We had a very long time betwen sessions and had ended the last session in a fairly stable location, so the characters took a few months off. The following is the DM’s account of activity during theses few months.
Almost 3 months after starting the Fey’ric Revolution of 1273, you find yourselves in the spring of the year 1274, within a massively different political terrain. A council has been formed, a government created. Although there will no doubt be problems, the Fey’ric are well on their way to forming a nation.
Thogar vanished after the bulk of the fighting was finished, and noone except him knows where he went… Although there were periodic reports from rangers of a mysterious loud bellowing from time to time in the deep mountains South of Queenstown. One day, Thogar shows up, looking gruff and quite well-worn. Just as he shows up, the Sages call for the lot of you, announcing that they are ready to report on their Temple findings. For the most part, they’ve been sequestered for 2 months straight, and little word has come… Except from the guards posted outside, who reported periodic yelling matches between the two sages, usually over some symbol and what it meant. Paraphrasing, they report the following.
The temple is a temple to an ancient god known as Tritherion, a good God of Freedom primarily. Hidden in the recesses of the brilliantly and divinely preserved woodworks were many ancient symbols, both mundane and divine, dating to almost 10,000 years old. Essentially, they tell the story of Tritherion’s involvement with the hiding of an artifact called the “Shield of Celestia”. This is much like the Axe of Pelor, they say, in that it is to be used by a champion of good for some ultimate purpose in the fight against evil. Tritherion was chosen by the Pantheon of Good to help hide this artifact until the time was right for it to be found. His faithful followers thus built a sacred place and dubbed it the Monastery of the Two Suns, for the two Sacred Stars held inside… The Star of Elishar, and the Star of Calinthor. Supposedly, if the two stars are used in the correct ritual by a mortal champion of good who is aware of their true purpose (the sages don’t know what that purpose is), then the Shield of Celestia will form from their essence.
The tricky part, say the sages, is that the symbols appear to indicate that the Star of Elishar was destroyed. Their best guess places that destruction at 8,000 years ago… About the time that the Desert of the Sha’ir formed, according to some theories. Not all of the 3 sages completely agree with that precise date, but they do agree it was millenia ago if the Star of Elishar was, in fact, destroyed. Seeking out the Monestary will likely offer more clues into the current whereabouts of the two Stars.
Then, the sages found more symbols, from a different ancient language that they date as being more recent.. Perhaps only two thousand years ago. They talk of the Archpriest Dmitrius Godrick, a devout follower of Veran, and his Grand Counselor Nahrad, who was a known wizard of reasonable power in the period. Specifically, the writings speak of how their forces successfully invaded the monestary grounds, taking it from the holy defenders which held it and sacrificing them all to darkness. His god then cursed him and his personal cadre with unlife, as a reward of sorts, and charged them with the perpetual defense of the Monastery against any who would dare try to enter.
The sages feel it quite likely that the Archpriest, if still there, is now some sort of Lich.
(For those not familiar, Godrick is the northern state of Umbria… You don’t know if there is any relation.)
These more recent writings speak of the location of the Monastery, placing it somewhere in the Desert of the Sha’ir. Not much is known of this area, as very few attempt to cross it, but it is believed that a large and somewhat savage city lies in the center of it near a lake. The State of Ballance believes there to be a fairly large population of nomads, as well.
The sages say that the Monastery was likely either built on an existing nexus of strong mystical power, or it would have created such a nexus after completion. Such a nexus is rare, and its presence in the vicinity would be a very strong indicator that the monastery is nearby. They recommend consulting with someone who might be familiar with such a nexus, and determing the best method with which it can be found. Glorfindella Mithrandír (the grey elf sage of Languages and Scripts) of course recommends the many arcane guilds of Ěl as a good place to start asking questions.
The sage of Religious History, Anton-Léon du Ballance, notes that there was also a partially destroyed segment of symbols speaking of something called only the “Unholy Reverance”. It is apparently an item of some sorts, probably evil, possibly of great power considering the context. He believes the symbols indicate Dmitirius either has or knows where this item is, and therefore it is likely that once the forces of evil learn this (if they have not already), they will likely attempt to pay a visit to the Monastery as well.