The Shadowland - Kianne's Journal

Kianne's Journal - Archive

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(First Entry)

[10/12/2002]

I found myself today with a rather unusual request: to please help an ettin named Guthnor save his home from orcs. I had no idea before now that ettins even had personalities to speak of, much less any other redeeming qualities. Guthnor, however, was different. He was non-aggressive, almost timid, and what one might even call "sweet." In short, his personality almost didn't seem to fit the giant ettin form he wore (but I certainly will never hold that against him since it is hardly his fault).

In the end, I was happy to join the small group of RBW and their friends that helped him clear his home (such as it was) of the orcs which had taken residence there. (His house was a tumbled-down ruins, but he'd added a few touches of his own, including a large golden rock that he seemed to be very protective of.) Some of the orcs were surprisingly powerful, but with the group of us, we cleared them out without major problems. It was overall a good experience, and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

[10/20/2002]

I hold once again my treasured silver bow, the magical one which fires arrows that it generates itself, no need for separate ammunition. How I came to have it again, however, is a strange tale...

Once upon a time, I had carried the bow with me everywhere. I never did feel quite the same without it. Thus, you can imagine my shocked delight when Andrella told me that a friend of hers had actually found my silver bow. I still don't know where it had been all this time. Eagerly, I arranged with Andrella to meet her in Skara Brae, and I waited anxiously for her at the arranged meeting place at the bank.

However, when she came, she told me there was someone she knew who needed to speak with me, who would be arriving soon. I must admit to being a little impatient, but I didn't think anything of it--probably, it was just a friend of hers she wanted me to meet, perhaps the person who had found my bow, which would allow me to thank him in person. I was still expecting a simple exchange, friendly conversation, and to be holding the bow within a matter of moments.

But that's not quite how it turned out.

When Andrella's companion (whom I will not name, in case this journal falls into the wrong hands) arrived not more than a minute later, he acted unusually wary and nervous. His gaze was sharp, his eyes darting around continuously, and he refused to say anything beyond asking Andrella to please gate us to a secure location. As she did so, wary confusion began to grow within me--there was definitely something amiss. Whatever this man had to say to me, it was bothering him a great deal, and I couldn't begin to fathom what it could be.

Once the three of us were in the new location, the man, I will call him "Joe," explored the area and made sure there was no one else about. I was beginning to wonder about him, since I still couldn't imagine what might be making him so nervous. Certainly, there was nothing he could say to me that would warrant this type of fear. But I was wrong. Eventually, he got around to telling us what was on his mind. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. He said that Lord Blackthorn had my bow. He hadn't exactly stolen it, I guess, but had found it somewhere and quickly taken it for himself. Which would mean I'd have to go through Blackthorn to get it back.

I have to admit I never knew Blackthorn particularly well, and I had never met this version of Britannia's Blackthorn at all. He had always struck me as an extremely misguided man, although what I'd been hearing about this Britannia's version was making him sound downright evil. To be honest, I wasn't very thrilled at the prospect of going to him and asking him to please give me back my bow. But the bow was important to me, and "Joe" had sacrificed a lot to tell us about it, so I didn't hesitate to make the decision.

Andrella came with me to Blackthorn's little castle, which I had never stepped foot in before now. We came across Blackthorn with his usual guards, trying out the bow on an archery stand.

The conversation was somewhat brief and without conflict; Blackthorn actually agreed readily to let me have my bow back provided I performed a task for him. It began to make me wonder if he'd somehow hunted down the bow simply to use it as a bargaining chip, but if that was the case, I had no idea how he'd learned about it to begin with. At any rate, what Blackthorn wanted was the golden rock that Guthnor had, the one he treasured so much. According to Blackthorn, if he could even be believed, the gold rock had once been Blackthorn's, and thus rightfully belonged to him. Whether or not that was true, however, I certainly wasn't about to go and simply steal Guthnor's favorite treasure. I thought perhaps I could bargain with him for it, though, and so I said I would give it a try. I did not promise that I would succeed in getting the rock, but apparently the fact that I agreed to make an attempt was enough; Blackthorn returned my bow, and Andrella and I made our leave and hastened to get out of that oppressive castle.

As soon as we were back at Shadow Castle, Andrella and I decided I should try out the bow and make sure it was really mine. I handed her all of the arrows I had been carrying, then we found a deer to use as target practice. It worked exactly as it had all those years ago. Somehow, Blackthorn really had found my silver bow.

I still haven't decided what I can use to bargain with Guthnor...

[10/26/2002]

I originally intended to merely observe the Duel Pits Tournament--for even though the Pits have a mystical aura that protects those within from mortal harm, by my nature I still do not like attacking other humans. However, the arrival of one of Blackthorn's elite guards interrupted the pie-eating contest, and, in a roundabout way, got me involved anyway.

Apparently, this man had intercepted the invitation that had been meant for Lord British. He also stole the prizes that had been brought for the night, then went so far as to destroy the moongate that leads out of the Pits, which effectively stranded all of us there, since Gate and Recall spells do not work within the aura. We ended up ganging up on him and defeating him in a duel to win back the prizes, but that victory was otherwise temporary of course since he was brought back by the mystical aura. He seemed to be rather stupid--he realized only after the fact that he would strand himself in the Pits along with us. This ended up being to our favor, since it was in his best interests to restore the gate so he could get out, which he managed to do I believe through a contact with Blackthorn, although it was undoubtedly Nystul who came to our aid in the end. I honestly don't understand what Lord British sees in Blackthorn...

[11/02/2002]

Today is a long and sad story. We had heard rumors that the Shrine of Justice was under siege, so we gathered at the Shadow Keep to prepare and head out to defend it. Unfortunately, a member of RBW began playing around with his spells for no obvious reason, doing some massive splash damage on some of the rest of us, and after the second time this happened, several other members immediately attacked him in retaliation. This mess took some time to clear up, and was never really resolved enough to suit me; more importantly, the time it wasted us proved more costly than we could have imagined.

When we finally arrived at the Shrine of Justice, it was already under attack by strange black wisps, and humans wearing red cloaks. Dupré was there trying to defend the Shrine alone, battling around a strange renegade moongate that had sprung up in the grass. Dupré hadn't been alone the entire time--Guthnor, who apparently was the contact that had warned us of this attack, had been fighting alongside him... Unfortunately, he had taken the brunt of the attacks and was already dead by the time I got there. This is what angered me the most--if we had only arrived a little sooner, we might have been able to save him. True, the wisps and the bandits together were no push-overs, but with our combined forces, we were able to beat them back, although several waves of them arrived before all was said and done.

Afterward, we learned that the attackers had apparently been members of a gang that called themselves "The Order of Sin" (they should have been "The Chaos of Sin" if you ask me)... They had been seen around before, but never this organized. It made me suspect there was a new mastermind behind their actions now, which seemed to jive with additional rumors that Blackthorn himself was behind the siege.

And this of course was the breaking straw--if it was true that Blackthorn had ordered the raid, then he had indirectly ordered Guthnor's death. Sweet Guthnor, who hadn't at all fit into the typical stereotypes of ettins. Guthnor had even been carrying his golden rock with him--the golden rock which, though too heavy for me to carry, the ettin of course had experienced no troubles carting around with him wherever he went. Andrella and Dupré gave the rock to me, saying Guthnor would have wanted me to have it. Dupré even carried it back for me, since it was too heavy for me given all of the other items stuffed into my pack. It brought humorous memories back to me, of a time when Dupré and Geoffrey had taken turns carting our skiff around all over Britannia, since they were the only ones in our group strong enough to handle it with ease, heh... But I digress. I do now have the golden rock that Blackthorn had wanted me to obtain, but I can say this: until I find out exactly who was behind this, I will not give this rock to Blackthorn, and if it turns out to have been him who ordered this raid...

On a higher note, aside from seeing Dupré again--well, I say "again" but this is probably another universe's version of him, like everyone else¹--we also met with Lord British himself, whom I had not spoken to in person since that fateful day years ago when I had gone to him wondering why the landscape seemed so different and nobody remembered me anymore. Unfortunately, we went away with more questions than were answered...

[11/09/2002]

RBW was asked by Nystul to help gather ingredients needed to make a potion to cure a poison. But it wasn't until we had arrived at the castle that we learned the full details. It was in fact Dupré who had been poisoned, for the apparent purpose to enable the theft of the Rune of Justice, which he had been personally guarding since the attack on the Shrine. This time I was rather adamant that we not waste any time, and luckily, this time nothing slowed down our departure.

Andrella's gate--I'll always be thankful for her gates, as she always seems to be able to acquire the rune for where we need to go--let us out in the desert where scorpions roamed. We needed to get the ingredient from a King Scorpion, but first we had to wade through a lot of lesser monsters to find one. The minor scorpions weren't overly dangerous, but the kings and queens were a challenge, and the King who ended up filling our vial was particularly brutal.

As soon as we had the needed reagent, however, we quickly ran from the place and gated out, concerned with getting the antidote ready before it was too late. We returned the vial with all due haste to Nystul, who went to work immediately. Thankfully the antidote was successful, and it wasn't long before Dupré, though still weak, was well enough to be considered out of danger.

Normally the tale would have ended there, except for a curious twist of fate. The Rune of Justice was still missing, but without knowing where to search for it, we decided to hit a hot-spot where members of the Order of Sin had been known to frequent. We did indeed find them, and on one of their bodies was a rune to one of their towers. This was our lucky break--when we used that rune to visit their citadel, we fought through their defending forces and discovered the Rune of Justice in one of their satchels.

Surprised but pleased, we hurried once again back to the castle, and came across Nystul in Dupré's recovery room along with Lord British and Jaana (seeing her brought back memories as well...). We returned the Rune of Justice and discussed with the four of them its discovery and what this might all portend.

Throughout it all, though, I could only think about how glad I was that this time we were not too late. Losing Guthnor was sad, but losing Dupré would have been unbearable. I have so many memories...

[11/16/2002]

This is hard for me to write. There is so much that I simply cannot dare to even put down into writing. I wish I could, in case I fall and someone else must take up where I left off, but I simply can't risk the wrong person reading this. My words here are probably going to sound like they're wandering in circles. My thoughts are so cluttered, I don't think I'll be able to organize them. But for what it's worth, I'll try to get the pertinent details down, for if anyone good does come across this, it is important they know what is at stake here.

More black wisps had been discovered around the crypt in Yew, and since they had been involved with the attack on the Shrine of Justice, we went to investigate. I'm still not sure what exactly the black wisps are--ordinary wisps are intelligent and generally friendly, although I've never gotten one to speak to me on this alternate world. Still, the black variations, though able to speak as well, are apparently evil to the core, as they don't hesitate to slay any of us that come near. Oddly, they don't attack the Order of Sin, but I still am not sure how the alliance was made.

At any rate, Andrella had discovered that the Order of Sin had apparently decided to turn the crypt into a base of theirs, so when we went to the crypt, we had to battle the red-cloaked bandits as well. Inside were mostly black wisps, but we worked our way steadily into the depths of the crypt and then up into a large room. And here's where I discovered a shock.

Inside the room was a pentagram in a circle drawn on the floor in blood, an open and empty coffin, another pulsing black portal like the one at the Shrine which appeared to be trying to coalesce into a moongate, and another member of Sin, who introduced himself as Larix Vageous and claimed to be the "Avatar" of Sin (as if). But what drew my attention and my feet were the four golden rocks placed around the circle at the points of the pentagram...and the conspicuously empty spot where a fifth was obviously meant to go.

Vageous did speak with us for a brief moment before battle broke forth, although he never did answer all of our questions. It was clear enough from what was said that some sort of summoning spell was taking place--a spell which required a fifth gold rock. Guthnor's gold rock, which had been entrusted with me. And that wasn't the end of the shock. Engraved on the empty coffin's lid were the words, "The prison of Soth." Soth! They had or were trying to resurrect and summon Soth, from LOK², and both Connor and Andrella were there to also recognize the name. Soth, who had caused all those troubles...here, in this Britannia?

Vageous: Ah, the infamous Kianne.
Kianne: That's 'Famed!'

I'm getting ahead of myself. Once Vageous was dispatched, we helped ourselves to his loot, to keep the Order of Sin from being able to put the items to evil use. Inside a chest we discovered a boat deed and a map of Yew, which seemed to indicate Vageous was...hunting for something.

But just as we were poking through the items in the chest, who would show up but Blackthorn himself, who appeared out of nowhere right behind us. The discussion that followed was explosive, since Blackthorn accused us of being responsible for the pentagram and whatever was a result of it. We finally went back to Lord British's throne room (interesting place for a gate, Blackthorn) and took the matter straight to the top with Lord British and Nystul.

I had been assuming that the summoning circle was related to bringing Soth to Britannia. But then Nystul brought up an even more chilling possibility--that it was designed to reopen the Black Gate. The Black Gate. I thought the world had ground to a halt around me. If there is one thing I never want to see injected into this world, it's the Guardian³. Never again. I realized then that we must prevent the opening of the Black Gate at all costs. But I only later discovered the cost.

It was shocking for me to discover how critical a piece that innocent gold rock played in all of this. Nystul said the rocks, which represent pieces of Britannia itself, cannot be destroyed, and that they are keys to the opening of the Gate. Therefore, in the past, he and others had scattered the rocks all over the planet in an attempt to ensure they would never be used again. But someone had somehow found all of the rocks and brought them together. And that opened even more horrible possibilities--such as perhaps the attack on the Shrine of Justice was a front--perhaps they were really after Guthnor all along, because he had been carrying his gold rock with him. And, Blackthorn had wanted the rock, wanted it badly, although he denied any involvement with the pentagram while we were in the court room--I mean, the throne room. And...well, the possibilities are still crowding around in my head, and it'll take me a while to sort them all out.

But if the rocks can't be destroyed, and the four already in place cannot be moved, then there is only one way we can prevent the Gate from opening--and that's to keep the final rock out of their hands for seven years, until the current spell immobilizing the other rocks dissipates. Unfortunately, we don't even know who "they" are. I'm wary of giving nearly anyone the rock, even someone who seems to be innocent. Besides, for the moment at least, the rock is safe--no one but myself and a few select others even knows where it is, and it's clear Sin has no idea, or else they would have come for it. Which is the problem--if I try to give the stone to someone else, or even if I just go and check on it, I risk leading them straight to its location, which would be disastrous. If Lord British had commanded that I hand it over, I would have been in a real bind...

And, what frightens me the most, is the almost feverish involvement of the members of Sin. Someone must have managed to raise Vageous after we defeated him, because he reappeared to Cloud later, trying to get him to reveal to him the location of the rock. And if Cloud's descriptions are not exaggerated, Vageous was really adamant about it. Yet why would he fight so much for it, just to open a gate? Most bandits care only about money and material goods. Could it be that the Guardian's influence is already touching this world? Is the Order of Sin the Guardian's new Fellowship⁴...?

I pen this postscript as a note to myself. During our conversations, Nystul said something that struck me as being curious. He said Dupré had told him that he knew me from long ago. But how could that be, unless...? Perhaps my assumptions have been wrong here. I must speak to Dupré about this when I get a chance...

[11/23/2002]

Curiouser and curiouser. I believe this tale is going to take even longer to write than the previous one. It's hard to believe so much can happen in a single day...

Deceptively, it all began on a lighthearted note. I was in my newly-constructed little home moving furniture around when who would happen to Recall into the clearing but Andrella. She had no idea the house was there, and just happened to have a rune marked for that spot. We got a good laugh out of that.

It was shortly after this incident that I heard that a strange monster had been discovered in the hedge maze. RBW met to discuss it, and quite to my delight Dupré was there as well. He explained that evidently this monster was Lilith, a goddess of Krynn, and had been brought here by Soth. Of course, apparently no one had thus far verified seeing Soth in person, so nobody could be sure if he was truly out and about in Britannia, but to me, Lilith's presence was proof enough.

We gated to the maze and found Lilith in an open area with rolling hills and a few buildings. She was a murderous creature who trod at an uncanny speed on spider's legs and could fell any of us with but a single blow of her hideous claws. From what we could tell, this wasn't of course her true form, but rather an earthly embodiment. Either way, it was deadly.

The battle was fierce; ironically, I had just earlier that day bought a wand of resurrection and didn't even at the time of the purchase realize how much it would later be needed. RBWs were dropping like flies, although thankfully with the number of wands and Resurrection spells that we had spread among us, we were able to quickly capture and return each one's soul to their bodies before they could permanently perish. I myself must have fallen at least five times. As long as we could stay distant from her, we could shower arrows and spells at Lilith from afar, but death came to anyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught within her grasp.

Finally, after one particularly nasty bout in which nearly every member of RBW was lying on the ground at death's door, Andrella called for us to retreat and regroup. Rapidly, we raised the ones who were fallen and quickly fled behind the hedges where we could peek out at Lilith, but she was confused and could not find us.

Cloud had mentioned before this started that he had a secret weapon prepared as a backup in case things turned sour, but never explained what it was. At this point, however, we all found out. Cloud crept up behind Lilith as she was occupied trying to find the rest of us. He dropped on the ground what looked like a gem carved into a curious shape, and chanted some Words of Power that were not Britannian.

We were then surprised to see that Lilith had vanished, and the gem was glowing the same wicked red as Lilith's body. As it turned out, the gem was a Gem of Entrapment, and it was now Lilith's prison.

We went from there to a pub in Trinsic to unwind after the bloody battle, and discussed Lilith, the gem, and its disposal. After this, we retired to Northwind castle. However, the night was far from over.

While Connor was on his way into the castle, he spotted an ettin just outside the protective hedge that surrounds the courtyard in front of Northwind. I stood by Dupré and watched as Connor easily dispatched the beast. This relatively insignificant event was nevertheless the trigger for much of what happened later. For it was when I mentioned that I can no longer bring myself to attack ettins that Dupré spoke up, asking me to follow him for a moment.

Dupré brought me to the Shrine of Justice, where a gravestone had been set up in honor of Guthnor. We paid our respects for a few minutes, then Cloud said he had to speak with me. (I would later realize this night ended up turning into a long string of "I need to speak with you.") The two of us retreated to the Shrine to talk in private. It was then that Cloud revealed that he had managed to resurrect Guthnor--despite the fact that it had always been believed that raising monsters was impossible. I could scarcely believe it, and asked at once to see him. Cloud gated us to his tower, saying that Guthnor was living in the forest behind the tower. Immediately I ran off, searching for him.

I came across him rather easily as I was doubling back toward the tower. The meeting was emotional and strange. Guthnor explained that he had been "on the other side" and had seen a vision there of the future. An awful vision of our downfall. He had been sent back to urge me to give the golden rock to...Cloud. He mentioned having met some sort of benevolent entity or entities that he called "guardians" but I became scared that he was really referring to that in the singular: The Guardian. And from that fear grew doubt--horrible, churning doubt. The happiness in my heart plunged, and the wonderful reunion suddenly wasn't so bright. What if this was some sort of ploy of the Guardian? Was this truly Guthnor, or some sort of illusion? The doubt was almost heartbreaking enough as it was, but then something worse came along.

Guthnor couldn't stay. After all of that, he couldn't even stay. It was the saddest thing of it all. He said those "guardians" had granted him only a few minutes and that he would shortly die again to return to where he had been before. Just the sheer thought that somebody might toy with another's life in that way made my blood boil. But there was nothing I could do to stop Guthnor from disappearing, leaving me alone in the woods with nothing for company but my own tears.

Finally, I made my way back to Northwind, where the others were soon involved a snowball fight, of all things. I'm afraid I was probably a bit of a downer, my heart and mind so weighed with what had just taken place, although I tried my best to be cheerful on the outside. After all, this was my decision to make, and I didn't yet feel up to discussing it with the others, who were enjoying themselves and having a justified celebration after the victory over Lilith.

When it finally dawned on me through the clouds filling my mind that a good opportunity had presented itself, I did do my own "I need to speak with you" for the night, and took Dupré outside by the fountain. This discussion was, mercifully, much more fruitful and served well to lighten my mood.

We spoke of old days, of the Black Gate and the Guardian and alternate universes. As it turned out, Dupré was in much of the same situation as myself: though others on this Britannia recognized him, they did not seem to share all of his memories, which was understandably confusing to him for quite a while. I don't know why I never considered the possibility that perhaps some of my companions from the "good old days" were in the same boat as I was. I suppose, after speaking with a Lord British who did not remember me, I just assumed that everyone else on this universe would be the same way, and dismissed it from my mind. Dupré, on the other hand, had been harboring his own doubts about me--but not because I failed to recognize him, but rather because I was much too young for the number of years that had passed since he'd last seen me. At this point I could only laugh at myself, having never even considered that. And then I explained to him about being immortal, my aging process frozen so that I'll always look young.

Dupré also revealed that he had talked to Iolo and discovered that Iolo also was from "our" version of Britannia. I am anxious now to speak with Iolo, although I haven't had a chance yet so far. He is happily married to Gwenno, Dupré said, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Whether it's this universe's Gwenno or the other, they were always meant for each other.

Cloud came during this conversation, wanting to--you guessed it--speak with me. He allowed Dupré to remain, rather than insisting it be a private discussion, so I'm afraid Dupré was probably quite confused when Cloud asked me what Guthnor had said to me. I looked at Cloud and told him I suspected he already knew. And he did. He explained that he had experienced his own vision, similar to Guthnor's, and had learned through it not only how to resurrect Guthnor but how to destroy the golden rock. Even though this task was thought to be impossible, Cloud said he knew a single way. It would involve a spell which would rip his own soul apart to cause a disturbance in the rock that would trigger it to explode. Somehow, though this explosion would of course do some damage to the surrounding area, it would not harm the planet despite the fact that the golden rocks are somehow linked to Britannia itself.

I'm afraid to admit that I was somewhat suspicious at this point. Cloud seemed almost eager to die--too eager, in a strange sort of way. Plus there were questions such as whether the procedure would even work as advertised--Cloud readily admitted he didn't know for sure. In the end, we degenerated to batting back and forth the same two points: one, that this was the only way to get rid of the rock and, therefore, permanently eliminate the threat of the Black Gate being opened here; and two, that Cloud insisted that his vision had revealed that the procedure had to be done that night, because horrors would descend Britannia the very next day if it wasn't.

The discussion wore on for what seemed like hours, with both of us standing firm, neither wishing to give ground. I did not have the confidence I needed in what Cloud was saying to justify the risk in handing over the rock. It wasn't that I didn't trust Cloud, but that I feared the Guardian was playing tricks on his mind. Cloud, on the other hand, insisted that there were in fact two guardians, one good and the other evil--and that the good one was the one who had given him the vision. Yet, there was no way to prove what he said, and I was all too aware of how easily the Guardian can appear to others to be something he's not.

Finally, I was able to get Cloud to agree to wait a night, to allow us to gather a council of war and discuss the matter with Connor and Andrella, Lord British and Nystul. Since Connor was nowhere to be found, Andrella had left for parts unknown a little earlier, and Nystul was down with the flu, the meeting would have to take place the next day. I made a calculated decision despite Cloud's ominous warnings to wait and see what tomorrow would dawn. Regardless, we weren't about to let down our guard; Dupré and I agreed to guard Cloud's tower that night while Cloud did whatever preparations he could do without the stone.

[11/24/2002]

Today the sun rose bright and cheerfully, and I left my vigilance at the tower to hunt down Andrella and Connor. As it turned out, they had arrived early for the RBW officer's meeting that was scheduled to take place later, so at least they were all in one place. I told them and the other RBW members who were there that a meeting was going on at Lord British's castle and asked everyone to attend. Those that could make it joined us in the throne room, where Lord British and Nystul awaited.

Kianne: Aye, but the location of the rock is in my head. If I lose it, then so do they. :)

I opened the meeting with a brief introduction of the issue, then asked Cloud to explain what he knew. Unfortunately, this discussion felt much like the previous one in terms of how we seemed to all be beating our heads against the wall. Lord British and Connor didn't view it necessary for Cloud to sacrifice himself and destroy the rock--they were confident RBW would handle whatever evils came Britannia's way--and Nystul offered that he had never heard of any of the concepts about which Cloud spoke. I fear it turned somewhat ugly in the end, but finally Cloud realized he wasn't going to convince any of us, so he gave up and left. The rest of us drifted off to our own ways; I went to join the officer's meeting--which luckily we weren't late for, at least--and gradually got my mind off the matter.

And the sun yet shines...

[11/30/2002]

RBW was called today to a short meeting about the coming of Soth. We learned that not only are the undead getting stronger, but evidently the entire Order of Sin has turned undead as well! That was what surprised me most of all. Was it the ultimate sacrifice they made willingly, or were they all subjected to it without their knowledge?

During the discussion who should wander in but Vageous (you know, we need better security at Northwind). Rather to my surprise, his former arrogant attitude had given way to a rather desperate one--he was pleading for us to help him, saying all of his buddies had fallen under some kind of curse.

So Vageous was alone of Sin who had not been touched by the pallor of being undead? Curious indeed...but before I could much think about that, Cloud was there confronting him. Accusing Vageous and his cohorts of controlling him to get the golden rock.

At this, Vageous smiled, and said it was time to do away with RBW, and told Cloud to help him. Rather to our shock, Cloud said "yes sir" and pulled out a blood-red sword that pulsed with such power it made his body convulse. Vageous told him to kill Connor first, and Cloud lifted the sword into a fighting stance.

I reacted completely reflexively, snatching my bow off my back and frantically readying an arrow to aim not at Cloud but at Vageous. I could feel the crimson sword radiating evil power even from where I stood, and I knew it would be deadly. Just as I was drawing my bow, I saw the sickening sweep of that evil sword...and then I froze.

Cloud had struck not Connor but Vageous, bellowing an almost insane yet conscious cry of fury as the red sword plunged into the red cloak of Sin and further into Vageous's body. I could do nothing but stand like a statue staring in shock as Vageous crumpled dead with that single blow, and immediately following came a rushing, almost like air, and a ghostly form of Vageous was visible for just a moment before the crimson sword cleaved through it like a solid thing, as if sucking it straight out of the air until there was nothing left.

And then there was indeed nothing, just silence and a pool of blood where Vageous's body had been, and Cloud standing there holding that terrifying sword.

We discovered quickly that Cloud had been given the sword by Blackthorn, curse him. It was never stated specifically, but I assumed that the sword's power had overwhelmed Cloud, compelling him to obey their commands to obtain the golden rock for them. We're all lucky he was able to control it for at least the amount of time it required him to dispatch Vageous. However, we suggested immediately that he drop such an evil thing, and to my relief, he didn't hesitate to throw it to the floor. Our Cloud was back.

[12/5/2002]

Today I read a copy of a letter from Nystul, containing a sad tale. Seems he encountered Lord Soth face to face, and though he escaped the encounter alive (well, after a visit to the healer's at any rate), it did result in Iolo and Gwenno's house burning and the disappearance of the eight moonstones of Virtue. I felt strange, hearing that... The moonstones that I myself have gathered together several times in the past... And Iolo, whom I had never bumped into at all during my wanderings here--and I've never stumbled across his house, even though I knew its location like the back of my hand before, but the landscape is so different here, however similar...

At any rate, RBW was asked to track down the missing moonstones, and I was happy to lend a hand, even without hearkening back to the old days. Of course, the circumstances are different here, but that is for the better, since there is now all of RBW to help out. I was half tempted to find Dupré and ask if he wanted to join me, but I knew the old days of adventuring were over, and that he has responsibilities at the castle now.

So I struck out alone to do some scouting around. The first place I visited was the Yew Crypts, not only because of the circle of stones but because we had discovered the Order of Sin there before, and I was sure they had a hand in all of this. Rather to my surprise, however, there wasn't a single Sin member to be found, and all I had to face as I worked my way through the Crypts were those unsettling black wisps.

I dispatched them all and made my way to the upper room where the circle had been; the golden rocks were still there, and though the pentagram of blood was gone, something new had appeared in the center of the circle. It was...a face, a transparent, smokey impression of a face that seemed to waver, as if trying to press itself through a barrier made out of air. It was haunting just to look at, and reminded me of the Guardian's face appearing in my computer monitor...of course, no one here would know what a computer is, and I have to wonder if even the Guardian realized where he was--well, never mind. Needless to say the face unsettled me, but my arrows merely passed right through it, and even when I tried magic, the face merely wavered and refused to dissipate. It never spoke or gave any indication that it was more than a wispy illusion. There was nothing I could do but leave it there.

I searched that room and the rest of the crypts from top to bottom, scouring it for any sign of the moonstones or anything else of interest. The face made me think of Nystul's speculation that the moonstones might have been desired to open a temporary Black Gate and allow the Guardian to at least partially roam this world. However, if the moonstones had been here, they were no longer in this location, because I could find no sign of them.

Finally I left and headed to Northwind, since that was another place where we had seen the Order of Sin. There were orcs, ettins, trolls, and others around, but no Sin. I checked out their base where we had found the Rune of Justice; the entrance was barred by stone spikes and the place appeared to be deserted. Frustrated, I began wandering my way across the world, heading vaguely toward the Shrine of Justice. I passed a cemetery and saw a zombie, and knowing Soth's connection with the undead, I decided to dispatch it. Unfortunately for me, none of my blows could even hurt the thing, so I finally had to give up and leave it be. I found this very unsettling, since zombies had always been mindless brutes and easily dispatched in the past. I hope this didn't portend things to come.

My wanders also took me to orc valley, just because I was going by there; nothing of any interest there but a lot of orcs who didn't even seem to have a prisoner in their camp, thankfully, much less treasure worth mentioning.

Finally, I stumbled across another graveyard near Cove. In this one I was surprised to find a member of the Order of Sin, dressed in black plate armor and the customary red cape, and definitely undead. Unfortunately for me, he moved with uncanny speed, reaching me before I could barely draw my bow. And although I did manage to get one shot off, I don't think it even made a dent in that ebony armor. I was forced to retreat, using my knowledge of forests to escape that halberd, and when I could, I Recalled away to recover.

I went back to that graveyard later to mark a rune, and as I carefully scouted the place, I saw that the man in platemail had been joined by a red-cloaked mage. Wonderful. So he could hack me into little pieces for her to toast with a Flamestrike. Flambé, anyone? It was a battle I knew I would lose alone and would be foolish to even get into, so I crept away before they noticed me. I must bring RBW here when we get a chance...

[12/8/2002]

The task of destroying the soul-cleaving sword was given to Walkyrie. She enlisted the help of the rest of RBW to gather the blood of a wyvern that was needed to destroy the sword. Together we plunged into the depths of the pits to wade our way through numerous beasts and obtain the blood she needed.

Almost to my surprise, we accomplished our goal relatively quickly, and soon Walkyrie had completed her task successfully. We were quite happy with our smooth operation and thus decided to try to find more of the moonstones of Virtue. About four of them have been recovered by various RBW members already, leaving four left. The stones had been discovered deep in the Virtue dungeons, which suddenly made perfect sense to me. My hunch from that point was that each moonstone was in the dungeon of its opposite Virtue. Why this failed to occur to me sooner I will never guess. I will also never know why the stones, after vanishing from Soth's hands, would have been drawn to the dungeons in the first place. But knowing that was not important, so I didn't dwell upon it.

The small group of RBW members that had gathered eventually ended up in Shame, where we wandered the various levels killing the evil beasts roaming about and poking into corners in search of the moonstone. Before we found anything interesting, who would show up but Soth himself.

This was the first time I had seen Soth in Britannia, and I must say he's seen better days. Even so, he proved essentially immune to our weapons and spells, although luckily he spent most of his time taunting us. I fell during one of the skirmishes; and as I was hanging over my body as a spirit (I am still disconcerted sometimes by the mystical protection of Britannia which allows one to remain conscious as a ghost even after death), I heard Soth threaten the others to take my body if they did not turn over the moonstones. Luckily for me, someone cast Resurrection on me at that moment, and I was able to reinhabit my body and quickly retreat from Soth before he could reach me and carry out his threat.

Things went downhill from there; Soth finally grew impatient and summoned his favorite monsters, Wights, and stood back and watched those to do his dirty work for him. The tight corridors plus the monsters already in the tunnels of Shame didn't help us in trying to outmaneuver the dreadfully fast undead Wights. Too fast, if you ask me, for such ugly decaying things. In the end, almost all of us were down, Connor had left to get a wand of Resurrection, and the Wights had wandered off as if to find new blood to spill.

And then...who would appear out of nowhere but Dupré, who surprised and delighted me by showing up just when we needed him most. He raised those of us that were fallen in that area of the dungeon, and we regrouped with the rest of our band and beat a quick retreat. I didn't see Soth; apparently, he had left already.

Dupré: I need some ale.
Kianne: I'd like to pour some ale on Soth and ignite it. Soth Flambé anyone?

Back at Northwind, I mentioned the eerie face to Dupré and Walkyrie, and they both informed me that the crypts had been sealed off with a force field. Dupré added that Lord British had condemned that area, forbidding guards and citizens from going near it. News of the force field came as a surprise to me, since it hadn't been there when I'd visited the crypts. We decided to check it out, and Walkyrie gated us.

As before, there were no members of Sin here, and even the black wisps were mostly absent as we worked our way up toward that large room with the circle of golden stones. Immediately before the stairs that led to the room, we encountered the force field: an almost pretty array of light blocking off the doorway quite handily. It refused to be dispelled, but Dupré said he had an idea. He handed me his sword and shield and preceded to walk through the force field as if it wasn't there! As we were asking him how he did that, who should appear on the stairs but Soth.

It was awful--Dupré was weaponless and though he fought bravely, Soth dispatched him with frightening ease. Then, while I shouted at him in horror, Soth proceeded to take Dupré's body, just as he had threatened to do with my own, levitating it and carting it upstairs. I threw myself against the force field uselessly, unable to get through, and called to Dupré's spirit, hoping he could hear me. There was no way, just no way I would leave Dupré there, his body gone and his ghost trapped, unable to pass through the force field. I refused to abandon him no matter what it cost me.

Soth came back too soon, now turning his attention to Walkyrie, and demanding the moonstone she had hidden away somewhere. And then luck turned our way. Walkyrie made a remark in which she compared Soth to Vageous, and it enraged Soth so much he came through the force field with the intent to kill. Walkyrie fled down the hallway, and if the situation hadn't been so dire, I would have laughed when Soth chased her. It was a perfect opportunity; quickly, I called to Dupré again, and as soon as I was able to focus sight on his spirit, I raised him using my Resurrection wand. He was granted a new temporal form and quickly came through the force field. The items he'd had on his old body were lost, but at least he wasn't trapped here. I handed him his sword and shield rapidly, and Walkyrie rejoined us, having apparently managed to lose Soth in the catacombs. We gated out immediately, before Soth could return.

So, that went poorly. I apologized to Dupré for losing whatever items he'd had on his corpse, but he assured me it was nothing important. He also said something odd--when I mentioned about how Soth had an obsession with corpses, having threatened to take my own, Dupré made a remark about how that must have been what he had "felt." I never was able to get him to explain, but I get the impression he just knew somehow to come to Shame to our aid...

At any rate, the night didn't seem to want to be over, even as we were ready to go our separate ways. Cloud joined us shortly before Dupré left, and we discussed the situation. While we were talking, something strange happened--all of a sudden, the world tilted around me, and instantly the sky was dark, the trees leafless and the ground scattered with bones. As I exclaimed out loud, looking around in confusion, Cloud's reaction made it clear that he was also seeing the same thing, so I wasn't merely hallucinating at least. I took a few steps, running blindly, and suddenly with another wrench everything was normal, the grass green and the trees full with leaves. After some experiments, we discovered that the phenomenon seemed localized right around Walkyrie's house and a small patch of forest to its south.

As I was still experimenting with this, another Wight showed up. Luckily there was more space to maneuver here than in the dungeon, and Walkyrie and I were able to dispatch it. As it died, it hissed that Soth would be back to take Walkyrie's moonstone when she was alone. I knew it would be a long time before I slept again...

[12/14/2002]

It seems like every time I sit down to write something, there is so much more to say. In fact, so much happened I'm sure I'll muddle up the order, mixing and matching events, but here's my best recollection.

I did get some peace for a short time--I didn't see Soth again even though I kept a vigilance, and nothing noteworthy happened until the day of the Christmas party.

I Recalled to Shadow Castle for the scheduled present-opening ceremony and encountered Andrella. She mentioned that we had five of the Virtue stones so far, and one had been found on someone's hook while fishing, of all things, so it seemed that they weren't all in the dungeons after all. That brought me to tell her about the graveyard near Cove. I didn't really think we would find anything, but it was something worth checking out.

Walkyrie joined us, and the three of us gated using the rune I had marked earlier and approached the graveyard. Sure enough, the members of Sin were there to greet us. After dispatching them, we entered a crypt near the back of the graveyard, and to my eternal astonishment, we found the Stone of Honor inside a small satchel there.

The Stone of Honor... It was ironic, because all those years ago, I had been told by that gypsy that I'd make a good paladin, since Honor was strong with me--and here I was, holding that stone.

I had barely enough time to pick up the little bag and gaze at the purple stone in wonder before Soth appeared behind us. My first thought as I spun about was: how does he do it? My second thought was that Soth would kill me in a blink, and the stone would be lost again. I couldn't let that happen, so even as I heard Andrella and Walkyrie urging me to run, I blindly snatched my rune book and Recalled off the cover.

I ended up at my house, since that's my most-used rune. I quickly ran to the door, fumbling for the key and trying to decide where to hide the stone. But it was already too late. Soth materialized before I could get the door unlocked, and I found myself facing the grim prospect of either trying to quickly hide the stone, or fleeing again. I really hate running, but I knew the greater good demanded that I not get caught up in the folly of sticking around for a battle I was sure to lose. I did, however, collect enough wits to actually open my rune book and pick a specific rune this time. I heard Soth saying my name as I was Recalling out, but I ignored him.

I went back to the Shadow Castle, assuming there would be more RBW members there to at least distract Soth until I could hide the stone. Rather to my surprise, I ended up dropping right into the middle of something. I still am not quite sure what was going on, but Blackthorn was there along with one of his elite guards. They were all involved in a heated argument that centered around Gameboy, whom Blackthorn and his guard seemed to be trying to sway over to their side. A number of RBW members were already there, but I was considerably lost from the moment I arrived.

Blackthorn spoke to me while the others were arguing with his guard. He demanded I give him the golden rock back. Apparently, he is still operating--or pretending to, at any rate--under the suspicion that RBW was behind the pentagram and circle of stones. Blackthorn even went so far as to say that he'd never seen Soth and therefore couldn't be sure Soth even existed. I couldn't help but think it would be eternally ironic if Soth happened to pop in right then and there, into the middle of all this. Somewhat surprisingly, however, he didn't show, which at least gave me the opportunity to try to focus on what was now taking place.

Things went south (old Earth lingo, there) when a battle erupted between Andrella and Garn, the guard. I must admit my loyalty is hard to sway, so I fired some arrows at Garn to try to get him off Andrella. This unfortunately only made him irritated, and he came after me. At this untimely moment I remembered that I was still carrying around the Stone of Honor. It certainly would be rather foolish to fall here and let somebody loot it off my corpse, so I once again found myself fleeing. This time, I was able to hide the stone uninterrupted, so I quickly got it out of my hands and safely tucked away so that it would no longer be a concern.

By the time I got back, the battle had stilled, and I was rather surprised and pleased to find that Dupré had joined the group. I wasn't quite so happy to learn that Blackthorn was invited to the Christmas party, but at least his guard didn't stick around.

The party itself went pretty well, considering. There were no untimely interruptions, from Soth or otherwise. Shortly before it started, that same dead-tree phenomenon occurred again, right outside the castle this time, but it didn't persist and I soon forgot about it. Blackthorn had apparently been asked to pick up Lord British's presents and deliver them back to him, which he didn't seem very eager to do, so Dupré kept reminding him through the night. Connor's ale was a rather big hit, and I received a number of nice things including a nicely-carved chest full of goodies, a beautiful long sword, and a statuette (of Dupré, heh!). Overall, we had a fairly good time, although I couldn't quite clear the tension that seemed to have been stuck in my shoulder blades since Soth had arrived.

After Blackthorn had left, I spoke with Dupré, who let me know that Iolo had managed to acquire himself another house to replace the one that had burned, although he was now having troubles with the mayor of Yew for taxes or something or other. I asked Dupré to show me where it was, so he brought me there. There was no one else there at the time, so I would have to postpone seeing Iolo again for a while, I supposed, but at least now I knew where to find him.

Dupré and I ended up having a long discussion there. He told me about an attack on Empath Abbey which some members of RBW had put a stop to. Apparently, Soth was after the Candle of Love, although I couldn't fathom why he would want it. They found a note giving the evil forces instructions on how to find the Candle. Dupré said Lord British had removed the Candle and placed it under heavy guard, so it was safe for the time being. Still, it seemed to me as though Soth was going after all of the old treasures from my days as an Avatar, which was mysterious to say the least.

Dupré also mentioned that Nystul's body had been taken by Soth, much like his own. Unfortunately, unlike Dupré, Nystul had been carrying a lot of important things on him, in a magical sack that allowed him to carry much more than would be possible normally. Dupré also mentioned that Blackthorn had been seen afterward with that same magic sack. I for one do not believe in coincidences. It seemed at least possible that Blackthorn was behind everything, from Sin to the rising of Soth. Of course, since Blackthorn wasn't carrying around the bag on his person, the only way to find out whether or not he really had Nystul's things--and to recover them, if so--was to find a way into Blackthorn's chambers. I think I gave poor Dupré flashbacks with memories of my typical reckless and crazy ideas by making a few suggestions on how we could accomplish this--everything from blowing off the doors with a keg of gunpowder⁵ to putting the guard with the key to sleep with Connor's ale. I haven't actually acted on any of my ideas yet (I have a nice ring of invisibility now thanks to Andrella which I think I'll try), but it was entertaining discussing them.

During the course of the conversation Dupré also noted that Iolo's house was lacking in chairs. I decided to buy Iolo some for Christmas, which I did after Dupré and I parted ways. Unfortunately I didn't have a rune on me to mark, so I had to bring the chairs back on foot, which really made me miss Dupré's nice carrying capacity, heh. I was quite worn out by the time I got there, but pleased, arranging the chairs around the room while giggling to myself at the mere thought of what Iolo would say when he came home and discovered them.

Shortly after that was done, Connor asked those of us who weren't busy if we wished to go hunting some more, to see if we could find more of the moonstones. A small group of us went to Wrong, which was absolutely overflowing with not monsters but evil humans who kept ganging up on us in numbers. The resulting piles of bodies isn't something I will soon forget. We didn't find anything of interest, but what interrupted us was when we received notification that Empath Abbey was under attack. Again.

Our group gated there immediately, and we discovered Soth and a number of undead monsters roaming the once-peaceful halls. Soth in particular was moving around in an almost frenzied anger, killing anyone who got in his way as he searched the Abbey high and low. I suspected he was looking for the Candle, which was confirmed a few minutes later when he demanded to know where it was. We chased him up and down stairs and down hallways; eventually, he seemed to give up because after a while he simply wasn't anywhere to be found, and peace was restored once again.

Shortly thereafter, Nystul showed up, looking rather tired and irritated. Dupré had mentioned that Nystul was growing ever more frustrated at being too old to put up with these sorts of things. But we found out something very important during the resulting conversation. Nystul told us he'd found a way to destroy Soth. The answer lay in the very Virtue stones that Soth had tried to steal--the ones which had fled his mere touch. It suddenly made a lot more sense now, and explained why Soth had wanted the stones, although it didn't explain why he wanted the Candle.

Nystul also mentioned that Walkyrie had a magical crystal ball which might be able to tell us where the final two moonstones were located. Actually, that reminds me that Dupré had mentioned that Walkyrie may take Nystul's place when Nystul retires. That came as a surprise to me, but a pleasant one this time, since it's certainly a high honor for Walkyrie.

Since Walkyrie wasn't available, Nystul suggested that Gameboy, a budding mage, try the crystal ball. So the small group of us went to Walkyrie's house to give it a shot. The crystal ball did indeed speak to Gameboy, although it certainly had a strange sense of humor and was very difficult to get any information out of. It did, however, reveal that the black stone of Humility was among the Ophidians before it went silent again.

It was then that Andrella remembered that there was one stone that had been found but hadn't yet been given to her--the one that had been fished up. So, that left us with only one stone yet to find. One more stone, and we can put Soth back into the ground where he belongs. For good. We wasted a few moments discussing the various methods we could use to toast him with a bonfire (with Soth's body as the firewood). Then we realized that there was no way we could wade into the lair of the queen of the Ophidians and expect to come out alive, not with the small group currently gathered. So we agreed to separate for now and prepare, and once we have a sufficient number, we will hunt down that final stone.

[1/5/2002]

This was an interesting turn of events. We still didn't have enough people to go after the stone, so Andrella and I joined Connor in Shame. After a while of that, we met with some others at the castle and dug up a couple of treasure maps. We were back at the castle splitting the treasure when an abysal minion showed up.

This strange mongbat-like creature was capable of speaking, and claimed he wanted to deliver a message. Unfortunately Balinor merely attacked him on sight (so many people simply attack anything that moves, I swear...). It was some time before we were able to calm down the mess and let the mongbat say his thing. However, instead of coming right out with his message, he asked to speak to Connor. He insisted on going outside, and Connor followed him to a spot a short distance from the castle. Once there, the mongbat began doing something strange. He kept walking around in circles around Connor. I was about to speak up about how suspicious this seemed when suddenly an exact duplicate of Connor appeared out of nowhere. While we watched in surprise, the mongbat killed the clone, then disappeared with its body.

Andrella mentioned at this point that someone else had apparently been cloned as well. Her thought was that the process required the body of the victim--Soth had obtained the bodies of several of the members of RBW and perhaps was using them to raise them as clones. Perhaps this is what Soth had meant when he had gloated that all of RBW would be undead? That chilled me because Soth also had Dupré's body, and Nystul's. We decided we needed to warn Lord British, so we headed to his castle immediately. Unfortunately, Blackthorn was there instead.

Balinor worried me at this point by seeming to take Blackthorn's side in the discussion. Apparently he just wanted some free magical items, but after the events with Cloud, I was wary. In the end, we pretty much didn't get much out of the conversation. Blackthorn still denied having ever met Soth. He also thought that if Soth did exist, it had been RBW who had summoned Soth here. However, he did mention something potentially interesting. In response to our questions about Lord British's location, Blackthorn said that British was investigating rumors that corpses were being stolen from graves. More bodies for Soth?

We left then. It was shortly thereafter that I came across someone who offered to sell me some information. Information on how to get into Blackthorn's castle.

I had been keeping an eye on Blackthorn's castle for a while, off and on between other tasks, but couldn't find a way through the gates, and no one had ever used them that I saw. I began to fear that Blackthorn came and went via magic instead of the gates, although what about his guards and servants? At any rate, a payment of 5000 gold got me the answer. I won't mention it here, but it is in fact magic, and not something I had thought of.

Once inside the castle, I quickly slipped through the corridors, avoiding being seen by the guards. I searched every container I came across, but they were all empty or held nothing of interest. On the second floor was the library and some rather interesting magical objects on the table, although I left everything alone. On the third floor was a large empty room, and Blackthorn's chambers. Unfortunately, the door to the chambers was tightly sealed and wouldn't even respond to an Unlock spell. I searched around a bit and through the cracks in the door I spotted teleportation plates just on the other side of the doors. I figured those were to leave the room, but how to enter?

While I was debating this, who should walk up the stairs but Connor. I stared for a moment, wondering how in the world he'd gotten in here and why he was here. I almost called out to him, but at the last moment I remembered the clones and remained quiet and hidden. It's a good thing I did; the figure definitely wasn't Connor because he wandered idly around saying "master" like a zombie.

I followed the clone around for a bit, hiding behind walls and staying out of sight. A few times I lost sight of the clone altogether. Most of the time I stumbled across him later. But the last time, while I was hunting through the gardens, I heard Soth's voice saying, "Connor, come with me. Yess..."

Quickly I snatched up the ring of invisibility Andrella had given me and raced back into the castle. The ring had proved useful a few other times in slipping past guards; I could move while invisible and it lasted a good number of seconds. With the ring on my finger, I ran back up the stairs and looked through the crack in the door to Blackthorn's room and to my astonishment, Soth was just emerging from a blue moongate that was in the center of the room.

My ring of invisibility gave out just then, so I hurried away to give me time to activate it again. I think Soth left the room by teleporting, but I'm not sure. Invisible again, I encountered him again in the hallway down on the main floor. I wasn't sure I could simply run past him without him noticing, even while invisible. I hid around the corner listening while he yelled my name, complaining at me for being sneaky. At that point the invisibility faded again. I figured I could Recall out, but Soth already knew I was there. Taking a breath, I turned the corner and stood facing his back. Oh, if only an arrow could have harmed him!

"Fancy meeting you here, Soth," I said to him, and had the satisfaction that he had to whirl around to face me. "Soth, whom Blackthorn doesn't know." My voice was mocking.

His response to this was an, "Indeed." I remember that quite clearly. But most of the rest is a jumble. I was quite anxious to get out of there because I knew as he stepped closer that he might well kill me with a single blow. Well, then, mayhap he would follow me, but even that would be better; being killed in the middle of Blackthorn's castle was not something I wanted to have happen.

So before Soth could advance too close, I Recalled off the cover of my rune book.

Andrella was there at my house where I ended up. I had mentioned to her that I would want to speak to her later, so she was hanging around waiting for me. I told her everything that I had seen. Soth didn't show up again, which made me begin to regret having departed so quickly. If only I had found out what Soth was doing with the clone. In the middle of Blackthorn's castle yet.

During our conversation, Andrella mentioned that Balinor was beginning to sound like Cloud, saying he could defeat Soth by himself and that all of RBW shouldn't have to struggle. Worried, I asked what if he takes something from Blackthorn, like the evil sword Blackthorn had given Cloud. Just as I was saying this, Andrella was commenting that Balinor had a sword of nine lives stealing that he'd gotten from Blackthorn.

The two of us stopped talking and just stared at each other a moment.

After some discussion, Andrella suggested we leave Balinor be for a while, and just keep a close eye on him. I agreed, but I must say I dislike having to watch another RBW member with suspicion. Nothing else we can do, I suppose, except get the sword away from Balinor somehow. I started to offer up some nice colorful suggestions on how we could do that, but I think I almost made Andrella faint with the first one, so I stopped there. Heh!

At any rate, we also realized we would need to alert everyone that Soth had Connor's clone, and would likely be trying to fool people with it. For that matter, I realized, we had to worry about any person whose body had been stolen. At this point, Andrella got a thought that it was a good thing mine had not yet been taken. After all, she said, the clone of me could access any place that I could go without suspicion, and the golden rock might no longer be safe. I was starting to be glad that I had left the encounter with Soth so quickly, even though it didn't seem very Valorous to me.

I will have to return to Blackthorn's castle again soon...

[1/11/2003]

This was it. This was the day we would get that final stone. Soth's bane. A good number of us were gathered and prepared and ready. The Ophidians were nasty, but we were many, and we were strong.

Yet the task turned out to be more difficult than I would have imagined. After the first unsuccessful attempt to break through the Ophidians into their stronghold, we backtracked to the desert near the entrance where we could find relative safety. There, we made new plans. We split ourselves into two groups, and went in from two different directions. Finally, we were able to gate ourselves right into the queen's lair itself, which gave us an opportunity to go in, cut a path through the Ophidian guards, and get the wounded out of there for treatment.

The queen who had the stone was a monster. Her skin was a clammy white and she moved like the wind. She was almost as bad as Lilith. Luckily, though, she was yet mortal, and our blows were able to do her harm much more easily than they had Lilith. We went in with staggered front lines--warriors would fight her toe-to-toe for a while, then quickly move away when injured to be healed and return to the fray. Meanwhile, I and others fired arrows and magic from a distance. It was still a rough struggle, but we were victorious in the end.

When we got back to the castle with the final stone, Connor stepped toward Andrella. "Let me carry the stone, lass," he said, and hearing this instantly shocked me to my bones. There was something amiss with him--something that didn't quite look right. Just as I opened my mouth to speak a warning, Andrella suddenly cried, "That's not Connor!" And I felt a wash of relief that she had seen through it as well.

The clone of Connor pulled out a sword then and began to kill RBW members left and right before everyone recovered from their shock enough to rally together and fight back. I shouted at Andrella to get the Stone of Humility out of there and quickly drew my bow, but I couldn't seem to fire on the clone that looked so much like Connor. Luckily, I didn't have to, as the other members of RBW were more than sufficient to put him down. Worried, I wondered if Andrella was safe and where the real Connor had gone.

I left the battle in the very competent hands of the other RBW members and went in search of Andrella. I found her within the castle, having safely hidden the stone away. Humorously, the true Connor walked in while we were talking. And then we got word that the clone had raised itself after being defeated, and was back to fighting again. Andrella quickly stated that we had to destroy the clone's body. I was almost sickened at the very thought, but we did so, because it was necessary. Finally, its body gone, the clone was vanquished for good.

And we held all of the stones.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to simply do away with Soth then and there. It wasn't going to be as easy as that. While we were splitting the Ophidians' loot, Walkyrie explained what we would have to do. We needed to find eight people, one for each moonstone, each who was worthy of his stone's corresponding Virtue. Then, circled by these eight people holding the eight stones, Walkyrie could cast a spell to obtain a scroll that could turn Soth into stone for a brief few minutes. While he was thus vulnerable, we would then have to attack and shatter the Soth statue using ancient magical weapons. And we would have to do this before he could recover. I could tell it wasn't going to be easy, and it would take a lot of preparation. But we could do it--of this I was sure.

Since I could do nothing to help in the preparations, I went back to my house to check that everything was in order. While I was there, I decided to go down and clear out the orcs from Guthnor's house. I do that every so often. I don't know why the orcs love to take up camp there, but I keep finding them there over and over. It's as if they never learn even after being chased from the ruins so often.

I had finished off the last of the orcs and was circling the area to scout out any others when I noticed a chill in the air. It seemed as if the very grass and trees were withering before an evil presence. Spinning about, I was shocked to see Soth heading for me. What was he doing here, out in the middle of nowhere? It would later dawn on me that he had been specifically hunting me down, which meant he had a plan, a purpose which required it...and no doubt a hideously evil one. However, at the time I was perplexed, and of course instantly on guard. My reflex reaction was to dig into my pack for my rune book. Then I forced myself to calm down. Panic and fear were not the ways of the Avatar. I'd already regretted fleeing from Soth like a coward in our last encounter. Taking a deep breath, I stilled myself and eyed Soth as he came to a stop a relatively safe distance from me. Safe for now.

I was hoping to learn something from the scant "conversation" I would allow the two of us to have. But unfortunately it was a rather useless discussion. He kept asking me why I coveted the golden rock so much. I have no idea why he asked that--wasn't it obvious?--and I couldn't get him to answer any of my questions. And each time he took a step toward me, I backed away. Finally he told me to stop or he would kill me. I nearly laughed out loud. He would kill me anyway, I knew it. My hand reached for my rune book. This farce had gone on long enough.

It was then that he struck out without warning, faster than I would have believed possible. I threw myself to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge, but magical energy cut through me like a sword. I think I was falling, but I wasn't sure, as darkness closed over me.

The next thing I knew, I was stunned to discover myself standing again, right where I had been at the edge of the clearing in which my house stood. But when I looked down, I saw myself lying on the ground, blood soaking into the earth. I was a ghost, hovering over my own body.

My mind rebelled. I couldn't be dead! Sheer rage and panic boiled through me. I thought I might have screamed, but of course as a free-floating spirit I didn't have a throat to perform the task.

Soth looked as smug as his hideous face would allow. "I'm taking your body," he said out loud, knowing full well I could hear him. And he proceeded to do just that...and I could do nothing but hang there and watch him, furious at myself for my helplessness.

At that untimely moment, using the powers of telepathy that Nystul had granted us all, Andrella asked me from afar where I was. "My house," I sent back to her distractedly, "but don't come right now."

Getting a grip on myself at last, I gathered up my courage and forced myself to remain floating near Soth. I knew there were wandering healers near my house, as I'd befriended some of them in the past, so I wasn't worried about being raised. I was fully aware, though, that after being raised I'd be extremely weak and missing my equipment besides, and so there seemed to be no point as long as Soth was still around.

"Do I get to haunt you now?" I taunted him, my usual disposition gradually beginning to return. I wasn't sure if he could even see me as a spirit, much less understand my words, but I figured it couldn't hurt. After all, he could do no harm to my ghost, as far as I knew. "This will be fun!"

He growled at me, then apparently decided to get his revenge by going through the things that had been on my body that he had taken. "Junk," he muttered repeatedly, tossing down a few items, then finally dropping the entire backpack to the grass. I was about to tell him that of course it was junk, since after hearing the story of Nystul losing all his things, I never carried with me more than I could afford to lose. Except for my bow, but that always remained magically by my side, even after dying and being raised again. But of course there was no purpose in telling Soth this, so I remained silent.

I followed Soth around as he threw a few insults then finally started toward my house. I decided as long as I was in this incorporeal form, I may as well take advantage of it and trail Soth everywhere he went and find out where he was going and what he was going to do now. Unfortunately, though, he vanished at my doorstep using magic, so I was unable to follow any further. At that moment I noticed Andrella down near where my body had been, and I nearly panicked that she'd come when I'd warned her not to. Luckily, Soth was gone, so I quickly hurried back down.

"Oh, no!" she cried when she saw me and my things laying scattered in the grass. "Did he get your body!?"

"OoOoo," I said. I was still dead.
Kianne: I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you there. And I was already dead!

Andrella took care of that problem, and grimly I began gathering my things while explaining what had happened. I was glad Soth had dropped my backpack, because it meant he'd made off with my body but nothing else. I had picked up pretty much everything when I looked over Andrella's shoulder and saw Soth again.

"Look out!" I cried, the white robe now covering me flapping madly as I ran to get between her and Soth. At this point, my death was meaningless--Soth already had my body. He couldn't take Andrella's too!

There was confusion for a few moments as everyone scattered in different directions, but finally Andrella and I met up again on one side of my house with Soth out of sight on the other. "Hurry and get out of here," I urged her. What was she waiting for?

"I'm taking you with me!" she returned, and Gated.

But a moongate could take Soth as well, I wanted to say, but there was no time. I simply dove through.

"Oops, that was my Skara rune," Andrella couldn't help but laugh as we looked around at our surroundings. The peaceful town was going about its ways as if nothing evil was happening. I quickly grabbed some new clothes from the bank and feared that Soth would follow us. Rather to my surprise, he didn't. However, as I went about my ways, I did occasionally hear a quiet voice taunting in my head, saying I would never know peace, not even within RBW. I ignored it.

Unfortunately, my luck didn't get any better from there. Determined to minimize the damages from my death, I went back to Blackthorn's castle to see if I would find a clone of myself there, as I had with Connor's. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay long, because Blackthorn himself showed up. Luckily, I noticed this from a distance and was able to quickly get back out before he could see me.

I spoke with Andrella again, and we finally decided to take a direct route. We would simply ask to speak with Blackthorn directly. We went to his castle and stood outside the gates calling for him. Garn showed up first, which was irritating, but rather to my surprise Blackthorn came shortly thereafter. In the discussion that followed, I told Blackthorn that I had seen Soth inside his castle (I didn't mention that I was also inside at the time, heh), and that we thought Soth was making clones. Blackthorn claimed to not believe us, of course, but agreed to let us into the castle so we could check for Soth and the clone ourselves. Unfortunately, he said he would open the gate in five minutes; although it ended up being more like two, it was still sufficient time to hide any evidence. Still, we were here and had come this far, so we decided we should go through with this.

As he opened the gate, Blackthorn warned us not to touch anything, and instructed Garn to keep an eye on us. I wasn't worried since naturally we weren't there to take anything. However we only made it to the second floor (where I silently hoped Andrella had seen the wand of animate dead that I had spotted on one of my previous excursions into the castle) when out of nowhere Garn started calling me a thief and attacking me. I backed away, trying to avoid his blows, and the next thing I knew, my surroundings changed completely. I was standing in a small stone room lit only by a candelabrum next to a table and chair, the room's only furnishings. As I was recovering from the shock and trying to figure out what happened, Andrella appeared and immediately fell over from fresh wounds.

I helped her get magically healed and back on her feet. Blackthorn and Garn materialized moments later, smug. They said we had been jailed because we were thieves--even though we hadn't touched a thing. I couldn't believe what a colossal trap we had just walked straight into.

Once Blackthorn and Garn had left, we were finally released by a robed friend of Andrella's. By that time, Garn was busy in the Duel Pits gloating about how we had been sent to jail. Andrella wanted to show him a thing or two, so the two of us went there and whacked Garn around a bit. Afterward we had a delightful conversation with Blackthorn's guard, who, among other things, claimed we were crazy with our talk of clones, and said we must be thieves because Blackthorn didn't have the power to jail us otherwise.

Afterward, I apologized to Andrella for getting my body stolen. At the time that I write this, some of the anger has diminished, but at the time, I was furious at myself for not being fast enough to escape Soth. Mayhap I was just tired; it was late by this point, and we finally decided sleep must be tolerated even though all I wanted to do was to find and destroy my clone.

[1/12/2002]

I slept fitfully that night, and dreamed. In my dreams Soth chased me, popping up everywhere I went, and I kept running from him. Sometimes, I would turn around and see that Soth had turned into me.

When I finally got up, I decided to check Blackthorn's castle again. This was almost a disaster, because while it was empty when I went in, Blackthorn arrived while I was on the third floor. Luckily, I spotted him from a window before he got too close, but I was still in a jam. I already knew that I couldn't Recall out from where I stood, since parts of the structure had magical auras that blocked spells (I had discovered this earlier when I'd tried unsuccessfully to Recall off the strange "Twisted Tunnels" rune that I had found on a table on the second floor). In panic, I threw on my ring of invisibility and quickly raced down the stairs as fast and quietly as I could. I passed Blackthorn as he was coming up the stairs, and I have no idea if he was able to feel me run past. He didn't give any indication that he noticed me, and I kept running. The invisibility gave out just as I was reaching the teleportation plate that was set up near the gates, but two steps later and I was outside the castle.

Short on breath and still feeling jittery, I Recalled away as quickly as I could. Even though I was basically safe once outside the castle, I still wanted to be far away from there for at least a few minutes. I would go back later, although I couldn't risk going inside while Blackthorn was still there, as the chance of being caught was simply too great.

For a while nothing of interest happened, although I kept checking Blackthorn's castle from the outside off and on, to see if I could spot anything important from outside the gates. After one of these trips, I was walking toward Britain to buy a few supplies, and who did I encounter in the streets but Blackthorn. I stopped to speak with him, and Andrella joined us moments later. We really wanted to speak with Lord British, but Blackthorn kept snidely saying that we wouldn't find him. Andrella and I decided to see for ourselves, so we raced Blackthorn to the castle. (Not really, but Andrella did get him to actually run with us for a block or two before he finally teleported himself to his destination, heh.)

At the castle, we were joined by Balinor and had another relatively fruitless discussion with Blackthorn. (He even jailed Andrella again, for insulting him, which rather proved Garn had been wrong in saying Blackthorn couldn't jail people. However at least this time Blackthorn also let her back out, when Balinor asked on her behalf.) Finally, out of the blue, Blackthorn asked us to wait and then left. We wondered whether this was another of his traps again.

He came back a few minutes later and to our surprise apologized for jailing Andrella and I the previous day. He said it had been a misunderstanding, smiled kindly, and acted like a totally different man. The reason for this appeared a moment later as Lord British himself walked into the throne room.

Blackthorn left shortly thereafter, and although Garn came in his stead, others such as Walkyrie and Avatar also joined us, which somewhat made up for it. Lord British had been so busy as of late that we hadn't been able to speak with him. So I was glad that now I had the opportunity to warn him about the clones and about how Dupré or Nystul might also be cloned. Luckily, evidently Lord British already knew some or all of the situation, and he assured me that no one would mistake my clone for me. It helped me quite a bit to know that everyone was as prepared as possible. And to know that soon we would be able to take out Soth for good.

The rest of the day was a blur; I and some others scouted a few places, but didn't really learn anything. We tried to get through the force field at the Yew Crypts, but even doing what Dupré had done didn't work for us. Someone must have come along and made the field stronger. We went to the Cove graveyard, found some members of Sin but little else, and began hopping around to all of the other graveyards. At the Moonglow graveyard, we encountered Soth, although he didn't stick around long. A few minutes later, while we were fighting hordes of zombies, skeletons, wraiths, spectres, and the like, I saw a Wight and several Bone Elementals, and realized Soth had left us a parting gift.

Britannia will be so much better off when we can do away with Soth for good...

¹ The creators of Ultima Online came up with extra plot to explain a technical limitation that required multiple servers to host the game. The plot states that there are actually lots of different versions of the world of Britannia, known as alternate dimensions and called "shards" in Ultima Online. On these shards, the landscape is the same and many of the most important people have alternate versions of themselves, but otherwise the shards develop independently from one another. The Britannia that Kianne knows best was one of these shards. She later ended up on another, thinking it was her own. But when she went to Lord British (she makes it a point to visit him as soon as possible whenever she returns to Britannia) and he didn't know her, she began to realize something was amiss. She finally discovered writings in the Lycaeum library describing the legends of the different shards and realized what had happened.

² LOK = Lords of Krynn, a guild in which Connor, Andrella, and Kianne were all once members. LOK had battled Soth in the past. Lord Soth is from the DragonLance novels (so is the world of Krynn, his homeworld).

³ The Guardian is introduced in Ultima 7. His self-appointed name was purposefully chosen to try to coax the people of Britannia to serve him, almost worship him like a god...all the while unaware of the breadth of his evil. His primary goal was the construction of the Black Gate, a moongate which would enable him to enter Britannia and conquer it.

⁴ The Fellowship was the Guardian's feel-good name for his cult-like followers.

⁵ This can be done in Ultima 6. :) Not to mention Ultima 5 where one can blow doors off their hinges using cannons...

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