The Idol of Pestilence

One breezy summer day, the citizens of Shallam gathered within their museum to hear the lecture of a scholar who had come to visit the city. The scholar, whose name was Seraphina, told her gathered audience of her research into the mystic artfiact called the Idol of Pestilence, a creation dating back to the ancient Ankyreans. In recent times, the idol had come to pass into the hands of Spinesreach, where it remained well hidden. Yet Seraphina warned the citizens of Shallam that the idol could be a great danger to followers of light, and that precaution should well be taken.

News of this lecture came to the Prophet Averroes, who delved into the ancient tome in search of answers. What he found horrified him, and he besought the citizens of Shallam to retrieve the idol. Yet they appeared uneasy at the prospect of waging war, and soon the Prophet appeared to desist. The threat of the idol still hung in the air, but all had returned to apparent normalcy.

That is, until the Ard-Dhasani of Spinesreach Zahmekoses Nebre'seir walked into his chambers several months later and found that the idol of Pestilence was gone. The door had been expertly picked, and the only route of escape visible anywhere was a billowing curtain. Perplexed, Zahmekoses called upon the citizens of Spinesreach to recall if any had seen anything strange. Cillian, the Locksmith, remembered that he had seen a cloaked Rajamalan slip through the city, and swore he saw the livery of Shallam beneath the dark cloak. Yet the picked lock left him stumped, for he claimed the job had been far too well done to be completed by an amateur. Cillian managed to retrieve the lockpick that had been used, and announced that it was forged by one who knew at least some Ankyrean secrets, for its quality by far exceeded modern forging techniques.

This suspicion was further confirmed by Qeddwyn when the people of Spinereach came to ask his advice. After a long and largely fruitless search, the suspicion regarding the intruder's identity fell squarely on the shoulders of Zsarachnor, the Vampire Lord. Yet one fact remained undisputed - the idol, by some strange circumstance, was now in the hands of Shallam.

Perhaps the idol could have been kept in safety forever, out of reach for those who might choose to use it. But then a nameless whisper began to pervade the minds of several Shadowsnakes, and scraps of awareness of the idol's power began to form in their heads. Entranced by the visions, a shadowsnake named Sinis infiltrated the Paladin Guildhall where the idol was rumored to be, using trickery to lull the attention of the Guildmistress Elinja.

Bursting into the room with the idol, Sinis hurriedly spoke the words etched upon it. Even as the last sound left his mouth, the idol began to pulsate, and a plague of locusts burst forth from it to descend upon the unsuspecting Shallam.

While the locusts eat away the valuable commodities of the city, there is but one bright thought for Shallam. Having been used, the Idol of Pestilence is now gone, to plague mortal lands no more with its foul power.