# Tescalian ## Category [[Lavenshire]] Mining Community / Solland Settlement / Site of Zuri Kulum Incident ## Known Facts - Tescalian is a **walled mining community** in [[Lavenshire]]. - The party reached it after travelling through [[Bramblewick]] and making a final quiet stop at [[Chald]]. - When they arrived in [[Session 32 - Into Lavenshire]], Tescalian was completely dark behind closed gates: no lanterns, hearths, or visible residents. - [[Talador Devell]] had not heard from his wards there for roughly a week and immediately recognised the silence as abnormal. - Talador deputised [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] and [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]], giving each temporary command of two guards while the party entered the settlement. - Tescalian's long-serving warden was **[[Frederick Ballot]]**. His wife **Nina** had died of cancer roughly six months earlier. - Talador had also sent a man named **Eric** to keep watch over the town; Eric had not reported back for more than a week by the time the party arrived. - The town had been infiltrated by undead and shadowy creatures. Raphius and Elena both confirmed multiple undead presences in the streets. - Old-God symbols — a circle divided by a vertical line — had been marked around the settlement, matching imagery previously seen in [[Harringdon]] and later connected to [[Whune]] / related Old-God worship. - Terrified surviving villagers reported that people had been **taken away in groups** by a woman associated with the crisis. - Frederick Ballot had become convinced that his dead wife Nina had returned and spoke of a **new order**, rewards in life and death, and other Solland nobles supposedly agreeing with him. - A hostile apparition wearing Nina's form and other spirits attacked within the warden's residence. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] was possessed before Elena forced the spirit out. - During the fighting, **Jefferson** was killed. Talador's guards were separately ambushed, and more villagers were abducted. - The party pursued the captives through Tescalian to its mine. ## The Tescalian Mine - The mine became increasingly unnatural the deeper the party travelled. - Tracks appeared deliberately confused at junctions. - Objects and debris began to float as if gravity were becoming unreliable. - A threshold inside the mine severed [[Elena]]'s connection to [[Nyxthys]] whenever she crossed it, creating a divine blind spot. - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] searched the mine for [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]] but found none. - Deep inside, the party found [[Zuri Kulum]] maintaining a grey-black-white portal. - The abducted townsfolk were sent through it before the party could stop her. At least one victim appeared to have a spiked, winged parasite attached without their awareness. - Zuri was killed in the ensuing battle, but the captives were already gone. ## Aftermath - [[Elena]] insisted that Tescalian could not simply be abandoned while spirits remained. The party carried out what cleansing and final rites they could. - Talador hoped the town could eventually be made safe enough for its people to return. - Guards **Jefferson** and **Hodges** were given a Solland military funeral before the party moved on. - Later investigation connected the Tescalian disappearances to the wider pattern of [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/06 - Factions & Organisations/Traitor Hands of Nyxthys|Traitor Hands]], portals, [[Shadowfell Leechers]], and laboratory-related activity. ## Important Connected Sites - Tescalian mine - Warden's residence - Town gates and streets - [[Chald]] — previous stop on the party's route - [[Bramblewick]] — where the first direct Zuri lead was obtained ## Connected To - [[Lavenshire]] - [[Talador Devell]] - [[Frederick Ballot]] - [[Zuri Kulum]] - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] - [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] - [[Elena]] - [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] - [[Shadowfell Leechers]] - [[The Laboratory Network]] - [[Nyxthys]] - [[Whune]] ## Open Questions - Where were the Tescalian captives taken after passing through Zuri's portal? - What exactly caused the gravity distortions inside the mine? - Was the divine blind spot in the mine created by the same veil that blinded the gods elsewhere in Solland? - Who corrupted Frederick Ballot and created or used the apparition of Nina? - How many people ultimately survived the Tescalian incident, and has the settlement recovered? ## Artwork ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Locations & Shared Scenes/Tescalian Exterior.jpeg|600]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Tescalian Streets.jpeg|600]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 33/Tescalian Wardens Residence.jpg|600]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 34/Tescalian Mine Exterior.jpeg|600]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Locations & Shared Scenes/Tescalian Mine.jpeg|600]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 35/Tescalian Funeral.jpeg|600]]