Starlight Wells of the Dao

About 50 years ago,genies from the Elemental Plane of Earth,called dao,arrived in the valley.They had learned something ofthe place’s history but ignored the castle atop the nearby hill.They focused their attention instead on the valley floor.Using slave labor from a nearby human village as well as local orc and hobgoblin tribes,the dao drill deep wells to get at the liquefied starlight.

The stalwart citizens ofnearby Banaton defend themselves against these dao slavers as best they can.Fearing the inherent and subtle power ofthe people ofBanaton,the dao prefer to gather their slaves from elsewhere in the region. The dao use magical pumps,powered by the toil oftheir slaves,to bring up the liquid starlight from the deep wells.The liquid starlight proves so difficult to get hold of,however, that the dao must move the wells often,creating even more work for the slaves.Their wells and storage facilities are all underground,where they can more easily construct portals to the Plane ofEarth.

Oflate,while mining out a cavern for a new well,the dao and their slaves have broken into a section ofancient catacombs, where they found people imbedded in coffinlike pods called temporal wombs†. These artifacts are the creation ofthe starlight mages,some ofwhom apparently saw their doom coming and sealed themselves within these containers ofwoven starlight. Within them,no time passed,and these awakened elves have become real problems for the dao,for the starlight mages are not happy when they emerge from the magical wombs.

One thing is for certain.Arthanath has withstood the ravages oftime with greater fortitude than any human-built fortress ever would.Despite the years,today it appears to be in excellent condition—only slightly weathered and worn.

Placing the Portal

Try placing the portal from the Nexus halfway between the village of Banaton and Castle Arthanath (see map on page 61). This will allow the player characters to discover the villagers’ inadvertent spellcasting powers gradually, as they draw closer to the settlement.

Using This Location in Your Campaign

You can place this remote location anywhere in a campaign world.Its secrets—the liquid starlight,the inadvertent spellcasting,and dragon magic—are perfect surprises to introduce into a game to spice things up.IfCastle Arthanath’s history does not fit into your world’s history,you can change it,or make it a tale ofjust one way that humans learned magic.

The secrets ofdragon magic can still be found in the area, and it may be just such secrets,or the rare mention ofthem in ancient texts,that bring the PCs here in the first place.The people ofBanaton do not know the secret ofdragon magic, but they do know ofnearby ancient ruins where they might be found—places where those who learned from the dragons in Castle Arthanath set up their own residences in ancient