The Circle of Iron
The knowledge of the knights of the Circle of Iron has been lost to the eons. It was discovered by the party that the Iron Knights were buried under a hill to the north of Whitehall. Their keep lies in ruins and their tomb had been occupied by a band of goblins.
The order was led by a massive man by the name of Nathaniel, the Vigilant. It appears as though the Circle was created to oppose a blight of fiends who had emerged centuries ago. Nathaniel's mighty sword appears to have been instrumental in putting down the blight, as much was confirmed by Jago, the Whitehall blacksmith.
Jago also mentioned that ghost stories were spoken down through the generations about the old ruins. He said children's tales were cooked up to keep them away. In his words, an ancient incantation was spoken over them so that should the need arise, they could return to fight chaos in all its forms.
The party discovered they were more than just stories. I wonder if anyone living still knows of the Circle's lore...
The order was led by a massive man by the name of Nathaniel, the Vigilant. It appears as though the Circle was created to oppose a blight of fiends who had emerged centuries ago. Nathaniel's mighty sword appears to have been instrumental in putting down the blight, as much was confirmed by Jago, the Whitehall blacksmith.
Jago also mentioned that ghost stories were spoken down through the generations about the old ruins. He said children's tales were cooked up to keep them away. In his words, an ancient incantation was spoken over them so that should the need arise, they could return to fight chaos in all its forms.
The party discovered they were more than just stories. I wonder if anyone living still knows of the Circle's lore...
The Construction of Stonekeep
The construction of this carved keep and city was nothing short of a spectacular work of masterful dwarven engineering. Nowhere else in Nostra Celeste can something like this be found. What began as a lakeside arch and sea-stack, over the course of over five centuries, turned into the marvel it is today.
Little is known about the monks who first settled in the area. Some believe they worshiped the lake, itself. Regardless, the monastery they built was a beacon of hope for the peoples around and they came far and long to seek the healing within those walls.
It didn't take long for evil to discover this place, however, and the monastery was sacked by a tribe of orcs. The denizens within stood no chance. There were none spared. Many were taken as prisoners. The women who weren't killed outright, were left impregnated as a last cruel suffering. One young man by the name of Mordecai of the Wild Monastery returned from a walkabout only three days after the routing. He found his friends and family decimated and his home burned to the ground.
He sought help from his dear friend from a nearby village, Idek the Dwarf. In those days, dwarves were uncommon enough to designate them simply by their race. Mordecai spun a wondrous dream to Idek. A dream about a different kind of hope--a bastion of hope and safety. This dream involved an idea that only a lunatic would take seriously--carving the mountain itself into a keep.
It took two decades before he had the people and resources necessary to make it happen, but Mordecai and Idek eventually got a team of skilled dwarven craftsmen together. In exchange for land and rights of nobility for their descendants, they would craft the castle. They knew the undertaking would take over five hundred years, but with Greyland Stonebrow at the leadership for four hundred of those years, it turned out beautifully and the rest is history.
Nowadays, none of the dwarven descendants maintain their nobility. As animosity toward dwarves increased throughout Nostra Celeste, like many others throughout the realms, the dwarves of Stonekeep receded to their mountain homes and shut themselves off from the rest of the world.
Little is known about the monks who first settled in the area. Some believe they worshiped the lake, itself. Regardless, the monastery they built was a beacon of hope for the peoples around and they came far and long to seek the healing within those walls.
It didn't take long for evil to discover this place, however, and the monastery was sacked by a tribe of orcs. The denizens within stood no chance. There were none spared. Many were taken as prisoners. The women who weren't killed outright, were left impregnated as a last cruel suffering. One young man by the name of Mordecai of the Wild Monastery returned from a walkabout only three days after the routing. He found his friends and family decimated and his home burned to the ground.
He sought help from his dear friend from a nearby village, Idek the Dwarf. In those days, dwarves were uncommon enough to designate them simply by their race. Mordecai spun a wondrous dream to Idek. A dream about a different kind of hope--a bastion of hope and safety. This dream involved an idea that only a lunatic would take seriously--carving the mountain itself into a keep.
It took two decades before he had the people and resources necessary to make it happen, but Mordecai and Idek eventually got a team of skilled dwarven craftsmen together. In exchange for land and rights of nobility for their descendants, they would craft the castle. They knew the undertaking would take over five hundred years, but with Greyland Stonebrow at the leadership for four hundred of those years, it turned out beautifully and the rest is history.
Nowadays, none of the dwarven descendants maintain their nobility. As animosity toward dwarves increased throughout Nostra Celeste, like many others throughout the realms, the dwarves of Stonekeep receded to their mountain homes and shut themselves off from the rest of the world.
The Notion of Mysterium
The Notion of Mysterium is a book that was written by a collection of master scholars; Galarion, Mithrillion, Klembourne, and Lythmeric. The four scholars spent a number of years with a large team of associates and underlings within the ancient towers of Galabrion and J'unos, the archwizards of time immemorial.
The book was penned by magic and more than one copy is believed to exist--at least one written for each of its authors. As the masters poured over the numerous notes and research written by the two archwizards, they made their own conclusions and compiled the data into usable information. Much of the research was such high level thinking that it took the modern masters weeks and even months to understand much of it and regurgitate it into an understandable format in their book.
The book was written as a way for the current masters to continue the studies of Galabrion and J'unos and keep records of their own to pass down and teach to acolytes and scholars in the generations to come. To this date, none of the current masters use the book in their instructions; likely due to the high-level nature of the book combined with some morally questionable techniques contained within. No known examples of this book exist outside the libraries of its authors.
The book was penned by magic and more than one copy is believed to exist--at least one written for each of its authors. As the masters poured over the numerous notes and research written by the two archwizards, they made their own conclusions and compiled the data into usable information. Much of the research was such high level thinking that it took the modern masters weeks and even months to understand much of it and regurgitate it into an understandable format in their book.
The book was written as a way for the current masters to continue the studies of Galabrion and J'unos and keep records of their own to pass down and teach to acolytes and scholars in the generations to come. To this date, none of the current masters use the book in their instructions; likely due to the high-level nature of the book combined with some morally questionable techniques contained within. No known examples of this book exist outside the libraries of its authors.