Year 26435 A.B.

Once again I’m writing this from my cabin in the ship, and once again we are sailing for Eknil, much sooner than expected. The gnomes are with us as we cannot help but uproot the lives of others, though most of them are certainly willing enough in this case, at least.

Elliphany and I spoke with Dan-Ei the village leader and his son, Dong-Ei, about our situation the morning after our crash landing. They told us that the chains would keep pulling the ship inland to the mouth of the cave and eventually crush it, so we decided it would be best to go get the captain and a few others to bring back to the village to better decide a course of action.

Elliphany and I went back to the ship with a couple of the gnomes who came with us to aid our direction. Upon arrival we saw that the ship had been dragged at least ten feet inland by the chains, exactly what we were told would happen. I spoke with the captain about the situation while Elliphany went out on the dinghy with a few of the crew and guards to find her familiar that was blown away and injured by storm, trapped on a rock or debris near the island. When she came back I healed his broken wing, and we started back for the village with the captain, first mate, the ship’s carpenter, and two of the king’s guard.

Upon arrival at the village we found an argument taking place, and came to find that it was about the ultimate fate of the village. Their survival had depended until this point upon scavenging supplies from the ships that the chains pulled in on a regular basis. The very fact that we survived the ordeal was throwing their own survival into question. Ultimately it was decided that they would assist us in an attempt to go into the cave, find the source of the chains, and destroy or get rid of it; most of the villagers seemed to agree, though there were a few that were resistant to the idea.

While this discussion was taking place, a few of their warriors had to run off to defend the area from a goblin raid, though they acted very casual about it; I assumed that it was a fairly common occurrence. This particular raid, however, turned out to be less than what they considered to be normal, much larger and longer lasting than any of them had expected or seen before. They were still able to defend against it easily enough, and we knew that if we were going to go into the cave, it needed to be then.

The first part of the cave was fairly uneventful, filled with troglodytes and kobolds as expected, with the green chains running taught along either side of a central wall. Dong-Ei and the dragon priestess came with us along with another of their warriors named Goon, as well as all four King’s Guard, which made the going much easier. We did find a supply cache, lending more credence to the idea that the gnomes would come with us when we departed the island. I also found a gorgeous new scythe that looks as though it had never been used, the edge so keen and sharp that one could split a hair in twain, or an entire kobold for that matter.

The source of the chains turned out to be a bloody mind flayer that had taken up residence in the back of the cave, using great green crystals to focus its energy. The chains themselves came from a massive portal filled with the things at the back wall of the place, all glowing the same, caustic green as the crystals. The mind flayer put up some sort of magical shield around himself, rendering him unreachable.

We set Goon to guard our rear flank and bade the priestess stay near to him. After clearing some of the kobolds and troglodytes from the cavern, we were able to go after the crystals to try to break the mind flayer’s power. Dong-Ei got the first one, and immediately after a new chain lashed out at him from the writhing mass at the back and smote him down. His body was cut into two pieces that then burnt to naught but ash. I broke the next crystal and managed to dodge the chain that lashed out, but the royal guardsman that broke the third wasn’t so lucky, and nearly got killed himself.

Upon the breaking of the third crystal, the chains stopped glowing, and at the same time the mind flayer’s shield went down. I immediately moved over to the thing and struck as hard as I could just as a huge form made of nothing but chains stepped out of the portal at the back of the room. My strike brought the mind flayer to the ground, only to feel a dagger in my back! We had failed to kill Darkhands it seems, despite throwing him off a balcony, and he had followed us, presumably hiding on the ship.

Elliphany came through just then, tossing some sort of orb in the midst of the three of us, which promptly exploded. Amazed to find myself unharmed, I saw the mind flayer had been knocked over and looked near death, so I laid into Darkhands. A portal of some sort had opened behind him, and Elliphany was urging us to try to push him through. In short order we had the mage surrounded, and I suppose he must have realized that the odds were against him; instead of facing us, the coward slipped through the portal and disappeared. Elliphany chased him through, but came back reporting there to be no sign of him.

With our goal accomplished, we retreated from the cave. The chains were easy to remove from the ship now that the mind flayer had been dealt with and the decision was made that the gnomes would come with us. In the end, it turned out to be an easy choice, especially after they not only repaired the ship, but built living quarters for themselves into it. We salvaged all the supplies that we could from the village and cave before setting out from the island. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

There is a gnome
His name is Goon
He likes to spin
And seal your doom

Year 26435 A.B.

I find myself feeling remarkably refreshed, and have to say that was probably the best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time. As I sit in this hut I can smell the morning damp on the vegetation outside through the open window. It’s been a little over a month since my last entry, and there are a few events to note down.

Firstly, one day about a week into our trip, Das failed to arrive for the morning meal. As he had been quite prompt about such things before, this immediately struck both Elliphany and I as odd. We searched the ship, eventually coming to his room, which was unlocked, but empty. Some of his personal effects remained, but Elliphany sensed the residual energy of a portal, suggesting that Das had taken his leave of our plane yet again. While I am annoyed that he appears to have abandoned us, again, I also find myself wondering how old he will appear if he happens to come back.

Secondly, and of much more significance, we are now marooned on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Last night we saw signs of a storm brewing, and were then surrounded in an unnatural mist, thick enough to blot out navigation despite the growing wind and make visibility difficult. Out of this miasma came two giant, glowing green chains that wrapped themselves around parts of the ship and began to drag us sideways through the water. One of the crew touched one of the chains and we watched his hand disintegrate before our eyes; why they weren’t doing the same to the wood of the ship is a mystery yet. Between the waves and the ship being pulled to the side, we lost some crewmen during the ordeal. Eventually, after a rather harrowing ride, the chains beached us on the shore of this island and we came to a stop, though they remained attached to the ship.

Immediately after this we were set upon by a band of Troglodytes and Kobolds. If I’m honest though, between Elliphany, myself, the guards, and the sailors, we made rather short work of them. Just after, we were approached by some diminutive figures wearing large, carved wooden dragon masks. On a hunch I greeted them in draconic and they began to babble at each other, though I couldn’t understand a word.

They got closer to us as one ran off, coming back a bit later with another. This new figure spoke to me in broken draconic, clearly unfamiliar with the tongue, and I replied in kind, causing the lot of them to get somewhat excited. We found them to be gnomes after they removed their masks, and I attempted to make some conversation with them. After some talk and translating for the benefit of the others present we found out they knew basically nothing about the chains that grabbed us aside from that the cave they came from was where their “honored elders” went to die. At this moment I don’t even remember the name they gave the place, I may have to ask them again. We also are apparently not the first ship to get pulled to the island by those chains, just the first to survive.

The gnomes invited me specifically back to their village for a feast, calling me a name I didn’t recognize, and I asked if I could bring Elliphany. They called her an honored friend, rather enthusiastically, and began leading us away.

I’ll attempt to summarize a bit here. We found out that I’m supposed to be part of an ancient prophecy these gnomes have had since they first were marooned on this island generations ago, and that I’m a “dragon who walks” that is supposedly associated with the dragon god they worship. I’ve held my tongue protesting about it, but if I’m honest I’m not really comfortable being associated with a god that is not my own. As part of this prophecy, I’m supposed to be the one to “save their people from a great evil” as they put it, but it was difficult to get them to elaborate any further. Typical prophecy content, vague and unhelpful.

They feasted us, then asked that I “drink deep” of some stuff they presented to me in a bowl, stuff that came from what they called the “dirty boat.” I was hesitant, but they insisted, so I took a mouthful. I suppose this would still be considered a fair amount by smaller creatures.

The hallucinations that were presented to me were terrifying, and it is difficult for me to describe what I saw. I saw the world. I saw beneath the world. There seemed to be a constant theme of distorted flaming gnomes dancing and giggling madly. I seemed to come out of the trip several times only to fall back into it, and I ended up puking up the stuff in the end. I seem to recall Elliphany laughing and a lot of hands, and then I woke up in the hut where I am now.

Upon waking I was greeted by the sight of the gnome priestess sitting by my bed with a sketchbook, drawing me as I slept. There was a bit of awkward conversation between us (I have to say I feel she’s trying too hard when she attempts to speak draconic, she’s always attempting to use large words without the proper grammatical context, which makes conversation difficult), and I found that these people had no idea there was any land other than this island. Instead, from what I could gather, they thought there were nothing but giant boats sailing the endless waters. I dispelled this notion, and made a few other revelations to her, such as the fact that I’m not the only one of my kind by far, at least to my current knowledge.

If there’s anything I might take from this experience, considering just how hale and clear-headed I feel this morning, it’s that alcohol is one of the worst things you can drink if you want to intoxicate yourself. Compared to whatever it was that I drank, it doesn’t inebriate you in near as spectacular a fashion, and the headache and hangover the morning after make you regret everything you did to get you there. With this stuff, the trip might be terrifying – I certainly wasn’t ready for it – but the morning after you feel you can take on the world, which is good, considering we might have to.

Year 26435 A.B.

I find I cannot sleep and must sort out recent events. Perhaps putting my thoughts to paper will put them to rest in my head. At this moment I am sitting in the hold of a ship, heading towards Eknil, towards home, and I find I am filled with conflicting emotions from the events that have unfolded since my last writing. This will likely be a rather long entry, as I feel so much of note has happened in the short amount of time since my last entry.

To begin, it wasn’t long after Elliphany and I arrived back at my apartment that Northrop came knocking at my door, decidedly concerned for us. The ensuing conversation led to us telling him everything, from how we got hired by Eisenheim right up to killing his brother Matthew a couple of hours previous. Northrop also told us that he’d seen someone snooping around my apartment earlier in the day while we were out, which of course was rather suspicious at the time. We shared some wine with him before he left and I set about making some food for Elliphany and myself.

Later in the evening, while digging into the book about doppelgangers, I was surprised to hear another knock at the door. Upon looking out the window, I saw a figure similar to that which Northrop had described earlier. Wishing for more protection than just my scales and the shirt I was wearing, I opened the door with some hesitation only to be confronted with a sight I wasn’t sure I should believe.

It was Das standing at my door! Still uncertain, as I feared a doppelganger in disguise, I invited him in, whereupon he told a story that I’m still having trouble grasping. He looks older now, and explained that he had been away for ten years by his perception, on his home plane. He is now the last surviving member of his race by his perception, and came back here to, in his words, finish what he started. During the course of his story he mentioned a few details of what we had gone through on Ginoa that made me feel a bit better about his identity. Elliphany and I told him a bit of what we had just learned about the doppelgangers, how they’re apparently a sort of hive mind and that every individual is connected in some way. With this thought to chew on we decided to retire. I didn’t sleep well.

The next day was fairly uneventful. Das decided to go down to The Pits to try to gather some information, and with the king having just died I decided to go to the temple to see if I could offer my services while Elliphany stayed at my apartment to study the book some more.

Upon arriving at the temple I found it nearly empty, and learned from a servant that the clergy were out in the city, spreading the word of the Raven Queen to the grieving. I decided to do the same, but upon leaving the temple came across something I was quite frankly rather disgusted with. A stack of fliers. Brochures for the priests to hand out. What can a cheap paper teach someone that spoken word cannot? Can a paper provide a blessing, or comfort a grieving mother? I put the fliers back where they lay an went on my way, wondering if the priests of Ambrovere actually thought they were doing some good, or if it was pure laziness that drove them to use such methods.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. I managed to provide some assurance to the grieving, worried folk I came across, though the city seemed unusually empty. The only thing of note I heard during the day was someone speaking of all the wood being taken up to the castle for the king’s funeral pyre.

I arrived back at my apartment at around the same time as Das, who was wearing just about the most foul smelling rags imaginable. I only allowed him in after he took the rags off and hung them on a post outside, and then he proceeded to tell us of an abandoned fortress just outside the city that recently suddenly started receiving a supply train. I spoke a little of attending the funeral the next day and we all agreed that it would be something we shouldn’t miss. Das went to take a bath while I cooked dinner, and Elliphany related what she had learned in her studies of the book on doppelgangers that day. There’s quite a bit of information there. For instance, we know they’ve attacked this world before a few thousand years ago and were pushed back by brute force, not to mention quite a few anatomy-related details that should give us a palpable edge when fighting the bloody things.

My sleep, again, was light and fitful. The natural state of the world is out of balance and it is our fault, even if we were ignorant of our actions at the time, and it is…getting to me. Death incorporated into the normal cycle of things is all well and good and is as it should be, but now we have multitudes more dying due to an outside influence, a war that likely would not have happened if not for us. I have to wonder though, now that the matter is on my mind, how did the changelings know when the portal was going to be opened? Was Eisenheim somehow in their employ? At a guess based on what we’ve read of them, they actively travel from plane to plane, seeking to take over other worlds. Perhaps, then, we only sped them along, and if not for us it would have happened some other way. We have no way of knowing.

I got up early the next morning to make breakfast and Elliphany, Das and I came up with a loose plan of action. We rightly decided not to show up to the funeral together, though I, at least, stand out even alone here. I often feel out of place amongst the other races simply due to my size; I stand more than a full head taller than most others, not to mention my draconic heritage. The full set of wings on my back only serves to draw more stares. As a Dragonborn traveling abroad, I vehemently regret my people’s stubborn insistence upon cloistering themselves in one place, if only because we’re now a novelty anywhere else.

I asked Das to assist me with putting my armor on. For all it’s virtues, the fact remains that I found the set of plate in a secret room in a forgotten temple. It wasn’t made for me, and certain parts of it are difficult to put on without help. I thanked my eladrin friend and left, heading for the temple, certain I would receive a warm welcome into their ranks for presiding over the ceremony, as I come from the largest and most revered temple of my Queen on Kalos, and the clergy had been more than welcoming up to this point.

Upon arriving at the temple, I found the high priest arguing with some officials, and came to find that our temple would not be allowed to perform our sacred duty to oversee the funeral and cremation of the king, as has been our right and honor for ages past. We were being allowed to attend, but nothing else.

The ceremony was complete bollocks, though now in hindsight I see the reason for it. We were ushered into the courtyard with only some cursory looks by the guards overseeing the affair, in contrast to the rest of the crowd whom were being checked more thoroughly. Then, in near full silence, four guards came out of the castle proper carrying a cot, upon which lay a dwarven body wrapped in a shroud. With no priests, and no actual ceremony to speak of, they placed the cot upon the funeral pyre the had been erected. The Prince came out then, lit the pyre…and that was it. Not a word spoken by anyone overseeing the funeral. Nothing. Most certainly not a ceremony befitting the man it was centered around.

After, I met with Elliphany and Das, and we decided to go down to one of the seedier pubs in town in an attempt at finding out more about the cargo heading to the “abandoned” fortress. Somehow Das managed to acquire disguises for Elliphany and myself (as though I could effectively blend-in somehow) while I ran back to my apartment to fetch his own disgusting one. We met back up and found a pub down by the docks.

Das managed to engage some dockworkers in conversation, and I let him do the talking as he seemed to have a plan. Somehow he got them talking about moving some illegal cargo, asking to meet with whomever is in charge of such things, and they told up to meet them on the docks later that night. You can imagine our frustration, then, when we arrived at the designated spot and time to find no one around. Das noticed some movement back along the way we came, and we made our way back in that direction. I kicked a door in where he saw the movement at and found myself confronted with the dockworker from earlier.

The ensuing confrontation…I know I shouldn’t find it funny, what we did to this poor man, but I do! Between the two of us, with Das threatening every sort of harm upon the man and his family and myself, well, just being large and able to growl and make other dragon-like sounds, I’m amazed the man didn’t piss himself. We were able to extract from him that he really didn’t know anything about any of what we had asked about, and was just trying to scam us. Das set him to go over the course of the next day and try to obtain some actual information for us, and told him to come back the next night and relate it to us.

…Come to think of it, the wretch is probably still waiting there, as frightened as he was of us. We never did make it back to that crummy, run-down pub.

By the time we arrived back at my apartment, it was rather late, so I immediately knew that something was wrong when I found Northrop waiting outside, apparently for our return. He got up and showed us something rather troubling, a small rune he had noticed inscribed on my door, and described it as a magical trap that would have killed whomever walked through the door, with a potentially late effect of a couple hours. He explained that he was able to counter the magic, which didn’t strike me as odd at the time, though it should have, and also told us that some guards had come buy looking for myself, Elliphany, and “the barbarian,” suggesting that they didn’t know Bharv had split from us, or that Das was with us.

Deciding that my apartment was no longer safe to stay at, we gathered out gear together and went to spend the night in a room that Das had paid for, at an inn on the other side of the city. What a great false sense of security that gave us. We hadn’t been up for long the next morning, and I was in fact half-undressed, in the process of putting the first layers of my armor on, when Das noticed someone outside that door. As he drew his bow, the window at the side of the room broke inwards, and with it came a cylinder of some sort. Das shot the thing out of reflex and it exploded. I think I may have blacked out for a moment afterwards, because the next thing I know I’m surrounded by guards and being tied like a prized hog set for the fire, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

Our captors placed hoods on our heads and dragged us through the city and into a building. They finally deposited us in chairs and tied us to them before removing our hoods, revealing a dark room lit by only a single torch, which was above and in front of me, making it difficult to see anything but the table in front of me and the two guards standing slightly behind me. I growled and was granted a small mote of satisfaction when one of them stepped back a pace.

After waiting a while, someone else came into the room behind me and approached where I was tied. The first action this new person took was to punch me across the face with a steel gauntlet, to which I responded with a roar. Of all the things I had been expecting I don’t think that was one of them. The man asked me then if I was involved in the death of Matthew VonVandercrest and I replied that yes, he tried to kill me so I cut him in half. I felt a blade sink into my side then, professed my ignorance and absence of involvement in the death of the king, and was rewarded with another stab, on the other side this time. Those spots still smart a bit, I think the blade may have scraped my ribs.

The final question put to me was about the changelings and how they got to be here, which I answered as truthfully as I could while leaving out the details of our direct involvement. This time I was rewarded not with steel, but an attack on what felt like the very fibers of my being. I have never felt such pain, and I must have screamed awfully, though I don’t remember. It took me a while to regain my senses after that, by which time I was laying on my side on the floor by the wall, still tied to the chair, and Das had been dragged over to the table.

Our captors hadn’t the chance to begin interrogating my eladrin friend, however, as the door opened and a cloaked figure entered. He demanded that he be allowed to interrogate us by himself, alone, and threatened the reluctant guardsmen with the name of someone called Dark-Hands. They quickly left, and once the door was closed the new figure removed his hood to reveal a face I knew quite well. It was Northrop! He quickly went about untying us explaining that he had been somewhat deceptive with me. Revealing that instead of a mere servant of the guild, he was instead a rather skilled mage in his own right, and was in fact the leader of a somewhat secretive group of mages in the guild tasked with keeping magical order. Northrop had us wait for a few moments while he went out into the hallway alone, then motioned us out. We exited to find the guards in a magical slumber, and proceeded to sneak down the hall to the storage room where our belongings were being kept without incident.

I finally got my armor situated with Das’ help. I really do need to have an armor-smith look at my Plate. As grateful as I am to have found a set of magic plate armor that fits me rather well, and in the middle of a dungeon no less, it’s nigh on impossible to put it on without help, and I haven’t had that issue with other Plate I’ve worn. We attempted to sneak back out of the room, but I happen to be a big clumsy oaf at the best of times, and right then I managed to somehow get my armor to make a rather loud CLANK. This was followed shortly thereafter by the wall in front of us exploding outward, revealing one who could only be the man Northrop had called Dark-Hands, for his fingers looked black with frostbite.

The ensuing fight was not a lengthy one, though it was quite intense. We finally bested the man, and after a little searching of him and his things recovered evidence that he was working with the changelings, and that the king was not dead, but instead held captive in the formerly abandoned fortress outside the city. I said a short prayer for the departed under my breath before we left. No matter the path taken in life, no one should be allowed to come back after death has truly taken them; the body must remain lifeless and the spirit must be sped upon the Long Journey through the Shadowfell to its final destination.

It seemed to us then that the best course of action would be to trek out to the fortress to see if we couldn’t rescue the king. I bid Northrop farewell with an extra thank you for rescuing us before we set out, as he himself was unable to leave the city. It took us the better part of a day to reach the keep in question, and it didn’t take much searching for us to find a place where the crumbling walls had collapsed, allowing us an easy entry point. The fight to take the place was somewhat lengthy, but not nearly as intense as taking on Dark-Hands the day previous. On a side note, my species ability to forcefully vomit acid is somewhat gross to actually utilize, but is quite effective none the less.

We found King Franzibold Bluefoot in the keep’s dungeon, filthy, bruised, and bloody. His formerly glorious beard had been hacked off and he was dressed in rags, sitting in a cramped, dirty cell. We made our introductions while opening the cell and tried to provide a concise explanation of the situation before heading back to the city. The king, even in rags, moved with determination, with a force, and it was all we could do to simply follow in his wake. We were waylaid at the gates to the city for only a moment when the guard didn’t immediately let us in, much to the king’s outrage. His superior recognized His Majesty, however, and once again we were swept up in his wake, all the way up through the city and into the palace, never stopping until we reached the throne room where Prince Thormin Bluefoot sat, veritably draped across the throne.

“Ah Father, I see you’ve managed to dig yourself out of that pit I threw you in,” were the greeting words of the crown Prince to his father, upon whose throne he sat. The following exchange was heated, and the prince revealed that he had put himself in line with the changelings, made a deal with them to secure power for himself. In short order thereafter, the Royal Guard – who had been conspicuously absent at the false funeral ceremony – appeared in the throne room. Apparently they had been doubtful of the King’s death and were waiting for something like this to happen. Instead of going for us like I initially expected, they surrounded the throne, and when next I saw the Prince he was being carried off with one Royal Guard on each limb.

Once King Franzibold had been given some more suitable clothing by his servants, he sat us down and bade us give him a full explanation of what was going on. It is never wise to lie to a king, so we did just that. We gave him the full story, everything we knew, with the king stopping us every so often to ask pointed questions. He declared that the solution we obtained for revealing doppelgangers be replicated in quantity and that everyone in the Kingdom of Brahve be tested with it, himself included. Afterwards, he declared that for our role in the current ongoing disaster and the harm and death caused to the people of Brahve, we were sentenced to beheading. A pregnant pause followed, but His Majesty had another declaration forthcoming. For saving his life and helping to oust his treasonous son from power, and for our ongoing actions to fight and correct the mistake we made at Ginoa, we were pardoned from the beheading. However, we were subsequently banned from the continent as well. King Franzibold told his Royal Guard to see that we were outfitted with a ship and supplies to take us on a one way trip to wherever we wanted to go, pointedly calling us ‘friends’ in the process, so that’s something at least.

I suggested we head to Eknil, as I’m considered the equivalent of nobility there, and I have hope that will be of some advantage to us, whether it be easier access to transportation and supplies or a simple reduction in the amount of people we have to answer to. Perhaps both! I plan to keep my armor packed away while we’re on the ship, plate steel and ocean do not mix well.

Year 26435 A.B.

The city is reeling. There is shouting and weeping in the streets.

The King is dead.

But that’s no where to start a journal entry, is it? With no context? Indeed, I should start where I left off. My apartment was of course trashed due to the sizable earthquakes, but it didn’t take too long to set it to rights. Before long we were able to relax comfortably, and began to peruse the books that we acquired from the library the day previous. Elliphany chose the books titled “Portals and You”, while I chose to delve into the History of Rok’Thull.

What I found while reading the tome has done nothing to ease my mind about what happened, quite the opposite, in fact. The temple was built to purpose as a “concentrator of portals to other planes.” The frightening bit came when I found that the temple on Ginoa was only one of five, and there are four other temples scattered across the globe. Four other powerful relics. Four other potentially world-altering disasters. I still cannot seem to quite come to terms with this fact, and will have to think on it more later.

On what may be a related note, I was able to take a closer look at the newspaper that we picked up yesterday on our way up to my apartment. There were a few articles that stood out to me, namely first that a large source of elderglass has been found and is being brought to the city. The was a very rare substance before, and large amounts such as this are unheard of. Also, an article about corruption in the city guard caught my attention, namely because I have commonly witnessed the guards being quite helpful in the past, and even just yesterday saw a guard go out of his way to help a young boy. I can only wonder if these things are all related to what came out of Ginoa, and I worry.

A couple of the acolytes from the city’s temple of the Raven Queen came by seeking me while we were studying, and I had to leave with them, as they required my aid. There are many, many newly dead in the city, and all of them require proper burial rites and prayers, lest we find ourselves swarming in hated undead.

I was away at the temple for most of the day, and felt that I had not made much of a dent in the seeming infinitude dead awaiting burial rights in the wake of the dire quakes, and more come through the doors every hour. I left the temple with a promise to return on the ’morrow for another shift, and walked home.

A rather odd sight greeted me upon my return. I opened the door with somewhat more force than I normally might to find Elliphany looking somewhat strained and Northrop standing next to her with wine bottle in hand and no shirt. He immediately excused himself in typically awkward fashion only to reappear moments later asking if we had any lockpicks on hand, as his door was locked. Elliphany later explained to me that she had been experimenting with making portals, only to open one up into Northrop’s bathroom. My neighbor works for the Mage’s Guild and dabbled in small tricks himself, and I could immediately imagine how interested he must have been to find a portal in his loo.

I am admittedly not sure how I feel about Elliphany experimenting with portals at this point. The initial incident with Northrop was harmless, with the only thing really wounded being his coinpurse. However, when I arrived home after my second shift at the temple, it was to find the apartment in partial disarray again, with Elliphany sweeping up ashes. Apparently, she managed to make a planar portal and a small fire imp got through. She handled the situation quite well, all things considered, but I still worry, and hope she’ll be more careful in the future.

A couple more days passed by without much further incident, other than I tried to help Barv find Northrop’s missing cat, but to no avail. On our way back from this excursion, Barv and I noticed a great commotion by the main gate, only to realize that it was caused by Prince Thormin Bluefoot’s return to the city. At first, the joy and uplift in the demeanor of the city around us was near palpable; the Price was well loved before his deport to war, being a very kindly man. When the Prince himself went out of his way to show violence towards an elderly woman who had fallen in front of him, however, those memories faded quickly. Many mumbled about how war had changed him as they left, no longer interested in the returning hero.

I was a fool to think I was done with the Vandercrests, to think that Eisenheim’s downfall was the end of it. A hooded man approached us some days after the Prince arrived back at the city and asked after Elliphany and I by name. He then asked if we were once associates of Eisenheim, and said something about our lives being in danger and that we should follow him. He led us to a boat, asking questions all the while. I wasn’t sure if I trusted him and was hesitant to give very thorough answers, and my unease was heightened when we reached an estate and he revealed himself to be one Matthew Von Vandercrest, Eisenheim’s brother.

He immedately struck me as being very pompous, and not particularly caring about much of anything around him but himself. He told us that all he wanted was to speak to us about what happened with Eisenheim. Load of bollocks of course. He took an interest in Barv on the way in, and I learned later that the tiefling took control of him then, to be used against us later. There was still further to walk, and Matthew’s interest remained mostly on myself, asking me very pointed questions about Rok’thull, then became evasive when we asked why.

I have never before seen a place so dedicated to stroking the ego of its owner as the tiefling’s solar seemed to be. He sat down and called Eisenheim a fool, said he knew a large part of what was happening on Rok’thull because Eisenheim had told him before hand. He then held up a crystal and asked if I had ever seen one before. There was a flash of light, and I found myself inside a small space, the walls, ceiling and floor of which were made of purple crystal. Immediately, creatures made of the same began to emerge and advance upon me. Through a combination of using fire breath and my scythe, I began to fight them off, and ended up cracking one of the walls. Upon seeing this, I drove at the spot seeking to break out of my prison.

Upon sucking me through the hole I made in the side and throwing me back into the world, the crystal exploded in fantastic fashion. I turned to glimpse Barv attempting to kill Elliphany as I swung at Matthew, and ended up cutting the bastard in half, sending his torso down into the pit in the center of the room. Barv immediately stopped attacking Elliphany, and said that the tiefling had mind-controlled him. I worry a bit, as some of Matthew’s guard saw us after, and they were wearing city guard colors, suggesting that he had at least part of the city guard under his employ.

We beat a hasty retreat out of the place and commandeered a boat to get back to the mainland, and just as we were pulling into the docks the city alarm bells began to go off, a rare occurrence. Initially, we thought the alarms were because of us, namely myself, having killed Matthew, but the city guards we saw didn’t seem to be paying us any mind. It wasn’t until we were well into the Vale side of the city on the way back to my apartment when the criers started.

The King is dead! The King is dead!

Finally, to add insult to injury, Barv announced that he was leaving us, putting himself into exile as he said he had broken his bloodoath by attacking Elliphany, despite our protests to the contrary. I worry greatly about what Elliphany and I can do by ourselves about the situation we now find ourselves in. What have we wrought upon the world?

Year 26435

May the gods have mercy on our sins, for they are many fold. The consequences of our actions are only beginning to be revealed to us, and they are ever more dire. Ambrovere is in a state of barely controlled chaos. The city has a tension in it, like an overstrained wire. Things look normal enough on the surface; the denizens of the city manage to continue to go about their lives, shops are open, life goes on. But there is strain, too. Every guard I’ve seen is in a hurry, and there is a feeling of unease rippling under everything. Dark rumors abound, reports of strange creatures in the oldest buildings.

Changlings weren’t the only things Rok’thull unleashed upon the world.

On the morning of our second day in the city, we ventured to the Great Library, hoping to obtain some information on what we have done, but found it boarded up, a gnome sitting on the steps searching through a stack of papers. There were creatures inside, he said, coming from the lower level, but the library was not an important enough building to warrant the attention of the Guard. There were other buildings like the City Hall and the King’s palace that took higher priority. Eventually he agreed to let us in and even give us a few books in thanks if we would go in and scout the library for him, which we readily agreed to.

The things we initially encountered in the library spat acid, but luckily didn’t seem too quick, in any regard. We found we had to venture to the lowest level of the place, three very spacious floors underground, in order to obtain what might possibly be the most important of the tree book we were allowed. The floor was torn asunder, a gaping mouth glowing green save a ring of stable surface around the edges. There was something different here, a flying thing that we had to fight off to get the final book, though that is not what has left me to tremble, even now under a safer roof.

No, the horror came on our way out. Monsters swathed in green fire began climbing out of the earthen gullet, followed by a creature larger than I imagined any but dragons to be. I only caught a glimpse as we ran for our lives, but a glimpse was enough. We barely escaped the place alive.

The danger (fortunately?), seemed to be exactly what the librarian needed, and he was able to use a scroll to call for protection of the place. I suppose ’twas more fortunate that we were there to see the Great Wyrm than to have it appear at all.

I fear this is only the beginning.

Upon leaving the library, I suggested to my companions that we head back to the Inn only to retrieve our belongings, so that we might retire to the apartment I retain in the Vale Gardens. The recent quakes had broken my front window and left the place a shambles, but my well-intentioned (though slightly eccentric) neighbor Northrop boarded up the window and kept an eye out for thieves whilst I was away. I write this now the morning after, and I daresay my own bed has never felt more comfortable.

Year 26435

It has been an interesting day to say the least. I was reminded immediately upon waking why I do not often drink heavily. I apparently passed out in a chair by the bar fireplace. Elliphany was the one who woke me, and I was immediately sick all over the floor, and only afterwards noticed the bucket placed next to the chair. My stomach managed to empty itself a couple more time before I felt able to move about much.

Elliphany went to check the town library and found it rather lacking, and upon her return to the inn we decided that we would have to head towards Ambrovere. By this time, neither of us had seen Das, and Elliphany mentioned that he seemed to have had a rougher time than I last night. (I only can recall events to what was apparently about halfway through the drinking contest, and nothing afterwards.) The barkeep told us that our Eladrin friend had been taken to the town healer, and we thanked him and headed there only to find him with severe alcohol poisoning.

We left Lagnare without him, and plan to return for him once our business in Ambrovere is concluded.

An old woman followed us out of the city, throwing rotten onions at me and cursing the Raven Queen, calling me a great evil that has been sent upon the land. While true the words were born of ignorance and fear, and the foolish will see what they want to see instead of what is, I would be lying if I said her words did not get under my scales a little. They always do.

A great fissure has opened across the land, a tangible result of the earthquake we caused. The land is broken.

Sometime after mid day, we caught sight of a fortified settlement in the forest that seemed to be under attack. At first, we thought it best not to get involved and attempted to skirt around the place through the forest, but we were spotted by a small child in the fortress tower, who began trying to wave us down. That combined with our observation that the attack seemed to have been spurred by a rift in the wall created by the fissure, convinced us to ride down to help.

Bugbears are ugly and cruel, and Dire Apes hit like Dwarven Ale, but neither are immortal, and a hard won victory earned us more than we bargained for. The people of the small settlement were so grateful for our assistance that not only did they feed us and put a roof over our heads for the night, they offered to blood-bind one of their warriors into our service. His full name is difficult to pronounce and I’ve no idea of the spelling of it, but he’s said to call him Barv, so that’s what it shall be. He seems a fierce warrior, having held his own against the bugbears and apes, but I haven’t spoken with him enough to be able to comment on his person.

It’s late and I should be sleeping already, we leave the settlement at dawn with our new companion in tow, and shall try not to tarry overlong for the remainder of this trip. There seems an odd sense of urgency about us, though I could not begin to guess the reason.

Year 26435

This page appears to stained with ale, has a bad sketch of a gnome doing shots standing on his head, and is caked in mashed potatoes.

Ruddy sloshed from a drinking contest. the page spin and I can baarely see to write. The bloody tiefling is dead and good riddence!!! twas a dopleganger what came back with us from the temple, we left it in the care of the city dungeon. Should’ve let Das do for the bastard. I say im not righteous about things except the Queen’s deecre, and there I go saving someone who not onli tricked and planed to kill us, but did so without knowing what the nine hells he was aboot.

Got in drinking contest after, don’t remember who won and don’t much care was the most fun I’ve had in a while. Staying at the inn for the nite.

Year 26435

I’m writing this assuming that I can stay awake long enough to finish it. It’s been a tiring day, and tomorrow sounds as if it will be even more so.

We arrived today at the city of Lagnare, which meant that we were on the continent of Brahve. As we approached the gates, we noticed that there seemed to have been some recent damage done to the city, even as the guards at the gate stopped us. They informed us that they weren’t supposed to let anyone into the city, and were surprised when we didn’t know why. They said that there had been something like a great earthquake about three and a half days ago. Right about when we opened the portal in the temple, as far as any of us can guess. If the short term effects of that event resonated this far…I can only imagine what the long term effects might be.

In any case, they let us into the city after we told them that we would be more than happy to help in the clean up. Once in the city, we saw that the damage was rather extensive, and a mass cleanup operation was going on. There was a sort of foreman walking around, directing people, and he came up to us to inquire as to why we had been let in. We began to talk, and one of us said that we may have been inadvertently involved in the disaster that had hit the city. Someone overheard.

“It was them! They caused all this!

Cue now the mob of people that suddenly wants to kill us. It took some doing (mostly from me) but we were eventually able to calm them somewhat, upon which time the guards basically arrested us and took us to see the lord of the city. His name escapes me. He told us that he understood our involvement in the disaster wasn’t intentional, but even so, in order to keep us from being lynched by the good people of his city, he requested that we do something to help the city before we were cleared of our charges.

Tomorrow, we head out to an Orc camp. We’re to kill every Orc there, or at the very least their leader in hopes that his death will disband them. Either way, the purpose of this is to keep them from attacking the city in such a vulnerable state.

But wait, I have more! We took Eisenheim to the city’s healers, and they were able to awaken him. Much to our surprise, he remembered nothing of going into the temple, only that he had been planning to do so. He had no idea of what he had done, or what happened, and seemed genuinely ashamed of himself when we told him. He also seems very eager to earn our trust again, and, because we DON’T trust him, he’ll be coming with us to the Orc camp tomorrow.

I took a knife in the arm to stop Das from stabbing him while we were interrogating him, by the way. It hurt a little. I’ll leave it at that.

Year 26435

I fear that I must apologize for the way that my last entry ended. At the time, as I said in the beginning of the entry, I was still in a slight state of shock. It’s been about a day since then, and I feel that I may continue in a more reasonable fashion.

I awoke to the taste of sand in my mouth and the sound of waves crashing against a shoreline. A gull cried above me. I felt the sun beating against me; it had heated up my black armor quite a bit, and I felt myself beginning to pant a little as I woke further. A wet tongue began licking my face. I dared to open my eyes and found myself staring at one of the sled dogs, behind him a stretch of beach, the others, including Eisenheim, scattered around me. I sat up and rubbed my head, taking my helm off and looking around a little. There was a forest bordering the beach, mixed deciduous and coniferous trees. I noticed what appeared to be a pile of sand up the beach with something shiny in it, which Elliphany was already walking towards. I got up and shook myself a little to try and clear the cobwebs from my head a little more.

I walked over to Eisenheim, who was still unconscious, and Das joined me in short order. I attempted to heal him, to try and get him to wake up, but to no avail. Elliphany came over to us at this point and showed us a coin, telling us that the pile of sand was the treasure pile that we had collected in the temple, and the coin had been on top of it. It was a platinum coin, with the image of Bahamut stamped upon it. She told us that this was like Bahamut’s calling card. Apparently, he took notice of Das and Elliphany praying to him and decided to help us.

After some discussion, Elliphany flew up into the air to try and get a sense of where we were, and told us that there was a track going through the forest not too far from here. She sent a bird messenger out in hopes of reaching someone as well, but after twelve hours and no word, we could only assume that it had not reached anyone, and we decided to move. It was during this waiting period that I wrote the last entry.

Das and I fashioned a stretcher out of hide and some sapling trees for the still unconscious Tiefling, and we began the trek into the forest. We came upon the track that [[:21755 | Elli]phany] had spotted soon after, a worn wagon track, and decided to camp on it for the night, which is where I am writing from right now. I hope to have more news for the next entry, until then, we can only hope that this track leads to a city.

-Beksehmet

Year 26435 A.B.

I hardly know where to begin. I find myself in awe, perhaps even a little in shock. -I – no, we have just had the most amazing experience of our lives. Even now, as I write this, I find it hard to think. I can only hope that my thoughts will become clearer as my ink fills this parchment, that I may articulate what happened. I fear, however, that whatever it is I write will never be adequate enough…

I suppose the best place to begin would be where I left off, in the room on the lower level of the temple where we spent the night. We all awoke at about the same time, prepared ourselves, and set off further into the temple.

The room behind the Hall of the Dead, as I have come to think of it, contained more undead. Another thing I’m not accustomed to – waking up angry. After a a short, brutal fight, we cleared the room and found ourselves faced with several places to go. One room seemed simply to be a bedchamber. The next, a mausoleum. Five graves, old ones, with unintelligible language on the headstones, dug into the floor of the room. As we were about to move through it, I noticed something peculiar: fingers of bone were sticking out of one of the walls. I mentioned this to the others, and we pondered on it for a moment. There were seams in the wall, roughly in the shape of a door. I was about to suggest to Das(I asked the proper spelling of his name as we were making ready after waking) that we try prying at it with our swords when Elliphany noticed that the gravestones gave off a magical aura. I should have known that it wasn’t as simple as prying at a stone. I’ve come to find out that things like that never are. She threw her scorching burst at the one grave stone that she said felt different to her, and it sank into the ground. At the same time, the wall opened, spilling out a skeleton clad in rather expensive looking leather armor. He was carrying a Bag of Holding containing several magical items, along with some pouches, rings, and a magical leather belt. A strange ticking sound was also heard at this point. I entered the small room beyond to find an unlocked chest, which I opened to find only this note:

“This treasure chest has been looted by the Great Dovin Stall. So long suckers!”

And so we found the missing Dovin Stall. Around ten seconds after I left the room, pulling the skeleton along with me so we could loot it, the door to the room slammed shut, and the ticking stopped. I gave the note to Elliphany, who had pledged to bring back some sign of the late would-be temple raider to his widow, we looted the corpse, and we moved on.

The next room was a rather peculiar one. It contained nothing but a circular pit and some spikes on the walls. Noticing something shiny in the pit, we sent Elliphany down to investigate. It was then that a ten foot tall drum, covered on the sides with blades and spikes, began to spin very fast and rise up out of the hole with the Genasi still atop it.

After a short period of panic from all of us, I was able to find the release lever, but not before the bladed drum had backed Eisenheim into a corner and begun to shred him. Had I known what was to come later, I would have let the drum spin a bit longer and turn him into pulp, but I digress, I’ve begun to get off track already.

After a brief struggle to heal Eisenheim some and extricate him from the interlocking spikes between drum and wall, we moved on. There were more undead in the next room, quickly vanquished. The room itself was filled with rusty weapons, and an equally rusty and pitted set of plate armor set apart from the weapons on a pedestal.

Das approached the suit, and a booming voice spoke out, posing us a riddle.

“A wondrous treasure, valued by all, sought by many, found in both victory and defeat, yet never in the bottom of a treasure chest. It marches before you like a herald, and lives long after you are gone. Of what do I speak?”

Das guessed wisdom, and the voice spoke again.

“You try my patience! Offer me the answer soon or the treasure I guard will forever be denied to you!”

Elliphany was the one to come up with the answer. Legend. Upon the utterance of the word from her lips, the armor changed. The illusion of a rusted, pitted hulk vanished, revealing black iron plate armor, masterwork, as new looking as it must have been the day it was made. As I am the only one of our group that wears plate armor, it was offered to me, and I accepted it. Das helped me to remove the armor I had been wearing, which we placed into the Bag of Holding. I plan to return it to the Temple of the Raven Queen on Sharda should I ever return there. I was a little surprised, once Das helped me into the new armor, that it seemed to fit me perfectly. Mayhaps I shouldn’t have been?

I feel it prudent to mention that I was not myself at this point. Being around so many undead had affected me greatly. I felt…twitchy. I was constantly looking around, angry and I must admit, a little paranoid.

The next room contained one of the items that we had been searching for, the staff itself, though it was missing the headpiece.

Forgive me if I skip some things here. I wish that I could tell the story in more detail, but I fear that if I dally too long on the getting there, I will never be able to fully recall the end, at least not as it should be.

To make a very long story short, we avoided some very nasty traps, fought some equally nasty bug creatures, plus a few Goblins, and obtained the staff and headpiece.

A slightly funny note that I cannot resist including in here. The room with a headpiece was a bit odd. The headpiece was on a platform in a corner of the room. In front of the platform was a deep pit where the bug creatures had come out of. Elliphany had the idea that she should fly over to the platform to get the headpiece. When she got there, landing to get the round object, she realized that she couldn’t get back. When I asked her about it a little later, she said that if she hadn’t landed, she would have been able to make it back to us on the other side of the pit just fine. She was embarrassed that she made the mistake, and I tried my best to offer her some comfort, though it did make for a funny situation.

So Elliphany was stuck on a platform across a wide pit. Das had the bright idea that he would jump the pit and rescue her. He stripped off his armor, shield and pack to lighten his load, had me tie my rope around his waist, and made a jump for it. He failed. I had braced myself around a corner to make it easier to bear his weight if that happened, but I was told that he missed the platform by inches, swung down, and smacked against the wall of the pit. Eisenheim told me to pull him up from the pit, so I did. When I felt his weight leave the rope, I came back over to them to see what was going on, and found Das making ready to jump again. Eisenheim and I tried to suggest to him that we attempt something else, but no avail, I had to rush back around the corner and brace myself again just as he jumped.

He made it this time, however, and got to our stranded Wizardess on the platform. Giving her a bit of jumping help, she made it back to us. Das told me to bring the rope taut, and when he yelled, pull as hard and fast as I could. He never yelled, because apparently he tripped, swinging down and hitting his head on the wall below yet again. I pulled him up, he re-donned his armor, pack, and shield, and we left the room.

Everyone except for Eisenheim agreed at this point that we should all sleep and regain our strength, as we were all pretty beat up and tired, and wanted to be fully there when the staff was assembled and utilized. I believe that Eisenheim may have stood and paced the room the whole of the time we slept. Perhaps if he had known what was to come, he wouldn’t have been so eager.

Now begins the part that I was most anxious to write about. I can only hope that the image I portray of it does the actual events justice.

Eisenheim was extremely nervous. He was shaking and sweating heavily. We were back up in the sanctuary. I had already sat on one of the pews to watch. The tiefling fit the head to the staff, and I heard it click into place. He then took a bag from his hip and untied it, pulling out the ruby that was the center, the piece he had acquired before we ventured to the temple. I found it a little odd that there was no click when he set it in the staff, and the reason was soon shown. Eisenheim picked the staff up and the ruby fell out. I know that I’m going to laugh at his stupidity in the matter later on. He should have known better, especially after the click the head had made. He had placed the ruby in upside down. This time, when he set it in, it clicked sharply.

I began an odd feeling in the air, something similar to the feeling of the air right before a large summer storm, the feeling of electricity wanting to crawl over my scales. I shivered a little at the feeling. It wasn’t pleasant. I looked, and the staff seemed to be glowing as Eisenheim carefully fit the staff into its place in the altar. The staff, it seemed, needed no guidance. When Eisenheim got it close to the hole, it seemed to jump from his hands and into the hole, as if pulled there by some unseen force.

A bright blue light suddenly filled the room. The rune-filled circle pressed into the wall behind the pulpit had seemingly opened up into a vortex of light. I felt drawn to it, both physically and mentally, though I cannot say why. I felt like I wanted to go through it, jump into the light and be taken away forever…I think if I had, I wouldn’t be writing this now. I noticed Eisenheim drop his cloak to the floor out of the corner of my eye.

The light intensified, finally exploding outward. By this time I was standing up, and I was thrown over the back of the pew by the blast. I believe that the podium passed quite close to my head as the blast cleared everything off of the raised part of the sanctuary except for the altar. I found myself almost unable to see, and felt as if I were in the middle of a thunderstorm. The blast had clouded my vision heavily, as if I had been brained with a large, blunt object. There seemed to be a huge wind blowing, though I felt nothing. There was the sound lightening strikes, nearly constant, and the very floor beneath me seemed to tremble with this new force.

My vision began to clear, and as it did, I saw that the light had become steady as it emanated out over the now clean platform, seeming to ripple a little in the center, like it was made of liquid. I was reminded of the room that I got the black iron plate armor from. To enter the room, we had to pass through a wall that looked like it was there, but wasn’t. It shimmered. The shimmering of the light looked kind of like that

Eisenheim stood up and approached it, as if he knew what was happening and planned on doing something. He started to laugh. I can still hear it in my head, not excited, not joyous. It sounded maniacal. It sounded evil. I shook violently at the sight of the Tiefling, his head thrown back, screaming out his mirth. What had we just done?

The light was changing. The center seemed to be turning black. I squinted into the brightness just as a huge black tentacle, seemingly made of swirling black smoke, shot out of what was now obviously a portal, and grabbed Eisenheim’s waist. Another thing became painfully apparent at this point as well. Eisenheim had no idea what he had been doing. His laughter turned to screams of utter terror as the thing began pulling him back towards the portal.

Das and I both jumped up at the same time, rushing up to the tentacle. Eisenheim had grabbed the altar with both hands and was hanging on for his precious, worthless life as the Eladrin Warlord and I began attacking the tentacle. Despite appearing to be made of smoke, it was solid, and we both connected with it. I invoked a prayer to the Raven Queen, among other things, and between us and Elliphany using her magic, we got the tentacle to loosen enough for Eisenheim to break free.

The Warlock made a break for it. What else could I have expected though, from a cowardly Tiefling like him, deceiving wretch…I ran after him and was about to tackle him when another explosion from the portal threw us to the ground. This time my vision cleared almost instantly, just in time to see the tentacle, which had extended quite far from the portal, hit me in the gut with such force that I was thrown against one of the walls of the sanctuary, wrap around Eisenheim, and take him back towards the portal. He attempted to grab at the altar again, but to no avail; he was dragged into the light.

I had stood up by now. Just as my stunned, frightened eyes took in the sight of Eisenheim‘s hand disappearing into the portal, I felt everything around me, including myself, come to a stop. I couldn’t move or breath, despite the fact that I was still thinking just fine. Tendrils of lightning from the portal had frozen in place, zig-zagging through the air. A few motes of dust appeared frozen in the air above my snout. I remember seeing everything in very sharp relief. The lightning and the light from the portal cast long, sharp shadows on everything, making the scene before me look like some kind of fantastic painting where everything is either light or dark, with no in-betweens. Aside from the physical, the feeling in the room had changed as well to that of something calm. I found myself no longer afraid, as I admit I had been.

The portal warped, the center seeming to press outwards. Still frozen in place, I could only watch as a pair of humanoids stepped out of the circle of light. They were very slender, gray-skinned things, with perfectly smooth skin. They had dark rings around their black eyes, and their features were…almost non-existent. If I could have, I would have drawn in a very slow, deep breath at the sight of these creatures.

A male and female walked out of the portal first. They split around the altar, stopping briefly to look at Elliphany, who had been frozen in place on her back in the center of the aisle. They stood up again, bowed to her, and moved on out of the room.

Now something amazing happened. From the portal came more of these things, in line three wide. They just kept coming. I cannot even begin to estimate how many came out of the portal, or how long we were frozen in place. Eventually though, the line ended, and all the creatures left the room. A few moments later, I felt myself slowly begin to move again, as did everything around me. It took about five seconds, by my estimation, but time regained it’s former pace once again. Just as it happened, the ground began to tremble again, this time more intensely than before, and I saw the portal getting brighter than ever, almost too bright to look at.

There were two subsequent explosions, each more powerful than the last. The last thing I remember before going unconscious was my feet lifting off the ground and a sensation of great speed as I was thrown through the air. After that, there is nothing but blackness…

-Beksehmet