Necrotic Laboratory

Necrotic laboratory is a part of the Mind Flayer Colony located under Moonrise Towers. It belongs to the necromancer Balthazar, a high-esteemed advisor to General Ketheric Thorm, one of his Disciples. It is located in the south-east part of the colony (entrance X: 715 Y: -50) and connected directly to its other part, Morgue.

Necromancer's hexagram in the centre of the lab

General details

Upon entering the area, a battle with a large number of undead will commence, including: 1× Death Shepherd (lv.6), 4× Winged Horror (lv.3), 4× Greater Zombie (lv.7), and 6× Zombie (lv.3). During the battle, the Death Shepherd will cast No Rest for the Wicked spell, rising two Reconstituted Duellists, a Reconstituted Marksman and a Reconstituted Arcanist (one of those at a time).

In the centre of the Necrotic Laboratory resides a huge hexagram with a Profane Womb at each apex. Should the player help Balthazar reach the Nightsong in the Gauntlet of Shar and let the necromancer take her away, all party members will fall unconscious in the Shadowfell and wake up in these containers. They bestow the Profane Womb-Bound Condition, which Silences the victim and keeps it in place.

Brain Puzzle

Initial set of the mind puzzle

In the far southeast corner of the laboratory stands a neural button. Activating it brings forth a imaginary projection with a Brain Mapping Puzzle, consisting of four mental faculties (Emotion, Speech, Memory, and Reason). To solve this puzzle the player must connect each faculty to its matching copy on the far side of the puzzle by selecting intervening nodes, avoiding overlaps. Successfully solving the puzzle will grant the 'Brain Blast!' Inspirational Event (to Gale or any other character with Sage Background)

Desecrated Relief

Behind the puzzle projection is a locked Flesh-Wrought door. It cannot be opened neither with Lockpick skill nor by casting Knock spell. However, solving the brain puzzle unlocks it. Once opened, it reveals a Desecrated Relief, that can be activated. Looking at the relief will prompt several descriptive phrases, projected into the character's mind by the Absolute. Afterwards, the Dream Guardian will comment on it, telling that the relief is a depiction of the Grand Design - a worldwide concept, implementation of which is the supreme desire of all illithids and all Elder Brains.

Nearby, in the heap of skulls (X: 750 Y: -138), the player can find the Blade of Oppressed Souls and a brain jar with the Waking Mind. Beside the jar lies a skeleton with the Circlet of Mental Anguish and Braindrain Gloves on it.

Balthazar's in-colony study

To the west of the hexagram is located a small study with a desk and the Mind-Archive Interface nearby(X: 699 Y: -117). This device allows player to talk to brains in green jars found scattered across the colony, through the Slack-Skinned Head installed on it. Journal with Balthazar's notes left on the desk tells that the Interface is an invention of Enver Gortash.

There are eight brain jars available to find and use in the Mind-Archive Interface. Six of them (True Mind, Willing Mind, Waking Mind, Butchered Mind, Closed Mind and Fresh Mind) can be found in the colony itself, while two others (Dark Mind and Slave Mind) can be picked up on the Nautiloid in the Prologue.

Of all those, the only truly useful is the Waking Mind. If spoken to, it occurs to be a brain of a Githzerai Monk, preserved by mind flayers long ago as a trophy and a delicacy. It can grant to the party member who spoke to it a permanent buff: Githzerai Mind Barrier, in exchange for player's promise to purge it afterwards.

All other brains will only give dialogue, though some cast a bit of light upon Balthazar and Gortash's cooperative experiments in creating magically enhanced tadpoles and honing their impact on infested victims.

Also on the desk lay Mol's Eyepatch and Resonance Stone. Picking up the Eyepatch updates the Find Mol quest. The Resonance Stone radiates magical energy that provides all characters within 9 meters with Steeped in Bliss condition (see Resonance Stone article). A 'Prayer of Forgiveness' scroll laying nearby gives some hints concerning the history of the Dark Urge origin.

The last notable items on the desk are two Rune Slates, each requires a DC 14 Arcana check to be read. Unlike slates found on the Nautiloid, here the inscribed text appears not as a Narrator line, but written on a grey-coloured paper list (similar to a book layout). As per current state of the game, the text appears without any regard to success on said check (possible bug?^{[Needs Verification]}), though banter lines of different characters befit the roll results. Both slates tell about the fall of the Illithid Empire and the fate of the Elder Brain managing the colony.

• Elder brain on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, * Grand Design on the Forgotten Realms Wiki