[Thick Zurkhwood posters are posted outside of the Town Hall, the Crone, and the Last Stand. It looks like considerable effort has been put into their creation.
The image of an immense dragon flanked by a Watchman and a Spellguard Agent graces the top of the poster. The dragon appears to be powerful but not threatening or intimidating, and the Agent and the Watchmen both appear strong, competent, and ready for battle.]
The Illustrious Serpent
There have been a great many rumors circulating over the Illustrious Serpent, a great dragon who lives near nearby, and His interest in Sanctuary. What could such an immensely powerful being want with Sanctuary? Can it be good? How will this influence my life and happiness? These are all common and worthwhile questions to ask when the possibility of change begins to rise over the horizon, and it is generally better for people to question rather than simply accept what critics insist is the truth.
Sanctuary has faced difficult times and has stared unflinchingly into the eyes of destruction. For this, the brave citizens who defended their families, and in fact their very lives, against that which lurks on all sides of Sanctuary deserve, at the very least, the respect of their fellows. The defenders of Sanctuary are strong, but are they enough? The civil war that keeps Traensyr from turning its attention to Sanctuary will not go on forever. The beholders and illithid that war with one another cannot go on forever, and when their unholy crusades end they will inevitably turn to another foe so that they may exploit and enslave us all once more.
This is not to suggest that your civil organizations – the Watch, the Spellguard, and the Seekers - are not sufficient to protect you. They have done so bravely for well over a century, and will continue to risk their lives so that all may live in peace. One of the purposes of friendship is that risk can be shared between multiple people, and that is the wish of the Shadow Tribe. Why should your husbands, sons, and fathers die when the Illustrious Serpent can easily crush the invading forces?
The Illustrious Serpent, the Great Shadow Death and leader of the Shadow Tribe, wishes to strike up a friendship and military alliance with Sanctuary against that which seeks to destroy and enslave – the legions of drow, the marauding orogs, the many illithid enclaves, and the hundreds of beholders who hover about the countless miles of underdark.
He has done so on numerous occasions. When drow or orog raiding parties have been discovered on the march toward Sanctuary, the Illustrious Serpent has destroyed them so that no harm comes to you or your loved ones. Within the last month, he exposed himself to considerable risk by single-handedly destroying an illithid that was leading an army of thralls to attack Sanctuary.
Rumors of the Illustrious Serpent being black, and therefore evil, are unfounded rumors. Many dress in black who are not bent on sinister acts, and the same applies to the Illustrious Serpent. He is a being of the shadow that is to the underdark what light is to the surface – the single most common substance there is.
The darkness is becoming increasingly dangerous, and a friend wishes to extend a hand in alliance so that needless death can be avoided. When a brother offers his aid, why not accept?
The Shadow Tribe Embassy