I
In the Refuge of the Azhemyra
- Page Eight -
Perhaps the murder she gave to my youngest siblings and to my father was a mercy. I do hope they passed quickly and without suffering. She wasn't as merciful when she destroyed all of Oerstav Caelii in her wrath. She managed to reduce the entire city of Neshran to nothing but ruins and ashes in a matter of days. At least, that's what I heard from a scant few survivors in the port cities of the Morthav Highlands when I began this journey here with my students.
I've always wondered what visions my mother saw that would drive her to such madness. What were powers there in that old and musty temple that might turn a mortal woman into such a fiend? What could corrupt her so thoroughly that she would make a pact with a demon and become such a creature?
Despite your continual warnings, I will soon find out. You know that I have not been able to return to Oerstav Caelii since my last day there in my youth. Many of the oracle students I have saved and trained to be here with me state that to return to my home would be suicide. My mother, it is said, still, roams that land in search of Serranos and myself.
I recently sent some members of the Guardian Knights and a few trusted students of sufficient abilities to look into the ruins of the Ullthosian Sanctum and the Temple nearby. They've just returned with shipments of strange artifacts and unearthly stones from that place. The Azhemyra are using those artifacts and stones to create the devices I requested. We will be able to use the energies of those artifacts, along with the post-cognition abilities I have been perfecting, to reach through and pierce into the time that Merithault, my mother, was there.
I will finally be able to see what my mother saw all those years ago. When the enchantments are completed, these orbs will be able to store and hold all the memories of the oracles. We can use these to keep our culture alive when the world dies. I know you doubt the visions of old diviners, but I must assure you, this will come to pass. The horrors that my mother let loose will tear this world asunder. We exist in the calm before the storm, and as such, we must seize this time to prepare.
Please give my love to our children, Isyn and Loelan. I know, it is painful for us all to be separated like this for so long. I understand how hard this must be for our children, as I endured the exact same when I was young. Please know that this must be done. Know — most of all — my love, that this is all we have left.
Keep the children safe. Let them know that I love them dearly and I can't wait to be at home to care for them like a mother should. I miss all of you more than I can ever express.
With all of my heart and soul, eternally yours,
- Maenthrai
As her eyes passed over the last lines of runes, tears began to well up in the inside corners of her eyes. It felt strange for her to cry after so long. It had been over four grueling years since she had seen her husband and her children. In that time she had only ever heard of her family through the many letters her husband sent to her. It was hard for her to think of her young Isyn becoming a man at last. The last time she had seen Loelan was when she was still in swaddling clothes. It had been far too long a separation.
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