Jeridar's Tome of Hylas

These are entries taken exclusively from Pendry Jeridar's beloved book on the wonders of Hylas.  These are mere samples from this prodigious tome.

The Sparkenstone -- A dodecahedron made of amber crystal presented to the Three Dwarf Lords about 800 years ago by the Engineers to smelt rare materials.  The amber crystal hails from an ever active volcano in Pyroneus (The Elemental Plane of Fire).  The Sparkenstone is the only thing that can ignite the Dwarf Furnaces at Kaer Maga, Kaer Raza, and Kaer Naxa.

     It weighs ten pounds and is the size of a bocce ball.
     It can be destroyed by immersing it in the ichor of a Water Elemental Lord.  Otherwise, it cannot be damaged by any known means.

Angerthas -- An ancient deep dragon who lairs near the drow undercity of Hun' Rahel, deep in the bowels of Mt. Hesgrumin (Kaer Maga).

Kaer Maga -- A dwarf kaer or fortress-city built with an Overcity and an Undercity, also known as Undermaga.
     Kaer Maga is difficult to differentiate from the surrounding mountain, as its walls and buildings share the same texture and hue:  A dull, ruddy ochre.  A gusting breeze sends dust blowing off the tops of edifices and towers, making an obvious weathervane.  At night, the glow of the many active forges act as a beacon for the lost, while during the day, the black and grey pall issuing from out their myriad smokestacks can be seen for miles.
The architecture is blockish and crude until one gets into the interior of the city where the true magnificence of dwarven art can be seen.  Huge statues of long-dead ancestors, some wielding weapons of war, others seated on thrones bearing crowns, still others with staves and orbs, all of them staring into the heavens as if waiting for something.
Kaer Maga boasts 24,000 souls of which 20,000 are dwarves.
The walls are fifty feet high and are crenellated with merlons with bastions at the blind spots some sixty feet tall.  The stone is volcanic brownstone - the hardest stone found on Hylas and hence very difficult to shape without magical aid.
There is no doubt that Kaer Maga is not on the Archon's favorites list.  Armed troops regularly patrol the streets and buildings in full battle gear.  Rumors persist of large monstrosities skulking over rooftops, on walls and in alleyways, their headless scorpion-like forms almost invisible in the shadows of Kaer Maga.  They are known as Skull-Rippers and are dread agents of the ur-viles who, in turn, serve the Archon.  Though headless and therefore speechless, they collect heads as trophies to wear on their bodies as warning and a terror to those who oppose the Archon.

    The Steward of Kaer Maga was Kron Demonbane, Lord Keeper of the Sparkenstone.  Once thought by Vaine to be a sympathizer of the rebellion, Kron has since been arrested and sent to the Tower of Despair for the crime of losing the Sparkenstone to malcontents on his watch.  Vancian Durcell (see below) has been elevated to Steward in the meantime.

The Commander of the Archon's troops in Kaer Maga is Vancian Durcell - a male human magus.  Vancian has no patience for fools and will do whatever is necessary to put himself in the Archon's good graces.  This rebellion which has recently gone hot is forcing him against the wall and the Archon and his ur-vile lieutenant, Vaine, want results - soon.  After the Sparkenstone debacle, Vancian was promoted to Steward.

Forgekeeper Nori Oriflamme - male dwarf.  Was executed publicly for the loss of the Sparkenstone.  Manx Spindlekin, a male gnome, is now Forgekeeper of a dead Dwarf Forge.

Representative of the Archon, Vaine, an ur-vile.

Rebellion Leader Azar Greyanvil -  a male dwarf fighter.     Azar escaped from Deepgate Gaol in the Undermaga in the winter of 96 AV. and gathered his band of nearly fifty freedom-fighters and is going around destroying Archon supplies and troops using terrorist and guerilla tactics.  Last week, twenty-six Archonic soldiers were killed in an alchemical explosion near the Well of the Longfathers.  Vancian Durcell made it known that most of those killed were dwarves, but his PR campaign has met with little success.  Now that the Archonic forces have gone aggressive, Azar and his rebel group are laying low, waiting for their next chance to strike.  He wants martial law to end, and he is trying to win over the hearts and minds of his people to throw off their chains and violently oppose the Archon once and for all!

Strange Laws and Customs - 
Shaving is not a crime but it is a sin.  -2 on all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks if unshaven (yes, this applies to women as well).
Using light sources at night is forbidden. (10 sp fine first offense).

Kaer Raza --

High above the clouds on Mount Zarig, on a terraced plateau on the east side of the mountain, the Longfathers of Kaer Raza built this city.
There are only two ways into Kaer Raza:  The Southgate which leads to a long and troublesome road through the Valley of Fire rife with barghests, or the Underway which an underground highway that links to every kaer in the Ravencrags in which case you would end up in Underraza first.
The Overcity is walled, of course, and boasts the tallest and most obvious monument in the city called The Focsle (FOK-sul).  It is a 120 foot tower at the eastern edge of the city overlooking the Ravencrags and the valleys below.  There is also the Zarig Falls, a cascade of icemelt (especially during the spring months) which falls behind the Longhouse (the government center) and then makes its way into the Underraza.
So far martial law has not taken place, and the dwarves of Kaer Raza wish to keep it that way not by open or even covert rebellion but by recalcitrant compliance.
     There is a secret cult of female halflings residing in the city called the Furies who are underworld murderers and swords for hire.  It is rumored that though they have no love for the Archon, they wouldn't balk at aiding him for a fee.  Their Elder Sister is known only as Rosacea (yes, her face is exceedingly red and puffy).

The Steward is Sorina Grailhand, a female dwarf aristocrat, who keeps the city in order and tries not to let Kaer Raza become another Kaer Maga!

The Representative of the Archon is the ur-vile Vengeance.

The Commander of the Archon's Troops in Kaer Raza is Burhengel Marbleheft, a male dwarf ranger.  Burhengel is enamored and fearful of Vengeance and that is why he has lasted as long as he has as Commander.  Most people serve Vengeance out of fear for their loved ones, but Burhengel has no loved ones.  He has nothing to lose but his own soul.  And even that, he believes, is lost.

Constable of Kaer Raza is Malthor Ironfoot a dwarf inquisitor of Verditius and also holds the office of Witchfinder General.

Forgekeeper is Olforn Deephonor, a male dwarf expert.  He and Burhengel, to assuage the anger of Vengeance and the Archon, have tripled the defenses at the Dwarf Forge to prevent a purloining of their sacred Sparkenstone.

Commander of the Archon's Expeditionary Force was Bronad Mountainfur, a male dwarf fighter, who was cut down by The Keepers of the Old Faiths south of Owlhurst outside the Raza Pass.  The office is now held by Lokana Cerberus, a female undine sorcerer from Thalassa.

The Sovereign Fold -- A place few know about at all, rumored to be where angels and demons can meet on neutral ground to trade secrets and souls.  It is probably a demiplane located in the Silver Expanse (Astral Plane) and is sacrosanct such that even deities and archdevils cannot violate its strictures.


Crested Mountain Sali -- A reptile native to Hylas that looks like an axolotl but is classified as a reptile.  Hence it does not need moist skin when out of water, nor can it breathe water despite its strange 'gills' whose purpose none have discovered as of this writing.  Discovered and classified by Jennic Dal-Navi, a female expert sage, 250 years before the Archon War.  It was found in the Thunderwood north of Duskwater Dale.

Starmetal -- A very tough and rigid metal that hails from the stars beyond the worlds.  Pieces of the stars break off and cool and land on Hylas where sometimes starmetal can be found therein.  Can only be shaped under intense heat and pressure.  Currently, only a Dwarven Forge can do so.  Also known as adamantine, meteoric iron or starsteel.  It is said to have a deleterious effect on extrasolar creatures.

Thrailus Axendor -- A half-elf priest of Drez'Zur the Arcane who became a lich after slaying his entire family unto the third generation.  His tomb was built by a cult who worshipped him as a demigod until Verditius ended his unlife fifty-five years ago.  Its location is currently unknown, though rumors heard by this author include under the Doomblade Sea, or within the Maze-City of Odiarad the Mad.


Shax -- A Demon Lord who once ruled the 69th world of the Underverse, Shax takes the form of a humanoid direwolf usually with sable coat and blood-drenched canines.  He came to Hylas through a ritual gone awry 1,250 years before the Archon War and eventually ruled an empire to the far south of Hylas called The Shaxar Imperium.  It fell when Grigori Forfax, a human paladin of Aeloudarius the Just sacrificed his life to banish him back to the Underverse.  Since then, Shax's name has become a curse to those who even remotely remember what he represented in that ancient time. This illustration is but one of his many forms.  Wolfstan Firaxis of the Keepers of the Old Faiths claims to be a devotee of Shax's power.

Heli the Unseeing -- A female Engineer or Fabricator who manages the Sun.  By extension, this also includes light, heat and life, including the healing of injuries and diseases.  She wears a bandage over her eyes as she unwittingly blinded herself when she ignited the Sun with a rare kind of Sparkenstone called a Core Crystal.  She believes in goodness and righteousness and the rule of law.  She favors horses and often speaks through them.  Her religion has a few heresies which her inquisitors and priests have tried to exterminate, if not through reason then by the scimitar.  Her devoted militant arm known as Scimidons are experts with the scimitar as its curved blade is said to resemble the arc of the solar disk which is her holy symbol.  Gogen of the Keepers of the Old Faiths is said to be a member of this militant sect.

Juggernauts -- Each of the Engineers is said to have gifted their most ardent followers with a Juggernaut unique to their faith.  For example, Heli's juggernaut is called The Warsun, Gruul the Tester's is called The Prime Mover, etc.  They are quite powerful devices and have accomplished many feats in the history of Hylas.  Unfortunately, they cannot be recounted here.

Azarandrugath -- an adult solar dragon who was once a Chosen One of Heli but was tempted to another deity's ideals.  For this reason he is known as The Heretic Dragon and is known to lair in the Groaning Mountain west of Suddenspear in the Cydont region.

     It is unknown whom he now worships or, rather, admires since dragons rarely worship anything, but whomever it is, Heli is displeased.  Redemption or destruction are the only choices this dragon has in the sightless eyes of Heli.

Soulstone -- Certain rocks or stones residing in an area where powerful ley lines of magical energy intersect can over time acquire magical properties and a dull bluish glow visible even by mundanes (those without magic).  These stones serve many functions the most common of which is an ingredient in Daylight spells.  For those of a divine bent, the soulstones can aid in propitiation to the Engineers.  Some larger ones have been known to give power to relics or artifacts created by the Engineers.

Cathedral of Heli -- Located south of the Cydont Highlands and north of Suddenspear, the Cathedral of Heli was erected 712 years before the Archon War.  It has gone through various additions and improvements since.  As with all Heli temples, there is a central oculus allowing the Sun to shine within during their ceremonies and rituals.  The Scimidon paladin Hadrian was ordained here four centuries ago.  The Cathedral was attacked mercilessly by the Archon Verditius and his ur-vile servants during the last stages of the Archon War.  The High Priestess, Galinda Smartblaze, and her acolytes invoked Heli's power enough to ward off the threat.  Verditius never attempted another attack.  However, last year (96 AV) one of the priestesses of Heli stationed there made a terrible bargain with a particular devil of the Nine Hells.  Since then, the Cathedral has been despoiled, violated and abandoned.  None go within but many pilgrims leave prayer stones and parchments at the foot of the site in the hopes that Heli will liberate the Cathedral and restore her power in Hylas.