Page 1
the door can be found in the place we call the grove of the secret-keeper. the meaning of this place was lost to us long ago but still there is something about it that calls to me. when i sleep i see myself opening it. my secrets are laid bare. my clan thinks me foolish to pursue this fancy, but they respect the grove and the door. the keeper says that i may stay to study it. she warns that i must be careful.
what is behind it? (the top text)
Page 2
my best sketch [top left]
the holes seem important.
i believe they are the key to opening it.
...holes. keyholes.
nine keys??
what are they??
the figure in the back is one of the creators.
is it dirthamen?
then maybe each hole is for a key of the creators
did they include the dread wolf?
was this before the betrayal?
Page 3
hahren said that they remember another book about this place. where is it? who could have written something?? hahren said it was very very very old. but of course it was lost. stolen maybe? damn shems.
if not lost, then hidden. where would somebody hide something like that. out in the weyrs? the green dales? maybe hahren is just remembering wrong. and maybe i’ll have to be the one to write a whole book.
i just want to know what the door hides. with such a complicated lock, it has to be something important. treasure. weapons. maybe more books. i’d like books.
i wish i could remain here longer. maybe i’ll ask about extending my own stay and not moving on with the clan. maybe i can convince ama, the first. maybe having a mage here would help.
i keep having dreams. i know the door opens, but i never see what’s behind.
Page 4
asking for ama’s help was the best idea i ever had. she got a reaction from the door with just a little bit of her magic. it knocked her on her ass.
and then the stupidest coincidence happened. her fucking staff. her fucking staff. HER STAFF. the head of it reacted to the fucking door. seriously!
we pulled it apart and found that it fit into one of the holes. she says that the staff was her grandmother’s and has been passed down. how long has the answer been so close? are there more staves somewhere? more keys???
<- ama’s staff head. it’s orange and some strange gem we didn’t recognize. it fit in the second hole from the bottom on the left
Page 5
here is a detail of one of the holes in the door. the circles are carved out around it. when we put the staff head near it, they began to glow gold. once the staff head was inserted, they stayed gold.
there is a strange tracing of gold set within the holes once the staff head is inserted. it looks almost like a vallaslin.
ama thinks it looks like june.
so maybe they are all related to the creators
Page 6
follow the lower branch to the temple. the grounds of the temple are within a grove so it is hidden from eyesight if you’re standing at the river. look for a large oak tree (i hope it doesn’t die)
in the summer it is even harder to find.
You know you’re in the right place when you start to feel something. You don’t have to be a mage. Even I can feel the hum of something strange against my skin.
This place has always been sacred. But now, I think I know why.
what is behind the door.
All i want is to open it..
should it be opened?
Page 7
Back by the river again. My turn to gather some herbs for Lem. Took a break from that and decided to sketch them. Better use of my time. Who needs that much elfroot? What does she even use it for?
Elfroot. Yawn.
The river is nice this time of year. I’m glad we came back during the fall. too many bugs in the spring. too much rashvine in the summer.
there’s something about this place. Hahren told a story about it once. I wish i could remember the details.
wait... i think there was a temple here once. maybe i’ll go looking for that instead of elfroot.
eat that, lem.
Page 8
Ama.
She looked up from the book she was reading at just the right moment. I asked her to hold it, and she did. I promised it was just as important as the door.
She smiled at that. Next time, I will capture it.
Page 9
I don’t understand it, but Ama is confident that it will work.
We decided that it’s time to try and find the other keys. If we have one, then maybe other clans have some of the others. The orb itself is magic. Or so Ama says. So…
She came up with a spell that will help grant us the wisdom to seek out the other keys. I’m nervous. But magic still makes me nervous sometimes. I trust Ama though...
All it takes is a seal she designed. (I drew it for us, both here and on the ground near the river). Also, a little bit of lyrium, set in the smaller circles. (I still don’t know how she got that)
The last ingredient is Ama. Well. her magic.
I hope this works.
Page 10
This journal belongs to
Tamsyn of Clan Vellanel
If you can read this, please do not.
Page 11
Here it is. the thing that weird beautiful man-spirit showed us. Ama says this one will work I’m going to trust her again. But if I end up in the damned Fade again, I’d better get more than a kiss out of it.
...I think Ama is nervous too.
Page 12
The first try didn’t work. Neither did the second. Ama nearly passed out after the third. I made her stop. The thing is just too hard for her to use. Ama asked the Keepe; she didn’t mention the Fade or where we got the symbols. Keeper told us perhaps it was a sign that we should stop. No. No way. Not after all of this.
We insisted, and then she sighed and said to try the Singing Stones. I didn’t know what that meant, but Ama did. We went up the river a bit (we had to camp a night) and went to a hidden grove. There was a circle of strange rocks sticking up from the ground.
We traced the symbols out in the center. It took forever.
Page 13
The Singing Stones
I can feel my teeth buzzing when we get close to them, but they don’t sing for me. Ama says she hears it.
Ama laughed at the face I made. She laughed again and then spoiled the secret - there’s lyrium running through the rocks.
If the humans ever found these, I know they’d rip them from the very ground and cart them off to sell.
Page 14
It works! Ama saw something! She said it was really confusing. Like a rope that has come unraveled - she sees the pieces that need to be braided back together. But if that’s how it is, then where is the place they connect to start? What anchors them, keeps them linked?
We put the orb in the circle the second time she tired, and she said it was easier to make everything sharpen into focus.
I’m going to write down some things she saw:
Ama’s Orb: She saw herself, reflected. She said it was unsettling.
Yellow Orb: A temple. An arrow. A stone resting place. [Andruil?]
Blue Ball: A clenched fist. A golden chain. A crown. Kept close. [Shemlen???]
Green Orb: Old hands. Wooden crate. An aravel. [Another clan?]
Black Rings: Two hands. A bird. A quill. [More shemlen??]
There are more, but she got too tired to continue. I’ll take more notes when she tries again. This is strange. So strange. And why is she seeing humans?
