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Brother Ezra
Learned Scribe
USA
268 Posts |
 Posted - 17 May 2004 : 19:05:12
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The following bit of Realmslore developed through my current Shards of Bloodstone Campaign. The actual letters (props handed to the party) were prepared on thick sketching paper, written in a flowing cursive script (Blackadder ITC font) and aged using 100% colombian coffee (which really gives a nice stained aging effect. Further staining can be accomplished using the coffee grounds.)
"The Greymantle Letters" are a series of four short letters written from Vanguardier Pallando Greymantle to His Majesty, King Feldrin III of Damara in the Year of Shattered Oaks, DR 1313. Feldrin III commisioned Pallando, a paladin of Torm, to lead an expedition to the ancient Narfellian capital of Mintas Rhelgor, for the purposes of recovering whatever relics and treasure might still remain in the ruins. The letters detail the expedition's progress from the village of Steppenhall (currently located in the Duchy of Soravia) up to their arrival at the ruined capital. It also details their first foray into the city proper, giving many details about the conditions and sights in the ancient metropolis.
The last letter indicated that the expedition was attempting to locate an entrance to the "undercity", believed to be accessible through a graveyard. No further letters were received, and no one from the expedition ever returned to Damara alive.
For several years the Greymantle letters were stored in the Royal Library at the palace in Heliogabalus. In DR 1327, they were loaned to the wizard Feriblan, a mage of some renown in the area. Feriblan was believed to have kept the letters until approximately DR 1335, when he loaned the letters to a student named Eralion, who removed them to his personal keep near the Soravian village of Fairhill, presumably for study.
Eralion disappeared from the world of civilization for more than 20 years, and was presumed to have perished. No attempt was made to recover the letters and they were assumed to be lost. However, in the spring of the Year of the Turret (DR 1360) a group of explorers liberated Eralion's keep from the horde of orcs and ogres that had occupied it, and found the Greymantle Letters hidden within, along with several other valuable tomes. The letters were returned to Heliogabalus that same year and are now back at the Royal Library. The letters are in varying states of decay, however, and the first is illegible in parts due to water damage.
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"Suffering is the touchstone of all spiritual growth."
-St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred |
Edited by - Brother Ezra on 17 May 2004 19:09:29
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Brother Ezra
Learned Scribe
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2004 : 19:07:32
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First Letter
(Dated) Mirtul the 5th, Year of the Shattered Oak1
My Lord Majesty,
May the blessings and steadfast loyalty of Torm be with you and your most excellent court, Your Majesty and may His steady will guide this missive resolutely to Your Majesty's hand. I send you greetings from the village of Steppenhall, where our force shall make it's final muster before departing on the long journey through the wilderness beyond Your Majesty's kingdom. Our force numbers threescore and ten, a well trained group of men and women well dedicated to the causes of the Triad, and dedicated to the successful completion of the mission that Your Majesty has most graciously charged to us.
We depart on the morrow and expect a journey of perhaps twenty-three or twenty-four days. As dictated, I will send word of our progress once we are in sight of Hark's Finger, the spire that rises up from the Narfell Steppes like a sentinel to the north.
Our journey will take us east for six days, whereupon we will encounter the foothills of the Giantspire Mountains. From that point we will follow the curve of the mountains north and east, ever watchful for signs of the hobgoblin’s2 forces. We expect that the mountains will end after a ride, at which point we should reach the shores of frigid Icelace Lake. For three days we should follow the southern shore of the lake, passing through the ancient ruins of the wicked land that once existed here3. Once reaching the ruins of Peltarch, we should find a <illegible>4 of Nar Fell <illegible>5 that leads us to the ruins of Jiyyd, eastward to N'Jast, and then finally north to the capitol of the cursed land.
Once we have arrived at our destination, I will send Your Majesty regular updates of our progress and our expected date of return to our most beloved Kingdom.
Ever your faithful and humble servant,
Vanguardier Pallande Greymantle.
1 Researched as the year 1313
2 Single word, either "hobgoblin" or "hobgoblin's", probably the latter
3 Two, maybe three words, illegible, possibly "Once existed here"
4 Single word, illegible, no guess
5 Several words, illegible, possibly containing "destruction" or "instruction"
Second Letter
(Dated) Mirtul the 22, Year of the Shattered Oak 1
My Lord Majesty,
Our journey has been successful so far. We are within sight of Hark's Finger now, and
should be coming upon our goal in less than a tenday.
The most trouble we have faced so far has been from the Nar tribes in the area
just south of Icelace Lake. The Qu'ima tribe are particularly fierce, and do not have any tolerance at all for intruders. We were forced to slay several dozen before we were left in peace to cross their lands. They do not listen to pleas for peaceful passage, and some groups even feign lack of understanding of the common tongue! They are fierce warriors and do not ask for mercy or quarter. They died to the last man. We found their mounts to be superior to our own, and are now using Nar steeds as our personal mounts, and our original horses now carry our gear (which dwindles every day).
As you know, Majesty, a large portion of our journey skirted around the northern
portion of the Giantspires. It is with great pleasure that I report to your Highness that the hobgoblins are at rest. We only encountered small hunting parties, and they seemed uninterested in conflict with our group, a wise choice given the size of out company! I sense no threat from the tribes of the Giantspires at this time, although we did not penetrate deeply into their mountain fortresses. Your Majesty's charge is utmost in our minds, and we wish no tangent to delay our quest.
As per our arrangement, I dispatch my rider to You with this message at the half-way point of our journey, so that your Majesty may rest assured that the mission progresses according to plan. I will write again upon arrival at our goal.
Ever your faithful and humble servant,
Vanguardier Pallande Greymantle.
1 Researched as the year 1313
Third Letter
(Dated) Mirtul the 30th, Year of the Shattered Oak1
My Lord Majesty,
It is with great satisfaction and a sense of duty most loyally executed that I report to you our arrival at the outskirts of Mintas Rhelgor. We make our camp this eve on a hillock overlooking the Thanmere, upon whose shores the city lies. It is also with trepidation that I write this missive as I overlook the area surrounding the cursed city, for although the city lies blanketed in a bank of mist and fog at the late hour, lights shine through the mist, lights not made by any campfire or worldly lamp. It is the sort of lights one sees in a swamp at night; a ghostly, ephemeral light that sets my nerves on edge. One of my men described them as "Deadlights"; an apt description I must confess.
Our journey over the past ride has met with little resistance or challenge. The Nar tribesmen further east of Icelace Lake were more hospitable to strangers but immediately left our presence when asked about the city. Fierce warriors they are, but superstitious as well, I fear. It is hard to sort out fact from fiction in the wild tales told of this place by the Nar. We also encountered many tundra yeti towards the final days of our journey. Strong beasts; and determined to make a meal of us, but ultimately defeated all the same. Since my last message, we have only lost two more men, leaving our force well over three score.
As agreed, we will reconnoiter the city on the morrow, and seek out the Tribunal
and the Imperial Palace to see what remains of these two massive structures. Afterward, we will locate the entrance to the undercity and begin our descent to ascertain if his influence is seen in recent times. May Torm guide this message to your Majesty truly.
Ever your faithful and humble servant,
Vanguardier Pallande Greymantle.
1 Researched as the year 1313
Fourth Letter
(Dated) Kythorn the 11th, Year of the Shattered Oak1
My Lord Majesty,
Our initial sortie into the city is completed. The mist that cloaked the city persisted until noon but quickly dissipated after the noon hour. Once the mist lifted we entered via the south gate, which was where indicated on our map. The walls of the city are in various states, mostly intact, although any significant force would most likely crumble them without much further effort. The gates themselves are heaved to the side of the entrance to the city, twisted and rotted almost to powder.
The south side of the city is as one would expect it to be: crumbling from the ravages of time and weather for a millennium and half again. The demeanor of our group was jovial to begin, but they soon became pensive and sullen after entering the city. There is a pervading sense of wrongness here, Majesty, which I am at a loss to explain further. It is as though life has abandoned this place entirely. There are no growing things in the city, no birdsong, not even the scurry of insects on the ground beneath our feet. The trees retain their needles, but they are all brown and withered, despite the summer being almost upon us. What type of tree retains its needles, even after death, Majesty?
Signs of the demon's influence are pervasive in the city, extending from goat's head sculptures on the facades of stone buildings to frescoes depicting scenes of abominable depravity and cruelty. We could see a building which must have been his temple, but were loath to approach any closer to that vile structure for fear of our very souls.
We made our way north, towards the riverside, through streets increasingly choked with debris and rubble. We continuously scanned the horizon ahead of us for the spires of either buildin, but saw no trace. The ruination of the city grew increasingly worse as we moved closer to the riverside. Finally, we came upon the site of what must have been the Tribunal, but all that remained was an immense crater in the earth, the earth inside the hole turned into a form of black glass that crunched beneath our feet. Whatever force created this devastation must have been immense, for the Imperial Palace which lay next to the Tribunal was decimated, and only a few stone columns remained to mark its place.
I fear, Majesty, that whatever artifacts and wealth that once existed here have either been plundered long ago, or buried by the general destruction of the city. We made a cursory inspection of the ruins of the palace, but found naught but ravaged stone and timber. By the time we had completed our search, the sun was slowly sinking in the west, and the trepidation within us had grown to barely-controlled panic. We departed the city in an orderly and civilized fashion, but I must admit that the effort to control myself was admirable.
We will seek out the graveyard on the morrow.
Ever your faithful and humble servant,
Vanguardier Pallande Greymantle.
1 Researched as the year 1313
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"Suffering is the touchstone of all spiritual growth."
-St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred |
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Lashan
Learned Scribe
USA
235 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2004 : 21:41:34
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| Very cool. |
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Hymn
Senior Scribe
Sweden
514 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2004 : 13:00:01
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Reminds me of this logbook I made for a ship from Calimshan. You know these books that look like they come from the 18th century but only contains blank pages. Took one of those and made about the same process you did, only I stuck with tea and I didn't go all out.  Was hellish ploting out all those logs, but I still keep it around since it came out really cool. |
Sauro moki kara ochiro - Even monkeys falls from trees.
The path that leads to truth is littered with the bodies of the ignorant - Miyamoto Musashi |
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The Greymantle Letters
