Post by Judas D'arc on Sept 6, 2015 22:09:10 GMT -5
The following are summaries of the documentation requested by Corinna, once-Keeper of the Rangers of Spiritwood, from the local archives, prior to her disappearance and eventual death. Together, they provided her rangers with a number of clues related to north outpost explosion and those responsible. A more detailed analysis of these documents can be found here:
playersofroles.proboards.com/thread/999/report-outpost-explosion-updated-august
1. Semidar Selection System
*This is a text written by the librarian Semidar which proposes a standardized library classification system. It organizes works by the era of authorship, the author's family name, and the subject matter. However, this system was never widely adopted.*
2. A Fistory
*This is a brief, vague biography about a group of controversial and trouble-making adventurers known as "The Emerald Fist," or "The Fist," that were active some years ago. The author is anonymous, but it's strongly hinted throughout the text that he or she was one of the Emerald Fist's members or close acquaintances. Most of the group was presumed dead after thwarting the scheme of a mage called Semidar, who tried to conquer Sosaria with an army of elementals he summoned via a portal to another land. The Fist slew their foe and then entered the portal to close it from the other side. In this, they succeeded, but were never seen again. Their final battle occurred a some months prior to the Kingdom of Britannia's first contact with the Empire of Tokuno.*
3. Hal's Treatise
*This treatise, written by Hal, Wandering Healer, describes via detailed text and drawings, identifies a number of plants, herbs, and mushrooms found throughout Spiritwood, and their various medicinal applications*
4. The Curse of Kings
*This report, written by a ranger named Elad, details a series of dark curses that were inflicted upon the old northern Kingdom of Winterfell, which no longer exists. Each curse was tied to the fate and spirit of a dead Winterfell monarch, and caused their lands to suffer from plagues of sleeplessness, undead infestations, rampaging animals, and finally, an endless winter. These curses were perpetrated by a Magincian named Byron Stower, but eventually, Winterfell persevered and ended this threat*
5. Ten Women, One Wand
*This work of loose historical fiction was written by one "Sherbert the Rat" a few months after the Kingdom of Britannia abandoned the Felucca facet for the Trammel facet. It takes place during the time of Mondain, and focuses on a group of nubile female mages that compete for the honor of becoming the dark lord's lover and apprentice. In this story, Mondain is depicted as a self-destructive, drunken womanizer with enormous appetites, and the author details at length his various sexual encounters. The most controversial part of the book is when the master mage creates a number of new, humanoid races, such as orcs, ratmen, and lizardmen for his army by engaging in acts of beastiality with the corresponding animal species, and a recurring theme is the would-be conqueror's ongoing efforts to find new places to fit his magic wand. His would-be apprentices do not hesitate to lie, betray, steal, and even occasionally murder to gain their dark lord's favor. By the end, the unlikeliest of candidates, a young sorceress named Minax, is able to outmanuever her rivals and win the competition. One of her competitors is a female witch from the Kingdom of Akalabeth who claims immortality and possesses necromantic abilities*
6. News from Britain
*This is an archive of Britain town crier announcements from approximately 15 years ago, and are related to Lord Winston Arroway, a talented and well-loved politician, who briefly served as Chancellor of Britain. During his Chancellorship, Arroway organized a successful Britain Festival and hanlded an infestation of dark elves in the Britain sewers below the Salty Dog Tavern. However, Arroway resigned from his position shortly thereafter when his wife, Lady Alionna Arroway, was taken prisoner by a member of Clan Gunn, a native Cove clan that resented the kingdom's occupation of their lands. Lady Arroway was eventually rescued by her husband, her sister Lady Iliana Stower, and a group of local volunteers and adventurers. In the aftermath of the kidnapping, the Arroways retired from public life, and Lord Winston was succeeded in his position by Lord Humphrey Levant, while the female perpetrator of the crime vanished mysteriously from her prison cell. Assisting in the investigation was Lady Stower's librarian, Semidar, who was able to correctly identify the kidnapper's family of origin by researching her clan colors.*
7. Mitre's Final Report
*This is the final report of the Ranger Mitre, who served as a Ranger of Skara Brae over two hundred years ago. It details his hunt for the fugitive Renthar, a former soldier of Mondain with an extended life-span, and how a strange turn of events ledto Mitre working alongside this Renthar and the Lady Ilyana, a mysterious and allegedly immortal witch, to rescue one of her missing children, who had been taken by a rival sorceress seeking to learn the secrets of Ilyana's immortality. With this mage's defeat and an innocent's life no longer at risk, Mitre attempted to bring Renthar and Ilyana to justice, but was never heard from again.*
8. Hal's Letter
*In this letter to the Healers of Skara Brae, written during the reign of King Casca, Hal, Wandering Healer requests a temporary leave of absence from his duties in order to serve as the personal healer to a reclusive noble family of Britain with a chronically ill child. No further details regarding this request are provided*
9. The Stalker of the Swamps
*The third chapter in a collection of old Britannian legends. Set two centuries ago in the old Village of Paws, a local farmer betrays a bargain that he struck with an immortal witch, and she punishes him by creating a shape-changing revenant from the remains of his late wife. This abomination exhibits a strange cunning and patience as it stalks and kills the farmer's family and friends, until he finally pays his debt to the witch. At the end of the tale, the farmer hangs himself in his own barn. In the text's introduction, the author speculates as to whether the witch in this legend was actually Minax.*
10. A Shipping Manifest
*A shipping manifest, nearly two decades old, details the transportation of undisclosed cargo from Magincia to the Lycaeum. Per the manifest, the ship was used to transport these goods was called the Silver Crown, registered to Arlin Kensdrick, a member of the Merchant's Guild. The sender of this cargo is the Stower noble family of Magincia, while the recipient is one Semidar, a scholar of the Lycaeum. Curiously, instead of a direct route between islands, the ship sailed from Magincia to Britain,from Britain to Vesper, from Vesper to Skara Brae, with the final destination recorded to be Moonglow*
11. The Immoral Immortal
*This treatise, written decades ago, attempts to link the pursuit of immortality to a lack of moral integrity. Although the author notes exceptions, such as Lord British and others in his circle who were rumored to have traveled to Sosaria from another world, most of the text focuses on examples that supports its central thesis. Demonic-bargains, corrupt mages, evil artifacts, and undeath are all discussed and dissected at length and connected with pervasive immorality. Overall, the author's tone is judgmental, while his prose is dry and tedious to read. In the section on infernal bargains, there is reference to the legend of a woman who lived during the time of Akalabeth, and who made a dark pact to obtain longevity and magickal power. She was later rumored to have birthed numerous children in service to her plans*
12. Report: The Chancellor
*This document, written 14 years ago, is a confidential report submitted to the Skara Brae Town Council about Arlin Kensdrick, head of the Britain Merchant's Guild, who replaced Lord Humphrey Levant as the city's Chancellor after he disappeared while on an expedition to Ilshenar. Kensdrick had close relations with the Stower family of Magincia and there were some concerns from other cities about his focus on the build up of military force. In particular, the creation of an elite Honor Guard, consisting of powerful warriors and mages under his direct control. But after a failed conflict with the northern Kingdom of Winterfell, Kensdrick was forced to resign in disgrace, and was replaced by Lord Malcomb Levant, Lord Humphrey's brother. Shortly thereafter, Arlin Kensdrick was brutally murdered by two rebellious members of his former Honor Guard. After his death, all of the former Chancellor's personal effects were collected by one Semidar, a scholar from the Lycaeum*
13. Basic Dark Elvenish
*A short dictionary detailing basic dark elven words and phrases, written by a scholar named Phearcy, it is intended for the casual linguist and travelers to the Deep Forest. The author credits one "Semidar" for help in compiling this research.*
14. Explosion at the Skull
*This report was written over a dozen years ago by a now-deceased ranger Gondal, for submission to Raynard, a prominent ranger at the time. It details an incident at the Shattered Skull, when a local farm girl was thrown into the tavern with explosive potions strapped to her chest that detonated shortly thereafter, killing the girl and wounding others. The perpetrators of this incident were a group "Dark Knights" in service to a leader they call "The Dark One," who sought revenge for the earlier death of one of their number at the hands of Skara Brae's protectors. According to Gondal, his investigation has revealed that this attack was part of a much larger conflict involving a demonic power called Abbadon. A number of persons of interest are identified here, including Amber, a blacksmith and warrior; Adrienne Fallari, a Magincia noblewoman; Semidar, a Lycaeum Scholar; and the Emerald Fist, a group of local adventurers and sometimes trouble-makers. Strangely, in this copy of the text, two other names have been crossed out by fresh, dark looking ink, which indicates it was done recently. The first of these is a missing bard by the name of J---- of Yew; the second of these a disgraced Magincian by the name of L----- Ca-----.*
playersofroles.proboards.com/thread/999/report-outpost-explosion-updated-august
1. Semidar Selection System
*This is a text written by the librarian Semidar which proposes a standardized library classification system. It organizes works by the era of authorship, the author's family name, and the subject matter. However, this system was never widely adopted.*
2. A Fistory
*This is a brief, vague biography about a group of controversial and trouble-making adventurers known as "The Emerald Fist," or "The Fist," that were active some years ago. The author is anonymous, but it's strongly hinted throughout the text that he or she was one of the Emerald Fist's members or close acquaintances. Most of the group was presumed dead after thwarting the scheme of a mage called Semidar, who tried to conquer Sosaria with an army of elementals he summoned via a portal to another land. The Fist slew their foe and then entered the portal to close it from the other side. In this, they succeeded, but were never seen again. Their final battle occurred a some months prior to the Kingdom of Britannia's first contact with the Empire of Tokuno.*
3. Hal's Treatise
*This treatise, written by Hal, Wandering Healer, describes via detailed text and drawings, identifies a number of plants, herbs, and mushrooms found throughout Spiritwood, and their various medicinal applications*
4. The Curse of Kings
*This report, written by a ranger named Elad, details a series of dark curses that were inflicted upon the old northern Kingdom of Winterfell, which no longer exists. Each curse was tied to the fate and spirit of a dead Winterfell monarch, and caused their lands to suffer from plagues of sleeplessness, undead infestations, rampaging animals, and finally, an endless winter. These curses were perpetrated by a Magincian named Byron Stower, but eventually, Winterfell persevered and ended this threat*
5. Ten Women, One Wand
*This work of loose historical fiction was written by one "Sherbert the Rat" a few months after the Kingdom of Britannia abandoned the Felucca facet for the Trammel facet. It takes place during the time of Mondain, and focuses on a group of nubile female mages that compete for the honor of becoming the dark lord's lover and apprentice. In this story, Mondain is depicted as a self-destructive, drunken womanizer with enormous appetites, and the author details at length his various sexual encounters. The most controversial part of the book is when the master mage creates a number of new, humanoid races, such as orcs, ratmen, and lizardmen for his army by engaging in acts of beastiality with the corresponding animal species, and a recurring theme is the would-be conqueror's ongoing efforts to find new places to fit his magic wand. His would-be apprentices do not hesitate to lie, betray, steal, and even occasionally murder to gain their dark lord's favor. By the end, the unlikeliest of candidates, a young sorceress named Minax, is able to outmanuever her rivals and win the competition. One of her competitors is a female witch from the Kingdom of Akalabeth who claims immortality and possesses necromantic abilities*
6. News from Britain
*This is an archive of Britain town crier announcements from approximately 15 years ago, and are related to Lord Winston Arroway, a talented and well-loved politician, who briefly served as Chancellor of Britain. During his Chancellorship, Arroway organized a successful Britain Festival and hanlded an infestation of dark elves in the Britain sewers below the Salty Dog Tavern. However, Arroway resigned from his position shortly thereafter when his wife, Lady Alionna Arroway, was taken prisoner by a member of Clan Gunn, a native Cove clan that resented the kingdom's occupation of their lands. Lady Arroway was eventually rescued by her husband, her sister Lady Iliana Stower, and a group of local volunteers and adventurers. In the aftermath of the kidnapping, the Arroways retired from public life, and Lord Winston was succeeded in his position by Lord Humphrey Levant, while the female perpetrator of the crime vanished mysteriously from her prison cell. Assisting in the investigation was Lady Stower's librarian, Semidar, who was able to correctly identify the kidnapper's family of origin by researching her clan colors.*
7. Mitre's Final Report
*This is the final report of the Ranger Mitre, who served as a Ranger of Skara Brae over two hundred years ago. It details his hunt for the fugitive Renthar, a former soldier of Mondain with an extended life-span, and how a strange turn of events ledto Mitre working alongside this Renthar and the Lady Ilyana, a mysterious and allegedly immortal witch, to rescue one of her missing children, who had been taken by a rival sorceress seeking to learn the secrets of Ilyana's immortality. With this mage's defeat and an innocent's life no longer at risk, Mitre attempted to bring Renthar and Ilyana to justice, but was never heard from again.*
8. Hal's Letter
*In this letter to the Healers of Skara Brae, written during the reign of King Casca, Hal, Wandering Healer requests a temporary leave of absence from his duties in order to serve as the personal healer to a reclusive noble family of Britain with a chronically ill child. No further details regarding this request are provided*
9. The Stalker of the Swamps
*The third chapter in a collection of old Britannian legends. Set two centuries ago in the old Village of Paws, a local farmer betrays a bargain that he struck with an immortal witch, and she punishes him by creating a shape-changing revenant from the remains of his late wife. This abomination exhibits a strange cunning and patience as it stalks and kills the farmer's family and friends, until he finally pays his debt to the witch. At the end of the tale, the farmer hangs himself in his own barn. In the text's introduction, the author speculates as to whether the witch in this legend was actually Minax.*
10. A Shipping Manifest
*A shipping manifest, nearly two decades old, details the transportation of undisclosed cargo from Magincia to the Lycaeum. Per the manifest, the ship was used to transport these goods was called the Silver Crown, registered to Arlin Kensdrick, a member of the Merchant's Guild. The sender of this cargo is the Stower noble family of Magincia, while the recipient is one Semidar, a scholar of the Lycaeum. Curiously, instead of a direct route between islands, the ship sailed from Magincia to Britain,from Britain to Vesper, from Vesper to Skara Brae, with the final destination recorded to be Moonglow*
11. The Immoral Immortal
*This treatise, written decades ago, attempts to link the pursuit of immortality to a lack of moral integrity. Although the author notes exceptions, such as Lord British and others in his circle who were rumored to have traveled to Sosaria from another world, most of the text focuses on examples that supports its central thesis. Demonic-bargains, corrupt mages, evil artifacts, and undeath are all discussed and dissected at length and connected with pervasive immorality. Overall, the author's tone is judgmental, while his prose is dry and tedious to read. In the section on infernal bargains, there is reference to the legend of a woman who lived during the time of Akalabeth, and who made a dark pact to obtain longevity and magickal power. She was later rumored to have birthed numerous children in service to her plans*
12. Report: The Chancellor
*This document, written 14 years ago, is a confidential report submitted to the Skara Brae Town Council about Arlin Kensdrick, head of the Britain Merchant's Guild, who replaced Lord Humphrey Levant as the city's Chancellor after he disappeared while on an expedition to Ilshenar. Kensdrick had close relations with the Stower family of Magincia and there were some concerns from other cities about his focus on the build up of military force. In particular, the creation of an elite Honor Guard, consisting of powerful warriors and mages under his direct control. But after a failed conflict with the northern Kingdom of Winterfell, Kensdrick was forced to resign in disgrace, and was replaced by Lord Malcomb Levant, Lord Humphrey's brother. Shortly thereafter, Arlin Kensdrick was brutally murdered by two rebellious members of his former Honor Guard. After his death, all of the former Chancellor's personal effects were collected by one Semidar, a scholar from the Lycaeum*
13. Basic Dark Elvenish
*A short dictionary detailing basic dark elven words and phrases, written by a scholar named Phearcy, it is intended for the casual linguist and travelers to the Deep Forest. The author credits one "Semidar" for help in compiling this research.*
14. Explosion at the Skull
*This report was written over a dozen years ago by a now-deceased ranger Gondal, for submission to Raynard, a prominent ranger at the time. It details an incident at the Shattered Skull, when a local farm girl was thrown into the tavern with explosive potions strapped to her chest that detonated shortly thereafter, killing the girl and wounding others. The perpetrators of this incident were a group "Dark Knights" in service to a leader they call "The Dark One," who sought revenge for the earlier death of one of their number at the hands of Skara Brae's protectors. According to Gondal, his investigation has revealed that this attack was part of a much larger conflict involving a demonic power called Abbadon. A number of persons of interest are identified here, including Amber, a blacksmith and warrior; Adrienne Fallari, a Magincia noblewoman; Semidar, a Lycaeum Scholar; and the Emerald Fist, a group of local adventurers and sometimes trouble-makers. Strangely, in this copy of the text, two other names have been crossed out by fresh, dark looking ink, which indicates it was done recently. The first of these is a missing bard by the name of J---- of Yew; the second of these a disgraced Magincian by the name of L----- Ca-----.*
