When mother started her journey, she had no idea what she was in for. Father came to her one night with a warning. Followers of the Riddler had discovered who she was and discovered her location. How that man still had followers after so much time is a mystery, but it was not a mystery mother wanted to solve. She chose to flee the monastery of her psionic order, telling her master, Estrella, that she was going to be leaving for a long while.
A month or so passed and she found herself in the kingdom of Shar at a tavern called the Hanged Giant. It was here that she met the ones who would soon become her closest friends. Festus, a half-dwarf carrying a large hammer who had a melancholy air about him and a strange familiar at his side: a seemingly sentient tea set that took the form of a small elephant named Winston. Risa, a quiet human wizard who seemed too shy to say anything. Finally, there was Redkap, a small, talking mushroom creature who seemed to be travelling with Festus.
The four of them struck up a conversation, but soon were approached by a pair of scholars from the Academy of the Blue Halls, a magic academy in the kingdom of Urdan. Strangely, the scholars knew all their names and asked them for help. Of course, mother was wary, but was willing to listen to what they had to say.
The scholars told the group of a plan to bring dragons back from extinction. They did not say how they planned to do this, only that they needed to have a special book recovered from some nearby ruins. Their motive, I am afraid has never been clear to me. They had said something about magical imbalance in the world, but why dragons would fix this, I do not know. All I know is that the group reluctantly agreed to help, thus beginning their time together.
The details of how they found the book are lost on me, but when they found it, all of them had quite the shock. The final page of the book read as such: “And thus let the Last Egg be interred here, lest the world of Men destroy that which it does not understand. Only when One lays claim to this Tome shall it return, for that is when it shall be needed most.” When Risa touched the final page, suddenly the book began to glow, and out of the pages came a rainbow-colored dragon’s egg.
Needless to say, the entire group panicked when this happened, and they started bickering about what to do with it. Eventually it was decided that they shouldn’t give the egg to the scholars and should hold onto it in secret for the time being until they thought of a better plan.
The book and the egg were not the only things they found in the ruins though. They also found a metal puzzle box brimming with the power of the wind god Galynn. They attempted to open it but were unable to. Mother insists to this day that it was magically sealed and that she could have solved the puzzle if given more time. I am afraid I will likely never know the truth behind why the group could not open the box, but as details go it is of little importance.
Once they had rested from their trek to the ruins, they went to Urdan and the Academy of the Blue Halls, where they were to meet again with the scholars. The gatekeeper at the Academy told them they were expected. Each person in the group had been asked after by six individuals whose names he refused to give. Deciding it was a mystery for later, the group entered the Academy and met with the scholars. They showed the scholars the puzzle box, who seemed entranced by it. Sadly, they had no insight as to what it was, but instead told them that they should take it to the king.
I have never personally met the warforged king, King K7 of Urdan. All mother knew at the time was that the king had reigned for three hundred years and was well liked among his people. Warforged, mechanical people powered by magic, are much like shardminds in that they do not age. So with that being said, the fact that K7 had reigned three hundred years without revolution occurring spoke volumes about who he was as a ruler.
Anyway, the group took a train up the mountain and arrived in the capitol city. Why trains have never gained popularity outside of Urdan is beyond me, but that is of no relevance to my tale. The capitol of Urdan mainly resides within the mountain. Magic lights on the cavern ceiling mimic sunlight near perfectly. Mother had been in the capitol a few times before, but never had she been so close to the palace.
The palace doors were guarded by a pair of large, four-armed warforged, known among the people as NOBLEs, elite warriors in Urdan’s army. To everyone’s surprise, the guards welcomed them to the palace. Apparently, someone had sent word in advance of their arrival. I wish I could describe the palace interior, but I am afraid I have not seen it in person or in memory, much to my dismay. I have heard it is quite exquisite. That is beside the point, however.
When the group arrived, King K7 was already there waiting for them. Beside him was his bodyguard, a goliath woman whose name I believe is Ursula. As it was rather late if I recall, mother decided to jump right to the point and showed him the divine puzzle box. Taking it from her hand, he did indeed take interest in it and attempted to solve it himself. Much to mother’s chagrin, it took him mere minutes to solve the puzzle and open it.
I am guessing that the puzzle box reacted to the king’s own divine magic. Being high priest of Luxane, goddess of life and light, it is likely that K7’s magic was able to open it. Despite mother being high priestess of Ryund, her divine magic is considerably weaker than K7’s is, so maybe that’s why she couldn’t open it. Alternatively, the king could merely be better at solving puzzles than anyone in the group. I will probably never know.
How the box was opened is of little importance compared to what came out of it. Out of the box came a pixie who identified itself as ‘Six’. Six pointed to the group and told them that they were heroes. What that meant exactly, no one knew. All the sudden, the pixie went still and spoke: “The first of seven is now undone, though six before me lost their fun. Should the seven be one again, the usurper, blind, shall no more reign. But if the others stay sealed away, the end shall come, and it shall stay.”
The words shook mother to her very core. It did not take a genius to understand that the pixie had just spoken a prophecy. A prophecy that implied the world’s demise. Festus asked the pixie what the words meant, but the pixie did not know what he was talking about. It did not remember any of what it had said or that it had said anything at all for that matter. Mother tried to read the pixie’s mind to find out if it was lying. What she found was most curious.
The pixie’s mind did not seem complete. It was as though it was just a fragment of a whole mind. As such, mother could read nothing. Its thoughts were broken and distorted beyond all coherency. Now, at the time of my writing this, I know the truth behind why this was. But with that said, what kind of storyteller would I be if I gave away all the secrets right away? You will have to continue reading to find out.
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