Lore Entry #1.2: Dark Allegiance

Our probing into the Solusek's Eye Goblin strongholds yielded pertinent evidence to our recent quandary with the lost Gem Fruit. As our intelligence suggested it was directly related to an order from Chief RokGus himself in The Temple of Droga. Our vengeance thereon was swift and merciless. We exacted due revenge on both goblin tribes and exposed their secret alliance to others of their kind. The cost of their erroneous ways will be felt for decades to come! These investigations led us strait to the Tower of Frozen Shadows, and their ghostly host.

One member of our raiding party, an Eternal Crusader, discovered and returned to us an ancient scroll from the second floor library. This scroll was still sealed with wax, bearing the symbol of an unknown force. The seal was simply a depiction of a dark figure, surrounded by dragons, calling down a terrible force from the heavens, not unlike a small moon or cosmic body. The scroll was written in Elder Dragon, and read...

"Within the storm of deathcalling, not only our foes but those who aid them will feel our wrath, should we not be discovered. The ancient power will strike the ground, leveling mountains and building mountains out of plains. May none bear witness to our secret union".

There was no signature, and the parchment was so old that it took our best scholars of Elder Dragon to reveal this message. We now know that someone in The Tower of Frozen Shadows, prior to their terrible curse, had an allegiance with some secret society of unimaginable power. Shortly after the inhabitants of the Tower fled Odus, terrible destruction was unleashed in the Erudin Heretic war creating the depths of what we now know as The Hole. The only other place in all of Norrath with such terrible destructive aftermath is Dagnor's Cauldron, now swarming with Aqua Goblins. When reviewing this area we found a most peculiar similarity to the Tower, a cursed place that once held a Dwarf Nobleman of incredible wealth.

Could it be that the same force that devastated the Guardians of Antiquity, and created The Hole, also played a part in the creation of Dagnor's Cauldron? We set our eyes on The Estate of Unrest. Dwarven Lore, so extensive, and being so difficult to separate myth from fact, was more than the Guardians could tackle on their own. We called on The Eternal Crusaders for help.

The Eternal Crusaders discovered, through their sources in the Coldain, that several other Guardian Artifacts had been found. The Eternal Crusaders acquired their name long ago, in that they crusade against the exploiters of the weak to bring justice when no others could. The Coldain retained an ancient city through an onslaught by giants, orcs, and the terrible destruction of other ice-hardened, battle-minded creatures through the aid of Eternal Crusaders. This friendship proved invaluable in our recent investigations.

The Coldain city, now simply a last retreat of the Coldain in the Crystal Caverns, was happy to delve into its records for the Eternal Crusaders, letting them know that numerous "Gems of Strange Nobility" were found throughout the centuries. Many of these records were impossible to track to the purchasers, or incomplete. The Coldain, being Dwarves, still have myths of the old times, before they ventured to Vellious, and one myth The Eternal Crusaders turned up especially applied. An ancient curse was brought down on a dwarven nobleman of renowned wealth and extreme eccentricity after his melding in powers too great for him to control. It was said he was cursed to "wear his beard beyond the reach of trimming". We believe this may apply to the Estate of Unrest, and the ghostly nobleman's curse to wear his beard meant he was cursed to be bound, spirit beyond flesh, to this place. The proximity of this Estate to Dagnor's Cauldron, and the undead curse are much too intriguing in relations to the Tower of Frozen Shadows not to be investigated.

In return for these efforts The Eternal Crusaders and the Guardians of Antiquity have agreed to Aid the Coldain still living in the deepest chambers of its once proud city by riding the Crystal Caverns of its many invaders. In addition to this favor returned we must investigate the possible link of this force whom the scroll discussed in The Tower of Frozen Shadows to the Estate of Unrest. If these poor souls of the undead have any hints to our enemy's identity, this Dark Allegiance, we must discover them. This is no longer about the Guardian's lost Gem Fruits, these enemies being one and the same force makes them Eternal Crusader's enemy as well. This now becomes a race for ancient clues, in hopes of discovering what is left of these dark ones, and if their destructive power creating The Hole, and possibly Dagnor's Cauldron, is still a threat to Norrath and beyond. We band together as the Norrathian Alliance of Kindness to route out this threat to us all, and possibly discover a common enemy of both the Guardians of Antiquity and The Eternal Crusaders alike.

Finally, one entry on a recent gem fruit's final purchaser from the Crystal Caverns led all the way to Luclin! Apparently a Planar beast of some sort requested it be purchased for him. We have tracked the messenger, an outcast from Shadow Haven now residing in Echo Caverns, to his home. He is known as Murph Cobblestone, an ex-miner dwarf of Solusek's Eye, drummed out of the mining company. One of our spies in Shadow Haven discovered his camp in Lower Echo, and said he received a handsome reward for some task from a deadly dweller of Higher Echo Named Torkazh. Torkazh is protected by UNDEAD slaves. Nothing more is known about Him. But Guardian Relics, Undead, it can't be a coincidence. We will also need to "question" Murph Cobblestone and investigate this Torkazh for ourselves.

Vinmar Zentiel

Fourth Age of the Secret Tree