Gestinanna Codices

In the spring of the year 954 After the Arrival of the Humans to Forostar, a half-elven traveller in the Jamantys Foothills took a fortuitous step and broke through a layer of rain-softened soil, shattering a buried clay pot. The pot, it was found, contained a veritable hoard of knowledge in the form of a collection of unbound vellum manuscripts of great antiquity, written in a particularly obscure dialect of the Ancient Tongue. These writings, which include such varied content as geneologies, histories, poetry, and lore, are clearly diverse in authorship and are known collectively as the Gestinanna Codices, after the apparent previous owner and concealer of the texts. Held in the Royal Archives at ElvanDar, the codices, which have since been translated into the Common Tongue, provide valuable insight into the history of Forostar, although they are riddled with ambiguities and archaisms.

A single, worm-damaged leaf of parchment was found accompanying the texts in the clay pot. It provides some much-needed context to the collection.

Lord Taniel, I render unto you the foul elf Ratatosk, ((worm hole)) of Eal-Deliah, who has betrayed me and led me to exile among the men of the ((translation: "Eightfold Hand"?))... I give you his name, Ratatosk, and my name, Gestinanna of line Shemhamphorash, so that ((worm hole)) ... Do unto him the fate of traitors: devour his eyes, devour his nose, devour his ((translation: "generative"?)) parts, burn his stomach in the pits of Hell. May your wrath ((worm hole)) ... from the place where his food leaves when he squats. Lord Taniel, gnash his soul with your teeth of judgment until he fades to oblivion. Lord Taniel, remember your good servant Gestinanna and act swiftly, as I sacrifice to you my most beloved possessions, these treasures of knowledge.

The following texts comprise the Gestinanna Codices:

• "A History of the Late Lord Agreas Called Peredur"
• "The Proverbs of Tawendonare the Wood-elf"

(Ongoing Project)

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