My friend Kavaris and interested parties,

Having survived a visit to the Isle of Tears and the second sacking of Tultipet, what I crave most at the moment is a chance for some down time with the things that are most important to me. I would love to curl up with my wife Belinay on the rooftop balcony of Litera Scripta Manet and watch the sunset. Or I could dust off my copy of Nerius the Elder and laze away an afternoon in contemplation. Instead I see your letter on the top of my stack of correspondences. “I have recently come into some confusion about a creature called a "voiceless one." Can you share anything you might have found in your studies about such creatures? I am sure I would find anything you can share highly enlightening. Though I would understand if this is a topic too sensitive for your usual dispatches, as rumor seemed to indicate they were rather dangerous.”

Oh Kavaris. Rather dangerous? If only you really knew.

It might be best if I could summon enough chutzpah to deny their existence. There is certainly no shortage of scholars who are willing to dismiss them. From a certain point of view I can’t blame them. The Voiceless Ones are supposed to be the Centurions and Knight Captains of a secret conspiracy that has tried to slowly bring about the end of everything. That is understandably a tough sell. And some scholars who suspect otherwise might not want to advertise.

Unfortunately I have seen one, admittedly at a distance with Clairvoyance. So I know the Voiceless Ones are real.

Here my distaste for mendacity and deceptions skirmish with own my sense of self-preservation. You are right. The Voiceless Ones are a dangerous topic to research. Bad things tend to happen to people who go looking for detailed information about these adversaries.

Consider Darius Gracchi. He was a fine scholar. Darius used the Gracchi’s fortune and influence to mount several expeditions of inquiry. These inquiries began to concentrate on what might be broadly described as “Psionic Monsters,” and for a time he was probably the foremost authority on them. Darius and his loyal companions explored from the edges of Dhar Zhan Vor to the tunnels bellow the Blessed Land. His expeditions documented the Kraael, a type of crystal golem and the Obnu-il, an insectoid race. Among others. And Darius, I am sad to say, gained the attention of the Voiceless Ones. That quickly became his end.

Darius quit or disbanded the company of his armed companions. A very mysterious choice. Darius then returned alone to the caverns beneath the Blessed Lands. We know this because Darius kept a spectacular journal. Many fragments have been recovered and are collected and studied in the Great Library of Tralia. They do not tell a pretty tale of Darius’ end. Darius abandoned his earlier clear prose to ramble. His last entries are a confusing series of justifications for his erratic behavior under a number of implausible theories. He traveled alone to “protect” his former companions. He had to go into the tunnels to “just see.” He talked of “gathering intelligence” to warn people. The journal disturbingly ends mid entry as he described a half seen talk lanky creature cloaked in Cadic’s shadows.

My conclusion on reading the fragments is that Darius was under mental compulsions and he was forced to rationalize any number of excuses to conceal from his consciousness how he was drawn in like a fish on a line.

So, first among the Voiceless Ones salient abilities we should list their superior skill with the Arcanum. There is some debate on whether they use psionic or elder traditions in manipulating the Arcanum. Perhaps they use both? Or perhaps they have their own unique traditions that merely overlap with teaching that we are more familiar with. However they do it, the Voiceless Ones must be acknowledged as powerful telepaths with mastery of the Control tradition. The Voiceless Ones are also masters of transmutation and deception. During the efforts to recover the val’Emman mentagi and a First Imperium standard some of the explorers assembled reported an encounter with one of the Voiceless Ones initially disguised flawlessly as an elorii.

Physically these creatures are uniformly described as tall. Usually they are also described as skinny or lanky. But they are easily as strong as most warriors. Voiceless Ones naturally have claws worthy of a Singarthan troll and a carapace that is superior to lorica segmentata or a gothic cuirass. They have no eyes. Descriptions of their mouth vary. Generally it is accepted that the jaws unhinge in a strange way that allow them to bore through the skull even when protected by a steel helmet. Physically we can conclude that they are more dangerous than all but the most elite warriors found in the known lands.

We know that the Voiceless Ones have fought the Singarthans to at least a standstill. There are rumors there has been conflict with Ssethregore as well. So they are not random "monsters" but part of a society that understands logistics and is capable of long term goals. And they are control forces sufficient in numbers to thwart powerful armies.

There are a number of lesser creatures who serve them.

The insectoid creatures called the Obnu-il are skilled in deception in their own right. When Darius and company first met them, they thought they had found a lost enclave of dwarves. And there is reason to believe that it was Obnu-il who masqueraded as elorii “Servitors” in the now destroyed city of Ravan Tindal. The Obnu-il practice the Arcanum through psionics and are powerful in their own right.

Puppeteers may originate from the Voiceless Ones. These smallish “slugs” or “worms” attached at the base of the neck or head and influence the actions of their host. One document I have seen suggests that people under the influence of these creatures do not blink as often as a normal person would. But I have never encountered such a creature.

Finally those who went to the Vault of Larissa reported a Gar Shaman with psionic powers and a constant “scream” that the awakened felt. There are stories that the Voiceless Ones sometimes permanently enslave other and bind them to their will. In this process the thralls receive more limited psionic gifts. So I would be wary of any “normal” individual who uses psionic powers to wield the Arcanum. They might be a tool of the Voiceless Ones.

Their known vulnerabilities are limited. Like vampires I have never heard of them to be active under the light of the sun. There are also a few psionic powers from the Heritage tradition that all psionically active vals all share. These powers seem specifically tailored to fighting such creatures. The best known of these is the Gladius of Light. Alas I have not personally learned how to manifest such a blade.

All together these limited facts and stories are not fully illuminating. But if you ever do face a Voicess One I recommend focusing on escape rather than combat. Voiceless Ones have many minions; they are masters of mind control and subterfuge. So if you ever encounter a Voiceless One, it is almost certainly on ground of its own choosing and it has every advantage it thinks it needs to kill you. Or worse.

I remain your obedient scribe,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria.

Unto the most learned scholar, Ambassador Tukufu of Altheres.

Greetings.

My name is Uberto val'Borda.

You do not know me, but I am a avid reader of your letters when copies reach as far as Plexus. It is your last letter, concerning the beings called the Voiceless Ones that reminded me of a passage I once found in the journals of my grandfather.

My Grandfather was a man called Tes val'Borda who was a, well to call a spade a spade, a spy in the service of Emperor Calcestus. For many years he posed as a simple candle maker known as Magen val'Mehan in the city of Nishinpur.

As fate would have it, at that tumultuous time of the Coryani civil war, my grandfather was caught up in a number of events. One of those events was when he was asked to secure the release of General's Menesis's sister Anora and her children. Why my Grandfather was doing this when he was a loyalist in the war I do not know, but that is a digression.

My grandfather describes finding a being chained to a rock. This creature was made out of a crystalline substance and called itself .. to quote "I am The Hara’mia, lord of the gods of my children, the Khi’faree."

My grandfather writes that the being went on to say....

"Once, my children were the lords and masters of our common world, the one you call Arcanis. They were master artisans and philosophers, poets and scholars, the gentlest and wise of all sentient races. They never knew war nor even had a word in their vocabulary for hate or strife. Under our stewardship, they eventually conquered their own mortality and lived on until the end of days. There, in that far future as oblivion came and swallowed them whole, they met their fate with dignity, singing their final hymns and prayers to us. No parent could have been prouder of his children.
“But then came your twelve gods. Defying paradox, they came back to the beginning of time and usurped our place as their gods. The lord of your gods, a being of light, bid the others to destroy my brethren while he chained me to this stone. He said, ‘As head of your Pantheon you will continue to exist as a testament to what was, but now will not be.’
“Your other gods made quick work of my divine siblings, though to my surprise, the Dark One of the Flashing Daggers let one my brothers escape to the land of shadow and darkness, while the one who chained me called back his dogs, Nier and Hurrian, from destroying my younger sister, Leeata of the Whispers.
“Having supplanted us, they took our place and taught our children how to hate, envy, want, and make war with one another. Everything that they were destined to become was now destroyed, except for their eventual embrace of immortality. But then, your gods taught them that even immortals can die.
“And so, after a brief time upon this world, they died. Their bones, now buried beneath layers upon layers of earth, became those crystals that lie in that chest.
“Just before I was banished to this place where all dead things go, I was visited one last time by the One of Light. He called himself Illiir and he spoke these final words of consolation.
‘Know that my heart is heavy, but this must be done for OUR children to have a chance of surviving beyond the time of Oblivion and utter Silence. The essence of your children will serve to protect mine.
‘Your children met their end meekly; bowing to the inevitable. Not so with mine. Though it may indeed be a futile gesture, they shall rage against the coming darkness and fight until their last.
‘That is why they are worthier than yours. And that is why they shall prevail in the end.’

He then described being attacked by a member of the long dead race that this being claimed to be a god of. The strange part, and this is what caused the resonance with your previous letter, is that my grandfather traveled with a companion who was later revealed to follow the Silence (he was a Mourner) and this person tried to free the begin from its chains and was not attacked by the beings creature.

That is all my grandfather wrote and, given your current topics of discussion, I was wondering if you knew anymore about this strange being. It is obvious what he talks about is blasphemy as we all know that Holy Illir is lord of all creation, but I found it interesting none the less.

Yours in service
Uberto val'Borda

My new friends from Plexus,

Uberto, it is a joy to read your missive, and pleasure to make your acquaintance! And I want to thank you for sharing your grandfather’s tale. I have made a fair study of the lives of the Heroes of Light and the Coryani Civil War. So of course I am well familiar with the tale of how Patrician Anora val’Tensen and her children were kidnapped. Those events led directly to the assassination of General Menesis and almost broke the Rebel faction. But for Darius val’Tensen and the Heroes of Light, history might have pivoted in an entirely different direction and the world might be under the thumb of fallen Manetas.

The story of The Hara’mia is also known to me. During the attempt to rescue Anora I believe the heroes traveled across the planes to the part Underworld most directly ruled by Neroth. It was there that they conversed with a strange giant chained to a pillar of rock. Most accounts I have read are vague, confused, or conflicted. Many versions claim the participants tried to ignore the Hara’mia until it summoned opponents to attack them. At least one account suggests Reygan Rath, a known Mourner and pawn of the Silence, tried to free the creature.

I hardly know what to make of this account of the Hara’mia. Your Grandfather’s record is quite frank. While I rejoice to have such a clear retelling I also want to urge readers to exercise great caution in interpreting the words of the Hara’mia. I would take nothing it said at face value. Still, I find several points worth contemplating.

The first is the tale of creation itself. Though many assume that the Pantheon of Man are the creators of the Universe there is actually nothing in the Illuminated Scrolls that directly supports this belief. Instead there are brief allusions to a Creator which died in the act of creation. So there is nothing in the Illuminated Texts that is directly in conflict with the Hara’mia’s claim that it predated the Pantheon of Man from some forgotten earlier age. Indeed the Planes of the Forgotten, hypothesized by Nerius the Younger, are filled with all sorts of ancient and deadly horrors.

Far more contentious and curious is the claim that its people, the Khi’faree, were dominant across Arcanis from furthest Antiquity to the End Times. That would mean not only no First Imperium but also no empire of Ssethric creatures. And if there was no Yahsremore subjugating the continent of Onara, then there was probably no creation of the elorii race either.

Can you imagine such a world?

This timeline is then essentially erased by the Pantheon of Man, which the Hara’mia describes as defying Paradox. I find the claim of Paradox the most intriguing of all the things said. I suspect that this claim means that in the Hara’mia’s original timeline the Pantheon of Man either did not exist, or existed in some other form from the Deities which travelled backwards in time. Perhaps they created the conditions that would lead in turn to their own creation? If so the Pantheon of Man has defied causality to create a tautological loop. These are big thoughts that make even my head spin. But we only have the Hara’mia’s words on this, and perhaps it lied. Certainly it was no friend of mankind.

Two other items are worthy of reflection.

The first item is the “brother” that was spared by Cadic. The Hara’mia claimed it fled to the Plane of Shadow. It is well known in the Holy Texts that Cadic travelled, much later in time, to the Plane of Shadow to help restore Illiir. And that while there Cadic told the first lie and struck down the Lord of Shadows there. One assumes from the Hara’mia’s account that Cadic let the “brother” go so that he could become the Lord of the Shadow world, and die at the appointed place and time.

The final item is Leeata of the Whispers, the Hara’mia’s “younger sister.” What became of her? Does she still exist somewhere? It is impossible to answer such questions. I know of one group of philosophers who contend that the Pantheon of Man is less of a true family than an alliance of Deities. These philosophers contend for example that Yarris might be older than the other members. These beliefs sound heretical to me. But I am intrigued by the idea that this Leeata was absorbed into the Pantheon as one of the younger members. The only possible candidates would be the “Gentlest” who was destroyed and absorbed by the Other or perhaps Larissa.

So much to ponder!

What this story brings home to me is that the Pantheon of Man is prepared to go to any length in the defense of mankind. As a follower that humbles me. But a sliver of fear is laced through that humility. The End Times will eventually come. And for the generation that has the misfortune to be born then will have to make monumental efforts and perhaps perform monstrous acts to secure any kind of future for mankind past the looming Silence. May that reckoning be a great many more years in coming.

I remain your obedient scribe,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria

::A note, staked to the door by a Pugio dagger::

Greetings "Ambassador,"

I wanted to say I'm a great fan of your work, and your last couple of letters have interested me greatly. In fact, they are of such great interest that I have passed your information on to some associates of mine with similar interests. While these associates are not much for talking, I can assure you that any further thoughts on this matter would likely lead one of them to wish to discuss your interest in this area further. . . personally.

Until then, I assure you that I--and my associates--will be keeping an eye on your body of work and others of your various misadventures. After all, we wouldn't want to miss any thoughts you have had now, would we?

Gentle Readers,

I seem to have acquired a new letter opener from an “admirer.” I am tempted to think that this might be a further wrinkle in the activities of a certain gnome. But I don’t think he can easily reach that high on my door. I have a bounty hunter frienemy who has also insinuated threats in the past. But he would have gone on and on at greater length.

It would appear this is a new critic.

I never really know what to do in these situations. Well, other than to stake out the door of Litera Scripta Manet for a few days to seek what shakes out. That I have to guard my bookstore and home is irritating, but honestly I more or less do that anyway. Even when there are no strange threats being leveled t me from one corner or another I have to worry about petty and not so petty theft. Sometimes I find it all a little bemusing because I sit across the street or in a bar, or on a roof and just people watch. Look there at that man there with the eye patch! Is he suspicious? Or look at the woman with two children. Maybe if I was a really clever assassin I’d hire two urchins from the Pearl for the day?

Me being me, I am afraid I enjoy spinning out increasingly implausible stories in my head.
Given that the content I of the missive I received I am going to assume I’ve offended someone who thinks they speak for some secret society or another. Those societies spin their own implausible stories too. Worse they live in a world of secrets and so rarely get a chance to check their facts. Not that the most extreme of them ever want to.

Such is the power of belief.

Sometimes I wish everyone would just identify themselves so we could talk it out over a few beers in a dive bar. Or if violence is inevitable, it could we go through the predictable cadence of the “monkey dance” as we wind ourselves up properly first. I’ll call you a name. You can call me a name. One of us will push the other and Bang! We go at it. But then again I found out a man named Illak from Ymandragore was a reader, so maybe there are some people within this circle of letters that I don’t want to share a drink with.

A very depressing thought.

For all the secret handshakes and code words it has been my impression that few of the secret societies are actually all that monolithic. It was just a generation ago that the Sanctorum was penetrated and its members divided against themselves as factions of the Hawk and Shield. That was an extreme case orchestrated by Lucius Orarta, but the two sides worked directly at cross purposes. Given that members of the Hawk and the Shield must have had some idea who each other were I’m a little bit surprised it didn’t result in ambush and clandestine war. Maybe they are tightly bound by their hatred of Ymandragore and that limited incentives to fight amongst themselves. Or maybe they just got really lucky.

The various groups under the banner of the Mourners of Silence are even worse as I understand it. The Mourners are essentially split three ways. One is a group of philosophers I understand that you can actually have a conversation with. Then there are those with an axe to grind against the corruption within the Mother Church. And finally they an extremist wing that likes to act out. Supposedly they’ve been around since the fall of the First Imperium or the rise of Eryunell but I find such claims suspect. What could keep such divergent groups together for so long? Why haven’t the radicals turned on the moderates for being soft? Why haven’t the reasonable ones kicked out the most radical elements for blackening their name?

Alas, I don’t know the right secret handshake to really research that area in any meaningful way.
There is the rare day when I feel like I should organize these letters into a secret society. For those of you who love archaeology as I do, maybe we could call ourselves the Mystic Brethern and Shovel Bums. Or if you’re following the Prophesies of the Coming Destroyer maybe we could call ourselves the Foes of the Coming Apocalypse. But then we’d be hip deep in the secrets game too.

I’ll keep a secret if it’s necessary to protect someone. But overall it’s been my experience that progress is fastest when people willing collaborate openly. So I remain your obedient Scribe and share my thoughts freely with anyone interested in listening,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria

Comrades Past & Present and all Gentle Readers,

Finally I set ink to paper on the matter of Tultipet and the recent combat that took place there.

I beg you to first indulge me though. As an Altherian historian I feel any report on Tultipet must begin 40 years ago with Villa’Tavorentis. Many of you already know this tale, but it bears repeating that this great and terrible creature is one of the 12 True Dragons. When finally freed from more than a millennia of imprisonment, it wasted no time in seeking out and leveling the stronghold of its ancient enemies. Villa’Tavorentis essentially ripped off the roof of the dwarven enclave and created a crater of fiery death. At least 9 out of every 10 dwarves of Tultipet died that day. Including the Royal Family, save only for Princess Myrkasulanis who was carried off into the skies by the Dragon. And for the last 40 years the survivors, no more than 5,000 in total, have slowly cleared the ruins, dodged the Voie, and sought to rebuild some kind of life.

But this year it became increasingly clear that the new status quo had changed. Something was off near Tultipet. Messengers were turned away from the gates. Travelers went missing too often. Finally heroes from the First City brought the Tomal Khan a detailed report that Myrkasulanis had returned and was gathering allies to assault the First City. Given the intelligence received, the Tomal Khan faced a quandary of how best to proceed. He could have chosen to reinforce the formidable defenses of the First City. Instead the Tomal Khan decided to strike fast before our new enemies could consolidate their forces. I am sure many of his critics will now say fortification would have been a wiser course of action. The First City is indeed very hard to assault. But it is not anywhere near self-sufficient in food. Even a short siege would have been brutally hard on the citizens here. I have also seen enough of war to know that combat is hard on the local real estate. On balance I believe the Tomal Khan made the right decision.

By my reckoning just over 3,000 riders answered the Tomal Khan call to arms. The great Khan also recruited between 60 or 70 elite and hardened soldiers as his spearhead. Many among the riders hoped that at least some Tultipetans would also side with the Tomal Khan when we arrived. Neither the Coryani nor the Khitani forces stationed in the First City formally sent detachments. It was said that they were either involved in securing the Unclean Zone, or out on general patrol. It was said that they could not be recalled in time to keep up with the Tomal Khan’s riders.

Due to the Tomal Khan’s foresight and wisdom not a single civilian of the First City was harmed in the savage carnage that ensued. In this they alone have been spared. Casualties on both sides were catastrophic. I believe the Khan’s forces suffered losses in excess of 85%. Only several hundred riders returned home. Loses on Tultipet’s side were even higher, exceeding 90%. I believe a reasonable estimate of the total Tultipetans left in the known world is now close to 350.
In some quarters I fear the Tomal Khan’s standing has suffered as a result of these heavy casualties. Too many children of the Khan’s clans are suddenly fatherless. In other quarters I fear his chief reward may yet prove to be indifference and ingratitude for his sacrifice. For my part so much blood was spilt that I find myself numb. I still grieve for all those who fell in battle. Still, as I have said, I believe the Khan’s logic was sound. If I could somehow turn back the clock to the moment when the Khan asked me to ride with him I do not think I could refuse, even knowing the outcome in advance.

Given my psionic powers with Clairvoyance I was kept near the command group under a lesser Khan named Gulbahar who was stern and taciturn. Gulbahar may not have made friends easily, but he showed great energy and faithfulness in the execution of the Tomal Khan’s plans and orders. I helped monitor different fronts and sorties for him and was thus in the perfect position to bring you a report on the overall flow of the battle.

The fighting began before the Tomal Khan’s forces reached the city of Tultipet. As we passed through low hills that still contained snow the lead elements were ambushed by enslaved Voie. Until a few years ago no one would have believed that Voie could reliably be enslaved. Now I have seen them deployed twice against the First City. Even worse than their “starfish” encrusted forms were the crucified victims, many still living, who lined the road. The obvious interpretation was an attempt to intimidate us as we rode to Tultipet. But another possibility is that the Voie have learned the practice from us, much as they have learned rude forms of weapon making and armor smithing.

Though the Voie were ultimately dispatched, our force was bottle necked on the road through the hills, and we lost the elements of speed and surprise. The City of Tultipet had time to close and seal its gates against us. In that moment we were nearly defeated. Dissention and bickering broke out in our as we gazed on the dwarven fortifications. Many of the riders had counting on surprising the city and storming in before anyone knew we were there. We had no siege engines in our train. Attacking the walls or gate with cavalry was a fool’s errand. But the Tomal Khan was not dismayed. He countered by leaving a few horse archers to keep the guards engaged at long range while he sent his elite platoons to scale the cliffs of the crater wall and sneak around from inside to open the gates. It was a bold and dangerous plan for those who went ahead since they would be cut off from the main body, inside the edges of a hostile city and would have little recourse to escape if things went sour. To their credit no one declined to go.

The job of scaling the cliffs was contested by what I will call “squads” of harpies. I have had the dubious pleasure of encountering harpies before on the far edges of civilization, but I have always dismissed them as semi-intelligent monsters. I was therefore greatly surprised to see that their leaders had been armed, some of them wielded the Arcanum and they executed reasonably complex tactics. It wasn’t immediately clear if the climbers would succeed as ropes were cut and magical winds blew people off ledges. Fortunately a few lightly armed skirmishers succeeded in the assent. Once at the top they started dropping more ropes down to assist others and passage was eventually assured.

From the lip of the crater wall we lost sight of our infiltrators. So we waited in an endless moment of tense silence. Gulbahar made so many demands of me that I feared the strain of keeping my Third Eye open would leave me retching in the dirt. Clairvoyance works on a specific place. It does not follow specific individuals. So fighting heachaches and nausea I had to keep manifesting sensors in different locations to track our advance and the fighting at the gatehouse.

The assault on the gatehouse went far better than we had any right to hope for. I can only conclude the no one in Tultipet seriously considered it as a tactic. Casualties on our side were virtually non-existent. Scores of Tultipetan dwarves were vanquished and killed. Two watch towers adjoined the main gate and the capstans within were seized to raise portcullises and finally the Gates to the city were thrown wide. With minimal casualties the Tomal Khan’s forces had gained entrance to Tultipet. We were in! It felt like we stood on the brink of victory.

With the most formidable defenses behind us I said premature prayers of thanks to Altheres and Hurrian. But if I had known what was coming for us deeper inside the city I would have prayed for the souls of the casualties instead. The most brutal fighting lay ahead of us, as well as an ambush against which the Khan’s cavalry would have almost no defense. I was not the only one to be surprised that fighting was nowhere near being over...

I remain your obedient scribe and will conclude my account of the Invasion of Tultipet in my next letter,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria.

My dear Ambassador,

Your tales never fail to delight or thrill and I look forward to reading each one.

One detail which I think should be corrected was the reason for the lack of support from the Coryani and Khitani forces stationed in the First City.

Prior to the arrival of the heroes with their news of the gathering of enemies in Tultipet, the border mining towns in the north were being attacked by greater numbers of Voei than usual. Fearing that the civilians in these settlements would be massacred (as you are well aware, one should never allow oneself to be taken alive by the Voei), Generals Hektor Tensen-Balin and ul'Shi Dao took the majority of their forces out and to the north.

The Tomal Khan believed that waiting for messengers to reach them and for their return would prove too great a delay and so he determined, rightly I believe) to launch the preemptive invasion without their support.

But for that small detail, all else occurred as you said.

I look forward to your retelling the horrors that were met within that devastated enclave; some scenes of which are indelibly carved upon my mind.

I remain,

Sincerely,

the Old Centurion

To the Old Centurion,

Sir, it is a pleasure to hear from you again. And I thank you for the clarification. The attack on border towns by the Voie is news to me. But not surprising all things considered. I fear the Voie “neighbors” in the Blessed Lands have been partially co-opted, and the remainder stirred up. I only knew that the Coryani and Khitani forces were outside the First City and unavailable to march on Tultipet.

It is true I wish that somehow we had found a way to a less terrible outcome and bitterness puckers my mouth. But if my last letter appears to have slighted the honor of either Coryani or Khitani military contingents for being engaged elsewhere I offer apologies. I know these troops to be honorable and valiant in combat. I am grateful that they still stand to defend the city especially since the Tomal Khan’s forces have now suffered staggering losses and will be some time in rebuilding.

We all have need to stand together and keep our swords sharpened. I fear the real masterminds who move against the First City remain at large. As such we all remain at risk.

Yours in Haste,

Tukufu

Comrades Past & Present and all Gentle Readers,

I continue, and conclude, my account of the Second Sack of Tultipet.

To summarize: after receiving reports that enemies of the First City were gathering, the Tomal Khan decided to strike first. He gathered 3000 cavalry from various tribes connected to him by culture, history and intermarriage. The Tomal Khan also assembled an elite cohort of 60-70 hardened veterans. They set off with speed to defeat Princess Myrkasulanis before a massive combined force could be assembled. Despite losing the element of surprise in a skirmish with enslaved Voie, the Tomal Khan’s forces breached the walls of Tultipet with an absolute minimum of casualties. That was a small miracle in itself. It seemed like the day was ours.
In reality horror and death still lay ahead of us.

Tultipet is an exposed crater. Around the perimeter are the crater walls and an outer ring of the city. Next there is something of a “moat” or chasm that is linked to a central Island by several stone bridges. A massive ziggurat dedicated to Larissa sits in the center, much like the ziggurat in Savona. That was the probable location of the Princess. We would have to move through the perimeter and cross stone bridges to reach the center of the city.

There were three ways through the perimeter to get to the bridges and the Tomal Khan decided to test all three at once. We would then gather to push through any defenses mounted at the bridges. So part of his strike force went underground to clear out tunnels, part ran up a switch back and finally a last part took on a gauntlet of defenders trying to push through straight ahead. We prevailed on all three fronts with minimal casualties. The Tomal Khan had his pick of routes for his cavalry.

I watched the Tultipetan defense at the bridges also fell apart too. But for the first time, the dwarves seriously bloodied our noses. Many of our attackers suffered multiple wounds when shot by massed volleys from crossbows. The Tultipetan marksmen were further reinforced with giants. These blocked the ability of our hardened veterans to advance upon the snipers. Worse the giants also knocked several attackers off the bridges. In horror we could only watch them plummet screaming into the darkness bellow. Grim determination fueled the hearts of many of our attackers. Our numbers were too great and as the last of the giants were cut down and the surviving dwarves melted back into the city center.

Gulbahar, my commander, ordered me to use my Clairvoyance to look for survivors while the cavalry crossed. I tried to harden my heart...and indeed what I primarily saw was the shattered remains of bodies. But to my surprise there were also around a half dozen unconscious survivors being carried off. Thankfully they didn’t go far before reaching an underground prison. A single corridor led into a round chamber lined with cells. I couldn’t manifest a sensor inside the room itself, but I could look in from the corridor.

Gulbahar was excited by my report. He whirled and went to the Tomal Khan to organize a rescue party muttering, “That must also be where they are holding Ronomoquetz!”

I didn’t have time to ask. Our forces surged into the inner city and the cavalry finally came into its own. Tultipetan defenders were neither able to coordinate nor respond quickly enough to match the mobility of the cavalry. The Khan’s men rode through the streets slaying. When a knot of defenders congregated and began to organize, the veterans were sent in. The fighting was fierce in places, but overall it seemed fortune was smiling on us. Tultipetans fell in droves.
While this was going on the Khan Gulbahar came back and demanded that I check on the prison. Our jailbreak was in progress. While the Tultipetan guards were down as expected, all the prison doors were open. That was weird. And it meant a motley collection of monsters were free too! I saw a Voie chieftain and a wolf more or less trying to eat each other. There was a Singarthan warlock in a scrum with 3 or 4 attackers. There was also the world’s ugliest Bargest fighting and rifling through the collected equipment of the prisoners. What a chaotic mess!

Gulbahar wanted me to find this, Ronomoquetz. He now said this guy was a runecaster and the key to the Tultipetan resistance. I was only listening with half an ear at best, and then I saw something that nearly froze my heart.

It was like several spinning cloaks of shadows unfurled from empty air. And in the center of the shadows I could just make out this angular lanky thing. It looked like a humanoid. More or less. But it was covered in a carapace. And it had no eyes. I felt my heart in my chest and I started to sweat. I couldn’t bring myself to look away. A Voiceless One! I’m guessing it must have been in one of the cells too, though the Gods alone know how the Tultipetans managed to put it there. There was a Centurion with our raiding party and he moved up to screen the rest of his companions while people tried to attack it from range. Most of the attacks missed, and those that did hit seemed to do it no real harm.

My attention was jerked away by Gulbahar’s scream. Back on Tultipet’s streets our forces, now strung out across the city, were under attack from Reavers. Reavers! I don’t need to tell you what a bad a sign that was! It should have been unthinkable for Tultipetans to bring Reavers into their city as allies. And a part of my heart grew cold as I acknowledged that any chance for some kind of peaceful surrender surrender by Princess Myrkasulanis was surely gone. If she had brought the Reavers to Tultipet then we would fight it out till one side or the other was utterly vanquished. I reoriented myself just in time as a Reaver charged me and I finally bloodied my sword.

The Reavers gave no quarter, nor asked for any. We suffered a number of initial casualties, but our forces pulled together and consolidated. Our casualties stopped. The Reavers continued to force us together, but suffered extraordinary casualties to do so. I had the thought that even with surprise their tactics were foolish. The Reavers would have done much better to fortify the ziggurat. And then I had the follow on thought that the Reavers know their way around the battlefield. If only I had figured that out earlier! The Reavers did reject a defensible position. But in herding us together they set up a coup-de-gras, even at the expense of their own lives. As the last of the Reavers were falling, the burnt shades of Tultipet rose against us!

Voie. Harpies. Dwarves. Giants. Monsters. Reavers. It was like a carnival of death! Step right up! A new foe in each act! I had heard that the Dragon Villa’Tavorentis had burned out the soul shards of the Tultipetans, but that proved to be untrue. There were plenty of dwarven shades that remained burnt, half melted things. They had been gathered base the base of the Statute of their elder. My rapier has several runes on it and I swept it through three Shades at one go and the wretched things dissipated. But the cavalry had only mundane weaponry, helpless agaiunst these foes they died in droves. Some tried to hold their ground, some ran. I didn’t matter. Over no more than five or ten minutes I saw perhaps as many as five out of six pulled down and slain. The main body of our host simply ceased to be. And there was nothing I could do. I was nearly overwhelmed and it was all I could do to stay alive.

Our veterans fared much better. Almost all of them had either access to the Arcanum or runes or both. Without them Tultipet would be a city of ghosts. Eventually the screams stopped and the last of the shades were dissipated.

There were more unwelcome surprises. Malfelen soldiers now held the Ziggurat’s stairways. As our heavy infantry advanced fireballs that exploded erupted among the master swordsmen of both sides. The Malfelen had “Deathwardens.” I had never heard of such a thing before, let alone seen them. Clearly Ardakene, they somehow inverted their healing magics. These elorii had a palpable necrotic aura around them that sucked at the very life forces of our attackers when they closed to melee. And they wielded dread cants. For a moment I doubted our ability to force our way past them. Soldier for soldier they were essentially a match for our elite forces, but thankfully we had greater numbers this day. Though sorely battered, our infantry cut their way forward to the summit.

There they found Princess Myrkasulanis. Somehow she was embedded in a cube of pure crystal gazing of into the distance. Our assault force didn’t have much time to consider this strange thing.
A penultimate challenge was presented. The last of the Princess’s defenders were more fire giants, a few of their lava hounds and their “Fire King.” I’m sure there was a deeply fascinating story about him and how he came by his crown, but by that point I was numb and exhausted. I just wished he would fall down and die.

While combat raged in front of the encased Myrkasulanis, I finally met the Runecaster. Even for a Tultipetan dwarf he had an enormous quantity of tattoos covering his body. Ronomoquetz had more dire news. I didn’t know if I had the stamina to take it. Princess Myrkasulanis, he said, had been kidnapped, and effectively brainwashed by Villa’Tavorentis, and even now was trying to contact and summon the dragon back to Tultipet. If that happened then we should just fall on our swords and be done with it. But he did have one trick that might help – Ronomoquetz had learned how to scribe runes directly onto the “human” body. And he knew of a rune that could send people into the mind of the Princess and do battle with her there. I helped him with preparations, but I barely understood what we were doing. Virtually everything of his advanced art was opaque to me.

So began the final battle. I was told after the fact that strike teams faced off against fragments of her mind on what amounted to strange Islands floating over a roiling void. Even with Clairvoyance I had no way to observe. The strike teams just sat there in a trance. In horror I had plenty of time to survey the abattoir we had created. Dwarves littered the ground. Probably less than one Tultipetan in twelve that had started the day alive was still breathing, and most of them were in hiding. I saw no surviving Reavers. I saw no surviving giants. Plenty of our own lay with the piles of the dead too, man and horse alike. Maybe 400 to 500 of us were left. Jackals and crows would love us.

Finally our strike forces emerged from their trance. That was it. Myrkasulanis was stopped. It was over. Those of us who had survived would ride home. I believe Ronomoquetz stayed to help organize any surviving in Tultipetans.

I suppose a final paragraph is merited for tying up two loose ends. I have heard wild rumors that we tortured and killed the Princess afterwards in vengeance, but these are untrue. She emerged from the Crystal, apparently free of the influences of the Dragon. Exhausted and full of despair as we were, none of us touched her. Also exhausted and full of despair she took her own life upon seeing what had become of her city. I continue to hear criticism back in the First City of the Tomal Khan’s leadership from certain quarters. Our casualties were horrific, but not one citizen of the First City was been injured. I find an unaccustomed anger inside me that the sacrifice of the Tomal Khan does not earn him more overt respect.

I suppose there is one more loose and as well, though my pen nearly shakes to write it. Villa’Tavorentis is hostile towards the First City. Safely home, I still feel the worm of fear gnawing at me. Will there be a next move from the Dragon? How will we survive it?

May peace favor you,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria.

Comrades and all Gentle Readers,

The benefits of scholarship are many, and often steal up upon you unawares. For me there is always the simple pleasure of connection, through the printed word, to the thoughts and ideas of people in far off times and places. Then there is the thrill of discovery, much like what I experience from exploring beyond the pale of our civilized world. But with the benefit of less discomfort. There is also growth from encountering new ideas, and from having old assumptions challenged.

And sometimes your scholarship leads you to the joy of finding a piece to a nagging puzzle in an unexpected place. Those evil, wonderful, nagging puzzles! Sometimes they’re worse than fleas; and you can’t scratch them until you solve them.

Let’s talk about Fervidite!

To those of you who diligently read my letters, you will probably remember that I have mentioned Fervidite in the past. This wondrous substance is mined in the Blessed Lands…and no where else.* While researching the 12 Keys I delved a little into metallurgy where I discovered a curious omission. My First Imperium sources lack any reference to Fervidite. Now you don’t have to lecture me about the difficulties with proving a negative. My results could spring from a library that is too limited. Or Fervidite could be known to the ancients under some other name that I missed or misinterpreted. Or even somehow I could have missed a reference to it in my research.

Yes, yes. All possible. But my rare books section in Litera Scripta Manet rarely fails me. That’s a large part of why I own and run a bookstore. And if I might say so, I do not make many careless errors in my research. So I strongly suspect that Fervidite was unknown to the ancients.

How very curious!

So here is the puzzle that has vexed me so. Why is Fervidite, only found in the very backyard of the First City I remind you, unknown to the ancients? That did not make sense to me. It was a nagging question! So I resolved to look for clues to explain it. I thought I might find some either in the nature of the metal or perhaps in something unique to the Fervidious Hills. Ultimately neither of these things was enough to nail down a good probable answer. It was only when talking to an elorii about pact magic that I found the necessary piece to solve the puzzle.

I suppose for completeness sake I should prove even the Ancients of the First Imperium, possessors of secrets and wonders now lost to us in our present age, would want to use Fervidite. Everyone now knows Fervidite has remarkable properties. But I suspect many people who have access to it take it for granted. What everyone need to know is that when properly forged Fervidite wildly exceed even the best steel from Altheria and Savonna in both hardness and toughness. Most people probably think of these terms as the same thing. But in a sword they are not. “Hardness” is the key to creating a lasting sharp edge. But as steel becomes harder it also becomes more brittle and breaks easily. It looses “toughness.” Toughness is the measure of how much punishment a metal object can take before breaking. The toughest forms of steel make good maces but hold edges poorly. Somehow to make a really good sword you need the edge to be hard and the rest of the blade to be tough. Apparently weapon smiths loose a lot of sleep looking for better trade-offs between the two extremes through complicated experimentation.

Fervidite is superior to steel at both toughness and hardness. Further Fervidite is very resistant to all forms of elemental energy. While this makes forging it notoriously difficult, it also provides superior armor and shields that pass on these benefits to the wearer. And yes that is in addition to the armor being tougher and harder than steel.

The ancients used plenty of steel. We can still sometimes find it in archeological digs. Lots of remains of steel weapons and armor. I have never seen First Imperium arms or armor made from Fervidite at a dig site. I have never seen Fervidite mentioned in First Imperium books. To my knowledge they did not use Fervidite. Fervidite is demonstrably better than steel in both capacities. Therefore making items out of Fervidite would have been an improvement. Q.E.D. They did not know about it.

The more I learn about Fervidite the more I am fascinated by it.

Further headway can be made by looking at the history of the Fervidious Hills. There are really only two things of note. The Voie. And an ancient meteor shower. I hope we can all agree to dismiss the Voie as a potential clue. The more I see of the cannibalistic ogres, the less I like them. They tan hides just fine, but barely work metal. On the other hand the ancient meteor shower shows much more promise. In fact the Hills were once Mountains.

Roughly congruent with the coming of the Sword of the Heavens a huge meteor shower pummeled the area. The mountains, I strain to believe this but all sources agree, were reduced to hills. Even amid the chaos of the times this was an event of great note. Val Abebi astrologers totally failed to predict this event. Many took it a divine sign amid the chaos of Leonydas’ campaign.

Could it be that Fervidite originates from these meteors? But there are many other places that meteors fall such as the Sea of Fallen Stars. Yet no Fervidite comes from them. I know from my association with the Varro family that the ore is found in “blobs” or “splatters.” That would be consistent with a meteor hypothesis. I harbored a suspicion I was on to something. But I needed another piece of the puzzle to put it forward as a credible theory and not just as a passing fancy.

Time passed. At a dead end in my “Fervidite Investigation” I pursued many other threads of interest. So, while looking for the elorii Leros and Ilvanes who know additional history of the elder eorii Xercel, I found myself sharing a diner with an ardekene. As wine flowed our conversation wandered and we started talking about the Arcanum. We both practice it, albeit in very different forms. My dinner guest started talking about the arcane pact forged by the elorii Mendros. It seems that all recipients of pacts want things that they cannot get on their own. For example there are neither fire opals in a realm of water, nor pearls in a realm of fire. And some kings there are willing to share power to those who sacrifice them to them.

The ardekene have a pact too. Though not with things from other planes. A great ardekene named Mendros forged a pact was with some group known as the “plant lords.” They are native to Arcanis. My guest bristled at the suggestion that they sound like primal spirits. Though I suspect that is indeed what they are, I dropped that line of inquiry because what he said shocked me and solved my Fervidite riddle. These “Plant Lords” of Arcanis want … Fervidite! Which of course means that Fervidite cannot originate here or the so called “Plant Lords” would not be asking for it. My “Meteor Bombardment Hypothesis” has supporting evidence!

Barring further discoveries I am sure this must be right. And I am tickled to be the first, so far as I know, to connect these dots. I bask in the joy of scholarship. Of course someday I will have to turn my attention back to why Fervidite has only resulted from those particular meteors. There may yet be secrets to be unlocked in this mysterious, but wholly remarkable metal.

I remain your obedient scribe,

Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria

*As much as I hate postscripts I am forced, in pursuit of honesty, to admit that there is one story of a Chauni guide who earned, or was given, a suit of extremely pure Fervidite armor. From someone or something in Dhar Zhan Vor. If true then there might be a second source of Fervidite in that hidden land. I find most Chauni to be disreputable thieves. And I am embarrassed even to reprint this account here. Still the story is persistent so I have included it here as a note. I trust my readers are intelligent and can make make up their own mind on the matter.