Indeed. I also suspect that Sielba was a unique case. Perhaps she had offended the champions or Dragon in some unforgivable way. Based on a hint in Black Flames, I speculated previously about what this could be.
IIRC, the Wanderer says that a dispute about the obsidian quarries led to the war that led to Yaramuke’s destruction. I think that is too cut and dry. The obsidian was probably an ongoing dispute, but why should it lead to their utter destruction? Look at Gulg and Nibenay in comparison.
I think the Wanderer got it partially right, but he isn’t necessarily privilege to insider history.
Therefore something else is in play. My hypothesis? Sielba was experimenting with the calling of outer planar creatures, from beyond the Gray.
In Black Waters we see Sielbas magical lab. In that lab there is this -
Room 3 Summoning Chamber: The floor of this room is covered with circles, spirals, and other strange patterns. If the drawings are described to him, Farcluun recognizes this as a summoning chamber. All summonings made in a room such as this are guaranteed to succeed. The only drawback is that it takes more than 100 years to enchant such a room and only its creator can use it. This area can be searched thoroughly in 50 turns.
A summoning chamber that is guaranteed success? That takes 100 years to enchant? Looks like an artifact to me. What if this was the source of the dispute? With Yaramuke slowly building up its forces of bound Baatezu, Sielba forced Hamanu’s hand. The final straw was her incursion into the obsidian quarries, with the bulk of her forces being Baatezu.
3 Likes