The Order of Eternal Light Keeper Archives

This is a creative work set in the world of Elanthia, attributed to its original author(s). It does not necessarily represent the official lore of GemStone IV.

Title: Keeper Archives

Author: The Order of Eternal Light

As a community focused on learning, sharing and research, The Order of Eternal Light houses their archives at libraries spread throughout the Empire. As part of their mission to further the knowledge of the Arkati, these libraries are made available to the public. Here you will find the most recently submitted documents from the Solhaven chapter of The Order.

A Most Important Play

Event: The Tragedy of Leya and Egan
Performance Date: 7/10/5125
Archivist: First Keeper Aenternoll L'Draggor
Location: Amphitheater, House Brigatta

Tonight, we told the story of Leya and Egan as it was meant to be told. Naamit, Peatwyn, Zeminar and Bakarus each gave more than I could have hoped, and the others who supported from the shadows deserve equal thanks. I am grateful to them all. This note is only a glimpse of the evening, and I encourage any who read it to seek the full account in the archives, where the tale is preserved in full detail.

The Tragedy of Leya and Egan

-- Aenternoll, First Keeper

Frontier Justice

Event: The Trial of Bakarus Klysus
Trial Dates: 7/6/5122 & 7/9/5122
Archivist: First Keeper Aenternoll L'Draggor
Location: Clovertooth Hall, Icemule Trace
Presiding Judge: Teaberry Wildroot

I begin this entry with an apology. In the aftermath of First Pilgrim’s trial, I set these documents aside, and only now, three years later, have I gathered the will to return to them. The delay weighs on me, though perhaps it was inevitable, given how heavy those days felt at the time.

Reading the proceedings again stirs memories I thought had dulled. The people of Icemule Trace, though sincere in their efforts, were steered into a trial that bore little resemblance to justice. That some measure of truth emerged in the end offers a degree of solace, though it does not erase the unease of how it came about. For my part, I cannot help but wonder if our Order’s thirst for knowledge left us exposed, or if the First Pilgrim was unknowingly ensnared in Zeban’s schemes from the very beginning. I lean toward the latter, yet I know perspective will always shift with time. Perhaps if I revisit these pages in another three years, I will arrive at another conclusion entirely.

The record itself is preserved in two volumes now resting in the Archives. They remain unchanged, even as my own thoughts continue to evolve around them. I suspect that, in time, the Archives will outlast not only our judgments but also the emotions that shaped them. Still, for now, I write to remember and to wrestle, quietly, with what we endured.

The Trial of Bakarus Klysus - Volume 1
The Trial of Bakarus Klysus - Volume 2

-- Aenternoll, First Keeper

Kuon Lecture

Event: A Discussion on Kuon, Patron of Herbs and Flowers
Date: 1/16/5125
Archivist: First Keeper Aenternoll L'Draggor
Location: Imaera's Grove, Solhaven
Host: First Pilgrim Bakarus Klysus

It is always a privilege when our Order can offer support to other organizations we respect. When the invitation came to host a gathering during Winternights for Cairnfang Manor and Solhaven, we did not pause long before agreeing. The halls feel less cold when shared purpose fills them.

First Pilgrim Bakarus, with his usual quiet wisdom, chose the topic well. Kuon, patron of herbs and flowers, so rarely stands in the forefront of our thoughts, and yet his presence threads through nearly every moment of our lives. To speak of him now, in the heart of winter, was to remind us that the frost will not last forever. I find myself clinging to that thought more than I expected.

The formal report has already been placed in the Archives, but here, in these pages, I can admit that I am weary of winter’s long hold. I look to Kuon’s promise of green and bloom as one looks toward a distant shore.

A Discussion on Kuon, Patron of Herbs and Flowers

-- Aenternoll, First Keeper

Fash'lo'nae and Lumnis Debate

Event: A Discourse on the Arkati of Knowledge
Date: 1/25/5124
Archivist: First Keeper Aenternoll L'Draggor
Location: Lumnis' Temple in Solhaven
Hosts: Magister Raelee Svala & Issiah

I find myself unexpectedly impressed. Though I was not able to attend the debate in person, the report makes it clear that Issiah more than held his own... against a Magister no less! That is no small feat. Magister Raelee’s reputation precedes her: a formidable mind with a seemingly endless command of, well... knowledge itself.

Yet it is not the debate alone that lingers with me, but one particular insight she offered regarding the Erithians. They often honor Lumnis and Fash’lo’nae in tandem, and that thought has settled in my mind with surprising weight. If such a pairing is not only possible but common among them, then perhaps we, too, ought to reconsider the relationships we imagine between Arkati. What other combinations might we have overlooked?

For those who were unable to attend, I strongly encourage requesting a copy of the report. It is well worth the read.

A Discourse on the Arkati of Knowledge

-- Aenternoll, First Keeper

Ivas Temple Tour

Event: Ivas, Two Sides of Temptation
Date: 1/20/5124
Archivist: First Keeper Aenternoll L'Draggor
Reporter: Lylia Rashere
Location: Ivas's temple in the Vipershroud & the Garden of Desire in Solhaven
Host: Seeker Traiva Verethundi

The Arkati never cease to amaze me. Any preconceived notion of Ivas I had was destroyed by Seeker Traiva. A lifetime spent believing Ivas was merely seduction, carnal pleasures, and disease, now replaced with a new understanding of what desire and control can be through her worship. I will be mulling these thoughts for weeks to come I'm sure. For those that were unable to attend, I do encourage you to request a copy of Lylia's report:

Ivas, Two Sides of Temptation

-- Aenternoll, First Keeper

Ronan Commune

Event: Ronan Commune
Date: 3/8/5123
Archivist: First Pilgrim Bakarus Klysus
Location: Icemule Trace, Hall of the Mind
Notables: Falvicar Jalcon & Roelen McColend

A commune with Ronan was held on Leyan, the 8th day of Charlatos, 5123, prompted by a series of dreams that Roelon had experienced some days earlier. I had the privilege of witnessing this successful commune first hand. Falvicar and Roelon, both known Ronanites, led the ritual.

The dream as shared by Roelon:

Shadows dance through your sleep, dark and terrible. You look down at a field of cracked and dry earth, hideous blue light bleeding up from below. The air is impossibly hot, and trees around you are ablaze, blown by a sere breeze that makes their fires dance like candle flames.
 
As your smoke-stung eyes search about, you see a man in black. He has the build of a warrior, but his form is tortured. His skin is as cracked as the earth, and from it blazes the same unsettling energy. The energy is of a hue that you cannot name, some unknowable shade that is beyond the spectrum of colors you have come to know. He looks down upon you from atop a heap of smoldering bodies, each more twisted and broken than the last. 

You are haunted by the last shreds of the dream. It is almost as if you can feel the last tingles of the immense heat that assaulted you in that desert landscape, a tormented, burning land without relief. You recall the sight of the hills to the east of you, burned clear of snow and trees and wildlife, the ruins of the abbey scattered like a broken crown over the barren earth.

My recounting of the commune:

The two halves of this room have been covered--ceiling, walls, and floor--with black granite and grey marble.  Meeting seamlessly in the middle, the two kinds of stone have been carved into gently sloping, crenulated curves.  Set against the backdrop of a bas-relief carving in the grey northern wall is an altar of misty white vaalin, while an altar of snowflake obsidian lies at the foot of the granite southern wall.

Falvicar falls into a deep trancelike state while muttering softly, the exact words you cannot discern.  After a few silent moments, Falvicar calmly opens his eyes.

(Roelon works at filling the empty space of the circle with more fine black particles, smoothing it as he spreads the sand with his ebon falcon prayer-feather.  He then traces a single Saramar rune on the edge closest to himself.)

The sword-shaped candle burns warmly, lending a soft light to the surroundings.

The shadows stretch toward Falvicar, crawling along the ground in fits and spurts.  One twines about his leg and vanishes into his flesh.  An instant later, blackness pools in his eyes, their surfaces glowing faintly silver.

In a voice not his own, Falvicar rasps, "Not all that moves in the shadows moves for ill."

In a voice not his own, Falvicar rasps, "Vile powers move as they have moved before, shrouded in dusk." You notice that he has no shadow.

Five pillars of blackness stretch along the southern wall, lightless and impenetrable against the dark marble.

Falvicar says, in a voice not his own, "Their hand stretches across the face of the world.  Alone, you will fall.  Together, there is hope." A trickle of blood drips from his nose.

The voice speaking with Falvicar's mouth and lungs attenuates like a candle flame burning low.  "They must not claim... the knowledge..."  More blood streams from his nose.

With a last burst of energy, Falvicar groans, "Unity.  Or destruction."

* Falvicar drops dead at your feet!

The symbolism did not go unnoticed when Falvicar spoke about vile powers. Both the reference to a hand and the five shadows that appeared leads one to believe that there could be five Arkati involved. We shall see if this line of reasoning holds true. Perhaps I will be able to add a further addendum at a later date. Nevertheless, this is something the Seekers must investigate.

A final note - I find it curious that Falvicar perished. I assume Ronan would prefer having his supplicants alive to assist in their constant war with Sheru and Luukos.

-- Bakarus, First Pilgrim