DoA|Epilogue|Part 1: Age of Recovery

General Summary

Father's Rest

On a coast near Verde, those who had survived the battle but not been exalted stood to watch the sun rise over Aduna's eastern sea. As the splay of beautiful oranges, purples, blues, and yellows illuminated the shores and the temperature began to rise for the first time in 20 years, Hrokar felt a tug on his ear; Llassar was trying to get his attention. With a hushed tone, he pointed out that Varga was currently distracted and this would be a great time to slip away so they didn't have to give him their ale money. Hrokar, always a surprisingly master of stealth for such a hulking bear of a man, nodded and slowly retreated before dashing into the trees behind them.

Kegginston Cogglesworth heard coughing nearby and saw Bolkos Norvison slumped against a palm, his breathing still heavy, blood on his mouth and chest. As he approached the big man, he saw that he seemed more tired than injured; he'd seen the sun again and was ready to accept whatever came next for him. As Bolkos breathed his last, Wetzel Liberatus lifted the warrior into his arms and carried him back through the trees toward Verde.

A sun watches over Aduna, as does mine.

As they walked, Varga split off from the group when he realized they were drawing near to the lair of Juundonaes, the Emerald Scourge. He made his way through the still-green foliage in the lair, though without the dense fog and dangerous monsters, it didn't seem nearly as threatening as it had just a month ago. He had a much easier time finding his way through the green dragon's labyrinth, and found himself in the cavern of Juundonaes

. People from Verde were still picking away at the treasure within, hauling gold and gemstones back to their village from the incredible lair. Varga was at first stopped by a guard there, but someone recognized him as one of those who had finally slain the greedy dragon and told him he was free to enter the cavern and select whatever he wished. Varga strode past them and investigated, but found little of significant value. Still, it was more than he had when he entered: nothing.

In the mountains of the Svimmelhed Range, at its tallest peak, those who had fought against Urguzuth, the Eldest Evil in the final battle alighted upon the snow in time to see the sun rise over the mountaintops. They walked to the Crescent Temple, where Norran Lorakian altered the plaques within and returned the white robes to the statue where he had found it. Sidra, hoping to help the next group of individuals who would stand against a third Reckoning, carved "hint: it's not blood" into the altar, though Bheldrak cautioned against it as they didn't want to make it easier for enemies of the future heroes to uncover the secrets of the temple before they did. Gerty, hoping to helpful, carved "or is it?" underneath Sidra's note shortly after everyone else had walked out of the temple.

Feud of the War King

Urguzuth never lied; he'd had no need or reason to do so. The Eldest Evil had sworn to all the people of Aen that if he were sealed away again, the pain, suffering, and chaos in their reality would multiply a thousandfold. He was correct. In just the first year following the Reckoning—dubbed Year Zero by scholars later—Fainarr's bloodthirst under King Ridvan escalated dramatically, now with the cause of "righteous vengeance" at their backs to spur them forward. They led a lengthy campaign that allowed them to conquer the nation of Buern in a war later referred to as the Feud of the War King. This intercontinental conflict was the first of its kind in many years, and saw numerous soldiers and civilians dies before it would end.

During this period, Ridvan also established the national religion of Prismatism, wed the leader of the church, and erected statues of Revansa throughout his kingdom. The new king was also seen with a small green dragon perched on his shoulders during this age, signifying the possibility of a return of the dragons.

Memorium

Crash Site

The crash site of Cor'Athvaarn in Elzveir became a popular location for scavengers in the coming days, hoping to pick through the wreckage for either easy riches or the possibility of creating a fortune through the discovery of new technologies. Cor'Athvaarn had landed on the western edge of Elzveir, and it was here that some of those who fought during the final battle arrived some time afterward not to find fortune (save one, Varga), but to find momentos for those they'd lost.

Bheldrak Vanatore learned that all of the other members of his order had perished either at the hands of dyendeirii and parasites or upon impact. He learned this not through discovery, but because the spirits of those who had fallen appeared to him there near the ancient city, their souls having no place to rest but the embrace of their mortal enemy, Revansa. Bheldrak vowed then to build a place for them to rest through strengthening the glint of divinity that was still within him following the battle against Zarthilx all those years ago.

Trudy Dusktalon, meanwhile, pulled as many books as she could find from the partially-excavated ruin before she discovered a mortii-infested man with the axe of Girda Wristrend embedded in its skull. She killed the infested individual and claimed the axe of the warrior woman who had fallen in the battle against Cafley Youngshout.

Wetzel, meanwhile, was exploring the upside-down ruins of Triq's mansion with Rayfield. While many of the valuable inventions of Triquiis had already been scavenged, Wetzel did find items of sentimental value. First, the designs for the original Wetzel, with various notes scribbled inside like "Helpful?", "Can cook me food?, "Reminds me to eat!!!", "NOT EVIL!!!", and finally "Friend". As Wetzel perused the designs, Rayfield entered the room with a puzzle box that, once Wetzel opened it, contained the final will and message of Triquiis Fenwyn, updated moments before the final battle through a magical pen.

And finally, Varga, with a band of hired mercenaries, archaeologists, and excavators, was led down into a chamber where the ruins of Fjern's plaza had been discovered. A golden statue stood at the far end of the chamber—the statue resembling quite perfectly a shocked mercenary Varga had hired for this expedition. He was in contact with a golden hand protruding from the rubble. After some manipulation of one of his hired men, Varga was able to safely retrieve the Hand of Serkan Deniz.

The Memorial

At the site where the Rothouse once stood, recently filled back in (mostly), an obsidian pillar had been erected with a new ballad by Kegginston Cogglesworth etched into its four sides. The obelisk caught the glint of the morning sun as Kegginston performed the ballad for a vast crowd. Afterward, everyone began to place items of relevance to those they had lost into a pit which Trudy later closed. It was here, during the time spent lowering momentos into the pit, that Kegginston met Hazel Alakirr and her mother.

Afterward, Yeslee Norvison noticed Gerty and Udel peddling a new alcohol to everyone. She approached them to try it, promptly spat it out, and told them that for the sake of all that was good still in the world, she would fix their alcohol... with the first step being to reduce the mustard seed and dill levels in their recipe.

After teleporting back to his hut in Marsh of Blackbreath, Norran was beset by assassins from the now-disbanded Church of Erindre. While he was victorious in his fight against the purple-robed killers—one of whom was a risen, partially acid-eaten skeletal being of his own making, sworn to Revansa to seek vengeance against Norran—the wizard had to accept that he was not going to be safe until he came up with a solution for this deadly problem.

Setting Sail

After handing over his moonlit armament to Varga for safekeeping in the man's vault, Selm traveled to Port Uscat to meet Sidra, Salvor, and Lana at the Withering Rose anchored in the docks. Selm and Lana waited for the ship's captain and first mate to arrive after visiting Sidra's parents in the town.

Lana and the Healing Paw

After dropping Selm off to find other Scalefolk like himself in Matka, Sidra and Salvor brought Lana to Pascol, where she met with Gabriel Kindellan to discuss opening her rehabilitation center in the outskirts of his city.

If You Do Something for Me...

Salvor and Sidra, then, used a tree in the beautiful tropics beyond Pascol in Aerdis to teleport back to Aduna, specifically the Marsh of Blackbreath, where they helped Norran stop another assassination attempt. That done, they asked him to officiate their wedding. He agreed... on the condition that Sidra reincarnate him as she had Selm many years ago, hoping this would shake the assassins off his tail for good. The reincarnation was long and painful—especially the numerous stab wounds he had to suffer before they finally got the knife in the right spot, and especially how much fun Salvor seemed to be having with it—but eventually Norran's elven body was dead on the floor while his spirit was inhabiting the new form of a stout dwarven man.

Bheldrak's Journey

Bheldrak traveled across Aduna some time after the memorial on the back of his griffin. Shortly before reaching his destination, he stopped in Verde to rest only to learn that only tavern with a room available was a relatively new one dubbed... the Cunt Cauldron. He sighed and went into the building to find it run by the familiar faces of Udel, Gerty, and Yeslee (the latter of whome seemed more frustrated than anything else). Still, their collaborative effort had resulted in a much more drinkable alcohol than had been presented at the memorial by Gerty and Udel. They called this new drink Bad Bitch Brew, a parallel drink to Bolkos's Brilliant Brew. Bolkos spoke with them for a bit, rested through the night (after several interruptions from Gerty to make sure he had everything he needed), and then went on his way.

The journey of the last platinum-scaled scalefolk brought him to Castle Dracongrsl, or the ruins of it. The bridge had collapsed in the past twenty years since he'd been there, and the entire upper half of the castle had caved in on itself, chunks of it protruding from the sea far below. Bheldrak's griffing guided him across the bridge, where he dismounted and walked into the foyer—the last place he had stood as a Gaian man. After taking in a view that brought back a combination of nostalgia, heartbreak, and hope, Bheldrak turned to the many spirits of those who had followed him there... then got to work.

Dragonchin and the Brigade

Brel Nymuar III and Vorji Skullreach sailed to a small stony island off Aduna's eastern coast, where he had heard that Bamdor Dragonchin was living. What he found there was not Bamdor, but his son, Bamdor Dragonchin Jr.. A surprising revelation, as Bamdor had never mentioned having a son, but Bamdor explained that his father had sired him many decades before, though he'd never met the man and was desperate for real stories about his father. Bamdor Jr. had been leading some of the other defects from the Red Hornet Brigade who had fled either their debts or Cor'Athvaarn and was relieved to know that the Reckoning seemed to be over. He accepted Brel's proposal of reinstituting it with many of his bandits serving as the founding members of the brigade.

Brel and Vorji, together with the scurvy-suffering bandits, went to Verde next and encountered the other members of Joggor's Mongrels there in the Cunt Cauldron. Before a violent brawl broke out (and somewhat during that brawl), he told them that he had officially recreated the brigade with the help of Bamdor Jr., who was proving to be nothing at all like his father (not all that surprising, given that the two had never met). Bamdor Jr. was a fun, jovial, beloved leader of his people, but any seriousness he presented was more of a ruse than something genuine.

Home

The Nightreach

Unbeknownst to the mongrels, Caiomhe Nightreach was seated in the Cauldron at the same time they were, though her changeling face had been altered into that of an older man with long grey hair. A visitor entered, slid into the booth opposite the last changeling, and gave her a wooden box containing two peculiar items: a magical lead container and an ironbirch sapling. Caiomhe paid him, collected the box, and walked away. She wandered the forest of Wood Et'Laterna until she came upon a clearing with a single stump at its center. The stump appeared to have once held a blade within it, and after hollowing it out a bit more, it was the perfect spot for the ironbirch tree. Beneath that, she placed the Elevent Eye of Zarthilx encased in a protective lead box. Here, she would stay, casting a protective spell on the region every day until it was rendered permanent.

Brick by Brick

Both Selm and Wetzel found themselves building up a home for themselves and others. For Wetzel, his site of construction was New Masca, built by a few parties interested in reconstructing the village at the heart of Aduna. Selm, meanwhile, was building up the House of Tu'Vash with the aid of the Sunbask Tribe. Contrasting these new homes would prove interesting, as Selm's House of Tu'Vash was a simple place of healing and meditation while the city of New Masca was embracing the newer technologies available after the crashing of Cor'Athvaarn, including the initial designs of telephone poles proposed by Smit Inc..

A New School of Magic

Trudy and Norran—the latter having assumed the new identity of Narek Moonstone—had been expanding their understanding of Tasseomancy as V'Raj Eladrin had been doing prior to his death, increasing their knowledge of this possible new school of magic. Their studies and experiments ultimately led to a grant from Aerdan South, a prominent magical school in Aerdis. The grant came with the stipulation that Narek teach his new school of magic at the college once his studies had progressed far enough to do so.

The Wedding(s)

At last, the day of Sidra and Salvor's wedding, to be held in New Masca, with Sidra's dress sewn by Anca Bree-Lamalet at her new recreation of The Bree's Knees, the high-end hat shop her mother and father had owned and operated back in Paria. After a bachelorette party the night before, the two lovers were ready to finally be married in a short but sweet ceremony conducted by Narek. Following this, a rousing brawl resulted in Gerty and Udel being imprisoned for the evening, where they, too, decided to be married then and there by Narek Moonstone.

Farewell, Friend

Llassar, who for the past year and a half had experienced occasional moments of memory loss, had purchased two scrolls that would allow a wizard to take him to the Weird to ask others of his kind what was happening to him. He, Trudy, and Hrokar went to the Weird after slipping away from the wedding. Therein, an elder of the Dracipava revealed that what Llassar was experiencing was normal; fairies are immortal, after all, but that mortality comes at the cost of their memory. In time, Llassar will completely forget the entirety of this life in order to make room for a new one. The process could be slowed, but not prevented, by remaining in the Weird.

Not wishing to forget his adventures any time soon, Llassar chose to remain in the Weird. He bade farewell to a confused Hrokar and understanding Trudy before flitting back to the village of fairies alone. Without his fairy companion to explain what was happening, Hrokar allowed Trudy to guide him away from the village and through a portal home to Prime.

Report Date

20 Jan 2024

Primary Location

Aen

Related Plots

The Reckoning

Related Characters