The letter

This is the expanded text of the letter you read while in the crate, the morning you wake.

Dear Nelix, Oriana, Cassius, Gruva'gnot, and Kayra,

By the time you wake up, you will stowed in a 7'x'7 crate in the bowels of a ship. I want none of you to fear, you are not dead, this is not a version of the ninth layer of hell. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Nalech, I am or perhaps was the leader of the Omachian Thief's guild. The person who you thought to be named Deathwisper is now dead, I took his place in rounding you up with a few magical disguises. I did this to both protect you as I could, and find out about this mysterious organization me and my colleagues thought may exist.

An old dwarven friend of mine, who is a retired prospector, has offered to take you in. By offered, I mean believes you are the theif guild's most talented team. I told him he'd find a crate in his boat with you in it, because you needed to get the authorities off of you for a while after your most recent rousing adventure. I told Ialdo, that he'd be getting a mighty body guard, a capable medic and cleric, a cunning tracker and hunter, a learned and skilled arcanist, and finally, as quality lock-pick as the theif's guild can provide. If you value your lives, I suggest you play your part as well as you can.

This old friend of mine, Ialdo, used to do some adventuring back in the day, long before you or your parents (with the exception of Sabellion) were born. We parted way, and followed our own endeavors. Since he retired the prospecting business, he has been trying to find ancient Dwarven areas, using bardic texts from times before TR. (5000 years or older) I know you and your friends may think that many things can not last that long, but if anything can, it would be dwarven structures. Between their reclusive tendencies, and subterranean locations, he may just have some luck. However with the aforementioned qualities of dwarven civilizations they prove nearly impossible to find. Think of the sunken city of Istar, that fell into the ocean, and was in part built by dwarves. Some of your parents found it nearly intact!
[the text continues on in Elven script]

As I sit here on the docks, in hiding, I can't help but feel my elven heritage coming forth. The sunrise is beautiful, the tide is coming in and Omach is still the shining jewel of this land. However I feel the cloud of another evil. You and I both know what evil this is, I dare not write its name in the even this letter is found by prying eyes. The people here, their smiling faces, love for their queen, and many endeavors, I have watched for many generations. They have survived the exodus from Istar, an assault from a dragon army, and the loss of life that made my people weep in lands around the world. It would seem, just another problem is rearing its head. However I have lived here long enough to know, that every person is resilient enough to weather the storm.

[text comes back into common]
I apologize for the switching of texts, but this feeling hits me in my soul. It saddens me greatly to know that I will need to leave this great place. My home, and my love, it seems so sudden. Other peoples may be able to run for their lives, but elves have great pain in leaving a place they call home, for more than a hundred years. I suppose any person would, but few of us have the blessing and the curse of life that long. I will likely go to my place of birth, Beltodelril, I have family that would take me in, but that land may too be in he taint of the evil. Hopefully my disguises may help me find a safe place.

Perhaps the greatest sadness is seeing the guild have to disband. Only a small handful of our agents can be trusted, and once they find Deathwisper dead I know our organization will be a target. The knowledge of what happened to Rannick will be able to reach the ears of parties that need to know. Whether it was these “cleics of Nuitari” or “black robe wizards,” remains to be seen, I could not tell if that woman was weaving elaborate lies, using this invisible menace as a front, or perhaps telling the truth. In either case the guild stands for creating good in people's lives despite who is in power. Normally our benign leaders have tolerated us, I think our “real” leader will have no mercy for us. Tara, any family of the heroes of Omach that are still living, and guild members we can still yet trust will be in exodus from Omach. We are not turning our backs on the city and people we love, we are instead running to life, and embracing it.

I guided this guild through tough times, and we always survived. That is my sentiment I wish to leave you with children. Survive... Life is the gift we must protect will all our being. Bring with you the sacredness of life, a life is not a rung on a ladder to personal gain like that of our enemies. I know what each one of you decided with the question that was posed to you. I will not speak to the wisdom of those decisions, if you think you chose poorly, then here is another chance to rectify that, and if you think you chose wisely, then I pray you are never offered the choice between death or slavery again. Remember, if you think that I should have killed you, then I would have.

Perhaps you have heard too many stories of the Heroes of Omach. You can never be them, because they were never as they appear in those stories. No one is that good and wonderful, they had their foibles, even Maieve. What we remember is the good works they did. So as it is with them, so it is with you. No one will remember momentary weakness, if you can still make the world a better place, but in making the world a better place you should never leave a wake of dead innocents.

The sun is really coming in now my children, and soon I will have to depart. I will leave you with a poem.

[Elven script]
At starfade a time comes
When you see one brilliant star left behind
When the starry host has departed.
The star fades, the world does not wait.
Why do I linger and sing
Under this fading/mortal light?
There is a daisy among the refuse
To me it is fair.
There is a birch tree struggling
To me it is fair.
There is a butterfly above the water
To me it is fair.
A small star follows the sky
To me it is fair.
The leaves of the meldolil are numberless
One tiny leaf, one fading leaf
Holds my eyes. When will it fall?
The brilliant star is fading
Now it departs the heavens
Now I will depart the world
Holding a leaf in my hand.
[end elven]

~ Nalech Watercrest Eeldoney