Ahead of the Storm - Day 13

Sunrise, Five Months Ago

The Age of Worms scare is now a thing of the past. I never truly doubted that this would be the final outcome of the Harbingers' battle against the forces of Kyuss. From the first day that I met those three, it was as though we were simply playing out our parts in a story that had already been pre-written. The ending was always known - our tasks were but to see through to its completion.

Yet what I never realized in all my moments of watching over them, was how truly fickle the job of a hero can be. Here we are, not but a month past the day of their victory, and already people have begun to move on with their lives at an astonishing pace. It is as though they are oblivious to how lucky we all were in having heroes such as the Harbingers around to save us. Can anyone truly imagine what the world would be like now, if they had failed in their mission?

We would likely have lost our cities, as well as lost ourselves. Our species as we know it would no longer exist - replaced over the past month by Spawn of Kyuss which would roam the land in our stead, fueled only by hunger and dark cravings. Other lands would fall, day by day, as the Kyuss armies grew and marched onward to new horizons of destruction. Kyuss himself would have been reborn, supplanting the roles of certain Gods, likely converting legions of deserters to the human race over to his side. Lashonna would reign over this new world as Kyuss's general, his bride and his closest advisor. And the human race? Well, any who'd managed to survive would like have taken to the sea or Plane-Shifted away, seeking refuge from the ruins of their former civilization.

All of this was the likely future for us all, were it not for the timely arrival of the Harbingers to set things right. And yet, people are now beginning to forget just what danger we all faced. They go about their daily routine, all smiles and laughter, shrugging off any thought of life being anything but peaceful and ordinary. How can they be so happy, I always wonder? The thought of what might have been never leaves my mind.

Yet, all the same, I did know all this time that things would work out. How? Well, SHE told me so, after all. Though I've never spoken to a soul about it, and have sworn that I never would (I'll likely have to burn this diary entry just because of what I'm now writing) - that day when SHE came to speak to me, she told me many things, including how this whole story was meant to conclude. And despite the strangeness of her claims, I never doubted her. And indeed, the death of Raikun was but the first of the inevitable events she foretold to me, as proof of the future she claimed to know all about. When that happened, exactly as she told me it would, I dared not question a word she said from then on.

Still, I am amazed at how someone, even a being as divine as this, could know the future with such precision. It's almost as though she had already lived through it, then travelled back in time to tell me the story. And it makes me wonder, now that the story is over, if she knows about any other future events that she could shed light on?

I'll never forget her first appearance before me - in dreams, as always:

"Allustan, listen well to my words, for I have chosen you to be the one to gather the heroes needed for this task. There will be three you must seek out - though your task shall be simplified by the fact that I have already arranged to have them all sent your way.

The first is a young girl named Pellegri, already there in Diamond Lake. She currently labors daily under the sign of a false god, one not her own. Yet the day will come when she will proudly display her own god's colors - and shine light a ray of his own pure sunlight.

The second is a travelling woman who has come from afar - bearing a symbol of betrayal, death and darkness. Her heart is purer than that symbol would suggest, though in time its calling will corrupt her - as will a lifelong fling with constant death. Her arrival in town shall mark the day when you must gather them.

Finally, the third shall be a wizard from your own former order. His obsession with the Dark Arts shall be a constant plague upon the group's morale and unity - yet, in the end, his knowledge and power will save them more often than they shall ever give him credit for. Alas, their victory shall also be his defeat.

There shall be others, which fate will also send their way. A monk named Raikun shall be the first, though unfortunately his presence is but to warn them of their own vulnerability, teaching them caution. Another, Malam, shall be their guardian and savior in his own time, before once again departing once his role is fulfilled. Such shall be their burden - to join with allies who in time will sacrifice everything to propell the mission onward. In the end, only the three shall stand.

I therefore task you with assuring that the three meet and begin this long journey together. Never let them suspect that you know what lies ahead for them: nothing short of the defeat of a god, the prevention of an apocalypse and the salvation of the entire land. And should you ever be tempted, rest assured that the magic I have placed upon your tongue will prevent it from ever speaking such words, anyway. But most importantly, make sure that the three of them never dissolve their union, even after the defeat of the god they must destroy: for all of this is but a prelude to their true trial - which may bring rebirth to us all, or condemn us to eternal damnation if they fail.

I thank you in advance, Allustan, for the help you shall be to me, and to us all.

You do not know who I am - and even my name, Mitheriana, the Starchild, would have no meaning to you who are below such divine affairs as mine. Yet, rest assured that I have chosen you because it is necessary, and it is the will of none other than AO the Overgod himself. Your part in all of this is crucial - and I trust that you will not dissapoint."

And so I followed her request, and made sure that the Harbingers were brought together, and stayed together - albeit tenuously - until the end.

Though now, if it is as she claims, and they are to join together once again, I fear that I may have failed...

I have visited with all three in this past month, and the divide seems greater than ever.

Elena cares little for her former friends, and would barely even grant me an audience. When I asked about her former Harbingers, she said that Soulerio would always be little more than The Betrayer in her eyes - that when he died placing the Hand of Vecna upon Kyuss, he should have stayed dead. As for Pellegri, Elena harbors no ill will... rather, she believes it is the opposite - that Pellegri is the one who no longer looks at her the same way, as though sickened by what she has become. Yet, she isn't about to stop living her life just because Pellegri doesn't understand.

Travelling to Cauldron, I found Soulerio deeply immersed in his work as professor of the Dark Arts at the Arcane Obelisk. He had little time to speak with me, though actually assured me that he was now a new man, and did not harbor any ill will against Elena or Pellegri. Yet, I caught a gleam in his eye that spoke otherwise - and I know that the old Soulerio would not forgive so easily. To be honest, he scares me now, more than ever.

As for Pellegri, we have gotten closer than ever before. I have come to live here in Sunrise, the new refuge she has created for those who lost so much in Greyhawk, and want to rebuilt within a place of goodness and light. And day by day, I see the work she puts into this place, and I am all the more proud of her for what she has made of herself. And to be honest, I haven't been able to bring myself to mention Elena or Soulerio's names - I wouldn't want to bring back sorrowful memories such as those names likely would. In many ways, I believe that Pellegri still holds scars on her heart for the torment both them put her through.

As so, if Mitheriana spoke true, and these three must unite again for some greater purpose... I fear that she has made a mistake. For with every day that goes by, I doubt more and more that we will ever see the Harbingers united again.

Once, they were heroes... Now, they are becoming memories, fading day by day...

Whatever new task Mitheriana would have set them on... I think, sadly, will require someone else.