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[Thrax]

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Lord Thrax found the front door to Bailos' home ajar, otherwise he would not have entered unbidden. He had received word to visit his old friend on this day and at this time, but he was anxious to see him anyway, to learn how he had been doing since his departure from the prison in Sanctus. He called out Bailos' name several times but there was no answer---only the echo of his voice throughout the house. He began searching each room in turn but found no one else there. "Odd," he thought. "Why would Bailos invite me here only to be gone at the very time of the meeting?" A bit confused by it all, he sat down in a chair in the study. It was then that he noticed a piece of parchment, a sheet of Bailos' stationary, placed prominently on a stone table nearby. He got up, took it, and read it carefully:


"Greetings Lord Thrax,

If you are reading this it means I will have vanished to places unknown or perhaps have finally perished. I would rather you considered me simply gone for awhile on a distant journey. In the meantime, I need you to do me a great favor. In a hidden chamber below you will find on an ebony pedestal a relic; an orb. Take it with you but do not handle it. I am not sure what it is but it is the key to my disappearance. Keep it safe. In time perhaps I will rejoin you, but, for now, let it serve as a memento of me. I will not explain what has happened lest I endanger you and others whom I do not wish to place at risk. Nevermind what has happened to me. And do not mourn my loss old friend. As you well know, one who never takes risks never gains anything; he will never be more powerful than he has attained to that point, and will always remain weaker than one more courageous or more foolhardy. As I have always believed---there is no greater waste of power than power in the hands of the weak. If I have sought to become stronger and have fallen, so be it..."

The rest of it was instructions on how to access the chamber safely. That it was genuine there was no doubt; it was signed by Bailos and bore his seal at the bottom.

Thrax followed the directions, found the chamber and gazed upon the orb. Something stirred uneasily within him as he looked upon it. He felt as though he were in the presence of another daemon, sinister, potentially more powerful than himself. "What are you?" he said out loud, not expecting an answer. And, as it turned out, he received none.

He found a red velvet coverlet fringed with gold tassels, placed it on the orb and lifted it with its silver base off the pedestal. Wrapping it carefully in the cloth, he put it into a pack and slung it over his shoulder. "My but you are light," he remarked. "Whatever you are."

Thrax took one last long look around hoping Bailos would suddenly appear, but when he did not, he uttered a wistful sigh. Another friend gone, quietly, into the night, with no memorial, no fanfare, nothing to mark his passing... nothing to remind the world that Bailos, the wraith-lord who towered over many in his time, was at last no more.

"Farewell old friend," Thrax muttered, "We shall meet again." He offered a prayer to Oggaroth on his behalf and began his journey home...

Far away, yet oh so close, in a world within a world within a world, Bailos heard faintly the sound of Thrax's voice. A smile crossed his face as turned to address the assembled host of mages, philosophers, stoics, priests, clerics and warriors who had united under his banner against Io the Tyrant who had drawn them into a realm it believed it had the power to rule forever. At last Bailos had his following, one unfettered by religion or virtue or any mortal failings... an army... his own vast host whom he would lead to freedom, victory, and domination in Io's world. He knew Io had made a grave mistake in seeking to increase his own knowledge and power at his expense. And he, quite unlike the others who had preceeded him into Io's world, had quickly discovered he was a fair match for the Tyrant's considerable intelligence, abilities and power. He was going to enjoy this novel adventure... he just knew it.

The End