Here is my report on the events in the tomb; may the Scribe bless my quill, and strike me down if any falsehoods be borne forthwith.
For full context:
Some weeks ago, I accompanied the members of the House of the Morning into their first foray into this unearthed tomb. We were given visions of the past, of the life of a man by the name of Eveningstar---the namesake of the village they call home. Our place in the vision was to hold off the forces of darkness to allow them to retreat from a doomed town, and later to hold our ground and keep vast hordes of undead from engulfing their new settlement. In this we were successful, and were spoken to by the tomb's guardian, a celestial who loved this Eveningstar fellow so much that she bound herself in service and defense of the tomb.
Our most recent foray had us confront the present and a possible future. In the present, we were bade to cast judgment upon various figures of recent Arabellan history, who laid out their faults in full before us:
The Masked King Gondegal, who laid the seeds of revolution but failed to see them to fruition, and instead reinforced power structures that kept people unequal, was found
guilty;
Lord Jastyne Vaylan, who rejected the crown and established the council, but at one point slaughtered a group of elves as an act of defiance against her handlers who wanted her to become queen at the cost of her agency, was found
guilty;
Bishop Charisbonde Belon, who sought to bring prosperity by any means possible, even deception and political scheming, was found
guilty;
Lady Islyn Mossmere, née Misrim, who did all she could to curtail the crimes and cruelty of her brother Obyn, but was paralyzed by fear and love into not acting overtly against him, was found
innocent;
Queen Kestrel Goldfeather, who used her position in the Revolution to savagely destroy all noble houses whom had opposed her own in the name of familial preservation, was found
guilty.
Whether these verdicts meant anything for these souls, most of whom yet live, is not known. It is possible this was merely a test by the celestial---more on this in time.
The possible future we saw was one where evil had one, and all had decayed. We fought through a nameless city, killing scores of undead, and finally found ourselves in a total wasteland, dead gods' corpses lying above us. Yet again, it is unclear whether this future was genuine, or a means of getting a point across.
These trials completed, we were able to access the final, deepest part of the tomb, within which lay the Golden Chalice of Lathander. But, before we could get there, we were confronted by the celestial, who gave us a different offer: five lives of good hearted men sacrificed, for her freedom, and a crusade against all evil. And here the meaning of each vision becomes clear.
The past was to show the love she had for this man named Eveningstar.
The future, to show us what might happen if we rejected her offer.
And the present, to show to us and emphasize the truth that all mortals are fallible.
It is this last point that sticks in my mind, for on further interrogation, it became clear that her "crusade against all evil" would mean the end of all mortal life as we know it. She took our fallibility as evidence of our corrupt nature in contrast to the sacrosanct celestials, and would see us all dead in order to wipe evil clean. I am proud to say that those present rejected this offer---but this placed us in pitched combat with her.
It was a brutal battle. As is already known, our Sergeant, Arthas Vanderale, fell in the fighting. As did two of the Awakened of the House of the Morning. But the celestial was, thankfully and barely, defeated---and I believe that with that, all of Arabel, and perhaps even the world, can sleep easier now. The lives lost deeply sadden me, but on reflection, given the gravity of it all, I know they cannot have been lost in vain.
Finally, the Chalice was recovered, and is now in the hands of the Order of the Aster.
-Lieutenant Tieto Vedeni
