Editing Journal - The Heart of Karmana (section)

==Karmana Exploited==

The sense of wellness didn't last long, though, and I noticed that the air was starting to tingle like there was a charge within it - something from another place was interfering here on Karmana. Suddenly, Falcor crumpled to the ground and I hurried over to see what had happened, dropping to one knee beside him. I didn't have time to do anything else, though, as the whole temple complex exploded violently, sending rubble and earth flying. It was lucky that I was low to the ground, as I managed to avoid the worst of the debris, but I was still lifted up and thrown a fair distance into the forest. I landed painfully in a clearing, but had lost track of Falcor completely.

The sky had started to boil with storm clouds, blotting out the daylight so that it felt like dusk, and a wind was building quickly and growing stronger by the minute. There were cracks of thunder as the storm grew rapidly, and I had to lean into the wind as I got to my feet. I was disorientated, but could see smoke rising from where I thought the village was, so I tried to head that way. The wind was so bad, though, that I was forced to take shelter behind a nearby tree. I thought better of the idea, though, when lightning struck a tree on the opposite side of the clearing, although it behaved oddly, seeming to dance and grow around the charred remains of the wood. The storm was still getting worse, so I backed away from the tree but used the trunk as a wind break and called down some protection from evil, anticipating an attack.

There was another loud crack as I started chanting, but the wind seemed to have stabilised a little, although still very strong. More lightning impacted the trees until there were four glowing with lightning, and the first one had taken a form and was starting to venture away from the tree. As the fourth bolt struck, though, I saw a body fall from the tree - was it Falcor? I ran towards him, using dweomer in an attempt to slow the formation of the latest creature, but without success. Another crack echoed around the woods, and a new form arrived in the centre of the clearing. This one was different, though, and one we had seen before. It was a swirling, lightning flecked, mini storm like the one that had guarded the portal at the end of the fight to save Karmana... could it aid me? The other lightning creatures looked like they might be avoiding her, so I grabbed Falcor despite the lightning crackling around him, and backed away slightly.

I used dweomer to instantly move us to the side of the new arrival. It was taking a chance, as I knew I'd be helpless for a minute after doing so, but it seemed like the best chance for both of us. It was not a smooth transition, though - instead of just arriving after a moment, I found myself surrounded by my Father's realm and a really strong force was pulling me back. I forced myself on by sheer willpower, and just before I stepped back to Karmana I felt my Father directly reaching out to pluck me away. I barely escaped his grasp, and suddenly was back in the stormy clearing as expected... I wouldn't be doing that again! The lightning creatures were starting to converge on us, but the guardian lashed out with a bolt that struck one and it simply ceased to be. I had made the right choice!

Two more of the creatures reached us, though, and they started to suck power out of Falcor's body, his arms and legs starting to rise slightly from the ground. One was almost immediately deleted by the guardian, though. I quickly tried to protect Falcor by creating a barrier to stop evil from touching him, and the lightning arced around him, his limbs dropping back to the floor. Our friendly guardian removed the other one that had attacked Falcor, leaving two more... but they were wisely hanging back rather than risk suffering the same fate. I finally had a moment to check Falcor, finding that he was still alive, although his body was cold, his heartbeat slow, and he was clammy to the touch. He had suffered some injuries from being thrown, as I had, but was otherwise intact. I used some energy to heal him, but it wasn't enough to revive him.

Instead I spoke to the lightning guardian, which unfortunately only served to confirm my fears. Falcor's link to Karmana had been broken because Karmana had been displaced... my Father had taken her place! I asked if I could find sanctuary for Falcor's sake, and to learn more of what had happened, and the guardian agreed to take us to the realm of Air. He warned me not to resist, and then I went rigid as I was surrounded by lightning before appearing in the air, with no land in sight. I thanked the guardian as he faded away, then searched Falcor's packs for the feather I had seen him use before to summon aid. I was able to make contact, through the feather, with Aergarnion who said that he would be with us when he could. I healed some more of Falcor's wounds, but again it was not enough to revive him, so I waited patiently with nothing more I could do.

I regularly saw things moving around, but they seemed to avoid us until about half an hour later (although time might be different in this realm) I saw a figure approaching directly, which sure enough turned out to be Aergarnion. He spoke of his fear that it was the Lord of Chaos that had blown a connection open for Kraldar to use to seize Karmana. How could he consort with Chaos? That wasn't like him... and Chaos would consume him like everything else! Aergarnion also confirmed that Karmana was not felt anywhere now, so it was worse than I had thought. I could only assume that Kraldar had taken the Forge for his own purposes.

My stomach knotted, but I knew that I had to return and try to face him. I could not leave Karmana, or Falcor, like this. Aergarnion was happy to look after Falcor's body, although his soul was no longer within it, and delivered me to Borarla so that I could start my journey. As soon as he left, I walked slowly forwards with my arms raised and head bowed, knowing I would not be alone. Sure enough, an arrow thudded into the ground ahead of me, so I stopped and looked up. I saw nothing, so I just said that I sought an audience with their Queen - as she would know the truth. A very green, armoured Elvrabor walked into sight and stepped up to me. He just wanted me to leave, which was hardly a surprise. When I said that I wanted to seek passage west with the Saloroc, he seemed slightly happier (not much, though), and said that he would pass work to them but I must leave at once, pointing the way I should walk before disappearing into a tree.

I spent the rest of the day walking, not wanting to risk stopping until I reached the coastline. I made it just as the day was darkening, and made myself comfortable on the grass between forest and sea, not making a fire as I didn't want to destroy any wood. There was a chill from the wind blowing out to sea... towards the Forge. That was different - life was being taken rather than created now, perhaps? I could sense... no, I could actually see if I concentrated, that souls of the dead were being carried towards the Forge. My father was taking all the souls from Karmana for himself, it seemed. One caught my attention, though - it was the soul of a Saloroc, but one of the lost Dragon clan... I could sense it! It came from the East, so perhaps within or beyond the mountains that lay that way, but was quickly pulled West towards the Forge.

I scanned the sea, noticing a faint light out to sea, so I used dweomer to cause Ulric's sword to glow brightly with light. I had intended to get the attention of the ship, but the sudden light revealed worrying shapes in the shadows around me. They quickly melted away into the darkness, realising they had been seen, and now I was worried that I was surrounded by the agents of death. I hid the sword's light before revealing it again to reveal the shapes again, so I charged towards one and reached out to touch it. I suddenly found myself in a nothing place with stone underfoot; the shape I had seen had looked like one of my father's giants, but what I actually faced in that place was one of the wraith things we had fought near Karmana and it turned with a snap to look at me.

I managed to hold it back by force of will, then took the Staff of Planes and again exerted my will to take myself back to the beach. Thankfully it worked, but now I didn't want to sleep in the darkness! I stuck the sword in the ground next to me and eventually managed to drift off into a fitful sleep. I only realised that I had managed to fall asleep when I suddenly awoke to find myself confronted by several Saloroc bearing the red hand mark. Two were holding bows pointed in my direction, but I realised that they had just loosed arrows at something behind me; the other one had their hands free. A black, ragged bat thing swooped past moments later, trying to grab one of the Saloroc but missing.

I urged them to get close and used a prayer to protect us all from evil and the next time a bat swooped it was forced to recoil. Then I took a few steps to draw the foe away from the Saloroc, knowing that only dweomer-infused weapons could hope to harm them. Sure enough, the next attack was directed at me and I managed to land a powerful blow. There was a second one, though, that grabbed me and I only just managed to shake myself clear. Then the first one returned to grab at me as well, and it took all my strength to break its grip before it lifted me too far! I did manage to land a blow on one of them, and thankfully my armour deflected the next attack.

Aramat struck true again, and a wing crumpled, forcing one to the ground, and I followed up with Ulric's sword. It was badly hurt, but not destroyed and I was lifted clean into the air this time. Again I managed to break free, although the landing was painful this time and my shoulders ached where I had been grabbed. I did manage to cut a gouge out of its belly as I dropped, but it kept flying. The Saloroc had been watching all this, but had stowed their weapons and claws had extended from their hands - they were itching to fight, and I asked if they could deal with the wounded creature as I fought the others. They were happy to, and engaged in melee as I focused on the flying one. This time my armour held and I was able to cut more gouges out of its underside, and on the next pass I easily finished it off. I turned to see that the Saloroc had ripped the other one apart with their claws, so we were out of immediate danger.

Their ship was nearby, and we rested there until dawn. The Saloroc homeland was infested with death, the temple island had been ravaged, and most of their people had fled to take their chances in the Empire. The seas were not safe, and the waters near the Forge were not navigable. I believed that I needed more information on how the flow of souls had been affected, what I could do about it, and what had happened to Karmana. Despite not having any previous contact, I knew that the Elvrahum knew most about the flow of soul energy, and that they had a fortified city to the north. Garrett had spoken about it, and I had seen it, so I asked if they could take me north. They were happiest to sail close to the shore, and if there was a chance of finding refuge then it could help us both, so they agreed. They would not approach too closely, though, and aimed to land a good distance to the east of the city.

I ended up sleeping in because of the poor light, and was shaken awake by a Saloroc as the Captain wanted to get underway. The seas were rough, even this close to the coast, and the crew was reduced. The sails were barely usable because of the strong wind towards the Forge, so it was slow going. After a few hours one of the Saloroc that was mounting a large crossbow at the prow shouted an alert - he had seen something in the water on the port side. I took a look, and sure enough there was a shape just under the surface that was keeping pace with the ship. I asked if they had bows, and was directed to a tarpaulin near the mast, finding and stringing a bow just before I heard the twang of a crossbow bolt being released.

I ran back and could now see two shapes in the water, and they both had riders on their backs, but I couldn't make out the details. They veered towards us, though, and two flying ray things leapt out of the water right over the boat, landing in the water on the other side. Their tails whipped at us, and one scraped off my armour, but they were gone in a moment. As they passed over, two humanoid wolf creatures, about seven feet tall, jumped off onto deck. They landed heavily, with one sprawled on the deck, so I asked why they were attacking us. All I got back was "Death commands it" and "you will all die", so they didn't seem likely to back down. Not waiting until they had fully recovered, I put two arrows into the nearest one, then dropped the bow and drew swords. I closed the distance and slashed at one, landing two blows but having to fight with Ulric's sword to control it properly.

To anyone watching it must have looked very dramatic, with a "glowing white maiden" (thanks to the crown) fighting a snarling wolfman on the deck in the midst of a storm, but things were going to take a dark turn. I finished the first wolf creature with Aramat, and it flashed as he dropped. The flying creatures jumped over the deck again, forcing the sailors to duck out of the way, and I engaged the second wolf creature. I felt a sense of energy from another place, and one of the Saloroc shouted that the dead creature moved, so I lay into my opponent quickly, worried that time mattered. Sure enough, I had a sense of a void behind me, which I had to resist falling into, and glanced at the dead body - it seemed to be getting fuzzy at the edges... what were these things?! I had badly hurt the other wolf creature, but it wasn't enough to stop it ripping the throat out of a Saloroc sailor. His shipmate avenged him, though, thrusting his short sword through the creature from behind, killing it.

I shouted at him to throw the body overboard, as what looked like a Saloroc Death Shaman appeared out of the other body, with hands reaching up out of the void below it. I swiped at him, but even Aramat passed through without harming him. I fought to sheath Ulric's sword, which clearly didn't want to be sheathed, leaving me free to concentrate on the new threat. The Shaman bowed slightly to me, which was a bit embarrassing, and the sailors were all shouting "M'rat" (Death, I think that meant) and pointing at it. I tried telling him to leave, and did establish a telepathic connection; it wasn't like the Elvra, though, just an exchange of information without any of the senses or emotions I was used to. He refused to leave, saying that Death could not be denied or defeated.

I commanded Aramat to flame and struck him, this time meeting some resistance. The shaman looked down at the wound, but then just turned away and lifted his staff. It seemed he was only partly in this world, so I sheathed Aramat and used Ilianna's staff to close the portal to the void beneath him, and noticed that he sank slightly and his knees flexed as he hit the deck. The Saloroc sailor that had fallen with their throat ripped out started to get to their feet... except it was a completely different Saloroc! If every dead body just became a portal to let another foe take their place then this fight might never end. I looked over at the second dead wolf creature, and sure enough the Saloroc dragging the body had leapt back as another creature of death began to climb from its misty remains, although I hadn't seen any race like it before even in life. The rays jumped out of the water again, this time near the stern, and one caught the Captain with its tail, although he didn't seem badly hurt.

I tried striking the shaman again, and this time it had more effect. He was still focused on his staff, though, and one of the skulls that adorned it came alive, staring at me and trying to summon me to the realm of Death (it felt like my father was beckoning to me). When I resisted, it tried to just snuff out my life, but again I managed to resist. This was seriously disturbing, and powerful. I still had the staff in my hand, so I used it to close the void that had opened in the wolf creature's remains, and struck two solid blows on the shaman's flank. He drew a nasty looking mace (the metal similar to Aramat's), finally turning to face me. The Saloroc were not idle during all this - they were trying to fight, but their weapons had no way of harming the foes we faced.

I swung one more, decisive blow on the shaman with Aramat aflame, and he finally dissolved into mist. Unfortunately, it seemed that the mist might form into something else. The Captain had ordered the crew that were out of the fight to row towards the nearby shoreline, still near Borarla, and I fought to keep them safe. The new Saloroc warrior had attacked me, so I retaliated but found him to be a tough opponent. I had been hurt again, and normally that wouldn't concern me, but with every fallen foe being replaced with another I couldn't keep it up forever. After a couple of minutes we crashed into the shoreline and the sailors started to jump over the sides. The Captain came forward for me, though, and I feared for his safety.

I tried something different; waving Aramat, still in flames, above my head I focused on my father's gifts, screaming at the foe to "Begone!" as I focused my will as a daughter of Death. Aramat's flames flared, and the cold fire jumped at the three foes - one winked out of existence entirely, and the other two collapsed, leaving the original dead bodies behind on the deck. I sagged with the release of tension, sheathing Aramat and gasping for breath. I wasn't sure we were going to escape that fight at all! The Captain was impressed, but he still looked pale with shock - he explained that the "shaman" I had fought was the actual Mrat - the Saloroc Lord of Death. It was said that he could be beaten but never defeated, and as long as his Lord ruled over Death he would always return to the fight. Now we had seen the truth in these words!

I respectfully suggested that we burned the bodies while we had the chance, which he agreed to, although we would somehow need to find dry wood. I risked using a little dweomer - after all, Kraldar clearly knew where we were right now, and removed the moisture from some driftwood that the crew used to build a pyre, and it readily caught. Once the bodies were aflame, and respects had been paid, we pushed the ship out into the waters and continued. I noticed we sailed a bit closer to shore this time, despite the risk of hidden rocks. It was many hours later, presumably when dusk would fall if we could see the sun, that the Captain ordered us to beach again for the night. The crew drove stakes into the sand to hold the ship so that we could rest, and I suggested that I sleep near one of the watch posts so that I could be awoken if there was a threat.

I couldn't have been asleep for long when I was shaken awake by a Saloroc sailor. Something big was moving just north of us, emerging from the water. I jumped over the side, using my mind to slow my fall and moved to intercept these new arrivals. There were several huge forms, looking like they had been lying on the sea floor for many years, but roused by recent events. They made clicking and squeaking noises when they saw me, which was no language I understood, and I backed towards the ship, shouting up for them to be cautious while we saw what these things would do. I got my answer soon enough, when the lead one vomited acrid seawater at me, which stung nastily. So they weren't friendly, then!

Shouts of alarm rose from the ship behind me as I drew my swords and advanced. Again, I had to fight with Ulric's sword, as if there was another hand upon it. Aramat made the first cut, though, slicing through rotten flesh and sending rotten seawater and puss oozing out. The revolting mix stank so much that I couldn't help retching, but still managed to land more blow. One of the things advanced towards the ship and bow fire arced towards it in response; the other creature engaged me. A sharp anchor struck me solidly, leaving a ringing in my head. I heard the sound of fire catching behind me, but was too busy to see why. It took several more blows before the first foe dropped, as I had to practically carve it apart until it couldn't resist any more. I heard "burn it" called from behind, and quickly glanced back to see that the Saloroc had set fire to the creature that had approached the ship, and a few of the sailors were pouring water down the side to protect the vessel.

I cut into the other one several times, and more pestilent gunk came out as I did so. It was just as disgusting, but I was getting used to it and didn't gag this time. I struck again, but then it vomited at me just as the first one had. I managed to dodge the worst of it, but the splash still stang and I was flagging. I managed to finish it off, carving it up as well, but the sea itself seemed eager to join the fight and had run up the shore towards us unnaturally - the Captain even shouted a warning from behind me. I was forced to use dweomer again, destroying the water in the bodies to see if that helped. It worked - the sea receded back to normal as soon as I had finished my spell.

I rejoined the crew, who were shaken by the encounter - there was so much wrong with the world! We hauled the ship even higher onto the shore, beyond the high tide mark, to seek sanctuary. We set a fire to sleep by, and took turns to watch - two looking out to sea and two inland. The wind was not quite so strong here, just slightly, but it did lift the mood a little. I got a full night's sleep before taking my watch, so the crew was starting to rouse as I saw a couple of figures approaching from the forest. I warned the Saloroc and watched, readying a bow just in case. They looked as if they were carrying something, which they dumped on the ground about four hundred yards away before jogging quickly back into the forest. I decided to go forward, a bit more relaxed, and found fresh deer that we could use to eat. I shouted thanks into the forest and with some of the Saloroc carried it back to the fire for us to eat!

The crew were in good spirits, as was I for a moment, and I spoke to the Captian of how the great Tree might offer the forest some protection from the Creator. The Captain thought for a moment, and then announced that we must build something in thanks - we had burned and destroyed so we should now build. He ordered the crew to gather stones and lash them together to make a crude altar. Once they were finished, I used dweomer to shape the form of the stone into a rough shape of a tree canopy with the trunks being the supporting legs. It wasn't brilliant (I was no Elvradhil), but it did bring order where there had been none before. I recalled the ceremonies I had seen on the island - the folk there had worshiped the Creator, so I took some time to dedicate the new altar to Creator formally, giving it a divine blessing... and when I did so, the stone changed again, this time into something that looked much more like the tree canopy it was meant to be, finely worked. Light glowed from it, making it a beacon in the darkness, and for the first time since the shattering of the temple it was as if we stood in daylight. I felt much better, with a strong sense of satisfaction, and over the course of a couple of hours the Saloroc came to take a moment at the altar; I hoped they felt the Creator's blessing too. There was an energy flow coming from the altar itself, which I could feel as long as we were close.

After that time, we reluctantly knew we had to leave and continue our journey. We were surprised to find we had a following wind to help us on our way, though, so the sailors didn't have to row as hard for the first half of the day. It was slower after that, but the crew were in good form and we were not far from where they planned to drop me off. The Captain offered to wait, but I urged him to take his crew to safety - only ill could become those that stayed within Kraldar's reach, so he thanked me for bringing hope in these dark times and offered me a gift of a small amount of healing ointment. I thanked him and his crew, for they played no small part in our victories, and we parted as equals as far as I was concerned.