It is Begun... (Episode 0, 'Pilot')

A blur of blue fur hopped from the lower half of the bed, even before Kris could pull back the covers and move to investigate the fallen candle and its holder. "Blue? What is it, boy?" The tiny blue-furred Capuchin looked up innocently with candle and holder in its little hands and jumped back onto the bed beside the teen.

She grinned and accepted the presents from her little buddy and rubbed the top of the monkey's head while she placed the candle back from where it had fallen. "Very curious, huh Blue? Strange visions in the middle of the night and surely this was intended for Killian, not me." The slight accent of her people inflected her words, but only slight, as she had been immersed in a world not her own and surrounded by gorger from an early age.

Kris adjusts the one strap of her short black satin chemise and places her bare feet on the rug, before standing and stretching. She was and attractive girl by most standards and had filled out over the last few years, even though she didn't often announce it with her clothing choices. The young woman of Vistani heritage was still trying to deal with her physical changes and decide whether she was more comfortable dressing down her matured body or accentuating the new curves she had developed. Adulting was so confusing sometimes.

Finding her balance, she reached over her exposed left shoulder and scratched at the sorcerer's brand given to her upon completion of her Trials of Becoming. It depicted an open eye with an X at the center of the pupil. "Many questions I have. Like, who was the boy in the mirror? Should I know him? Was he the one who sent me the message? That voice certainly didn't fit the image, huh Blue?"

Kris wandered over to the old antique mirror on the Black Horse Inn's wall and reached out cautiously to touch the smooth pane of silvered glass within. Her own expressive bluish grey eyes looked back at her from it and she crinkled her nose, in that funny little way she had, at the thoughts running through her head.

While Kris stands at the mirror, there is a knock at her room's door.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

After a pause, Killian's deep voice can be heard through the door. "Lady Amani? Is all well with you? I have had a strange visitation..."

Out in the small hall connecting the two well-appointed guests rooms, stands a towering muscular male with ash gray skin and blazing motes for eyes. He rubs a hand over his bald pate and leans against the wall next to the door. He is wearing only a pair of black loose-fitting pants drawn together at the waist with a corded string.

"There was a stranger in the mirror—a vampire by the look of him or a devil." Killian relays through the closed door. "We must be away with the coming of dawn. I have been summoned..."

Morning is heralded by the rooster's crow, as Kris and Killian gather their belongings and set out on their new quest...

Kris feeds her pet wyvern, Vulnerhaak, prior to affixing the riding harness to her. It hasn't been lost on the young bladesinger, after the brief conversation with Killian following the dream they both had, that she had indeed been called to become possibly a champion. Kris had never really aspired to be such. She was content to travel as the Goliath Oathbreaker's companion and oft voice of reason. Whoever had summoned them must either be desperate for heroes or they know more of her potential than she ever has.

Tajuri Shadowmoon

Two nights ago...

There was a peaceful serenity in a beautiful feminine, snow-white face wreathed in fine silver-white locks. Soratami, her kind is. Though, they are commonly known through the planes as Moonfolk. Golden yellow eyes, slightly uplifted at the outer corners, snapped open of a sudden—breaking the calm in the place Tajuri had chosen this fateful night to rest her head.

Was it a sound that had awakened her or simply a feeling that something was off in the stillness of this night?

Then it came—a whisper unlike another she had ever heard. Calling her name...

"Tajuri Shadowmoon. You are chosen above all of your realm. The multiverse needs Champions once more."

The awakened sleeper rises to a sitting position and peers into the shadowy vacancy of her surroundings, but sees nothing amiss—nothing out of place.

"Seek out the legendary Shrine of the Dead God, Kwll. Defeat the guardian. Reveal the gate."

The Moonfolk listens, as the disembodied powerful whisper speaks yet again. She rolls out of her resting place, takes up the half spent candle in its holder at the side of her bed, and takes a few cautious steps in the direction of the voice.

"Find the key. Unlock the Dark Eye of Oblivion. Enter the City on the Edge of Forever. Destiny awaits the Champions Eternal..."

Something catches the alert Moonfolk's eye in her periphery. She turns to see a mirror hanging before her a short distance away and brings the illumination of the candle up to better see the reflection within. What she sees there catches her off-guard and causes her to drop the holder, with its lit candle. The face looking back at her from the flat surface is not her own, but that of a Tiefling female—lovely and seductive.

As the candle hits the floor, Tajuri is startled awake. She turns and notices the candle and its holder are no longer at the side of her resting place, but on the floor. The smoke from its extinguished wick twirls upward, like a fleeting spectre, into the air...

Tajuri thrust out a ghostly white arm adorned with a dark leather bracer tight against the narrow wrist. A blue glow revealed an eye at the center of that small bracer and the candle leapt off the floor and into the awaiting hand and its long slender fingers. The candle seemingly lit itself, as Taj placed it back on the side table and carefully extracted her otherwise nude body from the sensual embrace to the pale-skinned and auburn-haired beauty entangled arms and legs about the Moonfolk Hexblade's snow white body.



Tajuri's was a body envied by many and desired by much more. She had been well trained in the ways of seduction and pleasure during her days and nights as a sacred prostitute in the inner sanctum of the Lord of Pleasures, Slortar. She knew intimately how to incite desire and fulfill it.

The smooth flawless texture of her form was marred only by the most excellent of magical inks, in true blacks and dark silvers to more enhance her allure than detract from it. Jagged tribal claws wrapped about her shoulders and down both arms, like an arcane ephermal ribbon. Protective sigils held her covetously in its expanses over the toned curves of white. A single, downward thrust inked sword hung precariously between the small shallow of her navel and the slight visible cleft at top of her promise of paradise.

Sliding to the edge of the fine viridian silks clothing the large dark, four-poster bed, the tall lithe Soratami female stood and ritually shook out the long silver white tresses hanging to the small of her back. Her body was neither muscular, nor skinny, but well toned and agile. Her Soratami ancestry had blessed her with an appearance of vibrant youth unhampered by the rigors of gravity and age that caused most humanoids to sag and wrinkle long before their time. This gave Tajuri firm perky breasts and a high tight derriere, as her most prominent assets to viewers and admirers.

Taj glided effortlessly over to the mirror to see, beyond reason, whether the Tiefling from her dream might actually be there to stare back from the other side. It was a mixture of relief and disappointment, to find it was not to be. She lingered there for a moment longer and touched the hardening peaks of her breasts exposed in the air of the night. Then, brushed a hand downward over the detailed features of the blade tattoo and the smoothness of her mons.

There would be many questions she needed answers to in the coming days, but now the excitement of it all had aroused her in more ways than one. Taj glided back over to the bed to find her companion, Jael, with head propped up on palm and elbow, on her side, and one hand slowly unabashedly massaging her own sex, in eager hopes of what was to come.

"You seem tense, my Princess." Jael coos from the mattress top; rubbing herself with two fingers and smiling seductively at Tajuri. Her eyes are a blackness that draws in the object of their focus. Her unique skin is like textured cream embossed with patterns covering every delectable inch of her. There is no hint of hair save the luxurious dark auburn tresses that cascade down to the cute little cleft of her ass.

She gives the Moonfolk female a come hither gesture with the moistened fingers, before sliding them back down to the tight breach at the juncture of her shapely thighs. "Let your demon girl take the edge off. Tell me what's on your mind. I can see your thoughts. Words are never necessary between the two of us, my Princess."

"You make an invitation that is impossible to refuse." Taj said with a grin, looking the lovely demoness plaything up and down. She climbed back onto the bed, pushing the naughty Jael onto her back, and climbed astride. Playfully pinning the soft creamy shoulders down to the mattress, the snowy Moonfolk pressed her lower abdomen and sex to that of her captive. "I have a lot of edge that needs your attention, my fiery love. Let us fill the rest of our night with moans of pleasure and come morning set out to find this place of ancient lore."

Jael playfully resists against being restrained and defiantly leans upwards long enough to plant a kiss on Tajuri's lips. She laughs and presses upward to meet her lover's contact of their bodies.

Fade to Black

Morning arrives far too early for the late night lovers and morning soon becomes afternoon before Tajuri and her demon, Jael, gather their belongings and set out on their quest for the Shrine...

Natrix Xenodon

Five nights ago...

There was a peaceful serenity in a pleasant mature, feminine, mocha-toned face wreathed in pure black locks. Yuan-Ti, her kind is. Pureblood is the name given to those, like she, who walk upon two legs. Emerald green eyes, snapped open of a sudden—breaking the calm in the place Natrix had chosen this fateful night to rest her head.

Was it a sound that had awakened her or simply a feeling that something was off in the stillness of this night?

Then it came—a whisper unlike another she had ever heard. Calling her name...

"Natrix Xenodon. You are chosen above all of your realm. The multiverse needs Champions once more."

The awakened sleeper rises to a sitting position and peers into the shadowy vacancy of her surroundings, but sees nothing amiss—nothing out of place.

"Seek out the legendary Shrine of the Dead God, Kwll. Defeat the guardian. Reveal the gate."

The Yuan-Ti listens, as the disembodied powerful whisper speaks yet again. She rolls out of her resting place, takes up the half spent candle in its holder at the side of her bed, and takes a few cautious steps in the direction of the voice.

"Find the key. Unlock the Dark Eye of Oblivion. Enter the City on the Edge of Forever. Destiny awaits the Champions Eternal..."

Something catches the alert Yuan-Ti's eye in her periphery. She turns to see a mirror hanging before her a short distance away and brings the illumination of the candle up to better see the reflection within. What she sees there catches her off-guard and causes her to drop the holder, with its lit candle. The face looking back at her from the flat surface is not her own, but that of a bald male Cyborg—flawless porcelain skin showing traces of gold beneath and penetrating silver eyes.

As the candle hits the floor, Natrix is startled awake. She turns and notices the candle and its holder are no longer at the side of her resting place, but on the floor. The smoke from its extinguished wick twirls upward, like a fleeting spectre, into the air...

The dream was more real than most but fortunately not as lethal as a few could be. Whose face had that been, partly metal, partly real?

Next to Natrix, her enemy with benefits slept soundly. Like her, he was also a Yuan-Ti pureblood, blessed (or cursed) with an almost human appearance. They were the lowest of their species, those who looked and smelled most like the dirty apes. At least she didn't find him as repulsive as higher castes would.

Guests weren't usually allowed in a Tower of High Sorcery, especially not a guest who was a notorious spellsword assassin for the forces of chaos. Natrix had her ways and had a bit of leeway with her Lords of Neutrality patrons, and that was just enough leeway for her lover to slip in and spend the night. They'd met when her former masters, Yuan-Ti Lords of Chaos, sent him to kill her for defection and the murder of her insane former handler. The two found fighting between the sheets preferable to fighting to the death, and so their relationship began. Natrix briefly wondered if she could tell him of her dream but dismissed the notion. He didn't speak of his work unless it directly affected her, so she wouldn't mention this oddity unless it became a problem for him, too.

She rose silently from the bed, her bare bronze skin beautiful in the moonlight, her black hair flowing down to the middle of her back. She opened her third eye once she reached the fallen candle, not truly expecting to find any magical residue but she had to be sure. If there was nothing, she'd wake him up for more carnal sparring. If there was something, the sparring could wait. She hoped for nothing.

Natrix indeed finds nothing else amiss in the chamber and nothing out of the way about the mirror.



"Trix?" Came the familiar voice of Dmetrio from the bed. "Unless we are under attack by phantom assassins, come back to bed."

The sparring, it seemed would continue a bit longer this night.

Radu

The morrow comes.

Lord Radu surveyed the small contingent of his personal entourage and then climbed aboard the resplendent carriage to join his intimate traveling companions within.

Idz had finally, begrudgingly, revealed the location of the shrine from Radu's dream, along with a few details of its reputed import in the past. The shrine had once been a part of a temple complex dedicated to an ancient primordial god-being named Kwll. Legend went, that this alien god had went into a self-imposed exile through a planar gate inside the temple and was entombed in the vaults beneath an eternal city, called Tanelorn.

Nearly a week on the road, through the deep valley pass of the World's Scar and circumventing the mountainous spires of the Dark Lord's Horns, Radu and his cadre arrive at the base of a forlorn hillock. It is here that Idz informs the Dhampir Lord they have arrived at their destination.

Radu departed the company of his retinue and climbed up alone to seek out some answers to the many unanswered questions he still had about this entire affair.

Lucian

Relatively on schedule, Lucian and his companions exit the gates of Thalmen and set off across the countryside. Their four days of travel see them through forests, a storm on the plains, and crossing the outskirts of mire along the northern rim of the Nelfar Swamp.

Lucian discovers the shrine almost by accident, as he rested for a moment, on the fourth day, at the base of a squat crooked hillock. It is only then that he took notice of the winding broken stone steps leading up a narrow overgrown path. Tying off Margeno's lead, Lucian climbed up to investigate.

Lucian couldn't say if it was luck or fate that he stumbled upon his destination. He couldn't say if it was even good or bad. Still, the fact remained that he was here, and it was a convenient discovery. Marengo gave a snort from behind him, and Luci smiled to himself but kept climbing. Something tingled up his spine, an awareness or just a creepy feeling from the ruins. Either way, he decided to pay more attention as he reached the top of the stairs.

Leh'veia

Leh'veia's journey took her and Palknevisex along the edge of the Sighing Desert skirting the way through along a dry river bed. Shortly before the headlands of the once mighty river, the horse-drawn chariot found purchase out of the canyon pass and up into rolling hills that formed the knees of the Frathyn Mountain Range. Climbing over the first mountains upon a narrow near forgotten trail, Lehv was witness to a ancient valley nestled between the peaks. There, in the valley, was a lone hillock topped by the ruins of an ancient temple.

Making her way to the base of this hill, Lehv left her demon companion with the horses and their conveyance and climbed up to investigate.

Keltos

The Veritas makes good time on the nexus planar drifts and drops out of the wormhole approximately two days later. Navigation determines that the dark waters of its landing are off the coast of the Archipelagos of Trapanga, in the shark-infested straits of the Forbidden Triangle.

Lookouts quickly spot land within an hour and the sentient vessel expertly plies the channels of the dangerous reefs to within long boat's reach of the black-sanded shore. A lone hillock climbs a few hundred feet inland and can be seen to rise to a flattened peak about a half mile in.

A shore party assembles promptly and ferries their captain to his chosen destination and while they guard the longboat and keep alert to any immediate dangers upon the shoreline, Keltos proceeds up the winding twisting path up the hill to seek out this Shrine foretold in his portent.

Kris & Killian

With Kris aboard her wyvern, Vulnerhaak, and Killian astride his black winged nightmare, Fury, with his companion Shar holding on behind him, the Goliath Oathbreaker and his companion took flight over the Black Forest of Gilcantiel and then across the Sea of Solvyne.

After finding a remote clearing to rest overnight, they once again set out. They noticed immediately the distant southern horizon to their far right was a wall of dark smoke. Something was amiss on that horizon and they were glad to be heading east instead.

Late in the second evening, an alert Kris spotted the ruins of a temple atop a bald hillock in the distance. Flying in closer, they realized this was the shrine they were seeking. They made a couple passes over the area and then went on for a landing, upon a flat overgrown patch of broken base stones.

Tajuri

With some ingenious thought behind it, Tajuri had Jael summon up a sumptuous palanquin carried by four bald muscular eunuchs, obviously arcanely confiscated in the moment from some rich unsuspecting merchant or ostentatious noble. The two climb aboard and instruct their bearers in the direction of the shrine. Relieved, to not be straining under the weight of some rotund master, the eunuchs agree amongst themselves to follow the orders of this, obviously powerful, sorceress and her demoness.

Traveling across the Plains of Nyam and into the heart of the Glooming Fens for two days, the small company found themselves at the base of the ancient burial mound where upon the ruins of the shrine sprawled. It was known as an accursed place, where old gods came to die.

Undeterred by such nonsense, Tajuri ascended alone to scope out the breadth of the ruins and look warily for the fabled guardian that was said to devour all who trespassed these unhallowed grounds.