The Oracle

Second Passage of the Snow Moon

Adventurers exploring in the swamps far to the north of Aranor have stumbled upon a strange find – a humanoid skeleton of immense proportions. They pulled it up from a pit of black sludge.

"This creature would have been nearly twice the height of a human man," said Kaela, one of the adventurers. "It was wearing furs, and had a broad, powerful build."

The skeleton, which actually had significant portions of flesh still on its body, does not match the description of any living creature, except, perhaps, a sort of demon known as a Diamont.

"We’ve also found old ruins in the area," said Kaela, whose group has been exploring this section of the swamp for over three years. "We’re on to something."

Her theory is that the black swamp pits preserve remains – they’ve tested the theory by placing carcasses in the morass, and have found no decay – even after a year’s time has passed. In the ages before humankind, some sages theorize that strange faerie creatures roamed the lands, building civilizations and rising and falling according to the whims of the times.

"These creatures had a simple civilization," Kaela maintains, "and were populous in this area. We’re discovering the first clues to their way of life."

Ruins throughout the Old World have continually puzzled sages, and most are thought to come from pre-human faerie races.  With the discovery of this skeleton and Kaela's research, though, it appears that some answers may finally be close at hand.

Tirian

King Erinen of Masalla, often omitted from history texts, reigned for three years. His reign has always been cloaked in mystery, for he was unrelated to the ruling families of the time, and experts say that the three years under his rulership were Masalla’s finest – that he brought immeasurable wealth and prosperity to all of the province.

Historians have never had much else to go on. But last moon, letters discovered in an ancient desk revealed much more.

I have promised the Museum of Aranor that I wouldn’t give away too much – they will be doing a special display throughout the next moon to ‘unravel the tale’, but from what I’ve been told, sages believe that King Erinen might have been of MorDuraan blood, and that his ‘perfect’ reign may have hidden innumerable crimes, including the murder of his wife.

The display opens at the beginning of the next moon – it should certainly prove interesting!

Tania

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