We didn't have much time. Our first order of business was to get the hell away from the rebel city. We needed to grab the documents, and leave. I retraced my steps to where I had hidden them, but they had been tampered with. Removed. Childish booby traps littered the place, and where the documents should have been, there was a note written with a sinister hand. It told us to be in the city's library, at noon.
And out of nowhere, Alex and I met a familiar face. It was Iroh Ing'um, my uncle. The Dragon of the West. I had no idea why he was here, and he didn't seem too keen on sharing that information. He told me that he wanted to make sure I was safe. At that point, we needed all the help we could get.
Thanks to my uncle's keen eyes, we learned that we were being followed. We tracked the man, and my father commanded him to halt. We exchanged words. The man's was a Gunslinger named Icarus, and he belonged to the resistance. His orders were to track us, and if we were to do anything to harm the resistance, put an end to our lives. Fortunately he didn't seem to know much about the documents.
My uncle allowed him his life, and we made our way to the library. There, we met our adversary. It was a man who cackled and spat, danced and jeered. He wore the twisted visage of a court jester, but he gave us no name. In short, he told us this: We were his pawns, and we had no say in the matter. We were to head to the Southern Monastery within three days, or Nadine's life would be forfeit. We attempted to question him, but The Jester vanished before we could do anything. Perfect.
At once, we departed. We left Nadine in the care of our new friend, Tibles, and set out for the monastery. We had two options for travel: We could either take an above-ground route, following a river, or head below ground through a much quicker underground passage. Time was short, so we opted for the latter. It was a ruin, and a terrifying one at that. Most of the traps and automatons were still functional, and we barely escaped with our lives.
Finally, after what seemed like days underground, we saw a light. Emerging into the fresh air was wonderful. For a moment, after leaving the cave, I could make out the monastery atop a nearby mountain peak. Then, out of nowhere, I was swept into the air by a giant bird, a Roc.
It hauled me away screeching, and I was dropped in its nest, to feed its young. I played dead until it departed once more, and then sprang up, keeping the snapping beaks of its young at bay with a bit of fire bending. Several grueling hours passed, with the young ones constantly wearing me down. I had an injured leg, which was preventing me from making my escape. Luckily, my companions came to my rescue, and they had a Barbarian in tow, named Greyer.
They won me my freedom, we looted whatever shiny things the Roc had brought to its nest, and headed to the monastery on a connected peak. On the way, my companions filled me in. The Roc had returned to hunt them down, and they had met up with Greyer, who lived in the monastery. He had been told not to return until he had found inner peace, and judging from the bedraggled looks of my companions, that had not yet happened.
In any case, we entered the monastery just in time. The place was full of refugees and peaceful monks, some of them sparring in the courtyard. All were peaceful that is, aside from one, who introduced himself as Eli. Another approached us, a blood mage who didn't hide his tattoos. We got in a heated argument, and were on the verge of strive, when Alex and Iroh told me that we didn't have time. It was almost noon, and that was when the Jester had told us we had to be here. Eli led us down to the lower levels, where we spoke with the head monk, Master Dionysus, and told him of our struggle.
He informed us that today was the equinox, and at exactly noon, a chamber in the catacombs would open. That must be why the Jester wanted us here. We made haste to this chamber, and stepped inside as it opened. There, the Jester met us. He told us more, told us that we were to play a key part in this war. We had information that could tip the scale in favor of either side, and we needed to choose which one. Now, the Jester revealed his true motivation; he wished only to sew the seeds of chaos. Furthermore, he had informed both the imperials and the rebels of our location, and they would be marching on us quickly. Alex asked him if Nadine was alright, and she appeared seemingly out of nowhere, thankfully untouched. She and Alex embraced.
Next thing we knew, the Jester had disappeared in an explosion of confetti, and the statues in the chamber came alive. With Eli's help, we took them down, and headed back to Master Dionysus. The monk told us that they had just received a raven from the imperials, demanding that me, Alex, Iroh, and, curiously, Eli, be surrendered to the empire. I told the man to send a raven back, saying that we were already on our way, and we would help the empire bring an end to this war. I knew which side I was on.
Alex ruled that Nadine would be safest in the monastery. They said their goodbyes, and in the morning, we set out. After a long and hard march with much resistance, we emerged from the Golmori jungle at a military outpost. I introduced myself at the gates, and the General, a man named Cosmo Lavish, was roused.
He had been expecting us, of course. But we had some questions. How did he know of our whereabouts? To that, he had an answer. He called in an elf, named Airameil, who was supposedly a rebel-turned-imperial who knew of our journey. He's the one who informed Cosmo of us. The elf had an angular face, and wore a smirk. He seemed to find the world funny. Suspicious, if you ask me.
We were shown to our tents, and immediately set out to gathering information. Eli scoped out Airamiel's tent, and Iroh summoned him for a quick chat. Alex and I broke into his tent as soon as he was gone, and rooted through his things. There was nothing incriminating. We rushed back to our tent, where Eli and Alex succeeded in taking him down and gagging him. Then we began our interrogation.
Airamiel had been sent the information by a man in a jester's mask. His family had been threatened, leaving him with no choice. But even he had no idea why Eli was dragged into this. With our information gathered, we intimidated him into not breathing a word of this encounter to anyone, and sent him back to his tent.
In the morning, something strange happened. A guard approached me and told me that there was a man outside the gate who wished to see me. I cautiously abided. When I met the man, he pulled a gun on me. I glanced back at the wall, and realized that we were in the perfect position. The guards situated had no good view of what was happening. It was Icarus. He told me again that he had been ordered to execute me if I did anything to harm the resistance, and then demanded that I give some reason for him not to pull the trigger. Thinking quickly, I hinted that I was a double agent, and that my true goal was to gain free passage to Cavalia, and assassinate the man in charge, one Dothraki Solstine. He contemplated this, and decided to let me continue about my business.
Safe for the moment, we set out to Cavalia, to gain an audience with Dothraki, and share our findings.
-Matau Ing'um
