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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1187875" data-attributes="member: 151">Quite true...but I envision Fraz as working towards something bigger...mostly increasing his power base dramatically, and manipulating everyone into doing his dirtywork for him.  The Bestiary was a storehouse for a being called the ShadowTaker.  Once a powerful Suel sorceror involved in the downfall of the Suel Empire, he turned to worshipping Tharizdun and eventually transformed into a Worm-who-Walks, and began quietly subjugating most of the major magical societies of the Flanaess.  He also captured various beings of varying power and usefulness and bound them to this prison.  He could then pull them out of the prison and use them like a set of clothes, leaving his original form safely at home, as it were. Without getting into Alienist territory, suffice it to say that the Bestiary was actually a subversion of an artifact of Pelor that the party wanted liberated from his evil clutches (nad wanted to remove his liberty, as well). My prevailing theory is that Fraz manipulated the players and others to eliminate the ShadowTaker and use the Githyanki to distract the players.  The Gith of course, look advantage as soon as possible, staging an invasion during the ensuing chaos that came from the ShadowTaker's 'death throes'.    In case I didn't mention this prior, I should explain that.  The ShadowTaker spent the better part of the last half-millenia infiltrating and controlling all of the world's magic guilds.  When he was destroyed, a layer of spells that he had lain down all triggered, taking 60-70% of the worlds mages with him.  This counterstroke created more than a little chaos, as you might expect.  During this time, with some help from Fraz, the Githyanki begin their incursion. How does Fraz know how to help?  He arranged it all, of course, what with him being a 'friend' of Orcus, and all.  Orcus has violated one of the most serious rules of interplanar behavior, and transposed himself to Rauxes on the Prime, and then done his level best to 'seal' the prime against planar travel.  Fraz has negotiated for the Gith to be allowed to bypass this restriction, without telling them how he's managed it.   Hmmm....ideas germinating, now. Here's another topic to consider:  whenever any of the Shadowtaker's servants were slain in the Crypts, they would mutter the following statement:  "The Bargain must be Kept."  The first group, a series of advanced and classed Barghests, were originally collectively called *you guessed it) The Bargainers.  When any creature who uters this statment died, the players would visually see the soul literally ripped from the dying body, and yanked by a red cord of energy (like a silver cord) and pulled away through the walls.   Originally, I intended the bargain to simply be more power from the Shadowtaker in return for their souls, and that there would be one ultra-super Barghest who would be called 'The Bargainer'.  This never came to pass, and I disliked the idea after time passed.  So now, all of the Shadowtaker's servants have said it, and most died for the bargain.  In the most recent session, the players destroyed a former servant of the ST, and the same thing happened, but the soul was yanked skywards out of sight. The question then becomes: WHAT IS THE BARGAIN, and who holds it?  I'm playing with tieing it into the Githyanki queen's consumption of souls, somehow, or Fraz...but I'm not sure how, just yet.  Suggestions, anyone?</blockquote>

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