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15 years ago
_Sessa decided to drag me up north, having a place in mind she wanted to show me. Instead of taking a boat ride up, we took the long way up by foot. Talking about nothing in particular. From what I could gather at present, Noah had left the lands, and she had no want to talk of it. A shame, seeing as how close they had once been.
It was a distance north-west of Peltarch, past the tower construction and farming fields. At the cliff's edge were hidden steps leading into the recesses of the rock face, revealing a small hidden cove. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, but a serene like peacefulness seemed to be in the air, putting myself at ease. There was no danger to be found here.
Two large crystals sprouted out of the earth here, with a small shrine placed across an expanse of water. A shrine to Eldath, Goddess of Singing Waters.
I would spend a number of days visiting the shrine, finding solace in a place far away from the worries of the world, if only but for a moment.
Our group had just cleared our way into the deeper levels in the crypts, when Val came running up to join us from whence we had came. She had brought word that the gnome Duthos was in need of adventuring folk to acquire additional materials for his airship. I've heard much of the gnome, though I've never met the fellow, word had it he would often gift folk with all manner of inventions for their contributions towards his cause. Just hope none of them blow up.
On returning to Norwick, we found the gnome atop a tree with a contraption in hand, using said item to locate a source for metals he required. He seemed confident that the metal would be found up north in the direction of the gnoll woods. As folk began to gather around the uppity gnome, it seemed like our forces would instead be split into two. The first group led by Val would mine and retrieve the ore from up north, while a second group led by Stubs would head south in search for Elemental control rods.
Being typical of the duo, Stubs and Gibs marched straight out south with no actual leads as to the location of the rods. Caramella's magicks soon had us on the right track, tracking down two sources of strong magic in the south eastern woods, where the "scar" was. Having to fight through a number of harpies and wyverns who make that region their home, Stubs found the first rod after slaying a particularly large wyvern.
While tracking down the second that was nearby, we came across a corpse of a green dragon, sizable but not a full adult just yet. Something flew overhead at that moment, casting a large shadow upon the land. Most of us ducked into the trees to find cover, while the dwarves stood out in the open which came as no surprise. The two were rather focused on finding the dead dragon's hoard, thinking the second rod would be within its contents.
Apparently the second rod was with the creature who killed the green dragon, that being another of its own kin. It came swooping down from the sky, baring its teeth and claws at the ready. Those who rushed into the melee felt the full brunt of its presence, the famed dragon fear living up to the tales, sending folk scurrying away in utter horror. I stood my ground as I brought the full force of my magicks to the fore. The skies darkened as bolt after lightning bolt crashed down into the creature, still it was only wishful thinking that I could simply slay it with such, as it turned and roared making a bee line towards myself. Undeterred, I stood my ground and continued with the assault of electricity, felling the dragon mere steps away from myself. Suppose that makes all those there full fledged dragon slayers, a humorous thought.
The search for the hoard burned anew within the dwarves, even as the second rod was found on the body of the slain dragon. They rushed off in all directions, until Caramella noted the age of the dragons and that they would be less likely to have developed a worthy hoard, if at all. Convinced that there was nothing left to be found, we made our way back towards Norwick.
Upon our return, Duthos was kind enough to award us with a selection of his own inventions to take as a reward. I had a pick of a bag full of gnomish tools and some manner of goo-launching mechanism. I'd eventually gift them to the halfling Benji during the following Fight Night, thinking that he would put them to good use.
With another attack of shadows at the southern gates, folk decided to leave the gate unguarded and search the southern woods. I was standing up on the hill, keeping an eye out when the bugbears arrived. Speaking in the druid tongue, they asked if they could use the fires to cook their last catch from a hunt. I warned them of the townsfolk and the adventurers who would be returning, but they simply waved it aside, sitting themselves around the fire.
They invited me to join them, as they cooked and spoke amongst themselves, seemingly in good spirits. That was until Rith returned with the others. Without a word, she proceeded to summon an elemental and kill all but one of the bugbears who made his escape during the confusion. But he too was eventually killed by the end of the day.
The thought to stand up against her came to mind, though it was quick to perish. The bugbears had been slain, and I had done nothing. Frustrated more so with myself than Rith, I stormed off north having no want to observe the aftermath of her actions.
Lycka had a group that went off looking for answers at Mintas Rhelgor. There were devils in the ruins of the old city, a great many of them. Black tentacles covered the ground, catching everyone but two in their party. Thankfully, they had persuaded Sir Mariston Thel of the Order of the Divine Shield to come along. He and Rith somehow managed to keep the fiends from slaying them all. With their hearts pounding and shaking, the real story began to unfold.
An image of a man moved towards the old temple in the ruins, a man with white hair much like Lycka's. It was her father, long ago before she was even born. A master swordsman in life, he looked young, yet more stern and hard than Lycka had remembered. He was not alone, Kara, Wren and Mel were there as well. They had found something there, something of great interest to Kara, seemingly belonging to the Old Empire. But back then, duergar ruled Mintas Rhelgor, and they were not far behind the group.The bulk of the party headed upstairs, leaving Kara and Wren behind. Something about the object they'd found seemed of great alarm. They agreed to all warn their respective groups, but that's when Kara took it upon herself to deliver all the warnings, and didn't.
Mariston refused to accept the vision, as it suggested that Kara may have fallen far longer than anyone had imagined. The vision faded, and while exploring the rest of the temple, more devils attacked. As well as a duergar priestess, though she got away. They couldn't quite make the connection, but she vanished under greater sanctuary, and the group continued to the large tower, the only other intact building.
There, they saw Kara once again, but at a different time, when the war had begun in earnest. She stood alone before the throne in the great hall of the tower, speaking in the tongue of the old empire, possibly attempting to awaken the armatures. And she laughed, horrible laughter, looking forward to the destruction they would bring. Lycka had never seen a paladin so close to tears then. It was difficult for Mariston and Eluriel in particular, as they'd gone through Hell together, literally for that matter.
Later on, they saw Kara once again, getting ready to reveal her treachery to the world, leaving her last orders to an unseen aid.
The final vision was the one that tied into my own experiences with the spirits. Just up the stairs Lycka's group finally came across the party of spirits they had thought to trace. Kara, Melanie, Mec and not Jirka, but Wren. Again, years before the war, they stood panting at the top of the stairs, planning how to get through the hordes of duergar below.
"The plan is this", Kara had said, "I engage them and you run, and I mean run!" She stressed the running part hard. Jokingly they commented on how rarely adventurers seem to grasp the actual meaning of the word. After the rest were out safely, Kara would follow, "Banish Misfortune", Melanie added, then they were off. The visions ended there.
This seems to leave more questions than answers, though my earlier suspicions of Mintas Rhelgor seem to have been justified. With only this amount of information at hand, I would guess at a connection between Kara and the duergar. Stressing that her companions should run ahead of her, something may have transpired when she was left alone with the duergar, as well as the appearance of the duergar priestess fending off Lycka's group. But again, this is all conjecture with no other leads at present.
On the topic of Kara, Lycka had met her once, as a diplomat to the fire giants, she had come in the same capacity, but meant to entice them to wage war on Peltarch.
Brave and strong, yet kind. Knowledgable, compassionate, humorous, all these things they thought was Kara.
She stood in the hall of the fire lord's castle, opposite Lycka, perfectly cool and collected. A stranger, yet it was Kara, the same woman she'd fought alongside for so many times, the same woman who told her stories of her father's younger days. She sacrificed much to save others. Somewhere along the way, a devil saw a way to user her, to creep through the cracks, Lycka doesn't know how or when.
That bloody priest decided to lecture me again, downplaying the fact that he had threatened my life before, choosing only to remember what is convenient. I told him straight that he didn't deserve to wield Kandrek's blade, in reply, he stated that it was simply a tool, nothing more. Disrespecting me, is one thing, a warden of the woods is another. He continued with his speech, claiming that I should commune more with Silvanus, and that I was a deviant of his worshipers.
So, I kicked his arse. Summoning an earth elemental who did most of the work, downing the fellow before he could get a blow at me. Sure, in hindsight all I could see was red, and I could have handled it better. But the fellow stood right back up and began enforcing himself with blessings looking to fight another round. I cautioned him otherwise, but he'd have none of it. It's a wonder as to how he keeps that mouth running with constant strikes of lightning coursing through his prone form.
Two bears against the lone fellow was hardly a fair fight.
I left him alive but beaten. As he stumbled off ranting that I was evil and should be cleansed, I couldn't help but think he'd had missed his calling as a paladin instead._
