The Shadowland - Kianne's Journal

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[7/28/2003]

Andrella had news for me from Lita and Starfire. They have uncovered an assassination plot against Caton. Our friend has been supplying and leading the Order guards with the provisions we've helped him gather, and he's even reached out to some of the Chaos guards as well. In fact, he is making such of an impact with the guards as a whole that he has managed to annoy Blackthorn enough to land himself a half million gold reward on his head. Of course, Blackthorn isn't saying openly that he is behind the bounty, but since it's Hook who is hunting him...it's kind of a given. At any rate, Andrella has already warned Caton, and so he will avoid their trap. I shudder to think what would have happened if we had not this source of information...

Andrella also had a gift for me from Starfire. A glass sword! I was stunned. She told me that it had been, erm, "liberated" from Oakley's house. Ha ha! Okay, so stealing is wrong...in most situations. In this case, I consider it disarming the enemy. At any rate, I haven't decided who I will use it on, and anyway I have stashed it away (along with most of the rest of my magical or important items) because of the upcoming meeting with Shalilissta. But it is nice to have one again. I'd use it on Soth, but I fear he would simply raise himself again. That darn trait of his...

Speaking of swords, Sygil has decided that if he is going to be stuck with the Black Sword, he may as well master it...rather than allowing it to master him. So, he's been fighting using it. And he got its mana up enough that Arcadion finally spoke to him. Apparently, Arcadion is short and to the point, but he will perform spells for Sygil, just as the Black Sword did for me. The selection of spells is a little different from what my Black Sword offered, but Sygil says that Arcadion told him he would use Death if he had enough mana. I don't think the Death spell will work on Soth (the Arcadion I knew told me it would not operate on undead), but, at least it is there for if we ever need it.

[7/30/2003]

I hate to admit it...but this is amusing. And irritating. But amusing at the same time.

Once again, Andrella brought me a report from our two on the inside. They, apparently, were witnesses to a bit of entertainment courtesy of Blackthorn. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first thing Andrella mentioned was that Blackthorn had taken them to a certain secret spot. "The one ol' Sothie occupied for a time," as she put it.

"I need to check on there again," I mused thoughtfully. "I haven't in a while..."

"Oh no, you don't," Andrella responded instantly.

I blinked. "Huh?"

"He has a trap all laid out for you," she explained to me. "I wouldn't go back there ever again."

She said that evidently Blackthorn has removed the exit tiles and replaced them with a sign reading "There is no escape..." along with a wedge of cheese. Okay, the cheese is a nice touch.

"According to what Lita said," Andrella finished, "you made Blackthorn have a meltdown. Just by mentioning your name, he started running around trashing things, knocking over bottles and stuff, and yelling 'She can't get out! No one can get out!'"

"Blackthorn knew I was in there?" I gasped.

Andrella smirked. "I would guess that he knew seeing as he has a trap for you."

I sighed and grumbled. "How did he find out? He never saw me..." Then I frowned. "Unless... Come to think of it, Blackthorn was there in the throne room once when I exited using the throne room tile. I didn't think he'd seen me, but he may have heard me, and figured out what had happened based on the position of where I came in."

Andrella nodded. "Or perhaps Hook found out and told him?"

I shrugged and sighed again.

"But seriously, don't go back," she urged me. "I know you wanted to..."

"But what if he's hiding things there now?" I grumbled.

"If Lita and Starfire have been there once already, who's to say they won't go back and be able to snoop?" Andrella grinned and winked.

And, having just written that, I realize I must be extremely careful to keep this journal completely hidden away. There is no way I would endanger their lives by letting it fall into the wrong hands. I take it out only to add to it, these days, and only then when I am secure behind locked doors. Perhaps someday this record will see the light of day. Someday when we do not have to worry about Britannia's own ruler from turning the information it contains against us...

[7/31/2003]

I went to the Lycaeum to visit Sami. I am searching for the Truenames of the Shadowlords. I once knew them, of course, but I can't remember them specifically anymore and my notes from that world were lost along with all of my other items. I recall that their names are almost a strange conglomeration of letters, but I can't even remember how to pronounce them, much less spell them. I can't afford to guess--I have to make sure I get them right. Besides, knowing my luck, their names might be entirely different on this world than the Britannia I knew.

The best person I could think of who might be able to point me in the right direction was Sami. So I asked her where she thought would be a good place to research the Second Ages of Enlightenment.

"I am sure there is something here," she told me. "But only sages can go in the lower levels of the Lycaeum."

No wonder why I had never seen them on this Britannia.

She then offered to look for me. I realized that since I could not go down myself, that was probably the only possibility. But I was afraid to tell her specifically what I am searching for. If word gets back to Blackthorn somehow--and I deem that more likely than not--I'm afraid he would feel threatened by the fact that I was searching for the names of the Shadowlords...and take it out on Sami.

And so, fearing for her safety, I was intentionally vague and just asked for any "specific details" from that time period, "like names and such." I told her the truth in that I remember generally what happened, but I couldn't remember a lot of the specifics.

She promised she would look and let me know what she found. I was afraid to even tell her she might be in danger searching for this information, as I didn't want to scare her. But I didn't want to leave without giving her a warning of some sort. So I settled with asking her to keep it just between the two of us. I hope that will be enough.

As a side note, Sami also told me about the thesis she is writing. She said she wants to research ethereal mounts, and mentioned a ghost in Cove. After a moment I realized she must be referring to the Shadow Keeper who gives out the Shadow Quest. I had obtained my ethereal mount by completing that quest, and I showed it to her. I explained to her that the quest is very dangerous, but as getting the first Wand of Seven Shadows is safe, I offered to take her to Cove sometime. Andrella came as we were discussing it, and we all agreed to go together as long as Sami can get permission to take the trip.

Finally, Sami gave me another piece of information tonight. The Avatar's name. She says she's pretty sure it was Michael. Of course, almost nobody ever called him that; they usually just called him "the Avatar." But I'm glad I now know what his name had been.

[8/1/2003]

Our meeting with Shalilissta went entirely differently than I had anticipated, but overall it was a good outcome.

We arrived in silence according to the rules and gave her our gifts. She seemed satisfied with most of them, except for Navien's. I was surprised, because he had given her a potion so rare I had never seen it before...but apparently such a potion is created using necromancy and as it turns out Shalilissta dislikes necromancy. Navien was smart, though, and had two backup gifts for her, which she accepted without further complaint. Balinor's gift went over the best; he'd given her 12 serpents' bane weapons and a shield of the silver serpent. Wow! Shalilissta was extremely pleased.

Once all of the "formalities" were through (I had to answer for everyone, even though she sometimes addressed them directly), Shalilissta got down to business.

"Kianne, step forward," she commanded, and I moved from the line that we had formed before her. "I have a pressing matter to talk to you about. A lady of your world hasss come to me..."

She stopped when that blasted Arcadion made a grumbling sound for no apparent reason, as he tends to do. When she asked me what the noise was, I told her of the Black Sword. "You brought that foul thingg here?" she hissed, and for a moment I thought she was going to teleport Sygil into a dungeon or worse. But finally she seemed to accept it when I told her that Sygil could not drop the sword and could not silence it. With another hiss, she dropped the subject and went back to business.

Shalilissta moved to stand beside the statue of Shamino, curling her tail around it possessively. "I will continue. She was in awe of thisss magic. My magicc..." She paused to tell us all to come a few more steps closer to admire her statue. We did so. Pleased, she went on, "You know my ssspell is unbreakable. And so did ssshee. Minax came here to ask ssomethings of me."

I started. I had been wondering what "lady" this was of which she spoke. Minax? Oh great.

As none of us were allowed to speak, Shalilissta continued without interruption, "She assked me to cassst you to sstone, Kianne."

I blinked, and I heard Andrella gulp and Gameboy seemed to be shaking--although from fear or mere cold, I'm not sure, since he was standing barefoot in a swamp. I took a slow breath and met Shalilissta's gaze as steadily as I could. Show no fear. It figures Minax would ask for something like that, though...

Shalilissta watched us in silence for several moments. Finally she finished, "Yet I declined."

I wasn't even aware I had been holding my breath until I released it just then.

"I talked at length with her for sssome days," Shalilissta went on musingly. "Ssshe told me of her planss for you..."

I wished I could ask her what they were.

"Avatar, she called you the Avatar..." She made a shrugging gesture. "It wass sso long ago, when Ssshamino came to me. He was a gifft, the most generous gift I have ever been offered. All because he decided to ssacrifice himself for peace."

I glanced a little sadly at Shamino. Such an ultimate sacrifice...

But Shalilissta did not seem to consider it to have been in vain. "I made two promises to British after his generous giftt," she explained. "One: Never to invoke the powers of thissss."

She showed us a skull. The skull of Mondain. I felt myself staring. What was that doing here? I'd thrown that awful thing into the Abyss.

"And two," she went on after giving us a moment to look at the skull. "To releassse Shamino to the Avatar should he ever return."

I stared at her in stunned surprise. I think even my heart stopped beating for a moment.

"For when the world is in peril," Shalilissta continued, "the Avatar will return... Britissh told me thiss and that Shamino would be needed to serve the Avatar asss he had before."

Hope sprang within me. Lord British thinks of everything! I can always count on him.

"But there isss more," she went on before I could get too excited. "Minax threatened my existence when I refusssed to get involved in the petty warss of man."

Not good to have Minax mad at you...

"Ssshe tried to take the skull," Shalilissta revealed. No big surprise there. "I refussed. Now ssshe is gone, but I wondered for ssome time if I sshould be worried when she comess for her vengeance. I wanted to invoke the sskull's powers; British told me what would happen..."

I winced just at the thought of it.

"But as British and Sshamino respected me, I will always respect my promise to never, ever invoke it." She paused. "And to free Sshamino."

I waited with bated breath. But instead of discussing that further, she went on to bring up Soth. It seems that Soth had beat us here after all, but Shalilissta had refused his demands and sent him away (teleported him into Destard in fact). "He wanted my prize," she explained. "He demanded Ssshamino. Brought a ssscroll to turn him to flesssh... I have never in my entire life been ssssooo insulted."

We had a scroll too--Navien had made it using necromancy. But he had it stashed away in his bank box. And we certainly were not going to try to use it now.

Shalilissta hissed at the memory of Soth. "My ssspellss cannot be undone by man. Can they, Kianne?"

Actually, I have no idea if they can or not; without trying our scroll, there is no way to be sure. But it seemed prudent to agree with her, so I merely said, "Nay."

Satisfied, Shalilissta mused thoughtfully that Soth is different. He cannot be erased like Northwind because he is not from Britannia. But Shalilissta and her people could be. "The warss with man have now reached me, asss I alwayss feared," she sighed. "And British iss not here to stop them. Ssoo... As British said... The Avatar will come... And Sshamino will be released to him..." Again she hesitated. "But Minax, who knowss much, ssaid it was you." She looked at me directly. "Is it you?"

I nodded. "It is."

I wasn't entirely sure she would believe me, and it turns out I was right. "I have a hard time trussting humanss," she complained. "British iss not here to confirm thiss. Ursathenthaz and I have discussed wayss for you to prove you are the Avatar..."

I remained silent, waiting for her to announce what they had decided. I was not afraid of the challenge of proving the truth. For the truth is like a vessel; it will always surface even in a sea of lies, since lies cannot withstand scrutiny.

"You mussst revive the Virtuess," Shalilissta decided. "Long lost in Blackthorn's realmss. The humanss have lost faith in the Avatar. The treasures of the Avatar should be retrieved, and you sshould take each ssstone to itsss dungeon to revive the Virtue, and each rune to itsss shrine."

By this point, I was resisting the urge to grin in relief. This is right down my alley! Although, later on I would realize it is rather surprising to me that Shalilissta knows of our Virtues, even though the Ophidians have their own culture. After all, the Gargoyles had had their own three principles, and so forth. That Shalilissta would show such esteem for humans' Virtues was quite impressive. For that matter, she seems to have an extraordinary respect for Lord British despite the fact that he is human, which doesn't entirely surprise me, but it is heartening.

Shalilissta paused to look down our line. "The Avatar will know what I sspeak of," she said, and I nodded. Did I ever.

She finished, "Then when each sstone and rune have been restored to their glory, bring them to show me. Then I will releassse Sshamino."

Release Shamino. It almost seemed too good to be true. All we have to do is complete this task--this quest--and Shamino will be free...

She was about to dismiss us, but before she did, she suddenly asked us about the serpent staff. I had been hoping she wouldn't. I was forced to tell her it had been destroyed by the Guardian, and she immediately grew irritated and said she had lost all faith in humans. I guess she doesn't understand this concept of extenuating circumstances. Oh well. At any rate, she gave us one more chance, and a new staff to Sygil to carry. Let's hope this one does not get broken...

When she was done, Shalilissta gave Gameboy permission to cast Gate Travel for our exit. We left with all due haste, although we bowed deeply to Shalilissta first.

Once we were back at the Shadow Keep, I think we all released huge sighs of relief. It was good to be out of there. But even so, the meeting had certainly taken turns that I had not expected. I should have guessed that the wise Lord British would have anticipated a time such as this, but to be honest I just hadn't thought about it. Overall, I think it went much better than we could have hoped for. I hadn't been sure how we were going to get permission from Shalilissta to release Shamino ourselves, so I'm glad she had already made a promise to do so, and that she possesses the honor to keep her word. There will be another delay before we are able to free Lord British while we travel to the dungeons and the shrines, but at least this is a path that I know well. Once we go through the Black Gate, we will have no idea what to expect, and that makes it so much more difficult...

At any rate, we already possess the Stones of Virtue, so of course that will speed things up. Unfortunately, Andrella told us that Blackthorn has the runes locked up in the museum. I've taken things from the Avatar museum before when needed, but this is Blackthorn we're dealing with. I'm not sure yet how we will get the runes...but look on the bright side. At least they are already gathered together, and we don't have to hunt for them under potted plants and stuff...

[8/2/2003]

Following our meeting with Shalilissta, I sat down this morning and began making notes on my blessed parchment. I put together a list of the eight Virtues and the information on each that we would need. Virtue, color, mantra, dungeon. I don't know for sure if the mantras will be needed, but there is a high probability they will be. I need to double-check some of the mantras to make sure I am remembering them correctly. It wouldn't be good if I've mixed some of them up. But they shouldn't be too hard to find out. Usually, someone around the appropriate town knows the mantra for that town's Virtue. I'll just have to ask around. It is the names of the Shadowlords that will be much more difficult to find...

I stopped at the last entry that I wrote and gazed at it for a moment, tapping my cheek thoughtfully with the feather of my quill.

Humility - Black - LUM - Stygian Abyss

Reaching down to my satchel, I pulled out my map of Britannia and spread it across my writing desk. I was right. There is no Stygian Abyss on the map. There hasn't been in either of the alternate Britannias I have visited. In fact, there isn't even an Abyss any longer on the Britannia I know best, because it disappeared following the collapse of the underworld. That's why I never paid much attention to its absense here. But now this was going to be a problem. What dungeon is for Humility here?

I decided I would ask Andrella first, to see if she had heard about it anywhere. If not, I will ask around starting with New Magincia, and see if I can discover it.

[8/2/2003] (same date)

When I next was in touch with Andrella, she informed me that she had spoken with Sami earlier in the day, and Sami had told her that she had something for me. She's fast. So I went to meet with them at the Lycaeum.

"Most of the books are for reference only," Sami explained to me. "But I found this one that the sages said I could take, and I thought you might like it."

She handed me a small tome called "Mantras and Notes." I opened it immediately to take a look.

"The book is kind of boring," Sami giggled. "Listing the city names and dungeon names. But I thought some of that stuff would be interesting to you."

I was staring at the first page. The authorship was attributed to Michael. "This is who I think it is?"

Sami looked surprised. "Who do you think it is?"

I was already flipping pages, and for a moment I forgot to answer when I came across some notes of particular interest written within.

Color, dungeon, Virtue, mantra.

It was identical to the list that I had made myself, except for the order of the items. That cinched it. "This is something the Avatar would write!" I gasped, scrambling for my parchment and a quill.

"Really!?" Sami gasped.

Anxiously I turned the page. Which dungeon was for Humility? Here it was!

Black - Fire Dungeon - Humility - LUM

Fire Dungeon! I should have guessed. That's one of the dungeons that is new to these alternate Britannias. Perhaps it is what is left of the Abyss? I turned the page again, and felt myself growing excited.

The names of the Shadowlords!

Quickly I copied everything down onto my own parchment. "This is perfect!" Everything was here! I couldn't believe how appropriate the timing of this was.

"Wow!" Sami grinned. "The Avatar wrote that stuff? I saw his name, but I thought it was just some guy." Sami laughed at herself.

"Let me copy this down, and I'll give it back."

"No, keep it!" Sami urged me. She giggled. "I thought the Avatar only wrote in the Tome of Stars!"

That brought me to a dead halt as I looked up from the book and my notes to stare at her. "The Tome of the Stars?" I repeated.

"His personal journal."

I felt myself staring. Why would Minax want that? "It is?"

Sami nodded. "That's what it was called."

I glanced at Andrella, then looked back down at the book in my hands. "Will anyone notice this is missing?" I asked, worried again for her safety.

"No, they said I could have it," she replied. "The sages say that most of that book is irrelevant, and they don't know how it got mixed up with the important books. They didn't know it was from the Avatar I guess." She giggled. "So I want you to keep it!"

"Thank you so much," I told her from the heart. "I really appreciate it."

"I am so glad you like it!" Sami beamed.

She had to leave for dinner, so Andrella and I went back to my house. I showed Andrella the book and explained to her the information I had needed. "This even answers the question I was going to ask you," I giggled, and explained about the Stygian Abyss. "Now we know for sure what dungeons to go to."

"Oh," she remembered. "That reminds me. I need to get those Stones to you."

I didn't think it really mattered whether they were in her bank box or mine, since they would be safe either way, but I nodded and said, "Sure."

She produced all eight Stones of Virtue and handed them to me. The instant they pooled together in my cupped hands they began to glow.

"Ooo..." Andrella breathed while I stared at them in a bit of awe. This had never happened to be me before. The glow lasted only a second, but in that brief moment a piece of knowledge suddenly sprang into my mind. It was almost like a mental voice, except there were no words, as if the information had been simply transferred directly to me.

"The shrines have risen," I found myself speaking out loud. My voice sounded a little haunting even to my own ears.

"Wow!" Andrella grinned. "Just by you touching the stones?" She laughed. "I've been holding them for months!"

This was the first time I had held all of them at once here on this Britannia. I briefly wondered if I should have tried holding them earlier--if we had known sooner about the Virtues being lost, we could have restored them back then. But perhaps that would not have been necessary while Lord British was still around? And at any rate, speculating now doesn't really solve anything. We know now what we must do, and we will do it.

"I once carried them with me," I commented to Andrella with a slight grin. But that was at a time when there were no forces of evil lurking around that had any interest in the Stones. "But for now I'll store them in my bank until they are needed."

She nodded in agreement. "And we should be even more careful with the Justice stone."

I blinked at her. "Do you think Blackthorn is still trying to duplicate it?"

"I don't know if he's still trying, or if it's completed."

And we still don't know what he wants to do with it. I considered that. "Then let's do Justice first. That way, there is less chance of Blackthorn finding out we're up to somethingin time to use his fake stone against us somehow."

I carefully tucked the Stones into a small drawstring bag, then stashed the bag away in my bank box. After a moment's thought I reached for Michael's book to add it to the bag. Better to not risk it falling into the wrong hands. But before storing it away, I paused to glance through it again. And I was reminded of something I had noticed earlier, but hadn't brought up at the time.

"You know, the Orb of the Moons must work differently here," I told Andrella.

She glanced at the book. "What does it say?"

"'Coordinates are stored on marked runes,'" I read. "And it mentions they are only visible when the rune is bound to a runebook."

Andrella pulled out her runebook and flipped through its pages. "Hmm, are those coordinates?"

I mimicked her and realized something that I hadn't thought much about until then. "You're right! The runebook shows the coordinates of the rune. But does that mean the Orb of the Moons works off runes?"

"Well," she mused, "if you can't mark a rune..."

That was the largest drawback to the Mark/Recall system. In order to reach a place via Recall, you first had to be able to get there and use Mark. I paused as I thought about the power that could exist in an object that could open a moongate to any coordinates, even ones not past visited...

"I would be scared to put in unknown coordinates," Andrella giggled. "'Oh look at that, I'm in the middle of the ocean.'"

I laughed. "It was 'fun' trying out all of the Orb's locations," I agreed. But that was a little different. The Orb I had possessed contained a number of preset locations. As well as the ability to bridge between my homeworld and Britannia, and possibly other worlds as well, which is why I had suggested it to Soth...

We chatted some small talk for a little while, then Andrella brought up our trip to the first dungeon. "So you want to do Justice first?"

I nodded. "Why don't we? That would be dungeon Wrong."

"Wrong is tough," Andrella grinned with a wink.

"Tell me about it," I laughed. "But we should have a large enough group that we'll be okay." And we would have several days to prepare at any rate.

Andrella made her leave shortly after that, and I came in to write here. The Stones and the book of notes are safely tucked away in my bank box. Just in case, I think I will keep them in the bank and use my bag of holding to get at the Stones from within each dungeon when they are needed. I can't risk something going wrong, and someone like Blackthorn getting his hands on them...

Thinking back at those Stones glowing a rainbow of colors, I realize we are now officially on a Quest. In a way, it feels good to me that I am able to reaffirm myself. Of course, it is another delay, and it has been so long already since Lord British was taken. But it is nevertheless a good thing that we must do.

Thank you, Michael, for your notes...

[8/8/2003]

Of course nothing can go simply. Andrella sent word that Soth wanted to speak with me. What could that bag of bones have to say?

She also mentioned that Lita and Starfire have discovered a new plot of Blackthorn's. He wants a war. Aye, a war. Apparently, he wants to have Soth attack him, and then blame it on us. From what we learned today, this is seeming to be less and less of a possibility, but we'll have to keep on the alert nevertheless.

Andrella met me at my house and we went to the Hedge Maze together. Soth wasn't around the outbuildings, so we entered the moongate into the Twisted Tunnels.

Just inside, in the first room, stood a dracolich--a skeleton dragon. And beside him...a liche? I blinked, a dread sense of foreboding rising within me. I had a feeling I knew who that was.

When we got closer, it became clear. It was Soth, looking just like he had when he had first come to Britannia.

Andrella and I stopped at a safe distance, but neither Soth nor the dracolich made a move to approach or attack us.

"You don't look half as surprised as I thought you would," Soth commented dryly.

"I'm learning not to be surprised," I responded in a similar tone of voice.

"Is it not strange that I have come to my former glory?" Soth smirked, but the expression held no humor. "Instead of focusing on an army, I have focused my energies into my own revival. And now I stand before you with raw power. My power."

"You don't look glorious--you look dead," I quipped. Andrella snickered.

My flippant tone got to him, just as I had expected. He glared at us, and Andrella joined in, "Can we get to the point?"

He let out a growl of annoyance, but did so, grating out clipped words, "Even with all my power restored...I am ethereal in this land."

Before we could move, he'd stepped forward quick as a flash and swung viciously at Andrella. With lightning reflexes she brought her shield up to parry, but it wasn't even necessary. Soth's arm and staff went right through her, as if he was a ghost. I blinked in surprise. He turned and repeated the swing at me, with the same results.

"Nothing..." he growled, moving back to his dragon.

Andrella snickered. "That must hurt the ol' ego there."

I agreed. "Not quite full power then, hmm?"

"Wrong," Soth spat out. "I have more power then you can imagine. It is just useless here."

"That's almost funny," I smirked.

He gave us another glare, but he didn't look surprised that we found this amusing. "Even though I may not be able to harm you directly," he pointed out dryly, "I can still control the undead like puppets." He reached up to pat the dry bones of his undead dragon.

"Yet," he went on before we could speak, "I give up on this cursed place. Have you not noticed that I have not killed a person for weeks? Why do you think that is?"

"Because you were busy doing some other mindless thing," Andrella responded.

"Wrong again, fool. It's because I want out."

At least here was some good news. "Good," I said. "Stay out of our way then."

"No," he retorted. "It doesn't work like that. Leaving you up to your own quests have proved worthless."

"We're on our way to getting the Orb that you never obtained," I jabbed.

"No. Listen to me. I know all about Minax and Shalilissta's little meeting."

"We do too," I assured him. "We know about your meeting with her as well. Did you enjoy Destard?"

He growled. "Get the hell out of here then, if you aren't going to listen." He spun and started toward the door that led into the rest of the Tunnels, his dragon following along behind. "Go step right into the trap."

I blinked. "Trap?"

We ran after him through the fence, which wasn't locked anymore. "Soth!" Andrella called, and he finally stopped and turned back. He asked us if we were going to listen to him and not call him a liar like everyone else he's ever dealt with here.

"Whatever I say will be seen as a lie," he grumbled. "It's all a mind game. Even you not telling me you were the Avatar, Kianne. Why not?"

I blinked a little in surprise. Why was that suddenly important to him?

"You wanted to trick me," he complained, "like Blackthorn and everyone else."

I scratched my head. "Actually, it was never really an issue until long after the opening of the Black Gate."

"Bah!" he let out. He paced for a moment, then snapped, "The only reason I am about to help you is because I don't want to see you die before I'm out."

"We're clear on that," I assured him dryly.

He shot me a glare, then went on, "Now here is my plan. I get the Orb for you. You go to Fel and fight Minax before she gains more power."

"I'd rather reverse that," I remarked.

"Look at what you are doing Kianne," he protested. "Everyone knows you are The Avatar. It's no secret anymore."

News to me.

"And yet," he went on, "Shalilissta wants you to prove it?" He shook his head. "It's only to raise the Virtues. To raise Exodus."

"Exodus!?" I repeated in surprise.

"You heard me. It's a trap."

I considered that thoughtfully. Shalilissta hadn't struck me as the type to try to lay a trap like that. While I could see Blackthorn doing it, he has no control over Shalilissta. Yet...

"Exodus is raised by the Virtues?" I asked musingly.

"The Chaos of the Virtues," he responded. "The twisted Virtues." He went on pointedly, "The shrines and the Stones can't be revived in this world without you. And without the Virtues returning here, they can't be twisted by Blackthorn."

I stared at him in silence.

"Minax made some very serious miscalculations in killing the original Avatar," Soth said. "The Virtues of this worthless land faded." He shifted. "I don't want to stand by and watch you mess up. You are my only shot."

That's gratitude for you.

"We won't have long to deal with Blackthorn though," I pointed out. "Once we open the Black Gate, he'll be history. Again."

"No," Soth repeated. "The Guardian is waiting at the Gate to jump out and take you."

"I suspected as much," I commented. "Believe it or not we were prepared for that. But we have to free Lord British somehow. And anyway, we can't let you kill Shamino in any event."

"None of that matters!" Soth snapped. "None of it. Get me out."

Andrella broke in, "We know Kianne is the Avatar. Shalilissta probably knows she is the Avatar."

"Of course she does," Soth agreed. "So why prove it?"

"The quest was set out probably even before Kianne became the Avatar here," Andrella responded. "Set up by Lord British himself to ensure the safety of Shamino. You don't have all of the facts, Soth."

Soth growled. "Okay, I have had enough."

"Give us the rock, Soth," Andrella demanded cooly.

"Calling me a liar..." he grumbled as if he hadn't heard her.

"I'll call you many more things if you don't hand it over," she returned.

"I mean what I say," Soth insisted.

"So do I," Andrella responded.

Soth turned away. "You will not get the rock until I know I am getting out of here. Remember my words when Shalilissta turns you to stone." He paused to glance over his shoulder at me. "None of these people are honest. Just ask yourself. Who do you believe? Shalilissta or me?"

I snickered. "Oh, tough one."

"At least you think it is tough."

Andrella turned away in the opposite direction. "We are done here."

"Get out then," Soth growled, and walked away. "Idiots."

[8/8/2003] (same date)

We saw Connor today. I couldn't believe it. I haven't seen him since Northwind disappeared. Sygil saw him first, said he'd seen the ranger running by near the Keep, but apparently Connor did not hear his greeting. Later we all encountered him just outside the Keep. I ran up to him and reached out, but my hand went right through him.

"It takes much power to maintain the link to here," he commented, and we realized he was only a projection. He told us that he and the other RBW members, who were alive and well in other worlds, have been trying to find a way back to us. "For some reason I cannot fathom the gate to this plane has closed?"

We nodded. "Northwind has been erased," we explained to him. Since our gate into this world had been in Northwind, once it was gone...

"Now the problem is that we canna get to you at the moment," Connor mused. "This is the first time that I have seen a gate destroyed."

"Ye can thank Blackthorn and Mondain," Sygil commented dryly.

"We are trying to strengthen the Watch again," Andrella assured him, and I nodded.

"We are just a shadow of it here...but we exist." I smiled, making a little play on words there. After all, we have dubbed ourselves "The Shadow Watch" here for now. We didn't want to recreate RBW in the Shadowland just yet, to avoid drawing Mondain's attention to us again any more than we have to.

"We will see if we can strengthen the link to this plane," Connor declared. "What more we can do at this point I am nae sure..."

His words faded away as he vanished from our sight.

"Connor?" we asked, but he didn't reappear. Apparently, that was the limit to how long he was able to project himself into this plane.

At least we now know for sure that the others are safe. I'd felt, deep inside, that they were, but it's always nice to have a confirmation. And now that they know what has happened here, perhaps it will help us to find a solution from both sides...

[8/9/2003]

Yesterday we ventured into Wrong as we had planned. The shrine wasn't very deep into the dungeon, but it was hidden behind a secret door, so we almost missed it. Once we had reached it, I used my bag of holding and took out the green Stone of Justice. Holding it cupped in my hands, I approached the shrine and stood before it.

Nothing happened at first, so I closed my eyes and spoke the mantra out loud three times as I had learned to do in the past. I attempted to clear my mind and carefully meditated on the Virtue of Justice.

"Welcome, Avatar," came the singsong voice of the shrine. I remained still, knowing it would speak more.

"The executioners in these halls have done a great injustice," the shrine spoke. "Return their unjust treasure to the halls of justice. A green basket awaits. Then return here."

I opened my eyes, getting a sense of dismissal. Great, a quest in a quest. Well, I shouldn't have expected anything else. "It will be done," I murmured, and rejoined the others.

We marked a rune first so we wouldn't have to run all the way back here. After that, we spent a little bit of time in Wrong gathering more of the gold from the executioners. Once we had cleared the place, we Gated to Yew. The halls of justice must mean the Yew courtroom.

Sure enough, within one of the rooms in the court halls we found a green basket. We deposited the gold, but were stopped on the way out by a Chaos guard. I think the guard was confused that we would be leaving money. I told her truthfully that we were on a quest, and we explained that we were righting a wrong. She still looked confused, but as we hadn't done anything wrong, she let us go.

Blackthorn will be hearing of this soon, methinks...

At any rate, we returned to the shrine in Wrong and stood before it again. I still had the Stone in my hand. Once again, I meditated before it.

"Justice is the truth of what is right and wrong, and the love of what is right," the shrine told us. I had asked later, and the others said they could hear the shrine's words as well. I hadn't been sure whether I was hearing the voice in my ears or in my mind.

"The gold returned is the just thing to do," it continued. "Though the purpose of what the gold is used for may be wrong. You are a Just Avatar."

I blinked when I noticed that the Stone of Justice was glowing again. I waited for a moment, but the glow remained steady and strong. In fact, it is still glowing even now as I write this.

We all smiled at each other and bowed to the shrine before leaving.

Today we did Deceit. The shrine was all the way on the bottom floor. We had to clear out the room to give us peace and quiet to approach the shrine, and those darn fetid heads gave us quite a trouble.

Finally, the room was silent. I took out the blue stone of Honesty and spoke the mantra, meditating once more.

"Welcome, Avatar," the shrine greeted. "A deceitful lie has been told to the healer outside. Rectify this by asking about Jeff, then return here."

It fell into silence. That was all we were going to get.

We marked another rune and headed to the surface. There was a healer just outside the entrance, so we approached her and said hello. I asked her about her health--okay, old habit--and then queried about Jeff.

She grew excited immediately, and told us elatedly that she was his fiancée. She then asked if we were going to see him, and gave us a note to deliver, telling us he would be at the healer's in Moonglow.

So we went off to Moonglow, only when we asked around at the healer's, we were told Jeff was not there. The healer guildmaster asked to deliver the message for us, but we insisted it was personal and that we should do it ourselves.

Finally, the guildmaster explained that Jeff had died. He had become possessed by a curse in the Moonglow graveyard while trying to research a cure for that same curse. The healers had tried to cure him, but he eventually went mad. Yet even in his madness, he didn't forget his love to Martha, the healer outside Deceit. He wanted to buy her a fancy wedding ring, so he stole a gold bar to pay for it. And he fought back against the guards when they tried to apprehend him, killing several.

He was executed for the murders not long ago.

It was terrible news, but we thought Martha deserved to know. Living in a dreamland with false hopes would hurt her more terribly the longer it went on. The healer guildmaster didn't want to deal with it, so he had been keeping it from her.

We went back to the entrance of Deceit and broke the news to Martha as best as we knew how. It was probably the most difficult thing I've done in a long time. I think we all shed some tears before it was all over.

In the end, Martha asked to go back to Moonglow, so we provided her with a Gate. She wanted to be alone, or we may have gone with her.

Once we saw her off, we returned to the shrine in Deceit. Rather to my surprise, the room was still empty. We stood again before the shrine.

"One should never stray from the truth when speaking to others. While all should be honest with all things, even feelings, remember there are seven other Virtues to live by."

And that's what usually gets me. I've been known to not be entirely truthful to folks like Blackthorn...for the greater good.

"Many times it is not what you say, but how you say it, and who you say it to," the shrine intoned.

The blue stone of Honesty began to steadily glow.

I remained at the shrine for a short while longer, considering its words. They had hit particularly home to me. But then a liche lord and another fetid head showed up, so we quickly made a Gate and got out of there. The party was just beginning, but we didn't feel like joining in.

[8/15/2003]

We entered Shame today. There were so many elementals wandering around that it was decided to simply run past them in search of our goal: the shrine. This turned out to be easier said than done in some cases, but we avoided the denizens as much as possible and fought only when necessary.

It was a relief to find the purple shrine at the dead end of one of the corridors. We were able to slip by the nearby poison elemental and approach the shrine in peace. Even so, Andrella stood guard while I walked to the shrine and mediated using the mantra.

"Welcome, Avatar," came the greeting. "This path is wrought with shame. Beneath your feet, find the bones of a paladin. Honor his request and bury him at the shores of Trinsic beach, then return."

At first I wasn't sure whether "beneath my feet" meant here in the dirt, or the level below us. I wasn't even sure if there was another level below this one. I knelt down and stirred the dirt with my fingers. Sure enough, there was someone buried here. Not really buried, but just covered with dust, as if he had simply been abandoned and neglected to the stream of time.

With great care, we unearthed the skeleton. It was wearing a nice suit of silver-colored plate armor, and possessed an exceptional silver bow and a sword of holy judgment. I wrapped everything up as gently as I could and positioned it into my pack where I could carry it without breaking any of the bones.

We marked a rune and then Gated to Trinsic. The first order of business was to find a shovel. After purchasing one, we then had to find the beach. I knew there was sand near the southern entrance, but there was also supposed to be a beach to the east. We went east first and discovered a nice little area with an ankh and a little bit of sand on the water's edge.

"What a perfect spot!" Andrella smiled. "Near the shrine--there is no better place to bury a paladin."

I agreed and we began to dig in the soft sand of the tiny beach. Once the grave was large enough, I carefully placed the skeleton within, arranging its limbs into a restful position and its armor around it. I laid the bow and sword on either side of it. I am not superstitious and knew they would not help him in some afterlife; however I felt it would be disrespectful to not bury the paladin with all of his items. I would feel like a thief if we simply took them, even if it was for the greater good.

I was just straightening up when I was startled to see a ghost materialize over the grave.

We stared in surprise as the ghost drifted a bit, gazing out over the water.

"G-greetings," I managed to get out through my startlement. Even with the protections here in Britannia, I had thought this poor paladin to be beyond hope.

"OOooOooO," he said in the wailing-like ghost-speak.

I took a breath and concentrated. I had learned a bit about Spirit Speak from a gypsy; I hoped the scant knowledge was enough to make the contact.

"Greetings," I tried again when I was pretty sure I had accomplished the link.

"Greetings thee," he responded, and I could understand him this time.

We introduced ourselves, and he told us his name was Hakura. "Did you bring me here?"

"Aye."

He was silent for a moment. "My quest is complete," he finally breathed in a satisfied sigh.

He turned to us when Andrella asked him what had happened to him. "I traveled to the shrine of Honor in the depths of Shame with my close companions. We were all paladins. When I found the shrine, we were pleased. It was proof that we were real paladins."

We smiled.

"However," the ghost went on, "it is there that I was murdered."

"Murdered?" I asked, startled.

"By my best friend..." He sighed. "The two of them had conspired against me. I followed the Virtues of Chaos, they Order. They had lured me there and sacrificed me in the name of Order."

"How horrible..." I murmured sadly.

"They believed I was not worthy. They left me there to bleed to death. As they laughed and walked away, I swore to the shrine that I would return to the shores of my city."

He paused and looked at us. "You have both honored me greatly."

"Please let us raise you," I requested.

"Your magic would have no effect on me," Hakura shrugged. "I have died. I would not want to raised as the dead."

"No, not that," I agreed quickly. Never that.

He seemed to understand. "But there is something you can do. One last wish."

"What is that?" we queried.

Hakura looked down at the grave. "My sword, my armor. Give it as a gift to my liege. It would put my soul to rest."

His liege? I was afraid to ask which one. Andrella did so for me.

"Lord Blackthorn, the leader of the Chaos Virtues," the ghost confirmed. I had been afraid of that. Too bad he hadn't meant Lord British. I would trust him with these items more than Blackthorn. "Will you grant me this?"

I couldn't decline. "We will do so."

"Then I may rest at last."

"Rest well," I murmured as the ghost faded from sight.

We looked down at the still-uncovered grave and sighed a little. Then I bent down and retrieved all of the items that had been on the corpse. I tucked them into a bag that had been on the body. Once I had everything, I put the shovel back to the mound of sand and covered the grave.

We Gated to Britain and went to Lord British's castle first, as that is where Blackthorn seems to like hanging out. We didn't find him in the throne room, but he was in the dining hall eating.

"What is this?" he scowled as we walked right in, and gritted his teeth in irritation.

I tried my best to put all animosity aside and treat Blackthorn with respect for Hakura's sake. I couldn't quite bring myself to call him "Lord" however.

"Forgive us for interrupting," I said in a friendly tone, "but we have something for you."

"Something you might find interesting," Andrella agreed.

"Hakura asked us to give this to you." With care, I handed Blackthorn the bag in which I had placed all of the items.

He snatched up the bag and quickly looked through it. "Hakura who?"

I felt the first threads of disgust creeping in. "The paladin Hakura."

"Paladin? Hakura?" he repeated dumbly.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "One of the followers of the Chaos Virtues."

"Is this all he had?" he asked. I nearly fell over from shock. How low does this guy go?

Andrella looked like she wanted to whack him. "The name doesn't ring any bells? He was one of your own and you know nothing of him?"

Blackthorn shrugged. "I have lots of worshipers. But they usually give me a little more..."

Andrella's expression mirrored my own feelings. It was beyond me how anyone could show such devotion to this creep. "He gave his life," I snapped in irritation.

"Well," Blackthorn grinned slightly. "I will find out where he lived and take his house too."

"You are disgusting," Andrella growled.

Blackthorn dismissed it with a shrug, tucking the bag away. "Now, about the Tome of Stars..."

All I wanted was to get away from him, but since he had brought it up... "We need the location of the book," I pointed out.

"You are ready to go?"

"We will be shortly." It was basically the truth.

Blackthorn shook his head. "I will only give you the location when you are on your way," he told us. "I want to see you...off." He gave us another one of those sly grins.

Andrella rolled her eyes. "Pathetic..."

I was through with fooling around. "It is best to gate from the location in this plane that mirrors the destination," I told him flatly. "So, say, if it is in--" I grabbed the name of the first dungeon that came to mind-- "Shame, we should go to Shame here, then gate." I gave him a wry smile. "Do you want to see us off from Shame?"

Blackthorn gazed at me stupidly for a moment, then abruptly changed the subject. "You know what I heard? I heard you actually believe that you are the Avatar." He laughed, and I found myself almost gritting my own teeth in frustration at his two-faced manner. "It must just be a mad rumor right? Tell me you didn't start that..."

"I didn't," I responded, because it was the truth. But I couldn't resist adding, "But you will see in time."

"See what?"

I just smiled at him.

Andrella looked as disgusted as I felt. "We have completed our task with you," she declared suddenly. "Farewell." She turned and walked deliberately for the door. "Come, Kianne."

"Let me tell you," Blackthorn spoke up as I moved to follow her. "You are not the Avatar. If you claim it, I will jail you for insulting the true Avatar."

I was entirely sure that he would, too. What a moron. My irritation flew out of control, reaching the point where I become irrational. I was right next to the door when I lost my patience and whirled around. "I'll tell you something," I snapped out, eyes blazing. "I would love to meet the Avatar." I stood and glared at him for a long moment, letting those words hang meaningfully in the air.

But we wouldn't. We would never meet Michael, and we all knew it. All because of Minax. Who had cheated him out of life.

The moment passed and I spun on my heel and stalked out of the room.

Behind me, I heard Blackthorn stamp his foot.

Out in the courtyard, Andrella and I both said "sorry" at the same time. "I had to get you out of there," she chuckled.

I smiled faintly. "I know I shouldn't have said that, but..."

"No, it was funny," she grinned.

We Gated back to the Shadow Keep first, since we didn't want to open a gate directly into Shame from the town of Britain. Once our first gate had closed, we opened another to the rune marked within Shame.

The poison elemental was close to the shrine this time, so we took it down first. Then once again Andrella stood guard for me, allowing me to approach the shrine without interruption.

"You have shown high respect for special merit; your reputation grows. When you show respect for your betters and peers, your integrity grows. When people fail to live up to Honor, the reputation of the entire guild is at stake."

It surprised me a little that the shrine had mentioned the guild. But then, I had never performed a Quest as the Avatar while a part of a guild before. The guilds had come later.

"You are an Honorable Avatar."

The purple stone that I was still carrying began to glow brightly, even more so than those previous.

"Wow, that's bright!" Andrella grinned.

I turned to her. "We have done well."

She nodded in agreement, and we traveled back to the Shadow Keep. "I am impressed."

Once we were back in the sunlight, I stretched and commented, "You know... I don't know how often I can dodge Blackthorn's question without lying." I gave her a wry smile. "I wonder if we can restore the Virtues from jail?"

She laughed. "I'm not thinking so."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I am not afraid of telling the truth...but now is not the time. We have a duty yet to perform." I looked down at the Stone of Honor in my palm. It was still glowing like a star.

The Avatar.

I might have doubted it myself, at one time. After all, I was fully aware that this world had its own Avatar. But he was gone now. And if there had ever been any doubt that I had been chosen, it couldn't be sustained now.

The stones. The shrines.

Blackthorn himself knew. He was just playing mind games. Just like the Guardian who still keeps speaking up randomly. All games. We all know the truth.

But landing in jail again would be a mighty inconvenience. I shook my head and replaced the Stone of Honor in my bank box with the rest.

Five more to go.

[8/16/2003]

We did Despise today. The shrine was on a small island in an underground lake guarded by two dragons. Once we dispatched them, we were able to cross the bridge and approach the shrine in peace. I stood before it and spoke the mantra, as always.

"Welcome Avatar. Compassion is the understanding of suffering and the wish to relieve it. Dellan has suffered far more then he has deserved. Speak with him. He works at The Oaken Oar of Britain. Then return here once thy task is complete."

We made a moongate to Shadow Keep, and then another to Britain. It took us a few minutes to track down the Oaken Oar, as none of us could remember having visited it before, but just based off its name we took a guess that it would be on the docks. We were right on the money.

We found Dellan unloading crates from a ship. I tried to be casual by simply asking about his health, a common lead-in that I'd gotten into the habit of using in Britannia in the past.

But he seemed fine and quite happy. In fact, all we discovered at first was that he had a gambling habit. But I found myself silently wondering how that had anything to do with anything. Certainly we weren't here to kick him of his habit?

"You must win often," I commented, taking a stab in the dark.

"Well, actually," he laughed sheepishly, "I lose a bit more."

"Then why do it?"

"I need the gold." He shrugged.

We asked him if he was in debt, and he shook his head. "I don't owe anyone. But you see..." And he proceeded to tell us about his mother, who had passed away a few years ago. He'd tried to drown his sorrows in a mug of ale, and ended up gambling her necklace away. "I been tryin' to get enough money to get it back since." He sighed.

"That must have been some necklace," we commented.

He nodded. "You should go take a look at it." He gave us the name of the jewelry shop and directions. He couldn't leave work, so we told him we would love to see the necklace and went off without him.

We were already hatching our plan before we even reached the jewelry shop. It was really quite simple--we'd buy the necklace for him. Easier than trying to hand him gold, which he might or might not accept, depending on his level of pride.

The necklace was indeed on display, and looked like an heirloom. I wasn't surprised he wanted it back. We asked the shopkeeper about the necklace and its cost. Rather to my surprise it only turned out to be 5000 gold. Andrella paid her out of the gold we had looted from Despise, and gave her a little extra for her trouble. Then she handed the necklace to me.

We hurried back to Dellan with our prize. He was quite astonished that we'd bought it for him, but thankfully he didn't refuse it. "Now I don't have to gamble anymore!" he glowed. "I won't let it out of my sight again!"

We smiled. I guess he'd kicked his gambling habit after all.

We returned to the shrine, and I mediated before it once more.

"Be aware of suffering, not only of your mates but also others you meet. All of us lose items that are dear to us, but regardless of what we endure, the positive should always outweigh the negative..."

The shrine was interrupted at that point when a monster's spells suddenly hit me out of the blue. Andrella and Balinor hurried to take care of it. I struggled to maintain my meditation, but my concentration was already lost, and the shrine fell into silence.

Once the monster was dispatched, I turned back to the shrine and murmured, "Let me try again." I was deathly afraid that I'd ruined it, that the quest was broken. I'd never been interrupted out of a meditation before. What would happen now?

I took a deep, steadying breath and centered my thoughts, meditating once again on the mantra of Compassion.

To my utter relief, once I was focused again, the sweet sound of the shrine's mental voice returned once more. It continued as if it had never been interrupted, "Compassion is where you draw your strength and this strength is what allows you to help others. You are a Compassionate Avatar."

I was almost afraid to look down at the stone in my hands, but when I did, I saw that it was glowing.

I turned and smiled at the others.

[8/20/2003]

The land is dying again. Apparently, Soth was and is the culprit after all, and had drained nature itself of its energy in order to regain his power. As if that wasn't bad enough, villagers have been mysteriously disappearing from the towns, with no cause in sight. And to top it off, Blackthorn has decided that Navien must be punished thanks to that agreement he'd made to be held responsible for anything that Soth does.

Thus far, Navien has been able to avoid Blackthorn, and I hope it remains that way. Andrella suspects that Soth is upset at me for refusing to follow his plan. He has also launched an attack on the Ophidians, no doubt irritated at Shalilissta.

I say this has gone too far. If Soth is mad at me then he's going to take it up with me. When I told my intentions to Andrella, she and Ayla decided to come along.

"Avatar, you are doing well in destroying Britannia for me," the haunting voice laughed suddenly. "Save some for me..."

"We are not," I growled, eliciting some surprised looks from Andrella and Ayla.

"Never mind," I said.

"Was it who I think?" Andrella asked me.

I nodded and sighed. "Let's go have a word with Soth."

We traveled to the Hedge Maze and into the Twisted Tunnels. Sure enough, Soth was there, but he was accompanied by more than just his dragon this time. Although the dragon didn't attack, the rest of the undead in the room did, and Soth offered no complaints this time when we fought them off.

"Soth!" I let out while firing arrows. "Stop this nonsense!"

He just grinned at us. "Why not have a little fun?"

"If you want to get out of here soon, stop getting in our way!" I growled at him.

"Oh, I haven't even started," he promised. "You want to do things the hard way? I'll make them really hard."

I let out an exasperated sigh.

"When you want me out of here," Soth told us, "you let me know. But until then, I will do as I please."

"You're just delaying things," I reminded him. "Whatever happened to you wanting out?"

"I decided to enjoy things." He grinned again. "And I'm just getting started."

We'd taken care of the first wave of his forces, so Soth summoned a few more. My arrows were going right through the poltergeists, so I fired at a Horror instead. That attracted its attention to me, so when it got close I drew my silver sword and shield instead. Unfortunately, I don't come anywhere near to matching Andrella's sword skills, and the Horror ended up on the winning end.

When I was hovering as a ghost over my body, I saw Andrella trying to fight her way clear of a thicket of monsters to get out her Resurrection wand. Soth turned and contemplated my body.

"Should I?" he laughed, relishing our misfortune, and took a step closer to me.

"Ki!" Andrella shouted.

Ignoring the danger to herself, she got a hand on her wand and managed to get a spell off. I returned to my body a moment before Soth would have reached it.

"Thanks," I sent to her privately while simultaneously grabbing up my bow.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I couldn't let him get you again."

"Now this is much better than sitting around waiting for you fools to get me out of here," Soth chuckled. "Fools that are walking into a trap..."

"You'll be out of here long before any of that matters," I commented. "So why do you care?"

He never did get around to answering that. We finished off his minions, and he asked, "If you really want to stay your path, then why let me get in your way?"

"Let you?" Andrella repeated, then reminded him, "Your actions have put Navien in trouble."

"He did it to himself," Soth responded.

"He thought you were his friend," Andrella said. "You taught him necromancy and he wanted to thank you for it. And this is what he gets?"

"He thought wrong," Soth scoffed. "Why would I be his friend?"

"I'm not saying you have to be his friend but you should show a little compassion."

I crossed my arms. "He doesn't know the first thing about Compassion, Andrella."

Ayla snickered and nodded.

"I did," Soth replied to Andrella simply, ignoring me. That made us all do a double-take.

"You did?"

"I have not murdered anyone innocent." He shrugged. "That is the most I can do."

Something wasn't matching up here. "Then what about all the people disappearing?" I asked him.

"Don't go accusing me of crap," he responded instantly.

Curiouser and curiouser. "So it wasn't you?" I asked just to make sure.

"I said, I have not harmed any innocent humans."

Interesting choice of words. "What of Ophidians?"

"Navien did not sign any deals with the Ophidians," Soth dismissed with a shrug. "So don't tell me that is a problem."

By then I was too amazed to respond. Soth is actually restraining himself for Navien's sake? This was beyond what I had learned to expect of him.

My astonishment was evidently clear in my expression, because Soth suddenly laughed. "See, I have a heart. Just none of you will ever see it."

"Well." I shook my head and replaced my bow onto my back. "We've cleared up one thing at least." I turned and started for the moongate that leads out of the tunnels.

"Fools walking into a fire," Soth murmured as the others followed me.

"We know what we are doing," I told him cooly over my shoulder.

"Good." He smirked. "I will be seeing you."

"We will be watching you," Andrella returned just before stepping through the gate.

"Oh, you won't have to..." Soth said, but his words faded out as I entered the moongate.

Interesting development. So, if it wasn't Soth... Mondain? Or has Blackthorn hatched a plot on his own to eliminate the townspeople and then pin the blame on Navien?

Either way is not good...

[8/22/2003]

Today was Valor.

Because of the sheer number of dragons and other things wandering around Destard, I used a few charges on my ring of invisibility to quickly scope out a large cavern within. Crisscrossing basically at random, I almost missed it. But then I discovered the shrine, right there in the middle. Naturally.

I returned to where the others were waiting. "This is not going to be fun," I chuckled, and told them about the shrine.

We waded in as a group, forging a straight line toward the shrine and fighting through various types of dragons all along the way. Even when we reached the shrine, I wasn't sure I'd be able to concentrate, because there seemed to be no end to the dragons.

Finally we reached a lull in the action, so I quickly took out the red stone of Valor and meditated at the shrine.

"Welcome Avatar. A beast haunts the jungles of Jhelom. Find Eryx on his farm near the jungle. He needs a brave soul. After you help him, return here."

Not unexpected.

We gated out of Destard immediately and headed off for Jhelom. The farm in question turned out to be on another section of the small group of islands, not where the main city sits.

Eryx took one look at our gathered group (we had a fair number this time) and immediately leaned on his shepherd's crook. "Oh my. You must have heard of the wailin' beast, eh?"

We nodded and explained to him that we wanted to try to fight it. He looked dubious, telling us no one who had ever gone north had ever returned. I've heard that before, and I've never let it deter me in the past. We assured him we would be back, and headed north.

For a little while it was just jungle. I heard what sounded like a gorilla, but didn't think anything of it until suddenly I realized there was a gorilla approaching us. Only it wasn't really a gorilla--it was translucent, like a ghost, and it moved like quicksilver.

It began to attack almost before we could blink, rapidly taking down several of us. Everyone scattered. It was a few minutes before we could pull ourselves together and regroup. The beast had wandered off, so we had a moment of respite.

During the confusion I had noticed that my attacks didn't seem to be doing any damage to it. "Ancient weapons?" I asked.

Andrella shrugged. "Worth a shot."

We equipped ourselves and faced the beast again. Even being more prepared for what we faced didn't make it an easy battle. But we struggled to stay together this time, helping each other as we attacked as a group.

Finally, with an almost incorporeal wail, the beast crumbled to the ground and was still.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I found it strange that the translucent thing had left behind a very solid corpse. But I was too busy breathing a sigh of relief to really ponder it.

We were healing those who were injured and discussing matters when another wailing beast came out of nowhere. I had only enough warning to quickly grab my sword and shield before it was on me. Others scrambled to help or heal. I knew I was losing the battle, but I didn't back down, and remained fighting until I fell.

The transition from life to the shielded death of Britannia, and then back to life as someone raised me, left me a little disoriented. The new beast was gone, but it hadn't been killed. Apparently, it had left for reasons of its own.

We searched the jungle for a while, trying to hunt it down. Finally we had to admit it was pretty much gone for good.

"Maybe that was enough," Andrella spoke up as we regrouped again.

Navien nodded and smiled. "The wailing beast is a legend, and legends never die."

We went back to speak with Eryx.

"Changed your minds, eh?" he asked as he saw us troop over.

"We defeated one of the wailing beasts, and another showed up," we told him.

"You have to be kidding me," Eryx breathed. "There is more then one?"

We nodded. "Unfortunately, there seems to be. But we couldn't find the second one again."

"Looks like you showed him then," Eryx laughed. "Even they know when to leave things alone."

He asked us for our names, then said he would tell everyone who passed about our deed. I didn't think that was the point, but I didn't argue.

We went back to the Shadow Keep, then from there to Destard. We had gated directly to the shrine this time, as usual. We had to clear out a few more dragons before we were able to access the shrine again.

"Valor, courage, and boldness, shown and not said. Courage comes from the heart, not the sword. When all odds are stacked against you, your spirit is your strength. Valor is not winning all the time, but the strength to know when to stop."

Interesting, I found myself thinking later. The wailing beast truly couldn't be defeated. True wisdom was knowing when to fight, and when to leave well alone.

"You are a strong Avatar."

Just as I heard those words, a wyvern attacked our party, and I was struck by the resulting explosion as it breathed fire on the others who were guarding me. I blinked my eyes open and stumbled back. "Oh great," I muttered. That was twice that my meditation has been broken. And we had been so close this time, too.

But when I looked down at my hand, the Stone of Valor was glowing. We had just barely made it in time.

"Let's go!" Andrella called as she saw the stone's glow. We quickly Gated out of Destard before more dragons could show up.

Know when to fight, and when to leave well alone...

[8/26/2003]

Troubling news reached me today. It seems that Blackthorn is trying to build another giant Cube. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut. If my source is correct, he's already got a small one which the Guardian uses to speak with him. I guess that's not all that surprising, given the book I found in Blackthorn's chambers.

The name Batlin was mentioned as well. Which immediately made me comment in frustration, "What next? Are we going to be chasing Elizabeth and Abraham all over Britannia?"

By this point, I should know better than to say something like that...

Today also marked the day that Navien got himself snagged. He had been using Incognito to hide himself, but he came to Britain while I was there, and we spoke a few innocuous words at the inn before I had to go on my way. I had thought that we were out of earshot of anybody, but apparently the innkeeper called the guards, and when Navien's Incognito wore off, they pounced and put him in jail. As if we didn't already have enough troubles to worry about. We're still not sure how we can release Navien...

And to make matters worse, it's pretty much proven now that the Guardian knows what is going on, either because he can see it, or because Blackthorn can tell him. Later in the day, as news was reaching me about Navien, the voice taunted me, "Avatar, another of your friends has been imprisoned! Perhaps you will let him rot, as you let your king!"

"Go jump in a lake," I growled at him as the voice dissolved into dark laughter. This only strengthens my resolve to free Lord British as soon as possible. Of course, the Guardian is no doubt banking on that, but we will find a way around his plans. There is no way we are letting him get away with anything more...

[8/29/2003]

Soth showed up at the Keep earlier today. He's been sending a few rounds of undead minions to attack for the past day or so, but this was the first time in a while that he'd come in person. He was completely incorporeal, a translucent gray like a ghost, and unable to even open a door or manipulate his environment in any way. He claims that Minax is causing this. He also claims that, while he was attacking the Ophidians and going after Shalilissta, Minax came to Shalilissta's aid. We don't know if that is true or not, although if it is, I would suspect Minax did it for her own reasons rather than out of any love for Shalilissta.

Still, Soth thinks that this proves that Shalilissta is in league with Mondain and Minax, and that she is trying to trick us with this quest to revive the Virtues. He also declared that he would not leave for Krynn until he gets his solid form back. For crying out loud, does this mean we'll have to find some way to finish off Minax before we can free Lord British? I'm not even sure how we would go about it, and while we will have to face Minax at some point, I would rather do so after we have a plan. Rushing in now would likely just get us all killed...I'll bet Soth would be really happy then.

The good thing that came out of all of this is that Soth mentioned the chest of Lord British's treasures which had been stolen from Andrella a while ago. Apparently Shalilissta had ended up in possession of it, and Soth had stolen it from her during his raid. For some odd reason, Soth did not hesitate to return it to us, saying he was not going to bargain with it since it was not rightfully his. He did insist that Andrella go to the Twisted Tunnels alone in order to fetch it, but nothing untoward happened. Soth rambled a lot, nearly talking her ear off she said, but he finally gave her the chest without incident, and that was that. I guess he didn't want the chest because it cannot be opened except by those granted permission by Lord British--and as it stands right now that means only Andrella as far as I know.

The bad news is, Shalilissta is evidently missing now. Soth raided her out of her chambers where we had always met with her, so she could be anywhere by now. I just hope we can find her when the time comes to free Shamino...

[8/29/2003] (same date)

I'm beginning to think that Sacrifice was even more difficult than Valor, in terms of actually reaching the shrine. We had a fair number of people, but the road was filled with fetid heads and other nasty undead creatures. After several hours we had searched a number of sections of Covetous and still had not come across the shrine. I did a lot of scouting with the invisibility ring just to cut down on the hordes we would have to wade through. But I think it was Andrella who found it.

The shrine sat in the middle of a small room deep in the dungeon, visible only through the cracks of what appeared to be a secret door in the wall. But try as we might, we could not get the apparent door to open. Etched into the wall were the words: Sacrifice will find the way.

"Sacrifice of what?" we discussed. There are multiple things that can be sacrificed. Possessions, people, one's own lifeblood. We theorized that a ghost might be able to walk through the secret door, but this failed to work when we tried it (it wasn't very difficult to attain a ghostly form given the wights and other annoying undead wandering about).

Perhaps, I thought, it was the mastery of the Virtue itself that would allow access?

Thinking the mantra might open the door, I took out the Stone of Sacrifice and stood before the wall and chanted the mantra. Nothing happened. I glanced at Andrella.

"Try meditating," she suggested.

Nodding, I took a slow breath and closed my eyes, meditating on Sacrifice. The others were in a semi-circle around me, so even though we were in a dangerous place that would not stay quiet for long, I was confident that they would shield me and give me the time I needed. I allowed myself to just forget about all of that and consider only the Virtue of Sacrifice...

I felt a sudden lurch and my eyes came open in reflexive response. I discovered with a bit of surprise that I was now standing inside the room, directly in front of the shrine.

I glanced briefly over my shoulder, but the others had not been brought here. I was sure they waited on the other side of the wall. I returned my attention to the shrine and resumed my meditation.

"Welcome Avatar," the shrine greeted. "As you know, items are not all that can be sacrificed. Offering your time to help another is just as valuable. The time you have sacrificed to help this land and its people is an example to all."

As the shrine fell silent, I blinked my eyes open and looked down in surprise. The stone of Sacrifice in my hand was glowing! For a moment I just gazed at it, unbelieving. We had not been given a task to perform, thus breaking the trend from all of the other Virtues. Apparently, we had already done enough on the journey through the days to revive this Virtue.

I walked over to the wall where the others waited. I thought the door might open for me from the other side, but it remained as solid a wall as ever.

"I guess we meet you back at the Keep?" Andrella commented with a smile as we realized I could not get out and they could not get in.

"Aye," I agreed. "Thanks everyone."

They formed a Gate, and I Recalled, and we regrouped at the Keep. It had been quite a struggle, but we had worked together and persevered.

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