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Originally posted by George Krashos

Merry Xmas to you all.

The Artificers – A Tale of the Raumathari

It was in the Year of the Yarting (-163 DR) that Elenoss the Talespinner displayed his craft at the court of Arkhan Tallos IV of Raumathar, known to sages and historians alike as “the Artificer”. At the time of its recounting, before the unleashing of the Great Conflagration, it was considered to be a cautionary tale and one that caused Elenoss to suffer the Arkhan’s displeasure. The lessons of history now show that Elenoss had something of the seer about him and his tale bears repeating here …

Of old, our forefathers served masters great in magic. The Imaskari, or “Artificers” as some call them now, held sway from the balmy Golden Water to the frigid shores of the Great Ice Sea. Great was their mastery of the Art and greater still was their passion and hunger for yet more magic. Their lasting fame and legacy to history was their skill at crafting golems, constructs of magic that the world has yet to see rivalled.

As the years passed, some Imaskari formed a brotherhood of mages that they called the Conclave of Artificers, where all with such skill or a desire to learn the Art of automata would be made welcome. Led by their first great leader Agyrr the Magnificent, the Conclave sent out heralds on dragonback to invite far-flung wizards of ability to join their knowledge to that of the Conclave and such was Agyrr’s powers of persuasion and force of personality, that many flocked to Inupras to join him and his ever-growing school of wizards.

And so in time the deeds of the Conclave became known to one Wardde who made his home in the far northern forest known as the Shalhoond, or Great Wild Wood. Wardde used his magic to “meet the dragon”, as sharing knowledge with the Conclave came to be known, and was soon recognised by his peers for his intuitive mastery in the Art of golem creation. Soon, golems of Wardde’s construction were being copied by other members of the Conclave as he unveiled many different golems that he had carefully crafted in his tower-home in the forest. His followers became legion and his work became the standard for all to marvel at and aspire to.

The Conclave invited Wardde to join them in full membership but he refused; not in arrogance, but for his love of home and family. He freely shared his Art and would refuse no-one, so his decision did not cause issue as he continued to provide ever-greater Art and spell-lore to the Conclave. At this time the arch-artificer Jarff spoke strongly in support of Wardde and his works and methods, and the Conclave accepted his decision not to live in Inupras and join them in their craftings.

When Jarff’s time was ended, the storied artificer Vesten became Wardde’s voice in the Conclave and they unveiled wondrous creations to the Imaskari people. Their golems took on sophisticated forms and functions and the Conclave benefited greatly from their labours. Not all wizards of Imaskar were affiliated with the Conclave however, and many denigrated their efforts and achievements or sought to champion their own golem creations. But the advances in golem mastery and Art that Wardde and Vesten had brought to Imaskar could not be ignored, and their work continued, increasing the power and prestige of both the Conclave and Imaskar as a whole. Golems were used as servants but more importantly in Imaskar’s armies and the security of the realm soon relied upon Wardde and the legacy of Art he had wrought.

Such were the skill and achievements of Wardde that he soon attracted followers of skill in Art who were not of the Conclave and had no desire to join. Wizards of power such as Logarn and Orgis “the Unseen” learned much from the teachings of Wardde and he and Vesten embraced their work and craftings, bringing them to the Conclave and promoting them there. But not all the members of the Conclave were prepared to allow Vesten and Wardde to receive the kudos and approbation of their peers. Led by Nyl of Akaber, members of the Conclave engineered the exile of Vesten for crimes imagined and the wizardry of Wardde lost its greatest supporter.

Dissension in Imaskar was mirrored by dissension in the Conclave as other wizards and the people of the realm embraced different magic and golems became thought of as “Art of the past”. The call for Wardde’s work grew less and less and Imaskar’s golem armies were left to languish, their magic fading. The Conclave grew desperate, seeing their growing irrelevance as a harbinger of loss of status and life of penury, and so they sought to create a new form of golem, one not seen before in the lands of Imaskar. But their golem creations were unstable, their magic rooted only tenuously in the amassed spell-lore of golem creation which Wardde had so carefully gathered and disseminated to the Conclave, and the self-serving ways of the Conclave members did little to gain them the favour of the ruler of Imaskar.

None know Wardde’s fate with the fall of Imaskar, but all know that the vaunted golem armies of that realm failed to save them. Some survivors of the fall blamed Wardde and his followers while other, wiser loremasters pointed to the Conclave and their selfish ways. Their craftings now belong to the ages. However, the golem magic and spell-lore of Wardde exists still, to be found by those who hold a love of Art deep in their hearts. What they will make of Wardde’s legacy is something known only to the gods. Let us hope that the gods smile upon them when that time comes.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

This is for Lukas Kain, because the memory isn't what it used to be.

In the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR) the Red Wizards of Thay petitioned the Lords of Imphras II to be granted leave to open enclaves in the cities of the realm. After due consideration, leave was granted for the Red Wizards to open enclaves in the cities of Lyrabar, Dilpur and Ilmwatch. It is believed that the Lords residing in Hlammach and Sarshel declined to have any open Thayan presence in their cities.

The Thayan enclaves took the form of three businesses named the Scarlet Potion, the Crimson Scroll and the Flaming Cloak in Lyrabar, Dilpur and Ilmwatch respectively. All three sold potions, low-level spell scrolls and minor items of magic such as enspelled daggers (that shed light on command), everburning lanterns and various types of 'eyes' (see Ruins of Undermountain - Campaign Guide, p.114). The presence of the Red Wizards was kept low key after the young, arrogant Ryzus of Eltabbar was set upon by a band of local "toughs" in Ilmwatch after presuming to demand their table at the Druid's Kiss festhall one night. Ryzus escaped with his life, but not before his magic badly wounded two of his assailants and after some delicate political manoeuvring, he was sent back to Thay in disgrace, escaping further punishment. It is known that business for the Thayans started briskly with many merchants buying their early wares and selling them on at a handsome profit. As the year passed however, some items became scarce (the aforementioned 'eyes' were one example) and prices rose accordingly. In addition, the Thayans seemed to favour some merchants over others, causing suspicion and division, which damaged some old mercantile relationships in the three cities and which in turn attracted the attention of the Council of Lords.

Early in the Year of Rogue Dragons (1373 DR) however, all three Thayan businesses were attacked and utterly destroyed by the Shattered Chains Brotherhood, an adventuring band based out of Spandeliyon, whose membership comprised solely of ex-Thayan slave gladiators. Using magic, the Brotherhood travelled across the realm in a single night, laying waste to each shop in turn and putting their Red Wizard occupants to the sword. Confronted by the Warsword in Ilmwatch, the Brotherhood surrendered themselves to Lord Brandosk and that same night were transported back to Lyrabar by magic. There they were interrogated by three members of the Council of Lords and then allowed to leave the realm, taking ship back to Aglarond. Observers of their apprehension in Ilmwatch note that upon meeting Lord Brandosk, the leader of the Brotherhood, the grim warrior Arbarn "the Scarred", presented him with a jet black token in the form of a raven, that quickly quieted the angry ruler of Ilmwatch.

Naturally the Thayans were furious with what had transpired and sent their chief envoy, Garathil Thrul, the "Voice of the Zulkirs", to Lyrabar. There he is believed to have haughtily demanded restitution from the Crown for damage suffered "to Thayan property on Thayan soil" and an explanation as to why the Brotherhood had been allowed to leave the kingdom unpunished. He received no comfort in either regard and after a series of veiled threats were made, he was escorted bodily to his waiting ship, told to go back to Thay and never return and entrusted with a Royal Proclamation rescinding the grant of territory that had accompanied the establishment of the Thayan enclaves.

It is known that Thay attempted to reinstate their presence in Impiltur and re-establish their enclaves several months later, accompanied by promises of riches and magic, but their request fell on deaf ears. The Council refused to even see their envoy and the Royal Herald Korthaun Morthil was tasked with telling the Red Wizards a firm, but polite, "no".

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos



No news. Eric and I glance over that way every so often, but won't be visiting for some time.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

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Originally posted by Demzer

Hi George,

What do you think will the various Lords of Imphras II and Queen Regent Sambryl do after the coronation of Imbrar Heltharn II with the end of both the Regency and the Council of Lords?

To shorten the list, consider that Lords Helimbraun, Oriseus, Silaunbrar, Engarth, Soarglim, Rilimbraun and Simgar died in my campaign in various Soneillon-related events.

Another question, did Mage Royal Selarbrin have any offsprings/successors/apprentices that he was grooming to continue the family line and take his place as new Mage Royal? (Yeah, he died too, my players took a while to catch up with the Soneillon-orchestrated intrigues so there were many casualties in Impiltur). If the answer to the above is "No" in one way or another, how is going to be appointed the new Mage Royal? And who is in "pole position" among archmages of the kingdom or foreigners to get the seat?

Thanks!

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Well, prior to the accession of King Imbrar II, I have the Lords located as follows:

Lyrabar – Oriseus, Rilimbraun and Limbrar.

Sarshel – Delimbrar and Rilaunyr

Hlammach – Helimbraun, Soargilm and Engarth

Dilpur – Silaunbrar and Idriane

Laviguer – Haelimbrar

Ilmwatch – Simgar

Are your deaths just prior to the new king's crowning or over time leading up to it? Not that that is all that important, I suppose. I had plans for both Helimbraun and Simgar to be "touched" by Soneillon and potentially revolt against the new king, but there was nothing definitive there.

I similarly have never decided what each, specific Lord would "do" after the king's accession - I always thought it important for DMs to have flexibility in that regard. In simple terms, I considered that those remaining of the original 12 would retire gracefully (being old) save for Haelimbrar who would become something of an obsessed warmaster, seeking a fight to give himself a glorious end. The girls would actively seek to try and find Imbrar a royal match (and retain favour by being the new queen's confidants - it helps that Idriane is a Sune worshipper in that regard), while the younger Lords would either retire to their estates and just "do what nobles do", throw themselves into religion-related stuff, or travel (likely as ambassadors for the new king).

I left all that very broad on purpose. Do whatever suits your campaign best!

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

This is for Lukas Kain, because the memory isn't what it used to be.

In the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR) the Red Wizards of Thay petitioned the Lords of Imphras II to be granted leave to open enclaves in the cities of the realm. After due consideration, leave was granted for the Red Wizards to open enclaves in the cities of Lyrabar, Dilpur and Ilmwatch. It is believed that the Lords residing in Hlammach and Sarshel declined to have any open Thayan presence in their cities.

The Thayan enclaves took the form of three businesses named the Scarlet Potion, the Crimson Scroll and the Flaming Cloak in Lyrabar, Dilpur and Ilmwatch respectively. All three sold potions, low-level spell scrolls and minor items of magic such as enspelled daggers (that shed light on command), everburning lanterns and various types of 'eyes' (see Ruins of Undermountain - Campaign Guide, p.114). The presence of the Red Wizards was kept low key after the young, arrogant Ryzus of Eltabbar was set upon by a band of local "toughs" in Ilmwatch after presuming to demand their table at the Druid's Kiss festhall one night. Ryzus escaped with his life, but not before his magic badly wounded two of his assailants and after some delicate political manoeuvring, he was sent back to Thay in disgrace, escaping further punishment. It is known that business for the Thayans started briskly with many merchants buying their early wares and selling them on at a handsome profit. As the year passed however, some items became scarce (the aforementioned 'eyes' were one example) and prices rose accordingly. In addition, the Thayans seemed to favour some merchants over others, causing suspicion and division, which damaged some old mercantile relationships in the three cities and which in turn attracted the attention of the Council of Lords.

Early in the Year of Rogue Dragons (1373 DR) however, all three Thayan businesses were attacked and utterly destroyed by the Shattered Chains Brotherhood, an adventuring band based out of Spandeliyon, whose membership comprised solely of ex-Thayan slave gladiators. Using magic, the Brotherhood travelled across the realm in a single night, laying waste to each shop in turn and putting their Red Wizard occupants to the sword. Confronted by the Warsword in Ilmwatch, the Brotherhood surrendered themselves to Lord Brandosk and that same night were transported back to Lyrabar by magic. There they were interrogated by three members of the Council of Lords and then allowed to leave the realm, taking ship back to Aglarond. Observers of their apprehension in Ilmwatch note that upon meeting Lord Brandosk, the leader of the Brotherhood, the grim warrior Arbarn "the Scarred", presented him with a jet black token in the form of a raven, that quickly quieted the angry ruler of Ilmwatch.

Naturally the Thayans were furious with what had transpired and sent their chief envoy, Garathil Thrul, the "Voice of the Zulkirs", to Lyrabar. There he is believed to have haughtily demanded restitution from the Crown for damage suffered "to Thayan property on Thayan soil" and an explanation as to why the Brotherhood had been allowed to leave the kingdom unpunished. He received no comfort in either regard and after a series of veiled threats were made, he was escorted bodily to his waiting ship, told to go back to Thay and never return and entrusted with a Royal Proclamation rescinding the grant of territory that had accompanied the establishment of the Thayan enclaves.

It is known that Thay attempted to reinstate their presence in Impiltur and re-establish their enclaves several months later, accompanied by promises of riches and magic, but their request fell on deaf ears. The Council refused to even see their envoy and the Royal Herald Korthaun Morthil was tasked with telling the Red Wizards a firm, but polite, "no".

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

I've decided on about 24 major and minor noble families of Impiltur, divided pretty evenly between "establishment families" (pre-dating the Triad Crusade) and more recent nobility.

Of the old guard, I have the following:

Caerdal
Deepstar
Eirlthaun
Forgecrown
Harrowbrace
Hornwind
Relindar
Thornspar

Newer noble families are:

Balgorn
Dintersan
Garamonn
Lamathar
Narshal
Starsunder
Tordrover
Wellhaven

As you can see, I've left about 8 slots free at this time.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

And as for royal matches, I was always curious if Gareth Dragonsbane had any daughters ...

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by The Sage



George's "History of the Heartlands" also promises to include some tidbits as well, but he's got an '08 'release' date on that.

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Originally posted by sleyvas
Any ideas which of the old Lords are from which families? Any chance any of them are blood relations (even if one or two generations removed).

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Originally posted by George Krashos

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Originally posted by sleyvas
Any ideas which of the old Lords are from which families? Any chance any of them are blood relations (even if one or two generations removed).

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Sorry, I'm confused. Which "old Lords" are you referring to?

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by George Krashos

The Council of Lords comprised of a dozen paladins made up of descendants of the sixth and last son of Imphras II, Fylraun. Fylraun had a son Elphras (born 1246 DR) named after his dead older brother. Elphras in turn had three daughters: Sambral (born in 1285 DR), Lasheela (born in 1287 DR) and Delmatha (born 1289 DR). These three sisters (or the “Dowager Aunts” as they came to be known) were Queen-Regent Sambryl’s older second cousins and bore many children who all grew to be virtuous paladins.

Sambral married Lord Banarth Huntsilver of Cormyr and her children were Kylraun (born 1309 DR), Imbra (born 1310 DR), Lashilaun (born 1312 DR), Rilimbraun (born 1315 DR) and Rilaunyr (born 1319 DR). Lasheela married Lord Derbraun Harrowbrace and her sons were Soargilm (born 1313 DR), Sambrar (born 1316 DR), Imbraun (born 1318 DR) and Haelimbrar (born 1321 DR). Delmatha married Maerstar Moonshimmer of the Grey Forest and her half-elven sons were Helimbraun (born 1311 DR), Simgar (born 1313 DR) and Silaunbrar (born 1317 DR).

All of these children, scions of Imphras II, were invested with the collective authority to advise the crown, oversee the realm and protect the Heltharn Dynasty, lineage and succession upon Rilimbrar’s death. By custom in Impiltur, unless you were royalty yourself (e.g. a Rhindaun of Tethyr or Obarskyr of Cormyr) or in the direct line of succession to lead your noble family, you adopted the Heltharn surname on marrying into the royal family. As such, all of the Lords of Imphras II are considered Heltharns, and their full titles reflect that.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by mikemax

So during the last episode of my Impiltur campaign, I was informing the players of all of the mysterious deaths that have been plaguing the royal house and one of them asked a question that should have been obvious but hadn't occurred to me at all and I was completely thrown as to how to answer it.
Specifically I was asked:
What are all of the high level Triad clerics doing? Why is no one available to resurrect or at least raise dead on one of the fallen kings? I can understand not raising most people but the King???

George can you shed a little light on this for me?

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Originally posted by George Krashos

It's standard policy in both Impiltur and Cormyr that when the reigning monarch dies, that's that. The realm moves on.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by sleyvas
Gotcha, and interesting, so there are 3 distinct families which formed the lords. What happened with these children when it came time to marry in the 1340's - 1350's? i.e. this would put their children as coming of age in the 1370's, so the familial "solidarity" they may have had in the 1350's and 1360's might start to fall apart in the 1370's if the lord's children start marrying into other noble families of Impiltur or surrounding countries.

I haven't checked against the list you just provided, but do these lords correspond to certain families controlling certain cities (i.e. we have 3 lords denoted as running a city, would they all be brothers/sisters)?

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Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Despite raising a king from the dead being forbidden I think it might be an awesome plot hook having a dead kinh raised to lay a claim to the crown of a weak or unpopular living king

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