Scroll of Nathmur Umrai

The Scroll of Nathmur Umrai was discovered by Ilphère deQuessenet of the Imperial Antiquarian Society expedition into the interplanar portal discovered in Sarah's Knell. Mlle. deQuessenet (currently betrothed to Prince Imperial Menard Kizer) discovered the scroll in the Tal-antar's Spire^[name?].

Upon return to the Society, expedition member Sanadhìl Órecalo completed a translation of the text. An account of the final days of Sarasagel, the mirror city of Diablotin, known to them as Sarakynel, by one of its doomed elite.

Translated text

There is little time remaining, I must be brief. Forgive me.       The fil-angthil [lit. 'pale/weak-savages/heretics' = humans?] drove our people from Saraknyel [lit. 'city of bright dawn'] in the days of my mother's youth. We were forced to retreat to Sarasagel [lit. 'blessed city'], our conquest at an end, or at least postponed. The Tal-antar [lit. 'watcher-queen', possibly 'princess', but seems also to have some priestly overtones] was but an infant, and so the Irrdin'erin [lit. 'hidden/masked teller-of-the-future advisors' = some sort of oracle or council?] guided us until she came of age and took the name Imraen no Qu'rret [lit. 'devoted-to-the-void sacred-to-the-void']. She ruled well, and even after her coming-of-age she often sought their advice on matters of importance.       I was elevated to the Irrdin'erin upon my mother's death, and served two long-count-turns [=years?] some unit of time measurement, in any case] before the bane-mists first appeared. Twisted elementals of air and acid - to breathe them in was almost certain death. Many low-folk died before we even knew the cause, but worse was yet to come. After a short time, the dhaun [lit. 'plague-ridden'] began to appear, walking corpses of those killed by the bane-mists, saturated with acid and spewing it out at any who dared to attack them. Being eaten away from the inside, they could not endure their tortured existance for more than a few days before disintegrating, but in those few days they could claim many more lives. Those who could, fled. I do not know how many of them escaped death, but I pray that some of them will have survived, may Serpent ['Vrag'] protect them.       The Irrdin'erin sought wisdom, as was our responsibility, and determined that the fil-angthil, having fallen under the sway of a powerful female-spellcaster [lit. something closer to 'witch'], had created these atrocities and sent them to plague us. They surrounded Sarasagel, and escape by land or air became impossible. Attempts were made to go by way of the land-of-brightness [= the Material or Ethereal plane?] but all died or were captured by the fil-angthil. We consulted with the Tal-antar. None among us were willing to be captured, or to die from the bane-mists and kill our fellows in undeath agony. Better to die by our own hands, we decided, and so we sought her permission to end our lives with dignity. She agreed, and would have willingly accompanied us into the afterlife, but some of our number, unwilling for her to sacrifice herself, proposed another plan. Tal-antar Imraen would be placed beyond time, and hopefully beyond the grasping reach of the fil-angthil.       I will say here that I opposed the plan, but my voice was one of few. I felt it was too dangerous to allow her to survive, perhaps alone, for an unknown span of time, perhaps to fall into enemy hands. But the decision has been made nevertheless, and I must aid in the casting of the spell that will imprison her in a single moment, perhaps forever. Then I will return to my chamber and swallow spider-pain [= some sort of poison?]. I write this so that, if any of our people have survived, they or their descendants may find this and know what happened to our holiest of cities, and seek to avenge our deaths. —I name myself Nathmur Umrai [lit. 'doom-witness truth-seeker'] and pray that I will find peace.