The Dungeon Level is designed for four 5th-level characters, and characters who defeat the monsters on this level should gain enough XP to reach 6th level.
What Dwells Here?
Aside from hungry monsters, a bandit gang has made its home here, as have bugbears and goblins in league with the beholder crime lord known as Xanathar.
The Undertakers
A gang of neutral evil human bandits calling themselves the Undertakers prey on gullible adventurers, demanding a toll of 10 gp per character for safe passage through this level of the dungeon. The bandits have taken over area areas 6 through area 8 and have spies watching area area 1 to report on intruders.
The bandits are failed actors and singers who use disguise kits to appear as vampires. These disguises are elaborate and convincing (including wigs, theatrical clothing, makeup, fake fangs, and fake nails), but adventurers can see through the ruse with a successful DC 14 Wisdom (
The leaders of the gang, Uktarl Krannoc and Harria Valashtar, were lovers once, but their relationship soured recently. They’re fed up with each other, and each is plotting to eliminate the other and take control of the gang. Harria is the likely winner of this conflict, because she recently acquired a flesh golem that wandered up from level 2. Struck by Harria’s resemblance to its creator, the golem has been pressed into service.
The Undertakers are aware that bugbears and goblins are spying on them (see “Xanathar Guild” below). If they encounter adventurers whom they can’t extort or defeat, the bandits try to orchestrate a conflict between the adventurers and the goblinoids, which they hope will get rid of one or both groups.
Xanathar Guild
Nine bugbears (five of them under the control of intellect devourers) represent the Xanathar Guild on this level. They’re charged with keeping adventurers from reaching the lower levels and thereby interfering with guild business. With the help of several goblins, the bugbears have set up guild watch posts in area areas 23, area 28, and area 39.
The bugbears and their goblin toadies are plotting to kidnap one of the leaders of the Undertakers and take that person back to Skullport to have an intellect devourer implanted in their skull, so that Xanathar can take control of the bandit gang. The bugbears have been spying on the bandits and will shortly begin testing their defenses. They are
Wandering Monsters
Monsters wander this level in search of food or treasure. These creatures include carrion crawlers, ghouls, giant spiders, goblins, grells, gricks, oozes of all kinds, stirges, and wererats. If your game session needs a jolt, try using one of the following encounters or an encounter of your own design.
Carrion Crawlers
Three Carrion Crawler, one creeping along the floor and two attached to the ceiling, approach the party and attack the first adventurers to come within reach of their mucus-coated tentacles. If a carrion crawler paralyzes a character with its tentacles, it continues to make bite attacks against that character on subsequent rounds as it feeds. The carrion crawlers are too stupid and hungry to flee in the face of certain death.
Goblin Skull-Hunters
Pibble and Groin, two argumentative Goblin with no affiliations of note, are scouring the dungeon for intact skulls to claim as trophies. Their constant bickering can be heard up to 60 feet away, and they flee when confronted by adventurers. If one or both goblins are captured, they can lead adventurers to the nearest Xanathar Guild watch post as well as describe its defenses, since they have observed the comings and goings of the guild’s goblinoids for some time.
Shield Guardian
The Dungeon Level is home to a meandering, defective shield guardian operating under the delusion that it’s a wizard’s apprentice, even to the extent of pretending to cast spells. The guardian returned to this level after its wizard master perished while exploring level 4; the shield guardian’s amulet can be found there (area level 4, area 16a). A rune on the shield guardian’s head matches a rune inscribed on the back of its amulet.
When the shield guardian sees the characters, it wastes its actions on feeble gesticulations that suggest it’s trying to cast harmful spells at them. It reverts to making normal attacks only if one or more characters enter its reach and make melee attacks against it. If the characters keep their distance and avoid harming the shield guardian, it ends its “attack” after a few rounds and wanders off, looking for other denizens to terrorize.
Exploring This Level
All location descriptions for this level are keyed to map 1. Characters who descend into the dungeon from the Yawning Portal land in area area 1 and can proceed from there.
1. Entry Well
At the bottom of the Yawning Portal entry well is a dark, 40-foot-square room with the following features:
Exits. The only exit appears to be a tunnel that leads south before bending west. (There’s also a one-way secret door to the north.)
Sandy Floor. A thin layer of sand covers the floor.
Hanging Shields. Dented, rusty shields adorn the walls, which are also covered with graffiti.
One-Way Secret Door
A one-way secret door built into the north wall can’t be opened from the south without the aid of a
Sand
A search of the sand yields some discarded gear (two iron spikes, an empty wineskin, a tinderbox, and a pair of pants sized for an adult human) and a random trinket dropped by a frightened adventurer. Roll percentile dice and consult the
Shields
Sixty old shields hang on the walls; they break apart if disturbed in any way. Written in blood on the wall, concealed behind one of the shields, is the following message in Elvish:
Beyond the pillar forest, the Mad Mage waits.
Casting spells behind magic gates.
2. Hall of Many Pillars
At the west end of a 20-foot-wide hall (area area 2a), stairs descend 10 feet to a room lined with pillars (area area 2b). Similar staircases descend into the room from 10-foot-wide tunnels leading north, west, and south.
2a. Demon Reliefs
Bas-Reliefs. Every 10-foot section of wall has a 9-foot-high, 4-foot-wide, 3-inch-deep door-shaped recess containing a bas-relief carving of a demon. Each relief depicts a different kind of demon (see below).
Skeleton. A kenku skeleton lies on the floor, one of its thin arms pointing toward a bas-relief of a nalfeshnee demon on the south wall. (Halaster artfully placed the skeleton here to help adventurers find the secret door to area area 3.)
The carvings on the north wall of area area 2a depict (from east to west) a balor, a barlgura, a chasme, a dretch, a glabrezu, a goristro, and a hezrou. The carvings on the south wall depict (from west to east) a marilith, a nalfeshnee, a quasit, a shadow demon, a vrock, and a yochlol. The recessed wall that contains the nalfeshnee carving has a secret door leading to area area 3. The recessed wall that contains the dretch carving has another secret door, which leads to area area 4. The dretch carving has half-inch spy-holes for eyes. These holes are detected when the secret door is found.
2b. Pillar Forest
Bugbears. Two Bugbear hide behind pillars. (Each bugbear is host to an intellect devourer in its skull cavity.)
Snake Skeleton. The skeleton of a giant constrictor snake coils up the top half of the northernmost pillar. The snake skeleton is harmless and falls apart if disturbed, clattering loudly as it hits the floor.
Warning. The words “Certain death this way!” are carved in Common on the southeast wall, with an arrow pointing toward the southern exit.
The bugbears detect the approach of adventurers with the aid of the intellect devourers' Detect Sentience trait and therefore can’t be surprised. As intruders approach their location, the bugbears withdraw down the southern tunnel and circle around to warn the goblinoids in area area 23 of intruders. The bugbears know the perils of the western tunnel (area area 21) and avoid it. Characters whose passive Wisdom (
When a bugbear drops to 0 hit points, the intellect devourer in its skull teleports out to seek a new host.
Secret Compartment
Inspection of the southernmost pillar reveals a loose stone in its base. Behind the stone is an empty compartment, its contents discovered and plundered long ago.
3. Slanted Room
A secret door opens to reveal an empty 10-foot-square cubicle with a 5-foot-wide tunnel of rough-hewn stone leading away from it. The tunnel descends slightly until it reaches a room that smells like a sewer. The room contains the following features:
Flood. The floor of the room tilts—its west end is 6 feet lower than its east end. Foul sewer water covers the floor, barely reaching the east wall but deepening by 1 foot for every 10 feet of travel westward.
Statue. A wide alcove in the north wall contains a life-size statue of a sahuagin, submerged up to its chest in sewer water. The statue emits a dim purple radiance, its head is completely turned around, and one of its arms has broken off and is nowhere to be seen.
Ooze. A psychic gray ooze lurks beneath the murky water, north of the statue. (It’s
invisible while underwater.)
The ooze uses its Psychic Crush action option (see the “Variant: Psychic Gray Ooze” sidebar in the “Oozes” entry in the Monster Manual) to attack anyone who approaches the statue.
Statue
The purple aura around the sahuagin statue is harmless, and casting
The statue’s head is hollow, with holes for eyes and a larger hole for its fanged mouth. Further inspection reveals that the head has screw threads and is removable. Previous adventurers managed to unscrew it halfway before being scared off by the gray ooze. Unscrewing and removing the head exposes a hidden, charred compartment in the statue’s neck. The compartment contains melted wax from candles that were used to illuminate the statue’s head like a jack-o'-lantern.
Water
The water seeps through cracks in the ceiling of the alcove, drips down the walls, and accumulates in the west end of the room before slowly leaking out through smaller cracks in the floor. The water is tepid, and not fit for drinking unless a
4. With Sword in Hand
Sword Stand. An unadorned wooden armor stand rests in the middle of the room, with a faintly glowing longsword stabbed into it. At the base of the stand lie the skeletal remains of a hand, amid stains of dried blood.
Distant Voices. Echoes of distant voices occasionally fill the room, emanating from 10-inch-long, 5-inch wide vents in the ceiling (see “Echoes” below).
Secret Door. A secret door leading south is obvious from this side (no ability check required). It has two eye-holes bored into it at a height of 5 feet, allowing a creature to peer into area area 2a beyond.
The longsword is easy to remove from the armor stand, requiring no ability check. A
Echoes
Vent shafts in the ceiling connect to shop cellars in the city above. These passages carry voices from Waterdeep, but the sound is distorted so badly that words at one end can’t be discerned by creatures at the other end. If the grills that cover the vent shafts are pried loose, a Tiny or gaseous creature could crawl through a shaft to escape Undermountain.
5. Grell Hideout
At the end of a long hall is a 50-foot-square room with five pillars made of mortared humanoid bones, painted black. Two Grell float in separate alcoves to the north and the east. The floors of the alcoves are littered with the gnawed bones of past meals (mostly goblins and gricks).
The deep alcoves and black pillars provide cover for the grells. As the characters move into the room, they can spot one or both grells by succeeding on a Wisdom (
6. Undertakers' Watch Post
Several members of the Undertakers gang dwell here in their vampire disguises. If the bandit keeping an eye on area area 1 through the secret door retreats here with news of the adventurers' arrival, add that individual to the forces arrayed here (one bandit captain, six Bandit, and two Doppelganger). Once alerted, these forces gather in area area 6a and wait for the adventurers to arrive so they can extort money from them.
6a. Hall of Three Lords
Statues. Standing atop stone plinths in the middle of the room, facing east, are three 6-foot-tall statues depicting male Waterdavian nobles clad in decorative plate armor.
Bones and Broken Staff. Lying at the base of the central statue are the bones of a long-dead hobgoblin and a white wooden staff broken in half.
Carved into the stone base of each statue is a name: Elyndraun (south statue), Ruathyndar (central statue), and Onthalass (north statue). These names have been crossed out with chalk; beneath them, new names have been added in Goblin: Smelly Bottom, Stupid Skull, and Born Toothless, respectively.
A
6b. Rigged Secret Door
Piled up against the west side of this secret door, undetectable from the east side, is a stack of old ceramic plates that fall and break when the door is opened, alerting any bandits in area areas 6a, area 6c, and area 6d.
6c. Uktarl’s Room
Bandits. Unless they have been encountered elsewhere, four members of the Undertakers sit around a decrepit wooden table near the door: Uktarl Krannoc (NE human bandit captain with
Performance +4), two human Bandit, and a doppelganger, all disguised as vampires. They play cards using a marked deck that Uktarl carries around, and each has a stack of coins on the table.Fresco. The entire northern wall is one large stone fresco depicting a rugged mountain, hollowed out with caverns containing tiny sculpted figures of dwarves. Behind the mountain, carved rays of brilliant sunlight fan out to the edges of the wall.
Tub. Beneath the mountain fresco, carved into the floor, is a large, recessed stone tub 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep.
Uktarl lies and cheats for fun, and he is quick to blame others for his failings as a leader. If he takes damage or sees any of his underlings slaughtered, cowardice compels him to retreat to area area 7. The others flee to area area 8 and team up with any bandits remaining there.
A character who inspects the stone fresco and succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (
Uktarl keeps his bedroll inside the stone tub, along with a set of thieves' tools and enough stolen gear to create one explorer’s pack.
Treasure
On the table are stacks of coins totaling 220 cp, 91 sp, and 85 gp, as well as a silver ring (25 gp) engraved with dwarven symbols commonly associated with fertility and sexual potency.
6d. Sleeping Quarters
Furnishings. Eight bedrolls are spread out on the floor. Two battered and rusty oil lanterns, also on the floor, light the chamber.
Bandits. Unless they’re encountered elsewhere, four human Bandit sleep in their bedrolls. A doppelganger sits on another bedroll, keeping watch.
Treasure
Each bandit carries
7. Vampire Haven
These chambers once served as a true vampire’s lair. The Undertakers use the crypt to hide from the dungeon denizens they can’t rob or kill.
Characters who find the secret door leading to this area notice a 1-inch-diameter hole bored through it a few inches above the floor. This hole allowed the ancient vampire to enter and leave its lair in mist form.
7a. Hall of Retreat
If they are forced to retreat to this hall, Uktarl (area area 6) and Harria (area area 8) make their final stand here, still blaming each other for their failures. This hall has the following features:
Bedrolls. A dozen empty bedrolls lie on the dusty floor.
Frescoes. Faded frescoes cover the walls, depicting villagers and farmers being terrorized by a giant bat.
7b. Crypt
This area contains a cobweb-draped wooden coffin resting on a 2-foot-high block of gray stone. The coffin is intact and has an obvious 1-inch-diameter hole bored into its foot panel. The coffin’s lid is unlocked.
A thin layer of grave dirt inside the coffin has been flattened down, suggesting that a creature once slept here. A vial of holy water rests atop the dirt. The coffin is otherwise empty.
8. Bandit Headquarters
Dominating the area is a throne hall (area area 8a). Side chambers (area areas 8b and area 8c) serve as a base for members of the Undertakers, who investigate loud noises in the throne hall.
8a. Hall of the Bone Throne
Dead Wyvern. In the middle of the room lie the bones, skull, rotted leather wing flaps, and stinger of a wyvern, intermingled with shards of clear crystal.
Throne. At the south end of this 70-foot-high vaulted room, marble steps form a dais upon which stands a large, high-backed throne made of interwoven, bleached bones. Each of the throne’s bone armrests is carved to resemble a fanged snake (see “Bone Throne” below).
Torch Brackets. Empty torch brackets made of fluted, discolored bronze protrude from the walls.
Halaster trapped the wyvern in a floating crystal sphere and left it here as a guardian, but adventurers released and slew the creature long ago. The wyvern’s remains lie alongside the fragments of its crystalline prison.
Bone Throne
The throne is impervious to all damage. Its velvet seat cushion serves as the hinged lid of an empty hidden compartment. Whatever treasure the compartment once held was stolen by adventurers long ago.
The throne’s serpent armrests magically animate and bite anyone who sits on the throne or raises the seat’s lid. Each snake makes a single melee weapon attack (+8 to hit) and deals 3 (
8b. Harria’s Room
Bandit Captain: Unless awakened by loud noises, Harria Valashtar (NE human bandit captain with
Performance +4) sleeps on a cot against the south wall. She is disguised as a vampire but doesn’t wear her fangs while sleeping.Golem. A flesh golem under Harria’s control stands guard in the middle of the room.
Furnishings. Other furnishings include a lit lantern, which rests atop a wooden trunk painted with pictures of clowns; a frayed circular rug; and a folding wooden privacy screen. The trunk is unlocked and contains a disguise kit, as well as a small selection of theater costumes and props.
Harria is a greedy, treacherous, and vindictive young woman who considers herself the world’s most underrated actress and singer. She isn’t able to control the golem once it goes berserk, and she retreats to area area 7 if things turn bleak.
8c. Masters of Disguise
Bandits. Sitting in chairs around a long stone table are five human Bandit (members of the Undertakers, all disguised as vampires) and a doppelganger (disguised to look like a sixth human vampire).
Lanterns. Two glowing oil lanterns hang from chains above the table.
Supplies. On the table are three disguise kits and three backpacks. Each backpack is stuffed with 11 days of rations.
Posing as vampires, the bandits and the doppelganger try to extort money from passing adventurers. If that doesn’t work, they attack until it becomes clear they’re outmatched, whereupon they flee to area area 6 in search of reinforcements.
Treasure
Each bandit carries
9. Plundered Halls
This corner of the dungeon sees little traffic, though other adventurers have plundered it in the past.
9a. Pillared Way
Pillars. Six pillars pockmarked with tiny indentations stretch the length of the hall. (The indentations held gemstones, which were stolen long ago.)
Alcove. An alcove in the northwest corner contains a rusty pile of armor (the remains of a suit of animated armor that was destroyed years ago by adventurers).
9b. Rotted Corpse
The maggot-ridden corpse of a dead human lies facedown on the floor next to a discarded scimitar, a light crossbow, and a money pouch.
During a battle to rid area area 12 of giant spiders, the Undertakers lost one of their own. They left his body here to rot. A successful DC 10 Wisdom (
10. Cubicle of Skulls
Skulls tumble into the hall when the door to this 10-foot-square room is pulled open. The entire room is filled to the ceiling with the skulls of dead adventurers and other humanoids who crossed Halaster. Thousands of skulls have accumulated here; they’re harmless, if a bit macabre. The cubicle contains nothing else.
11. Room of Secrets
Helm. A green copper helm with a protective visor lies on the floor, draped in cobwebs.
Throne. Against the back wall, atop a marble riser, stands a slender throne also made of green copper and covered with cobwebs.
Treasure
There is nothing remarkable about the copper throne or helm, and neither object detects as magical. But if a character wears the helm while sitting on the throne, a tube-shaped compartment in the ceiling above opens and a
12. Hall of Heroes
Statues. Life-size granite statues of human warriors, facing inward, stand atop two rows of pedestals that run through the hall.
Web-Covered Ceiling. The ceiling of this long hall is 20 feet high, arched, and lightly obscured by thick webs.
Dead Spiders. Three giant spiders lie dead at various points in the hallway, riddled with crossbow bolts. (Members of the Undertakers killed them.)
The hall holds thirty-eight statues, nineteen in each row. Their nameplates have been severely chipped or defaced, as have many of the statues' features.
Eastern Doors
Halaster has placed an elder rune (see “area Elder Runes") on the double door leading to area area 16, set to trigger when the doors are opened. Draw from the Elder Runes Deck to determine which rune appears. The elder rune targets a random creature in this hall and within 60 feet of the doors.
13. Empty Room
At the end of this hall is a door leading to an empty 10-foot-square room. A regional effect could manifest in this room or in the hall outside, at your discretion (see “area Halaster’s Lair").
14. Little Box of Horrors
Halaster has placed some nasty surprises in this corner of the dungeon.
14a. Sloping Tunnel
This room is empty. The north tunnel gradually slopes down 20 feet to area area 14b.
14b. Heart in a Box
Acid. The room’s domed ceiling is 15 feet high at the edges and 30 feet high in the middle. The dome is filled with sizzling acid that defies gravity as it floats 15 feet above the floor.
Statue. An 8-foot-tall statue of a four-armed fish monster (a
petrified sahuagin baron with no trident) stands in the middle of the room, facing north. Its webbed hands clutch an ornate, 1-foot-square stone box with a lid and a keyhole (see “Box” below).Secret Door. At the north end of the east wall is a secret door.
The acid floating in the domed area overhead is held there by magic. Opening the stone box without using the proper key causes the acid to fall. When the acid falls, each creature in the room takes 11 (
Box
The box can be unlocked and opened while the statue holds it. Prying it from the statue’s grasp requires a successful DC 20 Strength (
The box’s key is hidden in area area 6c. The box can also be opened with a
The box’s interior is lined with thin sheets of lead to thwart certain forms of divination magic, including the
14c. Secret Room
This 10-foot-square room is empty.
15. Armory
Racks. Cobwebs enshroud rows of old weapon racks, many of which have collapsed under their own weight.
Axe. A door in the south wall has a handaxe embedded in it.
Although its presence might be mistaken for a warning, the handaxe is ordinary and signifies nothing. It can easily be pulled free from the door.
South Room
Behind the door with the handaxe is a 10-foot-square room with a 1-foot-thick, 5-foot-diameter stone sharpening wheel set into the floor. Pressing down on a stone pedal previously turned the wheel, but the mechanisms under the floor have seized up with age, and the wheel no longer turns.
16. Manticore Den
Manticores: Three Manticore dwell here. They immediately attack anyone who isn’t Halaster or his “food troll” (see area area 18).
Makeshift Beds. Three large piles of soiled, torn tapestries and curtains, intermixed with humanoid bones and broken bits of stone, serve as beds for the manticores.
Scrying Eye. If the characters leave after killing the manticores and later return, they find one of Halaster’s scrying eyes floating in the middle of the chamber (see “area Halaster’s Lair,"). It studies the characters for a minute or two before disappearing without a sound.
Treasure
A search of the manticores' nests yields the following: a chain shirt, a flail, a wooden flute (2 gp), a pouch containing 14 sp and 29 cp, a pouch containing 21 gp, and a silver necklace with a bloodstone pendant (250 gp).
17. Stone Temple Pileup
A wide foyer (area area 17a) leads to a desecrated temple that feels more like a tomb (area area 17b).
17a. Foyer
The desiccated corpse of an unusually large basilisk lies in the middle of the floor on its back, its shriveled tongue hanging out and all six feet sticking up in the air. Clutched in one of its clawed feet is a transparent orb.
The basilisk was killed by previous adventurers and left here. Anyone who inspects the corpse discovers that the basilisk died from wounds consistent with weapon attacks and destructive spells. Two Giant Centipede reside in the corpse. If the basilisk is disturbed, the centipedes emerge and attack the nearest creature.
Treasure
The basilisk clutches a
17b. Desecrated Temple
Ceiling. The ceiling is 60 feet high.
Petrified Creatures. Eleven lifelike statues in a variety of poses are clustered together in the south end of the room. (These statues are
petrified creatures.)Statues. Alcoves along the walls once held six statues, but five of them lie toppled and smashed to pieces on the floor. The sixth statue, located in the middle alcove along the east wall, remains intact and appears to be made of glistening black stone. (The sheen is due to a black pudding that coats the statue.)
The black pudding has 120 hit points and is held in stasis by Halaster’s magic. The stasis ends and the pudding attacks if it is touched or harmed.
The statue’s stone features are impossible to discern while the black pudding covers it. Once the pudding sloughs off, characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (
The assembly of
Treasure
A copper crown with six arrowhead-shaped malachite spires (75 gp) hangs from one of the carrion crawler’s stony tentacles.
18. Troll’s Den
A filthy, 30-foot-square room lies at the end of a long hall, and a putrid stench fills both the room and the hallway.
A voracious troll hunkers in the room’s southwest corner and attacks interlopers on sight. It can’t be surprised by adventurers who are noisy or who approach with uncovered light sources.
Halaster
19. Ye Olde Feast Halls
These rooms have the following features in common:
Furnishings. Two 20-foot-long, 5-foot-wide stone tables stand in the middle of each room, flanked by stone benches.
Hanging Rods. Iron rods designed to hold tapestries are bolted to the walls near the ceiling. The tapestries have long since turned to dust, leaving the rods bare.
19a. Servants' Feast Hall
This room reeks. A
19b. Guards' Feast Hall
Under one of the tables in this room is a copper tankard with a hinged lid (25 gp).
19c. Nobles' Feast Hall
The door to this room doesn’t open easily. Inside, propped against the door, is the maggot-eaten corpse of a female dwarf adventurer wearing tattered leather armor and a matching leather skullcap. In one skeletal hand, she clutches a dagger; in the other, an empty tin flagon. On a bench in the room is her burglar’s pack, complete except for the lantern and the flasks of oil.
20. Beyond the Green Door
Set into the wall of a dead-end tunnel is a door made of green wood. Mounted on the front of the door is a cast-iron carving of a smiling, bearded face. Although vaguely sinister in appearance, the ornament is harmless, as is the door.
Behind the door is an empty 10-foot-square room or, if you choose to expand the dungeon beyond this room, a passage that leads to another section of level 1.
21. Hall of Mirrors
Mirrors. Niches, each 3 feet deep, line the north and south walls. Mounted on the back wall inside each one is a large, oval glass mirror in a heavy stone frame—sixteen mirrors in all.
Torch Stub. The blackened end of a burnt-out torch lies on the floor in the middle of the corridor.
Five of the sixteen mirrors are magical and radiate auras of illusion magic while in the area of a
- The duplicates are unaligned constructs similar in size to the creature that spawned them. (Each duplicate’s hit points stay the same regardless of the original creature’s size.)
- They can’t create undead shadows.
Three other mirrors (your choice) are empty frames containing illusory glass that has no substance. These false mirrors conceal small shelves that are carved into the walls behind them. Casting
Treasure
Two of the shelves are bare. The third holds a bronze mask molded to resemble Halaster’s visage (50 gp).
22. Empty Room
A few burned torch stubs and discarded potion bottles suggest that adventurers stop here from time to time, perhaps to rest. The room is otherwise empty.
23. Worg’s Eye Watch Post
The Xanathar Guild maintains a watch post here, called “Worg’s Eye” by the bugbears that command it. The goblinoids stationed here, two Bugbear and fifteen Goblin, can’t be surprised if they know trouble is on the way. If the two Bugbear in area area 2b managed to make it this far, add them to the roster of enemies.
23a. Nimraith’s Fate
Goblins. Six bored Goblin play here. The goblins have turned a human skeleton into a marionette and dangled it from ropes attached to the ceiling so that they can make it dance around the room. The goblins chant “Nimraith! Nimraith! Nimraith!” as it bobs about.
Cleft Shield. Two halves of a cloven wooden shield lie in the room’s northwest corner. Each half of the cloven shield has letters etched into it. One half reads “Nimr.” The other reads “aith.”
The goblins fearfully obey the bugbears in area area 23b. If their leaders are killed, the goblins flee to area area 28 (by way of area areas 24 and area 25).
Held together with moldy string, the yellowed skeleton is all that remains of Nimraith, a human adventurer who perished in Undermountain over a century ago.
23b. Shattered Statue
Bugbears. Two Bugbear stand guard. Each bugbear has an intellect devourer in its skull cavity.
Noise. The goblins in the adjoining room (area area 23a) are noisy enough to be heard here.
Shattered Statue. The remains of a shattered statue lie in the middle of the room. (The bugbears are trying to reassemble it.)
The bugbears detect the approach of adventurers with the aid of the intellect devourers' Detect Sentience trait and therefore can’t be surprised. When a bugbear drops to 0 hit points, the intellect devourer inhabiting its skull teleports away to seek a new host.
This nonmagical statue has broken into seventeen fist-sized chunks of black stone. (Restoring it will take the bugbears a month.) Any character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
23c. Goblin Den
Unless the watch post is on alert, nine Goblin sleep on the floor, their weapons and shields in easy reach.
The goblins fearfully obey the bugbears in area area 23b. If their leaders are killed, the goblins flee to area area 28 (by way of area areas 24 and area 25).
24. Halls of Hopelessness
Goblins and bugbears pass through these rooms often. No creatures live here, however.
24a. Old Gate
Pillars. Two stone pillars with a 10-foot-wide arch between them support the 20-foot-high ceiling.
Orc Bones. Near the base of each pillar are the skeletal remains of two orcs. (Adventurers killed and robbed these four orcs long ago, leaving nothing of value.)
One of Halaster’s magic gates once stood between the pillars but was destroyed during the Spellplague. The gate’s destruction left behind a lingering aura of wild magic that can be perceived with a
| d12 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | The creature must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against the lingering magic, taking 22 ( |
| 3–7 | Nothing happens. |
| 8–11 | The creature, along with anything it is carrying or wearing, turns |
| 12 | For the next 24 hours, each nonmagical weapon carried by the creature glows with a faint purple light and becomes a +1 weapon. |
24b. Dead Mage
Bones. Moldy bones have been swept into a deep alcove in the south wall.
Dead Prisoner. Hanging from rusty manacles on the back wall of an alcove to the east is a tiefling skeleton missing its legs. Written on the wall above the skeleton in dried blood are the following words in Infernal: TALK TO ME.
A tiefling mage was cast out of Dweomercore, the secret academy on level 9, for spell theft and for being a suspected agent of the Arcane Brotherhood (a society of renegade wizards based in Luskan). Halaster killed the tiefling as a precaution and hung its skeleton here as a macabre decoration. If a
25. Excavation Site
Goblins in league with the Xanathar Guild dug a tunnel that connects a dead-end hallway (area area 25a) with a partially collapsed hall (area area 25b).
25a. Dead Goblin
Dead Goblin. A dead goblin lies on the floor. (A bugbear caved in its skull for falling asleep on the job.)
Tools. Three pickaxes and two shovels rest atop piles of rubble at the mouth of a 5-foot-wide, 5-foot-high tunnel that meanders through collapsed stone.
25b. Headless Statue
Half-buried in stone debris at the north end of this partially collapsed hall is a headless stone statue of a nude woman. Characters who take time to clear the rubble find the statue’s head, which resembles the head of a cobra with its fangs bared.
26. Clean Tunnels
These tunnels are 10 feet high with flat ceilings. They’re swept clean on a regular basis by the gelatinous cube that characters first encounter in area area 26c. Halaster has also placed a gate to level 10 here (see area area 26d).
26a. Hall of Many Candles
Candles. The hall is brightly lit by flickering tallow candles that float in shallow niches along the walls. The candles produce heat but no smoke.
Clean Hall. The corridor is conspicuously free of dust and debris.
Each of the twenty-five niches contains two lit candles. Although wax runs down the sides of the candles, it never drips off them onto the niche, nor do the candles ever seem to be diminished or consumed.
A
26b. Empty Closet
Behind this door is an empty, 10-foot-square room.
26c. Ooze Your Janitor?
Just around this corner is a gelatinous cube. The first character to walk around the corner is surprised by the cube unless that character has a passive Wisdom (
26d. Mirror Gate to Level 10
This tunnel comes to a dead end, mounted on the north wall of which is a mirror gate to level 10 (see “area Gates"). Worked into the mirror’s stone frame is the graven image of a human wizard wielding a wand. The rules of this gate are as follows:
- The gate opens for 1 minute when the mirror is touched with a magic wand that has at least 1 charge remaining.
- Characters must be 11th level or higher to pass through this gate (see “area Jhesiyra Kestellharp"). The first creature to pass through the gate triggers an elder rune (see “area Elder Runes").
- A creature that passes through the gate appears in area area 8 on level 10, in the closest unoccupied space next to the identical gate located there.
27. Hidden Demiplane
Bas-Relief. Carved into the back wall of this alcove is a shallow niche containing a bas-relief sculpture of a nude, heavyset man playing a harp (see below).
Half a Pole. Lying on the floor of the alcove is a broken half of a 10-foot pole.
Close inspection of the bas-relief reveals the following inscription carved into the harp, in Common:
Gaze upon me with bronzed visage
And secrets shall I reveal.
A
Demiplane
The demiplane looks like a 30-foot-square stone room with the following features:
Misty Portal. A mist-filled open doorway leads back to the dungeon alcove on the Material Plane.
Half a Pole. The other half of the broken 10-foot pole lies on the floor just inside the doorway.
Portrait. Hanging upside down on one wall is a tall, wood-framed painting of Halaster Blackcloak.
Simulacrum. Seated in a high-backed oak chair in front of the painting is a simulacrum of the Mad Mage himself (created by the
simulacrum spell).
When it meets a character for the first time, Halaster’s simulacrum says, “Well, don’t just stand there like a boob. Ask me three questions about Undermountain. Two of my answers will be true, and one will be false.”
The simulacrum knows everything that Halaster knows and makes good on its offer, answering the character’s first question with a lie and the second and third questions with the truth. After answering three questions, it turns to slush and is destroyed. The simulacrum won’t provide any additional information and can’t leave the demiplane. The demiplane remains even after the simulacrum is destroyed.
Removing the Halaster mask does not affect the demiplane. By tossing the mask through the misty doorway, a character inside the demiplane can enable others to use it to enter from the Material Plane.
28. Grick Snack Watch Post
The Xanathar Guild maintains a watch post here, called “Grick Snack” by the bugbears that command it. Two bugbears and six goblins are stationed in this area.
28a. West Chamber
Two Bugbear stand guard in this empty room. When confronted by any threat, they retreat along the curved northern tunnel to area area 28c, gather reinforcements, and make their stand in area area 28b.
Secret Door
A secret door in the north wall opens into a tunnel leading north. The watch post defenders are unaware of it.
28b. Obelisk of the Eye
Obelisk. In the north end of this room stands a 14-foot-tall granite obelisk with a lidless eye carved near its top on the south-facing side. The bottom half of the obelisk is covered with dirty, bloody handprints.
Alcoves. Wide alcoves surround the obelisk to the west, north, and east. They contain a dozen goblin beds made of bundled rugs and torn fabric. (The beds have nothing of value.)
A
The first character to touch the obelisk with a bare hand receives the following telepathic message in Common: “I cast my eye into the future and see in yours a perilous descent. South of here, beyond a secret passage, waits the Two-Headed King. Look to his left. There you will see the path you are destined to take.” These words seem to emanate from within the obelisk and are meant to sound soothing, but a character who hears the words can discern a hint of subdued madness in them with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (
Casting
28c. East Chamber
Goblins. Unless they are led elsewhere, six Goblin cower behind broken halves of a stone table tipped on its side. (They peer around the table’s edges with their bows aimed at the rough-hewn tunnel leading east.)
Corpses. Lying on the floor between the goblins and the tunnel are two dead goblins (one headless) and a dead grick, riddled with goblin arrows.
Secret Door. A secret door in the north wall opens into a tunnel leading north and east. The watch post defenders are unaware of it.
The goblins have orders to kill any gricks that emerge from the eastern tunnel. Having lost several of their companions to the gricks in area area 36, the goblins are jittery and afraid for their lives.
28d. Concealed Spiked Pit
The 10-foot-square section of floor at the end of this tunnel doubles as the lid of a 30-foot-deep pit with stone spikes at the bottom. Any creature weighing 50 pounds or more that stands on the lid falls into the pit as the lid swings open, taking 10 (
A character searching the tunnel for traps spots the pit with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (
Dead Goblin
A dead goblin is impaled through the head by a spike at the bottom of the pit. Its gear lies nearby. A scimitar, a shortbow, and a quiver with 9 arrows lie near the goblin’s impaled corpse. The dead goblin also has a lucky charm: a desiccated dwarf thumb.
29. Eye See You!
Hanging Shields. Sixteen old shields bearing emblems from long-forgotten human, dwarven, and elven realms hang on the north and south walls of this tunnel.
Scrying Eye. As the characters traverse the corridor, a large floating eye surrounded by glowing motes of light appears ahead of them. This is one of Halaster’s scrying eyes (see “area Halaster’s Lair"). It studies the characters for a minute or two before disappearing without a sound.
30. Mad Elemental
This area consists of a zigzagging hall (area area 30a) and a guard room (area area 30b). A berserk air elemental is trapped here. Its howls can be heard throughout the area. Assume it’s in area area 30b when the characters first arrive.
The elemental can tell when someone opens the door at either end of the zigzagging hall or the secret door in the guard room. As soon as it hears a door open or feels a slight change in air pressure, it rushes toward the open doorway, attacking all creatures in its path.
30a. Zigzagging Hall
This hall was designed to thwart archers by reducing their line of sight. Other than a few scattered bones on floor, it contains nothing of interest.
30b. Guard Room
Lying on the floor is a battered helm, a tattered suit of leather armor, two halves of a shattered wooden shield, a rusty longsword, a rotting quiver, several broken arrows, and a longbow with a snapped string.
A secret door in the west wall leads to a dusty tunnel that connects to area area 31.
31. Delvers' Hall
Wererat. A wererat named Sylvia Featherstone scours the hall in her giant rat form.
Statues. Cobweb-covered statues of dwarves stand atop 2-foot-high pedestals in alcoves. (One of the northernmost statues has been pushed aside, leaving grooves in the floor and clearing a path to a secret door that opens into a tunnel connecting with area area 30b.)
If cornered, Sylvia assumes hybrid form and claims that she is searching the dungeon for food. If accused of lying, she explains that she is looking for treasure to buy food in Skullport (which is another lie). In fact, Sylvia is one of Xanathar’s spies and is searching for secret doors that lead to unexplored areas of the dungeon—information the beholder considers valuable. If threatened, she tries to rejoin her companion in area area 35. If captured, she takes every opportunity to try to escape. She wears no armor, carries no weapons, and has nothing of value on her. She is familiar with levels 1, 2, and 3 of Undermountain but lies about what’s there unless magically compelled to speak the truth.
32. VIP Suite
The Melairkyn dwarves built these rooms for honored guests in the Underhalls. The door to this suite is carved with the image of a stern, heavily armored dwarf warrior locked in a defensive stance behind a shield.
32a. Empty Bedchamber
Every wall of this empty room is carved with a floor-to-ceiling fresco of a cavern wall, giving the room a cave-like quality.
32b. Bathroom
The southern half of the room contains a sunken basin with a drain at the west end and a stone drain plug nearby. A heavy stone spigot sticks out of the south wall above the basin.
Surprisingly, this facility still works. When the spigot is turned, clean, hot water pours into the basin. The water is supplied and heated by natural sources below.
33. North Dormitory
Carved into the walls, 2 feet off the floor, are eleven bare stone shelves meant to serve as beds. Each shelf is 7 feet long and 3 feet deep with an arched ceiling 4 feet above it.
34. South Dormitory
This room is identical to area area 33 except for one detail: lying in one of the beds is an elf skeleton draped in cobwebs. It wears hide armor and clutches an oak quarterstaff, both in serviceable condition.
35. Hall of Rats
The door to this room hangs slightly ajar, and the sound of squeaking rats emanates from within. The room has these features:
Giant Rats. Ten Giant Rat scour the room for food.
Wererat. An obese giant rat is sleeping on the seat of a crumbling stone throne that stands on a dais opposite the door. (This creature is a shapechanged wererat named Flyndol Greeth.)
Fountains. Not visible from the door are two semicircular fountains built into the south wall, one in each half of the room (see “Fountains” below).
Flyndol Greeth is a lazy wererat who serves Xanathar out of fear, not loyalty. He’s waiting for his companion, Sylvia, to return (see area area 31). If threatened, Flyndol commands the giant rats to cover his escape. If escape is impossible, he surrenders but won’t give his captors any useful information unless they charm him. He carries nothing of value.
Fountains
Each fountain consists of a blue marble basin enclosed by a 1-foot-high stone retaining wall with drainage holes on the inside of the rim to prevent overflow. Carved above each basin is a bas-relief of a dwarf’s face with an open mouth. Water from an underground river once flowed out of the mouths and into the basins, but no longer. Both basins are dry, and the dwarves' stone beards are stained and discolored.
36. Lost Halls
These halls are connected by 5-foot-wide, tube-like passages of rough-hewn stone that slope up and down. Dust hangs in the air here.
36a. Gricks!
Gricks. Two Grick in the middle of this partially collapsed hall attack all who enter.
Debris. The floor is littered with small rocks and pebbles, broken statuary, and jagged chunks of masonry big enough to crush a man’s skull.
36b. Trapped Fellow
Gricks. Five Grick lurk in the diagonal hallway to the south. They attack all who enter.
Trapped Adventurer. The sound of weeping comes from behind a closed door in the west wall (leading to a 10-foot-square closet). A small hole has been drilled through the middle of the door.
An adventuring party called the Fine Fellows of Daggerford descended into Undermountain one tenday ago. One of its members, a thief named Kelim the Weasel (NE human spy), wandered off, snuck into this corner of the dungeon, found a spellbook left behind by a long-dead adventurer, and inadvertently aroused the gricks. With his escape route cut off, Kelim sealed himself in the closet to avoid being eaten. He drilled a small hole in the door so that he could peer out of it and get some fresher air. He wants to sneak out while the gricks are asleep or distracted, but he’s too scared to leave. He has been without food or water for two days.
If rescued, Kelim gives his saviors a stolen spellbook as a token of gratitude. Beyond that, he’s an unreliable coward who will betray anyone to save his own skin. He doesn’t know where the rest of his adventuring party is (see level 2) and doesn’t seem to care.
Treasure
The stolen spellbook contains the following spells:
Kelim also carries an explorer’s pack (with its perishable supplies mostly depleted) and a pouch containing 5 pp, 24 gp, and 4 sp.
36c. Upside-Down Throne
Sleeping Grick. A grick alpha is coiled up in the southernmost section of the room and appears to be asleep. The creature recently gorged itself on goblins and is not hungry. If the characters stay at least 10 feet away from it and cause it no harm, it ignores them.
Reverse Gravity. Directly above the grick, on the 20-foot-high ceiling, is an upside-down stone throne, seated upon which is a mummified minotaur with gems embedded in its eyes (see “Treasure” below). A greataxe lies at the foot of the throne.
Debris. Stone debris is strewn across the floor and ceiling.
Secret Door. This secret door is hidden in the east corner of the north wall. The gricks can’t open it.
The top half of the room is under the effect of a permanent
Treasure
The mummy is inanimate, and its greataxe is nothing special. One of the gemstones in the mummy’s eyes is a banded agate (10 gp), the other a zircon (50 gp).
37. Map Room
Four members of an adventuring party called the Fine Fellows of Daggerford rested here several days ago. An argument between them turned violent, leading three members to kill and dispose of the fourth. The room has the following features:
Map. A 30-foot-wide, floor-to-ceiling map is carved into the west wall (see “Fresco” below).
Open Pit. In the middle of the room is a 10-foot-square open pit. A revenant is trapped in the pit and can be heard moving around inside it.
Secret Door. A secret door is hidden in the south wall. It opens into a curved tunnel (area area 38).
Map Carving
This elaborate image is a cross-section map of Undermountain, with what is clearly Mount Waterdeep and the City of Splendors at the top, and twenty-three hollowed-out dungeon levels stacked below it. Each dungeon level has its own stylistic side view, but no names or details are included to suggest what a level is called or what it contains. Three features stand out:
- Next to the third level is a bas-relief of a flaming skull.
- Next to the sixteenth level is a bas-relief of a comet.
- Next to the twenty-third (lowest) level is a bas-relief of a tower with a tiny rune engraved above it.
Close inspection reveals that the flaming skull, the comet, and the tower are buttons that can be pressed.
Flaming Skull. This carving represents Skullport. Each time this button is pressed, a magical, disembodied male voice fills the room and says in Common, “Gate access to Skullport disabled.”
Comet: This carving represents Stardock, the asteroid orbiting Toril that is connected by a gate to level 16. Each time this button is pressed, a magical, disembodied male voice fills the room and says in Common, “Gate access to Stardock from level 16 only.”
Tower. This carving represents Halaster’s extradimensional tower, and the tiny glyph above it is Halaster’s rune. If this button is pressed, a magical, disembodied male voice fills the room and says in Common, “Gate access to Halaster’s Tower from level 23 only.”
Pit
The open pit used to be 30 feet deep, but now the bottom 10 feet of the hole are filled with stone rubble. Its sides are smooth and can’t be ascended or descended without magic or climbing gear.
Revenant
When a half-elf cleric of Waukeen named Halleth Garke accused his adventuring companions of withholding treasure from him, the other members of the Fine Fellows of Daggerford (not including Kelim in area area 36b, who had already wandered off) beat Halleth to death and threw his body into the pit. Halleth “awoke” the next day as a revenant, compelled to find and kill the three who murdered him. Unfortunately for him, he is unable to climb out of the pit without assistance and has been pacing down there for days.
If the characters pull him up, Halleth points to the secret door in the south wall and offers to join the party until he locates his “friends,” a shield dwarf named Copper Stormforge and two humans named Midna Tauberth and Rex the Hammer. Halleth no longer has access to his cleric spells, and his companions stole his gear (including his holy symbol), along with a wholly incorrect map of the Sargauth Level (level 3). He is willing to let the characters keep the map once they help him confront his killers and retrieve it. He believes the map is authentic and accurate. When the three Fine Fellows die, Halleth becomes a corpse again; if the characters helped him, award them XP as though they had defeated the revenant in combat. See level 2 for more information on Halleth’s killers.
38. Secret Tunnel
This curved corridor is hidden behind secret doors and connects area areas 37 and area 39. Humanoid footprints in the dust suggest that a lot of traffic passes through here.
39. Big Ears Watch Post
These chambers house the level’s main Xanathar Guild watch post, called “Big Ears” by the bugbears that command it. Instead of posting lookouts, the watch post’s defenders (three Bugbear, nineteen Goblin, and two Ettin) rely on a shrieker to warn them of intruders.
39a. Hall of the Two-Headed King
Characters will most likely enter this hall through the secret door in the west wall. This 30-foot-high room has the following features:
Statue. A deformed granite statue stands on the east side of a large stone column, facing eastward.
Staircase. West of the statue, stairs descend 200 feet to level 2. (These stairs are not immediately visible to characters entering through the secret door.)
Noise. The sound of squabbling goblins emanates from a tunnel leading north.
The statue is life-size and depicts a dwarf king standing atop a 3-foot-high stone pedestal. Sprouting from the king’s neck is a deformed, mostly featureless second head with an elongated, toothless mouth. The inscriptions on the pedestal have been worn away. On the king’s brow rests an engraved stone circlet, and his large hands grasp the handle of a stone warhammer, the head of which is planted at his feet.
Halaster used
Treasure
The gold circlet is a
39b. Bugbear Den
Three Bugbear sit in the middle of the floor, eating from a sack of dead rats and stirges. One of them has an intellect devourer in its skull, which is controlling it like a puppeteer. Because of the intellect devourer’s Detect Sentience trait, the bugbears can’t be surprised by the adventurers. When the intellect devourer’s host drops to 0 hit points, the intellect devourer teleports away to seek a new host.
39c. Goblin Hall
Goblins. Nineteen loud, mean, starving Goblin bicker and fight over scraps of moldy food in this long hall.
Dead Goblin. A twentieth goblin lies dead on the floor, the victim of an argument that ended badly.
39d. Old Forge
Ettins. Two Ettin, a female named Krung-Jung and a male named Bokk-Nokkin, live in this foul-smelling room. Branded on each of their foreheads is the symbol of Xanathar: a circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating outward from it and a dot in the center.
Forge. A blackened forge dominates the north wall. The magic that once heated the forge expired long ago. The ettins keep their treasure inside it (see “Treasure” below). An iron anvil stands atop a 3-foot-high circular stone dais in front of the hearth.
Hammer. Hanging above the anvil from thick iron chains is a 7,000-pound stone hammer, 10 feet long and 8 feet wide. Carved into one side of its stone head are the Dwarvish runes for earth and water; the other side is carved with similar runes for air and fire.
Trophies. A 10-foot-wide, 20-foot-long, 2-foot-high slab of stone dominates the southeast corner of the forge. The ettins' latest trophies—two dead and rotting carrion crawlers—lie atop it.
The ettins lived in the Underdark until Xanathar’s minions found them. The brands on the ettins' foreheads signify their servitude under the beholder.
Treasure
Stored at the back of the forge are two large sacks. One sack contains 1,400 cp and 350 sp. The other contains 120 iron ingots worth 5 sp each. Each ingot weighs 1 pound and is stamped with a hammer on one side and an anvil on the other.
40. Fearful Mimicry
Statues. This T-shaped hall has three alcoves, two to the north and one to the south. In each alcove is a beautifully carved granite statue depicting an 8-foot-tall, helmed elf warrior hefting a spear.
Mimic. Stone rubble is piled up behind the statue in the southernmost alcove. The spear held by this statue appears to be made of gold. (Both this statue and its spear are a mimic. The creature uses its fake gold spear as a lure.)
The mimic is a Large specimen with 75 (
41. Cracked Ceiling
Stirges. A 5-foot-wide, 30-foot-long, 45-foot-deep crack has opened in the middle of the 30-foot-high ceiling, spilling rubble onto the floor. Twenty Stirge roost at the top of this fissure.
Tools. Old pickaxes and shovels are stored in two stone wheelbarrows parked in the northwest corner.
The stirges hang like bats in the ceiling fissure and descend en masse to feed on creatures that make too much noise or shine light up at them. Bugbears come here occasionally to catch and kill stirges for food.
Aftermath
Defeating the Undertakers means that future parties of adventurers can explore this level of the dungeon without paying tolls for safe passage. The gang’s removal, however, also allows bugbears, goblins, wererats, and other Xanathar Guild operatives to set up new watch posts in the bandits' former hideouts.
Destroying the Xanathar Guild outposts makes this level a much safer place for a while, but it also spells the end of the force that kept the grells, the gricks, and other predatory monsters in check. Such creatures begin to expand their territory, occasionally bumping up against one another with predictably bloody results.
One thing that never changes is the steady influx of new blood from the Yawning Portal. At any time, another group of adventurers might descend to seek their fortune in Undermountain. Such a group, perhaps encountered as the characters make their way back to Waterdeep, could greet the characters as friendly rivals or as competition that must be eliminated.