On Founding the Conservatory

On Founding the Conservatory Curator Maelzin

Some time ago, I heard rumors of an exceptional discovery made by the adventurers of Norrath. Through all the tribulations and terrors facing the world, they found a truly remarkable gem thought lost for eternity - the menagerie of Miragul.

As exciting as this news was to those of us who had heard the rumors of this magnificent collection, there was no way to safely explore the find - it crawled with all manner of creatures, some living, some animated with unlife, and some that supposedly came from planes not of our own.

My attempts to hire bodyguards or buy my way into an adventuring party were rebuffed, as no one wanted to take an inexperience researcher into a place such as that. For a maddeningly long time, the Menagerie was cut off to all of us who would attempt to catalog and preserve what we found there.

It wasn't until recently that we were able to find and hire mercenaries willing to accompany us to the frozen north and lead us to the treasures we had sought for so long. I admit, the toll in life was... higher than I would have liked, but the sacrifice bore fruit. We found the Menagerie, and the creatures it still held.

Although it clearly held many more creatures than we found still housed within, the ones that we found were remarkable. But even more incredible were the notes Miragul left behind, regarding his own research and experiments - the most fascinating of which seemed to regard a bonding technique. Miragul referred to this bond as a 'familiar' - a creature that was able to share a piece of its essence with its handler, increasing their own powers and abilities. Incredible!

With the notes in hand, we gathered what creatures that we could, and left the Menagerie - as much as it pained me, that place was too dangerous to remain at indefinitely. So instead, I took my own fortune and built a keep that we now call home. Within, we set up what we affectionately call the Conservatory, where we dedicate ourselves to the care and preservation of the creatures we pulled from the Menagerie.

Here, we will continue the research started by Miragul, and hope to build on the knowledge already found by one of the greatest minds ever to grace Norrath.

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What follows is an incomplete list of the creatures we pulled from the Menagerie. A more complete list will be provided when Steward Aelin and her Attendants finish their cataloging of what we have discovered.

Highland Griffin Dark Shadow Drake Living Gargoyle Lowland Tuatara Dark Root Tender Sapphire Ethernere Drake Thalumbra Leafhopper Cobalt Construct Hordemother Vespid Skittering Darkbone Deeplurker Cepholex Azure Sky Vespid Arurulent Swarm Obol Skirth Crimson Construct Verdant Chitin Terror Sezaid, Skyrider Vermillion, Bonebreaker