My, where does the time go?
This is a journal entry from Lt. Gwenn Jade, from the Harriers.
Well.
We freed a dragon. On Wulthros, while questing for a sword for Tris…. there was… we. Tris went through a portal and, when he disappeared completely, I followed. Emilien went after, though thankfully Ordune and Firiel actually followed my orders and stayed behind.
There was a dragon, one of the original children of Tiamat, trapped there for all time, to serve as a hungry and bored mouth, eating sacrifices from Tiamat’s followers, but otherwise…. decidedly bored.
We freed him, by Tris’s alchemical knowledge. Perhaps we could have escaped without making that deal, but I doubt it. When the dragon came through, we called everyone to stand aside before he leapt from the window, taking flight, free.
Ah, unfortunately, he rampaged over a town with a sizeable temple to Tiamat. I don’t doubt we’ll have to deal with him later, but… hopefully not soon.
Tris seemed more calm on the journey back to Comarr. We parted ways at the port, agreeing to meet back in 6 months near Kindel, but with instructions to infiltrate the military separately, particularly their operations in the mountains. I admit, I was nervous and excited to head there, even though I hadn’t been since I was a child. The layout of the keep in the hills, the house itself– even the nearby cave system, though they’ve now been overtaken with machinery and laboratories.
Turning away from Kindel at the crossroads was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a very long time. I’m ready, I think, to go home. Soon. Not when it’s safe, to be sure. But…. soon.
For myself, it wasn’t that hard to get into the quartermaster’s office as an assistant. I’m good at clerking, and being there means I’ve had my eye on everything that goes on in this camp. It’s huge, and their resource requirements are… unique. Well, not to put too fine a point on it– they’re building massive war machinery, and we’ve learned it’s to conduct a naval battle with the tiefling home island, though that makes no sense. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I’ve suffered a few personal blows, myself, including seeing my family’s personal property used as collateral to buy supplies. Firiel seems to be thriving, though I did just have her kidnapped.
We kept Ordune away from the camp– he’s been in the Frostwood, working with the druidic order, and touching base with each of us every week. Tris is doing well, serving in one of the special units.
His commander…. is not.
I’m not sure what the story is, but even having lost so many who we love, I would have been hard-pressed to say who has lost the most. Firiel, certainly, having lost her very mortality. But now…
Emilien seems to have had his leg taken off some time in the past 6 months, and I grieve for him, though I cannot say so directly. I hope he’ll eventually tell me the tale…. I hope he’s had revenge, or that I can help him achieve it.
Mostly, I hope that some day I will be in a position to repay the debt I owe him– the debts I owe all of them. I will never be able to give him back what he’s lost. I am no miracle worker. But I owe these people so much more than I can promise them now. I just hope someday to be able to deliver on those debts.
Ah, in the meantime, the intel. Zachariel was here, at the camp, manipulating the crowd. By the gods, she is remarkable! I don’t even know what to think anymore, though it’s clear to my mind that the tieflings, those wretched, demon-touched beings, deserve every bit they will get from our great army.
And yet– she threatened Firiel, and I couldn’t stand for that. So I summoned Marco’s help, and had Firiel publicly captured or rescued– it’s really up to Zachariel’s propaganda machine to decide how to present it– and taken away.
I’m not sure where he took her, but he’s supposed to bring her back to the crossroads to meet up with us and Ordune in a week. I am not certain what Ordune has prepared for us. With any luck, the timing will finally be right and we can finally go home.