====== Nestor ex Tremere ======

Letter from Nestor ex Tremere of Tablinum Oppidum concerning Drogo and the elemental stores.

My Sodalis,

It is with great interest that I received your request for information. We get very little such requests from outside of our House, and even fewer of them are answered. You seem to have made quite an impression on Insidiae however, and she assures me that your request is one that should be honoured. So honour it I do.

It is no secret that we keep many things here at the Oppidum of Tablinum, many of which have yet to be investigated. We are diligent keepers however, and do ensure that everything that we have is labelled, recorded and notes kept safe in our libraries.

There are many layers to the regios that hold our treasures, and their security is of utmost importance. However, there was a gateway to one which we were not aware of, which was found by some crusader mercenaries in the summer of 1205. They did not get far before our wards alerted us to their presence, but one of their number did break an artifact of considerable age. I believe that this is the event that you refer to.

The artifact was a vase, about 13 and one half inches tall and forty four inches around at its widest point. It was decorated on four sides with the face of a lion. The top was sealed with amber, with an inscription upon it as follows: ⲒϨϬ ⲛⲜϬ ⲁⲙⲓⲛ. This is written in Coptic, and translates as “Jesus Christ Amen”. 

The base of the vase had the inscription Ϧⲉⲛ ⳿ⲫⲣⲁⲛ ⳿ⲙ⳿Ⲫⲓⲱⲧ ⲛⲉⲙ ⳿Ⲡϣⲏⲣⲓ ⲛⲉⲙ Ⲡⲓ⳿ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ⳿ⲛⲟⲩⲱⲧ. Ⲁⲙⲏⲛ. This is also Coptic, and translates as “In the name of the Father, And of the Son, And of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.”

It is believed to have been sealed by Divine blessings, and a cursory investigation failed to determine what was inside. It was recovered from the Levant Tribunal, and came to us from Venti Rosa in 1123, from the magus Cupitor ex Mercere who had located it somewhere in Egypt. Unfortunately, our records do not cover its full history prior to it coming into our possession.

Physically, the contents of the vase was a grey dust, most of which was lost. It identified as being of Corpus nature, though further information could not be gleaned. The breaking of the vase caused the release of an infernal spirit, the exact nature of which was never determined. It possessed one of the mercenaries, and seemed to have a desire to cause immediate harm. By the time we arrived on the scene, the mercenary in question was acting irrationally and violently. They were all subdued and the infernal spirit destroyed. Given the newly discovered nature of the artifact, we decided that it was best that the artifact should be destroyed together with any remaining dust that could be gathered. Nothing now remains of the artifact. We now perform regular checks of all the regios to ensure that no further openings are possible without our knowledge.

As regards to the elemental artifacts that have been discovered, we are always willing to take them into safe keeping. Some research has been done on them, but we have not been sure of their importance. If you believe that they are somehow related to the terrible events of the last few years, then researching them may be of greater importance than we imagine.

Demetrius ex Bonisagus has been performing a little research into the icosahedron - we shall try and devote more time to its study based on the latest information from Rellantali covenant.

If you would be willing to deliver what you have into our care, then we would be happy to ensure that they are protected and in an environment where they can be safely researched and monitored. If you would like, we could send a small group to collect it, either directly from yourselves or from Doissetep as I believe that it resides there.

As always, we seek to do what is best for the Order. Transylvania is currently one of the few safe places left in Europe, for we have had no major outbreaks of the Infernal compared to most other Tribunals.

Curator Nestor ex Tremere,
Oppidum of Tablinum,
MCCXXVIII