Last Stand of the Dorinthians- Dead Secrets

[Deuce Traveler]

"We found him!" The voice says to another. "Lucky for us we haven't run into any of Silas Generwine's enforcers getting into here. Maybe we'll be equally lucky and be able to get him out to the temple while he's still breathing. I hope he lives. His friends Dartis and Caramip saved us from that hydra a few days back and I was hoping to return the favor. Grab his legs and bring the cart over so we can..." The sound of the voice fades and you feel yourself being lifted.

You find yourself on the field of the dead once more, and the middle-aged woman smiles down at you. The smile seems to shine in comparison to the field of the pale dead, her gray clothes, and the dark and foreboding clouds overhead. "I'm happy to hear it, Silas. Take my hand."

You reach out weakly, but as you grasp her fingers you feel your strength return to you and your legs once more have the power to allow you to stand. As you get up you notice that your own skin seems to be free of the disease, although you know that it has simply receded and that the elves still maintain the actual cure. Also, you find that the barren field you were on has now changed to a hill of lush grass while the sun has begun to pierce the gray clouds overhead. At least you have your vitality back, however, which is more than you can say for the middle-aged woman. In a short amount of time the disease seems to have made a wreck of her, and she now stands hunch-backed and shaking. As you reach out to help her she pats your hand reassuringly. "Don't you fret now, nephew. I gave you another chance at life, but it's not something I can do again I'm afraid. The cost was too great, you see. There's always a cost for such things. Walk with me for a moment, for I like this place you have created with your mind. I think you will be a powerful mage one day, Silas. Have you ever thought of opening a school? And what of your family? You shouldn't neglect the family once you win this victory and earn your fame, deary. Too many talented men, do."

She walks along, chattering with you and giving matronly and unsolicited advice while awaiting any questions you have. You have the sense that you don't have much time with her.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

<Bump>

 

[GlassEye]

Silas takes the woman's arm and supports her as they walk through the grass. Responding to her questions he says, "I would love to start a school; Hector could work with me and teach those areas of magic where I am unskilled. And my family. Yes, I would like for these trials to be at an end so that I can be with my family. My son needs a father and my wife a husband. And I would like to learn the wisdom that my father has to give." His forehead wrinkles in concern. "But first, this must come to an end." He shakes his head. "I don't know how to end this without bloodshed but I will try. If only Dartis were here; he's much better at these diplomatic things. I'm too bluntly spoken."

Silas is quiet as he thinks and Matrial speaks reassuringly. Finally, voicing his concerns, he says, "I heard a voice speak of an army. Have Festios' followers come to destroy those they cannot 'convert'? And if by the grace of the gods I do somehow get to the crystal, does it fall to me to use it? And how?" He shakes his head and worries that he hasn't even asked the right questions.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Matrial smiles as you ask your questions, then pats your hand as you both watch the sun set. She seems to grow weaker as she talks, her voice becoming lighter. "There are numerous forces on the move, Silas, but Festios' forces are too busy to the east to be a player. First there is an army of human Imperials coming from the east. This army grows sick and desperate. Another army forms to the south, this one made of people you know. A third army grows in the city of the elves, as kin prepares to war on kin." She sighs at this and frowns. "This next part is important, nephew. The Star of the Avariel cannot be used by any other than an elf who has taken the time to bond the gem to itself... or by the last of the Avariel, but the former murderer is more creature now and you don't want to encounter him. Currently, the Council Voice has mentally bound himself to the crystal, but convincing him to save mankind would be a feat indeed..." She coughs for a moment, then looks you in the eye, "There is no time left for us, nephew. It is time to go back to the world of the living, while I begin my journey in the opposite direction. Make your aunt proud, and don't forget your oath!"

----

The field gives way to a soft bed, and your eyes snap open to fall upon a white robed elf with gray hair. "You are awake! And right in time, too. I know you are weak, and when my men found you we thought you would soon be dead, I admit, but you pulled through. You made an effect on a certain guard who defected to our side and informed us of your plight. I have a meeting to go to in a nearby room, but if you think you are strong enough I believe you may get some of your questions answered." The elf helps you up, gives you light green robes to wear, and walks you into a small meeting room where several other nervous elves sit.

"Councilman Silgaan, you bring the human for what purpose," one elven woman asks curiously and politely enough in your own language.

"Let us continue to converse in his language, as he is a guest after all. I brought him because he has proven himself to be a commander of men, and his expertise might be useful here. This will be the first strong blow for our cause, and hopefully the only time we will have to spill the blood of our fellows."

Your head clears at this as you feel alarmed. The elven woman nods at you and says, "That is correct friend. We are planning to go to the head of this regime's special police force and cut out its infection before marching onto the Tower of the Magi. We will kill Silas Generwine and his enforcers, leaving the Council Voice and his bretheren defenseless and susceptible to attack."

 

[GlassEye]

Silas gratefully accepts the green robes and happily discards his filthy and blood-stained robes. "Thank you, sir. I am ready. Please, lead the way."

---

"That is correct friend. We are planning to go to the head of this regime's special police force and cut out its infection before marching onto the Tower of the Magi. We will kill Silas Generwine and his enforcers, leaving the Council Voice and his bretheren defenseless and susceptible to attack."

"Foolishness!" snaps Silas without thinking. "Errr...I mean to say thank you for accepting me into your council but this plan cannot proceed. There must be another way. Do you not see? Once killing has begun it is difficult to end it. You kill those whom you oppose; those who disagree with you kill you and on and on and on. The cycle must be ended. You must have the wisdom to find the path that does not lead to bloodshed. You must find another way!"

Silas jumps to his feet and begins to pace about the chamber. "Three armies; three armies." The information came from a vision of a god but he has little reason to doubt it. Stopping he turns and faces the council. "Two armies of humans march on the elven lands while here your armies prepare to war on one another. These humans have been infected by this plague. They are sick, dying, and if a cure cannot be had they will uproot your forest and kill you all indiscriminately in a desperate need to control some portion of their destiny; even if it is only to wreak vengeance before they die. Splitting your forces now is foolishness. Can either of your factions stand separately against these armies? We must heal this split, gain the aid of Councilman Varel to cure the plague, and send out emissaries to the armies to inform them of the incipient cure. If we cannot do this, then I fear it will be war and the end of both our peoples."

Silas pauses for breath before he continues. "I can see few paths out of this tangled forest. I must make an effort to speak with Silas Generwine or Councilman Varel again. Perhaps the need to divert the armies marching on your home will convince them to part with the cure. I can only try. However, I need your assurance that you will make no move against the Tower of the Magi." He stands looking from elf to elf meeting their eyes and hoping that they either accept his plan or find a better way.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Councilman Silgaan looks stunned, the woman clasp her hands to her bosom and begins to wring them, and several of the other elves twitch nervously. Silas has bared a secret doubt each already has harbored... that recent events might gallop out of their control.

The moment is interrupted as an elf in padded armor throws open a door to the room and announces, "It has begun! Our soldiers have subdued the guards around Silas Generwine's police compound and are now searching the complex for him! Many of our supporters are beginning to rally in the center of the city!"

Silgaan claps in appreciation. "Finally! I am glad that our crimes against your people has not turned you to thoughts of revenge, my human friend. Still, as you can see your reservations are much too late. We will throw off this tyranny that faces us, take care of Silas Generwine, and pull down the Tower. Come!"

So saying he leads the other elves and the abjurer down the stairs from his tree and into the floor of his city. Everywhere there are elves rushing to and fro in a mixture of fear and confusion. Some deem to tackle their neighbors, then throttle them with fists and kicks. Your entourage ignores this, however, as Silgaan leads the group to the elven police building. As you watch, several tied and gagged members of the elven police are dragged out unceremoniously onto the grass. Last to be dragged out is Silas Generwine, his face swollen from a recent beating. By chance he is able to get himself free of his captors, but his arms are tied behind his back and his eyes have grown puffy and bruised. He falls near the human mage, who instinctively leans down and holds the once proud elf up to a sitting position.

Silgaan approaches and pulls a knife from his belt. "It is unfortunate that it comes to this, Silas Generwine, but you have betrayed your people by following the orders of the Magi. Your men have tormented and sometimes murdered those that would speak out against you, while at the same time you have become too skillful to let survive this night. You cannot be suffered to live."

The abjurer hears the strangled words that come from the defeated form next to him, but they are weak and in this he is alone. "No... I never killed my elven kin, nor my human cousins whom I share a trace of blood. Nor did I ever order my fellows to do so. I was the one that fed the Resistance its information, and allowed the human, Silas, to be taken from his cell without opposition. And Kel lives... I let him go... Kel lives..."

The crumpled elf cannot speak loud enough to give a proper defense, and Silgaan moves to silence him forever.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas hardly dares to hope the elf speaks true as he interposes himself bodily between Councilman Silgaan and Silas Generwine. One arm pulls Silas protectively nearer and the other is held out to fend off the knife-wielding elf. "Hold! You would execute a man without giving him a chance to speak for himself? This is what I just spoke of! This is a step down the path of violence, brother. Don't be a fool! Show your people that there is a better way."

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Silgaan seems lost for words as the mage puts his body in between the ship captain and the beaten Silas Generwine. Finally he manages a weak, "But... this is highly irregular..."

His stutter is stopped in mid-sentence as an eldritch blast of magical bolts erupts from the base of the Tower of Magi and strikes several elven rioters who were brave enough to rush in front of their comrades. This small moment seems to put the entire revolution to a stand-still as this is the first serious opposition they have run into thus far. Silgaan begins to argue with several of his lieutenants before they rush to rally the surprised and stunned resistance.

"I don't have time for this, my human friend. Watch him. I'll return shortly!" Silgaan rushes forward to rally more of his disorganized forces and converge onto the tower.

The former chief of the Magi's enforcers whispers, "We do not want to be in this place of madness and kin-slaying. No good will come of this day. Get me out of here, Silas."

 

[GlassEye]

Silas cringes as fighting breaks out. I promised to stop this! He looks at the captive elf and frowns in brief indecision. "If you speak the truth, you've played your part well." He sighs and quickly pulls out his own belt knife and cuts Silas Generwine free. "You know armies are marching here. We must stop this before they arrive. Can you get me inside the tower? Is there a secret entrance, perhaps?"

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Silas Generwine seems to want to argue, but then holds his weight a bit more and says, "A secret entrance? No. But there is a back door that we might be able to get through if we are lucky and if it is not well-defended, and if my duplicity has still not yet been discovered. If we go, though, know we enter the lion's den and I cannot guarentee your safety."