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Chapter 1: The Journey before the Journey

Year 12339

Sarren waved a hand as the last of his supplies magically marched into his bag of holding. Ready for the long journey into nations he had been officially exiled from.
“Are you sure”
For the umpteenth time Sarren's personal assistant repeated. Quickly running out of patience he glared at the portly fellow and nodded, annoyed. He scanned the room, Agitated, rushed and confused. making sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
“B-but master, sir, Your plan is dangerous, E especially just for rumors' he..he.. right?”
Sarren didn't even both looking at him this time. but he had officially lost his patience. with a flick of his writs a magical force forced his assistant out the door which then slammed in his face. a cry of pain made its way muffled back into the room. A silent sigh escaped Sarren as he straitens himself and tidies his hair.

Sarren stares at the letter. details of a creature matching Blinding Spear's colors seen walking towards the borderlands. Northern Covania. He had confirmed it was Zyllis with some divination and Scrying magic. What happened?! how did he become such a creature? The thoughts had been plaguing Sarren's mind for a week, since he received the letter. His sources say the creatures march is slow and its final destination is not known. He wished to leave sooner but to rush blindly after his former commander would be rash indeed. But finally he was ready.

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His Journey into Reton went off without much hassle. it had been a number of years since the events of the rebellion. things had calmed down, at least on the ground level. Keeping well covered to avoid his face being recognized. The powerful mage made it to the closest Teleport circle in Reton and used it on his own power to get to Covania in a flash. Like a man on a mission he didn't stop he marched right on.
What would he even do when he reached Zyllis? he couldn't bring him back. talk to him? could he even speak in this form? he shook the questions from his mind and pressed on.
Then he stopped.
A new thought popped into his head. His other comrades. the ones laid to rest at Lily Vale Cemetery. He hadn't seen them since the exile. The moment of hesitation was quickly quashed as he turned around and headed towards his comrades.

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The Elderly Grave keeper was busy tending to the gardens when the tall cloaked figure approached. Robert knew strait away this wasn't a normal visitor, he had seen and heard enough in his years to know the difference between the mundane and extraordinary. He stood up giving a big strech. though just into his late 80's, he seemed rather well kept and in shape if not for the stink of booze and eyes that had seen too much, tired and worn out, longing for something lost. however determined as if a breath of new life had entered his soul recently. Robert instinctively checked to see if his hand axe was ready, tapping the ivory hilt on his belt.

The wind had picked up, the two stood their for a moment in silence. Robert broke the ice greeting Sarren who returned with a silent hand greeting.
Sarren peered over the graves and saw a familiar sight. The Blinding Spear Sarren rushed over in panick. How was it here? this weapon was always supposed to be by Zyllis's side. It had been hear a while it seems, Plant growth had attempted to claim it but the blade remains as sharp and gleaming as the day it was forged by the giants of Nabilhime.

Robert left Sarren alone, packing up for the day. Looking to the Horizon, A relapse in faith caused by a desperate longing. He spoke a silent prayer to a god he no longer followed, Asking Tyr to watch over his daughter and bring her home safe.

Sarren fell to his knees at the graves, Suddenly he felt the situation was far more dire than originally thought. He looked over the grave stones, Kivlar, Rozie, Bryn, Grit and of course Seril The names echoed in his mind as if they were happy to be remembered. Time seemed to slow down as his mind fell into deep thought. Sitting for a moment to rack his mind for information. pulling out his journal and going back to the early pages. What does it all mean? He thought.
He gets to when Zyllis told him of Exilis, the events that transpired, Even further back to the fall of Nabilhime and Zyllis's origins. The ruins of Nabilhime are in the fiery borderlands. is that where he is going?

Eventually he realized he was burning time. time he didn't have. he got up with a pounce ready to march off but before he did Does Sarren take the blinding spear with him or not

Chapter 2: The Friend before the Storm

Night was breaching the sky as Sarren reached the norther gate. Traveling at night was not ideal but he was in a race agaisnt time. he was refreshed and an elf sleep wasn't the problem it was whatever was waiting for him. he felt he was strong enough for any bandit or desert beast but it would be time spent dealing with foes, if he had a band then the fighting would be quicker. ah but how to find such a group at this time of night on such short notice.
Then suddenly.
As if a yellow angel had herd his mind's plea. A very tall and curvatons blue and yellow Aarackocra literally came singing into view.
Oh Oghma, That is one large bird.
A bit stunned at the sight as she skipped towards the gate, supplies in hand looking like she was also ready for a long journey. Sarren pulled himself together and waved her down.

She paused mid skip and looked at him puzzled. “uhhhh?' she watched him confused. “Yeeaas?”
Sarren quickly pulled out his pen and began writing words in the air .
Hello Madam, sorry to disturb you this fine evening but i have a very forward and brash request. i am heading north the the fiery borderlands and was wondering if you were heading the same way, could we accompany each other in an effort to lessen the threat of the road?
There was a long pause. This will never work He thought to himself, The pause got longer as the Aaracokra just stared, blinking occasionally. it was getting awkward and Sarren was very close to waving to make sure she was paying attention. then she replied.
“Yeah! okay! sounds fun. I do enjoy Company”

The two set off after a brief introduction. “Sarren? The high elf, Sounds very official, you are dressed quite fancy too. and your a mute? loose your tounge? cursed? cursed…ah i see.” She coughed a little then began the try and mimic a high strung politician. “I am Ozrelia, Hierophant, Aarakocra, great singer am hopefully soon a well known name in these lands. I came here from Griaca just (TIME TO FIT TIME LINE) and have plans to get to Oxtrad.”

Ozrelia talked a lot, like a lot. Sarren seemed happy to just listen. her upbeat chatter was drowning out the negative thoughts and her perky bubbly attitude really brought a bit of sunshine into the past week of gloom.
It seemed Ozrelia also required minimal sleep. Sarren learned just how powerful a Druid she really was. he couldn't believe that this spirited young bird lady was such a powerhouse of a mage. He made notes in his journal about how she channels her magic. Drudic was not unknown to Sarren but he had never met a druid with such in-depth knowledge on their craft.

They stopped for a meal where Ozrelia made Sarren some mushroom stew. it was delicious ad hearty. he felt like he could run all day on just the bowl. when he asked for the recipe she declined “Its a secret dummy”
They took a short rest before continuing on thier march.

Ozrelia asked Sarren a question. “SO what's got you out here, marching through the night in the desert, asking strangers for protection. it seems like your in a hurry.” Sarren thought to himself for a moment, starting to write down a response but was interrupted.
“your gold or your life!” a group of bandits strutted out from behind a rock blocking their path.

Chapter 3: Words not Spoken

Sarren had not experienced combat for a few years but with his heart pumping and his mind racing from the mission he was on it was like he was back on the battle field.
So close to where he fought in the war over 90 years ago the scene around him changed. He herd the roar of armies clashing. the ring of steel on steel. The flash and bang of arcane being weaponized to kill. the screams of lost life, Snuffed out for someone else's purpose.
Traveling through the desert on a cold night became a horrid memory rearing is ugly unwelcome head. He found himself frozen, unable to command his body. His vision blurry, he heard the muffled shouts, of soldiers, of the enemy, of the blood soaked sand.
His breathing quicken, he felt faint, sweat, shaking, panic, loosing his balance struggling to keep upright.

He felt a clasp on his shoulder, His name? muffled. “Sarren! Sarren!” it was becoming louder in his head. he regained a bit of focus and saw his commander, Zyllis, as he was in that battle. His face concerned for Sarren's wellbeing, but confident. Zyllis wouldn't let him die here. not in this godforsaken place. a wash of relief knowing Zyllis was here to fight along side, as the panic washed away his mindscape relented. the scene disapeared returning to the mostly empty moonlit desert. In Zyllis's place was the Yellow Aaracokra, Ozrelia.
“Sarren?! Sarren?! common buddy! snap out of it!” She shook his shoulder seeing his eyes begin to focus on her again. “AH jeeze cool, You back? had a little moment their hey?”

Sarren almost let a word out but caught his lip, Instead nodding.

In the end the bandist where blown away. Though Sarren showed restraint his companion did not. Being on equal levels of Arcane power the thirty odd bandits fell in moments. Ozrelia ravaged their continuity with necrotic fungus turning them into rotten homes for new life, Even turning some of those corpses against their former friends. her confidence and sense of superiority on full display as she belittled the bandits at every possible opportunity. Some were strangled, others vaporized. she filled their lungs with spores and rend flesh from bone with Wildshape magic Sarren had not seen before.
Sarren's approaches was much more dignified. ending life quickly or simply restraining his foes. in all some were allowed to escape on Sarre's behalf, Stopping his companion from anhalating the lot of them.

“Your alot less fun than I thought” Ozrelia pouted, like a spoiled child being denied her toys.
Part of Sarren was a bit mortified how such a…pretty creature would lack so much empathy to take life and play with it so casually. Could a druid really follow that type of twisted moral code? Though their journey so far she has been a joy to travel with and it was a bit late to rearrange the plans. Onward.

The pair didn't bother looting and instead dusted themselves off and continued on their march. Ozrellia went back to talking about various things and it put Sarren at ease. being able to listen to her ramblings was soothing and even a little endearing.
He would occasionally ask her questions about some of the topics she mentioned. She spoke a lot of the Underdark and a species of people known as Myconiod Sarren had only ever read small bits of information about them and it seemed Ozrelia was an expert. Sarren spent the better part of a few hours asking her constant silent questions, Eventually stopping for rest where they continued the learning session in more detail. The High Elf writing everything down in his journal.

the two of them slowly changed topics to be a bit more personal. the turns tabled as Ozrelia was now asking the majority of questions, Asking about his life and his current areas. what he enjoyed what he disliked. The Aaracokra cooked up some more of that mushroom stew.
The cold night seemed non-existent to the pair. Despite her display earlier Ozrelia seemed to be a ball of sunshine, something about her energy seemed to calm the area and warm it up.
The topic of why he didn't speak came up. Though reluctant he gave a brief summery of what happened, leaving out key personal details. he silently spoke of his time as a soldier, his time as an advisor and eventually what he was doing now.

Ozrelia leaned over a bit closer to Sarren as he told these stories, each one seemed to drag his mood down a little more.
“You really have been through a lot huh? it sounds like you haven't had a chance to relax for a loooooong time. and when it looks like you finally might fall into a calm time this happens…” Ozrelia's voice was kind and gentle, Truly sincere words spoken.
Sarren looked up to meet her gaze, large blue eyes reflecting the desert's night sky. he let out a long sigh.

there was a long silence between the two as they watched the stars twinkle and the sand occasionally move with a lizard or bug crawling through. eventually broken by Ozrelia once again.
“Sarren..I..uhh.hmmm I know we have really only known each other for a few days but….ehh..maybe its because of all the high emotions running but I feel…I would like to help. at least try to help”
Sarren smiled sarcastically.
“No really!” Ozrelia snapped. “Look I known you know power, And Hag magic isn't far off Druids magic. I have been researching the crosses between these two for a long time and I reckon, with enough time and resources I may be able to….free you from it? perhaps?”
There was another long pause, Sarren's mind was filled with hope and doubt, fighting each other in a bloody battle. Eventually Ozrelia's voice broke the silence again.
“Have you tried screaming?”
Sarren looked at her puzzled.
“Well… Hag's although can be crafty their words and deals are always true to what they say, But also up to interpretation. A devil's deal is normally stipulated in contact but a Hag you could argue the terms. soooooo, A scream, moan or cry are not coherent words right? like would a cough or a sneeze count? I surly doubt that so why would a scream?!”
Sarren thought about the logic, he had defiantly coughed, sneezed, yawned and burped farm more than 100 times since the deal was made. after a bit of debate he nodded.

Ozrelia helped him up. “Alright, so just scream into the sky, get all that frustration and sadness out. like this” Ozrelia took a few steps out then let out an avian screech into the night sky. it was loud and a bit ear pericing but that's what its supposed to be. Her feathers es floofed up a bit as she shook herself down. “ahhh sometimes its just good. now you go”
She stood to the side as Sarren stepped up. still feeling a bit silly. Shuffling in place for a moment and turning back to see Ozrelia gesturing him to go for it.
“ahh..ahhhh” Sarren let out a short loud scream looking back to Ozrelia for validation.
“Pfft no, put more ompfy, think about the war, think about the horrid people you have worked for. your friends who have passed. your wife. and how you have not been able to express yourself fully then LET IT OUT”
The thoughts flashing in Sarren's mind like a horrible slide show, he felt his anger and frustration building until eventually his throat gave way to it letting out a scream like none he thought capable “AhhhhhhhhhHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
It seemed like the desert was silent for a moment. And Sarren wasn't done as he threw his arms up to the heavens and screamed to the sky again, and again. falling to his knees he screamed louder and louder until his voice cracked, strained so intensely after hardly ever being used he began coughing intensely. catching his breath the anger had left and gave way to a crushing sadness as tears began to well in his eyes. He herd Ozrelia rush over and embrace him in warm feathers. soft and warm she pulled him in for a tight hug as his resolve broke down and his muffled sobbing filled Ozrelia's chest.

She gently stroked his head letting him deal with his emotions. soon her soft singing filled Sarren's ears.
Thank yooooou
For all that you arrreee
Its all that I wannnnt-ed
Ever since i~, Found you
by the end of the worrrld.

Don't blame yourself,
If its true, I won't leave, Never will I goooooo
all I wanted was youuuu
At the end of the worrrld.

Chapter 4: Rest now, The work is done

Its rare for elves to sleep let alone dream but for those few hours in the moon filled desert on Ozrelia's lap Sarren slept, Dreams of his life before it all happened. His life had been dictated by the deal he made, The life he had lived because of that deal. would he have changed the deal if he saw the rest of his life laid out infront of him?
He saw his wife Aradoris before him, Looking just as the day Sarren lost her. she gave him a gentle smile. He reached out but she vanished in a wisp of smoke. a few tears fell from his eyes as he gathered himself and continued to walk around the dreamscape. until a new figure appeared before him, One he did not recognize.

A woman with Bright blonde hair dressed in similar attire to other members of Blinding Spear. One pitch black eye while the other was golden and surrounded by similarly golden runes that ran down her face and bellow her outfit. Her presence was stalwart, Inspiring, Like golden sunshine. Tall and well defined, a smug smile of heroic power or arrogance.
She wielded two swords, These Sarren recognized as swords of Greyhawk
Sarren seemed to have no idea then like a flash he knew who this was, The founding member of Blinding Spear. before he could say anything.
“Ah! uh uh, your words as limited, let me speak, I just wanted to see you and tell you. Please put my Zyllis to rest. he is almost gone. It would be nice if he died with honor at the hands of a friend.”

Suddenly he was pulled back with great force and awoke, sitting up in a hurry.
It had only been a few hours it seemed, The moon had moved slightly. Sarren looked at Ozrelia who was caught in surprise. She took a moment before speaking. “Ready to go sleepy head?”

The next few days of travel went by uneventfully, Ozrelia's lack of restraint made short work of any would be threat and Sarren's urgency made things swift. Ozrelia told Sarren she had plans to travel to Oxtrad, Saying her Niece was visiting for a few months and she had to get the place tidy.
Eventually as the pair approached the base of the fiery borderlands they parted ways. Sarren had found a trail of otherworldly goop leading deep into the mountains while OZrelia took flight to make next leg of the journey simple. She told Sarren to come visit her when he was done his adventure she would have tea and treats ready.

The light of the sun was blocked by the high peaks of the mountains, Silence filled Sarren's ears not realiseing how much Ozrelia's chatting eased his mind, now left to fester his heart had started to race.

A few hours into the mountains he found the trail lead to a cave. the puddles of purple getting more and more fresh showing he was catching up. He braced his resolve before plunging into the darkness, using a silent spell to create a source of light.
The cave began as normal but as he went deeper it became more evident it had been made by something, not natural.
The deeper he went the more his head started to ache, as if something was gently knocking, testing his mental prowess.
it was something alien
Not of this world
The situation becoming more grim in Sarren's mind, something he was not prepared for. His mind scoured his knowledge, A Beholder? Illithid? no it was something else perhaps. Something old.
as his headache was reaching its peak Sarren caught a glimpse of something he could not face.

The cave gave way to a large opening filled with the strange purple goop, though it writhed with infectious life. Sarren caught images of humanoids within the mass, groaning and calling for help. Sarren's breath quicked as his eyes darted around the room.
There in the middle, the living flesh had congealed into some sort of doorway, limbs and faces struggled in the formation, A portal? in the middle was a dragon, though what was a dragon, the purple infection had claimed it and ravaged its body, strung up with fleshy sinew like a spiderweb, hung like a sacrifice.
And their, approaching, was the beast Zyllis had become. His eyes narrowed as his mind became clear for a moment, The situation unclear but he knew all he needed, this was no moment to hesitate. He pulled out his spell book as the pages flu in a furry.
His arcane power swelled in a storm of fire, an Inferno of destruction something in his arsenal to cause utter devastation, Meteor Swarm.

In a single moment everything went quiet, The bright light of arcane energy being weaved into physical form filled the cave, White hot fire rained from the sky tearing through the mountains to reach its destination as Sarren shouted, screamed a word so loud that his lungs screamed for respite. “ZYLLLLISSSSSSSSSSS!!”

As the Meteor swarm hit ground Zero the quiet was replaced by violet devastation. It had been over 80 years since these mountains had expiraced such a noise before but it was like the war had never stopped. As white flames tore through the mountains like drills and obliterated Sarren's target. the force blew Sarren off his feet back into the entrance tunnel as his vision was filled with burning heat.

Ringing in his ears as the world was bathed in heat and rubble. it took a moment for him to return to his feet. Learning he had injured his leg baddly when trying to put weight on it. He crawled over the rocks, the cave had been lit up by sunlight as Sarren's spell had carved a vertical tunnel during its decent. There was smoke and fire but Sarren saw the figure of Zyllis standing tall, an Evil black blade drawn in a defensive stance. His heart dropped. It wasn't enough?!
But as the smoke cleared it became apparent. Zyllis was no more. A massive chunk of his body had been blown away, including the crystal that was in his chest, shattered. the left side of his head all the way to his hip was completely missing as his flesh writhed in the white flames. His artificial body motionless, as still as death.

Sarren entered the main room to see much of the infection had also been burned away. Zyllis's body began to crumble, loosing its form fallen in sludge and puddles, exposing the metal skeleton beneath. then it spoke. “Sarren…Th Thank…y..ou”
As his body fell.
Sarren let out a breath as he had been holding it for days. falling to his knees as relief and sadness began to wash over him.

His Head started pounding again, Unbearable he cried out in pain as it felt like a piercing lance was railing through his brain. he looked up to see the doorway of flesh remained, the dragon still strung up. How?! Impossible?!
Sarren forced himself to ready a new spell but the assault on his mind only increased paralyzing him in pain.
The flesh begin to drag Zyllis's remains into the doorway and it all began to fold in on itself, condensing into a smaller and smaller pile, Pulsing with waves of psychic energy as Sarren screamed in agony.
Then the sphere began to grow and take shape. twisting as limbs and claws sprouted, Eyes, a maw.

A reptile like creature, Alien like, Pink and purple flesh, its underbelly swirled like a lava lamp, Its wings like gigantic clawed hands with eyes in its palms, four eyes on its head with two antenna like appendages sporting another set of eyes, A long tail, claws and a feminen body shape. It was huge, as big as an adult dragon. It seemed to struggle to move as if it had just been born.
Sarren was powerless to do anything but watch as he felt as if his skull would split at any moment.

Chapter 5: A Sickness Unleashed, Livion

When the creature gained its compositor it stood upright before Sarren, His mind was spared the assault as he gasped for air, the pain stopped almost instantly he flailed on the ground trying to pull himself together.
Standing up slowly against this creature. its tail whipping back and forth its eyes locked on him as the other eyes on its body scanned the room.

Sarren catching his breath, he was a bit beaten up but only down one 9th level spell slot. he deduced that Zyllis had taken the brunt of his spell to protect the doorway. There are not many things that can survive something that powerful.
He checked the creature, its body seemed soft and it was levitating above the ground. no time to hesitate longer, he readied his spell book once again ready to strike but through the motion he found his body frozen. Panic.

then he heard a woman's and a man's voice in his mind speaking in unison Telepathy. “Quite the violet creature aren't we?”
Sarren's panic increased. That pain on his mind from before must have been the creature breaching it, its been able to read every though he has had since it arrived. Sarren responded with telepathy.
“You, Whatever you are, should not be here, Your presence alone. Every fiber of my body is screaming to kill you”
Sarren felt his body become weightless as an invisible force restrained him and lifted him off the ground to the creature's face.
“Why dose it not speak?” Sarren herd in his mind, responding.
“Is it not polite to use the guest's native language?”
The creature's eyes narrowed. “Yet you speak of the desire to destroy me? A curious thought, but its obvious when mortals LIE.”
the force on Sarren increased crushing him for a moment pain shot through his body.

The creature looked to the sky, Sarren had to think, but this think could read its thoughts. Mind Blank! he channeled his arcane energy and cast it upon himself, feeling the pressure ease from his mind. The creature turned to him all of its eyes focused now.
“Interesting, quite the powerful wielder of arcane power you are, its obvious you are not here by mistake.”
Sarren caught a bit off guard but he figured that Telepathy was not a harmful effect so his spell allowed it through. he responded “Thank you but I am afraid flattery will not help.”
Sarren cast Freedom of Movement to escape the force he was in and followed up with Blade of Disaster. Flicking a wrist the blade swung at the creature, Slicing through its flesh it screamed out in pain with an unholy roar. It reacted as Sarren felt his body become weightless once again but be flung into the sky at terminal velocity.
Looking down he saw the creature chasing him down, If this kept up he would be in serious trouble, He was already out of range of his blade it wouldn't catch up, Opting for something simpler he launched a fire ball at the creature, It bring its wings up to brace the impact and seemed unphased after the smoke cleared.
Suddenly Sarren felt his whole body shatter as his ascent came to a sudden violet stop, a wall of force or something similar had appeared above him and he hit it at terminal velocity, his body went into system shock as he felt everything going dark.

Sarren came to on the ground in the creatures physical claws. his arms and legs hurt bad and many broken bones, but he lived for the moment and could move somewhat.
He heard the creatures voice once again “Powerful you may be, but mortals are fragile, You will be my first meal in this plane.” The creatures head opened up to reveal tendrils and teeth as they began to grip . Sarren was scared but also contnet, he would die here not being able to do enough, Yet as the maw came close his primal mind searched for ways out.

Could he? he was dead either way, A gamble? the words of Aradoris rung in his head. “Gambeling? I have never done it, i feel like you should only gamble when you have already lost, then you can only go up right?”
Sarren took a deep breath and began shouting words he always wanted to say.
“I am Sarren Luhana”
“I am sorry I failed you Aradoris, I Love you ”

With that final work he herd a Cackaling, A voice he had never hoped to hear again. The creature pulled him back out of its Maw as Sarren herd its voices again, “Ah, something different is coming, something twisted and foul.”