Apothecary's Cellar

Hidden room within the Apothecary's Cellar.

The Apothecary's Cellar is a location within the over-world in Act One. It is located underneath the Blighted Village, accessible from a hatch in the abandoned apothecary building.

Overview

Adjacent locations

Blighted Village

Main Cellar

This section doesn't seem too out of the ordinary for an alchemy shop. It does however have a share of potions scattered around the clutter of bottles and other junk. If the lead character doesn't have Darkvision, it is recommended to light up the candles and torches or get out a light source for yourself to see in the darkness.

On the north wall there is a stack of crates were a passive DC 15 Perception check will happen. If successful, a lever will be marked behind the crates, though it can be found through normal investigation. Pulling it will open a hidden passage behind a bookcase, leading into the next chamber.

Graverobber's Cave

This natural cavern is cluttered with over half a dozen mouldering caskets. The casket closest to the tunnel leading in holds the Scroll of Summon Quasit along with minor valuables. Using the scroll here in this room, or having the party's wizard learn and cast the spell here, will trigger additional conversation options about the ornate mirror along with the only other opportunity to permanently learn the spell.

Interacting with any of the other caskets, or proceeding too far into the room without interacting any caskets, will cause an Agile Guardian to burst out, surprising the party. It will quickly begin running off to the other caskets, breaking them open and spawning more undead such as Robust Guardians.

Alternatively, if the party breaks a casket rather than interacting with it, a guardian will still appear but will not achieve surprise over the party. The caskets can thus be cleared for loot and xp with less risk of the combat spiraling out of control.

At the south end of the cave is wooden platform where the magical ornate mirror is. Although its magic is dulled, it still blocks the way forward into the hidden lab. For details on bypassing the mirror, see Ornate Mirror.

Necromancer's Lab

The lab is full of skeleton displays, mounted heads of beasts and even a stuffed bear. To the west end of the room is a store room with barrels full of alchemy supplies and potions, and a Rusted Key which opens the trapped gate on the east side of the lab. There is also a lever that will open a way back to the main cellar room.

In the south-west corner is a chest near the stuffed bear that is full of scrolls X: -679 Y: -370. In a gilded chest in the south-western corner of the room holds the Bracers of Defence X: -656 Y: -371.

On the east side there is a gated off area which holds the real prize of this lab, Necromancy of Thay. A DC 15 Sleight of Hand check can pick the gate lock, or the party can use the Rusted Key from the storeroom shelves. The book is set on a pressure plate that can be disabled with a DC 10 Sleight of Hand check, however turn-based mode can be used to take the book, than replace it with any other object or simply rush out before the fire bolt shooting gargoyle trap is turned on.

Notable characters

Ornate Mirror
Shovel - summoned via the Scroll of Summon Quasit

Related quests

Notable loot

Notable items obtained in this location, whether looted, purchased, or obtained as a quest reward:

Necromancy of Thay
Scroll of Summon Quasit inside a mouldering casket X: -667 Y: -330
Bracers of Defence
Wooden chest at X: -679 Y: -369

Achievements

Rude, Crude, and Full of Attitude
Find and summon the quasit Shovel. Or is her name... Fork? Maybe Basket?

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