The Black Necklace II
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: The Black Necklace II
Author: Trebr Drab
It was at Paws that Hartham, of Trinsic, rescued the last survivor of Paws, Crawworth. But one has to ask, was there a reason for the orc attack that destroyed the village? I believe so, just as I also believe that there was a reason why the very same Hartham was assassinated in the first showing of the Followers of Armageddon (also called the Zog Cabal).
"Tightly clasped around the neck of my person is a necklace, which Hartham once wore."
"It was at that moment a huge crash was let out. All I saw was a swinging flash of gold. This necklace, swinging around the neck of the one whom would rescue me."
Hartham bore a gold necklace, which he later gave to Crawworth. Did the Followers of Armageddon know he gave it to his adopted son? Did they kill him in an attempt to gain that necklace? Read more, before you try to answer these questions.
The Bloody Search Hath Begun
At this time many things started to happen.
The Liche Twins Lathiari and Kyrnia surfaced, Juo'Nar was discovered to be a party to evil actions, the Troll Brothers G'Thunk and G'Splat attack, and many seemingly unrelated happenings occurred.
Most important to this story is when necklaces start to surface. Finth Desrin's wife, Tali, is killed, and a necklace taken. This happens at the same time as Juo'Nar kills 3 monks at the shrine of Sprituality, taking a necklace from them that they had tried to perform some unknown magics on.
"After the shrines had been defended it was discovered that a large force of creatures had waylaid a caravan that travels between Trinsic and Skara Brae. Normally this caravan travels under the protection of the guards, but their number had been drastically reduced due to the emergency. Left with a light escort, the caravan managed to escape into the caves west of Trinsic. Alas, these caves became the spot of their slaughter."
"The head of this caravan was one Tali Desryn, the wife of Finth Desryn. Finth spared no expense and wasted no time in dispatching as many people as he could to assist the caravan. Alas, when the goodly citizens returned a certain necklace to his possession he knew his wife and all other caravan members had been slain."
"He was not seen again after his banishment from Trinsic until he brutally murdered three monks at the Shrine of Spirituality to steal a magical necklace, all the while sending hordes of orcs and lizardmen to attack Trinsic - perhaps to create a diversion. He then launched a large scale attack against the shrines throughout the realm, forcing the regular guard patrols to spread and reduce their numbers.
This allowed him to successfully raid a caravan transporting weapons and other armaments, killing the caravan leader, Tali Desryn, wife of Finth Desryn the new Captain of the Guard of Trinsic."
"However, just as the simultaneous attacks occurred in Yew and Vesper, he was seen near Trinsic consorting with a band of orcs. The orcs soon drew the attention of the townspeople away from Juo'nar and he vanished, only to reappear later at the Shrine of Spirituality. After brutally murdering three monks, he snatched some glowing item from the ground and threw it into his backpack. He appeared ready to leave at this point, but upon seeing Eric of MiRC nearby, boldly dispatching an orc, he stopped to converse briefly. A brief transcript of that conversation is posted here:"
"Juo'nar: YOU THERE! Listen well. I have what I came for."
"Juo'nar: You're petty world of order means nothing to me now.!!"
It is after this point, and only after this point, that undead begin to be used in attacks in massive numbers, under control of Juo'Nar.
Crawworth had resigned his post and named Finth Desrin as successor, and perhaps had given the necklace he inherited from Hartham to the monks to attempt some spell over it, enhanced in the presence of the shrine of spirituality. Finth Desrin may have risked, and lost, in sacrificing his own wife in an attempt to draw the enemy away from the ritual at the shrine.
Other, very important notes from this time in our history. All of the attacking forces, the Trolls, the Liche Twins, and the FOA, made claims to a new ally. It was this ally who seemed to embolden them all. It was this Allie who seemed to be a link between all of this confusion. The theme that they had infiltrated our own, perhaps the very court of British himself, was also rampant.
Even Juo'Nar seemed to be allied to this, but once attaining the magical necklace, all appearances of such an alliance vanished. The question remains, did he break the alliance or was he never a part of the FOA? Were there several forces of evil trying to gain this necklace separately? Or together?
Juo'Nar was finally killed, but his body disappeared and no necklace was spoken of. The Paladins of Trinsic would make no comments. I remember a comment, "Dead bodies don't just walk away"...or do they?
Many things happened, in and about these times, and the FOA were very active. The Relics of Mondain were stolen, recovered, and then stolen again. They were never recovered after that.
There was much to do with the Blackrock and Shrinestone that seems inherently involved in all this.
Then the FOA attempted a casting that was assumed to be a try at the spell of Armageddon, which caused earthquakes all over the lands and opened up the entrances to the Lost Lands.
Crawworth was sent to investigate these new lands, and died there. It was speculated that the Relics of Mondain were used in this casting, but I've found no proof yet of that. It was also speculated that the casting was actually an attempt to revive the Relics, body parts of Mondain. Again, I have found no proof, yet I ask ye to consider the possibilities. It's important that Crawworth was sent into the new lands, who seemed to be deeply involved in the necklace.
Just before the 3 leaders of the FOA were captured, Sir Duquelle was kidnapped and killed in some ghastly ritual. He was a member of Lord British's court, and the last time anyone saw him, they also witnessed this:
Sighting of three strange figures at the castle milling around his chambers. This was right around the last time Sir Duquelle was seen on the castle grounds.While no one was able to say who this trio might be, one chambermaid happened to notice that all three wore the same necklace.
A necklace with some sort of black insignia on it. Quite odd.