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Greetings, all! While I wait for more conversion notes, and attempt to get my online players motivated to get their characters together, I thought I'd share my own version of the Whispering Cairn's history. This history combines several 2E and 3E sources, some of which I haven't read for a long time, so please forgive any inconsistencies with "official" Realms lore. Also please forgive the length...I tried to completely replace the history provided in the adventure.
As you will see, I’ve also taken a cue from Eric Boyd about replacing the Rod of Seven Parts with the Shattered Scepter of Calim. Looking at the Rod of Seven Parts, I decided it only needed a few additional elements for conversion into the Shattered Scepter of Calim…mostly due to the fact that the djinn are chaotic good beings, not creatures of Law, and the concept that Calim’s enemies were creatures of fire.
Sources: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (WOTC 2001); Magic of Faerûn (WOTC 2001); Arms & Equipment Guide (WOTC 2003); Lost Empires of Faerûn (WOTC 2005); “The Whispering Cairn” (Dungeon #124, July 2005); Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised (TSR 1993).
**The Calim Empire, the Scepter of Calim, and the Whispering Cairn**
Thousands of years ago, a noble djinni named Calim arrived in Faerûn with his retinue of djinn and their many human and halfling slaves. Calim established a city on the shores of the Shining Sea and began to spread his influence throughout the region. A scant ten years after their arrival, Calim and his followers were beset by a flight of dragons, sparking a century-long war between the djinn and the dragons of the region, resulting in the death of nearly every dragon south of the Marching Mountains at the hands of genie-kind.
Calim ruled for almost a thousand years before another great threat to his empire arose on the south shore of the River Agis. The great efreeti, Memnon, arrived in Faerûn with his own retinue of servants and slaves. Memnon’s power grew for three hundred years before the rising tensions and ancient hatred between the two elemental races finally erupted into all-out war between the Calim Empire and Memnonnar, ushering in the Era of Skyfire. That war lasted for four hundred years and involved twenty-two cataclysmic battles before the elves of Keltormir invoked powerful high magic and bound the spirits of Calim and Memnon into the sands and air of the Calim Desert, where the two genies could continue their eternal struggle without harming the rest of the world.
The fact that rule of both Calim and Memnon was ended by the elves is well known by any worthy historian in Faerûn. But very few know that Calim entered into that final battle with a secret weapon, with which he had fully expected to defeat Memnon and end the conflict once and for all. After waging war for over three hundred years, Calim had come to believe that if he could defeat Memnon, himself, then the efreeti’s Army of Fire would collapse under the forces of the djinni. He set his greatest scholars the task of creating a weapon capable of destroying Memnon and any who followed him.
These scholars began the monumental task, and quickly discovered that a great quest would be necessary if they were to achieve their goal. The scholars turned to the powerful Wind Dukes to help them. The Wind Dukes were Calim’s greatest warriors, a group of djinn whose special training and noble deeds in the past great battles were legendary. The Wind Dukes answered their leader’s call and set out to find the keys to defeating the efreet who threatened their homeland. After witnessing the passage of many years and questing across countless worlds and planes, the Wind Dukes returned to Calimport with the secrets they hoped would defeat Memnon.
Calim’s greatest wizards and sorcerers labored endlessly for countless nights, and eventually produced the Scepter of Calim, one of the most potent artifacts ever known on the face of Toril. Infused with the powers of wind and chaos, the Scepter was both a symbol of Calim’s might and a weapon with which to bring low the enemies of the Calim Empire. The completion of the Scepter marked the beginning of Calim’s final campaign against the Memnon and his Army of Fire.
However, as powerful as Calim was, even he did not know that the elves had grown tired of the incessant warfare and the damage it wrought on the lands they cherished. As the final battle between the two elemental forces began, the elves set their own plans in motion, enacting a ritual of binding the likes of which the world had never seen.
Armed with the Scepter, Calim strode onto the field of battle and waded through the Armies of Fire, cutting down mortal and genie alike. He quickly ascertained Memnon’s location and fought his way toward his hated foe. The two genies entered into mortal combat, casting earth-shaking spells and striking blows powerful enough to tear down ancient trees with a single swipe. Even though he possessed the Scepter created specifically to defeat Memnon and his ilk, Calim quickly found that their conflict would be anything but one-sided. As time wore on, however, the djinni felt the tide of battle begin to turn in his favor. Of course, as it is Tymora’s way to intervene at just such a time, Calim would never taste the victory he and his followers had sought for so long.
Just as the noble djinni prepared to strike the final blow against Memnon, the elves of Keltormir completed the ritual of binding. The sudden rush of arcane forces separated their elemental essences from their physical bodies and bound Calim’s essence to the air and Memnon’s to the earth. The Calim Desert was born from the eternal fighting between these two great elemental spirits. When Calim was disjoined by the magic of the elves, his Scepter was shattered, breaking into many pieces and scattering across the multiverse. Setting great wards to prevent the two genies from leaving the confines of the desert, the elves were satisfied that the genies would not spread their war beyond the borders of the shifting sands for eons to come. The human and halfling slaves of Calimport quickly learned of the Calim’s imprisonment and rose up against their masters, finally vanquishing the last of the djinn and founding the nation of Coramshan sometime around -6060 DR.
During the early days of the Final Campaign, many of the Wind Dukes fell in the running battles with the Army of Fire. Fearful that the servants of Memnon would locate the bodies of these great warriors and, through foul magic, force them to reveal his plans to create the Scepter, Calim had each fallen Wind Duke buried in an ornate tomb located in lands far from either Memnonnar or the Calim Empire. While some Dukes were buried in distant locations on Toril, others were taken to far realms. However, all the tombs were connected by a ring of portals, so that future Wind Dukes might make pilgrimages to pay respects to the ancient dead who served their leader so well.
The greatest of these tombs honors Icosiol, the Wind Duke who returned to Calimport with the vital key to the creation of the Scepter of Calim. As a great general of the djinn, Icosiol led the forces of the Calim Empire against Memnon’s horde in the twentieth and twenty-first battles of the centuries-long war. His victories on the battlefield and his success in the quest for the secrets of the Scepter earned him a place of honor among the djinn for all time.
One of the lesser Wind Duke tombs was placed far to the north of Calimport in the hills north of a beautiful, clear-flowing river. The tomb was built by the djinn architect, Nadroc, in honor of Zosiel, a warrior prince who fell in battle against, Kerzal the Many-Handed, one of Memnon’s favored champions. Icosiol himself avenged Zosiel’s death, while the fallen prince’s courage and loyalty were rewarded with a place of honor among the dead. The location of the tomb made it unlikely that the agents of the Army of Fire would be able to find Zosiel’s body and torture his spirit for its secrets. Of course, the tomb’s builder created cunning protections to preserve both the warrior and his treasures through the passing years.
In the millennia since its construction, the Whispering Cairn hosted countless visitors. They first made off with the most attainable of the tomb’s treasures, statuettes of peerless sculpt, platinum canisters of priceless incense, and a hundred harder to describe baubles of unquestionable value. No few explorers fell victim to Nadroc’s ingenious traps. Only a few explorers discovered that most of the cairn was but a ruse meant to distract from a still greater tomb filled with even deadlier menaces. Even thousands of years after its construction, the Whispering Cairn yet holds un-plundered mysteries from the days of its creation.
The last notable expedition to the Whispering Cairn occurred nearly 60 years ago, in 1317 DR, the Year of the Wandering Wyrm. The expedition was led by Ulavant, an unscrupulous archaeologist who had the financial backing of the Seekers, an order of so-called academics and adventurers. The affair ended in tragedy, with Ulavant’s entire party lost to Nadroc’s insidious traps. These days only footnotes in musty tomes in the Seeker Lodge in Waterdeep record the fate of Ulavant’s band.
About 30 years ago, a young runaway named Alastor Land came to the Whispering Cairn, desperate to escape his uncaring family. Light enough to prance over pressure plates and lucky enough to avoid the tomb’s sentient guardians, Alastor penetrated farther into the cairn than most skilled explorers. But even the luck of youth was no match for Nadroc’s keen intellect and cunning protections. Consumed by hate and anger at the time of his death, Alastor lives on as a ghost and still haunts the most secret chambers of the Whispering Cairn.
These days, the youth of Daggerford hold the location of the Whispering Cairn as a shibboleth. They dare each other to spend a night within its depths, using the place as a test of mettle. These visits tapered off when a local girl vanished while sleeping in the cairn, devoured by a snake that has since left for more fertile hunting grounds. But still the children come, to marvel at the tomb’s uncanny sounds and to carve their names upon the entry walls, their shaking hands etching proof of their courage upon the ancient stone.
Now, others come to the Whispering Cairn for reasons of their own, brave strangers who will risk death in search of ancient wealth. But the greatest treasure they will take from this place is each other.
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**The Shattered Scepter of Calim**
Forged thousands of years ago as a secret weapon in the war between djinn and efreet in the ancient lands of Calimshan, the Shattered Scepter was once known only as the Scepter of Calim. However, the Scepter was broken into many parts during the final climactic battle between Calim and Memnon, when the elves of Keltormir used their high magic to bind both genies into the sand and air of the Calim Desert. The parts of the Scepter were scattered throughout the multiverse by the surge of arcane power. To this day, due to the secrecy associated with its creation and the fact that it was only used in the genies’ final battle, only a few scholars are even aware of the Scepter’s existence.
When whole, the Scepter appears as a magnificent gold and silver rod approximately three feet in length and engraved with images giving the impression of rushing winds and blasts of frigid air. At the top of the rod, an avian claw grasps a pale blue crystal, vaguely reminiscent of the pure ice found in the Great Glacier. The crystal is, in fact, a piece of pure elemental ice kept permanently solid by the magic of the Scepter.
Today, however, the Scepter has been broken into eight pieces. Each piece possesses a small portion of the Scepter’s original power. When two or more pieces are combined, the wielder receives an added measure of power. Only when all eight pieces are rejoined can the full might of the Scepter be accessed.
The main portion of the Scepter has broken into seven pieces, with individual sections being 3, 5, 6, 4, 2, 8, and 7 inches in length. The eighth and final piece is the claw and crystal top, known now as the Blue Crystal.
Each section of the Scepter has a minor spell-like ability activated by a command word. The caster level for each power is 20th, saving throw DCs, where applicable, are 17+spell level. The 3-inch section can cast cure light wounds five times per day. The 5-inch section can create a slow effect once per day. The 6-inch section can cast haste once per day. The 4-inch section can create a gust of wind five times per day. The 2-inch section provides true seeing once per day. The 8-inch section can hold monster once per day. The 7-inch section can heal once per day. The wielder of the Blue Crystal can cast cone of cold once per day and may use the crystal as a greater energy substitution [cold] metamagic rod (up to three times per day, replace a spell’s energy type and spell descriptor to cold).
Joining any two or more of the shaft pieces together creates an increasingly powerful artifact. In addition to the powers available from the individual pieces, the wielder gains the following benefits
Two sections: Fly, at will, by command word
Three Sections: Spell resistance 15; Scepter acts as a +1 mace
Four Sections: Control Winds, twice per day by command word; Scepter acts as a +2 heavy mace
Five Sections: Shapechange, once per day; Scepter acts as a +3 heavy mace
Six Sections: Wind Walk, once per day; Scepter acts as a +4 heavy mace
Seven Sections: Control Weather, Whirlwind, and Greater Restoration, once each per day; Scepter acts as a +5 anarchic fire outsider bane heavy mace.
Only after all seven sections of the shaft are combined, can the blue crystal be rejoined with the Scepter. Once whole, the Scepter grants all the powers above, but also acts as an intelligent +5 anarchic icy burst fire outsider bane heavy mace.
Any non-chaotic character who wields even the smallest portion of the Scepter must make a Will save (DC 17) each week to avoid becoming chaotic. A chaotic character who holds a section of the Scepter and thinks of it as part of a larger item can determine in which direction the next larger or smaller segment (50% chance) lies by making a successful Concentration check (DC 20); this works like locate object but there is no range or duration limit and it is not blocked by lead. Failed checks or checks that reveal the location of a section the character already owns cannot be retried until after the next full moon.
Of course, reassembling an artifact that was forged by the chaotic djinn and sundered in a rush of powerful magic carries its own unique risks. Foremost, the instant a character combines two sections, the Scepter experiences a kind of awakening. Although it is not exactly intelligent, the Scepter has a will to carry out the mission for which it was created—a mission it was never allowed to fulfill. The wielder of the Scepter first feels a strong need to find the remaining pieces and rejoin them. So strong is this desire that the character must make a Will Save (DC 17) each day in order to overcome the impulse and act normally for that day. On a failed check, any action the character takes during that day that does not directly contribute to locating the remaining pieces of the Scepter receives a -2 penalty.
If a character should combine the seven sections of the Scepter’s shaft, he must make a Will save each day (DC 17) or be compelled to seek out and destroy an efreeti. Once the task has been accomplished for the first time, the frequency of the Will save drops to once per week. He is still compelled to seek out the Blue Crystal, as well.
When the Blue Crystal is finally added, the artifact becomes completely aware, carrying within itself a small amount of Calim’s personality. The Scepter has the special purpose of defeating efreet and will grant the wielder a +2 luck bonus on attacks, saves, and skill checks when engaged in fighting its hated enemy. The Scepter communicates telepathically and understands Common, Alzhedo, Auran, and Ignan. Of course, as a powerful artifact, it also has an incredible will (Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 12, Ego 19) and is extremely difficult to control. Additionally, the Scepter knows the events surrounding its shattering and bears all elves ill will. Although it will not actively seek to harm elves, the Scepter will not allow itself to be carried by an elf or to be used to aid an elf in any way. It will complain frequently about the presence of elves nearby.
Only by actually defeating Memnon can the Scepter’s hunger for revenge be permanently sated. In order for that to be possible, Memnon must first be reunited with his physical form, which is still contained within the Calimemnon Crystal still locked away in the Spinning Keep of Sir’wadjen. Unfortunately, allowing the spirit of Memnon to retrieve its body from the crystal would result in granting him the power of the hundreds of other genies held within the crystal. Anyone wishing to sate the Scepter of Calim might not be able to kill Memnon and would more likely unleash a terrible evil on the world. However, should Memnon’s death somehow come to pass, the Scepter’s intelligence will go dormant causing it to lose its special purpose and associated power.
Sources: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (WOTC 2001); Magic of Faerûn (WOTC 2001); Arms & Equipment Guide (WOTC 2003); Lost Empires of Faerûn (WOTC 2005).
I didn't actually read through all of it (am late for work), but it definetely looks interesting, and may be something I will use as well. Great work!
Uh... Wow. Two things:
1) Great work! I'll definitely be using this as canon for my campaign.
2) When you say Tymora, are you using that as a modern proverb-type reference? Because if you mean what I think you mean, I believe Tyche would represent luck back then. I can't remember when Tyche split into Tymora and Beshaba though.
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Uh... Wow. Two things:
1) Great work! I'll definitely be using this as canon for my campaign.
2) When you say Tymora, are you using that as a modern proverb-type reference? Because if you mean what I think you mean, I believe Tyche would represent luck back then. I can't remember when Tyche split into Tymora and Beshaba though.
Thanks for the positive feedback, all. I'm glad you find it useful. One thing that I forgot to point out in my first post that really needs to be said so that proper credit is given. From the point where the immediate history of the cairn begins, I pretty much copied or paraphrased the original history as written in the adventure. I credited the adventure in my sources, but I don't want to use that much of Erik's material without making sure everyone knows that I left it mainly intact.
To address your question specifically, Waa...you're absolutely right. It may be said that the layman would not differentiate between Tymora and Tyche in daily parlance, but Tyche's description in Faiths & Pantheons does indicate that most people at least pay lip service to her for fear of her wrath. Thanks for the catch.