Xanathar's Lair
A Dungeon for 5th Level Characters
Overview
Xanathar's lair is an ancient dungeon complex originally built by Netherese wizards and expanded by beholders over time. It connects to the subterranean town of Skullport by way of a long tunnel (area X4). A secret staircase (area X1) gives access to Waterdeep's sewers. The lair has the following features, with exceptions noted:- Unless noted otherwise, rooms are 20 feet high and hallways are 15 feet high.
- Rooms and corridors are brightly lit by continual flame spells cast on torch brackets.
- Most doors are single, circular slabs of stone, 8 feet in diameter and 6 inches thick, with stone hinges on one side. Double doors are 16-foot-wide, 8-foot-high semicircles that split open down the middle. Doorknobs are set into stone fixtures shaped like Xanathar's symbol (Xanathar can open or close an unlocked door using its Telekinetic Ray, or obliterate a locked one with his Disintegration Ray).
Xanathar
Xanathar is the name given to the beholder crime lord that lives in the dungeons under Waterdeep. He isn't the first beholder to claim this mantle, nor will he be the last. Like all beholders, Xanathar is a paranoid tyrant that charms and bullies its minions into servitude. The Xanathar Guild is made up of some of Waterdeep's most disreputable folk, as well as monsters forced into subservience or drawn to the beholder by the promise of treasure, food, or power. Treachery within the ranks of the guild is common as servants vie for the beholder's favor and affection. Such boons are fleeting, though, as the beholder is quick to distrust those who finagle their way into his good graces. Xanathar lives in a dungeon under Skullport, a subterranean settlement connected to Undermountain's third level. The place resembles a ramshackle town, built inside a giant cavern connected to an underground river. Members of the Xanathar Guild haunt Skullport's dilapidated buildings, and flameskulls patrol its streets. The only creature Xanathar truly cares about aside from itself is a fish, named Sylgar, that it keeps in a large glass tank. Xanathar has minions that look after the fish constantly, but even they can't keep such a creature alive forever. Whenever the fish dies, panic spreads through the occupants of the lair as minions try to replace the fish before Xanathar realizes what has happened. Luckily for them, the beholder can't tell one fish from another. The beholder is caught up in the unbreakable grip of its own paranoia. It sees enemies everywhere and lashes out at anyone it suspects of being a Zhentarim spy or assassin. Adventurers who attract his attention by dealing with known or suspected Black Network operatives are quickly branded as enemies that must be destroyed. Xanathar is a beholder that wears magic rings on three of its eyestalks. It is attuned to all three rings. It wears a ring of invisibility on its fear ray eyestalk, a ring of mind shielding on its sleep ray eyestalk, and a ring of force resistance on its slowing ray eyestalk.Areas of the Lair
X1. Staircase of Eyes
This is the most common way to enter Xanathar's lair: a spiral staircase accessible from the Castle Ward's sewers and hidden behind a secret door. This staircase circumvents a more difficult route through Undermountain and Skullport. The walls of this narrow, spiraling staircase are carved with opened eyes that glow with a faint, magical light. Anyone who enters feels as though they're being watched as they descend the stairs, and the feeling doesn't go away once they enter the beholder's lair. The dimly lit staircase descends for hundreds of feet, ending before a circular stone door that swings open into area X2.X2. Watched Halls
The walls are carved with eyes of all shapes and sizes. Many of the orbs have stone eyelids that open and close at irregular intervals. The blinking eye carvings are slightly unnerving but harmless. Anyone who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check notices a ghostly eyestalk (scrying sensor) protruding from the ceiling directly in front of the double door to the south. The ghostly eyestalk is a magical sensor that allows one of the wizards in area X16 to monitor this hall. The eyestalk functions as an extra eye with darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Anyone can ascertain the eyestalk's function with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check but can't determine who's peering through it, or from where. The eyestalk can't be damaged but is destroyed by a dispel magic spell. The sensor is suppressed within the area of an antimagic field. A secret door is hidden in the west wall. The secret door can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. To open it, one must press a nearby wall carving shaped like an eye. When this is done, the secret door swings inward, revealing a curved hallway (area X8) beyond.X3. Beholder Zombie Guard
A beholder zombie guards this magically lit room. Surrounding it are four gas spores, which look like immature beholders at first glance. All five creatures float in the middle of the room. The beholder zombie is all that remains of a beholder that arose from the Underdark to challenge Xanathar's supremacy. After defeating its rival, Xanathar had the corpse animated and transformed into a lair guardian. The gas spores were added later. The beholder zombie allows creatures that brandish the symbol of Xanathar to pass unmolested. Otherwise, it attacks. The gas spores don't attack but explode if they take any damage. The beholder zombie is immune to their Death Burst trait.X4. Tunnel to Skullport
This magically lit tunnel extends 300 feet eastward. It ends at a staircase that climbs 20 feet to the Guts & Garters Inn, an establishment located in the subterranean town of Skullport, which is under Xanathar's control.X5. Horror's Alcove
A suit of animated armor with Xanathar's symbol embossed on its chest stands in this alcove, appearing at a glance to be an ornate but inanimate suit of armor on display. It remains inert until it takes damage or is summoned to area X6 by Xanathar (the beholder uses it to keep the spectators in the arena from getting too rowdy).X6. Pit of Blood and Fortune
Xanathar has turned this room into a gladiatorial arena. It also uses this location to dispose of underlings it no longer trusts in a manner that it considers entertaining. A magically lit, circular chamber has a thin layer of blood-soaked sand covering the floor and stone buttresses supporting its 40-foot-high domed ceiling. Ten-foot-high stone bleachers hug the northwest half of the room. Staircases lead from the bleachers to other areas of the lair, and a tunnel under the bleachers leads west to the monster cell block (area X7). A semicircular recess in the southeast wall has steps leading up to it. Its floor is 5 feet higher than the arena floor, and the alcove is decorated with bouquets of Underdark fungi in stone vases and purple tapestries that bear Xanathar's symbol. Jutting from the curved roof of the alcove is a spectral eyestalk (scrying sensor). The spectral eyestalk is a magical sensor, which allows a wizard in area X16 to monitor this room. See area X2 for more information. A secret door is hidden in the south wall. The secret door in the south wall can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It pushes open to reveal area X33 beyond. If Xanathar is present, it hovers in the southeast alcove and uses his ring of invisibility to remain unseen. Two dwarves are usually in this room: Xanathar's steward, Ahmaergo, who presides over fight tournaments, and Xanathar's chief enforcer, Noska Ur'gray (NE male shield dwarf thug), who releases arena combatants from area X7. Ten human bandits and five bugbears (all members of the Xanathar Guild) usually guzzle Circe's Pleasure ale and heckle combatants from the bleachers, while two goblins serve up salted rat intestines and stirge meat pies.X7. Cell Block
This area contains four cells separated by bars. The rectangular iron doors have locks built into them, and Noska Ur'gray carries the keys. Picking a lock requires a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check. Breaking down a cell door requires a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check. Cell A holds a male half-ogre named Groz, a minotaur named Umpok, and a female orog named Charwor. Cell B holds some kidnapped Waterdavians, including Xia Shung (NG female Shou human bard), Claudio Benzreck (LN male Tethyrian human noble), and Arthright Grayfalcon (CN male llluskan swashbuckler). Cell C holds a female drow named Raelyn Auvryndar, recently separated from her companion and subordinate, Zaibon Kyszalt (see area X24). Cell D holds Samara Strongbones (CE female lightfoot halfling spy), a Zhentarim spy.X8. Hall of Statues
This 20-foot-wide, magically lit hallway connects various areas controlled by the Xanathar Guild. Lifelike humanoid statues dot the hall. The statues are the petrified remains of intruders and Xanathar Guild members that were turned to stone by Xanathar. There are a dozen statues in all: four human commoners, three goblins, two drow, a dwarf commoner, a halfling commoner, and a tiefling commoner. A deep gnome in clownish garb is usually dancing and cartwheeling up and down the hall, between the statues. This garishly dressed deep gnome, Flutterfoot Zipswiggle, serves Xanathar as a jester. He carries a packet containing dust of disappearance. Unknown to Flutterfoot, the beholder has tired of the gnome and plans to turn him to stone soon. Flutcerfoot knows the features and layout of Xanathar's lair, as well as the beholder's current whereabouts and the locations of secret doors, except the ones leading to area X36. He gleefully offers to serve as a guide, even to intruders, if they correctly answer the following riddle: "I come with a smile, in slaughter, I rest, I can be contagious, but my medicine is best. What am I?" The answer to Flutterfoot's riddle is "laughter." If intruders give the wrong answer, the deep gnome sprinkles himself with dust of disappearance, turns invisible, and flees. The secret door to area X2 is clearly visible from this side. It is opened by turning a stone knob on the adjacent wall.X9. Guild Barracks
The walls are covered with lewd graffiti written in Common, Dwarvish, Goblin, and Undercommon. In the front of the room is a ramshackle wooden table surrounded by empty barrels that serve as stools. Drained tankards are strewn across the tabletop and the floor. A dozen moldy bunk beds are arranged in two rows at the back of the room. When they're not watching a tournament in the arena (area X6) or listening to Xanathar give a speech in the audience chamber (area X18), ten human bandits, members of the Xanathar Guild, sleep here. While here, they're usually so drunk that they awaken only if they take damage. Also, they are poisoned while they remain intoxicated.X10. Noska's Quarters
Xanathar's enforcer, Noska U'gray (NE male shield dwarf thug), resides in this magically lit room when he's not in the arena (area X6). A marble bathtub with clawed feet rests in the middle of the room, next to a large wooden cage containing a rust monster. A simple latch holds the cage door shut. The rust monster can't harm anyone while trapped inside. Along the walls are piles of broken and rusted helmets, shields, and weapons. Hidden under a pile of rusty weapons is a wooden chest containing Noska's personal hoard: 37 dragons, 151 shards, 360 nibs, and four bloodstones. Hanging from hooks on the back wall are three mannequins made of straw and canvas, with a multitude of crossbow bolts sticking in them. Noska keeps the rust monster as a pet and feeds it items from the piles of discarded helms, shields, and armaments. He uses the mannequins for target practice. The bathtub, which he has converted into a bed, is padded with straw and mangy furs.X11. Ahmaergo's Collection
Xanathar's steward fetishizes minotaurs and has decorated this magically lit room accordingly. A stuffed, glowering minotaur stands at the north end of the room. A large greataxe rests on a wooden rack in front of it. When someone other than Ahmaergo opens the southern door, the skeleton of the stuffed minotaur erupts out of its skin, becoming an animated minotaur skeleton, and arms itself with the greataxe. It attacks all intruders, pursuing any who flee into area X8 or X12. The minotaur skeleton obeys Ahmaergo's commands. In the middle of the room is a 10-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, 3-foot-high rectangular slab of stone with a hand-carved, miniature model of a stone maze atop it. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of conjuration magic around the model maze. A creature that touches the maze becomes the target of a maze spell (save DC 15). Once the effect triggers, it can't do so again until the next dawn.X12. Ahmaergo's Quarters
The magical lights in this room have been dispelled, rendering the chamber dark. The room has been converted into a maze, its walls made of stacked crates nailed together with boards. The walls rise to meet the 20-foot-high ceiling. Humanoid bones litter the floor (Ahmaergo gathered the bones from Undermountain and put them here as grisly decorations). The maze fills the entire room but for a 10-foot-square area in the southwest corner, where Ahmaergo keeps a wooden chest and a bed made from the skulls, bones, hide, and fur of minotaurs. Getting through the maze takes time but isn't difficult, except that Ahmaergo has rigged a tripwire halfway through. Anyone who is searching for traps spots the tripwire with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check. Once spotted, it can easily be avoided or disarmed. If the trap is triggered, the walls of the maze come crashing down. Every creature in the collapsing maze is hit by debris and must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 bludgeoning damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one. Ahmaergo's chest contains 121 dragons in a sack made of stitched flesh, a carved malachite figurine of a minotaur (worth 250 dragons), and a potion of healing.X13. Thorvin's Workshop
Thorvin Twinbeard (LN male shield dwarf commoner), Xanathar's engineer, is building a large contraption in the middle of the room. When it is finished, Thorvin's contraption will enable Xanathar to pulverize creatures that it petrifies, turning them into a fine powder that can be used to make plaster. The pulverizer consists mainly of a tall stone bin with grinding gears at the bottom, and a chute where the powdered stone pours out. The pulverizer is a pet project of Thorvin's that allows him to hang around Xanathar's lair and gather information, which he sells to the Harpers (Thorvin puts the coin he earns from the faction in a bank, far from the beholder's prying eyes). Tools cover stone tables throughout the room (there are enough tools here to assemble two sets of mason's tools, one set of smith's tools, and two sets of ). Other furnishings include a cot and a stack of wooden barrels filled with Circe's Pleasure ale.X14. Secret Hallway
This magically lit hall is concealed behind secret doors. It circumvents the audience chamber (area X18) and gently slopes down toward the east. Finding either secret door requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.X15. Stairs to the Maze
Anyone at the top of these magically lit stairs can hear loud music and raucous laughter boiling up from below. The staircase descends 20 feet to area X28.X16. Panopticus Guard Station
Five bald shield dwarves, their heads covered with purple eye tattoos, sit around the edge of a glowing circle on the floor. Their eyes are scrunched shut, but they are aware of their surroundings. The five tattooed dwarves are apprentice mages and operate Xanathar's magical surveillance system. They fight only in self-defense. Nihiloor the mind flayer has psychically and surgically altered the dwarves so that they sleep with one eye open and half their brains asleep at any time. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of divination magic around the circle, which the dwarves use to scry on various other locations within the dungeon: the entrance hall (area X2). the arena (area X6), the antechamber of madness (area X23), the recreation hall (area X28), and the downstairs hall (area X32). The scrying circle functions for no one else. It is suppressed within an antimagic field and can also be dispelled (DC 17). When the circle ceases to exist, the ghostly eyestalk sensors in the above-mentioned locations disappear as well. Protruding from the ceiling, directly above the circle, is a large, flaring bronze "bell'' similar in shape to the mouth of a tuba. The bronze bell is connected to a tube that runs through the stone and into the nearby audience chamber (area X18). The bell amplifies sounds underneath it and transmits those sounds to the audience chamber. The dwarves communicate what they see via the bronze bell. Set into the back of a recessed wall is a secret door that leads to area X17. The secret door can be spotted with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. A pedal hidden in the floor, when stepped on, causes the door to swing inward.X17. Promenade
Pillars carved with eyes follow the curvature of the hall, and these eyes seem to track creatures as they pass by. This isn't a magical effect but an optical illusion. If he's not with Xanathar in the arena (area X6), Ahmaergo is usually here conducting a routine inspection of the dungeon. Anyone can hear the dwarf's echoing footfalls as he approaches their location. If he sees intruders and is outnumbered, Ahmaergo retreats to area X22 heads downstairs to gather reinforcements from area X28, and leads a search party to capture the interlopers. If he sees only one intruder, he draws his axe and attacks. The northernmost end of this hallway displays a painting of a leafless tree that has lidless eyes embedded in its branches. Pressing a specific eye causes a door-shaped section of the wall to swing open into area X16. Anyone can find the secret door and the switch with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.X18. Audience Chamber
Xanathar greets visitors and makes speeches to its minions in this 40-foot-high domed chamber. Anyone who was seen by the scrying sensors anywhere in the dungeon complex can't surprise the creatures here. The circular floor is tiled in black marble and bears a gold mosaic of Xanathar's symbol. Jutting from the ceiling is a bronze, bell-shaped protuberance (this fixture is the other end of the sound amplifier described in area X16). While in this room, Xanathar uses his ring of invisibility to remain unseen and can use a bonus action to activate or deactivate a display of magical lights, each one the size of a human eyeball. The lights fill a 10-foot cube in the middle of the room, and the beholder can throw his voice so that it seems to emanate from the same area. Anyone who succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check can tell that the display isn't the source of the voice. If the beholder is here, he's using the light display to deliver an incoherent, self-aggrandizing speech to a group of sycophantic underlings consisting of ten human bandits and two duergar who have never seen Xanathar's true form. These minions clutch tankards of Circe's Pleasure ale and toast Xanathar whenever the beholder commends himself. Xanathar's treacherous drow mage advisor, Nar'l Xibrindas, stands in front of the open door to area X19, clapping weakly at the speech. Floating next to Nar'l is his grell bodyguard. If Xanathar is elsewhere, this room contains only Nar'l and the grell. Nar'l tries to lure intruders into a showdown with the beholder. If he is wounded. he flees through the trapdoor in the floor and retreats to area X35 while the grell covers his escape. A hidden trapdoor in the floor can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It can be lifted with a successful DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check, revealing a wooden ladder that leads down to area X29.X19. Xanathar's Sanctum
Luminous violet particles drift through the air like mist. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check reveals that these are Underdark spores. The purple spores are infused with faerzress, a magical radiation found in the Underdark. A creature that ends its turn in the room must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or suffer a random form of short-term madness. A creature doesn't need to inhale the spores to be affected by them. Once the madness ends, the creature becomes immune to the spores in this room. A 20-foot-diameter fishbowl dominates the room. Filled with water. it also contains a small coral reef. A miniature shipwreck. and a sunken treasure chest. A smaller fishbowl, 3 feet in diameter, rests on a pedestal next to the larger bowl. A dwarf wearing a skullcap adorned with eyestalks usually feeds a trout that swims in circles in this smaller bowl. If Xanathar is here, he's invisible and speaking affectionately to the fish while the dwarf, Ott Steeltoes, feeds it. Ott Steeltoes (CE male shield dwarf cultist) is Xanathar's fish keeper. If he sees intruders and the beholder isn't present, Ott draws his dagger and stammers, "You shouldn't be here! Stay back, or I'll call the boss!" Ott can't telepathically communicate with Xanathar, but he thinks he can. He closes his eyes and frantically asks for Xanathar to return to its sanctum and disintegrate the intruders. Xanathar's pet fish, Sylgar, is the only creature that the beholder loves as much as itself. ln fact, there have been many Sylgars over the years, but Ott is skilled at acquiring a replacement before Xanathar realizes its beloved pet has died. Sylgar's large fishbowl weighs about 6,000 pounds, and the treasure chest at the bottom is real. The small fishbowl weighs 60 pounds and is used primarily for feedings. Xanathar uses its telekinesis ray to transfer Sylgar from one fishbowl to another. The treasure chest is unlocked and contains thirty corals, as well as the battleaxe Azuredge, which Xanathar recently obtained from an adventurer member he killed, Meloon Wardragon.X20. Dream Nullifier
A 6-foot-diameter bowl made of crystal pulsates with multicolored light as it floats 10 feet off the floor. Xanathar hired a wizard to construct a device that would prevent him from accidentally dreaming another beholder into existence. The bowl-shaped "dream nullifier" magically wakes Xanathar when it starts to dream about other beholders. If the bowl is engulfed by an antimagic field or targeted by a dispel magic spell or similar effect, it crashes to the floor and shatters into a million pieces. A mangy straw pallet lies on the floor under the bowl (the fish keeper, Ott Steeltoes, uses the pallet as a bed).X21. Beholder Escape Route
Set into the floor at the north end of a tunnel that gently slopes down to area X19 is a circular stone plug that opens in the ceiling of the hallway below. Xanathar can lift the plug with its telekinesis ray, creating an opening just large enough for it to float through. Anyone else can lift the stone plug with a successful DC 19 Strength (Athletics) check.X22. Arrival Point
Some of Xanathar's hideouts contain one-way portals that lead to this point between the columns of rock. A curling staircase in the southwest corner descends 20 feet to area X32.X23. Antechamber of Madness
A kuo-toa whip and six kuo-toa guard the hall. They gather in front of an iron portcullis in the southeast corner and tear bits of flesh off the bones of a recently slain dwarf. These insane creatures are under the control of the mind flayer in area X24 and obey its telepathic commands to the best of their ability. When they detect intruders, they cry out, "Ooop! Ooop!" to alert their illithid master, then charge into battle. The portcullis between this area and area X24 can be raised with a successful DC 22 Strength (Athletics) check, or with a knock spell or similar magic. The lever to raise the portcullis is in area X24. A ghostly eyestalk protrudes from the ceiling in the middle of the hall. The ghostly eyestalk is a magical sensor that allows one of the wizards in area X16 to monitor this room. See area X2 for more information. The floor is littered with bones and covered with a thin layer of sticky, translucent slime. The slime-covered floor is difficult terrain for all creatures except kuo-toa, other creatures that have the Slippery trait, and creatures that fly.X24. Extraction Chamber
A portcullis separates this room from area X23, and the lever to raise and lower it is set into the north wall. In the middle of the room, a blood-spattered chair made of carved stone stands atop a 10-foot-square, 1-foot-high stone slab. Iron manacles are bolted to the chair's armrests. Trapped in the chair is a stunned and weaponless male drow in a chain shirt. The drow, Zaibon Kyszalt, was captured in Skullport and brought here for interrogation. His superior, Raelyn Auvryndar, was also captured and is confined in area X7. Zaibon wants to free her and escape into Undermountain. Nihiloor has a key that unlocks the chair's shackles. Anyone can unlock each shackle with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check, and a creature shackled to the chair can slip free of these bonds with a successful DC 25 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The mind flayer has telepathically interrogated Zaibon and learned about a House Auvryndar plot to conquer Skullport, as well as mounting tensions between the drow houses or Auvryndar and Freth. The mind flayer is getting ready to implant an intellect devourer in Zaibon's skull, then use him to undermine the drow plot and foment war between the drow houses (were Zaibon less useful, the mind flayer would have extracted his brain and turned it into an intellect devourer instead). Zaibon knows nothing of the fate that awaits him. If Zaibon is freed, Nihiloor will interrupt intruders, entering from area X26 with an intellect devourer in its hands. Zaibon will try to get as far away from the mind flayer and its "pet" as he can. Nihiloor doesn't pursue anyone who flees, trusting that they won't get far.X25. Food for Thought
The room reeks of death and carnage. Three wooden tables are arranged corner to corner, forming a triangle, in the middle of the room. The floor around them is stained with blood. Atop two of the tables, held down with leather straps, are two humans dressed like homeless men. One looks dead, and the other gibbers like a madman. The third table is bare except for an area of sticky blood at one end. The Xanathar Guild captures homeless Waterdavians and brings them here for Nihiloor to feed on. After devouring their brains, the mind flayer gives their corpses to his kuo-toa thralls to eat. The two men, a locksmith named Skarn Zarphoul (CG male Damaran human commoner) and a broadcrier named Holvan Ebberek (NG male Tethyrian human commoner), recently heard a dwarf getting his brain sucked out. Skarn is stunned and catatonic from the shock of it, and Holvan is a gibbering lunatic. A greater restoration spell or similar magic restores either man's sanity. The men were hooded and brought here separately, so they know nothing of the dungeon's layout or occupants (other than the mind flayer). If their sanity is restored, they are eager to return to their families in Waterdeep.X26. Devourer Spawning Pool
In the middle of the area is a 10-foot-diameter, 2-foot-deep circular pool containing luminous green brine. Swimming in the brine are four intellect devourers. Nihiloor the mind flayer is usually here standing in the pool with the intellect devourers. Rusty manacles are bolted to the walls (hosts for the intellect devourers are chained in these locations). The brine is a magical substance that radiates an aura of transmutation magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell. Nihiloor uses it to transform humanoid brains into intellect devourers. The process is far from perfect. A full 90 percent of the brains left in the brine rot and die, while the remaining 10 percent transform after marinating for 1d4 + 1 days. Nihiloor and the intellect devourers make their stand against intruders here. If intruders flee, the mind flayer sends the intellect devourers after them and stays behind.X27. Prison
Nihiloor the mind flayer uses this prison to confine potential hosts for his brood of intellect devourers. Captured intruders might find themselves incarcerated here until they can be made into hosts. Eight locked iron doors lead to cells, some of which have bars separating them. Three kuo-toa whips stand guard here and attack any creature other than Nihiloor that enters, including other kuo-toa. One of the whips carries the keys to the cell doors on a ring. Anyone outside a cell can pick its lock with a successful DC 20 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check. Each cell contains a reeking chamber pot and no other furnishings. Imprisoned in the westernmost cell along the north wall is Hyustus Staget (LG male Illuskan human veteran), a captain of the City Watch. He was kidnapped while off duty and is without his armor and weapons. A 1-foot-tall figurine of an otherworldly creature rests atop a slime-covered alabaster pedestal against the east wall, between two cell doors. The figurine on the pedestal is crudely fashioned out of clay. It has the head of a hammerhead shark, the upper torso of a bare-chested male, dragon wings sprouting from its shoulders, and octopus tentacles where its legs should be. The kuo-toa modeled it after an imaginary god they call Garshoogah.X28. Guild Recreation Hall
Deafeningly loud music and chatter fill this magically lit room, which is decorated like a tavern. If he's not with Xanathar in the arena (area X6), Noska Ur'gray (NE male shield dwarf thug) is here. drinking. Ten human bandits (members of the Xanathar Guild) sit around two large tables, drinking Circe's Pleasure ale, smoking pipes, clapping their hands, and stomping their feet while two goblins wearing chamber pots on their heads dance and sing atop a third table. These villains are celebrating the capture of an off-duty City Watch captain (see area X27). Anyone who eavesdrops on the chatter hears one guild member say, "we caught ourselves a Watch captain! Ahmaergo says the boss is happier than a pink flumph, whatever that is. Today, free ale! Tomorrow, gold and glory!" This proclamation is followed by loud cheers. The goblins, Luiz and Vellix, are servers who have allowed themselves to get swept up in the celebration. If a fight breaks out, they hide under a table and throw themselves at the mercy of attackers if they emerge victorious. A wooden rack along the east wall holds five large ale barrels with spigots punched into them, filled with Circe's Pleasure ale. Protruding from the ceiling above the barrels is a ghostly eyestalk (scrying sensor). The ghostly eyestalk is a magical sensor that allows one of the wizards in area X16 to monitor this room. See area X2 for more information.X29. Trapdoor
At the top of a staircase is a landing with a ladder leading up to a stone trapdoor that requires a successful DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check to be lifted. The trapdoor opens into area X18 above.X30. Xanathar's Gourmet Kitchen
A delightful aroma wafts down the hall from this kitchen, blending the scents of rare spices, savory meats, and fresh herbs. When it comes to meals. Xanathar prefers the finest Sword Coast cuisine, including a healthy diet of mushrooms, as opposed to uncooked meat. All the meals prepared here are for the consumption of Xanathar alone. Seven kobolds wearing white chef hats almost always dash between stout tables here, frantically preparing meals for Xanathar and arranging the food on silver platters. The kobolds pay no attention to intruders and flee by the easiest route if attacked. Two iron stoves stand against the east wall, with a slender spice rack nestled between them. The rack contains bottles of spices, including 10 pounds of salt worth 5 shards, 8 pounds of ginger worth 8 dragons, 4 pounds of cinnamon worth 8 dragons, 4 pounds of pepper worth 8 dragons, 2 pounds of cloves worth 6 dragons, and 2 pounds of saffron worth 30 dragons.X31. The Other Kitchen
Black smoke follows the stench of burned meat and bread down the hallway. An iron stove stands against the south wall, and cooking utensils hang from hooks. A haggard male halfling is usually here, frantically trying to cook meat, knead dough, simmer sauce, and mix spices all at once. Bepis Honeymaker (LG male strongheart halfling commoner) is a honey merchant who was kidnapped from his Trades Ward home a month ago. The Xanathar Guild tried to ransom him back, but seemingly his relatives either couldn't pay or decided not to (in truth, his rotten in-laws destroyed the ransom notes and told Bepis's wife and children that he ran away with another family). Ahmaergo has put him to work as a cook but threatens to give him over to the mind flayer Nihiloor every so often.X32. Stairs and Scrying Sensor
A staircase curls up to area X22, and a ghostly eyestalk sprouts from the hallway ceiling. The eyestalk is a magical sensor that allows one of the wizards in area X16 to monitor this corridor (see area X2 for more information).X33. Crypt of Xanathars Past
Suspended in floor-to-ceiling crystal cylinders are four dead beholders preserved in embalming fluid. Magical lights illuminate the cylinders from within. Each crystal cylinder has AC 10, 15 hit points, resistance to slashing and piercing damage, and vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. If a cylinder is shattered, the fluid within it washes across the floor as the dead beholder lands with a wet plop and expels 1d4 baby gas spores that grow to full size in 7 days. Nine shallow alcoves have murals of beholders painted on their walls. Standing in each alcove is a beholder-shaped copper urn atop a green marble pedestal. The lid of each urn is molded with ten eyestalks (at the back of the westernmost alcove in the north wall is a secret door). The copper urns contain the dust of disintegrated beholders. If the dust from an urn is poured out, it coalesces into the vague shape of a floating beholder for a few seconds, makes a growling noise, then loses cohesion and falls to the floor. The secret door can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It pulls open to reveal area X6 beyond. The western wall is carved to display a scowling beholder flanked by two hooded wizards. Beneath each wizard's cowl, one glaring eye is visible. Anyone who studies the carvings on the west wall and succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check notices that each wizard's eye is a button that can be pushed. If someone pushes either button, or uses an object or spell to do so, the beholder carving on the wall discharges a green ray that can be dodged with a successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. If the ray hits, the victim appears to be disintegrated but is actually teleported to area X34a or X34b, depending on which button was pushed. Once a button is pushed, it locks in place for 1 hour and can't be pushed again until that time elapses. Someone can forcibly reset a button by making a successful DC 20 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check. Xanathar, if present, is gazing somberly at the tombs of past Xanathars.X34. Wizard Tombs
These crypts were built to hold the remains of two wizards who lived in this dungeon complex long before Xanathar took it over. Only one wizard is entombed here, however. The fate of the other wizard is unknown. Both chambers are encased in solid stone and brightly lit by continual flame spells cast on torch brackets.X34a
In the middle of this tomb rests a gold marble sarcophagus, its lid carved in the likeness of a longhaired human wizard who wears a robe adorned with closed eyes. The sarcophagus can't be pried open or damaged, but if a spell is cast within the tomb, the eyes of the robe open all at once - an eerie yet harmless effect - and the lid slowly levitates into the air, revealing the contents of the sarcophagus: a shriveled, inanimate mummy wearing eyes of charming. After 1 minute, the eyes on the lid close as it slowly sinks back down, resealing the sarcophagus until another spell is cast within the tomb. Anyone who dons the eyes of charming can see, through its blue lenses, a blue metal tile shaped like a four-pointed star on the west wall. The tile is otherwise invisible, but can be found with a tactile search and a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check. When a creature touches the tile, all creatures in the tomb are instantly teleported to the arena (area X6).X34b
This tomb is empty except for an invisible, blue metal tile on the west wall. It functions identically to the one in area X34a.X35. Nar'l Xibrindas's Office
The continual flame spells that once lit this room have been dispelled. Creatures need light sources or darkvision to see here. Two open crates rest against the north wall. One crate contains fifty stuffed beholder dolls. The other contains thirty onyx trophies (worth 25 dragons each) depicting a smiling beholder. The dolls and trophies are among the prizes given to winners of Xanathar's combat tournaments. Bare stone bookshelves stand against the east wall. A stone bookshelf in the southeast corner of this room rotates into the wall, revealing a secret passage that curves north. Anyone can find this secret door with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, or simply by pushing on the bookshelf. A second secret door at the end of the curved hall can be found without an ability check; it pulls open to reveal a dark and dusty chamber (area X36) beyond. A stone desk in the southwest corner is completely free of papers. The chair behind it is carved with a spider design. The chair behind the desk has a secret compartment under its left armrest that can be found and opened with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. This tiny compartment contains a small black key that unlocks both of the desk drawers. Anyone can pick each lock with a successful DC 17 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check. The first drawer holds Nar'l's spellbook, a sturdy tome bound in black leather and wrapped in webbing. It contains all the spells that Nar'l has prepared, plus the sending spell.X36. Secret Room
The room is unlit and choked with dust and cobwebs. Neither Xanathar nor its loyal underlings know this room exists. When Nar'l found it, he asked to have the adjoining room (area X35) turned into his office so that he could keep this room secret. The only other individual who knows about this room is Thorvin Twinbeard, Xanathar's chief engineer, but he's not inclined to tell the beholder about it.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments