EFUM Gossip, Major Events, and Rumors (IC Knowledge)

[Dash]

::[ Hammer 16th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::


Adventurers and commoners alike speak of strange voices and lights flashing throughout the forests all through the previous evening. While there are many slightly differing reports, most can confirm hearing a pronouncement announcing a QUEEN OF ARCADIA. Although most have no idea what this means, let alone how it will affect their lives, there are some few that whisper of war in the feywilds.

[Howlando]

Lava from the erupting mountains flows steadily into the west... filling the moats of the Order's Castle Blackhearth... burning Withered Woods to ash... and threatening the Lake of Mist itself....

[Howlando]

::[ Hammer 17th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

Hours before a river of lava entered into the Lake of Mist, the men of the Numinous Order of Brethren Votarient assembled in all their weary number along its edges.

After hours of concentration and meditation, the Grandmaster himself did wade into the waters and perform the Miracle of the Lake.

His voice echoed across the misty landscape, as the gathered of Mistlocke and Order alike waited in hushed silence...

"I CALL YOU, CHILDREN OF THE UNBROKEN, TO WITNESS THIS ACT. I CALL YOU, THREE AND ONE, TO GRANT ME MINE MIRACLE OF THE LAKE...I CALL YOU, DOUBTERS... UNBELIEVERS... IN THE TRUE GODS OF CHALSEMBYR... TO FIND FAITH, FOR THE FINAL STAND COMETH... COMETH ALL TOO SOON."

It is said that he uttered a strange intonation in the tongue of Ancient Netheril, and so emerged those hundreds dead of the Numinous Order who had been interred in funereal ceremony within the Lake for these past centuries. And as they came from the waters, in their faces could be seen nothing but full ripeness of life, with not a touch of withering or the curse of undeath to be seen.

The Grandmaster then spoke once more, "BEHOLD, THE POWER OF TRUE FAITH. BEHOLD, THE LIFE-GIVING MISTS. YET THIS ACT WAS COSTLY, AND PERHAPS PREMATURE. FOR SUCH A GIFT IS NOT EASILY GIVEN.... YET WHAT WAS DONE, WAS DONE FROM NECESSITY. FOR THE FIRES OF YMPH THREATENED OUR LAKE....AND I DENOUNCE THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS UNLEASHING."

After stern words and dolorous warning of the savage wildmen of Ymph, the Grandmaster turned to his fresh army and commanded a massive campaign against H'bala. Multiple targets were chosen, and the Numinous Order divided into multiple parts to raid across the Island, destroying the lieutenants of H'bala and cleansing the lands before finally marching at last to the Tower itself.

And so it was done. A series of long, bloody, and deadly battles at last led to the Numinous Army marching upon H'bala's Tower itself and up to its utmost gates.

It is said a crawling, rotting Stargazer invited the Captains of the Army to approach and so reveal to his Queen their purpose there.

"YOUR QUEEN KNOWS OUR PURPOSE WELL, SLAVE".... responded the Grand Master. Yet they approached, and exchanged words of great import, and then there was terrible battle once more.

The rotting, mindless remains of the long-destroyed coral dragon Shevorth emerged from the Tower, as did the Maiden's most dangerous monster... the Agony of the Hunt itself. And although these and a pack of giants destroyed many, in time the Grand Master and his army proved victorious, driving all the beasts within the Tower itself.

Yet the army was weary, and the Grand Master utterly exhausted from the Miracle and the long fighting that followed. And so instructions were given for a siege, and plans made for a final raid within the Tower after a day's rest in which the strength of the Numinous Order would be fully replenished. Bent by exhaustion, the Grand Master and his guard then departed from the field and returned to Castle Blackhearth for a long period of replenishing meditation and rest.

... Elsewhere across Ymph, the people are thunderstruck by the extraordinary event of the Miracle and then the well-fought and bloodily brutal campaign against the Maiden. It seems impossible for the old Numinous Order, long thought to be nearly on the verge of defeat in the face of withered fury, to have had such extraordinary and abrupt success over what is widely considered to be the Island's greatest horror. Many are delirious with happiness at the prospect of a final assault upon the Tower and fervently pray for the prospect of the Lichess' final destruction at the hands of the Numinous Order, Brethren Votarient and its powerful, mystical Grand Master.

[Howlando]

::[ Hammer 18th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

It begins with a terrible NIGHTMARE......

[hide=THE NIGHTMARE][size=+2]As the evening after the Order's march against H'bala passes, many across Ymph experience a terrible NIGHTMARE of epic proportions.... a strange vision of events from the past and present. As the nightmare unfolds, it seems to begin shortly after the raid upon Nebezzdos in which Warden Sanq was destroyed, and the Ziggurat smashed by a great Wyrm. The Nightmare seems to show what transpired after and below.... [/size]

((For best experience listen to this while reading this))









































[/hide]

... it is said that, once more, the Ornate Notices of the Nightrisers all across the Island changed at once.... the markings of the Fifth Step going smudged.
 
... it is said that a shadow passed through the Order's sparsely defended Castle Blackhearth, and the gates were abruptly swung shut from within. When those of the Order outside the keep sought to sally forth to reclaim their ancestral home their brethren emerged upon the walls with strange, pale, bloodless faces and fired upon them with crossbow....

... it is said that as the the strange nightmare passed through the siege camp of the Numinous many of the brethren were dismayed, and H'bala took advantage of the confusion to send forth her Agony once more, breaking the siege and sending the men of the Order into a bloody, deadly rout.....

... it is said that the taste of triumph from yesterday's victory has turned to ash.

[Howlando]

Various groups of the soldiers of the Numinous Order, faces bleak with grief, are said to be filling the Old Stones Tower of Mistlocke....

[Winston Martin]

::[ Hammer 19th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

Dzdyena Kolyrshyl returns to the village wracked in grief and speaks to all that will listen: The Giant-Kings, Zohlrunde and Hrigonna, furious at an attempt to poison them, shall roast and devour the Thane unless they are stopped. Perhaps twenty brave souls join him and march to war on the Delving. Half of them will never return.

After several pitched battles and failed assaults, the warband sets a series of explosives to bring down the hall. With a thundering crack, the once-proud Delving collapses in on itself. The Giant-Kings in thundering pursuit are halted by the sacrifice of Muart the Brave, as their kingdom becomes their tomb. Those few dwarves that survive are broken and in mourning, speaking with hushed grief of their losses, none greater than the Thane himself who succumbed to the cookfire.

[Howlando]

::[ Hammer 20th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

Much news around Mistlocke:

Long time eccentric Mistlocke resident Egbert Drouser has died at the venerable age of seventy seven. It is said he loudly yelled that he's "not going to take it anymore!" and then crawled into the grave he'd been tending to for some years. A nearby helpful dwarf is said to have obligingly filled it in for him.

The Numinous Order has rapidly constructed a large war-camp on the roof of the Old Stones. Many Mistlocke residents seem nervous at the prospect of the strange old cult having installed siege weaponry that could so easily be turned upon the town. Their exact interest in the crumbling, cursed old tower is not widely understood.

Wyrm Watcher scouts and traveling adventurers report the remarkable fact that across the Island almost all of H'bala's creatures seem to be crawling, walking, limping, shambling, flying, and loping away.... it appears that they are being summoned in their entire masses back to her Tower itself. Local Mistlocke optimist Tinker Tom suggested that perhaps the war was finally won and the Maiden and her beasts were engaged in full-scale retreat. A bereaved and desperate commoner then began to pelt him with stones, causing the venerable old Tinker to prance away, all the while carefully clutching his trademark blue hat to his head.

Regardless, the Island's wilderness has not been so safe for a very long time.

Yet, ominously, it's said that the Tower of H'bala has begun to emanate sinister purple-green lights which reach high into the sky during the night, and that there is every indication that within the Tower the Lichess is conducting some manner of immense, massive ritual.... with many of her lieutenants and monsters having been destroyed, there is whispered speculation that she is preparing for some final, ultimate strike which will decisively decide the fate of the Island once and for all....

Meanwhile, in Mistlocke, Aberdenn Clansman are seen putting up notices announcing a speech from the King...

[core]

Just after nightfall of Hammer 22nd, the small lighthouse off Sis Liman sent back word that ships were spotted in the middle distance. Upon coming closer, the worst fears of certain exile merchants inhabiting the trading post were confirmed -- these ships were not the usual merchantmen expected to anchor off Sis Liman for trade, for merchantmen do not hoist sails of ruby-red...

Only an hour or so after their arrival, Comital militiamen -- said to be roughly the same calibre of scum as the last set of "Ruby" Mamertines -- have occupied the port, naval vessels blockading it and controlling the flow of maritime traffic with unwavering strictness. How the Count might be planning to utilise this control over Ymphian waters is anyone's guess, though one enterprising officer was heard to remark aboard the  that escape from the Isle should surely be a "valuable commodity for any poor withered wretch".

Nonetheless, a crude notice has been posted outside Sis Liman - "WITHERED KEEP OUT" - with a putrid green dwarven corpse forked up alongside, presumably to give the warning weight. The first twelve hours of Comital occupation are reportedly baptized with blood, a woman associated with the Order reported to have been cut down by Comital troops for defending a lightly Withered man who lingered too long near the Comital checkpoint -- most importantly, without paying his dues...

[Howlando]

Strange events in the Old Stones...

... after confused reports of fighting and mass melee, it's said that the ancient and mysterious Curse of Old Stones was somehow made manifest into a terrible sort of towering entity of horror and blackness. After somehow being drawn from the Stones, and temporarily darkening the lands it passed through, it speedily passed into the west and the taint of its crawling, fearful darkness was no more...

The Old Stones tower is no longer cursed, but has become merely a gloomy old ruin.

... yet elsewhere in Nebezzdos, the markings of the Sixth Step of Sanq have been obscured with ink so signifying its completion.

[Howlando]

::[ Hammer 23th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

As the Mists surged around Mistlocke on fateful Hammer 23, a large and expectant crowd arrived outside the Last Keep to listen to the speech of King Owain I, first of his name...

... and after the speech was delivered and the Last Keep disappeared into the Mists, the adventurers of Mistlocke descended into some secret hidden deep place beneath the Keep - now, at last, revealed.

It is said that there they met the long-time guardian of Mistlocke, an emaciated dragon named Rabbanatha the Pure that survived spiritually and physically upon the sustenance of the sacrificed "champions of the Mist" long offered in Lottery during Mistlocke's history.

She warned, feebly and with great sadness, that the Lichess H'bala was indeed preparing some terrible final strike, and that the roots of the Lichess' Doom Tree had burrowed beneath the earth and to the nearby forests of Mistlocke.

... and so began a terrible battle: endless hordes of H'balan Monstrosities surging from the forests in a slow terrible march to Mistlocke.

After a long and valiant defense, at last finally The Agony of the Hunt came. It was far larger and more dangerous than ever seen before, and warded with some manner of powerful spell as to render it completely invulnerable to harm.

Unstoppable, the Agony marched into Mistlocke and at last confronted Rabbanatha the Pure, and tore her asunder.

.....and from the guts of the old mist dragon spilled a great quantity of Torizaelan Shelter Keys.

As the Agony marched into Mistlocke and set about slaying its people and turning the buildings into rubble and dust, a group of adventurers turned and raced with the key-shards to the Torizaelan Shrine located within the Dead Plains.

It is said then that after solving an arduous puzzle the adventurers found within it some manner of device to dispel the Agony's potent Doom Ward along with a large collection of other holy relics.

And so at last did they return to Mistlocke, armed with the Torizaelan armory, and so was the Agony's ward dispelled and was the beast at last defeated and destroyed utterly.

Yet what remains?

Mistlocke has become a ruin with only the Old Stones tower remaining. The Mist has lifted, and the withering-sickness corrupts seemingly everywhere on Ymph. The Lichess H'bala has been deprived of many of her creatures as well as her most powerful monster, yet she remains safe and secure within her Tower in the far western land.

What will the coming days bring? Time will tell.

[Howlando]

:[ Hammer 26th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

The defenders of the rubble repelled another assault from the forces of the Lichess... a large force of angry stonehand giants, crawling from the Roots of the Doom Tree.

It is said that the attack took place after some unknown business deep in the Forgotten Forest.

... but what is most noteworthy is that it is said that during the assault of the giant-kind, strange, insubstantial tree-like giants emerged to do mournful battle against the corrupted giants. When finally the last corrupted giant was destroyed, one of these new giants - supposedly the true Noor - declared that the long slumber of his kind was at an end and they would aid the living in the battles to come.

[Jayde Moon]

Even as hope is born in unforeseen places, in others it quickly dies.

Those stragglers in Mistlocke witnessed an influx of Stargazers moving towards the Fox's Dell, some reporting that the Eyrie in which they found refuge had finally fallen to the destruction of the Volcano.  As they gathered, it was noticed that many of the Stargazers fell into one of two camps.

The first camp whispered of a ritual in which they would join the elusive Fox Tribe in the Mists.  The second spurned such fanciful thoughts, labeling the first camp cowards.  Regardless, most of the villagers wondered how the Stargazers expected to have anything to do with the Mist after King Owain's proclamation.

As they watched, many were shocked to hear an awful and angry keening that reverberated across the island, a sound that indicated yet another blow struck against the Maiden.  What it could be they would have to wait and find out.

They did not wait long as two groups of Stargazers arrived nearly simultaneously, to catalyze the final events of the evening.

First came Qoha, the meek Trout Stargazer.  She victoriously held aloft a small stone with tribal markings.  As she approached those in her entourage proclaimed that they had fought and finally freed Rikk'i, a Stargazer hero of lore said to be bound to the Maiden herself as one of her favored and more powerful minions.  With that victory, they held the final key to opening up the way into the Mist.

Second came the revered 'Farseer', Pa'andra of the Eagle Tribe.  At her side where two vicious looking Stargazers with webs tattooed upon their faces and hands.  Behind her were her ever present bodyguard and the infamous Red Frog, Hwufwo[/b] of the Frog Tribe.

As Pa'andra strode forth to address her people, a Stargazer in a skull faced mask stood forward and accused her of cowardice and weakening her people.  A powerful shaman named Chouka[/b], he led his disciples, the Eaters of the Dead, to stand against her.  It was also then that he demanded the Stones of Ufdu be handed over to him.

Pa'andra countered his demand with a challenge of her own.  Send forth a champion and she would fight that one for the stones that Chouka held.  Eagerly, the Stargazer called Jungo the Tunnel Rat entered into the circle of the Dell.  The 'fight' could hardly be called such as Jungo made short work of the revered Elder.

The triumph of the Eaters quickly turned to confusion as Pa'andra, having schemed this to the very end, forced the appearance of Ufdu with her own blood sacrifice just before the four stones were brought together for the first time in centuries.

As Ufdu appeared, Hwufwo commanded Qoha to start the ritual and quickly a Stargazer of each tribe too their requisite position, each holding a totem stone.  With Qoha's chants and the presence of an odd silver-clad Stargazer, the pathway to the Mists was opened and many of the Stargazers, amidst the displeasure of the Eaters, took part in a mass Exodus from Ymph.

It is unknown what true fate awaited the Stargazers as they crossed over, but what is certain is that on Ymph, their numbers are abysmal indeed and they are all but extinct from the island.

[Howlando]

::[ Hammer 29th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

Many rumors, as of late...

In Old Port it is said....

Once more, the price offered for un-withered slaves has increased dramatically... the demand for uncursed slaves from the drow who dwell deep below Old Port seemingly insatiable.

The large (mostly Manchakan) hired armada of empty barges and ships docked in Old Port increases by the day. The purpose of this expensive new fleet is not known.

A drunk man, however, declared that the Count was planning war with Amn, believing that boy-king Owain I took his crown and fled there in order to find allies from supposed relatives.

The Grey Mist Raiders have not been seen to trouble the waters of the Archipelago for weeks, but none know where they might have gone.

Children and even entire families have been disappearing from the streets. It's said that packs of goblins fleeing Ymph have taken up residence within the sewers and are probably responsible for these mysterious and wide spread disappearances.

In response to the recent swelling of Old Port "guards" in the Quarantined Zone, the sewers-based Iron Nails gang has placed a bounty of 200 ducats for every guardsman's left hand.

The Vizenjay Manor in the High Estates was raided by Rubies, Lord Vizenjay is said to have somehow escaped and even now plots against the Count. Lord Vizenjay's daughter Amelia, however, is believed to be languishing even now within the Count's dungeons...

A dangerous druid has taken up residence in the northern peninsula, and has been setting about demolishing the long abandoned buildings there and planting trees that seem to be sprouting with a most unnatural speed.

A group of gilled Diluvian Emissaries emerged from the waves and passed to Fortress Senuspur, after a meeting, they exited and returned looking most displeased.

The Count's Grand Vizier and his eunuch guards passed personally through the Flooded Outskirts intent on meeting with Ojo the Bloodmage, however he was denied entrance at the old Lighthouse's doors.


Meanwhile on Ymph....

The druid Emlyn and his mysterious Circle of Stewards are believed to be planning a grand, final march on H'bala's Tower in order to destroy the Lichess using some mysterious, unknown method.

... most of the residents of the Old Stones have however fled the Island and headed to the Old Port Quarantine Zone, declaring that once more the druids and wildlings will fail and H'bala will never be defeated.

The Lichess herself is said to have been spotted once or twice traveling the Island personally, forced by necessity to gather up whatever fleshy material she can to replace her decimated undead armies.

.... there are also accounts of some great group of the Numinous Order still roaming the Island and destroying groups of H'balan undead wherever they might be found. Yet these Ordermen seem to wear their uniforms carelessly, are only seen at night, and hurry swiftly away from any others that might approach them.

[Howlando]

:[ Midwinter, Hammer : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

On this day, the first of Alturiak, "Dead Winter Day" was the fate of the Island Ymph decided.

More than fifty of Mistlocke's bravest heroes marched out in a final bloody struggle against the remnants of H'bala's armies. They struck out through the Island, through the hidden Ley Roads, burning and destroying all of her horrors in an unstoppable march to her Tower....

... and as they assaulted the Tower itself, the Awakened Noor Giants joined them and the entire Isle quaked under the fury of the titanic battle between them and the last of H'bala's horrible giant servitors and other monsters.

At last they reached the Tower itself, but the Lichess refused to exit. The entrance had been blocked.

The Awakened Noor, declaring that only they had the power to unmake what they had made as a prison for her so long ago, warned the Heroes of Mistlocke back and attacked the foundation of the Tower.

The ancient energies of the Tower were twisted and released, and the Tower was sent crumbling to the earth..... huge blocks of rubble and twisting energies destroying the Noor in their act of final sacrifice.

But when the dust cleared, the Tower was no more. Growing in its place was seen at last the Doom Tree.... swollen and grown to obscene and horrific size. And beside it stood H'bala along with her champion, the corrupted Druid Ar-Moenghul Ymph.

The battle between the Lichess, her remaining servants, and the remaining Champions of Mistlocke was long and extremely arduous. In the last moments, it is said that the powerful Druid Emlyn Ap-Taliesen was destroyed by the Lichess' final hateful scream....and the Hoarite champion Baltaire Magnolian slashed at her her in a wild vengeful fury and drove her into the earth, defeating the ancient and powerful Lichess. Taking up the long guarded Druidic Stake, Siegfried Stromme then drove it through pendant and her twisted heart both... trapping her soul now and forever.

H'bala is no more.

But truly it is a bittersweet victory, for the Island is littered with the dead of many heroes.

And beyond all else, the Doom Tree remains... the Withering Curse remains... it is said that the Elders of the Druidic Circle have declared that they do not know the means by which the Doom Tree can be removed, for its roots have grown deep indeed, and become linked inextricably with the Island itself.

Yet it is also said that from the roots of the long-destroyed Marcail Treant was discovered a miraculous and final cure to the Withering Affliction, and the Five Surviving Champions were each given the Cure, curing them now and forever of the Withering Curse. Truly, they have escaped from undeath.

With this knowledge, it seems that the Elders of the Stewards believe that in time they will unlock a way to make more of this cure, and so treat the thousands who have been cursed. And there seems to even be hope that some way to destroy the Doom Tree will even be discovered.

Yet it has become clear that - for now - there there is no future on the Island Ymph.

Some say that the Circle will sail to Old Port, perhaps there to join the Druids in the Northern Peninsula and work to reclaim the barren lands there. Others speak of passage to Amn, to Calimshan, or even to Chult.  Their fate, as with so many others, remains uncertain.

[Howlando]

::[ Alturiak 4th : Year 161 : 1383 DR ]::

Strange and shocking rumors begin to spread in the Quarantined Zone of alarming happenings in the Central Districts of Old Port.

According to proclamation, Count Zarono Senuspur has been kidnapped and removed from Old Port. Some say that none other than Ojo the Bloodmage, secretly allied with Amnian Agents under the employ of the twisted boy-king Owain I, was responsible for his capture. It is speculated that even now the Count is being transported to Amn.

The speculation about an impending war with Amn only increases. According to some, even the Withered Ones of the Quarantined Zone may be expected to serve in the conflict to come...