To most of the Tyr region, it has no name. It is simply
a danger, like tar pits and slavers, and the best way to
deal with danger is to avoid it. The stories are terrifying,
however. And they all center around the relatively deserted
ruins of Giustenal. No matter which tale you hear, the
central theme remains unchanged-something lurks in
Giustenal. Psionicists claim that it is a being or object of
incredible power seeking to make contact with vulnerable
minds. It calls to those with even the smallest amount
of talent in the Way, speaks to them in an unknown
language, and drives them to insanity – and murder.
Everyone who has traveled through the Giustenal region
has a tale to tell, a story of a trusted companion who
goes mad in the middle of the night and kills a kank, or
a crodlu, or even another companion. The stories all end
one of two ways. Either the teller or another is forced to
kill the mad companion, or the mad one runs into the
night, toward the age-worn walls of Giustenal, with blood
still fresh on his hands.
To most, it has no name. To the elves of the Sky Singers
tribe and others living in the shadow of Giustenal's ruins,
it is the Caller in Darkness.
No one on Athas knows the true identity or nature
of the Caller in Darkness, not even the Dragon or the
sorcerer-kings. It exists, so avoid it; that's the common
opinion. The truth, however, is much more complicated.
The Caller in Darkness is a very unique form of undead.
It was created by the mass carnage inflicted on Giustenal
by the sorcerer-kings at the time of Dregoth's death. Before
one can understand the nature of the thing, however, it is
important to know how the sorcerer-kings channel magical
power to their templar minions.
When the sorcerer-kings battled in Giustenal, their
collective vortices gathered in the ethereal space nearby.
Never had the ethereal plane seen such a storm, and it
was the souls of the city's slain that were caught up in the
swirling funnels. Over the centuries, the powerful psionic
energies of the spirits trapped within merged to form a
kind of group consciousness-what some know as the Caller
in Darkness.
Only in the last few centuries have the supernatural
winds began to abate and slowly release souls to the Gray.
Unfortunately, the group consciousness believes that it is
dying rather than being freed, so the entity actively works
to slay those nearby and draw in their souls. It searches
constantly with psionic signals, waiting for someone to
hear its psionic call. When it touches a mind that can
respond, it overwhelms it and draws it toward the ruins.
For only those who die within the walls of the city will
be sucked into the Caller's maw. When the Caller is
successful, the dead it draws replace those that the storm
has lost, maintaining its raging fury a while longer.
