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| Posted on Tue, August 06, 2002 by Dogadmin |
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jachyras writes "This information is based on many years of research by sages and the recent find of an ancient fortress in the Hellfurnaces. In this fortress’s library, numerous texts were recovered that have just been translated and their cryptic meanings understood. The following is a synopsis of the material recovered.
Joramy's Vengeance
By: Jachyras
Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.
Braduck Quasar was a powerful, passionate and respected (more out of fear of his abilities than anything else) fire elementalist who lived in the Suel Emporium at the time of the “Rain of Colorless Fire”. He was a member of the mages council and had the attention of the Emperor. Braduck was given charge of a fortress in the northern Hellfurnaces to protect the border of the empire and hire mercenaries for the war with the Bakluni. This occurred in the year 5080 SD (-437 CY). Braduck performed this charge with exceptional skill and was kept as leader of this region for the next 14 years. During this time, Braduck was introduced to the worship of Joramy (goddess of volcanoes, fire, anger, quarrels and wrath). Many of the people he ruled over venerated the Mistress of Heat and eventually Braduck converted to the faith. Being a fire elementalist he was strongly attracted to this deity and embraced the clerics teachings with great passion. When the Emperor ordered the “Invoked Devastation” on the Bakluni, Braduck was recalled to the capital and participated in its creation (-422 CY). After the Bakluni cities were destroyed, Braduck returned to his fortress in the Hellfurnaces. Unknown to the Emperor or the mages, some Bakluni survived and they brought down the “Rain of Colorless Fire” and destroyed the entire Suel Empire in retribution. Braduck, thinking that all the Bakluni were destroyed, put the blame on the Emperors son, Zellifor the traitor, for this treachery. He believed that the 3 Binders (the ones with the trapped genies inside) Zellifor stole, were somehow used to destroy the empire. Braduck's anger was great and he took it upon himself to avenge the Emperor and all those that died in the “Rain of Colorless Fire.” For the next 3 years, Braduck sought out Prince Zellifor through his mercenaries and the different magics he had at his disposal. Eventually, Prince Zellifor was found and Braduck went to confront him (-416 CY). Braduck marched his mercenary army against Prince Zellifors' forces. A great battle ensued, where Braduck and his summoned elemental minions fought the forces that were protecting the Prince. After many hours of fighting, Braduck was badly hurt and his army almost destroyed. He finally did reach Prince Zellifor, who himself had been badly injured and was still guarding the 3 stolen Binders. In the ensuing combat, Braduck (enraged beyond all reason) was able to grab the Prince and teleport him to the former Suel capital. Braduck chose this place so the Prince could be shown the devastation he had caused through his treachery. Braduck took the 3 Binders from the Prince and left him in the capital, unprotected from the magical forces that lingered. It is still not known what happened to the Prince after being stranded in the former capital.
After regaining the Binders, Braduck returned to his fortress in the Hellfurnaces and decided to close out the rest of the world. His army was destroyed and he himself had taken a near mortal wound in the fight with Prince Zellifor. With no more Suel Empire or Emperor, Braduck had no support (either financially or militarily) to continue the expansion of the Empire. So with whatever mercenaries and money remained, Braduck secured his fortress and a small area of the Hellfurnaces (about 100 square miles) and locked out the world. During these years of isolation, Braduck made a decision to NOT restart the Empire or attack the Empires enemies (at least not yet). He would use the area in the Hellfurnaces as a staging ground to rebuild an army and move north so the evil forces that lingered there would feel his full wrath. Braduck busied himself with research into new fire-based spells, the creation of new magical items dealing with fire and investigating Planar travel. He began using the Binders to create an artifact in Joramy's name. The item was designed to allow any creature to bring their full wrath and anger upon a person or creature that had done some wrong or injustice to the character that possessed the item. Braduck named the item “Joramy’s Vengeance”
While Braduck remained isolated from the rest of the world, survivors of the Suel Empire were emerging from the Sea of Dust. Most moved into this area after hearing about the fortress and began to settle down in caves and underdark caverns. Braduck offered them protection if they joined his army and protected the borders of his new Empire. Many were encouraged to join the worship of Joramy, as the regions leader was a devout follower. After 20 years of isolation, an army of 400 Bakluni men entered the Hellfurnaces. They attacked the local population, killing most of them. Whatever Suel survivors remained, they fled into the underdark, never to be heard of again. The army came across an empty fortress (or so they thought) and recognized its design as Suel. They decided to take over the fortress and use it as a southern base of operations. As they approached the fortress to attack, the army set off some magical traps and Braduck emerged from his Keep, the first time in two decades. He attacked the army with a fury that has not been seen in this part of the world for decades. Braduck furiously engaged the army with spells and the Binders. After a short and violent battle, Braduck had nearly destroyed the entire army. The few survivors that fled returned to speak of a wild mage with incredible power. The survivors spoke of a huge fire with no color that burned the men and killed over half the army within the first few minutes. Because of this incident, no further Bakluni expeditions were sent into the Hellfurnaces and the area was considered off limits. From then on people just watched their borders expecting the fury of this wild mage to emerge once more. The Bakluni left him alone and Braduck was eventually forgotten.
It wasn’t until after the Greyhawk wars that Braduck Quasar’s keep was found again by a group of adventurers seeking their fame and fortune. Many souls in that party were killed trying to find the secrets from centuries ago. In Braduck’s Keep, the survivors found many strange magical effects, portals to different Planes' as well as ancient magical devices related to fire that were rumored to either be lost or destroyed with the Suloise people (but not “Joramy's Vengeance”). The survivors also found Braduck’s library, which contained numerous ancient texts and a few spell books (but not the Binders). Inside these books were strange and powerful spells of the ancient Suloise people. A few of the books related tales of the “Rain of Colorless Fire”, “The Invocked Devastation” and the migration of the Suloise people. These valuable texts made their way to Greyhawk City where the Mage’s Guild has been experimenting with these ancient spells and sage’s have been investigating the texts about the “Rain of Colorless Fire.” and the migration of the Suloise people.
The texts also speak of other items created by Braduck but were not found in the Castle. There are also a few references that Braduck has passed onto some form of “afterlife” that allows him to survive and exercise his anger against the Bakluni for their destruction of the Suel Empire. But the texts do not speak of where Braduck is now or where any other castles are located.
The artifact is described in the texts as being a small hand (3 inches long) clenched into a fist that is attached to a chain through the fist. Both the chain and the fist are made of plain steel that has the strength of adamantite. Neither the chain nor the fist will glow as magical. To any character that looks at it, it will appear as a common piece of jewelry. Only when the necklace is worn will the power of the item reveal itself. The artifact will prompt the character (through telepathy) to reveal whom it is most angry with. Once the name or description of the creature is given, the item will reveal its powers. Regardless of whom the wearer names, describes or the reason for the anger, the character is driven to find the creature and exact their wrath upon them. The character feels compunction to fulfill this mission as soon as possible, no matter what circumstances the character finds themselves in. The character wearing the necklace will become easily enraged and is more willing to fight and argue then previously. They will become loud, unruly and passionate in all matters.
(NOTE: Once the necklace is placed around the neck, it cannot be removed. The only way the artifact comes off is by completing the mission of vengeance with anger and passion. The artifact will only reveal its powers to the wearer. The wearer will not discuss that it has an artifact, the powers of the artifact or anything about its plan to exact revenge on someone. Nor will the character always kill the person they seek revenge upon. The artifact seeks to resolve an injustice that was endured by the artifact wearer. The artifact takes the concepts of an "an eye for an eye "or" what goes around, comes around seriously. An example is, if the wearer was robed of all his possessions, his revenge would allow him to regain all his former wealth and financially ruin the person that caused the artifact wearers own problems.)
The item allows the wearer to see through all illusions that might hide a creature including: Invisibility, Dust of Disappearance, Etherealness, etc., as well as any items or spells (lesser than artifact status) to conceal a characters location. The necklace will work like a crystal ball (only in regards to the desired creatures) in its ability to locate the creature upon which the revenge is to be extracted. The artifact has the following “suggested” minor abilities to help locate and exact revenge upon the creature: Ability to speak and read all languages (comprehend languages & tongues), true seeing, (all 3 abilities constantly work), clairaudience (2x/day), clairvoyance (2x/day), domination (1x/week), suggestion (2x/day), fireball (2x/day – 10d6), flame strike (1x/week), Improves Charisma to 18 (2x/day) Major Powers – Magic Resistance 50%, death ray (1x/week – no save), Total immunity to all forms of Fire.
When the revenge has been taken, the artifact will disappear and the former wearer will permanently become Neutral in alignment. The artifact will then teleport to another treasure pile where its next victim can find it. The character’s hair color will permanently turn fiery red and nothing can change it back to its original color. Anything done to change hair color will fail and the red will return within one turn. The character will always be more prone to argue (sometimes violently), easy to enrage and extremely passionate in all things. The former wearer will become obsessed with fire, either through the use of spells or magic items. The character will always differ to using fire-based items, spells or natural fire to attack or defend. Characters will also convert to be a follower of Joramy. They will preach her word and credo. Not even a Wish spell can revert the effects of artifact.
Note: Hellfurnaces, Suel, Joramy"
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Average Score: 2.6
Votes: 5
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