The Fourth Sending of Darkness - Monthly Summary
Asheron's Call - Leafcull, 10 P.Y. (Nov '99)
Nearly 11 years since the death of the Dereth Olthoi Queen, and after a long lull in Isparian arrivals, a great surge of new Aluvian, Gharu'ndim, and Sho adventurers were called from Ispar to Dereth by mysterious portals in their homelands.
Sudden Season - Frostfell, 10 P.Y. (Dec '99)
In the month known as Frostfell, the isle of Dereth was beset by a sudden freeze. As mages scrambled to explain the dropping temperatures, the snowline dipped down from the lofty peaks of the Lost Wish and Linvak mountain ranges, until the entire island was coated with several inches of snow. Even the Gharu'ndim, deep in the hot and barren A'mun desert, awoke one morn to find their stately brick courtyards blanketed with white. In Samsur, the Fountain of Musansayn froze solid. Tailors around Dereth quickly set to work creating warm robes that reflected the style of each of the heritage groups.
Somewhere in the wastes, the exploration party of Sir Joffre Tremblant fell afoul of dark forces. This legendary Knight of the Order of the Golden Flame had gone in search of a fabled lost city alluded to in certain Empyrean texts. At first, his party was presumed lost in the blinding snows. Intrepid bands followed his meandering path from Arwic to Stonehold, gathering clues to his final destination. Along the way, many assisted the aims of Lady Tallial of Neydisa Castle or those of her rival MacDugal in the Bandit Castle. Others grappled with the Hoary Mattekar, a ferocious mountain creature the size of a house. The hides of these creatures, when given to the skilled tradesmen of Dereth, were quickly turned into fine Mattekar Robes.
With the assistance of the scholars of Zaikhal, the search parties discovered the path to the mysterious underground city of Frore. Here the fate of the Tremblant Party stood revealed; the group had been slain and then turned into undead slaves by an ancient cult of Empyrean necromancers calling themselves the Gelidites. In the depths of the frozen hell of Frore, adventurers struggled through legions of undead sorcerers, who were lead by a council of three dark priests. These three, Ferundi, Frisander, and Fenngar by name, were slain at the gates of the city. In the deepest caverns, parties were brought up short by a cadre of Gelidite Lords lead by the powerful sorcerer Frisirth. The Gelidite necromancer controlled Sir Tremblant, who pleaded for death even as he was magically forced to defend his evil master.
When Tremblant was released from his misery and Frisirth defeated, the parties confronted a greater mystery -- a large, rotating crystal the Gelidites called The Great Work. This magical artifact had been discovered by Frisirth centuries before. Under the enchantments of the Gelidites, the Great Work sucked the heat from the earth, causing the snows that carpeted Dereth. When the explorers rushed to destroy it, the crystal defended itself with powerful magics. Many were slain, but in the end the Isparians prevailed. Abrim of Morningthaw chronicled the final battle against The Work in his tale Return to Frore, which became a bestseller at the capital towns of Cragstone, Hebian-to, and Zaikhal.
With the Great Work shattered, warmth began to seep back into the land. The exhausted and battered adventurers returned to their homes, to enjoy the blessings of the Solstice, Festival of Lights, and Night Feast holidays. During the celebrations, new culinary delights had been invented to delight the palate. Kakori of Thistledown made Carrot Cake, Dani the Crazed of Leafcull introduced Famous Pizza, Raszagal and Tassadar of Morningthaw created Hot Kimchi, and Firedemon of Thistledown baked the first Spiced Apple Pie. Bortin of Frostfell created Fruitcake, but he has since been forgiven, and is occasionally allowed back into town.
The remnants of the Gelidite cult were left in sorrow, their hopes dashed.
Dark Thaw - Snowreap, 11 P.Y. (Jan '00)
As heat seeped back into the earth snowlines receded. Patches of slush still dotted the landscape, but hints of green returned to most of the land. All was not well, however.
The enigmatic Shadows began to walk Dereth openly, harassing adventurers and making travel through remote areas a dangerous proposition. In addition, floating Crystal Fragments appeared. While originally thought to be pieces of the Gelidites' Great Work, the vast number of Fragments that soon swarmed across Dereth seemed to imply another origin.
Fortunately, the most learned mages of the land had taken to heart the dire prognostications of the recovered Gelidite scriptures. The Archmages Celdiseth, Fadsahil al-Tashbi, Nuhmudira, and Shoyanen Kenchu developed Master Mage Robes of fine quality, while they allowed their Apprentice Mage Robes to be sold by the local mages of various towns.
Non-mages were not left without fashionable attire, however, as the traditional warrior garb of Ispar began to appear in Dereth. Celdon, Amullian, and Koujia Armor became visible signs of a warrior's prowess.
Shadows of the Past - Coldeve, 11 P.Y. (Feb '00)
Providence smiled upon the exiles of Ispar in Coldeve. Ancient Empyrean storage vaults hidden across the length and breadth of Dereth were discovered. Therein bold parties discovered weapon fragments and ancient documents. The documents told of a war with the Shadows some two thousand years before the arrival of humans. The weapons had been designed by an Empyrean alchemist and warrior, Lord Atlan, and his wife, an enchantress, Lady Maila.
The Atlan Weapons were a set of melee weapons fashioned from raw pyreal motes. Perhaps in response to the discovery of these weapons, the Shadows that had made overland travel a terrifying prospect melted away into the night. New rumors heard in taverns claimed that some dark force was biding its time.
Other rumors announced a new arrival from Ispar--the fallen master of Shagar Zharala, Hamud ibn Rafik. This former master of the Gharu'n assassins, the Zharalim, had grown sick of the corruption among that once honorable and noble group and had ventured through a portal to Ispar. He retreated to a Mountain Fortress in the Linvak Range, spending his time treating with the Shadows of Dereth - his motivations unknown.
To everyone's surprise, a vast span formed of obsidian appeared across the river between Cragstone and Arwic. Scholars hypothesized that the bridge had been hidden by the Empyrean to prevent the water-fearing olthoi from crossing the River Prosper and that the magicks hiding this Obsidian Span finally dissipated.
The most ominous event, however, was that many powerful monarchs were whisked away to a remote island. There they were challenged by a dark presence to run a gauntlet filled with bizarre monsters. While most lost their sense of direction, or were slain by the gauntlet's fierce inhabitants, two of the Isparians in Dereth survived the trial: Blackthorn and Vidorian of Thistledown. They were rewarded with Shadow Stones, which could be fitted into the Atlan Weapons. Fafhrd of Thistledown and Killean of Morningthaw were the only two who refused to take the dark presence's test. The meaning of these events is yet unclear.
Darkness Ascendant - Wintersebb, 11 P.Y. (Mar '00)
The festive spring atmosphere of flowers, bees, and marriage ceremonies was disturbed by a series of earthquakes preceding the appearance of bizarre Shadow Spires. These enormous constructions burst from the ground near the towns of Khayyaban, Tufa, Sawato, Tou-Tou, Cragstone, and Eastham. Travelers reported seeing Spires in the deep wilderness as well. Though brooding and malevolent-looking, the Spires floated harmlessly over the land for many days. During this time adventurers began to notice that the Shadows were uttering unusual cries upon their destruction. Scholars did not know what to make of these death proclamations, until The Arrivals. The abductions began soon after.
Many adventurers reported being magically pulled into the Spires, and subjected to a battery of questions by three invisible presences, each distinguished by the tone of its questions. Some of these questions were quite unfathomable, referring to people and events not yet familiar to humanity in Dereth. Most shocking, however, was the final question: Which of the six towns visited by the Spires should be destroyed? Some of the abducted answered with a random town, in fear of the power shown by the unseen presence; others chose a specific town out of spite. A few refused to choose. All were returned uninjured.
As the month progressed, disturbing changes were wrought in the heavens. The sun shrank, turning a dim, bloody red. The dark clouds faded to a sulfurous tint during storms. The moons of Alb'arel and Rez'arel swelled to grotesque size, and some feared they were falling. Through it all, the form of a demon lurked along the northern horizon, visible only during the most violent tempests.
In the face of what seemed to be an impending catastrophe, the people of Dereth worked feverishly to prepare their defenses. Many sought the ancient weapons of Atlan that had been recovered during the previous month. Studying the Atlan weapons and referencing clues in ancient texts, the Master Smiths Jibril ibn Rashid, Koga Hideki, and Alean the Steel Forger managed to create suits of Gemstone Armor using the gems and shards taken from Shadows and Crystal Fragments.
At the end of the month, an expectant silence hung over Dereth, broken only by the howl of the Spires and the frantic hammering of the Master Smiths. Tremors shook the island, as if something within the earth was stirring . . .
Thorns of the Hopeslayer - Morningthaw, 11 P.Y. (Apr '00)
The strange events of the past 4 years paled in comparison to PY 15. New sick wet sounds could occasionally be heard coming from the spires - as if something were hatching.
The banderling thief, Gertarh, was found murdered. A note was left on the body by a mysterious assassin named Oswald: Farewell Gertarh. Its a shame I had to kill you, but the price on your head was too great and my purse too light.
The Gharu'ndim assassin, Hamud ibn Rafik, revealed more of his plans in a letter to his daughter Devana. The letter also revealed his belief in a growing corruption within himself due to his continued close contact with the Shadows. Adventurers discovering the letter found that it hinted at a place of power, the Nexus. This place was somehow important to the Shadows and located somewhere in the Direlands.
The Shadows, who were believed to be in retreat, revealed that they were merely gathering for war. At first their attacks occured far from civilization in the Direlands, but danger soon appeared nearer to home.
To combat the Shadow threat, many sought a legendary weapon, the Silifi of Crimson Stars, which once belonged to Wari al-Sha'im one of the followers of the Isparian hero Musansayn.
The Shadow assaults continued as heroes discovered a means of entering the spires. There they confronted the powerful Shadow Generals, Black Ferah and Ler Rhan. During one of the Shadows' assaults, pieces of a key were discovered in six of the spires. Heroes retrieved the pieces and assembled a Shadow Key that gave them access to the Nexus. They fought their way to the bottom where they defeated a Nexus Shadow Captain. The Captain guarded a door to the core of the Nexus, and a far more ominous creation: the Nexus Crystal. The Nexus Crystal was destroyed and the Shadows retreated for a time...
Heroes' Respite - Solclaim, 11 P.Y. (May '00)
After the destruction of the Nexus Crystal, the shadows retreat brought a period of respite to the weary heroes of Dereth.
During this period of time a Gharu'ndim noble, Jaleh al-Thani, led a group of pioneers to the western shores of the Direlands. There he managed to erect a new town within those untamed lands. The town was named Ayan Baqur, and Jaleh recruited many of the best minds in magic, alchemy, and metallurgy to his service. Thus far, these exceptional individuals have managed to improve the entire cataloging system for magic formulae, in addition to producing a new sword, the rapier, and several types of potions.
Despite these advances, all was not perfect in this new oasis. A town drunk, Ulgrim the Unpleasant, had taken up residence within the town, making wild and farfetched claims about a variety of current events to anyone willing to stand him a drink. More disturbing though was the arrival of a Virindi achmage named Claude who soon was running the magic shop in town. Spattered blood on the floor of his shop and a decaying corpse in the bushes behind it, aroused the suspicions of even the dullest of patrons of his shop.
Additionally, several other omens of darker times ahead appeared around Dereth:
Heroes seeking the opportunity to become members of Hamud ibn Rafik's Tenebrous Edge discovered to their horror that Hamud's psychological corruption by the Shadows had physically manifested itself. Ironically, the man who had left his land to avoid the corruption within his beloved Zharalim had fallen victim to a grosser corruption--becoming a living shadow.
In Northern Dereth, other events also suggested future trouble in the land. While less obviously sinister, the infiltration of one Bandit Chief MacDugal's men into Neydissa Castle seemed a probable cause for concern. MacDougal's man, Gormling, taking advantage of the Lady Tallial's grief over the loss of her lover Sir Jofferey Tremblant, had managed to weasel his way into the position of seneschal in the castle.
Finally, several items belonging to Gertarh's killer appeared in various places around the land. Both Hamud's daughter Devana and MacDugal's lieutenant Jorgensson were in possession of daggers belonging to the green armored assassin named Oswald, indicating that the assassin had recently visited them.