TEXT: LOST LABORATORY 
  OF KWALISH
  ™
  An Adventure Supporting Extra Life
  The legendary inventor Kwalish disappeared eons ago… as it turns out, finding a crashed 
  planar ship and studying its technology to fuel his own experiments. Only now, Kwalish’s 
  lost research is desperately needed! Will you dare an alternate expedition into the 
  Barrier Peaks to find him?
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  A Note from the D&D Team 
  In 2017, the D&D team added several projects to the DMs 
  Guild in support of Extra Life (including One Grung Above, 
  The Lost Kenku, and The Tortle Package). The funds raised 
  from the sale of these packages went to this extremely 
  worthy cause—and for 2018, you’ll find even more projects 
  made available on the DMs Guild throughout the year.
   As part of these efforts, it’s our privilege to contribute 
  the following adventure to the cause. We wanted to 
  provide as much value for your donation as we could, 
  providing new maps, monsters, and magic items—and 
  of course, the scenario itself, accompanied by a range of 
  notes and options to help cater to your preferred play style.
   We hope you enjoy Lost Laboratory of Kwalish. And you 
  have our sincere thanks for your support of Extra Life and 
  Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
  s a special offering in support of Extra Life 
  2018, we’re pleased to present the following 
  adventure scenario, built around a new 
  expedition to the legendary Barrier Peaks. 
  This adventure is suitable for characters of 5th 
  to 10th level.
  Background
  In centuries long past, a common scholar named 
  Kwalish took an unlikely path to becoming one of the 
  most powerful arcane inventors of all time, after his 
  discovery of strange magic in the Barrier Peaks. His 
  studies of an ancient, crashed planar craft set him on a 
  path that might have seen him rival Ioun and Heward—
  until his experiments overtook him, and he became 
  lost to the ages. All that’s left of his legacy is a single 
  example of his earliest work—the apparatus of Kwalish 
  that is the only way most folk now know his name.
   It was Kwalish’s foray into the Barrier Peaks that set 
  his advanced studies into motion, when he joined an ill-
  fated expedition in search of Daoine Gloine, a legendary 
  city said to be populated by creatures of glass. Though 
  the rest of his party perished along the way, Kwalish 
  stumbled upon a wrecked planar craft of unknown 
  providence and spent years exploring its secrets. He 
  even repurposed much of the craft’s unique magical 
  technology into his first laboratory, building planar 
  gates of his own design.
   Testing one such gate as it forged a connection to 
  the Nine Hells attracted the attention of a bone devil. 
  Trailing Kwalish back across the planes, the devil 
  took over the inventor’s laboratory for itself. Kwalish 
  managed to escape but left much of his lore behind, 
  while the bone devil spent the years that followed 
  converting the place into a dark monastery—and 
  establishing its own cult.
   After much wandering in the mountains, Kwalish 
  relocated to an equally remote location—Daoine Gloine, 
  the mysterious city his expedition had originally sought. 
  The site’s isolation made it a suitable place for him to 
  continue his research. However, its populace turned out 
  not to be creatures of glass as the legends suggested, 
  but clans of kenku that worshipped a medusa with the 
  unique ability to transform her victims into glass. 
   Before Kwalish could be made to suffer the same 
  fate at the hands of the chaotic kenku and their mad 
  Credits
  Lead Designer: Bart Carroll
  Additional Design: Robert Adducci, Bill Benham, M.T. Black, 
  Jeremy Crawford, Will Doyle, James Introcaso, Ari Levitch, 
  Greg Marks, Shawn Merwin, Cindi Moore, Laurence Withey
  Additional Rumors: David Adams, Vladimir Barash, Rose 
  Bell, Ethan Best, Steve Bissonnette, Wolf Bloodmoon, 
  Kevin Boardman, Trevor Boe, Nolan Bond, Aidan Brenner-
  Slagle, Bodhi Brooke-White, Mary Burgess, Matt J Carlson, 
  Casandra Carter, Liam Cherry-Holt, Dave Chua, Diana Clark, 
  Caleb Cole, Andrew Cousins, Jonathon Crawford, Joshua 
  Cuthbertson, Rae Cwach, Bryan Davidson-Tirca, Dominic 
  Davies, Marcello De Velazquez, Matthew Disedare, Fiona 
  Elliott, Steve Elliott, Sam English, John Evans, Ryan Fletcher, 
  Sam Fortier, Adrian Francisco, Nick Gill, Christian Gilliam, 
  Marcus Good, Daniel Harmon, Michael Hoffmann, Zasheir 
  Jassan, Rod Johnson, Conor Kelleher, Bryon Kershaw, 
  Douglas Kilpatrick, Leonard LaBine, Dan Layman-Kennedy, 
  Gaetano LeFavi, Michael Letterle, Joshua, Leonhardt, Ryan 
  Mahan, Sergio Martinez, Daniel McKay, Jacob McCray, 
  Devon McEwen, Brian McLachlan, Sean Meaney, Chloe 
  Montgomery, Charles Morris, Daniel Oliveira, Eric Peterson, 
  Mike Plautz, Adam Powell, Richard Powell, Alan Provance, 
  Michael Richards, Justin Ross, Joseph Rounsavell, Brian 
  Rubinfeld, Ian Rugg, Joe Ryan, John Saffran, Corey Shaw, 
  Reggie Sloan, Demon Spawner, Spencer, Raul Stainzel, 
  Jasmine Stairs, Jason Stone, Nick Symosky, Zach Tate, 
  Benjamin Tozer, Corey Turner, Jordan Valentine, Jonah Van 
  Campen, Cameron Vollrath, Charles Wain, Taylor Walker, 
  Geoff Washam, Omer Watkins III, David Wheeler, Jacob 
  Wilkinson, Chuck Wilson, Evan Wolfe, Greg Wright, Raymond 
  Wynne, Douglas Young, Adrian Zaslona
  Editing, Development, and Layout: Scott Fitzgerald Gray
  Art Director: Kate Irwin
  Graphic Designer: Emi Tanji
  Cover Illustrator: Shawn Wood
  Interior Illustrators: Mike Burns, Quinn Carroll, Dustin Fletcher, 
  Devan Henderson, Aaron Hübrick, Maxx Marshall, Shauna 
  Narciso, David Rapoza, Stan!, Emi Tanji, Jason Thompson, 
  Cory Trego-Erdner, Matt Warren, Mark Winters, Shawn Wood
  Cartographer: Claudio Pozas
  Other D&D Team Members: David Gershman, Pelham Greene, 
  Adam Lee, Chris Lindsay, Shelly Mazzanoble, Mike Mearls, 
  Shauna Narciso, Christopher Perkins, Ben Petrisor, Hilary 
  Ross, Liz Schuh, Nathan Stewart, Emi Tanji, Greg Tito, Dan 
  Tovar, Anna Vo, Kate Welch, Richard Whitters, Trish Yochum
  Playtesters: Christine Abram, C.J. Alger, Russell Alleen-Willems, 
  Kyle Andrew, Frank Bailey, Mike Balles, Michael Born, Derek 
  Cash, Mick Chambers, Diego Correal, Hunter Craig, Izzy 
  Curran, Sam Delaney, Matt Dewar, Matthew Dillon-Mayne, 
  Scott Dolbee, James East, The Erisian Defense Force, Oscar 
  Fong, Jesse Fox, Scott Gibeault, Charles Goren, Annette 
  Graham, Joe Graham, Peter Grieshaber, Tommy Grissom, 
  Jeremie Harnois, Travis Hayes, Lynn Hogan, Doug Hopkins, 
  Jeffrey Kamberger, Kristine Krozow Richter, Eric LaPlatney, Rick 
  Laprade, Shiaw-Ling Lia, James McKiernan, Cody McLean, 
  Jarret Mcphee, Gil Nerio, Chris Neveu, Jay Neveu, Mario 
  Ortegón, Steve Paiano, Drew Peacock, Bryce, Polkinghorn, 
  Melanie Polkinghorn, Michael Polkinghorn, Owen 
  Polkinghorn, Yania Portillo, Diego Salmón, Claudia Sánchez, 
  Kevin Scully, Simon Sharber, Ted Simon, Benjamin Szymanski, 
  Jay Tatum, David Tompkins, Nick Tourville, Emily Walter, 
  David West, Melissa Wiener, Paige Willis, Steven Wonser
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  Placing the Adventure
  The original Expedition to the Barrier Peaks—1980’s 
  adventure module S3 for first edition AD&D—placed 
  its titular mountains in Greyhawk, north of the Grand 
  Duchy of Geoff and the Valley of the Mage. Depending on 
  your campaign, you can set this adventure in any similar 
  location: a mysterious mountain range that even dedicated 
  explorers have failed to fully map.
   In the Forgotten Realms, one possible location for 
  the adventure is Chult, the land explored in Tomb of 
  Annihilation. The mysterious and poorly mapped peninsula 
  contains several suitable mountain ranges, including 
  the Mistcliffs and the Kobold Mountains. Elsewhere in 
  Faerûn, the peaks surrounding Halruaa, a land known for 
  its magical technology, are a good choice. Alternatively, 
  campaigns making use of the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist 
  adventure might look for a location closer to the city, 
  including the Greypeaks or the Nether Mountains.
  medusa, he once more opened a planar gate, this time to 
  the 222nd layer of the Abyss—Juiblex’s Slime Pits, from 
  which he summoned forth a horrific plague of ooze to 
  clear out the city and help him defend his new lab.
   Kwalish cut off all access to Daoine Gloine, and the 
  city was lost to the ages. The legendary inventor has not 
  been heard from since. Only now, the characters are in 
  dire need of his aid . . .
  Adventure Summary
  The characters are charged with locating Kwalish’s 
  long-lost laboratory and the magical technology that 
  might be found there. As they start their search, they’re 
  first directed to an accomplished gnome map merchant 
  named Anaxi Zephries, known as “the Cartophile.” 
  Information collected by Anaxi over the years has traced 
  Kwalish’s route into the Barrier Peaks—at least up 
  to the point where his expedition was lost, despite its 
  members’ formidable knowledge and skill.
   Working their own way into the Barrier Peaks, 
  the characters eventually arrive at Kwalish’s first 
  laboratory—the remains of a planar craft whose 
  technology drove the inventor’s early research. But 
  they discover that Kwalish has long since been exiled, 
  and his lab converted into a monastery now dedicated 
  to the bone devil that is the site’s Grand Master. The 
  characters must negotiate their entrance into the 
  monastery, and from there to its treasury. Hidden 
  within the treasury are notes from Kwalish’s original 
  expedition that lead to Daoine Gloine, the legendary city 
  deep within the Barrier Peaks—and the site of Kwalish’s 
  current laboratory.
   After reaching Daoine Gloine, the characters find the 
  city buried beneath a flood of gelatinous ooze, with only 
  its tallest stone structures left rising above the surface. 
  The characters must find a safe means of descent into 
  the ooze as they seek the entrance to Kwalish’s hidden 
  laboratory—and avoid the empty city’s deadly guardians. 
  Once they reach the lab, the characters meet with the 
  legendary inventor and can negotiate for the assistance 
  necessary to complete their quest—and they might 
  even have the chance to help Kwalish deal with one of a 
  number of problems of his own.
  Running the Adventure
  To run this adventure, you need the D&D fifth edition 
  core rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s
  Guide, and Monster Manual).
  Text that appears in a box like this is meant to be 
  read aloud or paraphrased for the players when their 
  characters first arrive at a location or under a specific 
  circumstance, as described in the text.
  Most of the monsters that appear in this adventure are 
  from the Monster Manual, along with new creatures and 
  NPCs, and monsters from Volo’s Guide to Monsters and 
  Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. For easy reference, all 
  the stat blocks for the creatures in the adventure can be 
  found in appendix C. When a creature’s name appears 
  in bold type, that’s a visual cue pointing you to its stat 
  block in that appendix. Full information on creatures 
  from the Monster Manual, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, 
  and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes can be found in 
  those books. 
   Spells and equipment mentioned in the adventure are 
  described in the Player’s Handbook. Magic items are 
  described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, unless the 
  adventure’s text directs you to an item’s description in 
  appendix D.
  Adventure Hooks
  In the course of previous adventures, the characters 
  might have come up against a special magical-
  mechanical dilemma too challenging to overcome. 
  Perhaps a secret door in a dungeon complex has been 
  built around an iron golem, or an array of dangerous 
  clockwork devices discovered within a city defy any 
  attempts to turn them off. All research into the problem 
  suggests that the inventor Kwalish might have the 
  solution—if only he hadn’t gone missing years before. 
   Alternatively, you might consider any of the following 
  hooks. Several involve a pending crisis, such that the 
  players are seeking Kwalish not just on their own 
  behalf, but to prevent hardship to friends, family, or the 
  common folk. Just make sure that the peril doesn’t come 
  on too quickly, though, as an expedition into the Barrier 
  Peaks will take some time.
  Thwarting Annihilation
  If you’re playing through or using events from Tomb of 
  Annihilation in your campaign, the characters might 
  hear rumors that Kwalish’s laboratory holds lore that 
  can help deactivate the Soulmonger. If the characters 
  have any hope of surviving the tomb and ending the 
  death curse, they must first make the dangerous journey 
  to the inventor’s lost lab. 
   Alternatively, in the aftermath of a Tomb of 
  Annihilation campaign, a friend, family member, or 
  mentor important to the characters might have been 
  placed in stasis within a magical sarcophagus to protect 
  them from the death curse. With the curse lifted, 
  this NPC can now be saved—except the sarcophagus 
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  Adventure Length
  This adventure features numerous encounters and 
  challenges that should keep a group entertained for 
  multiple sessions. However, you can easily run a shorter 
  version of the adventure, or even an exciting one-shot, by 
  making the following modifications:
   Full Version (Five to Six Sessions). Run the adventure as 
  written, making use of both the monastery and the ooze-
  flooded city locations.
   Short Version (Two to Three Sessions). Run the adventure 
  as written, up to the monastery. Then forgo a second 
  laboratory location, instead replacing the final brain in a jar 
  in the treasury (area M10) with Kwalish, and conclude the 
  adventure there.
   One-Shot (One Four-Hour Session). Give your players 
  an adventure hook, assign them a guide (see “Part 1: 
  Mission to the Barrier Peaks”), and start them at area C1, 
  overlooking the bone devil’s monastery. Then as above, 
  replace the treasury’s brain in a jar with Kwalish for an 
  exciting conclusion.
  cannot be opened by any magical or mundane means. 
  After learning that the sarcophagus is one of Kwalish’s 
  designs, the characters must seek out his lost laboratory 
  for the means to open it—or their friend will sleep 
  for eternity.
  Waterdeep Dangers
  A number of hooks can connect to the exploits of 
  characters engaged in a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist 
  campaign. The famed walking statues of Waterdeep 
  are showing signs of getting ready to power up once 
  more, and not even the Blackstaff can shut them down. 
  Old histories suggest that Kwalish’s lore might hold 
  the secrets of doing so, and the characters are sent 
  to seek that lore out before the great magical statues 
  can run amok.
   Alternatively, the grand parade of the Day of Wonders 
  turns to deadly chaos when one of its inventive 
  mechanical floats goes berserk and unleashes 
  destruction across the city. After stopping the threat, 
  the characters learn that it was built based on a 
  Kwalish design, and that other such designs might be 
  used to build great engines of destruction. The secrets 
  to overcoming such inventions can be found only in 
  Kwalish’s lab.
   As a more integral part of a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist 
  campaign, characters who successfully discover the 
  location of the Vault of Dragons might discover that 
  the keys needed to access it are lost. Rumors speak of 
  another means of opening the vault—a secret known 
  only to the lost inventor.
  Ravnica in Peril
  If your campaign is set in the city world of Ravnica, as 
  outlined in Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica, Kwalish 
  might be a chemister from the Izzet League who left the 
  guild to pursue his own work away from Niv-Mizzetr’s 
  prying eyes. Centuries later, Izzet researchers have 
  uncovered some of Kwalish’s notes. Desperate to locate 
  the chemister’s laboratory, the Izzet League reaches out 
  to the characters to accomplish the task.
  From One Mad Mage to Another
  If you’re running a campaign making use of Waterdeep: 
  Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Kwalish’s laboratory 
  might contain secrets useful in the exploration of 
  Undermountain. Or you could have some of the 
  dungeon’s deadly features be strange mechanical-
  magical devices reminiscent of Kwalish’s work. 
  The secrets to controlling or disabling such devices 
  might be instrumental to a successful foray into the 
  legendary dungeon.
  Unnatural Invasion
  A massive magical-mechanical golem, an unknown 
  planar vessel, or some other rare threat has appeared in 
  civilized lands. Though local settlements are safe for the 
  moment, the characters are charged with tracking down 
  Kwalish and his laboratory in hopes that the secrets to 
  disabling the imminent threat might be found there.
  Planar Retribution
  A powerful marut (detailed in Mordenkainen’s Tome of 
  Foes) hunts one or more of the characters for breaking 
  some cosmic contract. Their only hope of survival is 
  to find Kwalish’s laboratory, whose planar magic holds 
  the means of restoring the balance the marut seeks 
  to enforce.
  Journey of Discovery
  The characters are hired by a gnome sage known 
  as the Cartophile for a mission of exploration, as he 
  seeks to complete a failed expedition to Daoine Gloine 
  undertaken by his ancestors. The characters must 
  find their way to the lost city hidden within the Barrier 
  Peaks, then return with its location.
   Alternatively, the characters might hear rumors of 
  Kwalish’s legendary powered armor (see appendix D), 
  and embark on a mission to find it. Or you might have 
  them discover a set of powered armor in a previous 
  adventure, leaving them needing to find a way to access 
  it—or to free an NPC currently trapped inside it. Either 
  way, finding Kwalish’s lost laboratory is the key.
  Part 1: Mission to the 
  Barrier Peaks
  No matter what hook brings the characters into the 
  adventure, any research into Kwalish’s lost laboratory—
  or any NPC familiar with the inventor’s failed expedition 
  to the Barrier Peaks—establishes that seeking out the 
  gnome known as the Cartophile is a crucial first step for 
  their mission.
  The Cartophile
  Anaxi Zephries is a wealthy gnome merchant and sage. 
  He is well known for his vast collection of maps, which 
  cover the known world, pocket dimensions, routes 
  across the planes, and more. In this role, the Cartophile 
  has served as patron for numerous expeditions of 
  exploration, sending adventurers to all corners of 
  the world—both to draw new maps and to verify the 
  authenticity of others already in his possession.
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  The Cartophile
  Ctenmiir’s
  Coffin
   The gnome’s collection contains notes and an initial 
  map from the early stages of Kwalish’s expedition 
  into the Barrier Peaks. In exchange for allowing the 
  characters to use that lore, he asks only that any further 
  journals, notes, maps, and other documents from 
  Kwalish’s earlier expedition be returned to him. 
   The Cartophile has no interest in adventuring, talking 
  of how he once stood too close to a bag of holding 
  accidentally placed within a portable hole and never 
  fully recovered from it. However, in the interest of 
  ensuring a successful mission, he offers the characters 
  the services of a number of hirelings in his employ—and 
  insists that at least one of those hirelings accompany the 
  party, to serve as custodian of his maps and materials.
   If the characters develop an especially close 
  relationship to the Cartophile, the gnome might reveal 
  that his professional career commissioning expeditions 
  and maps has been background research for a personal 
  obsession. One of his ancestors took part in Kwalish’s 
  lost expedition to find Daoine Gloine, the mythical city 
  of the Barrier Peaks inhabited by “people of glass.” 
  The gnome has long sought to learn the truth of the 
  expedition’s demise.
  Hirelings
  Any of the following NPCs can join the party as 
  custodians and translators of the materials loaned to 
  the characters by the Cartophile. Each hireling is also 
  charged with chronicling the party’s progress along the 
  way, in the hope of finally mapping the route to Daoine 
  Gloine, and has specific value to the party in certain 
  areas of expertise. However, each hireling also has one 
  or more secret agendas that might work against the 
  characters’ interests.
   You can let the party’s size and the players’ interest 
  in bringing NPCs into their group determine whether 
  more than one of the Cartophile’s hirelings join the 
  expedition. Or, instead of front-loading hirelings at 
  the start, these NPCs can be set up as independent 
  explorers not connected to the Cartophile. You can 
  stagger their introduction throughout the course of 
  the adventure (as suggested in each NPC’s description 
  below), with each one able to provide a useful next step 
  to help the expedition along.
  Ctenmiir the Vampire
  LE male vampire
  Once a dwarven warrior, Ctenmiir was transformed 
  into a vampire and hidden away within White Plume 
  Mountain (see Tales from the Yawning Portal) until 
  captured there by an Emerald Enclave ranger. The 
  vampire has long been imprisoned within a magical 
  iron coffin mounted atop animated golem legs (an early 
  Kwalish design), forced to atone for his evil deeds by 
  working for the Cartophile.
  MAXX MARSHALL
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  Garret
  Levistusson
  Gearbox
   Ctenmiir’s coffin has a speed of 30 feet and a climbing 
  speed of 10 feet, and protects the vampire from sunlight 
  even as it prevents him from escaping his servitude. 
  Though Ctenmiir is able to speak from within the coffin 
  and help guide the expedition, the coffin obeys only the 
  commands of the party members. Cold, calculating, and 
  manipulative, the vampire aids the party as long as he 
  believes he can earn his release from the coffin along 
  the way—by any means possible.
   Value to the Party. Originally native to an area near 
  the Barrier Peaks, Ctenmiir has much experience with 
  the initial route into the mountains, and can provide 
  warnings of early encounters through the fey woods 
  and foothills (see “Reaching the Peaks,” below, and 
  appendix A). The vampire’s coffin can also serve as a 
  makeshift apparatus of Kwalish at your determination, 
  making it easier for characters to explore Daoine 
  Gloine—though Ctenmiir will need to first be released. 
  The coffin can also be used as protective shelter against 
  adversaries, including a freed Ctenmiir.
   Secret Agendas. Get out of the coffin. Feed on at least 
  one character.
   Alternative Entry. If Ctenmiir does not start with the 
  party, he might instead be found in the foothills, in the 
  possession of outlaws seeking the monastery who use 
  the vampire as their guide. 
   If he joins the expedition from the start, the vampire 
  might lead the characters to the foothills, then claim 
  to no longer recognize the route ahead. He asks to be 
  released so that he can scout more easily. But if he is, 
  any promise of obedience he makes to the characters is 
  ignored as he attacks them.
  Garret Levistusson
  CN male tiefling bard/rogue
  The Cartophile’s first choice to join the characters’ 
  expedition, Garret is an untrustworthy bon vivant 
  and magpie. His mapmaking skills are first rate, 
  though, and the Cartophile trusts him to accurately 
  detail the route to Daoine Gloine and sketch images 
  of things discovered along the way. Garret claims 
  that his infernal lineage goes back to Levistus (see 
  Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes), and he keeps his horns 
  adorned with rings, coins and other charms, some of 
  which he claims are powerful magic items ready to be 
  called on. See appendix C for Garret’s stat block.
   Value to the Party. Garret can draw the maps 
  requested by the Cartophile. He also knows several 
  rumors (both true and false) regarding the Barrier 
  Peaks, and provides advantage to any characters’ 
  ability checks made to interact with the monastery’s 
  Grand Master.
   Secret Agendas. Steal the highest-valued object from 
  the party without getting caught; convince as many 
  characters as possible to sit for a sketch; and relay 
  a secret communication to the Grand Master. This 
  message takes the form of a written note from Garret’s 
  infernal patron, ordering the Grand Master to return to 
  Stygia in the Nine Hells to complete a service required 
  by Levistus. A forged addendum adds that the bearer of 
  the note should be rewarded handsomely.
   Alternative Entry. Garret can be found as a prisoner 
  in area M6 of the monastery. If he does start out 
  with the party, he might choose to leave them at the 
  monastery, joining with the Grand Master.
  Gearbox
  LN monodrone
  A simple and kindly monodrone modron, Gearbox 
  has been sent as an agent of Mechanus to investigate 
  Kwalish’s works and experiments. 
  Its mechanical body has been 
  programmed with several unique 
  utility powers (see below) that make 
  the modron a perfect cartographer’s 
  assistant. If both Garret and Gearbox 
  join the expedition, Gearbox 
  assists the tiefling with his 
  work, even as Garret delights 
  in referring to the modron as 
  “Doohickey”, “Contraption”, 
  “Thingamabob”, and so on.
  STAN!
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  Mary Greymalkin
   Value to the Party. Gearbox’s unique programming 
  allows the modron to function as an orb of direction 
  and an orb of time (see Xanathar’s Guide to Everything), 
  to cast the light cantrip at will, and to grant other 
  characters advantage on Dexterity checks made with 
  thieves’ tools and on ability checks made to identify or 
  operate mechanical or laboratory equipment. It can also 
  help override the security of the monastery’s control 
  room (area M8) and treasury (area M10), and can pilot 
  the skiff first seen in area C3.
   Secret Agendas. None as such. Gearbox genuinely 
  wishes to help the characters, but he will be tempted to 
  connect with the monastery control room.
   Alternative Entry. Gearbox can appear with Garret 
  whenever the tiefling first appears, or he could be found 
  in the monastery’s control room. The modron might 
  choose to remain at the monastery, integrating with its 
  control room to become the site’s new integrated mind.
  Mary Greymalkin
  N female eladrin warlock
  Mary claims to be part of a legendary lineage as 
  granddaughter of the vampire Drelzna—herself a 
  descendant of Iggwilv and Baba Yaga. Her warlock pact 
  has been made with those ancestors’ spirits, but she 
  manages her relationship with them carefully, lest she 
  fall too far under their dark influence. 
   She also claims past tutelage by Thingizzard, a witch 
  dwelling in the fens near White Plume Mountain. In 
  addition to her work for the Cartophile, Mary is eager to 
  accompany the expedition so that she might search the 
  Barrier Peaks for rare ingredients for her potions.
   Mary strikes an eerie, witch-like figure, surrounded 
  always by swirling magical-mechanical trinkets of 
  her own devising. She is often seen shuffling a deck 
  of several things, and will try to quietly tempt party 
  members to draw a card. (See appendix D for more 
  information on the deck, and its distinct connections 
  to the adventure.) Mary is always accompanied by her 
  familiar, a glowing-eyed cat. See appendix C for Mary’s 
  stat block.
   Value to the Party. Mary’s expertise as a diviner can 
  grant advantage on any characters’ checks to determine 
  correct passage through the caverns leading to the 
  monastery. Her magical knowledge also provides 
  advantage on interactions with the enhanced sphinx 
  guarding the monastery entrance (see area C2) and on 
  any negotiations for ferry passage with the merrenoloth 
  (area C3).
   Secret Agendas. Mary’s biggest secret is that she 
  is actually her cat familiar, polymorphed from human 
  form, and using magic to create and direct the human 
  simulacrum of “Mary” as a helpful decoy. (Readers 
  of Dragon+ might alternatively make Mary one of the 
  intelligent cats of Adam Lee’s “Herding Tahra’s Cats” 
  in issue 12). But of more potential peril to the party is 
  Mary’s long-term relationship with Ctenmiir, whom 
  she first met when he would fly out of White Plume 
  Mountain at night to meet with her near Thingizzard’s 
  hut. Her goals are to keep the knowledge of her true 
  form and her relationship with Ctenmiir a secret; to free 
  the vampire if she can, without incriminating herself; 
  and to convince characters to draw from her deck of 
  several things.
   Alternative Entry. If Mary does not start the 
  expedition with the party, she might instead be found in 
  the company of the enhanced sphinx (area C2), where 
  she offers to guide the characters to the monastery’s 
  Grand Master. If she does start with the party, she 
  might choose to remain with the enhanced sphinx, 
  discoursing the secrets of the multiverse with her.
  Rumors and Legends
  Countless legends have arisen regarding the mysterious 
  Barrier Peaks, and those tales circulate constantly 
  among adventurers, explorers, and bards. Rumors 
  specific to Kwalish and his lost expedition are more 
  difficult to come by. But for each day spent talking to 
  knowledgeable travelers, a character can attempt a DC 
  12 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If the check succeeds, 
  roll percentile dice and consult the table below to 
  determine what the character learns. False rumors are 
  in italics.
   Also see appendix F for even more potential rumors of 
  the Barrier Peaks.
  MAXX MARSHALL
  
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  Barrier Peaks Rumors
  d100
  Rumor
  1–15
  The Barrier Peaks have long been damned, 
  ever since a craft of some kind crashed there 
  ages ago. A ship that could navigate the very 
  planes, it was. Things that should not exist 
  escaped from its hold and now populate the 
  mountains.
  16–25
  Kwalish did not perish on his expedition. He 
  alone survived, taking shelter in some complex 
  he found in the peaks. 
  26–30
  Fey woods surround the foothills of the Barrier 
  Peaks. A dryad queen once ruled there, and her 
  grave is now hidden among the trees. Beware, 
  for those trees remain guarded by sprites that 
  still honor her.
  31–45
  Aye, most folk know of Kwalish’s most famous 
  realized design, the apparatus that bears 
  his name. But sages and arcanists know of 
  other designs he drafted, including one for a 
  mechanical container that could keep a brain 
  alive long after a creature’s death.
  46–50
  Kwalish never really existed. The inventor who 
  went by that name was really a construct, 
  created by Ioun to walk among mortals and 
  study our ways. If you want to find the Kwalish 
  construct, you need to first find a temple to Ioun.
  51–65
  A monastery is hidden somewhere in the 
  Barrier Peaks, though its followers care little 
  for piety. Criminals, they are, using the peaks 
  as a secure hideout. It’s said that markings 
  carved into the mountains have been left by 
  these criminals to help point the way to their 
  lair.
  66–70
  The Barrier Peaks are unstable. The city of 
  Daoine Gloine was destroyed in an earthquake, 
  and so was Kwalish’s expedition. There’s no path 
  now to find the place, unless you fancy a trip to 
  the Elemental Plane of Earth and sacrifice there 
  to Ogrémoch.
  71–80
  Daoine Gloine was found in the Barrier Peaks, 
  all right, but it’s long been deserted. Its last 
  residents left ages ago, though a few of their 
  descendants are said to scratch out a meager 
  existence along the old mountain passes.
  81–86
  The way to reach Daoine Gloine isn’t through 
  any pass in the peaks. You’ll need to access the 
  right combination of controls on the Machine of 
  Lum the Mad, and only then will a portal to the 
  city open.
  87–95
  Daoine Gloine took its name from the monster 
  kept there by the city’s priests. They would 
  sacrifice victims to the medusa Gloine Nathair-
  Nathair, using the bodies of those poor victims 
  as the city’s statuary.
  d100
  Rumor
  96–00
  Kwalish’s grand experiment? I’ve heard tell 
  of a suit of armor as powerful as it is cursed. 
  Whoever dons the suit channels powerful 
  magic, but must fuel its capabilities with their 
  own body’s vitality.
  Reaching the Peaks
  The Cartophile’s maps and notes guide the characters 
  from their starting location into the Barrier Peaks, 
  leading them as far as a series of caverns that Kwalish’s 
  original expedition believed would provide a shortcut to 
  Daoine Gloine. From wherever the characters start, it 
  takes a journey of several weeks to reach the foothills of 
  the peaks. You might consider adding a few wilderness 
  encounters along the way, especially within the thick 
  band of woods that surrounds the pass leading up and 
  into the mountains, and which is infused with elements 
  of the Feywild. See appendix A, “Random Encounters,” 
  for more information.
   If you don’t want to incorporate random encounters 
  into the journey to the Barrier Peaks, read the following:
  The mountains of the Barrier Peaks have grown steadily 
  closer as you near the end of weeks of travel, making use 
  of the old notes and maps of Kwalish’s failed expedition. 
  Traversing a thick band of woods over the past several 
  days, you’ve dealt with troublesome sprites by day and 
  swarms of blood-sucking stirges by night. But finally, the 
  trees begin to thin out as you enter the rocky foothills of 
  the range.
   Exactly as indicated on the original expedition’s map, 
  you find a cleft in the rocks that leads to the start of a 
  twisting tunnel complex. As you prepare to enter, you 
  bid farewell to the world of life and light as you leave it 
  behind you . . .
  Trinkets from the Barrier Peaks 
  At any point while the characters are searching through 
  unusual equipment or detritus in the Monastery of the 
  Distressed Body or the city of Daoine Gloine, roll on 
  the following table to determine what they find. Each 
  character finds one Barrier Peaks trinket over the 
  course of the adventure.
  Barrier Peaks Trinkets
  d100 
  Trinket
  01–02 
  A handheld device containing a glowing green gem 
  that darkens when no oxygen is present
  03–04 
  A foot-long, egg-shaped object made from stitched 
  leather
  05–06 
  A black metal cylinder that dictates the history of 
  an unknown plant or animal species when held
  07–08 
  A cylindrical jar containing a pickled crustacean of 
  unknown origin
  
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  d100 
  Trinket
  09–10 
  A small thumb-button storage cylinder that 
  releases a useless iron key when pressed
  11–12 
  An unusual heraldic cloak pin that emits a short 
  musical fanfare when tapped
  13–14 
  A handheld tube that sucks in dust when squeezed 
  and captures it in a detachable compartment
  15–16 
  A scintillating disk of unknown material
  17–18 
  A dial that can be twisted to slowly click back to its 
  origin, whereupon it emits a loud ringing noise
  19–20 
  A hovering, apple-sized orb of metal that follows 
  you around
  21–22 
  The petrified cocoon of an unknown insect
  23–24 
  A bronze gauntlet set with many slots, and which 
  violently expels any object pressed into those slots
  25–26 
  A box that plays an illusory message in an unknown 
  language when opened
  27–28 
  A rod that causes you to forget the last five minutes 
  when you press a button near its tip
  29–30 
  A palm-sized cylinder that emits a harmless ray of 
  glowing blue light when squeezed
  31–32 
  A bead that suppresses your hearing when secreted 
  inside either ear, causing you to be deafened
  33–34 
  An amulet that displays your current health as a 
  green bar above your head, with the bar retracting 
  as your hit point total decreases
  35–36 
  A casket containing one hundred tasteless blue pills 
  that produce no discernible effect when swallowed
  37–38 
  A metal mechanical puzzle with no apparent 
  solution
  39–40 
  A metal spinning top that never tips over when 
  spun
  41–42 
  Two strips of cloth-like material, each coated with a 
  soft, hair-like fuzz on one side
  43–44
  A simple wire pyramid that preserves any 
  foodstuffs it is placed over
  45–46
  A star chart labeled in an unknown script
  47–48 
  A rectangle of black glass that displays 
  indecipherable arcane runes when you swipe your 
  finger across it
  49–50
  A schematic that shows the inner workings of an 
  impossibly complex device
  51–52 
  An odd pair of comfortable shoes made from 
  supple, multicolored material
  53–54 
  A mirror that makes you appear more beautiful 
  when you tap your reflection
  55–56 
  A mechanical metal puppy that playfully follows you 
  around when activated
  57–58 
  A talking bracelet that speaks only to correct your 
  grammar
  59–60 
  A bar of soap that can remove any stain
  61–62 
  A journal in Common, written by someone in a 
  world similar to but not quite the same as your own
  63–64 
  A tub containing one serving of disgusting but 
  nutritious goop that refills itself slowly over the 
  course of one week
  d100 
  Trinket
  65–66 
  An instruction manual for activating a mysterious, 
  world-destroying device
  67–68 
  A small supple disk that displays weird moving 
  symbols when placed over either eye
  69–70 
  A tiny desk set with large, colorful buttons, each 
  of which plays a discordant musical fanfare when 
  pressed
  71–72 
  A pair of tinted spectacles that reduce the glare of 
  the sun when worn
  73–74 
  An inflatable bedroll made from an unknown 
  material, and which slowly deflates when used
  75–76 
  A rod tipped with a blunt metal pincer whose grip 
  can be adjusted by turning a screw
  77–78
  A battered helmet with a transparent orange visor 
  that flips into place when donned
  79–80 
  An animated map of a mysterious city that appears 
  to be tracking the movements of five creatures
  81–82 
  A cylinder of mist that holds your hair perfectly in 
  shape when sprayed onto your head
  83–84 
  A talking wand that tells you the name of any plant 
  you point it at
  85–86 
  A metal bracelet that displays the number of steps 
  you’ve taken since your last long rest
  87–88 
  A tiny handheld device that projects a glowing dot 
  onto whatever you point it at
  89–90 
  A rectangular piece of glass that displays a twelve-
  digit countdown on its surface
  91–92
  A wall chart of mysterious formulae arranged into a 
  color-coded grid
  93–94 
  A handheld device that solves any math problem 
  you input using its buttons
  95–96 
  A ball of speckled brown fur that appears to be alive
  97–98 
  A complicated crystal board game that you don’t 
  know how to play
  99–00
  A large glass rectangle that displays a storm of 
  black and white patterns when you press a button 
  on its underside
  Part 2: Monastery of  
  the Distressed Body
  The known route of Kwalish’s original expedition ends 
  at the series of tunnels leading into the Barrier Peaks, 
  with no sense of how that long-lost company proceeded. 
  However, recent carvings have been etched into these 
  tunnels in thieves’ cant and Infernal, marking the route 
  to the monastery for new recruits. The markings can be 
  spotted with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) 
  check, and list the names of individual outlaws that have 
  passed through. They also make reference to something 
  called “the Monastery of the Distressed Body” and its 
  “Grand Master,” who supposedly offers shelter and 
  protection to all those who submit to their authority.
   Additional symbols also mark out the correct route 
  through the labyrinthine tunnels to area C1. If those 
  markings are deciphered with a successful DC 12 
  Intelligence (Investigation) check, the characters can 
  traverse the tunnels in a few hours. Otherwise, it takes 
  
  TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  CLAUDIO POZAS
  
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  a day or more to reach the cliff edge, and the characters 
  face a greater number of potential random encounters 
  as a prelude to arriving at the monastery. See appendix 
  A for more information.
  Cliff-Side Approach
  Whether following the monks’ symbols or finding 
  their own route through the caverns, the characters 
  eventually emerge on a narrow cliff ledge overlooking 
  an impossibly deep bowl-shaped valley within the 
  Barrier Peaks.
  C1. Cliff Edge
  Floating hundreds of feet in the air at the center of the 
  valley is a large island of rock. Enormous chimney-
  engines extend from the bottom of this island, burning 
  with fitful, deep-red fires that appear to keep the island 
  aloft. A series of odd structures rise from the rock, 
  appearing almost like metallic crystals.
   Farther down the cliff-side ledge is a flat metal dock, 
  on which reclines a feline monstrosity with a female 
  humanoid head—a regal gynosphinx. A matching dock is 
  thrust out from the floating rock island across from this 
  dock, but there is no obvious way to cross the hundreds 
  of feet of open space between them.
  The floating island is all that remains of the planar craft 
  that crashed into the mountains eons ago. The force 
  of its impact created this valley and nearly destroyed 
  the craft. But when it tried to escape the crash site, the 
  planar craft tore away the massive chunk of rock it was 
  embedded into. For centuries, its damaged engines have 
  allowed it to maintain a fixed location in the air, but they 
  aren’t strong enough to ascend any higher.
   Before the characters can attempt any crossing to the 
  monastery, they must contend with the guardian waiting 
  for them in area C2.
  C2. Enhanced Sphinx
  Sitting regally on the metallic dock, this enhanced 
  sphinx protects the approach to the monastery. It 
  intervenes in any attempt to fly or otherwise cross to 
  the floating island, but negotiates for passage if the 
  characters speak to it.
  The Enhanced Sphinx
  DAVID RAPOZA
  
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  Scaling Options
  This adventure is designed for characters of 5th to 10th 
  level. For lower-level parties, you can adjust the adventure 
  as follows:
   Part 1: Mission to the Barrier Peaks. Make sure the party 
  has at least two of the NPCs with them. Then downplay 
  those NPCs’ secret agendas as needed to increase their 
  party loyalty.
   Part 2: Monastery of the Distressed Body. For encounters 
  built around five monks led by an elder monk, use three 
  monks led by an elder monk instead. You can also limit 
  those attending any audience in the central abbey to just 
  the elder monks.
   Part 3: The Ooze-Flooded City. Adjust the ooze-folk so 
  that 1d4 of those defenders activate only every 20 minutes, 
  and within 50 to 100 feet of the characters.
   Appendix D: Magic Items. As a reminder, many items 
  listed in the appendix—even though thematic to the 
  adventure—are not level appropriate. The appendix offers 
  advice for limiting their use.
  The gynosphinx appears to have suffered ancient injuries 
  to its head, which have healed and been replaced by 
  mechanical components. Both the creature’s eyes are 
  now glowing blue lenses, and its head is orbited by a 
  number of spinning metallic devices.
   “Entreat with me,” the sphinx says, “if you wish to 
  cross to the monastery. You do not appear entirely 
  ignorant, and I look forward to adding whatever small 
  knowledge you might possess to my collection.”
   Creature. Originally wounded in an encounter that 
  nearly destroyed Kwalish’s expedition, the enhanced 
  sphinx was subsequently repaired with magical-
  mechanical parts—and (unknown to it) programmed 
  by Kwalish to serve his needs and guard this location. 
  The sphinx’s head is also surrounded by a series of 
  mechanical devices that function as Ioun stones, which 
  add to its vast knowledge. The enhanced sphinx is a 
  gynosphinx, with these changes:
  • Its Intelligence score is 24 (+7).
  • It has a +1 bonus to Intelligence checks and 
  Intelligence saving throws.
  • It can speak and understand all languages.
   The Sphinx’s Riddle. Instead of asking a traditional 
  riddle that the characters must solve, the enhanced 
  sphinx demands that they ask a question that it cannot 
  answer. This could be a riddle, a secret, a logical 
  contradiction, or any other question—but the sphinx 
  warns the characters that with all the knowledge it has 
  collected throughout the years, it knows the answer to 
  every question. If it fails to answer, the characters are 
  allowed to cross to the island without paying the toll.
   With its enhanced knowledge, the sphinx can 
  correctly answer almost any question. To simulate this 
  around the table, you might challenge the players to 
  stump you as the DM with a riddle or trivia question. 
  This might be something inherent to their characters’ 
  own knowledge, or something completely outside the 
  context of the game. If this is a question pertaining to 
  the real world, you might tell the players in advance 
  that you’ll make use of the Internet with a 30-second 
  time limit to mimic the sphinx’s vast knowledge base. 
  If this is a game-world question, you can instead let the 
  sphinx attempt a DC 15 Intelligence check to answer 
  the question, with advantage on the check (and look for 
  further options in appendix B).
   Each time the enhanced sphinx successfully answers 
  a question, it demands that the characters pay the 
  toll to cross: either one character’s Intelligence score 
  permanently decreases by 1, or two characters each 
  have another ability score of their choice permanently 
  decrease by 1. This toll is magically extracted 
  immediately, and manifests as another of the sphinx’s 
  mechanical Ioun stone-like devices. This curse can 
  be removed only by a remove curse spell cast by an 
  18th-level spellcaster, by defeating the enhanced sphinx 
  in combat, or through mechanisms found in Kwalish’s 
  lab in Daoine Gloine (see area O7).
   Dock. Created by Kwalish, this structure is built so 
  that a ferry summoned from the monastery slots into it, 
  allowing characters to easily board. An identical dock 
  juts out from the edge of the flying island.
   Treasure. If the sphinx is defeated in combat, most of 
  its mechanical Ioun stones shatter, reversing the effects 
  of the sphinx’s tolls on all characters. Additionally, 
  two Ioun stones survive and can be claimed. (If she is 
  with the party, Mary Greymalkin covets these magical-
  mechanical devices, and turns against the characters 
  if doing so helps her claim them.) Choose these two 
  unique stones from the new examples in appendix D.
  C3. Ferry Service
  The flying ferry is summoned from the monastery’s 
  dock at the sphinx’s mental command, crossing over 
  to the cliff ledge. The ferry also comes if the sphinx 
  is killed, adhering to the Grand Master’s orders that 
  any powerful visitors are to be brought to the devil’s 
  attention. Alternatively, the Grand Master might send 
  over a squad of five monks (cultists) led by an elder 
  monk (cult fanatic) to investigate the sphinx’s death and 
  assess the characters’ potential threat.
  A pulse of fire marks something igniting at the edge of 
  the floating island, alongside its distant dock. Something 
  detaches and floats smoothly towards you—a flying skiff 
  piloted by a hooded figure.
  The ferry is operated by a merrenoloth (originally 
  from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes). It is crafted from 
  laboratory debris attached to a small engine similar to 
  the large engines holding the monastery aloft. The skiff 
  can ferry up to ten Medium creatures at one time, and 
  can be controlled automatically by the merrenoloth, 
  Gearbox the modron, or a rescued brain in a jar (see 
  area M8). A character can decipher the controls of a skiff 
  with a successful DC 15 Intelligence check, allowing 
  that character to control it. A skiff also requires at least 
  one fully charged energy cell from the treasury (area 
  M10) for fuel.
  
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  Teleportation-Field Devices
  One of the more impressive bits of technology from the 
  crashed planar craft, teleportation-field devices consist 
  of two matched magical-mechanical rings. Both rings 
  channel the power of teleportation and flight, and were 
  originally used to undertake repairs on the outside of the 
  craft, handle dangerous substances at a distance, and 
  so forth. 
   When a creature passes an arm or other appendage 
  into one ring, that appendage appears to emerge from 
  the other ring, no matter how far apart the devices are. 
  The second device has a flying speed of 40 feet, and can 
  be flown remotely under the creature’s control as part of 
  its own movement. The remote device also grants the 
  creature a sensory awareness of the area around it. This 
  allows the appendage to be used normally, so that the 
  creature can undertake any activity remotely that it could 
  accomplish close up, including making physical ability 
  checks and attacks.
   Because they are linked to the planar craft, teleportation-
  field devices function only in the monastery and in Daoine 
  Gloine (where Kwalish has used the magical-mechanical 
  technology of the craft to set up his new lab). If the 
  characters manage to secure a pair of such devices, you 
  can let the players come up with novel ways to make 
  use of them in those locations (assigning appropriate 
  Intelligence checks if you want to make the process 
  difficult). However, they can’t be claimed as treasure.
   The merrenoloth stays silent, but any character who 
  succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check to 
  glimpse beneath its hood sees a skeletal face. (The 
  character can later note the resemblance between this 
  visage and the monastery’s flayed monks.)
  C4. Valley Floor
  If any character is unfortunate enough to fall from the 
  cliff, the other characters quickly lose sight of them in 
  a light mist that covers the valley floor. Any subsequent 
  search for a body comes up empty—because a floating 
  teleportation-field device (see the sidebar) zooms around 
  the bottom of the valley, and automatically teleports the 
  falling character into the prison cells at area M6.
  The Monastery
  The crashed planar craft still makes up most of the 
  monastery’s general structure, having been long ago 
  converted into Kwalish’s first laboratory, then converted 
  again into this present sinister site. The overall sense 
  of the place—as evidenced in the alien geometries of its 
  buildings and its exposed technology—should be one of 
  a brooding, otherworldly environ where nothing feels 
  quite right.
   Over long years, the monastery has drawn hundreds 
  of dark recruits to its hidden location, through both 
  whispered rumor and dark outreach to criminals 
  seeking refuge from the law. Though the vast majority 
  of those recruits have perished or been imprisoned at 
  the hands of the Grand Master, twenty-five monks—all a 
  motley assemblage of evil humanoids—currently occupy 
  various areas of the monastery. All wear cowled robes 
  to conceal their features, which can be seen only if a 
  monk is forced to unmask, or if a watchful character 
  gets close to a monk and succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom 
  (Perception) check. Any monk whose face is seen shows 
  an identical grim countenance—a face flayed nearly to 
  the bone, the result of a brutal initiation to better match 
  the appearance of the Grand Master. 
   Wherever they are initially stationed, the monks all 
  gather together if a general alarm is sounded, or to 
  witness an audience in the central abbey (area M3). 
  Each monk is a cultist that carries a smaller version of 
  a bone devil’s hooked polearm (see the sidebar in the 
  “Bone Devil” section in the Monster Manual), typically 
  disguised as a staff or tool:
  Hooked Polearm. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage. 
  If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is 
  grappled (escape DC 10). Until this grapple ends, the 
  monk cannot use its polearm on another target.
   In addition, each group of five monks is led by an 
  elder monk. These are cult fanatics that have outfitted 
  their polearms with laser weapons secured from the 
  monastery’s stores of technology. These weapons are 
  notoriously ineffective against polished metal armor and 
  shields, which reflect their laser bolts:
  Force Pike. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft. or range 40/100 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d10 
  + 2) force damage. The attack has disadvantage against 
  any target with polished metal armor or shield, and has 
  its ranged halved when firing through smoke or fog. 
   A force pike uses an energy cell (see area M10), 
  expending one charge for each successful attack. If 
  claimed as treasure, a pike’s cell holds 2d10 remaining 
  charges. If you prefer not to have such weapons fall into 
  the hands of the characters, then whenever an elder 
  monk is defeated, its force pike automatically overheats 
  and explodes.
  Roleplaying the Monks
  The Monastery of the Distressed Body has been secretly 
  drawing in outlaws for decades. As such, you might add 
  to the ranks of the monks with any number of villainous 
  NPCs the players have heard about, or even foes that 
  slipped through their clutches in years past. Sir Bluto 
  Sans Pite from White Plume Mountain in Tales from the 
  Yawning Portal is a good candidate, as are Faroul and 
  Gondolo from Port Nyanzaru in Tomb of Annihilation.
   The monks do not interfere as the characters 
  initially explore the monastery, and they keep their 
  cowls down if they are approached. They say little 
  about the workings of the place, but vaguely hint at 
  how newcomers will be welcome to either join their 
  “immured brothers” (the prisoners in area M6) or the 
  “enlightened ones” (the brains in jars in the control 
  room of area M8). They readily direct characters toward 
  the Grand Master in the central abbey (area M3). If 
  the monks are harassed, or if the characters spend too 
  much time exploring on their own, Lean Meimbaol from 
  area M1 arrives to personally escort them to the abbey.
   If combat breaks out, the monks all reveal their true 
  natures, and attempt to overwhelm and capture the 
  characters.
  Prisoners of the Monastery
  Some thirty humanoid prisoners (commoners) are 
  held in the monastery. All have had their faces flayed to 
  
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  make them barely distinguishable from the monks. Most 
  work in the engine room (area M5) during the day, and 
  are penned together at night in the cells of area M6. A 
  smaller group of more dangerous humanoids has been 
  permanently imprisoned in that same area.
   Several of the prisoners are survivors from previous 
  expeditions sent into the Barrier Peaks by the 
  Cartophile. They recognize any of the hirelings with 
  the characters, or any other signs of the Cartophile’s 
  patronage (maps, notebooks, and so forth). Once contact 
  has been made, they look to help the characters—
  especially if this also leads to their own escape. 
  However, most of the other prisoners are former monks 
  that tried to leave or otherwise got into trouble, and 
  they look to curry favor with their captors by reporting 
  subversive activity.
  Locations in the Monastery
  The following locations are identified on the map 
  on page 9.
  M1. Monastery Dock
  The merrenoloth’s ferry departs from and arrives at this 
  metallic dock. As the characters arrive, an elder monk 
  named Lean Meimbaol greets them.
  A figure dressed as a hooded monk stands besides the 
  dock, awaiting your arrival. Though he does not lower his 
  cowl, he greets you warmly.
   “Congratulations on your finding us! The Monastery 
  of the Distressed Body remains ever open to new 
  prospects. I am sure the Grand Master will find suitable 
  use for your bodies . . . or your minds. May I take you to 
  him now?”
   If the characters agree, they are brought to the central 
  abbey (area M3). If they demure or refuse, Lean 
  Meimbaol does not interfere with their exploration of the 
  monastery. However, he does issue a subtle warning.
  “It makes no difference, really. All who come here find 
  their way to the Grand Master . . . eventually.”
  M2. Monastery Grounds
  At the surface level of the floating rock island, the 
  monastery is laid out as a large campus composed of 
  sharp-angled buildings. These jut out of the ground 
  like massive metallic crystals, with scraggly gardens 
  set between them and paths winding throughout. Five 
  monks led by an elder can be found here, silently going 
  about the business of gardening, observing prayers, 
  scrubbing flagstones, and other mundane activities.
   Dark Tidings. With a successful DC 12 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check made to 
  quietly search or inspect the area, a character learns 
  a number of things regarding the monastery’s darker 
  nature. Graffiti scratched into the walls in thieves’ 
  cant and Infernal reveals dire sentiments regarding 
  how the doubtful are punished, and how only service 
  to the monastery can keep it aloft. In addition, the 
  original metal of the structures here has been melted 
  and reworked in many places into a preponderance of 
  leering skulls.
   With a successful check result of 16 or higher, 
  characters note that strange wiring runs throughout the 
  grounds, seeming to connect all the buildings together, 
  and originating in area M8 (the control room).
   Creatures. If the check result is 14 or higher, a 
  character catches sight or warning of magically 
  animated leather faces (from area M7, the leather 
  works) lurking around the most shadowy corners of the 
  grounds. These unnatural creatures flutter away if any 
  characters approach them, but they attack if pressed. 
  Treat any group of leather faces as a swarm of bats, and 
  see the leather works (area M7) for more information. 
  M3. Central Abbey
  Visible from across the monastery grounds, the planar 
  craft’s former main conning tower rises several hundred 
  feet into the air. It now serves as the monastery’s 
  central abbey.
  A massive pair of cathedral doors open onto a long nave. 
  Rows of balconies line the walls, occupied by a couple 
  of dozen hooded monks seemingly come to watch the 
  audience about to take place.
   At the far end of the nave, a throne resembling a 
  twisted metal captain’s chair rises from a metallic 
  dais backed by an ornate arch. There sits the Grand 
  Master of the Distressed Body—a bone devil flanked 
  by two massive bodyguards. The Grand Master wears 
  a patchwork leather robe and a gleaming crown, and 
  it carries a scepter set with odd crystal bumps and 
  metal flanges. With its other hand, the devil taps the 
  arm of the throne, showing off nails set with gleaming 
  metallic shards.
  “Welcome,” the Grand Master says. “We get few suppli-
  cants here of your obvious experience and skill. You shall 
  do well in service here at the monastery. But will that 
  service be with the strength of your bodies or the strength 
  of your minds?” 
   The Grand Master. As the characters draw closer to 
  the Grand Master, anyone can see that the devil’s horrid 
  leather cloak is crafted from the faces of flayed monks 
  and prisoners, the flesh cured to leather and roughly 
  stitched together. The scepter and crown it bears appear 
  almost mechanical in nature, and are crafted from 
  repurposed magical-mechanical parts from the planar 
  craft. Large rings seemingly crafted in the same way 
  encircle the devil’s arms and tail.
   If a monk escorted the characters here, the Grand 
  Master makes an example of that servitor for allowing 
  weapons to be brought into its holy presence. 
  Otherwise, the Grand Master is making an example of 
  a random monk when the characters enter this area. 
  
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  The Grand Master
  In either event, the devil’s elder monk bodyguards (see 
  below) are ordered to strike with their exotic weapons, 
  executing the errant monk while the Grand Master 
  welcomes the characters.
   The bone devil is an arrogant bully, and assumes 
  that the characters have come to join its cult. However, 
  it also comes across as whiny and petulant, reliant on 
  the protection of its bodyguards rather than making 
  any physical threats. If asked about Kwalish, the Grand 
  Master gladly recounts how it took over the floating 
  island and drove Kwalish to a second location—some 
  lost city farther into the Barrier Peaks. 
   The devil has seen Kwalish’s notes (found in the 
  treasury, area M10), which confirm that the inventor 
  was intent on seeking the legendary city of Daoine 
  Gloine. It offers to let the characters see them as well—
  in exchange for the “modest fee” of all the characters’ 
  magic items, and one year of service from either the 
  strongest or most intelligent character. (The devil is 
  always in need of fresh servants to shovel fuel in the 
  engine room, and fresh minds to replace the brains in 
  the control room.) If the characters reject this offer, the 
  Grand Master demands a year of service simply for the 
  honor of the characters having visited the monastery, 
  after which they are free to leave.
   Any characters foolish enough to volunteer their 
  service are taken to the leather works (area M7) to 
  have their faces flayed. As soon as those characters 
  are out of the abbey, the Grand Master orders the other 
  adventurers to be murdered and looted. If it is attacked 
  or its orders are openly defied, the bone devil orders the 
  characters attacked at once. The Grand Master fights 
  only if directly threatened, or if its bodyguards and 
  monks appear to be losing the fight.
   Creatures. The Grand Master is a bone devil with 
  these changes:
  • Shards of a vorpal sword once broken against 
  the devil replace its claws. A successful DC 12 
  Intelligence (Arcana) or Wisdom (Perception) check 
  identifies them as such. When the devil rolls a 20 on 
  an attack roll with a claw, the target is decapitated. (At 
  your option, the attack can instead deal an extra 6d8 
  slashing damage.) A target is immune to this effect 
  if it is immune to slashing damage, has legendary 
  actions, doesn’t have or need a head, or if you decide 
  that the target is too large for its head to be cut off by 
  the devil’s claws. If removed, the shards lose their 
  magical powers.
  • Local teleportation-field bracelets encircle the devil’s 
  arms and tail. These devices allow the Grand Master 
  to make its claw and sting attacks remotely, though 
  still on the devil’s turn and using its actions. 
   Two half-orc monks named East Wind and West Wind 
  protect the Grand Master at all times. Each is a martial 
  arts adept with these changes:
  • East Wind is armed with a longsword that is a poly-
  morph blade (see appendix D), granting him the 
  following attack:
   Polymorph Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to 
  hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing 
  damage. If East Wind rolls a 20 on the attack roll, the 
  target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw 
  or suffer the effects of a polymorph spell.
  • West Wind is armed with a longsword that is a blade 
  of the medusa (see appendix D), granting him the fol-
  lowing attack:
   Blade of the Medusa. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to 
  hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing 
  damage. If West Wind rolls a 20 on the attack roll, the 
  target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving 
  throw or suffer the effects of a flesh to stone spell.
   The Grand Master makes for a difficult fight on 
  its own, and the addition of bodyguards and monks 
  targeting characters from the balconies could quickly 
  overwhelm a party. You might opt to have the Grand 
  Master reveal some of the workings of the monastery 
  through its boasting—specifically, the existence of the 
  treasury and the brains in jars guarding its access. 
  Doing so might encourage characters to escape in that 
  direction during the commotion of a fight.
   If the characters are overwhelmed, the Grand Master 
  looks to have them captured rather than killed, as 
  the devil is ever in need of fresh servants. Captured 
  characters are taken to the cells in area M6, where 
  you can create escape scenarios for them of your 
  own devising.
  SHAWN WOOD
  
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   Death of the Grand Master. If the Grand Master 
  is slain, the bone devil is revealed to be an advanced 
  ruse—a war machine of Kwalish’s design, piloted by 
  a particularly ingenious quasit named Whazzit. The 
  original bone devil met its demise after Kwalish’s exile, 
  when it was drawn into the laboratory’s machinery while 
  trying to convert the planar craft into the monastery. 
  This rendered the devil into the treasury’s brain in 
  a jar. In the aftermath, the Grand Master’s servant 
  Whazzit discovered Kwalish’s war machine designs 
  and managed to construct it using the bone devil’s 
  exoskeleton. The tiny fiend has kept up this pretense 
  for years, piloting this exoskeleton in the guise of the 
  Grand Master. If the Grand Master’s true nature is 
  discovered, the quasit immediately surrenders and any 
  remaining monks quickly and chaotically revolt. They’ll 
  begin looting, abandon work in the engine room, and 
  eventually attempt to flee.
   Throne Gate. The throne is an assemblage of 
  magical-mechanical parts backed by a standing metallic 
  arch set with complex filigree. The armrests of the 
  throne are set with a complicated array of instruments, 
  though many of the controls have been stripped 
  away. (The throne was once the control center of the 
  archway—the gate Kwalish opened to the Nine Hells, 
  crafted from the technology of the crashed planar craft.)
   A character who sits on the throne notes that many 
  of its instruments are still operational, allowing them 
  to track the comings and goings of the merrenoloth’s 
  ferry. If a creature seated in the throne wears the bone 
  devil’s crown and holds its scepter, that creature can 
  attempt a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to reopen 
  the archway. Treat a successful check as if the character 
  had cast the gate spell to open a gate to the Nine Hells.
   Treasure. The crown and scepter are crafted of rare 
  metal alloys and set with jeweled crystalline buttons 
  plundered from the planar craft’s instrument panels. 
  They have no magical power outside the monastery and 
  the city of Daoine Gloine (see area O4), but if sold as art 
  objects, the crown is worth 500 gp and the scepter is 
  worth 750 gp. 
  M4. Dormitories
  When not on duty, the monks reside in this series of ill-
  kept rooms. 
  Each of these dormitory cells contains only a bed, a 
  trunk for personal effects, and a table. All are crafted 
  of scrap parts from the complex mechanical detritus of 
  the monastery, and feature residual buttons, dials, and 
  meters that have no discernible purpose. The walls here 
  are covered in graffiti, suggesting a steady series of new 
  residents over long years.
   Creatures. A group of five monks led by an elder 
  monk can be found here at any time, sleeping, eating, 
  and taking part in decidedly non-monastic activities 
  (gambling, flinging chamber pots at one another, 
  comparing dueling scars, plotting a way to rob the 
  treasury, and so forth).
   Treasure. Though anything of value brought to 
  or found in the monastery is meant for the treasury, 
  the monks have managed to hide away some 
  personal treasure. A successful DC 13 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) check discerns how the buttons and 
  dials of the furnishings can be worked to access hidden 
  compartments, revealing 10d10 gp worth of loose coins, 
  three uncut sapphires (50 gp each), and a map showing 
  the route to a cache of stolen goods hidden near a 
  thieves guild in a city of your choice. 
   One cache also holds a Three-Dragon Ante deck with 
  one card enchanted to appear as whatever specific 
  card its owner commands. This magic works only 25 
  percent of the time, but the deck is worth 500 gp to any 
  serious gambler who doesn’t mind the risk—or who isn’t 
  told about it.
  M5. Engine Room
  This area contains the magical workings of the 
  monastery’s engines.
  This massive chamber is filled with the deafening hum 
  and roar of machinery. Piles of rough rock ore are spread 
  throughout the area, around which a prisoner work gang 
  toils in the sweltering heat. Smooth metallic columns 
  rise to the ceiling, with open hatches set into their sides 
  at ground level. Haggard prisoners frantically shovel ore 
  into these hatches, which pulse with a deep-red glow.
   As you watch, a prisoner collapses from exhaustion. 
  Under orders from the overseeing monks, other workers 
  toss his body out of the way into a corner for a quick and 
  callous disposal.
  The fuel originally carried by the planar craft has long 
  been exhausted, and prisoners now shovel low-grade 
  ore mined from the surrounding mountains into the 
  furnaces beneath this area. The powerful fires of those 
  furnaces keep the monastery in the air, and instantly 
  destroy anything thrown into their open vents.
   If ore ceases to be fed to the furnaces (most likely 
  due to the characters freeing the prisoners here and 
  breaking the Grand Master’s power) the engines begin 
  to fail over a 24-hour period. When the furnaces stop 
  burning after that point, the monastery plunges into the 
  valley to be destroyed, along with any creatures still 
  inside it. 
   Creatures. Five monks led by an elder oversee a 
  group of twenty prisoners toiling to keep the engines 
  burning and the monastery aloft. If the monks are 
  dealt with and the prisoners are freed, they can fill the 
  characters in on the layout of the monastery. All the 
  prisoners are desperate to escape the monastery before 
  its engines fail. They can steal a skiff and follow the 
  marked trails out of the Barrier Peaks if left to their 
  own devices.
  
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  M6. Prison Cells
  This area is lined with boxlike metal cells, all built of the 
  same strange materials seen elsewhere in the monastery. 
  Most of the cells are empty, but shouts and a sound 
  of creatures hammering on locked doors are heard 
  from a few. 
  Any prisoners not working in the engine room or mining 
  the ore fed to the engines (see “Cavern Encounters” in 
  appendix A) are kept here, as are any prisoners that 
  are sick or injured but still able to move under their 
  own power. As well, a group of prisoners deemed too 
  dangerous to work but too valuable to kill have been 
  designated “immured ones” and incarcerated here, 
  where the monks attempt to break their wills and return 
  them to servitude.
   Cells. The cells are all repurposed metal containers 
  from the planar craft, and are all locked. A character 
  can pick a cell’s lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity 
  check using thieves’ tools. The metal of the cells is 
  especially susceptible to the planar craft’s technology, 
  allowing a lock to be automatically sliced open with an 
  attack from an elder monk’s force pike.
   Characters who fall to the valley floor (area C4) 
  from area C1 or area M9 are picked up by a floating 
  teleportation-field device (see the sidebar) and teleported 
  into one of these locked cells.
   Creatures. Five monks led by an elder monk guard 
  the prisoners here. The elder monk carries keys to all 
  the cells. The ten prisoners are humanoid commoners, 
  most of which require healing in order to speak 
  coherently or walk on their own. If the monks are dealt 
  with, freed prisoners can fill the characters in on the 
  layout of the monastery. If the engines are set to fail, all 
  the prisoners will be desperate to escape the monastery 
  before its fall. If freed in any event, they can steal a skiff 
  and follow the marked trails out of the Barrier Peaks if 
  left to their own devices.
   Immured Ones. These three unfortunate prisoners 
  have been driven mad by their incarceration and 
  abuse. If freed, each attacks the nearest target unless a 
  character succeeds on a DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) 
  check. A successful check causes the immured ones to 
  run off and attempt to escape. 
   Treat each immured one as a berserker with 
  these changes:
  • Its greataxe attack is replaced with a shackling 
  chains attack, using the same modifiers but dealing 
  bludgeoning damage.
  • While in sunlight, an immured one has disadvantage 
  on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) 
  checks that rely on sight.
  M7. Leather Works
  The planar craft’s medical station has been repurposed 
  into a torture chamber by the Grand Master. Here, 
  new arrivals are flayed to take on the bone devil’s own 
  ghastly image.
  This chamber resembles some horrid combination of 
  a tanner’s, an alchemist’s, and a butcher’s. Knives and 
  other implements lie scattered about, razor sharp and 
  streaked with blood and gore. Bottles and canisters 
  of preserving chemicals are heaped up on tables 
  and shelves, many of them leaking or spilled. Barrels 
  identifiable by their sharp smell as powerful tanning 
  acids stand open against the walls, beneath rows of 
  hanging chains.
   A limp, leather-clad figure is curled against the wall 
  beneath the chains. Another figure lies strapped to a 
  table, showing no sign of injury but surrounded by a 
  group of monks that appear to be preparing for some 
  horrid ceremony. Hanging on the walls around the table 
  are a number of grotesque leather masks. 
  The leather masks that hang around the room are the 
  flayed faces of monks and prisoners, recognizable as 
  such with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) 
  check or by any character who has seen the horrid 
  leather robe worn by the Grand Master.
   Creatures. Five monks led by an elder are all 
  sharpening tools and preparing to flay the flesh from the 
  face of a new recruit to the monastery. They attack at 
  the first sign of intruders, with the magically animated 
  leather faces detaching from the walls to attack 
  alongside them. Treat all the faces as a swarm of bats.
   Treasure. Any inspection or a successful DC 12 
  Wisdom (Perception) check reveals that the leather-clad 
  figure on the floor is actually a suit of leather golem 
  armor. See appendix D for more information.
   Development. If any leather mask is placed on the 
  face of a flayed prisoner while that prisoner is targeted 
  by healing magic, the magic of the mask is undone and 
  the prisoner’s original face is restored.
  M8. Control Room
  This central area once served as the bridge of the 
  planar craft.
  This area is a maze of damaged controls and broken 
  machinery. Countless wires twist their way across the 
  walls, erupting from control panels that have been pulled 
  apart to lay bare their internal components.
   Five clear canisters connected by metal tubing and 
  wires line the walls, each one filled with viscous fluid—
  and what appears to be a humanoid brain. 
  Any wires spotted by the characters in area M2 all 
  eventually end up here. An inspection of the room 
  and its control panels show that most of the magical-
  mechanical components once here have been stripped 
  out. These were worked into Kwalish’s original 
  experiments or otherwise repurposed.
   Creatures. These horrid undead are the monastery’s 
  so-called “enlightened ones.” Through the technology 
  of the planar craft and Kwalish’s experimentation, each 
  
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  brain in a jar has been chained to the others to form 
  a hive-mind consciousness, even as each retains its 
  individual voice. Working together, the brains maintain 
  the monastery’s technical operations. Each brain is also 
  responsible for two of the floating disks that lead out to 
  the treasury (see area M9, “Floating Bridge”), each of 
  which is kept active by default.
   Each brain speaks Common and another language 
  of your choice, and is able to communicate from within 
  its canister. Some identify themselves as members of 
  Kwalish’s original expedition, while others are wizards 
  and other spellcasters enslaved by the monks. 
   Lore and Information. With respectful discussion 
  and a successful DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check, a 
  brain can be enticed to reveal its knowledge of Kwalish 
  and his initial expedition. All of Kwalish’s companions 
  died at the hands of the sphinx, but the inventor 
  managed to harvest their brains in order to return them 
  to a semblance of life. Kwalish promised to research a 
  means of finding new bodies for his fallen companions, 
  but was driven away by the Grand Master before he 
  could complete this task. The brains suspect that 
  Kwalish traveled onward to Daoine Gloine, and though 
  they don’t know the route, they do know that Kwalish’s 
  journal from their original expedition can be found in 
  the treasury (area M10).
   If the check result is 14 or higher, the characters 
  also learn that the brains have control over the floating 
  disks leading to the treasury, and that they are ordered 
  to deactivate the disks if anyone other than the Grand 
  Master attempts to cross them. They also reveal 
  the existence of the antimagic field surrounding the 
  treasury (see area M10 for more information).
   If the check result is 16 or higher, the characters 
  learn of a final, more powerful brain sequestered within 
  the treasury. However, the brains in this area can only 
  speculate on who that brain once belonged to, its state of 
  mind, and what it controls.
   Negotiating with the Brains. The brains in their 
  jars are currently engaged in running the monastery, 
  and each deactivates the floating disks it controls in 
  response to any attempt by the characters to enter 
  the treasury. However, the brains can be charmed, 
  intimidated, cajoled, or negotiated with to keep their 
  floating disks active. If the characters negotiate poorly, 
  or if any brains are destroyed, certain disks deactivate—
  and reaching the treasury becomes a greater challenge.
   In order to persuade the brains to keep all the floating 
  disks active, the characters must succeed on five DC 
  15 Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion) 
  checks. Any character proficient in these skills can 
  attempt a check or use the Help action to provide 
  advantage on another character’s check. For each 
  failure, one brain deactivates both its disks.
   If the players enjoy extended dialog and more social 
  encounters, you can have them interact with each 
  brain separately. With a successful DC 12 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) or Wisdom (Insight) check, a character 
  talking to a brain discovers its specific knowledge (see 
  the table below), including which skill has the best 
  chance to convince a brain to keep its disks active. If 
  that check is subsequently failed, both of that specific 
  brain’s disks are deactivated.
   If brain number 2 or any three other brains are 
  destroyed or disconnected, the monastery’s systems 
  begin to fail over a 24-hour period. When those systems 
  fail completely after that point, the monastery plunges 
  into the valley to be destroyed, along with any creatures 
  still inside it.
   Gearbox to the Rescue. If Gearbox the modron 
  is with the party, one character can attempt a DC 12 
  Dexterity check to connect the construct to the controls 
  in this area. Successfully doing so overrides all the 
  brains in jars and keeps all the floating disks active. 
  However, doing so instills Gearbox with a greater 
  sense of purpose, after which it refuses to disconnect. 
  The modron thereafter integrates its consciousness 
  Brains in Jars
  Brain (Name)
  Disks
  Knowledge
  Area of Control
  Ability Check to Deal With
  1 (Alton)
  3 and 9
  The true, evil nature of the monks 
  and the Grand Master; the story 
  of how the Grand Master first 
  came to power
  Dormitories; can lock and 
  unlock the doors there
  Charisma (Persuasion); the brain is 
  eager to please
  2 (Broderick)
  2 and 7
  The story of Kwalish’s escape 
  from the monastery; the existence 
  of a second lab
  Engine room; can overcharge 
  the engines over a period of 
  1 hour to cause an explosion 
  and crash the monastery
  Charisma (Intimidation); the brain 
  responds to shows of authority
  3 (Corliss)
  4 and 5
  How the treasury is protected by 
  an antimagic field
  Control room; can activate 
  a force field to seal off that 
  area from the rest of the 
  monastery
  Charisma (Deception); the brain is 
  openly antagonistic but easy to fool
  4 (Dunstan)
  8 and 10
  The true nature of the monastery 
  as a crashed planar craft
  Central abbey; can activate/
  deactivate the Grand 
  Master’s teleportation field 
  bracelets
  Intelligence (Arcana); the brain 
  seeks knowledgeable discussion of 
  magical matters
  5 (Editha)
  1 and 6
  The existence of a map to 
  Kwalish’s second lab, and its 
  location in the treasury
  Prison and leather works; can 
  lock and unlock the doors 
  there
  Charisma (Performance); the brain 
  demands entertainment to alleviate 
  its tedium
  
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  5 
  2 
  1 
  3 
  3 
  5 
  2 
  4 
  1 
  4
  into the monastery’s, running its systems as its new 
  integrated mind.
  M9. Floating Bridge
  The route to the treasury takes characters out across 
  a series of ten magical floating disks—all of which are 
  suspended hundreds of feet in the open air above the 
  valley floor. All the disks are kept active by default, 
  unless they are specifically deactivated by one of the 
  brains in jars in area M8. Each disk is identical to 
  the effect created by a Tenser’s floating disk spell—a 
  circular, horizontal plane of force 3 feet in diameter and 
  1 inch thick. The disks are set in a line and spaced 5 feet 
  apart. If any disks are deactivated, a not-insignificant 
  leap is required to cross the empty space between them.
   Antimagic Field. As a defense against intruders 
  simply flying or teleporting across the gap, the exterior 
  of the treasury is surrounded by a massive antimagic 
  field, identical to the effect of the spell of the same name. 
  Its radius extends to between the ninth and tenth disks, 
  which are immune to the field’s effect.
   Valley Floor. If any character is unfortunate enough 
  to fall while crossing the disks, they are teleported 
  into the prison cells at area M6. See area C4 for more 
  information.
  M10. Treasury
  This solitary building is set atop a small floating islet 
  within an area of open space punched down through 
  the main body of the monastery’s island. It is held aloft 
  on its own sputtering engine, and is largely filled with 
  a heaping, tangled mass of wreckage. This consists of 
  old machine parts from other areas of the monastery, 
  broken relics of Kwalish’s earliest experiments, dead 
  energy cells, and the like.
   The controls that operate the antimagic field are 
  set into a wall and completely hidden behind a pile 
  of junk. More piles of junk hide the monastery’s 
  treasure, including the journal from Kwalish’s original 
  expedition—and a final brain in a jar.
   Creature. The brain in a jar in this area belongs to the 
  bone devil that founded the monastery. It is in charge of 
  the treasury engine, with its canister housed atop the 
  actual engine mounting, rendering it immobile. While 
  investigating the laboratory workings in this area, the 
  devil inadvertently found its brain magically drawn into 
  the jar, where it remains desperate to be reunited with 
  its body. 
   As with the other brains in jars, this brain can be 
  negotiated with. If a character succeeds on a DC 15 
  Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion) 
  check, the brain warns them of the risks of tampering 
  with the journal (see below). It then negotiates for the 
  characters’ aid, claiming that only it can safely release 
  the journal—but offering to do so only in exchange for 
  a body. Specifically, it demands that the body of the 
  defeated Grand Master be brought to this area. If this 
  is done, the brain can use the laboratory’s equipment 
  to return to its original body. Instead of being thankful, 
  however, the devil turns against the characters at the 
  first opportunity.
   Kwalish’s Journal. The cover of Kwalish’s journal 
  is set with all manner of gears. A successful DC 12 
  Wisdom (Perception) check confirms that these are 
  not just decorative, but appear to be set in some sort of 
  working order. The same check reveals that wires lead 
  from the journal into another pile of junk, behind which 
  stands the canister of the final brain in a jar.
   If the journal is removed from this area, has its wires 
  cut, or is opened, the gears on the cover deactivate the 
  treasury engine, which begins to sputter. The characters 
  have 3 rounds to flee this area before the treasury 
  plunges down into the valley to be destroyed, along with 
  any creatures still inside it.
   The journal can be safely opened by the brain in a 
  jar, or with a successful DC 18 Dexterity check using 
  thieves’ tools. Its pages detail how Kwalish continued 
  his research into finding Daoine Gloine even after 
  setting up his initial laboratory on the floating island. 
  Using the notes and maps contained in the journal, the 
  characters can find a route through the Barrier Peaks to 
  Daoine Gloine. In addition, the journal provides plentiful 
  evidence of Kwalish’s fascination with extradimensional 
  spaces, and talks about his hope of one day establishing 
  a secure sanctum “beyond the bounds of the world.”
   Antimagic Controls. It takes a successful DC 12 
  Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) 
  check to find the controls, which appear to have been 
  constructed from an augmented beholder’s or astral 
  dreadnought’s eye set within a mechanical socket. 
  A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check or 
  Dexterity check made with thieves’ tools or tinker’s tools 
  allows a character to deactivate the antimagic field.
   Gearbox to the Rescue. As in the control room, if 
  Gearbox the modron is with the party, a character can 
  attempt a DC 12 Dexterity check to help the construct 
  override the brain’s control of the treasury engine. 
  Successfully doing so keeps the engine running, but 
  Gearbox is unable to disconnect as a result.
  EMI TANJI
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
   Treasure. All manner of goods and magic items 
  collected by the monastery over long years can be found 
  scattered throughout the junk in this area, including the 
  following:
  • Kwalish’s journal, which has been promised to 
  the Cartophile (but which is worth 750 gp if the 
  characters decide to shop it elsewhere)
  • 515 cp, 11,215 sp, 1,925 gp, and 85 pp stored in 
  various containers and coffers
  • 425 tiny gemstones worth 1 gp each, 44 small 
  gemstones worth 10 gp each, 15 small gemstones 
  worth 50 gp each, and a black pearl worth 500 gp
  • Three potions of healing, one elixir of health, and a 
  manual of golems (flesh).
  • An ornate wooden case carved with images of air 
  and water elementals locked in furious battle, within 
  which is a Galder’s bubble pipe (see appendix D).
  • A suit of Heward’s hireling armor (see appendix D).
  • Components of value to tinkers, inventors, or 
  artificers, worth 1,500 gp
  • Kwalish’s lab notes, worth 2,000 gp from the 
  Cartophile or any other sage
   The components and notes left behind by Kwalish are 
  also of potential value to the characters. These include 
  instructions and raw materials for crafting artificial 
  bodies for the brains in jars, constructing a flying 
  craft useful for escaping the monastery and further 
  exploration of the mountains, building an ambulatory 
  craft capable of crawling up and down mountainous 
  slopes to travel farther into the Barrier Peaks, and other 
  tasks of your devising. Completing any such project 
  requires a successful DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) check 
  or Dexterity check using thieves’ tools or tinker’s tools.
   Alongside countless dead energy cells spread across 
  this area, the characters find 1d6 + 4 charged cells, each 
  holding 20 charges. These are useful for powering the 
  elder monks’ force pikes, or for temporarily powering a 
  brain in a jar’s canister so it can be detached from the 
  monastery’s power and moved elsewhere. Energy cells 
  might also be used in devices the characters create 
  (see above) or in the powered armor found in area O7. 
  Energy cells cannot be recharged.
  Onward Journey
  Kwalish’s recovered journal and its notes on finding 
  Daoine Gloine can be used to locate a series of 
  mountain passes on the other side of the monastery’s 
  valley. These passes and trails lead to the legendary 
  lost city after a journey of several weeks. Alternatively, 
  the characters might want to use the technology found 
  in the monastery to expedite the journey. A bit of 
  bargaining—or theft—might gain the party the use of the 
  merrenoloth’s skiff. Or the characters could make use 
  of Kwalish’s notes to shape the components and energy 
  cells of the treasury into a walking or flying vehicle. The 
  use of a skiff or constructed vehicle cuts down the time 
  it takes to reach Daoine Gloine, as you determine.
   To reduce the travel time to the lost city to nothing, 
  you might have Kwalish’s notes provide instructions 
  for reopening the planar archway in area M3. Instead 
  of leading to the Nine Hells, the inventor’s instructions 
  open a gate directly to area O1 of Daoine Gloine. 
  Part 3: The Ooze- 
  Flooded City
  When Kwalish found it, the legendary lost city of Daoine 
  Gloine was already an isolated mountain settlement. 
  After he took over, the inventor set about closing off 
  any and all routes to the site. As such, as the characters 
  follow the notes found in Kwalish’s journal, they find 
  that the narrow mountain passes begin to tighten 
  around them the closer they come to the location where 
  the city is said to be. Many of the passes, tunnels, and 
  trails the characters follow are deliberately blocked off 
  with rockslides and other unexplained disasters. The 
  need to circumnavigate such areas accounts for much 
  of the travel time to the city, unless the characters have 
  arranged an alternative method of travel.
   No matter how the characters are traveling, you might 
  consider a few encounters within the mountain passes 
  of the Barrier Peaks as a prelude to arriving at Daoine 
  Gloine. See appendix A for more information.
  Daoine Gloine
  The city of Daoine Gloine has long been thought of 
  as mere legend—just another strange tale from the 
  already-strange Barrier Peaks. Occasionally, travelers 
  would return from the mountains with wild claims of 
  having been lost in the peaks and visiting the city by 
  accident. And though none of them could produce a 
  full map showing the route they took, their stories all 
  shared a common element—that Daoine Gloine was 
  populated by creatures made of living glass, tended to 
  by kenku in love with those creatures’ shining beauty. 
  These occasional tales drove more explorers—including 
  Kwalish’s own expedition—to seek out the route to 
  Daoine Gloine and learn the truth of who dwelled there.
   As is often the case, the common tales had more 
  sinister origins. In ages past, the kenku that inhabited 
  the city captured a unique medusa—Gloine Nathair-
  Nathair, whose gaze could transform victims into glass 
  instead of stone. A cult of the medusa arose to worship 
  the creature, which was effectively incarcerated within a 
  central temple. Kenku priests brought regular sacrificial 
  victims—both willing and unwilling—to stand before the 
  First Things Last
  As the characters enter the Barrier Peaks, the adventure 
  has the Cartophile’s notes and maps directing them 
  initially to the monastery that was once Kwalish’s first 
  laboratory. Hidden in the treasury of the monastery are 
  further notes and lore that let the characters push on to 
  Daoine Gloine. But you can easily reverse that setup by 
  having the Cartophile’s lore lead the characters straight 
  to Daoine Gloine—with the lost city set up as the site of 
  Kwalish’s first lab. Kwalish isn’t there, but old lore and 
  notes talk of how he was driven from the area by the ooze, 
  and allow the characters to reach the monastery. There, 
  Kwalish can be found as the final brain in a jar in the 
  treasury (area M10). 
   Alternatively, the Cartophile’s material might lead the 
  characters to the monastery, but also reveal caverns that 
  continue past and provide a route straight to Daoine 
  Gloine. Taking that route to find Kwalish in the city, the 
  characters are asked by the inventor to help purge the 
  monastery of the Grand Master and finally reunite the 
  brains in jars with new bodies.
  
  TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  CLAUDIO POZAS
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  medusa’s gaze. And when Gloine Nathair-Nathair died, 
  the kenku raised her in undeath to prolong their cult, 
  continuing to fill their city with glass statues.
   After Kwalish fled his first laboratory, he used the 
  initial research of his expedition to eventually make his 
  way to Daoine Gloine. But instead of being welcomed 
  and allowed to work in peace, Kwalish found the 
  city’s evil high priest threatening to transform him 
  into Daoine Gloine’s latest art installation. Desperate, 
  Kwalish constructed another planar gateway while 
  imprisoned in the temple, then opened a portal to the 
  222nd layer of the Abyss—Juiblex’s Slime Pits. A flood of 
  ooze issued forth, driving the kenku from Daoine Gloine 
  and effectively sealing the city away from the rest of 
  the world. 
   The entire site—including the entrance to Kwalish’s 
  second lab—now spreads beneath a deadly layer of clear 
  gelatinous ooze—perfectly preserved, eerily staged, and 
  utterly devoid of anything organic. The kenku that once 
  occupied Daoine Gloine have all long been turned to 
  glass or driven out. The city’s only resident is Kwalish, 
  but the inventor has developed potent defenses to defend 
  the entrance to his lab.
   The following locations are identified on the map 
  on page 20.
  O1. Overlook
  The mountain passes the characters follow eventually 
  open onto the top edge of a deep valley. Characters who 
  arrive at this overlook can gaze down on the city below.
  The legendary lost city of Daoine Gloine spreads out 
  within a narrow mountain vale. Ancient and intricate 
  stone towers rise up from the valley floor, though many 
  of those have toppled against one another to form 
  dangerous-looking walkways extending between the 
  ruins. The rooftops and upper levels of the towers are 
  strewn with vines and foliage. But a strange gleam 
  extends across the lower reaches of the city, resembling 
  an almost-transparent barrier some thirty feet above the 
  ground, visible only where it catches the light. 
   Below that strange barrier, the buildings of the city 
  are unnaturally clean, showing no signs of vegetation or 
  other life, and highlighting the glimmering glass statuary 
  that stands everywhere. Even at a distance, many of the 
  statues appear to be humanoids of different races.
   Ooze Barrier. The gleaming barrier marks the 
  upper edge of the ooze. Above the creature, the flora 
  of the mountains grows in abundance. But from 
  about the third-story level down to the streets, the city 
  appears immaculately clean, with all organic matter 
  consumed by the ooze. A number of the towers that 
  have toppled from age are above the ooze, providing a 
  means for characters to explore and take shelter safely 
  above the city.
   A successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check made 
  as the characters get closer to the city provides further 
  clues as to the ooze’s nature. The bones of animals that 
  have recently wandered into the city hang suspended 
  within the ooze, appearing to be floating in midair. 
  Likewise, bits of crumbling walls and broken statuary 
  that have fallen hang suspended above the streets.
  O2. Tower Level
  As the characters draw closer to the city, they get a 
  better view of the stone towers rising above the ooze.
  Many of the glass statues set along the exteriors of the 
  towers are, in fact, humanoids. They stand in alcoves 
  or recesses along the towers’ upper reaches—and are 
  crafted in disturbingly lifelike fashion. Gargoyles and 
  caryatid columns also abound, anchored to rooftops or 
  extending outward to form massive arches supporting 
  the stonework above.
   Horrid Statues. The glass statues that fill Daoine 
  Gloine are the city’s sacrificial victims, forced into 
  intricate poses and petrified (or, rather, vitrified) by the 
  cult of the medusa. Many of the statues above the ooze 
  show chips and cracks from long years of weathering. 
  But below the ooze, most of the well-protected statues 
  are perfectly intact and appear uncannily lifelike. Many 
  are kenku (the last inhabitants of the city before Kwalish 
  and the ooze arrived), but explorers and mountain 
  folk of many other races have also been trapped 
  forever in glass.
   Creature. When any intruder climbs the upper towers 
  or moves along the bridges created where towers 
  have fallen, the vibration of their movement alerts 
  the clockwork kraken at the apparatus garage (area 
  O5). The construct’s tentacles are outfitted with local 
  teleportation-field devices (see the earlier sidebar), 
  allowing them to move throughout the city with a flying 
  speed of 40 feet. When the tentacles reach intruders, 
  they attack in an attempt to shove those creatures into 
  the gelatinous ooze. See “Shoving a Creature” under 
  “Melee Attacks” in chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook.
  O3. Street Level
  Several trails lead down into the city, granting a better 
  view of the tableau beneath the ooze.
  Unlike the figures seen standing staidly along the edges 
  of the towers above, the hundreds of glass statues that 
  fill Daoine Gloine have been arranged on the streets and 
  in open courtyards as if staging scenes of city life—a 
  market square, a royal personage holding court, and so 
  forth. In addition to the statues, huge numbers of glassy 
  baubles are spread throughout these scenes, serving as 
  stand-ins for fruit in a market, as huge jewels worn at 
  a ball, as a scepter and orb held by a statue noble, and 
  so forth. Looking around, the legends appear almost 
  true: here is a city inhabited entirely by folk of glass, and 
  whose every possession is glass as well.
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  When the last of the kenku fled Daoine Gloine and 
  the ooze had consumed all organic material within 
  the abandoned city, Kwalish decided to redecorate. 
  Traveling safely through the ooze in one of the 
  apparatuses that bear his name, he arranged the statues 
  throughout the city streets, creating a bizarre tableau of 
  life within the city’s dead zone. 
   Unless they brought a fully sealed vehicle with them 
  from the monastery, there are no obvious ways for the 
  characters to enter the ooze safely. However, the tower 
  of the apparatus garage (area O5) holds an option for 
  doing so. See that area for more information.
   Creatures. The gelatinous ooze that protects the city 
  is a single creature of incomprehensible size. It fills the 
  valley to a depth of 30 feet, and cannot move beyond 
  the valley or the city. Even though it has no ability to 
  move, the ooze is aware of all activity around it, and has 
  extensive experience with drawing prey into itself. Treat 
  the ooze as a massive, immobile gelatinous cube with 
  these changes:
  • It is immune to all damage and conditions.
  • Its reach is 10 feet.
  • Each round, the ooze can make one attack against 
  each creature within its reach: a pseudopod attack 
  against any creature within 10 feet of its surface, or 
  an Engulf attack against any creature in contact with 
  its surface. 
  Alternatively, it can replace any of its pseudopod attacks 
  with attempts to shove a creature within 5 feet of its 
  surface into contact with its surface. See “Shoving a 
  Creature” under “Melee Attacks” in chapter 9 of the 
  Player’s Handbook.
   To guard the entrance to Kwalish’s lab, a number of 
  the glass statues have been imbued with mechanical-
  magical power—armatures of the inventor’s own design 
  that animate into ooze-folk. Once the characters 
  enter the ooze to explore the streets of Daoine Gloine, 
  the ooze-folk are on guard. For every 10 minutes the 
  characters spend exploring, or if any significant violence 
  disturbs the gelatinous ooze, 1d4 armatures activate 
  within 30 feet of the characters. Individual blobs of ooze 
  congeal around these statue armatures as they erupt 
  out of their staged scenes and attack. If a serious fight 
  breaks out with ooze-folk, that fight attracts more ooze-
  folk in turn.
   A total of twenty-five ooze-folk can activate in this way 
  before their numbers are depleted.
  O4. Tomb of the Medusa
  The tallest tower in the city, this former temple once 
  housed the cult of the medusa.
  The top level of the city’s tallest standing tower is ringed 
  and covered by a dome of glass statues—all facing 
  inward, and pressed so tightly together as to leave no 
  space between them.
  The statues that surround the top of the tower were 
  sacrifices vitrified here to create a wall around the 
  medusa. A successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) 
  Gloine Nathair-Nathair
  SHAWN WOOD
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  check reveals areas where the statues are in agitated 
  defensive poses. (When the ooze began to flood the city, 
  the high priests quickly forced these final sacrifices 
  forward to seal the medusa away.) A successful DC 13 
  Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check allows the statues to 
  be carefully shifted apart to allow access inside. The 
  statues can also be smashed through (AC 10, 15 hit 
  points, immunity to poison and psychic damage).
   Temple. If enough statues are moved or broken open, 
  they reveal a pit beyond, where a sheer drop of 25 feet 
  leads down into this former temple. 
  The space below the statues is a huge temple gone to 
  ruin. A main hall lined with painted murals is abutted 
  by many smaller side chambers once filled with fine 
  furnishings and decorations. All of that has rotted away 
  to nothing now, but a series of shackles bolted to the wall 
  across from some sort of large glass device hints at the 
  horrid rites that must once have taken place here.
  The wall murals can be deciphered with a successful 
  DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check. These tell the story 
  of the cult of the medusa, starting with the capture of 
  Gloine Nathair-Nathair, long years of sacrificial victims 
  brought before her, and the vitrified statues now found 
  throughout the city.
   Old shackles set along one wall show where victims 
  were held. A space opposite that shows where other 
  shackles have been removed from heavy bolts sunk into 
  the stone. (The medusa’s shackles were once set here, 
  but were removed and used in the clockwork kraken’s 
  engine at area O5.) 
   Monitor. The window-like device hangs against the 
  wall where the medusa’s shackles were once set, and is 
  framed by a complex mechanical filigree. This device is 
  a two-way monitor that can be activated by a successful 
  DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check. Doing so shows a 
  silent view through the similar monitor in Kwalish’s lab 
  (area O7).
   Creature. Once worshipped as a living goddess for 
  her unique trait of transforming victims into glass 
  instead of stone, Gloine Nathair-Nathair was kept a 
  prisoner in the temple ever since the creature was 
  captured by the long-gone kenku. The medusa still 
  occupies the tower, but is now undead and in skeletal 
  form, unfettered and thoroughly insane. It can be heard 
  hissing about the priests and their inane babble (the 
  kenku’s mimicry), and ranting about how it can still 
  sense the hated high priest’s presence in the city. If the 
  characters descend the pit, it attacks at once.
   The medusa fights until destroyed unless distracted by 
  any information regarding the high priest (see area O5) 
  or any offer to help leave the temple. If the characters 
  confirm the presence of the high priest in area O5 
  (truthfully or otherwise), the medusa ignores them, 
  scales the pit to escape using the entrance they created, 
  and hunts the priest down.
   Gloine Nathair-Nathair is a medusa with the 
  following changes:
  • It is undead.
  • It is immune to necrotic and poison damage.
  • It is immune to exhaustion and the poisoned 
  condition.
  • Its Petrifying Gaze feature turns petrified creatures to 
  glass instead of stone.
   Temple Gate. On the ground floor of the temple tower, 
  beneath the ooze where it fills the lower levels of the 
  building, is a standing arch that is a match to the arch 
  in the central abbey of the monastery (area M3), but 
  without the throne. If the crown and scepter from that 
  area are worn and held by a creature within 5 feet of 
  the arch (including a creature within an apparatus of 
  Kwalish or similar device), that creature can attempt a 
  DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to open the archway. 
  Treat this as if the character had cast the gate spell to 
  open a gate to the 222nd layer of the Abyss.
   Treasure. If Gloine Nathair-Nathair is defeated, the 
  medusa wears a gold necklace (1,200 gp), a pair of gold 
  bracers (375 gp each), and ten gem-studded gold rings 
  (50 gp each).
   A thorough search of the levels of the temple above the 
  ooze also turns up the following:
  • Spell scrolls of animate dead, flock of familiars (see 
  appendix E), and greater restoration.
  • One of Kwalish’s completed experiments—a set of 
  clockwork-enhanced footwear that act as boots of 
  striding and springing
  • A collection of tiny glass statues of creatures, 
  including a pseudodragon, an imp, and several will-o’-
  wisps, as well as several glass statues of hearts and 
  brains—all vitrified creatures and once-living organs. 
  The collection is worth 2,000 gp, but is very fragile. 
  O5. Apparatus Garage
  This tower once served Kwalish as a temporary 
  workshop, and still contains crucial remnants of his 
  experiments.
  A large, squat tower dominates the surrounding 
  buildings. Heaped around its base is a jumbled tangle 
  of old machinery, clockwork parts, piles of broken glass 
  shards, and numerous oddly shaped glass statues. Some 
  of these statues appear stretched, as if still viscous 
  when fashioned, and almost as though they elongated 
  themselves trying to escape their fate.
  The space within the tower is likewise cluttered with 
  broken relics from Kwalish’s earlier experiments, 
  partial armatures, and the like. The remains of 
  numerous alchemical furnaces can be seen, once used 
  for shaping glass. Ancient notes and diagrams are also 
  scattered about.
   Creatures. A clockwork kraken has been installed 
  in this area by Kwalish to protect the city. The main 
  component of the construct’s clockwork engine is a 
  coffin-like structure that bears a strong resemblance to 
  Ctenmiir’s coffin. The engine housing can be opened 
  with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check 
  or Dexterity check made with thieves’ tools or tinker’s 
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  tools. If Gearbox is with the party, a character can 
  attempt a DC 12 Dexterity check to help the modron 
  open and override the engine. 
   Within the coffin is the jellified remains of a former 
  kenku high priest of Daoine Gloine. Her undead body 
  now powers the kraken, though she does not control 
  it. If still active, the kraken’s tentacles work to defend 
  its engine.
   Kwalish developed a process of using living and 
  undead creatures as a control module for powerful 
  constructs, and placed the evil high priest here as 
  punishment for her role in the countless sacrifices made 
  to Gloine Nathair-Nathair. If the priest is attacked, treat 
  her as a vampire spawn that cannot leave the coffin. 
  But after endless years of undead incarceration, she 
  sees the characters as potential servants, not foes.
   Priestly Bargaining. The high priest attempts to 
  engage the characters as soon as they enter the tower—
  but being a kenku, she communicates only through 
  mimicry. Her pleas to be freed from the coffin might 
  thus take the form of the last words of victims she 
  brought before the medusa, or the rantings of Gloine 
  Nathair-Nathair while the medusa lived and railed 
  against her captivity.
   In whatever way she can, the undead high priest 
  begs the characters to open the coffin and free her. Her 
  jellified undead body is slopped around an ornamental 
  helmet and shackles. (These devices were once used to 
  safely contain the medusa. See area O4.) A thin silver 
  wire connects the helmet and shackles to the coffin, and 
  can be recognized as a form of astral silver cord with a 
  successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check.
   If the high priest is disconnected (most easily by 
  extracting the helmet and shackles from what’s left of 
  her), the clockwork kraken and all ooze-folk in the city 
  deactivate. The priest knows that after Kwalish flooded 
  the city, he eventually escaped into an extradimensional 
  space hidden beneath the ooze. She can also inform the 
  characters about the garage’s apparatus of Kwalish, and 
  its ability to connect with the glass baubles. She suspects 
  that one of the baubles leads to Kwalish’s lab, though she 
  does not know which one. If questioned about the city’s 
  countless sacrifices or the cult of the medusa, the evil 
  priest falsely denies any knowledge of such things.
   Development. A successful DC 12 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check made 
  while searching the garage reveals the remains of 
  a massive prototype apparatus of Kwalish, able to 
  transport up to ten Medium or smaller creatures.
   The scattered notes and diagrams in this area can be 
  used to repair and operate the apparatus of Kwalish, 
  but must first be deciphered with a successful DC 
  13 Intelligence (Arcana) check. They also describe 
  Kwalish’s desire to construct a final laboratory hidden 
  within an extradimensional space, and how he 
  experimented with the city’s materials to construct such 
  spaces within baubles of glass and crystal. These notes 
  explain how the apparatus’s biomechanical umbilicus 
  (an atropal’s augmented umbilical cord) can be used 
  to connect with the baubles within the ooze. Doing 
  so opens a magical portal within the apparatus that 
  allows characters to enter the extradimensional space 
  contained within a bauble.
   If made operational, the apparatus can be used 
  to safely dive into the gelatinous ooze in search of 
  Kwalish’s hidden lab. However, if the clockwork kraken 
  and the ooze-folk are still active, they attempt to grab 
  and puncture the apparatus while the characters use 
  it. Use the statistics for the apparatus of Kwalish from 
  chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide:
  Armor Class: 20
  Hit Points: 200
  Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft. (or 0 ft. for both if the legs and 
  tail aren’t extended)
  Damage Immunities: poison, psychic 
  Apparatus of Kwalish
  AARON HÜBRICH
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  If the apparatus suffers fatal damage, materials and 
  notes from the garage can be used to construct a new 
  one. Completing such a project requires sufficient time 
  and a successful DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) check or 
  Dexterity check using thieves’ tools or tinker’s tools.
   Treasure. A thorough search of the garage turns up 
  a number of valuable components used in Kwalish’s 
  experiments, worth 1,500 gp to any tinker, inventor, or 
  artificer.
  O6. Baubles
  Hundreds of baubles have been set throughout the 
  tableau of the city streets. If any ooze-folk (see area O3) 
  or the clockwork kraken (see area O2) become active in 
  response to the characters’ intrusion, those defenders 
  do not touch or intentionally damage any of the baubles, 
  instead actively protecting them from harm.
   Most of the baubles are mere glass, and any 
  inspection of them notes that light shines through 
  them cleanly. A select few baubles are made of crystal, 
  as noted by any light shining through them creating 
  a rainbow pattern. A successful DC 15 Wisdom 
  (Perception) check also spots this difference.
   Dimensional Gateways. Touching a crystal bauble, 
  or connecting with one by way of the apparatus of 
  Kwalish from area O5, opens a magical connection to 
  an extradimensional space within the bauble. Entering 
  the correct bauble brings the characters into Kwalish’s 
  laboratory. But entering one of the many decoy crystal 
  baubles scattered throughout the city leads to a pocket 
  dimension where the characters face a number of 
  fanciful and challenging encounters. Use the Sample 
  Bauble Encounters table on the next page to randomly 
  determine extradimensional encounters within decoy 
  crystals, or as inspiration for making up your own. 
   You determine how many decoy crystal baubles the 
  characters come across before finding the bauble that 
  leads to Kwalish. If playing a shorter version of the 
  adventure, you might have only one crystal bauble (see 
  below) found among the city’s glass baubles, with that 
  crystal bauble leading directly to Kwalish’s lab.
   Kwalish’s Bauble Gate. A glass workshop can 
  be found by characters exploring the city. Its kiln 
  remains magically lit even beneath the ooze, filling the 
  immediate area with an eerie light. A glass statue of an 
  artisan near the kiln’s fire holds a crystal bauble as if 
  shaping it. Accessing the extradimensional space within 
  this bauble grants entrance to Kwalish’s lab at area O7.
  O7. Kwalish’s Lab
  The crystal bauble found in the city’s glass workshop 
  opens a portal to the extradimensional space in which 
  Kwalish maintains his personal laboratory.
   The extradimensional space beyond the portal is filled 
  with working laboratory equipment, similar to the ruined 
  gear seen in the monastery and the city, but even more 
  advanced. 
   At the center of the lab, an elaborate system of glass 
  piping and alchemical equipment flows and bubbles. 
  Banks of instrument panels are set against the walls, 
  including a framed glass device resembling a window. 
  In another area, five clear canisters hold what appear to 
  be still-beating hearts. Across the room, a mind flayer 
  appears trapped inside a glass tank.
   All of the active equipment in the lab appears to 
  connect to a suit of plate armor standing at the far 
  end of room.
   Glass Piping. Clear glass tubes connect flasks, 
  funnels, columns, and other alchemical gear filled 
  with strange components undergoing constant 
  transformation. Some are boiling, others are 
  condensing or solidifying into crumbling powder, and 
  all this work is fueled by burners emitting strange-
  colored flames and powered by ten steam mephits 
  trapped in retort flasks. A successful DC 15 Intelligence 
  (Investigation) check grants a character enough insight 
  into the instruments to gain basic control over the lab, 
  such that the experiments here can be safely examined. 
  However, if the check is failed by 5 or more, the steam 
  mephits are released.
   Any character who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom 
  (Medicine) check gets the disturbing impression that 
  this glass piping is not manufactured, but rather 
  resembles intestines. (The piping derives from the 
  bodies of glass statues—former high priests partially 
  revived by Kwalish so their glass intestines could be 
  drawn out for his use. With a search of the lab, the rest 
  of the priests’ vivisected glass bodies can be found 
  crumpled in terrible poses in a storage closet.)
   Instrument Panels. These control panels are 
  covered with buttons, dials, and gauges, as well as 
  delicate machinery containing tiny clockwork devices 
  reminiscent of ants performing intricate functions. 
  A character who succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence 
  (Arcana) check determines that the workings of the 
  panels derive from strange sources—some taken 
  from the planar craft that became the monastery, but 
  also from the bodies of modrons and inevitables (see 
  Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes). Also set among the 
  panels is a skull that has gems for its eyes and teeth (a 
  magically modified demilich skull; see the “Meeting 
  Kwalish” section below). 
   Monitor. The window-like device hanging against the 
  wall is a two-way monitor that can be activated with a 
  successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check. Doing 
  so shows a silent view through the similar monitor in 
  the tomb of the medusa (area O4). If Gloine Nathair-
  Nathair is still at that location, turning on this monitor 
  brings her into view and allows her to use her Petrifying 
  Gaze on any creature in the laboratory that she can see 
  through the monitor.
   Canisters. Five clear canisters line the walls, each 
  one filled with fluid and the living, beating heart of some 
  type of creature. With a successful DC 15 Intelligence 
  (Nature) check, a character recognizes the hearts of 
  three humanoids, a troll, and a dragon. Each canister 
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  is connected by a thin silver wire to multiple pieces of 
  the laboratory’s equipment. The wire can be recognized 
  as a form of astral silver cord with a successful DC 15 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check. 
   Notes scattered about the area detail how the 
  hearts in jars are fueling something called “powered 
  armor,” and of Kwalish’s attempts to fuel the advanced 
  technologies of the crashed planar craft with sources 
  other than energy cells.
   Creatures. Kwalish’s presence in the lab is left to 
  your determination, and might depend on how much 
  more adventuring you want the characters to do. See the 
  “Meeting Kwalish” section below for more information.
   If the steam mephits are released, they might try to 
  immediately escape (a 50 percent chance), but they 
  otherwise attack everyone in the lab.
   A mind flayer arcanist (a variant creature in the 
  Monster Manual) is trapped within a glass-walled stasis 
  chamber, kept on hand by Kwalish to be consulted for 
  its magical knowledge. A successful DC 14 Intelligence 
  (Arcana or Investigation) check can activate the stasis 
  controls and awaken the mind flayer. 
  Sample Bauble Encounters
  d12
  Bauble Appearance
  Extradimensional Space
  1
  A royal orb held by a 
  seated king-like figure
  A shadowy, royal pavilion is filled with phantom images of courtiers and revelers. The king who holds 
  court here is a wraith.
  2
  Delicious-looking 
  fruit being sold in a 
  market
  The characters enter an enclosed marketplace in some fantastic extradimensional city (perhaps Sigil). 
  They cannot move beyond the marketplace, but they can buy, sell, and trade goods with a wide variety 
  of races. (Kwalish might sometimes use this crystal to travel here and trade for needed materials, and 
  creatures in the market might know or remember him.)
  3
  An ornate diadem 
  worn by a great lady 
  of court
  A grand ball is attended by numerous glass armatures engaged in a never-ending dance. The 
  armatures are not aggressive, but they defend themselves if attacked (use skeleton statistics). 
  (Kwalish uses this space to stress test his armatures’ operation and movement.)
  4
  An egg held in the 
  talons of a statue of a 
  large bird
  The characters become bodiless entities inhabiting the mind of a roc soaring high above a world of 
  your choice. A successful DC 12 Charisma check allows any character to mentally adjust the roc’s 
  course and observe the terrain below, but the great bird does not land or cease flying.
  5
  The head of a mace 
  held by a gladiator in 
  an arena
  A fog-filled arena is populated by a group of shadowy warriors—all of them phantom duplicates 
  mirroring the characters. Roll for initiative as the shadows attack, using the same weapons, spells, 
  gear, and modifiers as the characters. If the shadows are identified as doubles with a successful DC 
  15 Wisdom (Insight) check, the characters can cease fighting to force their duplicates to do the same.
  6
  A ball in a children’s 
  playground
  The characters enter an illusory version of the treasury seen in the Monastery of the Distressed Body, 
  but filled with countless magic items. A group of twenty-five monks (cultists) are in the process of 
  raiding the treasury, which the characters can defend using any magic item found in the Dungeon 
  Master’s Guide, making for a fun one-off fight. However, none of the items found in this version of the 
  treasury can leave the extradimensional space.
  7
  One of the eyes in a 
  statue of a devil
  The characters find themselves inside a variant version of the apparatus of Kwalish abandoned 
  within the Nine Hells. Characters cannot leave the apparatus, but they can pilot it and explore 
  their surroundings. Every 10 minutes of exploration, there is a 20 percent chance that one or more 
  randomly determined devils happens upon the apparatus and attacks it.
  8
  The lens of a 
  telescope being 
  looked through by an 
  astronomer
  The characters step into an illusory version of a city oddly familiar to them, and feel a compulsion 
  to find the city’s “heart.” Use a map of the actual city or town where your game is played (or where 
  you are based if you play your game online). The characters must reach your location to leave this 
  extradimensional space.
  9
  A jewel spilling from 
  a sack carried by a 
  fleeing thief
  A series of storerooms are connected together in what seems an endless arrangement. Use any set of 
  dungeon maps or geomorphs to create this labyrinth. If Kwalish’s body is scattered (see the “Meeting 
  Kwalish” section), part of it can be found somewhere within.
  10
  The centerpiece in a 
  complex mechanical 
  clock in a central 
  square
  The characters find themselves inside a variant version of the apparatus of Kwalish, wandering 
  the plane of Mechanus. Characters cannot leave the apparatus, but they can pilot it and explore 
  their surroundings. Every 10 minutes of exploration, there is a 20 percent chance that one or more 
  randomly determined modrons happens upon the apparatus and attacks it.
  11
  The eye of a squid set 
  within an extensive 
  aquarium
  The characters find themselves inside a variant version of the apparatus of Kwalish at the bottom 
  of a deep ocean. Characters cannot leave the apparatus, but they can pilot it and explore their 
  surroundings. Every 10 minutes of exploration, there is a 20 percent chance that one or more 
  randomly determined aquatic creatures happens upon the apparatus and attacks it.
  12
  A crystal ball held by 
  a statue of a medusa
  The characters appear in a version of the tomb of the medusa (area O4), in which Gloine Nathair-
  Nathair is still alive. (The medusa uses normal statistics, but its Petrifying Gaze feature transforms 
  petrified victims to glass.) A ceremony is underway as the characters arrive, with phantom victims 
  being led before the medusa. If the creature is allowed to vitrify those victims, the extradimensional 
  gateway is breached and the illusory surroundings are flooded by ooze, with effects as you determine.
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
   The mind flayer has no effective attacks while within 
  the stasis chamber, as no spells or other effects can 
  pass through the cylinder in either direction. However, if 
  the check to activate the controls fails by 5 or more, the 
  cylinder accidentally opens to free the mind flayer. The 
  creature attempts to bargain for its safety with a large 
  number of well-armed characters, but it betrays and 
  attempts to slay them at the first opportunity.
   Powered Armor. The suit of armor at the end 
  of the room is clearly the focus of the lab’s current 
  experimentation, connected to various pieces of 
  equipment by more silver wire recognizable as a form 
  of astral cord. If the characters end the adventure on 
  friendly terms with Kwalish, he indicates that although 
  the powered armor is still being researched, it requires 
  a test subject. He is thus willing to loan the armor to any 
  character, provided they use it as their sole suit of armor 
  and report back to him periodically so as to gauge its 
  efficacy. 
   A character who accepts this offer automatically 
  falls under the effect of a high-level geas spell, with 
  instructions to report back to Kwalish at least once 
  every three levels, and to return the powered armor 
  to the inventor if they ever desire to wear some other 
  armor instead.
   If Kwalish is missing (see the “Meeting Kwalish” 
  section below), a character can simply don the armor 
  themselves. However, this might lead to its own 
  complications. See appendix B and appendix D for more 
  information.
   Treasure. If Kwalish is defeated, or if the gnome 
  is missing when the characters come to the lab, a 
  thorough search of the area turns up the following:
  • A collection of exotic materials especially valuable as 
  spell components, worth 3,750 gp
  • A pouch of diamond dust worth 1,750 gp
  • Numerous rare books worth a total of 500 gp
  • A manual of golems (iron)
  • A spell scroll of Galder’s speedy courier (see 
  appendix E)
  • Several of Kwalish’s completed experiments whose 
  mechanical effects reproduce the magic of certain 
  magic items: a folding boat, wings of flying, and a bag 
  of tricks (tan)
  • Kwalish’s powered armor (see appendix B and 
  appendix D)
  The “Alien Technology” section in chapter 9 of the 
  Dungeon Master’s Guide talks about how futuristic 
  devices are often powered by energy cells. The force 
  pikes found in the monastery, as well as the powered 
  armor to be found in Kwalish’s lab in part 3 of the 
  adventure, are two such devices. Alongside countless 
  dead energy cells spread across this area, the 
  characters also find 1d6 charged cells, each holding 20 
  charges and useful for the powered armor.
   If the characters loot Kwalish’s lab, then rescue the 
  gnome from stasis or a disembodied state (see below), 
  their ability to blame the thefts on other creatures is left 
  to your determination.
  Meeting Kwalish
  You have several options for having Kwalish appear 
  to the characters, depending on how much time you 
  wish to dedicate to the party’s exploration of the city of 
  Daoine Gloine.
  Quick Contact
  The easiest approach is to have Kwalish in area O7 
  when the characters arrive—an elderly gnome arcane 
  inventor (use the evoker stat block from Volo’s Guide to 
  Monsters) working on his latest experiments. Though 
  surprised by visitors, Kwalish listens to the characters 
  and might even be willing to bargain for whatever 
  help they need to complete their quest. In exchange, 
  he requires only a bit of special material to fuel his 
  experiments and continue his work—a piece of the 
  characters’ souls, extracted by his machinery. 
   With a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) 
  check made to negotiate with Kwalish, the gnome 
  asks only for a single bit of soul energy from any one 
  character. If unsuccessful, he demands one bit of 
  soul from each character in exchange for his aid or 
  information. The magically enhanced demilich skull 
  built into the lab’s instrumentation panels is used to 
  channel a character’s soul energy once the bargain 
  is struck. A character who has a portion of their soul 
  removed in this way falls under a curse. While so 
  cursed, whenever the character drops to 0 hit points, 
  they are treated as if they had already failed one death 
  saving throw. This curse can be removed only by a 
  remove curse spell cast by an 18th-level spellcaster, 
  by defeating Kwalish and reversing the process using 
  his machines, or by completing a separate task for 
  the inventor.
  Just a Bit of Trouble
  Kwalish is missing, trapped in stasis inside his own 
  powered armor. The characters must first discover 
  him there by making a close-up investigation of the 
  armor, then find a way to access its controls. This can 
  be accomplished with a successful DC 16 Intelligence 
  (Arcana) check or Dexterity check made with thieves’ 
  tools or tinker’s tools. Alternatively, characters who 
  experiment with tools found throughout the lab can 
  access the armor’s controls given enough time. Even 
  after accessing the controls, though, no one can 
  approach the armor without setting off its automatic 
  defenses. See the “Powered Armor Options” sidebar in 
  appendix D.
   Once he is freed, Kwalish is as grateful as he is able to 
  express, and willing to listen to the characters’ requests. 
  This has the same outcome as above, but assume that 
  negotiations are automatically successful and only one 
  character needs to offer up a piece of their soul.
  Kwalish Who?
  Kwalish is missing, his physical body having been 
  caught up within his laboratory equipment and rendered 
  into various bodily components that now make their 
  way through the glass piping in perpetuity. His mind, 
  however, can still communicate through various 
  means—clockwork ants forming signals and signs, 
  messages drawn by mechanical hands, consultation 
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  Kwalish Lives?
  Since his expedition vanished ages ago, it’s prudent to 
  think about how it’s possible for Kwalish to be found alive 
  and well in his lab. If the gnome is found trapped inside 
  the powered armor in stasis or scattered throughout his 
  laboratory, the answer is easy. You might also consider 
  that Kwalish’s research into the planar craft’s magical 
  technology, astral cords, and similar topics might have 
  allowed him to prolong his life indefinitely by magical 
  means. Alternatively, given the inventor’s ability to craft 
  lifelike constructs, this version of Kwalish might not be the 
  original gnome at all.
  with the trapped mind flayer, and so on. As best he can, 
  Kwalish tries to instruct characters in the methods 
  that might reconstitute his body (with those methods 
  determined by you). Unfortunately, some of his body 
  parts have been installed elsewhere in the city (within 
  other baubles, forming part of the kraken’s engine, and 
  so forth) and must be tracked down.
   If the characters are successful, the regenerated 
  Kwalish is grateful enough to help them with their quest 
  even without payment. He then offers an additional 
  boon to any interested character, granting the use of 
  his laboratory to craft or summon any item or creature 
  they desire (within any limits you set). However, the 
  price for this service is one piece of the character’s 
  soul, as above.
  Roleplaying Kwalish
  However he is met, Kwalish presents himself as a 
  detached, single-minded researcher. In his mind, his 
  work is more important than any other concerns, and 
  he believes that the secrets of the technology found 
  in the Barrier Peaks hold a vast potential to advance 
  knowledge. If questioned, he proudly details his 
  experiments (including with the powered armor), as 
  well as the complete history of his time in the Barrier 
  Peaks. If pressed, he talks of how he salvaged the minds 
  of the members of his first expedition only after they 
  were slain by the sphinx, and of how he buried Daoine 
  Gloine in ooze only after discovering its inhabitants to 
  be depraved cultists. In both cases, the inventor deemed 
  his desperate actions as necessary measures to advance 
  his research.
  Sphinx’s Curse
  If the characters engage Kwalish successfully, or as an 
  added reward if they rescue him, the inventor can use 
  his skill to remove the curse imposed by the enhanced 
  sphinx (whose machinery he created). This restores 
  to normal any ability scores decreased by the sphinx 
  (see area C2).
  Laboratory Fight
  If negotiations break down, or if the characters take 
  unkindly to Kwalish’s cavalier attitude toward life, they 
  might decide to confront and attack him. Kwalish first 
  creates a distraction by releasing the mephits and the 
  mind flayer in his lab as an action. He then turns on 
  the monitor and ducks down to stay out of the medusa’s 
  field of view. During the subsequent chaos, the gnome 
  attempts to don the powered armor, then wreak havoc.
  Concluding the  
  Adventure
  Depending on your specific adventure hook and 
  how this adventure fits into your overall campaign, 
  completing the adventure might have multiple 
  ramifications. 
  Loose Ends
  If Kwalish’s knowledge was needed to oppose threats in 
  other lands, those threats might have been permanently 
  quelled—or they might only have been temporarily 
  driven back. Moreover, Kwalish’s aid could inadvertently 
  create new threats, as might happen if opening the 
  coffin-prison of the vampire, Ctenmiir, opens similar 
  Kwalish-designed prisons across the world.
   The power in the Barrier Peaks likely shifts 
  dramatically if the Grand Master is defeated, and 
  a new power struggle soon ensues for control of 
  the monastery. If Ctenmiir escapes or is freed, he 
  might return to the monastery to occupy it as his 
  new lair. Mary Greymalkin joins him there, creating 
  a sanctum of evil magic. If Gearbox has connected 
  with the monastery, he might remain there as the 
  pair’s unwitting servant—or the modron might seek 
  to overthrow this new set of evil lords in the name of 
  establishing the monastery as a place of pure knowledge 
  and balance. 
  Kwalish’s Plans
  Kwalish has long yearned to help the members of 
  his former expedition trapped as brains in jars in 
  the Monastery of the Distressed Body. Knowing that 
  they still survive, he might provide instructions and 
  materials for the characters to return to the monastery 
  and provide the brains with new bodies. And in Daoine 
  Gloine, the characters might entreat the inventor to 
  discover a way to return the vitrified statues of the city 
  to flesh. (If the characters haven’t destroyed the undead 
  medusa yet, such means might involve a side quest 
  where they bring Kwalish her severed head.) 
   Ultimately, Kwalish might become a patron of sorts 
  to the party, especially if the powered armor is loaned 
  out. If any character has bestowed a bit of their soul to 
  the inventor, he promises to return it in exchange for 
  the completion of certain tasks he sets before them 
  (including helping restore his friends). The place of 
  such a valuable and powerful contact in the campaign is 
  yours to determine.
  New Discoveries
  The Cartophile possesses a good number of treasure 
  maps in his extensive collections—some of which are 
  even accurate. As an added reward for returning with 
  maps and news of Kwalish’s original expedition, he 
  might gift one such map to the characters. He might 
  also look to hire the characters for future mapping 
  expeditions, or to undertake specific dangerous 
  missions in exchange for a share of the knowledge or 
  treasure to be found there.
  
  29
  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  To E. Gary Gygax, as author of the original Expedition 
  to the Barrier Peaks (may chocolate and peanut butter 
  forever collide into one another). To Kennedy O’Day, for 
  playing one of her first games of D&D next to Bart at the 
  2017 Extra Life livestream in the Wizards of the Coast 
  offices (it was awesome!). 
   We would also like to extend special acknowledgment 
  of a designer for certain spells and magic items 
  appearing within this adventure. To Laurence Withey—
  we hope this presentation of your material does justice 
  to Galder, and we humbly thank you for allowing us to 
  include it.
  Acknowledgments and Final Thanks
   Final thanks to everyone who purchased this 
  adventure—your donation is going to a truly great cause. 
  On behalf of the entire Dungeons & Dragons team, we 
  sincerely thank you for your contribution to Extra Life 
  and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
  QUINN CARROLL, SHAWN WOOD, SHAUNA NARCISO
  
  TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  
  Click to download at: 
   https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DaoineGloinePlayersHandout.jpg
  TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  
  32
  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  MARK WINTERS
  Characters undertaking this adventure will spend a 
  significant amount of game time on the journey to the 
  Monastery of the Distressed Body and the lost city 
  of Daoine Gloine. You can help bring those weeks of 
  exploration to life with random encounters—some of 
  which might increase or decrease the length of the 
  characters’ journey, as you decide.
   Chapter 2 of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything includes 
  random forest encounters, Underdark encounters, and 
  mountain encounters. Or you can roll for or select more 
  detailed encounters using the following tables.
  Wilderness Encounters
  Reaching the foothills of the Barrier Peaks takes 
  the characters through a broad range of wild lands—
  including woods infused with the power of the Feywild. 
  Wilderness Encounters
  d10
  Encounter
  1
  A pack of sprites pester the party, playing tricks and 
  attempting to steal small items until the characters 
  leave their territory. If they are treated with 
  deference, the sprites might help the characters find 
  the correct path and hurry them along. If assaulted 
  in any way, fifteen sprites riding stirges attack. (The 
  sprites’ invisibility extends to the stirges as well 
  while they are mounted.)
  2
  The path leads into a lonely grove that serves as 
  the grave of a former dryad queen. If appropriate 
  respects are paid, the characters have a 50 percent 
  chance to receive a supernatural gift (see chapter 
  7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide)—a charm that 
  allows a character to cast the Galder’s tower spell 
  (see appendix E) once as an action.
  3
  A treant and a stone golem were magically locked 
  together during an ancient battle. Over the centuries 
  since, fey gardeners have turned the two into a 
  temple. Characters who explore the temple might 
  inadvertently help the treant or the golem finally 
  overcome its foe.
  4
  A leprechaun (use quickling statistics from Volo’s 
  Guide to Monsters) crosses the characters’ path. If 
  successfully caught without being killed, the creature 
  negotiates its release with the location of its hidden 
  treasure: 1,000 gp in brightly polished coins.
  5
  Gathering firewood results in a visit from an angered 
  undead treant. (Use normal statistics, but the 
  creature has the undead type and cannot use its 
  Animate Trees feature). The treant collects all such 
  fallen branches to take to a hidden graveyard of 
  treant remains, and it angrily attacks any characters 
  who get in its way.
  Appendix A:  
  Random Encounters
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  d10
  Encounter
  6–7
  Some strange creature has wandered down from 
  the Monastery of the Distressed Body. Such 
  creatures might include an ancient security 
  construct gone mad (use oaken bolter statistics from 
  Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes) or a gibbering mouther 
  with a mechanical skull housing its central brain.
  8–10
  The characters come across a group of roving 
  outlaws (five to ten thugs led by a bandit captain), 
  who are heading to the monastery to join its ranks. 
  They possess rumors and fragments of a map, 
  and are keen to steal the characters’ resources—
  especially if Gearbox the modron is present.
  Cavern Encounters
  The caverns and tunnels of the Barrier Peaks are a 
  treacherous maze that has claimed more than one 
  adventurer. This challenging route might involve cavern 
  encounters that can help flesh out the characters’ 
  journey to the Monastery of the Distressed Body. 
  Cavern Encounters
  d10
  Encounter
  1
  A xorn and an umber hulk hunt as a team, with the 
  umber hulk working to herd characters toward its 
  partner. Alternatively, the xorn and the umber hulk 
  are rivals, with the characters caught in the middle.
  2
  A small war machine built at the monastery has been 
  claimed by three kobolds, which use it to attack any 
  potential threats. Use the statistics for the oaken 
  bolter (from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes) and the 
  kobold inventor (from Volo’s Guide to Monsters).
  3
  The characters’ tunnel route leads through the lair 
  of a froghemoth or some other exotic monstrosity 
  escaped from another planar craft that crashed into 
  the Barrier Peaks long ago.
  4
  A galeb duhr serves as a kind of door between 
  passageways. Negotiating with it successfully allows 
  access to a secret tunnel that cuts days off the 
  characters’ journey.
  5
  Roving outlaws (five to ten thugs led by a bandit 
  captain) heading to the monastery to join its ranks 
  are hopelessly lost in the tunnels. In gratitude for 
  being rescued, they offer to help the characters in 
  their quest, but betray them at the first opportunity.
  6–7
  Six prisoners (commoners) escaping from the 
  monastery look to the characters for aid. They are 
  pursued by monks (five cultists led by a cult fanatic). 
  If the prisoners are aided, they can supply some 
  knowledge of the monastery before making their 
  own way safely out of the mountains.
  8–10
  A monastery work party—six humanoid prisoners 
  (commoners) watched by five cultists and a 
  cult fanatic—is seen collecting ore to fuel the 
  monastery’s engines. If the prisoners are rescued, 
  they can supply some knowledge of the monastery 
  before fleeing the mountains.
  Mountain Encounters
  The rocky trails and forbidding passes of the Barrier 
  Peaks hold endless mysteries, and are ripe for random 
  encounters as the characters make their way to 
  Daoine Gloine. 
  Mountain Encounters
  d10
  Encounter
  1–2
  A party of monks (five cultists led by a cult fanatic) 
  either survived the characters’ assault on the 
  Monastery of the Distressed Body or were away from 
  the monastery and returned to find it routed. They 
  pursue the characters—to try to convince them to 
  take on leadership of the monastery.
  3
  A party of surviving monks (five cultists) pursues 
  the characters in revenge, led by an escaped brain 
  in a jar using cobbled-together mechanical gear for 
  mobility. (If the Grand Master was defeated and its 
  brain survived any encounter in the treasury (area 
  M10), that brain now leads this group.)
  4
  The characters discover signs of past expeditions to 
  the Barrier Peaks—the remains of travelers crushed 
  by fallen rocks. If searched, the bodies might still 
  possess useful gear or fragmentary maps showing 
  the layout of Daoine Gloine. But a close inspection 
  shows that some bodies have had part of their flesh 
  melted away (from encounters with wandering ooze-
  folk).
  5
  A galeb duhr (sibling to the one in the monastery 
  tunnels) blocks a key route into the lost city of 
  Daoine Gloine. A character must succeed on a DC 14 
  Charisma (Persuasion) check for the party to pass. 
  But these galeb duhr have an instinctive knowledge 
  of each other, granting advantage or disadvantage 
  on the check depending on how the other galeb 
  duhr was treated. If the other galeb duhr was killed, 
  this one attacks as soon as the characters are 
  recognized.
  6–7
  A wandering ooze-folk appears, having accidentally 
  trekked out of the city.
  8–10
  An isolated village clings to the mountainside, 
  populated by kenku descended from Daoine Gloine 
  refugees who fled the city when it was flooded with 
  ooze. The kenku still remember ancient legends their 
  forebears told about a cult of the medusa, as well as 
  Kwalish’s arrival and the “plague of ooze.” However, 
  their ability to speak only in mimicry might make 
  it challenging for the characters to communicate 
  with them. In the course of the conversation, the 
  kenku might mimic the sounds of destruction and 
  screaming heard as the city was overwhelmed, relay 
  the mad ranting of the medusa, and so forth. They 
  might even repeat the words of Kwalish himself as he 
  talks of his extradimensional experiments with glass 
  baubles, and his efforts to hide his lab inside of one.
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  The wide-open nature of this adventure, the optional 
  setups provided in the “Adventure Length” and “First 
  Things Last” sidebars, and the options in the “Meeting 
  Kwalish” section give you the opportunity to run Lost 
  Laboratory of Kwalish in a number of different ways. 
  But if you’d like to customize this scenario even further, 
  consider any of the following options.
  The Cartophile
  The starting point for the adventure has a big impact 
  on establishing the full identity of the Cartophile. In 
  Waterdeep, Anaxi Zephries might be a member of that 
  city’s Surveyors’, Map-, and Chart-makers’ Guild. But if 
  the adventure is tied to Chult and Tomb of Annihilation, 
  he might instead work as a merchant prince in Port 
  Nyanzaru. And either way, no matter how genuinely you 
  portray him, the Cartophile might fall under suspicion 
  by the characters in the manner of so many too-helpful 
  NPCs. You can opt to run with such suspicions by giving 
  the Cartophile a secret agenda. 
   He might be a criminal agent working for the 
  Monastery of the Distressed Body, sending party 
  after adventuring party to become new prisoners of 
  the Grand Master. He might even be a construct sent 
  from the monastery for that purpose—or his body 
  might be such a construct, and the brain in a jar from 
  the monastery’s treasury is actually his. As such, the 
  Cartophile wishes to have it returned at all costs, 
  and any hirelings accompanying the party attempt to 
  complete this secret agenda over any others.
   Even if his goals are legitimate, the Cartophile’s desire 
  to trace the original expedition of his ancestors might 
  offer further connections to be developed. If one of the 
  brains in jars belongs to one of those relatives and is 
  provided with a new body (see below), it might return 
  to civilization with the characters. The Cartophile will 
  be keen to meet this ancestor, perhaps leading to a 
  new family business. Or considering that they’re both 
  gnomes, perhaps Kwalish is the ancestor the Cartophile 
  sought all along!
  Mary Greymalkin
  A number of options present themselves for using 
  the deck of several things within the adventure. As 
  written, Mary already carries the deck, and no matter 
  how many cards are drawn from it, the complete deck 
  reappears magically in her possession at the conclusion 
  of the adventure. But if she remains as an NPC in your 
  campaign, or is first placed in an earlier adventure, 
  consider modifying the cards’ effects to more broadly fit 
  the campaign.
   You might also decide that the cards’ effects are as 
  closely tied to the adventure as they are because they 
  are really a set of clockwork-controlling punch cards 
  from the crashed planar craft. Whether Gearbox is with 
  the party or not, the cards might be used to connect to 
  any of the technology in the adventure that the modron 
  can interface with. You might also add additional 
  possible effects, such as inserting the correct card 
  into the sphinx’s enhanced brain in order to issue it 
  commands. Even if used in these ways, though, a card 
  must first be formally drawn so that its primary effect 
  can play out.
   Additionally (and especially if the characters don’t 
  choose to take Mary as a hireling), the deck of several 
  things might not be in her possession. Instead, 
  characters can find the cards scattered in various 
  locations throughout the adventure, allowing them to be 
  collected, then used.
  The Enhanced Sphinx
  Plenty of additional options can be used during the 
  process of resolving the sphinx’s riddle, including 
  working with the idea that because the enhanced sphinx 
  gains much new knowledge from outlaws crossing into 
  the monastery, asking about good-aligned topics might 
  negate its advantage on the Intelligence check it makes 
  to answer. Alternatively, you might decide that the dock 
  the sphinx sits on magically fuels its enhanced abilities, 
  and that by tricking or forcing the creature off the dock, 
  it has disadvantage on its Intelligence checks to answer.
   Another obvious option is to allow the characters to 
  trick the sphinx with a logical conundrum, perhaps 
  along the lines of asking: How can we cross to the 
  monastery without paying the toll? The answer to the 
  question is to ask the question, pressing the sphinx 
  into a strange loop of logic that forces her to let the 
  characters pass. It’s also possible that the characters 
  might wish to use the enhanced sphinx to ask a question 
  they truly need to know the answer to, perhaps from 
  some other mystery in your campaign. The sphinx 
  always answers truly, and so can be used to provide rare 
  knowledge or lore if the characters are willing to pay 
  the price.
   Seeker of Knowledge. As a custodian of rare 
  knowledge, the sphinx might have long coveted the 
  knowledge of the monastery’s brains in jars—all of 
  them creatures with advanced intellect and a unique 
  perspective on the world. She might strike a deal with 
  the characters if they agree to find the brains and bring 
  her one, allowing them to summon the ferry without 
  paying her toll. 
   Restoring Old Debts. If the sphinx is slain, the 
  mechanical items that circle around her (functioning 
  as Ioun stones) might all be released. The life force 
  they contain (in the form of decreases to ability scores) 
  might then be usable by their original owners to reverse 
  the decrease. If any of those owners are still alive, the 
  stones might help guide the characters to them, allowing 
  the party to gain favor by returning the sphinx’s toll to 
  some of those who have paid it. If Mary is with the party, 
  she might seek to keep all the mechanical Ioun stones 
  for herself—and might stop at nothing to get them back 
  if the other characters seize them. 
  Appendix B: Further Options
  
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  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  The Grand Master
  As the leader of the monastery, the Grand Master is 
  meant to present a difficult but not impossible challenge. 
  You might wish to modify his capabilities depending on 
  the relative power of the characters.
   Vorpal Shards. Even while keeping the idea that the 
  grand master’s claw shards are from a vorpal sword, you 
  might wish to mitigate their threat of an instant kill by 
  having them deal an extra 6d8 slashing damage instead. 
  You might also have the shards be from a polymorph 
  blade, a blade of the medusa, or some other type 
  of weapon.
   Another option is to allow decapitated characters to 
  have their heads magically reattached and their life 
  restored at the leather works, through the advice of 
  the control room brains or Kwalish’s notes. Similarly, 
  you might have notes and technology found throughout 
  the adventure that allow the characters to recreate the 
  vorpal sword successfully if the shards are recovered.
   Cloak of Faces. If an added threat is needed, 
  you might have the Grand Master’s cloak fly apart 
  into its various faces during battle, attacking as a 
  swarm of bats.
   Throne Gate. The Grand Master might have long ago 
  figured out how to activate this gate. If things go bad for 
  it in combat, it might choose to do so in order to escape 
  (if you wish to preserve the Grand Master as a future 
  villain), or to summon an ally (if the fight against it 
  proves too easy).
  Brains in Jars
  Depending on your campaign, you might wish to 
  identify some or all of the monastery’s brains with 
  other figures from D&D lore. Perhaps the monastery 
  has long been home to obscure or lesser-known figures 
  such as Quaal, Queen Ehlissa, Keoghtom, Nolzur, and 
  Tuerny the Merciless—all of them known mostly for the 
  magic items that bear their names. If you use Nolzur, 
  the creator of Nolzur’s marvelous pigments would be 
  of special interest to Garret, while Tuerny (creator of 
  the lost artifact The Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless) 
  would be of special interest to Mary Greymalkin.
   The New Body Problem. Every brain in a jar is 
  desperate for a new body, and a brain immediately 
  agrees to aid the characters any way it can if they 
  promise to restore it to life. Any number of possible 
  options might be available to characters wanting to 
  achieve this end. Most easily, the brains can guide 
  characters through the process of transferring 
  their intellect into a host such as a slain monk, or a 
  mechanical entity such as Ctenmiir’s coffin or Gearbox. 
  This process requires a successful DC 14 Wisdom 
  (Medicine) check or Dexterity check with thieves’ tools 
  or tinker’s tools. However, on a failed check, the brain 
  is destroyed and any floating disks it controls in the 
  treasury (area M10) are permanently deactivated.
   The characters might also attempt to craft an entirely 
  new mechanical body as a brain host—either individual 
  bodies for each brain, or a single body that houses all 
  the brains at once. Doing so requires a suitable amount 
  of time, access to materials, and a successful DC 16 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check or Dexterity check with 
  thieves’ tools or tinker’s tools. Furthermore, each such 
  body also requires a new energy cell from the treasury.
   You could also establish that the process of returning 
  a brain to a new body might require knowledge available 
  only from Kwalish. In this scenario, one or more brains 
  will secure a promise from the characters to return 
  with this knowledge—or they might seek to accompany 
  them onward. The brains can go mobile by attaching 
  their canisters to Gearbox, Ctenmiir’s coffin, the 
  merrenoloth’s skiff, one of the treasury floating disks 
  made mobile—or even to the characters themselves.
  	 Conflict	with	the	Sphinx. If you work with the idea 
  that the sphinx seeks the knowledge held by the brains 
  in jars, the brains know this—and greatly fear that 
  outcome. They might strike a deal with the characters 
  to use their control over the monastery to aid the party—
  but only if they agree to first go back and slay the sphinx. 
  Once the sphinx is slain—or if the characters killed it 
  before coming to the monastery—any ability checks 
  made to deal with the brains are made with advantage.
  More Monastery
  The original Expedition to the Barrier Peaks mapped 
  out six levels of the adventure’s crashed ship: “a large 
  exploration-colonization expedition of human origin.” 
  This adventure focuses on only a cursory exploration 
  of a similarly crashed planar craft, but you can easily 
  expand the adventure by allowing characters to discover 
  portals in the monastery that lead to lower levels of 
  the vessel. 
   A secret entrance might be concealed behind the 
  Grand Master’s throne in area M3, opening to reveal 
  a spidery contraption resembling an iron golem, and 
  operating as a climbing elevator down into the lower 
  decks. Another entrance might be concealed within 
  one of the immured ones’ cells at area M6. Opening the 
  cell could reveal the entrance standing open, with the 
  prisoner gone and residing somewhere below.
   Any such entrance might need to be accessed with 
  one of the deck of several things’ clockwork control 
  cards (see “Mary Greymalkin,” above). But however 
  they are reached, these lower levels might contain any 
  number of threats and mysteries: escaped biological 
  specimens, advanced technologies, or even the planar 
  craft’s original pilots trapped in stasis. The means to 
  reignite the craft’s engines might also be found there 
  if the monastery is in imminent danger of dropping 
  from the sky.
   As an added challenge to the task of rescuing 
  characters captured by the monks (including those 
  who fall to the valley floor below the monastery), 
  such prisoners might be outfitted with teleportation-
  field devices around their necks, so that their bodies 
  and heads are separated and imprisoned in two 
  different locations. Characters are fully conscious and 
  ambulatory while in such a state, their heads operating 
  independently of their bodies until both are reunited. 
  See the “Teleportation-Field Devices” sidebar for more 
  information.
  
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  High Priest
  In the ooze-flooded city of Daoine Gloine, the high priest 
  in area O5 might negotiate with the characters for a 
  new physical body. She readily agrees to deactivate 
  the clockwork kraken if the characters open her coffin 
  and help her, suggesting that they drop her into the 
  gelatinous ooze covering the city so that she can sink 
  down and use one of Kwalish’s armatures for a new 
  body. However, you might decide that if this is done, the 
  priest’s still-potent magical power allows her to merge 
  with the great ooze and control it—effectively using that 
  titanic creature as the new body she seeks.
  Baubles
  As the characters search through the endless baubles of 
  Daoine Gloine, you might want to distinguish the single 
  bauble leading to Kwalish’s lab from the other crystal 
  baubles by having it composed of diamond. A successful 
  DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check spots the difference 
  between the diamond bauble and the other crystal 
  specimens.
   In addition to crafting new options for the encounters 
  inside the baubles, you can set up each bauble so that 
  leaving its extradimensional space requires some sort of 
  victory condition. Such conditions might include killing 
  the wraith in bauble 1, finding a special item in the 
  market in bauble 2, and so forth. You can also increase 
  or decrease the number of decoy baubles throughout 
  the city—or even have baubles taken from the city and 
  hidden throughout the world! 
  Abyssal Throne Gate
  Opening either of these devices (in the central abbey or 
  the tomb of the medusa) creates the effect of casting a 
  gate spell. As per that spell, the characters might wish 
  to name a specific creature from the plane the gate 
  leads to, hoping to interact with it. Or you might have a 
  creature Kwalish previously met through the gate arrive 
  in response to it being opened. That creature might 
  have knowledge to impart, a debt to repay, or a grudge 
  to have righted. You could even have creatures from 
  the two gates know of each another—and, as with the 
  monastery’s sphinx and brains in jars—attempt to work 
  with the characters against one another.
   Additionally, the extradimensional portal Kwalish 
  used to open a gate to the Abyss from Daoine Gloine 
  might be reversible. If the characters meet descendants 
  of the city’s original inhabitants, they might be asked 
  to free the city of the ooze, perhaps in exchange for 
  valuable lost lore. Kwalish might also ask for their aid in 
  restoring the city to its former state.
   If the undead medusa guarding area O4 is overcome, 
  the crown and scepter recovered from the monastery 
  can be used to open the temple gate, as noted in the 
  adventure. A follow-up successful DC 15 Intelligence 
  (Religion) check can then trigger ritual magic that 
  reverses the flood of ooze and sends it back to the Slime 
  Pits. However, if this check is failed by 5 or more, the 
  botched ritual summons forth a new plague of acidic 
  slime—so potent that it quickly melts the stone of the 
  city away, destroying Daoine Gloine for all time.
   To raise the stakes for characters attempting to 
  activate or reverse the abyssal gate, you can also 
  require that the character wearing the crown and 
  holding the scepter must be in physical contact with 
  the standing arch—making it impossible to activate the 
  gate from inside the apparatus of Kwalish or any similar 
  protective device.
  Kwalish
  The legendary arcane inventor is presented as an 
  obsessed, distracted, but basically benign figure in the 
  adventure. However, you might choose to present him 
  as a much more sinister villain. Instead of preserving 
  the brains of his fallen comrades in the hope of one 
  day reviving them, Kwalish might have worked with 
  the sphinx to arrange their deaths in order to harvest 
  their brains for his research. Any of the brains in jars 
  in the Monastery of the Distressed Body can detail 
  those events.
   Likewise, instead of flooding Daoine Gloine with ooze 
  in order to save himself from the city’s evil cultists, 
  Kwalish might simply have wished to drive away 
  the population and seal off the city for his own use. 
  Descendants of Daoine Gloine’s original inhabitants met 
  on the way to the city (see appendix A) can detail these 
  events, as can any revived statues, or even the medusa 
  if the characters use speak with dead after ending her 
  threat for good.
   If used as a villain, Kwalish should be presented as 
  a final opponent to overcome in his laboratory. Any 
  knowledge required to complete the party’s quest can 
  then be found within his journals and personal notes.
  
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  This section includes new monsters and nonplayer 
  characters introduced in Lost Laboratory of Kwalish, 
  as well as stat blocks from the Monster Manual, Volo’s 
  Guide to Monsters, and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes 
  that are referenced in the adventure.
  Bandit Captain
  Medium humanoid (any race), any non-lawful alignment
  Armor Class 15 (studded leather)
  Hit Points 65 (10d8 + 20)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  14 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  11 (+0) 
  14 (+2)
  Saving Throws Str +4, Dex +5, Wis +2
  Skills Athletics +4, Deception +4
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages any two languages
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Actions
  Multiattack. The captain makes three melee attacks: two 
  with its scimitar and one with its dagger. Or the captain 
  makes two ranged attacks with its daggers.
  Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage.
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) 
  piercing damage.
  Reactions
  Parry. The captain adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack 
  that would hit it. To do so, the captain must see the attacker 
  and be wielding a melee weapon.
  Berserker
  Medium humanoid (any race), any chaotic alignment
  Armor Class 13 (hide armor)
  Hit Points 67 (9d8 + 27)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   16 (+3) 
  12 (+1) 
  17 (+3) 
  9 (−1) 
  11 (+0) 
  9 (−1)
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Appendix C: Monsters and NPCs
  Reckless. At the start of its turn, the berserker can gain 
  advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, 
  but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its 
  next turn.
  Actions
  Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 9 (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.
  Bone Devil
  Large fiend (devil), lawful evil
  Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 142 (15d10 + 60)
  Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   18 (+4) 
  16 (+3) 
  18 (+4) 
  13 (+1) 
  14 (+2) 
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +7
  Skills Deception +7, Insight +6
  Damage Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and 
  slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with 
  silvered weapons
  Damage Immunities fire, poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 12
  Languages Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
  Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
  Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness doesn’t impede the devil’s 
  darkvision.
  Magic Resistance. The devil has advantage on saving throws 
  against spells and other magical effects.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The devil makes three attacks: two with its 
  claws and one with its sting.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.
  Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 17 (5d6) 
  poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 
  Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. 
  The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of 
  its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  
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  Brain in a Jar
  Medium undead, any alignment
  Armor Class 11 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)
  Speed 0 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   1 (−5) 
  1 (−5) 
  15 (+2) 
  19 (+4) 
  10 (+0) 
  15 (+2)
  Saving Throws Int +7, Cha +5
  Damage Immunities necrotic, poison, psychic
  Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, 
  paralyzed, poisoned
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages any languages it knew in life
  Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
  Detect Sentience. The brain in a jar can sense the presence 
  and location of any creature within 300 feet of it that has an 
  Intelligence of 3 or higher, regardless of interposing barriers, 
  unless the creature is protected by a mind blank spell.
  Magic Resistance. The brain in a jar has advantage on saving 
  throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The brain in a jar’s innate 
  spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can 
  innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
  At will: detect thoughts, mage hand, zone of truth
  3/day each: charm person, command, hold person
  1/day each: compulsion, hold monster, sleep (cast at 3rd level), 
  Tasha’s hideous laughter
  Actions
  Mind Blast (Recharge 5–6). The brain in a jar magically emits 
  psychic energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area 
  must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 
  13 (2d8 + 4) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A 
  creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its 
  turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  Clockwork Kraken
  Large construct, unaligned
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 142 (15d10 + 60)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   20 (+5) 
  12 (+1) 
  18 (+4) 
  3 (−4) 
  11 (+0) 
  1 (−5)
  Damage Resistances fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and 
  slashing from nonmagical attacks
  Damage Immunities poison, psychic
  Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, 
  paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages understands the languages of its creator but 
  can’t speak
  Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
  Magic Resistance. The clockwork kraken has advantage on 
  saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Independent Tentacles. The clockwork kraken has eight 
  tentacles, each of which is treated as a Medium creature, 
  moves independently on the construct’s turn, and has 
  a flying speed of 40 feet. The clockwork kraken’s senses 
  operate through its tentacles as well as its main body. Each 
  tentacle can be attacked independently, with damage dealt 
  to tentacles applied to the clockwork kraken’s hit point total. 
  A tentacle is destroyed if it takes more than 20 damage. 
  Reducing the construct to three or fewer tentacles reduces 
  its attacks accordingly. A clockwork kraken can regrow any 
  destroyed tentacles at the end of a long rest.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The clockwork kraken makes four tentacle 
  slam attacks.
  Tentacle Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
  Commoner
  Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
  Armor Class 10
  Hit Points 4 (1d8)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 0 (10 XP)
  Actions
  Club. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage.
  
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  Cultist
  Medium humanoid (any race), any non-good alignment
  Armor Class 12 (leather armor)
  Hit Points 9 (2d8)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   11 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Skills Deception +2, Religion +2
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
  Dark Devotion. The cultist has advantage on saving throws 
  against being charmed or frightened.
  Actions
  Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage.
  Cult Fanatic
  Medium humanoid (any race), any non-good alignment
  Armor Class 13 (leather armor)
  Hit Points 33 (6d8 + 6)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   11 (+0) 
  14 (+2) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  13 (+1) 
  14 (+2)
  Skills Deception +4, Persuasion +4, Religion +2
  Senses passive Perception 11
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Dark Devotion. The fanatic has advantage on saving throws 
  against being charmed or frightened.
  Spellcasting. The fanatic is a 4th-level spellcaster. Its 
  spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11, +3 to hit 
  with spell attacks). The fanatic has the following cleric 
  spells prepared:
  Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
  1st level (4 slots): command, inflict wounds, shield of faith
  2nd level (3 slots): hold person, spiritual weapon
  Actions
  Multiattack. The fanatic makes two melee attacks.
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 
  5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) 
  piercing damage.
  Evoker
  Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
  Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor)
  Hit Points 66 (12d8 + 12)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   9 (–1) 
  14 (+2) 
  12 (+1) 
  17 (+3) 
  12 (+1) 
  11 (+0)
  Saving Throws Int +7, Wis +5
  Skills Arcana +7, History +7
  Senses passive Perception 11
  Languages any four languages
  Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
  Spellcasting. The evoker is a 12th-level spellcaster. Its 
  spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to 
  hit with spell attacks). The evoker has the following wizard 
  spells prepared:
  Cantrips (at will): fire bolt,* light,* prestidigitation, ray of frost*
  1st level (4 slots): burning hands,* mage armor, magic missile*
  2nd level (3 slots): mirror image, misty step, shatter*
  3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fireball,* lightning bolt*
  4th level (3 slots): ice storm,* stoneskin
  5th level (2 slots): Bigby’s hand,* cone of cold*
  6th level (1 slot): chain lightning,* wall of ice*
  *Evocation spell
  Sculpt Spells. When the evoker casts an evocation spell that 
  forces other creatures it can see to make a saving throw, 
  it can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell’s 
  level. These creatures automatically succeed on their saving 
  throws against the spell. If a successful save means a chosen 
  creature would take half damage from the spell, it instead 
  takes no damage from it.
  Actions
  Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 2 (1d6 – 1) bludgeoning damage, or 3 (1d8 – 1) 
  bludgeoning damage if used with two hands.
  
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  Froghemoth
  Huge monstrosity, unaligned
  Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 184 (16d12 + 80)
  Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   23 (+6) 
  13 (+1) 
  20 (+5) 
  2 (−4) 
  12 (+1) 
  5 (−3)
  Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +5
  Skills Perception +9, Stealth +5
  Damage Resistances fire, lightning
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 19
  Languages —
  Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
  Amphibious. The froghemoth can breathe air and water.
  Shock Susceptibility. If the froghemoth takes lightning 
  damage, it suffers several effects until the end of its next 
  turn: its speed is halved, it takes a −2 penalty to AC and 
  Dexterity saving throws, it can’t use reactions or Multiattack, 
  and on its turn, it can use either an action or a bonus 
  action, not both.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The froghemoth makes two attacks with its 
  tentacles. It can also use its tongue or bite.
  Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 20 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage, and the 
  target is grappled (escape DC 16) if it is a Huge or smaller 
  creature. Until the grapple ends, the froghemoth can’t use 
  this tentacle on another target. The froghemoth has four 
  tentacles.
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage, and the target is 
  swallowed if it is a Medium or smaller creature. A swallowed 
  creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against 
  attacks and other effects outside the froghemoth, and 
  takes 10 (3d6) acid damage at the start of each of the 
  froghemoth’s turns. 
   The froghemoth’s gullet can hold up to two creatures at a 
  time. If the froghemoth takes 20 damage or more on a single 
  turn from a creature inside it, the froghemoth must succeed 
  on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw at the end of that 
  turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, each of which 
  falls prone in a space within 10 feet of the froghemoth. If 
  the froghemoth dies, a swallowed creature is no longer 
  restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 10 feet 
  of movement, exiting prone.
  Tongue. The froghemoth targets one Medium or smaller 
  creature that it can see within 20 feet of it. The target must 
  make a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the 
  target is pulled into an unoccupied space within 5 feet of 
  the froghemoth, and the froghemoth can make a bite attack 
  against it as a bonus action.
  Galeb Duhr
  Medium elemental, neutral
  Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 85 (9d8 + 45)
  Speed 15 ft. (30 ft. when rolling, 60 ft. rolling downhill)
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   20 (+5) 
  14 (+2) 
  20 (+5) 
  11 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  11 (+0)
  Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing 
  from nonmagical attacks
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, 
  poisoned, petrified
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., 
  passive Perception 11
  Languages Terran
  Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
  False Appearance. While the galeb duhr remains motionless, 
  it is indistinguishable from a normal boulder.
  Rolling Charge. If the galeb duhr rolls at least 20 feet straight 
  toward a target and then hits it with a slam attack on the 
  same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) bludgeoning 
  damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 
  16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
  Actions
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
  Animate Boulders (1/Day). The galeb duhr magically 
  animates up to two boulders it can see within 60 feet of it. 
  A boulder has statistics like those of a galeb duhr, except it 
  has Intelligence 1 and Charisma 1, it can’t be charmed or 
  frightened, and it lacks this action option. A boulder remains 
  animated as long as the galeb duhr maintains concentration, 
  up to 1 minute (as if concentrating on a spell).
  Froghemoth
  
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  Garret Levistusson 
  Medium humanoid (tiefling), chaotic neutral
  Armor Class 14 (studded leather)
  Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8) 
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   11 (+0)  
  14 (+2)  
  12 (+1) 
  11 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  17 (+3)
  Saving Throws Dex +4, Cha +5
  Skills Deception +7, Investigation +4, Performance +5, 
  Persuasion +5
  Damage Resistances cold, fire
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
  Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal, thieves’ cant
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Special Equipment. Garret wears a ring of warmth (included 
  in his statistics) and wields a gambler’s blade longsword (see 
  appendix D).
  Bardic Inspiration (3/day). As a bonus action, Garret can 
  give one chosen creature (other than him) a d6 inspiration 
  die. The chosen creature must be within 60 feet of Garret 
  and able to hear him. Once within the next 10 minutes, 
  the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to 
  one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The 
  creature can use the inspiration die after the roll is made but 
  before the DM says whether it succeeds or fails. Once the 
  inspiration die is rolled, it is lost. A creature can have only 
  one inspiration die at a time.
  Cunning Action. On each of his turns, Garret can use a 
  bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
  Sneak Attack (1/Turn). Garret deals an extra 7 (2d6) 
  damage when he hits a target with a weapon attack and has 
  advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 
  feet of an ally of Garret that isn’t incapacitated and Garret 
  doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
  Spellcasting. Garret is a 2nd-level spellcaster. His 
  spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5 
  to hit with spell attacks). He has the following bard 
  spells prepared:
  Cantrips (at will): blade ward, vicious mockery
  1st level (3 slots): charm person, detect magic, disguise self, 
  identify, Tasha’s hideous laughter
  Actions
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
  Gelatinous Cube
  Large ooze, unaligned
  Armor Class 6
  Hit Points 84 (8d10 + 40)
  Speed 15 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   14 (+2) 
  3 (−4) 
  20 (+5) 
  1 (−5) 
  6 (−2) 
  1 (−5)
  Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, 
  exhaustion, frightened, prone
  Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), 
  passive Perception 8
  Languages —
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Ooze Cube. The cube takes up its entire space. Other 
  creatures can enter the space, but a creature that does so is 
  subjected to the cube’s Engulf and has disadvantage on the 
  saving throw. 
   Creatures inside the cube can be seen but have total cover. 
   A creature within 5 feet of the cube can take an action to 
  pull a creature or object out of the cube. Doing so requires 
  a successful DC 12 Strength check, and the creature making 
  the attempt takes 10 (3d6) acid damage. 
   The cube can hold only one Large creature or up to four 
  Medium or smaller creatures inside it at a time.
  Transparent. Even when the cube is in plain sight, it takes 
  a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot a 
  cube that has neither moved nor attacked. A creature that 
  tries to enter the cube’s space while unaware of the cube is 
  surprised by the cube.
  Actions
  Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) acid damage.
  Engulf. The cube moves up to its speed. While doing so, it 
  can enter Large or smaller creatures’ spaces. Whenever the 
  cube enters a creature’s space, the creature must make a DC 
  12 Dexterity saving throw. 
   On a successful save, the creature can choose to be 
  pushed 5 feet back or to the side of the cube. A creature that 
  chooses not to be pushed suffers the consequences of a 
  failed saving throw. 
   On a failed save, the cube enters the creature’s space, and 
  the creature takes 10 (3d6) acid damage and is engulfed. The 
  engulfed creature can’t breathe, is restrained, and takes 21 
  (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the cube’s turns. 
  When the cube moves, the engulfed creature moves with it. 
   An engulfed creature can try to escape by taking an action 
  to make a DC 12 Strength check. On a success, the creature 
  escapes and enters a space of its choice within 5 feet 
  of the cube.
  
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  Gibbering Mouther
  Medium aberration, neutral
  Armor Class 9
  Hit Points 67 (9d8 + 27)
  Speed 10 ft., swim 10 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  8 (−1) 
  16 (+3) 
  3 (−4) 
  10 (+0) 
  6 (−2)
  Condition Immunities prone
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages —
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Aberrant Ground. The ground in a 10-foot radius around 
  the mouther is doughlike difficult terrain. Each creature that 
  starts its turn in that area must succeed on a DC 10 Strength 
  saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the start of 
  its next turn.
  Gibbering. The mouther babbles incoherently while it can 
  see any creature and isn’t incapacitated. Each creature that 
  starts its turn within 20 feet of the mouther and can hear the 
  gibbering must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. 
  On a failure, the creature can’t take reactions until the start 
  of its next turn and rolls a d8 to determine what it does 
  during its turn. On a 1 to 4, the creature does nothing. On 
  a 5 or 6, the creature takes no action or bonus action and 
  uses all its movement to move in a randomly determined 
  direction. On a 7 or 8, the creature makes a melee attack 
  against a randomly determined creature within its reach or 
  does nothing if it can’t make such an attack.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The gibbering mouther makes one bite attack 
  and, if it can, uses its Blinding Spittle.
  Bites. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 17 (5d6) piercing damage. If the target is 
  Medium or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 10 Strength 
  saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is killed by 
  this damage, it is absorbed into the mouther.
  Blinding Spittle (Recharge 5–6). The mouther spits a 
  chemical glob at a point it can see within 15 feet of it. The 
  glob explodes in a blinding flash of light on impact. Each 
  creature within 5 feet of the flash must succeed on a DC 
  13 Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the end of the 
  mouther’s next turn.
  Gynosphinx
  Large monstrosity, lawful neutral
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 136 (16d10 + 48)
  Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   18 (+4) 
  15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  18 (+4) 
  18 (+4) 
  18 (+4)
  Skills Arcana +12, History +12, Perception +8, Religion +8
  Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing 
  from nonmagical attacks
  Damage Immunities psychic
  Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
  Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 18
  Languages Common, Sphinx
  Challenge 11 (7,200 XP)
  Inscrutable. The sphinx is immune to any effect that would 
  sense its emotions or read its thoughts, as well as any 
  divination spell that it refuses. Wisdom (Insight) checks 
  made to ascertain the sphinx’s intentions or sincerity have 
  disadvantage.
  Magic Weapons. The sphinx’s weapon attacks are magical.
  Spellcasting. The sphinx is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its 
  spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16, +8 to 
  hit with spell attacks). It requires no material components 
  to cast its spells. The sphinx has the following wizard 
  spells prepared:
  Cantrips (at will): mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation
  1st level (4 slots): detect magic, identify, shield
  2nd level (3 slots): darkness, locate object, suggestion
  3rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, remove curse, tongues
  4th level (3 slots): banishment, greater invisibility
  5th level (1 slot): legend lore
  Actions
  Multiattack. The sphinx makes two claw attacks.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
  Legendary Actions
  The sphinx can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from 
  the options below. Only one legendary action option can 
  be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s 
  turn. The sphinx regains spent legendary actions at the start 
  of its turn.
  Claw Attack. The sphinx makes one claw attack.
  Teleport (Costs 2 Actions). The sphinx magically teleports, 
  along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 
  120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
  Cast a Spell (Costs 3 Actions). The sphinx casts a spell from 
  its list of prepared spells, using a spell slot as normal.
  
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  Kenku
  Medium humanoid (kenku), chaotic neutral
  Armor Class 13
  Hit Points 13 (3d8)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  16 (+3) 
  10 (+0) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Skills Deception +4, Perception +2, Stealth +5
  Senses passive Perception 12
  Languages understands Auran and Common but speaks only 
  through the use of its Mimicry trait
  Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
  Ambusher. The kenku has advantage on attack rolls against 
  any creature it has surprised.
  Mimicry. The kenku can mimic any sounds it has heard, 
  including voices. A creature that hears the sounds can 
  tell they are imitations with a successful DC 14 Wisdom 
  (Insight) check.
  Actions
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.
  Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.
  Martial Arts Adept
  Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
  Armor Class 16
  Hit Points 60 (11d8 + 11)
  Speed 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   11 (+0) 
  17 (+3) 
  13 (+1) 
  11 (+0) 
  16 (+3) 
  10 (+0)
  Skills Acrobatics +5, Insight +5, Stealth +5
  Senses passive Perception 13
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 3 (700 XP)
  Unarmored Defense. While the adept is wearing no armor 
  and wielding no shield, its AC includes its Wisdom modifier.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The adept makes three unarmed strikes or 
  three dart attacks.
  Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 
  5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If 
  the target is a creature, the adept can choose one of the 
  following additional effects:
  • The target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw 
  or drop one item it is holding (adept’s choice).
  • The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving 
  throw or be knocked prone.
  • The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving 
  throw or be stunned until the end of the adept’s next turn.
  Dart. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.
  Reactions
  Deflect Missile. In response to being hit by a ranged weapon 
  attack, the adept deflects the missile. The damage it takes 
  from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + 3. If the damage is 
  reduced to 0, the adept catches the missile if it’s small 
  enough to hold in one hand and the adept has a hand free.
  Mary Greymalkin 
  Medium humanoid (eladrin), neutral
  Armor Class 14 (bracers of defense, ring of protection)
  Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  14 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  15 (+2)
  Saving Throws Str +1, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +3, Wis +5, Cha +5
  Skills Arcana +4, Medicine +4, Nature +4, Religion +4
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
  Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Elvish, 
  Infernal, Sylvan
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Special Equipment. Mary wears bracers of defense and a 
  ring of protection, and carries a deck of several things (see 
  appendix D).
  Fey Presence (Recharges after a Short Rest). Mary can cause 
  each creature within 10 feet of her to succeed on a DC 12 
  Wisdom saving throw or become charmed or frightened by 
  her (Mary’s choice) until the end of her next turn.
  Fey Ancestry. Mary has advantage on saving throws against 
  being charmed, and magic can’t put her to sleep.
  Spellcasting. Mary is a 5th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting 
  ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell 
  attacks). She regains her expended spell slots when she 
  finishes a short or long rest. She knows the following 
  warlock spells:
  Cantrips: chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand
  1st–3rd level (2 3rd-level slots): darkness, hex, hypnotic 
  pattern, misty step, phantasmal force, unseen servant
  Actions
  Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.
  
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  Medusa
  Medium monstrosity, lawful evil
  Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 127 (17d8 + 51)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  12 (+1) 
  13 (+1) 
  15 (+2)
  Skills Deception +5, Insight +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
  Languages Common
  Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
  Petrifying Gaze. When a creature that can see the medusa’s 
  eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the medusa, the medusa 
  can force it to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw if 
  the medusa isn’t incapacitated and can see the creature. If 
  the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is instantly 
  petrified. Otherwise, a creature that fails the save begins to 
  turn to stone and is restrained. The restrained creature must 
  repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, becoming 
  petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The 
  petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater 
  restoration spell or other magic.
   Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the 
  saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it 
  can’t see the medusa until the start of its next turn, when it 
  can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the medusa 
  in the meantime, it must immediately make the save. 
   If the medusa sees itself reflected on a polished surface 
  within 30 feet of it and in an area of bright light, the medusa 
  is, due to its curse, affected by its own gaze.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The medusa makes either three melee 
  attacks—one with its snake hair and two with its 
  shortsword—or two ranged attacks with its longbow.
  Snake Hair. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) 
  poison damage.
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
  Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 
  ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) 
  poison damage.
  Merrenoloth
  Medium fiend (yugoloth), neutral evil
  Armor Class 13
  Hit Points 40 (9d8)
  Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   8 (−1) 
  17 (+3) 
  10 (+0) 
  17 (+3) 
  14 (+2) 
  11 (+0)
  Saving Throws Dex +5, Int +5
  Skills History +5, Nature +5, Perception +4, Survival +4
  Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
  Damage Immunities acid, poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive 
  Perception 14
  Languages Abyssal, Infernal, telepathy 60 ft.
  Challenge 3 (700 XP)
  Innate Spellcasting. The merrenoloth’s innate spellcasting 
  ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast 
  the following spells, requiring no material components:
  At will: charm person, darkness, detect magic, dispel magic, 
  gust of wind
  3/day: control water
  1/day: control weather
  Magic Resistance. The merrenoloth has advantage on saving 
  throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Magic Weapons. The merrenoloth’s weapon attacks 
  are magical.
  Teleport. As a bonus action, the merrenoloth magically 
  teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, 
  up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The merrenoloth uses Fear Gaze once and 
  makes one oar attack.
  Oar. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage.
  Fear Gaze. The merrenoloth targets one creature it can 
  see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 
  13 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the 
  merrenoloth for 1 minute. The frightened target can repeat 
  the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the 
  effect on itself on a success.
  
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  Gearbox the
  Monodrone
  Monodrone
  Medium construct, lawful neutral
  Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 5 (1d8 + 1)
  Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  13 (+1) 
  12 (+1) 
  4 (−3) 
  10 (+0) 
  5 (−3)
  Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages Modron
  Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
  Axiomatic Mind. The monodrone can’t be compelled to act 
  in a manner contrary to its nature or its instructions.
  Disintegration. If the monodrone dies, its body disintegrates 
  into dust, leaving behind its weapons and anything else it 
  was carrying.
  Actions
  Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.
  Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft. 
  or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage.
  Mind Flayer Arcanist
  Medium aberration, lawful evil
  Armor Class 15 (breastplate)
  Hit Points 71 (13d8 + 13)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   11 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  12 (+1) 
  19 (+4) 
  17 (+3) 
  17 (+3)
  Saving Throws Int +7, Wis +6, Cha +6
  Skills Arcana +7, Deception +6, Insight +6, Perception +6, 
  Persuasion +6, Stealth +4
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16
  Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon, telepathy 120 ft.
  Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)
  Magic Resistance. The mind flayer has advantage on saving 
  throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Spellcasting. The mind flayer is a 10th-level spellcaster. Its 
  spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit 
  with spell attacks). The mind flayer has the following wizard 
  spells prepared:
  Cantrips (at will): blade ward, dancing lights, mage hand, 
  shocking grasp
  1st level (4 slots): detect magic, disguise self, shield, sleep
  2nd level (3 slots): blur, invisibility, ray of enfeeblement
  3rd level (3 slots): clairvoyance, lightning bolt, sending
  4th level (3 slots): confusion, hallucinatory terrain
  5th level (2 slots): telekinesis, wall of force
  Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The mind flayer’s innate 
  spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can 
  innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
  At will: detect thoughts, levitate
  1/day each: dominate monster, plane shift (self only)
  Actions
  Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) psychic damage. If the target is 
  Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 15) and must 
  succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or be stunned 
  until this grapple ends.
  Extract Brain. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., 
  one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the mind flayer. 
  Hit: 55 (10d10) piercing damage. If this damage reduces 
  the target to 0 hit points, the mind flayer kills the target by 
  extracting and devouring its brain.
  Mind Blast (Recharge 5–6). The mind flayer magically emits 
  psychic energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area 
  must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 
  22 (4d8 + 4) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A 
  creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its 
  turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  MATT WARREN
  
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  Ooze-Folk
  Medium ooze, unaligned
  Armor Class 10 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 19 (2d8 + 10)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   14 (+2) 
  3 (−4) 
  20 (+5) 
  1 (−5) 
  6 (−2) 
  1 (−5)
  Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, 
  exhaustion, frightened, prone
  Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 8
  Languages —
  Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
  Transparent. Even when an ooze-folk is in plain sight, it 
  takes a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot an ooze-
  folk that has neither moved nor attacked. A creature that 
  tries to enter the ooze-folk’s space while unaware of the 
  ooze-folk is surprised by the ooze-folk.
  Fragile Bones. For each 5 damage it takes, the ooze-folk’s 
  walking speed is reduced by 5 feet.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The ooze folk makes one glass longsword 
  attack and one pseudopod attack.
  Glass Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 
  ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) slashing damage. If a 1 is 
  rolled on an attack roll with a glass longsword, it shatters 
  and can no longer be used.
  Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) acid damage.
  Quasit
  Tiny fiend (demon, shapechanger), chaotic evil
  Armor Class 13
  Hit Points 7 (3d4)
  Speed 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   5 (−3) 
  17 (+3) 
  10 (+0) 
  7 (−2) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Skills Stealth +5
  Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages Abyssal, Common
  Challenge 1 (200 XP)
  Shapechanger. The quasit can use its action to polymorph 
  into a beast form that resembles a bat (speed 10 ft. fly 40 
  ft.), a centipede (40 ft., climb 40 ft.), or a toad (40 ft., swim 
  40 ft.), or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same 
  in each form, except for the speed changes noted. Any 
  equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It 
  reverts to its true form if it dies.
  Magic Resistance. The quasit has advantage on saving 
  throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Actions
  Claws (Bite in Beast Form). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and 
  the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving 
  throw or take 5 (2d4) poison damage and become poisoned 
  for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at 
  the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on 
  a success.
  Scare (1/Day). One creature of the quasit’s choice within 20 
  feet of it must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or 
  be frightened for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving 
  throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the 
  quasit is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on 
  a success.
  Invisibility. The quasit magically turns invisible until it 
  attacks or uses Scare, or until its concentration ends (as if 
  concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the quasit wears or 
  carries is invisible with it.
  Quickling
  Tiny fey, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 16
  Hit Points 10 (3d4 + 3)
  Speed 120 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   4 (−3) 
  23 (+6) 
  13 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  7 (−2)
  Skills Acrobatics +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +8, 
  Perception +5
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
  Languages Common, Sylvan
  Challenge 1 (200 XP)
  Blurred Movement. Attack rolls against the quickling have 
  disadvantage unless the quickling is incapacitated or 
  restrained.
  Evasion. If the quickling is subjected to an effect that allows 
  it to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, 
  it instead takes no damage if it succeeds on the saving 
  throw, and only half damage if it fails.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The quickling makes three dagger attacks.
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d4 + 6) 
  piercing damage.
  
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  Skeleton
  Medium undead, lawful evil
  Armor Class 13 (armor scraps)
  Hit Points 13 (2d8 + 4)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   10 (+0) 
  14 (+2) 
  15 (+2) 
  6 (−2) 
  8 (−1) 
  5 (−3)
  Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
  Languages understands all languages it knew in life but 
  can’t speak
  Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
  Actions
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
  Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
  Sprite
  Tiny fey, neutral good
  Armor Class 15 (leather armor)
  Hit Points 2 (1d4)
  Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   3 (−4) 
  18 (+4) 
  10 (+0) 
  14 (+2) 
  13 (+1) 
  11 (+0)
  Skills Perception +3, Stealth +8
  Senses passive Perception 13
  Languages Common, Elvish, Sylvan
  Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
  Actions
  Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 1 slashing damage.
  Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 40/160 
  ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage, and the target must 
  succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become 
  poisoned for 1 minute. If its saving throw result is 5 or lower, 
  the poisoned target falls unconscious for the same duration, 
  or until it takes damage or another creature takes an action 
  to shake it awake.
  Heart Sight. The sprite touches a creature and magically 
  knows the creature’s current emotional state. If the target 
  fails a DC 10 Charisma saving throw, the sprite also knows 
  the creature’s alignment. Celestials, fiends, and undead 
  automatically fail the saving throw.
  Invisibility. The sprite magically turns invisible until it 
  attacks or casts a spell, or until its concentration ends (as if 
  concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the sprite wears or 
  carries is invisible with it.
  Steam Mephit
  Small elemental, neutral evil
  Armor Class 10
  Hit Points 21 (6d6)
  Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   5 (−3) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  12 (+1)
  Damage Immunities fire, poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages Aquan, Ignan
  Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
  Death Burst. When the mephit dies, it explodes in a cloud 
  of steam. Each creature within 5 feet of the mephit must 
  succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 4 (1d8) 
  fire damage.
  Innate Spellcasting (1/Day). The mephit can innately 
  cast blur, requiring no material components. Its innate 
  spellcasting ability is Charisma.
  Actions
  Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 2 (1d4) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) 
  fire damage.
  Steam Breath (Recharge 6). The mephit exhales a 15-foot 
  cone of scalding steam. Each creature in that area must 
  succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4 (1d8) 
  fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a 
  successful one.
  Skeleton
  
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  Stone Golem
  Large construct, unaligned
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 178 (17d10 + 85)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   22 (+6) 
  9 (−1) 
  20 (+5) 
  3 (−4) 
  11 (+0) 
  1 (−5)
  Damage Immunities poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, 
  and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with 
  adamantine weapons
  Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, 
  paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages understands the languages of its creator but 
  can’t speak
  Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
  Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any spell or effect 
  that would alter its form.
  Magic Resistance. The golem has advantage on saving 
  throws against spells and other magical effects.
  Magic Weapons. The golem’s weapon attacks are magical.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The golem makes two slam attacks.
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
  Slow (Recharge 5–6). The golem targets one or more 
  creatures it can see within 10 feet of it. Each target must 
  make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against this magic. 
  On a failed save, a target can’t use reactions, its speed is 
  halved, and it can’t make more than one attack on its turn. 
  In addition, the target can take either an action or a bonus 
  action on its turn, not both. These effects last for 1 minute. 
  A target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its 
  turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  Stirge
  Tiny beast, unaligned
  Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 2 (1d4)
  Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   4 (−3) 
  16 (+3) 
  11 (+0) 
  2 (−4) 
  8 (−1) 
  6 (−2)
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
  Languages —
  Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
  Actions
  Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the stirge 
  attaches to the target. While attached, the stirge doesn’t 
  attack. Instead, at the start of each of the stirge’s turns, the 
  target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss. 
   The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its 
  movement. It does so after it drains 10 hit points of blood 
  from the target or the target dies. A creature, including the 
  target, can use its action to detach the stirge.
  Swarm of Bats
  Medium swarm of Tiny beasts, unaligned
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 22 (5d8)
  Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   5 (−3) 
  15 (+2) 
  10 (+0) 
  2 (−4) 
  12 (+1) 
  4 (−3)
  Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
  Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, 
  paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned
  Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 11
  Languages —
  Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
  Echolocation. The swarm can’t use its blindsight 
  while deafened.
  Keen Hearing. The swarm has advantage on Wisdom 
  (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.
  Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and 
  vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening 
  large enough for a Tiny bat. The swarm can’t regain hit 
  points or gain temporary hit points.
  Actions
  Bites. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one 
  creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 5 (2d4) piercing damage, 
  or 2 (1d4) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit 
  points or fewer.
  Stirge
  
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  Thug
  Medium humanoid (any race), any non-good alignment
  Armor Class 11 (leather armor)
  Hit Points 32 (5d8 + 10)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   15 (+2) 
  11 (+0) 
  14 (+2) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  11 (+0)
  Skills Intimidation +2
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages any one language (usually Common)
  Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
  Pack Tactics. The thug has advantage on an attack roll 
  against a creature if at least one of the thug’s allies is within 
  5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The thug makes two melee attacks.
  Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
  Heavy Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, range 
  100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d10) piercing damage.
  Treant
  Huge plant, chaotic good
  Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 138 (12d12 + 60)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   23 (+6) 
  8 (−1) 
  21 (+5) 
  12 (+1) 
  16 (+3) 
  12 (+1)
  Damage Vulnerabilities fire
  Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing
  Senses passive Perception 13
  Languages Common, Druidic, Elvish, Sylvan
  Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
  False Appearance. While the treant remains motionless, it is 
  indistinguishable from a normal tree.
  Siege Monster. The treant deals double damage to objects 
  and structures.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The treant makes two slam attacks.
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
  Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/180 ft., 
  one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
  Animate Trees (1/Day). The treant magically animates one or 
  two trees it can see within 60 feet of it. These trees have the 
  same statistics as a treant, except they have Intelligence and 
  Charisma scores of 1, they can’t speak, and they have only 
  the Slam action option. An animated tree acts as an ally of 
  the treant. The tree remains animate for 1 day or until it dies; 
  until the treant dies or is more than 120 feet from the tree; 
  or until the treant takes a bonus action to turn it back into an 
  inanimate tree. The tree then takes root if possible.
  Umber Hulk
  Large monstrosity, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 93 (11d10 + 33)
  Speed 30 ft., burrow 20 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   20 (+5) 
  13 (+1) 
  16 (+3) 
  9 (−1) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., 
  passive Perception 10
  Languages Umber Hulk
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Confusing Gaze. When a creature starts its turn within 
  30 feet of the umber hulk and is able to see the umber 
  hulk’s eyes, the umber hulk can magically force it to make 
  a DC 15 Charisma saving throw, unless the umber hulk is 
  incapacitated. 
   On a failed saving throw, the creature can’t take reactions 
  until the start of its next turn and rolls a d8 to determine 
  what it does during that turn. On a 1 to 4, the creature does 
  nothing. On a 5 or 6, the creature takes no action but uses 
  all its movement to move in a random direction. On a 7 or 
  8, the creature makes one melee attack against a random 
  creature, or it does nothing if no creature is within reach. 
   Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the 
  saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it 
  can’t see the umber hulk until the start of its next turn, when 
  it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the umber 
  hulk in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.
  Tunneler. The umber hulk can burrow through solid rock at 
  half its burrowing speed and leaves a 5 foot-wide, 8-foot-
  high tunnel in its wake.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The umber hulk makes three attacks: two with 
  its claws and one with its mandibles.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing damage.
  Mandibles. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.
  
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  Vampire
  Medium undead (shapechanger), lawful evil
  Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 144 (17d8 + 68)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   18 (+4) 
  18 (+4) 
  18 (+4) 
  17 (+3) 
  15 (+2) 
  18 (+4)
  Saving Throws Dex +9, Wis +7, Cha +9
  Skills Perception +7, Stealth +9
  Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and 
  slashing from nonmagical attacks
  Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
  Languages the languages it knew in life
  Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)
  Shapechanger. If the vampire isn’t in sunlight or running 
  water, it can use its action to polymorph into a Tiny bat or a 
  Medium cloud of mist, or back into its true form. 
   While in bat form, the vampire can’t speak, its walking 
  speed is 5 feet, and it has a flying speed of 30 feet. Its 
  statistics, other than its size and speed, are unchanged. 
  Anything it is wearing transforms with it, but nothing it is 
  carrying does. It reverts to its true form if it dies. 
   While in mist form, the vampire can’t take any actions, 
  speak, or manipulate objects. It is weightless, has a 
  flying speed of 20 feet, can hover, and can enter a hostile 
  creature’s space and stop there. In addition, if air can pass 
  through a space, the mist can do so without squeezing, and 
  it can’t pass through water. It has advantage on Strength, 
  Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and it is immune 
  to all nonmagical damage, except the damage it takes 
  from sunlight.
  Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the vampire fails a saving 
  throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
  Misty Escape. When it drops to 0 hit points outside its resting 
  place, the vampire transforms into a cloud of mist (as in the 
  Shapechanger trait) instead of falling unconscious, provided 
  that it isn’t in sunlight or running water. If it can’t transform, 
  it is destroyed. 
   While it has 0 hit points in mist form, it can’t revert to its 
  vampire form, and it must reach its resting place within 2 
  hours or be destroyed. Once in its resting place, it reverts to 
  its vampire form. It is then paralyzed until it regains at least 1 
  hit point. After spending 1 hour in its resting place with 0 hit 
  points, it regains 1 hit point.
  Regeneration. The vampire regains 20 hit points at the start 
  of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and isn’t in sunlight 
  or running water. If the vampire takes radiant damage or 
  damage from holy water, this trait doesn’t function at the 
  start of the vampire’s next turn.
  Spider Climb. The vampire can climb difficult surfaces, 
  including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make 
  an ability check.
  Vampire Weaknesses. The vampire has the following flaws: 
   Forbiddance. The vampire can’t enter a residence without 
  an invitation from one of the occupants.
   Harmed by Running Water. The vampire takes 20 acid 
  damage if it ends its turn in running water. 
   Stake to the Heart. If a piercing weapon made of wood 
  is driven into the vampire’s heart while the vampire is 
  incapacitated in its resting place, the vampire is paralyzed 
  until the stake is removed. 
   Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The vampire takes 20 radiant 
  damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, 
  it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
  Actions
  Multiattack (Vampire Form Only). The vampire makes two 
  attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.
  Unarmed Strike (Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon 
  Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 
  4) bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, the 
  vampire can grapple the target (escape DC 18).
  Bite (Bat or Vampire Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +9 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing creature, or a creature that is 
  grappled by the vampire, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 7 
  (1d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. 
  The target’s hit point maximum is reduced by an amount 
  equal to the necrotic damage taken, and the vampire regains 
  hit points equal to that amount. The reduction lasts until 
  the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect 
  reduces its hit point maximum to 0. A humanoid slain in this 
  way and then buried in the ground rises the following night 
  as a vampire spawn under the vampire’s control.
  Charm. The vampire targets one humanoid it can see within 
  30 feet of it. If the target can see the vampire, the target 
  must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against this 
  magic or be charmed by the vampire. The charmed target 
  regards the vampire as a trusted friend to be heeded and 
  protected. Although the target isn’t under the vampire’s 
  control, it takes the vampire’s requests or actions in the 
  most favorable way it can, and it is a willing target for the 
  vampire’s bite attack. 
   Each time the vampire or the vampire’s companions do 
  anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving 
  throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, 
  the effect lasts 24 hours or until the vampire is destroyed, is 
  on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a 
  bonus action to end the effect.
  Children of the Night (1/Day). The vampire magically calls 
  2d4 swarms of bats or rats, provided that the sun isn’t up. 
  While outdoors, the vampire can call 3d6 wolves instead. 
  The called creatures arrive in 1d4 rounds, acting as allies 
  of the vampire and obeying its spoken commands. The 
  beasts remain for 1 hour, until the vampire dies, or until the 
  vampire dismisses them as a bonus action.
  Legendary Actions
  The vampire can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from 
  the options below. Only one legendary action option can be 
  used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. 
  The vampire regains spent legendary actions at the start 
  of its turn.
  Move. The vampire moves up to its speed without provoking 
  opportunity attacks.
  Unarmed Strike. The vampire makes one unarmed strike.
  Bite (Costs 2 Actions). The vampire makes one bite attack.
  
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  Vampire Spawn
  Medium undead, neutral evil
  Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 82 (11d8 + 33)
  Speed 30 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   16 (+3) 
  16 (+3) 
  16 (+3) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  12 (+1)
  Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +3
  Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
  Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and 
  slashing from nonmagical attacks
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
  Languages the languages it knew in life
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Regeneration. The vampire regains 10 hit points at the start 
  of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and isn’t in sunlight 
  or running water. If the vampire takes radiant damage or 
  damage from holy water, this trait doesn’t function at the 
  start of the vampire’s next turn.
  Spider Climb. The vampire can climb difficult surfaces, 
  including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make 
  an ability check.
  Vampire Weaknesses. The vampire has the following flaws: 
   Forbiddance. The vampire can’t enter a residence without 
  an invitation from one of the occupants. 
   Harmed by Running Water. The vampire takes 20 acid 
  damage when it ends its turn in running water. 
   Stake to the Heart. The vampire is destroyed if a piercing 
  weapon made of wood is driven into its heart while it is 
  incapacitated in its resting place. 
   Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The vampire takes 20 radiant 
  damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, 
  it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The vampire makes two attacks, only one of 
  which can be a bite attack.
  Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) slashing damage. Instead of 
  dealing damage, the vampire can grapple the target 
  (escape DC 13).
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one willing 
  creature, or a creature that is grappled by the vampire, 
  incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing 
  damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target’s hit point 
  maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic 
  damage taken, and the vampire regains hit points equal to 
  that amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a 
  long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point 
  maximum to 0.
  Wraith
  Medium undead, neutral evil
  Armor Class 13
  Hit Points 67 (9d8 + 27)
  Speed 0 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   6 (−2) 
  16 (+3) 
  16 (+3) 
  12 (+1) 
  14 (+2) 
  15 (+2)
  Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; 
  bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical 
  attacks not made with silvered weapons
  Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
  Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, grappled, 
  paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
  Languages the languages it knew in life
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Incorporeal Movement. The wraith can move through other 
  creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 
  5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
  Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the wraith has 
  disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom 
  (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
  Actions
  Life Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  creature. Hit: 21 (4d8 + 3) necrotic damage. The target 
  must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or its 
  hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the 
  damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes 
  a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point 
  maximum to 0.
  Create Specter. The wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet 
  of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died 
  violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of 
  its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter 
  is under the wraith’s control. The wraith can have no more 
  than seven specters under its control at one time.
  
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  Xorn
  Medium elemental, neutral
  Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 73 (7d8 + 42)
  Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft.
   
  STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA
   17 (+3) 
  10 (+0) 
  22 (+6) 
  11 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  11 (+0)
  Skills Perception +6, Stealth +3
  Damage Resistances piercing and slashing from nonmagical 
  attacks not made with adamantine weapons
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., 
  passive Perception 16
  Languages Terran
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Earth Glide. The xorn can burrow through nonmagical, 
  unworked earth and stone. While doing so, the xorn doesn’t 
  disturb the material it moves through.
  Stone Camouflage. The xorn has advantage on Dexterity 
  (Stealth) checks made to hide in rocky terrain.
  Treasure Sense. The xorn can pinpoint, by scent, the location 
  of precious metals and stones, such as coins and gems, 
  within 60 feet of it.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The xorn makes three claw attacks and one 
  bite attack.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage.
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) piercing damage.
  Xorn
  Umber Hulk
  MIKE BURNS, CORY TREGO-ERDNER
  
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  Appendix D: Magic Items
   The unique magical-mechanical crafting techniques 
  seen in the Monastery of the Distressed Body and the 
  lost city of Daoine Gloine are the basis of a number of 
  unique magic items found in the adventure. Because 
  of their power and rarity, the items in this section (or 
  at least those that aren’t cursed) are best suited for 
  characters in a high-magic campaign. Alternatively, treat 
  each item as the equivalent of two or more magic items 
  appropriate for characters of 5th to 10th level. 
   You can also treat this section as potential treasure 
  for future play at higher levels. Some of these items 
  might be experiments that Kwalish is working on, which 
  can be made available to the characters if they return to 
  the Barrier Peaks. Alternatively, if you’d like to make full 
  use of these items during the adventure but don’t want 
  to make them part of your long-term campaign, some 
  of them might function only in the monastery or Daoine 
  Gloine, while others might be charge-dependent. When 
  an item’s charges run dry, its magic drains away—or 
  the item might malfunction or explode, with effects 
  determined by you.
   The “Alien Technology” section in chapter 9 of the 
  Dungeon Master’s Guide offers useful general guidelines 
  for dealing with strange devices of the sort found in this 
  adventure. If Kwalish’s notes can’t be deciphered (or if 
  the inventor doesn’t show up when the characters need 
  him), you might ask for successful Intelligence checks 
  on the Figuring Out Alien Technology table from anyone 
  trying to operate magical technology. It might take one 
  success to operate a trinket, two successes to operate 
  a force pike or a teleportation-field device, and four 
  successes to operate Kwalish’s powered armor. 
  Blade of the Medusa
  Weapon (any sword), very rare (requires attunement)
  When you attack a creature with this magic weapon and 
  roll a 20 on the attack roll, the creature must make a DC 
  15 Constitution saving throw in addition to suffering the 
  attack’s normal effects. On a failed save, the creature is 
  restrained and must make another Constitution saving 
  throw at the end of each of its turns. If it successfully 
  saves against this effect three times, the effect ends. 
  If it fails its saves three times, it is turned to stone and 
  subjected to the petrified condition for 1 hour.
   A creature is immune to this effect if it is immune 
  to damage of the weapon’s type, does not have a body 
  made of flesh, or has legendary actions.
   Curse. This weapon is cursed, and becoming attuned 
  to it extends the curse to you. Until the curse is broken 
  with a remove curse spell or similar magic, you are 
  unwilling to part with the weapon. Whenever you attack 
  a creature with this weapon and roll a 1 on the attack 
  roll, you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving 
  throw or be restrained and forced to make additional 
  saves against being petrified, as above.
  Deck of Several Things
  Wondrous item, legendary
  Stored in a leather pouch, this unique deck contains 
  twenty-two colored cards made of some strong but 
  unknown metal, each of which features a design printed 
  as a mosaic of raised dots. Before you draw a card, you 
  must declare how many cards you intend to draw and 
  then draw them randomly (you can use an altered deck 
  of playing cards to simulate the deck). Any cards drawn 
  in excess of this number have no effect. Otherwise, as 
  soon as you draw a card from the deck, its magic takes 
  effect. You must draw each card no more than 1 hour 
  after the previous draw. If you fail to draw the chosen 
  number, the remaining number of cards fly from the 
  deck on their own and take effect all at once.
   Once a card is drawn, it fades from existence. Unless 
  the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears 
  in the deck, making it possible to draw the same 
  card twice.
  Playing Card
  Card
  Ace of diamonds
  Vizier
  King of diamonds
  Sun
  Queen of diamonds
  Moon
  Jack of diamonds
  Star
  Two of diamonds
  Comet
  Ace of hearts
  The Fates
  King of hearts
  Throne
  Queen of hearts
  Key
  Jack of hearts
  Knight
  Two of hearts
  Gem
  Ace of clubs
  Talons
  King of clubs
  The Void
  Queen of clubs
  Flames
  Jack of clubs
  Skull
  Two of clubs
  Idiot
  Ace of spades
  Donjon
  King of spades
  Ruin
  Queen of spades
  Euryale
  Jack of spades
  Rogue
  Two of spades
  Balance
  Joker (with TM)
  Fool
  Joker (without TM)
  Jester
   Balance. Your mind suffers a wrenching alteration, 
  causing your alignment to change for the duration of the 
  adventure. Lawful becomes chaotic, good becomes evil, 
  and vice versa. If you are true neutral or unaligned, this 
  card has no effect on you.
   Comet. If you single-handedly defeat the next hostile 
  monster or group of monsters you encounter, you have 
  advantage on ability checks made using one skill of your 
  choice for the duration of the adventure. Otherwise, this 
  card has no effect.
   Donjon. You are instantly teleported to and confined 
  within the prison of the Monastery of the Distressed 
  Body (area M6). Everything you were wearing and 
  carrying stays behind in the space you occupied when 
  you disappeared. You draw no more cards.
  
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  Using the Deck of Several Things
  The special nature of this deck (carried by Mary 
  Greymalkin if she is used as an NPC) means that many 
  of its effects operate only within and with respect to 
  this specific adventure. This typically covers any time 
  the characters spend between setting out for the Barrier 
  Peaks and the resolution of whatever events transpire in 
  Kwalish’s lab (area O7).
   For cards that effectively remove a character from 
  play for a period of time (Donjon and the Void), you can 
  allow a player to take on the role of one of the party’s 
  NPC hirelings, or introduce a temporary character as an 
  NPC met during the party’s journey. Alternatively, you 
  can decide that only some aspect of the character’s will 
  disappears and is imprisoned, leaving the character to 
  operate in a robotic state until freed.
   Euryale. The card’s medusa-like visage curses you. 
  You take a −1 penalty on saving throws for the duration 
  of the adventure.
   The Fates. Reality’s fabric unravels and spins anew, 
  allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never 
  happened. You can use the card’s magic as soon as 
  you draw the card or at any other point during the 
  adventure.
   Flames. The Grand Master of the Monastery of 
  the Distressed Body becomes your enemy. The bone 
  devil seeks your ruin, savoring your suffering before 
  attempting to slay you. If the Grand Master has 
  already been defeated, you gain the enmity of Garret 
  Levistusson’s patron—a similarly powerful devil.
   Fool. For the duration of the adventure, you lose 
  proficiency with one skill or gain disadvantage on 
  all checks made with one skill (with the skill and the 
  penalty determined by the DM). Discard this card and 
  draw from the deck again, counting both draws as one 
  of your declared draws.
   Gem. The 1,000 gp hoard of the leprechaun from the 
  Wilderness Encounters table (see appendix A) appears 
  at your feet. If that treasure has already been claimed, 
  you gain an equivalent hoard.
   Idiot. Reduce your Intelligence by 1d4 + 1 (to a 
  minimum score of 1) for the duration of the adventure. 
  You can draw one additional card beyond your 
  declared draws.
   Jester. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice 
  for the duration of the adventure, or you can draw two 
  additional cards beyond your declared draws.
   Key. A common or uncommon magic weapon with 
  which you are proficient, or a spell scroll featuring a 
  spell of a level you can cast, appears in your hands. The 
  DM chooses the weapon or spell, which you possess for 
  the duration of this adventure.
   Knight. You gain the service of any of the NPCs in the 
  “Hirelings” section not currently with the party, who 
  appears in a space you choose within 30 feet of you. The 
  NPC serves you loyally for the duration of the adventure, 
  believing that the fates have drawn them to you. You 
  control this character.
   Moon. You are granted the ability to cast any spell of 
  5th level or lower, and can use that ability 1d3 times for 
  the duration of the adventure.
   Rogue. An NPC of the DM’s choice becomes secretly 
  hostile toward you. The identity of your new enemy isn’t 
  known until the NPC or someone else reveals it. Any 
  enchantment spell cast on the NPC at 6th level or higher 
  can end the NPC’s hostility toward you.
   Ruin. All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other 
  than magic items, are lost to you. This wealth can be 
  recovered either in the treasury of the Monastery of 
  the Distressed Body (area M10) or Kwalish’s lab in 
  Daoine Gloine (area O7), whichever comes later in the 
  adventure.
   Skull. You summon an avatar of death—a mechanical 
  skeleton (use bone naga statistics) clad in a tattered 
  black robe. It appears in a space of the DM’s choice 
  within 10 feet of you and attacks you, warning all others 
  that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights 
  until you die or it drops to 0 hit points, whereupon 
  it disappears. If anyone tries to help you, the helper 
  summons its own avatar of death. A creature slain by an 
  avatar of death can’t be restored to life.
   Star. Increase one of your ability scores by 1 for the 
  duration of the adventure. The score can exceed 20 but 
  can’t exceed 24.
   Sun. You gain proficiency in the skill of your choice 
  for the duration of the adventure. In addition, a common 
  or uncommon wondrous item appears in your hands. 
  The DM chooses the item, which you possess for the 
  duration of this adventure.
   Talons. Every magic item you wear or carry is lost to 
  you. These items can be recovered either in the treasury 
  of the Monastery of the Distressed Body (area M10) or 
  Kwalish’s lab in Daoine Gloine (area O7), whichever 
  comes later in the adventure.
   Throne. You gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill 
  and you double your proficiency bonus on checks made 
  with that skill for the duration of the adventure. In 
  addition, the Monastery of the Distressed Body’s brains 
  in jars regard you thereafter as the monastery’s rightful 
  master. You must defeat or otherwise clear out the 
  Grand Master and its servants before you can claim the 
  monastery as yours.
   Vizier. At any one time you choose within the duration 
  of the adventure, you can ask a question in meditation 
  and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question. 
  Besides information, the answer helps you solve a 
  puzzling problem or other dilemma. In other words, the 
  knowledge comes with wisdom on how to apply it.
   The Void. This black card spells disaster. Your soul 
  is drawn from your body and held within machinery 
  in either the control room of the Monastery of the 
  Distressed Body (area M8) or Kwalish’s lab in Daoine 
  Gloine (area O7), whichever comes later in the 
  adventure. While your soul is trapped in this way, your 
  body is incapacitated. Divination, contact other plane, or 
  a similar spell of 4th level or higher reveals the location 
  of the machinery that holds your soul. You draw no 
  more cards.
  
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  Galder’s Bubble Pipe
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  This finely carved pipe blows odorless bubbles instead 
  of smoke when used. The pipe has 3 charges, and it 
  regains all spent charges daily at dawn. While you hold 
  the pipe, you can expend charges to gain access to the 
  following properties:
  • You can cast fog cloud as an action (1 charge).
  • You can cast misty step as a bonus action (2 charges).
  • You can summon a steam mephit as an action (3 
  charges). The mephit is friendly to you, obeys your 
  verbal commands, and acts on its own turn in the 
  initiative order. It disappears in a harmless puff of 
  steam after 1 minute or if it ends its turn more than 60 
  feet from the pipe.
  Gambler’s Blade
  Weapon (any sword), rare (requires attunement)
  Choose a magical bonus of +1 to +3. This sword gains 
  that bonus to its attack and damage rolls. For each 
  point of bonus you choose for the sword, you take a 
  corresponding penalty (−1 to −3) to your death saving 
  throws. You can change this magical bonus each 
  day at dawn.
   Curse. This weapon is cursed, and becoming attuned 
  to it extends the curse to you. Until the curse is broken 
  with a remove curse spell or similar magic, you are 
  unwilling to part with the weapon.
  Heward’s Hireling Armor
  Armor (leather), very rare (requires attunement)
  A number of Kwalish’s experiments were attempts to 
  research the works of the legendary mage Heward, 
  who first crafted what he named hireling armor. While 
  wearing this armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC. In 
  addition, the armor’s animated straps can assist with 
  the drawing and sheathing of weapons, such that you 
  can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you 
  would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
   This armor also has six pockets, each of which is an 
  extradimensional space. Each pocket can hold up to 20 
  pounds of material, not exceeding a volume of 2 cubic 
  feet. The armor always weighs 10 pounds, regardless of 
  its pockets’ contents. Placing an object into one of the 
  armor’s pockets follows the normal rules for interacting 
  with objects. Retrieving an item from a pocket of the 
  armor requires you to use an action. When you reach 
  into a pocket for a specific item, the item is always 
  magically on top.
   Placing the armor inside an extradimensional 
  space created by a bag of holding, a Heward’s handy 
  haversack, or a similar item instantly destroys both 
  items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane. The gate 
  originates where the one item was placed inside the 
  other. Any creature within 10 feet of the gate is sucked 
  through it and deposited in a random location on the 
  Astral Plane. The gate then closes. The gate is one-way 
  only and can’t be reopened.
  Ioun Stone
  Wondrous item, rarity varies (requires attunement)
  Ioun stones (detailed in chapter 7 of the Dungeon 
  Master’s Guide) are named after Ioun, a god of 
  knowledge and prophecy. In addition to the stones 
  presented in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the following 
  new Ioun stones can play a part in this adventure.
   Supreme Intellect (Rare). You gain a +1 bonus to 
  Intelligence checks while this faceted sphere orbits 
  your head.
   Historical Knowledge (Rare). You gain proficiency in 
  the History skill, or a +1 bonus to checks with that skill 
  if already proficient, while this polished, steely sphere 
  orbits your head.
   Natural Knowledge (Rare). You gain proficiency in 
  the Nature skill, or a +1 bonus to checks with that skill 
  if already proficient, while this burnished, brassy stone 
  orbits your head.
   Religious Knowledge (Rare). You gain proficiency in 
  the Religion skill, or a +1 bonus to checks with that skill 
  if already proficient, while this tiny golden gem orbits 
  your head.
   Language Knowledge (Rare). You are fluent in one 
  additional language while this pulsating bit of red 
  jeweled crystal orbits your head. The DM chooses the 
  language bestowed by the stone.
   Self-Preservation (Rare). You gain a +1 bonus to 
  Intelligence saving throws while this silvery gem orbits 
  your head.
  Leather Golem Armor
  Armor (leather), rare (requires attunement)
  Strange rituals have repurposed the body of a flesh 
  golem into this partially sentient suit of leather armor. 
  While wearing this armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC 
  and to saving throws against spells and other magical 
  effects. In addition, you gain the following properties:
  • Immutable Form. You are immune to any spell or 
  effect that would alter your form.
  • Lightning Absorption. You gain resistance to light-
  ning damage. Whenever you take lightning damage, 
  you gain 5 temporary hit points.
   Curse. This armor is cursed, and becoming attuned 
  to it extends the curse to you. Until the curse is broken 
  with a remove curse spell or similar magic, you are 
  unwilling to part with the armor. In addition, while 
  you wear the cursed armor, you gain the following 
  properties:
  • Aversion of Fire. If you take fire damage, you have 
  disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until 
  the end of your next turn.
  • Berserk. Whenever a critical hit is made against 
  you, roll a d6. On a 6, the armor causes you to go 
  berserk. On each of your turns while berserk, you 
  attack the nearest creature you can see. If no creature 
  is near enough to move to and attack, you attack an 
  object, with preference for an object smaller than 
  yourself. Once the armor causes you to go berserk, it 
  cannot be removed. You continue to attack until you 
  are incapacitated or until another creature is able 
  to calm you with appropriate magic (such as a calm 
  emotions spell) or a successful DC 15 Charisma 
  (Persuasion) check.
  
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  Powered Armor Options
  Depending on where and how it appears in the adventure, 
  you might wish to modify the features of Kwalish’s 
  legendary powered armor.
   Automatic Defenses. Unless Kwalish deactivates the 
  suit’s automatic defenses, no one can approach the armor 
  without setting those defenses off. Treat the armor as a 
  shield guardian that has stored a magic missile spell cast 
  using a 4th-level spell slot. When the armor is reduced to 
  0 hit points, its defenses are rendered inert and it can be 
  safely approached.
   Battle of Wills. When donned by a new user, the armor 
  deems itself superior and attempts to take possession of 
  that user. The user must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma 
  saving throw or be possessed by the armor. While 
  possessed, the user is incapacitated and loses control of 
  its body but retains its awareness. The armor uses the 
  possessed user’s statistics (as adjusted by the armor), but 
  doesn’t gain access to the user’s knowledge, features, or 
  proficiencies.
   Freeing a creature trapped inside the armor first requires 
  defeating the armor’s automatic defenses (as above). 
  The trapped creature can also attempt a DC 20 Charisma 
  saving throw each day at dawn. On a successful save, the 
  armor no longer controls the creature and can be safely 
  donned by that creature at any time. 
   Stasis. Whenever a creature wearing the armor drops 
  to 0 hit points, the armor places that creature into a state 
  of stasis. While in this state, the creature is stable and 
  does not make death saving throws, but the armor takes 
  control of the creature (as above). Additionally, the armor 
  attempts to assume the identity of the user, assuring their 
  allies that nothing is amiss. Freeing the user first requires 
  defeating the armor’s automatic defenses (as above). A 
  creature in stasis does not make Charisma saving throws 
  to break the armor’s control.
   Alternative Power. Powered armor originally required 
  energy cells to fuel it, but was adapted by Kwalish to be 
  fueled by the life energy of the creature wearing it. You 
  might decide that the armor can also draw power from 
  additional sources, or that energy cells can be recharged 
  with the aid of a tinker, inventor, or artificer. It might also 
  be possible for allies to connect to the armor through the 
  use of magic that generates a conduit something like an 
  astral silver cord. While so connected, a willing ally can 
  give up hit points as a reaction to fuel the armor’s abilities.
  Polymorph Blade
  Weapon (any sword), very rare (requires attunement)
  When you attack a creature with this magic weapon and 
  roll a 20 on the attack roll, the creature must make a 
  DC 15 Wisdom saving throw in addition to suffering the 
  attack’s normal effects. On a failed save, the creature 
  also suffers the effects of a polymorph spell. Roll a d20 
  and consult the following table to determine the form 
  the target creature is transformed into.
  d20
  New Form
  d20
  New Form
  1
  Tyrannosaurus 
  11
  Wolf
  2
  Giant ape
  12
  Horse
  3
  Elephant
  13
  Ox
  4
  Giant scorpion
  14
  Giant frog
  5
  Rhinoceros
  15
  Poisonous snake
  6
  Polar bear
  16
  Hawk
  7
  Giant toad
  17
  Octopus
  8
  Giant eagle
  18
  Cat
  9
  Black bear
  19
  Rat
  10
  Crocodile
  20
  Rabbit
   A creature is immune to this effect if it is immune to 
  damage of the weapon’s type, is a shapechanger, or has 
  legendary actions.
   Curse. This weapon is cursed, and becoming attuned 
  to it extends the curse to you. Until the curse is broken 
  with a remove curse spell or similar magic, you are 
  unwilling to part with the weapon. Whenever you attack 
  a creature with this weapon and roll a 1 on the attack 
  roll, you suffer the effect of a polymorph spell for 1 hour, 
  rolling on the table to determine your new form.
  Powered Armor
  Armor (plate), legendary (requires attunement)
  Powered armor resembles a suit of unusual plate armor, 
  with finely articulated joints connected by an oily, black, 
  leather-like material. The armor has been worked to 
  create the appearance of a heavily muscled warrior, and 
  its great helm is unusual in that it has no openings—only 
  a broad glass plate in the front with a second piece of 
  glass above it. Strange plates, tubing, and large metal 
  bosses adorn the armor in seemingly random fashion. 
  On the back of the armor’s left gauntlet is a rectangular 
  metal box, from which projects a short rod tipped with a 
  cone-shaped red crystal.
   While wearing this armor, you gain the 
  following benefits:
  • You have a +1 bonus to AC.
  • Your Strength score is 18 (this has no effect if your 
  Strength is already 18 or higher).
  • You have advantage on death saving throws.
   The armor has further capabilities that can be 
  powered either by energy cells or by your own life 
  energy. You can use a bonus action to draw power from 
  an energy cell or sacrifice hit points to gain one of the 
  following benefits:
  • Emit a force field to gain 2d6 + 5 temporary hit points 
  (1 charge or 5 hit points).
  • Activate boosters to gain a flying speed of 15 feet for 1 
  minute (1 charge or 5 hit points).
  • Fire arm-mounted laser: Ranged Weapon Attack: 
  +8 to hit, range 120 feet, one target. Hit: 2d6 radiant 
  damage (1 charge or 5 hit points).
  • Translate any writing you can see in any nonmagical 
  language, to a total of one thousand words over 1 
  minute (1 charge or 5 hit points).
  • Fill the armor with air, allowing you to breathe 
  normally in any environment for up to 1 hour (1 
  charge or 5 hit points).
  • Gain darkvision to a range of 60 feet for up to 1 hour 
  (1 charge or 5 hit points).
   The armor can accept only one energy cell at a time. 
  It is found with one energy cell attached, containing 
  2d10 charges.
  
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  The following new spells can be found as spell scrolls 
  and supernatural charms in this adventure.
  Flock of Familiars
  2nd-level conjuration
  Casting Time: 1 minute
  Range: Touch
  Components: V, S
  Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
  Classes: Warlock, wizard
  You temporarily summon three familiars—spirits that 
  take animal forms of your choice. Each familiar uses 
  the same rules and options for a familiar conjured by 
  the find familiar spell. All the familiars conjured by this 
  spell must be the same type of creature (celestials, fey, 
  or fiends; your choice). If you already have a familiar 
  conjured by the find familiar spell or similar means, 
  then one fewer familiars are conjured by this spell. 
   Familiars summoned by this spell can telepathically 
  communicate with you and share their visual or auditory 
  senses while they are within 1 mile of you.
   When you cast a spell with a range of touch, one of 
  the familiars conjured by this spell can deliver the spell, 
  as normal. However, you can cast a touch spell through 
  only one familiar per turn.
   At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 
  spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you conjure an additional 
  familiar for each slot level above 2nd.
  Galder’s Speedy Courier
  4th-level conjuration
  Casting Time: 1 action
  Range: 10 feet
  Components: V, S, M (25 gold pieces, or mineral goods 
  of equivalent value, which the spell consumes)
  Duration: 10 minutes
  Classes: Warlock, wizard
  You summon a Small air elemental to a spot within 
  range. The air elemental is formless, nearly transparent, 
  immune to all damage, and cannot interact with other 
  creatures or objects. It carries an open, empty chest 
  whose interior dimensions are 3 feet on each side. 
  While the spell lasts, you can deposit as many items 
  inside the chest as will fit. You can then name a living 
  creature you have met and seen at least once before, or 
  any creature for which you possess a body part, lock 
  of hair, clipping from a nail, or similar portion of the 
  creature’s body. 
   As soon as the lid of the chest is closed, the elemental 
  and the chest disappear, then reappear adjacent to the 
  target creature. If the target creature is on another 
  plane, or if it is proofed against magical detection or 
  location, the contents of the chest reappear on the 
  ground at your feet. 
   The target creature is made aware of the chest’s 
  contents before it chooses whether or not to open it, 
  and knows how much of the spell’s duration remains 
  in which it can retrieve them. No other creature can 
  open the chest and retrieve its contents. When the 
  spell expires or when all the contents of the chest have 
  Appendix E: New Spells
  been removed, the elemental and the chest disappear. 
  The elemental also disappears if the target creature 
  orders it to return the items to you. When the elemental 
  disappears, any items not taken from the chest reappear 
  on the ground at your feet.
   At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using an 
  8th-level spell slot, you can send the chest to a creature 
  on a different plane of existence from you.
  Galder’s Tower
  3rd-level conjuration
  Casting Time: 10 minutes
  Range: 30 feet
  Components: V, S, M (a fragment of stone, wood, or 
  other building material)
  Duration: 24 hours
  Classes: Wizard
  You conjure a two-story tower made of stone, wood, 
  or similar suitably sturdy materials. The tower can be 
  round or square in shape. Each level of the tower is 10 
  feet tall and has an area of up to 100 square feet. Access 
  between levels consists of a simple ladder and hatch. 
  Each level takes one of the following forms, chosen by 
  you when you cast the spell:
  • A bedroom with a bed, chairs, chest, and 
  magical fireplace
  • A study with desks, books, bookshelves, parchments, 
  ink, and ink pens
  • A dining space with a table, chairs, magical fireplace, 
  containers, and cooking utensils
  • A lounge with couches, armchairs, side tables and 
  footstools
  • A washroom with toilets, washtubs, a magical brazier, 
  and sauna benches
  • An observatory with a telescope and maps of 
  the night sky
  • An unfurnished, empty room
  The interior of the tower is warm and dry, regardless 
  of conditions outside. Any equipment or furnishings 
  conjured with the tower dissipate into smoke if removed 
  from it. At the end of the spell’s duration, all creatures 
  and objects within the tower that were not created by 
  the spell appear safely outside on the ground, and all 
  traces of the tower and its furnishings disappear. 
   You can cast this spell again while it is active to 
  maintain the tower’s existence for another 24 hours. 
  You can create a permanent tower by casting this spell 
  in the same location and with the same configuration 
  every day for one year.
   At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 
  spell slot of 4th level or higher, the tower can have one 
  additional story for each slot level beyond 3rd.
  
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  Appendix F: Additional Rumors
  Tales of the legendary Barrier Peaks have circulated 
  for centuries, passing from person to person and town 
  to town across the length and breadth of the land—and 
  the only one who knows the full truth of those tales is 
  you. None of the following rumors connect directly to 
  this adventure. But you can use them as alternative false 
  rumors for the “Rumors and Legends” section, or as 
  true inspiration for side treks and new adventures.
  Additional Barrier Peaks Rumors
  d100
  Rumor 
  1
  An ancient castle lies buried in the foothills of the 
  Barrier Peaks. Hidden somewhere in its vaults are a 
  suit of invisibility and a ring of teleportation!
  2
  A group of charitable drow who worship Bahamut 
  have taken refuge in the Barrier Peaks. They are said 
  to help travelers in need.
  3
  Legend tells of a cave inhabited by minotaur shamans 
  that have fled the command of Baphomet, and that 
  seek to free all their people from the demon lord’s 
  control. Those that bring them the knowledge and 
  supplies they require are rewarded with gold and 
  gemstones.
  4
  They say shadar-kai appear from time to time in those 
  mountains, kidnapping aloof adventurers for the 
  Raven Queen.
  5
  The Tharguard dwarves of the Barrier Peaks were 
  powerful smiths. Channeling magic within their 
  forges, they crafted the finest weapons in the 
  land—until they vanished centuries ago. Recently, 
  though, the clamor of hammer on anvil has been 
  heard in remote chasms in the peaks once again. The 
  Tharguard have returned, but no one knows why.
  6
  A dead god was buried beneath the Barrier Peaks 
  eons ago. The blood of this god permeates the stone 
  of the mountains, and its magic is channeled by the 
  flora and fauna of the peaks.
  7
  Hunters have found wildlife in the Barrier Peaks 
  slain by the precise burn marks of magic. Whatever 
  creature is killing these beasts, it has no need for food 
  or trophies, as the carcasses are simply left to rot.
  8
  On nights of the full moon, airships piloted by 
  lycanthropes roam the mountain passes of the peaks, 
  looking for travelers to infect and add to their savage 
  crews.
  9
  Folk foraging for truffles near the base of the Barrier 
  Peaks swear they saw three metal golems marching 
  abreast, set with glowing red eyes that shot fire, and 
  levitating over any obstacle in their path.
  10
  There ain’t nothing good in them mountains, I can 
  tell you that much. I’ve heard that magic works wrong 
  up there, and every few weeks, some unseen cave 
  belches out a new monstrosity hungering for flesh.
  d100
  Rumor 
  11
  Lightning struck one of the Barrier Peaks, bringing it 
  to life. Though it’s still rooted in the soil, a maw-
  like cave entrance now howls in frustration in the 
  Primordial tongue.
  12
  It’s claimed that one of the Barrier Peaks rises so 
  high, it tore a hole in the sky, allowing elemental 
  creatures of air to enter this world.
  13
  The Barrier Peaks are said to house a vile laboratory, 
  capable of reanimating undead that are immune to a 
  cleric’s holy power.
  14
  A family of space hamsters is looking for their long-
  lost child up in those mountains. Those otherworldly 
  creatures won’t rest until they’re reunited.
  15
  I’ve heard tell of a terrible warrior who roams the 
  Barrier Peaks—a beast of a man trapped in a suit of 
  armor with gleaming golden eyes, and which spits fire 
  and lightning from strange metallic wands. The only 
  way to escape him is to put a body of water between 
  the two of you, as he won’t cross it.
  16
  Children speak of a ten-fingered raven that flies 
  down from the peaks to open doors and whisper 
  nightmares into the dark.
  17
  The owlbears that prowl the slopes of the Barrier 
  Peaks are not what they seem.
  18
  A glowing dragon has crawled out from the roots of 
  the Barrier Peaks. It searches now for an artifact that 
  might save the creatures that live off its light.
  19
  Deep within the valleys of the Barrier Peaks grows an 
  ancient fungus sought by a sect of mad druids. If they 
  find it, they believe it will help them destroy the cities 
  of the civilized races.
  20
  The tarrasque slumbers beneath the Barrier Peaks, 
  and none know when the great beast might stir.
  21
  I’ve heard tell of an order of knights running a way 
  station up in the Barrier Peaks. They promise rest and 
  respite to anyone trying to cross the mountains. But 
  most folks never make it to the other side.
  22
  There’s a town of civilized mice somewhere in the 
  peaks, where you can get a magic sword in trade for 
  a cup of milk. Of course, the sword is the size of a 
  needle, but any tailor will pay you good coin for it.
  23
  An old kenku who can interpret dreams and has 
  knowledge of the future hides out in a cavern in the 
  foothills of the peaks.
  24
  On some nights, a burst of yellow-white light flashes 
  up above the peaks, visible for miles. Once in a while, 
  a beam of emerald green descends from the heavens 
  to the same spot.
  25
  There’s something peculiar about a pool a few 
  days’ trek into the mountains. Magical trinkets and 
  treasures have their effects amplified if submerged in 
  it even a little while, but nothing good seems to come 
  to anyone who wields that magic.
  
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  d100
  Rumor 
  26
  A large, finely crafted metal elk roams the Barrier 
  Peaks. It’s a phylactery gone rogue, and the souls 
  consumed by the lich that crafted it can converse with 
  those that stumble across it.
  27
  Beneath the Barrier Peaks lies a vast maze patrolled 
  by undead minotaurs.
  28
  They say there’s a cave in one of the high passes that 
  even the gods can’t see inside. But if you leave a silver 
  piece at the entrance every sunset for a year and a 
  day, you’ll be granted a wish.
  29
  There’s a strange curse or hex up in those peaks, and 
  people who wander there should be wary. First, they 
  get real tired and can’t keep food down to save them. 
  After a fortnight at the most, any cuts or scrapes 
  don’t mend right. It’s not long after that they fall into 
  a sleep and never wake up.
  30
  There’s an ancient book hidden in a library in the 
  peaks. Anything you write in that book, no matter how 
  big or small, comes true in this world in the end.
  31
  One adventurer I heard of came back safe from an 
  expedition to the Barrier Peaks—then promptly grew 
  extra arms, turned purple, and lost his ability to 
  speak. Folks say that the monsters in the peaks are all 
  made that way. Adventurers transformed into beasts 
  from the other realms by a curse that not even the 
  most devoted clerics can heal.
  32
  In ages past, a star fell from the heavens and crashed 
  within the Barrier Peaks. The first expedition to reach 
  the site of this fallen star died inside a strange maze 
  made of metal and light, guarded by golems with 
  unnatural cunning.
  33
  A bizarre combination of beholder and flumph is said 
  to float through the caves of the mountains, its eye 
  rays inducing laughter and generosity . . . or turning 
  one into a squirrel. What mad wizard would create 
  such a thing? 
  34
  Silent metal spheres lurk in the subterranean depths 
  of the mountains, following adventurers who explore 
  those depths.
  35
  Within a cave in a secluded valley, time twists and 
  distorts. Travelers have returned from that place with 
  stories of their companions frozen motionless for 
  long minutes, or of repeating the same actions many 
  times over before managing to escape.
  36
  In a mysterious village in the Barrier Peaks foothills, 
  the inhabitants slaughter one another to the last each 
  night. Yet the next day dawns with all the villagers 
  alive, as if nothing had happened.
  37
  A beholder is trapped within a cavern of the 
  mountains, as the result of some strange draw from 
  a deck of many things. To pass the time, the creature 
  stages plays with the monsters and prisoners it keeps.
  38
  The strangest noises come rumbling down from the 
  Barrier Peaks at times. Screeches and howls, and 
  enormous echoing thumps. It’s enough to give a 
  person the shudders.
  d100
  Rumor 
  39
  Some say those peaks are so sharp that the gods 
  cut their feet on them. That’s why the rivers of the 
  mountains run red every few years.
  40
  Some fool claimed that goblins kidnapped him and 
  his cattle from the foothills of the Barrier Peaks, 
  dragged them high up into the mountains—and then 
  let them all go back home again like nothing had 
  happened.
  41
  Strange metallic constructs haunt the Barrier Peaks, 
  and only one wizard is said to have discovered the 
  secret of controlling them.
  42
  A metal-walled cave in the mountains is sealed 
  behind a magic door that opens and closes whenever 
  a worthy traveler draws near. But who judges those 
  travelers’ worthiness, none can say.
  43
  A horrible whispering can be heard up in the 
  mountains. Folks claim it’s the ghosts of ancient 
  explorers, trying to entice others into joining them in 
  death.
  44
  The Barrier Peaks are home to an ancient league of 
  aboleths, whose members conspire to punch a hole 
  to the Far Realm in the fabric of reality.
  45
  A mysterious armored beholder roams the caverns 
  of the Barrier Peaks, silent in its execution of all who 
  intrude into its realm. Its eyestalks send forth rays of 
  light that shine out suddenly in the darkness—and 
  turn creatures they catch into dust!
  46
  A mysterious order of monks guards a lone keep high 
  in the Barrier Peaks, said to imprison an immortal 
  knight.
  47
  Old Otus came through town the other day, needing 
  fresh supplies. He said huge frogs with tentacles ate 
  his camp! Can ye believe that?
  48
  Beneath the Barrier Peaks is an ancient iron god 
  once worshiped by the gnomes. Inside its metal form 
  reside nightmarish creatures without souls.
  49
  Adventurers that have returned recently from the 
  Barrier Peaks have lost the ability to talk about their 
  emotions. Whenever they attempt to, they are simply 
  struck dumb.
  50
  A group of rats that once belonged to a demented 
  wizard have formed a tiny village within one of the 
  lower crags of the Barrier Peaks. If you hear singing 
  and the clinking of tiny mugs on a windless night, 
  you’ll know you’re close.
  51
  Folk dwelling in the foothills of the peaks have been 
  caught wandering as if in a trance into the mountains. 
  When rescued, all reported the same thing: a long, 
  bony finger beckoned them into the darkness, where 
  writhing tendrils waited to snatch them up.
  52
  In more than one spot within the peaks, a strange 
  hum emits from the earth without warning, and 
  anything smaller than a fist begins to float a few 
  inches off the ground. 
  
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  d100
  Rumor 
  53
  My brother’s best friend’s uncle got lost up in the 
  high trails of the peaks, swearing up and down that 
  he’d fallen through a wall of wind and found a garden 
  behind it full of strange plants. We all thought he was 
  half mad, but he had the weirdest blue vine growing 
  through the soles of his boots. We had to burn it off, 
  and I tell you, that plant screamed.
  54
  A rare type of creature escaped a wizard’s tower in 
  the Barrier Peaks, resembling tiny plant people. Their 
  bodies have begun washing up in the foothill rivers, 
  still clutching little spears.
  55
  Somewhere deep within the peaks lies the lost tower 
  of Mundar, named after a gnome wizard who loved 
  children and created many magnificent magical toys. 
  Those who claim to have found the tower tell tales of 
  giant teddy bears and toy soldiers that guard against 
  those who would ransack its workshop.
  56
  Even the best trackers are afraid of those mountains. 
  They’ll tell you that if you count the number of peaks 
  before dark and make the same count the next 
  morning, you’ll never get the same number.
  57
  The Barrier Peaks house a guild of cunning gnomes, 
  who love to test their creations on the settlements in 
  the foothills below.
  58
  A sage dwelling in the foothills of the peaks was found 
  dead, the top of her head cut off and her brain cleanly 
  removed. Then a hunter returned from the high 
  mountains says he saw a scuttling, crab-like monster 
  there, with a brain floating in a transparent blister 
  atop its head.
  59
  A farmer says he saw a metal humanoid wandering 
  through the foothills while he was tending his sheep. 
  The thing was screaming at the top of its lungs, 
  babbling in some language he couldn’t make out. It 
  threw fire from its fingertips when it spotted him, and 
  he says he was lucky to get away alive.
  60
  Folks say that when the spring warmth melts the 
  snow on the Barrier Peaks, strange metal objects are 
  washed downriver and eaten by fish. The halflings 
  call this season “Fisher’s Fortune” in their small river 
  villages in the foothills.
  61
  It’s said that the spirits of twin children haunt the 
  Barrier Peaks—poor tykes who froze to death looking 
  to pick flowers for their mother. Each seeks the other 
  now, lost forever and begging strangers for aid. Tales 
  talk of how one spirit will lead explorers to safety, 
  while the other guarantees malicious calamity.
  62
  A few folks have reported seeing strange lights just 
  above the peaks. Some claim they’re the work of 
  occultists performing diabolical rituals, while others 
  say they’re lost souls trying to lure folks to their 
  doom.
  63
  The tarrasque dwells within the deepest caverns of 
  the Barrier Peaks—but the creature is undead, held in 
  a perpetual state of decay.
  d100
  Rumor 
  64
  Rumors tell of an iron fortress nestled deep within 
  the Barrier Peaks. No one knows how it got there, but 
  some histories tell of how it appeared about the same 
  time that a comet crashed into the mountains. The 
  gods delivered this fortress, some say, and no mortal 
  can enter without their permission. 
  65
  A small group of humans and dwarves went into the 
  Barrier Peaks seeking archeological finds. News was 
  promising at first, including reports of a cave that 
  held artifacts from ages long past, and the remains of 
  creatures unlike anything ever discovered before. Then 
  all word from the expedition suddenly ceased . . .
  66
  Symbols appear in the Barrier Peaks, scribed into the 
  deepest caves and on the highest mountains alike. 
  These glyphs glow and pulse, and come from no 
  language ever spoken by mortals.
  67
  An old roc’s nest clings to one of the higher slopes of 
  the Barrier Peaks, with an old iron footlocker hidden 
  within it. A reclusive mystic is said to have stored 
  secretive writings in that chest, behind powerful 
  magic wards.
  68
  Some sort of frog-god fell from the skies an aeon ago, 
  and it waits now for one worthy enough to carry its 
  religion to the world. Whoever finds this being and 
  bows before it will become a demigod, leading the 
  world into a new age of prosperity and order.
  69
  One of the highest of the Barrier Peaks has 
  mysteriously lost its snowpack. No snow clings to its 
  crags now, even in the middle of winter.
  70
  A trading caravan traveling through the Barrier Peaks 
  returned without any of its merchants. All the pack 
  animals and supplies were accounted for, none the 
  worse for wear—except the caravan had lost every 
  trace it carried of silk or cloth.
  71
  I’ve heard tales of a haunted monastery up in the 
  peaks. Something about vengeful dead coming 
  down to steal corpses, and taking them back to their 
  forsaken abode.
  72
  No, it’s not all woe and misery in the Barrier Peaks. 
  There’s a lost tavern up there, filled with perfectly 
  preserved dwarven ale from the past millennia.
  73
  I’ve heard an old woman sometimes appears on the 
  trails of the peaks, staring at you with huge black eyes. 
  She might offer you some berries to eat, but those 
  who take one are never heard from again!
  74
  A swarm of rust monsters wanders up in those 
  mountains. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. 
  What kind of metal they’re finding up there to let 
  them sustain those numbers, no one knows.
  75
  All this talk about yetis in the Barrier Peaks is just a 
  rumor. I say there’s a pack of wizards pretending to be 
  yetis, trying to scare folks away from the peaks’ real 
  secret!
  
  61
  Lost Laboratory of Kwalish | TM & ©2018 Wizards.
  d100
  Rumor 
  76
  In ages past, the gods cast a flaming star down upon 
  the Barrier Peaks. And all the time since, the peaks 
  have been infected with horrors too shocking to 
  fathom.
  77
  A mummy lord resides in an ancient tomb of the 
  Barrier Peaks, guarding a huge treasure that once 
  belonged to a family of vampire slayers. 
  78
  Most kobolds are mere nuisances. But the members 
  of the Brightclaw Clan of the Barrier Peaks wield 
  strange metal crossbows that hum and glow with 
  esoteric symbols. I saw my dwarf guide disintegrated 
  by a red beam emitted from one of those unnatural 
  magical things!
  79
  An ancient deity dwells within the Barrier Peaks, and 
  speaks to its followers only in dreams. Those who 
  meet this deity become blessed with eyes that glow in 
  different colors, depending on who they speak to and 
  what they say.
  80
  Somewhere within the Barrier Peaks, a massive 
  city built into the cliffs is populated by a society 
  of aarakocra and genasi. These creatures guard a 
  passage into the Elemental Plane of Air, aided by 
  tamed elementals.
  81
  A vault full of strange flying devices is hidden within 
  the Barrier Peaks—and rumors say that a dragon has 
  recently claimed the place.
  82
  A lost temple of the storm god is said to be hidden 
  in the Barrier Peaks, and is home to a magical gem 
  that can control the weather. Countless of the god’s 
  faithful have made expeditions to seek the site—and 
  none have ever returned.
  83
  A sheer wall of ice at the height of the Barrier Peaks 
  has a surface that is marred by peculiar shapes. Tales 
  tell that those shapes are magical molds through 
  which creatures of elemental cold are spawned.
  84
  The top of one of the Barrier Peaks is fake. An illusion! 
  Tales tell of a village up there, populated by halflings 
  who love the cold.
  85
  I heard there be rabbit-men in the peaks, with spears 
  that throw fire.
  86
  Caverns abound in the Barrier Peaks that are filled 
  with rubies—all of them crystallized out of the blood 
  of innocents and cursed to bring an early death to 
  those that carry them.
  87
  The entire range of the Barrier Peaks is actually the 
  ribs of some great, sleeping skeletal beast. Those 
  quakes that tremble through the mountains from time 
  to time? That’s it starting to wake up. It’s coming.
  88
  People know the Barrier Peaks but often forget what 
  it is they were named for. Those mountains make 
  a protective wall guarding civilized lands from the 
  nightmares and dark magic that spawn on their far 
  side. And every time some explorer cuts a new trail 
  across the peaks, that barrier weakens.
  d100
  Rumor 
  89
  Folk talk about the Barrier Peaks as home to wraiths 
  and other apparitions, but I say those mountains are a 
  laboratory for the mind flyers. I’ve walked those trails. 
  I’ve have heard the blood-curdling screams that come 
  from deep within those mountains. And I’ve seen the 
  empty look in those that survive the journey to the 
  peaks and back.
  90
  On a stormy day, elemental power surges in the 
  Barrier Peaks, and the clouds between the mountains 
  become thick enough to walk on.
  91
  A cabal of gnome mages built an arcane engine in 
  the Barrier Peaks meant to open up a gate to another 
  world.
  92
  Metal creatures up in the higher passes of the peaks 
  make strange musical sounds. But most of those who 
  investigate that music never return to talk of it.
  93
  The higher reaches of the Barrier Peaks stay frozen 
  even into summer. Digging in these spots can turn up 
  the corpses of explorers who died there, along with all 
  their gear—and the spirits of those angry dead.
  94
  I once heard a loudmouth explorer show off what they 
  called a “power coin” in an adventurer’s tavern. It 
  looked like blue glass to me, but they swore it could 
  charge up magical devices.
  95
  Somewhere deep in a cave in the Barrier Peaks flows a 
  waterfall of molten gold.
  96
  A deranged transmuter had a secret lab somewhere in 
  the Barrier Peaks, folk say. No one’s found it yet—but 
  adventurers have spotted a creature in the mountains 
  partway between a sloth and a porcupine, attacking 
  with razor sharp claws and poisoned quills.
  97
  Many of the stones in the Barrier Peaks are hollow, 
  and those stones sing their secret knowledge during 
  storms. Those songs can lead discerning listeners to 
  hidden treasures . . . or unseen dangers.
  98
  A hidden glade of petrified trees in the Barrier Peaks 
  is tended by a stone giant dreamwalker.
  99
  Some say the paths and tunnels of the Barrier Peaks 
  take weeks or months to traverse, while others 
  claim to navigate the same routes in mere days. 
  Stranger still, charting your route in the peaks is most 
  unreliable. Many’s the explorer that’s used stars and 
  compass to plot a course, only to find themselves 
  back at the beginning edge of the place where the trip 
  began.
  100
  The Soul Catcher, they call it. Its victims stagger 
  out of the Barrier Peaks with nary a scratch on their 
  bodies, but their hearts aren’t right anymore. The 
  lucky ones are caught by the healers and confined to 
  places where they can’t hurt anyone. The ones who 
  aren’t so lucky . . . Well, you tell me. What would you 
  call an adventurer who can’t feel the slightest tinge of 
  remorse or guilt or fear?
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/Adventures/D&D 5E Adventures/Lost Laboratory of Kwalish.pdf