Dragon Season

Gold makes people do strange things, and Lord Neverember’s hidden cache of dragons is up for grabs. The Stone of Golorr knows where the treasure vault is located and how to get inside, and much of this chapter focuses on the characters' hunt for the artifact. The challenges before them depend on the villain (or villains) that you selected to oppose them. Whatever the season, a villain’s goals are simple: obtain the stone, find the Vault of Dragons, and claim the treasure within.

Setting the Stage

In chapter 3, Lady Gralhund’s nimblewright took the Stone of Golorr and fled with it. The nimblewright delivers the artifact to a location and leaves it there for the main villain or villains to retrieve:

• If Xanathar is the villain, the stone is delivered to a mage named Grinda Garloth. She owns an apparatus of Kwalish and lives in Mistshore, a seedy neighborhood built on a dock in the Dock Ward.
• If the Cassalanters are the villains, the stone is left in their family crypt in Waterdeep’s cemetery, the City of the Dead. A halfling necromancer gets to it before the Cassalanters or the characters do.
• If Jarlaxle is the villain, the stone is delivered to Fenerus Stormcastle, a lamplighter in the Trades Ward. Fenerus has a criminal history and is currently in trouble with the law.
• If Manshoon is the villain, the stone is brought to Thrakkus, a dragonborn butcher in the Field Ward who chops up bodies for the Zhentarim.

Finding the Nimblewright

If the characters can’t pick up the trail after the nimblewright escapes with the Stone of Golorr, they might turn to the City Watch, the City Guard, or a friendly faction for help, which comes forth in 1d4 days. If it occurs to none of the characters, an NPC suggests that the party visit the House of Inspired Hands to see whether the priests of Gond know a way to find it (see “Nim’s Secret”). Thereafter, armed with Nim’s nimblewright detector, the characters can sweep the city. But by the time they find the nimblewright, it has already delivered the Stone of Golorr to its intended destination.

Caught at Last!

When it is finally found, the nimblewright (see appendix B) is wearing a stolen cloak and hiding under a pile of uncollected garbage in an alley. Exactly where and when the characters stumble upon it is up to you. With nowhere to go and no other purpose, it fights until destroyed. Regardless of where and when this event takes place, six members of the City Watch (veteran) arrive as the fight ends. Drawn by the commotion, the Watch couldn’t care less about the nimblewright and believes any plausible story the characters tell them. (As a construct, it had no rights to speak of.) The officers are near the end of their shift and eager to move on; they urge the characters to go home and cause no further mischief.

Lady Gralhund’s Map

Lady Gralhund gave her nimblewright a map showing where to take the Stone of Golorr, but she forgot to tell it to destroy the map once the stone was delivered. Characters who search the nimblewright’s remains find the folded-up map, which depicts one of Waterdeep’s wards. Written on the map is an X with a name next to it. This map points the characters to where they need to be, setting off a sequence of encounters (see “Encounter Chains” below). The main villain determines which ward the map depicts and what name is written on it:

• If Xanathar is the villain, “Grinda Garloth” is written by the X on a map of the Dock Ward. (The X marks the dock neighborhood of Mistshore, where Grinda lives.)
• If the Cassalanters are the villains, the name “Cassalanter” is written by the X on a map of the City of the Dead. (The X marks the location of the Cassalanter mausoleum.)
• If Jarlaxle is the villain, “Fenerus Stormcastle” is written by the X on a map of the Trades Ward. (Residents of the Trades Ward know Fenerus. He’s a lamplighter with an alley dwelling. The X marks the alley.)
• If Manshoon is the villain, “Thrakkus” is written by the X on a map of the Field Ward. (The X marks the location of Thrakkus’s butcher shop and residence.)

Obtaining the Stone of Golorr

The Stone of Golorr possesses an intelligent, alien intellect and has enough prescience to realize that the characters are destined to find it. The stone doesn’t want to be found too easily, though.

If the characters obtain the stone earlier than expected, it proves uncooperative and tries to separate itself from the party as quickly as possible, refusing to share any knowledge with characters in the meantime. The stone tries to take control of anyone who attunes to it, triggering a conflict (see “Sentient Magic Items” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). If the stone fails to take control, it can’t try again against that character until the next dawn. If the stone succeeds in taking control of its owner, it orders that character to deliver it to whichever location sets into motion the sequence of encounters discussed in this chapter (see “Encounter Chains”). Once the stone divests itself of its current owner, it tries to erase all knowledge of itself from that character’s mind (see the item’s description in appendix A). Any player whose character is forced to forget about the stone carries the burden of roleplaying that memory loss. You can award inspiration to that character as a way to acknowledge the player’s good roleplaying.

As chapter 4 unfolds, you decide when it’s time for the characters to have a chance of securing the Stone of Golorr. Try to keep it out of their hands for as long as possible to maximize the suspense.

Once the characters have earned the Stone of Golorr, it no longer tries to take control of them. A character can attune to it and learn the following information:

• The location of the Vault of Dragons (see “Vault of Dragons”)

• The three keys required to unlock the vault’s doors (see “Vault Keys”)

• The name of the vault’s gold dragon guardian, and the powers of the staff in its possession (see the description of the dragonstaff of Ahghairon in appendix A)

Encounter Chains

Eight encounters comprise the characters' hunt for the Stone of Golorr and the Vault of Dragons. They form a chain, and their order is determined by your choice of villain and season. The diagram on the facing page illustrates the order of encounters in each chain. If Xanathar is the villain, for example, the chain begins with encounter 2, “Mistshore,” and ends with encounter 6, “Theater.”

Don’t feel bound by an encounter chain. Let the characters' decisions and actions drive the story. You can change the order in which encounters happen, remove encounters you don’t need, or create new encounters. You can also modify encounters to suit your tastes.

If the characters stray, they might find themselves at a loss for what to do next. You have a couple of easy ways to guide them back on track:

• A friendly faction that has information about the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr whereabouts can bring that knowledge to the characters.
• A treacherous underling of the villain reveals the location of the Stone of Golorr for a price.

If a Villain Gets the Stone

If a main villain acquires the Stone of Golorr, it takes that villain 2d6 days to find the Vault of Dragons and its keys. During this time, the characters have a chance to steal the stone from the villain’s lair. If the characters don’t steal the stone in time, the villain sends forces into the vault to defeat Aurinax and recover the gold, which takes another 2d6 days. Once the gold is recovered, the villain moves forward with a master plan as detailed in the introduction. If the characters are still alive, they could oppose the villain by stealing the gold from the villain’s lair.

Spring Encounter Chain

Ah, springtime-when beholder eyestalks are in bloom. The Stone of Golorr was originally snatched from Xanathar, and the eye tyrant wants it back. It sends monsters and minions to do its dirty work.

Summary

The stone is delivered to Grinda Garloth, a mage who has worked for Xanathar in the past. When she refuses to give up the stone, members of the Xanathar Guild try to take it by force (encounter 2, “Mistshore”). After the characters defeat these attackers, they learn that Grinda told her rat familiar to hide the stone in her family’s crypt in the City of the Dead. From this point on, the characters are followed by a gazer (see appendix B), through whose eyes Xanathar can see. If this gazer is killed, Xanathar doesn’t send another one to replace it.

Losser Mirklav, a halfling necromancer, raids the Garloth mausoleum and takes the stone shortly before the characters arrive (encounter 4, “Mausoleum”). As they emerge from the mausoleum, members of the Xanathar Guild attack them, believing they have the stone. A clue left behind in the mausoleum leads the characters to an old windmill in the Southern Ward and a pair of grave robbers (encounter 10, “Converted Windmill”). Fearing arrest, the grave robbers point them to a cellar complex under the Trades Ward (encounter 9, “Cellar Complex”). When the characters arrive, they find Losser surrounded by foes and kenku working for the Xanathar Guild making off with the stone. A chase through the streets on or before Trolltide (encounter 3, “Street Chase”) ends when the kenku, fearing capture, duck into an old tower (encounter 7, “Old Tower”). If they are caught and confronted, the kenku hand over the stone.

The Xanathar Guild makes one last attempt to regain the stone (encounter 1, “Alley”). Any character who becomes attuned to the stone learns that the Vault of Dragons lies beneath a theater in the Castle Ward (encounter 6, “Theater”).

Weather Effects

Until the encounter chain is complete, the following weather effects are in play.

Heavy Rain

Heavy rain falls from noon until midnight. Creatures in the rain have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or sight. The rain also extinguishes open flames. Visibility is reduced to 60 feet.

Thick Fog

From midnight until noon, the city is engulfed in thick fog. Creatures in the fog have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Visibility is reduced to 30 feet.

Summer Encounter Chain

As Waterdavians contend with sweltering heat, the Cassalanters send disciples of their Asmodeus-worshiping cult to seize the Stone of Golorr while deftly avoiding entanglements with local authorities.

Summary

The characters arrive at the Cassalanter mausoleum to find several dead cultists inside (encounter 4, “Mausoleum”). A left-for-dead survivor reveals that these cultists were betrayed by two of their own. The characters head to an old windmill in the Southern Ward where the cult fanatics practice their diabolical faith (encounter 10, “Converted Windmill”). Spined devils swoop in, snatch the stone, and flee, setting up a rooftop chase (encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase”).

The spined devils deliver the stone to a hire-coach parked in an alley (encounter 1, “Alley”). Inside the coach is Victoro Cassalanter’s valet, Willifort Crowelle, a doppelganger in tiefling form. As the hire-coach flees, a street chase ensues (encounter 3, “Street Chase”). When a crowd cuts off his escape route, Willifort leaps out of the hire-coach and tries to lose himself in the crowd. In the confusion, street urchins snatch the stone. The characters catch up to the children in their cellar hideout (encounter 9, “Cellar Complex”).

With the Stone of Golorr in their possession, the characters emerge from the cellar complex only to find themselves surrounded by members of the City Watch. They are arrested for one or more crimes and taken to a courthouse in the Dock Ward to face sentencing by a magister (encounter 8, “Courthouse”). Meanwhile, the doppelganger tries to get the stone back.

Any character who becomes attuned to the Stone of Golorr learns that the Vault of Dragons is hidden under an old tower in the Sea Ward (encounter 7, “Old Tower”). When they arrive at the tower, they encounter its new owner, who is discussing renovations with various local guild members.

Weather Effects

Until the encounter chain is complete, the following weather effect is in play.

Heat Wave

During the day, a character without access to drinkable water must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each encounter in the chain or gain one level of exhaustion. The saving throw is made with disadvantage if the character is wearing medium or heavy armor. Characters who have resistance or immunity to fire automatically succeed on the saving throw.

Autumn Encounter Chain

Deception and misdirection are Jarlaxle’s forte, and he likes to trick his rivals into working for him. He steers the characters toward the Stone of Golorr and lets them think they’re always one step ahead. Drow player characters who are members of Bregan D’aerthe might find their loyalty to the party put to the test.

Summary

The characters visit the residence of Fenerus Stormcastle, a lamplighter and retired brigand who funnels information to Bregan D’aerthe. They arrive to find the place ransacked (encounter 1, “Alley”). The duergar who looted the residence work for the Xanathar Guild, and Bregan D’aerthe spies have tracked them to a cellar complex in the Southern Ward. In the guise of Laeral Silverhand, Jarlaxle steers the characters in that direction (encounter 9, “Cellar Complex”). A search of the cellar complex yields a fake stone, but not the real Stone of Golorr. With no other leads, the characters can follow up with “Laeral” at a theater in the Dock Ward (encounter 6, “Theater”). Jarlaxle makes the characters an offer they can’t refuse, setting his agents on them if they dare to do so.

Once he realizes the Xanathar Guild doesn’t have the stone, Jarlaxle asks the characters to interrogate Fenerus to find out where he hid it. Jarlaxle has learned that Fenerus is awaiting trial at a courthouse in the Castle Ward (encounter 8, “Courthouse”). Fenerus wants immunity for all of his past crimes. The characters are in no position to grant his wish, but they might threaten him, persuade him, or use magic to charm him. If he is compelled to reveal the stone’s location, Fenerus points the characters to an old tower in the Dock Ward (encounter 7, “Old Tower”).

Jarlaxle’s lieutenants reach the stone first and flee across the rooftops in the Dock Ward to escape the characters (encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase”). They go to ground in Mistshore (encounter 2, “Mistshore”). Once the characters wrest the stone away from these drow, they can use it to guide them to the home of a famous painter in the Sea Ward (encounter 10, “Converted Windmill”), beneath which is a tunnel that leads to the Vault of Dragons.

Weather Effects

Until the encounter chain is complete, the following weather effect is in play.

Autumn Wind

Wind whistling through the streets imposes disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing. The wind also extinguishes open fires smaller than a torch flame.

Winter Encounter Chain

Now is the winter of Waterdeep’s discontent. The Zhents who serve Manshoon believe their master to be all-powerful, which has made them reckless. Against a frigid backdrop, they’re willing to thumb their noses at local authorities and risk death in pursuit of the Stone of Golorr.

Summary

The stone is delivered to Thrakkus, a dragonborn butcher in the Field Ward (encounter 10, “Converted Windmill”). Thrakkus hides the stone in one of his meat deliveries. The characters follow the delivery cart to an alley in the Trades Ward where Zhents meet in secret (encounter 1, “Alley”). Before the characters can lay hands on the stone, a Zhent named Vevette Blackwater grabs it and flees, initiating a chase across icy rooftops (encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase”). She hands off the stone to Agorn Fuoco, a bard who is attending a play in a nearby theater (encounter 6, “Theater”), before leading her pursuers on a merry chase through the snow-covered streets (encounter 3, “Street Chase”). The characters learn that the stone has been taken by hire-coach to Mistshore. The characters can catch up to Agorn there (encounter 2, “Mistshore”).

If he is captured and questioned, Agorn reveals that he made one stop on his way to Mistshore. He dropped off a lady friend, a priest of Bane allied with the Zhentarim, and left the stone with her and her acolytes for safekeeping. The characters can find them in an old tower in the Castle Ward (encounter 7, “Old Tower”). Before they leave that place, the characters are confronted by Manshoon’s simulacrum, which arrives by way of teleportation circle to collect the stone. Once the simulacrum is defeated, the characters can use the stone to learn that the entrance to the Vault of Dragons is hidden below a mausoleum in the City of the Dead (encounter 4, “Mausoleum”).

Weather Effects

Until the encounter chain is complete, the following weather effects are in play.

Blizzard

Shrieking wind and falling snow impose disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or sight. The wind also extinguishes open fires smaller than a torch flame. Visibility is reduced to 60 feet. Snow on the ground creates difficult terrain in areas that are not heavily trod.

Extreme Cold

A character exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each encounter in the chain or gain one level of exhaustion. Characters who have resistance or immunity to cold automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do those wearing cold weather gear (thick coats, gloves, hats, and the like).

Modifying Encounters

You can adjust the difficulty of a combat encounter by adding or subtracting monsters. If you need to increase the difficulty of an encounter that has already begun, have enemy reinforcements arrive during the battle. If you find an encounter too deadly, reduce the antagonists' hit points, have NPCs arrive to help the characters, or have the bad guys cut their losses and flee.

Encounter 1: Alley

Use map 4.1 for this encounter. The buildings that border the alley are 30 feet (three stories) high unless you decide otherwise. Since this encounter occurs outdoors, be mindful of any weather effects in play.

Areas of the Alley

The following locations are keyed to map 4.1.

L1. Alley Residence

This old, one-story, windowless stone house with a slate roof is tucked in the middle of the alley, surrounded by taller buildings. Its doors are made of sturdy wood, and the outer door can be barred shut from within. Breaking down the barred door requires a successful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check.

The interior is divided into two rooms, a kitchen with a fireplace and a plainly furnished bedroom.

L2. Store

This stone building is a store of one kind or another. If an encounter doesn’t specify the goods sold here, roll a d20 and consult the Store Goods table to determine what the store sells.

Store Goods

A small room serves as a cloakroom, where visitors can hang their heavier overgarments. Past the cloakroom is the store proper, with wares on display. The room to the north is a storeroom or a workshop. The store owner (commoner) has keys to all doors.

Alley: Spring

When this encounter begins, either the characters have the Stone of Golorr in their clutches, in which case they’re jumped as they move through an alley near the tower-or it was taken from them by Xanathar’s gazer spies, in which case they catch up with the gazers in the alley before the creatures can descend into the sewers.

Bear Traps

Choose five squares on the map. These squares contain deep puddles of muddy water. Hidden within each puddle is a spring-loaded bear trap. A creature that has a passive Perception score of 13 or higher spots a trap before accidentally stepping in it.

Any creature that steps into a trap’s square must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3 (1d6) slashing damage as the trap snaps shut around its ankle, and the creature is restrained until the trap is removed. As an action, a creature can try to pry open the trap, doing so with a successful DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check.

Ambushers

The characters enter the alley followed by eight kobold disguised as children wearing troll masks. A bugbear named Morga and an intellect devourer hide in a doorway halfway down the alley and can be spotted with a successful DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check.

When the characters reach Morga’s hiding spot, the bugbear and the kobolds attack. The intellect devourer stays hidden and tries to take control of a character. Given the chance, Morga tries to shove a character into the nearest trap. If these creatures obtain the stone, they bring it to Xanathar in its lair (see chapter 5).

Next Encounter

If a character becomes attuned to the Stone of Golorr, it reveals the location of the Vault of Dragons, below a theater in the Castle Ward called the Pink Flumph, and the three keys that are needed to enter it. When the characters are ready to visit the location, proceed with encounter 6, “Theater.”

Alley: Summer

The characters begin this encounter on the rooftops overlooking the alley. If any characters went to ground during the rooftop chase, start them at one end of the alley instead.

Hire-Coach

Parked in the middle of the alley is a hire-coach pulled by two draft horse. The driver, Haru Hamatori (LG male Kozakuran human commoner), wears a feathered cap and matching outfit.

Lord Cassalanter’s doppelganger valet, in the guise of an elderly tiefling named Willifort Crowelle, sits in the passenger cab, which grants half cover. Standing next to the hire-coach is a bearded devil disguised as a cloaked human bodyguard wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and perched on the coach are three invisible imp. Any spined devil that survived the previous encounter are also present, having just delivered the Stone of Golorr to Willifort.

When he sees the characters, Willifort orders the imps and the spined devils to attack. The bearded devil stays close to Willifort and engages any character who tries to reach the hire-coach.

The hire-coach has AC 14, 45 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

If there’s any chance that the characters might obtain the Stone of Golorr as the encounter progresses, Willifort orders the driver to move the hire-coach out of the alley as quickly as possible. If the driver is incapacitated or killed, the bearded devil climbs into the driver’s seat on the back of the coach and steers the vehicle. If the bearded devil is unable to replace the driver, the doppelganger takes the reins. Willifort flees on foot if the hirecoach is destroyed or its horses are unable to move.

Next Encounter

If Willifort escapes and the characters pursue him, proceed with encounter 3, “Street Chase.”

Alley: Autumn

The characters' quest for the Stone of Golorr first leads them to Fenerus Stormcastle, a lamplighter who rents a small house in the Trades Ward (area L1).

Apple Cart

The characters enter the alley from either end. Determine their marching order, then read the following text once they reach the alley’s midpoint:

A cart laden with apples comes careening toward you from the opposite direction, rolling downhill. Riding on the cart is a tiefling boy with an eye patch, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Look out!” he shouts.

A character in the path of the apple cart must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or be struck for 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage and knocked prone. A character can forgo the Dexterity saving throw and try to stop the cart bodily, doing so with a successful DC 15 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the character is struck by the cart and falls prone as it continues to roll. After plowing through the party, the cart flips on its side, sending apples tumbling down the alley. The tiefling boy is thrown from the cart but not seriously hurt.

The boy is one of three street urchins who teamed up to steal the apple cart from a nearby street corner. The other two children lost control of the cart at the crest of the alley before they could hop on. They catch up to their friend after the crash, make sure he’s all right, and then apologize profusely to anyone who was hurt. The urchins, harmless troublemakers, are detailed in the sidebar “area The Three Urchins.”

If they are asked about Fenerus, the children know who he is. They describe him as a big man with graying hair who looks like he has been in many fights, based on “the scars he wears on his face.” They know nothing more about him, other than that he lives alone.

If the characters don’t frighten them away, the children loiter around the alley, eating apples and picking through garbage piles.

Fenerus’s House

The door to Fenerus’s house stands open, and the place has been ransacked. Painted in blood on the kitchen wall is a circle with ten equidistant lines radiating outward from its circumference: the sign of Xanathar. A thorough search accompanied by a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals small pools of blood on the kitchen floor. A successful check also verifies that the blood on the floor and wall is fresh.

Fenerus’s Story

Fenerus Stormcastle was the founder of the Blood Hawk Posse, a gang of horse-riding brigands that, to this day, harries travelers on the road to Amphail. When he was drummed out of the gang after a botched raid, Fenerus “retired” to Waterdeep and joined the Guild of Chandlers and Lamplighters.

Until recently, Fenerus supplemented his income by spying for the city of Luskan and providing his contacts with information on the political climate in Waterdeep, as well as juicy bits of news overheard on his nightly rounds through the Trades Ward. He has no clue that his contacts are drow members of Bregan D’aerthe, since they wear cloaks and keep to the shadows.

Agents of the Lords' Alliance recently labeled Fenerus as a wanted brigand and notified the Lords of Waterdeep, who sent the City Watch to arrest him. Fenerus had the good sense to hide the Stone of Golorr elsewhere and hopes to use it as leverage to gain his freedom as well as forgiveness for past crimes.

Shortly after Fenerus’s arrest, drow agents of Bregan D’aerthe showed up to collect the stone and were waylaid by invisible duergar hiding in the alley. The duergar were members of the Xanathar Guild that had been sent by Nar’l Xibrindas (see appendix B) to retrieve the stone. After searching Fenerus’s home and finding nothing, they were waiting for Fenerus to return when the drow showed up. The drow barely got away with their lives.

The Three Urchins

Three street urchins, described below, appear in several of this chapter’s scenes: Nat is a lanky, 10-year-old deaf Illuskan girl with a wooden toy sword. She is the leader of the group and communicates using a sign language that she invented and taught to her friends. Jenks is a portly 9-year-old Turami boy with a cloak, a toy wand, and a stuffed owlbear “familiar.” He’s shy around strangers but brave when it comes to helping his friends. Squiddly is a slim 9-year-old tiefling boy with an eye patch, a small bow, and a quiver of toy arrows. He rarely thinks before he talks or acts.

Jarlaxle in Disguise

Before the characters leave the alley, Jarlaxle Baenre (see appendix B) uses his hat of disguise to approach them in the guise of Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep:

A tall, graceful woman in an emerald green cloak approaches you, her long, silver hair billowing out from under her hood. “If you’ve come looking for Fenerus Stormcastle, I’m afraid you’re too late,” she says. “It appears Xanathar has gotten to him first. Fenerus had something in his possession that I desire. Perhaps you can help retrieve it.”

“Laeral” tells the characters that Fenerus had a sentient magic item in his possession called the Stone of Golorr, which knows the location of a large cache of gold that was embezzled from the city by its previous Open Lord. She asks the characters to retrieve the stone, for the good of Waterdeep, and deliver it to her at the Seven Masks Theater in the Dock Ward. “Laeral” offers no reward other than the gratitude of Waterdeep’s Open Lord.

Jarlaxle suspects that Nar’l Xibrindas, his spy in the Xanathar Guild, has betrayed him and is now using the resources of Bregan D’aerthe to help the beholder retrieve the stone. Jarlaxle also knows that the Xanathar Guild has a refuge fairly close by, in a cellar complex under the Southern Ward. “Laeral” suggests that the characters search for the stone there. (Jarlaxle doesn’t want Nar’l to know that he’s onto him, which is why he would rather send a small group of adventurers than call upon a Bregan D’aerthe attack force.)

Characters who are suspicious of Laeral’s intentions can ascertain that she’s hiding something with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by Jarlaxle’s Charisma (Deception) check. If the characters somehow penetrate Jarlaxle’s disguise, he smiles and offers them 10,000 gp if they promptly deliver the stone to him at the Seven Masks Theater. He assures them, in all honesty, that he plans to give the gold back to Waterdeep in exchange for some political goodwill.

Next Encounter

If the characters invade the Xanathar Guild refuge, proceed with encounter 9, “Cellar Complex.”

Alley: Winter

The characters' search for the Stone of Golorr leads them to a snow-covered alley in the Trades Ward that contains a windowless Zhentarim safe house (area L1) and a meat shop called Cuttle’s Meat Pies (area L2).

The characters approach from either end of the alley. Hoofprints and wheel ruts in the snow testify that Justyn Rassk’s delivery cart passed through the alley recently after a brief stop outside the meat shop. A character who inspects the tracks and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check can tell that the deliverer visited both the shop and the alley residence. Before the characters can investigate further, they are assaulted by members of the Xanathar Guild.

Bugbears Attack

At the end of a dead-end side alley south of areas L1 and L2 is an iron grate that covers an opening to the sewers under the North Ward. Five bugbear have quietly climbed up through the grate and concealed themselves in the side alley. They pour out and attack the characters, hoping to gain surprise in the blizzard. Characters who have a passive Perception score of 16 or higher aren’t surprised.

The bugbears were sent by Xanathar to retrieve a prisoner being held in the Zhent safe house, but they’re too bloodthirsty to pass up the chance to murder a band of adventurers standing in their way. The wind and snow render the City Watch oblivious to the danger.

Cuttle’s Meat Pies

Characters who speak to the proprietor of the meat shop, a portly middle-aged woman named Sora Cuttle (LG female Illuskan human commoner), learn that she received an unexpected delivery from Justyn Rassk of the Guild of Butchers. Given that fresh meat is in short supply in winter, Sora could hardly turn it down. If the characters see fit to tell her that the meat came from chopped-up humanoids, Sora falls ill. She has no knowledge of Thrakkus’s nasty handiwork and promises to bring the matter to the attention of the Guild of Butchers and the local magister. Until then, she won’t use any of Thrakkus’s meat to make her famous meat pies.

Sora is suspicious of her two neighbors in area L1. They come and go at strange hours, sometimes returning from a night’s sojourn with blood on their leather armor. If the characters do Sora the courtesy of warning her about the meat, she happily shares her concerns about her naughty neighbors, along with descriptions of them. One is a pale, gaunt woman in her twenties with dark, stringy hair. The other is a much older, darkskinned man with a bald head, a half-missing ear, and a short white beard.

Zhentarim Safe House

This windowless house is occupied by two Zhents loyal to Manshoon-the same individuals that Sora describes. Their names are Avareen Windrivver (LE female Illuskan human spy) and Zorbog Jyarkoth (NE male Turami human thug).

When the characters first enter the alley, Avareen is in the front doorway of the house, handing the Stone of Golorr to a high-ranking Zhent named Vevette Blackwater (CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler; see appendix B). Zorbog is stoking a fire in the fireplace while quietly observing the transaction. With stone in hand, Vevette scrambles up to the rooftops, leaving Avareen and Zorbog to deal with the survivors of the conflict between the characters and the bugbears.

Gagged and tied to a chair in the back room of the house is a known member of the Xanathar Guild-a shield dwarf who wears a leather skullcap stitched with fake beholder eyestalks. The dwarf, Ott Steeltoes (see appendix B), was captured while buying fish food in a Dock Ward market. After the Zhents interrogated Ott, it became clear to them that Xanathar would want him back. He is being held until a ransom is paid, but Xanathar has learned where he is being kept. Any bugbears that survived the initial attack try to rescue Ott, while Avareen and Zorbog do their best to fight them off. If Ott is set free, he runs back to the waiting eyestalks of his insane beholder master. Characters who follow him are led straight to Xanathar’s lair (see chapter 5).

Next Encounter

Any characters within 10 feet of the Zhents' front door can make a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check. Those who succeed on the check hear a mocking laugh above the howling wind and glimpse a cloaked figure on a nearby roof, darting away through the blizzard. If the characters chase after this figure, proceed with encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase.”

Encounter 2: Mistshore

Mistshore is a run-down Dock Ward neighborhood that reeks of fish and scorched timber. A fire swept through the area a little over a year ago, and most of the buildings are now burned-out shells with (at best) sails for roofs. Fishing poles and nets line the dock, and the 15-foot-deep water is covered by a thick layer of ice during the winter.

Areas of Mistshore

Mistshore is a riotous assemblage of ramshackle homes made of wood from old ships and inhabited by impoverished Waterdavians. Several buildings were reduced to ash by the fire last year. Although some were rebuilt, others were ruined beyond repair and are now used as roofless dens by homeless children and rat.

The following locations are keyed to map 4.2.

D1. Kraken’s Folly

The Kraken’s Folly is a beached pirate ship that some residents of Mistshore use as a tenement. At any given time, 4d6 bandit loiter on deck, hoping that someone who needs muscle will offer them work. These ruffians live in the rat-infested cabins belowdecks. They are willing to come to the aid of anyone who asks-for a price. Each demands 1 gp to get involved in a fight or create a distraction on behalf of their employer.

D2. Grinda’s Residence

A mad treasure hunter named Grinda Garloth (CN female Illuskan human mage who speaks Common, Dwarvish, Halfling, and Undercommon) lives here. Her ramshackle home contains an unmade bed, an alchemist’s laboratory, a small stove, a coat rack, a table, a stool, a stuffed chair in poor condition, a wash basin, and a locked wooden sea chest with a glyph of warding spell cast on it. Grinda carries the key, and the glyph triggers an explosive runes effect (see the spell description in the Player’s Handbook) if anyone other than Grinda lifts the lid of the chest.

Chest

Grinda’s chest contains a heavy iron key that locks and unlocks the Garloth family mausoleum in the City of the Dead (see “Mistshore: Spring” below).

D3. Grinda’s Apparatus

Grinda Garloth keeps her apparatus of Kwalish here when she’s not using the vehicle to hunt for treasure in Deepwater Harbor. While the apparatus is here, it floats in an enclosed dock. Underwater metal doors leading out to the harbor are kept shut by an iron bar across the inside. The apparatus can lift the iron bar automatically; a creature inside the bay can lift it with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check.

Borrowing the Apparatus

Grinda allows the characters to borrow her apparatus of Kwalish on the condition that they first use the device to search the bottom of Deepwater Harbor for treasure and give her half of whatever they find. To meet the mage’s demands, the characters must spend a day searching the harbor. At the end of the day, the pilot makes an Intelligence (Investigation) check. Multiply the total of the check by 10 to determine the gold piece value of any treasure found. Grinda sells the bounty and gives half to the characters.

As the characters search the harbor for treasure, roll any die. If an even number is rolled, an awakened shark named Obliteros attacks them. Grinda has had several close encounters with the shark recently, but fails to mention this to the characters for fear of scaring them off. Obliteros is a giant shark, with these changes:

• The shark’s alignment is chaotic evil.
• Its Intelligence score is 10 (+0), and it can speak and understand Aquan.

Mistshore: Spring

Xanathar has sent forces to collect the Stone of Golorr from Grinda Garloth, known up and down the wharf as an eccentric wizard who owns a submersible contraption that she uses to hunt for treasure on the bottom of Deepwater Harbor. The characters have no trouble getting directions to her Mistshore residence (area D2).

When the characters arrive at her home, Grinda is holed up inside, having barricaded the doors with furniture. Trying to break down the doors are four members of the Xanathar Guild (CE male human bandit) under the command of a dwarf enforcer named Noska Ur’gray (see appendix B). A merrow also under Noska’s command swims beneath the docks. It surfaces to attack when the characters arrive.

If the characters come to Grinda’s defense, Noska orders his thugs to attack them while he takes potshots at the characters with his crossbow. Two rounds later, eight more bandit leap down from the Kraken’s Folly (area D1) and join the fray. These hooligans were paid 1 gp each to watch Noska’s back. The characters can turn them against Noska by offering a larger bribe (at least 5 gp each).

If the characters turn the hooligans against Noska or reduce the dwarf to half his hit points or fewer, Noska flees. Any remaining Xanathar Guild members cover his escape. Grinda emerges from her residence to thank the characters once the fight has concluded.

Where’s the Stone?

Grinda admits that she has done business with the Xanathar Guild in the past. Her orders were to protect the stone until Noska arrived to claim it, but she changed her mind and decided to keep the stone for herself. She now realizes that decision was a mistake.

Grinda tells the characters that she gave the stone to her rat familiar and told the creature to stash it in her family’s mausoleum in the City of the Dead. The mage gives the characters directions to the site and a key to the mausoleum. (They won’t need the key, since the mausoleum is open when they arrive.)

Spy in the Sky

As the characters leave Mistshore, a gazer (see appendix B) begins to follow them, staying at least 60 feet away. Xanathar uses it to spy on the characters. Characters who have a passive Perception score of 15 or higher can spot the gazer shortly after the party enters the City of the Dead. The gazer defends itself if attacked.

Next Encounter

Armed with directions to the Garloth mausoleum, the characters can head for the City of the Dead. The spring chain continues with encounter 4, “Mausoleum.”

Mistshore: Autumn

At the end of their pursuit, the characters corner Fel’rekt Lafeen and Krebbyg Masq’il’yr in Mistshore. The two drow gunslinger (see appendix B) lurk behind the Kraken’s Folly (area D1) and wait to be rescued. When the characters confront them, Fel’rekt and Krebbyg stall for time until their escape vehicle arrives. If either drow falls, the other tosses the stone into the harbor to keep it from falling into enemy hands. A character can recover the sunken stone by using a detect magic spell to help pinpoint its location.

Big Belchy

A mechanical dragon turtle, dubbed Big Belchy, sank in Deepwater Harbor almost a century ago. Lantanese gnomes working for Jarlaxle have managed to repair the construct. Two rounds after the characters corner Fel’rekt and Krebbyg, Big Belchy surfaces next to the dock on initiative count 5, close enough that the drow can leap onto its barnacle-encrusted back on their next turns.

In the round after it surfaces, the mechanism breathes a cloud of steam onto the docks in a 30-foot cube, then begins to move away at a swimming speed of 20 feet. Any creature in the cloud of steam must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Big Belchy can breathe steam only once. On each of its turns thereafter, it swims a total of 40 feet toward Jarlaxle’s flagship, the Eyecatcher, which is anchored in the middle of the harbor 1 mile away.

Big Belchy has AC 18, 75 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. If it is reduced to 0 hit points, it sinks once more to the bottom of Deepwater Harbor. If the drow are still on its back when it goes down, they swim the rest of the way to the Eyecatcher but gain two levels of exhaustion from the cold water and exertion.

If the drow are defeated while on Big Belchy’s back, the Stone of Golorr tumbles off the mechanical dragon turtle’s shell and drops into Deepwater Harbor. If the water is deep enough, the characters might need to borrow Grinda Garloth’s apparatus of Kwalish to recover it.

Next Encounter

If a character becomes attuned to the Stone of Golorr, it reveals the location of the Vault of Dragons, beneath an old stone windmill in the Sea Ward, and the three keys needed to enter it. When the characters are ready to visit the location, proceed with encounter 10, “Converted Windmill.”

Mistshore: Winter

The characters head to Mistshore in search of the man they believe has the Stone of Golorr. En route to that destination, the man had his hire-coach make a brief stop in the Castle Ward to drop off his lady friend. She now has the stone-a fact that characters can discover by questioning the man, a bard named Agorn Fuoco.

Agorn made such a good impression on Manshoon that he was elevated quickly through the ranks of the organization, but his life is full of disappointment otherwise. He has not achieved the fame he craved nor earned the wealth he felt he was entitled to. He has adopted the Zhentarim credo that power comes to those who deserve it and has come to see the Black Network as a new family of sorts. Agorn has come to Mistshore to visit a member of his actual family-his mother, who is gravely ill and lives in abject poverty.

A Waiting Coach

Waiting at the edge of the neighborhood is the hirecoach that bore Agorn Fuoco through the blizzard to Mistshore. Two draft horse stamp their hooves impatiently in the snow. The driver, Rowan Evenwood (LG female Chondathan human commoner), was paid extra to wait for Agorn to return. He left in a hurry, and she doesn’t know how long she is expected to wait, but her patience has limits.

A Cold Reception

A blizzard is tearing through Mistshore, turning its rotten tenements into dark, looming shapes behind veils of blowing snow. The water around the docks is frozen solid, and impoverished commoner clad in tattered garments gather around sputtering campfires for warmth. These folk are suspicious of anyone they don’t recognize and far from welcoming, even toward those who show them charity. These people would tear the clothes from the characters' backs given half a chance.

Ice Escapades

Playing on the ice underneath the docks are three street urchins wearing frayed cloaks and gloves. They dart in and out of view, hurling snowballs at each other and laughing as the blizzard batters the structures above them (see “area The Three Urchins").

When the children see the characters for the first time, their interest is piqued. The children fancy themselves adventurers of sorts, and they are quick to idolize and emulate real-life ones. Squiddly even has the audacity to hurl a snowball at one of them (+0 bonus to hit). The children know who Agorn Fuoco is because he used to live and play music in Mistshore. They offer to lead characters to his mother’s residence.

Mother and Son

Pick one of the unmarked buildings on map 4.2 to serve as the Fuoco residence. Agorn Fuoco (NE male Turami bard; see appendix B) is inside, trying to smother his bedridden mother, Marta (N female Turami human commoner with 1 hit point), with a sack she uses as a pillowcase. With tears born of joy and sadness streaming down his face, Agorn is cutting loose his old family ties and embracing his new family: the Zhentarim. The characters can stop him from committing matricide by pulling him away from his mother before she suffocates.

Agorn was moved to perpetrate this act by the play he saw at the theater and by his lady friend, Amath Sercent, to whom he entrusted the Stone of Golorr. He won’t give up her location willingly, though magic can be used to pry the information from his lips. Characters can also speak to the hire-coach driver, Rowan Evenwood, who dropped off Agorn’s lady friend before transporting Agorn to Mistshore. Amath lives in an old tower in the Castle Ward called Yellowspire.

Zhents in the Wind

As the characters leave the Fuoco residence, with or without Agorn as their prisoner, they are surrounded by nine Zhentarim thug. The thugs fight to the death while Agorn tries to escape. If he gets away, the characters might encounter him again in chapter 8.

As the Zhents attack and Agorn attempts to flee, the characters hear a child’s scream coming from the opposite direction. Through the blowing snow, they can see that one of the urchins, Jenks, has fallen through a thin patch of ice and is in danger of sinking to the bottom of the harbor. His two friends are trying to pull him out of the hole, but he’s too heavy. The children are roughly 30 feet away. A character within arm’s reach of Jenks can use an action to try to pull the boy from the cold water, doing so with a successful DC 11 Strength (Athletics) check. If no adult comes to Jenks’s aid within 1 minute of his falling through the ice, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown as the cold water overcomes him.

If the characters find themselves outmatched by the Zhents, help comes in two forms. Two Harper spy sent by Remallia Haventree (see appendix B) appear on the scene. Their names are Salazar Lorrance (CG male Tethyrian human) and Mavia Oxlander (NG female Chondathan human). If the battle doesn’t turn quickly in the party’s favor, Grinda Garloth (see area D2) appears and uses her magic to aid them.

Next Encounter

Armed with information from Agorn Fuoco or his hirecoach driver, the characters might feel compelled to pay a visit to Yellowspire in the Castle Ward. Proceed with encounter 7, “Old Tower.”

Encounter 3: Street Chase

For this encounter, use the chase rules and the Urban Chase Complications table in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. The chase plays out as a “theater of the mind” experience. Consequently, you don’t need a map to run the encounter. The chase occurs outdoors, so be mindful of any weather effects in play.

Street Chase: Spring

A kenku in cahoots with the Xanathar Guild has the Stone of Golorr and is running through the streets with it. The kenku is 60 feet away from the characters at the start of the chase.

If at any point the kenku is incapacitated, another kenku previously hidden by the rain or fog joins the chase, acting next in the initiative count. It suddenly appears, snatches the stone, and flees with it.

Next Encounter

When the characters are close to catching the kenku, or when you want the chase to end, the creature ducks into an old tower. Proceed with encounter 7, “Old Tower.”

Street Chase: Summer

The characters are pursuing Lord Cassalanter’s doppelganger valet, Willifort, as he flees in a hire-coach or on foot. The chase takes place on crowded streets, in front of agog spectators.

If you haven’t been tracking the distance between the doppelganger and the characters, assume the characters are 120 feet away from their quarry at the start of the chase if Willifort is traveling by hire-coach, or 60 feet away if the doppelganger is on foot. The hire-coach has an initiative modifier of +0, and Willifort moves with it. A creature in the hire-coach doesn’t need to roll on the Urban Chase Complications table on its turn.

Crowded Street

If Willifort flees in a hire-coach, his getaway is thwarted on the third round of the chase when a large crowd blocks the road, forcing the hire-coach to stop. (If the chase occurs on Founders' Day, the crowd is part of the holiday celebration.) The doppelganger jumps out of the hire-coach on his next turn and makes his way through the crowd on foot.

Any creature in the crowd has half cover, and any attack that misses the creature because of the cover hits an innocent commoner instead.

If Willifort is incapacitated, a raven abruptly swoops down, acting next in the initiative count. It snatches the stone and flees with it. This raven is a shapechanged imp that works for Lady Cassalanter.

Street Urchins

The chase ends when three street urchins (see “area The Three Urchins"), steal the stone, either by pickpocketing it from the doppelganger or by shooting a toy arrow at the raven and causing it to drop the stone. Once they have the stone, the street urchins quickly lose themselves in the crowd. If Willifort the doppelganger is still around, he tries to slip away, believing he still has the stone. The imp, if present, turns invisible and circles above the crowd in a futile attempt to find the stone.

A character can use an action to search the crowded street by making a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check. On a successful check, the character spots an iron grate in the street that wasn’t closed properly. Lifting it reveals an iron ladder that descends 10 feet to an underground sewer tunnel. Characters who lower themselves into the tunnel can hear the sounds of splashing water and children’s voices in the distance and might decide to follow them. (The children are holding hands in the dark and being guided by Squiddly, who has darkvision.)

Next Encounter

If the characters follow the street urchins into the sewer, proceed with encounter 9, “Cellar Complex.”

Street Chase: Winter

After leaving the theater, the characters resume their pursuit of the elusive Zhent spy, Vevette Blackwater (CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler; see appendix B). She leads them on a merry chase through snowy streets until she is finally caught or until the characters give up the chase. She starts 30 feet away from the characters. If forced to make an ability check or saving throw because of a chase complication, she has advantage on the roll. Also, she can use the Dash action during the chase without having to make Constitution checks to avoid exhaustion.

Where’s the Stone?

If she is caught, Vevette surrenders. She’s counting on the law to protect her from serious harm, and she knows she has done nothing to warrant arrest. Vevette no longer has the Stone of Golorr, after parting with it back in the theater. She doesn’t willingly divulge who has the stone, though the characters can pry the information from her using a charm person spell or similar magic.

If the characters return to the theater, Remallia Haventree (see appendix B) waves them over and tells them that she saw two people exit the theater shortly after they did and then depart together in a hire-coach shortly thereafter. One of them is a bard named Agorn Fuoco, the other a woman unknown to Lady Haventree.

Both Remallia and Vevette know that Agorn spends time around the dangerous dockside neighborhood of Mistshore.

Next Encounter

Proceed with encounter 2, “Mistshore.”

Encounter 4: Mausoleum

The City of the Dead is a public park dotted with mausoleums. The place is closed at night, with two City Guard soldiers (guard) stationed at each entry gate. A character can slip over a wall undetected with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check.

At dusk, hundreds of driftglobe make their way from the inhabited part of the city and congregate in the City of the Dead. They spend the night here, then disperse and return to the waking city at dawn-for a reason no one knows.

Sir Ambrose Everdawn (LG male human Tethyrian knight), an aging servant of Kelemvor (god of the dead), patrols the cemetery from sunset to sunrise, chasing off grave robbers and making sure the dead stay buried. Characters who creep around the cemetery in the dark have a 30|30 percent chance percent of running into him. If that happens, he escorts them out and alerts the City Guard if they refuse to leave.

Areas of the Mausoleum

Rooms in the mausoleum have 8-foot-high ceilings, with 6-foot-high passages and doorways connecting them.

The following locations are keyed to map 4.3.

M1. Ground Level

Unless the text of an encounter says otherwise, the stone double door to the mausoleum is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check.

Inside, a family emblem is emblazoned on the floor between four ostentatious marble coffins. The coffins, engraved with the names of those interred within, contain nothing but dust and bones.

M2. Underground Crypts

Empty sconces adorn the walls. Cobwebs and dust indicate that no one has tended to this place in a long time. Stone coffins in alcoves contain dust and bones.

Mausoleum: Spring

This encounter begins when the characters come to the Garloth mausoleum seeking the Stone of Golorr. The double door to the mausoleum is open when they arrive.

Earlier, Grinda Garloth’s rat familiar arrived to find the mausoleum open and grave robbers inside. They killed the rat, took the stone, and fled along with the skeletal remains of Grinda’s ancestors. Characters who search the plundered crypts find neither the rat nor the stone, but they do find a clue left behind by one of the grave robbers (see “Crypt Clue” below). As the characters make their way out, Xanathar Guild members attack them in an attempt to retrieve the stone.

Crypt Clue

Characters who search the underground crypts can find a shiny steel key lying in the dust on the floor. One of the grave robbers dropped it while looting the crypts.

The characters can take the key to the Metal House of Wonders, the guildhall of the Splendid Order of Armorers, Locksmiths, and Finesmiths in the Dock Ward, or to any local locksmith. In either place, someone can identify the key as the handiwork of a dwarf locksmith in the Trades Ward named Elaspra Ulmarr. Characters who visit Elaspra’s shop can learn from her that she made a key for a client who bought one of her excellent locks. She even installed the lock for him. Elaspra won’t easily divulge the name of the client or his place of residence. She has great respect for the Harpers, however; a character who belongs to this faction and produces a Harper pin to prove it can pry the information from her with a successful DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check. A character pretending to be a Harper can fool her with a successful DC 16 Charisma (Deception) check.

Otherwise, the characters must either compel Elaspra to release the information using magic, or they must sneak a peek at her records, which she keeps in an iron safe that can be opened with a knock spell or similar magic. To pick the combination lock on the safe, a character must succeed on three DC 20 Dexterity (Investigation) checks in a row. Each attempt made to pick the lock requires an action.

From Elaspra or her records, the characters learn that she sold the key to a man named Volkarr Kibbens, whose address is an old windmill in the Southern Ward. The key unlocks the door to his apartment, which he shares with another man named Urlaster Ghann.

Xanathar Guild Ambush

As the characters leave the mausoleum, they are jumped by four duergar, members of the Xanathar Guild, who slipped past the cemetery guards using their invisibility. The leader, Gorath, accosts the characters in Dwarvish, demands the Stone of Golorr, and refuses to believe that they don’t have it. If the stone isn’t turned over to them promptly, the duergar enlarge themselves and attack. Xanathar watches the battle unfold through the eyes of a gazer (see appendix B), which stays out of the fight and tries to remain unseen.

If this encounter occurs at night, there’s a 50|50 percent chance percent that Ambrose Everdawn hears the disturbance and investigates, arriving after two duergar fall in battle. The characters can convince him that they’re not grave robbers with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If they’re polite, Ambrose escorts them out of the City of the Dead and warns them not to trespass again. Otherwise, he attempts to subdue them and turn them over to the City Guard.

Next Encounter

Once they trace the key to its owner, the characters can head to the Southern Ward in search of Volkarr Kibbens. The spring chain continues with encounter 10, “Converted Windmill.”

Mausoleum: Summer

The characters travel to the City of the Dead, which is open to the public from dawn until dusk. One well-maintained mausoleum has the name CASSALANTER engraved above its entrance. The outer door is locked when the characters arrive in search of the Stone of Golorr. A successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals that it has been opened recently, as evidenced by dirt smears on the door. A character can try to pick the lock using thieves' tools, doing so with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. A knock spell or similar magic also opens the door.

Human footprints crisscross through the dust on the upper level. A search of the underground crypt reveals the bodies of three humans-two males and a female, all dressed in hooded robes. Further inspection reveals that the woman is still breathing (unconscious with 0 hit points).

Left for Dead

The three cultists were low-ranking members of Victoro Cassalanter’s cult of Asmodeus. They were betrayed by two cult fanatics acting on orders from Lord Cassalanter, who not only wants the Stone of Golorr but also, as a security precaution, intends to eliminate cult members who know too much about it. These three cultists were felled by daggers and inflict wounds spells.

The survivor is Vaelle Lurval (LE female Tethyrian human cultist), a 30-year-old Waterdavian florist. She was brought into the cult by her boyfriend, Holiver Tornrudder, who lies dead nearby. The other dead cultist is named Kaeth Warloon.

If she is healed, Vaelle regains consciousness. She reveals that the cult fanatics, Arn Xalrondar and Seffia Naelryke, would likely have taken the stone to an old windmill in the Southern Ward, where they hold their own ceremonies worshiping Asmodeus. Vaelle can provide directions, or she can lead characters there if she is healed fully, for the sake of avenging her murdered lover.

Vaelle believes that the cult fanatics acted on their own, not under Lord Cassalanter’s orders. She won’t reveal the Cassalanters as the leaders of the cult unless magically compelled to do so.

Next Encounter

Proceed with encounter 10, “Converted Windmill.”

Villain Lairs

Chapters 5 through 8 describe the lairs of the main villains. The characters might want to explore the lairs for a variety of reasons, including the following:

• Disrupting the villain’s operation

• Gaining an audience with the villain (perhaps to forge a truce or an alliance)

• Completing a special mission for a faction (see “Joining Factions,")

• Investigating a false clue given to them as part of a scheme concocted by another villain

• Stealing the Stone of Golorr if the villain has it, or finding leads on its whereabouts when the trail goes cold

Mausoleum: Winter

The Stone of Golorr has revealed that the Vault of Dragons lies beneath the Brandath family mausoleum in the City of the Dead. The characters are unlikely to know it, but the Brandath family is an old one. Lord Dagult Neverember married into it for its wealth, and Lady Brandath gave birth to his son, Renaer. It’s a dark irony that Neverember entrusted the location of his embezzled gold to his dead wife’s family. Renaer Neverember would be horrified but not surprised to learn the truth.

The cemetery is buried in snow, and though some visitors are drawn to its scenic beauty even in winter, the blizzard keeps most of them away. The crumbling mausoleum is sealed tight, and the name BRANDATH is etched above its entrance. Large elm and birch trees grow around the structure, sheltering it as best they can with their leafless boughs.

Guardian Treant

The largest tree growing in front of the entrance is a treant. It awakens when one or more creatures approach the entrance and growls, “Only those of Brandath blood are welcome here! Begone!” The treant is particularly surly, it being winter and all.

If someone other than a Brandath descendant tries to open the mausoleum, the treant animates two nearby trees and then attacks. The treant and its animated allies are too big to enter the mausoleum.

The characters can kill the treant, try to slip past it, or retreat until they learn more about the Brandath family. A day’s research followed by a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals that the characters know one such person: Renaer Neverember. If they ask Renaer to admit them to the Brandath family mausoleum, he agrees to do so. Because the treant can sense that Renaer has Brandath blood in his veins, it allows him and those he calls his friends to enter unmolested, and says to Renaer in passing, “Your mother was a lovely person.”

Glyph of Warding

A glyph of warding spell has been cast on the first step leading down to the underground level, set to trigger when a humanoid creature passes over the step. The glyph can’t be spotted unless the dust on the floor is cleared away by a gust of wind spell or some other means. Once the dust is swept aside, a character who searches the stairs notices the glyph with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

If the glyph is triggered, it erupts with magical fire in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on it. The fire spreads around corners. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) fire damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one. The glyph disappears after it is triggered.

Uld’s Resting Place

A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation that emanates from one of the stone coffins on the underground level. This crypt contains the shattered bones of Uld Brandath, a Waterdavian magister who died in a freak accident decades ago. (A gargoyle broke off the corner of a government building and fell on Uld, crushing him.) Guarding his remains are six crawling claw made from the hands of murderers who were sentenced to death by Uld. These undead hands spring out and attack when the lid is lifted or shoved aside.

Treasure

Lying amid the bones is Uld’s headband of intellect, which the characters can retrieve once the crawling claws are dealt with.

Path to the Vault

The collapsed eastern end of the underground level is actually an illusion that conceals an intact, 10-foot-wide passageway that slopes down. The characters can walk right through the illusion, which has no substance, and a dispel magic spell destroys it. The tunnel wends downward for several hundred feet, gradually widening to 20 feet where it ends at the doors to the Vault of Dragons.

Encounter 5: Rooftop Chase

This encounter uses the chase rules in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. It also uses the Rooftop Chase Complications table, which applies only to creatures moving across rooftops on foot. Flying creatures needn’t roll on the table.

Rooftop Chase Complications

Rooftop Chase: Summer

The characters are trying to catch up with three spined devil that keep low above the rooftops, so as not to be seen by Waterdeep’s Griffon Cavalry. The devils are 100 feet away from the characters at the start of the chase.

If the devil carrying the Stone of Golorr becomes incapacitated, another devil snatches the stone and flees with it.

Next Encounter

When the characters are close to getting the stone, or when you want the chase to end, all remaining spined devils duck into an alley. If the characters lose their quarry, they can question city folk on the ground who saw where the devils went. Continue with encounter 1, “Alley.”

Rooftop Chase: Autumn

The characters are chasing two drow gunslinger (see appendix B) across windy rooftops in the Dock Ward. The drow stick together as they run, but each one acts on his own initiative count.

Fel’rekt Lafeen and Krebbyg Masq’il’yr start out 40 feet ahead of their pursuers. They do nothing but move on their turns, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the characters as possible. Fel’rekt has the Stone of Golorr at the start of the chase, but one drow gunslinger can pass the stone to the other as a reaction as long as the two drow are within 10 feet of each other.

Next Encounter

The drow keep running across the rooftops until they get to the run-down dockside neighborhood known as Mistshore. Characters who remain in pursuit can follow them all the way there. If all the characters lose their quarry, they can question city folk on the ground who saw the drow heading toward Mistshore. In either case, proceed with encounter 2, “Mistshore.”

Rooftop Chase: Winter

A Zhent named Vevette Blackwater (CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler; see appendix B) has snatched the Stone of Golorr and is fleeing as fast as she can across icy rooftops during a blizzard. Characters who intend to pursue her are 60 feet away from their quarry at the start of the chase and must also take to the rooftops or lose sight of her.

Vevette was a vicious pirate before she joined the Zhentarim and rose to become one of Manshoon’s favored lieutenants. She cackles madly in the face of danger and loves a good chase. She knows the streets, alleys, and rooftops of Waterdeep well. If forced to make an ability check or a saving throw because of a chase complication, she has advantage on the roll. Also, she can take the Dash action during the chase without having to make Constitution checks to avoid exhaustion.

Next Encounter

The chase lasts no more than 5 rounds, after which Vevette drops to the ground and ducks into a theater. Characters who lose sight of her can ask people along her path to help them out. Continue with encounter 6, “Theater.”

Encounter 6: Theater

Whether the theater is open for business or shut down, it has the following features:

• Ceilings in the rooms are 10 feet high except in area P5, which has a 20-foot-high raftered ceiling. Connecting the rooms are 8-foot-high passages and 7-foot-high doorways.
• The theater is lit by lanterns that have continual flame spells cast on them. Speaking a command word inside the theater causes the lights in the theater and backstage to dim; speaking another command word inside the theater restores them to full brightness. All the stage managers know the command words.

Areas of the Theater

The following locations are keyed to map 4.4.

P1. Lobby

This plush lobby is decorated with red carpet and ornate wallpaper. On display here are several painted wooden mannequins dressed in fancy costumes, each one representing a character from a famous play.

P2. Ticket Booths

The western door on each booth is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check. The ticket sellers and the stage manager have keys to these doors.

A stack of torn tickets sits on a shelf beneath a counter inside the booth. Prior to a show, each booth holds a ticket seller (commoner). Admission to the theater is 1 sp per person.

P3. Ticket Offices

A desk near the far wall in each of these rooms contains notebooks, paper (one sheet), and a lockbox.

Treasure

The house managers hold the key to each lockbox. A lock can be picked by someone who makes a successful DC 12 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or a lockbox can be forced open with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. During a performance, each lockbox holds 10d10 sp. After a performance, both boxes are empty.

P4. Auditorium

The auditorium has the following features:

• Cushioned seats are arranged in seven tiered rows facing a 5-foot-high wooden stage. Each row has twenty seats.
• Behind a raised red curtain are painted backdrops and stage props for the current production.

During a performance, a stage manager (commoner) watches from the back of the seating area.

P5. Wing

This small offstage area is painted black and has a table that holds fake daggers, swords, and other props. Prop weapons can be used in combat but deal only 1 bludgeoning damage on a hit.

P6. Stage Manager’s Office

This room holds a desk covered in papers. The stage manager (commoner) stays here between performances.

P7. Green Room

A trio of mismatched couches and a stained beige rug are the main features of this room, whose walls are covered with light green paint. This is where the actors congregate when they aren’t on stage or in their dressing rooms.

P8. Dressing Rooms

This room contains clothes racks, tables lined with makeup, and long wall mirrors. During or immediately before a performance, each dressing room holds 1d3 actors (commoner).

Theater: Spring

The name of the Pink Flumph theater is displayed on a sign mounted to the building’s facade. Posters on the outside walls advertise the latest shows, Meet the Goodberrys and Kiss of the Lamia. The former is a comical glimpse into the travails of a large halfling family engaged in illicit criminal activity. The latter is a tragic play about an evil Mulhorandi prince who is banished to a desert, charmed by a lamia, and sent back with powerful magic items to conquer his homeland in her name.

In the early hours of the morning, the backstage area is abuzz with halfling actors donning costumes, wigs, and makeup in preparation for the afternoon’s show. As that show wraps, the cast and musicians for the evening’s tragic fare arrive. The actor who plays the evil prince is a woman named Yaliek Iltizmar (N female Rashemi bard; see appendix B), who is also a member of the Harpers. She pays close attention to characters who nose around backstage, then shares any interesting revelations with Remallia Haventree (see appendix B) at the earliest opportunity. If Remallia learns the location of the Vault of Dragons, she sees that the information reaches the Lords of Waterdeep by conveying it to Mirt.

Theater Owner

The owner of the Pink Flumph, Iokaste Daliano (N female Tethyrian commoner), is a selfish, middle-aged widow with no great love of theater. The Pink Flumph was her husband’s passion; for Iokaste, it’s strictly a means through which she can rub shoulders with the city’s elite. She requires the directors to choose plays and hire actors, while she spends her time “on the job” greeting important guests and promising them the finest entertainment. She treats her actors and staff like half-forgotten children, and she turns away characters who come to the theater seeking the Vault of Dragons unless there’s something in it for her. Appealing to her greed backfires, since Iokaste wants all the treasure for herself.

Path to the Vault

One of the dressing rooms (area P8) contains a secret trapdoor in the floor that no one knows about. It can be found with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. This stone door has an arcane lock spell cast on it and can be pulled open with a successful DC 30 Strength (Athletics) check. A knock spell or similar magic also does the trick.

Below the trapdoor is a 30-foot-deep shaft containing a wooden ladder. Characters who descend the ladder find themselves at one end of a 20-foot-wide stone passageway that gradually slopes down 100 feet before ending at the entrance to the Vault of Dragons.

Wishes the Faerie Dragon

Iokaste’s late husband, Algondar Daliano, had a violet faerie dragon (violet) companion named Wishes. The faerie dragon detests Iokaste but remains on the payroll, begrudgingly using its magic to enhance performances for the sake of preserving Algondar’s legacy. It prefers to remain invisible and unseen otherwise. Iokaste refers to it derisively as “the flying serpent.”

If the characters threaten it or endanger the theater, Wishes uses its magic to confound and neutralize them. As they make their way to the Vault of Dragons, it follows them invisibly. Once it learns about the gold in the vault, the faerie dragon casts mirror image on itself, turns visible, and addresses the characters telepathically. It demands a share of the hoard (at least 5,000 gp), threatens to tip off the City Watch if the characters refuse, and makes good on its threat if the characters don’t share the wealth. The faerie dragon doesn’t have a hoard of its own, since it gives its earnings to unfortunate Waterdavians by invisibly flying around the city at night and leaving coins on doorsteps, window sills, nightstands, and pillows.

Theater: Autumn

At the end of their previous encounter, the characters are no closer to finding the Stone of Golorr. Jarlaxle is waiting for them at the Seven Masks Theater in the Dock Ward. The theater caters to a lower-class clientele, and ship captains and sailors are admitted for free. The owner of the theater is a burly and jovial Shou man with a braided goatee named Rongquan Mystere-another of Jarlaxle’s many disguises. When Jarlaxle is away, he entrusts his stage managers to look after things.

Sapphiria’s Booty

When the characters first arrive, all doors except the ones leading backstage are locked. Characters who slip in through the back see actors and stagehands bustling about and the director arguing with the playwright while the stage manager looks on helplessly. On the stage, actors walk through their scenes and read their lines to a mostly empty theater. Watching the rehearsal from the front row while smoking a pipe is Jarlaxle Baenre (see appendix B), disguised as Rongquan. Hidden in the shadows in various spots are four drow elite warrior ready to fight by Jarlaxle’s side.

The play, Sapphiria’s Booty, is a romantic comedy about a blue-haired madam named Sapphiria who runs a thieves' guild out of a festhall. When a charming sea captain arrives with a hold full of booty from a faraway land, Sapphiria decides to steal it. Zaniness ensues when she falls in love with the first mate, who is half her age, while the captain falls in love with her. On one side of the stage is a backdrop resembling the deck of a ship; the other side is decorated to look like a madam’s parlor in a brothel, complete with a gaudy chandelier and a fainting couch.

Westra Moltimmur (CG female Illuskan human commoner with Insight +2 and Performance +6), the play’s leading lady, is one of Waterdeep’s great treasures, and the cast and crew are very protective of her. Now in her seventies and having been married no fewer than seven times, she has a brisk sense of humor and a zest for life. She’s also insightful enough to know that “Rongquan Mystere” isn’t what he appears to be. She has seen the dark elves who watch over Rongquan and observed him using subtle hand gestures (Drow Sign Language) to communicate with them.

Speaking with Rongquan

Jarlaxle has instructed the stage managers to bring all visitors to him. In the guise of Rongquan, he claims to be a member of the Lords' Alliance who answers directly to Laeral Silverhand. He also seems to know all about the characters' meeting with Laeral (see encounter 1, “Alley”) and says he can speak on her behalf. He asks about the Stone of Golorr and is disappointed if the characters don’t have it. If they offer up the fake stone recovered in encounter 9, “Cellar Complex,” Rongquan immediately realizes it’s a fake.

If the characters aren’t sure what to do next, Jarlaxle imparts the following information:

“My friends, don’t be discouraged. The wind is blowing in our direction! I’ve learned that Fenerus Stormcastle was arrested by the City Watch for theft and taken to a courthouse in the Castle Ward to face the judgment of a magister. No doubt he hid the stone before his capture. You must speak to him right away. You’ll need to devise some sort of ruse to get close to Fenerus. I urge against violence, or you might find yourself locked up beside him.”

If the characters ask why Laeral Silverhand doesn’t question Fenerus herself or bail him out of jail, Jarlaxle laughs and says it would be politically unwise for the Open Lord to be seen negotiating with a man who has committed heinous crimes against the city.

Jarlaxle could speak to Fenerus himself, but he’s not sure if the courthouse is warded against magic. He can’t risk the exposure, so he sends the characters instead. If the characters refuse to work for Rongquan, he shrugs his broad shoulders and lets them leave unmolested, figuring they’ll try to talk to Fenerus anyway.

If the characters attack him, Jarlaxle smiles, whistles for his drow bodyguards, and has at them. If the characters fall in combat, Jarlaxle and his guards stabilize dying party members before dragging all of them to a snowy alley and leaving them there with their gear. After the drow depart, a cold wind tears through the alley and awakens the unconscious characters.

Next Encounter

If the characters decide to speak with Fenerus, proceed with encounter 8, “Courthouse.”

Theater: Winter

As this encounter opens, the characters follow a fleeing Zhent swashbuckler into a theater in the Trades Ward called the Brizzenbright. Named after Malkolm Brizzenbright, its dead owner, the establishment has struggled in recent years. It stays open in the winter for its own survival, but the theater is wickedly cold this time of year.

Brizzenbright’s Ghost

Malkolm Brizzenbright, a ghost, greets all visitors in the lobby (area P1). Dressed in a suit, his hair unkempt, he floats in plain sight most of the time, waving his hands about in gestures of greeting and salutation. Locals are accustomed to his spectral form and his stock introduction: “Let not this harried visage diminish you, gentlesirs and beautiful ladies, for I am but your friendly host. What fine art have we wrought for you this day? Buy your tickets and behold! You shan’t be disappointed!”

The ghost can engage in light conversation. It is bound to the theater because Malkolm Brizzenbright’s soul couldn’t bear to leave the place. If the theater were to close down, the ghost would haunt it still, perhaps becoming more deranged over time. Only razing or burning the theater to the ground can force his spirit to depart forever.

Snakes in the House

After a harrowing rooftop chase, Vevette Blackwater (CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler; see appendix B) has bought a ticket and slipped into the theater during a performance of Blood Wedding -a play about love, jealousy, and death. In the story, a young woman is brought to a castle by a count, only to fall in love with his younger brother, a man of faith. Her betrayal eats away at the jealous count. He murders his brother on his wedding day and pursues the bride, who hurls herself off the castle battlements in despair. The count is cursed by the gods and transformed into a creature of darkness, damned to live in his castle and feed on blood. A female cellist and two male violinists provide musical accompaniment.

The shivering audience includes thirty commoner. Also present is a Zhentarim spy named Agorn Fuoco (NE male Turami bard; see appendix B) and his companion, Amath Sercent (LE female Mulan priest of Bane). Agorn is swept up in the drama and fighting back tears while Amath pats his arm gently. Vevette takes a seat behind them and surreptitiously passes the Stone of Golorr to Agorn. Looking on from the back row is Remallia Haventree (see appendix B), a member of the Harpers who suspects Agorn of being a high-ranking Zhent. She has been watching him for a while now, hoping to identify other Zhentarim leaders in Waterdeep. Although Remallia appears to be alone, the two violinists (LG male Illuskan human spy with Performance +5) are Harpers under her command. Agorn and Amath are unaware that they’re under surveillance.

Enter the Heroes

The characters are expected to buy tickets before entering the main theater. The house manager chases after them if they don’t, threatening to summon the City Watch.

A character who makes a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check spots Vevette in the darkened theater. When this happens, Vevette springs from her chair and flees out the nearest door, planning to lead the characters on another merry chase. Remallia and her fellow Harpers watch with interest but don’t get involved unless their lives or the lives of innocents are imperiled.

Next Encounter

If the characters take the bait, proceed with encounter 3, “Street Chase.” Once Vevette’s pursuers are out of sight, Agorn Fuoco and Amath Sercent use the distraction to slip away, exiting through the main doors and flagging down a hire-coach.

Encounter 7: Old Tower

The characters face enemies in a dilapidated tower built by some half-forgotten Waterdavian mage hundreds of years ago. It has the following features:

• All doors are unlocked except the one to area O5.
• The rooms have 15-foot-high ceilings, with 7-foot-high doorways connecting them.
• The tower is brightly lit by continual flame spells cast on wall sconces.

Areas of the Old Tower

The following locations are keyed to map 4.5.

O1. Vestibule

The outer door has a tiny peephole with a closed iron shutter on the inside. Rotting tapestries adorn the walls, and mud and dirt have accumulated on the floor.

O2. Ground Level

Stone spiral stairs curl up into the tower and down into the cellar. Set into the west wall is a fireplace blackened with soot. A burned heap that used to be a padded leather chair lies near the fireplace.

O3. Upper Level

This room, formerly a wizard’s laboratory, contains the following features:

• A soot-stained fireplace has a lidless iron cauldron hanging on an iron hook in its hearth and a wizard’s portrait on the wall above the mantelpiece.
• The floor is littered with shards of broken glass, burned scraps of paper, twisted pieces of metal, and bird droppings.
• Other furnishings include a rocking chair, a trellis table, and the charred remains of a bookshelf, all shrouded in thick cobwebs.
• Arrow slits line the walls, and pigeons nest in the rafters.

Arrow Slits

Each arrow slit is 4 feet tall and 1 foot wide-big enough for a Small character or a slim Medium character to squeeze through.

Treasure

A thorough search of the room yields a random treasure, determined by rolling a d4 and consulting the Old Tower Treasure table.

Old Tower Treasure

Old Tower Treasure Table

O4. Cellar

This room contains the following features:

• A small, circular wooden table is surrounded by four stools made from empty barrels. A marked deck of playing cards is scattered atop the table, with a few stray cards lying on the floor.
• Three crates are stacked against the south wall. Each contains a twenty-day supply of edible rations.
• Set into the north wall is a sturdy oak door with iron fittings and a built-in lock.

Locked Door

The door to area O5 is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who uses thieves' tools and makes a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. The door can also be forced open with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check.

O5. Teleportation Circle

Arcane runes are inscribed in a circle on the floor of this otherwise empty chamber. The circle is a permanent teleportation circle (see the teleportation circle spell description in the Player’s Handbook).

Old Tower: Spring

The party’s elusive quarry, a kenku, has taken refuge in an old tower. By the time the characters reach the entrance to the tower, the kenku has taken a hostage and fled to the upper level.

Street Urchins

Just prior to the kenku’s arrival, three children entered the derelict tower on a dare. If this encounter occurs on or around Trolltide, the children are wearing troll masks. These noncombatants are named Nat, Jenks, and Squiddly (see “area The Three Urchins").

The kenku has kidnapped Squiddly and taken him upstairs (area O3). The characters encounter Nat and Jenks in area O2; they beg the characters to save their young tiefling friend.

Confronting the Kenku

The kenku clutches the Stone of Golorr in one clawed hand and Squiddly the tiefling in the other. When cornered, the creature mimics the sound of a screaming child-its way of threatening to harm the boy unless the characters leave at once. The kenku doesn’t respond to verbal threats or attempts at persuasion, but it can be bribed with coin, gemstones, or shiny baubles. It gives up both the stone and the boy in return for 100 gp worth of treasure.

If the characters and the kenku reach an impasse, Squiddly kicks the kenku in the shin, causing it to release him, and hides under some old furniture. This act initiates combat as the kenku draws its sword.

If he has a clear path to the stairs, Squiddly runs down them and rejoins his friends. The three children flee the tower together, disappearing into a nearby alley.

Gazer Attack

When the characters finally obtain the Stone of Golorr, three gazer (see appendix B) enter area O3 through the arrow slits and attack. They try to incapacitate whichever character has the stone and use their telekinetic rays to steal it. If successful, the gazers take the stone to a nearby alley.

Next Encounter

Whether the Stone of Golorr leaves the tower in the possession of the characters or the gazers, proceed with encounter 1, “Alley.”

Old Tower: Summer

The old tower, formerly owned by a wizard, was recently bought by Esvele Rosznar, a young noblewoman with a fascinating alter ego (see “The Black Viper” in appendix B).

House Rosznar Guards

Esvele has brought four guard with her to the tower. They wear the livery of House Rosznar and stand guard in area O1.

Bought and Paid For

Through her network of spies, Esvele learned about Lord Neverember’s friendship with the tower’s previous owner. Not long thereafter, she found the entrance to the Vault of Dragons beneath the tower. Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t know what keys are needed to enter it or what lies within. When the characters arrive, Esvele is in area O2, meeting with the following three guild representatives (commoner):

• Sembra Vashir (LN female Calishite human), of the Carpenters', Roofers', and Plaisterers' Guild
• Pynt Oomtrowl (CG female rock gnome), of the Cellarers' and Plumbers' Guild
• Jarbokken Frostbeard (LG male shield dwarf), of the Guild of Stonecutters, Masons, Potters, and Tile-makers

This meeting is a formality. As the new owner, Esvele is required by law to bring the building up to code. She is gathering cost estimates from the guilds involved but has no intention of proceeding with repairs. The arrival of the characters provides her with a welcome distraction.

Characters will have a tough time convincing Esvele that they have come for any reason other than to break into the Vault of Dragons. Esvele is willing to bring them on as business partners, allowing them access to the vault (preferably when there aren’t guild representatives around) in exchange for an equal share of whatever treasure it might contain. She and the characters have each other over a barrel. She can’t have them arrested for burglary without the authorities discovering the vault and seizing the tower. And they can’t afford to deny the noblewoman what she wants, lest she divulge the vault’s location to the authorities in exchange for a reward.

Esvele offers to help the characters obtain the keys needed to unlock the Vault of Dragons and insists on accompanying them during their first foray into the vault, claiming all the while that she’s capable of looking after herself. However this business with the party unfolds, she tries to conceal her secret identity from the characters for as long as possible.

Esvele doesn’t use a key to lock and unlock the door to area O5. She uses thieves' tools instead.

Path to the Vault

The entrance to the vault is hidden behind a secret door in the north wall of area O5. The secret door was crafted by skilled dwarf engineers and requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check to locate. Esvele has already disarmed a magic trap on the door, rendering it safe to open. Beyond it lies a dusty staircase that descends 90 feet to a 20-foot-wide corridor. The hall extends another 90 feet to the vault doors. To one side of the vault doors, a natural fissure in the wall once served as a grick’s lair, but Esvele killed the grick and left its corpse on the floor.

Old Tower: Autumn

The characters come to this crumbling tower in the Dock Ward looking for the Stone of Golorr. Members of Bregan D’aerthe follow them invisibly. Superstitious locals think the tower is haunted, so they avoid it.

Antimagic Field

The interior of the tower is subject to a permanent antimagic field spell. Consequently, no magic functions inside the tower. This effect was left behind by the tower’s previous occupant, a wizard hermit who dabbled in “wild magic” and could no longer control it. Because of the antimagic field, the magic lights that normally illuminate the tower have been suppressed. Only a wish spell or similar magic can end this antimagic effect.

Tower Swords

Scattered on the floors throughout the tower are six longswords with no traces of rust or blood on them. These blades are flying sword rendered inert by the antimagic field. If a flying sword is taken from the tower, it animates and attacks.

Where’s the Stone?

Fenerus hid the Stone of Golorr in the cauldron that hangs in the fireplace on the upper level (area O3). But it’s not there anymore.

Before the characters reach area O3, three drow gunslinger (see appendix B) under the effect of potion of invisibility use their levitate spells to scale the outside of the tower and crawl through the arrow slits. While they are inside the tower, their invisibility spells are negated by the antimagic field. One of the drow quickly finds the stone and takes it before the characters show up.

Unless they were defeated earlier in the adventure, these drow are Jarlaxle’s lieutenants: Fel’rekt Lafeen, Krebbyg Masq’il’yr, and Soluun Xibrindas. Replace any that were killed earlier in the adventure with other drow gunslingers, and roll initiative for each drow. Soluun (or his replacement) can’t resist a good fight and attacks the characters, buying time for the other drow to escape. Once they’re outside the tower, the fleeing drow become invisible again as they leap onto a nearby rooftop, but the potions wear off at the end of their next turns, enabling characters to chase after them.

Next Encounter

If the characters pursue the fleeing drow, proceed with encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase.”

Old Tower: Winter

The characters have learned that the Stone of Golorr is with Amath Sercent, a priest of Bane who is allied with Manshoon. She and her acolytes reside in Yellowspire, a Castle Ward tower so named because its bricks have a pale yellow tinge to them. Amath is in the midst of converting the tower into a temple of Bane. A teleportation circle in the basement allows for swift transport to and from Kolat Towers and Manshoon’s extradimensional sanctum.

House of Tyranny

Amath Sercent (LE female Mulan priest) and her four followers (LE male and female acolyte of mixed ethnicities) dress in common clothing when outside the tower. Inside the structure, they wear fur-lined robes to stay warm. They refer to the tower as the House of Tyranny, and black prints of their right hands, with fingers and thumb held together, cover every interior surface. These handprints mimic the symbol of Bane.

Amath and her followers assemble here for worship but sleep elsewhere. When the characters first arrive, all five have gathered in prayer on the upper floor of the tower (area O3). Three black flying snake nest in the rafters and join any battle here. During this ceremony, Amath and her acolytes hold candles and form a circle around a gagged and blindfolded broadsheet publisher named Shan Chien (N male Shou human commoner). The imperious, middle-aged man is shackled to the floor, and Amath carries the key to the shackles. The shackles can be broken by a creature that uses an action to make a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check. Picking the shackles' lock requires thieves' tools and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.

The Banites' ritual is designed to break Shan’s will, making him subservient to Bane. Amath has been using this ritual to “turn” broadsheet publishers as part of a larger plot to control the flow of information in the city-a critical element of Manshoon’s takeover. Shan was abducted by Amath’s acolytes the night before while walking to his home in the Trades Ward. He publishes The Targe, a broadsheet that offers up vitriolic rants on all manner of local topics, including politics.

Amath has the Stone of Golorr in her pocket. She is expecting Manshoon or his simulacrum to arrive and retrieve it shortly.

Outer Scaffolding

The tower is encircled by wooden scaffolding covered with ice and snow. Despite its precarious appearance, the scaffolding is secure and safe to walk on, enabling creatures to scale the outside of the tower without having to make ability checks. The scaffolding rattles and creaks, however, and any creature that moves on it must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity (Stealth) check or be heard by the tower’s occupants.

Simulacrum

The characters must fight Amath and her acolytes to get the Stone of Golorr. When they finally obtain it, fate deals them an unkind hand as Manshoon’s simulacrum (see “Manshoon” in appendix B) arrives by way of the teleportation circle in area O5. If the characters had the opportunity and the foresight to destroy the circle prior to obtaining the stone, the simulacrum instead must travel to Yellowspire on foot, giving the characters ample time to get away before it arrives as long as they leave within 1 hour after obtaining the stone. The simulacrum tirelessly pursues the stone, and characters who flee would do themselves well not to leave tracks in the snow.

Next Encounter

If a character becomes attuned to the Stone of Golorr, it reveals the location of the Vault of Dragons, under the Brandath family mausoleum in the City of the Dead, and the three keys needed to enter it. When the characters are ready to visit the mausoleum, proceed with encounter 4, “Mausoleum.”

Encounter 8: Courthouse

People who are arrested by the City Watch are brought to a courthouse and detained until a magister can pass judgment on them. Each courthouse has the following features:

• Two guard stand outside each of the front and back doors (leading to areas H1 and H6) at all hours.
• Rooms have 10-foot-high ceilings, with 8-foot-high passages and 7-foot-high doorways connecting them.
• Windows are fitted with iron bars that require a successful DC 30 Strength (Athletics) check to bend.
• Doors are made of iron-bound oak and unlocked.
• All areas are brightly lit by continual flame spells cast on wall sconces.
• Cisterns on the roof collect rainwater, which is funneled by pipes down to the showers (area H7).

Areas of the Courthouse

The following locations are keyed to map 4.6.

H1. Upstairs Waiting Room

This room has the following features:

• Two guard stand outside the doors to the records rooms (area H2) at all hours. Behind a desk sits a court clerk (commoner). Uncomfortable wood benches line the walls. A copper plaque mounted above each bench says, in Common, “Please have a seat. Someone will be with you shortly.”
• Two privies are situated in a corner by the entrance.

Clerk

The clerk asks visitors what their business is and either directs them to the appropriate area of the courthouse or instructs them to wait. The clerk holds a key to the records rooms (area H2).

H2. Records Rooms

The doors to these rooms are locked. Inside, shelves lining every available inch of wall space hold boxes of papers dated by month and year. These papers are records of court proceedings and depositions.

H3. Clerks' Office

Two desks pushed together in the middle of the room hold quills, ink, and sheets of paper. Two court clerks (commoner) work here, supporting the magister on duty. Each clerk holds a key to the records rooms (area H2).

H4. Magister’s Office

This grand office contains several plush armchairs and a large walnut desk. The seal of Waterdeep is emblazoned on the wood floor.

When not overseeing a trial, a magister on duty at the courthouse reviews cases and holds meetings here. If a magister is here, so is a knight who serves as a bodyguard.

H5. Courtroom

This room has the following features:

• Two guard are stationed here at all times.
• If court is in session, the magister is here along with a bodyguard (see area H4) and anyone else pertinent to the case being tried.
• A magister’s cloth-draped desk faces a defendant’s box and three rows of pews.
• Hanging on the west wall are tasseled banners depicting the coats of arms of the City of Waterdeep, the Waterdeep City Watch, and the Waterdeep City Guard, as well as the seal of the Lords of Waterdeep and the symbol of Tyr, god of justice.

H6. Downstairs Waiting Room

Nobles scheduled to testify in court and those waiting to visit prisoners are held here. The room contains the following features:

• Two guard are on duty in this room at all times.
• Mismatched couches line the walls.
• Old broadsheets rest in loose piles atop end tables.

H7. Showers

Dirty prisoners are stripped of their clothing and washed here before they are locked in cells. Protruding from the walls are iron nozzles that spew cold water when a chain next to the door is pulled. Drains in the stone-tiled floor keep the room from flooding.

H8. Cell Block

Two guard are stationed in this hall at all times.

Locked Cells

Five cells are spaced along this hall. The door to each cell is locked from the outside, and the guards stationed here hold the keys. A door’s lock can’t be picked from inside the cell.

H9. Watch Wagon

This room contains the following features:

• Two veteran, members of the City Watch, are here at all times.
• An armored carriage stands behind a pair of steel doors secured by an iron bar.

Armored Carriage

Two horses are needed to pull the carriage, which can hold up to eight Medium prisoners at a time. The back door to the carriage is secured with chains and two padlocks. Each veteran on duty has a key that opens one of the padlocks.

Barred Outer Doors

It takes two people to lift the bar that obstructs the doors to the outside. A successful DC 21 Strength (Athletics) check enables one person to do it alone.

Courthouse: Summer

After obtaining the Stone of Golorr, the characters are arrested by the City Watch soon after they emerge from the sewers.

Under Arrest

The arresting force consists of twelve veteran, a Watch sergeant and eleven constables. They demand that the characters surrender their weapons and come along quietly. For guidance on how to handle character arrests, see “Breaking the Law,”.

The characters are charged with disturbing the peace, a minor offense that carries a fine and results in an edict. The charge stems from their conduct in encounter 3, “Street Chase.” Depending on how they comported themselves in previous encounters, the characters might be charged with additional crimes against the city or its citizens, possibly including brandishing weapons without due cause, robbery, assaulting a citizen, or murder. If they resist arrest, they are charged with hampering justice. See the Code Legal handout in appendix C for the penalties associated with such crimes.

Characters who give up their visible weapons without a fuss aren’t searched, but those who give the Watch a hard time are searched for hidden weapons (and stripped of anything that could potentially cause harm). A character can conceal a Tiny object from the Watch with a successful DC 12 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. If the Stone of Golorr is found during a search, the Watch sergeant inspects it, concludes that it’s nothing of consequence, and returns it to its owner.

Dock Ward Courthouse

Arrested characters are brought to a courthouse in the Dock Ward and confined to cells (area H8) until their trial. Any items taken from them during their arrest are entrusted to the front desk clerk (area H1) pending the trial’s outcome. A character can take a short rest while incarcerated and use that time to attune to the Stone of Golorr. After 1d6 hours, word comes down that the magister is prepared to hear the characters' testimony, whereupon the guards in area H8 unlock the characters' cells and escort them to the courtroom (area H5), where the magister is waiting.

False Captain

If Lord Cassalanter’s doppelganger valet is still at large, it kills a Watch captain and uses the victim’s uniform to impersonate another Watch captain the characters have met before. Then, in the guise of Hyustus Staget (see “The Watch Arrives”), the doppelganger kills the guards in area H8 with its bare hands and uses their keys to open the characters' cells. “Hyustus” warns them that the magister is corrupt and suggests they flee the city before they’re sentenced to death. “Hyustus” offers to deliver messages or items of import on their behalf while they make good their escape. The doppelganger is hoping that the characters will entrust the Stone of Golorr to it for safekeeping. Failing that, it hopes to wrest the stone from them during the chaos of the jailbreak.

If the characters refuse to play along, the doppelganger cries out in alarm, bringing the full weight of the courthouse garrison (ten guard and two veteran) down upon the characters, whom “Hyustus” accuses of beating the cell block guards to death. These reinforcements have no reason to believe that Captain Staget isn’t who he appears to be, and they side with him in any conflict.

If the doppelganger obtains the Stone of Golorr, it promptly delivers it to Victoro Cassalanter. If the characters extricate themselves from the mess they’re in, they can retrieve the stone from Cassalanter Villa (see chapter 6).

Meeting with the Magister

The presiding magister is Umbero Zastro, a handsome, eloquent, and fair-minded half-elf in his thirties. He’s known for his finely-honed sense of poetic justice and for meting out unconventional punishments.

Magister Umbero Zastro has the statistics of a noble, with these changes:

• He is lawful neutral.
• He is unarmed, unarmored (AC 11), and worth 0 XP.
• He has these racial traits: He has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put him to sleep. He has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. He speaks Common and Elvish.

The magister has already heard the testimony of the arresting officers, as well as that of any eyewitnesses. The characters are given an hour to plead their case while he asks questions. A character who tries to deceive Zastro must make a Charisma (Deception) check contested by the magister’s Wisdom (Insight) check. A character who loses this contest is found guilty of hampering justice, locked up for a tenday, and fined 200 gp, on top of any other punishments meted out for crimes committed against the city and its citizenry. Those who can’t or won’t pay the fine are sentenced to hard labor for a year in Amendsfarm, a City Guard-run labor camp among the farms of Undercliff.

If the characters committed one or more crimes, they are judged guilty and punished accordingly (see the Code Legal handout in appendix C). A character who pleads for leniency and succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check receives an alternate punishment for crimes that don’t carry punishments of death or exile. This check is made with advantage if the character has renown in a respectable faction, such as Force Grey (the Gray Hands), the Emerald Enclave, the Harpers, the Lords' Alliance, or the Order of the Gauntlet. Alternate punishments for lesser crimes include the following:

• The character must make beds and clean bedsheets at local orphanages for a tenday, under guard supervision.
• The character must report to Morana Huldark, a dwarf member of the Guild of Watermen, and scrape barnacles off the docks for a tenday under her close supervision.
• The character must spend the next month delivering 30-pound casks of drinking water to the guards stationed atop the city walls.
• For a tenday, the character must stand on a particular street corner every afternoon from highsun to dusk and, like a broadcrier, shout out the crimes of which he or she has been found guilty while accepting the scoldings and verbal lashings of the citizenry.

Characters who are tricked into acting in accordance with the wishes of the doppelganger can be forgiven for crimes committed during the jailbreak, but only if the doppelganger is apprehended or killed. (It reverts to its true form when it dies.) Speak with dead spells can be cast on the cell block guards slain by the doppelganger to obtain testimony that clears the characters of the guards' murder.

Next Encounter

If a character becomes attuned to the Stone of Golorr, it reveals the location of the Vault of Dragons, beneath an old tower in the Sea Ward, and the three keys needed to enter it. When the characters are ready to visit the location, proceed with encounter 7, “Old Tower.”

Courthouse: Autumn

The characters have learned that Fenerus Stormcastle is in the custody of the City Watch at a courthouse in the Castle Ward. If they try to speak with him, they are met by the clerk at the front desk, who informs them that they must schedule a meeting with the magister first, because visitors need her written permission to see him. The clerk says the meeting with the magister can happen no sooner than highsun on the following day but can be persuaded to move up the time for a bribe of 10 gp or more.

There are alternatives to speaking with the magister, if the characters have sufficient renown in a politically influential faction-or a talent for deception:

• A character who has at least 4 renown in the Harpers can convince Mirt (see appendix B) to use his authority as a Lord of Waterdeep to secure Fenerus’s release. Mirt has personally lost coin to the Blood Hawk Posse, so helping Fenerus squirm out of jail stings him deeply.
• A character who has at least 4 renown in the Lords' Alliance can arrange a meeting with Laeral Silverhand (see appendix B) at Piergeiron’s Palace and convince her to give Fenerus what he wants in exchange for information on the stone’s whereabouts. The safe return of Neverember’s cache of dragons is more important to her than the fate of one brigand.
• The characters can purposely get themselves arrested in the Castle Ward. Even a minor crime can result in a brief period of incarceration until the magister has time to render judgment. In the meantime, characters can try to speak to Fenerus.
• The characters can try to infiltrate the courthouse using mundane disguises or magic. Impersonating an official or using magic to influence one is a crime (see the Code Legal handout in appendix C), so they must be stealthy or skilled at deception.

• Meeting with the Magister

The courthouse magister is Hester Barch (LG female Turami human acolyte with Insight +4), a petite woman in her seventies. Magister Barch is slow to anger and fond of sharing lengthy educational anecdotes and parables. Unknown to all but her closest aides, the magister has the innate psionic ability to cast the detect thoughts spell without somatic or material components. After using it once, the magister must finish a short or long rest before she can cast the spell again. Wisdom is her spellcasting ability (spell save DC 12).

The magister is disinclined to agree to any request for a private meeting with Fenerus, on the grounds that he’s a shady, unrepentant person and a flight risk. The conditions under which she will permit a meeting are as follows:

• A character who has at least 3 renown in the Harpers or the Lords' Alliance, or a character who belongs to a Waterdavian noble family, makes a good argument and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check.
• A character who is impersonating a noble or an official makes a good argument and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Deception) check. If the check fails, Magister Barch sees through the ruse and uses her detect thoughts spell to verify that the character is in fact disguised as a noble or an official-a crime that carries a punishment of flogging followed by imprisonment for up to a tenday, plus a fine of up to 500 gp.
• A character tells the magister about the hidden cache of dragons and Fenerus’s role in finding it.

• Talking to Fenerus

Fenerus Stormcastle (N male Tethyrian bandit captain) is confined to a cell in area H8, waiting to stand trial. He is charged with multiple counts of theft (highway banditry) and assaults against Waterdavian citizens. Fenerus knew it was only a matter of time until someone tipped off the City Watch; he suspects that another member of the Blood Hawk Posse gave him up. The timing is unfortunate for him, since he was planning to earn a small fortune by turning over the Stone of Golorr to his Luskanite contact. Now, he plans to use the stone to escape imprisonment and wipe his criminal record clean.

If the characters can get close enough to speak with him, Fenerus refuses to divulge the stone’s location until he is released and granted immunity for his past crimes. He knows that the presiding magister or a Lord of Waterdeep has the authority to give him what he wants.

The only condition under which Magister Barch will consider acquiescing to Fenerus’s demands is if the characters convince her that such a decision is good for Waterdeep. To accomplish that, they either must use magic to beguile her (which is a crime and likely to result in the caster’s arrest once the effect wears off), or they must tell her about the Vault of Dragons and the stolen gold. In either case, she insists on trying something before letting him off the hook: after taking a short rest, she has Fenerus brought to her courtroom and questions him about the stone. Surreptitiously, she uses her detect thoughts spell to scan his surface thoughts in an attempt to discern the stone’s location. Given that the stone is foremost in Fenerus’s mind, Magistrate Barch learns where it is hidden, shares the information with the characters, and returns Fenerus to his cell.

• Where’s the Stone?

Fenerus hid the Stone of Golorr on the top floor of an old tower in the Dock Ward-a tower warded against all forms of magic. If he is freed, he offers to lead the characters to the tower or provides directions so they can find it on their own.

• Next Encounter

If the characters learn where Fenerus hid the stone and go after it, proceed with encounter 7, “Old Tower.”

Encounter 9: Cellar Complex

Cellars and sewer tunnels intersect to create small dungeons under Waterdeep. These complexes have the following features:

• Ceilings and doorways are 7 feet high.
• There are no light sources.

Areas of the Cellar Complex

The following locations are keyed to map 4.7. The complex has three distinct sections: the sewer tunnels (areas B1-B3), the southern cellars (areas B4-B9), and the northern cellars (areas B10-B11).

B1. Sewer Access

This chamber has stone steps and a locked, iron-bound wooden door with a sign mounted on it that reads, in Common, “SEWER ACCESS: AUTHORIZED CITY OFFICIALS ONLY.” The door to area B2 is locked. The lock can be picked by a character who makes a successful DC 17 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check. City Watch captains hold keys to sewer access points that correspond with their assigned wards.

B2. Sewers

Fresh sewage flows along a trough that runs parallel to a stone walkway. The sewage is 3 feet deep. Any creature immersed in it for 1 minute must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or become infected with sewer plague (see “Diseases” in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Where the tunnel branches, a stone bridge spans the sewage pouring out of an eastern artery. There’s no walkway in this arterial passage that leads to areas B3 and B4.

B3. Secret Doors

Secret doors blend with the surrounding stonework on opposite sides of this sewer tunnel. One door opens into area B7, the other into area B10. Characters who have a passive Perception score of 15 or higher spot both secret doors as they pass by. Otherwise, finding a secret door requires a search of the wall and a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. The secret doors are set high enough that opening them doesn’t cause sewage to flow into adjoining areas.

B4. Rusty Iron Door

A door made of rusted iron is set into the wall above a dry, 1-foot-wide stone ledge. The door’s lock corroded long ago, and the door squeals loudly on rusty hinges when opened.

B5. Arrow Slits

A brick wall with arrow slits was added to this room at some point. The arrow slits are designed to allow archers to fire at intruders who come through the door at area B4. The arrow slits provide three-quarters cover.

B6. Storage Room

An unlocked wooden door closes off this empty room.

B7. Rubble-Filled Cellar

A wall has collapsed, creating a larger space out of two smaller rooms. The air is heavy with dust, and the floor is strewn with rubble, refuse, and rat droppings.

Secret Door

The secret door to area B3 is easily spotted from this side (no check required).

B8. Sunken Cellar

This sunken cellar has these features:

• An unlocked iron door is set into the east wall.
• A crumbling stone staircase against the south wall climbs up to a landing, where a wooden door is held shut with a chain and a padlock.

Iron Door

The door opens into a small, empty storage room with hooks hanging from the ceiling.

Stairs Up

The lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check made using thieves' tools, or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check. It opens into an alley behind a boarded-up tenement.

B9. Rat-Infested Cellar

These rooms are situated below a hostel (75|75 percent chance percent) or an orphanage (25|25 percent chance percent). Harmless rats crawl about, minding their own business.

B9a

Stone stairs climb 10 feet to a wooden door that opens into a street or alley. Crates and barrels stacked at the bottom of the stairs hold edible foodstuffs, but nothing else of value.

B9b

A plain wooden door opens into a room containing dusty furnishings in storage. The furniture includes a scratched wooden desk, several wobbly chairs, a coat rack, two small tables, and an empty wooden trunk. There’s a 25|25 percent chance percent that one piece of furniture (determined randomly) is a mimic that usually feeds on rats but never passes up a bigger meal.

Mimic Present

B10. Old Tavern Cellar

This spacious, empty cellar has the following features:

• Stone pillars and arches support the ceiling.
• Mismatched stonework on either side of a half-demolished wall indicates that this area was once two separate chambers.
• Stone stairs climb to a bricked-up doorway. (The door once led to an alley behind an old tavern.)

Secret Door

The secret door to area B3 is easily spotted from this side (no check required).

B11. Back Cellars

These rooms are extensions of area B10.

B11a

This room used to be a wine cellar. Its walls are lined with piles of rotting wood (storage racks) and broken bottles.

B11b

Once a cold storage room and root cellar, this empty chamber is choked with dust and cobwebs.

Cellar Complex: Spring

The characters have learned that a halfling necromancer named Losser Mirklav took the Stone of Golorr. He lives in a cellar complex under a powdered wig shop in the Trades Ward. The shop, Dandymops, is closed and locked with an iron gate. The lock can be picked by a character who makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools, or the gate can be forced open with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check. Since the shop is in a highly visible location, an attempt to break into it is 75 percent likely to be noticed by someone who alerts the City Watch. Two veteran of the City Watch arrive in 1d10 minutes to investigate the shop and talk to witnesses.

Xanathar’s gazer (see appendix B) doesn’t follow characters into the shop. It remains outside and waits for Xanathar Guild forces to arrive. If the characters destroyed the gazer in an earlier encounter, another one arrives with the Xanathar Guild forces.

Dungeon Entrance

area B1 is the basement of the wig shop and the characters' point of entry into the cellar complex.

Misty Sewers

The dense fog from outside settles in the sewers, and areas B2, B3, and B4 are lightly obscured.

Necromancer

Losser Mirklav is a lightfoot halfling mage, with these changes:

• He is chaotic evil and has 31 (9d6) hit points.
• He has these racial traits: He is Small, and his walking speed is 25 feet. 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.
• He has the animate dead and blight spells prepared, instead of counterspell and greater invisibility. All his spell slots are currently expended.

Losser carries a spellbook bound in stitched flesh that contains all his prepared spells. He also has a key to the padlocked door in area B8 and 4d10 gp in a pouch made of elf skin and cinched with a rope made of woven dwarf hair.

Losser has made several changes to the complex:

• area B6 contains three beds-two sized for Losser’s human apprentices and a smaller bed sized for him.
• area B10 contains twelve skeleton that attack anyone other than Losser and his apprentices.
• area B11 contains piles of human bones stolen from the City of the Dead. Losser hasn’t gotten around to animating them yet.

Where’s the Stone?

Before the characters reach Losser, kenku members of the Xanathar Guild break down the door leading into the cellar complex via area B8 and confront the necromancer. The characters find Losser cowering in one corner of area B7. Two skeleton stand between him and three kenku. The kenku aim to kill the halfling. Lying on the floor around them are four dead kenku and the remains of two destroyed (and previously animated) skeletons.

If the characters demand the Stone of Golorr, Losser tells them the truth: he surrendered it to the kenku, two of which fled south with it. In area B8, the characters see one kenku standing over the bodies of Losser’s murdered human apprentices, Retchyn and Kreela. This kenku is joined by Xanathar’s gazer (see appendix B). The kenku and the gazer try to hold off the characters for as long as possible, buying time for a second kenku to flee with the Stone of Golorr.

If the characters pursue the stone and leave Losser alive, he eventually slips away and retreats to area B11.

Next Encounter

Once the characters defeat Xanathar’s forces in the cellar, they can chase after the fleeing kenku that has the Stone of Golorr in its clutches. Proceed with encounter 3, “Street Chase.”

Cellar Complex: Summer

The characters are hot on the trail of three street urchins as the children scamper into the sewers under the Dock Ward.

Sickening Smell

The summer heat makes the sewer smell worse than usual, and characters become poisoned by the stench unless they cover their noses with perfumed scarves. The effect lasts until they leave the sewers. The street urchins and other creatures that live in the sewers are accustomed to the smell and aren’t poisoned in this way.

Search for the Urchins

The characters approach the cellar complex from the east, eventually coming upon an iron door in the side of the sewer tunnel (area B4).

The street urchins took the Stone of Golorr to area B7 (which serves as their clubhouse), entering the room through a secret door (area B3). The eldest child, Nat, attuned to the stone, but contact with the aboleth so terrified her that she dropped it, screamed, and ran away. The boys were panicked by her reaction and fled as well, leaving the stone in area B7. If the characters open the door at area B4, they startle the children on the other side, causing them to scream at the top of their lungs.

Communicating through the other children, Nat tells the characters where she dropped the stone and warns them that it’s “alive.” Neither she nor the boys are eager to see it again.

Chair Today, Gone Tomorrow

If the characters head to area B7, they see the Stone of Golorr underneath a wooden rocking chair. If the street urchins are present, one of them asks, “Where’d that rocking chair come from?”

The rocking chair is the mimic from area B9b. It heard the urchins' screams and investigated, hoping to snare an easy meal. It attacks anyone who harms it or reaches for the stone.

Next Encounter

Once the characters obtain the Stone of Golorr, they can leave the cellar complex. Proceed with encounter 8, “Courthouse.”

Cellar Complex: Autumn

The characters have been encouraged to explore a Xanathar Guild hideout under the Southern Ward. They enter the location through area B1. The Xanathar Guild Roster table provides a summary of the forces stationed throughout the complex. The sections that follow describe some of the hideout’s features.

Xanathar Guild Roster

Mechanical Beholder

A mechanical beholder built for the Day of Wonders parade lies on its side in area B7. Xanathar wants this mechanical version of itself to hover over the crowd, reminding the Lords of Waterdeep of the beholder’s superiority, but no one can figure out how to make it fly. A character can use an action to try to activate the machine, doing so with a successful DC 10 Intelligence check. The activated beholder shoots dazzling lights from its eyestalks for 1 minute and then stops working.

If combat breaks out in the cellar complex, Thorvin Twinbeard flees up the stairs in area B8 and uses a key to unlock the door leading outside. He has no loyalty to the other creatures stationed here.

Stone of Deception

Korgstrod Uxgulm, the duergar leader, has what he believes to be the Stone of Golorr. He found it during a search of Fenerus’s house in the Trades Ward. This stone is a clever imitation. It’s gray and ovoid with streaks of black, but has no magical powers. Korgstrod has been unable to attune to it and assumes he’s unworthy of it, not that the stone is fake.

Korgstrod plans to deliver the stone to Xanathar in due time and won’t willingly part with it before then. He uses a whip to flog his kobold lackeys and keep them in line. The cowardly kobolds flee into the sewers if Korgstrod is attacked and cower in his presence otherwise.

Treasure Chest

An old, locked chest in the back of area B11b can be opened by someone who makes a successful DC 13 Dexterity check using thieves' tools. The chest contains 277 cp, 135 sp, a spherical gold beholder pendant with tiny gems for eyes (worth 250 gp), and a spell scroll of darkvision.

Next Encounter

Whether they find the fake stone or not, characters have little recourse but to consult with “Laeral” at the Seven Masks Theater in the Dock Ward. If they go there, proceed with encounter 6, “Theater.”

Encounter 10: Converted Windmill

This crumbling, two-story stone building was a windmill long before the city rose up around it. The following features apply unless an area description or encounter states otherwise:

• Rooms have 15-foot-high ceilings, with 10-foot-high passages and 7-foot-high doorways connecting them.
• Doors are wooden, closed, and unlocked.
• The walls are covered with graffiti, and the stone floors are strewn with garbage and detritus. Windows are empty lead frames without glass.
• There are no light sources.

Areas of the Converted Windmill

The following locations are keyed to map 4.8.

W1. Stone Staircase

A curved set of stone stairs climbs 20 feet to the upper level. The stairs are covered with bird droppings, broken roof shingles, mud, and mold.

W2. Squatters

During the spring, summer, and winter, each of these rooms is home to 1d6 + 1 squatters (commoner) who have made dens for themselves out of old furnishings and things salvaged from garbage piles. The squatters aren’t looking for trouble.

For some food or coin, a squatter can direct or lead characters to the locked apartment on the upper level (area W7) and describe the apartment’s inhabitants. A character can also secure a squatter’s cooperation with a successful DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check.

W3. Privy

Beyond the door is nothing more than a hole in the floor from which rises a terrible stench.

W4. Weak Ceiling/Floor

Area W4a is directly underneath area W4b. The floor of the upper chamber collapses under the weight of the first Small or larger creature to walk across it. A character who has the Stonecunning trait or proficiency with mason’s tools can tell that the floor is unsafe to walk on.

Any creature standing on the floor of area W4b when it collapses falls 20 feet, landing in area W4a. Any creature in area W4a when the ceiling falls in must make a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage from falling debris on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

W5. Ancient Millstone

An ancient millstone lies under a jumble of debris that includes machinery and pieces of the collapsed roof. Dust and cobwebs cover everything.

W6. Pigeon Roosts

Large sections of the roof have caved in above these rooms, leaving holes through which birds and precipitation can enter. The floors are littered with broken shingles, bird droppings, wrecked furnishings, and other detritus, and scores of pigeons roost in the moldy rafters.

W7. Secure Apartment

The north door to this room has been fitted with a shiny new lock that can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools. The door can also be unlocked from inside the room, or forced open with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check.

This apartment is in good repair and contains the following features:

• A wood-framed, king-sized bed with clean mattresses stands against one wall. (Next to the bed, an unlocked door in the west wall leads to area W8.)
• The window was recently repaired and quietly swings open on oiled iron hinges.
• Across from the window, against the wall, stands a wooden armoire.

The armoire holds four clean sets of clothes, two gray cloaks, a heavy crossbow, and a wooden case containing twenty crossbow bolts.

W8. Back Room

The section of conical roof directly above this chamber has mostly collapsed, filling the room with rubble. There’s just enough space to open the door.

Converted Windmill: Spring

The key that the characters found in the mausoleum leads them to an old windmill in the Southern Ward. Volkarr Kibbens and Urlaster Ghann (NE male Illuskan human commoner) are hiding out in a secure apartment on the upper floor (area W7). In combat, they wield shovels that deal damage as clubs. Each carries 3d6 gp in a pouch.

Volkarr and Urlaster were recently hired by Losser Mirklav, a halfling necromancer, to help him break into mausoleums in the City of the Dead. They undertook the job because the pay was good, but they have no loyalty to the necromancer. If the characters confront them, Volkarr and Urlaster attack, but they surrender quickly if overwhelmed and share the following information in exchange for their lives and freedom:

• Losser Mirklav and his two human apprentices, Retchyn and Kreela, live in a cellar complex under the Trades Ward. The way to their lair is through Retchyn’s powdered wig shop, which is called Dandymops.
• Losser is stealing bones from the City of the Dead to create an army of animated skeletons. (Neither Volkarr nor Urlaster knows why.)
• In the Garloth mausoleum, Losser killed a rat and took the small stone it was carrying. The rat vanished when it died, and Losser thinks the stone is magical.

Next Encounter

Once the characters set out to find the halfling necromancer, proceed with encounter 9, “Cellar Complex.”

Converted Windmill: Summer

The characters head to a decrepit building in the Southern Ward that used to be a windmill. Therein, they expect to find the Stone of Golorr in the clutches of two treacherous cult fanatic named Arn Xalrondar (LE male Tethyrian human) and Seffia Naelryke (LE female Tethyrian human).

Cult Fanatics

Arn and Seffia are waiting in area W7, which they use as an apartment. They keep the door to the apartment locked at all times. They have cleared area W8 of debris and painted a pentagram in blood on the floor. At the points of the pentagram are five black globs of wax-the remains of burned candles.

Lord Cassalanter sent Arn and Seffia on a mission to retrieve the Stone of Golorr from his family’s mausoleum. He also gave them secret orders to dispose of three other members of the cult whom he couldn’t trust to keep quiet about the stone. Arn and Seffia would be horrified to learn that they failed in so simple a task; they try to correct their mistake by killing Vaelle Lurval if she’s with the party (see “Mausoleum: Summer”).

Devils' Arrival

As characters try to break into the cult fanatics' apartment, three spined devil arrive. The devils fly to the tower, knock on the apartment window, and are let inside by Seffia, whereupon Arn gives one of them the Stone of Golorr. When the characters enter, they see the devils fly off with the stone. The cult fanatics do everything in their power to enable the devils to escape.

Next Encounter

If the characters deal with the cult fanatics, they can chase after the fleeing spined devils by running across rooftops. Proceed with encounter 5, “Rooftop Chase.”

Converted Windmill: Autumn

This old stone windmill was converted into a residence over a century ago and has fallen into disrepair. An eccentric Waterdavian artist lives here, and she hasn’t been the same since her true love abandoned her. There are no squatters in the residence.

The outside doors are always locked. A lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check by a character using thieves' tools, or a door can be smashed open with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. Any attempt to break into the tower is 75 percent likely to be seen or heard by one of Kalain’s neighbors. Eight veteran of the City Watch arrive 10 minutes later to investigate the intrusion.

Let Me Paint You a Picture

Kalain, a famous Waterdavian painter, was commissioned to paint a portrait of Lord Dagult Neverember, then Waterdeep’s Open Lord, in 1475 DR. Her meeting with Neverember marked the beginning of a torrid love affair that lasted over a year. One of the many gifts he lavished on her was an estate in the Sea Ward.

Their relationship faltered as Dagult’s visits to Neverwinter became more frequent and extended. He made promises to Kalain that he failed to keep, and when she raised the subject of faithful commitment, he treated her poorly, for his true love was Neverwinter. Kalain became enraged after Dagult’s rejection and turned to painting monsters that, in her mind, represented him. Her power to harness the Weave clings to the fabric of her works, giving her the ability to bring these monsters to life on command.

Ultimately, Neverember used his influence to ruin Kalain and divorce her from Waterdeep’s high society. She was allowed to keep her home, but her works and her reputation were destroyed, slowly and methodically. Kalain’s spirit was broken, leading to the onset of madness. Now she locks herself away, content to let time erode the last of her conscience. She always saw Dagult and Waterdeep as one and the same, and now they are both her mortal enemies.

Visiting the Residence

Kalain is unable to behave politely before strangers, for she believes they’re all assassins sent by Dagult Neverember to murder her. The only person with whom she’s civil is Vhaspar Holmdreg (LG male Illuskan human priest), who rents a room in the west wing of the residence and works in the North Ward at the Hospice of St. Laupsenn, a temple of Ilmater, god of suffering. Vhaspar is an old man in his seventies, half blind with cataracts, who brings her food twice a week, firewood three times a week in the winter, and painting supplies every few months. Vhaspar has a key that unlocks the outer doors of Kalain’s residence.

Displayed in every room except area W5 is one of Kalain’s paintings. To determine the subject of any given painting, roll a d12 and consult the Painting Subjects table. It’s possible for a subject to appear more than once. The residence is also crawling with rats. If Kalain is attacked, these vermin form six swarm of rats that defend her.

Kalain’s Paintings

Kalain

Kalain spends most of her time in area W5, which serves as her studio. It contains moldy scraps of food, empty pots stained with colored paint, discarded brushes, and her easel, which is situated in front of a large, lead-paned window in the north wall. Upon the easel rests a fresh painting of a displacer beast. If the characters confront her, Kalain accuses them of being assassins, brings the displacer beast to life, and commands it to attack them.

Kalain is a half-elf bard (see appendix B), with these changes:

• She is chaotic evil.
• She has these racial traits: She has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put her to sleep. She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. She speaks Common and Elvish.
• Instead of the Song of Rest trait, she has the Art Imitates Life action option.

Art Imitates Life (3/Day)

Kalain touches one of her paintings and causes its subject to spring forth, becoming a creature of that kind provided its CR is 3 or lower. The creature appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the painting, which becomes blank. The creature is friendly toward Kalain and hostile toward all others. It rolls initiative to determine when it acts. It disappears after 1 minute, when it is reduced to 0 hit points, or when Kalain dies or falls unconscious.

Path to the Vault

A heavy stone trapdoor in the floor of area W4a can be found with a thorough search of the room and a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check. Pulling open the door reveals a stone staircase that descends 120 feet to a 20-foot-wide corridor, which extends for another 60 feet and ends before the doors to the Vault of Dragons. Kalain and Vhaspar know nothing of the vault or the trapdoor that leads to it.

Converted Windmill: Winter

An evil dragonborn named Thrakkus has converted an old, fire-scorched windmill in the Field Ward into a butcher’s shop. A member of the Guild of Butchers, Thrakkus has a lucrative side business. Zhents loyal to Manshoon pay Thrakkus to chop up people they kill, and he sells the meat on the sly. As Deadwinter Day approaches, this meat is in high demand. The corpses are brought to him in the dead of night, most often delivered by Sidra Romeir (see chapter 8, area K2) in a covered cart pulled by a draft horse.

Butchery

A red wooden sign carved to look like a butcher’s cleaver hangs above the door of Thrakkus’s butchery, which occupies the westernmost room of the west wing. The butchery is ice cold in the winter and reeks of meat and blood. A bloodstained chopping block dominates the room, and shelves of cut meat wrapped in bloody parchment line the walls. The floor is streaked with blood and covered with bits of gore.

Thrakkus padlocks the door at night. Picking the lock requires a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools. The door can also be forced open with a successful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check.

Larder

The chamber next to the butchery has been converted into a larder, the doors to which are padlocked at all hours. The locked doors are otherwise identical to the butchery door (see above). Like the butchery, the larder is frigid in the winter and smells of meat and blood. Six half-frozen humanoid carcasses are stacked under a 10-foot-square canvas tarpaulin near the western wall. Thrakkus hasn’t gotten around to cutting them up yet.

Squatters

The dragonborn allows squatters to dwell in his home. Those who can perform menial chores are spared and fed scraps of cooked meat; the rest end up on the chopping block. These homeless sods are too frightened of Thrakkus to speak ill of him, and the City Watch doesn’t seem to care about crimes committed in the Field Ward.

Thrakkus the Butcher

The butcher has no time to suffer fools, and the characters are fools for meddling in his business. Thrakkus spends most of the day in the butchery. At dusk, he retires to his apartment, where he stays until dawn or until someone comes knocking with a body to dispose of. Thrakkus carries keys to the butchery, the larder, and his apartment (area W7).

Thrakkus is a dragonborn berserker of red dragon ancestry, with these changes:

• He is chaotic evil.
• He has these racial traits: He can use his action to exhale a 15-foot cone of fire (but can’t do this again until he finishes a short or long rest); each creature in the cone must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. He has resistance to fire damage. He speaks Common and Draconic.

Where’s the Stone?

Thrakkus hid the Stone of Golorr in a recent meat delivery to an alley in the Trades Ward. Thrakkus doesn’t keep records of his illegal transactions, so the characters must interrogate him or one of the commoners that dwell in his residence.

Thrakkus is belligerent and not eager to give up his Zhent friends. A charm person spell or similar magic is needed to compel him to talk. His squatters are another matter; they roll over on Thrakkus quickly to save their own skins once the dragonborn butcher no longer becomes a factor in their well-being. Either approach yields the following information:

• Thrakkus’s last shipment of meat was taken to a shop in the Trades Ward called Cuttle’s Meat Pies. It’s located in an alley.
• The meat was delivered by a member of the Guild of Butchers named Justyn Rassk. Thrakkus paid extra coin to see it delivered “quickly and quietly.”
• Rassk has a blood-spattered horse-drawn cart that he uses to make deliveries outside the Field Ward.

The characters might know Justyn Rassk from their own dealings with the Guild of Butchers (see “Sample Guild Representatives”).

Next Encounter

If the characters follow the trail of the meat delivery, proceed with encounter 1, “Alley.”

Vault Keys

At the end of an encounter chain, a character who is attuned to the Stone of Golorr can learn the location of the Vault of Dragons and what three keys are needed to open its doors. The artifact also reveals that an adult gold dragon named Aurinax guards the vault.

The three keys needed to open the vault are chosen by you or determined randomly by rolling on the Vault Keys table. Illusory versions of keys don’t open the door.

Every key can be found or procured in Waterdeep. If the characters don’t already know the location of a key, they can gather information about it. To do this, a character must spend 1 day and 5 gp researching the location of a key. At the end of this day, the character makes a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, learning the location of the key on a success. If the check fails by 5 or more, the main villain learns of the search and sends lackeys to attack the characters and, if possible, wrest the Stone of Golorr from them:

• Xanathar sends either five goblin dressed up as children wearing Trolltide masks and a bugbear (70|70 percent chance percent), or four wererat in human form (30|30 percent chance percent).
• The Cassalanters send two imp in raven form, three human cultist, and either a human cult fanatic (70|70 percent chance percent), or four spined devil (30|30 percent chance percent).
• Jarlaxle Baenre sends Fel’rekt Lafeen and Krebbyg Masq’il’yr, or two other Bregan D’aerthe drow gunslinger (see appendix B), and six drow.
• Manshoon sends four Zhent martial arts adept (see appendix B). There’s a 50|50 percent chance percent that these Zhents are led by one of Manshoon’s lieutenants, either Vevette Blackwater or Agorn Fuoco, if they’re still alive (see chapter 8, area E8).

Key Descriptions

The keys listed in the Vault Keys table are further described below, in alphabetical order.

Adamantine bar

The characters can purchase a 10-pound adamantine bar for 1,000 gp. The genasi smiths Embric and Avi (see chapter 2, area T3) can acquire one if the characters think to ask them.

Animated Construct

Any creature of the construct type works as this key, provided the creature hasn’t been destroyed or rendered inoperable. If the characters have befriended Valetta, the dragonborn priest of Gond (see chapter 3), she happily releases Nim the nimblewright into their custody until they no longer have need of it. An object animated by the animate objects spell also qualifies as this key.

Beardless dwarf

Most female dwarves are beardless and thus meet the condition. A male dwarf NPC can be persuaded to shave his beard, either as a consequence of losing a bet or upon receiving some sort of recompense. The characters can also shave a male dwarf they have captured or against whom they have some sort of leverage.

Beholder eyestalk

The eyestalk need not come from a true, living beholder. It can be plucked from a stuffed beholder (see “Old Xoblob Shop”) or obtained from a lesser form of beholderkin, such as a gazer or a spectator. The eyestalk also need not be detached. Xanathar (see appendix B) gladly accompanies characters to the vault if that’s the way to guarantee getting its share of the treasure. Regardless of the arrangement it makes with the characters, “its share” equates to all the treasure. In other words, Xanathar turns on the party once the vault is unlocked, unless a powerful NPC (such as Laeral Silverhand or Vajra Safahr) is present to keep the mad beholder in check.

Bronze Dragon Scale

Zelifarn, a young bronze dragon, has taken up residence in Deepwater Harbor. Many sailors and dock workers have seen the dragon, and Grinda Garloth (see “Encounter 2: Mistshore”), owns an apparatus of Kwalish that characters can use to search for the dragon. Characters who go looking for Zelifarn find him lurking inside a shipwreck 120 feet underwater. As the characters approach the wreck, Zelifarn comes out and tries to scare them away. (He’s not done searching the wreck for treasure.) He inflicts harm only in self-defense. A successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check or an offer of treasure worth at least 1,000 gp convinces the dragon to talk with the characters and part with one of his scales. If the characters mention the contents of the Vault of Dragons, Zelifarn demands a promise of 10 percent of the gold before he gives them what they came for.

Cask of dwarven ale

A cask of dwarven ale is easily obtained at any market in Waterdeep for 5 gp. There is a 20|20 percent chance percent that the characters buy a knock-off brand that isn’t made by dwarves. Any dwarf character can tell genuine dwarven ale from the fake stuff simply by having a taste.

Drunken elf

Any elf who is poisoned from drinking alcohol qualifies as this key.

Gems worth 1,000 gp

One or more gemstones qualify as this key as long as their combined value is 1,000 gp or more. Such gems can be found during the adventure or bought in the markets of Waterdeep.

Gift from a queen

Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, was once the queen of an ancient kingdom called Stornanter. The characters can recall this fact with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (History) check or learn it through information gathering. They can request an audience with Laeral through Jalester Silvermane or Mirt. Laeral gives them a gift—a feather quill given to her by the archmage Elminster himself—if they promise to return the stolen gold to Waterdeep’s coffers.

Invisible creature

Any creature under the effect of an invisibility spell counts as this key, as do naturally invisible creatures.

Painting of a dwarf miner

A painting of a dwarf miner priced at 5d10 gp can be found each day a character spends searching art shops. A character proficient with painter’s supplies can create a painting that qualifies as this key. It takes 3d6 hours to finish the painting.

Pair of bugbear ears

The Xanathar Guild employs bugbear, and characters can chop the ears off any of them. A live bugbear also counts as this key.

Performance of “Your Beardy Face”

The dwarf love song, “Your Beardy Face,” is a duet performed by bagpipers. The characters can obtain this music easily for 1 gp and hire two performers to play the piece for 10 gp each. A character who has proficiency with bagpipes can perform the song, though a successful DC 10 Charisma (Performance) check using bagpipes is required for the performance to count as this key. A glass jar in Cassalanter Villa (see chapter 6, area C3) plays this song when it is uncorked.

Severed drow hand

This ghastly key can be forcibly obtained from a member of Bregan D’aerthe or some other dark elf. If the characters have encountered no drow, they might hear rumors that Xanathar employs a drow advisor.

Shapechanger

Any living creature of the shapechanger subtype, such as a doppelganger or a wererat, serves as this key. Bonnie the doppelganger (see “Familiar Faces”) can be persuaded to accompany the characters if she is friendly toward one or more of them. The characters can also reach out to the Shard Shunners, a local gang of halfling wererats. For an up-front payment of 500 gp, the wererats happily oblige.

Silvered warhammer

The characters can buy a silvered warhammer for 115 gp, or they can give a silver bar to Embric and Avi (see chapter 2, area T3) and have the genasi smiths craft one.

Sunlight

Since the vault lies deep underground, natural sunlight is difficult to come by. Clever characters can buy twenty steel mirrors (5 gp each) and arrange them in places (and at the proper angles) so that sunlight from outside can be reflected underground and shone upon the vault entrance. Setting up these mirrors and getting their alignment just right takes 2d4 + 2 hours regardless of the number of characters involved.

Unicorn

Although conjuring up a real unicorn is likely beyond the abilities of the characters, they could ask Laeral Silverhand or Vajra Safahr to cast the conjure celestial spell. The characters can gain an audience with Laeral or Vajra through Renaer Neverember or another well-connected NPC. If the characters tell Laeral or Vajra the truth about the Vault of Dragons and promise to turn the gold over to the authorities, either one agrees to accompany the characters to the vault and cast the spell. The unicorn need not be a real unicorn to serve as this key. The Sea Maidens Faire (see chapter 7) uses a unicorn float in its parades, and a stuffed unicorn can be found in Cassalanter Villa (see chapter 6, area C18).

Vault of Dragons

Once the characters have the Stone of Golorr, they can use it to determine the location of the Vault of Dragons and the keys needed to enter it.

Vault Features

All areas of the vault have the following features:

• Any spell that tries to contact a creature in the vault fails, as does any spell that attempts to scry on the vault interior or any creatures within. Teleporting into the vault from outside is impossible.
• Walls are made of mortared stone. Doors are solid stone slabs with stone handles and hinges.
• Except in area V9, there are no light sources.

Areas of the Vault

The following locations are keyed to map 4.9.

V1. Vault Door

A 20-foot-high, 20-foot-wide stone corridor ends before an adamantine double door bearing Dwarvish runes. The doors have neither handles nor hinges. The writing on them reads, “THE THREE KEYS. BRING THEM FORTH.”

The doors part, sliding back into the walls, when the three correct keys are brought within 5 feet of them. They remain open until Aurinax or someone else speaks the command word to close them (“Azaam”). The keys can open the doors from either side. The doors can’t be forced open or damaged in any way, and attempts to circumvent them with magic fail automatically.

V2. Entrance Foyer

• Three age-worn columns support crumbling stone bridges 60 feet overhead, with the ceiling rising another 20 feet beyond that.
• Set into alcoves are twelve sets of double doors made of iron. Each door is 10 feet wide, 10 feet high, and embossed with images of dwarf warriors in plate armor.

Crumbling Bridges

The bridges connect area V4 to adamantine doors that seal off areas V6, V7, and V8. The eastern half of the northern bridge and the western half of the southern bridge are unstable. Either bridge collapses if more than 150 pounds of weight is applied to it. A creature standing on a section of bridge when it collapses must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall 60 feet to the floor below.

The middle bridge has a 15-foot-wide gap in it. A character can clear this gap with a running jump-but part of the bridge breaks away under the character’s feet on landing, forcing the character to succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall to the floor below.

Iron Doors

Ten of the double doors are false and refuse to budge. The two sets of doors at the northern end of the west wall push open to reveal area V3 beyond.

V3. Stairs and Fresco

This hall has the following features:

• At the south end of this chamber, expertly carved stairs climb 70 feet to area V4.
• The north wall bears a 20-foot-square fresco that depicts dwarves battling goblins.

Enthralling Fresco

A detect magic spell reveals an aura of enchantment magic on the fresco. Any creature within 30 feet of the fresco that can see it must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by it for 24 hours. While charmed in this way, the creature can’t willingly move out of sight of the fresco and defends it to the death. If forcibly moved away from the fresco, the creature tries to find its way back. The creature can’t rest while under this effect. After 24 hours, the creature gains one level of exhaustion and can repeat the saving throw if it can still see the fresco, ending the effect on a success. A creature that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to the effect of the fresco for 24 hours. Destroying at least one 10-foot-square section of the fresco ends the effect for all creatures. Each 10-foot-square section has AC 17, 25 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

V4. Hall of Moradin

This 20-foot-high hall has the following features:

• Three pillars running the length of the hall are carved to resemble warhammers, with their square heads pressed against the floor.
• The west wall bears a cracked mosaic that depicts a dwarf smith at a forge, crafting dwarves out of black metal and diamond. (In the south end of the wall is a secret door.)
• Three archways in the east wall lead to crumbling bridges that span the entrance foyer (area V2) and end in front of adamantine doors (leading to areas V6, V7, and V8).

Black Pudding

A little more than halfway down the hall, a section of the western mural has broken off, forming a heap of shattered tile on the floor. A crack in the wall conceals a black pudding that gushes out and attacks characters who inspect the damage.

Secret Door

A character who searches the hall for secret doors and succeeds on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check notices the outline of a secret door that leads to area V5. The door opens automatically when a dwarf (or a creature transformed into a dwarf with an alter self spell or similar magic) touches it; otherwise, a successful DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check is needed to push open the heavy door.

V5. Secret Room

This dust-filled room has lain untouched since the time of the Delzoun dwarves. Green copper urns on platforms overflow with coins, gems, and more.

Treasure

This room holds five copper urns (worth 25 gp each). Urn 1 contains five tourmalines (worth 100 gp each) mixed in with 200 cp. Urn 2 contains a ring of warmth mixed in with ten ordinary gold rings (worth 25 gp each) and 650 sp. Urn 3 is piled high with 250 gp. Urn 4 holds 33 blue quartz gemstones (worth 10 gp each). Urn 5 holds a 9-inch-tall silver statuette of a dwarf priest of Moradin with amethyst eyes (worth 250 gp and weighing 10 pounds).

V6. Hammer and Anvil

The adamantine door to this room has an arcane lock spell cast on it, but it swings open when a dwarf or a creature transformed into a dwarf touches it. Another creature can force it open with a successful DC 21 Strength (Athletics) check. A knock spell or similar magic also opens it. The door swings into the room on stiff adamantine hinges.

• The north, east, and south walls of this 20-foot-high room are adorned with dust-covered frescoes depicting dwarf smiths at work in their forges.
• An iron anvil sits atop a raised stone block in the middle of the floor. Both fixtures are draped in cobwebs.

Frescoes

A character who inspects the wall frescoes and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check notices that the stone hammer being wielded by the smith in the fresco on the south wall can be taken away from where it rests. When removed, it leaves a hammer-shaped indentation in the wall. Etched into the side of the hammer that was facing the wall is the following inscription in Dwarvish runes: “Let hearts be lifted and battles won.” The hammer must be removed from its indentation for the inscription to be seen.

Iron Anvil

If the characters clear away the cobwebs, they see an inscription on the front of the stone block. Written in Dwarvish runes, it reads as follows: “Let the hammer fall and the anvil ring.”

If the anvil is struck by the stone hammer that was taken from the wall, each creature in the room that can hear the anvil ring gains 10 temporary hit points that last for 24 hours. Once the anvil has bestowed this gift, it can’t do so again for 24 hours.

V7. Dumathoin’s Secret

This room is sealed by an adamantine door similar to the one in area V6. The room contains the following features:

• Four suits of rusted plate armor sans helmets, sized for a dwarf, stand in the corners of this 20-foot-high room. Each suit is draped in cobwebs.
• Dwarvish runes are carved into the far wall. The inscription reads, “A secret never before told will part Dumathoin’s lips.”

A successful DC 14 Intelligence (Religion) check identifies Dumathoin as the dwarven god of secrets. Any dwarf character automatically knows this.

Secret Stair

The engraving on the wall is a clue that this room holds a secret, specifically a trapdoor so well hidden that it can’t be found by using magic or searching. But when any creature in the room speaks aloud a secret, the trapdoor flips open, giving access to a spiral stone staircase that descends 120 feet to area V9. The spoken admission must be true, and it must be something the character has not previously revealed.

V8. Ol' Fire Eyes

This room has the following features:

• A 10-foot-tall painted statue of an armored male dwarf wielding a battleaxe and wearing a mask stands at the back of this 20-foot-high room.
• Before the statue, set into the floor, is an adamantine trapdoor with a pull ring along one side.

Trap

A successful DC 17 Intelligence (Religion) check enables a character to recognize the statue as a depiction of Gorm Gulthyn, the dwarven god of vigilance also known as Fire Eyes. The statue melds seamlessly with the floor and can’t be toppled. It also seems impervious to damage. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of evocation magic on the statue.

The trapdoor is false and can’t be lifted. Anyone who touches the trapdoor or its pull ring must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or be struck by rays of magical fire that spring from the statue’s eyes, dealing 22 (4d10) fire damage. The trap doesn’t trigger if the target has total cover.

V9. Main Vault

When the characters arrive here for the first time, read:

Although deep underground, this vault is lit by streams of sunlight that pour down from the ceiling, catching motes of dust in their luminous pools. Ornate columns support a thirty-foot-high vaulted ceiling, which is adorned with carvings of dwarves basking in the presence of their gods. Deep alcoves line the walls, and piled in one of them is a vast golden trove.

Out of the dusty gloom steps an aged dwarf clutching a staff carved and painted to resemble a pair of entwined dragons-one red, one gold. Despite the dwarf’s age, his eyes are steady and bright. “I wasn’t expecting anyone,” he says plainly. “As you can see, the place is a mess. Perhaps you should come back later, after I’ve tidied up a bit.”

The dwarf, who calls himself Barok Clanghammer, is really the adult gold dragon Aurinax (see appendix B) in disguise. He guards the gold for Lord Dagult Neverember and holds the dragonstaff of Ahghairon (see appendix A) in exchange for his services. Dealing with the gold dragon presents an unusual challenge for the characters, and a peaceful resolution is more likely to benefit them than a violent one.

Aurinax is patient, wise, merciful, and vigilant. He remains in humanoid form until combat breaks out, since he can’t easily carry the dragonstaff of Ahghairon in dragon form. The dragon attacks only in defense of itself, the staff, or the gold. The only individuals authorized to remove the gold under Aurinax’s watch are Dagult Neverember and his appointed vassals, none of whom are currently in Waterdeep.

The characters can try to convince Aurinax that they have come on Neverember’s behalf. Since he has never met them before or heard Neverember mention them by name, Aurinax is doubtful of their story. Fooling the dragon requires each character within his line of sight to succeed on a Charisma (Deception) check contested by the dragon’s Wisdom (Insight) check. If even one character loses the contest, Aurinax senses that the group is lying to him. These checks are made with advantage if Renaer Neverember is with the party, since the dragon remembers meeting Renaer when he was but a child and can easily imagine a scenario in which Dagult Neverember might use his son as his vassal. (The dragon knows nothing of the animosity between Renaer and his father.)

The characters can try to convince the noble dragon that Lord Neverember embezzled the gold from the people of Waterdeep, and that it would be fair and just to see the coin safely returned to its rightful owners. Deep down, Aurinax knows where the gold came from, but the dragon has allowed his greed and his agreement with Lord Neverember to cloud his moral judgment. With a successful DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check, a character can talk the dragon into allowing the gold to be returned to the people to whom it rightfully belongs. The check is made with advantage if the characters brought a prominent city official with them, such as Mirt or Vajra Safahr, or if one of the characters professes to be a worshiper of Bahamut.

Any Charisma (Intimidation) check made to influence Aurinax automatically fails. After the first such attempt, all future Charisma checks made by the party to influence Aurinax have disadvantage.

Aurinax uses Legendary Resistance to avoid being charmed. If a character tries to charm him with a spell and fails, all future Charisma checks made by the party to influence Aurinax have disadvantage.

Treasure

Choose two alcoves in the vault. Piled in one alcove are 500,000 gp, the combined weight of which is 10,000 pounds. Scattered on the floor of the second alcove are sixty-five 100 gp gemstones-all that remains of Aurinax’s current food supply.

Aurinax won’t give up his gemstones or the dragonstaff of Ahghairon willingly, since they are his payment for guarding the gold. If need be, however, the dragon is willing to use the staff’s power on behalf of the city in exchange for more gemstones.

Leaving the Vault

As the characters leave the vault, with or without the gold, they are confronted by a hostile force sent by the main villain or villains. If the vault doors were left open, the characters encounter these antagonists in area V2; otherwise, they’re lurking outside the vault, waiting for the characters to emerge:

• If Xanathar is the main villain, Noska Ur’gray (see appendix B) arrives with six bugbear and a gazer (see appendix B). If Noska is dead or otherwise indisposed, the beholder replaces him with Nar’l Xibrindas (see appendix B) and his grell bodyguard.
• If the Cassalanters are the villains, they send three cult fanatic and three cultist. Victoro’s doppelganger manservant, Willifort Crowelle, leads the group in his tiefling guise unless the characters killed him or otherwise disposed of him earlier in this chapter or in chapter 6.
• If Jarlaxle Baenre (see appendix B) is the villain, he arrives with three drow gunslinger (see appendix B). Replace no-name drow gunslingers with Fel’rekt Lafeen, Krebbyg Masq’il’yr, and Soluun Xibrindas if they are alive and free.
• If Manshoon is the main villain, he sends his simulacrum (see appendix B) along with Agorn Fuoco (NE male Turami human bard; see appendix B), Vevette Blackwater (CE female Tethyrian human swashbuckler; see appendix B), and three Zhent thug. If Agorn and Vevette were killed or otherwise disposed of earlier in this chapter or in chapter 8, replace each of them with one additional thug.

The forces sent by Xanathar, the Cassalanters, and Manshoon attack the characters on sight. Jarlaxle, on the other hand, congratulates characters for unlocking the Vault of Dragons and allows them to leave on the condition that they go empty-handed. He intends to see the gold safely returned to the city of Waterdeep but also demands the dragonstaff of Ahghairon for his trouble.

If Aurinax is alive, the characters can lure enemies to the dragon. Aurinax attacks any creature that attacks him or tries to steal his staff or the gold. He also defends the characters if he has made a deal with them.

Faction Reinforcements

If the characters joined one or more factions in Waterdeep and kept them informed of their progress, you can have reinforcements arrive to help combat the villains or introduce a new element to the situation.

Bregan D’aerthe

If Jarlaxle Baenre (see appendix B) isn’t the main villain, he arrives with his lieutenants, Fel’rekt Lafeen, Krebbyg Masq’il’yr, and Soluun Xibrindas, or three other drow gunslinger (see appendix B). Jarlaxle offers to help the characters if they agree to help him secure the gold for Waterdeep and the dragonstaff of Ahghairon for himself.

Harpers

Mirt (see appendix B) arrives with two female human swashbuckler (see appendix B). If he’s still alive and not already with the characters, Renaer Neverember (see appendix B) replaces one of the swashbucklers.

Emerald Enclave

Jeryth Phaulkon sends three swarm of rats to assist the characters. Once the characters are no longer in peril, the rats disperse throughout the vault.

Force Grey

Vajra Safahr sends Meloon Wardragon (see appendix B) to help the characters secure the vault, unaware that Meloon has fallen under Xanathar’s sway. If Xanathar is the main villain, Meloon helps the beholder’s forces defeat the characters.

Lords' Alliance

Open Lord Laeral Silverhand (see appendix B) arrives with Jalester Silvermane (see appendix B) and six City Guard veteran to help characters secure the gold. Laeral’s arrival forces Jarlaxle to be on his best behavior. After assuring Laeral of his good intentions, Jarlaxle cuts his losses and withdraws peacefully. If she is able to speak with Aurinax, Laeral convinces the dragon to relinquish the gold into her custody.

Order of the Gauntlet

Hlam (see appendix B) arrives and aids the characters as best he can. He and Aurinax met each other many years ago, and they are on fair speaking terms. Aurinax is fond of the monk, and characters who negotiate with the dragon in Hlam’s presence gain advantage on their Charisma (Persuasion) checks.

Zhentarim

The Doom Raiders (see appendix B) arrive to help secure the vault, less any members who have been arrested or killed. If Manshoon is the main villain, Skeemo Weirdbottle betrays his fellow Doom Raiders and fights alongside Manshoon’s simulacrum. If they and the characters emerge victorious, the surviving Doom Raiders propose to split the take evenly with the characters. If the characters refuse this offer and the Doom Raiders outnumber them, the Zhents turn against them, putting characters who are Zhentarim members in a predicament.

Adventure Conclusion

The adventure could play out in any of several ways, depending on who gets the gold and what’s done with the treasure.

Dying in the Vault

If the characters die in the Vault of Dragons with the Stone of Golorr and the main villain doesn’t know the vault’s location, the secrets of the vault die with them. Though they succumbed in the process, they succeeded in keeping the gold out of the villain’s clutches-a bittersweet victory, indeed.

Removing the Gold

If the characters recover Neverember’s hoard and keep it for themselves, word gets out eventually.

Emissaries of the Harpers, the Lords' Alliance, and the Order of the Gauntlet come to the characters, asking that the gold be returned to Waterdeep. If the characters refuse to give it up, they are stripped of any memberships they might hold in these factions and quickly find themselves in political hot water. The Lords of Waterdeep charge them with the crime of robbery against the citizens of the city. The characters face up to 1 month of hard labor plus damages equal to the value of the stolen currency plus 500 gp. If they try to flee the city, the City Guard apprehends and imprisons them. If they somehow evade the local authorities, the Harpers and agents of the Lords' Alliance pursue them tirelessly.

Laeral Silverhand is prepared to let the characters keep one-tenth of the treasure (50,000 gp) for themselves. Even that much coin attracts unwanted attention, in the form of several people who beg loans or donations from them:

• Emmek Frewn (see “Business Rival: Emmek Frewn”) needs 1,500 gp to pay off a loan with interest. If he doesn’t repay the coin in a tenday, Istrid Horn (see appendix B) sends Zhentarim thugs to threaten, if not hurt, him. Emmek comes to the characters with hat in hand, preying on their generosity while denying any wrongdoing on his part.
• Davil Starsong (see appendix B) asks the characters for a donation of 5,000 gp to keep his branch of the Zhentarim afloat in Waterdeep. Recent altercations and legal issues have drained the Doom Raiders' coffers. If the characters refuse, the Doom Raiders are driven out of the city, yielding control of the Zhentarim in Waterdeep to Manshoon (if he’s alive).
• Floon Blagmaar (see appendix B) asks the characters to give him 500 gp to cover a hefty gambling debt. If the characters refuse to give Floon the gold, he vanishes without a trace 1d10 days later.
• volothamp “volo” geddarm (see appendix B) asks the characters for 5,000 gp to fund an expedition that he hopes will inspire a future book, for which he’ll give them special mention in said masterwork. If the characters seem hesitant, Volo reminds them that were it not for his starting them off on this adventure, they wouldn’t have the gold in the first place.
• Jelenn Urmbrusk, a Masked Lord in debt to Manshoon, requests an interest-free loan of 10,000 gp, which she vows to repay within a year. In exchange, she promises to use her “considerable influence with the Lords of Waterdeep” to help them in the future. If the characters oblige, she makes good on her promise to pay them back and grants them a special favor (see “Marks of Prestige” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). If they refuse, they will have made an enemy of the secret Masked Lord.
• Temples, charities, guilds, and down-on-their-luck strangers come knocking from time to time. What they ask for isn’t much-a few gold here and there-but it all adds up.

Onward and Downward

The characters should be 5th level by the end of this adventure. In the weeks that follow, word of their deeds spreads to every corner of Waterdeep. Finally, a note is delivered to them that reads as follows:

Undermountain beckons. See you at the Yawning Portal.

If the characters want to explore Undermountain, you can continue this campaign up through 20th level with the book Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage.