Hello, my name is Diana. You don't know of me unless you've read the
book that preceeds this one, writen by my mate, Firemane. I have taken over
the narration of our story for many reasons, as you may soon see, and I
thought it would be wise if I summarized the events up to this point.
While searching for her sister, Alys, Merrideth Doomslayer found that
to save her sibling, she must become the Champion, a Paladin of the Order
of Light, and complete a vast and complicated quest which will end the
Chaos spreading through the Nine Realms. Her quest was to retake the Altar
of Unity, which is the meta-physical center of the Nine Realms. In order
to retake the Altar, she needs to find the Six Stones, which have been
scattered throughout the Realms. The goddess Shani paired her up with a
young cleric named Marse, and they set off to find the first Stone. In the
course of this first quest, Marse ws killed and ressurected. Merri traveled
on alone to find the second Stone, for which she recruited (albeit unwillingly)
the aid of a Draconian prince named Kiaphas, and Agnon, a talented (yet
mysteriously repenting) criminal.
Meanwhile, Firemane, a lion-man (and my eventual mate), washed up on
shore in northern Eol, and was taken in by a kindly old man. The local
villagers feared him to be a deamon, and he was captured and sold to a
travellion carneval, where he was placed in a cage with me, Diana, a vixen.
Together, we escaped, and were lured across the continent of Eol by a
vision sent by Jolan, an arch-mage ill-favored by his peers. We were then
sent on a mission to rescue Firemane's friend from the Thenic Republic, a
humans-only anti-magical despotism in the south-western half of Eol. In the
course of doing so we met Palas, an elf-mage, and Felin, and young dwarf,
who were on their way to the same prison. Together, the four of us freed the
prisoners, and escaped together to Jolan's tower, where we were introduced to
Merri and her friends. We were informed of her quest, and given incentive
to join.
After a disturbing and prophetic visit from Li-Ren-Ka, a minor deamon,
everyone joined the quest, and we set off to find the third Stone. We
recover the Stone, but Merri, driven mad by the tainted power of the Stones,
flew off with all three Stones, and set herself up as a minor diety named
Aeshma in the barbarian tribes of Orga. Here she took a shape-shifting
panther as her consort, and named him Ailuros. After a devastating attack
by Li-Ren-Ka, she temporarily gave up her godhood, and stayed with the Elder,
the most ancient of elves, learning the powers of the mind.
While she was doing that, the rest of us set off to recover the next two
stones. The fourth Stone was on the magical island of Ver, home of the
chaotic and incoherent fairies. After much difficulty, the Stone was
recovered, and we returned to Jolan's tower. Matters became strained as
Shani appeared in the middle of our banquet, near-fatally wounded, and had to
be healed by her sister-goddess, Vasi. Jolan revealed his love to Palas, who,
for personal reasons, could not accept it, which began a tempestuous hate
affair between the two.
It was under this cloud of tension that we went after the fifth Stone,
which was held in Mist-shrouded Kanda. The Mists caused us to hallucinate,
which brought matters between Palas and Jolan to a head, and caused Kiaphas
to become homicidal. After restraining Kiaphas, we met with Lord Artirax,
who told us of the Prophesy, which we seemed to fit perfectly. Lord
Artirax gave us instructions to the Source of the Mists, which we believed to
be the location of the Fifth Stone. Upon returning to our ship, the 'Nyad's
Call', we found Kiaphas loose, and after a brief battle, he retreated, in the
form of a wyvern. After spending a harrowing night in the cursed city of
Shadai Nadair, we reached the source, where we found Kiaphas, greatly altered.
Kiaphas was defeated, and returned to his normal form, but with his mind
greatly damaged.
Jolan and Palas teleported back to the tower with Felin, to try and
reverse the effects of a spell Jolan, then maddened by power, had cast upon
her in Shadai Nadair, while Marse teleported the rest of us to his Temple in
Hurshtown, where we hoped to find a cure for Kiaphas's lost wits.
Upon appearing in the temple, we discovered that the city had been taken
by the Republic, and that war had been declared in our absence. Firemane and
I were captured by the Republican Guard, and taken to a dismal prison. Alone,
Firemane was tempted by his dark side, and, under the influence of Penitence,
a Priest of the Republican state, was driven to madness.
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