Greetings,

As the chill Midautumn night slipped slowly past midnight into the month
of Slyphian, a soft hum could be heard in the caverns and waters of the
realm. Precious few took notice of the subtle vibrations, and those who
did ignored them as little more than tremblings of the glebe. Yet as the
days passed, the young and curious of the land began to take note of a
strange circumstance. Many of the realms prominent individuals, known
always to speak when spoken to and to provide services where they were
able, began to fall mute. First the butterfly collector, Vellis, ceased
responding to the pleas of his youthful companions for nets. Then, the
scholar of Ashtan, Epicurus, ceased altogether in sharing the wisdom he
was always so willing to impart to those who would pass the hookah with
him. In time, all of the realm's less adventuresom citizens were found
to be lacking in their everyday communications. Caution spread
throughout the realm, many wondering what might have caused so strange
an occurence, and why they had been spared the fate of their esteemed
fellows. Yet none could find an answer befitting the circumstance, nor
should they have been able to, for though they suffered not as the likes
of Averroes and Hakhim, Imperia and Amairgen, much of their thoughts had
been masked...

I share with you now an excerpt of a journal, long destroyed but
committed firmly within my memory, secreted from the Sanctum Sanguinus
in the earliest days of my tutelage under the Emperor Abhorash. I share
this with you for my own reasons, though through no small compromise of
my own morals and with not but the greatest of concern for my people
above all others. Take what I give you in earnest. The memory of the
words I now put to record I credit with the current safety of my own
psyche, and out of eager necessity do I hope the same safety for a time
finds you.



~*~~~~~~From the journal of Eizghart Neirset, Blood Regent~~~~~~*~

|*On the Fifth day of the Eighth month of the Fourty-Third year of
|*the Mother, the Night Sky came alight as though bathed in flame.
|*Many of my Brothers fled quickly beneath the soil, fearing the
|*sun had overcome the protection of the Holy One before Her Great
|*Slumber. As Regent I stood firm against the coming light, my soul
|*prepared for whatever onslaught might come from the minions of
|*the the Scintillent Demoness. Yet with a rapidity unmatched by
|*even the celerity of our own kind, the blazing sky began to turn
|*in upon itself, until all that remained of the light was an
|*effulgent orb in the sky, coming swiftly towards the land. Using
|*all the skill of my farsight I could muster, I could vaguely make
|*out some conscious form, encapsulated in the flaming orb which
|*so quickly approached. Fear rising within me, it was all I could
|*do to keep my eyes upon the approaching form as it grew larger in
|*my field of vision, yet what seemed as seconds before it was due
|*to crash, the orb veered impossibly off its trajectory, crashing
|*with a violent hiss into the distant ocean. Slowly, the echoing
|*hiss settled and was gone, and the night sky was again the ebon
|*tone it was accustomed to.


~*~~~~~~From the journal of Eizghart Neirset, Blood Regent~~~~~~*~

|*Slavemasters in the lower breeding colonies reported a soft,
|*echoing vibration in the early morning of the Eleventh day of
|*the Ninth month of the Fourty-Third year of the Mother. After
|*being questioned concerning such later in the day, none of the
|*slavemasters remembered anything of the vibrations, or of ever
|*having filed a report to the contrary, regardless of the written
|*statements to the contrary.


~*~~~~~~From the journal of Eizghart Neirset, Blood Regent~~~~~~*~

|*The Twelfth day of the Ninth month of the Fourty-Third year of of
|*the Mother. All of the mortal slaves and their masters have gone
|*entirely mute. Vague recognition can be noted in their eyes, but
|*they appear in a dreamy state. The affliction is widespread and
|*serious, with reports from all of the colonies coming in almost
|*continuously. Espionage reports from the mortal cities also note
|*the majority of the citizens being struck dumb. At this time,
|*myself and the other Regents remain unaffected by this invisible
|*threat, as do many of our warriors outside the colonies. Those
|*Brothers within the colony who have remained within the barracks,
|*have regretably been struck. Those telepaths and mages who remain
|*in control of their mental facets are working fevereshly to
|*divine the source of the mallady, though no progress has yet been
|*made.


~*~~~~~~From the journal of Eizghart Neirset, Blood Regent~~~~~~*~

|*Some great ethereal presence has filled our skies...day and night
|*it is felt...burning, always burning...yet so cold...colder than
|*any grave. Our warriors have turned against us, their forms as
|*elegant and beautiful as always, but their minds...oh their minds
|*are something else...The slavemasters have freed their slaves,
|*and they attack those few of us, mortal and immortal alike, who
|*still remain within our wits...there is always the sound of some
|*horrible laughter...sometimes shrill, sometimes deep and echoing.
|*What is this madness...this...presence...that so infects the minds
|*of the masses? Without prejudice it feeds...without abandon it
|*conquers the minds of all but the strongest amongst us...I fear we
|*may need seek assistance from...no, no...it can never come to that.


~*~~~~~~From the journal of Eizghart Neirset, Blood Regent~~~~~~*~

|*The Holy One is gone from our skies, the Demoness as well...there
|*is not but the Presence. Every moment it surrounds us, engulfs us
|*as a blanket of madness. Yet I know...I know that it is more...
|*What stellar form is this that hunts the minds of all it should
|*encounter? The only hope now is to find the source of its constant
|*emanations...I have sent my strongest warriors away from the
|*colony, and they shall seek out
|*
|*
|*
|* Tse tse nui attap tse nei
|*
|*


None of the literature I have seen makes mention of any event such as is
recorded in the journal of Regent Neirset, and perhaps for good reason.
Take from it what you will. My mind is set on the actions I must take.


~Prince Zahmekoses Nebre'seir

Penned by my hand on the 12th of Slyphian, in the year 104 MA.