Sanctum Polis - Research Journal by QuadrangleGames

Research Journal By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo Design by: Gabriel Trujillo

Research Journal

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Truth. Here is what any good researcher aims for. Even amidst the piles of books and parchment, something

always hides beneath the surface, begging to be uncovered. Sometimes this search come at a price. Having already paid mine, I shall continue to look for it.

At this time, I have been compiling these series of documents to gather understanding from seemingly

disconnected events. Decoding the hints presented in each passage, I have come to the conclusion that the events described in many of these surround a single figurehead. Over time, this figure seems to be wiped clean from the histories. While this is the case in most record, he appears quite often on the edges of other sonnen’s accounts. Unfortunately there seems to be little else besides his existence along the periphery. Nevertheless, in order for any of this to make sense, I must start at the beginning. Chronologically, my research did not begin as my own. Ultimately it began as the hobby of a sixteen year old boy, who was murdered in his own home. Rather than live a full life, his dreams were struck down. Sadly, his father spent more time with his research than with his family. Each time he believed that he had more time. Disillusioned by this belief, the boy was taken from him right under his nose.

At first it seemed he was killed for no reason. New evidence has brought with it enlightenment. I found that

he left something, a journal. Never could I have imagined beginning where this young child left off. Not knowing the truth fueled my need to understand this unnecessary slaughter of a young sonnen. Only with this journal, I had a locus with which to expand upon. Certainly this is not the most credible source, but what I seek is not easily accessible.

Even so, I do not know who will read this. Notice that I have placed the entry immediately after these notes,

as to conform to some sort of organization. Truths, even those that seem obvious, can stay hidden. Because of this, the nature of this research demands caution. Every precaution has been taken. So that if this research is found, not all truth can be discerned from it.

Dear Journal,

Dad and I dropped Mom off at the airport again today.

These days she seems to be gone every other week, but the life of an ambassador is a busy one. Just sucks that she has to go on my birthday. It’s not every day your son turns sixteen. But I can’t complain too much, she did leave me this really old looking book. She does know me pretty well, since most moms would probably leave a cake or some sort of gift card. Nope, with me it’s always been books.

She said we’d go over it when she got back, but hey, I’m

not the most patient guy. It’s really interesting if you’re a nerd like me and like things that probably out dates pretty much anyone living today and their grandparents.

Apparently, I have royal blood from a line that goes back

to the disbanded royal families of Lupanth, which is pretty Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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awesome. I’ve always known there was something to that star birthmark Mom and I share. That and my innate sense of leadership and what not solidifies the whole royal thing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

This book talks about some sort of magic ritual to bring

back an old god. Guessing they didn’t pull it off, but from what I’ve read it seems that it was all supposed to take place in a city known as Ranquil. After an hour long computer search, I put together that Ranquil is an older name for the ruined city of Vetus. You know, the one that’s pretty much all unending chasms. No one ever goes there because of it.

The ritual is mostly written in the old language, Eimalin.

Which means, I have no idea what half of it says. Something about an “Gendin Indal” and a “Dalin Drumas” whatever those mean. Not like I can go ask Dad about them either. From the way Mom left it, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know the book even exists. So for now, I’ll just keep it our little secret.

Miraculously, I was able to find the book that the boy was discussing. Inscribed in Eimalin, translation proved

to be much too difficult for a single academic. Recorded in this book were names of sacrifices: “Indalin Gend”, “Dalin Drumas”, “Halassin Shevari”, and “Lurin Faril”. Certain words are familiar to me, such as drumas, meaning shadow, and indalin, meaning innocent. However, these names seem to be more than simply titles. Every one carries with it a specific classification of sonnen needed to fulfill the requirements of the ritual. Despite knowing all of this, the text as a whole will require more study before I can fully parse out the meaning. Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Along the way, my interest in the ritual presented in the journal led me to find witness accounts from the

cataclysm at Vetus. Days and months of searching helped me to uncover a few of these reports, yet even they seemed no more than short ravings at first. Ever guided by the need to understand, I delved further into the accounts. Cautiously, I came across a common thread between all of them: most mention a particular sonnen but all claim magic was used. Each brought with it a question as to if it were more than just some coincidence.

Incidentally, little was left to describe this sonnen. Virtually nothing is left behind, making the lack of

knowledge on this figure more of a hint than leaving it could have. Eventually the Ordem Solaris claimed that magic could not have caused this disaster, but these accounts at the time claim otherwise. Recorded as a side note to the actual event, I gathered the accounts that mention the sonnen called Sor Scavethi, who first came to heal, then came to stand at the center of the destruction.

- Official Report from Captain Gilad who was in Vetus In the year of our Goddess 1610 Apoth on the 28th day of the month of Ovis. 0730 Hrs: We approached the city of Vetus as instructed by Representative Oppenheim. Our orders were to discern if the escaped fugitive ___________ had in fact arrived at Vetus under the name Sor Scavethi. Rumors had spread that the doctor had somehow optioned direct access to magic. That he could summon plants from the aether and use them to heal the sick in a blatant affront to our Great Goddess and we were sent to cleanse him from this world. 0900 Hrs: We had scoured the city but it seemed that the locals were reluctant to tell us anything even after using force. If ___________ was in fact in the city, he had made many allies here. 1000 Hrs: We found symbols that the Drumagendry has been known to use thanks to the latest Sacris Intelligentium reports. We followed the symbols to a small hut that we determined to be the Drumagendry hideout. 1030 Hrs: We surrounded the hut and prepared to strike. I sent the first squad in but there was a loud bang and a harsh green glow emanating from the hut windows. After it subsided I sent in the second and third squad to investigate. The hut suddenly erupted into a flash of green light stronger than the last. The house was crystallized like nothing I had ever seen before. 1100 Hrs: We approached the strange substance with caution to find that it was in fact solid crystal. My only conclusion was that it was a trap. I sent my remaining battalion to fan the area and search for anyone who might be involved. 1230 Hrs: We collected several Drumagendry sympathizers and gathered them in the city square. We called out for ___________ to show himself least we eliminate these defilers. 1240 Hrs: With no one stepping forth, we eliminated the first sympathizer and made another attempt to bleed out the doctor. 1250 Hrs: We commenced the next execution when a voice called out for us to desist. By the

Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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description we received we believed this to be ___________, but he was hooded and we could not make a clear assertion to his identity. The sonnen stepped forward calling himself Sor Scavethi as named by the locals, the Great Doctor. He proceeded to tell us he will come calmly if we release our captives. I gave the order but I had already discussed with my officers the proper course of action. The soldiers hidden in the crowd apprehended the presumed ___________ and removed his hood. Once I had made the proper affirmation to his identity my soldiers proceeded to eliminate the remaining rebel scum. 1300 Hrs: ___________ screamed at the top of his lungs to which I proceeded to silence him. Had the order not been to bring him back alive I would have ended his miserable life then and there. I noticed something that seemed valuable to the doctor fall out of his coat during my pacification. By the look in his eyes it seemed very dear to him. So I placed it on the ground and began crushing it under my iron boots. The ground suddenly began to rumble and the nearby houses began to collapse. 1330 Hrs: ___________ fled from the square as my platoon dispersed looking for shelter from the cataclysm. I chased after the fleeing doctor to see the trees just outside the village rotting around him and collapsing to the floor. I made haste chase after him but the quaking began to get worse. It appeared as if the city behind me was being engulfed by a dark chasm. A void that shone like the night sky opened underneath the city as buildings, trees, and sonnenkind alike all fell into it. One after the other, their screams faded into an echo in the distance. I hurried as quickly as I could to my contingency outside the city. They had already readied my longma and we rode back to Fort Defrey. It is my earnest opinion that ___________ could not have possibly survived the catastrophe without a longma to escape on least he had been the one to cause it. - Testimony of Harthe Aradi, as recorded by Sacris Scribe Ishma Sofer in 1610

It was early morning when the Polite soldiers arrived. I had just run to the store to get a loaf

of bread to bring back to my wife who was cooking breakfast when they asked me if I knew of a doctor in the city called Sor Sca… something I can’t recall. I told them that it was preposterous, ever since the Sacris Gentium Alliance banned all forms of magic, few doctors still held to their traditions since it was such a fine line to cross over. I even joked showing them my elbow blisters that if they saw a doctor to send them my way. They knocked my bread to the floor, which I’m sure was an accident since they were in such a rush. I merely returned to my home as I was advised. I started my daily labors. You see, I worked over at the city docks gutting and preparing the arund as well as making ship repairs. A little past noon I heard some commotion from the city square. I immediately stopped what I was doing to see what all the fuss was about. I couldn’t get anywhere near the square, it seemed everyone in the city had gathered there. I heard a lot of commotion and sonnenkind screaming, crying but I couldn’t tell what for. After a while the crowd quieted down as

Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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I heard the scream of a single sonnen. It was defining and it echoed all the way to the docks. The next thing I know the earth started quaking.

I swear I looked down and saw an eye open beneath my feet, it was the eye of the devil I

tell you! And it was the size of the entire city. I was frozen in a panic when suddenly I remembered my wife and newborn back home. I ran to get them but the house collapsed in front of me. I pulled aside the rubble to find my wife’s body hurled around our young one. She was still alive, my poor baby girl. My wife had given her life to save her and I was not about to let her sacrifice go in vain. I ran to the docks where sonnenkind were crowding onto boats. Some were so heavy that they toppled in the waves of the bay. I ran to the repair yard and took out the small boat I had been repairing and had just finished that morning. I boarded myself and my baby and fled the city never looking back. I heard the groan of the devil as he devoured my fair city at my back. I can still feel the prick on the back of my neck as I think back to that horrid sound. - Testimony of Gregor Brelkind, as recorded by Sacris Scribe Ishma Sofer in 1610

I testify under the greater glory of the Sun Goddess that I have sinned against her and her

sacred order as a member of the Drumagendry. I hope that my honest account of the events that transpired in Vetus will be enough to appease Her forgiving grace. I was a wayward sonnen that had been apprehended by the Polite soldiers on that fateful day. I was to be rightfully executed for my crimes along with all the other dissenters. I recall the impure blood spilling onto me as the captain cleansed the first of us. Had I known of the Doctor Sor Scavethi? Well that’s how they found me. I had been told of a doctor that could heal even the most grievous of wounds. I had been plagued with a deathly illness and I was told this Sor Scavethi could heal me. You must understand that I was weak and in my weakness I turned to this dark fellow. I know now the error of my ways. After arriving home, I noticed my neighbor pointing out my lack of scabs to one of the soldiers who had come to our city.

That was when I was taken to the square. Well what happened next is a bit of a blur but for

the sake of the Sacris Intelligentium I’ll do my best to recant it. The great Captain had weeded out the doctor and proceeded to apprehend him when the sonnen bellowed a spell, I’m sure of it. How else could a screech so loud cause the land to quake. It consumed the town, his foul spell. I only fled in a moment of panic. I’m not sure how I ended up there, but when I finally realized where I was, I was on a boat leaving the city. The last image I have of my home was it collapsing into a dark chasm as Diurne split in two taking in the impurity of that sinful city. I must be chosen to have survived such an event. Bless the Goddess. These documents belong to the Sacris Intelligentium. All non-clergy sonnen caught in possession of these documents will be prosecuted under Sacris Statute 893.13. It is the duty of all clergy to be attentive that Sacris information is not released to the general public . Clergy members who intentionally release these or any Sacris documents to the general populace will also be prosecuted under Sacris Statute 893.13.

Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Corvian Quarterly 2nd day of Simia, 1610 Apoth

VETUS IN RUINS; MAGIC TO BLAME Tragedy strikes Vetus! The once magnificent trade center between Lupanth and Corvia has been laid to waste by an earthquake that can only be described as magic! One can only presume it was the Ranquil Tribe who might be at the center of this. Despite Vetus being established as a neutral trade land between the 5 nations of Diurne in the Sacris Gentium, the Ranquil have clearly vocalized their opposition to the alliance and are known magic users. Could this magic be a new weapon they have developed? Is Corvia in danger of an attack? The Corve has made

this announcement “In these troubled times we find no other course of action but to strike back! Corvia has been in full support of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance since its indoctrination in 1446. As described in such, we have stayed out of the affairs of Sanctum Polis in both Jubarun and Lupanth, but we can do so no longer. An attack on neutral land is an affront to the alliance and an act of international war. We will be rewriting the alliance along with the leaders of Serpin and Sanctum Polis to unite all countries as one under the Glory of the

Goddess. We must band together to wipe out this wretched magic from our world to ensure that the citizens of our fair country sleep easy at night.” What does Corvia joining the new Sacris Gentium mean for Corvian citizens? The Corve made it clear that he would still be presiding over the government and that this alliance was meant to bring peace and prosperity to the entire world of Diurne. We can only hope that these mages are put to an abrupt stop and life can continue as normal in our fair city.

Are The Drumagendry A Threat? Sanctum Polis Says No!

Gelnan Accenril, the leader of the Lupanth Division, is still at large after the recent prisoner transfer was attacked. Gelnan and several other Drumagendry members managed to escape and authorities are at a loss

It is clear that the Ranquil Tribe has sided with these rebels and as such are a threat to global security.” The representative also went on to say that their first campaign under the new alliance is to wipe out all Ranquils and their allies

Despite the Polite army’s best efforts to capture the known leaders of the Drumagendry,

(Cont. on page 4)

Restraining further commentary for the moment, I shall present the recent denouement pertaining to the

magical event at Vetus released by the Sacris Intelligentium. Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Official Document

Page 01 of 01

Do not lose or replicate

Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Lepus 4, 1803

We of the sacred Ordem Solaris, leaders of Sanctum Polis, and center of the Sacris Gentium

Alliance that now governs the known world have this announcement to make: It has come to our attention, after much discussion, that our efforts to protect the sonnenkind of Dirune during the time known as the War of Old and New may have been misguided. Though it is certain that we have been holding to the sacred vows of our Great Goddess in eliminating those who followed the dark magical ways of the Old World, we believe that magic could not have been the cause for the destruction of Vetus. Magic cannot hold such great power so as to raze a city. We have determined that it must have been the work of Solaris, working as a real, physical earthquake that eliminated the sinful city as a sign to all that use magic that the Goddess does not accept them nor does she embrace them into Her divine light.

We apologize for the fear and commotion we caused many of you during that time with our

account of the events of Vetus. We know now that Magic has not and cannot cross into our world, nor can it do such heinous things. After much introspection we believe that we must have been lead to believe this so as to unite the world as it is now. We thank the Goddess for Her wisdom and pray that you forgive us for the fear that has been instilled in you. Do not fear, for magic will never blot out the Sun.

Essentially I have gathered that the destruction of Vetus centered on Sor Scavethi. Verily, I will admit that this

may seem like a leap in logic, but bear with me. Each account may have seemed like the ravings of lunatics, yet the description of the magical properties surrounding the sonnen suggest that the destruction was not a natural disaster as suggested by Sanctum Polis recently.

As a matter of fact, the images of the witness accounts recall similar accounts of magic, although more

ancient, imbued into relics that warp the world around them. Logically this is all hypothesis at the moment, yet there must be more to this than some earthquake as they would have you believe.

Even the ritual, as explained in the book, suggests that the ceremony needed to occur at a nexus of magic, a

gate. Due to this, if Vetus fulfilled those requirements, then the possibility of such an occurrence cannot be dismissed. Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Truthfully, many may think that I am reaching at strands at this point, making meaning where there is none.

Have I really done my job as an academic? Each answer only bares more questions, yet I must move forward. Piecing together the puzzle of truth.

Regardless of doubt, I uncovered documents that may help to lead me to the final truth. In the first, a letter

of prison transfer gone wrong, the scribe listed that they are transporting a scavethi, doctors of the time who were hunted as mages for using Old World healing techniques, amongst other fugitives. Naturally, my mind was drawn to make connections between this scavethi and Sor Scavethi from the witness accounts, yet I delved deeper in order to see if this connection could truly be made. Crossed out from the witness reports, the true name of Sor Scavethi had yet to be revealed to me. Even so, both this doctor from Fort Ranquil and this Sor Scavethi of Vetus were fugitives, causing the evidence to suggest that they could be one in the same. Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Prisoner Transfer Document

By order of the current Chair of the Zodiac, all prisoners affiliated with the Drumagendry must

be transferred to Sanctum Polis Immediately. This document pertains to all listed prisoners being transferred from the Polite station in Flumis to South Scion Polis where they will be executed for their crimes. The transfer is to be carried out by land as no naval fleets are currently available due to their need in Jubarun. Corvian soldiers in Fort Defrey have been notified as to your arrival and will allow you to resupply. Under the Sacris Gentium Alliance, soldiers of any nation are not to be stationed in Vetus for more than one day’s time, so bear this in mind if a stop is necessary along the way.

Prisoner’s Scheduled for Transfer Barbara Talshing Charges: Fugitive From Justice Thievery Physical: Gender: Female

D E T N A W C A P T U RE D

Classification: Meerkat Appearance: Brown eyes. Cream-colored fur with brown accents. Notes:

She is a trickster and a thief. Beware her advances for she knows how to play

tricks on even the smartest of soldiers. Drumagendry ally. Captured in Suvade.

Cecil Augrabies Charges:

Blackmail

Extortion Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Official Document

Page 02 of 05

Do not lose or replicate

Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Sorcery Thievery Treason Physical: Gender: Indiscernible Classification: Flat Lizard Appearance: Multicolored eyes. Multicolored scales. Notes:

Cecil is a master of disguise and has been controlling the politicians in Suvade

until his/ her inevitable capture. Drumagendry compatriot. Captured in Suvade.

Gelnan Accenril Charges: Murder Sedition Sorcery

D E T N WA

Terrorism Treason Physical: Gender: Male Classification: Vervet Monkey Appearance: Bright blue eyes. Greyish-white fur with bright blue accents. Notes:

Known leader of the Drumagendry in Lupanth. Prisoner of war captured in the

conquest of Fort Ranquil.

Harmon Davis Charges: Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Official Document

Page 03 of 05

Do not lose or replicate

Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Murder Terrorism Treason Physical: Gender: Male Classification: Andalusian Horse Appearance: Light brown eyes. Chestnut fur with black accents. Notes:

Known member of the Drumagendry that has slaughtered countless Polite natives

in Lupanth. Prisoner of war captured in the conquest of Fort Ranquil.

Leona Capa Charges:

D E T N A CWA P T U RE D

Blackmail Murder Terrorism Treason Physical: Gender: Female

Classification: Half-Breed Human Appearance: Yellow eyes. Brown skin with yellowish-orange head fur. Notes:

Adherent of the Drumagendry that has murdered countless Polite natives in

Lupanth. Prisoner of war captured in the conquest of Fort Ranquil.

Linn Hon

Charges:

Murder Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Official Document

Page 04 of 05

Do not lose or replicate

Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Sedition Sorcery Terrorism Treason Physical: Gender: Female Classification: Tarsier Appearance: Orange eyes. Light brown fur. Notes:

Known member of the Drumagendry in Serpin, finally captured in Lupanth.

Captured in Suvade.

Markos Ether Charges: Murder Sorcery Treason

D E T N A W

Physical: Gender: Male Classification: Mixed Sonnen Appearance: Forest green eyes. Black and white fur. Notes:

A Drumagendry scavethi who tainted countless Polite soldiers with his magics.

Prisoner of war captured in the conquest of Fort Ranquil.

Rufus Selbin Charges: Sedition Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Official Document

Page 05 of 05

Do not lose or replicate

Sacris intelligentium by the Grace of the Goddess Of the Great Nation of Sanctum Polis and the Sacris Gentium Alliance Defenders of the Faith of the Ordem Solaris

Sorcery Treason Physical: Gender: Male Classification: Elephant Appearance: Grayish-blue eyes. Grayish-black skin. Notes:

A Drumagendry supporter who’s public magical displays sold as “entertainment”

were an affront to the Goddess and the Alliance. Captured in Suvade.

Sonya Arddis

D E T N A W

Charges: Fugitive Slave Sedition Physical: Gender: Female Classification: Human

Appearance: Violet eyes. Pale skin with white head fur. Notable forehead scar.

Notes:

Escaped slave and supporter of the Drumagendry caught speaking out in public

against Sanctum Polis and the Goddess. Captured in Suvade.

Tyrol Oppenheim

Transfer is to be conducted by Officer Friedrich of Flumis and the captives are expected to arrive no later than the 16th day of the month of Equo.

Signed by the Representative of the Chair of the Zodiac in the Nation of Corvia Tyrol Oppenheim Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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Much like before, I too believed the connection to have little validity. Until, that is, this last piece of parchment

was discovered. Scribbled on this piece of tarp-like fabric is the first hand account of Markos himself. Though half of it seems to be missing, the half to survive presents a story compelling enough to draw conclusions between Markos and Sor Scavethi.

As I write this, I am beginning to ask myself if all of it was worth it. Was everything I put myself through worth the blood that now seeps into the earth as freely as water after a drought ? Or was I just fooling myself into believing that I could make a difference in the world ? Possibly both. Possibly neither. I no longer have the time to think about such things. All I can hear is a voice. Her voice. “Doctor, the blood won’t stop.” Helena cried out to me. Bandages stained with dirt and dried blood wrapped themselves around her torso as she bent over a young elk’s body. I could see her struggle as her hand pressed soaked rags into the elk’s wound. She had come to terms with her injury, one that I was unable to fix. Yet with only one arm now, the bandages fumbled in her grasp. The boy couldn’t have been more than an adolescent. A boy forced into a war. Just like the rest of them. Bodies lay around the surgical tent, clinging on to life. None dead, though they should be. Where I had expected corpses, I had somehow weaved the last threads of their life back into them. At any other time, I may have been applauded as a world-renown surgeon. Now the only thing I received was more bleeding wounds. More children turned into soldiers. “Bring him over,” I called, wiping my brow. I flexed my fingers, and began to wash the dried blood off my matted fur. The patterned mix of cream and black that flowed around my skin now mostly resembled black crimson and rusted brown. She told me I looked more like a battle scarred warrior than a scavethi. After my hands were clean, I turned toward the newly arrived elk. The boy was in a bad shape. A long cut had cleaved a chunk of the elk’s flesh from his torso. The pain etched itself into the convulsions along the boy’s face. He wouldn’t last long. For all intents and purposes, the elk should have been dead. “You’re a strong one,” I whispered to the boy. I grabbed a small bottle of cleansing alcohol from my pack as Helena stood by the boy, padding a stained white cloth into his wound. Life blood slowly seeped from the gash in a constant flow. Any longer and the elk would breathe his last. I took a slow, deep breath. With a nod to my nurse, I began to poor the alcohol on the wound. The elk convulsed, painful grunts caught in his throat. I used my other hand to hold the teenager down. The bottle dribbled the last of its alcohol into the open lesion. Now for the real work to begin. The boy’s spasms had quieted to the stillness of near death. I had to work quickly. Efficiently. Miraculously. Luckily, that was my specialty. There was a reason my tent was full to capacity with patients. Healed patients. All Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

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of them had been on the verge of oblivion, and I brought each one of them back. That was my gift. That was the reason I found myself drawn to a battlefield. Or rather a massacre of boys and girls too young to understand the workings of the world. I had come here to give them a second chance. All of them a second chance. Polite and Ranquil alike found shelter in my surgical tent. Just maybe that would make a difference. Just maybe. I reached into a small leather pouch at my side that held hard worked miracles. Back home in Methis, I had apprenticed an old traveling scavethi who had decided to spend a decade or so with the sonnen of my village. The surgeon was of the Old World, even more so than my sonnenkind. He taught me about how magic still flowed deep within the ground, unreachable to any Diurnite. ‘Solaris didn’t seal away all magic’, the old sage had taught. ‘Just the magic that rests within our soul, making us foreign to it. Once there was a time when a single word could make a forest live again. Now there is no such thing. But still, Solaris could not take away magic from the world as She did from our souls. So the land is riddled with it. The plants around us feed off of this, and with a little coaxing it can be worked in wonder ful ways.’ That was one of the first lessons I had ever learned from my old Master. I spent years learning to sew the energies that the ground beneath me gave. In my hands, plants and soil could turn into life. A mix of those same elements now rested in my hand over the elk. “ This will hurt,” I whispered to the young elk. “But you shan’t die here. Not today.” I pressed the clump of plants directly into the boys wound and began to chant as I was once taught. The green brown mix of roots and leaves glowed with sparks of light. As it hit the open spaces, the elk’s wound slowly closed itself. The elk screamed once more, but his breathing became steady. Flesh grew where there had been none. A smile found its way onto my face. This was why I did what I did. To save the life of just one innocent. “ Thank…you,” a soft voice said into the air. The elk had woken up as the poultice worked its power across his body. “I do what must be done,” I said with a smile. “What is your name?” “Jordyn,” the elk replied, his voice slowly getting firmer as life restored to him. It would be some time before the elk could move around as he once had, but the worst was passing. I began to pad myself down. “Good name. I once-” The sound of steel through flesh echoed through the tent, stopping my words from ever leaving. I turned to see her, a fallow doe who had lost her arm earlier that week, lain on the ground, eyes turned the black of death. “Helena!” I yelled as I ran to her side. Plate armor shone in the midday light that spilled into the tent from the outside. A soldier. A Polite soldier had come. His sword drenched in new blood. “We have heard of a sorcerer in this tent,” a metallic voice came from inside the Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo

Research Journal

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armor. “A blasphemer against the Goddess who dares to taint this world with magic.” The helmet bent down to regard me. “You must be the warlock Markos I have heard of,” the armored assailant continued, a snout of red and black protruding from the helm. “If it was up to me, you’d be executed where you stand.” “Stop,” the elk, Jordyn, screamed from behind me. “He’s helping sonnen. Your sonnen.” The soldier looked up and began to walk over to Jordyn, his sword tracking blood on the soil underneath. I just watched. My body motionless with grief and madness, gripping a small wooden stethoscope that I’d given to her when we first met. I had been trying to save sonnen. Trying to bring some good into this world. Magic was a gift. Not a curse as the Polites saw it. Too many things made me stay still as my eyes followed the bloodied steel. “ This mage has tainted you,” the soldier began as he moved. “Brought into this world what the Goddess has deemed unholy. Any demon may look like he is doing good while reaping chaos into the world. He has helped no one but Lunus. He has cursed you. All of you. And for that, he must pay. For that, this servant of Lunus must be brought before the Goddess and her chosen sonnenkind.” The soldier knelt down beside the boy. “I am sorry for what must be done. I hope you find comfort in the Goddess’ light.” With that, the soldier swung his sword. Jordyn’s head tumbled to the ground. I roared with rage, but found my body crushed to the ground by more soldiers who had entered the tent. “ This is not my doing,” the murderer spoke, words laced with hate. “You have marked these sonnenkind for death. You are responsible for what happens here today. I do what must be done. Take the scavethi. Cleanse the rest, swiftly and quickly. May you be guided into the arms of the Goddess. I am truly sorry.” I roared and scratched at the ground as I was dragged from the tent. My eyes on Helena’s headless corpse. My last sight was of my patients being massacred by hands that believed they were saving. The tent was made blood red. Screams crashed into my ears. Something hard rammed into the side of my head. Too late to black out the memory of those bodies. Too late to quiet the screams. Now I was left in blackness to remember. To recall the words that the soldier had spat and my old master had taught me. Words that had at one time been a comfort. “I do what must be done.”

Knowing this, I no longer know how much farther my research can take me. Nevertheless, the search must

continue. Each document that I present as evidence, could easily be tossed aside; however, I choose to believe that the truth is closer to being revealed. Ever so slowly, I shall work to uncover what I can about this Markos, for maybe then I can understand why the young boy had to die. Let this not be in vain. Written By: Luis Velasco & Gabriel Trujillo