The World of Teréth End

"... When you reach Kelamir you will find a tower of iron like a needle with three spheres of glass at its base. Each sphere is a cell hosting living fires. Each must agitated in its own manner for only in their most volatile states will the tower provide the required essence for the High Lady's ship. Arrange the ship in the square at the tower's base and affix the hoses and cables before releasing the essence. Once the ship takes shape, all voyagers must be in place and all cargo secured beneath the gondola. The captain will know when to drop the tower's anchor and will guide you across the mountains to the great north city. Seek there the monarch of that land and deliver our Lady's message to him. All haste be with you, for an Ortori attack is imminent. Amra bless and deliver you safely.

"Surrezin, Chamberlain to the High Lady Elesea of Taldàna"

Children of Osøgkru
21 Eren 653 - 23 Eren 653

Group returns to the Temple. Tallyssa tells her tale. Dammon and Zildara find their way to a subterranean orphanage run by priestess of Zalan. A familiar eats his fill. Tressta speaks with her mother and is asked to redeem herself in the family's eyes. Zildara does some investigation. Jak trains. Tressta is tricked into meeting face-to-face with a solemn Sered who wants her to help her father, and join the Saránthi cause. Tomach finally speaks to his daughter.

From the Notes of Tressta:

Day One (21 Eren 653)

Nightsdeep
Tressta asks Temple attendants to care for her sister and goes to bed
Morning
Jak wants Zildara to read his spear (which is runed); Zildara casts a spell but cannot read the words
Get Dammon who can read it; Arcane writing that says spear will guide the wielder's hand in battle; Writing is unknown but seems familiar; Perhaps it is based on something Dammon knows; Dammon senses thatthere's something more to it--one line of script seems to contain a deeper meaning or a "trick"; There was a formula that made Dammon think that extra life might be taken from the victim at the cost of the wielder (almost necromantic in nature)
Jak practices with spear; Seems easy to use and he finds a sparring partner
Jak performs a solid thrust and feels the spear vibrate; Jak's hands still tingle afterward
After sparring, Jak goes and tells Dammon about the occurrence; Dammon confides a little about the additional information he gleaned from the weapon
Zildara visits docks to try and find out who owns the ship they visited last night; A port authority official pulls out papers on the ship; It is managed by Thagus Melden who represents a group of owners who hold an interest in the ship
Zildara returns to the Temple
Tressta brings scribe to take down her sister's tale, who was attacked at night at her inn; Bagged and taken by a man with large hands; She was put in a wagon and put onto two different boats before she was imprisoned in the bilge
Tallyssa only remember men's voices, one with particular bass; They only spoke Taládan, that she remembered
Tressta goes to visit her mother and bring to see Tallyssa
Dammon asks Zildara about the Zalan religion and then confides in her about the magical place the children found; He agrees to take her there
Dammon and Zildara leave Temple, find alley
Dammon had sent his conscious down; Familiar finds scrawled writings on walls (more like symbols) and the remains of a girl; Conscious did find "something" (a creature like the other day) but he took care of it; Conscious describes a chamber where children meet, and says it's all children, mostly
Dammon asks what else besides children are there and it says something that doesn't move
Familiar gives directions to the chamber
Zildara decides to go down; casts [light] and climbs down into the passageways
Dammon follows into bricked passages
Dammon leads, hopping across and down stairs, through an opened grate that leads into an open antechamber with columns and little ossuaries; In the chamber's center and bottom are rows and rows of ramshackle bunkbeds, some with children sleeping in them; In the room's center sits an ugly skinny old woman on a dais; She doesn't seem to notice Dammon or Zildara; She wears a patchwork blue robe that is very long, trailing about her on the floor in all directions
Dammon casts [detect magic] and finds low-level weaving with stronger auras near each of the children
Dammon and Zildara approach woman; She finally recognizes visitors
Dammon notices that she's Bu-Ortor
She says "Who comes here?"; Zildara greets her with a Zalàni gesture and the woman returns the same; She says "I am Osøgkru and these are my children"; With a gesture the children rouse from their slumber
Children ask in Taládan, "Mother, what should we do with them?"
Zildara tells where she's from; Osøgkru says she's from the mountains and asks "What brings you here?"
Osøgkru tells children to leave Dammon and Zildara alone, for they are of the faith
After long conversation, Osøgkru offers to teach Zildara of the faith and anything she might like to know about the city
Osøgkru is sad that some children haven't returned "home"; She explains that the children come from the street and she teaches and shelters them
Zildara asks Osøgkru how she came upon Zalan; Osøgkru explains that she found a book here that she read and it showed her the ways of the Blue Goddess; She offers that if Zildara wished to study the book she might do so too, as long as she does it here
Osøgkru also asks that the two keep this place a secret; They agree
Osøgkru explains that someone named "the Dog" is moving things large shipments of things around the city
Dammon and Zildara leave; Zildara asks Dammon why he goes there
Dammon's familiar says "Getting close to my meal time"
Dammon goes around corner and finds a child's corpse with little oozing black puncture marks on its body; Zildara sees body too
Zildara intends to go back and visit with Osøgkru
Meanwhile, Jak continues to train with Eréus in the ways of knighthood
Jak talks with Tressta about trying to keep Eréus' status as a thardor quiet (she slipped while in the tavern previously, to Capt. Paldor)
Zildara talks to Tressta about a ship; Zildara explains what she learned about the ship and that she had seen lanterns moving on it
Tressta goes to see mother and tells her; Brings mother back to Temple in early evening; Tressta asks about presenting transcript of Tallyssa's tale at father's trial
Tressta's mother worried about effect on father's reputation; They decide not to
Gwendin mentions Tressta's marriage and then asks if she will prove that she cares for the family by helping her father escape
Gwendin asks her to come to her apartment the next ight for more information
Gwendin leaves; Tressta leaves sister's side

Day Two (22 Eren 653)

Day
Tressta asks Dammon about the feasibility of breaking her father out of jail
Dammon sends his familiar to do reconnaisance
Evening
Tressta goes to visit mother
Gwendin is acting strangely; Tressta is surprised to find Sered in mother's apartment
Sered asks if Tressta is interested in springing her father; Tressta says she is
Sered says he wants her father out as well
Tressta questions her father's involvement
Sered explains:

Sered looked long into Tressta's eyes and said "You are more lovely than even I remember. I have waited to see you for so long. I apologize for this cloak-and-dagger meeting, but I needed to take certain precautions due to some of the things your father has been saying. No matter, all of this unpleasantness will be behind us soon. I called you here to see you and tell you what is happening. You've likely heard that there is trouble to the South. The brave soldiers of Saranth are settling an old score, now almost 700 years old. What I am about to tell you, I tell you because I know that I can trust you and because I want more than anything to protect you and your family in the coming weeks. You see, 700 years ago the City of Taldàna was conquered by the Elve armies but unlike other cities of the time, the Elve have never left. This city has remained a seat of power for the Elve for many centuries now and the Saranth armies will change that. The High Lady herself is but another guise of an Elve pretender who has sat upon the Albumor for two hundred years. This is not right. This will be corrected. The Saranthi are all that remains of the true Dekàlans in this region, and it is therefore our duty to correct this ancient wrong. Sadly, the people of the Taldàna do not wish change, even those that understand this nefarious secret. These are the treasoners to the Crown, not the brave and heart-strong men like your father. The war will be coming here soon, as it is coming to Shalvàsal. If you are to remain, you must choose your side. This is not about kingmaking, this is not about land-grabbing, this is a fight for what is good and right against an evil foe that sits waiting to crush the good people of Taldàna, again. This call to arms flows in the veins of every good Dekàlan body. We are mortal, but we will never forget."

When asked for evidence of his theory, Sered mentioned the Sleeping Plague and Great Flood of the 3rd century and the Bleeding Plague of the 4th which he claimed were all Elve plots used to disrupt or distract the population while resistances were crushed.

Day Two (22 Eren 653) Continued...

Sered predicts that Shalvàsal will fall to the Saránthi army within weeks
He explains that the Saránthi are not allied yet with other Dekàlan forces
He speaks of the Night of Burning Ships
Tressta asks where her father would go if he were to be released; Sered explains that his family would be taken care of in Saranth for their sacrifices; He gives name of town, Heúldur
Sered promises to make the necessary diversion if needed, provided he has two days notice to arrange one
Tressta returns to Temple
Dammon not in Temple but at a tavern waiting for his conscious who doesn't find much at the barracks
Tressta plans to visit with her father in the morning