The Diary of Verity, Duchess of Touraine
Final Volume
This volume contains the notes of Verity, the Duchess of Touraine, as she became a master of the secrets forbidden by the Church of Inner Light. It details her last days.
Possession of this tome is worth **** Research Point per session. If delivered to the Church, this tome is worth **** Church Prestige Points.
Hear me, oh seeker into forbidden lore!
My name is Verity Touraine, and in life I was known as the
Duchess of Touraine.
I sacrificed my life to the pursuit of knowledge, out of belief
that truth is a virtue, and wisdom an honorable aspiration.
History will decide if I was a monster or a hero, but the truths I
discover will survive me. These texts contain all that I learned
during my life.
Read them and follow me in my journey through light and
darkness.
If you are reading this tome, it is because I have called you here to do so after my death.
After Marcel's death, it became clear to me that the enemies that Anastasia had spoken of so long ago were determined to curtail my efforts to bring the arts back into the world. Furthermore, even I could not halt the passage of years. I have lived for more than a hundred years, and I know that my end will come soon. The violence of the Interregnum even now shows no signs of coming to and end, and I am certain that the Black Flame will use the cover of war to find me and try to destroy me. I have done what I can to set my knowledge aside so it will survive my destruction.
First, seeker, know that the Dream will end. The Church anticipates the end of the world, but it will be the Dream that ends first. If the world dies thereafter, it will only be because man desires it to be so. Prepare yourself for the end! If the Church is right, it will come on the last day of the two hundredth year of Paraceln's Ascension, which I now believe they celebrate as his birthday. If this is true, I will live to see it, and perhaps as Thalassa no Miko I will Ascend past it. Dear Mineko tells me that the Minamet believe the end time will come on the last day of the two hundred and twenty-eight year, but I fear that they are wrong as well. They correctly remember Paraceln's true date of birth, but cannot be expected to see that one man's birth matters little to the Dream. I do not know when the end will come, but it will come.
Second, seeker, beware of summoning shadows of the Powers. Like my mistress before me, I have become accustomed to calling them at my convenience. Being reunited with Bloodstone was one of the happiest days of my life, and I fondly remember the years Marcel and I spent with hm as a family. But no familial warmth, and no access to power freed from the constraints of sharing it with those around you, is worth the pain of destroying a creature created from a fraction of your soul. If you must call the creature of the Pattern, do not grant them the immortality of a name!
Third, beware the Church. They are a tool, and while you may find a way to use them, there are others behind them who are far more proficient than you.
Fourth, despite my warnings against the creature of the Pattern, I have made my own pacts in an attempt to escape them. I will attempt to prevent my soul's passing through the forbidden arts. If I succeed, you will find a crystal that glows with an inner light. If you can assemble a circle of secondary cardinal initiates, have the circle say, "I Exceed Even Death and Transcend Infinity". From there, you will know what to do. If you grant me this last, stubborn wish I will do my best to reward you from beyond the grave.
Fifth, while my life comes to an end, my life's work will survive. Each solar year, on the anniversary of my birth, the Dream will rend around my home. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn the forbidden arts, for know well that your enemies are already their masters.
Finally, if you can spare me the kindness, offer me a prayer for my soul. I have seen the swell and ebb of many lives in my years. Some I have treated well, and others have done poorly by me. Somewhere, though I know my blood still flows in humanity's veins. I would not have the children I never knew remember me as a monster.
I dream of the sea
And on the waves I will drift
Until you find me