#102 - Of Quests and Questions

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

This was one beat up angel. Talor was not much help as we mashed and mauled and stabbed and shot our way against his foe.

The screaming collection of smoky, screaming heads seemed resistant, if not impervious, to our weapons and magic. Spewing a noxious cloud that divided the room, and our efforts, we were hard-pressed to bring it down.

That is, until Clarion got involved with some divine magic, which lit up his staff like a dragon's breath. His radiant light was the most effective thing we had and soon Cypher infused his weapons with radiant magic and the foe took a fall and was soon vanquished.

Just as the vortex of black vapor began to sink, wisplike, to the ground, it reached into Claron directly, and we watched as Clarion invoked a spell that hurt Wynn without even touching her. I'd seen him do this before, but this time he'd levied it against her. Fortunately, the effect passed quickly and he did not speak of it, nor did Wynn address the matter with him.

Then the screaming and the darkness dispersed, shattering like ice.

Talor had done some healing for us during the battle, but he seemed unable—or unwilling—to strike the foe. He had hurled a column of holy fire as I had seen Kard do once, but the effort knocked the angel himself to the ground.

As we gathered ourselves after the fight, I got a better look at the chamber. Ragged fathers and charred pieces of metal armor lay all about. Talor despite his obvious size and strength was indeed in no condition to fight. Or fight well. He advised us that he had been guarding something below us for a long time and without our help he might have been bested by whatever that was that Clarion had just defeated. Throughout all that he said, he seemed more concerned about failure in his duty than about personal defeat.

As we talked, Talor revealed that he was not going to recover from his wounds, not while he remained in this world. Yet he was not going to leave this place, and his "vigil," that he would stand guard until all his strength was gone. I was not sure if he meant death or something else. He seemed to suggest that this time of failing could be near at hand. Always he was vague. We asked what it was that he guarded so dearly, willing to sacrifice his near-immortal life to guard.

He acknowledged that we had aided him, and that very few others had come to him before this day. He said that he desired to reveal to us that which he would show no other. He had concerns, however, in the trust and the unity of our party. For one, he had noticed the Shadow-marks that Cypher and I bore on our hands.

While in Droaam, Cypher and I—and our former companions, Doongul, Xoma, and Rendar, had been in an arena match: A popular spectator sport in that city of Graywall known as Six Stones. Seven had entered the arena, as well as a basilisk, and the one that survived and was not turned to stone, was the winner. We had entered that contest "sponsored" by Zerasha, a medusa priestess of the Shadow. Going in, the party, as it was then, agreed that turning to stone was acceptable, and that the medusa would be bound to bring us back, which she did. When we awakened in our normal state, we all noticed that the symbol of the Shadow had been carved into our stone hands (a more crippling wound if done in the flesh), now just a strange brand. For myself, it was just another scar. I forget it's even there until someone points it out.

Having spent so much time in Droaam and dealing with the Shadow, we put it aside as part of the cost of our adventures. Talor suggested that the mark represented a link and that it could be used to make us take actions or reveal information against our will. He reminded us that the Shadow was known as the Sovereign of Magic and Mayhem, though I have never been convinced that any gods exist beyond the ascended dragons of old. Nevertheless, I have seen divine power wielded by Doongul, and Kard, and now Clarion. And, I suppose, even this angel. The dragons of old have gifted many, it seems, with a measure of their power.

As Talor explained his concerns about the Shadow, I understood that Cypher and I were not trustworthy with secrets of great value, we could be compromised. He assured us that servants of the Shadow are not true allies. Talor proved that he was also aware of other influences that beset me. He is not wrong. I have earned the attention, the "enmity" as he calls it, of a devil. The outcomes of the Deck of Many Things have not yet all been revealed.

I told Talor that I understood his concerns and that I would be willing to remain ignorant of the information. The rest of the party had many questions yet (some about our adventures, some about the marks) but they seemed willing to let us stay above while they received the information. If that is our course. While this went on, I asked if we could rest here, and sleep, and re-fortify ourselves, and Talor said that we would be safe here.

Talor also offered to tell us the exact location of Governor Trazzen or he would tell us where we may find the Scepter of Glyphstone of the keep. Irakas, the hobgoblin woman who had escorted us to the keep and remained in the throne room somewhere far above us, had told us of this scepter.  She would use it to gain a rulers knowledge of all chambers in the keep and could then aid us in our quest to kill Trazzen—to "cleanse this place” as Clarion so ardently desired.

I feel like we have lost fights with Trazzen before and that we should seek every advantage to make sure he dies when we meet again. I do value the idea of returning the scepter to Irakas as a means of restoring the order and rightful rule to Glyphstone Keep.  She could do it and we should aid her as a means of aiding ourselves. The group continued talking as I sat down and began to prepare myself to sleep. The newcomer, Wynn, has expressed much doubt about the things that have been said, and has repeatedly called into the question the truth that Talor is an angel. Whatever. She will learn. But I do not think any of us doubt her courage and skill at arms. Both may be needed.

Tomorrow. Much more may be resolved, or at least better understood, when I awake.