Karnea Timeline of the Missing Years 384 AC-421 AC
Timeline by Adam E.
2024
384 AC (Krynn), 14 ST (Soreel)
After gathering a large number of magical items from the destroyed tower of Schallsea, Karnea drains them to power the spell Worldwalk, arriving in Sigil. Finding accommodations there, Karnea rests and heals and considers her next moves. She encounters Talia, a tiefling wizardess warrior who owns an outfitting shop specializing in equipping adventurers for travel in the Outer Planes. Karnea sells off the few remaining minor items she had left in order to establish herself in the city for a time. Meanwhile, she spends time perusing Talia’s map section, learning about the city and the surrounding Planes, while building a close relationship with her.
385 AC/15 ST
After establishing her ability to move between Sigil and her demiplane, Karnea researches the location of Soreel in the Material Plane. After locating it, she is finally able to transport herself there, reuniting with her daughter Aravis and her old ally Zeva, who is now Empress of Soreel. Karnea leverages her friendship with Zeva to procure a spelljamming ship, crewed mostly by former members of the Imperial Navy. After a number of voyages to various crystal spheres, including visits to the Rock of Bral, Karnea and crew find their way to Faerun. Placing the ship under the command of her First Mate, Karnea disembarks at Baldur’s Gate and begins to study the local magic. She spends the next several years traveling all over the Realms, learning the lore and picking up new spells, while tracking down further rumors of her father’s allies, enemies, and holdings. She also establishes a means of traveling from the Realms to her demiplane.
386 AC/16 ST
Karnea’s investigations take her to the Nelanther Islands, where she encounters a great deal of necromantic lore. Following a lead found in a fragment of a scroll there, she travels to Calimshan and finds a small cache of her father’s books. So far, none of the information about her father has shed any light on what caused him to make his deal with Sym. Traveling from the southern desert to Waterdeep, Karnea takes up residence and begins to look through the newfound notes of Flamdirk.
387 AC/17 ST
A chance encounter near the Waterdeep markets leads Karnea to find a door to Sigil. After having the location investigated and staked out by a local rogue she occasionally employed as a “finder”, she determines that this particular door is very seldom used. Without letting on where the door leads, Karnea agrees to provide her “finder” with a few minor magical items and potions in return for his protection of the door. She meets with the crew of her ship, which has been very profitably engaged in legal and illegal trade all up and down the Sword Coast. Karnea takes a share of the accumulated wealth and establishes a permanent residence in Waterdeep. Here she begins to study anatomy in earnest, becoming a skilled surgeon as well as maker of flesh golems. She also begins to inquire among the spelljammer community about any rumors of Krynn.
388 AC/18 ST
Traveling between Sigil and Waterdeep, Karnea is beginning to investigate the possible locations for the gods of Krynn. She learns from the spelljamming community as well as those in the know around Sigil that Krynn is known as a backwater world, with few contacts among those who are widely traveled. With most rumors of Krynn leading to dead ends, Karnea focuses on finding a door from Sigil to Soreel. After months of searching and many hundreds of gold pieces spent, she eventually locates a door that opens in Unari. Karnea is now able to travel from Waterdeep to Soreel without the need for a spelljammer. Meeting again with the crew of her spelljammer, she “allows” the crew to buy out her ownership interest in the ship for a considerable sum. The ship and crew continue to sail the Sword Coast, with occasional forays into wildspace and systems beyond. Karnea continues to travel between Faerun, Sigil, and Soreel, searching for rumors about Krynn and its pantheon.
389 AC/19 ST
Karnea quietly buys an interest in a tavern/inn frequented by spelljammer crews from offworld, in an effort to keep an ear out for rumors about Krynn. She also manages to direct some traffic to Soreel, which eventually results in a profitable route being established. It is during this time that she is first exposed to the Red Wizards of Thay, as she had become fairly well-known as a dealer in magical items. Karnea was intrigued with the practice of circle magic, but the Red Wizards she was in contact with refused to teach her without her joining them. After learning about Szass Tam and his vision of controlling a horde of undead spellcasters, Karnea refused their offer and cut ties with them. (It should be noted that Karnea did not particularly object to a horde of undead spellcasters; it is simply that she has no interest in becoming undead herself.) The price of Karnea’s refusal to join the Red Wizards was a number of assassination attempts, one of which was nearly successful and required her to retreat to her demiplane for extended recuperation and recovery. After this, she began to spend less time on Faerun, returning occasionally to listen to rumors (and collect payments on her investments).
390 AC/20 ST
Karnea spends almost this entire year in seclusion in her demiplane. She uses her recovery time to consolidate her many spellbooks into a cohesive, organized collection. The result is over two hundred volumes of hefty tomes, bound in human- and humanoid-skin leather the color of mottled, asphyxiated flesh. These tomes are then enspelled for protection, resulting in the trademark chill flowing from them. She emerges at the end of the year fully healed, rested, and ready for revenge against the Red Wizards.
391 AC/21 ST
Leveraging her contacts among the spelljamming crews in Waterdeep, Karnea hires a ship to travel to Alaor in the Sea of Fallen Stars, where she attacks the Thayan shipyards there and kills a number of Red Wizards. She further manages to capture two of their number, who she then transports to her laboratory in the demiplane for experimentation. These experiments led to the creation of the spells Bone Blight and Create Spectral Wizard. The resulting spectre was then returned to Alaor for the Red Wizards to find. Later, during a visit to Soreel, Karnea is unexpectedly granted a small parrish of land and the accompanying title of (minor) nobility by Zeva. The Empress had noticed a growing interest between Lucius and Aravis, and decided to ensure that Aravis would be of sufficient nobility in case their love interest grew. Karnea surveys her new holdings and determines that the existing caretaker is doing an adequate job, elevating him to regent and telling him to keep up what he has been doing. The incomes from these holdings are set aside for Aravis’ use.
392 AC/22 ST
Following a lead from Talia about rumors of the Lost Citadel, Karnea travels in the Deep Ethereal Plane in search of the purported home of the Gods of Magic. While she does not find the Lost Citadel, she does discover a number of portals to the Elemental Planes, as well as a number of demiplanes of various sizes. This leads her to return to her own demiplane to bolster the defenses there.
393 AC/23 ST
Karnea returns to Faerun briefly to check on her business interests and collect more rumors. She discovers another cache of notes and books of her father’s, including a diary that details some of Flamdirk’s dealings with Sym. Reading these notes puts her in a foul mood, and she decides to pay Talia an extended visit to clear her mind. After six months in Sigil her mood is improved, and she returns to her demiplane to pursue more research.
394 AC/24 ST
The bulk of the year is spent on spell research and item fabrication. Many of the minor items she makes are sold through Talia’s shop in Sigil. Among the more potent items she makes is a +3 Ring of Protection and an Amulet of Undead Command for Aravis. She also pens the spell Deathshroud during this time.
395 AC/25 ST
Aravis and Lucius are formally engaged, and Karnea travels to Soreel for the official celebration. She spends several months there, reviewing her holdings and establishing a small spelljammer trading company with links to her interests in Waterdeep, allowing her to profit on both sides of the trade route. She also establishes a school of wizardry in the Unari province with a heavy focus on the ways of High Sorcery from Krynn, in an attempt to attract the attention of the Gods of Magic. The school is run by a Soreelian wizard named Jelben, a former member of the Imperial Magic Bureau. Karnea recruited him after successfully converting him to the worship of Nuitari, in spite of the fact that there is no evidence of Nuitari’s presence on Soreel.
396 AC/26 ST
Karnea returns to Talia’s to prepare for an expedition into the Abyss. She gathers supplies, known spell keys, what few maps can be considered trustworthy, and a clutch of items to assist in transporting her between the infinite layers of the Plane. Arriving in the gate town of Plague-Mort in the Outlands, Karnea locates the Gate and steps into the Abyss.
397 AC/27 ST through 400 AC/30ST
Karnea travels the layers of the Abyss for three years, following leads and rumors concerning the homes of Krynn’s gods of evil. She is ultimately unable to locate any of them, although she does return with a number of rumors about a goddess who stole a world…
401 AC/31 ST
Exhausted from her descent in the Abyss, Karnea returns to Sigil, resuming her relationship with Talia and helping to create updated maps based on her travels. She spends the rest of the year in the City of Doors recuperating from her journey.
402 AC/32 ST Returning to Soreel, Karnea finds Jelben’s school thriving, and a small (12-15 members) cult of
followers of all three of Krynn’s gods of magic. Intrigued, Karnea introduces Aravis to Jelben. Aravis becomes the “spiritual advisor” to Jelben’s school (called “The Conclave”), and remains in frequent contact with the members of the cult. Over the next few years the cult gains new members, eventually having approximately 200 members throughout the Soreelian system.
403 AC/33 ST
Emboldened by the success of the school on Soreel to attract potential worshippers to the Krynnish gods of magic, Karnea travels to Faerun to attempt the feat there as well. She is immediately countered by the Red Wizards, as well as worshippers of Mystara and Azuth. She abandons the project and returns to Soreel, where she amuses herself by attending court and playing at politics for a time.
404 AC/34 ST
Karnea departs Soreel amidst rumors of an improper relationship between her and Viscount Albax d’Marten, a (married) nobleman from an outlying area of Marika. The Empress is eager to resolve the scandal involving the mother of her son’s betrothed, and “suggests” that Karnea leave the system for a time. About 8 months after her departure, the Viscount is found dead in his bed of apparent natural causes, triggering an investigation by the Imperial Police and the Imperial Ministry of Intelligence.
405 AC/35 ST
Karnea spends the bulk of this year preparing a second full set of her spellbook collection. At the end of the year, she brings this collection to her manor on Soreel, secreting the tomes in the basement of her home there. She crafts an iron golem to watch over the doorway, as well as placing one of her spectral wizard servants on eternal watch over the chamber. She manages to get in and out of Soreel without being noticed by Zeva’s agents who are investigating the death of the Viscount d’Marten.
406 AC/36 ST
Karnea trades knowledge of the location of the portal door from Sigil to Soreel for the location of a door to the Free City of Greyhawk. Traveling to the Free City, she attempts to collect any rumors about Krynn and its gods there. It is then that she finds that spelljamming travel is restricted by the Flow to prevent travel from Krynnspace to Greyspace. This would require that any travel from Krynn to Oerth to first go through Realmspace. Karnea spends the year in Greyhawk trading magical items and picking up a few spells here and there, but learns nothing about the fate of Krynn.
407 AC/ 37 ST
Karnea is contacted by Aravis with news of an investigation into Jelben’s school by the Imperial Magic Bureau. The Bureau is concerned that the growing cult of the “Moon Gods” is becoming dangerous to the established religions on Soreel. Aravis tries to use her influence on Lucius, who oversees Imperial Intelligence, to close the investigation. The school goes underground, and the cult is forced to adopt secretive ways in order to survive.
408 AC/38 ST
Growing jaded with politics and intrigue, Karnea returns to Sigil and Talia. She spends the year living with Talia, assisting her with her shop, and making short forays into other Planes to trade for goods and items. Talia wants Karnea to become her full-time partner, but Karnea feels that she cannot be tied down in Sigil forever.
409 AC/39 ST
Karnea and Talia separate, unable to agree on the nature of their relationship. Karnea returns to her demiplane, and begins a project that will become one of the definitive texts of comparative anatomy between humans and elves. The many subjects of this research endeavor are eventually recycled into a number of flesh golems, which Karnea uses as servants and guards.
410 AC/40 ST
Following up on more of Flamdirk’s notes, Karnea journeys to Limbo to investigate some of Sym’s former holdings. Given the extremely mutable nature of the Plane, Karnea spends more time than she had planned in finding what she seeks. She eventually locates some of Sym’s notes concerning his deal with Flamdirk. She also finds Sym’s notes about her early upbringing and instruction in magic. Reading Sym’s cruel remarks puts Karnea in a very foul mood indeed, making her wish she could resurrect the demon so that she could savor killing him all over again.
411 AC/ 41 ST through 414 AC/44 ST
Inspired by thoughts of killing Sym once more, Karnea decides to investigate whether any of the incoming souls of the dead from Krynn can shed any light on what happened to the world. After three years of traveling on various Planes, Karnea determines that there are no souls arriving in the Outer Planes from Krynn. She concludes that either the world was completely destroyed, or there is some force preventing the souls from moving on to their destinations.
415 AC/45 ST
Karnea returns from the Outer Planes with more questions than answers. She is beginning to think that Krynn is lost and the gods have withdrawn completely. She visits Krynnspace via spelljammer and finds that even the moons of Krynn have vanished, reinforcing her theory. She returns to her home in Waterdeep, collecting her incomes and sinking into research that results in the spells Ghoul Gauntlet and Deathmaster’s Vial.
416 AC/46 ST
Karnea begins to hear rumors of a crystal sphere containing a world ruled by gargantuan dragons with frightening abilities to reshape the land. None of the rumors come from anyone who has actually been to this sphere, as it appears that almost no travelers to the sphere survive the trip. Karnea hires a ship to take her to the Rock of Bral to follow up on these rumors. She is unable to locate any ‘jammer crews who have actually been to this supposed Dragonspace.
417 AC/47 ST
Karnea visits the floating wreckage of the neogi fleet in Soreelspace to examine ship logs to find further information about the rumored Dragonspace. This eventually leads her to return to Marika for the first time in over a decade. She locates some references to Dragonspace, but nothing that she would be able to use to navigate there by spelljammer. She also finds many references in the neogi logs about “the Gray”, and begins to research this as a possible reference to either the Astral or Ethereal Planes.
418 AC/48 ST
Karnea’s investigations into the Gray lead her to believe that it is an overlay of sorts, covering the Ethereal and the Astral. It would appear that the Gray would allow one to access any of the Prime Material Planes, as well as the Inner and Outer Planes. Some of the writings she finds concerning the gray are written by an individual named Khellendros, but Karnea is unable to find any further references to this being.
419 AC/49 ST
Karnea penetrates the veil of the Gray and begins to explore this misty, barren realm. She discovers portals to the Ethereal and Astral Planes, demiplanes, and conduits that trail off into the mists. One of these conduits seems to call to her, but she cannot trace it to its beginning nor its end. She returns to her demiplane to record her findings, discovering that time in Gray travels more slowly than in the Material Planes. She diligently records her findings in her personal journal and begins to plan a possible treatise on this mysterious plane.
420 AC/50 ST
After much consideration, Karnea decides to travel again to Sigil to see Talia. Her discoveries about the Gray have made her yearn for the late-night discussions the two used to have of far-flung Planes and the wonders each has seen. She finds Talia’s shop shuttered, and no trace of her former lover in the city. After a few months of searching, she leaves word with some mutual acquaintances to contact her if any word of Talia is found, and departs for Soreel. There she attends the World’s Fair in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Zeva’s reign. The minor rift between the two old friends seems to be somewhat healed, although Karnea notes that the connection between Aravis and Lucius seems to be strained. Karnea herself feels adrift in the cosmos, isolated from her homeworld and her god. After a few months of attending the lavish parties associated with the Soreelian World’s Fair, Karnea returns to the seclusion of her demiplane. She takes with her some materials developed by Jelben, a sort of primer for students of magic. She hopes to develop this material further to provide a handbook of sorts for an aspiring student of magic to follow to develop into a serious scholar in the ways of Krynnish High Sorcery, a sort of testament to the (apparently) Lost Gods of Magic.
421 AC/51 ST
In late summer, Karnea is nearly finished with her Guide to High Sorcery. The pages are collected and she is debating on what sort of cover material to use on the binding when she feels a sudden surge of power that seems to burn inside her soul. Aravis appears to her as a ghostly apparition, telling her “Father is calling you Home”. Tearing through her scrollcases, she locates a scroll of Worldwalk. Emptying chests frantically, she finds what she is looking for, a jar of earth given to her by Talidaar before the Chaos War. Uttering a sincere prayer, she intones the words of the spell while holding the bare dirt in her hand, and waits for the magic to take hold. Opening her eyes, she finds herself in a clearing of a wooded area at night. Gazing upwards, she sees the three moons, Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari, imposed over each other in their full glory. Karnea has returned home
