It was the turn of Mayan, 463 years after the fall of the Seleucarian
Empire, when dream-like visions began to trouble the members of the
Spirit Walkers. Increasing in number as the month progressed,
discussions among the House revealed disturbing similarities and what
seemed to be a message. A woman, dark-skinned and clad in vestments of
royal purple was seen beckoning time and time again, the entreating look
upon her face suggesting an urgency the dreams were unable to define.

As days passed and the dreams continued, House members found themselves
speaking strange words, in the ethereal, distant melody of a woman's
voice laden with the age of uncountable years.

On the 17th of that month, Loscann Ze'Dekiah found himself beset by a
vision of such reality that he was at first unable to tell if he were
waking or asleep. It was only upon waking that he found a dreamcatcher
clutched in his hand, identical to one he had seen in his dream.
Gathering together his housemates Montago and Ethaya in the village of
Genji, Loscann reported the occurrence, and together they discussed its
import.

Joined by their housemate Tamarah, the Spirit Walkers sought the advice
of Tithian, the Shaman, who suggested they attempt using this particular
dreamcatcher much like they would any other. Moments after settling into
a restless sleep, Loscann's eyes flew open, his body still recumbent,
his body twitching and lips muttering. Rising, trance-like, the grook
began to stumble and pitch about the room like a man possessed, eyes
glazed over and opaque, their interiors swirling like grey clouds.

Immediately noticing the resemblance between Loscann's eyes and a stone
within the centre of the dreamcatcher, Montago moved to steady his son,
sharing his observation with those gathered, when Loscann began to
speak.

"There are four oaths.. One at each gate.." He muttered, in a reedy,
distracted tone, the purport of his words lost and insensible to the
Spiritwalker witnesses. He had received a message.

Loscann revealed his vision, a tall, dark-skinned woman, who spoke of an
entrance from the mortal realm, the Oath of the Crown, and an incomplete
journey. The small group departed to search for the entrance the woman
had spoken of, and approached the Porta Inferus, the southern gatehouse
of Hashan. With a wavering of his stumbling, dazed form, Loscann
disappeared from sight. Scouring the city, the Spirit Walkers were
unable to locate their housemate and returned to the gatehouse with
Tithian, forced to wait and hope for Loscann's safe return.

~ ~ ~

A long passage of stained glass met Loscann's gradually focusing vision,
and he knew he was no longer in Hashan, for it resembled nothing he had
laid eyes upon before. Moving reverently throughout the otherworldly
place, the heavy fog shrouding the chamber began to thicken, as the
sudden sharp 'CRACK' of splitting rock and shattering glass reverberated
around him.

"Hello?"

Small and weak in the great chamber, Loscann's voice echoed back to him
faintly. A mighty shrine stood before him, and he found he could
progress no further. In response to his voice, from within the shadows
of the chamber, a woman revealed herself. Dark-skinned, clad in
vestments of royal purple, she was surely the woman of Loscann's
visions, and those of the House.

Welcoming the Spirit Walker and imploring him for help, the woman
introduced herself as Nyirobi, Keeper of the Spirit Shrine, who had been
contacting the house through a tenuous bridge between the spirit and
material realms: dreams. With haste, she imparted to Loscann detailed
instructions to enable her crossing over to the material world. As the
woman faded from sight, Loscann found himself beset by falling stone,
broken glass, and a rapidly cracking floor. As the walls and ceiling
were about to crash down upon him, Loscann found himself in Hashan,
unscathed.

Loscann gathered his Spirit Walker companions and, as he related
Nyirobi's instructions, the house members set to work creating an effigy
of the spirit woman. A body was nailed to a rough wooden cross, clad in
vestments comparable to those worn by Nyirobi, head shaved and painted,
until in all respects it resembled her as closely as possible.

With a combined effort of will the Spirit Walkers, led by Tithian, began
to invoke ancient rites to imbue the effigy with the life force needed
for Nyirobi to inhabit it on this plane. As the summoned energy reached
a critical point, surging and churning with electric power, a sudden
silence overtook the chamber. Suddenly, a flash of stunning light
engulfed the chamber in darkness, and when it cleared, before the House
stood Nyirobi, brought to the material realm to watch over the Spirit
Shrine of Hashan.

Penned by my hand on the 5th of Scarlatan, in the year 466 AF.