Savage Tide

Chronicling the adventures of Gustave, Glaive, Garland and Crimson, on the Southern Seas near Sasserine.

15.10.07

Ahead of the Storm - Day 19

Cauldron, Five Months Ago

Word has come to me that the task force of Scatterspells, Soulerio and Eadfrid was successful in their recovery of the Demonomicon, and that Manzorian now has it in his possession, in the positive-energy room that we prepared for the purpose of containing whatever dark energy it possessed. Thus, tomorrow I will depart from Cauldron for the next several months, during which time Manzorian and myself will make full study of the book's contents, learning and compiling all that we can about the 17 Demon Lords which so obsessed Orbius - and which now threaten to obsess us.

I can't say that I will miss this city much... A lot has changed since the days when Fario and Fellian were my two closest associates, running the rooftops to spy on suspects and gather information for the Striders. Back then, our biggest threats in town were the Last Laugh and underground goblin smugglers. Then the kidnappings started, and it all began to unravel.

Now Fario and Fellian are dead, casualties of our town's war against the demodands. Shensen has quit working for the Striders, and eventually left Cauldron behind as well. Rumor has it that she's gone to investigate the Shadow Realm that emanates from Diamond Lake. As for our old enemies... these days the Last Laugh are still around, doing the bidding of our mayor Verodemocrium, and the goblin smugglers are apparently thinking of starting up their business again, since the town guard is too preoccupied to stop them. It's as though nothing is like it was, and yet nothing's been accomplished, either. As if every victory, be it over the Demodands and Cagewrights, or over the Undead and Kyuss... every victory is but a stalling effort in a greater war which we are destined to lose.

All the signs are certainly there...

Planes rupturing and collapsing onto themselves - be it a Planar Junction over the city or the emergence of the Shadow Realm into our world...

Religions sputtering and uniting into one - the Almagamation that now has the majority of our city brainwashed, and it now starting to spread to other neighbouring regions...

Ancient artifacts resurfacing and being used once more - from the staff Alakast to the Golden Box, from the Eye and Hand of Vecna to the Rod of Seven Parts...

And that's not to speak of these new discoveries about Demon Lords... the 17...

It's as though we are reaching the days of reckoning, what some call the "end of the world"... as though everything is beginning to fall apart, and sooner or later it will all come to a sudden end.

All of this worry plagues me greatly, and certainly can't be good for the health of an old elf such as myself. Yet I can't help but feel it all around me, every waking hour - this fear, growing stronger with every passing second... fear that these seconds are becoming fewer and fewer.

Perhaps that is why I'm now so obsessed with understanding the thoughts and obsessions of this singularly intriguing beholder, Vhalantru. It's as though I know there are no answers for the crumbling of society around me - but I cling nonetheless to the hope that I can make sense of something...

In any case, tomorrow is a new day. I pray that Manzorian and I find success in the coming weeks, in deciphering the dark biographies contained within our new find. If only to distract me from my own sorrows and fears, for a time...

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home