86 Chapter 2: Gazetteer of tal’Dorei
The SiSTerS GraSTRumors and stories of a mysterious pair of ancient
hag-like entities occasionally swirl through learned
circles within the city of Emon, though they often
become tools to frighten lyceum students from wan-
dering forbidden vaults at night.
Some more knowledgeable and worldly folk, how-
ever, take these whispers very seriously. A number of
delvers or treasure seekers wandering the subterra-
nean ruins of the Crystalfen have encountered one,
or both, of these wretched witches, returning with
tales of fright, dark dealings, and unholy pacts. In
reality, these creatures are elven scholars that stum-
bled upon the Ruins of Salar long, long ago. Their
discovery and research of the profoundly magical
location twisted their minds and bodies, infused
them with power, extended their lives, and granted
a glimmer of knowledge of some immense, unknow-
able purpose to the lost city.
They’ve become obsessed with the mysteries of
the Ruins, Trysta remaining below to continue to
excavate and study, while her sister Forscythia travels
back and forth from Emon under the veil of glamour
illusion to acquire goods and gold in exchange for her
unsettlingly insightful fortune telling. Anyone who
seeks the sisters with ill intent is rarely seen again.
Those who stumble upon them often find themselves
temporarily in service to the sisters, bound by a pact
made out of fear and self-preservation.The Bladeshimmer Shoreline
The Bladeshimmer Shoreline, named for the distant glimmering of sun across the Ozmit Sea, stretches across the central
western coast of Tal’Dorei. It is the cradle of human civilization on Tal’Dorei, and bears the marks the first human colo-
nists to set foot on this continent, as well as the heart and capitol of the Tal’Dorei empire. This side of the landmass is the
closest to the continents of Issylra and Marquet, and dozens of tall-masted trading ships set sail to and from its calm shores
each day—as well as the occasional Skyship drifting towards Emon.
Inland Bladeshimmer is mostly temperate grassland, intercut by cool, winding rivers. The bulk of western Tal’Dorei’s
produce comes from farms here, blessed with clean water and non-salinated soil, despite the ocean’s proximity. Emon’s
nearby military presence lends the region some stability, but the yeomen living beyond the city’s walls still struggle to
defend their small plots from burrowing ankegs, nomadic gnolls, hungry goblin scavengers, and other terrors.Crystalfen Caverns
Located deep beneath the Bladeshimmer Coast lies a vast
network of natural, underground caverns and rivers that
predate the Age of Arcanum. This seemingly endless and
unfathomably deep series of caves reaches even below the
ocean offshore, and has roots in early colonization by den-
izens of the Far Realm.
An ancient society of powerful aboleth and other
aberrations sprung up from a door between worlds and
conquered this subterranean web, drove their slaves to
construct their imperial capital of Salar, the UnseeableCity, and began slowly pressing their influence toward the
surface. Their plot was quickly and unintentionally ended
when the final battle of the Calamity sent powerful waves
of magical force throughout Exandria, causing much of
the underground caverns to collapse and the aboleth civ-
ilization to fall under rock and rubble. Remnants of that
time still remain, however, with surviving terrors slowly
rebuilding from the dust within the ruins of their once-
great capital.
The Crystalfen Caverns are home to scattered veins
of azuremite, a gorgeous blue crystal that formed from
millennia of psychic energies near element deposits.
Curious explorers who discovered the veins found that,
when mined and refined into a fine dust, the powder
has a strong mind-altering agent and induces temporary
visions or minor psychic phenomenon. This substance is a
powerful hallucinogenic drug called suude, and is peddled
secretly across Tal’Dorei.
While a number of small, isolated entrances to this
labyrinth of tunnels have been discovered and several
adventuring parties have attempted to chart the mines,
the caverns are so vast and deep that either the parties
gave up for fear of becoming lost, or they were assailed by
the terrible denizens of the caverns, never to return. As
such, most who now brave the caverns are foolish treasure
hunters or criminals seeking to mine more azuremite for
the suude trade.Crystalfen Caverns aDventures
MininG the past
For low-level characters: Adventurers who delve into
the Crystalfen Caverns—from the gate in Emon’s
Cemetery District or elsewhere—must make a DC 15
Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, a woman’s voice
fills their minds, guiding them down the twisting nat-
ural caves to an abandoned mine shaft. Looking down
the shaft, the stones at the bottom glitter a faint blue.
Should they descend into the azuremite mine, they
travel through one of the recorded mines and find a
lone, dying aboleth that has wandered too far from its
shattered empire. Kill it or save it? Either way, they are
rewarded with a haunting premonition of the Ruins
of Salar, and a murky vision revealing the depths and
expanse of Crystalfen Caverns.