Stranded

Time Unknown

The party stand before the two great doors at the heart of the mighty dragon in the Olshay Range. Winter rages above them – a winter unlike any ever seen in the Olshay Range. The choice is simple; go on or go back. Without further clues Damula stretches out her mind and somehow finds the slumbering intelligence of the great creature; from this she deduces that they have not yet succeeded in their quest.

After a conference between herself and Taryn Bzar they turn to the three black void globes down the corridor. It was their fiery blood that repelled them and they reason that they could move the globes down the corridor towards the door – possibly using them to obliterate the last barrier to their goal.

It takes a great effort to push the globes towards the door. Taryn and Damula slash their wrists and let the fire erupt from them. The globes move back and converge slowly, fighting against the two companions at every step. The closer they orbs come to the door the closer they converge. The air is charged all around and the party feel sluggish and incredibly heavy.

Tendrils of wispy void snake forth from the single globe and Taymar leads the party back out of the way. But Taryn and Damula force themselves forward and push back the dangerous globe towards their target. The tendrils are replaced by sparks and shards of void energy as the orb crackles and strains against them.

They get within five feet of the doors when the power of the void and creation collide – the implosion comes as a devastating white light and everything changes.

Taymar and Damula are nothing more than floating souls in a bubble of light. Their companions; Taryn, Meklor (an Eldarim sorcerer), and Batista (a young spy) are whole. Their bodies have been spared the wrath of void / creation but the sphere of light is like a prison.

No time or space exist within as Taryn speculates – correctly – that they are somehow at a point (or have created the right conditions) whereby the universe was nothing more than a blank canvas. Throughout the thousands of universes that Promethius created there was a point at which he started. The party are at that point.

Taymar recreates himself a body – as do the others – and it soon becomes evident that nothing is beyond their imagination. With the power of creation at their fingertips the party start to experiment. But Taryn – above all others – realises the futility of their situation. "Time and Space do not yet exist; therefore nothing we do is real…or impossible."

To test that theory Damula creates a portal and concentrates on her faith and on Grayhawk itself. She enters the portal and it – and her – vanish.

Meklor creates tomes of magic; free hand speculation on sorcery as he lets his mind ramble and sets his thoughts into words on the pages. Soon great tomes are produced by the score. He turns his attention to scrolls and writes a scroll easily. Taymar and Batista begin to study magic; soon becoming sorcerers as the normal constraints of Time does not apply. In turn he teaches them how to use a sword but the conundrum of the globe still remains. Damula does not return and Taryn turns his attention to the creation of Time (and therefore Space) – he reasons that without them they will never escape.

Taryn Bzar tries to kickstart his own heartbeat, the words of the Mountain Dragon are at the back of his mind; Your heartbeat regulates your minds and gives you a sense of passage – contained within the words of the ancient creature is the key. (see The Mountain Dragon).

But even as Taryn watches Meklor and his friends attempt to create time he realises that the truth – and solution – are within him. Without him this event would not have occurred and through him he knows there is a way to get them back to the door and reality. Somehow though his mind returns to a lost soul. Damula’s final words before she struck out through the portal keep coming back;

"I have Faith…"