Ur-Daemon

The Ur-Daemon were chaotic creatures from another valence or perhaps other valences who invaded Elanthia about 105,000 years ago. It is not known for certain how they gained access to our world, though myths have long suggested the blame lies in some fashion with Eorgina and Fash'lo'nae. These primordial "daemons" were later interpreted by the Elves as being extra-planar entities, whereas their oral traditions attested to shadow monsters devouring the forests. These were powerful demonic entities which fed on both the natural mana foci as well as the life's essence. It has become established over the years that they are so inherently unholy and alien that the power of the Arkati is blinded by them, and that pieces of them which sometimes emerge as powerful artifacts can never really be dead.

They were driven back by the Drakes in a thousand year war, which blasted the landscape for hundreds of miles in the last battle when their remaining portal was collapsed. This is implied to be the Southron Wastes. It is unknown if there was a single great rift or multiple such gateways ripped open through some cosmic violence, suggesting there was widespread vulnerabilities in the veil at the time.

Other extra-planar intruders are associated with this same period of instability, including: the Great Elementals, the Vvrael, the Vishmiir, and Althedeus. The last case was a primordial being formed from the chaos of the war itself. The Eye of the Drake was a powerful artifact designed to seal off the world from the interdimensional rift leading to many other planes of existence. Theology holds that following the destruction of dragon rule, the gods associated with the moons (Arkati) inherited the world and brought life back from brink of annihilation. The historical period is referred to as the Age of Darkness.

Historical Ur-Daemon

It is not necessarily known that the "Ur-Daemon" correspond to a single kind of entity, or if there were heterogeneous hordes of major demonic in a single mass slaughter. The blood of a "dead" Ur-Daemon was collected from Teras Isle by the Palestra Blade Aralyte for her ritual to defeat Althedeus, a demon supposedly born of the chaos from the Ur-Daemon War. These have been visioned as enormous floating squids, essentially black tentacled monsters, but other lore attributes them as having limbs with six fingered claws which is reflected in one of the constellations. The ever flowing black blood was used to charge the crystallized eye of the Ur-Daemon named Ith'can, who vaguely resembled an oculoth, and whose many eyes allowed transportation between valences. The implication is that Ith'can allowed the Ur-Daemon to invade Elanthia, but generally speaking demons are never seen opening portals to our world themselves. The Eye of Goseth corrupted the Luukosian Sanctum of Scales with its dark power.

Myths hold that they originate in an incomprehensible realm of "eldritch madness", and even that they made nurseries out of bleeding chasms in the earth. The stories hold that the land itself was blackened and twisted with their corruption, as they oozed and glided through the landscape without any sensible order. Rhoska-Tor is thought to have been such a place, which Despana searched. There are numerous myths attesting various relationships between Marlu with Eorgina and Fash'lo'nae, ranging from the notion that he was the first Ur-Daemon to breach our world, or even that he was a stranded infant who fell under the care of Eorgina. The rift for which the last great battle took place is interpreted as having provided them inexhaustible renewal of their forces and interplanar bleedthrough of their chaotic power.

Known Ur-Daemon

• Ith'can - An Ur-Daemon resembling an oculoth, with supernatural powers like possession, whose many eyes allowed interplanar travel.
• Goseth - The Eye of Goseth corrupted the Luukosian Sanctum of Scales
• Orslathain - Elven legend has him trying to destroy the sun in wings of infinite darkness
• Unknown - Ur-Daemon dormant in the rocks of Teras Isle
• Marlu - Believed by some to be an Ur-Daemon who sought asylum with the Arkati.
• Kharuugh-Ur - Non-canonical Ur-Daemon who killed the non-canonical Drake Shu'raax. They were famous Ordainers in Shadow World.

Contemporary Extra-planar Beings

• Althedeus
• The Vvrael
• The Vishmiir
• Great Elementals

Demonic Cults

• Disciples of the Shadows
• The Dark Path (archaic)
• Mezics (Maleskari cultists)
• Marluvian cultists (assuming Marlu really is demonic)
• Kyr'orvrad cultists (assuming Kyr'orvrad really is demonic)
• The Cult of Kron'khaal (unofficial)

Temporal Anomalies

Temporal disturbances sometimes reveal scenes of the Ur-Daemon War. These provide glimpses of the otherworldly monsters as they actually existed.

Below Melgorehn's Reach

When Elithain Cross was confronted in 5114 Modern Era, temporal anomalies showed a scene related to the Ur-Daemon and Vvrael. This was also seen in the same place with Teuriz in 5117 M.E.

The air grows warm and ethereal lights drift through the area like ghostly white smoke. Among the pale mist, images form and shift, first depicting a sky filled with ancient Drakes, their fiery breaths pouring out to burn a gnarled black Ur'Daemon that floats through the air like a giant squid, and then next an Ashrim ship gently floating on the waves as fires rage on the distant land.

Planar Shift Distortion

This is what you see when you look into the rift opened by the sorcerer spell Planar Shift (740).

A collage of images fills your mind as you peer into the depths of a shifting twilight grey rift.  You gaze unwaveringly, transfixed by the jumble of historic images racing across your consciousness.  Massive winged beasts, reptilian in nature, flit through a flame-ravaged sky, locked in battle with otherwordly creatures.  Soon enough, the scene changes to one of serenity and peace, various humanoids emerging en masse from caves.  That image, too, fades and is replaced by a great amalgamation of humanoids, all different races standing across a great decaying battlefield juxtaposed to zombies, banshees and other abominations.  But, after only a few seconds, that scene too disappears as quickly as it entered your now reeling mind.  Just as it seems the jumble of images will stop, they start again, in quick succession like a seamstress wielding her loom.  An eternity of tranquil images passes you by, only to be suddenly, and devastatingly replaced by a crude half-elf leading an army of humans towards a small town.  But alas, as the story gets interesting, all the images fade and you avert your gaze.

Teras Isle: Head of the Beast

Aralyte is charging the crystallized eye of Ith'can. The Staff of Ith'can was made for Althedeus from sacrificing Ithzir for their bones. The glaes cavern itself encases a huge wall of veil iron which is clearly unnatural, an anti-magical cage for the beast making teleportation impossible. It emits a high-pitched hum as though it is shrieking, characteristic of very powerful essence nodes and flow storms. There is no lore for how this happened, but the obvious implication is Eonak made it. The reasonable assumption would be this is the thing that took his arm, which he replaced with a veil iron prosthesis.

The strange stone substance that cannot be analyzed, unconscious daemon, bats, indecipherable runes, and the eternal dripping of dark ichor from stone are typical Lovecraftian motifs. If this was intentionally related (e.g. the beetles, the anvil), when the Terrorite demon of Shadow Valley was awoken, there was at the same time a corrosive and foul smelling flood of viscous black liquid. "The beast", "leviathan", and implicitly the lake of fire are likely Biblical, given the influence of the Book of Revelation on the Vvrael quest. The anvil might allude to Isaiah 41:7 from the Hebrew word for "beaten", which would symbolize the defeat of the beast by the smith. The chapter is set in the context of the silence of "the isles" before the judgment of God along with references to Jacob. The Vvrael quest was influenced by the Vedic myth of the serpent demon Vritra, the basis of the Shadow Valley story, where he is defeated using a mace or hammer forged by the artisan god Tvastr. In the quest this was a mace of Eonak.

[Head of the Beast]
The cavern is immense, yet it seems almost dwarfed by the monstrous head of a beast rendered in a strange scaled substance that defies analysis. Emerging from the surrounding walls, its visage is contorted in an eternal grimace of fury and pain. Beneath it sits a large glaes anvil. A steady drip of bubbling black liquid leaks from the glittering eyes and snakes down the sides of the monstrosity's face, falling down upon the anvil's top where it pools just before hissing into a vapor of steam. 
Obvious exits: northeast, southeast

>look head
The leviathan head towers above, dominating the chamber with its hideous snarl. Its dark eyes seem to flash with fury, as light flickers across their reflective surfaces. Tears of smoking black liquid create twin stains down the creases in its gaunt cheeks.

>look anvil
The anvil is expertly fashioned, made of black, shiny glaes and decorated with strange symbols around its base.  Its surface seems oblivious to the hissing liquid dripping down from the hideous visage above.

>read anvil
That's almost certainly a bad idea.

Aralyte walks over closer to the head.
Aralyte says, "It is said..."
Aralyte runs a finger along the cavern wall, and briefly across the monstrous head.
Aralyte asks, "Is it true, perhaps?"
Aralyte asks, "The remnants of an Ur'Daemon?"
Aralyte says, "In time perhaps, I will need to return here."
Aralyte tilts her ithzir bone staff side to side, making the light play off it.
Aralyte walks towards the glaes anvil.
Aralyte raises her ithzir bone staff in triumph!
Aralyte chants her tongue musical and archaic.
Aralyte grips the bone staff in her hands, almost spinning, her grey gossamer cloak flowing out around her like a ripple of silver waves.

Aralyte holds the white eye of the bone staff over the altar, its crystallized surface slowly being covered by the bubbling black liquid leaking from the gnarled, huge scaled head above.

The black liquid pools over the eye, slowly bleeding through the crystallized shell, filling its depths like a slow rising jar of ink.

The white eye hisses as the black liquid continues to bleed over it, wrapping it in a blanket of shadows.

Chants more, closing her eyes and her voice rising in a gentle, melodic tone.

Smoldering fire breaks into life around the eyes of the monstrous head. It flickers for a few moments, then dies away with a sizzle.

For a moment a flash, or a spark, perhaps of life, spreads across the glistening dark eyes of the leviathian head towering above. It is brief, and fades quickly.

The liquid black smoke swirls inside of the white eye on the ithzir bone staff, slowly filling up and turning black.

Aralyte says, "It was successful."
Aralyte says, "The eye, it is filled."

Woken Up

Above the glaes anvil, steam begins to seep out of the huge stone beast's eyes, coiling and twisting up in twin columns.  The sound of hissing fills the chamber, soon augmented by a deep, bass thrum.  The ground starts to shake, giving rise to clouds of dust, which mix with the steam and smoke to form a thick fog.

Through the haze, you see the colossal head begin to rise, its eyes glowing into ruby-tinted life.  The thing is vastly more hideous with the vestiges of life than it was in its dormancy.  Then, to your dismay, it seems to notice you, and the acid-slavering snout approaches, opening as it draws closer.

Suddenly, all motion stops!  You see the head, frozen in the demeanor it had originally... as if it never moved at all.  You almost have a chance to exhale in relief, when a tortured scream rends the caverns, leaving echoes careening around the stone walls like frenzied shades of undead.

Ordinary Scripting (some of these are not room specific)

A tiny vibration passes through the floor.

A spout of steam hisses from the fanged mouth of the stone head.  It slowly drifts up around the snout, giving the eyes an illusion of flickering.

A cloud of lava bats suddenly erupts out of the maw of the immense stone head, creating a mirage of fiery energy with the distinctive blood-red undersides of their wings.  In another heartbeat, the hundreds of tiny mammals have disappeared into the gloom of the cavern.

A drop of hissing, steaming black liquid hits the top of the glaes anvil, splattering into a shower of fiery droplets!

Smoldering fire breaks into life around the eyes of the monstrous head.  It flickers for a few moments, then dies away with a sizzle.

The floor shakes slightly.

The floor quivers beneath your feet.

The floorboards creek slightly as a small tremor passes through the area.

The floor shudders for but a moment, the slight quivers in the earth traveling through your body for several moments after it ceases.

A rim of gooey black liquid pools beneath the eyes of the huge stone head looming above the glaes anvil.  Suddenly,  the liquid bursts into open flame.  The blaze slowly gutters out, leaving twin plumes of smoke curling up from the head's eye sockets.

A loud shriek bursts into life, followed quickly by an explosion of sparks!  Glowing bits of glaes are hurled through the air, creating a fan of trailing smoke above a roiling pool of magma.

The ground shakes and rumbles for a few seconds, then all is calm once again.

The ground begins to rumble slightly for several moments.

The ground begins to shake for a few moments, the mild vibrations traveling across your body.

The ground begins to shake rapidly, the faint vibrations causing the earth to shiver for several moments.

The walls and floor are shaken with a low rumble, which reverberates through the catacombs like the growl of an immense beast.

A globule of viscous black liquid slowly trickles down across the grotesque head's cheek, leaving a trail of smoke to mark its progress.

A jet of steam suddenly shoots up from a fissure in the tumbled floor.  The gas plumes up in a dazzling display, filling the cavern with its deafening hiss!

A shrill, reedy whine hisses into life, building in volume until it feels like knives are probbing your eardrums.  Then abruptly, it ceases, leaving your ears ringing.

A bat suddenly careens through the cavern, zigzagging in its peculiar flight pattern almost too quickly for the eyes to follow.  The fiery magma pools throw bloody reflections on the underside of its wings, giving the animal the appearance of a glowing dervish.

A low ominous rumble heralds an earth tremor.  It shakes the floor and sends the pools of magma over their edges in dangerous splashes accented by careening sparks!

Claw

[Glaes Caverns]
The vast chamber is starkly uncluttered, save for a strange formation of glaes that extends from the center of a pool of magma.  With its grotesque appendages, it seems to reach from the heart of the hissing magma like a misshapen claw clenched in agony.  From the 'palm' of the thing, a slow rivulet of viscous black liquid pulses out, dripping down over the gnarled surface of the outcropping and pooling on the roiling face of the bubbling glaes.
Obvious exits: northeast, southwest

>look claw
The formation towers over the magma surrounding it, its strange dark discharge marking the sides with bubbling stains.  It's almost painful to look at, clenched as it is in such a contorted aspect.  The black substance floating on the liquid glaes gives off a nauseating odor as it burns away into green steam.

Veil Iron Cage

[Glaes Tunnel]
A massive iron wall to the south dominates this gloomy tunnel.  Underfoot, the floor is a vicious track of glaes spikes and pitfalls.  Here and there, pools of molten glaes lie sheathed in steam, which drifts up from the surface of each in a languid, curling dance.
Obvious exits: north

>look wall
Upon closer examination, the wall is revealed to be formed of solid veil iron, with its unique patina and impossible rarity.  Such an immense concentration of the stuff is as staggering as are the monstrous proportions of the wall.  Also disturbing is a high-pitched hum which emanates from the wall in pulsing bursts, almost as if the thing is screaming.

>go door
[Glaes Vein]
The corridor ends.  Abruptly, it simply melts away at the foot of a huge wall of metal so dark, the thing seems to absorb what little light exists in the gloom.  The metal is banded with rows of studs, each one incised with a strange device, and it is embraced on all sides by solid glaes, as though the mountain was forged to support it.
Obvious exits: south

The Drake's Shrine

The Drake's Shrine was supposedly built by the Arkati themselves after the Ur-Daemon War ended. It was sealed off from mortals for over a hundred millennia.

The following is a depiction they painted of the Ur-Daemon:

[Vaulted Aisle East, Ice Shrine]
The vaulted hallway veers to the northwest, marked by an increase of shadow in that direction as the reflections from the ice behemoth are less ambient.   This part of the hallway is notable for its rich frescos that alternate with the columns on the aisle's exterior walls.  Overhead, the ceiling's elevated arch is as graceful as a heron's wing poised for flight.
Obvious exits: south, southwest, northwest

>look fresco
The scene painted into the wall's frozen plaster is vivid, even though viewed through its skin of ice.  It depicts a great battle, the sky a wall of fire and vast armies caught frozen in combat.  Against the battalions of heroes is arrayed a vast and terrible army of darkness, its countless legions misshapen and horrible to look upon.  Poised at the center of this sprawling vista, you see a majestic, winged drake breathing a spout of fire as hordes of the vile minions of shadow overrun it.  The heroes seem to fight with desperation born of horror.  You marvel that pigment painted into wet plaster eons ago could convey such agony and emotion.

Museums

There are some representations of the Ur-Daemon in museums. These should probably be treated as only artist interpretations. Here the Ur-Daemon are winged humanoids with black eyes and sharp features.

Stormbrow Gallery on Teras Isle (originally in the Wehnimer's Landing museum)

[Gallery, Ancient History - , 3013018]
This room is painted in rock-hues:  greys, blacks, mottled whites.  Nothing lively adds to the ambiance.  On the far wall, two paintings hang on either side of a black veil iron obelisk.  A war troll skeleton stands guard near the pedestal on which stands an obsidian bust.  A spidersilk tapestry covers the room's exit.
Obvious exits: none

>look paint
The landscape is savaged.  Great cracks rend the earth, and fires blaze to the horizon.  Through the haze, the forms of a handful of dragons can be seen.  Some few are aloft, but most of them lie on the ground, gravely wounded or slain.  The mutilated corpses of pale, winged humanoids lie scattered about a great crater.  Smoke pours forth from the pit.

>look other paint
A herd of drakes flies to battle.  Their foes are winged humanoids with pale skin, sharp features, and coal black eyes.  The sky flashes with titanic energies.

Artifacts

Ur-Daemon Obelisk

Wehnimer's Landing Museum (Circa 5101 Modern Era). This would allegedly allow adventurers to hear the thought net on Teras Isle, and at one point it was possible to send familiars through to it. The obelisk was moved to the Stormbrow Gallery on Teras at some point during the 5100s.

(veil iron obelisk)
The obelisk is black, so dark it seems to absorb the light. A band of glyphs is carved around the middle. You find them incomprehensible and strangely disturbing. Though black velvet ropes prevent you from approaching the obelisk too closely, you feel a slight chill emanating from it. A small plaque stands on a tripod just inside the ropes.

>read sign
It reads:
The Ur-Daemons

>read plaque
It reads:
Recovered from the ora mines in Rhoska-Tor, this strange artifact is thought by some to be an Ur-Daemon relic.

The Book of Tormtor

According to legend, Despana discovered the Book of Tormtor by searching the old places of the Ur-Daemon, finding it in the land now known as Rhoska-Tor in the southern wastelands. It was said to have been written in their language, which could potentially be the inborn Dark Elven language. This artifact was later sought by Shar as part of her quest to ascend herself to godhood, who was supposedly the daughter of Despana. The release event for the Animate Dead (730) spell allegedly involved using a page taken from the Book of Tormtor which was then said to be in Shar's possession.

The Book of Ur

The Book of Ur is a "a work of pure and unalloyed horror" that "splits the minds of mortals asunder." (In the "Origins of Tonis" document "the Ur" is an idiom for the Ur-Daemon.) It was stolen by Orrisian, Captain of the Firebird airship, from the Sand Snakes out of a temple of Luukos. It is on the airship where it has come alive a few times and turned passengers inside out. Orrisian was hired to get it away from the heretical sect and ultimately kept it, instead of giving it to the Luukosian Order who had hired him to get it. The Sand Snakes are the cult who became corrupted by the Eye of Goseth.

The Staff of Ith'can

It is an "ithzir bone staff" with the crystallized eye of the Ur-Daemon Ith'can. When charged it is able to open gateways to other planes of existence, and was used by Aralyte to turn Lake Eonak by Melgorehn's Reach into a portal to the Shadow plane where Althedeus was defeated. The staff was made using the bones of sacrificed Ithzir for Grak'na'Den, the Ithzir epithet for Althedeus, who they called "father of the black heavens" in the Tehir language. It was pivotal in the finale of the Cross into Shadows storyline, and was later mentioned to provide backstory for Aralyte's red soulstone.

Return to Sunder Storyline
(9th Olaesta 5116 Modern Era)
Vynessa asks, "Are you all familiar with the Staff of Ith'can?"
Vynessa asks, "It was recovered, I believe, almost two years ago?"
Puptilian asks, "Was going to say, wasn't it part of what we used to get into the shadow realm?"
Vynessa says, "The Blade Aralyte, it was within some of Grishom's collection."
Puptilian asks, "What they went to Teras for?"
Vynessa says, "Precisely."
Vynessa says, "It was forged by the bones of ithzir, and capped with the eye of an Ur'Daemon, or so the story goes, or I suppose, went."
Falvicar quietly says, "Snd filled with demon blood from Teras."
Vynessa says, "The white eye was.."
Vynessa nods at Falvicar.
Vynessa says, "Exactly, filled with the blood of a demon, and then used to turn Lake Eonak into a pool of shadow, allowing many of you into the Shadow Realm."
Vynessa says, "When many of you confronted Althedeus."
Vynessa says, "The staff is presumed gone now, I do not recall what transpired to it, rather it crumbled, or remained with Aralyte in the blackness."
Vynessa says, "But the staff was forged by ithzir bones, and per Grishom's writings..."
Vynessa says, "And, let me preface this all."
Vynessa says, "Grishom Stone is a madman."
Vynessa says, "It took me only a few moments of regarding his work and musings and research to confirm what I knew from the stories I'd heard."
Vynessa says, "But, it is important to understand the enemy, at any rate."
Vynessa says, "I think another item of such, exists."
Vynessa says, "The staff was said to be forged by ithzir bones, but, was actually created by an ithzir."
Vynessa says, "Grishom believed, the creator actually had volunteers sacrifice themselves to try to make this staff."
Vynessa says, "Grak'na'Den."
Vynessa says, "Grak'na'Den is the Ithzir's name for Althedeus."

The Shroud of the Red Dreamer

There was a shroud of Ur-Daemon origin in the Red Dreamer storyline which possessed their power of sealing the wearer off from the Arkati entirely. It was guarded by the Dreamwalkers of Ronan, who were forbidden to use it because it was dangerous. One of the Dreamwalkers named Indhis sought to use the shroud to separate himself from his duty to the order of being shed of mortal bonds because of his love for a woman named Yaolara. He was manipulated into this path by a traitorous Dreamwalker named Nostus, who was seeking to ruin the order from within itself. Indhis was their best swordsman and defeated them all in combat, with Tseleth fleeing into Bir Mahallah where he would become corrupted into the worship of Luukos. (Tseleth has referred to the shroud itself as "The Skin", which he claims infected and weakened him allowing him to be killed.)

The Dreamwalkers made an agreement with Ronan to put Yaolara into an eternal sleep after drawing Indhis inside of her mind. Nostus was able to infiltrate this mental prison and torment Indhis, who would eventually become the Red Dreamer. Since Indhis was wearing the Ur-Daemon shroud, it was impossible for the Arkati to intervene directly. Tseleth would later reappear seeking the shroud under the premise that it was too dangerous to be in the possession of the Red Dreamer. Tseleth had assembled a horde to assault Solhaven and destroy the Red Dreamer, but was betrayed by his construct Athamael, who sought to escape his own fate in the maw of Luukos.

It would turn out that Athamael required his master's knowledge to free himself from damnation. Nostus escaped from the mind prison at some point and was assisting Athamael in opening the maw to retrieve Tseleth, but was pushed off a high precipice by Athamael, who opened the maw by himself but was sucked into it. There was a ritual of massive sacrifice happening below the temple which pulled Morvule from his own prison, the high priest of Luukos who was the leader of the Dark Alliance in the Griffin Sword Wars. Morvule opened the maw and retrieved Tseleth after all, who had since been transformed into an arch-lich of Luukos. Tseleth was able to repair the seal on the prison of the Red Dreamer, which put Yaolara back into a deep sleep but ended the nightmares of Indhis that were manifesting in the world.

The Eye of Goseth

The Eye of Goseth is an artifact the arch-lich Tseleth was seeking to remove from the Sanctum of Scales, which was corrupted by the power of the Ur-Daemon due to a mutiny by Azradim, one of his human followers in The Sand Snakes. Tseleth wished to open the way with the power of soulstones and banish the Eye of Goseth into Bir Mahallah where it would be sealed off from mortals forever. Azradim was corrupted and possibly animated by the Eye, and fled to Solhaven from the Oculus of the Sanctum by an aperture opened by it. He was confronted underground by Tseleth in Luukosian holdings, and Tseleth banished both Azradim and the Eye of Goseth into the Maw of Luukos (another plane) to be consumed by mawfire. These events took place on the 8th and 9th of Phoenatos in 5116 Modern Era.

A tiny pinpoint of light winks on the distant horizon, far off to the southeast.
A slight breeze causes the tiny pink threads dangling from a floating malachite green eye to flutter softly while hovering in mid air.
The point of burning light blazes brighter, now clearly moving across the skies. As it nears, there is a distinct greenish hue to its radiance.
The careening light streaks toward Solhaven, wobbling drunkenly on its course. Now within range of Vornavis, it is clearly a sphere of streaking flame with the hue of a cut emerald in sunlight."
A floating malachite green eye enters the area.
A floating malachite green eye floats over towards Aydan and stares straight into his eyes.
A high-pitched keening shriek fills the air as the sphere of fire closes in on Solhaven. Now, it is near enough to make out a skeletal form wreathed in the flames.
The skeletal figure crashes down into the town, sending up a cloud of virdian flame to the south.

Tseleth reaches toward Menos with one crooked talon, his bony claw grasping Menos's skull and slicing his scalp to bloody ribbons. That is merely the indignity before Menos's true fate: the air around him warps with heat as emerald flames gout from his pores!
...39973 damage! Utter destruction.
Menos's eyes pop, fire gouting from the empty sockets and leaving blackened chasms behind.
* Menos drops dead at your feet!
Menos seems to lose some focus as his eyes narrow and shift momentarily to one side.

Tseleth begins, haltingly at first and obviously still weak. "I require... the assistance of this town's populace."
Tseleth says, "I am betrayed."
Tseleth says, "My Sanctum, taken from me. My priesthood corrupted."

Speaking to Tseleth, Shannivar says, "Oh, you poor thing. A Luukosian betrayed, what a shocking occurance."
Speaking to Shannivar, Tseleth says, "I am all that there is between you and the powers of the Ur."
Tseleth crumples into a crouching position.
In a lightning-swift blur of movement, Tseleth's blurs back into a standing position.

Speaking flatly to Tseleth, Aydan asks, "All right, what's the deal with the arrow? I thought you were supposed to be utterly invincible?"
Bristenn briskly remarks, "I would assume it'd take a bit more than that to wound you, than just a stick and iron bodkin."
Speaking to Aydan, Tseleth says, "It has... infected me. The Skin."

Cleodelia says, "Depends on who's skeleton that is flaming."

Speaking to Alisaire, Tseleth asks, "The Order. What has happened to the Order? Why do they not answer the call?"
Speaking simply to Tseleth, Alisaire says, "They have withdrawn from this region save for two."
Tseleth stumbles to the edge of the ramp, supporting himself on the base of the tower. His talons dig into the stone.

Speaking to Cleodelia, Tseleth says, "He does not answer, the one our master held most dear. I hear that he perished in the white fires of his foes."

Speaking to Tseleth, Alisaire repeats, "Do you have it?"

Speaking hurriedly to Tseleth, Bristenn continues, "The High Priest is no more?"
Speaking to Bristenn, Tseleth says, "So I have heard. So I have heard that his Order was in disarray."
Tseleth says, "So it was that my Sand Snakes rose to primacy, for we were safe and protected by the Master."

Speaking to Tseleth, Cleodelia says, "There is much in disarray at this point."

Tseleth quietly says, "But there are things that even the Master fears. A matter I was once sent here to prevent."
Speaking to Aydan, Tseleth says, "No, the Skin is safely entombed for ever more with its mad wearer."
Speaking to Tseleth, Aydan asks, "But you mentioned an Eye?"
Tseleth says, "But the Eye of Goseth... it has been found."

Alisaire asks, "Who has it?"

Speaking to Tseleth, Bristenn demands, "You'll have to elaborate on that bit of lore, Cold."
Speaking to Cleodelia, Tseleth says, "The Blameless wage a war against the children of the Serpent."
Tseleth says, "A piece of an Ur-Daemon never dies."
Wadsworth asks, "What do you want? Why should we care?"
Tseleth says, "It is full and brimming with the power of its originator."
Tseleth says, "Each artifact of the Ur has a power that the Arkati cannot touch, cannot penetrate."
Several of the bones along Tseleth's ribs snap as they realign and repair themselves.

Speaking to Bristenn, Tseleth says, "One of my flock has found the Eye and brought it to the Sanctum."
Tseleth says, "My Sanctum."
Speaking to Tseleth, Alisaire asks, "And what has happened there?"
Tseleth ignores the insult, tottering across the way and leaving a trail of green flames.
Tseleth says, "I did not know until it was too late that a mutiny brewed within our ranks."

Aydan asks, "All right, then. So what happens with this so-called Eye, and why is it a bad thing that he brought it to your sanctum? And why should we help you about it?"
Speaking to Tseleth, Aydan says, "Because frankly, after the trouble you've caused us in the past, I'm still leaning toward the verdict that anything causing you consternation is a good thing."
Speaking to Aydan, Tseleth says, "A human hand holds an artifact of the Ur. Such a thing is of grave import to the Arkati. You, of all people, should know what comes next."
Speaking dryly to Tseleth, Aydan says, "Yes, you show up, throw some threats around, rip some soul fragments out of people, and tell us you're the only one that can fix it if only you have our cooperation."

Speaking to Wadsworth, Tseleth says, "The Eye must be sealed away. Buried."

Speaking mildly to Tseleth, Alisaire asks, "What do you need for us to do to help, then?"
Cleodelia says, "If Tseleth says it must be sealed away for no one to use, not even himself. That is serious indeed."
Speaking to Githros, Tseleth says, "It must go to Bir Mahallah. The place where none can enter and leave."
Tseleth says, "They have raised wards against me."

Speaking to Aydan, Tseleth says, "There is... a place here that I thinned long ago. Scratched at the walls of the world so that I might forever join its space with that of the Sanctum."
Speaking to Tseleth, Raelee asks, "... there?"
Speaking to Tseleth, Raelee says, "It has not changed."
Speaking to Raelee, Tseleth says, "Below."
Tseleth says, "With enough power, I could open the way."
Tseleth says, "Soulstones. I am too weak to accomplish this rite without their power."
Tseleth says, "I can barely travel by fire, so drained am I."

Speaking caustically to Tseleth, Bristenn asks, "Once this 'way' is opened, you intend to tuck talon and scuttle off over the horizon, like when you battled Indhis?"
Speaking to Bristenn, Tseleth says, "I am the Chosen of the Master. I will do as he commands, as always I have."
Tseleth places a hand on Bristenn's skull in an almost paternal gesture.
Speaking to Bristenn, Tseleth says, "You were always one of my favorite experim--oh. Not Athamael."
Bristenn deadpans, "Verily."

Tseleth lets out a rumble of almost-mirth, the flames in his belly flickering wildly.
Tseleth says, "I will need time to recover. A day. And then... soulstones."
Speaking to Tseleth, Amerek asks, "How many soulstones do you require? Several? Several hundred?"
Speaking to Amerek, Tseleth says, "As many as can be found in the passing of a day."
Tseleth says, "Full of power and energy."
Speaking to Raelee, Tseleth says, "It is the Grey Lady's duty to sort such things. I care only for the power."

Speaking to Areigha, Tseleth says, "...I am, and always have been, an honorable being."
Tseleth says, "I shall prove my good will."
A single flickering ember drifts free from Tseleth's belly, writhing like a tortured man.
Aydan stares at Tseleth.
Speaking to Aydan, Tseleth asks, "A kindness. You see?"
Aydan growls, "Fine, I'm slightly less disposed to trying to throw you into the bay and see if that puts out the flames."

Tseleth throws his skeletal head back and stares upward with eyes of virescent fire. His wings unfurl to their full, impressive width. He crouches, then launches himself skyward, trailed by greenish-white flames.

Melgorehn's Reach

It is unclear what the origin is of the krodera and veil-iron orb in the monolith of Melgorehn's Reach. Loul the Enchanter was a story from the I.C.E. Age, but the "daemonic" details and "pure" veil-iron would not make sense in the original context. It might be an ancient artifact from deep in the Age of Darkness. The fundamental premise is that Loul used very rare (ancient) artifacts of extreme power to make the Reach. These would have been Lord of Essaence artifacts from the First Era. However, the Essence Lords did not exist in Elanthia, so this orb is possibly an Ur-Daemon relic given the modern history.

[Melgorehn's Reach, Lost in the Fog]
You are in a dense fog bank and can see absolutely nothing.  You realize that you can probably back out of here easily enough.
Possible paths: out

XXX glances at an ancient granite monolith.

>look monolith
Twisting runes and carvings along the face of the monolith dance in your vision causing you to sway uneasily.  You can't seem to keep a clear focus on them long enough to decipher what they mean. Imbedded into the monolith is a large, krodera orb covered with veins of pure veil iron.  The detailed stonework around the orb portrays hordes of daemon clutching at the orb.  The daemon's arms extend toward the orb, their claws digging into the its surface and securing it in place.  The orb pulses rhythmically with a dull red glow.  The veil iron veins seem to writhe as the opposing magics caress them and tap their power, and a swirling mist surrounds the monolith as if protecting it.  There is a small, gem-shaped, indentation just above the orb which is empty.

This is clearly related to the mist-shrouded krodera orb in the Summoning Chamber of the Sheruvian Monastery. There are tapestries depicting Melgorehn's Reach in the monastery. The mechanics for the summoning chamber have been turned off for many years, they are part of a long distance teleportation network. It pulls people toward it like the one on Melgorehn's Reach. Casting magic at this orb will potentially strip all of your spells and mana, inflicting severe nerve damages. It would be unwise to experiment with it without carrying all of the necessary nerve wound and scar herbs.

>look
[Monastery, Summoning Chamber]
Wisps of smoke waft up from a black vaalin censer mounted on one richly panelled wall, filling the room with a sweet, sulfurous scent.  The walls are hung with ancient tapestries depicting the magical arts, and low cabinets along the walls hold a variety of phials, bottles, and leather tomes behind securely latched glaes panels.  A single incandescent globe is suspended from the ceiling, illuminating the room with its eerie glow.  You also see some carved haon double doors, an ancient hand-woven tapestry and a long vaalin worktable with a mist-shrouded krodera orb on it.
Obvious exits: none

>look orb
Resting atop an intricate vaalin filigree stand is a large, krodera orb covered with veins of pure veil iron.  The filigree work on the stand portrays hordes of daemon clutching at the orb.  The daemon's hands extend up from the base, their claws digging into the surface of the orb, securing it in place.  The orb pulses rhythmically with a dull red glow.  The veil iron veins seem to writhe as the opposing magics caress them and tap their power.  A swirling mist surrounds the orb as if protecting it.  There is a small, gem-shaped, indentation in the stand which is empty.

>touch orb
You reach up to touch the orb.  The smooth cold surface seems solid enough, but when you tentatively move your hand towards it, some force begins to pull you forward!  You pull your hand back in alarm, glancing warily at the orb.

>rub orb
You rub the orb, which gives you a slight shock.
You succeed in upsetting the mist, but nothing more.

A large brown rat bolts out from under the worktable quickly followed by a hissing black cat, spitting its annoyance at the rat for its intrusion.  As they enter the crimson vaalin summoning circle on the floor, pale blue bolts of lightning arc out from the krodera orb, engulfing both of them!  When the smoke clears, nothing remains of either of them except for the lingering stench of burnt hair and a small splotch on the floor just inside of the circle.

You notice a tiny spider begin to work its way up the intricate vaalin stand.  As the spider's legs touch the surface of the orb, it flares with a sickly green light.  As your vision clears, you notice that nothing remains of the spider.

The orb will do nothing out of the ordinary if Elemental Detection (405) is cast at it, but it will severely injure and drain for possibly every other spell. It has the ability to give a malevolent vision of another time and place, possibly triggered similarly to the crystal dome with enough casts and a cooldown effect, though more likely a random ambient room messaging. The script is pulling the most recent room description of town square, not a saved copy from decades ago. The crimson light may be related to the Sheruvian death messaging, their own reincarnation method analogous to the hooded figures.

The orb on the worktable pulses once with a deep crimson light.  You feel its power reaching out to you, and you are unable to tear your eyes from it!  The power of the orb begins to overwhelm you, and you feel disoriented as your mind fills with the image of another place...

[Town Square Central]
This is the heart of the main square of Wehnimer's Landing.  The impromptu shops of the bazaar are clustered around this central gathering place, where townsfolk, travellers, and adventurers meet to talk, conspire or raise expeditions to the far-flung reaches of Elanith.  At the north end, an old well, with moss-covered stones and a craggy roof, is shaded from the moonlight by a strong, robust tree.  The oak is tall and straight, and it is apparent that the roots run deep.  You also see an herbal remedy donation bin and some stone benches with some stuff on it.
Obvious paths: northeast, east, southeast, southwest, west, northwest

Flames are rapidly consuming the tree as the clerics and empaths gathered attempt to attend to the wounded and dying.  Every person in the square is covered with burns, and you can almost hear the screams of suffering in your mind.  The vision fades as quickly as it came, and you collapse to the ground in horror.  The faint smell of burning flesh lingers in the air.

The Talon of Toullaire

The Talon is an artifact that is said to have absorbed the chaotic magical properties of the Wizardwaste. It is considered to be a fragment of a larger "siphon stone" artifact from the Age of Darkness, a relic of either the Drakes or more likely the Ur-Daemon, which has the ability to absorb tremendous amounts of magical power from targets. It was used as a power source by the Arcanum of Toullaire, and a defense method for the city by blasting out flames. Grand Magister Dennet Kestrel acquired it, which caused his family to be corrupted by it. He sought to fix them in the Keeping up with the Kestrels storyline.

His wife Reannah was plagued with disfiguring sickness, his son Cyph had chaotically augmented fire elemental powers, and his (illegitimate) daughter Naimorai gained uncontrolled necromantic powers. He used the Talon to transfer the fire elemental out of Cyph, which was done in the Bleaklands for its magical similarity to the Wizardwaste, which was formed from Raznel annihilating Talador through Chaston Griffin detonating a blood marble obelisk fueled with magically diseased half-elven blood. Naimorai would later turn out to be the young Raznel, who had been trapped in the past in Toullaire.

Dennet later used the Talon to smash the invasion forces of the rogue Grand Magister Octaven, who he gave the Talon after Quinshon failed to transfer the soul of his wife to a new body. Quinshon seeks it in relation to the blood harvest of Grishom Stone, claiming it is to counter "the Blood God", but he is a known to be a prolific "dissembler." Quinshon is the true father of Naimorai, who is one of his "seeds."

Dennet says, "What I know of the Talon, and all of which Rodnay would have acquired from those five."

Dennet says, "Your fault, really."

Dennet says, "Free the boy, you begged."

Dennet chuckles.

Dennet says, "He'll come for your secrets next."

Xorus pointedly asks, "Is the Talon the cause of the emergence of the Chaos Lord three decades ago?"

Dennet looks over at Xorus and shakes his head.

Dennet shrugs.

Dennet says, "It's like an academy room full of children..."

Dennet slowly empties his lungs.

Dennet says, "Some history will help explain it..."

Dennet clears his throat.

Dennet says, "In 4290, Archmage Hergios stands as the final opposition against the rising Turamzzyrian Empire, after Toullaire's allies of Gor'nustre and Kedshold have fallen. Facing assured defeat, Hergios finally concedes Toullaire to Empress Selantha."

Dennet asks, "Do you understand these places and people?"

Dennet says, "I know you do."

Dennet nods to Xorus.

Xorus says, "I was relatively young at the time. But yes."

Dennet says, "Despite his surrender, Selantha has the archmage's manor burned to the ground, many claiming Hergios was trapped inside to be burnt alive. Other rumors indicated Hergios lived on, still proving to be a powerful, secretative force in Toullaire."

Dennet says, "But little has been known about an ancient artifact Hergios had stuffed away in the basement of his manor. At that time, it appeared to be no more than a giant rock crystal, with even Hergios unaware of what powers it held."

Dennet says, "Some scholars would speculate that the rock was a fragment of a Siphon Stone, or perhaps something similiar, that had been said to have first been created during the Age of Chaos. It was a crystalline device that was intended to absorb power and energy from great magical targets, perhaps even deployed against Ur'Daemons by the Drakes, or vice versa. The truth is likely never to be learned."

Dennet says, "However, when Selantha's fires lit Hergios Manor, destroying all the Archmage had known and loved, the wild burning destruction activated the once dormant rock. The fires that ruined the manor were siphoned into the stone, creating far more power than could have been imagined. It would be years later that the Arcanum, an academy of more liberal mages in Toullaire would discover the object and name it the Crescent of Fire, aptly describing its jagged half-circle shape and its fiery glow and power within."

Dennet says, "It is said that while the mages of Toullaire barely tapped into to the amplified power within the Crescent, they had managed to fashion it to become both a powerful utilities and defensive relic for their great city. For a time, as some rumors indicate, the Crescent was used to provide eternal fires for blacksmith's forges and bubbling cauldrons, where mages explore a variety of rituals in forging blood-infused weapons."

Speaking to Dennet, Marijka asks, "Is there any connection between these stones and the Mandis Crystals?"

Dennet shrugs at Marijka.

Dennet says, "Once, a few historians recorded a battle where orcish hordes had suffered waves of fiery assault from the Crescent as they tried to strike Toullaire, never even reaching the city."

Dennet says, "A useful tool."

Dennet grins.

Dennet says, "In 4547, Hyla Kestrel of the Hall of Mages waged a campaign against the Arcanum and Toullaire, warning that they practiced dangerous and forbidden magic, and while no action was taken at the time, the Arcanum did begin to lose members and influence. At that time, an Archmage of the Arcanum had decided to lock the Crescent away, hoping to show some measure of transparency when trying to avoid the wrath of the Sun Throne."

Dennet says, "Transparency..."

Dennet says, "For all it got them."

Dennet smirks.

Dennet says, "In 4565, a magical catastrophe laid waste to all of Toullaire, reducing the city and its people to ash and dust and created what is now known as the Wizardwaste, or Ba'Lathon in the old tongue of the Kannalan Empire."

Dennet asks, "You know of this place, correct?"

Dennet says, "While no one knows exactly what happened to cause the destruction of Toullaire, whether it was their dangerous magic coming back to haunt them, or even the Hall of Mages and Kestrels trying to ruin their competition for good, none can be certain."

Dennet says, "But in the wake of the creation of the Wizardwaste, the potent and chaotic magic that was unleashed in the area had also successfully been siphoned into the Crescent."

Dennet says, "Over the decades, some would even say at night, as one approaches the death cloud of the Wizardwaste, they could at times make out a glowing amethyst crescent-shaped light in the dust and ash. Some had gone on to describe the light as more of a talon shape than crescent, and thus the new name, Talon of Toullaire was born."

Dennet says, "..and there you have it."

Dennet says, "The collective information of not five, but six minds."

Urglaes Spheres

Folklore holds that urglaes was the cursed metal the Ur-Daemon used against the Drakes. Eonake was similarly thought to have been used as a blessed weapon against the Ur-Daemon. The legend has it that this is why eonake is so widely scattered and there is most always small amounts of urglaes nearby. Urglaes is only found in large amounts in ancient long-dead lava flows. It is a volatile metal that has a range of dark magical properties that are inherently dangerous to the wielder, and the pure metal is capable of performing lasting curses and horrible transformations to the limbs of smiths trying to work with it.

Despana is thought to have used it in her workshops and there are deposits around the blasted lands of Maelshyve. She had specifically searched the lands for the old places of the Ur-Daemon in search of ancient artifacts. There are supposedly perfect spheres of urglaes, which are extremely rare and rumored to be unnatural in origin, often streaked with misty veins of crimson and up to three feet in diameter. They are said to hold great and terrible magical power, and legend holds they were magical tools of the Ur-Daemon. These are known of but not in the possession of learned mages to be studied.

Resources

• History of Fash'lo'nae (official documentation)
• Origins of Cholen and Tilamaire (official documentation)
• Origins of Tonis (official documentation)
• Rough account of the Ur-Daemon War
• Marlu's Profile
• Elanthian Times, Volume 3, Issue 2

Behind the Scenes

Very little is established about the Ur-Daemon, other than their inherent unholy power, and the idea that they can never truly be dead. The archaic spelling "daemon" is Lovecraftian where this same concept of a sleeping death that is never truly dead would apply to otherworldly entities like Cthulhu. The "father of serpents" Yig in the Cthulhu Mythos would be regarded as "the ur-daemon" (the truth behind the fiction) behind mythical Mesoamerican underworld snake gods such as Quetzlcoatl, and he is an "ur-text" behind the wyrm of Shadow Valley and possibly even the abyran. The prefix "ur" would simply mean "first", "original", or "primordial." They would be the original demons of prehistorical memory, as opposed to those lesser demonic who emerge through random rifts from mana storms and celestial alignments.

While the official lore has nothing in the way of religions specifically devoted to the Ur-Daemon, there have been some demonic cults related to theology surrounding the First Age cataclysm. With a modernized retcon of the I.C.E. Age lore surrounding The Dark Path, their idiosyncratic beliefs regarding "Ka'Daena" and the "Gates of the Void" can be twisted to reflect the Ithzir "Grak'na'Den" and Tehir "Maw of the Void." The Broken Lands could be reinterpreted with Althedeus replacing the imprisoned Kabis, if the Kabis interpretation of the Broken Lands was being used, with The Dark Path treated as a cult of Shadows with an odd theology of Eorgina. These interpretations are purely apocryphal and would not be backed up by any modern lore, though a Marluvian talisman does resemble the Broken Lands.