A tool which unifies mankind...which the destroyer seeks. An artifact that could be corrupted? Perhaps could be used to enslave mankind?

::takes on his Tukufu voice::

"Well if we turn to Sarenta val'Mehan's Catalogue of Wondrous Artifacts we see that she claims the Imperator, sitting on the Throne of Man, was allegedly able to issue binding commands that all who heard were forced to obey. And that power extended even beyond his immediate court, for when a messenger was given a "compulsion" by the Imperator it not only affected him or her but also the next person the messenger repeated the compulsion to.

"Personally I find that kind of power frightening. One hopes Sarenta was misinformed or perhaps given to exaggerating. Still she was once part of the Legion of Vigilance and a I fear she might have just been writing what she had heard."

::end Tukufu voice::

Dude, is it Christmas?!? That might have been the straightest answer ever from a campaign staff member.

::the sickining gnome with the pet head speaks up::

I think we are missing the point on the whole destroyer of worlds thing. I mean really if the gods cared they wouldn't let the destroyer come in the first place. Personally, I think we should just follow along and let the prophsey happen as told. Then IF the gods interceed we will know if they exist (or care.) I mean why should any beliver fear the destroyer of worlds? IF it is important wouldn't your gods interceed on your behalf? That is what you profess to belive isn't it?

As an additional aside, I think it was a mistake to stop the relase of the dragon at Tier Betoc. Imagine, the destoryer of worlds armed with a true dragon! Certainly your gods would interceed to prevent any and all chaos that would result from such a combo. Unless of course you conceed your gods don't care anymore.

::"As embarrassed as I am to admit it, amid the ramblings the gnome raises a valid point.

"It may well be that we should let the prophesy unfold without fighting against it. Perhaps the orb recovered from the Vault of Larissa's Lament is a questionable source. But the other prophesies have come from Illirite monks, A faithful Tultipetan Seer and Larissian Oracles. The Prophesy of the Destroyer itself comes from the Gods. Or at least the valinor.

"Why would celestial agents unleash this prophesy? Especially when parts of it seem to be self-fulfilling. I can only assume that in the larger picture it is somehow necessary that we pass through this test. AFfter the Destroyer shows his hand we will need to find and field the 'ember that is bereft of fire' and perhaps restore its/his/her faith."::

-Tukufu

I believe all of these prophecies have already been completed.

1. I would never have solved, but lucky the answer is given in the module itself. This talks about a great war that was approaching (The Coryani Civil War) and the famine that will follow. This proved true in Year 4 The Deadliest Prey where it talks about grain shortages, and tighter restrictions to getting it.

2. This was completed in Year 2 Where's Illiir's Light has Never Shone. When the Myrantians of Abesios broke free. But we didn't know everything until Year 6 Sacrifice. Abesios broke free with the help of renegade Yigites from the south. The least of the thirteen has always been the val'Inares. And in Sacrifice there is a possibility to help them find a home in the new territory of the Abesios Dominion among the Myrantians and Yigites.

3. The child is the val'Assante. The father is Manetas. Manetas was the Valinor that created the val'Assante line. He stated it himself in Last Rays of a Dying Sun. Manetas caused much bloodshed throughout out the land.

4. I'll admit that "metal" is an odd word. But this prophecy talks about the Il'Huan. How legions such as the Legion of the Watchful Hunter were purposely ordered to be converted into Il'Huan. Of course they wouldn't have done it if they knew the truth, so it was done forcefully by those who were loyal to the people giving the orders. Of course this had huge repercussions for Cadician Legionnaires when they found out. And to everyone during the Battle of Enpebyn.

5. This is about the death of Menisis and his revival.

6. This about the breaking of Coryan. First the loss of Abessios, ending with the loss of Savona. While Savona did not fall in battle, you could say it fell from grace. After it left Coryan it didn't join the rebels even in the end. Unlike numerous provinces and cities during the Civil War. i.e Ulfia and Valentia.

I agree on 2,3 and I think 6. (My best guess is that the collective choices PCs made negated the fall of Savona. Or possibly PCI's hands were full and they dropped a side show to concentrate on the core of the Civil War).

I think you're probably right about 1 as well.

I am unsure of 5. Menisis doesn't seem like a straight fit to hold back the night. But I don't have anything else to add.

But 4...I am essentially positive that 4 does NOT refer to the Il'Huan. One because they live underground ... and not in metal hives. Two because they do not psychically prey upon each other but live in a hive mind. Three because watchful hunter not withstanding they don't qualify for man preying on man. Except for the one BI the Il'Huan have ignored humanity.

I am betting heavily that there are number of metallic walled/domed cities in DZV.

For the "Metal Hives" bit in terms of Calmemnon val'Assante', from a metagame perspective would his fate have been known at the time Grains of Sand was published? If I recall correctly his fate was decided at the end of the 3.5 campaign by a group of PC's who placed Scipio on the throne and stipulated that HIS natural born heirs would take precedence over Calmemnon. Grains of Sand was a 2nd Year story, which means that unless Henry read the players REALLY well, this is (or, at least was originally) meant to refer to something else.

However, it might NOW mean the Voiceless ones in Dar Zhan Vor having coopted Calmemnon, for that is the joy of Prophecies: You can twist them to mean whatever you want!

VO live underground too (and TMK not in metal hives). I don't think it's the VO who primarily live in DZV.

As for Grains of Sand ... yes. I think Henry was thinking that far ahead. Though if the PCs had killed Calemnon I think it might have gone a different way.

I agree metal is an odd word. And I can't figure that out because we've never heard of a an Il'huan home (nest?) But the rest of the prophecy could mean Il'Huan. Perhaps it's something simple like they have metal-like exo-shells. Just throwing that out there.

Il'huan are creatures that take over the body of another creature. They transform the original into the insect-like creature we are all aware of and replace the original creature's mind with the individual Il'huan, which is then added to the Hive Mind of the species. So it sounds like they ride minds and eat their sentiments (not their own but the original creatures').

Because the vast majority (if not all) of the Il'huan were originally men you can look at the next line and say that men like the ones from the Legion of the Watchful Hunter were being feed as "cattle" for new host bodies to the Il'huan. The bad guys wanted a huge loyal army, so they ordered a legion to go to a location, had them all transformed into Il'huan, and thanks to an artifact the Il'huan were loyal to the bad guys. Instant army that can't disobey.

The last line can mean a couple things. The Il'huan is the child that was beaten in the past, and now they are beating up the new younger race (humans.) The Il'huan are controlled by Manetas, so he's the child of Illiir that was beaten when he was first imprisoned. Now he's beating the val'Assante, his own children, by forcing them to kill each other, fight on the battle field (against each other and his own minions) and destroy the Empire they rule.