Bury Elminster Deep

Bury Elminster Deep is the second novel in the Sage of Shadowdale series by Ed Greenwood. It begins soon after the end of the events in Elminster Must Die. "Elminster's archenemy, the vampiric Lord Manshoon, thinks he has destroyed Elminster at last. But Elminster survives in the form of magical ash, and with the help of his scion, a fop who is growing into a true nobleman, and his longtime companion Storm, he still has a chance to counter Manshoon's insidious plots."