Skullport is a grim, cutthroat outpost of civilization where adventurers can resupply and take refuge. Yet few souls of the surface world have any clue how to reach this shadowy reflection of Waterdeep, making any talk of the Port of Shadow akin to a rumor, or a warning—which is just how its denizens like it.
Reaching Skullport
The routes by which adventurers can arrive at Skullport are described below.
Through Undermountain
Skullport is connected to level 3 of Undermountain by the underground River Sargauth and by five meandering subterranean passageways: Beggar’s Rest Pass, Shadow Pass, Steamfall Pass, Taglath’s Gap, and Whisperhaunt Pass. See area maps 25 and area 26 in this section for the locations of these routes.
Through the Sea Caves
Skullport can be reached by traveling through a series of natural caverns and magical locks that stretch from the South Sea Caves on Waterdeep’s shore to the River Sargauth far below Mount Waterdeep. Crashing waves and jagged rocks make the outermost of these flooded caves dangerous to navigate. Dozens of old ships lie wrecked within, their swollen hulks home to sea hags, merrows, and other aquatic creatures.
The waters grow calmer as one travels deeper into the mountain, where a series of magic locks control the water level. Vessels descend hundreds of feet as they pass between them. Where the locks end is a vast cavern containing a smooth stone retaining wall that rises 10 feet above the water’s surface. The partially collapsed remnants of a ten-story-tall hoist loom above the retaining wall. This contraption was designed to lift a vessel of almost any size, swing it over the wall, and lower it down the other side to the River Sargauth 100 feet below. Skullport lies just a few hundred yards farther along the underground river. Time and neglect have rendered the hoist nonfunctional, thus preventing large ships from reaching the Port of Shadow. Many denizens of Skullport would like to fix it, but they lack the mutual trust and cooperation required for such a project to succeed. The absence of the hoist hasn’t stopped all manner of nefarious sorts from using their own ropes to haul rowboats and other small craft over the barrier wall.
Skullport Overview
Skullport fills an immense cavern. The town has three levels: a lower level, a middle level, and a top level. A stone bridge connects the southern end of the town to an island around which flows the sluggish River Sargauth. The island is called Skull Island, and atop this island stands a fortress garrisoned by minions of the beholder crime lord known as Xanathar.
What Dwells Here?
The Port of Shadow has been held, claimed, or occupied over the years by duergar, drow, dwarves, crazed wizards, slavers, and pirates. Currently, the town is under the sway of Xanathar, who has turned the forlorn settlement into a haven for its criminal organization. (The beholder inhabits a dungeon complex under Skullport that is described in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.)
Few folk have permanent residences in the Port of Shadow, and most of the local businesses are presently shut down. The people who do remain in business pay Xanathar for protection. Adventurers can find food, drink, shelter, and supplies here—or perhaps a quick death, if they antagonize the locals.
Flameskulls
Thirteen ancient Flameskull haunt Skullport. These entities, which have defended the town since its founding, are all that remain of the Sargauth Enclave, a settlement of Netherese wizards. The flameskulls consider themselves the true rulers of Skullport, but they have lost touch with reality, their minds drifting in and out of the present and the past. They rarely communicate, and when they do it is often in a dead language.
Exploring Skull Island
All location descriptions for Skull Island are keyed to map 24. The island’s features are as follows:
- The island sits in the middle of a vast cavern with a roughly dome-shaped roof that rises to a height of 120 feet above the water level.
- Atop the island is a stone fortress, its 20-foot-high outer walls interrupted at irregular intervals by 30-foot-high (two-story) towers topped with battlements, ballistae, and flame cannons (see the “Skull Island Weaponry” sidebar).
- A natural column of rock rises from the heart of the fortress and merges with the cavern ceiling. (See area area 9 for more information on this spire.)
Skull Island Weaponry
The fortress on Skull Island bristles with ballistae and flame cannons. Before one of these weapons can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load a weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it. Each ballista or flame cannon is a Large object with AC 15, 50 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
A ballista is a massive crossbow that fires heavy bolts. A flame cannon is a bulky mechanical contraption that hurls casks of alchemist’s fire that explode on impact.
Ballista: Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (
3d10 ) piercing damage.Flame Cannon: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (
1d6 ) bludgeoning damage plus 17 (5d6 ) fire damage, and the target catches fire. While on fire, the target takes 3 (1d6 ) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end this damage by immersing itself in water or by using an action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.
1. Murkspan Bridge
An arched stone bridge connects the island to the town. The middle 30-foot span of the bridge is rigged to collapse. Two stone levers hidden in secret compartments at the south end of the bridge trigger the collapse when they are pulled simultaneously (requiring an action for each one). Characters who search the south end of the bridge can find the levers and discern their purpose with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (
2. Main Gate
The main entrance to the fortress is protected by a sturdy iron gate. Winches in the flanking guard towers open and close this gate.
3. Harbors
Skull Island has two natural harbors (area 3a and area 3b). Each harbor is 60 feet deep and lined with rotted wooden docks. Steel augers installed along the mouth of each harbor can be raised or lowered on rusty iron chains connected to winches in the towers to either side of the harbor. When they are raised, the augers pierce the hulls of passing ships, flooding their lower decks and causing them to sink.
4. Duergar Barracks
Ten duergar are quartered in this two-story building.
5. Human Barracks
This three-story edifice looms over the northeast harbor (area area 3b). Seventy human Thug are quartered here.
6. Depleted Armory
The Xanathar Guild plundered this two-story building after taking control of the fortress. It stands empty.
7. Bugbear Barracks
Sixty Bugbear inhabit this two-story stone building.
8. Gargoyle Towers
Twelve Gargoyle perch on the battlements of these three-story stone towers (four atop each tower).
9. Tower of the Seven Woes
The fortress’s half-ogre commander, Sundeth, lives in this hollowed-out spire with his wyvern mount. Sundeth is a hideous, 8-foot-tall, half-ogre champion (see appendix A), with these changes:
- Sundeth is chaotic evil.
- He has these racial traits: He is Large and has
darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. He speaks Common and Giant.
The column merges with the cavern roof, narrows in the middle (where a stalactite and a stalagmite converged eons ago), and has abundant ledges and handholds on the outside. The outer door is made of iron and squeals loudly when opened, alerting the spire’s occupants.
Carved into the column is a seven-story prison composed of windowless torture chambers connected to one another by rough-hewn stairways. Worshipers of Loviatar used this tower to imprison and torture slaves. The walls throughout are lined with manacles; rusted shackles lie strewn amid torture racks, spiked cages, and other contraptions that have fallen into disrepair.
10. Kuo-toa Lair
East of the island fortress, an old dock protrudes from the mouth of a damp cave like a wooden tongue.
10a. Old Dock
The dock creaks and groans but is safe to stand on.
10b. Kuo-toa Cave
A hungry kuo-toa named Hlool crouches in the middle of this cave. If the characters give it food, Hlool eats the food, then dives to the bottom of the River Sargauth, returns minutes later with a bundled-up
Exploring the Town
All location descriptions for the town of Skullport are keyed to maps 25 and 26. The town’s key features are summarized below:
- Everything has a deteriorated, haphazard look to it. Tightly packed buildings of wood and stone are piled atop one another, creating three levels: a lower level (often called the street level), a middle level, and an upper level.
- Unnamed thoroughfares wind through the town at street level. Above this labyrinth run mazes of catwalks made from the wood of old shipwrecks. Old rigging is used to suspend the creaky catwalks.
- The 90-foot-high cavern ceiling is covered with a forest of stalactites.
- Most of the lanterns that once illuminated Skullport are gone, turned to rust or stolen by thieves long ago. Denizens carry their own light sources or rely on
darkvision to see. Flameskulls are often mistaken from a distance for bobbing torches as they drift through town.
The town has no general store, and some merchandise that is abundant in Waterdeep simply isn’t available here. Prices in Skullport are five times higher than normal. If an NPC is mentioned by name with no pointer to a stat block, assume the NPC is a commoner.
11. Old Markets
These open-air spaces are dreary and forlorn.
11a. Old Fish Market
Closed shops and warehouses enclose an abandoned market dotted with empty fish stands.
11b. Old Slave Market
The shops that surround this abandoned slave market appear vacant. Further investigation reveals that one shop (area 12) is open for business.
12. Dead Man’s Corner
A sea hag named Olive Stillwater sells human zombies out of this dilapidated shop. She appears as an old woman covered with snails and barnacles.
Olive keeps a dozen human Zombie in her cramped shop. “They’re great for setting off traps!” she says with a chuckle. As payment for each zombie, she demands a tiny vial of the buyer’s blood and three hairs plucked from the buyer’s head. She owns a pair of rusty iron shears that can be used to draw blood and cut hair. After consuming this payment, Olive gains the innate ability to cast the
Each zombie wears a rope noose around its neck. A character who buys a zombie must lead it around by the noose; otherwise, the zombie stands still and does nothing.
13. Thimblewine’s Pawnshop
A cheery rock gnome named Krystaleen runs this shop. She is the niece of the pawnshop’s previous owner, Thimblewine, who died of old age a few years ago.
Krystaleen buys reusable goods from visitors at normal cost (as listed in the Player’s Handbook). If the characters are looking to buy a nonmagical item, there is a 10 percent chance that Krystaleen has such an item in stock. All merchandise is sold at five times the normal cost.
14. Heralds' Meet
This town square is littered with trash. Nearly all the buildings that surround it are abandoned.
15. The Black Tankard
The proprietor of this squalid, one-story tavern is a fat, dour duergar named Droon Stonedark, who works for Xanathar. Two Minotaur stand in dark corners, ready to give unruly patrons the heave-ho. A spectator floats amid the rafters and provides additional security.
Droon sells Wyrmwizz, an alcoholic swill, for 2 sp per mug. No food and no other drinks are available.
16. Gyudd’s Distillery
This dwarven distillery is a three-story stone building with a sagging roof. Gyudd, the shield dwarf distiller, makes Amberjack (a sherry), bitter Goat’s Head Ale, and a muddy alcoholic swill called Wyrmwizz. The cost of a 5-gallon cask is 20 gp for Amberjack, 10 gp for Goat’s Head Ale, and 5 gp for Wyrmwizz.
17. Skull Square
Empty buildings surround this square, which is festooned with iron gibbets dangling from wooden masts.
18. The Sea Chest
This shop used to sell chests, strongboxes, and other containers, but the place is closed up. Its proprietor, a shield dwarf named Tor Grayfell, had his brain eaten by a mind flayer believed to still be at large in Skullport.
19. The Flagon and the Dragon
This wood and stone tavern is a step up from the Black Tankard (area area 15). Tending bar is the proprietor, a female half-drow named Cal’al Claddani. She always introduces herself by asking, “What’s your poison?”
Cal’al took over the tavern after its previous owners fled. She sells two local beverages: a sherry called Amberjack (8 sp per glass) and Goat’s Head Ale (4 sp per flagon). She also keeps a few rare spirits behind the bar.
If the characters drop a few coins here, Cal’al is happy to furnish them with information about Skullport’s other inhabitants and establishments. Cal’al also fancies herself a gatherer of secrets and might share one or two with characters she trusts (see appendix C).
20. Dark Harvest Market
Food harvested from the Underdark is sold here by
21. The Sword and Sextant
A pair of strongheart halflings named Oleander and Will buy and sell maps out of this modest shop. They are eager to procure accurate maps of Undermountain.
22. The Guts & Garters
A sullen, soft-spoken tiefling named Quietude runs Skullport’s last remaining inn and spies on guests for Xanathar. The inn is a run-down structure with windows so shrouded in grime as to be almost opaque. Quietude rents bedrooms for 5 gp per day.
The inn’s cellar contains a secret door that requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (
23. The Feathered Rat
Ulvira Snowveins, a venerable half-elf and Harper spy, runs this single-story pet store. Ulvira’s merchandise and prices are as follows: bat (5 cp), cat (5 sp), frog or toad (5 cp), giant fire beetle (25 gp), giant rat (10 sp), lizard (5 cp), rat (5 cp), spider (5 cp), and stirge (10 sp).
24. Thaglar’s Foundry
Skullport’s ugly stone foundry stands four stories tall. Inside, duergar smiths under the command of a brutal duergar taskmaster named Thaglar Xundorn fashion weapons, armor, and tools.
25. The Bat’s Roost
This building, once a seedy tavern, is now a fighting den where visitors can settle their differences through fisticuffs while spectators place bets on the outcome.
26. The Keel Hall
This two-story festhall shut down after the Spellplague and never reopened its doors. The Zhentarim now use it as a hideout.
Bosskyn Gorrb, a blind tiefling spy, leads the Zhentarim in Skullport and uses flying snakes to deliver messages to his underlings. If one or more characters are members of the Zhentarim and can prove it, Bosskyn offers to help them in one or both of the following ways:
- He allows the party to use the festhall as a sanctuary and a resting place for as long as they need it.
- He uses one of his flying snakes to deliver a message to anyone in Waterdeep on the party’s behalf.
27. The Poisoned Quill
There’s not much need for an expert forger in Skullport these days, but that doesn’t concern the owner of the
“Tas” is an elderly archmage. Her secret is that she and Halaster are friends. The Mad Mage visits her about once a month for tea, and she catches him up on the latest news and gossip. When they are together, Halaster and Tasselgryn act like an old married couple.
If the characters come seeking an escape from Skullport, Tasselgryn offers to cast the
Halaster has placed enchantments on Tasselgryn’s shop that enable her (and her alone) to cast
28. Twinbeard’s Traps
This single-story building contains the workshop of Xanathar’s shield dwarf trapsmith and engineer, Thorvin Twinbeard. He’s rarely here, however, since Xanathar keeps him busy. (For more information on Thorvin, see Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.)
29. Sargauth’s Bounty
Darum and Duram Ghaz, a pair of shield dwarf brothers, sell junk salvaged from the River Sargauth. There is a 50 percent chance that the shop is closed and the brothers are away on a salvage mission.
30. The Lanternlighter’s
Anderian Dusk, an old half-elf with a long white beard, sells lanterns. The light in Anderian’s eyes has gone out, as time has slowly crushed his hopes or dreams. Around his neck he wears a hag eye pendant given to him by the sea hags of the Sargauth River (see area area 10c on level 3). The hags pay him to wear it so they can spy on folk passing through Skullport.
If the characters need oil for their lanterns, Anderian directs them to the Overflowing Urn (area area 33).
31. Dalagor’s Fortress
Dalagor was an evil warrior who surrounded himself with necromancers and undead. He and his minions were destroyed or driven out during the Spellplague, leaving behind a bleak, three-story stone mansion that the Harpers have seized and turned into a hideout.
Felrax, a dragonborn mage with copper-colored scales, watches over the mansion. A
- He allows the party to use the mansion as a sanctuary and a resting place for as long as they need it.
- If the characters need to leave Skullport in a hurry, he tells them that Tasselgryn Velldarn (area area 27) has access to a teleportation circle and charges 50 gp per person for its use.
32. Dumathoin’s Jest
Ygarra Urmbaalt, a duergar, appraises gemstones for a flat fee of 20 percent of a gem’s value. Her establishment is a one-story, ugly stone building.
33. The Overflowing Urn
This store rests atop another structure that is crumbling with age. As a result, the building tilts slightly to the east. Inside, a man calling himself Garryth sells flasks of oil for 5 sp each and casks of pitch for 2 gp each.
Five years ago, a doppelganger killed Garryth and assumed his identity after disposing of the body. The doppelganger is content running the business and has no qualms about paying money to Xanathar for protection.
34. Nightshade’s Caress
Displayed in the window of this shop are various herbs, elixirs, vials of poison, and baskets of medicinal fungi. The store is cluttered with more such goods, all labeled and clearly priced. The apothecary, Nightshade, is an undead creature (use the mummy statistics) that looks like a withered crone dressed in a tattered black robe.
35. The Worm’s Gullet
The only restaurant in town is located inside a
Gharz makes meals out of whatever his Kobold can find, and patrons are expected to eat whatever Gharz serves them. Common meals include stirge loaf, carrion crawler soufflé, flumph stew, and hot shrieker pie. The house ale is Wyrmwizz, straight from the local distillery (area area 16). A meal with a drink costs 5 sp per person.
36. Tanor’thal Refuge
Carved by the drow of House Tanor’thal, this stronghold resembles an upside-down spider that looms above the rest of Skullport like a great, dark god. The spider’s hollowed-out head, thorax, and abdomen contain windowless living quarters filled with thick webs and a host of Giant Spider. Other denizens of Skullport avoid this place, making it an excellent refuge once the spiders are cleared out. The drow left nothing of value behind when they vacated their refuge.