An object first referenced in a psychometry vision of a conversation between Ray and Melisenn in Chapter 51.
One of the gifts for the Mad Poet, discovered written in the margins of Men and Vultures: Denizens of the Darkened Depths and Dead Skies.
In Chapter 100, the party was able to determine that three of the books from Lowls' footlocker were of particular use in researching this gift: Festival of the Snake, The Forgotten Servants, and The Illusion of the Weeping Ones.
In Chapter 101, at the Forsaken Caravanserai, the party (aided by the Yellow King) completed the research into this gift and uncovered the following:
- Lowls suspected that little would impress the Mad Poet more than a relic tied to one of the Elder Gods. He and Thema tried to identify the least dangerous one to research and settled on Bokrug, the Great Old One of Storms and Revenge.
- Thema determined that Bokrug lives in a vast, unnamed lake in a region of the Dreamlands known as Mnar. A race of alien creatures founded the city of Ib on the shores of the lake and worshiped Bokrug there. An idol of green stone, supposedly infused with some of his power, was central to their rites.
- Ib was apparently destroyed by proud and warlike humans disgusted by the aliens’ bizarre rites and unusual physiognomy. The victorious humans were from a nearby city called Sarnath. After destroying Ib, the folk of Sarnath carried away their strange green idol and housed it in one of their temples. But the idol disappeared from the temple soon thereafter.
- Thema’s notes are very sketchy about the plan they had for this mission. “Find idol? Survive?” seems to be about the extent of what they’d cooked up, other than leaning heavily on Brayden and hoping Zon-Kuthon might protect them. There are no solid after-action notes about what happened there, but some timestamping lead the party to believe the quest took a while.
- The pass phrase that would allow Dora to use the Dreamlands Excursion occult ritual to travel directly to Sarnath.
In Chapter 137, the party began their quest for this gift, arriving in Sarnath in a massive ballroom packed with people, engaged in a “Millennium Celebration.” A devastating storm was approaching, growing in intensity in time with the approach of something massive out in the lake, and a swarm of Ib Shades began murdering the Sarnathians.
In Chapter 138, DOOM came to Sarnath as Bokrug, the Great Old One of Storms and Revenge, arrived, seemingly called by the glowing green idol held aloft by an Ib Shade priest on the battlements outside the ballroom where the party arrived. Dora blindfolded herself in an attempt to reach the idol without seeing Bokrug, but in the end she couldn’t claim the idol without the use of her sight. She secured the idol, but was driven deaf and mad at the sight of Bokrug in his horrific majesty.
First Reference: Chapter 51
Other Notable References: Chapter 99, Chapter 100, Chapter 101, Chapter 137, Chapter 138