1st Report of the White Comet to the Holy See

[Xarkly 12618]

1ST REPORT OF

THE TRIBUNAL OF THE WHITE COMET

 

Delivered unto His Holiness

HIGH PONTIFF SIXTUS

on this 14th day of Owyn’s Flame of 1963

Spoiler

 

---

 

Your Holiness,

 

May the Light preserve you and prevail.

 

Earlier this week, I sought to form the Tribunal of the White Comet - a body of Jorenic clerics to enact the Light’s will, and expunge any trace of the Shadow that could be unearthed within the diocese. This mission is thus twofold: firstly, to begin a thorough procedure of culling any Darkspawn hiding amidst the parishioners; and secondly, to determine whether there exists any truth to the allegations that King Aleksandr II consorted with a lich.

 

The workings of the Light must be swift, and, as importantly, they must be seen to be swift. Therefore, I have resolved to provide updates of note to your Holiness, so that you may provide your divine guidance where so fitting. Summarily, I surmise this shall be the first report of several penned by the Tribunal. While our mission is clear, I will also apprise you of other matters concerning the Light, here in Jorenus.

 

I. On Darkspawn

On the 8th morning of this month, I proclaimed the formation of the White Comet by writ of his Eminence of Jorenus in the square of Valdev, and immediately called upon all those present to test their affinity to the Shadow by aurum and salt. I record my results as follows:

-          Villorik Bishop Westerwald (myself): Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the morning of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev, among them Father Belisarios. Revealed no taint of the Shadow.

 

-          Baalial Oralguna: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the morning of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev, among them Father Belisarios. Revealed no taint of the Shadow. Note that this subject appears to be a cursebearer, with demonic horns sprouted from his head. It is my understanding from liaison with members of the Heartland clergy that these curses are placed upon them unwillingly from the moment of birth. I seek your Holiness’ guidance as to whether mercy is to be shown to these cursebearers.
 

-          Nataliya Leopoldina of Kusoraev: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the evening of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev, among them Father Belisarios. Revealed no taint of the Shadow.
 

-          Melody of the Valkyrie’s Guild: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the evening of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev, among them Father Belisarios. Revealed no taint of the Shadow.
 

-          Ioanna of Ba’as: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the evening of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev, among them Alexios Bishop St. Arpad. Revealed no taint of the Shadow.
 

-          Alexios Bishop St. Arpad: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the evening of the 8th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in the Valdev. Revealed no taint of the Shadow. His Grace’s hands bore the scars of previous testing.
 

-          Antonia Elisabeth von Alstreim: Tested with aurum and salt upon the hand by Tribune Villorik on the morning of the 9th of Owyn’s Flame 1963 before many witnesses in Valdev. Revealed no taint of the Shadow.

 

While I confess I am yet a novice in the art of hunting Shadowspawn, I have spoken with some clerics of the Owynist Lectorate and ordermen of St. Jude. I have come to understand that, despite our vigilance, not all forms of the Shadow are revealed by aurum and salt alone, and a method for expunging any ‘higher’ forms of Shadowspawn was unknown even to them. Therefore, while we can take succour from the knowledge that lesser forms of Shadowspawn will surely be purged in the tests to come, it seems we must remain steadfast against greater threats.

 

It is my hope, in the interim, that fear may drive these greater malices from our homes. The lieutenants of the Shadow may be cunning, but they are surely also cravenly - when they see their lesser kin burn around them, I pray that the fear of the Light will be driven into their masters until a time where the Skies bid us to smite them with their wrath.

 

II. On King Aleksandr II

The matter of the King of Haense appears to be a source of great uncertainty among the townsfolk of Valdev - myself included. It is my understanding that his Eminence of Jorenus attended you in the Apostolic City on the matter, yet I am not privy to the details of what was discussed. His Eminence took ill on his journey back from the Holy See; until I can speak with him further, I trust that your Holiness’ diligence did not leave this stone unturned.

 

I am therefore unaware of his Majesty’s whereabouts at present. By the time of my second report, I intend to have been granted audience to his sickbed in the Palace so that I dispel this uncertainty - or, as it may be, see the smog thicken if he is amiss.

 

In the interim, I have sourced three further leads in the investigation that I shall endeavour to discharge by the time of my second report.

1. Ioanna of Ba’as, a parishioner of my flock who I have vindicated with salted aurum, claimed she can lead me to the spot where the King allegedly met this Lich. I will search for any clues there.
    
2. Lady Marian of the House Weiss, a parishioner of my flock, claims she is aware of the abode of a lich near the lands of Vortice. She has told me that she came to learn of the Shadowspawn fortress when assisting the governor of those lands with an attack by those same Shadowspawn, but reports that the fortress was impenetrable. I am unsure if this fortress is not yet known to the Church, nor if the lich allegedly residing there is the same that purports to have consorted with King Aleksandr II. I have gathered a retinue and intend to investigate this fortress, and its inhabitant - however, I must first test the Lady Weiss with salted aurum.
    
3. Your Holiness will recall that the incident that set off this chain of events was an anonymous missive circulated within Valdev, alleging the King’s misdoings. I understand that the clerics of Owyn are endeavouring to locate the author of this missive, and believe that the language used within suggests it is an Elf. I propose to aid in this search, in order to verify the source of the missive’s claims, and I harbour a strong suspicion of who it may be. Alas, I do not propose to engage in theoreticals with Your Holiness - I shall confirm if my theory holds weight in my second report.

 

Just before I laid pen to parchment, a masked creature ran into Valdev and scattered missives of the lich’s declaration of war into the crowd. I gave chase, but the creature dove from the bridge, and vanished into the icy depths of the moat. Your Holiness, I must at this juncture express the utmost caution that the Mother Church is not pressed into action by the words of Shadowspawn themselves. We must investigate ourselves. 

 

As vassals of the Holy Light’s will made flesh, we must not be idle and we must assess the truth of the allegations. Naturally, any action must be a result of the inquisition of the Mother Church. I trust Your Holiness will heed my counsel when I advise that our actions cannot rely on the testimony of Shadowspawn, when it is clear they seek to sow chaos. We must hold steadfast as we shed the Light ourselves.

 

III. On ‘Ailmere’

While this matter pertains not to the White Comet’s stated goals, I think it fitting to apprise your Holiness of other events of note in Jorenus. Chief among these is the sudden appearance of humanoid raiders who appear to hail from a place named ‘Ailmere’ to the far north. To date, the Brotherhood of Saint Karl has engaged in a number of skirmishes with these Ailmerens, and report that they seem capable of short-distance teleportation and appear to revere an entity dubbed the ‘Harrower’.

 

Their disposition is most certainly towards the Shadow. I witnessed these Ailmerens lay siege to my brother’s abode of Vidaus with this foul magic, and noted a ‘giant’ in their company. As of yet, I am unsure as to whether these Ailmerens are themselves Shadowspawn, or whether they wield the Void through magicks. Irrespective, I intend to comprehensively outline their nature in my second report after due investigation into their affairs with the Brotherhood.

 

IV. Corporeal Ghost

But two hours before I penned this report, a ghostly spectre manifested in Valdev Square. The ghost wore the mail of a Brotherhood soldier from decades past, and claimed the name of ‘Anatoliy Godunov’. Upon some questioning together with those in attendance, I am satisfied that the ghost appeared to be who he claimed. All the same, he referenced that he had been ‘summoned’ here by an individual; when posited as to who, his reply was “snitches get stitches”.

 

After some reflection, I resolved that this ‘summoner’ disturbed Lord Godunov’s Light-ordained rest in the Second Sky, and that his disturbance was an act of sacrilege. With the aid of the Lord Rhys var Ruthern and one of the ghost’s living descendants - who also had the name Anatoliy Godunov - the spectre was dispelled, and returned to the Second Sky.

 

My work continues. I shall keep Your Holiness informed of affairs in Jorenus until the chaos is dispelled.

 

LIGHT PRESERVE AND PREVAIL

Villorik

Bishop Westerwald

Tribune of the White Comet