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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thanee" data-source="post: 4797168" data-attributes="member: 478">What's going onRevelationsDay 5 of MirtulThe ancient Valhingen Graveyard is indeed overrun by undead. There is also a strange, and very powerful, magical effect, which causes the area of the graveyard to be shrouded in darkness and conjures up a thunderstorm, when someone sets foot onto the territory.Day 6 of MirtulIn an underground dwelling beneath Kuto's Well, the mighty half-orc Norris the Gray had an unusually motley crew of humanoids - some kobolds, goblins, and orcs - under his command. They have taken adventurers as prisoners in the past, who were meant to be given to 'the Boss'. It is possible, that Jade's missing brother Amber had fallen prey to them.Day 8 of MirtulThere have been undead in Sokol Keep, indeed. They were the remains of the former guards, who were still defending the island keep against any intruders, bound by a powerful spell cast by high priest Ferran Martinez. Martinez himself still haunted the old keep's chapel as a spectre and was released, like the other guards' souls, when he was convinced, that his duty was done. He told the adventurers some useful knowledge, before he faded away. “You won't need the passcodes anymore, once I am gone, my spell will cease to exist as well, as it is bound to my very essence. The safety of Sokol Keep lies in your hands now. There are still some weapons in the armory, which might be of use for you. Walk right through the north wall and you will find them. Be careful, though, the hordes that once invaded the city were led by three dangerous beings, the very cause for Phlan's fall. Unblessed creatures imbued with the might of a magical pool. The great generals of the evil horde, Tyranthraxus, Edranka and Torath. With their powers they ruled and united all else, driving forward to destroy us all. The sage Mantor worked hard to gather records of all these things, but they are probably lost now, his library long since overrun.”On their way back from Sokol Keep, the party was attacked by a giant frog, emerging from the poisonous river. The creature was wearing a necklace with a strange, pyramid-shaped magic talisman.Day 10 of MirtulThe orcs, that have set up camp around and likely desecrated the old temple on the eastern riverside, are united under the banner of the Black Hand, Bane, the Lord of Darkness, god of hatred and tyranny. Their band, led by the mighty half-orc cleric Mace and his brutal lieutenant, the ogre Gruul, has been defeated. The remaining orcs have fled the region. The temple has been liberated from the Banites.As Dirtan had claimed, there actually was a rather big treasure hidden in the old temple still. The valuables have been brought to safety within New Phlan now.There apparantly is a rather large band of thieves and bandits hiding somewhere in the residential area at the eastern shore of the Barren River. They are led by a flamboyant man, a heavily armored dwarf and a female mage, apparantly, and there is at least a hint of honor among these thieves.Day 11 of MirtulThere was an auction for a magic wand, that supposedly shall strike fear into the hearts of one's enemies, on Podol Plaza, which was won by a wealthy hobgoblin chieftain. A man with dark hair, a full beard, wearing striped pants, a long, brown tunic and a pendant of a blazing star hanging from a chain around his neck also showed some interest in the item, but after examination his interest seemed to have vaned. Right after the auction there was a commotion, and a sphere of darkness could be seen near the podium.Unsurprisingly, the area around Valjevo Castle is heavily guarded, especially the main access, Stojanow Gate. However, the courtyard offers plenty of hiding places and is much lighter on guards than the surrounding walls.Somewhere near the old textile house in the monster-infested quarters of Phlan lives a man called Indel and his love, a woman found and freed in the cells just outside of Valjevo Castle where Amber was also held.Day 12 of MirtulA madman was found in Mantor's library. His words were confusing, but maybe there was some truth hidden in them as well?“No, noo, NOOO! Don't go there! Don't go on the hill!”“He is wrapped in fire, and so cruel!”“The big one, the evil one. In the castle of flowers. He is not human, I tell you, not at all. He is coming, IT IS COMING!”In Mantor's Library some of the books were still readable, covering the subjects of Philosophy, Rhetoric, Mathematics and History.Some of the books stand out and might contain useful bits of knowledge.The Philosophy section includes natural philosophy, theories of art, and supernatural sciences. Nearly all the material is dry reading, but there is a scroll entitled Fyerdetha’s Discourses On Power. This scroll is a study of supernatural sources of power. Among all its dry text, it has this to say about the Pool of Radiance.“Fountains and pools hold great power that can only be reached by performing proper ceremonies. Most sure of these is immersion, for in this way the bather surrenders himself to the spirit of the water. That spirit or some portion of it thereafter enters into the bather, whereby he gains great powers. Woe to the weak-willed whose spirits are sure to be consumed by demons that put even the strong at great risk. Yurax holds that the Falls of lxce are greatest of all these. Morden writes that the Pool of Radiance is greater still.”Elsewhere in the philosophy section is Urgund’s Description of Darkness, a grim account of his imprisonment in the lower realms. It is primarly a listing of names and palaces, the horrors there being beyond written description.“...and seated foremost in the Hall of Minor Courtiers were the lesser powers: Maram of the Great Spear; Haask, Voice of Hargut; Tyranthraxus the Flamed One; Borem of the Lake of Boiling Mud; and Camnod the Unseen. These too fell down and became servants of the great lord Bane.”Other titles (of no particular use) include the Meditations, The Harmony of the Rock, Strom’s Discussions of Poetics, the Chronicles of Arram, and a Discourse of the Nature of Writing.Rhetoric: There seems to be nothing of immediate use here. Most of it is speeches from famous murder trials, pronouncements, public debates, and the like.Mathematics: There seems to be nothing of use here, although there are many ponderous and bizzare books on all forms of mathematics — geometry, calculus, metamagical math, etc.History: This includes biographies, court histories, and geography. There is little or no distinction between myth, legend and reality, so the material is often quite confusing. However, this is obviously the greatest source of information about Ancient Phlan. The following books seem especially useful.Lex Geographica: This is a atlas drawn by the great mathematician Tomarus. In the collection is a map of Phlan and the lands to the north. The work bears no date, but is over 200 years old. Naturally since that time, there have been changes both natural and man-made, reducing the total accuracy of the map.The History of the North: This is an inaccurate and highly colorful account of the northern lands. When paging through the book one can find all sorts of colorful exaggerations, obviously wrong. Other parts seem quite accurate. There is one passage of particular interest.“Ten days ride north of the Varm is a barren and dead country called the Lee-wai, land-in-pain or land-of-caused-pain. Further to the south this place is know as the Tortured Land. It is said to be an evil place, shunned by the Riders. They speak little of this land but yearly during Ches they make a trip into its heart. Their they go to adorate the spirit of a glowing. spring. This they have done for ages and so shall they do for years to come.”The Grand Historian’s Records of the Arts of War: The binding on this mouldering old book crumbles at a touch. This is a single volume of a massive work dealing with the history of warfare from before time was even recorded (such records being of course possible through magical means). In it there are innumerable little mentions of this group defeating that group and being attacked by another group who in turn are attacked by a fourth, etc. There are accounts of abductions, failed alliances, broken treaties, petty squabbles, diplomatic intrigue and more. The book’s tone is strongly moralistic, attempting to set forth the proper principals of governence in times of warfare. It is also very anecdotal. From the crumbling pages comes the following passage:“At this time their ruling the Twisted Ones was a powerful general named Tyranthraxus. He strode before his armies cloaked in flame and led the Riders out of the waste. At his hand the kingdom of Barze was conquered. Turning south he led his army to conquer the Horreb and the Vane. Tyranthraxus was a cruel man and leveled all that he had taken, murdering the princes of these lands. But the flame that surrounded him consumed him, destroying his body. Freed of its shell, it flew among the men of his army, lighting on each and claiming it. It was then when Baron Schodt imprisoned Tyranthraxus in a vial of water which shone like the light of day. This he sank in the watery depths of Lake Longreach, defeating the armies Tyranthraxus had raised.”Day 15 of MirtulThe wizard Yarash was living in a strange, black pyramid on a small island in the Barren River, several miles upriver from Phlan. From there he had pursued his plot to become the master of the Moonsea region. His plans evolved around two goals, the contamination of the Moonsea's waters, a process that would have taken decades and that was started in the Barren River by polluting its waters with a special alchemical substance he had created and pumped into the river from the pyramid by his lizardmen slaves. His second goal was the creation of an army of mutated aquatic creatures, which could surivive the contamination. With gruesome experiments on live specimen, he continued his research in this direction, and apparantly did have a few breakthroughs already, made evident by the creatures the adventurers had to fight to reach him. With Yarash's death, this plot has been foiled, however.The freed lizardmen have pledged the assistance of their tribe to the adventurers and teached them a special code, which allows them to enter the settlement unhindered. The old chieftain is said to have lived here even when the dragon army raided the region, and might know a few things others have long forgotten.</blockquote>

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