Chapter 9: Intermission

  A dove, unaccountably named Hedwig and carrying a scroll of parchment two sizes too large, sought out Katriana's shoulder. This was the Druid's clandestine communications network, though the security of overburdened avians flying through crowded city streets seems suboptimal. Nonetheless it delivered the message: the Druids had seen signs of the incursions of Chaos (similar to the rearrangement of the Duke's throne room) on multiple planes of existence, but most strongly on the Prime Material Plane. A pattern to the incursions had been noticed: the forces of Chaos are searching for something. The Druids believe it crucial to locate what they are searching for, and warn that the Tanar'ii will Gate in if they suspect it has been recovered.

That which was sundered on Pesh's plain
Holds back Chaos' reign.
Yet the Vaati's deed shall remain undone,
Until the seven again become one.

Ambush
  Katriana and Chaden scoured the local markets for supplies. They then went to the Depository, where they opened accounts in care of Seremak and Kaerick in which to store their share of the treasure. They finished with this at roughly the same time Edwin finished his report to the High Wizard. As Edwin left the Wizard's Tower he saw a white blur descend from above, missing by inches. The second attack hit: a gooey mess of spider silk lifted him upwards off his feet. Katriana spotted two large spider creatures with the head of a wolf, seemingly floating in midair about 50 feet off the ground in front of the Wizard's Tower.
  Chaden unslung her bow and immediately plunked two arrows into the spider creature which had webbed Edwin, but then she and Katriana were plunged into magical Darkness. Reaching into his repertoire of underused spells, Edwin cast Gaseous Form to disentangle himself and float gently back to the ground. The spider rapidly descended a strand of web to attempt to bite Edwin on the ground, but its jaws passed harmlessly through his insubstantial form.
  Katriana was able to counter the darkness with a Light spell. Once grounded Edwin resumed his solid form to cast Dimensional Anchor on the spider which attacked him, rendering it unable to Gate away. Chaden continued to plunk two arrows each round into the second wolf-spider, while Katriana summoned a Unicorn to take the fight to the demons.
  The spider which had webbed Edwin had taken a pummeling, but trapped by the Dimensional Anchor was unable to escape. Flan, the low-level wizard at the door of the Wizard's Tower, unwisely cast Magic Missile which was enough to kill it. The second wolf-spider teleported away.

Research
  Suitably motivated, Edwin and Chaden returned to the Wizard's Tower to thoroughly research the wand and the wolf-spider demons which had attacked in an apparent attempt to retrieve it. Retrieving a scroll of Legend Lore from the Tower library, Edwin tried to learn of the powers of the Wand of Siryl.

Blessed is the one who receives the benefit of this segment, for his wounds disappear and his ills are dispersed as many as five times per cycle of the Sun, but only with the word RUAT on the wielder's lips.

Aeons ago, in the Age of Legends, a great war arose between Law and Chaos. The roots of the conflict are obscure, shrouded in the mists of antiquity. Perhaps Chaos arose to spread decay and promote autonomy, or perhaps Law embarked on a crusade to stamp out discord and promote unity. Or perchance a monumental conflict between the two opposing forces was simply inevitable.

It is known that the two sides struggled without regard to Good or Evil, in a conflict for dominance untainted by any other consideration. Warfare raged on several worlds. The opposing armies were mighty. The guardians of Law were the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, scions of an empire already ancient at the war's beginning. The champion of Chaos was an enigmatic being known only as the Queen of Chaos. The clash between the two was epic, but painfully indecisive. No matter how resolute the legions of Aaqa, they could not force the armies of Chaos to yield. No matter how cunning and unpredictable the Queen, her troops could not dislodge the Wind Dukes from a single world. Battles were lost and won, but the war ground on.

The stalemate began to break when the Queen appointed a powerful and ruthless tanar'ii as her new general. Miska the Wolf-Spider brought fresh troops into the war and his Evil hordes cut a swath through the legions of Aaqa, crushing them and seizing control of world after world. A Chaos army with Miska in the vanguard was unstoppable.

The Wind Dukes were quick to sense defeat looming over them, and they began gathering Good creatures to combat Miska's Evil. But many Chaotic but Good creatures who had deserted the Queen when Miska appeared would not join them. After a hurried council, the most powerful Champions in the Wind Dukes' armies withdrew from the war, leaving their best troops, the Captains of Law, to resist Miska as well as they could. The seven Champions combined their powers to create a weapon that could slay Miska and strike fear into the hearts of the minions of Chaos.

The weapon the heroes forged was a tapered staff of silvery metal, not quite as tall as a man. It could be used to batter or pierce foes.

When this staff was completed, the seven Champions rejoined the conflict at the Battle of Pesh, on the world of Oerth. After weeks of maneuvering, the two armies clashed on a vast, volcanic plain. In the swirling melee that developed, the Captains of Law drove a wedge into the ranks of Chaos and separated Miska from the bulk of his troops. After a furious engagement, Miska stood alone, facing the bearer of the staff and a single comrade. While the bearer's companion sacrificed himself in a selfless attack, the Staff bearer drove the weapon into Miska's body.

Stricken, Miska wailing in anguish, and his screams were so terrible that every soldier on the battlefield was briefly transfixed. As Miska writhed in agony, his foul blood covered and penetrated the Staff. As the absolute Law imbued in the Staff mingled with the Chaos in Miska's blood, the fabric of the multiverse was ripped asunder. The Staff, now stained black with Miska's blood, shattered into seven pieces and Miska was cast through a planar rift. The hordes of Chaos surged to the scene, but the Staff bearer gathered up the fragments and dove through the rift, sealing it.

The sundering of the Staff spared Miska from death, but a portion of his being remained in the Staff, leaving the general crippled. When Miska retreated to the Citadel of Chaos, the Wind Dukes intervened, imprisoning him in a cocoon of pure Law and casting him into the depths of Pandemonium, whose damp caves and howling winds have hidden all manner of exiles.

Autopsy
  The corpse of the wolf-spider trapped by Dimensional Anchor lay in the square in front of the tower. Edwin cast Shrink Item to carry it up to his laboratory. Taking Garmoth's "full resources of the Wizard's Tower" pledge to heart, Edwin enlisted the aid of several other wizards to learn as much as possible about the creature:

• It has a lupine head and neck atop a spider body and mandibles. The eight legs are covered with wiry bristles, allowing it to climb sheer surfaces.
• It has poison sacks, which induce a coma in the bitten target.
• Like spiders, the demon can spin either sticky or smooth strands of webbing. Alcohol, cold, and electricity have no effect on the webbing. It is not conductive, and though fire will break the strands the webbing does not burn easily. See Invisibility proved effective in spotting the fine strands.

Katriana
  Katriana left the city that afternoon for a long walk in the woods. Her animal companion Zanos had been disintegrated by the power of the Soul Gem. Though she mourned, Katriana knew that she would need assistance to complete her quest to stop the incursions of Chaos. The Archdruid had sent a powerful ally to help, a large Tiger named Sabrina. Katriana bonded with the feline as her new animal companion. While away from civilization Katriana cast Goodberry several times, collecting the fruits for future use.

Miscellaneous Research and Alchemy

1. Edwin distilled the active chemicals of the Rust Monster tentacles into a potent rusting concoction, pouring it into a sturdy glass vial.
2. The poison sacks of the wolf-spider were carefully removed and brewed into an antitoxin tailored for that specific poison.
3. Pesh's plain is on the far side of the continent, beyond the Barrier Peaks
4. The Wind Duke who dove through the hole after Miska disappeared from history. It is assumed that he died, which is notable in that the Wind Dukes were supposedly immortal.
5. The seven segments of the staff have surfaced and been lost again repeatedly throughout history, on multiple planes of existence. They are seen as a harbinger of doom, because of the inevitable clashes between Law and Chaos which follow.
6. The seven Soul Gems caused the great Planar Cataclysm which rearranged the planes into their current format. One Planetar named Jegg attempted to protect the Soul Gems from those who would use them for evil. He was eventually corrupted, becoming evil and invoking genocide upon his rivals. When Jegg was defeated the Soul Gems were sealed in an extra-dimensional prison from which they would never escape.