The Enlightened Symphony

CharacterOur thoughts fill the island; they fill the multiverse with their sweet chorus to redeem all who listen.

RulerThe recognized speaker of the island is a throne archon with illithid features known as Gzz'el. Perhaps the first mindflayer to ever worship a Celestian god (Moradin), and the first to progress through the Celestian hierarchy to throne status, Gzz'el has been working for millenia to convince others of its race to join it in the Enlightened Symphony.

Behind the ThroneBehind the throne is The Wisdom of Waiting, an elder brain created from the minds of Gzz'el's first converts. The Wisdom of Waiting sustains and instructs the community as an elder brain should, and even Gzz'el, for all its archon training, is known to take orders from it.

DescriptionIn Lunia, between the Cities of Pearl and the Council Spires, is an island shaped like a great nautilus. In the tunnels beneath dwell some of the strangest illithids in the multiverse; these illithids are reformed. Any who venture near hear a pulsing rhythm in the back of their brains, one that gently pushes the listener towards acts of charity and virtue. Those who resist feel an overwhelming compulsion to turn away, but mental rewards for good behavior take the place of punishment. Those who repeatedly commit acts of chaos or evil are banished for the neighboring archons to deal with.

Traveling in the nautilus is a vivid experience: everything is silver, the four-part relief writing spiraling through the tunnels for mile, using the history of the island as proverbs instructing good behavior. The entire structure is heavily reinforced with psionic circuitry. The illithids of the symphony do retain one flaw: they still require a sentient brain once a month in order to survive. A fresh shipment arrives regularly, delivered by agathinons still bloody from their wars against evil, though grimlocks have been known to voluntarily surrender themselves in times of famine.

Upon their deaths, illithids are made part of their Elder Brain, surrendering their consciences for the greater good of their community. Grimlocks become lanterns, and are assigned as needed by the archonic hierarchy.

MilitiaSeveral battalions of silver-clad grimlocks are ready to defend their beloved masters at all times, but the combined strength of the mindflayers and The Wisdom of Waiting are enough to repel almost all threats, especially in the middle of an ocean of holy water.

ServicesArtifacts are available from the Enlightened Symphony that can be found nowhere else in the multiverse, although traces of its wealth occasionally turn up in Excelsior, Isenine's realm, and Sigil. In particular, the psionic equivalent of holy swords can be had that activate in the hands of even the least mentally aware of paladins, and carrion crawlers, giant slugs, and bulettes are bred with all the intelligence of a paladin's steed.

Current ChantA new breed of albino cranium rats has been spotted in Sigil performing good deeds for unsuspecting people in the Lady's Ward. Since the Wisdom of Waiting's influence ends shortly beyond the island, no one knows who, if anyone, might be controlling them. Are they volunteers of some sort? Have they been possessed by some Celestian entity or force? Is the Wisdom of Waiting becoming a god? Is it all a plot of Ilsenine's? Time will tell.