Zannas K'Val's Chest in Fallen Gate

I was sneaking through Fallen Gate the other evening, sniffing around for any treasures and oddities when I noticed something I had never seen there before. There was a skeleton in the ruins of Neriak, seeming much more powerful than the others around. He wasn't out in the open where you would trip over him, but just standing in the corner. "Very interesting..." I thought, while pulling my bow from my back. After a quick scan of the area to check for any wandering nasties I let two arrows fly at him.

The fight was surprisingly short, and I thank him for that. Other than a cut on one ear and a bruised knee I came away unhurt. Looking over his remains on the ground, I found he called himself "Zannas of the Arm." "Zannas of the Arm..." I wondered, "what were you doing in Fallen Gate?"

Finding nothing else interesting from his remains I cautiously searched the little house he had been standing in. There was a table, some scattered debris, nothing much unusual except for a medium sized chest with some intricate carvings on its surface, meaningless to me but perhaps significant to some Teir'Dal scholars. Suprisingly, it was unlocked and inside it was labeled at a chest belonging to Zannas K'Val. I also found three preserved letters, addressed to him, that he must have saved for all this time. He must have been quite attached to them, as they were all from the same person, Tessa N'Mare, but written over some time span.

Two of the letters mention that Zannas was a member of the Ebon Mask, a name metioned by Vhalen once or twice. I've transcribed the letters below so that you might be able to discern any other meaning or connections that I might have missed.


Othesus - Dirge - Lucan DLere

((highlight to expose the spoiler))

Tessa's Appreciation Note
"Zannas, I just wish to express my appreciation for the fine robe you gifted to me. The other mages of House N'Mare and House J'Narus, appreciate them as well. I despise that a high elf once wore it, but the craftsmanship is superb and I can feel the power emanating from it. I plan to show you my full appreciation tomorrow evening. I hope you can stand the wait, I can't." -- Tessa N'Mare

Tessa's Note on the War
"Zannas, the mages of my house received our assignments for the impending invasion of Faydwer and we are furious! Almost everyone of our wizards, including me, are assigned to support the vile ogre and troll conscript battalions! The word is only a small few of the necromancers of House J'Narus were assigned to battlegroups, and only groups in secure positions. This is an outrage! I do not want to rely on dimwits and swampspawn to maintain my safety... Have you received your assignment yet? I have heard nothing about the Ebon Mask's role in the invasion yet." -- Tessa

Tessa's Contingency Plan
"It is quite odd that you are being held in reserve here in Neriak. They must have a mission of high importance in mind for your group within the Ebon Mask. My legion has been charged with helping to hold the western front against Kaladim! Those dimwits and swampspawn better be able to hold the line against those dirt grubbing dwarves... If anything goes wrong I'll head to the home of the queen. If you are on Faydwer, make periodic checks of my fallback location. You should find me there if things go bad. I hope you got the enchanted key I sent earlier... This will be my last message for now, we ship out in the morning. Innoruuk guide our hand!" -- Tessa

Sounds like a little tidbit from the past of when the dark elves invaded Faydwere 400 years ago.

I went digging for some more information on the names used here.

N`Mare is the surname of a couple of NPC's in Neriak during the Age of Turmoil. One is a merchant who sells Necromancer spells and the other is a Wizard Guildmaster.

J`Narus is also the surname of two NPC's. One is a warrior guard found in Nektulos Forest while the other is a necromancer found in the 3rd gate.

I'm wondering if the robe she talks about is the Robe of the Oracle that was worn by Oracle of K`Arnon who is a high elf. I'm not so sure Teir'Dal would be thrilled with wearing a baby blue robe, but it was THE robe back in the day.

Hope this gives a tad bit more insight into those notes.

Oh, I couldn't find anyone with the name "K'Val."

The N'Mar family was the richest family of merchants in all of Neriak. There were 4 N'mars found around Neriak.

I remember Vhalen posting some lore a long long LOOOOOONG time ago about the J'Narus brothers once.

Ahh but this is the N'MarE surname. I would guess the "e" on teh end would make a difference.

That or a typo.

There are both N`Mars and N`Mares :smileyvery-happy:

Am very interested in those 3 letters as well.
Got em couple days ago and was wondering about the use. FG being all grey to me i dont know if those are involved in some quests but the last words make me wonder :
If anything goes wrong I'll head to the home of the queen. If you are on Faydwer, make periodic checks of my fallback location. You should find me there if things go bad. I hope you got the enchanted key I sent earlier... This will be my last message for now, we ship out in the morning. Innoruuk guide our hand!" -- Tessa
Looked around the npc, on tables, below, checked rocks and vase on the market .... nothing, no keys. I will keep an eye open.
Perhaps the answer is on Faydwer ?

Just found those three scrolls and I am wondering if a quest is involed with them.

i also found these scrolls and have no clue as to what they are for. i killed Zans of Arms, no chest drop, no loot at all, but i harvested the chest behind him. does anyone know if these are for a quest?

They have the feel of being part of a quest, the high elf reference makes me think it could start in Qeynos somewhere.

It mentions "robe" and then says the other mages appreciate them as well which to me could mean there was more than one, probarly stolen from a high elf household.

So it could be a "who stole our stuff" quest.

I may well be 100% wrong:smileyvery-happy: but thats some of my thoughts.

I could be wrong, but from the reference to it belonging to a High Elf made me think it was the Robe of the Oracle, which was originally dropped from the Oracle of K'Arnon (another pic of him and his buddies) in the Ocean of Tears. It would make some sense, as the Teir'Dal were traveling to Faydwer via fleets of ships, meaning they'd pass through the Ocean of Tears. Don't confuse this with Liandrin's Oracle Robe, which is the result of a quest in the Ruins of Varsoon.
Another possibility is that the robe is part of the spoils of the sacking of Felwithe. This is harder to believe, though, as the other two letters seem to have been written before the War.



Message Edited by Nocturnal Abyss on 10-24-2006 12:42 AM

Zannas of the Arm.. Interestingly enough a swarm of Assassins of the Arm appear during the battle of Cauldron Hollow events for the Innorruk and Tunare events and seemingly kill both sides of the war. Are/where they a branch of the Ebon Masks or vice versa?

Oooh. Nice catch.

These are used in one of the EoF HQs. You get the full story behind the letters over the course of it.

Which one, I will leave you to speculate on
Message Edited by TaleraRis on 11-14-2006 03:30 AM

Robe of the Oracle quest I believe.
Message Edited by Cusashorn on 11-14-2006 09:01 AM

Ooohh.. I've been wondering what those were. Been carrying them around for a few days now. Turns out I found some super secret quest scrolls?! makes me feel special I love lore!

Too bad the quest itself is probably going to have to make you delete them and pick them up again when you get to that point.

That reminds me I think I got a shot of the Assassins will have to upload it somewhere.....

IIRC, I got the update when I gathered them, so probably. But there's always the chance that they could try reading them at that point and see if it moves to the next step.
And silly, that's why I didn't tell them the name. But yes, you are correct on which quest. My froggie ranjah looked spiffy in it.