The Lizardfolk Village Disappearances
The Lizardfolk Village Disappearances describe a series of vanishings among lizardfolk villages along the coast from Apporia to the Fiatara Mountains, beginning in the DR 1730s, and continuing until the Silver Tempests destroyed the connection between Cairn Dor and the Material Plane in the fall of DR 1748.
Over the course of more than a decade, the inhabitants of dozens of small lizardfolk villages seemed to vanish, leaving behind empty houses and a strange green sigil later known as the Cairn Dor Sigil. Often, though not always, these disappearances were accompanied by disturbances to the local ecosystem or strange shadow-tainted creatures.
First Known Disappearance: Urkabi
The first well-known disappearance was the village of Urkabi, famous as the birthplace of Samso of the Silver Tempests, one of the heroes who defeated Yeshara and quieted Cairn Dor, and the only survivor of the attack on Urkabi. In DR 1737, Samso returned home from a journey to find his village empty. The trees showed black rot, nearby streams were polluted, and a green sigil was fading at the site.
Urkabi established the pattern later seen elsewhere: the people vanished, the local environment was harmed, and the sigil remained as a magical trace. At the time, Samso had no explanation.
Later Disappearances
Similar disappearances continued across the broad region during the following decade. By DR 1747, abandoned villages had been found west of Voltara and near Lake Valandros. Although accounts varied, many described the same green sigil, damage to the surrounding land, and, in some cases, shadow-tainted creatures resembling the missing inhabitants. These common features led the disappearances to be recognized as a single phenomenon rather than a series of isolated events.
In DR 1746 and DR 1747, reports of a strange sleeping sickness in the Kedron valley began to spread, connected to disappearances of others in the same household where the sleeping sickness took hold. This was later established to reflect a new phase of kidnappings, expanding beyond the original Lizardfolk targets.
Cause and Resolution
In DR 1748, the green sigil was identified as a magical mark associated with Yeshara, the Shemra Azem, and Cairn Dor. The vanished villagers had been taken through the Cleaver-Stone and held in enchanted sleep in Cairn Dor as “dreamers.”
On September 20th, 1748, the Silver Tempests severed the connection between the Cleaver-Stone and Cairn Dor, bringing the disappearances to an end. The company reached Cairn Dor the following month, defeated Yeshara, and freed the surviving captives. A magical stasis within Cairn Dor delayed their return to the Material Plane until June 1752.