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#Post#: 1332--------------------------------------------------
Peripas Mishakas -The Disks of Mishakal
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: March 13, 2026, 8:57 am
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[center]The Disks of Mishakal
Peripas Mishakas[/center]
The Disks of Mishakal, or Peripas Mishakas in the Istaran
tongue, are a set of 160 platinum disks, each one-sixteenth of
an inch thick and eighteen inches in diameter, and they weigh
fifteen pounds. Words of an unknown language are beaten into
Cuneiform on both sides of each disk, and a golden ring binds
the disks together in such a way that each disk can swivel out
to be read. The translated words of a single disk can easily
fill dozens of pages.
Good-hearted individuals can safely handle and read the disks;
all others receive a shock upon merely touching them. A
good-hearted individual who reads the disks gains knowledge
about six of the Gods of Light: Branchala, Habbakuk,
Kiri-Jolith, Majere, Mishakal, and Paladine. This knowledge is
sufficient to start the individual down the path to becoming a
true cleric of one of the Gods of Light.
The Disks were given to humans thousands of years ago so that
they may free themselves from ogre slavery, and they were the
impetus for the humans’ ability to read and write. The Disks
were captured by the forces of darkness in the Battle of Gods’
Tears during the Second Dragon War and were lost until Dario, a
minor nobleman of the then-city-state of Istar, found them while
searching for plunder in a cave. Dario read the Disks, returned
to the city-state, declared himself the First Son of Paladine,
and founded the church of Istar.
Many years later, First Son Amiad declared that the scripture
within the Disks should be available to all, and ordered the
Great Translation whereby a dozen Istaran scribes & scholars
translated the Disks to Church Istaran. When Amiad died twenty
years later, his successor Regidan stopped the Great
Translation, resulting in seven incomplete copies. Regidan was
not a pious man and ordered that all copies of the Disks’
writings be burned. Six of the copies were destroyed, but the
last escaped Regidan’s grasp and made its way from monastery to
monastery. Monks copied what they could before sending the
“original copy” along, and soon there were over one hundred
copies of the incomplete text. These copies were in various
languages, including Old Solamnic, the languages of Ergoth and
Kharolis, dwarven, elven, and possibly others.
There arose a debate within the church of Istar concerning the
copies. The Reductionists, headed by First Son Symeon, claimed
that the Disks were not fully translated because of some divine
purpose, and the Completists argued that the Disks’ full
translations should be available. When the Reductionists’ view
won out, the Completists attempted to steal the Disks from the
Lordcity of Istar in order to make a complete translation. They
were stopped, and Symeon declared that the Disks would not be
safe in the hands of men. He ordered that a shrine be built
above the cave where Dario found the Disks. Symeon placed the
Disks within the Vault, closed its golden doors, and declared
that no living man or woman would survive entry into the Vault.
Shortly thereafter, Symeon would throw down Emperor Vemior the
Fierce, don the Miceram, and become the first Kingpriest of
Istar. The shrine – and the cave beneath it – become known as
the Vault of the Kingpriests.
The Disks remained within the Vault until the spring of 1 PC,
when Kingpriest Beldinas Pilofiro sought to use their knowledge
to aid in his misguided attempt to command the gods of Light.
Cathan MarSevrin, a man dead yet living, was able to enter the
Vault and return with the Disks. Cathan and others attempted to
betray the Kingpriest but failed in their attempt, and Beldinas
took the Disks back to the Lordcity.
Cathan was a prisoner in the imperial dungeons for many months
and realized that the Disks must leave Istar if they were to
survive the coming Cataclysm. He was mysteriously released in
autumn of 1 PC and fled the Lordcity with both the Disks (which
were stolen from the Kingpriest’s chambers) and a night-blue
spellbook given to him by Fistandantilus. Cathan eventually made
his way to Xak Tsaroth, swam out to a nearby island, and watched
the Cataclysm fall upon Istar. As the city began crumbling,
Cathan hurled the Disks of Mishakal and the night-blue spellbook
into a gaping whirlpool before jumping in after them, where he
was presumably killed. The Disks survived and were guarded by
the black dragon Khisanth until their recovery by the
Innfellows.
After Xak Tsaroth,
The Innfellows recovered the Disks of Mishakal in the autumn of
351 AC from Khisanth’s lair, but could not read them. Goldmoon
(who had just become a cleric of Mishakal) realized that her
duty was to give the Disks to a worthy individual. When they
entered Pax Tharkas to free refugees from the Dragon Highlord
Verminaard, Goldmoon found that individual in the sickly
Elistan, a former Highseeker from Haven. Goldmoon cured
Elistan’s ailment, and he vowed to learn more about the ancient
gods. Elistan was able to read the Disks and became a cleric of
Paladine.
The Innfellows freed Elistan and the other refugees, who were
able to make a temporary home for themselves in Thorbardin in
exchange for the Innfellows recovering the legendary Hammer of
Kharas. Elistan carried the Disks with him to Tarsis, Icewall,
and Qualimori, where he stayed to prove to the elves that he was
a true cleric of Paladine. Elistan built the Temple of Paladine
in Palanthas after the War of the Lance, and the Disks were kept
there for decades until their eventual move to the Spiritualism
Lyceum of the Citadel of Light, where they remain to this day.
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