GreyCrag

Home of the kuo-toa and Kalarel the Vile.  

The Curse of Lorenzo's Red Gold

Lorenzo was an explorer during the Age of Discovery, who had heard about a colossal bounty of gold hidden somewhere in the New World. He purchased an NWTC escort, and set sail for a fabled lake said to be both bottomless and absolutely lined with gold. A literally endless fountain of gold. This journey eventually led them to the isle of Grey Crag, a mostly empty lump of rock with ill weather populated by a species known as the kuo-toa. The kuo-toa had had a troubled past already, having still the psychological scars of some long-forgotten enslaver. When Lorenzo toppled a statue of BBlibdoolpoolp , their chief god, the kuo-toa mistook Lorenzo as their new god and began to worship him. Their latent psionic powers actually did cause Lorenzo to grow in strength, but he despised these creatures, seeing them as pathetic and disgusting. But he did notice that some of the kuo-toa priests wore gold jewellery. When asked, the priests told him about how it was an old custom to offer gold to BBlibdoolpoolp by tossing it into the saltwater lake where she was said to dwell. They had gathered it by venturing to The Everstorm and scavenging gold there, a perilous journey.    Lorenzo was thrilled. At last, the bottomless Lake of Gold, his prize! He eagerly asked for them to show him, and sure enough he saw a small lake, its clear water shimmering with the countless gold pieces that covered its bottom. A king's ransom. But Lorenzo was furious. He may have found a lake of gold, but this one had a bottom! Nothing short of infinite treasure was enough to quench his greed. In his rage, he blamed the wretched, slimey kuo-toa for deceiving him. He ordered his men to slaughter them all, and brought all his newly-acquired godly fury down upon the ones who had given their everything to him. He then gathered up his 'meager' spoils and set a course for the Old World.    But Lorenzo's vile actions would not go unpunished. Old Ed took notice, and as the gold bathed in the blood of the innocent, a powerful curse took hold. Anyone who died near the Red Gold would not know peace. Instead, the vileness of their deeds would force them to live in a half-corrupted agony as Sea Spawn forevermore, unable to die even if they were to be cut into pieces.   Lorenzo quickly found this out the hard way. As he sailed from the massacre of Grey Crag, the godly power that the kuo-toa had unknowingly bestowed upon him left him rapidly. His body began to whither, unable to take the stress of the rapid change. The curse took hold. He twisted into a vile new form, and slaughtered his other crew, turning them into sea spawn as well, before sending the ship and the cursed red gold down to the depths.