Moonsea Madness - major plot reveal!

 

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[7 min read]

Things are really coming to a crescendo in our homebrew campaign, Moonsea Madness, as some of the loose threads get resolved around the divine shards and the key players exploiting their power. Read the journal of Thrandul Vilitar, the lich whom the party encountered in a dungeon in Thar, driving him to flee to another plane but letting him remain an actor in this story. Thanks to our talented Dungeon Master for writing this major plot reveal!

Record of the Ascension of Thrandul Vilitar

1378 DR Entry 55 Solus - Tower

Word has finally reached me of the possible existence of the artefact I have been seeking since I first heard the gods had been cast down to the realms. I believe my hypothesis was correct – that with all the divine powers being thrust into the prime material plane at once, some of their divine essence may have been shed in the transition and manifested in physical form. 

My contact has confirmed rumours of a mysterious shard being found near the site of the alleged battle between Mystra and Helm near Castle Kilgrave. 

I must secure it and bring it here for research. 

This could be the key to unlocking limitless power and finally getting out from under the constant threat of the meddlesome Red Wizards….

1378 DR Entry 67 Solus – Tower

Success! My journey has secured the shard and I have brought it back to my tower in Solus. It was unfortunate that my contact did not survive the journey, but then he should not have double crossed me for those Zhentil Dogs…

My experiments will begin now in earnest. I have convinced the Mayor of Solus to allow me to take control of the area around my tower and the abandoned mining pit. It will provide me with the perfect testing area to commence my research. 

1379 DR Entry 105 – Mining Pit Lab

This artefact is incredible. The power it seems to contain is undeniable…. if only I could understand how to unlock it. 

1379 DR Entry 168 – Tower

Breakthrough! All this time I have been looking for complex eldritch incantations that would open the power of the shard, however a more brute force approach has yielded better results! I have managed to siphon a small amount of the divine essence through compromising the shards exterior and thereby ‘tapping it’. So far, I have only stored a small amount of the energy and it seems incredibly unstable. I have managed to channel the energy through a series of crystals that seem to help maintain beam coherence. 

My next steps will focus on applications, and how I may harness this energy into a human host. 

1379 DR Entry 206 – Mining Pit Lab

Test subjects continue to die at an unsustainable rate. The Solus Watch is beginning to become suspicious at the rumours of travelers and vagrants going missing. I must be cautious. I continue to invest a significant amount in Solus and the surrounding community to keep my activities below notice. 

The last test subject managed to hold a sliver of the power for a short period of time before they exploded. It has given me hope that I am moving towards another breakthrough. I have been cautious with the amount of essence as I was concerned it was limited, but I am beginning to believe the shard continually generates more. 

Perhaps I need to use more of the energy, not less…

1380 DR Entry 215 – Safe House

Disaster! I do not know what went wrong – the essence from the shard has interacted with something within the last subject and the following conflagration destroyed the mine and the base of my tower! It is a miracle I was not in the pit when this occurred, my tower now floats above the foundations and the surrounding area has been blasted beyond recognition. I am waiting for the arcane fumes still roiling through the area to clear to try and retrieve the shard. My life depends on it. 

1380 DR Entry 245- Safe House

Life hangs by a thread…. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. My tower and lab are lost and Solus burns. The townsfolk have all either been killed or fled and yet I cannot feel remorse for them. This experiment is too important, and they are unfortunate collateral damage.   

During my attempt to retrieve the shard, I have inadvertently triggered a Gate which opened in the base of my tower. Monsters have been loosed throughout the city, led by a tyrannical beholder named Xaltar. My attempts to drive it back through the gate were overwhelmed and it has taken residence in what is left of my tower. 

Interestingly, the tower is not actually floating but rather seems held aloft by some sort of arcane tethers that can only be seen through arcane sight. Perhaps if I can remove them, the tower will fall and Xaltar will be killed. I must consider this when I am no longer so weak. I have been mortally wounded and am using all my arcane arts to keep my wounds from overwhelming me. I am not long for this life if I cannot get aid. 

Unfortunately, my only hope might be the Red Wizards, from whom I have been hiding my discoveries. I cannot believe it has come to this…

1380 DR Entry 267 – Safe house

The Red Wizards have agreed to help me, but it will come at a heavy cost. Szasz Tam himself has taken my oath that I will serve him directly and provide the research I have to date. He will also require me to continue my work as his thrall. In return, he will furnish me with the ability to join him in eternal life as a lich. I admit, this course terrifies me, but I will not give up my discovery and it is the only way I can live, given my grievous wounds. 

1381DR Entry 271 – Safe House

I need to flee Solus.

A growing, terrifying power has begun to creep into my mind. I can feel its presence…probing, seeking to penetrate my psychic defenses. The dread that grows within me is leading me to the conclusion that something far more ancient, far more evil has come through the gate. I fear it is feeding on the shard and growing in influence. The evil pervades everything….and matches a power I read of a tome during my apprenticeship. I cannot bring myself to believe and I do not know how, but I fear, somehow, I have drawn a child of Cthulhu into this plane.   

I have placed wards around the river that runs through the city to try and minimize its influence, although I do not know for how long they will hold against such power. This safe house will be hidden from plain sight, however when the wards begin to fail my hiding spot will become visible once more. Then I will not be able to hold them back and will be overwhelmed. 

I must get past Vashti to leave. She has grown in power these past weeks and through my scrying I have seen her meeting with those filthy Zhents. She and her black dragon pet have been patrolling the river out to sea and making sure no one is able to approach the tower. Durgin has left Solus in despair at the loss of his love, and I must say good riddance. That self-righteous dwarf is better off out of my way. 

I will sneak out tonight and meet my Red Wizard contact. He will get me out of the city. 

Solus is doomed. 

The Red Wizards have located an old crypt north of Thentia that previously seems to have served as a base for followers of Velsharoon. But more importantly, they have located another divine shard! This further confirms my theory that some of the gods divine essence has been shed during their transition to the material plane. Imagine….sources of unlimited power scattered throughout the realms!   

We will use the shard and the transformation chambers in the crypt to assist in my transition to lichdom, while allowing me to continue my research. It is unclear the source of the shard, but given its location I believe it to be Azuthian, as he and Velsharoon have a history. 

The persist presence of the divine shards gives me cause for hope. That at the right time, I will get out from under the Red Wizards. I will not tell them all my secrets…

And I will change the world. 

The Eternal Thrandul Vilitar.