Destruction of Heartwood Archive

Foreword

This is my attempt to record what happened in 176-177AR that led to Myon destroying the precious Heartwood Archive. Though I've interviewed several people involved, my recount here might be subjective. If possible, I hope the readers can seek statements from others involved in this incident.

It still saddens me today to recall this and write about it. Not only because of the destruction of the archive, but also the realization that those who claim to be Labelas followers chose to disrespect the knowledge, wisdom and tradition of other people. I hope this book can make people learn from this tragedy that resulted from arrogance and ignorance.

Galanodel Talibund, 177AR

Destruction of Heartwood Archive (176-177 incident)

The Heartwood archive was a library that contained records of the Heartwood Grove, which has been maintained by its members for a long time. Generations of naturewalkers have come and learned wisdom from it, while leaving some of their own. Like any other library, extensive efforts have been put into it, for keeping the tradition of the Grove. Before these incidents, it was placed along side the pillars in the Grove cave.

For a long time, the Grove was led by an Archdruid, and we also had the elder druids, chief rangers and shamans. When I first came to the island in 176AR, the Archdruid of Heartwood Grove was Dregan Desular the Green, succeeding Guenguoreth and Burin. At that time, Myon had already made Dregan unwelcomed in their territory, and accused her of treason based on what they had scried during the Brightburst Crisis in 175AR.

A group of naturewalkers, called Greenseers, arrived at the Grove, who are followers of Emmantiensien, the deity of treants. Their leader is Saorlaith, and the group has around five or six people, with Zoah Nightwater being the most active member. With time passing, dispute occurred between the Greenseers and the rest of the Grove, and soon after their arrival they began to harass Dregan. The Greenseers, while being naturewalkers, are following the Old Ways, different in their attitude towards civilisation, nature and Balance from the rest of us. Their faith is not problematic per se, just a bit conservative and stereotypical, but their opinion is often more extreme. They have an oral tradition, for instance, and prefer passing knowledge in person instead of by books (*1). For them, the library is nothing but a tomb of dead woods.

(*1: As far as I know, they are not completely opposed to books and written messages, since they often post on the boards and keep a bookshelf of their own.)

Sadly, it is not long before the Greenseers expressed aggression. During an outside attack of the Grove, Zoah quarrelled with Dregan and drew his trident, right besides the Heartstone. I don't know the exact reason that led to the Greenseers' harassment of Dregan, but presumably it's related to Myon's accusation of her, since the Greenseers are close to the Fair City, if not Myon citizen themselves. Dregan didn't want blood spilled on the sacred Heartstone, especially when a conflict would be initiated by us naturewalkers inside the Grove instead of outside threat. To keep the peace, she left the island. Following her leave, the elder druids of Grove, Storm Nightwind, Felriss Sternheart, and Veisha Calan, left the Grove and lived elsewhere. With that the Greenseers became the only active order there.

Coincidently, at this time a forest gnome Silvanus follower called Kierna started to steal from the Grove, including the three wooden pillars at the entrance, and some message boards and furniture in the cave. Her faith makes her dislike these wooden things, especially those bookshelves. Later on, we found a svirfneblin bashing the Restricted part of the library, which contains some tomes of forbidden knowledge (dark ritual .etc) repeatedly. A wood elven lady named Cyldra Ti'ren living in the Grove repaired the shelf each time it's destroyed. Greenseers didn't seem to care about the vandalization. In a proclamation made by Saorlaith, she expressed their attitude to these written records, and stated directly that they oppose the maintenance of these restricted books.

This all came to an end when one Makaela Qilvyr came to the Grove and stole ALL of the bookshelves there, and moved them to Myon as a 'donation'. The reason he claimed is, as always, that wooden records are harmful, and by removing them he was doing us a favor. The Greenseers didn't oppose the donation, if not supporting it. But of course, not all people agreed.

Cyldra was the first to react and arranged a meeting with Makaela and Lorekeeper Vaeryll of Myon. Somehow they convinced her that the knowledge and wisdom contained in the Archive will not be lost: they'll remain in another form other than books. In this case they decided to etch all the records into stone and put them in the Grove.

Aurok didn't agree with the donation as well, and confronted the Greenseers directly. According to the Greenseers, Aurok was about to attack them for this, while in the recount of Aurok, it's the Greenseers that's hostile to him. Either way, Aurok didn't achieve much from there and decided to ask Myon to return the Archives. What he earned were nothing but assaults from Myonians. He was killed several times in a day, for asking Vaeryll to return the books that don't belong to them. He was later attacked by Vas and Coronal Karathas himself in Guldorand.

I posted my opposition to the donation and condemned the Greenseers for this, then brought the message to the Skull Crags Rangers. Most of the Rangers are old members of the Grove, and though we felt angry at the donation, we decided to resort to diplomacy. Caldurian asked for a meeting with Vaeryll and a permission to copy all the books: If we can't get the original books back, we can at least build another library, which is accessible to all (*2). Meanwhile, Cyldra would supervise Myon's work on the etching, though we all knew they can't complete it until several decades has passed: maybe not much for an elf, but for them it's hard to think in other races' shoes.

(*2: Myon Library is said to be public accessible, but until today, non-elven people entering Myon proper are still evicted when found, either by Aegis or Black Archers. The Lorekeeper has to issue library card as pass*)

But this never results as we expected. The next triday in Guldorand, I met Thomas, Nastas Moonsight and Sili around the plaza and we searched for a necromancer together. After that, we gathered near the west gate of the fortress city to discuss. I told Nastas about Guldorand's judgement on Karathas and Vas' attack of Aurok, and he started to insult Aurok, calling the Archive 'his stupid books' and being very smug about Myon's attack on him. He then threatened Aurok's life.

I started to quarrel with them, trying to explain that those books were stolen by Makaela, not donated, and this was never agreed by the majority of the Grove. Nastas then suddenly accused Dregan and Veisha of stealing the books, because the shelves Makaela brought to Myon were not complete (actually, those missing shelves were either bashed by the svirfneblin, or stolen by someone unknown, probably Kierna). Hearing that Nastas called Dregan a thief, Diana drew her bow and pointed an arrow to Nastas.

We finally settled the dispute, but it woundn't end that easily. Nastas told his friends about this dispute, and especially Diana's action against him. The next triday, when the Rangers were enjoying themselves in the Logjam, the Black Archer Arathil entered and attacked us, killing five people before fleeing (Ref. Frandor's recount of the event). Several hours later, Siltrin Salaal posted his notice on every public message board that he had destroyed the whole Heartwood Archive, and this is the final fate of the precious books.

        Day 9, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 177 AR
        Galanodel Talibund       

Logjam Slaughter

Let it be known that on the eleventh day of the fifth month, at about 18:00, Arathil of Myon entered the Logjam in Westcliff to confront the Skull Crags Rangers. There he encountered Reivan and Galanodel, who he accused of having made threats towards Nastas.

Reivan and Galanodel both did not understand what it was Arathil spoke of, and there was some confused dialogue between them. It was then that Frandor, Caldurian, and three travelers entered the Logjam. These travelers were named Veil, Will, and Sasana. After asking Arathil what he was there for, he claimed the Rangers threatened Nastas when they directed an arrow at him on a visit he made to Westcliff. Arathil ordered the Rangers to never threaten Myon again, and called the Rangers liars. Caldurian stated that he wished for no conflict with Myon, and Diana came forward and proposed that she be responsible for threats made towards Myon, as she was the one who had directed the arrow at Nasts.

Arathil then stated that he was not there for violence, and he seemed satisfied with Caldurian's answer regarding conflict with Myon. It was at that point that Caldurian asked Arathil why Myon threatened so many of those they were supposed to be fighting with. Arathil grew agitated at this question, and after stating that he was going to leave peacefully, he lunged at Caldurian.

In Arathil's fully warded rampage on a tavern full of people looking to rest after a long day, Arathil was responsible for the death of one writ-goer as well as the deaths of several of the Logjam's patrons. In addition, he also wounded Frandor and Diana, before fleeing from the Logjam.

This report is drafted in an effort to preserve the truth of the event that ocurred in Westcliff. This behaviour was unacceptable, and we hope proper actions are taken to rectify the situation and make amends for the deaths of those present in the Logjam.

        Day 11, Month 5 (Mirtul), 177 AR
        Frandor Carcel