Antagur's Letters

Antagur's letters written to his uncle Angarim during his education at Baileydowns.

Letter One

Dear Uncle,

I hope this letter finds you healthy and that your business is going well. I am sorry to be away from you so long and miss the adventure of travel. But when Moloth lays the path before me like she has in sending me to Baileydowns, I know I must follow.

My first day was very exciting. Soon after you left, all the students were allowed to choose the house we would join. I am now a member of House Winterfield. The banner is white and silver and the emblem is a noble hound. I believe this house will help me prepare to serve Moloth, wise mother and terrible judge of us all.

After we joined our houses, there was a great feast. I have made friends with a young Belosian named Marak who is a member of my house. He is very pleasant but a little on the shy side. He does have some peculiar theological notions though. I also met a lovely Belosian girl named Lyra from House Elsanor; she was quite taken with me. Her housemate Fields is a simple Avandellan country boy, but I think he will be a good companion. I have also met with two other Elsanor members: Sarah an annoying Larkosian girl and Vedda a Taldoran boy who makes fields seem sophisticated. I also met two fellows from House Daltus. One of them is them, Lothor, is the nephew of that Malkostian friend of yours Astra. Valmar, the other boy, is from Bereth. His surname is Cosayn; I am sure you must know some of his people.

After the meal, we were allowed to mingle and look around. Principal Tyrus came by and suggested to our little group that we should stay together. That seemed rather odd. Later when I had taken Lyra for a walk, we overheard him and Darius, the wood mage, talking. They said something about a Prophecy that seemed to involve our group. We didn't hear much before Lyra made a noise, and they shut the door. Later, we told the others the story. We all plan to investigate this Prophecy.

Our group decided to look for the graveyard of the castle. Along the way we saw a lot of the grounds which are beautiful. We snuck into a strange building that was very dark inside. I was the only one who could see at all, so we didn't go in. Even I had trouble seeing. I saw a smoking man with a strange, twisted face. We ran off before he could catch us.

By following the sounds of the voices of the dead, I was able to lead my group to the graveyard. I asked the spirits to tell us about the Prophecy. They told us to come inside the wall. Once inside we got no useful information although Sarah was possessed by a spirit briefly. We heard the sounds of digging, but when we tried to investigate some clumsy member of the party alerted them to our presence. We managed to safely escape after some shameful cowardice on the part of some of my companions who quail in the face of the dead.

In any case, I had a wonderful first day. I can’t wait for classes to begin. I promise I will study hard and make you proud.

Love,

Your nephew, Antagur May Moloth guide you on your path.

Letter Two

I can seldom recall a more disturbing result of my nightly devotion to Moloth. In my dream, I saw a tree burning with a man tied to it. A voice told me, "Beware the Bane of Trees." Dark Mother, that was horrible. Then to wake and find the others gawking at me and find the words scratched into my headboard. I hope that I alone bear any punishment for defacing the property. I would not want to bring shame to my house. At least my friends were supportive.

The research into the Prophecy went well although it was frightening to think that it might have something to do with the Tome of Ancients and the Nendazi. I am not sure if my discussion with Shada Ko was reassuring or not. At least he placed the Bane of Trees, the Inyare name for the spell Touch of Blight. I wonder how long it will be before we learn spells like that. It is good to see that my schooling has been adequate; I should be advanced in some areas of study. Although I wish I knew as many spells as Marak and Valmar.

Maggie Kelleck is a wonderful addition to the circle. She was amazing in the fight where we bested those Malkostian ruffians who wounded Valmar. Uncle Angarim always says it is good to have loyal companions who can fight. That way you seldom have to bother yourself with fisticuffs. I guess maybe that was what Valmar was thinking when he refused to fight; I shan’t take it that far though. Maggie is pretty, too. Although she is not as lovely as Lyra who I believe was a little jealous of her attention to me. It was good that we escaped Alyn's notice at the graveyard. If that had happened, we would have all been in trouble which would have been all my fault since he distrusts me. I am going to have to try hard to avoid him for a while. The last thing I need is to be too far up on his list of troublemakers.

Well, I guess that is enough for one day. I will perform my nightly ritual and get some sleep. I hope Moloth see fit to spare me the kind of vision she bestowed upon me last night. I must remember that it is not my place to question her terrible wisdom.