Paart I Glossary
Characters
Dyrnick Vosh: Aging Nornian barbarian, former chief, and brother-in-law to New Norn's current chief. He recruits the party to help him reach the Ebon Keep and find its pale chalice.
Turpentine: Dwarf artificer and alchemist who uses magical inventions to support the expedition.
Mystique: Human College of Lore bard whose music and spellcraft help the group survive the road north.
Olive Prescott: Spell-drinker paladin of Alondra devoted to ending curses and dangerous magic.
Hale "Frail": Young Gloom Stalker ranger and gifted crossbowman whose companions tease him for his slight build.
Keybor: Human Arcane Trickster rogue whose curiosity and improvised tactics repeatedly draw him toward the expedition's mysteries.
Budvar Javi: Circle of Spores druid who chooses to spend what he believes may be his final days adventuring.
Magda Navaa: Elder shaman of New Norn who resists Dyrnick's demand for an expedition and warns that relations with the Delgars are already fragile.
Giren Malonan: Nornian ranger sent after Dyrnick. He confronts the expedition at Gelfar with news from Dyrnick's daughter.
Lord Vindelgar Delgar: Gavran noble commissioned to restore the Ebon Keep. New Norn has received no word from him for roughly six months.
Lady Tasha Delgar: Vindelgar's wife, memorialized beside him in the statues at the Fangled Bridge.
Annalise Thorlbrin: Scholar associated with the Ebon Keep who invites her sister and the Eccleton minstrels north.
Piatra Thorlbrin: Patron traveling with the Eccleton minstrels and sister of Annalise.
Gods and Religion
Alondra: Dragon god of rainbows worshiped by Olive and the small knightly order that sent her to investigate the shared dreams.
The Ithelion: Tangible divine light that alone can hold back Tyve's deepest darkness. The lantern's white crystal evokes its protective radiance.
The Veil: Nornian understanding of the passage into death, invoked during the funeral rites at New Norn.
Nornian Funeral Rites: Communal songs, fire, and tribal calls used to welcome the dead home through the Veil.
Organizations and Societies
The Dreg'Damor: Ancient Nornian clan descended from Dragdah. Its mystics reputedly manipulated life and death before their civilization collapsed.
New Norn: Nornian refuge whose council and shamans distrust Dyrnick's plan but cannot prevent him from leaving.
House Delgar: Gavran noble family charged with restoring and governing the Ebon Keep and the surrounding settlements.
The Eccleton Minstrels: Willett, Vengros, and Stefan Eccleton, performers invited to the keep by Annalise Thorlbrin.
Olive's Order: Unnamed fellowship of knights devoted to Alondra and the destruction of curses and evil magic.
Creatures and Nature
Coral Wolds: Predatory, flowered growths infesting the Gelcarine Forest. They rapidly repair ordinary injuries but can be overcome by magical damage and fire.
The Gelcarine Blight: Unnatural sickness marked by silent wildlife, discolored sap, pervasive coral, and a forest floor hollowed over ancient ruins.
The Black Channel: Storm-tossed sea separating Gelfar from the Bleakmire and the Ebon Keep.
The Nightmare Singer: Unseen woman whose song lures the adventurers toward the keep and can enthrall sleepers into walking north.
Items and Technology
The White-Crystal Lantern: Ancient device recovered from a sealed sarcophagus. Its spoken inscription activates revealing light, dispels the nightmare singer's influence, and exposes paths hidden by darkness.
The Pale Chalice: Vessel that Dyrnick claims will spill darkness, awaken the Dreg'Damor, and begin an ensorcelled winter.
Cold-Resistance Amulet: Pendant recovered from a submerged cache near the forest cavern that protects its wearer against freezing conditions.
Turpentine's Infusions: Artificer enhancements that allow otherwise ordinary equipment, including Frail's crossbow, to harm supernatural enemies.
Fangled Bridge Statues: Monuments to Vindelgar and Tasha Delgar that mark the Gavran restoration of the northern road.
Magic and Cosmology
Shared Nightmare: Repeating vision experienced by the entire party for three months, combining the singer's melody with an image of the Ebon Keep.
True Sight: Revealing effect produced by the activated lantern, allowing its bearer to see through supernatural darkness and hidden passages.
Shadow Extraction: Magic witnessed through the lantern in which darkness is pulled from living warriors and collected within a chalice.
Dreg'Damor Sorcery: Forgotten magic said to have restored the dead before consuming the civilization that mastered it.
The Enchanted Song: Supernatural melody that invades dreams, compels movement toward the Ebon Keep, and is suppressed by the lantern's light.
Locations and Realms
Fengroth: Southern island of Tyve containing New Norn, the Gelcarine Forest, Gelfar, the Bleakmire, and the Ebon Keep.
New Norn: Nornian settlement where Dyrnick recruits the travelers during the eldest shaman's funeral.
Gelcarine Forest: Diseased woodland between New Norn and Gelfar, overtaken by coral growths and built above an ancient subterranean chamber.
Fangled Bridge: Gavran monument and crossing on the northern road toward Gelfar.
Gelfar: Once-prosperous port now largely collapsed into the Black Channel.
Bleakmire: Storm-covered northern landmass across the Black Channel where the Ebon Keep stands.
Ebon Keep: Fortress of black stone first raised by the Dreg'Damor and restored by House Delgar.
Dragdah: Ancestral homeland from which the Dreg'Damor migrated to Fengroth.
Gavra: Maritime power whose marquis commissioned Vindelgar Delgar to restore the Ebon Keep.
History and Lore
Fall of the Dreg'Damor: The clan's civilization vanished centuries ago after its mystics lost control of the ancient power they pursued.
Restoration of the Ebon Keep: Five years before the expedition, Selendra Cassiandros sent Vindelgar Delgar to reclaim the ruined fortress and surrounding territory.
End of Northern Trade: After several seasons of exchange, the Delgars barred New Norn from their lands and then ceased all communication.
Disappearance of the Scout: New Norn sent a scout north to investigate the keep, but he never returned.
The Song of Tyve: Traditional account of a harsh homeland whose people endure darkness, fire, ash, iron, bone, and hostile gods without surrendering their pride.
