On the Weakness of H'bala

[Somniis]

On the Weakness of H’bala
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Musings by
Irska and Ocatay Injengar,
Children of Kiosa of the Gurs.

“Remember the Future and the Ancient Memory.”
                  (- so sayeth Kiosa).

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Hammer 11th, 1381 D.R.
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-- Recollections --[/i]
We arrived at Nebedzzos during Alturiak of the Year 1378 of Dale Reckoning finding a colony in a state of uproar. Accursed Hammer 23rd was working towards its end, H’bala and her minions laying waste to all of Ymph.

Soon enough He Who Should Not Be Named, the Boy Prophet and Oracle of the Transcendent Conclave, on the eve of his thirteenth birthday, declared war on H’bala directing the flight of the Floating Ship at the Dead Witch’s Tower in the Ymphian Woods. It is well known that they failed. With the protective shield of the Conclave taken from Nebedzzos, the Nightrisers rose and Warden Lotheri Sanq reclaimed the Netherese prison that was once his jurisdiction.

In the days preceding the Fall of the Transcendent Conclave, in an effort to contribute an arrow of truth toward neutralizing the Dead Witch and her minions, we asked a simple question: “What is H’bala’s weakness?” The answer is strange to human eyes and ears; a dagger of insight to those who might follow the Mystic Eye of the Great Diviner, Savras. So what is H’bala’s weakness?

We have seen that the simple answer is: a Crowned Emperor.


-- The Seer's Method --[/i]
This wyrd of truth, the true seeing of H’bala’s weakness, came to us in a candle-lit vigil.  The vision arrived before the receptacle of the Chosen Dreamer in the barren Chapterhouse on Nebedzzos. A ‘wyrd’ sounds like ‘word’. ‘Wyrd’ has multiple uses in the Gur tongue, it being a powerful rune. ‘Wyrd’ means ‘weird’, ‘fate’, ‘destiny’, ‘way’ and ‘door’. The Numinous Order use ‘wyrds’ in their prophecies. This gives a whole new meaning to the origin of words in general – the human ability to speak, sing, and communicate. Use Wyrds wisely.
 
All wyrds are linked to a Seers method. A true Seer is a Hathran, a female Diviner. A Great Seer is a Wychlaran. The details of Gur culture have never been recorded as far as we are aware, with good reason. In our records here we intend to show that Divination is one of the cornerstones of a healthy culture. Ymph dies and we will explain what we See.


-- Vision of the Crowned Emperor --
Visions evolve the same way seeds become roots and trees. Seeing is remembering the depths of the planes of existence. To see we draw the answers from afar into ourselves.

We have seen the crown on the head of a man. This is a ruler and man of great power. He carries a scepter and orb. There is a great bird circling the sky in the distance. The man is a balanced, stable and potent authority, perhaps even jovial in his benevolence. But such power leads to tyranny if he wears the crown too long. There are many names for a man in this position - ‘Great Father’, or ‘Wise Council Chief'.

In Alturiak 1378 D.R. we mentioned this vision to Templar Gustin Benes of the Numinous Order. He felt it pertained to the Duke-made-King Trenada. Truthfully, we do not know. We believe the Crowned Emperor is simply unrecognised.

This wyrd Crowned Man is the weakness of H’bala.


-- The Oracle’s links to H’bala --[/size]
We see the Oracle’s strength: we see him crowned with a sword in his hand. This was fulfilled in 1378 D.R. in his will to fight with the Dead Witch directly. That is hindsight.

We see the Oracle’s weakness: it is a crowned woman with a staff in her hand. In 1378 D.R., the Conclave was broken open, it’s contents strewn across Ymph. H’bala invoked the Withering Curse. We have a feeling this wyrd Queen of Staves is also linked to the Oracle’s mother, the Dreamer who protected her son after the First Great Shrouding, the First Long Sleep. We will speak no further on the Oracle’s links to H’bala until we see deeper into the matter.


-- H’bala’s past --[/size]
This too is hindsight. Savras sees All. And so it is.

We travel backwards in time. We know she is old, perhaps ancient. Time is an illusion created by the forward pressing of the mind to know everything. The mind knows nothing. The heart feels everything. Letting go of the intellect engenders True Sight. Information arrives. This is the way of the Gurs.

Caliphar Amadeus Aethersee reports her true name as Shylae Jabbanased. Wyrds have power in a true name.  We see that the Crowned Man is H’bala’s weakness. A Father who has crossed the Abyss in a state of wisdom. The Perfect King has crossed the River. The Ancient Sky Father measures the dimensions of the River. Fusion of both worlds, no divide. Herein abides H’bala’s weakness.


-- Envisioning the Crown Fragments --[/size]
There is a book banned by Count Senuspur named ‘The Crown Fragments’. We feel these fragments bring light to an understanding of the Crowned Emperor and thus the inherent weakness of H’bala.
 
Much speculation abounds about what each of the six textual fragments actually mean. We will unveil illusions and the truth surrounding each fragment of the six fragments in due time.


-- Summary --
In essence, we can neutralize H’bala by exploiting her weakness. In neutralizing the Dead Witch we see a cure for the Withering Curse and a return to Balance and what is natural. Also know that the path of Jabbanatha is but a single stepping stone along the strip of life – a glimpse of the cycle in a Greater Mystery that only the Gods can see.

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{This book has been donated to the Curios and Epistles shop in Mistlocke}[/font]

[Somniis]

Discourse on the ‘The Crown Fragments’
and the Dead Witch’s Decline.
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o[/size] - this section added to the Epistles by - o[/size]

Wyrm Watcher Ocatay Injengar
29th Alturiak, 1381 D.R.[/size]

The book entitled, “The Crown Fragments" offers a window on the possible scenarios of a Crowning; as well as being six segments of text linked to separate histories. The returned history of the second and sixth textual fragment is the subject of this discourse. We deliver this history with the Candles of Savras at heart. We accept that what we read might be forgery. Let us see through to the core of the lie.


--The Hunt for the Crown of Power--
In The Crown Fragments, the second fragment reads thus:

“… the Crown of the Isles was forged by the Drow for Prince Angelo Senuspur- and was hidden deep
 within the old vaults of the Principia following his death. There it remains, awaiting a worthy…”[/i][/font]

Since the Awakened of Ymph have begun entering Mistlocke from the Dreamer’s Cave, much talk of King and Crown has surfaced. Adventurers have recovered eight pieces of an artifact from the Ilythiiri ruins - so-called the Shattered Crown because of the artifact’s physical division. The Shattered Fragments (or shards) of this crown are being held by a number of sources whom I cannot disclose here. At the present moment, we believe the custodians are not completely beguiled by drow intent.

Recent landings on Ymph, -Alturiak 1381 D.R. - of what might be loosely termed ‘a Ruby army’, make it plain that the Court of Old Port also seeks to crown their chosen King. This seeking has been undertaken before. Ironmantle’s ‘A History of the Queen’s War’, briefly recalls Ixpadia’s search for the Drow Crown. In section II of his book available in the Curio Shop:

“Queen Ixpadia’s soldiers and servitors scoured the island searching for the Crown of the Isles,
 the drow-crafted regalia fashioned for Prince Angelo’s ascension to the throne of Old Port…”

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Recent skirmishes – during Hammer 1381 D.R. - between Mistlocke villagers and drow were focused on retrieving the shards of this same Drow crown. The shards are rumoured to have been uncovered by adventurers in the repositories of the old Ilythirii ruins on Ymph. We have held a single shard in our own hands but for a moment, shown to us by one of its current custodians. The shard is obviously a drow designed spider arcana. We can well imagine that any who hold the fully-formed crown will hold that dark power; though ultimately at the behest of the dark crafters who made it. Such a custodian would not simply serve themselves, but the Dark Queen and her servants on the lands above and below. It is known the Count consorts with drow, conducting a slave trade. The war between the Count and Ixpadia is (beyond the lineage claims of the Senuspur line), in part, a war between the drow and a rebel claimant to their surface throne.[/size]


--Visions and Rumours--
Accompanying the remembering of the Shattered Crown by Ymph’s inhabitants are the visions and rumours of the King of the Isles. There are visionary reports from newcomers to Mistlocke of a Mad King of Old Port wearing a mist-wreathed crown. Other visionary reports claim Drystan Caermyn is the King, as seen by those who frequent the Shrouded Tower in Sis Liman. The quality of any Aberdenn, or Caermyn, or the former Princes of Old Port, or the Count must be evaluated by their character, not simply by the Crown they wear. However, know well that the malevolent designs forged into at least one piece of the Shattered Crown suggests an unholy influence intended by the crafters – an arachnid and arcane magical influence, reminiscent of the dark elves’ touch.


--The Ilythiiri Crown is a False Path to Power--
What is unclear in The Crown Fragments book is made abundantly clear in a hands-on encounter with one of the shards of the Ilythiiri Crown. We hesitate to name the Shattered Crown ‘Ilythiiri’, as opposed to ‘Drow’, for we do not know what the true distinction is between the two tribes. A notion of this distinction can be seen when we examine the sixth textual fragment of the banned book. There is little distinction at all, both tribes seen to be sliding into absolute power-seeking.

The sixth textual fragment reads:

“The so-called ‘Crown’ is a concept, simply put. A misunderstanding emanating from the
various regimes which have desired a legitimacy that arises from within the Isle itself.
In truth, it is an ancient Ilythiiri concept of the ideal ruler. The metaphorical Crown
represents the ideal of a virtuous coronal who would emerge from within the people and
turn back the desperate flight to the Underdark. It is the need for salvation personified.”

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A virtuous coronal might be a good king. But for whom? Whom does the Crown serve? In reading a brief history of the Elvish Crown Wars, it appears that the Ilythiiri are the most war-like and decadent among the elves; a tribe increasingly given to extreme measures and tactics in order to retain their identity and tribal ways. At some point through the Ages they crossed the Unknown Line; - they became cursed by the Elven Gods. For whom does the Crown serve? If the Crown is simply a means to enact unending vengeance upon the surface folk, this type of Ruler, Crown, and Crowning must be opposed. In this sense, the drow are unredeemable, and the sixth book fragment is a desperate lie, or a subtle trick – for there cannot be a Drow Coronal who chooses torture and deception to win. The Ilythiiri are as power-hungry as the mages of Netheril have unfailingly demonstrated.

We suggest that this Shattered Ilythiiri Crown may be the historical Crown-of-the-Isles; but its' unworldly power will bring ruin to its' wearer and those ruled by it. We feel that the Ilythiiri Crown begs for the myth of Transcendence, but instead wallows in unending Decadence.[/size]

--Does this decadent Drow Crown weaken H’bala?--

We see a King build a Tower,
undermined by two serpent powers,
Hidden in the foundations.
A female Destroyer.

Beautiful inevitable severity.
Release, purification, fire.

We see a Tower struck by lightning.
Suddenly falling,
Butterflies. Made whole.
Left alone to grow.
Metamorphosis.
Solar World justice.

Strength, Harmonies of Death.
The Hanged Human.
The Searchlight.
Eyes open or closed they
See in the Dark, they Remember the Future.
Sensing the Secret Ways of Others.[/color][/size][/i][/font]
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Savras sees all.

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[Somniis]

-- Nature will balance itself --
Forget the Tower. It's not important.
Go wide.
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"Water is the essence of Life."[/color][/i]- LaRue.
Fire cleans.
- Aeromn.
Wind carries.
- Henry's Shaundakul.
Earth holds.
- Descreza's celestial machine.

Living Crystals
guard the throne
of nine rotations.
☼
Reclaim each direction.
The Ancient Memory.

And the Light of Lights outside Mistlocke.
Bird at the gates, calling...
Resonate wisely.[/i]

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The Forgotten One

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