One of the gifts for the Mad Poet, discovered written in the margins of Men and Vultures: Denizens of the Darkened Depths and Dead Skies.
In Chapter 100, the party was able to determine that three of the books from Lowls' footlocker were of particular use in researching this gift: The Codex of Three Prescriptions, Manual of Silence, and The Unified Manual of Understanding.
In Chapter 101, on 5 Kuthona, Stazi (aided by Vik) began research on this gift and uncovered the following information:
- Lowls discovered that the Mad Poet was obsessed with undeath and thought he would appreciate a great token of undead power. Thema believed that mining the histories of the great Leng Ghoul civilizations in the Dreamlands would yield a relic worthy of hunting down. She grew obsessed with the odd and tragic history of the necropolis of Igguzqaiz.
Later that chapter, at the Forsaken Caravanserai, the Yellow King (aided by Vik and Grip) completed the research into this gift and uncovered the following:
- Igguzqaiz has a long history of bejeweling and enchanting the skulls of their greatest kings and queens, and the skull of their most famous monarch, Queen Chalthas, had even been set with Leng rubies. Notes in Thema’s hand indicate that the crew chose the route of stealth for this mission and the Triangle Man successfully snuck into the vault where it was kept and stole the skull of Chalthas out from under the ghouls.
- The pass phrase that would allow Dora to use the Dreamlands Excursion occult ritual to travel directly to Igguzqaiz.
In Chapter 130, the party began their quest for this gift, completing the ritual that transported them to Igguzqaiz. Bound by a Greater Planar Binding spell cast by the cats currently inhabiting the necropolis, they made their way across the war-torn city.
In Chapter 131, the party began their foray into the Plaza of Bones, fighting multiple constructs in the entrance promenade. Vik caught a glimpse of two Gugs lying in ambush inside the Plaza, and the sight of them drove him mad, filling him with a deep terror of death.
In Chapter 132, the party battled and eventually defeated the Gugs, but at terrible cost. Grip and Dora were also driven mad at the sight of them, and Vik’s lucid dream body was slain. Forced to continue without Vik, the remaining party members explored the Plaza of Bones. They discovered an ancient coin apparently left there previously by Rony/the Triangle Man, and Grip retrieved the skull of Scarcrim Vost.
First Reference: Chapter 99
Other Notable References: Chapter 100, Chapter 101, Chapter 130, Chapter 131, Chapter 132