Written by: Alistair "Kasca" Gilmour
Long ago, Sir Chan Ottokar sacrificed himself to protect his friends and ensure Rexan’s defeat. Nearly two years later, Adventurers of the Realms stepped up to venture into Gaol and recover the pieces of their fallen friend.
After Margaret opened a portal to Gaol, we found ourselves in Garm’s domain. He was prepared for our arrival and put on display the soul we sought to reconstruct and the scales we had to balance. Our objectives were clear: Purify Angelbane, cleanse Corruption with the Hammer of Justice, fight for the fragments of Chan, and balance the scales so that the purpose of his sacrifice would not be undone.
We set out to meet the Silver Legion, and the spirit of Darkvale confronted us along the way. The angel, Chan, greeted us and reunited with his old friends. After much discussion, the angel insisted on purifying Angelbane. N was willing to surrender the cursed weapon, but there was a misunderstanding, and the Silver Legion took Angelbane by force.
Justari’s Red Knight met us after our unsuccessful return and warned us about the forces we were meddling with. Chan’s soul bore the weight of many sins he committed during his life, and that weight had to be lifted before we could restore his soul. There were twelve sins, and twelve noble adventurers stepped up to take them as their own.
Purifying Angelbane was not the only reason why we sought the Silver Legion. We also needed a divine spark to reforge the Hammer of Justice. We were hoping for Chan’s wings, but couldn’t negotiate for them, so we had to make do with what we had, and we split into two teams.
One team set out to fight for Chan’s identity as a Knight of the Crown, but Zula bois stood in their way. Not even swords imbued with light were enough to fight the Infinite Dark, and the adventurers were forced to retreat.
Meanwhile, a smaller team of adventurers brought pieces of the Hammer of Justice to Hephaestus, the god of the forge, so that he could reforge it. He requested embers to light his forge, and slime to glue the pieces together. James Swift, determined to prove his devotion, collected so much slime from the bog that even Hephaestus was surprised! With the forge lit and the hammer covered in slime, Hephaestus went to work and reforged it, then he used the hammer to cleanse Corruption.
The two teams reunited, adventurers set out to claim the Red Branch in Fae, but something was strange. Upon entering the plane, everyone became fae, and the fae became even more fae. They scrambled to avoid Wayland blades, eventually stealing the red branch and running. Those who were less fortunate were rescued by a fae dragon who wanted to be their best friend forever and ever and ever…
We knew we had to confront Dionin’s Avatar, but before we did, we had to right one of Chan’s wrongs. Margaret carried the skulls of the angels Chan had slain, and it was time to bring them back to life. A great ritual was conducted, and we succeeded. The angel Chan sought us out, and we told him our plans to confront Dionin’s Avatar. If we were to bring Chan back as a mortal, both the angel of the Silver Legion and Dionin’s Avatar could exist no longer. The angel understood and accepted the fact.
We set out to battle Dionin’s Avatar. The angel confronted him directly while the rest of us fought his minions. It was a long, brutal battle made difficult by the Avatar’s resilience, but when it appeared we’d run out of time, all shining steel was granted Valor, and we made one final push and emerged victorious.
Our task wasn’t yet complete. We still needed to balance the scales. We all scrambled and sacrificed parts of our souls to match the sacrifice that killed Chan in the first place. Our time quickly ran out, and Garm shut himself in his office to check the scales. He emerged to tell us we were successful and sent us away, but our balancing act wasn’t perfect, and a fragment of Rexan, the slain god, escaped into the Realms.
In due time, the Storyteller will use the fragments of Chan’s soul to create a new being named Amawar. Before the book can be closed, the final chapter must be written, and that responsibility has fallen to me.
