ok, I finally got big enough i thgought to kill the lich in the bridge area, after a hard fight i did kill it and got the mage staff,,,, now how the hell does one get out of there? I opened the door and went to the stair but alas no stair icon appears, no door icon, no pas to new area icon , nothing, there is a machine of some kind in the room but i cant turn it on, a culdron is boiling with a cryptic message so how does one get out of here? any help would be appreciated

stick the beholder's eye in the cauldron and then go to the contraption at the top of the room

Where is this area? I'm always up for a fight with some evil undead!