Eye of Xaos: Issue 2

As expected, Ixilin; chaosgnome and prominent illusionist of the Xaositect faction, has suddenly disappeared from his long descent from the top of the spire. The attempt lasted all of 4 weeks before our succubus reporter looked away for a moment and he was gone. It is, as of yet, unknown just where he has gone. But surenwe will tell you all the second we find out…unless we get bored…or find something else to write about…News has emerged, that representatives from each of the major Factions have begun to filter into the City of Doors despite the mandate laid down by the Lady. There have been a few minor skirmishes between the Factions, but also between the Factions and local citizens. These citizens are fearful of intervention by the Lady of Pain, which they see as an inevitable result of the Factions return.Speaking as someone who survived the Faction War (albeit in the custody of the Fraternity of Order…lets not go into it), it isn’t hard to maintain the ethos of a faction as long as the actions you take adhere to the dictates of the Lady. I still think there’s going to be Hells to pay.Reports are through from Xaos that the Slaad spawning stone has ceased to function at this cycles gathering. Many of the chaos-frogs were understandably vexed when this was revealed.It is thought to be the result of recent Githzerai incursions, all attempts at neutralising the Spawning Stone in order to reduce the number of Slaad who successfully produce offspring. Although none of these attempts are known to have succeeded there are other rumours of an, as of yet unidentified, assailant. This creature has likely weakened the guardian of the stone who in turn was unable to defend against his attacker. Although it has been implied that the Githzerai are in league with this attacker, no formal accusation has been made.A press officer for the Fraternity of Order today denied claims that Anarchists planted a Xaositect constructed bomb in the Great Bazaar earlier in the week. The so-called ‘Weapon of Mass Distraction’ apparently exists to spread unhindered freedom by removing the inhibitions of all who are hit by the blast.To their credit, no weapons have been found despite the efforts of both the Harmonium and the Mercykiller inspectors. The combined factions (or coalition as they have dubbed themselves) are attempting to impose their own brand of order on those involved.Chaosmen have been spotted around the Hive, apparently practicing for their annual (despite the fact that nobody has ever heard of it) ‘Bring a Bear’ parade. Foggy the ‘Misty-minded’ gave an interview to an Eye reporter. We are still trying to decrypt it now as much of it was illegible, with the accompanying creature changing several times…even once becoming a bar of soap.News has filtered through from Gehenna on the black-barbed vine that the General of the Yugoloth is to announce a shift in policy for his race. This announcement is expected to address the Yugoloth position in the eternal Blood War.Yugoloth commanders outside of the Generals immediate influence are stating that they will pay little attention to what their leader has to say and will conduct business as they always have. Selling their services to the highest bidder, be they Fiend or particularly foul mortal.This is but a single item in a long list of changes expected to be announced. All of which are equally likely to be ignored. The great General of the Yugoloth rarely makes announcements like this one and so it is believed that many will be at the official address later this month. As with all developing stories, the Eyeof Xaos will be the first to bring you the news on this as soon as it breaks!Razer Incubus has long been an enigmatic figure since his departure from the Crystal Sphere of Toril. The man, who was once thought of as a great menace to Sigil; as he had been on his home plane, has turned over a new leaf. It is thought that the child of the Prime power Bhaal (so-called Lord of Murder) has become somewhat of a hero in recent times. This one time crusader of the dark forces was cast out from his father’s domain in the Abyss after he turned on an entire horde of his own troops, slaying nearly all of them before a combined force of Grazzt and Demogorgon sorcerers managed to subdue him and force him onto the Astral Plane.From what is known, he was able to use his fearsome reputation togain passage with a group of Githyanki, who in turn brought him toSigil. From there he laid low for a while, changing his reputation as a fierce marauder by going about his business quietly. On the rare occasions when he spoke he would do so with a peaceful eloquence.More recently, Razer Incubus has disappeared from the public eye again. Many are wondering if this has any links to the emergence of an anonymous vigilante who has saved a number of civilians in their time of need. (See Story Below)Mephits of all varieties have been attacking citizens across Sigil this month. Since the fall of the Mimir, the Mephits employed by the Mimir manager have all been livid at the breaching of their contracts. The swarms of tiny elementals have been roving around causing untold damage to buildings and people in an attempt to get even with those they feel caused the fall. Admittedly, none of the small element imps actually know who is responsible which is part of the reason why they are attacking anyone they come across.The tide of Mephits was stemmed by a mysterious saviour who many have claimed to be, the once evil godchild, ‘Razer Incubus’. Regardless of his origins, the person managed to cause enough damage to the horde of Mephits to make them run back to their home planes. Citizens are calling out for the saviour, whomever it may be, to come forward and make thyself known.Should the person be reading this humble newsrag, I too ask that they come forward! If for no other reason than it will give me something to write about next issue (there are only so many demons to interview!)The Planewalkers responsible for starting the hunt for the four Rings of the Elemental Lords today called off their hunt for the artefacts. They are not the first to give up the hunt after realising that the chances of finding them are only slightly better than the chances of actually being able to take possessionof them.The Rings are all of Artifact level power and eons old. Each relates to one of the four primary elemental planes and was created at the awakening of the elemental gods.Expedition leader Josef Finriel, a prominent member of the Gleaners faction in the city of Union, is possibly the most accomplished Planewalker ever to walk the planes and even he could not get close to any of the Rings.The Eye has had reporters following the expedition for years and researchers working on giving us the correct information regardingthe whereabouts of the Rings. Below is displayed the informationtaken from ancient tomes and stories told by bards the planes over.Created by Kossuth, the Ring of the Fire Lord was worn for over a millennium by the chosen Champion of Kossuth. However, the ring was stolen from the fallen body of one such champion by a daring Magmin who; when he realised he was unable to melt it, chose to wear it round his neck as a choker for a few years. The same Magmin was involved in an accident during the construction of the Efreet ‘City of Brass’. It fell into one of the colossal smelting pots used to form the immense hemisphere of brass on which the city sits and it believed to be entombed within the miles thick metal.Rumours vary and the exact position of the Magmin is unknown. Some say that it is in one of the many great brass walls of the City itself. All reports however, tell that the Magmin still has the ring around its neck.This ring is one of the hardest rings to locate because of its last known location. Created when Akadi first yawned upon awakening, the Ring of the Air Lord has never been possessed by a follower of Akadi. Rather it was stolen, by a particularly malicious Djinn, who sought to overthrow his ruler.The plan never came to fruition and the Djinn was cast into Pandemonium as punishment. Upon arrival in Pandesmos, the ring disappeared into the murky depths of the plane.The ring is now carried along on the howling winds of the plane to all layers of Pandemonium. However, there are certain times when portions of Limbo become stable and the element of air is dominant. During these times there is a slight chance that Pandemonium shunts the ring into these areas at random. When chaos reasserts itself over these pockets of air, the ring is snatched back to continue its journey around Pandemonium.Slightly easier to locate but no more easy to acquire is the Ring of the Earth Lord. Created by Grumbars slumbering roar, the Earth God was not even aware of the rings existence until one of his clerics found it in the horde of a recently slain Green Dragon. The beast had no idea of its worth, gaining nothing from the acid immunity granted by wearing the ring.Grumbar allowed his cleric to keep the ring as a reward for finding it. However, the life of this cleric was short lived. He was eaten by the terrifying Tarrasque whilst defending his village against the marauding beast.Like the Dragon before him, the cleric gained no protection from the brutal digestive juices of the Tarrasque, being bitten in half and then crushed to death before he even reached the creatures stomach.The Ring of the Earth Lord is still thought to be swimming around the stomach of the beast and getting it out is not a task to be undertaken lightly.The last of the four rings to be created was the Ring of the Water Lord. This ring was formed from the tear shed by Eldath for the first mortal to be killed by a water elemental.Eldath has taken a personal interest in the journey of this ring and who wears it, hence very few people have worn it for a prolonged amount of time.Because of Eldaths interest in who wears the ring, the cleric of Auril who donned the ring soon met an end. Eldath sent wave after wave of water elementals until the cleric finally fell.In anger, Auril stole the ring and cast it into hell where it encased itself in the same glacier that imprisons Levistus.While not an ideal place for the ring, this tomb is impenetrable enough that nobody unworthy will be wearing the ring anytime soon.This is good enough for Eldath.A rare event happened this week in the Hive. A petitioner from the plane of Elysium managed to find her way into Sigil. It is unknown how she managed to leave her spirit home and greybeards are hypothesizing just how such a cosmically unbalancing thing could ever have occurred.The new force of order in Sigil has praised the majority of citizens for their compassion when dealing with the confused spirit, who was returned to her native plane with apologies from Talasid himself who has released a statement that he will be looking into this issue personally.