Entry 39 –
By Tyr, first I had Yohan's spirit contact me and now I swear I can feel Devon's eyes watching me. I can just imagine him laughing at me and calling me and my amulet foolish. Even the air feels chilly all of a sudden.
I'm getting ahead of myself though.
I started the day running into an elf named Ari. That's a shortened version of her name, I can't remember how the whole thing was pronounced. I'm lucky Braeth has a nice short name. Ari was doing good, and while I briefly chatted with her another person named Call also greeted us. I could detect a twinkle in Ari's eye at him. Very much reminds me of when Braeth and I started to get to know each other.
Speaking of Braeth, he told me he's trying to gather some money to by a house for us. Even though we'll have a place in the Alliance outpost, he really wants a place he and I can call our own. I like the idea; the Inn is getting a bit expensive anyways. Another good thing is that I'm starting to feel my old Braeth returning, he's not thinking so much in "shades of grey."
Kanen then approached, and he was looking quite sad. He was a bit surprised when I asked him what was wrong, he thought Braeth had told me. But of course Braeth hadn't, figuring that it was Kanen's tale to tell. He invited Amissa and me to the Inn so that he could tell his problems. He was troubled because he thinks he hurt Seven, because he told her that he feels he is in love with somebody else. He really thought that Seven was lost to him, and was surprised at how hard she took the news. I feel bad for both of them. I feel sorry for them. Kanen's torturing himself over hurting Seven, which shows that he still cares for her as a friend at least. And Seven... I'm not sure if she's known where her heart lies, with having feelings for both Kanen and Jubei. I wonder if Jubei has also shut his doors to her. It wouldn't surprise me if he did, he seemed very upset with himself for letting his feelings get in the way of his job. Amissa and I gave Kanen some words of encouragement. Can you believe Kanen expected us to shun him for what he did? Even though I'm Seven's friend, I know that he did not mean to hurt her. I hope he realizes that. I suppose I should try to find Seven and make sure she's okay.
One interesting irony about Kanen. I've told him before that he reminds me of my father. Even more so after Kanen told us of the woman he does love, Cila. She's a bard.
While Amissa and I talked to Kanen, another knight I had recently met, Sir Wulf, approached us. The four of us talked about things for a little bit, and then Kanen left to go rest. A short while after he left, I began to hear a voice call out to me. As it became louder, I could make out the words, "amulet girl." I started to feel scared, thinking that Devon was somehow haunting me. I felt a warmth in my pack, and upon searching through it, I pulled out the necklace the old man, Yohan, gave me. As I did so, I could hear the voice get louder. The necklace seemed to sparkle unnaturally. I inquired if this was Devon or Yohan calling me, and the voice responded that it was Yohan. He called me his hope. His spirit was unable to find rest and wishes to undo what has been done. Yohan warned me that Jade was just a distraction in Devon's plans. Devon had already conquered death. He wants to power. Power to spread death, disorder, chaos. The wizard wants to dominate life. Yohan warned me to watch my friends, and then faded away.
Amissa and Sir Wulf were quite concerned with me as I regained my senses. It seems that I was talking aloud when I spoke to Yohan. I hope they don't think I was acting too crazy. I tried as best as I could to explain the whole situation, hoping that it'd be enough for them to not worry about my sanity. How ironic of this to happen, considering I was earlier boasting how I had overcome the Fear that haunted me.
Yohan's words trouble me, though. Watch my friends? Obviously, Devon still has plans for us. But what should I be careful about as I watch my friends? Should I watch them for their sake, or watch them for my own sake? Both?
May Tyr protect us all. I fear dark times are on the horizon.
Entry 40 -
Egads I'm worn out. I didn't sleep well last night, to many bad thought swimming in my head about Yohan's warning. Then to make matters worse, Yohan AGAIN contacted me and revealed that, yes, things are WORSE then I could even imagine.
It happened as I was talking with Karion. Cera and a new friend Soul had just left us. We all were talking about things and I had just warned them to look out for my safety, telling them of the warning I received from Yohan. While I stood there with Karion, I suddenly felt dizzy, and it seemed like I was bombarded with many voices, none of which I could clearly understand. After my vision cleared, everything looked black and white, and I heard a single voice call out, "...amulet girl."
I immediately recognized it as Yohan, and grabbed the necklace from my pack. Sure enough, it was shimmering with an inner light, and felt warm to the touch. Yohan's voice filled my head, telling me that he must show me something. The world went black for a moment, then I found myself floating above, looking down at Karion and my body, which was still standing there, mimicking my movements. I felt Yohan's hand on my arm, and we began to fly south. The land passed by quickly, and I realized we were going far to the south. We slowed down and approached a castle keep. As we saw the first of it's guards, Yohan bid me to hide my amulet and stay quiet. We passed unnoticed by a wight, then some skeletal guards. We flew up a tower and I found myself in a large circular room made of obsidian.
In the room stood Devon in front of a table. Devon appeared to be quite young, but that is probably an illusion or unnatural magics since he's over 100 years old. When I looked on his cowled face, I felt nothing but hatred and disgust for the black hearted wizard. This madman who has harmed my friends, and threatens to do more harm. Probably an undead himself. Which disgusts me even more.
As I was on this trip, I could still hear what was going on around me, though I was trying to ignore it. I could tell that Karion was really getting worried though, so I tried to signal to him that I can't talk right now and that I was okay. I didn't want to talk to him because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Later Braeth, Soul, and an elven lass called Earawein (okay, I know I'm not spelling her name right, I really should learn Elvish) also joined us, much to their worry as they saw my condition. It was a bit disorienting to be in two places at once.
At Yohan's bidding, I looked at the table. There were a handful of orbs and a water basin on the table. As I looked into the orbs, I could see the various places in Narfell. There was Norwick, Jiyyd, the gypsy camp, a d a city which I'll assume was Peltarch. Yohan then pulled me over to the water basin. As I gazed into it, I saw images of my friends. Wilhelm, Jade, Reginald, Braeth, Kanen... The basin focused on Seven. I glanced at Devon and he seemed quite interested in her. He waved his hand over the basin and I could see her shiver as if suddenly cold. "You're next, my pet," the wizard said, his words sending a shiver down my own spine.
He then waved away the image of Seven, and brought forth another image. The image was of myself, or my body rather, as it stood in the Inn surrounded by my worried companions. Devon seemed surprised at something, and I noticed what bothered him. Standing next to me in the image was Yohan, holding my arm like he was with my spirit in Devon's chamber! Devon then turned to us, staring right at me. He knew we were here.
He called out to Yohan, chiding the old man his scrying. Devon then summoned a black creature and directed it toward me. The creature was completely black, and carried a scythe. It seemed like the creature that Jade had dreamed about in her nightmares, based on her description. Yohan tried to pull me away, but his grip let go and I felt myself fall. I sat slumped on the floor, suddenly feeling very cold. My armor even was chilled to the touch, so much so that it hurt. The creature looked pleased at the thought of killing me, and raised it's scythe for a killing blow. I tried to move away, but found that I didn't have the strength to. I called out for Braeth as I know he was with my body, and then called out for Tyr to aid me.
Just as the scythe was to swing down, I felt my amulet slip out of it's hiding place. It glowed brightly, it's light contrasting the darkness of the creature. The creature cried out and shrunk back from the light, much to my relief. Then I felt powerful hands grab me, and whisk me away from the chamber. I looked over to see who it was, as it didn't feel like Yohan, and found myself staring at the face of Tyr. He set me down and left. As I looked around me, I noticed I was back in the Inn, surrounded by many friends who all were demanding I tell them what was going on.
I bid them all to sit down with me, since I knew this was not going to be a short tale. Steele and Seven also joined us. When I saw Seven shiver despite being in a warm inn, I knew that what I saw was true. I told the group everything I saw. We all debated on what to do, what it means, are we actually insane enough to fight a Red Wizard. In the end, I think we decided that our main priority was to protect Seven and myself, as we seem to have drawn the wizard's attention the most. Second priority is to gather as much information as we can.
Devon's wrong about one thing. My amulet, and the love and hope it represents to me, is not foolish. It protected me. Braeth protected me. And my faith in my god protected me. I know you see me writing this, Devon, and I hope that what I'm writing is eating you up inside.
Well, so my thoughts aren't focused on a certain Red Wizard before I go to bed, I'm going to write about some thoughts I had about the Elven name I have to choose. I almost completely forgot about this task that was set before me after bonding to Braeth. Karion and Braeth had some suggestions, and I did a little more research and thinking on the name. It needed to be something that defines me as a person. In the end, I went with something that combined some of their suggestions with my own ideas. Amara Cal'Nuik. It means, roughly, "Beautiful Woman of Faith and Great Hope." I think it suits me well.
Entry 41 –
Since I had travelled up to Peltarch, I decided to spend a few nights at the Alliance Guildhall with is a short travel away. Of course, this meant traveling through some bandits, but the journey was relatively uneventful. The guildhall is very nice. Each council member has a room to stay in. The temple looks very grand, though an altar to Torm hasn't arrived yet. I'll have to inquire with Vashere as to the status of it. At least the other gods we want represented, Tyr, Helm, Tempus, and Athanatos, have their altars. I also noticed that the sign for Braeth's room has his name misspelled. We'll have to have that fixed. I can't be too angry about it. Elven names can be a bit tricky to spell correctly, especially if you are trying figure it out on the way it's pronounced.
Braeth showed Jade and Wilhelm the new guild and gave them a quick tour. I asked Wilhelm if he passed on the information I gave him the other night about my visits from Yohan, and he replied he hadn't. They mentioned they were needing to get going, so I briefly told the important information I learned, deciding to skip the tale of how I got it. Even the little bit I did give upset Jade, though. I feel sorry to put her through such discomfort at hearing how Devon is after Seven and I, and how I faced her nightmare creature. I know very well what it's like to have been put through a great trauma and the pain with having to face it.
I let the two be, knowing that any more talk about the subjest would do more harm then good. I decided to head back to Peltarch. It was nice to explore the city some more, and I found a wonderful surprise. They have a grand temple dedicated to Tyr! However, I found nobody inside it at the time. I'll have to check back sometime in the hopes of finding out who takes care of the temple.
Entry 42 –
Fishel has returned! Unfortunately, he's got some amnesia. At least our good friend is alright otherwise.
It seems that more and more friends are wanting to help with the problem of Devon. When I left the Boarshead Inn today, I found Braeth talking to a bunch of people about it. Of course, I was then obliged to talk about Yohan's messages to me. One person in particular that I was telling the tale too was a woman named "Blood Rain." I'm not sure if her name is spelled that way, but that's how it seemed it was pronounced. Odd name really, but I've heard stranger.
While I talked about how I reminded Yohan of his wife, Braeth pointed out a mistake in my tale. I keep thinking that Devon killed her, but according to Braeth, Yohan said that Devon took her. When he pointed it out to me, I remember that those were the words Yohan said indeed. I just understood "took" to mean "killed." Devon himself (through his female puppet again) spoke to my mind, accusing me of spreading lies. As if I'm perfect. Oh well, if it annoyed Devon, then I'm happy that I had a mistake.
It'd be just as well if he killed her anyways. She's propably a puppet like Yohan was. Heck, she's probably the one he's using to speak to us now. Bastard.
Devon's puppet then started to speak into the minds of people around me, taunting them. Soon it was suggested that we travel to the Alliance's outpost. There the puppet would not be able to overhear us and then twist our words against us. Everybody started to head out while I thought about something. That's when Devon made a mistake. He had his puppet come up to me and revealed herself to me, giving me a face to match the voice. Devon taunted that my friends had left me, and I replied that I was leaving to, and promptly did so. Of course, Devon taunts back that I'm cowardly running away. I just ignored it. I left because Devon disgusts me, and I did not want to hold up my friends.
Blood Rain had to leave us, she had to attend to a friend. A good number of us made the journey north to my temple in the Alliance guildhall. There was Verix, Pip, Kanen, Braeth, Janu, Rashid, and Fishel. At one point, a headless spirit interrupted our conversation to talk with Rashid. Rashid had been helping the spirit out with trying to get a head for her. Some of the other people kept saying things to make the spirit angry. They weren't giving her a lot of respect, and she soon left.
Fishel, Janu, and Rashid began to bombard me with questions about Yohan, Devon, the necklace, and the my spirit trip to spy on Devon. After much talk, we decided to try to contact Yohan, hoping to get him to talk with my friends. We were successful and Braeth, Rashid, Janu, and I talked with Yohan while Fishel stood guard (Verix, Pip, and Kanen had left us). What did we learn? Devon is definately in Thay. He wants Seven because she is the "key." He wants me because I'm the "lock." What are we lock and key to? Domination and control over life. Braeth guessed that Yohan means that Devon wants to become a god, Yohan thought Braeth was wise to see that meaning. Toward the end of our impromtu seance, Yohan warned that Devon was getting angry at us. He probably was scrying me and could see Yohan was in contact with us. We felt a darkness approaching us, and I could tell it was the same scythe-wielding creature I met before. Rashid used some hidden power to surround us in protective light. We ended our talk with Yohan soon after, not wanting to tax Rashid too greatly. Suddenly, the altars in my temple started to glow with sparkling auras. Obviously, the gods had blessed us. They deem our quest to stop this mad wizard to be quite worthy.
Braeth seemed surprised when Yohan called me his hope. But I think I understand. Devon may want me because I'm a lock to something he needs opened, but at the same time, I'm a lock that can seal his chances of success away. With my Love, Faith, and Hope, I shall succeed. And then Yohan can finally have his rest.
Braeth and Rashid left us, deciding to get some rest. Fishel still wanted to talk to me, and Janu stayed for a little while. Fishel asked me what hope was. It seems he forgot! Janu and I tried to explain it at first, and he didn't seem to understand. Then I decided to tell him of how my Fear consumed me and how it was hope that kept me alive through it. He understood after my tale, and not only that, but he remembered me telling it before, when Kanen was in jail due to Justinia. Janu left, but Fishel and I continued to talk. I asked him about his deity, as he never spoke of Mara before. He wasn't sure why he was guarded about his deity's identity before. Mara is a goddess of healing, perhaps a relatively new one too. We also talked about Kanen, who is a good friend of Fishel's. As we talked, some more memories came back to him. He's not really worried if they all don't come back though.
One thing is apparent, I need to talk to Seven. It's imperitive that her and I are kept safe from Devon until we find away to ruin his plans. I'm also worried about her since Kanen broke the news to her that he loves somebody else. She seems to have a soft heart under her strong exterior. She hides it well though.