NPC Information
Godo of Diarun: A half-orc aristocrat. Against all odds, Godo is indeed a noble, if a minor one. He surprisingly was made the legitimate heir of his family by his father. Godo's family took a great hit when the illegitimate half-orc surprisingly was made the legitimate heir, and Godo works to repair the damage done this way. He is a collector of art, mostly statues, and a rival of Seran a'Larat in this pursuit. Godo possesses one piece of the Dance of Souls, a collection of art that incorporates illusion. He has long hoped to obtain Seran's piece, and vice versa, but these efforts were in vain so far. His residence is in Diarun, a coastal city that is farther from Orussus than Ravensdale. Sometimes, he is accussed to be financing an orc uprising, to which he replies that he seeks to uplift the station of orcs through peaceful means.
Knowledge (nobility)[sblock]
DC 10 - Against all odds, Godo is indeed a noble. He surprisingly was made the legitimate heir of his family
DC 15 - Godo's family took a great hit when he surprisingly was made the legitimate heir of his family. Godo works to repair the damage done this way. He is a collector of art, and a rival of Seran a'Larat in this pursuit.
DC 20 - Godo possesses one piece of the Dance of Souls, a collection of art that incorporates illusion.[/sblock]
Seran a'Larat and his wife: A blond human aristocrat with green eyes. Seran a'Larat is a minor noble who collects art, especially paintings. He speaks a fake accent he claims to be noble, though he tends to lapse to normal speech at times, especially when angry. His wife is reputedly enchanted with a special painting in his gallery. She is rarely seen, and some whisper that she is insane.
Seran possesses one piece of the Dance of Souls, a collection of art that incorporates illusion. It is rumored that this is the picture his wife is enchanted with. His residence is in Ravensdale. There are some rumors that he keeps a vampire in his residence, which some people claim to be his wife. The Lady a'Larat is pale, and long black hair frames her face, obscuring her ears. It is unclear whether she is a human or a half-elf. Her voice is distant, but focussed. In her rare public appearances, she usually wears an elaborate white dress. She has referred to the Dance of Souls Despaired as her children. It seems no one quite knows what her condition is - perhaps not even Seran.
Knowledge (nobility)[sblock]
DC 10 - Seran a'Larat is a minor noble who collects art. His wife is reputedly enchanted with a special painting in his gallery.
DC 15 - He speaks a fake accent he believes to be noble. His wife is rarely seen, and some whisper that she is insane
DC 20 - Seran possesses one piece of the Dance of Souls, a collection of art that incorporates illusion. It is rumored that this is the picture his wife is enchanted with.[/sblock]
Turlach: Was a guard in the employ of Seran a'Larat. Tall and bearded, Turlach has red hair, brown eyes, and a particularly long nose. He stole one piece of the Dance of Souls for the Ashen Talon. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Deleth: Was a guard in the employ of Godo of Diarun. Tall and bearded, Deleth is distinguished by his blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar across his face. He stole one piece of the Dance of Souls for the Ashen Talon. He was one of the defenders of the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Doran and Tegar: Half-orc guards in Lathirn. Rude.
Janur: A man with a great hatred for his life in Lathirn, but cannot leave due to his debts. He likes games (and seems a bit too eager to enter them for his own good), and considers himself one of the reasons "why the scimitar still dances."
Kenatur 'Ken' ai Turakin: The owner of the Dancing Scimitar, a Sairundani whose travels have stranded him in Lathirn. A rotund man with dark hair and eyes, the church of Taka suspects him to be a cleric of Geoth. He is in great debt that constantly threatens to put the Dancing Scimitar out of business.
Officer Garum: A worg working for the Lathirn city watch. He seems to have a understanding of human law that is unusual for a creature of the wilds. He was responsible for the arrangement that may or may not save the Dancing Scimitar from ruin. He is 'leashed' to a half-orc who obeys him to perform actions Garum himself cannot perform.
Officer Samuel: A former member of the Lathirn city watch and a member of the Ashen Talon. He was dissatisfied with his work, and the fact that Garum overtook him in his career. He has fled the city after being revealed, his current whereabouts unknown, though he appeared in the Red Dragon Inn some time after his flight from Lathirn. He was responsible for covering up several of the Talon's actions.
Samuel appeared in one of Banion's Bloodstained Dreams as an enemy who knew each of Banions moves beforehand. Apparently, he was a disguise of someone else in that dream, but Banion woke up before seeing who.
Tennar: A gambler and auction house owner, though he apparently has other dealings as well. A large redhead. Tennar was attacked by a team of the Ashen Talon because they believed that he has some kind of access to a piece of the Dance of Souls (which he neither confirmed nor denied). He managed to knock one of them out before he was saved by Garum. He owns a mercyful dagger called Morte. He has stated that he considers adventuring to be too risky and unpredictable, and that he prefers auctions and gambling. He loaned Azaroth a crude illusion magic item to keep up the impression that Azaroth wants to deal in art, and has provided the group with a permit to loan mounts in Lornsten. When Azaroth returned to Lathirn, he was away on business travel.
Nareene: A barmaid at the Dancing Scimitar.
Fourdrinker: The nickname of a half-orc member of the thieves' guild, responsible for making contact with prospective buyers (or victims, as the case may be). His nickname derives from his recognition sign, having four mugs in front of him. He doesn't seem to drink from them, instead dividing them among the patrons. He also does not seem to fight when things turn sour, and flees.
Jeriane: A former barmaid at the Dancing Scimitar. She and Samuel are supposedly lovers. She is a red-headed elan psion and a member of the Ashen Talon, acting as a recruiter, finding people suitably unhappy about their lifes and convincing them to join. She has fled from the city after being revealed. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Taras: An old man and former rogue living somewhat outside Lornsten. He is white-haired and uses a cane to walk. A big scar crosses his face - right through where his right eye would be. He is quite thin, and he was propably very dexterous in his peak years - and he is still quite fast for an old man. He is the only survivor of an ill-fated group of adventurers that travelled to the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams, never reaching it before the dreams caused one of his companions to lose his mind and attack the others. He buried them and retired from adventuring, now considering it foolish business. He tries to come up with insulting names for those he talks with, and is generally unpleasant.
Cadoreysien: A half-elf fighter of the Ashen Talon, with short brown hair that reveals her short pointed ears, and green hate-filled eyes. She has the reputation of being a loudmouth. She is short, but tough, and has indicated that she murdered people who thought she might be an easy victim. She has claimed to be the unwanted child of a careless couple that was shoved off to the scum of Lathirn.
Maliwan, Merriweth, Afra, Arewiel, Creriw: A male elven wizard, a female human rogue, a male human fighter, a female human ranger, and a male human cleric of Taka who were companions of Cadoreysien and also members of the Ashen Talon. Maliwan has been hinted to be the leader of the six. Afra died during the battle against the heroes, from wounds suffered due to a fall. Arewiel appears to like animals better than people.
Maliwan appeared in a Bloodstained Dream of Beamer that concerned a supposed betrayal of Azaroth. In that dream, Maliwan was an ally of Beamer against Azaroth, who had performed a demonic ritual.
Merriveth appeared in a Bloodstained Dream of Banion, where both were rivals and master assassins. She somehow managed to kill him while he thought he killed her in that dream.
Kad, Astoadric, Digimos, Astrid, Kaeriewen: Garrison of the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams and members of the Ashen Talon. Kad, Astoadric, and Digimos are male humans, while Astrid and Kaeriewen are female humans. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
Prodith: Female dwarven wizard, and a higher-ranking member of the Ashen Talon. She captured and tortured Azaroth, and is aware of the Terror. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Drilaaywen: Female half-drow (half-Nesfylim?) cleric of Lilitu, and a higher-ranking member of the Ashen Talon. She captured and tortured Azaroth, confronted the other PCs, and is aware of the Terror. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
The drunkard: A man in Ravensdale who sees many spirits of the alcoholic kind, then sees spirits of the other kind. He has claimed to have seen the Lady a'Larat drinking blood as a vampire, and the city being under attack by giant rats. He isn't being taken seriously, and seems to always attract a laughing crowd. His clothings indicate that he isn't exactly poor, but he is poorly groomed and paranoid.
Organization Information
Lathirn Thieves Guild: Prides itself in being able to get almost everything, for a price. They may be willing to step on the toes of the church of Taka for the right price, but shy away from stepping on the toes of the Ashen Talon.
The Ashen Talon: The Ashen Talon is a secret organization working in cells and using infiltration to achieve its various goals. It seems that the Talon works to keep from being seen as a threat, using some resources to appear incompetent, and keeping even the incompetence hidden, making it even harder to get real information on the organization.
The Ashen Talon use minor magic items for recognition, Talon Insignia, a small black talon that is linked to a certain member. If two talons are pressed against each other by their respective rightful owners, they produce the illusion of falling ashes to show this. These talons radiate faint divination and illusion magic.
Various members indicated that the Ashen Talon may seek, and might have the means to, reforge the world in some fashion.
The Lathirn cell has been described as not being the largest. The actual size of the cell is unknown, but it seems there were at least nine members.
The garrison of the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams was expecting replacements from Lathirn (which the group ambushed), and a search team from the mountains (which did not appear during the adventure). Turlach may have been part of the search team.
Notes found in the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams speak of an Ashen Oracle, which may be an important factor in the dealings of the Talon. The (or an?) Ashen Oracle may have appeared in dreams of the heroes to warn them against revealing the Talon. Those dreams managed to pierce the non-dreaming effect some of the characters suffered from.
The Ashen Talon appears to have agents widespread, and access to much information and large funds. At least one kobold in Eskaron's clan held a Talon Insignia. The Ashen Talon seems to recruit several of its members from people who dislike their lot in life.
Loose Ends/Unresolved Issues
What are the other pieces of the Dance of Souls, and why does the Talon seek them? Does the combined Dance of Souls have special powers after all?
What is the Terror Beneath the Keep?
Who is the mercane that travelled to the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams, and why did he seek it?
What ails the Lady a'Larat if she isn't a vampire, and why?
Legends
The Dance of Souls: The Dance of Souls is a collection of art objects incorporating illusion magic, of unknown size, though many sources say that there are nine pieces. They supposedly were part of a dragon's hoard, but currently two are in the hand of collectors while the location of the others is unknown.
A wild theory of some people says that the Dance of Souls may show additional powers if all pieces are together, but most sages dismiss this claim.
Seran a'Larat calls the painting named Dance of Souls Despaired as his own - a nighttime landscape, with a varying number of spirits floating above it. His wife is reportedly enchanted by this piece. When found in the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams, the paining was so filled with spirits that the landscape was barely visible. This was no longer the case at the a'Larat residence.
In Godo of Diarun's possession is the Dance of Souls Perfect, a small silver disk capable of creating the illusion of up to five metallic dancers. When found in the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams, it displayed a single bronze dancer, sitting and apparently saddened. At the a'Larat residence, a silver, brass and gold figurine danced.
An unnamed collector possessed the Dance of Souls Enamored, an exquisite facsimile of a large harp. It could not be played, yet it created the most beautiful musics, while angels, illusionary of course, flew around it. He never wanted to part with it, said he would take it with him on his move. Godo and Seran never found out where he went.
According to notes found in the Keep of Bloodstained Dreams, a tower in the Stonespike Mountains holds another piece of the Dance of Souls, but it is not known where exactly that tower lies. A map suggests that the Ashen Talon has searched through roughly one-third of the Stonespikes already.
The Terror Beneath the Keep: It appears that the source of the Bloodstained Dreams is a terror of some kind imprisoned somewhere beneath the keep. Feeding off the sanity of intelligent beings soothes it, but the often inevitable killing causes it to stir. It seems the goal of the terror is to wake, becoming more and more powerful the more awake it is. To this end, it sends out its dreams, and rewards killing with information. The Ashen Talon's goal seems to be to keep the terror slumbering.
The high-ranking Talon members apparently kept the Terror a secret from the lower ranks, explaining the visions and dreams differently. They seemed to fear the possibility that the Terror be worshiped or waked, at least prematurely. There does seem to be a cult dedicated to the terror.
Azaroth may have had closer contact to the Terror beneath in some dreams, and might have felt its presence, though those might have also been torture-induced nightmares. In the first, he experienced
[sblock]
Darkness eternal, what does it hide?
I'm farther than the farthest starmoth
Crawling under your skin
I wander, I slumber
Caught in freedom
Purer than the Angels
Crueler than the Fiends
Deep beneath, Deep within
Mightier that a million soldiers
Weaker than a breeze
Confined in omnipresence
Stranger Realities
I sense the fighting I bring
it stirs me
I sense the souls I consume
it soothes me
I sense a presence, calling my name
Promises of power
It seeks
That insignificant fly.
A waste to even swat it.
Did Azaroth really hear those words? Was there not a presence he felt? Looming over him like a large boot, ready to crush him? A chamber, shrinking by the second? Pressure against the chest?
Then, it is gone.
[/sblock]
*In the second, he experienced
[sblock]
The darkness grows darker, more detailed. A fiery frost rushes along the grassy desert. A vast nothingness resides in wandering. So vast, Azaroth senses but an atom of it, and that atom is so powerful, it would likely destroy him if it did glance at him, give him more than a passing thought. The nothingness wanders far over Azaroth, mostly oblivious to his presence, and acidid screeches start to consume his mind, sparks of night consume his body, all because of the mere presence of the nothingness - it is not even touching him. If Azaroth had to guess with his burned, frozen mind, the nothingness is worlds away, yet it almost destroys him...
And with that, Azaroth's eyes open, into a dark room, uncertain what was and what was not a dream...
[/sblock]
Notes
This game was a victim of the Big Crash, completely obliterating the single side thread created for Azaroth's capture, but that thread was reconstructed from Google cache.