Eleasis 16th, 152 SR.

For the Seekers:

I wish to know who has followed Ivlysar Tal'en'qir as leader of the Seekers since his demise. Information on any historical events important to your organization you can provide me with I would appreciate as well.

Imrahel Morunov, Last Stand.

[Received]

Mr. Morunov We have had no leader, official or unofficial as of now since Ivlysar's demise. As for historical facts, I can provide the following( notably, such are facts related to the Seekers): [Several pages are added in the folder]

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Two The Civil Defense Act It has been said by some that Mayor Bresley didn't like to see the powers of government concentrated among too few people. Others propose that his recently-married wife Melinda Serena had a hand in the decision, hoping that her husband would spend less time with Overseer Hennet and more with her. Still others have suggested that it was a natural consequence of the ideological differences between the Archibalds and the Ubels, and that the division would have occurred eventually even if Mayor Bresley had done nothing. One historical work could not hope to cover all of the possible causes behind the drafting and passage of the Civil Defense Act, and so my account will be confined to those facts which are beyond dispute.

The Civil Defense Act was drafted and sent to the Council on the 8th day of Alturiak in the Sixth Year after the Founding. It established three government-funded organizations devoted to civil defense: the Watch, the Spellguard, and the Seekers. Each organization was assigned specific duties and powers, and was allocated a portion of the new Civil Defense Budget, which consisted of money raised by levying a tax on incomes. Mayor Bresley described the division as follows:

"...henceforth there shall be three agencies which shall ensure our defense, working in concord and harmony to undertake a task that is larger than any one man and larger than any one order. The Watch shall guard the gates of our Sanctuary and enforce just laws within, bringing criminals before the Council for judgement and defending the city in times of need. The Order of the Spellguard shall be charged with warding our town against its enemies, reactivating the old automatons and lost svirfneblin defenses, and protecting the citizenry of the town from the harmful spells and magecraft of our countless foes. The Seekers shall lead the forward defense, seeking out new resources, identifying the threats and dangers that surround us, and taking proactive action against these threats as needed."

The Civil Defense Act laid the foundation for our modern formulation of the Watch. Calley Hennet became the first Sheriff of the Watch, and organized the thirty guards reporting to her into squadrons, each lead by a Sergeant. She worked closely with Frederick Bresley, the leader and founder of the Seekers, and the Melinda Bresley, the Commander of the Spellguard. Together, they patrolled the Sanctuary frontier -- the mysterious ruins of Dunwarren, the ancient towering svirfneblin gate behind which the city had been founded, and the vaulted Underdark caverns in which the old metropolis was built.

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Two The Ideological Divide Frederick Bresley departed on his great journey upwards in Year Twelve against the warnings of Spellguard Commander Melinda Bresley, and this is often cited as the seed of discord between the Seekers and the Spellguard. Some historians argue that after this event, the Seekers began to grow distant from the people of the town, neglecting their civil defense duties, undertaking risky missions that put everybody in danger. Others, particularly those of the late Ubel school, argue that it was the Spellguard that began to grow increasingly insular, concerned as much with "protecting" the town from its own explorers as with warding against our common enemies. Either way, as the Watch was led on by Sheriff Hennet, the stage was being set for conflicts between the Spellguard and the Seekers that would influence the next hundred years of our Sanctuary's history.

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Three Thool'oon, the Sublime Visionary It was early in the days of Hammer of the 46th year since the Founding. The city was still grieving over the brutal, convoluted murder of Spellguard Commander Melinda Bresley several months before. Meanwhile, evidence slowly began to come to light that a powerful monstrous creature, known only as "the sublime visionary," had taken up residence in one of the winding caverns just outside the city walls. Seekers and adventurers disappeared without a trace mere footfalls out of sight of the gate, and maddened men wandered through the city proclaiming the end of days. Lesser monsters emerged from its lair, wreaking havok at the base of the city gates.

At the same time, many who knew Sheriff Hennet began to notice a peculiarity to her behavior. She would disappear for long periods of time, missing important meetings and briefings. Her reports and analyses, once held as the gold standard for civil defense paperwork, became increasingly sloppy and disorganized. When she did appear at the Watch House, she was visibly exhausted, and her behavior was erratic and unpredictable. Amongst themselves, her subordinates began to question her judgement and continued competence to lead the Watch.

By late Alturiak, the Seekers and the Spellguard were ready to conduct a joint operation, along with several Watchmen, to track the source of the "sublime visionary" to its lair and eliminate the threat to the city. What they found there, none had expected. Calley Hennet and a half dozen lost Seekers, all enthralled by powerful magical domination, were worshipping a large beholder who they called "Thool'oon, the Sublime Visionary". Upon being confronted by the joint expeditionary force, a fierce battle ensued, in which the beholder and his cultists, including Hennet, were all killed. The lair was scoured with fire and acid, and body of the monster destroyed entirely, and the cavern collapsed -- but the damage was done.

Aftermath of the Awakening Under Sheriff Hennet's command, the Watch had kept the city virtually impregnable to the surrounding hostile monsters, and the had Seekers ensured that the city was well-aware of any approaching threats long before they arrived. The people of Sanctuary, once martial and disciplined, prepared for any threat, had grown recreant and heedless under their guard, largely asleep to the great dangers nearby. The news about Thool'oon and his infiltration of the city was a rude awakening from this long slumber, and caused a wave of panic throughout the populace -- shock, outrage, horror, fear. How long had Sheriff Hennet been under the influence of the enemy? Who else within our very Sanctuary could be a hidden thrall of an insidious foe?

Councilor Deriil Khovn was at the head of the riots. A band of refugees who had escaped from the Chabzash beholder hive were burned alive to "exorcise their minds." Escapees from a slave caravan headed to the Illithids of Ysinode were murdered in their sleep after the Seeker posted to defend them was beaten and left for dead. Across the city, neighbors began fearing neighbors, and friends stopped trusting friends. The rioters established an inquisitorial tribunal with Khovn at the head, conducting mock trials before executing the men, women, and children whom they suspected of being under mental domination. Lacking a leader, the Watch was unable to restore order. It was the Spellguard that ultimately detained Khovn indefinitely inside the Spellguard Tower (an act of questionable legality but clear necessity) and pushed for the promotion of Sergeant Ardel Wyle to restore order to the city...

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Four Councilor Albert Ubel was the most vocal and outspoken of the Watch's critics during this period. His speech "Liberty amidst the Coming Darkness" is widely held to be the most important political oration of the past fifty years. Delivered in the Year 104, he predicted that...

"The fate of our sovereign society is being decided in the Council courts today, but should our decisions continue as they have, there is no force above or below that shall stop our fate from being decided in the streets tomorrow. For the past fifty years our defenders have turned inward, and sought to defend us not from our enemies but from ourselves -- the Watch and the Spellguard work in consort to keep us in line, satisfied with a dismal existence in this prison beneath the world. With every man's speech are the whispers of discontent -- in every man's mind, the dream of freedom -- on every man's lips, the word "rebellion." Few even know the laws of our town, and fewer care, for the scholars of the Watch outwit our own people at every turn. Where can one be safe from the prying eyes of those who guard with spells, or the dutiful march of slaver-made iron boots upon those liberties which we once held most dear, the pursuit of light and liberty? We have swallowed the Sanctuary Below, but we shall never consume it. There shall be a reckoning of steel and blood, should we not turn back from this dire course which we have set ourselves upon." -Councilor Albert Ubel, "Liberty amidst the Coming Darkness", Year 104

The Proclaimation of Boundary and Dominion The settlements in "the Sanctuary Below" were officially incorporated into Sanctuary on 22 Mirtul of the Year 100. The borders of Sanctuary were established to lie at the edges of the combination of "Upper" and "Lower" Sanctuary, and the Watch was tasked with enforcing the laws throughout the entire region. Previously, the Watch had not been responsible for enforcing laws in Lower Sanctuary, since it was outside of the borders of old Sanctuary.

This expansion of the Watch's dominion caused a considerable amount of debate. Many of the inhabitants of the Lower Sanctuary were not fond of Wyle and Dhogur, and disliked the presence of the Watch in "their" district. At the same time, Sheriff Dhogur was not enthusiastic about trying to impose order upon the unruly, crime-infested Lower Sanctuary. Despite their concerns, however, several prominent Councilors, most notably Councilor Indrensen, managed to push forward the Proclaimation, arguing that it would be short-sighted folly to leave Lower Sanctuary vulnerable to attack or invasion, and that its people deserved the services and security that Upper Sanctuary could provide.

Setting aside the complicated politics of the time, the end result was that the Watch was assigned to enforce the laws in both Upper and Lower Sanctuary, but was granted no increase in funding or resources. Watchmen were openly attacked and often "mysteriously disappeared" while patrolling in Lower Sanctuary. Levels of criminal activity began to rise in both layers of the city due to the Watch's resources being spread thin.

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Five The Ubel Rebellion was arguably the most significant and cataclysmic event in the history of Sanctuary. It was indicative of a fundamental disconnect between the people and their rulers, between the guarded and the guards -- a rift which some, particularly those of the late Ubel school, believe originated back in the early years after the city's founding. Others, notable many who were directly involved with the early leadership on both sides, attribute it to more recent events, particularly the settlement of Lower Sanctuary which served as an uncontrolled breeding ground for resentment, and its subsequent takeover by the Watch.

The Lysik Revolutionaries Early in Tarsakh of Year 118, the adventuring company known as "Lysik's Lancers" led an uprising in Lower Sanctuary after their group was disbanded by the Council on account of repeated endangerment of the city. They raided the Watch supply bunker and forced the Watchmen to flee back to Upper Sanctuary. Their leader, Jher Lysik, quickly mobilized the residents of Lower Sanctuary into an untrained militia to assist with his uprising. When the Watch returned in force, they were defeated after a pitched battle by the Lancers and their allies. Mayor Michael Bresley, upon recieving the news, immediately placed Sheriff Dhogur in emergency command with orders to run the rebels out of town and establish order. Sheriff Dhogur sealed the stairwell down to Lower Sanctuary and, without consulting the Council, deployed a regiment of sixty Watchmen to "reclaim" the Lower Sanctuary.

During his brief reign as the "Supreme Ascendant" of Lower Sanctuary, Lysik established a government known as the Ascendant Regime. Little is known of the policies or structure of this government, as it collapsed three tendays after its formation when the Watch regiment finally broke through the Lower Gate and publically executed everybody who held any position of power in the uprising. When the stairwell was unsealed and Sheriff Dhogur arrived in the reclaimed territory, he authorized his Watchmen to sieze all caches of weaponry and armor found in Lower Sanctuary and arrest anybody who disobeyed. His subordinates dragged people in at random for lengthy interrogations, attempting to root out every name associated with Lysik's regime.

Sheriff Dhogur's unilateral actions caused a considerable amount of concern in the Council. Although he was acting within the "emergency powers of the Watch," many felt that his approach went well beyond the call of duty and set a disturbing precedent. Furthermore, his suppression of the Lysik revolt did nothing to endear the people of Lower Sanctuary to the continued Watch presence in the district, and Councilor Ubel was particularly vocal about how Dhogur ultimately had brought more danger to Sanctuary than he had averted -- tacitly implying that the Sheriff himself was endangering the city through his actions against the rebels. Although most Councilors did not go this far, there was a general sense of disapproval of the way that Dhogur had handled the uprising. Ultimately, however, no punishment was levied against the Sheriff; instead, he was commended for his "heroic and efficient elimination of a grave threat to the city."

Councilor Albert Ubel Albert Ubel was born in the 47th year of our Sanctuary, the son of the founder Alexander Ubel. He spent his early adulthood working alongside his aging father in rallying support for the Seekers, particularly during periods when their methods were under the harshest scrutiny. He has been called both an "enthusiastic champion of freedom" and an "insidious worm, either indifferent to the destruction of our home or actively seeking to bring it about." He ardently advocated that the Council provide more and more funding to Seeker operations searching for Frederick's path, even as these operations increasingly risked the very existence of the city by drawing the ire of nearby slaver races. He also drank heavily, particularly later in his life as public interest in the Seekers was on the decline. Eventually he sought a seat on the Council for himself, and was first elected in Year 98. He was known for his vicious invective and refusal to compromise, as well as occasional bouts of paranoia, which many attributed to his drinking. On account of all this, he was a difficult man to deal with on the Council -- several of his fellow Councilors simply refused to interact with him at all, and ultimately he had few true allies in the political sphere, despite having a large popular following.

Councilor Ubel repeatedly pressed for the town's laws to be drastically simplified, the power of the Watch and the Spellguard substantially cut, and the Council to take a more active role in establishing consistent interpretations during trials. He demanded that the Spellguard justify their restrictions on magic use, rejecting their traditional arguments out of hand. He clashed with Sheriff Dhogur over the size of the Watch, the legal expertise of the Lieutenants, the use of entrapment and prolonged interrogations when handling endangerment cases, the extent to which the Seekers ought be obligated to report their findings, the independence of Lower Sanctuary, the perceived abuse of vaguely-defined Watch civil defense powers, and a long catalogue of other issues that covered nearly every major topic of the day. His relations with Spellguard Commander Stephanos Simms were similarly frosty, particularly after a speech in which Ubel proposed that the Spellguard be made an "animatron repair division" of the Seekers, under the supervision of Ivlysar, so that the people would be certain that the animatrons were "truly being put to proper use in the search for freedom."

Despite his marked lack of diplomatic abilities, Councilor Ubel was a commanding and popular political figure. Although he alienated his fellow Councilors by taking issues directly to the public rather than tolerating deals and compromises in closed Council sessions, he grew increasingly popular with the people at large. His militant rhetoric and opposition to the "established order" resulted in a martial cult developing around him as well, consisting of armed citizens in Lower Sanctuary who took his predictions of "blood and steel, fire and swords" extremely seriously. Although it remains unproven, many suspect that the Seekers were actively supplying these partisan elements with weaponry, supplies, and inflammatory rhetoric in the years leading up to the Ubel Rebellion.

Revolt amidst "the Coming Darkness" Amidst rising tensions, the elderly Mayor Michael Bresley suddenly disappeared in late Uktar, Year 119. It is believed that he was supervising a scouting operation along the Dark Canal when his expedition was ambushed and slaughtered, their bodies washed down into the Dark Lake, never to be found. This has never been confirmed, and rumors persist that he was assassinated by some nefarious faction or other hoping to destabilize the city. No legitimate evidence has been found to verify any such theory, although the political consensus was indeed destabilized by Mayor Michael Bresley's death.

Council debates regarding the selection of Michael Bresley's successor began immediately. Yorrick Bresley, his son, was the obvious candidate, but he was opposed by Councilor Ubel, who sought to have Ivlysar Tal'en'qir, leader of the Seekers, appointed to the post (over the objections of Ivlysar himself). Although few of his fellow Councilors took Albert Ubel seriously, his proposal opened up the possibility that the Bresley heir would not necessarily be appointed the next Mayor of Sanctuary, as had been expected given past precedent. Quite a few prominent individuals in the city, including Sheriff Dhogur, began to seriously consider making their own bids for mayoral power. As it became clear that the selection would be far from simple this time, the Council became deadlocked, split into a half-dozen factions each supporting their own particular candidate.

As this fierce bickering and discord in the Council continued on into Nightal of Year 119, the Spellguard arrested Councilor Albert Ubel and detained him indefinitely at the direct request of Sheriff Dhogur. Albert Ubel was arrested on charges of failing to register as a magic user, repeat unauthorized magic use, theft of Spellguard property, and nearly a dozen counts of repeatedly endangering Sanctuary through reckless behavior. Spellguard agents, assisted by a Watch escort, apprehended him in his home and after a short altercation, transported him to a holding cell at the Spellguard Tower. With the Mayor missing and the Council riven by internal squabbling, there was no formal trial of Councilor Ubel in the foreseeable future.

Whether or not Councilor Albert Ubel would have been convicted on the multitude of charges arrayed against him shall never be known. His son, Montgomery Ubel, staged a rebellion in Lower Sanctuary shortly after the arrest, on the 21st of Nightal, and led a full-fledged invasion of Upper Sanctuary...

The Reckoning of Law, Chapter Six Dhogur's forces broke through into Lower Sanctuary in late Flamerule. Montgomery Ubel and his loyalists fled into the ancient Dunwarren sewers, all too aware of the fate that awaited them should they be captured. They exhibited surprising resourcefulness, leading many to suspect that they were being supplied with arms and armor from somebody working within the city -- the Seekers have been the target of much suspicion on this point, although no evidence has been forthcoming. The rebels were ultimately never captured by Sheriff Dhogur's men: they waged an irregular guerrilla campaign in the sewers, using disease, elaborate traps, and noxious gasses to slow Watch progress.

Another important fact was the founding of the Brotherhood of Ascension by Seeker Jenny Hollows shortly after the founding of Sanctuary Below. Hopefully this will help. - Seeker Toman

Eleasis 30th, 152 SR.

For the Seekers:

I will donate 200 coins to your cause if you can get me access to Sewer Town.

Additionally, anything you can tell me about Seeker Ivlysar Tal'en'qir, most importantly when he arrived in Sanctuary, will be appreciated.

Imrahel Morunov, Last Stand.

Come visit us at the Shrine.

The Seekers

Eleint 5th, 152 SR.

To whom it concerns:

Today is the fifth day. Make with an update or I shall go elsewhere.

Imrahel Morunov.

Ivlysar was one of the founders, that would mean he arrived here a hundred and fifty three years ago, no?

As for access to Sewer Town, you will have to come and talk to us.

- Seeker Toman