Friends, Cousins, Comrades at Arms and all Gentle Readers,
How quickly your fate can change.
It was not long ago that I was celebrating my good fortune. I joined what seemed to be a minor throng of “adventurers” who laid down their swords long enough to tie knots. In a veritable whirlwind I courted and married the lovely Belinay, one of the Tormal Khan’s nieces. People I barely knew came out in drove to congratulate my good fortune. At the ceremonies in the Great Cathedral the crowd was almost absurdly large and they all but showered us with their good will and often extravagant gifts. As an only child, whose parent had died fighting the elorii invaders, I found it all rather overwhelming. Still one should never to object to song, drink and dancing! It may be that I was happier in those endless moments than at any other time in my life.
I continue to count my blessings. But as day follows night, bliss turns back to concern. This is the first of several letters that concern my most recent travels.
Let me tell you of Ymandragore.
Fool that I allowed myself to become a pawn in the schemes of the more powerful. I received an invitation to meet agents of the Sanctorum in Milandir. We met near a port which I found somewhat brazen. I thought, “Why make it easier for agents of the Sorcerer King to sail us away to the Isle of Tears?” Ah, but that was exactly the point. The Master who spoke with us had a “daring plan.” Which is to say he would be staying behind and we would be doing the daring. And of course as it should now be obvious it involved an infiltration of the Isle of Tears. There was a tight timeline and we’d be sailing immediately if we accepted on a captured Black Ship.
You might ask why I didn’t politely excuse myself at that point in time and return to my wife. It certainly would have been the smart thing to do! The thought crossed my mind. But at the end of the day I am an explorer and a scholar. I might never get another opportunity to see the Isle of Tears first hand.
I don’t know why everyone else signed on. To my immediate right was Marcus Tullus val’Mehan, the younger. A mouthful to say but actually a close friend of mine. We fought our way through most of the Crusade together. Sneaky Patracian that he is, I trusted him completely to have my back. Past him was Ceres val’Dellenov. I had previously fought besides Ceres as well. In fact I teased Ceres when I first met her that the very first thing she did after getting married was to abandon her husband and ride hard for Jappa. Now I was in similar straits. Past her was an agent of Cadic who I believe will wish to remain unnamed. To my left was Vincent of Ven’s Brood. From scholarly correspondence I knew Vincent a little too. And finally there was Belthazor val’Mehan who claimed to be a lot older than he looked. I was ready at first to put it down to bragging on his part, but he did have an archaic and outrageous suit of armor scribed all over with the symbols of Sarish. So I reserved judgment.
Our Sanctorum hosts had captured Illak Laurol. He was one of the leaders of the finger known as the Twin Whispers. I had never heard of this organization. None of us had. It became clear that the first whisper was into the finger’s ears and then the second was them manipulating events by whispering in the ear of someone else. I suppose they were the Sorcerer Kings spies and influence peddlers. Illak certainly presented himself as such, imperious as any monarch, even in chains. I admit I found him somewhat intimidating and was horrified to learn he was familiar with my letters. I did my best to retreat into the guise of a dilettante. I hope to achieve some level of fame as the greatest researcher of this generation, but really I don’t need such people thinking of me. At least Retsev Rah isn’t sending me correspondence.
It seems that the leader of this finger, one Syriah, tried to blackmail the wrong person on the Isle of Tears. Ouch. The results of her intrigue were brutal and as a result the Twin Whispers was all but destroyed. There would be a Fete where the mansion and headquarters were officially transferred to a new finger with the ritual death of Syriah. The beneficiaries? A new finger called the Chorus of the Venerable Word. During the Fete where this transfer would take place it might be possible to sneak into the manse and liberate an item called the Oculus. A relic of some power. Of course no one in the known lands, including Illak, was exactly sure where the Oculus was hidden … besides Syriah.
So when we got there it was obviously going to be an interesting night: trying not to get caught, finding where Syriah was held, and getting her to tell us where the Oculus was hidden…and escaping off the Isle.
It was clear to me that Illak wanted to poke the new owners in the eye and deny them the Oculus out of spite. It was less clear why the Sanctorum was involved until it was revealed that they thought the Oculus could be used to locate their absent founder Nurion the Undying. I was surprised to learn that Nurion had not been in contact with the Sanctorum for centuries. I had always assumed he was somewhere four or five layers back in the shadows monitoring and manipulating things. A very interesting tidbit of information.
Well, we hemmed and hawed a little bit. We talked about contingencies. Linguistic challenges. Assets we could lay our hands on. But I don’t think we ever seriously debated the merits of not going. I know, it sounds foolish in the extreme. I know I wanted to see the Isle and perhaps reveal some of its secrets here in these letters. I wonder in retrospect if perhaps the Sanctorum managed to subtly manipulate our minds?
No matter. We agreed to go. Our cover would be as the very lowest of the Fingers: The Hunters of the Black Night, also known as the Demon Hunters. The Hunters of the Black Night by and large are not Eldritch spell casters. As such, while technically a Finger, they are looked down upon and barely ever are spoken too. Apparently the most “economical” way to secure new infernals for the Black Ships is currently to “harvest” them too. One wonders what they did before the fall of the Gods Wall? I suspect they must have summoned them all.
An agent of the Hawk & Shield waited outside to take us to the ship for a three day sail.
The Black Ship. I could write a monograph to you about the Ship alone. It is said that the Black Ships are made from basalt mined in the interior of the Isle of Tears but I suspect this is untrue. Beyond the fact that basalt does not float this material is far stronger than ordinary stone. I tried repeatedly to get a sample of the stone for alchemical testing. But all I achieved was a bent dagger. I failed to free even the smallest of “stone” chips. Whatever the Black Ships are made of, it is not a simple matter of something from a quarry.
This Black Ship was essentially a schooner with two masts, modified with 10 large oars on each side. I have heard wildly different tales concerning the vessels from Ymandragore. Some describe them as juggernauts up to three hundred feet in length. Others describe them as humble affairs, no more than 30 long and 10 to 15 feet across. This was maybe 90 feet long and 25 across. In a fog it might not have seemed remarkable.
In the hold of the Black I found the infernal rowers just as rumors say. Each oar had two Inferni devils working it. They did not even look up as I passed through the room on my first inspection. All somehow bound. But not a mark of Sarish among them. . I would guess that the binding of Ymandragore must originate from a unique Tradition they’ve researched over the long years. Given the existence of the Hunters of the Night I would guess it is less efficient than the style of binding magic practiced by the Sarishians. Is this guess true? Alas, I discovered many new pieces of information but I was unable to delve deeply into any of them. If you ever go to the Isle maybe you can ask for me.
The first day on the vessel was largely uneventful except for the captain politely asking me to stop trying to chip off a piece from the hull. I smiled, said yes and shamelessly came back that night. I was attacking the stern with a crowbar in another futile attempt to gain a "stone" fragment for testing when I realized I was not alone on the deck of the ship. Up at the prow in the night mist stood an individual in a wide brimmed hat. The crew was nowhere to be seen. Having read several of the journals of the Heroes of Light and their adventures involving the Chalice of Midnight I immediately had my suspicions. I woke my Sarishian companions before approaching.
Almost I would leave this part of the tale out. But a few of my companions have already mentioned that Loshnek himself deigned to put in an appearance. I would be exaggerating if I wrote that my pen shakes as I write his name. But I still. Loshnek. I do not know what, if anything, he would wish me to say of his conversation with us since it touched upon his own goals and agendas. But I have no wish to give offense. So I ask your forgiveness if I am less forthcoming than usual in my reporting. Suffice it to say that Loshnek has long shown an interest in the Isle of Tears and was sufficiently interested in our captured Black Ship to take note of us. He did not disapprove of our mission and provided logistical support of his own. He granted us improved credentials, which would say whatever we wanted them to. In a back handed way, provided other support since as Demon Hunters we would be expected to arrive with a hull full of infernals.
Just as Loshnek explained this he faded away. And another ship loomed out of the fog and rammed us broadside. Even as we caught our balance and shred a look of confusion infernals stormed over the hull promising to rend our bodies and free their bound brethren...
Bear with me. More will be explained soon.
Tukufu
_________________ Eric Gorman
AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage . . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen
Last edited by val Holryn on Wed Jul 09, 2014 1:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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