THE SHARD OF THE MOON

The Shard of the Moon is a sacred temple dedicated to Selune the Moonmaiden, goddess of the moon. Lady Jasmine, a priest of Selune, maintains the temple as a beacon of hope for the citizens of Neverwinter. The temple provides many services to the citizens of the city, including magical healing and curing of diseases.

Arriving at the Shard of the Moon, you are greeted by Lady Jasmine and escorted through the mesmerizing temple. She takes you to a private room that resembles a teleportation circle. She explains that this magic circle is linked to a city called Sigil (SIG-ILL) also called “The Cage” or the “City of Doors.” A major hub for interplanar travel, the city contains multiple portals to every single plane, as well as to numerous locations in the Prime Material Plane. It is situated in a plane known as The Outlands and is ruled by a mysterious, enigmatic entity known as “The Lady of Pain.” None may enter or exit Sigil without her permission, and so it is called “the Cage” as it is possible to enter the city but never be permitted to leave.

Lady Jasmine explains that she will activate the circle and transport them to Sanctum, the stronghold of Alustriel Silverhand within Sigil. When the party was ready, the woman chanted a series of intricate spells. With a flash of multicolored light, the world winks out of existence. Nothingness envelops your senses, though you feel the thrum of magic rushing like an electric spark through your veins.

When you regain focus, you stand in a plush, candlelit parlor. A stately woman in blue robes leans toward you, her brow furrowed with concern. You recognize the woman as one of the Wizards Three, the powerful archmage called Alustriel Silverhand. Apart from being an intelligent, wise, and charismatic leader, Alustriel was also incredibly beautiful. It was said that those who gazed upon her immediately fell in love, a grandeur some bards refused to write about, claiming that they could never pen anything truly befitting of it.

She has benevolent eyes that sparkled like a sun-dappled river and an unblemished, loving face. She is graceful, possessing the slender figure, long silver hair, and everlasting youth. She wears monochromatic robes of grey and white, of full length and simple cut. As always, she carries with her a unicorn-headed staff , the legendary Staff of Silverymoon.

Alustriel welcomes them kindly and asks them to be seated. She conjures them anything that they might wish to eat or drink and then begins to provide them with a lot of information. “Not long ago, a few of you were summoned to us in Waterdeep through a WISH spell. We were as confused as you were, but we made the best of the situation. We have since learned that your appearance was granted by the goddess of magic, Mystra. She intervened in our spell to provide us with chosen champions of the gods who hold a destiny closely linked to the god of secrets, also called The Whispered One or the Lich-God. We have learned that we should not speak his name as it allows him to scry and spy upon those who utter his name. And as you know, Mystra has added more champions to your party. Together, you are the hope that we have against the Lich-God.”

“As we told you previously, I began looking into this situation when I detected a sinister wave of magic rippling through the multiverse. Using my divining abilities, I eventually traced the magical pulse to The Lich-God himself. I learned that his activities span multiple realms. After a period of investigation, I discovered the sobering truth: using stolen secrets, The Whispered One and his cults have siphoned incredible amounts of power from individuals throughout the multiverse. Worse, I eventually stopped detecting these activities, leading the me to believe that he plans to unleash this power for a heinous purpose. I realize this could unravel the entire multiverse, elevating The Whispered One and cowing all others to his will.”

She continues to explain what she and the other wizards have learned.

“My companions are all waging war against the forces of Evil and Chaos on different planes.” She waves her left hand, and images appear: Mordenkainen surrounded by thousands of demons in the Abyss, casting spells and slashing with his longsword, dropping dozens of the creatures at a time, but yet they continue to surge towards him. Tasha fighting alongside Loki and Thor, defending the fallen Allfather in the throneroom of Valhalla. A legion of devils wade towards them, a never-ending wave of Evil. And Elminster, standing in the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium, locked in combat with a huge blue dragon. “They are each doing their best to combat the surge of demonic and infernal incursions taking place in every divine realm dedicated to Good and Law.” Her beautiful eyes flash with sadness. “Many gods and goddesses have been slain, and some of their realms are overrun. Evil is winning. There is no question.”

The rise of the Lich-God is a fascinating and horrific story. She tells you of how he has used his position as the god of secrets to convert secrets to a raw arcane power that now fuels his schemes. He has drawn several dark powers to his banner, namely: Lolth the Spider Queen, Tiamat the Queen of Dragons, Strahd von Zarovich is the Darklord of Barovia, and even Lord Soth is the most powerful death knight on Krynn. The Blood War has been paused as the Demon Lords and the Lords of the Nine have agreed to dedicate their unending armies to the Lich-God’s cause. She explains that throughout the Nine Worlds of the Prime Material Plane, The Whispered One’s agents seek out powerful artifacts to capture, drain, and transfer the power to the Ritual of Unmaking where The Lich-God will speak three unfathomable blasphemous words that will unmake Reality.

She points out that each of you have a divine link to a specific god, as well as, the Whispered One himself. She surmises that this is a intricate machination invoked by the Whispered One. She can only assume that he was able to peer into time and space, realizing that you were to be chosen as champions by your various gods and goddesses. He linked himself to you with the Black Cord, hoping to tempt and corrupt you with his ebbing power. This power may be used against him and his dark forces. But he warned, relying on it may lead to corruption that could permanently hinder you. Power corrupts, and she believes that the Lich-God wishes to make you drunk on his power, swaying you to join his cause.

She strides over to a cabinet full of strange items and picks up a silver chime. He then approaches the characters, displays the chime, and says:

“The Whispered One is too powerful to stop directly at this point. However, no power is absolute. I suspect he will be vulnerable while he weaves his ritual. If you confront and weaken him, this Chime of Exile can banish him to Oerth. He would no longer be able to affect multiple realms at once. His plan to remake the multiverse would fail.” She offers the chime to your party. “One of you should keep this Chime of Exile. Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Using it before the right time will alert The Whispered One to its existence. Be very cautious.”

“There is an artifact that is, I believe, the only way to weaken the Lich-God so the chime can be used against him. It’s called the Rod of Seven Parts. Unfortunately, its component pieces are scattered across existence.”

“While my esteemed colleagues researched the magic needed to cast a Wish spell powerful enough to stop The Lich-God, I looked into finding the rod’s pieces should we need them. I have failed at finding them, but a Celestial Archon appeared to me, sent by the dragon-god Bahamut. He has revealed to me a chamber, deep within the ancient Castle Greyhawk on the world of Oerth. I believe that you, as champions, will be able to access this chamber and use it to located the Rods of Seven Parts.”

“Find that first piece of the rod, my friends. Once you locate the first piece, the magic inherent in the artifact will point you to the second piece, and then to the third, and so on. You will face great peril while seeking these fragments. But I truthfully believe that only is artifact, also called the Rod of Law, will be powerful enough to defeat The Whispered One.

“There’s no time to waste. Once you’ve reassembled the rod, we can all confront HIM and stop his heinous plan. You’ll be the heroes of the multiverse! How does that sound?”