Chapter 9: Mantol-Derith - Out of the Abyss

Chapter 9: Mantol-Derith. Mantol-Derith has endured for centuries as a neutral outpost where drow, duergar, svirfneblin, and surface dwellers can meet and trade without fearing for their lives. Despite its usefulness and the safety it enjoys, Mantol-Derith has never become a proper town. Those who maintain it as a trade hub have resisted any urge for expansion, apart from installing basic infrastructure to assist with commercial activities. The Zhentarim took over the holdings where surface dwellers conducted business and quickly cornered the market for surface goods, gaining the organization a foothold in the Underdark. This presence grew into a power base that serves the Black Network well, and which is now being made available to the characters. Upon arrival, however, the characters discover there is no safe haven anywhere in the Underdark with the demon lords running rampant. The safety of Mantol-Derith has been shattered by the demon lord Fraz-Urb'luu, who has turned the trading outpost's various factions against one another. The characters must navigate and overcome the madness dominating Mantol-Derith in order to find their Zhentarim contact, Ghazrim DuLoc. He has the means for them to reach the stone giant library of Gravenhollow (see chapter 11), whose vast lore might provide some clue as to what has brought the demon lords to the Underdark. Fraz-Urb'luu's Gem Having previously been imprisoned for many mortal lifetimes on the Material Plane, Fraz-Urb'luu had taken steps to bind himself to his layer of the Abyss. As soon as he felt the tug of Gromph's spell, Fraz-Urb'luu transferred his evil life force to a specially crafted, magically protected receptacle-a black jewel. However, the spell proved irresistible, and the precious receptacle was cast into the Underdark. As a further indignity, Fraz-Urb'luu found himself trapped within the gem, unable to escape while on the Material Plane. Anyone who touches the gem risks falling prey to delusional madness. A...