Editing Journal - Goblins West of Freeport (section)

==The Chosen One==

The humans were expecting Arad to "activate" the temple so that they would be safe. No pressure... this had better work or it would be back to "demon child eater" in no time! He walked towards the doors whilst praying out loud to the "creator" and, to everyone's amazement (including his own probably) he was able to walk straight up to them without impediment. I followed on behind, as did the humans, with Falcor stood to one side. Up close you could see a clear circle of untouched grass around the temple where the protective barrier had been, but we were able to pass freely this time.

There was a curious symbol above the entrance, like a knotted symbol almost like a flower but sketched out in green, one I had not seen before. I entered slowly and the humans followed; the doors had swung open as Arad reached out to them, but without him touching them! Falcor muttered a prayer to M'laada and followed behind everyone. Lights sprang to life as Arad entered, brighter than torches, and it was clear that there was a lot of power here. Despite this it looked like a fairly standard arrangement of pews before an altar, although there was also a stone sarcophagus before the altar, making almost a "T" shape, but separated.

Arad turned and beckoned to everyone to take seats. There was another symbol like the one over the door here, but far more vivid and large. It seemed to be like halfing tunnels, such as I had known before the slaughter, all intertwined to make a symmetrical shape, but this vision was three-dimensional and not attached to the wall behind it. Arad noticed before we did, looking back as he was, that all of the fires in the village had been extinguished - it seems that this is what the villagers had expected all along.

The humans seemed more relaxed now, although tired, having seen that Arad was indeed "the chosen one" and had the power to protect them. I walked past him, headed towards the altar, as Falcor entered last, looking around as if confused. Arad bade him enter, saying it was safe, but Falcor just said that it had been a "surreal day" and stopped just inside, allowing the humans to take their seats. The humans bowed their heads to Arad and took what looked like familiar seats, now with a few gaps where folk had been lost to the goblins.

I reached my hand out towards the altar, wondering if Karmana had power here, but I stopped as I felt some resistance as my hand drew close to the surface. Falcor was staring at the wall where the symbol I had seen was still suspended. Arad willed the doors to close, which they did, and as that happened baskets of food - fruit and breads - appeared on the altar with water to drink. Another miracle!

Arad asked Falcor what he saw, as he was still staring. He said it was like a dream between two worlds, old and new, but nothing he could make sense of. He finally snapped his head away and started looking at some tapestries hanging at the sides of the temple, two on each side. They all contained a six-sided obelisk just like the one in the village, with an artist's depiction of lines of forces emanating from the obelisks. A large human, with a small lucern hammer in his belt that bore a six-pointed star symbol like the one of Falcor's armour, was walking away from the obelisk in each of the pictures. In the far background was a smoking volcano, very small as if far out to sea. The pictures to our left showed him carrying infants and walking with children, one showing halflings (Elvradhum) approaching some low hills and the other elves (Elvrabor) approaching a forest. To the right it showed the same but with dwarves (Elvradhil) approaching the mountains and creatures I had not seen or heard of, merfolk (Elvramar - children of the sea) approaching the ocean.

Arad said that we should all eat after a harrowing night. The "leader" of the humans, the eldest one that Arad had spoken to before, stepped up, bowed, and waited with his arms out - he was obviously filling a role he had done or seen before. Arad gave him one of the baskets, and he recited "creator be blessed" before passing the food on to the people behind him, coming back when the basket was empty. This was repeated until everyone had food, and as they were doing so I met with Falcor in the middle of the room to discuss what we had found. He said that he did not see the symbol I had seen, but instead an erupting volcano! He described it as like a gap between one world and another.

I touched the tapestry with the halfling young ones on it, something I hadn't seen for a long time. I wasn't sure whether to feel happy to see such an image, angry because of what had happened to them, or just sad that I had lost so much. Falcor seemed to be taking it badly, probably because the children were all non-human, although wasn't the one carrying them human? What did that mean? Was this just because this was a human temple? But then why have Karmana's children clearly shown with all the races... not that I knew of any from the ocean. So many questions, and no answers.

Arad had been conversing with the human leader, and again knelt in prayer by the altar. This time there was an audible click and a trapdoor opened just to the side of him, on the eastern side. The human was in awe, now, saying that it had been Melak's place, but it was his place now. Arad entered and the door closed seamlessly behind him. I looked for the join, but it was as if it had become part of the stone with no sign that it was even there. Falcor knelt as well, saying a prayer, but nothing happened - this place was clearly tied to Arad in some way (and he to it as would become clear).

We both looked more closely at the sarcophagus, which had plain sides but a carved top. A relief showed a large human male, similar to the one in the pictures, with his hands on his chest. There was a small hammer in his hand, again like the one on the tapestries but smaller, and this was real, not part of the carving. The head of the hammer had the star shape, like Falcor's armour but smaller, and there were clearly gem sockets at each point, although they were all empty.

Falcor asked me to lift the hammer, which was a strange request, but as I reached over the lid the congregation gasped or looked angry, so I quickly drew my hand back. Falcor had no such qualms, reaching straight over and lifting the hammer free. The human leader made a strange noise as he did so, but did not dare challenge him directly. He remarked that there were no gems, which made me remember the ruby I had found in the goblins' hole. I offered it for him to try, but there was no reaction either with his armour or the hammer, so he gave it back.  Falcor thankfully placed the hammer back where it had come from with care.

Arad then emerged from his magical hiding place, carrying a parchment, and said "what do you make of this?"  It read as follows, with the remarks at the beginning and end in a different hand:

::''My dearest General, (Which legion I wonder...)''

::''The pursuit of eternal life has ever been our quest. How many friends have we driven away by the grandeur of our dreams? How many allies have turned their backs on us in my time of greatest need? They claim that we are insane. They claim that our work is a perversion, that we will surely fail. We will succeed despite them; we have come so far that we have no choice. My power is too strong to be stopped by mere death and with your legion at our backs, we will be unbeatable.''

::''Even now, as close as I am, the prize continues to elude my grasp. All my waking hours are spent in study, poring over the tomes that Kraldar himself used, in the hopes of finding the last ingredient that will end this torment and bring me life everlasting.''

::''I am close but I still have much to do and I will not let our work be for naught. I have removed myself to this remote island, far from the sight of the False God. I cannot doubt myself now. I will take the steps necessary to complete the transformation even as I sense Kraldar resisting me from the Land of the Dead and the Lost. Please send the first two companies of your men that I may share the gift as soon as the work is complete.''

::''Ů''
::''(Too recent to be Ulric, but this is his mark?)''

The human leader spoke to Arad, sensing we needed to talk about weighty matters, and said that the people would rest in the ruins outside - it was a warm night and it was safe now that the chosen one had taken up the mantle of Melak. Arad tried to gently tell them that he would have to leave this place to do the creator's work. The human seemed happy with this, saying that Melak often went on his own travels, but that he would, of course, return within the moon's cycle. Arad was not sure that he could guarantee this, but the human insisted that if he did not then the village would surely perish - the temple had to be reactivated for each cycle of the moon or the protection would fail and they would die without it. Apparently with great power comes a great pain in the arse! Still, we had no plans to travel too far just yet...

Once we were alone we discussed what we had seen. Where Falcor saw a volcano, and I an intertwined symbol, Arad saw a vivid tree with its root in the dark soil. Falcor believed that the hammer was the same as the one shown in the tapestries, and urged Arad to take and wield it as he was obviously linked with the power here. He spoke of finding "soul stones" - presumably the gems that fitted the sockets he had tried the ruby in. As he spoke he lay a hand on Arad's shoulder, and the other on the sarcophagus, and his hairs raised on his arm, visibly, before he exclaimed that there was great energy here, taking his hand away warily.

Arad cautiously reached out for the hammer, but it leapt from its resting place into his hand! It grew slightly, to about two feet in length, and as he swung it in admiration he seemed to find it natural to use. Falcor seemed extremely excited about this - he was losing the plot again! He grabbed Arad and shouted "This is the gift! You've got it, you've got it!" whilst practically dancing around him. He at least seemed happy and not about to slap anyone. He said that in his whole life he had been the only one to bond with an item in this way, and he was really pleased for Arad, embracing him. All very strange.

As he released him, the hammer seemed to swing towards me, nearly dragging Arad with it, and I noticed the pouch on my belt lifting up as if something inside was itself being drawn towards the hammer. Realising that this is where I had put the ruby, I quickly fished it out and it flew out of my hand and embedded itself into one of the sockets in the hammer. The hammer immediately grew again, reaching it's full size, but Arad was able to change its size with a thought. No wonder Falcor had sensed great energy! Falcor called this bond between a person and a weapon "Telca'men" - the soul was linked to the item and it could only be used by one person (soul) in the world, which is why it was so rare. Apparently Arad knew the "weapon song" (please tell me nobody is about to start singing).

The tapestries, when we looked closer, showed the hammer with all of its sockets filled with gems. The colours, in order from the top, were: red, orange, yellow, emerald, sapphire, and purple. The red gem had gone to the same place - at the top of the star - as the pictures showed.

The sarcophagus was very unusual. We don't usually keep the bodies of the dead in this way, although Falcor's folk do. Falcor wondered whether we should open it, although the humans seemed to revere it as holy (despite not caring about the bodies of their own dead). Falcor decided to try, heaving the lid up just a crack, but as soon as he did so he collapsed to the ground unconscious! I checked he was still breathing and tried to make him comfortable. I rummaged through his pack (which he had taken off) and found a convenient women's muff (I didn't want to think what he might normally do with that) to rest his head on.

Arad, somewhat crazily I thought, decided that he should try, as he might have some protection or control over the power it contained. "Knock yourself out" I said, sardonically, but it seemed to go over his head. He spoke a prayer of protection to the Creator and heaved the lid sideways. No ill came to him, and he just looked upon an old, grey haired human man wearing simple white robes with a gold amulet over his neck and a gold ring on each finger, one with a small purple gem inset. The amulet bore the symbol of the sun.

I was wary of touching anything, and Arad prayed for guidance rather than reach inside. As he did so Falcor awoke as suddenly as he had passed out! He said that we should leave the tomb alone. Arad took this as a sign from his god, saying "so be it" to the heavens and closed the lid again. Falcor put his hand on him again and said "thank you." He continued: "I would not discuss what I would call the past life in a temple to the future life, but I would have a conversation with you both. I know not your races, and I fear you hate mine. I need to discover your beliefs and thoughts, and maybe uncover some of mine. I know that you, Garret, are special to my folk, but that I need to lead you. I was scared of you, Arad, but now know that you are not to be feared. I did not understand that one greenskin is different to another."

We all agreed that we needed to discuss what we knew, what we believed, and how we had come together. Arad noted that he at least had something in common with Falcor, as they now had bonded with items bearing the same star and sockets. As we made to leave, we looked up for the first time and noticed that the central beam of the roof was carved with a dragon, an Elvradrak, which now made six races in the temple - the five Elvra and the human. There was only one dragon and one human, but many of the other races, although I don't know whether that was significant. Once we had left, Falcor knelt and prayed again, asking for help as he did not understand this world. I also asked for help, from whoever might be listening, as there were bound to be more challenges ahead.

We sat and shared the money we had taken from the goblins, as well as some of the items from Falcor's rather randomly packed bags. Then we settled down to sleep, and I slept like a log after the day's exertions.

Falcor also slept well, but Arad had a disturbed night. He told Falcor that he now understood more of his beliefs, but would talk more of it later (he had seen the volcano but extinguished by six dark shades). The villagers had started work on repairing the village, although there was much to do. I went off to fill our waterskins ready for more travel.

I heard a bell tolling and made my way to the temple, where Arad stood with breakfast, which had appeared on the altar. Arad served the congregation through the human leader, as before, but Falcor ate hungrily himself. I joined the congregation, taking food in turn, not wanting to stand out.

The leader directly asked Arad if he intended to stay, to which he replied that he had seen a disturbing vision last night and the purpose of his quest was now clear. He was the one that Malek spoke of, and he did save the village, but there is something he must test first as he believes that there is another quest for him now. I noticed now that he had returned the hammer to its resting place. He took a step forward, held out his hand, and the hammer flew to him as it had done before, growing to full size as it did so. This perhaps did not quite have the impact he was looking for, as the humans seemed unimpressed - Malek must have done this before. He spoke about having an unusual bond with the weapon, but the leader just said "of course; you are the one!"

Arad asked what it was that Malek had actually said to them. He had spoken of one that would come, that was demon born, and that he would save them. Arad to be fair, said that he now believed that he had a holy mission to avenge my people's death and relight the forge of creation. He promised to return at the will of the gods, rather than committing to returning within a moon's cycle. The leader reminded him that he would condemn them to death if he did not renew the temple once each moon.

Arad urged them to look after themselves, saying that the Creator would provide in a different way, and presented them with a coffer of gold and silver that he had found in the secret room below (not that he mentioned this when we were sharing last night)! He told them to use the money to rebuild and look after themselves