Friar Jenkins strokes his beard as he considers the situation. After a moment he tells Ishta, "Miss Khosiv, I've no idea how Jandark got hold of those books, although I know of someone who might assuming you can find her. Jandark's father Edgar Cardona like his father and grandfather before him employed an elven sorceress by the name of Mirabel Songstar. For several generations she taught a succession Cardonas with magical aptitude. I've read multiple sources mentioning some kind of fall out with the Cardona family after she'd been teaching Jandark for a few years when he was in his early teens. Years later there was a reconciliation when Jandark sought her out but it was to be short lived, there was a blazing row over "depraved books" and she retreated from Phlan to a cottage high in the Dragonspine Mountains not far from the source of the Stojanow River. This was all a long time ago and Mirabel was far from young back then. If she's still there she would be truly ancient but it's possible, the Songstar clan were noted for their longevity in the days of Mythdrannor."
About half an hour later, Ishta and Azarra enter the council archives. The last few times they visited the cavernous room there had just been Friar Jenkins pottering around the stacks, so it came as somewhat of a surprise to find a small army of assistants cataloguing a huge pile of books reclaimed from Mantor's library.
In the midst of it was Friar Jenkins holding court with at least a dozen youngsters telling him things which he wrote down in a huge journal before directing them and the pile of books they carried to various locations.
You watch this for a while and after a few minutes Friar Jenkins notices you and beckons you over. "Ah! Glad you could make it. So uh we've found something that's, well in truth I'm not sure what to make of it but I know you're interested in Cardona family history..."
He rummages through a pile of thin blue ledgers embossed with the symbol for Mantor's Library (a stylised M) and various others. "Back in the day inter-library loans via portal were a thing, and these ledgers were used to record everything.". He selects volume XIV and hands it to you, it contains page after page of books borrowed and returned. Most of its deathly dull but two loans stand out:
Cardona, Jandark. 5th Marpenouth 1265, Candlekeep Restricted: On Phylacteries by Zaas Tam
Cardona, Jandark, 11th Marpenouth 1265, Gravenhollow: The Jar of Souls
Jenkins explained, "It seems Jandark Cardona had an unhealthy interest in necromancy... And not just any old necromancy, these books are about storing souls willing or otherwise in gems, or binding one's own soul and life force forever into a specially prepared and rather vile object called a phylactery."
"Yes your Honor! I'll see to it right away." replied Jenkins brightly, clearly delighted to see the scrolls returned to where they belonged.
He gathers the scrolls and gets ready to leave but on the way out he passes Ishta a note.
Ishta:
Ishta, I searched the municipal records and found some entries you might find interesting:
3rd Ches, 1281 DR (Year of the Cold Soul). Durendal McGee formerly of Shadow Dale applied for citizenship . Petition Granted.
17th Uktar, 1283 DR (Year of the Crawling Clouds). Shania Gest formerly of Waterdeep applied for citizenship. Petition Granted.
1st Flamerule, 1285 DR (Year of the Blacksnake). A marriage licence was granted for Durendal McGee and Shania Gest.
17th Heptos, 1287 DR (Year of the Smoky Moon). An acre of wooded land overlooking the Stojanow river was purchased by Durendal McGee. Permission was granted for the construction of a wood or stone dwelling.
I looked into this purchase, it's not far from the stone pyramid north along the Stojanow. The trees in the area are mostly mapel, perhaps the McGee's wanted to try their hand at making syrup? The area used to be quite nice but these days it's reckoned to be dangerous with strange lights reported in the woods.
Sounding very worried Jenkins replies, "Oh my yes! If you meet their gaze you'll get turned to stone. You can try averting your gaze or using a mirror but that's not exactly fool proof. Blindfolds are more reliable but risky if you need to fight something else."
It takes quite some time but together with Friar Jenkins you start discovering records about the library.
Jenkins draws your attention to a moldering ledger, "Look this is a list of books bought by Mantor's Library. Some of these sound quite exotic: Fyerdetha’s Discourses On Power. According to the log entry Fyerdetha’s supposedly believed certain fountains and pools held great power. Power that can only be used by performing proper ceremonies." He points to another entry, "Urgund’s Description of Darkness, a grim account of his imprisonment in the lower realms. Supposedly Urgund was a mage of great power who vanished in mysterious circumstances. And this other one, The Grand Historian’s Records of the Arts of War: A very famous tome dealing with the history of warfare."
While this was interesting, it wasn't entirely what you where looking for. Several hours later you find an account of a strange occurrence, stunningly lifelike statues of people appearing in the library gardens, typically looking surprised or even terrified. "Oh that's interesting!" mused Jenkins, "I wonder..." He then started scanning through court records and an hour later cried, "Ah ha! Look here City of Phlan vs Gerrard Xenarian. Apparently a little over two hundred years ago he was caught importing basilisk eggs. Naturally these where confiscated. Gerrard hired an expert witness who determined that the rock like eggs where dead. The court accepted this, fined Gerrard and sent him on his way. The eggs where donated to the library as a curiosity... I think can guess what happened next."
When Ishta approached Friar Jenkins, naturally in the stacks, he put his book down and replied, "I'm more than happy to help m'lady. What was it exactly you were looking for?"
The Archivist was rather surprised by the revelation, "Really they're actually opening up the library for exploration? Well now! Take a look at these scrolls over here." He leads you to what looks like the largest set of pigeon holes you've ever seen, in which are neatly filed many thousands of beaten metal rubes. All have a blue ribbon with the seal of Phlan, some are new and others moldering and fragmentary, with an unmistakable aura of dust and parchment. getting enthused now he explains, "The records all look like this, the metal cases may look beaten up but they have magics that prevent decay and repel vermin. Lets take one of them out so you can see what an original looks like." He deftly removed the cap and withdraws a great sheath of vellum, upon which has been inscribed in small but painstakingly neat handwriting the a bill laying out regulations for the defunct lamp lighters guild. The style of writing and the great seal of the council are unmistakable. "What's more, if you say the phrase 'From Tir's grace come the laws of Phlan!' Well it uh does that." The seal on the vellum flared with incandescent light and an ethereal voice started reading the law, droning on incessantly.
"Isn't that marvelous!" he beamed before telling Azarra, "Multiple copies where made for each act up until the darkness came, and the library naturally had several for each one. We have roughly half the originals and copies of most of the rest here but it would be amazing to get a complete record again. I'm certain we can help those poor women. There's more though, the library contains extensive genealogical records going back at least a thousand years. Your friend Ishta was interested in some local families, there's bound to be a wealth of information there not to mention spellbooks! Hmm actually now I think about it, that probably explains why Delenn is back again from Cormanthor. She is another scholar, who thanks to her Elven heritage is old enough to have studied a Mantor's Library while it was in it's heyday. I have to admit I find her a little cold, but she was a friend of Brother Geraint's my predecessor. He spoke highly of her in his journal, and she is well regarded in academic circles. If anyone can open the restricted archives it will be her, I expect the council are looking for a company to escort her."
You find Friar Jenkins deep massaging his forehead in the stacks beneath the town hall. He seems rather frustrated and when you ask he sighs deeply, "We're missing some of the scrolls containing the Proceedings of the Council of Phlan. Specifically Volumes XII and XIV are missing. I know what's in them." He shows you a legal concordance, "See this table here, it list references to various bills by subject matter. According to this there are three acts with amendments pertaining to bills of attainder. I'm pretty certain this last one entitled A General Reform of Archaic Powers, which was enacted about two hundred years ago severely curtails their use. Thing is the Proceedings are not here and I've literally turned the place upside down." Sounding more than a little upset he explains, "This really shouldn't be possible. If I didn't know better, I'd describe that as being highly suspicious."
Jenkins looks troubled with a deeply furrowed brow. "Aye Ma'am. I spent the afternoon and much of the evening in the restricted vault. I did eventually track down burial records for 1324 the Year of the Grimoire." He shows you a large foot square ledger bound in cherry red leather and embossed with the symbol of Phlan in gold leaf, quite obviously a number of pages have been ripped out. "According to back issues of the town gazetteer, he died under mysterious circumstances while visiting Melvaunt on the twentieth day of Marpenoth. A fortnight later his body was apparently returned to civilized Phlan in great pomp and interred within the family tomb. I can't confirm this because the official record has been vandalized. Frankly the whole thing stinks, no reliable cause of death was mentioned although there was much rumor of a sudden illness or a riding accident. The last one is at least plausible since we have various contemporary accounts of animals acting strangely in his presence."
Kn:Local DC 14:
The rumor mill is doing overtime, the council are convening tomorrow to open up a new sector for reclamation! Some claim the Slums are to be cleared and the resident subhuman scum evicted yet others whisper darkly about the Kovel Mansion and the strange goings in there after dark.
Seeing as you're thinking of dinner... The Cracked Crown also serves good food, which is included in the price.
Kn:Local DC 15:
The grapevine is perhaps the nicest eatery in town. It's not particularly expensive but the food is authentic and the owner Cameron Anderson is extremely affable.
Ishta:
Friar Jenkins seems surprised by the money, "Donations are always welcome Ma'am but are you sure? It's a lot... Well if you are, I shall burn the proverbial midnight oil and see what there is to see."
Jenkins nods, "Ah I see. We can certainly have a look although that was a chaotic time, official record wasn't always what it should have been."
He motions for you to follow and you are lead past a series of tidy offices to a staircase leading down to a basement cellar. The basement is softly lit by numerous disembodied and obviously magical lights. Stacked neatly is row after row of filing cabinets and shelves all stuffed with great ledgers. Jenkins walks down several rows and collects three, each fully the size of a small table. You suspect they're very heavy but he walks as if unburdened as he takes them over to a reading desk.
He flips through the first ledger and starts reading. After a bit he frowns, puts it down and opens the next. It takes a good ten minutes but eventually he cries, "Ah look here, one master Durendal McGee and a miss Shania Gest got married on the 15th Eleint 1318. Naturally the wedding was held elsewhere, looks like Deepingdale, but they wanted it registered with Phlan in case the city of their youth ever got retaken. A romantic notion! Now then let me check those birth certificates again..." He picks the first ledger back up and continues scanning it. After about half an hour he picks up a chalk and starts making notes on a slate. Feverishly he works for another twenty minutes before telling you, "I have no reason to doubt you Miss Ishta but I'm afraid I can't find your birth certificate. The thing that's strange though is I can't find any births recorded from Mirtul to Uktar in 1320. Sure the survivors had scattered but there was a sizable refugee town. I'm not willing to believe Phlan's diaspora had no babies for nearly six months! I would question my predecessor Brother Geraint but I'm afraid he died suddenly about ten years ago of apoplexy. I'll check up about Jandark for you now in the payrolls." It takes Jenkins about ten minutes to find the right page and he flips through the next fifty or so pages. "Well Jandark was in charge of refugee affairs for nearly twenty years. I'm not sure why he'd personally have been in charge of babies there where staff - wet nurses, nannies and so on. He supposedly retired 1321 before dying several years later. It's odd there's no mention of where he's buried. There's some more archives in the vault I can check if you like, however that's got a time lock. Wondrous thing, made by an archmage. It's a sort of portal except it only appears at certain times of the day. Unfortunately it'd not due till the morning. I suppose I'll have to get back to you if I find anything."
Councillor von Urslingen leaves momentarily and a few minutes later an aesthetic looking man of indeterminate age with a shaved head enters Von Urslingen nods at Ishta and Friar Jenkins bows to her, "Greetings Ma'am, I am Friar Jenkins of Oghma, I also have the honor of being Phlan's official archivist. I understand you wish to consult the archives, how may I help?"
