Honored Bard,

I hope you will forgive my lack of missives of late. Work on the reconstruction of the Citadel of Light has been preoccupying my time. I am happy to report that the Citadel is now fully reconstructed, thanks largely to the leadership of Jemtal Oermann and Cassandra Renay. They are an amazing couple, showing that clerics and mystics can work peacefully together.

As always, I will endeavor to pass along some of the most interesting news that I have heard from pilgrims arriving at the port of Schallsea. Perhaps you and yours will be able to spin tales around them, or perhaps you will find some of these warrant further investigation.

Theories of Mysticism

I was paid a visit by Cassandra Renay recently at the Cozy Hearth. We had tea together and talked over the reconstruction of the Citadel of Light. I was startled to hear some of her theories of the nature of mysticism. Now, Cassandra is not one to bide her tongue. She is very self-assured, confident in herself. In many ways, she is the woman I wish I could be. But I digress.

Cassandra suggested something that shook me to my foundations. "We got it wrong," she said. How could we get it wrong? Mysticism has been studied for over 40 years now. Yet Cassandra was wise in reminding me that the great tower wizards didn’t learn their craft in a generation or two. Certainly, they made mistakes as well. So, too, are we growing in our abilities.

Cassandra suggests that we may have been consolidating several types of magic together. Mysticism is a form of divine magic, though not taken directly from the gods. According to Cassandra, many mystics are virtually indistinguishable from clerics, save for the medallions of faith. They believe in themselves, and that self-belief and connection to their own divine spark allows them to access this ancient divine magic.

Cassandra further went on to suggest that the power we once knew as animism was some primal force of nature of the world of Krynn. She suggested that this force was given initial power when the gods of nature breathed life into the world of Krynn.

Then she suggests that the mystic powers of the body and mind might, in fact, be part of a "psionic" power. This power truly comes from within, being the power of the mind and body. Many monks, primarily those of Majere, have displayed this power. Whether this power was awakened by the defeat of Chaos, or whether it is merely the evolution of mortals on the face of the world remains uncertain.

I left our meeting thoroughly perplexed at her theories. These were radical thoughts, and yet, by her in-depth description of them, a certain truth came from them. I have to wonder what this bodes for the people of Krynn.

The Kamatlan

One of the Wemitowuk natives of Schallsea has reported seeing a type of monster I had not heard of before. This monster resembles a jaguar, but like displacer beasts, they have tentacles growing out of their shoulders. However, rather than having two tentacles growing, there are four tentacles, two from each shoulder, that end in snake-heads. The tail of the beast ends in a rattle. This native claims this beast is known as a kamatlan, but that they have not been seen in many generations.

According to this native, the kamatlans are led by a kamadan, a variant of the beast with three snakes sprouting from each shoulder. The Wemitowuk people are on guard and currently hunting the kamatlans wherever they are seen.

The Deva of Godshome

I have heard several reports of late of beings known as "deva." At first, I was quick to dismiss them, but then other reports came in that corroborated the first reports I heard. These devas are apparently human-like in appearance, but they have patterns of light and dark colors on their skin, from chalk white and grays to blues and purples. Their clothing has a wing motif, so as to give them the appearance of angels.

According to reports, these beings are congregating at the ancient ruins of the city of Godshome. Some reports say that they are clerics of the god Zivilyn, while one less reputable report claims that they are the reborn clerics taken from the world prior to the Cataclysm.

Respectfully Yours,
Iryl Songbrook
Writing from the Port of Schallsea, on the Isle of Schallsea