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Ser Armithia silently mouths the words,
It has been an honor, my friends!
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Ishta tried to speak but couldn't due to the zone of silence.
Feeling Helm's fury riding through his sword, Ser Armithia's form blurred as he struck time and again. Each time he struck there was a silent flash of light and each time the darkness staining the air was diminished. The thing that had once been Jandark screamed but no heard a thing.
Kardas realised the terrible danger they where in and in his desperation he tried to warn the others but couldn't make himself heard. So he did the only only honourable thing he could, press home the attack. Just like Ser Armithia his his blade blurred and he felt resistance as has sword plunged into the malevolence. A frosty mist was building up and he felt a pressure building in his ears, as if he'd dived terribly deep underwater...
Azarra thought they where killing the remains of the lich, she wasn't wrong. With a mental wrench she threw everything she had sending glowing arrows so fast it was a blur with three in the air at the same time! Most of them hit, the last one dead centre which caused bits of the floating darkness to splatter out on the far wall like blood.
Then something strange happened, pinpricks of light shone out from the cloud of darkness. They multiplied and grew exponentially in brightness till the world went white.
It was said later it was as if the sun had risen in the heart of Phlan and in the resulting malestrom every last compulsion spell Jandark had cast, which numbered in the thousands snapped in a instant. The roof was blown off the council building and the walls fell out like an opened box. A pillar of light shot up into the sky and many of the newly released and befuddled townsfolk thought it the end of days.
Such a titanic outpouring of magic smashed into the skein of the weave like a bomb. The fields outside of Phaln which had been barren were suddenly filled with flowers. High up in the Thunder Peaks a dozen avalanches where set off, burying entirely a large orc village that had been planing to raid Cormyr. In far off Thay, many magical alarms where set off all at once and a powerful scrying spell that Zzas Tam the Zulkir of Necromancy had been weaving exploded spectacularly. He wasn't seen again in public for nearly six months. And in Phlan the weave was damaged so much that no spells could be cast within the ruins of the old council hall.
There was much confusion outside and it took a while for folks to realise that the sky wasn't actually going to fall in. There was greater confusion as to what had happed and why everyone was dancing instead of going about their day as normal. With growing horror folks stared to realise they'd lost months. Piece by piece the story was put together, Jandark Cardona had slowly conquered the entire town - starting first with his unfortunate grandson. Those who the lich couldn't control had been quietly killed. But then the Heroes had come, The Watchers of Dawn. They had scarified everything to save the city. The people realised this and where humbled.
Of the few who had been inside the building, no sign was ever found. The floor had turned to glass and surely nobody could have survived but some wondered and so the legend started. The bards spun their tales and the trade caravans where allowed back in and soon everyone from Thay to Wateredeep had heard of The Watchers of Dawn.
The only surviving councillor was Von Urslingen. He was a shadow of himself but recognising the city needed him he volunteered to stay on as a caretaker councillor until proper elections could be arranged in the spring. He did make a few changes, many of the old laws where struck down - ones the Cardona's had twisted to their advantage. He also in acted a bill of rights, to prevent many of the other abuses of power which were so common in those dats. Next he ensured that those left behind by The Watchers of Dawn would be cared for. All of Azarra's family where found jobs and places to live. Likewise the girls rescued from the temple of Mask had been found places to stay and honest trades.
Von Urslingen opened trade with the lizard men of the marsh and over the next few years both communities prospered. The final thing Von Urslingen did before retiring for good we to indulge popular demand and commissioned statues of the heroes to guarded the newly rebuilt town hall.
One day years later a little boy was playing near the hall and he asked his half-elven grandmother, "Nanna who where they?" "The Watcher of Dawn love." she replied, "I knew them once, they where heroes, the real deal."
"Wow!" the boy cried delighted, "Did they slay dragons?" "Oh they dealt with a dragon or two in their time, and a horde of zombies and they drove away the monsters that used to plague the town! They even killed a lich!"
At this moment the camera panned away, the credits started to roll and everyone stated to file out from the cinema.
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One or two savvy people stayed in the theatre until the credits had finished, because you never quite knew what was going to happen.
Over a thousand miles away from Phlan, to the west there was another town, more of a city, nay a metropolis. It was a nice sunny morning and the exercise lawn outside the baroque castle seemed the perfect place for a picnic. Spreads had been laid, deck chairs claimed, teams of caterers at the ready. On a day like this there was money to be made, ice creams to be sold and deals to be struck by the merchants and bankers from a thousand places who had found their way here.
Not far away in a strange black tower with no windows a still powerful looking man with a salt and pepper beard complained to his companion, "Can't you feel it? I had a headache all day." His companion a rather striking woman who seemed to be much younger than him nodded, "There's something in the air..."
By lunchtime the castle lawn was packed, the sun was glorious. There didn't seem to be even a chance of rain which was remarkable in of itself. But then a blot in the sky appeared! In many places that would have been enough to set the locals screaming, but not here. This was a town where things occasionally happened, like dazed adventures raining from the sky. The appearance of the newcomers caused something of a stir, blazing with power like they were. But this quickly faded and the locals soon lost interest. After all they'd witnessed actual gods fighting, this was one of those things.
After five minutes only one person among the crowd still seemed to be interested. An old man with a beard, shaggy white eyebrows above piercing blue eyes and pipe. He remarked, "Well I'll be damed, Alaundo was right! Again..."
He smiled at you and walked over saying, "Hail and well met! Good job in Phlan by the way, oh and King Curathz sends his regards." His eyes twinkled as he said, "Now I have a proposition for you..."
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Ishta smiles to the old man and winks. "We're always ready for propositions, but let's talk it out over a glass of wine, shall we? It's on us!"
Patting Retsn's back, she starts walking to the inn as the ending music resumes.
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Kardas stares at the man with wild eyes as his heart continues to pump hot raging fire through his veins. It's only when the urban nature of their surroundings gets to him that Kardas realizes they're not in Phlan anymore, and no longer engaged in mortal combat with a foe that gave true meaning to the word 'danger'. "I see ..."
Once the dust settled, Kardas finds his thoughts drifting to and fro. This city is stranger yet than Phlan, and reminds him every second of how far away he is from home. It is victory, after all, that can open up a window of opportunity to take a step back and reflect. On days past, the friends and comrades lost, who you've become through what you've done. Wait, didn't Dynaheir travel to this place? Where an endless sea kisses the coast from the west? I wonder how she's doing, and that thick-skulled guardian of hers ...
His thoughts then travel back home when his body can not. How would his Raumviran brethren back in Rashemen respond if they knew Kardas had spent so much time protecting an arcane child of Thay? Fighting side by side with someone using Red Wizard magics to smite their foes? They'd probably laugh and change the topic. How long would it take for them to remind him of his inability to ride a horse? Perhaps a whole minute? Ha!
Kardas can't help but miss the frozen cucumbers that are his brethren, and their thick skulls filled with sour yogurt. One day he'll return. Perhaps even on horseback.
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Ser Armithia-Seendren smiles at the sight of Retsn Imle from the first world. The gold elf nods to his follow Watchers of Dawn.
I believe that our particular stories will be told for generations, although, our individual stories will fade. I have been honored to battle beside each of you. This journey has been rewarding. I thank you each.
The Paladin of Helm does give a quick blue-eyed look to Retsn Imle.
Perhaps, I may know a guy though....