The Skulls were a group of thirteen powerful flameskulls who dominated the city of Skullport.[1] In the chaotic city of thieves, murderers and slave-traders, the Skulls imposed some semblance of order when things got out of hand.[2]
Abilities[]
The Skulls were able to cast every known wizard spell without accounting for somatic or material components. They were also capable of summoning up to thirteen wizshades at any time collectively, and were able to cast a unique spell that allowed them to create vassal skulls, through which they could see and hear.[3]
Though their powers were great, the Skulls were unable to cloak themselves magically, or alter their form in any way. Any attempts to do so automatically failed. The vassal skulls, however, were able to cast invisibility, but never any other spell.[3]
The Skulls were immune to holy water, psionics, charm, hold spells, sleep, mind-altering magic, death magic, and necromantic magic. Their many immunities, as well as their ties to the mantle, rendered them effectively immortal. Though traditional flameskulls could be destroyed with a simple dispel magic, the mantle would always reform the Skulls—sometimes by extracting the skull of an unfortunate victim chosen at random.[3]
History[]
The Skulls had originally been thirteen gifted mages, who had traveled from Netheril to the Sword Coast with a group of like-minded wizards in −750 DR. Underneath the area which would later become Waterdeep, the community established the Sargauth Enclave, a place for magical study and experimentation. Soon, the Enclave would expand into a mile-long city underground, complete with intricate sewer systems, dungeons, and beautiful Netherese temples.[4][5][6]
The Enclave had experimented with creating their own version of the elven mythal, and achieved success with the creation of the mantle, a mythal-like field of magic. The mantle provided lighting, minor magical protections, and replaced the physical supports of the cavern with magic, preventing its collapse.
In the Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR, the explosion of magic resulting from the fall of Netheril temporarily damaged the Weave. As a result, the essence of the Netherese wizards was absorbed into the mantle, transforming thirteen of them into the Skulls.[6]
The Skulls were trapped magically in the Enclave, and for centuries they wandered the ruins. With a collective consciousness, eventually the Skulls lost all sense of individuality and became insane. The lesser wizards and apprentices, whose essence still remained trapped in the mythal, could only appear in the form of wizshades, and only when summoned by the Skulls.[3]
In the Year of Scattered Stars, 168 DR, the mad mage Halaster Blackcloak arrived in the Underhalls above the Sargauth Enclave. When Halaster discovered the ruins of the Enclave, he recognized the dangers of the Skulls and retreated from the caverns, never stepping foot there again. He forbade his apprentices to enter the Enclave, and used the Netherese mantle to maintain the wards of Undermountain, linking the two inextricably with one another. This ensured that the Undermountain's wards would not be able to exist without the Skulls.[3]
In 1148 DR, one of Halaster's seven apprentices, Shradin Mulophor, ventured into the ruins despite his master's warnings.[6][7] Hoping to build a lair and trading post, Shradin obtained permission from Halaster to settle there.[8] After doing so, he similarly entered into contract with the Skulls and established his intent to found Skullport.[9]
Unknown to all, the Skulls had agreed to Shradin's request to create a free port, not for boredom or whimsy, but as part of a plan to escape from being bound to the mantle. As the subterranean city drew wizards to its caverns, the Skulls discovered that magic-users slain within Skullport were occasionally absorbed by the mantle, increasing its power. The Skulls were able to use this new essence in order to create vassal skulls, able to survey Skullport and summon wizshades.[3]
The ultimate plan of the Skulls, however, was to eventually gather enough magical essence in order to escape their magical prison. They believed that if they were able to create thirteen similar entities, capable of extracting magical essence and channeling it into the mantle, the Skulls would be able to leave Skullport.[3]
Their first success came in 1358 DR during the Time of Troubles, when Halaster's control over Undermountain's wards briefly wavered. The Skulls were able to transform an unfortunate visiting drow archmage into the Fourteenth Skull, which was similarly bound to the mantle. Though the Fourteenth Skull kept a comparatively low profile compared to the other Skulls, it exhibited the desired ability to extract the magical energy of its victims and channel it into the mantle.[3][10]
Their second success occurred during the events of Halaster's Higharvestide of 1369 DR, where the Skulls attacked Shradin and repeated the process. While Shradin was not transformed into a skull, his physical form was destroyed. Shradin was bound to the mantle and, like the Fourteenth Skull, capable of extracting magical energy to fuel the magical domain.[11][12]
Their efforts paid off: by 1370 DR, two of the Skulls were able to move beyond the reach of the mantle and wander Undermountain. However, this effect also reached to the Fourteenth Skull and Shradin: if both of them were absent from Skullport, the Skulls were forced to remain within it.[3]
Planning to transform eleven more spellcasters, the Skulls' plan was ruined in 1373 DR by Vhostym, a powerful extraplanar entity.[13] Vhostym tapped into the mantle with a powerful artifact known as the Weave Tap, temporarily destroying four Skulls and transforming the remaining into true undead creatures, now once more bound to the mantle. However, the Weave Tap also gave the Skulls the ability to send their wizshades and vassal skulls beyond the mantle.[1]
Rumors & Legends[]
Many residents of Skullport theorized about the nature of the Skulls. Some believed that the skulls were merely constructs created by Shradin, and that they eventually turned on their creator. Others believed that the Skulls were representatives of good- and neutral-aligned deities, designed to protect the residents of Skullport from an ancient evil beneath the city.[14]
Appendix[]
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Appearances[]
Adventures
Novels & Short Stories
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eric L. Boyd (June 2005). City of Splendors: Waterdeep. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 109–111. ISBN 0-7869-3693-2.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 14. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), pp. 67–68. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), pp. 6–9. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (June 2005). City of Splendors: Waterdeep. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 109. ISBN 0-7869-3693-2.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 93. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 62. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 47. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (June 2005). City of Splendors: Waterdeep. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 111. ISBN 0-7869-3693-2.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 21. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.