Act1: Conclusion

     The Mage muttered quietly "forgive me... if I'm wrong...". Born on by the fury of the arcane magic around her she stretched her arm out just a little further and let the skull roll out of her hand and into the basin. The skull fell, almost in slow motion, as the group lept forward, weapons first, to attack the Mage.

     As they battled, sword against magic, the room shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Dark magics could be seen and felt pulsating from the basin at the top of the pedestal, distant tormented screams could be heard, carried upon the wind. A far off, persistent roar could be heard, slowly gaining in volume as the battle raged on.

     The group fought hard, buffeted by fire and spell, they nearly brought her down only for her to teleport away and revert herself to an unharmed state. Roaring with brutal savagery Roth charged the Mage, kicking away any debris that lay between the mage and himself. he brought his axe down twice hacking away at her like a slab of meat on the butchers block, there was a flurry of activity from the group following the charge, all of which was silenced by a single arrow loosed from Ranvier's bow.

     The Arrow pierced her heart, and a shriek echoed across the room. With the fatal blow stuck the Mage crumpled to the ground, her carefully maintained illusions falling to pieces and fading away, just as her life force faded. She fell, all lies, half truths, and magic striped away. The group stared in disbelief at the crumpled figure, slowly turning to look at the group mage, Leyla, who stood near the back.

     Slowly, with trepidation, Leyla stepped forward towards the body only to find herself staring at a near identical copy of herself, maybe a few years older than she is now. Slowly she knelt, reaching out hesitantly, she touched the body ever so gently. She pulled her hand back, noticing that the spot on her fingers where she had made contact with the body was slightly glowing, as if she had rubbed them into some slightly photofluorescent substance.

     As she knelt there she felt something rolling down her cheek and when she reached up, her hand came away wet with tears. A barely audible sob escaped her lips as she reached out and pulled the body of the mage towards herself, cradling the dead mage's head in her lap.

     With this contact there was a bright flash, the ground trembled slightly. There was a faint tearing sound to be heard as the edges of the Mages frame and Leyla's began to get slightly fuzzy, and there was a bright light spilling out from every spot the two bodies touched.

     Leyla gasped, "I see now, I understand... so much... so many terrible things... but i did what I had to do... yet still I fail" she sobbed out. "Look, look and see what I see" she said in a shout as she touched her eyes.

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     The group was small, really just a handful of people. There was Mik, a rather aloof Bard, someone who seems to more have fallen into the position through lack of direction; Altus, a Ranger of no small skill, and his sister Mori, a Hunter with a tender personality - both hailing from one of the Elven communities near Kanaan; And finally Bartholomew, an aged Knight, and the solemn leader of the group.

     The group originally met up in Kanaan, where Altus and Mori had a small reputation for being local hunters of man and meat. Mik had been following an old Knight, hoping that one day it would lead him to an easy payday at the table of a lord. Until then, however, he followed the knight. Occasionally helping him, more often disappearing to get drunk on what meager earnings he got from his performances.

     As unlikely a grouping as it was they joined together to travel. The Knight had been in need of people whom he could hire to help him live off the land, and the Elven duo had run short of customers and money in the recent years. They had many adventures together, and had accumulated a wealth of money and gear, before winding up in the city of Sworn. They had heard stories on the road that a new Temple had risen up near sworn and it was effectively fighting against the established national Church That meant one thing, where there was dissent, there was money.

     They had taken a job with the Church to join in on an assault against this new Temple, once the fighting was done, anything that you could carry out you got to keep, it was a pretty sweet deal. The onslaught had been difficult and they had found that deep within the temple there was a complex larger than any of them had expected. It was filled with horrors incomprehensible to the common man, and yet the group pressed on. Even as their fellow mercenaries fell one by one, the group had pressed on. The job had become something new, it was no longer about money and wealth, but now it was for salvation. The evils hidden deep within the temple had changed them all.

     As they pushed deeper and deeper into the complex, things got harder and harder, the party grew ragged. Eventually they came across something unspeakable. They tried to fight it off, but failed. it pursued them doggedly through the complex, there had been no way to escape, they knew that this being would find them, kill them, and then escape. Once it had escaped it would have destroyed everything, it was the Unmaker of Worlds.

     Eventually the being caught up with them, with no more energy to run the group turned to face the Unmaker. Altus and Mori split up to attack the being from the sides, knowing full well their efforts were useless. Bartholomew charged the giant embodiment of pure evil, only to be picked up and ripped in half before being tossed to the side, like a piece of offal.

     Mori and Altus joined together on the far side of the being while Mik frantically searched through his gear while half-assing a song he had learned in his distant past. The creature lunged for Mori, but Altus threw himself in the way to protect his sister. Like a ragdoll the being grabbed ahold of Altus and slammed him repeatedly into the ground until he was naught more than Elven jelly.

     Mori hadn't run at the sight of her brother being killed before her eyes, she had just stood there screaming. She kept screaming and the being picked her up and shoved her whole into it's mouth. the muffled screams were replaced by the popping of bones and the beast chewed slowly.

     Mik, frantically trying to do something, pulled out a trinket the group had previously found, a mechanical finger. The detect magic spells Mik had cast on it previously had given off signs of intense power, but they had never been able to figure out how to use it. Now he brandished it like a sword and yelled, drawing the attention of the creature. The being turned towards him and let out a mind numbingly loud roar. Mik fell back, holding the finger out in front of him, and watched as the creature leapt straight for him. Just as the being was about to land on him, snuffing his life out eternally, Mik closed his eyes and started crying. Death never came. What did come was silence, followed shortly by a dull distant roar that got louder and louder until eventually it resolved itself into the sound of a large population of people walking by and talking. Mik opened his eyes and looked around. He was laying down on the side of the street, clutching the finger and whimpering, near him there were a few copper coins that someone had obviously thrown down for him, assuming he was a beggar.

     Not understanding what happened Mik wandered the city aimlessly, trying to find out information. Had the beast escaped and destroyed the world? obviously not. Was he now responsible for organizing a fighting force to combat against the forces of evil? what was he supposed to do?

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     Time had gone by, a lot of time. Mik had found out that he was back in Alaspar. Not only had the finger teleported him back to Alaspar, but it had transported him through time. he was now living in a period of time where he would have originally been just 4 years old.

     Mik spent most of his time drinking and performing, performing and drinking. He had been tossed out of nearly every establishment for making up stories and terrorizing people. He had been questioned on multiple occasions by the Church because of the stories about this new Temple.

     Years went by and Mik had never been able to get anyone to listen to what he had to say, with anything approaching gravity. He was miserable, alone, broke, and drunk. But not so drunk that he didn't notice an old Knight amble into the one tavern Mik hadn't been kicked out of, one late lonely night.

     Mik made his way over to the Knight, ready to greet his old friend Bartholomew and tell him what happened, but he stopped short, realizing that nobody ever believed him. Why would this other Bart be any different? After careful deliberation Mik bought dinner and beer with the last of his money and went to sit next to his old Friend.

     Politely sitting down, Mik gave Bart the food and beer knowing the old Knight was probably just inside the tavern to keep out of the cold, because he never had money to spend on the food or bed and usually only ate the cheap supply store rations. Mik told the Knight that he looked well traveled and that he wanted to hear some old stories (Story-telling was one of Bart's favorite past-times) in exchange for the meal. Bart happily obliged. They spent most of the evening talking in that tavern. As twilight approached Mik finally broached the subject.

     Mik gave Bart the Mechanical finger, told him it was useful, though he couldn't tell him how it worked. Mik told Bart that a day would come when all hope may be lost, when that day came, this item would save the world. Bart gave Mik a slightly crazy look at first but his gazed softened as he saw the sincerity on Mik's face. Bart thanked him and put the item away in his pack, vowing to hold onto it until that day came.

     With the deed done, and the torch passed on Mik got up intending to leave, hit the road and never come back, but his steps faltered and he turned back to Bart.

     "Sir Knight, on the morrow's dawn I know you plan on leaving the city... when you get outside the city gates you will come upon a young lad, recently run away from home. Do me a favor, as I have done for you... take him with you, teach him, encourage him to be... more. I know he will never leave your side." said Mik. "Eventually your path will lead you to Kanaan, there you will find two Elves, brother and sister, they will join you also. But please don't be content with just them. You must listen to me when I say what lies in your future the four of you cannot defeat alone."

     Silently the Knight mulled over the words. "Mik, if the event's you describe play out the way you tell them, I promise you I will heed your words."

     With that Mik nodded his head and walked out of the tavern.

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     To Bart's surprise things played out more or less exactly as Mik had explained it. Bart did find the run-away boy, he brought him on as a Squire, training him in the ways of combat. Later in Kanaan the two of them crossed paths with Altus and Mori, heeding Mik's last request he brought the two of them into the group, paying them for their trapping and hunting abilities. While preparing to leave the group came across two young Roguelings, named Zahara and Aura, who were out to find adventure and brought them into the team as well.

     Time went by, the group had many adventures, and eventually made their way to Sworn hearing about a Temple that had be built, a religion or cult had been established, and the Church was actively looking to rid the lands of their evil presence. Where there was a conflict, there was money.

     They had taken a job with the Church to join in on an assault against this new Temple, once the fighting was done, anything that you could carry out you got to keep, it was a pretty sweet deal. The night before the offensive Bart took Mori aside and told her about his fateful meeting with Mik, and his suspicions about Mik's knowledge of events to come, and his warning. He told Mori that he felt that somehow their Mik, but from a different time, had used the device he had given Bart to travel back in time after they had failed before. He gave Mori the relic and told her, "Should we fail, I need you to come back and try again, Mik tried but he didn't have the discipline to act sooner. If we fail, you need to do better. I just... I don't have the strength to do so myself." with that She took the relic, even though neither knew how to operate it, and vowed to do what was needed if the time came.

     The onslaught had been difficult and they had found that deep within the temple there was a complex larger than any of them had expected. It was filled with horrors incomprehensible to the common man, but the group pressed on. Even as their fellow mercenaries fell one by one, the group had pressed on. The job had become something new, it was no longer about money and wealth, but now it was for salvation. The evils hidden deep within the temple had changed them all.

     As they pushed deeper and deeper into the complex, things got harder and harder, the party grew ragged. Eventually they came across something unspeakable. They tried to fight it off, but failed. it pursued them doggedly through the complex, there had been no way to escape, they knew that this being would find them, kill them, and then escape. Once it had escaped it would have destroyed everything, it was the Unmaker of Worlds.

     Eventually the beast caught up with them, with no more energy to run the group turned to face the Unmaker. One by one they fell, Bart backhanded into a wall cracking his skull. Zahara was snatched up and smashed into the ceiling. Arua took a face full of hell fire, her screams fading into a sizzle as her body was charred whole. Finally Altus circled around, trying to draw the attention away from Mori. He peppered the creature with arrows, hoping to give her a moment to get away

     "Mori, RUN!" altus shouted, just before the creature picked him up by one leg and gripping the other ripping him in half vertically.

     Mori stood there with tears streaming down her face at the death of her brother and drew the relic holding it aloft. She screamed at the beast, damning it to hell. Mori kept her eyes open, staring the beast in the face as it came for her. They both gave a mighty roar as the they came together, there was a intensely bright flash of light, after which Mori never saw again. The intense light of the Temporal Prime, the plane of existence in which Time exists is blinding to untrained mortal eyes.

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     Mori spent a good deal of time adapting to her new disability and preparing for the inevitable future. She told everyone the truth, starting with her younger self, and brother. She recruited a young mage named Leyla, two rogues named Zahara and Aura, though they ended up leaving the group and reunited with their parents in Hawksburg. She eventually picked up an old Knight name Bartholomew and a young Bard named Mik. She recruited every person who would listen, any warrior, and man or woman, even boys who were not quite adults. She told them all from the beginning about the great evil, and about the relic, which she kept upon herself, intent on using it again if need be. Soon they had a small army of people, and made their way straight to Sworn, where she knew the threat would be.

     They didn't wait for the church, they didn't wait for the contract, they drove forward like a spear straight towards the heart of the complex. At great cost they finally came upon the being, most of her party had died on the way, for these people had neither training nor experience. In her Rush, and due to her nature, she wasn't able to give them the time to suffer, grow and learn, and in doing so she had condemned all of her followers to death. One after another they fell, killed, maimed, slaughtered. They were no challenge for this god like being.

     There were only a few of them left, Mori and Leyla were hanging near the back. Mori turned to Leyla, "It is time, I have failed." she said as she drew forth the relic. Leyla nodded and watched as Mori stepped forward holding aloft the relic. Mori screamed in rage at the beast, behind her a slight chanting could be heard, suddenly Mori's scream of rage turned into a blood curdling scream of pain and anguish.

     Mori fell to the ground, back scorched from the fire magics wielded by Leyla. She lay on the ground still holding the relic, twitching. Leyla stepped forward, and knelt next to Mori.

     "You were too soft, too weak, too inexperienced. You didn't have the guts to do what needed to be done to ensure that we were victorious. You failed, why would you think that you get another chance at this?"" Leyla said as she gently took the relic from her. Mori watched, trembling, unable to move, except for her eye darting about, as Leyla stood and walked forward, activating the relic and disappearing from sight.

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     Leyla, being magically inclined, was able to understand the relic, and she used it to dart about the timeline, changing what she believed needed to be changed in order to succeed. He methods were deliberate and impartial, at times her heart suffered greatly from the things she forced herself to do, but what are the lives of a few worth when compared to those of the entire world?

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     Leyla stayed a distance outside of the village waiting for Altus and Mori to leave with their Grandfather. She watched them depart, so carefree and innocent, there was a twinge of regret about what she was going to do. But she needed to get these two to start training faster and sooner, there was a lot of work to do.

     The mage walked into the village, hardly anybody paid attention to the cloaked figure until she set to work. she quickly walked up to Altu's and Mori's home and with a short word and gesture - magical fire sprung forth from her hands, immediately consuming the Elves home. The screams of The Elven Duo's parents filled the air, but were soon silenced by the intensity of the flames.

     Upon making the change she watched, with her mind's eye, as the timeline altered slightly, and she saw that it would not be enough. Reaching out through the Temporal Prime she plucked up a new critical moment in their timeline, hoping it would be enough, she pulled, and disappeared from the Elven village.

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     Leyla walked into the guild commons, her magical illusion disguising her as a well off Elven lady. She glanced around until she caught the eye of the Guild leader. Sauntering over she dropped a small bag of coins on the table. An action that was met by a raised eyebrow from the guild leader.

     "Five years ago a Black Robed Mage attacked my village and killed some of the townsfolk there, she was just sighted leaving Alaspar and heading back to that village." She said "I believe you employ two young hunters who are from that village as well, I believe that they would willingly take this contract. The money in the pouch is yours if you give them the contract".

     The guild leader casually looked into the open bag of coins, noticed the dark silvery color of the platinum coins and nodded. "Who should I tell them calls?" he asked as she turned to leave.

     She looked at him over her shoulder, "An anonymous benefactor will be sufficient." she stated flatly before leaving the guild house, there was no need to spend more time there than necessary.

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     The Mage arrived at the village to find it in ruin, as she had foreseen. Only a few hours prior a wandering horde of the undead had made it's way through the village, nearly every member of the village had perished in the chaos. Leyla set about setting the scene, she needed Altus' judgement clouded and his rage ignited like the flames of her spells in order for this to work. Soon she had the entire village in flames and all of the bodies strewn about crackling with fire their flesh popping and crisping in the heat. At the sound of the approaching hoofbeats she turned towards the forest and walked away, knowing that the hunters would see her and give pursuit.

     Leyla had just enough time to prepare for the meeting. A Suspended Silence spell was needed to silence Mori's call to attack and a Crystal of Arrow Deflection activated and flying around to deflect Mori's arrow. She had just finished casting her prepared Baleful Transportation Spell when she heard the little blue sapphire dart out and knock Mori's arrow just enough out of the way so that it embedded itself into the tree behind her rather then her chest. The timing was critical, in order for this change to have the effect needed it had to be done in just the right way, because from this point there were so many possible futures. She made eye contact with Mori, finishing the spell, black smoke seemed to pour from all around the mage as the Astral plane opened to engulf her. From the corner of her eye she could see Altus' look over toward Mori, startled by the lack of signal, she watched as his fingers loosened on the arrow notched on his drawstring and the arrow jumped forward, racking itself across the bow and Altus' hand as it sped forth to meet the bright flash of purple light that engulfed the mage.

     "Altus, Stop!" Shouted the voice, but it was too late. The spell had completed, Leyla was now standing several meters off to the side. She turned to see Mori fall to her knees, just as Altus came bounding over the last few feet between them. He caught her before she fell to the ground.

     Leyla engaged the relic, and once again turned her Mind's eye to the Temporal Prime. She could see the new timeline falling into place, and while she could not see the ultimate outcome, as her vision was cut off at the Temple, she could see that the death of his sister had made Altus stronger. She had taken from him the softness of her love, but given to him the hard determination of his rage. While it is unfortunate that they won't have Mori, the overall gain is greater this way, Leyla can alway replace Mori with someone stronger. This may well just work.

     The Mage once again reached into the Temporal Prime, this time finding Mik's timeline. She took hold of the line... and pulled, leaving the two elves huddled together on the forest floor.

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     Leyla walked through the city of Alaspar, making her way towards the cordoned off Human Complex that was built into a corner of the city's residential districts. She didn't bother with a disguise, as she was a full blooded human she would not have an issue with gaining admittance into the complex.

     As she approached the house she took note of Mik's absence, the boy should be what? 7 now? about the time he started slacking off and pursuing that long road toward being the Vagabond Bard he was. Leyla strode up to Mik's house, she could see his Mother and Father standing out front they were having a discussion, talking adamantly outside of the house.

     Looking into the Temporal Prime, Leyla saw what she intended to do, she saw briefly the man it would turn Mik into. "Perfect" she said to herself, under her breath, as she reached forward flames licking at her fingers.

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     The city was screaming, people running, people pointing, non of it mattered as Leyla peered inward, viewing the timeline. She watched as Mik grew older, joined the Church, she saw him training, becoming strong, she saw him leave the church because of his differences. She saw him take up the herald of Knighthood, there was one problem, the changes she had made ensured that he would never meet up with Altus and the rest of the party members. She would have to figure out how to fix this, but first, she had some other issues to attend to.

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     Leya found the poverty stricken village easily enough, though it was hard to remember that far back. It look familiar to her as she walked through the small roads, familiar yet unfamiliar, until she came to the hut she was looking for. She ducked inside the doorway and was met with a heart wrenching sight. in the corner of the hut was a hobbled together crib, with a howling infant in it, the poor thing was half starved. In a bed on the other side lay a passed out woman and man. The mother, a whore, and the man, a customer were naked and strung out on some of the more serious drugs available in the region.

     The sight made Leyla choke, half a scream upon her throat, but she didn't. She walked over to the infant, cast a sleep spell on the child and wrapped it in the cleanest blanket she could find. Upon walking out of the hut the Mage turned, tears streaming down her face. She cast a spell and the hut went up in flames, the occupants inside were so drugged up they never even noticed.

     Soon the fire was out of control, people were running from their ramshackle huts,trying to escape the flames. Leyla pushed forward clutching the sleeping baby to her chest, the town had become a nightmare of fire and flame. Her robes got scorched, her belt got ripped, and her magical bag of holding, lost somewhere in the ashes of the village.

     Eventually she made her way out, collapsing in a cave not too far away from the village.

     "I think, young one... I think we shall stay here for awhile" she said softly to the baby girl, who was just starting to stir....

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     As the child grew Leyla taught her the arts of her craft, all while telling her a fabricated story about how she found her after her village had been destroyed. The child called her Estarra and grew to love her like a mother, She called the child Leyla.

     Leyla had heard many times how she had been rescued from the burning village that was her place of birth. Estarra had taken her into her care, introducing her to the life of the wandering sorceress and teaching her how to control her magic so that the world could never discover what she truly was. Leyla was frustrated, though. She had heard the tale of her rescue since as far back as she can remember, but there were always holes in the tale. What was Estarra doing there to begin with? How was it that no one else survived the fire? What started the fire in the first place? Whenever she would ask her guardian these questions, Estarra would always find a way to either change the subject or dismiss the questions.

     As Leyla grew, so too did her power. She could control it completely now and had several simple spells in her repertoire. Living in a system of caves just outside the city of Alspar, she frequently encountered undead that had risen from the corpse of fallen travelers. She honed her ability to inflict damage to these creatures from a distance, rending their flesh and destroying the magical energies that kept them bound together and animated. She also learned to copy one of her mentor’s favorite spells, mastering her ability to call forth a cone of fire from the palms of her hands.

     Finally, when Leyla reached adulthood, her mentor started to let her explore and travel on her own, often sending her to the city for certain needed supplies. She was admonished to always keep her magic hidden and never let others know what she was capable of. She was told that revealing such a secret would result in her death. As she was traveling back from a supply run to Alspar, she came across the beginning of a small back that had started to be reclaimed by the wilderness around her. Her curiosity fought with her caution, and eventually won out.

     The journey down the path was slow and tedious. Frequently, she had to stop to clear the path before she could proceed. It was clear this path had not been used in years, perhaps decades. Finally, as she rounded one last bend, she came upon what appeared to be a wilderness ruin. The forest had started to reclaim this clearing, but the debris and remains from what looked like several dozen small huts could clearly be seen among the trees.

     Leyla’s exploration of the village revealed a small satchel that looked as though it had just been placed there yesterday. She could sense right away that there was magic to this bag and picked it up to examine it closer. As she turned it over in her hands, she saw something she recognized. The rune on the bag – a hand surrounded by fire with an eye in the palm – was the same rune that was used to mark the possessions of Estarra, her mentor. Understanding hit her, then. This was the village she was born in!

     She kept on exploring the village, using her magic as she’d been taught to try and gain a sense of what life was like in the village. As soon as she let her magic free, she felt the overwhelming power of another mage. She could feel, even after all these years, the clear traces of magical fire. This fire wasn’t caused by a storm as she’d always been taught. Magic had set this village ablaze! Why didn’t Estarra tell her this? How could she keep such a thing secret from her?

     Questions raced fiercely through Leyla’s mind. Her mentor had lied to her all these years. Magical fire had destroyed her childhood home. As she dwelt longer on the possibilities, a theory formed in her mind, one that filled her with rage. Estarra’s preferred magic was fire. She frequently used spells that called upon the destructive forces of fire for both defense and mundane tasks. Her mentor had clearly been here when the village was destroyed, had she done it on purpose?

     She could no longer think straight as the rage filled her mind and body. She found herself departing the burned village and racing straight to the caves where her mentor would be waiting for her. She didn’t know how, but she knew Estarra was responsible for this disaster. She would kill her and have her revenge.

     Estarra smiled as she saw Leyla making her way up the path to the cave. The smile, though, faded quickly as she saw a beam of energy fly from Leyla’s finger’s in her direction. She dodged easily enough, but stood confused. “Leyla, what are you doing?” The young sorceress didn’t respond, but instead started summoning yet another spell. Her fingers glowed with the familiar light of fire forming at the tips.

     “You did it! You killed my family!” Fire shot from her fingers as she continued her advance on Estarra. The older mage once again ducked out of the way, but felt the fire catch her on the side of the face, scalding her.

     “Leyla, stop this! You will regret this if you continue.” She slowly started working a spell of her own as she stepped backwards away from the advancing Leyla. Another blast of energy from Leyla’s fingers flew past her head, just missing her. “I will hurt you, Leyla.” Her spell had nearly completed.

     Leyla could hear Estarra’s cries of protest, but the words didn’t register in her mind. She was filled with rage and the only clear path ahead was the death of her mentor. She screamed as she prepared to once again summon a cone of fire. She knew she had her mentor trapped and she smiled as the spell neared completion.

     A ball of fire ignited from Estarra’s hands and she sent it flying towards Leyla. The spell landed squarely in the younger woman’s chest, igniting with explosive force that sent her flying backwards. Estarra’s eyes were wet with tears as she approached the burning body of the woman she had raised as her own. Then her expression hardened. She knew the young child would eventually lead to trouble. She headed deeper into the system of caves, leaving the smoking body there at the cave’s opening.

     Leyla, Estarra now, consulted the relic, on the timeline of her younger self. The magic the elder mage had used did not kill the younger mage, if she left now, the younger Leyla would recover on her own, and travel to Alaspar. There her timeline split in many different ways, it was now up to Estarra to  bring them all together.

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     Estarra consulted the timelines, she watched them intently from the temporal prime. How long had she been here? Minutes, Hours, Years? The power of the relic prevented her from aging a single day beyond the day she took it.

     She scanned the timelines, with all of the changes they were chaotic, like tossing a medicine ball into a field of marbles, it was hard to predict where everything would end up. Though... there did appear to be one point in common. A man... named Tyson, Tyson Harcord. Only one thing was needed for that piece to fall into place.

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     Estarra was waiting for them in the sewer, casually leaning up against the wall as Garron, Arredondo, Desina, and Gwyneth came around the corner, approaching the tunnel that led to a Gelatinous Cube and an old crypt further in that was inhabited by some Troglodytes.

     The Mage stepped forward, blocking the path "You don't want to go down there" she said flatly.

     "Get out of the way whore!" cursed Garron as he stepped forward, hand's on the daggers in his sheaths.

     "Wait, Garron! Why? Why don't we want to go down there?" asked Desina.

     "Because I'm going to pay you not too, in fact i'm going to pay you to stop working for Tyson, and work for me instead." said the Mage.

     "Yer full of shit... How much are you going to 'pay' us" asked Garron, throwing up some quotation marks.

     Estarra took several bags out of her pouch, tossing one to each of them. Garron opened his bag which appeared to contain about 500 platinum pieces. "Ma'am, for this amount I'd help you hunt down and skin my own mother!"

     "Good to know, that's not out of the realm of possibility." said the mage with a smirk.

     From the entrance of the tunnel there was the heavy sound of a bag of coins crashing to the ground. Standing there with her back to the tunnel was one very miffed looking Paladin. "Have you all forgotten that we have a contract with Tyson? have you forgotten your honor? and YOU Garron, You're a felon on Work Release, You can't quit, otherwise they're going to ship you off to the mines for the rest of your life!" exclaimed Gwyneth as she threw down her backpack.

     "Oh fuck that, lady, did you even see how much she's giving us? besides, who's going to know we didn't die in this fucking sewer!?" shouted Garron.

     "I don't care how much it is Garron, and they'll know because I'll tell them!" Gwyneth shouted back.

     Garrion squinted at her, squinted through her, something in the tunnel behind her catching his eye. turning to the Mage he asked "If I kill her can I have her share?"

     "Sure" stated Estarra.

     With that Garron lifted his heavily booted foot and heel kicked the Paladin into the tunnel. The kick was strong enough that it sent her flying backward right into the gentle grasp of the Gelatinous Cube, which happily engulfed the poor Paladin whole.

     Garron stooped down and picked up the Paladins bag of Platinum coins with a smile. "I have a request, since I'm not working for that rat bastard Tyson anymore, can I kill him?"

     "I'm sure we can work something out" stated the Mage as she cast a spell opening a portal, she gestured for the others to step through.

______________________________________

     Estarra had been working with these people for a bit, taking them here and there to do things she felt needed to be done. Eventually Garron wanted her to make good on his request. Garron had it out for Tyson, he hated the Dwarf. He hated how the dwarf lorded about, he hated how he took nearly half of their income and didn't do anything to earn it. Garron wanted Tyson dead, and he had so for some time now, it was time for the Dwarf to feel Garron's reckoning.

     Consulting the Relic Estarra saw the events as they unfolded, knowing what would happen she agreed to let him take his revenge.

     After the fight took place Desina and Arredondo were not very please. They didn't like Garron but he was a member of their party, and what the mage had done was... disturbing.

     Leyla knew that Garron would fail, but she had hoped to at least be able to resurrect the fallen Garron as enthralled undead being, thus being able to continue to utilize his skills without having to deal with his chaotic anger all of the time. She had misjudge how crazy that rogue was, because even as an enthralled undead he resisted her will and attacked the party once more. after he went down again the group tried to regroup and pull back, before ultimately fleeing. The hit to moral was significant, perhaps Estarra had been mistaken to acquiesce to the foolhardy rogue's demands.

______________________________________

     The Mage stepped out of the Temporal Prime and into the streets of Hawksburg. She looked around, the night was young and it didn't take long for her to find the house. Estarra waited outside, sitting with her back against a nearby house, posing as a beggar. Eventually the sounds from inside the house died down, the door opened and out stepped three figures, two girls and a man.

     "Thank you for having us Dad, we had fun tonight" said one of the girls.

     "Anytime honey, anytime" said the man.

     "We'll see you tomorrow Zef... er... Dad" said the other girl. They all hugged and then the two girls turned and walked down the alley, passing within feet of Leyla. The man stood outside and watched until the girls were out of sight. He turned as if to go back into his house, but stopped, and glanced over his shoulder back down the alley. Had there been someone sitter against that wall? He asked himself. Whatever it was, it wasn't there anymore. Shaking off the cold, Zef went back into the house, only to see a cloaked mage sitting at his table.

     "What the hell!?" Exclaimed Zef.

     Outside the house several neighbors awoke to the sounds of yelling and screaming, and by the time anyone got a chance to look Zef's house was a raging inferno...

______________________________________

     With the Rouglings taken care of, their new timelines showing them leaving Hawksburg and going back to join their team in Alaspar. The mage had one more thing to do.

     She needed to retrieve the Darkening Skull before the Cult of Tharizdun got to it. They were surely operating inside the City of Alaspar now, as they were attempting to charge the Skull by placing it in the warehouse district community homes.

     She pulled out the relic, and reached into it, looking for the place she needed so she could retrieve the skull. She saw the point, reached in, grabbed it and pulled.

     Suddenly she was standing in a room, not the room she had wanted to go. Confusion took hold as she studied her surroundings... cotton wheels, weaving looms, all running unattended... no... not unattended, there were women at the looms, but they were hazy, she couldn't focus on them. Suddenly there was a point of focus, standing next to one of the looms was a small old lady.

     "That's enough mucking about young lady! do you know the trouble you've been causing?" Said the old lady.

     "I know what i've been doing, I'm trying to save the world, not that it's any of your business. How did you interfere, where am I!" stated Estarra sharply.

     "You are where I want you to be." stated the old lady simply.

     "You know not with what you meddle old hag" stated Estarra with a hiss "I'm leaving now" she said as she held out the Relic.

     "Ah, that's how you are doing what you are doing, it's unfortunate, because although I'm aware of your goals, you are going about it the wrong way, you cannot cheat your way through life young lady. Now in order for you to use the power of that Relic your timeline has to be connected here" said the old lady as she pointed to the loom "on the tapestry. I see that you are connected via your alternative self miss Estarra. unfortunately for you..." she reached out and with a snip of her nails cut a thread feeding the Loom that was building the Tapestry. "I've just terminated her fate."

______________________________________

     Estarra woke up in her bed at one of the Inns they had been staying at, she felt odd, disconnected, like she was a square block being jammed into a star shaped hole. Shaking her head she pulled out the Relic, concentrating on it to glimpse at the timelines. Nothing happened. She shook her head and tried again... nothing. She cast a detect magic spell on the Relic, and it was just as powerful as ever, but for some reason she couldn't get it to work for her anymore.

     With a curse on her lips she put away the relic, I guess it's time to do things the old fashioned way she thought as she sought out Desina and Arredondo.

     She later found Arredondo alone in a tavern, spending his money on drink and game. The Tinker Gnome told her that Desina had left last night, something about not trusting the mage, and not willing to work for her anymore. Arredondo had stayed, but only because he didn't have anything better to do.

     She sent Arredondo out to retrieve the Darkskull for her, but endeavored to get rid of the Tinker Gnome because at this point he would be more of a liability.

______________________________________

     It had taken her some time, but eventually, through the use of a lot of money to hire airships, wagons, horse etc, she had managed to get to the Temple. Upon arriving she found a large number of goblins and Hobgoblin corpses strewn about the front of the temple.

     Upon entering she found a man, performing some sort of ritual on another man who was laying down on an alter. She recognized the ritual as a sacrifice type, but it appeared that the man performing the ritual was having difficulty due to some magical augmentations the man on the table had.

     Edging closer she must have made a noise, because the man turned towards her, and attempted to cast a spell at her. Though she was prepared, she quickly released one of the Dispelling Knots on her Greater Rope of Dispelling, thwarting the other casters spell, while reaching forward channeling a Lightning bolt directly into the chest of the attacker.

     The spell was more then the attacker could withstand and he collapsed onto the altar dead. the mage went to the alter to check the attacker, but found nothing of interest on him, the other man was a curiosity though. She cast the Rope Trick Spell and shoved the body of the augmented man into the portal it created next to the alter, his modifications may come in handy later.

     The Mage, Estarra, Leyla, Time traveler, and meddler of fates, walked up the steps to the back of the temple. there waiting for her was an ancient altar, that if the proper ritual was performed, would summon the Temple of all consumption into the physical plane. She knew that if she made some specific adjustments to the summoning ritual, and performed it earlier then the Cult had originally planned, it may put them at just enough of a disadvantage. There was no reason to let the enemy get to their full power if she could do something about it.

     She looked out at the old desolate temple one more time before shutting the double doors to at the top of the stairs and beginning the ritual.

______________________________________

     Leya's eyes, which had been brightly burning with the bright white light grew brighter. She looked up, a single tear rolled down her cheek as her body and that of Estarra were consumed by the blinding white light.

     Slowly the white light faded, laying on the ground was a small collection of clothes and items that had belonged to the two mages, yet there bodies were gone, even memories of them were fading, like a candle light dissipating into oblivion.

Day 35 - Deaths Final Embrace.

Day 35 - Deaths Final Embrace.

Journal Entry of Tyson Harcord.
Corensday, Mycius 16th - Year 867;

     We spent the night gathering information about the surrounding area and the goings on in Sworn. We were here to do a job after all.

     Sworn was significantly smaller than Alaspar, hardly larger then the numerous smaller villages we could have stopped at on the way here. The only difference with Sworn was probably the Warriors Guild, which at the moment stood empty near the large keep in the city.

     While the group was out finding information from the locals I went to the city guard, a man named Elmo - such a peculiar name, almost as if it should have been the name of a children's puppet instead. Elmo was able to furnish me with a key to the Warriors guild after I let him verify my copy of the Warriors guild contract, which I had conveniently concealed between my buttocks during the Court/Jail/Flying Ship situation.

     I bid Elmo adeu and made my way over to the Warriors guild and searched it for clue or treasure, both equally valuable. I found neither. The place had been left as if everyone had simply walked out one day and never came back. There were clothes in the drawer, food in the cupboards, and supplies readily available. In fact Elmo had stated that HE was the one who had locked up the guild when it had been found empty. With all of this confusion I decided to go seek out the group and find out what they had found out.

     Upon finding the group at "The Welcome Wench" the better of the few Bar/Inns in town I learned that they had went out to the Millhouse by the river, apparently Owla's family owned the Mill and she wanted to visit. Unfortunately they found the place vacant, without sign of her family, though they did find evidence of squatters, and from the look of their belongings they may have been a part of this "Cult" we are supposed to be looking out for. Owla was visibly shaken, and the clues didn't look promising if we are to believe the rumors we've heard about town. After some time we decided to call it a night, and resume our endeavors in the morning. I went back to the Warriors guild and spent the night in the Chapter Leader's room (He had an exquisite taste in Telmarine Wine). I believe the group paid for and stayed at the Inn, or slept on Captain Dash's Ship.

_________________________________________________________________________

     The morning rose and the group came together in the Inn of the Welcome Wench. Our questions from the previous night had peaked the interest of one of the tavern inhabitants, A certain Male Human individual named Chatrilon. The man was gruff, and he had an uneasy sense about him, perhaps it was the faint scent of filth that came from him as I'm sure he did not bath often, or perhaps it was something more sinister. My group however did not seem the slightest bit bothered by the man as he immediately offered to show us the way to the Moathouse in person. In fact they were so at ease with him that they accepted without so much of a question to his intentions or motivations. With the group so accepting, who am I to question or complain, I'm sure everything will be alright.

     We gather our equipment, our guide, and our wits, and proceeded to the Royal Pardon, Captain Dash's airship. We boarded the ship and stowed our gear. Zahara, Aura, and Owla went about the basic ship duties Dash had shown them while Balarion, Gwenyth, and Layla went below decks to begin studying and memorizing the magic spells they would require for the upcoming events. Roth pretty much immediately set about the larders looking for food and drink, Dwenicko set to grooming his giant bat mount (Who had taken a liking to perching on the rigging, hanging there like a great black flag.), Toh Yah sat himself on the foredeck to meditate, whilst Ranvier tended to cleaning his weaponry while being subjected to the constant chatter of Arredondo, the Tinker Gnome. I went and sat with Dash at the Helm as he went through his pre-flight checklist and reviewed navigation with Chatrilon, however my attention was not on the events at hand, but more so on Altus -that Lost Ranger- as he appeared to be having an argument with his Bow. He had leaned it against the mast at the center of the ship and was having a very animated discussion with it, sometimes verging on yelling and crying at the bow... I'm going to have to keep an eye on that one, I think the responsibilities he's taken upon himself may be wearing him thin.

     After Chatrilon and Dash had worked out Navigation we cleared launch with the Dry dock and made our way to the Moathouse, Dash making minor course adjustments at Chatrilon's guidance. After some time in the air we could see the Moathouse in the distance. I gave a call to the ship for the group to come above deck and to ready themselves, as we were unaware of what we would be getting ourselves into.

     Dash landed the ship a short distance away from the Moathouse and the group readied themselves to scout out the Moathouse, noticing that Roth and Leyla weren't amongst the group I went below deck to find Roth passed out in one of the bunks, it appeared he had eaten his share of the larders and drunk more then his share of the beer. Layla was there kicking at the big sleeping half orc yelling, cursing and crying. From what she was saying it appears he ate the contents of her spell component pouch along with a few more valuable components she was going to need for the events. 

     Trying to make as little noise as possible I crept back up the stairs, not wanting to evoke the wrath of the neutered sorceress. I got to the top and informed the group that they would need to leave the Barbarian and the Sorceress behind dues to complications. Trying to make the best of the situation Dash volunteered to accompany the group while Arredondo and I stayed back with Chatrilon to guard the ship.

     The party departed, and I watched as they made their way across a grass field and road, weapons drawn and vigilant. I lost sight of them as they crossed what appeared to be a repaired drawbridge. Though mere moments passed before I heard a terrifying Roar, and witnessed a young, yet still massive blue dragon rise from behind the walls of the Moathouse.

     "That's Utreshimon" said Arredondo, point at the dragon with his dagger.

     "You know that dragon!?" I responded, incredulously.

     "No, his name is branded onto his side in Draconic... it's a common enough practice with farm raised dragons, though this one looks like he has escaped." said Arredondo.

     I just stared at him for a bit, the things bards know... Turning my head back to the Moathouse I saw what appeared to be tendrils of stone reach up and pull the dragon down behind the wall again. Watching and listening I heard yells and screams, I saw an Owl flit about above the wall briefly and then viewed Gwenyth rise up, born aloft by her wings.

     After a brief period of time the clamor of battle was over, unsure of the outcome I almost left the Airship to check on the group, the only thing that stopped me was seeing Leyla come above deck, she had the tattered remains of her spell component pouch clutched to her chest.

     "I'm going to gather my components.... I don't know when I'll be back." She said in a huffy tone, with just the slightest sniffle, and turned around and walked away, off the ship and into the surrounding forest.

     "Do you want to bet on whether she comes back or not?" said Arredondo.

     "No, I'm sure she will, there's something more to that mage then she lets on." I replied.

     Hearing a grunt I turned back to the stairwell that led below decks and saw Roth bleary eyed coming out. 

     "Roth, go help." I said pointing at the Moathouse. Roth nodded, pulled out his Axe and ran off towards the Moathouse. In the process passing the limping figure of Dash as he returned to the ship.

     "Fucking Dragon!" Exclaimed Dash as he approached.

     "Do you need me to get the Med Kits?" I said to him as I helped him onboard.

     "No, I'll heal on my own without issue, just get me to my bed" said Dash softly and I guided him to his room. Upon laying him down he was out like a light. I tucked him in, put away his boots and weapons, and then left the room, closing the door quietly.

     I came out on deck just in time to witness Chatrilon slice open Arredondo's neck and dump his convulsing bleeding body over the edge of the ship.

     "What the Hell!, you bloody traitor.!" I shouted as I ran at him with my fists raised.

     "What, me a traitor?" He said with a smirk "And how would you know who's side I'm on little Dwarf?" he said as he grabbed me by my neck and lifted me off the deck by my throat with an unhuman like strength. 

     "Why?" I gasped out, as my vision faded away.

     "Because the Dark Lord, Tharizdun, moves in mysterious ways foolish Dwarf." he said as I felt his grip tighten around my neck.

     I could feel my self fading away, my world fading into darkness. With no other choice, I closed my eyes and went limp. Shortly, barely hanging onto life I felt myself thrown from the ship. My body hit the ground and crumpled up. Opening my eyes I watched as the Royal Pardon with Chatrilon at the helm took off, flying away.

     I'm was not sure how long I would live, my throat had been crushed and I was pretty sure my wrist and leg were broken from the fall. I looked over to Arredondo, and could barely make out his hand bloody, reaching upwards, as if to catch hold of the fleeing Airship.

     Mustering what strength I could I started crawling my way over to Arredondo, each movement inciting excruciating pain, almost too terrible to withstand. I'm not sure how, but eventually I made it over to him. I checked his lifeless body for a pulse, but found none. his skin was white from the lack of blood, as it had escaped from the large gash in his neck and had pooled around his body in the dirt and grass. 

     Unsure of what to do next I started to shout for help, but stopped shortly after hearing odd moans and rustling coming from the woods nearby. The air was starting to grow cold, and the grass nearby almost appeared to wilt. I'm sure it's my imagination, but it almost seems as if even the color has been leached out of the world around me, as if even the light is dying.

     ...In case I die I'm writing this down, my group needs to know what happened in their absence, they need to be made aware so that when they come out they can hunt that fucker down...

     ...I can hear noises from the forest, it appears something is drawing them out. The air is really cold now, I can see my breath. I can't move, my leg has locked up, it's going to be tough to get out of here...

     ...I can't move, they are here, if I move they will find me...

     ...Trying to figure out something to do I started checking Arredondo's corpse... He isn't Heartsmithed...

     ...Was his eyes open before...?

     ...was he looking at me before...?

     *There is some blood splattered here, mixed in with the ink, it is illegible*

Day 33 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Coming Together)

Day 33 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Coming Together)

     Arredondo has washed out, he had lost it all gambling, in a drunken stupor. He found himself
camped out on the side of road, leading into the Dry docks, playing his Lute, begging for change.

     He had been sitting there for some time when he noticed an Elf walking by. The elf was very familiar, and the tinker Gnome was struggling to remember when he called out to the Elf, "Stranger, can you spare some coin?". The Elf stopped, gave him a quizzical confused look, and then handed him a gold piece.

     The Gnome was looking at the coin when it snapped, the Elf was one of Tyson's new party members, one of the ones they had attacked. Looking up, the Gnome saw a way to make things up to this Elf, and in the meantime, maybe make some money, and not live on the streets.

     The Gnome ran up to the Elf, yanking on his coat "Mister, I can help!"

Day 33-34 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Coming Together, Continued)

Day 33-34 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Coming Together, Continued)

Ship Log of the Royal Pardon, Captain Dashing 
Alsday-Erlsday, Mycius 14th-15th - Year 867;

     My little white lie bought me one day, which really sucks, how am I supposed to get work, as a captain of a ship without a crew! 

     I spent my day searching for work, begging pleading, even willing to do some things I'd really rather not talk about, ever, to anyone. But yet in the end I didn't get squat, I literally didn't have two copper pieces to rub together. The day was winding to an end and when I returned to my ship at the dry docks of Alaspar I was greeted by several agents of the Port Authority. 

     They demanded that I undock and leave, even going so far as to tell me that I Captain Dash, the Dashing, was not allowed to come back and use the docks of Alaspar until I paid my past due payments and provided them with a deposit!

     I was in the middle of arguing with the lead Port Authority agent when a Elven Man and a Tinker Gnome walked up, literally cutting the Port Authority Agent off, mid sentence.

     "I Noticed that you need to leave, and you need to make money. My friend here and I are in need of transport to the city of Sworn, If you take us, I will find you work that will get you paid. In the meantime my friend and I will cover any punitive cost necessary to get us to our destination." said the little Tinker Gnome... in one breath, very quickly.

     With the Port Authority Agents forcing me out, the gnome and his friend seemed like my only reasonable recourse at the time, so I gave the Agent the bird and turned around. and led the two onto the Air Ship.

     "Welcome to the Royal Pardon, I don't have a crew, so I'll show you what I need you to do, and i expect you to learn it quickly, we set sail now." With that I walked over the to docking ramp, pulled it in, told the Port Authority Agent "that I was the father of his newest brother or sister that would be about in roughly 9 months, and that I'd see him later" (though to be honest I may have used fewer words than that), and disconnected the moorings.

********

     We had be flying for a few hours when I noticed Black smoke billowing from somewhere near the edge of the sea of reeds. For some unknown reason I felt that I should steer that way, and soon my suspicions were correct, there appeared to be one of the Gnomish made (read rocket powered) merchant zeppelins that the city will occasionally hire to ship out prisoners and goods. Someone had landed it right in the of the tall grass, left the rocket engines roaring away, and the ship appeared to be positively swarming with undead, no doubt drawn by the noise of the engines.

     It didn't take long, for what I knew was inevitable to happen. As more and more undead clamber into the rocket engines of the ship it soon clogged up with the burnt remains of the undead, the pressure built up and the damn thing blew up. It was a crazy sight to see, mushroom cloud and everything. At first I had thought we were far enough away to avoid any of the debris from the explosion but that proved untrue when a large chest land smack dab on the deck next to the Elf Ranvier. I was at the helm watching him as he walked over to it, opened the chest, and then start freaking out over what he has seen.

     I watched him squirm for a bit before making my way over to his side to see what was in the chest. Upon approaching I first smelled it, and assumed it was one of the undead that had somehow gotten into a chest and been flung on deck. I readied my Elven Courtblade, which was strapped across my back, and got closer to Ranvier. I could hear him sniffle and mutter the name "Mik", and upon looking inside the chest I could see the body of a large man who was not an undead. I relaxed.

     "You knew him?" I asked.

     "Yeah, he was my friend." replied the elf.

     "Well good, that means we are going the right direction. Oh Look!" I said as I pointed to the small bronze porthole on the man's chest. the elf didn't seem to get what I was pointing at so I reached over, unlatched the port and reached in. Pulling my hand out I show Ranvier, who gave a weird squeel, and I told him about how these magically treated hearts are valuable, and if they are needed to be used, they could be sold for quite a bit of money. He reluctantly took the squishy heart, holding it out on the palm of his hand like it was going to bite him.

     With a sigh of frustration I went into my cabin and found a small box, which I then put the heart into and gave back to him.

     We resolved to keep the chest for the time being as the elf wanted to have a proper burial for his fallen friend, so we closed the chest and moved it out of the way.

     We again set the ship in motion heading in the direction of Sworn from the remnant's of the zeppelin, sure that we would soon come across the Elf's missing friends.

********

     We had been flying for a good deal of time and dawn was upon us. Ranvier and Arredondo were on lookout for the party while I was at the helm, when I heard Ranvier shout "There I see them!"

     I rushed to the edge of the ship and looked in the direction that Ranvier was pointing and saw a group of people in the distance embattled with a large group the undead, and looking to the west of the group I saw a very large horde of undead that appeared to have adjusted it's direction and was moving towards the group, they would soon be overrun!

     Jumping into action I brought the ship to a hard landing near the group. I engaged my magical augmentations, flames bursting from my feet, back and arms, and flew off the ship landing next a large group of undead while bringing my Elven Court blade down on one of them, cleaving it in half.

     Looking towards the boat I saw Ranvier draw his bow and Arredondo his Musket with which they began taking out the undead.

     With the main group, we shortly finished off the remainder of the undead and I rushed them onto the ship, we took off just as the horde of undead broke through the trees and brush into the clearing.

     With the group reunited we stopped on the way to Sworn and performed a warriors cremation of Mik's body. Most members said good things about their lost friend, and the robot even said a prayer I had never heard to some "Becoming God".

     The group got together and one of their members, a dwarf took me aside. we hashed out a deal where he would pay me a specific amount for my services and that if I ever accompanied them on any of their duties I would get a certain percent share. I agreed and we made our way to Sworn, docking at the Sworn Dry Dock just as evening was coming to a close.

Day 32 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Arredondo Bastion)

Day 32 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Arredondo Bastion)



     Money jingle jangled in his belt punch, so heavy that the Tinker Gnome felt he might need to go buy a bigger belt - which he could totally do, now that he was filthy rich.

     He had just got back to his room at the Dirty Knave, an Inn in the trade district of Alaspar, and was going to gather his equipment and prepare to leave, as he knew the Mage, who seemed to have an endless pouch of money, would be on the move after this latest job.

     He casually tossed the odd pouch he had been asked to retrieve on the bed and he went to the foot of the bed and opened the lock on the chest there. As he opened the chest he heard a noise, like a whisper, calling his name. He quickly shut the chest looking around.

     There was nobody in the room.

     Shaking his head he opened the chest again, this time hearing the whisper once more, this time he noticed it came from the bed. Arredondo slowly stretched, standing on his tip toes to look over the lid of the chest. There was nothing on the bed except for the bag.

     Lowering the lid to the chest, Arredondo watched the bag, it seemed to move just ever so slightly, slightly pulsing as if something inside struggled to be free. The Tinker Gnome slowly walked around the bed until he was next to the bag. As if in a trance he reached out and held one of the strings that tied the bag shut, wondering if he was out of his mind, wondering what in the hell it was that Mage had asked him to get. He felt the curiosity gnawing away at his brain, unable to be sated with the current situation.

     He slowly began pulling on the string, drawing it out, watching as the loops of the knot grew smaller and smaller. As he did this he felt the rumbling, rhythmic, pulsing from inside the bag grow stronger.

     He paused, just briefly, as he felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him, an irrational fear and terror seeping from the folds of the bag. But in the end his curiosity won out and the string went taught again as he resumed tugging on it.

     The knot was nothing but a small little bundle of leather string, on the verge of releasing whatever thing was inside the bag, when he heard her voice.

     "Put. It. Down." Said the voice.

     Arredondo turned, looking at the source of the voice to see the Mage standing there in his room.

     "Er... How did you know where I was!? I never told you where I was staying!" He gasped out, half from surprise and half from the the effort it had taken for him to get this far with the knot on the bag.

     "Do you honestly think that I would employ you without knowing where you slept?" She stated bluntly. "Now give me the bag" she held out her hand.

     Glancing back at the bag The Gnome felt the urge to finish what he started, but instead he grabbed the bag itself and tossed it to the Mage.

     With the bag in hand the Mage turned to the door and walked towards it, "Wait!" Squeaked out the gnome "Let me grab my stuff."

     "There is no need" Said the Mage as she glared down at him with her piercing eyes "Your services are no longer needed" and with that she walked out of the room, not even bothering to shut the door.

     "Wha... Wait!" Shouted Arredondo as he ran for the door. Sticking his head out into the hallway he looked up and down the hallway, in either direction, there was no indication that the Mage had even been there.

     He gathered his belongings, and left the Inn, standing in the middle of the street he resolved himself to find the Mage and get his job back, it just paid too damn much. He reached up to the beads around his neck, intending to use the powers of the beads to transform and scout the city for the mage, but as he took hold of the beads he felt the entire thing crumble to pieces. Starting at the bits in his hand he muttered "Some gift Mage".

     He spent the rest of the night looking for the Mage and the last other remaining companion Desina (The Chain Fighter), but was unable to find any trace of them, and questioning only brought up quizzical looks.

     Inevitably he found himself sitting in one of the seedier gambling houses in the entertainment district with a drink in hand, wondering what he was going to do. Looking up from his glass he could see the bar top with about 5-6 empty glasses already on it.

     That when he heard the whoop from behind him. he turned and saw an Elven scurve standing at one of the gambling tables, shouting and getting pats on the back. Arredondo reached into his pouch and felt the large number of coins there and smirked to himself, the faintest glimmer of greed in his eyes.

Day 32 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Introduction of Captain Dash)

Day 32 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Ranvier's Catch-up: Introduction of Captain Dash)

Ship Log of the Royal Pardon, Captain Dashing 
Day of Penance, Mycius 13th - Year 867;

     Today did not start very well. I awoke to the sound of yelling upon the deck of my ship, the crew from what I could tell. Casually tossing the arm of the tavern wench from my chest, I rolled myself out of bed, all while pulling on my trousers. Upon exiting the cabin door I witnessed what appears to be my first mate, Vanity, arguing with some official looking bloke. I strode up to them catching Vanity's eyes in the process, pretty sure I hear her say "Oh Fuck". 

     "What this now?" I asked while coming upon the poor Port Authority Agent. The man turned to me slack-jawed staring in wonder at the modifications to my body, a large multitude of magical enhancements i've had added over time, as I realized I had forgotten to don my coat. 

     "Wha...what is all THAT?" He asked as he motioned towards me

     "None of your business" I replied as I placed my hand on his shoulder and turned him towards the docking ramp "And that was very rude of your to ask sir, why are you on my boat?".

   

 "Uh... overdue...er...overdue payments sir. You must move your boat or pay your dues, the city is evicting you." He said, obviously still distracted and attempting to hand me what looked to be like some kind of official notice. I took the notice from his hands, noting it bore the seal of the City Port Authority, and gave him a gentle shove onto the docking ramp while mumbling "thanks".


     I opened the document and was standing there reading the eviction notice - BY TONIGHT! -  when I heard Vanity walk up to me.

     "You know we docked on the other side right?" She asked, as I looked up at her, the comments barely registering.

     "SHIT" I heard my self blurt out as I turned to the side of the ship where I assumed the docking ramp was... nothing but open air greeted me. 

     Straining over the edge I could just barely make out what appeared to be a commotion on the streets several hundred feet below the ship. 

     "Uh... Vanity, you should probably contact the port authority and let them know one of their agents just committed suicide from my ship... see if they'll give us a discount too, this was very disturbing, I think I'm scarred."

     "You know Dash... you are such an ass." She said looking over the edge "I can't believe i'm doing this... Dash, i'm leaving." She said, looking up at me. "The rest of the crew is gone, they left this morning, we've been docked for a week, out money is all gone, you haven't been able to get any work, and all you've been doing is whoring around... I can't... I... I'm just done, I'm sorry." She said this as she handed me her First Mate's hat, and turned away, walking to the docking ramp on the other side of the boat.

     She didn't even glance back at me as she walked down that ramp.
   
     I don't know how long I was standing there when the wench came out of the cabin, half nekid, clutching her cloths to her chest. She came up to me, dropping her clothes to the ground and putting her arms around my neck, kissing my chest.

     "No... you... you should probably go" I said in a daze as I broke her grip, stooped down and grabbed her clothes. I gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek and I gave her a gentle shove off the boat and onto the docking ramp.

     "Fucking Hell" I started as the brief scream registered almost immediately.

     Looking over the edge was not a pretty sight. I resolved myself to get dressed and go to the Port Authority, I had to file a report about one of their agents that had stumbled upon my boat in a drunken stupor with some whore, and with a vow of eternal love they had both jumped from my boat to certain death. I was pretty sure this would buy me a few more days if I played my cards right.

Split groups

Fire Creature Template

Creating a Fire Creature

“Fire” is an inherited or acquired template that can be applied to any creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

A fire creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here. Do not recalculate the creature’s Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saves, or skill points if its type changes.

Size and Type

Animals or vermin with this template become magical beasts, but otherwise the creature type is unchanged. Size is unchanged. Fire creatures gain the fire subtype. Fire creatures encountered outside the elemental plane of fire also have the extraplanar subtype.

Special Attacks

A fire creature retains all of the special attacks the base creature had plus also has the following special attack:

Heat (Ex): A fire creature's body is intensely hot, so its unarmed attacks & natural weapons deal 1 extra point of fire damage per HD. Its metallic weapons also conduct this heat.

Aura of Heat: All creatures within 5' of the Fire elf at the end of the round take 1 point of Non-lethal damage per HD due to heat exhaustion; this can be surpressed at will.

Spell-like Abilities

A fire creature has the following spell-like abilities: At Will-Heat Metal, 1/day-burning hands, Caster level equals the creature’s HD, and the save DC is Charisma-based.

Special Qualities

A fire creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following.

Fire Resistance 5

Takes X 1.5 times as much damage from all cold damage.

Abilities

Increase from the base creature as follows: Dexterity +2, Charisma +2.

Day 32 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Continued)

Day 32-33 - Deaths Final Embrace. (Continued)

Journal Entry of Tyson Harcord.
Day of Penance, Mycius 13th-14th - Year 867;

     They left his lifeless body in the hall while the Leader berated the Paladins for their poor performance, the paladins had been instructed to take their downed companion to be shipped off to retraining, and then to come back and retrieve Mik's body. The Jailhouse guard followed the Paladins out, possibly trying to figure out what the hell he was going to tell his boss about the dead inmate.

     Leyla pointed out that she could see that Mik had a key in his hand, possibly swiped during the brawl, maybe in a final attempt to protect his team by securing their freedom. If he was anything he was loyal, even to the very end. Altus used his weird device, obviously of Gnomish make, to pop open the cell door, fortunately not breaking the door or the lock during the attempt, and we moved out into the hallway to collected the key. We stood there debating what to do next: We could either make a break for it unarmed against an unknown number of guards, or we could have our rogues attempt to infiltrate the rest of the Jail/Court house a possibly find out gear and return it to us, or come up with some other solution.

     We got back into the cell and waited for the Paladin troup to come back and retrieve Mik's body, even waiting a deal of time after that. By the time we decided to make our move the Jailhouse guard had returned and was focusing on filling out a report. Zahara quietly slipped out of the cell and snuck her way right up to the guard. Stealthily she struck, hitting the guard in the head knocking him unconscious. She Quickly lowered his head down to the desk while deftly searching his body. She found a set of keys, a billy club wrapped in leather (a little bit large, but she could hold it in two hands), a flask of ale, and some spare change. Going through the desk she found a further four clubs, which she immediately disbursed to the other two rogues, some paper, ink and inkpen which she took.

     After placing the flask on the desk, open with a little of the brew spilled on the table for effect, and positioning the guard as if he had passed out drunk. Zahara and Aura stepped out into the hallway and with a glance back at us, changed themselve to look like guards. Owla stayed back with us and guarded the door into the Jailhouse hallway, ready to deal with any stray guards. Resolving to  be as inconspicuous as possible, we went about opening the cells of our other compatriots and gathered in the primary cell.

     Time passed, we all waited straining our ears to hear any sounds of fighting or alarm, but thankfully none ever came. Eventually Owla whispered that there were two guards approaching, quickly she scurried back over to the cell and got inside, shutting the door behind her. The guards walked into the Jailhouse hallway, and shifted into the forms of two halflings.

     Joining us in the Cell, the Rogueling twins described to us the events that transpired since leaving. They had scouted out, finding the janitors office, a stairway leading up to the barracks and mess hall, a short hallway leading to the courtroom, and a corridor leading to the morgue, evidence room, and barracks supply rooms. On the way they had encountered several guards, but none of them had noticed that the Roguelings weren't the guards they posed to be. In fact, their disguises were so well done that as soon as Aura had walked into the Storeroom she was mistaken to be the guard that was to relieve the two who had loaded up a cart that was designated to accompany some of us to the Deadlands.

     They told us about going into the evidence storehouse and stumbling upon none other than a member of the mysterious mage's party, the Tinker Gnome - Arredondo. He was attempting to pick the lock on an evidence chest that had their supplies in it; but was failing horribly, because as he said himself "Dammit, I'm a Bard, not a rogue!" Soon after approaching the gnome, however, he was able to see through Aura and Zahara's illusory disguises and made a bargain with them. He wouldn't alert the guards and get them caught, if they would just open the chest and let him retrieve the item he had been paid to get.

     Inevitably, backed into the corner as they were, they accepted his proposal. After taking what he was after he used a magic device he had to turn himself into a gaseous cloud and fly away out of a vent in the wall. Upon inspection the roguelings had found that the Gnome had taken Leyla's bag of holding, containing the Ebony Skull. With little time left the roguelings formulated a plan that involved altering the court records that were attached to the front of their evidence chest; modifying them with false names, changing the charges to "Prostitution", and then changing the penalties to "A term of servitude, fighting in the Dead Lands, not to exceed 6 months, or death, whichever came first". They then quickly swapped out the supply chests from the cart that was going to the dead lands with the chest with our gear in it and an empty chest (which they loaded up with Mik's body). After adding the cages containing the party's various pet, companions, and familiars into the cart they covered them with sacks of supplies and made their way back to the Jailhouse.

     After all was said and done they had returned to the cell without incident. We locked up and waiting. Morning came finding most of us unrested, worried that our desperate plans would work. A new guard came to relieve the Jailer, but had found him "passed out drunk" at his desk. The Jailer was pulled out into the hallway where we could barely make out hearing the relieving officer yelling at him. Later, we were gathered up and transported outside, passing two more guards who were getting fired for leaving their post in the storeroom during the night. They chained us up in the back of a cart and drove us to the dry docks where we were forced to board a Zeppelin Air Ship, from the way it looked it belonged to mercenaries, and was not a City vessel.

      After being brought onto the ship we saw our cart being loaded along with all of our stuff; a good indicator that the plans laid by the Roguelings was working. They led us down below deck and locked us up inside of some flimsy wooden cells that we could have easily broken out of. We didn't, but only because there was no need.

     There were other prisoners being transported to Sworn, a dark skinned Human beggar (from the look of him) and a Dwarf.

     After securing all of the prisoners, the guard troops, and  supplies on the ship we felt ourselves cast off. It was an odd sensation, one not unlike swinging from a tree branch on a rope as a child. This time, instead of just hanging on a rope, it was the entire ship that was swinging... from a floating balloon.

     We had been flying for several hours when Roth pulled something out of his pants that none of us knew he had, in fact, at first I thought he had just scratched his butt and was attempting to examine something he had found. But, it was in fact something that he had somehow managed to hide from our jailors; a large coin with what appeared to be an anchor on it. He just smiled at us, didn't say anything and placed the coin gently down on the floor. As soon as he placed the coin down the strangest thing happened. The entire ship stopped very abruptly, almost as if some giant creature had reached up and grabbed it. The resulting chaos due to the stop was more disconcerting, because everyone found themselves thrown forward. a few of us managed to not get hurt by colliding with the walls and each other, but most were bruised. I couldn't tell if anyone had been significantly injured, but I could hear screaming in the distance though even that seemed to fade away.

     Roth picked up his coin and then proceeded to break down the cell door, where we found that the people in the other cells had already done the same. the two sailors who had been in the Cell block were out cold, having been thrown a good 10 feet head first into a wall. We quickly searched our level of the ship and found the storage area that contained all of our equipment. Quickly suiting up we spread out to secure the ship, but found quite the harrowing site. All but 10 of the 40 crew members of the Airship were gone, presumably thrown from the deck of the ship, including the pilot and captain.

     This put us in quite the odd position. we were about 16k feet up, on the outskirts of the sea of reeds (a dangerous place to crash land) and none of us knew how to pilot the Gnomish craft. That didn't stop the party though, they immediately all started turning knobs, pressing buttons, and pulling levers. Now i'm not fluent in Gnomish, but I could swear one of the buttons was clearly labeled as "Emergency Balloon Release", thankfully none of the team members pressed that button. Eventually it appeared that Altus had gotten a basic enough understanding of what the controls did and he was able to gradually land the Airship at the edge of the Sea of Reeds, just a short 200 foot run from the Airship.

     We all agreed that it would be best to get off the ship and out of the reeds before the inevitable happened and we prepared for what we knew was strewn all about in the sea of tall grass. The undead had long ago claimed this area as their own and no attempts to eradicate them had succeeded to this day. As we were getting ready to run, I saw that Roth had gathered the remaining ten crewmen and bullied them into forming a meat shield around himself. I was dwelling on that when the signal to run happened, we all jumped from the perfectly good Airship into the Sea of Reeds, and ran for our lives. Almost immediately I heard screaming, the crewmen, I could see undead stirring all around us. I put my heels to the dirt and ran like death was at my feet (because it was!).

     We all emerged from the tall grass more or less at once, and by all I mean all but the crewmen. It appears that all of them were taken by the undead in the grass. We gathered and continued moving, trying to place as much distance between us and the undead as possible, though it appears that they did not leave the grass for some reason. After hours of walking through an eclectic landscape, sometimes consisting of forested trees, sometimes of short grassed meadows, and sometime barren scarred desiccated landscape.

     Eventually we stopped in a copse of trees and made camp. We built a fire, laid out our sleeping mats and set up a watch schedule. with the day winding down, and things finally appearing like they would be much, much better.

     I awoke with a start to find a stranger in our camp, an old lady warming herself by our fire. The rest of the party was already awake, speaking with the lady. She was pretty short with her answers but the questioning of the party revealed that she was in fact the lesser deity known as Fate. She appears to be one of the few godly beings that escaped the destruction of the great war. She explained that she was here to help us, as she had a vested interest in our fates. Though she neglected to tells us why she had that interest.

     What she was offering was a trade, give her something, and she will give us something. the catch was we could just agree to the trade or not, she would then determine the terms of the trade. With that the only member of the party who seemed reluctant was the Lost Ranger, but he in the end choose to accept also.

     The first to go was Roth, he stepped forward accepting her offer. She reached up to his chest and touched him lightly saying "From you I will take your mind, but I give you Ferocity!". Before our eyes we watched as Roth grew bigger, muscles rippling from his body, his body sprouted hair everywhere, his fingers lengthened - claws sprouting from the ends. His teeth lengthened becoming points, growing to a point where he couldn't quite close his mouth without some of them jutting out from between his lips like tusks. We watched all this, but when he looked at me I could see the faint glimmer of intelligence that had barely had a grip on the creature fade, his eyes darkening until they were just the blank black disks of an animal.

     Next the newcomer Toh Yah stepped forward, and she went to him. She took from him his will, but gave him his heritage. He sprouted scales, his skin color deepening with a red tint. His muscles lengthened taunt, ready to snap at a moments notice.

     The Paladin Gwenyth went next, sensing no evil from Fate she took her gift. Fate glorified the Paladin, and gifted her with the glimmer of divinity. She grew white Angelic wings, her skin now glowing slightly. But, Fate cursed her, taking from her memory of things new and old. She would forever live as if every day were her first and her last.

     The other Dwarf stepped up, offering to accept her gift. "Like a leaf on the wind you will flow through the forest, like the vermin of the field you will devour your enemies" She said as she placed her hand upon his head "Though your mind cannot handle this gift, so I shall take your sanity" As she said this we watched as the dwarf turned into sand, then fell apart to the ground, only to turn to leaves and flutter around, then into locust, which crawled up each other until it had formed a roughly dwarf sized heap, which then became the Dwarf again.

     The rogueling Zahara went next "From you I take your Father!" she said as she took a vial of ashes from the rogueling. I could see the rogueling twist with shock, reaching for the vial, the renunciation of her agreement on her lips. But there was no stopping Fate. She opened that vial and wove her fingers above it and said "But I give you your blood!" with that she dumped the vial over Zahara's head, but rather than creating a giant mess of ashes, blood poured forth from the vial and soaked into Zahara's skin. Soon there was no trace of the blood left as her skin had drunk every drop. I could see her skin shimmer as if something deep inside her had changed.

     The rogue-scout Owla went next. Fate said there was a sickness in her blood, but that sickness would become her strength. Owla paled slightly as fate's magic took effect, and her features sharpened, becoming more avian in appearance.

     Leyla stepped forward reluctantly. "There is great power in you" said fate, "but great sorrow also. I will help you harness that power but when this is all done and over you will die." Leyla, looked down. if she changed at all she did not give tell.

     Aura seeing what had happened to Zahara was reluctant to accept. Maybe it was because she had never really known her father, or maybe because he was already gone, but she did eventually accept Fates bargain, only... Fate did not take her father, she took her mother. Tears streamed down Aura's face as she realized what she had done, and she too changed inside, body shimmering ever so slightly.

     Altus held back, on the verge of telling Fate to leave and never return. As he was turning away he gazed off into the distance, squinting, almost like he saw something off on the horizon. He stopped, slowly pivoting, as if something tugged at him, a doubt perhaps. "I will take your deal crone, but do not cross me..." he said as he looked down. She stepped up to him and ran a finger down his cheek as she took his bow from his shoulder, "Shhhh... You may have your sister back, but she will never known peace again." Her words were just beginning to register with Altus as she handed him his bow back, it was glowing slightly as if recently enchanted, and a faint crying could be heard coming from it. "Pray she forgives you child"

     And then she was no longer there, vanished, or never there, the only things that remained were her gifts and curses both....