Hey Memnoch !!!

[RudeDawg]

Just curious... (oh yeah, check it, I'm a Red Dragon!)

What are your plans for TOB? Do you need some help getting it when it comes out here(USA), or are you planning on waiting?

I want to be sure you're playin at the same time I am, I want to be sure you feel the glory when I post me screenshots of Perin fighting DG...

Ya know, I can EASILY help...



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The RudeDawg
Known in these Forgotten Realms as Perin LightEyes
and my girlfriends, Pamila and Pfil.

"Let them come. Let them ALL come."

[Shadowblade]

Memnoch while reading that could you tell me about the twisted rune organisation, someone said you knew a fair bit about them. THANKS

[Memnoch]

RudeDawg,

I wouldn't miss little Perin's struggles for the world. It'll be like watching CNN in the first days of Desert Storm.

I preordered it from Interplay, getting them to Fedex it to me here in Sydney, so hopefully I'll get it a few days after release (assuming they don't put overseas orders to the back of the queue. But thanks for the offer, mate!

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[This message has been edited by Memnoch (edited 06-02-2001).]

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Shadowblade: Memnoch while reading that could you tell me about the twisted rune organisation, someone said you knew a fair bit about them. THANKS

OK, this is kinda long and I didn't format it properly - just cut and pasted it from the Lands of Intrigue online module.



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 con-
tact or agent cultivated a web of other lesser agents and con-
tacts, 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 pow-
ers 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 con-
trol 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 ra-
pacious members. In the Year of the Soft Fogs (1188 DR), Ry-
sellan’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 de-
stroyed 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 com-
mand; 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 intelli-
gence 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 Trou-
bles. 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 insinu-
ate 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 wild-
space, 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, spew-
ing 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 vil-
lains. [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 in-
volved, the Lords of Waterdeep and Harpers believe it was
simply a private conflict between the exiled Priamon and Ha-
laster. 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 In-
trigue, 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
ing 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 cre-
ated and made the group what it is today. Each lich used its
own agents, who had their own networks in turn. In this origi-
nal 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 con-
cerned. 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 develop-
ment). 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 re-
vealed 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 mem-
ber 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 orbit-
ing 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.
Sythillisian Empire may yet bear fruit in conquest. If it should
not, charmed Rune agents lurk amid the families of Amn, wait-
• Shangalar the Black: (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 cal-
cifying to a flintlike substance, accounting for his high
Armor Class.
He is so paranoid that he killed anyone who found his hid-
den 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 cen-
turies past, but paid for his loyalty with his first body’s de-
struction during the schism that eradicated Rysellan and the
original Rune. Reduced to fragments, Kartak’s body was re-
stored in recent decades due to his many-layered plans, faith-
ful agents, contingencies, well-hidden phylactery, and his con-
trol 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 al-
lowed 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 dra-
colich below) has a range of contacts through secondary
agents and aliases. Though he dresses in an antiquated man-
ner, 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 Calim-
shan 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. De-
spite 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 Morning-
gold: 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 ma-
nipulate any races, the blue dracolich also has a hoard of magi-
cal items, including an arsenal of offensive wands and rods.
• Priamon “Frostrune” Rakesk: (CE hm lich W27) Pria-
mon 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 kid-
napping 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 Arun-
sun the Elder centuries ago. He became a lich in the Year of
the Raging Flame (1255 DR/213 NR) and spent years re-
searching 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 Wiz-
ards’ 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 Nelan-
ther, on the Deepwash, and in the Lake of Steam. Under-
ground and undersea gates also exist. Not all of them link to
the senior liches’ lairs, nor are they all automatic (some requir-
ing a mental or verbal command for their destinations or acti-
vation), but none are visible unless marked by a mosaic for
ease of location.
• Shyressa: (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 un-
dead. 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 par-
tially 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 Rrin-
noroth 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 Dall-
nothax 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 Dall-
nothax 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.
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 Mem-
nonnar) are three vampires (Tethyrian F14, Amnian T13, Cal-
ishite W 11) who are vassals of Shyressa, one lamia noble, four
will o’ wisps, one crimson death, and a number of aging, evil wiz-
ards 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 con-
tacts is Lance of the Lord Niskam Tresdaap, of the Towers of
the Vengeful Hand in Eshpurta, Amn. An enthralled and de-
luded puppet of Sapphiraktar, Niskam Tresdaap believes the
undead dragon is actually Tempus speaking to him.


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[Shadowblade]

THANKS MEMNOCH TALK ABOUT LONG!

That's nothing. You should try asking Mnemoch something like "Hey, Mnemoch, what are the 2nd stats from monsters whose names begin with T-V)"?

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In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is pimp.
http://lordraptor0.tripod.com/index.html

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Lord Shield: That's nothing. You should try asking Mnemoch something like "Hey, Mnemoch, what are the 2nd stats from monsters whose names begin with T-V)"?

Lord Shield, is your sig meant to have that http message there? You need to use IMG tags, mate, if you want it to show. Just thought I'd be my helpful self and point it out to you!

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[RudeDawg]

Originally posted by Memnoch: Lord Shield, is your sig meant to have that http message there? You need to use IMG tags, mate, if you want it to show. Just thought I'd be my helpful self and point it out to you!

It's not an image, it's a link to his LORD RAPTOR page...

funny stuff...



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That's right, Mnemoch. It's just a link to the page that Slackerboy set up for me a while back. My subsequent screenshots are lost. However, there will be more when the evil chicken avenger hits ToB

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In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is pimp.
http://lordraptor0.tripod.com/index.html