The Rifts become unstable

[Cahaal]

The man stepping off the ferry looked plain enough. He did have the look of one of those undesirables and if one was quick enough you could just catch a glimpse of a Tiefling tail sweeping beneath his cloak. Under the cover of clouded night sky, he walked swiftly towards the nearest building. This man had a purpose. Wasting no time with idle greetings at the door, he went straight to Gabriel's office. Gabriel, son of the famous wizard Artemis Leonsbane, was charged with maintaing a network of informers and with research involving the rifts that had appeared all across Aetheria. The Tiefling opened the office door.

"YOU?! What is wrong?! Why have you come here in person instead of sending the messenger? Your absence from Gargoth might be noticed," Gabriel sputtered forth.

"This news is grave my lord and I would not have trusted it to anyone, save myself. The Illithid Order has started a ceremony concerning the rifts. I myself witnessed one open for just a moment and what I saw terrified me to the core. I believe they are attempting to summon something through the rift."

"This news is dire indeed. If they have managed to control the rifts Aetheria may not survive. Go now, quickly return to Gargoth. I will inform my father and Duke Ashimar."

The Tiefling closed the door and boarded the ferry. As the ferry left the pier he gazed into the water, allowing his thoughts to drift. "They must be stopped," he whispered.

Gabriel quickly penned a message to his father and the Duke and sealed them with is ring.
"Aaron! Aaron! Get in here!," Gabriel shouted.

Woken from his early slumber, Aaron threw on a robe and strode to Gabriel's office.

"Yes? You know I was SLEEPING, right?" Absentmindedly he wiped the backside of the robes sleeve across his face.

"No time, there is no time. Get dressed. You are to deliver this message to my father and this one to Duke Ashimar. Make haste and ensure these are delivered straight to their hands the very moment you arrive."

"Huh?!, Send one of the assistants, I'm tired..."
Gabriel cut him off midsentence, " YOU will go, and you will leave this very moment. We are in trouble, now off you go!"

Gabriel's tone had awakened the young Cranston boy. Before an inch of sand had fallen in the hourglass, Aaron was racing towards Neversummer City.


Aaron had little choice. Time was his enemy and he sent a silent prayer to Lathander that the clouds in the night sky would hold until he made it to Neversummer City. The fastest path to Neversummer City was through the Dorian Coastal road. This area was bandit controlled and very dangerous to unwary travelers.

As Aaron's horse galloped along the road, he became very aware of the thundering hooves pounding the shale road beneath him. Hoping to avoid any confrontations with the bandit, Aaron cast a silence spell and invisibility to ensure he would not be detained. It would take several hours to make the journey and Gabriel's voice still echoed in his mind. When he reached the Silver Road at Evenshire, Aaron pointed his horse south a prodded it a bit more than he should to pick up the pace. His mind wandered to his family in the nearby trade city of Avendell and he tried to recall the last time he had seen them. Many winters had passed and he felt a pain of loss in his chest. Aaron promised himself that before returning to Falme he would spend at least one night with his parents. Aaron rounded the bend to the east and he could just make out the outer walls of the city. Quickly he dispelled the silence and invisibility that had granted his safe passage this far but might get him killed if he tried to enter the city passed the guards.

Gladriel was forcing herself to stay awake by chiding Rasinus. Rasinus had lost 13 hands of Devils Fist to her.

"It's a stupid game. We had nothing even like it here until one of those refugee's that popped out of a rift showed us," Rasinus fired back. "Who knows what the real rules are and, well,...it just isn't a real game!"

"So you aren't mad that a girl beat you? Oh all I heard for 4 nights was how it took a "man" to be any good at cards. Women just don't have the stomach for bluffing," Gladriel said mockingly.
"And what if you had wo.."
"RIDER! RIDER APPROACHING!"
Drawing their swords the two guards prepared for the worst. These were troubled times. Neversummer City had been raided by other factions in an increasing manner. The Circle's Silver Striders and those idealistic FoN and CLAD with their heads so high that nose bleeds must be common place had made their usual attempts at stealing the holy relics from the castles relic cradle. They had been successful on several occasions even. Gladriel barked orders to the others of the company as the horses hooves echoed off the city's walls.

"I am Aaron Cranston with an urgent message for the Duke and Artemis from Gabriel Leonsbane. Open the gate," Aaron called out to the guards.

The guards quickly opened both gates and Aaron passed swiftly through into the merchant district. He pulled his horse to a stop outside The Inn of the Half Eaten Goat and quickly fixed the reins to the hitching post and headed towards the castle.

[Cahaal]

The Duke shook his head and glancing at the parchment a last time raised his chin with a furrowed brow. We must close our city. We cannot allow anymore souls from the rifts to infest this land. We will close our gates to all not born of this land. We must evict all the refugees for only Denir knows what will happen if those mages succeed.
The tiny figure in the corner gasped just a bit. She was well hidden and had listened in on many council meetings to provide information to The Horsemen. Now Chaos knew they were in trouble. The mice made more noise than her as she left the council chamber to inform all those souls that would soon be locked out of thier home and in a world that did not want them where many enemies had been made in sacrifice to this Last Alliance. Truly, she thought, the last real alliance would be her family.
The guild hall erupted in anger and hate. Lilly couldn't take it any more and with a hardened heart she made her way to the temple, There had to be some solution. At Lathander's alter she prayed that something could be done to save these people from certain death. A warm beam of light filled Lilly and she was softened. That voice! The one that she had heard just before arriving on Aetheria........"You will not be forgotten. I cannot stop what is already set in motion. I will take you from this place and you will be safe with your sister, but only for a time."
Chaos could not leave before saying goodbye to her dear friend. Lilly and Rowdy brought Chaos to his grave. Chaos's tears water the flowers that had been planted there. From her pocket she drew out her only prized possession and pressed that Bloodstone into the soft earth. Rowdy coughed and as she spake her voice was scratchy and deep with sorrow, "Chaos, forgive me, please. I kept this from you for far too long. I didn't want you to hurt anymore and tried to protect you, but now that seems so trivial." Rowdy handed Chaos a small note written in a flowing hand. Through tear filled eyes Chaos read.....To Aiea: I never truly left you. You'll always be with me. From Bloodstone.

Blue arcs danced across the twilight sky. Purple and lavender clouds churned and raced toward the west. The ground heaved and buckled. And then darkness........................

Some would be safe......for a while...........

Ipomoea was on a journey. There was a tugging in her soul and she just felt like she had to keep moving. It was not fear that compelled her, but curiosity. It seemed that if she turned different directions or tried to take different routes the tug became more of a push and off she would go down a path that seemed to have a destination but no end that she could see. It was this tugging that lead her to the fortune teller's wagon. It was the fortune teller that had provided only a silly clue to all of this- Find the horsemen and you will save the Lilly of the Valley. It didn't make sense. She was going to save some flower by finding some men on horses....absurd!

[Cahaal]

A rift. A tear in the very fabric that bonds time and space.

This ever shifting light that stood before Ipomoea called to her, tugged at her soul. Her traveling companion did not feel the same need to enter. The barbarian was more brawn than brain but had enough sense to fear what lay beyond.

"I's cants goes in ders. Yous 'a crasy one fors beings so smarts. No good stuff come froms goings in ders," chortled Laube

"A big strong man like you isn't afraid of the dark, so why be afraid of a little light," Ipomoea chided.

It was her soul on fire and that incessant tugging. It didn't matter which direction she turned, she found herself at this rift. Ipomea did not sleep that night. The time ticked away in her mind like a clock echoing in an empty stone room. Resolved not to wait another day she washed her face, packed her things, and placed her ring in the barbarians sleeping palm. Laube had been given instructions if she did not come back and she knew he would carry that ring until they were fulfilled.

She paused a moment before light. Deep down she hoped the tugging and pulling would subside. She knew it wouldn't. “This is the beginning of a grand adventure,” she told herself as she placed her hand in the rift. Her body felt like it was being pulled into a million pieces. “What a wonderful experience! I'll have to do this again,” she thought. Then darkness and sleep that was not restful.

Voices.........cold floor.........where am I? Ipomoea was confused and disoriented. She was in a very different world than she had left. The flower......ah the horsemen now it was coming back to her. She needed to quiet this bickering and get some answers.

It was the Ancient Ones that held what she sought. Vaga had overheard her asking about the Horsemen and the flower Lilly of the Valley and knew Ipomoea exactly who she was looking for.

Brandobaris had been watching all of this transpire. He was keeping some very special things safe.....and when the time was right they would
be released. Unknown to the little halfling, Auril was also keeping tabs on this young lady. Only in time would this all unfold.