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Regarding Speak with Dead, the PHB says "The priest needs a holy symbol and burning incense in order to cast this spell upon the body, remains, or a portion thereof. The remains are not expended." (p214)

There's no mention that the portion must be a specific part, nor that the body can't have been animated since death. So I think the portions that Ke'Sha used to regrow the trolls could count.

Interesting, I would have to look to see if there is further clarity in 2e. I have always run it as the corpse essentially needs a mouth to answer with, and that it does not affect undead. In later editions they clarify both of these points specifically. Granted the troll-grown from a finger now has a mouth, but he is also undead

I think you are mistaken.
The full description of the spell is:
"Upon casting a speak with dead spell, the priest is able to ask several questions of a dead creature in a set period of time and receive answers according to the knowledge of that creature. Of course, the priest must be able to converse in the language that the dead creature once used. The length of time the creature has been dead is a factor, since only higher level priests can converse with a long-dead creature. The number of questions that can be answered and the length of time in which the questions can be asked depend on the level of experience of the priest. Even if the casting is successful, such creatures are as evasive as possible when questioned. The dead tend to give extremely brief and limited answers, often cryptic, and to take questions literally. Furthermore, their knowledge is often limited to what they knew in life.
A dead creature of different alignment or of higher level or Hit Dice than the caster's level receives a saving throw vs. spell. A dead creature that successfully saves can refuse to answer questions, ending the spell. At the DM's option, the casting of this spell on a given creature might be restricted to once per week.

The priest needs a holy symbol and burning incense in order to cast this spell upon the body, remains, or a portion thereof. The remains are not expended. This spell does not function under water."

So:
1. "...the priest is able to ask several questions of a dead creature..." - dead, not undead.
2. "... A dead creature of different alignment or of higher level or Hit Dice than the caster's level receives a saving throw vs. spell..." - so the HD and alignment of the dead may be very different from the undead alignment and HD, therefore I think they really mean it to be dead.

But I agree there is room for interpretation of the last part. I'd assume the spell summons the spirit of the body/remains to be questioned. Then again, summon the spirit of the creature while it's body is animated as undead... not sure it can work. Skeletons and zombies usually described as losing all they knew while living, while other undead may preserve memories from their life, such as the ju-jus and spectre. Not sure if Mourkol was hounting the labyrinth when summoned, but we can ask him. Also if we meet other intelligent undead and Ke'Sha controls it, we can interrogate it.

Bish makes a good point about the intelligent undead; those can simply be commanded by Ke'Sha to answer. The zombies, not so much.

However, I will hint again that the troll quarters are very near... and there may be dead or 'soon to be dead' trolls there to question

Gee, maybe we should go check out the troll nests? Were they empty when Jag & Co went through yesterday? Or did they neglect to visit that location?

If our resident necromancer is good with that decision, I am too.

I'm fine with it. It's just that I need to speak their language. If they speak common or orcish it would be fine. Or any wizard can cast comprehend languages. By the way, the Trolls had their rings and I think Landro was able to wear them. Maybe they can help with the secret doors? Or anything else in the dungeon. What do you want to ask the dead anyway? How to open the secret door? Who are the snake people or something else?

How to operate secret doors is a good one. How many snake people are there. Where should we expect ambushes. How best to get around their defenses. What the DM's favorite ice cream flavor is. You know, just the really important stuff.

Styrius wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 12:31 pm “I don’t know how I missed that when I was viewing the room from outside.” Axid remarks. He notices that another sigil has been revealed. He waits to see if the mark will transfer to Jag.

Not so much that he missed it as this trigger was used before he was looking. Then the secret door was closed with a different trigger.

BishGada wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 8:32 am
(OOC: You know that in escape rooms the operator need to prepare the room after a party finishes it? To reset the triggers and everything. Think of the one that needs to do it here after he discovers all the mirrors were pried out of the walls and some banged really hard. )

I admit, this gave me a chuckle

That was my attempt at adding a bit of realism to Axid. Even though these are high level characters they still have shortcomings. He is attempting cover for not seeing it right off when things went down. Plus a bit of frustration at how things have gone down trying to deal with the room and disappearing “villains”.

Fair enough

TristenC wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 3:45 pm

BishGada wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 8:32 am(OOC: You know that in escape rooms the operator need to prepare the room after a party finishes it? To reset the triggers and everything. Think of the one that needs to do it here after he discovers all the mirrors were pried out of the walls and some banged really hard. )

I admit, this gave me a chuckle

On that note, who wants to blow up the arms of the statue?

Maybe after we determine we don't need them to continue deeper into the Labyrinth at any rate.

Lol