Scattered Thoughts

10 Olarune

7 Eyre

Ogre's eyes! I don't know the blasted date. This place stinks, in every which way. I feel as though we have been chasing our tails for months. I'm not sure we are any further ahead than we were before. Sure the Korred have escaped, that's a good thing. But I'm not sure how it helps us in the long run.

We've only two pieces of the blasted Phoenix regalia. I don't know what to do, though I suppose the group won't be looking to me for answers. That's never been my role, I doubt they'd listen to my voice.

....

Delian stares into the distance. I think he longs for the same thing I do. Home. I never thought I'd say it but I miss Sharn. I miss the Cogs, Six take me but I do. I'd prefer the heat of the Cogs to the blasted heat of this infernal realm. I just wish I knew how to get there, I just wish I could. But I promised Master Dourstone I'd see this through. I just don't know how.

I'm only good at one thing really and given how things have turned out I don't know how useful a skill it is. I'm afraid we've bitten off more than we can chew. I just hope I don't let the others down. Jaryn is dead and Tharuun is missing. I can't loose someone else who is close to me. I may loose myself if I do.

Olladra guide me.

Debts Repaid

"I'm not real big on repentance ... I like revenge better."   (Laurell Hamilton - The Lunatic Cafe)

Tharunn gazed slowly around Shaman's chamber. While many of the shelves were now bare, it seemed neat and ordered despite the hasty escape the Korred had taken only hours before. A smile crossed his face as his thoughts wandered back over the day's events.

Not only was it done, it was done in a manner beyond even his darkest dreams. His Korred friends were off to start a new life somewhere far from here. Their revenge was a thing of beauty. The entire city choked and died as it should have. That is what years of tyranny and oppression earned those who brought pain and suffering on those they considered weak. The lesson here was that even the small can bring down tyrants.

That bastard mindflayer who ended Jaryn's life had died eating his own tentacles just as Tharunn swore he would. The creature had taken one of the last points of light from Tharunn's life so, in turn, he had snuffed the light from those vile eyes. He trusted that Jaryn could rest easily now.

Eyes had informed him of the victory of his friends from Eberron. The beholder, Lord Xan'klru'atzl, was slain and his treasures plundered. His debt to Ethan had been repaid when he orchestrated the freedom of that mighty group from their stony hell. He wished him well and hoped that he would meet Ethan again but first he have other scores to settle.

Ethan lifted his gaze to the door as it filled with the form of his comrade Eyes.

Eyes voice seemed to echo in the vacant room. "It still smell like the latrines down at Ale's tavern but the gases have cleared the lower tunnels enough that we can proceed. Are we ready?"

He turned and stuffed the ornate helm from Shaman's vault into his pack. "We are. It is time to repay the final debt. The journey to the City of Brass will be long but the revenge will be sweet."

- Tharuun

Longing for the Flame

I see flames everywhere. If I were anywhere else I’d take it as a good omen of the Silver Flame, but all I feel is longing and distain for this place, this faraway place where the Silver Flame barely shines. Every burning flame I see is a mockery of what I left behind. I miss Eberron and the Flame’s comforting song – a choir that provides me refuge in the melody. Yet here the song is but a whisper in the distance. I miss my home.

At night I fall asleep straining to hear the Flame’s song and I dream. In my dreams I continue to see Dragons. The Dragon in my dreams used to be small and timid, accompanied by a larger Wyrm; now the small Dragon is grown and majestic and flies alone. Now the Dragon interacts and battles others like him. Sometimes they are friends and sometimes not. It’s unclear if the Dragon is being courted or hunted.

In my most recent dreams I see a young Wyrmling. It’s very young, very innocent, and very much alone. I think it’s the offspring of the Dragon in my dreams. Perhaps he’s trying to reach the youngling or perhaps he’s drawing the other Dragons far away from it. I don’t know, but both scenarios sadden me deeply.

This place, this hell, eats away at me. I understand that I am here for a purpose and I will do what is required of me. But the sooner the tasks are completed and I can leave this place the happier I’ll be. I don’t know how the other members of my company feel about this place but I have to think that they hate it as much as I do. I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m forced to stay here for any extended period of time.

Flame put me where I can do the most good. Put me in the place I need to be to fulfill whatever task I was sent here to do and let me be free of this place. Let me return home and bathe in the comfort, the soothing melodies of the Silver Flame.