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Trobriand's Graveyard

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Trobriand's Graveyard was the 13th level of Undermountain, an area used as a scrap heap and arcane laboratory by the "Metal Mage" Trobriand. It was full of his rejected and half-completed experiments, some of which maintained an active existence forming a sort of makeshift societal hierarchy.[2]

In addition to being the hierarchical domain of autonomous metallic rejections, the Graveyard was a playground of sorts for Trobriand. Its vast caverns and extensive halls were used to test his new and favored constructs.[3]

The name "Trobriand's Graveyard" was coined by Halaster Blackcloak after it was shown to him by his former apprentice.[2]

Description[]

The layout of Trobriand's Graveyard resembled another one of Halaster's apprentices, Muiral the Misshapen. The various chambers and corridors were arranged in such a way they resembled a large scorpion with his tail and stinger splayed out to one side.[4]

While many of the level's chambers were abuzz with activity and alight with the engines of industry,[5] other rooms were grim and dead, full of scrap metal that once held magical energy or had the semblance of intelligence and life.[6] A number of different unfortunate creatures found their home within the realm, from unwilling captives to opportunistic parasites and even rejected creations who managed to form a semblance of society.[5][7]

Geography[]

Entrances[]

  • The main entrance to the graveyard was a gate that appeared like a will-o'-wisp. It traveled Faerûn autonomously, although it was more likely to appear in areas where there had been recent heavy magic use or where there were large collections of magical items. It was confused by an anti-magic shell or magic with a similar effect, and could be evaded by plane-shifting. Otherwise, the gate would attempt to teleport people into the graveyard (without their consent or knowledge) so that Trobriand could study their interactions with its inhabitants.[2]

Notable Locations[]

Arena
On the eastern side of the Graveyard, in the region where the "scorpion's" right, second leg extended, was a huge and well-lit chamber with a 60' high (18.3 m) ceiling.[5] From this ceiling hung a number of stalactites, that along with the stalagmites from the cavern floor, created an atmosphere of unease and impending doom.[8]
During the 14th century it was lined with a number of ripped pennants,[5] serving as arena and combat training room. Within its walls thanatars fought against one another, using recovered magical items to best learn how to defend themselves from magic and weaponry they had only briefly before faced. Occasionally they fought against prisoners brought over from the holding cells and only used lethal force if they proved to be sincere threat against the equilibrium of the Graveyard.[9]
Sometime during the century following the Spellplague, a band of hobgoblins and their death dogs took over the cave as their own, under the leadership of Warlord Yargoth the Breater. Yargoth herself was a servant of the more-powerful being known as Doomcrown.[8]
Clammersham Palace
The 90' high (27.4 m) cavern east of the library was sealed off by large, circular iron doors that were protected by glyphs of warding. This was the lair of the gnome Zox Clammersham,[6] who settled within Undermountain after his fellow adventurer comrades were killed within its depths. He was kept company by his pet giant badger and a shield guardian by the name of Rex.[10]
Prior to Zax' habitation, this cave was the location where the Graveyard's silversanns examined any magical implements such as staves, wands or rods they came across.[11]
Forge
North of the smelting room was a large chamber that had originally served as a resting place for the mechanical thanatars.[5] By the late 15th century it had been taken over by Zox Clammersham, a gnome who posed as one of Halaster's apprentices. The walls of his workshop were inscribed with runes that channeled magic from the Elemental Plane of Fire. Each forge was manned by an individual azer and attracted a number of lava children who hidden within the workshop's great pile of scrap metal that rest within its center.[8]
Graveyard within a graveyard
In the southeast corner of Trobriand's domain was a chaotic cavern where ferragans crawled over other metal constructs in a manner that resembled swarm of insects. As the metal monsters became "older" they were relegated to this chamber to "die", whereupon they were picked apart for spare parts that could be used by other, more modern metallic creations.[12] Nothing was wasted within the graveyard. Worn out parts were smelted while those still of use were ripped from the constructs' bodies and set aside to be of use once again.[13]
Any creation that went "berserk" were brought here before they were thrown in the furnace to be smelted outright.[13]
Holding cells
In the western region of the Graveyard was a large holding chamber that was honeycombed with over a score of large holes, 7-12' (2.1 - (3.7 m) wide, dug 15-20' (4.6 - 6.1 m) deep beneath the cave floor. Within these prison cells were kept troublesome adventurers, potentially dangerous magic-users and others who could be used as test subjects for arcane experimentation. While the individual cells were covered by large stone slabs, each grouping of five holes were guarded by a thanatar, all of which answered to the scaladar named Squch.[13] Those who were resourceful and clever enough to escape from their cell were interrogated in depth by the silversanns of the Graveyard.[5]
Library
North of the holding cells was the library of the Graveyard's silversann constructs. While these members of the domain's ecosystem were unable to cast magic, they spent much of their time pouring over arcanabulae and other spellbooks trying to understand the power possessed by some organic beings, unable to understand why they did not share these capabilities. The bookshelves in this chamber held hundreds of individual books that covered spell theory, the worship of varied deities, among other subjects. They defended their treasures to the death and would readily fight any intruder that attempted to pull from their collection.[9]
One of the silversanns believed that if they surrounded their being with the residual magical energy that lingered around broken items that previously held enchantments they could gain the ability to manipulate arcane magic, however there were no signs that this proved to be true.[14]
Meeting room
The northern most room of the Graveyard was well-lit and featured large stone dais. It was within this room that the daily meetings of the domains silversanns took place. Although brief, these gatherings allowed the constructs to share ideas with regards to their research, interrogate interlopers who wandered within their realm and receive instructions from their leader.[15] The "enhanced" scaladar known as Squch spent much of its time here and carried out the orders of its "Master".[16]
Two secret doors within this chamber led to long hallways that formed the "claws" of the scorpion-like layout of Trobriand's Graveyard.[16]
Northern chambers
Two of the northern-most chambers of the Graveyard were used as a scrap massive scrap heap that stored a seemingly random collection of broken magical items that had lost their magical enchantments.[14] For some time the eastern-most of these two rooms served as a sort of arcane workshop, within which a number of silversanns and a single ferragan experimented on their own kind in an attempt to imbue with spellcasting abilities.[14] However, by the 15th century DR, it was also used for scrap storage and became the home to a rust monster and a number of lava children.[17]
Research room
West of the arena was a medium-sized chamber lined with racks upon racks of magical items, weapons and other devices that were thoroughly and continually researched by Trobriand's thanatars. Once they were confident they had gained all that was possible from these items they were handed over to the silversanns for their study.[18]
This chamber was eventually destroyed by the destructive digging of bore worm and its existence was replaced by a tunnel than led further down into Undermountain.[19]
TG overview

An overview map portraying the layout of Trobriand's Graveyard

Simulacrux
Perhaps the largest cave in all of the Graveyard had been ravaged by the digging of the bore worm. Within the trenches dug out by the gargantuan construct was a massive structure known as the simulacrux, that was designed to replicate the scaladar that were under the control of Zax Clammersham during the 15th century DR. It was surrounded by a great many arbalests and additional scaladar.[20]
During the 14th century DR, this chamber was used to store magical armor and weapons, the magical properties of which were studied by the silversann.[11]
Smelting room
Just north of the two southern-most chambers was a makeshift "smithy" and a smelting room full of smoke and fire. Metal items recovered by Trobriand's metal monsters were melted down[21] in vast, 10' (3 m) deep pools of molten metal that had been drawn from the Elemental Plane of Earth. While four of these pools existed as of the late 14th—century DR, a century later only two remained. These were a pool of liquid iron and a pool of liquid steel, both of which radiated an aura of transmutation.[8]
Using these pools, Trobriand's constructs formed scrap metal into ingots until they could be used for the propagation of their own kind. The automatons used the furnace and their own fiery breath to repair their own metal hides and make modifications upon their metallic kin. The heat, smoke and fumes created by smelted metal were nearly unbearable for most living creatures and the white-hot light of the flames blinded any who looked within.[21][12]
Beyond the arachnid automatons, the only creature that dwelled within this infernal chamber was a single entrapped and particularly irate salamander. Their mere presence within the chamber helped to power the furnace, though the contribution of magical items was needed as well.[21]
Southern chambers
A long, curving tunnel extended from beyond the stinging portal to the southern rooms of the graveyard. One chamber served as a storage area for all sorts of metal "scrap", meticulously organized and sorted into piled that lined the room's walls. Nearly every known type of metal could be found in some quantity within this room, including pounds of silver, gold and platinum, along with a variety of precious stones and gems which were stored in their own protective bins.[22] Any valuable magical items were taken to the room immediately east and examined by Trobriand's silversann minions.[21]
Stinging portal
Those who were transported into the graveyard appeared upon a 30' (9.1 m) wide stone dais located in the chamber that corresponded to to the tail of the scorpion-shaped domain.[23][4] The walls of this room were inscribed with runes that vaguely resembled dwarvish and the platform itself was surrounded by a pool of mildly acidic water. Natural gas from beneath Undermountain leaked into the room, that after having been somehow ignited, formed small jets of flame.[18]

Exits[]

  • A "naturally-occurring" tunnel, that had been created by the bore worm, led down from an old cave down to the domain of Arcturiadoom.[19]

Inhabitants[]

For much of its history the Graveyard was dominated by the mechanical beings that served the "Metal Mage" Trobriand.[24] They formed an ersatz society where the silversann constructs acted as a class of arcane scholars, thanatars served as protectors and enforcers, and the ferragans as a general workforce.[25][18][5][9] They were led by the "enhanced" scaladar named Squch.[16]

The thanatars served as the protectors of the Graveyard's social structure, neutralizing threats and disseminating them to the silversanns for future study. They interrogated threatening intruders and analyzed any magical weaponry upon which they came across.[5]

In addition to the society of constructs, along with a few other metallic beings such as metal wasps and arbalests, the Graveyard was home to two magnificent, unique creations: the bore worm, a massive autonomous construct that vaguely resembled a purple worm and Shockerstomper,[1] a favored creation of Trobriand that wandered throughout the Graveyard.[26]

History[]

Each time he needed to dispose of a failed creation, Trobriand used his wand of rejecting to send it to the graveyard. He assumed that everything sent there was inactive, but later discovered that this was not the case, and became fascinated with the interactions between his failed creations. He then set about supplying the mechanical inhabitants of the graveyard with what they needed and experimenting with their reactions.[2]

As of 1368 DR, the Graveyard was led by the scaladar known as Squch and populated with ten silversanns, twelve thanatars and up to thirty ferragans, as well as many more generic mechanical creatures.[25]

Sometime during the 15th century, a portion of the Graveyard was taken over by Zox Clammersham who taken leadership over some of Trobriand's metallic constructs. Additionally, a band of hobgoblins had infiltrated the domain under the leadership of Warlord Yargoth, who sought to free Zox from his leadership over the metal beings and claim the treasure of the Graveyard for their own.[20][8]

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Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Canon material does not provide a year for the events described in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but Christopher Perkins answered a question via Twitter and stated the year was 1492 DR. Corroborating this, Dragon Heist page 20 refers to events of Death Masks (set in 1491 DR) as being "last year". Unless a canon source contradicts this assertion, this wiki will use 1492 DR for events related to this sourcebook and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (which is referenced on pages 5 and 98 of Dragon Heist).

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 46. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  3. ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 174. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dennis Kauth (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Trobriand's Graveyard map). (TSR, Inc). ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 56. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 175. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 172. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 177. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 57. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  10. ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 58. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 54. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 55. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 59. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  15. ↑ Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 60. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 61. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  17. ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 175. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 51. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 173. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 172. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 53. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  22. ↑ Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 52. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  23. ↑ Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 50. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  24. ↑ Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 48. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Jean Rabe, Norm Ritchie (Feburary 1994). The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (Campaign Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 49. ISBN 1-5607-6821-5.
  26. ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 174. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.

Connections[]

Undermountain
The Largest Dungeon of the Forgotten Realms
Upper Levels: Dungeon Level • Arcane Chambers • Sargauth Level
Sublevels: Citadel of the Bloody Hand

Deep Levels: Twisted Caverns
Sublevels: Wyllowwood • Maddgoth's Castle • Dweomercore • Muiral's Gauntlet • Trobriand's Graveyard • Arcturiadoom

Dark Levels: Maze Level • Seadeeps
Sublevels: Lost Level • Slitherswamp • Troglodyte Warrens • Obstacle Course • Crystal Labyrinth • Vanrakdoom

The Gauntlet Below: Caverns of Ooze • Terminus Level • Mad Wizard's Lair
Sublevels: Runestone Caverns • Shadowdusk Hold
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