I try to point the camera at my friends sometimes and not just at their Dungeons & Dragons minis. Here’s Tad showing us how Ian’s sweet Matrix-like move is gonna work.

Taj and Angel listen to our DM as she describes the scene.

When Myntilly died the other night we had the traditional chocolate binge. Something about chocolate just facilitates the grieving process. Speaking of eating….

This is an old picture but still one of my favorites of Sarah. It also shows old friend Melissa, who’s moved to Arizona.

Last, there’re hardly ever pictures of me, so here’s a (fairly) recent picture of me from our trip to Mt. Rainer.

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The heat was intense. Standing in the hallway and looking out at the Fiery Sanctum, the heat hit me in waves. The bubbling pools of lava and the islands of flame were intimidating.

After the Farastu attack we rested. As we sat around, breaking our fast the next morning we discussed next moves. Down one hallway was a bright glowing light. The opposite way there were several doors we could try.

“There might be treasure behind those doors.” Theresa smiled sheepishly.
“Aye, or monsters. We might want to secure our retreat.” Durilin nodded in a satisfied way as if that settled it.

“I feel like I’ve missed some important moments, what with the possession and all…. There’s a timelock, right? The soultree is being erected and we only have a little time to stop it. Am I right?” I looked at Myntilly. She smiled at me. “Yes. We are short on time. I don’t think we have time for treasure or monsters. We need to walk up that hallway and towards the light.”
Durilin stood and hefted her axe. “Are we ready?” She motioned to Theresa. “After you.”

We moved cautiously down the hallway. Up ahead to the right was a open doorway. It looked like a inky rectangle. Theresa held up her hand, motioning us to stop.

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“Watch out!” Ian pointed his hands and bright sunlight streamed from his fingers. An searing heat hit me and I stumbled out of the rays. I heard Theresa cursing beside me and turned to see her sucking her fingers. And then the vrock made an odd croak and keeled over.

What I will relate here was told to me later or witnessed by me once I was revived by Sadi.

This is a picture of the first assassin taken by the Brass Trumpet security camera as she entered the club.

There were four assassins in all. Two were strictly hack and slash types like the one that almost killed me and the one that almost killed Acgar. There was also two spell casters: the red-haired lady and the sorcerer dressed like a sailor. I’ll probably never know which one killed Buzz.

As battle heated up, Brüs rushed in against the tide of people running away. He focused on Ian. Before he could reach Ian however, the red-haired assassin stepped out of the shadows.

As she raised her hands to cast a spell, Brüs charged into her. His mighty paws wapped her, one, two! And his teeth sunk into her right arm. She screamed and reeled back, knocking one of the townspeople off of his feet. Unfortunately in the confusion, she got away. Or we have to assume she did, because we did not find her body in the room.

Sadi was methodically shooting at the crowd that seemed to contain the other spell caster. Finally her arrow sunk into real flesh and the mirror images of the assassin disappeared. It was important to us not to kill innocent townspeople and so, once the club had cleared a bit, Acgar loosed her acid breath on the gray helmed assassin. He was injured but not down. And now that I was unconscious, Acgar had the other sword-wielding assassin to deal with, too.

Dyskko’s friends had fled with the other audience members and so Dyskko went running, full tilt, at the now solo spell caster. Sadi told me later that she’d never seen anything like it. Dyskko’s hands and feet were a blur. The sorcerer could barely defend himself. She took advantage of the situation and fired several more arrows into the assassin. He went down but not before getting a few damaging spells off. Dyskko was breathing heavily, standing over the prone assassin but Sadi said she only had eyes for me. The room seemed to stretch as she imagined herself running to my fallen body.

About then, Various sent her bat flying around the room. As his wings touched each of us, we were transported outside of the Brass Trumpet. Suddenly we were right outside of Orak’s bathhouse. It is right across the street from the Brass Trumpet.

Sadi lost no time, then, to heal me. I felt like I was emerging from a deep pool of water. I gasped for breath. “No time,” said Sadi as she pulled me to my feet. “Dyskko is in there with two assassins. Let’s get Acgar healed and get back in there!” My mind was a blur as I tried to comprehend her words. Acgar was leaning heavily on her spear. “Used my heals on you! Nothing left….” Her voice trailed off. I remembered the ring of Health that the dire bunny had been carrying. I focused on it and a ray of light shone on Acgar. The change was amazing. She laughed. “That’s better!” It was then that I saw Buzz’s body. I stopped, turning to go to him. Sadi grabbed my arm. “There’s no time!” She pulled me towards the entrance.

I did a swift heal on myself, too. And then we were at the door of the club.

What we saw was amazing. Tables overturned, possessions left, the body of the sorcerer that Sadi and Dyskko had killed. And we saw Dyskko, tied up, being carried out the window by the two remaining assassins. Sadi stepped to the far side of the building and saw the first assassin emerging from the window.

She cast entanglement. Ian let a bolt of lightening fly. Various cast grease on Dyskko, I think in hopes that the assassins would drop him. Acgar squinted for a moment and then she shot acid at the second assassin, the one still inside the Trumpet. I flinched, thinking she would hit Dyskko, but she had picked the perfect moment: Dyskko’s body was mostly out the window and the second assassin took the full brunt of the acid.

I hoped that since Dyskko was tied up, that he was still alive. I have only one ranged heal spell. It will cure several comrades, but at the expense of healing power. My hope was to stabilize him, if he was in danger of bleeding to death. I shot my arm up into the air like I was going to grab the sun and then flung my hand towards the three figures. Suddenly Dyskko began to struggle against his ropes. I laughed out loud with relief.

“Now that grease should do the trick.” Various was suddenly at my elbow. “I’ve made a study of behemoths; please tell me more about this monster that almost killed Cinder.” She blinked at me with all seriousness. “Not right now. Let’s finish this fight, OK?” I touched her arm lightly and then hurried over to Sadi.

Her entangle spell was slowing the assassins and from here I could tell that Dyskko would be free in a few minutes. And yet, the assassins were still moving away from us. I ran to the edge of the entangled area — the weeds were writhing in a frenzy, grasping and clutching. I took a deep breath and bellowed at the two men: “By Pelor’s beard, you will HALT.” After that we were able to subdue them.

We’d told Myntilly that we’d meet her at Orak’s after the show. She’s never been a huge fan of spoken word. When we tumbled in to the bathhouse with two tied up men, our clothes in tatters, Buzz in Acgar’s arms, Dyskko greasy and hurt, being helped by Various…. Myntilly shot out of the tub and came running to us. I sat down beside Buzz’s body and let the others explain. I put my mouth by his ear. “I’m sorry.”

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Fifty years ago, I met the Prophet. And the words of his prophecies mirrored the images in my dreams. So I listened. And I began to put pieces together. In my studies, I have learned much about the images in my dreams and how they link to legends, myths, and stories of events that may have happened.

I have met with many groups and individuals who are following the same prophet, sharing the same dreams. Some groups have joined together to work toward a common goal. Some people study alone.

As we camped in the forest after the Test of Resolve, Myntilly pulled me aside to discuss Adimarchus, Occipitus and the Test of the Smoking Eye. Apparently when Myntilly was in the Library in the Cathedral of Feathers, she managed to obtain some notes from a previous adventurer. Some of the notes are in direct disagreement with our experiences, and some are unclear.

She started by asking about Occipitus. “These notes and our own experiences show that Occipitus is a place. But you have described Occipitus as a being, perhaps a demon.”

This is, of course, the same question that has baffled me these many years. It was only sleeping that night in the Cathedral of Feathers that those images from my lifetime of dreams began to come together. Now I understand that Occipitus is both the name of the 507^th layer of the Abyss, and the name of the demon from whom the plane was created. It explains why the central mountain in this plane is shaped like a skull – the skull of the demon Occipitus.

The legend is that Adimarchus was cast out of Celestia. As revenge, he made a deal with a demon to gain an army to fight back against the angels who cast him out. During the battle, the angels broke off a piece of Celestia to send it into the Abyss. Adimarchus, Occipitus, most of the demon army, and several angels fell with it to the 507^th Level of the Abyss.

There, Adimarchus became insane. And haunted the dreams of any that could listen.