The Phylactery in the Castle
Hook
After Vermoth’s betrayal, the party found an envelope from Black Lily stating that “the phylactery must be hidden in the castle.” They believe it refers to Azalin’s phylactery and Castle Avernus.
Evidence
- The note was carried by Vermoth and came from Black Lily.
- The party was already traveling toward Castle Avernus.
- Erasmus had shown Azalin dissolving into nothing during the castle’s destruction.
- Black Lily had reported that the ruined castle was healing itself.
- The party reached Castle Avernus and shared the phylactery theory with Vidic.
- Darian admitted them as guests and offered to show them the Book of Names and Conjuration Room.
- The party explored several major rooms and reached the slaughterhouse without finding a confirmed phylactery.
- The party bypassed the upper barrier, searched the treasury, and completed the elemental laboratory’s five-plinth ritual without finding a confirmed phylactery.
- The party discovered a hidden library, entered the crypts, freed Voss, and reached the lower Bone Chambers without identifying a phylactery.
- The party destroyed the bone golem in the Bone Chambers and escaped its endless skeleton horde through the tunnel it had used.
- The tunnel led to a lower laboratory full of spellbooks, experiments, and strange recovered items, but no phylactery was identified.
Current theory
The party interprets the message as evidence that Azalin’s phylactery survived and remains somewhere within Castle Avernus. Neither the owner of the phylactery nor its location has been confirmed.
Open questions
- Is the phylactery Azalin’s?
- Does Black Lily know its location, or was the note merely an inference or order?
- Who was the intended recipient of the message?
- Is the phylactery connected to the castle’s apparent healing?
- Does the Kargat intend to recover, destroy, or control it?
Next steps
- Search the lower laboratory and continue beyond it for evidence of the phylactery.
- Continue searching the crypts for Irik’s tomb and any sign of the phylactery.