The Serpentine Wars
They did not know that they were shaping more than their own history. They did not know they were shaping the future of the Realm itself. I was there and I saw it take place. Have a seat and listen to the tale. The tale of how legends were made.
Takori, a monk, joined the Circle of Fire and rose quickly through the ranks to become it's leader. Soon after, news reached that his home monastery was under siege by the evil hordes. He made haste to return and aid them, but alas, the monastery fell to the hordes of a necromancer before he could reach it. He sought in vain to vanquish the enemy, to avenge the dead, to prevent the evil from striking again. And then, Takori was reached by his former mentor's spirit and told of a relic that enabled the necromancer to accomplish the banding of his chaotic host. The relic, the Serpintine Generator, would unleash untold horrors on the realms if not destroyed, but the monk did not know where it was or when it would become apparent. Our Pendragon searched far and wide through the lands until he heard that there were but four living souls in the realms that knew of the whereabouts of the relic.
Not long afterwards Drow hordes descended on our Clan Halls, preceded as they came by spies hidden in the darkness. And we were left to wonder why they chose us as their target. Takori was kidnapped by a Priestess of the Drow Goddess Lloth. War broke out between the Circle and these forces of Darkness. A heroic effort was made to rescue our fallen comrade and Pendragon and through the efforts of the likes of Ayla, Hargrate, Xavin, Sasha, Vimyr, and of countless others, Takori was rescued. Alas, the Jarl Ayla was injured in the rescue, taking a blow that was aimed at Takori's heart and was taken beyond the realms by the goddess Kleothera to heal her severe wounds. The passing of Ayla and the many years of no leads made Takori begin to doubt the existence of the Relic.
Month after month the Drows descended on our Halls. The Qu'el'velguk, the House Assassin was sent to kill our leaders. Ranks of Drow Archers left their arrows in our midst. Qu'el'saruk, the Legendary Drow Weapons Master led his Sargrlin into battle. The Qu'el'faeruk, the Archwizard summoned his watchspiders to fight us. The rogue Shebali too joined the fray towards the end. There seemed to be no respite from the wave upon on wave of Drows.
Later that year, the Order of the Minotaur Knights were attacked by the Drows who seemed to fight with purpose and renewed vigor. The Circle helped them to defend themselves. At the same time, the clan hall of Harmony was attacked. Takori got renewed interest in completing the quest, fearing that the activities somehow related to the relic.
Takori approached the DragonKing of Soel Tiang, who was completely uninterested in getting involved in these matters. He did give Takori some information though - where there were once four that knew of the relic's location, only three survived and yes, the relic still existed within the realms. Saying that, he then told Takori to go away.
A few months later, in an effort to help the elf Quarnar find his brother, Takori, Vimyr, and the paladin Berit encounter a group of rangers. One of them took Takori to a woodland witch who offered an unexpected clue to his quest. She told him that of the three that once knew of the whereabouts of the relic, only two remained.
People come. People go. Days turned to months, months to years. Takori fought on like the rest of his clan, often coming under fire for his unorthodox views on how to lead a good life. Many battles did he wage in defense of the clan and several times was he injured, until sank into despair as his fighting prowess suffered. He began to believe that the quest would never be completed despite the years of effort. And then began to receive bizarre cryptic messages about the quest once more.
In an encounter in the Black Forest with a sprite, he was told that there was but a single soul left in the realms with the knowledge that he sought. After this encounter, Takori decided to seek counsel with the dragons in the Dragon Valley on this matter, for he feared if he did not find the relic soon, he would no longer have the power to.
Takori started toward DragonValley on foot so as to search for clues on the way. He encountered a tree beside a dead deer that bore a bloody message that said: "The solution to what you seek is.. See the unseen. Hear the unheard. Forgive the unloved." As he read the message and the corpse vanished in a burst of flames.
Continuing with his quest, he met Elradu, a Ranger of the clan Harmony. She shared with him her visions and asked him to search in a place of great good for the ancient relic of evil. Taken aback with how sure she seemed of what she said, he continued on to the Dragon Valley.
The Gold Dragon was as unwilling to get involved in the matter as the Soel Tiang dragon had been when Takori visited him so many years before. He did tell Takori, though, that he followed the wrong path by searching so far from home. He then told him to go away.
While he was away war continued to be waged by the members of the Clan. Aminzu demons and other hellspawn reinforced the untiring Sargrlin. They were slain only to rise again from the ashes to fight us once more. Once a shapeshifter that came in Takori's form tried to lure us to our deaths in the Dark Forest. I remember fighting what seemed to be the very twins of my clan brethren. Such is the craft of evil that it sought to weaken our resolve in every way. Alas, there seemed to be so few of us and so many of them! My memories of specific battles fades; after a while all battles are alike- blood, grime, the smell of death, the dull ache in the sword arm, the bodies of the fallen.
Frustrated, but still resolved, Takori returned to his Clan Hall. He was greeted by Gerad's cried , "OMK, OMK!" Takori feared that yet again that fair settlement was under attack, but then the realization came that Gerad was the one mortal left in the realms with the knowledge of the relic's location. Takori rallied the Clan and departed immediately for the Order of the Minotaur Knights.
Sizing up the band surrounding him, Takori realized that it may not be enough for what they faced. Sending a message to Elradu, he called her to our side. And then the Drow attacked the Order yet again. Takori knowing that they must know as much as he about the whereabouts of the relic, led the frantic search. Again we fought off attack after attack. High above in the Marshall's quarters the Generator quietly kept up its work- Serpents large and small it spawned, attacking all in sight. Alas, many a good fighter laid down his life that day. Through the heroic efforts of Takori, Elradu, Throg, Thalius, Gerad, Berit and Parnell, the Drow attack was staved off and the relic found.
Takori could not pick up the relic, and then it suddenly vanished. His heart was filled with despair, and then he heard a voice from the past that offered a deal- the whereabouts of the relic for a unnamed favor later- the voice of the Drow Laren! Knowing no other alternative, he entered into the agreement and recaptured the Serpintine Generator.
And so we had the Generator. Surely it had to be destroyed, but how? How does one destroy something that is indestructible? Long did the adventurers discuss this issue, but no solution came to mind. And then the Goddess Kleothera appeared and informed us that the only way it could be destroyed was by casting it into the fires of it's origins - the Pits of Hell.
The band unwilling to leave Takori to his task, escorted him to the Pits of Hell to see the relic's destruction through. He entered the cave alone and cast the dark relic away. A huge explosion resulted. Takori at first thought himself dead, but instead had been cast to the entrance of the place. Severely injured, he sought the others and the band left the accursed place. Always stoic, Takori did not mention to his brethren that day the severity of his injuries. At the time of this writing, he still convalesces, worried about the "favor" that may be asked of him at anytime by the dead Drow Laren.
Legends, heroes, or people simply doing what they know must be done. Whichever, the Circle of Fire's actions and history has indeed crafted the history of the Realms itself. Hear my tales, for I Quarnar, second Born to Chlaris, of Kanlif was there...........
- by Quarnar