13. Upside Down Refectory
Rusty tableware, shattered plates, and broken chairs lie scattered on the floor amid two tables, one overturned and one on its side. Crawling out from behind the tipped-over table is a hulking, six-legged reptile with glowing eyes.
DM Notes
A hostile frost salamander is holed up in this room, having crawled down into the spire a few weeks ago.
Leads to Areas 10, 12, 14, and 1514. Upside Down Bedchamber
The bed in this room is upside down on the floor, its rotted blankets peeking out from underneath the disintegrating mattress. Mounted to the north wall is a tall, cracked mirror in a stone frame that merges seamlessly with the surrounding wall.
DM Notes
Lying underneath two dirt-clogged windows is a partially crumbled, rime-covered human skeleton in the tattered shreds of a nightgown.
The crumbling skeleton is all that remains of the Netherese wizard to whom this tower once belonged. Disturbing the remains causes the wizard’s ghost to appear. It is harmless and agrees to answer three questions for the creature that disturbed it, then wishes to leave the spire in peace.
Treasure. Characters who search the room thoroughly find a chest behind the bed. The chest has been made invisible by a spell that can be ended with a successful dispel magic (DC 18). The chest has a built-in lock, the key to which can be found in area P11. A character using thieves’ tools can try to pick the lock as an action, doing so with a successful DC 17 Dexterity check (with disadvantage if the character can’t see the lock).
The chest weighs 25 pounds. It is airtight, watertight, and magical, such that its interior is a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). It can be sold for as much as 100 gp.
Inside the chest is what appears to be an ancient, leather-bound spellbook with runes along its spine. A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Arcana) check deciphers them to read Fistandantilis, the name of the wizard that died in this tower.
Leads to Areas 13, and 1515. Upside Down Rune Chamber
The walls of this chamber are inscribed with interconnected runes and marred with cracks. What is now the ceiling bears similar inscriptions that swirl inward, converging around a golden crystal disk five feet in diameter.
A detect magic spell or similar magic reveals an aura of transmutation magic encompassing the entire room. The first time someone enters the room, read:
An illusory figure appears upside down in the far corner of the room, standing on the ceiling. It appears to be the same long-faced human wizard depicted in the statues just inside the spire’s entrance. It begins speaking in a strange, possibly forgotten, language.
DM Notes
Casting dispel magic on the illusory figure causes it to vanish. Otherwise, it disappears after giving its little speech. Once it goes away, the figment can’t be summoned again for 24 hours.
Any creature that can understand Loross, the language favored by the wizards of Netheril, can translate the illusory wizard’s words as follows:
“Behold my masterpiece! Here can illusions be made real, shadows become substance! Create your illusion, let it stand atop the crystal disk, and watch my rune chamber do its work!”
Dzaan’s simulacrum can’t learn anything new by studying the runes and crystals. However, any character who spends at least 1 minute doing so can, with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check, verify their purpose: to transform illusory creatures and objects into real ones. If the check succeeds by 5 or more, the character also knows the following:
The rune chamber can’t produce magic items, animated objects, constructs, or undead.
A life-spark is needed to turn an illusory creature into a physical one. Acting much like a spark of electricity, it gives the room the jolt it needs to complete the transformation. (No such component is needed for objects.)
The cracks in the walls have damaged enough of the runes to compromise the room’s magic, which might give rise to unexpected results. (Warning Dzaan’s simulacrum about this risk does not discourage it from using the rune chamber.)
Illusory Objects. When one or more illusory objects are placed under the crystal disk, the disk gives off a soft golden light. Roll percentile dice and consult the Rune Chamber Effect table to determine what happens next. Treat multiple illusory objects (for example, an illusory pile of coins) as a single collective object and roll once on the table for all of them.
Illusory Creature. When an illusory creature stands beneath the crystal disk, the disk gives off a soft golden light. However, nothing happens until a living creature touches the illusory one. When that happens, roll percentile dice and consult the Rune Chamber Effect table to determine what happens next.
| d100 | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 01-10 | The illusory object or creature is destroyed. If this happens to Dzaan’s simulacrum, it instantly drops to 0 hit points and collapses into a pile of ice and snow. |
| 11-50 | The illusory object or creature is transformed into a hostile blob of corrosive, magical ectoplasm that uses the black pudding stat block. This blob of magical energy can be dispelled (DC 16). |
| 51-90 | The object or creature ceases to be an illusion and becomes real for 2d12 hours. A creature brought into being in this way is under the DM’s control and uses whichever stat block best matches its form. When it ceases to be real, it winks out of existence. |
| 91-100 | The object or creature ceases to be an illusion and becomes real permanently. A creature brought into being in this way is under the DM’s control and uses whichever stat block best matches its form. In addition, the damage to the runes causes the crystal disk to burn out, making the chamber no longer functional. |
Conclusion
Dzaan Lives: If the rune chamber works properly and the simulacrum becomes a true clone of Dzaan, the wizard thanks the characters for their help and asks them not to discuss what has happened with anyone in Ten-Towns. See Dzaan’s description in appendix C for information about modifying the simulacrum’s stat block to account for its transformation into a clone of Dzaan. Krintaas remains by Dzaan’s side as his faithful, undead bodyguard.
Dzaan’s ultimate goal is to plunder Ythryn. Without his spellbook, however, the wizard is woefully underpowered. Concealed under layers of cold weather clothing, Dzaan and Krintaas must travel to Bryn Shander to obtain a blank spellbook, as well as writing supplies and provisions. In the meantime, Dzaan urges the characters to seek out and destroy his rivals in the Arcane Brotherhood. Dzaan assumes his rivals are hiding out in Ten-Towns and paints an unflattering portrait of each one:
- “Avarice is a tiefling evoker who delights in destruction. Her weakness is her paranoia. She can’t bring herself to trust anyone except maybe her two gargoyle companions, and even they are suspect.”
- “Nass Lantomir is a human diviner. She likes to pry knowledge from others by reading their thoughts. Her weakness is that she’s always looking ahead, never behind her.”
- “Vellynne Harpell is a human necromancer, as cold and uncaring as the corpses she animates. She’s a withered old fool whose greatest asset—her family name—does her no good in Icewind Dale.”