Great Seal

For another meaning of "Great Seal", please see Great Seal (Oriat).

The Great Seal was a powerful ward created in 3827 AR to contain the spirit of Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, within the tower of Gallowspire in Ustalav. Tar-Baphon breached the Great Seal in 4719 AR and escaped, destroying Gallowspire and wreaking havoc and destruction across a swath of the Inner Sea region.

Description

The Great Seal consisted of four seals, three lesser and one greater, but only the Great Seal was located in Gallowspire. The three lesser seals were watched over by the victors of the Shining Crusade, and were intended to support the magic of the greater.

History

At the end of the Shining Crusade in 3827 AR, the victorious armies were faced with a dilemma. The body of the Whispering Tyrant had been destroyed by a fragment of the Shield of Aroden wielded by the Taldan General Arnisant, but the lich's soul still lived within its phylactery deep underneath the tower of Gallowspire. Unwilling or unable to confront the necromancer's minions in his inner sanctum, they instead decided to turn the Whispering Tyrant's throne into his prison.

First conjuring the lesser seals, Narthoc, a high priest of Aroden, instructed his fellows to take the seals far away from Ustalav so they could be hidden and protected away from Tar-Baphon's influence. After the remains of the lich's body were entombed underneath Gallowspire, Narthoc then placed the final, greater seal down to attempt to ensure the Whispering Tyrant would never escape.

Defenses

The Great Seal was located on the first level below the tower of Gallowspire. Simply accessing it required tremendous effort, as it was guarded not only by deadly traps placed there by the armies of the Shining Crusade, but also the countless undead that still existed in the tower. The most powerful of these were a vampiric elven druid named Iliamaniss, who sought a way to bypass the Great Seal, and the animated remains of three unknown soldiers who rose as ghasts to keep out trespassers.

The Final Guardian

A powerful sphinx oracle named Shadnusaptera was the final living guardian of the Great Seal. She was placed there by the leaders of the Shining Crusade and tasked to defend it with her life. She was kept alive by the magic of the Great Seal, which also sustained her without food and water, and she attacked anyone not carrying a piece of the Shield of Aroden. Since these fragments were heavily guarded in secret, few were able to approach her unmolested.

Magic of the Great Seal

The protective magics of the Great Seal were so powerful that the physical structure of the dungeons below Gallowspire could not be physically manipulated by mortals. Additionally, anyone using magic to enter the dungeons was kept from leaving by the same means. The spells were powerful enough to keep even summoned creatures from returning to their home plane.

Opening the Great Seal

The magic of the Great Seal was extremely powerful, the cumulative effect being that the dungeons beneath Gallowspire became nearly impregnable. The only way for someone to breach the magic was to locate and disable all three of the lesser seals.

Lesser seals

The lesser seals were created at the same time as the Great Seal. Narthoc, the high priest of Aroden, ordered each of the parties that took part in the Shining Crusade—Taldor, the dwarves of the kingdom of Kraggodan, and the Knights of Ozem—to take them far away from Ustalav, so that the Great Seal could never be opened.

Fate

By 4717 AR, agents of Tar-Baphon had stolen and replaced many of the shards of the Shield of Aroden, by then known as the Shattered Shield of Arnisant, with forgeries. In 4719 AR, the Whispering Tyrant then used the fragments to destroy Roslar's Coffer, the Great Seal, and Vigil, escaping and destroying Gallowspire in the process.

References

Paizo published the Tyrant's Grasp Pathfinder Adventure Path and Siege of Gallowspire Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild special, which depict the events surrounding the destruction of the Great Seal.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.