Although Selune fled the night sky, her children were still here with us. I could hear their lonely howls floating over the ruins below our camp.
I awakened from a broken reverie without the usual lift to my spirits. Traveling to Arvahn was like a homecoming to this lost soul of Illefarn. Where was that feeling of comfort, of belonging? That sense of unity just wasn't here for me.
My last thought before waking was linked to one word; Riverguard.
"We've got to go back", I said to no one in particular, "the answer is somewhere in Riverguard Keep. It has to be."
Having the sharpest ears in the group, Neeshka sat up and eyed me balefully. "Is this another elven thing? Stay up all night and howl at the moon?"
"All my dreams point to that fortress." I added, "they disturb my sleep."
"It's just vapors, nightmares and foolishness," the rogue continued, "you take that nonsense seriously?"
"Yes, I do," I said, "dreams to us moon elves are important. That's how Sehanine speaks to us. We are especially attuned to the ethereal world. After seeing what I saw today, everything makes better sense."
The tiefling snorted, "it's just a coincidence. All you moonies look alike anyway." She wrinkled her nose, "besides that place has a nasty aura. I'm not going back there."
I persisted, "then why do I have the same dream over and over? Someone who looks like me, is sneaking into a musty tomb to hide a wooden box that is more valuable than life itself. There have been other dreams, many others."
"It's exhaustion, fairy dust, just hallucinations," Neeshka said. She always had an answer.
Imagine my surprise, when the last zombie fell and the baelnorn transformed into a shade that looked alarmingly like me! Despite the echoing of the voice, the pain, the anguish still came through. That wasn't... isn't me! The shade spoke of the agony that her love endured, the pain the becoming caused. Annaeus and his band of wizards spoke of the nobility of his sacrifice. They didn't mention the torture for 100 days as the weave stripped him of his self. The spirit harbored a bitter resentment toward Annaeus for luring her love from her--It just wasn't fair.
The stage for this drama was set in the gem mines of Arvahn. Six lost spirits, three elves and three dwarves, were imprisoned there after death by the King of Shadows. Upon entering, our group encountered an elven spirit named Balaur, the lorekeeper of ancient Illefarn. In order to find the Purification Statue of Angharradh, we were tasked to free these spirits of the foul undead created by their pain and suffering. We learned from Balaur that the Guardian turned to the Weave's dark twin, the Shadow Weave when it failed. The Weave returned, but by then the Guardian had been corrupted into the King of Shadows. His evil bound the spirits to the heart of Illefarn. The identities of the man who became the Guardian and his lady love were erased from this physical world.
Balaur thanked us for ridding the mines of the evil, and restoring a measure of peace to the restless spirits. He gave us three books, one of them was about the Guardian and his creation. The ritual of transformation was performed at Riverguard Keep, just a stone's throw from the Gem Mines. His lady love stayed with him throughout the 100 days. The book assumes she died at the keep; It stated that the Guardian emerged alone after his conversion.
After reading that book, everything clicked into place. My dreams, a long line of unconnected mysteries, were now a reality.
In one of my most vivid dreams, I gave a beautiful greatsword with a gemstone blade to a man of great regard to me. In this dream he had no face. The dream turned dark and a twisted, angry dwarven countenance berated me for meddling with something I knew next to nothing about. The dwarf walked away from me, carrying my gift. Was this Riverguard? I didn't know before coming to Arvahn. My dreams have removed any doubt.
About a week ago, we liberated Riverguard from an ogre-mage named Ghellu. Shandra Jerro, our farm-girl turned fighter found a crystal bladed greatsword near his body. Was this the Guardians blade? Shandra thinks so. She has used it since to battle the undead in the Gem Mines and will not part with it.
We were greeted the next morning with an atonal rendition of Oh What a Beautiful Morning, that favorite of dwarves everywhere, sung by our own baritone, Khelgar Ironfist. Thankfully, a rain of muddy adventurer's footwear put an end to it. "You wenches have no soul," groused the battered shield dwarf, pulling on his own boots.
"So, princess, any more erotic dreams?" teased Neeshka, our tiefling trap-springer. "we're not going back into that snake pit are we?" Her eyes narrowed at the thought of returning to Riverguard.
"Yes we are, but first, lets tie up some loose ends," I said, returning the rogue's glare.
"Somebody wake up Shandra," I said, shifting my gaze, "that sword of hers may be a key to understanding the Guardian."
Our Githzerai cleric, Zhjaeve paused her stirring of the cook-pot to ask, "will the knowing of this other sword help us in our endeavor? I thought the Sword of Gith was our focus."
To that, I said, "I had a dream that involved giving a beautiful greatsword to someone I cared deeply about. That sword may be the one we took from Ghellu. In another dream, an artifact hidden somewhere near a grave was a revelation..." I shook my head at the obscure memory. "They may be connected." After some thought, I concluded, "That moon elf spirit in the Gem Mines looked disturbingly familiar. What happened to her?"
"Huh, familiar?" Neeshka had returned from waking Shandra. "Glanced in a mirror lately?" After looking back and forth at Zhjaeve and me, she finished, "They killed her. Look, the lorekeeper told us the girl and the Guardian's identities were erased..."
"That left Annaeus and his wizards, not to mention the lorekeeper, Balaur; they knew both of them," I interrupted her speculation. "As far as I know, nobody was killed," I said in dismissal-- Neeshka was always seeing shadows in every corner.
"It's just a thought—From where I'm standing, that's what it looks like," the rogue said, with a shrug.
" So you believe you embody this elf-girl spirit?" Zhjaeve asked with raised eyebrow.
"Yes I do," I said, uncrossing my arms and turning to face her. "We look too much alike to be a coincidence."
"I have suspected it since seeing her yesterday, but I wanted you to give it voice," the Gith said solemnly, "you must come to understand your dreams. Riverguard is his birthplace and it possesses great power. He has twisted this young woman's love, carved it with shadow. Releasing the shades as we did will not endear us to him."
"So where do I fit in?" I asked her.
" First, tell me how you feel about this Guardian, not the King of Shadows," she intoned. Her eyes held mine.
"Well, despite all his noble intentions, I think he was maneuvered into it by the wizards and Annaeus. He ignored this elf-girl and her feelings were hurt," I said with emotion, "he was a fool."
To that she said, "such emotion can be dangerous. Is it you or the spirit speaking?"
"It's me," I said, after a moment of hesitation, "I know how the King of Shadows could use this emotion against her. She loved the man, not the Guardian, and certainly not the King of Shadows. Does that disqualify me?"
"No it certainly does not," she said, "such passion guided by a strong will is a very sharp edge, but it must remain clean, untainted by his evil. Can you keep it so?"
"Yes I can," I said with a steady gaze. I still believe that love is ageless.
"A way to anchor your thoughts when you battle him is to remember you will be releasing him from an infernal bondage, not of his choosing; An act of love," she said with conviction, "forget the pain and loss, they dull the will."
"Thank you, Lady Zerth," I said solemnly. "I understand; Focus my will,"
"You are welcome, my dear," she returned. In all the time I knew her, that was the only affection Zhjaeve ever showed.
"What's all this about my sword? Neeshka's been babbling about returning to that pile of rocks at Riverguard with it," enter Shandra Blood of Jerro.
"I wasn't babbling Shandra, you just weren't awake yet," snapped the rogue. "Does anyone really listen to me?" she asked the sky.
"The mighty warrior queen approaches," I deadpanned to Shandra's blank stare, "how was your slumber?"
"T'would be better if you didn't send horned devils to kick me awake," she said, beginning to laugh.
Neeshka stuck out her tongue.
"We think there may be a connection between your sword, the Guardian, and Riverguard Keep," I told her.
"You're not going to take it back, are you?" she asked with a skeptical look on her face. "I risked my life for that blade."
" No," I replied, "it's yours. Keep it."
"Good," she said, "I wouldn't want to fight you for it."
"I do have some questions about it, though," I said, looking around to see where Neeshka was standing.
"Go ahead, I'm all horns," said Shandra, glaring at Neeshka, who just shrugged.
"Did you see anything else on Ghellu's body, maybe an amulet or a necklace?" I asked.
"Nooo... aside from the horrible smell of unwashed ogre, nothing else," Shandra wrinkled her nose, "oh, it kinda shocked me when I first picked it up, though, I thought maybe it was static, you know, like when you walk across a rug with armor on. I need to get Khelgar to make a new scabbard for it, though. That blue glow from the crystal affects my night vision."
"Blue glow?" I asked, glancing at the rogue.
"Yeah, a really irritating shade of blue. I thought it was maybe an illumination enchantment, but it went out when we left the keep."
This time I stared hard at Neeshka.
"WHAT." she cried,"I didn't do anything."
" It's just a coincidence," I mimicked, "hallucinations, my EARS."
She looked at me, her tail tracing lazy arcs.
"It's an elven insult," I said, "you wouldn't understand."
"Try me," she replied, heating up, "I'm not that stupid."
"Hey, take it easy," I tried to soothe her, "I was just kidding."
She turned her back on me, saying nothing.
"Everybody listen." I called out, "anyone not going to Riverguard Keep can stay here in camp. The rest, pack up, we're leaving in a hour."
I looked directly at Neeshka,and asked, "well, are you in?"
"Alright... ALRIGHT. I'm going." she said, turning around. She didn't look happy at all. "Khelgar isn't getting all the glory," she grumped.
"Or the loot," I added. That got her to smile.