The World of Teréth End

"Too often days swiftly pass / Weeping in the evening grass / There just is not enough time / Forthings you dreamt you'd do / The hours still drift by.

"Too many years, too high a cost / Too many lessons earned but lost / And still you complain all the time / Cursing the days before you / Lamentng the days gone by.

"And finally laying in your bed / Staring skyward, nearly dead / It all floods back one last time, / The chances that you left behind / But alas there's little left to do / ... but cry."

Dirimoran song

Seal of the Ghul
22 Aldruan 652 - 9 In'Orol 652

A winter adventure wherein Jak of Candan seeks information about his mother's family, a search that leads him to Cenotaph, through Oth's Naryard, K'yard, and into the halls of Kry Shurulm. Upon returning to Candan however Jak receives the best news of all.

Weel stumbled through the door crying, her small pale hand gripping the doorpost weakly. Weel sputtered a short story about a woman who'd come to town, and mentioned something being dropped. Her friends had fallen but she'd run, and didn't feel well. Saldus examined the child, finding her skin a near chalk pallor. Gathering his items and armor, the soldier crossed the swamp calling for others to assemble near the Fiery Wench where the children had been playing.

Arriving, Saldus found several children lying in the snow where Weel had left them. Soon, Jak arrived as well. A woman burst from the gathering crowd toward her fallen child but gasped and dropped to the snow once she entered the ring of the fallen. Another tried to enter but exited coughing and turning pale. Jak rushed into the area and exited with a body. He emerged dizzily, with a child's corpse in his arms. Over time the imagined ring of death dissipated, and those whose children lie dead and colorless on the icy ground could be retrieved. Saldus and Jak investigated a discarded box on the ground and found a ghul seal on the box's side. Inside the box was a broken glass vial.

Ghul Seal That afternoon, Jak and Saldus left Candan and hiked into the advancing evening. The two continued along the Run Merdus until they arrived in desolate Cenotaph. There, they picked their way along night-shrouded roads until they came to the cemetery where the ghuls had been destroyed weeks before. Beyond the graveyard they followed the inviting glow from a cottage's window. :Outside the house, a shoveler led them inside. Laying his shovel by the door, the man entered and asked another inside to call for Alcerra. Soon, a familiar face emerged from a back room and although she smiled upon seeing Jak the mirth was replaced with annoyance; they'd interrupted something. Jak produced the culprit box and showed Alcerra the seal above its lock. She agreed that the image was that of a ghul, but assured the travelers that no more had been seen since the purge. Jak and Saldus explained the dozen or so deaths that had resulted from the box but Alcerra showed little concern. "They are with Draun now," she said, "there is no more to be said." Disturbed by the awkward encounter, Jak was almost relieved when told that there was no room at the cottage for them to stay. More than "no room", they were not welcomed. Leaving, Jak remembered the chainmail he had carried to return to Alcerra, but looking back at the closed door decided to do that another day.

The two left the graveyard house and walked into the town of Cenotaph. Finding an inhabited house they knocked on the door. The door opened cautiously. A large woman with an iron pan stood at the door with a smaller man craning his neck in the background to see past her. The woman, Maeam Spiner, and her husband Tor invited the armed men into their "new" home. The evening passed with small conversation, and Jak reveling in tales of which he never tired.

The next morning the two ventured back toward Temple Gate where they learned of a red headless giant rampaging to the South and West of the city, near Dulris. The Lords' Men at the gate reported that an armed contingent had been summoned to contain the threat, which had emerged from the direction of the Southswall, and possibly further South. Returning through the bitter cold, the two reached Candan. Saldus talked to Ferrek ...

The morning of Aldruan the 24th, Jak and Saldus left the freezing marsh and entered the queue above Northgate. Slowly, they pushed through the gathered crowds until and passed through the multiple arches into the Naryard. Once within the city walls, they found the Mourner's Hall and began a fruitless search of the dusty stacks. The same night they found room and boarding at the Burning Dog. Finding the home of Jurrus wasn't easy, a small ramshackle building constructed against the rear of a stone tavern. They were welcomed into the small dark house of the herald, who spoke of the great task he'd been given to design Jak's achievement. He proudly showed some rough sketches of his designs and mentioned often that he was most pleased with the commission. When asked about the ghul signs he led them to the home and workplace of his colleague, Deshel Madth. Deshel agreed to look into the ghul seal and would inform Jak of her findings. Jak thanked Jurrus and Deshel for their help, and they returned to the Inn of the Burning Dog.

The following morning, Jak and Saldus walked back to the Mourner's Hall and continued their dusty research. Leafing through thousands of old boxes and towering paper piles before finding some mouse-eaten manuscripts that referred to the Daralien clan. After much candlelight study they recognized some discrepancies in the dates and deaths of the family. There were some family members it seemed (two men and one woman), referenced over the centuries who had no certificates or mentions of death. Pleased with these findings the two marched through the Kyard as the day faded, and arrived at the Kyard Gate of Kry Shurulm a short time after nightfall. After some negotiation, they were admitted to an old hall and were met by Foulstern, who entered through an unseen paneled door. The mage approached and greeted Jak who in turn introduced Saldus. The trio spoke at length about politics, ghuls, families, and what little he knew of the headless giant that had rampaged toward the City from the South. Foulstern spoke a little of Xurmivor, one of the High Lord's three advisors. Jak asked if they could meet; though Foulstern was doubtful. he agreed to forward the message.

The next morning, Jak and Saldus returned to Oth. On the 9th of In'Orol, a letter arrived in Candan from Deshel Madth. The message explained that the seal of ghul was the sign of Or Dnur, that there would be no further charge for her services, and that she wanted no part or mention in whatever research was to follow. Jak gave a few silvers to a young man to forward the letter to Alcerra in Cenotaph.

In the frozen month of In'Orol, Jak learned that Dadra was with child.

25 Sep 1999

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Navigation

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People

Xurmivor Daralien (Wiz15)
Foulstern (Wiz14)
Jurrus (Exp2)
Deshel Madth (Exp4)
Maeam Spiner (Com1)
Torus Spiner (Com2)
Ferrek Tawll (Com2)
Weel Tawll (Com1)

Introducing

Or Dnur: Dekàlan traditions mandate that none other than priests of Draun may practice the Or Dnur. Worshippers of Draun see this as more than a tradition, but rather a strict law to be obeyed under penalty of death. Adherrents to Dekàlan religion believed that to dabble in the Or Dnur was to bar your way from the afterworld. Since the fall of the Empire few remember the exact price of practicing necromancy (few know of Draun), except that the cost to the soul is dire.