Our departure from Far Harbor was more complex than I would have preferred. We secured the services of several boats, and paid well for their crews to prepare to leave immediately. The acolytes took their time figuring out which boats they would be on while I had to keep all of the island's creatures contained in their cages. Instead of keeping the creatures above ground, I kept them in a large cavern underground that I continually moved as we went. This kept the creatures out of sight, but within range if we needed them for food, resources, or for other uses that I could think of. Getting the boats lined up, loaded with passengers and supplies, and then moved away from the dock so the next boat could come in made for a cumbersome start.

Once everyone and everything was loaded, the small fleet left the port. This trip would take much longer since we weren't returning to the Nanako residence pier. For the return trip, I had instructed the boat captains that we would be headed to Warwick, a small settlement in the southeast of the Commonwealth, and disembarking there. I chose Warwick because it was close to the Glowing Sea. This meant that after we had reached the settlement, we could immediately begin heading toward out destination with only a scant number of ruined neighborhoods and a bog in our path. Going by boat would save us a few days worth of walking, possibly even a week or more when considering how many raiders, creatures, and the entire city of Boston would be in our way if we had simply returned to the Nanako residence. No sense in going through all of that hassle when we could simply skip it all.

The trip by water took nearly a day, but thankfully the waters were relatively calm. Mine was the first boat to dock at Warwick. I explained that a number of other boats would be coming in so that my congregation could join me. It took me a few minutes to work out a deal with the settlement's leader to allow us to stay the night. For a single night's accommodations, I offered to have my followers work through the night to construct a wall that would secure the settlement. The locals wouldn't even need to lend a hand. That seemed to seal the deal. When the locals had gone to bed, I allowed the congregation to sleep while I quickly summoned a stone wall that was twelve feet high and three feet thick to cut the settlement off from the peninsula it rested on. The next morning, the locals woke to amazement at the sight of the wall while we thanked them for their hospitality and took our leave.

I could feel the glowing sea from Warwick. Its dense collection of radiation congested my senses like a bad cold. I had thought that the ocean's radiation was considerable, but nothing could compare to the Sea's harsh environment. Its existence made me curious about how this world's physics differed from my original world. Nuclear bombs had been detonated in tests and in war there as well, but nothing had resulted in anything like the Glowing Sea. Perhaps it had something to do with the entity's presence that affected the world in such a way. I couldn't think of anything else that would explain why the radiation hadn't dissipated over time.

We wound our way through skeletal hamlets, some of which had begun sinking into a bog that threatened to swallow this section of the Commonwealth over time. While the radiation seemed content with its influence over the world, mother nature looked to be hellbent on reclaiming what she had lost to humanity.

We pushed through the tepid, noxious waters, through the grime and the muck till we reached dry ground once again. Here the land was cracked and charred. The air and sky began to change from the blue gray of mid day to a puss yellow with swirling green fog that threw a haze over our vision. I waited to begin absorbing the radiation when the congregation began mentioning the levels of rads they were experiencing.

I winced as I tried to absorb all of the radiation as quickly as I could. There was so much. When I realized it wasn't going to work as quickly or as easily as I would have preferred, I tried to stop. The radiation continued being absorbed and that confused me. Terror began to grip me when the process not only continued, but also sped up. The increased speed caused my senses to burn like an injection pushed too quickly into one's body. The sensation spread throughout my body and I began to whimper and stumble.

Adam and T'Preea were kneeling beside me in an instant. Meirune took up a defensive position in front of me as if to guard me from some unseen threat.

"Merida?" T'Preea called. "What's wrong?"

I could barely contain my voice from screaming, "The radiation. I can't stop absorbing it… It's so much! So fast!"

Adam held me and braced me so that I could continue to stand, "What can we do for you, High Priestess?"

"Nothing," the entity's voice rang in my mind. "They will do nothing. This is your trial. The radiation flow will not stop until you have reached the Whately Research Facility."

"The buried city…" I grunted through the pain.

"Buried city?" T'Preea asked as she looked from me to Adam.

Adam shook his head, not understanding what I meant. They couldn't hear the voice.

"Just so," it responded. "If you are successful, two additional blessings await you."

"I'll do it…" I swallowed, doing my best not to scream. "I'll make it!"

"We shall see," it responded.

"Merida, what are you talking about?" T'Preea asked.

I reached out and held onto Adam's shoulder to steady myself as I fought through the burning sensation that set all of my nerves ablaze, "Atom is putting me through a trial… I have to reach a facility in the glowing sea. He will not allow me to stop absorbing the radiation until I get there."

"Absorbing the radiation has never hurt you before," T'Preea said as she tried comforting me.

"There's never been this much being forced this quickly into me," I said as tears began to roll down my cheeks.

"We'll carry you there, High Priestess," Adam said and began to pick me up.

"No!" I refused. "No… I have to do this myself."

"Will you be able to make it?" Adam asked with concern.

"I am Merida Orodum," I growled as I steadied myself and began to march forward, every movement agony. "Nothing will stop me from my goals… not pain, not a trial, not a god who thinks I might not be able to overcome something so simple as walking!"
The defiance and confidence were mostly for show. Truth be told, I was in complete agony.

T'Preea caught up with me and her expression was one of deep concern, "Merida! You can't do this on your own. Let us help."

I looked at T'Preea with tears streaming down my cheeks, the pain echoing in my eyes, "Please just be ready to pick me up if I fall."

She stared at me with pity and worry before nodding.

Meirune stuck by my side as we moved forward, allowing me to shift some of my weight against him. The trek from the edge of the Glowing Sea to the research facility would take several hours. In order to expedite the trek, I summoned a road that would lead us in its general vicinity. I didn't know how I understood where it was. I assumed it was the influence of the entity. The massive chamber below the surface that I could sense had to be the underground chamber where the entity's buried city waited.

The journey was torture. Every inch of my body radiated with searing fire. Each step felt like my bones with molten metal being hammered into submission. I fell more than once. T'Preea, Adam, Mierune, and the others were all there for me. They gave me water and helped me to my feet. The process was maddening to the point that, by the end of the journey, I nearly couldn't differentiate the difference between the pain and the rest of the world. Finally, though, the Whately Research Facility rose over the horizon. It stood like an onyx spire cleaving the landscape in twain with its monolithic presence. The closer I came to the building, the more people in the congregation began to stop in their tracks; not daring to come close to the facility. By the time I was a few yards from the doors, only Adam, T'Preea, and Meirune were by my side.

The desperate laugh that escaped me as I stood in front of the doors was one of relief. The pain that had consumed me for the past few hours began to subside. The towering structure felt like I was coming home and the doors were a welcome sight. I took several ragged gulps of air as I staggered to the doors. As soon as I touched the handle I felt a sense of warm comfort wash through me in the way that only one's home could give. I pushed the door open then looked back. T'Preea was by my side, but Adam and Meirune stayed a few yards away.

"You can't come with us," I told them.

Adam nodded, "I know, High Priestess. I don't know how, but I know."

Meirune let out a moanful bellow.

I smiled weakly, "Don't worry. We'll be back. And when we return we'll be better than ever."

"I'll pray for your safe return," Adam said as he dropped to his knees and began to pray.

I looked at T'Preea and we entered the place was strangely well preserved. Apart from dust build-up, some missing ceiling tiles, and the occasional damaged light fixture, the interior of the facility was completely intact; preserved like some time capsule dedicated to remembering a small fingerprint in time. While the building stretched into the sky, we made our way down. There were dozens of levels below ground and we had to get through each of them before finding the tunnel that led to the underground city.

The further we went, the more strength I regained. We pushed through a door that opened to the third level when I blinked. When my eyes opened I was staring up at a stone ceiling through some sort of glass enclosure. The ceiling was expertly carved with blue, glowing dwarven runes. I knew this place. I'd visited it hundreds of times.

"The mausoleum?" I asked, then coughed. My throat was dry as if I hadn't used it in ages.

"What?" a familiar voice gasped.

I turned my head, the act itself painful. My neck was stiff and even the turning of my head caused the bones to pop. My eyes widened as I saw Faren standing on the other side of the glass partition.

"Faren!" I cried out in my aching voice. My eyes welled with tears of joy.

"Merida!" he replied and began to pull the clasps to the glass.

As soon as he opened whatever the partition between us had been, I leapt forward and embraced him. His arms wrapped around me like a vice and I reveled being crushed in his embrace.

"By the Stone, it's been so long!" He cried and kissed me.

"I don't know what's going on…" I said, giddy but still confused. "One moment, I was with T'Preea in the Wasteland. The next moment, I was here."

"The Wasteland?" Faren asked before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. You're here and you're finally awake again!"

"Is she really… awake?" a soft female voice called from the side.

I turned to look at what was almost a spitting image of myself staring back at me.

"What?" I asked. "What's going on? Who's this?"

Faren held me tight, "That's right. You wouldn't know, would you. This is-"

"Strange," T'Preea said.

I was back in the research facility in the blink of an eye. I stopped and looked around desperately.

"No…" I whimpered. "No no no no NO! I was home! I was back! I was with Faren again! What happened? How am I back here?"

T'Preea looked at me with skepticism, "Merida, what are you talking about? I only said the look in your eyes was strange."

I slumped to the floor and buried my face in my hands. I screamed, not just sadness, but in frustration because I could still smell Faren's scent on my skin.

"It's not fair," I sobbed. "I was home! I saw Faren! I held him and kissed him! Then I was right back here again!"

"What do you mean?" T'Preea asked. "You haven't been gone at all. You just had this far away look in your eyes. Are you telling me you were somehow back in Thedas?"

I sobbed and nodded, "I don't know why, but I was in some sort of… bed… with a glass top. Faren was standing there, and so was some other dwarf that looked nearly identical to me."

"What happened?" T'Preea said curiously.

"Nothing," I replied dejectedly. "I woke up and saw Faren. He opened the glass to let me up, we held each other… and then I was back here again."

T'Preea looked around, "I think this place might be messing with your head. I've been getting creepy vibes from it since we stepped inside."

I stood and collected myself, "That makes sense. This place is a focal point for the power of an eldritch being. Our destination is one of its shrines beneath the building."

"And what are we going to do when we get there?" T'Preea asked as she helped me up.

"We're going to grow," I replied. "But first, I think we should find the director's office."

"Why? What's there?"

I smiled, trying to seem confident through the heartache of having been with Faren again then being suddenly ripped from him once more, "Something I think you'll be able to take advantage of."

It took us several minutes to find the director's office. It was unassuming on the outside and fairly mundane on the inside. Granted, it had slightly better decorations than the other offices, but apart from that, the only way to tell one from the other was the tile on the door. Inside the office, I moved around the desk and tugged at the drawers till I found one that was locked. I scoffed and gave it a firmer tug, using more of my strength than I normally would and snapped the drawer from its lock to pull it open.

Inside the drawer was a small wooden case with smoothed edges and polished to a mirror shine. There was a sense of otherworldly nature about the box, but that didn't stop me from flipping the silver clasp with a snap and opening it. There, sitting on an interior of red velvet, was the Magnumnomicon; a revolver made of mixed heavy irons in its rune-etched frame. The barrel was made of solid gold and had strange runes etched into it. The oversized grip was wrapped in leather of a questionable origin, marred with tentacle-like symbols that still seemed wet with fresh gore.

I smiled and offered the gun case to T'Preea, "Here you go, dead-eye. This ought to serve you well."

T'Preea looked at the gun with paranoia, "What the hell is that?"

I grinned, "The Magnumnomicon."

"Oh, hell no!" T'Preea shook her head. "I don't want to have anything to do with anything that looks like that and basically shares the name with the Necronomicon."

"I hate to tell you this, but it's a little too late for that," I said sheepishly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" T'Preea asked.

"Atom is real," I explained. "Not in the sense that the Children of Atom believe, but it is a real entity. And it already knows you exist and what we are."

"You mean people who constantly reincarnate?" T'Preea clarified.

I nodded, "Pretty much. So if a being like that knows you exist, and didn't put the heeby jeebies in you so that you could enter the building… you may as well use the gun. It can't do anything worse to you than Atom can."

"That's… both fair and terrifying," T'Preea sighed as she took the revolver from its case and placed six rounds into its cylinder before locking it in place, then slipping it into her belt.

"We'll need to get you a holster," I pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," T'Preea replied sarcastically. "I'm sure there's some madman eating bugs somewhere that would be more than happy to donate the leather to match it."

"Don't joke like that," I warned. "It might take you seriously and make that happen."

T'Preea shivered, "Yeah. Nevermind. I'll shut up."

"There should be an elevator nearby that will take us down to the lowest level," I said. "Let's go find it."

It took us a few more minutes to find the elevator. We took it to the lowest level which opened up into a large warehouse. The back of the area had a hole in the wall which we followed. The tunnel was comforting. It had been a few years since I'd been this deep underground, surrounded by stone. The passage was lit with the ethereal glow coming from luminescent gems. The gems were curious and caught my attention. When I inspected one, my eyes widened.

"T'Preea… this is lyrium!" I exclaimed.

"What?" T'Preea gasped. "It can't be. Isn't Fallout supposed to be Earth? There's no lyrium on Earth."

I reached out and touched the gem and heard the subtle song ringing from the gem, "No… this IS lyrium. I spent half a millenia around the stuff. I know it as sure as I know the stone itself. I can hear its song! This stuff is lyrium! What is it doing here?"

"Continue your approach and I will explain," the entity's voice called.

"What the hell was that?" T'Preea shrieked.

I looked at her with an expression that told her she wasn't going to like the answer, "Atom."

"What have you gotten us into?" T'Preea moaned.

We continued down the steep, obsidian passage. Its jagged walls threatened to tighten down on us but never did. The further we went, the hotter air became, threatening to choke us. The tunnel was clearly man made, chiseled haphazardly but without a single vent to move or clear the air. It took us several minutes to reach the bottom where the passage opened up into a massive cavern.

The view was stunning and terrifying. The cavern was filled with the ruins of ancient buildings that predated humanity by ages untold. Three star-shaped buildings of smooth obsidian slumped, partially toppled. Beyond them was a massive abyss that descended into an endless darkness. Extending out of the chasm's depths, dozens of pale, grotesque, purple tentacles the width of tree trunks emerged, writhing slowly. The tentacles spread throughout the area where they clung for purchase among the cavern's walls and ceiling.

A tall, obsidian obelisk rose from the center of the abyss. Its smooth, gleaming surface was inscribed with mysterious hieroglyphics glowing with the soft blue light of lyrium. Several shadowy figures surrounded the obelisk and paid us no mind.

"Approach," the entity's voice echoed.

The cavern was so large that it took us a few minutes to cross the distance from the passage to the edge of the abyss. The ancient buildings threatened to swallow us whole with their sheer size and alien architecture. We stopped at the edge of the drop-off.

"Approach," the voice insisted, the power of it compelling us.

I began to summon a stone path for us to allow us to cross to the obelisk before the entity rebuked me.

"No," it insisted. "Approach and have faith."

T'Preea and I shared a doubtful look, but I was confident enough that I could save us if we fell. I took a breath and stepped out over the edge. My foot came down and squelched against a series of whirling tentacles that came from the blackness of the abyss. I continued forward, and each step I took was greeted with more tentacles. T'Preea followed after me. It took us a few minutes to get to the obelisk. When we arrived, the shadowy figures moved aside without a single sound or any other acknowledgement of our presence. The entity spoke the truth, though. The figures did feel like family. While they didn't seem to acknowledge our presence, I felt a warmth from them that was both welcoming and comforting.

When we reached the obelisk, we both knelt on the writhing mass of tentacles beneath us.

"You have already witnessed my first blessing," the entity entoned. "My avatars now answer your call. Even now, because you believe it, because you will it, they hold you over the abyss."

"You promised two blessings," I replied, keeping my tone respectful. The pain from my pilgrimage had faded, but the heartache from seeing Faren again was still fresh.

"Witness," it said as a cluster of brilliant pink jewels emerged from the mass of tentacles. "Within these stones is the power to compel the creatures of the wasteland. Take them into yourself and you can impose your will upon them."

I reached out and took the crystal cluster. It reverberated with power and the light reflecting off of it threatened to warp my senses if I stared at them for too long. It took me a moment to realize what it meant by 'taking the crystals into myself', but when I did, I pressed the crystal to myself and absorbed it into my body. I'd learned to do this in Thedas when I discovered that I wasn't limited to moving through the stone, I could also absorb the magic or other qualities of different types of stone.

As soon as the crystals had been absorbed I could immediately sense all of the creatures within my sphere of influence. Meirune was at the entrance to the facility. There were molerats, deathclaws, rad scorpions, and more. At the edge of my influence, where I had to leave them, were all of the creatures I'd brought with me from the island.

"What of my companion?" I asked. "She has also come and shown her contrition."

"And she wields the gift you have granted her," it replied. "But I will empower her because you have requested it. No longer will the weapon require mundane resources to wield. Her willpower alone shall be enough to allow it to fire."

"We thank you," I replied.

T'Preea bowed her head in thanks.

"However, you promised me two blessings," I repeated. "You said I would gain dominion over your avatars and two blessings. I'm still owed one blessing."

"So you are," the entity agreed. "And I will allow you to grasp what you have not been able to since you have arrived in this world."

I gasped as I felt my connection to the magic of the world was restored. I felt arcane energies surge through me. I wept with joy as I felt the connection once again. The magic in the world was there, but it was essentially untapped. I reached up and wiped the tears from my eyes. I'd never understood just how important that connection had been to me until I felt it once more.

"Thank you…" I whispered with genuine gratitude.

"You have what was promised," it replied simply. "Continue to cleanse the world. Conquer the Wasteland in my name. Continue your role in the Narrative."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You will learn," it said cryptically. "Go now. Take what you have gained from this place and use it to continue your work."

"Gladly," T'Ppreea said, happy to be gone from the ancient ruins.

"Thank you for your help," I replied.

We stood and turned to leave. The Wasteland awaited us; I with my magic now returned to me, control over the tentacle-like avatars of the entity, and control over the creatures of the waste, and T'Pree with the Magnumnomicon and the ability to fire it with her willpower. We entered curious and unsure, we left empowered and prepared to bring the Wasteland to heel.