The far-removed shopping district of Ereptor Street in the southeast
area of the Crown of the Ithmia had long been experiencing problems with
custom, as it was far removed from almost every other feature of Hashan.
At the suggestion of Kryvar, one of the regents of Hashan, a plan was
formulated to re-locate them to a more accessible and convenient area,
near the city centre. However, as the construction work was continuing,
the citizens were quickly alerted to something awry by the alarmed cries
of Foreman Hettright, who had been hired to over-see the work. Concerned
individuals quickly arrived at the location, to find that an ancient
complex had been uncovered, long hidden over the ages, as the city
expanded unbeknownst to all to further conceal it.

The first Hashani investigators quickly found it to be an ancient,
ruined temple, apparently the home of an astrological cult devoted to
the worship of the Night. To their surprise and dismay, the temple was
not abandoned entirely, instead housing the angry, hate-filled spectres
of the former inhabitants, apparently doomed by some cataclysm. Further
research, based upon the decaying journal grasped in the hands of an
ancient, frozen corpse, revealed some of the history of the doomed cult,
consisting of three main factions. Through the years of their dominance,
these factions struggled for power, and in the end the power and
spiritual guidance of the cult because based upon the cycles of a
certain three planets, which they believed to wield great power. Their
believes focused on these three stars, and each faction adopted one for
their focus of the powers of Night, those of Darkness, Lunar influence,
and the power of Dreams.

Whilst some focused on attempting to translate the encoded first page of
the journal, others began to read and research the rest of its contents.
Though many of the pages were unreadable, to the frustration of the
researchers, the early part seemed to mention the creation of a 'Device'
which was used to track these stars, now identified as planets, and thus
dictate the balance of power, delicately wielded by the three factions,
was based upon the 'prominent' plant in the alignments. To the
irritation of the researched, the eleventh page of the journal was
missing, which according to the preceding page had the design of the
device upon it. Many speculations on the nature of the device abounded,
from an ancient orary to a type of compass. As it continued, it became
apparent that the second half of the journal was written much later than
the first, by the great grandson of the first owner. Now it lay in the
hands of one Hubrisian Volknore, a member and leader of the Dream
faction, who was most critical of the other two factions, believing that
he and he alone was destined to lead the entire cult to greatness.


Penned by my hand on the 18th of Ero, in the year 312 AF.