14:32:27 [Fellowship] You say, "Joku Shunja above the armorer, give her the green letter. Vierana du Canamorra below the healer, give him the red letter. Qurakh al-Taal beside the town crier, give him the purple one."

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14:33:00 You give Joku Shunja Celestial Hand Letter of Introduction.
14:33:00 Joku Shunja tells you, "So, Candrus tells me in this note that you helped him with that infestation of blight spirits. Well done! We welcome your service to the greater good of all Dereth. A spirit as noble as yours may one day find welcome in the ranks of the Celestial Hand, who act to defend all the inhabitants of Dereth from the ancient evils that besiege it. We are not accepting new members at the moment, but we have taken notice of you. For now, allow me to present you with a book on the principles that guide our actions as a group."
14:33:00 Joku Shunja gives you Principles of the Celestial Hand.

The Celestial Hand exists to defend the troubled, but promising realm of Dereth and to preserve the partnership between the newly arrived Isparian inhabitants of Dereth and the remaining Yalain who still exist as protectors of the land and defenders of its unique magical properties. Dereth is a special place, a nexus of power and possibilities. Events on Dereth have a way of rippling outward through many realms, and the Celestial Hand seeks to make the island peaceful and secure. The beloved guardian Ben Ten is the driving force behind the Celestial Hand as we seek to secure the bounty of peace for all of Dereth's inhabitants.

The Hand is not explicitly allied with Asheron. Indeed, some senior members of the Hand feel that Asheron's priorities, while usually admirable, sometimes lead him to make decisions that do not benefit the populations equally. Asheron has also been known to suffer from poor decision-making or unreliable judgment from time to time, and the ever-wise Ben Ten has decided that the Hand must forge its own destiny, separate from the whims and mistakes of a well-intentioned but error-prone master mage, whose own lapses in judgment have caused some of the problems that presently menace us all.

The Celestial Hand recognizes that a time of unique tribulation has come to Dereth, set in motion by the ill-considered lust for power of ancient Dericostian and Falatacot mages. The pursuit of magical power for power's own sake has led to numerous disasters. The Celestial Hand seeks to marshal the energies set loose by Lord Rytheran's folly and use those energies for the defense and betterment of the realm. A great and relentless Darkness seeks to engulf the world, and the power of the ley lines will be required to defeat this thread spawned by the Great Void. Other factions seek to use the ley lines for their own purposes, and we fear that the end of such machinations will be the triumph of the Dark.

To that end, the Celestial Hand must act for the good of all, by claiming Dereth's ley lines and nodes for our defense against the Endless Night. With mastery of the ley line network, the Celestial Hand would be able to rescue its long-lost elders still trapped in the prison of Asheron's making, and awaken these slumbering servants of the Light to combat the tides of darkness. We cannot afford to allow the world's magical energies to be stolen by the endlessly selfish Dericostians or the unfocused, power-mad practitioners of forbidden Falatacot blood sorcery. We cannot allow them to repeat their mistakes. Only an alliance of equals between benevolent Empyreans and the vigorous, courageous humans of Ispar can heal the wounds of this world. Choose the Celestial Hand, and choose the Light.

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14:36:48 You give Qurakh al-Taal Eldrytch Web Letter of Introduction.
14:36:49 Qurakh al-Taal tells you, "Young Temo's note tells me that you helped him recover the scepter of Menilesh... We thank you for your devotion and your interest in the glories of ages long past. Perhaps, in time, you can join the Eldrytch Web and do your part to bring those glories back to Dereth, from the ruins and forgotten memories of the present day. We are not accepting new members now, but your assistance in this matter has been noted, and will not be forgotten. We will watch you with interest from this day forward. For now, perhaps you would wish to look through this book and learn some more about the Eldrytch Web."
14:36:49 Qurakh al-Taal gives you Canon of the Eldrytch Web.

The Eldrytch Web seeks to bring an age of enlightened leadership back to Dereth. This land has suffered from numerous calamities brought on by the fumbling mistakes of a host of would-be rulers with more power than sense. The sentimental fool Asheron invited an alien menace into our world, and then compounded his mistake by dragging innocent and unprepared Isparian mortals onto this troubled island. The mortal Isparian rulers Elysa and Varicci stumble from mistake to mistake, squandering the power that this land offers. Ancient sages know that a land and its ruler are as one, and this land will not be secure and prosperous again until it is ruled once again by a competent and steady hand.

The ancient and noble kingdom of Dericost was once a peaceful realm, ruled by an Eternal monarch. The kingdom was destroyed by the doubled mistakes of the Yalain, who assaulted our ancient domain and unleashed the demonic Hopeslayer upon this world. The arrogant buffoonery of the Yalain and the endless rage of the Hopeslayer are both anathema to a well-ordered realm. If Dericost had not been brought low by lost memories and shattered bastions of power, this land would even now be prospering under the wise and rational stewardship of His Eternal Splendor.

The current sundering of the world's ley lines presents a dire threat, as even now the forces of the Living Shadow seek to devour all Dereth's precious lifeblood. Even now, the mewling dupes of the Yalain seek to consolidate this power to correct their own mistakes. Even now, upjumped mortals meddling with Falatacot rituals that they cannot possibly understand also seek to claim the land's bounty for their own misguided ends. Only the ageless nobility of Dericost, most especially Lord Rytheran and Lady Aerfalle, possess the wisdom and control to properly channel this world's power to productive ends. Only with the guidance of the Eldrytch Web can Isparians hope to grow to their full potential here on Dereth.

The Eldrytch Web does not call Isparians into service to be slaves. We call you to join a well-ordered realm ruled by law and founded upon order. Once the Eldrytch Web achieves its aims of consolidating Dereth's magical energy and properly directing its lines of power, all loyal members will share in the endless bounty, rewarded according to their talents. A prosperous and peaceful realm is one where all citizens are aware of their role and work harmoniously together in such understanding. Only the Eldrytch Web can bring order to this chaos of others' making. When the choice comes to you, as it will soon, make the wise and rational choice.

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14:33:46 You give Vierana du Canamorra Radiant Blood Letter of Introduction.
14:33:46 Vierana du Canamorra tells you, "I see you have been of use to one of my scouts. That Jawaq always was a little weak in the sword arm, if you know what I mean. Well, if you did what he could not, perhaps, in time, you may be useful to me. The Radiant Blood is not accepting more members yet, but we may in the not-too-distant future... Suffice it to say you have been noticed, and may be watched. For now, allow me to present you with a book on the tenets of our society to see if your heart belongs with us."
14:33:46 Vierana du Canamorra gives you Tenets of the Radiant Blood.

The Radiant Blood was founded by Nuhmudira, a powerful mage and long-time defender of the rights and welfare of the Isparian peoples of Dereth. With her foresight and magical acumen, Nuhmudira soon realized that the greatest threat to the Isparian colony on this benighted island was not from Bael'Zharon or the Virindi or any of a host of alien menaces, but the machinations of the Empyreans themselves. She realized that even the putatively benign Yalain, including the foolish mage Asheron, have a history of treating less powerful peoples as pawns in their cosmic games, and that the only way to truly secure the future of the Isparian settlements of Dereth would be to destroy the last lingering Empyrean presence on this world.

Nuhmudira believes that the Empyrean races of Dereth enjoy too many magical advantages over our own recently arrived peoples, and that to defeat them, we must master their own tools. To that end, Nuhmudira conducted her own experiments, pursuing knowledge that Asheron would forbid us. She learned that the lifestones of Dereth, while seeming to be a boon granting eternal life to Isparians, were in reality a vile Empyrean plot to selfishly sustain their own obsolete existences at our expense. Nuhmudira learned how to sever the connection between an Isparian soul and the Empyrean lifestones, and even learned to create her own lifestones, for the benefit of allied Isparians only.

Some would think that Nuhmudira's vast knowledge and her stalwart defense of the Isparian people would win her the support and approbation of the mortal authorities that have set themselves over the Isparian realm: the monarchs Elysa and Varicci. Unfortunately, these self-appointed rulers, tainted by their own bargains for power and unsavory associations, view Nuhmudira with distrust and thwart her will at every turn. Nuhmudira's public break with the royal council of Elysa Strathelar is evidence that the Queen is too far under the influence of the selfish meddler Asheron, whose own poor judgment has had disastrous consequences for many different races and realms.

To join the Radiant Blood, one must prove oneself as not only a capable warrior, archer or mage, but also as a true defender of one's own fellow Isparians. One must be willing to sacrifice anything and everything, including one's own life or soul, in advancement of the greater good. No sacrifice can be too great in pursuit of our ultimate goal: a Dereth free of outsider manipulation, with the land and its endless bounty given over solely to the benefit of Isparians. As the world's own rich blood seeps from wounds created by more Empyrean mistakes, will you choose to side with your own people, or with the unknowable outsiders who seek to use us for their own selfish ends?