Gentle Readers, Cousins and all Comrades,
Greeting! I write to you, not from the First City where I now reside, but from the Corlathean Mountains not too far from Enpyben. I bring word to you from the Vault of Larisa. Previously I have written in a general way of the items extracted and the creatures discovered within. I wish now to pivot to how the expedition and the wider world have interacted.
For better or for worse the Emerald Society was very public in how it announced the location of the Vault of Larissa. The results for their approach include, I believe, a dramatic reduction in overhead costs and a surplus of “specialized labor” to go in with the first wave of exploration. The very public nature of the undertaking however surely allowed other organizations to make their own plans and mobilize their own forces.
So it was that the Expedition to Larissa’s Vault was interrupted close to noon by the simultaneous arrival military forces from the Singarthan Trolls who came from the southwest, and Reavers who marched from the northeast. It is not yet clear to anyone if these forces coordinated. Maybe instead they were located at a safe remove and started marching at the same speed as soon as the Vault was breached. Though well organized in many respects, the leadership of the Emerald Society DID NOT expect to have to fight a military engagement so close to the city of Enpyben!
Such unwanted attention! I tell you I didn't need a third eye to see either force alone could have been the end of everyone. Though the camp had guards and many of the surface staff were capable combatants, we were disorganized and dismayed. Miraculously the explorers returned as a body to the surface just in time to skirmish with both armies while we rallied; it would be only later that I learned of how the explorers knew of the attack. Their brave actions bought the encampment precious time, but even when everyone who could wield a sword was fielded it was still a desperate struggle! We were outnumbered. Even with a central core of healers to restore the wounded, our forces were slowly pushed inwards and casualties mounted. Despite a strong showing from many champions I do not like to think what would have happened if relief had not come to save us.
A third force arrived. Dwarves from Solonos Mor, Encali, Tir Betoq, and even a few survivors of Tultipet. They all marched to offer us relief from the actions of their ancient foes. I saw directly but intermittently as I battled for my life. I engaged with the Singarthan line, and their fell reputation is well earned. They have a thick carapace, stand eight feet tall and coordinate their efforts with military precision. Still I gave a good accounting of myself, and am now in a position to provide hard earned expert information about their claws, weaponry, regeneration and sorceries.
One also continues to hear odd stories about Singarthan warriors eating the hearts of their fallen mages, so with help I was later able to dissect the one I killed in the fighting. We found there was a strange sludge inside the heart. It still is not clear to me if it is their blood, or something else. Perhaps we’ll find out; we bottled some of it and sent it to a noted alchemist in Enpyben. I have hopes this autopsy can shed light on the mystery of this story. If true is it purely cultural? Or is there a physical explanation for the behavior?
I digress some.
With the camp secured we had a chance to talk with the dwarves, share discoveries found in the Vault and discuss the attack on the camp. I had little time to partake in everything as I was instructed to analyze the attack and help secure the area. I regret to inform you all, gentle readers, that as bad as the Singarthans seemed, the Reavers with greater numbers were worse. Further many elements of the attack seem downright odd, and I can only conclude that their benighted presence in the world is expanding and evolving in directions not previously recorded. First I should report to you that the Reavers unquestionably fielded eldritch casters. To my knowledge no other dwarven enclave has members born with “the sorcerer’s gift.” What exactly might be involved in this is a matter of pure speculation, but given other reports of strange runes on their armor I fear in total this may be a sign of Ymandrake involvement. A second deviation from standard Reaver tactics was the fielding and deployment of gnomes.
Puzzled by both mysteries I went to the dwarves and sought counsel. You would think they would be eager to help since we oppose this ancient dwarven scourge; but instead I received requests that I use what influence I had in securing the Tear for this or that enclave. How frustrating! They expressed a belief that the Tear could either help them forge the “Perfect Item” or that its oracular powers could be used to reveal another way to end their curse. Only a Tultipetan seer, Sylerak spoke otherwise.
Sylerak. I wished he had just answered my damned questions. Instead I got an earful of dire warnings from his visions. The most salient of these were that the gem in the Vault was not really a tear from the Goddess, but instead a baleful artifact from the elder days before the coming of the Pantheon of Man. He insisted the Tear was sentient, that it wanted to be found, and that it stole the souls of those who died around it, damning them to remain as shades. In his version of events the Vault was a repository for dangerous items of power and that the Legio Fortuna Aequitas were the guardians.
I like my history from books, not dreams. So I’m afraid in frustration I snapped at him to keep his talk of visions to the future. What I needed to do was confirm there were no Eldritch casters among the Tultipetins and that the dwarves had never seen Reavers field gnomes before. He seemed dispirited by my response and I was immediately embarrassed. Then he spoke further softly:
“The future? I have seen things of that too. If the Orb,” he would not call it the Tear, “is brought to the surface then calamity follows. From the necropolis of Canceri to the library of Altheria, a shadow comes from the west and covers the land. And the stones of the castles of Milandir and of the villas of Coryan are cracked, and their foundations are rent. There is fire everywhere in the cities. And he children of the Defender are not there to man the walls of civilization for they will have already bled themselves to death. And those men who survive will be little more than animals who are hunted in the night by wolves.”
I am somewhat ashamed to confess I backed away in horror from such terrible words. Would that I had never spoken with this Sylerak! I remain haunted now by his tattooed face and his sad eyes. I can hear his last words to me still, “It all hangs by a slender thread.”
Nerius of Solonos Mor later told me to pay him no mind. “He’s bitter over what happened to Tultipet. And in his bitterness he seeks to deny salvation for other enclaves. Many things are seen of the future, but these are only possibilities.” The Encali and Tir Betoqi representatives were of similar mind. I can only hope they are right.
I suppose I should mention the mad 9 foot tall elorii who wandered off just after the battle. That was by far the weirdest thing I saw that day. Beaten up and wounded by the Singarthans I made no effort to chase him down. Neither did anyone else. My relief was palpable as he wandered into the mountains. One group said they encountered him below in the Shrine to Anshar. Why he was there in the Vault I couldn’t begin to say. Much less why he would have been in a Shrine to one of our Gods. I assume this report must be faulty and he was instead held in some abandoned cell...though for the life of me I can’t imagine what he eat or drank all these years. No one will admit knowing who he was or admitting to setting him free.
Somewhere, the energy for more exploration was found and the Teams were sent back in. I only just found out that the teams had heard an icy voice in their heads calling them back to the surface…and that some of the teams had heard the voice in the Shrine to Larissa. This voice apparently belongs to the Tear, which is indeed … aware. The teams were instructed to try and go deeper.
More mysteries were found on lower levels, including the Library and the Forbidden Vault. The Singarthans had somehow just raided it carrying off the bulk of its contents. Was the surface attack a diversion for them? It is hard to know. But the items that remained in the Vault were both powerful, and cursed.
And of course, the Tear. It was indeed found and liberated after strange negotiations, bypassed traps, and defeated guardians. There was great discussion of what to do with it. At least some explorers were moved by Sylerak’s words and voted to hide or destroy it. Others wanted to arrainge access to it by the dwarven leaders. But eventually it was brought up. The Emerald Society accepted it, I thought gleefully, and in turn gave it to the Mother Church representative. That representative then said that the Mother Church then renounced any claim to other items in the Vault. Oh politics, you fragrant rose!
Sixteen hours of relative madness, now passed. Most of the elite adventures are marching home as I write. The the real work of begins. We’ll spend another eek here doing the less glamorous but necessary work of packing, cataloging and translating. And now that everything is mapped and marked bellow we’ll make a few more descents under more controlled conditions. The dwarves have agreed to provide extra security. Who knows where the bottom of all this new knowledge and secrets lies? Not I.
With the passing of the adventurers and the Tear from this location, things have settled down. The Gar are dead or routed and the mournful ghosts are gone too. With the Tear? Much of what Sylerak has said is now proven to be true and I begin to fear his words all over again. And I expect that the repercussions of opening the Vault are only just starting. A glib man would call this job security.
I remain your obedient scribe,
Tukufu, Ambassador of Altheria
_________________ 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
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