Skullport - Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Skullport. Skullport is a grim, cutthroat outpost of civilization where adventurers can resupply and take refuge. Yet few souls of the surface world have any clue how to reach this shadowy reflection of Waterdeep, making any talk of the Port of Shadow akin to a rumor, or a warning-which is just how its denizens like it. Reaching Skullport The routes by which adventurers can arrive at Skullport are described below. Through Undermountain Skullport is connected to level 3 of Undermountain by the underground River Sargauth and by five meandering subterranean passageways: Beggar's Rest Pass, Shadow Pass, Steamfall Pass, Taglath's Gap, and Whisperhaunt Pass. See maps 25 and 26 in this section for the locations of these routes. Through the Sea Caves Skullport can be reached by traveling through a series of natural caverns and magical locks that stretch from the South Sea Caves on Waterdeep's shore to the River Sargauth far below Mount Waterdeep. Crashing waves and jagged rocks make the outermost of these flooded caves dangerous to navigate. Dozens of old ships lie wrecked within, their swollen hulks home to sea hags, merrows, and other aquatic creatures. The waters grow calmer as one travels deeper into the mountain, where a series of magic locks control the water level. Vessels descend hundreds of feet as they pass between them. Where the locks end is a vast cavern containing a smooth stone retaining wall that rises 10 feet above the water's surface. The partially collapsed remnants of a ten-story-tall hoist loom above the retaining wall. This contraption was designed to lift a vessel of almost any size, swing it over the wall, and lower it down the other side to the River Sargauth 100 feet below. Skullport lies just a few hundred yards farther along the underground river. Time and neglect have rendered the hoist nonfunctional, thus preventing large ships from reaching the Port of Shadow. Many denizens of Skullport would like to fix it, but they lack the mutual trust a...