the archaen codex

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THE A R C H A E N ODEX

Lost Secrets of the Forgotten Age0 1992 by S M S nd Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

by Step han Michael Sechi

W OC 2202


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Design: Stephan Michael SechiDesign Contributions: George Lowe. Jeff Goldman. David Sandberg, Thomas Len tsDesign and Developm ent Director: James E. Hays, Jr.Talislanta Archivist: D. Gene FryeEditing: Beverly Marshall SalingProduction Director: Lisa StevensArt Director: Jes per MyrforsLayout Design: Jespe r Myrfors, Lisa StevensTypesetting, Layout, and Paste-up: Melissa Gus tafsonCover Art: Dameon WillichFront Cover Border: Ron SpencerInterior Illustrations: Rick Emond, Jesper Myrfors, Anson Maddocks. Richard ThomasCartography: Eric Hotz, Jeff GoldmanIlluminated Letters: Kurt CagleNifty Interior Borders: Jesper MyrforsAppendix and Index: Beverly Marshall SalingTalislanta Logo: Rich Kaalaas

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Our goal is to manufacture the highest quality and most innovative products possible. To this end, we have

adopted a policy of Cont inuous Quality Improvement (CQI) as a means to best serve he gaming industry .This includes you. At Wizards of the Coas t, releasing a product that is "good enough" is not good enough.Quality is a foundation we build from, not ju st a slogan we st amp on the cover. If you have any questions,suggestions. or comments, or would ju st like to s ay hello, don't he sitate to drop u s a line.

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we have a direct line to many of our fans an d critics. It is through their advice that we ar e able to make highquality products t ha t everybody wan ts to see. To thi s end, we would like to announce the formation of twomailing lists to su pport ou r Primal an d Talislanta lines. If you have access to a n Internet account and wishto participate on these lists, se nd your email address to:

[email protected] or [email protected]

America Online@Currently. Wizards of the Coas t is a n active par ticipant on America Online@. We have folders for

discussing Th e primal Order an d Talislanta online, in addition to a company suppor t area. Authors StephanMichael Sechi (original creator of Talislanta). and Pete r Adkison (author of The primal O r W are also online toanswer questions. You can contact them at their screen nam es Stevesechi, and WotC. Send any reques ts forinformation to:

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Archaen Codex is a sourcebook of advanced magic, legend, and lore for the Talislanta game. I tcontains information abou t the Forgotten Age-the golden age of magic in Talislanta, of which precious little

is known by Talislantans of the New Age. It also clarifies certain of the misconceptions and inaccuracies thatmay be found in earlier works, providing the r eader with a glimpse into Talislanta's dark and mysteriouspast.

For the gamemaster, The Archaen Codex provides a comprehensive overview of Talis lantan magicalhistory that can be used to establish a solid foundation for the Talislantan milieu. A wealth of ancient tomes,spells, and encha nted items have also been included, offering a diverse selection of artifacts th at may befound in the many ancient ruins th at dot th e Talislantan landscape. Other useful materials include a descrip-tion of the most common extradimens ional entities an d a section on lost secrets of the p ast.

among the ruined cities, crypts, and wastelands of the Talislantan continent. Do the fabu lous artifactsdescribed within the Lyceum Arcanum's recently unearthed Archaen Codex truly exist, or are they merely theproducts of legend an d hearsay? How many of these artifac ts still remain to be discovered, and how many arelost forever? The answer s to these a nd other questions lie buried in the ancien t ruin s of Talislanta.

For players, Th e Archaen Codex provides a tantalizing hint of the ancient treasures that may lie hidden

H o w t o Use This BookGamemasters take heed: The contents of The Archaen C& should not be readily available to player

characters. Rather, PCs mus t search for this information in the crumbling ruins of ancient cities; in molder-ing crypts, d usty archives, a nd sealed vaults; in the rotting hulks of sunken vessels; in archaic tombs buriedbeneath t he desert san ds o r cities frozen in ice; in the arid expanses of the Lost Sea, the towering mausole-ums of Hadjistan, the gilded tombs of Phaedran wizards, and the City of the Dead in Khazad.

This book provides clues to the location of thes e lost secrets. But it is up to you as the gamemaster todetermine where or even if these clues might be found. Until the characters succeed in locating the informa-tion for themselves, this material should be considered no more than rumor, its existence awaiting proof by

those who are willing to undertake th e challenge of exploring the fa rthes t an d most desolate regions of theTalislantan continent.

To the player characters, we say good luck and good hunting!

Author Biography:Stephan Michael Sechi

Stephan Michael %chi i s the creator of Talislanta. Formerlypresident and creative director of Bard Games, he now works as afreelance designer, writer, a nd editor.

Stepha n has written th irteen fanta sy roleplaying titles forthe Compleat Fantasy, tlantis, an d Talislanta series. His inter-

ests include the works of William s. Burroughs, football (he's adiehard New York Giants fan), the mus ic of Steely Dan, the Police,and Tom Scott, the art of Phlllipe Druillet. Moebius, an d RodneyMatthews, and lots of oth er stuff. Despite supposedly knowingbetter, he continues to be involved in the mus ic busines s as asaxophone player an d sometime studi o musician.

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TABLE F CONTENTS

Introdnction:

Chapter 1:How to use this

book

History of t he Forgotten AgeThe New AgeLore a nd Legend of t he Forgotten AgeLore of the Phaedran EraSecrets of th e Past

Chapter 8:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 4 :

Chapter 5:

Forgotten ArcanaMagical and Alchemical Research

Magicians of t he Forgotten AgeMagicians of the Early New Age

Other Individuals of Note

Forgotten Spells

Lost Books of MagicWritten Works of Lesser Renown

Chapter 6:Artifacts from the Forgotten AgeArtifacts of th e Legendary MagiciansSpell-Powered ArtifactsUnknown Artifacts

Ancient Ruins

Archaic Period: KhazadMiddle Period: Pha ndre Mausoleum TowerLatter Period: Elandar Cloud PalacePhaedran Tomb

Summoned EntitiesStatistics for Summoned Crea tures

Listing of Spells by Magical Field

Chapter 7;.

Chapter 8:

Appendix:

Index:

i1

1 8 10 21 22

25 36

39 48

53

55

98 117

119 132 136 146

148

148 149 151 152

155 168

169 170

The T.1Lkot. game and fantasy world are the creatlons of Stephan Mlchael Sechl. T.li.knt. s a trademark of SMS. and I s used by

Wlzards of he Coast under authorlzatlon All rip& eserved. 7heArchnen C a k P Is 61992 by Stephan Mlchael sechl and Wizards of the

Coast. Inc. 'Ihe T & h t n Culdebodc (third edltlon).Ta&s of T&lantaTy. 7he scent of the Beasp . ' Ih y s tmm' s Collectnnea". 7heArchaen

CodeP. TaUslanta Geogmphican. and 7he T&lanta Omnibus'" are trademarks of Stephan MIchael Sech1 and Wizards of the Coast Inc. he

Clmmlcles of'lWslantam. he a iwaUst ' s C& to Talfslntitan. he 4dopedla TallSlnntoN series. TaUsLmfa Sacera's Guide'". and TaUsLmfa

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CHAPTER

History of the Forgotten Age

2tdneus is a dorld older than mckmmg, steeped m magic and littered with the ruins @ a SuCaesriDR ofpad ages.Its hktw is as ancient a s time,its on** last m an-. "

-Hotan's History of the World

The Forgotten Age spanned a period of many thou san ds of years, beginning evenbefore the discovery of the orb t ha t brought magic to the Men of Talislanta, continuingthrough The Great Disaster, and lasting until the founding of the Phaedran Empire.During thIs time, a single tribe rose from humble, primitive origins to become the gr eatest

magicians in all the world: th e Archaens.Modem Talislantan sc hola rs have divided the history of the Forgotten Age into

seven major periods: the Time Before Time, th e Firs t through Fourth Millennia, The GreatDisaste r, a nd the Age of Confusion. Records of this long-past time are practically nonex-istent, thanks in large part to the effects of The Great Disaster, the burning of the Libraryof Badijan, an d a handful of similar catastrophes. So, or aspiring Talislantan historians.the fragmented ac coun ts of ancie nt chroniclers and savants must sufflce as the onlyprimary source materials on this period. As a result, all date s mentioned in the followingtext are estimates based upon the ancien t Archaen calendar.

The Tfme Before TfmeDespite the bes t atte mpts of Talislantan histori-

ans, little is known of thi s ancient epoch, whichstretches back across countless millennia to thebeginning of the world. The only evidence of civillza-tion during this period c an be found in the desolate

lan d of Khazad. Here, rows of ancient grave marker sbear mute testimony to the presence of the Thane, arace of seven-foot tall humanoids who once dwelledfar to the north in the unknown and of Thanatus.

than a passing inte rest in t he lore of the lower planes.They plied the oceans in black-hulled vess els of

mysterious aspect, though to wha t ends no one knows

The Thane were occultists who possessed more

for certain. Historians believe the Thane constructed a port city along the western coastof Khazad. from which they conveyed their dead for burial in the territories to the south.Morbid and reclusive by nature, they avoided contact with the other inha bitants ofTalislanta, a practice continued thr oughout the Forgotten Age.

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The Ptnst MiZlenniumSometime prior to the beginning of this period, a

vessel of unknown origin fell from the sky o land inthe wilds of western Talislanta. For untold ages it laythere, until a tribe of savages stumbled upon thismysterious craft while foraging for food. Inside theship they discovered an unusual artifact, a crystallineorb tha t contained the secrets of a mysterious alienlore-magic.

the heavens and revered its makers as deities. Theypracticed primitive magical ritua ls an d erected stonemonuments to these deities, who are now known onlyas he Forgotten Gods. This was the beginning of

religion in Talislanta.

The tribesfolk believed that this artifact fell from

After a time, the tribe traveled to wh at is now southwester n &man. settling alongthe banks of the Axis River. They erected a walled fortification to protect themselves fromwild beasts an d savage tribes who might wish to stea l their wondrous orb. In time, thisplace would come to be known as Arcanopolis, the City of Secrets, and its inhabitantswould be known as the Archaens, keepers of the secre t lore.

These early Archaens were animists whose worship of the Forgotten Gods probablytook the form of witchcraft intermingled with some as pec ts of elemental magic an d evenblack magic. They regarded the entire pantheon of Forgotten Gods as equals. and as-cribed to each su ch virtues and weaknesses as they saw in themselves and in theirsurroundings.

throughout the surrounding territories, battling the primitive tribes that had previouslyoccupied t hese regions, peoples whom the Archaens condescendingly referred to as Sub-Men. By the end of the millennium they had ventured as far east as the Wilderlands,where they established a second settlement, the walled city of Phandril, in what is now

Hadjistan. Here, the Archaens plans for further expansion met an mposing obstacle: th egiant race of reptilians known as the Drakken, rulers of the central regions of Talislanta.

Over the course of the next few centuri es the Archaens extended their influence

The Second MjmemrimnDuring the first two hundred years of this

period, the Archaens waged a long an d costly cam-paign against the Drakken, generally with little

success. This conflict came to a climax when theArchaens attempted to launch a massive attackagainst the Drakken citadel of Golarin. Drakkensentinels, stationed atop th e Watchstone, spotted theArchaen host as it marched acros s the plains. Dragonriders were se nt to t he eastern fortress of Kharakhan,and reinforcements were dispatched to Golarinwithout delay.

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The combined armies of the Drakken defeated the Archaens and drove them back totheir own territories. Pressing the advantage, the Drakken continued on to Arcanopolis.

razed the city, and returned to Colarin and Kharakhan n triumph. The great orb was lostor destroyed in the assault; no one knows for certain which. The surviving Archaens fledto the city of Phandril. carrying with them the sec ret lore of the o rb transc ribed in a greatbook of knowledge called the Archaen Codex.

Safe within the walls of Phand ril, the Archaens plotted to avenge their defeat at theha nd s of the Drakken. They built new weapons of war, and proposed a n alllance with th eSub-M en tribe s based on their common hatred of the Drakken. Following a period ofprotracted negotiation, the Sub-Men agreed to join forces with the Archaens. In return ,

they were promised land rights to the fertile plains an d the undying friendsh ip of theArchaens.

citadel of Colarin. This time the Archaens were prepared: their magician s summoned

storm clouds to engulf the Watchstone. thereby concealing the a rrival of their forces.With the advantage of su rprise, the attac kers scaled the citadel walls under cover ofdarkn ess and pu t the inhabitants to the sword. A handful of Drakken fled east in th edirection of Khar akhan bu t were hunte d down and killed by Sub-Men beastride rs. Thevictorious armies then turned eastward and laid siege to the citadel of Kharakhan withsimilar re sults . The few surviving Drakken fled to the south , pass ing from Talislanta to a

sout hern continent by means of a now submerged land bridge. The Second War with theDrakken w as over, and the humanoid races ruled Talislanta.

A period of peace between the Archaens and Sub-Men ensued. During this time, themagicians of Phandril developed the new arts of wizardry, enchantment, and alchemy. Asecond wave of Archaen expansion followed as colonists spread acr oss th e continent,founding the cities of the F our Nations, Quaran , Jal aad , Ashann, Numenia, Osmar.

Kasraan , and Xambria. This was the beginning of the Archaen Age, a time of greatprosperity an d rapid advances in the arca ne arts. New forms of magic, suc h as alchemi-cal hybridization, were pioneered; magical an d alchemical wares were produced inabun danc e and sold throughout the Archaen Empire. The study of magic, once the

exclusive domain of male Archaens, was opened to females as well, though prejudiceagain st women magicians remained s trong for many centuries.

By the eighth century of the Second Millennium the practice of invocation wasgaining in popularity, and cults centered around a single divine entity began to flourish.The most powerful of these new cults were the Numenians an d th e Quara nians. whosefollowers would come to rule the rival religious states of Numenia and Quaran. TheNumenians were symbola tors who revered th e god Ikon. The Qu arani ans were blackmagicians who employed ri tual invocation to consort with extradimensional entities.summoning "visitors" to provide them with magical knowledge an d power.

a frightful. homed creature, the scion of a rebel sha itan named Zahur. The "baby" wasnamed Drax. At age ten, D r a x murdered his mother, took control of her estate, and withruthl ess ambition subsequ ently became the first Necromancer King of Qu ara n. Drax wasa dar k and brooding cr eature whose goal w as to attain power by any means. From his

Some time late r a combined arm y of Archaens and Sub-Men set forth to as sau lt th e

N e a r the close of th e eighth century, on e of the noblewomen of Quara n gave birth to

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father Zahur. he learned certain forbidden secrets of black magic. Soon. the Quaranianswere creating armies of magical hybrids by crossbreeding Sub-Men, wild beasts. andlesser demonic entities: they then s ent these m i e s forth to raid the territories of

their neighbors.Elsewhere, other ominous events were unfolding. Following a disput e over territo-

rial boundaries, the rulers of the Four Nations declared war on each other. In a few shortweeks, the War of the Four Nations wa s over, and the four city-states lay in ruins. Soonthereafte r. raiders from neighboring Qua ran rode in an d carted off everything of value.During this time the magicians of Phandril developed the secret of windship arcanology.but selflshly refused to sha re this information with the other city-states.

Following the fall of the Four Nations, Qua ran broke the anc ient treaty t he earlyArchaens had made with the Sub-Men and claimed the rich plainslands for itself. An-gered at thi s betrayal, the Sub-Men tribes declared war on all desc endant s of theArchaens. So began the Second War with the Sub-Men.

began work on a new form of magic called sorcery. Though it would be almost a hundredyears before any of his peers would comprehend the implications of his works, Koraq'sdiscovery was destined to have profound effects on the history of the Archaens.

During the mid-ninth century. chang es of some significance were occurring inQuaran. Drax departed the city under strange circumstances: some say Zahur spinltedhim to another dimension after he aroused the anger of the hierarchy of shait an. He wa ssucceeded by his understudy Narishna, a black magician regarded by many as Drax'spawn. Acting on the orders of his predecessor, Narishna ordered a systematic campaignof genocide against all non-Quaranians, whom he described as "inferior species." Overthe next ten years untold thousands of the pacifistic Xambrians were slaughtered in the

fire pits of Malnangar along with many tho usands of Sub-Men.The Numenians, under the Archmage Solimorrion I, condemned the actions of the

Quaranians. In response, Quaranian necromancers cas t a murrain upon the city-state ofNumenia, causing its crops to wither and die. War between th e two quasi-religious statesof Quar an an d Numenia ensued , climaxing in an epic magical conflict betweenSolimorrion I and Narishna. Narishna was vanquished. but Solimorrion I disappeared.never to be seen again.

With the death of Narishna and the disappearance of Solimorrion. Quaran andNumenia ceased to be powers on the continent. The black magicians of Qua ra n dis-persed, to be hounded thereafter by Xambrian wizard hunters. Quaran's own armies ofhybrid warriors sacked the capital. t hen joined forces with the Sub-Men tribes. Numeniafell to the Sub-Men, whose ever-expanding hordes sa on ranged throughout much of thecontinent., posing a severe impediment to Archaen trade and travel.

On the eve of the Third Millennium. the rulers of the Archaen city-states convenedto di scuss the futur e of the empire. Acknowledging their inability to maintain order, therulers resigned, and a group of seven master magicians was elected to serve as a newgoverning body. This group became known as the Archaen Cabal, nd consisted of thesorcerer Koraq, the wizard Rodinn, the sorceress Sylan, the magician Arkon. a n indi-vidual known only as the Enchantress , the illusionist Cascal. and the sa van t Ximadas.

After considering various a lternatives, the Archaen Caba l made its first proclama-

Sometime during the early part of the ninth century, the bril liant theoretician Koraq

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tion: the old city-states would be abandoned and the land ceded to the Sub-Men, as perthe anc ient treaties. From then on Archaens would no longer dwell on the land, b u t in

the skies.

TheTlotrdEljmamdorm:The Third Millennium began with a conclave of

the Archaen Cabal, which was convened in the old cityof Phandril. From this meeting came several importantedicts. including the First Law, which prohibited directconflict between magicians. The Spell of Summoningwas banned. and stric t penalties were established todeal with individuals who dared to defy the law.

Construction of the first sky-city, to be calledAeon. was begun soon thereafter. By the end of the

first centu ry of th e Third Millennium, the old citieswere deserted. Only a handf ul of dis siden t magiciansan d outc asts remained behind to struggle for survivalon the war-ravaged continent of Talislanta.

achievements in the ar cane arts. This halcyon epoch saw the establishment of other sky-cities: Locus, meeting place of the Archaen Cabal; Pompados, where the art ofthaumaturgy was first perfected: Elande, a scholarly sanctuary devoted to the purs uit ofknowledge and populated by one hund red of the bes t an d brightest magicians of Aeon:Farnir. the city of alchemists: Erythria, citadel of warrior-mages; Shalihan. city of illu-sions: an d other les s memorable places.

A great age of discovery had begun. The sa van t Hotan pondered the nature of theOmniverse, while the illusionist Cascal explored the boundaries of perception and reality.Archaen explorers suc h as Nauticus sailed forth in their windships to visit the unchartedlan ds t hat lay beyond the continent of Talislanta. They returned bearing cargos of pre-cious stones, exotic beasts, an d magical herbs as well as news of other intelligentlifeforms.

whose ship had crashed on the con tinent of Simbar. These dual-encephalons knewnothing of magic, b ut were masters of a stran ge metaphysical discipline calledtechnomancy tha t was unknown to the Archaens. They dwelled in Aurantium , a fabulouscity plated with gold, an d were skilled in the making of complex mechanisms suc h asautomatons . Fascinated by these discoveries, the Archaens forged an alliance with theNeurians and became their trading partners. Over the next two hundre d years, the tworaces would work together to explore the possibilities of interdimensional travel.

By he lat ter part of the Third Millennium the Archaens had es tablished colonies onthe conti nents of Celadon and Altarus. The floating san ctum of Imperion was created forthe purpose of study ing the many unique lifeforms that were indigenous to Celadon,while Randun an d Kharistan were land-based citadels built by the Erythrians. The lattertwo outpos ts were not staffed by Archaens, bu t by neomorphs, artificial lifeforms createdby the thaum aturges of Pompados.

So began t he Golden Age, a n era of peace and intellectualism marked by fabulous

Chief among these were the Neurians, alien castaways from a distan t dimension

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The Fourth MmemrfmnThe Fourth Millennium began in an inauspi-

cious fashion. A group of over one hundred minormagicians a nd representatives from the sky-citiesarrived at Locus an d informed the Archaen Caba l tha tthe rulers of the sky-cities had voted to limit thegroup's authority, reducing the Cabal to the stat us ofan advisory board. The seven original membersresigned in disgust and left Locus for distan t locales.Unfazed, t he representat ives elected themselves toreplace the Cabal. To many. this would be remem-bered as the beginning of the Age of Decline.

Preoccupied with their own petty interests, thenew members of the Archaen Cabal failed to impose

any meaningful restraint upon the populace of the empire. Allowed to do as they pleased,the rulers of the sky-citi es became corrupted by greed and t he desire for power. Withmuch idle time on their hands, some began to acquire an appetite for exotic intoxicantsan d hallucinogens. Others sought to circumvent the ancient proscriptions agains tsummoning spells by opening random gates into other dimensions. The wizard Rodinn.formerly of the Archaen Cabal, warned against creating these holes in the dimensionalfabric but was branded a reactionary by his fellow magicians. Following a scandalinvolving the wife and seven daugh ters of the King of Pompados, Rodinn was forced toleave Pompados in disgrace.

In abo ut the third century of the Fourth Millennium, an Archaen windship wascaught in a tempest an d forced to land on the so uthe rn coas t of Talislanta. A tribe ofseafaring Sub-Men known as the Baratus captured the vessel an d forced its crew to teac hthem the secret s of windship navigation. Within ten years, the Bar atus had acquired afleet of stolen windships an d become the ba ne of the skyways.

Over the next three hundred years, mat ters only worsened. In Sha lihan . Archaenspaid exorbitant fees to experience their wildest fanta sies in the form of virtual illusions.The alchemists of Farnir aba ndoned serious experimentation an d began instead toproduce various preparations designed to enhance the physical beauty, skin and haircolors, and bodily forms of thei r wealthy Archaen clients. The One Hundred. the mostrenowned Archaen magicians, declared their sk y sanc tum of Elande off limits to all bu tthe chosen elite. On the continent of Altarus, armies of neomorph warriors were sen tforth into battle for the enter tainment of Erythrian warrior-mages, who directed theirrespective forces from the comfort an d safe ty of flying battle dragons.

At the close of the ninth century, a contingent of Neurians appeared before theArchaen Cabal, warning th at excessive use of magic had weakened the dimensional fabricth at separate d the Archaen reality from other. alte rnate realities. The Neurians suggesteda moratorium on the us e of interdimensional spells and recommended tha t the Cabalallocate funds to study the problem in detail. More concerned with repairing Locus'snympharium. the Cabal members voted to ignore the Neurians' recommendation. Unbe-knownst to its membership, the Archaen Cabal had convened for the final time.

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The Great DfsastmThe Grea t Disaster took much of the Archaen

world by surpri se, though some of the more prescient

inhabitants had made su ch preparations as they wereable. The Thane of Than atu s had interred their entirepopulace in the underground city of Necron, there toremain until the effects of the cataclysm had dis-persed. The M a n e of Tamaranth remained se cure inthe maze city of Altan, protected by their natu ralmagics. Archimandius, the legendary hero of thoseneomorphs an d hybrids left behind when theArchaens took to their sky-cities, led a band ofrefugees to the safe haven of Alcedon. The Neurianssought to escape in a pair of dimension-spanning

arks, hough one ship failed to survive the ca tastr ophe and cr ashed on the continent ofTalislanta.

The cataclysm's effects were far-reaching and profound. The old crimson sun wassundered in two: planets sh attered into fragments, and seven new moons appeared in thenight s ky above Archaeus. The continen t of Simbar san k beneath the waves, while theland of Alcedon was uprooted an d thrown into orbit aro und the world of Archaeus. TheNorth Sea drained away, leaving an arid crater tha t would later become known as theLost Sea. Firestorms swept across the plains, an d m ountains were riven into dus t.Clouds of aberra nt magical energy were unleashed into the atm osphere, wreaking havocwith th e environment an d resulting in climatic changes, mutations, and other anomalies.

For the Archaens, it was the end of a n era. The sky-cities fell from the clouds, some

drifting slowly, othe rs plunging like stones. Locus was hurled into space, never to be seenagain. Thousands perished along with the sky-cities, their cloud palaces shattered, theirprized possessions strewn across the scorched terrain. The Archaen Codex was lost andwould not be found again for hundreds of years. The inhabitants of the floating city ofElande sailed southward in their sky galleons only to be massacred by the Baratus. Thesurvivors of The Great Disaster fled into the Wilderlands, some with their neomorphs andsome without. These displaced peoples soon found themselves at the mercy of the othersurvivors of the disaster-the savage Sub-Men tribes.

though most scholar s of the New Age believe tha t thi s terrible cataclysm was cau sed bythe excessive use and general misuse of magic. They speculate that this resulted in aweakening of the dimensional fabric, which in t urn allowed extradimensional entities toinvade the Archaen reality. Whatever the answ er may be, The Great Disaster brought asud den and final close to th e Archaen Age.

The precise ca use of The Grea t Disaster has remained a mystery to the present day,

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The Age ofthfusianWith the collapse of the Archaen Empire, the

accumulated magical lore of th e previous four thou-sand years w as lost and the peoples of Talislantareverted to an e ra of ignorance and superstition. Theresult was the Age of Confusion-a veritable "DarkAge" of magic in Talislanta, marked by violence andutter chaos. During this time, the Sub-Men tribesbattled incessantly for control of the continent,waging war against eac h other and preying upon themany neomorphs and A rchaens who had beendisplaced by The Great Disaster.

common ruler known as the Tirshata, an individualwho would become legendary as the greatest war-chief of the Sub-Men. Under his com-mand. the Sub-Men drove the last descendants of the Archaens out of their ancestrallands and into the dark forests of Werewood. For the flrst time since the Forgotten Age,the Sub-Men reigned su preme over the continent of Talislanta.

The day of the Sub-Men was destined to be short-lived, however. The Tirshatadisappeared under mysterious circumstances, and the tribes fell to fighting each oth er asthey had in the past. Meanwhile, far to the west, a band of nomadic hunter -gathe rersdescended from the Phandre located the wreckage of a downed windship tha t containedthe Archaen Codex, which had been missing since the time of The Great Disaster. Withthe lost se cre ts of magic once again in their possession, the Phan dre established the newsettlement of Phaedra in the region now occupied by the mo dem-d ay cities of Zanth and

Aamahd.

After much bloodshed. the tribes united under a

The N e w Age bThe founding of the city-state of Phaedra marked

the beginning of a second age of civilization in Talis-lanta. The Phaedrans revived the st udy of the a rcanearts. hough women were once again excluded by andlarge from the practice of magic. The Phaedranspondered the anc ient texts. wrote laws, and formed a

new government. Led by the descendants of theE

anc ien t Phandre. they rediscovered many of the lostsecrets of their Archaen ancesto rs.

The first ruler of the new city-state of Phaedrawas th e archimage Solimorrion 111, an individualregarded as the wisest of the Phandre. Solimorrionencouraged the stu dy of the arcane a r t s and pro-claimed laws th at provided for such enlightened concept s as freedom of speech andreligion. During his reign, the Pha edrans prospered and extended their dominion acro ssmuch of what is now known as the Western Lands, forming the Phaedran Empire.

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Solimorrion 111succ umbed to old age in the year 71 of the New Age. He was suc -ceeded by his s on Damon. a magician of modest talents and little foresight. I t was duringDamon's reign tha t religious conflict became widespread, and the new ruler proved eithertoo weak or too shortsighted to remedy this problem. After twenty years Damon wasforcibly removed from omce, ending Solimorrion HI'S dream s of an enduring dynasty.

After Damon's ouster. forces of the rival Orthodoxist an d Paradoxist cult s vied forpower, effectively neutralizing each other. The Phaedran Council of Elders intervened tobreak the deadlock an d decided to elect a moderate to serve in the new position of WizardKing. The council chose Kabros, a Phandre magician of wide abilities who had served asa n apprentice under the great Mogendrake. After reviewing the situa tion. Kabros con-cluded th at Phaedra was on the verge of collapse. For nine years he struggled to save theempire, though privately he advised his fellow magicians not to make an y long-rangeplans.

In the year 100 of the New Age, when religious uprisings rocked the capital. Kabros

called a meeting of his advisors. In a stirring resignation speech, he told them that thesituation had gone from bad to worse, and advised them to 'consider a n exit, an d a hastyone a t that." Tha t evening, he left Phaedra for the Thaecian Isles, and was never heardfrom again. For lack of a better plan, the advisors disguised one of their number asKabros. successful ly maintaining this ru se for eleven years.

for their lives. The Orthodoxists seized control of th e government. rounding u p all dissi-dent s and imprisoning them in the penal colony of Cao-Din. The Paradoxists respondedby declaring war on the O rthodoxists and a ttacking the capitol district of Badijan. In theensuing battle t he Library of Badijan was burned to the ground by Orthodoxist cultists.an d mos t of the achievements of the Phaedran magicians were lost forever. So began the

Cult Wars, a series of bloody conflicts that would las t for four hundred years an d com-pletely destroy the P haedr an Empire.

Orthodoxist witch hunters. Unbeknownst to their former fellow citizens. they b rough twith them an artifact of great importance-the Archaen Codex, which they kept forthemselves in a n atte mpt to safeguard it s existence.

For the next five hundred years Talislantan magicians practiced only the mos trudimentary spells an d incantations. Then, in the year 603 of the New Age, theCymrilians opened a sealed vault in the basement of the Lyceum Arcanum and unearthed

the Archaen Codex, which had been hidden there cen turies ago by a Phandre magicianwho became the first Wizard King of Cymril. Thus began a new Age of Discovery, whichcontinues to the pre sent day.

When a t las t their trickery was uncovered in the year 1 1 1 , Kabros's advisors fled

The Phandre magicians, suddenly out of vogue, fled eastward to escape the grasp of

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Lore and Legend of the Forgotten Age

The following section contains information on the ancie nt civilizations of Talislanta'sdista nt past, an d describes the types of artifacts that explorers of the r uins of the oldcities and other sites might find. I t is up to you as the gamemaster to determine howmuch of this information is available to players, and where it might be found. Remember:until it is proven otherwise, players should consider all material in this section specula-tive at best.

For more information on artifacts, see Chapter 6 .

37jeAIim Vise1The remains of the st rang e shi p that was found by the early

ancestors of the Archaens have never been found, despite numer -ous attempts by the Phaedrans and their successors. For thou-sa nd s of years scholars believed that this vessel originated fromanother world outside the Archaen solar system. However, recent

discoveries have indicated that this sh ip was probably of extradimensional origin. TheSindarans, descendants of the Neurians, believe that this vessel may have been of

Neurian make, and so are especially anxious to locate any articles t ha t may have origi-nated from it.

of twisted metal, and items of unknown p urpose.Artifacts tha t might be found on this site include portions of the ship's hull, pieces

StUELbhemBefore they established their first settlements, the early

Archaens erected a num ber of dolmens and ston e figures inthe deep woodlands of wha t is now known as Werewood.These anci ent artif acts were employed in druidical ritualsdevoted to their deities, who are now remembered only as the

Forgotten Gods.

par ts of south ern Werewood, bu t there ha s been little exploration of the interior regions.This is particular ly tru e of Witchwood, a section of the forest where many of these st onestructures still stand an d continue to be used in the rites of the Dh un a witchfolk.

Dolmens, idols, and other ancient articles of witchcraft have been exhumed from

3 1 i e c j ; s t ' @ . &

Archaen settlement. I t is said to have been built of green stone,though this story may be a fabrication. The inhabitants wereanimists who revered deities no t unlike the g reater elementals.When Arcanopolis was razed by Drakken arm ies from Golarin and

Arcanopolis, also known as the City of Secrets , was the first

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Kharakhan. they boasted tha t they had left not one stone standing atop the other. Theruins have never been located, and it is likely th at the stones were carted off and used forother purposes. Buried somewhere in the wreckage lies the Archaen Orb, or it s shatteredremnants.

idols, witchstones, dolmens, witch gates, discarded Drakken weapons and armor, a nd

common items. If any magic items ar e found, they will probably be fairly primitive an dwill be based on the practice of witchcraft.

Artifacts tha t might be found here include the Archaen Orb, ancie nt stone tablets,

71ie @Rk21&7The city of Phandril was the second city built by the early

Archaens , and stood for over two thousand years. During this timethe city underwent numerous restorations an d reconstructionsaccording to the prevailing architectural styles an d aesthetics of

each successive era. The original city was sa id to have been madeof sands tone blocks polished to a glossy sheen by elemental magics. Much later , Phandrilwas said to have been plated with precious metal s, its glittering towers serving as moor-age for the first windships. At its peak, Phandril was renowned for its wizards. who werefamed for the fabulous enchan ted items t ha t they created. Almost every magical innova-tion known to the Archaens is said to have originated with the Phandre.

horde s of Sub-Men, who left little behind save for a few fragments of shatt ered stone. Thegiant mausoleum towers in which the Phandre interred their dead fared fa r better,thanks in large part t o the supersti tious beliefs of the Sub-Men, who feared to distu rb thedead lest they bring down a curse upon their own ancestors. The same cann ot be said forthe more "civilized" Talis lantans of lat er er as, who had no qualms ab out grave-robbing.During the New Age, the Hadjin purchased these ancien t mausoleums from the

Phaedrans in wha t may well have been one of the most profitable real es tat e deals of alltime. Thousa nds of these struc tures can still be found in the prese nt day, though somelean a t odd angles or have toppled to the ground.

Artifacts tha t may be found here include Phandre glass sarcophagi, windshipcomponents and accoutrements, an d enchant ed items of many sorts.

Abandoned during the la tter part of the Third Millennium, Phandril was razed by

Lore af the Sewnd Eljmennfmn

d b h i lGolarin was the gre atest of the Drakken cities, an mmense,

cyclopean struc ture constructed from giant blocks of black por-phyry carried by land dragon from the Onyx Mountains. The outerwalls were said to exceed one hundre d feet in height; the blackiron gates stood well over s ix ty feet tall and were wide enough to

accommodate a fully armored land dragon.The Drakken possessed no knowledge of magic, but had developed a thriving

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culture. They knew how to forge iron, and used a complex written language of glyphs an dsymbols. Drakken symbology was three-dimensional: dlfferent meanings were indica tedby the varying depths a t which these symbols were carved in s tone or impressed uponmetal.

which Drakken sentinels could scan the entire plains region. This structure still standsin the present day, though the city of Golarin was destroyed as an act of vengeance forthe destruction of the Archaen city of Arcanopolis, and the city-states of the Four Nationswere built upon the ruins.

fragments of black porphyry from the shat tered city walls, Drakken glyphstones. Drakkensilver coins, Drakken weapons and armor , an d the Tomb of the Great Dragon Or&,whose mummified remains are believed to lie buried beneath the ru ins of the FourNations.

A shor t distance from the city stood the Watchstone, a towering rock spire atop

Artifacts dating back to the time of Golarin th at might be found here inc lude

KiruvlbrrmThe Drakken citadel of Kharakha n was similar in most

respects to the city of Golarin. bu t was smaller an d constructed ofa peculiar red stone tha t some modern-day geomancers believewas mined from the nearby Volcanic Hills. This material containsdeposits of red iron ore and is extremely durable. As a result.,

perhaps as much as half of the original str uc tu res remain int act to the present day.though the ou ter walls of the city were either destroyed or dismantl ed over the course ofthe centuries. The subterr anean levels of Khar akhan ar e believed to contain numerousrelics and curios, though many of the underground passages an d tunn els are probablyunsafe.

Artifacts tha t might be found here include Drakken glyphstones. silver coins,weapons, an d armor.

31ielBZrrMbbm

upon the ruins of the immense Drakken city of Golarin, a struc-ture of su ch vast proportions th at its ruins provided most of thenecessary materials used in the city-states' construction. The fourArchaen city-sta tes were built along the edges of the ruined city at

The four walled city-sta tes of the F ourNat ions were built

the fou r cardinal points, one facing north, one south, one east., an d one west.Some of the black porphyry towers, columns, and archways of the Four Nations still

sta nd to the present day. though most of these st ruc tur es were destroyed dur ing the Warof the Four Nations. As the ruins were stripped by surrogate armies of the Quaranianssoon after this debacle, much of the history and culture of the Four Nations remains amystery. The Phaedrans explored the four ruined cities during the early part of the NewAge and claimed to have discovered several dozen stone tablets th at ha d been ignored bythe Quaranians' surrogates. According to the Phaedran scholar Erastes, the tablets

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indicate that th e four rulers kept secret subterranean vaults in which they hid their mostprized possessions. The Ph aedrans never located these underground treasure troves,however, and so they may still remain intac t, waiting to be discovered by explorers of theNew Age.

Artifacts dating to the time of the Fo ur Nations that may be found in this areainclude fragments of stone and metal, some bearing portions of anci ent runes , andenchanted an d mun dane luxury items, weapons, an d utensils. Era stes described the fourvaults as containing "the gilded tomb of Irkhan, the mysterio us elixirs of immortality, theNine Buoks oflcnowledge, an d a fourth, unspecified treasure.

auuonLocated to the south of the Kharakhan Wastes, the ruins of

Quaran stand as grim reminders of the mos t sinister nation in theanna ls of Talislantan history. The Quara nians were black magi-

cians who vacillated dangerously between diabolism and demonol-ogy. The original walled city was const ructed of black and red

basalt with rows of iron barbs lining the walls an d parapets, which were designed bo th tokeep invaders o ut a nd to prevent the city's inhab itants from escaping.

Today, little remains of the city of Qua ran save a few st ar k ston e towers. rows ofblackened an d defaced statu es, and the rusted hulks of ancient killing machines. Cen-erations of occultis ts and tomb-robbers have come to this place over the course of thecenturies to sift hrough the ruins in search of Quaranian artifacts. Many articles havebeen retrieved from the ruins, often to the gre at regret of those who have found them .Countless other s may still remain buried in tombs, vaults, a nd Underground pits, aw ait-

ing discovery by those who covet infernal knowledge above all other considera tions. Themodem-d ay Rajans claim to be descended from the Q uaranians, though it is more likelythat the Quaran ians created them.

Artifacts that might be found here include Quar anian weapons, bottle imps, cu rsedtomes, diabolical artifacts, and ins trum ents of torture a nd de ath.

&budThe crumbling ruins of the city of Jalaad, known during the

Second Millennium as a center of scholarly activity. are locatednear the Zaran Mountains in the Wilderlands of Zaran. The outerwalls an d interior structur es of this ancie nt city were c onstructedof white marble inlaid with blue jade. Many generations of Yitek

tomb-robbers and Za bandits have stripped the ruins of most items of value, leaving a few

structures of pitted, scarred stone.

enchantments, which remains relatively intact. The library is occupied by the descen-dants of a cab al of Callidian cryptomancers, who have endeavored to protect the facility'sstore of red iron tab lets since the time of The Grea t Disaster. Individuals who wish toexplore the library may do so only by permission of the Callidians, who deal sternly withlooters a nd vandals.

The sole exception is the Library at Jalaad. a towering edifice warded by powerful

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Artifacts tha t might be found here include fragments of stone tablets, rare sha rds ofblue jade, and the contents of the Library at Jalaad. Several large ossuaries located in the

sub ter ran ean levels of the city may contain other items of interest, su ch as Jdaadianfunerary relics. However, these areas are said to be haun ted by necrophages. who comehere to gnaw on the bones of the dead.

AshcfnnIn ancient times, Ashann was renowned for its

astromancers. whose portents a nd divinations were greatly valuedby the Archaens. The city once consisted of seven concent ricrings, the outermost of which encom passed an a re a approximatelytwo miles in diameter. These rings were constructed of deep blue

basalt, measur ed nearly a hundred feet in width, and stood over forty feet in height. Thepattern formed by the rings w as said to have been integral to the casting of certain

auguries, though the validity of this theory is dimcult to ascertain since most of the ringswere demolished during The Great Disaster. Portions of the rings still sta nd. a nd it maybe possible to discern the outlines of the original str uctu res in the parched terrain.

The only intelligent folk cur rently found in the vicinity of th e old city are the myste-rious beings known as th e Wanderers of Ashann-tall, shrouded figures who can often beseen walking amongst the ruins. The Wanderers' motives remain unclear: some say ha tthey sear ch the ruins of the old city of Ashann for some lost artifact or item of occultsigniflcance. Others claim that Ashann was once their home. and tha t the Wandererscome here to watc h over the remains of their long-departed ancestors.

been picked over for centuries by tribes of Za bandits and other scavengers.Little may be found here other than f ragments of faded blue basalt. The ruins have

NumenilThe walled city of Numenia was built into the side of the

southernmost peak of the Maruk Mountains, overlooking whatwas once a rich and fertile plain. In ancient times, this place was acenter for the stu dy of theology, visited by priests and savantsfrom across the continent. The city was constructed of white and

black opaline, and wa s renowned for its ornate temples. The high priests of theNumenians were equally famed, and were purported to be capable of performing miracles.Perhaps the grea test miracle was the giant idol known as Ikon, which stood guard overthe city and was said to possess the ability to speak in tongues.

The black magicians of Qu ara n placed a powerful curse upon Numenia. poisoning

its fertile plains and instigating a terrible w ar between the two rival nations. ThoughQuaran was defeated. Numenia w as eventually overrun by Sub-Men an d abandoned.During The Great D isaster the remains of the city were destroyed by an earthquake that

leveled the surrou nding mountains, burying the ancient tombs and temples beneath tonsof rock and debr is. The ruins of Numenia still lie undiscovered somewhere beneath themodern-day city-state of Maruk. The modern-day Maruka ns claim desce nt from theNumenians.

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Artifacts that may be found here include the idol Ikon, Numenian temple artifacts,prayer wheels, holy items, Numenian s criptures, the tombs of Numenian priests a nd

priestesses, an d various reliquaries.

Qvmr

The ruins of Osmar are located at the w estern edge of thePlains of Golarin, to the east of the Dead River. The original city

was said to have consisted of five great towers enclosed within a nouter wall built in the s hape of a pentagram. In ages past , theinh abi tan ts of this city functioned as enchanters an d artificers,

creating magical weapons, armor. wands, an d othe r articles to the specifications of th ePhandre wizards of Phandril. The Osmarins magic workshops were said to operate nightan d day turning ou t enchanted goods for sale to the o ther Archaen cities.

sent inels overlooking the Dead River. The rui ns are now the domain of the Beastmentribes, who continue to scour the surr ounding areas for lost artifacts. Beastmen who hailfrom the O smar ru ins are often well armed, their pack-leaders sometimes attired in battlearmor and enchanted weaponry of ancient make.

Artifacts that may be found here include Osmarin blades of blue iron, Osmarin

battle armor, enchanted wands an d staves, enchanted and m undane luxury items, andoth er magical components.

Today, little remains of Osm ar save its towers, which con tinue to s tan d like silent

KasrwnThe ruin s of Kasraan lie to the so uthea st of the city-state of

Danuvia in the Desertlands of Zaran. In ancient times, the Kasir,as the in habi tants of Kasraan were known, were a mercantile folkwho earned a living transpor ting goods by caravan between theothe r Archaen cities. By the Third Millennium, the caravans were

replaced by armored conveyances th at resembled fearsome metallic dragons an d providedprotection from hordes of Sub-Men.

The &sir were very successful and were s aid to be so wealthy tha t the streets ofKasraan were paved with gold. While this is undoubtedly an exaggeration, many Kasirmerchants and moneylenders were known o hoard vas t su ms of gold and preciousstones, storing their riches in underground v aults of elaborate design.

wind and time, the catacombs located below the ruins remain largely intact. These

subterranean ha unt s contain the petrifed remains of the merchant kings and q ueens of

ancient Kasraan, sealed within crypts of solid stone. Gaining entrance to the royal vaultsis said to be a formidable ta s k the K a s i r were skilled in the making of elaborate trapmechanis ms and took exceptional pains to protect the bodies of their mo narchs fromtomb-robbers an d other entrepreneurial types. The modem d ay Kasmirans are believed tobe descended from the Kasir.

Artifacts that may be found here include devious Kasir trap mechanisms, irondragons, Kasir ledgers, enchanted an d mu ndane luxury items, an d sto res of gold andprecious stones.

Though the city of Kasraan was long ago reduced to a shambles by the ravages of

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ximrbaiaXambria was a walled city of great beauty, known for its

splendid hanging gardens, quiet shrines, and tree-lined boule-vards. I t s inhabitants, the Xambrians, were a peaceful peoplewhose daily lives revolved around the practice of mysticism, a fieldof magic th at the y may have learned from the reclusive M a n e .

During the l att er part of the Second Millennium. Xambria was a ttacked by surrogateforces of the Qu aranians. who took thousan ds of prisoners. marching them a cross theplains to the city of Quaran. Here, they were sacrinced in th e fire pits of Malnangar asofferings to the rebel shaita n Zahur. In a n attem pt to eradicate the Xambrian people, theQuar anian s the n destroyed all traces of Xambria. smashin g the Xambrians' homes intorubble, burning their crops and possessions, a nd poisoning their lands.

Due to the thoroughness of this destruction, no artifac ts of any note are known tobe found here.

Aeon

translucent domes, spires, and elevated causeways that floatedhigh above the clouds. The city was fashioned from mater ialsderived through the art of thaumaturgy, using essence accumula-tors to extract raw materials from the very &her of Archaeus.

Aeon was the first of the sky-cities. a fabulous construc t of

Enchanted crystals provided a virtually unlimited source of energy, keeping the sky-cityafloat and serving as a power source for the Archaens' windships. Here. th e Archaens

lived in peace unt il the Golden Age waned a t the beginning of the Fourth Millennium.When The G r e a t Disaster struck, Aeon simply dissolved, reverting to the basic

elements from which it had been created. No trace of the inh abitan ts or their possessionsha s ever been discovered.

No artifacts from this sky-city ar e known to exist, though scholars theorize thatitems of nonthaum aturg ical origin may have survived dissolution and fallen to earth inwhat is now the Wilderlands of Zaran. If this theory is true, it might be possible to locatesuch artifacts as enchanted crystals, spellstones, enchanted an d mund ane luxury items,Archaen runeswords,

I

an d enchanted items of various sorts.

LocusLocus was a floating sanctum t hat was created to serve as a

meeting place for the Archaen Cabal. The original str ucture w asfunctional rathe r than decorative in design, and included livingchambers for the seven founding members, a council hall, an d alibrary. all encased within a n impermeable sphere of force. By the

middle of the Fourth Millennium. after t he original members had qui t the Cabal indisgust, Locus had been expanded to include a pleasuredmme. nympharium, floatinggardens, and othe r amusements. By this time the membership included suc h minor

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lights as the zealot Harrune the Hieromancer; the witchling Tinzel, a long-legged creaturewith a sho ck of blue frizz for hair; the conjurer Orfu, a glutton of su ch excessive habi ts

tha t even the most artful enchan tments could not conceal his corpulence: an d theinfam ous rogue magician and tr ickster Zanillo.

No ar tifac ts of any kind will likely be found below the former site of this sky-ciw,Locus was flung into space during The Great Disaster and ha s never been seen again.

mbThe sky-city of Pompados was c reated as a refuge for the

Phandre . members of the former ruling class of the ArchaenEmpire who had dwelled in the landboun d city of Phandril. ThePhan dre were enamored of pomp and ceremony, so much so thatthe magicians of Pompados regarded themselves as par t of a royal

magiocracy, and awarded themselves titles according to their perceived degrees of pres-Uge. It was the du ty of the Phandre to safeguard the Archaen Codex, the mos t importantof al l magical tomes.

The practice of thau maturgy was most popular in Pompados, where essence accu-mulators functioned night and day producing essences of the most subtle and fabuloussort for sale to the other sky-cities. The proliferation of these accumulators was su ch t ha tthe wizard Rodinn worried tha t their continued use might have adverse afects upon th eArchaen environment. Regrettably, his warnings were ignored.

inhabitants fled in their windsh ips, taking everything of value tha t they could carry withthem. Some are believed to have made it as f a r as the Thaecian Isles, though m ostcrashed in the territo ries now known as Mog and Jhangara. Harried by Sub-Men. the

Phandre and their descendants dredged through the s wamps and forests until thecoming of the New Age.

Pompados, though some are believed to have fallen to earth in what is now the RedDesert. The ruby tablets discovered by the Dracartans. engraved with certain

thaumaturgical secrets, probably originated from Pompados. Other articles that might be

found buried bene ath the desert sa nd s include essence accumulators, enchanted a ndmundane luxury items, the wreckage of ancient windships. spellstones. enchantedcrystals, and tablets engraved with arcana. The Archaen codex as already been recov-ered and now resides in a vault in the Lyceum Arcanum.

When The Great Disaste r occurred Pompados began to dissolve, as did Aeon. The

Most of the artifacts of this sky-city disappea red following the d isso lution of

E h d ?Also known as the City of the Four Winds. Eland e was a sky-

city of modest proportions originally intended to serve as a sanc-tum devoted to the pursuit of magical knowledge. I t was populated

by one hundred of the bes t and brightest magicians of Aeon, eacha paragon of achievement in the arcane arts. t was the d uty of the

One Hundred, as they were called, to compile information about a ll aspec ts of theArchaen world, storing this information in crystal orbs or enchanted tablets, preserving

samples of various species in stasis, and recording events of note.

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Unfortunately, with the coming of the Age of Decline dur ing the Fourth Millennium.the One Hundred began to lose interest in their duties. The quality of their work deterio-rated as they began to view themselves as elite an d superior beings. When The GreatDisaster s truck, Elande lost alt itude an d slowly drifted downward. In a panic, the OneHundred fled south in their windships, where they were atta cked by a fleet of Baratus skyraiders. AU but one of their vessels were s hot from the skies to cras h in the jungles ofwhat is now the Dark Coast. The sole surviving ship reached th e isle of Phan tas. wherethe passengers estab lished the floating citadel of Cabal Magicus. The sky-city of Elandeeventually landed on the flying island of Alcedon, where it is believed t o remain to thepresent time.

Elande, where many can probably still be found. These include compendia, bestiaries,cosmologies, histories, an d grimoires, all stored in enchanted orbs or engraved on totablets; samples of ancie nt Archaen flora and fauna, preserved in stasis in crystal

sphere s or silver phials: enchante d and mundane luxury items, windship par ts,spellstones, enchanted crystals, essence accumulators, a nd other thauma turgical wares.Some of these items may also be found in the wreckage of the downed windships, thoughmuch was probably lost or destroyed during the battle with the Baratus. The Pha ntasia nsretained at least one essence accumulator and some of the lesser spellstones andgrimoires.

Most art ifacts predating the Age of Decline were left behind in the sky-city of

a m f fThe sky-city of Farnir was es tablished by a cabal of alche-

mists from the city of Aeon. Originally. the Farnirans specializedin the making of e l m vitae. a revitalizing fluid tha t, taken regu-larly, provided the Archaens with a greatly extended life expect-ancy. They also created an d sold a variety of mirac ulous panaceas

that could be used to cure all m anner of ailments. By the Age of Decline. however, theFar nirans had become primarily interested in producing cosmetic enhancements, fromwhich a greater profit could be derived. With the onset of The Great Disaster , Farnirplunged earthward and was trapped in a cloud of freezing vapor. The city an d its inhabit-ants are believed to have been frozen in st asis, an d may now lie buried under layers ofcrystalline ice in the frigid heartland of Narandu.

Artifacts that may be found here include ph ials of elixir vitae, cosmetic enhance-ments, enchanted an d mundane luxury items. sophisticated alchemical appar atuses , a ndquanti ties of rare ingredients, many of which a re now impossible to find elsewhere.

-stablished at the onset of the Age of Decline. the sky-

citadel of Erythria was the domain of a cabal of warrior-magesdesignated as protectors of the sky-cities. Despite the fac t that theskyborne Archaens had neither true enemies nor any tangibleterritories to protect, the later members of the Archaen Cabal paid

these militaristic magicians exorbitant fees to constr uct costly battle dragons an d otherengines of destruction.

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The Erythrians also spent vast sums in the cottstruction of two citadels on thecontinent of Altarus, which they populated with armies of neomorph warriors. Here, onthe P lains of Armageddon, military exercises were held, os tensibly in preparation forsome future war. These operations were largely pointless endeavors, with rival command-ers sen ding their surrogates into battle in order to settle petty disputes, win favors orpromotions, or simply amu se themselves. Like many of the sky-cities. Eryth ria suffered

dissolution during The Great Disaster. I t s inhabitants, unprepared to deal with such aneventuality, perished an d were never heard from again.

No artifacts from this sky-citadel have yet been found: its vas t store of weapons isbelieved to have fallen into the F ar Seas when Erythria dissolved. Engines of war, weap-ons, an d other military appar atuses created by the E~ythrians may still be found on thecontinent of Altarus, along with the des cendants of the neomorphic warriors who servedthere.

* hThe sky-city of Shalihan was known as the City of Illusions,

a n a p t name since almost everything an d everybody in Shalihanwas created through the arts of illusion and conjuration. Clientsfrom the sky-cities flocked to Shal ihan to experience their wildestfantasies brought to life in the form of "virtual illusions." Many

found these imaginary vistas preferable to reality and spe nt the remainder of their lives ina virtual haze. N o one knows for certain what became of Shalihan during The GreatDisaster. Apparently, the en tire city simply vanished into thin air.

was illusory. Only the writings of Cascal have survived to the presen t day (see Chapter 5) .No artif acts have yet been found here, primarily because so much of the sky-city

l&?nchand*The Erythrians established these two colonies on the conti-

nen t of Altarus and populated them with armies of neomorphwarriors, sub-commanders, and supporters . Each colony was afortified citadel, armed to the teeth with weapons and engines ofmas s destruction. The Erythrians staged War games" in the

temto ry th at lay between the two cities, using their surrogates to test various strategiesand scenarios. Casualties were replaced by new troops bred within the walls of thecitadels.

When The Great Disaster occurred, the Erythrians abandoned their creations, who

continued to fight on according to their final instructions. Both citadels were eventually

razed, though the ru ins of Randun an d Kharistan continue to stand to the presen t day.Historians believe the neomorphic in hab itan ts dispersed long ago, leaving the two sitesvacant at present. The two ruined cities are said to eman ate virulent magics, the lingeringeffects of the dangerous weapons and toxic s ubst ances that were stored here.

engines suc h as iron war dragons, iron scorpions, siege golems. battle golems, flyingbattle dragons, an d bombastions: explorers may also find the discarded weapons an d

Artifacts that may be found here include the rusted hulks of ancient Erythrian war

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armor of deceased armies of neomorphs. The ruined citadels are believed to containvolatile materials suc h as glassy spheres of Red Menace (liquid fire) and Blue Havoc(liquid ice), enchan ted power crystals. alchemical toxins, and poisonous gases and dustsused in warfare.

Imperion was a floating research colony bui lt by thePhandre and located on the con tinen t of Celadon. I t s purposewas twofold to produce an inexpensive supply of rare herbs.plant products. a nd exotic animals to sell to the sky-cities. andto serve as a laboratory for the creation of new lypes of hybrid

plants and creatures through the process of biomancy. Almost from its inception, theoperation proved disastrous. First, two specimens of a deadly biomantic hybrid known asthe man rak escaped from the laboratory. upsetting the delicate ecological balan ce of the

surro unding regions. To remedy the situation, the Phandre biomancers created a speciescalled crysalids to combat the manraks. Unfortunately, both species turned out to be tooprolific to control, and the biomancers were forced to aba ndon a ny hope of containing thedamage from this project. Later experimentation result ed in even more disast rous conse-quences, necessitating the implementation of ever more dras tic "remedies," with simila rresults.

At the time of The Great Disaster, Imperion drifted earthward, landing in closeproximity to a hive-colony of manrak. The predatory insectoids finished off thebiomancers in shor t order, though some of their creations are believed to have survivedan d eventually adapted to the local environs.

Artifacts tha t may be found here include biomantic appar atuses an d texts, speci-

mens frozen in stasis, enchanted and mundane luxury items, an d Phandre enchanteditems.

AURmtYm

located on the co ntinent of Simbar. It was not an Archaen colony,but rather a sanct uary constructed by the Neurians, castaways

from a distant dimension who had crash-landed on the continentof Simbar long before its discovery by Archaen explorers. A n

advanced race of dual-encephalons. the Neurians possessed knowledge of a form ofmetaphysics tha t was unknown to the Archaens. a combination of magic and scienceknown as technomancy. Using thi s knowledge, the Neurians ha d perfected the art ofmetallurgy, constructing elaborate automatons a nd o ther wondrous metallic appar a-tuses . They found magic incomprehensible, bu t had developed a mental discipline thatallowed them to harness the power of their double brains.

Though unable to return to their home, the Neurians had constructed metal-hulledvessels operated by crews of humanoid a utomatons, which they sent forth to explore thesur rounding waters for other signs of intelligent life. These unmanned sh ips neverventured as far as the Talislantan continent. primarily because an intelligent aqua ticspecies known as the Hydrans frequently preyed upon them.

Aurantium was a fabulous city plated with pur e gold and

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The Neurians shared many of their secrets with th e Archaens and entered into apartnership of so rts with them, allowing Archaens to live and stu dy with them in the city

of Aurantium an d pur chasing magical apparatu ses from the Archaens in exchange forgold. In return. the Archaens taug ht them a bout windship arcanology an d agreed to helpthe dual-encephalons construct vessels capable of interdimensional flight so that theNeurians could return to their home. The latter project languished for centuries, tha nksin large par t to Archaen procrastination: motivated by greed, the Archaens were more

interested in turning a quick profit by producing precious metals.

Great Disaster was ab out to occur. Having learned of the coming cataclysm throughtechnomantic analysis of the surrounding environs. they warned their partners that theymu st flee Archaeus at once. The Archaens demurred, reluctant to leave the golden cityan d its fabulous riches. Puzzled, the Neurians left them behind an d departed the conti-nent of Simbar ju st as t san k beneath the waves.

nexus and disappeared into the Continuu m. The other suffered a malfunction an dcrashed somewhere on the continen t of Talis1ant.a-most likely in the Northern Sea, ow

known as he Lost Sea. Most of the Archaens, left back in t he city of Aurantium, w ent tothe bo ttom of the ocean, though some are said to have escaped in hastily improvised raftsan d boats. The ancestors of these survivors are known today as the Oceanians. Several ofthe Neur i ans metal-hulled ships survived along with their automaton crews. I n modemtimes they have come to be known as the Parthenians, named after the island on whichthey settled after Simbar sank ben eath the waves.

The sunken city of Aurantium is believed to contain Neurian technomantic appara-tuses, automatons, an d great quan tities of gold and silver ingots. The Neurian s hip that

crashed on Talislanta has never been found, but is thought to contain a variety oftechnomantic and magical artifacts, including Neurian technomantic apparatu ses,enchanted crystals, an d items of unknown purpose.

The Neurians finally completed cons truction on two prototype vessels ju s t as The

One of the Neurian vessels was said to have passed through a n interdimensional

Lore ofthe l?hae&aa Era

A5Q&During the first century of the New Age, the Phaedra ns

discovered numerous artifacts and texts of arcane significancethat 1.54 been lost since the time of The Great Disaster, and theycreated a number of their own works as well. Unfortunately, thevas t majority of this ar cane lore was destroyed o r confiscated by

Orthodoxist zealots at the onset of the Cult Wars. Yet some of the mo st cogent Phaedr anan d old Archaen artifacts were smuggled out of Phae dra by the Ph andre when they fledeast in order to avoid persecution by Orthodoxist witch hu nters .

A numb er of Phaedran artifacts, su ch as the works of Kabros. Solimorrion 111,Damon. and others, survived the Orthodoxist inquisition. Much of what the Phandresmuggled o ut of Phaedra was eventually locked away in the lower levels of th e LyceumArcanum by Pha ros, the first Wizard King of Cymril. Other artifacts were lost, stolen, or

buried in th e Phaedra n tombs that line the sho res of the Sasc asm River in Werewood.

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Secrets of the PastYThe following section features information tha t is intended as a resource for thegamemaster only: the secrets contained within these pages are not mean t for the players

eyes. As with much of the other information in this book. the availability and even theveracity of this information is entirely up to the gamemaster to decide.

origfns of the AdaneThe Ma ne are a mystical race whose origins remain unknown to Talislantans of the

New Age. Some believe that they are descended from the First Folk, legendary race offorest dwellers th at is thought to have predated the early Archaens by t hous ands ofyears. Others believe that M a n e Seekers arrived in Talislanta from the mythical land ofAtlantis, perhaps on the alien vessel that crashed in western Talislanta thous ands ofyears ago.

story is too complicated to explain to those who do not understand the tenets of tran-scendency. The most t ha t they will say is th at all of these theories may well be true , forthe M a n e have lived countless lives on countless worlds. They state th at for maste rs oftranscendency it is possible to simultaneously exist in many different times and locales.

tha t sta nds a t the center of the maze city of Altan. Someday. perhaps, the M a n e Elderswill consent to explain the origins of their people. Until tha t time, Talislantan sch olarswill continue to ponder their theories and speculate upon what may have transpired in

the long-forgotten past.

The M a n e politely refuse to explain their origins to outsiders, stating that the tru e

It is said tha t the complete history of the M a n e race is recorded in the great obelisk

origin of the Black SavantsLong regarded as diabolists, the Black Savan ts of Nefaratus remain an enigma toTalislantans of the New Age. Morbid and reclusive by nature, they have always avoided

contact with the other intelligent peoples of Talislanta. For centuries, scholars havestudied ancient tablets and ruins in an attempt to discover the origins of this mysteriousrace, but without success. However, if the player characters explore some of the ancientcrypts found th roughout the desolate land of Khazad, they may uncover the following

information:

whose origins predate the early Archaens. They dwelled in a vast underground cavernlocated on the isle of Thanatus. accessible from the sea by means of a network of under-

ground canals. Their black-hulled vessels plied the waters of the Midnight Sea an d

beyond, waging war against the sinister aquatic creatures known as the Hydrans, whoruled the oceans of Talislanta during ancient times.

Sea. en route to Khazad. where the Thane buried their dead. The rows of ancient stoneobelisks tha t mark these gravesites can still be seen in Khazad to the present day, thoughmost of the old Thane seaports a re now gone. The Thane may also have followed the Dead

The Black Sava nts are the descendants of the Thane. a reclusive race of humanoids

Thane ships are known o have traversed the Northern Sea. now known as the Lost

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River southward as far as the jungles of Chana in order to obtain the rare herbs a ndingredients used to embalm their dead.The Thane were occultist s whose necromages communed with cer tain entities from

the lower planes and practiced a n ancient form of magic th at is unknown to Talislantansof the New Age. Thane necromages may have alerted Diabolus to the treachery of therebel shaitan Zahur, resulting in both Zahur's expulsion from the ranks of the shaitanand the su bseque nt exile of Drax. ruler of the Quaranians. Aside from this, the Thaneseem to have avoided all contact with the Archaens. keeping to their own affairs.

seen since. While scholars of later ages assumed tha t the Tha ne perished durin g TheGreat Disaster, this was not the case. Through their sources on the lower planes, theThane learned in advance of the coming of The Great Di saster and made prepara tions toensure the survival of their race. To this end, they constructed a vast necropolis calledNecron in northern Khazad. The entire population of Than atus was interred there untilsuch time as the effects of The Great Disaster had passed.

their long slumber to begin the work of restoring their dead comrades to life an d es tab-

The Thane disappeared sometime during the Third Millennium and have never been

Several centuries ago, their guardian devils awakened the Thane necromages from

lishing a sanctuary on the island of Nefaratus. The reanimated corpses of these Thanenecromages are today known as the Black Savants.

The Or&h of the !lBrallsKnown throughout Talislanta for their mar tial prowess, the Thralls are descended

from a race of beings created by the process of alchemical hybridization. The Pha ndre

created the first prototypes of the species. which they subsequently sold as slaves to theNumenians, hence the name Thralls. The Thralls helped defeat the hybrid forces of theQuaranians, hastening the end of the Quaranians' dark empire. Yet after the fall ofNumenia, the surviving Thralls were left to fend for themselves as their Archaen crea torsabandoned the world below and took to the skies.

the Age of Confusion fighting for survival against wild beasts, magically mutated crea-tures, and tribes of hostile Sub-Men. They eventually settled in the jungles of Taz, wherethey remained until their fi rst contact with the Phandre refugees who would later becomeknown as the Cymrilians.

Left to their own devices, the Thralls banded together and spe nt the remainder of

Orlghrs afthe YmsanAccording to ancien t reco rds, the Yassan were a variety of neomorph servitors

created by the thauma turges of Pompados, ostensibly for sale to the Ne urians ofAurantium. As membe rs of a n enlightened race, the Neur ians refused to purchase livingbeings for use as slaves despite the Archaens' arguments that the servitors were artificiallifeforms. Instead, the Neurians hired the prototypes to work for them an d t aught them

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as much technomantic loreas

the mono-encephalic neomorphs were capable of compre-hending. These neomorphic servitors became known as the Teknar-litexally, "as sis tan ttechnomancers."

Under the guidance of the Neurians, the Teknar prospered a nd soon gained areputation as skilled artisans of the f irst order. They ar e said to have assisted in theconstruction of the transdimensional arks in which the Neurians hoped to return to theirhome world. Contingents of Teknar were aboard the two arks hat departed fromAurantium as the continent of Simbar san k below the waves at the o nse t of The GreatDisaster.

When one of the two sh ips went down over the Talislantan continent, t he survivingTeknar became separated from the othe r members of the crew. This group, led by aTeknar named Yassan , spe nt many years looking for its lost employers without success.

The Tekna r eventually joined forces with a tribe of nomads who, unable to comprehendthe details of their story, began to refer to them as he people of Ya s s a n , after theirleader. The name stuck, a nd so the Teknar became the Yassan.

The Wmd- afAshannThe Wanderers a re the l ast survivors of a cabal of Archaen mystics known as the

Gray Order who once dwelled in the sky-city of Aeon during th e Third Millennium of theForgotten Age. When The Great Disaster str uck and Aeon was dest royed, the mystics fledfrom the city via windship, bearing with them a sacred artifact-the Eye of Ikon, anenchanted crystalline orb tha t once served as the ocula r organ of the gian t Numeniangolem, Ikon. Unfortunately, as they sailed westward their windship passed into a cloud of

radiant dust . The mystics were per manently blinded an d their vessel crashed in theWilderlands. Though eleven of the most powerful members of the Gray Order survivedthis ordeal, the Eye of Ikon was lost during the e nsu ing cataclysm.

environs for thousands of years, hoping in vain to locate the lost artifac t So hey havecome to be known as the Wanderers of Ashann.

said to include the cabal's leader. All are magicians of great power who possess morethan adequate means to defend themselves from any threat.

The eleven blind savan ts have searched the ruins of Ashann and the surr ounding

The Wanderers usually travel in pairs. though there is a single group of three t ha t is

The Nexus TheozySome scholars theorize tha t the world of Archaeus may lie adjacent to an

interdimensional nexus, a conflux or crossroads of several planes of existence. TheNeur ians believed th at th is was indeed the case. and hoped someday to build atransdimensional vessel in order to return to their home world. The Archaens. on th eothe r hand. were skeptical of any theory based on the concepts of technomancy. whichmany regarded as a speculative form of arcanology. If the nexus theory is true, this mightexplain why extradimensional entities such as quasi-demons, devils, ghosts. and similar

sitors from other planes" can be fou ta in such great num

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Since the time of the Archaens, many magical and alchemical skills an d fields of study havebeen los t or forgotten. This chapter contains a list of some of the mos t interesting skills an d fieldsyour PCs may uncover in their research. Note that th is list should by no mean s be consideredcomplete: oth er skills and fields may well be discovered in the coming years.

All skills in this section are presented in the following format:Name of skill or fieldHistory of skill or fieldDescription of skill o r field

Cost in experience points to acquire this skill or fieldAttribute used to modi@ this skill or fieldModifler for degree of difficulty in attempting to learn this skill or field

Alchemical HybridizationThis minor field of s tud y was invented during the Second Millennium when certain well-

meaning alchemists attempted to create useful hybrids from existing species. Generally speaking,the earliest experiments in Alchemical Hybridization proved somewhat discouraging. The convo-luted processes involved in these operations were both time consuming and costly, and generally

tended to yield unpredictable results.The most notable failures occurred in experiments with vertebrate species, when the level of

alchemical arcanology proved insufficient for the tas k a t hand. Abominations of the most hideoustypes emerged from the vats to wreak havoc upon the ir creators. The hybridization of plantspecies yielded g reater succes s, a nd alchemists were able to develop a series of procedures tha twould later be adap ted to the field of botanomancy with even bette r re sult s.

Alchemical Hybridization was a ll bu t abandoned by the middle of the Second Millennium.The practice was later revived by the Q u a m i a n s , who applied certain improvements suggestedby the da rk en tities with whom they consorted. The development of the e ssen ce extractor. a crude

device used to drain living creatures of their vital essences, decidedly improved the earlier meth-odology; though the moral implications of su ch gruesome practices were somewhat distasteful,this was of no concern to the Quaranians. By such means, successful hybrids Ilke the Araq andbane s were created, much to the dismay of those counted among the Quaranian s enemies.

outlawed and the u se of essence extractors banned. Some few of thes e fiendish devices arebelieved to have survived to the present day, however, and may be found buried among th e ruinsof Qu aran. Though these artifacts are outlawed in most civilized lands. the Rajas have offered areward of 200,000 gold lumens for a functioning essence extractor.

The procedure for Alcheinical Hybridization is as follows:

Following the fall of Quaran, all prac tices associated with Alchemical Hybridization were

Step 1. The two different lifeforms that are to be crossbred, one male and one female,are secured to separ ate tables and connected to a n essence extractor by mean s of a network ofglass tubing.

Step 2. The essence extractor is activated.

Step 3. After twenty-four hou rs, a liquid mixture composed of the combined living

Step 4. This liquid essence is placed in a n amberglass-lined vat, which is sealedessences of the two ifeforms is derived.

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In two weeks' time, the vat may be opened. Roll on the Action Table to determine if thehybridization process h as yielded a living organism. If so, calculate the results of the hybridiza-tion process using the following guidelines:

Add up all attribute bonuses and penalties for each of the two lifeforms being used inthe experiment. The ltfeform with the highest att ribute total is classified as the pr imary entity: theother is the secondary entity.

special abilities, armor, gender, and hit points. roll d20 or each on the Alchemical HybridizationTable.

To determine the hybrid creature's a ttribute ratings, height, weight, level, attacks,

mRdl h &1

2 4

5.13

Unfavorably mutated attribute/characteristic; specific effect is up to thegamemaster.Attribute/characteristic is as per secondary entity.Attribute/characteristic is as per average of primary and se condaryentities. With regard to special abilities. there is a 50% chance that thehybrid will possess the ability in question: regarding gender, this resultyields a sterile or hermaphroditic hybrid.Attribute/characteristic is as per primary entity.Favorably mutate d attribute/characteristic: specific effect is up to thegamemaster.

14-1920

Note tha t fertile hybrids may be used as subjects in second- or third-generation hybridiza-tion procedures, or can be normally bred with compatible creature s in order to produce newspecies of lifeforms.

operation; each mus t roll versus CON a t a penalty of -4 to survive suc h a procedure. For thisreason, and due to various ethical and moral concerns, alchemical hybridization is illegal in mostTalislantan coun tries. In any event, the intricacies of the procedure are su ch tha t few magiciansor alchemists can afford to engage in such experimentation.

The hybridization process is almost invariably fatal to the original subjec ts employed in the

Cost t o Acquire: 20 XpsAttr ibute Modifier: INTDifficulty: -9

m-cYErroneously referred to in some ancient texts as sorcerous hybridization, biomancy is a

branc h of thaumaturgy tha t was primarily concerned with the creation of new lifeforms. and to alesser extent with the modification of existing lifeforms. Biomancy used some of the principles ofAlchemical Hybridization, bu t replaced such cruel devices as the essence extractor with moreadvanced and humane tools such as the essence accumulator, a sophisticated appamtus integralto the practice of thaumaturgy.

mine their precise component parts. These vital comp onent s were then derived from the ArchaenPractitioners of biomancy developed the means to analyze existing lifeforms and to deter-


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Forgotten Arcana

environment using a n essence accumulator, measur ed to exacting specifications, and infusedinto a biomantic chamber. The end result w as a new lifeform created according to the biomancersdesigns.

Using the principles of biomancy. the Phandre created new types of plants. animals, andinsects, along with neomorphs suc h as the Bodor. Thiasians. Monads, an d others . No longer didthe Archaens have to engage in dangerous or menial labors, when neomor phs could be designedto undertake such activities. Hunger became a thing of the past, as edible plants and beastscould be crea ted in abundance. Mishaps of the type that occurred with alarming frequency duringAlchemical Hybridizations were greatly reduced.

however. Some. such as Rodinn an d Koraq. questioned the wisdom of creating new species,

claiming that experimentation of this sort could have an adverse effect upon the balance ofnature. The Phandre. never ones to dwell overlong upon ma tte rs of ethics, regarded suc h con-cerns as secondary to mat ters of profit.

Not all Archaens were convinced t ha t biomancy w as entirely benefic

the archaen codex

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