5.08A - Kain's Mission Complete

Anneleigh crouched beside the shaken prisoner.  He groaned and then looks up to see her.

“What.... What happened?”

“I believe Doctor Visek had kidnapped you and created his vessel around you.”

The prisoner cried out, not in pain but in distress.  “I remember now, yes.”  He puts his head in his hands and shakes his head.  The movement gives Anneleigh the impression of he is trying to shake off a horrible memory.  “I was the vessel; the souls of others have been trapped with me.  The shell of the gnarlbone was only an exterior.”

5.08A - Doctor Visek

Carwin and Anneleigh agreed; there was no time to waste in ridding Scarwood reach of Doctor Visek.  Hoping that Marshal Kain would understand, she disregarded the order to proceed to Camp Cestus and made her way to the Barricade in Shatterbone Canyon.

She found Dame Levitia Volya already stationed in barricade’s command.

“I’ve been sent to kill Doctor Visek.”  Anneleigh said to the commander, who was clearly not expecting her.

5.07a - The Shrine of Thedeor

Anneleigh walked towards the old, gray-haired, and bearded sage, who was grinning ear to ear.  After the day’s events, it was a relief to see he obviously had good news.

“Thank you for your assistance against the Shatterbone cultists, Anneleigh.” He began as he led her to one of the worship rows to sit down.  “Nothing can repay the debt our order owes you, but perhaps this may aid you some.”

5.06 - The Cultist

The Sagespire monks led Anneleigh inside and sat her down in an area that looked very much like a kitchen.  It had a closed in feeling, rather unlike the open worship room she had been welcomed into earlier.  She got the impression the monks wished to be a little more secretive with their next task.

“This report was discovered on the corpse of a Shatterbone Cultist.  Inside, it gives evidence of a Shatterbone spy within The Sagespire.”, said the first sage. 

5.05 - The Portal

Anneleigh gathered the pieces of the Chain of Command and started the trek north along the pathway Marshal Kain described.   He had told her it would be impossible to miss the Sagespire, and he was right.  Even before she neared its foundations, high in the Scarwood Hills, she could see the tower.  Stretching as high as Auzl Warden, and possibly as old, or older, as the ancient tree, Anneleigh found herself wondering about the purpose of the structure.

5.04 - Heart of Mathos

On her way out of the Lord’s Hall, Anneleigh kept a watchful eye on the disrupted debris of the now silent chambers.   She found several artifacts that she believed might be worth collecting and pocketed the items; a tarnished heavy chain with a Mathosian engraving, a jagged object that emitted a strange purple glow, a clasp or tie of silver, a cracked gem mount.   Strangely, many of the pieces seemed to fit together, forming some sort of amulet; complete, though damaged, aside from the missing gemstone.  Anneleigh tested the glowing artifact in the empty place, but it did not complete the set.

5.03 - The Lord's Hall

Anneleigh approached the base of the stair and began to climb.  She could feel the cold of the wind against her back as she climbed further up the cliff face.  After about twenty minutes, and what felt like 100 steps, she reached the top.  Many spiders and webbed figures dotted the small lawn.  They took little notice of her, but she moved through them with caution anyway.  Across the plateau rose another staircase.  Anneleigh realized, with an uncomfortable stitch in her side, that she must have only reached a small landing, not the top.

5.02 - Apparitions of Old

“Just southwest of here, our thrust into Lord’s Hall has been blunted by unexpectedly heavy resistance.”  Marshal Kain said, “ Sir Piotr Siennicki has been tasked with several critical objectives.  Why don’t you head down there and see if you can lend him your unique skillset.”

As he spoke a young woman approached their circle, trailed by another soldier who was taking notes.  “That report makes it sound like the fool ran into an abomination.”  She said to the soldier, who nodded and left the group.”  The young woman sighed and focused on Kain.  “We’re here after artifacts from the Mathsian War and to restore the protective shrines, not for some snot-nosed recruit to be scaring people with imagined stories from the last war.”

5.01 - Introductions

Anneleigh remained in Sanctum for several days, refreshing her body, mind, and spirit, and preparing for the journey ahead.  When at last she felt strong enough she departed via the porticulum for Crimson Wash – the most westerly place she had visited thus far, and began the trip into Scarwood Reach on foot.

5.00 - Scarwood Reach Story Summary

This posting serves as the summary and index of the journey through Scarwood Reach. It includes posting numbers, characters and extras important to the story.

It is updated as the story progresses.