On the ayleid realms: Telepe

Rain's Hand, the 18th, 4E202

Telepe

Greetings, my lord, this is to be my full report on the Ruined Ayleid Realm of Telepe. Fortunately, many things have survived the passage of time beneath the earth, and we are still uncovering hidden chambers in the main underground, but as per our schedule, we make ready to move on.

We've successfully identified a number of ruins that are now hidden from sight thanks to a number of recovered maps which has helped to determine many future route alterations.

Back to the realm at hand, Telepe was the home of Agdatheil, the Cartographer, named so for his fervor to put to paper all that might be measured, extrapolated or calculated. Indeed, his realm was renowned for its scrying arts as well as its employ of many tools of navigation. Orreries, astrolabes, maps, charts, all manner of crystalline tools, the realm was very proficient in that regard, and I believe its dominion may have extended to what is now known as Leyawiin, a port city. Sufficient evidence seems to point towards that fact, mention of ships, a dock, trade, shipments, and so on. It seems a fairly sizeable realm.

Most common ayleid here served their purpose in sea-work, while the more powerful seemed to reside closer to the realm-lord, further inland. Note, I say sea-work but I do not mean menial labor, they were overseers to the slaves in all things. It was very rare to find any ayleid in an, shall we say, impoverished situation. Even the "poorest" of their kin was magically trained before being thrown into the world where the spirit of competition, the lust for power and the hunger for dominion would ensure their continued ascension. The model always remained but the pieces of the ayleid world were in constant motion. All ayleid could seek apprenticeship, responsibility , work or any such thing from his betters, there was indeed no shortage of duties the realm-lords would not see delegated. They were one and all dangerous, and the sorcerer-kings frightfully so.

Their scrying was also heavily used to determine patterns of sorts, from the sky. They observed the constellations, the planets and the stars trying to determine or confirm some information. Agdatheil himself was well learned on the subject, and possessed even a spherical varla stone which seemed to give him a far more accurate capacity of determination, whether it be for spatial location or some sort of measurable probability of potential events. Of course, others relied on different tools for different purposes. Water for fishing, belongings for traces of intent, and so on. Where we see scrying, they saw extrapolation from "patterns set since before the birth of the world".

Architecture seemed fairly standard from what we've observed of most realms, however it still doesn't match some of the depictions we've had from the time. We did discover some faded etchings all over the uncovered walls, but nothing conclusive. Roads of faded white stone leading to more open areas, fragments of arches and paved floors of open structures. Despite the brutality of man's treatment at the time, I can't help but think again of how beautiful it must have all been, especially by the sea.

As for religion, Telepe leaned fairly towards Magnus. Much of their culture surrounded scrying, deciphering and understanding as a way of life, this makes fair sense. I wish we had more information on their view of the gods however, perhaps in the next realm. They dedicated many buildings to the teaching and practice of magic, not to mention personal libraries and bookshelves were more commonplace than in other realms. "Wear lore as your armor" indeed. Unfortunately, not one text survived... Whatever is left at all is but blackened paper that crumbles to dust at the touch.

As a consequence of their scrying proficiency, the realm also possessed great hunters, both for food and escaped slaves. While the latter was relatively rare, none ever successfully escaped.

The realm was also a reliquary of sorts; we've found items of maormer, khajiiti, kothringi or even argonian origins which seem to be of some value scattered about the general populace, and not items of general trade: weapons, armors, enchanted armaments, maybe even of religious or powerful importance. Some items are clearly ceremonial in origin, frail blades and blood vials. Some are utterly unrecognizable. Agdatheil mentions taking some of these with him to his meetings with Umaril.

Life in Telepe was fairly simple, there were not many organised games or celebrations. There didn't seem to be much "vying" for Agdatheil's throne either, perhaps his connection to Umaril kept his adjutants' ambitions in check. They essentially ran the city for him and profited greatly from this. On the subject of disloyalty, there's an interesting tale of one realm who once decided that its future could only bloom on Umaril's grave. There isn't a full version but it seems the matter was settled in a single day, and looking at all the maps we've found, I can't find it. Absolutely erased.

Telepe finally found its fall at the hands of Legate Illia Savilla, later sainted, who finished off the realm when most had already fled.

On to another topic of interest: Great Welkynd Stones. Seated at the very lowest level of every king's domain, these were given as gifts of good faith from the Imperial City and served to solidify the realm's total compliance with Umaril's demands. The great welkynd stones were artifacts of incalculable value and magical potency. They would operate and power doors, traps, wards, accelerate crop growth and would even funnel magicka to other welkynd stones, ready to be tapped into should the need arise. They served a myriad of purposes and eased ayleidoon lifestyles a great deal. The enchantments aren't fully understood to this day even though we possess four under constant study at the Imperial City. I shall develop on the subject if ever I learn more.

Many of their maps accurately paint out the southern seas of the world but they also possess detailed star charts, pinpointing constellations, stars, a rogue planet as well as several things farther than we've ever seen. Additionally, some scrolls are written in an unknown dialect, described as incomprehensible by my most knowledgeable translators. They seem to be of cartography in nature, patterns and details, but simply far too complex for a two month study. We have safely stored them as we prepare to leave.

To conclude on this subject, I may have discovered what the odd phrasing of the word "jungle" meant. It indeed referred to the floral state of the province but it also referred to their manipulations of the physical laws of the world. Ayleidoon possessed the highest known understanding of what is called "Flesh Magic" by members of our era. This magic is what allowed them to manipulate a great many things, including the very laws of the world it would seem. For we found one map that seemed to describe the anomalies to the world scattered all about the heartland. So that was it, a jungle of manipulations made to the laws of the physical world which might be infernal to navigate, possibly even fatal, without a map or sufficient magical skill. This is certainly worth further study. On an interesting side-note, if you've read the song of Pelinal: Narlemae and Celediil? Not on a single map.

On to the realm-lord, Agdatheil is described as a very avid character, we managed to find several scraps of his own writing, as well as ayleid and human texts dating from nigh-immediately after the revolt.

One of the older sorcerer-kings, Agdatheil had worked closely with Umaril on several obscured projects, potentially of great importance. It seemed to have to do with his particular scrying, specific dates as well as mentions of a "them", a group of some kind.

Another interesting fact, Agdatheil was blind, he used his sorcery to compensate, feeling out the world as he walked, making his own image of it. He was described as somewhat of an erratic ruler, for he often went out on trips out at sea. He believed in good relations with nearby neighbours and even secured several routes with maormer, khajiit and chimer.

It is said, however, that he became unstable in his latter years, as the revolt drew near. Leaving his realm more and more often on ill-planned excursions to locations some believed he simply made up. It was later believed that he was indeed going insane and that a fair number of these locations simply could not exist. To quote the journal of a novice of freedom "You wouldn't believe the look on the elves' faces when he started coming back with proof of his ventures." He sometimes spoke of his journeys but very little, the only known name of one of these locations was Yori. Some of the bystanders described some of the items he came back with, two of which caught many an eye and sparked as many rumors, on the same day no less: a strange puzzle box of sorts, saturated with symbols bursting with an unusual flame. The second being an old woman, a human woman, that simply walked from his ship, unbound, and accompanied him to his home before being in turn accompanied back out to sea a few days later.

We've found some of these "impossible" maps and made copies which we've sent back to the City for further study. The date of Agdatheil's death is unknown, he had left on another adventure, but never came back, at least not in Cyrod.

I do not believe our research has found anything conclusive on his potential involvement in the civil war. He was, as far as we can tell, well allied with White-Gold and no evidence, ayleid or human, seems to support otherwise. Only that he did not take particular entertainment from torture and let the slaves complete their tasks unhindered. There was never much reliance on slaves in Telepe since they obviously could not rely on them to conduct trade expeditions in their stead. Since he left before the revolt even happened and did not seem to venture out with urgency. With the evidence at my disposal, I simply cannot say he was involved.

Next on our expedition will be the Anutwyll realm, which once contained the area now known as Bravil, it was nigh-completely razed. It was ruled by Syissavia, also known as the flayer or mother-huntress. The realm had known ties to Hircine, and had formidable hunters that partook in drugs to supposedly enhance their skills. They took hunting as an art form, so you can expect some of the descriptions I will make.

Once more, varlais suna ni, stars bless you for this opportunity, my lord. Expect from me in a few months.

Regards,

Solortus Nexusus