Atlas

Imarel Travel Guide - by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.2

Kingdom of Vyss The Ruins of Fort K`Lori

Originally a structure built during the first Shar`Vaire occupation of Shalzaar to exterminate the Zissah, it had been abandoned for the most part, with the gifting of Land to the Tallis-Shei people. When the Shar`Vaire returned to exterminate the Elves, the Tallis-Shei occupied Fort K`Lori and attempted to use the structure's ancient defenses against its creators. Heavy Witchfire cannons and a single Radiance-charged defense gun proved to be an unpleasant surprise for the Shar`Vaire invaders. Taking the fort by land also proved to be taxing with ancient Shar`Vaire siege golems in place all around the fortress. It seemed the Tallis-Shei, if they could hold out, would finally have the weapons of their enemies to change the course of the war.

They underestimated the cunning of the Shar`Vaire however. Contacting scholars back in D`Mir, it was discovered that the Fort had several secret entryways in which a saboteur could gain access if he or she could get past the golems. Head on the ancient iron-crafted siege golems were incredibly tough, but if stealth and care was used to not alert them, one could simply slip by unnoticed and enter the fort. The plot succeeded and a single Shar`Vaire necromancer found his way into the Fort.

Once within, the necromancer unleashed a powerful alteration of the sorcerous plague used to slaughter the Elves at Jir-Tasaar. The Moon Elf defenders managed to kill the necromancer but it was too late; by the time the Shar`Vaire's corpse hit the ground, riddled with arrows and charred by sorcerous flame, the plague had all ready slain the defenders and swept throughout the fort. What happened next is unclear, though it is commonly known that the necromancer knew he was heading to his death and had prepared for it; soon after his death he rose once again as a lich and claimed the fort as his domain. The sorcerous plague he had unleashed was so powerful, it poisoned the very land for centuries following the War of Eternals, creating what is now known as the K`Lori Wastes.

Today, the fort remains the sanctuary of the lich that adventurers have nicknamed 'Old Black Bones.' It is said he still wears the tattered vestments of a Shar`Vaire Theocrat and his bones are blackened by the very plague he unleashed. The fort's Elvish defenders have been risen as diseased, undead fiends that move with nearly all the graceful precision they had in life and serve the lich without question. Other things dwell within the ruins that have names that cannot be spoken, atrocities so vile that the mere sight of them has caused horrific revulsion in the less stout of heart. Many adventurers, treasure-seekers and others have braved the fort, though between the ancient defenses that continue to operate after thousands of years and the more recent undead occupancy, few return with little more than warnings and a few trinkets.