The Obsidian Masters of the Sand
The Obsidian Masters of the Sand is a small cabal of sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards that hide in & around the Open Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula. They have one goal, and one purpose.... to find the Lost City of Iram, plunder it of all magical texts & items, then to open a portal on the site to the Realm of Primordial Chaos.
Structure
This loose band of mages are made up of scholars with no true hierarchical structure. They act as a loose confederation with the most powerful leading the rest in study and magic use. Each teaches the least experienced to a high a level as possible.
Culture
All the members study magic in one form or another and share their secrets with other members. Though not very religious, they loosely follow Islamic belief, but believe that the world needs to be remade in the image of one god, namely Allah, not different gods of different faiths. They hide these secrets as best they can to prevent themselves being found. Since Islamic teachings are strict about the use of magic, and most are afraid of enraging evil spirits such as Jinn, they meet in hidden cabals in the desert. The Open Quarter is dangerous enough, but to attract unwanted attention (especially those on the route to & from, or in Mecca) they prefer to risk the desert.
They are all learned men & women, and the odd Tiefling, meet in ruins & caverns in this area. Very rarely they include a Dragonborn that helps them with the magic related to dragons. They do not shun anyone who wields magic, and actively tries to befriend them.
The order believes in the power of the Jinn, and the primordial chaos. With this they have a fanatical devotion to getting to the bottom of the stories around the Lost City of Iram. Anybody or anything containing information about this myth is kidnapped or stolen by them, though treated with a certain reverence, and are subjected to all manner of magical divination, and study. So strong is this need to work out what is there and to tap it, they will literally go to any length and pay exorbitant prices for information, or even help.
They believe that ultimate power lies beyond the veil and the energies of the Primordial Chaos is theirs, and theirs alone, to be tapped into. They know dangerous creatures live there, and if they can be harnessed, and world under them will spring forth.
Because of local customs they avoid giving away what they are doing, pretending to try stopping the city being found or it plundered by others.
Public Agenda
They actively move in public to act as a vigilante group of sorts, appearing to help local authorities track down & stopping others look for the city. They also try to prevent knowledge of the Realm of Primordial Chaos from being discovered or exploited
Assets
The Obsidian Masters have plenty of hidden assets. These are scattered in safehouse, ruins, and caverns all over the Arabic Peninsula, and their own holdings are usually substantial. Each is filled with hidden libraries & laboratories, as well as caged rooms, guards, hidden rooms and traps. Each is generally secreted away behind walls guarded at all times. Fear & mistrust is their strongest asset, with the local populations around these areas, are usually superstitious and fearful of anything that goes against the religious & social norms.
Quite a few have access to powerful men such as magistrates, the odd vizier, or other community leaders. Some have access to military officers and can call in favours there. All are rich and have access to to a number of weapons, spells, servants and informants / contacts. Each one builds up a network of the latter to keep an eye out for any possible plot, information, or spellcaster operating in the region they live or regularly travel.
Most will sell services to others of one kind or another, and sometimes help the nobility, mainly to get them to look the other way. Saying this they regularly run into trouble with the religious authorities so don't get much help from them.
History
The Obsidian Masters of the Sand started in 549 AD in the city of Mecca. A traveller came one day displaying strange powers and talking of a city they had seen buried by the deserts of the Empty Quarter. They said it was a powerful site and the ancients had practised magic powerful enough to destroy the city of Iram. Also, they talked of ancient beings inhabiting parts of the desert, along with teach the Jinn, the local Giants, and early man on how to draw power through the Empty Quarter from the Realm of Primordial Chaos. From there the sands had been imbued with powers as ancient if not older than time itself. Any who could harness this power could dominate the world.
She also spoke that two men would come. One would change Mecca forever, sitting at the right hand of Allah holding the sandstorms back, while the other would attract the sandstorms and the Jinn that calls in the night, and he would sit at Iblis' right hand. The former would be blessed, while the latter cursed, along with the written words both would put down on paper.
Every time she spoke a few of those touched by magic felt a pull to her and questioned her more. She remained unnamed and stated that Mecca itself would stand as a bulwark with Rome & Jerusalem, as protection from the Ancient Ones. The Lost City of Iram would also be found and release the powers of the Primordial Chaos onto the world, allowing those gods now forgotten to be worshipped by man. Only those who fully understood ritual magic could truly use both, and control the powers of Lost Iram. The Jinn, the Giants, and early man, all had failed as they were not ready.
This caused many sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards in the surrounding regions to start investigating this, and the thought of shaping the world came to powerful. They knew that they had to band together to study it, prepare the right rituals, have the best of each type to pass on the knowledge and hopefully open the portal at the centre of that cursed city. Ever since, this band has been under the radar looking for an opportunity to find it.
And they nearly have. Before is outlander woman had died, she produced out of her barren womb, a fist sized piece of obsidian, perfectly smooth. Her last words were that this would be inserted into the womb of an obsidian statue of a strange statue of the same material. It was the key to entering the city, restoring it, and accessing the Primordial Chaos.
As for the statue, it is of a cylindrical creature with eyes around the top of it, tentacles at the top of it, wings spread around near the top of the body, and crablike laws around it too. This stone was to be placed in one of the empty eye sockets.
"Yes, I know of them. Can't say I know too much though. They set up expeditions all the time to the Empty Quarter. They cay they are looking to study old places there. To find what was lost. Rarely do they return though. When they do, it is with an air of defeat, an unsound mind, and some babble about Ancient Ones & Star Children, and it just not the right stars in the sky.
If I had my way, I'd lift the lot of them, and have them executed for witchcraft, every single one. Slippery though, always a coin in the right hand or a whisper in the right ear. Others just disappear, and then reappear as if nothing had happened. And all this talk of them trying to find Iram too. Why would they want to know about that accursed city? Allah Akbar!!! And by the Prophet Most High!!! Tempting fate when Allah himself destroyed that abominable place. Only thing left there is the Jinn, and the odd Giant, and every once in a while a Desert Worm.
I'd avoid the Empty Quarter, and those fools. They'll destroy everyone they meet before they are thrown into Hell."
Unnamed guard of Mecca talking to a Norse Warlock named Bjorn.
Founding Date
549 AD
Type
Religious, Cult
Location
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