So Much Time To Make Up Everywhere You Turn

Time We Have Wasted on the Way

Entry #63 CONTINUED…

…to find out what that spell did. The necromancers cast their spells at us. Those spells did not hit us. The ancient magic Grignak cast on the Demon Fala caused those spells to redirect back toward her. Every one of those spells centered on her to affect them all. One by one they dropped as the magic sapped their lives. Only the puppet king Wilgan was lucky enough to be spared by their unexpected magic.

Fala’s death shook Wilgan from his trance. He recognized what happened. He agreed to abdicate the throne for Minischmee. He would undo the damage Fala did in the interim. He gifted an ancient sword to Heebo in thanks. Then he ordered us to execute the remaining giants who supported Fala. Without a trial or any process – just kill them in cold blood! It shames me to say it was Ursus who spoke up first against this. But we all rallied against the false kings orders. He became angry like a young pup and teleported away. This left us to figure out who would be in charge of the kingdom.

For as much as I miss Xerx’ses I am grateful to The Gods that they sent us Torrun in his place. The prince knew how to handle this situation. He stepped up and made it clear we were not ruling Bizantium. We were only keeping it safe for the Gods-appointed ruler, Minischmee, to return. He will sit as regent until Minischmee arrives in 5 weeks.

Entry #64

Last night I wrote to his most holy Pontiff to let him know we could receive letters again. Today we received two, both for Grignak.

Grignak, Ursus, The Nameless Man, Nimaya, and I all went to the Gold Coast Trading building here in Bizantium City. Nimaya waited outside while the four of us dealt with financial matters. I carefully recalled and delved Xerx’ses old memories in order to pull out the password which unlocked the CrIsis account. Now all four of us know it. We sent the appropriate amount of money to King Guy in order to pay our Timiro taxes.

I was surprised at how much money there was. Xerx’ses set up much of CrIsis’ wealth to pay for the Shield of Light‘s maintenance and crew. Yet there was still more than enough to donate to Apis and to send my final payment to Thurewood Getor. With the payment I sent him my thanks and a question. “I do not think I will be able to come to the Guild once the weapons are ready. Is there a way to get them to me? Please let me know what my options are for when the time arrives.” That is what I sent to him. I suppose that’s a question I should have asked when I placed the order.

When we left the Gold Coast company I was carrying Merkl‘s share of the money back to him. Nimaya stayed strangely quiet behind us. Grignak and Ursus talked with each other. The Nameless Man and I talked too. “I have important information to share with you in case I die. Read my surface thoughts.” That was what he said to me. I read those thoughts. He thought about his knowledge of farming. Specifically the secrets he and Xerx’ses developed when we all spent that blessed time on his farm. His thoughts showed me that where he took those techniques were revolutionary. New irrigation systems. Improvements to Dwarven mushroom farming techniques. Things that until today only The Nameless Man and Crystal knew. Now I know them too. I will remember them. “If I die give this to the world to end hunger.” The Nameless Man charged me with that task. I accepted. “I pray you will survive to do that yourself. But you can count on me.” I told him that in sincerity.

Something felt wrong then. Nimaya was missing. All the money I had on me was missing. In its place was a note which read “I’m sorry.” I am truly saddened by her actions. If she needed money all she had to do was ask. I told the others what had happened. Grignak prayed to Ra that she would suffer retribution for this crime. Ten times worse and lose all her comforts. “That’s a little harsh.” I said that to him. He did not recant. I let it be. Instead I began to consider how to tell Merkl what happened. It turned out I should not have worried. Merkl made jokes and laughed. “Well you did set her on fire, I would have charged you a lot more.” He forgave me but I will look for a way to repay him what I lost.

Entry #65

Ursus and I have been volunteering our time to help rebuild the wall which we destroyed. He easily does the work of ten men. I am working and learning from the stonemasons. The work is hard. The days are long and tiring. They have been good days.

Entry #70

Today I received a letter back from Malkin. He said my letter to him was well-written. I think Moli would laugh if she heard that. But my letter did make him very happy. He is looking into the things I asked about. His letter has made me happy as well. I gave a prayer of thanks to the Gods.

Entry #91

Today was the Festival of Ra. We celebrated with a grand feast. King Minishmee arrived as well and joined us. Merkl performed some amazing tricks. He asked me to help him with one. I was glad to. After the feast Queen Christine presented each of us with Amulets of Isis as a thanks. These amulets would react to our insecurities and help us overcome them. I prayed in thanks.

Entry #92

Today was the 23^rd of Ra. We awoke in Bizantium but end the day in Renvin. This morning there was a grand ceremony which transferred the power to govern Bizantium from Prince Torrun to King Minischmee. Though he took this position as requested of the Gods he announced his hopes that the people of Bizantium would also appoint him when their time came to choose. I have learned enough about this kingdom to know that their Kings are chosen by the people. I have refrained from commenting on how like the Wolfen Empire this procedure is. If the reaction of the people present is any indication then King Minischmee may very well be selected by the people when that time comes.

After the conclusion of the ceremony I remembered to send a letter to Carl. Since I did not know where he was I sent it through the Church. I told him we had completed our debt for his help in Wisdom. He would probably already know by the time my letter reached him but I thought it good to formally let him know that one of the two favors which CrIsis owed him was repaid. The less we can owe that man the better.

We all said our goodbyes to those we had come to know during our time here. Then we met back together. The discussion about where to go next was brief. The quickest way we had to the Western Empire would be through Renvin. Once the others were ready I read aloud the magical gift bestowed upon me by Xerx’ses.

We appeared within a large area of polished stones and gems arranged as an incredibly intricate mosaic. We oriented ourselves and headed out through an archway some distance away. On the other side of the arch we encountered Lictalon. Grignak attempted to return Trigom to him but he refused. “I owed the Gods of Light a debt and you receiving this gift has paid the debt. Take it as the gift it was made to be.” That is what Lictalon said to him.

We were brought through the city to what appeared to be his throne room. I was amazed by this city as we passed through it. The city was integrated into nature in a way I never saw before. In a way I did not even think was possible. Elves made up the majority of those I saw but other races were represented too: Wolfen, Kankoran, Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Danzi, and even Coyles. Lictalon brought us to a grand room which could have been his throne room except there was a table with food upon it. He sat down and bade us to sit as well.

Once we were seated He invited Moli to come join us – I was very glad to see her doing well after being worried for so long! Lictalon told us she helped Him to realize that the world was no longer like how it was when He left it. That there was good in all races in Palladium and to truly flourish we should embrace all that is good regardless of our prejudices. She sat next to me but we did not get to talk much. We made plans instead to meet and catch up tomorrow.

Lictalon engaged all of us in conversation. He told The Nameless Man that He also wanted Lady Shara killed. He would be fine with Vindicator sending her soul straight to Khonsu. But if The Nameless Man would bring her head back to Lictalon instead he would be rewarded higher than his grandest dreams. I have to wonder if what Lictalon thinks such a reward could be is even close to what The Nameless Man would actually want? I doubt it will matter. He has been so driven to find and take her out that I do not believe he would accept Lictalon’s deal.

During the meal I became nervous when Lictalon attempted to do something to Ursus. It involved Ursus’ belief in the voice of the dead mage, Folwin. I became worried that He would do something to change how Ursus thinks. After all, Lictalon called all the Elves in the world to him in order to populate and rebuild this kingdom. Would meddling in the minds of non-Elves even cause him pause? I prepared to react but Lictalon backed off. He said there was nothing he could do and moved on to talking with the rest of us.

He enchanted a weapon of Merkl’s there on the spot. He offered for Grignak to learn some ancient secrets about the link between Shamanism and Priesthood. I wonder if Lictalon also knows about the Clerics? I did not ask.

I asked Lictalon what he wanted from us. He talked to us previously about mutual beneficence. All we heard since we arrived was how he could or will help us. Lictalon then finally revealed to us that He knew ReSet had all the clues to find Osiris’ Kidney but did not know how to solve them. That was because it is safely hidden within Lictalon’s Old Crystal Kingdom in the Old Kingdom Mountains. His daughter laid protections upon the city which prevent Him or anyone who survived Him and His line from entering if more than one thousand years have passed since His last visit.

He wishes to send us there so we can unlock His city for Him. We will give us maps and transport there. We will also find that there may be a connection to the Western Empire from within the city as well. I wonder if this is what The Nameless Man’s teacher mentioned some time ago? The coincidence seems too great for it not to be.

We would be shown to rooms where we could rest and consider Lictalon’s offer. Before we left he allowed us to ask him some additional questions. I had three.

“But how does our retrieval of the Kidney help you? What else will you have us do or will you need us to bring back from the Crystal City?” That was my first question. He told us he just wanted access to His city. By taking the Kidney from there we will give him the city.

“How can any of the Old Ones be escaping? You re-sealed Netosa but what of the others?” That was my second question. His answer to this was long and complicated. He talked of a Great Rift in the Land of the Damned which had portals to both Hades and Dyval. The legions of those two dimensions war in that region. That war threatens to spill out of the Land of the Damned and into the rest of Palladium. This imminent war is why He returned at last in an attempt to unite the peoples of Palladium. He also said regretfully that Tolmet is Modeus’ right hand. About how that happened he said sadly, “I was distracted, but Modeus was not.” Then he answered my question regarding the Old Ones. He said until Osiris is returned the others are at risk of returning. He thought there was maybe five years until another problem involving them.

I hesitated before asking my last question. It was more personal – did I need to waste his time and the time of the rest of CrIsis asking such things? I thought about what Xerx’ses would do and decided not to hesitate any further. “I hoped you might be able to help me better understand the paths of psychic enlightenment; Refinement or Convergence. Are they really two distinct, separate paths or is that a false categorization which I’ve inferred from Charolyn‘s methods and the writings of Millenkosh?” That was my third question. I noticed Lictalon grin when I mentioned Charolyn. He asked me to explain what “Convergence” and “Refinement” meant. I complied as best I could.

He listened to my explanation then said to me that He could not answer my question. He preferred magic and was not by nature psychic. What I called “Convergence” was the only psionics he knew. He liked the path of “Refinement” as I had described it. He encouraged me to continue back down that path. Then He said that I should share the psionics I discover in that way with other psychics in order to expand the field of psionics. I asked him how I could return to that path. That I followed the path of Refinement until recently. I looked at Grignak momentarily but I do not blame him. I am responsible for my own actions.

Lictalon gently told me that I should pray to Great Apis for guidance and meditate on discovering that answer myself. I should endeavor to continue being a positive reflection on Her. After everyone else also had a chance to ask their own questions He ended our meeting by reminding us that we all were a personal reflection of our Gods upon Palladium.

Note: These are select excerpts from Silent Dream’s journal. They were written in Elven between the 23^rd of Selestra and 23^rd of Ra, in the seventy-second year of the Great Wolfen Empire.

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BBC News
Philip Straub
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