Act 1. Phaulkonmere

Melannor blinked, as if her voice had drawn him up from the roots themselves.

"Yes… Branric has a good sense for sending the right people, when it matters."

He stepped aside, gesturing for them to walk with him along a stone path winding beneath arching vines. As they moved, his voice dropped, growing more focused.

"The City of the Dead is more than a resting place. The roots run deep there — through catacombs older than the city itself. And now… they are stirring. Sinkholes have begun to open. Graves collapse into voids beneath. Some of the caretakers whisper of movement in the night — things shifting in the dark."

He paused, laying a hand gently on the bark of a twisting tree beside the path.

"It may be simple decay, but I do not believe so. Necrotic energy, perhaps. A buried curse awakening. Or worse — something unnatural, clawing upward. Ankhegs, carrion crawlers… maybe even something that slipped from the Lower Planes. It is too soon to say, but I fear it is not merely ghosts."

He sighed, fingers brushing a frond absently.

"If you are willing, I can guide you to the nearest cave-in. I also know of a Sage, a Sun Elf, who might be willing to help you investigate this. I can offer potions, herbs, and goodwill. After that... let the roots guide your way."

The elf's expression shifted subtly, a hint of recognition flashing in her eyes. She closed the tome gently and gestured toward a staircase at the back of the shop. "Upstairs. Go ahead."

---

The stairs creaked underfoot as Cormac and Sif ascended to the second floor of Serpentil Books & Folios. At the top, the narrow staircase opened into a small studio, more study than sitting room. The walls were lined floor-to-ceiling with shelves sagging beneath the weight of scrolls, tomes, and curious trinkets sealed under glass domes. Starlight filters, brass astrolabes, dragonbone styluses, and delicate crystal matrices filled every spare niche. A cluttered writing desk overflowed with parchment and inkpots, and the faint scratch of a quill echoed from within.

The room was dimly lit save for a tall arched window facing the harbor, where threads of sunlight spilled over a single high-backed chair. Seated in it was a Sun Elf woman, her features statuesque and angular, timeless in the way only ancient elves could be. Her long, pale hair shimmered with gold strands, swept loosely to one side and clasped with a brooch shaped like a stylized eye.

She wore layered robes of midnight blue and dusky amethyst, runes embroidered in silver thread tracing down the sleeves like veins. Her eyes — pale lilac, almost opalescent — turned to the newcomers with a distant curiosity.



To one side of the room, seated cross-legged on a thick rug and surrounded by open books, was a male elf — younger - reading a thick volume titled The Tangled Lattices of Limbo and the Ethereal Web.

Theryssa gestured to a pair of low stools before her chair, her fingers marked with smudges of ink and faint glimmers of magical residue.

"Yes? Can I help you?" - she asked.

"Indeed, Melannor's message reached me," she said, and gestured toward a nearby shelf, where a detailed map of Waterdeep was unfurled, highlighting the expansive grounds of the City of the Dead.

"The City of the Dead is more than a cemetery; it's a vast, walled park that serves as the final resting place for many of Waterdeep's citizens. By day, it's a place of reflection and leisure, but by night, it's closed to the public, though not always devoid of activity."

She leaned back, her gaze distant.

"Beneath its serene surface lies a network of catacombs, some dating back to the days of Nimoar's Hold. Over time, space became scarce, leading to the creation of portals by mages, connecting tombs to demiplanes for interment. If one of those old portals was found, disturbed, or perhaps even broken open... Something may be using it as an entrance to the City of Splendors"

Turning her attention back to Sif and Cormac, she continued,

"As for the sinkholes and disturbances, several creatures could be responsible. Ankhegs, large insectoid predators, are notorious for their burrowing and can cause significant structural damage. Other potential culprits include Purple Worms, whose tunneling can destabilize the ground, Stone-Eaters, Giant Ants or even extraplanar entities."