Eleasis 26th, Highsun 1399
Highsun of the Year of Fallen Friends
If you are reading this, then I have failed and the responsablity to make right our previous failures falls upon you.
Hidden beneath the hair upon your head you will find a tattoo.
"What can change the nature of a man?"
I suspect we inscribed those words upon the side of our head by our own hand. I say suspect because I have no memory of us having done so, just as you will have no memory of writing this journal.
You and I are one, and before us we have lived uncounted lives.
We are cursed.
Sometime long ago we cheated Death.
I do not know how we did so, nor why.
I though have learned that when we should die, the Multiverse instead kills another in our place.
I have also learned that with each cheating of Death, we forget who we are.
We forget who we were.
We recover from our injuries ignorant of our past, and the debt we have incurred across unmeasured time and countless lives, grows.
I am writing this Journal to provide you a means of learning what you have forgotten.
I understand all of this will sound unbelievable.
Know that it is true.
I was known as Vale Clearwaters, though that is not our name.
Seek out those who knew you before.
Lana within the Crypt of the Sun Soul Monestary.
Sandrew the Wise and High Seeker Gardner of the Font of Knowledge.
The Adventurer's Guild of Waterdeep may have records of us.
The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleasis 30th, 1399 DR
Highsun of the Year of Fallen Friends
I want to share with you some history.
Know that you are not the first to suffer.
In Hammer, 1372 DR, the Year of Wild Magic, Evereska was attacked by freed phaerimms from Anauroch, damaging the mythal and causing further destruction. The Evereskans were able to repel the attack using magic. Afterward, a few phaerimm and elves who lost their wits in the battle wandered the Evereskan valley. Almost all of the Tomb Guard were destroyed, along with many of the Vale Guard and more than half of the Swords of Evereska.
When I awoke, it was upon the battlefield. The pain was crippling and the chaos and confusion overwhelming. I wandered through the mists for sometime, stumbling over the dead ignorant of where I was or who I was for sometime.
It could be argued that ignorance of who I am persists to this day.
I was found by a patrol of Vale Guard, elven defenders of Evereska, who treated me as any other wounded survivor. I was brought within Evereska and my wounds were seen to in time, and after my inability to recall my own name or history proved beyond the perview of the Clergy of the Selendrie and traditional healers of the People, I was made a Ward of the Kaliesh'erai.
I was told that I was a survivor of the fighting, and that due to the magics and potentially the psionics I had been exposed to I may never be capable of remembering my past. There were treatments that bore no fruit, and for some years I harbored a growing maelstrom of impotent rage and self pity for my plight. I had felt that it was simply unfair that I had lost myself and there existed no means of recovering.
Was I a Father, a Husband?
Was there somewhere a Family waiting for me that awaited my return while I remained ignorant of their existence?
Was there love in my life?
Was there success or privilege?
Not knowing what I had lost was perhaps the most difficult of my internal struggles, and perhaps I am writing this in some effort to spare you this suffering.
As the years passed the sense of rage grew to a whimper and my days were a malaise of ever growing self pity and hopelessness. That was until I learned of the First People and the Rising.
In learning of Zerthimon and studying his Unbroken Circles I found hope that did not previously exist. A hope to accept what I had lost, and focus myself upon working towards what could and would be instead of who and what was.
I decided who I would be, regardless of who I was.
The anger, self pity, frustrations, and curiosity did not flee from me. I remained a bitter, although I had hope, a goal, and motivation. Through time and dedication as I developed who I was, who I had been began to matter less.
In the decades that followed I continued to live a quiet life of contemplation among the Kaliesh'erai, and began incorporating the martial trainings of monastic orders into my daily routines. I showed some initial talent for weaponry and espionage, perhaps because I had believed I had been some form of soldier or scout before the battle of Evereska.
In time I decided to leave the safty of Evereska and the serenity of the Kaliesh'erai to test myself against the world. I traveled to Waterdeep, the City of Splendors. My thinking was simple. If I could stay true to myself here, I could Know myself anywhere.
I was taken in by the Warrior Takashi, who at the time was the leader of the fledgling Adventurer's Guild of Waterdeep. There I learned the value of team work and comradierie. I studied medicine beneath the tutelage of Doctor Luther Von Mufflebop. I learned to follow a Leader's example and commands. I learned how to live beside others of different beliefs and opinions. I learned how make friends, and I learned the pain of losing such.
In time I became the leader of the Guild.
I am writing this so you may know your potential.
You and I are the same, just as who we were and who I am are the same. The one who cheated death and defiled the nature of the life cycle, and made uncounted others pay with their lives to make such possible is the same as the one who fought to spare the people of Waterdeep from the ravages of the Demon Kringus of Yule Tide.
Your choices matter.
They will not only decide your fate, our fate, but the fate of others. I am asking you to see the importance of making right what wrongs we have committed long ago, see the curse broken, and allow ourselves to pay the debit we have forced the Planes to extract from others for far to long.
Highsun of the Year of Fallen Friends
I want to share with you some history.
Know that you are not the first to suffer.
In Hammer, 1372 DR, the Year of Wild Magic, Evereska was attacked by freed phaerimms from Anauroch, damaging the mythal and causing further destruction. The Evereskans were able to repel the attack using magic. Afterward, a few phaerimm and elves who lost their wits in the battle wandered the Evereskan valley. Almost all of the Tomb Guard were destroyed, along with many of the Vale Guard and more than half of the Swords of Evereska.
When I awoke, it was upon the battlefield. The pain was crippling and the chaos and confusion overwhelming. I wandered through the mists for sometime, stumbling over the dead ignorant of where I was or who I was for sometime.
It could be argued that ignorance of who I am persists to this day.
I was found by a patrol of Vale Guard, elven defenders of Evereska, who treated me as any other wounded survivor. I was brought within Evereska and my wounds were seen to in time, and after my inability to recall my own name or history proved beyond the perview of the Clergy of the Selendrie and traditional healers of the People, I was made a Ward of the Kaliesh'erai.
I was told that I was a survivor of the fighting, and that due to the magics and potentially the psionics I had been exposed to I may never be capable of remembering my past. There were treatments that bore no fruit, and for some years I harbored a growing maelstrom of impotent rage and self pity for my plight. I had felt that it was simply unfair that I had lost myself and there existed no means of recovering.
Was I a Father, a Husband?
Was there somewhere a Family waiting for me that awaited my return while I remained ignorant of their existence?
Was there love in my life?
Was there success or privilege?
Not knowing what I had lost was perhaps the most difficult of my internal struggles, and perhaps I am writing this in some effort to spare you this suffering.
As the years passed the sense of rage grew to a whimper and my days were a malaise of ever growing self pity and hopelessness. That was until I learned of the First People and the Rising.
In learning of Zerthimon and studying his Unbroken Circles I found hope that did not previously exist. A hope to accept what I had lost, and focus myself upon working towards what could and would be instead of who and what was.
I decided who I would be, regardless of who I was.
The anger, self pity, frustrations, and curiosity did not flee from me. I remained a bitter, although I had hope, a goal, and motivation. Through time and dedication as I developed who I was, who I had been began to matter less.
In the decades that followed I continued to live a quiet life of contemplation among the Kaliesh'erai, and began incorporating the martial trainings of monastic orders into my daily routines. I showed some initial talent for weaponry and espionage, perhaps because I had believed I had been some form of soldier or scout before the battle of Evereska.
In time I decided to leave the safty of Evereska and the serenity of the Kaliesh'erai to test myself against the world. I traveled to Waterdeep, the City of Splendors. My thinking was simple. If I could stay true to myself here, I could Know myself anywhere.
I was taken in by the Warrior Takashi, who at the time was the leader of the fledgling Adventurer's Guild of Waterdeep. There I learned the value of team work and comradierie. I studied medicine beneath the tutelage of Doctor Luther Von Mufflebop. I learned to follow a Leader's example and commands. I learned how to live beside others of different beliefs and opinions. I learned how make friends, and I learned the pain of losing such.
In time I became the leader of the Guild.
I am writing this so you may know your potential.
You and I are the same, just as who we were and who I am are the same. The one who cheated death and defiled the nature of the life cycle, and made uncounted others pay with their lives to make such possible is the same as the one who fought to spare the people of Waterdeep from the ravages of the Demon Kringus of Yule Tide.
Your choices matter.
They will not only decide your fate, our fate, but the fate of others. I am asking you to see the importance of making right what wrongs we have committed long ago, see the curse broken, and allow ourselves to pay the debit we have forced the Planes to extract from others for far to long.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleint 2nd, 1399 DR
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
After arriving to Waterdeep I have found reasons to suspect there exist those within this region who Know of our past.
During the rising Yule Tide of 1398 DR, an agent of Vanrak Moonstar gifted me a collection of Shurikens of Darkness and referred to them as mine by right of inheritance. At the time I did not understand his meaning, now though I suspect that in our past we had dealings with Vanrak Moonstar and perhaps even created the Shurikens that explode into spheres of magical darkness upon impact.
I have yet to wield the Shurikens of Darkness in battle.
It was during our brief meeting that this agent informed me of a Karach Blade within the region. It was not until after said meeting that I learned of the Agent's connection and affiliation with Vanrak Moonstar.
I gathered allies and set out to find this Karach Blade for I believed such a weapon would be needed to combat the Demon Kringus of Yule Tide. The Blade was in the possession of the Zartruss Hobgoblins of Kryptgarden, and while I did not know it at the time, I later learned the Karach Blade was our own forged by our own mind long ago and lost from our hands and memory due to the ravages of time.
I mention this so that you may know that just as the City of Splendors stands upon the Civilizations that came before it, you will exist in a time in which the life you live will stand upon the lives that came before you regardless if you remember them or not.
There exist artifacts of power you have forged.
There are allies you have made.
There are enemies that will work against you.
There exist secrets you do not remember sharing.
There are pacts and promises you have made and broken.
It was during the season of rising Yule Tide the Unbroken Circle Stones began to appear before my path. They are small curved stones engraved with the Scripture of Zerthimon's Unbroken Circles. They were carved and engraved by our own hand in a time I do not remember. The first was discovered in the possession of a Malarite Werewolf of the Westwood, the next found upon embedded in the melting ice of a Frozen Water Elemental that attacked the Adventurer's Guild.
I orginally suspected these were placed in our path by Vanrak Moonstar and his agents as a means of conditioning us to receiving gifts from his hand, to groom us to become his willing ally in days to come.
I have since come to suspect that our need for such called them to us from across time and space.
You and I, We, are more then we remember, we are more then we Know. I write this so you may Know that through hard work and discipline, through time and dedication there is little that can not be accomplished across the planes.
We have defiled the natural order.
We have lived lifetimes as hero and villain.
We have wittingly and unwittingly changed the lives of countless others.
We have been many things in our time, and the choices we make moving forward are as meaningful as those we made before.
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
After arriving to Waterdeep I have found reasons to suspect there exist those within this region who Know of our past.
During the rising Yule Tide of 1398 DR, an agent of Vanrak Moonstar gifted me a collection of Shurikens of Darkness and referred to them as mine by right of inheritance. At the time I did not understand his meaning, now though I suspect that in our past we had dealings with Vanrak Moonstar and perhaps even created the Shurikens that explode into spheres of magical darkness upon impact.
I have yet to wield the Shurikens of Darkness in battle.
It was during our brief meeting that this agent informed me of a Karach Blade within the region. It was not until after said meeting that I learned of the Agent's connection and affiliation with Vanrak Moonstar.
I gathered allies and set out to find this Karach Blade for I believed such a weapon would be needed to combat the Demon Kringus of Yule Tide. The Blade was in the possession of the Zartruss Hobgoblins of Kryptgarden, and while I did not know it at the time, I later learned the Karach Blade was our own forged by our own mind long ago and lost from our hands and memory due to the ravages of time.
I mention this so that you may know that just as the City of Splendors stands upon the Civilizations that came before it, you will exist in a time in which the life you live will stand upon the lives that came before you regardless if you remember them or not.
There exist artifacts of power you have forged.
There are allies you have made.
There are enemies that will work against you.
There exist secrets you do not remember sharing.
There are pacts and promises you have made and broken.
It was during the season of rising Yule Tide the Unbroken Circle Stones began to appear before my path. They are small curved stones engraved with the Scripture of Zerthimon's Unbroken Circles. They were carved and engraved by our own hand in a time I do not remember. The first was discovered in the possession of a Malarite Werewolf of the Westwood, the next found upon embedded in the melting ice of a Frozen Water Elemental that attacked the Adventurer's Guild.
I orginally suspected these were placed in our path by Vanrak Moonstar and his agents as a means of conditioning us to receiving gifts from his hand, to groom us to become his willing ally in days to come.
I have since come to suspect that our need for such called them to us from across time and space.
You and I, We, are more then we remember, we are more then we Know. I write this so you may Know that through hard work and discipline, through time and dedication there is little that can not be accomplished across the planes.
We have defiled the natural order.
We have lived lifetimes as hero and villain.
We have wittingly and unwittingly changed the lives of countless others.
We have been many things in our time, and the choices we make moving forward are as meaningful as those we made before.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleint 9th, 1399 DR
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
"This is what my eyes see, my love, unfettered by the shackles of time....
You shall meet enemies three, but none more dangerous than yourself. They are shades of good, of evil, and of neutrality twisted by life.
You shall come to a prison, built of your own regrets and sorrow and your own chaos where even the shadows have gone mad.
For the matter to come to a rest you must destroy that which keeps you alive.
You will be asked to make that terrible sacrifice, my love.
You must find the memories that were taken from you and travel beyond, into the lands of the dead."
This is the prophecy Lana the Diviner shared with us.
I do not know what it means, and by the time I learn it's truth it maybe to late.
If you read this, may it serve you better.
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
"This is what my eyes see, my love, unfettered by the shackles of time....
You shall meet enemies three, but none more dangerous than yourself. They are shades of good, of evil, and of neutrality twisted by life.
You shall come to a prison, built of your own regrets and sorrow and your own chaos where even the shadows have gone mad.
For the matter to come to a rest you must destroy that which keeps you alive.
You will be asked to make that terrible sacrifice, my love.
You must find the memories that were taken from you and travel beyond, into the lands of the dead."
This is the prophecy Lana the Diviner shared with us.
I do not know what it means, and by the time I learn it's truth it maybe to late.
If you read this, may it serve you better.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleint 14th, 1399 DR
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
There exist many links to our past, though only few that I have found. At one time we believed the Night Hag Razel Puzzlewell maybe capable of helpping us remember. We though avoided her because she was known to be powerful and dangerous.
I have recently learned that the Witch of the Westwood is Razel Puzzlewell's Daughter, and both the Zartruss Hobgoblins and the Drow of Kryptgarden are hunting her as a means of gaining leverage over Razel Puzzlewell.
I intend to defend the Witch of the Westwood from them. I do not Know what the Zartruss or the Drow would do if they had leverage over such as Razel Puzzlewell, but I suspect it would not be to use her and her power to make the region a better place.
You will not remember this, but in your efforts to protect the Witch of the Westwood, a companion by the name of Pea Keeprr gave his life fighting the Zartruss Hobgoblins.
He was a Gnome and he believed the Witch an innocent woman worth defending. He was a friend to animals, and was of strong and sincere moral fiber.
If we can save the Witch of the Westwood, perhaps his sacrifice may not be in vain.
If we can save the Witch of the Westwood, we may earn Razel's favor and her aid.
The Fading of the Year of Fallen Friends,
There exist many links to our past, though only few that I have found. At one time we believed the Night Hag Razel Puzzlewell maybe capable of helpping us remember. We though avoided her because she was known to be powerful and dangerous.
I have recently learned that the Witch of the Westwood is Razel Puzzlewell's Daughter, and both the Zartruss Hobgoblins and the Drow of Kryptgarden are hunting her as a means of gaining leverage over Razel Puzzlewell.
I intend to defend the Witch of the Westwood from them. I do not Know what the Zartruss or the Drow would do if they had leverage over such as Razel Puzzlewell, but I suspect it would not be to use her and her power to make the region a better place.
You will not remember this, but in your efforts to protect the Witch of the Westwood, a companion by the name of Pea Keeprr gave his life fighting the Zartruss Hobgoblins.
He was a Gnome and he believed the Witch an innocent woman worth defending. He was a friend to animals, and was of strong and sincere moral fiber.
If we can save the Witch of the Westwood, perhaps his sacrifice may not be in vain.
If we can save the Witch of the Westwood, we may earn Razel's favor and her aid.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleint 22nd 1399 D.R.
Fading in the Year of Fallen Friends,
For the first time since remembering our ability to draw upon the life of the dying to return them to the living, I have done such. I reached deep into man I knew to be murderous and selfish. I reached deep into him, because I believed he could aid us find our own final death and break the cycle of our existence. I restored him to life, to only immediately after realize the mistake I had made in my being naive.
His name was Kal, and though he had been both an ally and a rival, a companion and an enemy over the time I had known him, and even though he swore himself to aiding me in my quest, it was a mistake.
Kal had a history of breaking oaths, not paying debits, and placing the burden of his responsibilities on others.
I learned that Kal was indebted to a powerful being known as Ryzz, who I suspect to be a Demon, Devil, or some sort of evil Genie. Kal was debited to serve this being of power and evil, and Kal confessed to me his plans to do everything in his power to see Ryzz slain or banished rather then serve him in accords to his pact.
Kal swore that, once Ryzz was slain or banished, Kal though would honor his oath to me and be an ally till the end.
When Kal died only a day later to Yuan Ti death magics in the Salt Marshes south of Waterdeep's Smuggler's Bane Tower, I did not reach deep again. I let the dying die, and become dead. I carried his remains to the House of the Moon, and warned the Clergy there of Kal's involvement with Ryzz, and the potential dangers of the magical clockwork arm of Ryzz's making that was still attached to Kal's corpse.
Perhaps these are details you do not need, perhaps the are merely details I feel the need to share with someone. Even if it is with someone I am working to insure never comes to be.
What is important is Knowing that having power of life over death, is as much a responsibility having power of death over life.
Just because a thing can be done, does not mean it should be done.
We are an example of such ourselves.
Fading in the Year of Fallen Friends,
For the first time since remembering our ability to draw upon the life of the dying to return them to the living, I have done such. I reached deep into man I knew to be murderous and selfish. I reached deep into him, because I believed he could aid us find our own final death and break the cycle of our existence. I restored him to life, to only immediately after realize the mistake I had made in my being naive.
His name was Kal, and though he had been both an ally and a rival, a companion and an enemy over the time I had known him, and even though he swore himself to aiding me in my quest, it was a mistake.
Kal had a history of breaking oaths, not paying debits, and placing the burden of his responsibilities on others.
I learned that Kal was indebted to a powerful being known as Ryzz, who I suspect to be a Demon, Devil, or some sort of evil Genie. Kal was debited to serve this being of power and evil, and Kal confessed to me his plans to do everything in his power to see Ryzz slain or banished rather then serve him in accords to his pact.
Kal swore that, once Ryzz was slain or banished, Kal though would honor his oath to me and be an ally till the end.
When Kal died only a day later to Yuan Ti death magics in the Salt Marshes south of Waterdeep's Smuggler's Bane Tower, I did not reach deep again. I let the dying die, and become dead. I carried his remains to the House of the Moon, and warned the Clergy there of Kal's involvement with Ryzz, and the potential dangers of the magical clockwork arm of Ryzz's making that was still attached to Kal's corpse.
Perhaps these are details you do not need, perhaps the are merely details I feel the need to share with someone. Even if it is with someone I am working to insure never comes to be.
What is important is Knowing that having power of life over death, is as much a responsibility having power of death over life.
Just because a thing can be done, does not mean it should be done.
We are an example of such ourselves.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Eleint 23rd 1399 D.R.
Fading in the Year of Fallen Friends,
The Mischief Colonel.
I have encountered a man who dressed as a beggar and offered veiled threats to others to keep their distance from the Rat Hills south of the city. This man claimed his wagon wheel had broken and he was asking for coin to have it repaired. He did not look of a man who had a wagon, he though did appear to me a man who believed he was in need of whatever coin he could collect and so I gave him sixty dragons, in hopes the surprise of such may give him cause or pause to reevaluate his priorities.
When he looked me in the face to thank me for the gold, his eyes grew wide and he called me the Mischief Colonel with fear and surprise audible in his words. When I questioned him about this Mischief Colonel he backed away with a sense of fear and dread growing ever more visible upon his face and in his movements. He asked if my questions were a test as he backed away, a test it was obvious he deeply feared failing.
High Seeker Gardner was present at the time, and advised against my giving chase and pressing harder for answers to my questions. The man fled into the crowds of Waterdeep, and I have not seen him since.
The encounter though has brought to my attention what I have Known, yet refused to accept.
Our previous lives lived may have been as varied and different as can be.
We may have lived rich of character, and lived of villainous character.
We may have lived committed uncounted acts of Heroism and Villainy.
Regardless of how we have lived these lives, each life lived has been a step further through time and space from our beginning.
It is understanding the beginning, it is Knowing the beginning that is needed to understand and Know how to end this.
We need to take care to find what threads to our past remain.
We need to study them and pull upon them gently as to not destroy what links to our past have survived the passage of time.
I suspect in a previous life time, we were the Mischief Colonel and we were feared.
There are those that knew this Mischief Colonel, and I fear that should I interact with them directly they will only flee from me or attempt to tell me that which they believe I desire to hear. Telling me lies that a previous version of us intimidated them into committing to.
In an effort to learn what can be learned of this Mischief Colonel, without interfering with the truth of what was by my own efforts of investigation, I have offered a reward to members of the Waterdeep Adventurer's Guild and the Seekers of the Font of Knowledge to investigate this matter on my behalf.
I expect the results of their findings will be disturbing, and it is my hope that they may in some way provide us another insight to what was, and a means of further pursuing the truths we have forgotten.
Fading in the Year of Fallen Friends,
The Mischief Colonel.
I have encountered a man who dressed as a beggar and offered veiled threats to others to keep their distance from the Rat Hills south of the city. This man claimed his wagon wheel had broken and he was asking for coin to have it repaired. He did not look of a man who had a wagon, he though did appear to me a man who believed he was in need of whatever coin he could collect and so I gave him sixty dragons, in hopes the surprise of such may give him cause or pause to reevaluate his priorities.
When he looked me in the face to thank me for the gold, his eyes grew wide and he called me the Mischief Colonel with fear and surprise audible in his words. When I questioned him about this Mischief Colonel he backed away with a sense of fear and dread growing ever more visible upon his face and in his movements. He asked if my questions were a test as he backed away, a test it was obvious he deeply feared failing.
High Seeker Gardner was present at the time, and advised against my giving chase and pressing harder for answers to my questions. The man fled into the crowds of Waterdeep, and I have not seen him since.
The encounter though has brought to my attention what I have Known, yet refused to accept.
Our previous lives lived may have been as varied and different as can be.
We may have lived rich of character, and lived of villainous character.
We may have lived committed uncounted acts of Heroism and Villainy.
Regardless of how we have lived these lives, each life lived has been a step further through time and space from our beginning.
It is understanding the beginning, it is Knowing the beginning that is needed to understand and Know how to end this.
We need to take care to find what threads to our past remain.
We need to study them and pull upon them gently as to not destroy what links to our past have survived the passage of time.
I suspect in a previous life time, we were the Mischief Colonel and we were feared.
There are those that knew this Mischief Colonel, and I fear that should I interact with them directly they will only flee from me or attempt to tell me that which they believe I desire to hear. Telling me lies that a previous version of us intimidated them into committing to.
In an effort to learn what can be learned of this Mischief Colonel, without interfering with the truth of what was by my own efforts of investigation, I have offered a reward to members of the Waterdeep Adventurer's Guild and the Seekers of the Font of Knowledge to investigate this matter on my behalf.
I expect the results of their findings will be disturbing, and it is my hope that they may in some way provide us another insight to what was, and a means of further pursuing the truths we have forgotten.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Marpenoth 10th 1399 D.R.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
Who will survive, and what will be left of them?
I have been contemplating the wreckage our existence has left in our wake.
I have been contemplating what future horrors we will expose others to in ending this.
I have been contemplating Lana the Diviner.
I have been contemplating her existence as a Ghost.
I wanted to Know if a Ghost is merely an Echo, a creation of the one who lived and died.
I wanted to Know if Lana sacrificed her progression through the cycles for her love for me, or if the ghost is merely a separate entity of it's own that was created from who Lana was and is.
I sought the wisdom of the Order of the Long Death from Brother John of the Road's End. Brother John confessed to me that he was not wise in the ways of undeath enough to answer all of my questions, though from what he did share on the subject of Life and Death, and the Cycles of such I came to Know what I already Knew but refused to acknowledge.
The Ghost of Lana I encountered is as much Her as anyone else is who they are. Lana loved us enough to remain upon this plane of existence as a ghost trapped in a timeless state of undeath instead of progressing through the natural order of Life, Death, and what comes next.
I Knew this.
I was torn between my sense of responsibility for seeing Lana freed from her state of Undeath for which we are responsible for, and my concern that should I free her and fail in my quest. Lana would no longer exist upon this plane of existence to guide us in the future.
The choice between working to free Lana from her stasis as a Ghost, and losing one of the few remaining links to my past in existence to guide me in the future should I fail, was a heavy one.
As it is, the choice need not be made.
To see Lana freed from her Ghostly Stasis, I need to resolve that which inspired her and continues to inspire her to remain upon this plane of existence. I need to succeed at breaking my own deathless cycle.
While not intended, I knew speaking to Brother John of the Long Death may reveal to him truths I was not prepared to share with him. Truths I feared the Order of the Long Death may try to exploit. I feared they may try to use my own existence as a subject of study, and my quest would end in countless deathless deaths within one of their crypts.
There were moments during the conversation in which I did not Know if Brother John was an ally or an enemy to myself and my quest. In the end though I sensed a bond between us, and I know that dispite our differences there is much we can learn from eachother. I Know that Brother John Knows this as well.
This is why I have accepted Brother John's offer to observe and study my Deathless Death. I do not Know how it is that I continue to exist as I do. It is my hope that Brother John may through witnessing my Deathless Death share with me what is learned.
A team will be needed to provide security for such, for Brother John's offer provoked a Shade to assualt us. A shade of darkness that wielded savage claws that carried the otherworldly weight of necrotic energy and a cold from beyond the grave. A shadow of my image. A shade perhaps of my own making?
If the observation is interrupted nothing maybe learned, and worse what I have already learned maybe lost except for these pages. It is important that Brother John's observation be Unbroken, and that I am returned to life through divine means before my own cursed cycle sees my body live while my mind dies.
I will speak to those I trust to over see this matter.
I will work rally the aid of Bran of Lathander, Laird Briarbrush, Cornelius Tauber and High Seeker Clarina Gardner to watch over Brother John and I while I am most vulnerable.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
Who will survive, and what will be left of them?
I have been contemplating the wreckage our existence has left in our wake.
I have been contemplating what future horrors we will expose others to in ending this.
I have been contemplating Lana the Diviner.
I have been contemplating her existence as a Ghost.
I wanted to Know if a Ghost is merely an Echo, a creation of the one who lived and died.
I wanted to Know if Lana sacrificed her progression through the cycles for her love for me, or if the ghost is merely a separate entity of it's own that was created from who Lana was and is.
I sought the wisdom of the Order of the Long Death from Brother John of the Road's End. Brother John confessed to me that he was not wise in the ways of undeath enough to answer all of my questions, though from what he did share on the subject of Life and Death, and the Cycles of such I came to Know what I already Knew but refused to acknowledge.
The Ghost of Lana I encountered is as much Her as anyone else is who they are. Lana loved us enough to remain upon this plane of existence as a ghost trapped in a timeless state of undeath instead of progressing through the natural order of Life, Death, and what comes next.
I Knew this.
I was torn between my sense of responsibility for seeing Lana freed from her state of Undeath for which we are responsible for, and my concern that should I free her and fail in my quest. Lana would no longer exist upon this plane of existence to guide us in the future.
The choice between working to free Lana from her stasis as a Ghost, and losing one of the few remaining links to my past in existence to guide me in the future should I fail, was a heavy one.
As it is, the choice need not be made.
To see Lana freed from her Ghostly Stasis, I need to resolve that which inspired her and continues to inspire her to remain upon this plane of existence. I need to succeed at breaking my own deathless cycle.
While not intended, I knew speaking to Brother John of the Long Death may reveal to him truths I was not prepared to share with him. Truths I feared the Order of the Long Death may try to exploit. I feared they may try to use my own existence as a subject of study, and my quest would end in countless deathless deaths within one of their crypts.
There were moments during the conversation in which I did not Know if Brother John was an ally or an enemy to myself and my quest. In the end though I sensed a bond between us, and I know that dispite our differences there is much we can learn from eachother. I Know that Brother John Knows this as well.
This is why I have accepted Brother John's offer to observe and study my Deathless Death. I do not Know how it is that I continue to exist as I do. It is my hope that Brother John may through witnessing my Deathless Death share with me what is learned.
A team will be needed to provide security for such, for Brother John's offer provoked a Shade to assualt us. A shade of darkness that wielded savage claws that carried the otherworldly weight of necrotic energy and a cold from beyond the grave. A shadow of my image. A shade perhaps of my own making?
If the observation is interrupted nothing maybe learned, and worse what I have already learned maybe lost except for these pages. It is important that Brother John's observation be Unbroken, and that I am returned to life through divine means before my own cursed cycle sees my body live while my mind dies.
I will speak to those I trust to over see this matter.
I will work rally the aid of Bran of Lathander, Laird Briarbrush, Cornelius Tauber and High Seeker Clarina Gardner to watch over Brother John and I while I am most vulnerable.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Marpenoth 13th 1399 D.R.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
The Fifth Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, Power of One
Zerthimon was the first to know the way of freedom. Yet it was not he that first came to know the way of rebellion.
The knowing of rebellion came to the warrior-queen Gith, one of the People. She had served the illithids upon many of the False Worlds as a soldier, and she had come to know war and carried it in her heart. She had come to know how others might be organized to subjugate others. She knew the paths of power, and she knew the art of taking from the conquerors the weapons by which they could be defeated. Her mind was focused, and both her will and her blade were as one.
The turning in which Zerthimon came to know Gith, Zerthimon ceased to know himself. Her words were as fires lit in the hearts of all who heard her. In hearing her words, he wished to know war. He knew not what afflicted him, but he knew he wished to join his blade to Gith. He wished to give his hate expression and share his pain with the illithids.
Gith was one of the People, but her knowing of herself was greater than any Zerthimon had ever encountered. She knew the ways of flesh, she knew the illithids and in knowing herself, she was to know how to defeat them in battle. The strength of her knowing was so great, that all those that walked her path came to know themselves.
Gith was but one. Her strength was such that it caused others to know their strength. And Zerthimon laid his steel at her feet.
I find myself contemplating how many times in the past We have made an effort to insure our future selves would lay their steel bare at our feet.
I am I not One, writing this to you, the future selves in effort to see you taught and inspired to Know my ways?
How much of my own path has been shaped by the efforts of previous selves without my knowing?
I have always Known the Unbroken Circles to be a story that holds lessons that may impart Knowing. As I Know more of Us, and Our Story, I am coming to Know there exist implications and lessons applicable that I had never previously seen.
It is important that I reevaluate what I Know and what I Knew, and move forward without the Eye of Vilquar.
Why did the Shadow interrupt My conversation with Brother John?
Why did the Chaos Monk take the Unbroken Circle Stones?
What motivates them?
What motivates us?
There exists a difference between the Knowing of Freedom and Knowing of Rebellion.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
The Fifth Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, Power of One
Zerthimon was the first to know the way of freedom. Yet it was not he that first came to know the way of rebellion.
The knowing of rebellion came to the warrior-queen Gith, one of the People. She had served the illithids upon many of the False Worlds as a soldier, and she had come to know war and carried it in her heart. She had come to know how others might be organized to subjugate others. She knew the paths of power, and she knew the art of taking from the conquerors the weapons by which they could be defeated. Her mind was focused, and both her will and her blade were as one.
The turning in which Zerthimon came to know Gith, Zerthimon ceased to know himself. Her words were as fires lit in the hearts of all who heard her. In hearing her words, he wished to know war. He knew not what afflicted him, but he knew he wished to join his blade to Gith. He wished to give his hate expression and share his pain with the illithids.
Gith was one of the People, but her knowing of herself was greater than any Zerthimon had ever encountered. She knew the ways of flesh, she knew the illithids and in knowing herself, she was to know how to defeat them in battle. The strength of her knowing was so great, that all those that walked her path came to know themselves.
Gith was but one. Her strength was such that it caused others to know their strength. And Zerthimon laid his steel at her feet.
I find myself contemplating how many times in the past We have made an effort to insure our future selves would lay their steel bare at our feet.
I am I not One, writing this to you, the future selves in effort to see you taught and inspired to Know my ways?
How much of my own path has been shaped by the efforts of previous selves without my knowing?
I have always Known the Unbroken Circles to be a story that holds lessons that may impart Knowing. As I Know more of Us, and Our Story, I am coming to Know there exist implications and lessons applicable that I had never previously seen.
It is important that I reevaluate what I Know and what I Knew, and move forward without the Eye of Vilquar.
Why did the Shadow interrupt My conversation with Brother John?
Why did the Chaos Monk take the Unbroken Circle Stones?
What motivates them?
What motivates us?
There exists a difference between the Knowing of Freedom and Knowing of Rebellion.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports
Re: The Private Journal of Vale Clearwaters
Marpenoth 15th 1399 D.R.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
I have died under Brother John's watchful eye, and thanks to the efforts of others I have endured to write these words.
According to Brother John's observations, it appeared only half my soul seemed to depart my corpse and it did so without even a shudder.
It was said he had never seen another die as I died, and he suspected I may not be an elf.
It is also important to note that at the moment of my death several Shades bearing my likeness attacked my companions in what appeared to be an effort to interrupt Broth John's observance.
I have begun to suspect that with each of my false deaths, one of these shades or more maybe created with what part of my soul departs.
Are they the occupants of the Fortress of my Regrets and Sorrows that Lana spoke of?
She described the place as dark and cold.
The claws of My shades are cold, and they are beings of darkness, and if they are born of each of my deaths they maybe a manifestation of my regrets and sorrows.
As of note they tear at the very Mind of those they strike.
The Mind is the one tool I have available to unravel the mystery of my eternal body and soul.
If they are born of my false deaths, if they are the embodiment of my regrets and sorrows, I ask why are they intent on preventing my Mind from Knowing the truth of what was and what is?
Is it as base a thing as they are Undeath and I am Life, and so they seek to cause what misery they can by insuring my cycle continues to forever be the suffering of Deathless Death?
There are threads in existence that link to my past, yet I do not know how to reach them, nor do I know if pulling upon them may cause more irrevocable harm to my Quest or need a boon to discovering the means to break this cycle.
I Know the Chaos Monk took the Unbroken Circle Stones for a reason, yet I know not the reason nor how to find him.
I Know Ravel Puzzlewell may have Knowings of my past, yet how to approach the Legendary Nighthag known across the planes for killing those who dare to find her and make requests?
I Know their exist a place in the Sword Mountains where my Sorrows and Regrets await me, and I know in the past We have gone there only to fail.
I Know that We asked the Aboleth to guard the Orb that I reclaimed, yet I know not what it is.
I Know the One of Gith knows me, and knows of who I was, yet I know not how to reach him.
I write this to you so you may learn from what I have learned, should I fail, and I want to believe that We have written such previously for ourselves. Perhaps there are answers, lessons to be learned from Ourself, if only I could find them.
I know that once We were a Wizard, active in this very city of Splendors. I know that we studied Zerthimon as well at that time. Where might We have hidden our truths from the world so that We might later discover them?
Do they sit upon a shelf within the Watchful Order?
Where they buried with us in a Crypt after our passing, and ignored in our ignorance as we arose confused sandblast in our surroundings? These are questions I have no answer to, but they are questions I can take action in order to find answers.
Leaf Fall in the Year of Fallen Friends,
I have died under Brother John's watchful eye, and thanks to the efforts of others I have endured to write these words.
According to Brother John's observations, it appeared only half my soul seemed to depart my corpse and it did so without even a shudder.
It was said he had never seen another die as I died, and he suspected I may not be an elf.
It is also important to note that at the moment of my death several Shades bearing my likeness attacked my companions in what appeared to be an effort to interrupt Broth John's observance.
I have begun to suspect that with each of my false deaths, one of these shades or more maybe created with what part of my soul departs.
Are they the occupants of the Fortress of my Regrets and Sorrows that Lana spoke of?
She described the place as dark and cold.
The claws of My shades are cold, and they are beings of darkness, and if they are born of each of my deaths they maybe a manifestation of my regrets and sorrows.
As of note they tear at the very Mind of those they strike.
The Mind is the one tool I have available to unravel the mystery of my eternal body and soul.
If they are born of my false deaths, if they are the embodiment of my regrets and sorrows, I ask why are they intent on preventing my Mind from Knowing the truth of what was and what is?
Is it as base a thing as they are Undeath and I am Life, and so they seek to cause what misery they can by insuring my cycle continues to forever be the suffering of Deathless Death?
There are threads in existence that link to my past, yet I do not know how to reach them, nor do I know if pulling upon them may cause more irrevocable harm to my Quest or need a boon to discovering the means to break this cycle.
I Know the Chaos Monk took the Unbroken Circle Stones for a reason, yet I know not the reason nor how to find him.
I Know Ravel Puzzlewell may have Knowings of my past, yet how to approach the Legendary Nighthag known across the planes for killing those who dare to find her and make requests?
I Know their exist a place in the Sword Mountains where my Sorrows and Regrets await me, and I know in the past We have gone there only to fail.
I Know that We asked the Aboleth to guard the Orb that I reclaimed, yet I know not what it is.
I Know the One of Gith knows me, and knows of who I was, yet I know not how to reach him.
I write this to you so you may learn from what I have learned, should I fail, and I want to believe that We have written such previously for ourselves. Perhaps there are answers, lessons to be learned from Ourself, if only I could find them.
I know that once We were a Wizard, active in this very city of Splendors. I know that we studied Zerthimon as well at that time. Where might We have hidden our truths from the world so that We might later discover them?
Do they sit upon a shelf within the Watchful Order?
Where they buried with us in a Crypt after our passing, and ignored in our ignorance as we arose confused sandblast in our surroundings? These are questions I have no answer to, but they are questions I can take action in order to find answers.
Current Characters: Ravik Ports