Iain's Profile

Written by Konelis Larach, 26th Abbot of Zarant, the Annalia was the first work to firmly establish and codify the doctrinal basis, scriptural support and philosophical underpinning of the Order of Silence.

The authors of Mediaeval bestiaries were not merely concerned with providing a description of creatures. No, for them, everything in Creation had a purpose - nothing had been made without an ulterior aim: the edification and instruction of sinful man. So, each creature described is not merely an animal but a living parable, imbued with moral or religious symbolism.

...In the hallowed halls of the University of Linnarson a glimpse may sometimes be caught of the Senior Masters, learned sages and masters of knowledge. They seldom leave their dusty studies full of learned tomes, other than to dine - each evening they will be found shuffling down the dimly lit corridors to the dark and shuttered Great Hall. After feasting at high table by candlelight they will be gone, returning once more to their studies. None but they know of their pact with death, how they have willingly embraced an eternal undeath in which to pursue knowledge, yet this is the reason for the darkened corridors and the shuttered hall, for those who are undead cannot abide the light of the sun...