Year 46

“Think the girl will survive your big attack plan?” Dendrin asks.
“If she does, she does. If she doesn’t, well that’s the way it goes.” You reply.
“You don’t mean that. You’re just trying to play tough. I know better.”
“Well if you know better why do you insist on asking stupid questions?”
“Tradition?”
“Hah…okay I’ll admit that one was a little amusing.”
“Glad to see you’re in a better mood nowadays, but I imagine having someone to converse back and forth with on a regular basis might be helping. I told you, that you couldn’t go on with your life as it was and I was right! And you say I don’t look out for you.”
“Yeah, that must be why you’ve seen fit to deprive me of nearly all my magic abilities.”
“You’re not a believer. I can’t give to someone who has no faith. Sorry, but I don’t make the rules. Besides, you were never a magic lover anyway.”
“Perhaps not, but I found it useful in certain situations. Doesn’t matter, I’ve been making due…I suppose it has made me adapt, and kept me from relying on a crutch.”
“Well if that’s your way of saying thanks, I guess I’ll take it. Good luck tomorrow.”

You wake up.

Today is the day, after months of carrying out a personal guerrilla war on Brutus’ gang (you refuse to acknowledge such rabble as any sort of “army”) you’ve managed to whittle it down to a manageable size to the point where he’s had Sinkhole barricaded. You’re not sure why considering its not going to stop you, but if the fool actually thinks building a shaky wooden wall and locking himself in his house is actually going to save him, so be it.

While you get ready, Lena’s already set to go. You think she’s been anxious for this day more than you have.

Lena has been helping you and for her part she’s done an adequate job. She’s taken to training well, though that’s probably because she doesn’t have much left anymore. You’ve had to pull her fat out of the fire on more than one occasion, but you expected you would when you first agreed to have her help you.

And at least she’s helping you. That’s more than can be said about anyone else! Despite all the damage you’ve done to their oppressors, your actions have not inspired others to take up arms against what’s left of the eternals. You can’t say you’re surprised though. Lena on more than one occasion has travelled to a few of the swamp villages in the hopes of getting help, but no luck. You told her it was a waste of time, but she had to learn on her own your suppose.

You probably never show it and you’d certainly never admit it, but you do respect Lena and don’t mind her company. Though there’s still another whose company you prefer. (And that that isn’t Dendrin)

“I’m going now. I’ll be back later to tell you all about it.” You tell Talia before you leave.

You and Lena make your way to Sinkhole. Along the way Lena makes her usual snappy comments. It’s one of her less endearing qualities.

“So you couldn’t get Talia to help us for this one?”
“Well maybe if I’d been a believer in Dendrin, he would’ve seen fit to raise her from the dead or something, but seeing as he’s as much of an asshole as you’re being right now, no I couldn’t get Talia’s help. Maybe next time.” You reply.
“I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have said that, I…”
“Forget it. You’re nervous just like you are whenever we go into battle and you’re deflecting as usual. Just save those witty remarks for combat. Seems to work on those wannabe eternals who get flustered over the smallest taunts.”

Sinkhole’s rickety wall doesn’t quite extend all the way around the town, but its enough that there’s no way to easily go around it without either wading through the deep marsh water or just barging through the front gate. If you still had your magic, you’d just scale the wall with the spider walk spell, but you don’t have that luxury anymore. Chopping or kicking through the wall would probably take time and attract attention. You’d like to at least catch the enemy a little off guard.

So you decide to do the classic “pincer maneuver.”

“Lena, you sneak around through the marsh where there is no wall and enter Sinkhole that way.”
“Wait, where are you going to be?”
“I’m going through the main gate of course. They’ll be focusing on me so much that you’ll probably be able to take down several of Brutus’ men before some of them converge on your position.”
“Are you going to be all right?”
“We’ve worked together for months now and you have to ask me that? Don’t worry about me, I’ve faced worse. A lot worse. Now Brutus will probably be hold up in that big house of his. Don’t try to enter it until I get there since the place will probably be trapped.”
“What if I see him outside?”
“I doubt it since the coward seems determined to throw everyone under his command at us while he hides. In the off chance you do see him, he’ll probably be trying to escape so by all means try to stop him in that case. Now let’s get going.”

As you and Lena part company you know there’s a fifty fifty chance Lena is going to disregard everything you’ve said and try to enter Brutus’ home and try to kill him herself. You’re going have to be quick if you want to beat her there.

Predictably several eternals guard the front gate and when you appear before them, the alarm is raised and they attack. If they’re lucky, they might actually last more than a five minutes against you…

Four minutes later you’ve already fought your way through the main gate. You see several more eternals standing in the road with weapons drawn, but they look unsure to as whether or not to attack you or run away. Surprisingly one speaks up, he’s a short man with brown hair wearing leather armor. He’s very average looking and not at all anything like what the second generation eternals are supposed to be which are great hulking warrior types.

“Hold for a moment! I would speak with you. There is no need for animosity.”
“What, you trying to stall for time and set up an amubush? Not likely, let’s get on with this!” you reply and advance.

He and the two other eternals standing behind him all back away while still attempting to hold a defensive position.

“Wait just a moment, damn it! There are not enough of us left to set up a fucking ambush! We’re all that’s left, besides Brutus barricaded in his house. I mean we already know you could kill us all within seconds, is it really going to hurt to hear what I have to say?”
“Alright, make it quick.”
“Okay, we’re giving up. I mean just let us get the hell out of here and we’ll never enter this damn swamp ever again. This ain’t worth it and I certainly ain’t dying for Brutus.”
“What makes you think I’d let you go?”
“Look I know who you are. You’re not just some crazy ass old shadow; you’re also an eternal. A first gen. Oh yes, I heard stories about you in the old days and unlike most of my kind, I took them seriously. I also remember because I was assigned here when you were still causing trouble for the old Empire. Everyone thought you died when we collapsed the temple on you, but when our boys started getting picked off over the last year, I had a feeling who it might be. I tried to warn Brutus that we should just leave, but the fool wouldn’t listen.
“Hmm, too bad you weren’t smart enough to leave yourself.”
“Well, Brutus may be a fool, but he’s still my friend.”
“Friends? Didn’t know you second gens, had the concept of it…but he’s so much of a friend, that you’re ready to abandon him now?”
“I don’t like it, but if I have to chose between loyalty to my friend and survival, survival is going to win.”
“While this is all very interesting, you still haven’t answered my question, why the hell should I let you go?”
“Because I talked Brutus out of destroying this entire town and the rest of the little villages in this swamp? Did you know when you started murdering us, his first order was to wage systematic genocide on the people of Delerg? Granted he still wiped out a few villages completely, but I managed to save lives because even I thought that was going too far. Other did too, I was just the only one brave enough to tell him in a way that showed it wouldn’t be wise to do it.”
“So that makes you a good guy?”
“No, I didn’t say it makes me a good guy, I’m just saying that my deeds at least should be taken into consideration. I mean…fuck…you’ve killed a lot of us and you’ll likely kill Brutus as well. Isn’t that enough? We’re no threat to you and we’re not going to come back to launch some sort of sneak attack. You can have free reign of this place, I’d rather just put this shithole far behind me. You’ll never see us again.”

This guy might not be playing for time to have more of his buddies ambush you, but he’s still taken up more than enough and there’s no indication of Lena showing up who probably would’ve attacked them by now. Since she hasn’t that can only mean she’s decided to take on Brutus himself, which means she’s probably going to get herself killed if you don’t reach the house soon.
> You let them go and help Lena
Lena’s more important right now. This lot seems like they’re not eager for a fight. Even if they do regain their courage at a later date, you figure you can easily deal with them then.

“Today is your lucky day, get the hell out of here and don’t let me see you again!” you say. The speaker of the group nods and thanks you while he and the rest of his fellows quickly run past you and out the front gate.

You head quickly to the “mansion” sized home near the marshlands. You approach cautiously and that’s when you see Lena just arriving. You’re glad you got here in time.

“Good there you are, did you have any problems?” you ask.
“Other than having to pull leeches off my body? No. There were a couple eternals near the area where I came through, but I killed them while they were still trying to make up their minds on whether or not to leave their posts to investigate the noise you were stirring up at the front gate. Besides that, I investigated the surrounding area outside this house and I haven’t seen any evidence that Brutus has tried to leave it.”
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t have some sort of underground tunnel built. Let’s go.”

After breaking down the door, you cautiously move throughout the house. While certainly bigger than the rest of homes in Sinkhole, it probably doesn’t look much better from the inside. The place is a wreck, you’d think as a leader he’d want to keep his own home in better condition, but then given that you live in an underground hole of a collapsed temple which was already in ruins when you arrived there, maybe you aren’t exactly in a position to make judgments as far as living arrangements are concerned.

“No traps so far.” Lena whispers.
“Considering there’s so much junk and garbage in this place, they could be well hidden. Keep a look out anyway, and stay quiet! No need to give our position away.”
“I’m sure he already knows we’re…”

Before Lena can complete her statement, Brutus appears from around a corner and nearly takes her head off with an axe. Fortunately for her, you block the attack. At last you get a close look at the great leader himself, and once again you’re unimpressed by what you see. Makes this whole endeavor hardly even worth it at this point.

“I’ll make you wish you hadn’t come back from the dead shadow!” Brutus exclaims right before you shut him up with a head-butt and then slicing his belly open. Falling to the floor and desperately attempting to hold in his entrails he starts to scoot back from you.

“You new eternals always talk too much.” You say. “Lena…if you’d like to do the honors.”

Lena wastes no time in taking up your offer. She points her spear at Brutus, who makes a plea for his life through bribery. It doesn’t work and Lena skewers him in the chest with the spear.

Then she does it again… and again… and again… and…

“Sonofabitch! You killed my family! Bastard! Die! Die! Fuck you…” Lena sobs the whole time.
“Lena he’s dead. You can stop…” you start to say and then you feel a crushing blow to the back of your skull knocking you to the floor.

You were paying so much attention to Lena’s breakdown that you didn’t hear anyone else enter the house. It’s the trio of eternals that you previously let go. You attempt to get up, but only get another smash to your head for your troubles.

“We kept our word shadow, you never saw us again!” you hear one of them laugh and this is followed by a final blow to your skull which splits it open causing bits of brains to splatter nearby.

Lena charges at them already in a rage from before and while she manages to wound one of them, they ultimately take advantage of her unhinged state and finish her off with ease.


Even as quiet as you are, if you head over to her location, you might miss your best opportunity to attack even if you were waiting for a slightly better opening. Still no point in taking chances, you speed yourself up just give yourself that extra edge.

As your blade sinks into the back of one of the eternals you materialize before the rest of their eyes and they look as if they see a ghost. Their surprise doesn’t last long, but it’s enough for you to chop down another one before they can put up a decent defense.

“Behind you!” you hear a voice shout and you instinctively duck down and spin around to shoot a bolt at whatever might be behind you. You catch an attacker in the leg with it, but from what you can see a bunch more eternals have arrived to help their buddies. This is why you wanted to wait a moment longer before attacking.

One of the eternals in charge shouts at one of his men to go catch the girl that just shouted a warning to you. At this point running might not be a bad option for yourself. If you had your back against something, you might be better able to fight them, but being surrounded and outnumbered like this isn’t the best situation.

You make a break for it, but the eternals are wise enough to not all chase you directly, some instead run along either side of you hoping to head you off. It doesn’t help that a few are carrying spears and are fairly proficient at throwing them.

You cloak yourself and climb up a tree, which helps lose them. They continue to search the area where they last saw you. Eventually they give up and argue with each other about losing you.

You wait about an hour in the tree before you decide its safe to come down. You head back to the sanctuary cursing your unpreparedness. That speed spell also took it out of you. You feel more drained than you have in a long time; it’s almost like the old days when you were complete crap at casting magic. You’re guessing your long detachment from Dendrin has made your shadow magic even weaker. At least you can still cloak without too many problems it seems.

Eventually you get back home only to see a visitor waiting for you. It’s the girl and she’s sitting on a pile of rubble near your secret entrance. Now that you can see her in a better light, she’s much different looking from the wailing waif you last saw. She stinks of the swamp like she’s been living in it for days. Her face is healed up with a few minor scars, but her eyes display a stare that could be matched by some battle weary warriors. You’re actually a little surprised to see her since it implies that she knew where you lived, meaning she’s sneakier than you thought.

“Nobody followed me. I lost my pursuer.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Then how the hell do you know you really lost him? Maybe he let you get away, just to follow you at his leisure. What the hell were you doing out there, you know damn well you’re no match for those guys.”
“Neither are you it seems.”
“I would’ve been had I waited a little longer to gather all the information instead of jumping into battle like an idiot.”
“So why’d you jump in like an idiot?”
“Because I saw you and you were already a factor I didn’t need to deal with if you decided to jump in like an idiot. So I did it instead, hoping that was all of them. Apparently not. Still, got a few of them I guess. There’s always tomorrow. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going inside and I don’t need you knowing exactly where the entrance is even if you already knew where I lived.”

The girl doesn’t move.

“So basically what you’re saying is you risked your life to prevent me from getting hurt.”
“No, I told you why I did it. Don’t read into something that isn’t there, now I suggest you do what I told you to do last time and go home.”
“I can’t considering they destroyed my village not long ago. Completely.”

You exhale deeply since you heard about that, but of course you had no idea she was from there.

“So that was your village? Was it random, or did they know you were there for the…first attack?”
“I think they knew. They didn’t know exactly what had happened or who was there, but they guessed someone in the village knew something. Some in the village knew what I told them, like my family, Aaron’s family, and close neighbors, but nobody gave me up. I sort of wished they did, they’d all be alive right now.”
“If you felt that way, why not turn yourself in?”
“Because I was scared? Because I didn’t want to die? Because I’d somehow beaten the odds and endured something I shouldn’t have?”
“Because you wanted to survive.” You say.
“Yes, because I wanted to survive. Just like I wanted to survive when they started lining up everyone to more efficiently butcher them. I managed to run. I left my mother, my father, my little brother, my friends. I left them ALL behind. I didn’t try to save them Maybe I could’ve I don’t think so, but I didn’t even try. All I wanted to do is survive. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since, living in the swamp attempting to survive and plot revenge.”
“Hmm, well you’ve got the survival bit down at least. So were you the only survivor from your village?”
“I dunno, I think some others ran. Don’t know what happened to them though. So when are we going to attack again?”
“I’M going to get some rest and I’ll attack again when I feel like it. YOU I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I suggest you go find some place to hide where those bastards can’t find you. Now leave. I’m not going to ask nicely again.”

The girl hops down from her sitting spot.

“No, I’m not going anywhere. YOU saved me. Twice. Which means right now you’re the closest thing I have to a friend and friends help each other out. Besides, I did warn you about that guy going to attack you. Surely that warrants me at least some place to stay. I won’t get in the way. I know how to take care of myself. I know I can do a lot more than I used to…”
“Look this isn’t some shelter for lost girls! This is my damn home! I don’t owe you shit! Now get the fuck outta here!” you yell and stand directly in front of her, but she’s unmoved.
“You’re going to have to fucking kill me then!” she shouts back in your face.

At this point you’re more worried about your voices attracting attention. You feel like knocking her out, but that would only be a temporary solution and despite being a fairly ruthless killer, you’re not going to oblige her alternative.

You push her out of the way and open up your entrance. She’s probably a little amazed that she was so close to it and didn’t realize it.

“Well? Don’t just stand there with a dumb look on your face; get inside before we attract the attention of something other than Sul Monkeys.” You say and motion her inside.

“What’s your name anyway?”
“Lena.”

Dendrin’s going to have a field day with this and you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.
> You lesson One for Lena (A conversation)
“And this will be your room. You can fix it how you want, but don’t make a fucking mess. Also I don’t know what combat skills you’ve learned since I last saw you, but if you’re serious about this like you appear to be, you will be training under me starting tomorrow. I’m not taking you along if you don’t know how to handle yourself better.” You say.
“Great. It’s what I want anyway.”
“Hmm, you’ll probably rethink that, once I actually start training you. Anyway, goodni…”
“Hey I know you have some magic abilities, but are you really a shadow?” Lena asks.

Her question catches you off guard.

“Yeah, I guess. I mean not really. Shit, I dunno. Just go to bed kid, you’ll need the sleep because you’ve got other things to worry about.”
“What sort of answer is that?”
“The only one I’m giving you right now. ”
“Sheesh, I just figured it would be important if I knew if you were actually what you claimed when you killed those eternals that…assaulted me.”
“What? What did I say? I remember a lot of killing and screaming, but that’s it.”
“You said something like I’m the shadow of the past and right now the past is catching up with you. And then you killed one of them.”

You now remember that line. That was rather over the top of you, and you’re sort of surprised you forgot it so quickly.

“Heh, remembered that did you…but then I suppose it might’ve been more memorable for you…(sigh). The answer to your question is…complex. Officially I am a shadow, but
I am not a faithful one as far as the crazy religion is concerned.”
“So you don’t believe in Daylin?”
“Dendrin is his name and I didn’t say I didn’t believe in him, I just don’t worship him. One would think he’d want to leave me alone because of it, but for whatever reason he still insists on speaking with me on occasion. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know either. Maybe he just finds me interesting because I’m an eternal.”

Your statement causes Lena’s eyes to go wide. She wasn’t expecting you to say something like that.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m an original eternal, not like the ones you know about.”
“How did an eternal become a shadow?”
“Long story and maybe I’ll tell you one day assuming you survive training, now that’s it for questions for tonight. You better get some rest, I’m serious.”

Lena ceases her questions and realizes that she’s reached the limit on them for tonight. You leave her and head to your room wondering what the hell you’re thinking. You hesitate to sleep just because you don’t want to suffer through Dendrin’s predictable taunts and questions. So you end up heading to the garden to speak to the only person you can.

“Hi Talia, as you might know we’ve got a visitor. It’s that girl that I saved a few months ago. She seems to think she’s a warrior now.” You say shaking your head and sitting by Talia’s grave.

“Yeah I dunno what I’m doing either, but I figure if she wants to get revenge that bad, then maybe she’s earned the right to succeed and I should at least train her properly. I mean hell, it isn’t like I have much else to do and it wouldn’t be so bad having someone help me again.”

You suddenly begin to feel a little nervous.

“I mean of course she’ll never replace you. NEVER. I just…um…I look…”

While you sit there trying to explain yourself to a dead woman, you don’t even notice Lena entering the garden.

“What’s going on? Who are you talking to?” she asks in all innocence and you fly into a rage at being intruded on.

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! DON’T YOU EVER FUCKING ENTER THIS PLACE AGAIN!” you stand up and shout while walking towards her. You’re menacing enough that Lena genuinely fears that you’re going to hurt her and she runs out of the room.

While Lena runs back to her room, you calm down a bit and stop yourself at the entryway of the garden and realize that you might’ve gotten a little more upset than you should have.

“(Sigh) Shit.” You quietly say and begin to head towards Lena’s room. When you get there you see her trying not to cry and packing what little belongings she owns.

“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving, I guess you’re right, I shouldn’t be here.”
“Lena, stop. Where are you going to go? Back to live in the swamp with eternals hunting for your head? Look I’m sorry, but I haven’t had anyone living here for quite a while and you caught me off guard during, well a private time.
“So who were you speaking with?”
“Talia, my dead wife. Except I like to pretend she’s still alive sometimes. Hmm, now that I think about it, that’s not a very strong incentive for you to stay.” You morbidly joke.

You sort of expect Lena to agree and continue her attempt to leave, but she doesn’t.

“I…suppose I understand. For a while after my boyfriend Aaron was killed, I still couldn’t quite accept the fact he was dead either. Sometimes I pretended he was just off travelling for an extended period of time. When the rest of my family died, well I didn’t hold that illusion for any of them or even Aaron anymore. I had to accept reality. No point in living in a fantasy land when it isn’t real right?”
“Truer words have never been spoken. I believe you have the right mindset Lena and I also believe your training will go well.”

As you turn to leave, Lena can’t resist asking that last question.

“Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, but how did your wife die?”
“In battle against the eternals, about ten years ago.”

Lena’s expression is a puzzled one. Here you just congratulated her on her acceptance of reality, yet you’ve been drifting in and out of fantasy for a decade. You stop her before she even asks.

“Lesson one, do as I say, not as I do.” You remark and leave.


Chapter 3B2: Last Shadow

Year 45

You travel back to the sanctuary under cloak as you have many times before. The sanctuary isn’t much to look at anymore ever since it collapsed ten years ago, but one thing’s for sure, nobody ever comes around here, making it the perfect place to live ever since you started to live like a recluse.

You scan the area to make sure there is nobody around before you go through your secret entrance; you remember how long it took you just dig your way out of the place. You probably could’ve stayed down there indefinitely, but there are only so many times you can read the same books over. It was only natural that you got curious about what was going on in outside world after the first few years of being buried had past.

About another year of digging and it was a brand new world. The Empire had fallen, but not much had changed in the scheme of things. In some ways the situation might’ve been worse for the average person. You travelled under cloak to explore what used to be the territory of the old Empire, only to find that most of it was now divided up into petty fiefdoms run by the new eternals.

You knew as soon as you saw these new eternals they were going to hasten the Empire’s fall, not save it. You also weren’t surprised to find most of them fighting over the scraps of their dead “parent.” They lack any sort of discipline of your generation, as far as you’re concerned they’re twisted mutants of eternals, but not real ones.

Most of the population that had existed under the Empire has become practically enslaved under the new eternals. There are a few that remain autonomous, but this is mainly in Rask where the place is a war zone even compared to places like Quala or Arat. From what you’ve heard Flog and his orc/ogre horde have been spreading to southern Rask and making it hard for any eternal attempting to plant a flag and keep it there. It’s gotten so bad that what eternals do lay claim there have resorted to hiring svelk mercenaries to help. And the svelk aren’t exactly well liked by the new eternals (Though that’s one issue you’d have to agree with them on).

The other area that remains free from of new eternal domination in Nalin, which is seemingly a beacon of “light” and under the control of the only other first generation eternal known to be alive, Brenda. She apparently has a non-aggression pact with the eternal upstarts, but has made it clear she will not let them destroy what’s left of what she considers to be the last remnants of the Empire. You don’t know whether it’s out of respect or fear that she has managed to avoid war with any of them.

As for Delerg, it’s not a warzone, but it’s no paradise. Delerg is slightly unique in that it’s currently only “ruled” by one eternal by the name of Brutus, with no major competition. Brutus is not quite as ambitious either; he and his crony eternals seem content to just wallow in the swamp. One might think that perhaps he’s just biding his time and waiting for an opening to invade the weakest eternal in Quala, but in reality he wouldn’t have the means to do it anyway, his entourage is more of a gang rather than any proper army. He’s just lucky Delerg isn’t a profitable target by any other eternal or else he’d probably be wiped out by a real invasion.

You’ve often wondered why you continue to stay in Delerg or even the general area even after you took your “tour” of the old provinces and saw the chaos for yourself. You have no real answer other than you have nowhere else to go and that you’ve lived at the temple for so long now that you consider it your home regardless of who is calling themselves ruler there.

The other reason you guess is Talia. Even after all these years you still haven’t quite moved on. You speak to Talia a lot, but she’s not much of a conversationalist anymore, not that you mind. You’d rather speak with her than Dendrin who you don’t know why still insists on speaking with you at all though thankfully it’s been rare nowadays.

Later that night you go through your usual routine of a little training to keep your skills sharp and eating your dinner. You then visit the garden and speak with Talia about what you did today.

“Visited Sinkhole again today. Still the same rundown town it’s always been. You’d think since Brutus made it his headquarters that he’d actually have a little pride to build it up a bit. Instead he and his lackies seem to just enjoy kicking around the same pathetic peasants, molesting hapless young girls and generally being assholes. Must be nice to enjoy doing the same routine over and over again.”

You grab a handful of dirt and throw it where you buried Talia.

“Sometimes I feel like uncloaking and killing them all, just to see what they’d do, you know? I bet they’d be scared shitless. The return of the shadows! Ooooooooh!”

You laugh a bit.

“Of course you know I did feel like killing them all after you died, but now? What’s the point? It won’t bring you back, and most of those bastards get themselves killed over stupidity anyway. Hell I’d probably be honoring them by gracing them with my blade to their hearts.”

You throw a stone in the small stream nearby.

“I mean I suppose if I did kill them, I’d be helping out those they’re tormenting now…but why bother? Most of those wretches were content living under the yoke of the Empire, they can be happy with what that mindset got them! Remember when I was trying start up a minor rebel cell here? All I could practically get were the fucking criminals and other miscreants. I mean what the hell does that say about society when those are only type willing to fight against tyranny?”

You start to get angrier at the predictable silence.

“I mean it’s not my fight anymore! I did what I could back in the day and it wasn’t appreciated by anyone, sometimes not even by you! The Empire is dead! I’ve done my bit, so if someone else wants to play freedom fighter they can have at it. I’m done…I’m...I’m sorry…” you say as you slump down near Talia’s grave.

You sit in silence for quite a while, and eventually you fall asleep.

“You’re not still moping about are you? I thought you’d be over the hermit thing by now.” Dendrin says
“I can’t really be a hermit when you keep interrupting my solitude all the damn time.”
“Oh please, you secretly crave it! If you really cherished your solitude that much, why the hell do you even bother leaving this place to make your little trips all over the countryside?”
“I only did that once because I was curious about the changes in the world.”
“But you still continue to make your routine trips in Delerg at least. You know nothing has changed for quite some time, same eternals tormenting the peasants as usual. It’s almost as boring as a routine as you have, must be an eternal thing. My point is, if you really wanted solitude, you wouldn’t risk leaving this place at all. You wouldn’t lurk on the outskirts of civilization spying on what others are doing. You also wouldn’t still be talking to your mate who hasn’t been in any condition to talk back in quite some time. I don’t think this hermit thing is for you. You need to be doing something else.”
“Oh like what? Entertaining you? Look if you’re so bored, why don’t you go bother someone else and leave me alone? I’ve repeatedly told you, I’m not here for your amusement.”
“Obviously not. (Sigh) Very well Eternal, but you know I’m right. You can’t keep going on like this. You’re going to have to change your surroundings eventually, because you might as well be lying in a grave right next to Talia given that you’ve fallen asleep in the dirt and have small cave insects crawling on you.”
“Don’t think I haven’t considered it.”
“Stop talking nonsense. You’re not suicidal and even if you were, you’d be too cowardly to go through with it anyway. Just like you’re too cowardly to change your current situation by leaving this place.”
“First you say I’m not really a hermit because I’m leaving here on a regular basis, but now you’re saying I’m too cowardly to leave it? How does that make sense?”
“I’m saying you’re going about everything half assed! You want to be a hermit? Fine then you need to shut yourself off from the outside world completely and not run around topside and vicariously getting your socialization kicks by spying on others. However I don’t think that’s what you want. I think you WANT to go back to doing what you used to do, but you’ve been staying hidden from the known world so long that you don’t want to risk what peace you have. Its safer that way.”
“And I haven’t earned a little peace? Given everything I’ve been through?”
“Maybe you have Eternal. I don’t know, but what I do know is you don’t seem to be satisfied with it, so what I’m saying is you need to change your situation. Otherwise you might as well be dead because you’re not living, you’re just surviving.”
“It’s enough.”
“Are you sure?”
“Always has been.”

At this point Dendrin stops speaking. You don’t know if it’s because he’s just tired of arguing with you or if it’s because you’ve actually won the argument. Dendrin can’t really deny that surviving to a certain extent has been enough for you in the past.

In any case the numbness eventually subsides and you wake up.

After brushing yourself off you head back to your real bed and ponder what you’re really going to do since despite it all, Dendrin has once again managed to weasel a little truth in his words and its enough to make you think.
> You leave the area
Whether you’re content on just surviving or not isn’t really the issue, staying here in what amounts to be an oversized grave wallowing in self pity from time to time probably isn’t the best thing for your mind. You’re already starting to go a little off kilter in that regard. There is really nothing for you here or Delerg or even the area in general. Maybe shouldn’t just change your surroundings, maybe you need to just leave them completely.

It takes you about a month, but eventually you gather up the motivation to leave the temple for good. You visit Talia’s grave one last time before you leave.

“I’m sorry Talia, but I have to leave you now. We’ll… be together again some day.”

You keep your goodbyes to Talia short because if you draw it out any longer you’ll end up staying.

When you leave the temple you aren’t exactly sure which direction to head in. You could head west through Quala, Arat and eventually to the Felkan Kingdom. From there you’ll decide your next course of action of what to do next.

Of course you could do the unthinkable and do what even the Empire avoided and that’s head east deeper into the Delerg swamp. There are rumors of horrors that live further in and while that might be true, the swamp has to end somewhere. It isn’t like anyone to your knowledge has ever explored past it. Part of this intrigues you a bit. At the very least the danger would keep your mind focused on other things.
> You head east into deep Delerg jungle
The whole point of changing your surroundings is to go someplace where you haven’t been before. You’ve been through Quala and Arat and you’d rather not have to travel through them again. You’re going to off in a completely new direction.

Your journey through the eastern swamp is an ordeal to say the least. The swamp eventually becomes more of a jungle it almost seems as if the land itself is protecting something or otherwise it just doesn’t want anyone going further east.

You do battle with several beasts that you’ve never seen before and probably nobody else from the “civilized” world has either. It’s not just beasts that are hostile, or even the plants, but also a short dark race of humans. Their small stature doesn’t make them any less dangerous. If it wasn’t for your magic abilities you doubt if you’d be able to handle so many because you swear the trees must be spawning the little bastards. Thankfully as an eternal you’re also somewhat resistant to poisons.

Still the constant attacks are taking their toll and you’re exhausted from fighting and magic use. The moment you are able to get a small bit of sleep, even Dendrin is suggesting that perhaps you should go back. You ignore him though. He’s always giving you contradictory suggestions. One moment he’s telling you to something like change your surroundings, and the next he’s telling you how that’s bad. You wish he’d just leave you alone once and for all.

You press onward and eventually the jungle thins out a bit and you discover what looks to be some very old ruins. Another temple perhaps, but its design isn’t like the shadow temple. Your curiosity gets the better of you and you decide to enter. If nothing else, it’ll give you a bit of relief from the tree dwelling attackers.

You cautiously explore, but so far the ruins seem empty. You don’t even come across any of the jungle fauna making their home here. Your guess that it was once some sort of temple seems to be on target as you come across several altars and odd symbols. Lot of drawing of snakes too. You’re guessing it was dedicated to some sort of snake god.

Not finding anything of interest, you step back outside only to suddenly feel four sharp darts going into your body. The pygmies set up an ambush! You stagger back inside the ruins cursing yourself for not being more observant.

You can hear them shouting excitedly from outside while you’re pulling out the dart from behind a fallen stone pillar. Given that they typically attack you with abandon of their own well-being, you fully expect them to come rushing into the temple to attack you. It’ll be taxing, but you’ll have the advantage in the cover of the darkness.

That doesn’t happen however. They don’t enter the temple at all and seem to be waiting for you to come out. You wonder if they consider this place taboo or something. In any case you decide you’ll take advantage by resting a moment and when you feel like you’ve got the energy, you’ll cloak yourself and sneak past them all.

You wait in the darkness for quite a while and keeping an ear out for the pygmies. Though while you’re listening out for them, you then hear another sound which sounds very close. A hissing sound that is right behind you…

You turn around and swing your weapon, but the instant you do, an incredibly bright light blinds you. You then feel the whip of a tail smashing you in the chest causing you to fall backwards and hit your head on the stone floor.

Through your grogginess and hazy eye sight you manage to just make out your attacker which seems to be some sort of serpent creature, but with arms like a human holding a staff with a glowing tip.

You attempt to mumble a spell to speed you up, but the serpent creature is faster even without magical enhancements. Its head lunges forward and you feel its fangs sink deep into your throat puncturing the jugular. You die instantly.


Whether you’re content on just surviving or not isn’t really the issue, staying here in what amounts to be an oversized grave wallowing in self pity from time to time probably isn’t the best thing for your mind. You’re already starting to go a little off kilter in that regard. There is really nothing for you here or Delerg or even the area in general. Maybe shouldn’t just change your surroundings, maybe you need to just leave them completely.

It takes you about a month, but eventually you gather up the motivation to leave the temple for good. You visit Talia’s grave one last time before you leave.

“I’m sorry Talia, but I have to leave you now. We’ll… be together again some day.”

You keep your goodbyes to Talia short because if you draw it out any longer you’ll end up staying.

When you leave the temple you aren’t exactly sure which direction to head in. You could head west through Quala, Arat and eventually to the Felkan Kingdom. From there you’ll decide your next course of action of what to do next.

Of course you could do the unthinkable and do what even the Empire avoided and that’s head east deeper into the Delerg swamp. There are rumors of horrors that live further in and while that might be true, the swamp has to end somewhere. It isn’t like anyone to your knowledge has ever explored past it. Part of this intrigues you a bit. At the very least the danger would keep your mind focused on other things.
> You head west to the Felkan Kingdom
You think you’d still rather stick to familiar terrain first, so you decide that you’ll head to the Felkan Kingdom and see what happens from there.

Your journey through Quala takes a while, but is fairly uneventful. Same chaos going on that you saw before with various eternal warlords squabbling over the scraps of a fallen regime. You don’t really see it getting better any time sooner. In fact you wonder if overthrowing the Empire made a damn bit of difference at all. In some ways things are even worse.

Arat fairs even worse. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of law and order of any kind here. There isn’t even a petty dictator around, its just complete anarchy. The only semblance of order is on the Felkan boarders where the overworked Felakans are busily attempting to keep the riff raff from coming in. Naturally you simply cloak and sneak over.

The Felkan Kingdom is something you’ve heard about usually in a negative light from the Empire, but of course like with most things that seems to have been propaganda. The Felkan Kingdom is very different from what you’re used to seeing though. The whole place seems to embrace technology and new ideas more readily than the Empire did. You see many instances of soldiers carrying around the “black powder” weapons you’ve heard about.

You stay in the Felkan lands for a while mostly keeping to the more rural parts of it, but the land is currently involved in a war of its own against a race of creatures called Gnolls making those same rural parts fairly dangerous. You have many of your own run ins with them while attempting to make a home here.

Eventually you decide to move on and leave Felkan territory.

You travel for years to distant lands, never finding a place to call home. In time, Dendrin stops speaking to you altogether and you find that you no longer have any magic ability at all. You see it as a small price to pay for never having to deal with him again.

What ultimately happens to you is lost to history.


Year 35

Despite your best efforts, stirring up more dissent in Delerg seems to be a losing battle. It’s not just the Empire though; it’s the people here in general. Most of them are content on being dominated. Funny how in the “birthplace” of the shadows, that rebellion would be less here.

The best you’ve been able to do is organize small groups of society’s misfits, lowlifes and outright psychopaths and they’re just doing it for the shits and giggles for the most part, but whatever works at this point.

You and Talia have been very careful about not giving the impression of any shadow activity in the area and that’s a good thing because lately the Empire has been throwing its weight around once more. Almost as if it’s gotten a second wind.

And it has.

There were always rumors, but you never paid too much attention most of the time mainly because you had so much else going on in your life, but when the announcement of the Empire’s new eternals came about, you had no choice but to pay attention especially since there was a lot more of them, hundreds actually.

The first place they sent them was to Rask. Not surprising considering the Empire lost the territory. What wasn’t expected is that the Empire didn’t just send them to conquer the place. They sent them to destroy it. Town after town was completely obliterated by these new eternals and the people no matter how united couldn’t stop them. Some tried to pledge their allegiance to the Empire again, but they were killed like everyone else. Not since the days of Kane had Rask experienced such brutality on a wide scale.

After most of the towns had been laid to waste, Fort Defiance was next. In fact this was the main objective in the first place. The rest of it? Just in the way and served to test the viciousness of the new eternals. Perhaps even to scare the remaining shadows still huddled up in that run down fort. “Defiance” was a reminder of an old wound. A loss. A humiliation. The Empire didn’t just lose a fort, or even a whole province; they lost it because of the shadows, the ones who caused all this in the first place. They had to be eliminated once and for all.

You heard that the siege didn’t even last three days and Fort Defiance was destroyed along with all the remaining shadows inside. Cyrus himself was found dead with another male shadow (Who you presume was probably Draven) in an embrace. Apparently they had poisoned themselves rather than give the satisfaction to the Empire of killing them.

Talia gets a little sad when she hears the news. While she left due to her feelings for you and Cyrus’ incompetence, she was there for five years and still considered them all her brothers and sisters. A loss of any of Dendrin’s faithful is a loss to all who revere him.

While you aren’t exactly broken up about it, you certainly aren’t jumping for joy. Now that the Empire has satisfied its blood revenge on what they believed to be the last of the shadows, they’re going to unleash these new eternals on the rest of their provinces in full force too. They’ve already started deploying them in the Quala and Arat province. Delerg can’t be far behind.

“While I hate to always be the cynic. Things are looking really damn bleak right about now Talia.”
“They’ve been bad before and we’ve still pulled through. Dendrin will preserve us and the Empire will fall.”
“Yeah…well…”
“Oh come on now my love, don’t tell me you’re starting to lose your faith again.”

It’s always so charmingly naïve of Talia to believe that you’re not just faking everything. Still, even while faking it, you can’t help but be a “doubter” sometimes.

“Well no…but we’re the last two shadows left Talia. I mean, sure Cyrus was obviously a bad leader and all that, but above all else he was a devoted worshipper of Dendrin along with all the rest. I have to question why Dendrin isn’t doing something more direct to help his own followers now more than ever.”
“Cyrus’ actions had obviously offended Dendrin, and he was punished along with all those that followed him. True, I weep for their passing, but they strayed from the teachings. They were no longer fighting the Empire or trying to carry out Dendrin’s will and as a result Rask was ravaged. We on the other hand were smart enough to leave and carry on the fight. For years now we’ve successfully hid ourselves right under the noses of the Empire. I know we’re careful, but we’re not that lucky. Dendrin has obviously clouded the Empire’s collective mindset from believing there are shadows here in Delerg. Your magic is back completely. I’d say Dendrin is looking out for only those that are worthy. When the Empire does finally fall, it will be a new era and it only takes two…”

Talia takes your hand and looks into your eyes.

“…to recreate the shadows stronger than ever.”

While you’re glad Talia’s confidence in victory is so certain, you’re not convinced as usual. Even if Dendrin is helping you both out on some small level like Talia believes he is, he’s going to have to do a hell of a lot more. In the meantime you’re going to prepare yourself for the inevitable new eternal invasion. You begin setting up traps in and around the temple though you imagine the day when they actually get used is probably going to be the day you’re making your last stand.

Months pass and you go through your usual routines of opposing the Empire, then that fateful day comes. A platoon of the new eternals arrive in Sinkhole. They aren’t there to destroy it, but they barely act like it. Under the cover of cloak you spy on them for a period of several days, and you see them routinely assaulting people even when there is no real cause for it other than pure sadistic glee. Even their non-eternal commander doesn’t have much control over them. Sometimes when he tells them to stop beating someone, they just look at him like he’ll be next. Whoever trained these eternals obviously didn’t do a good job, it’s like they have no discipline what so ever.

That’s when you begin to wonder if the Empire hasn’t put the last nail in their own coffin. These monsters the Empire has unleashed upon the world are going to cause them more problems than they’re going to solve. You can see that even now.

Another month passes and more of them arrive in Delerg. You and Talia engage small bands of them during their patrols, and they aren’t slouches in a fight either despite only being teenagers. Naturally when dead eternals start becoming more common, Delerg starts getting the thumbscrews put to it. While all the little villages in Delerg aren’t put to the torch a lot of them are. Sinkhole becomes a staging ground for public executions and worse.

Eventually the few that were actually supporting the rebellion are all rounded up and killed. It gets harder and harder to sneak around the swamp ambushing patrols, and you and Talia never seem to get enough rest to recharge up your magic.

And today is the day when all this catches up with you both…

As you withdraw your sword from a dead foe, you hear the sounds of several bows being drawn behind you as well as above you. Fortunately, whoever is in charge has decided to be an overly dramatic fool and doesn’t attack immediately. You and Talia stand back to back trying to get a bit of a breather before the next assault.

A young man appears from behind the archers. He’s obviously one of the new eternals though he’s wearing a captain’s rank, which strikes you as a bit odd.

“Give it up shadow scum. Oh yes, we’ve figured out who you really are now. Should’ve known a few of you would’ve been sneaking around somewhere, but that ends now. You’ve exhausted yourselves and your magic won’t help you now. Even if you can outrun the arrows I’ve got eternals all over the swamp right now waiting for you in all directions.” The young captain sneers.
“The Empire getting so desperate they’re promoting babies now?” you say.
“The Empire is getting better now that we’re around. Our former captain was inferior so he was replaced. Only an eternal is fit to lead other eternals. Of course you two would know nothing about being real eternals having betrayed the Empire after all, but really even if you had stayed loyal, you’d be obsolete now anyway. Time to put an end to your kind in more ways than one.”
“You brats talk too much.” You say and you and Talia speed yourselves up to run back into the undergrowth and avoid the arrow barrage to come.

You’re successful, but you’re getting really tired really fast. Even Talia is experiencing fatigue. You need to run to safety to get some temporary relief, but chances are if they know about you being shadows, they’ll assume you’ll run straight to Dendrin’s old temple where there might be a larger group of eternals waiting for you.
> You run deeper into the swamp
You don’t want to risk heading back to the temple, it’s bound to be crawling with new eternals.

“Talia, don’t go to the temple! This way!” you exclaim grabbing her arm.
“What? We need to go where Dendrin will protect us the most!”
“He’s not helping us now! Let’s gnnnt!”

While you were standing around arguing you catch two arrows to the back and then another to your side. You’re down and Talia attempts to drag you into cover before cloaking the pair of you. Cloak or not, the arrows continue to be fired in your vicinity, won’t be long before more find their mark or worse the rest of the eternal chasing you catch up.

“We need to get out of here and back to the sanctuary now! Can you stand up?” Talia asks.
“Probably, but I’m not going to be going too fast all shot full of arrows, and with this pain I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to upkeep the shadow magic. Look, just go on without me, I’ll figure out something.”
“I’m not doing that! I already left you once when you needed help, I’m not doing it again!”
“Well this situation isn’t looking good, you realize that right?”
“I know.”

You and Talia look into each other’s eyes and briefly kiss. You had some good times; your only regret is you won’t have any more with her.

The arrows stop as more eternals start swarming the vicinity. While one of them is barking orders to find you, Talia decloaks and cleaves his head in starting the battle off. Despite your limited mobility, you manage to throw some of your attackers off their game by fighting low to the ground. A couple of them go down by your hand, but ultimately there are too many of them and you feel a crushing mace blow to your head followed by a blade to your chest.

As your sight begins to fade, you see Talia still giving the eternals a good fight. Hopefully she’ll make it back to the sanctuary like she wanted to in the first place.

You won’t.


Maybe you love Talia more than she loves you, or maybe you’re just tired of practically being a loner all the time and at least if you have Talia, you know you’ve got someone on your side. Whatever the reason, you tell Talia that you’re willing to go to Delerg with her. Her reaction is a happy one though she admits she’s a little surprised you agreed as quickly as you did.

Later that night you fall asleep wondering how the hell you got yourself into this.

Then a numbness washes over you…

“So, ready to come back to the fold eh?” you hear Dendrin say.
“Hardly.” You reply.
“I didn’t think so, but you always continue to intrigue me. I mean here you are supporting a woman that obviously places faith over love. Why would you do such a thing? The Empire’s most fanatical soldiers have faith in their false Emperor and the shadows…what’s left of them still have faith in me yet they have no real proof that their respective masters approve of them or feel anything back. Yet you have proof that Talia’s faith in me is stronger than her love for you and you still stand by her.”
“Because I’m an idiot obviously.”
“That remains to be seen, but I don’t think so. In fact you’re being clever enough to avoid my question. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Is it possible that you’re heading to into Empire territory in the hope of getting into major battle again? Has been awhile and I know you do enjoy it so.”

You don’t answer, you just try to go back to waiting out this “dream”, but Dendrin isn’t letting you.

“Passive silence? That’s not your usual tactic with me. You’ve always been a fighter, a warrior! But I’ll take that silence as a sign that I was right.”
“Take it however you want, but take it away from me.”
“Hmm, not sure if I like this new approach to our talks, but if I had an opinion on your decision, it’s that you’ve made the right one. I think that you’ll find something else in my old temple too. Well now you will since I’ve just mentally transferred the position of a very hidden place in it. Hope the baby situation works out for you, I think fatherhood would suit you, and it’ll give me a new follower! I’ll be watching as usual.”

In the next few weeks you and Talia make your preparations to leave Rask. When you tell her that Dendrin spoke to you and placed the image of a stone “button” to reveal a secret part of the temple, Talia is again overjoyed and remarks that this is a good sign that he cares for your well being and merely wants your worship in return. You don’t bother saying what you really think, but instead just nod and tell Talia that perhaps she’s right and that maybe one day your faith in him will be as strong as hers.

The journey is a long one, it probably wouldn’t be if you could actually use shadow magic to speed yourself up without passing out anymore, but since you’re not yet a “true believer” again, looks like ol’ Dendrin’s withholding the perks still. Doesn’t seem to bother Talia, she’s very positive during the whole trip. She talks about how you can both make your home in the temple and start your new lives there. She goes on about how you can also put out feelers on how the rebellion situation is going on in Delerg and how maybe you can get it split from the Empire like Rask did. You have to admit you don’t mind that idea.

There are a few times on the trip through the Quala province you could’ve avoided combat with Empire patrols, but you deliberately engage them when the time is right. You make an effort to leave no survivors in these attacks; every dead soldier is a blow to the Empire right?

Eventually you make it to Delerg and the place is crawling with Empire troops, it looks like they’ve really been trying to clean up around here. You keep a lower profile here and it takes a lot of sneaking around, but eventually you make it to Dendrin’s temple which have several rotten heads on pikes facing the temple along with several rotten bodies (partially eaten by the wildlife and insects) strewn around and even inside the temple.

“These are shadows.” Talia says with a touch of sadness in her voice.
“I know…even with half her face covered in maggots I recognize that one. Sister Yvette. I always wondered what happened to her after I left her in charge of my cell when I went back to Gloom. (Sigh) I figured it would be something like this.”
“Do you think these are all the shadows that we lost contact with south of Rask?”
“Most of them I suppose. I guess maybe they had the same idea and made a last stand here where they thought Dendrin would protect them. Looks like…” you stop yourself from saying something completely negative like “he didn’t.” so you think of something slightly less negative and say: “they fought so hard that the Empire tried to make some sort of example out of them.”
“We need to take them down off the pikes.” Talia says.
“No we need to leave them be, since I’m sure the Empire has patrols come around here, and if they see all the heads suddenly gone, they’re going to correctly assume shadows are around. We need to keep a low profile if we’re going to stick around here remember?”
“I…suppose discretion would be best right now.”

You and Talia move past the pike heads and enter the temple, which is surprisingly in good condition though signs of battle obviously took place here. You waste no time in seeking out the stone “button” that will open up a secret place in the temple. Eventually you find it (which you doubt you would’ve been able to do if Dendrin hadn’t told you) and descend down.

What you find is better than you could’ve hoped for when you first arrived and that’s living quarters for what you presume would be for the old shadow high priests or whatever. It isn’t fancy, but it’s fairly clean. You imagine that this place hasn’t been accessed in centuries. The walls are very solidly made so it doesn’t even look like signs of any natural intrusion have occurred either. There is one “room” that sticks out which isn’t man made and that’s a small natural cavern, which seems to be an underground garden of some sort with a shallow stream of fresh water flowing through it. Blue glowing fungus lights up the place and there are no exits other than the small openings the water is flowing through.

With no suspicion whatsoever Talia immediately takes some purple berries off one of the bushes and pops them in her mouth and remarks how good they taste.
“Hey those could be poisonous!” you exclaim.
“Oh you doubter, Dendrin lead us here! We won’t come to any harm!
“I’m being cautious. This cavern is strange; I mean wouldn’t a garden like this have overgrown or decayed without regular care? I imagine the water stream is seeping into the soil and sustaining them, but some of these plants wouldn’t survive without sunlight either.”
“It’s obviously magical and don’t you see? Dendrin provides as usual. We now have a good supply have fresh sustenance and water. Why question it, for it is one less thing to worry about! With this place we could easily hide underneath the Empire’s noses and strike from the shadows again.” Talia says.
“As long as they don’t call in their Derro buddies again, I agree that this will make a suitable hideout. I suppose you’re probably right about the garden being magical. Sort of odd though, never known Dendrin to be into the whole nature thing.”
“Well we cannot hope to know all of a god’s interests and thoughts. As I’ve said, why question it? It is enough that it’s something good and we could use that right now. Now come, we should thank Dendrin for this together.”

As you join Talia in thanking Dendrin, you can’t help but wonder if this is all some elaborate plan by Dendrin to actually get you to be a true believer, or if he doesn’t really care if you believe, just as long as you’re going through the motions.

Either way, you’ll do this for Talia because that’s who you’re really faithful to.
> You talia's Revelation (Year 33)
When you first got to Dendrin’s sanctuary (As it came to be called), you basically stayed in your underground paradise a lot, since Talia was still pre-occupied with the idea of you both having a baby during that time. It was actually fun shutting out the world completely for a while. Even the prayers to Dendrin you faked didn’t bother you.

As months went by, it was apparent nothing was happening and Talia began to get noticeably upset. She started blaming you, stating that because you had turned from Dendrin he was still punishing you and her by association. Naturally you argued back pointing out that you’ve been praying to Dendrin right along side her and the fact you traveled here should be proof that’s you’re trying to change. It doesn’t help and ultimately she just gets more upset. Weeks pass by where you don’t even speak to each other, and that’s when you tried something voluntarily that you never thought you’d do.

You genuinely prayed to Dendrin. Not for yourself, but for Talia. You even bargained with him stating that you’d actually become a true believer if he just granted her prayers. Predictably he never answered. All this caused you to do is get angry and curse him like you have so many times in the past. In the meantime, Talia wasn’t angry with you anymore so much as she had fallen into a depression.

With Talia in a depression, you found yourself getting angrier at the situation. At Talia, at Dendrin, at the shadows, at the Empire and at yourself. Naturally you had to get your mind off things and that’s when you remembered what the hell you were there for in the first place. To stir up shit for the Empire here in Delerg again.

You began leaving the sanctuary on a regular basis and ambushing Empire troops. Pretty soon you were back to a routine like you were in Rask during your isolated years. Talia never helps you during this time and mostly remains in her depression, but it hardly matters since you’re focused on Empire soldiers. This remains your routine for months.

But recently things take an odd turn, namely you feel your shadow magic getting stronger again. You don’t know if was due to the temple or the prayers or Dendrin being a whimsical asshole as usual, but you try to focus on the positive and hope that maybe this will snap Talia out her general sadness as well.

“Talia, I know you’ve been feeling down for the past year or so, but I think I’ve got some good news for you. My shadow magic is coming back.”
“Really?”
“Yes, so I imagine that this means Dendrin must be happy with me and if he’s happy with me, he’s gotta be happy with you right?”

You see Talia temporarily smile, but then this drops as quickly as it appears. In fact the expression on her face looks even sadder if that was possible.

“What the hell, I would’ve thought that this would’ve snapped you out of this long time depression you’ve been in.”
“I wish it did (sob) but instead it only confirms what I think the problem has been all along. (sob).” Talia weeps.
“I don’t understand.”
“I should’ve told you before…”
“What?! What should you have told me?”
“You were never the problem, it was me! (sob) I wasn’t good enough! (sob)”
“Talia, you need to calm yourself, and explain what you’re going on about.”
“Dendrin, he speaks to you. He always has, regardless of your thoughts and beliefs about him he obviously sees the greatness in you. You couldn’t have been problem.”
“Are…are you talking about getting pregnant? Talia, you don’t know that. I mean I probably have pissed off Dendrin on some level, and just because I got some of my magic back doesn’t mean he’s going to suddenly…”

Talia interrupts you.
“No! You don’t understand! I’ve tried this before and it didn’t work! I betrayed our vow! Our bond! And Dendrin is punishing me for not being patient with you!”

This revelation causes a dead silence from you. It certainly wasn’t something you were expecting. You feel like you should be angry and you are, but you’ve got more questions first.

“Wait so you had sex with someone else? When? It can’t have been recently unless you’ve been sneaking off to Sinkhole while I’ve been killing Empire soldiers.”
“No, not recently. It was during the five years we weren’t together. I don’t know what sort of emotions you went through while we were apart, but I went through a lot. Kept them bottled up for the most part, but they were still there. I loved you, but after you left I saw all our future plans disappear. It was devastating. For the first couple of years I held out hope that maybe somehow you’d return, but then I realized you wouldn’t. So I thought I had to move on in my life and alter my future plans with someone else.”
“So…what then? You fucked an entire barrack of shadows?”
“Please! This is hard enough for me without you being judgmental and hostile!”
“You know what Talia, I’m mad, but I guess I’m not really surprised. I mean you placed your faith in Dendrin over me, so why not someone else?”
“I did not! Yes it is true that my faith in Dendrin will always be stronger, but I didn’t place my love for you under anyone else. I’ve never loved any other person except you! (sob) And I wasn’t fucking an entire barrack of shadows! I picked ONE. One that seemed strong and fairly intelligent. One that looked like he’d sire a strong child. One I thought might prove to be a suitable father even if he was a poor substitute for you. And I only did that, because I wanted the shadows to start preparing strong stock for the next generation of Dendrin worshippers, because I knew Cyrus wasn’t going to be able to fucking do it!”

You rub your hand over your face. It always comes back to Dendrin. Why and how you fell in love with a religious fanatic is a mystery to you, but the fact is you are and despite this revelation, you really can’t stay mad at her. And really for all intents and purposes you weren’t a couple for those five years despite the fact that you might’ve pined over her a couple times. She probably did the same; she just did it in her own way.

You almost ask who guy was, but you don’t bother. You probably don’t know him or if you did, you probably don’t remember him since all the shadows you knew from the old days in Gloom are pretty much a blur to you now. Besides it’s not like you’re going to travel all the way to Rask just to satisfy some macho need to kick his teeth in. The poor bastard is still living under Cyrus’ rule anyway, not much more you could do to him, assuming he is still alive in the first place.

That just leaves you to deal with Talia, which you aren’t sure what to do. Her sadness and depression isn’t just a result of her perception of betraying you, it’s also her overall perception that she believes she isn’t worthy in Dendrin’s eyes. Personally, you think if Dendrin is even paying attention to this little drama at all he’s probably having a good laugh. Your own view here doesn’t matter, so you do what you’ve been doing. Fake it.

“Talia, have you ever considered that maybe Dendrin has decided that now is not the time for you to have children?” you ask.
“What do you mean?” she replies sniffling.
“Well I mean wartime isn’t exactly the best time to have children. The Empire is still out for our blood and we have to remain alert. Harder to fight if you’re carrying a baby in your belly. You said Dendrin was the one who started the seeds of this rebellion, maybe he wants you…us to help finish it before blessing us with children which we can raise a lot better when we don’t have arrows flying at our heads.”

This explanation, this rationale, this excuse causes Talia to reassess her thoughts. You watch her for a moment mentally thinking about how she’s going to fit this into her perception of the world.

“Do you really think that’s the reason?” she asks.
“I think it could be, but then I don’t presume to know Dendrin’s grand plan.”
“Oh no, nobody could… but still it makes sense. Yes, I can see the wisdom in that plan.”
“It is a wise plan. So, are you starting to feel a bit better?”
“Yes, I suppose so. I really shouldn’t have let myself get like this in the first place. I should’ve had more faith in Dendrin. If I had, I wouldn’t have become weak like this!”
“Don’t worry about it now, I’m sure this happened for a reason too. Everything is over and done with and whatever happened in the past is in the past.”

This statement seems to be the last one that gets her out of her dark mood. As she hugs you, you breathe a sigh of relief that you managed to convince her. Actually you aren’t really sure if you did convince her, so much as she took your offer of something to support her mental defenses on facing possible reality.

This problem might pop up again if you actually succeed in toppling the Empire, but given that you still have a lot to do before that’s a reality, you won’t have to worry about Talia’s self-doubt again.


If you actually had a little help, you probably would be able to pull off killing him in the fort, but the risks are too great and while you might have a love of battle, you also have a strong sense of self-preservation. So luring Kane out it is.

The next day you come up with a plan and your first step is seeking out a lone peasant. It doesn't take long and after you get him to calm down you ask him a few simple questions such as if he has family, where he lives, is he part of the rebellion, etc.

Happily he's pretty informed on things being a travelling peddler and all. He ultimately tells you he has no ties to the rebellion, but he's aware of certain villages that he's visited that still have sympathies a lot stronger than they let on. You make a note of where to head to for the third step of your plan. The second step involving killing the peasant and disguising yourself as him, well not as him, but as another wandering merchant.

After disposing of his body you set off towards the town of Volgst. You start off by assessing the Empire strength there. It's moderate, but nothing that couldn't be handled. It's obvious the people are just trying to go about their business, but if what the peddler said was correct, this place has just been temporarily cowed into submission due to occupation and closer proximity to Fort Destiny.

You decide to head to the local tavern and take in some of the atmosphere. You order a drink sit at a table in the corner and pretend you're just going through some of your inventory. You get a few people asking you about some of the jewelry you have on the table. To you it looks cheap and it probably is, so you don't charge much, just what you think its worth since you aren't here for that anyway.

You sit there a few hours and then finally some Empire soldiers come through the door. The tavern gets a bit quieter and that's when you decide to make things louder again.

"Hey barkeep! Gimme another ale!" you shout walking up to the bar interrupting the soldiers who were attempting to order their own drinks.
"Uh, hold on sir. I just have to serve these gentlemen first."
"Oh come on, I was here first and they aren't supposed to be drinking on the job anyway!"

At this point one of the soldiers addresses you.

"We happen to be off duty right now citizen."
"Off duty? When there are rebels running around all over the place? What the hell man? You should be out there killing the sons of bitches, not getting drunk!"
"I can assure you we are, and citizen you need to calm down."
"Why is it taking so long anyway? Is that captain of yours just sitting on his fat ass in that fort all day while rebels terrorize the area? I thought the Empire was supposed to be doing something about it, but it looks like it's as impotent as ever!"

At this point now several bar patrons start to take notice, some try to get you to calm down, others just outright leave. The soldiers to your surprise haven't tried to kill you yet. It's almost like they're trying to diffuse the situation and dismiss you as some loudmouth drunk because all they really want to do is relax after a long day. Oddly enough, you can understand it, unfortunately you can't relax either.

You step it up and physically push one of the soldiers. That does it, and the swords come out. You kill two soldiers almost immediately, the third one runs off for help, leaving the fourth one to try to finish you off. He fails miserably when you run your sword through his chest.

Three bodies lay at your feet and several patrons are in shock along with a very scarred bartender.

"What the fuck did you just do? We're all dead men!" he screams.
"You were dead long before I got here. Now if you want to live, you'll help me fight these Empire assholes and get them the hell out of this town."
"You dumb fuck, don't you realize they'll just send more troops? The Butcher of Rask himself will probably come here himself and lay waste to the entire town!"
"That's what I'm counting on. Now I know this place still has rebellion sympathies, and I'm telling you right now, if you really want to be free of the Empire you'll start helping me rather than hiding…or don't if your conviction is lacking. Either way I'm stepping outside and I'm going to be killing Empire soldiers and I'm not stopping until all of them are fucking dead. Do what you like."

You take your leave at this point and face the small platoon of soldiers that is running in your direction. You don't use any shadow magic, just pure skill to put soldier after soldier down. After you've killed about six of them in the open street, some of the citizens actually start growing a backbone and begin to help.

A riot ensues and you've accomplished your mission. The remaining soldiers are quickly overwhelmed and those that aren't manage to run off. You could easily catch up with them, but you figure Kane will show up quicker if someone's alive to talk about what happened. While the celebrating is going on, you take the opportunity to slip away before someone holds you up as some sort of hero when you really aren't. This is all just a means to an end to you.

Your escape back into the wilderness isn't completely unnoticed though and you draw your weapon again when you sense yourself being followed.

"Alright I know somebody is following me…shadowing me even. Might as well come out now so we can get this over with because no cloak is going to help hide you."

A lone shadow materializes. To your surprise it's Brother Gannon. He's little older now and a lot more worn looking, almost beaten. He has no intention of trying to kill you.

"Did you have to do that? That place was one of the few towns left that was still able to sneak supplies to us! When Kane finds out what happened he's going to destroy the place! We're suffering from a lack of supplies and allies as it is!" he exclaims.
"Yeah? Well maybe if Cyrus was taking a more personal hand in this war like I just did, he'd be inspiring more people to follow him more openly. What the hell happened to him? I've been out here on my own for five fucking years and I've seen nothing but Cyrus make mistake after mistake! Pulling back and attempting to lay low? Losing your orc allies? Not reconnecting with the shadows south of Rask?"
"Actually we did try to do that, but…(sigh) nevermind you're right it's all gone horribly wrong. Master Cyrus' leadership isn't like Master Ebon's. I mean I know he's the one that's guiding us and speaking to Dendrin personally, but his need for control is so uncompromising sometimes. As much as I hate it, I'm actually glad I got assigned to be this town's liaison, anything to be out of that fort! He keeps saying that Dendrin won't let us lose and that final victory will come, but it seems so bleak now. I'm trying to keep the faith, I'm really trying, but…oh why won't Dendrin just hear our prayers and help us now?"

You shake your head and smile at the delusion that continues to plague the shadows. "Why should he? It's more amusing for him to see you all desperately try to squirm out of your hopeless situation."

This cynical (yet true) answer is met with a dead silence. Poor Gannon looks so forlorn that he's probably agreeing with you in his head. Gannon might come in useful though so you decide to try to not break his spirit completely.

"However, MAYBE Dendrin did answer your prayers, namely in the form of me. I probably just bought you all a little more time." You add.
"What? Your big plan to kill Kane? The Butcher of Rask? I heard you down there in the tavern! If Captain Kane even comes he's going to come with a company of elite soldiers not by himself! Besides, Cyrus sent the best shadows against him and he's killed them all! Why do you think you have a chance?"
"Simple. I'm an Eternal and if Cyrus remembered that he was instead some Dendrin worshipping fool, we wouldn't be in this situation now."
"Yeah? Well Sister Talia is one of you Eternals too, she could've done something as well. I don't see you blaming her."

You grab Gannon by his collar before he can react. You stop yourself from killing him, because you know he's just pissed at his lot in life right now. Not to mention he's got a point.

"You know what you're right. She could've. It's not really important right now though, what IS important is that we get prepared for Kane's arrival."
"We?"
"Oh yes. You want to help turn things around, you'll help me."
"How?"

How is a good question. The easiest way is to have him help you organize the townsfolk so that they can at least put up a good fight against the soldiers while you take care of Kane.

The long shot would be to send him back to Fort Destiny to explain your plan and hope he can convince the shadows to come help you. It's a gamble, but maybe Cyrus hates the Empire just a little more than he hates you.
> You keep Gannon with you
Cyrus isn’t likely to help you no matter what so the most help you’re going to get is Gannon and while that won’t be much it’ll be better than nothing.

“Gannon I want you to go back to the town and do what you shadows are supposed to be doing, stirring up the people and getting them organized.”
“What? I’m not doing that! When the Empire army arrives with or without Kane, the whole place is going to get leveled anyway!”
“Look you either help me now and have a chance to make a difference or return to Cyrus and try to explain why you aren’t at your post. I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to sense if you’re lying given how nervous you constantly are. Now what’s it going to be?”
“Oh alright I’ll help, but we’re all dead men anyway!”
“Really need to work on that confidence Gannon. Maybe you should pray to Dendrin for some.”

And with those words you head back to your campsite to get prepared. You check up on the town the next day and see they’re already starting to barricade the place. Gannon’s even taking a bit of a leadership role. If they’re lucky, you figure they’ll only lose about a half of the town before the battle is over. A couple days later you scout a little further south of Volgst and that’s when you see a large group of soldiers approaching. Several on horseback, many more on foot and unfortunately a single catapult as well. If Kane is actually with them, you’d guess he’d be on horseback, but then you can’t tell at this distance.

You find a good elevated spot in some trees and when the mass of troops get in range you do a little sniping with your bow which you’ve gotten a lot better with over these past five years thanks to your need to hunt on a regular basis (And certainly a lot better than your single shot armbow which you practically never use anymore) You fire at the ones on horseback first, you don’t get Kane, but you do find out he’s the one that starts shouting the loudest about getting that sniping sonofabitch. Turns out he was walking the entire time. You try to aim for him, but now the chaos is so great within ranks that he wisely takes advantage of getting lost in the mass.

Doesn’t take long before they figure out where it’s coming from and start responding in kind. You immediately dash from your position and retreat deeper into the wilderness. A group of soldiers are sent to look for you though you dispatch them with relative ease as you use the terrain to your advantage.

By the time you’re done with the goon squad that was sent after you, the rest of them are hastening their way towards Volgst. You hope Gannon’s done a decent job in rallying the people.

When you make it back to the outskirts of Volgst, you see that it’s prepared for a frontal assault. You watch from distance for about a half hour before Kane’s company arrives. He doesn’t bother with any sort of diplomacy and orders the catapult to fire. A rock smashes through the barricades and the make shift wall that was set up in front of the town. They’re wide open for the Empire troops to pour in now, with the Butcher leading the way.

You make your way towards town and jump into the battle, which naturally isn’t going well for the citizens of Volgst. When you arrive it gets a little better, but even you can’t stop the carnage and what will probably be the utter destruction of Volgst. You haven’t seen Gannon at all, he’s either dead already or more likely the coward’s run off. Right now though all you’re trying to do is seek out Kane and kill him.

And as luck would have it, you bump into him, or rather the pair of you catch sight of each other in the middle of the chaos. He doesn’t dodge you or even make any sort of threatening war cry, he just walks straight towards you and you to him.

When he stands before you, he certainly displays the signs of a battle-hardened warrior, but there’s something more to it than just his size, armor and scars. It’s his eyes. Not like a hate filled wrath behind them, but more like he’s experienced something that’s caused the light in them to go out. Almost soulless.

“The Butcher of Rask, himself. At last we meet.” You say.
“Yes, and you would be the shadow outcast and it will be a pleasure to finally bring you to the Emperor’s justice that you’ve evaded for so long.”
“Hmm, guess you better get to it then.”

Kane swings his axe, which you dodge and the battle is joined.

“You’re weak. You cannot hope to win this battle.” He says preparing for another swing.
“Right now, just getting rid of you will be sufficient.” You reply.
“You think you can best me? This isn’t Mistress’ class anymore and you’re no Eternal. When I look at you, I see the mockery of what is supposed to be an Eternal. You’re not even a shadow. You are a pariah that has no honor at all. You’re part of the sickness that has infected the Empire. A sickness that will be cut out and purified like all others.”

While Kane tells you what he really thinks about you, he’s also matching you in combat skills. To be quite honest you might’ve been a little too over confident in your abilities because he’s really putting you to the test. It doesn’t help that in the midst of this one on one fight you also have to dodge other attacks. You use a little shadow magic to speed yourself up and it helps, but it isn’t nearly as strong as it once was not to mention you feel the drain a lot quicker. You land a couple of good hits on Kane before you have to stop from fatigue. Kane however has no such problems and isn’t slowed at all by his wounds

“Is that the extent of your precious shadow magic outcast? No wonder you were kicked out.” Kane says and catches you with a glancing blow across your chest followed by a hefty to your left knee, which causes you to lose balance and fall. You barely roll of the way of his next swing.

You stagger back up only to get your sword knocked out of your hand when you attempt to block another of Kane’s axe blows. Becoming desperate you fire your armbow and a bolt flies into Kanes chest. It doesn’t stop him and he charges into you knocking you back onto the ground. He doesn’t follow up with his axe this time, instead he puts all his crushing weight upon your chest by sitting on it and attempting to choke the life out of you with his own hands.

“You’re going to die here today, because you believe in nothing and that makes you nothing and when I’m finished choking the life out of your pathetic body I’m going to eat your fucking heart because I can.” Kane at this point pauses with a deranged little smirk. “Heh, maybe one of those wendigo bastards did get to me just a little…” then his face becomes deadly serious again.

As you struggle to remain conscious all you can see are the souless eyes of Kane looking down upon you as he intends to make good on his threats. You punch him several times in the face to no avail. You even take out one of his eyes and he’s still not deterred as it dangles uselessly from its bloody socket. You’d probably be a lot more scared if you weren’t teetering on passing out. Eventually darkness envelops you and Kane finishes you off with a brutal snap to your neck.

For what it’s worth he doesn’t eat your heart afterwards.