The Tablets of Ruin

*"Hordes of wealth, or the loss of all you possess. Your greatest wishes come true, or your greatest fears brought to reality. For those who draw from the Tablets, many things may happen… For good, or ill." -Thykratul, the Guardian Naga*

## Overview

The Tablets of Ruin (also known as the Tablets of Fate and the Tablets of Fortune) are a collection of twenty-two stone tablets, each imbued with old and powerful magic. The origins of the Tablets are unknown, but they are artifacts that all branches of humanity have feared throughout history, and that even gods have paid attention to. Legend says that the nation of Nurn had collected them for a time, and that they intentionally scattered them to the Southern Seas. Some historical documents claim that they did this duing the War of Kings in the First Age, but Nurnian scholars/mythologians deny this, placing the event far before the Calbournian arrival on the continent.

*"Lost; lost to the world were the Tablets of Ruin, scattered to the seas by Nurnian sorcery, and hidden away by elder curses long forgotten… But as the universe values the simple soul that topples giants, and is unwilling to let them go, so reality shall value that which has the power to unravel it, and cannot let it be lost for long. A time will come when spells will be broken, and that which was once lost shall again be found: for fortune, or for ruin."* -Ulo the Historian

If all existing Tablets are gathered together, an individual can draw on the power of a singular Tablet, causing something terrible or equally wonderful to happen. The effect the Tablet takes is entirely unpredictable, and outside of the person's control, but the effects known by the Bois include the gaining of wealth, granting of wishes, the loss of possessions, and the awakening of the Tarrasque.

## "Equivalent Exchange"

Rain. Rot. The reeking of the dead. No, Skullmarsh truly hadn't changed since the Captain's last visit.

Draz rapped on the door to the crooked tavern, while Morry and Qun stood a few feet behind him on a lofty plank. As heavy, muffled footsteps approached the door, the Captain held up a scaled hand. There would be no need to follow him any further.

As the molded wooden door creaked open, the bronze captain stepped past the hulking bugbear that had opened it, and into a dimly-lit cavern of dripping wood and unsavory booze. As he approached the stout wooden desk at the center of the commonroom, a raspy voice dragged through yellowed teeth and a forked tongue slithered into his ears.

"Now what would a handsome fella like you be doing in a rot-hole like this?" the goblin in the shadows rasped with a toothy grin. "Come for a rematch? Hope you got more luck than Mack did."

The room was silent and stiff as the rain pattered on the roof above. Draz didn't give the lord of Skullmarsh the satisfaction of a reply as he strode forward, stopping a few feet from the hulking table where the shriveled goblin sat. All eyes were on him, and a smirk touched the corner of Draz's jaws as he observed how tightly the bugbears around him held onto their clubs. Even the grinning goblin before him had a clawed hand on his gun.

The Captain let the silence hang in the room, and then spoke after a long moment. "I've come to bargain, Merek," he said. "Seems I have to."

Merek chuckled excitedly. The vile creature could hardly contain himself. "Captain Draz?!" he exclaimed sarcastically. "Crawling through Skullmarsh to get help from *me?"*

Draz let the goblin's words hang in the air for a long, awkward moment, until the smirk on Merek's face began to fade into an irritated grimace. Only then did he speak again.

"I'm looking for a black city, under the sea," he said. "I reckon you've been there once before."

"And what if I have?"

"Then you shouldn't have trouble providing directions."

Merek smiled again, kicking his gnarled feet up and examining the rings on his boney fingers. "Oh, I don't think you'd like it there very much," he rasped. "Nothing but..."

"I don't have time for games, Merek," Draz interrupted. The room fell silent again, and the bugbears took a step back nervously. "The Law of Equivalent Exchange. You'll tell me where to find it, and in exchange, you'll know my business there."

Derek Merek raised a scarred eyebrow. Draz was a man of many secrets. If he was willing to give one away, it meant that the information was worth a great price... a price that could be raised. "Seems like quite the gamble, even for you, captain," he hissed. "Must be something real nice you're after. Something... one of a kind?"

Draz folded his arms, nodding to himself. "One of twenty-two."

. . .

When the Captain emerged from the Leaky Lime, Qun and Morry followed in silence until they were safely positioned in the rowboat that bore them to the sagging tavern in a tree.

As Morry took both oars in hand and began rowing across the stagnant bog, Qun spoke up. "What happened in there, Cap'n?" he asked eagerly. "Did 'e have anythin' for ya?"

Draz examined the shore for undead through his spyglass. "He did," was the reply. "The black city is four days southwest of Skullmarsh, so he claims, and there's nothing to be feared within."

"Ya reckon you can trust 'em?" Qun asked.

Draz collapsed the telescope and hid it in his coat. He turned his gaze back toward the Leaky Lime and studied it grimly. "I believe I can," he said. "for the directions. For the half about what we'd find there, he was lying through his teeth."

"And you let him lie to you?" Morry grunted. "You should have killed him where he sat. Especially after what he did to Mackintosh."

The Captain nodded. "It won't matter soon enough," he said. "The scum swore on a Heart Locket."

The boat fell silent.

"Well, it's his funeral."