Conception

Illithid Sorcerer King ******* A massive snow and ice-bound peak. An Illithid/Mind-Flayer Godling is imprisoned in a chamber bored into the center of the mountain. Hundreds or thousands of feet deep. He was placed there by a larger, scarier cosmic entity called 'Mogari'. Which may come back for him. (How is prisoner kept alive? Occasional victim dropped in cell?) (Do the walls seep immortality goo?) (Is the prisoner immortal/semi-immortal?) Mogari imprisoned him and handicapped his astral powers. Clamped on an iron arm-band: Guantlet of Sapping/Diminishment. A restraint which needs special release. Something needs to be 'untethered' to break the arm band, untethered to astral plane or earth. For many eons the Mind Flayer waits in a stupor, dreaming. He has called and influenced wild Mountain Elves to live near his prison. He longs to escape. They long to long to kill him and be free of his interference. Their shamans use magic secrets/bits from him. High high up elevation, the Elves live on the leeward/sheltered, sunny side of peak. A large plateau creates a series of several clusters of deep pools. The Elves living here have speciated; become semi-amphibious, pale, with webbed fingers. Large, bulbous black eyes, nictitating eyelid. They leap from pool to pool, burst out of pool with spears to attack. Some can glide between pools with rudimentary gliding wings. ******** First Challenge: To Enter the Broken Lands The Bosun's corpse/spirit Bosun been consumed by Corpse-Tree. Swaying from boughs in vine-ball net. Gross fruit sprout from the pod. Corpse Tree is surrounded by human bandits who have tunnels dug around the clearing. (Steal the Heroes stuff?) (The Bosun was the only survivor of crash?)x Escaped beasties. Bosun was final guardian till absorbed by Corpse Tree, a mutated plant from ship's hold. Heroes learn of powerful weapons in the ruins. Bosun's corpse has objects hidden on it, they learn from eating the dog shit memories: 3 potent arrowheads for dealing with the escaped creatures. The arrowheads must be bathed in the heroes blood as a sort of tag, so the weapons will know them and be no danger to them. (Arrowheads of holding? Imprison targets in stasis?) Memories of Bosun are needed to know secret words to get past defenses, knowledge of creatures, and where valuable artifacts are in ruins of Mage-Tower city. The corpse of the Bosun: A powerful Fighter-Mage, now mummified. Possessing very fine armor and weapons. A noble figure. (Guardsman amulet: entwined snakes?) ************