- "It is done. Bloodraven and her minions have been put to rest," Dana said, presenting the former rogue champion's bow to Kashya with unexpected reverence.

The redhead simply stared at the weapon for a long moment, her expression betraying nothing.

- "You bring us both hope and grief, my friends," Akara answered in her stead. "Perhaps now we can begin to heal. You have proven yourselves to be steadfast allies. We are in your debt."

- "You should keep the bow," Kashya spoke up. "It carries too much hurt with it for any of us to use. Besides, your kill, your trophy. It's the rogues' way."

- "I will use it to help you reclaim your home. Time and distance may have estranged our two peoples, but we are still sisters. This amazon will fight by your side to the end." She paused, looking at the bow in her hands. "It's what Lydia would've done."

- "My forebears once swore to fight the forces of Hell directly," Galen said in turn, reflexively pawing at the war scepter that hung at his belt. "I finally have the opportunity to follow in their footsteps and fulfill that oath. I too will help you cleanse your lands of Andariel's evil."

They both turned to Aan.

- "I wouldn't want your ancestors to lord it over mine," he said with a smirk. "Count me in."

- "We are grateful, outlanders. For now, the immediate threat to our camp has been quelled. Tonight, our sisterhood will hold council to decide our course of action. You three will be our guests of honor. Until then, take some time to rest. You've earned it."

Dana was already dreading her return to the tent she had shared with Lydia. She didn't want to be alone with the empty cot she would never again sneak into, the armor she would never again remove, the personal belongings she would have to sort. She was terrified of the moment the future would assert itself over the past.

- "Aan and I are sharing a tent here in camp," the paladin's voice brought her back to the present. "We would be honored if you would join us."

Relief shone in the amazon's eyes, but was quickly replaced by a mischievous glint.

- "We've barely known each other a day and you're already offering to share your tent with me?" she said with mock indignation. "Isn't promiscuity frowned upon in your order?"

She chuckled when the young man turned red and stammered an explanation. It felt good to laugh again.

- "Come now, sir knight, I'm only teasing," she offered. "It's very thoughtful of you to propose. I accept…lead the way."


Aan and Galen had just finished helping Dana move her affairs into their tent. The amazon was grateful for the company and for the busywork to keep her mind away from dark thoughts.

As they placed their armor and weapons on wooden racks, her eyes were again drawn to the paladin's war scepter; it looked ancient yet unweathered by the touch of time, the style of its craftsmanship harking back to some forgotten era. Something about it struck her as terribly familiar.

- "Your scepter," she remarked. "It reminds me of my people's oldest artifacts. How did you come by such a thing?"

Galen grabbed the weapon in question with both hands, memories flashing across his face.

- "The Pillar of Heaven. It's been in my family for countless generations," he said as he handed it over to Dana for closer inspection. "Legend has it that it was forged by sanctuary's first champions of the light. I don't know if there's any truth to that, but what I can say is that it was already a sacred relic when the church of Zakarum was young. Though to hear my father tell it, it's more of a curse than an heirloom."

- "Wasn't it your father who passed it on to you?" she asked as she admired the scepter.

- "No, it was my grandfather. My father never followed in the footsteps of his sires. He forsook the calling to become a humble merchant and raise a family in peace. Unfortunately for him, my sister and I grew up with our grandfather's stories and decided early on that we wanted to become paladins just like our forebears. Our father never approved. He said our family had already sacrificed too much to the cause; too many kin taken before their time, too many childhoods darkened by loss or even simple absence. Looking back, I can't say he was wrong."

- "Your father cast shame on his ancestors," Aan inveighed. "You chose the right path. The warrior's path."

- "As to that, I still have my doubts; his fears came true. The war against Leoric took both his father and one of his brothers, and sent his children into self-imposed exile," Galen responded.

- "Your grandfather and your uncle...I'm sorry for your loss," the amazon said as she placed the Pillar of Heaven back in his hands.

He gave it another long look.

- "Maybe he was right," he added. "Maybe it is a curse. But the old tales teach us that some curses must be borne willingly for the greater good, no matter how they may weigh upon us," he paused, then turned to his companions with a smile. "Though to tell you the truth, I was always more partial to swords," he finished while placing the scepter back on the rack.

- "You've some skill with a blade, holy man?" the barbarian challenged as they all settled in.

- "You could say that," the paladin replied with understated confidence.

- "I've never seen a swordsman without a sword," Dana interjected.

Galen grew somber.

- "I laid mine down after the war," he spoke up after a short silence. "It was stained with the blood of men, men who had only acted out of loyalty to their king, demented as he was. I cut down many foes with that blade, some that deserved it, many that didn't...too many". Disgust warped his harmonious features. "I never wanted to touch it again. Others in my order felt the same way. We were defending our homeland, yes, but in so doing we found ourselves repeating the sins of the Hand of Zakarum."

- "The Hand of Zakarum? You speak of the Inquisition?" the amazon's expression soured.

- "Yes. I feel shame just to utter the word."

- "The inkwiwhatnow?" Aan inquired.

- "I expect you've heard of the Time of Troubles? Those dark days were the work of a fanatical branch of the Zarakarum church called the Hand. They led the purge of those they deemed corrupted by demonic influence. Even at the best of times, their methods condemned the innocent alongside the guilty; at their worst, they were religious zealots who forced conversion and dogmatic allegiance at the tip of a sword. They went against every precept of our religion, twisting the enlightened teachings of Akarat into an instrument of terror and domination. Many paladins were horrified at what their order had become, and a great schism shook the church: those who rebelled against the Inquisition, my grandfather among them, ventured west to eventually establish a new order, the Knights of Westmarch. They vowed that they would protect the innocent and that, instead of shedding human blood, they would fight the source of demonic corruption at its root: The Prime Evils."

- "But the Knights of Westmarch are nothing like the Hand. Your reputation as men of honor has reached even my lands. You were only defending your people against invasion." Aan protested.

- "Perhaps I spoke too harshly, but it was clear to some of us that our order was falling short of its founding oath. Instead of facing off against the powers of Hell, we were once again fighting the victims of their corruption. Oathbound to the throne of Westmarch, we were forbidden to meddle in Khanduras' affairs as its king descended into madness and a shadow spread over Tristram. We realized that, tied to one nation as we were, we would be too embroiled in politics and limited to the kingdom's borders to truly challenge Hell's influence in Sanctuary. That is why some among my brethren set off to wander the world as knights-errant, defending those in need. My sister decided to rejoin the Zakarum church in the east; the war had convinced her that they had been right all along, that corruption had to be rooted out before it led to widespread tragedy."

- "She chose to return to those rabid dogs?!" Dana exclaimed incredulously. "The very murderous fanatics that first tainted your order?"

- "I tried talking her out of it, but you have to understand her point of view: two whole nations had needlessly spilled each other's blood because of one man's fall to demonic influence. She felt that though they had abused their power, the Hand's mission of eradicating evil was noble. In her defense, the Inquisition was decades ago, and the Que-Hegan who initiated it is long dead. There are even rumors that his successor, a man named Khalim, is a reformer who is returning the church to the humble spirit of its origins. That, at least, is what my sister believed, and she hoped truehearted paladins like herself going back into the fold would only serve to redeem the order in Kurast."

- "Do you believe it?" Dana asked, her eyes boring into the young man.

Galen wavered a moment before answering.

- "...I don't know. I too hope it is so. Who knows what goes on across the Twin Seas? At least my sister took a chance. I chose the coward's path," he sighed. "I was so sick of death and bloodshed after the war that I turned in my war gear, except for my grandfather's scepter and the shield that I had received upon attaining the rank of paladin," he said as he turned a meaningful glance to the weapons rack next to him. "After that, I left home to do whatever good I could as a traveling healer, but I knew that I would have to take up arms again in my journeys. The shepherd cannot tend to his flock if he cannot fight off the wolves. Now, perhaps, I finally have the chance to take the fight to the demons themselves," he paused, his sober expression breaking up to offer his companions a smile. "Though I'm glad I don't have to do it alone."

Aan grinned back while the amazon smiled weakly, her heart troubled; I'm glad I don't have to do it alone...Lydia had once said those exact same words to her.

- "Friend Galen," the barbarian began, "your grandfather entrusted you with his most sacred heirloom. You honor him by wielding it in his name." He rose to his feet. "I think the three of us will do great deeds together. In the meantime, let us celebrate our newly forged alliance! Follow me to whatever passes for a mead hall in this camp, I'm buying us all a round."

With that, Aan left the tent with a spring in his step. Galen grinned at Dana and got to his feet, opening the tent flap and gesturing for her to take the lead.

- "Milady," he announced with exaggerated pomp.

- "Thank you, sir knight," she replied with equal grandiosity as they followed after their friend.


- "Barkeep! Another!" Aan's voice rang in the camp canteen, and other voices roared in approval.

This was merely another high note in the constant merrymaking and singing that surrounded the northman, his booming voice carrying over the others; a number of rogues and other denizens of the encampment had joined him in his revelry, his good mood preternaturally contagious.

- "At least one of us is in high spirits," Dana remarked enviously.

- "That man is an inexhaustible font of good cheer," Galen said with a smile.

- "And yet I sense he's had just as hard a time of it as either of us."

- "His many scars would suggest as much, yes, though he wears them proudly. He too seems to be adrift in this world, with no place to call home."

- "You could go back home any time you choose," she remarked. "I'm sure your family would embrace you with open arms."

- "I could say the same of you," he rejoined. "What keeps you so far from the amazon isles?"

- "It's…complicated."

- "It always is," he nodded with a sigh.

They both fell silent for moment, basking in the raucous sounds of the barbarian and his drunken entourage.

- "Thank you, by the way," she said suddenly. Her voice was different now. "I didn't get to properly thank you for your help. I don't know how I would've managed the last couple of days without you two."

- "I'm sorry we didn't arrive sooner. Perhaps if we'd been there the first time…" he stopped himself before he could finish. The last thing he wanted was to reopen the wound before it had time to heal.

- "Or perhaps one of you would be dead now. Or maybe me, and you would be having this conversation with Lydia. There's no use wondering. Fate does not bargain." Her mood had soured.

Regretting his words, he placed his hand on hers. He was rewarded with a smile.

- "Don't let me spoil this celebration for you," she apologized. "You deserve to unwind. You fought well for someone who's supposed to be rusty."

- "My time as an itinerant healer was not wholly peaceful, you know," he replied. "I had to wield my scepter against bandits, beasts and demons on occasion. I even fought a necromancer who was terrorizing the countryside not so long ago."

- "Wait, you don't mean the Corpsemaster of Kirkmoor?"

- "The very same."

- "That was you? Lydia and I had just been hired to deal with him when we heard that a brave champion had waded through an army of skeletons to strike him down. You cost us a pretty penny."

- "I don't know how brave that was," he demurred. "The man was powerful, but raving mad. The only way I could end his insanity was to end his life."

- "Some people deserve nothing more," she retorted grimly.

- "Well allow me to make up for your lost contract with a drink and a hearty meal," he offered to lighten the mood.


They'd just finished enjoying their ale when a rogue came to summon them to the council. The northman was already on his 7th flagon. A veritable feast lay half eaten before him.

Galen and Dana, who had been much more moderate in their intake, exchanged a worried glance.

- "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," the amazon worried out loud. "He's in no condition to attend a war council."

- "Aan," the paladin began, but the barbarian didn't respond as he downed another flagon.

Galen tried a more direct approach, placing a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention away from the other revelers.

- "Aan my friend, maybe you should sit this one out."

- "Who's Anne?" came the slurred response. "You want me to sit where?"

- "We're going to discuss important matters with the rogue leadership, but you're clearly too inebriated to come. Wait for us here."

- "Nonsense," Aan retorted, "I'm not inerbr...ibrini...inbrineat...what you said. Let me just finish my drunk and we can go."

- "Aan," Dana interjected, "be reasonable."

- "Stop calling me that," the northman grumbled. "That's not my name".

- "It's not?" Galen asked.

- "Never mind. Don't...don't worry about me, I'll be on my best behavior," he said as he rose to his feet.

- "Just stay quiet and leave the talking to us," the amazon insisted.

- "I'll be as quiet as the mouse that got the cheese."

- "...the mouse that got the cheese?" Dana asked with as much sarcasm as she could express.

- "That's how the saying goes, right? Because the mouse is too busy eating to speak...um, squeak."
Dana just sighed as Galen tried his best to contain his laughter.


The war council of the rogues was a solemn affair. All the heads of the sisterhood were there, with Akara and Kashya at the head of the table. The redheaded captain welcomed them.

- "Ah, our honored guests have arrived. Now that you're here we can begin. We have been discussing the threat the maiden of anguish poses and how best to face it. Akara has news to share about what we're up against." Kashya looked to her elder.

The room went quiet as all eyes focused on the priestess. The silence lingered, broken only by a belch that emanated from the barbarian.

- "I'm afraid we may be dealing with more than just Andariel," Akara began. "I have peered into the Sightless Eye, and in it I sensed a greater evil lurking, one that threatens not just our lands but the entire world. I tried to glean more information but all I received was a vision: I saw the town of Tristram. The cathedral loomed in the distance, its shadow black as night. The shadow began to grow, becoming immense, and everything the shadow touched began to burn, until it engulfed the whole town and Tristram was nothing but a massive inferno." She paused to collect herself. "I do not know what this portends, but I believe Tristram's part in this story is not yet finished. There is only one man with enough knowledge of history and lore to advise us, a Horadric sage by the name of Deckard Cain. He survived the darkening of Tristram, but now I fear what may have happened to him and his town. You must go there to find him if he yet lives," she finished, staring straight at the three companions.

- "But Tristram is over a hundred leagues from here. It would take us weeks to get there!" Galen objected.

- "There might be another way. Somehow you have been able to awaken the ancient waypoints that have lain dormant since before our ancestors left Skovos. A hidden power lies within you that has not been seen in the land for generations. There is a circle of cairn stones, older even than the waypoints, that was erected in the nearby highlands in the time before the sin war. Legend has it that it can open a magical portal to several locations in Khanduras, one of which is just outside Tristram. However, in order to activate the stones a ritual must be performed, and no one has managed it in living memory, but you may yet succeed where all others have failed. Alas, all records of the ritual lie in the monastery's library, which the demons have probably ransacked by now. But there is still one hope: the tree of Innifus. Carved on its surface is the oldest pictograph of the ritual. If you can bring me back its bark, I can decipher the glyphs to allow you to activate the portal."

- "Where is this tree?" inquired the amazon.

- "It stands in the forest that lies on the way to the monastery. It can only be reached by a passage that goes through the mountains. I will mark both locations on your map, but be careful. Those woods have grown dark ever since Andariel began corrupting the land, and we've lost many a scout to the tainted wildlife there. There's no telling what lurks in the shadows."

- "Whatever it is, it can't be bigger than me," boasted Aan.

- "We should begin the journey as soon as possible," Galen said as he turned to his companions. "If something has indeed happened to Tristram, every moment we delay lowers the chances we'll find anyone alive. We'll stock up on supplies and head out first thing in the morning," he announced to the assembly. "If Cain lives, we'll bring him back."