Session 08 - First Half
The characters finish the last 15 miles of their journey to the Citadel. The sheer size of the city/fortress gives them pause and they discuss their mission amongst themselves before venturing in. The Citadel is more orcish, more evil, more militant than any other city in the realms and even the outer city, with its armories, troops barracks, stables and blacksmiths, has a foulness about it that's difficult to pinpoint. The main gates of the Citadel are monstrous and the heroes can't help but notice that the main entry hall, a cavernous chamber with a soaring ceiling, has prisoners in cages dangling above the crowds passing through the gates.
The heroes went straight to the tavern called Fellgor's Ring. They asked the bartender if Peraul was in. "Yeah, he's in the back." The party went to the back only to find Peraul, their contact, very dead, hanging upside down, pinned to a wall, being used for dagger throwing practice by four large ogres. The players discreetly exited the tavern.
Katharana then went to find the other spy and talk to him while the rest of the group procured lodging in the outer city.
According to the information given her, Valkov was the assistant scribe in a small shop called the Gilded Page. He was also a spy for Kitar. The Gilded Page is a small shop - part library, part cartography shop. Valkov works for the sage and master scribe named Hromoth.
When Katharana arrived at the Gilded Page, she found that the shop closed (although the lights were on in the back) and two Citadel Guards blocked her way. They told her to come back later. She hid in the shadows and waited. Not much later, Lord Caramus himself and several officials, mages and guards exited the shop. Katharana was shocked. Once she was sure that they had all left, including the two guards that had blocked her way, she timidly approached the shop and knocked. A young man, dressed in the robes of a scribe, answered the door. It was Valkov. They went into a back room to talk undisturbed.
Katharana asked Valkov what Caramus had been doing there. Valkov said that Caramus and the others had arrived unexpectedly with a document that they wanted Hromoth to translate. After a short meeting, Hromoth left with them. Apparently, the armies of Duthelm had found something in the north - something that had the nobles of Duthelm in an uproar. The document was brought down to the Gilded Page for translation. When they brought it in, Valkov was ushered out of the room. He got a glimpse of it though. It was a large map on folded leather. The outer seal had a symbol on it. Valkov drew the symbol for her on paper. She did not recognize it. Valkov and Katharana decided to search through the library and see if they could figure out what the symbol or map pertained to. Unfortunately, most of the books that would have said something had been taken when Hromoth left with Caramus. Katharana and Valkov searched through crumbling scrolls for hours. Eventually, they did find something that looked like the symbol listed in a catalog of Irenni glyphs.
The symbol was identified with a single word... "Jaidor".
Katharana returned to her group with the information. She told them what she had found out. None of them knew what the word "Jaidor" meant. Anyway, they weren't really concerned that Caramus had found a map. They were here to do a job. Get the Avisarr and get out. And that's what they were going to do.
The characters were staying at an inn in the outer city (outside the Citadel itself) called the Black Cauldron. All manner of preparation and planning occurred over the next few days. The characters had asked that the Kitaran army make a major offensive in two weeks. They hoped that this would force the Citadel to send some of its troops out to meet the offensive and would give them plenty of cover (and fewer guards to deal with) when they went after the Avisarr. So, the players had two weeks to kill in this city. They spent that time spying and such.
A couple of days later, Valkov came around and told Katharana that if she wanted to know about the map, they should go to the Unholy Relic - the main library/museum in the Citadel. She went with him and they spent a day or two doing library research. Much of what you are going to read was already known by Katharana as she is fairly well read. She just needed to do some additional research to fill in the gaps and connect the dots.
After a day of research, here's what Katharana learned. I assembled everything that she was able to piece together into one continuous explanation. This is the actual text I gave to the player:
The Tale of the Jaidor Talisman
I am sure that you are familiar with the stories of old – of the rise of an empire, of the sundering of the star, of the devastation that followed and of ancient battles fought throughout the realms.
But there is much history from that time which is not widely known...
During the Great War, the ruling nobles of the Irenni League sought greater weapons to use against the Thullian Empire. And so they turned to their most gifted sorcerer, the archmage Jaidor. He worked for seven months on the development of a weapon which would win the war. It was to be his greatest single creation, the crown jewel of a long and illustrious career. And thus, he named it for himself. The Jaidor Talisman... a talisman of potent energies. This device was kept so secret, we still do not know what it looks like to this day. We know only the glyph by which it is associated.
After the device was complete, he took fifty the League's finest warriors. Using the device, he called forth dweomers such as none had seen before. With these energies, he ensorcelled the men. And they began to change. Before the eyes of those present, the lost all form. Their bodies melted to nothingness and then rose from the void as shapeless, wailing things. When the spell was done, they were no longer human. They were... shape shifters. And so the first generation of morphians was born.
When Jaidor unveiled the morphians to the nobles of the League, they were pleased. The morphians were powerful. They could assume any shape. They could get into any building to obtain any information or slay any foe. They were the perfect thieves, spies, and assassins. The nobles eagerly paid Jaidor for the use of these creatures and sent them forth on many errands of chaos and bloodshed. It did not take long for the morphians to become known to the empire. They were greatly feared and they struck terror into the Empire for years into the war.
History records these facts: that the Irenni League sorcerers created the morphians and that the man most directly responsible for their creation was a mage named Jaidor. But few people know of the nature of their creation. Few know of the Talisman.
And fewer still know the relationship between the shape-shifters and Talisman.
The Talisman granted its user control over the shape-shifters. The morphians obey the power of the Talisman. They obey the master's bidding. They were unable to resist. In some ways, the morphians were little more than slaves. No, they were less than slaves. They were puppets. Mere extensions of the Talisman.
To ensure that the morphians would never attempt to destroy that which held them in slavery, Jaidor bound the Talisman to the morphians in life and in death. He enchanted the Talisman such that if it were ever destroyed, the entire race of the morphians would die. With this enchantment in place, the morphians were helpless.
As the war progressed, the nobles demanded that Jaidor use the Talisman to create more of the shape-shifters. Not wanting to sacrifice their own soldiers, the nobles used criminals and prisoners of war for the procedure. Many nobles were given tokens from the Talisman which let them control their own morphians without having to rely on Jaidor and the Talisman. Although it is widely believed that Jaidor would never have sacrificed complete control and that the Talisman superceded any such tokens.
As the empire began to crumble, conflict arose over the spoils of war. In order to capture more of the wealth flowing into Irenni coffers, many nobles started using their personal morphians to spy on each other. This was the beginning of the end of the Irenni League. As the League began to crumble, there came to be a morphian who was not bound to the Talisman. His name was Aracles. Many historians have proposed explanations for his unique quality. Some suggest the aberration of Drellis caused the magic in his creation to go awry. Perhaps Jaidor foresaw the nobles feuding and this was his answer. The truth is, no one is sure. It does not matter any more. What matters is that this one morphian was able to resist the influence of the Talisman. One morphian. But in the end, it only took one.
This morphian used his advantage and shape-shifting abilities to free a dozen other morphians. They returned to the Irenni League and started a rebellion. In a terrible battle, many Irenni nobles and military leaders were slain. And they beheaded Jaidor, the father of their race and the man who had made them slaves. In the end, they had captured the Talisman.
Aracles knew that their victory was a precarious one at best. His group of free-willed morphians was small. There were many other morphians, but these poor souls were bound to their masters' tokens. And try as they might, Aracles group could not comprehend the arcane spells involved with its control. (The morphians had been forbidden to learn magic).
The Irenni nobles who held tokens would soon be fighting over the Talisman not wanting to relinquish control of their shape-shifters. And as long as the Talisman existed, the morphians faced the possibility of losing their freedom. But he could not destroy the Talisman without destroying his brethren. Although they could not control the Talisman themselves, they could ensure that no one else did.
It was decided that the Talisman would be taken far away. Further than any spell could track. Beyond the scrying of mages. Beyond the sight of gods. It was to be hidden for all time where none would find it.
Aracles assembled a company of volunteers. With the blessing of their brethren, this fellowship took the Talisman and sailed east. They intended to hide the Talisman away from the world, to bury it deep in distant lands. To surround it with spells and traps such that no one, morphian or otherwise, would ever be able to retrieve it. They did not return. Although some Irenni nobles set sail in a desperate attempt to find the Talisman, nothing of Aracles or his followers has ever been seen since. The Fate of the Jaidor Talisman has been lost to history.
That is, until now...
Three weeks ago, a floundered ship was found off the coast of Dregan's Isle. It bore strange letters of an unknown language upon its hull. Its main sail markings were likewise queer and unfamiliar. Citadel soldiers searched the wreck. In the cargo hold, they found a great oaken chest and within, amongst other treasure, they found a map marked with the glyph of Jaidor. The officers and soldiers knew not the value of this simple parchment. However, a learned scholar and mage with them recognized the symbol as one of ancient Irenni origin. The likeness of the glyph was copied to a parchment and included with a letter. A single rider was dispatched to bring these to the Citadel. Upon receiving the letter, the Black Sorcerers studied historical texts and determined the name and nature of the glyph. Upon hearing of this news, Queen Sillar ordered a legion of troops to rush to Dregan's Isle. The wreck was quarantined on her order. She also sent several Black Sorcerers to investigate. Shortly after that, the map was brought back to the Citadel to be translated.
As you have already guessed, the officials of the Citadel suspect that this map, once translated, will reveal the final resting place of the Jaidor Talisman... the most powerful relic from the Great War. Even without translating this map, it has already been ascertained that the map is of another continent, another land which lies across the vast Sea of Storms, far to the east.
Queen Sillar will stop at nothing to recover this artifact. Should she succeed in finding the Jaidor Talisman, she will command every living morphian in all the realms... an army of shape shifters unable to resist her command. No nation in all the world would be able to stand against such a force.
The map has not yet been translated. But once it has, you can be rest assured that Duthelm will send forth its finest warriors and wizards on a quest to retrieve the Talisman.
Now, as you can see, the campaign is taking shape. The nation of Duthelm has acquired a map which leads to the final resting place of one of the most powerful weapons from the Great War. The Jaidor Talisman was little more than a myth. A legend. Until this map showed up. Now, Lord Caramus, Queen Sillar and the others believe that the Talisman is within reach.
This is major news. The characters discussed among themselves what this all meant. What should they do? Obviously they can't let Duthelm go after the Talisman. If Duthelm were to get the Talisman, then they would control all the morphians and they would win the war. In such a scenario, Duthelm would crush the Empire and take over most of the continent of Ithria.
Obviously, the characters can't stop Duthelm. Duthelm has already seen the map. They have the information. The best thing, the ONLY thing, that the characters can do at this point is to try to get a hold of a copy of that map and beat Duthelm to the Talisman. It all boils down to a race. A race which will take them half way around the world. But the characters have to get a copy of the map before they can try.
However, this is all a tangent. The characters are in the middle of a mission. An important mission. They can't drop everything and go after the map. The whole map thing is a different plot line that they weren't expecting.
Now, as a DM, I kind of thought that the players would sit and discuss this for awhile. After all, they've got several days to mull things over. I suspected that they would try to acquire a copy of the map... possible integrate that goal into their existing mission. Try for both Avisarr and map. Or maybe come back for the map. Or something. I really wasn't sure.