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[Joanna Weaver]

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It started out as our usual training. Formation was made and we stood in lines and at the ready. Lady Danica Amandine had called Herman up front to address him about aiding the enemy. Now, she was threatening to lecture for two straight hours. A few groans could be heard among the ranks, but most stood attentively.


Danica began to tell us of her childhood. Her free life, her parents' reckless behavior. Her sister who had blamed her for their parents' deaths and sent her away to live in the woods. That was where Lord Simeon Bennu had discovered her and took her under his wing. He taught her about Order, Responsibility, Honor, and Courage. But, he also taught her that there were two sides, Good and Evil. She told us that sometimes the good person wears white, and shiny armor and speaks of Virtue. But sometimes that figure can be the evil side as well, she said.


“It is your own judgment what you do. But you WILL be held to answer for what side you choose. And you may not choose both.”


The lady knight had begun to go over the tasks she had in store for us when something started to happen to her. She seemed confused, perhaps disoriented, as she turned to look about.


“Feels like someone just walked right over my grave.”

Those were the last words Lady Amandine spoke, for as we watched, she seemed frozen in place. Many of us stood wondering exactly what had happened to our commander. The more daring began to cast spells, attempting to free her.


Suddenly, there was a cry of alarm.

A figure in a white hooded robe stood atop the Crux Ansata Headquarters, watching us. As many made demands to know his identity, he stepped down from the roof.


“For those of you that do not know, or have not heard of me. I am known by many names. Lord of Time, The Time Lord, so many. So many... I am charged with keeping balance and keeping the timeline moving forward. I can not allow disruptions. I will not allow certain things to happen. As such I have taken your friend here. And her sister. And frozen them in time until I can come up with a solution.”


“So Bellatrix is her sister,” Biggs spoke what many of us were thinking aloud, as The Timelord continued.


He told us Bellatrix was working with a force that didn't care about our world. They sought to rip something from our world, from our very existence, just to have it as a knickknack. My own guess, based on my chance conversation the night earlier with Bellatrix, was then proven correct. The Timelord confirmed that she had been looking for the bones of Zog.


“She is searching for the corpse of the one that destroyed the world more than 700,000 years ago. I can not interfere without creating a balance. In order to stop Bellatrix in her tracks. I had to stop Danica as well. Do you understand? The balance must be held.”


He spoke then of the task he had for us, stating that if we accomplished it, he would have another mission for us. Ultimately, if we succeeded, he said that he would show us where the bones of Zog were. Either way, with Lady Danica frozen, there was little choice but to accept his task, whatever it might be.

“Bellatrix has planted a tree... one of many. But this one is dangerous. She has begun working with the city elders of Umbra. You will, or you will not, travel to Umbra, invade the town in full force. Burn, pillage and do what you will. But destroy that tree at all costs. Do that, and I will assist you with the recovery of the Bones of Zog.”


I was personally not surprised that we would be sent to Umbra to destroy something evil. One glance at the city and I was filled with a sense of unease.


When we arrived, the tree was quickly located. A tall and twisted thing, it grew atop the tomb on the north side of the city.

The guards and the wisps began to attack us in force when they realized why we were there. We split into 2-3 groups, taking on separate forces at the same time. All of the darker denizens of that foul city seemed to rush at us in defense of the tree. When they had been dispatched at last we took on the tree.

The battle was long and difficult, but in the end we were victorious!


Back at the Crux Ansata Headquarters, The Timelord congratulated us on a job well done. He told us he could see past, present, and future, and that the Knights of the Crux Ansata have a grand and glorious future.

“There is much to do before I reveal the location of the body of Zog to you. Danica will remain here. She can not be harmed in this state. Nor can she be muddled with.”


As The Timelord vanished, the crowd began to disperse. I took myself back to Magincia to put the tale to paper for you all. I was glad to see that no more wisps were patrolling the isle. Perhaps tonight's battle had given them pause. One could only hope.


Later that evening as I sat by the fire tending my wounds, I wondered what The Timelord would ask of us next.
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"Art and architecture must combine to create something larger than either." ~ Robert Campbell