Report: Return to the Monastery
General Summary
I have recently learned some… hard truths about both Gravesend and our world. It would be a lie to say that I have been a true and faithful servant to Excoria, but it feels even more hurtful to deny my human nature. In an effort to find answers, I left with several of our flock: Aunt Robin, Stiks, and Ms Monique. Aunt Robin has told me of her time at the Monastery, and Stiks speaks quite highly of Virgil, so I was excited to share my concerns with him. We set out on a brisk morning, looking back and knowing that it would be several weeks before we again saw Gravesend. It’s amazing how quickly a small hamlet can feel like home, and the protective feelings I have for the residents, whatever their lineage.
After a little more than a week of blessedly uneventful travel, we arrived at the Mountain Gate: and it was closed. This shocked all those who had been before, as it was always a sanctuary to any who pass by. As we approached a captain with a familiar Imperial accent called out to determine why we were there. Aunt Robin was the first to respond:
“We are here to visit the temples, old acquaintances, and bring this young lad to learn”
We were required to hand over all of our weaponry, and note down any magical powers. I considered briefly whether to conceal my more powerful offensive magics, but feared that could cause more harm than good. After being disarmed, we were allowed to enter the valley in which stood the small town of Solis, which Aunty explained was full of lay folk who provide for the needs of the holy people within the Monastery. Most of the students live at the Temple of Knowledge.
Our second surprise at the Monastery was the amount of activity: Everywhere along the path were dotted tents with the symbol of the Army of Light, and at the end of these tents was a much larger and ornate tent topped with the Symbol of House Waycrest.
I looked around to find someone who could explain what is going on. There was a soldier who said that they are on training exercises with monks from the Temple of Might. General Denir Waycrest is the Waycrest that is here. We asked several other soldiers, and they all promptly give the same response.
Arriving in Solis, it seems a little more strained, the hearty greetings we would have expected were more curt, with people keeping their heads down. We made a choice between several of the large inns in Solis, starting with stabling our horses. The woman running the Inn was Rita Croft, one of the travelers coming from the Imperial City during our expedition to shepherd the Third Canon into Renvere.
She thanked us for our help with the Elves, and said that her daughter purchased her the Inn. In quite the coincidence we learned that her daughter was the same Captain who greeted us at the gate. We probed a little further and discovered that the “No weapon” policy is because the General is in the Monastery. Stiks piped into the conversation that he is here to see his “old man”, who in this case I took to be Virgil. It seems that any male who reaches his fiftieth year is called “old man” by Stiks, and it can become quite confusing.
We were dismayed to hear that Virgil apparently left some time ago, and the Monastery is now in the hands of Abbess Hoss. We left immediately to go to the Abbey to see if we can get an audience with her. Compared to much of the architecture in the valley, the Abbey was quite plain. Further we were not greeted outside, but luckily Aunty Robin was quite familiar with the building and brought us right to the Abbess’ Solar. Abbess Hoss recognized Robin, and greeted her formally, which fit with her appearance as a fairly stern woman. We had a brief conversation about the Third Canon, which she was reading when we entered.
The Abbess told us that Virgil suddenly retired, and in fact slipped the Monastery in the dead of night, after having been distracted for quite some time. We all felt unsettled by this news, but particularly Stiks, who did not think that was something the old man would have done. Just for assurances we asked again about the soldiers at the Monastery: She repeated that the soldiers are there to train at the Temple of Might, while also mentioning that there were nearly 2,000 members of the Army of Light there.
She further noted that there is a coming conflict, as revealed by prophecy. It was at that point that I stepped forward and introduced myself as the Messenger of Excoria , which seemed to take the Abbess by surprise. She revealed that General Denir has said that I was in fact the Champion of Excoria, and in light of my station she provided an amulet which would allow us entry anywhere in the Monastery. She also says that the General has been holding weekly prayer at the Temple of Knowledge for all to attend.
In my visions, Excoria has named me her champion- and while my faith does not waver in her holy light, I am less certain of the motivations of the mortals which guide the Church. In my secret heart I had hoped that the church would name a completely different Champion of Faith, so that I could know that Excoria was true, and the Church was false… But if I was named so by both… who is corrupt? How can I champion the light when I do not know what is shadow? Stiks would counsel me to follow my heart, but who am I to question the holy men of the church, and the heavenly wisdom of angels?
My own clouded thoughts were not the only reason we came to the Monastery: Robin and Monique were interested in their histories (Robin found her bees in a valley, Monique found her shield, which at the time was faintly glowing gold). Stiks believes that Monique’s shield bears the eye of Arcanus, and it glows depending on what energy she is near: Gold for Celestine.
After our audience with the Abbess we decided to head west and into the mountains to the Temple of Visions- it was a difficult trek, made slightly easier by Aunt Robin’s guidance. Even still it took almost 8 hours. It had already been a long day, but we trekked on. The Temple was set precariously atop some flat stone spires, and the idea of human hands creating it still boggles the mind. It was a large, open-aired temple overlooking the valley below, with peach-colored stone walls. Nearby was a babbling brook that ran from a set of the prophets’ quarters down towards the open-air platform, where there were several intricately carved benches, tables, and metal braziers. Several of the braziers appeared to have been strewn about, spreading ash across the otherwise pristine stone.
Stiks immediately went to the platform, and assumed a meditative position, which I tried gamefully to emulate. This is not my usual method of prayer and communion, but I was happy to share the experience with my friend. That meditative state did not last long, however, as Aunt Robin quickly found signs of a strugle: splatters of blood, 3 huge white feathers, and two shimmering gold arrows that look as they they were forged in another world. My blood ran cold with the thought of a struggle in this holy place, and even moreso because of the likely combatants.
I had seen these arrows once before. Not just arrows of such make… but these exact arrows: in the quiver of Venandi the hunter. Excoria told me that Venandi was charged with hunting members of the church who had strayed dangerously into heresy and blasphemy, and if he had come for Virgil… the thought raises the hairs on my neck.
Needing to search for more clues, we ducked into the prophet’s quarters, where we found a pack which confirmed our suspicions, as it contained a ring that Stiks knew to be Virgil’s. I knew I could not spend the night in the shack, and instead wanted to spend my night alone on the platform of the temple, hopeful to obtain some answers. By the time I had reached it, however, Aunt Robin was already there. She and I shared some private words, and we lay down to rest under the stars- a shimmering angel taking shape above us to guard our sleep. I may not have received any answers, but we all had very interesting dreams:
Jene’s night: I fall asleep, and receive a vision of Excoria- this time much further away than usual. Her voice rings true in my ears, and she says “Jene, my champion, I have been unable to contact you for some time. There is something that interferes with our connection. If you are to receive my aid and champion my cause, you must resolve this as soon as possible.”
Robin’s night: Restless sleep (in part because there’s an angel floating above them), but also because she feels a little out of place here. She had a dream: She’s walking in the valley where she found her bees initially. When she finds the queen this time, it’s much larger than in actuality (the size of a human head). When she goes to help it, it flies away, oddly agile for a queen bee of that size. Following it through the woods, however, it darts into a rocky area, and she’s unable to find it.
Monique’s night: She dreams that she’s on the platform of the temple, and as she sits there she sees two stars fall onto the platform, one right after the other. Some period of time goes by, and then two more fall in the same place.
Stiks’ night: He wanders restlessly, and heads over near to the Platform, and he suddenly feels like he is being watched. Out of nowhere a giant owl attacks him: It brings him right to the edge of the cliff, and he’s teetering on the edge. He wakes up, and finds himself standing right on the edge of the temple platform, with his toes teetering off the ledge in the water. He falls backwards in a heap, waking Aunt Robin and I up.
I instantly ran to help Stiks, and as I helped pull him back from the edge, my mind was cast to Ryth ever so briefly. We shared our visions, and Stiks points out that the Owl is the symbol of Venandi, and that he must be looking to hunt them as well. We hike down tot he bottom of the waterfall, just in case Virgil had fallen all that way, but our search was futile.
We then hiked back up into the valley in which Robin found her bees, and Monique found her shield. It was quite apparent that no human had trod those trails in quite some time. Robin was seeking out the meadow where she first found her queen, as well as any landmarks from her dream. Monique followed along, with her shield raised. Robin brings everyone to the entrance of a cave, which startlingly resembled where the Queen brought her in the dream. In the center of a pool in the cave, wherein Monique found her shield, the bees become excited, and begin stinging both myself and Stiks, while the shield started dimly glowing blue and green.
Monique said that Blue is Arcanus, Green is Sindar. Confusing that there would be other divine presences in the monastery of Celestine. Monique said that she believes that their presence predates the Monastery.
Monique detects magic, and a faint magical presence from behind the waterfall is revealed to her. She goes forwards, and finds a narrow passageway, that leads into a tunnel. We travelled down, until it opened into a chasm that twists and turns, with carved images:
On the walls there was an image of two stars over a mountain range, one blue and one green. They glowed dimly. The next image showed the two stars falling to the ground in the mountains. The final in this series showed a man in blue robes and an elf in green garment together, hands joined, under one of the mountains.
Monique was nearly blinded by how much magical energy there is, and the bees seem to be extremely excitable, as they begin to do serious damage if either I or Stiks strayed close to them.
Robin found a small blue coin in a small rock outcropping.
We spiralled in towards the center of the tunnel, and we came to a vortexing pool of water, but it was not quite liquid, but more of a mass of magical energy. In the center lay a stone plinth with an unknowable object resting on it. Mist rose off of the “water”, with a number of stepping stones leading around the plinth.
We found even more carvings, this time moving: The first showed three stars, one red, one black, one golden. The red star moved erratically about the area, followed by the golden star, followed by the black star. The second image showed the red and golden stars moving as one, with the black star following, with some delay. The third image showed the stars falling to a plain, the red one taking the form of a demon, the golden an angel and the black a horse. The angel and demon battled fruitlessly, until the horse joined the fray, trampling the demon. Chains emerge from nowhere binding all three.
Stiks believed that the black orb could have been Ro, while it seems apparent that the gold is Celestine, and the Red Baelfury.
Stiks steps out onto the platform, and reveal that they are fairly treacherous, as he dipped a foot into the tumultuous liquid- the chaotic magic of the area manifests an aetherite coin into his pocket.
I let loose Gloria, who reported back that the object on the plinth was an elven scimitar. We all attempt to cross, sometimes dipping a toe into the liquid, causing spurts of chaotic magic to unleash. Some are good, but Monique lost her knowledge of the Arcane.
Another set of carvings when we reached the far side:
The final image was a set of five images, the first was a demon, on its knees, bound in chains, second was an angel in a similar position also bound in chains, third was a woman on a throne but she had no hands. She was weeping. Fourth was the blue robed man, atop a tower. Finally the elf in green garments, holding a scimitar pointed forward towards an odd cloaked creature with tendrils where its face should be, and many tiny green stars behind them. They bore a chisel in their other hand, holding it behind them.
Aunt Robin stepped forward towards a ledge, and her swarm begins to go even more crazy. Stiks reached out and admires the carving of Celestine, its every facet perfect, then moves on towards the ledge as well. Aunt Robin found the queen from her dream: a monstrous bee larger than any we had seen before, and in fact barely even fit in her knapsack, in a state of torpor.
She cast speak with animals, and incomprehensibly speaks with the beast. She offers honey from her hive, and then loads the large insect into her pack.
The queen revealed herself to be named Apini, and when she was brought close to Monique’s shield, she relayed that it belonged to her father’s friend, and it is learned that Apini’s father was Sindar (the elf on the wall), and another God. How could my whole life been a lie in that Celestine is not alone in Godhood?
The shield was Arcanus’s, the Scimitar was Sindar’s. Such implements, wielded by divine beings. Truly a humbling experience.
According to the queen, Sindar brought Apini here when the darkness (Nether) came to the Feywild. The tendril-faced thing is an aspect of Nether (Void).
Our next stop was the Temple of Knowledge, which brought us back through Solis, where there was a procession of both Abbess Hoss and General Denir. We spoke briefly, wherein he poitned out that he is also a champion. He mentioned that Sir Elron married his sister’s sister-in-law. Truly surprising how small the world seems, sometimes.
General Denir invited us to dinner that evening at the Temple of Knowledge. Before then we made our way to the Temple of Knowledge, which was in essence a large staff room and library, which is full of modern Celestine texts.
As we pore through the library, it seemed fairly sterile, with no real interesting reads. It was a pleasant enough way to spend the intervening hours before our dinner with the General.
Denir sat near us, and continued to probe about our whereabouts, which I continued to dodge. He did provide some interesting information as he proceeded: “I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but we’re among the faithful. The emperor is concerned about the situation in Renvere, and it seems that we are worried about the root of the Demon God’s power may be starting to spread in the shadows in Renvere.” Apparently they want to give the King of Renvere some time to sort things out, but in the meantime the Army of Light will continue to marshal their forces here in the monastery
The conversation was tense, and in the end I took my leave early. I am ashamed to say that I find it hard to trust this general of the Army of Light. I can scarcely recognize myself anymore.
-Scribed by Jene Dark
Advenutring Party: Jene Dark, Monique, Stiks, Robin Foster
24MAY22
Report Date
24 May 2022
Primary Location
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