#78 - Dangerous Dissent

Excerpt from the Personal Chronicles of Aleae Dyo'ionah Tiamah D'maii Dwin' Eytherarnith

Disgraceful events unfolded today. Cypher disappointed me. How a creature can exhibit so many signs of more than adequate intelligence and yet lack so harshly in wisdom, compassion, and manners is a disgrace. It took long for warforged to claim their freedom and step out of their existence as beings created in slavery. How he could not immediately see and appreciate the unbearable suffering another being endures if bound or enslaved is difficult for me to digest.

Simel, on the other hand, did not know better. A battle-steeled human and bounty hunter, he is not likely to appreciate such fine matters. He must have found the two glass binding orbs—which he somewhat proudly presented to us as possible weapons against our foes—on that horrid hag’s body; the one who had come by wyvern wing and who I felt obliged to embellish with a few gems, giving her at least an elegantly-adorned ending.

Immediately I could feel the agony and suffering of these sad air elementals rushing through me as they had been circling for times unknown within these orbs. There was no time to be wasted. I sprung into action to grab the orbs and free the elementals from their prisons as soon as possible.

Cypher managed to get a hold of one of the orbs and proceeded to walk away with it. I repeatedly told him that these elementals needed to be freed and that he should hand me the orb he was holding. No response. I warned him that I required him to give me the orb before I had counted to ten. No response. I counted down. No response. I did what I must.

A ray of cold energy sprang from my hand and burst the first sphere, releasing the elemental which moved through and past Cypher. I marveled at the beautiful creature beginning its rise towards its freedom in the skies.

Cypher had little reaction. Like a true mechanical being, he lacked empathy; taking a moment to contemplate what had played out and why eluded him. His next move was perfunctory, rushing in and grabbing the remaining bound elemental from my palm like a clodpate. He began to move away from me with the second orb, needlessly prolonging its release. When my demands that he return it were ignored, Cypher left me no choice but to shatter the space around him with a spell. The orb smashed into a thousand fragments. Cypher’s own construct form was dented and damaged by both the force of my words and a furious blow from the elemental. The tension lifted from my shoulders as it departed skyward.

Never can I stand idly by while another being–specifically one deserving our consideration–is held against its will. (And particularly if that being has such raw and wild grace as that of an elemental.) I am aware that elementals are not treated well on this plane, but I will do whatever I can, whenever I can, to put a halt to these atrocities. My life and that of my entire line is due to the goodness of elemental beings and that debt is eternal.

The wild powers that are woven through and allow me to change the structure of reality were forged within and founded upon my family’s past. More years ago than most timeless beings can hold in their minds, my ancestors studied the elemental energies that form and reform so much of the universe. They even devised a way to travel to the Inner Planes themselves, which comprise the respective Elemental Planes of Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. These missions were incredibly dangerous and only very few of my ancestors dared to explore the wild energy and powerful beings that roam its structure during the short bursts of time that their still-only-learned magic could keep them safe.

One day during that era, two young members of my family, Lyarea and Aleae (brother and sister twins, and one of them my namesake) were introduced to the secrets of travel between planes and prepared for the journey. Impatient and reckless they decided to venture to a junction of the Inner Planes by themselves before their full initiation.

Very quickly they found themselves in the embrace of millions of fiery elemental beings whose genuine curiosity began to steadily weaken the magic they had woven around them and which would not long withstand the onslaught of these raw energies. Overwhelmed by what they saw and only partially prepared for what was required to return to Thelanis, they were surely lost. An ancient and powerful being as old as the world itself, whose true name would take close to a year to speak, beheld my ancestors and took pity upon them. It brushed all else aside and held them in its embrace and vowed its protection. It is told that the being was so expansive and different from anything that could exist on our planes that they lived and viewed the world from within it. It appreciated them and found ways to sustain their life.

More than a century passed within which my family would return to the Inner Planes and actively search for any signs of the two lost souls. One day a research mission happened upon a vast swarm of fiery elementals and, just as they were about to return to the safety of Thelanis, they noticed two unusual figures amidst a strong wind that parted the fires around them. Slowly, the two figures approached them upon the path the winds had carved and fires roared as far as their eyes could see. At last the lost were found. On this day the two were given the name Dwin’ Eytherarnith (Walkers in Forests of Fire).

Upon their return they would discover that they had been forever changed. They felt powerful and wild magic flowing through them. A deep connection to the elemental forces of nature coursed through their veins. While they were able to control some of these energies, others were beyond their will and would bring about unforeseen events.

My lineage traces directly from Aleae the First, and my family has been a member of the Court of Rose and Thorn since its formation in times forgotten. If I make a request, I expect a response. I will not be ignored. If I set an ultimatum because I am treated discourteously, I will act upon my promise. It is my hope that Cypher learned that lesson today. Of course, I am not pleased that he was hurt, especially while we are working together to fight great evils lurking amidst the gloom ahead of us, but he left me no choice at this instance. I thought he was better than this.

Except for the very end, most of the events between Cypher and me were lost by the others as they were investigating the cave entrance. The loud noise created when I broke the second orb drew everyone's attention. Magnus immediately asked both of us how we could turn on each other like this and I could see that Clarion was equally filled with misgivings. I felt too hurt and distracted by what had just happened that I ignored Magnus and the others and began walking into the cave opening, onward into the dark and unknown.

As we marched slowly into the darkness of the tunnel—this allegedly secret entrance/exit to Glyphstone Keep—Clarion began to speak to me in my mind. Knowing my history, he could understand why I reacted so strongly when elementals were involved, but still deemed my actions, as he put it, “a bit excessive given the circumstances.” He did not understand why Cypher would not acknowledge any of my requests until I began using force. Still he insisted that I must speak with Cypher in the near future and tell him that I was sorry that he was hurt. We would talk about this at some point. Later. Possibly.

For a moment it crossed my mind whether Cypher’s behaviour had been linked to the dormant darkness that Clarion had warned me about? A shadow that could find its path into the minds of Cypher and Magnus via the marks they bear on their skin and which are unholy signs that they were touched by great evil?

We progressed in silence and without light through the passage leading from the cave entrance where we had left the body of the chimera, the fierce and magnificent beast whose existence we had ended unceremoniously. Musing through the depths of my mind I somehow found myself walking ahead with the hobgoblin Duur'kala, Irakas, and her protectors.

We came upon what appeared to be a three-way junction and Irakas pointed out the presence of a strange symbol on the floor ahead of us, a star with eight points which she believed to be of some significance. It was briefly observed more closely by some in our party but we prepared to press on once the absence of traps was established.

Immediately, we noticed the presence of some kind of creature lurking in the dark further down the path that had opened to our right, announcing itself through crude grunts and an odor reminiscent of half dead boars dipped in a swamp hag’s refuse.

Being the only ones able to see in this darkness except for the other hobgoblins, Irakas and I agreed to scout for the source of these odious signs of something disgusting. A deep and boorish voice bellowed from somewhere down the path. It was hard to decipher the words as they bounced and echoed along the walls. "SPEAK WATCHWORD!"

In silence, I messaged Clarion for I knew he might be able to read the creature's mind and possibly allow us to pass without a fight. Whatever had spoken was of simple mind and potentially easily tricked. Even if it did not work there was the potential for some much needed fun to be had.

Joined by Clarion we moved deeper down the passage. The voice spoke again: "Say watchword!" Clarion needed to get closer and see the creature in order to possibly learn its thoughts.

"Let me approach so that no one may listen," Clarion spoke with calm resonance into the darkness.

"Hurry," came the gruff reply.

Just then our shadows began to dance wildly across the walls ahead of us as what I discovered to be Rungo, the strange metal doglike contraption that accompanies Cypher, scurried along the walls with eyes brightly lit.

A large boulder crashed into the wall, clearly aimed for Rungo who continued unscathed. “Do not worry about the dog, he was just too excited,” Clarion replied.

Another boulder hit Clarion square on the chest causing a significant dent. “No need to break stone!” he answered, his voice resounding powerfully, yet trembling from the impact of the large rock. “We know the watchword. Let us approach so that no one may listen.”

What we could now slowly recognize as a large brutish unkempt hill giant standing before a set of tall bronze doors halted for a brief moment, another rock ready in hand. Clarion’s magic worked and it only took a few moments after he had gotten close to the giant that he exclaimed, “The watchword is Shadowcrag!”

The unpleasant features of the giant we were staring into lit up slightly in surprise. The giant dropped the rock he was holding atop the pile next to him and began fidgeting with an unusual scroll case set with a stone. “He will ask for our invitation,” I heard Clarion speak in my mind, a detail he must have gleaned from the shallow thought processes in which he was probing. A very quick display of what I considered an appropriate representation of our identification was insufficient.

I almost lost myself in the little dance I had the piece of conjured paper perform in mid-air. The giant involuntarily and clumsily joined in, grasping wildly in his pursuit of my illusion. A sense of relief was written upon his grim face as I allowed the paper to slip into the case. Then he took a look at the scroll case and stared at its inlaid gem. He was obviously anticipating something to happen, which I hastily tried to provide for his dim wits. It would appear though that the gem on the scroll case was not intended to blink. If I had devised the mechanism I would have made it blink. Clarion was immediately hit by the hill giant's massive club and a full battle ensued. Magnus, hungry for a battle, rushed ahead and began meeting the legs of the hill giant with the icy weapon within which the spirit of another giant dwells.

In the fight against such foe, I believed Clarion and Magnus to be highly effective at drawing the might of the giant so I empowered them with the speed of the wind, allowing them to hastily double up on our feeble-minded foe while I would stand back behind the ranks of our allies. A mighty blow reached for me from the large brute but Clarion was able to raise his shield against it, allowing for my safe retreat.

Not long after battle had begun, an unnatural change came upon the already odious atmosphere in these close quarters. A strange creature, one in many ways resembling a beholder but smaller than those horrid creatures of legend, had descended from an open shaft somewhere in the ceiling of the room where the giant had awaited us and was unleashing a barrage of ray attacks, repeatedly searing Clarion.

One blast ushered Magnus into a mortal sleep. One of the hobgoblins dropped to the floor with another scathing ray and I swiftly found more than half of our companions staring up at the creature's massive central eye, stupefied, obviously drawn into some kind of trance. Although the giant had succumbed to our combined onslaught, the creature from above worried me. I had decided to return its favors and sent rays of magic at it, but it seemed that the creature possessed a counterspelling ray with one of its flailing eyestalks. We had to end this aberration quickly or perish amidst the filth and dust of these dark passages.