The Disappeared Fort of Tandallos

 

art by JJCanvas, source

A fortress thought lost has reappeared about a week ago in the southern foothills of Ylaruam, in the Emirate of Nicostenia, close to the border of Thyatis. This has puzzled and alarmed the governments of both nations - large fortifications should not just appear out of thin air. 

The fort of Tandallos was built between 190AC and 205AC while Thyatis was expanding into what would later become Ylaruam, and it has the style of old Thyatian architecture. Between 200AC and 396AC it was occupied by Thyatian troops. But in 396AC the fort became infected with plague rats feeding off the stores and provisions. Although clerics could temporarily cure soldiers and other staff of the plague, eradicating the rats that kept spreading the plague was much more difficult, and soldiers kept getting re-infected with the plague only weeks after a cleric had cured them. Infections rose and soldiers were getting sick and dying faster than the clerics could cope with, and the clerics got sick and had to cast curing spells on themselves. Eventually the generals in Thyatis City decided to temporarily abandon the fort until the plague rats had run out of food.  

And then Tandallos Fort disappeared. Nobody except one person knew what happened. A powerful Alphatian wizard, Zembrig, had not caused the plague (the plague rats were a natural occurrence) but was quick to take advantage of the empty fort. Furthermore Zembrig had visited other worlds and had seen many new spells unfamiliar to most mages on Mystara. One that caught his imagination was Mirage Arcana, which created a large-scale illusion that could hide structures. He took this and by dint of intense magical research he created a stronger, bigger version that he called Greater Mirage (7th level spell) that hid the whole of Tandallos Fort, making the terrain seem similar to what it was before the Thyatians built the fort. This would normally last 1 hour per level of the caster. But Zembrig also had a scroll of a Permanence spell which he used to keep the illusion hiding the fort for ever. 

During his occupancy of the fort, Zembrig used other illusion and enchantment spells to keep snoopers and intruders away, including Thyatian soldiers who almost remembered where they had been garrisoned, and after 20 years the Thyatian Empire had all but given up on reclaiming their disappeared fort. Zembrig turned the fort into his own personal fiefdom, but died in 444AC, despite numerous potions of Longevity, possibly from the same plague that drove the Thyatians away fifty years previously. 

Just over a week ago (in the current year 1000AC) a caravan was passing near the site, away from the normal trade route, when a dog with the caravan chased after a jackrabbit. The dog's owner, a mage of minor ability, saw the rabbit vanish, then the dog vanish as each entered the Greater Mirage, and saw the dog reappear, jackrabbit in her jaws, as she came out of the Greater Mirage. The mage entered the illusion and realised what it was hiding, although he himself could only observe. Going back to the caravan he made a careful note of where this illusion was and when the caravan was in Thyatis he informed a powerful wizard in the College of Lucinius who came along with him and this time successfully dispelled the Permanance spell. Fort Tandallos has now reappeared.

This has led to different  ideas about what to do with the fort. As far as the Emir of Nicostenia is concerned, it is in his lands and belongs to him. If the Thyatians want it back, they should have kept a better eye on it instead of losing it in the first place. His realm is sovereign and its borders are inviolable. His fellow Emirs (at least those who are aware of the reappearance) will back him up on this, at least diplomatically and possibly militarily. 

The Thyatians don't quite see it like that. It's their fort, they built it, and just a week ago they rediscovered it, and they are keeping it. If that means shifting the border so that Thyatia now includes the fort, that's fine by the Thyatians. Both sides are moving armed forces to seize the fort. It is still a defensible position, so whoever gets their troops in first will have a military advantage. 

So where do adventurers fit into all of this? Both sides will want adventurers to check out the fort's interior, making sure it is safe and not haunted by horrible monsters before they send their troops in. Also, various wizards are interested in Zembrig's research and spellbooks, especially this Greater Mirage spell. They would be willing to pay handsomely for usable inscriptions of this spell. 

What is in the fort at the moment? Mostly vermin, including a colony of driver ants, a few rhagodessas and giant scorpions. There are also some weird acid-spitting creatures called ankhegs that Zembrig brought back during his travels. But this may not be all, and Zembrig may have left some unpleasant surprises of his own for unwanted visitors, including some plague rats held in Temporal Stasis.