Tier 1

1. Upside Down Entrance

The treacherously slick tunnel opens abruptly into a bizarre, disorienting chamber—its every surface coated in a thick, crystalline layer of glimmering frost that catches the strange light with eerie, otherworldly luminescence. Directly across from the tunnel's gaping mouth looms a peculiar wooden door, warped and ancient, its top perfectly flush with the vaulted ceiling while its bottom hovers unnaturally several feet above the frost-covered floor, defying all conventional architecture. The door hangs tantalizingly ajar, suspended with sinister invitation, flanked by two identical stone statues of grotesque, unsettling design—their inverted forms dangling ominously with feet thrust upward and heads pointing downward, as though caught mid-fall or locked in some dreadful, eternal curse. Positioned across from these inverted guardians are ornate iron sconces, burning with inexplicably bright, spectral flames that stretch and flicker with unnatural, descending motion—creeping downward toward the floor in defiance of natural law, casting writhing, dancing shadows that seem almost alive.

DM Notes

The statues, which merge seamlessly with the ceiling, depict a long-faced human dressed in wizard’s robes and clutching a staff. The statues used to have magical wards on them, but these protections faded long ago.

2. Upside Down Corridor

Frost-laden doors that lay on the northern and southern walls stand out as the only features of this otherwise desolate hallway. The crumbling remnants of a staircase at the distant end of the corridor now lie entombed beneath a suffocating avalanche of jagged ice, compacted snow, and rubble, a frozen monument to collapse and ruin.

3. Upside Down Library

Splintered and cracked bookshelves along the outer wall loom down from the ceiling, empty and ominous. Shelves hang precariously from the uprights, their contents spilled on the ceiling-turned-floor, scattered in utter disarray. Under the fallen debris sits a table, its broken legs lay at its side, the top cracked and brittle from dry rot. Towards the eastern edge of the room is a jagged pile of stone debris and rubble, encircling a wide hole in the floor, as if something large and incredibly strong had burst through.

DM Notes

Many of the books were destroyed when the spire crashed to the ground, though the ones that did survive are well preserved by the cold, dry air. The group of adventurers Dzaan hired to help him search the spire removed all the books they considered valuable, including spellbooks. They left behind a few that might interest certain characters:

Magical Wonders of Netheril. This book is a collection of interviews with Netherese archmages, who discuss their studies of ancient elven magic and the creation of mythallars (see appendix D). The book includes sketches of such devices.

Mysteries of the Phaerimm.This book sheds light on the phaerimm—telepathic, funnel-shaped monsters of malevolent intellect that lurk in the Underdark—and includes disturbing sketches of them.

Wizards in the Hollow.The birth of the Netherese empire is chronicled in this otherwise dull, plodding story about the lives of three Netherese wizards.

4. Upside Down Workshop

Fragments of shattered glass twinkle and glimmer in the dim light, like thousands of tiny stars dotting the shadow soaked floors. Torn and faded blueprints and recipes, broken benches and tables, and scattered tools add to the chaos of the room. Across the room another stone door, softly lit from behind, looms out of the darkness, suspended several feet in the air.

DM Notes

Characters who search through the wreckage find an iron key that unlocks the metal chest in area 5.

5. Upside Down Potion Storage

More broken glass lays in frozen multicolored puddles, creating an odd mosaic in the dimly lit room. Several iron sconces with familiar magical flames flank an old iron chest sealed to the floor. The arcane fires dance slowly as their light stretches down towards the debris below. A heavy iron lock dangles from chest, a thin layer of frost lining the surfaces, the metal old, brittle and well worn with time.

DM Notes

The key to the chest can be found in area 4. A character using thieves’ tools can pick the chest’s lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.

Treasure. Characters who open the upside-down chest must be careful not to let its contents fall out. The chest contains four vials, (a basic poison, potion of greater healing, oil of taggit, potion of speed). If no precautions are taken, the potions tumble out of the opened chest and shatter on the floor, becoming useless. Any character underneath the chest can try to catch a falling potion using a free hand, doing so with a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw.