BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOM 44 (SECTION 6)

Room 2 - The Guardians hall

Access to this room is blocked by a locked door between it and Room 1. The lock is of Hard difficulty.

The room itself is guarded by four animated Guardian Statues. The statues resemble paladins of the Blind Lawbringer.

Guardian Statues

Note: The capabilities below are to provide a guide for building your own version of this creature in the RPG system of your choice.

• Damage Capacity - Moderate. The magic that holds the statues together is moderately strong but will break if dealt sufficient damage.

• Armor - High. The statues are made of solid granite. They are resistant to slashing damage and immune to piercing damage.

• Magic Resistance - The statues are magically enchanted to move as well as repel fire and electric damage. The statues are immune to poison and enchantment magic.

• Stone Swords - The stone swords of the statues are razor sharp and jagged. They deal moderate damage.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOM 43 (SECTION 6)

Section 6 of the Black Moors Waterways includes The Catacombs of the Black Moors Cathedral which extend into the waterways and below. The catacombs house many creatures and unique history.

Room 1 - Primary Waterway

This Primary Waterway directs water through the Cathedral Ward to the Merchants Ward. It is used as a “highway” by the creatures who dwell in and move through the waterways.

A pack of Hunter Drakes, giant lizards with green dragon-like features roams this waterway. They attack with sharp venomous bites, dealing Moderate piercing damage and moderate poison damage if the victim does not pass a Moderate poison save.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOM 33 - 35 (SECTION 4)

Room 5 - Flooded Cellar

This barricaded room is a cellar that has had its wall destroyed which caused the room to be flooded with water. A ladder extends upwards into the abandoned house above.

Room 6 - Well Room

There are a pair of rust-eating monsters here that have been attracted by a rusty iron box with a padlock (Moderate difficulty) that sits against the northern wall in this room. They will attack anyone who enters the area with metal on them.

The box is a secret cache of weapons, gold, and potions. However, the box is trapped with an incendiary device that will destroy the contents and deal a High amount of fire damage to anyone who triggers it. The trap is a moderate difficulty to detect and disarm.

Room 7 - Safe House

This locked door leads into a cellar that contains several boxes containing rations, torches and bedrolls. The stairs lead up into an empty house that is in good condition. There is a 50% chance that this house is occupied by 1d10 bandits who are using this house as a hideout.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOM 29 - 32 (SECTION 4)

Room 1 - The private bath

This room is the private bath of a minor noble named Loris Launn. Loris’ grandmother is a member of the King’s Court and she bought him a house on the edge of the Adventurer’s Ward so he can be part of the action but not in the thick of it.

Loris paid a large sum of money to have a private bath built beneath the house that siphoned water directly from the waterways and heats via magical means. To accomplish this, there are two floodgates that he had installed to funnel the water into the pool. Both of these can be moved but they are chained shut with Moderate difficulty padlocks.

The bath itself is only accessible from Loris’ house above but it is often in use for private parties.

Room 2 - The abandoned basement

This house cistern sits behind a Moderate difficulty locked gate and opens into a small basement. Here there are two Giant Lizards on guard duty that will attack anything that comes into the room.

The stairs lead up into an abandoned house that serves as the secret hideout of a Dragon Cult that is infiltrating the city via the waterways.

Their leader is a dragonfolk priestess who uses her abilities to charm and beguile those who oppose her. She is guarded by two large dragonfolk brutes that wield vicious glaives.

Room 3 - The smugglers’ hoard

The entrance to this room is a hole dug into the side of the waterway. It leads into a circular room with stairs leading upwards. At the top of the stairs is a secret door that opens out onto the street. This door is in the side of one of the old gates of the city from when it was much smaller. The gatehouse still stands as a pseudo-monument to how far the city has grown. The circular room beneath the old gatehouse was an armory that is now used by local smugglers to hide their contraband.

The containers tucked in behind the stairs hold the following:

• 1d4x10 gold worth of trade goods (GM’s choice)

• 2d6x10 gold worth of stolen art objects (GM’s choice)

• 6d6x10 gold worth of an illegal substance (GM’s choice)

Room 4 - Water spiders

This well room is filled with large, thick spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling, that drift down over the surface of the water.

Anyone entering here must move quietly and carefully between the webs (Hard difficulty) or alert the Giant Water Spiders that have taken up residence near the ceiling. There is one here for each PC.

The well opening at the top of the room has been boarded up from outside, presumably to keep the spiders from attacking the surface.

A desiccated corpse wrapped in a bundle of webs has a pouch containing 1d4 gold, 1d6 silver, and 1d8 copper pieces. There is also a silver ring on its finger worth 10 gold pieces.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOM 28 (SECTION 3)

Room 7 - The Vault of the Coin Purse

Room 7 is on the level of the waterways but is not actually connected to the waterways. The only way to access it is down the heavily guarded steps from above.

This basement is the location of the vault for The Coin Purse, a very popular gambling den in The Adventurers’ Ward. Drinks and coins flow freely here in a non-stop party atmosphere. The vault is protected at any time by a dozen guards all of whom have extensive combat training.

The vault walls are foot thick stone, the door is made of steel and has a Very Difficult lock. Additionally there are magic wards on the door that will deal a Very High amount of lightning damage to anyone who attempts to open the door without the properly enchanted key.

Only two people have a key to the vault - Cassius Cleves, halfling owner of The Coin Purse and Ariana Farlight, the human mage who made the keys and set the wards. Both are lords in the local crime syndicate. Both are quite skilled in their expertise and both have considerable influence throughout Black Moors.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS ROOMs 26 & 27 (SECTION 3)

Room 5 - The Forge of Astounding arms & armor

The cistern behind the iron grate opens up into a basement forge of beneath the Astounding Arms & Armor shop. This shop is run a female dwarf named Raga Skelegar. Raga was once an adventurer but settled down to produce armaments after losing a leg in battle. She crafts custom pieces as well as cheap, utility weapons. Raga is rumored to run an armament black market out of her forge with deals being transacted through the cistern grate.

Room 6 - The Victory Feast Fighting Pit

The iron grate here looks into a tall room that is open to the sky above. This is the fighting pit of The Victory Feast, the most raucous tavern in the Adventurers’ Ward. The Fighting Pit is used for fighting tournaments as well as a place for disagreements to be settled without breaking the furniture!

The Victory Feast is owned by Akag Bronzehide, a businessman who owns several of the taverns around Black Moors and is a secret lord in the local crime syndicate.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (SECTION 3) ROOM 25

Room 4 - Laboratory of Wisyn's Wondrous Wands

The secret door that leads into this chamber is hidden by an illusory wall (Hard difficulty to detect) and is magically locked and warded (Hard difficulty to dispel). If the door is opened without dispelling the wards there is an explosion dealing High fire damage.

The room beyond the secret door is the private mage lab of Wisyn, the owner of Wisyn’s Wondrous Wands. Wisyn is a crafter of wands and purveyor of all manner of arcane foci such as wands, staves, and crystals. He is a talented mage and will attack trespassers with all of his ability.

The shelves on the western walls contain Wisyn’s personal collection of magic-related books. An investigation of the books with enough time (Moderate difficulty) reveals 1d4 spells (GM’s choice) that could be copied with the right materials and time frame.

The cabinets on the southeastern wall next to the cauldron contain a well stocked selection of common spell components as well as the wood necessary to craft wands. There is also a 50% chance of containing a rare component worth up to 100 gp in value.

The workbench in the center of the room contains the components for wands that are in progress and one that is complete wrapped neatly in a box. The specific type of wand is up to the GM to decide.

The cauldron is currently empty and no fire is lit. A lounging couch is near the secret door for Wisyn to read and rest on.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (SECTION 3) ROOMs 23 and 24

Room 2 - The Cellar of the stoppered flask

A secret door (Hard difficulty to find) leads into the cellar of The Stoppered Flask, an herbalist and potion shop. The various barrels and crates in this room store bulk herbs and ingredients. There is a vault door with a complex lock (Hard difficulty) inside are three chests (locked with Moderate locks) that contain 3d4 random potions each of Uncommon rarity, 1d4 potions of Rare rarity, and a 50% chance to have a Very Rare potion.

The ladder to the north leads to a trap door in the floor of the shop upstairs behind the shop counter.

The shop owner, Tisha, is a female elf. She is friendly to customers if a bit frazzled. She is unaware of the secret door in her cellar and will behave in a hostile manner to anyone that comes through it unexpectedly. She will toss random vials of chemicals at them doing 1d6 random types of damage.

Room 3 - The wanderer’s rest bath house

The cistern behind the iron bars (Very Hard difficulty to bend) leads into a boiler room where cool fresh water is stored but also feeds into a large iron boiler. The water from the boiler feeds into the seven baths in the next room. This boiler room is accessible through a concealed door (Easy difficulty).

The baths are lavishly decorated with mosaics lanterns. They are semi-private with a curtain that can be drawn for privacy. Optional herbs, salts, and potions can be added to the baths for an extra cost. There is a 66% chance that any one of these baths is occupied by 1d4 people.

The stairs lead up to the changing room of the Wanderer’s Rest, an inn that caters to all lifestyles and needs.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (SECTION 3) ROOM 22

Room 22 - The Garbage collector

Heading north from Section 2, the waterways lead to a junction that allows access to Section 6 to the east and Section 3 to the west and northwest.

Room 1, is the first public well in what is known as the Adventurers’ Ward of Black Moors. This rough and tumble area provides all of the services and vices that groups of wandering adventurers, scoundrels, and criminals might want. This well is one example of what one might find in such a place.

The room is a twenty foot wide, circular cistern that is 20 feet tall. A bucket on a chain hangs half way down from 5 foot wide well opening in the ceiling. Though its primary use is to be a source of clean water, all manner of litter and refuse gets dumped into the well by the denizens of the Adventurers’ Ward.

The water here is 4 feet deep and conceals a water ooze that devours any organic material that falls into the water from above or wades through it below.

Water Ooze
Note: The capabilities below are to provide a guide for building your own version of this creature in the RPG system of your choice.

• Damage Capacity - Moderate. The ooze’s amorphous form allows for it to absorb damage well and repair itself.

• Armor - Low. The skin of the ooze is a thin and allows for edged weapons to cut it. Blunt weapons deal less damage as they just spread the ooze out.

• Pseudopods - The ooze can lash out with two pseudopods per round and grapple two different targets. The targets can attempt to break free of the ooze’s grip with a Moderate difficulty test but take Light acid damage whether successful or not.

• Engulf - If the ooze begins its turn with a creature grappled it will pull them into its body and and begin to digest them. They may attempt to break free with a Moderate difficulty test. Each At the end of each turn that the ooze has engulfed a creature, it deals moderate acid damage to that creature. The ooze may only engulf one creature at a time.

A moderate difficulty investigation of this room reveals the remains of an armored person. The organic material is mostly gone, but the inorganic metal chainmail and longsword if the unfortunate adventurer remain. There is also a random amount of coins scattered throughout the room equal to an amount the GM feels is appropriate.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (SECTION 2) ROOM 21

Room 21 - The Cleaner!

This section of the Black Moors Waterways contains four house cisterns all of which have additional bars on them to prevent intruders from coming up their wells. (Hard difficulty to bend, Very Hard difficulty to break).

The long stretch of hallway currently contains a mobile Wall of Blades spell that move rapidly down the corridor towards Room 1. Once there it will will randomly choose another branch to go down (1d3 to decide). The spell’s purpose is to shred any infestations, debris, or roots that may have grown through the stone, leaving a spotless corridor.

Wall of Blades

The Wall of Blades spell fills a space that is 10 ft. by 10 ft. by 5 ft. with spinning blades of magical force. Anyone who enters its space takes a Moderate amount of Edged damage. This particular spell is a permanent feature of the Black Moors Waterways and moves at 40 feet per round.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (Section 2) ROOM 15

Room 1 - Junction 1

This circular room is 10ft tall and supported by a large stone pillar. The pillar has an inscription carved in dwarvish runes that reads “Junction 1”.

A grick is camouflaged at the top of the pillar to look like a part of it. It will attack anyone who approaches the pillar.

The wide waterway to the east leads 100 feet to the Collection Chamber West (Section 1, Room 7).

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (PANTHER CAVE) ROOM 14

Room 7 - The Entry Hall

This room looks out over a forest pool 30 feet down where the water from the cave plunges off a cliff. The water in the pool is 3 feet deep and the current is strong enough to pull a small creature off their feet (DC 15) and over the waterfall (3d6 damage).

If the explorers, enter this room at night there is a 50% chance that the Panther Spirit of the cave paces the surface of the water and will attempt to scare intruders away or attack anyone it deems to be hostile (use the stats for a specter if combat occurs).

There is just enough space on the shelf to the south for a cramped resting place if the group needs to camp. The narrow ledge leads from their to an exterior that curves down the hillside outside to the pool below.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (PANTHER CAVE) ROOM 13

Room 6 - Cave Paintings

The walls of this room are painted with ancient iconography depicting humanoid figures, spirals, and a large panther. There is also a more recent painting of a green dragon with its wings spread.

The natural shelf along the right wall has shards of pottery scattered across it. An investigation of the shelf (DC 17)reveals a knife made out of obsidian in the water beneath the shelf. The knife is incredibly sharp and deals 1d6 damage instead of the usual 1d4.

BLACK MOORS WATERWAYS (PANTHER CAVE) ROOM 10

Room 3 - Guard Post

The cave widens in this chamber allowing for a bit of rocky shore next to the stream. Sitting here in the darkness are a pair of lizardfolk guards. If the explorers have not been quiet in rooms 1 and 2, they will warn their comrades in Room 4 and prepare an ambush. If the explorers have been stealthy, they may get the drop on these two without alerting Room 4.

The dry ground here makes for a good place to take a short rest if needed.

Black Moors Waterways (Panther Cave) Rooms 8 - 9

Panther Cave is a natural cave in the hill that Castle Black sits on. Local legend tells of ancient worship of a panther spirit that inhabits the cave. The dwarven architects of the waterways connected them to the cave to utilize it as an escape route in the event of a siege.

Room 1 - Entry Pool

The first room of the cave encountered after leaving the waterways is a large pool of water that collects ground water that has seeped through the limestone from the river. The pool gets deeper towards the eastern passage where it reaches 2 feet deep. This is difficult terrain for small characters or creatures.

Room 2 - Split Chamber

The water flow splits into two channels here. Each channel narrows to a point that requires creatures to squeeze through, the western channel is wider than the eastern path (Strength check DC 13 and 15 respectively). However a swarm of Stirges has nested here. Anyone who ends their turn in the speckled squares of the western passage loses 1d4+3 hit points due to blood loss. The stirges can be destroyed by dealing 6 points of fire damage to each square.

Black Moors Waterways, Room 5 -7

Room 5 - The Maintenance Chamber

This damp stone room contains discarded tools that have rusted due to the moisture from the water leaking down the northwestern corner. A medium-sized automaton of unknown purpose has been left in the southwestern corner, broken and rusted. Examination of the automaton leads to a surprise attack from the Grey Ooze that is inside of it feasting on its mechanisms! Once the ooze has been defeated, 2d6 gems (worth 10gp each) can be harvested from the corroded remains of the automaton.

The wet tunnel to the west leads through the bedrock underneath the river to Room 7.

Room 6 - The Water Reserve

This tall chamber is always filled with water and acts as a backflow chamber and water reserve, maintaining equilibrium between the castle water supply and the city’s supply to the west. Because the chamber is full, it requires an explorer to hold their breath the entire time they are in here.

Animal bones litter the bottom of this room along with a pair of Black Moors Eels that will avoid any creature of Small size or greater.

A Ring of Protection +1 is still around a finger bone at the bottom of the chamber.

Room 7 - The Water Collection Chamber, West

Similar to Room 2, this collection chamber sits on the other side of the River Black and collects water via the grate covered pipes on the eastern wall. These are identical to the pipes in Room 2. The water here empties into a large collection pool before flowing out the wide channel to the west. The channel to the north that leads to Room 6 prevents this room from flooding.

The westward channel leads to section 2 of the Black Moors Waterways.

Black Moors Waterways, Room 4

The Well

Taking the northern water channel from Room 2 leads to similar situation as with Room 3, The Boiler. The rushing water and slippery stone cause explorers to lose their footing (Dexterity Save DC 15) and tumble down the short waterslide. The channel ends at Room 4, where the water tumbles down 20 feet into a large stone cistern. Anyone sliding can make a Strength Save (DC 15) to stop themselves from going over the edge.

This cistern is the cool water storage for the castle. The room is 50 feet tall with an open well opening at the top. The water level is currently 20 feet deep. Like The Boiler, grated pipes at the bottom supply water up to the castle. There is also a larger 5 foot channel under the water that leads westward. It is covered with an iron grate that can be pulled from its fitting with a DC 15 Strength check.

There is a Swarm of Black Moors Eels in the water that will attack anything that falls in it.

At the bottom of the well is 10d10 copper pieces, 5d10 silver pieces, and 2d4 gold pieces.

Black Moors Waterways, Room 3

The Boiler

Taking the opening to the south in Room 2, the water channel takes a steep descent. The rushing water and slippery stone cause explorers to lose their footing (Dexterity Save DC 15) and tumble down the short waterslide. The channel ends at Room 3, where the water tumbles down 20 feet into a large stone cistern. Anyone sliding can make a Strength Save (DC 15) to stop themselves from going over the edge.

The water is hot and anyone approaching the room can feel the heat and steam. The water itself is 20 feet deep to the bottom where a dwarvish fire rune (Dispel Magic DC 15 suppresses the rune for 10 minutes, DC 25 dispels it permanently) is carved into the stone surface. Roll a d10 and set this as the number of rounds until the rune ignites again. When it does, the water becomes superheated and anyone in it takes 1d10 fire damage. Once the rune ignites, it resets the timer to 10 rounds and begins again.

At the bottom of the boiler, along the sides are 5-inch pipes behind iron grates that take the heated water up to the castle. There are also 5d6 copper pieces and a Gem of Brightness at the bottom of the boiler.

There are handholds that lead up next to the ledge where the water spills out and where a set of old, rusty iron stairs is bolted into the wall. These lead up to a 5 foot tall doorway at the top of the room. If more than 200 lbs is on it, the supports snap and the staircase gives way, dumping anyone on it into the water below. There are enough handholds left after this that someone could still make it to the top with either an Athletics or Acrobatics check (DC 17).