Level 8: Slitherswamp - Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Level 8: Slitherswamp. Slitherswamp is designed for four 10th-level characters, and characters who defeat the monsters on this level should gain enough XP to reach halfway to 11th level. This level consists of muck-filled caverns and decaying temples dedicated to evil deities of the yuan-ti. The serpent folk lived here until they were defeated by nagas known as the Ssethian Scourges. Afterward, Halaster replaced the yuan-ti with a bullywug tribe governed by a cruel death slaad overlord. What Dwells Here? Adventurers might find themselves caught up in the war of Slitherswamp by encountering the thralls of the Ssethian Scourges, the Blacktongue bullywug tribe, the meddling ghost of a yuan-ti priest (see area 9), or watchful agents of the Dweomercore mages of level 9. The Ssethian Scourges The Ssethian Scourges were three spirit nagas that fought the yuan-ti of the Slitherswamp, eventually claiming victory. Only two spirit nagas remain, Excrutha and Serakath, along with their thralls and the remnants of the third spirit naga, Hexacali, who was destroyed and transformed into a bone naga by the yuan-ti. The spirit nagas maintain a stable of thralls and use a rod of rulership to insure their obedience. Every day at dawn, the nagas gather their thralls in area 15a and target them again with the recharged rod, and each naga has the special ability to increase the duration of the charm effect to 12 hours. Humanoid thralls that resist the rod's magic often choose to maintain the appearance of being charmed for the sake of their own survival, because the nagas kill or chain up those they can't magically enslave. Shortly after the Ssethian Scourges defeated their yuan-ti foes, a tribe of bullywugs led by a death slaad appeared in the Slitherswamp. Frustrated by this new obstacle to their dominance of the level, the nagas now seek allies to slay the bullywugs and their leader. The nagas know the locations of all the magic gates on this level, as well as how to activate them....