Lines Crossed

What is done is done.

Entry #44

It is the 27th of Corg. We survived our chaotic return to the Guppy. We reappeared within the boat in poor shape. Xerx’ses was still gone. Is still gone. In his place now was a Dwarf named Torrun. Ursus and The Nameless Man were both still unconscious from the fight with Terosh. It fell to Indaris, Grignak, Torrun, and I to figure out how to keep the Guppy from sinking.

Torrun operated the mechanisms in Xerx’ses place. He is so small compared to Xerx’ses. He needed to do gymnastics in order to move them. Grignak used his magically enhanced strength to work his mechanisms. I brought forth limbs of ectoplasm again to work other mechanisms while Indaris and I tried to help our fallen teammates. Together we revived The Nameless Man but he returned to consciousness poisoned. He acted drunk and not of his right mind. I used my powers to help him overcome that. Indaris invoked a miracle from the Gods to revive Ursus. Moonlight filled the boat when he awoke. He attacked the boat in his confusion but held back just in time to avoid serious damage.

Once The Nameless Man was brought to his senses he directed us how to right the boat and steer us to shore. The Gods sent poor Heebo there to await our arrival in advance. He was pleased to see us, as we were pleased to see him again. We caught him up on events while we made solemn camp for the night. Torrun cooked a delicious meal for us. Ursus was still hungry afterwards so he and I went to hunt. Torrun suggested that we bring back bear. If this was a joke Ursus did not find it funny. It felt good to focus on such a simple task. I probably would have turned it into a competition had we not been in such a dire mood. We returned with some wild boars. Ursus angrily told the Dwarf to cook them instead of bear. Everything is still so tense. I do not know yet how to approach Grignak. I must address that situation carefully.

Entry #45

This morning we broke camp. We were disturbed by a several panicked rabbits running out from within the woods. An equal number of foxes were chasing them. I said a brief prayer to Apis in awe of this spectacle of nature. To the others though this was opportunity. Heebo rushed forward to capture one of the foxes. He said something about wanting to keep one as a pet. The nameless man began attacking them. “Servants of the Dark One.” That is what he called them. Torrun had been bragging to Ursus and challenging him. Ursus finally had enough and accepted a drinking challenge. He took out his Demon’s Brew to both start and finish the challenge. I watched this all with amusement. We needed some levity. Torrun took one drop of the Brew and immediately passed out. This caused Ursus to incapacitate himself with laughter.

Suddenly I felt immediate danger from my pack! I slung it off too late. Two sharp, stabbing pains pierced my back. With the pack on the ground I witnessed a small figure emerge. “Tiny assassins!” I shouted this to crisis to try and warn them. But this turned out to be Grignak in his miniature size. He insisted I was something else and would fight to end my impersonation. There was no more time to figure out how to address Grignak. The time was now. I prepared to reluctantly fight my friend. I hoped to be able to hold him at bay and reason with him. He proved tough to pin down. But I managed to stall him long enough for Torrun and Ursus to recover and help.

Once Ursus became involved Grignak decided that Ursus was also similarly afflicted. This was getting out of hand. I reached out with my mind to enforce a calm upon everyone. It made Grignak stop fighting but did not clear his mind. By now he was protected with the magic of Invulnerability. I tried to perform a psychic diagnosis but he prepared to run away. Ursus grabbed him. He broke free and ran. Ursus gave chase. Torrun threw his axe non-lethally and managed to knock out Grignak. Ursus brought the tiny Grignak back to us. He would not stay knocked out for long. This was my best chance to help him.

I performed a psychic diagnosis. I discovered how his mind was damaged. I knew I could help. Grignak would never let me do this though. Not as he was now. I hated it but I needed to act now. This is what Xerx’ses would have done. With that thought I knew I would need to act without Grignak’s permission. I reached to touch and heal him but found another problem. I could not help Grignak while his spell of Invulnerability was active. It prevented me from making physical contact with him to heal him. I am ashamed to say I hesitated for a moment before I made this next decision. But only for a moment.

With Effort I forced my psychic abilities to interact with the magical energy of his active spell. This was the path of psychic study which the Guild follows. Convergence of the Psychic and Magic energies. It was easy enough to do. However this was not a path I wished to follow. I hoped to avoid doing this and follow a more pure path of psychic study. One which focused on Refinement of the Psychic only. Like how Millenkosh had done in his books. I fear that path may now forever be lost to me. I am saddened by this. But I do not regret this.

Now that Invulnerability was dispelled I could bathe his mind in the healing psychic energies it required. There was little resistance. Yet the effort exhausted me mentally. To make sure this mental aberration did not resurface required an amount of focus which permanently drained me. I finished with a scan then announced to everyone that it was successful. Grignak would be back to normal. Carefully Ursus lay the unconscious Grignak upon the ground. All of us could now notice what The Nameless Man had been up to this whole time. While we focused on Grignak The Nameless Man had slaughtered all the remaining foxes and rabbits. He now commanded them as undead soldiers.

We went to him and pleaded for him to recognize he was doing something abnormal. He was fixated on using these “Minions of the Dark One” to bring the fight to “The Dark One.” I tried to get him to understand to no avail. He fled into the woods with his minions. Ursus and the others gave chase. I stayed behind with Grignak. Once Grignak woke I asked him how he was feeling. “I have a splitting headache from being hit in the head with an axe.” He made that joke to me. Now I knew for sure he was back to normal. I said a prayer in thanks. “”Dear Bast, I apologize that I had to go against your servant. But thank-you very much for allowing this opportunity to help make him whole and one with us again.”

The others returned without The Nameless Man. Ursus had lost his trail. I focused on him and sensed for his location. I could tell he was returning and told them so. Torrun made conversation with us. He suggested with Xerx’ses dead that we no longer needed to hold to any oaths made in his name. I looked at him in horror. I could not tell if he was joking or not. The idea that he may have seriously believed that was what horrified me. “One does not simply abandon an oath just because the witness to it has died.” I said to him very seriously.

The Nameless Man returned. His undead army had grown. We all confronted him again. We tried to get him to recognize that his mind wasn’t right if he believed this was an appropriate thing to do. I tried to remind him about things we had talked about on the boat. I compared what he was doing to what Steve had done. The Nameless Man refused to see what we saw. He tried to convince us that all small animals worked for “The Dark One.” With a prayer Indaris used a Divine turning to scatter the undead animals. The Nameless Man was disturbed by this. As we pressed him he finally relented and insisted he was fine. I was too tired to do a diagnosis or other abilities on him. We are friends; I will take him at his word. But I will keep an eye on him too.

We spent much of the day already dealing with these issues. We decided to rest and wait to travel until tonight. I recovered my strength. We broke camp near sunset and prepared to leave for the Guppy.

Ratel has returned with many demons! We fight!

Note: These are excerpts from Silent Dream’s journal. They were written in Elven on the 27^th and 28^th of Corg, in the seventy-second year of the Great Wolfen Empire.

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