Tamera: Journal of a dark rogue

*lying in a huge locked chest, surrounded by seven differnt and deadly traps, lies a thick black book. The writing inside are beautifull but unerving, as all the writings are sharp, edged, and pointy.*

   Thinking back to my pathetic existance as a youth in the slums of Fort Valensk, home to the most dangerous of theives and smugglers,I sometimes wonder how in nine hells i didn't turn up dead, lame, poor, enslaved, and or a woman to a drunken pirate takeing my beatings like most the younge girls were destined to do in my situation. Perhaps it was my inate cleaverness, my encounter with the guildmaster Zarmara who took me in and taught me my trade, Mist's intial plans for me,or perhaps....just maybe, Corrath had been there the whole time guiding my path away from the lady of chaos and into the path of my now dear dear friend, confident, and accepted brother Ramanon whom first showed me the light,no the beauty in the power of the darkness that is the Eternal Dark Lord. My heart flutters for the latter but it matters not, for i am now under his protective gaze, his purpose is now my purpose, and his glory is my glory to reap as our enemies taste the bite of our frosty blades. I am truely satisified and whole for the first time in all my twenty-three winters so far.....

    Mist never was truely my lord, more of a hand-me-over from my father, may Corrath curse his soul, who worked on a smugglers ship for some now long dead sea captain that turned pirate. Mist is the favored diety amoung many of these cut throats as they paided homage to her for favored sea conditions. After my mother and father were slain when i was at the raw age of 11, probaly do to the unpaid debts my foolish father had racked up with some thugs (though i truely dont know or care as i have never looked into the matter) I was left alone with no family and had to fend for myself. I survived those first years stealing food from merchants when they werent looking, and theiveing other wares to sell on the black market economy that opperates with almost no regulation or oversight from the authorities in the Fort. As i contiuned my day to day existance i became better and better as the years when on untill one day my infamous skills were noticed by the fellow i mentioned eariler, the terror of the seas, the pirate captian Zarmara Cortinar "the ruthless". He was known especialy for high-jacking ships out at sea laided with riches brought from the port cities of Dregar and always demanded of his victims to surrender or be marched over board to the sharks,with absolutly no exceptions. while i did not particulairly like the seas, Zamara had plenty for me to do in the fort such as theiving, strong arming locals for "protection money", and collecting unpaid debts real or imagined. Under his employment i honed my skills in thievery and fighting as some of the best professionals of the trade were at his disposal and gave me guidance. Yes good times they were i'd have to say untill my botching of a heist that left my identity wide open to some angry officals and they immediatly put a bounty on my head. To protect the identity and conection with my guild to the heist i left the dingy Fort for the wide world promising to return to Zamaras employment when the storms i had created died down. To this day, i wonder if ill ever have anymore assosiations with my old master, perhaps.....

    The world, always unforgiveing, was hard on me. Left once again alone, i tried unsuccefully to establish myself in other towns doing what i could, ever the opportunist i was, but found that i had to evade authorities day and night to keep out of someone's miserable dungeon cell. I felt betrayed, after all the anguish of poverty, hunger, beatings, and utter humiliation i had finaly earned a place of respect, of belonging, i had a future in a powerful guild. Now it was all ripped away. I didn't curse Mist for a solid year, only wept to sleep hiding in some smelly sewer cold, alone......isolated.

    Feelings of unjustice, worthlessnes, and utter despair crept into my every thought. I would pray to Mist every night to show me direcion,to show me what my pupose in this cursed-violent-backstabbing world might be. For a year i recieved no answer, not in my prayers, my dreams, or in my heart.
Then one day i stumbled upon a powerful mage named Ramanon while i was raiding giants in the Berhagens. I at first thought nothing of this strange fellow, then we talked. We talked about many things, but the most fasinating part of the coversation still burned into my mind was that over power. He asked me frankly what i wanted most. What i want most, that of course was an easy answer to a young and eager steet rat who has taken the load of dung and had been waiting to dish it out herself. I replied very flatly and immediatly "power of course"......He smiled.

   Ramanon talked of the absurdity of people who risk thier very necks in persuit of power. He questioned the judgment of poeple who have massive amounts of power, "Do they realy have power? Is it true power? No, it is not because what becomes of everyone? You can have all the power in the world and yet something is always there to take it from you, what is that?" he asked. I understood then, "Death," i replied "Yes even an emperor who has conquered all the continents in the world will only loose them when he leaves this mortal coil, thus what has he realy gained? Absolutly nothing." So we got into the dicussion of his idea of true power and it made more sence to me. The Dark lord holds power over the domain of death, he is infinant and all knowing, those who prove themselves to him are granted eternal life, that is true power,and the gift of Corrath's blessing. My Priestess, now high Priestess thanks to the glory of our lord, tasked me with a question when she tested me for the brotherhood, as to what the true path to power is. I pondered it for awhile trying to disect what answer this ever-so-clever priestess wanted from me. Finaly after some dissusion I said "faith". "Just Faith?"she asked. "Faith in Corrath." I answered after pondering a minute, "yes Faith in the Silent Lord." I wasnt sure if i saw her smile underneath that hood of hers, but I didn't care, she had accepted my answer and that satified me enough. From that time forward, i set out to make a personal conection with the Prince of Darkness.

    One day I made that conection in a very unlikely way hmhm, but thats a tale for another day.......*She places the pen down on the table, takes the journal placeing it in an hiden compartment in the chest. She then resets all seven traps and locks it up. Hearing a call from the priestess, she rushes out of the room deftly and silently*

*Dipping her pen into the dark red ink jar she smiles widely as her writting swoops acrossed the page,the words rapidly forming in the wake of her gloved hand*

    Magic, some are facinated by it, others find it strange and frightening. Some controll it, still others allow it to consume them. I follow the thinking that a world with out this awesome force, is a world that is bland and depressing. Growing up most of my life in the dismal streets of Velensk, i dont think i ever got to hold a wand let alone have in my possesion any magical trickets. As a youth, I did not fully appreciat the power of magic and sought to use my stealth, brains, and blades instead to obtain what i wanted. After haveing my soul saved by the unholy glory that is Corrath and haveing been accepted into the brotherhood, i have found meself surrounded by it. Most of he unholy members are brilliant mages, crafting some of the most powerfull artifacts i had seen up to that time. I was drawn to the lure of the glowing wands, dry dusty scrolls, gleaming rings.....oh yes how fasinating they truely are! I went into trying many of them out, much like a child with a new toy, i played with everything i could manipulate. After many accedents *stopps her writting to look rather sourly at the singed hole in her bedroom wall that hasn't been quite fixed yet* i finaly learned to direct the magical energies in the wands and scrolls to actual be able to use them. Yes i was happy, content.
 
  I was unhappy again, i wanted more, like a drunk to the bottle i was intoxicated by it. I never thought that i would even imagine myself bending over a large bulky book to try and discern the strange symbols and writtings but there i was, sitting in our library doing just that. Allways questioning Ramanon or Marcus about this symbol, that symbol, i sought to expand my teachings and to learn to manipulate the magical energies myself. Oh what wonder this could become if i can accoplish that. I could improve my stealth skills by far, a skill that is going to be needed for any future excursions that the brotherhood might task me with. I could improve my movements, strength, endurance....oh yes i get goosebumps thinking of all the possibilities hmhm. If im to take on the mental endurance needed to become an arcane caster, i believe the most suitable school for me to follow and to honor the domain of the Dark lord, death, would be to learn to manipulate necromatic energies. I will pray to the Dark Sun to give me wisdom and guidence in my pursuit of the arcane arts.... *puts down her pen and gathers some scrolls to take with her on her trip to Dregar*

*Lying in dark silk sheets, Tamera's dark raven hair is in a tossle after just haveing woke up from a twelve hour nap after a rather long trip in Dregar. Although a bit groggy she feels some compulsion to write about her adventure of yesterday, she rises out of her bed to put on her robes and sit her self promptly in her chair faceing her desk. A quick glance to the dire bear rug lying on the hard wood floor of her quarters, its jaws open and faceing her, sadly looking nothing like the ferocious beast she had almost become a meal to in her bit basher days as bearly a young woman, almost sad looking she thought. Her diary lies open before her, left that way since she returned the day before, and she looks thoughtfuly at the blank page before her and reaches for her quilled pen and jar of ink*

The last couples of days have been both straining on my body and mind, but i believe the mental aspect was the most tireing part of it all. Sure im used to runnning long distances acrossed the various lands of layonara, cutting through slews of screaming and disorieted giants from the darkness spells cast by an associate of mine, Kayla Whitestar, an accomplished mage to say the least. Scaling difficult climbs, moveing with silence, and other physical feats are my specialty, but the mental energy needed to cast the simpelest of cantrips can be daunting for a novice such as myself. Ha! hopefully that is the last time i let my nievety get the best of me. I thought just because i can imitaite a few command words here and wave a wand like so, that arcane knowledge would not be such a steep climb for me to take, i was a bit wrong.

Traveling with a mage is definatly an advantage i did not let escape from my crasp though.I watched her every move and word as she went through her normal casting routine she always employs before our battles. What a jumble it all can be to someone without knowlege of the arcane, but i could eventualy pick out certain spells and it became easier and easier for me to pick up. Another fortunate thing for me was that this curious little gnome with so much bravado was all to happy to advance my knowledge of the often strange and complicted runes and symbols that make up the language of magic.  
This is an esential skill to learn before one can even effectively store such complicated patters of logic into one's very mind. The whole three day trip from Pranzis all the way to irons hills seemed like a blurr of me mineing silver veins, batteling various foes we encountered, and drooling hours of study and instruction from Kayla, whom by the way went from subject to subject at break-neck speeds almost breaking me into a rage of frustration. Many times during the first lessons i thought realy hard about  takeing two daggers and jabbing myself in the ears so that i didnt have to hear another of her almost seemingly taunting phrazes like "see how easy that is!", "see its no sweat at all!". But as time and instruction went on i began to feel better as i saw myself progress more and more. I hope this is true for the rest of my trainging in the time to come.....

*Sitting on the edge of her bed, playfully snapping her fingers calling forth a flame each time, she smiles feeling quite proudly of herself for haveing found her arcane power once and for all. After many hours, she grows bored with her practise and opens her jounal up slowly, methodicaly, and reaches for her blood-red-stirge quill pen*

I feel it important to once and for all write down my encounter with his presence, the presence of of the allmighty Dark Sun that shines its unholy glory and power on me every day, Corrath. I was slaughtering giants with another, i cant remember at the time as it has been much time since the incident, in berhagen as usual. Sharpening my fighting skills and sifting through their dirty-musky bodies for coin, we climbed the asent rather easily as we neared the entrance to a cave we had thought were lurking many more. After the last of the giants fell screaming a prayer to its maker, the biggest mage i had ever seen appeared....perhaps the prayer had come true. It stared at the two of us incrediously and furrowed a thick silver brow in absolute furry. "Why have you come to disturb the sacred place of Granoch?" It boomed in a voice that even for a giant, was too too loud. I felt my heart sink into the pit of my stomach and my knees almost buckeled. I soon found strength enough to find my sasier side and replied, "to make myself a fine pair of boots with your mangy hide and be reminded of you, welp, evertime i step into some awefull smelling dung and chuckle." I smiled tauntingly. My companion had found her feet as well and made some rather insulting remarks about him as well. Instead of growing angry, the damned mage smiled at us and began into its casting.

 We rushed it immediatly, I arced around its flank hopeing to deal some nasty blows into its backside and she went straight forward hopeing to caught it off guard. As we neared the mage, he suddenly disappeared and was virtualy out of sight. We imedietly watched the ground seeing the impression that its giant boots were making and swung blindly at the area. We missed over and over as our blades were being redirected and reflected in the air by the mage's magical shields. The first attack spell came bursting out from a reappeared but hasily-distorted giant form. Flameing arrows filled the area, they split and came after each of us nailing my compainion square and buring her rather baldly as she tried to scramble out the the arrows path. I was more fortunate as when i saw them arch and fly toward me i simply ran, dived, and rolled behind a boulder that happened to be around and the arrows slamed into it sending bursting flames everywhere and super heating the rock turning it's surface into a liguid motlen glase that flowed down its face. "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into," i thought as i leapt to my feet and came around the rock to pounce into the fray. She (my companion) was looking more and more burnt up as she was slammed with fireball after fireball. I screamed and thrusted my katana in a spinning backward movement holding the blade in reversed direction and leaning all my wieght into the blow. I luckly connected even past bad sight and menacing invisble forces that were batting my sword down ealier, but alas the damn mage had a skin of stone and my blade didnt do the damage it should have. My heart sank as i knew this was a foe that we could not handle and i screamed to my compaion to head for the safety of shoufall. Right as the last word of instruction left my cracked and dryed lips another fireball slammed right into her face and turned it into a black-charred bony thing. She slamed instantly to the ground like a sack of bricks to my horror as i kept running. More flameing arrows asailed me as i ran for my life but in absolute vain....i wasnt fast enoungh this time and the arrows pierced my back *winces as she remembers the event all to vividly* and i screamed reflexively "Corrath!!" All went black for a time that can't be measured; it seemed infinant, cold, dark, and lonely.....

A violent flash of dizzying colors enveloped my vision and i fell fast into a endless tunnel. The colors, which were bright and freakishly colorful, soon turned into more cooling dull blues, black, and red flashes. Then it all ended in an instant as i was left standing in a gloomy place. The mists that flowed over what smelled like graveyard dirt seem to claw and fight each other with intangible tenticals, but i couldn't know if that was an ilusion or trick, had i been sent to some horrible hell i wondered. Then a strong raspy voice seemed to beckon to me from the very air itself. "Who dares to utter the name of the Dark Lord?" the words came to me from everywhere. I felt a surge of butterflies fill my stomach, its one thing to be reckonized by a god, but its quite another when you believe you have angred one. "Tamera Jarden." i barely stammered, "Silence fool, i know very well who you are."
 Before my vision materialized a ghoul, its skin rottening in a sickly green, and its eyes were aflame with cold blue spellfire, and in the center of those billowing sockets, brighter than the flame itself, burned two small points that seemed to pierce my very soul as they gazed upon me. "I asked "who" you were, not you name welp." I said with as much conviction as i could "I am a lost soul who looks for a true god to call her own, i cannot stand the montany of being forsaken, i have for too long been away from the light of a being higher than myself...." As i was finishing my call for Corrath's acceptance, those eye sockets flared and the servant held up its hand, a powerfull force smacked me down into the arid dirt like a foot that steps on an insect and i bit into it. "Silence!" the thing billowed, and immediatly i felt my mind being raped  as thoughts long ago forgotten were being vividaly pulled, examined, and thrown back into the deepest receses of my mind. "hmmmm....yes very interesting, yes yes very interesting, the Dark Sun is pleased with what he sees......do you Tamera Jarden call the prince of darkness your master?" I spit out the dirt in my mouth and said with as much force as i could "Yes!"
The return question came "and promise to do his bidding, to spead lies, murder, hatred, and revenge."Yes!" i sceamed. "Good, the Silent lord finds you pleaseing enough, go seek out the one called Chanda and become an absolute follower of the cult. Do not betray the silent lord or your soul is for not, do you understand mortal?!" I replied "Yes!?" The hand servant commanded me to stand up "The Dark Lord sees much potential in you, go forth back to the world above, and do as he commands you and perhaps you'll be rewared with power uncomprehandable for your puny mind if you trust in his will and come to his unholy crusade.Perhaps even greater than the priestess herself." "What?!" i asked incrediously, "how can that be." "As i have said, its not for you to know welp, do as he commands when the time is right, perhaps you will find yoourself in a very different position than the one you stand in, now begone!"

I was whipped back into the tunnel of dazziling colors and found myself
on the outshirts of Fort Velensk staring incrediously at a huge water elemental staring dangerously at me. In gurgles it bellowed "How dare you forsake the Queen of Chaos! How could discard her like she was rubish into an alley. What do you have to say for yourself?" Right then i felt an inner warmth that turned into a blaze of confidence "The Lady of Chaos has done nothing for me and has abandanded me, and therefore she is rubish to be thrown away and i wish to never utter a prayer to her again, im finished with "your lord" and tell her to let me be." The water elemantals form went through convulsions and i could feel the sheer hatred boil acrossed my mind. It raised its huge cane as if it was going to crush my head in, but the fire inside me burned hotter and i felt no fear as i stared defiently at the huge creature. " I hold true faith in the glory of the Dark prince and may Mist wittness that i have no fear for my lord protects me, there is nothing she can do about this, the Dark Sun has me under his blanket of darkness and i shall never go back to a lesser god." I expected it to try and crush me but i had faith that Corrath would not let that happen and so i just stood there a moment, both the water elemental and me stareing each other down. "Know this, you will never be safe, no matter where you go, the sevants of Mist will be after you to haunt you in day, and in your sleep. You have been forewarned....." it then left toward the fort and evaporated into the very air. I stood there for many moments, smileing at where the elemental left, feeling a great since of peace i had not known in many years. Yes at last i was free, free to explore all the glory that is Corrath. I walked back to the fort, sneaking into and useing a disguse to enter the inn for rest. I set up some traps on the door and fell into the deepest sleep i had know for many years......