Undefeated

The Undefeated

Praxis
The Burning, Man, the Flaming Saint, the Prophet of Highmoon... priest of Kossuth and rabid apocalyptic
evangelist Praxis has come far in the two years or so since he arrived in Highmoon, giving speeches from
a dingy shrine in the High Market. Capitalizing on the fear and uncertainty of folk as their homes were invad-
ed and the dragons began to gather on the horizons, he peddled his unmatched charisma and electrifying
fire-and-brimstone oratory into a major movement in Deepingdale, one which claimed over a thousand
members at its height early in the Year of the Rogue Dragon. That movement came to a screeching halt as
Praxis' alliance with the Silverblades guild was discovered. Following a tense standoff in which the mad
preacher held a nugget of some eldritch substance in his hands and threatened all of Highmoon with destruc-
tion, we managed to kill him--only to find that it was necessary to bring him back to life in order to avert a
civil war.

Even our stroke of genius--branding him with a quest to journey to the City of Shade--seems to have turned
against us, as Praxis returned. His preaching has changed, now, from calling on the faithful to speed the
coming of the Flame Deluge to fighting the impure and perverted nature of the Shades in all of its incarnations.
It seems that Praxis has made a name for himself in Sembia, charming the noble ladies with his powerful
presence and convincing even merchant princes to fund some secretive project.

He threatened our home, he seduced Jazim into his mad religion, he fomented rebellion at the gates of the
Tower of the Rising Moon, and he laughed in our faces even after death, knowing that he held all the cards.
                                      Though Praxis stood before us claiming that we need be enemies no more--that Kossuth had shown him that we had our own
                                      part to play in the great conflagration that would purify the Realms--it seems likely that we have not heard the last of the
                                      Burning Man.

                                      Disarion
                                      A power in the Cult of the Dragon, leader of the mysterious splinter sect of half-dragons known as the Black Covenant, and
                                      the first half-dracolich known in the Realms, Disarion is an old enemy of Anthynian. Disarion found him in his home, still
                                      clinging to the rotting corpse of his mother. He taught Anthynian to harness the draconic power of his blood, showed him how
                                      to shape the magic. Disarion animated the corpse of his mother into a mindless zombie, and twisted his mind to serve the
                                      Cult's purposes. When Anthynian finally fled his dark mentor's grasp, the necromancer pursued him, never tiring, content to
                                      follow even rumors. He tracked Anthynian through the length of breadth of Mulhorand, always just one step behind him and
                                      his companions, the Sword of the Lion's Mane. He tracked him across the Inner Sea even after Anthynian left his homeland,
                                      until the student finally had to confront the master in the bowels of the Fane of Scales.

                                      Disarion left that battle before it even began, seemingly content for his minions to slay Anthynian when he refused to embrace
                                      the Rage. Since then, every confrontation with the Cult brings some mention of Disarion, and the haunting words he used to
                                      describe our favorite sorcerer: Scion.

Lhaennyl Stormfist
Faithful of Bane, Stormfist is a high-ranking member of the Zhentarim whose last assignment was apparently Harrowdale.
She was in fact immensely displeased with Erethun Rivenstave's bungled governance and the resulting Resistance, and
advocated a strategic retreat (characterized, of course, as a victory for the Zhentilar and their helpful neighborly defense
against marauding dragons). Stormfist proposed, soon after Rivenstave's death, that we broker a mutually advantageous
agreement, and we agreed. She ended the Zhentilar occupation of Harrowdale in exchange for our silence on the true
purpose of the withdrawal.

Stormfist's powers and the extend of her influence are unknown, but it has been established that she travels with
a loyal bodyguard and an armored beholder. Though our meetings held to the letter of diplomatic courtesies and she
has proven true to her word, Stormfist's parting words should not be forgotten: "I look forward to meeting you on
the battefield..."

The Purple Skulls
A crack squad from the Zhentarim stronghold of Darkhold, the Purple Skulls have evidently been given orders to eliminate us. Whether this is a directive from Fzoul Chembryl himself, the commanders of Darkhold, or some other power, we do not know.

The Purple Skulls was a four-man team, consisting of a wild-haired harridan who wielded dark fire, a formidable armored troll, a hobgoblin archer with a massive black-wood bow, and a naga-like creature capable of casting spells and attacking simultaneously. We managed to kill the hobgoblin, though only with the timely aid of Faelyn were we even able to drive the others off. The group had evidently studied our tactics, for they were guarded against our most commonly-used spells and had prepared defenses against our best attacks. The advantage is decidedly theirs, as we know almost nothing about them. But we will learn, for it seems likely that we have not heard the last of the Purple Skulls.