"Millennia ago in that heyday of the Age of Serpents,
before there was an Eye, before humans even came to these lands, the Cyclops of
Ghol-Gan ruled here. Many of their ruins
still stand, relicts of a lost empire whose greatness few today can comprehend.
One such ruin, a mountain retreat known
as Sumitha, stands on this very island.
Here the Cyclops constructed a hidden vault known as the Eye of Serenity
to hold a sacred artifact, the Lens of Revelation. The Cyclopean seers of Sumitha guided their
fellows in war to survey the lands and even to know the will of the divine, but
when their civilization waned the Lens turned dark and they abandoned Sumitha
to be forgotten. Many of them retreated
to the Darklands, and those who stayed degenerated into savagery. The men who came centuries later saw only the
eyeless statues on the Island's shores and hillsides, the fist-sized gems that
once decorated these monoliths long since taken and lost.
"The fort you stand within was built by Chelish
explorers over a hundred and fifty years ago.
They explored the island and discovered the ruins of Sumitha, stirring
up conflict with the few remaining Cyclopean brutes. Eventually, the Cyclopes succeeded in driving
the Chelaxians from the island.
"The victory was not without cost to the Cyclopes,
though--a few years after, an earthquake shook the island, collapsing the few
remaining entries to the Darklands. As
the survivors emerged from the vaults of Sumitha, they discovered that the
island could not provide for their tremendous appetites. They were forced to build vast ships and
travel to nearby islands to capture livestock or simply raid. The tribe descended further into savagery,
led by a great Cyclops named Ishtoreth.
They pose a grave threat to any who seek to make this island their own.
"That is when I came to this island, a pirate like
yourselves. I restored this fort, using
mighty illusions to conceal my people from the Cyclopes. In the ruins here, I found the opportunity to
realize my one true desire: to free myself from the shackles of mortality. Some seek the power of undeath, but I knew
this was a sham. True power lies in the
mind, in dreams, prophecies and the realms from which they come. I sought the magic of the Night Hags, who
travel freely in these realms, and at last learned of their greatest creation,
the one that lends them their power: the heartstone. Using such a magical gem, I could bind my
soul in arcane ritual, preserving it so my mind would no longer be tied to the
limits of the flesh. I could leave
mortality behind and become the master of my own dreams.
"But even Heartstones are physical objects, with all
the limits and dangers that entails. I
could not rest easy, knowing I was bound to some unexceptional stone any chance
fool could destroy. In the ruins of
Sumitha, though, I discovered what I needed; the Lens of Revelation, if made
into a Heartstone, would supply me with the power and security I required from
my vessel. The craft to do so escaped
me, however, so I made contact with the Night Hag Lodhotha and offered her any
price she cared to name if she would aid me.
The Hag readily agreed, but I sensed treachery in her, and laid my plans
with care.
"Then Ishtoreth, returning to the Island
from a raid, discovered the Lens was missing.
He sent his warriors against me, but my men held on, though I knew it
would not last. I sacrificed much to
meet Lodhotha's price and demanded the Hag complete the stone. When she was finished, I sprang my trap on
her before she could betray me and take my soul. My apprentice, Edereigh Baines, stole the
completed Stone from her, depriving the Hag of her most significant weapon and
preventing her from escaping into the Ethereal plane.
"I realized then that without attunement, my new
heartstone--the Immortal Dreamstone--would not long endure. I withdrew to complete the ritual, but it
proved more demanding than I anticipated.
Without my magical assistance, the Cyclopes began to overrun my
defenses, sinking my ship and breaking the gates of this fort. Rushed, I missed a vital step in the ritual,
shearing my soul and mind from my body but failing to open the pathway to the
realm of dreams. Before I could correct
my error the Cyclopes gained entry to my sanctum, destroying my preparations
and reclaiming the Lens. Now my spirit
lingers in the Material Plane, bound to this place. Lodhotha's sister, Haetanga, sends her
minions here to seek for the gem. They
lurk here, ready to attack and interrogate any who come within.
"If you seek to end the curse on this fort, you must
return the Immortal Dreamstone to me and enable me to complete the
ritual."
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