The Imaskar Empire

History of the Imaskar Empire/Raurin Empire

Ruins and Misc conserning the Imaskar Empire

Artifacts of the Imaskari Wizards

The Army of The Imaskar Empire

Cities of the Empire

The Imaskari Language

Compiled by Daniel Rosenquist, from Various FR sources. (The Horde, Old Empires, Blood Charge, Forgotten Realms CS (3ed), Underdark, Power and Phanteons, Faiths and Phanteons, The Horde Campaign, Volo's Guide to All Things Magical, Book of Artifacts, Encyclopedia Magica Volume 3, The Shadow Stone [by Richard Baker], Monsters of Faerûn, Races of Faerûn, Elminister's Ecology, Monster Manual III, Lost Empires of Faerûn, Lost Empires of Faerûn WE; Secrets of imaskar )

The earliest of all known records (from the stepps, and Var the Golden) describes the great empire of Imaskar. Ruled by powerful godless human wizards, this empire was centered in what is now the Raurin Desert . Its borders were vast, reaching from The Endless Wastes to the Golden Water and from the Alamber Sea to the verey fronteirs of Kara-Tur.

By the year of -8350 DR Imaskari tribes began to settle the then fertile plain of the Raurin Desert . About 230 years later the Imaskari Artificers created the first permament extradimensional space. Their fascination with such magics soon transformed Imaskari city design. The following years sees rise of many grand cities among others the capital city of Inupras around –7975. About this time the first Emperor, Umayatin, rises to assume the title of lord artificer. It is also now that under orders from Lord Artificer Omanond, -7891 DR, that Imaskari artificers create the Imaskarcana – seven items in which the empires immense magical lore is recorded for all eternity. The great city of Solon is founded –6422 DR east of the Raurinshield Mountains . Somtime around –4370 DR a suspicious plague decimated Imaskari cities. In answer to this plauge, four yers later the wizard-rulers of the Raurin brought hundred thousands of people from another world to become their slaves. The prisoners in turn brought their fait, and their deities, the Mulhorandi and Untheric phanteon, with them. The slaves alltough they came from the same sphere, still came from different regions as well as different times. They soon intermarried with eachother and the surviving Imaskari citizen to form the race now days known as Mulan. The slaves prayed hard for salvation but the prayers went unheard since the wizards had closed all portals and created a barrier preventing devine intervention. The barrier the Imaskari had created banned the gods from the sphere and made them literally nonexsistant as long as the barrier held. (See Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings in Encyclopedia Magica Volume 3, and the Book of Artifacts for more "correct" info) The slaves after time divided into two distinct fatcions in service in the Imaskar Empire which scholars name proto-Unther and proto-Mulhorand. The proto-Unther culture was a more aggressive culture; it believed in achieving absolute supremacy over its dominions. The gods of Unther have, since their beginnings, been uncaring entities as opposed to the gods of Mulhorand, who are merely neglectful. The philosophy of the Untherians has always been that life is hard and cruel,perhaps that is because of the hardships they suffered as slaves under their wizardly masters, and only through hard work and submission to one's deity can one survive. About seven hundred years later, -3234, the Imaskari created the outpost known as Metos in Methwood as its wester most outpost.

Ao, after some time, heard the slaves prayers and summoned the god Ptah, an ancient deity of Wildspace whose faith had originated in the home world of the Mulan. At the request of Ao, Path returned to his home world and assembled the two revelant pantheons of that sphere. He told them what had happned to their followers and told them of their prayers for salvation. He told them of Ao's offering to extend their influence to the spehre of Abeir-Toril. The only way to gain access to the sphere of Realm space was to send avatars trough Wildspace under the guidance of Path. Path told them that their avatars had to be as powerful as possible to be able to battle the Imaskari wizards. Creating such avatars, known as manifestations, required them to sacrifice much of their divine power. Both Ra, head of the deities of the Mulhorandi pantheon, as well as Enlil the leader of the Untheric phanteon agreed to Ao's offer. Many of their children and their offspring agreed upon this as well. Path led the god's as they rode in two different galleys. The followers of Re (as Ra's manifestation was called) rode on the galley named Matet ( at night it changed into a barge called Semktet) The manifestations of Enlin and his children rode in the galley of the Galley of Gods. On their journey through wildspace Path guided them with the Beacon of Light. ( a 1-foot-square golden cube with silver cylinders extending from the top at the four corners. Each face of the cube is engraved with an ancient hieroglyphic rune of unknown origin or meaning.)

The manifestations landed on the highest peaks in a range of mountains on the northeastern edge of the Imaskar Empire known today as the Teyla Shan ( Godswatch Mountains ). There they split into more divine forms, such as mortal forms of avatars, known as incarnations. These descended into the fertile plane below among their long lost people. The most talented they made into priests, the truly faithful was transformed into divine minions.

Before the Imaskari lords realized what was occurring, their Mulan and Untheric slaves rose in rebellion. Many of the incarnations and divine minions were destroyed in the battles with the Imaskari artificers, and the rebellion began to brake up. Then the manifestations joined the frey, coming down from the mountains along a path that would become known as the Road of the Gods they unleashed their divine fury upon the wizards.

In -2488 DR, the Imaskar Empire was tottering. It cities were engulfed in flames, the current Lord Artificer, Yuvaraj, falls in battle with Horus in Inupras. The rest of its armies had been defeated by the incarnate gods of the rebellious Mulan, and Untheric slaves. Many of the greatest wizard-lords of the realm battled to the last. When the ancient wizard rulers were defeated by the manifestations who would later become the god-kings of Mulhorand, and Unther the manifestations summoned spirits, Skriaxits, of retribution that destroyed all that had not been demolished in the war. When the god-kings fled Raurin, these spirits took the land as their own domain, with each pack stirring from slumber every century to wreak havoc on all that oppose them.

But a powerfull lord named Ilphemon chose to abandon the falling empire. Leading a small number of his family members, apprentices and retainers,he descended into a wild and uncharted corner of the Underdark, hoping to escape the wrathful slave armies. Ilphemon and his retinue sought out a large cave imbued with powerful faersress and discovered the vault that would become Deep Imaskar. After driving out the monsters that lived there, Ilphemon seald the passage behind his people. The wizard-lord and his apprentices labored for many long years to lay the groundwork of the Great Seal and make their cavern home into a living garden, illuminated by the brilliantly radiant light. Ilphemon's descendants ruled Deep Imaskar for many centuries as kings and queens. In the year of Dwindling Darkness (-634 DR), a calab of arrogant evil necromancers overthrew Ilphemon's heir and slaughtered his family, bringing an end to the line of the ancient Imaskari lord. For more than a century, Deep Imaskar suffered at the hands of these ruthless necromancers, but in the year of Dangerous Icicles (-511 DR) a charismatic champion by the name of Chaschara led a revolt against the necromancer-lords and freed Deep Imaskar. Chaschara refused to claim the throne, instead she declared herself Lady Protector of the Realm. She selected officers for the new posts of planner, apprehender and enactor, and those offices have continued to the present day, even though the protectorship was eventually abolished.

Deep Imaskar has flirted with expansion on several occastions, most notably into the more hospitable reaches of the Elemental Planes. The city's protectors conqured several small regions of the Elemental Planes of Air and Water and bound their empire together with great planar gates. However, in the year of the Laughing Gull (799 DR) the Imaskari lost their holdings in the Plain of Air to an assult of chichimecs. These terrible abominations invaded Deep Imaskar itself through the planar portals and caused great destrucion before they where driven off. In the aftermath of that conflict, the city's Lord Protector Stilofyr was exiled and the protectorship abolished, and the planar gates were dismantled.

In a neck of the Dustwall is a narrow pass leading from the burning desert of Raurin to the edges of northern Durpar. At the very top of the pass, the way is blocked by an ancient stone battlement. Only a single gate pierces the wall, This is the famous Gate of iron. Built over four thousand years ago, the Gate of iron still stands strong and undamaged to this day. More amazing, however, is the fact that no one can open the metal valves, nor have they been opened in over three thousand years. The Gate of iron was built in the days of the Imaskar Empire. in those days this pass was the only route to the lands of present-day Durpar and Uigarth, for the Scarlet Jungle covered the easier low passes. The gate was built to halt the advance of the imaskaran armies in their march of conquest. The southerners, under the guidance of dwarvish master architects (in a time when the dwarves were more widespread) raised up the walls.

Of all the fortifications, the gate itself was the weakest part and so it was decided to cast it from iron. Iron was scarce in that southern land, and thus more valuable than gold. A subscription was placed on all the people of the land, requiring they give up all they had of the precious metal. Pots, swords, temple-bells, every bit of iron was collected and melted down. The great molds were cut and set into place.

All was ready for the final casting. There remained, however, still one problem. While the iron doors would be strong enough to resist drills, fire, and catapults, it was still vulnerable to magical attack. The best sorcerers of the land labored over the gates, searching for a way to protect from every possible attack. Finally they finished, devising a powerful conjuring, greater than any ever attempted before. So great was the spell that its casting would surely drain the very life from the caster. Bravely one of their lot volunteered to perform the ceremony. The spell was cast and the gates were forged.

The Gate of iron is immune to any type of magical attack. Indeed, this part of the enchantment is identical to the effect that created the Deadlands, the regions where magic has no power. The spell had a second effect, so that the gates could not be opened once closed. Only two people, the spell caster himself (who, of course, died in the casting) and the king of the south, knew the secret to open the Gate of iron. Today, the spell used to create the gates is lost and there is no known record of the procedures used to cast it.

This grimly named oasis has an equally grim history. Established in the waning years of the imaskar Empire, when the desert was closing over the once fertile lands, the Imaskari transformed the only well in the region into a deadly trap. Now it stands in the desert, a sole promontory weathered into the rough outline of a skull, surrounded by six shimmering pools. Knowing the oasis was necessary to travelers, whether merchants or army, the wizards of Imaskari magically changed the water of the well into a poison deadly to creatures but harmless to plants. At the same time, they could not completely destroy the oasis, since their own people needed its water to reach the outside world. Thus, they divided the flow of water into a series of six pools. The water from five of these can kill instantly. The sixth pool is harmless. The water from all six pools are clear and sweet tasting. As the final touch to their evil deception, the wizards altered the oasis so that each morning a different pool was safe to drink. Although logicalminded people reason the wizards must have set some pattern for this change, no one has discovered any sequence yet.

High in the Jorhat Mountains northeast of the Raurin Desert stands the shattered Imaskari castle once known as Jorhat Citadel. Though centuries of harsh climate and neglect have now reduced many of its structures to crumbling piles of rubble, the ruins still suggest a strength unknown in most modern-day fortresses.

This stronghold was once a sprawling complex consisting of numerous terraces, stairs, tunnels, and overhangs where Imaskari armies kept watch on neighboring Kara-Tur. So effective was this fortress that it was among the last redoubts to stand against the Mulan rebellion. When the uprising reached its gates, the artificer Mardava unleashed a mighty spell to defend Jorhat against the Mulan slaves. The spell ended disastrously, killing both the attacking slaves and the citadel's defenders. Furthermore, the energies unleashed transformed Mardava into an undead nightshade (CE female nightwalker), and she has prowled Jorhat's lower levels ever since.

The stories about this place is fanciful and many. One such story tells that supposedly the gap is named for the howls of the enraged djinni that roam the region. These elementals, barred from their own plane, were the work of the Imaskari wizards who bound the creatures to guard the empire. Now, with the empire long since collapsed, these beasts still attempt to carry out the commands of their ancient masters.

The fort of Maskana, lies on the southern edge of the Plains of Purple Dust, a little closer to the Dragonsword Moun tains than to the Giant's Belt This Mulhorandi fortress was built just before the fall of the Imaskar Empire, to guard the Mulhorandi against incursions by their former masters. Eventually the danger of such attacks passed, and the fortress fell into disuse and then ruin. Over the centuries, the ruined fortress has been thoroughly explored by adventurers, scholars, and looters, who ferreted out whatever secrets it may once have held. Now the site is nothing more than a curiosity to most. But one secret of Maskana remains undiscovered. The Mulhorandi ruin was built atop an older Imaskari fortress that had fallen into disuse centuries earlier. The old Imaskari fortress was infact just guarding an even bigger secret. The fact that the ruin below it was a place for research conducted by the artificers. Here they studied the abilities of unusual creatures, but they had to abandon it once the upprising began After executing rebellious slaves, by cutting of their hands, they only left a few helmedhorros to guard the place. In hope that they would return once they had put the slaves back in place.

The fortress called Metos was the westernmost outpost of the Imaskari Empire. At the time of its construction in the Meth-wood, it was a sizable structure with enough extradimensional space to house five thousand soldiers. Imaskari artificers created numerous demiplanes containing gardens and hunting grounds to make the complex self-sufficient. Access to any portion of Metos required the correct portal key.

The fortress was abandoned when Lord Artificer Yuvaraj recalled his armies to fight the Mulan slaves. The Imaskari general stationed at Metos left the fortress virtually unmanned, confident that its complex portal defenses could thwart any intruders. Persistent legends claim that Turami refugees fleeing the Mulan slaves somehow gained entry to the Imaskari fortress and dwelled there for centuries before migrating westward to the lands now known as Unther, Chessentan, and Turmish.

This important waterway connects the Gbor Nor with the Innersea. The river has been made navigable along its entire length, thanks to the efforts of the powerful ancient empires of first the Imaskari and then followed by the efforts of Mulhorand.

Hidden on the southern slopes of the A-Ling Shan, this old fortress exists where none should be-across the impassable Jumpa Chasm on the cliffs of the untracked Yehimal. In short, there is no way to reach the Tiger's Nest or to have built it where it stands, short of magic. This is, of course, precisely how the Tiger's Nest was built. Ages past, the Tiger's Nest was an independent monastery. The monks and priests who dwelt there were good, and abhorred the excesses and cruelties of the imaskari Empire. From their stronghold, the priests did all they could to defy the might of the ancient wizards, countering evil magic with powerful clerical spells. Carefully concealing the location of their fortress, they aided the peasants and thwarted the attempts of the Imaskari governors. The priests became famous as the Invisible Tigers and their fortress became known as the Tiger's Nest. In the end, Imaskari fell, though the efforts of the Tiger's Nest had little to do with it.

The Imaskar wizard kings created beasts, constructs, and monsters that nowdays spread terror through out the Realms. Some of these creatures have only rumours linked to their creation by the evil and twisted Imaskari Artificers, others are a known fact.

These wingless ferocious dragons also known as great desert dragons are said to be created by the artificers of the Imaskar empire. The scales on a brown dragon are in the color of sand and their claws are small and webbed and perfect for digging in sand. The scales though are leathery and not as hard as other dragon's hide. They can subsist on a mineral diet - even sand – for a long period of time but prefer meat, especially horse meat.

Among the first Helmed Horrors was created by the Imaskari wizards and used to guard places or sent on fetch and delivery quests. Helmed Horrors are constructs of animated suits of plate mail, sometimes a purple light radiates between the spaces and holes of the armor. They give adventurers a good reason to be veary when approching lone armored figures when they are rummaging through ancient ruins.

The first Perytons are said, according to legends in the south, to be Imaskari wizards cursed by the gods. Who knows if it is true? But they sure measure up, in terms of evil and hatred, with the sorcerer kings of old.

This strange and bizzare creature were created, or so rumors say, by the Imaskari. Who knows the reason why. It is either way a true testamony of the wizard kings awesome power. These evil magicians are shaped in the form of a cone with a maw at the broader end, their ”tail” shapes into a stinger. It has four arms but dosn't need any legs since it at all times can fly (as per the fly spell). They communicate by varing the wind speed around their bodies, with other non-phaerimm they use telepathy. The Phaerimm are highly skilled spell casters and should be considered dangerous at all times except when lying dead at your feet.

This 7-foot-tall shadowy automaton is crafted from a matte black metal that seems to absorb light. The metal itself is mined and forged entirely on the Plane of Shadow A mist fills the hollow spaces between its skeletal frame, and its two long arms end in sharp metal claws. A dour, skull-shaped head surmounts its broad torso, but the construct has no neck to speak of. It moves slowly but silently, hovering above the ground and disturbing nothing as it pass. The human empire of Imaskari gave rise to the first shadesteel golems, which were built to guards the vast troves of Imaskar's evil wizard-kings. Other rulers from different realms have sponsored expeditions into Imaskar's known ruins to unearth the lost knowledge of shadesteel golem construction, but it is not known whether these explorations have borne fruit.

Most of the people that lived in the ancient Imaskar Empire are nowdays unknown for the world but some, becasue they survived the destruction of their homeland have been recorded in the history books of the Realms. It should be noted that there are still survivors of the empire found in the Realms now days in the form of the transformed citizens of Deep Imaskar. In a way this also goes for the mixed and intermarried people of Unther and Mulhorand since the inhabitans of these empires carries one the faint trace of The Imaskar Empire in their blood.

Hilather , also now days known as Hallaster. One of the few Imaskari survivors from the Imaskar Empire that is still alive since its fall thousands of years ago. He now resides somewhere in the wast labyrint known as Undermountain below Waterdeep.

Lord Ilphemon , the founder of the city of Deep Imaskar and the co-creator of the Great Seal protecting the city from intrusition.

Madryoch "The Ebon Flame", ”First of Imaskar”. Born over 5000 years ago and is belived to be among the first Imaskari who dabbled with Shadow Magic and the Plane of Shadow. He dissepeared sometime after that and was not seen until many thousand years later, this time in the body of Lord Oriseus, High Conjurer of the mage academy in Cimbar where he tried to bring into existance an artifact of immense power and corruption.

Mardava, the artificer Mardava unleashed a mighty spell to defend the citadel of Jorhat against the Mulan slaves. The spell ended disastrously, killing both the attacking slaves and the citadel's defenders. Furthermore, the energies unleashed transformed Mardava into an undead nightshade (CE female nightwalker), and she has prowled Jorhat's lower levels ever since.

Lord Artificer Omanond, was the wizard who was behind the creation of the Imaskarcana, the seven-immensly powerful artifacts that recorded the history of the Imaskar Empire for eternity.

Artificer Sonjar , was a senior wizard in service to the Lord Artificer during the empires fall. He built a ”tower” inside a gigantic geod in the shadows of the Giant's Belt Mountains as his private study and labiratory. Rumors say that it still stands.

Thayd, The Theurgist Adept , also called "the last apprentice of the Imaskar Empire". Was the headfigure behind a rebellion in Mulhorand and was executed for his crimes. It is not known if he was a survivor of the empire or just some one who had unlocked much of their lost secrets. A few years after his death his rebell companions openes up portals in a way that only the Imaskari of old knew how. This signals the begining of the Orcgate Wars that end five years later.

Umayatin, was the first Emperor of the Imaskari Empire and also the first to call himself Lord Artificer.

Lord Artificer Yuvaraj, was the last Lord Artificer and emperor of the Imaskari Empire. He fell after a spectacular battle with Horus while wielding the First Imaskarcana and riding atop his wyrm mount in the sky over Inupras. His death brought the final blow against the crumbling empire.

In their time, the Imaskari produced great wonders of engineering, architecture, and subtle cruelty. Imaskari relics are almost always of two types.

The first are the unusual constructions, now mostly in ruins, that can be found scattered across their old realm. None of these are normal, and many are quite bizarre. They often involve deadly traps or tricks in their construction .(See Bhaluin, Raudor, the Grinning Skull Oasis, and the Fortress of the Old Man for more information.)

The other Imaskari relic, one that is rarely discovered, is a magical device. These items are unique and almost always of artifact power. Sometimes their operation or purpose is unfathomable. Those that can be deciphered must be used with great care, for like the ruins, such artifacts are often booby-trapped in sadistically ingenious ways.

Here follows a few known magical items from the excavation site at Solon, dug out by orders of Ambuchar Devayam.

A lawful neutral obsidian bastard sword +3/+6 against emperors, this is a truly magnificent weapon and a truly dangerous one to wield. Its other properties:

Intelligence 17, communicates telepathically and through speech (but only in Imaskari); dispel magic three times per day as 15th-level wizard, darkness, 15' radius at will, silence, 15' radius at will. It was created at the height of the Imaskari Empire to overthrow the emperor, and has been the weapon behind dozens of regicides since that time.

Whenever a character draws this bow, he automatically hits his target (provided the target is visible and within a range of one mile). The shot inflicts the maximum damage according to the type of arrow fired, so this weapon will be truly devastating if The Black Quiver is found. Unfortunately, every time the bow is drawn, it permanently drains one point of Constitution (the PC doesnít realize this until after he has fired the first shot).

This quiver contains one black arrow +3, which is replaced whenever it is used. After a hit is made, roll 1d4 to determine the arrowís effect: 1. death (save vs. death for 3d10 damage); 2. magic drain (victimís magic armor becomes normal armor, ability to cast spells is lost for 24 hours); 3. victim paralyzed for 1d10 turns; 4. victim explodes (save vs. death for 5d10 fire damage). Unfortunately, every time one of these arrows is fired, the archer's hand blackens and withers slightly, reducing his Dexterity by one point permanently.

This mace +5 renders the wielder invisible too undead and spirits. The wielder does not become visible to undead upon attacking. In addition, a successful hit is treated as a turn undead attempt as if by a 10thlevel priest.

The seven Imaskarcana are items of tremendous power, but their names are now forgotten so they are now known by this collective name instead. One of these is a tome, the Third Imaskarcana, and can be found in the city of Deep Imaskar . The fates of most of the other items are unknown, but the Purple Library in city of the Seal do hold a few tomes conserning some of them.

The Raurin Empire's armies followed a model that each unit was organized by category. There was a High General of Cavalry, a High General of Infantry, a High General of Siege, a High Wizard of Warfare etc. When a force was formed, a commander of the Faithful was apointed by the leader(s) and furnished with troops from each service. To drive off bandits, the Commander of the Faithful might be allocated cavalry, some infantry, and a few wizards. Each unit has its own commander.

Branches of the army were organized differently. The infantry was divided into companies of 120 men. Thirty companies formed a "niqom", or legion, of 3600 men and staff officers. The basic cavalry unit was a cadre of 60 horsemen. The "chang", or March, consisted of 60 units. The mages was divided in units of 12 wizards/sorcerers, led by a wizard of great power.

The Imaskari built their cities and towns from a purple stone found naturally in the mountains surrounding the Raurin Desert . The extreme durability of this stone is the main reason that so many Imaskari ruins have survived to the present day. Portals and extradimensional spaces were common means of transportation in the heyday of the empire, and many still exist within Imaskari ruins. Artificers also used portals to travel throughout their cities, and particularly wealthy ones even used them to move about within their homes. Most slaves were forbidden access to portals, so they had to navigate the cramped and narrow streets of Imaskari cities on foot .

An uncharted stone spire towering above the dunes of the Raurin Desert marks the location of Inupras, Imaskari imperial capital. The Palace of the Purple Emperor, near the city's heart, is the finest known example of the Imaskari artificers' skill with extradimensional space. The palace is ten times bigger on the inside than on the outside, and it contains hundreds of dimensional halls, vaults, and arcane chambers, including the Great Imperial Library. During the slave revolt, the great battle for Inupras took place high above the Imperial Palace . Lord Artificer Yuvaraj, wielding a fabled tome of the Imaskarcana, rode his copper dragon mount into combat to join his artificers in a spectacular spell-battle against the god-kings Gilgeam and Anhur. The destructive arcane and divine energies released in that conflict razed the imperial city and transformed Raurin into a desert. The Palace of the Purple Emperor survived unscathed, presumably because wards of epic magic protected it.

The drowned city of Bhaluin rests on a large island in Brightstar Lake , some 10 miles out from the shores of western Semphâr. Bhaluin was a northern port city of Imaskar and a military center for the empire. The armies stationed here served as the empire's vanguard against frequent dragon invasions from the north. Many of Bhaluin's ruins extend into the lake and lie partially submerged under several feet of water. A well-preserved royal palace of rose-colored stone with seven slender minarets stands in the center of the ruined city.

Also goes by the name of The City of the Great Seal. Created during the fall of the Imaskar Empire by the wizard lord Ilphemon as a safe haven for his followers and family. The city is located in the lower underdark, some where below The Endless Waste. It now houses the largest group of surviving descendants of the Imaskar empire. It is also the location of a powerful artifact of immense power, the Third Imaskarcana.

Nestled in the Raurin Alta is the ancient ruin of Raudor. Raudor was once a city resting beneath a cliff at the end of a green vale. With the coming of the desert most of the city is now buried in sand or covered by rockslides from above. Buried under the sand and stone, the buildings have remained intact. The historical records of the Deep Imaskari indicate that the Fourth Imaskarcana was lost here when the city fell. For miles around the ruins, a stench of decay fills the air. The few tales that exist about Raudor speak of an overpowering evil presence that rules the slithering creatures living in the city's slave tunnels. In fact, a solitary mind flayer elder brain Und now resides in Raudor. Long ago, this creature absorbed the last mind flayers of the community, and it has begun to go mad from centuries of isolation. The elder brain is sterile and unable to produce tadpoles, but it is attended by three brain golems FF that hunt the mountains for goblins to drag back for their master's repasts.

The ruined city of Solon lies east of the Raurinshield Mountains on the northeastern edge of the Raurin Desert . Though Solon has been rebuilt twice over the centuries, it now lies in ruins once again. The cause of its most recent fall was a magically wrought eruption that covered the city with ash and magma a decade ago. Solon's ruler, Ambuchar Devayam (LE male human lich necromancer 18) apparently caused the disaster through the misuse of an Imaskari artifact. Survivors reported that just prior to the eruption, the necromancer had unearthed a mysterious shrine dedicated to the darker paraelemental and quasi-elemental forces of ice, ash, and vacuum. The shrine still remains, encased within a massive sphere of black stone. At one time, the houses here were decorated with elaborate paintings of scenes out the daily life in Imaskari, but these have long since faded into pale ghosts of their past splendor. If one takes the time to examine them, one can make out the picture of a priest drinking at a pond that is shaped like a fourpetaled flower. It is depicting the Petal Ponds outside the Ebony Temple in central Solon. The Ebony Temple itself is a bizzare structure built for an uknown purpose. It is littered with traps and gateways to other planes.

Each tribe on the steppe has its own language, but all these languages have a common root in ancient Imaskari, the empire that once extended its rule into the southern steppe. From this the languages of the tribes have been divided into three main groups: Northern, Southern, and Eastern. It should be noted that none of them are true Roushum and are only listed here as a reference as of how it might have sounded.

Northern	Southern	Eastern

Khassidi	Tuigan	Zamogedi
Commani	Naican*	Gur
Naican*	Dalat	Fankiang
Raumvira	Oigur*	Oigur*
Quirish*	Quirish*	Quirish*

Muhjuri	Shou Chiang	Miscellaneous

Murghom	Shou Lung	Solon (Devic)
Semphar	Khazari	Pazruki
Ra-Khati	Issacortae	Siremon (Siric Dwarvish)

Northern Imaskari : Roll your r's and make the vowels broader and more round. Speech can be kept cut and short.

Southern Imaskari : Make consonants hard and biting, particularly "c" and "k." The letter "l" is "lh," so "like" becomes "lhike:' You can put sentences together in the wrong order- "I am hungry" becomes "I hungry am" or "It is dangerous" is turned to "It dangerous is."

The southern group remains truest to ancient imaskari, although it has adopted much from Muhjuri.

Eastern Imaskari : Try to talk nasally, in the back of your throat. Long "i." and "e" can be drawn out. ("Heere" instead of "here.") Avoid asking direct questions that need yes or no answers.

The written language of the Imaskari is a language of swirlin lines interesected by dots, one should always be careful if one stumbles upon a piece of their ancient writings since there are a few, if any, who can read it. And given their twisted and malicious sence of humor it is probably filled with ways of ten that would kill the reader if he had the missfortune to stumbled upon something important.