Post by Maerin on Apr 1, 2008 16:26:55 GMT -5
The Lyrian Herald - 29th Gebo MS 5103
Found nailed outside a tavern in Soren:
Welcome to the Lyrian Herald!
29th Gebo, MS 5103.
Friends, Sages, Stornlanders and Freelanders all! In spite of those who would seek to repress the free spread of knowledge in the world, the Herald has returned!
The Order of the Yellow Robes: Part 1
Zipp sighed. She hated clerical matters. But sometimes they had to be attended to. And with what she'd heard from Seistrle at the Knight's Tournament had convinced her, beyond a doubt, that the sages were still out there. They were just... hiding.
She dipped her pen in the ink and sucked on the tip of the feather, thinking. Where should she start? She scratched out a couple of lines, "to whomever it may concern," but then stopped. She had to think before she could go further. Think back on the history of the Order.
The history of the Yellow Robes was tied up in the life and death of Jyhipp Dementia, known as Zipp among the humans. And that history differed depending on the story teller. These days, only a few people remained who had known Jyhipp. The cat elder Gareid was one of them. And until his death in Eshnar, Remoire had been another. There were rumours that a wolf creature, Cloe, had seen Jyhipp AFTER her death, but no one had seen the wolf creature in nearly a decade. So Zipp had to rely on the aging elder and sage.
From what she'd heard from them, the first to wear the Yellow Robes in honor of Jyhipp's memory (after her death at the hands of an unknown assassin) was Angelo. Angelo, a sage rumoured to be a "fairy child" had begun a sort of cult centered around the Cat Creature. It was quickly picked up by the myriad Cat tribes, who revered her as a goddess.
But eventually the other beast creatures became frightened of the zealous nature of Jyhipp's worshippers. At first, the situation was approached diplomatically. The Cat Elders kept the situation under control, adding the worship of Jyhipp Dementia to their numerous other traditions and practices.
But then the Visionary had come.
More on the history of the Yellow Robes next issue!
***
The Fall Of the Sages of Lyris
Penned by a True Sage
In the decades after the Stornlands were freed from the grip of the Darklords, the Sages of Lyris rebuilt their numbers and an organizational structure that had suffered greatly during the Occupation. Though the Darklords, Naar’s greatest servants since the fall of Agaresh, had finally been destroyed through the courage of Sommerlund’s greatest Kai Master, agents of Evil remained throughout the world. These agents were smaller, perhaps, in scope compared with the ages-old might of the Darklords, but their potential for Evil was nevertheless quite great. They needed to be opposed and rooted out whenever possible.
Under the leadership of Gwynian and Tyrenis, the Sages did much to watch for these servants and agents of Naar, and then either confronting those Evils themselves as well or assisting and supporting other heroes in such confrontations. The Sages grew in numbers and influence in Lyris, until they rivaled the presence and capabilities they had enjoyed at the dawn of MS 5000.
The turn of the century brought the Sages of Lyris crashing down, virtually wiping out the order. The circumstances and truths behind fall of the Sages remain mostly shrouded in secrecy. However, a few facts are known and are documented here.
A breed of darkspawn, possessing the abilities of helghast and yet magically undetectable, stalked the streets of Varetta and murdered people in a highly visible and brutal fashion. People feared to walk alone by night, and later by day, and Varetta became a darker place. The Sages strove to find a means to detect, locate, and destroy these monsters; but they were distracted by other plots as well, both within the Stornlands and elsewhere. A man, Baron Drakhelm, appeared in the streets of Varetta and spoke out against the corrupt nobility that would permit such threats to exist unchallenged. His demagoguery acted to inflame the fears and paranoia of the population even further. Finally, in a single night, the entire city of Varetta exploded into a massive riot in the streets. And it was during that riot when the Grand Library of Varetta was obliterated with golden fire falling from the sky.
Morning arose on a city whose will and soul had been broken. Baron Drakhelm appeared again on the streets, and this time added the Sages to his list of the corrupt. Clearly, he argued, that fire was from the Gods Kai and Ishir. Equally clearly, it had fallen on the Library alone. It was clear that the Gods had struck down the Evil Sages for seeing the monstrous threat to the people and doing nothing. Or was it that the Sages brought about the threat to the people? The people of Varetta, fearing the night, their brothers, their leaders, and their teachers, and soon everything, harkened to the words of Baron Drakhelm. He made them somehow more comfortable with their fear, though did nothing to dismiss it.
Baron Drakhelm was eventually appointed High Chancellor by the King. With the acclamation of the people of Varetta, he assumed ever more responsibility for, and control over, Varetta. Control over the rest of Lyris soon followed.
What Sages that survived the night initially fled to other cities and towns in Lyris. But when it became clear that they were being hunted and assassinated, the surviving leadership of the Sages sent them further into hiding. During the weeks and months that followed, sages, their homes and families, their libraries with their precious books and scrolls, all were destroyed or seemed to disappear. Eventually, the leadership of the Sages attempted to rally the survivors in an attempt to combat Baron Drakhelm as the Movement to Free Lyris. Those that managed to gather for that movement disappeared without a trace.
The year is now MS 5103. Grey-robed scholars of the Order of Free Thought, lead by High Chancellor Drakhelm, have taken the place of the Sages in the hearts and minds of the people of Lyris. To all knowledge, the Sages of old have disappeared forever into the history of past centuries.
But no, we have not disappeared. Sages, such as myself, were abroad during those years, and not all of us were found by Drakhelm’s assassins sent to eliminate us. I do not doubt that there are Sages who have disappeared into the crowds living in the Stornlands and surrounding Freelands, blending in, secretly teaching others the ways of knowledge and skill, and waiting for a time when we will reclaim Lyris for our people.
***
A Community of Sages
The Sages bid the greater community of Magnamund welcome. We learned an important lesson from our defeat at the hands of Baron Drakhelm, particularly with the lose of those who joined the Movement to Free Lyris those years ago. Baron Drakhelm and the Order of Free Thought are not a single dragon that a single hero can ride out, slay, and be back to a tavern that night to celebrate.
Worse, the Evil that was born in Lyris has now begun to spread throughout the Stornlands. It will not be long before it reaches forward to the other Freelands of central Magnamund. Reuniting the Sages remaining to the world, as well as teaching a new generation, will take time and this Evil will not rest in the meantime. Though the Yellow Robes are better established, they are a long distance from the Stornlands and unaware of the truth of Evil’s growing power there. This is an Evil that may take another union of the Free Peoples to finally bring down.
I have read that many heroes among the Free Peoples are loathe to set foot in the Stornlands. They have heard many rumours about how violent and dangerous the Storn River valley can be, and avoid as much of the region as they can. Seeing that this might be encouraging those who can aid us to stay away, the Herald announces that soon a document will be circulated throughout the Freelands. This document will be a kind of “traveler’s guide” to the Stornlands. The intent, we hope, is to show that, while the Stornlands has as many dangers as any of the Freelands, it also has much that is worth appreciating and protecting. There are many wrongs that can be righted and Evils destroyed, besides those of the Order of Free Thought!
Found nailed outside a tavern in Soren:
Welcome to the Lyrian Herald! 29th Gebo, MS 5103.
Friends, Sages, Stornlanders and Freelanders all! In spite of those who would seek to repress the free spread of knowledge in the world, the Herald has returned!
The Order of the Yellow Robes: Part 1
Zipp sighed. She hated clerical matters. But sometimes they had to be attended to. And with what she'd heard from Seistrle at the Knight's Tournament had convinced her, beyond a doubt, that the sages were still out there. They were just... hiding.
She dipped her pen in the ink and sucked on the tip of the feather, thinking. Where should she start? She scratched out a couple of lines, "to whomever it may concern," but then stopped. She had to think before she could go further. Think back on the history of the Order.
The history of the Yellow Robes was tied up in the life and death of Jyhipp Dementia, known as Zipp among the humans. And that history differed depending on the story teller. These days, only a few people remained who had known Jyhipp. The cat elder Gareid was one of them. And until his death in Eshnar, Remoire had been another. There were rumours that a wolf creature, Cloe, had seen Jyhipp AFTER her death, but no one had seen the wolf creature in nearly a decade. So Zipp had to rely on the aging elder and sage.
From what she'd heard from them, the first to wear the Yellow Robes in honor of Jyhipp's memory (after her death at the hands of an unknown assassin) was Angelo. Angelo, a sage rumoured to be a "fairy child" had begun a sort of cult centered around the Cat Creature. It was quickly picked up by the myriad Cat tribes, who revered her as a goddess.
But eventually the other beast creatures became frightened of the zealous nature of Jyhipp's worshippers. At first, the situation was approached diplomatically. The Cat Elders kept the situation under control, adding the worship of Jyhipp Dementia to their numerous other traditions and practices.
But then the Visionary had come.
More on the history of the Yellow Robes next issue!
***
The Fall Of the Sages of Lyris
Penned by a True Sage
In the decades after the Stornlands were freed from the grip of the Darklords, the Sages of Lyris rebuilt their numbers and an organizational structure that had suffered greatly during the Occupation. Though the Darklords, Naar’s greatest servants since the fall of Agaresh, had finally been destroyed through the courage of Sommerlund’s greatest Kai Master, agents of Evil remained throughout the world. These agents were smaller, perhaps, in scope compared with the ages-old might of the Darklords, but their potential for Evil was nevertheless quite great. They needed to be opposed and rooted out whenever possible.
Under the leadership of Gwynian and Tyrenis, the Sages did much to watch for these servants and agents of Naar, and then either confronting those Evils themselves as well or assisting and supporting other heroes in such confrontations. The Sages grew in numbers and influence in Lyris, until they rivaled the presence and capabilities they had enjoyed at the dawn of MS 5000.
The turn of the century brought the Sages of Lyris crashing down, virtually wiping out the order. The circumstances and truths behind fall of the Sages remain mostly shrouded in secrecy. However, a few facts are known and are documented here.
A breed of darkspawn, possessing the abilities of helghast and yet magically undetectable, stalked the streets of Varetta and murdered people in a highly visible and brutal fashion. People feared to walk alone by night, and later by day, and Varetta became a darker place. The Sages strove to find a means to detect, locate, and destroy these monsters; but they were distracted by other plots as well, both within the Stornlands and elsewhere. A man, Baron Drakhelm, appeared in the streets of Varetta and spoke out against the corrupt nobility that would permit such threats to exist unchallenged. His demagoguery acted to inflame the fears and paranoia of the population even further. Finally, in a single night, the entire city of Varetta exploded into a massive riot in the streets. And it was during that riot when the Grand Library of Varetta was obliterated with golden fire falling from the sky.
Morning arose on a city whose will and soul had been broken. Baron Drakhelm appeared again on the streets, and this time added the Sages to his list of the corrupt. Clearly, he argued, that fire was from the Gods Kai and Ishir. Equally clearly, it had fallen on the Library alone. It was clear that the Gods had struck down the Evil Sages for seeing the monstrous threat to the people and doing nothing. Or was it that the Sages brought about the threat to the people? The people of Varetta, fearing the night, their brothers, their leaders, and their teachers, and soon everything, harkened to the words of Baron Drakhelm. He made them somehow more comfortable with their fear, though did nothing to dismiss it.
Baron Drakhelm was eventually appointed High Chancellor by the King. With the acclamation of the people of Varetta, he assumed ever more responsibility for, and control over, Varetta. Control over the rest of Lyris soon followed.
What Sages that survived the night initially fled to other cities and towns in Lyris. But when it became clear that they were being hunted and assassinated, the surviving leadership of the Sages sent them further into hiding. During the weeks and months that followed, sages, their homes and families, their libraries with their precious books and scrolls, all were destroyed or seemed to disappear. Eventually, the leadership of the Sages attempted to rally the survivors in an attempt to combat Baron Drakhelm as the Movement to Free Lyris. Those that managed to gather for that movement disappeared without a trace.
The year is now MS 5103. Grey-robed scholars of the Order of Free Thought, lead by High Chancellor Drakhelm, have taken the place of the Sages in the hearts and minds of the people of Lyris. To all knowledge, the Sages of old have disappeared forever into the history of past centuries.
But no, we have not disappeared. Sages, such as myself, were abroad during those years, and not all of us were found by Drakhelm’s assassins sent to eliminate us. I do not doubt that there are Sages who have disappeared into the crowds living in the Stornlands and surrounding Freelands, blending in, secretly teaching others the ways of knowledge and skill, and waiting for a time when we will reclaim Lyris for our people.
***
A Community of Sages
The Sages bid the greater community of Magnamund welcome. We learned an important lesson from our defeat at the hands of Baron Drakhelm, particularly with the lose of those who joined the Movement to Free Lyris those years ago. Baron Drakhelm and the Order of Free Thought are not a single dragon that a single hero can ride out, slay, and be back to a tavern that night to celebrate.
Worse, the Evil that was born in Lyris has now begun to spread throughout the Stornlands. It will not be long before it reaches forward to the other Freelands of central Magnamund. Reuniting the Sages remaining to the world, as well as teaching a new generation, will take time and this Evil will not rest in the meantime. Though the Yellow Robes are better established, they are a long distance from the Stornlands and unaware of the truth of Evil’s growing power there. This is an Evil that may take another union of the Free Peoples to finally bring down.
I have read that many heroes among the Free Peoples are loathe to set foot in the Stornlands. They have heard many rumours about how violent and dangerous the Storn River valley can be, and avoid as much of the region as they can. Seeing that this might be encouraging those who can aid us to stay away, the Herald announces that soon a document will be circulated throughout the Freelands. This document will be a kind of “traveler’s guide” to the Stornlands. The intent, we hope, is to show that, while the Stornlands has as many dangers as any of the Freelands, it also has much that is worth appreciating and protecting. There are many wrongs that can be righted and Evils destroyed, besides those of the Order of Free Thought!