The Ancients are a strange race, naturally small in stature, they are gifted with the ability to change their shape to mimic and creature they have seen, that is of about the same size as they are. They have been known to take the shape of large dogs, great eagles, small sharks and small humanoids such as Halflings and gnomes. For these reasons no-one is quite sure what a ‘naturally’ shaped Ancient looks like. Although some believe they resemble Yoda from the Star Wars films.
While small and agile, the Ancients seem to be particularly tough as well, IF they are pushed to personal combat (that will be a very last resort as the ancient will do all it can to avoid that situation) they fight with small fast weapons - such as short swords and daggers and have a thick natural skin which is almost impossible to cut. (Note 1)
However the Ancients are primarily psionic, spell users.
They are able to communicate with each telepathically over large distances, and they have the ability to stun and disorientate most normal people using a wave of mental force alone . (Note 2)
However they are also great spell-casters, specialising in teleportation, construction, weather control and Illusion spells. Even the least powerful Ancient can construct an Homunculus with ease, while the stronger Ancients have golems as servants and body guards.
The same is true of Illusion and weather control, even the lowliest of the ancients can raise a breeze at will, or make things appear different. The most powerful can hide whole mountains with their illusions and call forth strong storms out of nowhere.
The weakest of the ancients can teleport small objects to distant places at will, while the strongest are able to teleport themselves and a small group of personal servants or bodyguards.
Individually they are powerful beings, but their power is magnified incredibly when the work together as a single unit. As they communicate telepathically they all seem to have a completely shared understanding of their goals, almost as if they were a hive mind. And when they act in concert, through this telepathic union, they can make incredible things happen on a permanent basis.
Together, they are able to create constructs that are almost perfectly human in their appearance, and that are truly capable operating independently, but incapable of going against the goals and aims they were implanted at creation. (Note 3)
Just as importantly, they are capable of creating permanent magical effects when they work together as a group mind. Huge permanent storms, massive permanent illusions and a network of controllable permanent portals, among other things, have all been created by the Ancients working in concert under the direction of their leaders.
It also appears that the ‘group mind’ can heal injuries and sickness in its members, apparently taking the pain and damage and repairing it almost immediately. (Note 4)
It is believed there is but a small group of this almost immortal race living in our planes at this time, all working toward the combined goals of protecting their secrets from Tyrzak’s hordes and taking proper control of the island chain as a secure base for their future researches and interests.
Their game plan …..
Defeat Tyrzak and his minions
control Tyrzak’s hordes
a strong thriving chain of islands
a population of the island chain who will support and protect the Ancients and their resources
They currently working on a three pronged plan:-
First they are using the storms and Kadagan to draw new people onto their islands. They are tests and put into the islands at large. The best are schooled to challenge Tyrzak and his minions, the rest are left to strengthen the island culture and economy.
Secondly they are slowly establishing a sense of awe among the population. They have placed construct priests (called Brothers) in the main settlements that proclaim the Ancients as the ‘Divine Protectors' and provide wondrous bounty and support to the people who live around the so-called ‘Halls of the Ancients’. For example, in times of extreme hardship the ‘brothers’ have been able to move between settlements (using the portals) to fetch a few essentials and occasional luxuries - to be distributed to the population by devotees of the ‘halls'. For Example - A few pounds of dwarven mushrooms introduced to a village suffering starvation can be incredibly important. At one point the brothers would have been the only source of metal Weapons from the dwarves, Glass vials for potions and strange gems with magical properties from the Gnomic settlement and special parchments for scroll spells from the Elves. These construct 'brothers' tend to be non aggressive and try to resolve issues without combat
Thirdly, they have developed a militant marketing arm - in the Old Order. Based around the ‘Halls of the Ancients’ (temple), the Old Order have tasked themselves with guarding the portals and spreading the word of the Ancients. They are not pushy, but will often use phrases like ‘Ancients be blessed!’ in conversation. If asked they will tell glowing stories (I am sure we can steal some reasonable hero tales from the mythologies) about things the Old Order have done in the past to glorify the Ancients, and how glorifying the Ancients now will bring back the good times. However, unlike the construct priests at the temples - the Old Order can be militant. All members of the Old Order are skilled with arms – and will generally support and help PCs when they SEE an encounter between PCs and Humanoid hordes (We can control this by making sure members of the Old Order are only present where we want them to be)
(1) Game terms - High Dex, High Con, Natural Armour +6 or more, give them racial benefit of tumbling
(2) Lets us stun and confuse people we don’t want getting too near Secrets/Ancients. Ancients use it to escape danger or combat. Obviously not effective on more powerful creatures like the dark wanderers
(3) This is the construct priestess on the island and possible a construct priest/ess to the local goods in each of the Shrines to the Local Gods.
(4) Lets give them regeneration as well.