# The Drowned Library

> From the Curse of Strahd game wiki (it covers the whole game, spoilers included): https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-drowned-library.html. Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy, not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

> [!infobox]
> ![loc drowned library 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-drowned-library-1.webp)
> **Region:** [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/van-richtens-tower.md) · level 8
> **Resting:** Risky
> **Light:** dark
> **Getting here:** [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower.md)
> **Quests:** [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-drowned-library.md)

## Overview

Khazan's library, cut into the rock under Lake Baratok and reached by an old well-shaft on the shore: rows of shelves gone soft with damp, half of it flooded black, and the great catalogue desk that was never a desk (The Drowned Library, docs/story/side_quests.md).

A long low hall under the lake, shelf after shelf of swollen books, the far half standing in still black water. The air is wet paper and cold stone, and in the middle of it all, a great catalogue desk of lacquered oak with a hundred little drawers.

**Resting:** Risky: a rest here can be interrupted.

![loc drowned library overview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-drowned-library-overview.webp)
*The whole place from above.*

## Getting here

### Ways in

- **From [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower.md):** Down the old well-shaft

### Ways out

| # | Exit | Leads to | Only when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up the well-shaft to the shore | [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower.md) |  |
| 2 | Up the well-shaft to the shore | [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower.md) |  |

## Map

![drowned library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/maps/drowned-library.svg)

**Key:** gold, people; red, containers; purple, hidden finds; teal, skill checks; white, exits; orange, traps. The numbers match the lists on this page.

### Close up

![loc drowned library spot1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-drowned-library-spot1.webp)
*the great catalogue desk*

## People

> [!note]- Who turns up at points in the story (1)
> - **[Xaver](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/xaver.md)**, The stacks (#3): when quest.the drowned library

## What to find

The containers here also get random magic items and potions, rolled for a party of level 8 the first time you come ([Random Treasure](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/random-treasure.md)). Hidden finds need a Search (F) nearby; the party's best roll counts.

## Fights

- *The catalogue desk opens all its drawers at once, and every one of them has teeth. Round the room, two…*, in [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-drowned-library.md): [The Index](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/the-index.md), [Mimic](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/mimic.md). Part of [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-drowned-library.md).

## Quests and lore

- [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-drowned-library.md): Something whispers up the old well on the shore of Lake Baratok, from the archmage Khazan's library under the lake: don't come down.