Monday, September 30, 2019

Salt Queen's Log - The Return of Change

 by Hannah "Nhadala" Blood

It’s been a hot minute since I caught up with the adventurers of the realms. After living in 7,000 years of my nightmares, Asmodeus’ gift for getting me out of Gaol, I wasn’t ready to face anyone. They wouldn’t understand. Instead, Purple and I spent some quality time together in the salt mine. We hunkered down up north, and I was ready to accept the fate of talking to myself for the next however-many-years-I’m-doomed-to-live.

However, Change and Damion Redblade were having none of it. Damion’s messenger crow essentially kicked down my door, and said “it’s time queenie. Change has arrived.”

I threw on my champion’s belt and felt a new sense of power. He was right, Change was with us again, and calling for our aid. It was only through Change’s grace that I was able to survive so many encounters of the past few years, and I could not throw that in his face in his time of need. I heeded the call.

The realms greeted me warmly as I arrived. Much appreciated, but little did they know the reason for my sudden appearance. I made camp alongside my new apprentice, a woman I found while digging in the mines. She has no recollection of her past, but is more than willing to assist me in all my endeavors. That would be tested this weekend.

Night fell, and we set off to meet with Damion. We wandered as a trio for a while, getting a sense of what was happening. There was a wedding going on, and we apparently needed to gain blessings from the local pantheon before the grand event. I was only half paying attention when suddenly we felt the pull of our beneficiary. As if waking from a haze, we were suddenly face to face with Change. It had been so long.

“Followers,” he said. “I need your help…”

And thus began the weekend of quests for Change. In reality, much of the goals were aligned with the rest of the adventurers. We needed some flags, and a few swords (which we could touch for some reason without backlash), and ya know a few souls for kicks. There was limited time, so the challenge was staying one step ahead of the clever realmsies. We were successful due to our focus and reaction time.

As the second night fell, Change required the charged up swords. I’m not going to say how I charged them up, but let’s just agree that there was at least less one emissary after Saturday than when we started.

The adventurers threw the gathered power into the fire, immediately turning it green. We grabbed the three swords, and circled the fire to forge a new weapon. Through the grace of Change, a new weapon was forged.

Needless to say, Damion was excited.

Change spoke to us again. “The demon,” he said. “It’s possessed by the Three-Faced God. Destroy it my followers.”

At this point, everyone was on the same page. Big ol’ demon with these murder hobos? It was going down!

With teamwork only the Realms could supply, we continually charged the sword and attacked the demon until it met its demise. Amid the tired celebration, Changed appeared before everyone.

“Excellent work adventurers! You’ve aided me in my plight. With this success, I DECLARE WAR ON THE THREE-FACED GOD.” Purple relished with delight in my mind, but I was left slightly confused. I’m happy we were successful, but what was our end goal? Perhaps I’ll never know, so I let Purple’s joy sink in.

Again, Change disappeared without another word.

Again, we await his call