Sarimier 11, 551 MR
To The Mhor Daeric Mhoried, Valiant Defender of the Laurel Crown,
Greetings
my dear noble friend. I am writing to offer my condolences for the loss
of Michael. Though I have not seen the lad for several years, word of his
valiantry reached south to Elinie and beyond. Whatever I can do, name it.
My house is yours.
By the time
this letter reaches you, young Benedict and Regien will have all ready
informed you that they left the halfling Lemmy Lightfoot and Regien's apprentice
behind to follow the goblin's trail. I spoke with them myself and told
them that I had all ready sent some one to do the same. You are familiar
with the one I sent. However, I would never insult your realm, so of course
I gave them my blessing. For their protection, I sent Tyrell my first born
with them.
Tyrell has
returned from the journey. He reports that the three of them followed the
trail as far as they could. Tyrell tells me that they followed it to a
limestone cavern where the nasty beasts were at lair. Thankfully, it was
a small lair. My son assures me that all three fought with much gallantry
and disposed of the vile creatures. Within, they found an old altar dedicated
to the cult of Elemental Evil. It seems that the cultist encountered in
the library stopped at the cavern to higher the goblins' swords, including
the help of the ogre. Unfortunately, the goblin's trail was lost to them
a few miles beyond the caverns.
I have not
yet heard back from my agent sent to do the same job. You are as familiar
as I with his skills. No doubt, the trail was not lost to him. I of course
will send word of his findings to you as soon as I have it. Master Lightfoot
and Master Keer shall set out tomorrow after breaking their fast for Shieldhaven.
Master Lightfoot seems anxious to rejoin Lord Benedict. I offered to have
Tyrell escort them to Shieldhaven, however, they politely refused saying
that I was too kind.
I understand
that in the wake of your son's death, you are holding a tournament in his
honor and to celebrate your daughter's engagement. I will of course send
members of my household to compete.
Again, my
heart goes out to you. My house is yours.
Assan ibn Daouta
The Dragon of Avani.
pc handout I
Dear Benedict,
It is
with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that your dear cousin Michael
is dead. He was slain in Markazor by goblin raiders. Your Uncle is utterly
destroyed by the news. We are asking all of our family to return. Regien
was kind enough to retrieve you himself from the errand he sent you on.
Please
return with greatest haste.
With Love,
Mother
pc handout II
Portions of this handout were lost
to fire. Most of it is still readable.
The Search for a Dark God
538 MR
Before I get started, I must thank the Great Library of Ansien for funding
me the wealth needed to make the travels necessary to find the information
for this book. Thank-you.
I must warn you that I myself am an atheist. I believe in no higher power,
but even so, I am fascinated by the concept. The fact that I am an
atheist does not mean that I don’t believe what many call gods exist. They
do in fact exist, just I feel that they are the result of us, not that
we are the result of them. This is not a new theory; in fact, it is not
even mine. I stole it from Yoseph Cambelinie’s Heroes with a Thousand Faces.
I would refer the reader to the said document. Sadly, finding a copy will
not be easy. Cambelinie lived during a less progressive time. He was murdered
for his beliefs and as many copies of his work that could be found were
burned. Just owning a copy was punishable by death. Thank’-fully, my Great
Grandfather hid a copy away for me.
The
reader of this document
familiar with what has come to be called the Temple of Elemental Evil.
The residents of this vile place worshipped what they called the Elements
of Evil. But what are these “Elements of Evil”.
ted theory is that they worship some warped version of the Elementals often
summoned by
my colleges and myself. I have another theory. I believe that the
Elements of Evil re
haps raw instinct of evil. In essence, the cultists worship the ideals
of Evil. This theo
amongst my peers; however, I still cling to it.
There seem to be many go
y these cultists. Within their evil temple have been found symbols and
statues dedicated to Lol
nd Zuggtmoy. Some believe that the cultists were attempting to form a Pantheon
of Evil. While Lolth and Zuggtmoy were the two most common influences found,
there was also evidence of other Tanar’ri lords, namely Yeenoghu and Torazon.
The symbols used for the worship of these tanar’ri are well known. What
is not known is the meaning of the black triangle with an inverted yellow
Y used by the cultists.
It is assumed that
their symbol represents the evil elementals, but as I’ve stated. I do not
believe in these so called evil elementals. There is no known record of
one ever being encountered. I have a different theory. My theory developed
several years ago when I decided to do a study of Yeenoghu and Torazon.
Yeenoghu is of
course the Lord of Gnolls and Torazon the Lord of Orogs. I’ve spent much
time amongst both species polymorphed to appear as one of them. In both
cases, I was accepted as an adept of their dark gods. During this five
year investigation (two years amongst the Gnolls and three amongst the
Orogs), I discovered that both Gods are strikingly similar. I have all
ready published a paper on this subject, and I direct the inquisitive reader
to my Similarities Amongst the Religions of The Lesser Species. A copy
can be found in the Great Library of Ansien. I will restate my hypothesis
from that document here: YEENOGHU AND TARAZON ARE ONE AND THE SAME!
It was with this
theory that I tackled the subject of the Evil Elements. I have proof, which
I shall share in the following pages of who and what the tanar’ri are!
Let me begin with this, most if not all of the tanar’ri might be the same
being. Let me restate that again, the tanar’ri are one. Who are they? You
ask.
One may recall
the obscure legend of the Lost (The rest of
the letter is missing at this point)