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| Shieldmeet 1372 - Year of Wild Magic |
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A month has passed since I put my charge upon a ship and watched it sail away. I can only hope that the message I sent to Kirill Darkblood has arrived safely. If I do not hear word of it soon, I shall gather and go myself. This cannot wait much longer -- already more than half a year has gone by, with no sign of Kirill this far south. With Alina so busy with her students in Waterdeep, and I myself removed to Deepingdale at the bidding of my goddess and as a favor to friends in higher places, poor Faedren finds himself more alone than he's ever been at a time where it does him ill to be alone. I have heard that he has put out a call for adventurers -- to what ends, I am uncertain, as Faedren has been quite closed-mouthed about the whole affair -- and is willing to pay any who take up the task assigned a substantial sum. In truth, I believe that it is all connected somehow to my former student, Amaya, but to what ends I am uncertain. I know that they have not yet been able to raise her, but, then, raising any with the blood of a dragon in them is harder than a usual raising. Ahh well. I am certain that with a touch more time, the clerics at the temple will manage to raise her. In the meantime, Faedren is in desperate need of Kirill's strength. I pray that my messenger has already found him. ~ Fel Halfdark ~
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As at home as I am in the wilderness, at times it is nice to be able to enjoy a good pipe in the shadow of an inn's mantle. It is even better when it is the inn of a friend. I was pleased to see Pter and Jillian doing so well when I arrived in Red Headwater last evening, and rather surprised at the room they gave over to me in the inn. Clearly, it is their best. I think, though, that Ghost will enjoy it more than I -- myself, I intend to spend some time here in Red Headwater listening to local gossip in the tavern and perhaps doing some fishing. The road has been long, and it would be nice to fish for something that is not my dinner. Sleeping in a bed is also a nice perk after so long on the road. I do enjoy the travelling, though, and the recent leucotta bounties levied in the North have made me something of a wealthy man. Most of that money, though, I've poured into temples and charities -- I have little use for the stuff myself, except to use to help others. The bardic school, I believe, in Silverymoon, will be my next beneficiary. Faedren will approve. I had heard some months ago that he and the Silver Tears had undertaken quite the adventure -- I look forward to seeing him once more, when I can, so I might hear the tale of that adventure. Had I not been so busy in the North, I may have found my way there to join the Tears for that adventure. Ahh well. Duty before pleasure -- that's how it is. No duty now, though. Now, it is time I go down to the tavern and relax with my pipe. ~ Kirill Darkblood ~
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| 15 Eleasias 1372 - Highsun, Year of Wild Magic |
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It seems the gods have finally seen fit to answer the prayers of one of their most humble servants. Someone has answered my call for help in the rescue of my beloved Amaya from the darkened halls of Holdfast Keep. I believe this miracle is in no small part my brother's doing, but I'm still more thankful than I have ever been in my life, knowing that soon, so soon, I can be reunited with my sweet love, the light of my existance, heart of my soul. Kirill arrived two days ago with a small group of adventurers -- two ladies by the names of Faline and Starling and a young man named Aaron, who seems to be well acquainted with Rodrick, a long-time intimate companion o fmy eldest sister. In any event, these three, after hearing my tale, for whatever reason took up my charge. Winston announced his intention to go with them, if only so I stop wandering about as if my heart had been ripped from my chest, I suppose. They departed this fifteenth of Highsun for Waterdeep, where htey will consult with Alina regarding what must be done. I pray for their safe and swift return. Kirill left yesterday, riding into the sunrise on some mission or another. I don't nkow what our superiors have settled on his shoulders, but I know he feels a great deal of strain -- it was clear in his face and carriage. I hope that he, too, remains safe -- may his goddess and my lady Eliastree guide his step and safeguard him on his way. It was good to see him, though, despite the brevity of his visit. He doesn't realize it, but his presence here, among the many members of the company he helped forge, is greatly missed. Perhaps one day he'll be able to finally retire, as I have. I don't think that will ever happen, though -- Kirill is a wanderer at heart. Then again, so am I. Perhaps someday I'll travel the roads again, maybe even with my brother. These days, though, all I can do is sit, watch, and wait. Sit and watch the eastern road, and wait for those three adventurers and poor Winston to come home and bring my Amaya back to me. Until then, I make only the short journey to the temple of Savras where her body lies and write tales of the road and journeys that live only in memory. And I wait. ~ Faedren Darktwin ~
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| 16 Eleasias 1372 - Highsun, Year of Wild Magic | |
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~ Kirill Darkblood ~
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| 19 Eleasias 1372 - Highsun, Year of Wild Magic |
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And so they have brought me home, much to my joy, and at the same time, my sorrow. I learned upon my return that my Faedren has suffered more greviously than I had ever believed possible, and that my body has been stolen from the temple of Savras where I worshiped while I still lived. I know that this is just one more setback, that it's not the end of it all...but yet I somehow believed that once the adventurers who saved me brought me home that all would be well. I'm such a fool. Luckily enough, I have learned to control a pen at least enough to write this down in my journal, which I found on the bookshelf where I had always kept it. Poor Faedren. From the places where the ink is smeared on some pages, I know that he read it, and cried. He cried last night, too, and I cried as I can...all I want is to hold him again, and to make the hurt stop. I know that once I am raised I can do that. But until that day...what can I do except listen? Except talk to him? Why do the gods torment us? I am grateful, though, to Aaron and Faline and Starling, Aylen, and Winston -- even to Caria. Without them, I'd not have made it home. They have done so much and in the process sunk themselves knee-deep in something sinister, I just know it. The Church of Shar is up to no good -- I don't need to be able to scry to know that. The adventurers I was with burned a monastery of Shar in the Dales, after the monks there had mistakenly taken captive a small party from the Church of Ilmater. The party I was traveling with was mistaken for that party of Ilmater by a group of devotees of Loviatar and was beset by them...and then farther up the road they discovered a survivor of the Church of Shar's attack on that party from the Church of Ilmater. He pointed them in the right direction. It was...quite the adventure. I believe that this group has great potential...if they can ever come to trust each other and enjoy each other's company, as we of the Silver Tears did all those years ago. I will remember that in my prayers, as I remember my own plight, and Faedren's. I watch him sleeping there, in the bed that was ours, even as the sun rises. Ordinarily, he'd be up, tending to breakfast in the kitchen, but maybe he's listening to Dorn for once, remaining abed. Or perhaps he's finally at peace. I don't know. All I know is that it's good to see his face again and to hear his voice. I've so missed him. We will be together. We will find a way -- and I think we have friends to help us do that. ~ Amaya Silverblood ~ |
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Everything has changed. I don't know what I'm going to do anymore. Everything is so different now. My eyes are open, and I can finally see. That doesn't make it any easier, though, to find my path again. To figure out where I'm supposed to go, what I'm supposed to do. What am I meant for? These people...Aylen and Faline, Winston and Starling... ...Aaron... I don't know. I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go...I don't know anymore. I keep having these dreams...I don't know if they're dreams, nightmares, or visions...there's something I'm meant to do, though. I have no idea what it is, but I'm meant for something. And that scares me. Hopefully, these adventures...these crazy people that somehow have gotten me to care about what happens to them...hopefully they'll help me find a way. Hopefully, they'll help me find my path. It's what I hope, anyway. - Caria Sibilee -
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| 20 Eleasias 1372 - Highsun, Year of Wild Magic | |
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~ Kirill Darkblood ~
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I wonder if that place had always made my skin crawl and I just never realized that it did. I went back to the enclave, to get information...and I returned feeling so...dirty. It was as if filth had tried to worm it's way beneath my skin. I shudder at the memory of it. They have the body, though, and I think it might be hidden away in one of the old, near-Underdark temples that were closed up years ago, according to Ars. Perhaps they've reopened them -- to what ends, I don't know. Heavens forbid the Church elders should tell anyone anything. Damnable plotters...they're up to something, and that something is certainly not good. I need to speak with Aaron, and badly. About where I stand, about the meaning of his actions, the meaning of mine...I think I am dangerously attracted to him, and that is a grave risk for both he and I. I can abide suffering the consequences of my own actions, but I won't drag another down with me. I don't think I could bear that responsibility and remain sane. I really would like to remain sane. Yes...I'll talk to him. But after I sleep... - Caria Sibilee -
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| 1 Elient 1372 - Year of Wild Magic |
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And so they have all gone, all of them, off chasing what they've lost, or following the orders of those above them. How Kirill can do it, I don't know. I do know that I can understand why the others have gone off chasing Aaron as he goes searching for his Caria. Perhaps they, as a pair, are somewhat mismatched - who am I to judge, though? They seem fond of each other, that's for certain, and in the end that is all that matters. Alina has arrived in Dockview to help with the defense. Between our scryings, we have had little luck ascertaining when the strike may come. Until then, we live in silent fear, but attempt to go about our lives as if there's nothing wrong. It's surprisingly easy. I hope they will return soon. Faedren and I have not yet thanked them all properly for what they've done for us, and I deeply desire to do so. ~ Amaya Silverblood ~
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| 19 Elient 1372 - Year of Wild Magic | |
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It hurts to grip the pen to write this, but at the same time I am grateful to be able to do this right now, and so I will endure this pain in order to write down all that's happened. Luckily it's my left wrist that's broken and not my right - else, I'd not be writing at all. Several weeks ago, I was captured by Loviatar's faithful while running errands in Waterdeep. They carried me away to a shrine north of the city, which was shortly thereafter utterly destroyed by members of the Shar's faithful and I was taken. I'd betrayed them -- willingly, of course, because I'd seen things that I'd never considered before in my life. Winston, Fayline, Aylen, Starling, Kirill, all the others, and Aaron...they'd awakened something inside me that I'd never thought I could feel. They woke up hope. I don't know what carried them to the Sharran enclave in the mountains where I was being 'punished' for my transgressions before my sacrifice to Shar was to take place, all I know is that they came for me. I knew that Kirill was there, too -- he came to see me, once, before they captured him; I think that his healing of me may have given him away to them. I was in a bad way when he found me there. There was this woman, too, I can only remember her in little bits and fragments, but she took care of me, too, and said that Selūne would always be with me as long as I believed. I do believe, now more than ever, because they came for me, and now I'm safe again, because I'm with them. I'm never going anywhere alone ever again. Not ever. I hope Aaron comes up here, soon. I found what he left for me...that man. I don't know what to think sometimes. I care about him, though, I care a lot without really knowing why. He's so dear sometimes and others...I guess I just don't understand men all that well. I think I'll keep him, though. - Caria Sibilee -
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| 15 Marpenoth 1372 - Year of Wild Magic | |
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I hope they've not gotten themselves into more trouble than they can handle. I left them with my nephew and another band of adventurers - they should be all right, I think. My nephew. It's odd to think that so recently I thought I was alone in this world, last son of a fallen house, and now to have found that I was really never alone at all. Two nephews, two nieces, and my sister, all linked to me by the blood of my father - and more to come, if rumor's correct. It probably is. I've recently arrived in Shadowdale, come here at the urging of my sister, to speak with the particular wizard responsible for my current state of affairs. She told me to expect bluster and annoyance - better than hostility, I think - but if I mention her name that should die down to grumblings and business should be concluded much faster. This is good - I'd like to be back in Highmoon before the group I'd been traveling with departs from the Dales. What a tale they could make. What a tale all this will someday make. - Xerafeln Karan -
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| 17 Marpenoth 1372 - Year of Wild Magic | |
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I certainly feel sorry for Faline. The other day, before we took to the road again, she was elected leader of this little band of misfits and miscreants. By the Maiden, were we this bad all those years ago? I'd ask Winston, but his opinion would be as biased as my own. Deldira and Lachlan have gone, headed in search of the other dragons. I thought I heard Lachlan muttering something about there being at least six more, he thought. I honestly tried not to listen - I'm not sure I want to know how many dragons are supposed to serve and protect my mother and this nation she's supposed to build. None of it quite makes sense yet, and none of it's sunk in yet, either. My poor mother, doomed by fate to build this new nation for the elves - one where the elves of the surface and the drow can live in peace. That's a task for lifetimes. Hasn't she done enough yet for this world? I don't see why this weight is settled on her shoulders...and mine. And Zephyr's, Alina's, and Faedren's. And Rodrick's and Amaya's. And Aurora's... Gods, sometimes I hate fate, especially when there are no answers to why fate has defined certain roles for certain people. I suppose, though, we have more immediate problems. We're still tracking the priest of Shar - Ishi Sharaven, I think Caria said his name was - and have been for some time. We tracked him through tunnels in some dungeon complex before finding out way out again. He seems to be headed toward Aniel, but what he'd want with that sleepy little elven village, I really don't know. He's headed that way, in any event, and hopefully we'll catch up with him so he gets what he deserves. I have a hunch that he'll be a fine mist or a nice smear, thanks to Aaron and Starling, before anyone else even gets close. Just a hunch. ~ Kirill Darkblood ~
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I think they think I'm a little crazy. So what if I am? There's nothing wrong with being a little eccentric, right? Right? Okay, so many I'm a lot eccentric. But that doesn't make me crazy, does it? I think consciously not knowing much more than my name, plus memories from about the last month or so might have done it, though. I just don't understand it. Locke kept saying he'd explain but now he's gone and so now he can't. So now, I have no way of figuring out who I am or why I'm here. Well. I know why I'm still here. And I guess most of the people I'm with are about as crazy as I am. But all of that? Totally bside the point because Locke left and now I haven't the foggiest clue as to how I'm supposed to figure out who I am without his help. Stupid halfling dragon boy thing. I stick my tongue out at him. Bah. It doesn't have the same effect when he's not here. Ooh, I smell breakfast...and it looks like rain. Guess it's time to go. - Daneliel -
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| 20 Marpenoth 1372 - Year of Wild Magic |
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I cannot be upset with him, as he had no way of knowing when this message would reach me. My son had no way of knowing that his message would arrive at my home on the day that I take each year to sit in silence and remember his father, whom I loved and miss very much. Decades ago, on this very day, as the weather began to grow colder, we wed, deep in a tiny wood, far and away east of here. Together, we had four beautiful, wonderful children of whom he would have been so proud. I wish...I wish he'd lived to see the twins grow up, to see the man his eldest son has become, to witness the success of our eldest daughter, the only one of us who ever truly got a good-bye. Kirill had no way of knowing that I would learn that they needed me as I sat down by the fireplace, prepared to attempt, for the last time, to scry for his father, as I'd done unsuccessfully for years, since he was just a child. I have vowed to stop looking, to accept things as they are, to take up the mantel that has been settled upon my shoulders with an open heart. I know the challenges I face will hurt me a great deal, but they also have the potential to heal the wounds of the past that still pain my heart to this day. Thankfully, the process of healing has already begun - with Saevel, first, years ago when we first met and he began to help me with the children, and then later when I met my brother, Xerafeln, for the first time. I know I can rely on them for whatever support I need in the fight that I know I face. And yet, I have cast both of them far from me - Xerafeln to Shadowdale, to confer with his superiors regarding what we're to do given our situation, and Saevel is yet in Dockview, or near to there, I dearly hope, keeping watch over my youngest children. I hope especially that my little Faedren is safe and well - of course, Faedren is hardly a child anymore, but he'll always be my baby. In the end, my family is all I've ever had. I suppose I should cease my ramblings and pull myself together. They need me in Araviel, or so the note said, and since they are in need of aid, I will go and provide it as I can. Farewell, my beloved. I shall never forget you. ~ Felicity Miresh-Karan Morcen~
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| 30 Uktar 1372 - Year of Wild Magic | |
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And so the tale has come to a spectacular close, the quest is ended, the heroes successful. I never had any doubt that they would be. My sister is proud of them, although she'd never show them that, never tell them. Still, though, I can tell, despite how brief a time I've known her. It seems like we two were never actually apart, although we spent most of our lives apart. Our father, may the Maiden safekeep his soul, lives on in both of us. The hint of a smile that I often see on her face comes from him, and before he left Maermydia for the light of day forever, I'd seen it many times. She is immensely proud of these heroes, and while they may not equal, in her mind, her own Band of the Black Dragon, I know that they will serve her well as her Guard and her Praetoria, when it comes time for that. While she claims that day is a great deal off, I know that each of these men and women will live to see that day. There is something special about each of them, about each and every one of them. I hope they are proud of what they have accomplished, and I hope they look forward to a future that is a little bit brighter for their efforts. I know my future certainly is. Had they not rescued me from my own stupidity, I'd likely not be writing this today. Had they not done my family such service as they already have, all light would have gone from the eyes of my beloved sister. I know this to be true, though she would never admit it. Yes. They are heroes. For all their flaws and faults, foibles and issues, they are heroes of a calibur that comes around only occassionally. I owe them a great deal, a debt that I know that even if I live to be a thousand and they live as long that I will never be able to repay. Deep down, they are good men and women, and this world could stand to see more folk like them. Each still has their road to walk, as do I, as does my sister, my nephews and nieces. But I walk my road in full knowledge that my path will cross theirs again, and will be richer for it...so much richer. I look forward to it beyond expression in words. Thus, a tale ends, the Shadow War ends, and the Second Book of the Crownsong is closed. Aluve, my friends. Until we meet once more, and may that day not be too long in coming. - Xerafeln Karan -
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