Keepers of Lore/Regions/South Divide

These events took place when Keeper Joaquim was traveling from Aquilegia back to Pian en Luries on a journey to attract interest for the guild among the Aquilegian nobility. In this time Queen Alanna was the Queen of Pian en Luries and Garret the Asterion of Aquilegia. This is how Keeper Joaquim describes his find:

The Living Runes of South Divide

I reached one of the mountain tops on South Divide, following the ancient trail described to me by the local peasants down in the valley. What I expected to find was the remnant of the Covenant of Eleryon, an intriguing legend that is commonly known on the Dividing Mountains. The Legends mention splendid treasures, but not in the form of earthly wealth. I had with me some manuscripts to assist me in interpreting these Living Runes that I had heard could be found in the Cave of the Covenant.

Summer was the best time for such a climb, as the temperatures are more agreeable then and there are not as many storms, not to mention avalanches. In fact, during summers, this particular peak only has little lumps of snow and ice in the shadows where the sun seldom shines. These are the source of many of the refreshing creeks running down the hills. Yet all around you can see only barren desolate terrain. It is there where I discovered the cave I was looking for. How anyone had been able to live in such an unpleasant environtment is still beyond me.

It took me some time to adjust my eyes to the dim light within the cave. It is then when I first saw what I thought was a statue of a monk. Soon enough I discovered this was not a statue at all, as the figure raised his arm to a greeting and spoke. He turned out to be an old hermit, quite frail in his form, and entirely blind. He was the last surviving member of the Covenant, the Living Rune I had been told about. He told me all about the cave, how there once had been a thriving community living in the cave, all seeking answers from the stars, thus choosing to live closer to them. They had discovered that one star in particular, the one shining brightly in early evenings and later mornings, which they called "Eleryon", spoke to them during their sleep and gave them dreams. After some time they learned to interpret the meaning of the dreams, and for this they became widely known in the region. Many travelers begun seeking answers to their questions from the Covenant.

It is my humble but not verified guess is that the visitors brought with them the food that the Covenant needed to survive - a guess that may not be entirely correct, as the hermit I encountered had not, according to his own words, seen another visitor more than thirty years. How old the man was when I spoke to him I could not tell and he politely refused to tell me. I offered to escort him down from the mountain to more hospitable surroundings, but he replied with words I shall never forget:

"My path begun here, and here it shall end as well. But just as my path is nearing to its end, your path shall soon begin. It is late already and the mountain is not friendly for travelers at nights. You shall lay down by the fire and rest, and the dreams you will see tonight will change you forever."

I did indeed have rather vivid dreams, where the past, present and the future were mixed, but in a quite meaningful way. I shall not describe the dreams here, as they are quite personal to me. In the early morning the hermit woke me up, took me outside and pointed to the skies, to the star he called 'Eleryon', the messenger of true destiny. We talked about my destiny until late in the evening. "You are", he said, "the new Nur-Eleryon, a Living Rune. You and the five you shall gather around you." Then I fell asleep.

When I woke up, the hermit was nowhere to be seen.

Based on this encounter, I have formulated the principles of Eleryonism that you can study elsewhere.