Case 692.1, 25 Uktar - The Library at Candlekeep

The party set sail for Orlambor. When they arrived they conferred with Milka and decided that the best path forward was for them to head to Candlekeep and try to ascertain what the drow were doing. They sailed to Candlekeep and dropped anchor off the coast. Ma'ahni and Myrf swam to shore and found that the peninsula and the land bridge leading to it were heavily defended and patrolled, sea, air, and land. The party regrouped on a nearby beach and came up with a plan to gain entrance to the library through deceit. They walked onto the land bridge and stated to the guards that they had one of the brass cubes the drow sought. Sadie created an illusion of one of the cubes to prove they had indeed seen it. One of the guards rushed off, returning soon after to escort the group into the keep and then into the library itself. Once inside the library, they were introduced to an aged-looking drow woman named Balaena. There were many drow busily carrying books back and forth to others who were diligently reading and making notes at long tables. Balaena seemed to be in charge. She carried a notebook with extensive notes in it and an ornate pen made to resemble a spider's leg. The party made their case, that they had been in possession of one of the cubes, but that it had been taken by githyanki pirates (the same story that D'keth had told Illinaath). They offered to retrieve the cube in exchange for 5,000 GP and unfettered access to the library. They also stated that they needed to do some preliminary research before leaving and needed to take a specific book with them. Balaena agreed and left the party under guard, but free to look around.

Sadie spoke with some of the Candlekeep librarians, who were clustered in a small group. Their head, a man named Zeshua, recognized her name, since she had previously sent the library several rare books, including The Velvet Tome of Hospanykka. He told her that the drow had been researching for two weeks and seemed to be most interested in the plane of Mechanus, the Zenythri languange (of which Finolea had some understanding), and books about the destruction of powerful magic and artifacts. Sadie selected a book of more prophecies by the wizard Midenaak along with some of his own spells, copied down by an apprentice and secreted away without Middenak's knowledge.

On their way out, Ma'ahni picked the pocket of one of the drow researchers and stole a small brass cube the size of a small apple. It had a large amount of very small writing on it in the Zenythri tongue that resembled the writing on both Nife and on the brass cubes.