so at the flea market I got an old Chivalry and Sorcery module and I haven't purchased anything so railroady since the last time I got an issue of Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette.
Doubtless the reason the wraiths help the PCs out of prison in THAT mandated encounter is that they split popcorn together while watching the NPCs fight earlier.
The author suggests after the Necromancer runs off (as the PCs aren't allowed to kill him), the GM might mandate that they resurrect the NPC wizard.