The Damn Forum mkIII

The Cha’asii's appearance is startlingly different. They are a small race, averaging about 4’9” in height. Rare is the individual who reaches five feet. Their bodies are slender and well-proportioned for their height. Their hair is dark brown to dark green-black, and their eyes are deep forest green. Most notable is their skin, which seems to reflect the colors of the jungle from deep wood brown to shades of green.

A savage people living in the warm jungles, the cha’asii wear little in the way of clothing, and what little they wear is similar to that of their kin, the hulderfolk. Males go most often naked or with a simple loincloth of woven leaves, while females wear a barely modest covering of leaves. During the rainy season, they weave simple rain capes from grasses and palm fronds. Under the hot sun, it is typical to improvise a quick, simple hat from a palm frond.

In addition to their clothing, the cha’asii love bright decorations. Both sexes make and wear necklaces of exotic feathers, earrings of shells, and hair ornaments of carved weapons. Brightly colored ribbons and trinkets are prized treasures of the cha’asii. This is not because they are simple-minded. Those who deal with the outside world are perfectly aware of the power of money; it’s just that they have no use for it.

The weapons of the cha’asii are particularly suited to their world. The thick jungles make most long-range weapons, such as powerful long bows, impractical. The cha’asii use some small, light-weight short bows but more often favor carefully lacquered blowguns. Slashing weapons such as swords are also impractical for combat, since they are too easily tangled in the thick undergrowth. Throwing javelins and heavy thrusting spears Large outcroppings of workable ore or hard stone are rare, so most of their weapons (and tools) are made from the wood of the irontree, elaborately carved, polished, and sharpened. Much use is made of other natural materials, too. Blowgun darts are made from the five-inch thorns of the inya vine, whittled to barbed heads.

Throwing bombs is another favored weapon of the cha’asii. Crude gas bombs are made by stuffing the cleaned bladders of monkeys with certain noxious fruits. These are then allowed to ferment in the sun and swell up with the rotting gases. Once ready, they are carried in gourd cases until needed. When it bursts, a bladder fills an area with a foul stench intolerable to nearly all animals and effective for foiling creatures that track by scent. Hornet’s nests, collected at night inside leather bags, are used to drive off dangerous monsters, flush beasts out of dens, and cast enemies into confusion. Inya vines, woven into balls, are carried on strings inside bags. These are used like caltrops or are hung from low branches and concealed by leaves to act as traps. The metal weapons they have are prized treasures, valued more often as tools than actual weapons.

The cha’asii are also skillful herbalists and have the pharmaceutical wonders of the jungle at their fingertips. They can prepare salves that speed healing, poultices that draw out inflammations and poisons, powders to relieve headaches, potions to bring forgetfulness, and subtle juices to bring sleep. They eschew the use of poisons, and the art of poison-making is taboo. However, they have no qualms about dipping their darts in sleeping juice or building fires to carry sickness smoke (which causes fierce bouts of nausea) into the camps of their enemies. The herbalism of the cha’asii is much more than just a minor, though interesting, aberration because of their exceptional skill in the arts of nature magic.

The cha’asii have mastered the arcane secrets of their homeland. Many of their people can cast magical spells, and among them, there is an almost universal specialization in spells of nature. This specialization is far different from the known schools of magic, those divided according to the theories of principle. The cha’asii view magic differently from all others, seeing the source of all magical energy as either coming from nature or from unnatural sources.

To their minds, the differences of conjuration versus abjuration versus enchantment are nothing more than differences in methodology. Instead, key in on the source, use, or constructions of the magic cast, and these identify it as natural or unnatural. The cha’asii have no use for unnatural powers, something they equate with the yaggol, and thus rare is the cha’asii wizard who learns something other than natural magic.

Another aspect of their philosophies of magic is that everything is imbued with hidden magical energy. A wizard does not create a magical item by instilling it with energy; he invokes it by bringing out the hidden power within it. Thus, creating a magical item requires that the wizard learn what power is within the item that can be tapped. The more aesthetically perfect the item, the purer and more powerful the magic. Perhaps this is a better understanding of the magical creation process, for the cha’asii are masters of the art. Around the fires, the chanters sing the old legends about the great wizards who could bring out the magic of a thing simply by touching it.

Whatever the method, the cha’asii make many magical items, most of them unfamiliar to the outside world. A wondrously shaped tree, a naturally veined and rounded pebble, a colored turtle shell, all of these can become magical items in the hands of the cha’asii wizards. The very forest around a cha’asii village is alive with magical creations of the wizards’ enchanted vines, stones, and flowers.

Of course, such an approach has its limitations. Foremost of these, at least in the belief system of the cha’asii, is that the wizard has no control over the power hidden within the item; he can only bring forth what was in it. Certain items may have relatively consistent properties, but effects could also be widely different between two similar items.

Part of a wizard's training is to learn the different categories of things and what magic each is likely to contain. He must learn to recognize the different types of plants, the small signs that differentiate between stones, and so on. It is said throughout the League and elsewhere that great wizards are born with the magic in their eyes; in the jungles of Neron, it is said that a great wizard is born able to see the magic through his eyes.

The cha’asii live in small groups in the deep jungle. Since they live by hunting, the groups are widely scattered through the jungle valleys.  Nonetheless, the groups all share a close feeling of kinship. In their tales, there are no accounts of one family ever attacking another. Those in the village are members of the same family or sometimes several families. Males and females are considered equal. Tasks are divided between both, and, with the exception of childbearing, there is little difference between the two sexes. Females are welcomed as warriors and hunters and are often fiercer than their male counterparts.

From life, the cha’asii seem to ask little. Their homes are simple grass huts built on the ground or in the broad spreading branches of trees that grow along the streams and rivers. The huts are arranged around the central fire pit, where the cooking and feasting are done. Some time each day is spent hunting or tending the small gardens nearby, but most of the day is spent lazing in the heat. During this time, they work on wood carvings and repair their equipment.

Their carvings are works of art, combinations of intricate detail and natural grains and curves. These carvings, along with the exotica of the forests, are desired by those few traders who have found and befriended the cha’asii. In exchange, the elves receive trade goods such as jewelry, knives, cloth, pots, and magical spells. This last item commands great prices, but many traders have received interesting rewards for the spells they provide.

Given the apparent simplicity of the cha’asii, it is usually assumed that they have always been a primitive and barbaric people. Some, upon finding the strange ruins that crop up in the jungle, assume that the cha’asii were once the masters of these ruins and have culturally regressed. The cha’asii singers have another answer in their secret songs. (Through these singers tap the power of nature to cast spells, and thus the songs are kept secret to prevent dilution and weakening of the great magic they contain.) These songs suggest the cha’asii did not regress but advanced, reaching the stage where they chose to abandon the trappings of civilization to return to harmony with nature.

It is certainly true that the cha’asii are more a part of the jungle than just villagers trying to live in spite of or off of the jungle.

Sometimes the traders ask about the strange ruins found in the region, massive halls of stone-like wood. Vines wrap around fallen pillars, insects swarm over eroded carvings, saplings crack through the floors, and steaming rays of sunshine filter through the fallen roofs. It is clear that the cha’asii never built these places. To answer the questions, the cha’asii shake their heads and say they do not know, but their eyes belie their words.

In truth, the cha’asii know much more about the ruins in the jungle, for these have an important place in their secret songs. These songs tell of a time when the ruins were home to the ancient ancestors of the cha’asii. At one time, the ruins were part of a great empire, more enlightened and far older than the Empire of Aurim.

It was an empire of the elves from the very beginning of time. It ruled in a time before men began writing histories. Indeed, it is so ancient that even the wizards of the League, noted for their long memories and curiosity about things long forgotten, do not know its name or location. All that remains are the halls, built of a wood so strange that it has outlasted stone and withstood the darkness of the Cataclysm.

The songs also tell of the cha’asii and their duties as the protectors and caretakers of the wood halls. It could be that they created this responsibility themselves in a complex web of taboos and awe. It might also be, as they claim, that the last dwellers in those halls charged the cha’asii with the responsibility of protecting the halls until they returned. Whatever the reason, it is a duty they accept with great solemnity and reverence.

Those who attempt to force their presence on the cha’asii, in numbers large or small, are greeted by death. The cha’asii simply do not like strangers. Of course, there are exceptions. Should an outsider save the life of one of the cha’asii, he may be accepted by that family. More importantly, anyone who fights against the yaggol earns the respect of the cha’asii.

The yaggol are the sworn enemies of the cha’asii, and the two races have been warring in their own way for centuries. The yaggol are a race of mind flayers, an isolated group that has slid into decadent barbarism more savage than their already depraved natures. They lurk in underground colonies and in the thickest areas of the forest where sunlight never reaches the forest floor.

This is the explainer post for the Island of Blood Sea Tower. All of the information about the tower was collected over three years of gaming, creating, and doing a lot of thinking. First of all, Adam E, the player of Karnea, has been the best partner for working with you, and though there are gulfs of time when we can not talk, he was able to confirm some things, and I made the decision to break the Town and Island Information from the Tower of Blood Sea Post and allow the Tower to be its own thing, allow the Town to be its own thing, the same with the Coastal Plains I termed the Fertile Cresent, my reasoning being the wind coming off the ocean would be more exterme on the west side than on the east side, the Fertile Cresent. And finally, I allowed the Port to be its own thing and allow it space to grow.

I ran into a word limit, and that's what prompted me to allow the elements of the Island to have their own space to grow. Ihate naming people, but I must admit it is getting easier with the internet as a source. What prompted all this was Darius finally arriving on the island to stay for the foreseeable future and bringing Christine with him. This has been planned, I feel like, for years, but it was only when the First Conclave that we Gamed when Darius talked to Karnea about coming to the Island, and about Christine.

So I was writing Darius getting on his wagon and going through the Port, and then I was worried because they were headed to the Town. I had a good idea what was in the town, and it was all confirmed by Adam E already, so I decided to go on a naming spree and name everyone in the Port, and in the Town, and all of the farming families on the Island, Close to fifty in a couple of days. My next project is roads, but I have a few written down already, just going to line them up West and East. I have been trying to work on the blocks, the corners, and everyone's houses.

I feel so accomplished publishing everything. When it first went up, it was not formatted at all, and it was a jumble, but I was able to piece it all together into its right place, still tweaking things.

There are some open questions for Adam to opine on, like the rank of the Leader of the Island Defense. I believe Lord Commander is the right rank for a host of reasons, one of them is that it will inspire loyalty from him for Karnea for bestowing such a rank, and I think that is the most important thing. I think the most obvious con is that it might go to his head, but he is not dumb enough to **** off a wizard. He may think Captain is good enough, but for the record, I think it would make him more loyal to Karnea, to the Island, to the people, at least that would be my hope. I am naming it so until I get a "note."

I am super happy with the outcome of everything with the Island so far. I have even been injecting hooks here and there all over the place. The Green Dragon Tavern is new; we will see if that survives. I had good arguments for its existence.

With Darius moving to the island and opting to live in the Town rather than the Tower, it forced me to detail everything. I still don't have all the golems placed around the Town and the Port. But it's a good start. I have been able to finish all of Darius's Gaming material for the next Chapter and in fact, it is Darius's first two-parter and his first crossover with Adam E and Master Karnea, as she and Aravis host Darius, the island's newest Artificer, Christine, and the Tower's newest employee: The Tower's Academician Wizard Arthur Winsome for Dinner at the Tower in the Gardens on the 17th Floor.

We are also going to find out what Magical Items have been sent from Wayreth to the Blood Sea Tower that Darius brought with him on his voyage. They are Magical Items that were sent to Wayreth when the Wizards cleared everything out of the Istar Tower at the close of the Lost Battles, and some things that made it out of the Tower of High Sorcery at Losarcum before it was suddenly set upon and attacked by Istar's military arm, the Knights of the Divine Hammer. It was something the Wizards of the Tower of Losarcum could not allow, and some gave up their lives to ensure the Tower destroyed all in the vicinity of Losarcum, the City of Stone, and its complete and total obliteration, enough that it became known simply as the Ruins in later Ages.

I have little things tucked in there to surprise Adam E. He is always wary when I give him things. He would say Bad things always follow, and it makes me laugh that I scarred these people to such a degree that they feel it in their bones.

There is a life teetering even now, and Kanrea does not know; they are not even on the same plane, and it is on the list to do, but other chapters are between then and when Karnea can get her people to save them.


Alright, all, goodnight, and see you on the morn.                   

     

                                     

The Hidden Vale is the home of the gods of Balance, in the Outer Planes of the Cosmology of Krynn. The vale was built after the Dome of Creation and The Abyss, and is located between the former two realms, and is considered to be a place that is everywhere and nowhere. The Hidden Vale is surrounded by the forest of Zhan, which is the heavenly home for all elves who are deemed worthy of entrance. The realm is also the source of power for the elemental planes, which comprise the bulk of the Inner Planes, with natural elements flowing from the wellspring of the Hidden Vale directly into The Gray.

All the neutral gods have a home within the Hidden Vale, except for Lunitari, who chose to dwell in The Gray back in the Age of Dreams, and also Zivilyn and Chislev, who prefer to dwell in the forest of Zhan, rather than within the Vale. Even though Lunitari is no longer present in the Vale, the power of her moon is ultimately sourced from the Hidden Vale. The god Gilean has always governed and watched over the Hidden Vale. It is near impossible for a mortal to enter the Hidden Vale, except via the singular breach point, the Gate of Souls, or the direct intervention of one of the gods.

Beyond the gods, there are countless creatures that dwell in the Hidden Vale, including formians, elementals, inevitables, slaadi, maruts, kolyaruts, and zelekhuts.


Realms of the Hidden Vale
Library of the Tobril
The Worldforge
Zhan

Spring Dawning 351 AC

Silvamori and Qualimori (Metropolis, 45,204):


The Qualinesti crossed the Straits of Algoni and have come to shelter in the Elderwood, east of the Thon-Tsalarian, the River of the Dead. They are separated by the River; their capitals bear the names of Sun for Qualimori and Rain for Silvamori. Here, the elven senates of both elven nations, the Sinthal-Elish of the Silvanesti and the Thalas-Enthia of the Qualinesti, gather to meet their people’s needs.

Resources have become even more strained with the arrival of their Qualinesti cousins, and apparently, there is already a land dispute, but somehow, the elves have made it work.

As the months turn into years, the girls spend part of their time reconstituting House Mystic with the other survivors of the House; the other part, the girls had learned from Hestia over that fortnight how to speak in the Kagonesti tongue. They were ready for their lessons with K'gathala, their Kagonesti Dark Shalafi. Things were slightly awkward with K'gathala being Dalamar’s girlfriend. Dalamar stayed in Silvamori as well; they all benefited from K'gathala’s teachings of her primitive version of the dark arts. They had never felt closer to Nuitari before coming to the Elderwood.

There were, however, a couple of drawbacks. For one, she was much harder on the girls than she was with Dalamar (85), and she was especially hard on Selene (75), for K'gathala had sused out that Selene and Dalamar had had a previous relationship, (as transactional as it was,)  and was more verbally abusive then she needed to be, and usually, Selene was singled out.


After a while, Dalamar took pity and backed K'gathala off. K'gathala rode Kalana (64) as well. She was the last to learn Kagonesti, and while she learned, she sometimes made mistakes, which caused her to get a earfulfrom their Shalafi. Kalana had somewhat rebounded from the disastrous night, but she still could not look or talk to Dalamar in class.

Inari (47) was doing perhaps the best in class as she and Hestia (52) really came to understand each other, and she has the best grasp of the language and is always correcting the girls around the house when she hears them practicing on their pronunciation.   

Hestia had become one of the girls Inari had decided. Selene and the rest of the girls agreed. Hestia had become part of the group. They had taught her High Elven, but she did not like it and only learned so she could understand the girls’ words.

The Girls were working hard to not be suspected, and to always build out alibis during their clandestine lessons. They had a few close calls, and if Hestia had not been there, the girls would never have made it out of the trouble that would have surely come.


Selene Ironleaf

Over time, Dalamar comes back into Selene’s life, if only just to talk, like they used to, as colleagues. He tells her he would like to discuss with her about when it is safe to return to Silvanesti, and he wants to return with them.

Selene shares with Dalamar her fears of being caught back in Silvanesti and asks if it would be better just to go to Wayreth from here. “I feel like we are using up our chances; we won’t be able to hide what we have become forever. Silvanesti has never been on our side; we believe that we won’t be able to hide ourselves among them for too much longer. 

Dalamar tells her, “You and others can do what you want, but you will never be able to return. Look me in the eye and tell me you would rather live somewhere else.”

Selene can’t look him in the eye, but says, “Before the exile, I could never imagine it, but now, maybe.”

“I’m going back. This has been a traumatic experience; we have taken advantage of it. We get our leave to travel to Wayreth, and we can come back.

Selene asks about Hestia, “They won’t let her into Silvanesti, except to serve the new head of house mystic. Besides, we can’t pull her from her  home. You told me to bring her into the group, what did you have in mind for her?”

Dalamar simply shrugs, “You would agree she is much more than when you first found her?”

Selene considers for only a moment and says, “we don’t know the effect of cutting her off from the Elderwood will be, let alone the long ride on the ship going back.”

Dalamar clarifies what he is trying to ask. “Is she more now then what she was? I mean we can’t know for sure, but I have seen a difference what she has become since rooming with you girls. She understands high elven even if she refuses to speak it. We will get her to Wayreth, she deserves the opportunity, if she has to remain with us for a time, we will watch out for her.”     

Selene tries to be optimistic, but she knows how their people are and what they will do to Hestia if they don’t protect her.

Dalamar thanks Selene for their talk and heads for his house, while Selene watches him go. She turns and heads inside, seeing that everyone is occupied, Selene reenters her house, which she shares with the other girls, Seraphelle, Kalana, Inari, and Hestia.


Seraphelle Moonshadow

She climbs the ladder to her room, which she shares with Seraphelle. It's small and cozy, and they share the only bed, which Seraphelle is lying on, while she is reading Elven Poetry Collection by the renowned bard Quivalen Soth. Seraphelle looks up at Selene as she comes into the room and sits on their bed.

Seraphelle sees that Selene is deep in thought about something and asks Selene about it, “What did Dalamar have to say? It couldn’t have been good.”

Selene tells Seraphelle about Dalamar’s insistence that we bring Hestia back with us to Silvanesti.

Seraphelle is stunned, “I can see why you are nearly speechless; I don’t know how Hestia will take it, I don’t feel good about this.”

“He says we will take her to Wayreth, but are we even going to be allowed to go to Wayreth? He thinks we can live in Silvanesti after we take the test, I’m not so sure.” Selene looks to  Seraphelle, “What do you want to do?”

Seraphelle thinks for a moment, “I don’t have a good feeling about going back. I don’t know how we can avoid it. I don’t know where we would fit in.” As Seraphelle was talking, Selene moved a little on the bed and lays her head down on Seraphelle’s tummy, so she could see Seraphelle talk. Seraphelle continues, “If we can make it to Wayreth, if we make it through the Test, we can make our life someplace where we feel the safest.”

Selene observes, “Those are big if’s. I don’t want to bring Hestia to Silvanesti, as much as we have bonded, it would be torture for her, and you know how she is, she tells it like it is. It's so refreshing, and blunt.”

“I think it will be torture for us there as well. It might be hard to hide what we have become, and Hestia will stick out, and will be remembered. We, and I mean Inari will need to smarten her up socially, Hestia can stay herself, but she should be armed with the knowledge, right?” Seraphelle asks.

“Right, you are right. We should arm her with some etiquette; it’s a good idea. I will talk to Inari about it.”

Seraphelle brushes a strand of Selene’s hair behind her ear and holds out her hand to Selene. Selene takes  Seraphelle's hand, and Seraphelle asks Selene, “Where do you want to live, if we get past the ifs, where do you think we can be safe?”

“I don’t know.  We will have to see how the war turns out. Maybe we can live in Balifor, away from the kender. 

Seraphelle asks, “Did he want anything else?”

Selene had been away in thought, when she looked up at Seraphelle, she saw her wicked grin, knowing what it implied. “No. I think he misses our long talks. I don’t think he gets that with our Shalafi.”

“So, he sleeps with her and talks with you? 

They both roll their eyes and laugh while Selene gets up and crawls to kiss Seraphelle deeply as they roll together.       
   

Kalana Hiewind

Kalana Hiewind has her own room, but she is still in the same treehouse with Hestia. It's almost like Hestia knows how much she irritates Kalana and annoys her more. Hestia likes everyone else, everyone, but Kalana.

Kalana was not happy that she was being made to learn the Kagonesti language or miss out on the instruction. She was even less than thrilled when Selene brought Hestia to the Treehouse. Things have devolved into Kalana and Hestia constantly butting heads, and Selene tries to keep things calm and tries to keep Hestia from bothering Kalana. Other than the monster (Hestia), Kalana’s name for her, Kalana finally picked up Kagonesti (she detests having to learn it and speak it). Thankfully, Inari is an excellent teacher. She has left to go on walks on her own, seeing people, and being seen. She had grown into a beautiful young elf maid with golden hair that spilled over her back.

Though Dalamar ruined her self-confidence and self-worth, it has been a road to recovery, and though she resents her sometimes, Selene has been there for her, as much as it irritates her sometimes. She does not mean to be ingrateful. She wishes she had Selene’s confidence and self-assurance. She is only a few years older… She just feels like she is always in her shadow, and Kalana wants to shine. So, she soaks up some attention from admiring young men. She goes home alone, still not confident enough to get that far with anyone after the Dalamar incident.         

       
Inari Westbrook and Hestia Nightlock

The two had been nearly inseparable since Selene brought Hestia into their lives that snowy night. Inari, being the smartest, got it first and helped the girls pick it up. Inari has grown into a beautiful young woman, but she has not grown in height very much in these few years of what should be a growing spurt. Standing at 5’5’, she is not exactly pleased, but she supposes it could be worse. In contrast, the lithe wild one that came to live with the girls, Hestia Nightlock, has grown tall, with her dark brown skin, white hair, scantily clad, wearing necklaces and bracelets of silver and turquoise. She is a powerful young woman who has learned so much from Inari and the rest of the girls.   



Dalamar Argent


As for Dalamar, he remained in the city of Silvamori for years, studying the Kagonesti magic taught by his lover K'gathala. It would seem they would talk deeply in the night as K'gathala informed Dalamar that in her tongue the word "argent" meant "night's son", and he fancied the name Dalamar Nightson.

The Imperial Palace of Grand Empress Zeva

The Grand Empress sits within her private throne room, away from the eyes of her open court. Present at these private proceedings, to her left is a Handmaiden or two, Berra, Catspaw, and the Truthsayer, to Zeva’s Right is Zeva’s Hand, Duke Mormont, and her Chief Wizardess, Mira Soong.  Standing prominently between the old man and the throne are arrayed six Imperial Pretorians, armored and armed appropriately.   
   
The old man before the throne is the Antiquarian that Duke Mormont just brought in from the Imperial Library; the herald announced his name as Vyldrin Phaerox of Parth. The mere mention of Parth raises everyone’s eyebrows in surprise—a place name deep with meaning. Parth was a land swallowed during the Reign of the Queens; the name changed to Sumai over a hundred years ago, as a vassal state. Parth was mostly inhabited by halflings. Within four generations, the halflings were hunted to near extinction. Those who survived traveled to a sanctuary in the Northwest Forest.                 

The old man comes before the Pretorians and behind them, the Grand Empress on her throne on the dais. The old man slowly bows; something about it tells the room he is unaccustomed to bowing to anyone, but it is not done insultingly or with disrespect; he is old, and again, seems unpracticed. He rises again and awaits the questioning to begin. 

“If I may address your Highness and your Advisors with my tale, my word will be tested, I will hold nothing back, I do have a fading memory, so forgive me, This will be much easier than your stumbling lines of questioning., okay.”

Duke Mormont, for his part, looks to his Empress, and he looks to her right-hand signal that will allow the old man to continue. The Duke steps back and waits.
   
Vyldrin the Antiquarian says, “Thank you Great Empress, I must say here at the beginning, it is indeed a great honor to come before you and tell you my tale, in hopes that we may start a dialogue between our peoples, on a pathway of peace, once we do what is necessary, but I get ahead of myself.” 

“My Empress, I was born in the final era of the Kings of Old in the land of Parth. We lived alongside the smallfolk, as we called them then. Lived in a community that was shared between them.” Vyldrin explains that his intelligence was such that he had to go into the nation of Marika’s interior to find the educational base where I could thrive.”

He stops, panting a bit, and asks for some water. Zeva turns her head to her handmaiden, and she brings the Antiquarian a glass and a pitcher of water. 

He thanks the Empress and the handmaiden, pours his glass of water, and takes a drink to wet his lips. 

“I threw myself into learning anything that interested me. Soon, my depth of knowledge put me at the forefront of a class of individuals that wanted to move beyond mundane knowledge and so we delved into the arcane pursuits and each excelled in their own fields of study, coming together to share their discoveries and learn from one another.”

“Soon, we unlocking alchemical secrets that was unknown before us. But our experiments soon was deemed heretical, and so our number found refuge across the seas to Arun in the black sands of Haruir, as it was known in those days. It was there that Zayd al-Samra, the great Wizard vizier for the Lord of Haruir, Malik Al-Ramlat gave us the means to continue our studies in secure environment at his sparsely populated property, constituting nearly an entire district as his own. Within the bounds of his large property is a small, quiet oasis. In the mountains above was the Citadel chantry of Zayd al-Samra.”

“There we expanded at the edges of what was known about the magic of our fields. I was not even the most gifted of the Cabal, which is what we deemed ourselves. In those days, woman were not allowed to go onto higher learning, in any field, outside the most basic education.”

“I am ashamed to say I, and the others were so indoctrinated and conditioned that when we experienced the woman of Arun, we began to see how they were treated within their harem structure, it sort of broke us out of the gender paradigm, and allowed ourselves to be open to the suffrage, and as it happens, though we were not on the forefront of the Revolution of  the Queens, we worked with women in an equal way since in the Free Isles, where we eventually ended up for the long haul, that where most of the cabal stayed, but I have gotten ahead of myself.”

“Where was I? Right, the Citadel on Arun. I was not as powerful as my fellows but I added my expertise to unlocking the elixir, that gave us our longevity, my dose was incomplete and thus suffered the consequences as I slowly aged over the eon. One other mistake, it did not work for our host Zayd, who was none too  pleased, and cried out treachery.”

“The rest were a success, and to this day, they have remained so, but I would argue our, my final success rate is even more marked by the actions of one of our number, someone we have had a hard time cutting loose and distancing ourselves from because we have had a strength in numbers angle to our approach as a deterrent to outside threats. But over time, his threatening bullying drove some members away, like myself and a few others.”

“But the Cabal stayed firm and tried to guide him and direct his ill wind. They have tried to guide him back to a place where we can still have a positive impact on the world. We believed, we hoped we could reproach an opening dialogue with you one day, it would turn out today would be that day.”

“He has many names; colloquially, he is the Anarchist. The Queens would never accept us, and for a long time, The Cabal was unsure how to take the developments of your expanding Hegemony over the entire Sphere.”

“The Anarchist did his best to bring about the downfall  of the Queens, not openly, but through subtle and hidden agency over events gone wrong. He mostly traded in secrets and saw to the end of many a villain that deserved it. He could not be a more deadly foe, so it is best if you never catch yourself underestimating the gravity of the threat he poses.”   

“Before I go too much further, Zayd al-Samra was unable to achieve the elixir without us, and we had already fled Arun’s shores, certain promises were made in the court of Lord of Haruir, Malik Al-Ramlat, including the Lord himself.”

“In the end, to preserve his mind, Zayd al-Samra became the Lich of the Black Sands and carried out the death of the Lord of Haruir, and anyone that said a word about it afterward. His hatred know no bounds.”

“I was interested to hear of the recent troop movements to Arun, has something happened?”


Meanwhile, to the Empress's left, Catspaw the Elder is brought a few files of some weight and is momentarily distracted from the fact that Catspaw the younger is quietly informing him of new information that they have uncovered from directorate archives, going back decades. She gives him the highlights, which brings forth some hushed, colorful language into the private throne room.  Catspaw the Elder looks to Empress Zeva, and Zeva tries to interpret his look to no avail and asks, “Do you want to share it with the class or not? What is it?”

Catspaw the Elder answers uncomfortably with a request to the Grand Empress. He asks to approach the throne. The Empress allows, and he comes to her side and whispers, “We need to sidebar and evaluate some of this information. Chief among them is the fact that a while back, this guy was contracted and worked for the Security Directorate by creating the cipher codes that we still use variations of to this day, across the government, the office of the Foreign Ministry, and our military services.”

Zeva looks at the old Man and wonders how compromised they are, and asks him to explain the matter. The old man assures them, calling for the Truthsayer to verify his exact words that he does not equivocate. “I never passed on the cipher to my compatriots; they have never read anything from your signals correspondence traffic. These are statements of fact that the Truthsayer confirms. The old man continues,  “I have my books, and my quiet life.”
   
Catspaw, the younger, hands her father a list, who looks over the document; his eye widens, and he hands the sheet over to the Grand Empress. 

This information was garnered from his interview with Security Directorate personnel. These are the following conclusions to those interviews, and additional claims made by the subject, nineteen years ago in 404 ST. 
 
Vyldrin Phaerox, an antiquarian by trade, turns out to be much more than that. He is one of the foremost mathematicians on Soreel, an astronomer, a teacher, an astrologer, an occultist, an alchemist, and one who tries to understand the metaphysics all around us.

He proposed a visionary plan for preserving old books, manuscripts, and records and founding a national library for the Queens, but it was not taken up. Instead, he expanded his own personal library. He is nothing short of a genius.

Further Notes
An additional interview came after a tour of his old bookshop, and then he moved to the subject's home. A Manor House was impeccably kept up, various bookshelves lined a few walls in various rooms, but there was a dedicated library of books the interviewers had never heard of, or ones that they had heard of but no longer existed, anywhere. A lost goldmine of literature and history has been stored in this house, in this room.

From his Personal Library, lost books that have been erased from history in some cases and just lost in others.
 
A sampling of just what the interviewers reported seeing, there are many more, too many to record everything in the short time of the interview. Future examinations will further yield the full scope of the arrayed books.   


The Voyages of Sargos of Arun - from the Bronze Age Period
 
The Rise of Nations  - from the Bronze Age Period
 
Dark Age Fall of the Bronze  - from the Early Archaic Period
 
The Warlords of Marika of the Archaic - from the Archaic Period
 
The Pogrom against the Demi-Humans - from the Late Archaic Period
 
Rise of the Kings of Old  - from the Dawn of the E.D. Period

The True and Final Accounting of the King's List of the E.D. Period 
 
The Sea Battles of Grand Admiral Edran Stormbreaker - from the Mid E.D. Period
 
The First Queens of Marika  - from the I.A. Period

A True Recording of the Queen's List of the I.A. Period


Updated information: It turns out he is a huge contributor to the Imperial Library and University, as well as those important institutions across Marika.     


Vyldrin Phaerox, The Antiquarian, speaks to the assembled and to the Grand Empress. “Now that I have your attention, I present this letter, he begins to reach.-”

Swords stay in their sheaths, but they pull the hilt out to show they are ready for anything that comes out of that pocket. itis a distinctive sound that resonates in the hall. 

He continues slowly reaching into the inside pocket of his overcoat trench, and brings out a letter, an extravagant letter that is folded up, but not too small. Just a few times, it is a big letter. This is from the members of the Cabal that has finally broken with the Anarchist. They sent this letter for me to convey to you.”

He hands it to one of the Pretorians, but they lower their swords back into their sheaths and prepare to turn sideways as Duke Mormont walks forward and takes the letter, and brings it back towards the Empress. The Pretorians close ranks again once the Hand passes back towards the throne.

The Hand is walking up the steps, unfolding this letter’s folds. He finally reaches the full opening and turns it around so he can find the beginning. He reads it aloud for Zeva:

Grand Empress, we are a Cabal currently abroad, and at a hidden location, from even our once friend, the one known as the Anarchist. We have had to take precautions to make sure he cannot find us. We hoped to quell his great fire, but his fire burned through the years, burning ever brighter even now. We share a concern that he might inflict any number of atrocities across your Empire.

It is true that for a long time, we, of the Cabal, were paranoid at first with fear over your ever-expanding hegemony of the sphere. We have observed the balance you have achieved with a minimal amount of violence to bring a lasting peace.                             
There is one among us who is beyond reason, and he is one of the most fearsome people on the planet.

Our actions in the past have unleashed an uncompromising, unstoppable force of nature. We would propose straight away that he has vast shipping interests that double as information gatherers and spreaders of disinformation. He plays the markets; he reads the market and information reports, and can see trends before anyone else. He controls the Doppelgangers that flooded your continent recently. We have reason to believe that he controls some of your sources of information that you use; we are sure of it. Double-check everything.  We hope you will send correspondence. We trust Vyldrin Phaerox to convey your reply to us. We look forward to a détente between our two parties.             


Epilogue: 

Vyldrin Phaerox, The Antiquarian, is asked to stay in Imperial Apartments for the night and, going forward,d if he would like. The Grand Empress expressed to him, “I want the Imperial Library to enact your reforms, from your interview. Right now, I would like to invite you to dinner.”
 
Empress Zeva is completely taken with the old Antiquarian. The man is a wealth of historical information (both his life and his library). Something she realizes is so brittle that whole swaths of their history are just gone. This man represents a bridge to the past that is unique and needs to be protected. She can't wait to introduce or mention him to Karnea, Lucius, and Aravis.