Waterdeep: The Mad Mage

Chapter One — 1492 DR: One More Job

The Heroes of Waterdeep have finally recovered Neverember’s stolen fortune, earned the gratitude of the Open Lord, and received a reward of fifty thousand gold dragons. For the first time in their adventuring careers, they have wealth, influence, and a respectable establishment to call their own.

Unfortunately, Trollskull Manor is losing money. After paying guild fees, settling expenses, and indulging in some extravagant shopping, the party discovers that operating a tavern is not nearly as profitable as recovering a stolen treasury. Tygorr purchases a share in the business, Laeral Silverhand honors the establishment with a visit, and the adventurers enjoy their new status as celebrities.

Their old acquaintance Mirt soon offers another opportunity to earn some coin. He wants a magical unicorn statue recovered from Blue Alley, a notorious enchanted labyrinth constructed by a wizard centuries earlier. The adventurers accept what they expect to be a relatively straightforward retrieval. Instead, they find themselves trapped in an elaborate series of magical puzzles, deadly traps, and thoroughly unreasonable architecture.

The challenges include a room that is itself a gigantic mimic, a minotaur summoned by enchanted skulls, invisible bear traps, animated skeletons, and a chamber that strips visitors of everything they possess. Tygorr manages to recover the unicorn statue, but Tang Kamma Wu disappears after following the instructions of a particularly misleading magical riddle.

With their companion missing and the statue in hand, the survivors concentrate on escaping. After solving a sequence of increasingly dangerous puzzles, they recover a special coin that grants access to a room containing an enchanted lantern. Its accompanying message finally reveals the secret of leaving Blue Alley: cross their names out of the guestbook at the entrance.

The adventurers emerge onto the streets of Waterdeep, return the unicorn statue to Mirt, and collect their payment.

A few days later, another visitor arrives at Trollskull Manor. Obaya Uday, a woman from Chult, has come to Waterdeep seeking powerful magical treasures. She has heard that many such artifacts lie buried within Undermountain, the legendary labyrinth beneath the city, and is willing to pay handsomely for anything the adventurers can recover. The party accepts.

Durnan, proprietor of the Yawning Portal, provides warnings about the dangers awaiting them, along with several possible destinations: the Arcane Chambers, Wyllowwood, and Selûne’s Tears. He also cautions them about the mysterious wizard Halaster Blackcloak, who has claimed the dungeon as his domain.

After gathering equipment, provisions, and magical supplies, the adventurers return to the Yawning Portal. One by one, they descend through the great well into the darkness beneath Waterdeep. Their search for treasure has begun.

Chapter Two — 1492 DR: The Dungeon Level and Arcane Chambers

Undermountain makes its intentions clear almost immediately. The first chamber is littered with the remains of previous expeditions, its walls decorated with graffiti and the heraldry of adventurers who came before. The party soon discovers that even apparently harmless curiosities can prove dangerous. When Tang Wu retrieves a sword from a hidden chamber, he finds himself unable to release it. The enchanted weapon has cursed him, and no amount of tugging, pleading, or magical experimentation will persuade his hand to let go.

Elsewhere, the adventurers encounter shadowy duplicates of themselves emerging from enchanted mirrors, a troop of goblins using a skeleton as a dancing puppet, and an intellect devourer attempting to seize control of Shazuu’s mind. Tang eventually returns to the surface to have his cursed sword removed, leaving his companions to continue exploring.

Their journey leads through the Hall of a Hundred Candles, where Mantis accidentally summons a goblin servant from a magical parchment. The creature immediately declares him its master, and Mantis affectionately names him Little Buddy.

The party’s growing collection of strange discoveries includes a magical quarterstaff, mysterious portals, an enormous map depicting all twenty-three levels of Undermountain, and a gelatinous cube that appears to have been employed as a janitor. They also begin to suspect that someone is watching them. An unnatural floating eye appears in a hidden chamber, suggesting that Halaster himself may be monitoring their progress.

Eventually, the adventurers descend to the second level, known as the Arcane Chambers. There they discover an unexpected center of commerce: a goblin marketplace ruled by a handsome human calling himself Yek the Tall. The party learns that Yek is actually a goblin transformed by a magical crown. After negotiating with his disgruntled followers, Shining Brow steals the crown, restoring Yek to his original form and allowing a new leader to assume control.

The expedition is briefly joined by Halath Gark, a man discovered trapped in a pit on the level above. His relationship with the party ends abruptly after he murders a dwarf prisoner in the goblin market, apparently settling an old score. The adventurers decide they would be better off without him.

Undermountain offers plenty of other unpleasant surprises. Little Buddy is destroyed by an ochre jelly masquerading as a pile of melted gold, and the party encounters an enormous gelatinous cube filling an entire chamber. Shazuu nearly becomes its next meal before the adventurers destroy the monster with a barrage of spells.

During their subsequent rest, an eccentric old wizard wearing a robe covered in blinking eyes appears, dragging a freed Tang Wu along with him. The visitor demands compensation for the destruction of his dungeon’s janitor, leaves behind a mysterious box containing a note addressed from Halaster to himself, and vanishes. The party’s first direct encounter with the Mad Mage is every bit as confusing as they might have expected.

The Arcane Chambers prove no less unpredictable. The adventurers encounter a cleric named Midna living in suspicious comfort, Xanathar Guild agents offering employment, a zombie beholder, animated statues, a mysterious hall of twisting stone tentacles, and a magical device capable of restoring creatures from petrified forms.

Tang acquires a goat during one of these experiments, although the animal meets an unfortunate end beneath a rolling boulder disguised as a giant eyeball. After exploring abandoned dwarf-built chambers, recovering several magical curiosities, and surviving attacks by living cloaks, the adventurers discover another stairway descending into darkness. The third level awaits.

Chapter Three — 1492 DR: The Sargauth River and Skullport

The third level of Undermountain is an ancient labyrinth of dwarven tombs, hostile caverns, and passages occupied by dangerous creatures. The adventurers’ arrival is immediately challenged by a drow mage accompanied by quaggoths and giant spiders. After a fierce battle, the party defeats its attackers and presses deeper into the complex.

Their search leads to a series of prison cells containing several unfortunate captives, including an elven cleric named Alabaster Aegeis. The party frees Alabaster, returns his equipment, and allows him to accompany them. The rescued cleric proves useful almost immediately, assisting the adventurers during an assault on a drow torture chamber. The fighting continues into a temple of Lolth, where a priestess is conducting a horrifying ritual involving spiders and living prisoners. The adventurers defeat the priestess and her followers, although Alabaster discovers that one of his former companions has already died within a spider cocoon.

Continuing south, the party enters a series of wind-filled caverns and encounters a half-drow, half-spider creature driven nearly mad by the constant noise. Alabaster uses magic to silence the chamber, temporarily calming the creature, then transforms it into a mouse so that it can accompany them.

Unfortunately, their attempt to remove its curse only succeeds in restoring its sanity. Upon returning to its natural form, the creature attacks. The adventurers kill it beside the dark waters of the Sargauth River. Deciding that they need rest and supplies, the party follows the underground waterway toward Skullport, the notorious criminal settlement far beneath Waterdeep.

Their journey includes an encounter with a mysterious skeleton operating a black gondola. The ferryman speaks in a disturbingly familiar voice and offers transportation for a fee. The adventurers accept.

Skullport proves to be a dangerous but welcome refuge. After arranging lodging at the Burning Troll Inn, they visit the Guts & Garters to speak with Quietude, a contact recommended by Durnan. What appeared to be an attempt to collect an old debt turns out to be a coded introduction, granting the party access to supplies, transportation, and other useful services.

Rather than return to the surface, the adventurers continue deeper into Undermountain. Their next destination is the fourth level, the Twisted Caverns. These humid, waterlogged passages are filled with enormous fungi, dangerous predators, and strange creatures that seem capable of moving directly through solid stone. The party encounters xorn guarding deposits of valuable crystals, an enormous ceiling-dwelling predator, and flesh-burrowing grubs that force Mantis to burn his own arm to prevent an infestation.

Further exploration brings them into conflict with large numbers of troglodytes. Shazuu and Tang hold a narrow passage while their companions provide magical support, eventually leaving the tunnels littered with the bodies of their enemies. But something far more dangerous has taken notice of their presence. A terrible psychic shriek reverberates through the caverns, and an enormous, mist-shrouded creature appears to warn the adventurers that they have entered its domain. Their attempts to escape become a desperate running battle against monstrous crustaceans, additional troglodytes, and the mysterious entity itself. One of the creatures captures Shining Brow, dragging him away before Shazuu intervenes to save him.

Meanwhile, the misty horror seizes control of Tang Wu’s mind, turning the monk against his companions. The ensuing confusion nearly tears the party apart. Tygorr finally banishes Tang to another plane, briefly freeing him from the creature’s influence. The monk experiences an idyllic paradise and believes he has attained enlightenment, only to be returned moments later to the mud, foul water, and terrifying creatures of Undermountain.

With their companion restored, the adventurers abandon the fight and flee downstream. Alabaster uses magic to guide them through the rushing waters, and the party eventually emerges from the subterranean river into an impossible sight. Before them stretches a vast underground lake beneath a seemingly open blue sky. They have reached Wyllowwood.

Chapter Four — 1492 DR: Wyllowwood and the Long Way Around

The adventurers emerge onto the shores of an enormous underground forest, exhausted but relieved to escape the horrors of the Twisted Caverns. Here, sunlight illuminates towering trees, quiet clearings, and ancient stone structures. The environment is so convincing that Shining Brow discovers his drow-made equipment has lost its enchantments after prolonged exposure to the light. At the edge of the woods, the party finds a gravestone dedicated to a woman named Crissann.

A mysterious floating light appears and instructs Mantis to recover a magical wand from the grave, then use it to destroy an elven witch. The party digs up the wand, but remains uncertain about the identity of the supposed witch or the motives of the spirit. Their exploration soon brings them to a ruined gatehouse built into the cavern wall. Behind its portcullis lies a network of chambers occupied by cloakers, strange creatures capable of wrapping themselves around their victims and creating terrifying illusions. The adventurers fight through several of the monsters before encountering an enormous cloaker deep within a crystal-lined cavern. The battle is nearly disastrous. The creature envelops multiple party members, projects horrifying illusions, and lashes out while its smaller companions attack from the shadows.

Eventually, the party destroys the beast and discovers its treasure hidden within an illusion-concealed cave. Returning to the forest, the adventurers investigate an abandoned gatehouse containing a magical portal. Mantis discovers that touching the archway with a dead tree branch activates the gate. The party eagerly passes through, expecting to discover another part of Wyllowwood. Instead, they emerge in a familiar section of Undermountain. They have accidentally returned to the Arcane Chambers.

Back in the goblin marketplace, the adventurers discover that Yek has been replaced by a new leader named Copperhead. The goblins offer them another assignment: eliminate a drow operating elsewhere in the dungeon. The party accepts. Their investigation leads them through ruined workshops and abandoned laboratories once used by Halaster’s apprentices. They discover journals describing experiments with lightning, copper, and the creation of undead creatures, along with the horrifying results of those experiments.

After defeating a flesh golem and a magical skull capable of discharging lightning, the adventurers continue through a series of old dwarven chambers. There they encounter a human warrior named Rex the Hammer, who is being attacked by several monsters. The party intervenes and saves him. Unfortunately, the ensuing conversation goes badly.

Tang demands payment for the rescue, Rex responds with insults, and the disagreement quickly escalates into violence. Despite having just saved the man’s life, several adventurers turn upon him and kill him. The incident provokes an argument within the party about their increasingly ruthless behavior. Nevertheless, the group presses on.

Eventually, they discover the lair of a drow wizard allied with wererats. Their attempt at negotiation ends almost immediately when the party attacks, and the wizard escapes through magical means. Searching his quarters, they recover a mysterious stone key inscribed with a clue pointing toward a place called the Lost Level.

With the drow gone, the party returns through the magical portal to Wyllowwood. This time, they seek out the forest’s ruler. Within a great tree they meet Wyllow, an elven archdruid seated upon a crystal throne and accompanied by a displacer beast. Far from being the hostile witch described by the spirit at the grave, Wyllow receives the adventurers peacefully. Grateful that they destroyed the cloakers troubling her domain, she offers to guide them toward the next level.

Her servant, Halastree, leads them to the Umber Hulk Tunnels, a passage descending toward the forgotten dwarven halls below. As they depart, a glowing magical creature attacks Shazuu, accusing him of being a traitor and an oathbreaker. Shazuu destroys it, but the encounter raises further questions about the paladin’s increasingly troubled spiritual condition.

The party leaves Wyllowwood behind and descends once more.

Chapter Five — 1492 DR: The Lost Level

The sixth level of Undermountain is known as the Lost Level, a forgotten remnant of the great dwarven kingdom of Melairbode. Ancient temples, glowing crystal pillars, ruined workshops, and sealed royal tombs lie scattered throughout its passages. For adventurers who have already explored the Melairkyn Vault beneath Waterdeep, the architecture is strangely familiar.

Before venturing much farther, the party pauses to discuss the magical afflictions and unusual behavior troubling several of its members. Shazuu appears to have recovered from whatever curse may have affected him. Tang Wu, however, seems to possess a strange emptiness within his soul, and the party’s magic cannot determine its cause. Their investigation must wait.

The adventurers are soon distracted by a xorn eager to devour their gemstones, then by a pair of umber hulks bursting through the walls of an abandoned workshop. Pressing deeper, they discover an ancient temple dedicated to the dwarven gods. Beyond it lie vast chambers illuminated by pillars of glowing pink quartz, their walls decorated with symbols of Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets. The party eventually encounters a company of duergar led by a formidable woman wearing an ermine-lined cloak. The dwarves propose an arrangement. They need help defeating a magical guardian protecting a sealed chamber, and offer the adventurers safe passage in exchange for assistance. The negotiations do not go well.

After proposing several counteroffers, Tang Wu decides that violence would be more productive and attacks the duergar leader. The ensuing battle is fierce. The duergar grow to enormous size, cloakers attack from above, and the adventurers nearly lose Shining Brow in the chaos. When the fighting ends, the party claims the duergar’s possessions and turns its attention to the magical guardian. Among the recovered treasure is the Dagger of Azok, an heirloom belonging to Kherek’s people, and a magical belt that grants its wearer some of the qualities of a dwarf.

The guardian proves to be a clay golem disguised as an altar. After defeating it, the adventurers reach a set of immense basalt doors bearing an inscription suggesting that only the hand of a king can open them. Naturally, the party begins experimenting. They attempt to crown Kherek as royalty, employ magical disguises, and even try using the enchanted crown recovered from the goblin market. Nothing works.

Each unsuccessful attempt risks attracting a magical hand that emerges from the doors to attack intruders. Eventually, the party discovers a hidden burial chamber containing the remains of an ancient dwarven king. Their investigation is complicated when a voice trapped within a nearby statue offers to reveal a secret passage in exchange for freedom.

Shazuu destroys the statue. A powerful demon emerges. The creature opens the hidden passage as promised, allowing the party to reach the royal tomb. There, the adventurers recover the dead king’s hands, which they believe will open the sealed doors. But the demon has no intention of honoring the rest of its bargain. It smashes the remaining statues, releasing additional demons into the chamber. The adventurers find themselves surrounded by powerful fiends, including a glabrezu and a vrock. The battle becomes desperate, but Tygorr and Alabaster eventually banish the creatures, allowing the survivors to escape.

Returning to the great doors, Shazuu presses the dead king’s hand against the stone. The doors swing open. Beyond lies a chamber at the heart of the mountain, where Kherek experiences an unusual connection to the ancient dwarven kingdom.

The room also contains another magical portal. The adventurers activate it, only to be violently thrown back by a powerful enchantment. Although their attempts to pass through fail, Alabaster receives an unexpected magical boon from the experience.

The party continues exploring, discovering additional portals, invisible guardians, and the remains of adventurers who came before them. But the Lost Level still holds surprises beyond anything they have encountered.

Chapter Six — 1492 DR: The Mad Goth’s Castle

The next surviving account finds the party exploring a bizarre miniature castle perched atop an iron spire. Shazuu approaches the structure on a newly acquired flying broom, only to vanish from sight. When Mantis follows, he discovers the truth: the castle is enchanted to shrink visitors to its own scale.

The adventurers make their way onto the roof and begin exploring an extraordinary collection of magical chambers. Within the castle they encounter a rampaging clay construct, enchanted furniture, strange laboratories, and several powerful extraplanar creatures. The party defeats a pair of disguised nycaloths, then discovers a chamber containing a mermaid statue and a mysterious mirror gate.

When Mantis speaks the inscription on the mirror backward, Halaster Blackcloak steps through. The Mad Mage counts the adventurers, complains that they are progressing too slowly, and insists that they must become stronger if they hope to reach the end of his dungeon. He then casually asks whether anyone has remembered to feed the roper. Before anyone can respond, he vanishes.

The party soon discovers what he meant. Attempting to remove one of the tridents decorating the mermaid chamber causes the statue to transform into an enormous tentacled creature. The roper seizes several adventurers while animated tridents join the attack, nearly overwhelming the party. They eventually defeat the creature, but not before Shazuu wanders into a nearby chamber and mistakes a mannequin wearing a mind flayer mask for an actual mind flayer. The encounter ends with the unfortunate mannequin scattered across the floor.

Further exploration brings the party face to face with a faerie dragon who has made the castle its home. The creature initially attacks using illusory duplicates, but when the adventurers identify the deception and press their assault, it offers a bargain. In exchange for sanctuary, the party must rid the castle of a troublesome clay construct that continually returns after being destroyed. The adventurers agree, but their investigation soon complicates matters.

The construct insists that it is protecting the castle and that the dragon is the true intruder. Unwilling to choose sides without understanding the dispute, the party decides to continue exploring. Their search uncovers enchanted weapons, valuable spellbooks, a magical lyre, an ioun stone, unusual control mechanisms that influence the castle’s environment, and a collection of increasingly bizarre rooms.

One chamber contains an enormous musical instrument with a tiny man apparently trapped inside. When Shazuu smashes the instrument to rescue him, the grateful prisoner transforms into a vicious slaad and attacks. The party survives yet another unexpected battle.

Eventually, the adventurers reach a dining chamber, where invisible servants begin preparing a meal for unseen guests. After weeks spent fighting through Undermountain’s tunnels, confronting ancient magic, rescuing strangers, making questionable bargains, and arguing about nearly everything, the party gathers around the table to enjoy a meal inside the strange castle.

Here, the surviving campaign journals fall silent, but the adventure was far from over. The Heroes of Waterdeep continued their descent through Undermountain, ultimately exploring all twenty-three levels of Halaster Blackcloak’s legendary dungeon and completing their extraordinary journey. Although the later adventures were never preserved on my website’s session logs, the campaign continued well beyond the Lost Level, carrying the party into the deepest and most dangerous reaches of the Mad Mage’s domain. Ultimately, they challenged the Mad Mage himself.