What a coincidence, My dear Najara.

I happen to have an interesting account from a Shallamese orphan as
well. One who managed to escape the pains and horrors of the choir. I
have not included the entire transcription, as it is rather long. I will
say I was recently awarded a bardic prize for my uncovering of said
facts that can easily be accessed, and I also have the results of a
vivisection later performed on the orphan, if any are interested. A copy
of the complete work is available at the cost of a letter, though the
work is a bit dated, as the orphan was questioned about a decade ago. I
am quite willing to take on further studies if anyone has orphans from
Shallam they feel have interesting stories to tell.

...Excerpts from An Orphan's Tale...

A little girl frowns and says, "Umm, I guess the best way I can explain
it is with how I was sent away... is... is that alright?"

You say, "That is fine, if I feel it is insufficient I will ask you
further questions."

A little girl says, "Well, when I was taken to the orphanage, which is
in the Chrisalis Basilica, that's the big church, Master Handel, he's
the choirmaster, he handed me over to a priestess to show me my room and
get me started in the choir. The priestess told me how lucky I was, and
how very pretty I was, she said I would be a good addition to the choir.
I was a little nervous, but pretty excited, I was just hoping they would
have food really. I had a really hard time finding food when I lived on
the street, I was always hungry."

A little girl says, "Can I have some more water?"

You say, "In a little bit, keep talking."

A little girl says, "Things were really good there at first. I had a
place to sleep, a lot of us sleep in one room, but we get clothes and
good food. They would have choir practice for us, and we would learn to
sing, and sing the hymns to Lady Tarah and other holy Gods. They would
tell us stories too, at night, before we went to bed. About Maran
La'Saen and how brave he was to sacrifice himself to try to bring Lord
Deucalion back, and how he ascended to become Lord Pentharian. Also they
told us scary stories about..."

A little girl bites her bottom lip nervously.

You say, "About what?"

A little girl says, "About... about Mhaldor, and Sartan. They told us
you were evil and bloodthirsty and... I'm sorry, please, that's what
they said."

You say, "I appreciate your honesty, Avia, it is understandable that the
church would tell you such things. They are foul heretics and do not
understand the Truths of Lord Sartan and the strength of Evil. Do
continue with your story, and tell me, when you say they, who do you
mean?"

A little girl says, "The women and men of the church, they were priests,
sometimes paladins, they're holy knights, they would visit also.
Sometimes they brought toys."

You say, "Give me names."

A little girl says, "Well umm there was Mr. S, he was a priest,
sometimes we called him Devout S. There was Sir M and Lady C. There was
Mr. F, we called him Anointed F sometimes, him and Mr. S were priests,
and those were kind of their titles I think. There was Ms. R, who was
also a priest, I... I really can't remember if there were any others, it
was awhile ago and they came and went a lot."

(I have cut the names so as not to reveal identities, why disturb the
practices of these individuals, as they may be beneficial to Shallam's
future, be it repenting for its heresy, or burning to ash. I leave it up
to the reader to discern whether the first letters coincide with the
actual names of the individuals.)

You say, "Good, good, alright, continue, you are doing very well, Avia.
Tell me a bit more and you'll get that water. When you finish
everything, I'll even give you food, how do you feel about some roasted
rabbit? I keep a private stock of unusual food, it's all very good."

A little girl sighs in relief.

A little girl says, "Thank you, that would be nice, I'm very hungry."

A little girl says, "Well things were going alright, and I was learning
to sing, I was very good at it. Master Handel was very proud of me, he
told me so. But there this priest who would fill in for Master Handel
sometimes, or help him when he needed it. His name was Mr. V. One day I
noticed him staring at me, it made me really nervous."

A little girl frowns and says, "We had a performance for the city, a lot
of people were there, I got to be the lead soprano at one point.
Afterwards Mr. V congratulated me, he told me I had a lot of potential.
He said he wanted to see me in his room later, and would have me sent
for, so he could talk to me about me taking a bigger role in the choir.
He made me kind of nervous, because he was always looking at me since I
noticed it the first time, but I was excited about maybe being the lead
soprano more."

A little girl says, "When one of the priestesses brought me to his room
that night he had me sing for him. After that he would send for me a
lot, and just listen to me sing. Sometimes he would give me gifts, like
pretty dresses and teddy bears. When I would bring them back, I noticed
that the other children would look at me funny, and refuse to talk to me
sometimes. I didn't understand why. There was one girl, Hannah, she had
been a lead soprano also, but it was decided she wasn't good enough.
Sometimes after I came back she would just glare at me, more than the
others, and a couple of times she started fights with me during recess,
which was our free time during the day."

A little girl says, "One night, when I visited Mr. V, he told me he
didn't need for me to sing that night. He said he had something else in
mind."

You tilt your head and listen intently.

A little girl sniffles softly.

A little girl frowns and says, "He... he wanted me to undress, he was
telling me how beautiful I was, and he said he wanted to see what I
looked like underneath my clothes. I was really nervous. He... he
touched me, not like a hug"

(I will exclude this part for two reasons. One, it is redundant in
regards to what is already known about the actions of the Church, and
two, it is rather graphic and I do not want to lose the ability to
expose the further actions of the Church and Shallam by offending the
more sensitive reader. To paraphrase what Avia told us, She was molested
regularly by Mr.V for some time, he also gave her many favours because
of his amorous desires for her. She was promoted to lead soprano full
time, give numerous gifts, and given her own room, as well as finer
meals. She also gained a private tutor and was educated further than the
other orphans.)

You say, "I'm very proud of you, Avia, that must have been difficult to
relate, I will give you the water you wanted."

Cypra leans over the little girl with the jug of water, letting her
drink her fill.

A little girl thanks you profusely.

You say, "You said earlier that "that was before things changed" in
regards to Mr. V and the gifts he gave you. What did you mean?"

A little girl clears her throat.

A little girl frowns and says, "It was Hannah..."

A little girl says, "She hated me more and more, and would do all she
could to pick fights with me. She would tell me how I wasn't so great
and I'd be replaced just like she was. I think she was jealous, I think
Mr. V used to do things to her also..."

A little girl says, "One day... One day she picked another fight with me
during our recess. She was screaming at me and calling me a whore. When
we came back I went to my room. I went to leave a little after, for
choir practice. She was waiting for me in the hall, she had this piece
of a mirror in her hand, she had broken it I think, her hand was all
bloody and she was just staring at me with this look..."

A little girl shudders violently.

A little girl says, "I felt like I should get away from her fast, but I
was scared. I didn't know what to do. She started walking towards me and
I was frozen. Then... Then she lashed out with the shard at my face. It
hurt horribly. There was all this blood..."

You say, "And that is how you got that scar?"

A little girl nods her head emphatically.

A little girl says, "She was just laughing, I ran away as fast as I
could. I ran to Mr.V I thought he would protect me..."

A little girl creases her brow into a frown.

A little girl says, "Mr. V had one of the priestesses help to heal my
face and he gave me something to help me sleep, then he sent me to bed.
I was told to stay in my room for a few days, so that I could heal
fully. Mr. V said it should heal fine after the help of the priestess. I
was told Hannah would be punished. Only, it didn't really heal, the scar
stayed. I kept staring in the mirror at it hoping it would go away..."

A little girl gives a pained sigh.

A little girl says, "One day one of the younger priests came to get me,
he told me that I would be useless in the choir with my scar. He told me
only the pure children could be a part of it and I was no longer pure,
that I was tainted. He said he would have to take me to another place,
where I would be more useful. They made me leave my toys behind and any
of the clothes I wasn't wearing."

A little girl sniffles softly.

A little girl says, "The next day a carriage was sent for me. They made
me wear this huge cloak and hide my face so no one would see me. I
looked for Mr. V, I figured he would fix everything if I could just find
him, but I never saw him."

...............................................

(As a side note, I am willing to part with the more... graphic portions
of the transcripts. But I feel terrible about doing so. I realise I will
come under fire, and be seen as a fraud for not recording them, but I do
not doubt that far more would be horrified were I to actually have
recorded them here.)

I do hope that helps, I know that most of you are genuinely interested
in the truth behind this matter.

I know I am...

Penned by my hand on the 6th of Valnuary, in the year 396 AF.