Proposed: A small party of Sylvans make an exploratory trek to where the legendary city of Yuriquen is said to be, to learn if the legends are true. They succeed, but learn that they must leave the city, and never return.

The part in quotes and italicized are from the official histories.

“Compared to the rest of sylvan history over the centuries, recountals concerning the closing of Yuriqen were sketchy. Legends told of a usurping sorcerer who found the city and attacked it by inflicting the Silver Veil with a disease that either defoliated the trees, or else turned their lovely silvery leaves as black as night. While it was more probable, considering the location of the city, that any enemy threatening it would be human, accounts were consistent in describing the assailant as a rogue Faendryl elf. Certainly, the might needed for one individual to threaten such a magically protected stronghold as Yuriqen was considerable.

“Myrdanian he was called, and he was reputed to be beautiful of feature, a tall elf with long golden hair and compelling grey eyes. Initially, he approached the sylvans seeking friendship. The fact that he was admitted to the cloistered city gives testament to his compelling personality. He was an admirable intellect as well as an accomplished musician. He played harp as skillfully as any the sylvans had ever heard. As they grew acquainted with him and fell prey to his charisma, the sylvans began to believe that it might be time to drop their walls and seek their lost brethren, the elves.

“One ancient councilor among them, Alesanderie by name, sensed his duplicity, and on a moonless night, she crept into his sleeping chamber, determined to breach his mental bastions. Using an influsion of rare forest herbs, she poured a few drops upon his lips as he slept, and incanting a magical spell that worked in tandem with the drug, she beheld the threat of the beast within him. However, the sorcerer awoke and lashed back at the intrusion, and dealt Alesanderie a mortal blow. But she was of sturdy stock, and she lived long enough to regain consciousness one last time and communicate the vision she had of Myrdanian to three of her fellow councilors. This was enough to warn her people.

“A few days later, the five most powerful councilors took Myrdanian unaware, binding him with a concentrated version of Nanrithowan, which rendered him senseless. They transported him out of Yuriqen and to the edges of the sylvan forest. While the three councilors who had witnessed Alesanderie's dying visions advocated death to the sorcerer, the others disagreed. Death had never been the sylvan way. So it was decided that Myrdanian be left at the forest's edge until the effects of the spell wore off, a time span that promised to be less than swift.

“The sorcerer managed to keep himself alive amidst the torture of weeks of nausea, confusion and disorientation. Then, finding a suitable location on the southern side of the sylvan forest, he began to build a tower.

“For years the sorcerer waged an onslaught against the sylvans, sending dark magic and foul beasts against them. Finally, in desperation, the sylvans decided to invoke an escalated version of Nanrithowan, a spell that would effectively seal off the city to any further attack, but at the same time, seal in the residents. They had knowledge of a nullification spell, however once they cast the intial spell, they knew they would have no hint of a safe time to work its partner. They would be completely cut off from the rest of the world. The Lassarans were given the choice of leaving Yuriqen or staying. Many chose to leave, seeing it as their destiny to carry sylvan knowledge to bands and families that had been lost during the long, arduous journeys.

“These emissaries stealthily departed the Silver Veil and made for the east in search of their kindred, carrying with them the history of Yuriqen.

“As orcs and other beasts under the sorcerer's dominion assaulted the sylvans' magical barricades, the preparation of the spell began. It was a fearsome undertaking, for it required the lives of those invoking the magic to seal its conclusion. Seven councilors died invoking the spell. Magic rolled through the forest, enveloping all fel creatures creeping through the trees within its terrible grasp, and they died a torturous death. As dusk settled on the Seven Modwirs, the whole population of Yuriqen stood on the western bridges watching the sun sink below the horizon.

“They vowed to hold the forest even though it took isolation for the rest of their lives as well as that of their descendants.”

A sylvan ranger named Amonatalia, a descendant of one of those Lassarans who had left Yuriqen to bring knowledge to other sylvans, had heard the stories of fabled Yuriqen from her great-grandmother’s knees. For centuries she studied all she could of where it might be located, for she was determined to rediscover it, and make contact with the sylvans who had stayed behind. Who better, she thought, to seek out the ancient home city than a ranger?

She knew, however, that she would be wise to seek out fellow adventurers, for the way was sure to be perilous. She also knew that should they actually discover Yuriqen’s location, the only possible people to enter it would have to be pure sylvans. She explained her quest to some of her friends and relatives, making it clear that even if she had to go alone, go she would. For her, it was a holy quest. She would spend the rest of her life seeking it, if she must.

She spent many decades gathering supplies and scouting out possible trails that would take her to where she believed Yuriqen lay. Most of her people scoffed, saying that while surely the city did once exist, that it still did so was merely a madwoman’s fancy. Still, a small number of like-minded sylvans joined her cause.

Finally, all was ready. Amonatalia and her friends set out, swearing not to return until they found Yuriqen or they perished. They started out with fifteen in their number, representing all the professions. Using information Amonatalia had, the party headed for the southern end of the Dragonspines, leaving Nevishrim just after the spring equinox in the year 2000.

They started with high hearts, and the first ten years of their journey were unmarred by unusual dangers. Halfway through the eleventh year of travel, they encountered their first challenge. Seandalor, the one other ranger in the group, noticed that they were passing the same landmarks again and again. This only encouraged them, for who other than the sylvans of Yuriqen would have set up such a magical defense? Amonatalia knew they must be close to their goal, and with renewed energy the search party redoubled their efforts to circumvent this barrier. Golanadera and Tribelnor, the two sorcerers in the company, explored the magical defenses they encountered, and Yanililli the wizard joined their efforts when they encountered the one particular spell known as the Silver Veil. With the three concentrating their skills in a unified effort, they managed to break through the magical barrier.

Immediately the entire party was surrounded by a large number of Ne'Yuscarl, each with arrows trained on the intruders. Amonatalia, as spokeswoman for the group, explained why they had come, and what their intentions were:

“We come only to learn,” she informed them. “We wish only to discover if Yuriqen still exists and if it was still populated, and if we would have an opportunity to learn from our kin.”

After a brief consultation amongst themselves, the Ne'Yuscarl decided to bring them to the city and let the elders deal with them. Everyone in the exploration party was amazed as they walked between the huge trees and saw the legend alive around them. The Yuriqens themselves stared in surprise at the newcomers, and kept staring as they were led to the High Council in Yr'Thrumh.

At first the Council was dismayed--if these could break through the Veil, what was to keep others from doing so? But after almost a week of intense questioning, they came to the conclusion that these visitors were not a threat, and an announcement was broadcast that any who wished were welcome to speak with the newcomers.

Once it was clear that the newcomers were to be welcomed, the populace of Yuriqen were gleefully willing to speak with and be spoken to. Much information was exchanged. The Yuriqens asked eagerly about the history of descendants of those who had left them so many centuries before, and gladly exchanged stories of life in Yuriqen with these travelers.

Amonatalia was quietly ecstatic that her lifelong dream was fulfilled. She was honored by her companions for her vision and this honor, and the reason for it, soon became known to the Yuriqen Council. They called her to a private meeting that lasted for several days. Her companions were worried, but the messages they sent inquiring as to her well-being brought responses only that she was well, and would be with them soon. She emerged from the Council one evening, unseen by any but Seandalor, who had been keeping watch. Amonatalia refused to speak about her time with the Council, but assured Seandalor that she was well, and they were still welcome in the city. She remained apart from the others for most of a month after her session with the Council, then called her traveling companions together and finally spoke of what the Council had said.

They were offering her a place in the Council, but it would mean that she could never leave the city. She was quite willing to do this, but she regretted that all of her studies since their arrival in Yuriqen would not be shown to the world, as proof that Yuriqen truly existed, and was not mere legend. Her companions assured her that they would be willing to carry her writings back, to vindicate her to her detractors.

This was when Amonatalia explained that all the others would be free to stay, as well, but they would never be able to communicate with their families in Nevishrim. They argued this for almost as many days as Amonatalia had been with the Council, but Amonatalia was firm, and explained that if they left Yuriqen, they would, through magic, be unable to tell anyone the way back, and they would not be allowed to return themselves.

Upon hearing this, the companions wept, for either choice meant the loss of both friends and family. Still, they knew that Yuriqen needed to be saved from her enemies, and after much discussion, all but Seandalor and Yanililli decided to return to Nevishrim. They absolutely refused to leave without Amonatalia, and also Yanililli had come to love a Yuriqen cleric, and would stay to be his wife.

Amonatalia gave the ones who would return strict word to never lead any others back to Yuriqen, and five years after their arrival, they departed, voluntarily accepting the magical potion that would cause them to forget the way. They promised to speak only of the truth of the city’s existence, and let their word, and the few trinkets they kept as proof, serve to validate their tales.

When they had left Yuriqen, escorted again by the Ne'Yuscarl to the boundaries of the forest, they drank the potions and returned to Nevishrim. They arrived home almost twenty-five years after they had left. When they showed their tokens, and told their stories, some scorned them as tale-bearers, some tried to find where they had been, and some believed and honored them, glad to hear that their distant relatives were well and strong.

It is said that none of the returning party ever broke their vows to the people of Yuriqen, though some, when they were near the end of their lives, returned alone to the city’s general location, and were never seen again. Some say the Yuriqens took them in, others that they perished while seeking once again the legendary city.