The First Land Herald/450-05-02
| Article Number: 113 |
| Dateline: 450-05-02 |
| BARDIC VISIONS UNCOVER GRAZHIR'S PAST Casari recently appealed to Bards to gather at the summit of the Great Tower in Shard. She proposed utilizing their guild's distinctive evoke ability to search for traces of emotion or magical imprints left on the Grazhir shard known as Marendin. "If it works, keep in mind that this little rock has been through a lot, and with a history that deep, there's no telling what we will hear," she said. "But I'm hoping we can dig way back to a time when it was part of a whole moon, before Elanthia was battered by it and its siblings, and in that time maybe we'll see something that adds a little context to current events." Casari directed the Bards to form a circle around the shard. They closed their eyes, focused on their breathing, and attempted to concentrate. Then, in unison, they extended their senses toward the center of the circle. While I couldn't experience the Bardic visions firsthand, Mendira shared with me what happened next: She closed her eyes, opening up her senses to what could be perceived from the silvery-white shard Marendin. A flicker of the past parted, and she saw robed figures stand in silent chambers, staring at the shard of the fallen moon. Great magics were woven, and the coin-sized fragment shuddered as it was given a name, in that place, though also not in that place. A flicker of the past parted, and she was falling, surrounded by flames. She tumbled, and was afforded a view of the sky torn, streaked with dozens of lines of similar flames. The land burned, a spreading shockwave of white and blue flames raging across mountain and forest, plain and city, and the sky burned, an expanding ring of twisted space writhing in chaotic fury around a shattered moon. A flicker of the past parted, and she saw a serenely bright and pure moon, Grazhir, whole and white, unblemished and featureless. "It was a very moving experience to feel so connected to such a deep and powerful history," Mendira concluded. "Now all that remains is to make sense of what we saw." Shavay pointed out that the visions -- showing the Naming Ritual, the cataclysm, and then Grazhir whole in its original form -- appeared from the most recent to the earliest, as if they had been traveling backwards in time. Some suggested re-trying the experiment at a different time, or with more Bards, or at locations more central to Elemental magic or the current crisis, but no definitive plans were made. "History is violent, as we learn more and more," Casari said. "I hope that the future need not be so. But any who threaten to make it that way will be met with all the fury of Grazhir's firestorm, again and again." The Bardic evoke experiment offered a glimpse into the ancient history of Grazhir, revealing the moon's creation and the cataclysmic event that shattered it. While the visions didn't provide immediate solutions to our current challenges, I couldn't help but think of our dear Navesi. As a Lore Keeper, she would have relished the opportunity to participate in unearthing and chronicling the events that shape our world. I can at least take some small comfort in writing this, knowing that our efforts to keep the Herald going in her honor would have made her proud. For Navesi,
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| Real Date: Unknown Date |
| Subject(s): Wild Magic |
| Author(s): Illiya |