Journal #72: Another Shard

I wish we could take Avariel with us but I will not risk my child in a land plagued by a shard. Not till it’s dealt with, though it’s looking like I might end up binding another god before this over. Options are limited, research into healing is complicated. Champion status notwithstanding, miracles are difficult to create. I will take what works, even if ripples become a dangerous tidal wave.
 
Once again, I have a habit of writing ahead of myself. Cannot really write much so it will be a shorter journal. Where should I begin, the last journal was off, the haunted fey mansion right. There are a couple of minor but slightly important details I discovered. One that The Beauty is Istralar herself, she had gifted us more power after returning from that sealed demiplane. Spoke to us, Death and Luck. Powers that well up inside me, independent of Pharasma’s domains. I cannot channel it like my goddess powers, perhaps it is a bit too unrefined. The best comparison, channeling from her is like pulling on a deep vast ocean of power while touching this small reserve is like water cupped in my hand. One has very limited uses, hard to manipulate. That manipulation coming in the form of a spell. Her’s can be shaped, formed into anything I can imagine within that Domain.
 
Besides being gifted this power, there are other ways to grow those little fragments. It just takes far too much time. Time we never have.
 
The other happened by accident. Though it’s arguably the more important. I cannot remember what brought this to my attention, but I wanted to ask Azyel about information he knew about on the shard. Keep him up to date with some of the facts we learned about. Upon which I was told he had scried on the Shard, and saw something interesting. Someone interesting, or the possible remnants of someone. Summoning up his god, Azyel force onto me a vision of a shard. A force blocked it, interrupted the sight we were meant to see. It was a small figure, smaller than any gnome I had ever meet. A blank void encompassed the tiny figure. Ribbons lying haphazardly over stitched hands. Despite seeing a face, knowing there was a face to that figure, I cannot remember it. Could not even tell you if its face was smiling, sad, or devoid of emotion. It had lasted a moment, but a single frozen still moment remained ingrained into my mind’s eye. Before that second passed brought out of the vision.
 
A doll.
 
I saw the Runner. The Seventh
 
Those had been the two most important moments that I will speak about. Most of that month had been spent working, researching in Galasthin, and strangely enough, just being around Daeris. Avariel seems to really like her. While we are away on the Southern Continent Daeris happily agreed to watch her niece. This whole trip was spurred on by two incidents The death of and capture of Cyne’s Father and Mother respectively, and the arrival of those ships on the war front.

After getting caught up with the other members of The Lost One, which lead to a handful of revealing. Including the fact they let Azsire go! If I needed another reason not to trust Sonja, she left for Moonfalls with others. Save for Syrin and Azsire, the former having being afflicted with a wound from that blade. So many issues, we had to prioritize what we needed to look into. Originally it was going to be Syrin but Ashlyn receiving that letter had changed that.
 
Rushing to his side, we offered words of comfort but how does one do that. The wounds are still there, still open. I would not even know where to begin, I had offered something different. A chance to say goodbye to his father, so we can get information on his capture wife and who attacked him. Cyne declined the offer, but I had told him I would get back to him as soon as I found out anything. He was dealing with airships, why is so much happening? What is happening, what are we missing, given the connection finding his mother became important. Returning to Ironfalls, I tore an open rift in space to the boneyard. Celu and Ava following behind through be portal. With some help from the tiny flitting psychopomps, his soul was eventually brought before me. Andron was understandable pissed, I would be as well if I had just died. Granted I have died seven times? I had to keep my emotions calm as the deceased lord vented his frustrations to me. He had thought my speaking with him was some foul necromancy. Andron’s exact words were "YOU! What foul assassins did your kin send? What manner of foul necromancy is this?! You cannot hide this betrayal! Where is my wife?!"
 
It had taken a minute but I had been allowed to bring his memories forward to conjure images we could use for a better description of these assassins. Several people formed in that black marble from the champion empowered spell. Something flared inside me, equating to watching the Ivory Demon knock Celuriel out.
 
Pure unfiltered wraith.
 
It swelled inside of me as I looked at a pair of familiar icy blue eyes. Eilistra Umbra had been killed by my hands, knife through her heart. She should be dead! She had kept me AS HER PET, HER PLAYTHING! IT TOOK YEARS TO ESCAPE HER GRASP. NOW SHE’ IS BACK FROM KILLING MY FRIENDS PARENTS!
 
It broke.
 
Celuriel had squeezed my hand, breaking my attention from the drow. Quilling the vortex of emotions I had swirling about in my head. I had turned to Lord Andron to make him a promise.
 
“I can promise you this! This one dies, I make sure of it.”
 
It will not be now, too many things to do, but she will die.
 
Coming back to the material plane, I had pasted that information to Cyne. The others had tracked Lady Ceridwen, via some spell of Malina’s creation. What would you know, she on the airship. Through scrying spell, asking the Aletheian avatar, and deals with my goddess. We found the exact ship she was on.
 
“Lady Ceridwen is aboard the Peacemaker, the central of three elemental airships; on the Strida Battlefield at the ruins of Eldstholm of Terenholt; in the contested territories between the Aletheian and Medimian Empires; on the continent of Valathe upon the corrupted planet of Istralar; on the Material Plane.”
 
Learned a couple of things from that, our artifact from Tenearul was connected to Terraarcana. The previous Avatar of Terraarcana.The airship had teleported in but is using Leyline technology, jumping to locations using Leyline. Apparently telling us Istralar was corrupted. Who is still me that information thought? Pharasma or something else. Why is Istralar corrupt? Too many questions, not enough time.
 
After some planning on how to deal with the ship, diplomacy was thought to be one of the first options we should take. Licia and Malina bought us to the battlefield, where after some debate I finally sent up a magical single to flag the middle ship. The Peacemaker, it was only fitting that the captain of that ship be Elias.
 
There had been something to note beforehand. Elias hadn’t just stolen Lady Ceridwen it seems, but a daughter from a high-ranking official from the Medimian Empire known as the Ruby of War. Another Daughter had approached us before going up to the ship thinking that the Aletheians had stolen her sister. A fiery Ifrit named Idonea Daughter of the Ruby of War. A no-nonsense type of woman, who hefted a large battle-ax, dressing in a red plate and Medimian colors. After explaining that we’re both in search of a kidnapped family member. There was a very loose alliance formed as we processed to enter the peacemaker.
 
Shockingly Elias was civil, not that he wasn’t before. I just didn’t think that it would that reasonable. Of course, there was a deal to be made, he needed champions, everyone who accompanied us up to the Peacemaker was. Including Idonea. Not shocked in the slightest by that revelation, nor was I shocked that Cid’s Mentor was doing fine. Not present on the ship but still ‘fine’ according to Elias. So we talked, ending with a deal that would be best summoned up as killing two birds with one stone. Champions are required to deal with Shards, with a decent amount of success anyways. Elias wanted to look at the shard once we brought it back. Even going as far as to say, we’d figure out what to do with it once we had dealt with it.
 
The Aletheian party and the Mediamian party, just Idonea at the moment, agreed that we’d explain what she was getting into. Idonea agreed to this on the condition that she would be able to bring somebody along. Simple enough, we agreed and knew that speaking about the shards, in general, was difficult with the Seventh around. We brought the two to Liese’s Tower. I hadn’t asked but what was that human saying? Better to ask for forgiveness than permission? Dealing with Shards makes everything so complicated. We’d never have to work with the enemy, but silver linings. Maybe we can learn something from this.
 
We hadn’t explained everything, both parties knew that would be idiotic. Secrets on both sides, us and them, Cintha and Idonea. Cintha was human, mute, and a member of the Amethystine Regiment owned by Idonea. Clad in purple robes, her face had clear signs of burning and used some form of sign language. I hadn’t been able to read her signs, but that was to expected. She wouldn’t know if I had been signing.
 
Sharing what we needed to, the basics of shards, their dangers. It had practically been the same information we had gotten at the beginning but with the added bonus of the dangers, we’d often face when battling them. We answered questions but nothing too specific. If it came up then we would deal with that.
 
After sending the Mediamian Party home, Liese gave me an earful, which was well deserved. As I brought two enemies into our home. While it was clearly wrong, there are limits to teleportations spells. When it comes to the shards, I have a terrible habit of hyper-focusing on them. I wish we did not have to deal with them. We must pay for the actions of the gods? We may be Champions, but the shards were created by the Seventh and the end of that civil war between gods. Was this why we were chosen to clean up that mess. Those Dangerous Shades?
 
After that, the party dispersed with information from Elias about the Southern Continent we gathered gear for the trip. Wrote a letter to Daeris and sent it to Lyadri through the Messaging books. Spending one last night with Avariel till we came back with the shard. I promised I’d take her to the moon, so when the moon was high in the sky. I cast Angelic Aspect and carried Avariel in my arms as far as she would remain awake. Where I glided back down to Ironfalls. Placing Avariel into a tired Celuriel’s arms and crawled into bed myself.