Handouts
This is where items collected by the players are stored.
List of Handouts
Below are the handouts collected throughout our adventure. They are ordered from most recent to the oldest. If this begins to get cluttered I may arrange them in a more orderly way.
This is the letter that was received by Aquilonia Sandhor just prior to the Gathering of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep.
Aquilonia Sandhor,
Fear not! The periapt which you possess has not failed you. I assure you that most of the most keen wizards would not be capable of identifying you but I pride myself on my powers of divinity. This is partly why I have survived more than a year as the Open Lord of Waterdeep.
This letter has been charmed to only be read by your eyes and comprehended by your mind. Read it slowly as once you have seen its last word it will return to the earth from whence it came.
I must apologize that we are not able to first meet upon more intimate circumstances. I assure you that it is with great caution for your welfare as well as my own that we must first meet at the official Gathering scheduled for this evening. I also apologize in advance for the theatrical nature with which we must accord ourselves. I understand that you have already well learned that it must not be known where our hearts are most vulnerable and guard our passions from the use of our enemies. I would not wish to draw any more dangerous attention upon you than what you have already well earned with your own intention.
Perhaps upon a later date we can meet in more civil arrangements by secret and share our personal feelings more directly and without the shroud of appearing invulnerable.
I feel that I can at least share with you in this letter the reason for which you have been summoned so that you can feel more prepared and as relaxed as the situation will allow. Our attention to you directly is limited to just 3 topics:
First, the place that you now name Underdeep and formerly known as Skullport, has never been observed as a part of the domain of the city of Waterdeep nor has any intention of alliance been mentioned. I wish to change that. If you would accept Underdeep as a sovereign entity within the borders of the City of Waterdeep then we would welcome you into the number of masked lords which govern the city and it’s outlying areas which pledge fealty to us.
I should warn you that this position does not come without risk of harm to your person. We have recently had many of our masked lords unmasked and subsequently buried soon after. If you would agree to this despite the danger, we would endeavor to improve the route along the river Sargauth and promise to work for a more steady stream of supplies to be sent to whomever should reside there.
Secondly, there is the matter of the Xanathar. It is well understood by me, and not so many of the lesser Lords why you are at odds with the leader of the evil underground of our fair city. It is however, obvious to all that your ousting him from his perceived domain has increased his activity above ground and with the Zhentarim no longer opposing him at every turn he has caused quite a many disturbances in the city and many in certain parts of the no longer feel safe. We wish to request of you to allow the entrance of those in his brotherhood to enter Underdeep if only so that they might also seek out whatever it is they are after in that blasted UnderMountain. We believe that perhaps his efforts will become more manageable by our esteemed guardians of the law if his activities are more poorly focused.
I understand that this last request may seem unbearable but I also promise that we will lend upon your city a contingent of Force Grey to help guard and protect the people of Underdeep if you should be willing.
Aquilonia, I am so sorry to have heard of your father’s passing. That must have been an ordeal to lose a parent so young. I am not at all surprised that you had the resources to find a way to bring him back. I am pleased to tell you that, upon my divining, your mother and father both live happily within Chult as a guest of the retired entrepreneur and Archmage Waukeen. You may tell your friend, Stote, that his parents reside there as well and have found a life for themselves there. I assure you that I will not share this information with anyone and I mention it only as a gift, as information such as this can only be pleasing to discover.
Please accept Vesper in any condition you may find him. It is not always easy to be my trusted ally so he may appear to be a little out of sorts at times. See to it that he doesn’t imbibe too much of the spirits and don’t be loose of tongue around him. He is an honorable man, but he sometimes forgets to compartmentalize information only to those it belongs to.
See you this evening and I do hope that you have chosen something elegant to wear!
Sincerely,
Lady Laeral Silverhand, Chosen of Mystra
The Story of Yoshime and the evil natured BOTs of Ro.
After finally seeing Zuul and visibly becoming much more relaxed and even somewhat happy, Yoshime tells the party of the world that she and Zuul originated from. A world called Golarian that for quite some time experienced peace and prosperity after the followers of Asmodeus were quelled and the heroes of Golarian had time to use their gifts to improve the fortification of the civilized peoples. The fears of raids from the evil humanoid races into the lands of the humans, elves and halflings were laid aside for most of the known world as the power of the heroes was well known. After enjoying this golden age for many decades, the people had become soft and the heroes somewhat complacent, not to mention a little wizened. It was at this time that the illithid came. Ravagers from another dimension in flying airships, these creatures with vast intellect and power terrorized the civilized races and the heroes were needed once again. Despite the power of the heroes, the numbers of the mind flayers and other species allied with them were great. The terror that spread was uncontrollable as the nature of these creatures and their ability to somehow impregnate each of the races with their larva and through a process were able to control and use the bodies of their host to reproduce even more mind flayers as the change of ceremorphosis took place.
From a time as far back as any of Golarian could recall and any written history had recorded the tallest structure in all the known world was in the land of Ro. A massive tower stood there, and it was always known that the Wizard of Ro had built it in centuries past. No one in their time had ever seen the wizard and certainly most of the stories about him were invented by the minds of the common folk. Seemingly the tower itself seemed deserted, though no one had ever dared enter and return to claim whether this was true or not. It was not a thing that was given much thought, probably also because of the remote location of the tower within the vast deserts of Ro, until the invasion of the mind flayers. It was then that the old wizard came to the leaders of each of the governments of the realms of Golarian and promised an opportunity to protect themselves from the invaders that were stealing the minds of their loved ones, infiltrating their communities and spreading terror through the land. He demonstrated the power of his constructs, he referred to as Battle Oriented Technology or BOTs. These metallic monstrosities were immune to the effects of the mind flayers’ most offensive capabilities and certainly could not be controlled or turned to the side of the invaders. While significantly powerful alone they were difficult to create in large numbers due to the resources required to create them. It was proposed that an alliance of the civilized people with the Wizard of Ro, in which the common people could mine and gather the gems and rare earth metals required for the construction of a vast army of BOTs to defend the people from the invaders.
It was Zuul alone who spoke up against the alliance and he had concerns about the Wizard and his nature. No one would hear the concerns of an old monk who was always found deep in his cups and by his protestations only somehow strengthened the resolve of the leaders of the world to enter into this alliance. Zuul returned to his Dojo and began to train in earnest the followers who had come to join him. Our numbers grew as Zuul led retaliatory strikes against the developed strongholds of the illithid and had some success. Still, it was a long battle, and the numbers of the enemy were great so after years of fighting the bots of Ro were many and ready to aid in the efforts. They were truly as advertised and as their numbers grew so did their power. As victory against the mind flayers seemed within reach Zuul became even more concerned as he saw the power of such a great number of these constructs.
It wasn’t long after the last airship of the mind flayers departed from the world of Golarian that the true intent of the Wizard of Ro became obvious. Zuul’s fears were confirmed as the seemingly mad wizard enforced the enslavement of the civilized races to continue to work in his mines. The once defenders, the Ro Bots, were now a menace and had become a police force to be used against them. Zuul and his followers as well as many of the other heroes of the land retreated to the safety of Thundercloud tower, their transportable fortress, until a plan could be developed and a new war started for the freedom of Golarian. Again, the war was seemingly hopeless but Zuul never waivered and even composed a plan with his closest allies to bring the fight to the Wizard himself and enter the ancient tower. He was never seen or heard from again.
After that, Yoshime took up the standard and remembering the teachings of Zuul, tried to fight with the aid of those remaining, but the battle was obviously hopeless. It was inspired by the hopelessness of many years of fighting and losing many of her friends and missing her mentor that drove her to enter the tower herself and try to find Zuul as she felt that without him there would never be peace in Golarian again. If he was dead, then she herself would prefer to join him there. She cannot recall what befell her from the moment she first laid a foot on the marbled stone floors of the tower, until she found herself within the dungeon of the mad mage. It was then that she met Halaster who taunted her with freedom and promised to send her home but then found herself trapped there in the dungeon by the magic of Halaster and the violent sentries of the drow on level 10.
Side notes to Joe: Zuul does not recall any of this information, but only remembers fondly the adventures that he had with his family from the orphanage. He does recall the battles against the followers of Asmodeus who seemed intent on their capture but does not recall the Thundercloud tower or his Dojo or anything like that. I would presume, from the way you reacted initially, that you still will not let on to anyone that you have no memory of these things and would go along with her story just nodding and letting her continue to tell the story as your friends relax around the Flagon and The Dragon.