Forgotten Realms Notebook vol. 5                 Page   1





Forgotten Realms Notebook


Volume 5



God Intentions  1
Kraken Society  3
Waukeen Dead?   4
Drow Cult       5
Slaver Modules in the Realms    13
To Kill a Beholder      20
Skullport       24
Dethek  26
Bladesinger Spells      27
Spells  28
INDEX   31


God Intentions


From: David J Brockley <D.J.BROCKLEY@dundee.ac.uk>

Hello all. 

Post Prince of Lies, Cyrics portfolio is most unsure. He 
may possibly be able to take over Masks power but this is somewhat 
uncertain. The way that I look at the scheme of things is this. 

Mystra
The old Mystra was somewhat tired anyway and thus a mortal was chosen to 
replace her. There is nothing wrong here, it is similar to the way 
that Mystra has always chosen the Magister to represent her upon the 
soils of Faerun. Midnight took up the role, becoming Mystra in all 
but alignment. There has been a shift towards benevolent usage of 
magic. Cyric demanded his reward for 'recovering' the tablets and Ao 
granted him godhood *fully aware of what would happen*. Cyric was 
indeed unready for the mantle of godhood and has slowly gone utterly 
insane. 

Leira
Leira is NOT dead, her priests are still recieving spells and 
the only source of this information that we have is Cyric. He is 
either lying outright or battled Leira, lost, couldn`t face loosing 
and lied about loosing. In any case, it is utterly believable for 
Leira to be leting the lie propogate. 

Mask
Mask also may have faked his own death to protect himself from Cyrics 
wroth should he not be defeated. Again, as lord of Intrigue he may 
have planned this all along and may have planted the suggestion in 
Cyrics mind that he actuall killed Leira when in fact Leira escaped. 
Remember, in the book Waterdeep, it is never made clearly known who 
was the winner in the ego battle between Godsbane and Cyric.

The Plot (far-fetched)
A possible scenario to cover all of the 'gods' alterations. As the 
balance of magic shifts during the Time Of Troubles and illusion 
becomes one of many subsets of Magic, Leira wishes to test the faith 
of her followers. She kidnaps Waukeen (read the earlier post about 
Waukeen not being dead) to pave the way towards the belief that the 
gads may die. She then, later, fakes her own death at the hands of 
Cyric (with the help of Mask/Godsbane), initiating the test. Chess 
fails this test, betraying Leira and siding (ironicly) with Mask who 
disposes of him. Finally Cyric is defeated and looses much of his 
power. Mask (or one of his avatars) may have been affected by the Cyrinishad 
or not and both Leira and Waukeen are alive and may rejoin the 
patheon in the near future. Waukeen will incidentally have profited 
from the whole scenario as the absence of Zhentil Keep from the 
Moonsea area will enhance trade fantasticly. 

Wild Guess!

I believe that Jergal, not Kelemvor will be the Lord of the dead. 
Kelemvore is better placed as the Judge of the dead deciding where 
spirits go in the afterlife. Or maybe not.


Kraken Society


From: "Karl K. Northrup" <knorthrup@VNET.IBM.COM>


Here is what I was able to dig up...


The Kraken Society
Leader - Unknown - possibly THE Kraken of the Purple Rocks
Base -     Yartar and Triboar
Goal -    Acquire any information that could be sold for profit or
                  use to increase the influence/power of the Society.
Allies -    none
Chief Foes - Lord's Alliance of Waterdeep and the Harpers.

The Kraken Society is a group of thieves, assasins and mages that have
an information network in the North.  Rumors have it that this society
has ties to THE Kraken, a mysterious figure who has a base hidden in
the island chain called the Purple Rocks.

The computer game GATEWAY TO THE SAVAGE FRONTIER used this group to
interfere with your party by stealing scrolls or books with key information
needed to complete your mission.  The mission in this case was to find
four statuettes, that when used together at Ascore, that would stop the
Zhentarim army from invading the North.



Waukeen Dead?

Ruediger Schmidt   rschmidt@aip.de  


Still there? Good. There have been much talk about Your god. After he
ceased to give You any spells, many turned there eyes elsewhere, leaving
him in his utter darkness. 

"He is dead!" many of You proclamated. You were wrong! Totally wrong! 
Me, a faithfull cleric of Waukeen, have never lost faith!  And now, after 
many hours of research, I found the first evidence for hoping that 
Waukeen; lives! 

In a small library, there was a wooden box with the line 'PlaneScape' on it.
Opening it, I found some booklets and some posters - about the planes of 
the gods and the structure of the universe. And there, on one poster,
there was a list of all our gods from the Realms. Bane (dead) in the
Astral, Mykrul too, Bhaal in the Astral, Leira in the Astral...no Waukeen. 

I searched all the other planes (and there were strange names for some 
well known plane...): nothing. Every god was placed at its home plane - 
not so Waukeen.  Waukeen was nowhere to find. I looked for the author of 
this wooden box, and there was engraved, that it was written by a traveler 
of the planes AFTER the Times of Troubles. So, I ask You, why is Waukeen 
NOT included? Neither with the dead, nor with the living? Because he is held 
for ransom by some other god! That is the only solution! But who would gain 
from such act? Who has drawn over the most faithfull? WHO?


Drow Cult

From: stevenl184@aol.com

After receiving several request for the material I used back when I
originally created this unique Drow cult, I have decided to update them to
the 2nd edition. I originally created this material back around 1984! So some
of it may sound dated or even plain wrong compared to the material that has
since been published by the folks at TSR. I hope you enjoy it. Please E-mail
with you opinion and comments.


WARNING: This material may contain information that you may find
objectionable (cannibalism, graphic violence). Please if you do not like such
things discard this.

To understand some of the Rules involving the Followers of Doom (the Drow who
worship the Cthulu Mytho's) you MUST have the Psionics Handbook by TSR.
Although you could probably convert this to another psionic system. Also the
Complete Elf Handbook, Drow of the Underdark and the Menzoberranzan Boxed Set
is recommend.



INTRODUCTION

The old elf was laying in the field for his daily nap. As usual after about a
hour he heard the unmistakable sound of a foot stepping on grass. "Not bad"
he thought to himself, "He gets closer with each day"

"Your getting better, young one I did not hear you until you were only 10
feet away" the old elf said with warmth.

The intruder turned out to be the old elves grandson. After being discovered
he stood up to his full height and walked towards his grandfather. The young
elf had a very troubled look upon his face. 

"Good morning, Grandfather" he said in a very quiet and sad voice.

"I have not seen you for a few days and I was beginning to worry" the old elf
said. "What is troubling you? You have a face that could curdle milk!"

"I just got done with my lessons for today" said the young elf as he sat on
the ground.

"Ah, I see" the grandfather said "Our cousins".

"Is it true grandfather? Are there really elves that are evil and worship
that monster!" the grandson said with anger and fear in his voice.

"Oh yes, the Drow are evil beyond your imagination. They worship that monster
of theirs there entire life and some do so with joy" the grandfather said
looking into his grandson's eyes. "Yes, it is time" he thought to himself.

"Did you know that all Drow don't worship the spider queen?" the grandfather
asked.

"What?" the young elf asked.

"Lets go for a walk." he the old elf said as he stood up and help his
grandson up. They slowly walked out into a small meadow and stopped.

"What do you mean? The teachers told us that all Drow worship their spider
queen and any that try to change that are put to death usually on her
alters." the young elf asked in a questioning voice.

The old elf turned to his grandson and began a complicated motion with his
hands and said something quickly. Suddenly both were covered with a blue
glow. "There we may talk freely now." the old elf said "But first, before I
tell my tale you must swear to me in never to revel this to anyone. Not your
parents or anyone!" the old elf said in a voice that scared his grandson.
Never before had the young elf hear his grandfather speak in such a way.

"I swear, grandfather never to tell anyone." the young elf said in a voice
that he hoped sounded more confident than he felt.

"Of course you do, my grandson. Now where to begin. Oh yes, I was a little
older than you are now. The eleven council began to receive reports that a
group of Drow had made a base in the labyrinth of tunnels under the city of
Waterdeep. I volunteered to lead a group of elves to try and discover what
0
they were doing there. After gathering a group of adventurers and traveling
to the city we set out to find the Drow. Finding a entrance to the tunnels
was easy. Find our cousins was not".

"We traveled for some weeks and had many adventures while looking for them.
During that time we began to hear rumors about Drow that acted different than
normal Drow." 

"Grandfather" asked the young elf.  "Is that why you always cover your arms?
To hide some kind of scar that you received".

"Yes it is, but is later in the tale." suddenly the old elf began to sound
much more serious than his grandson found possible.

"After several more weeks travel, we came upon the bodies". The young elf
looked at his grandfather and saw a tear streak down his face.

"That is when we came across the bodies" his grandfather continued. "Hundreds
of them, all children. They were stacked like wood and just left there to
rot. We started to examining the bodies and that is when we discovered the
bite marks. Elven teeth marks".

"Grandfather you don't mean...." the young elf said in a fearful voice.

"Yes it appeared that the bodies being eaten by the Drow. This usually went
against Lolth's teachings".

The young elf looked at his grandfather in horror. He had said the name of
the unspeakable.

The old elf looked at his grandson and said "Don't worry, when this story is
told to those that are worthy that law does not apply."

"Let me continue" the old elf said. "We gathered and burned the bodies so
that nothing else could happen to them. That was probably mistake. After
leaving we continued to travel looking for clues to what had happened. During
this time I had a growing fear that something was stalking us. But we could
find no evidence of this so we continued".

"One night after we posted a guard, I quickly fell asleep. Suddenly I was
awakened by the sound of battle. We were surrounded by a group of Drow
dressed in a manner I have never seen before. They each wore a suit of
chainmail that was blood red. Their hair was long and went down to their
shoulders and each on of them used magic" the old elf said.

"Well we thought it was magic, now it is called psionics by the humans. We
were quickly overrun and I was knocked unconscious. When I awoke I found that
I was strapped to what appeared to be a alter of some type. At the end of the
alter was not a statue Lolth, but a strange creature with hundreds of eyes
and was not even humanoid. I quickly looked around the room I was in and saw
what had happened to my fellow adventurers." the old elves face turned from
sadness to anger.

"They were hanging from the wall gutted like deer. All of them were dead
except one who was being eaten alive by the Drow. They just bite into her and
ripped out pieces of flesh. It was then that I noticed that a mind flayer was
standing over me. It looked down at me and began to cut patterns into my
arms. I have never felt pain like that. Then as I watched a Drow gathered a
cup full of my friends blood. He gave it to the mind flayer who then poured
it over the wounds on my arms. I have never felt pain such as that and I
quickly passed out."

The young elf was stunned. He had never heard a story such as this and a part
of him wished that he never did.

"When I awoke I looked up at my arms" the old elf continued "I saw purple
flames come out of the wounds. Yet it did not hurt. That is when I heard the
sound of the fireball. Off in the distance I could tell that a battle was
taking place. I could hear the screams of the dying and the scream of victory."

"Suddenly a group of Drow entered the room along with a priestess. When I say
Drow I mean the type that you know, those that worship Lolth. Seeing me
strapped to the table the priestess pulled a dagger from her belt and it
looked to me like I was about to be sacrificed to Lolth."

"Suddenly a loud female voice screamed out and stopped the priestess who was
going to kill me. A woman walked into the room. I could tell that she must
have been very powerful as all the others in the room seemed to make way for
her. She looked at me and suddenly took a dagger out from her belt and cut my
bonds!"

"I could not believe it. As I began to sit up the young priestess said
something in Drow. The older woman walked up to her and calmly put the dagger
she used in uncutting me into the priestess neck. She then turned and looked
at me. I thought then by the look on her face that I was dead. Suddenly she
cast a spell, and it healed me of some of my wounds!"

"I looked at her in amazement and said in our language 'Thank You". See came
closer to me and sung her fist. She hit me on the side of my head and knocked
me down."

"I looked up at her and she smiled a evil grin and said "Surface dweller, You
are lucky the Followers let you live. The spider queen orders you are to go
to your people and tell them of this abomination.  You will survive this day.
Now go!"

"I remember running away as fast as I could. Never looking behind me. I must
have ran for miles. When I finally stopped I felt a slight pain in my arms. I
then remember what the Followers as she called them did to my arms. I looked
at them. And this is what I saw!"

The old elf slowly turned up the sleeves of his tunic to reveal his arms.

They were covered with strange runelike symbols from the wrist to the
shoulder. They were are different shapes and looking at the gave the young
elf a headache. Perhaps the strangest thing about them was the glow. They
glowed with a blue florescence.

"Sometimes the shapes change, although I don't know how or why" the old elf
said. 

"I then continued to run for the surface as fast as I could. I don't remember
the entire trip. What I do remember was waking up in a temple in Waterdeep
and that four YEARS had past. I have no memory of that time. I think that I
went mad for awhile and lived in the tunnels, but I am not sure."

"When I returned home and told the council my story it was decided that it
should remain secret".

"Grandfather, why are you telling me this?" the young elf asked.

"Tiren, you are like me. You will travel the world and have your own
adventures, and you should know. The council then decided that every other
generation of the Silvermoon family should be told in case these strange Drow
should appear again."

"Grandfather" I asked, "Do you think they will reappear?"

"I hope not" the old elf said staring into the distance "I hope not".

An excerpt from the dairy of Tiren Silvermoon
pronounced (tear-in) 

GAMING INFORMATION

Although I never went into great detail about the Drow that worship the
Cthulu Mytho's I have collected all the information that I have and have
listed it below.

When I designed Drow that worship the Cthulu Mytho's I imagined that a very
small group of the existed. Perhaps as little as 100. But after reading
material from various AD&D sourcebooks a group that small would be wiped out
rather quickly in the underdark. Therefore I believe that there must be a
community of them of at least 1,000. Please note that these Drow are very
rare. I doubt that any surface dwellers come in contact with them once in a
thousand years. And then only for a short time.

The Followers of Doom (That is the closest translation of the their name into
common. Some others are: the Bringers of Doom, Doom's Creators and Bringers
of Destruction.

Society- Their is very little material that I have on the everyday life of a
Follower. Although they are extremely war like and cruel, even by normal Drow
standards. They are very loyal to their families and their community. Indeed
their loyalty is much like that of the surface elves except perverted in a
extremely evil way. The Followers love there children and will go to any
lengths to protect them from harm. Indeed this often applies to children from
different familles. The Followers love torture and will use it when ever they
feel like it. They only use it on enemies and those who they believe betrayed
them.

History- The major break that caused the rift between the normal Drow society
and that of the Followers occurred at least a 1,000 years ago. It happened in
the small Drow community of Telkilick. Located some 900 mile north of present
day Menzoberranzan. Following a major battle with the Deep Gnomes and losing
the priestesses of Lolth decided that the reason that they had lost was that
the male wizards were conspiring to kill them. (It was true by the way). When
the priestesses returned home they immediately attacked the school of magic
and a fierce battle began. During this battle a lone mind flayer emerged from
the school of magic and began to fight with the wizards using all of his
powers. But still the battle was turning against the wizards. Finally a group
of three wizards (names unknown) formed a pyramid and beseeched the great
Cthulu to come to their aid. The priestesses laughed at what they thought was
a joke. Suddenly a number of gates opened letting lose demons of all types.
The demons immediately began to attack the priestesses and they called upon
Lolth for support. (Since they lost the battle with the Gnomes they had
fallen out of favor with her except for one lone priestess who fled the
battle as soon as it had begun). When the wizards called for the male
warriors to join them and be free of the priestesses. They looked around and

saw that the tide was turning against Lolth's followers. Most of them
immediately switched side and quickly the battle was over. The three wizards
immediately offered the worship of the remaining  Drow to that of the great
Cthulu and his minions.

Religion- This is the sketchiest part that I have about the Followers. The
only creatures that can become priests of the Cthulu mytho's are mind
flayers. This is mainly due to tradition and the fact that no Drow has ever
survived the initiation. The priests receive spells the same way as normal
priests do. These priest cannot turn undead nor control them. Also they
cannot take any kits or become a specialized priest (see special rules
latter). Religious ceremonies usually involve the devouring of a captured
enemy. This ceremony is supposed to give the soul of the victim to what ever
minion is being worshipped at the time. This is a extremely religious event
to the Followers, they try to conduct it whenever possible. Also at every
meal the Followers must consume a spider to show that they have forsaken
Lolth. Also you should note that the Followers are forbidden to goto the
surface.

Psionics- EVERY Follower has psionics. (see special rules below)

Combat- The Followers have every advantage and disadvantage of normal Drow.
With the following exceptions. All Followers have a -3 to saving throws
verses magic and a +1 to saving throws verses poison. They were adamantine
armor that is +3. This armor is specially treated and has a spell upon it
which causes the armor to absorb the blood of the Followers first kill, thus
turning it red. Most Followers fight 2 handed, using a bastard sword +2 in
one hand and a dagger +1 in the other.

Special Rules- This is the hard part. As I stated above every Follower has
psionics. This is how it is done.

Step One - Create character using normal rules
Step Two - Choose MAIN Character Class (No multi-class and kits allowed)
Step Three - After Choosing Class determine the NPC Level (If you wish this
as a PC, I suggest that you seek help immediately. Follow the same rules as a
NPC)
Step Four - Now divide the character MAIN character class by 2. (Round up)
Step Five - This is the equivalent level of a psioncist the character is.

Example - You make a fifth level fighter. Dividing the level by 2 you get 2
(rounded down) the character has the powers and the psionic points of a
second level psioncist. Please note that the character gets the saving throw,
bonuses, restrictions of his MAIN character class, in this case a fighter,
not the psioncist. When the character reaches 6th level he will have the
powers of a 3rd level psioncists and etc. You figure out the psionic points
as stated in the Psionics handbook.

Use the psionics rules as stated in the Psionics handbook. Please use common
sense about some of them.

Please not that these characters are not considered multclass and thus are
treated like a single class. Thus you can conceivably be a mage 10th level
and a 5th level psioncist.


Slaver Modules in the Realms

From: "Eric L. Boyd" <boyd@eecs.umich.edu>

For those of you who have or can get a hold of the AD&D 
First Edition module series A1-A4, Eric Boyd has came up
wiith some extensive information on where and how to place
these modules into the Forgotten Realms.




Plot Summary:

The Iron Throne (a nefarious merchant organization) is known for its
rumored nefarious activities, although it can't be proven. It is known
that the Iron Throne is trying to control the weapons trade in the
western Heartlands.

Actually, the Iron Throne is a front for the slavers organization,
known (secretly) as the Slave Lords of the Iron Throne.

Iron Throne agents have hired the gnolls of the Gnoll Pass region
to waylay numerous caravans in the region. The slaves are then
shipped north to an abandoned fort on the border of Anauroch and
the Stonelands. (A2)

>From there, some slaves are shipped further north to the ruins of
Port Kir, along the western edge of the Desertedge Mountains,
currently inhabited by orcs and goblins. The main base is an
abandoned temple (A1). In the depths of the temple is an
ancient gate that exits on the shores of the Isle of Prespur
in the middle of the Sea of Fallen Stars. (Note that the Isle
of Prespur is the only major island NOT detailed in FOR3, Pirates
of the Fallen Stars.)

The Isle of Prespur is inhabited by orcs, goblins, and hobgoblin
pirates. The slave lords secret city of Suderham (A3) is located
in the center of an "extinct" volcano in the middle of the island.
The dungeons of the city (A4) are located in the depths of the city.
The "Iron Throne" is an ancient artifact of vast power (it can create,
open, close, and shift many ancient magical gates, and was used by
the Slave Lords to create their far flung operations) located in
the depths of the volcano.

The slave lords have numerous other gates leading throughout theR
Realms so they can literally snatch slaves from ANYWHERE. Slaves
are offloaded from the Isle of Prespur through the port of Scrape
(see "Green Lady's Sorrow" - Dungeon Magazine #___) and shipped
throughout the Realms.

Obviously there are many more subtleties to this adventure, but this is a brief summary. 
Oh yes - I completely redid the actual slave lords: here are BRIEF sketches:

Inner Council

        The Inner Council consists of the nine chief slave lords, who
rule by consensus. Although each slave lord of the Inner Council
is supposedly equal, a loose unofficial hierarchy does exist,
and several of the slave lords represent other powerful evil
groups based throughout the Realms. The slave lords are domi-
nated by two powerful personalities, a Red Wizard known as Koss,
and a drow priestess named Elvraema Naerth. Most of the other
slave lords tend to support one or the other of these preeminent
lords, creating two loosely knit factions on the Inner Council.
When a member of the Inner Council is killed, and cannot be
raised, a new member is nominated from the Outer Council. Every
organization represented on the Inner Council, such as the
Zhentarim, the Red Wizards, or the drow, have several members
on the Outer Council, and these lesser slave lords tend to serve
their superior on the Inner Council directly, although not ex-
clusively. In addition, there are several 'independent' members
of the Outer Council, whose alliances with the Inner Council
factions tend to shift with their fortunes. Following are the
basic statistics and personality notes of the members of Inner
Council.



Elvraema Naerth (9th Level Priestess (Lolth), CE Female Drow)
*wand of viscid globs (FOR2, p. 75)
*whip of fangs (FOR2, p.82)
*elven chain mail +1
*ring of arachnid control (FOR2, p.70)
*ring of anti-venom (FOR2, p. 70)
*potion of magic resistance (1 dose) (FOR2, p. 69)

Chief of slave procurement network, responsible for gathering
slaves  second daughter of unknown drow city and noble family, house
is currently in the fifth position on ruling council prefers to fight through 
minions and spells, guarded by pet giant spider, and served by quasit 
named 'Igatch' depraved and degenerate, arrogant and cruel, extremely
whimsical seeks to dominate Slave Lords, and personally eliminate the
arrogant Koss.

Koss (10th Level Necromancer (Red Wizard of Thay), LE Male Human)
*staff of thunder & lightning
*bracers of defense AC3
*wand of fire
*ring of wizardry (doubles first level spells)
*potion of ghast control
*talisman of memorization

Chief of slave distribution network, responsible for selling
slaves young Red Wizard eager to make his mark, apprentice of ___
___, Zulkir of Necromancy enjoys fighting through undead, often 
animates defeated opponents as undead, guarded by a pack of ghasts
extremely reserved, fascinated by power and the control of others
cares only for personal power, believes only Elvraema stands
in the way of his complete domination of the Inner Council.


Throg Linkol (11th Level Fighter (Gladiator), NE Male Human)
*net of entrapment
*trident (military fork) +3
*chain mail +2
*ring of jumping
*potion of extra-healing (2 doses)

Overall military commander, and head of Suderham armed forces.
Famed gladiator of ___, Chessenta cautious, skilled warrior who 
fights only to win skilled strategist, approaches life as a giant chess game.
Favors Koss, but largely uninterested in factionalism.

Daia the Slight (7th Level Thief (Assassin), LE Female Human)
*cloak of the bat
*Wasp - dagger of venom
*Mosquito - dagger of throwing
*(bottled) scarab of death

Chief assassin of Slave Lords
Renegade Night Mask, devout follower of Mask and Talona
wields twin daggers, and employs numerous poisons
relentless hunter, coldly methodical, holds long-standing
grudges, favors no one, currently sides with Elvraema.

Lord Tuskar (9th Level Fighter (Noble Warrior), LE Male Human)
*bracers of blinding strike (FOR2, p. 76)
*Bloodletter - rapier of wounding +1
*Engarde - main-gauche of parrying +3
*ring of fire resistance
*potion of extra-healing (2 doses)

Titular ruler of Suderham.
Rogue nobleman of Sembia, can appear as upstanding gentleman
finesse fighter and duelist, prefers the rapier cruel sadist, enjoys torture.
Favors Elvraema (and is somewhat attracted to her), dislikes Throg intensely.

Baron Kr'ral (7HD Warrior, LE Male Sahuaghin)
*trident of fish command
*necklace of adaptation
*girdle of hill giant strength

Admiral of raiding fleet of ships and underwater operations.
Second son of king of sahuaghin nation beneath the waters of
the Wizard's Reach. Four-armed monstrosity, often wades into 
battle bare-handed, prefers to eat human flesh.  Sadistic monster,
cunning tactician, shrewd manipulator.  Allied to Koss and the 
Red Wizards, often clashes with Elvraema.

Alvana of Sossal, the Ice Bitch (4th Level Priestess (Auril)/7th Level
Fighter (Myrmidon) - dual-classed, LE Female Human)
*Frostbite - frost brand bastard sword
*white dragonscale armor
*boots of the north
*ring of water walking

Head of recruitment and second in command of military forces.
Mercenary and former member Cult of Frost.  Relentless warrior,
wades into battle without fear, gives no quarter,vindictive tyrant, 
coldhearted, beautiful but vain,admires Koss, secretly jealous of 
Elvraema, respects Throg.

Lavin the Smooth (5th Level Thief (Spy), CE Male Hairfoot
Halfling)
*greenstone amulet (???)
*ring of mind shielding
*ring of teleportation
*bag of tricks

Chief diplomat and ambassador.
Wanted con-man hailing from Aglarond.  Avoids physical
conflict if possible, uses mental defenses primarily (he is a 
wild talent psionicist), capricious trickster, a smooth liar and 
slick diplomat.  Professedly neutral, secretly admires 
Elvraema's looks and style.

Belanox (6th Level Priest (Cyric), LE Male Human)
*mace of darkness (???),???

Treasurer and bookkeeper.
Newly promoted representative of Zhentil Keep and the Zhentarim.
Wades into combat using crude, but brutal, fighting style, intrigues
constantly, trusts no one, tries to manipulate enemies into fighting 
each other, seeks to eventually dominate Inner Council.
Truly uncaring, Belanox views all other members of the council
with equal distaste, allies himself as circumstances dictate


Outer Council

Sturm Bucholtz (5th Level Thief, NE Male Human)
*ring of protection +2
*potion of invisibility

Renegade Night Mask
Heads operations in Port Kir, commands many orcs from Desertedge 
Mountains.
Loyal to Daia the Slight, motivated by more by fear of the
assassin than anything else

Markessa (5th Level Mage / 5th Level Fighter, AL CE Female Half-
Gold Elf)
*ring of armoring +1
*Flash - short sword of speed

Blackthorn (Male OgrePMagi)

Orpheat the Croc (4th Level Priest (Sebek), NE Male Werecroc-
odile)

Unique Magic Items

Wasp, dagger of venom
Mosquito, dagger of throwing
Bloodletter, rapier of wounding +1
Engarde, main-gauche of parrying +3
        adds +3 to 'attacks' when parrying only
Frostbite, frost brand bastard sword
        acts as ring of fire resistance
Flash, short sword of speed +1
        can haste its bearer three times per 24 hour period for 5
        rounds


Obviously there are many more members of the Outer Council ...


To Kill a Beholder


From: an74191@anon.penet.fi (ShadowMist)


 
Greetings:
 
         Ok, I've been reading about people saying things like
         `one Barbarian kills a beholder' or `Small party beats
         beholder' for the last few days so I'm jumping into the
         fight with a few points.
 
         To begin a beholder; should never, NEVER be an easy
         foe.  If the DM plays it intelligently, a beholder
         (or for that matter a Dragon, a Death Knight,a Lich,
         or a Vampire) can clean the floor with a party that's under
         10th level, at least!  The problem isn't, as some say, these
         things lack power, its that the DM isn't playing it
         according to its level of intelligence!
 
         First:   A beholder is SMART people!  Its got 11 eyes so
                   the odds of a thief somehow escaping its notice
                   long enough to backstab are about the same as
                   Mystra aka Midnight) and Cyric being friends!
                   That's assuming that your DM decides you can
                   backstab a Beholder, which a good one won't.
                   When it sees a group of adventurers swinging
                   glowing weapons, its going to levitate high
                   enough that it won't have to worry about those
                   magic swords, maces, morning stars, ect...
                   (and no, a beholder won't lair someplace where
                   it can't levitate out of sword's reach).  And
                   if it sees a big, powerful, Barbarian carrying
                   a large TREE (and unless the Barbarian's invisible
                   for some such... and considering the age,
                   intelligence, experience and magic items a
                   beholder has its got to be a REALLY good one) its
                   going to disintergrate the Barbarian quickly, and
                   that's not even counting if the Barbarian's magic
                   goodies glow or not.

         Second:   A beholder has a lot of treasure folks, which
                   means magic items as well as coins, gems and
                   jewelry.
                   With all this you don't think a beholder won't
                   have gotten traps put in place by evil
                   dwarves to guard its lair?  That it won't have
                   gotten a mage or priest to cast some spells to
                   guard its lair, or a contingency spell cast on it
                   to get it out of trouble and to heal it?  Or for
                   that matter that its treasure won't include at
                   least one item it can use for either attack,
                   defence, or healing?  Not to mention the various
                   guards it could have by using its wealth and/or
                   eye that charms.
 
         Third:    Finally we get to the beholder itself.  
                  A)
                   remember that all of its eyes except for the
                   one that creates a zone where magic doesn't
                   work (and for the purposes of this post I'll
                   assume that in this anti-magic zone even
                   the beholders other eye powers won't work, but
                   if you have a DM like some I've had, I wouldn't
                   count on it *evil grin*) are on stalks.  This means
                   that they can point in, basically, any direction.
                   It doesn't matter if your behind it or not, it can
                   still use the eye that turns you to stone, if it
                   still has it.
 
                   B) its power to Levitate is a NATURAL ability
                   it has.  This means that it can Levitate without
                   any trouble in Wild or Dead Magic Zones, in the
                   area of effect for an Anti-Magic Sphere (or
                   whatever variant your mage character can cast as a
                   spell) and is DEFINATELY not affected by Dispel
                   Magic!  If it was then all you would have to do
                   to kill a Lich would be to, successfully, use
                   Dispel Magic on it.

                   C) it will use its eye-powers on the people
                   who are the biggest threats.  It will have the
                   people who are spell-casters, or at least as
                   many as it can affect, in its Anti-Magic Zone.
                   No, I don't mean it will know right away who
                   they all are (at least not till after the party
                   first attacks), but people, especially those in
                   robes making weird gestures, taking strangely and
                   holding things like holy symbols, bat fur, copper
                   rods, ect... should give the Beholder a clue.  It
                   should then use its other eyes on those party
                   members outside its Anti-Magic Zone, especially
                   those who look/act like spell-casters, people
                   with bows or other weapons that could reach the
                   Levitating Beholder (yes it is out of reach of
                   your sword), and those who are flying.
 
         Fourth:   And never forget the old saying `Disgression is
                   the better part of valour'.  If despite its traps,
                   spells, guards, magic items, eye powers and
                   ability to levitate a Beholder shouldn't stick
                   around to die... it will, at the very least,
                   attempt to escape through hidden passages or magic.
                   And if it succeeds in escaping then the party has
                   earned a powerful and, probably, still rich enemy.
 
         In conclusion, I would say that a beholder (or a Dragon,
         a Lich, a Death Knight or a Vampire), if played
         intelligently by the DM (as they are meant to be), is
         a powerful opponent.  It would take a very luck party (or
         a DM who's playing the beholder like its Intelligence is
         below 8!) to defeat a Beholder before they reach 10th level
         or, for that matter, even before they reach 12th level!
 
         As for the person who asked `How do you kill a Beholder',
         this is my personal advice, and remember I'm not
         guaranteeing anything:

         1) Be around 12th level, at least.  You CAN do it with lower
            level characters but it requires at least one of the
            following: a LARGE run of luck and/or a STUPID DM;
 
         2) Surround the Beholder, separate your spell-casters
            so they all can't be affected by the central eye (that's
            the one that creates an Anti-Magic Zone).  This way
            you'll have a better chance of it not concentrating
            its eyes on a group of you at once (this happens, and
            it's NASTY!);
 
         3) Have magic items (although its the rare character in
            AD&D who doesn't have a weapon +1, at the very least,
            at 12th level);
 
         4)   Have spells like Raise Dead on hand, or have enough
                loot to buy this service at a nearby temple.  The
                reason for this is that if the DM plays a Beholder
                intelligently and the players don't get REAL lucky,
                chances are that even IF you win, at least one
                character will die.

Skullport; Tale


Today I had one of those experiences I will never forget...  I decided to put my fighting skill to good use and help the locals of Waterdeep capture a crazed murdering dwarf that lived in the sewers.  As I was searching through the filth of the sewers I noticed that the current of the water was flowing under a wall.  By pressing up on the ceiling above the wall opens a hidden door.  Thinking that I stumbled upon the dwarf's home perhaps, I walked through the door.  There was a moving curtain behind it, with the illusion like that of heat rising from a fire.  I picked up a rock and threw it into the curtain.  The rock went through the curtain but I did not hear it fall.  Thinking that this must be his hiding place, I proceeded to walk through the curtain.

I felt the sense of displacement and found myself in a large cavern with a river running through it.  I turned to go back and tell the others, all to find the curtain-passageway was gone!  When I looked to take in my surroundings, I found I was in a large cavern with a river running through it.  There was also the faint sound of commotion coming from a large passageway.  In front of the passage was a dock to the river.

I followed the sounds down the passageway and started to see bright light.  The end of the passage opened up into a fascinating sight.  There was a city within a huge cavern.  Many buildings and shops were tightly packed in the cave along with all the humanoid creatures I could think of walking about.  I could smell the oil from the many torches and lanterns along with the foul smell of rotten grog ale.  The walls were glowing a faint hue of green and yellow and zombies carried fat orc merchants coffers and bounty.  My amazement led me to a pile of rocks, or I thought they were rocks piled on the side of one of the walls of the cavern.  They were actually skulls, human skulls, some others too.  This is when I figured
out I must have found the dreaded Skullport- the City under the City.  As I walked through the back alleys I smelled the scent of seawater.  I found a harbor inside the cavern that had a few smaller merchant ships anchored.  Sneaking across the plank of one of these ships I was able to hide inside a small raft on the boat.

Days seemed to pass, although I know now that it was probably just a few hours.  The ship started to move, and in less that an hour, I was out at sea.  An hour later we were anchored in Waterdeep.


rutador- master archer of the wrecking crew




_____________________________________
From the pages of the Waterdeep Public Records
held from public eye by Thorbold Rinwalt-City Constable

Dethek ;Runes

A       A
B       B
C       C
D       D
E       E
F       F
G       G
H       H
I       I
J       J
K       K
L       L
M       M
N       N
O       O
P       P
Q       Q
R       R
S       S
T       T
U       U
V       V
W       W
X       X
Y       Y
Z       Z
1       1
2       2
3       3
4       4
5       5
6       6
7       7
8       8
9       9
0       0


Bladesinger Spells


Vegard Hamar <Vegard.Hamar@NHIDH.NKI.NO>



  Bending - 1st lvl Illusion
  Range: 100'
  Components: V, Piece of a mirror
  Duration: 3 rnd/lvl
  Casting Time: 3
  Area of Effect: One object/Person
  Saving Throw: None

  Makes an object/person appear 10' away from it's actual location.
  If object/person attacks, illusion disappears (see Invisibility)


  Vibration - 2nd lvl Alteration
  Range: 10'/lvl
  Components: V, Piece of rattle snake
  Duration: 1 rnd/lvl
  Casting Time: 3
  Area of Effect: One object - 2 lb/lvl
  Saving Throw: Special

  Makes an object vibrate rapidly. Intelligent objects get saving
  throw versus spell. A vibrating object (ex. Sword) becomes almost
  impossible to hold, there's a 15%/lvl chance to fumble the object
  each round, else -1 to hit. Objects with mass of 1 lb/lvl must
  make a saving throw versus spell or disintegrate.


  Self Aura - 2nd lvl Illusion
  Range: 0
  Components: V
  Duration: 1 rnd/lvl
  Casting Time: 5
  Area of Effect: Caster
  Saving Throw: None

  Spell gives caster an glowing aura that make him appear more powerfull.
  Opponents get -1 to hit/ 3 lvl of caster.


Spells ;from Calimport


From: Michael Kenyon <KENYON@DICKINSON.EDU>




Armeth's Sand Dome
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~
Level :                 3
Range :                 0
Components :            V, S, M
Duration :              1 hr. + 1 hr./lvl.
Casting Time :          1 rd.
Area of Effect :        Large enough for 10 people and associated gear, etc.
Savings Throw :         None

        This spell cause sand, earth, loose gravel, topsoil, etc. around the
mage to form into a hollow dune.  The dune is one foot thick and large enough
to hold 10 people, their gear and suffient air for them to breathe comfortably
for the duration of the spell.   Note, the spell is gauged off of a cluster
of lifeforms, so pets and the like take up just as much room for the spells
effect as a hill giant does and if a life form is more than 10' distant from
the rest of the cluster, he is excluded from the spell.  The dune is hard
enough that it may be walked over by any creature of Medium size or under
without a chance of it collapsing.  Should a creature of Large size walk on
it, it will hold for 1 rd. + 1 rd./lvl. of the caster, assuming that the
creature is not actively attempting to enter the dome.  Larger creatures crush
the dome in one rd.  From the outside, the dune appears to be part of the
natural landscape and unless the person in question knows the terrain
intimately, they will not suspect that there is anything afoot with the
terrain.  The dune is not see through from the inside and it requires a Hear
Noise roll to perceive sound through the earth.
        Common uses of this spell are to give the party a convient place to
sleep to avoid encounters or to protect the party from either sand storms or
the beating mid-day sun.
        The material component is a glass dome half-filled with fine sand and
a miniature silver replica of a campsite attached to the base.  The item is
worth 100 gp and is not destroyed with the casting of the spell.  The sand,
however, must be replaced with each casting, through the corked hole in the
base.  Upon casting the spell, the globe is shook, while the words, "There's
no place like home," are said in Svirfneblin.

Sand Storm
~~~~ ~~~~~
Level :                 3
Range :                 60 yds.
Components :            V, S, M
Duration :              1 tn. + 1 rd./lvl.
Casting Time :          4
Area of Effect :        50' radius
Saving Throw :          Special

        This spell creates a sand storm from any convient source of sand,
gravel or loose topsoil in the area of effect, which may be used either
defensively or offensively.  In its defensive capacity, the sandstorm may be
used as a cloak for an escape or as a means of blocking pursuit.  In an
offensive capacity, it may be centered on a person(s) and have effects on
them.  The degree of the storm created is variable, based on a d20 roll
against the table below.  For every 3 levels of the wizard casting the spell,
there is up to a +/- 1 modifier, if the mage wishes to take it.  Unless noted
as such, there is no save for effects [you really can't avoid it, and it is a
physical attack, so there is really nothing to save against for a lot of the
effects].

    d20   type of storm effects
    ~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~
    01-04   Light           Obscured vision, 3/4 mv.
    05-12   Moderate        Obscured vision, 1/2 mv., 1 hp/rd damage.
    13-17   Heavy           Obscured vision, 1/2 mv., d4 hp/rd damage.
    18-19   Turbulent       Obscured vision, 1/4 mv., d6 hp/rd damage,
                            svs. magic +2 or choke on dust, etc. for d10
                            damage extra (cont. rolling till you make one)
    20      Extreme         Obscured vision, 1/8 mv., d8 hp/rd damage,
                            svs. magic or choke on dust, etc. for d10
                            damage extra (cont. rolling till you make
                            one), svs. spell or be blinded (svs. once)

Note that any man-sized or smaller flying creature is downed by a heavy storm, large creatures are downed by a 
turbulent storm and gargatuan creatures are downed by an Extreme storm.

        The material component of the spell is a handful of fine sand which is
blown off the hand in the direction in which you wish the sand storm to rise.

Sinkhole
~~~~~~~~
Level :                 4
Range :                 30'
Components :            V, S, M
Duration :              6 rds.
Casting Time :          4
Area of Effect :        Up to 4 creatures, 10' radius
Saving Throw :          Special

        Upon the casting of this spell, a section of ground that the mage
targets becomes a sinkhole 10' in radius.  Up to four creatures (caster's
choice of number effected; must be in range, and are counted out from the
centering point of the of the spell; i.e., PCs or friendly NPCs may be caught
in the AOE if they are closer to the center than a hostile creature is).
Those in the AOE must make a savings throw vs. spells to negate the spell
straight off.  The save is modified by the number affected.

       #      Mod.
       ~      ~~~
        1       -2
        2       -1
        3        0
        4       +1

Should the creature(s) affected make their save, then they are assumed to have
thrown themselves out of the area as the sinkhole started.  This saves them
from the spell, but also causes them to automatically lose initiative for the
next round, going dead last in the round.  If they fail their save, the spell
takes effect and the next round begins the duration of the spell.  Note, the
modifiers above apply to all saves listed below as well.

        1st rd.: If they have failed their initial save (above) they are
affectively held (as per hold person, even if they aren't a "person" and start
to sink.
        2nd rd.: They save again at -2 (plus modifiers from above).  If they
succeed, they cease to sink, but are still effectively held.  If they fail,
they cont. to sink.
        4th rd.: They save again at -4 (plus modifiers from above).  If they
succeed, they cease to sink, but are still effectively held.  If they fail,
they go under the sands.  They will die in 2 rds. (last rd. of the duration)
if they are not rescued.
        Should a dispel magic be cast at any time successfully on the
sinkhole before the duration expires, all trapped creatures are ejected from
teh ground, and are able to act in the next round.  Should the duration end
with the victims effectively held and above the surface, they may regain their
feet as their action for the next round.
        The material component for the spell is an egg timer, which is
destroyed in the casting of the spell.


INDEX








beholder 20
Dethek 26
Leira 1
Mask 1
Mystra 1
Skullport 24
Spells 27, 28
Waukeen 4

