Raekel’s Pit
By Steve Miller
Raekel’s Pit is a terrible mark that was left upon Krynn by one
of her most evil priests. Even in the Age of Mortals, it continues to fester
like an open sore. Located in the southern part of the Sentinel Mountains,
its true origins are shrouded in legend, but there is little doubt that
it is a place that is rank with evil.
The History of Raekel’s Pit
As Ackal Ergot was conquering the lands that would some day become the
Ergothian Empire, legend has it that a priest known as Raekel plotted against
him. Although Raekel claimed to be a priest of Manthus (an Ergothian god
of industry and dreams, known as Majere elsewhere in Ansalon), he in fact
served a triumvirate of evil godsthe Dragon Queen (Takhisis);
Aeleth, a god of death and disease (Chemosh); and Argon the god of Dark
Vengeance (Sargonnas). The deities had promised him Ergot’s
fledgling empire if he would perform certain rituals that would grant them
ultimate power over Ansalon. Somehow, three gods of goodManthus
the Mighty, Corij the Blade (Kiri-Jolith), and the Blue Phoenix (Habbakuk)
uncovered the plot and sent their own champion against Raekel. The identity
of the champion varies from story to storysome cast Ackal Ergot
in the role of champion, and these are the most popular version in the
Empire of Ergoth, while others cast the elven leader Silvanos or a lowly
kender or gnome as the chosen one. (A highly a-historical variant
popular in Solamnia states that Vinus Solamnus was the one who defeated
Raekel.) In all versions, the hero arrives too late to stop Raekel from
performing the sacrifices that begin the ritual, but instead manage to
throw him into the gap he has opened to the Abyss while the three gods
of Good combat the three gods of Evil.
A chilling song used in training of Ergothian
tells of a day when a cabal of 33 dark mystics will raise their voices
in a dirge that will bring Raekel back from beyond the Veil. He will finally
complete the ritual he started almost 3,000 years ago and he will assume
dominion over the Empire, turning it into a charnel house. Few Ergothian
bards ever use the song as part of their active repertoire, but virtually
none of them ever forget the names of the 33 mystics.
Raekel’s Pit in the Present Day
The gods have withdrawn from Krynn in the Fifth Age, but Raekel’s Pit still
yawns toward the heavens, a 200 foot diameter shaft which is filled with
boiling mists and howling shadows. The hunters from the nearby barbarian
village of Ker-Manth rarely come within 20 miles of the place—and those
brave men who have dared to search for game closer say that they have not
seen any animals once they are within 10 miles of the Pit.
Since the Chaos War, stories have been circulating
that on the darkest, longest night of each year, a ten-year old child has
crawled from Raekel’s Pit. Many doubt the truth of these this tale, as
their origins have been traced back to a kender who in 19 SC claimed to
have been taken captive by a group of young humans who claimed to be the
Children of the Pit. He also claimed to have witnessed one of their number
being born. He died shortly after stumbling into Thisway in southern Kendermore,
wounded and suffering from a disease that none of the kender healers could
cure. To further discredit the tale, when Belladonna Juniper, the afflicted
kender who is the current ruler of Hylo, dispatched parties to search for
these mystics, they came back empty-handed.
Nonetheless, tales of a hidden group of mystics
living somewhere in the southern Sentinel Mountains abound. It reportedly
consists entirely of exceedingly handsome humans ranging in age from about
10 to about 30. Some tales claim a bent, ancient man leads them. The more
detailed versions of the rumor claim that he wears a holy symbol of Argon,
although he also has the symbol of Manthus branded across his face.
The Branded Man and the Children of the Pit
There are indeed a tiny group of mystics living in the Sentinel Mountains
not far from the Pit—and only one of them is of Krynnish origin, the old
and decrepit Dolan Rak-Mahl.
As the War of the Lance rages across Ansalon,
Dolan Rak-Mahl was getting by as an alley-basher. He kept a low enough
profile so that neither the Thief Guild chapter in Gwynned nor the authorities
noticed his activities. However, his luck ran out when he attempted to
rob a priest of Manthus. Unfortunately for Dolan, this priest had been
part of the Ergothians delegation to the recent gathering of the Whitestone
Council on Sancrist and there had met Elistan, one of the first generation
of priests to wield the magic of the gods since the Cataclysm. From Elistan,
he had gained knowledge of the proper ways to honor Manthus, and had since
been granted priestly magic by the god. This magic took Dolan completely
by surprise and he was still held in its thrall, unable to move a muscle,
as the priest dragged him to the City Watch.
When Dolan went on trail, he begged and pleaded
for his life. The judge said that normally he ordered violent criminals
like Dolan hanged, but that the thief was so pathetic that it was hardly
worth it. Instead, the judge turned to an ancient law that seemed appropriate
now that the ancient gods were returning to Ansalon: He ordered Dolan’s
face branded with the symbol of Manthus so that all could see that he had
transgressed against the divine powers. Even though the priest, the victim
of Dolan’s attack, objected, the judge upheld his ruling.
A brand that had not been used for over 400
years was placed in hot coals and Dolan’s face was marked. Still sobbing
from the pain, he was dragged through Gwynned and thrown out of the city’s
front gates. Here, he cooled his sizzling face in the mud by the road.
As he lay there, he screamed at the gray city walls, swearing that all
of Gwynned would suffer at his hands some day. The guards on the walls
laughed.
Suddenly, a silky voice asked if Dolan was
truly interested in revenge. The thief looked in the direction of the voice
and saw a red condor sitting in a nearby tree. The condor continued to
speak to him, and Dolan discovered that it was a messenger from one of
the True Gods and that only he could see it. The condor offered him the
opportunity to serve the god of vengeance, Argon, and told him to journey
to the ruins of Fav in the south, where he would discover the ways to honor
Argon, if he survived the trials he would have to undergo.
Dolan was successful, and thus became the
first priest of Argon in Ergoth since the Cataclysm. He worked to further
the dark will of his god and to expand his worship for the next three decades.
During the Summer of Chaos, as the gods prepared to depart from Ansalon
once again, Argon’s messenger came to Dolan to tell him of what was happening.
He commanded the priest to journey to Raekel’s Pit to perform a ritual
that would start a process that would eventually bring about the final
destruction of the Empire of Ergoth.
Dolan obeyed the commands of his god and as
he performed the ritual on the edge of the smoking pit, he felt the presence
of Argon, which had been a constant part of his being for 30 years, fade.
There was a sharp red flash from the pit’s smoky depths and in the heavens
the very constellations changed. Dolan held his breath as he awaited a
tide of destructive forces to vomit forth—but nothing happened. Unsure
of what do to next, Dolan took up residence in a cave not far from the
Pit and waited for an additional sign from his god.
A few months later, on the Winter Solstice,
the sign Dolan had been waiting for came in the form of a young boy of
unearthly beauty. “I am a child of the pit,” he said. “I will teach you
the ways of magic, and you will teach me the ways of revenge. With your
help, my brothers and sisters will eventually consume this land.”
The child showed Dolan how to master spiritual magic, the final
gift of the gods before they left Krynn. Dolan taught the child the proper
ways to honor Argon. A year later to the day, the child took Dolan to the
Pit. Here, they witnessed as another beautiful child crawled out of its
depths.
Each Winter Solstice since then, another child
has emerged from the Pit. Dolan has learned that a ritual that started
3,000 years ago is finally reaching its fruition. This will continue until
they number 33. Then, the final days of Ergoth will be at hand, and its
demise unavoidable.
Dolan hopes that he will live long enough to see this demise. He has
already started using the foul magics taught to him by the Children to
extend his life. He hopes that Ergoth will die with him—in fact, he has
grown to hope that all of Ansalon dies with him!
When a small force of Dark Knights came to Raekel’s
Pit in 27SC, three of the oldest Children were slain when they came upon
them unexpectedly. The remaining Children have assured Dolan that they
will return, emerging from the Pit as they had once before. “No living
being can stop us,” one of them said. “Only he who slew Raekel, the one
known as Julius Har-Retal, can harm us—and he is long dead.”
The knowledge that an unavoidable doom awaits Ergoth
in the not-to-distant future keeps Dolan clinging to life.
Dragonlance is TM and ©2002 Wizards of the Coast.
Used with permission.