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Ancient Connections
Since the early days, the Gemlats had hardened the alliance between them and the folk of the Henveds through a chosen descendent of a bloodline originating from a liaison between the first Gemlat visitor on the grounds of the Lapragth and the maid he soon had learned to love. When their son became of age, his father would take him back to his original home in Bemlyr K’haa to provide a proper education as the people of the Lapragth being exceptional good hunters, had not yet developed a higher cultural level. The Gemlats also drew exceptional power through the taming of the energies contained in some of the gems that could be found in the mountains of Thari Cees, but it took great skills to get hold of them and only few of the Gemlat Archmages were able to retrieve them from the dangerous mountains.
The clan of the To had become the prime source of teachers, instructors and tutors not only for the mind but also in the fine arts of weapon mastery and close combat. As strict followers of C’tars will they were also highly respected throughout the Bemlyr K’haa and beyond.
Now was the time to set the connections between the To family and the recently initiated Messenger to new action with the commencement of training.
Thealdi To had been summoned to the High Council and given the task to travel to the grounds of the Lapragth to find and bring back the candidate who by inheritance was destined to become the new messenger. Unfortunately times didn’t permit to wait until the apprentice was of age, which under normal circumstances was one of the prerequisites in order to become messenger. As the enemy was approaching and the fears grew, it had been decided to make a desperately exception and so Thealdi returned to Brougoth with a boy who had just seen his twelfth birthday.
Throughout their dangerous journey they had learned not only to come to mutual respect, but also developed a close relation not unlike father and son. The boy had received his initiation by the High Council and with it became eligible to receive his official training. And so both Master Thealdi To and Lendear, the little boy from Gheenteld continued the ancient tradition by exercising their destined duties.

It was still early morning when the old man and the boy set out for his first assignment. During the early hours, when the mind was still fresh and receptive, the student was scheduled to visit the library. The first day he was accompanied by the old man who would introduce him to the head librarian.
Khozo Mas was already awaiting them at the entrance and Lendear was no exception by acting quite intimidated upon his first encounter with the head librarian. Not only her beauty was unmatched, green sparkling eyes, the even features of her face embraced by an enormous mane of red hair, but she radiated an aura of self assurance, apparently based on uncounted years of experience, unmatched knowledge and wisdom. This stood in stark contrast to her overall appearance, for the unknowing observer wouldn’t put her past the mid-twenties, the contradiction seemingly the source of the effects she had on others.

The old man soon left the two to attend to their business and headed back home where he knew two other expectant scholars to eagerly await his return.
During their journey from Lendears hometown to Brougoth, the two travellers had made a stop at the village Toodsted, intending to deliver some goods, but had found nothing but death and destruction. The sole survivor, a badly wounded girl, was rescued by the vanguards and taken back to the Red Dragon, a vessel the travellers had been using to navigate the Bythorre.
The girl Lillyveen had found a new home with the old man and Myrtha, a maid who had had a similar fate when her hometown Largham had fallen victim to a vicious High Knight of the Beakil Khum. Upon Lendears initiation at the High Council, both the girl and the woman had received a special gift, granting them access to the secret Order of the Gemstone.
Soon they were to receive their own introduction and spirits high in anticipation of what was to come, they created an air of nervous excitement much to the old mans amusement. The three of them left the house and headed to the Great Hall, which not only represented a place of common congregations but down in its dungeons it housed the High Council and, not known to many, a passage way to the secret Order of the Gemstone.
Arriving at the appointed site, Thealdi led his little group to the back of the building, fetched his gem and by attaching it to the ring worn on his right index finger, activated its powers. The secret door appeared in the brick wall, just as it had in succession of the last congregation when they had been led down to the dungeons by the abbot Groonhark Minh. Passing through and making their way down the spiral staircase into the dungeons of the Great Hall they were again faced with endless corridors stretching in all directions and it dawned on both the woman and the girl that they would be lost within minutes had they not the guidance of their fatherly protector. After long hours of a tiring march, the path dimly lit by the glow of the gem, the party came to an halt at an enormous stone statue, crafted in the finest white marble. Chiselled in the pedestal were ancient runes, their meaning lost to both Myrtha and Lillyveen, Thealdi however had no difficulties with them, but had no need to decipher the writing for he knew it by heart.
“My dear ladies, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the founder of the Order”, playfully bowing before the statue which was about twice his own size and grinning ear to ear, Thealdi was clearly enjoying his little joke.
As it was custom since its founding, the Order would only accept women, the fact marking the end of the trip for the old man and Myrtha and Lillyveen were left behind. Before parting, Thealdi had given them instructions on how to proceed. They were to wait until they stood in total darkness, signalling enough distance he had made between them before taking off their amulets and place them in the statue’s outstretched right hand, which was due to the overall height of the statue just in reach. Not without anguish the two had obeyed, the prospect of being left behind in these dungeons, letting alone the total darkness awaiting them did not exactly keep their spirits at similar levels they had felt when they were still at the Brigshack eagerly awaiting Thealdis return from the library, but the prospect of the anticipated meeting with the Order outweighed this little discomfort.
As the last of the greenish light dimmed into nothingness indicating time for action, the two removed their amulets as instructed and placed them in the hand of the statue. Myrtha was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her as she registered a low, milky glow emitting from the statue, submerging the two frightened and forlorn in ghostly greyness, but soon realized that indeed the darkness was lifted, pushed away by ever increasing rays of light shooting out from gems mounted in the eye sockets of the statue. The joyous eagerness they had shared only moments ago was gradually replaced by a creeping terror enclosing their hearts.

In the meantime, Lendear had lost most of his initial shyness towards the head librarian and being confronted not only with all the knowledge contained in the thousands and thousands of books stored in endless shelves, but the vivid accounts Khozo Mas shared on various historical events made the boy jubilant. So many questions he had stored throughout the journey to Brougoth waiting to be answered, so much he had had only a glimpse of that would now be fully revealed to him. The last traces of doubt still lingering after his acceptance to become the new messenger all vanished during this first encounter with the librarian and were replaced by an ever growing anticipation of this body of acquired knowledge.
Due to the imminent danger the known lands were facing with the approach of the invading armies, the first lecture Lendear received was on the backgrounds of the Yakhath. Khozo Mas had complemented her own acquired experiences from her countless expeditions with many exchanges at the High Council, the special forces and other ranking personalities of the Gemlats and as a result she probably knew more about the Yakhath than anyone alive.
An ancient tribe, formed across the Great Sea in the early times, the Yakhath had soon dominated the lands still unknown. Due to their extraordinary aggressiveness, fed by unmatched hunger for power, they lorded over the other tribes who to their own misfortune inhabited these lands, enslaving the yielding, butchering the resisting. Their brutality was unmatched in known history, the account of their bestial rituals shaking even the strongest and battle-hardened veteran. If this was not bad news to Lendear, the fact that these monsters moreover had themselves engaged the dark arts, left the boy shaky as he recollected his encounter with one of the outcomes of such activities during his travels to Bemlyr K’haa that still occasionally haunted him in his dreams. Upon relating the fight with the Grinhak to the librarian he earned himself quite some approval together with a shower of questions from Khozo Mas.

Deep down in the corridors below the surface of Brougoth, Lillyveen horror-stricken grabbed Myrthas hand for support, both transfixed on the glowing statue, when to their utter surprise the statue spoke:

“Thee who here came,
pure be thy heart,
rightful the aim,
your wish to take part.

Thee who are traitors,
thee who are foul,
thee who art haters,
in dust thou shall crawl!”

At a total loss and completely bewildered upon hearing the words, apparently spoken by a stone statue, the two attendees caught hold of each other, trying to find some comfort in the bodily contact. Eventually Myrtha mustered enough courage to speak.
“We are Lillyveen and Myrtha. The High Court has given us theses amulets. We’re not traitors, we…”
But before she could finish the sentence, a loud crack from the centre of the statue initiated the movement of two wings, each consisting of one leg and half of the body up to roughly the point of its belly button. The opening of the statue revealed a staircase leading up and after a brief exchange of questioning looks and retrieving their amulets, Myrtha and Lillyveen collected the last bits of bravery still left and approached the entrance. Starting their ascent, they heard the scratching noise of the wings indicating the closing of the entry, leaving the two with no choice but to continue on. Lit torches attached to the walls saved them from another encounter with total darkness. Reaching the top of the flights, they were faced with a solid stone wall, this time neither equipped with instructions on how to proceed nor a key in form of a gem like Thealdi had put to use earlier. They both searched the wall for a hidden latch or any other mechanical means that would allow a further passage, but it was in vain. On instinct, Myrtha grabbed the gem which was attached to her amulet and motioned Lillyveen to do likewise, but nothing happened.

Lendear had tried as best as he could to describe every detail of the scenes he had witnessed when Thealdi fought the Grinhak, but the librarian never seemed to be fully content. She was quite demanding and already Lendear could feel the frustration creeping up from his belly upon his failure to meet her expectations. After all, he had only been a bystander at the time and undoubtedly his Master knew a lot more to tell so he raised the idea to postpone further discussions on the topic to the evening, inviting Khozo Mas to the Brigshack. She happily accepted, the prospect of having an elaborated exchange with her ex-lover after their all too brief encounter the other day filled her heart with elated anticipation.