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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6875121" data-attributes="member: 12731">I'm trying to make heads and tails of the way Zhentarim is supposed to help the party find their way to Gravenhollow library in Mantol-Derith. Ghazrim Duloc has a ring that shows the way there. But how did he get it?(The adventure doesn't say, merely hinting how the library "wants" the party to find it. And it almost expects the party to simply take the ring possibly over Ghazrim's dead body. Why else have the secret be so easily looted? I'm asking for possibilities and suggestions to a more... satisfying... backstory, where the party actually need to interact with Ghazrim)Also, Ghazrim being a Zhentarim and a sly one. He would want to gain something from the party and not just give up something for nothing (even if his superiors have already negotiated favors from king Bruenor and the other factions).Are there any described movers and shakers of the Underdark that Ghazrim could be involved in? (My idea is that Ghazrim sees how the party mowes down the Duergar and hatches a plan to use their power against one of his enemies. Basically, he leads them to his enemy saying this is the path to Gravenhollow; trusting the party to go all murder-hobo on that enemy's camp since they're even more despicable than Ghazrim is)Perhaps a rival trader? OotA doesn't dwell much on important NPCs that aren't Duergar, Svirfs or Drow (and yet aren't monsters or directly plot-related).I've tried googling Mantol-Derith, but there are very few tidbits of information regarding the place. What I've found so far is one Laral Kroul, a half tannaruk trader that could be a good rival to Ghazrim. (And inexplicably, Grazilaxx the Mind Flayer has ended up in M-D in the Neverwinter MMO)Any other Underdark way stations or other semi-civilized NPCs that I could use? I'm looking for a described location in the Underdark that's not a monster cave. Ideally, an Underdark equivalent to a pirate cave or coaching inn or bandit tower or trader's oasis. A base for free unaligned humanoids (that aren't primitives or brutes or garrisons for the Drow or Duergar empires), basically. Like the underdark-connected cellars of the Yartar inn Beldabar's Rest. Any edition is fine: AD&D, 4th Ed, anything.(I know I can just transplant any map to the Underdark. Here I'm asking for lore precedents. Or is Mantol-Derith completely unique?)And oh; any good suggestions on where the Gravenhollow ring comes from? Who could have given it to duLoc? Your wild ideas are welcome <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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