The Poisonous Priesthood

A Concise History of Venom Priests.

She breathed in deeply, the aroma of antiquity playing a merry tune on her senses. Thousands of pages of history - epic battles, amazing heroes, tedious records, tales of war and peace - were beckoning to her. The Andrisian library was indeed a wonder. She had been looking forward to this sabbatical for some time, and the prospect of delving through mountains of information made her heart race just as quickly as it did when she was on the hunt.

She chose a table in the corner with a tall candle and set out her studying materials - some new quills, an inkwell, and a freshly purchased stack of paper. Not knowing quite where to start, the Ranger wandered, running her hand along the rows of books. Seeing Ambrose down an aisle, she waved and smiled. He returned her greeting, and went back to reading the logbook he'd recently been given by Cassandra and a group of adventurers. She continued on, looking at each shelf, taking in all of the titles. One caught her eye in particular: "Musings on Priests of Venom". She reached for the book, slipping it from the shelf. It was bound in green leather, worn smooth by the many hands that had handled it. The pages were crisp and only slightly yellowed along the edges. It fell open easily in her hand, the binding having been broken in by hundreds of readers. Yes, she mused, green was a good place to start.

Year: 429-430

A new Senator had just been elected in Andris by the name of Natis Fieltler. At the time, Andris was beset by an order of men who claimed to be "Venom Priests". They possessed the magic of Wizards and Druids. Alys observed "...there seem to be 3 distinct types of these priests. The lesser priests use far fewer spells and rely more on their pets. They tend to carry only one bracken seed, 2-3 dragon teeth, and less than 100 of various reagents. Those priests also carry poison sickles. There are other priests, with more magic, who carry 7-8 dragon teeth and two bracken seeds. There was one priest, though who seemed very special. He was killed near town, and according to Breigje that one had over 100 dragon teeth on his body and wore a green wizard hat." No one knew where they came from, though there was a rumored "cave" where they could be found.

The first recorded Venom Priest encounter was by the Ranger Vael as he mined. He saw a green robed figure run past, making a guttural sound before disappearing. Vael made his way toward the city to tell Alys, soon-to-be leader of the Andris Vanguard. As they talked at the gate, the guards hushed them and told them to stop spreading rumors. Apparently the Senate already knew of this threat and had alerted the guards.

Senator Fieltler expressed concern about the increasing number of poisonous creatures around the city and asked a group to investigate. The group found one of these Venom Priests on Crescent Island with poisonous pets in tow. Though he was certainly not friendly, he didn't attack them directly. He claimed he was out feeding his pets. He showed disdain for the Senate, and threw down a few bracken seeds for the group to deal with to cover his escape. They followed his trail, and came upon the Captain of the guard, who informed them that they had known about them, but it was the first time one had attacked a group.

While the group conducted a search, the guards at the west gate were slaughtered. Not far from the gate they found the Venom Priest that had done it, and he promptly attacked them with his pets and magic. They defeated him and found no clues on his body. Another priest of a higher rank promptly appeared and told them to leave those lands. They refused, of course, and he threatened them. Shortly after, Vael and Faith had killed another Venom Priest that attacked them in the woods. Two more were killed that same night, and their pets.

Days later, another was found on Crescent Island. Alys and Immolated tried to gain some information, but they found this priest very rude and uncooperative. He mentioned an offer from "the other city". When he was asked about this, he attacked them, throwing down a bracken seed and summoning many scorpions and poison beasts while he escaped. They pursued, but as they approached the city, Immolated tracked many creatures at the east gate. Mighty warriors joined them, and they took back the east gate. The venom priest was found and defeated a short time later near the cemetery.

Some weeks passed before D'arkk Lyver and Breigje Balloc encountered another of the priests on Crescent Island. He promptly killed Breigje with his lightning bolts and summoned many beasts to distract the Ranger. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Andrisian continent, Gwen Hauns and Crysania had been hunting and one of the priests appeared near Crysania and threw a bracken seed down. It was becoming very clear that they needed a plan to get rid of these venomous menaces.

Just after the turn of the new year (430), a Venom Priest was spotted near The Circle's guild hall. After a fierce battle, he was defeated. Senator Fieltler aided and asked that they collect objects from some of the stronger priests to help her with a project. The bracken seed found in the pocket of this priest would be helpful. The group started looking around the forests, but soon heard an eerie voice saying, "This is the last you will see of your home!" They rushed back and found that the east gate was under attack. They battled fiercely through beast and bracken, and killed one priest. He was quickly replaced by another. This one unleashed a larger force, and managed to escape after wreaking much havoc.

A couple more weeks went by. The guards had put up a sign at the end of the road warning people of the danger of Crescent Island. A strong group ventured that way and, after fighting through the bracken that lined the shore, were confronted again by one of these foul priests. They dispatched the priest and then were surrounded by a circle of bracken. They defeated the creatures on the island and things seemed normal again for the time being.

Another attack on The Circle's guild hall came a few days later. Many creatures, many bracken, another priest slain. The next attack... the last recorded... is very strange indeed. As a group fought a Venom Priest near The Circle's hall, the priest ran off toward the cemetery. The party gave chase only to find that a Bone Lord had appeared and began to attack the Venom Priest. With the Bone Lord's help, the group finally vanquished the poisonous priest. Upon questioning the Bone Lord, they found out that Marthonis had made the Venom Priests a subject of study. He asked for the body, and the group reluctantly agreed.

One other bit of information was found... an old work of art with many warriors battling a man named Venudious who seems to have been high up in the Venom Priest order. Senator Fieltler is depicted there, and the legend says that the one known as "Lesser Venudious" of the Venenum Addo guild was overpowered and killed. Redman tells of this battle, but sadly it's in a language that I'm not very familiar with. I will seek someone to help translate.

Much later a Cleric records an event near Andris concerning Senator Fieltler and the search for a Nevia Flower in which the Senator refers to the "old cult" of the Venom Priests. They didn't come upon any that day, but the mere mention of it seems to allow for the possibility...

Excerpt from said record:

Fieltler:

There are rumours also.

Meredith:

Oh?
What are people saying?

Kestric:

Rumors of what, senator?

Fieltler:

Sometimes there are parts of the continent where that old cult used to live that can be dangerous.
I fear the scouts may have found something similar.

Ana:

Which cult was that?

Meredith:

Oh dear... does that mean danger?

Fieltler:

It is hard to believe they would not return.

Meredith:

Who?

Fieltler:

Those Venom priests.

Meredith:

!
That sounds... scary...
*checks mandrake root supply*

Ana:

*changes dagger*

Fieltler:

It's only a rumor of course. * smiles *

Looking up from her journaling, the Ranger noticed that the once tall candle had become considerably shorter. Being well satisfied with the first day's work, she gathered her things together and placed the books she had used back on the shelves they'd come from. As she closed the door quietly behind her and climbed the ladder on the way to the inn, she grew excited at the prospect of unearthing more buried treasures of Oberin's history on the morrow.

[Sources:

• "Musings on Priests of Venom"
• REDMAN's account of the Venudious battle (couldn't make too much sense of this, but it had good pictures)
• Immolated's "work of art"
• "Venomous Search for a Rare Flower"

]