Castle Mistmoore

Eternally blanketed in enchanted darkness, the foreboding towers of Castle Mistmoore rise from a thick haze of mist enshrouding the whole of the Lesser Faydark. This castle has stood since before the elves fled Tunaria, now named Antonica, before the dwarves had seen the light of the Norrathian Sun. It is rumored that the builder and inhabitant of the castle is an ancient vampire named Mayong, Lord of Mistmoore, who has lived well over ten thousand years. The elves of the Faydark know to stay clear of the castle and its surrounding lands out of a well-justified fear of the castle and its monstrous, bloodthirsty inhabitants. Few that have ventured to the castle have lived to tell the gruesome tales of the undead abominations that lurk within.

None have reported any sightings of the vampire lord himself. It is believed that he currently resides elsewhere and in solitude, for his reclusive nature is nearly legendary. It is not inconceivable to think that some have had the unfortunate pleasure of standing within the lord's presence, but such meetings are those between servant and master, or prey and predator.

Like its master, the castle and its origins remain shrouded in an impenetrable mystery and likely shall until the vampire lord deems it necessary to reveal such secrets, which in all likelihood will never come to pass. The castle itself is a structure of breath-taking, cathedral-like architecture, greater then any noble's palace and able to grip the heart of even the bravest of knights in a vice of unfathomable terror.

The outer areas of the castle grounds are scrupulously kept by the vampire lord's ghoulish servants. Gargoyle constructs of stone, infused with the lord's eternal blood, guard every corner of the castle. All recognizable inhabitants of the area are of Teir`Dal descent, although why the lord holds a preference for this racial monogamy among his servants remains unknown. Many have concluded that the vampire lord was once a Teir`Dal himself, as grand portraits of a Teir`Dal nobleman adorn the castle's interior walls. None have been able to ultimately confirm this suspicion.

Mayong has finally unearthed the calendar. It is a ring, which contains sixteen holes across its surface. These smaller holes are inset, and appear to be meant to hold something else within them, although what exactly would be anyone's guess. It resists any attempt at magical inspection, and just seems to be completely mundane in all respects - nothing more than ordinary stone. I'm not sure what value it might actually have, but Mayong is quite pleased that we now possess it.

Upon further inspection of the ring, we have found that it appears to be intended to fit around the outside of the Chelsith Stone itself. It's almost as if it was intended to be a part of the stone, but since Mayong is not currently in possession of the Stone itself, it's difficult to verify. He seems unconcerned, however, and is more interested in finding out what it is that belongs in the holes within the ring. We found some strange sigils on the walls within Chelsith, and he believes that these sigils might have something to do with the "monoliths" of Theer. Several of our number have been dispatched to begin their search, but a search for what?

We returned from the expedition today, and I was amazed at what we discovered. It appeared that the large stone we uncovered contained one of the sigils that Mayong was looking for. Moreover, it had the correct dimensions and curvature to fit within the holes in the ring. Mayong is certain to be pleased with this news, and will likely reward us handsomely. We are heading to the chamber now where the calendar sits, although it would be wise to wait for Mayong to be present before taking any steps to affix the newly discovered stone in place.

So, a new mystery. The sigil stones we have brought in have a strange behavior when brought in close to the calendar. Some will glow slightly when brought in contact with specific holes on the calendar ring, while others seem to be completely inert. Are these fakes? Have they lost whatever magic they once possessed? All of this is made more strange by the fact that none of these pieces radiate any magic. It's maddening and fascinating all at the same time, but discovering the reasons behind the behavior of the sigil stones is likely the key to unlocking the purpose of the ring altogether. It is imperative that we do so, and do so quickly.

The Cauldron of Shadow Essence

Soundlessly, the dwarven rogue took a deep breath and calmly climbed down from his ledge to the floor of the gorge. He’d already passed an outlying tower and rounded a small lake that was littered with watchful dark elves, and now he snaked his way among the towering cliff walls, forced time and again carefully, slowly to sneak past an alluring or fearsome (or both!) guardian who might stand a mere ten feet distant.

Rounding a final corner, he found the entrance to a graveyard to his right and a narrow, roofed tunnel to his left. Doubtless, many secrets awaited should he turn left, but even Dandaek’s adventurous blood was turning cold in the proximity of so muchdeath. Of course, the graveyard did little to help matters. Little light reached the place, for it lay atthe base of cliff walls thatrosefor hundreds of feet. The gloom seemed tangible, and considering the undead that ruled here, Dandaek feared it might truly be so. Dandaek trembled for a moment, but he steeled himself. Two more dark elven guards stood near the gated fence that enclosed the graveyard, so this was no place for weakness. The gate was closed, but fortunately these guards were not watchful. They stood resolute, but just as rigid as their bodies were their glazed eyes that bore relentlessly before them. For what intruder could possible penetrate so close to the castle without raising an alarm? Nimbly, Dandaek slipped to the end of the wrought iron fence where it was fixed into the rock wall of the gorge. He paused for an instant and then crept over the fence.

The area was dotted with countless gravestones packed into the relatively small space. The gloom of the landscape was darker from within its coils, but Dandaek could make out a handful of mausoleums at the area’s rear. Behind one of these mausoleums, Dandaek had learned, would Ssynthi be found. Yet as Dandaek slid through the murk, he realized that dark elves were within the graveyard as well. He cursed silently, but pressed on. He could make out about a half dozen of them, but thankfully they all stood with their backs to the mausoleums, and like the guards at the fence, they barely moved. He paused a moment to remind himself why he was here. He needed to gather his courage. He had crept through a gauntlet of dark elven necromancers on the periphery of the vampire lord Mayong Mistmoore’s castle so that he might question Ssynthi, a renegade shadowed man, about the nature and mission of the of the so-called deathspeakers who were evidently now among the shadowed men wherever they might be found around the whole of Norrath. And he, Dandaek, wanted to be the first to know why.

Staying close to the wall, the dwarf continued. The hair of his white beard and that on his nape prickled when he realized with a chill that all the tombstones repeated over and over the same two dedications to the dead. No matter. All the dark elves of the place were behind him now. Before him and stretching to the left stood a row of gleaming mausoleums. The brilliant white marble of the structures was disconcerting in the dreary shadows, making them seem all the more otherworldly. Dandaek slipped between the low outer wall of the one nearest the cliff. Padding his way to the back of the structure, Dandaek took little further note of the structure itself.

Instead, he sought to find an invisible being.

The dwarfhugged the shadows and proceeded down the row. One, two, three, four, and ahead, five of them he counted. Behind the fifth he saw a book floating in midair. This must be Ssynthi! He approached a few steps closer. Close enough to see that the book appeared to bear no title, and indeed no script was evident on the opened pages.