The Great Old Ones (The Ancients)

[venger]

Feldspar’s Notes:

A loose collection of tattered, dog-eared pages, covered in flowing script, arcane symbols and bizarre runes. Among the assorted formulae and incantations, the following items stand out:

A complete recipe for a potion of “raw mana”.

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The Invocation of Binding –
A ritual magick containing instructions to invoke a “Riftal Summons,” entreating a being from the “Outer Night” into the caster’s service. Two entities are named specifically:
Ankesh the Undulant
Zariel, Slasher of the Veils

The components vary according to the form of the dweomer, but include: a continuous chanting utterance read from the scroll or book page giving the spell; gestures appropriate to the form of binding; and materials such as miniature chains of special metals and soporific herbs of the rarest sort, and a vellum depiction or carved statuette of the entity to be bound.

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A detailed study of enoptromancy, including practices and principles thereof.

Vague notes on the design and construction of a “black mirror”, (estimated cost 6000GP)

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Much more detailed than a simple star chart, these pages hold a collection of stellar maps, calculations, and notes based on observation and astrological theory. They contain detailed information about the movements of individual stars, entire constellations, the planets, the moon and also a unique phenomenon known as the “Horn of Zargon”

Indecipherable notes on "Stellar Algorithms" and "Celestial Anomalies" fill one full page.***



The Great Heirophant commands your return. The stars have changed and our power wanes. Bring the wealth treasure? of the temples and the people of the lowlands valleys to answer the One.

The Lost Cities of Hatahk’aa

Temple of Outer Night



The Account of “Our Place in the Shadows”

Beyond the The Sea of Samash? in the Valley of the Ancients lies Laan-hatra… in the place where mankind was created, there the Ancient Word was firmly established. Let the wise teach the mystery to the wise.

This is the beginning of the ancient Word, here in this place called Laan-hatra. Here we shall inscribe, we shall implant the Ancient Word, the potential and source for everything done in the Citadel of Ixx. And here we shall take up the demonstration, revelation and account of how things were put in shadow and brought to light by the Maker-Modeller, Sovereign Shaper, Heart of the Sky, Voice of the Heavens.

Ixx: The Vault of Ages -- KEY? When the Serpent’s Eye and the Great Horn are in trine make haste to Ixx… the sacred tapestries will guide the way.



Those who know not the Word, Despair! The Gate bars thy way, would-be intruder, and only those privy to the Word know the runes! Crawl back to your cities of structured folly and temples of Order, dog!

Gates to Another World? Worldgate

IN HIS PRISON OUTSIDE OF TIME? waits the Lurker at the Threshold, Eyes in the Dark always watching

The Masque of Vorha:
A spirit of Wisdom that resides in the Concordant Opposition, bound to the masque by the master artificer Ramachandran, in the seven hundredth year of the Age of Ruin. Will answer any single question posed, once per day.
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Wand of Petrification:
Detailed instructions to recharge the wand are included, requiring the breath of a gorgon. Command word: “Lithos”
Operates only on touch.


*** Colby and Finnious' attempts to decipher these calculations has so far proven unsuccessful. They are either an attempt to track a grand conjunction of celestial bodies or an attempt to locate a specific location using the stars.

[venger]

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, descending out of heaven, her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and RUNES written thereon, which are the names of the twelve great lords of Outer Night; on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and mortared in them the blood of the twelve Heirophants. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every single gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temples therein: for those who dwelt in this place were as gods. And all the nations of those who have come since shall walk in the shadow of it: and all the kings of the earth shall hold no glory or honour above it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; and they shall reign for ever and ever.

[venger]

Draped from the walls and suspended from the ceiling, ancient preserved hides depict the journey of a robed figure from a strangely carved temple, (which seems vaguely familiar) in an alien-looking city of black stone.

The figure travels for many days, south, (as can be judged by the rising and setting of the sun) reaching a great river which flows from a great range of mountains. Following the river into the mountains, the robed figure reaches a towering waterfall atop which sits a magnificent shrine.

<UNINTELLIGIBLE RUNES>

Inside the shrine, the figure steps into a pool and is shown discorporating like smoke. The next tapestry in the sequence is water-damaged and what it is meant to depict cannot be determined.

The penultimate tapestry shows the figure kneeling before a great golden temple, in a strange and exotic looking city.

The final tapestry shows the figure, arms outstretched, before a yawning portal from which issues a bright light.

[venger]

How can we destroy the Gauntlet?

Many ages ago there was great strife between the two great civilizations - the coastal lands fell to the hordes of the Enemy. In haste, the Sentinel was created to counter the threat, a creation having great intellect and power.

Only one of pure intent may employ the Sentinel.

Only one of pure intent may destroy the Gauntlet.

Where is the Sentinel?

The destinies of the Gauntlet and the Sentinel were linked by the Making. Silent it remained. Silent still while the family declined and fell. And silent in the empty, long years following their abandonment. Silent, it awaited the day when the Guardian would return.

[venger]

It sounded as if the Masque struggled with these questions and/or was reciting excerpts of text from a non-primary source.

[Wolfgar]

Jan 23, 2011 20:27:03 GMT -5 venger said:

<UNINTELLIGIBLE RUNES>

Were these runes on a single tapestry? Maybe we should have taken that.

[venger]

They are on the tapestry with the shrine.

[venger]

Magic swords x-post - Benesarion

The sage Benesarion has general knowledge of weapons of antiquity- and he believes surely that there are weapons of unimaginable power, locked for untold aeons in the Vault of Ages, in the Citadel of Ixx at Ixx'taqa.

Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar- (the emerald-studded sword) slayer of demons, grants it wielder protection from magic and the wounds it inflicts are only healable by magical means.

The sword Sacnoth, taken from the spine of the dragon-crocodile Tharrgavverug, sharper than any blade, and always keeps watch for its wielder.

The blade Melethling, said to be the magical embodiment of love and courageousness.

Anguvmar, the Stream of Anguish. Reputedly lost in the city of Ulshamaran.

[venger]

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.

In the most distant past, before history, the Great Old Ones, as they are referred to in the earliest writings, ruled the earth and enslaved all under their cruel yoke. Mighty in the ways of sorcery they were as gods. Their society was ancient even then, rotting from the inside-out with corruption and decadence.

The tablets say when the first of the great cataclysms struck, the mighty cities fell and their slaves rebelled against them: the Old Ones were cast down, trapped in a "prison outside of time." The greatest of their servants took up the mantle of their power. While others fled, seeking new masters and adopting new gods- though some few kept alive the worship of the Great Old Ones anxiously awaiting their return to power.

Like their fallen masters before them, the moribund and debauched society of the Cynecedians crumbled under the weight of its own excesses. They trafficked with demons and sought oblivion in rare wines and bizarre drugs, in time workers no longer repaired the irrigation ditches. The armies lost their discipline. The peoples rebelled as chaos spread outward.

Who knows what strange and nightmarish things stalk the shattered ruins of their cities and holy places, lost all these aeons-- artifacts of power accreting the dust of ages, the wealth of kings buried for all time.

Wonders greater than those discovered in the ruins of Ssam'ssa-et, which held the Masque of Vorha, that ancient Hatakhaan repository of wisdom, will be found in the city of Ulshamaran, which this manuscript calls the Citadel of Life, wherein lies the Wellspring of Eternal Life -- whose waters will heal all maladies, restore youth and even raise the dead.

The clues are there, hidden in the ruins of the past. The sacred tapestries show the way and the path leads to Laanhathra, The City of the Gods.

[venger]

Objects of interest:
Vault of Elders, containing the Knowledge of the Elders.
Golden Tablets of Laanhatra
Talisman of Phe - a potent artifact
Anguvmar - "Stream of Anguish", magic sword.
Fountain of Eternal Life
Sign of Ulsimagarus (patron god of Ulshamaran)


Anecdotal accounts:

The story of Alexander, the Great King, who rode upon the wind over the Mountains of Darkness and there discovered the King of Demons who welcomed him to Ulshamaran and gave unto him the Waters of Life and a fabulous pearl of wisdom, which guided him for the rest of his days. There he built a great golden temple to house the Wellspring of Life Eternal.

Many have sought these fabled ruins-- few men ever returned.
The stories they told were fantastic and addled, surely brought about by disease and the horrors with which they had to deal. Singing snakes, twisted and deformed ape-men, men who were not men, and writhing, horrid flowers filled their tales -surely such things were not to be believed.

[venger]

Behold, Oh Seeker, the Six-Fold Path
Take Up Thy Vessel and Drink of the Waters of the Radiant Pool
Thus Begins the Trial of the Dynast
At the Anvil of the World the Forge of Heaven is Lit
Arm Thyself with the Weapons of the Spheres
Where it Echoes in the High Places at Laan-Hatra
Arm Thyself with the Ancient Word
And Ascend the Endless Stair to Claim the Seat of Immortal Power

[venger]

~~ As inscribed along the interior of the six golden bowls surrounding the magical fountain of healing.