Volume III

The
Encyclopedia Lorica

Baby Shakes to Blanc
6th Edition

Baby Shakes - a generally harmless disease of infancy in most humanoids, however, it can affect adult Brids fatally. Even Brid warriors shake and shake and their muscles get sore for periods of up to 20 minutes, followed by two hours of gradual relaxation and then another period of shaking.

Bagros - defeated by Artaxerxes III. Faught (?) with ruby elemental necklace according to Juho.

Baliol, John (NPC) - architect, member of Excelsea Gravesend (Gravestone) Co.

Balryg - very big, very dangerous black leathery flying magic-using psionic monsters associated with the Echyebrech invasion. They've been seen at the Arboreal Portal (on Vorn and EOW), the Administration Building, Persand, Terrerno... Mowcrot is the most active balrog. Other known balryg: Gothmog.

Some speculate that balryg are the evil equivalent of the grendels.

From Otis Ius' recollection of the Arboreal Portal Destruction: "I slipped down a set of stairs and hid behind the swing of a door... I watched through the crack as nothing less than a Balrog stormed by... I went unnoticed, as the beast passed. The Balrog, it would seem, had other prey in mind. (See Marocsy) Edging gently out of hiding, I peeked into the room whence the flaming beast had emerged... a strange and dimly lit scene. The floor of the room was stepped down to the center, in the form of an inverted ziggurat. Only the first two or three steps were visible, though, as the remainder of the room was filled with an oily and darksome liquid. Perhaps the Fearsome Belryg prefer to bathe in heated oil rather than the water that cleanses mortal flesh. The expanse of the room faded off to shadows, leaving me to wonder at what gruesome inner chambers a Balrog might keep. "

At the Friendship Temple, a vapourous ghost balrog allowed our adventurers to pass but seems to have attacked and eliminated everyone else who had come down, including folk from the surrounding encampments who had come in search of plunder. There were many screams. [A "good" balrog?] Later in the Friendship temple, they came to a vision of an open field, and an orc in princely garb holding a curved longsword and standing over a dead balrog. So they may be the first humans ever to see a dead balrog?

Balthasar (NPC) - new El Ouhd contact for SOAK, taking the place of "Red." Rather gruff and grumpy.

Bangon, Shudar (NPC) - Vornish tribal gnomish chief. Had the "sea camel" the Ababa visiting his village when the Sword Group reached his territory and he tried to confront the Group. Was roundly defeated. (May have been another Shudar involved, rather than Bangon.)

Barg, Shudar (NPC) - Vornish tribal gnomish chief. Hosted the "tournament of seven." Allowed Melia and Thug to accompany the Sword Group and sent Gong, Bosk, Char, and Zonzi as camel guides to accompany the Group to the ruins in the desert.

Barron, January () - healer?. Member of Pike Group. Missions: Eck Temple, Black Wall (?).

Barth () - one of Cormacar's fellow rangers at the Bending Branch. The assassin, Random, wanted to kill him, before going on the Netco Spell Component Hunters' Sprines mission, however, the ranger objected to this, and Random was forced, for a time, anyway, to restrain his bloodlust, particularly because he was not pleased with the idea of beginning his adventures in jail. Barth was pleased with the idea that Cormacar was going to be gone for a long period of time on the above mission. However, he wasn't too pleased with the idea that Random was staying in the local headquarters of the Bending Branch. He attempted to "bell" the sorcerer with a large gong, which Random promptly stole and sold at a pawn shop for 30 sp.

Basilisks - creatures that live in family groupings in caves and turn their prey into stone. An OMNICo expedition found some in the Sprinal Tap. SOAK was hired to investigate a possible basilisk on Gateway Island.

Beach, Sylvia (Chris) - a hapless Vornish merchant operating along the coast near Zaindeh - travelling bookseller, bringer of happiness to little children, adventure to farmers, and romance to lonely housewives. She had a very large cart. Met the Sword Group in spring 3207. Brought suspicion on herself by asking about someone who wanted books on turtles and was arrested and questioned. Fate unknown.

Becket, Murphy (Chris?) - In front of the Grendel's Cave, he drank his speed potion and made a mad dash for the opening, only to be struck down by an eck mace - 22 Feb. 10043. Member of the Greymar Grendling Group.

Beigebeard (NPC). A long dead pirate who left hordes of treasure protected by intricate puzzles all around the world. His wife was Veanesa Morse. Her body and grave [in Forsythia Cemetery?] was apparently found (?) by Forsythia Cemetery Exploration. One horde on Ilum Gamma yielded a magic item in the form of a snake whistle. Another horde on Adam-Ondi-Ahman killed Marduk Uranti and party by freezing to death in the liquid-nitrogen trap on Adam-Ondi-Ahman. Someone [Ben, Monty, Brian...] also apparently went Beigebearding on Sioux. Another Beigebeard puzzle may have been found by the Forsythia Cemetery Exploration.

Legends say Beigebeard killed Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.

So what about Beigebeard-- sure, he’s left lots of valuable treasure, but *what did this guy know?* More than we, that's certain. Who was he *really*? What can we deduce about him from the various hoardes of his we've seen? Were they some kind of “tool kits” for future use?

Beigebeard Ice Maze - Theresa Troost died in Beigebeard's ice maze in 10036.

Bendel, Dean - "accidentally" elbowed off the back of a pegasus.

Bending Branch Bay - the center of the bay is on the Gnockagon. Some weird stuff goes on around there, but diving to the necessary depth to investigate hasn't been developed yet.

Benton, Janielle (?) Member of Order of the Ring. Captured on rescue mission by egyebrech on unknown island in western ocean.

Benzar (Nick) -

Beregand, Damion (Ben) - Human male. Combat Wizard. From a letter to SOAK: "I write to you in hopes of obtaining a job with your organization. My name is Damion Beregand, and I am a combat-oriented wizard. What I mean when I say that is not that I can merely cast phyz-bang spells (although I do cast lightning bolt), but that I am versed in many spells both biomantic and physomantic which are essential to the offensive and defensive needs of a team of warriors. I would, however, like to make it explicitly clear that I am not a healer. The healing arts are the business of those who are unable or unwilling to fight, and I am neither." Died on lich island [Shang?]. Hated by SOAK co-workers.

Bermuda Parallelipiped - area in the western ocean that sea-farers avoid because ships that enter it disappear. See the Time Warp Group.

From Miscellaneous Thoughts Below Persand, 30 July 10037, by January Barron. *What has been affected by the parallelepiped? Why bounded by four islands? Huge area. Trangle is bizarre. Edirne, Matest, Sectan. Is the BP a bounding polygon or is it the whole thing? There is a safe path through it. Ben People disappear in it. Brian. No ships go through there. Fiera. (?) No one has ever successfully launched a satellite. There could be islands in there. There is photomancy to take pictures. Barron *Whirlpools? All over the place. Nick. No, not really.

Bigby, "Darkwing" (Nick) -

Bigle Root - bright yellow stringy plant communities on Ilum Beta and in tropical forests of Vyrica. It's a delicacy to the orcs, which reduces it's availability. Component for confusion.

Binchois, Mister (NPC) - resident of Trade City and owner of The Gibbering Idiot. Unlike many barkeeps, old Binchois doesn't get cranky with customers who only order water.

Bink - pejorative nick-name for hobbits.

Birney, Thomas (NPC) - the only wardship candidate promising to back far-reaching alcohol prohibition within Melanchthon in 10038. See the Melanchthon Morning Herald.

Bishop, Richard L. (NPC) - KDP West Financial Director, Northern Expanse Trading Company as of July 10042. Sent SOAK a offer of enrollment in NETCo's "favored business partner list."

Biskupin - island site of necromatic research facility messed with by the Falcon Twins of the Order of the Ring.

Biskupin Necromantic Research Facility - Destroyed by the Order of the Ring. The hallway was filled with an evil black fog, most likely magical, and one could feel the fear rolling out of it. Out strode a lich - on its head was a crown, and in its hand was a longsword that simply felt evil. The party attacked with swords and magical fire and finally struck it down. Several other undead creatures were slain by the party, although several members fell, including the valiant Veto and Nick. During the battle, the evil house caught fire, and they moved to the basement to pursue a Drow. They chased it through several rooms, and finally found an exit that it must have escaped through. The party reached the top of a cliff, where they looked down on a boat that was steaming out of the harbor. It had cleared the small harbor (no small task) and was heading out to sea. While most of the party blasted at it with fire and lightning, Squire Reyl plunged into the sea, and swam after, hoping to catch it. There was another boat in the Harbor, and with the vain hope that he would be able to pilot it, Squire Reyl swam out to it. Then several skeleton riders approached the position of remainder of the party, and so Squire readied a cannon to warn his friends, and to hopefully distract the evil beings. The cannon backfired, and he was rendered unconscious. Later, he was awakened by his friends, and found that they had defeated six of the beings. The party went back to get Itza Biznitz, who had been left to guard the back door, and attacked the remaining skeletons. They took down the last skeleton, searched the place thoroughly, found the bodies of their friends, destroyed all evil magics and burned the fortress to the ground.

Bittle, Robert and Caroline - married store owners who sent an interesting letter to Isabella Cardinoff, Commander, OmniCo on February 2, 10039.

"The humble store of Mr. and Mrs. Bittle would be happy to employ the far-rangers of OmniCo on an itsy-bitsy adventure. While on vacation last year, Mrs. Bittle happened to lose a valued possession while spelunking on Persand Island. Due to present circumstances, it is impossible for us to leave our business and attend to this simple matter. Would it be possible for you to visit this charming isle and sketch out the lay of the caves to help jog her memory as to where it may lie? We would both be greatly appreciative of the slightest service rendered in this regard and would be happy to negotiate a fair price.

With deep affection, Mr. Robert Bittle and Mrs. Caroline Bittle.

Bittle's Magic Shop - a operation in Jacketz that is suspected of being a front for El Ouhd. Powerful magic items taken there to be identified tend to be de-acquired.

Biznitz, Itza (Joe) - Was killed in the Skeleton Battle (resurrected). Had to rest so did not go to Illum Alpha/Persand. Was killed (?) on Biskupin when she was left behind to guard the back door of the necromantic research facility. (Resurrected). Member of the Delmarintha Dig party and the Order of the Ring. Missions: Skeleton Battle, Biskupin.

Bjorn (NPC). The kind and fair owner of/worker at a magic shop in KDPW often patronized by Juliette Naturas to good result.

Black, Addison (Karl) - a young human male, about 5' 10" and 160 pounds. He has jet black hair and wandering grey eyes. He is possibly twenty, maybe a little older. He has an intellectual look about him and is wearing expensive clothes. He speaks rapidly and with a slight accent, indicative of good breeding. Ended up in jail (?).

Black birds - large mysterious birds that seem to follow parties exploring the Sprinal Tap. Can induce hallucinations in some who look into their eyes and therefore, may be psionic. Suspected of spying for someone or something. Are sometimes observed to have glowing red eyes and seem to be attracted to magic discharges.

In late January 10040, the Western Wind sighted a black bird which flew directly at the party, took a couple of swipes over their heads, and then left. Later, they were visited by two of the birds, one of which looked a lot like the earlier bird, and which looked quite a lot larger (maybe a five-foot wingspan). They circled the party three times and left. Shortly afterward, a group of about a dozen gnomes and one taller figure cloaked in black approached from the North and suggested in a rather forceful way that they turn back from their mission.

Geoff's thoughts: That the birds are a surveillance device of some kind is perfectly obvious. Here are some things I've noticed about them: (1) We tend to see them when we are carrying magickal stuff around with us. Omnico always had bunches of magic items with them, for example. I suspect that some sort of magic detection is an important part of their control. (2) Many of the times we've seen them, Drow have been involved. But not all? We have encountered them once or twice with no obvious Drow connection. StillI (3) We captured one once-- it was Omnico, and it was a character of Gooch's (Ed Xing). We got it by injuring it during flight. By the time we had retrieved it, the red glow was gone from its eyes. However, low-mentality characters (such as Ed Xing) who stared into the bird's eyes did experience the hallucinations previously found when looking into the birds' eyes. (4) Here's a stretch, but I think it's worth noting that in the Ring cycle, (Tolkien's, not Wagner's...), there were all sorts of similar evil beasties who were watchers for Sauron. What I'm interestedf in here is that they reported directly to Sauron-- all of them. (Or did they?) Now, as has been noted, the bird-eye-hallucinations match *exactly* (the description was nearly word-for-word identical) with the description one NPC (the King of Rohan) gave for a land beyond the glaciers, and who we think may well be the same guy as the one the Order of the Ring crowd went and rescued, who had a dozen souls stuck in his head, including (briefly) Peregrine Falcon. The soul-bank fellow claimed to be the emperor of Cis-Glacial Terrerna... So I think the birds are not from around here. (5) A question to other players: When did we *first* meet those birds? I don't remember ever encountering them until Omnico's Sprinal-Tap mission, but I don't think that was our first encounter, was it? Have these birds always existed in EOW, or do they first show up after portals start opening up? Believed to work for the enemy, probably the Drow. (See also SOAK vs gnomes in the Sprinal Tap.)

Interestingly, the Sword Group didn't notice any Birds in 10040 when they were hurrying across Ilico towards the Abraxian Shrine, despite carrying one of the most powerful magic items ever known.

See also guillemot birds.

Black Box, The - Juho thinks it can only be used to hop within a world, unless it is proximity to a "real" portal.

Guanerius Guaneri, Tim Da Reaper, Werner Gunthor and Kiphelm Thorn were vilified as a result of misunderstanding the events surrounding the removal of the Captain and the theft of the black box and condemned to death as the vilest of traitors. The Sword Group determined that the only one who knew anything about the traitors personally was Duncan. He only knew G.G. as an acquaintance and knew of the others through G.G. So all they knew was that the four traitors had portaled out of Vorn with the black box but only G.G. had appeared on EOW, and that he did not have The Captain, but rather a phase long sword (from Kiphelm) that he gave to Folger. No one had the foggiest idea how the Captain got to EOW (since Maroczy was the only person involved except perhaps for Poppy-Tor, who was left on Vorn).

July 10036 - Guanerius' party arrives at the arboreal portal, but finds it inoperative. Talk to ancient orcish liches to the north and get the black box to use to get to Vorn. Not everyone arrives at the intended destination and they left the box behind because they couldn't figure out how to bring it along.

? 3202 ? - Magos appears in Vorn with the sword and the black box . Balrog appears and battle ensues. Guanerius and Co. hide and watch. (What were they doing there anyway?) They see the cliff collapse on Magos (with the sword) and the combatants leave the area. They dig out the sword but do not find the two rings or the black box. (where was this?) September ? 3202 - WG Thorn, WG Gunthor, Tim D'Reaper, etc. go to Friendship Temple where Magos is keeping the black box. They find an auction being run by Donald Kagan for day by day use of the black box. They go into the temple and find a secret passage. Magos' men and others who try to go along do not get far. (Screams were heard behind the party.) The party members are tested for virtue and receive 11 “kick-ass items” and information. They are told, among other things, that they have barely been judged worthy to hold the black box, but that Magos has been judged unworthy. We proceeded to lay plans for "raiding" the Zig as non-violently as possible and retrieving the box. These more or less worked, largely because of the extreme power of the impressive collection of items we had assembled. We fled the area, and escaped with the box, unscathed except for losing one pegasus.

? 3202 ? - Maroczy goes through the arboreal portal to EOW with The Captain's help.

Sept 3202 - We met up with our financial supporter, Wiz-Gen Kiphelm Thorne and also Wiz-Gen Guaneri somewhere in Pandoland and began to set off in search of The Captain based on a hint given to us by the orcs, leaving for the north to prepare to find Diomachus Maximus. But first they are asked by Allotar to destroy a new fire dwarven necromantic research facility. It goes badly and they barely manage to portal out with the box. Only Guanerius ends up at the intended destination on EOW - no black box. (GG's trip: Fire Dwarves -> Ice Place, Ancient Orchish speaking -> EOW)

Werner speaks: "What will we do with the black box? It is very dangerous for us to carry the box around with us. It would be very easy for us to lose it again... However, the usefulness of the box... It is my understanding that Wizard-General Guaneri has the ability to take the box with him when he uses it. So, one option is to send him home with the box to complete some other mission (perhaps gathering the people necessary for the virtue puzzle, or locating Maroczy and The King). This would get the box away from us, probably aiding us in our need for secrecy."

From the notes of G. Guanerius Guaneri on the escape from Persand -- "What are we going to do about our friends?" Julie asked looking at the slain members of our party that fell during the expedition. "...Can we take them with us?" ...I hadn't tried it before, but it might just work. "If they're dead then they should just act like equipment. I won't be able to carry anyone if I am going to be able to take the box with me..." It was a silent consensus as I prepared the box on the portable table I had brought so that I could take the box with me. Folger decided to take Jean-Paul and Duncan. Isabella took Gray and Andrew Wiles, while Julie picked up Angeliene. I got Julie ready to port to the Sprines... Julie slowly faded into the box and Isabella followed.

Folger... placed his head into the box... A moment later I was all alone - in Persand. I took one last look over the room and seeing nothing unusual I prepared to port while carrying the box. I found myself on a high ledge of the Sprines holding the box in my hands. I saw Julie and Folger together about ten feet below on a ledge... I looked for Isabella, but she was nowhere to be seen... I noticed Julie and Folger staring at me. I looked around and then down and almost fell off the cliff from the shock. A death's head amulet was around my neck. It hadn't been there before we left Persand. "What the hell is this?" I blurted out in Gnomish... The moment passed as Isabella ported through with her two bodies... (That was odd she left before me and appeared after. The weight she held was not as much as that of Folger, who seemed to not have any trouble being first through.)

Black Companion, The - Term was used by a Drow who was encountered by the Western Wind in late January 10040, and who might be more than just your typical Drow agent. The Western Wind sighted a black bird which flew directly at the party, took a couple of swipes over their heads, and then left. Later, they were visited from two of the black birds. They circled the party three times and left. Shortly afterward, a group of about a dozen deep gnomes and one taller figure cloaked in black approached from the North and suggested in a rather forceful way that they turn back from their mission. The party met the dark fellow again, who turned out to be a Drow, and who refused to introduce himself as anything other than "The Black Companion". He claimed to have cast the very high-level lightning bolts that Heron Falcon had used against a gnomish ambush and offered to help them track down the spell component box, on the condition that it be turned over to him. (The lightning bolts were estimated to be somewhere between tenth and fifteenth-level and though he did in fact carry lightning-bolt components with him it seems incredible that he could have cast them at such a high level. However, the fact that the lightning bolts came from a distant source which moved, rather than the box itself or some fixed point was evidence in favour of this claim. If The Black Rider did in fact cast those lightning-bolts, then he is more than just some random drow Schmuck! He would have to be somebody fairly important, and that raises a question about what he was doing there.) At some point, he mentioned paying Western Wind for the box, but it was clear that he had no intention of doing so. (According to Genevieve L'arnot, he was like all the Drow - reliable only in his arrogance and dishonesty, but she might be a bit biased.) Gasper Gonson, Genevieve and Isabella went with him and were later joined by Sparrow and Heron Falcon. Later, they heard a huge explosion and shortly found dead gnomes surrounding the scant remains of the box. Since the object of the Western Wind's association with the Drow agent had obviously consummated itself, he took his leave of them.