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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:38:21 GMT -5
House Karanok
The city of Luthcheq in Chessenta is ruled by a mad family called the Karanoks. They worship a being they call Entropy, the Great Nothing, and they plot the destruction of all “wizards” (sorcerers, wizards, dwarves, or elves). Folk outside Chessenta (and outside Luthcheq, for that matter) consider them fools, for Entropy is said to just be a giant sphere of annihilation. Be that as it may, some divine entity is now answering their prayers, and Entropy has given birth to five smaller spheres. Now those of House Karanok have acquired mansions in other cities of Faerûn and moved the smaller spheres (known to the family as “the daughters of Entropy”) to these locations, using the mansions as bases for their scheme to destroy all wizards.
Unknown to the Karanoks, the power of Entropy is administered by Tiamat, the deity behind the venerated hero Tchazzar. Tiamat saw an opportunity to grab power from the zealous faith of the Karanok family, and has used the sphere of annihilation as a funnel for her power. The followers of Entropy are now capable of casting cleric spells, a development that they see as a sign that their strange deity has blessed them, and now is the time to strike beyond Chessenta.
Brief History
In 1161 DR, the Karanok family became the leaders of Luthcheq under suspicious circumstances. While all records of the events have been destroyed, it is likely that assassination was involved, since no known descendants of the old noble family survive today. They practiced an erratic but moderately efficient rule of the city, warring with other city-states in typical Chessentan fashion. In 1324 DR, Luthcheq invaded Mordulkin to take advantage of the latter’s serious losses from plague but was defeated. Blaming their loss on wizard spies in the service of Mordulkin, the Karanoks became obsessed with the destruction of wizards.
Sometime around 1346 DR, a particularly large sphere of annihilation appeared in the largest mansion of House Karanok. The sphere materialized in the middle of a torture chamber and completely consumed the wizard who was being tortured. Seeing this as an omen, the members of the house fell to their knees and worshiped the planar anomaly, which they called Entropy. Remodeling their mansion to make its current location a main temple chamber, the Karanoks blindly worshiped their nondeity in the belief that it would help them meet their goals.
In late 1370 DR, the deity Tiamat used her power to alter the sphere, making it a conduit for her energy. She began granting divine spells to the nobles of House Karanok in the guise of Entropy. She has since caused the sphere to create smaller spheres, which can be controlled by members of the house. The Karanoks worship the daughter spheres, and they have been known to conjure forth scaly reptilian monsters (abishai) to enact the will of the Karanoks and Entropy itself.
The Organization
These statistics apply to the Karanok noble house of Chessenta as a whole.
Headquarters: Luthcheq, Chessenta.
Members: approximately 300 members of the noble house, plus guards and servants.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leader: Maelos Karanok.
Religion: Entropy (Tiamat).
Alignment: LE.
Secrecy: None (although groups outside Chessenta conceal their identity and agenda).
Symbol: The symbol of House Karanok is the Thorass letter for K, above which is a burning branch (probably representing witchweed).
Hierarchy
The Karanoks have a cellular structure based around the original Entropy and its five daughter spheres. They are well organized but allowed to function almost independently. The following are some of the more important members of House Karanok.
Maelos is an ancient man, nearly senile and rarely able to understand that his family now has a slight chance of succeeding at its goals.
Jaerios is Maelos’s son and the ruler of the city. He enjoys power and particularly enjoys watching wizards burn.
Naeros is Jaerios’s son. Arrogant, cruel, and fond of disfiguring his victims before burning them, Naeros believes he cannot be killed and can do whatever he wants because his family’s power protects him.
Kaestra is the most powerful cleric in the family and the nominal head of all religious activities.
Povros is Jaeros’s cousin and the leader of one of the Entropy cells not located in Chessenta. Raised to hate wizards, he doesn’t even carry magic items unless he knows they were created by clerics (even if they were clerics of inferior deities).
Motivation and Goals
Hatred is the primary motivation of the Karanoks. They hate wizards more than anything, and those who willingly deal with wizards are a close second. They kidnap known wizards, then burn them on a pyre of witchweed as a sacrifice to their strange deity. They have a standing offer of 10,000 gold pieces as a reward for anyone who slays Elminster, the Simbul, or Khelben. They sometimes come into contact with the Zhentarim, but that group’s ties to wizards makes it an undesirable alliy. The Karanoks also enjoy vandalizing Thayan enclaves and (if kidnapping and murder are not an option) harassing apprentices in those places.
Recruiting
The Karanoks are open to working with anyone who is interested in killing wizards. This means they have an easy time recruiting close-minded or fearful people to their cause but rarely have anyone of power at their beck and call. They tend to have many thugs in their service, and sometimes try to overwhelm their wizard opponents with sheer numbers.
Allies
Other than members of their own house and their guards and servants, House Karanok has few allies beyond the confines of Luthcheq. Within their home city, any noble can call upon the city guard for assistance, which makes attacking the Karanoks in their city a dangerous and foolish proposition.
Encounters
A typical encounter with the Karanok family is with one or two members of the house (aristocrats or aristocrat/clerics of 3rd level or higher) and four to ten bodyguards (1st-level warriors). More powerful members of the house tend to have greater numbers of bodyguards rather than more powerful ones. A few rare encounters at night might include a single abishai of any color, always wearing a heavy robe to conceal its nature.
The Karanoks prefer ambushes, since they are not willing to allow wizards the opportunity to profane the air and their bodies with wizardry in honest combat. They send waves of thugs to beat and grapple their wizard opponents, while clerics use multiple silence and hold person spells to prevent the wizards from casting spells. Nonspellcasters are dealt with in more conventional ways. If at all possible, the Karanoks prefer to eliminate wizards one at a time rather than attacking entire adventuring parties, but have been known to attack groups if they are desperate or especially eager.
Entropist Prestige Class
As the Karanoks explore their new spellcasting abilities, some of the most advanced students gain an attunement to the body of Entropy or its daughters. These students develop strange powers and new uses for their divine link, and although doing so retards their progress as spellcasters, they see their new abilities as worth the cost.
An entropist is a cleric of the aspect of Tiamat known as Entropy, which is manifested as a large sphere of annihilation. Obsessed with destroying wizards, they harness the power of the sphere and learn how to protect themselves against its effects. Like all clerics of Entropy, they wear white robes, sometimes marked with a single black circle.
Most entropists have gained some levels as a cleric, and most are aristocrats from the Karanok family in Luthcheq. It is possible for others to join this prestige class if they prove their worth to the Karanoks and their loyalty to Entropy. Sorcerers, wizards, elves, and dwarves are never entropists.
Entropists work together and with clerics of Entropy. Most followers of Entropy hold them in awe for the powers they possess and their strange link to the Great Nothing.
To qualify to become a entropist, a character must fulfill all the following criteria: Alignment: Lawful evil. Skills: Concentration 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Scry 4 ranks. Feats: Education, Great Fortitude. Special: Must have killed an elf, sorcerer, or wizard, either in combat or by burning in a witchweed execution. Spellcasting: Able to cast 4th-level divine spells. Patron: Entropy (Tiamat).
The entropist’s class skills are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal(Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int), and Spellcraft (Int).
Class Features Spells per Day: An entropist continues training in divine magic while attuning himself to the powers of entropy. Thus, when the character reaches 2nd level or 4th level in this class, he increases his spellcasting ability as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of rebuking or commanding undead, favored enemy, and so on). If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before she became a entropist, she must decide when she reaches 2nd level or 4th level to which class she adds these spellcasting levels.
Control Sphere (Su): An entropist has the ability to control a sphere of annihilation as if he were using a talisman of the sphere.
Sanctity of Body (Su): An entropist is protected against spells or effects that would destroy or radically transform the shape of his body, such as disintegrate, implosion, petrification, or polymorph. These effects cannot affect the entropist unless he wishes them to. He is also unaffected by a sphere of annihilation, passing through it as if it were empty air. A hand of entropy or eye of entropy (see below) has no effect on him.
Arcane Resistance (Su): An entropist of 2nd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on all saving throws against arcane spells, whether they originate from the Weave or the Shadow Weave.
Hand of Entropy (Sp): By expending an available spell slot, an entropist of 3rd level or higher channels the power of Entropy into a black haze around one hand. The hand of entropy can be used to make a melee touch attack as a standard action, and deals 1d6 points of damage + 1 point per level of the spell slot used to create it. The hand can be used on the round it is created and lasts up to a number of rounds equal to the entropist’s divine caster level. For example, a Clr7/Entropist3 could expend a prepared cure moderate wounds spell (2nd level) to create a hand of entropy that deals 1d6+2 points of damage and lasts 10 rounds. The hand otherwise functions like a touch spell. The entropist can use this ability multiple times per day as long as a spell slot is expended each time.
Arcane Disruption (Sp): Once per day, an entropist of 4th level or higher can create a magical field of energy, which manifests as a slight smoky haze that interferes with the casting of arcane spells. The field is a 30-foot emanation centered on the entropist. Anyone attempting to cast arcane spells within the field must succeed at a Concentration check as if casting on the defensive (DC 15 + spell level). If the check fails, the spell is lost. The field lasts for a number of rounds equal to the entropist’s divine caster level.
Eye of Entropy (Su): Once per day, for a maximum of 5 rounds, an entropist of 5th level can create a miniature sphere of entropy. The eye of entropy is absolutely black, 2 inches in diameter, and can be moved up to 30 feet by the entropist as a standard action. Against objects, the eye deals 3d6 points of damage, bypassing the object’s hardness. Against creatures, the entropist must make a ranged touch attack to hit, and if successful the eye deals 3d6 points of damage to the target (Fortitude half, DC 12 + the entropist’s Wis modifier); this bypasses damage reduction since it is a magical effect. The eye appears in the entropist’s square when it is created, and can be moved and used to attack on the round it is formed. If the entropist stops concentrating on the eye, it vanishes.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:40:38 GMT -5
The Iron Throne
On the surface, the Iron Throne appears to be just another merchants’ guild. The group is ostensibly dedicated to pursuing a monopoly on the weapons trade in certain parts of Faerûn, a goal it has pursued with unbridled zeal. While other merchants and traders have accused the Iron Throne of increasing its share of the weapons trade through such unsavory practices as banditry and murder, such complaints are hardly unusual between competitors. At least, so say the merchants who are the nominal leaders of the Iron Throne.
The truth is that this mercantile company is more than just another band of avaricious merchants out to make a gold piece at the expense of ethics. The public faces of the Iron Throne are merely mouthpieces for the true leaders of the organization, ruthless killers who stop at nothing to achieve the Iron Throne’s economic goals. The masters of the Iron Throne think nothing of cutting out the competition with every dirty trick at their disposal. The group’s sinister aspects go deeper than mere murder, however. When compared to those of their fellow merchants, the uses to which the Iron Throne intends to put its filthy lucre are certainly more than a little unusual, not to mention dangerous.
Brief History
The Iron Throne is a relatively recent development in the economic history of Faerûn. It was originally the brainchild of a unique individual: Sfena, the daughter of a powerful devil. A skilled assassin, she used her talents to serve her father and his internecine wars against the other denizens of Baator. A strange accident befell Sfena during one of her missions to kill an enemy in Faerûn, in 1347 DR. Her entire body hardened into a material of crystalline appearance and hardness. The accident that changed her thus also freed her from Baator, allowing her to remain in Faerûn. Sfena conceived the Iron Throne as a means of restoring herself. She intended to trade the entire organization to a devil or perhaps another extraplanar power in return for the restoration of her body. She invented the name of the organization during a speech to her first contingent of minions: “We shall rule the Heartlands with an iron fist. We shall rule them from an Iron Throne, built of the weapons of our trade, and the shackles of our slaves, the common nails of our wagons, and the iron in the blood of those who oppose us. Iron has power, and so shall we.”
Sfena’s words were prophetic. The Iron Throne quickly gained a sizable stake in the weapons trade, branching out into the area of equipment used for trade and commerce (such as caravan wagons, horses, and the attendant supplies). Sfena’s tactics were engineered in such a fashion that her representatives could insist that the organization always acted within the letter of the law. No act of theft, sabotage, or murder was beneath her and her minions, however, and other merchants quickly learned that to cross the Iron Throne meant that they had to be prepared for various kinds of assaults and interventions against themselves and their businesses.
Sfena disappeared just over a year ago, in 1371 DR, under circumstances that suggest diabolical involvement. Her chief lieutenants suspected that her father, or one of his enemies, spirited Sfena back to Baator. When she vanished, the organization was thrown into chaos. Battle lines were quickly drawn between Sfena’s lieutenants, each of whom thought he would make the ideal leader for the coster in their mistress’s absence. Sfena’s second in command, Krakosh, eventually seized control of the group by allying himself with several other lieutenants. By the time they emerged victorious from the conflict, however, the Iron Throne had already lost ground in the weapons trade. Krakosh and his aides are now engaged in a serious attempt to restore and exceed the organization’s former power.
The Organization
Headquarters: Merchant offices in Suzail.
Members: 3,530.
Hierarchy: Segmented.
Leader: Krakosh.
Religion: The Iron Throne venerates no particular deity as an organization. Kelemvor, Mask, Shar, Waukeen are all popular religions.
Alignment: LN, LE, CN, CE, NE.
Secrecy: High.
Symbol: A stylized iron throne. The group uses a simplified line drawing of this symbol as a trail and property marker.
Hierarchy
The lower echelon of the Iron Throne is divided into units that function independently. Only Krakosh, Maready, and their closest aides know the entire interlocking structure of the organization. The individuals who undertake the day-to-day operations get information strictly on a need-to-know basis.
Krakosh met Sfena during the ill-fated assassination attempt that altered her form. Her father assigned her the task of eliminating the daughter of a storm giant noble who dwelled in Faerûn but was allegedly contemplating an assault on the devil lord’s holdings. The storm giants apprehended her during the mission, and beheaded her. Much to everyone’s surprise, she did not perish when her head came away from her neck—amazingly, her bones and tissues crystallized. She was very much alive, though decidedly grotesque.
Krakosh, a storm giant living in the stronghold at the time of Sfena’s arrival, was thoroughly dissatisfied with his life. The son of a courtier who was out of favor with the ruling noble, Krakosh found his family’s humiliation hard to bear. He had long been considering a departure from his home, and the arrival of the intriguing little assassin seemed to be the catalyst he had been awaiting. Freeing the now-crystalline Sfena from the noble’s dungeon, he helped her escape from the giant’s stronghold and traveled with her, aided by an amulet of alter self that disguised the storm giant’s true form. The young storm giant fell in love with his strange companion during the course of their journeys; in time, she professed to return his affections. He became her chief lieutenant when she founded the Iron Throne. Krakosh knew that Sfena’s mercantile ambitions were motivated by a desire to restore her body, and he was as eager as she to bring this about. Utterly devoted to Sfena, he undertook whatever tasks or missions she requested. His mere presence helped keep her other lieutenants and their lackeys in line.
When Sfena disappeared, Krakosh at first believed that she had been slain as part of an attempted coup started by some of the other Iron Throne agents. Seeking vengeance, he launched devastating attacks against those he believed responsible, sparking an all-out war among the remaining adjutants. He allied with the wizard Maready, after the spellcaster convinced Krakosh that not only had he nothing to do with their leader’s disappearance, but that there was every chance that she was still alive and in the hands of some devil or rival. The pair of them won the struggle for control of the Iron Throne, and since then Krakosh has dedicated himself to restoring his beloved’s creation to its former state. With Maready as his aide-de-camp, the storm giant has already made great strides toward doing exactly that.
Krakosh rarely appears in his giant form, preferring to pass for a human with his amulet of alter self.
Maready, a Sembian half-elf by birth, originally signed on with Sfena and Krakosh for the power and wealth they offered. He continued to work with the Iron Throne, but as the years went by he was no longer satisfied with the benefits that the organization could offer. He began to privately question Sfena’s motivations and capabilities. Maready believed that the Iron Throne could double or even triple its gains annually if someone more intelligent were in charge—such as himself, for instance. Aware of Sfena’s diabolic ties, Maready decided to take advantage of her history. He managed to get word to Sfena’s devil lord father, advising him of his child’s whereabouts. As he had anticipated, the devil’s minions eventually appeared to seize Sfena and return her to Baator, where Maready hopes she remains for all eternity. It was then a simple matter for Maready to manipulate the anguished Krakosh into taking on the remaining lieutenants, leaving the storm giant and himself in control.
Motivation and Goals
Krakosh desires, above all things, to locate Sfena and recover her. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the faintest idea where to start looking, and neither does Maready (or so he claims). He has ordered that all members of the organization search the areas in which they do business for signs or rumors of their missing leader. Meanwhile, he intends to increase the operational area of the Iron Throne so that the search area can likewise be expanded. For all he knows, Sfena is in the hands of one of their trading rivals, or rotting in the dungeon of some king, waiting for rescue. He is prepared to scour Faerûn for her, and does not hesitate to use whatever means are necessary to recover her. He relies heavily on Maready’s judgment and consults the wizard before making any important decisions.
Meanwhile, the Iron Throne is largely Maready’s to run as he likes, through his storm giant ally. Krakosh has proven most tractable when it comes to changing business practices. All Maready needs to do is claim or imply that his advice enables the storm giant to make the Iron Throne more successful, thus increasing his chances of finding his lost love. When the time is right and Krakosh has served his purpose, Maready intends to eliminate him and rule the Iron Throne himself. Maready has already convinced Krakosh that the group should begin trading in drugs, acquiring them from the Red Wizards’ enclaves and reselling them for higher profits elsewhere.
The rank and file membership consists primarily of merchants, caravan masters, soldiers, brigands, rogues, drovers, craftsfolk, spies, assassins, and saboteurs. The vast majority of these folk, whose numbers encompass nearly every civilized Faerûnian race, have as their primary desire the acquisition of wealth. A limited number desire wealth and power, and from this segment the most talented and skilled are promoted to positions of authority within the organization.
The Iron Throne is actually engaged in the legitimate trade of arms and armor. Their caravans are welcomed in numerous cities throughout the Heartlands for the masterwork and magical weapons they convey (many of which are stolen, salvaged from dungeons by hired adventuring parties, or made by craftsfolk who were cheated out of their rightful profits). The group also smuggles weapons, in order to avoid taxes and other inconvenient laws. Their most successful tactic in the weapon trade, however, is raiding the caravans of their competitors. The Iron Throne is always very careful to ensure that the raiders appear to be nothing more than common brigands. The society encourages its legitimate merchants to strive to maintain an air of respectability. The leadership has found that an appearance of honesty helps defeat accusations to the contrary.
The organization employs a goodly number of agents charged with the task of tracking down and punishing those who cross it. Folk who break contracts with the Iron Throne are likely to be murdered, defamed, or sold into slavery, depending on which option is most expedient and cost-effective.
Recruiting
The Iron Throne recruits extensively and indiscriminately from among the dregs of society for the criminals it requires to enforce its wishes. Wages are reasonable, normally the prevailing rate for the type of work and geographic area, with generous bonuses for those who demonstrate a genuine flair for their work. The Iron Throne actively recruits adventurers and adventuring parties, hiring them to scour dungeons and other dangerous locales for valuable weapons and armor. The organization pays adventurers well, but insists upon a contract that enjoins the employees from keeping any masterwork or magic weapons or armor they may locate for themselves.
Encounters
Encounters with the Iron Throne typically are with their hired agents, such as brigands, smugglers, and thieves, or the merchants who handle their legitimate caravans. Should adventurers come into possession of information that would enable Krakosh to learn something about Sfena’s current whereabouts, they might find themselves in a confrontation with the master of the Iron Throne himself.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:40:53 GMT -5
The Kir-lanans
Whatever they may be, the kir-lanans (the creatures’ name for their race in their own harsh language) are not gargoyles. The name is a misnomer, bestowed on them by adventurers who mistook the creatures for some strange, new type of gargoyle when the beings appeared in Faerûn shortly after the Time of Troubles. The kir-lanans do share some physical characteristics with gargoyles: Both have large, batlike wings, short horns, and sharp, naillike claws. But the resemblance ends there. These creatures are most definitely a race apart, having no kinship ties to any other beasts or peoples living in Faerûn today.
The kir-lanans appeared for the first time, as far as anyone can determine, immediately after the Time of Troubles. The learned minds of Faerûn speculate that the kir-lanans’ sudden and unheralded appearance in the world was somehow connected to one or more events that transpired during that confused, and turbulent, era. Since they were first sighted, the kir-lanans have proven remarkably resistant to inquiries into their nature, customs, and habits, responding with brutal savagery when provoked. Even when left alone, the creatures display a pronounced antipathy for anyone and anything even remotely connected to the deities of Faerûn—clerics, druids, paladins, rangers, and even lay worshipers included. Groups of the creatures have terrorized temples and shrines across Faerûn, without any apparent provocation.
At first, these attacks appeared to be disorganized, almost random, as if the creatures could not decide where, when, and how they wished to strike. Most of the kir-lanans’ early assaults were directed against places of worship and the persons within them. They attacked temples, shrines, and groves dedicated to Faerûn’s deities, plaguing the clergy and worshipers they found at these sites and doing their utmost to desecrate the structures. Many of these attacks were poorly coordinated, and the defenders were often able to drive the attacking kirlanans away with a strong display of resistance. Gradually, however, the activities of the creatures took on a more organized and directed aspect. No longer content with focusing their efforts on centers of worship, the kir-lanans have increasingly targeted the deities’ worshipers wherever they may encounter them. Pilgrims traveling a road are as much at risk as a monk in his monastery. The kir-lanans’ assaults have increased not only in frequency but also in lethality. Of late, the creatures have shown evidence of battlefield tactics that they did not display in previous years. While it is possible, folk agree, that the creatures could have improved their fighting skills, a more disturbing possibility must be considered: The kir-lanans may be receiving assistance from some greater intellect or power.
Brief History
The loremasters and sages who speculate that the kir-lanans’ appearance in Faerûn is linked somehow to the Time of Troubles are indeed correct. But their surmise only scratches the surface of the strange and unprecedented origin of this malevolent race. The kir-lanans were born of the tremendous divine energies created by the deaths of three deities: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, who were slain during the ill-fated Godswar (see the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for a more detailed discussion of this event). The passing of these three evil deities was marked by the release of untold amounts of divine energy, manifesting itself in various acts of destructive nature. A portion of this energy remained in Faerûn for some time after the deities in question had passed, pooling and coalescing until it became a roiling maelstrom of divine and negative energy. The effect remained extant only briefly, but long enough for something to stir within and fight its way free of its chaotic black depths—the first of the kir-lanans.
Several hundred of the creatures entered existence in this fashion, each fully formed and possessed of the terrible knowledge of its origin. Unlike other races, the kir-lanans were not born into a state in which they could share in the divine grace of the deities. They were created from the deities’ folly, condemned forever to exist without the possibility of gaining the favor of the divine. No amount of pious prayer or devout worship matters to the kir-lanans, for the condition of their creation denies them any beneficence wrought by any deity.
The kir-lanans know only one goal in their bleak existence: to vent their fury against the deities. Since the time of their creation, they have pursued an agenda of guerilla warfare against all who are able to bask in the favor of any deity, no matter how humble or minor that divinity may be. If the creatures could smite the deities themselves, they surely would, but the deities’ faithful must bear the wrath of the kir-lanans’ anger in their stead. Striking without warning or mercy against those who gather in places sacred to deities, the kirlanans have become the whispered terror on the lips of clergy everywhere, the darkest evil lurking in the mind of every acolyte and adept. Each month, it seems, brings a new tale of slaughter and desecration visited on a place of worship in some corner of Faerûn, leading folk everywhere to wonder if their church or shrine—or themselves—might be next.
Kir-lanan Lore
Adventurers throughout Faerûn have heard tales of “the black gargoyles,” “dark stalkers,” “winged drow,” and “the godless,” all of which are common nicknames for the kir-lanans. Some have even fought the creatures, or spoken with those who have. But the complete newness of the race and the confusion over their aims has led to a dearth of hard facts about the creatures. Captured specimens have proven remarkably resistant to persuasion even of a violent nature, preferring death over the betrayal of their fellows (though spells such as detect thoughts and zone of truth have been effective, provided that the questioner knows the right questions to ask and understands the captives’ responses).
Consequently, a number of rumors and suppositions circulate about the creatures. It is said, for example, that the Night Masks have enslaved a number of kir-lanans and now use them as spies. Folk traveling to Westgate are sometimes warned that the gargoyles they see perched atop the high places of the city may actually be kir-lanans, who swoop down to rend the guild’s enemies limb from limb. Other tales focus on the alleged powers that the creatures display. It is commonly thought in the Moonsea that kir-lanans are invulnerable to most weapons and spells. Those who repeat this gossip cite the fact that three clerics of Shar attempted to fend off an assault by a group of kir-lanans by blasting the winged horrors with inflict spells that would have slain an ogre. The magic had no effect on the kir-lanans, who then cut the trio to ribbons where they stood. The story of a noble paladin who fended off a quintet of kir-lanans that attacked a temple of Torm has been making the rounds of the taverns in Baldur’s Gate. Talespinners there say that the paladin had the better of her foes, until one of them called forth a number of undead from the temple’s nearby graveyard. The shambling horde of animated corpses overwhelmed the paladin.
As these and other stories spread, the fear grows. Some good folk, fearing attack, now carry arms as they make their way to places of worship. Druids and rangers of the Silver Marches comb the wilderness for signs of the creatures, hoping to prevent attacks that the fledgling confederation can ill afford. Some adventurers who have actually encountered kir-lanans and lived to tell the tale have shared information that, while not complete, seems at least consistent with other corroborated evidence. These folk have established that the following facts about the godless are probably true.
The kir-lanans hate deities. This seems the universally defining characteristic of the creatures (another feature that they don’t share with “normal” gargoyles). In battle they almost always prefer to attack divine spellcasters before any other foes, but any creature that venerates a deity seems fair game. Given the prevalence and importance of religion in the daily life of Faerûn, the kir-lanans consider just about every other race as their hated enemies.
The individual creatures refer to themselves collectively as “kir-lanans.” They never elaborate on what this term might mean in any other tongue, however, and none outside their race have yet mastered the harsh, almost guttural, language the creatures use. A few adventurers report that at least some kir-lanans speak a few words of Common, though their speech is heavily accented. No hints or clues exist to their tongue’s origins, implying strongly that it was never spoken in Faerûn until their arrival. Likewise, there is no mention of a creature matching their description in any of the numerous houses of learning scattered across the land. Hoping to shed some light on the mystery of the kir-lanan language, the scholars of Candlekeep have searched diligently for some hint or clue, but were unable to unearth anything even remotely helpful.
The kir-lanans are notoriously reticent to discuss their worldview, apart from confirming that they do indeed despise deities and the worshipers of deities. A few resourceful and fortunate adventurers have gleaned in limited conversation with kir-lanans the fact that the creatures have no patron deity, making them a rarity among the intelligent races of Faerûn on that basis alone. The creatures have implied that it isn’t necessarily religion itself that angers them, but rather their own inability to participate in it. Their universal term for all other races translates into Common as “godslaves.”
It is thought that the number of creatures appearing initially was relatively small. But either those reports were wildly inaccurate, or the total number of kir-lanans has been steadily increasing. The tiny number of creatures that arrived in Faerûn during the Godswar simply could not perpetrate attacks in so many widespread locations. Either the creatures are breeding, or someone—or something—is causing their numbers to swell.
The Organization
The kir-lanans’ chaotic nature has made it difficult for the race to organize effectively at a level beyond the small groups in which they hunt and travel. Despite this, a few individual kir-lanans have learned to think differently, and as the race evolves they have made some inroads toward acting in greater concert.
Headquarters: None.
Members: About 4,000 (and growing fast).
Hierarchy: Loose.
Leader: None.
Religion: See text.
Alignment: CE.
Secrecy: None.
Symbol: The kir-lanans use no symbol as a race, and their smaller groups use no identifying marks. A number of kirlanans speak Common, if badly, but whether or not they can write it remains a mystery. Likewise, if the creatures possess a written alphabet of their own, none have seen any evidence of it.
Hierarchy
The kir-lanans’ numbers are still small compared to most races, and the creatures are somewhat resistant to an organized societal structure. They gather in small bands, dubbed “wings” by adventurers, usually numbering from two to five individuals. Larger groups have been reported, particularly in the Shining South, and a ranger in the High Forest claims to have seen a flight of at least six dozen of the creatures in the sky overhead, moving southward at great speed shortly after the beginning of the new year.
The strongest, fiercest specimen leads each wing. Any member of the wing is free to challenge the current leader for rulership of the band at any time, making for sudden and dramatic power shifts. Some of the energy and time that the kirlanans might otherwise direct against Faerûnians is spent resolving these challenges. A fight to the death settles the contest, and the only known witness to a kir-lanan leadership challenge (a sage from the city of Suzail who risked her life to get close enough to observe the wing’s ritualistic combat) described it as a “dance of brutal savagery.” A wing leader can never let down his guard or rest on his laurels if he wishes to remain in charge for long. He must constantly prove himself fit for leadership by being the first to strike and the fiercest in battle. Gender has no impact on wing leadership; there are roughly as many female wing leaders as there are males. Membership in a wing shifts constantly as individual kirlanans leave and join.
The Eyes Adventurers have told of encounters with solitary kir-lanans that did not attack, but rather observed the party from high in the air, only to flee if confronted. A sizable number of kirlanans— perhaps as many as a quarter of the total population— are solitary creatures, living apart from all others of their ilk. They do not join wings and actively avoid contact with their fellows, departing an area if more kir-lanans arrive.
Among the kir-lanans, these solitary creatures occupy a special niche. They are called in their own tongue the Valrak, or “the eyes.” The Valrak make it their business to explore the lands of Faerûn, studying the people and cultures of this world into which the kir-lanans were so rudely thrust. The Valrak observe so that the bulk of the race is free to continue to engage in acts of vengeance against deities. The Valrak impart the knowledge they gain to other members of their race when called to a rookery (see below). They are particularly interested in matters of a religious nature for obvious reasons, but they have also attempted to learn something of Faerûn’s different cultures, languages, and races, and also its rich history. The “eyes” may be found in nearly any location, from the North to the Unapproachable East, from wilderness to sprawling city. Most major cities in Faerûn have at least one member of the Valrak, and a few of the largest metropolises boast several. Valrak kir-lanans always advance as rogues.
The Voice A vital part of kir-lanan society is the Kivar, or “the voice.” These important figures might be the heart and soul of the race, for they keep the fires of fanaticism burning in the kir-lanans’ collective breast. Before a planned raid or attack, the Kivar gather the wing or wings together to remind them of their grand purpose: making war on deities. Traveling from wing to wing, the Kivar employ a number of devices ranging from narratives of past victories to verses enumerating the deities’ many faults, all of which are designed to incite the kir-lanans to a fever pitch of anger and bloodlust. Likewise, the Kivar often fly with a wing (or group of wings) to the attack, using their special talents to inspire the kir-lanans as they carry the fight to the enemy. As such, the Kivar’s function is almost spiritual—an irony not lost on the godless kir-lanans.
More intelligent than the majority of their fellows, the kir-lanans who became the Kivar planned their roles with some forethought and care. The first probably patterned themselves after bards they observed rallying adventuring parties or entertaining in taverns. Little by little, the kirlanans developed their own verse and chant styles, and found them to be useful not only for recording the deeds of their race but for keeping it focused on the greater goal. When several wings gather to achieve an objective greater than what a single wing can accomplish, it is almost always because a Kivar has been successful in uniting the kir-lanans for the purpose. Several Kivar have even been successful at establishing loose alliances with other groups in Faerûn, something that most who have encountered the fanatic kirlanans would not have thought possible. Kivar advance as fighter/bards.
Motivation and Goals
The kir-lanans began existence with a single goal: punish the deities by desecrating their temples and extinguishing all their godslaves. This is still the ultimate goal of the race, but the kirlanans have modified their approach considerably. Their initial strategy in pursuit of the grand goal was simple. They were prepared to attack and slay every divine spellcaster, religious leader, or worshiper of any deity in all of Faerûn, one by one. However, it became apparent even to the most fanatical members of the race that these tactics would accomplish little except the slow attrition of their numbers.
The members of the emerging Kivar caste were the first to recognize that both information about the world and a different set of tactics would be necessary. It was they who convinced the kir-lanans that some members of the race should separate from the wings and go into the world to learn what they could. This is how the Valrak were conceived and born. The Kivar hoped that by better understanding this world, they could devise strategies that would enable the kir-lanans to realize victory over the deities and give the race a chance to triumph. Their plan has proven successful, at least in that it has allowed the creatures to plan their raids and attacks more carefully. But the Kivar came to understand that even more changes would be required, even if the process was slow and painful in the face of the generally chaotic kir-lanan nature.
Recruiting
The kir-lanans are unable to breed with any outside their own race, and so cannot recruit more members in that fashion. While some have accepted that temporary alliances with certain godslaves might be necessary for the greater kir-lanan good, none are ready to welcome other creatures into their community. But alliances, once impossible due to the kirlanans’ fanatical refusal to even communicate with godslaves, are rapidly becoming another matter under the guidance and direction of the Kivar caste.
Slowly, cautiously, the Kivar have advanced the idea that the kir-lanans have everything to gain by forging alliances with other humanoid groups. This concept was met at first with near total resistance, but gradually—as information gathered by the Valrak has trickled into the rookeries—the idea is making sense. To the surprise of the kir-lanans, they discovered that some Faerûnian natives give little more than lip service to deities, preferring to devote themselves to more important agendas and pursuits. Among these groups, the Arcane Brotherhood, the Knights of the Shield, and the Iron Throne have proven the most compatible with the kir-lanan outlook. All these groups desire power, but none of them are particularly interested in doing so in the name of a patron deity. While some individual members of these organizations may venerate patron deities, their beliefs don’t seem to have detracted from their ability to help their societies achieve their goals.
The Kivar have thus been able to convince several wings to swallow their distaste and work jointly with these groups on limited occasions. One wing recently joined with a contingent of Iron Throne agents who sacked a caravan carrying supplies destined for a remote temple of Oghma. Another aided the Arcane Brotherhood in conducting a thorough reconnaissance of a druid grove near the community of Deadsnows in the Silver Marches; the wing has agreed to help the Brotherhood destroy the grove in the near future. All the alliances forged thus far are admittedly temporary, and the Kivar know that they must be cautious. It takes only one mistake in their choice of allies to forever sour the entire race on the whole idea.
The Kivar hope that when the kir-lanans see how effective such alliances of convenience can truly be, they are more accepting of the idea. They have hopes that, in the near future, some wings might even permit (very) temporary alliances with those who worship certain deities, such as Cyric. The Kivar cannot help but be in complete agreement with Shar’s desire to war on the other deities, and they are not opposed to working alongside her clergy for that very purpose. And when that happens, the Kivar know that the deities themselves are going to tremble at the havoc the kir-lanans shall wreak. If the Kivar are successful in this plan, only Shar would eventually be left, and by then the kir-lanans’ power should be too great for her to do anything other than submit meekly to her death at the hands of her one-time ally.
Encounters
Statistics for individual members of the kir-lanan race can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. As stated therein, a typical encounter with kir-lanans consists of a wing with from two to five members.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:42:11 GMT -5
The Knights of the Shield
The Knights of the Shield is a loose network of nobles and merchants who share information so that they may each exert influence in their chosen areas of interest. The members of the order are for the most part entirely self-interested. They could use the information gained from the organization for the betterment of lives and livelihoods in many lands, but they choose instead to employ it in gaining political leverage and personal advantage.
Many of the knights are legitimate aristocrats and traders who see no harm in acquiring the odd bit of useful information. For many of them, their association with the knighthood is more a matter of family tradition and convenience rather than conscious decision.
Other members, however, are not so casual about their affiliation with the order. For them, their knighthood comes first and foremost, for it is the key that unlocks all the personal power and wealth they crave. And there exists yet another layer of membership, unknown to the other two: an inner cabal of knights who serve the true power of the order— a being dedicated to spreading its own brand of cruelty and political corruption across Faerûn.
Brief History
The knights can trace the origin of their order back more than fifteen centuries. Their original purpose was to provide intelligence to the monarchy of Tethyr during the Eye Tyrant Wars of –170 DR. They took their name from the fabled Shield of Silvam, an artifact that was reputedly crafted by the wizard Zhyra Bardson-Ithal. The artifact was lost, though history does not record the time or place of its disappearance. Perhaps not coincidentally, the knights were officially disbanded shortly after the shield vanished (about three hundred years after the order’s founding), when they were falsely accused of taking part in the murder of King Leodom IV of Tethyr.
The senior knights, however, continued to meet in secret, establishing many of the traditions and practices that have endured to the present day. By sharing vital economic, political, and historical information gathered by themselves and their agents, the nobles were able to make exceptionally wise investment, trade, and political decisions that increased their personal wealth and enabled them to remain several steps ahead of rivals. Inviting only a handful of their fellow nobles to join the order every few years, the Knights of the Shield remained a relatively tiny organization with modest aims until the year 889 DR, when Duke Tithkar Illehhune joined the society.
The duke brought with his membership a wondrous, magnificently jeweled shield, which he referred as the Shield of the Hidden Lord, that bore a menacing visage worked into its face. He persuaded his fellow knights that the shield was a gift from the deities, meant as a sign that the Knights of the Shield should restore themselves to their former glory. Duke Illehhune and his cronies established a secret inner circle of knights for the purpose of increasing the order’s power and influence. Calling themselves the Shield Council, this inner cabal undertook the task of restoring the Knights of the Shield to the success and power it had known in its formative years.
In the five centuries that have followed, the Knights of the Shield has indeed waxed prosperous. Though still relatively few in number, its membership includes many of the best informed and most successful aristocrats and traders in its sphere of influence, which today includes most of the Sword Coast as well as Amn, Calimshan, and Tethyr. The group has used its network of spies, informants, and gossips to influence events of economic, social, and military nature, including the creation of important trade roads, the defeat of the Black Horde (1235 DR), the establishment or relaxation of innumerable trade tariffs and mercantile policies, and the reestablishment of Tethyr’s monarchy during the Reclamation Wars (1366–1369 DR). All these events have benefited members of the Knights of the Shield and the Shield Council immensely, mostly by adding to their personal stores of wealth and political power. As far as the majority of the members of the order are concerned, that’s the entirety of the organization’s goals and ambitions. They are mistaken.
The Organization
The knights guard their secrets carefully, despite the fact that their organizational structure is quite loose and informal, except for the Shield Council. Separated by geography as they are, the members rarely ever meet more than a half-dozen of their fellows during their entire lifetimes. Ancient bylaws stipulate that each knight may inform no more than three individuals, regardless of identity, that he is a member of the order, and this rule remains in effect today. None of the members outside the Shield Council are aware that the order’s leadership is not what it appears to be.
Headquarters: Inselm Hhune’s palatial manse in the city of Baldur’s Gate.
Members: 60–100, plus three or four times as many agents.
Hierarchy: Loose.
Leader: Inselm Hhune, First Lord of the Shield Council.
Religion: Gargauth the Outcast (see text).
Alignment: CN, LE, NE.
Secrecy: High.
Symbol: A circular shield with a central eye, surrounded by a circle of diamonds.
The Knights of the Shield mint their own currency. They use as their tender a thick gold coin, as heavy as three standard gold coins. Each coin is stamped on one side with the order’s mark. The coins are minted at a facility owned by the order, located in Athkatla.
Hierarchy
Seven knights make up the membership of the Shield Council. They meet periodically, never in the same place twice, in order to chart the direction of the order and coordinate its members’ activities. Four of the members of the council are merely senior knights who have dedicated much of their lives to the order, doing what is best for themselves and the organization often at the expense of ethics. However, the remaining three members—the First Lord of the Shield, the Second Lord of the Shield, and the First Lady of the Shield—serve the order only as a means to increase the power of their dark master, the Hidden Lord of the Shield.
The Hidden Lord of the Shield Lord Tithkar Illehhune’s artifact is still with the Knights of the Shield—in fact, it now leads the organization. The shield is an artifact sacred to the deity Gargauth, a cruel minor power whose portfolio includes betrayal, cruelty, political corruption, and power brokers. Gargauth speaks directly through the shield. By carefully manipulating the members of the Shield Council for centuries, imparting to them valuable snippets of information that they used to the order’s benefit, Gargauth encouraged the members of the council to venerate the artifact and treat it as the Hidden Lord of the order. Patiently, he has manipulated the Shield Council members year after year, becoming more and more essential to the order’s success. Now he has usurped their leadership and become the knights’ true master. Fortunately, he has the perfect tool in the current First Lord of the Shield, the insatiably power-hungry Inselm Hhune. With this greedy mortal’s cooperation, Gargauth has installed his own clergy on the Shield Council. Now he is in a position to start dictating the activities of the order directly.
As far as the majority of the Shield Council members are concerned, the Hidden Lord of the Shield is a strange intelligence that dwells in the shield itself. They respect its authority and wisdom, considering it the nominal head of the order. The council would not dream of making an important decision without first consulting the Hidden Lord, much as one might consult an oracle or a Talis deck for insight into an important personal matter. The Hidden Lord does not always speak to the council even when asked, and on such occasions the council takes the Hidden Lord’s silence as a sign that it approves of whatever decision the council cares to make. On the rare occasions when the Hidden Lord makes its opinion known, however, the Shield Council is quick to follow its advice to the letter, for it has never proven to be wrong. The Second Lord of the Shield, Ghauntz, is the official Speaker for the Hidden Lord, since he has demonstrated an uncanny ability to decipher and interpret the being’s sometimes cryptic utterances.
The First Lord of the Shield The impossibly fat Duke Inselm Hhune of Kamlann cultivates a pleasant demeanor, but his heart is as black as his hair, and his ambition is greater even than his waistline. He is an indirect descendant of the Tethyrian noble who discovered the Shield of the Hidden Lord, though he was himself born a common merchant. He excelled at his trade by virtue of a quick mind, and through the combination of this acumen and carefully disguised but ruthless ambition, he amassed a fortune so large he was able to purchase the title of lord. Invited to join the Knights of the Shield soon thereafter, he rose quickly through the ranks to sit on the Shield Council only five years after becoming a member (aided by the “mysterious” deaths of several regular knights and one member of the Shield Council, with the help of the Fire Knives and the Night Masks).
A political intriguer and social climber without peer, Inselm gives his loyalty only as a calculated loan, to be recalled when his allies are no longer useful. The only interests that he cares about are his own. His personal wealth is immense and his land holdings vast, though most are “owned” by his agents and nominees so that his enemies and rivals do not know the full extent of his resources. The crown of Tethyr has rewarded Inselm handsomely for his services in recent years. He seems to know everything that happens in the South and along the Sword Coast, a talent he chalks up publicly to his business dealings but that stems in actuality from his membership in the Knights of the Shield.
Since Inselm’s ascension to the Shield Council, Gargauth has singled him out as the principal target of his machinations. Becoming the First Lord granted Inselm the privilege of caring for the Shield of the Hidden Lord: Each time he handled the artifact, Gargauth whispered to him, encouraging him to act upon his cruelest and most base instincts. Already a man with few morals, Inselm rarely hesitated to take the Hidden Lord’s advice, committing acts of treachery and murder whenever prompted by the whispers of the deity. Soon Gargauth had Inselm completely under his thumb.
The Second Lord of the Shield Ghauntz the Cloaked is an elderly, scarred man who is rarely seen without his dark robes and hooded cloak. He has venerated and served his deity for the better part of his adult life. He gained membership in the order through his deity’s manipulations and came to his seat on the Shield Council through similar means. Now that he is one of the rulers of the order, he works to ensure that his deity’s will is understood and enacted. The other members of the Shield Council respect Ghauntz’s role as the Speaker for the Hidden Lord. They believe him to be nothing more than a sharp-minded moneylender who is gifted at understanding the Hidden Lord’s true meaning, unaware that he actually receives communication directly from Gargauth.
The First Lady of the Shield Duchess Lucia Thione-Hhune is a distant cousin of the royal house of Tethyr. She married Duke Inselm Hhune three years ago in a bid to regain her position among the knights, which she had forfeited during an embarrassing and ill-fated debacle in which she attempted to seize control of the city of Waterdeep. The chestnut-haired beauty was exiled from the City of Splendors for her crimes and lost her standing among the knights both for her failure and for deceiving the membership.
Inselm skillfully maneuvered to rebuild his wife’s lost status, and just this year managed to bring her into the Shield Council (with the aid of Ghauntz and the Hidden Lord). He did not do so out of a sense of duty or love, however. Theirs is a marriage of political convenience, and neither of them has any illusions about the other’s fidelity. Inselm plans to indoctrinate Lucia into the worship of Gargauth, so that she too may aid the Hidden Lord in increasing his control over the order. For her own part, Lucia has yet to hear the Hidden Lord speak, but she has seen what Inselm’s association with the artifact and its master have done for him. It is unlikely that she will refuse any chance to increase her own personal power.
Motivation and Goals
The methods employed by the Knights of the Shield are actually quite simple. When a member hears something that could be of potential use to a fellow member or the order as a whole, he conveys it to the Shield Council. The council members in turn coordinate and analyze the incoming information, redistributing it to the members who in their opinion can make the best use of it. Most of the members use the information thus gained to feather their own nests, improve their political standing, or take advantage of economic trends and events. A knight might inform the Shield Council, for example, that the wheat crop of a certain community looks as though it might yield less than anticipated at the upcoming harvest. The council might pass this information on to another member who has interests in the wheat trade; that member could then act quickly to capitalize on the harvest shortfall, making a tidy profit and cutting his competitors out of that particular market. The Shield Council receives a dozen bits of information just like this every day. Taken individually, these pieces of data—some little better than court gossip—may mean relatively little. When viewed as a whole, they constitute a most thorough picture of matters that are of great interest to anyone wishing to gain certain types of advantages.
The knights generally work, as a group, within the letter of the law when pursuing their information-gathering activities. A member usually cultivates a network of informants from among his social and business contacts, and many do not hesitate to use their own friends and family as potential sources of information. Some members of the order are not above taking the law into their own hands in order to achieve goals they consider more important than the sanctity of local statutes. But the order has had tremendous success in applying political and economic pressure to actually alter laws or repeal them altogether, which is a much safer means of accomplishing its goals than committing criminal acts.
The knights are bound by an oath, handed down since the order’s earliest days, to undertake no activities that might harm the organization or act contrary to the interest of its members. However, it is not always possible to know when any given act impacts a fellow knight negatively, so a system of apologetic repayments for unintentional infractions of this rule has been established over the years. When a member inadvertently acts against the interests of a fellow knight, he is expected to tender an immediate apology and a prescribed sum in either cash or trade goods as compensation. The Shield Council is the final arbiter of these matters. Knights who attempt to cheat the order or their fellows out of such a debt are normally among the organization’s most short-lived members.
The Shield Council Unlike the regular knights, the members of the Shield Council think nothing of laws or morals—such matters are of no concern to a true master of events. The council uses the information it receives from the constituent members to plan and conduct assassinations, bribe political figures, blackmail the wealthy, and conduct hostile takeovers of businesses in financial difficulty. Sometimes they do their own dirty work, but more often they contract out to other organizations and societies, such as the Night Masks, the Fire Knives, or Shadow Thieves. They are not above dealing with the Zhentarim, the Arcane Brotherhood, the Red Wizards, or any other group that might be of use in pursuit of their goals. In this fashion, they increase their own wealth and power, and extend that of the order. Because Inselm’s public life demands that he give the appearance of total loyalty to his native Tethyr, the order does not conduct any of its more unsavory operations in that country. Moreover, Inselm utilizes information gained through his position on the Shield Council to aid Tethyr’s monarchy.
The Hidden Lord Gargauth’s chief aim in the short term is to gain more worshipers from among the Knights of the Shield. He has entrusted Ghauntz with the task of spreading his gospel among the other members of the Shield Council, and through Inselm he intends to demonstrate his power by making the First Lord even more successful. Currently he is working on a plan that enables Inselm to get even closer to the monarchy of Tethyr, putting him in a position where he might be able to make a claim on the throne. As the faith of the knights is co-opted, those who prove resistant can be drummed out of the order and replaced with those more pliant. Ultimately, Gargauth sees the knights as the foundation of a sharp increase in the popularity of his religion—and therefore as a tool for the increase of his stature and power among the deities.
Recruiting
A knight may sponsor a person, of any race or gender, for membership in the order. The candidate must meet with the Shield Council and, if found acceptable, swear the oaths of loyalty and secrecy with his hand on the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Those who fail to live up to their obligations may be cast out of the order by a majority vote of the Shield Council. Those who dare to betray the order almost always die at the hands of a hired assassin. Most of the new recruits come from Amn, Calimshan, and the Sword Coast, where the order’s members are most numerous and its influence strongest. The vast majority of them are members of the nobility, though a few are immensely wealthy merchants.
Encounters
The knights do not maintain any standing military arm or body of agents within the order’s structure, except for those servants who wait upon the members when they meet to discuss business. Each knight is responsible for creating and maintaining his own personal network of informants. It is unlikely, therefore, that characters will ever encounter a group of the knights in the normal course of adventuring.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:42:26 GMT -5
The Kraken Society
The Kraken Society is a group of information brokers who use their knowledge to influence events in coastal countries along the Trackless Sea. Its agents, known as the Krakenar, are not above using kidnapping, murder, and torture to get their way. Their monstrous leader’s goal is the control of a great undersea and shore kingdom ranging for thousands of miles. Led by a very old kraken wizard called Slarkrethel, the society has ties to the church of Umberlee and controls armies of undersea monsters, which it uses to conquer hostile aquatic settlements and raid shore-based ones.
Brief History
Upon discovering the ruins of Ascarle, an elven city destroyed by drow and submerged by the northern ice, the kraken Slarkrethel learned of the former glories of his race and desired to reclaim them. Over the centuries he created a network of agents under the sea, strengthening his empire. Eventually he rescued drowning sailors and offered them life in exchange for loyalty as his agents on the shore, and from these strange beginnings a powerful organization of information traders has grown. Now the Kraken Society trades information for wealth, influence, and favors, and has earned a reputation for assassination and other evil acts to further its agenda.
The Organization
The structure of the society is somewhat loose, and each level within the organization is allowed to develop its own means of acquiring information. This flexibility means that the best way to uproot a particular cell varies widely, since each cell has different methods of handling and acquiring agents.
These statistics refer to the organization as a whole, which spans much area both above and under the water.
Headquarters: Ascarle (underwater city), north Trackless Sea.
Members: Unknown, but assumed to number hundreds of agents across the North and the Western Heartlands, plus tens of thousands of aquatic troops.
Hierarchy: Webbed.
Leader: Slarkrethel.
Religion: Umberlee, varies.
Alignment: NE, LE, N.
Secrecy: Medium.
Symbol: The icon of the society is a purple squid with many tentacles. This symbol is only worn openly in places where the society holds absolute power, such as the city of Ascarle.
Hierarchy
Slarkrethel cares little how his underlings organize themselves, as long as the information flows. The general structure has the kraken at the head, with a few senior agents watching over large areas. These senior agents have their own groups of underlings that watch over smaller areas, and so on. Agents are allowed to use their own methods of obtaining information as long as the results are passed up through the ranks, after which they can be distributed across the network.
Slarkrethel, a kraken wizard, and Chosen of Umberlee, is the leader of the Kraken Society. His trusted lieutenants are his eyes and ears to the remote parts of his realm. He is always accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards, including weresharks, merrow (aquatic ogres), kapoacinth (aquatic gargoyles), dire sharks, and orcas.
Vestress, a mind flayer, is the overseer of Ascarle. Brought back from an undersea illithid colony and brainwashed into serving the kraken, it is an efficient master of its new home.
The Skum Lord, an aboleth wizard and cleric of Umberlee, lives beneath the sewers of Skullport and is said to own as much as forty percent of that city’s buildings. It sends its skum servitors into the city to collect rent and has many informants within the city.
Rethnor, a human man, is one of the five High Captains of Luskan, and leads the society’s coastal operations from the Mere of Dead Men northward.
Semmonemily, a doppleganger, watches the Dessarin River valley. The former servant of an illithid turned lich, the shapechanger has many Underdark allies and receives frequent updates from unusual sources.
Meritid Archneie, a human cleric Umberlee, serves his church and the Skum Lord faithfully, gathering information on naval traffic for his aquatic masters. He now leads a small cell of Krakenar in Waterdeep.
Motivation and Goals
People join the Kraken Society for many reasons, all revolving around the uses of information. Information can bring wealth, personal power, or vengeance against one’s enemies. The upper ranks of the Krakenar are in it for the power, having become accustomed to numerous underlings obeying their commands. Slarkrethel himself wishes to eventually become a deity, and has the support of Umberlee, who has named him her Chosen.
Recruiting
The Krakenar are willing to trade for information from just about anyone. If a person is proven to be a reliable source of information, he may eventually be shown more of the workings of the society and encouraged to join on a more permanent bases. Theoretically, anyone sufficiently well informed can join the Kraken Society. Its ranks include common thieves, wealthy merchants, and morally dubious adventurers.
Allies
In addition to the various intelligent monsters of the Trackless Sea that would be happy to acquire treasure or favors from the Kraken Society, the church of Umberlee is a strong ally, and any Umberlant that is aware of the existence of the society can be counted on to provide at least some aid to a needy Krakenar.
Enemies
Because of its tendency to pry into secret affairs, the Kraken Society has drawn fire from similar groups such as the Harpers and the Knights of the Shield. Since the Krakenar use violent crime to acquire and protect their information, this behavior has only increased the enmity of the Harpers and other goodaligned groups.
Encounters
Because they come from all walks of life, no standard tactics are used by members of the Kraken Society. Many agents seem to favor water breathing spells and potions both as a means of escape and to aid in ambushes and surveillance. The legions of aquatic monsters that serve Slarkrethel are all practiced troops, however, and know the best tactics for fighting underwater or on the shore. Using spells to compel or lure foes into the water is a common tactic when fighting in or from the water.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
[ok whaaa, wizard krakans? Can you imagine that, tentacle spell casting, components goin' everywhere? ahahaha.]
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:43:01 GMT -5
The Malaugryms
Malaugryms are incomparably talented shapeshifters, natives of an unknown plane who use the Plane of Shadow to access the world of Toril. They plan to eventually invade Faerûn but are hindered by several weaknesses, including an inability to master interplanar magic and an almost-pathological need to amuse themselves with acts of cruelty. The leader of the race is known as the Shadowmaster, and the creatures are collectively known as the shadowmasters (although they are not associated with either the Shadowmasters of Telflamm or the Netherese shades, as some have suspected). Five of these creatures inhabit Faerûn at the present time. Although they are meant to be acting on behalf of the entire race as a prelude to invasion, they mostly pursue their own depraved and sordid agendas.
Brief History
The foul malaugryms are the corrupt and tainted offspring of the wizard Malaug, reputedly the first human from Faerûn to dare the journey to the Plane of Shadow. Given their capabilities and their inability to breed with one another, the malaugryms’ precise ancestry is likely even more complicated and bizarre than the rumors and legends hint.
Able to duplicate any creature that it has ever seen with near perfection, each malaugrym nevertheless has one favorite form that it reverts to when seriously threatened. Normally, however, the malaugryms blend into the population of Faerûn, masquerading as humanoids and settling for periods of time in great urban centers where their favorite food (humans) is plentiful.
The Organization
Headquarters: Each malaugrym maintains its own headquarters and sanctuaries, usually within the area where its current form dwells. The Shadowmaster dwells in a stronghold on the Plane of Shadow.
Members: 5 in Faerûn, about 100 altogether.
Hierarchy: Loose.
Leader: The Shadowmaster.
Religions: Bane, Gargauth, Shar.
Alignment: CE.
Secrecy: Medium.
Symbol: The malaugryms do not bother with using a symbol to represent their race. Individual malaugryms, particularly the spellcasters, may choose to adopt a mark of their own, but this is sheer vanity on their part.
The five malaugryms in Faerûn are Arathluth, Luthbyr, Luthvaerynn, Taltuth, and Zarasluth. (Arathluth and Taluth are detailed in Monsters of Faerûn.) Each initiates communication with one another and with the Shadowmaster when they feel like it.
Hierarchy
All malaugryms are technically equal to one another in rank and status, except for the Shadowmaster.
Any malaugrym that possesses sufficient strength, cunning, and power can claim the title of Shadowmaster. In order to actually wield the authority that goes with the title, however, the would-be ruler of the race must first destroy his predecessor. Although malaugryms are almost immortal, they do age — albeit very slowly—and a Shadowmaster often lives for countless centuries. A new Shadowmaster is almost always younger and stronger than the old holder of the title.
The only measurement of status among the malaugryms is relative power. The strongest are respected even as they are feared and hated. Bitter rivalries sometimes spring up between individual malaugryms, who can then spend centuries at war with one another. They don’t have the patience to create intricate, long-term plans with which to ensnare rivals, however, so their tactics are generally of the “hit and run” variety. Only the Shadowmaster is able to coerce a group of malaugryms into working efficiently with one another for any length of time.
Motivation and Goals
The malaugryms intend to invade Faerûn in force, just as soon as they gain the interplanar magic to make the crossing from the Plane of Shadow en masse and the power that will enable them to schieve victory over the other races of the continent. At the rate that the malaugryms’ efforts are currently proceeding, their master plan might not reach fruition for some time. Exactly what the race plans to do with Faerûn and its inhabitants once they are conquered is something that the race itself has not determined completely. The current Shadowmaster has pondered the feasibility of dragging the entirety of Toril off into the Plane of Shadow as a vast “playground” for the malaugryms, but it is doubtful that any one plan remains intact for any appreciable length of time.
Meanwhile, the malaugryms currently residing in Faerûn spend most of their time thrill-seeking, questing for ever greater pleasures of all description, and enhancing their private collections of magic items. One of their chief sources of entertainment is tormenting and harassing other creatures, particularly humans, whom they find endlessly amusing.
The fact that the malaugryms are easily distracted from their grand scheme does not mean that they can be dismissed as serious threats, however. An adventurer who underestimates one of these shapeshifters generally realizes his mistake only as the creature crushes the overconfident hero like a bug.
Recruiting
All members of the race are automatically subject to the nominal authority of the Shadowmaster. No others of their kind exist from which to draw fresh recruits. But because malaugryms cannot breed with one another, perhaps due to some defect in their physiology, those active in Faerûn must mate with humans and then steal the resulting offspring. Their partners generally don’t know what’s happening until it is too late, and most do not survive the process of bringing a new malaugrym into the world.
Allies
The malaugryms have no permanent allies, either as a group or individually. All their partnerships exist to be exploited and then dissolved and the partners destroyed at the malaugrym’s convenience. They don’t discriminate when choosing their unwitting tools. A malaugrym is as likely to form an alliance with the forces of good as it is with those of evil, provided that doing so somehow satisfies the creature’s unwholesome agenda and desire for amusement. A scant handful of mortals are allied to the malaugryms knowing full well what they are aiding, but such folk tend to possess a high degree of personal power and take steps to protect themselves from betrayal.
Enemies
Since they intend to invade and conquer Faerûn eventually, malaugryms tend to view all other races, groups, and creatures as their foes. They do not necessarily hate these opponents, however. They simply see them as inconsequential and irrelevant, mere tools that exist for the malaugryms’ pleasure.
Only toward the Harpers and the Chosen of Mystra do the malaugrym feel something more than contempt. These groups have thwarted the malaugryms’ ambitions in the past, activities for which the creatures will never forgive them. A malaugrym may spend months planning the capture of a Harper, and actually obtaining an agent of this interfering group is an opportunity for the malaugrym to unleash its darkest creative whims.
Encounters
Because each malaugrym is unique, the creatures are only encountered separately. Individuals can employ or gather any number of servitor creatures if they so choose. These servants function as guards, playthings, or any other role the malaugrym wishes. The lives of these slaves are invariably unpleasant and exceedingly short.
All malaugryms favor a stealthy, clandestine approach to conflict. They prefer to send minions, slaves, and allies against a foe rather than take the field themselves. When they are obliged to enter combat personally, they employ tactics designed to conceal their true nature. These creatures rarely expose their true nature, especially in a battle; most would prefer to leave the field rather than risk exposure to a possibly superior foe.
The spells and magic items they employ tend to support these tactics. They favor illusions and similar misleading effects, and habitually create lairs that feature a multitude of false elements (illusory walls, secret staircases, hidden compartments, traps concealed by illusion and clever stonework, and the like).
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:45:24 GMT -5
The Mind Flayers
“The taste link is active,” Sugglir sent to his assembled peers. “Begin,” came the collective response. “Human food-creature,” sent Sugglir to the bound captive, “you are honored by being chosen as the subject of pa’nur. My mind and yours are linked. When I feast upon your brain, you shall sense it, and savor its taste as much as I do. In this way, perhaps your soul will be convinced to tread the world in the future as an illithid, rather than as surface cattle.” With that, Sugglir’s tentacles bored their way into Kilimur’s skull. Kilimur screamed, but as he died he learned that the mind flayer found his brain to be quite delicious.
The mind flayers are rightly feared for their evil, their power, and their diet of the brains of intelligent creatures. They assemble in great cities in the Underdark and enslave entire colonies of sentients to work for them and serve as sources of food. What prevents them from immediately conquering the world, in addition to their very specific dietary needs, is their inherently self-serving nature—even a slight setback causes an illithid to flee in the interest of preserving its own skin.
Brief History
As with the beholders, the origin of the illithids is the source of much speculation and little fact. Some think they came from another plane, some from another time or from across the Sea of Night. Others theorize that they come from a place outside the normal considerations of Faerûn’s cosmology. There are other worlds where mind flayers rule and all other races are their livestock, and it was ancient slave rebellions against the mind flayers that resulted in psionically active races such as the duergar. As things stand, mind flayers are scattered across the world, and no one can point to a specific place where they originated.
The Organization
These statistics apply to the population of illithids living in or under Faerûn.
Headquarters: Various cities in the Underdark.
Members: Unknown, but at least five cities of 1,000 or more mind flayers are known to exist in the Underdark.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leader: None, or the elder-brain of a city.
Religion: Ilsensine.
Alignment: LE.
Secrecy: None (although few on the surface other than illithids know the locations of the Underdark cities). Symbol: Mind flayers have no common symbol, although their cities sometimes have a unique icon that decorates items created there.
Ilsensine While all mind flayers revere Ilsensine, their evil deity of knowledge, conquest, and mental power, few choose to devote themselves to the deity and become clerics. Each illithid city has a handful of clerics that remain somewhat apart from the others in the city. Ilsensine is said to look like an enormous green brain trailing countless tentacles that lead throughout its cavernous realm and into the hidden corners of all planes. Its symbol is a brain with two tentacles. The domains associated with it are Charm, Evil, Knowledge, Law, Mentalism, and Tyranny. Its favored weapon is the tentacle (whip).
Cities of the Illithids A mind flayer city is a hideously beautiful place, alien in construction and designed to suit creatures that can naturally levitate. Openings to palatial tunnels rise in staggered levels up the sides of great caverns, ramps are used instead of stairs, and the lowest level is relegated to slaves and slave handlers. At the center of the city is a large building that houses the elder-brain, the aggregate intelligence and memory of mind flayers that have died. Within the elderbrain’s pool swim the tadpolelike young of the race, which implant themselves in a humanoid host when they reach maturity, eventually transforming the host body into the form of an adult mind flayer.
Mind flayers work to advance the plans of their community and divide themselves into smaller groups for specific purposes, such as creating attack strategies, planning slaving runs, searching for a way to dim the light of the sun, or creating magic items to enhance their psionic abilities. Illithids encountered outside a city are either agents of these smaller groups or (rarely) traitorous citizens marked for death. Whether associated with a city or not, mind flayers vigorously compete with each other, rarely pooling their powers, even when working toward the same goal.
Hierarchy
The head of a mind flayer city is the elder-brain, which telepathically links all the illithid minds within a mile of the city itself. The elder-brain is parent, orator, judge, arbiter, governor, and library for the illithids. Imbued with vast psionic power from its constituent preserved brains, the elder-brain cannot move and has no ability to physically defend itself, but its mental powers can effortlessly bring any mind flayer to its knees.
Below the elder-brain is the Elder Concord, a council of mind flayers representing each of the various illithid creeds (factions). The Elder Concord sets goals for the community, elects officials for various duties, and takes care of most of the responsibilities for ruling a community. Underneath the Elder Concord are the “common” illithids of the city, which either work alone or agglomerate into inquisitions or cults. Below the common illithids are the many slaves of the city, which do all the actual labor, act as the city’s military arm, and eventually end up as meals for the mind flayers. A city usually has one or two races of thralls to maintain its breeding population.
Motivation and Goals
The mind flayers wish to dominate the world so that they may live lives of luxury, feasting upon the refined minds of carefully bred thralls and honing their psionic powers to a fantastic degree. How each illithid plans to see this goal achieved may differ—some wish to blot the cursed sun that prevents them from easily waging war on the surface, some wish to amass great armies of slaves, some to create psionic items of incredible power, and some have even stranger and more incomprehensible goals. Any motivation is a means to the desired end of world domination.
Recruiting
Mind flayers do not recruit. To them, other races are only potential slaves. Only when it is to their advantage or when greatly outnumbered do they ally with others instead of enslaving them, and any creatures “recruited” by the illithids are eventually going to be charmed and enslaved by them. Almost any type of creature with a discernible intelligence may be found as an illithid thrall.
Allies
Mind flayers have few true allies, although they sometimes make temporary alliances with other Underdark races. They keep slaves of almost any race; the most common ones are grimlocks, because grimlocks breed fast and are willing to eat the remains a hungry mind flayer leaves behind. The illithids also frequently have chuul as slaves, and use many Underdarkadapted animals as spies (the illithids scour the animals’ brains to get the information they wants, bypassing the limited intelligence of the creatures).
Mind flayers sometimes lead small bands of doppelgangers, a type of group known as a druuth. The shapechangers are able to infiltrate various organizations and societies, providing their illithid masters with valuable information
Enemies
The illithids have many enemies—namely, every creature that isn’t an illithid, because no sane mind would volunteer to be enslaved and eaten by these monsters. However, some beings in particular are frequent foes. Deep dragons and drow compete with the mind flayers for living space and slaves. Undead of all kinds are hated and feared, for they are immune to most psionic powers, forcing the mind flayers to use their own natural attacks or waste valuable slaves.
The duergar are the most ardent foes of the mind flayers. Once a normal clan of dwarves, after being enslaved and tampered with for generations, the duergar shook themselves free of their mental chains and emerged into the Underdark as a new subrace of dwarves. The duergar have never forgotten their enslavement, and they train all their soldiers in illithid fighting tactics.
Encounters
Mind flayers avoid direct combat, preferring to let their slaves deal with this dirty business. If they have to fight, they hide behind a wall of slaves and use their mind blast and psionic abilities to neutralize foes. If they are particularly confident, they may enter melee personally to extract the brain of someone they find appealing. A rare few mind flayers have developed new psionic powers that enhance their physical prowess and enable them to gain levels in the monk class.
If combat turns against it, even slightly, an illithid is likely to flee, abandoning its slaves. It may later sneak back to the site and charm any survivors, whether thrall or enemy.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:47:02 GMT -5
The Monks of the Dark Moon
The monks of the Dark Moon are an elite sect of Sharran agents. They serve the Mistress of the Night by carrying out tasks that she prefers not to assign to her ordinary clergy. From their temples located in lands where evil rules the day as well as the night, monks of the Dark Moon strike at Shar’s enemies with lightning swiftness and terrifying lethality. Whether her whim is espionage, sabotage, or murder, the Lady of Loss can be certain that her monastic order undertakes to fulfill it with extraordinary zeal. The monks of the Dark Moon have proven to be Shar’s ace in the hole on a number of occasions, most particularly when fighting against her hated sister, Selûne, and her rival, the deity Loviatar.
In addition to its fortified temples, the sect also maintains shrines dedicated to its patron deity in Underdark caverns, and it has established safe houses and boltholes in the unsavory quarters of larger cities where Sharrans are not welcome. While the monks of the Dark Moon sometimes work jointly with agents and members of the church of Shar, they are not considered part of her normal clergy but rather an autonomous organization. This status enables the monks to remain free to train in their particular skills, to focus on their devotion to their deity, and to ready themselves for the instant Shar calls them to action.
Brief History
Over the course of the last decade, Loviatar has been making inroads into part of Shar’s traditional territory (principally, the domain of Suffering). Due to her ordinary clergy’s apparent lack of success in halting the incursion, Shar decided that she required a different kind of fighting force for certain types of mission. She conceived a disciplined and loyal monastic order that would serve as her elite force when her earthly needs included subtlety, infiltration, or assassination.
To create her monastic order, Shar turned to her most trusted and devious mortal servant, Alorgoth. Heeding his deity, the Bringer of Doom journeyed far beyond his normal wanderings in the eastern portion of the continent to the Lands of Intrigue. He went first to the city of Purskul, where he commissioned the construction of the imposing, grim edifice that was to be the order’s first monastery (much to the alarm of other religious factions in the city). While the stonemasons and carpenters labored, Alorgoth visited the cities of Athkatla, Crimmor, and Keczulla to begin recruiting the order’s first members from among Sharran cells in those cities.
He sought among these cults for folk who met three principal criteria. First, they must be young adults. Second, they must not have yet been ordained into Shar’s clergy. Finally, they must have demonstrated some manifestation of sorcerous power or potential. Within a year, he had invoked his particular brand of subterfuge and manipulation to gather several dozen ambitious young men and women who apparently met his requirements, and who were eager to gain the secrets of personal power that their new mentor had promised them. Making their way to Purskul, they entered the monastery and began their training. None of them have been seen since ... at least, not in any guise recognizable to those who knew them.
The Bringer of Doom made good on his promises to his young disciples, after a fashion. The young adults who followed him to Purskul learned many secrets, but they also paid a high price for their knowledge. Becoming a monk of the Dark Moon requires the utmost dedication to purpose. Some of the initiates were unable to withstand the grueling physical punishment and mental rigor demanded of them. Some did not actually possess the sorcerous abilities they had claimed, and a few simply could not reconcile the vile acts they were expected to perform as part of their training with their moral conscience, despite what they had believed was a strong faith in Shar. Alorgoth eliminated these failures as a matter of course. He could not afford to permit the washouts to return home to their friends and family with news of what was taking place inside the forbidding structure. Most of these were killed by their fellow disciples in the first year of the monastery’s operation, either as human sacrifices during religious ceremonies dedicated to Shar, or as victims in live training exercises. A few Alorgoth destroyed himself, purely for the pleasure it gave him.
Shortly after the weak and useless were weeded out, Alorgoth turned the operation of the monastery over to three senior priests of Shar, newly arrived from the Temple of Old Night. The deity had directed these clerics to make themselves available at the monastery to finish the indoctrination of the monks started by Alorgoth, for whom she now had other tasks. Several monks who had long worshiped the Lady of Loss likewise joined the priests to continue the martial training of the initiates. The last members of the instructional team to arrive were a pair of sorcerers and an assassin, who would ensure that the monks developed their arcane talents and the killing skills they would require. The initial period of training concluded two years ago with a “class project”: the infiltration and mass poisoning of the entire retinue of Purskul’s clerics of Chauntea, whose temple has stood empty ever since.
By the time the period of instruction was completed, some five years after the monastery was built, Shar possessed a squad of well-trained martial and sorcerous experts, ready to attack, defend, live, and die at her command.
The Organization
Headquarters: None.
Members: 192.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leader: Shar.
Religion: Shar.
Alignment: LE.
Secrecy: Medium.
Symbol: Shar’s symbol, a black disc with a deep purple border.
Like the church of Shar, the monks of the Dark Moon follow and obey a strict hierarchy. Failure to follow the orders of a superior is grounds for execution. Shar does not reveal all she knows to her monks any more than she does to her clerics, but this fact does not trouble the members of the Dark Moon order. They have faith that the Dark Deity will reveal exactly what they need to know to serve her well.
Most of the monks of the Dark Moon are human, but their numbers also include a few half-orcs, drow, tieflings, and a shade or two.
Hierarchy
The rank-and-file monks refer to one another as “Dark Brother” or “Dark Sister.” Those who aspire to become monks of the Dark Moon must endure a year-long novitiate period during which they endure rigorous mental and physical training, as well as preliminary religious indoctrination under the watchful tutelage of the Dark Fathers and Dark Mothers of the monastery. If the novitiates perform well during this time, they earn the chance to become full-fledged members of the order. At that point, they are given their first missions, generally tasks of infiltration, espionage, or sabotage. If the initiates fulfill their individual tasks with distinction, they are made full members of the order. At that point, the intensity of all aspects of training only increases, and the missions they undertake become more demanding and dangerous.
Senior monks are known as “Dark Father” or “Dark Mother.” They are generally the most skilled monk/sorcerers in each monastery, responsible for training the initiates and the rank-and-file monks.
The most senior monk in a given monastery is “Dark Father Abbot” or “Dark Mother Abbess.” They are the leaders of the monasteries, and the hearts and souls of the order. They receive their orders directly from Shar and do not undertake missions personally unless she commands it. They convene once each year at the Temple of Old Night to meet with the ranking clerics of the deity.
Motivation and Goals
The monks of the Dark Moon exist to serve Shar. More fanatical than the members of her priesthood, they strive to emulate the important tenets of Shar’s dogma in all things. Hopeless and remorseless, they find spiritual fulfillment in acting as a weapon in the hand of the Mistress of the Night. Their only interest lies in striving for perfection according to their religious beliefs.
In practical terms, the monks of the Dark Moon share the same goal as the church of Shar. Their methods, however, are less obvious and more selective. Whereas the priesthood might be engaged in a long-term plan to topple a city government, the monks might be charged with slipping into that city’s chief government building and kidnapping or killing a designated target. A Sharran cell could sponsor a thieves’ guild to undermine a city’s social order and turn worshipers away from goodaligned deities toward Shar, even as a squad of Dark Moon monks waylay a cleric of Selûne in that same city, murder him, and leave his body for the morning crows.
Recruiting
The monasteries are highly selective, preferring quality to quantity. Aspirants to the order must meet the criteria established by the Bringer of Doom for the original initiates. The monks of the Dark Moon fear infiltration even more than does the church of Selûne, but the sheer difficulty of the Dark Moon training regimen, coupled with the standard practices of Sharran worship, almost always winnows out any unqualified applicants.
Allies
Shar’s allies are the monks’ allies. The decrees of the deity motivate and drive the monks of the Dark Moon. They do not seek alliances or make enemies except as directed by the Lady of Loss, and then only so that her evil may flourish. Even so, the Dark Abbots and Abbesses do not countenance the purposeful alienation of the common folk who dwell near their monasteries. The work of the Dark Moon is best accomplished under the cloak of secrecy, and blatant maltreatment of commoners merely attracts self-righteous do-gooders who must inevitably be eliminated lest they endanger the security of the order. Some Dark Moon strongholds strive to convince nearby communities that their members are merely a group of peaceful ascetics. Cultivating friendly relations with the native people often provides a level of camouflage that cannot be achieved even through magical means.
Enemies
Shar’s enemies are the monks’ enemies. The Dark Brothers and Sisters strike when and where they are commanded, and do not dwell on ethics or morals exterior to Shar’s dogma. The Dark Brothers and Sisters harbor special hatred for those who serve Shar’s sister. The monks’ discipline permits them to resist the temptation to indulge in personal vendettas or any other types of activity not prescribed by their missions.
Encounters
Monks of the Dark Moon do not suspend their training within their monasteries without orders, so all encounters with them will be related to a mission or assignment they are undertaking on the orders of their superiors. A typical individual encounter is a monk/sorcerer of at least 2nd/1st level. All Dark Moon sorcerers use the Shadow Weave. A typical small group encounter is a monk/sorcerer leader of at least 3rd/2nd level, and several accompanying monks or monk/sorcerers.
Monks of the Dark Moon who multiclass as sorcerers are taught lesser shadow tentacle and greater shadow tentacle when they reach the appropriate caster level. These spells are primarily defensive, though they can also be used to restrain a target immediately prior to assassination.
The greatest strength of the order is its unity of purpose. The monks’ single-minded devotion to Shar’s will instills within them a fanaticism unrivaled even by Shar’s most devoted clerics. The monks draw their strength from the meaning that Shar gives to their lives, and this in turn renders them capable of the amazing feats of body and mind they employ in pursuit of their assignments. Betrayal of the order or of Shar is unthinkable to the men and women who have taken the order’s dark vows. If captured, they resolutely endure torture or punishment, secure in the knowledge that they will continue to serve Shar even after death, knowing that she finds a use for their bodies and souls even after they pass beyond the living plane.
If the monks have a weakness, it is their dependence on their deity for all information and direction. Consequently, if the circumstances of a mission change abruptly, or if the monks are confronted with an unanticipated problem, they may be slow in adapting to the new situation or threat. Also, their cloistered lifestyle sometimes works against them. They know little of the world outside their monastery walls, and are sometimes imperfect in their disguises due to a lack of local knowledge. A hero who has reason to suspect that an agent of this order is in the vicinity might be on the lookout for someone who looks native but acts without a native’s habits. Naturally, the monks are at a distinct disadvantage against opponents who wield holy weapons or magic, and their predominantly lawful outlook makes them vulnerable to the powers of chaos as well.
The Dark Abbots and Abbesses prepare the Dark Brothers and Sisters for each mission personally, dictating how the agents are to function in combat. The leaders of the order make a sincere attempt to warn the monks about the typical habits, tactics, and strategies that their enemies exhibit, so that the monks can be as prepared as possible for the mission’s dangers. Many monks of the Dark Moon have personal specialties – ambush, arson, poisoning, fighting mounted foes, and so on—and they are chosen for missions in which these skills will be useful. The monks of the Dark Moon prefer to fight in well-rehearsed patterns, each relying on the others in the group to do what they have practiced countless times. When engaged on a mission, the monks are focused completely on their objective: all other considerations are secondary, including the well-being of any allies or associates with whom they may be working. As long as a monk is left alive, he will continue to attempt to carry out his orders, and he is prepared to sacrifice himself in the attempt.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:47:19 GMT -5
The Monks of the Long Death
The monks of the Long Death are members of an old order devoted to the concept of death, and they are masters of using natural means to inflict death upon others. They care little for what deity holds the portfolio of death, serving Cyric briefly before Kelemvor, Myrkul before Cyric, and Jergal long before Myrkul.
Brief History
This order of the Long Death dates back to the early days of Calimshan after it was freed from the rule of the genies. It was founded as a means for the slaves of the genies to develop the ability to defend themselves and strike out against their elemental masters, but as time went on the monks became obsessed with killing and death beyond their original purpose. Since being driven out of Calimshan, they have been chased away several times from places they try to settle in, but always find a place where they can take root again. The monastery in the Lake of Steam is nestled in the Firesteap Mountains southeast of Innarlith and is over one hundred years old. Founded by a devout worshiper of Myrkul, the monastery still bears many symbols of that dead deity.
The Organization
The monastery could be considered a place of peace if not for all the combat practice. When not sparring, the monks of the Long Death are quiet and contemplative. One ritualized combat every year on the feast of the moon determines who leads the monastery for the next twelve months. This combat is often to the death, although sometimes a victor inflicts a very painful wound on the loser as a reminder and a lesson. These competitions are the only time when the monks of the order are allowed to fight each other to death.
At least three monasteries of the Long Death are rumored to exist in Faerûn, each of approximately the same size and population. (The following statistics are for one of these monasteries.) In addition to the monasteries, there are probably dozens of smaller cells of wandering monks and their handfuls of students.
Headquarters: Firesteap Mountains, Lake of Steam.
Members: 100.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leader: Lenet the Cold.
Religion: Varies.
Alignment: LE, LN.
Secrecy: Low.
Symbol: The monks prefer images of skulls, often with a black diamond on the forehead. Many adorn their bodies with tattoos or scars with this symbol.
Hierarchy
Three individuals of importance administer the monastery. The remainder of the monastery residents are treated as equals, although the lesser students battle each other for informal differentiation of rank.
Lenet the Cold is the head of the monastery. Middle-aged and with eyes like ice, Lenet has held her position for seven years in a row. She is an efficient machine of death and always acts completely detached from her emotions.
Tohkis is the chief trainer of new and young students. He is skilled at pushing people with by applying just the right amount of pain and aggression to get them to achieve their potential. Most of his students hate him, but they certainly respect his power.
Idim seeks to constantly advance her awareness of the martial arts, human anatomy, and the thin line between life, pain, and death. She is the mentor of all the students who embrace the philosophy of the order.
Motivation and Goals
The monks seek to understand death and hope to achieve a perfect death. None are really sure what that means, but they believe that by inflicting pain and death upon others with their bare hands, they gain an understanding of what they need to do to achieve their own perfect deaths.
The monks wander the land, accosting people in every part of Faerûn with fist and foot. They have found that pretending to be beggars allows them a great deal of anonymity and freedom to move about. Ironically, many folk mistake them for the Broken Ones (monks of Ilmater), which outrages the worshipers of the Crying Deity.
Recruiting
The monks only accept about a dozen new students into each monastery every year. These students must be lawful neutral or lawful evil and must pass basic physical tests. The monastery also takes on older students, typically fighters with an interest in death or disillusioned monks of other orders. They are particularly fond of teaching worshipers of Loviatar that pain is just a short step away from death, and teaching followers of Ilmater that suffering is only the key to understanding mortality.
Allies
Some of the monks of the order are acquainted with worshipers of Cyric or Kelemvor because of their past association with Myrkul. Others have received friendly gestures from clerics of Velsharoon, who wishes to court the Long Death monks into his service.
Enemies
The monks are opposed by benign deities of life such as Chauntea and Lathander, and are the enemies of the church of Ilmater, which sees their focus on pain and death as being only slightly less repulsive than Loviatar’s love of punishment. Kelemvor, the Lord of the Dead, would prefer that they not practice their skills on unwilling targets and encourages his followers to destroy these monks or convince them to fight undead.
Encounters
Monks of the Long Death normally fight unarmed and preferentially attack humanoid creatures. In situations where they must fight nonhumanoids, they are not adverse to using weapons, particularly if their unarmed strikes are not very effective against their foes. They tend to favor the kama in these instances. If they down a foe, they use the remainder of their attacks against that foe to kill, or even use a coup de grace to finish a fallen enemy.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:47:44 GMT -5
The People of the Black Blood
The People of the Black Blood consist of several tribes of lycanthropic Malar - worshipers living throughout Faerûn’s forests. They revel in their animal nature, attack those who invade their territory, and enjoy abusing those who blind themselves to all but the gentler parts of nature. The People are most feared for their High Hunt, during which they kidnap a sentient being, release it in the forest, then hunt it as they would an animal. While Malar’s clergy normally only calls for a High Hunt once a season, the People choose victims as frequently as once a month.
Brief History
Given that they appear all over the continent and have little contact with each other, it is difficult to trace the origin of the People of the Black Blood. In all likelihood, Malar was inspired to bring the first tribe together after some of his worshipers were defeated by a group of Selûnite shapechangers. Knowing as he does the value of hunting in a pack, Malar probably brought the first tribe together to kill a specific target. Since then, the groups have split and reformed, with lone members recruiting others and some divinely inspired by Malar himself to join under the name of the People.
The Organization
The following statistics refer to a single tribe of the People. Most major forests are thought to have at least one tribe, and the total population of the People is estimated to be three thousand or more.
Headquarters: None.
Members: 50–100.
Hierarchy: Loose.
Leader: Bloodmaster (the most powerful member of the group).
Religion: Malar.
Alignment: CE, NE, N.
Secrecy: None, although the People rarely reveal their affiliation to those outside the group.
Symbol: While each tribe has its own mark or symbol (often depicted in scent rather than visually), each group also tends to use some variant of the symbol that represents the People to outsiders: an abstract humanoid torso with a large clawed hand growing where the head should be. The ties to Malar’s holy symbol are obvious, and the lower part of the symbol may refer to blood or may simply be a spike that can be used to place the symbol upright in the ground.
A tribe of the People of the Black Blood functions like a pack of animals. They have little contact with other tribes unless called together by a great leader or a message from Malar. Each tribe watches over its territory and responds appropriately to outside threats.
Hierarchy
Each tribe has a slightly different sort of hierarchy based somewhat upon the local Bloodmaster’s animal’s form. In general, a single individual or a mated pair is dominant, with all others taking commands from the leader or leaders and constantly jockeying with each other for status. When a tribe has mixed members (more than one type of lycanthrope), the members that have the same animal form as the leader tend to be of higher status.
The following are some of the better-known leaders of various tribes.
Heskret of the High Forest, a werebat, claims dominion of the trees for his people. His tribe usually fights in hybrid form (a man-sized batlike winged humanoid), often carrying victims into the air and then dropping them.
Narona of the High Forest, a werewolf, is a lusty young she-wolf with a taste for human flesh. Her name is well known to the people of the High Forest, and her High Hunts are always well attended even by lycanthropes of other clans.
Totoruan of the Chondalwood, a dwarven wereboar, is an ugly one-eyed thug of a creature, an infected shield dwarf adventurer. The silver threads he wears woven into his hair and beard are still visible in his boar form, and it appears that his teeth and tusks are turning into steel.
Vakennis of Cormanthor, a werewolverine, is a natural lycanthrope, daughter of the previous Bloodmaster of her tribe. She slew her father when she felt she was strong enough and has ruled her tribe with strength and determination for the past four years.
Jarthon of the Moonwood, a half-moon elf werebadger, was once a half-elf who used to hunt lycanthropes to protect the people of Silverymoon. After he became infected during a werebadger attack, he used his hunting skills to become the leader of the local tribe. Jarthon has become a thorn in the side of the people of the Silver Marches.
Mainu of Chult, a weretiger, was abducted from her village and infected by another cleric of Malar, who sought Mainu as a bride because of her incredible beauty. She surprised him by tearing out his throat on her wedding night, and then she lived alone for several years as she grew to understand the change in her body. She then took over the tribe that exiled the cleric. Mainu only calls High Hunts upon those who exploit her jungle home.
Motivation and Goals
The People wish to be left alone to protect their territory, their young, and their way of life. Their occasional kidnapping and hunting of innocent people seems natural to them, for they consider any who do not worship Malar or who live in cities to be weak and worthy only of being prey. They do try to choose people for their High Hunts whose absence either won’t be noticed (to avoid drawing attention to themselves) or will prove a point (such as a wealthy leader of a logging guild who has been responsible for encroachment into the tribe’s territory).
The People are a very localized threat, because they are often content to chase off an intruder and leave it at that. However, those who cross them must face a group of skilled hunters with the instincts of animals and the intelligence of any civilized creature.
Recruiting
The People have no interest in recruiting unless their tribe’s numbers are running low. If they have a year of few births or an unusually large number of deaths, they simply kidnap and infect children from nearby civilizations, raising them as their own once the transformation to lycanthrope is complete.
Allies
Naturally, the People are allies of the church of Malar, although they often consider their nonlycanthrope allies weak and tainted by the constraints of civilization. They have been known to accept employment from groups such as the Zhentarim, drow, and other organizations that pass through their territory without claiming it, but these alliances usually fade after a time. Such groups usually compensate the People for their work by paying them in rare animals, magic items the tribe can use, or young children that can be eaten or infected with lycanthropy.
Enemies
The People share the same enemies as all followers of Malar, including those who destroy their hunting grounds, anyone who represents civilization, those who espouse peace (such as clerics of Eldath), the more benign deities of nature, and the faithful of Selûne, whom Malar loathes for her dominion of the moon.
Encounters
The People use animal tactics supplemented by human intelligence. Ambushes and fast pursuits into dead-end areas are common strategies, as are overbearing and grappling attempts made by multiple creatures on a single weak opponent.
Because they have difficulty using magic items in their animal forms, the People are very selective about what items they carry with them. Only objects that can be easily carried or manipulated by an animal are brought outside the lair. Potions are common items, although not usually carried in bottles — either a soft flask made from a bladder or a bundle of absorbent plant fibers is the most common form, either of which can be chewed apart or sucked on by a creature in animal form.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:48:31 GMT -5
The Rundeen
The Rundeen is a powerful mercantile and slaving consortium that controls trade in Chult, Tashalar, and parts of Calimshan, and is working its way into Tethyr, Amn, and other countries to the north. It protects its caravans with well-armed guards and sends bandits and pirates to attack its rivals’ interests.
Brief History
Originally a Tashalaran mercantile organization, the Rundeen allied with the Knights of the Shield and afterward rapidly spread its influence to the north. The fall of the Shoon Empire split the two groups again, and the Rundeen retained hold of its businesses in Calimshan.
After suffering recent setbacks due to the Harpers and the ruler of Calimshan, the Rundeen is trying to maintain its fragmentary holdings in that country and establish contacts in Amn and Tethyr.
The Organization
The Rundeen is an unusual crime organization. Members of the group offer incentives for prosperous merchants to join them, and for the most part the organization functions as a legitimate, if controlling, merchant network. Only when the Rundeen is thwarted or sees a threat to its business does it make attacks on its rivals.
The following statistics refer to the Rundeen as a whole.
Headquarters: Various residences in Calimshan and Tashalar.
Members: Thousands, including the many merchants, bandits, and pirates involved in or employed by the Rundeen. The primary organization probably numbers about 3,000.
Hierarchy: Segmented.
Leaders: The Grand Yrshelem (five individuals).
Religion: Waukeen, any.
Alignment: LN, N, LE, NE.
Secrecy: Medium.
Symbol: The symbol of the Rundeen is a coin with a nail through it. This ties back to the original meaning of the name Rundeen, “Safe Coin.” Members also have a code sign used to identify themselves to other members of the group: crossing the wrists over the chest while the hands are clenched into fists.
Hierarchy
At the head of the organization are five individuals known collectively as the Grand Yrshelem. Each individual controls a different aspect of the business. Below the Grand Yrshelem are the fifteen First Yrshelem (three serving each of the five Grand Yrshelem), who are responsible for keeping track of finances, personnel, and physical assets. The First Yrshelem controls the Mitalibbar, a group with cells of agents in every city that contacts merchants, handles payments, and watches for rivals. Few members of the Rundeen see anyone of a higher rank than the Mitalibbar.
Motivation and Goals
The Rundeen seeks profit above all else. Merchants who have shown themselves to be competent are invited to join the Rundeen, which involves giving up a small portion of their monthly revenue in exchange for protection against pirates and brigands, reduced costs for equipment purchased from the Rundeen, and preferential treatment in Rundeen-controlled cities. Those who default on these payments eventually find that the Rundeen has become a half-owner in their business.
Enemies of the Rundeen are likely to come up against bandits and pirates in the employ of the Rundeen who have been informed of the location and destination of caravans or cargo ships. The raiders are given instructions to harass, damage, or destroy cargo and personnel as a warning to the enemies of the Rundeen. The organization conducts raids in Chult, Tashalar, and Thindol for slaves, and attacks rival slaving ships on the high seas. The group also employs several bands of mercenary adventurers to hunt Harpers and independent groups of bandits that prey on Rundeen caravans.
Recruiting
The Rundeen only recruits merchants who are shrewd, successful, and efficient, and have businesses large enough to merit their interest. From the bandits and pirates in its employ, the Rundeen expects loyalty, discipline, and the willingness to follow orders to the letter and not exceed specified boundaries. For example, a pirate ship instructed to harry a particular merchant vessel of a rival should not board that vessel, and pirates instructed to board the vessel should not sink it. The Rundeen has no interest in agents who cannot control themselves or who might make the organization look bad because of their laxness.
Allies
The Rundeen is large enough that it doesn’t need much that isn’t already provided by its own organization. However, the group still has ties to the Knights of the Shield and hopes to exploit those ties to increase its hold north of Amn. The Rundeen has allied with a tribe of yuan-ti in Tashalar and is placing pureblood agents in cities it controls. Finally, the organization has had some initial success in dealings with the ogre mage leaders of the humanoid armies that control southern Amn, offering to blockade the city of Murann to prevent Amnian military ships from trying to reclaim the fallen city.
Enemies
Few of the Rundeen’s enemies are important enough to be worth mentioning. Most of the people who dislike the organization are small-scale merchants with businesses that rival those allied with the Rundeen.
The Iron Throne is said to oppose the Rundeen, primarily because both groups wish to control trade in the western portion of Faerûn.
The Harpers oppose the Rundeen’s practices and its slaving raids and have made themselves a constant nuisance.
Encounters
The agents of the Rundeen are scattered across the southern lands and have no training in common. The only consistent feature about them is their equipment, which is usually of very good quality and has been purchased at a discount from Rundeen merchants.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:48:58 GMT -5
The Shadow Thieves
The organization collectively known as the Shadow Thieves is the largest and most prosperous thieves’ guild in all Faerûn. Its success is derived from its system of interlocking guilds, each dedicated to the twin goals of profit and power. From the organization’s stronghold in Amn, this series of guilds controls the lion’s share of all criminal operations along the entirety of the Sword Coast and reaches beyond that area into many other parts of Faerûn.
The highly secretive nature of the guild and its operatives ensures that its members have limited significant knowledge of its operations and their own associates. The forces of law and order have tried to pierce the wall of silence that surrounds the Shadow Thieves, to little avail. Despite periodic successes and the elimination of a few guilds, the organization as a whole seems to grow stronger with each passing year.
Brief History
Five ambitious criminals founded the Shadow Thieves little more than a century ago. Their original base of operations was in Waterdeep, where they operated much like any other thieves’ guild, with one important difference: Power within the guild depended on being related to one of the five founders. The guild remained active in the City of Splendors until 1298 DR, when it was driven out by a group of adventures led by Lhestyn Arunsun, the “Masked Lady” of Waterdeep (and a distant relation of the archmage Khelben).
Nearly destroyed and destitute, the sole surviving founder and the tattered remnants of the guild membership escaped into Amn and regrouped in the city of Athkatla. The remaining founder, Carzakh “Deepshadow” Halandir, swore that the guild would never again allow itself to suffer such a disgraceful failure, and also that it would avenge itself on Waterdeep and its Lords. Deepshadow slowly rebuilt the organization, encouraging more diversity in its ranks and recruiting a number of other types of professionals in addition to the required rogues. Only three years after their humiliating expulsion from Waterdeep, the Shadow Thieves were strong again. By 1321 DR, the organization all but controlled the Amnian underworld, and two decades later it was a serious contender for control of all illegal activity in the Sword Coast region.
Deepshadow perished during the Time of Troubles, and his loss was felt throughout the guild. Fortunately for the Shadow Thieves, his successor, the Grandmaster of Shadows, proved even more capable than his predecessor. The Grandmaster added new levels of secrecy to the guild’s administrative structure and reorganized its hierarchy to create the now well-established interlocking guild system. By improving on Deepshadow’s original concepts, he was able to parlay the guild’s already considerable strength into something truly monumental.
The Organization
Headquarters: The guild maintains a false headquarters known as the Shadow House in Athkatla. This is a blind, meant to serve as a decoy for its real central base of operations, which is a large, well-protected underground complex beneath the infamous Gilded Rose festhall on the opposite side of town.
Members: Uncertain, but probably more than 3,000 operatives work for the guild at any one time.
Hierarchy: Webbed.
Leaders: The Shadow Council.
Religions: Most members of the guild at least pay lip service to Mask, and many claim him as their patron deity. Others worship any number of evil deities, including Bane, Cyric, Loviatar, Shar, and Talona.
Alignment: LE, NE, CE, CN.
Secrecy: High.
Symbol: Everyone in Amn, and many along the Sword Coast, knows the mark of the Shadow Thieves: a black silk domino mask impaled on a stiletto. In actuality this symbol is yet another blind employed by the organization to mislead its rivals and enemies. The rank and file members of the organization are cautioned never to employ this sigil unless specifically ordered to do so. Any member of the guild who uses this mark without explicit instructions is assassinated for endangering the guild and defying authority. The body is normally found the next morning ... with a silk domino mask affixed to the corpse with a stiletto.
The Shadow Council is absolutely fanatical about the secrecy that enshrouds the organization. Only the council members themselves grasp the true complexity of the system and know all its details, and only they appreciate the mind-boggling breadth and depth of this criminal juggernaut.
Secrecy is the key to the guild’s phenomenal success. The individual guilds that make up the organization are arranged and staffed carefully so that each member knows only a few others (generally a dozen or fewer) by name and sight. These members work together exclusively, so that if one is captured or decides to tell all, danger to the larger organization is minimized. Only the members of the Shadow Council possess complete knowledge of the entire operation and its agents. Even so, it would certainly be possible for a turncoat or infiltrator to cause the guild a degree of discomfort.
More important, those who fail to keep the guild’s secrets generally cost the organization money, and that simply cannot be tolerated. It therefore comes as no surprise to any member that the penalty for betraying guild secrecy is death. However, a guild member who maintains guild secrecy in the face of personal danger, capture, or imprisonment reaps considerable rewards. All ranking members of the guild can take comfort in the fact that their families will be cared for should the worst happen. That policy produces a high degree of almost familial loyalty in the inner circles. At the outer edge of the organization, the local guilds that operate (secretly) on behalf of the Shadow Thieves offer their members compensation if they are captured and punished. The wealthier local guilds also provide for a captured operative’s family if he should meet his end.
Hierarchy
A group that has its finger in nearly every illegal pie from Amn to Baldur’s Gate and beyond requires a sizable number of operatives to ensure that its activities proceed on track. The guild is organized in layers, like an onion. At the center of the guild is the Shadow Council, led by the Grandmaster of Shadow. Beyond the council are the Cloakmasters, senior administrators who carry out the Shadow Council’s instructions. Still farther from the center are the Guildmasters, and beyond them are the Silhouettes. Finally, at the outer layer, are the rank-and-file operatives who make up the bulk of the guild’s membership rolls.
The Shadow Council Six men and women divide up the organization’s vast territory among themselves, and each is responsible for the guild’s operations in one of these areas. All members of the Shadow Council maintain at least three separate identities and ensure that they can be ready to travel (for business or escape) at a moment’s notice under any one of a number of disguises.
Rhinnom Dannihyr, the Grandmaster of Shadows, leads the Shadow Thieves and is also a member of the Council of Six, the ruling body that governs the nation of Amn. He has assumed authority over all the guild’s most recent operations east of the Sword Coast.
Rheax Bormul controls the guild’s operations in Amn. A disinherited wastrel from an Amnian minor noble family, he has since avenged himself by putting a large number of his former peers deep in his debt.
Darlan Mortem is a sinister master of the Shadow Weave who uses his position to increase his personal treasure trove of rare magic items. He controls the guild’s activities in the lands between Amn and Baldur’s Gate.
Orniiv “The Eclipse” Fandarfall projects the ice-cold and unflappable demeanor of a true professional. He earned his nickname from the tattoo of a partial eclipse on his left cheek. He is responsible for operations in Baldur’s Gate.
Nulara “Silversong” Haphet has the soul of a dark poet but the mind of a criminal genius. She has authority over the guild’s recent incursions into the Sword Coast North. She hails from far-off Mulhorand, but refuses to speak of her homeland.
Otleo “The Fat” Ressmon came up through the ranks the hard way, earning his guild education from the school of very hard knocks. He is in control of the guild’s activities in Tethyr, where he is known as a successful merchant.
The Cloakmasters Two Cloakmasters serve each member of the Shadow Council, so that a pair of these senior lieutenants works within each of the guild’s six territories. The twelve Cloakmasters do not know the identity of their counterparts, however, nor do they know what orders or assignments their peers are given. They communicate only with the member of the council whom they serve, and those operatives in the next outermost layer who serve them in turn.
The Guildmasters Each Cloakmaster selects ten Guildmasters who carry out the actual day-to-day operations in each territory. A Guildmaster commands a number of separate, individual guilds operating within his Cloakmaster’s area, but each of the guilds under his command specializes in the same activity. Thus, in any given territory, one Guildmaster is responsible for all the smuggling, another for extortion and blackmail, another for theft and burglary, and so on.
The Silhouettes Many dozens of Silhouettes serve the organization, with more added as needed. Each and every one of them is a decoy. Ostensibly they are “guildmasters,” but in actuality they control nothing and have no authority. The sole purpose of the Silhouettes is to appear as if they control guild operations, so that the enemies of the Shadow Thieves will spy on and harass them instead of identifying the organization’s true operatives. A city where the Shadow Thieves are active can have any number of Silhouettes, each working diligently to divert attention from the guild’s true activities. Sometimes the guild even arranges for a Silhouette to be “caught,” so that its opponents remain unaware of the true state of affairs. The Silhouettes report to the Guildmasters.
The Rank and File The most numerous guild members are the “average” Shadow Thieves. They come from virtually every class and race. In virtually every case, these individuals don’t realize that they work for the Shadow Thieves. These thugs, fences, confidence artists, arsonists, and smugglers each belong to a small guild. They report to the “guildmaster,” pay their dues, and commit their crimes all without discovering that they are part of a much larger organization. Sometimes a particularly skilled or gifted member at this level is singled out for promotion and then reports to a Silhouette or possibly a Guildmaster, but most of them live out their entire lives completely ignorant of their role in the greater scheme.
Motivation and Goals
The Shadow Thieves are interested primarily in two goals: increasing their wealth and expanding their power. The Shadow Council also possesses some larger political and personal goals, but these are not shared with the common membership.
In addition to their ambitions of wealth and power, the members of the Shadow Council are determined to revenge themselves on Waterdeep for the Shadow Thieves’ original expulsion. The most expedient and satisfying form of retribution, of course, involves reestablishing the guild’s operations in that city right under the nose of the Lords of Waterdeep, and that’s exactly what they’ve been working hard to do for the last half decade. Their agents have infiltrated the City of Splendors with remarkable success of late, possibly because the attention of that city’s Lords is focused on so many other pressing problems. The only unfortunate aspect of the Shadow Council’s revenge is that they can’t yet share the triumph with the good citizens of Waterdeep. Of course, there may come a day when the guild is so powerful that it can afford to reveal its presence in Waterdeep with impunity, while thumbing its nose at the Lords ... and that’s a day that the council deems well worth waiting for.
All the other members of the Shadow Thieves, from the Cloakmasters to the beggars trying to cadge silver coins in the Tethyrian streets, value wealth and power above everything else. People who have neither wealth nor power are generally useless to guild members and therefore expendable.
Recruiting
The Shadow Thieves eagerly recruit an unlimited number of operatives at the rank-and-file level. The turnover rate among these members is high, due to the naturally chaotic and transient nature of the criminal element. Individuals who show promise are watched carefully and given increasingly greater responsibilities at the local guild level. Guildmasters are free to promote from within as they see fit, since all are ranking members in the various layers of the organization, but they are responsible for the performance of their agents. Unknowingly promoting a traitor or an incompetent is a shameful error, and can delay a ranking member’s advancement for years (or halt it altogether).
Allies
Because of their single-minded devotion to secrecy above all other considerations, the Shadow Thieves prefer to manipulate and use unknowing pawns rather than ally openly with any group. They dislike open alliances, because such arrangements too often give future advantage to an organization that may become an enemy tomorrow. The only exception to this general rule is the Council of Six, the body of anonymous rulers that controls Amn. So great is the guild’s power in the nation that the members of the Council of Six cannot help but be aware of it, and that awareness has sparked recent discussion at the council table. Councilor Rhinnom Dannihyr has proposed that Amn’s governing body make some sort of political overture to the guild, forming an alliance before the Shadow Thieves decide to help themselves to the council’s power with or without consent. This proposal is currently under debate among the other five councilors, who are unaware that its main proponent is himself the leader of the Shadow Thieves.
Individual agents of the group are free to conduct whatever business they like with any number of associates, provided that guild security is not compromised. In recent months, Shadow Thieves operatives have made business arrangements with individuals who inhabit the dark undercity of Skullport far below the streets of Waterdeep, in preparation for the arrival of a Silhouette.
Enemies
As the most widespread guild of organized criminals in Faerûn, the Shadow Thieves also boast a number of foes. Anyone who has ever been wronged by the guild or been the victim of one of its innumerable operations likely harbors a grudge against it (though such persons would be hard-pressed to find a target against which to vent their outrage).
The Lords of Waterdeep are, for obvious reasons, the group’s perennial enemy, at least from a historical perspective. If the Shadow Council believed it could strike a telling blow against those self-satisfied, masked rulers and still maintain secrecy, it would do so without hesitation. One day soon, the group will again be sufficiently established in the City of Splendors to begin harrying the Lords in a more direct fashion, but for now that pleasure must await a more fitting time. The council’s desire to sting Waterdeep’s pride is strong, but not yet strong enough to persuade the council members to risk all that they have accomplished in recent years on a chance for retribution.
A more immediate concern to the Shadow Council is Syl-Pasha Ralan el Pesarkhal, the current ruler of Calimshan. The guild has been attempting to gain a secure foothold in the Calishite underworld for several years, but events have routinely turned against the Shadow Thieves. Their agents continuously disappear or meet death at the hands of Calimport assassins, and their operations regularly fail to turn the kind of profits the guild has come to expect, due primarily to competition from the existing criminal operations in the city. The Shadow Council blames the Syl-Pasha for its troubles, certain that the cunning master of intrigue is orchestrating its failures. The council is starting to believe that it may be necessary to create a new position at its table, and give that individual the task of making the guild’s Calishite ambitions into a reality.
Encounters
Because the guild’s operations are so extensive and its mania for secrecy so strong, no Shadow Thieves encounter can be called “typical.” Player characters who encounter the guild will most likely do so either as the targets of its criminal attentions or as prospective employees. Nearly any individual involved in the underworld throughout the Sword Coast could be a member of the organization, with no easy way for PCs to determine that fact—unless, of course, the guild has decided that it’s time to set up another decoy to draw attention away from something more important in the vicinity.
The Shadow Thieves’ greatest strength is its secrecy, followed closely by the sheer size of its network. The combination of these factors makes tracking down and apprehending its members frustratingly difficult. The belief that the organization will punish or destroy those who divulge its secrets is so strong among its members that incidents of genuine betrayal are rare. More often than not, what appears to be a betrayal is nothing more than a scheme designed to mislead and misdirect those who would harm the organization. More than one overeager adventurer has walked right into a fatal trap baited with a staged “confession.”
This same obsessiveness for secrecy and dependence on routine procedure can be used successfully against the Shadow Thieves. Silhouettes often do not know how to respond effectively to threats that are beyond the normal range of dangers they are taught to expect. Guildmasters and Cloakmasters alike tend to adhere to prescribed methods of dealing with those who set themselves against the guild’s interests, but such tactics can be overcome by opponents who don’t “play by the rules.”
Despite their successes, the members of the Shadow Council have little flair for tactics beyond those required to conduct the group’s clandestine operations. They have developed a series of procedures for underlings confronted by certain types of problems (such as political interference from local governments, encroachment onto guild territory by a rival organization, and other common occurrences), but have spent little consideration on how individual units should fight. Hence, combat encounters with Shadows Thieves share few common elements or procedures.
Two tactical policies usually do prevail from unit to unit, however. The first is a preference for small-scale encounters on terrain the thieves control. To that end, Shadow Thieves are likely to attack by ambush, using spells that confuse or distract their targets while they slip into a favorable combat position. The guild’s operations provide good access to a variety of magic items, so operatives generally carry several potions and some manner of protective magic. The second policy is the guild’s adamant refusal to leave living members in the hands of enemies. If an operation or encounter goes against a guild unit, its surviving members will do their utmost to slay any of their brethren captured by their foes, using whatever means necessary. Failure to accomplish this goal could well mean their own deaths, so they are highly motivated.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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Post by DM Leverage on Apr 16, 2017 12:49:15 GMT -5
The Twisted Rune
The Twisted Rune is a cabal of undead spellcasters that manipulate and twist the webs of power in Calimshan simply for the sake of entertainment. These beings have unlimited time and vast power at their disposal, and the directing of the lives of puny mortals pleases them to no end. Hiding behind layers and layers of secrecy and agents, they make their existence known only to a few, and only a handful of their minions are aware of their connection to the leaders.
Brief History
Founded in 864 DR by Rysellan the Dark, an aging wizard from Calimshan, the Twisted Rune was intended to be a secret consortium of wizards that would be the real power behind all rulers of the Lands of Intrigue. Although infighting caused the destruction of Rysellan and (later) another Runemaster, the members of the group selected others to fill those positions and have worked together in relative harmony to maintain control over much of the politics in their lands.
The Organization
Headquarters: Various secret locales in Calimshan.
Members: 30.
Hierarchy: Webbed.
Leader: The Rune Council (a group of nine).
Religion: None.
Alignment: CE, LE, NE.
Secrecy: High.
Symbol: The symbol of the Rune is a gnarled sigil resembling the number “3” twice, linked together with points downward like claws, and the left-hand downstrokes longer than those on the right. This symbol is rarely used except by the Runemasters so they may recognize each other in disguise, and may be a key (if drawn in the air or engraved on an object) to one of the portals they control.
The Twisted Rune depends entirely upon secrecy. Fewer than a third of its top-ranking agents know that they work for the Rune at all, and this secrecy makes it almost impossible for good-doers to uproot the leaders. The Rune has even been known to hire good adventurers to further their plans, never revealing the ultimate source of the funds.
Hierarchy
The following are the seven known Runemasters, the inner circle of the Twisted Rune.
Jymahna, a female human lich, was once a concubine and was made into a lich by Shangalar (see below). She wears a magical silver mask with unknown properties. Her ties to many caravans make her an important source of news about remote lands.
Kartak Spellseer, male human lich, was destroyed more than 200 years ago but was restored this century by many carefully worded wish spells. His new body is relatively undecayed, and he is one of the more personable Runemasters.
Priamon “Frostrune” Rakesk, a male human lich, is a former wizard of Waterdeep who was exiled for delving into dark magic. Priamon stole portal-building secrets from Halaster and is now the primary portal-builder for the Rune. All the portals he builds have secret triggers known only to him that allow him to seal them with a word or to transport the user to an alternate location of his choice.
Rhangaun, a human lich, is the senior member of the Twisted Rune. Forced into the group because Rysellan possessed his phylactery, he took control after the founder’s death. Dead for more than a thousand years, he is little more than a skeleton with glowing eyes. He owns a staff of the magi.
Sapphiraktar the Blue, a male ancient blue dracolich, was made into a dracolich 300 years ago. For reasons of draconic vanity, he carefully maintains his appearance through magic, and therefore is indistinguishable from a living dragon. He is slowly teaching dragon magic to Rhangaun while he plots to destroy Jymahna, whose network of spies overlaps his own.
Shangalar the Black, a tiefling lich, was born the son of a cambion vizier of Calimshan. He eventually slew his own father and ruled that country with his childhood friend until the latter was assassinated. He wears a cloak made of the hide of a black dragon, one of a pair that he slew before succumbing to his wounds and becoming a lich.
Shyressa, a human vampiric wizardess, slew the vampire that created her and began to study magic. She gained a Runemaster seat only a decade ago. She enjoys playing cat-and-mouse games with people who draw her attention. She has created many fire spells that give off dark flames in order to be more subtle in the night hours when she is active.
The identities of the other two Runemasters are unknown, but they are certainly powerful undead, such as a phaerimm, a beholder mage, or perhaps an alhoon.
A small handful of living agents are employed to deal with tasks such as recruiting adventurers and interacting with the subjects of the Rune’s evil machinations. These agents change from time to time, as they are killed or turned into undead servants before they have a chance to make a mistake that could reveal the Rune.
Motivation and Goals
The Twisted Rune controls prestigious families in Calimshan like a puppeteer, proving its dominance over others in some sort of megalomaniacal game. In the nearly five hundred years since its inception, the Twisted Rune could have placed itself in complete power over Calimshan, but it allows up to half of the powerful families there to remain free of its power. This extends the game and prevents the play and the outcome from being too certain.
The Rune acts by sending messages through intermediaries until the desired person is contacted and convinced of the proper course of action. The members of the Rune trust their agents to know how to handle a situation. They only interfere directly if something has gotten grossly out of hand, and even then only rarely, preferring to test how long it takes the agents to recover the situation through other methods. When the Runemasters meet, they choose one of their secondary lairs and transport themselves there via teleportation magic or one of the portals created by Priamon.
Recruiting
The Rune is willing to temporarily employ almost anyone that suits its purposes, even those of a different ethos. Individuals who prove useful are likely to remain employed for a longer period of time, but only those with extremely valuable skills are likely to be around long enough to work their way toward the status of Runemaster.
Allies
The best allies of the Runemasters are the other Runemasters. Because their lairs are linked to each other, if one is under attack and feeling threatened, he or she can easily escape to the lair of an ally or receive aid very rapidly.
Enemies
Because they are wrapped in secrecy and lies, few know of the Rune’s existence or know where to look for Rune members should they discover the existence of this undead cabal.
Among those who are aware of the group, Halaster of Waterdeep resents their attacks on him and the pilfering of his knowledge of portals and seeks revenge for this slight. The churches of Ilmater, Lathander, and Kelemvor all have their own plans to eradicate the Rune, with the followers of the Broken Deity being the most concerned since they are active in lands where he is commonly worshiped.
Encounters
The agents of the Twisted Rune have no standard tactics because most of them are unaware of each other. The Runemasters themselves are all powerful spellcasters and have had centuries to hone their skills, learn their powers, and prepare responses to many kinds of attacks.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness
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