ROCKY
The dark mood was on him again. He relaxed his hands, allowed the stray dog to fall to the ground, lying laxly, its neck broken. Why had he done that? Tempting the thing with a few morsels of food, then grabbing and twisting until the sudden pop of releasing bone silenced the frantic, high pitched whines. He looked around. Morning. What had happened last night? He had been staring into the amulet again, that's right. But when had he gone to bed? He shook his head dazedly, a little trickle of fear running down his back. Perhaps he should mention these blackouts, that seemed to be occurring more and more frequently, to his friends. Then he glanced down at the dead dog, and shuddered. Perhaps not. Not until he thought it out a bit a more, at least. He turned, walked away, hand unconsciously closing on the amulet in his pocket.

Legum and Hammerhand:
A storm hovered over the mountains to the northwest as the Kethem Heavy Merchant "Golden Harvest" finally sighted the tall stone markers outside of the small harbor that served Nol. Legum leaned over the rail, slowly picking his teeth with a knife. Gunther was standing off to his right, hand on brow to shade his eyes from sunlight reflecting off the water. Legum paused for a minute to consider his situation. Gunther seemed like a reasonable sort, not particularly prone to anger or violence. And he certainly had demonstrated his power at their first meeting, proving that it had nothing to do with lack of ability. It was hard to accept that Gunther was almost certainly a senior member in the Assassins cult.

Legum though back three days. He had been pretending to be Nial, trying to make it look like Nial and Hammerhand were attempting to escape Kethem on a heavy merchant headed for the elves. The ship's departure had been delayed again and again to Legum's constantly growing frustration. Then, while he and Hammerhand had been walking down the dock, they had both been overcome by a spell that totally paralyzed them. Gunther had walked up and made a simple offer; give him the dagger that had been the center of so much mystery over the past few weeks, or he would cut their throats there on the dock and walk away. If they did give him the dagger, he would give them a "truth" stone, a religious artifact that would flash green or red if a statement made by the holder was true or false. Legum, seeing little choice, agreed to the offer. When he explained that the dagger was in Nol, Gunther booked passage for the three of them on the Golden Harvest, the next ship heading in that direction. Legum had tried a few maneuvers to glean more information about Gunther. He had attempted to sketch Gunter's face with the thought of passing the sketch around to see what the rumor mill would produce. Every time he attempted to begin drawing, however, he found that he couldn't quite recall what Gunther looked like. Likewise, a D mag showed some magical field around Gunther that screened anything he might have on him. Gunther turned and rather mildly told Legum that if he tried that again, he was as good as dead.

Based on these facts, Legum had concluded that he was messing with a very high level cleric, and that further research should be dropped in favor of more survivable tactics, like total cooperation.
Legum saw Gunther head below decks. One of the other passengers strolled over and leaned against the rail next to him. "Fra Rentec sends his respects" said the stranger. Legum glanced over casually. Fra Rentec was the Hectlac priest that had teleported out of the ruins of Nostrilia in Tawhiem with an ancient artifact, leaving them in the lurch. The debt had been repaid to some extent by Archpriest Vanderhoven, but Legum still had a sour taste in his mouth from the incident. This person must, by extension, be a Hectlac priest And he must be on board specifically because of Legum. It was beyond belief that Rentec had described the party well enough for this man to pick him out of a crowd.

"And how is Fra?" asked Legum. "Concerned," replied the man, "about the company you are keeping." Legum looked back out over the water. "Not by choice, friend. I don't suppose you're here to give me some other options?" The man nodded. "In fact, I am. Weskin - the man you're calling Gunther - is heavily protected by a series of magic spells. He relies to much on them, however, and not enough on physical protection. I have a small item that will nullify all magic for a short period - short, but long enough for me to slit his throat. If he sees me coming, however, he will be forewarned and may be able to fight me off until the anti magic field dies. If you will walk up to him and trigger the item, I can take him from the back. All I ask in return is that you throw the dagger into the sea."

"What is the dagger, anyway?" asked Legum. "It is a fearsome thing, a Morgani dagger, a soul killer. A man killed with one of these can never be raised."

"Sounds like a deal to me" replied Legum.

"Good, we will do it as we pull into Nol, in about an hour. Let us work out the details...."

Nial and Talos
It was a boring time, but one well spent. He was mostly recovered from the wounds he had received the night of the attach on his house, but Brean constantly warned him that the deep cuts were not fully healed. They had not kept him from studying, however, and in the enforced idleness of the time had made vast progress in two areas. He now knew Firebeam II and passwall, lin, 15 second duration cold.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Nial, still a little nervous, grabbed a dagger and opened a crack in the door. He breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar face of Talos. "Come on in" he cried. "I thought you were still down at Noru castle, trying to connect up with a high level magic user!"

"Noru castle is more like Noru smoking ruin right now" replied Talos. "I worked at one of the local pubs for a few days, got nothing out of it. Then, a couple of nights ago, BOOM! The entire seaward face of the castle was blow away, and the entire complex was in flames. There were a lot of rumors flying that night - rumors about the Dtamu cult returning. But I couldn't track down any solid information, and finally decided to head back here. If there were any MUs checking out the STAM crystal, I'm sure they're dead or gone."

Nial brought Talow up to date quickly on the attacks on him and his house, and the fact that Legum and Rocky were on a merchant headed for Nol to pick up the dagger. "I think the next step is for us to head for Nol as well. I talked with Ziwa, and she seems really intent on clearing out of Bythe fast. In fact, she seemed downright panicky about it.

"I wonder what her problem is?" replied Talos.

Ziwa
The morning after she had found it to be an incredibly difficult task to get out of bed. She felt totally drained of energy. How had Baldar gotten in her room? She had returned from a late night session with Beverly. They had just finished with her final lesson in Charm Monster. She already had Charm Animal down cold. She had taken off her sword, stripped and was about to collapse in bed when she became aware of a presence. For some reason, she wasn't afraid. In fact, she was almost excited. Then Baldar had stepped out of the shadows, taken her in his arms. She fought for a moment, but it was a token resistance. She wanted it to happen. The night had been a long and ecstatic one.

In the morning, Baldar was gone, having never said a word. When she did drag herself out of bed, she avoided Facinalethvree. Somehow she knew that the sword would chastise her for the night's activities. After a bath and a change of clothes, however, she went to belt it on. The change was instantaneous. She was under a completely black sky without stars or moon to light it. She could somehow see, however, everything around her. The old elf was sitting next to her. "Hello, Facinalethvree" she said.

"Hello, daughter" he replied. "I think we need to talk. I have examined your options as best I can, and see nothing but disaster for any course of action that keeps you in Bythe. You must leave now."

"Why can't you speak to me this way all the time?" asked Ziwa. "It seems much more straight forward than the little pushes you give me normally?"

"Elvish swords do not last forever, daughter. My soul makes this sword what it is, a guide to aid the user. But these types of appearances drain me. Each time I do this, the sword's life is cut by twenty or thirty years. A thousand years is a long time, but it would not take many of these conversations before I became dead metal. And Elvish swords are not meant to be burned out that way. I need to help generations of solvrain, not just one."

"Solvrain?" asked Ziwa.

"Focal points" replied the old Elf. "People around whom history itself turns."

"And I'm one of these... solvrain?" asked Ziwa.

"You, and your friends, are" he replied. "There are certain people who cause events to occur that can shake the very foundations of this world, and sometimes others. They are not necessarily highborn. In fact, they are more often than not... travellers. People who are exposed to more than one little comer of the world. You and your friends have seen more than most people twice your age. You are beginning to see some of the larger picture about what makes this world tick. That is why you must leave Bythe. A darkness is trying to twist you to its needs. For humans, soul twisting is not so bad. It doesn't survive death, and things will be set to rights in their next life. For elves... well, our life span is such that it can have permanent affects. Something you can never recover from."

"So... where do I go?" asked Ziwa.

 "Nol" replied Facinalethvree.

Elwood
He wandered down the shadowy lane made by the tents in the giant trading area that was the heart of Nol. The news he had heard would have been disturbing under normal circumstances. The fact that he and his friends might be responsible... that made it worse. The entire trading area was abuzz with the news that the Kazanti tribesman were under attack - under attack by Chen Kunda. A snatch of an old verse came back to him...

Moratyr guard against ancient beasts
Kirander fall to Elvish feasts
Myshavar wander the shadow land
Kazanti prepare for their last stand

It was a rhyme the old Salsenahain had sung to them in the outback of Tawhiem. Could the Chen Kunda attack so soon after they had broken into and demolished the old lair be a coincidence?

Then there was the dagger. Arab Mycain still had it, but had grave reservations about keeping it They had gone together to see a old Ibisi, ancient, blind and feeble. He spoke with an authority that belied his appearance, however. He, like the Hectlac clerics in Bythe, had not been able to penetrate past the unknown clerical communication spell that a D mag could pick up. He had, however, claimed to have looked into the "heart of the dagger" and found it to be vile and evil. "Destroy this weapon" he had said, and Elwood believed him. But he couldn't take action without the rest of the group. Still, it was nerve wracking.

Yes, there was quite a bit to keep his mind busy. A little too busy realized Elwood as the sap thudded against the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

Rocky
The dead dog looked at him with eyes straight from hell. "Go" cried Rocky, "kill it for me". The dog turned, looking stiff and awkward but moving faster than it could have a few minutes ago before Rocky had broken it's neck. It charged toward the other dog, presumably its mate. The other dog tried to flee, but it was too late. With a howl that could freeze blood, the undead dog fell apon it and began tearing at its throat. In a minute, the other dog was dead. Rocky waited for a while, the undead slave standing poised, waiting for another command. Then, with a sudden jerk, it half-screamed and collapsed, truly dead. It appeared that he could bring back a mid-sized animal from the dead for about ten minutes once a day. It was gruesome, horrible. Rocky found himself kind of liking it.

 He squeezed the amulet in his pocket again. For luck.