Height of the Eternal Flame

Sir,

I write to you, from my post, 5 dekants off of the city of Varsonibirsk. A small skirmish force of Voidists - we know not whence they came - entered our borders unnoticed, for they were cloaked in night. We suspect an incursion by sea, and have sent a message to the Citrine Council, that they may watch their backs.

This skirmish force - roughly a score of able-bodied foes, lightly armed and armored, as far as we can tell - encountered, on its path to our cities, a long-ignored, discreet temple of the cult of Flame-Tenders. As you know, Sir, the temples have been out of our jurisdiction or control for decades. The small stone edifice was not even marked on any of our maps. A more recent recruit began to scramble across the rocky ridge we stood upon, as if to engage the Voidists, when one of the older soldiers, First Lieutenant Batsaikhan, a grizzled trooper, held him back.

“Don’t interfere with their workings, son,” he said. “They have powers and tricks beyond our ken, they have no need for our blades or bullets.”

As he said this, the company shuddered as one, and, I admit, I did as well. As we cautiously approached, carvings of flames and fights and strange glyphs became apparent on the columns of the shrine, and the ever-lit flame at the shrine’s head came into view. It lay in a bronze bowl on a pedestal, carved in such a shape to closely resemble a tomb, the shrine like a mausoleum. When we dared approach no closer, we lay prone on the outcropping, watching, waiting for something to spur us to action.

The Voidists seemed attracted to the place, as if conscious of its power. They approached, like a gang of Azurial thugs, a cloaked figure at their head. The figure approached, met at the shrine’s entrance by a set of three priests and priestesses of the Flame. We could not hear their words, for we dared approach no closer, but the Voidists became angered, agitated, as the Flame-Tenders stayed stoic and expressionless. Suddenly, the cloaked figure flared up, like insulted, and cried out in anger. Some of the company claim to have heard the figure cry, “We shall see how powerful your Red flame truly is!”, though I cannot confirm the exact phrase spoken. At that instant, the figure sought the Flame, and with a blow turned it over, setting light to the lacquered floorboards and the ornaments of the temple. The priests and Voidists cried out as one, excepted the cloaked figure and one who seemed to be the head priestess. As the cloaked figure backed away, the priestess was seen speaking in a way we had never seen before, and moving her hands toward her fellow clerics. A nearly imperceptible yet bright Red light surrounded them all, and the Eternal Fire seemed to bend around them. At that, the Voidists fled, looking in fear and awe, as we did; the Flame-Tenders seemed eerily at peace, surrounded by Fire that did them no harm. The one who had spoken the incantation earlier stooped to take the bowl, which must have been unbearably hot, and set it upright, to preserve the Flame.

When the Voidists had fled out of sight or hearing, I could no longer control the company; they broke ranks, and ran toward the shrine, helping to save what hangings could be salvaged from the walls, and speaking to the clerics. I clambered down the ridge after them, to find the sorceress and learn from her what had happened. At my approach, she looked at me with a piercing stare; she seemed to read my every trait, and to know from them all that I knew. She nodded, I know not why, and spoke silent words to her compatriots. None of my cohort say they know what was said at that instant. The clerics adopted among them a look of melancholy, and dutiful acceptance; some of them began to pray.

I relate now what occurred to the best of my ability, for I cannot say I know what happened exactly, nor can I rationalize it. The arcanist seemed to phase out of the plane… no color could be perceived at all within her space, not simply bleached or darkened but faded, somehow. The color faded first, then the outline, then her physical form, then what I would describe as her essence. No science or reason I have heard could explain these phenomena, neither the harmless Fire nor her disappearance into thin air. When we discussed these phenomena with the clerics after the fact, they spoke of nothing but the might and mysticism of the Flame, and of the benevolence of the priestess, who we learned was named Tilwaen. We have no other explanations for these events. I have heard tell that the group of Voidists has been taken, and brought in; several of the clerics present have also agreed to head in for questioning, for they say they see no purpose in their presence in this shrine.

I end this missive by urging our government look into the rumors that surface of strange, fiery powers, and not let them simmer; for they may well be true, and the edge we need over our foes. Though they do not fall within reason, they can be reasoned with, these Flame-Tenders, and their capacities are great. Let us make new allies, for a new era.

With great wonder and hope,

Colonel Tetsu.