The Journal of Aldlas Sodhese, Netherese Archwizard - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Journal of Aldlas Sodhese, Netherese Archwizard

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
paulstrait
May 14, 2010 1:28:45 The Journal of Aldlas Sodhese

1. Aldlas Sodhese was a true Netherese Archwizard, and the founder of the floating city of Sakkors, which he created by inverting the top of a mountain, building a mythallar, and enchanting it to float. Aldlas came to Cormanthyr in search of the long missing Nether Scrolls, which he had tracked to somewhere within the Elven Woods. He first thought that gnomes had stolen the scrolls, as gnomish illusionists first appeared immediately after the set was stolen. He then, through the use of an artifact he refers to as the Orb of Pyxaanthal, discovered that they were located somewhere in Cormanthyr, and he had written down the word 'windsong,' though he wasn't sure exactly what this clue meant. His best guess was that it referred to Windsong Tower, an ancient academy of magic in Myth Drannor. He believed that one of the high mages, if not the Grand Mage, associated with the Tower, was to blame for the theft of the Scrolls, though he had no idea where in the forest they had spirited them away.

[FYI-- Sakkors was recently resurrected by the Netherese, and is often seen floating above Sembia.]

2. Later in the journal, Aldlas speaks of becoming extremely annoyed with the smug attitude held by the Orb (apparently it was an intelligent entity). After a battle, he allowed an Elvish mage to "discover" the orb and bring it back to Myth Drannor. Aldlas hoped that it would annoy and betray the Elves as much as it had annoyed and betrayed him. Apparently the Orb bragged that it knew the location of the Nether Scrolls, but it refused to tell Aldlas because it found it entertaining to mess with his head. Additionally, Aldlas personally hated beholders, and he complained that the orb reminded him too much of one.

3. A history of the Nether Scrolls is provided. Early in the history of Netheril, the Nether Scrolls were discovered, and they propelled the Empire to glory. The Nether Scrolls consisted set of 100 scrolls that provided the Netherese with an incredible jump in spellcraft unseen in the history of Toril. The 100 gold pages were discovered in the Far Horns Forest, and were actually two sets of 50 scrolls, one looking much older and tarnished than the other.

Hundreds of years after their discovery, one set of the Nether Scrolls was stolen. About five hundred years later, seven scrolls were stolen, and another five hundred years after that, nine men broke into the "Most Holy and Magical Chamber of Iolaum the Demidivine" in order to steal 24 more. Fearful of retribution from the archwizards, the thieves pounded the priceless golden scrolls into indiscernable baubbles -- which they then sold for a grand total of 260 gp.

About a thousand years after that, Karsus persuaded the council of Seventon (a governmental council of arcanists that refers to the original fishing villages from which the Empire was founded) to send all of the remaining Nether Scrolls to Eileanar (the enclave, or floating city, that Karsus had created) so that he could study them in order to see if there was a link to the missing set. They agreed, but when the scrolls were en route to Eileanar, the caravan (though guarded by over 100 warriors and arcanists) was ransacked and the scrolls were stolen. An intense search for the thieves yielded no information, and even the greatest arcanists and seers were perplexed about the whearabouts of the scrolls.

[FYI-- Your arcane PCs may have heard legends about the Nether Scrolls, but before reading the journal, they had no idea that they really existed. After reading the journal, the PCs should suspect the Nether Scrolls are among the most powerful artifacts in Faerun, if indeed they still exist. In the past, they may have thought that they were a metaphor for knowledge, or something akin to that, as they are described as the foundation of modern magical theory and the ultimate basis of all magic in the world.]

4. In order to wreak havoc on the elves and uncover his ancestors' greatest artifact, Aldlas summoned the greater nycademons Aulmpiter, Gaulguth, and Malimshaer, known as the Trio Nefarious. Toward the end of the journal, he laments the possibility that he might be losing control of the nycodemons, and that perhaps Aulmpiter in particular has become too independent.

[FYI -- after Aldlas was killed by the Grand Mage of Myth Drannor, the nycaloths, known in Elvish as the Khov'Anilessa, were imprisoned in an invisible undetectable subdimensional prison that floated above Myth Drannor. 1800 years later, they escaped, and Aulmpiter lead the Army of Darkness against Myth Drannor, leading to its fall in the Year of Doom, 714 DR. Myth Drannor was reduced to ruins until it was refounded in 1374 DR]

5. Aldlas primarily worshiped Tyche. When he built Sakkors, he established a massive mosque devoted to worshipping Tyche's darker aspect. There is a great deal of theological musings in the diary. Aldlas believed that Tyche was the perfect deity because her vengeful nature would aid his attempts to get revenge against the elves for stealing the nether scrolls, and because the luck aspect of her godhood would help weigh random events in his favor.

[FYI-- Millenia ago, Tyche split into two parts, Tymora (good luck) and Beshaba (bad luck).]

6. Aldlas despised the Archwizard named Shadow. He thought his research was trivial and contrary to the true ideals and historic character of the Netherese Empire. Aldlas believed that Dethud Tanthul, one of the princes of Shadow's enclave Thultanthar, had been successfully turned against his family and was working with Aldlas -- though his writing suggests a great deal of paranoia that Dethud might be playing him.

[FYI-- Thultanthar is now known as Shade Enclave -- it was the only floating city of the Netherese Empire to escape the destruction that came with Karsus' attempt at becoming a god, because it had been teleported into the Shadowfell during the catastrophe.]

7. Philosophical musings about life, death, and undeath. Magical formula for achieving lichdom, which may or may not be complete (hard to tell given your hurried read and lack of experience with such matters). The diary includes a copy of a copy of part of one of the 'Major Creare' Nether Scrolls, dealing with the creation of undead, as well as the creation of certain types of golems. Aldlas was concerned that zealous cultists of Jergal would try to steal this information from him (which apparently was attempted after Aldlas died)

[FYI -- Your PCs can copy this section as best as they can; they are not learned enough to turn this knowledge into a practical skill, but they can get a great sense for the elegance and power of the Nether Scrolls simply from reading this section, and feel an inner drive to learn more so that they can be able to understand this knowledge (this can be played as a compulsion of sorts; it isn't a true compulsion, and it isn't overwhelmingly strong or anything, but rather is like a thought that is always there in the back of their minds, having been so impressed with the inner truth and greatness of the little bit of text and formula that they could understand.)]

#2
paulstrait
May 14, 2010 1:47:55 Another book in Aldlas's library: Codex Nycaloth

Details the ritual used by Aldlas to summon and control the nycaloths. It also chronicles their early activities -- they destroyed countless villages of elves, whole tribes of satyrs and centaurs, and at least two green dragons. During this period of strife, Aldlas' captain of arms was struck down by a sword known as Aryvelahr Kerym, the Warblade (see this thread). Aldlas retaliated by going into the underdark and teaching some Drow wizards a kind of magic that would enable them to temporarily paralyze the power of the blade, at least for long enough to kill its bearer and capture it.

[FYI -- Though it didn't happen for almost 2000 years later, the Drow did attack the elves of Cormanthyr and they did use this magic to neutralize the blade. Some drow youth are taught a similar version of this story, except that in their version, it was Llolth that taught the magic necessary to bind the sword. Nevertheless, for almost two thousand years, hundreds, if not thousands, of surface elves have sought the legendary Warblade, to no avail. Though the sword's current whereabouts are unknown, the Drow continue to take pride in the failure of the surface elves to recover their sacred artifact. To this day, elves, and even some half-elves, consider the search for this sword a noble and worthy pursuit.]
#3
The_Silversword
May 14, 2010 3:19:00 Holy cow man, youve been busy!
#4
paulstrait
May 14, 2010 3:38:27 My campaign has been running for more than a year (and has a little under a year left to go -- PCs are all level 15 or 16), so I've got a lot of material. I think at this point I've posted most of everything worth posting, but as I make new stuff I will post it. This journal in particular took me a long time when I wrote it, b/c it is based on careful research through old 2e and 3e sourcebooks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 paulstrait May 14, 2010 1:28:45	The Journal of Aldlas Sodhese 1. Aldlas Sodhese was a true Netherese Archwizard, and the founder of the floating city of Sakkors, which he created by inverting the top of a mountain, building a mythallar, and enchanting it to float. Aldlas came to Cormanthyr in search of the long missing Nether Scrolls, which he had tracked to somewhere within the Elven Woods. He first thought that gnomes had stolen the scrolls, as gnomish illusionists first appeared immediately after the set was stolen. He then, through the use of an artifact he refers to as the Orb of Pyxaanthal, discovered that they were located somewhere in Cormanthyr, and he had written down the word 'windsong,' though he wasn't sure exactly what this clue meant. His best guess was that it referred to Windsong Tower, an ancient academy of magic in Myth Drannor. He believed that one of the high mages, if not the Grand Mage, associated with the Tower, was to blame for the theft of the Scrolls, though he had no idea where in the forest they had spirited them away. [FYI-- Sakkors was recently resurrected by the Netherese, and is often seen floating above Sembia.] 2. Later in the journal, Aldlas speaks of becoming extremely annoyed with the smug attitude held by the Orb (apparently it was an intelligent entity). After a battle, he allowed an Elvish mage to "discover" the orb and bring it back to Myth Drannor. Aldlas hoped that it would annoy and betray the Elves as much as it had annoyed and betrayed him. Apparently the Orb bragged that it knew the location of the Nether Scrolls, but it refused to tell Aldlas because it found it entertaining to mess with his head. Additionally, Aldlas personally hated beholders, and he complained that the orb reminded him too much of one. 3. A history of the Nether Scrolls is provided. Early in the history of Netheril, the Nether Scrolls were discovered, and they propelled the Empire to glory. The Nether Scrolls consisted set of 100 scrolls that provided the Netherese with an incredible jump in spellcraft unseen in the history of Toril. The 100 gold pages were discovered in the Far Horns Forest, and were actually two sets of 50 scrolls, one looking much older and tarnished than the other. Hundreds of years after their discovery, one set of the Nether Scrolls was stolen. About five hundred years later, seven scrolls were stolen, and another five hundred years after that, nine men broke into the "Most Holy and Magical Chamber of Iolaum the Demidivine" in order to steal 24 more. Fearful of retribution from the archwizards, the thieves pounded the priceless golden scrolls into indiscernable baubbles -- which they then sold for a grand total of 260 gp. About a thousand years after that, Karsus persuaded the council of Seventon (a governmental council of arcanists that refers to the original fishing villages from which the Empire was founded) to send all of the remaining Nether Scrolls to Eileanar (the enclave, or floating city, that Karsus had created) so that he could study them in order to see if there was a link to the missing set. They agreed, but when the scrolls were en route to Eileanar, the caravan (though guarded by over 100 warriors and arcanists) was ransacked and the scrolls were stolen. An intense search for the thieves yielded no information, and even the greatest arcanists and seers were perplexed about the whearabouts of the scrolls. [FYI-- Your arcane PCs may have heard legends about the Nether Scrolls, but before reading the journal, they had no idea that they really existed. After reading the journal, the PCs should suspect the Nether Scrolls are among the most powerful artifacts in Faerun, if indeed they still exist. In the past, they may have thought that they were a metaphor for knowledge, or something akin to that, as they are described as the foundation of modern magical theory and the ultimate basis of all magic in the world.] 4. In order to wreak havoc on the elves and uncover his ancestors' greatest artifact, Aldlas summoned the greater nycademons Aulmpiter, Gaulguth, and Malimshaer, known as the Trio Nefarious. Toward the end of the journal, he laments the possibility that he might be losing control of the nycodemons, and that perhaps Aulmpiter in particular has become too independent. [FYI -- after Aldlas was killed by the Grand Mage of Myth Drannor, the nycaloths, known in Elvish as the Khov'Anilessa, were imprisoned in an invisible undetectable subdimensional prison that floated above Myth Drannor. 1800 years later, they escaped, and Aulmpiter lead the Army of Darkness against Myth Drannor, leading to its fall in the Year of Doom, 714 DR. Myth Drannor was reduced to ruins until it was refounded in 1374 DR] 5. Aldlas primarily worshiped Tyche. When he built Sakkors, he established a massive mosque devoted to worshipping Tyche's darker aspect. There is a great deal of theological musings in the diary. Aldlas believed that Tyche was the perfect deity because her vengeful nature would aid his attempts to get revenge against the elves for stealing the nether scrolls, and because the luck aspect of her godhood would help weigh random events in his favor. [FYI-- Millenia ago, Tyche split into two parts, Tymora (good luck) and Beshaba (bad luck).] 6. Aldlas despised the Archwizard named Shadow. He thought his research was trivial and contrary to the true ideals and historic character of the Netherese Empire. Aldlas believed that Dethud Tanthul, one of the princes of Shadow's enclave Thultanthar, had been successfully turned against his family and was working with Aldlas -- though his writing suggests a great deal of paranoia that Dethud might be playing him. [FYI-- Thultanthar is now known as Shade Enclave -- it was the only floating city of the Netherese Empire to escape the destruction that came with Karsus' attempt at becoming a god, because it had been teleported into the Shadowfell during the catastrophe.] 7. Philosophical musings about life, death, and undeath. Magical formula for achieving lichdom, which may or may not be complete (hard to tell given your hurried read and lack of experience with such matters). The diary includes a copy of a copy of part of one of the 'Major Creare' Nether Scrolls, dealing with the creation of undead, as well as the creation of certain types of golems. Aldlas was concerned that zealous cultists of Jergal would try to steal this information from him (which apparently was attempted after Aldlas died) [FYI -- Your PCs can copy this section as best as they can; they are not learned enough to turn this knowledge into a practical skill, but they can get a great sense for the elegance and power of the Nether Scrolls simply from reading this section, and feel an inner drive to learn more so that they can be able to understand this knowledge (this can be played as a compulsion of sorts; it isn't a true compulsion, and it isn't overwhelmingly strong or anything, but rather is like a thought that is always there in the back of their minds, having been so impressed with the inner truth and greatness of the little bit of text and formula that they could understand.)]
#2 paulstrait May 14, 2010 1:47:55	Another book in Aldlas's library: Codex Nycaloth Details the ritual used by Aldlas to summon and control the nycaloths. It also chronicles their early activities -- they destroyed countless villages of elves, whole tribes of satyrs and centaurs, and at least two green dragons. During this period of strife, Aldlas' captain of arms was struck down by a sword known as Aryvelahr Kerym, the Warblade (see this thread). Aldlas retaliated by going into the underdark and teaching some Drow wizards a kind of magic that would enable them to temporarily paralyze the power of the blade, at least for long enough to kill its bearer and capture it. [FYI -- Though it didn't happen for almost 2000 years later, the Drow did attack the elves of Cormanthyr and they did use this magic to neutralize the blade. Some drow youth are taught a similar version of this story, except that in their version, it was Llolth that taught the magic necessary to bind the sword. Nevertheless, for almost two thousand years, hundreds, if not thousands, of surface elves have sought the legendary Warblade, to no avail. Though the sword's current whereabouts are unknown, the Drow continue to take pride in the failure of the surface elves to recover their sacred artifact. To this day, elves, and even some half-elves, consider the search for this sword a noble and worthy pursuit.]
#3 The_Silversword May 14, 2010 3:19:00	Holy cow man, youve been busy!
#4 paulstrait May 14, 2010 3:38:27	My campaign has been running for more than a year (and has a little under a year left to go -- PCs are all level 15 or 16), so I've got a lot of material. I think at this point I've posted most of everything worth posting, but as I make new stuff I will post it. This journal in particular took me a long time when I wrote it, b/c it is based on careful research through old 2e and 3e sourcebooks.