THE GREAT CODEX

I. Dramatis Personae

The Adventuring Party (The Six-Fingered Hand)

Notable Figures (Others)

Zhentarim Operatives & Contractors

II. The Atlas

Waterdeep

The main city setting, divided into several distinct wards and underground complexes.

Castle Ward

Black Ridge & Co. Mercantile Trust

• Type: Business Front
• Details: The business front for Mr. West's Zhentarim operations. Infiltrated by the party; 6,200 gp in bonds and three soul crystals were recovered from a basement safe.

Dock Ward

Jenkson Mull's Warehouse

• Type: Smuggling Hub
• Details: Generic-looking warehouse used for Zhentarim smuggling. Heavily guarded; investigated by Rem in disguise, who learned about the "Nightshade" shipment.

The Pickled Pike

• Type: Tavern
• Details: A local pub where the thug Hanksy was sent by the party to gather intel.

Field Ward

Slum Streets

• Type: Slum
• Details: Area where Justin Rassk was executed by Bain and the Stone of Golorr was found. Also known territory of the Eluskan Brotherhood.

The Rat Den Tavern

• Type: Tavern / Criminal Gathering Point
• Details: A rough establishment frequented by Zhentarim thugs and low-level operatives. Known gathering point for enforcement muscle in the Field Ward.

North Ward

The Broken Flagon

• Type: Upmarket Tavern
• Details: A discreet, high-class bar where the party initially met Mr. West.

123 Turnath Street

• Type: Residence / Dungeon Entrance
• Details: An unremarkable entrance that leads down into the Vault of Dragons.

South Ward

Jenkson Mull's Boarding House

• Type: Safehouse
• Details: A secret location linked to Jenkson Mull. Used for false identities and safe passage.

City of the Dead

Abandoned Shrine to Bane

• Type: Former Place of Worship / Covert Meeting Point
• Details: A decommissioned shrine to the god Bane within Waterdeep's City of the Dead burial district. Used by mid-tier Zhentarim agents as a discreet meeting location away from the city's active wards.

Trade Ward

The Honourable Knight

• Type: Veterans' Tavern
• Details: A respectable tavern spanning multiple floors with private party rooms. The party infiltrated it using a Xanathar ring as a disguise, used Charm Person to bypass security, and successfully extracted The Ledger from his office.

Thrakus' Meat

• Type: Business
• Details: A local meat vendor.

Undermountain

The Yawning Portal

• Type: Tavern / Hub
• Key NPCs: Durnan
• Details: The party's main base. Features a portal to the Underdark. Durnan runs it and acts as a major quest patron.

Vault of Dragons

• Type: Dungeon / Hoard
• Key NPCs: Orinax (Gold Dragon)
• Three Keys Required: A Drunken Elf, a Painting of a Dwarf Miner, and a Cask of Dwarven Ale.
• Details: Hidden beneath 123 Turnath Street. Houses a massive hoard and Orinax, whom the party paid off to remain neutral.

The Sewers

Waterdeep Sewer Network

• Type: Underground Infrastructure / Active Exploration Zone
• Details: The vast tunnel system running beneath all of Waterdeep, maintained by contracted Kobold workers. A growing necrotic presence has been reported — zombie limbs manifesting from the walls and multiplying unchecked. The Swarm of Zombie Limbs was destroyed by Bain (session of 6th Mirtul, 1496 DR), revealing a necrotic drop to the Undershrine below.

The Kobold Card Den

• Type: Kobold Encampment (Friendly)
• Key NPCs: Kobold Sewer Workers
• Details: A hidden side-chamber used by off-duty Kobold workers for recreation and gambling. Access requires inserting a coin into a slotted wall hole. The party entered and gained the workers' trust through coin and a card game. The Kobolds possess detailed knowledge of the tunnel network.

The Undershrine (Beneath the Waterdeep Sewers)

• Type: Ancient Dungeon / Active Exploration Zone

• Status: Partially explored (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR)

• Details: A multi-room undershrine discovered beneath the necrotic drop in the sewer tunnels (approx. 30–40 ft below the sewer floor). Access via a twenty-foot-diameter necrotic collapse hole. Sand floor at base. Graffiti inscription at entry: "Beyond the Pillar Forest, the Mad Mage waits, casting spells behind magic gates." Rooms explored to date:

  • The Sandy Entry Chamber — Forty-foot square room at the base of the drop. Fragmented wooden boards with blood-written warning. Single exit south then west.
  • The Pillar Forest (Room 1.b.) — Large chamber lined with stone pillars. Walls carved with a full roster of demon reliefs. South wall inscription: "CERTAIN DEATH THIS WAY →" leading to the southern corridor.
  • The Southern Corridor ("Certain Death" Passage) — A 5-foot-wide, 5-foot-high meandering tunnel through collapsed stone, running south from the Pillar Forest. Contains piles of rubble, three pickaxes, two shovels, and a dead goblin with a caved-in skull (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • The Flooded Side Chamber — Partially flooded room with a glowing purple statue. Grey Ooze remains submerged here. Skacel's armour was corroded here.
  • The Voices Room (North Corridor) — Contains a wooden armour stand with a faintly glowing longsword.
  • The Bone-Pillar Room — Contains five black-painted bone pillars. Two Grells were defeated here.
  • The Noble Statue Room — Six noble statues. Secret passage in bottom-right corner.
  • The Ceramic Plate Alcove — Hidden room with a crude ceramic plate alarm.
  • The Bandit Chamber — Eight bedrolls, two rusty lanterns. Four bandits occupied the room; three were killed in the initial clash, and the fourth was executed by Ezekiel (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR). The doppelganger Ondansi was cornered here before fleeing.
  • The Map Room — Large chamber containing a 30-foot cross-section map of Undermountain on the west wall, a 10-foot square open pit containing a trapped Revenant, and three interactive buttons (Flaming Skull, Comet, Tower) that speak gate status when pressed (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • Dendar the Night Serpent Statue Room — A partially collapsed hall containing a headless stone statue of a nude woman holding a star, with serpentine hands, representing Dendar the Night Serpent (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • The Obelisk of the Eye Room — Contains a 14-foot granite obelisk with a carved lidless eye and bloody handprints, emitting divination magic (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR). Touched by Bain to receive a prophecy. Contains a dozen bundled-rug goblin beds.
  • Two-Headed King Statue Room — Reached via a secret passage from the Map Room. Contains a dwarf king statue with a deformed second head and a rotatable Warhammer that opens a pedestal cavity (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • Goblin Corridor and Forge Area — Site of a major battle. Goblins and Ettin B (Ayrton) were defeated. Ergić executed Bugbear B at point-blank, Bain decapitated Goblin J, Rem vaporized Q and R with a Bursting Arrow, and Nix finished Ettin B with Eldritch Blasts (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • The T-Shaped Statue Hall — Located south of the forge room. Contains three alcoves with beautifully carved granite elf warrior statues. Rem discovered the southernmost spear was rhythmically breathing; the spear was revealed to be a Pseudopod Mimic, which grappled Rem but was destroyed by the party (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • The Southwest Stairs — A staircase descending to Undermountain Level 2. Ondansi fled down this route, and the party descended in pursuit (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR).
  • Undershrine Level 2 — The level of Undermountain reached via the southwest stairs (session of 3rd Kythorn, 1496 DR). Contains:
    • 15x15 Side Room — Loud goblin voices, bartering, and revelry heard speaking sophisticated Goblin from within.
    • Pump Room — Contains a rusted iron hand pump resting in a deep stone basin.

Independent Regions

Baldur's Gate

The Party's Pub

• Type: Tavern / Safehouse
• Key NPCs: Tarkus, Veylan "The Ledger" Duskryn
• Details: The party owns a pub here, currently guarded by a militia trained by Tarkus. Veylan was sent here for safety.

A Tavern (Founding Session — Name Unrecorded)

• Type: Tavern
• Details: The venue of the Six-Fingered Hand's very first commission engagement, improvised entirely by the DM after the party spontaneously diverted from their assigned path. Tarkus retrieved a floorboard from the premises as a trophy. Its name is lost to the Archives.

The Hunting Lodge

• Type: Dragon Cult Staging Point
• Key NPCs: Azbarajoz
• Details: A lodge associated with the elven cultist Azbarajoz and the Cult of the Dragon. Identified in early 1493 DR as a potential location for finding Azbarajoz. Not yet visited by the party; exact location unconfirmed.

Elvenport (Teu'tel'alu)

• Type: Elven Settlement
• Key NPCs: Vaerilmor Floshin (Elven Elder Contact)
• Details: An elven coastal town south of Baldur's Gate. Home to the Crypt of Teu'tel'alu, the site of the party's second major commission.

The Crypt of Teu'tel'alu

• Type: Ancient Crypt / Undead Lair
• Ward: Elvenport
• Key NPCs: The Vampire (unnamed; later controlled by the party); Vampire Spawn (one charmed by Ergič)
• Details: A once-peaceful burial site that was overtaken by a vampire and its spawn. The Elvenport elders commissioned the party via contact Vaerilmor Floshin to restore peace — the commission was posted on a public notice board in Baldur's Gate and was not connected to Mr. West (who appeared separately, after this engagement, to threaten the party for unrelated reasons). The party subdued the vampire through Bain's seizure of the Silver Sword of Binding from the crypt altar — control of the sword conferred command over the vampire. A Gelatinous Blob was encountered and defeated within the crypt. Ezekiel was nearly killed in the encounter, revived by Skacel and healed by Thelanor.

Phandalin

• Type: Frontier Town
• Details: A small frontier settlement that served as the party's first major commission hub. The town endured two distinct crises: (1) an early incursion of Fire Newts from an ice cave nearby, during which the founding member Thelanor suffered grievous wounds; (2) a catastrophic dragon-and-giant attack that destroyed the local tavern and killed Tarkus (his first death). The young dragon Venomfang was destroyed in the surrounding area using an improvised explosive device of unconventional composition. The party subsequently defended a nearby fort from a Dragonborn-led Fire Newt warband before departing for Waterdeep.

The Fort (East of Phandalin)

• Type: Military Outpost / Refugee Fort
• Details: A fortified outpost east of Phandalin that served as the evacuation point during the Fire Newt siege. The party cleared its sally gate and defended its gates against a Dragonborn commander's army. It was here that the Vampire escaped from the Portable Hole when the Dragonborn stole the silver sword of control.

Skyreach Castle

• Type: Floating Fortress
• Key NPCs: Blagothkus
• Details: A floating island/castle previously used by the Cult of the Dragon and giants. The party invaded it during the attack on Waterdeep.

The Old Corner Orphanage

• Type: Orphanage / Intelligence Hub
• Ward: Dock Ward, Waterdeep
• Key NPCs: Unnamed Manager; Crab (field agent)
• Details: Originally a standard orphanage in the Dock Ward, significantly funded by the drow mercenary Salvi Herish prior to her assassination. Shortly after Salvi's death, Ergič negotiated a retainer agreement with the orphanage manager, establishing the children as a street-level spy network at a cost of 750GP per month. The network has since provided actionable intelligence on Xanathar's pursuit of the party, the presence of Mr. West in the city, and a Field Ward murder investigation. During the Dragon Cult crisis, the orphanage expanded to serve as a refugee shelter, broadening its contacts across the city. The network remains an active, paid intelligence asset.

III. The Ledger of Factions

IV. The Hoard

Party Wealth

• Gold: Over 60,000 gp collectively (34,300 gp from ice hoard, 13,000 gp from Durnan, 6,200 gp in bonds from Black Ridge).

Magical Items & Artifacts

Lost, Expended, or Destroyed Items

V. The Bestiary

VI. System Reference: The Alias Dictionary

This section is used by agent scripts to standardize metadata tagging across the history archives. It maps common misspellings, nicknames, and phonetic variations to their canonical Codex names.

VII. System Reference: Linked Entities

This section is used by the Oracle for "Query Expansion". When a user searches for a Primary Entity, the Oracle must also include the Complementary Search Terms in its YAML tag queries.

VIII. System Reference: The Calendar of Harptos (Date Conversion)

All published records use the Calendar of Harptos with Dale Reckoning (DR) year notation. The following tables provide the canonical mapping.

Month Names

Session-to-DR Mapping

Go Home.