Chaulssin
Chaulssin, City of Wyrmshadows
()
Below the northern tip of the Rauvin Mountains lies Chaulssin, a deserted ruin that overhangs a tremendous abyss through which cold wind perpetually screams. The city rests on a great spar of stone that juts out into the emptiness, and its ramparts and galleries overlook a terrifying void.
Chaulssin was once a drow city, but a clan of shadow dragons conquered the city and enslaved its inhabitants some 1,500 years ago. The Wyrmshadow dragons ruled Chaulssin for centuries, but at last they were overthrown by their own half-drow/half-dragon progeny, who had mastered powerful planar magic. Few of the Chaulssin descendants survive today, but a secret House of master drow assassins (the Jaezred Chaulssin) uses the place as its hidden stronghold.
Chaulssin exists partially in the Plane of Shadow, so tendrils of shadow-stuff constantly wind through the ruined city. Deadly creatures from the Shadow haunt its streets, and from time to time whole quarters of the city vanish into the gloom entirely; not to reappear for years.
Nearly ten miles beneath the northern tip of the Rauvin Mountains, the remains of the ancient draw city of Chaulssin endure among the lingering shad¬ows. The remote location and little known history of the settlement make it largely unknown to most Underdark dwellers, let alone inhabitants of the Realms Above, but a secret society of master assas- sins-the Jaezred Chaulssin (page 68)-uses the place as its hidden stronghold for launching strikes on fol¬lowers of the Spider Queen. The so-called City ofWyrmshadows acquired its name when an extended family of shadow dragons conquered and enslaved its inhabitants. Centuries after its fall, Chaulssin retains only a faint shadow of its former glory. Large sections of the city stand empty, patrolled intermittently by tribes of quaggoths or claimed by small bands of shadar-kai.
History
In the Year ofShambling Shadows (-221 DR), the shadow dragons of Clan Jaezred conquered the drow city of Chaulssin and enslaved the populace. In the centuries that followed, the dragons slowly eradicated the drow population, twisting them into creatures of shadow and supplanting them with their own wyrm- spawned offspring, drawing the city further into the Shadowfell with each transformation.
In the Year of the Darkspawn (634 DR), the shadow dragons of Clan Jaezred were overthrown by their own half-draw progeny, who had mastered formidable planar magic in secret while purport¬ing to serve their masters. Haerinvureem, a shadow wyrm better known as “Shimmergloom,” escaped the carnage, but the rest of his clan were slain and reani¬mated as spectral creatures.
Over the century that followed, the newly eman¬cipated scions of Clan Jaezred began to rebuild their city using wealth plundered from their forefathers' hoards. In the Year ofVisions (734 DR), the draw god Vhaeraun appeared to Chaulssin’s leaders in a shared dream and revealed to them that the Spider Queen had decided to punish them for their worship ofVhaeraun instead ofLolth: The Ruling Council ofMenzoberranzan had dispatched an army to con¬quer the City ofWyrmshadows. After hurried debate, Chaulssin’s patriarchs chose to withdraw to the Shad¬owfell, with Vhaeraun’s help, rather than make a suicidal stand. Menzoberranzan’s army arrived a few days later to find an abandoned city straddling the tenuous border between Faerun and the Shadowfell.
In the centuries that followed, Vhaeraun’s clergy gradually took control of the city. In 792 DR, the church founded House Jaelzred, an elite society of assassins, to deal with the hazards of the Shadowfell and the infiltration of alien shadow creatures called malaugryms.
In the Year of the Shadowkin Return (1136 DR). House Jaezred returned to Chaulssin and established the House of Hidden Masters in the heart of the ruined city. Existing partly in Faerun and partly in the Shadowfell, Chaulssin was a perfect base for the Jaezred Chaulssin, as the house leaders began calling themselves.
Featured Sites
The City ofWyrmshadows is a deserted ruin that overhangs a tremendous abyss through which wind perpetually screams. The cityrests on a monolithic spur of stone thatjuts out into the emptiness, and its ramparts and galleries overlook a terrifying void.
Howling Abyss
The City ofWyrmshadows extends out into a great chasm in the earth. The Howling Abyss, as it is known, extends at least three miles above Chauls- sin and descends more than seventeen miles into the depths. Hurricane-force winds buffet the city relentlessly, threatening to sweep away any creature that dares the battlements or attempts to fly through the chasm. Despite the endless gale, the abyss is hardly absent of dangerous creatures. Undead crea¬tures infused with shadow soar on the winds, while spectral shadow dragons-undead remnants of Clan Jaezred-flit about the city theyonce ruled.
House of Hidden Masters
At the heart of ruined Chaulssin in what was once the city’s largest temple to Lolth is the House of Hidden Masters, the chapter house of the Jaezred Chaulssin. At the desecrated temple’s center is the opulent lair ofPatron Grandfather Mauzzkyl. The walls are hung with tapestries of woven shadowstuff that depict dis¬torted images of scenes long forgotten. The arched ceilings of the chamber are built of glistening onyx and embedded with the flashing gems known as beljurils, while the floor is piled high with tarnished coins of varying mintage and design.
Mauzzkyl’s lair is surrounded by the lavish apart¬ments of the concubines of the Jaezred Chaulssin. Each dwelling resembles the patron grandfather’s lair in miniature and is heavily guarded, since the patron fathers do not trust each other. Each harem largely governs itselfbetween visits by its master, but any worship ofLolth is ruthlessly stamped out when discovered.
Galleries of Shadow
The Galleries of Shadow encompass all the lesser halls and chambers of Chaulssin linked by tunnels within the city and not considered part of the House of Hidden Masters. These areas are home to com¬panies of quaggoths, small bands of shadar-kai, and packs of roving half dragons. Interlopers from the Shadowfell are common in border areas.
ADVENTURES IN CHAULSSIN
What might bring a drow to the City of Wyrmshad- ows, the headquarters of the treacherous Jaezred Chaulssin? Consider any of these adventure seeds, and adapt them as you see fit.
+ The animosity between Nimor Imphraezel and his successor as Anointed Blade, Antrysn Barriath, is aboutto boil over into outright warfare. A charac¬ter affiliated with the Jaezred Chaulssin is caught in the midst of the conflict and must decide who to support, or an unaffiliated drow is sent to fan the conflict into a war that will destroy the Jaezred Chaulssin forever.
+ A small band of shadar-kai appears from nowhere in the midst of Menzoberranzan and starts wreak¬ing havoc. The characters manage to pursue them into the Shadowfell, and suddenly find themselves in Chaulssin. They must discover how the shadar- kai managed to shadow walk into the heart of their city and find some way to close the passage so such attacks don’t happen again.
+ The Jaezred Chaulssin have a tentative alliance with the shades of Netheril in the Spellplague era. If the drow of Menzoberranzan can disrupt that alliance, or even turn the two factions against each other, the strength of the Jaezred Chaulssin will be diminished.
Characters should feel ill at east from the moment they’re in sight ofthe dreaded City ofWyrmshadows. Gloom cloaks the entire city, and parts ofthe city can appear to vanish or appear suddenly amid the shad¬ows. Deadly creatures from the Shadowfell haunt the city’s streets, and interlopers sometimes disappear inexplicably without a sound or a trace. Chaulssin provides an opportunity to introduce an element of horror in a game otherwise focused on intrigue, or it can be simply a convenient location for one of the characters’ allies to betray them.
Below the northern tip of the Rauvin Mountains lies Chaulssin, a deserted ruin that overhangs a tremendous abyss through which cold wind perpetually screams. The city rests on a great spar of stone that juts out into the emptiness, and its ramparts and galleries overlook a terrifying void.
Chaulssin was once a drow city, but a clan of shadow dragons conquered the city and enslaved its inhabitants some 1,500 years ago. The Wyrmshadow dragons ruled Chaulssin for centuries, but at last they were overthrown by their own half-drow/half-dragon progeny, who had mastered powerful planar magic. Few of the Chaulssin descendants survive today, but a secret House of master drow assassins (the Jaezred Chaulssin) uses the place as its hidden stronghold.
Chaulssin exists partially in the Plane of Shadow, so tendrils of shadow-stuff constantly wind through the ruined city. Deadly creatures from the Shadow haunt its streets, and from time to time whole quarters of the city vanish into the gloom entirely; not to reappear for years.
Nearly ten miles beneath the northern tip of the Rauvin Mountains, the remains of the ancient draw city of Chaulssin endure among the lingering shad¬ows. The remote location and little known history of the settlement make it largely unknown to most Underdark dwellers, let alone inhabitants of the Realms Above, but a secret society of master assas- sins-the Jaezred Chaulssin (page 68)-uses the place as its hidden stronghold for launching strikes on fol¬lowers of the Spider Queen. The so-called City ofWyrmshadows acquired its name when an extended family of shadow dragons conquered and enslaved its inhabitants. Centuries after its fall, Chaulssin retains only a faint shadow of its former glory. Large sections of the city stand empty, patrolled intermittently by tribes of quaggoths or claimed by small bands of shadar-kai.
History
In the Year ofShambling Shadows (-221 DR), the shadow dragons of Clan Jaezred conquered the drow city of Chaulssin and enslaved the populace. In the centuries that followed, the dragons slowly eradicated the drow population, twisting them into creatures of shadow and supplanting them with their own wyrm- spawned offspring, drawing the city further into the Shadowfell with each transformation.
In the Year of the Darkspawn (634 DR), the shadow dragons of Clan Jaezred were overthrown by their own half-draw progeny, who had mastered formidable planar magic in secret while purport¬ing to serve their masters. Haerinvureem, a shadow wyrm better known as “Shimmergloom,” escaped the carnage, but the rest of his clan were slain and reani¬mated as spectral creatures.
Over the century that followed, the newly eman¬cipated scions of Clan Jaezred began to rebuild their city using wealth plundered from their forefathers' hoards. In the Year ofVisions (734 DR), the draw god Vhaeraun appeared to Chaulssin’s leaders in a shared dream and revealed to them that the Spider Queen had decided to punish them for their worship ofVhaeraun instead ofLolth: The Ruling Council ofMenzoberranzan had dispatched an army to con¬quer the City ofWyrmshadows. After hurried debate, Chaulssin’s patriarchs chose to withdraw to the Shad¬owfell, with Vhaeraun’s help, rather than make a suicidal stand. Menzoberranzan’s army arrived a few days later to find an abandoned city straddling the tenuous border between Faerun and the Shadowfell.
In the centuries that followed, Vhaeraun’s clergy gradually took control of the city. In 792 DR, the church founded House Jaelzred, an elite society of assassins, to deal with the hazards of the Shadowfell and the infiltration of alien shadow creatures called malaugryms.
In the Year of the Shadowkin Return (1136 DR). House Jaezred returned to Chaulssin and established the House of Hidden Masters in the heart of the ruined city. Existing partly in Faerun and partly in the Shadowfell, Chaulssin was a perfect base for the Jaezred Chaulssin, as the house leaders began calling themselves.
Featured Sites
The City ofWyrmshadows is a deserted ruin that overhangs a tremendous abyss through which wind perpetually screams. The cityrests on a monolithic spur of stone thatjuts out into the emptiness, and its ramparts and galleries overlook a terrifying void.
Howling Abyss
The City ofWyrmshadows extends out into a great chasm in the earth. The Howling Abyss, as it is known, extends at least three miles above Chauls- sin and descends more than seventeen miles into the depths. Hurricane-force winds buffet the city relentlessly, threatening to sweep away any creature that dares the battlements or attempts to fly through the chasm. Despite the endless gale, the abyss is hardly absent of dangerous creatures. Undead crea¬tures infused with shadow soar on the winds, while spectral shadow dragons-undead remnants of Clan Jaezred-flit about the city theyonce ruled.
House of Hidden Masters
At the heart of ruined Chaulssin in what was once the city’s largest temple to Lolth is the House of Hidden Masters, the chapter house of the Jaezred Chaulssin. At the desecrated temple’s center is the opulent lair ofPatron Grandfather Mauzzkyl. The walls are hung with tapestries of woven shadowstuff that depict dis¬torted images of scenes long forgotten. The arched ceilings of the chamber are built of glistening onyx and embedded with the flashing gems known as beljurils, while the floor is piled high with tarnished coins of varying mintage and design.
Mauzzkyl’s lair is surrounded by the lavish apart¬ments of the concubines of the Jaezred Chaulssin. Each dwelling resembles the patron grandfather’s lair in miniature and is heavily guarded, since the patron fathers do not trust each other. Each harem largely governs itselfbetween visits by its master, but any worship ofLolth is ruthlessly stamped out when discovered.
Galleries of Shadow
The Galleries of Shadow encompass all the lesser halls and chambers of Chaulssin linked by tunnels within the city and not considered part of the House of Hidden Masters. These areas are home to com¬panies of quaggoths, small bands of shadar-kai, and packs of roving half dragons. Interlopers from the Shadowfell are common in border areas.
ADVENTURES IN CHAULSSIN
What might bring a drow to the City of Wyrmshad- ows, the headquarters of the treacherous Jaezred Chaulssin? Consider any of these adventure seeds, and adapt them as you see fit.
+ The animosity between Nimor Imphraezel and his successor as Anointed Blade, Antrysn Barriath, is aboutto boil over into outright warfare. A charac¬ter affiliated with the Jaezred Chaulssin is caught in the midst of the conflict and must decide who to support, or an unaffiliated drow is sent to fan the conflict into a war that will destroy the Jaezred Chaulssin forever.
+ A small band of shadar-kai appears from nowhere in the midst of Menzoberranzan and starts wreak¬ing havoc. The characters manage to pursue them into the Shadowfell, and suddenly find themselves in Chaulssin. They must discover how the shadar- kai managed to shadow walk into the heart of their city and find some way to close the passage so such attacks don’t happen again.
+ The Jaezred Chaulssin have a tentative alliance with the shades of Netheril in the Spellplague era. If the drow of Menzoberranzan can disrupt that alliance, or even turn the two factions against each other, the strength of the Jaezred Chaulssin will be diminished.
Characters should feel ill at east from the moment they’re in sight ofthe dreaded City ofWyrmshadows. Gloom cloaks the entire city, and parts ofthe city can appear to vanish or appear suddenly amid the shad¬ows. Deadly creatures from the Shadowfell haunt the city’s streets, and interlopers sometimes disappear inexplicably without a sound or a trace. Chaulssin provides an opportunity to introduce an element of horror in a game otherwise focused on intrigue, or it can be simply a convenient location for one of the characters’ allies to betray them.
Если вы хотите что то добавить или присоединится к команде редакторов - пишите комментарии
Внимание! Имеется скрытый контент, доступный только подписчикам. Подписка - бесплатна. Детальнее - читай здесь.
Вы можете присвоить себе следующие роли, чтобы расширить видимый контент: Silver Marches Daggerford Baldur's Gate Neverwinter Waterdeep Deadsnows
RSS канал данного сайта Подпишитесь на Boosty или Patreon
Комментарии