Jalli Journal

18 Amarr 411

I am excited to finally use the journal Kinnevah got me. I am disappointed this first entry is entirely negative.   Another person came to me asking to stop honoring Gressomel. Once again I explained that the invaders worship no one, that Gressomel's mind has not guided them. They did not listen. They see—well no, they hear. Not one of them has been to the Liavirs to aid in any way. They hear of the mind magic and psionic control the invaders are wielding against the mountain folk and they immediately fear all mind mages and our patron. Such ignorance. For all our learning and education, we are still beholden to the primitive fears of mortality.   Privately, I do wonder if this hurts Gressomel like it hurts me us. I do not feel them in my work like I used to. Instead of researching this morning, I tried praying like the clerics showed me. I meditated over my spellbook, thought about my connection to Gressomel, what drew me down their path. Still I felt nothing. I cannot say whether that is because clerics go about worshipping the wrong way or because Gressomel doesn't wish to connect.   We will continue as we always have, for the time being. I only hope that Gressomel grants their clarity to us once again.

19 Amarr 411

Today would have been a much better day to begin this wonderful journal. We have a fresh face in these dusty crypts! A young woman named Andarial has chosen to keep the dead here in our little town. What's more, she follows the path of Gressomel! All is not lost and the young people still have hope!   Of course, this means the Magister expects me to die soon, but I must confess I believe the same. We have undergone many changes since leaving the Feywild. There is an entire generation of elves that has never set foot in the Forest or danced at Court.   We see these changes in our culture, our interactions with the other mortal races, in the way we build our cities and settlements. We feel this change, however, in our bodies. I was old before the Insurrection and I was old when I ventured to this plane. That means something now. I just hope my next adventure is as full as the one has been

22 Amarr 411

Amidst the tragedy and horror coming out of the Liavirs, I've heard news that is, comparatively, quite uplifting: Lolth has indeed broken free of her Abyssal prison. Instead of leaving it, she has—and I cannot truthfully claim I would ever have foreseen this—made it her divine domain. It seems she inspired such loyalty in her rebels they made her a deity! I do not know what that process entails, but the clerics assure me it is not simple. Onorro must be... livid doesn't seem quite powerful enough. They believed they were banishing her and all she stood for. Yet, here she is. More powerful than they ever could dream. I am glad to not be in the Wild right now.   Though I find myself wondering... even if she had not become divine, if Lolth had lived and died a mortal, would things be different now? Lolth became more than herself; she is a movement, the Insurrection. Her death would not have returned us to the world Onorro believes should exist. The elven diaspora spans the multiverse. We have become a part of every plane we have touched. Onorro claimed we were throwing away everything that made us Fey, but we have cultivated decadent magic everywhere we have landed, retained the dreamlike mutability of our homeland... No. Onorro was wrong.   I have never doubted my decision to leave the Feywild. Now, seeing what Lolth and her drow are doing to combat the invaders in the Liavirs, watching the magnificent wonders—both magical and mundane—the new, entirely mortal generation has wrought, I am more than vindicated. I am proud. Elves have expanded and grown and merged with new cultures without disrespecting those cultures or forgetting their own.   We have embodied the Land of Dreams to the fullest; we have become anything we could imagine.

27 Amarr 411

Another newcomer! Ohgache is younger even than Andarial and hasn't specialized yet. I get the sense the world-at-large isn't very kind to them and they are more comfortable around the dead. Based solely on that, I would imagine they will apprentice to Kinnevah, but that remains to be seen.   A "concerned" townie told me Ohgache hasn't been given an adult name by their family yet, but "Ohgache" is how they introduced themselves. I have cared for the dead on the Prime Material for nearly four hundred years and tended the mysteries of death and dreams for longer than that in my homeland. I am more than comfortable shielding this young mind from overbearing parents.

28 Amarr 411

Jaliraleth has officially sent aid to the Liavir Mountains. There is much to be done.

6 Ashuun 411

The invaders have given no ground, but support pours in from across the world. Extra-planar allies still haven't responded as far as I'm aware, but then I am but a humble keeper of the dead.   Life has returned mostly to normal here. I think the darkness is getting to the younger keepers. They been less focused and occasionally sloppy in their duties. Kinnevah has raised concerns to me and made an excellent point: we have done little-to-no study or improvement since before Andarial arrived. We have instead been focused only on maintenance, upkeep, and familiar rituals. I believe it is time for a new project.

7 Ashuun 411

I made time to speak with Andarial and Ohgache. When one has lived so long, it's easy to forget the desires and exuberance of youth. I learned that to them, Lolth is a near-mythical figure, the leader of a multi-planar revolution, and the mother of modern elven culture. She is not simply the patron of the drow, but a goddess of rebellion and independence. They were delighted when I told them stories of her from before the Insurrection.   I am ashamed at how surprised I was that they have ideas regarding both the future and our current work worthy of... well, my attention. I've quipped about being old before, but I believed I was above being disconnected. I am humbled to learn I was wrong and seek Gressomel's clarity to keep me from my own complacence.   Ohgache is particularly well-read and their methods are flavored with the daring heroism of the perennially-popular adventure novel. They're likely to cause a city-wide catastrophe if left unchecked, but that imagination will create wonders if guided. I have every faith in my team.

9 Ashuun 411

I have formally taken Andarial as a protégé. She has shown tremendous aptitude and I hope to see her replace me. I pulled out old spellbooks, from when Kinnevah and Tandarra were Ohgache's and Andarial's age. I believed they would be good for a laugh and an exercise in unstable magic. Immediately Andarial improved the designs, turning a wobbling mass of energy into a functional preservation spell.   This has, of course, not ingratiated her to Kinnevah, so taking her under my wing, as they say, serves a two-fold purpose.

13 Ashuun 411

Ohgache has developed or discovered a new ability within themselves: when they come into physical contact with material of a once-living creature, they can learn things about its life. We have spent days testing and researching this ability. It seems unique, or at least as-yet unrecorded. As this seems to be the perfect blend of Kinnevah and Tandarra's specialities, I have left further training and development to them. Ohgache now stays with Tandarra's family in the evenings instead of returning home. I have deem that safer until we understand the full extent of their abilities.   Andarial, in the meantime, is "holding down the fort" (a turn of phrase she and Ohgache taught us old folks) admirably. Moreover, she has proven as good a student as I imagined. I believe she is blessed by the mind of Gressomel themselves. She is worried for her friend but her studies have not waned. She has absolute and total control over her mind. If anyone can restore Gressomel's good name to the frightened townsfolk, it will be her.

15 Ashuun 411

Ohgache has proven an apt pupil, but I fear their abilities have grown too strong too quickly. They now claim the ability to discern the state and whereabouts of the deceased's soul. Kinnevah has agreed to continue working with them but urges me to dismiss them from service. I am reluctant to do so. We solved a murder with Ohgache's abilities! We have been able to answer questions from families without putting them through the grueling process of watching a corpse reanimate! Andarial has even begun to work out a diluted version of Ohgache's gift! We could teach this!   I worry my faith in Gressomel is interfering with my compassion. I am making an active effort to listen to my team, lest I take this too far.   On that note, Tandarra has taken to vision. A few days after Ohgache's new abilities manifested, he felt the compulsion. He's spent the last several days preparing the ritual and will spend the next several in what I'm told is an incomprehensibly painful ritual. He will then spend several more in recovery and only then will he tell us his divination.   My charges are hurting and I cannot help them.   Gressomel clear my mind, give me strength of intellect to solve the problems of my heart.

16 Ashuun 411

I have not found the clarity I seek. Today, in a routine cleaning, Ohgache touched the bones of a centuries-dead Magister. Immediately they began screaming and writhing in agony. When Andarial reached out to calm their mind, she too screamed. She claims the pain ended the moment she pulled her mind from Ohgache's and begged me not to attempt the same. I am ashamed to say I obeyed her.   Hours later, when Ohgache was calm, they told us of fire and eternal torment; the Magister's soul is in Hell.   Ohgache begged me to save it, to call forth from Hell and bind it to a material vessel until we can send it elsewhere. I refused.

18 Ashuun 411

I dismissed Ohgache from service. I stayed with Kinnevah last night to discuss how to proceed. I am ashamed   That is a word I have used often this past weeks. Is that another symptom of getting old?   I am ashamed that we could find no other alternative. I wonder if Tandarra would have had a better insight, but his wife informs us that he is still in the ritual. I cannot imagine.   Andarial is not pleased. She performs her duties as expected, but there is no more spark in her. I pray Gressomel leads her to clarity and that Dianacht transforms her sorrow to purpose.

21 Ashuun 411

I am glad to see Andarial back to work with her usual enthusiasm. She spends her days working on a spell she is averse to speaking about. I worry, but I do not wish to see her relapse. I have faith that we can handle any mistakes she makes in her grief.   Tandarra has come out of the ritual, thank Bast. Normally he would return to us in just a few days, but this vision was so much more intense. Eor is a harsh god. I am thankful my talents are better suited to Gressomel's aloof observation.

23 Ashuun 411

Adali came to the crypt today, bearing a message from Tandarra. She claims he dictated it to her barely conscious and is seemingly still in pain.   "If the circle turns red, destroy the city."   I was so worried I did not quip about the cliché vagueness. I do so here in an attempt to lighten the fear in my heart.   It is not working.

24 Ashuun 411

I did not have to wait long to discover the meaning behind Tandarra's message.   Andarial's project is a summoning circle, one designed to call forth a soul from Hell and free it from its burdens. It is experimental and not ready to be tested, but Andarial made a promise to Ohgache. They have been staying with her since I dismissed them. I uncovered the scheme moments ago, too late to stop the ritual without endangering Andarial. Adali and Kinnevah are evacuating the town. I have elected to stay with Andarial. Captain and the ship, as it were.   I have shame enough to fill these rest of this book, this gift from a beloved friend on my 1000th birthday. But I believe my time would be better spent guarding—or at least supporting—my apprentice.