Gravenhollow

The library of Gravenhollow is a bastion of peace and order in an Underdark gone mad. Carved out long ago from the bones of the world and protected by ancient and potent magic, the library possesses a strange awareness. It blocks and misdirects those unworthy of reaching its gates, even as it facilitates finding the way for those who need it.

## **Residents**

The library serves as the dwelling for its three keepers, as well as its guardian. The keepers are served by **galeb duhr** assistants, which are humorless but diligent.

### **Veldyskar**

Untold years ago, a visiting stone giant druid presented the librarians with Veldyskar, an intelligent **basilisk** trained to serve the keepers as a guardian and general-purpose assistant. The keepers have taught Veldyskar to cast *greater restoration*, which he can do once per day, in case he accidentally petrifies any guests of the library.

### **Ulthar, Keeper of the Past**

Ulthar sorts and files ancient texts, maintaining the immeasurably vast catalog that organizes them. When not cross-referencing his expanding collection, he composes epic poetry and is responsible for curating and restoring wall carvings throughout the library. He is patient and welcoming.

### **Urmas, Keeper of the Present**

Urmas is the busiest of the librarians. He commands a vast network of magically augmented subterranean beasts, which he uses as messengers, bringing and sending news from giants throughout the Underdark and sometimes from the "dream" of the surface world. He is polite but fastidious and obviously preoccupied.

### **Ustova, Keeper of the Future**

Ustova is a seer who spends most of her time in constant meditation, transcribing her visions onto stone tablets as she experiences them. She focuses her efforts on the fate of the different giant communities and clans, sorting through the various threads of destiny and possibility for omens presaging the resurgence of the giants' once-great civilization. She is utterly dismayed at the shattering of the Ordning and actively attempts to search for the location of King Hekaton.

## **Echoes**

Throughout their exploration of the library, the adventurers came in contact with several echoes of those who have used the library in ages past or yet to come.

* Yauln
* Jalynfein
* Old Puff
* Graz'zt
* Members of the Society of Brilliance
* Elminster
* Bruenor Battlehammer
* Stonespeaker Hgraam
* Xetzirbor

## **Visions**

Each day, the adventurers were able to use their *stonespeaker crystals* to experience visions of the past, present, and future. Some of these visions were able to give them a greater insight on the nature of the demonic incursion.

### **Day 4**

Tik-tik experienced a vision of Orcus, the Blood Lord:

> In the heart of an alien cavern glistening with slime, scores of mind flayers gather around and enormous brain resting in a pool. The brain is dead. You can hear the illithids' incomprehensible thoughts as they mourn its passing. One word echoes louder than the others: Cyrog.
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> Suddenly, *faerzress* bathes the dark and twisted hall in purplish light. A rift opens, and a hulking, horned figure that reeks of putrescence steps out. It raises a skull-tipped want and points it at the dead elder brain. The brain begins to pulsate, and you see intermittent flashes of purple light under its rotting flesh. The mind flayers are aghast as the elder brain speaks to them once more, telling them that Orcus has saved Cyrog, and commanding them to follow it into undeath.
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### **Day 5**

Mauser experienced a vision of Yeenoghu, the Beast of Butchery:

> A hunched and rotting creature with the head of a fiendish hyena swings a triple-headed flail at a beholder, crushing it. As the eye tyrant falls to the floor, a pack of hyenas leaps onto the corpse and tears off its eyestalks while the demon lord licks the gore off his weapon. As the hyenas feed, they transform into slavering, cackling gnolls before your eyes.
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Tik-tik experienced a vision of the Demogorgon, Prince of Demons:

> You see a kuo-toa swimming in the gloomy depths of a dark, subterranean lake, uncertain. It turns left and right, trying to fing something, even as it's surrounded by fanged creatures resembling manta rays. The kuo-toa smiles, its needle teeth gleaming even in the darkness. It has seen something. It understands a new secret, and its already unhinged mind plunges further into madness. The kuo-toa curls in on itself, arms extended in worship. Then, from the circle of manta rays, two tentacles emerge... followed by two howling baboon heads.
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### **Day 6**

Tik-tik experienced a vision of Baphomet, the Horned King:

> The smell of blood fills your nostrils as you wander a maze of Underdark tunnels, moving with purpose as your giant hooves crush stones underfoot. *Faerzress* light reveals that your shadow is monstrous, suggesting a hulking beast with a crown of horns. With your bloody glaive, you carve a swath through a forest of towering zurkhwood mushrooms that stand in your way. The tunnels beyond would confuse an ordinary mind, but you instinctively know the path you must walk. Every step brings you closer to a magma-filled chasm, lodged in which is an enormous contraption of metal and stone... a weapon capable of reshaping the Underdark itself.
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