Once a Blade Pt. 1

The following is an unmarked letter found in the barracks of the Blackstone Monastery's Knight Quarters. An investigation to determine the letter's recipient was launched, but the trail ran cold when they discovered the carrier had been killed. There was no sign of a struggle, but evidence of magic found on his body has led to the involvement of spellwarriors. To this day, neither they nor the templars have managed to discover who this unknown writer was addressing with such a hasty scrawl and no one else described within has been located.

 War came for the entire family when I returned from the Winter Festival. The fog surrounding the "holy" city of Karatal masked the approach of their ship. As it was, we only noticed them floating in our part of the marina just this morning. When I say an enemy ship dropped anchor in our port, you must imagine an army of soldiers who've pledged their lives to some greater cause that somehow involved the Blades' demise. But since you were once a Blade yourself, I shouldn't have to explain the difference between that and the world we live in.

The Northern Lights is what they call themselves. Before you wrack your brains, no you've never heard of them. They were a small time family the last time you visited our world and, since you only stepped in last time to kill Pops, they weren't exactly bound to come up in conversation. But they've been busy in the past decade. They posture as an anti-crime family, which always seemed to mean that they were too clean to do what we do, but too grimy to join the church or just enroll in Hem Academy. We've been running circles around the spellwarriors and the Royal Guard for years, so what's some punk brigade of wannabe vigilantes to us, right? We didn't take them seriously enough.

We came to find out that the Northern Lights was founded by a fucking RAI spy. They had us fooled this whole time, thinking they were some stiff-necked chumps, but their intel gathering only seemed to improve when this rat bastard, Sheldon Hawke, passed on his skills to them. What this guy was doing leaving the Royal Army to hunt gangsters is anyone's guess, but he managed to take down the Krakens, the Demon Dogs, and the Falcons. Three of the five strongest families in Karatal are either pushing daisies or staring at four walls of iron and stone because of these rat bastards and, now, this city is nowhere near what it used to be.

If I think about it, I can almost imagine you'd love to see what the Northern Lights have done with the place. With a bunch of do-gooders running this town, it's getting harder and harder for the Blades to make any money. They even walk around in broad daylight like they own the fucking place. The sheep love these guys and the spellwarriors don't consider their work as worthy of their attention as ours. To the grimy folks like us, these bastards winning the city feels like the fucking apocalypse.

But the Blades have never gone down without a fight. If that's what they've come looking for, that's exactly what they're gonna get. It's been years since we've seen such a blood bath, but no one here is about to back down. Sharpy even came back from Hem to give us a little magical help, so you can imagine we're definitely not fucking around. If this is the last chance I get to write, I should warn you of something. I know the only reason you haven't come after us yourself is your past allegiance with us. There may be no love in your heart for any of the family, but if word were to get out that you used to be a blade, the templars would be done with you. 

That is the understanding that kept you out of our business, but it looks like it might be in your best interest to drop by and help us because the Northern Lights know all about you. For the sake of your career and your second family, you have to come help out your first family.. These guys don't give a damn about your redemption and, if they put us down, they'll be coming after you next. If you sit this one out, the whole world's gonna know you're my brother one way or the other.

So I'll see you soon, if not in the city, then we'll meet in the Forge.

Scouting Report From the Northern Reaches

 Following the conclusion of Comalan's first interstellar war, which saw the liberation of the botanical world of Allene and the end of the aggression they faced from the aquatic world of Mennon, a victory celebration in Dalaska was marred by the capture of a suspicious individual lurking in the city's vacant Chaotic temple. The man remains imprisoned in Heron, having refused to answer any questions. Among his personal effects, the authorities found only a wooden token depicting a wolf standing on a mountaintop and a single document, which only raised more questions.

Though we have discovered much of note in this expedition, it seems appropriate to address the phenomenon that launched our expedition. The mystery of the skybound stars took little time to solve after making landfall on the northern continent. Our journey has taken us across three borders and everyone we've spoken to has spoken with mixtures of worry and excitement that the four nations of this continent, and the system of islands to their immediate east have all banded together to make war beyond the confines of our world. They accomplished this with five large vessels that can fly beyond our skies into the reach of the plane of stars. Even now, their cause is difficult to wrap my head around. One thing is clear, however: despite the spider's foolhardy challenge to their lands, the northerners are unconcerned with any threats from our side of the world.

Our tactical assessment remains inconclusive, however. What our people must understand about the northerners is that, while they have developed some interesting technology--particularly in the southern nation, but some notable examples exist along the eastern shores of Resta and among the visitors from the isles of Midania-- the source of their power lies firmly within the free practice of magic. Here, there are no Eye Witches and Shadow Witches. Their disparate cultures hold distinct views on magic, with the northernmost country being the only region to hold anything approaching a realistic attitude towards the gifts of the Judges. The worst offenders lie within the eastern region of the continent, where magic is practiced freely by commoner and noble alike while two armies of spellcasters wield the official sanction of their royalty.

While this land, known as Resta, wields more magical power under its banner than every single banner that stands over our lands combined, what makes them most dangerous is their political ties to the other countries in the North. While the others have conflicts to exploit, the neutrality and wealth of this kingdom make them a friend to all. Any campaign on this continent must not begin here for to attack them is to provoke four other nations as well.

This leaves the other four nations, which are bound with Resta in an accord of convenience against their otherworldly enemies. But beneath this facade of unity sands two essential alliances, from which the strongest threat stands apart entirely. The southland has developed a warm relationship with the woodlands to the west despite the stark social differences in their cultures. These southern nation, which is called Galeon, feels a lot like home in terms of both society and climate, save for their tolerance of the caste system of their strange, long-eared neighbors. Imagine forming an alliance with the Black Crown and you will understand the confusion with which I observed the relationship between these unlikely allies. There is justified unease among the people of Galeon over this association, but a growing alliance among each of the powers who threaten respectively seems to make it necessary.

The other alliance consists of the archipelago to our northeast and the northlands from which I write this report. The Galeans have come to fear the island nation for their powerful navy. and its recent conflicts with Galean fishermen and oceanic research vessels. Here in the northern nation of Heron, the people are forthcoming with discussion of their centuries-old enmity with the woodlanders of Tanis. While their hostilities have been set aside for now, they are half-expected to resume with the defeat of their common foe. Shrewd politicians from the isles have capitalized on this hatred and the friendship between their foes and Galeon--with whom Heron shares a cold, mildly cordial relationship as is-- to form a compact. Similar to the all-encompassing threat I've referred to in Resta, to launch an attack on Heron is to declare war on Midania as well--and vice cersa.

If you're looking for a weakness in this realm, there are a few bright sides to the dark tidings I've reported so far. The first is that, while their technology has taken unexpected leaps, their most advanced weapons may have been a match for ours no less than twenty years ago. The second is the population itself. From what we've been able to tell, our banner alone carries half as many bodies as all of their combined. If we could get enough ships through the storms, we could overwhelm  each country one at a time. If Raven Hills combines their might with ours, we could claim the entire continent before the red banners realize what's happening.

In conclusion, the northern realm carries a lot of power, but it is not untamable. Although it remains the prerogative of his imperial highness and the Senate whether action in the north realm is appropriate, I offer the following actions in my duty as a scout.

Resta-- This nation is not to be trifled with. Its combination of magical power and political connections make a direct assault on their throne the most dangerous proposal one could make to the Senate. However, their flagrant abuse of the Judges' laws makes them a clear target. A campaign against them must be carefully planned, but cannot be executed swiftly enough from what I can see. But if we conquer their allies or cut their diplomatic connections first, we can put an end to their twisted abuse of magic with little trouble.

Galeon- Limited contact is recommended. Given their agreeable culture, pre-emptive aggression towards this country could be detrimental to morale and their strange ethic of nonintervention would make them poor military allies. Attempts to sabotage their diplomacy with Tanis would be simple and worthwhile, but only to deprive a much higher-priority target of a crucial ally. Whatever we do, we can expect contact with their impeccable spy network. But that is all the more reason to avoid making an enemy of them too quickly.

Tanis- The woodlands are a suitable target for our opening move. The oppressive caste system that guides their society is something few would miss and their reliance on magic is second only to Resta's. Fortunately, nonviolence is their way, so if diplomacy fails, there is little to stop us from subduing them with force once we break through their meager defenders.

Midania- Midania is second in two critical ways. Behind Resta, their legendary navy and political savvy makes them our second-largest threat and their geographically scattered population places them behind Tanis when ranking easy targets. It may be necessary to disable their fleet if our entire army is to make it across the sea.

Heron- Opening a campaign that far north would be most difficult for logistical reasons and their average martial skill could make the empress worry. Not to mention the fact that, while their culture is not as similar to ours as Galeon's, their respect for magic makes them among the least troubling force on the continent. An alliance with Raven Hills would make such a prospect even more unattractive for the same reason I wouldn't ask our own people to attack Galeon. If there was any reason to recommend an attack against Heron it would be the cabal of flame casters that seem to be leading a push to accept magic in the same perverted way the rest of the realm has.

Finally, I would recommend caution around those the north realm folk call Avatars. Their renown is high throughout the entire realm and they are spoken of in the same tones as our own Heroes. But since all of them were involved in this otherworldly campaign, any report I could give on them would be inconclusive. They are said to have been given incredible powers by the Judges, who they have dared to assign names to. It is claimed that each wields the power of a Judge, but the truth of that cannot be determined until they return to the realm. My investigation will continue with these individuals. However the Emperor and Senate choose to act on this information, I reaffirm my commitment to expand the reach of our light.

Dead in Daylight Part Two

Ash

As I left my bus behind and began the last leg of my trek to Lake Whitetree, I thought about how this would be my first time doing field work alone. As an apprentice, I spent most of my early months working with veteran experts and other recently certified archaeologists. It was on one of these group expeditions that I met my love, offering his usual services as an escort to the scholars. But how I could ever have done this before him seemed to escape me just then.

The lake was silent but for the morning bird songs coming from the trees to the west. I had beaten the weekend tourists who tore up the lake during the day and could not have expected anyone else to be there. But for the beacon that researchers had given up on ages ago, the lake was just a lake. It provided water for Blackstone Farm--and possibly some elven settlements on the other side of the border-- as well as the perfect climate for an afternoon playing in the water. In happier times, I would already be dressed down for a swim because Nathan would never have let me get any work done otherwise. But on this still morning alongside the great lake, I was free to focus as much as I possibly could.

The beacon had fallen back to its original place at the bottom of the lake due to years of neglect, but that was of little concern to me. Using a spell scroll I purchased abroad, I was able to part the water long enough to drag the ancient construct back to shore.  There was little to examine in this object-- a massive yellow crystal sealed in a tarnished cylindrical casing made from brass with spindly legs attached to it--that hadn't already been exhaustively covered in my studies, but with fresh eyes, I located a symbol in the etchings that I had been interested in revisiting. When translated from this arcane language that predates modern scripts, this particular symbol was believed to mean "blood"-- a misunderstanding that has led to many researchers cutting themselves open for the sake of knowledge. But looking more closely at it, I realized that the word could also translate to "ash".

Ash was never mentioned in any source that referred to the beacon, so I knew I had to be on to something. But this only led to more questions. Was I supposed to burn something to activate it? Was this a warning of what could happen to those who did? There were many possible ways to interpret the full line as it was translated now.

"Lost in ash, hope is found"

As I pondered this puzzling clue, I would hear a rustling in the tall grass to the east. My heart jumped as I scanned the landscape. Most people who visited the lake did so with the most peaceful of intentions, but I couldn't discount the possibility of an encounter with a wild animal or mischievous fey; no one is more vulnerable to ridgewolf attacks than the traveling scholar. The source of the noise did turn out to be a person, but he still turned out to be a more frightening sight than a hungry beast.

The man had a somewhat average build, but that was about all I could tell you about him because his entire body was covered in various gloves, shrouds, and bandages. The only physical feature of his that remained visible was his cold, lifeless eyes. My mentor, a sai'mul, told me about how her people would always soaked their body in medicinal bandages to keep their skin from rotting but this was different. The cloth that covered this man's body was completely dry and gave off no scent. Apart from that, he walked in lively strides that most sai'mul could never hope to mimic.

He walked right past me toward the beacon I uncovered. He stared at it lying there on the shoreline for a few seconds before looking right at me. The man's eyes seemed to be searching for something in my own, but he soon began to walk away. Clearly, he knew something I needed to about the subject of my studies, and Nathan would never have allowed me to let him get away. Swallowing the fear I felt at his unnerving appearance, I rushed up to him and begged his pardon while I asked him some questions. But his response left me so chilled that I hadn't even noticed him leaving.

"The dead ones cannot speak."

Dead in Daylight Part 1

Grief

The day I completed the education I needed to become an archaeologist was the second happiest day in my life, just barely edged out by the day I met Nathan. As an adventurer, it was only natural for him to cross my path as I exploring an underground temple outside of Beldor. The ruins were said to have been abandoned since the mythical Age Zero, before the gods gave mortals our independence, but that didn't matter to him. I explained that there was likely no treasure to be found, but still he remained, saying that he was there for the thrill of doing something no one else had done before then. I delighted in the irony behind our respective reasons for being there. I went to that temple to learn what people did there in the past while he seemed to have his hopes on setting a standard for future thrill-seekers.

And there were plenty of thrills to be found. These decrepit halls may have predated the technology behind even the most rudimentary of traps, but they also seemed to predate the age-old techniques of competent builders. After roughly have a millennium, there were more holes in the cobblestone floor than there were unbroken stones. We kept each other alive in this crumbling site and developed what modest people would call a deep appreciation for each other and our work. And at the end of it all, I found a treasure trove of previously unknown information about our tightly-controlled ancestors. That was how we became partners, both professionally and intimately.

This was over three years ago now, which left us two years and five months of excitement and discovery. Nathan, the one with the eye for danger, looked out for me and I possessed the knowledge to make sense of all of the places we have been. It was an ideal relationship for someone who struggled to come out of her shell like me and I like to think the context I could place our adventures in kept him alive.

Until it didn't.

Last fall was our last adventure together, across the southern sea atop the legendary Dragon Pillar. After deciphering one of the ancient glyphs that the windlords had recently uncovered, a tornado formed just above us, threatening to throw all of us into the unforgiving blue. I was the first to be picked up by the wind, but Nathan was quick to grab me. It took all of his strength to pull me to safety in the lower chambers, leaving none left for him to save himself when he too lost his footing.

The search party took a week to reach the Pillar and only two more days to give up their mission. Nathan's last act had been to save me from the inherent dangers of my work once again, but it wasn't long before even I was forced to conclude that there was no hope of finding him. I wanted to throw myself into the sea when they broke the news that they were calling off the search, but even then I could hear his voice in my head, assuring me that would be a pointless and disappointing way to die.

One thing was certain, though: after losing the love of my life to such a random calamity, I couldn't keep exposing myself to danger. What if I were to die on my next outing? Wouldn't I only be wasting the life that Nathan gave his own to save? I returned home for the first time in five years and withdrew into myself, leaving the house only to buy provisions once a week. But I could never settle into such an uneventful life for good. To do so would only tarnish the memories we made together. Last month, I decided to get back to work as I had before Nathan came along but with no clue where to begin anew.

So I returned to my old university to reconnect with my colleagues. The well-wishers and sympathetic ears were abound from the moment I set foot in the halls of my former place of learning, which was the last thing I wanted. I went back with the hope of getting back to normal, but everyone insisted on treating me as a fragile thing, just one odd recollection or insensitive statement from a complete breakdown. In hindsight, I wonder if they were right to worry about me, but since I made it through the next few weeks with nothing but a few spots of irritation I suppose we'll never know.

But still, there was only so much I could take. With no one offering me anything to latch on to besides my own misery, I withdrew my original thesis on the broken beacon discovered under Lake Whitetree over thirty years ago and began to examine my own conclusions. After so many years in the field, what I had to say about the beacon and its hypothetical function seemed rather naive. For that reason, I decided that my next project would be to dive further into this unsolved mystery. With my research already completed, I decided that my first step would be to get a closer look at the beacon to see if there was anything I or the many sources I cited in my work had missed.

But what I saw there, rather than illuminating this mystery of the decades, only exposed me to yet another.

The Legend of Prismix

Following the birth of Nidarys, word has begun to spread of yet another god. His existence was previously known exclusively to the second order of the Mages of Destiny and Resta's current royal family, the Baldus family. But in the wake of a great miracle, such news could hardly be contained for much longer. Initially ncovered by the Second Archknight, Lord Prismix has come to be known by the Mages of Destiny as an amalgam of heroes from four separate worlds who share a unique bond. Together they discovered that the four worlds which comprise what would come to be known as the Plane of Doran shared a spiritual link, which allow a person to reincarnate on any world within the plane.

This connection was first discovered by a woman known only as The Scholar. Her first incarnation, who died on a world called Dresnuk, would reincarnate on another world called Sarosed in which she sailed the seas as a mercenary witch. Upon dying once again, she discovered a way to retain her past knowledge. Taking her secret into her next life, she was reincarnated as a seeress on the world of Porvia who traveled the stars only to end her short life on Earth. When she finally came to Comalan she took the form of a spellwarrior who is well known for her longevity, madness, and the legendary bloodline that followed her.

As she began to shape her own reincarnation cycle, the Scholar's grip on her sanity loosened even as she grew in power. As the site of the scholar's most recent life, it fell onto the gods of Comalan to sanction her complete destruction for the good of the sacred realm of Doran in its entirety. But in the weakened state that Geos' rebellion had left the gods in and the wisdom she possessed of worlds that were unfamiliar to them, they were unable to subdue the Scholar. So they turned to an even higher power; the former king of their race. With eyes on each of Doran's four cities-- Fadal, Heaven, The Moonstone Expanse, and Plaisnu-- this unrecognized deity was uniquely suited to oversee the Scholar's movements. With the tiniest hope of unveiling any sentimentality he could take advantage of, he entrusted the footwork that would lead to her downfall to the Scholar's own children.

From Dresnuk, he called upon its greatest mind; a scientist who sought hope for their broken world by reaching past the world's dimensional boundaries. From Sarosed, he called a humble bounty hunter who altered time to steal her brother's greatest achievement out of necessity and, in doing so, saved her world twice. From Earth, he summoned a space captain who bridged a peace between two planets by intertwining his heritage from both. From Comalan, he summoned the legendary Champion of Chaos himself. It was from him that the Mages of Destiny-- his descendants all-- learned what was happening beyond their world.

While nothing is known about their otherworldly journey, the reward that awaited them at the end of it was an ascension the gods never counted on. These four siblings would join together and, with the blessing of Doran's king became a new god-- Prismix.

Nothing is currently known about Prismix's capabilities or proclivities except for one thing: as a being borne of four different dimensions, his presence is not limited to Fadal in the way the other deities' are. He is also a denizen of Heaven, Plaisnu, and the Moonstone Expanse. This fact is why he is hailed as Lord Prismix, the God of Four Worlds. The descendants of Prismix believe, however, that he represents the coming together of four disparate souls and that the power that comes from their unity is a testament to the gifts of diversity.

All Gone

Took you long enough.

I'm sorry. I tried to come as soon as I heard, but the road was snowed in until just this week.

You're really not good at your job, are you?

Mind your tone, boy! I've been balancing eight different investigations since most of the spellwarriors left for the Crusade! I'm doing everything I can for dozens of people at once!

Well, you can just drop this one. You clearly can't do anything for my friends at this point and I'm sure you'll need the time for the seven cases you haven't blown.

I can't do that. Not without confirming exactly what happened.

You want to know what happened? First my friend Mel disappeared, then her brother Merric, and now their mum's gone! Nobody here has any new information for you!

That's what everyone else I've spoken to so far has said, but no less than three people have indicated that you might.

I talked to Miss Miranda right before she left. 

Well, whatever you discussed might be the only information I have to close my report. Let's hear it.

...

Joseph, do you have a moment?

Ma'am, I don't think I can tell you anything else. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen!

It's alright, dear! There's nothing to worry about.

But Mel and Merric--

Are gone forever. But I know where. I'm going to see them soon.

If you're sure about that, don't you think you should tell Sir Rain? 

Actually, I was hoping you could tell him!

Why are you laughing?

I have spent the whole winter praying for that man's success! Now I know he's never going to bring my children to me, but I'm going to see them again anyway! Doesn't that seem funny to you or have I truly lost it?

No, that's funny.

When you see that useless oaf again, tell him that my family doesn't need his help anymore. We're all going to be fine!

That book you showed me said the creature only likes children.

You misunderstood. They prefer children for practical reasons, but giving my children everything they want is what this one is supposed to do.

And they want their mum?

Exactly! It won't be long before they're asking for their friend as well. You'd best be keeping an eye out your window at night.

...

Son, you should  not--

I know! I can't speak for my friends and their mum, but there's something untrustworthy about a creature that tricks people into coming with them.

Has anyone ever told you how smart you are for your age?

I think it would have been better to ask if anyone had ever failed to tell me how smart I am for my age.

I'm serious! You have the instincts of a spellwarrior! I know I might not have been giving you the best impression of our order, but we could use more minds like yours!

Is that an offer to sponsor me for the Academy?

I suppose it is! It's the least I can do after failing your friends.

I shouldn't accept without talking to my family first, but I'm definitely interested.

Happy to hear it! We should go now. If your parents are in agreement, I'd like you to leave with me and start your apprenticeship today.

Why the rush?

I know you don't want to follow the nauveil, but if your friends wish for you to be there, the creature will adamantly pursue you. It can be both patient and persistent. I think it would be best to get you as far away from the nest as possible.

That's right. Well, when you put it that way, I'm most likely going to be joining you.

That would be best. With your friends' last connection to this village safely out of the nauveil's reach all that remains is to tell Sir Merrow what happened to his family. Once we do so, I'll take you to the Academy.

The poor man. To have spent so long fighting to protect his family from the fishmen only to find out they were taken by a fairy?  He's not going to let this go.

He'll be free to look for them on his own once he finishes his  tour and-- as my senior-- he is more than capable of doing so. I'm out of threads to clutch. I have to close the case.

I guess they really are all gone, then.

Glimmering in the Snow

You're obviously starting to crack, mate.

I know what I saw! 

And I know what you think you saw was impossible.

She was there!

She was outside your house last night, standing in the snow wearing her night clothes and no shoes? And she was.. glimmering?

That's what I said!

If what you saw was real, it still can't be her! How could anyone survive that?

She was waving to me!

I'm telling you that you are being tricked! Either by your mind or something else! 

Shut up!

Have you told your mother about this?

Of course I did!

What did she say?

Nothing. She just cried.

I guess she finally lost hope. It has been months.

That's not funny!

...

No, it's not.

I know what to do!

You wouldn't--

The next time I see her, I'm going to follow her!

You shouldn't--

I'm going to find out where she's been and bring her home! Then mum will be happy again!

Merric--

Don't tell anyone! Melany's coming home!

Don't be st--

I better go! Mum wants me home by dark!

Just stay--

Bye!

...

Madam, a moment of your time?

What in the world do you want now?

I had some information that you might find useful.

Do you know whether my daughter is well? I doubt you have anything useful to tell me otherwise!

I'm afraid her whereabouts and current status remain a mystery. But I found something that might give you some insight into what happened that night.

That sounds better than nothing. What happened to her.

Take this book. I've earmarked a page that references the creature we think might have taken your daughter. It's called a nauveil. It's a fey with a peculiar symbiotic relationship with people. They lure people to their haunts, then use their magic to placate their victims' every desire in exchange for a steady trickle of their own energy. They seem to prefer children because they are easier to please and usually have a lot longer to live.

How is this supposed to help me right now?

If I'm right, this means that your daughter is well cared for, at the very least. It's not in the creature's best interest to harm the people they take. Beyond never being allowed to leave the nauveil's dwelling, it might feel better to assume that Melany is happy and healthy.

...

I think you should go.

Pardon?

It doesn't sound like you're sure of this. It seems more likely that you have nothing and you're just here to placate me with the most hopeful theory you could find. I may know nothing of your work, but I'm not stupid.

Honestly--

Save it! Every second you spend trying to inflate me with false hope is a distraction from doing your job! I don't care what might be happening to her! Please, just find her!

I am true to my word. I still intend to find her. I just thought you could use some cheerful news.

Sorry, but it didn't help as much as you thought.

Worry Not

When was the last time you saw your daughter?

I tucked her into bed last night. Eight o' clock as always!

Have you seen anyone suspicious wandering around the town lately?

Well, no! Who would come out this far-- wait, you don't suppose it was bandits, do you?

Ma'am, that's--

Those Heronite dogs! If I said it once, I've said it a thousand times, a border town is no place to raise our children!

Mrs. Merrow, I assure you bandits have never ranged into Resta before. Even without the Desmond clan to provide a mighty deterrent, I don't suspect they would come just to steal a child from her bed in the dead of night.

Well, who else could it be?

For the moment, there remains no evidence that Melany didn't leave of her own volition--

She would never go out on her own at night, especially not in this weather!

In that case, a good place to start would be with family members and acquaintances. Most kidnappings are committed by someone the victim knows.

It can't be anyone in the family! All we've got are my husband and his mother. Dianna is too old to travel and Frederick is serving in the crusade!

Worry not, ma'am. I promise we're going to find her by magic or investigation. Your husband will not come home to tragedy. For now, I'm going to need you to tell me everything you can about your family's immediate acquaintances, those your children see most frequently.

Merric, you stay where I can see you!

...

You need to tell her about the fox.

We did! She didn't believe us!

Then tell her that Mel left to follow it!

She still won't believe me! Mel is afraid of the dark! She doesn't like the cold either!

It's been two days, Merric! Do you have any idea what is happening to her right now?

No!

No one does! And no one's going to find out unless we tell your mum the truth! That spellwarrior is just going to waste her time talking to my family! Then he's going to to talk to everyone else in the town! By the time she realizes no one around her knows where she is, it'll be too late!

I'm going to be in so much trouble.

We both are! And it's only going to get worse the longer we wait!

Tales of the Starlight Crusade: The Watch List

The walls of the Morta nearly vibrated with activity in the midst of its pre-launch testing. Between the hum of its engines and the frantic pounding of footsteps from Restan soldiers still working out where they needed to be, this was the only time Ellie could get aboard unseen. As the vice-captain of the fleet's recently-designated flagship, she could have requested access to the information she required easily through the fleet commander, but the captain she was dealing with was quite tricky. Going through the normal channels seemed like the thing any Avatar would insist on, but with two so firmly opposed, she couldn't trust any information Captain Maloran freely gave her. The Archknight had to be making moves against Tir ever since she began to insist her mentor's betrayal was not dealt of his own will. There was no way she could find evidence by demanding to see his files upfront.

The Windlord stopped just before entering the Tactical Information Terminus to apply a new Lightbend mantra to herself before she became visible again. Then, she took in a sharp breath and rushed in after Clint, the Morta's own vice-captain, just as they had arranged. Every move she made had to be perfect. Even if Sir Maloran lacked the fully-honed senses of any other spellwarrior, he would more than make up for it with a mountain of external security measures.

Esia, she quickly murmured, causing her eyes to glow with the magic that would allow her to see other magic.

As she thought, the walls were lined with similar glyphs to the one inscribed on her mantra. Hugging the walls would probably dispel her magic and make her visible once more. Worse still, she also spotted magical-cantrips on the ceiling which were likely invisible to the naked eye. These traps would probably spring on any cluster of magical energy that passed beneath it. This explained the sign outside forbidding the use of magic on the bridge, which was ironically unique to the ship owned by a kingdom that virtually founded the practice of magic. Ellie wanted to curse as she studied the area above the captain's chair. It was surrounded by these traps, so approaching it herself or even collecting the tablet she so desperately needed with her wind powers wouldn't work.

Carefully maneuvering around the cantrips, she sneaked into the launch bay for the Voidwalker and Hermes armor units and opened one of the lockers within. Inside, she found the uniform for a bridge officer that would suit her needs. She removed her own yellow-trimmed coat and sash and replaced it with the white-trimmed coat that was specific to this ship. Then she removed her mantra and applied a quick glamour to make her hair dark brown, thinking that the rampant use of such magic would be enough reason for the Archknight to make an exception for it. With a more presentable appearance, she strode back onto the bridge casually, but with purpose. Sure that no one was paying attention to her, she made a beeline for the captain's chair. Gyanda nearly turned in her direction as she passed, but was quickly distracted by Clint, who had stopped to ask him something about the navigational synchronization tests that she herself would be involved in later.

Ellie picked up the command tablet and, with the code she was supplied by Clint, scrolled quickly to find what she needed. Within moments, she found the security code that would allow her into the Captain's Office. She then swabbed the chair with a blank Identify mantra and returned to the launch bay to retrieve her original uniform and apply a new Lightbend mantra. She then crept surely through the ship until she found the source of her quarry. With the Identify mantra wrapped around her wrist, she punched in the security code and, with the panel believing she was the captain, the door slid open.

Rifling through his files was full of enlightening information about the Restans who served on the Morta's crew, but that was not her concern. It would take her ten minutes, twice as long as she would have liked, to find what she was looking for. Here, sandwiched between two innocuous personnel files, was a list of some crewmembers from across the fleet that Gyanda had marked as potential sympathizers of the so-called "Betrayer". The Commander's name topped this list of course, she found her own name as well as that of Clint plus dozens of Galeans, Restans, and Tanisians all helpfully coded by which ship they served on. Curiously, she found the name of an S-rated soldier known only as Bolreck who was serving as a mercenary for the Amologra. As far as she had been able to gather, Broger had never had any contact with this man, but her investigation only went back fifty years. Could the two sai'mul have met each other in life? If so how did Gyanda get access to this information before the windlords?

Troubled with the notion that Gyanda might have been any number of steps ahead of her, she put the list to a Copy mantra and escaped the ship as quickly as possible. Though this list didn't say much about the Archknight's plans, what she found needed to be reported to Tir as soon as possible.

The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist Part 12

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Kaleth peered anxiously into Aennin's eyes as the other Avatar stared intensely into his own.

"How am I supposed to do that?" The boy asked nervously. "If saving everyone really hinges on me figuring out these powers we're going to be waiting for a long time!"

Aennin shook his head and pulled Kaleth from his bed. "Bullshit! Your Avatar powers aren't all you have to offer! Do you think Geos would have chosen you if he thought you were too weak on your own?"

"I'm a druid!" Kaleth protested weakly. "A pacifist! What can I do against an undead army?"

Aennin shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't they teach druids healing magic? That's pretty much all Volt wants to do most of the time when she's doing stuff with us!"

Kaleth sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, but that's what I was learning to do before the sai'mul crashed into Orion."

"That's no good," Aennin replied with a frown. "Well, either way we can't have you sitting on your hands now that we know you're part of the team. I'll go talk to Volt to see if she can teach you how to heal, but I can think of some ways your transformations can be put to some use too. We have until Spring before we can get out of Heron to do anything useful, so we might as well use this time to help you get ready.

So began a long winter of what Kaleth would come to know as Avatar School. To be even one Avatar short, Aennin declared, was a disadvantage that no one could afford. In the mornings, he would train with Atunis to sharpen his reflexes by sparring just like his father used to do. During these sessions, the Salican Avatar would talk about the Kartal that he knew and how their templar training informed their decision-making as Avatars. During these times Kaleth struggled to resist asking about how the Kartal from this other timeline differed from the father he had grown up with. Atunis seemed constantly stressed by the idea of his dearest friend causing so much damage by abusing Geos' power and Kaleth couldn't see no good in making him think about it any more than he did. In truth, both of them needed the distraction they found in swinging sticks at each other.

When the two tired of sparring, Kaleth would next go to see Tir to learn what she could teach him of Intalan magic. Aennin adamantly stressed that telepathy in particular was an important skill as a scout when used in concert with his transformations. This was a matter of some irritation to Crane's Avatar as she specialized not in telepathy, but in divination and engineering. Still, she relished in the challenge of linking the principles of these disciplines to the skill Kaleth sought to acquire and learning alongside him. It was during these times that Kaleth would learn about what was happening in the world outside Heron. Through her frequent contact with her predecessor, Mr. Broger, they had learned that the Serene Avatar, Ekera, was alive and using the benefits of her sai'mul body to gather information from the enemy. This role wasn't without risk as she had learned that some of the undead army were able to distinguish the mindless sai'mul they had subjugated from those who still thought freely. But with newfound allies among a guild of warrior artisans, she was already making moves against their adversaries that would hopefully lay the groundwork for the Avatars' return from isolation.

After lunch, Kaleth would seek out Volt, a notorious late sleeper whose lunches were actually her breakfasts, to continue his training in healing magic. These were some of the hardest times for him because she was rarely in the best of moods. She had counted on the power of Geos to save her husband from whatever fate had befallen him in the midst of this sai'mul onslaught, but hearing that Kartal caused all of this to happen by doing the same for his wife should have soured her to the idea. This didn't change her mind at all, however. No one seemed more interested in his progress in mastering his Avatar abilities than she did and the fact that he was focusing more on his worldly skills did nothing to cheer her up.

This left Kaleth looking forward to his late afternoons with Aennin. The person he had once known as an acerbic rogue quickly became the most welcoming presence among the Avatars. Unlike the others, who had looked to him to master his powers quickly in the hopes that he would single-handedly fix everything, Aennin was the only one who made him believe that he could be useful with or without Geos' blessing. To Aennin in particular, Kaleth was a valued member of the group he was thrust into just as he was. Instead of forcing him to think of his place among the chosen figures of the divine, Aennin's training felt more like playing. Every day, Kaleth would face the challenge of sneaking on the elf in order to steal something from him, spy on him, or ambush him in whatever beastly form he expected least. This gave him an opportunity to explore Dalaska through the eyes of a falcon, mouse, stag, dog, cat, or crow. Although he rarely seemed to surprise Aennin, the elf was always sure to point out when he believed he would have fooled anyone else.

It was always in the evening that Kaleth spent any time thinking about Geos and his future as his Avatar. It had been a month before he reached an important breakthrough in understanding these dilations of time. As it turned out, finding a pattern in the speed-ups and slow-downs had been besides the point. The more he thought about it, the more random they seemed to be. But as contemplating these powers became routine, he found that he could predict these occurrences more accurately when he was completely relaxed. Eventually he realized that this was the key to controlling his powers. It was during these moments of gentle contemplation that he ceased to predict these changes in the flow of time and began to mentally trigger them. 

He decided to demonstrate this power to Aennin during one of their games. He had been tasked with stealing Aennin's coin purse. Normally he would do this by sneaking up and pouncing as a cat or diving from the rooftops as a bird. But he knew Aennin would be on the lookout for these tricks now and he started to doubt he even needed to do so anymore. So, he merely donned a cloak and shadowed him for most of the afternoon. He was sure that Aennin had spotted him before the time had come to make his move, but it no longer mattered. He took a deep breath and concentrated on slowing everything down. As expected, even the quick reflexes of his teacher weren't enough to stop him from sprinting up and snatching his prize for the first time with his own hands. In his excitement, he lost control of the power and Aennin smirked at him.

"See? I knew it was only a matter of time before you started to pick it up!" he declared proudly. "What did you learn?"

"I'm not sure," Kaleth said uncertainly. "I just stopped stressing about it so much and figured it out naturally."

"That's the trick," Aennin said with a grin. "None of the others would know this because they were already far more confident with themselves than you were when they first found out they were Avatars, even Atunis. But the trick to gaining control of your powers is gaining control of yourself. These abilities are a part of you now and the only way you were ever going to learn that was by sharpening your original skills."

"So, what's next?"

"What's next is continuing to practice with this new skill until you are able to use it confidently and doing yourself a favor by keeping this a secret between us. The more progress you make, the more pressure everyone else is going to put on you which we now both know isn't going to help. Just focus on what you're already doing until you're ready to move on to reversing time."

"Wait, what?"

Aennin sighed. "Your dad wasn't always able to avoid getting hit in battle. He only seemed that way because, as Geos' Avatar, he was able to undo any damage he took by reversing the movements of whoever hit him. It's not the same thing as going back in time, but kind of winding the clock backwards. If you can control the speed at which time flows, eventually you'll get the hang of controlling the direction, right?"

"I guess so," Kaleth replied uncertainly. 

"You have to know so," Aennin emphasized with a roll of his eyes. "Remember that confidence is the key to unlocking your new powers."

Kaleth nodded a little more confidently this time. "I will!"

"Good! You should have extra time to work on it tonight since you finished today's mission more quickly than usual," Aennin said with a smile. "I'll be sure to come up with something more challenging tomorrow.

"Okay! I look forward to seeing what you have in mind," Kaleth replied with a smile. 

The two then prepared to go their separate ways until Volt approached them with some important news.

"Ekera's here!"

Give Back The Stars

The following is a short poem canonically written by Kaleth Marle, which was released to the public when acolytes from the Temple of the Children included the Avatar's journal in a book donation to the Royal Library by mistake. While the contents of the journal have been classified upon discovery, Resta's Princess Selena was so inspired by this poem that she used the Occulus to obtain Kaleth's permission to publish it. Many who've read it have since debated whether this poem is a product of or the inspiration for Kaleth's druidic inclinations.

I beseech you, give back the stars!

I don't want your light in the dark.

I prefer the light the gods made!

Is this what you call a fair trade?

When the world paved its long roads

to carry all the people's loads,

They divided miles of grass

Is this how the world's meant to last?

Whenever you fill up a car

with the fuel you need to go far,

You brew more poison for the air

Is this a world we can bear?

Why must boats sail out just to trawl,

creatures of the sea, one and all?

So much damage is done so we can eat.

Is it possible to live by these feats?

Mortal hands change this world every day

without ever thinking of the ways

we desecrate the world the gods made.

Is this the what we call a fair trade?

The Magister's Rage Part 18

Read from the Beginning!

Back to Part 17

Much of what followed my initial defeat of Garanda has been well-chronicled in other texts and I see no reason to challenge them. The "Tale of the Flesh Golem" explains well the fate of the sparesoul that houses Garanda's soul. I would also recommend the "Forgotten Son" for those who wish to know more of Broger and how he has continued to influence the events that have led us to where we are today. As for the day I took the same mantle as Matthew Ryan and the king's late father Joseph Baldus, countless accounts have covered the details of how I became the Archknight. They exclude many details that I would consider intimate, but they are ultimately irrelevant to this story. I have written of my life leading to this initial triumph to provide the context needed to understand why I shed this title and, more importantly, what led to me reclaiming it.

The Avatars have encountered many threats since being declared by the gods, but none were more threatening than the Knightmares, a collection of powerful creatures with deep-seated hatred against the gods. A sentient cloud that was seeded by Crane much to its rage, a sorcerer once spurned by Salica, and a deranged golem in Tanis once buried by Serenity composed a terrifying set of adversaries on their own, but they were far from the most terrifying members of the group. That honor went to the Phoenix Council, a trio of embittered phoenixes who despised Chaos for enslaving one of their own and their leader, Erdas. They had power which eclipsed the majority of the Avatars and a seductive allure that had inspired a great many Templars to turn their backs on the gods, including my own mother. As it turned out, my heightened profile since becoming the Archknight wounded her pride and primed her for the Phoenix Council's manipulation. It was this unforeseen betrayal that allowed them to capture me and deliver me into the custody of their master.

What is not widely known is that Erdas is a god, one I would describe as the God of Suffering. According to the Avatars of Serenity and Salica alike, it would appear that he was their uncle. While his motives for declaring war on our gods and our people remain a mystery, I have experienced firsthand what he is capable of. Although the Avatars would ultimately declare victory over the Knightmares, they were unable to defeat Erdas himself because he remained hidden throughout their campaign. His aim was twofold. With the power of the three Avatars of the Children, he combined the magical essences of life, death, and time through some means indecipherable to me to create new lives for the Kilgor, the race that our gods once belonged to.

But his plan for me was far more straightforward: he wanted to break me. As the current living symbol of the collective will of mankind, it stood to reason that destroying my will and credibility would harm the morale of those he wanted to destroy. I do not say this lightly because I am well aware that this makes for a convenient excuse for a man trying to restore his damaged credibility. But it is well known that I have made myself into a pariah through quite deliberate actions. The reason for this is because, during my captivity, Erdas reminded me exactly why I was already tainted long before I publicly denounced the gods and my role as the Archknight. He forced me to relive, in vivid detail, the mistakes that I have committed to these pages. He reminded me of how I was once cursed with Garanda's presence, how I turned to Samson Amul for answers and performed unspeakable acts under his tutelage, and how I placed my trust in the wrong person, thus turning my greatest shame into an even greater danger. For days, without any chance to resist, he reminded me that I did not deserve the trust that I had gained. By the time I was rescued by the Avatars, I had regressed to the young man that had been tricked by blood mages to accept evil.

I turned my back on everything I had come to believe in, much to the widespread chagrin of my former supporters. I retreated to my home in Palon to recover, speaking to no one but my family. My beloved Voltairine was supportive and thankfully did not pry into my plight. I have yet to thank for her patience because fate separated us yet again soon after my escape from Erdas' clutches. The members of my old blood coven found me and took me at last. Recently, as Voltairine and I were entertaining a visitor, a portal appeared in the form of a blood pool and dragged me in. That was when I found myself once more in the caverns beneath the Solan Lighthouse, which the coven had occupied after Erdas left them for the planet Mennon.

What I saw there was evil, even by the standards I once ascribed to blood magic. Samson Amul, after many years of mastery in blood magic, had turned his curiosity towards something even worse. Dark magic had infected this coven and twisted their studies into the summoning of demons. Consorting with the likes of bladots, they had become something I no longer recognized. Samson was worst of all. He had actually turned one his former students, a man named Jacob Harret, into a wrathar out of curiosity. When I found them, the coven had been draining this demon of his blood for presumably academic purposes. What I saw was far more abhorrent than anything I was used to among the coven. It wasn't out of residual guilt for what I once did as a member, but complete revulsion that I decided that my old coven had to be stopped.

However, to defeat the entire coven alone would have been impossible. They took me so they could keep their eyes on me once more but, in this position, all I could do was attempt to reason with them. I managed to stay any decision to kill me for leaving because I never told anyone about them. Despite learning that plenty of my former friends were unnerved by this new direction, nearly half of them remained committed to the seemingly alluring power of dark magic. It was all I could do to convince whoever I could to retire to their beds when I decided to launch my attack. I knew that the gods did not truly forsake me for rejecting them when my attack was preceded immediately by the unlikely appearance of my youngest daughter Sarianna and a rifleman who called himself Damon Orion. The two had managed to track me down in an attempt to rescue me, but I wasn't ready to leave yet.

The battle that followed was quick and brutal due largely to the number of people who had taken my advice to hide while I wiped out the committed warlocks. With the power of my increasingly reliable silverfist transformation and both Sarianna's gun and Orion's gun to cover me, a defeated Samson laid at my feet only twenty minutes later, with the other dark mages dead. I slew the demon, thus finally taking control of the lighthouse. With that, I was free to leave, but a more pressing matter occurred to me then. If I had known at the time what had become of Voltairine in my absence, my priorities might have been different. But as it was, I felt responsible for the future of my coven. So I took over as their leader with the specific intention of preventing such evil being tolerated among them ever again.

The Stoneguard

For most of their history, the elves' peaceful way of life has been threatened. In the primordial phase of their culture, they warred constantly with the dwarof who once shared the forest with them. After that, they faced constant invasion from the humans of Pyris. The elves were a resilient people, who used their understanding of the land and the magic within to not only survive, but demonstrate why they are the most longest-lived people. When Serenity came to bring the elves' current form to the primitive lenof tribe, they discovered magical power pervades everything in the world, including metals and minerals. It was through this epiphany that they have developed their cultural affinity for metalwork and masonry. But early feats of civil engineering borne from necessity (because it was against the elves' ways to disturb the living parts of the forest) evoked envy from foreign humans. Travelers from Eris and the Eastlands seeking to learn their ways were a welcome occurrence that the elves accommodated gracefully. However, Pyrisians were eager to take advantage of their lack of use for lumber by invading their land to cut the trees they hold sacred. This threat gave rise to the Stoneguard, an order of sentinels who protect the western forests with magical powers derived from precious gems.

Each Stoneguard is anointed similarly to Resta's knightly traditions and equipped with four stones that are woven into their uniforms, usually in their capes. The rubies they carry contain raw power, which can be released in beams of destructive light. They are also equipped with sapphires which cast a healing light, emeralds which are used to create barriers, and topazes that can inflict a handful of mental effects such as sleep, pacification, fear, and confusion on others. With these powers, the Stoneguard has created a powerful defensive force that has kept their borders safe throughout the First Age. However, as the War of the Gods concluded and Serenity punished the elves for their part in the persistent conflict, the knowledge of how the Stoneguards derived their unique powers were among the secrets she buried in the earth. Along with their knowledge, she also buried the Guardian Stone that was the true source of their power, then a massive chunk of Ruby, and cut the remaining members of the Stoneguard from their abilities.

While the elves made do without the Stoneguard for most of the Second Age thanks to the Heron's embrace of isolationism over imperialism, the resurgent demand for lumber in the Third Age would lead to Colin Piers reigniting tensions with the people of Tanis over disputed land. This increase in hostility terrified the elves, who began to seek the knowledge of the Stoneguard with the most fervor they had experienced in over three centuries. But it wasn't until the Avatar of Serenity arrived with her goddess' blessing to regain this information for them that the Stoneguard could return.

Ekera would join forces with Keran--the younger brother of an Elder-caste councilor of Setria--and his dear friend, a forest scout named Larim. The three of them would journey together to a tower in the Marble Desert which had only recently become known for containing the last Guardian Stone of the Stoneguard. But without the means to recover the massive ruby, they learned that the only alternative was to sacrifice a life to create a new Guardian Stone. So it was that Keran gave up his life to become the massive chunk of emerald that floats over the Guardian Tower to this day and Larim gave up her unexplored love to become the first in a new generation of Stoneguard.

With a new Guardian Stone in the surface world for the first time in thousands of years, the Stoneguard have created a garrison along their northern border with the greatest power that anyone has ever seen. Their defense of the forest would have become complete at this point if their resurgence hadn't coincided with the revival of the Pyromancers, who have the power to extort concessions of disputed territory with the implied threat of creating wildfires (although it is largely maintained by Heronites that this perceived threat is baseless due to the inclination of the new lord of the Piers territory, Collin's son Aden, to pull back as much as possible in this dispute). As a result, the relationship between these two countries remain tense and are improving slowly only thanks to the friendship between Larim and Umi Karn, a prominent Pyromancer. If open war were to break out, however, the Stoneguard stand readier than ever to defend their land and all of the natural life that dwells within.

Phoenix Blade Chapter 10

Start from the Beginning

Previous Chapter

I didn't want to believe that Eione could have been affiliated with warlocks. She was a bit of a brat and a shameless flirt who sucked up to me and Saayuko because we were perceived as being in charge. But she was mostly sweet and seemed harmless. She was the last person I'd suspect of dabbling in dark magic.

...

Well, I had to talk to her before I could be sure. Bene had a bottle of something called Potion of Temporary Insanity that he swears came from her. Back then, I wouldn't have put it past him to lie to save his own skin, but when I talked to him, I saw something in his demeanor that I wasn't used to. I assumed, rightly, that what I saw was how he looked when he was being honest.

...

I see a lot more of that look these days but, yes, it was new for me back then.

...

So, Saayuko fetched her from her room and brought her to my workshop for a little talk. She was noticeably nervous from the moment I showed her the potion that I had taken from Bene. It seemed to be a very thin thread connecting her to the cult. But there was something else that bothered me about her. She knew about the "job" Venaticus tried to offer me before the warlocks cleared out the shop they were operating in. There were only three others who knew about it. Takaa is no fan of ANY magic. Oogura's druidic magic was a natural opposite to dark magic and everyone I talked to assures me that if she had ever tried to work with dark magic, she'd never be able to use her nature spells or shapeshifting abilities again. And you know, of course, that Saayuko is the only person alive I trust.

...

She denied having made the potion. Tried to tell me that she bought it from someone else. Without getting into why she'd want it, whether or not she knew what it was at the time, I asked her about the person she got it from. She spun a story about a druid from Sister that lived near Foldo. I wasn't sure whether to believe it, but those who join my family deserve the benefit of the doubt. I dismissed her, but worked out a plan to figure this out once and for all.

...

I wanted to find this druid of hers. I didn't know at the time that high enough concentrations of dark magic would negate druidic magic, so I didn't even recognize this story for the yarn it was. So, I had Saayuko come to get her once again roughly an hour before dawn and sent them on a mission to capture this druid. If she was telling the truth, we would be one step closer to finding out how our group was tied to dark magic. If she wasn't, she was bound to slip up eventually.

...

You're right. None of this would have explained who tipped off the warlocks that Venaticus was tracking, but he was the only one who made it a point to keep his plans secret. The most charitable theory for Eione is that she carelessly mentioned the operation to the druid, who acted on it without revealing his link to the coven. I wasn't foolish enough to actually believe this, but I wanted to be sure before I hung this girl by her toes. Her brother is a very important man, and if I acted too rashly, I could bring the wrath of an Avatar on my head. Nobody wants that.

...

When Saayuko and Eione left, I went around and woke up everyone else. If there was corruption in our family, I wanted everyone to see how I wanted it dealt with. So, we gathered in the lobby and Moruay used her magic to spy on Saayuko and Eione. The two of them found the druid playing around Flora Field, chasing a squirrel in the form of a lynx. I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw that goofball, so I had Oogura rush to the magic shop next door and call in a favor that the owner owed us. He created a portal that took us all to the hills outside of the valley.

...

Then, we just waited in hiding while Eione approached the druid to talk to him. What she did next was hidden from Saayuko's view, but we were able to see it with Moruay's magic.

...

She reached into her pack and whipped out another vial of potion and dosed the druid with it. He shipped back into his cat body and went berserk. Saayuko acted quickly to cut him with a knife that she had tipped with a knockout-poison. The girl thought she had been saved, but then we came out of hiding. Her guilt was confirmed.

...

I wanted to kill her on the spot, and so did half of the guild. There was no denying that she had caused the druid to go after her, and I had promised Venaticus that any dark mages I found in our midst would be dead long before they reached his custody. But I still wasn't completely sure that she was tied with the warlocks in the chimera farm.

...

Ordinarily, I wouldn't need much more proof than that to end her, but I had two things holding me back. The first was her Avatar kin. The second was Venaticus. He knew full well that I'd sooner kill her than turn her over to him, but if doing so didn't end his suspicion of me, he'd never leave us alone. So, I decided to give him a little present. Saayuko stuck Eione with the same poison that she used on the druid, Oogura went to fetch Venaticus and the rest of us carried our prisoners back to the compound.

... 

When Venaticus showed up, he shared my disbelief that Eione could be wrapped up in this. Apparently he knew her brother and had heard enough about her to be surprised. He had readily accepted what I told him about her nonetheless. As for the druid, he didn't seem to be interested at all. For all of the detective work he put in, [Scoff] he didn't know any better than I did whether he was a warlock or innocent bystander.

...

The druid was the first to wake up and, I must say, he wasn't very helpful. He confirmed that he and Eione were previously acquainted, but was bewildered by what happened. Like the rest of us, he had no idea that she had ever been anything but a nice girl. The man appeared to be mentally ill even after the potion that he was dosed with wore off, but he was harmless. He seemed to be more comfortable waiting out the rest of his time there in his lynx body and it became clear rather quickly that we were going to have to wait for Eione to wake up to make any sense of this.

...

At the very least, she seemed to feel guilty for fucking over the Midanian, who I learned was called Varuna. That's when she spilled some of her secrets. She claimed that she was no dark mage, but had recently become involved with a man who was. She spun her tale about the druid to protect this man without taking the fall herself. Varuna was simply a convenient scapegoat for her.

...

After all of the pressure we put on her, Venaticus and I managed to determine that the warlock met with Eione in Fides when he wasn't hiding out in that trinket shop in Resta City. Other than that, all we got was his first name: Iollan. At that point, I think she decided there wasn't much else she could tell us without deepening the hole she had dug herself into, so she refused to say any more. Venaticus agreed that we could turn her over to the Royal Inquisitor after letting her talk to her brother.

Adventures in Comalan: Stormview Peninsula

While the majority of the charted world consists of the continent of Mortanis and the various islands of Midania, these lands only cover Comalan's northern hemisphere. These lands remain the only parts of the known world to the majority of its inhabitants because the southern hemisphere's atmosphere is considered to be hostile even to the most seasoned explorers. The powerful currents that Mariknights have grown accustomed to in the north are gentle compared to the towering, violent waves that compose the seas of the region known as the Hydrospace. These currents, combined with deadly hurricanes and torrential rainstorms that are common to the region, make it seem unlikely that anyone could exist there. Despite this, immigrants still manage to find their way to Mortanis with epic tales of their escape from the Hydrospace. To these weary travelers, the gentle climate of countries such as Galeon and Resta is a heavenly reprieve from the terrifying conditions in which they were born.

Those who hear these tales often consider the immigrants' trials to be a sufficient deterrent from exploring the southern hemisphere. However, Comalan has no shortage of adventurers willing to brave danger for undiscovered treasures and glorious exploration. While it is true that no ship exists that's capable of braving the dangers of Hydrospace, there is a little known land that serves a gateway to the region's continent of Nerastia. This northernmost region, accessible still to only the most skilled of sailors with the most advanced ships, is known as Stormview Peninsula. All paths for those who escape the southern continent pass through this land, and it's only through the details of their journeys that anyone has ever found this two-hundred mile stretch of land.

One who reaches Stormview Peninsula will find a city called Gate City, which is technologically advanced even by Galean standards. Metal spires interconnected by a series of magically reinforced arches were erected here to protect travelers. At the very tip of the peninsula is a massive dome that encloses the city's port. This city stands a testament to the Hydrospace's greatest lure for Mortanisian and Midanian adventurers: despite the extreme weather that batters the lands of Nerastia, the people of this continent have persevered only because of these technological and magical secrets. Expeditions from both Resta and Galeon have made attempts to contact representatives of Gate City to trade engineering and magical knowledge only to find that the port dome is not designed to take incoming ships, but to build new ships to send people north.

To the south of Gate City lies Keystone, a battered village that was built by a joint Galean-Tanisian expedition to provide a safe harbor for Mortanisians. However, this town has long since been abandoned because maintaining a functioning community in the face of hurricanes without a safe way to acquire new resources, especially food, has proven to be a daunting task. Envoys continue to be unsuccessful at making contact with representatives of Gate City to learn how anyone could survive there indefinitely.

Since the beginning of the Third Age, the four countries of Mortanis have joined with Midania to form a coalition to settle Stormview Peninsula once and for all and establish diplomacy with Nerastia, but it is constantly hindered by the unstable relationship between these nations (particularly due to the hatred between Heron and both Galeon and Tanis, as well as the distrust between Resta and Midania). However, the synergy of the newly formed Starlight Crusade has renewed hope that establishing a link with the Hydrospace. Since the Crusade's success on the planet Allene, the coalition to settle Nerastia has reformed to plan another attempt. While they plan to wait for the world's most capable explorers and sailors to return from their war with the sho'kai, they have begun to take applications from those who didn't leave with the Crusade. This provides an opportunity for eager adventurers who missed their chance to fly off into the stars to be a part of history. Though it can't be stressed enough that the dangers of this expedition outweigh the perceived benefits, the Nerastian immigrants have whispered enough of their experiences to stoke the imagination of countless explorers.

Tales of the Starlight Crusade: The Maulan Officer

Excerpt from:

New Age Press

Ames the 1st, 3E8

Karashartal Names Maulan as Vice-Captain

By Lyra Blackstone

FIDES- The newly established Starlight Crusade Headquarters is abuzz with anticipation as the first of its forces begin to arrive from throughout the known world. The captains of the Crusade's five vessels each seem to be in particularly good spirits as they welcome the first of the officers who will serve under them. The Avatar Atunis Astersong, who captains the Karashartal has selected a stable of Midania's most prestigious faces to help him staff Midania's vessel, from mariknights to Katrinean shaman. But none of these appointments have gotten more attention than his selection of a maulan by the name Largo as his second-in-command. Largo currently commands the crew of the mariknight flagship, the Light's Grace in the place of its original captain, Harley Rumgourd-- who remains among the prisoners the Starlight Crusade seeks to rescue from the planet Mennon. 

Even among the Mariknights' commanders, Largo is a controversial figure. When reached for comment, Captain Dan Skye of the Wavehammer elaborates, "He's been denied a promotion to captain for years because only his own captain and the Admiral [Atunis Astersong] seem to trust him. 

The New Age Press has reached out to the Avatar and Karashartal Captain for comment regarding the maulan. Astersong stresses that Largo has demonstrated all of the merits necessary for his position and has proven to be trustworthy. When told that his trust is contrary to conventional wisdom among both the other mariknights and his Restan countrymen regarding the maulans--who are said to lack free will and live only for Lady Maula's amusement--he maintained this position. 

"As someone who has known Largo for several years, I can safely say that he is a highly competent leader who can think critically and act of his own accord. If experts somehow do not believe this is possible, I would say that they need to reexamine their beliefs... We've served together in dangerous situations. On top of that, I have seen him command respect from the mariknights who have served under him. They all trust him as I do."

On the Avatar's advice, the New Age Press has reached out to Largo for comment on the controversy surrounding his appointment. Although he had a reputation for being a man of few words, the subject of his trustworthiness is something he is admittedly quite passionate about.

"I understand everyone's concerns since I wasn't born to have free will. Mortals understand that the gods have plans for them while my kind exist only to satisfy even the most petty whims of our mistress. That can terrify people who remember when she was a threat to them."

Largo went on to explain that maulans become subject to less of Lady Maula's attention as they get older. By the time they reach the age of ten, they are all but ignored. Without the wishes of the Death Goddess to motivate them, maulans face an existential crisis that will sound familiar to many of Midania's sai'mul citizens.

"The first question we ask ourselves at this point in our lives is what we exist for. When the one whose pleasure we exist to create no longer cares enough about what you do, there is no comfort that mortals can offer because we know that we are fundamentally different from them."

Largo was summoned by the First Archknight shortly before the Champion of Geos seized the Restan throne 56 years ago. Although Maulans were afforded legal protection during the early years of the Geosian Regime, these protection were rescinded when rebel Maulans banded together for an ill-fated assault on Resta's Gilded Keep. Although Largo was not involved in this attack, he went into hiding with the templars who fled from Resta and formed the Holy Key Knights.

"Geos didn't wish us any harm because his love for his sister extended to her playthings, but when the other Gods were banished from the world, she willingly went with them. When she did, she left many of us behind without a purpose for decades! Most of us who develop a will of our own as a result of our Mistress' neglect choose to throw our lives away at her feet with the hope of amusing her even slightly. But since we couldn't find her to do so, we were forced to live among the mortals until she could return. It was during that time I learned how to sail from the templars."

Largo served as a helmsman on the Holy Key Knights' vessel, the Gods' Vengeance for the duration of the regime. It was in this new life on the sea that Largo found a purpose to drive him forward when he would have preferred to die. Following the Archknight Rebellion--in which the Second Archknight liberated the Fadalians and Resta from Geos' rule-- newly-crowned Restan monarch Kyle Baldus richly rewarded the members of the Holy Key Knights who participated in Kartal Marle's quest, but only thanked Largo in the belief that he couldn't wish for much more.

"I didn't mind being passed over for land and titles and the like because I found something more important along the way. I love sailing. That's how I found myself becoming a mariknight in the first place!"

Largo managed to acquire and restore a derelict ship following the disbandment of the Holy Key Knights. With this vessel, he ran a small business that offered chartered voyages to places that mortal sailors feared to approach. Though he was still feared for what he was, he found several clients among those he claims had a "death wish." That was until he was recalled to the Temple of the Children in Foldo in the first time since the Fadalians' banishment.

"The saddest part is that no matter how much joy we find in the world or how much pain she has given us, it's impossible for us to drop our loyalty to Lady Maula completely. More than thirty years later, I was prepared to rip off my own skin for her amusement."

But Largo's summons were initiated not by the Death Goddess, but by Aennin Moonstep. Maula's Avatar would enlist his services on behalf of Lord Astersong and gift him with a more modern vessel. That was when Largo took Astersong to Midania to aid in his mission to revive the mariknights at Lady Salica's bequest.

"I took him all around the Dervish Ocean, met a man who survived from the original mariknights as a sai'mul and just... became one of them. Nobody ever asked me what I wanted, Harley just assumed that I was there to be in the new fleet. I went along with it at first because I thought it would benefit the Avatar that I was commanded to help, but when Atunis left, I stuck around because I was having too much fun to leave my new crew behind." 

Largo has reportedly been considered a valued member of the first mariknight ship to sail for Midania's new fleet. Although the mystical abilities of the mariknights of old were once unique to Captain Rumgourd, he served as the Vice-Captain of the Light's Grace due to the seniority conferred by his sailing experience until he became the highest-ranking member of the crew. His assumption of command following Captain Rumgourd's abduction has been contested by other captains in the fleet throughout his career. Despite this, Lord Astersong remains confident that Largo the maulan has earned the trust he and his crew show him and that he will be a great asset to the Starlight Crusade.