Page Ten - Journal of Sil`rel`din/Text

As I write this, Zo`Rel is beside me. Yk`sil and Fer`din are resting in my bedroom. They were both fast asleep when I chekced on them a moment ago.

We Met this evening to plan a response to the Triumvirate's attacks on us through the Yclistinite. The power has become more and more difficult to draw on, and it leaves us worn out and beaten when we try. As a child I once Fell down a flight of stairs, it gave me bruises in places I didn't know I had. Those bruises had been lying in wait, breeding grandchildren and they explode out when I reach for the yclistinite's energy.

We were in my quarters when a sudden tremor of power tore through us. The shaman council was trying again to take control of the yclistinite well, but this was the worst attempt yet, it was almost unbearable.

The only way was to separate our own stores of yclistinite from theirs, so they could no longer tamper with it. I devised a ritual for doing so a few weeks before, but it was too much for me to do alone. Daggers in hand, we began the incantations when an even more powerful surge ripped through us. Yk`sil fell to the ground under the strength of it. Another surge came, this time driving all of us to our knees. It wasn't until I heard shattering pottery from the kitchen then realized that it wasn't just the power we wielded bludgeoning us, but the earth itself was trembling. There were two intense flashes of light, followed by a thunderclap that lasted nearly a full minute.

Whatever the Triumvirate is doing, we need to be protected from it. Fer`din suggested we protect ourselves by erecting a runeshield to cover the entire city. With our power reduced to that of the yclistinite in the city it will be a supreme effort. I dare not risk any of the weaker students attempting to channel something of this size; it must be the four of us. When Yk`sil and Fer`din recover we will attempt it.

I have made a vital miscalculation, one after another. The shield we erected is powerful - impenetrable. It blocks the sun; Yclist is now under an opaque milky sky. We cannot get food water or supplies in or our. Fer`din blames himself, but I should have known better.

When we realized that we could not pass anything through the barrier we met again to plan a solution. I thought that if we could enthrall the population, and then slow their bodies' processes to nothing, we could remain here until the shield is broken from the outside, or wears down naturally. Again I have failed Yclist.

The ritual to put the city into stasis has failed. Even throwing open the entirety of our stores of yclistinite was not sufficient to put the entire city into a trance. Something did happen - the power has fled from the metal. It went somewhere, but not to preserving us. Casualties to starvation and disease continue to rise, and we have received reports of corpses rising from the dead, shuffling into their past routines. It's not clear whether these are true undead or apparitions spawned from the magic we freed from our yclistinite stores. In truth it matters little, there is only food.