Item

Mordas Letter

Mordas's signed withdrawal order tells Voss to burn the Beregost records, move useful personnel and coin north, and shift the Demonshield operation to Ulcaster.

Circle evidenceDemonshield evidenceAdventure 007 hookMordasCircleUlcasterDemonshieldevidenceletter

General description

A much-folded sheet of good cream paper sealed with dark red wax. The impression bears the Circle's broken ring and keyhole. Mordas writes in a spare, controlled hand, using trade precautions until a final paragraph states plainly that the triangular shield is a fiend-binding vessel and that he intends to repeat Hilather's work.

Reference details

Author: Mordas
Recipient: Seldran Voss
Provenance: Recovered among the threatened Voss House evidence
Seal: The Circle's broken ring and keyhole
Purpose: Withdrawal order and Ulcaster directive

Key facts

The paper, handwriting, and seal are consistent with other Circle orders, making the letter useful even without Voss's testimony.

The references to triangular samples, an old master's measurements, and thirteen prior vessels connect Mordas's operation to Hilather's Demonshields.

The red-edged book is the Voss Compact Ledger. Mordas prefers it destroyed, but orders Voss to bring it if destruction fails.

The order sends personnel, coin, and shield components by separate routes so the loss of one courier cannot expose the entire operation.

The letter does not name every Ulcaster agent. It points the party toward the ruined school while leaving the local network to be discovered in Adventure 007.

Text of the letter

Voss—

Beregost is spent. Burn the household books and abandon any clerk who cannot keep pace. Move Ilyra, the compact copies, and every useful witness north by the old quarry road. Coin goes separately. No wagon is to carry both silver and names.

Ulcaster has what I need: the dead master's measurements, a lens that will prove whether the old plates can still receive a binding, and hands desperate enough to finish the work. Send the triangular samples ahead under produce seals. If the red-edged book cannot be destroyed, bring it. Do not let the magistrate take it.

The shield is not treasure. It is a vessel. Thirteen proved the method. I intend the next one to prove it can be repeated.

Leave Beregost before dawn on the third day. Use the broken-circle mark only once. Any servant who asks where we are going remains behind.

—Mordas

What the letter proves

For Ormlyr, the letter ties Voss's household to evidence destruction, covert transport, and the Circle. For Vestra, its warning about the compact ledger confirms that Mordas knows the infernal arrangement exists. For a scholar, the vessel, thirteen, triangular samples, and old master's measurements are enough to identify the Demonshield tradition even before the name Hilather appears elsewhere.

If the letter is damaged

Fire can take one paragraph without erasing the hook. Preserve at least two of these elements: the Ulcaster destination, the instruction concerning the red-edged book, the separated movement of staff and coin, or the declaration that the shield is a vessel and thirteen proved the method. Voss, Ilyra, or a surviving courier can authenticate the broken-circle seal.

Adventure appearances

006 — I Shot the Sheriff

The party can recover Mordas's order during the Voss House raid before Voss escapes with it or a guard carries it through the drain tunnel.

Major evidence
Recoverable packet
Direct transition to Ulcaster

007 — Everybody Wants to Rule the World

The letter explains why the party follows Mordas to Ulcaster and gives them the vocabulary needed to recognize the new Demonshield project.

Imported evidence
Demonshield clue
Mordas's intent

Also known as

Mordas letter
letter from Mordas
Mordas's order