3. Water under the bridge: The Journal of Moon River

Water under the bridge: The Journal of Moon River


  • As I stand watching the execution of Vladimir Kursk, I cannot help but think he has become a martyr. I know very little about the charges brought against him, and even less about what passes for fair trial and justice here in the lands of Narfell. I am convinced however, that this will have repercussions among those that stand in witness, for better or worse. I will not, however, interfere in this, just observe and make my own way with caution.

    As the crowd murmurs and presses in to see this poor man’s spectacle of justice, I feel sick. It wasn’t helping that I was trapped between the hard stone wall of the commons and the gathering mob behind me.

    A voice from behind me whispers, so close it tickles my ear, sending a sharp chill racing down my spine. It is like someone has stepped over my grave. “Do not turn.” I could feel a folded piece of cloth pressing into my hand. “Open it tonight. When you’re alone.” He vanishes into the crowd.

    I study the folded cloth carefully when I return to the stable. I turn it over and around. There is no clasp, no secret mechanism. I feel no enchantment on it. It’s just a simple swatch of blue cloth folded over what feels like a piece of paper. I can easily open it and read the note inside.

    Only I don’t know that I want to.

    My past wears me down as I am chained to a pair of golden shackles. It is time for me to choose. Time for me to choose which world I should stay in, the present, or the past.

    I pass the folded cloth, unread, to Draheem when I see him, asking him to keep it until I am ready. He seems confused, but accepts it with only a few questions.

    I feel tired, ill, and worn out.

    –- A brief scribble

    Another joy to me! My precious Pherdur Kelm of the Valors stepped down off the boat at Peltarch, much to my surprise. He, like Nahaska before him, has come to talk to me, urging that I return… although I spend so much time showing him around that we don’t get the chance to discuss it.

    It didn’t take him long to ask about my sister Mystic. It was with a heavy heart that I brought him the news that I lost her. If he decides to stay for awhile, perhaps he can help me find the horses, and maybe find her in the process…


  • It’s late in Peltarch and I’m tired. The thought of the long trip back to the stables in Norwick just doesn’t seem like a good idea tonight. One night in the Inn… A real bed, no animals moving about… I can afford one night…

    I can hear voices on the edges of my consciousness, fading as I drift off to sleep…

    Nahaska leads me through a forest to darkened glade. I follow him as he urges me on. So strange to see him in torn robes and unshaven, he is usually so neat and proper. As we walk a transformation takes him, years seem to fall off with every step. Gone is the beard and unkempt hair. He cuts a dashing figure in the new robes of blue and gold, full of youth and vigor. It is the Nahaska of years gone past. The Nahaska of my memories.

    A dull fire burns in the darkened glade. I can hear the coals crackle, smell the smoke. Warmth. Comfort. My old comrades stand about the fire. Pherdur, in his red and silver. Not one of our company, but one of us all the same. Red Lion, stout of body and strong of heart. A thunderer. Naphier, a good man, lost to us during the war. Iathouz is there too, sitting near the fire, apart from the others. He’s saved a space for me next to him.

    I sit down. He looks gaunt, and the color drains from his face as I watch him. His brow holds the troubled look I’ve seen so many times. I long to see his smile again. I see a tear fall from his eye, reflecting the dull red glow of the fire. Has it been so long?

    He whispers to me, sadness in his voice. “You’re dreaming.”

    Am I, I wonder? He seems so real, so near. I reach out to wipe the tear running down his face, but he is gone. I close my eyes. I can feel him there, in the room. In my ears I can hear his voice, gentle, but choked with emotion. “Rest well my love.”


  • I have been running for years, the phoenix carried me away just to experience the tragic of the loss of my family. My thoughts were that this was another of Ar and the Rose’s tricks. For months I searched and reached the furthest North I had ever been… but for what… this region seemed on the verge of war…

    I ended up in the city of Peltarch… and there a man named Aelthas took pity on me and asked me to join the Defenders… my hunger and need for shelter was consuming me, yet I had sworn to myself I’d never be a pawn in politics again… If he only had known, that I myself, had led and ruled a legion of balance between the dark and light, as the protector of men and women, not the protector of ultimate power. If had known, he would never have thrown me the pouch of gold to apply for citizenship and become a recruit.

    I am carrying the color of “valor”, it is simply just another shade. I am weak and I am broken.. It’s for the best, that I will return the helmet and blade that was handed to me by Aelthas. I will let this land rule it’s own destiny, and I mine.

    Little can I do, which is difficult for me. I seek no attention… and the other day… I saw a gate close behind me… but no one was there when I turned. Some times I feel I’m being watched… a shadow on the edge of my vision. How I wished my counselor Nahaska was by my side, the oracle of solution…

    … a brief scribble

    Finally, I met with Aelthas to tell him that I am leaving my position as new recruit. Now, he didn’t think much of it… He told me people come and go. “It’s all right,” he said… “It’s all right.” Then he parted… I guess I wasn’t too much value for him after all, just another pawn in yet another struggle of power…

    … another entry

    My wish came true as a tall, slender figure, Nahaska Wendell, still wearing my region’s legion colors stumbled off the boat today… the royal blue and gold trimmed robe was torn and dirty, as if he had been wearing it for months. His eyes mirrored pain and hard times, but still he kept his, as I am familiar with it, aura of hope and resolution. I was surprised he found me after all these years; he said he heard whisperings of my whereabouts in the chambers of the Arcane Tower.

    It was all very strange… he had come to asked me to return to my people… I didn’t know what to answer… what could I answer… after all these years? Instead I took him to the Inn at Norwick, saw to it that he got cleaned up, and found him a room to rest.

    The next day I told him I had much to show him, and I presented to him the desert man, Draheem, my closest friend, who I like a great deal. Never does Draheem ask anything from me, but he is there by my side if needed. Diplomatic, thoughtful, and a shoulder to lean on… As the day passed we ventured south, and, with Draheem, I showed Nahaska the pretty and friendly Silver Valley and the goblin lands. I saw that the excursion quickly became tiresome and it was obviously a great effort for Nahaska. A journey up north had to wait.

    We returned to the Inn and, at dinner, I told him about the new friends I have made such as Elsbeth, Helena, Arlan, young Zach, Bartho and finally I told him about Ael’Que, at which he looked upon me in silence…

    …I do not know yet if Nahaska will stay, or return to my old land..