Testimony of Ellis Waterweir

I return with some good news, reader. Things are slowly moving onward, and as my MA draws towards its terminus I find myself with more time to dedicate to Esdaria. Last night, whilst working on something else that will be released here over the next few weeks, I took five minutes to draft this for your perusal. The following Lore is heavily influenced by my own current area of study: death practices and the living dead in England in the Middle Ages.

Thank-you for sticking with me over the last couple of months, despite the fact posting has slowed down so much. I'm overjoyed to see people are still taking time to look at the various stories and content available, and a few weeks ago we surpassed 5,000 views! Unfortunately, I cannot offer any updates on Jaedor and Derryk part II (electric boogaloo), as I am still exploring various options by which to release it. It also requires another draft or two, but I am determined to have it available before 2017 is done. 

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If the scholar were faced with a number of documents, the first they would likely discard as appearing uninteresting would be the below testimony. Written in a poor and rushed hand with terrible spelling on a filthy piece of ragged parchment, making a transcription of this document would likely be deemed a waste of time. Also, the document is not too long, so one may expect to learn little from it. However, the Testimony of Ellis Waterweir is one of the most crucial documents in the Inquisition’s Black Athenaeum – the high-security vault in which all records, relics, and highly dangerous or sensitive materials pertaining to the Empire are stored.

Its dating is dubious. The script records three names: the man in question, Ellis Waterweir; the knight-inquisitor interrogating him, Maria Sturkos; and the scribe, William Stonesby, who is mentioned only once at the start of the document. Beyond this record, there are no mention of any of the three people this document concerns anywhere else in the known imperial record. In the Inquisitorial Registers, which records the information of every inquisitor, no Knight-Inquisitor Maria Sturkos is ever listed. The closest match is a Maryanna Stelikior, who joined the Inquisition in 103Y2A, but her record is uncharacteristically incomplete. According to the record, Maryanna never rose above the position of inquisitor; there is also no entry regarding her death or dismissal from the order, and she drops out of the imperial record c. 106Y2A.

The document itself is so important as it is the only known record that details methods to deal with the dangerous dead that exists beyond the famous Bestiary Written in Blood. Waterweir (EW in the transcription) was a sorcerer of necromancy, presumably captured by Maria (MS in the transcription). He provides a surprisingly detailed account of how to prevent a walking corpse from living.

William’s hand is infuriating: he does not appear to have been a particularly eloquent scribe, and is neither practiced in spelling nor grammar. It has been suggested his spelling – inconsistent and hard to fathom throughout – mimics a local regional accent that has since died out, as any such accent cannot be placed in the present era. One of the most popular theories amongst scholars is that Maria and William were not associated with the Inquisition in any way, and were instead using imperial titles to further their own agendas – though what they may be is unknown. If William was an Imperial clerk, he would have been trained in advanced language and letters – the following document does not mirror such training. Also, many of the questions and sympathies Maria shows Waterweir does not mimic the training junior inquisitors are given in interrogation.

Two transcriptions are provided for the reader: one with William’s original spelling, one that is corrected.

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This testimonyie ov Eyilis Wyterwyr is recordede bye Wylliam Stonesbie; as followes is mye transcryptiones ov thie interrogayetionne perfformd bye Knyte-Inquisitore Marya Sturkors.

MS: Wyterwyr ansur mye questionnes truethfullie ore yew shalle forse me tew showe yew thie waye ov thie Divyne Empryss’ lyte it shalle byrne yore flesshe and damme yore sowle tew foreyver bi blyndede bye Her lyte.

EW: Aye shalle dew as yew asske mye condisione iss thatte yew rylese mi fore thie truthe.

MS: Iyt shalle bi donne and naow yew musst ansur mi thys: for whome ar yore acomplisys?

EW: There are nunne.

MS: Have therre byn?

EW: Nevyr.

MS: Have yew iynstrycted othyrs iyn thie Haethaen Ayrts?

EW: Nevyr no wayt once mye layte wife.

MS: And ov what dyd she dye?

EW: Wyth ae pawsse and teers shie wosse kylled by bandyts.

MS: And wosse thys thie ryson forre yore practysyng ov thie Haethaen Ayrts?

EW: It wosse.

MS: And thosse bandyts ar wyrre todaie?

EW: Thosse menne ayr daed.

MS: Forre a shortte pawse dyd yew kyll thym?

EW: Aye dyd as an akt ov revenje and forre thie sowle ov mye bylovyd.

MS: Aye understynd forre I cannotte saie I woode notte dew thie sayme but is it truthe that yew entchantyd yore fowes witth thie Haethaen Ayrts?

EW: Nae forre aye mayde thie bodys ov thie fallyn ryse.

MS: And thie dedde attacedde thie bandyts?

EW: Aye neEWe theiy hyd iyn thie tries bye thie semeterrie so wen aye challynged themme I dyd so wythyn thie boundaryies ov thie semeterrie and I dyd raiyse thie corpsys ov thie fallyn tew smyte mye fowes.

MS: And dyd theiy alle dye then?

EW: Theiy dyd.

MS: Aye sie and whatte dyd yew dew wyth thie daed yew hadde rysyn?

EW: I cuyd nowtte control them forre longe and sewn theiy werre rynnyng wyld iyn thie semeterrie byt theiy wyr ownlie bownes and rotte sew theiy werre fellde aesylie.

MS: Hawe dosse one kyll thatte wyche is alrydy daed?

EW: Thie walkyng daed ar dryvyn bye maegicalle aessaense whych bynds tew theyr bodyies byt thie aessaense alweyies is lewkyng tew bi frie so wen thie bodyie is brokyn enouf the aessaense wyll escaype an thie aechaentmynt wyll bi brokyn an thie daed wyll dye onse morre.

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This testimony of Ellis Waterweir is recorded by William Stonesby; as follows is my transcription of the interrogation performed by Knight-Inquisitor Maria Sturkos.

MS: Waterweir, answer my questions truthfully or you shall force me to show you the way of the Divine Empress’ light. It shall burn your flesh and damn your soul to forever be blinded by Her light.

EW: I shall do as you ask; my condition is that you release me for the truth.

MS: It shall be done, and now you must answer me this: for whom are your accomplices?

EW: There are none.

MS: Have there been?

EW: Never.

MS: Have you instructed others in the Haethen Arts?

EW: Never. No, wait, once my late wife.

MS: And of what did she die?

EW: (with a pause and tears) She was killed by bandits.

MS: And this was this your reason for your practicing of the Heathen Arts?

EW: It was.

MS: And those bandits are where today?

EW: Those men are dead.

MS: (for a short pause) Did you kill them?

EW: I did, as an act of revenge and for the soul of my beloved.

MS: I understand, for I cannot say I would not do the same. But is it true that you enchanted your foes with the Heathen Arts?

EW: No, for I made the bodies of the fallen rise.

MS: And the dead attacked the bandits?

EW: I knew they hid in the trees by the cemetery, so when I challenged them I did so within the boundaries of the cemetery and I did raise the corpses of the fallen to smite my foes.

MS: And did they all die then?

EW: They did.

MS: I see. And what did you do with the dead you had risen?

EW: I could not control them for long and soon they were running wild within the cemetery, but they were only bones and rot, so they were felled easily.

MS: How does one kill that which is already dead?

EW: The walking dead are driven by magical essence which binds to their bodies, but the essence always is looking to be free. So, when the body is broken enough, the essence will escape and the enchantment will be broken, and the dead will die once more.