On the Recent Issues with Spirits

Some of you know me already; for those who do not my name is Geraint and I am a Felken of the Sect of Kexel. I was one of a group of adventurers who was recently tasked to journey to Southernel and confront a spirit alleged to have been spreading evil mists across the land.

I have no doubt that many people will still be trying to spread word of an “evil spirit” or “corrupted spirit” spreading the mists, so I thought it important to let you all know the truth. Honcho, patron spirit of Nivalas, has not gone rogue, been corrupted, or otherwise turned against his home. Honcho is not spreading the Southern mists; instead, it is his power that holds them back. Had we blindly destroyed or imprisoned him, the mists would have overwhelmed Nivalas completely, leading to the fall of the city and the deaths of any of its citizens who could not flee.

When we spoke to Honcho, he told us of a “Shadow Man” who is killing other spirits in Southernel. Honcho is terrified of this person, and has begged us for our aid. Clearly, if the spirits of the South are holding the mists at bay, this person represents a serious threat, not just to the spirits but to humans as well.

It is difficult for spirits to communicate with each other across the continent, as they cannot stray too far from their place of origin. And yet, it is spirits that seem most aware of the activities of this Shadow Man. I would therefore urge anyone living with spirits, especially my fellow Felkens, to communicate with each other, and enable news to pass from spirit to spirit, and spirit to human. Together we can create a web of communication that spreads wide across the world. Let us share knowledge to discover our foe.

I would also once again raise my voice in caution against the ready use of the Simnel Process to capture spirits. How many need to be removed from the world before irreparable damage is done? I know people are frightened by recent changes to some spirits’ behaviour, but our adventure in Nivalas shows that there is a better, kinder way to address the problem.

"We do not stop playing because we get older, we get older because we stop playing."

I was recently part of a group of adventurers who explored a temple of The Master - as this Shadow Man styles himself - in Southernel. What we discovered there shows conclusively that this being harbours nothing but Malice for the Spirits.

The following inscriptions were found carved onto various tablets around the temple; experimentation showed that each one bears a lie, and that the tablet cracked when it was corrected to truth. For the benefit of our collective knowledge, I'll have copied down the lies that were displayed, and am annotating them with the attendant truths:

"The Master claimed the South as his domain, and the spirits flocked to him." [The Master claimed the South as his domain, and the spirits fled from him.]

"The Master invited Spirits to the South." [The Master slaughtered the Spirits of the South.]

"The South is the one land free from the Master's rule". [The South is not free from the Master's rule]

"The Master loves spirits" [The Master destroys spirits]

"There are no such things as Spirits" [There are such things as Spirits]

"Hellen is the God of Lies and Deceit" [Hellen is the Goddess of the Sun]

"Welcome to the temple of Hellen" [Welcome to the temple of The Master]

"The Master is neither man nor god" [The Master is a god]

"The Master is a being of Truth" [The Master is a being of Lies]

"The Master is incapable of deception" [The Master is very capable of deception]

"The Master rules openly. All knowingly submit to him." [The Master rules secretly. Few knowingly submit to him.]

"You may know the Master by his form, for he has never changed it or worn another". [You cannot know the Master from his form, for it changes often.]

"We do not stop playing because we get older, we get older because we stop playing."

OOC:/ Note, since this is a limitation of phys-repping, cracked stone being less evident than a crack effect on paper.
The inscription "The South is the one land free from the Master's rule" had already cracked before the party arrived. /:OOC

"So basically what we got from that that wasn't already in the play, is that the Master is definitely a bad guy, we have more clearly bad guy details about him, the whole lying thing. Also the shape shifting although that could be tricky to effectively pull off onstage, well the difficulty would more be making sure the audience could follow who was the master."

"That being said I was really hoping you would uncover a romantic sub-plot down there, some ancient story of how the Master drove the spirits out because the spirit of beauty had broken his heart or something like that. Or at least something that made him a more nuanced villain, I'm worried he might come across as unbelievable or one dimensional."