp, which is normally paid by the new owners. If the characters can’t afford this fee or don’t want to pay it and they have befriended Renaer Neverember, he makes sure that Volo has a pouch of coins to cover the expense.
Fine Friends
Volo, Floon, and Renaer all express their gratitude through camaraderie. If the characters need to call upon their new friends for an occasional favor, any of them are happy to oblige. Floon has little to offer the characters, but friendship with Volo and Renaer has its perks.
Volo knows the best places to eat and find merriment. He can also give characters a tour of Waterdeep. If the characters accept his offer, share the information in chapter 9, “Volo’s Waterdeep Enchiridion,” with the players.
Although Renaer is estranged from his rich and powerful father, he still has friends in high places, including Harpers who can come to the characters' rescue if they need it. If the characters are looking for an audience with influential persons in Waterdeep, Renaer can set up meetings with Mirt, Remallia Haventree (see appendix B for both), or just about any other Waterdavian noble, if he thinks the characters will comport themselves well.
Level Advancement
If you’re using milestone level advancement instead of tracking experience points, the characters advance from 1st to 2nd level when they return to Volo after having explored the Xanathar Guild hideout.