I awoke and began meditation, but my thoughts were interrupted when I heard a somewhat unsettling voice. Up on the battlements of Romulus' hideout, I spied Lynn and Eli. Lynn was talking rather loudly, in a tone I didn't recognize. She was speaking common. I caught a few bits and pieces. Something about "1000 graves, and 1000 soldiers to fill them." as well as something about a true hero.
Anyways, shortly after, I saw her fall into Eli's arms. Fearing what he may do to her, I raced to the top. He met me halfway, and told me what had happened. Apparently she had awoken, walked right by him, and climbed to the ramparts. He followed her, to find that she was speaking common, and her eyes had turned from their pure white to a glossy black. When she finished her little spouting, she passed out. It looked like she had a fever.
We brought the doctor in, and he took a look at her. He spoke some Samsaran. We found out that she didn't have much of an idea what had happened to her, or where she was, or anything really. Lovely. Though our doctor friend, as well as Jack, spoke of a place called Nirvana City, located in the great plane of the afterlife. It was rumored that that city was in some way connected to our material plane. They speculated that Lynn may hold the key to opening it again. In any case, our mission was still to take place. We got ready, and headed to our ship. We were to go to the Northside Islands, and stop in Rozaria along the way. Our mission was to find out who had taken up leadership, now that the provincial leaders, my father and Leonidas, were both dead.
We arrived in a small port town in Rozaria, and stepped off the ship to gather provisions. I learned, to my greatest fears, and my sister, Savine Ing'um had taken my father's position. Lovely. This family matter would have to wait, however, as we realized that we had lost track of Lynn.
The chase began, with Eli, Iroh, and I all running around to try to find her. We were successful, and located the girl in a secluded alley. She was talking to a robed man. With Iroh and Eli closing in from the rooftops, I rushed between him and Lynn. I began to tell him off, thinking him a common thug, when I realized that she had been speaking to him. In Samsaran. This man knew Samsaran. What's more, he had a sort of arcane Tattoo on the side of his face. I knew this face. It was Weston, the Saint of Necromancy and the Arcane University. I greeted him, grudgingly.
We exchanged a few words. I made it apparent that, since he had identified us, he would not be leaving this place alive. He attempted some underhanded doublespeak, trying to convince us that he may actually be on our side. Ordinarily I wouldn't buy into any of it, but Lynn was tugging on my shoulder, evidently urging me not to kill him.
I asked Eli and my uncle to tie the man up, but as they neared him, he threw down a smoke bomb, and darted through an open window. We gave chase through the city's streets, with a red-eyed Lynn following from the rooftops. We cornered him eventually, with my uncle getting lost in the chase. Lynn was the one who caught up and tackled him down. But just as suddenly as before, she fainted, and Weston began his escape. I tried to fire after him, but he countered my spell, and the reverberation kicked up dust and shattered windows. Lynn was on the ground with a fever again. I gave her the medicine that the doctor had given me, and we met up with my uncle and boarded our ship again. Things looked pretty bad.
When Lynn got better, we asked her what the man had spoken to her about. Apparently he was interested in Nirvana city. An interesting turn, if not unexpected. I had always hated Weston. In any case, our next stop was the Northside Islands. We journeyed overnight, and something peculiar happened. One of the crew mates aboard the ship told us that Lynn had spoken to him in the night. Apparently her eyes had turned black once more, and she had told him, in common, of her relations with some of the founding fathers of this land. People that had died more than a century ago. When we checked on her, we found her sleeping soundly in her hammock below deck. She awoke, greeted us with a "good morning," and went about her business.
We landed, and we immediately headed to the Orphanage that Alex had taken care of. Inside, I spoke to a couple children, who seemed to know Alex by name. I was cut short when a woman named Cynthia entered, bringing the children their food rations. She asked us what the hell we were doing there, and I tossed her Alex's dog tags. She shook with rage, though I can't blame her for it. She took us upstairs, to the room where Alex had lived. It was dust-coated, undisturbed. There were still clothes on the floor, thrown about from when he had left in a hurry for that transport mission. A mission that he would not return from. Not alive, anyways. I still had the man's ashes. I placed the urn on the table. Lynn was looking around with curiosity, and I saw her snatch one of Alex's books. What harm could it do?
Cynthia took us to the castle, where we were let into a back room. Inside was a grizzled man. Leonidas himself. Apparently he wasn't dead; rumors just traveled fast. Most likely by someone who wanted to sew chaos. The Jester had tried to assassinate Leonidas, but he had fought back, and escaped with his life. He nearly tore off the jester's mask, and caught a glimpse of the side of his face. Apparently our mysterious puppeteer was wearing the same sort of facial tattoo as Weston. Interesting. Now it was the the king's turn to ask me what had happened; I told him everything. About Alex, the man I knew, as he lived and died. It was one of the most heartfelt tales I had ever told. When I had finished, we took Alex's remains to the cliff side training grounds where he became a soldier. We spread them on the rocks below, in the cold northern winds, over the treacherous current below. A moment of silence was shared.
We turned to leave, and Leonidas made us a proposition. He told us that we would be given a ship if we would go to Rozaria, and deal with this Weston man. Perhaps deal with my sister as well. We needed answers. Leonidas asked us a friend, not a king. He's just the type of man that Alex said he was. Well, I was more than happy to oblige. Truth be told, I was itching to pay my sister a visit.
-Matau Ing'um
