Tales of a celestial

[Gaunt]

*Gaunt rolls around in his bed pulling the sheet all over his head, he moans as if he had the worst night in his whole life. He could never have guessed the next day would also be the worst day of his life*  Today I had the most strange thing happen to me. Last thing i remember was our company in the 5th regiment of the Celestial army ambushing an encampment of the Demon Army. We slayed several of them sending them back into Baator, where they came from. Nothing special, every day's stuff in Ysgard i'd say. But this time it felt different, one of the greatest pitfiends of all was camped with them. Apparently he managed to stay out of sight of our scouts since we had no reports of Demons of this caliber venturing through our plane. Unfortunately for us he came to their defense and violently killed almost all of our company. And to make things worse ... with his powerfull devil magics he banished me from my own world sending me into a rift between the planes of existence. I seemed to float there for ages and ages ... time passing by as the sand in an infinte hourglass.   Until suddenly i woke up in a bed that wasn't mine and which smelled as if someone else had slept in it before. Did i have a dream ... was it all a dream? I looked around and found myself in a small room with a bed, a small closet and a chest. A typical Inn room i thought. And it was true since i could hear the laughing and shouting of the drunk patrons below. I sat up straight in bed, rubbed my eyes and noticed that i had someone else's clothing lying next to the bed. I reluctantly pulled them on and opened the door, a dense scent of beer, roasted meat and sweat coming through the door. I stepped into the torchlit hallway and tried to find my way down, still a little dizzy and confused.  I went down the stairs, through the main bar and out through the front door. The daylight hurt my eyes as if i had never seen daylight before and my head was pounding as if an army of thousand ogres had marched over it. Several people outside were talking about all kinds of things, some of them in a language i had never heard before. I hope things can only get better from here on ...  *Guant stumbles down the stairs of the inn onto the road, the people looking at him as if he is the umpteenth drunk patron trying to find his way home*

[Gaunt]

*Gaunt stumbles out of the inn and falls down the three steps because he failed to see them, blinded by the light. Several people standing around notice him and gather around*  When i got out of the inn i found myself in a place i've never been before ... or at least not as far as i can recall. There are two people standing outfront the inn. One of them helps me on my feet. He's wearing a strange hat, something like a bowl upside down. Nothing i have ever seen before. He's a friendly cutter although he seems a little strange.  When i asked them where i was they said in a burg called Hlint. And again i had never heard of this burg, nor did i recognise the surroundings. I asked them where the army was stationed. They haven't seen or heard of any army. Nor did they know where i could take an airship since according to them those are things of Legend. Tsk ... legend, there are dozens around i said and i pointed up in the sky.   Then my world froze, the floating islands, the islands with all the burgs and forests, covered in coulds were gone. The islands i once called home disappeared. That's where my world collapsed. I demanded to know on what island i was on, maybe there is an explanation for this, maybe i'm on the topmost island? I asked if they could take me to the border of the island so i could take a look over the edge. They said i'd probably had too much ale and needed a good night sleep.   If there is something i don't need now it's sleep. I need to find out what happened, where have the hundreds of floating islands gone? Where has the army gone? Where is the 5th division and my company? Captain Darsoy? What happened to them? Have the gods punished me for being a non believer? I've never denied the existence of the Powers, but how can one worship them if some of them walk around in our very world?  And who is this damn dragon everybody keeps telling me about?  *Gaunt heads off to East Hlint and into the shop after he received a good meal and a few gold coins from Murat*

[Gaunt]

*Gaunt stumbles down the inn, clearly under impression of what happened to him just a few moments ago. He sits down at a table in a dark corner of the inn. He focusses for a few moments untill his eyes start to shine brightly and the area around him is filled with light. Then he takes two book and starts to read in one and making notes in the other*  I've finally found this person called Ozy. A disturbed soul he is and what he told me is hard to believe but since all who stood by verified his tellings i'll have to take them for truth. I asked him about this place, how i got here and how to get back. And his reply absolutely wasn't what i was hoping for. From what i told him he concluded that i was probably banished by a powerfull demonic spell, perhaps even devilish, and teleported into a rift between the outer planes. As time passed there i was again pulled from this rift by some dragon who apparently summoned me here to help protect the people of this prime plane agains the Bloodstone, a fiend planning to unite demons and devils agains the natives of the prime. Most disturbing news but the worst i still had to hear. He told me as i was floating in nothingness over 2 milennia had passed and everything i knew in Ysgard had been destroyed by him, commanding an army of demons and fiends. Ozy, commanding demons and fiends, under control of some evil elf. He told me that my wife and son most probably would either be killed by his army or would have lived in my remembrance untill they passed of old age. I can't believe i'm stuck here ... while my wife and son are probable long dead.   *Gaunt's hand starts to shake and tears start to form in his eyes, he takes a deep trembling breath and focusses again, the area around hime even starting to shine brighter*   Ozy decided to tell me about his past and tried to justify his actions on Ysgard. He finally managed to convince me he couldn't help it and that he was here to stop Bloodstone from uniting the demons and devils. I decided to take place alongside him in this battle, for if Bloodstone succeeds in his intentions it might very well mean the end of the multiverse as we know it.  *Gaunt flips several pages in the book and stops at a page titled "Deities of Layonara" ... He says to himself Toran as he scans the pages in search of Toran*
 Ozy told me Kord has no power on this plane, he isn't even know here! I've never been a big believer but perhaps if i were i'd never had ended in this place. It's time for change, if i'm stuck here i might as well start a living here and do what i'm good at. And in the mean time take a little time to get to know the gods and maybe i'll find peace and honor.  *Gaunt reads to himself* Toran, The Great Leader ... He's a shining example of goodness and righteousness by bringing order and safety to the lands ... *some lines below he reads* ... It is the place of the Paladin of Toran to seek out and decimate evil and wrong-doing, rather than wait for it to be brought before them ...  *He carefully copies the section about Toran and the physical description of his followers, his deity symbol and the description of the dogma*