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Deep Imaskar

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Deep Imaskar, also known as the City of the Great Seal, was an enclave of Imaskari refugees in the Underdark that had survived from -2481 to 1363 DR in complete isolation.[1] As of the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, it housed the largest group of surviving descendants of the Imaskar empire, a distinction it would keep until the founding and growth of High Imaskar sometime after the Spellplague.[2] Though it housed one of the largest populations of the Underdark, it was fully self-sufficient and isolationist, making an effort to hide its presence from the world.[1]

Geography[]

The city was located in the lower Underdark, somewhere below the Endless Waste.[3] Deep Imaskar kept the customary Imaskari prominence of extradimensional spaces. The Deep Imaskari believed that a building not larger on the inside than it was on the outside was a waste of space; almost every building was full of such spaces. The area was not fully surveyed; local urban planners were known to change it continuously.[4][5]

By 1479 DR, the area around Deep Imaskar had become an extensive Plagueland, though the local mages had had some success mitigating spellscars and even plaguelands.[5][6]

Geographical Features[]

Deep Imaskar itself was built on a hollow of the Lowerdark shaped like a half pipe, 3 mi (4,800 m) long, 1 mi (1,600 m) wide, and 0.5 mi (800 m) high. Due to enchantments, gravity in the cave followed the curve of the ground, thus modestly extending the length of land available. Large towers converged into the center of the cave.[7] Air was filtered, circulated, and refreshed through magical cloths hanging from the top of the cavern.[4][5]

Flora and Fauna[]

Animals, even familiars, were an unfamiliar sight to the Deep Imaskari, for whom space was at an ever-increasing premium: there were no livestock species of any kind. A special crop was grown for water in every household, plants that built up 2-inch wide droplets every day; those droplets were covered in a film that would not break until pierced, allowing them to get at the water inside with their teeth. The Imaskari kept most crops in extradimensional gardens.[4][5] There were lyrwood trees among those crops.[8]

Government[]

As of 1372 DR, Deep Imaskar was ruled by its High Lord Planner, Illis Khendarhine, through the Body of Planners, who debated and decided on the policies for growth and development of the city. The Lord Apprehender, Ebrul Naramixna, and the Lady Enacter, Furyma Selovan oversaw information and resource gathering, and executed the planners' dictates respectively. Though the Lord Planner ruled alone, the Apprehenders and Enacters could block their decisions through inaction if they so chose.[1]

By 1479 DR, the High Lord Planner was Yannu Hywillan, who governed together with a wizards' council known as the Planners. The Lady Apprehender was Synnis Naramixna, who was an intelligence officer as well as the manager of the city's wards. The Lord Enacter was Vardyn Xalzussi, who handled law enforcements and military matters.[5]

Trade[]

Being fully isolated, the City of the Great Seal did not trade with outsiders.[1] By 1479 DR, the city traded with High Imaskar sporadically, and with no one else.[5]

Defenses[]

The Great Seal was a magic circle 2,000 ft (610 m) across, drawn on the northern wall of the cave. It continuously radiated faint, penetrating light, which was visible all the way from the south wall of the city. The Great Seal also had the magical ability to suggestion anyone in Faerun, or even in adjacent planes, that the Imaskari empire was well and truly gone.[4] By 1479 DR, the Great Seal was destroyed, and the hole in the wall had been covered in lesser wards to protect against spellscarred creatures.[5]

When violent force was needed to apprehend a criminal, the Enactors (constables) used magic. Martial prowess had become nearly atrophied, with martial instruction mostly a live theater performance. Those Deep Imaskari who were allowed to leave the city had their minds wiped of all knowledge of the city's location and specifics, in order to prevent them from bringing any harm back to the vulnerable city. They could only return through being called back by magic, and were only allowed to carry out magical items they had personally crafted.[4]

By 1479 DR, Deep Imaskar's surroundings had become an immense Plagueland,[5] which served as both a defense against outsiders and a source of problems. The wards around where the Great Seal was were intended to protect against threats from that location. They also protected against the agents of the Masters of Absolute Accord, which often attacked the city.[6]

History[]

In −2488 DR, Lord Ilphemon, along with a small retinue of servants and family, fled the destruction of Imaskar for the Underdark.[9] The refugees would wander until −2481 DR, the year in which they founded the city of Deep Imaskar.[9][3] Ilphemon's descendants would rule Deep Imaskar until the year of −634 DR, when a cabal of necromancers would depose the king and slay the entire royal family. These same necromancers would rule until −511 DR, when a woman named Chaschara would overthrow them in a revolt. [3] After overthrowing these necromancers, Chaschara would create the title of Lady Protector of the Realm, creating the office of Apprehenders, Enactors and Planners in order to counterbalance their power.[4]

By the year 799 DR, some plans for expansion into the Elemental Plane of Air were underway, but would be stopped permanently after several chichimec managed to destroy their holdings in the plane, and then invade the city proper through the portal. After several days, once they were finally driven off, the position of Protector was abolished. The Lord Protector at the moment, Lord Styllofyr, was exiled from the City.[4]

Late 14th and 15th Century[]

A local wizard by the name of Ususi Manaallin escaped from Deep Imaskar in order to further her studies of the Celestial Nadir, an Imaskari demiplane, in the year 1363 DR.[2][10][note 1] She weakened the Great Seal in the process.[11] In the year 1370 DR, the Elder Evil Pandorym began to stir from its prison in the Palace of the Purple Emperor, extending its influence across the region of Vaelan.[12] In the Feast of the Moon of the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR[13] Deep Imaskar had decided to partly break their Great Seal in order to send out scouts, spies, and explorers into the outside world, at the prompting of Lord Apprehender Ebrul Naramixna.[1]

By early 1374 DR, Deep Imaskar was besieged by the forces Pandorym had amassed, and its continued existence was in jeopardy; an Imaskari vengeance taker, Iahn Qoyllor, was dispatched to fetch Ususi Manaallin.[14][note 2] In Tarsakh 17 of Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, the seal on Pandorym was restored by Ususi, Iahn, and other adventurers, though much ruin was left in Deep Imaskar.[15]

The Spellplague, over a decade later, was also disastrous, causing thousands of deaths, driving many mages to insanity, spellscarring hundreds of people and ending spells used to imprison dangerous criminals; the government collapsed through the process, and Plaguelands erupted all around the city's surroundings. Empress Ususi Manaallin and other High Imaskari came to help, aiding in the hunting of dangerous spellscarred creatures and general reconstruction. Spellscarred who retained their faculties, however, became integrated again into society.[5] A number of the locals would become settlers, and go back to the surface in order to help found the city of Skyclave in High Imaskar after the Spellplague.[2] The Imaskari that remained behind in Deep Imaskar were more conservative and insular- perhaps, even more paranoid.[5]

Rumors & Legends[]

In the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, it was said that there was tension between High Imaskar and Deep Imaskar.[2] The wizards of Deep Imaskar were rumoured to have had some success in curing Plaguelands.[5]

Notable Locations[]

Important sites included the Purple Library [16] and the Enactor's Courtyard. The former was a library with the best sources on the Ancient Imaskari empire and history; the latter was the place where the Lady Enactor's retainers congregated, mostly to design structures and objects. Paradoxically the place was also a place of punishment, with criminals held in forcecages within the same space.[4]

The Lodge of Retributive Masters had needed a new home by 1479 DR,[5] as their old one had been taken over by the Masters of Absolute Accord.[6]

Inhabitants[]

  • Lord Ilphemon
  • Lady Protector Chaschara
  • Lord Protector Styloffir
  • Lord Apprehender Ebrul Naramixna
  • High Lord Planner Illis Khendarhine
  • Lady Enacter Furyma Selovan
  • Ususi Manaallin
  • Iahn Qoyllor
  • Qari Manaallin
  • Jubal Thetisjemja
  • Dryleh Bluerslol
  • High Lord Planner Yannu Hywillan
  • Lady Apprehender Synnis Naramixna
  • Lord Enacter Vardyn Xalzussi

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ As of 1373, Ususi had spent a decade in Two Stars, where she had arrived "almost as soon as she left Deep Imaskar". This year is confirmed by the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, (p 138).
  2. ↑ Iahn Qoyllor had been tracking Ususi for "just over two months" as of the start of Darkvision, implying more than two months, but probably less than a tenday over that much. He had uncovered her trail after "a few tendays", implying more than two, but less than a month. He was also a few days behind her at the time. Adding more than two tendays, but less than a month, to two months, but no more than a tenday, and a few days, that adds up to approximately three months. Given they met at some point before Tarsakh 17 (the end date of Darkvision), and that two nights pass during the course of the story, that would mean he started roughly on the second tenday of Hammer.

Appearances[]

Novels & Short Stories

Referenced only
Darkvision

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 138. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 139. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 140. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 222–223. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  7. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 123. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  8. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 4. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 61. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
  10. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  11. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 58. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  12. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  13. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 153. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  14. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 7. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  15. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 155. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  16. ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 64. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
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