In the Halls of Undermountain: Halaster

Halaster is an NPC in In the Halls of Undermountain.

Isn't He Dead?

Officially, Halaster is dead.

The Lords of Waterdeep hold this to be a fact and had him legally declared so, although historians note that this is not the first time Halaster has been declared dead, and this time they don't even have a body to prove it. Around the time when the Spellplague first hit, there were visions in the city of Halaster's death and an earthquake in Waterdeep. Adventurers went down looking for Halaster and found evidence of a massive spell that had gone out of control. With a certain amount of eagerness to believe it true, the Lords of Waterdeep took this as evidence of his demise and declared his threat to the city over.

Of course, ever since the first official notice of his death came out, rumors started that he was in fact alive. Though the upper levels of Undermountain seem to have lost some of their magical potency, no one is certain if that is true of the lower levels, of which there are many. The occasional Halaster sighting had been reported both inside and outside of Waterdeep, and while the Lords have taken these sighting seriously, they have yet to get a definite confirmation on his survival. Rumor has it that several months ago, Dagult Neverember, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, brought in a powerful diviner to try and answer the question as to whether Halaster was dead or not. According to that rumor, asking the question drove the diviner insane.

Officially, however, Halaster is dead.