Barrenstone

Barrenstone was the hidden underground lair of the lich Adzerak.
==Location==
The lair was approximately north-west of Arabel and south of Redspring in northern Cormyr. The entrance was marked by a 200-foot wide, 2-foot deep, featureless disk of stone that stood out from the surrounding plains.
==Structure==
The entrance was a round metal trapdoor located under the exact center of the disk of stone, followed by a deep stairwell that led to the underground complex proper. It could only be accessed by manually mining out the soft stone with tools, or by destroying the rock with a spell such as disintegrate or transmute rock to mud. Adzerak himself created the stone disk with transmute rock to mud and used the same spell to unseal and seal the entrance as it suited him.
The main complex sat 20 feet underground and consisted of a series of interconnected halls and rooms, constructed and furnished while Adzerak was still alive.
==Interior==
The underground complex had a series of rooms designed for Adzerak and his apprentices to live and study in complete security. It included a shrine to Deneir, a reading den, an extensive library, bedrooms, a treasury, a laboratory, and a private study.
The first internal door leading into Adzerak's home had an engraved metal disk with the message "No Entry Without Appointment", which also bore explosive runes.
The shrine to Deneir remained intact and functional after centuries of abandonment. Consecrated by a priest of Deneir, it emanated a feeling of safety and enlightenment. The stone altar within had dancing lights with permanency atop it, created by Adzerak to represent the flame of Deneir's candle and light the entire room.
The den was a comfortable reading room with a small library, including a comprehensive body of tomes on the lore of plants and animals.
The laboratory was a fully-equipped wizard's workspace, with extensive tomes on alchemical and arcane subjects, alchemical tools, and various ingredients and reagents. It was watched over by a granite stone golem in the form of a curvaceous young woman holding a carved wand, which also lit the room with continual light.
Adzerak's bedroom contained yet more books, as well as his disused bed, wardrobe, and other accoutrements. It was guarded by a stone guardian in the form of a muscular young man.
Four bedrooms housed his four apprentices, though they tore the rooms apart in their rage at being transformed into undead and trapped with Adzerak.
The treasury had a king's ransom in coins and diamonds, as well as an array of magical items and scrolls. Among these was the sentient short sword Imp, and the dagger Deathsend of the Four from Cormyr. This hoard was protected by a symbol of pain and a bound nabassu demon.
The library was extremely securely protected with a masterwork lock and a symbol of pain. It was surprisingly bare of books, because after becoming a lich Adzerak became paranoid for their safety and removed them all to his private sanctum.
Adzerak's private sanctum was where he retreated to with almost all of his books when his paranoia became overwhelming. It was a simple small office with desk and chairs, with the addition of two thousand tomes stacked chaotically around it. The hallway to the sanctum was blocked up with debris, intentionally placed by the wight apprentices to spitefully trap Adzerak in his room.
==Inhabitants==
Adzerak lived in Barrenstone alongside his four apprentices. When he became a lich, an error in his ritual resulted in his apprentices being instilled with negative energy, killing them and transforming them into wights. While Adzerak degenerated as a lich, his former apprentices remained trapped in the dungeon, going mad over the centuries.
==History==
Barrenstone was built while Adzerak still lived in the 11 century DR. He became obsessed with protecting his books, and came to the conclusion that the only way he could protect and preserve his library was to become a lich. Although he completed the ritual, the ritual blasted his apprentices with energy and transformed them into wights. Adzerak himself became addled and forgetful, obsessing single-mindedly over his precious books and hoarding them in his sanctum where he hid for centuries.
In 1369 DR, the Puppetmasters company tricked another group of adventurers into doing all the hard work of breaking into and clearing out Barrenstone. When the adventurers found Adzerak, they reminded him of his devotion to Deneir, the presence of his shrine, and Deneir's dominion over books and knowledge, raising the idea of placing his books in the god's care. Regaining a measure of his old self, Adzerak joyfully agreed to the idea and helped transport his collection of tomes to the shrine. Once the books and lich were all present in the shrine, a divine whirlwind formed and spirited Adzerak and most of his tomes away, allowing him to finally rest in the afterlife.
As the loot-laden heroes climbed out of the dungeon, the Puppetmasters ambushed them on the flat ground above Barrenstone, but the tricksters were defeated by the doughty delvers.
==Library==
Adzerak had a collection of thousands upon thousands of books, ranging from mundane works of fiction to rare esoterica.
* Cheating Death by Spell and Incantation
* A Dissertation of Law and Morality as Seen by Tyr's Church
* Calimshan on Three Gold Pieces a Day
* Elminster: An Unauthorized Biography
* The Lifecycle Arcane
* Shocking Tales of Elven Desire
Other books that he kept were better described as powerful magical artifacts.
* Book of Exalted Deeds
* Libram of gainful conjuration
* Manual of bodily health
* Manual of gainful exercise
* Manual of golems (stone)
* Manual of puissant skill at arms
* Manual of quickness of action
* Manual of stealthy pilfering
* Tome of clear thought
* Tome of leadership and influence
* Tome of understanding
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===Gallery===
Barrenstone Deneir shrine.png|Adzerak's personal shrine to Deneir.
Adzerak the Lich.png|Adzerak hiding in his sanctum with his books.
===References===
Category:Ruins
Category:Dungeons
Category:Locations in Cormyr
Category:Locations in the Eastern Heartlands
Category:Locations in Interior Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril