How much time has passed between now and our arrival in this new world, “Aegedon”, as it’s called, is unclear. My last recorded opening of the Rift was on the 21st of Eleint, 1504 DR, though there were doubtless many more occurrences between then and my own group’s departure through the Rift. After finding myself in a strange, tropical world, with Luca gone, his life given for mine, I must distract myself from our current circumstances and my tumultuous emotions.
I estimate it is approaching a month since our arrival, though now that we find ourselves in the odd realms of these Aegedonian deities, time has become even more muddled. I will try here to write down what I’ve learned so far concerning these different gods, as it has come to my attention that one will not get far in Aegedon without knowing about its gods and religions. Hopefully this can prove illuminating to any future explorers, though, if I had the chance, I would warn any to stay away from the Rift and this world in the first place.
First of all, in regards to the Sanguine religion, I have received quite a bit of knowledge from Ifran and some scant information from a tome that I found while searching the libraries in Al’moren. Though I have not yet had the opportunity to meet a Sanguine on Aegedon, I did glimpse them in the wayward planes of one of their gods.
The main gods they worship are named the “Five Virtues”; a mixture of three Vaelors, a Reality, and one Aetherial. Aetherials are the highest of the gods, and concrete information about them is difficult to come by, but Ifran tells me they interfere very little in the affairs of mortals. Realties were people of Aegedon (mostly Kin, according the the texts I’ve acquired) who have been uplifted by the Aetherials after completing a certain task or “destiny”. Vaelor were those persons selected to become realities, but for some reason were denied the opportunity, or openly rebelled against their predetermined path. Ifran describes them in a fairly negative light, but I can’t help but feel some sympathy for their plight, especially after meeting one. Even though that meeting sealed a most unfortunate fate for my friend…
The Five Virtues are as follows:
Batrhanne (known as Bahra’surak in the Sanguine tongue) – The virtue of the Heart and the Sinews to the Sanguine, though the humans of this world associate Batrhanne with corruption and decay.
Inuriot (I’ueti) – Virtue of Bile and the Gut, Vaelor of sickness and pestilence.
Namarta (Nac’matera) – The virtue of Breath and Thought, according to the Sanguine. The tome I carry from the Al’moren mentions Namarta but has little else. A scholar I encountered in my short time there was able to tell me Namarta is the Vaelor associated with forbidden knowledge and something called “The Void” (NOTE TO SELF: Look into this further. Ask Ifran?).
Vael – Ifran tells me that Vael is a dangerous Reality who likes to conspire against the inhabitants of Aegedon, mostly the human races. He reigns over all sorts of plots and his domain is one of murder. I’m told that’s where we are now, and we’ll be meeting him soon enough.
Sindur – An Aetherial known as the “Father of the Sanguine”. The Sanguine told Ifran that Sindur is connected to the blood and the body. Hopefully I can meet one of the Sanguine back on Aegedon and find out exactly what this means.
We find ourselves now within the planes of these Five Virtues. From what I’ve gathered, we need to gather the rest of the Shards of Immen in order to escape. We have three so far. Vael’s is next. Then Sindur. I’m not looking forward to either meeting, but I’ve found that one rarely gets what they want in this strange, new world.
– Lirion Lafruilon