The Chosen of Arumbelle

Once behind the Emerald Door, the party looked for anything they could find on Arumbelle. It wasn't long before the short references and minor mentions led them to a vast compendium of compiled knowledge on the gods. 

A Critical Reckoning of the Gods and their Faithful

By A’lai Aivenmore, Sylvira Savikas, and Fheminor Scrivenbark

Great Readers and Avowed of Candlekeep

1492

The foreword explained the book was kept secret to limit reprisals from said faithful, "...a critical reckoning is a sensitive undertaking. The words within are meant to be impartial, but there are those who will view some of our writings as heresy..." Inside, they were flooded with details of Arumbelle's life, her history, and her eventual downfall at the hands of an evil god called Felak'Doun.




They learned that Doun set out to destroy Arumbelle by creating five powerful ceremonies that stood for everything Arumbelle was not. When rendered, these, "Rites of Felak'Doun" destroyed or imprisoned her. Where exactly she was, was lost to time, as Felak'Doun was eventually slain during the Time of Troubles. But he left with his followers the five vile rites that granted them particular strength in each: Power, Murder, Slavery, Terror, Betrayal. These also seemed to be lost of forgotten as many of his followers disbanded, their divine-granted powers vanished, after his death.

And this too was another trope in the tome: what is a god or goddess without their faithful? They found an answer--a theory, really--when an ancient human hobbled over to the group.

"I see you are enjoying my book." The man introduced himself as A'lai Aivenmore, one of the authors and a Great Reader of Candlekeep. He explained to them his Proportional Faith Theory, which holds that there is some relationship between the ability of a god to influence the material plane and the strength of the faithful therein: how widespread the deity is worshipped, the devoutness of the followers, the the strength of practices and traditions, etc. When a god is destroyed or disappears, any magic granted to followers is gone with them, as seems to have been the case with Arumbelle and Felak'Doun.

However, Arumbelle, the party knew, was imprisoned, not destroyed. And A'lai contended that power may also flow in the other direction--a forgotten god or one abandoned by followers will have marginally less power on Faerûn, while a popular god with a robust following and faith will have marginally more of that ability to tug on the threads of magic that connect the gods to the material. If true, this would prove useful to incrementally increasing the party's ability to connect with Arumbelle, who up to this point, had only been able to communicate through vague natural phenomenon.

As A'lai explained his theory, he smiled an odd little smirk and nodded at their star signs, visible and some even glowing faintly as they consumed this new knowledge of Arumbelle.

"You're Chosen, aren't you?"

The party looked at one another, unsure.

"What's Chosen?" Dala'gse asked.

"The Chosen of a deity has all but disappeared since the time of troubles, but with it came enormous power. The gods mark some as their Chosen, granting them a direct connection to the deity who channels power to their favored mortals. If indeed, you are Chosen, it's curious you do not know this...but then. Hmm. Who is it then? I see...you are on the chapter of --" A'lai peered over their shoulders at his book, a shocked and terrified expression crossing his face, "Felak'Doun! Oh my, no, it cannot be!"

Safad stepped in to comfort the old man, and told him that no, they had only recently learned, it is Arumbelle who has marked them. A'lai looked relieved and nodded vigorously, smiling.

"This gives me two new pieces of information then. One, we can update the book to mark her entry as 'missing' not 'dead.' And two: this is, perhaps, more evidence for my theory--she must not be able to communicate with you because she is so weak and powerless and her followers have all disbanded."

A'lai gave them a serious look, "Bring her back and your power will grow with hers."

As they chatted with A'lai others continued to read. They learned the locations of Arumbelle's former temples and some prominent followers, both with suspiciously similar descriptions to areas around the Savage Frontier they had been--and followers with names like Devers and Rezna. Curious. They also learned of some of her more important traditions.

In the chapter of Felak'Doun, they learned that his Rites, inscribed in tomes of humanoid flesh, were accompanied by some sort of symbolic or magical item:

• A volcanic scepter for Power
• A wicked dagger for Murder
• A glowing blue stone for Slavery
• Talismanic claws for Terror
• A mask for Betrayal

The tomes with the Rites instructions were missing, it seemed, but the book pointed out the last known locations were recorded in another text, titled “Deities of Faerûn: A Nontheist’s Guide for the Undecided.” Hold on a minute...that was the book from the Flooded Stacks that had a page torn out! They brought this to the attention of A'lai who became furious when he learned that Candlekeep's texts had been defiled. He said he too would violate one of Candlekeep's rules and find out who was last recorded as going into the Flooded Stacks. He wanted justice.

The party continued to read and learned some about the cults that would spring up to the vile god. It was eerie and creepy to read about such a sinister power, the hair on the backs of their necks stood up as they huddled around the book in the secluded archives of the vast library-fortress.

They jumped when A'lai's runner came back with the name of who had last been to the Flooded Stacks.

Telloux the Pious.

Synapses began firing. Wasn't...wasn't he in the Hark's journal -- the one who had given her instructions on collecting body parts? And wait--no, it couldn't be--didn't the Hark wield some sort of volcanic scepter!? A scepter they now carried in their very packs...And, hold on. Hadn't Golun-dal been chasing the Lady of the Glen's arch-enemy, a one-eyed man named Vallzan who was somehow involved with something called the "Cult of Doun?" and was further known to cavort with one of Felak'Doun's favorite allies, the demon Fraz? Their minds reeled with it all as realization dawned on them in the silence of the library.

They weren't the only ones seeking to bring back a deity, it seemed. And this "Telloux the Pious" had at least a five year head start.

A'lai interrupted their racing thoughts.

"If you do find this enemy-of-knowledge, Telloux whomever, please send him all the vengeance of Candlekeep," he turned to leave and then paused, smiling warmly at them.

"Well met, Chosen of Arumbelle, and godspeed on your journey."

The group kept reading, processing all this newfound knowledge as the man shuffled away. Eventually, they retired for the evening, entering the House of Rest, where they had another stack of books waiting for them, covering all their myriad research topics. 

They spent a tenday studying the tomes, and may have ended up more confused than when they arrived, but were certain a good day of travel would clear their minds and help crystallize the useful bits.

They made a list of the locations of Arumbelle's shrines: mostly concentrated north, along the Delimbyr River and is tributaries, into the Southwood and the Greypeaks. They also noted the Hark-Telloux connection, and recalled that the bandit Di Brigawn (known as the Hark) was from Daggerford. The Delimbyr ran right through Daggerford.

It was decided: they would steal a boat and sail north.