I am travelling away from Telantiwar for the last time and I know I shall never return. My last glimpse is of the suburb of Zy’Lirr, in a cavern so distant from the main city, I always wondered why it was considered a part of Telantiwar. Perhaps, because the cavern is so small that no clan would be proud to make it their own seat of power.

The city, I have left behind, is a wasteland and its once mighty houses stand torn stone from stone. What I have done way weighs heavily upon me, for I am responsible for the destruction of the glorious city. Already I am paying for the destruction I wrought, when I detonated the ritual circle and I can already sense the changes to my body and pattern. Do I regret my choice? Do I regret unleashing the magic? In truth, I cannot say that I do. Thousands may have died by my hand today, but how many thousands have died in the last thirty years of civil war and how many thousands would have died in the next thirty years had the bitter infighting continued.....

I curse the assassin, who ended the rule of house T’Brinn with the murder of Ruella T’Brinn. She was the last empress of the dark elves and ruled us wisely for over a hundred years until that dark day. The ascension of house T’Brinn to the throne had ended the tiresome skirmishes of the previous one hundred and fifty years and it had brought stability to our culture once again. I curse Adrial Naxos D’Fey, for she was named as heir to the throne, but rejected her responsibilities and set us upon the path that lead us to today. I curse her from the bottom of my heart.

What can I tell you of Telantiwar? Perhaps you already know more than I share here. For more than a thousand years, Telantiwar has been our capital. In our wisdom, Telantiwar was made a city that belonged to all houses and to none. To favour no house above another, the city belonged to no one, but instead every house was allowed to maintain a small compound within its limits. It was this egalitarianism that sowed the seeds of our destruction, for the presence of every house brought the potential for every noble family to stake a claim to the throne, to strike in the darkness, if the one who ascended it, did not please and wage covert wars on their neighbours, who blocked their dreams of glory.

Enough! I will talk no more of this pettiness, of our stupidity and of our untamed ambition. Even now I can still taste the burned air in my mouth and my bones ache from the power of the magic, I channelled today. I can scarcely believe that I survive the blast. Perhaps because I stood in its heart, did I emerge unscathed. Perhaps, because Dracos has another purpose for me, did he protect me, although right now I fear he did me no kindness.

I will not let our city be forgotten by the passing of time. We gave too much to allow it to turn to dust, but right now we are not worthy of its heritage, so I have recorded the route I am leaving the city by. But these secrets will not pass unto our descendants until the time is right, so I have cloaked my words, as you will know if you have read this far and I will pass this scroll onto another for safe keeping. I have one further purpose in this life, to protect House Cruentatus.

My destination is Nakkiga, but I have no desire to travel the entire distance a foot for the Underdark is no place to travel alone. Instead I shall make for the city of Olath Z’Ress, where I hope to rest amidst the other refuges and wait for the reverberations of my acts this day to vanish from the ritual circle system. Then and only then, will I attempt the transport from Dark Haven.

Zy’Lirr is due west of Uzzi City and slightly to the north of the only entrance to the surface in the vicinity of Telantiwar. Perhaps this is why the suburb has traditionally been favoured by the more military families for their residences.

After passing through Zy’Lirr, I shall travel some twenty miles west in the direction of Uzzi City, but that city is not so easily reached from here and as the majority of the caverns in the vicinity run in a north-south direction. At the first intersection I shall turn north east towards Olath Z’Ress. The suface entrance lies in the opposite direction down this cavern, but there I would find naught but a hostile reception. From the intersection the cavern I shall follow heads straight for the city some one hundred and thirty miles to the north east, with only the slightest of curves and bends. Some sixty miles south west of Olath Z’Ress, I will encounter for the first time, the minor route that repeatedly branches off and rejoins the main cavern. Ten miles further north I could take the circuitous route to Zaphrezss and a further twenty miles down the cavern is the intersection for Darkhaven and a longer alternative route to Olath Z’Ress. I could I suppose travel directly to Darkhaven, but I will not risk a transport yet and in the cities of Clan Kerithrion, I may find a suitable guardian for these scrolls.

Alas, I have tarried here long enough to recover my strength for the road ahead and my tasks are not yet done.

Triel Cruentatus