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Beneath its charming exterior, the Eye of the East is a charnel horror of death and despair.

CAPTAIN MORSUL: Captain Morsul is a minotaur vampire, infected during a voyage through the Serpent’s Teeth. Use the stats for a vampire nightbringer (MM 2024, p. 316) with the following traits:

• Strength 18 (+4)
• Languages: Common, Abyssal
• Charge. If Morsul moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 10 feet away and knocked prone.
• Labyrinthine Recall. Morsul can perfectly recall any path he has traveled.
• Reckless. At the start of his turn, Morsul can gain advantage on all melee attack rolls he makes during that turn, but attack rolls against him have advantage until the start of his next turn.
• Multiattack. Captain Morsul makes one Bite attack, one Shadowstrike attack, and one Gore attack.
• Gore. Melee Attack Roll: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage.

VAMPIRE SPAWN: There are 1d4+1 vampire spawn on the Eye of the East. (Morsul creates them from slaves and mutinous crew members, then has them periodically fight in survival-of-the-fittest deathmatches for the entertainment of the crew.)

SHIP MAP: Elven Tower’s Scorpion Ship battlemap. (Minor alterations.)

AREA 1 – MAIN DECK

A fairly typical, double-masted ship’s deck.

CARGO HATCH: A clever device allows a shutter, operable from below, to be drawn across the cargo hatches and cover the grating. (This is unusual, but can both hide the slaves in the cargo bay and protect the ship’s vampires from sunlight.)

AREA 2 – BALLISTAS

The upper deck ballistas are mounted on swivels.

SEARCH — DC 10 Wisdom (Perception): 6 of the bolts at each ballista tipped with alchemist’s fire.

ALCHEMIST’S FIRE BOLTS: 3d10 piercing damage. Target takes 1d10 fire damage at the start of each of their turns.

• GM Background: These bolts are sourced from the Alchemical Lab — Shadowworks.

AREA 3 – CREW QUARTERS

This compartment is filled with crisscrossing hammocks. Additional bed rolls are spread uncomfortably on the floor.

SECURE DOOR: The door to Area 5 is steel-cored and securely locked.

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 4 – STORAGE & CREW

Ship’s stores are kept here. Because Area 3 is too crowded for all of the crew to sleep there, several additional hammocks are also hung high here above the stores.

AREA 5 – SECURE HOLD

This compartment is used to store high-value or sensitive cargo. The ship’s anchor is also operated from here.

AREA 6 – VLADAAM MAGE’S QUARTERS

Makena, the Vladaam Mage assigned to the ship, keeps her quarters here. Their personal belongings include their spellbook, a potion of superior healing, and a djinni’s lamp.

HADIYA THE DJINN: The djinni in the lamp is Hadiya. Makena has come to consider Hadiya her best friend and will spend hours in her quarters just chatting with her. Hadiya, however, yearns for freedom from her imprisonment.

AREA 7 – CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

The portholes of this aft cabin are draped with thick, black velvet curtains which have been securely fastened and block out all light. An everburning lamp is built into the desk and casts long, dancing shadows around the compartment.

BED: Concealed beneath the bed is a coffin of mahogany inlaid with jet (worth 3,000 gp).

DESK: On the desk is a box of red jade containing three onyxes each painted with a dragon’s head. (The box is worth 750 gp. Each onyx is worth 75 gp.) Also on the desk is a Letter from the Founder’s Guild to Captain Morsul (see handouts).

AREA 8 – SLAVE HOLD

Dozens of shackles are attached to the walls and to long metal bars running along the floor.

AREA 9 – VAMPIRE SPAWN QUARTERS

These rooms are used by the vampire spawn. The bedclothes are soiled and smeared with blood and filth.

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Named after Myliesha, an elven goddess of the wind (Ptolus, p. 73), the Myliesh’a Sail is the smallest vessel in the Fleet of Iron Sails. It’s notable for being the only ship in the fleet not armed with cannon or ballista. The absence of ship weaponry allows the Sail to avoid inspections at certain foreign ports, making it easier for them to engage in smuggling, slave-trade, and other illicit activities.

CAPTAIN CROTIKA: Use stats for pirate captain (MM 2024, p. 242).

SHIP’S MAP: Fat Goblin Games’ Simple Ship battlemap.

AREA 1 – MAIN DECK

The deck is well-scrubbed and kept in good order. Despite this, a large, black stain extends from the cargo hatch and runs for several feet across the deck. (Anyone watching onboard activity will notice that crewmembers avoid stepping on the stain.)

STAIN: Careful inspection notes that there are small arcane runes carved into the surface of the stain. Anyone stepping on the stain is must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be affected as per bestow curse.

DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana): The stain is from a blood curse. Someone cursed their own blood and then spilt it upon the deck in order to place a curse upon the Myliesha’s Sail. (GM Note: This was a lizardman witch who was being transported as a slave.)

DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana): The arcane runes are designed to seal in the curse. This prevents it from affecting the ship, but it would still be a good idea to avoid stepping on it.

CARGO HATCH: The cargo hatch is secured with a pair of hefty padlocks.

• AC 19, 7 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 2 – THE WHEEL

The wheel is coated with dragon bile (contact poison, DC 20 Constitution saving throw, 5d6 poison damage (half on save), and disadvantage on Strength checks). Crewmembers know to wear gloves while steering the ship.

AREA 3 – CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

TABLE: On the table is a small mahogany box containing a ring of counterspells (a serpent of mithril and a serpent of taurum, the true gold, swallowing each other’s tails) and Letter to Guildmaster Arzan (see handouts).

Ring of Counterspells (rare, requires attunement)

This ring might seem like a ring of spell storing upon first examination. However, while it allows a single spell of 1^st through 5^th level to be cast into it, that spell cannot be cast out of the ring again. Instead, should that spell ever be cast upon the wearer, the spell is immediately countered, as if per a counterspell. If a counterspell is casting into the ring, it can be used to counter any spell, as per the spell.

Once used, the spell cast within the ring is gone. A new spell (or the same one as before) may be placed in it again.

GM Background: This ring was recovered from ruins in the Serpent’s Teeth. It currently contains a gate seal spell and it’s possible the Red Magi might be able to research the spell by studying the ring. (The gate seal spell can be found in Planescape: Sigil and the Outlands.)

IRON COFFER: 465 gp, 79 pp, potion of blur

• Lock: DC 16 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 4 – SHIP SUPPLIES & ARMORY

In addition to hard tack, barrels of water, rope, and other necessary supplies, this room contains an unusual number of weapons:

• scimitars & dragon pistols (Ptolus, p. 522), enough to arm the sailors
• dragon rifles (Ptolus, p. 522) to arm the Advanced Vladaam Guards

AREA 5 – VLADAAM MAGE’S QUARTERS

The Vladaam Mage assigned to the ship keeps their quarters here. Their personal belongings include their spellbook, a potion of superior healing, and a shield of missile attraction (that they’re studying).

AREA 6 – CREW QUARTERS

This chamber is filled with crisscrossing hammocks and where most of the crew sleep.

DOOR: The door leading to the hold is steel-cored and securely locked.

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 7 – HOLD

Although Myliesha’s Sail transports slaves, they usually carry no more than a half load, and often much less than that.

Greater effort is made to keep the hold well maintained and cleaned (with the Vladaam Mages using prestidigitation spells, among other measures), making it easier for the ship to fulfill its role as a smuggler when the hold is used for mundane goods (or seemingly mundane goods).

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The Pride of Morrain is named after a former scion of House Vladaam. Morrain was arrested for piracy during the War of Black Sails, escaped from the gallows in Trolone, and returned to Ptolus before being killed by Freeport assassins (who had been sent by a powerful pirate captain whose daughter Morrain had raped and murdered).

The prow of the ship is fashioned to resemble the head of a red dragon. The crew of the ship will tell tales of how the cunningly crafted wooden head contains the mummified heart of a dragon slain by Morrain himself. It’s possible that many or all of them actually believe this tale, but it’s not true.

CAPTAIN BOASTIA: Use stats for pirate captain (MM 2024, p. 242).

SHIP’S MAP: The map of the Pride of Morrain is based on the Duskbringer battlemap published by Elven Tower. The original map can be found here, but the version seen above has been heavily modified. Patrons of the Alexandrian have exclusive access to a high-resolution version of the modified map, suitable for printing or VTTs.

AREA 1 – THE WHEEL

The brass wheel of the ship has a plaque attached to it, explaining that it was taken from the original Pride of Morrain and was wielded by the hand of Prince Morrain during the War of Black Sails.

AREA 2 – MAIN DECK

At first glance, a fairly typical ship’s deck.

AFT DOOR: The aft door, leading below decks, is surprisingly sturdy and can be secured with two locks and a bar from the outside. (This is a final defensive measure against the potential of slave uprising.)

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

CARGO HATCH: Similarly, the cargo hatch is secured with a pair of hefty padlocks.

• AC 19, 7 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 3 – BALLISTAS

The upper deck ballistas are mounted on swivels.

SEARCH — DC 10 Wisdom (Perception): 6 of the bolts at each ballista tipped with alchemist’s fire.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Wisdom): To find a slip of paper under the alchemist’s fire bolts at the prow of the ship billing for various supplies which were delivered to an address on Wayfarer’s Street. (This address belongs to Alchemical Lab — Shadowworks, which created the fire bolts.)

ALCHEMIST’S FIRE BOLTS: 3d10 piercing damage. Target takes 1d10 fire damage at the start of each of their turns.

AREA 4 – GRAPPLER BALLISTA

The lower ballista is secreted within the open mouth of the ship’s red dragon prow. The bolts shot by this ballista are tethered and a powerful, steam-powered mechanism under the deck can be used to drag pinioned ships into boarding range.

AREA 5 – SUPPLIES & ARMORY

In addition to hard tack, barrels of water, rope, and other necessary supplies, this room contains an unusual number of weapons:

• scimitars & dragon pistols (Ptolus, p. 522), enough to arm the sailors
• dragon rifles (Ptolus, p. 522) to arm the Advanced Vladaam Guards

STAIR DOORS: The doors at the bottom of the stairs are steel-cored and securely locked.

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 6 – WATER PURIFIER

A technomantic device in this compartment siphons ocean water and purifies it for human consumption… but only imperfectly. The result is potable, but still has a slightly salty and unpleasant aftertaste. It’s good enough for the slaves, though.

SIGIL: The device is marked with the Vladaam alchemy sigil:

AREA 7 – UPPER HOLD

The upper hold generally contains mundane cargo.

CARGO HATCHES: Cargo hatches lead to both the upper deck (Area 2) and the slave hold below (Area 12). Both are secured from above with a pair of hefty padlocks unless in use.

• AC 19, 7 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 8 – CREW QUARTERS

These chambers are filled with crisscrossing hammocks and where most of the crew sleep.

AREA 9 – VLADAAM MAGE’S QUARTERS

The Vladaam Mage assigned to the ship keeps their quarters here. Their personal belongings include their spellbook and A Missive Regarding Slaves (see handouts).

• GM’s Background: The sigil on the missive belongs to Aliaster Vladaam.

AREA 10 – SLAVE CELLS

These cabins are secured with locks from the outside and have been outfitted to secure rare and valuable slaves. They are generally empty, but there’s a 10% chance of occupation for each cell, in which case roll 1d8 to determine the CR of the inhabitant and use a random encounter table of your choice to determine who/what it is.

AREA 11 – CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

Captain Boastia gets an actual bed! It’s nothing too fancy, but it’s pleasant enough.

The captain’s logs can be used to reconstruct the frequency and number of slaves being transported by the Pride of Morrain.

AREA 12 – SLAVE HOLD

The Vladaam Mages assigned to these ships regularly cast prestidigitation to clean out the holds, but it’s not enough to purge the sickening stench that clings to the slave holds – a mix of filth, excrement, blood, and putrescence.

GM Note: If the Pride of Morrain is not currently hauling slaves, this cargo hold may be converted to hold additional goods.

AREA 13 – LOWER HOLD

This area is generally used for standard trade goods and cheap rations for the slaves. If the ship is carrying a particularly large full load of slaves, the overflow may also be held in here.

AREA 14 – OFFICER’S MESS

Close inspection reveals that the officer’s mess is covered in a thin layer of dust, suggesting that it’s rarely used. The close proximity to the slave hold has rendered the mess an unpleasant place.

GM Note: There have been some discussions of converting the space into additional cargo space, but Captain Boastia has been hesitant to abandon the tradition.

Next: Vladaam Slave Ship – Myliesha’s Sail

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The Vladaam drug-running operations are woven through their deot and, thus, throughout The Vladaam Affair. This brief summary is designed to tie these disparate elements together, providing both an overview for the GM and some basic guidance if the PCs decide to pursue these leads.

Note: The drug trade also offers myriad opportunities for PCs to get involved with The Vladaam Affair for the first time. Addicts and dealers can be found throughout the city and in every walk of life, making it easy to drop clues into almost any scenario.

DRUGS HANDLED BY THE VLADAAMS

The Vladaam drug trade focuses on three specific drugs:

• Abyss Dust
• Snakeweed
• Liquid Pain (Agony)

ABYSS DUST: Abyss dust is alchemically distilled from snakeweed (see below), although few associate the innocuous effects of snakeweed with this powerful narcotic. Abyss dust looks like ashes, with a rich black and gray color. It is administered through inhalation or smoking. Some hardcore users like to mix their abyss dust with snakeweed, claiming the snakeweed “takes the edge off” of some of the more extreme hallucinations.

LIQUID PAIN: This thickish red liquid, also known as Agony, liquid pain is distilled from the living pain of tortured souls. Through an alchemical law of antagonism it creates a feeling of intense pleasure in addition to its other effects. Recreational users use small, ceremonial knives to cut themselves and deliver the drug. It’s said that the recipe was perfected by demons and stolen from them by a Dark Warrior. (Who may, or may not have been a member of House Vladaam.) It is difficult to say how much truth there is in such tales, as opposed to salesmanship.

SNAKEWEED: The sunburst flower is found growing in many ancient ruins throughout the Serpent Islands. The trances produced by smoking the dried leaves and flowers of the plant became a popular, casual intoxication among the pirates of Freeport and spread to ports throughout the Whitewind Sea. When dried, the stuff is simply called snakeweed by most, and while it can be psychologically addictive it is relatively harmless by itself. When smoked, snakeweed produces a feeling of serene calm, a deadening of pain, and slight euphoria. Heavy doses produce an incapacitating euphoric stupor, and sometimes inspire dreams of shadowy, serpentine forms and vast cities beneath the waves. In Freeport, it is commonly used by the poorer citizens and sailors as an escape from the drudgeries of everyday life.

See Appendix: 5E Drugs for the mechanical details of these drugs.

SOURCES

• Abyss Dust and Snakeweed are purchased in Freeport.
• Liquid Pain is manufactured at the Vladaam Slave Warehouse (Part 16).

RUNNERS

FLEET OF IRON SAILS: The Fleet of Iron Sails (Part 9) smuggle abyss weed and snakeweed out of Freeport.

SURVEYOR APPRENTICES: The apprentices of the Red Company of Surveyors (Part 14), are used to run drugs. Small quantities or secret messages can be placed within the hollow rachis (stems) of their diamond-feathered badges.

SPICE SHIPMENTS: It’s not unusual to mix illegal drugs into shipments of legitimate spices, take the cargo to the Spice Market, and then separate out the illegal drug.

RECIPIENTS

In Ptolus, the Vladaams deliver drugs to both their own Curse Dens (Part 8) and independent dealers.

INDEPENDENT DEALERS:

• Skull & Sword (Guildsman District; Ptolus, p. 180)
• Spice Market (South Market; Ptolus, p. 340)
• Dark Market (Midtown — Undercity; Ptolus, p. 399)
• Vistor Krun (Warrens; Ptolus, p. 381)

TRACKING

If the PCs want to gather information on the Vladaam’s drug trade or put drug-related facilities under surveillance, there are two likely discoveries.

First, runners carrying drugs can be observed coming from any ship in the Fleet of Iron Sails. They can be followed to either the Rivergate curse den or one of the independent dealers listed above.

GM Note: These drugs are taken to the curse den in Rivergate and then distributed to the other curse dens from there.

Second, drug runners can be observed leaving the Vladaam Salve Warehouse and going to a curse den. (1 in 4 chance per day of a drug runner. Determine which curse den they’re heading to randomly.)

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The slave trade in Ptolus is a gray market: It’s illegal to sell a slave within the city limits, but not illegal to own one (although more and more people disapprove or outright loathe the practice). The local trade is dominated by the Ennin, whose operations extend far beyond Ptolus and openly use the city as a distribution center while also maintaining a surreptitious black market.

The Vladaams don’t directly trade slaves, per se, but have deeply entwined themselves with the Ennin’s operations. There are some who consider the Ennin little than a front for the Vladaam, but this is not accurate. The Ennin are actually, unbeknownst to the Vladaams, a front for the Pactlords of the Quaan (Ptolus, p. 125). Most of the Ennin’s leadership are, in fact, Pactslaves.

For their part, the Vladaams are involved with the slave trade in two ways:

• The Vladaams maintain a warehouse as a place where the Ennin can temporarily store slaves who are going to be sold at the Ennin Slave Market (Ptolus, p. 399)
• The Fleet of Iron Sails – specifically the Pride of Morrain, Eye of the East, and Sarathyn’s Sail – are regularly used to transport slaves for the Ennin. These ships collect slaves from the Serpent’s Teeth and deliver them to the Ennin Headquarters (Ptolus, p. 168).

The Vladaam operations are detailed below, while details of the Ennin facilities can be found in the Ptolus sourcebook, as indicated above.

VLADAAM SLAVE SHIPS

The Pride of Morrain, Eye of the East, and Myliesha’s Sail each have a 50% chance of carrying a cargo of slaves. Otherwise, they’re currently carrying normal goods. Check The Fleet of Iron Sails to determine how often they can be found at port in Ptolus.

SMELL OF THE SLAVE SHIPS: The Vladaam Mages assigned to these ships regularly cast prestidigitation to clean out the holds, but it’s not enough to purge the sickening stench that clings to the slave holds – a mix of filth, excrement, blood, and putrescence.

CREWS

Captain: As detailed for each vessel.

Vladaam Mage: Use mage stats, MM p. 347. See Part 13: Red Company of Magi.

Vladaam Guards (1d6-2): Banewarrens, p. 45.

Advanced Vladaam Guards (1d6-2): Use knight stats, MM p. 347.

Sailors (2d8 x 3): Use commoner stats, MM p. 345.

• Proficiency: Athletics, Perception, Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water).
• Equipment: dagger, corncob pipe, chewing tobacco, 2d10 sp, Vladaam deot ring

SLAVE RUNS

• Half Load: 2d4 x 10 slaves
• Full Load: 4d8 x 10 slaves

VLADAAM SLAVE WAREHOUSE

This facility can temporarily store slaves who are going to be sold at the Ennin Slave Market. It’s used as either an overflow storage facility or as a place where the current stock of the Slave Market can be evacuated if the market is threatened by law enforcement. The Vladaams offer this service gratis in exchange for being allowed to use the slaves to process Liquid Pain (in area 9).

DARK LEAF: In order to distance the facility from the Vladaams, the security is managed by Dark Leaf mercenaries (Ptolus, p. 108) overseen by a centaur named Dilar.

DILAR: Dilar is a captain in Dark Leaf and in charge of the mercenaries here, but he is also deeply in debt as a result of gambling at the Oldtown curse den. Unbeknownst to either the Vladaams or Dark Leaf, Dilar is also involved with the chaos cults. (He appears in Night of Dissolution, p. 37, overseeing a meeting at a secret meeting hall just across the street from this warehouse.)

MALAR: Malar is lieutenant in Dark Leaf. He and the centaur used to be friends, but tensions and suspicions surrounding Dilar’s debts and cult activity have driven them apart. Malar would like to either supplant Dilar in Dark Leaf or make the hop to a better position with either the Vladaams or Ennin.

DENIZENS OF THE WAREHOUSE

DILAR (d100)

• 01-25: Area 1
• 26-75: Area 7
• 76-00: Not present

MALAR (d100)

• 01-50: Area 7
• 51-75: Area 9
• 76-00: Not present

Dilar: Use veteran stats (MM, p. 350) with centaur traits.

• +1 greatsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage.
• Alignment: Chaotic Evil
• Equipment: splint armor, +1 greatsword, ring of jumping, broken square ring, coiled viper amulet worth 10 gp, Vladaam house ring, 1 gp, 14 sp
• Languages: Common, Elven

Centaur traits:

• Charge: If Dilar moves at least 30 ft. straight toward a target and then hits them with a melee attack on the same turn, they target gains an extra 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
• Multiattack: Dilar makes two attacks, one with his sword and one with his hooves.
• Hooves: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage.

Dark Leaf Mercenary: Use veteran stats (MM, p. 350) with wood elf traits.

• Speed 35 ft.
• darkvision 60 ft.
• Spells: druidcraft, detect magic (1/day)
• Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saving throws vs. Charmed condition.
• Trance: Immune to sleep. Finish Long Rest in 4 hours.
• Equipment: Vladaam house ring
• Languages: Common, Elven

Malar: Use master thief stats (Ptolus, p. 612).

• Malar has a Balacazar fiendish slave amulet (Ptolus, p. 398) which allows him to summon a Shoggti (Book of Fiends 5E, p. 199). The shoggti emerges by having its tentacles erupt through the surface of the amulet. There is an ornate B stamped on the back of the amulet, certifying it as a creation of the Balacazars.
• Equipment: Vladaam house ring

Unskilled Laborer: Use commoner stats (MM, p. 353).

Vladaam Mage: Use mage stats, MM p. 347. See Part 13: Red Company of Magi.

Ptolus Map – H6

AREA 1 – WAREHOUSE

This front area operates as a legitimate warehousing business, run by the Vladaams and servicing various local businesses and markets. The ceiling is 50 feet high.

AREA 2 – UPPER WAREHOUSE

This area is basically a very large “ledge” about ten feet above the level of Area 1.

GM Background: This elevated area exists only to make room for the lower storerooms (Areas 4-6). Architecturally this doesn’t make much sense, though. The unintuitive layout exists only to obfuscate the existence of the slave warehouse below.

AREA 3 – STAIRS

These stairs lead down to Area 4.

ALARM: The head of an antlered buck has been hung on the wall of the landing. It has an alarm spell that sends a mental alarm to Dilar. The alarm is triggered by anyone who doesn’t wear a Vladaam house ring.

GM Note: The laborers never use these stairs.

AREA 4 – LOWER HALLWAY

This stone hallway is rarely used.

AREA 5 – LOWER STOREROOMS

These storerooms have the appearance of being used for legitimate storage (barrels, casks, boxes, crates, etc.). Any inspection, however, reveals that there’s a thick coating of dust on everything. Opening the crates reveals that they contain mostly garbage and miscellaneous junk.

GM Background: These storerooms exist only to provide a pleasant fiction masking the entrance to the slave warehouse in Area 6.

AREA 6 – ENTRANCE TO THE SLAVE WAREHOUSE

At first glance, this area is identical to Area 5.

DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation): Several crates along the back wall are fastened together. They can be unlatched from the wall and then slid away to reveal the stairs leading down to Area 7.

AREA 7 – SLAVE WAREHOUSE

A floor of bare stone, worn smooth with a single trap door in it to the right of the stairs. A board with various papers and bills of sale pinned to it has been placed on the wall next to the stairs. A bank of ten levers on the wall to the left. Multiple cell doors line the far wall, extending down a hallway to the right.

LEVERS: A bank of ten levers. They require a key (which is held by someone in this room; with a duplicate held by Dilar) and open the nine cell doors and the secret door.

TRAP DOOR: A spiral stair below the trap door leads down to Area 9.

SECRET DOOR – DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation): The secret door to the east leads to a section of old sewer that was capped and bypassed during a sewer renovation long ago. A section of this sewer breaks through into a portion of Ghul’s Labyrinth, which provides access to the Ennin Slave Market.

POSTED BILLS: Includes the Business of the Vladaam Slave Warehouse handout.

IRON COFFER (10%): There’s a 10% chance an iron coffer is present containing 500 gp, 40,000 sp, and 50,000 cp with instructions to have the Ithildin couriers ship it to the Red Company of Goldsmiths on Gold Street.

AREA 8 – SLAVE CELLS

The facility typically holds 2d20 slaves as an overflow facility from the Ennin Slave Market.

• 75% chance per ship that some of the slaves here were shipped in on the Pride of Morrain, the Eye of the East, or the Myliesha’s Sail. (See Vladaam Slave Ships, below.)

BIG CELL: 25% chance that the large cell holds a special creature/slave. If this is the case, double the number of mercenaries in this room. Examples of such “special guests” could include:

• 1d4 cockatrices
• 1d4+1 ogres
• 1d2 hippogriffs
• Giant Ant Queen

AREA 9 – LIQUID PAIN FACILITY

The main area of this chamber is outfitted as a high-end alchemy laboratory.

COTS: Two eastern niches contain cots on which Vladaam Mages sleep. Small trunks slid under each cot contain (see handouts):

• Vladaam Slaver Mage Spellbooks
• Instructions for the Apparatus of Liquid Pain

LIQUID PAIN APPARATUS: The western niche contains four upright glass cylinders, each large enough to hold an erect man or woman. Shackles suspended from the ceiling allow the Vladaams to string up slaves upside down within each cylinder, while various tubes, syringes, and metallic attachments can be fastened onto someone so hung.

• Liquid Pain: The apparatus allows one to withdraw 2d8 doses of agony (“liquid pain”) from a person suspended within one of the glass cylinders. The procedure lasts for ten minutes and the victim must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or suffer 2d6 Constitution damage. (This is treated as psychic damage for the purposes of immunity and resistance.) On a successful save both the damage and the yield are halved.

Next: Vladaam Slave Ships