Warlock ' s Crypt Warlock ' s Crypt or Warlock ' s Keep lay in the Troll Hills on the Sword Coast in west Faerûn . It was home to the ancient lich wizard Larloch the Shadow King , a survivor of the fallen empire of Netheril . The name itself was a corruption of " Larloch ' s Crypt " or " Larloch ' s Keep " . It was a great city of undead , rife with wickedness and necromancy . The city was made out of the ruins of a millennia - old Netherese flying enclave called Orbedal or Sanctuary , which had been dedicated to being a haven for peace before it crashed to the ground in the downfall of Netheril . Name . As a Netherese enclave , the city was originally named " Orbedal " and was also called " Sanctuary " . Under the rule of Larloch , the city was called variously " Larloch ' s Crypt " or " Larloch ' s Keep " . These names could still be found in old accounts and maps into the mid - 1360s DR . These names were later corrupted into the name " Warlock ' s Crypt " or " Warlock ' s Keep " . Geography . Warlock ' s Crypt lay somewhere in the western side of the Troll Hills , at the mouth of the Winding Water . However , its location on maps was inexact and it was quite isolated . As a flying Netherese enclave , Orbedal once hovered over the Cold Forest , on the southern shore of the Bay of Ascore . Description . Seen from afar , the soaring towers that comprised the Warlock ' s Crypt had the semblance of great talons clad in black mail , menacing and grasping at the sky . These wizard towers were linked to form a large , walled castle around the ruined city and each stood within a circular , walled garden and courtyard . Dark bridges without rails spanned over the city , connecting courtyards and garden walls with the lower levels of other towers . The highest and most dangerous tower belonged to Larloch himself . Within the tower were special safe rooms that quickly rejuvenated undead bodies , to which Larloch could quickly relocate if attacked and seriously damaged , only to return revitalized soon after . He spent most of his time in these chambers . Certain areas , caskets and cupboards contained magical traps that inflicted his powerful curses upon trespassers . The other towers were home to the lich es and vampire s of the city . Each had dominion over a few levels , where they conducted their nefarious experiments . The towers stood on the banks of a small spring that welled up within the cellars of Larloch ' s tower . It was polluted with the waste of his arcane experiments — its waters were luminous and at night cast an eerie , flickering light against the towers . The city was otherwise a gloomy and dusty place . The central courtyard of the castle held smaller buildings and abandoned houses , linked by twisting streets and clustered around the banks of the spring and the walled gardens . These were the lairs of the shuffling lesser undead who inhabited the city and served the lich lords and comprised its armies . Government . The whole city and all its undead inhabitants were ruled by Larloch the Shadow King . The undead were his devoted , eternal servants . Under him were lich lords who commanded the lesser undead . Larloch enjoyed the absolute loyalty of these liches , a loyalty ensured by some force of magic , such as Rhaugilath , who was bound to Larloch ' s will . Occasionally , he granted some of these liches their freedom , just to see what they would do . Defenses . Travelers were warned not to even go within sight of Warlock ' s Crypt , as Larloch almost always preferred to slay trespassers outright . Those who got too close were met by a succession of lich es who cast spells to destroy or drive off intruders . Behind them were " spellweb " s ; these fields of magical force bore ready spells that were triggered when someone walked into them . Ever more powerful , battle - ready liches formed another line of defense . There was also a troop of troll s that defended the city . Larloch also sent his bonebat s and skeletal giant bat s ridden by undead servants , as well as stranger undead creatures , out of Warlock ' s Crypt to hunt for live creatures and travellers , especially live humans . These were brought to Larloch for his experiments into undeath . Inhabitants . Warlock ' s Crypt was a city of the undead , populated by liches , vampires , wraith s , wight s , and legions of lesser undead creatures , ranging from crawling claw s to monstrous zombie s . There were sixty liches by 1374 DR ; many of them ( like Rhaugilath ) were survivors of fallen Netheril like Larloch himself . They also kept bonebat s or skeletal giant bat s that could be ridden by undead servants , as well as stranger undead creatures . These made forays into the surrounding countryside to kidnap travelers . A troop of troll s also defended the city . Larloch also sometimes summoned kastighur demon s from the Barrens of Doom and Despair to serve him . History . Sanctuary . Orbedal was originally a city in Low Netheril . Its military , working with the dwarves of Ascore , took part in the cleansing of the ruins of Cantus in 1048 NY ( −2811 DR ) , eliminating the remaining goblin s there . Two centuries later , in 1247 NY ( −2612 DR ) , however , the city became one of Netheril ' s flying enclaves , taking up position over the Cold Forest , on the south shore of the Bay of Ascore . Known as " Sanctuary " , the enclave was established to promote non - violent behavior among the Netherese , as a haven for peace . Sanctuary , together with Ascore and Vandal Station , received gold and silver exported by the mining village of Bandor , which was established in 1423 NY ( −2436 DR ) . These cities then traded the gold and silver over the Narrow Sea to other Netherese enclaves and cities . Orbedal became a haven for pacifists and arcanist s who wanted to get on with their magical research without worrying about rivals or the politicking common to other enclaves . They traded with Ascore , their traditional allies , and made sure that orcs didn ' t come to reside in the forest below . Although there were a few fiery conflicts with power - hungry arcanists , most visitors accepted its laws . Sanctuary remained a haven for peace for the entirety of its history , and it stayed hovering in the same location . In 2754 NY ( −1105 DR ) , one twilight at the end of the summer , an unidentified cloud dragon attacked Sanctuary . Offensive magic was permitted in the counter - attack for the first time in Sanctuary ' s history , but not its last . The dragon was driven off , but not before it had killed around 200 people and damaged many buildings . Pressure for weapons to be allowed grew after the incident , but such demands were denied . However , all through the Shadowed Age ( 3163 NY ( −696 DR ) to 3519 NY ( −340 DR ) , Sanctuary suffered many attacks from a myriad of flying and extraplanar creatures , including air elemental s , more dragon s , tanar ' ri demon s , and wyvern s . It wasn ' t until late 3400 NY ( the Year of Sparkling Spires , −459 DR ) , that city leaders caused the ban to be lifted . However , weapons still had to be peace - bonded in public . Orbedal ' s last ruler was Rhaugilath the Ageless , an arch - lich arcanist . It had stayed in the same location , though by the end of Netheril ' s time , the Cold Forest had retreated . In the 3520 NY ( the Year of Sparkling Spires , −339 DR ) , Netheril suffered Karsus ' s Folly and all magic failed . Orbedal suffered the same fate as the majority of its sister - enclaves , and fell from the sky . Local dwarves in nearby mountains observed its fall in their histories , but none knew for sure if there were survivors or where they fled to . In fact , Orbedal crashed to ground in the Troll Hills on the distant Sword Coast . Larloch ' s Keep . Some months after the fall of Netheril , the lich archwizard Larloch , who had survived the disaster , discovered the ruins of the enclave . He claimed the city as his own and began re - purposing part of it to serve as his home , constructing himself a crypt out of its broken towers . After he was done , he began exploring the rest of the ruins . Years later , he discovered Rhaugilath , who was his rival when they both led enclaves . Rhaugilath was still " alive " , preserved via his phylactery , but trapped in a subterranean pocket in the rubble . The two fought fiercely and Larloch won , enslaving Rhaugilath . He became the first of Larloch ' s lich servitors . Larloch gathered other liches to his side over time and accumulated a vast collection of spell s , magic item s , and undead creatures to serve him . Despite Larloch ' s isolationist agenda , word got out about him and his crypt . Orbedal became known as Larloch ' s Crypt or Larloch ' s Keep , but as knowledge of the lich faded , his lair ' s name became corrupted to Warlock ' s Crypt or Warlock ' s Keep . Over the centuries , a great number of adventurer s attempted to defeat Larloch , but most failed ; the bodies of many were reused as decorations in Warlock ' s Crypt or as undead servants . Some even claimed to have destroyed him , but Larloch always rose again . At least sixteen Red Wizards of Thay ventured into Warlock ' s Crypt , seeking to either kill Larloch or steal his magic , treasures and power , and all failed . Warlock ' s Crypt was formally discovered in the Year of the Crown , 1351 DR , when explorers came across it . Few of them survived , and those who did left bearing a virulent plague . Only one made it back to Baldur ' s Gate , bringing the plague with him . It decimated the city that same year . Szass Tam , Zulkir of Necromancy of Thay , visited Warlock ' s Crypt around 1366 DR . What transpired was unknown to the outside world ; The two came to some deal or alliance , the details of which were again unknown to outsiders . Larloch gave Szass several powerful magic items and artifacts and granted him a number of hooded companions , to aid him in his plots to control Thay and the demon Eltab . In exchange , over a number of visits , Szass Tam gave Larloch several surviving treasures from the ruins of Larloch ' s own former enclave , Jiksidur . Law & order . Back in the time of ancient Netheril , a sign posted clearly at the entrance to Sanctuary informed entrants of the two major laws of the enclave : " No weapons or offensive spells " . It was warded with powerful magic , a " mythallar " , that forced people to read them before stepping foot inside , even if they had to use magic to do so . Fifteen powerful arcanists armed with " rods of multiport " constantly patrolled the city in search of rule - breakers . Using their rods , they transported weapon - carriers into the Cold Forest , directly beneath the enclave , while those who cast illegal , offensive spells or used similar magical items were " teleport ed " into the Narrow Sea or to the High Ice . It required three eyewitnesses passing a " detect lie " test for one of these arcanists to hunt down someone they didn ' t see breaking these laws . The " rods of multiport " was used exclusively in Sanctuary . Rumors and Legends . By the 14th century DR , Warlock ' s Crypt was an almost legendary locale . Most sages correctly believed it to have once been a Netherese enclave , inhabited by liches who served Larloch . Popular stories also told that it was the final resting place of Larloch , once a great Netherese wizard , and a storehouse of powerful magic . These stories too were correct .