DEEP HORIZON-- Part III INTERLUDE
Our good friend Keldas has written a brief interlude to answer your questions:
As Keldas darted around the corner he felt his connection to the weave return. Flush with magical energy, his confidence returned and he carefully considered his options. He prepared to unleash his most powerful offensive spell, disintegrate, on the off chance that the cowardly Beholder foolishly revealed himself. The Beholder had already miscalculated allowing Keldas to easily avoid the effects of its central eye. He didn't expect the Beholder to compound the error by exposing itself to Keldas' direct assault. Nevertheless, either the eye tyrant or its allies would soon find out just how dear of a mistake it was to allow Keldas unfettered access to his powers. Surprisingly, the Beholder floated into view, striking with his three most powerful rays before Keldas could react. Keldas recognized the triple assault as rays of finger of death, flesh to stone, and disintegrate. He easily shrugged off the effects of the finger of death but felt Haela's protection evaporate as he was struck with the second ray, when the last ray struck he suddenly found himself back in the forests of Arvandor.
"How could I have succumbed so easily to a mere Beholder?" Keldas pondered this failure while walking through the lush forests. The more he thought about it the more Keldas grew to believe that maybe his time on Faerun had come to an end. After all, he now had the opportunity to continue his study of history with the perspective gained from the last year of adventuring with his companions. He could only begin to imagine the impact this new perspective might have on his old studies. Plus, he would no longer be distracted by constant adventuring, running around on this or that errand with his adventuring companions. He felt confident they would survive the ensuing battle. Between Wulf, Dorn and the Assmar there was more than enough punch to put an end to a handful of Desmodu and a single Beholder. If worse came to worst, Karak could always teleport the party back to the sanctuary of the forge. Aliane should be safe in their hands.
Keldas would certainly miss his companions, but he now had the opportunity to spend endless hours in study of the Art and, more importantly, meet in person many of the elven heroes he had spent the first hundred years of his life reading about. The chance to discuss historical events with the actual participants themselves was too much to pass up. He would stay in Arvandor for good this time. When the old dwarf from the forge came calling this time, he would send his regrets to his companions and wish them luck in their mission. He decided to start with his own ancestors and headed off in search of his grandfather, Keldaran. Keldas wanted to discuss the defense and subsequent fall of Athlantia under the onslaught of the hordes of K’thuckik 500 years ago. Keldas had read everything there was to read on the subject by the time he was 50. It was the accounts of that battle that had sparked his intense interest in history as a child. It also had a pervasive effect on the rest of his life as his family's name had been forever besmirched as a result of the defeat. It was Keldaran himself, an archmage of great power, who had led the defense of Athlantia against the lich K'thuckik's undead army and their dark elven allies. In the process Keldaran lost his life and the two most valued treasures of the people of Athlantia: the staff and robes of Athlantia, the symbols of office for their elected leader, and the two most powerful items available to aid in the defense of the city. It was that event that had originally sparked Keldas to take up the path of the adventurer. Over the ensuing 500 years no one had been able to locate the lost artifacts. By doing so, Keldas could redeem the family name. To accomplish this goal he figured he would need to develop his skills considerably, but in the process of doing so, he could gain first hand knowledge of the world he had studied so long; he could literally take his studies out of the library and into the real world. It seemed so long ago, yet it was only a fraction of his lifetime. He had steadily developed his skills over the past year, approaching the pinnacle of elven wizardry, but he had never picked up even a hint of the location of the staff. At some point he had stopped really searching altogether, focusing solely on developing his skills for their own sake instead of in furtherance of his quest. It seemed foolish now, wasting a year gallavanting around, taking on any fool’s errand that presented itself. He had even put Aliane in the position of making the trip to Arvandor and back. Never again.
After a long while Keldas arrived at his destination, the final home of Keldaran. He looked forward to the many years he would spend discussing Keldaran’s rule and subsequent defense of Athlantia. The welcome he received was quite unexpected. Keldaran was less than excited to see an inquisitive Keldas lounging on his doorstep in anticipation of years of questioning.
“What have you become? You actually thought you could go toe to toe with a Beholder with NO protective magics? You’ve put Aliane in a desperate situation-- dependent on a couple of dwarves and a half human for protection. Worse yet you’ve destroyed the best chance our family has had in a generation of recovering the staff of Athlantia! You were close to recovering it and you didn’t even know it because you have become so intoxicated with your own power that you forgot your purpose. You’ve had the means at your disposal to gain clues to the staff’s location via a legend lore spell and you haven’t even used it! Well I’ll tell you what you would have learned if you had any sense, 'Seek the staff where evil, burned away, still remains.' I’ve been pondering that verse for 300 years, but until you stumbled onto the ruins of Chael Rendaar, could not decipher its true meaning. It should have been obvious, given the involvement of the drow in K'thuckik's plans. When your companions call you back, answer them, and fulfil your duty. And never again storm forth unprepared. You risk much more than your own life when you expose yourself to harm. You risk the legacy of our family as well as the life of your cousin. When you have recovered the staff maybe you will make history, instead of merely passing into it.”
Keldas was stunned. Every word was true. He had spent an entire step of his wizardly studies researching the techniques of the legend lore spell but had done so to enable the creation of a device to enhance his casting abilities-- instead of to further his quest for the staff. He had put himself and his pride above his quest numerous times, exposing himself to great harm in search of personal glory. No more. He would refocus on his quest. It was easy and even exhilarating thinking that he was so close. The staff must be tied up in the events surrounding the Desmodu somehow. He sat long in quiet contemplation, waiting for the familiar voice of the Old Man to call him back...