Shadow War campaign In-Game: Chapter 67- Return to Union Point

[Navarre]

The servants obediently refill your cups. Landru pauses before answering you, Bedlor, as he offers a word of caution.

"Easy there, kids. That my special blend there. It'll knock you for a whollop if you aren't careful."

He greets you, Tren, in perfect Elvish. Miraculously, all of you understand every word.

"I am Master Landru Longstem Gazewarder Wraithbinder Threebedder Lothnaru of White Grove, late of West Wellington by way of the Alabaster Tower."

"I welcome one of the First Kind to our humble home. Your look is unlike any Elf of which I have ever heard but your assistance in bringing my friends, and yours, back to me so expediently is met with gratitude."

"May your days find fulfillment from the wisdom of the past and lead to the peace of a quiet future, far beyond the passing of the mortal world."

[Strifeter]

Tren bows his head slightly in master Landru's direction slightly surprised to hear his tongue spoken so well. A slight smile appears from him.

"Your welcome is graciously accepted to a home I would not call humble but imaginative and thoroughly interesting Mastrer Landru Longstem Gazewarder Wraithbinder Threebedder Lothnaru of White Grove. I am Tren Moonstride and I could not accept thanks for bringing both your friends and mine to your home as I would do anything for these people I now call friends."

Tren switches back to common for the benefit of the group.

"As for my look yes I understand that my kind must have looked different here in this world but that is a long story I hope to share in a not so pressing time. I believe that there are certain maters that take precedent over my own but still I wish to share perhaps a not so strong tea with you as I have many questions. These people speak highly of your mastery of things mystical in nature and I hope that you may be able to enlighten me."

Tren stand for a moment and bows to Master Landru.

"May yours days also find peace and the tranquility from the fulfillment of wisdom."

Tren sits down and continues to sip his tea careful to not allow it to affect his judgement. Old ways are hard to break.

[Gaumer]

Reunited with his Climbdog, Percher, and his Packdog, Slate, Bed greets and pets his new animals, retrieves his pipe and tobacco from the pack resting on Slate.

"Ye'll 'ave to be sharin' this recipe fer yer tea wit' Heather, Purple One."

Bed packs his pipe, lights it and begins puffing it slowly.

"Ahhh. Now, on to business, mates. 'Ow long 'fore our marchin' army makes it 'ere? An' what o' goin's on 'ere, Landru. Sure'n things not be goin' silky smooth..."

[Navarre]

Landru replies to your question, Bedlor, as he sits back in his chair. It is the chair from his former days at the Tower, fitting his small frame and short legs perfectly. He takes a moment to light his pipe before speaking as the unseen servants provide what Landru calls "water-tea" for Tren, Master Ng-Lau, and Moira.

"I'm glad you're back safely. I know there's been some right hard loss but we'd best stay crisp if we want to see the other side of this."

"The scrying wards on the Alabaster Tower still hold. So anything we say in here is between us."

"Things are proceeding well enough here. I have to say, even I am amazed at how much has been completed so quickly."

"gRaVl and his Earthkin have built a fortress in a blink. I daresay Union Point is the equal of Madrell's Rock, though I wouldn't say that in earshot of any of the Bragendols."

"I'm neither architect nor strategist but this city should hold against any mortal army, monster, or dragon. We all owe gRaVl something after this and I'm sure he'll remind us."

"We aren't without a few problems, however. For one, the city is already full to capacity."

"I heard word of Peter, Major Storme, and that Lord Bragendol I met leading a thousand of the Legion and as many Kaazradi this way. We can use them, no doubt, but I hope they packed their tents."

"I haven't heard from Drade yet and it's been overlong. So I can't speak to the state of things in Vaadj."

"But it looks like we might have the aid of the Verdanians. As neutral as they have always been in our little wars, the half-folke are wise enough to see the need for them and clever enough to be of use."

"We may not have got them in the fold if not for Georgette Songer. Being a half-folke herself and a former Master of this Tower, she's put the good word in all the Verdanians' ears."

"She's been hiding out down in Verdania since the coup here fifteen years ago. She's on her way here now with some of the other Masters."

"We need them too. We have a couple of problems, all stemming from the population explosion and the new walls."

"For one, not only are we short on space but on food. I've been in contact with Uma and Pontiff Baptiste. They are managing a few things in Hallow Hold just now but are expected to provide priests to tend to the food issue and to give us the healing we'll all soon need."

"gRaVl is working on making a bunker beneath the Temple of Dalophor, in case things get too hard with the battle. It will also serve as secondary lodging if needed."

"The problem with all this construction is the stone itself. You might have noticed we built a castle out there in a couple of afternoons. All that stone has to come from somewhere."

"The Earthkin have been able to shift in stone from as far away as the edge of Dyre, using their thoqqua herds to melt the stone, flow it in, then reform it. Most amazing thing I ever saw."

"But the end effect is that the bedrock layers around here are a little thin. Don't worry, we aren't going to drop into a sinkhole or anything. One Dalophor was enough."

"I'm just saying we're tapped out. We can't do any more terraforming so what we have will have to do."

"Personally, I think it will do right fine against mundane forces. But your own zappaport shows how weak we still are on magical design."

"I've done what I can. The first thing was to get everyone talking to each other so they could work together. My custom Sphere of Tongues spell has everyone chatting right fine."

"Ray Jordan is guarding the Grey Realm with his own people. We don't have direct ethereal barriers yet but we have five times as many souls of the dead guarding Union Point in the Grey Realm as we have living folks here. So, if Serena Kane and her planewalker buddies try to sneak in by that route I think they're in for a surprise."

"Jordan says the barriers are weakening though between all the planes. It's got to be the Ravager's doing, intentional or not."

"Now that the planes are open, we need to worry about teleporters. I'd give anything to have Halnaerm on our side but, as you know, our old Master of Conjuration is firmly in Hyde's camp."

"What we need are defenses though and no one's better than Leto Vandel. When he arrives with Georgette we'll put him to work on that straight away."

"So, on our side, it looks like within the next few days we can expect a thousand Legionnaires, an equal number of Kaazradi, about five-hundred Verdanians, several dozen Monks from both the Temple of the Lone Pine and the Green Lotus, and whatever clerics His Grace can provide. Soon after we should be ready to receive Baron Undreguart's Dwarves from Kallum's Hold and I hear even some orc Tribes from the Hills of Betrayal."

"I am still hoping for some Vaadjori. We could use the extra arcane might. I hope Drade pulls through."

"On the other side of this coin, we have the Ravager and her buddies. I haven't heard word one from any of them."

"Last I knew, Ellora D'Cairn was still in those ogre caves to the south but Blackthere made it back to Law's End. By now I'm sure Hyde knows plenty about all of this."

"But Bronwyn herself? Not so much as a stray dragon in the sky. Just that damn black moon hovering over us."

[Gaumer]

Bedlor tells Landru about their time away, touching on the deaths of friends a bit but giving word of the caves of nebulite that were found.

"Anbar be wishin' to speak to ye. An', not wantin' to be speakin' out o' turn, Tren, but I be 'opin' ye could be showin' Landru that damned thin' in yer arm, mate."

[Navarre]

Landru takes a sip of tea and a puff from his pipe, watching both Anbar and Tren.

[Strifeter]

Tren looks to Anbar.

"Please ask your questions first. I risk to be here for quite sometime."

[sab39]

I shrug. "My questions are for the djinn."

[Strifeter]

Tren looks at Anbar and nods.

"Master Landru I would like you to have a look at the crystal shard embedded in my arm."

Tren shows the crystal to him.

"This shard was once part of the crystal known as the Necropolis Dreamstone created by Morelus Arcane. I have come to understand that a similar stone was created here. Last night I was sleep walking and woke up with a dagger over a gnomish girl with no memory of how I got there. Another strange occurrence was that as I was sleep walking I was not using my skills as a spy but rather brute force in opening her door. It makes me believe I was somehow being possessed. But then maybe I should explain how the dreamstone worked.

This stone was able to draw power from peoples dreams. It gave Mordelus enough power to control hell, which is where I am from. This stone was a sentient artifact. I believe that part of that consciousness still remains in this shard because I can feel something calling to me at times.

There is another strange incident. When Faerun moved us with his Nexus powers I felt a burning sensation in my forearm with the shard. When I finally recovered we noticed the Faerun was missing. I also noticed that shard seemed in a way more powerful. It's power had been fading and barely pulsed but now since the shift the shard pulses to rhythm of my own heart, stronger than ever.

It leads me to theorize that something may have happened to the stone when Faerun used his power around it. That maybe some part of Faerun got copied into the stone as it has the power to draw memories from people. But usually only when they are asleep. If you could somehow confirm that maybe we could use it to find Faerun or at the very least contact him.

Also just before we arrived I felt a rift in the plane of shadows. It must have been at least two hundred feet above the ground level here. The tear pulsated like a living creature. It was like a heart beating that matched the rhythm of my own heart and the pulsing of the shard.

Another problem is my dreams. I have not been able to retain a dream since this shard become apart of me. It felt sometimes like this was how the shard was attempting to contact me. I would wake up in places I did not go to sleep in until finally it shifted me to this world... or at least I believe it to be the work of this stone that shifted me. And now, in this plane I finally remembered my dream last night and then I woke up over a gnomish woman who was deeply connected to Faerun with a dagger in my hand. The dream was odd. I felt safe at first, which is a feeling I have long forgotten. Then I felt old and full of regret. Like my accomplishments were never enough. Other had the simple joy in everyday life and I could not seem to find it. The world is dark and I am searching for sunlight. I am looking for greens banks to lie on like when I was a child. When I was a child? That makes no sense. I grew up in hell. There are no green banks there."

Tren suddenly seem to be lost in his own thoughts. Playing the memory back in his head.

"I see her in my dream. Layers of blond hair like silk, its Chiknanna. I am having memories of before I could have possibly known her. Theres a kiss on a grassy hill. Thats the purpose I was searching for. My hand is clenched. I feel full a regret again, but why? Why, this makes no sense. I met her yesterday."

Tren looks up at the group even paler than before...suddenly coming to some sort of realization. With a look of almost fear on his face as he address everyone.

"Could it be possible that the when Faerun shifted he was absorbed into this thing?"

Tren points to the shard.

"The increase in it's power. These memories in the dream that I can say without a doubt are not mine. I was so distracted with waking up over that gnome I did not even consider the dream. It has to be connected. The first dream I have contains memories that aren't my own."

"Please tell me if this makes sense to any of you?."

Tren seems horrified at the thought that maybe he may have been the cause of Faeruns disappearance.

[Navarre]

Master Landru leans forward at the table, taking your forearm in his hands. He adjusts his spectacles and looks at the shard over the length of his sizable nose, thinking on your questions aloud.

"A rift in the Plane of Shadows? That must be the rift between universes Faerun spoke of."

"It is the very fissure from which Bronwyn made her entrance onto this plane. As she entered this universe by way of Laukordia, it is literally a gateway to Hell. I do not have the power to seal it myself and, with the planar barriers collapsing, I don't know that one more rift will matter."

"It does make me wonder though if Marcus Moonshadow came through a similar rift. If so, I do not know of its location or how that occurred. My understanding was that the Primordial had taken their best care to hide Ashearea from the Nexuses, yet Marcus found us and Faerun was born here."

The gnome frowns and raises an eyebrow as he examines the shard.

"Necropolis Dreamstone, is it? I know a crystal like this, yes, though it has no official name. It was created by Therus Karr, former Grand Master of this very tower."

"Karr was a genius, yes he was. He devised a means to create a crystal that could channel memories. In fact, most of the Masters had some hand in its creation."

"I myself imbued it with the power of creating illusions as well as Shadow Walk, Dream, and Nightmare. Bendis Paol placed ethereal Jaunt on it and Haelnaerm provided the Teleport ability. The power to Modify Memory was placed on it by Georgette."

"Karr devised a way to hide the crystal. From T'Ning's experience with it, Karr used a combination of my Shadow Walk and Dream dweomers to shift the entire crystal into a dream. The only way to retrieve it was to dream of it."

"It existed in the physical realm but hidden by the shadowy veil of sreams. So dreaming in that location allowed T'Ning to see and retrieve it."

"But Faerun had the crystal so one would have to know his physical location to dream of it. I fear Karr's crystal is lost."

"Hayden was very intent on recovering that crystal though. And he seemed to have an equal interest in Faerun. You may well be onto something, Mr. Moonstride."

"We know Hayden is working with the Ravager but, we suspect, intends to betray her once she has overthrown her father. As this shard seems to have affected Faerun somehow, perhaps Karr's crystal was the weapon Hayden intended to use against Bronwyn."

"You say you had dreams of Chikanna from a time before you met her? And that these are the first dreams from the shard you can recall. now that it seems more powerful?"

"Could the shard have assimilated Faerun's memories then? I don't see how it could contain Faerun himself but perhaps his essence was somehow absorbed?"

[Strifeter]

"I know the crystal you speak of was created based on the designs of the one now in my arm. Unfortunately I now only that Mordelus created it and that the powers you speak of being put into the copy I now possess. If Faerun's memories were assimilated would there be a way to reach into them and find Faerun? Maybe his memory of were he went?"

"Another concern is that if this shard has absorbed his essence would have absorbed his power as well. My fear is that Faerun is lost somewhere without his powers and that is why he has not returned to us."

[Navarre]

Landru ponders.

"Hmm. A Nexus without powers."

"That could be what Hayden had in mind. The powers and memories of the Ravager stored within the crystal while the physical body is left, perhaps, without either."

"Hayden would want such a thing. Not only would it allow him to defeat the Ravager but give him the power to rule the world, as cliche as that sounds."

"But if Faerun's shifting caused this to occur then he could be anywhere. He may not even know who he is, poor boy."

Moira speaks up, her voice shaky.

"But we could use Tren's shard to find him, yes?"

Landru hesitates, reluctant to answer to quickly.

"I...don't know, Moira. Maybe. But I don't know how to do that."

"A Diviner may. Anani Utharr perhaps."

[Strifeter]

"And where could I find this Utharr."

[Navarre]

"Anani should be on her way here with Georgette and my other old colleagues. It's late now but they should be here in the morning."

"If there is any way to recover Faerun, we will find it. If we're lucky, we'll find a way to defeat the Ravager in the process."

"What is the next plan of action for all of you?" Landru asks, looking at the group.

[Gaumer]

"Ye say ones wit' wisdom be on the way 'ere. We wait to gain any o' that wisdom that can be shared 'fore we plan a next move."