King Imathan Talviel:

“Strangers from every corner of Exandria, and beyond. Friends of liberty. You trusted few have been summoned here to reckon an account of troubling events within these lands. To confirm truth and discard rumors. Conspiracies and secret combinations run rampant. New factions are creeping from the shadows. Old enemies awaken. If half of the rumors are real, Wildemount, yea all of Exandria faces several fronts of threatening darkness not seen since the Calamity. And yet the reason why is shrouded in shadow. Why now? What has changed? What has stirred the darkness and focused its eye upon Exandria? We must discover its source, resolve this, or this doom will engulf us all.

We begin with Marquis Olesya Lapidus of Port Damali.

“Odd behavior of sorts have defined the Myriad and the Revelry, as well as unlikely attacks on certain settlements along the Menagerie Coast by creatures of the sea. Sahuiguin attacks have become more frequent as of late, and more aggressive. As some may know, the entire island of Flora Isle was sunk by a group called the Sharkfeather clan.  Fortunately, thanks to the a few in this company, most citizens survived.

But this isn’t all.

We are finding victims of vicious attacks upon some individuals within our cities. Bodies necrotically decomposed, or impaled on 30 foot spires. Some petrified, others half disintegrated. And some blasted so hard, that they died on the spot. 

“Initially, these individuals had one thing in common: the Myriad has some sort of grudge against them. Enemies, pour souls who owed them money, or broke promises. But then random victims were discovered, with no known connection to the Myriad. Some of our investigators belief they are being hunted.”

“Hunted?”

“For sport. Unrighteous use of power. They are killing for amusement. Because they can.”

“It sounds as though a Beholder is loose in Damali.”

“No, we expected as much in the beginning, but victims’ demise are too closely spaced, yet too far away for it to be a single creature causing this much carnage.”

“And a beholder would never be a hitman on someone’s payroll.”

VASAN ATRITH (Marqui of Gwardan.)

“No, they wouldn’t. 

“The Myriad has a new leader. Instead of the old woman with a benevolent facade, Zanathar the Beholder has taken the reigns.

“Under the guise of jewel trading trips, my spies have searched for what must be a local headquarters of the Myriad in the Clovis Concord. Somewhere along the Tyodan River, where they gain access to both the Coast and the Empire. Likely places are Port Damali or Tussoa. 

A grunt from Olesya. “If they had made their headquarters in Port Damali I would have known. And Tussoa is a sleepy little frontier logging village. They wouldn’t have the resources for the Myriad!”

“Nevertheless. We are convinced.”

Argonomist June Wiston (Human, Dwendalian Empire)

I’m not certain how critical this is, but it is out of character for the empire. 

She looks a bit hesitant and glances over to the draw and minotaur sitting nearby.

“All in this room can be trusted, Ms. Wiston.”

“Food and supplies have been stockpiled for months. Soliders are being drafted out of farms and orchards, folks usually safe so they can supply the armies with food rather than bodies. But, something has caused the war committee to hasten their efforts. Not out of desperation, but out of excitement.  I am not part of the war committee so I can’t tell you exactly what the cause is, but strangely, Prime Arbiter Sydnock Truscan, usually focused completely on the domestic front, combatting threats from within, has suddenly been made a general. Rumors are that he has somehow acquired a battalion of creatures of significant might or other magical power and have convinced the crown that he can turn the tide in the Empire’s favor.

Lord Athesias Uludan (Human, Cerberus Assembly)

“The Cerberus Assembly are quite preoccupied really, with the location of a certain spell scroll. Very advanced, very dangerous. Chronomantic in nature. They’ve sent any number of adventuring parties, including their own Volstruckers and even sages of the Cobalt Soul to find it, but for over four years now, no one can get a foothold. Until recently. 

A book has been found, one that was housed in the personal library of a gold dragon, but has since been taken. Apparently this book, a journal, more specifically, contains the location of the spell scroll, though it’s hidden within some riddle, apparently. The spell, apparently can age a person to 30 days before they die. They call it, Time ravage.

 What they want the spell for is still unknown by me. Guess they don’t trust a bombastic character like me to keep a secret. If only they knew…But they have commissioned the Golden Chain, along with one of their top Mages to go after it.”

“No, not the book itself, but a facsimile, though they are very excited about its accuracy. Quite an impressive copy from the looks of it. Thanks to Tversky and her obsession with aberrations and magical creatures, and a very talented Artificer they have found ways to pull and then encode memories from individuals. 

They begin by ‘encouraging” adventuring parties into traps. Sometimes they hire them to ensure a cave or a building or sometimes even a home, sometimes they capture a member of the party and wait for the rest of the team to find them. In any case, once lured, an enhanced elder oblex, gargantuan in scale, usually housed in an underground lair deep beneath the building, and with amorphous pseudopods and strands of slime, they capture their target, and “eat” one’s memories. 

Those memories are then harvested and encoded, to be read. Apparently, the individual who held the memory of the book had a particularly keen mind with a picture perfect recall of each page. They have it all.”

CLARET DIRECTOR JETTE BRASHAN  (Half-Orc, Claret Orders)

Fiends and devils are infiltrating their way into the civilization of Wildemount. Possibly beyond. All in disguise. The most alarming are the abishai. They have emboldened the Caustic Heart, and are gathering the Dragon Masks of Tiamat. The Chroma Dragons are gathering. They are attempting to release The Queen.

“That’s impossible! Thordak and the Chorma Conclave was ended. His carcass lies in an unmarked island cavern.”

“Does it?”

“Abishai are emissaries of doom. If they manifest themselves on this plane, the foreshadow the Queen’s Release.”

“If the Dragon Queen is released, any other considered catastrophe will pale in the shadows of true cataclysm that will follow.

TASKHAND VERIN THELYSS (Drow, Kryn Dynasty)

“Except for perhaps, our most recent discovery. 

A small, rather inconsequential…group, shall we call them, have recently produced some unexpected excitement in a corner of Blightshore. At first, anyone who knew anything about them, considered them, lunatics; cultists with fantastical beliefs of what they call, Elder Evils. 

We’ve all the myths, a group of impossibly ancient malevolent entities who live beyond the known planes. These worshipers were dark, but harmless, never causing trouble, keeping to themselves. Until recently. To put it bluntly, members of the Harbingers of the Core have been…mutating. Gaining powers, growing blue and purple crystals on their skins, terrorizing the small villages of the region, spouting warnings that the children of the Elders will soon come to claim their rights upon this land. They grow in power daily. Our concern is the source of this power. Could it possibly be that the Elder Evils exist and have a conduit to this world?

Burrus Bonegrip (Grimgolir, Barrax’s Father)

“Well, that aligns with our findings in the Dunrocks. Creatures of an odd sort have started crawling out of the deep caverns of Grimgolir. Bug-like pests infused with violet/blue crystals, usually glowing. Our historians have no record of these creatures in more than half a century. But that’s not all. Fire giants and their dumber cousins, stone giants have been spotted in the Ashkeepers and the Dunrocks. They’re attacking rural settlements of the little folk, something we haven’t seen since the giant-dragon wars.“

ARGONOMIST JUNE WISTON

As they have in the rural areas of the zemni fields and Marrow Valley. Citizens of the cities and settlements of the Cyrios Mountains have come down from their homes seeking refuge, claiming they were given a choice to leave or be thrown out by…and I can’t believe saying this…cloud giants. Apparently they’re claiming ancestral rights the mountain range. And frankly, to the sky. Certain witnesses have sworn they’ve seen a floating castle. More than one.

HER GRACE, LORATHYRA of UTHODURN

The frost giants of the north also have been seen prowling the borders of our lands, as if looking for weaknesses. It’s as if the Ordining is…

CAPTAIN STORMHOLD

“Broken? Yes, it has broken,” says a voice coming from the entrance hallway. A familiar, dashing man with deep purple eyes and long dark hair wearing a dark blue coat, followed by two others, one familiar, a strapping man in armor crafted from shell and other materials from the sea, and a thin, tall, robe-wearing elf who seems to have semi-adapted to the sea. 

“Forgive our lateness, your majesties, Master Valor. But we’ve just learned the truth. Chaos in the house of Hekaton. The Storm King is missing. His daughter assumes the throne, but the Giant Lords have used Hekaton’s disappearance as cover to strike out into the world to reshape the ordning, and through a collection of deeds hoping to be elevated by their gods to the pinnacle of giant kind. “

“That doesn’t sound too bad. Perhaps they can assist us with the other calamities.”

“Giants worship gods that believe in conquering lesser kind,” responds Brightwood.

“Which means everyone else,” adds the elf. 

“Is it true?” asks Valor. “Is he dead?”

“Unclear, however I don’t believe so. There’s evidence to suggest a kidnapping, though how, is beyond my mind’s eye at the moment. Still, Without Hekaton to command order, The Lucidian Sea is in complete chaos. Along with U’kota nearly being released–“

Olesya leaps from her chair – “U’kota was released?!”

A dark haired woman that had been leaning against a back wall, speaks up. “Calm yer sweet self, Olesya. The man said, ‘nearly.’ Nearly released. Again, I think we have this group of mercenaries to thank for being’ able to use the word in this instance.”

“Indeed,” adds Stormhold. 

“Were it not for this group, U’kota would be ravaging the seas and the coasts of Exandria this very moment.”

“So, uh, I’ve been out  of it for a little while, still getting my feet under me, but want to make sure I understand this correctly,” Zylis says.

• The Myriad is sporting some kind of Beholder abilities given to their thugs, and is now run by a beholder?
• The Cerberus Assembly is looking for (and he points to you, Ullrich) a spell that will age someone to 30 days til they die, which I don’t even understand how that’s possible, but never mind.
• And they’re stealing the memories of people? Citizens of their own society? Does the Empire know about this?
• And that’t not even all – Cultists are mutating into purple crystal monsters while mythical malevolent beings are gonna spawn their children on us,
• giants are running amok.
• Dragons, bad ones, right? Like the one we fought (he says looking at you all) are returning and trying to release mama dragon,
• Elemental evils, like U’katoa are nearly being released. Did I miss anything? 

“YES.” A booming voice next to Verin. The Minotaur, Sunbreak Olomon speaks. 

“Course I did.”

“Someone has opened the Labyrinth. Atrocious never-before-seen aberrations are climbing out its passages. Scouts. The Horned King is experimenting again. He is working with a Sibriex. Baphomet means to claim this world. This no rumor. It is from my voice.”

“Okay,” says Zylis, “seems to fit the bill. And the two super powers of this world are fighting each other, for what? I suppose the same thing all these other…beings…want this world for. What, just to have it? I mean, isn’t there, like, multiple worlds? Why don’t they go bother someone else? What’s so special about this one?”

“And where are the Prime Dieties? Where’s Pelor? And Bahamut? The Storm Lord and the Wild Mother? I’d even take the help from the Raven Queen! I mean, are we just on our own?”