Description
Perhaps the most famous walking statue in the city, thanks to its dramatic pose, its nearness to the Market, and the self-evident magic of its existence. The statue is of a well-muscled but impassive male human with its left leg sunk to the hip in the street. Its left hand and right foot press against the ground as if it is trying to pull itself out. Its right arm is raised sky-ward, and above its open palm floats a sphere of stone. Its gaze looks up toward the sphere, and the pattern of bird droppings around its eyes gives it the appearance of weeping.
All about the statue, climbing up its chest and on its knee and shoulders, is a tenement that carries the name "the God Catcher." The tenement's landlord is Aundra Blacklock, an unsociable sorcerer who is rarely seen in the city except when she alights from the door carved in the floating sphere, which serves as her home. On the rare occasions when she wants to meet with city folk (typically to purchase odd substances for magical purposes), she appears unannounced on balconies or rooftops after dark. Her dealings are polite, though, and she pays fair coin. She never confides in anyone or talks about her own doings-and if anyone but she has ever seen the inside of her spherical home, they've said nothing publicly about it.
Location
The God Catcher is a tenement building in the Castle Ward (Waterdeep). This structure is situated near The Market, at the intersection of Sul Street and Heard Lane.
History
The building was originally one of the colossal Walking Statues of Waterdeep but in 1385 DR The Spellplague animated all the guardians of the city and they walked around Waterdeep wreaking havoc.
The Blackstaff at the time, Tsarra Chaadren, turned the ground to mud underneath the statue and it sank partway into the ground. As mysteriously as it animated, it stopped and settled in the Castle Ward, just north of the Market at the intersection of Sul Street and Heard Lane.
Over time, the statue was hollowed out and partitioned into living quarters. The leg that sank into the ground penetrated a sewer line so a stairway was hollowed out inside of it allowing access to the sewer system of the city. As of 1479 DR, the statue/building was owned by the reclusive sorcerer Aundra Blacklock, who lived in the hollowed-out stone sphere that floated above the statue's upraised right hand.