An old table stands towards the far wall of the library, below a slightly open window where dust seems to be pouring in. On the table, an old letter lay half-curled, it’s bottom torn and yellow. This place has the unmistakable feel of age, of mildew and old leather and all the ancient knowledge hidden among the bookshelves.
You make your way up towards the letter, spread out among a stack of scrolls and books. Despite it’s age, the neat tidy ink fills the letter with words that is somehow still legible despite the passage of time.
A note of warning
Written by Letin Tzunttale, to the Preserver’s Senate and others. Two years in exile has given me lots of time to think about things. A traveler who’s seen much of the world like me tends to do a lot of pondering. One could say too much pondering, though I believe it is this that makes me want to write to you all, as a way of being convincing.
You might be surprised to hear back from me so soon, as you have given me more than these past two years to reflect on my curiosity. I have reflected, and reflected some more, and I still believe it is more important to research the mist and the connections it has with Alloy Metals than spend time selfishly on my own. Yes, you will most likely disagree with my conclusions, but it is important that you disregard the discomfort of these truths in favor of what I have to say, for if I am right, then we are possibly in great danger.
It has been two centuries since the Last Adventurers ventured into the heart of the mist.
“Our great leaders of the Efrei, they journeyed into the mist to keep our pure lands verdant, and our people safe. Their deaths were also made as a sacrifice to keep the ever encroaching tide of fog that threatens Arlemany, a loss that kept us alive for all these years.”Those are words we have taught ever since the days of The Catabrume. The celebrations of their accomplishments were more than deserved, and all the living has gained much from the result of the Catabrume.
However now, after these decades, it seems that we as scholars, and even the nobles, governors, and the common people has grown complacent to the triumphs of The Catabrume. The sacred art of studying and warding the Mist is all but defunct, as we as society grow reliant on technologies and arcana discovered decades or even multiple decades ago. Whether this is because we has society has grown more confident, or more indolent, I do not know. However, I do know it is causing real harm in our attention and focus.
I have seen signs that the benefits of their excursion seems to have almost been undone. As of recently, the mist looms against the edges of our pure realms, and we return to living on borrowed times. It could just be in my head, but I am almost positive the mist never encroached on our borders like this. The sky used to be much more bluer, without this gray tint, and the air did not used to smell damp despite a sunny day. I believe these are all signs. Signs that we, as descendants of the Sears, must not overlook.
I have been taking actions to gathering the little things we still know about the old world. Of magical theories, notes, and observations that the past has made on these subjects. I have left these records carved into stone, especially the recollections of a Keeper of Ibenzi, and records made by a scribe working for a Keeper of Ratanelle, so our kind, and the greater society does not forget where we came from, and the dangers that loom out there.
I am perhaps the last person who still has the legacies of the Last Adventurers. Old journals and crumbling tomes that I study day and night to try to piece the world beyond Arlemany’s protection. We know little of the lands beyond the veil that is the mist, and thus their accounts and journals are the best sources I own. I shall be continuing these studies, and I urge that you, the Preserver’s Senate, may take heed and do the same, or at the very least give what I say some deep consideration.
I understand that, as an exile, my words will not be taken in a good light. Please, I do not mean to control or belittle the noble works of what you all do in the Senate. However, please take my word as the word of a concerned observer, rather than the word of Loris Addlen. I pray that I am wrong, and that I am mistaken, but at the same time, I will be doing all I can to prepare for the worst.
In other news, Efreman was almost the city we imagined. Letik, my dragonet, and I crossed Lemer’s Pass the other night. I am forever thankful I was able to find and raise Letik, a dragonet who I fear didn’t think highly of me for the first few days. However, I think even he knows I am a fragile creature, despite being a member of the Senate. Maybe that is why he acts all protective of me whenever I meet with others in Efreman. Dragonets are really not as ferocious as we tend to think.
Give Eridan my best, and tell him I don’t fault him. We still have time.
May Silven light all our paths, and our way forward, Loris
Date: 4th Fallsday of Sunfury, 214.`
=========================================================== Nearby, there seems to be several scrolls nearby. Most of these seem to have notes attached to them, outlying their purpose and significance.
Magika
The most prevalent system of magic in Arybin, for the longest time I’ve sought for a connection between the mist, something we all know is an arcane construct, to Lightmancy, the most widely accessible form of magical resonancy in our Purelands. It’s been a hard journey, but I know there’s a simple connection out there that I’m overlooking. Maybe a review of this guide might help bring it about.
Steelscience is not a well practiced magic in the purelands, but it is still pivotal to most of the arcane foundations we base our theories and studies on. The Mincelli of the Northwest has always been protective of their art of Steelscience, but it is still a well established art that has definite ties with Lightmancy and even the Mist.
An esteemed keeper had once said to me: “You can only fight that of what you know”. Our fight against the mist is only worthwhile if pursued alongside our research into the mist. This documents all the things I have found regarding the mist, from dangerous, to useful, to thoughts I find intriguing. There are potential fields in here that could be potentially useful to us all.
Societies
This is a journal of the different groups of societies and peoples within the Purelands. It was a lot to remember for me, so I wrote them all down in case I ever need it in the future.
My times with the Parsleeni and the other fringelings were a dangerous, yet eye opening experience for me. For the past hundreds of years, they have hidden a unique form of magic and society from the prying eyes of others by pure stealth and secrecy. I was able to persuade them to share some of it with me, though I wouldn’t recommend anyone else approaching the secretive Parsleeni of the South.
Still, some of these notes that I made on them might be more than insightful
A guide of the regions and cities within the Purelands that I’ve either traveled or heard of. There’s a few plaecs that are “safe points” beyond the boundaries of the Purelands, but to travel to those places can be dangerous. Maybe I can call this an “Encyclopedia of Cities,” as atlas implies I have many drawings of the land in these scrolls.
Thank you Funel for your map by the way, may Silven bless you.
Beasts and Familiars
I picked this up while journeying through Le May on my way to Efreman. My constant focus on the mists has made me a bit blind towards other forms of magic, especially the Drakori connections that were formed between Humans, Sephlings, and Mincelli, with the sentient companions of the Purelands. It’s mostly old magic, very very old magic that was recently pioneered by Arturko Drakori a century ago, but there’s a certain fondness to the magic that I didn’t quite understand before meeting Letik.
A summary page of the mechanics of the mist and how it plays with DND (or hell, maybe my own ttrpg mechanic idk)
Magic The magic page for Arybin. Connects heavily with the mist.
ANT DUMPING: pages I will sort out later but I put them here Chronological Keeping