Major Ruins of Lathuria
Barkarra
The most legendary ruins on
Lathuria, Barkarra is the ancient stronghold of the Demons from before the
Golden Age. It remains a rallying point for the Demons who are newly
returning to the material plain, but it is no longer a stronghold by any
means. Thus far, the Demon King Kellemain has made no attempt to
reestablish it as a stronghold and has largely ignored it since he and his
knights, Styx and Cocytus, and his champion, Rezarcho, returned to the material
plain there in GA 1000. His return was heralded by an event that has come
to be known as the Blinding Pillar, a bright light that shot out of the ruins
and into the sky.
Though it was brought down at the beginning of the Golden
Age and has been ransacked and pillaged countless times in the millennium
since, adventuring groups still travel there and brave the nooks and
crannies. In addition to the remains of the walls and towers above ground
which still rise well into the sky, there is a network of underground caves
which stretch for dozens of square miles and extend down many levels.
Doubtlessly, there are still secret doors and passages that have yet to be
discovered.
Located just north of Atoll City, the ruins are a draw to
the region for adventurers, historians, and Demons looking to return to their
ancient stronghold. There is something of a market in Atoll City for
preparing to travel there and delve into the ruins. Adventurers can find
maps to and of the ruins at many merchants in Atoll City and many merchants
will pay a good price for artifacts and riches removed from the ruins.
Nethermaice
Hidden below the city of Maice in
the north lies Lathuria's worst-kept secret realm. Nethermaice is an
intricate system of caves and dungeon spaces that extends out further than
anyone has yet explored. There is treasure to be found there, to be
certain, but also danger. Lurking around every unexplored section of
Nethermaice, and even around many of the explored ones, monsters and traps of
all kinds lie in wait for the unassuming delver.
Stories differ as to how Nethermaice came to be, but the one
lauded most loudly comes from the Dwarves. Though there is no evidence to
support it, Dwarven legend states that Nethermaice was delved by an ancient
Dwarven king in the earliest days of the War of the Young as a place to safely
harbor his clan. But the Dwarven king was so paranoid that he felt it was
never delved deeply enough. Some Dwarves say that there are still members
of his ancient clan deep below the ground in the darkest reaches of
Nethermaice, still digging.
As fantastic a story as its creation most assuradly must
have been, events surrounding Nethermaice today are just as thrilling.
Hastarl Gelsson, the Black Captain, has called together nearly every Black
Knight in the region and sent them, team by team, into Nethermaice. These
teams of Black Knights enter Maice, enter Nethermaice through the ruined tower
in the north east at Ruined Tower Square, and return to the surface with
treasure which they promptly carry out of the city and to Hastarl's Keep just
to the west of Maice. Many have grown concerned over this practice and
some have even made an attempt to find out what the Black Knights are doing in
Nethermaice. But, those who follow the Black Knights into Nethermaice
typically don't come back alive.
Tower
of Rixx
Only recently has this rather
unremarkable little ruin come into fame. Located a day's travel east of
Zephilia, it was recently the subject of an investigation by the Order of the
Lamp into a five-hundred-year-old legend about a wizard by the name of
Rixx. The story said that he made a magical orb so great that its white
magic could stand up to the Lord of Worlds herself. Some stories also
said that it exacted a terrible price, the life of the wielder, and that it was
hidden away never to be used because it was such an abomination to the art of
white magic.
In the winter of GA 1005, Master Lampwright Lyssa Greymalkin
hired a group of seven adventurers to go find the tower and retrieve the
orb. Retrieve the orb they did, but they reported back to the Order of
the Lamp that they had run into a rival group of adventurers in the
process. Lyssa and the Order remain tight-lipped about the outcome of the
whole ordeal, but for whatever reason, they allowed the group of adventurers to
keep the orb. It is now the namesake of the Crystal Orb Inn which is
owned by four of the adventurers. The other three adventurers went on to
form the Fellowship of the Ever-Falling Troll only a few months later.
In the meantime, a song entitled "The Ballad of the
Tower of Rixx" has appeared in the Bardic Circles and made its way across
Lathuria. It details rather more of the story than those involved have
been willing to speak of, though no one seems to know how that could be.
A side effect, however, has been a sudden interest in seeing the site of this
rather strange story and the Tower of Rixx, now cleared of the harpies that
used to roost there, has become a tourist attraction.
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Page created on 5/29/06 by
Berzerker_prime