The Eye of Zenos

Surrounding the Iceburn Plains was a range of mountains, where the ruins of the Jeweled City of Climanti stood. More interestingly, trill were discovered high up in the mountain peaks, a total of four tribes who served the Guardians of the Icewynd, whom they called the Ice Angels. Also, abandoned caves were discovered, newly evacuated for they showed recent signs of inhabitation. Yet another mystery.

The war between the Guardians and the mysterious ones known as the Forsaken had apparently reached peak. Wanting to aid the Guardians, many of the intrepid explorers sought to help the trill tribes in their part in the war. Churning over the Iceburn Plains was the Cloud Maelstrom, in the center of which spun a strange artifact known as the Dead Spire of Shrieking Winds. Through much effort, the Basin adventurers were able to summon the three leaders of the Forsaken at the Dead Spire. Chade, Sidd and Akui led an epic battle that lasted nearly from dawn to dusk against the Forsaken. In the end, they were successful and, at the direction of the Guardians, bound the bodies in the Dead Spire, which plummeted to the Iceburn Plains below.

The Guardians of the Icewynd directed the trio to travel to the Climanti ruins, for they said the plot of the Forsaken had already been put into motion. Joined by Malarious, Viynain, Tulemrah and Akui, the party was able to open a rift into the far past, which was led to the day of the fall of Climanti during the height of the Vernal Wars.

What happened in the past is not clear, but the time travelers believed they were helping the ill fated citizens of Climanti escape into the future. Heedless of Tulemrah’s reservations about the temporal repercussions that may result, Chade brought the final Climanti citizen to his fate just as Soulless God Zenos attacked the city. Before escaping back into the future, they found yet another Quatrain from the Verses of Magnora, which sent a chill up their spines.

Still, what changing the past had exactly done remained occluded after they returned to their own timestream. The only thing that had apparently changed was a statue had been erected to Chade at some point in the distant past. Then, a diary was unearthed from the time of the Fall of Climanti, the contents of which shed light on what had happened. They were duped. There is no other word for it. The Ice Angels were not what they seemed to be. But the true extent of changing the past was more disastrous than could be imagined.

The Soulless God Zenos had been freed. Or at least enough of him that he was able to form the Eye of Zenos in the center of the Cloud Maelstrom, from where he was able to unleash the Kilgari Wind. Rewarding his trill servants with a portion of his power, trill everywhere were suddenly made strong beyond belief. As Chade was of aslaran stock, aslaran too were given a boon of power.

Estarra appeared Herself to drive Zenos back into his prison, but She discovered that doing so would rip apart reality. Thwarted, the Creatrix retreated, demanding that mortals undo what they had done.

But what could be done? Zenos reveled in the Estarra’s impotence and proclaimed that he would consume the lesser races, then consume the Soulless Gods, then overthrow Estarra and recreate the universe in his own image. Using trill as his master race, Zenos began ordering them to slay the other races (save their aslaran servants), seeming especially keen to absorb the essence of viscanti and illithoid.

And so it comes to be, a Soulless God has been freed and Lusternia teeters on the edge of destruction. The Great War between the Ice Angels and the Forsaken has ended.

And the wrong side lost.

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