Sword of the Gods: Spinner of Lies

by Bruce R Cordell

  Gleaming crystal spindles hang in the sky above the city and dip down into the cleft in the cliffs that Airspur occupies. These gemlike monoliths, known as elemental spires, came from Abeir when the worlds combined. Now they glitter in the sky all over Akanul, but a surprising number have collected over Airspur. Like earthmotes, they unfailingly float in the sky, but unlike earthmotes, they drift in small orbits, each moving around its own arbitrary point in space. During the day they dazzle the eye by refracting and reflecting sunlight, but as the light dims they glow of their own accord.

  The elemental spires range in size from a dozen feet tall to nearly a hundred feet tall. There are three colors: yellow, orange, and blue. Each color corresponds to a specific energy, and the energy is the reason no one builds on an elemental spire. When a creature or object comes within a certain distance of a spire, it lashes out with the energy associated with its color: fire for orange, cold for blue, and lightning for yellow. The larger the spire, the greater the distance that it lashes out. The residents of Akanul are well aware of the spires’ danger and know to give them a wide berth.

  Instead of using specific mechanics for all levels of play, you can modify the danger of the spires based on the PCs’ level so that the spires remain a threat in whatever adventure you’re running. When running an encounter near an elemental spire, decide the distance at which a spire strikes, and roll initiative for the spire. All creatures within the range at the start of the spire’s turn are attacked. Roll an attack against Reflex with a bonus to the attack roll equal to the PC’s level + 5. Consult the Damage By Level chart on page 185 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide® and use the medium damage expression for the PC’s level.

  LOCATIONS

  Buildings in Airspur stand in the coves at the base of the cliffs, climb the nearly sheer face of the rock along long inclined roads, stand tall atop earthmotes and pillars of stone, dot the cliffs’ edges, and even burrow into the sides of the cleft in which the city resides. Genasi buildings utilize the ruins of Ancient Airspur and accentuate the natural environment in inventive ways, layering the genasis’ Abeirian fancies onto the staid columns of old while at the same time highlighting the beauty of the area. What follows are some of the important areas that exist in this lovely setting.

  1. COURT OF MAJESTY

  The Court of Majesty is the royal court for Queen Arathane and her stewards. It convenes around the top of a small earthmote, with each of the five thronemotes floating just above it and around its edges. Those coming to court climb up from a central stair carved in the earthmote and accessed from below by a bridge from a lower earthmote upon which stands the Queen’s Palace. The Court of Majesty is left open to the air, but in heat or inclement weather, poles and cloth shades are raised. Queen Cyndra set up this court to put the rule of Akanûl in plain view of the people (particularly the nobles). Queen Arathane would prefer to do without the formality, but the stewards oppose breaking with tradition because the open-air court puts their influence on full display.

  2. STREET OF CERULEAN HUES

  This long highway snakes along the top of a cliff south of the city that overlooks the Sea of Fallen Stars. It’s famed for its breathtaking view and the breakneck fall to the rocky shore an unwary person can experience. The wide cobbled street owes its existence to old Airspur and the empire of Chessenta rather than the travel needs of Airspur’s current residents. Although used by some farmers and merchants, the street is dominated by inns and the pleasant villas of the wealthy looking to have a little more room and a fine view. The Steward of the Sea keeps a palatial second home along the road where he entertains and hosts important guests to the city.

  3. DARKLED DEPTHS

  Shadowed by cliffs and a low-hanging earthmote, the dripping neighborhood known as the Darkled Depths gets little direct sunlight and acts as the industrial hub of the city. The earthmote above it wells with water that flows over its sides, and a clifftop stream falls down toward the bay. The genasi harness the force of both of these sources of water to fill aqueducts and power mills. Due to the noise, shadows, and dampness, the Darkled Depths serves as home to some of Airspur’s poorest citizens. Many nongenasi live in and around this area due to subtle pressures of prejudice and suspicion.

  Adventure Hook: A recent spate of burglaries targeting some of the city’s wealthiest nobles have been tracked to the Darkled Depths. Captains in the city militia are hesitant to send their own troops into the city, so the PCs are hired to find out who has been terrorizing the city elite and put a stop to the robberies. Strangely, the poor residents of the Depths seem unwilling to cooperate. Is this thief a Robin Hood of sorts? Someone with a grudge against the nobility? Or someone with a darker agenda in need of funding?

  4. PLAZA OF LEAPING FOUNTAINS

  Located on an earthmote that serves one of the two causeways between the cliff sides, the Plaza of Leaping Fountains hovers several hundred feet above the bay in the most vibrant entertainment district in the city. The open square hosts many fountains that spout water over the walkways, arcing above the heads of revelers and filling the air with cooling mist. Named for the engineering of its fountains, the Plaza is famous for the shops, taverns, inns, and cafes that line it and the nearby streets. If something of note happens in the city, it frequently happens at the Plaza.

  5. CATACOMBS

  The collapse of ancient Airspur exposed buried caves and tunnels beneath the city, leaving them open to the air on the sides of the cliffs surrounding the bay. The genasi have repurposed nearly all these structures as they’ve built buildings along the cliffs. However, they left one series of caverns true to its purpose. These sprawling catacombs housed the Chessentan dead for centuries. Now they hold genasi bones.

  The Catacombs remain lightly guarded at all times. Any Airspur citizen can enter them to honor the fallen, but others are discouraged. They have few visitors in any event.

  The Catacombs’ farthest reaches continue to be the domain of Chessenta’s ancient dead. These tunnels were considered old when Airspur was under human rule. Genasi studiously avoid them, which makes the distant tunnels a perfect meeting place for criminals and dissidents to genasi rule—assuming the guards can be distracted or bought off.

  The half-orcs and orcs Queen Cyndra displaced were not mere squatters; they were in fact the true heirs to Airspur. Before the Spellplague, almost a third of the Airspur’s population consisted of half-orcs, and like the other citizens, they fled when destruction came. Unlike many of the other citizens, they had a place of relative safety to turn to:the Akanapeaks. In those mountains the half-orcs allied themselves with orc tribes, and they eventually returned to the city to see what remained. Those not killed in Queen Cyndra’s purge and the attack by the Abolithic Sovereignty have now returned by way of distant caves that link to the catacombs. Many now live peacefully in the city, but others still bear a grudge.

  The half-orc dissidents command too few to take the city by force, and their full-blooded orc allies can’t enter the city. Thus, the half-orc’s leaders are attempting to make subtle inquiries into how they might profit from their situation. Of course, they can sell goods gained from the buried dead, but assaults by undead have made them wary of too much grave robbery. Ideally, the half-orcs hope to connect with someone willing to take power in the city, selling themselves and their orcs as mercenaries and then using the chaos of battle to revenge themselves on those who wronged their elders.

  Adventure Hook: A half-orc necromancer who calls himself Deadtusk has emerged from the Akanapeaks through the Catacombs, leading a small army of the undead. The half-orc has swayed a number of orc and half-orc dissidents to his cause, and he plans to lead his force into Airspur, slaughtering its citizens to bolster his own forces, and ostensibly retaking the city in the name of the displaced orcs. What his half-orc followers do not know is that he secretly seeks to create a new necropolis on the bones of dead Airspur, and his plans do not include a place for the living of any sort.

  6. DRAKE
YARDS

  These stockyards and markets exist solely for the purpose of breeding, rearing, training, and selling drakes. The genasi brought a tradition of drake breeding with them from Abeir, and several unique species exist only in Akanûl (for now). Although hobbyists and boutique breeders do a small business in other areas of the city, the Drakeyards handle the bulk of the trade.

  7. MOTHERHOUSE

  The Firestorm Cabal Motherhouse consists of a structure built against the cliff and well-guarded tunnels beyond. Only the most trusted individuals enter the tunnels behind the Motherhouse.

  8. AKANÛL COURTHOUSES AND VIRUSHEAD

  This earthmote hides the Virushead deep below the Akanûl Courthouses. No one is supposed to tinker with the Virushead, so when the Steward of the Sky wants to bring in subjects for testing, she is forced to use cloak-and-dagger tactics—particularly for large monstrous creatures.

  9. CLIFF PRISON

  The Cliff Prison consists of old Chessentan dungeons in the cliffs near the Courthouses’ earthmote. The genasi of Airspur despise the concept of slavery, and they seek to avoid the appearance of it by keeping the number of prisoners low and hiding those they have. Many terrible crimes are punished by death and many more are punished by banishment (with death being the sentence for return). Most individuals held in the Cliff Prison are awaiting their walk across the Bridge of Justice to their trials. Others have committed crimes small enough that a stay in prison and a fine were deemed sufficient future deterrence.

  10. AKANAWATER FALLS

  The Akanawater flows from the Akanapeaks and falls down in several splashing levels to the bay. In an already beautiful city, the falls present yet another stunning vista.

  MORE ABOUT AIRSPUR

  If you’d like to know more about Airspur, check out Dragon #378, or you can play the RPGA adventure “The Depths of Airspur,” first of a number of adventures by RPGA members that takes place in the city. You might also want to read The Restless Shore by James P. Davis. It features a genasi character who grew up in Airspur.

  About the Author

  Matthew Sernett has been a pizza cook, an onion packer, and an assembly line worker in a spring factory—grueling work that was surprisingly good endurance training for being the editor-in-chief of Dragon® Magazine. After ceding that role to others with greater fortitude, he worked as D&D designer and helped to create 4th edition.

  EXPLORE AIRSUPUR

  AGENTS AND ENEMIES

  By Brian Cortijo

  illustration by David Hammond and Shane Watson – Empty Room Studio cartagraphy by Sean Macdonald

  All manner of interesting folk fill the streets and motes of Airspur. Among these folk are the genasi, and a myriad other races wander the roads and flying bridges of the city as well, if in lesser numbers. As with any city, one can find soldiers and merchants, criminals and adventurers. No matter how experienced a party of heroes might be when they first encounter the wondrous capital of Akanûl, the PCs can find adventure in Airspur if they look for it.

  This article references locations on the Airspur city map. See “Airspur: Brightest of the Fallen Stars” in Dragon® #377 for more information about the city.

  TACTICS

  Chevesh’s insanity in no way hampers his effectiveness in combat. When threatened, he opens an encounter with missile flurry. He reserves his prismatic beams for a moment when he can affect the maximum number of targets.

  ENCOUNTER GROUP

  Although Chevesh works alone, he contacts creatures with a connection to fire, and others might find him during one of his negotiations with such creatures.

  Level 15 Encounter (XP 6,500)

  ♦ Chevesh (level 15 elite artillery)

  ♦ 2 azer footsoldiers (level 14 soldier; Monster Manual, page 22)

  ♦ 1 azer taskmaster (level 16 controller; Monster Manual, page 23)

  ♦ 2 azer warriors (level 16 minion; Monster Manual, page 22)

  NAIBUR TINOK, SERVANT OF SHADOW

  The savagely enthusiastic swordmage called Naibur Tinok is the leader of a small group of Netherese agents within Airspur. Their duties are separate from those agents that directly operate from the embassy. While the official servants of Netheril work to advance trade and diplomatic relations within Akanûl, Tinok and his band operate in the shadows, looking to eliminate potential threats to Netherese interests among the genasi.

  More than anything, Tinok craves transformation into a shade in Netheril’s service. Naturally pale, he dyes his hair black and dresses in dark hues, emulating the style and mannerisms of the shadar-kai—so much so that many observers cannot tell that Naibur is truly human. Although Prince Rivalen has offered to transform him into a shadarkai, the swordmage has politely declined, preferring to wait until he has earned the elevated status of a true shade, and is invited to learn the secrets of the Netherese umbriri (FORGOTTEN REALMS® Player’s Guide, page 67).

  TACTICS

  Despite his formidable combat abilities, Naibur prefers to strike in ambush, taking his targets by surprise and eliminating the opportunity for them to plan a counterassault. Once he engages his foes, the swordmage attempts to set up flanking opportunities for his allies, while maintaining the mark from his aegis of ensnarement on the nearest defender among the PCs. If the combat becomes tense, or his allies fail to take advantage of his maneuvering, Naibur uses his shadowstride to leave the thick of combat, escaping if he feels that the situation can’t be salvaged.

  HOOK: INTRODUCING CHEVESH

  To help you introduce a reclusive mage such as Chevesh as a villain in your campaign, we have a few hooks below that might assist you.

  ♦ The PCs track a shipment of prisoners, exotic ritual components, or residuum to Chevesh’s home.

  ♦ The PCs encounter an escaped test subject running from Chevesh’s laboratory, screaming in agony before being consumed by flame from within her.

  ♦ An enemy that the PCs slew in a previous encounter turns out to be a former subject that Chevesh was observing. Chevesh trails and confronts the PCs about their interference.

  ♦ The Firestorm Cabal reaches out to the PCs, pointing out Chevesh as a threat that must be eliminated—but with which the Cabal is not equipped to deal.

  ENCOUNTER GROUP

  As the leader of the small cadre of Netherese agents inside Airspur, Naibur can expect to call on them in times of conflict. Although he prefers to work alone, the capable swordmage is more than willing to accept the help of other servants of Netheril should the need arise.

  Level 8 Encounter (XP 1,750)

  ♦ Naibur Tinok (level 7 elite soldier)

  ♦ 1 shadar-kai chainfighter (level 6 skirmisher; Monster Manual, page 230)

  ♦ 1 shadar-kai gloomblade (level 6 lurker; Monster Manual, page 230)

  ♦ 1 shadar-kai warrior (level 8 soldier; Monster Manual, page 231)

  ♦ 1 shadar-kai witch (level 7 controller; Monster Manual, page 231)

  RILTA OF THE ROOFTOPS

  Bounding across rooftops and through the clouds themselves is Rilta, the bold and skilled burglar that makes a living stealing from Airspur’s elite and wealthy visitors to the city. Although not malicious about her targets—or the wealth she takes from them—Rilta is nonetheless a proud and somewhat greedy thief who bristles at the thought of being embarrassed or beaten to a score.

  Eager to take on any assignment as long as she can avoid direct violence, Rilta has spent years developing her powers of flight. She uses her cloud hop ability to leap off the edge of the cliffs or earthmotes of Airspur, floating harmlessly down to one of its lower surfaces to hide among the city’s buildings. Rilta is a shrewd thief and is familiar enough with the weather patterns over the Akanawater to know when her attempts will merely evade pursuers, and when she will be entirely concealed by shifting cloud cover, mists, and other obstructions.

  TACTICS

  Rilta fights for survival rather than for glory or for the rush of violence. If forced to fight at all, she prefers to knock her opponen
ts out rather than slaying them. The moment a combat appears to turn against her, Rilta uses her evasive flip to avoid her attackers, and then cloud hop to escape. She retains her action point so that she can use an extra move action to aid in evading her enemies.

  TANRIS

  Across Airspur, the merchant Crerorm, the traveling porter Queyh of Calimport, and the rumormonger Inakin are all known, if seldom mentioned. These people all are Tanris, in different guises and under different names, plying his trade among an unsuspecting populace.

  Tanris is the faceless head of a nameless crime organization. None know his original name or his motivation for causing such tumult in Airspur; they know that some folks go missing, some nobles suddenly become suspiciously silent, and certain merchants have unforeseen troubles making simple purchases. It is Tanris that causes these troubles.

  Tanris was born a stormsoul genasi, but he has taken great pains to conceal his nature beneath the guise of a windsoul. Only when angered, threatened, or insulted does the stormsoul portion of his being manifest, beginning as crackling lightning that runs up and down his szuldar (the energy lines that mark the faces of all genasi) and culminating with the sudden emergence of crystalline growths that clearly mark him as a stormsoul.

  The primary business of Tanris’s enterprise is smuggling, and he has a series of warehouses across Airspur that he uses for that purpose. Tanris can also—for the appropriate price—be contracted for kidnapping, blackmail, intimidation, or fencing stolen goods. He refers any requests for burglaries to the thief, Rilta, though the young genasi has no idea from where such referrals originally stem.

  TACTICS

  In combat, Tanris’s priority is survival, not vengeance, and so he attempts to avoid damage rather than dealing it out himself. He makes liberal use of his near or far and by the throat powers, reserving his rising storm for when the battle turns against him and he tries to make an escape.