Author: chatdemon

by chatdemon (chatdemon@gamebox.net)
Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

The following is a letter from Ilbrysis of Cryllor to Mohrgyr the old, explaining the mysterious Suloise prophecy know as the 11 Keys of Empire:

Esteemed Mohrgyr,
Wyrd of the Tower of Silence,

I pen this in response to our last correspondence regarding the recovered tomes from Zinbyle. Per your request I have transcribed the scrolls taken from the House of Father Lendor. I thank you for your understanding in my reluctance to part with such important relics of my faith, and have taken utmost care to ensure a proper transcription to suit your research. Included with this dispatch are the transcribed scrolls, as well as notes on my obversations about the lore within, to offer the perspective of one of Lendor's faith to your study. I trust you will find the items quite enlightening, and you may find answers to some of your queries regarding the faithful of the Ruby Sorceress here in Cryllor.

I look forward to a warm cider and spiced muffins with your colleagues upon my next visit to Niole Dra, and I will dispatch the remainder of the transcriptions you requested as soon as time permits.

Until then, candles bright and words warm,

Ilbrysis Noltheod
Librarian Corypheus, Royal Keoish Archive at Cryllor

The Eleven Keys of Empire
A prophecy of the Seer Thelbican of Zeltra,
originally scribed in 2315 SD (-3200 CY),
transcribed 15 Coldeven, 6107 SD (592 CY)

[Ilbrysis' notes on interpretting the prophecy are included in bold, and unfulfilled keys are included in italics]

When cometh the times of turmoil upon the people of Suel, a welan (a suel term for a group of eleven items, used similar to the term dozen) keys shall unlock a new empire beyond the eastern curtain, so spaketh the All Knowing Lendor, and so shall it become truth.

This section of the prophecy alludes to the time between the fall of the Suloise Imperium ca. 5000 SD and the rise of some new Suloise nation in the Flanaess at an unspecified future date. The 'eastern curtain' surely refers to the Crystalmist and Hellfurnace mountain ranges, which for millenia have set a boundary between the Suloise homeland and the Flanaess.

1st Key: The blanket of our rage shall be lain upon our enemies, and be not wrapped around our people to secure them from the coming vengeance. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

An obvious reference to the Twin cataclysms

2nd Key: The last sibling of the noble family of the Ruby Goddess' children shall part the eastern curtain and lead the people of Suel unto their new homeland. A wlaani (11 welan, a suel term for a group of 121 items) children tainted by the lure of the Night Hag shall be left to seal the path, so that none may revisit the folly of the people of Suel. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

Another obvious reference, this time to the post Rain of Colorless Fire exodus led by Slerotin. The latter half of the key was a mystery until the recent discovery of the Lerara, whose arguing and infighting caused them to be sealed within Slerotin's tunnel, to 'gaurd' it for all eternity.

3rd Key: The darkness beneath the cloudless sky yet above the cold bosom of stone shall devour the fifth house, and none shall walk within it everafter. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

A vague passage most likely referring to House Malhel, one of the Suloise 'tribes' that accompanied Slerotin east, only to be destroyed by their own lust for power within the Dreadwood.

4th Key: The unpure shall taint the lion's den, and poison the will of the Ruby Goddess. The gods of the people of Suel shall walk without homes in the land of the savages, cast out by their own children. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

This passage alludes to the presence of non-Suloise people in the government of Keoland, whose king sits upon the Lion Throne in Niole Dra. The clergy of Wee Jas, the Ruby Goddess, teach that only Suloise may rule Suloise, and commonly believe the Oeridian influence in Keoland's goverment is a blight upon their nation. Early in Keoland's history nobles from the Suloise house Neheli crafted a set of laws commonly referred to as the 'Neheli Sacrilege', which place sweeping limitations on the role of churches in the Kingdom and her government.

5th Key: A wizardess of untainted birth shall attain the prize of the shepherd in the City of Sin.

[note: very little known fact] A Lerara girl, one of the few viable candidates for being a Suloise girl of 100% pure blood, brought back at a very young age to Cryllor, a city well known throughout the Sheldomar for its corruption and debauchery, has begun training as a wizard at the Cathedral of Rubies, a grand temple controlled by a small but powerful sect of orthodox Jasidans. When the young wizard achieves the rank of archmage (which by Jasidan tradition means she can cast the elusive 10th level spells of yore), a feat which none since Slerotin (the shepherd in the passage) has accomplished, this key will be fulfilled. The Zeltrites, the aforementioned orthodox Jasidans, grossly misinterpreted this key, and thus completed the next key out of order, the possible consequences of which are explained below.

6th Key: The light of righteousness shall shine again upon the face of the diviner in darkness. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

The Suel lich Mikba, long having assumed the role of an oracle to the Suloise people of the Sheldomar from her labyrinthine stronghold deep in the caverns of the Jotens range was presented the ancient greatsword Lightbringer, an artifact holy to the faithful of the goddess Lydia by clerics of the Zeltrite faction of Wee Jas' church. Upon completing the 6th Key before the 5th, they have unknowingly voided their Lerara pupil's candidacy for her intended role in the 5th Key. The 7th key will not unfold until the situation is rectified and a new candidate is trained to archmage status in Cryllor. The seer Mikba has divined this fact, but is patiently waiting for the clerics to learn of their folly and return to her for guidance. Sadly, given the stubborn nature of the clerics, this could take years or even decades, until the Lerara girl assumes archmage status and nothing happens, or until she dies without fulfilling her 'destiny'.

7th Key: An errant child of the devoured house shall stab at the lion's heart and burn the taint of the gods' betrayers from the land of the people of Suel. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

[SPOILER WARNING (Due to the fact that the description of the probable outcome of this in my game will severely spoil plots for anyone involved in Living Greyhawk under the cloak of the Keoland Triad, I am not going to post it freely here. If you simply must know, look me up in the Thursday night chat and I'll try and explain, otherwise, just fill in the blanks with a properly vague interpretation and run with it)]

8th Key: The blood of the ruby brothers shall flow in a great flood across the lands of the people of Suel, washing away the taint of all sins past. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

Eventually, the Scarlet Brotherhood will be defeated in a serious of campaigns against the center of their 'empire'. These events, led by other Suloise factions against their wicked kin, will be seen by their peers in the Flanaess, as well as by their divine audience, as redemption for the past wrongdoings of the Suloise people and bring about a new era of racial peace among the humans of the Flanaess.

9th Key: The bastion of our penance for past crimes shall be toppled as words wage war on stone and bring peace to the home of the people of Suel. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

The landmark known as Tovag Baragu, deep within the ancient lands of the Baklunish Empire, will be laid low by the invoked might of the Codex of Infinite Planes. Tovag Baragu is theorized to be somehow feeding the fire that continues to burn the ancient suel homeland into a Sea of Dust. Its destruction by the hands of righteous Suloise crusaders will bring an end to the ongoing desecration of their empire's grave, but realistically, this triumph is only a symbolic one, it will be millenia before anything resembling a society exists again in the Sea of Dust.

10th Key: The people of Suel, in arms with new found brothers, shall wage divine righteousness upon the impure and drive the beast of infernal terror from their lands. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

At some point in the future, an army from the Sheldomar, allied with factions from Furyondy, a renewed Aerdy empire, and the Theocracy of the Pale will storm into the lands of Iuz and bring final death to the old one, freeing the Flanaess from his evil once and for all

11th Key: The rightful heiress shall be born again of the fires of her death, and take her court in the lion's den, and empire shall be gifted again upon the people of Suel. So spaketh All Knowing Lendor, and so it shall become truth.

The Suloise princess Adelfira, killed in her mother's arms during the Rain of Colorless fire while still a mere infant, will walk forth from the Sea of Dust, and claim the throne of the lion as her birthright. The nature of her ressurection will remain a mystery, and her right to rule will be contested in bloody warfare for many years, but eventually she rebuilds the Sheldomar into a vast proud empire, reaching deep into the Amedio Jungles to the south, and existing peacefully for ages amidst her Aerdy neighbors to the east, and her Baklunish neighbors to the west. The idea is that by this time, most of the racial labels will have faded, and people align themselves with their nation, not their racial label. Obviously in the Flanaess, the 11th Key is a long way off...