Veiled Ones

The Veiled Ones, or "talibund", were the group of adventurers formed by Elminster Aumar in 1369 DR who defeated the Cult of the Dragon's Kya Mordrayn and her dracolich ally, Pelendralaar, fulfilling the prophecy of the Song of Faerûn preformed in Kara-Tur at the dawn of the 14 century DR.

"How one becomes "talibund" I do not know. My master says it has something to do with foolishness. I believe it has more to so with courage."

- Volun

Organization
The Veiled Ones were a group of adventurers, heroes, and survivors who were bound together by a fate prophesied in the Song of Faerûn and their mysterious ability to be hidden from divinations of the future.

History
The Veiled Ones were brought together in 1369 DR, when Elminster Aumar put the call for heroes out after the pool of radiance under the city of Phlan mysteriously returned after a decade of being inactive. The pool's magics started affecting the citizens of New Phlan, slowly draining them of their life energy. Elminster entrusted an accomplished warrior Athan with the Gauntlets of Moander the enchanted artifact that saved the city in the past from the corrupted pool of radiance. Athan's band assembled heroes and volunteers and set out to the ruins of Myth Drannor following Elminster's directions.

Athan's expedition, although was not the group later known as the Veiled Ones. They were Ghleanna Stormlake; a wizard and Elminster's apprentice; Durwyn, a city guard from Phlan; Kestrel, a thief who promised to stand guard over the resurfaced pool under the influence of firewine; and Coran D'Arcey, a nobleman paladin of Tyr. Once the guardians of the pool assembled in the pool chamber underneath Valjevo Castle, a gate opened, showing Athan and his band being massacred. Ghleanna rushed through without second thought. Overly zealous, Coran grabbed Kestrel by the hand to stop a thief from escaping and forced her and himself through the gate to attempt and aid the adventurers in trouble. As the duo was moving within the gate, its magic became unstable. Kestrel used her grappling hook to pull them to the safety of the other side, and Durwyn trapped the rope the last moment and followed them.

The reluctant heroes emerged on the other side of the usable gate, but they were too late to help Elminster's band. They were greeted by scorched earth and dead bodies of Allyril, Loren, and several others. Athan's body was nowhere to be found as well as the Gauntlets of Moander. The heroes encountered orcs scavenging through the possessions of the dead and disposed of them as Coran D'Arcey took the lead. Committed to finishing Athan's mission, despite Kestrel's reluctance, they headed into the ruins of Myth Drannor. Shortly they came across a halfling "entrepreneur" Nottle, rescuing him from the restless walking dead. Grateful, the help, little thief, introduced the adventurers to Faeril and Beriand, survivors of the mysterious attack on Athan's gang. The survivors provided the Veiled Ones with shelter and a warm meal, as well as the way to enter the sprawling underground complex of the Dwarven Dungeons. As a favor, Beriand asked the adventurers to recover his staff, the Deathbane from marauding orcs.

The following morning the heroes entered the dungeon. The complex eventually led the heroes to Jarial, a wizard who's been trapped in stone since 1353 DR. Cursed by his lover Ozama, the wizard remained untagging and alive until Kestrel solved the puzzle and freed him. Grateful and lovely after years of solitude, Jarial joined the adventurers, hoping to find out what happened to his lover. Together, the group encountered the collector of necklaces who murdered Ozama years back, Preybelish, a dark naga. With negotiations failing, the heroes faced the venomous spell-slinging creature in combat, slaying the beast. In the naga's trove they found the Wizard's Torc. Further into the dungeons, the group came across humanoid creatures that resembled humans with lizard-like or draconic features. The members of the Cult of the Dragon, changed by Myth Drannor's corrupted mythal. The heroes rescued one of the Athan's gang, a warrior named Emmeric who joined the group on their next task - recovering the Ring of Calling that would allow them to move to the next part of the ruined city, the Speculum Grounds. The group remained at odds with each other, torn between Kestrel's and Emmeric's pragmatism and Coran's straightforward strategy that endangered them every hostile encounter. Subsequently, Coran's lack of strategy and selflessness led the group to confront a group of Cult of the Dragon wizards. Emmeric was killed by a deadly lightning bolt during the confrontation, to Coran's shame. But the Veiled Ones ended up rescuing Nottle from the Cult in the process.

During their trek through the dungeons, the Veiled Ones encountered many challenges, such as recovering the stolen Deathbane, standing against two warring orcish groups of Mol the Great and Zud, freeing the ormyrr Sharpstick clan from the mind-controlled chief Pujik, and returning them the land taken from the ormyrr by the marauding humanoids.

Members

 * Durwyn: a young city guardsman from Phlan.
 * Ghleanna Stormlake: a half-elf sorceress and an apprentice of Elminster Aumar circa 1369 DR.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * ''Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
 * Adventures
 * Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor
 * Video Games
 * Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
 * Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor