Faeryl

When I eventually got Vierna out of the coma following her encounter with the plague beast, I put it down to the excessively large amount of poison she had taken. When she at last awoke, she told me she stood before Lloth in the Abyss and that the Dark Mother sent her back. Her time was not up, she still had much to do. I am inclined to believe her. No one could have withstood that amount of poison and lived without some sort of divine help.

Yet ever since, she has not been right. I noticed right away. When you study someone you will eventually overthrow, you notice every little nuance. I cannot afford to lose her yet. One above us has to be removed before I can make my move. Right now I need her strong. Fortunately for Vierna, not many have noticed the small give-away signs.

Then one night recently she had a relapse. It just had to be in a public place, it is always the way. Fortunately her mercenary minder was with her and quickly brought her to me. She was in a coma, same as before. The mercenary, an expert on the dark arts, asked if he could tap into her mind, to try to find out what was going on. I agreed. Somehow he connected and described what he saw. I knew right away where she was. Back in the Abyss! We desperately called her back and after what seemed like an age she was back with us. She could recall nothing.

From the mercenaries descriptions of what he saw, I was able to work out what had happened. Two possibilities are apparent. That is assuming Lloth herself was not involved. I believe that to be the case otherwise Vierna would not have returned the first time. If Lloth has told Vierna her work is not complete, then she would not have called her back. This means either it was a random attack by one of Lloth?s enslaved minions with a grudge, or another sentient being from the Abyss. I hope it was the former!

There is only one way to find out for sure. To raise a demon and consult it. This is no easy task. We who are arcane users can all raise demons. But they are of no use. We need one from the Demonspawn Pit. And for that we need a powerful archmage. I know of none on the surface, I have my doubts as to whether a human mage could ever be powerful enough. There is of course the archmage of House Hun?ett, but to consult him would involve my mother. Not a good idea for Vierna?s sake.

Then by chance I came across some old tomes. One of them contained reference to the Scroll of A?.. This scroll contained instructions on how to raise powerful demons. What good fortune. Unfortunately the wizard who possessed this scroll somehow lost it to a bunch of cave trolls. How this came about, the tome was silent. What bad luck. I spoke with the mercenary to see if he knew of a colony of cave trolls, he said he did. So he led a party of us to a large cave known as Despise. After battling through a gang of two headed monsters we eventually reached the troll colony. But the search was fruitless. Then the mercenary mention that ogres are more likely to hoard such things. Perhaps trolls did have it only to lose it to ogres. He said ogres lived deeper in the same cave. So on we went. After battling with many large ogres and searching several chests, I was beginning to think the scroll was just another tale. Then just as I was about to give up, I found it.

I have now studied the scroll. Sure the instructions are clear but it is only a beginning. Other things are needed. More expeditions will be necessary. More items to be found. This will not be easy. Vierna is showing signs again. She thinks I have not noticed. I am sure her minder has noticed too. If she has another relapse we might not be so lucky this time. But for my sake I must save Vierna ???..somehow I must??

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