It seems strange to write of these things so long after they happened, but the truth to the matter is, had I tried to write any of what has transpired in the past year – almost two – of my life, I doubt any of it would be coherent.  This is, in fact, the second time I have had to commit it all to paper, as a recent shipwreck has cost me my last copy of this text.  I begin to wonder how many more times I will have to commit this all to writing.  Ah well.  It makes for a hobby when a night’s rest is broken before its term.

            There are so many thoughts flying through my head as I write this – Ranth would chastise me for committing them to my journal, but from my reading of his, it seems that he, too, fell prey to it from time to time.  He died almost a year ago so that my friends and I might escape the Tower at Palanthas.  Midnight was with us when he died.  The poor cat just…fell over.  But I couldn’t stop running.  I couldn’t.  But I should really stop getting ahead of myself, since it does no one any good.  I keep writing this in the hopes that someday, someone will be able to learn from my experiences.  That, and if I don’t write it down…well, I might forget, and the lessons I’ve learned in my time are not things I would want to forget.

            It all started shortly after my eighteenth birthday, as I was returning from a camping trip with Ty and Crystal.  It all started with the arrival of two strange men in town.  We met one on the road going into Haven, a shirtless man carrying swords on his back.  The other man was an older gentlemen, a white-robed mage, who I assumed must be in town to see Ranth, who lived in the Qualinesti forests outside of Haven.  Crystal and I giggled over the shirtless man all the way back to my home, where my father was waiting to welcome us.

            I think that I would have been more reluctant to go to Zenig’s if I’d known that I would never see my father alive again.  I often think about what his last few moments must have been like.  I would have never known to go home, perhaps avoided a lot of trouble, had I not found his latest errand boy, Michael, dying in an alleyway.  He was already beyond help when I found him, but seeing him there was enough to send me running home.  I remember that he said something to me as he was dying, but it’s been so long now that I cannot remember what it was he said.  I returned to my home to find my father dead.  I was so shocked and grief-stricken that I’ve mostly blanked on what happened next, although I know that I ran to the Rose and Bull to tell Zenig, only to have myself arrested for the murder of Michael and my father.  We escaped somehow to Ranth’s, then to Solace where I worked at the Inn of the Last Home for a time, then elsewhere.

            The next months passed as a blur, and I can barely recall much of it except for the key points.  In the woodlands of Sylvanesti, we met a full elf, which was unusual enough in and of itself, but even more unusual was that he was a Kagonesti, and a hundred years out of his time.  His name is Kash – at least, that’s all we’ve ever really called him.  We didn’t get along at first, but we’ve since worked things out.  In addition to this, I was summoned to the Tower and given a quest – apparently, young man we had seen in Haven, who we knew then to be named Coramoor and had thought was on our side, was an evil, sadistic, rampaging killer.  Needless to say, this was a shock.

            We had a few run-ins with the Red Dragonarmies as well as the Knights of Takhisis.  None of them like us very much, including one who has an extra special dislike of me – my own half-brother, Govan.  Govan is missing his left ear and has scar tissue across the left side of his face.  He hunts me because he blames me for the death of our mother.  It was he that killed Samuel Sedai and Michael.

            It wasn’t long before we had our confrontation with what we began to call “the evil Coramoor.”  It was during that confrontation that we found out that there were, in fact, two Coramoors, one good and one evil, and the evil one wasn’t human at all, but truly a monster.  It was in an encounter preceeding that fight that Ty died.  It was during that encounter that I died.

            It turns out that I am immortal, something about the soul of a dragon being trapped in a human – or in my case, a half-elven – body.  Coramoor and Crystal were likewise immortal.  But I get ahead of myself again.

            We traveled to Flotsam and there met two new companions – Reece, a thief who only stole to live, and Thom, another immortal, who taught me my first lessons about what I had become.  Coramoor killed Thom later, in an immortal duel, even as I killed Micah, Thom’s former student and Coramoor’s current one.  Needless to say, there were some tensions between Coramoor and I, but they dissipated after a while.

            Somewhere along the line, we had encounters with my brother, lost Reece and in the process almost lost Kash, found Crystal’s brother, who promptly attempted and later succeeded in killing his sister, only to be killed by Kash and I in response.  That was when we found out that Crystal was, like me, an immortal.  Coramoor had left us without explanation shortly before, just as it had become apparent to us that he and Crystal were falling in love.  Justin, Crystal’s brother, became a Death Knight.

            We took a gnomish steamer to Caergoth, Crystal’s home, on her insistence.  He had claimed that her parents had been murdered, but she didn’t believe him.  It was true.

            In my efforts to commit all this to paper, I have left out what is, quite possibly, the most stupid thing I have ever done in my life.  Even now, the Tower hunts me, for I made the mistake of making a deal with the devil – Fistindantilus – to save my friends.  This decision on my part – to allow Fistindantilus to use my life – or lives, as it were – to keep himself alive has forever barred me from the Tower, forever barred me from my order and ever taking the Test.

            In Caergoth, we encountered Fistindantilus, who gave us a box, in which was contained a glass marble, which held Reece within it.  Then began our search to find how to release her.

            In our travels, we again found ourselves running into Coramoor, who had picked up three new companions – a bounty hunter, Bailey, a renegade sorceress, Armana, and my brother’s replacement for Justin, a replacement that was apparently found wanting, Pierce.  I will say little of Pierce and Armana, since they have since abandoned us.

            In our quest to release Reece from the marble, we encountered a quite disagreeable half-elf, who Reece later identified as the one who trapped her in the marble.  She was less than happy about that.

            After Reece’s rescue, we traveled for a bit and eventually found our way back to what was now my place, since Ranth had died – he died after the Conclave had given me my quest.  We had decided that it was best not to stay in my old home in town, considering the troubles we’d had – not only had they still believed I’d murdered my father, but they also believed I was responsible for the wights that were attacking the city, wights my friends and I later eliminated.  We spent a great deal of time at my place.  Pierce, Bailey, and Victor Noir, Coramoor’s new-found brother, departed for a time to Qualinost, on a quest.  Armana simply disappeared.  Reece was kidnapped first by a vampire – who turned out to be another of Coramoor’s brothers – then by Crystal’s brother.  We met a woman – an elfwoman – whom I thought had been a figment of my imagination, another Crystal – in this text, I will refer to her as Krystal for simplicity’s sake, although she would probably chastise me for it.  With her, Krystal brought a half-demon, half-Sylvanesti creature named Starbreeze.  Krystal herself claimed that she was a red-robed mage from a different Krynn, and I believe her.  Starbreeze is a renegade raised by none other than the head of what would have been my order – I can’t help but still think of the White Robes as my order, even though I know that it is probably barred to me forever, unless we can do as Fizban and Sol have instructed us – and even then, I have to wonder if I will be able to take my Test and become a member of White Robes.

            The day that Krystal and Starbreeze arrived was a rather eventful one.  It was also the day that Fizban came, that Sol came, and the day that I actually met, face-to-face, with the head of the White Robes, Andrew Forsyth.  It was also the day that all the questions were answered and new ones formed about what we were supposed to do and who, exactly, we were dealing with.  For interests of keeping this tome alive this time, I will not say who exactly it was we were dealing with, only that they were quite powerful.

            What we needed to do was find out how things had changed.  We all knew by now that things were not as they should have been.  Thus, we had to find out how things had been changed.

            Sol and Fizban left rather quickly, but Andrew – Drew – remained.  It was apparent that he was, in fact, the last brother of Coramoor’s.  Ironic that he, the wizard, probably the weakest of them, survived them all.  What was possibly more ironic was the relationship that swiftly developed between he and I.  He had not seen me since I was quite young – he had been friends with Ranth before the older mage’s death.  The way that Drew looked at me…how could I not fall into those eyes of his?  I think I fell as swiftly as he did.  He and I spent a lot of time perched on the roof of the house, drinking wine and laughing.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed – really, truly laughed, in true delight and joy – before that.

            It’s amazing how quickly things can fall apart.  Shortly thereafter, Crystal and Coramoor married, only to have the party crashed by Crystal’s brother, who had Reece in tow.  We managed to get her back, but Reece had been irrevocably changed by the experience.  However, Fizban helped Justin to realize he was being used, and Justin ceased to be a Death Knight and crossed over to the other side.  Then things got worse.  Ashfire, an immortal who has long been after Coramoor, appeared with several others and a Thorn Knight, Morden.  Ashfire killed Coramoor, and Crystal killed Ashfire.  It was a loss that shook us to the very cores of our beings.

            We buried Coramoor near a tree within the wards.  I planted flowers there, and Drew used some wish spells to make them grow and grow large.  Needless to say, I wasn’t very happy with him about that.  Drew left with Krystal and Starbreeze shortly thereafter, but not before saying his good-byes.  I gave him the amulet that my mother gave me before she left, the one that I had always carried and never had any harm come to me while I was wearing it, the amulet that I had left at that house when I left Haven after my father died.  I made him promise to get it back to me, somehow and someday.  I suppose I thought that it would keep him alive.  I should’ve learned by now that things just don’t work that way.

            Shortly after they left, we ourselves – Crystal, Kash, Reece, and I – set out from my home, looking for mercenary work, which we found in town.  On our way to New Ports, we passed through Solace, where I made my way back to the Inn of the Last Home to see Otik.  He seemed well and chastised me for not bringing my friends and staying for a meal.  I have given him my word that the next time we come to Solace, we will stop and stay for at least a meal.

            Upon reaching New Ports, we booked passage on a book heading Palanthas way.  We had agreed to escort a prisoner to Palanthas for trial.  It was on this voyage that we were shipwrecked due to a massive storm on the shore of Solamnia and things began to get stranger and stranger.

            First of all, it appears that our prisoner was the one who saved our very lives.  We lost everything except the clothes on our backs and, for some of us, our armor.  It was a relief, to me, that Sair – my familiar, a ferret – had lived through the ordeal.  The next unusual event was Bailey’s return with a new scar and an even more sour manner than before – she and Reece fight almost constantly now, and it’s beginning to wear on Crystal’s already ragged nerves.  I don’t even want to know what would happen if the others come to blows over this.

            Shortly after Bailey’s return, we encountered what we thought, at first, was an innocent farmer who was somehow thrown through a gating spell.  Bailey was certain that it was the Black Robed mage – now a Thorn Knight – who had murdered her fiancé.  The rest of us, however, were less than convinced, and so we stopped her from killing him.  It was too late when we realized that he was, in fact, the Thorn Knight.  That has only caused Bailey’s mood to worsen.

            Not very long after the mage’s escape, Drew appeared via a similar spell.  I tried to make him stay for more than a few brief minutes, to no avail.  Crystal, in frustration, had run herself through (again – how many times has she done that or had someone do it for her?  I’ve lost count), and I went to go pull the sword out of her.  When I returned to camp, Drew was gone, much to my dismay (who am I kidding?  I was furious.  I knocked over my damned tent and almost smothered Sair).

            The next day, we headed for Thalgard Keep.  It took two days to get there, but we did get there and found this inn where I sit, writing this.  I suppose that brings things up-to-date, such as they are.

Drew is dead.  I can barely bring myself to write the words.  He was such a damned noble fool!  He arrived today; we barely had time to speak, he was unconscious for most of the time he was here.  Everything happened so fast…

            We had left early from the inn so we might avoid any entanglements with the local thieves guild, who would have attempted to rob or kill us if we stayed in town for too long.  Unfortunately, we had some chance encounters with Knights of Takhisis, one contingent of which was dragging Pierce.  I wished that there was something we could have done for him.  It was then that we ran into Morden, who stalled us for long enough for Govan to find us.  Kash put an arrow in the bastard’s arm, but that got him riled and us into trouble.  Drew appeared as we were all running pell-mell through the city, trying to get to the edge of town.

            Apparently, there had been a replacement created for Ashfire, running around in town and looking for Crys and I.

            We took refuge in an abandoned warehouse for a time, hoping to regroup and catch our breath.  Drew passed out almost as soon as we got inside.  He told me later that it was because Morden had taken a spell that he’d (Drew) created and it now hurt him whenever an evil creature used it.  I hate it how our last conversation was little more than me telling him that he shouldn’t think about leaving us so soon.  Had I known…Gods, what would I have said to him?

            Things began to unravel quickly.  The immortal arrived and knew that Crystal and I were inside the warehouse.  I made the mistake of giving Drew my sword – how was I to know that Drew planned to fight an immortal battle with the guy even though Drew wasn’t an immortal himself?  Then Morden and Govan both arrived, and things got worse.  My brother brought archers, which, of course, were aimed at us.  Things got quite dicey, with a lot of talk going back and forth…Crystal and Drew seemed to think that Morden had Coramoor’s soul trapped in a silver flask, and both appeared to be ready to do anything to stop that flask from getting to the Dark Queen – Crystal almost gave up the Red Blade for it.

            Drew gave his life.

            The spell he cast before he died, the spell that got him killed, had to be the most spectacular I’ve ever seen.  It a combination of fire, ice, electricity, and acid.  The flask was destroyed in the midst of it.  It drove through and around Morden and took out half of my brother’s contingent of archers.

            Taking out half, however, was not enough to save Drew’s life.  When I got to him, there were six arrows in his stomach and he was dying.  I watched Cort, his familiar, dissolve, and then I let Drew slip away.  I prayed to all the Gods not to take him from me…but even the most heartfelt prayers cannot be answered, sometimes.

            I snapped when he died.  I fireballed what was left of my brother’s contingent, killing most of what was left.  My brother and two others fled.  I let them go.  All of this felt like it took place in the space of a heartbeat, but also an eternity.

            Then things got worse.  I turned in time to see Crystal taking a quickening…and heard Ashfire laugh through my friend.  I doubt my hands have ever shaken so much as I put them on my sword, knowing that I didn’t have a chance to kill her, if she challenged me.  Luckily, she didn’t, because Crystal regained control after the fight – I could tell, because the Red Blade went from being a longsword to a bastard sword again.  At least now I know why Crystal kept begging me to “make her stop” on the beach.

            We escaped Thalgard Keep in coffins.  Outside of town, we buried Drew and another former traveling companion of ours – the prisoner who had saved our lives in the shipwreck.  Cicatrix had died of poisoning – I had recognized it too late to save him.  In his dying breath, Cicatrix told us that Morden was not dead.  Of course, this cheered up Bailey immensely, but only made me sick.

            I suppose I have mastered myself a bit better since the fight – I know that I wasn’t thinking when I cast that fireball, I was so angry…upset, lost.  I will, however, kill my brother for this.  I also hold Morden partially responsible for this.

            Since it happened, I keep finding myself going back to those first few days Drew and I knew each other, and our conversations on the roof of my house in the woods between Qualinost and Haven.  At some point, we talked about what we would be, if we were not who we were.  He said he would be a farmer – wished he could be a farmer, and not have all the cares and worries that people in our positions had.  It makes me…immensely sad that he will never have a chance to know that peace in this life.  Even as I go back to that, I go back to the laughter…and I wonder if I will ever truly laugh again.

            I broke the chain on the amulet I gave him.  I’ll have to fix it.

            I learned of Krystal’s problems with a certain unwelcome guest inside of her, an unwelcome guest that later paid me a visit and who was evicted with all possible speed.  It has become clear that Reece and Kash are quite close, and Bailey has…changed somehow during her time away from us.  I can only hope that she and Reece can work out the problems they have been having recently.

            Reece’s problem with the sudden changing of her demeanor and, indeed, her personality, has not changed.  We can only hope it gets better with time and failing that, Kash knows how to deal with her, my job is only to keep the rest of us from killing her.

            My dreams of late, despite recent circumstances, have allowed me to wake in an irrepressible good mood but also have made me wish for nothing more but to remain in bed.  I do wish that I could remember those dreams.

            Well, if there is an award for going through with stupid plans, my friends and I would win it.  We got stuck inside the walls of one of the myriad keeps in Solamnia and nigh unto got ourselves killed in the process.  May the Gods continue to protect us in this quest, and protect us from our own stupidity and rashness.  I still don’t know why I allowed them to go through with it.

            Krystal and I have recently learned some very interesting things about ourselves of late, and of dragons – as it turns out, some dragons can sense immortals.  Some can even sense those who have not died their first death.

            The Blue Lady, leader of the Blue Dragonarmies, is one such individual.  This we learned from her dragonmount, who for some reason took a liking to Krystal and seemed to tolerate my presence.

            Our flight from the city took us to the coast, which is where we make our camp tonight in preparation to find a ship to take us toward where we need to be.

            Today could have gone far better than it did, truth be told.  Morden, as it turns out, is alive, and has captured Bailey.  Reece, Kash, and I were ready to leave after we learned that – each of us for our own reasons, mine being that I knew that this was most likely the best and only chance she would ever have of getting close enough to Morden to killing him….and I want him dead, possibly as much as she does.  It took everything I had not to incinerate the inn where we had been staying when I saw him walk into the place.  I hold him at least partially responsible for Drew’s death, and it feels as if once Morden and my brother are dead, Drew will be able to rest a little easier, knowing that I and my friends are safe, at least from the people who were in part responsible for his death.

            Rather than allow the party to be absolutely divided, we went back to town and visited Bailey in the local jail.  Morden knew we were around and apparently did not care.  I wonder if he realizes exactly how much of a danger we are to his life.  Bailey told us what I had surmised – this was her best chance at killing Morden, and she was willing to take it.  She told us that she would catch up with us later, if she survived this encounter, as she knew exactly where we were headed.  So, we headed out of town to wait, and it is at a camp outside the city that I write this.

            Crystal is still in town, attempting to glean some information from some Dragonarmy officers.  Kash, Reece, and I are here, camping.  Kash is asleep, recovering from his injuries, while Reece and I are still awake – I have kept her occupied by allowing her to play with my ferret.

            I should not neglect to note here that Reece has put on a cursed ring of invisibility and is now a Kender.  We have no idea how long this affliction will last, but I can only hope that it does not kill Kash first, although he seems to be a little more tolerant of Reece as a Kender than he has ever been of any Kender.  It appears that she is not the type of Kender we know, but a TRUE Kender, something that has not  existed since the War of the Lance.

            Crystal returned to camp last night long after dark and told us that the portion of the Dragonarmy we saw in town are headed out from the port to Silvanesti and from there to a whole new continent a year’s journey by sea away.  Is this the land beyond the reach of Takhisis that Morden spoke of?  I am not sure, nor have I ever read anything that I can recall about continents other than Ansalon here on Krynn, but I suppose that it is entirely possible, even likely, that there would be other continents on this world aside from those we know.

            We plan to get a ship out of town sometime this afternoon, after the Dragonarmy has left.

            After picking up Bailey in Sylvanesti, we traveled by ship to Ohme, aboard a merchant vessel that was on a mission to collect fey wine for Draven’s purposes (fey wine is used to control draegoloth).  We arrived in Ohme with little incident, although Bailey refuses to ever take Reece to take a bath with her ever again and Reece has practically mastered lock picking.  She has also proven to be a somewhat adept artist.

            We plan to make  our march to Draven’s stronghold outside the city tomorrow.  With any luck, we will soon be on our way to correcting Time.

            We have killed an army of hobgoblins and a patrol of Draegoloth, but we have had to withdraw so we can rest and heal.  We are currently hiding in the woods near the mountains, trying to figure out what to do next.  Hopefully, opportunity will knock.

            Opportunity knocked, and now Draven is dead, as is Govan, and we are in the past, staying at an inn in Solanthus.  Soon we will make our way to Palanthas and the Great Library where I hope to speak with Astinus.

            Crystal and I killed two immortals today in order to save the life of another, new one.  We gave up the Red Blade to him.  I hope he lives.  I’m amazed we were able to fight at all, given what we had done at Draven’s before our departure.

            The bard (Draven) made the mistake of telling us everything he did to change time when I asked him how he gained the favor of his patroness.  If I put that together with what I’ve learned from the elven Krystal, I hope to be able to guess who or what we might be looking for.  Reece stole the device he used to travel time while Crystal, Kash, Bailey, and myself were providing “dinner entertainment” in duels to the death.  At my hand died the man who destroyed my life....yet I find myself wishing that it didn’t have to be this way.  I would have liked to know the boy he was before all this happened.

            We used the device to travel one hundred and forty years in the past, where we promptly faced the two immortals before heading on to Solanthus.  We killed them.  I hope I never have to fight another Immortal battle in my life.

            We plan to stay here in Solanthus for a week so Bailey and Kash can recover from our ordeal in Draven’s keep.

            We have reached Palanthas after hiring up with a merchant caravan heading that way.  Reece and I rode while Kash, Bailey, and Krystal served as guards.  To see the Tower of High Sorcery at Palanthas unshattered was amazing.  I had seen sketches, but never had I imagined the splendor of it in life.  I saw it in its twilight, slowly decaying away into a forgotten shell of nothingness.

            We got an inn near the Great Library.  In the morning, we will go there and try to speak with Astinus.  I have spent this night wracking my brain to remember names of the Heroes of the Lance, for I know that Krystal mentioned to me at least once.  Perhaps I will sleep on it.

            I have remembered.  Tanis Half-Elven and a hill dwarf named Fireforge.

            Astinus has given us the information we needed, and now we plan to step through time again – with one hitch in the plan: the device is broken.  Bailey, Reece, and Kash have gone to find a gnome to fix it.

            Astinus, after it taking us several hours to get into the library to see him, gave us three books.  Crystal discovered the information we sought in one of them.  Someday, I will copy my copy of what the book said into this tome, but there is little time for that now.  In essence, we will go to Pax Tharkas about four years ago and hope.

            We found a gnome to fix the device and, despite the “extra pieces” he left out, we made it to Pax Tharkas a total of one hundred and forty-four years ago.  Unwittingly, Crystal, Bailey, and I have found ourselves suddenly made the town midwives.  Kash has reported that he has found work as a merchant’s guard, and we have been told of a vacant house that we could probably just move right into.  We will look into that later, hopefully as soon as tomorrow.

            We have found that the house is suitable and as word quickly spread that we had taken over the old house just off the main square, “apprentices” began to arrive by the dozen.  The next several months will be interesting, to say the least.  Ah well.  At least I’m learning something new.

            It has been some time since I set anything down in this journal, but there has been little to write and little enough time to do it.  I have taken my Test, after so long.  I will not commit the events of it to writing because to do so would most likely bring me to tears.  I don’t think Sair will ever act the same way toward Crystal ever again.

            The master of the tower is a Red, as I almost was.  I am a White, though – I petitioned the order, and was accepted.  Gweneth the Red, the master of this tower, has agreed to help us.  Our story has convinced her, and she will send us forward in time tomorrow.  It will be good to be home again.

            These few lines are the last I will ever write in this journal, for after I close it this time, I will not open it to write in it again. Ever.

            We were successful in our quest.  What was wrong is now right again with the death of Draven.  Bailey has said her good-byes to us already and plans to leave before dawn to search for her beloved Kale.  She has promised to seek us out once she’s settled again.

            Reece and Kash will soon part ways with Crystal and I, I suspect, and go in search of Reece’s family.  As for Crystal and I, I imagine that we will be heading to Caergoth to see her family before continuing on to Haven to see mine.

            Thus are journey is ended, but the memory of this will never die, not so long as I and this account survive.

  Judean Sedai

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