Vault of the Ancients

The Vault of the Ancients was an underground cache of treasures and manuscripts from the time of the Ancient World. It was built by the wizard Mordenkainen as part of his last acts as a mortal.

Construction

Mordenkainen used spells such as move earth and stone shape, as well as the services of a dominated purple worm, to create the Vault in the Brackish Mountains.

The central Vault itself was an oblong dome approximately 300 feet at its widest point. Several passages and chambers surrounded the Vault, making for a maze-like structure of twisting turns and confusing halls. Most of the outer chambers were filled with traps and hazards to deter treasure hunters, although several were set up with less valuable treasures as decoys.

Purpose

As a scholar of lore and magic, Mordenkainen wanted a place to house all his accumulated wealth. Although he was fond of attaching his name to new spells, the arch-wizard purposefully did not name the Vault after himself.

Rediscovery

After Mordenkainen's Final Legacy was completed in 1280 BME, the Vault remained undisturbed for over 2,000 years. A contingent from Icon led by Chaka embarked on a holy quest to rediscover the Maximillian, a set of holy plate armor. Chaka believed the armor to be located in Mordenkainen's Vault, and spent his adult life searching for it in the Brackish Mountains.

Eventually, Chaka and his team found the Vault of the Ancients. In Winter 770 ME, Chaka's team breached the outer defenses of the Vault. He recovered the Maximilian, awakened the gearforged guardian Effigy, and learned a great deal about the Ancient World.

Control of the Vault

After Chaka's discovery was made public, several parties expressed interest in studying the Vault and cataloging its contents. Among them were the governments of the Pennant Regency and the Velgassi Empire. The Church of the Tetrarchs, headquartered in Chaka's hometown of Icon, was also a player in the negotiations. Dan'el Unas, Chaka's stepfather and member of his expedition, advised him to tread with caution, as there were many powerful items in the Vault that could be dangerous if in the wrong hands.

In 772 ME, Chaka decided to turn over control of the Vault to the independent city of Volkenburg, a center of magic and scholarship. The other parties had no choice but to capitulate, as Chaka's fame was widespread.

Controversies

Many of the manuscripts inside the Vault of the Ancients did not line up with the then-modern orthodoxy of the Church of the Tetrarchs. By that time on the eastern Mainland, worship of other gods was moving dangerously close to heresy. The Vault's revelations in the field of religion were particularly unwelcome in Church-dominated areas.

Another cultural issue was the discovery of Effigy and the gearforged. The Juriatas Accord's failure to mention gearforged put the According nations in the difficult position of deciding whether or not to amend the document to accept a new Race as sentient. Furthermore, the dwarves faced significant backlash for the Moradindrian's failure to mention the creation of the gearforged Race in the Ancient World.