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Eleint 30th 1370 DR: Shortly after midnight, five monks of the Dark Moon take advantage of the chaotic situation in Murann to launch an assault on Moonmaiden's Hall. The occupants of the temple, including numerous citizens taking shelter from the fighting in the streets, are slaughtered to the man, woman, and child. Unbeknownst to the attackers, Lunar Christen Flechen and a small number of other Selunites were absent from the temple at the time of the attack, visiting the homes of lay worshippers wounded by the Sythillisian invaders.

Hammer 22nd 1371 DR: In Murann, members of the resistance movement (including Captain Ordl "Starpoon" Fiathrn, Lunar Crister Flechan, Shadowmaster Arialle Systone and Lord Isteer Lurraxol) launch a raid on the city's prison, believing it to be where Arturius Vymmar and two other high ranking Shadow Thieves are being held. Their information proves to be correct, but unfortunately all three thieves are already dead. They do, however, find and liberate another prisoner, an unremarkable man who claims to be an Athkatlan merchant. In truth, this "merchant" is Phaan Colwyvv, Tessarch of the Council of Six.

Ches 8th 1371: The monarchists make their move. At slightly after three in the morning, Namarch Qar Jysstev and his wife are killed in their own home when a dozen black armoured warriors burst through the doors and windows. Simultaneously, elite Shadow Thief assassins sneak into Meisarch Erlranther Alibakkar's bedchamber. However, the bed is empty, and before the group can leave to report their failure, the entire house explodes in a burst of magical fire. Fearing retribution, Shadow Master Rhinnom Dannihyr makes the Meisarch's elimination the Shadow Thieves' top priority, placing Shade Rheax Bormul in personal command of the hunt.

The Meisarch, who had received word of the plot from house Ophal, immediately begins planning a counter-attack. While one of the two Council members he knows to be loyal is dead and the other is missing, Alibakkar is well prepared for treachery. Over the years, he has cultivated many allies and granted many favours. The Meisarch decides his immediate priority should be to decide which of his connections would prove most loyal, and recruit them as his four new Council members.

3rd Flamerule 1371 DR: The armies of Amn gather outside Murann. Alongside the regular members of the army are members of the Harmonious Order, paladins of the Field Guardians, Selunite crusaders, priests and monks of Loviatar, Cyricist priests and assassins from the Mountain of Skulls, a small contingent of Knights of the Shield, and numerous mercenary companies.

14th Uktar 1378 DR: Several minor Athkatlan nobles are found murdered in their own homes, a silk black mask left by their bodies. Most suspect the involvement of Mask-worshipping Shadow Thief assassins, and an outraged nobility begins placing pressure on the Council of Six to actively persecute the still weakened guild.

Unknownst to all but the true perpetrators, the attacks are actually part of a covert crusade by Sharran monks of the Dark Moon and Cyricist Flames of the Dark Sun to rid Amn of all influences of the god Mask.

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Originally posted by initiate

Seems presumptuous to start a thread such as this, but as its also...

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Originally posted by initiate

The Red Walker Wrote:
Go ahead and whack Cyric, why wait my friend!

Your encouragement gives me heart. Yunno, I might just go ahead and ax 'im. Now, to figure out how... Should I let Bane kill him?

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Waterdeep is well known for its many passing fads, and one of the latest is a series of bardic tales collectively known as "The Guiding Light". These tales resolve around supposed antics of the gods, although in these stories the deities act less like omnipotent beings and more like a particularly rowdy group of nobles, or even a bunch of love-lorn teenagers in some tales. Specific stories within the tradition have come to be known as "episodes"; two of the more popular resolve around a love triangle between Helm, Torm, and Tymora, and a plot against Mystra by a jealous Cyric and Shar.

It is supposed that original idea for the "The Guiding Light" episode originated with one single bard, but many others have seized on the new fad, and the stories have quickly become so varied, convuluted, exagerrated, and often outright ridiculous that no-one is sure who is responsible for starting it.

Amongst those bards who have begun telling tales of "The Guiding Light" are several of the more prominent Waterdhavian bards, including the famous poet-scholar Bordell, normally noted for his fantastic tales of aberrations and other ancient horrors.

Members of numerous clergies, knighthoods, and other religious organizations, as well as many particularly zealous layworshippers have been outraged by the new craze, and several organized protests have been formed to demand the Lords of Waterdeep declare a permanent ban on the "The Guiding Light" episodes. The reaction of many other Waterdhavians, particularly those of the older generation, is to simply roll their eyes and declare this to be "yet another nail in the coffin of the once fine bardic tradition."

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Originally posted by nbnmare

Shade's survival isn't weird at all. It's stated in several sources that they used the Shadow Weave to transport their entire city to the Plane of Shadows, which is why they've been residing there for the past couple of millenia.

The incident even featured in one of the short stories in Realms of Shadow.

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Originally posted by nbnmare

Ah sorry, completely misread that :).

In my "personal vision" of the Realms, the Weave and Shadow Weave don't exist on other planes of existence, and I have the arcanists of Shade learning and mastering the art of Shadowcasting (utilising the energy of the plane of Shadow, as featured in Tome of Magic) while they were on the Plane of Shadows.

Of course that's not cannon, but I would suspect that in the "official Realms" the Shades have at least done some research into Shadowcasting, and it's definitely possible they may switch to that if Shadowcasting becomes an official part of 4E.

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Originally posted by nbnmare

I was just thinking: if the Shadow Weave "depends on the Weave to exist", then how come the Shadow Weave works just fine in dead magic zones? I smell plot hole!

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Originally posted by initiate

A couple background entries:

Mirtul 1377:
Drasek Riven, the Second of Mask, receives a directive from his god, commanding him to recover the shattered pieces of the sword Godsbane and secret them far away from the eyes and hands of Faerun. This Riven does.
(Note: I'm operating under the assumption that Riven does not die or undergo some sort of major change of faith in "Shadowrealm". I greatly enjoy Paul Kemp's work, and am likely to let anything he does stand, except the complete takeover of Sembia, which is a nation I like more or less how it is.)

Nightal 1378:
The god Mask, having long considered his course, and how he might turn his own great pain and lessening to his advantage, approaches two traditional brutal and brooding divine powers with an intriguing offer.

Elasis 1379:
Powerful priests of Mask, Bane, and Malar, [who desires the Murder portfolio], gather on a small island in the Sea of Fallen Stars and, over the course of a three day ritual, reforge the sword Godsbane, brought from its hiding place on the Wayrock by Drasek Riven. Much divine power is bound up in the sword, contributed by all three dark deities, linking the blade directly to each of them.

And now...

1385, The Year of Blue Fire:

The Hour of the Mad God:

In recent years, Cyric and Shar, both of whom resent Mystra's soul control of magic, have plotted together to seize the Weave. Both realize, of course, that they cannot work together in the long-term, yet they also acknowledge that neither has any chance alone. A battle between the two of them can come later. It is now, in the Year of Blue Fire, that they choose to make their attempt. Alone, neither would have a hope of assaulting Mystra in her place of power. Yet the frontal attack of Cyric's mad rage supplemented by Shar's smothering Shadow Weave enchantment deadens the strength of Dweomerheart for a crucial instant. And in that instant, Shar cuts Cyric a path of shadowstuff leading directly into the heart of Mystra's domain, and the God of Madness launches his attack.

Yet Mystra need not rely only upon the might contained in Dweomerheart. More, what Shar has never fully grasped is that the Shadow Weave's existence is predicated on that of the Weave: it is a ghost; an imitation. Thus, where the Shadow Weave exists, the Weave must also assert itself. Drawing upon the power vested in the Magister, her Chosen, and to a lesser extent all spellcasters, as well as the vast might of the Weave entire, Mystra lashes back at Cyric. The Dark Sun is hurled in agony from Dweomerheart, and is also stripped of his divinity by a wrathful Overgod in the instant he attempts to so endanger the Weave.

Shar, sensing failure as Cyric falls out of Dweomerheart and is cast down onto Faerun, opts to cut her losses. The Lady of Loss steps back silently into the shadows, accepting and savouring the bitter emptiness of her own failure, as she waits for another day....

In the instant of Cyric's despair he realizes that he still possesses a vestige of his former power: His fall has not yet been completely implemented by Ao, and thus he still carries his divine portfolios locked within himself, [though they can do nothing for him in and of themselves.] In a moment of degradation and panic, Cyric casts his eyes to the heavens and prays with all his soul to Mask, offering up that possession of the Thief God's which he stole in exchange for aid. To his surprise, Mask answers, offering him a weapon that will allow him to ascend once more in exchange for the Intrigue portfolio. Cyric eagerly accepts, and as part of the divine power he still momentarily holds in trust drains from him he is given the reforged Godsbane.

Working with frantic haste, Cyric determines which deity associated with portfolios in which he has an interest he considers weakest. In a desperate attempt to gain influence over the Death portfolio, Cyric launches an attack upon Jergal, Scribe of the Doomed, wishing to wrest from the old god the power to record the passing of the dead. Using some of the small reserve of power he managed to filch from Mystra to ride the Weave in an instant to the Pheug Plane, the former Mad God strikes at the ancient deity with the reforged Godsbane. However, the use of the sword reforged with Bane's power summons the Black Lord to the Pheug Plane. As Jergal retreats, grievously wounded, to the Crystal Spire, Cyric lashes out at Bane with Godsbane, only to have the weapon repaired partially by Bane's black fire bounce harmlessly from the god's skin. A mere mortal, Cyric stands no chance against Bane, and the Black Lord slays him in an instant, thus reclaiming the portion of the Strife portfolio Cyric held within himself. The Lord of Tyranny departs, satisfied, as Godsbane floats away into the infinite vastness of the Pheug Plane. The great weakening of Jergal, (though he is by no means destroyed), causes a concurrent weakening in the realm of the dead, and also the Wall of the Faithless. Kelemvor stabilizes this crack in the Wall's substance with the mighty soul of Cyric the Mad who, as he died a mortal in the end, comes to the Lord of the Dead for judgment.

Cyric's portfolios are redistributed, with Bane receiving Strife and Mask retaining the Intrigue which Cyric had sacrificed to him. Malar attempts to seize Murder, but Ao intervenes, choosing to hold the portfolio in trust for the time being. The Beast Lord is furious but can do nothing. That portion of the Weave's essence which Cyric did manage to steal is returned to Mystra. The Lady of Mysteries also restabilizes those portions of her essence contained within selected mortal vessels such as the Chosen. The pantheon has, once again, been shaken by the actions of rogue deities, and has, also as before, weathered the storm.

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