The Nether Scroll

The Nether Scroll by Lynn Abbey is the final book of the Lost Empires series.

"Ansoain has been murdered, and her son Galimer taken hostage.

Druhallen, a young magic user, must avenge the murder of his teacher and rescue her son from a dubious fate. But not everyone is telling Druhallen the truth.

Druhallen and his companions must brave the ruins of Dekanter to find a missing artifact. . . the Nether Scroll.

Without the Nether Scroll Galimer may die. With it Druhallen may go mad."

Summary
In the the mage Ansoain from Scornubel took on a job accompanying a bridegroom through the Vilhon Reach, along with her son Galimer, and adopted ward Druhallen. The bride's caravan was ambushed by Red Wizards from Thay, and many were killed in the attack, including Ansoain. While her two young apprentices survived the attack, they were left with many questions and a mysterious item of unknown origin left by the Red Wizards.

Having continued their trade as traveling spellcasters for fifteen years, the two mages made their own found family, along with Rozt'a a guardswoman that married Galimer some years earlier, and Tiep the young street urchin they had adopted. While they found revenge against some of the Red Wizards, and a trip to the sages of Candlekeep directed them to ruins of ancient Netheril, Dru and Galimer were still far away from finding the answers they sought. The group's prospects brought them to the town of Parnast, en route to the mines of Dekanter – but the small village offered only disappointment when it was revealed the Dawn Pass Trail leading into the mines had been rerouted by Amarandaris, the local Zhentarim lord. While Amarandaris sought to reason with Dru about working for him and the Black Network, a "chance" meeting with a friendly goblin offered the group one last opportunity.

The well-mannered goblin named Sheemzher beckoned the group accompany him into Weathercote Wood to meet with his mistress, Lady Wyndyfarh. With no other prospects for work or means to get closer to their goals, they decided to oblige the quirky goblin. Unfortunately for them all, the unscrupulous Tiep stole from nature while in the woods, and carelessly killed some of the lady's creatures. In response, Wyndyfarh placed the mind of Galimer in a sort of stasis, and tasked Druhallen, Rozt'a, and even Tiep with recovering for her an ancient artifact from with the ruins of Dekanter: one of the lost Nether Scrolls. Sheemzher guided them from the forest and the party embarked upon their trek.

The journey through the Greypeaks was a taxing one for the group, made worse by the worry they shared for Galimer. As they faced dangerous beasts and terrain that was taxing on their body and spirit, the limits of their friendship and patience were tested. Eventually they made their way into the mines, navigated its winding pathways, and forged an alliance of sorts with the goblin chief Ghistpok. They became aware of the being known as the Beast Lord, an undead mind flayer that created twisted beings using the bodies of goblins, insects, men, and other creatures. Using Ghistpok's tribe as a sort of distraction, Druhallen made a solo charge against the Beast Lord so his companions could retrieve the Nether Scroll and escape with their lives. As the powerful mind flayer spellcaster incapacitated Dru and Rozt'a, Tiep and Sheemzher put aside their differences, stole the scroll and distracted the Beast Lord for a few key moments before it was overcome by its living mind flayer pursuers.

As the group traveled back to Weathercote Wood to secure Galimer's release, Druhallen was granted time to read from the recovered Nether Scroll and gained understanding about arcane magic that was possessed by few people. When they arrived at the wood, Dru offered the Netherese artifact back to Lady Wyndyfarh, and secured Galimer's release from his mental stasis. The two mages joined Rozt'a in a meeting with the otherworldly lady and were given some answers regarding their mother's death.

One their way out of the wood the group was intercepted by Amarandaris' Zhent soldiers and taken back to Parnast. Druhallen offered a deal to the lord of Parnast: act as if the Zhentarim had no knowledge of him or his family and he would offer a rubbing of the scroll that Tiep had inadvertently created while securing its release. Lord Amarandaris agreed with Dru's bargain, and his family was allowed to go and find their own way in life.

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