Menos Xuekaine

Name: Menos Xuekaine

Race: Drow Elf

Gender: Male

Bestows Quest(s): Haunted Library

Receives Quest(s): Haunted Library

Location: Drowning Sorrows Tavern, in House Jorasco. He's back against the far right wall as you enter.

Drowning Sorrows Tavern

If you try to talk to him while at level 4 or lower, he will reply:

• Menos Xuekaine: I strongly suggest you find another spot to occupy. I'm not in the mood to be bothered.

If you are at level 5 or higher, however, he will reply:

• Menos Xuekaine: Have you ever heard the name Tamask Xi'Razdyn, <class>?
• You: No. I've never heard it before.
• Menos Xuekaine: I take it that you have not been in Stormreach long, for his name instills fear across the breadth of Xen'drik. Lord Tamask Xirazdyn was one of the greatest necromancers ever to set foot on this cursed continent.
• You: You said 'was?' Tamask is dead?
• Menos Xuekaine: Well -- 'dead' is a relative term for a necromancer as powerful as Tamask. Still, he has been absent for more than a decade, and his remains have not been found. I have searched for two years without uncovering a sign of him. Whether or not he is dead, he is gone.
• You: Two years is a long time.
• Menos Xuekaine: I was his apprentice. I felt it was my duty to search for him. But in doing so, I neglected my other duties, and the master's estate was lost to the forces he once commanded so easily! If I had only a few more years to learn from my mentor, I'd be able to take back our home....
• You: What happened to your home?
• Menos Xuekaine: The master's estate holds one of the greatest arcane collections in all of Stormreach. Books, scrolls, and artifacts beyond price were stored in those halls. More importantly, many creatures of death and darkness were bound there for the purposes of study and experimentation. The library was once open to any student of magic, but when Lord Tamask disappeared, its doors were quickly locked. Tamask's shackled minions soon realized that their captor was no more, and now the place is overrun with hordes of the angry dead.
• You: What prevents you from taking Tamask's place as their master?
• Menos Xuekaine: I simply lack the power. Lord Tamask forbade me from studying his most powerful grimoires, and those held the secrets of restraining his evil captives. If I had access to those books, I could eradicate the lot of them—or bring them back under control and reopen Tamask's library to a new generation of students. I've tried hiring mercenary help, but there are few willing to trespass on Tamask's old domain.
• You: You're sure these books are still in the library?
• Menos Xuekaine: They could not have been removed without my knowledge. If you are interested in undertaking this task, I require only three books: the Tomes of Blood, Flesh and Bone. They will be well-guarded by Tamask's former minions. Find them and return them to me, and you will be richly rewarded.
• You: I shall retreive your books for you. (Bestow quest)
• Menos Xuekaine: Remember that I was Lord Tamask's student for many years, yet I dare not undertake this quest on my own. The undead you meet will be powerful, and they will not run shrieking at the sight of a single cleric. You have been warned.

Talking to him after acquiring the quest, but before completion, will make him say:

• Menos Xuekaine: Remember, the return of those tomes is your priority. That is all I am asking of you.

On completion of quest, he will congratulate you with the following:

• Menos Xuekaine: I am impressed by your show of competence. It pleases me as much as it galls me to see you succeed where I have failed so many times. As promised, you may choose your reward.
• You: Good luck to you.

After completing the quest and take the reward, if you talk to him again, he will reply:

• Menos Xuekaine: I am impressed by your show of competence. It pleases me as much as it galls me to see you succeed where I have failed so many times.
• You: Is there anything else you need done?
• Menos Xuekaine: Yes, in fact, there is. In the years since my master left, I myself have taken on an apprentice, Archin Muriose. I have tasked him with some difficult research regarding the Keeper, and there are several scrolls he's seeking.
• You: I will speak to him at once.