Bejist

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BEJIST
 


Bejist [K8] is located on Setha Heath, two leagues inland from the Belna Strait. A mysterious, foreboding place, its location is known only to a few. The site has buildings from three different periods in various states of repair. These include an Earthmaster structure, extensive ruins of an Atani War–era Sindarin prison, and a recent temple built and occupied by a renegade sect of Naveh known as the Cult of Aedlad the Imprisoned. The surrounding terrain is unappealing at best, mostly windswept heath with numerous and treacherous bogs. The Navehan clerics suffer no interlopers; trespassers they catch are unlikely to have a pleasant memory of their visit. Bejist is situated just outside the range of the Pagaelin tribal nation.

Although it is commonly believed that the Sindarin King Daelda died of wounds he received at the Battle of Sorrows c. 683 BT, he is actually “imprisoned” at Bejist in a chamber hidden by great enchantment. For 12 centuries, Daelda has been engaged in a great struggle with the demon Aedlad, his evil alter ego. The Navehan clerics seek the prison of Aedlad, but do not understand the significance of their quest.

The Earthmasters[edit | edit source]

The only visible structure built by the Ancients is the domed building to the southwest. If they ever erected any other buildings here they have long since vanished. The purpose of the structure, as with most other Earthmaster remains, seems to have been to house the Godstone, albeit in a rather unusual manner. As with every other known Earthmaster site the builders abandoned it some 15,000 years ago.

The Codominium[edit | edit source]

As the waves of Lythian invaders heralded the beginning of the Atani Wars, Daelda, Sindarin King of Hârn ordered fortifications built at Bejist. At that time (about 850 BT) Bejist was on the coast. Initially little more than a supply depot and one of a chain of minor coastal fortresses its importance grew as the wars continued. When Daelda ordered the abandonment of eastern Hârn, the fortifications were greatly strengthened and its garrison increased. At its peak there was a middle sized town at Bejist and Caer Harmenel was one of the most formidable fortresses on Hârn. The population was primarily Jarin with a sizable minority of Khuzdul. The Sindar population is hard to ascertain. The settlement was primarily a garrison town consisting of the families of the Jarin troops. The ruins from this period show unmistakeable evidence of Khuzan building techniques. During the Atani Wars the Sindarin used the fortress as a prison, a practice that some believed did not cease with the Battle of Sorrows.

The Sindarin and their allies evacuated Bejist soon, after the tragedy of the Battle of Sorrows, leaving it to the ravens and the encroaching heath. The site was seldom visited over the next several centuries due partly to its remote location and in no small part to its having gained an unpleasant reputation among the few wanderers and tribesmen that crossed Setha Heath. Legends that the ruins and the heath itself were haunted grew and the credulous believed that the winds that howled over the heath were the voices of gods. Over the centuries the sea retreated southwards leaving the harbour, which had never been deep, a marshy salt flat. As the sea continued to withdraw, the old sea bed became virtually indistinguishable from the numerous marshes on the heath.

Cult of Aedlad the Imprisoned[edit | edit source]

In 664 TR an internal schism in the church of Naveh in Tashal led to the formation of the Cult of Aedlad the Imprisoned, a group of Navehan clerics who for various reasons regarded Bejist as an important site. Fleeing from Tashal the cult established a temple/farm complex at Bejist, using the ruins of the old garrison town in its construction. Since that time the cult has prospered, increasing in numbers by the kidnapping of infants from the Pagaelin tribal nation, over whom they exert considerable influence. In the intervening years since their self-imposed exile from Tashal the cult has somewhat modified Navehan theology, although they retain their sacred rituals almost tota1ly unchanged.

The clerics have extensive croplands, orchards and gardens near their temple. They also raise some livestock. This is unique among Navehan temples on Hârn, all other temples being located in urban areas and have other means of subsistence. The Navehans are also supplied by the Pagaelin tribes who trade, albeit unwittingly, with the priests at the augur lodges. The Navehans suffer no interlopers at Bejist, and trespassers that they catch are unlikely to have a pleasant memory of their visit.

The ruins at Bejist.

Map of Bejist[edit | edit source]

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1
TEMPLE OF RYIKUN

Founded in 664 TR, the temple is built of stones salvaged from the abandoned Codominium settlement. The structure has one floor and a cellar and is the largest Navehan temple, albeit an heretical one, on Hârn. The general layout is reminiscent of other Navehan temples but due to its location on Setha Heath, is less economical of space. To the northwest of the temple there are two large open fields farmed by acolytes. To the north is a livestock paddock; this contains two barns. To the south, the orchard provides enough fruits for temple consumption. To the east are two gardens, the larger for vegetables, and the smaller is a herb garden yielding various medicinal and alchemical herbs. The nature of these will vary slightly by season but will always contain Alanal. Th1s latter is tended by acolytes under command of the Deacon of Herbs and Elixirs, a senior acolyte, and chief assistant to the Master of Herbs and Elixirs.

2
EARTHMASTER BUILDING

The Earthmaster structure is located on high ground to the southwest of the temple. It is constructed almost entirely of pseudostone.

3
OLD HARBOUR

Bejist was once on the coast and this was the harbour. The former coast is indicated by the large scarp line. The number indicates the remains of a Khuzan built harbour.

4
TOWN RUINS

The bulk of the garrison town stood on this terrace beneath the citadel. It had an unusually high proportion of stone buildings due to its Khuzan builders and the shortage of wood on Setha Heath. Most of the usable stone and anything else of value has been salvaged by the Navehans.

5
CAER HARMENEL

The old citadel, being built by Khuzdul, was mostly underground and has now largely collapsed upon itself. On the summit there was a rectangular bailey with a thirty foot round tower in each corner. The two east towers are all that survive and they only to the second floor. The gate was in the west and was defended by two twenty foot towers. The bailey contained various ancillary buildings, none of which survive. The clerics of the temple have made a number of attempts to excavate the legendary prison of Aedlad (see 6). Several tunnels have been sunk into the east and south faces of the scarp to undercut Caer Harmenel. This approach has yet to produce anything but the death of seven acolytes and the Master of Archives and Treasures in 718. These met their demise when part of the south east tower collapsed during excavations. No major attempts have been made by the Navehans since then. The development of such tunnels is left to GM discretion.

6
ARMORIEN TOWER

The tower is the ethereal manifestation of a mighty spell wrought by the kin of King Daelda. Armorien Tower was originally constructed by the Khuzdul as the northwest tower of Caer Harmenel, of which, in the physical world only rubble remains. The tower itself defies physical laws. If one digs down five feet at map location 6, one will break through the ceiling of the cellar antechamber, which has been weakened by the passage of years.

The Legend of Aedlad[edit | edit source]

If and how the legend is to be presented to players is entirely up to GMs. We present the following options.

The Sindarin[edit | edit source]

Daelda’s kinfolk suppressed all knowledge of Daelda’s fate, even from their own people, and let the belief prevail that the king had died from his wounds. In this they told no lie, simply reporting that he had suffered a mortal wound.

Legacy of Taurin Halfhand[edit | edit source]

Only the unanticipted survival of one of the clerics who had summoned forth Aedlad allowed the legend to survive at all. Taurin Halfhand was left for dead by the avenging Sindarin. He followed them to Bejist and watched them carry the body of Daelda, which he took for that if the demon, within the citadel. Believing Aedlad invulnerable, he assumed that Daelda’s kin imprisoned the evil one. Bejist was evacuated, and the Sindarin collapsed the citadel. All the while Taurin lurked nearby, observing events. When the last of his enemies had departed, Taurin searched in vain for Aedlad’s prison. At the end of 681 BT he concluded that he had done all he could do alone. He wandered onto the heath and spent several months in a drug-ordeal in search of divine guidance. In the course of his wandering, he was occasionally encountered by bands of tribesmen who perceived him as a wrathful and mysterious figure. It is these episodes that led to the first accounts of the “Walker on the Heath”. When he emerged from his ordeal, he was at least partly mad. Nevertheless, he managed to return to his order on Lythia where he reported his experiences, which were ignored and forgotten. However, he told his story to some brothers met on Hârn, and one of these later committed it to parchment. The author of the scroll wrote as if it were the work of Taurin himself. The motive for writing the legend at all is somewhat obscure; he may simply have been practicing his calligraphy. No great importance was ever attached to the legend within the church of Naveh, but generations of acolytes were pleased to practice their linguistic abilities by translating it.

By 660 TR, most versions had been lost. Only a single copy buried in the Tashal archives bore any resemblance to the original. This was the year that an acolyte by the name of Ryiku discovered the scroll. He told his master, who, knowing the number of times it had been recopied, gave it little credence. Ryiku was a competent priest and, in 663, he murdered and succeeded the Master of Archives and Treasures, whom he subsequently discovered to be his father, by reading his victim’s private journals. At that time, the Five Year War was at its height in the west. Ryiku took his blood relationship to his predecessor and events in the west as the sign promised by the legend and sought support for a holy quest to release Aedlad.

The other masters of the Tashal temple were skeptical and bade him be silent. He defied the order, and sent a copy of the scroll to the Coranan temple. It never arrived. For his disobedience, Ryiku was relieved of his office and was placed under the Herth-Akan. He survived the ordeal. Now Ryiku worked in secret to build a following. Those who survive the Herth-Akan are few and are respected. His plans were mature by the autumn of 664. He and a score of followers stole what they needed and fled Tashal, killing three of the temple’s masters in the process.

By skillful manipulation, the renegades won the respect of the Pagaelin and made their way to Bejist where they began construction of their temple. As soon as they were established, they undertook excavations to find the prison of Aedlad. Ryiku died in 676. The practical necessities of survival, especially in the years Iollowing Ryiku’s death, seemed to lessen the urgency of the sect’s mission. By 715, all of the original clerics had died and the new, larger order had a more earthly attitude. The legend is not forgotten, and excavation projects are still undertaken from time to time, but they have taken on the aspect of a symbolic ritual.

The Lost Scroll[edit | edit source]

If players are to have a reason to sample the unique experience of visiting Bejist, a copy of the lost scroll should come into their possession. The GM may handle this in any number of ways. The scroll was presumably sent by courier (probably a Navehan acolyte on other business) along the Salt Route. Perhaps he was ambushed in the wilderness by brigands or tribesmen, or waylaid in the midst of the Five Year War after he reached Tharda. In any event, the scroll disappeared for a time. Perhaps it cluttered an attic for a few years, perhaps it is/was hanging on the wall at Trobridge Inn or some similar establishment. Possibly, some scholar acquired it, or a copy, and it is likely this individual who will approach some players.

Such an individual may desire to investigate the truth of the matter himself, sell it, or send it to some other persons because he lacks the will or vigour to pursue the matter himself. To whom he would send the scroll depends on his personality. The reactions of any recipients would also vary. If players were to hired to convey the scroll and the recipient lent it any credence, he might wish to mount an expedition, or suppress the information. The latter might involve the murder of the messengers. If an expedition is to be mounted, the players will quite likely be invited to participate, since this would minimize the number of people privy to the secret. If players decline such an invitation, pressure may well be brought to bear. If they still refuse, an unscrupulous recipient might take drastic action…

The Scroll of Taurin Halfhand[edit | edit source]

We were eight, sent from the place most holy to this island. Eight skilled in the holy arts and suited to the appointed task. We sailed with an ugly and savage people and landed among the pagans in the region called Anadel. For five years we laboured, O my brothers, doing the holy work among the unbelievers, and oft did it seem our efforts were futile.

It passed that the folk we dwelled among grew weary of peace and crossed the Ulmerien to do battle with the Sindar devils. And on the plains the Sindarin and their Jarin lackies met the folk of Lythia in a great and terrible battle. We eight watched in dismay, O my brothers, as the ever living broke the Lythians, and went among them slaying and rending.

When we saw the Sindarin rout their enemy we eight gathered our strength and exerted our sacred arts and summoned forth the one called Aedlad, the living antithesis of the Sindar King. And he came among us, O my brothers, with aspect fell and might beyond measure, and looked he down upon the field of battle and beheld the Sindar and made towards him, slaying all that stood between. His very glance was death and his touch dissolution.

Aedlad and the Sindar Lord met upon that bloody plain, and they did smite each other with fell blows that echoed from the hills. And Aedlad slew the Sindar, rending his body.

But even as we triumphed O my brothers, the kin of the Elven Lord captured Aedlad. And having taken him they knew us and came upon us in their wrath and grief and slew all save I who escaped their swords.

They bound Aedlad with cruel bonds and led him from the field. I followed the Sindar to their fortress on the heath and saw them imprison Aedlad. Long did I seek to effect his release ere I failed and the Master visited me with these words:

“The time is yet unripe, and generations unborn shall pass before Aedlad walks among the unbelievers. Your brethren to come shall know the time, for tumult shall shake the kingdoms of men and kin shall slay kin, Go, and bear the word.”

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