Mouth of Dendar
The following excerpt, dated Year of the Dark Dawn, was taken from the journal of Lord Vanrak Moonstar, which was recently acquired by Lady Alathene Moonstar.
During our push southward through the Black Jungles, we came upon an ancient ruin on the north¬ern shore of the Lapal Sea. Though the stone structure had nearly been swal¬lowed up by the surrounding jungle, enough remained for us to discern that it must once have been a temple of some kind. After hacking our way through a web of slithering, snakelike vines, we found a stone ramp that led down into the temple's lower story, then became a twisting tunnel that wound even deeper into the earth. The passageway’s limestone block walls were lined with bas-relief depic¬tions of scenesfrom the height of Serpentes, as the long-somnolent yuan-ti empire is known in our tongue. Centuries of dripping water had dissolved most of the detail, but enough remained of the carvings that we could still discern their subjects. The bas-reliefs that we saw during our descent traced the nightmares back to their source—they streamed forth from a great pit in the shape of a giant serpent’s maw, which lay under the watchful gaze of Sseth. Subsequent panels depicted Sseth flying high above the jungje toward the "Peaks of Flame in the west, trailing his mantle of nightmares behind him. At the base of a great volcano, he was shown passing through a portal to Smaragd. In the final scenes, Sseth’s rai¬ment of nightmares dissolved into a swarm of shadowy snakes that consumed the slumbering form of Merrshaulk. The tunnel ended abruptly in a great cave dominated by a yawning, serpentine maw in the . floor. When we entered the cavern, a swarm of fluttering nightmares emerged from the pit and enveloped us. While I fled the Mouth of Dendar with the screams of my companions echoing in my ears, my mind was wracked with hor¬rifying visions. For three days I beseeched the Moonmaiden to relieve me of these nightmares, but she spurned my Emperor Sseth before his Ascension prayers. At last, in desperation, I turned to the Lady of Loss to end my torment. Now, when night's blessed embrace cloaks my form, the visions cease, and I can find a measure of peace. The bas-reliefs depicted the court of Serpentes during a period of somnolence in the Tear of Dreams. Most of the slumber¬ing serpentfolk were beset by horrifyingvisions in which thousands of tiny serpents were tearing them apart and consuming them alive. Only the emperor, Sseth, seemed immune—his nightmares seemed to swoop about his body, forming a majestic, fluttering raiment of darkness.
— ELB
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