21st of Davor, 1329 Avard

Savana awoke with her puppy nestled in the crook of her arm. At first, she didn't know where she was, but as she looked around in the evening light, she realized that she was in the infirmary of Lok Magius. She was one of a dozen patients, and could not remember why she was there for a moment.

It came back to her, in bits and pieces, and then in a horrible, horrible torrent. Sensing trouble and a conspiracy afoot, Savana – a seventeen year-old student of wizardry at the academy – had sought to get to the root of the trouble. Two people – a desert elf and a dwarven cleric – had gone missing. Attempts to scry them had met with failure. The coordinates in the logbook, where Father Rolth had sent the two, were for a point deep behind the enemy's lines. Father Rolth had been sent back to Mount Lavanor, to assist with the wounded there.

Conspiracies seemed to be everywhere, and people who needed to be trusted in the midst of a burgeoning war, were not being trusted because of a few well-placed traitors.

The two that had gone missing had portal tokens with them. When broken, the fired-clay tokens would signal the on-duty cleric of Galgiran at Lok Magius to open the Eye of Galgiran directly to the broken token. Savana had stationed her familiar Bright Eyes next to the on-duty cleric, while she researched the treachery afoot under the directive of the man called Reed – second-in-command of Lok Magius.

The moment had come when the portal had opened unexpectedly, from a broken portal token that no one had expected. Savana had rushed to the courtyard of Lok Magius, expecting to see the two return. When no one came through the dark portal, Savana had rushed forward, eager to render assistance to two brave souls whom had been trapped behind enemy lines for far too long.

It never occurred to her that the ograns could have broken the token. It never occurred to her to use her spell mastery to protect herself. She simply leapt through the Eye of Galgiran.

Well-armed, well-trained, deadly orcs had been waiting for her. She vaguely remembered seeing two naked forms piled before her – a desert elf's long frame, fallen over a dwarf's stocky build. And then they had cut her down.

She gasped, remembering the pain, and looked under the coverlets, wakening her familiar. Along her side was a slash, where an orc's scimitar had hit her from the side. Along her shoulder was another slash, where another orc's scimitar had nearly cut her arm off. The scars looked old, as though they had formed in another lifetime, and they were healed – but the mental trauma of the experience was anything but healed.

* * *

Mistress Brin, upon hearing that Savana and Droog were awake, hastened to check on them. She gleaned what information she could from them, and also let them know what had happened after they had fallen. Bishop Krieg Stonehelm had rushed in after the unarmed Savana, to find her near death, sprawled atop two others, in the midst of a spreading pool of blood.

Bishop Krieg had surprised the orcs completely, and managed to kill all of those near the portal before the other clerics of Galgiran and wizards of Lok Magius could pore through. It had been very brave of them, to rush into the inky black Eye of Galgiran, but their faith in Bishop Krieg was not misplaced. Unlike many bishops of Galgiran, Krieg did not use the title 'father'. He was a militant cleric of Galgiran, raised as he was by the Stonehelm Clan. All of Lok Magius respected the stout old dwarf, and all of Lok Magius stayed well clear of his rough, demanding demeanor.

After the immediate threat had been ended, Bishop Krieg and the other clerics had taken to healing Droog, Barome, and Savana as best they could, while the mages of Lok Magius went on the offensive.

The place they had been, had once been a srik hive. The ograns had taken the hive early in the war, and adapted it to an apothecary, mine, forge, and production facility of enormous size. The mages captured as much as they could, and destroyed the rest, before being forced to retreat before the hordes of the ograns.

Barome… had not survived. Despite his considerable power, the desert elf had been too far gone for Bishop Krieg to revive him. Barome's soul had gone on, into the hands of Galanus.

Mistress Brin informed them that services for Barome – and several others that had fallen in the assault against the ogran fortress – would be held in the morning.

At Droog's questioning, Mistress Brin informed him that all that had been taken from what they were calling Okthale Fortress, was down in the Hoard, separated from all the other valuables in the vault. The Hoard's curator, a barbarian named Thedlar, would ensure that Droog could go through whatever he wished from Okthale Fortress.

Droog's dreams that night were violent, but something within him was even more violent. His dreams were dangerous, but something within him was more dangerous, still.

* * *

Before the service for Barome, Droog went to down into the vaults, and obtained one of Barome's silver-plated arrowheads from the sheath of arrows still there. He also picked up Barome's bow, and the dwarf's prayer book – but his holy symbol was gone.

The young cleric also learned of Savana's dislike for Thedlar. The barbarian's harsh tongue was merely a part of his culture, where insults were a fine art. Droog gave as well as he got, although Thedlar seemed to respect the young cleric as a warrior, and offered very few insults. Savana, though, received the brunt of the insults, and was often so agitated that she could not return any insults at all.

From the Hoard, they went to the services for Barome, and the other fallen.

Droog used the broken-off arrowhead to draw blood from his palm, and also cut Barome's hand in a symbolic gesture. Clasping hands one last time, Droog committed himself to vengeance for the first friend he had in a long, long time – since the War of the Undead. It was Barome who had drawn the dwarf out of his long depression, and his obsession with magic as a means of defeating his enemies. Barome had shown Droog that magic was unnecessary, compared to the magic within one's heart.

Lilliana Ravenwind, the resident cleric of Lok Magius, and High Priestess of the Temple of Magic within Lok Magius, called upon all the gods, and the Goddess of Magic, Agincoth, to, “Let the experience of the fallen shine as a light of experience into the heavens; Let their souls light the darkest of shadows, and serve as beacon of righteousness in our hearts.”

The bodies of the fallen glowed with a bright, white light – so brightly that all had to close their eyes, and throw up their arms against it. When the light was gone, so were the bodies.

Droog enlisted the aid of High Priestess Ravenwind, and reforged the blood-covered arrow of Barome into a new holy symbol. Droog used his dwarven craftsmanship to etch an arrowhead onto one side, for Barome, and he placed on the other side the double-anvil of Galgiran. High Priestess Ravenwind and Droog together blessed the amulet into the service of the Forge God.

The amulet glowed with the light of the forges, the outline of the arrowhead showing through the double-anvil – and then disappearing. When Droog looked on the back of the amulet, it was mirror-finished silver without a trace of blemish. The dwarf could see his own black eyes looking back at himself, moved by what had happened. The spirit of Galanus had allowed Barome to touch the amulet.

As per Lilliana's prayer, whenever Droog needed it, the amulet would call forth the light of the forges to show the way.

* * *

That evening, Droog had dinner with Savana and her parents. Her father, a force mage, was due to leave the next day. Her mother, a master conjurer, was due to leave the next day. It would be the last time the three of them were together for a long time.

Droog slept off his drink on the couch, and awoke to a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Savana's mother.

Once her father had departed, Savana explained to Droog her concerns about the mistaken coordinates, and a possible traitor within Lok Magius. Droog faced a grave decision. He had all the resources of the valuables taken from Okthale Fortress at his disposal, Savana's powers and the resources of Lok Magius, and the inkling of an idea.

Savana spent the rest of that day using her powers to identify some of the items taken from Okthale Fortress, while Droog communed with Galgiran behind a veil of dreams.

So ends the 23rd of Davor, 1329.

James is definitely getting the hang of role-playing, and it will be interesting to see how his cleric-barbarian pans out. I love the way he's taking Droog.

Erin's Savana just never did seem to be able to get one up on Thedlar. (soft chuckle) It was fun watching Erin squirm on that count, and yet remain on top of his game with everything else. I've been blessed with two fine role-players, and I can't wait to see where they take me, next.

1,500. (total character XP to date is 8,500)