Lost Galmagia: Rumors Part 2

The center of the south bank held the customs house, a vast place with a wide stairwell into an opulent lower ballroom that offered the best access to the under-city and to the normally submerged drought docks.

a.       The customs house was also brimming with trade goods and coin during the flight from the giant’s shadow. Anything too bulky or not immediately useful was abandoned here.  

                                                               i.      Crates of the last Tarmalanian cloths and weavings – things where the art to build the equipment that made them has been lost – are for certain here and would fetch a high price.

                                                             ii.      Journals of the trade houses were presumably kept in the drought docks file rooms; someone with those would know which treasures were in which hidden storerooms under the house.

b.       The drought docks were protected by two sets of wards; one that kept water out of critical areas, one that held out undead; Those may be failing, but a magic-user could restore the first, a cleric the second.

                                                               i.      River (and canal) boatmen who drown in the water are seldom the recipients of last rights; this makes the Drowned Ones of various sorts are more common than other undead… and meaner.

                                                             ii.      At the bottom of the canal a system of pipes and wards provided water throughout the city; these should still be in force, and provide another possible path through the undercity.

c.       The traders guild made use of ancestral orbs, lights that would guide people to their secret vaults.

1)    The Northwest wall was home to the great tower of the guard, with its mirror that could send messages across the plains. While even the stone tower is shattered to shards, there’s supposedly a secret stair to a gated door.

a.       The mirror positioning mechanism was beneath the tower and made of lost arts; any parts of it, or sketches of same, would have immediate value to dwarven artificers.

                                                               i.      It was also powered by no end of bound spirits and forces, which might have taken it into their mind to complain now that they’re free.

                                                             ii.      Pilgrims and travelers have seen small, curiously malformed men in the shadows around the tower. Not anything native to the city, even as magic.

b.       While the city guard had little by way of magic, they were supplemented by an elvish unit of sword and spell masters; those that survived had to leave much of their magic armament behind.

                                                               i.      In addition to elfcraft armor and weapons, this includes true named swords with considerable power that are eager to be found and either used or returned to Deephome.

                                                             ii.      There is one master spellbook that includes spells of the 3^rd level and higher know only to elvish wizards… unless you can lay your hands on it!

c.       There was a guard of automatons that might be reprogrammed to serve as your personal army.

2)      The northeast corner was once the Mages Ward; its ground is now indestructible glass (covered with eroded debris, the tall towers collapsed and leaned into each other, making helpful shelters for pilgrims and travelers.

a.       Sregor Viridian was the highest Magic-User in the city, and it was he who sealed the mage’s undercity off from the giants to protect its secrets. The obsidian wards stretch down into the undercity.

                                                               i.      Either your studies or the plying of spellcasters with drink have revealed that the obsidian wards can be breached with the “touch of arcane magic” of the like Giant-Kin cannot make.

                                                             ii.      Sregor was a prolific spell-creator, and his spellbooks should still be present in the undercity, full of spells unknown to any other Magic-User.

b.       Sregor Viridian was the highest Magic-User in the city and was known to appear and disappear out of the undercity with no evidence of arrival or departure. Perhaps he left a gate down there….

                                                               i.      There’s a classic tale of Sregor leading a stallion bred only in the Emirate of Abama in the far south out of the undercity. Perhaps that’s where the gate leads?

                                                             ii.      Sregor was one of the Counsel of Three, with Na’Rib ibn Di’Vad al’Abama and Princess Enegue, other potent Magic-Users long out of touch. They might be contacted via Sregor’s tower….

c.       Sregor was allied with the Giant-Kin, and is now a Lich under the city, exploring dark realms.