Clover's Log
The sand worm is still out there, hunting us. I can hear it break through the sand some distance away. Hopefully Nyx and Oman are out of range. Nyx has already been swallowed once and looks like she might be on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Can’t really blame her. Brendel and I are in some sort of ancient high-rise, a hotel maybe. Hard to say with so many decades of dust and ruin. I try not to stray too far from the crumbled wall we came through in case the threat, any threat, returns. We need to get out of here.
And that’s when I hear the shout: Ronan. At least, I think it’s Ronan. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard his voice above a stoic mumble. But now he sounds…afraid. I race back to the front of the building and poke my head out to see what trouble has befallen us now, Brendel close behind. Sure enough, there’s Ronan—two of him. Both are bloodied, crossbow bolts sticking out of them, locked in a tussle. Both are shouting about the other being an imposter. They look utterly identical. How can we tell which is which?
Oman is flying closer with Nyx, but the commotion has drawn the sand worm’s attention back our way. It erupts from the ground just behind one of the Ronans. And it swallows him. Terrified, the other Ronan flees, but he is back in the worm’s area of awareness. It follows. Its scorpion-like tail plunges toward the petrified ranger, and that’s when Oman calls out an incantation that disrupts the stinger’s trajectory. In that instant, he saves Ronan’s life. But is it the real Ronan? Brendel thinks so, and so must Oman.
I climb halfway up the 100-foot building to get a better view of what’s happening, my claws easily finding purchase in the old worn stone. Something inside the worm monster shifts. Another sand worm breaks through its middle. The copycat, then, shedding Ronan’s form in favor of one that will help it survive. Now is the time to flee. I telepathically message Nyx and Brendel that I’m going to take the rooftops out of the area for a better vantage point, and we depart, putting as much distance between ourselves and this deadly monstrosity as we can. It’s taken enough lives today. Behind us, we hear the worms engaged in battle. From the sounds of it, the copycat wins. Let’s hope we don’t run into the mirror creature again.
We’re now close to where we believe my father might be, where the angels have flocked to. Where clear signs of battle still rage. There is a bright light that way. Nyx and Brendel are spent, no magic left to help us. Ronan is still hurt and shaken. That’s when something unexpected happens. Oman offers to come with me to scout up ahead while the others rest. This is one of the first signs of true companionship the tiefling bard has shown me. I’m loath to put his life in danger, or the others by splitting the party, but I have to know if my father is there, what horrors we face ahead. We leave the others to make camp with plans for Brendel to magically contact me in the morning so we can reunite. Stealthily, Oman and I make our way toward the light. We find a massive crater, clearly caused by whatever pierced the barrier on the night of the Deadwind. It is surrounded by a barrier of lightning. Curious, considering my lifelong draw toward lightning and the fact that we suspect my father is nearby. Does he share my affinity? Unfortunately, getting close enough to examine what’s below is made difficult by dozens of angels and Kirispin Legionnaires trying to do the same. We’ve learned not to cross the angels. Now that we know the Church, the Good Lady herself, are really the enemy, that they orchestrated the Shattering rather than the Titans and the elves, trust is hard to come by. We’ve been lied to our entire lives.
Oman and I decide to find a place to make camp, an old house, before he makes me magically invisible, and I go back to get a closer look. He remains behind to set up our bedrolls and stay out of sight. I hope. Surely everything will go according to plan splitting the party twice. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t.
I sneak back, now invisible, to investigate the crater further. At the bottom is a large cylindrical container, big enough to house a creature of some kind. Along the sides of the crater are tunnels. Something has gotten out. To where? I eavesdrop on some nearby legionnaires and learn that one of the angels is planning an attempt at getting through the lightning barrier, and soon. The crater is drawing the attention of creatures throughout the Rift that the angels are engaged in battle with. Not wanting to leave Oman alone too long, I take what I’ve learned and hurry back. Unfortunately, in my absence, he has been discovered by three hooded figures. So far they have not harmed him, but that’s not off the table. One of them can see me despite my invisibility, so I show them I’m not a threat and enter. To our great dismay, the three beings are elves, the first we’ve ever encountered. They’ve been following us since we entered the ruins of this city. We convince them we mean them no harm, and we will hope to get information from them in the morning, when our companions have joined us.