Inner Thoughts of Astrid Marie
By William A. Thorn
I can remember…feeling. I can remember feeling the touch of a warm mug of herb tea, the roughness of a sack of burlap, the smoothness of my…my cheek, yet when I touch her cheek now, I feel nothing. I can remember smelling the earth wafting from the potatoes in that sack, tasting the bitterness of that tea. But now, I do not. I merely sense these things. Detect them. I don’t feel them.
I can remember the joy of laughter, running through the back alleys of the Casperian market, the fear of being caught filching a piece of fruit, my heart racing leading up to the grab and the flight afterward, the excitement of the score. I was shorter, a little girl, and yet, I have never been different than as I am now. Joyless.
I remember the fear of impending combat, the fear for my life in the outlands, fleeing from the Church Inquisitors, and yet now…I don’t feel that clenching of my chest. The encounters in the monastery were…empty.
Are these my memories, my feelings, my experiences, or are they hers? Am I her? Is she me? Are we me, or are we us?
I remember reading that solitude in the wild often brings introspection and revelation, but I do not feel like anything has been revealed. In fact, I do not feel…but I remember feeling, and it is a peculiar sensation; one that I never imagined.
I had left the others at the monastery and made my own way down the mountain for the sake of my charge, with whom I feel this strange connection, as if she were a lost loved one, and yet I don’t really understand what that means, and yet my memories say otherwise.
The trek on this side of the mountains is much easier, and we had made good time considering that we don’t have the baggage of the others to wait upon, but I am unsure if we will reach any sort of assistance in time. We are being watched, stalked, but no assistance has answered my calls. Her life is fading, and with each step I sense some drive or motivation to push my pace to the edge of carelessness. What is this drive? Is this…love?
Field Report of Knight Operative Yugao, Internal Security
By Matthew Vetrini
Field Report: Dwarven Monastery
Since arriving in the Dwarven monastery, we have encountered at least three distinct factions seeking to break free of the wards presumably erected by the monastics that most recently occupied this place. As far as we were able to discern, this monastery’s purpose was to train warriors in a traditional style of dwarven combat without the aid of magic, but through the harnessing of chi or ki. Thus the weapons found upon the clearing of the monastery were of at best mundane quality and have been left in place.
Our limited knowledge of the monastery was largely provided by Knights Nothur and Tavin. Additional information was provided by a member of a separate monastic order that went by the name Dorian Lat. Details concerning this individual are spare at best. However, according to him, his order worked with the dwarven order to prepare individuals for some kind of specialized combat trials. These combat trials, according to Dorian, took place through accessing a magical gate system. This was confirmed by an investigation by Knight Vallen. Further details and clarifications can be obtained through him, although his mental stability at times seems tenuous due to his previous combat experiences. It is this operative’s opinion that attempting to interrogate Knight Vallen would prove significantly difficult, but if “softer measures” were employed, his knowledge may prove useful with regards to the operation of the magical gate system.
Coming back to the three factions we came into contact with during our clean-up operations, the first faction was determined to be beings traditionally referred to as demons from various realms that gained access to Hauther through the magical gate system. It bears mentioning here that this magical gate system was originally protected by the dwarven monks, but due to incursion by an entity from the “Dark Void,” the second faction, the gate had become corrupted and allowed these demons and beings of the outer or far realms (BOFRs), the third faction, to gain access to Hauther. It is unknown how the entity from the Dark Void came through the gate and corrupted it, but upon passing into Hauther, it managed to both defeat the monks guarding the gate and corrupt both the wards and the monks, the latter resulting in a form of undeath.
During our time in the monastery, we were able to determine that the demons and the BOFRs were actively fighting against each other and among themselves. Nonetheless, the two aforementioned factions, upon gaining access to Hauther through the malfunctioning or corrupted gate, sought to break or subvert the wards holding them in the monastery and gain access to Hauther for their own purposes. Followed by their eradication, it bears further mentioning that as long as the magical gate system remains inactive, no further incursions by any of the three factions is likely, at least as far as Knight Vallen was able to determine.
It also bears mentioning at this point that gaining access to and controlling the magical gate can only be done through passing through various combat trials and using a system of keys, currently held by Knight Vallen, to activate the magical gate system. Again, conferring with Knight Vallen may prove the expedient means for gaining further knowledge as to their working and possible future use. However, from this operative’s limited understanding, the gate system could prove to have significant tactical and even strategic use.
Furthermore, as these gates are currently deep within the territory of the Hemekh dwarves, the Silver Order must either establish solid diplomatic relations with Hamekh leadership. Knight Tavin and Knight Nothur may prove useful in this regard. Alternatively, a covert strike team could be sent to the monastery to secure the site, but only if the strike team were subsequently backed by a force large enough to hold the monastery. While the diplomatic option would be the most optimal, and require the least of resources, the second option should at least be considered and planned for, especially due to the traditional dwarven obstinance.