The Memoirs of Rhynnala Asantiani

[LynnJuniper]

*Rhynn goes back and reads her journal, beginning to end, slowly. She scowls realizing that the exact parts that are blurred in her head are also blurred on the parchment so that she can barely make out the writing. "

"How powerful does one have to be..."

*She , in an angry fit throws the book to the side of her room going off to tend to things that must be tended to*

[LynnJuniper]

*she decides its finally time to sit down and write*

I think I was fighting with Anna, at least that’s what some people hint to. I remember all the stuff Kiva told me about her, and for a while I believed it but I don’t think that was really my decision. Its almost as if some outside force was making me feel that way. Given I don’t feel as close to her as I did when we tracked through Pandemonium, I don’t really feel any reason to hate her either. And her children are coming along well. I mean child….what made me think there was more than one?

My head has been aching. Ozymandias says its because a bit of my life has been deleted and completely rewritten because someone called Viefrray, Some powerful Corathite in Carceri, didn’t care enough to make a better transaction when obliterating his son from the record books. He said his son Nephravarden tried something along with his shadow Randharravanna that had to due with using Anna’s children to summon something called the Harbringer of Necrosis. The way he made it sound , it was something to fear. Is it a giant entity? No, its something different and much more ironic than that.

The one thing I don’t understand: Saebhel never taught me much but one thing he cautioned me was to never mess around with time, even if you grow powerful enough to do so. He told me that time should never be altered no matter how much one regrets what he did. Now that I think about it maybe there was something he regretted? Oh well I can’t think of that right now. What I’m trying to get at is this: You’re not supposed to alter what happened in the past because it can have weird consequences. Ozy told me that Vieffray was the Greatest of the First. First of Mages I guess, maybe it’s a generation thing but in order to mess around with time he had to have been powerful. What that means is that he son had to be old as well. Elf old or maybe even demon devil Ozy old. And if he was controlling Ozy’s shadow along with being the son of the first he had to have been powerful as well. If he was powerful and not above doing all these things, then wouldn’t removing him have some other bad effects? Doesn’t that change stuff that could’ve happened besides just what supposedly happened to us?

I guess its not my problem and never was. Still. it’s a lot to think on. I was told not to dwell but I can’t help it.

Other than that things are going swell. My head hurts, like I said. But Still. I’ve been in and out of the desert and I think we have enough glass to go by now. Ill ask what else is needed and start there….I hope to gods this works, Maybe we’ll do something I remember this time.

[LynnJuniper]

Lots of littler things going on shrouded by the shadow of what's to come. We know the dragon discussion as I call it is right around the corner and since they're going to do it anyway we may as well do it with some form of head on our collective shoulders.

There seem to be a series of natural summoning circles creating elementals around Hlint, and, as I am informed not just Hlint but everywhere. I tried to contact that guy Arhtur that I remembered walking into Hlint before and eventually got a hold of him, however he left just as another....summoning...circle opened...and...

I wonder....gnomes have affinities with illusions. Ill have to check him as well as his house.

[LynnJuniper]

Rhynn looks onto the last entry she wrote and shakes her head. Willlessly she brings her Auto-Quill(tm) of her own creation //think pen// to her book once more sighing as she shakes it a few times to get the ink going.
   
   
 It appears I haven’t written again. Sometimes I don’t feel it very important. I’ve been traveling the eastern continent lately when I made a discovery. The celestials I used to freely summon would not come to me anymore. My summoning fizzled and failed. Even my most powerful gate would not work. I thought perhaps I had somehow gone back to needing components and went to buy the blood required from the first store I could find (upon my return to Dregar of course). It didn’t work.
   
   With a bit of tinkering around with books , and summoning circles in Ozymandias’ library I discovered that it was not me that was the problem. It was them. I could not get a pull from their end. I was pulling just fine, no one in Celestia was biting. Quite interesting. I’ve brought this question up and apparently it’s because Celestials no longer see me as pure enough in heart to allow me summoning of their legions.
   
   So It was up to me to find a new plane to draw summons from. Now I’m not at all in the ways of gathering the blood of maidens and summoning demons and devils through dark arts, but I did learn of a third way in which the gate spell would work: The blood of the caster. Usually this is done by those who feel no great pull of either good nor evil. I tried this and it worked. I brought forth something from Pandemonium. A White Slaad. And then I tried it once again without the blood, knowing now what I was calling for and that worked as well.
   
   I went back to trying my more usual summons over again, having the plane of choice search for me instead of me pulling to it and I managed to pull golem warriors from the plane of Law to me. It gets easier every time now that I know what I am looking for.
   
   Thos , my fey, has agreed to stay on for one more season until I can find another Familiar. He is old and tired and wants to be put to rest in the Sleeping forest with the other fey. After all these years of service and even being my voice for me when I could not speak I could do nothing less than oblige. I hate fey and I’m going to miss the damned thing. How does one go about finding another familiar?
   
   A few strange occurrences have been happening in and around Hlint. I’m fairly certain I already wrote of the elementals here but it may have indeed only been in my letter to Arthur. Long story short there have been an occurrence of natural summoning circles bringing forth elementals from all across the elemental planes. One even attacked me and with its vile enchantments rendered me useless in both mind and body.
   
   The hunt for the five wizards of the Weave tearing ritual got off to a fairly good start with us finding old Scrying Eyes completely insane and loony in Luck. We did however manage to get the bones away from him though, and I must boast that I did fairly well even though Connor could not offer his help due to the proximity of the spirit lurking with in him to his own remains.
   
   Strange things have also been happening in the Red Lights. The first known act was with something being summoned there. I will not write much of this because I was with the most inane group possible and afterwards Ozy and I decided to simply make a joke of it and sing drunken dwarf songs afterwards (gold gold gold gold gold gold!)
   
   The second was with something that looked like a cross between a burrower and a dragon. A strange lizard indeed. We quickly put him to rest and I drew a ward that would explode quite forcibly in the things face if it would tamper with it. It may dig another hole to get out of what I can only imagine as its nest but this should atleast buy some time….
   
   
   More learning, more spells, more traveling. And Deals with Dragons growing so close I can taste it. It’s vile with a bitter aftertaste.
   
   And to leave with this:
   
   “Rhynnala in her natural habitat is quite angry, this can generally be seen as ‘ticked off’ however as one observes they can only be thankful that this anger is evenly dispersed upon everyone and everything rather than completely and utterly focused at them in particular’
   
   Thought it suited me quite well

[LynnJuniper]

I don't really want to get into it. We traveled to the depths of the moss crypt to see the Dragon. We offered him many great gifts, and Ozymandias even parted with his staff and then we got to see Ozy and Kobal in action. They were amazing. I wonder if I would've been able to do that if given the chance. Perhaps. Perhaps not. We'll see some day I guess.

We managed to do exactly what the Hurm Society wanted and secure the cauldron although not obtain it. With this I am going to do a new study on the prision plane in particular even if it means asking the Druids themselves. We must obtain the bowl from Misty if possible. That should be the next course of action while I study the prision plane. Finally, we should prepare ourselves for battle. Likely word will get to the Dragon of what we are trying to accomplish and perhaps he'll feel his own need to aid in our cause by weakning the sisters with the cauldron himself.

I hold no delusions of help from dragons but surely I could tell that he realized this would benefit himself as well. So perhaps he will lend us raw power.

[LynnJuniper]

To catch up , I’m in the middle of Prantz now writing this, the city may or may not be contained and I may or may not be able to get out. I don’t like that idea. It makes me claustrophobic, and knowing that I can’t teleport out of here just makes it worse.

There’s been an attempted (and successful?) assassination of one of the high ups of the Rofirinite order.  It’s a pity because Yard almost single-handedly stopped the assassination too.  Those that were fast on their feet chased down the culprit while us others that couldn’t get out of the crowd tried to get a better feel for what was going on here. Honora slipped out as well but I didn’t see her go in the direction of the escapee.

And Broegar’s ever watching eye is on us and maybe still is. Anyway they brought the high-up to Broegar’s keep which Is probably the worst thing they could have done. What was the red robed guy thinking bringing him there? I mean even if the ‘temple’ has been converted to a courthouse, with so many Rofirinites there , there HAD to be at least ONE cleric that would have helped him. Wasn’t the red robe guy a cleric?

We went back to find Yard and the others to find that the body of the culprit lay dead. He poisoned himself with whatever he used to lace the dagger that got to the Rofirinite. We found a piece of paper on him that was one really weird large riddle. I think I have some of it figured out.

I really want to get out of here.

[LynnJuniper]

So who do I thank for all of my happiness? Surely not Ilsare or the other gods. For thanking them would be fickle and inappropriate. Gods do not bestow happiness onto mortality mortals bestow happiness onto mortality. It is fruitless to thank a God that governs over a particular thought or idea for some concept that has been around before the god him or herself. It is pointless to thank Ilsare now when all other attempts made under her eyes have failed.

Thank Destiny? No that would be just as foolish as thanking the gods. Nothing is preordained and we decide for ourselves what is to happen next, what choices we make, and what paths we take.

So I will thank the one(s) that make me happy, and thank myself that I was able to put forth something and accomplish my own happiness; independent of god or faith. My accomplishments are my own.

[LynnJuniper]

So first with Prantz the long and short of it is that we've found and revived the assasin after some intial difficulties with half raising done by Galen and rekilling done by Pyyran. Pyyran and Ferrit talked in private to him and he said that indeed intended target was Wyleth and that he was paid to do so. Flee to hurm was right and the one who made the poision is apparently in Lan's port..I don't know if I trust the man. Sure you can say all these things but who is to say you're not being paid off to say them. For all we know Wyleth paid him to say that and was really working against everything all along. Its not really known at this point but I suppose the only thing we can do is try to keep our goals and intentions clear, and uniform amongst all of us, find a trace or a weave of a web and follow it through and walk face on into another furnace as us adventurers are so prone to doing

------

The end of the search of the seeds and the dealings with the sisters:

And so it came that they gathered about in the Seilwood witch’s house waiting to be invited in. As she did so those who have had previous matters with the Seeds and the Sisters listened intently as the Seilwood Witch recapped in precious unscryable minutes what would come to be.

It was arranged that the adventurers would travel to the premises of Bone Hill just outside the area under contract of Milara; to the place of the Shifter’s prophecy to look into past and present and tie loose ends together once and for all. Meanwhile the Lady of the Land and the Seilwood’s True Sister would find allies in their own time and place.

The adventurers traveled unbothered to the spot where the Seilwood witch’s caravan awaited them. On the ground lay a constructed pentagram and in the center of such a mirror acting as a focus for divinatory means. As the witch went into her concentration the adventurers were sent through a variety of pasts through way of memory.

First to the wood where two wolves gathered about a pool of blood to speak of a child wild of birth. The child’s parents killed in the forest and of no real importance besides being found by the two wolves. Jilsephonie Valhaikor went forward to speak to the two wolves therefore impacting history and memory as only sheer will could push her through. It was clarified with the appearance of the same demon that Brisbane along with her smaller company slayed in the Slaadi’s cave, that the child was indeed a decoy to different ends.

Next to the High forest and Legodia as she talked of the seeds herself and their relationship between the Church of Rofirein and Toran both. Here Varka pushed forward to read the notes of those found in the Isle of Black ice pertaining to Tcarre’s cauldron.

Once again forward this time into the cavern deep under the roughlands where Misty gathered the pure and poison from the land and in deceit labeled them oppositely saving a bit extra for her own special trick. None were the fool enough to push at the fabrics of time and memory here.

Moving now to the Toranite and Rofirein church where allies once weakened were made strong again and then to a Corathite stronghold were talks of a foul deed were made clear.

To a cavern now deep and familiar where the Witch Selian and Dragon of Black met to speak of cruel deed. It was here that the boots given foolishly by Lin’da to the Stryker, and the amulet Lia lost were traded ; amulet to Selian and Boots to Dragon Black. The Amulet used by Selian as a final revenge on the sisters and onto herself to remove from them their immortality. An arrow was crafted strong enough to kill

Finally to a past most recent into the Dragon Isles where the Lady of the Land stood and was slain by an arrow of a satyr while the Wizards of the Black watched approvingly. The lady of the land lay dead in her place red poppies grew…

So the adventurers returned from their dreams and memories to the Seilwood witch and a spent mirror. For she had seen all that they had and knew sadly that the time of the sisters had drawn to a close. She stated that her sisters had gone into hiding only Selian remaining to wait a death most welcome. She would stay amongst us as she could, preparing and waiting while the Dragon dealt with Selian.

It was only later that Allurial herself made an appearance outside Blackford eventually being drawn into the heavens to Lucinda herself , as the sky for a few hours cleared completely on Allurial’s whim, as if she could do it all along….

[LynnJuniper]

*Quick notes are written to be filled in later*

-Mithril

-Organized Crime. Prantz. Wyleth. Lorindor

[LynnJuniper]

I should start explaining this thing with Prantz again from the beginning. A few weeks ago I found myself in Prantz. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing there, I think I was gathering what little possessions I had from the Network and clearing myself out of there. I had my fill with that place. I’ve had my fill with chaotic ‘leaders’ and I’ve had my fill with really not doing anything to benefit anyone. Pity though, such a nice castle. I may think of buying it.
 
  Anyway, Within the Lake many had gathered and in doing a bit of nudging shoulders, friendly hellos, little smiles and questions I figured out something was going on at the courthouse. There was apparently going to be some speech made by what Yardislan later explained as some high up (basically) in the Rofirinite church. So I went to go see, curious person as I am, and I wanted to spend more time with my friends. Yard hasn’t been around for a while so it was good to see him out and about. Jilsephonie was there as well.
 
  That’s when things started to get ugly. There was a man in the audience and just as the high up was about to announce his new change or plan or whatever, Yard goes and knocks some man to the side, a dagger flies out of his hand and hits the high up in the arm. Only what should not have been able to kill him obviously did, or else mortally wounded him. Now that I come to think of it there was no official declaration of his death. That may be something to look into. Anyway, as a result another man at the congregation standing next to the high up named Wyleth ran off.
 
  Yard and company chased the assassin and found an empty vial of poision and some weird letter that held a few clues. We took the dead body into Sallaron’s home (poor guy) Galen tried to revive him, (The assassin drank his own poision) and wound up half rising him so we had to get him rose right by Prunilla.
 
  Pyyran and Ferrit asked him a bunch of questions and he mentioned something or another, I don’t know Pyyran was never too clear on what happened there. I tried to slip in invisibly and get a better listen but that apparently wasn’t happening. And then, get this he just let the guy go. What utter cow dung.
 
  Anyway, The letter said “The Gift is in Lannisport” Apparently that meant the poision and that was important so that was our next stop. A bunch of Yard scrying and random stuff happened until two men came out of the bar , who obviously made the stuff and the next thing I know we’re going back near Karthy of all places to these people’s house. They were like some kind of organized crime family. And their mother reminds me of a grumpy old grandma I once knew. Scared the life out of me no matter what I did I swear.
 
  We found out a few more things about a white haired woman who turned out to be that Xeenite that was with us. I saw her around with Jharl I’m guessing she’s his girlfriend or something but I’ve never seen her that often. I thought Jharl liked Katrien . Whatever, one’s equally as annoying as the next. But the others I think misunderstood and didn’t realize this lady was the Xeenite in the first place.
 
  We heard rumors of Wyleth (who the dagger was MEANT for), and who apparently betrayed the crime sect (Who I think someone said were Branderbackians) hiding in Lorindor and the crime family trying to find him for betraying them or some more political and religious crap. This is why I have no faith really. I digress
 
  We went to Lorindor and everyone was their usual selves when trying to get things done so nothing got done , I just eventually took to questioning random people. Turns out a Prantz advance guard consisting of a few burly fighter types and some magic user are headed to look for Wyleth too. Seems everyone wants a piece of him. Curious. I wonder what the hell he did.
 
  I really don’t know much more of what’s going on, except that when I came back everyone said that a man that looked like Wyleth (After people took to asking everyone and their brother if a man looking like Wyleth was there) bought a ticket to North Point, so now everyone wants to go there.
 
  I don’t know about that though. For one if these many people were after you would you REALLY stay looking the same way? I’m sure he is a sneaky bastard and isn’t above changing his looks or getting someone else to look like him. What better place to hide then right under the noses of those looking for you. Bettter yet, Maybe he suspected that and decided to look like himself right under our noses. I’m starting to think like Devils or Ozy now. I don’t trust these people. Why would you make it known that you were buying an expensive ticket like that. If it was that easy to find out then the clue was obviously meant to be found. Buying a ticket doesn’t mean using it and I think if Wyleth was in the position of power Honora said he was in he’d have these expenses well…at his expense. I think we’re missing something here, somehow, We’re over looking something and I’m not ready to leave it alone yet.
 
  I think I’m going to take a little trip through Prantz with a couple of pies and try to figure out more about the condition of the poor accidental target they took to Broegar’s keep. Maybe I can go as far as to try and sell food to the castle. Its worth a shot I guess, and I don’t have to go quite THAT far if it’s dangerous. Ill see what I can do.
   
 
 
  Other than that I’ve been perfecting my cooking to the point where I am planning and have indeed already started selling some of the food I’m making. I’m thinking about buying or utilizing a house as a lounge or restaurant and I think I know exactly the house I want to use.

[LynnJuniper]

In of Prantz, out of Prantz. I'll have the long version written when I have the time...

Right now I must provide nuture and support where it is needed. The world needs to take a back seat right now.

I'm thinking of going on another trip home for a while. It helped a lot to clear my head last time when things got really cloudy. Maybe Ill call aside Yard this time. I really wish Ael were here though. He always knows just what to say.

[LynnJuniper]

Dear Saebhel,
   
              Surely you are dead. For as surely as I’ve passed that knife through your skin you are dead thirty two times over. For as surely as you are dead you live on in my mind and writing this brings me some absurd form of comfort.
   
              For five years of my life, you were there. You took me from my home, against my parents will, eventually leading to their death and…truthfully did a lot of positive things for me , in the beginning. You took a ruffian and turned her into a woman and for that I am grateful. You taught me the ways of the weave, and for that I am pleased. But you also taught me pain, suffering and control, and for that I shall never forgive you.
   
              I had always thought that in your death I would find peace. It did not happen; in your death I found nothing. You were alive one day and dead the next; it did not settle anything within me. The years of torment and control were not forgotten, there was just no sapient form left to blame. So the anger poured onto all equally, and the lack of self worth remains within. For I am what I always have been; a largely useless ( albeit ‘cute’ ) creature.
   
              I remember first coming to this place, how I used to write my letters fondly to you. Letters that you would never see. “With Loving Recollection, Your Rhynn” I would write. Oh the phantasm and control my mind was still under. Things were simple then though, I didn’t have to think for myself as much as I do now.
   
              I don’t know what’s happening in my world any more. Ozymandias has become more reclusive. It doesn’t extremely bother me, because it doesn’t effect me. Reclusive or not I still see him,  I still love him first and foremost. I realize this is my first time writing this here so bluntly, but so many know it to be true now that I don’t care who else does. There is no shame in it and no secret in it any longer.
   
              But because of this I’ve decided to cease my efforts in Prantz. Things will be handled between Pyyran , Honora and Jennara. It was not my place to be anyway. If I had to spend countless hours questioning the reason of my presence there, then my heart was not truly in the task. However, I did get to prove that I could, indeed, go under cover into Broegar’s keep and come out unscathed. That in itself, is an accomplishment to which I am proud, even if it was done for the sake of the accomplishment itself.
             
              There are stories of a group looking for a horde of ‘cival’ ogres. I went along first out of curiosity, but in meeting the head ogre in question: Glurgle, I feel as if this is a task I would like to help with. He seemed sweet , even for an ogre, and if these are slave traders , as I suspect, coming for them. Then I will do all I can to prevent this notion.
   
              I’ve taken my late mother’s axe from her house, and upon doing so am slowly teaching myself to wield it.  I met up with a throng of dwarves, long enough to first give them ale, then to accompany them through the desert mines, withholding from utilizing my offensive magics and instead cleaving through enemy after enemy as they would, as my mother would, with axe to skull (or in this case, giant leg) .
              I am thriving to start my food business, and in addition have acquired the help of both Pyyran and Karn, in exchange for allowing them to live in the unused room above the lounge. The place still needs a name, and the storage room still needs to be converted from raw grains and fruits into smoking pies and roasts. However, Id o feel I am making some sort of accomplishment in this sense Saebhel. You would be proud.
   
              In addition, I’ve been accompanying Kobal into the depths of the Underdark for both Mithril and Emeralds, but instead of acquiring any of those two materials, I instead stumbled across the most peculiar bag. No matter how large the item or how small the bag, it fits in as if weightless. Ozy has one, they are called “Bags of Holding” Most useful really…
   
              The strangest thing happened to me in Haven a few days past.  At least, I think it happened. A Shroom popped up from the floor, exploded, and sprayed some sort of gas to which I inhaled. After that it went downhill, my head throbbed and I saw the oddest things. Cows ..melting, Demons , and raining blood. Oh! And worst of all! Rabid chickens!
   
              Speaking of strange….Ael has returned. But he’s..so different. He claims a desire for revenge of his son. He wears this …armor, that pulses with negative energy, so much that I have to shroud myself in spells to avoid it. He’s gone mad….but a methodical madness which is even worse. I worry for him. He has done so much to take care of me. I shall save him from this fate no matter what the cause.
   
              I’ve been trying hard to change Saebhel. To give everyone a chance, to respect them (Even Tegan!) and to listen to what they have to say. I’ve been trying to worry less and to take things less personally. I’ve been trying not to let the little things get under my skin. So far so good but I haven’t really been challenged yet , and want to make sure that when I am I can meet that challenge without the destruction to those around me.
   
              I think the main idea is to find myself, what I care about, and what I want to do with my life. That’s the main goal. It has to be.
   
   
  With…some kind of strange recollection,
   
             Rhynn (Who belongs to no one but herself)

[LynnJuniper]

It is with extreme happiness and pride that I announce to this journal that Treana is a wizard! I refused to go easy on her as I tested her in Ozy's house. First I asked her some basic questions, most having to due with spell schools, counter spells and material components. Next I began to cast and asked her to identify the spells in which I was casting , to which I was surprised she had a knack for , even above my expectations. She almost confused Protection from Alignment with Protection from Elements, but after I reminded her about all the fireballs that she didn't get hit with, she caught right on. She even managed to identify Weird after some prodding! and When I had called a particular spell Conjuration, she corrected me with the right school. It was a trick, and a test...I swear....
 
  Other than that I am working to prepare the last of my orders for the kitchen, and managed to get a few last things in order with Pyyran and Karn. Told them to take care of the house. I also watched the incident with the Rose and Dagger , Hawk and Alle become resolved. Hawk is stronger willed than I would have imagined and as a result he managed to free the soul of a ghost. Though I would never mention it to his face, I am proud of him.
 
  Ozy has designed for me the most beautiful of emerald necklaces that I am very proud to wear, and then hit me over the head (figuratively) With some news. After a bit of prodding, and then arguing, I managed to ..well..convince him...I may be doing a bit of traveling. I don't think Ill be needed that much around here for the time being...

[LynnJuniper]

The late rumors of the Freidhl orcs attacking and raiding Dalanthar immediately stirred me from my ‘time off’.  I wouldn’t have orcs attacking a place so close to my home, so I went into Dalanthar to see what I could do to help, and found an army of adventurers. I don’t even know weather or not I should be surprised anymore. Dalanthar is pretty out of the way in some ways (I guess that’s why he lives there after all) but in others ways…well, its pretty close to a port (Hurm), the Rift, Northpoint (And through that Firesteep), and pretty much is a crossroads going in every direction. So maybe not so out of the way? Anyway, You get the usual group, Three or four really strong voices, a few that can follow directions well, one or two that are brilliant but work without direction and go off to solve things themselves (Vin comes to mind here)….and then a bunch of fodder. Well Dalanthar wasn’t in a position to turn anyone down even though I think they would have, in some cases been better off doing so. That said we all set out towards the thunder peaks under the leadership of the monk Jin. Longstriding..something. It quickly appeared to me though that in many ways we weren’t getting anywhere. The initial assault on the fortress was done thoughtlessly. That’s a lie. There was a plan, a very good one, it just wasn’t executed by more than a few people. I tried several times to get those around me to rally. Eventually it seemed to work and they seemed to actually listen to what I had to say. It’s a good feeling. I wonder if they were listening out of respect? Trust? Fear? I don’t know but I would like to find out.
  I thought it would have been a good idea to raise their leader, so we did. At this point we talked to her for a while (An adventurer who seemed used to being raised up) while the Druids and rangers took off and left because we were killing orcs instead of talking to them while they shot at us to find out why they were killing us. I swear sometimes the Druids wonder why they’re met with such adversity. Hello! Eventually we all rallied up pretty well, and manage to push a little further as an initial assault. I’m staying in Dalanthar now incase word of more attacks come, we didn’t get into the fortress but we atleast made a statement. Next time we will do better.
  A small note of interest: All that time I was 'away' only amounted to about four months tops on Layonara. Interesting.

[LynnJuniper]

I thought I would take this time to write about the people that mean something to me. I thought I should write about the people I frequently travel with and those I call friends. Sometimes they are one in the same and sometimes they are not. Sometimes I travel with those who I do not consider friend and sometimes someone I consider my friend is someone I do not get to see or travel with that much at all. Upon further thinking I will write about everyone who is important to me, friend or not. And what I think of them. I am aware this journal entry may get rather long, and could prove to be self-destructive if it is found but I do not entirely mind. I am my own person and have a right to my own thoughts. That’s one thing no one can take away from me, and yet another thing I will not allow anyone to take from me.
 
     
[FONT="]Ozymandias [/B][FONT="]– First and foremost of course, would have to be the one that has my heart and has had it for over a decade on and off. I was foolish to think I could love any other for even Saebhel’s enchantment could not compare. To say that I am happy with the way things are now would be an understatement. I am secure now, more secure than I have ever been in both his feelings and my own and despite everything we are getting on well. I do not want to rush anything though. I am aware that I am human and he has been alive for millennia, but we will keep this at his pace, because despite my limited mortality, I am comfortable with it.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Angela[/B][FONT="] – I’ve come to travel with Angela and her friends more and more often and the more often I do the more often I recognize them as my own friends. Angela is a kind hearted person , very affectionate and will always be there for me as a friend when I need someone to talk to. Her advice is subtle but her presence is all that is really needed to lighten spirits. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Alantha –- [/B][FONT="] With Angela’s friendship came the friendship of her girlfriend the Dark Elf Alantha. She is a powerful sorceress, and the sole reason I respect sorceresses at all. She is far more competent than the others I have seen that acquired their magic innately . Like Angela she is another presence that brings forth a positive aura. While she strikes me as the type to be more quiet then Angela her words are never the less strong when spoken[/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Alleina -- [/B][FONT="] Much like the youngest amongst us despite being an elf as well she radiates kindness and the passive and pacifistic nature of her God. Playful, kind , if not a bit childish she usually does have words of wisdom, even if they do sound uncanny coming from someone of her disposition. I do not mean to call her absentminded, only very optimistic. I feel as if everyone else feels the need to protect her, which I do not think is really needed in this case. She can protect herself; As all must be able to do.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Ael – [/B][FONT="] He has been gone for quite some time and has only just returned in a state far different from that to which I remember. The tables have turned now I fear. At one time Ael would be there to give me all of the wisdom and help he could muster and each time he did so my spirits were lifted. Now something darker than almost anything I have ever experienced plagues him, and I can only help to prove to be as much of a friend and a help to him as he has been to me. I care not what others say about him, they could call him anything they wished, I would never believe it. Ael is my friend and he means me no harm and because of such I will help him to the best of my ability. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Tristan -- [/B][FONT="] I don’t know him well, He’s Alleina’s boyfriend but he seems really sweet and kind and I am happy that she has found someone this deserving of her and kind. His caring and emotions are genuine and he has even gone out of his way to stand up for me a few times. I would like to welcome him as one of the people I trust and find comfort around, along with Ozy Angela Alantha Alle and the rest.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[/FONT]      [FONT="]Storold [/B][FONT="] -- Now here is someone I have known since just about the time I have first gotten here. Storold is fun to be around and doesn’t mind the jokes told on his behalf. I think he realises we do it because we care about him.[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
 
  The Further I write these the more and more I realise how many people I have that respect and care about me and how little those who do not matter. I realise that my goal and job in life is not and shouldn’t be to try and please everyone because it is impossible. I do not see a reason to respect those who do not show me any respect but I should show people at least a common amount of respect. I am confident in my abilities and do not need others to dictate to me how proficient I am In any given skill. I can tell myself that. I know where I excel and where I need work and I don’t need constant complimenting to prove it.
 
  Mylindra -- We have together struck up a new partnership, in which I will use her and Tyrian’s Inn, the Twin Dragons as a base for my kitchen. Mylindra and Storold are arranged to be married in the near future and I wish them both happiness as well. I am happy all of my friends are finding happiness in one another.
 
  Lin’da -- I am aware we have not gotten along very well at all in the past but as of now I am confident enough with my abilities to be secure around her. With that I no longer worry about myself and no longer let that get in the way of a friendship that could have started much sooner.
 
  Yardislan -- One of my longest friends but I also consider him a mentor. Especially in recent times he has had faith In me where others have not. I know that as long as I keep my intentions good he will help me and aid me in ways I may not have thought of in order to accomplish my goals. I know that I can be a help to him as well and to have a friend like this have confidence in me truly is one of the things that makes me proud to be who I am.
 
  Kobal, Fenrir, Varka & The Dwarves -- I am glad that I am finding agreement with the dwarves. Through them, and their largely Voraxite ways I feel as if I am gaining some forgiveness from my parents (Vorax rest their souls). I feel as if they’re looking down at me pleased with the company I am holding and pleased that these people respect me. I will always be my own person and well always have a love for the arcane, but it is good to have some peace and acceptance of this part of me as well.
 
  Quillwem -- I am mentioning here so I do not forget the agreement I had with him to help him rebuild Stone on Rilara. We had a nice chat at Lake Malice about how to be a proper leader and the goals that we each strive for. I want to write this here so I do not forget.
 
  Key -- She hasn’t been around since I received her letter so I am assuming she is somewhere off of the prime of Layonara but the words in her letter have stuck with me. There are the used and the users. I don’t want to be someone who uses others against their will and I don’t want to be used. Instead, if the people Are deserving, I will rather assess them to what they are good at and instead work with them to do things we all enjoy.

 Dur’Thak -- He’s been around since ‘the beginning’ as well and has proved himself a friend time and time again. He’s helped me through Prantz and through my mild identity crisis, and is one of the few who I think fully understands my way of thinking. Do I really think like someone from the planes?
   
  Karn -- Always entertaining to be around! Even if its sometimes hard to stop and talk seriously to him I feel at ease in his presence, something I can rarely say about others. Its as if I don’t have to think before I speak
   
  Pyyran – Another that understands the way I think and does not chastise me for it. He does not get the deserve in groups he gets, and for that reason I call him kindred. He deserves more than what he gets and is more than others think, and Ill convince others of that in time if he so wishes me to help.
 
 
  Matilda – My greatest and dearest friend. I will forever keep her close to my heart. I do not do the duty I have set to myself well enough. She is a protector of the weave and therefore feels the need to protect its users. However she is also my friend and it is because of this that I do not want to fail my duty of friendship; to protect her as well, to lend her aid, comfort and guidance where ever she may need. The last thing I want to do is let her down.
 
 
  [FONT="]All of this said, there have been some truly odd, painful, and mind shattering occurrences that have happened recently. Things that no sane mortal would dream of in their worst nightmares. Things that make Saebhel seem a saint. Things that I never want to forget, but things I will not write on just yet[/I][/SIZE][/FONT]

[LynnJuniper]

She stood with her back towards the road, peering over to the small lake of Fort Wayfare over the brim of her spectacles that dangled against the bridge of her nose.  With a book in hand she noticed the twinkling stars adorned in the lake, reflecting into the water and then again off of the glass before her eyes. It was not long before she took notice of the second figure, but even with her enhanced vision she was still too slow to maneuver from the hand that reached around to her face both holding and wrapping around her throat. She kicked and tried to scream despite her muffled situation. With a firm clamp of her teeth she bit down on the finger of her to be apprehender but even that, while causing pain did not give her the freedom she so wished it would. She felt two firm blows to her face, and saw nothing more but the darkness.
  [FONT="]She woke slowly into darkness to the sound of a woman screaming and a metal door slamming.  A pair of whimpering female voices slowly made themselves clear to the third young woman.  She raised her head marginally and then regretted doing so. Her face felt large and swollen and her body bruised and beaten.  She wondered vaguely where she could be. Images of a tower once familiar to her sprung to mind but she worked hard to dismiss those thoughts. That place was gone forever physically, if not in her mind. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Be Quiet! Shh! He’ll come back!”  The newest addition to the dungeon could feel the other two hovering above her as the first voice called out.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]“As if he wasn’t going to anyway” Another voice said, softer and slightly lower than the first. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]The first voice spoke again, this time directly to the third woman. “Are you alright?” she inquired, tilting her head in the darkness, and placing a hand in front of the third. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]She looked at the hand for a moment; sweat beginning to coat her face as her platinum blonde hair stuck to its sides. She coughed a bit looking up into the darkness. For a moment she doubted her existence, then she opened her mouth, no sound leaving but the word ‘fine’ mouthed into the darkness. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]A metallic thud filled the dank darkness of the room. The two girls began to panic around the third that still lay sprawled on the floor; her head barely raised enough to see their flittering outlines. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Oh! Oh Gods!” The first called out, only calming when the second began to speak In her slower softer drawl.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Shh…It won’t be long now…”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The blonde looked up at the silhouettes, still dazed; She swooned every so often as the images spun before her eyes. She was in danger of passing out into cold nothingness once more. The first girl’s voice held her at least partially to this world as she said “Are you going to take my hand or not? I know its dark but…”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The second did not deem it necessary to wait for the thirds answer as she hauled her up onto her feet.  The blonde, now standing squinted in the darkness making out the faint patterns of columns within the room. It was then, with a morbid and panicked realization that she realized slowly that all of her possessions, including her spell book, but not her clothing had been taken. She moved her head rapidly left and right, as if she could see the contents of the room, then shuddered, realizing now how alone she really was without her few items of comfort [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “There isn’t any time to…” came the voice of the second girl, pausing with a wince as she heard another thud “…explain but…” [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We’re in a lot of danger” Finished the voice of the first. She jumps and cries out loudly as a third thud is heard.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Speaking for the first time the newest addition to the captive party tried once again to see past the darkness, whispering, her voice finding her for the first time she spoke. “What are we going to do?”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know!” The first voice shrieked in disparity while the second commented. “You put up a pretty good fight coming in.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Not remembering anything of the sort, the third girl pushed her stray hair out of the way of her eyes, wincing as she did so. “That’s…good to know,” She said, not sure how else to reply. The footsteps and thuds were heard, though weather they were getting closer or further away it was hard to tell.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Oh goodness no!” The first girl exclaimed, as the third squinted in the darkness once more. “What is it!?” She asked, the seriousness of the situation at hand beginning to dawn upon her. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know! We can’t see him in the dark!” The first voice came ending in yet another shriek. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman clasped her hands to her ears at the scream as the door flew open. This time both girls screamed.  The heavy steps grew closer “They’re just going to draw attention” The third girl muttered to herself as she heard a scream in the distance. The shadow of the first girl was pressed against a pillar, the second was no where in the third’s limited range of sight.  The third woman noticed the large man from before. The smell that overcame her nostrils was horrid as the beast loomed over her. She took a step back only to find him there again. She heard a louder scream than any of the others emanating from the far corner of the room, followed by the beating of fists and the breaking of bones. The scream stops, then all that is heard is escaping air. Loud footsteps draw away from the third girl, and then the slam of the metal door.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                A breath of air exploded in the voice of the first girl, pressed up against the pillar. She was crying. “What are we going to do?”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The shadow of the second girl appeared once more.  “What do we do?” Her voice echoed the words of the first.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Why are you asking me!?” Came the third “Where are we!?”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “It was a rhetorical question” Came the second’s answer.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third girl couldn’t help herself, even in her tired and confused state she managed to retort. “Fair amount of sarcasm for someone scared to death.” She closed her eyes, trying to feel for the familiar tendrils of the weave. This was all a dream, an illusion. It had to be. Her head swooned as she tried to sense even the simplest patterns of the magic. She could feel close to nothing in this place.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “If he didn’t take my spell book…” Came the first voice between sobs, imitating the thoughts the third girl found running amuck in her head. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “You’re a wizard?” She asked, to which the first voice spoke in affirmation. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                She found the search for illusions hopeless. This was all too real, and there was almost no magic in this place.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He broke my arm…” Came the rather calm voice of the second woman. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The three winced in unison as the woman in the distance began her screaming once more.  The third found it hard to keep her breathing still; she was loosing whatever small calm she had. She spoke to avoid collapsing all together.  “Where are we? How long have you been here? Who is that screaming? How much of this place have you checked?” The questions poured from her one after another.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know” said the second woman, the silhouette of her head bobbing as the third woman’s breathing increased.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “About a day” The first woman added, shedding some proverbial light upon the situation. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “But the screaming has to be coming from somewhere” The blonde mused, beginning her customary pacing to and fro despite her run-ins with the various pillars.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Suddenly, the third woman turned to the first. “Do you remember your light cantrips?” She asked desperately.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Nothing the girl said..Besides” She was cut off before she could truly begin. In a burst of effort the third woman , without her book mumbled the incantation for light.  It was with a dim realization however that the light spell did little to aid her. She saw two orbs bobbing in the darkness before they went out entirely, and no more.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Why did you do that?” The second girl said, confused. The third was confused too, not being able to figure out the problem. She touched her face, and her eyes gingerly and yelped. “Ow!” her eyes had two large and very sore bruises, she had been punched in her face , once on either eye.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t just sit around here” The third girl said, followed by the second’s agreeing comment.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We have to find a way out. There’s a door over there, But I don’t have my lock picks.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                  “I don’t like being by the door” The first girl finished worriedly, and at that the three of them moved back slightly, the third woman with a nod of her head.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “If the man comes back we can fight?” The third girl suggested.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I tried that!” Said the second, growing upset. “He broke my arm like a stick!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Did you kick in the right place?” The third woman asked skeptically.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He’s fast, that’s all I’m saying.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “And you are still kind of glowing.” Announced the first. “That doesn’t help at all.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman sighed. This was beginning to be a most hopeless situation. She thought back to her home, and then back to the times before being called by the Great Dragon Ozlo. What would she had done if she was still under Saebhel’s command. Surely she could remember some trick to get out. Alas , nothing came to her. She began to pace again as the other two bickered.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/FONT]
  [FONT="]“You need to get rid of that light it isn’t helping!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I think he can see in the dark.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “You don’t know that!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He saw you well enough to break your arm!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He did ,huh?”[/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman tuned this out for now. It wasn’t getting her anywhere, and in fact, seemed like much of what she was used to. She realized with a grim smirk that had she been in her usual groupings, they would have been dead by now. No, it was up to her alone. This she realized. [/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Alright” The third girl took charge. “If and when he comes back, Bite, scratch, do anything to fight unfairly, We need to get out that door, that’s the first goal.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Alright, I’ll go hide behind the pillar” Came the voice of the second girl, as she disappeared once more from the little sight available to the other two. The minute she was out of sight the first girl spoke up.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t rely on her she’ll just run away” She said to the third in a whisper. That stopped the third girl in her mental tracks. She sighed. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Lovely…Well, we can try to run when she does and hope he chases her if that’s the kind of person she is.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I never realized how dependent on magic I was” the third girl mused, to which the first nodded, then added.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “My name is Melinda.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Rhynn” Said the third girl in a whisper then was surprised to hear the voice of the second once more. “Faith”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I can hear him coming!” Said Faith. “I hope you two are ready!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                At that Rhynn and Melinda ducked behind separate pillars, Rhynn finding herself somewhat close to Faith.  As she pressed herself against the right wall, she heard the terrible sound of bones being ripped from their sockets. Choking on the thought, she stepped back and out of the hearing range of that terrible sound. There were thumps on the floor as the door swung open once again.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                As the door opened Faith jumped at the huge orcish creature. Rhynn took the incentive and immediately made for the door. She had one foot through the threshold when the brute grabbed her by the back of her shirt, throwing her five feet backwards into the dark room.  In the darkness she heard a snap, a gut wrenching tearing sound, and Faith’s wail as the girl was tossed back into the room behind her. Rhynn felt her back and hair grow wet as a pool of blood slowly surrounded her. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The blonde slowly rose to her feet, her hair corroded in blood, she turned to the pillar and was sick.  Faith wailed in pain over the sound of her wrenching. “Arm! …my ..arm!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Rhynn recovered quickly calling out into the darkness. “Melinda I need a bit of your robe! She’s going to bleed to death!” The only answer she received was the girl’s sobbing.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Cursing loudly in the infernal she heard so often from Ozymandias, though not understanding a word of what the curses intended, she ripped a bit of her sleeve desperately then knelt to feel about Faith, finding the empty socket, and bunching the cloth around it, wrapping it so the blood would stop its flowing if only a little. Faith’s wails turned into soft moans and her face paled unseen in the darkness.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “There’s nothing I can use to disinfect the wound I have no healer I!” Rhynn panicked aloud. Faith’s moans slowly came to a halt, her breathing dwindling into her last breaths. She felt the presence of Melinda creep over, and heard her insistent weeping.  “What else can we do!?” Rhynn called out to her counterpart. [/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know!”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Big help either of you are!” Rhynn screamed, frantically, causing Melinda to erupt in another fit of sobs.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We have to do something” Melinda finally replied, faintly and between choking sobs. “We can’t die like this.”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I know…I know” Rhynn mustered, as soothingly as possible. Why? Why was it always her that found herself in the situation of servitude, submission, and torture?[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                At that moment the latch of the door opened and they both heard something land in the doorway with a fleshy pop. Melinda stepped forward to take a closer look then immediately began to babble.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “oh..Oh gods!” She shrieked, and began pounding on the door yelling.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “What!? I can’t see what is it!?”[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Her Arm!” Melinda yelled out, and despite Rhynn’s efforts to pull her back she could not get her to stand away from the door.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]                She hardly heard it happen. [/FONT]The door flew open and shut, and Melinda was gone, before Rhynn could even understand it. She screamed bloody murder as she was dragged fast away from the door.
             “Oh gods oh gods oh gods” Rhynn babbled, moving closer to the wall from before, hearing the slamming of shackles, and Melinda’s consistent screams. Rhynn also heard the sounds of a blade, and those same tearing sounds amongst the screams. In rhythm she screamed again and again, getting weaker each time, fading to nothing.
             Rhynn’s face paled more so as she slumped against the wall, taking no heed of the pool of Faith’s blood beneath her, she was about to pass out once more from the sheer pressure when she heard the staggered breathing of her comrade once more.
             
  “I …am I dead?”
             “No..You’re not” Rhynn answered tiredly, closing her eyes against the sound.
             “I will be …soon…thankfully…anything to be…out of here.” The voice was gone again, along with the sound of Faith’s breathing. Tears began to pour from Rhynn’s eyes.
             
             Once more, before Rhynn’s comprehension fully set in, the atrocious looming figure was above her again. She tried to crawl away from him, but was grabbed forcibly by the throat and pulled out the door over to the next room. Rhynn struggled and kicked inward, aiming for his groin. In a twist of luck her kick sets in, the man doubling over and loosing his grip. Rhynn took this as an incentive to wiggle free but was grabbed just barely , held by her face and thrown into the second room where two shackles fell down heavily upon her ankles. She momentarily blacked out again.
  With her face grabbed in such a way, her eye had been opened again. Rhynn noticed the hazy figure of a large blade hanging above her. She also took note of a lever within her reach, but was unable to discern the connection. A woman wincing at the other side of the room hung from chains by her wrists in immense pain. It was all too much to handle , Rhynn turned to the side.
 
  And what she found there would be imprinted onto her memory for eternity. Melinda. flayed up to the head, her skin cut to look like wings on the ground behind her. Rhynn opened her mouth in a silent scream, wiggling away from the body and only noticing the fresh pool of blood beneath her as she did.  She coughed, sick at the thought that ran through her mind. It was now or never and this was her only choice. She leaned forward To apply pressure on the lever, at the same time, grabbing the flayed body that was once Melinda and throwing it between her and the blade as best she could.
  By some miracle the blade came down, missing both Rhynn and the body as she quickly placed it aside in disgust. The blade came upward once more, remaining stationary however the sound attracted the despicable brute into the room and over Rhynn’s cowering body once more. For the first time she saw him fully. His eye and mouth were sewn shut, and he carried a great axe. Rhynn looked upward with venom in her eyes, and balled her fists in rage. Rage made her feel good, it made her forget how frightened she was.
             The great brute eyed the lever and then looked down to Rhynn snarling despite his sewn face. His grip tightened on the axe as he raised it above Rhynn and swung it down. She moved , going once more for the corpse of Melinda but this time she was too late. The axe came down and landed in her leg. The brute pulled it upward, a squelching sound filling the room as it left Rhynn’s leg, and held it again ready to strike, this time higher. Rhynn looked around once desperately then with a burst of adrenaline leaned her entire weight down on the lever as the brute’s great axe came down, the blunt of it hitting Rhynn over the head. Everything grew slow and for the third time she passed out of consciousness.
  She woke, opening one eye first, and then the other slowly, to find that the other axe, once hanging above came down as well; cleaving the orcish man in two. The chains once attached to her were destroyed by the falling blade, shackles still around her ankles but no longer holding her in place. Her first thought goes to her leg, as she gingerly feels downward checking to make sure it still exists in one piece. To her relief, it does, the wound simply being one of the flesh.
  Without a second thought Rhynn grabbed the weapon of her now cleaved adversary, caring not of its immense weight, and going over to the other side of the room where she noticed the woman from before, now crumpled onto the ground. Rhynn paled again, the tears welling in her eyes as she noticed the woman’s arms, still hanging upon the rope above her. This woman fell because her bones snapped clear, and for no other reason.
             
  “One…prayer..” The woman muttered. “One…final…prayer”
  Rhynn listened, horrified, as the woman went on. She closed her eyes praying to whatever gods she knew existed to lift her from this place.
                         “So... that I... might pass unto Toran... where I belong... in my last breaths... being in prayer for another..”
  Rhynn wondered silently what this could have meant, perhaps, she had one final prayer that she could offer to aid her. As if answering her silent thoughts, the Toranite continued.
             “I only have strength…for one final prayer.”
  Rhynn wished desperately. “Sanctuary! Concealment, To relieve me from this vial place!”
  In her final breath, the Toranite Whispered the prayer as Rhynn disappeared even from herself.
  Rhynn made her way from the room, saying a prayer to Toran herself to deliver this woman into his arms. She knew she would not be heard though, never in this place.
  In a far corner she found, to her amazement , her things, which she piled onto her back quickly, trading them for the axe. She hauled herself along tiredly, finding hole in the wall and no other way out. She , not thinking, crawled in, wincing as the muck of the hole touched her leg. She could not worry for that now, this hole, likely a sewage system, would lead her out. As she moved along she could not help but feel she was being watched. She turned to see an eye float in the darkness.
  “What are you!? What do you want!?”
  The eye only babbled in incoherent nonsense and continued to follow. Her curiosity still with her, Rhynn poked it , to which it squished and made an appropriate sound. “Stuck in that place as well? Come along Squishy, I’ll see what I can do for you.”
  The rest of the journey went in realitive silence as Rhynn found herself crawling out of the somewhat familiar underground leading up to Port Hempstead. With that, she found herself on the surface, limping as quickly as her legs would carry her first to the water, where she managed to at least wash her face and hair off, along with the muck of her wound, then to familiar ground, into the Crimson Eagle’s Memorial, finding Ozymandias and Tristan sitting amongst the memorial, speaking as always. This is where she collapsed a final time, knowing as she reached them, that she was safe.

[LynnJuniper]

She stood with her back towards the road, peering over to the small lake of Fort Wayfare over the brim of her spectacles that dangled against the bridge of her nose.  With a book in hand she noticed the twinkling stars adorned in the lake, reflecting into the water and then again off of the glass before her eyes. It was not long before she took notice of the second figure, but even with her enhanced vision she was still too slow to maneuver from the hand that reached around to her face both holding and wrapping around her throat. She kicked and tried to scream despite her muffled situation. With a firm clamp of her teeth she bit down on the finger of her to be apprehender but even that, while causing pain did not give her the freedom she so wished it would. She felt two firm blows to her face, and saw nothing more but the darkness.
  [FONT="]She woke slowly into darkness to the sound of a woman screaming and a metal door slamming.  A pair of whimpering female voices slowly made themselves clear to the third young woman.  She raised her head marginally and then regretted doing so. Her face felt large and swollen and her body bruised and beaten.  She wondered vaguely where she could be. Images of a tower once familiar to her sprung to mind but she worked hard to dismiss those thoughts. That place was gone forever physically, if not in her mind. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Be Quiet! Shh! He’ll come back!”  The newest addition to the dungeon could feel the other two hovering above her as the first voice called out.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]“As if he wasn’t going to anyway” Another voice said, softer and slightly lower than the first. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]The first voice spoke again, this time directly to the third woman. “Are you alright?” she inquired, tilting her head in the darkness, and placing a hand in front of the third. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]She looked at the hand for a moment; sweat beginning to coat her face as her platinum blonde hair stuck to its sides. She coughed a bit looking up into the darkness. For a moment she doubted her existence, then she opened her mouth, no sound leaving but the word ‘fine’ mouthed into the darkness. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]A metallic thud filled the dank darkness of the room. The two girls began to panic around the third that still lay sprawled on the floor; her head barely raised enough to see their flittering outlines. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Oh! Oh Gods!” The first called out, only calming when the second began to speak In her slower softer drawl.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]“Shh…It won’t be long now…”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The blonde looked up at the silhouettes, still dazed; She swooned every so often as the images spun before her eyes. She was in danger of passing out into cold nothingness once more. The first girl’s voice held her at least partially to this world as she said “Are you going to take my hand or not? I know its dark but…”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The second did not deem it necessary to wait for the thirds answer as she hauled her up onto her feet.  The blonde, now standing squinted in the darkness making out the faint patterns of columns within the room. It was then, with a morbid and panicked realization that she realized slowly that all of her possessions, including her spell book, but not her clothing had been taken. She moved her head rapidly left and right, as if she could see the contents of the room, then shuddered, realizing now how alone she really was without her few items of comfort [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “There isn’t any time to…” came the voice of the second girl, pausing with a wince as she heard another thud “…explain but…” [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We’re in a lot of danger” Finished the voice of the first. She jumps and cries out loudly as a third thud is heard.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Speaking for the first time the newest addition to the captive party tried once again to see past the darkness, whispering, her voice finding her for the first time she spoke. “What are we going to do?”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know!” The first voice shrieked in disparity while the second commented. “You put up a pretty good fight coming in.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Not remembering anything of the sort, the third girl pushed her stray hair out of the way of her eyes, wincing as she did so. “That’s…good to know,” She said, not sure how else to reply. The footsteps and thuds were heard, though weather they were getting closer or further away it was hard to tell.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Oh goodness no!” The first girl exclaimed, as the third squinted in the darkness once more. “What is it!?” She asked, the seriousness of the situation at hand beginning to dawn upon her. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know! We can’t see him in the dark!” The first voice came ending in yet another shriek. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman clasped her hands to her ears at the scream as the door flew open. This time both girls screamed.  The heavy steps grew closer “They’re just going to draw attention” The third girl muttered to herself as she heard a scream in the distance. The shadow of the first girl was pressed against a pillar, the second was no where in the third’s limited range of sight.  The third woman noticed the large man from before. The smell that overcame her nostrils was horrid as the beast loomed over her. She took a step back only to find him there again. She heard a louder scream than any of the others emanating from the far corner of the room, followed by the beating of fists and the breaking of bones. The scream stops, then all that is heard is escaping air. Loud footsteps draw away from the third girl, and then the slam of the metal door.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                A breath of air exploded in the voice of the first girl, pressed up against the pillar. She was crying. “What are we going to do?”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The shadow of the second girl appeared once more.  “What do we do?” Her voice echoed the words of the first.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Why are you asking me!?” Came the third “Where are we!?”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “It was a rhetorical question” Came the second’s answer.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third girl couldn’t help herself, even in her tired and confused state she managed to retort. “Fair amount of sarcasm for someone scared to death.” She closed her eyes, trying to feel for the familiar tendrils of the weave. This was all a dream, an illusion. It had to be. Her head swooned as she tried to sense even the simplest patterns of the magic. She could feel close to nothing in this place.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “If he didn’t take my spell book…” Came the first voice between sobs, imitating the thoughts the third girl found running amuck in her head. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “You’re a wizard?” She asked, to which the first voice spoke in affirmation. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                She found the search for illusions hopeless. This was all too real, and there was almost no magic in this place.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He broke my arm…” Came the rather calm voice of the second woman. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The three winced in unison as the woman in the distance began her screaming once more.  The third found it hard to keep her breathing still; she was loosing whatever small calm she had. She spoke to avoid collapsing all together.  “Where are we? How long have you been here? Who is that screaming? How much of this place have you checked?” The questions poured from her one after another.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know” said the second woman, the silhouette of her head bobbing as the third woman’s breathing increased.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “About a day” The first woman added, shedding some proverbial light upon the situation. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “But the screaming has to be coming from somewhere” The blonde mused, beginning her customary pacing to and fro despite her run-ins with the various pillars.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Suddenly, the third woman turned to the first. “Do you remember your light cantrips?” She asked desperately.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Nothing the girl said..Besides” She was cut off before she could truly begin. In a burst of effort the third woman , without her book mumbled the incantation for light.  It was with a dim realization however that the light spell did little to aid her. She saw two orbs bobbing in the darkness before they went out entirely, and no more.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Why did you do that?” The second girl said, confused. The third was confused too, not being able to figure out the problem. She touched her face, and her eyes gingerly and yelped. “Ow!” her eyes had two large and very sore bruises, she had been punched in her face , once on either eye.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t just sit around here” The third girl said, followed by the second’s agreeing comment.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We have to find a way out. There’s a door over there, But I don’t have my lock picks.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                  “I don’t like being by the door” The first girl finished worriedly, and at that the three of them moved back slightly, the third woman with a nod of her head.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “If the man comes back we can fight?” The third girl suggested.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I tried that!” Said the second, growing upset. “He broke my arm like a stick!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Did you kick in the right place?” The third woman asked skeptically.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He’s fast, that’s all I’m saying.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “And you are still kind of glowing.” Announced the first. “That doesn’t help at all.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman sighed. This was beginning to be a most hopeless situation. She thought back to her home, and then back to the times before being called by the Great Dragon Ozlo. What would she had done if she was still under Saebhel’s command. Surely she could remember some trick to get out. Alas , nothing came to her. She began to pace again as the other two bickered.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]“You need to get rid of that light it isn’t helping!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I think he can see in the dark.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “You don’t know that!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He saw you well enough to break your arm!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “He did ,huh?”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The third woman tuned this out for now. It wasn’t getting her anywhere, and in fact, seemed like much of what she was used to. She realized with a grim smirk that had she been in her usual groupings, they would have been dead by now. No, it was up to her alone. This she realized. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Alright” The third girl took charge. “If and when he comes back, Bite, scratch, do anything to fight unfairly, We need to get out that door, that’s the first goal.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Alright, I’ll go hide behind the pillar” Came the voice of the second girl, as she disappeared once more from the little sight available to the other two. The minute she was out of sight the first girl spoke up.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t rely on her she’ll just run away” She said to the third in a whisper. That stopped the third girl in her mental tracks. She sighed. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Lovely…Well, we can try to run when she does and hope he chases her if that’s the kind of person she is.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I never realized how dependent on magic I was” the third girl mused, to which the first nodded, then added.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “My name is Melinda.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Rhynn” Said the third girl in a whisper then was surprised to hear the voice of the second once more. “Faith”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I can hear him coming!” Said Faith. “I hope you two are ready!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                At that Rhynn and Melinda ducked behind separate pillars, Rhynn finding herself somewhat close to Faith.  As she pressed herself against the right wall, she heard the terrible sound of bones being ripped from their sockets. Choking on the thought, she stepped back and out of the hearing range of that terrible sound. There were thumps on the floor as the door swung open once again.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                As the door opened Faith jumped at the huge orcish creature. Rhynn took the incentive and immediately made for the door. She had one foot through the threshold when the brute grabbed her by the back of her shirt, throwing her five feet backwards into the dark room.  In the darkness she heard a snap, a gut wrenching tearing sound, and Faith’s wail as the girl was tossed back into the room behind her. Rhynn felt her back and hair grow wet as a pool of blood slowly surrounded her. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                The blonde slowly rose to her feet, her hair corroded in blood, she turned to the pillar and was sick.  Faith wailed in pain over the sound of her wrenching. “Arm! …my ..arm!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Rhynn recovered quickly calling out into the darkness. “Melinda I need a bit of your robe! She’s going to bleed to death!” The only answer she received was the girl’s sobbing.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                Cursing loudly in the infernal she heard so often from Ozymandias, though not understanding a word of what the curses intended, she ripped a bit of her sleeve desperately then knelt to feel about Faith, finding the empty socket, and bunching the cloth around it, wrapping it so the blood would stop its flowing if only a little. Faith’s wails turned into soft moans and her face paled unseen in the darkness.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “There’s nothing I can use to disinfect the wound I have no healer I!” Rhynn panicked aloud. Faith’s moans slowly came to a halt, her breathing dwindling into her last breaths. She felt the presence of Melinda creep over, and heard her insistent weeping.  “What else can we do!?” Rhynn called out to her counterpart. [/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know!”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Big help either of you are!” Rhynn screamed, frantically, causing Melinda to erupt in another fit of sobs.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “We have to do something” Melinda finally replied, faintly and between choking sobs. “We can’t die like this.”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “I know…I know” Rhynn mustered, as soothingly as possible. Why? Why was it always her that found herself in the situation of servitude, submission, and torture?[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                At that moment the latch of the door opened and they both heard something land in the doorway with a fleshy pop. Melinda stepped forward to take a closer look then immediately began to babble.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “oh..Oh gods!” She shrieked, and began pounding on the door yelling.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “What!? I can’t see what is it!?”[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                “Her Arm!” Melinda yelled out, and despite Rhynn’s efforts to pull her back she could not get her to stand away from the door.[/SIZE][/FONT]
  [FONT="]                She hardly heard it happen. The door flew open and shut, and Melinda was gone, before Rhynn could even understand it. She screamed bloody murder as she was dragged fast away from the door.[/SIZE][/FONT]
             “Oh gods oh gods oh gods” Rhynn babbled, moving closer to the wall from before, hearing the slamming of shackles, and Melinda’s consistent screams. Rhynn also heard the sounds of a blade, and those same tearing sounds amongst the screams. In rhythm she screamed again and again, getting weaker each time, fading to nothing.
             Rhynn’s face paled more so as she slumped against the wall, taking no heed of the pool of Faith’s blood beneath her, she was about to pass out once more from the sheer pressure when she heard the staggered breathing of her comrade once more.
             
  “I …am I dead?”
             “No..You’re not” Rhynn answered tiredly, closing her eyes against the sound.
             “I will be …soon…thankfully…anything to be…out of here.” The voice was gone again, along with the sound of Faith’s breathing. Tears began to pour from Rhynn’s eyes.
             
             Once more, before Rhynn’s comprehension fully set in, the atrocious looming figure was above her again. She tried to crawl away from him, but was grabbed forcibly by the throat and pulled out the door over to the next room. Rhynn struggled and kicked inward, aiming for his groin. In a twist of luck her kick sets in, the man doubling over and loosing his grip. Rhynn took this as an incentive to wiggle free but was grabbed just barely , held by her face and thrown into the second room where two shackles fell down heavily upon her ankles. She momentarily blacked out again.
  With her face grabbed in such a way, her eye had been opened again. Rhynn noticed the hazy figure of a large blade hanging above her. She also took note of a lever within her reach, but was unable to discern the connection. A woman wincing at the other side of the room hung from chains by her wrists in immense pain. It was all too much to handle , Rhynn turned to the side.
 
  And what she found there would be imprinted onto her memory for eternity. Melinda. flayed up to the head, her skin cut to look like wings on the ground behind her. Rhynn opened her mouth in a silent scream, wiggling away from the body and only noticing the fresh pool of blood beneath her as she did.  She coughed, sick at the thought that ran through her mind. It was now or never and this was her only choice. She leaned forward To apply pressure on the lever, at the same time, grabbing the flayed body that was once Melinda and throwing it between her and the blade as best she could.
  By some miracle the blade came down, missing both Rhynn and the body as she quickly placed it aside in disgust. The blade came upward once more, remaining stationary however the sound attracted the despicable brute into the room and over Rhynn’s cowering body once more. For the first time she saw him fully. His eye and mouth were sewn shut, and he carried a great axe. Rhynn looked upward with venom in her eyes, and balled her fists in rage. Rage made her feel good, it made her forget how frightened she was.
             The great brute eyed the lever and then looked down to Rhynn snarling despite his sewn face. His grip tightened on the axe as he raised it above Rhynn and swung it down. She moved , going once more for the corpse of Melinda but this time she was too late. The axe came down and landed in her leg. The brute pulled it upward, a squelching sound filling the room as it left Rhynn’s leg, and held it again ready to strike, this time higher. Rhynn looked around once desperately then with a burst of adrenaline leaned her entire weight down on the lever as the brute’s great axe came down, the blunt of it hitting Rhynn over the head. Everything grew slow and for the third time she passed out of consciousness.
  She woke, opening one eye first, and then the other slowly, to find that the other axe, once hanging above came down as well; cleaving the orcish man in two. The chains once attached to her were destroyed by the falling blade, shackles still around her ankles but no longer holding her in place. Her first thought goes to her leg, as she gingerly feels downward checking to make sure it still exists in one piece. To her relief, it does, the wound simply being one of the flesh.
  Without a second thought Rhynn grabbed the weapon of her now cleaved adversary, caring not of its immense weight, and going over to the other side of the room where she noticed the woman from before, now crumpled onto the ground. Rhynn paled again, the tears welling in her eyes as she noticed the woman’s arms, still hanging upon the rope above her. This woman fell because her bones snapped clear, and for no other reason.
             
  “One…prayer..” The woman muttered. “One…final…prayer”
  Rhynn listened, horrified, as the woman went on. She closed her eyes praying to whatever gods she knew existed to lift her from this place.
                         “So... that I... might pass unto Toran... where I belong... in my last breaths... being in prayer for another..”
  Rhynn wondered silently what this could have meant, perhaps, she had one final prayer that she could offer to aid her. As if answering her silent thoughts, the Toranite continued.
             “I only have strength…for one final prayer.”
  Rhynn wished desperately. “Sanctuary! Concealment, To relieve me from this vial place!”
  In her final breath, the Toranite Whispered the prayer as Rhynn disappeared even from herself.
  Rhynn made her way from the room, saying a prayer to Toran herself to deliver this woman into his arms. She knew she would not be heard though, never in this place.
  In a far corner she found, to her amazement , her things, which she piled onto her back quickly, trading them for the axe. She hauled herself along tiredly, finding hole in the wall and no other way out. She , not thinking, crawled in, wincing as the muck of the hole touched her leg. She could not worry for that now, this hole, likely a sewage system, would lead her out. As she moved along she could not help but feel she was being watched. She turned to see an eye float in the darkness.
  “What are you!? What do you want!?”
  The eye only babbled in incoherent nonsense and continued to follow. Her curiosity still with her, Rhynn poked it , to which it squished and made an appropriate sound. “Stuck in that place as well? Come along Squishy, I’ll see what I can do for you.”
  The rest of the journey went in realitive silence as Rhynn found herself crawling out of the somewhat familiar underground leading up to Port Hempstead. With that, she found herself on the surface, limping as quickly as her legs would carry her first to the water, where she managed to at least wash her face and hair off, along with the muck of her wound, then to familiar ground, into the Crimson Eagle’s Memorial, finding Ozymandias and Tristan sitting amongst the memorial, speaking as always. This is where she collapsed a final time, knowing as she reached them, that she was safe.

[LynnJuniper]

[noparse]She stood with her back towards the road, peering over to the small lake of Fort Wayfare over the brim of her spectacles that dangled against the bridge of her nose.  With a book in hand she noticed the twinkling stars adorned in the lake, reflecting into the water and then again off of the glass before her eyes. It was not long before she took notice of the second figure, but even with her enhanced vision she was still too slow to maneuver from the hand that reached around to her face both holding and wrapping around her throat. She kicked and tried to scream despite her muffled situation. With a firm clamp of her teeth she bit down on the finger of her to be apprehender but even that, while causing pain did not give her the freedom she so wished it would. She felt two firm blows to her face, and saw nothing more but the darkness.
  [FONT="]She woke slowly into darkness to the sound of a woman screaming and a metal door slamming.  A pair of whimpering female voices slowly made themselves clear to the third young woman.  She raised her head marginally and then regretted doing so. Her face felt large and swollen and her body bruised and beaten.  She wondered vaguely where she could be. Images of a tower once familiar to her sprung to mind but she worked hard to dismiss those thoughts. That place was gone forever physically, if not in her mind. [/font]
  [FONT="]“Be Quiet! Shh! He’ll come back!”  The newest addition to the dungeon could feel the other two hovering above her as the first voice called out.[/font]
  [FONT="]“As if he wasn’t going to anyway” Another voice said, softer and slightly lower than the first. [/font]
  [FONT="]The first voice spoke again, this time directly to the third woman. “Are you alright?” she inquired, tilting her head in the darkness, and placing a hand in front of the third. [/font]
  [FONT="]She looked at the hand for a moment; sweat beginning to coat her face as her platinum blonde hair stuck to its sides. She coughed a bit looking up into the darkness. For a moment she doubted her existence, then she opened her mouth, no sound leaving but the word 'fine’ mouthed into the darkness. [/font]
  [FONT="]A metallic thud filled the dank darkness of the room. The two girls began to panic around the third that still lay sprawled on the floor; her head barely raised enough to see their flittering outlines. [/font]
  [FONT="]“Oh! Oh Gods!” The first called out, only calming when the second began to speak In her slower softer drawl.[/font]
  [FONT="]“Shh...It won’t be long now...”[/font]
    The blonde looked up at the silhouettes, still dazed; She swooned every so often as the images spun before her eyes. She was in danger of passing out into cold nothingness once more. The first girl’s voice held her at least partially to this world as she said “Are you going to take my hand or not? I know its dark but...”[/font]
  [FONT="]                The second did not deem it necessary to wait for the thirds answer as she hauled her up onto her feet.  The blonde, now standing squinted in the darkness making out the faint patterns of columns within the room. It was then, with a morbid and panicked realization that she realized slowly that all of her possessions, including her spell book, but not her clothing had been taken. She moved her head rapidly left and right, as if she could see the contents of the room, then shuddered, realizing now how alone she really was without her few items of comfort [/font]
  [FONT="]                “There isn’t any time to...” came the voice of the second girl, pausing with a wince as she heard another thud “...explain but...” [/font]
  [FONT="]                “We’re in a lot of danger” Finished the voice of the first. She jumps and cries out loudly as a third thud is heard.[/font]
  [FONT="]                Speaking for the first time the newest addition to the captive party tried once again to see past the darkness, whispering, her voice finding her for the first time she spoke. “What are we going to do?”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know!” The first voice shrieked in disparity while the second commented. “You put up a pretty good fight coming in.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                Not remembering anything of the sort, the third girl pushed her stray hair out of the way of her eyes, wincing as she did so. “That’s...good to know,” She said, not sure how else to reply. The footsteps and thuds were heard, though weather they were getting closer or further away it was hard to tell.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Oh goodness no!” The first girl exclaimed, as the third squinted in the darkness once more. “What is it!?” She asked, the seriousness of the situation at hand beginning to dawn upon her. [/font]
  [FONT="]                “We don’t know! We can’t see him in the dark!” The first voice came ending in yet another shriek. [/font]
  [FONT="]                The third woman clasped her hands to her ears at the scream as the door flew open. This time both girls screamed.  The heavy steps grew closer “They’re just going to draw attention” The third girl muttered to herself as she heard a scream in the distance. The shadow of the first girl was pressed against a pillar, the second was no where in the third’s limited range of sight.  The third woman noticed the large man from before. The smell that overcame her nostrils was horrid as the beast loomed over her. She took a step back only to find him there again. She heard a louder scream than any of the others emanating from the far corner of the room, followed by the beating of fists and the breaking of bones. The scream stops, then all that is heard is escaping air. Loud footsteps draw away from the third girl, and then the slam of the metal door.[/font]
  [FONT="]                A breath of air exploded in the voice of the first girl, pressed up against the pillar. She was crying. “What are we going to do?”[/font]
  [FONT="]                The shadow of the second girl appeared once more.  “What do we do?” Her voice echoed the words of the first.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Why are you asking me!?” Came the third “Where are we!?”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “It was a rhetorical question” Came the second’s answer.[/font]
  [FONT="]                The third girl couldn’t help herself, even in her tired and confused state she managed to retort. “Fair amount of sarcasm for someone scared to death.” She closed her eyes, trying to feel for the familiar tendrils of the weave. This was all a dream, an illusion. It had to be. Her head swooned as she tried to sense even the simplest patterns of the magic. She could feel close to nothing in this place.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “If he didn’t take my spell book...” Came the first voice between sobs, imitating the thoughts the third girl found running amuck in her head. [/font]
  [FONT="]                “You’re a wizard?” She asked, to which the first voice spoke in affirmation. [/font]
  [FONT="]                She found the search for illusions hopeless. This was all too real, and there was almost no magic in this place.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “He broke my arm...” Came the rather calm voice of the second woman. [/font]
  [FONT="]                The three winced in unison as the woman in the distance began her screaming once more.  The third found it hard to keep her breathing still; she was loosing whatever small calm she had. She spoke to avoid collapsing all together.  “Where are we? How long have you been here? Who is that screaming? How much of this place have you checked?” The questions poured from her one after another.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know” said the second woman, the silhouette of her head bobbing as the third woman’s breathing increased.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “About a day” The first woman added, shedding some proverbial light upon the situation. [/font]
  [FONT="]                “But the screaming has to be coming from somewhere” The blonde mused, beginning her customary pacing to and fro despite her run-ins with the various pillars.[/font]
  [FONT="]                Suddenly, the third woman turned to the first. “Do you remember your light cantrips?” She asked desperately.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Nothing the girl said..Besides” She was cut off before she could truly begin. In a burst of effort the third woman , without her book mumbled the incantation for light.  It was with a dim realization however that the light spell did little to aid her. She saw two orbs bobbing in the darkness before they went out entirely, and no more.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Why did you do that?” The second girl said, confused. The third was confused too, not being able to figure out the problem. She touched her face, and her eyes gingerly and yelped. “Ow!” her eyes had two large and very sore bruises, she had been punched in her face , once on either eye.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t just sit around here” The third girl said, followed by the second’s agreeing comment.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “We have to find a way out. There’s a door over there, But I don’t have my lock picks.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                  “I don’t like being by the door” The first girl finished worriedly, and at that the three of them moved back slightly, the third woman with a nod of her head.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “If the man comes back we can fight?” The third girl suggested.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I tried that!” Said the second, growing upset. “He broke my arm like a stick!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Did you kick in the right place?” The third woman asked skeptically.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “He’s fast, that’s all I’m saying.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “And you are still kind of glowing.” Announced the first. “That doesn’t help at all.”[/font]
 
 
  [FONT="]                The third woman sighed. This was beginning to be a most hopeless situation. She thought back to her home, and then back to the times before being called by the Great Dragon Ozlo. What would she had done if she was still under Saebhel’s command. Surely she could remember some trick to get out. Alas , nothing came to her. She began to pace again as the other two bickered.[/font]
 
  [FONT="]“You need to get rid of that light it isn’t helping!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I think he can see in the dark.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “You don’t know that!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “He saw you well enough to break your arm!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “He did ,huh?”[/font]
 
  [FONT="]                The third woman tuned this out for now. It wasn’t getting her anywhere, and in fact, seemed like much of what she was used to. She realized with a grim smirk that had she been in her usual groupings, they would have been dead by now. No, it was up to her alone. This she realized. [/font]
 
  [FONT="]                “Alright” The third girl took charge. “If and when he comes back, Bite, scratch, do anything to fight unfairly, We need to get out that door, that’s the first goal.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Alright, I’ll go hide behind the pillar” Came the voice of the second girl, as she disappeared once more from the little sight available to the other two. The minute she was out of sight the first girl spoke up.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “We can’t rely on her she’ll just run away” She said to the third in a whisper. That stopped the third girl in her mental tracks. She sighed. [/font]
  [FONT="]                “Lovely...Well, we can try to run when she does and hope he chases her if that’s the kind of person she is.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I never realized how dependent on magic I was” the third girl mused, to which the first nodded, then added.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “My name is Melinda.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Rhynn” Said the third girl in a whisper then was surprised to hear the voice of the second once more. “Faith”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I can hear him coming!” Said Faith. “I hope you two are ready!”[/font]
 
  [FONT="]                At that Rhynn and Melinda ducked behind separate pillars, Rhynn finding herself somewhat close to Faith.  As she pressed herself against the right wall, she heard the terrible sound of bones being ripped from their sockets. Choking on the thought, she stepped back and out of the hearing range of that terrible sound. There were thumps on the floor as the door swung open once again.[/font]
  [FONT="]                As the door opened Faith jumped at the huge orcish creature. Rhynn took the incentive and immediately made for the door. She had one foot through the threshold when the brute grabbed her by the back of her shirt, throwing her five feet backwards into the dark room.  In the darkness she heard a snap, a gut wrenching tearing sound, and Faith’s wail as the girl was tossed back into the room behind her. Rhynn felt her back and hair grow wet as a pool of blood slowly surrounded her. [/font]
  [FONT="]                The blonde slowly rose to her feet, her hair corroded in blood, she turned to the pillar and was sick.  Faith wailed in pain over the sound of her wrenching. “Arm! ...my ..arm!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                Rhynn recovered quickly calling out into the darkness. “Melinda I need a bit of your robe! She’s going to bleed to death!” The only answer she received was the girl’s sobbing.[/font]
  [FONT="]                Cursing loudly in the infernal she heard so often from Ozymandias, though not understanding a word of what the curses intended, she ripped a bit of her sleeve desperately then knelt to feel about Faith, finding the empty socket, and bunching the cloth around it, wrapping it so the blood would stop its flowing if only a little. Faith’s wails turned into soft moans and her face paled unseen in the darkness.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “There’s nothing I can use to disinfect the wound I have no healer I!” Rhynn panicked aloud. Faith’s moans slowly came to a halt, her breathing dwindling into her last breaths. She felt the presence of Melinda creep over, and heard her insistent weeping.  “What else can we do!?” Rhynn called out to her counterpart. [/font]
  [FONT="]                “I don’t know!”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Big help either of you are!” Rhynn screamed, frantically, causing Melinda to erupt in another fit of sobs.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “We have to do something” Melinda finally replied, faintly and between choking sobs. “We can’t die like this.”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “I know...I know” Rhynn mustered, as soothingly as possible. Why? Why was it always her that found herself in the situation of servitude, submission, and torture?[/font]
  [FONT="]                At that moment the latch of the door opened and they both heard something land in the doorway with a fleshy pop. Melinda stepped forward to take a closer look then immediately began to babble.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “oh..Oh gods!” She shrieked, and began pounding on the door yelling.[/font]
  [FONT="]                “What!? I can’t see what is it!?”[/font]
  [FONT="]                “Her Arm!” Melinda yelled out, and despite Rhynn’s efforts to pull her back she could not get her to stand away from the door.[/font]
                  She hardly heard it happen. The door flew open and shut, and Melinda was gone, before Rhynn could even understand it. She screamed bloody murder as she was dragged fast away from the door.
             “Oh gods oh gods oh gods” Rhynn babbled, moving closer to the wall from before, hearing the slamming of shackles, and Melinda’s consistent screams. Rhynn also heard the sounds of a blade, and those same tearing sounds amongst the screams. In rhythm she screamed again and again, getting weaker each time, fading to nothing.
             Rhynn’s face paled more so as she slumped against the wall, taking no heed of the pool of Faith’s blood beneath her, she was about to pass out once more from the sheer pressure when she heard the staggered breathing of her comrade once more.
 
  “I ...am I dead?”
             “No..You’re not” Rhynn answered tiredly, closing her eyes against the sound.
             “I will be ...soon...thankfully...anything to be...out of here.” The voice was gone again, along with the sound of Faith’s breathing. Tears began to pour from Rhynn’s eyes.
 
             Once more, before Rhynn’s comprehension fully set in, the atrocious looming figure was above her again. She tried to crawl away from him, but was grabbed forcibly by the throat and pulled out the door over to the next room. Rhynn struggled and kicked inward, aiming for his groin. In a twist of luck her kick sets in, the man doubling over and loosing his grip. Rhynn took this as an incentive to wiggle free but was grabbed just barely , held by her face and thrown into the second room where two shackles fell down heavily upon her ankles. She momentarily blacked out again.
  With her face grabbed in such a way, her eye had been opened again. Rhynn noticed the hazy figure of a large blade hanging above her. She also took note of a lever within her reach, but was unable to discern the connection. A woman wincing at the other side of the room hung from chains by her wrists in immense pain. It was all too much to handle , Rhynn turned to the side.
 
  And what she found there would be imprinted onto her memory for eternity. Melinda. flayed up to the head, her skin cut to look like wings on the ground behind her. Rhynn opened her mouth in a silent scream, wiggling away from the body and only noticing the fresh pool of blood beneath her as she did.  She coughed, sick at the thought that ran through her mind. It was now or never and this was her only choice. She leaned forward To apply pressure on the lever, at the same time, grabbing the flayed body that was once Melinda and throwing it between her and the blade as best she could.
  By some miracle the blade came down, missing both Rhynn and the body as she quickly placed it aside in disgust. The blade came upward once more, remaining stationary however the sound attracted the despicable brute into the room and over Rhynn’s cowering body once more. For the first time she saw him fully. His eye and mouth were sewn shut, and he carried a great axe. Rhynn looked upward with venom in her eyes, and balled her fists in rage. Rage made her feel good, it made her forget how frightened she was.
             The great brute eyed the lever and then looked down to Rhynn snarling despite his sewn face. His grip tightened on the axe as he raised it above Rhynn and swung it down. She moved , going once more for the corpse of Melinda but this time she was too late. The axe came down and landed in her leg. The brute pulled it upward, a squelching sound filling the room as it left Rhynn’s leg, and held it again ready to strike, this time higher. Rhynn looked around once desperately then with a burst of adrenaline leaned her entire weight down on the lever as the brute’s great axe came down, the blunt of it hitting Rhynn over the head. Everything grew slow and for the third time she passed out of consciousness.
  She woke, opening one eye first, and then the other slowly, to find that the other axe, once hanging above came down as well; cleaving the orcish man in two. The chains once attached to her were destroyed by the falling blade, shackles still around her ankles but no longer holding her in place. Her first thought goes to her leg, as she gingerly feels downward checking to make sure it still exists in one piece. To her relief, it does, the wound simply being one of the flesh.
  Without a second thought Rhynn grabbed the weapon of her now cleaved adversary, caring not of its immense weight, and going over to the other side of the room where she noticed the woman from before, now crumpled onto the ground. Rhynn paled again, the tears welling in her eyes as she noticed the woman’s arms, still hanging upon the rope above her. This woman fell because her bones snapped clear, and for no other reason.
 
  “One...prayer..” The woman muttered. “One...final...prayer”
  Rhynn listened, horrified, as the woman went on. She closed her eyes praying to whatever gods she knew existed to lift her from this place.
                         “So... that I... might pass unto Toran... where I belong... in my last breaths... being in prayer for another..”
  Rhynn wondered silently what this could have meant, perhaps, she had one final prayer that she could offer to aid her. As if answering her silent thoughts, the Toranite continued.
             “I only have strength...for one final prayer.”
  Rhynn wished desperately. “Sanctuary! Concealment, To relieve me from this vial place!”
  In her final breath, the Toranite Whispered the prayer as Rhynn disappeared even from herself.
  Rhynn made her way from the room, saying a prayer to Toran herself to deliver this woman into his arms. She knew she would not be heard though, never in this place.
  In a far corner she found, to her amazement , her things, which she piled onto her back quickly, trading them for the axe. She hauled herself along tiredly, finding hole in the wall and no other way out. She , not thinking, crawled in, wincing as the muck of the hole touched her leg. She could not worry for that now, this hole, likely a sewage system, would lead her out. As she moved along she could not help but feel she was being watched. She turned to see an eye float in the darkness.
  “What are you!? What do you want!?”
  The eye only babbled in incoherent nonsense and continued to follow. Her curiosity still with her, Rhynn poked it , to which it squished and made an appropriate sound. “Stuck in that place as well? Come along Squishy, I’ll see what I can do for you.”
  The rest of the journey went in realitive silence as Rhynn found herself crawling out of the somewhat familiar underground leading up to Port Hempstead. With that, she found herself on the surface, limping as quickly as her legs would carry her first to the water, where she managed to at least wash her face and hair off, along with the muck of her wound, then to familiar ground, into the Crimson Eagle’s Memorial, finding Ozymandias and Tristan sitting amongst the memorial, speaking as always. This is where she collapsed a final time, knowing as she reached them, that she was safe[/noparse]

[LynnJuniper]

[FONT="]Why did they argue?[/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]        [/FONT][FONT="]We’ve been seeing this for the last eleven years. Why choose now to begin arguing or to begin aiding? Why, “wait until the problem is handed to them on a silver platter”? [/FONT]
  [FONT="]            There was a funeral progression today. Yet another one, I do not know why so many were gathered in Hempstead to see this one. What made this one so different from the countless others? There was a man, The man who has lost his family; arguing the point we’ve all heard so many times before: Heroes caused the Dark Age of Layonara. It is our fault people are starved and dying and our fault that the skies and the world is the way it is. My question is Why Argue? Or rather, Why argue now? [/FONT]
  [FONT="]        [/FONT][FONT="]Why did we wait until the umpteenth Funeral to argue this. And why did we bother just to help this particular family. What about the rest? Okay, Katrien has her Foundation, but the commoners didn’t even know about it until she told. What the hells was she collecting for all this time if they didn’t even know the help existed until this very moment? How many people still don’t realize the help is out there? Why Argue Now?[/FONT]
  [FONT="]            Why not go on silently, listen if we felt as if we had to , and then help silently. Do not help because we’ve basically been scolded into it. Help because we want to not because of the fact that for some reason this hundredth? Thousanth? Funeral kicked us so called heroes into gear? Because you know something? Those commoners have a lot of points.[/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]If it had been me, I would not have argued. At all. But kept my tongue (for once) and decided what to do afterwards. There was no reason to increase the suffering of these people by having them confront us directly. No reason at all. If we’re going to help then we should help. Silently. And Before it gets more out of hand then it already has in the last eleven years.[/FONT]
  [FONT="]
If we’re not going to help each and every family Before it gets into our faces, then we have no right to say and thing, and then the commoners are right about us ‘heroes’. [/FONT]
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
    [FONT="] [/FONT]
 
  [FONT="] [/FONT]
  [FONT="]Worse yet are the dragons. Not the least of our troubles: A white dragon has been rumored in the Northern Isles. We have a ‘job’ to confirm its existence. I wrote down the name of a local expert somewhere, though I have to find it.  I’ve been noticing lately that the skies have been clearing up. Sometimes, I swear I can see and hear the sound of wings. If the dragons take away the darkness, or if someone like Milara does it in order to further besmirch the name of ‘heroes’ Well..what will happen then?[/FONT]

[LynnJuniper]

Well Rhynn. That was stupid. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.
   
   
  [FONT="]            Looking at the letters I’ve sent out I can see exactly why it was stupid. Talking with Ireth would’ve possibly been enough. But no, Not Rhynn. No Rhynn can never be the wise one. Now I have to go out for drinks with Arkolio. I don’t trust the bastard at all. I have to talk to Raven, there are a few things I need to buy. I know exactly what kind of favors he would want for my questions. There is no way he’s getting any of them. However, I must remember my specialty…[/FONT]