Zikran's Zephyrean Tome

• An Adventure for 10th-level Characters

• Developed & Edited by Christopher Perkins

• Written by Taymoor Rehman

Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome was donated to Candlekeep by adventurers seeking refuge from a storm that seemed to follow them wherever they went. A junior member of the Avowed, although unable to open the book, cataloged it as a treatise on the Inner Planes, based solely on Zikran’s reputation as an expert on the subject. The book has been moving through the archives ever since, as Avowed who were also unable to open it take guesses at its contents. After a time, they stopped trying.

Finding the Book

Characters in Candlekeep might uncover this book while researching any of the following topics:

• Denizens of the Inner Planes, especially the Wind Dukes of Aaqa (powerful beings of elemental air) and djinn
• Extraplanar travel
• Magic fortresses

Book Description

The book is a heavy tome with covers of white marble bound in pale blue leather. A large padlock prevents the book from being opened and resists all attempts to open it with magic, but it snaps open when the book is held by someone who intends to leave Candlekeep with it. The book contains one hundred eight mostly blank pages made of tissue-thin white paper and emits a soft breeze whenever a page is turned. Most important, when the book is first opened, it reveals the creature trapped inside it: a djinni named Gazre-Azam.

The first ten pages of the book contain various notes in Zikran’s hand that indicate he tried several times to trap a djinni in the book before finally succeeding. The next eight pages are observations of Gazre-Azam’s behavior during his time of servitude to Zikran. The last ninety pages of the book are blank, and a character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check can figure out that this volume used to serve as a wizard’s spellbook. At some point, the spells were removed in such a way as to leave the pages blank.

Gazre-Azam’s Predicament

Gazre-Azam has been trapped in the book for many years. When the book is opened, it releases small, wispy clouds that form into the shape of Gazre-Azam’s head. The djinni speaks to any character willing to listen and asks for their aid.

Gazre-Azam was summoned by Zikran, a water genasi wizard, and bound to the book. Zikran wanted the djinni to teach him how to make elemental devices, with the ultimate goal of building a floating castle fortress. For some time, the djinni served the wizard. Hoping to earn his freedom, Gazre-Azam shared much of his knowledge, but the wizard would not release him. When Gazre-Azam changed tactics and became less helpful, Zikran cast a complicated and near-permanent spell to keep Gazre-Azam from escaping. The djinni reveals that the only way to free him is for Zikran to end the enchantment willingly or for Zikran to be killed. Repeatedly and desperately, yet still with a noble manner, Gazre-Azam asks for the characters' aid. In exchange, he offers the characters one free casting of a wish spell.

If the characters agree to Gazre-Azam’s request, he asks that they take him along. While bound to the book, Gazre-Azam can’t use his magical abilities, but he can speak freely to the party and provide valuable information. Once members of the Avowed learn that a creature is trapped in the tome, they will allow the characters to leave Candlekeep with it, on the condition that the book is returned to them once the djinni is freed. (The Avowed are in no rush to get the book back.)

Finding Zikran

Gazre-Azam hasn’t seen Zikran in a long time, but since his enchantment is still intact, he knows that Zikran must be alive. He suggests searching for Zikran at a seaside laboratory—the last place where the djinni interacted with Zikran. It might hold clues about what the wizard is up to now. Gazre-Azam describes to the characters a landmark that might help them find this hidden location. His directions are as follows:

“Follow the Sword Coast south for two nights and a day until you find a spire made of coral. Stand at the base of this spire and look inland, and you will see the mouth of a flooded cave. This cave contains Zikran’s laboratory and sanctum.”

To follow Gazre-Azam’s instructions, the characters must travel along the cliffs and beaches of the Sword Coast. The party might encounter a number of foes or NPCs along the way, as appropriate for your campaign. If no such enemies or NPCs are present, you can harass the party with three Wyvern that are hunting along the coast.

After traveling for a day and a half, the characters spot a spire of bright coral just off the coast. Characters who approach the spire and face inland see the opening to a partially flooded cave, just as Gazre-Azam described.

Zikran’s Laboratory

Zikran’s abandoned laboratory, located in the driest part of a seaside cave system, has recently become the lair of a young bronze dragon named Ashgarlyth.

Cave Features

All chambers in the cave complex are hewn from solid rock. area Areas L1 through area L3 are flooded with seawater, and the walls of these caves are slick with moisture and algae. area Area L4 is above sea level but still damp. area Area L5 and the secret passage on the west side of it are dry. Only area L5 is illuminated.

Encounter Locations

The following encounters are keyed to the map of Zikran’s laboratory.

L1. Coral Spire

A spire of coral rises from the water just off the coast. Its base at sea level is ten feet across, and it tapers to a point forty feet above the water. Through the clear, gentle waves, you can see that it extends down into a coral reef that would destroy seafaring vehicles that dared sail into it. Directly east of the spire is the opening to a flooded cave.

Characters who explore the area underwater can search the submerged portions of the coral. They find that the plant life is healthy, and they see long claw marks in the coral leading to and from the flooded cave. Any character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 14 or higher notices similar marks on the walls at the cave entrance and can, with a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check, determine they were made by a young dragon.

L2. Flooded Cave

To enter this flooded cave, the characters must wade or swim into the water that fills it.

This cave has a twelve-foot-high ceiling and rough, natural walls. The clear water that flows into the cave is four feet deep. A nook in the northeast corner contains two corpses preserved by the seawater. The cave’s back wall is flat, with a large opening in the southeast corner.

The flooded cave is difficult terrain for any creature that doesn’t have a swimming speed.

Corpses

Characters can identify the corpses as those of two half-elves who look like siblings. Any character who uses an action to examine the corpses closely can, with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check, confirm that the two died in their sleep from drowning. It appears they stopped in the cave after an intense battle, fell asleep, and did not wake when the tide came in. Their spirits, corrupted by this horrific death, lie in wait. If a character interacts with either corpse beyond simple examination, the half-elves' restless spirits rise as two Ghost. The ghosts are hostile but can’t leave this chamber. If the characters fight the ghosts, Ashgarlyth hears the commotion but remains in his lair (area area L5).

When the ghosts are defeated, the half-elves' spirits can be laid to rest by removing the corpses from the cave and burying them side by side in the earth.

Treasure

After the ghosts have been dealt with, a search of the corpses yields two Potion of Healing in addition to 37 gp. Leather armor worn by the corpses is not salvageable, nor are the half-elves' weapons (two shortswords and two shortbows).

Secret Tunnel

A character who spends at least 1 minute searching the chamber for secret doors finds one with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. Behind this secret door is a dry, dark tunnel above the water line. Another secret door at the opposite end of the tunnel can be found without a check; it pulls open to reveal area area L5 beyond.

L3. Tidal Chamber

The floor here is 6 feet lower than in area L2.

This cave is filled with water to a depth of ten feet, and its ceiling is another ten feet above the water’s surface. A large opening to the east leads to another chamber. A lip along the bottom edge of this opening prevents water from proceeding any farther, and large claw marks are visible along this lip.

The claw marks were made by Ashgarlyth and are similar to the ones in area area L1.

Characters must swim to cross the room, which acts as a reservoir to prevent the incoming tide from flooding the rest of the cave system.

L4. Zikran’s Quarters

This chamber appears to have been dug out of the surrounding stone. The floor is slick with moisture but not flooded. This place was once a bedroom. Stains on the floor mark where once stood a bed, a desk, a table, and chairs. The splintered remains of this furniture have been pushed into a corner. A large wooden door to the north is ajar.

Mounted on the wall next to the door, seemingly left untouched, is a shelf of books and scrolls. It has been filled with colorful covers and attractive shades of parchment.

Bookshelf

Characters who examine the contents of the bookshelf find that there’s no rhyme or reason to the organization of the books and scrolls. The books are ship logs with daily entries; the scrolls are navigational charts. Ashgarlyth recovered these “treasures” from the sunken wrecks of ships off the coast. Their pages are wrinkled from being underwater. Although the dragon values this collection, the books and scrolls are worthless.

L5. Laboratory and Lair

Characters can approach this room through either the door from Zikran’s quarters (area L4) or the secret tunnel from the flooded cave (area area L2).

Several small, glowing stones hang from the twenty-foot-high ceiling of this large cave, which is cluttered with laboratory equipment and beautiful coral sculptures. Rising from the floor in the center of the room is a circular stone dais that has obvious grooves to accommodate a device of some kind, though no such device is present. Atop this dais is a bronze-scaled dragon wearing a coral crown.

Ashgarlyth, a young bronze dragon, stands on the dais. Characters who enter through the secret tunnel startle the dragon, who is reluctant to leave his treasures unguarded.

Roleplaying Ashgarlyth

The characters can fight Ashgarlyth or attempt to negotiate with him. The dragon is lawful good, meticulous, and incredibly prideful. He recently claimed Zikran’s old laboratory as his lair and is wary of other creatures that might try to take it from him.

Ashgarlyth values beautiful, colorful things and hoards a collection of colorful books and coral sculptures, including the crown of coral that he wears. He will not let anyone rifle through his treasures freely. (These items are worthless, despite being of value to the dragon.) When bargaining with Ashgarlyth, the characters can get through to him in a few ways:

• They can appeal to his good nature by urging him to help save Gazre-Azam and bring Zikran to justice.
• They can offer a valuable or beautiful treasure in exchange for being allowed to carefully peruse Zikran’s old laboratory.
• A character familiar with bronze dragons can bring up their famous love of ships and the sea in an attempt to bond with Ashgarlyth.

If the players fight Ashgarlyth, treat the laboratory as his lair, granting the dragon lair actions as described in the Monster Manual. If he is reduced to 15 hit points or fewer, Ashgarlyth tries to bargain with the party again. If that doesn’t work, the young dragon fights to the death, unwilling to swallow his pride.

Searching the Laboratory

Use the following boxed text to describe Zikran’s lab in more detail:

The cave contains several tables covered with intricate machinery and crafting tools. Bookshelves are filled with books and dioramas. Freestanding chalkboards in wooden frames once displayed arcane formulas, though only smudges and streaks of chalk remain.

Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to search the area can find clues to Zikran’s whereabouts. If the characters have Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome and use it to consult with Gazre-Azam, the djinni helps up to two characters who attempt this check, giving them advantage. The clues are as follows:

• An old diary tells the tale of a paranoid and lonely man. In this diary, Zikran writes about a rival named Laffa, who sought the location of this laboratory. Fear of discovery prompted Zikran to pack up and leave in a hurry. (Gazre-Azam reveals that Laffa was an adventuring wizard. Laffa and his companions were the ones who found Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome and used it to gain entry into Candlekeep.)
• A stray map describes a route to a mountain range farther south, labeled the Cloud Peaks. A particular mountain is circled in ink with the word “Here?” written beside it. (Gazre-Azam can tell the party that the Cloud Peaks were home to a clan of cloud giants centuries ago. The giants occupied a keep near the top of the mountain circled on the map. Perhaps its ruins are still there. The djinni knows Zikran was interested in this possibility.)
• Diagrams show the structure and inner workings of a magical cannon powered by elemental air. Though its function as a cannon is obvious, only characters who succeed on a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check can understand the images well enough to operate such a cannon if they find one. A character who gets a 20 or higher on this check knows that the device can be operated manually or by a command word, but there’s no command word written on the diagrams.

The Cloud Peaks

After the party deals with Ashgarlyth and finds the clues in the dragon’s lair, the characters can travel to the Cloud Peaks in search of Zikran.

Flesh out the journey with encounters appropriate for your campaign, and give the characters a chance to prepare before they start climbing mountains. They will be encountering extreme weather conditions and might have difficulty with the harshness of the climb.

Rules for extreme cold, strong wind, and high altitude can be found in Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

The Climb

The climb into the mountains of the Cloud Peaks is incredibly taxing and dangerous. To reach the location marked on the map in Zikran’s abandoned laboratory, the characters must climb for 3 days. This time frame assumes everything goes well. The journey is divided into three legs.

Day 1

The first leg of the journey is straightforward and takes the characters from the base of the mountain to the edge of the mountain’s snow line. Few creatures will confront a party that looks well prepared.

Day 2

The second day of travel is hampered by extreme cold and high elevation. Above the snow line, natural predators are eager to make the party their prey. A group of 1d4 + 3 Winged Kobold harry the party at one point. These kobolds have resistance to cold damage. Whenever one of these kobolds would deal 5 or more damage to a character with a single attack, it can instead damage the character’s clothing, rendering it ineffective as cold weather gear until the clothing is mended. A character with weaver’s tools can mend the clothing while taking a short rest. A mending spell also repairs the damage.

Shortly after nightfall or whenever the party decides to take a long rest, the characters are attacked by an abominable yeti, after which they are left alone for the remainder of their rest.

Day 3

The final leg of the journey takes place under the effects of extreme cold, strong wind, and high altitude as the party nears the ruins of the cloud giant keep. The day includes another encounter with 1d4 + 3 Winged Kobold, plus any that were left alive after yesterday’s encounter.

Toward evening, the characters come to a 40-foot-high, slanted cliff face that they must climb to reach their destination unless they use magic to complete the ascent. Each character must make a DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check to climb the cliff face. On a failed check, the character still makes it to the top but gains 1 level of exhaustion, or 2 levels of exhaustion if the check fails by 5 or more.

Cloud Giants' Keep

The ruins of a cloud giant keep sit in a frozen, naturally formed cleft in the mountain near its peak. Sheltered by the high walls of the cleft, the ruins are not subject to strong wind. Rules for extreme cold apply, however.

What was once a truly impressive structure, six or more floors in height, is now frozen rubble. Only the first floor of the castle, part of the second floor, and the basement are traversable. The surrounding rubble is scattered in a way that suggests a tornado might have been responsible.

Keep Features

Everything about the keep is sized for cloud giants, who average 24 feet tall. Doorways are 25 feet high, and the doors set into them are made of thick, bleached wood that has begun to rot. Ceilings, where they exist, are typically 30 feet high; much of the second floor is open to the sky.

The bricks and tiles that make up the intact portions of the keep emit soft light from their interior sides. This effect causes all interior spaces to be brightly lit.

Cloud Giant Ghosts

The keep is haunted by the ghosts of cloud giants who perished long ago (see the end of the adventure for the cloud giant ghost stat block). These ghosts are indifferent toward the characters until some action on the characters' part causes the ghosts to turn hostile. What actions cause the ghosts to turn hostile vary from one encounter to the next. Characters who are cautious can avoid combat with the ghosts by not doing anything to anger them.

Encounter Locations

The following encounters are keyed to the map of the ruined cloud giant keep.

C1. Front Yard

The mountainside splits, leaving a natural cleft in the rock. Descending into this cleft, you come to an icy courtyard strewn with rubble. Hardy blue shrubs rise from the frozen ground. Lodged at the far end of the cleft is a keep sized for giants. Only the first floor and part of the second floor remain intact, the higher floors having collapsed long ago. The rubble left from this collapse surrounds what’s left of the keep.

A twenty-five-foot-tall double door made of bleached wood with bronze fittings provides the only entrance at ground level.

In the courtyard, there are pieces of rubble large enough that characters can hide behind them. If they keep watch, the characters can take a short or long rest here without being disturbed. If the characters use Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome to consult with Gazre-Azam, the djinni encourages the party to press on, eager to be freed.

C2. Entrance Hall

Part of this room is open to the sky, as shown on the map.

The ghosts of two cloud giants wander this hall, the floor of which is made of frost-covered white and green tile. A worn carpet leads from the entrance to staircases going up and down. Two doors to the west lead to other rooms. Three giant-sized display cases along the east wall hold faded documents.

The two Cloud Giant Ghost seem to have no regard for the party. They are indifferent toward intruders but turn hostile if attacked or if any of the display cases in this room are destroyed or looted.

The three display cases are 15 feet tall, made of bleached wood, and enclosed by panes of frost-covered glass. In them are twelve artistically displayed scrolls that contain the clan’s history—four scrolls per case. The scrolls are in Dwarvish, the written language of giants. A character who can speak Dwarvish or Giant realizes that these writings tell the history of the cloud giants who once occupied this keep.

They were an isolated clan, content to live in peace away from the squabbles of other giants and mortals. Their propensity for using magic to alter the weather caught the attention of one of the Wind Dukes of Aaqa on the Elemental Plane of Air. This benevolent entity gave them access to powerful elemental magic in exchange for their fealty. After learning and harnessing this new magic, the giants became a force for good in the region for many years, until their patron was overthrown in a coup. Enemies of the deposed Wind Duke wiped out the giant clan, and their keep fell to ruin as the last remnants of the clan fought against their eradicators.

Stairs

The stairs leading up to the second floor and down to the basement are sized for cloud giants. Creatures smaller than Huge treat the stairs as difficult terrain.

Treasure

The twelve scrolls that chronicle the clan’s history are worth 250 gp each to a historian or to the Avowed of Candlekeep. Each scroll is a sheet of parchment measuring 3 feet wide and 6 feet long.

C3. Armory

This room is missing its ceiling. Stone racks along the walls hold giant-sized morningstars, shields, warhammers, and helmets, all with icicles hanging from them. The room also contains a padlocked wooden chest in one corner and an enormous, wheel-shaped whetstone in another corner, frozen in position. Standing by the wheel is a cloud giant ghost staring blankly into the sky.

The cloud giant ghost is indifferent toward intruders but turns hostile if attacked or if the items in the chest are removed (see “Treasure” below).

Treasure

The chest is 5 feet long, 3 feet high, and 3 feet wide. It weighs 250 pounds, and the padlock holding it shut is frozen solid. Any character using thieves' tools can spend 1 minute trying to remove the padlock, doing so with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. Attempting this check without first melting the ice in and around the padlock imposes disadvantage on the roll. The chest contains two Potion of Greater Healing and a rusty iron sphere (iron bands of Bilarro).

C4. Mess Hall

This room’s ceiling is mostly intact, except for a portion to the south.

This room has large fur carpets on the floor and sturdy tables that can seat a dozen cloud giants at mealtime. A center table accommodates three cloud giant ghosts, who are playing some kind of card game.

A door in the north wall stands ajar. That same wall has a lit fireplace that also heats the adjacent room.

Three Cloud Giant Ghost sit at one of the tables. A character who is proficient with any type of gaming set or who succeeds on a DC 12 Intelligence (History) check can determine that the ghosts are playing Three-Dragon Ante with spectral cards. The game distracts them, at least temporarily. Characters moving through the room must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity (Stealth) check to keep from being noticed by the ghosts. If the ghosts notice one or more intruders, they turn hostile and attack.

Fireplace

A character who closely observes the fire can, with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check, tell that it’s a fire elemental. Zikran summoned the elemental and trapped it inside the fireplace, forcing it to heat both this room and the kitchen (area C5). Dealing damage to the fire elemental frees it and causes it to go berserk.

C5. Kitchen

This kitchen contains a large stove, cupboards and cabinets for storage, and a fireplace. Two ceramic jugs sit on a twelve-foot-high table in the middle of the room. One of the jugs is blue, the other orange. Standing next to this table is a cloud giant ghost going through the motions of preparing food, but without actual food or utensils—the act is just a mime.

See area C4 for a description of the fireplace. The stove is unheated.

The cloud giant ghost is indifferent toward the characters unless they disturb either of the jugs on the table, in which case the ghost turns hostile.

Treasure

The two jugs function as Alchemy Jug, except that neither produces acid or poison. The Alchemy Jug (Blue) can produce 1 quart of boiling hot tea, while the Alchemy Jug (Orange) can produce 1 gallon of soy sauce, in addition to their other properties.

C6. Second Floor Bedroom

This room was once a giant’s bedchamber. A huge four-poster bed stands against one wall. Other furnishings include a desk, chair, and three wardrobes, all sized for cloud giants. At the desk sits a spectral cloud giant wearing a fancy housecoat. It appears to be in the act of writing something, but without paper or pen—the act is just a mime.

Characters who observe the cloud giant ghost can tell that it’s weeping silently as it “writes.” This giant is doomed to spend eternity penning a farewell letter to its long-dead lover. The ghost defends itself if attacked but otherwise ignores the characters.

Treasure

The wardrobes contain clothes fit for a female cloud giant of noble status. In one of the wardrobes, the characters can find a pair of boots of the winterlands. They are giant-sized but shrink to fit whoever attunes to them.

C7. Zikran’s Basement Workshop

The characters can access the basement from the entrance hall (area area C2). If they try to do so, one of Zikran’s magical safeguards triggers, releasing two Water Elemental and six Ice Mephit. They appear in unoccupied spaces on the staircase and try to prevent intruders from reaching the basement. If Gazre-Azam is present, he can invoke his rank as a noble genie as soon as the elementals and mephits appear. When he does so, 1d6 of the mephits vanish as if affected by a banishment spell.

Once the characters have defeated these creatures, they can enter the basement.

This high-vaulted basement room is full of equipment similar to what you saw in Zikran’s abandoned laboratory. A bed, a chair, and a table sized for a person of human stature occupy one corner of the room. Stone tables arranged about the chamber are covered with half-finished machines, and a large dais built into the far side of the room holds a cannon mounted on a swivel. A dull blue glow emanates from the inside of the cannon’s barrel.

In the middle of the room is a glimmering white crystal, eight feet tall and four feet wide. It pulses with arcane and elemental energy, filling the room with whipping winds and biting cold. Standing next to the crystal is a water genasi with turquoise skin and blue robes. He is guarded by a water elemental and an air elemental.

Zikran stands in front of the crystal when the party arrives. He is a chaotic evil water genasi archmage with these changes:

• Zikran speaks Aquan, Common, Primordial, Sahuagin, and Undercommon. He has 144 hit points, resistance to acid damage, a swimming speed of 30 feet, and the ability to breathe air and water.
• He has prepared the conjure elemental spell in addition to his other spells.
• While in the basement, he gains a special action option (see “Elemental Cannon” below).

Genasi have strong ties to the Inner Planes and the blood of genies flowing through their veins. Like the marids of the Elemental Plane of Water, Zikran is turbulent and unpredictable.

Zikran was alerted to the characters' presence when they fought the elementals and mephits on the stairs. Now ready for action, he has cast mage armor, stoneskin, and mind blank on himself. He carries a handheld magic device that controls the elemental cannon. This device, shown in the accompanying illustration, looks like a metal rod with a tip shaped like a bird’s head. The air elemental and the water elemental obey Zikran’s orders.

Given a chance, Zikran brags about his plans to restore the cloud giants' keep to its original glory, turning it into a flying fortress that he can ride into battle. If a character is carrying Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome openly, Zikran offers the characters a chance to surrender and give up the book in exchange for their lives. If the party refuses this offer or if Zikran is unaware that the characters have the book, the genasi archmage and his elementals attack.

Elemental Cannon

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Zikran uses his handheld device to fire the cannon at one creature he can see, provided the creature is in the basement or on the staircase. Zikran’s target must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The basement furnishings provide half cover, should a creature wish to hide behind them.

The cannon is a Large object with AC 16, 80 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. It is mounted atop a swivel and bolted to the dais. The cannon draws power from the crystal in the middle of the room. This crystal sparks with elemental power whenever the cannon is about to fire. If the crystal is destroyed, both Zikran’s handheld device and the cannon become powerless. The crystal is a Large object with AC 13, 40 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

Development

When Zikran is defeated, the lock on Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome shatters and Gazre-Azam is released from the book. The djinni materializes in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the book and lets out a deep sigh of relief.

Treasure

The room contains assorted material components for the spells Zikran can cast and Zikran’s spellbook, which contains all the spells the archmage has prepared.

Conclusion

Once freed, Gazre-Azam offers to cast a wish spell on the characters' behalf. Unless he was treated terribly by the characters, he is unlikely to twist the wording of the party’s wish. If he wasn’t brought along, he teleports to the party now that he has free access to all his abilities.

If the party brought the djinni along and treated him well, he suggests an alternative to the wish spell: Gazre-Azam can imbue Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome with the properties of a censer of controlling air elementals, except it summons only Gazre-Azam. Altering the book in this way deprives Gazre-Azam of the ability to cast a wish spell for one year. The characters must weigh their decision against any promise they made to return Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome to Candlekeep.