Posted on August 3rd:

Subj: Eternal Night: Foreshadowing, Part II

The Disc of the Nocturne is an ancient sacred artefact in the city of Hashan. The Triad of Hashan, composed of Twilight, the God of Darkness; Ourania, the Goddess of the Moon; and Valnurana, the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams, had long been worshipped in that city, until recent times.

The planets Noxtra, Lunastra, and Somnustra, near our own planet, represented the Triad in the heavens. The Disc of the Nocturne was an astronomical device able to determine which of the planets were in ascendancy, and by ancient tradition, the Triad represented by that planet would take the position of Divine Patron of Hashan during that ascendancy.

However, as time passed, the God of Darkness departed the city of Hashan on less than friendly terms, and the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams retreated deep into the Dreamrealm. The Goddess of the Moon alone reigned in Hashan as their Divine Matron for many years, and the Disc of the Nocturne was forgotten, its purpose rendered obsolete…

Until one night in the early summer of 424 A.F., when a handsome man of wealthy appearance by the name of Tavarius sought an audience with the ruling council of Hashan. Finding one with Hyru Tiercel[player], the Seneschal[top political position in Hashan], and Reptilios Le’Coeur[player], a Regent[ruling council, of which the Seneschal is one] of Hashan, Tavarius[NPC] proceeded to present them with a generous offer.

Explaining that he had spent his childhood in Hashan and wished to gift something back to the city of which he was so fond, Tavarius said, “I have long dreamed of building a great planetarium to advance the study of the stars.” It would certainly be a fitting place, he was quick to add, for that unique astronomical device, the Disc of the Nocturne.

After more conversation, the Seneschal was pleased to accept on behalf of Hashan. After a little discussion on where the new planetarium was to be built, Tavarius took his leave, promising to be in touch before construction began.

The Seneschal closed the chamber door behind Tavarius as he exited, then turned to regard Reptilios.

“I am wary,” Hyru said gravely, a frown creasing his brow, “that there may be some ulterior motive. Especially with the Disc.”

Though the populace of Hashan at first welcomed the news of the mysterious benefactor’s gift, the Seneschal’s initial suspicions were echoed time and time again in the coming months. Suspicions surged to a fever pitch when it was discovered that Tavarius’s labourers had begun construction in the northeast of Hashan without approval, dismantling a part of the city wall in order to do so. Citizens of Hashan voiced their ire at Tavarius’s effrontery, accusing him of various misdeeds.

When Tavarius finally reappeared to assuage and soothe his hostile accusers (no easy task), it was also to complain of the theft of an important shipment of building materials en route to the planetarium.

Begrudgingly at first, with one Ixin Rousseau[player] expending perhaps the most effort, the Hashani tracked down part of the stolen supplies: crates of beetlebone and sacks of powdered copper stolen by Dakron the Fence[NPC]. Dakron had also sold Tavarius’s crates of quicksilver to an anonymous buyer, and these too were eventually located and returned to Hashan and the grateful Tavarius. Construction on the planetarium now continued without protest.

Elsewhere around this time, the tritons felt a strong shift in the tides, and their augurs panicked. Senator Eridanus[NPC] followed the advice of the augurs and ordered a complete withdrawal of tritons from the land and from the city of Riparium. Whether they did this due to superstition or fear for their homelands is currently unknown. After Eridanus and General Aeolia[NPC] bade the merfolk farewell, the tritons boarded giant whelk shells pulled by a convoy of whales, and the convoy swam off into the abyssal zone to the east.