Some info about the Twisted Rune

[Morgeruat]

This is from the Code of the Harpers book by TSR.

The Twisted Rune is a little known but powerful group of evil mages seeking to establish themselves as the true rulers of eastern Calimshan, the Vilhon Reach, Tethyr, and ultimately Amn, and all of Calimshan.
The symbol of the Twisted Rune is a gnarled sigil that resembles two “3” numerals, linked downward, like drooping claws, with the downstrokes at the left-hand end longer than those on the right.
The Twisted Rune numbers Illithiliches (mind flayer liches), a few liches, beholders, and evern the subterranean race known as the phaerimm in its ranks. They seek to control local rulers by means of magical might, blackmail, and intrigue. Some members of this group may once have been members or allies of the Night Parade, a powerful evil that flourished behind the scenes in Calimshan until shattered by the Harpers. The Twisted Rune views the Red Wizards of Thay as its true rivals, but it sees both the Harpers and the Cult of the Dragon as meddling nuisances who must be destroyed if the Rune is to rise to open power – or to sufficient strength to challenge the Red Wizards. At present, the Rune prefers to augment its collective sorcery in secret, employing hireling adventurers and mercenaries, conjured or controlled monsters, and thief-band agents to fend off Harpers and other would-be investigators of the Rune. The power of the Rune (so far) lies in closeknit cooperation and loyalty to each other. Rivalries are far more tightly controlled than the continual bloodletting that so disrupts the doings of the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards.

[tom the strong wizzard]

Thanks man [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Sir Exxon]

Hey, cool! Nice post! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe]

i think i read the book about the night parade, was that the one with the guy who could jump bodies but had a ring of regeneration and a fire giant or something. if anyone follows me let me know, and if not let me know what the book im thinking of is, if anyone has read it, anyways i think that relates to this kind of.
thanks

[Morgeruat]

Originally posted by AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe: i think i read the book about the night parade, was that the one with the guy who could jump bodies but had a ring of regeneration and a fire giant or something. if anyone follows me let me know, and if not let me know what the book im thinking of is, if anyone has read it, anyways i think that relates to this kind of. thanks

Actually the organization was the night masks in that book, an organization of theives, the book was named after them, the Night Masks are sligtly more detailed in the Villains Lorebook, I haven't read any other information about the Night Parade, but I'm sure they are discussed/destroyed by the Harpers in one of the Harpers series of novels.

[Morgan_Corbesant]

Originally posted by AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe: i think i read the book about the night parade, was that the one with the guy who could jump bodies but had a ring of regeneration and a fire giant or something. if anyone follows me let me know, and if not let me know what the book im thinking of is, if anyone has read it, anyways i think that relates to this kind of. thanks

his name is ghost. he is a VERY weak character, but he can take over peoples bodies, send their spirit to his, and use theirs as they would. so he would be as strong, fast, etc. i have his character in the complete villains lorebook, but i dont want to spend the time to type all of that out right now, maybe later, when i get home from work.

[jabidas]

I belive they also have a dracolich, called sazz tam or something. I forget.

[Glorfindel]

Hey I was wondering if there was a bit more to them than just a cult holding the staff of the Magi! Thanks Man [img]smile.gif[/img] !

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by jabidas: I belive they also have a dracolich, called sazz tam or something. I forget.

Actually, the lich Szass Tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy and the undead ruler of Thay.

Here's some interesting stuff about the Twisted Rune cabal. It contains some info about Shangalar, Shyressa the Vampire, and the elder orb Vaxall that are all found in BG2. Sourced from the TSR module "Lands of Intrigue" available from www.wizards.com as a free download.



The Twisted Rune
This consortium of magic-wielders has power beyond many of the evil groups in the Realms, but it has rarely been heard of farther north than Iriaebor. The group’s identifying mark is a rune of several numeral threes twisted together. The Twisted Rune’s power bases are situated around certain remote parts of the Vilhon Reach, Calimshan, Tethyr, and Amn. While its total numbers are unknown, its ranks allegedly include liches, alhoon, beholders, phaerimm, and other evil magic-using creatures.

While its primary goal seems to be control of the South (specifically Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan), this group must control or eradicate other power groups before it can make its bid for power. Rival groups include the Cult of the Dragon, the Zhentarim, and the Red Wizards of Thay. Given the intense dislike for Harpers in the South, this good-aligned group and the Twisted Rune have rarely come into conflict.

Past & Current Activities
Founded in the Year of the Broken Branch (864 DR) by the aging mage Rysellan the Dark, the Twisted Rune was intended to be a secret consortium of mages manipulating the real power of the South. After placing contacts within an area, each contact or agent cultivated a web of other lesser agents and contacts, further spreading the intelligence and control of the Rune member to whom he or she reported. By the Year of the Dracorage (1018 DR), the Twisted Rune was the largest power group in southwestern Faerûn, with agents infiltrating the power structures of every country and city south of the High Moor and west of the Storm Horn Mountains.

While the Rune attempted to control nations from within, the political stability of this region was never great, making it difficult for the hidden wizards to manipulate any power. The Twisted Rune wormed its way into controlling the lesser powers of Valashar and Mierittin and the royalty of Tathtar and other smaller realms, only to watch their work crumble from the actions of others. After losing much of their influence on
the grand scale, senior Rune members began planning the control of cities and towns before controlling whole countries. Just as with the Red Wizards and the Zhentarim, the Twisted Rune became as much an enemy to itself as its opponents for power. Its members actively plotted to undermine or usurp the power and influence of other Rune members, and this of course led to internal strife. For centuries, the Rune could not work agents into the royal power structures of Tethyr until the Year of the Tomb (1182 DR), when Rysellan the Dark gained the contact and confidence of the court vizera Wyvorlaa. For a few short years, the Rune influenced Tethyrian politics and power, and the close work between vizera and senior Runemaster gained Rysellan the jealousy and enmity of the Rune’s more rapacious members. In the Year of the Soft Fogs (1188 DR), Rysellan’s plan came undone when three other liches accused the founder of revealing the Rune’s secrets; the spell battles and in-
trigues then unleashed saw the final death of Rysellan the Dark and the destruction of two of his apprentices (also liches of the Rune). Thanks to three Amnian liches (two of which were destroyed in the battle), the Rune also caused the end of its own influence in Tethyr, as Wyvorlaa’s alliance was uncovered and she was executed as the last vizera. Similar conspiracies reigned a century later, when Bhagenn the Crimson attempted to slay the other senior members of the Rune and take command; he was betrayed by his own protege, Priamon “Frostrune” Rakesk, and Frostrune became a lesser member under Jhaniloth Puiral.

A number of plots and groups have had the touch of the Twisted Rune, though none beyond the Runemasters know the group’s full involvement. In the Year of the Fist (1311 DR), the Shadow Thieves’ vengeance against Waterdeep began with the death of Zelphar Arunsun; unknown to the Lords of Waterdeep even today, a mage of the Rune cast the Bigby’s crushing hand that ended the life of Zelphar, as a favor to a Shadow Thief who claimed the kill. This event still links that thief with the Rune, and his position today as the Shade of Baldur’s Gate affords both the Twisted Rune and the Shadow Thieves major intelligence sources that neither might have alone.

The fleeting existence of Mulsparkh and its wizard-rulers seems insignificant in Tethyr’s and Calimshan’s histories but for the murder of Rythan the Paladin Prince and the theft of the Sword of Starlight. The Twisted Rune secretly drove the wizards to rebellion and the creation of their realm, and also helped form the plan (that King Alemander IV secretly endorsed) to kill Prince Rythan. While this seems a lot of work for such a
short-lived realm, all the plans were simply in retaliation for Prince Rythan’s destruction of Jhaniloth Puiral in 1330 DR. Likewise, the long-range plans of a deepspawn to conquer Zazesspur during the Interregnum were far more interesting than its demands for the Rune to summon and control its tanar’ri ally; when both were brought low by Zaranda Star, the Twisted Rune found a new enemy upon whom it could focus its hatred.
Powers shifted across the Realms with the poisoning of King Azoun of Cormyr and the rise of Zaranda Star in Tethyr. The Twisted Rune needed to put some of its plans into motion to restore its power base, partially lost during the Time of Troubles. With Cormyr in political chaos, courtiers could be turned into deep cover agents of the cabal. The stabilization of Tethyr drove the Rune’s influence further underground, but the short-
term loss could be overcome should the Twisted Rune insinuate itself into the new power structures of Tethyr and Amn.

Lastly, the Rune had to act after centuries of inaction because the Red Wizards of Thay were encroaching westward, and this had to stop. Higharvestide of the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR) saw the Rune’s greatest and most disruptive power play. Priamon “Frostrune” Rakesk and the alhoon Ralayan the Occultacle kidnapped Halaster Blackcloak from Undermountain. While Halaster was their prisoner in the Tears of Selûne of wildspace, the two liches mined his thoughts for the secrets he held on gate construction and manipulation. Meanwhile,
gates to and from Undermountain raged out of control, spewing monsters from Undermountain across the Realms and hurling innocents into the deepest of dungeons. While the chaos was not intended, it suited the Twisted Rune’s plans, as it kept major players distracted and away from the true villains. [For more on these events, see the DUNGEON CRAWL® module, Stardock.]

Halaster ultimately escaped their clutches, but not before Frostrune and the alhoon learned his secrets. The Twisted Rune now had knowledge that allowed it to circumvent Red Wizard interference in its plans and possibly destroy the Red Wizards, thanks to the gates that the Rune could now build and control. As only those two Twisted Rune members were involved, the Lords of Waterdeep and Harpers believe it was simply a private conflict between the exiled Priamon and Halaster. Once again, the Twisted Rune leaves its mark, gains
power, yet leaves little trace of its true interests.

In less than a year, Priamon (now a senior Runemaster for his efforts) has created a series of gates all about the Lands of Intrigue, linking each Runemaster’s lair to central meeting points or each others’ lairs. The major meeting places of the Rune have two-way gates that recognize which gate was used by beings to arrive there, and automatically sends them “home” when they leave the meeting. All of these gates are specially designed to work only for undead beings; any living creature that uses these gates loses two experience levels upon contact, suffers 1d10 points of cold damage, and fails to activate the gate.

The Twisted Rune has made many inroads to power amid the squabbling city-states of Calimshan. As the greedy pashas and caliphs seek out more magic, it is simple to place agent-mages (if not spell-cloaked liches) in their courts. The Rune might thus unify Calimshan for the first time in centuries. While many doubted the expense of Rhanghaun’s luring ogre magi out of their eastern homelands, the Rune’s hidden stake in the Sythillisian Empire may yet bear fruit in conquest. If it should not, charmed Rune agents lurk amid the families of Amn, waiting to grab their puppets’ strings at the right time to control the Merchants’ Kingdom. Finally, the slave girl (really a W4) bought by Lord Drakosa of Manshaka before his first visit to Maztica gave the cabal a contact in the New World - a land with no true competitors for power and rich with new magic.

Hierarchy & Organization
The Twisted Rune began as a consortium of liches, as they created and made the group what it is today. Each lich used its own agents, who had their own networks in turn. In this original incarnation (before the second death of Rysellan the Dark), the Rune’s membership quickly grew unwieldy without the checks and balances necessary to maintain control over the ranks.

The organization of the Twisted Rune now is much tighter; only those one or two ranks from the senior Runemasters even know they are part of the Twisted Rune’s network. The senior Runemasters’ Council is now a tightly knit group of nine like-minded undead beings content to remain behind the scenes and work in concert to gain power for all concerned. At least four of the current members are of those original members assembled by Rysellan. They remain active in very small ways among the lesser members and agents, using charms and other subtle tactics to avoid drawing much attention to themselves. Many Twisted Rune agents and members are in other power groups in the South, from the Cowled Wizards of Amn to the Knights of the Shield, and these groups are none the wiser.

The Twisted Rune Membership
There are over 100 Twisted Rune agents, but only 30 know for whom they truly work, and only they are judged as members. Below are the senior six of the nine Runemasters who rule the Twisted Rune (with the remaining three left for DM development). Following them are some primary agents.

• Rhanghaun: (NE hm lich W33) In life, the Calishite mage Rhangaun slew the wizard Prince Cauln Amaur of
Athalantar and later broke ties with the princes warring over the Stag-King’s Throne. He was already a lich over 300 years old when he was approached by Rysellan the Dark. Rhangaun joined the Rune as a founding member only when Rysellan revealed he had Rhangaun’s phylactery, with which the younger lich kept his more powerful “ally” in control. Rhangaun slew Rysellan the Dark, though he did not sanction the destruction of Kartak Spellseer’s first form [see below]. As the senior member of the Twisted Rune, he leads the Council on carefully plotted intrigues (though his disrespect for Frostrune may be his undoing).

Rhangaun now appears as a full skeleton in simple black robes. His eyes still glisten in their sockets, though they have turned black with purple irises. His major items include a staff of the magi and two ellipsoid (lavender and green) ioun stones orbiting his skull, which absorb spells up to 8th level. His lair beneath
the ruins of Memnonnar has been seen only by four beings still alive in the Realms; all others are bones around his library.

• Shangalar the Black: (THIS GUY IS IN BG2) (LE tiefling male lich W27) A mage of Calimshan circa 700 years ago, Shangalar’s meteoric rise in power left many wondering if he was a scion of gods. In fact, he is the son of a Realms-bound cambion. As a mage of great power but little ambition, he was perfect for Rysellan and Rhangaun as a manipulable ally with power that simply needs direction. As a tiefling, his undead status is unique, and
his skin (once of normal Calishite tone) is jet-black and calcifying to a flintlike substance, accounting for his high Armor Class.

He is so paranoid that he killed anyone who found his hidden keep, a floating aerial pyramid among the peaks of the Marching Mountains east of the River of Ice’s headwaters. During the Time of Troubles, the magic of his lair failed and it crashed, ruining centuries of work and reducing his own power after some of his extraplanar experiments exploded. These losses have made Shangalar more interested and active in restoring both his own and the Rune’s overall power.

• Kartak Spellseer: (CE hm lich Nec31) This infamous lich was in life the apprentice of Rysellan the Dark, five centuries past, but paid for his loyalty with his first body’s destruction during the schism that eradicated Rysellan and the original Rune. Reduced to fragments, Kartak’s body was restored in recent decades due to his many-layered plans, faithful agents, contingencies, well-hidden phylactery, and his control over a gullible and power-greedy nephew. Over the course of 20 years, Kartak hunted and destroyed the two liches who had shattered him 160 years before. Rhangaun allowed this to happen with no Rune interference. Kartak,
after a brief power scuffle with his mad nephew Chardath Spulzeer that resulted in the destruction of Castle Spulzeer, returned to his seat among the Runemasters late in the Year of the Gauntlet as if nothing had happened in the last 300 years. His lair among the Kuldin Peaks, a former dwarven mine, was seen by no other being before Priamon “Frostrune” arrived here to establish the gates.

With his resuscitation, Kartak appears to be a fairly new lich rather than one centuries old, and he carefully maintains his looks. For a lich, Kartak is quite social and (like the dracolich below) has a range of contacts through secondary agents and aliases. Though he dresses in an antiquated manner, his clothes are clean and well tailored.

• Sapphiraktar the Blue: (LE blue dracolich) This blue wyrm was already 900 years old when he became a dracolich nearly 300 years ago. He knows much current news of Calimshan and western Tethyr. His lair deep beneath the sands of the Calim desert in a buried amphitheater of Shanatar helps keep his body dried and well preserved. Aside from a heart-to-hip gash in his underbelly, Sapphiraktar still looks like a live blue dragon 200 feet long, when viewed from far away.

Of all the Runemasters, this crafty dracolich has the widest network of agents, all charmed into believing they work for one of Spphiraktar’s 40 different aliases of at least seven races. Despite their beliefs that they are each “the dragon ruler of the Sword Coast South,” Sapphiraktar also subtly controls both Balagos the Flying Flame [see Book Two, “The Troll Mountains”] through a sycophantic Calishite mage called Adji al-Azur, and Charvekannathor the Scarlet [see Book One, “County Morninggold: Rrinnoroth”]. Sapphiraktar’s magic has kept Balagos on the wing for over two decades; the latter was led to challenge other dragons beyond his realm, picking fights with the dragons of the Shaar. Aside from his masterful ability to manipulate any races, the blue dracolich also has a hoard of magical items, including an arsenal of offensive wands and rods.

• Priamon “Frostrune” Rakesk: (CE hm lich W27) Priamon has ingratiated himself among the Twisted Rune’s Coun-
cil by exposing Bhagenn the Crimson’s treachery, arranging the death of Prince Rythan in 1334 DR, and planning the kidnapping of Halaster Blackcloak and the recent building of gates. This former Waterdhavian wizard, like Kartak, made an effort to maintain his appearance until a spell battle destroyed two-thirds of his face and body. Now, he wears olive-green robes with gold-embroidered hems, and a black cloak with an emerald-lined hood that covers his skeletal face. His ruined body is wrapped in linens under the robes. He wears a ring of
spell turning, ring of protection +3, and robe of blending.

Priamon Rakesk was exiled by the Lords and Khelben Arunsun the Elder centuries ago. He became a lich in the Year of the Raging Flame (1255 DR/213 NR) and spent years researching ice spells for torturing mages, specifically his hated adversary Khelben. His two tower lairs are well hidden in the Snowflake Mountains and the Forest of Mir, and his wards will blast intruders to dust. (It would be of interest to Tethyr’s roy-
alty to know that Priamon has the 1,530-year-old bridal crown of Queen Arial of the Ithal Dynasty among his treasures.)

Frostrune’s plans for the future are long-reaching. Though he gets along well with other senior members of the Rune, he wants to rule the cabal. Unknown to all but Ralayn, who acts as Priamon’s second and hopes to become a senior Runemaster in a decade or two, Priamon has modified all gates he builds. He can infiltrate any location with one of his gates, cause any of them to “lock” and hold someone at the gate -site until released
by him, or even change the arrival point of any of his gates, dumping a traveler into a lion’s den of trouble (like a Red Wizards’ stronghold). He has yet to use any of these tricks, content for now to be the trusted gate -builder for the Rune. Over 35 gates now exist in locations such as the Wood of Sharp Teeth; the Giant’s Run, Troll, Marching, Omlarandin, and Osraun Mountains; Shoonach; Cape Velen; the Calim Desert; the Thornwood; and various islands among the Nelanther, on the Deepwash, and in the Lake of Steam. Underground and undersea gates also exist. Not all of them link to the senior liches’ lairs, nor are they all automatic (some requiring a mental or verbal command for their destinations or activation), but none are visible unless marked by a mosaic for ease of location.

• Shyressa: (SHE’S IN BG2 AS WELL) (NE hf vampire W23) This lithe, beautiful woman is the newest of the Runemasters. Her primary lair in the ruins of Tathar’s capital—an opulent mausoleum in the city’s noble graveyard—is the only direct hint that she is undead. A wizardess of Tathtar and a vampire for over 800 years,
Shyressa’s cat-and-mouse games are seen as pointless by her lich companions, who still admire her abilities and magical prowess.

Having spent the last 75 years working her way through the channels of power under the Runemasters, Shyressa is partially indebted to Kartak Spellseer for destroying the lich who both used her as an agent and kept her from more power. With the resources of many abandoned libraries beneath Tathtar’s ruins, she has developed unique spells that provide her with offensive spells similar to fireball, flaming hands, and flaming
sphere, only using black, cold flames that are easy on undead eyes and more subtle at night.

Among the Runemasters’ greater agents are:

• Charvekannathor, the venerable red dragon of Rrinnoroth in the Kuldin Peaks, whose appetite for orcs has kept them from ever being a problem in the Lands of Intrigue;
• “Clusterfang” (an approximate translation of its name into Common), a deepspawn that entered the Rune upon the death of its predecessor beneath Zazesspur in 1367 DR;
• Raaghar T’Enorgh, a male drow 10th-level priest of Vhaerun and patriarchal leader of the drow enclave of Dallnothax in the Forest of Mir;
• Ralayn the Occultacle, an alhoon from the Forest of Mir and Priamon’s primary ally and agent;
• Tleobar T’Enorgh, a female drow 13th-level fighter/12th-level wizardess, wife of Raaghar, and primary guard of Dallnothax in the Forest of Mir; and
• Vaxall of the Dying Gaze, an elder orb beholder that takes great delight in tormenting and slaying its foes. (HE’S ALSO IN BG2)

Other lesser, rumored agents within the southern Forest of Mir, the Marching Mountains, and safeholds around the Lake of Steam include: one beholder-mage, three other liches (21st-25th level), one elder orb, one gauth (beholder), one kraken, three ogre magi, and a number of priests of Xvim. Within Tethyr (most in the ruins of Shoonach, a few in Memnonnar) are three vampires (Tethyrian F14, Amnian T13, Calishite W 11) who are vassals of Shyressa, one lamia noble, four will o’ wisps, one crimson death, and a number of aging, evil wizards preparing for lichdom and seeking full membership. Contacts and informants number from 20 to 100 living or
undead souls as far afield as Cormyr, Chondath, the Tashalar, and Rashemen. Among the most noted of these low-level contacts is Lance of the Lord Niskam Tresdaap, of the Towers of the Vengeful Hand in Eshpurta, Amn. An enthralled and deluded puppet of Sapphiraktar, Niskam Tresdaap believes the undead dragon is actually Tempus speaking to him.

[Bahamut]

As always very informative Mem

Thanks for your addition to Morgeruat's post... I love these kinds of threads...