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Spirit Soaring was a large and beautiful cathedral-library complex dedicated to Deneir located high in the Snowflake Mountains in Impresk, Erlkazar, in the mid-to-late 14th century DR.[1]

History[]

Following the fall of the Edificant Library in the Year of the Helm, 1362 DR, Cadderly Bonaduce began construction of Spirit Soaring that same year.[2] He was absolutely focused on the task, working hard and rarely speaking, and only the most serious threats could draw him away.[3] This was because Cadderly built the cathedral using magic. It cost him much as the magics used drained him and aged him remarkably, and he thought he might die in doing so.[1] However, once it was finished, Deneir reversed the aging process so that he would go back to his natural age over time.[4]

In the Year of the Wave, 1364 DR, Drizzt Do'Urden and friends visited Spirit Soaring to seek Cadderly's aid in destroying the Crystal Shard for good.[5]

In the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, Spirit Soaring was destroyed after a battle with the Ghost King, a combination of the dragon Hephaestus, the crystal shard Crenshinibon, and the illithid Yharaskrik. The Ghost King was later defeated by Cadderly and then retreated to the Shadowfell, where he was bound by a ward placed around the ruined Spirit Soaring, which Cadderly had to walk for eternity to ensure the ward stayed in place.[6] Drizzt later remembered watching "the greatest cathedral in the world" burn and fall down.[7]

By 1479 DR, the god of Spirit Soaring, Deneir, had vanished and the cathedral was home to an unknown threat. Those who entered were rarely seen again.[8]

Inhabitants[]

At its height, it was home to Cadderly Bonaduce, the priest of the temple, his wife Danica, their three children (twins and their younger sibling)[9] and the dwarven brothers Pikel and Ivan Bouldershoulder.[10] As the only other survivor of the fall of the Edificant Library, Brother Chaunticleer also lived at Spirit Soaring.[11]

Circa 1370 DR, Ilmatari monks of the Monastery of St. Fanal liked to travel to Spirit Soaring to continue their callings as historians.[12]

Description[]

The building was as majestic as Cadderly had always envisioned it, with soaring towers and flying buttresses, great windows of colored glass and a gutter system finished at every corner with an exotic gargoyle. The cathedral's main roof was more than a hundred feet from the ground and three of the towers reached more than twice that height. The stone was gray and brown, as if the roots of the cathedral were of the mountain itself. A grove of trees lined a cobble-stoned walkway that led to massive front doors. The cathedral was surrounded by a thick and rich lawn, bordered by perfectly shaped hedgerows and filled with various flower beds and adorned with several bushes shaped into the likeness of various woodland animals.[13] Pikel even created a hedgerow maze, with himself getting lost there more often than any other.[9]

It had a special room for calling creatures from the Abyss, as Cadderly once did with Drizzt watching.[14] Unfortunately, it actually freed Errtu, allowing him to return to Faerûn because of Drizzt's presence and knowing what Cadderly was about to do.[15]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

Novels
Passage to DawnServant of the ShardThe Ghost King

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 13. ISBN 978-0786907502.
  2. Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 146. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  3. Dale Donovan, Paul Culotta (August 1996). Heroes' Lorebook. (TSR, Inc), p. 28. ISBN 0-7869-0412-7.
  4. R.A. Salvatore (June 2005). Servant of the Shard. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3950-8.
  5. Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 147. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  6. R.A. Salvatore (July 2010). The Ghost King. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 978-0-7869-5499-5.
  7. R.A. Salvatore (July 2008). The Orc King. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 0, p. 13. ISBN 978-0786950461.
  8. Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 127. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  9. 9.0 9.1 R.A. Salvatore (June 2005). Servant of the Shard. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 247. ISBN 0-7869-3950-8.
  10. R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 13, pp. 162–166. ISBN 978-0786907502.
  11. R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14, p. 177. ISBN 978-0786907502.
  12. Steven E. Schend, Dale Donovan (September 1998). Empires of the Shining Sea. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 97. ISBN 0-7869-1237-5.
  13. R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 13, pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-0786907502.
  14. R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14, pp. 176–182. ISBN 978-0786907502.
  15. R.A. Salvatore (August 1997). Passage to Dawn. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 15, pp. 183–187. ISBN 978-0786907502.
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