In the days that followed A'oluo's death, a palpable shadow of fear and
worry descended over Hashan as a strange, malevolent spirit acted
brazenly to terrorise the Crown of the Ithmia.

A'oluo would be buried some days later, after an entourage of Hashani
citizens was sent to Aran'riod to notify her family. As they undertook
the grim task, the travellers learned of a surprising tale: the story of
Mukamuttara, an ancient lunar spirit, told to them by A'leess, Oracle of
the Yriluawe.

"It was upon the dawn of the new moon, the women together left
their homes and walked together to the Spring of Time, and bathed
together in its waters. As they bathed, they gathered branches
from the nearby rogos bushes, which they laid in a large circular
bower. As twilight approached, they began chants and songs to
hasten the lunar orb in her mightly flight across the firmament.
When she appeared as a pale sliver climbing up and over the
horizon, the women responded by lighting a fire in the centre of
their circle, continuing their songs and praise. Gradually,
darkness was drawn forth from amongst them, the writhing mass
gathering and growing to immense proportions, yet the women did
not fear..."

Back in Hashan, the lunar spirit had grown stronger, her malicious
actions bolder. Peals of sinister, hideous laughter resounded throughout
the city, followed by the death cries of one servant after another
within the Dome of the Triad. Citizens raced to the scene, only to
discover all access into the Dome restricted, and the crystal tree of
Hashan, the Arbor Crystallina, had been destroyed. In its place was a
tree of writhing undead bodies, wreathed in a miasma of darkness,
unquestionably composed of those who had perished. Only one lunar mystic
remained alive, tormented by memories of the spirit, a living witness to
the true power of Mukamuttara.

Meanwhile, with the clues gathered by the Aran'riod natives, Harmonia,
Ashadra, and Trevize were quick to gather at the northern end of Moon
Street, where stood an ancient altar to the moon. Offering libations of
their own blood and thrumming a constant, steady beat with ritual drums,
they chanted the name Mukamuttara, which soon caused the cracked
northern wall to collapse, revealing a secret chamber.

Within, they found the enchanted items from A'leess' myth of
Mukamuttara: the rogos bushes, preserved over time by powerful magic,
the bower used to burn them, and a scroll detailing a ritual in rhythmic
verse. And as foretold by the Oracle of the Yriluawe, upon the dawn of
the next new moon, the citizens of Hashan would find themselves touched
by the sun.

Penned by my hand on the 11th of Chronos, in the year 453 AF.