Expedition to the Silver Mountain-01

Midsummer’s Day, Year 50 of the New Era.

To My Lords of the White Tower,

At the beginning of this Spring I received from My Lords an urgent call to return to the Tower. I obeyed without delay, and upon arrival I immediately went into a closed session with the Council. There I received a briefing from the Council that a divination penetrated the stronghold of a defeated enemy from generations past, and within that place my brother diviners at last found the location of a great and powerful artifact long known to be of value to the People of the White Tower. It could not pass into the hands of the Enemy.

I knew, at that moment, why the Council summoned me. The diviners could not use their powers to bring forth this old artifact, as they could not gain a firm connection to the object to bring it forth. Due to the distance from the White Tower, and the importance it holds, haste became required and that meant trusting the matter to a brother ready and able to into the field and operate on his own initiative towards the goals given to him. It could not be put to anyone other than I—Colleb, Brother of the Loremaster College—and I humbly accepted The Archmage’s command to seek and recover the old artifact for the White Tower.

The war we fought with the old demon cult in the years following the Coming of the Azure Flames meant that our post-war expansion, and the ways we created to move around our lands, did not go there. It did mean that we kept a series of garrisons there for a time, and since then more of our people settled around the old dominion of the cult. It seemed natural to use the citadel nearest to the objective as my base of operations, so I immediately took the way to Citadel Argent and established an office there.

Citadel Lord Eloc understood without unnecessary explanation as to why I was there, or what I required. He and I had worked together previously, and came to a mutually-beneficial understanding in those years prior, so gaining his assistance took only some reciprocation on my part. (I will specify what that became below.) Unfortunately, Lord Eloc could not come along, as his duties at that time required the whole of his attention—you, My Lords, will recall the Enemy’s incursions elsewhere in that region—but he did detach his protégé to serve me as he often did.

I shall not waste time on the details of my organizing of the expedition. Following old practice, I conscripted all of the idle and excess men in the area and put them through a round of drill and training while I got the logistics organized and planned my approach to the old cult lair. Once armed, armored, equipped and satisfied with preparations we left the citadel and struck out for the cult’s lair by 15 days into the Spring.