Gravenhollow
Aleina cast a nervous glance up at the stone giant statues flanking the immense basalt doors leading into the library of Gravenhollow. The towering figures loomed above, their heads tilted downward, carven eyes fixed with an impassive vigilance that made the aasimar feel very small. Did their gaze shift slightly to follow the approach of her group, or was that her imagination?
As they neared the top of the stairs where they stood, their guide, Veldyscar, an intelligent basilisk, turned toward them with an expectant bearing. Not exactly a look - his petrifying gaze remained carefully downcast - but something in his stance made it clear he awaited their action. They had met him in the tunnels of the Underdark where he'd been apparently waiting for a long time, instructed by the librarians to escort them the rest of the way to Gravenhollow. Which was surprising, it seemed they were expected, and unnecessary, given Aligor wore a magic star ruby ring which already led them to the stone giant library. Their progress to Gravenhollow actually slowed considerably at the pace of a slow moving basilisk.
Still, in the hours Veldyscar led them he'd been an unfailingly polite guide, something which caused Aleina to feel guilty. The last time she'd encountered a basilisk she'd been hunting them, needing their gizzards as an alchemical ingredient for a salve to save Jhelnae from petrification. Would she still have killed that mated pair if they could speak like Veldyscar?
"I get it," Sky said, golden eyes narrowing as she studied the basalt doors. "We need to solve a puzzle to gain entry. Three wrong tries and you turn us to stone."
"By all that dances," Jhelnae half-sighed, half-growled, shaking her head. "Sky…"
"Puzzzzle?" Veldyscar asked with a hint of a reptilian hiss.
"The carvings on the doors," the tabaxi explained, gesturing. "It's a puzzle, right?"
"There isn't a puzzzzle that I'm aware of," the basilisk replied, turning to look and lifting his gaze. Apparently petrifying the doors wasn't a concern given they were not alive and already stone. "I wass jusst waiting for ssomeone to pussh them open. I could, of course, but my ssnout isn't ideal for it. Handss work sso much better."
"We just push them?" Sky asked, tail drooping. "That's it?"
"Issn't that the way doorss ussually work?" Veldyscar asked, shrugging, an awkward gesture for a six-legged reptile. "I only have experience with thosse at the library. It musst take a long time to get anywhere other placess if you need to ssolve a puzzzzle every time you passs through one."
"It's the way doors usually work," Kuhl assured. "Allow me."
The half-elf stepped forward and pushed against the doors, which swung open on silent hinges with surprising ease given their imposing size. One by one they entered Gravenhollow — Aligor leading followed by his Zhentarim of Lenora, Saliyra, Kelvane, Gorath, Lhytris, and Iandro. The companions went next – Eldeth, Diarnghan, Rhianne, Jhelnae, and Aleina herself, with Kuhl bringing up the rear.
Aleina's breath caught as she crossed the threshold. She'd imagined a stone giant library would have giant-sized rows of dusty tomes and scrolls, accompanied by the smell of vellum and parchment. Instead, there wasn't a book in sight. Beyond the doors lay a short wide corridor, which soon gave way to a vast openness bathed in the light of a shimmering ceiling of crystalline formations, radiant and dizzying to look at with its dancing rainbow hues.
"I wish I could see it the way the rest of you do," Rhianne whispered, half to herself from the depths of her cloak, cowled head tilted upward. "But even through my goggles it is beautiful."
The aasimar recalled the darkling bard telling the tale of the creation of this place. Supposedly it was carved by a stone giant god from a titanic geode — a hollow sphere of stone filled with crystal formations — imbued with the magic of the faerzress. As Aleina gazed at the ceiling, she believed the story was true. Beyond the entry corridor lay a gaping central well, unguarded by railings, its yawning void both mesmerizing and terrifying. Spiraling staircases wound downward into unseen depths, while walkways crisscrossed the space below.
Wisps of movement at the edges of Aleina's vision and hints of sounds made her blink and shake her head, trying to clear her senses. She thought she saw others beyond her group, but when she turned, the shadows vanished, and the imagined sounds dissolved into silence.
Her study of the library was interrupted by the sound of stone shifting. A stout, rocky figure detached itself from the perfectly smooth wall to their left, leaving behind an imprint that smoothed almost immediately. The creature's voice was a low rumble, like the grinding of ancient boulders. Aleina thought it might be a galeb duhr, having been told by Kuhl and Rhianne about such guardians from their story of cleansing Ogrémoch's Bane from the Steadfast Stone temple in Blingdenstone.
"Trravelerrrrsss," it intoned, its crystalline eyes glinting as it addressed them. "I am Hourm. The masterrrsss arre occupied. Therre arre rroomsss forr all of you. Choose yourr own. The rresourrcesss of Grravenhollow arre at yourr disssposssal. You need only asssk."
With that, the stone sentinel turned and began to lead them toward a staircase.
"Thank you for guiding us, Veldyscar," Eldeth called out.
Aleina glanced back, just in time to catch a glimpse of a reptilian tail disappearing down a side corridor where the basilisk had stood. Apparently, having fulfilled his duty as their escort, Veldyscar had moved on — perhaps to tend to other duties or hopefully to retreat to his lair to rest.
The stairwell steps were, as expected, uncomfortably large at first – sized for the stone giant occupants. But as they descended, something strange happened. The steps seemed to shrink, subtly reshaping to a more accommodating size. But Aleina couldn't decide whether the stairs were truly shifting or if she was simply adjusting to the scale – until Jhelnae leaned close and whispered.
"Did these stairs shrink for us?"
"I think they did," the aasimar murmured, her voice barely above a breath.
"By all that dances," the half-drow said softly. "I don't know if that's wondrously magical or disturbingly weird."
"Both?" Aleina asked and answered.
They descended only one floor, though it felt more like three given the vast distance. A wide, terrace-like balcony encircled the central well, bordered by a railing that offered a welcome sense of separation from the yawning void beyond. Opposite the well, countless doors lined the outer wall, while an assortment of tables, sofas, and chairs — scaled for non-giant visitors — invited guests to rest and gather. Crystals set at the lip of the well, both jutting up from the floor and hanging down from the ceiling, refracted light from the radiance high above into the space.
Aleina blinked and gave a small shake of her head, trying to clear her vision. She still saw things not there. Shadows lingered at the edges of her sight, faint impressions of figures lounging in the chairs and sofas. The crystalline light seemed to ripple across them, giving the illusion of motion. When she looked again, the furniture was empty — except for two figures that were unmistakably real — a withered male drow clad in dark flowing robes and a hulking gray-skinned monster resembling a spiky humanoid toad. She didn't know which of the pair was more unnerving, the demonic toad-like creature with a wide mouth bristling with razor-sharp teeth or the drow with the lined wizened face and watchful, appraising red eyes.
"Chooose annyyy rroomsss unnntaken," the galeb duhr instructed. "Grravenhollow iss a pllaaace of peeacce. Argguummments annd vioolencce arre nnottt tollerattted."
With that invitation and solemn warning, it melded into the stone wall and was gone, leaving the group alone with the mysterious drow and his monstrous companion. The dark-elf rose smoothly to his feet, his gaze settling on Jhelnae.
"Greetings, honored mistress," he said in Elvish, his tone both formal and faintly mocking. "I am Vizeran of House DeVir. This is Kleeve, my bodyguard."
The hulking creature rose to stand with a stooped, bent knee posture, long arms allowing its knuckles to rest on the floor as it regarded them silently.
"Jhelnae," the half-drow replied, pausing briefly before adding, "Mizzrym."
"An upstart house that clawed its way to power over the corpses of its betters," the elderly drow, Vizeran, said with a sniff of disdain."Still, they've produced a few competent wizards. But you're not truly of that house, are you? You're from..."
"The surface," Jhelnae finished, her voice steady.
She wasn't going to be offended over his slights to House Mizzrym, Aleina knew. The half-drow likely held less love for it than this wizened drow. She hadn't been raised as a member there and also they'd kept her imprisoned in Velkynvelve with the intention of delivering her to an altar in Menzoberranzan for sacrifice.
Vizeran smiled a cold, calculating smile and his red eyes glittered in the crystalline light.
"I thought so," he said. "I have met your kind before."
His tone made it clear he held her kind, surface-drow, with little regard.
"You're quite a large group," he continued. "What brings you to Gravenhollow."
"As we are newly arrived and you've been here longer," Aligor said, inserting himself into the conversation. "Perhaps you could tell us what brings you here first. And share your wisdom about this place."
Aleina's brow furrowed in confusion. The drow had spoken Elvish, a language the former knight didn't speak. How then had he understood the conversation?
"Very well," Vizeran said with a slight shrug, still speaking in Elvish. "Telling you fits my purpose..."
"Wait, let me guess!" Sky interrupted, pointing at Kleeve. "He's not just a bodyguard; he's a cursed toad prince. You're here looking for information about a princess to break the curse with a kiss. Would a noble lady work? Maybe the daughter of a Darksong Knight? Anyway, either Aleina or Jhelnae will give it a try. Or both of them."
The aasimar wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or relieved when Kleeve blinked his bulbous eyes, gave her and Jhelnae a brief look, then wrinkled his flat snout in apparent distaste and shook his spiked head.
"How about a big-mouthed tabaxi?" Jhelnae deadpanned, giving Sky a raised eyebrow glare. "Who's never explained what brought her across the Trackless Sea from Maztica. For all we know, she could be a princess among her people."
Sky, strangely, went silent, her only response a dismissive flick of her tail as she looked away.
"Surfacers, Kleeve," Vizeran muttered to his companion, barely loud enough to be heard. "This is what is left to me. At least the other group had two of my kind — and those thankfully true children of the Underdark. Still, this group made it here, to Gravenhollow, deep in a demon-infested Underdark, which means they are skilled at traversing it. Precisely what I require. Perhaps there is more to them than first impressions suggest."
He raised his voice to conversational level.
"I came here seeking answers about the demonic invasion of the Underdark," the old drow said, his tone measured. "And I've found them. There, I've answered your question. Will you now extend me the same courtesy?"
"We're here for the same reason," Kuhl said.
"As I suspected," Vizeran replied, a glimmer of acknowledgement in his red eyes. "The group before you sought the same. Understandable — it's the threat of this time we all face, after all. Though I admit, I didn't expect surfacers."
"You said you found answers," Diarnghan said, his voice emerging from the shadowy depths of his cowl. "What have you learned?"
The old drow shook his head.
"I will gladly share all I've learned," he said. "And my plan to banish the demons back to the Abyss. But not here. This place remembers everyone who has walked – or will walk – its halls. It never forgets. Tell me, have you begun seeing things? Figures at the edges of your vision? Hearing snatches of conversation, phantom footsteps?"
Aleina felt a surge of relief as she noticed her companions giving nods that mirrored her own. She wasn't imagining it — others experienced the same phenomena.
"Those are what I call time-displaced echoes," Vizeran explained. "They will manifest more frequently the longer you stay. I see some even now."
His red-eyed gaze shifted left, then right, seeing the unseen before settling back on the group.
"Some echoes you'll even be able to interact with," he continued, his voice low. "One such echo I've seen was of a demon lord. Which means one was here."
His expression hardened, and he stood straighter.
"So no, I will not speak openly of my plans or what I've learned, not here, where our own lingering echoes might betray us to the enemy. But I urge you to conduct your own research. And when you're ready, come meet me back here and I will invite you to the Tower of Araj, my home. Where, we can speak freely."
"Which demon lord did you see as an echo?" Eldeth asked.
"I will not speak his name," the elderly drow replied, his tone final. "Nor will I hint at it, lest we draw his attention. Again, when you come to my tower, where I have wards against scrying, we can discuss such matters."
"Then how do we go about conducting our own research?" Rhianne asked, the eagerness in her voice apparent. "I have yet to see any books here."
"No books," Vizeran confirmed. "The written records of Gravenhollow are etched into stone and crystal slabs, monoliths, and stelae carved into the walls of every room."
"I am more skilled at reading the Espruar script and languages than the Dethik one of the giants," the darkling bard sighed, cloaked shoulders slumping. "But I'll do my best."
"You will all easily understand anything you endeavor to read," the old drow said. "Whether you try your best or not. The magic of this place confers the understanding of languages. The human and I, for example, spoke different languages…"
"Aligor," the former knight supplied, inclining his head.
"The human Aligor and I spoke different languages," Vizeran repeated with a slight nod. "Yet we understood each other. Though I do speak both."
Aleina gave a small nod to herself, her earlier confusion about Aligor's understanding of Elvish now resolved in her mind.
"So, we wander around reading carvings on walls, monoliths, and stelae?" Gorath asked with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "When I don't even know what a stelae is? Point me to the food and drink, and I'll wait there. The bard can tell us what she found later – or sing it, I care not."
"Never was much for reading," Kelvane added with a smirk. "Which is why I was a failed acolyte of Deneir before becoming a failed squire. I'd serve best with Gorath, keeping the food and drink company."
"If you think for one moment I'll be wandering around here reading carvings while you two…" Saliyra began, her tone sharp.
"You're all doing research," Aligor cut in. "It's what we were hired to do, remember? Or do you think Davra will just give us our promised reward if we return with no useful information on ending the demon threat and keeping Zhentarim profits from trade in Mantol-Derith flowing?"
The Zhentarim healer Iandro gave a curt nod of acceptance to those words while the gaze of his pallid skinned companion, Lhytris, flitted around the room — likely chasing the shadows at the edges of his vision.
"He's right," Lenora spoke in support. "Eyes on the prize — especially when we're this close. He got answers here, which means so can we."
The crossbow woman gestured with her chin towards Vizeran, who gave a dry chuckle in response.
"You think so, do you?" Vizeran asked, his voice carrying a faint edge of amusement. "Well, in this case, I wish you the best of fortune. We share the same goal, after all. As for food and refreshment, the galeb duhr bade you pick a room – do so. No matter which you choose, it will be barren and featureless until you return to it. Then you will find it furnished to suit your needs. The same is true of food and drink; it will be delivered to you there when you are absent."
He allowed those words to settle before continuing.
"But the big scarred one in your group speaks wisdom in not wanting to wander and read all the carvings of this place," he said, nodding in Gorath's direction. "Legend claims that every event that has ever occurred in the Underdark is stored here in Gravenhollow. The three stone giant librarians, then, record but a fraction of it, and mostly concerning the doings of their own kind. You could wander these halls for a century, reading every carving you came across, and still learn nothing useful in dealing with the demon infestation."
He straightened, and put emphasis in his next words. "To uncover what is truly useful, you must do what the librarians themselves do – go to the source."
Vizeran retrieved a long shard of clear, crystalline quartz from a satchel he wore over a shoulder. Aleina's eyes narrowed in recognition. She'd seen one like it before.
"This," Vizeran said, holding the shard aloft, "is a stonespeaker crystal. The librarians use these to delve into the knowledge Gravenhollow holds, summoning visions of the past and present and divinations of the future so they may carve what they witness into stone."
The name of the crystal stirred the aasimar's memory. Stonespeaker Hgraam in the duergar city of Gracklstugh had given them one of those as a reward for saving the stone giant Rihuud from his two-headed curse.
"I have one of those in my pack," Eldeth said, unknowingly voicing Aleina's thoughts.
"You do?" Vizeran said, his red eyes widening slightly as he tilted his head in faint surprise. "What did I tell you, Kleeve? More to them than first impressions would suggest."
The thin smile he gave almost seemed genuine, though calculation never left his gaze.
"To delve directly into Gravenhollow's knowledge," Vizeran continued, his tone turning instructional. "You will take that crystal, and perhaps others, which the librarians will undoubtedly provide and wander the library. There are three types of rooms you will find — archives of the future, archives of the present, and archives of the past."
"But wait," Sky said, her uncharacteristic silence giving way to her ever-present curiosity. "Wouldn't the first two need to become the last as time went on?"
The old drow gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
"More than first impressions would suggest indeed," he said, echoing his earlier sentiment. "You are essentially correct. Though you will find time here – and the way the librarians move through it – is vague and fluid. But, yes, as time flows, the archives of the future – a record of divinations on stone tablets recorded by the librarian Ustova, the Keeper of the Future – become part of the present. Rather than a changing of rooms, however, the tablets themselves are transferred and brought to Urmas, the Keeper of the Present, to adjust based on his visions of what unfolded. After a time these are then transferred again to Urthar, the Keeper of the Past. He sorts and organizes them and, from what I have gleaned, carves the events he chooses into epic poetry on walls, slabs, and monoliths throughout the library."
"But you said these records are mostly about giant settlements," Rhianne said. "How do we delve directly into the source with a stonespeaker crystal?"
"With a crystal in hand," Vizeran answered. "You enter an Archive of the Past, Present, or Future – whichever aligns with your desires – and choose to receive a vision."
"Can you control what is shown to you?" the bard pressed, cloaked form leaning forward. "Or are the visions random?"
"Both," the wizened drow answered. "You may focus your intent to seek something specific, but Gravenhollow will show what it will. Eventually, the visions will begin to repeat – an indication the library has shared all it will. That is where I am, which was why I was preparing to leave."
"Get the crystal from your pack," Rhianne said to Eldeth. "This is what we came for. There is no reason to delay."
"My pack is in the portable hole Kuhl is carrying," the red-haired dwarf said.
"Choose your rooms and do your research," Vizeran said, his crimson gaze traveling over them. "I will delay my departure a little longer. Once you've seen the vision of the source of the abyssal incursion – which Gravenhollow will undoubtedly reveal to you – we'll speak again. By then, I trust you'll have the sense to accept my invitation to the Tower of Araj, where I will reveal my plan to banish the demons back to the Abyss."
For those of you who made it this far: WELCOME TO GRAVENHOLLOW! I love this part of the module. I can't imagine what it was like to actually play through it, but I imagine it would be pretty awesome. It is a very cool idea by the designers. Very creative. However, I plan to not overstay our welcome here and am cognizant that readers that are following along have a myriad of other things drawing their attention. I will try to make it so that Gravenhollow doesn't drag out. For those of you who are experienced with the module, you'll notice I used Vizeran to do the heavy lifting of explaining how the library worked. They say one of the dangers of the fantasy writing is over explaining the magic. I tried to just set the seeds and the baseline understanding and be disciplined, yet still some large blocks of dialogue texts resulted that I could not purge.