(Apologies for the vague first half; I forgot to take notes during the game)
February 18, 118 SE
The party awaken after having rested for the night in Ash-Daughter's secret hiding place. As everyone is going about their morning tasks - eating, cleaning, studying spells, and the like - Dark Star suddenly feels a magical presence in his mind, which delivers a message for him. It's from Demon's Gift, who informs him that during the previous day, an elf came to his shop asking about Zargon. This elf wants to meet Dark Star, and Demon's Gift urges him to come visit his shop as soon as possible. The magic allows Dark Star to respond briefly, so he tells Demon's Gift that he will come when he can, but together the group decide that finding the necromancer is a higher priority.
Once again following Ash-Daughter's lead, the party return to the section of the Undercity where the necromancer is supposed to be and continue searching through the rooms and passageways. They begin by backtracking and checking out several doors and passages that they previously skipped. Behind one door, they find a treasure chest hidden underneath a floor stone, which contains a variety of coins and valuable objects, such as a fur-trimmed sash and a box of perfumed candles. Additionally, it contains a saddle which Ellyanna discerns is magical in some way, and an unlabelled flask containing a potion of some sort.
Throughout their explorations they also encounter several monsters. They make short work of a bizarre, grotesque creature known as a Grick, and they encounter a second pair of minotaur skeletons, which give them some trouble but are ultimately defeated. Injured after fighting the skeletons, they make use of a new spell that Ellyanna has recently mastered called "Rope Trick", which creates a short-lived extradimensional space at the end of a rope. Climbing inside lets them rest for an hour with almost no chance of being disturbed.
During further exploration, they come across a stairway leading downwards, but they decline to investigate for now. Nearby, they encounter a pair of orcs resting in a room, but fortunately it is Dark Star, a half-orc who can speak Orcish, who enters first, and he makes a favourable impression on them so they are willing to talk. Most notably, Dark Star asks them if they know anything about the necromancer, and they mention a room, found at the end of the nearby stairway down, containing several undead creatures that appear to be guarding a door.
The party backtrack to the stairway and head down, and soon enough they arrive at the room described by the orcs. The Undercity is a mish-mash of different constructions and architectural styles, and the far wall of the room appears to be High Elven architecture, complete with an elaborate, finely-crafted door. Standing in front of the door are three figures - two, armoured from head to two in armour of High Elven make, and a third, an elven man dressed in servant's clothing.
All three appear to be completely motionless, but when the party approach, the servant addresses then in an even, emotionless tone, asking them what their business is. The party explain their circumstances and ask to speak with the necromancer who is rumoured to live here. The servants responds that he must first confer with "the Lady". He enters the door behind him and to the armoured figures step closer together to block the entrance.
A few minutes later, the servant returns and tells them that the Lady will see them, provided they disarm themselves of any weapons and magical implements before entering. They agree, and are admitted through the door.
Inside, they find themselves in what appears to be an elven palace, somehow transplanted into Vornheim's Undercity. Everything is of the finest make, tended to by more emotionless elven servants and guarded by more armoured figures. They are led through into a sitting room, where the Lady awaits them.
The woman inside introduces herself the Lady Leravith, and motions them to sit while calling for refreshments. As with most elves, her age is impossible to say, and her extravagant attire, hairstyle and makeup make her seem more like an elven noblewoman or courtier than a necromancer. Yet, she informs the party that she is indeed the necromancer that rumours speak of.
The party explain their story, and ask her every question they can think of. She cannot answer all of them, but she does provide some information. She tells them that the mage they defeated is almost certainly not the one who created the undead creatures, as a mage weak enough to be defeated by them would not be powerful enough to control such a large number of undead.
When they ask why only the ancient dead, and not the more recent corpses buried in the cemetery, were animated, she surmises that the spell which raised them must also be ancient, and only triggered recently. This is consistent with the ancient weapons and armor that the creatures were using. When they ask who could have cast the original spell, she is unable to answer them, as she is not familiar with ancient human history.
Leravith tells them what she really needs is an example of one of the reanimated creatures, preferably but not necessarily still moving. Of course, she tells them that she will require payment for her efforts, and suggests that in return, they can promise her Calanon's body after he dies. Calanon absolutely refuses these terms, and the party wrack their brains trying to think of something Leravith might want. Eventually, they recall the bed they found in the ancient shrine underneath the cemetery, enchanted to prevent time from passing for the sleeper. Leravith is intrigued by this, and agrees to perform an examination of a subject from Frosthaven if they will bring her the bed.
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