Conclusion of Mordant Ruins

The party has uncovered the gruesome secrets regarding the deaths of regional patrols and caravans. Many were devoured by Melchior Vossen's black dragon, trapped in a cavern, guarding the castle library's secrets for centuries, feeding off of carrion and any passerby who sought refuge in the caverns. Denizens of the castle were also to blame, with blood hawks poisoning victims who journeyed near the castle, only to succumb some time later to the ill effects of their diseased bites. Other patrols were eaten by trolls or dopplegangers or became the unwilling servants of a yellow musk creeper, turning them into mindless guardians.

The book found in the nearby tomb was discovered to be a manual of alchemy and helped the adventurers to create black powder with which they used to free the dragon. The dragon, against its usual nature, left with a thankful departure leaving behind a horde of arms, armor, and treasure.

They then descended into the library, no longer blocked by the black dragon and its voracious appetite.

The stairs behind the dragon’s lair lead 20 feet down a spiral staircase before opening up to a large, 50 x 100’ cavern, the carved-stone stairs then change to cast-iron stairs that descend another 40 feet between two large floors of what appears to be a massive underground library.

The walls of the structure are made entirely out of hand-worked, white stone with white brick columns, the ceiling consists of the same, jet-black stone found in others areas of the complex, with tentacles of quartz stretching out like the veins of a leaf from the central point under which is affixed a large chandelier.

Ever burning torches light up, as if by command as you enter the main area, the large chandelier hanging from the center also begins to glow with a green flame the numerous candles all light in unison. The reflections on the quartz above almost give the impression of lightning shooting from the center of the room. A walkway surrounds the upper most level, with rows of bookshelves lining the entire length and breadth of the structure. You spot a ladder affixed to a rail system that loops around the entire upper deck. Below, several bookshelves, lined up like dominoes, populate the ground floor and what looks like a curved reading desk, with several books strewn about and a lectern, where a thick, leather-bound book is opened.

Given the age of the castle and cavern, this area is very well preserved, as if time itself forgot its existence.

As the party explores the library, they notice a deathly silence. Even footsteps seem to fade with unnatural quickness.

Approaching the lecturn, the party is greeted by the specter of Melchior Vossen who fades in to view out of thin air.

From his faded and ghostly image, Melchior Vossen appears to have once been a tall and handsome fetchling. He wears a long-sleeve doublet, with intricate stitching, tight fitting breeches with stockings, pointed shoes, surcoat, and conical hat with a turned-up rim, ornamented with chains and various jewels. He has a Van Dyke beard and mustache and a sly grin that set upon a long and thin face.

He does not attack and speaks to the party with a surprised tone.

“Well, this is unexpected. You must be special to have made it past my guardian, or very powerful. Given the quality of your… apparel, I’d say it’s not, well, potency that sets you apart. An eclectic bunch for sure. I can see by the markings on your arms, you are bound to the lich queen, Vlaakith. Or am I mistaken?”

If asked how he came to be here, he comments that all he can remember is a great nothingness, as if stuck between

His explanation of the lich queen.

I came to this world with Vlaakith centuries ago as her protégé and lover. She was not always the hideous form you see now, but time and her lust for power have corrupted her. This creature who calls herself Vlaakith is actually the descendant of her mother bearing the same name. Unlike her mother, she took a sinister path, turning to the dark arts and becoming a lich. She is the last of her bloodline, unable to reproduce in her present form and desperately clinging to this world in an effort to become a god! After traversing many worlds, she felt her ascendancy would be completed here.

The queen demands unswerving loyalty and obedience. She jealously guards her throne by devouring the essence of her most powerful followers. Those who have risen through the ranks through service or battle must stand before her in her tower and be judged. Cowards and traitors are hunted down and shackled in dimensional anchors. When dealing with the weaker individuals, whose lifeforce is insufficient to satisfy her hunger, she extracts their essence and places it in the Well of Souls, a sort of dimensional portal. When there is a massive uprising or other threat, she opens the well to allow the souls to inhabit the dead and thus the undead rise and wreak havoc on the lands until order is restored.

She wears an artifact known as the Crown of Corruption, an ancient artifact that enables her to control vast armies of the undead. Her residence in the astral plane is known as “The Palace of Whispers”. If you are to truly defeat her, you will have to find the location of her gateway to the palace in the astral plane, otherwise, finding it by chance will be next to impossible.

Know this, when her form perishes on this plane, she comes back through her phylactery. When she comes back, she’s angry and hungry for souls.