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[Darnoc]

Imoen: Prepare for war


Darn began making alliances. Actually, they wanted to make alliances with him, but that?s a detail. Several representatives of the different cities and villages in eastern Amn came to Darnoc?s keep; they were worried because of Mocilia?s overthrow. And they wanted to make Darn ?Lord Protector? or something. Darn didn?t really want this, but in the end he agreed to command the army.

Jaheira was also among those representatives and she came towards me and Darn, once the talks had been finished. I hadn?t seen her since Irenicus? dungeon and was glad to finally meet her again. We talked for a while, about what had happened. And then she remarked that she knew about me and Darn and told us to be careful. Was it so obvious?

Another thing, which took my thoughts off my worries, was the oath of union between Aerie and Minsc. It cheered me up a little, seeing them happy together. I hoped that one day I and Darn would be able to also not worry about prosecution any longer. But perhaps this is the fate of all Bhaalspawn.

After those political talks, Darnoc went to build his new ?factories?, a place where he wanted to mass-produce weapons with the power of his steam engine. No wonder that he was totally exhausted in the evening. I again went to help the farmers on their fields and it took my mind off certain worries I had.

In the evening Darn just lay down on the bed and I saw that he had overdone it. Again. Once he was obsessed with work, he just couldn?t see where to stop. Still, the work I had done had had this stimulating effect on me, as always. And I immediately tried, if I could rouse Darn?s longing. Normally it didn?t take much with him. I guess he was really obsessed with me.

But that counted for both sides, once we had decided that we would stop worrying and just follow our feelings, there had been no stopping us anymore. Why, I cannot really tell. Somehow I felt that being with Darn made me forget all those memories for some time. When our feelings were awaken, like a fire inside of us, they were stronger than any memories of past pain and that is probably the reason why I was with him as often as possible. We both had had our share of pain and sorrow and being together made it more bearable. During nights, when I had really bad nightmares (and I often had them back then), I could count on him being there beside of me, loving me, making me forget. I guess, without each other we would have gone both insane, died or perhaps even killed ourselves.

I remember that particular night, because he told me about one of his dreams then. One of those visions of what would happen in the future. He told me that he saw war and bloodshed coming and that he would be the cause of it. Of course it worried me, but I assured him that I would never leave him, no matter what would happen. And I meant it.

Day after day Darn had his head full of work and I kept working on the farms, not seeing much of Darn, because he stayed in his laboratory in the nights. During the nights I was again plagued by nightmares and after two days I began to drink in the evening, to make myself so drunk that I wouldn?t dream during the night. It was then that my memories were brought back again, forced onto me.

I was already feeling dizzy from all the alcohol, when one of the farm laborers, a young man, perhaps one or two years older than I, came over to me, already filled with alcohol and clearly no longer fully under control of himself. He stunk out of his mouth and just stared at me. I remembered seeing him on the field; he had sometimes glanced over to me.

?Hey, yah wadn?t mind givin? a jolly lad suhm fun t?night, aye? Yah?re such a guhd-lookin? lass, oh mee, a yun fellow like me doesn?t get such a sight all day, yah know?? he said with a heavy tongue, his eyes having this certain glassy look of the drunk.

?Get out o? my sight, yar drunk, boy? I told him in an annoyed voice.

?Ah, cuhm on, duhn?t be like that, lass! Am me not a dashin? yun guy, not good enough for yahr? Stupid bitch, I?m gonna ?ave yah anywee, yah?ll see!?

He went away after that, but left me with a feeling of dread, even a little fear. I continued to drink after that, until I could barely stand and tried to walk out, to my bed. It was more stumbling than walking, though.

I was stumbling through the dark towards the barn, where I usually slept in the straw, when suddenly I was grabbed from behind, somebody smelling heavily of alcohol.

And then I heard him whisper: ?Cuhm on, lass, cuhm with me, yah an? I ?re gonna ?ave some fun t?night, aye??

The memories rushed back instantly, I was back in my cell and this bastard was on me, forcing himself into me and I couldn?t get him off. I felt, as if I was choking.

?Let go off me, let go or I?ll kill ya, I swear! I?m gonna?? I screamed, but my words were broken off by this huge hand covering my mouth.

I bit into it and the guy let go of me, giving a short scream. But he immediately seized me again, trying to drag me along, while he muttered.

?I?m gonna enjoy yah, if yah want or not, lass??

Fear took hold of me and almost automatically the words left my mouth, several magical missiles hitting him. He let go, screamed and dropped to the ground. Still shaking, I bent down and hit him, but he didn?t move. Was he dead? Had I killed him? No, I hadn?t meant to kill him, no!

I sat on the ground, next to the body of the young laborer, while people began rushing out, trying to find out, what had caused the screams. They found me sitting next to the body, unable to perceive anything, which was going on, trembling and weeping, haunted by memories of pain and fear.

Somebody told me later on that I had kept saying things like ?I didn?t mean t? kill ?im? I didn?t mean t? kill ?im? Lemme go, lemme go! No, please, lemme go!?

I guess somebody carried me back inside, for when I began to realize again, where I was, I was lying on a bed, surrounded by several of the farm people.

A farmer?s wife was kneeling beside me, holding my hand.

?Lassie, what happened out there? No need t? fear, yah can tell me. Sh, child, it?s all a?right now??

?He? he tried t? rape me an? I? an? I? I killed ?im!? I whispered.

?Nah, he ain?t dead, lassie, but he got himself a good knockin? o?er dah head, that?ll teach him tryin? t? rape a nice lass like yah.?

?But? but? I didn?t hit ?im o?er the head, I think I used magic on ?im??

?Yah can do magic? I didn?t know that? But he?s alive an? well, unconscious, though.?

I had been lucky that all had gone well. Still, it taught me one thing: I was far from being able to cope with my experiences, they haunted me and probably would haunt me all life.

Next evening I returned to the keep and went to see after Darn. He was in his laboratory, deep in his studies and I asked him, what he was doing. He then revealed to me that he was trying to find out, whether we were true siblings or not. And he believed that we were not. I asked him, if it troubled him and he said that he didn?t care, but if we ever had children? Well, closely related people?s children had strange illnesses and such? I led him up to our bedroom, away from his studies, where for some hours we forgot our worries.

Next morning I went to watch his factories and was surprised to see that new people had begun living around the keep, building themselves houses. But their houses were more huts than anything and the families I saw were poor, poorer than the farmers. Most of them were fugitives from Atkatla. But that was of course only one of the many things, which happened in Mocilia?s name?



Darnoc: Armament


Representatives from all the eastern amnish districts awaited me at the keep. There was High Merchant Logan from Trademeet, Jaheira from the Druids, Minister Lloyd from the Umar Hills and Garren Windspear from the Windspear Hills. And they all wanted one thing: To give me the title of ?Lord Protector of Eastern Amn? and with this the command over all the armies in those regions.

I told them that I simply would command their armies during the crisis, but then lay down my power again, but they wanted to keep me as their ruler. After some discussing we settled on a compromise. As Lord Protector I would stay in command of the army and all the garrisons, but would actually only rule my own lands around the de?Arnise keep. I also demanded that all troops would be equipped and trained with the new weapons and that I would have all right on my inventions.

After the treaty had been set up and signed by all parties, I went over to Garren Windspear and handed him the tree-seeds of the dryads.

?Those I received by some dryads, which are captives in Irenicus? dungeons. Hand those to the queen of the dryads in the Windspear Hills and they will be released.?

?I will do this gladly, Lord Darnoc? Garren Windspear replied.

When I had just finished talking to him, Jaheira came over to me and Im.

?It?s good to see you again? she said.

?Yeah, ya too, Jaheira? Im replied.

?I heard you reclaimed your soul, Imoen.?

?Yeah, killed that damn bitch Bodhi an? now I?ve got my soul back.?

?What about Irenicus??

?We will take care of him. I also want my soul back, you know. But right now there is more urgent matters to attend to? I answered.

Suddenly Jaheira looked very hard at me and Im and finally shook her head.

?So, you two are in love with each other??

I and Im looked at each other.

?Why d?ya think??

?It is obvious for anyone who has eyes to see. I just want to warn you: However you may feel for each other, it is dangerous. Be careful, please. I wouldn?t like to see you two come to harm because of this.?

?Look Jaheira? Im explained, ?we?re bound t?each other deep down in our very spirits an? souls. Nothin? ?ll separate us!?

?I see. Still, be careful. Some might not like the idea of two siblings being together like that.?

?We will be careful, Jaheira? I answered.

Together with the other representatives I began to arrange our armies. Trademeet had its local guards and I would send some of my officers to train them in the use of the newer weapons. The villages in the Umar Hills and Windspear Hills had only a militia and too them I also would send two officers. With the help of our new steam engines we would be able to produce more weapons and equip all soldiers with them. I also ordered a general recruitment; every man able would be equipped and trained. We had to be ready for Mocilia.

I saw Anomen and Nalia talk to each other and moving closer realized that he was telling her of his father?s death. He was crying, she embraced him and tried to comfort him.

Aerie and Minsc approached me.

?We want you and Im to be witnesses in our oath of union? Aerie explained.

?Oath of union? What are you talking about??

?I and Aerie will swear to each other to stay together for our whole lives in front of at least two witnesses. That?s called ?the oath of union?. It?s a tradition in Rashemen? Minsc further explained.

?Ah, so it is something similar to our ?marriage?.?

?Yes, something similar, but no priest is required in the oath.?

?And when do you want to do this??

?Right now, if it?s possible? Aerie answered.

I waved at Im, who came over to us.

?They want to swear an oath of union and need us as witnesses? I explained to Im.

?What, they wanna marry??

?No, it isn?t the same, although I don?t really see any difference.?

Minsc took out a leather strip and tied his and Aerie?s hand together. Boo crawled onto their hands and looked around, squeaking happily.

?As our hands are now tied together, so shall our souls be, Aerie. I swear that no one will be able to rip apart the union of our souls!?

?And so do I, Minsc!?

After that I went out to the construction site and helped in building of it. Minsc, Anomen and Keldorn joined me too, but I told them that they should go and fetch some firearms and then go to Cernick, who would train them in their use. Although they didn?t like the idea, they finally submitted to my reasoning that without them they would stand no chance against Mocilia and her ?Revolutionary Guard?.

This evening I was very tired and Im helped me into bed. I just lay there, my eyes closed, when Im lay next to me and kissed me softly.

?Ya a?right, Darn?? she asked.

?It was just a very exhausting day, Im??

?Hm, I could help there, just let me handle this??

She moved her body onto mine and kissed me again. Gently she began to take my clothes off and then hers, kissing my body. I felt how my blood began to run like fire and suddenly longed for her, so I took her in my arms and kissed her passionately.

?Ah, so ya like it?? she whispered in my ear.

As a reply I kissed her again, first her warm and soft lips, then her breast, then her eyebrows, her forehead, her cheek. I smelled her hair, her sweat and my longing grew every second. Still kissing her passionately I moved my right leg between her legs and parted them, rolled her over and entered her. She moaned and I kissed her even more passionately, touching her hair, her arms, her breasts and then finally clutching her hands tightly and beginning to push into her, faster and faster. Our rhythm of breath increased more and more, I felt her hot breath in my face. Suddenly she rolled me on my back and began to push, while I rested, her face close to mine, her hair touching it even. I put my arms around her let her do it, feeling how our passion began to reach a climax, our feelings reaching new heights of utter joy. Her soul seemed to have entered my body and I felt all that she felt. When she finally screamed in total ecstasy and my feelings seemed to explode in total exaltedness, my vision suddenly changed.

In front of my eyes ages passed, universes came into existence and died when their last stars had burned out, on planets life developed and died again.

And then I suddenly stood in a room, in front of me a gray-haired man with a noble, but grave face, clothed in black, but elegant clothes.

?Welcome, Darnoc! I am Silkar Daukon, former General of the Empire of Kuld. And I am here to tell you, what you must do and why.?

?What do you mean, I don?t understand??

?I come from another universe. There I realized that the only way to save my world was to destroy humanity. And thus I made the hard choice and induced a brutal war, destroying almost everything. It had to be done and you will face a similar choice. Do you have the strength to make the right choice??

?You killed the people of your own race? Why??

?Because humanity, in the long run, will destroy everything and in every universe. Humanity is a threat to all life and must be controlled. It was the case in my universe and soon you?ll realize that it is the case in yours.?

?So you mean that I many people will have to die in order to reach a certain end??

?Yes, that is exactly what I want to tell you. Sometimes we have to make hard choices in order to do what is right. You must choose the hard way or else all will be lost. You must choose bloodshed and destruction for your world. You must lead your ?holy war? in order to achieve what must be achieved. Many people call me ?evil? and I have to live with the fact that I destroyed countless lives. We, who face those great tasks, must carry a terrible burden. So must you, Darnoc. But first I wish to introduce somebody to you.?

Suddenly someone else stood next to him, a person looking almost frighteningly similar as myself. He had the same height, the same built, the same color of hair, the same color of eyes, the same face. He didn?t have my scars, but apart from that we almost looked like twins.

?Who the hell are you?? I asked him.

?Don?t you know that everything in the multiverse has its counterpart somewhere else? I am yours and my name is Conrad.?

I immediately recognized the connection: ?Conrad? was ?Darnoc? spelt backwards.

?And why do you show yourself to me??

?Because I know that you will listen to me, Darnoc. I am your counterpart, you will listen to me. You must choose what is right and you know what is right, despite the costs. Choose, Darnoc!?

I knew that Conrad spoke the truth, although I didn?t like it.

And with that it all vanished; Im stared at me, worry in her face.

?What did ya see, Darn?? she whispered.

?I? this man spoke to me and told me that I would have to choose to do terrible things in order to do what is right. And then came my counterpart. He almost looked like me, but not entirely. He told me the same as this other man and I know that he is right, I felt it.?

?What terrible thin?s??

?People will die. A lot of people, Im. There will be war and bloodshed as it has never been seen before. And I must do this.?

Gently she stroked my face and smiled.

?Know this, Darn: Whatever ya ?ave t? do, whatever ya?ll do, I?m gonna stay with ya, understand??

I took her hand and pressed it firmly.

?I know, Im, I know??

The next morning I selected the officers, who would go to the different districts and there equip and train my new soldiers. They also took plans for the steam engines and weapon production facilities with them, so that they could build such structures themselves. I intended to give them two weeks for training and then I would assemble my army here.

In the meantime, the work with our own facilities as the keep was advancing. Two days later we had finished the machines and were able to use them. The speed of production was increased tremendously and the next day I sent several cartloads of weapons to Trademeet and the day after that to the Umar Hills and Windspear Hills.

Minsc, Keldorn, Anomen and Aerie were beginning to get the hang of the weapons, although Aerie only used a fire-spiter and not a fire-tube. Im stayed with her bow and her magic. I and Taldor began to work on improvements on our weapons, he was the one who eventually came up with the principle of landmines and I invented the principle of rounds and breech-loaders. Those were a lot more effective than the older versions of the fire-tubes and fire-spiters.

We also realized that we could use the power of steam for a many other things than just weapons-production. So we invented the steam-cart, for example, and we realized that we could produce many other goods with the power of steam. Thus I began to build more and more factories around the castle, each with another function. I sent some of my people to the slums of Atkatla, where more than enough unemployed people lived, and they were able to hire some for my factories.

The first great task I set them to do was to build rails for the steam-cart. I wanted a railroad, which would connect the keep with Trademeet. More and more workers arrived with their families and soon the keep was surrounded by a small, but steadily growing town of cheap houses. When my new army arrived after two weeks, a hundred people already lived there.

During those two weeks I also put together my laboratory down in the cellar. I had read the book concerning the gods and in it stood that Bhaal had descended many times before the Times of Trouble, taking on many different forms and producing his Spawn. It was then the thought occurred to me that I and Im perhaps weren?t sibling at all, because it was probably that Bhaal had used different bodies when he had produced us.

But I needed proof. In my lab I had begun experimenting on myself, trying to find a way to determine my origins. If I could find a way to determine relationships between different beings, then I could find out the truth.

Im once descended when I was working late.

?What ya doin??

?I?m trying to find out if we?re true siblings, Im.?

?I thought ya didn?t mind??

I turned around and smiled at her.

?Oh, I don?t Im, never question that. But others do and then there is the question of children. You know, I have heard that children, whose parents had been closely related had? problems. Such things happen to nobles, I have heard, because nobles only marry among each other. They have strange illnesses and such things. And I don?t want this to happen to us, you know.?

Now she smiled and kissed me.

?It?ll be a?right, Darn, believe me. Now come, it?s already late??

Because of the general recruitment, I was now in command of about two thousand soldiers, all equipped with breech-loaders and throwable exploders. I had about a hundred soldiers handling mobile fire-kegs. We were ready for Mocilia and her ?Revolutionary Guard?.

Mocilia hadn?t been lazy. The Shadow Thieves of Baldur?s Gate had also overthrown their local government and now Mocilia ruled over the ?People?s Republic of Atkatla and Baldur?s Gate?. Already an army was marching southwards.

It was then that I sent a declaration of war to Mocilia. Thus began the Amnish Civil War.



Imoen: Fighting Mocilia


Darnoc could probably tell you more details concerning the Amnish Civil War, he was the mastermind behind it after all, but I?m still going to tell you how I experienced the whole thing.

We marched westwards, towards Atkatla. I stayed with Darn and our companions from our travels, which all came with us. I talked with Keldorn some, Darn was occupied talking to his officers and planning for battle. Keldorn was not his old self anymore; there was something very bitter about him, which I had never noticed before. He told me that he meant to kill Mocilia personally, something which I now could understand. But I saw him glance uneasy between me and Darn and I guessed why he did it.

He finally spoke about it and he said the words I had been afraid of he would say: ?I know what is going on between you and Darnoc.?

For a moment I was afraid that now he would start lecturing me or something even worse, but then he just said: ?Look, I am a paladin and actually I should be telling you right now that you should stop, what you are doing. But I have a heart also and so I will just ask you: Why??

For a long time I thought about, what I should answer him. Should I try to discuss this theologically with him? I certainly would lose. So I finally decided to simply tell him the truth.

?Keldorn, would ya believe me, if I told ya that I? simply loved ?im??

He sighed and didn?t say anything for some time, looking to the ground and walking onward, deep in his thoughts.

?I? I thought you would say something like that. And I believe you, Imoen. Still, I guess you must have realized the consequences, if your relationship is revealed. You must realize the danger you two are in.?

?Yes, I realize it, Keldorn. We both realize it. And we both decided t? still follow our hearts an? not bother ?bout what others think o? us.?

?Some weeks ago I would have told you to immediately stop your relationship, despite your love for each other. But now? After I lost Maria and my girls, I finally realized, how precious our love had been and what a great thing I had lost. I will never again have something like this. Perhaps similar, but never the same. And I am also old now; the days of my life are growing lesser. But you, Imoen, have yet your life before you. And if it is indeed the will of the gods that you love Darnoc and he loves you, then do so, do not let go of it, never.?

The battle itself I didn?t attend, I was together with Darn and watched it from the hill. It was short and victorious for our side. I guess it was due to the fact that Mocilia?s Revolutionary Guards were no soldiers, had no experience in fighting outside in the open and simply had less advanced weapons. But ask Darn, if you really wish to know more details.

This night I slept next to Darn in his tent, his arms pulling me close to his body. Suddenly I awoke and Darn also, he stood up, taking up his weapon. Suddenly I saw a shadow leap up and hit Darn, I screamed and tried to attack the shadow, hitting it with my fists. But he thrust a knife into my side; I fell to the ground, pain erupting in my body. Poison! The knife had been poisoned!

I couldn?t move, I couldn?t scream, I only saw, how two figures grabbed Darn and dragged him away. Was this the end? No air came into my lungs; it seemed as if the poison had also paralyzed my heart and my respiration. Darkness slowly surrounded me, until there was nothing left. It felt like falling into a dark, bottomless abyss.

Was this death? I never managed to see the afterlife, though, for suddenly I felt life again, I coughed and sat up, breathing air again.

?Imoen, you?re back, thank Baevar! I was so worried, Imoen, so worried!? I heard Aerie say and then she hugged me closely, weeping.

?What? what happened?? I asked in a hoarse voice.

?You? you were dead and? and I resurrected you. It was so horrible, they brought your lifeless body to me and?and? Somehow I managed to say the words and then life came back into you.?

Breathing deep and slow, I gathered strength again. It felt good, after that horrible feeling of suffocating.

?Where is Darn? Tell me, Aerie, where is he? Is he alright??

?No, we don?t know, he is gone. What happened, Imoen, tell me!?

?These figures appeared an? they took him an? killed me. It was so? No, no, I don?t want t? think about it, I couldn?t breath, I just couldn?t??

Tears swelled in my eyes and Aerie patted me on the back.

?It?s over, Imoen, it?s alright now??

?Never tell Darn about it, promise me, Aerie!?

?If you want, I promise it, Imoen. I?m never going to tell me, word of honor!?

I remembered my feelings, when I had tried to think about Darn?s death. No, I didn?t want to expose him to the same experience, we both couldn?t think about the other one dying. If it really would happen, the other one would surely be destroyed.

Immediately after I was able to get up again, I took control of the situation and sent out search parties. I followed the tracks of the kidnappers, with the help of Minsc. We followed them into the woods, westwards.

After a while we saw lights ahead, torches. Minsc motioned us to halt and we stood still, while the lights approached us slowly.

?Draw your weapons, Boo doesn?t like the look of this? Minsc whispered to us.

I took out Gesen?s bow and readied myself to use it. But it never came to that. Minsc suddenly stared ahead and then shouted.

?Hey, you over there! Darnoc, is that you? Hah, it?s good to see you again, I and Boo already thought we?d find you dead and I would have to shove my sword down some evil guys? throats to avenge you. But it?s good to see you alive, old friend!?

Darn came towards us, laughing, and he embraced Minsc.

?Good old Minsc, so you came after me! Tiris here was faster, though. You remember Tiris, don?t you??

?Oh, yes from Trademeet. How are you and Raissa, Tiris??

The man called Tiris replied: ?Oh, we?re both happy t?gether, thanks for askin?.?

Now it was enough, when the hell would he lower himself to greet me? For a moment I was really angry with Darn, but then my relief took over again. So I rushed towards him and simply hugged him closely.

?I thought they?d kill ya?? I whispered to him.

?I?m not so easily killed, Im, so don?t you worry. Still, it?s nice to know that you do worry. Did Mocilia?s soldier do anything to you, when they took me??

?They tried, but only knocked me unconscious, nothin? more.?

He sighed.

?Thanks the gods! I was also worried, you know??

We returned to the camp and immediately went back into our tent, where we loved each other passionately. After our worries, we probably had to reassure ourselves of the other?s presence and forget our worries completely. Nobody would separate us and we would see to it!

Next morning brought new worries, though. Darn wanted to set an ambush to crush Mocilia and her army completely. This time we all would fight. Darn moved his army deeper into the forests, making sure that Mocilia was following him. And she did follow his army, walking right into the trap. They were surrounded and then the slaughter began.

But not all did go as planned. First of all I couldn?t fight at all, because I had to lie flat, as our enemies shot above us. And then Mocilia came. Suddenly I felt somebody grab me from behind, drag me up and then I felt the barrel of a fire-spiter against my head. As I felt the cold, deadly metal against my head, fear arose in me, which I hard tried to control.

?Don?t move, Darnoc, or I?ll kill ?er!? I heard Mocilia scream.

Keldorn, who had his own reason for killing Mocilia, raised his fire-tube and pointed it at Mocilia.

?You will not get away with this, Mocilia!?

?I think I am gettin? away with it. Don?t yah follow me or she?s dead!?

Couldn?t someone just shoot the bitch! Darn, Keldorn, someone, please? As I looked at Darn, I saw it happening: He began to change into his wolf-form, anger and hatred in his eyes. Yes, Darn, kill her, kill her! The last thing saw, was Darn jumping, then something hit my head and all went dark.

When I awoke, I was lying in the grass, my head aching terribly. Moaning I turned it to the left. There was a body lying there, it had long, black hair, but its face was full of blood and a huge hole was in it. Suddenly I realized that it was Mocilia. She had finally met, what was coming to her.

Darn was kneeling on the other side, looking rather worried at me.

?You alright?? he asked, when he saw me awake.

?My head hurts like hell. But everythin? else? I think so.?

He smiled, stretched out his hand and noted: ?Come, let?s get you on your feet again.?

The war was over; the last battle had destroyed Mocilia?s army almost completely. After some negotiations, a peace treaty was signed and we were able to return to the keep.



Darnoc: The Amnish Civil War


I moved my army westwards the same day I had sent off my messenger. It was my intention to lure Mocilia and her ?Revolutionary Guard? out of Atkatla, where they would be vulnerable.

She took the bait and advanced with her ?Revolutionary Guard? towards my position. I had positioned my army on a hill east of Atkatla, a field in front of it, a forest behind it. Mocilia would move in from the west, across the field, where I could bombard her with my fire-kegs. And indeed her army marched right where I had thought they would.

My fire-kegs opened fire, creating havoc and death among the enemy. But Mocilia?s officers were able to scatter their army so that the fire-kegs were no longer able to do much harm. It was then that I ordered my army to move in from the sides, taking the enemy at the flank.

The enemy wasn?t prepared for that. They shot back, but were quickly overcome and soon the enemy general ordered a retreat. I didn?t follow them, though.

We had won our first victory, but I wasn?t sure if it had won us the war. Still, I sent a messenger to Mocilia. She sent back his head.

I ordered the army to camp on the hill, for I knew perfectly well that we wouldn?t stand a chance against Mocilia inside the city. But as long as she?d have to come out here, I could choose the battle grounds and beat her.

But I had underestimated her. I was sleeping peacefully in my tent, when I was woken by some noise. Immediately I took up my fire-spiter and stood up, but then something hit me from behind and I lost consciousness.

I awoke and starred into the angry face of Mocilia.

?Yah wouldn?t listen t? mee advice, now yah?re gonna pay dah price, Darnoc? she announced to me.

Behind her several Shadow Thieves stood, grinning at me. One of them had a set of torturing tools with him. It was then that I realized we were not in the city but in a forest. I was bound to a tree. Mocilia probably didn?t want to lose any time.

But suddenly I heard how someone loaded a fire-tube near me and then several of my soldiers stepped into the light of the fire nearby.

?Release ?im or we?ll kill yah!? one of them screamed.

It was then that I recognized him as Tiris, whose wife Raissa I had rescued.

?Tiris? Is that you??

?Yeah, it?s me, mee Lord. Gotta pay somethin? back t? yah for savin? mee Raissa, yah know.?

?Idiots! Didn?t yah watch out?? Mocilia screamed at her Shadow Thieves.

One of the soldiers came over to me, cut my bonds and handed a fire-tube to me.

?Drop your weapons!? I shouted.

The Shadow Thieves immediately followed my command, but Mocilia starred at me, hate in her eyes. Suddenly she drew her fire-spiter, pointed it at me and shot, but I had reacted quickly and thrown myself to the ground. She cursed and quickly dashed away into the woods.

?Thanks, Tiris.?

?Hey, as I said, I owe yah one, Lord? Tiris replied.

We went back to the camp, taking the captured Shadow-Thieves with us. Tiris told me that he had seen how the Shadow Thieves had vanished out of the camp and had followed them with some of his comrades.

Next morning I ordered the soldiers to move again and we marched to the south, further into the forest. Scouts reported that the ?Revolutionary Guard? was following. Exactly as I intended, for I wanted to lay a trap for them.

There was a huge glade in the forest and I put my troops in the woods encircling it. Soon the whole army of Mocilia marched in, I even saw Mocilia herself. And when they were all there, I ordered the attack.

The breech-loader had one advantage over the firearms we had used before: You could lie on the ground and shoot from there. The Revolutionary Guard of course tried to shoot back, but they just shot above our heads and didn?t hit anything, while we did. Only when they threw some exploders there were people killed, but we also had those and of course the fire-kegs.

Lying on the floor I aimed at a Guard advancing towards me, an exploder in his hand. Before he could throw it I shot and hit him right into the head. The exploder exploded right in his hand, killing his companions around him.

Minsc was shooting at another group left of us, Anomen and Keldorn were aiding him. Behind me Im was lying on the ground, probably cursing herself for not learning how to use the firearms, because she couldn?t stand up and use her bow while the enemy was shooting at us. Aerie was also using her fire-spiters and sometimes threw an exploder.

Keldorn was next to me and he was looking for Mocilia. Mocilia was in the middle of the battlefield, shouting at her guards. Suddenly she cried out angrily, drew her own weapons and advanced right towards my position. But I couldn?t take care of her, because two guards were again attempting to attack us. When I looked where she had been before, she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly she stood behind us and grabbed Im, putting her fire-spiter at Im?s head.

?Don?t move, Darnoc, or I?ll kill ?er!? she screamed.

Keldorn had raised his fire-tube and was pointing it at her, anger and hate flashing in his eyes.

?You will not get away with this, Mocilia!?

?I think I am gettin? away with it. Don?t yah follow me or she?s dead!?

The anger rose in me, I felt it coming. She wouldn?t hurt Im, nobody would hurt Im! The change came over me, my hand turned into claws, fur grew on my body and my mouth was stretched long, suddenly sharp teeth appearing in it. And then I jumped.

Mocilia shrieked and dodged my jump, hit Im over the head with her fire-spiter and put her over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. She tried to run, but in my wolf-form I was faster than she was. Looking back she tried to shoot me, but I quickly jumped aside and then continued the chase.

Then I was at her, she let Im?s limp body fall to the ground and ran, but I jumped and drove my claws into her shoulders, pulling her down to the ground. She screamed in pain and drew out a dagger, but I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, breaking her bones.

?Nobody hurts Im, you fucking bitch! I?m gonna kill you for this, you piece of shit!? I screamed at her, while she whimpered in pain.

Then I heard how somebody loaded a fire-tube.

?I will do it, Darnoc, step back!? Keldorn said in a determined voice.

I stood up and Mocilia tried to crawl away, but quickly I grabbed her again and held her down.

Hate in his eyes, Keldorn stepped over to Mocilia and put his fire-tube against her head.

?Please, let me live!? she begged.

But Keldorn was determined, put his finger against the trigger and pulled it. A thundering sound could be heard; smoke rose from the barrel and what was left of Mocilia?s head was a bloody mess. Keldorn had shot right into her face.

?This is for Maria and my children? he said, spitting on Mocilia?s body.

When we returned to the battlefield, it was all over. The remaining Revolutionary Guards had surrender, but most of them were dead. . We took them captive and sent a messenger into the city to whoever was the new ?President? of the ?People?s Republic of Atkatla and Baldur?s Gate?. Im wasn?t hurt too badly, fortunately; she just had a headache after she woke up.

It wasn?t as easy as it looked, for the former guild-masters of the Shadow Thieves couldn?t decide who would become their new leader. But after two days a messenger came back and he had a peace offer with him. Amn should be divided into two parts, Atkatla, Baldur?s Gate and the coastal region in between belonging to the Republic, the rest belonging to me. I accepted this offer and thus ended the civil war.

Edited by Darnoc, 09 February 2006 - 01:39 PM.

[Darnoc]

Imoen: The dark side


After returning to Darn?s keep, I went to the factory workers and their families. Their numbers had increased, not surprisingly, if things were as I had heard in Atkatla. As with the farmers, I helped them with their work. And there I realized that factory work was far more dangerous than field work. There were still many things we didn?t know about those new machines and security was practically not existent.

Once I witnessed how a worker cut off his hand in one of those machines. If I hadn?t fetched Aerie immediately, the man would have lost his hand forever. I thought that this was a singular incident first, until I had an accident myself.

I was trying to clean the wheels of one of the blasted machines; I had to crawl under it, in order to do that. And then some idiot put the thing on, my shirt was clamped between the wheel and the floor, I was dragged to it and as the wheel turned, it grinded against me. First it wasn?t really of a problem, but then the wheel began to turn faster and faster, the grinding began to take off my skin, blood was smeared now on the wheel, while I screamed for help, but nobody came, because the machine was louder than my screams.

And then my shirt got stuck on an outcropping of the damn wheel, my body was dragged under the wheel and the wheel stopped turning, because I was blocking its way. But the whole thing was stronger than I was, slowly it began to crush me, I felt the weight increase and increase and because my stomach side was turned towards the damn wheel, all air was pressed out of my lungs. I felt my ribs break, as the wheel kept dragging and crushing slowly. Of course I tried to get away, but I couldn?t get my shirt loose.

Finally someone stopped the machine and I heard somebody crawling towards me. A hand grabbed me at my shoulder and began pulling me away from the wheel. Finally I got away from it and then I was dragged out and laid on the floor. My vision was clouded, so I couldn?t see, what was going on or who was there. But I felt somebody cutting my shirt and then touching my body.

?Does this hurt?? a voice asked me sometimes.

My short screams were probably answer enough. Hell yes it hurt, how would you feel, if you?d just been almost crushed by a fucking wheel?

?Broken ribs, abraded skin? Someone get a healer, I think she?s passing out!?

Aerie finally healed me and as soon as I was well again, I immediately went to Darnoc, who was in his laboratory, of course.

?D?ya know, I was just almost killed by one o? yar fuckin? machines!? I told him angrily.

?Almost killed by a machine? What are you talking about, Im??

?Yar factories, they?re dangerous, Darn! People could die, if ya don?t do somethin? ?bout it! Hell, I almost died just before! It?s just a matter o? time, until someone really dies!?

?But Im, I know so little yet about everything? I may have invented the machines, but this doesn?t mean I know everything about them. Of course I don?t want people dying and I?ll try my best to increase security.?

I was still trembling from anger, my face red. Darn stood up and came over to me, embracing me and kissing me softly.

?I?m glad nothing happened to you, if you?d die??

?Yes, I know, what ya mean, Darn, don?t say anythin? further??

Some days later we were invited by Minister Lloyd of the Umar Hills and of course accepted. Apart from Mrs. Lloyd?s really good food, something strange happened there. Darnoc bought a book about the Zentharim from a trader there, told the trader that the trader?s real name was Darcin Cole and then killed him. Cole said something about a ?Twisted Rune?, before he died and Darn and our companions puzzled about those words. I of course had no clue, until Darn finally explained to me the whole business with Rejiek.

Finally Darn decided that he needed to return to Atkatla, in secret of course. Keldorn suggested that we used the sewers and so we did.

The sewers of Atkatla were dirty and wet, as I had expected. What I didn?t expect was that mind flayers lived there, which of course immediately attacked us. Darn was seized by one, but my quick reaction saved his life: I shot a lightning from Gesen?s bow at the beast and it died.

?Ya a?right, Darn?? I said to him, he still lying on the floor.

?Yeah, thanks for? you know.?

I kissed him to show him that I accepted.

It was then that I first said it: ?Anytime for ya? my love??

I don?t know, why I had said it. Somehow, it just had slipped out. And it had sounded? odd. Not right, somehow. Still, it was how I felt about him and still feel. In time I got used to say it to him and him too, but back then, the first time I said it? Yes, the time had clearly passed, when we had only been brother and sister. We were now two lovers, two adult persons, sharing their mutual love for each other.

?It?s alright, Im, and I tell you, there?s just you.?

?I hope so or do I need t? take out my katana an? go kill someone??

We both laughed and Darn replied: ?No, I mean it, Im.?

But also I had meant it seriously. I would never let anyone take Darn from me. Not only in the sense that I would let nobody kill him, but also that I would not let somebody steal his love for me.

Oh, and Anomen found the famous hammer of thunderbolts, one of the most powerful magical artifacts, which, I had once heard, could be transformed into the even more powerful Crom Faeyr.

In the Copper Coronet Hendak and Bernard told us that things had gotten worse in the city. The Guardians of the People were spying on everyone and anyone who showed even a slight sign of discontent or rebellion was arrested and never seen again. Hendak also revealed to us that the Twisted Rune could be found in the bridge district and that one needed a rogue stone, which he gave to us, to enter their domain.

Disguised as commoners we went over to the bridge district and indeed found the Twisted Rune, destroying this evil for good. But there were still the slavers left?

The slavers turned out to be in possession of firearms and of course immediately used them on us. Fortunately, we reacted fast enough and threw ourselves onto the floor, the shots passed over. And that was the end of the slavers, because our shots hit them.

I wanted to leave the city, but Darn insisted on visiting Cromwell, the master smith, to let him forge the Crom Faeyr. After some arguing I finally agreed, but still felt uneasy about it. Cromwell was indeed able to forge the Crom Faeyr.

When we left Cromwell?s house, we were intercepted by a patrol, which arrested us, because we didn?t have our ?papers? with us. We stood no chance, they were more and they had their firearms pointed at us.

They led us to the city prison and threw us into a cell. While we waited, I remembered the things Hendak had told us. Would torture be our fate? I trembled at the thought, I didn?t know if I?d survive it again. Not so soon after Irenicus? Darn held me in his arms to comfort me, he felt my fear. My fear increased even more, as more and more of our companions were taken away and didn?t return. Hendak had been right. In my mind I imagined myself horrible things. Hell, I had experienced for more than one lifetime; imagining torture wasn?t that difficult, after being ?experimented? on by Irenicus.

And then they came for me, my fear reached a climax, I clutched to Darn, but they grabbed me and they were stronger. I tried to wrestle from their grip, screamed at them, but it was no use.

They dragged me to a room and by the time I arrived there I was completely paralyzed by my fear. I was bound to a chair, but didn?t notice much anymore. Suddenly I saw the knife. Images flashed inside my mind and I saw Irenicus, glaring at me, as I lay on the table, bound to it and he held a knife in his hands.

But it was not the cold, emotionless voice of Irenicus, which finally spoke: ?Now, yahr turn, lassie. Hm, aren?t yah a cute uhn, aye? Perhaps we?ll ?ave some fun latahr with yah, hehe, won?t we, boys??

I heard several men laugh at this comment. And the man with the knife stepped closer to me, finally kneeling in front of me, showing me his knife.

?Yah see that, lassie? This thin? can hurt yah quite a bit, ?cause I?m an expahrt with it. Now, we don?t wanna harm such a charmin?, beautifahl lady like yahrself, aye? That?s why yah?re gonna be a nice lass an? tell us, what yah an? yahr friends were doin? on dah streets in such a late hour. An? don?t tell me no lies, I?d notice.?

?We were just goin? home, please, really! We aren?t spies, I swear! We?re just commoners, nothing else!?

?Then why d?yah ?ave all those fancy weapons? Quickly now, lass, don?t tell no lies or yah gonna feel mee blade!?

I gave a desperate sob and screamed: ?Leave me alone, get away from me, I don?t want anythin? from ya, I just wanna live, I just wanna be with Darn again, please, lemme go!?

?Too bad, lassie, but that was dah wrong answahr??

Suddenly his knife moved forward and buried itself in my thigh. I screamed in pain, even more, when he turned around the blade to widen the wound. Then he ripped the blade out again and thrust it into my side.

?Look at that scar, who did that? A master, I can tell?? he said, looking at the scar over my eye.

?D?yah want tah lose yahr eye for real this time, lassie??

?No, please, don?t!? I begged him.

?Then tell us, whom yah?re workin? for!?

?Nobody, nobody, really, I swear!?

He sighed, turned to his colleagues and said: ?Whip her.?

They dragged me up and bound me to a block. One of them began whipping my back, but I had almost passed out anyway out of fear and pain. Finally I was dragged to the chair again and now I began feeling my back.

One of them opened my trousers and pulled them off. I didn?t notice first, I was shaking and only feeling the pain. But then I was grabbed and put onto the ground, someone forced my legs apart and some guy lay on me, thrusting himself into me. No, not again, not again!

My focus came back to reality; feverishly I began working on my bonds, trying to ignore the pain as the man thrust himself into me again and again. Finally I had freed myself; my hands shot forward, grabbed the man?s dagger and stabbed him right into his back.

The man groaned in pain and I pushed him off me, got up, pulled the dagger out and turned to the other guards. But they had been quicker; I felt a dagger penetrating my back, its blade being driven deep into me. I thought I would die as everything became dark.

When I awoke, I was lying in some other room, several bodies next to me. There was pain everywhere, my back hurt like hell, also the dagger wounds and between my legs? It wasn?t as bad as the first time it had happened to me, but still?

I took up my knees to my chin, just lying there, tears running down my cheek, while I put my fingers into my mouth and bit on them to stop me from making any sound. Finally I took a look around and saw my trousers lying beside me; they had thrown them away together with me. I put them on again and stood up, trying to ignore the pain in my leg.

Then I stretched out and searched for Darn, finally finding him. He felt pain and sorrow. What was happening?

I began searching the building and soon came to a door and heard someone talk in there. It was the same room, I recognized the door. And Darn was inside there, I could feel him. Anger arose in me; they wouldn?t hurt him, the bastards! I stretched out my soul to comfort him. I am coming, my love, hold on!

I pushed the door open and stood on the threshold. The guards stared me in total amazement, but they didn?t for long, for I used a fireball on them, burning them to ashes. Then I stumbled towards Darn, taking a key from the floor and unchaining him. When I had done that, my strength left me and I collapsed next to him.

I was able to whisper my story to him and he helped me up, together we managed to find our companions. Aerie and Anomen healed us, we found our weapons in one of the rooms and then we left, fighting our way out. Which was easy, the guards didn?t expect prisoners to escape as armed as we were. Through the sewers we left the city. Hopefully to never return.



Darnoc: Unfinished business


We returned to the keep, where we were greeted in triumph. The representatives of the east-amnish districts wanted to crown me as king, but I refused. I only accepted to keep my title as Lord Protector for the time being. And they also insisted that I?d visit the different districts and ?honor them with my presence?.

I divided my army and set up several garrisons, the greatest being in the keep and in Trademeet. Then we first went towards the Umar Hills.

Minister Lloyd greeted us warmly and invited me to dinner in his house. His wife turned out to be quite a cook and we all praised her skill.

After the dinner we walked through the small village and looked at it, while Minister Lloyd proudly explained everything to me. Suddenly I remembered something: The note I had taken from the body of Rejiek. There it had stood that if one solved the riddle one should go to the Umar Hills and buy a book concerning the history of the Zentharim. Quickly I took out the note and looked closely at it, showing it also to my companions.

Im also took a look and then replied, smiling: ?His name?s Darcin Cole.?

?Is there a man called like that here?? I asked the Minister.

?Not that I know of, no.?

We marched over to the market place and looked at the goods of the traders. If I?d find a copy of this book somewhere, I would know?

Indeed did the trader Fael possess such a book and I bought it.

?Ah, yah ?ave interestin? taste, Lord Darnoc? Perhaps yah also know mee other name??

?It is ?Darcin Cole?.?

?Ah, yah?re right, Lord. What do yah want o? me, then??

I drew my sword and thrust it right into his chest.

?Finally you receive your just reward, I haven?t forgotten Rejiek yet!?

?I curse yah, the Twisted Rune?ll get yah!? he hissed and then died.

After pulling my sword out again, I turned to my companions.

?What did he mean by that??

?I have heard rumors of an evil organization calling itself ?The Rune? and to my knowledge they have their headquarters in Atkatla? Anomen explained.

?But there we can?t go anymore. What do we do?? Aerie added.

?Hm, there might be ways to enter Atkatla in secret?? Keldorn muttered.

?Explain yourself, Keldorn.?

?The sewers, you can enter them from outside the city. There are drains that, which lead out of the city. We could use them.?

?And then we could also take care of those slavers Hendak told us about. I want to crush those evil people!? Minsc shouted.

So we traveled all the way back to Atkatla, but didn?t enter the gates. We followed the coastline until we reached a drain leading into the sea. And there we entered, following the dirty and smelling sewers into the city.

?Where the hell are we?? I suddenly asked.

?I?m sorry, but not even I know where we are? Keldorn replied.

It was then that I heard a strange noise in front of us.

?What was that?? Im asked.

?Draw your weapons, I don?t like the sound of it? I replied.

Not a moment too late, for suddenly several figures leaped at us out of the dark. First I was totally surprised and confused, but when one of the things came nearer, I remembered: Mind Flayers, Illithids. The beast came closer and tried to bend over me, probably wanting to suck out my brains. But suddenly a lightning flew across the sewers and hit the beast, burning it from the inside and leaving it a blackened corpse.

Im stepped over me and put her hand on my shoulders.

?Ya a?right, Darn??

?Yeah, thanks for? you know.?

She smiled and kissed me gently.

?Anytime for ya? my love??

It sounded somehow awkward, hearing this from her lips.

?Hm, I?ve got t? work on that one?? I heard her mutter.

?It?s alright, Im, and I tell you, there?s just you.?

?I hope so or do I need t? take out my katana an? go kill someone??

I laughed.

?No, I mean it, Im.?

The others had killed several other Illithids and Anomen came over to me, a strange war-hammer in his hand.

?Look at this; I think it?s a very valuable artifact.?

?It?s the hammer o? thunderbolts!? Im exclaimed.

?What?s that??

?Oh, a very powerful dwarvish weapon. If ya got all the parts it can be turned into the Crom Faeyr, I?ve heard.?

We went on and finally came to the surface in the slums, near the Copper Coronet. Hendak was glad to see us again.

?We search for an organization called ?The Twisted Rune?? I explained to him.

?Oh, I?ve heard of them. They have their headquarters in the bridge district, it is rumored. And there?s some talk that you can only enter it, if you have a rogue stone with it.
But I wouldn?t stay here in Atkatla, things have gotten worse. Mocilia was bad enough; people were executed all day long and there were lots of plundering, murdering, destroying, raping, whatever by her ?Revolutionary Guard?. But now things are even worse. Many people have died in the civil war and now no one wants to help the new rulers anymore, so they just kidnap young men and boys and force them into their ?Revolutionary Guard?. And they execute people on the basis of rumors; they have founded these ?Guardians of the People?, who spy on everyone. I?ve heard that they have those dungeons where they torture people and stuff.?

I thanked Hendak for his advice, but told him that we would take care of the Twisted Rune and the slavers. He gave us some gray and brown cloaks to disguise us as commoners, though, and also a rogue stone.

Disguised like that we sneaked to the bridge districts and looked through all the empty houses there. At one in the south-west something strange happened. The rogue stone suddenly began to glow and where there had been a door before, suddenly a portal stood.

We entered through it and found ourselves in a round, marble room. In its middle stood a large, round table and on it a man, clothed in richly decorated robes. But there was something strange about him, as if he was in the process of decaying.

?What are you doing here?? he demanded.

Drawing our weapons, I replied: ?We are here to seek the Twisted Rune.?

He laughed and said: ?And you have found it, but you will not be able to enjoy it long. You shall die for your intrusion here!?

He began to cast a spell, but a shot from one of my fire-spiters interrupted him. He shrieked and suddenly several other people teleported in: a beholder, a vampire and a warrior. They all attacked us, but we split and attacked first the beholder and the lich, for the man in the robes clearly was one.

At close range they both stood no chance, the warrior and the vampire gave us more problems. The warrior attacked Im, who backed away and drew out her katana, trying to defend herself, while the vampire jumped at Aerie, who drew out her fire-spiter and shot, without hitting, though.

I screamed, pointed my fire-spiter at the warrior and shot him into the chest; he collapsed in front of Im. Quickly Im took her bow up again and shot the vampire attacking Aerie.

?It is good that this evil is finally vanquished from this world? Keldorn commented.

?But we still have to take on those slavers and destroy them? I noted.

So we sneaked again through the streets of Atkatla and went to the temple district. Keldorn and Anomen both knew the building we were looking for, a blue-colored palace right next to the headquarters of the now destroyed order.

We entered the building and were greeted by a brown-skinned man clothed in robes and wearing a turban.

?You are not welcome here, leave immediately!? he demanded.

?We have come to bring an end to your evil deeds, slaver!? Keldorn shouted.

The slaver simply laughed and teleported away.

?Where did he go?? I asked my companions.

?There?s a stair over there, perhaps they are up there, waiting for us? Minsc suggested.

We went up the stairs and indeed there stood six guys, all wearing robes and turbans, one of them being our ?friend? from downstairs.

They had firearms - probably got those from the Shadow Thieves - and some of them used magic. We ducked and so the volley passed above us, hitting the wall behind us and then we drew our own weapons and fired back. Three of them were killed immediately; the others had managed to throw themselves onto the floor. Desperately they were trying to reload, but we were faster and shot again, killing the remaining.

Im looked at the bodies and suddenly ducked and took a shimmering katana from the floor.

?Look at that, quite a weapon? she remarked.

There was one thing I still wanted to do: Show the hammer of thunderbolts to the smith Cromwell in the docks. Perhaps he could tell us, how to build this ?Crom Faeyr?.

We left the palace of the slavers and went all the way to the docks, where we entered the house of Cromwell. The dwarf took a look at the hammer and smiled.

?Yah need a belt o? frost-giant?s strength and then I could make yah Crom Faeyr.?

I took off my belt and handed it to him.

?That?s just wonderful, yah just wait there.?

For several hours he worked in his smithy and finally came out again, presenting us Crom Faeyr proudly. Anomen, who used war hammers, took it from him.

?Here are ten thousand, I think that will suffice? I said and handed the money to Cromwell.

?Oh, it does indeed, lad.?

As we left the house, we saw a group of Revolutionary Guards pass. They suddenly stopped and their captain turned to us.

?Who?re yah, identify yahrself!? he demanded.

?Eh, we?re just some commoners, sir? I replied.

?I don?t believe yah, show me yahr papers!?

Puzzled I looked at him.

?Papers? What papers??

?Everyone got papers, yah should know that! Yah must be spies from outside, yah?re under arrest!?

The guards pointed their fire-tubes at us; we stood no chance and so put down our weapons. They bound us and dragged us along to the government district, where the prison was. There we were thrown into a cell and left for a while. After some hours, they began to take us out one by one for ?interrogation?, though.

I and Im sat next to each other; I had put my arms around her.

?We?ll get out of this mess, I promise, Im? I whispered.

?I hope so, Darn, but how are ya planin? on doin? that??

The thing that worried me most was that my companions didn?t return after they had been taken away. Suddenly the door opened, three guards stepped in, grabbed Im and dragged her away. I screamed and attacked them, but one of them hit me with a wooden staff and I fell to the floor, blood flowing from my head.

?Leave me alone, ya sons-o?-bitches!? I heard Im scream, but it was no use, the door closed behind her and I was left alone in my cell.

Long I sat there and starred into the darkness, imagining what horrors they did to her. After some hours the door opened again and now was my turn.

They dragged me to a room light by torches and bound me to a chair. In the shadows sat someone else on a chair opposite to mine.

?What did you do to Im, you fuckers?? I screamed at him.

?What? Dah red-haired girl? We ?ad some fun with ?er, didn?t we, lads?? said the figure on the chair.

I howled and tried to break free of my bonds, but the figure just laughed.

?It?s no use, yah?re ours now an? yah?re gonna talk t? us.?

?What did you do to her, tell me!? I howled.

?Yah wanna know dah details? We banged ?er a little an? then we shot ?er. O? course we also tortured ?er a little an? she sang like a bird, yes, she did. Wanna see ?er body? But I don?t think yah?re gonna get dah chance??

I just kept on screaming, while the guards kept on laughing at me.

?Now, what were yah doin? on dah streets at that hour? Yah?re a spy, aren?t yah? Confess now an? we?re gonna walk out here in one piece.?

?Fuck you and your damn guards! I?m gonna kill you, you bastards!? I screamed at him.

He sighed and went on: ?So, not dah easy way? Guessed it when I saw yah??

I looked around, trying to figure out a way to escape. It was then that I saw the fireplace and the table next to it. In the fire were several irons and they were glowing. And on the table lay different knives and other tools of torture. One of the guards took a knife and stepped over to me, ramming the knife into my hand, pulling it out and then ramming it into my other hand. I screamed first, but then pressed my mouth firmly together.

?Oh yah wanna play? Give it t? ?im, lads! Take out dah whip!?

They dragged me from the chair and chained me to a wooden block, ripped off my shirt and exposed my back. I heard steps approaching from behind and then a swishing noise. Suddenly something hit my back, burning like fire. And it happened again and again until I could no longer hold it back and started to howl in pain.

I never counted the hits, but it seemed like an eternity. Finally it stopped and I believed that I would die; my whole back was like on fire.

?Pleasant, isn?t it? Now d?yah confess that yahr a spy o? dah enemy??

?Im, Im, I?m so sorry? I whispered.

I felt the rage grow inside of me, the hate. It was coming, the slayer inside of me, taking control of me and I couldn?t resist it, not after they had taken Im from me, I wanted to kill them for it, I wanted to rip them to pieces!

Suddenly I felt her; I felt her very soul, comforting me. She was yet alive! My rage grew less, with her help, I was able to get control of it again. Suddenly the door burst open, the lock flung against the wall and in the doorstep stood Im. She had blood on her torn clothes and I saw several wounds, but her face showed determination and anger. The guards starred at her in amazement.

?But? but we thought yah?re dead!? the figure in the dark exclaimed.

As an answer Im began to speak sinister words in a voice I never had heard from her before, a voice filled with hate and anger. The guards screamed fearfully and then the magic exploded from her, I felt the power rushing across the room, as the guards were all consumed by flames and only ashes left of them.

She stumbled towards me, taking a key of one of the guards on her way and then she knelt beside me and unlocked the chains. When she was finished, she collapsed next to me, totally exhausted.

?What did they do to you?? I asked her.

?I was bound t? that chair over there an? one o? ?em tried t? torture me with a knife. First they hit me with that whip an? then one o? ?em tried t? rape me. But he didn?t get far, ?cause I had opened my bonds. When he tried it, I took ?is dagger an? stabbed ?im, but another guard stabbed me from behind. When I awoke I was lyin? on the floor next t? some bodies. I guess they thought I was dead? she explained weakly.

?Oh, Im, I thought you were dead, they told me??

?Sh, it?s a?right, everythin?s fine now??

I tried to help her up, although my back hurt like hell. Together we managed to walk, supporting each other and thus we were able to free the others, who had all been put into singular cells. They told us that they all had been tortured and had been asked to confess that they were spies. But luckily no one was hurt mortally and some healing spells from Anomen and Aerie took care of us all. We found our equipment all stored in a locked room next to the torture chamber.

Walking out we surprised the guards at the front door and were able to overcome them, fleeing into the night. Through the sewers we left Atkatla and marched back to the keep. I was glad to leave this city behind me, now ruled by crime.



Imoen: What could be


After we returned, a messenger was waiting there for Darn, one of the mage killers, I immediately recognized the sign on the man?s cloak. He introduced himself as Edroc Waelsord, sent here by his guild master Alexei Fjodr. And it seemed as if this Lord Alexei wanted an alliance with Darn.

I told Darn to come with me out onto the corridor, where I told him, if he was out of his mind, even considering such an offer. He replied to that he needed to fight magic eventually, because he needed to free the people of the gods.

It was then that I had my first vision. I saw Darn standing in front of a huge crowd, all of them wearing firearms and chanting Darn?s name. And then people were brought before him and he asked them, if they?d stop worshipping ?the false gods? and swear allegiance to him. Everyone who refused was killed. Then some mages were brought before him and he immediately ordered their execution.

It was then that I realized that the crowd also was chanting my name.

?Imoen, holy mother, safe us from false gods! Smile upon us and bless us from the heavens! Return to our Lord Darnoc soon, as it is foretold, and then you shall both reign supreme and for all eternity!?

What was going on here? Why did they talk, as if I was dead? And then I actually heard Darnoc think, I could read his thoughts.

?They have taken her from me and I am going to make them pay for it! I am going to bring her back, I will find a way! Im, I swear it to you, I love you, I will do everything I can, to reunite us! Forgive me for failing you, Im!?

And then he began to weep and the crowd gasped and watched him in awe.

?He is blessing us with his holy tears, he is weeping, because of the unwillingness of the people to accept the true faith!? someone shouted.

And then they raised their weapons to the air and began to sing this horrible song. They would slay all infidels, their blood would be the fuel on the wheels of the holy industrialization, all false gods would be destroyed and only the true god, Darnoc, would be left.

Finally Darn held up his hands and shouted: ?The infidels have turned themselves against me, I condemn them, they must die for their blasphemous ways! Go, my trusted servants, and do my work! Kill all, who are not ready to convert to the true faith!?

It was then that an old man stepped in front of Darn, I recognized him immediately: Elminster, the oldest and wisest of wizards.

?Stop your foolishness, Darnoc, do you wish to destroy us all??

?You are an old fool, Elminster, a relict of the past! I bring the new dawn; I will save us and make everything new! Why can?t you see the way? I thought that you were wise!?

?It is you, who is the fool, Darnoc! Don?t you see where this is going??

?Silence, old man, or you will feel my divine wrath!?

?I will not be silenced by the likes of you, Darnoc!?

?Kill him, kill him, he is the worst of the infidels!? Darn screamed in total rage.

And then they raised their fire-tubes, pointed them at Elminster. Elminster just stood there and stared at them, no fear in his eyes. I tried to scream at Darn to stop this, but he didn?t seem to see me or hear me.

And then the vision vanished and I saw Darn again, my Darn, not the one from the vision. He rushed to me and took me into his arms, holding me tight. He asked me, what had happened and I tried to tell me, but just couldn?t. Sobs began to shake me and I buried my face in his chest, wanting to forget everything again. No, this would never come true, could never come true!

Slowly I began telling him of my vision and I begged him to not sign the treaty with those mage killers and he assured me that he wouldn?t. Still, something was wrong, something bothered him. I wanted to believe him, I really wanted to?

Darn brought me up to our bedroom, holding me in his arms and put me gently onto the bed, kissing me, wiping away my tears with his kisses. He touched me and let his hand move over my body, feeling me. I put my arms around him and moved my hand through his thick hair, kissing him, trying to pull him towards me, to feel his warm body.

?Please, stay with me, my love? I?m afraid, Darn, afraid o? the future. Tell me that it?s never gonna happen, the thin?s I saw!? I whispered to him, while he was biting my throat, softly.

?You know that I couldn?t live with you, Im, never! Of course it isn?t going to happen; I will do everything in my power to hinder it!?

He touched my face, stroking my skin and kissed me again.

?I?m going to give you something to stop your worries, Im. Tonight you will sleep peacefully, without nightmares and I?ll be right beside you. Ah, don?t you think those clothes are annoying? Let?s get rid of them, shall we??

I laughed and replied: ?Finally a really good idea, I?d say!?

Somehow I really slept without having nightmares after we had loved each other. But in the night I awoke and there was no one beside me. Where had he gone? Hadn?t he told me that he would stay? But soon I fell asleep again and in the next morning I forgot to ask him.

In the morning I had actually other worries. The numbers of the workers seemed to increase constantly and they lived rather miserably. Darn was always down in his laboratory or thinking about his machine, not heeding the problems of his subjects. He was totally obsessed with his steam cart right now and oversaw the construction of the first line to Trademeet.

I went to Keldorn with my worries, he was a paladin after all and he should be concerned with what was happening. After I had told him everything, which was on my mind, he was long silent in thought.

?I will help you, Imoen; this cannot go on any longer. It is my duty as paladin to help the weak and the poor. Come, follow me! We will go and fetch the other companions too; they will certainly agree to help us.?

Together we went out to the worker families and brought them food from the keep. We helped them build better houses and I and Aerie looked after their children, while their parents worked in the factories. We both tried to teach the older children some things also.

This went over the course of the next days, even weeks. Slowly, but constantly, I saw, how the lives of the workers and their families improved and it made me feel glad. The workers all knew me and greeted me, when I came to them. I taught their children and even found some rather bright ones among them, whom I taught a little magic.

The nights belonged to me and Darn. Often after we had made love (it always started with that) he told me about his projects. Sometimes I mentioned something about the workers, but he was barely listening, totally absorbed by his machines. Somehow it made me sad, but we had always been different.

Was this really envisioned new world? I didn?t really like it, at least not the beginnings of it. But I tried to give him a chance to prove it otherwise.



Darnoc: The Mage Killer


Back at the keep, a messenger waited for me. It was a white-blond, tall and pale-skinned warrior, a black cloth attached to his shoulders, a red sword, which just had cut a mage?s staff in two pieces, painted onto it.

?Lord Darnoc, your doings came to our attention and we think you may be a suitable ally? the messenger explained.

?Whom do you speak of?? I asked him.

?I am from the guild of the Mage Killers; we have set ourselves the goal to destroy all mages and everything magical on Toril. My name is Edroc Waelsord and I speak for our Guild Master, Lord Alexei Fjodr.?

My interest was indeed awakened by those words and leant forward, looking hard into the warrior?s icy-blue eyes.

?Tell me, Edroc, what does Lord Fjodr wish exactly??

Edroc stood a little straighter and began to explain: ?Lord Fjodr wishes to greet his friend and ally in a common cause, Lord Darnoc, and wishes to express his congratulations on the many technological advances Lord Darnoc has introduced in his realm. He would also like to discuss terms of an alliance. An alliance, so Lord Fjodr believes, would serve both him and you, my Lord Darnoc.?

?I might be persuaded to such an alliance, Edroc. Tell me, does Lord Fjodr have any special conditions??

Edroc nodded gravely.

?Indeed he has, my Lord. You must of course accept the laws of our guild and either banish or execute all mages in your realm. And then Lord Fjodr asks, if he could have some of your weapons in order to equip our warriors.?

?If we were allies, I would indeed be willing to lend Lord Fjodr not only some weapons, but also plans, how to build them and some trainers. Enforcing a law against magic might be difficult from one day to the other, it must be introduced slowly, give the people time to adapt. I will begin introducing more and more technology, thus making magic more and more obsolete. Once the point is reached, when magic is of no use anymore, such a law will no longer pose any problems.?

After those words, Edroc bowed his head.

?Lord Fjodr has already, this might be your answer and given me the authority to accept those conditions. Do you wish to set up a treaty right away??

?Yes, this will be best, Edroc. Do you have the necessary paper with you??

Smiling Edroc produced the treaty from his pocket, ready to be signed. I read through it and it seemed acceptable in my opinion. Im looked over it and beckoned me to follow her.

?Would you excuse us for a moment, Edroc??

?Certainly, my Lord.?

In the corridor outside the hall, Im turned to me, a stern expression on her face.

?Are ya out o? yar fuckin? mind, Darn? Ya realize, what that means, don?t ya? I am a mage too, Darn!?

Stroking her cheek, I tried to calm her down: ?Don?t worry, Im, nothing will happen to you. But don?t you realize that in the long run, I am going to have to abolish magic? Magic is given by the gods and if I really wish to free the people of them, I am going to have to fight against magic also, because it is their symbol.?

Im shook her head violently and suddenly looked at me in horror, stumbling backwards.

?No, no, don?t!? she screamed and hit the air, as if she tried to fight somebody or something off.

I rushed to her and took her hands.

?Im, what?s going on, tell me!?

She starred at me and tried to speak, her lips trembling, but nothing came out of them. Suddenly she buried her face in my chest and I heard her sob.

?Don?t do this, Darn, somethin? horrible?s gonna happen, I know!? she whispered.

?What?s going to happen, Im?? I asked her in a gentle as possible voice, trying to calm her.

?I? I saw ya, Darn, I saw, what?s gonna happen? I saw ya an? yar followers murder an? slaughter innocent people, just because they wouldn?t stop believin? in their gods or doin? magic. An? I hear ?em shoutin? yar an? my name, as if we were some kind o? gods.?

In my head I began following the paths into the future and realized with a shock that Im was right. The future seemed to take a horrible course and what was even more horrible: Im was no longer at my side. Where had she gone in the future, what had happened to her?

?I was gone, Darn, and I don?t know, what?s happened t? me. Please, don?t let somethin? happen t? me, it would destroy ya, I know it, all those horrible thin?s ?re gonna happen, ?cause I?m no longer with ya. We need t? stay t?gether, Darn, or we?re gonna be destroyed.?

It couldn?t happen, it mustn?t happen, I would prevent it! Nothing would take Im from my side and all those horrible visions of her wouldn?t come to pass! But still, I needed to find a way to realize my plans, somehow I would manage, I would bend the course of destiny to my will!

Those were my thoughts, which I didn?t tell Im. Oh, how I regretted not telling her later on! But now it is too late, there is no going back. Why didn?t I tell you, Im, why? I was such a fool, blinded by my own abilities, my intelligence. I thought that I could achieve anything, if I only set my mind to it.

I never told Im, but secretly I signed the treaty during the night, gave it to Edroc and sent him off, without her knowing.



Imoen: Before leaving


I remember the day of the red dragon quite clearly. Together with Darnoc I sat outside the castle, leaning my head against his shoulder.

It was then that he asked me: ?Just a question I wanted to ask you for some time: Aren?t you worried that you?re going to get pregnant if we continue like this??

Well, I knew that this particular question would come one day. It was inevitable that one day we would start talking about children, since we both knew that we would stay together for the rest of our lives. And when one has this certainty, one begins to think about the future.

Sometimes I had asked myself this question. Actually, I wouldn?t mind having a child or perhaps even two. A girl I could teach my thieving skills and about magic. Or perhaps a boy, it didn?t really matter. Still, I knew exactly that as long we didn?t have a real home, a peaceful place where we could stay, it was impossible. Although the castle began to feel like home, we both knew that we had to leave soon to go and seek Irenicus.

?Oh, I was a little worried after our first time, ya know. Probably a reason why I was a little grumpy afterwards. So I told it all t? Aerie an? she gave me this potion. She also told me how t? make more o? it. So don?t ya worry, if I ever want a child, I?ll tell ya? I replied to him.

He kissed me and suggested that perhaps after we killed Irenicus, we could have one. Which of course were my thoughts too.

?Yeah, an? we ?ave some peace together. I?d like t? ?ave a daughter, ya know. I could teach ?er my thievin? skills an? some magic. But ya probably?d like a boy, right? So ya can show ?im yar lab?ratory, eh??

?Oh, I wouldn?t mind a girl at all, Im. But I?d insist that she also learned some science from me.?

?I don?t ?ave a problem with that, Darn??

That is, as long as she also learned from me, to properly use those things. Darn showed quite a talent for disregarding the problems occurring because of his inventions. He wasn?t aware of the consequences. And I wanted my child to be.

It was then that the messenger of Lord Firkraag teleported in.

The messenger told us of his lord and Darn agreed to speak with him. Firkraag turned out to be a huge, red dragon. And a tyrannical one. He told Darn that he was in fact the ruler of the Windspear Hills and not Garren Windspear, with whom Darn had made a treaty. Firkraag also demanded control over all technology in ?his? realm.

Oh, and Tazok, one of Sarevok?s underlings, we also found there. Quite a surprise, since we had killed him back in Baldur?s Gate. But Firkraag had resurrected him.

Darn of course didn?t want to agree to these terms and we decided to kill the dragon. It was a difficult battle and we only survived, because I and Aerie used the cry of the banshee spell on him, which killed the dragon finally. Darn let Tazok take his leave and then I teleported us all back again to the keep.

Darn still wanted to do some things, before finally leaving southwards to hand over the Rynn Lathorne and confront Irenicus. He finished his steam cart and I and Darn drove the first one to Trademeet. Quite an experience, I never traveled thus fast. Except of course teleport, but that was something entirely different.

In Trademeet Darn announced that all his technology could be used by everyone, except weapons and transportation. I was worried by this, since I knew that only the rich would really profit from this. Who else had the means to build factories and employ workers? And so the rich would only get richer. I remembered the workers around the keep and didn?t think they?d be treated better in Trademeet.

While Darn worked in his laboratory, I began thinking about the workers and their condition, especially about how to help them. Only if Darn introduced laws to protect them, something would change. I needed to convince him of the necessity. Thus I began setting up a catalogue of potential laws to protect the workers. Those laws were later introduced by Darn and still are known as ?Imoen?s social regulations?. Heh, at least something I can be proud of.

I was just working on them, as I heard some noises outside on the corridors. I stepped outside and asked some of the servants.

One of them answered me: ?Lord Darnoc ?as made light! He?s down in dah lab!?

I rushed down and indeed, there he was, dancing around a table, where a glass orb stood, lighted up, illuminating the room. He was clearly happy, almost like a child. And I had to agree, it was indeed a useful invention.

After that he made some last preparations, why I finished my set of social laws. And then we were ready to set out to reclaim his soul?



Darnoc: Firkraag


After sending away Edroc with the treaty, I went on with building the railroad and some other things I had left unfinished. Im and I were together often and we it seemed as if we couldn?t get enough of each other. Something worried me, though. She often had nightmares and I heard her moan and talk in her sleep. But afterwards, when I asked her, she always replied that it was nothing. I didn?t believe her, but left it with that.

One day we sat outside, looking on the continuing constructions going on. She was leaning her head against my shoulder and I had put my arm around her.

?Just a question I wanted to ask you for some time: Aren?t you worried that you?re going to get pregnant if we continue like this??

She looked at me, smiling.

?Oh, I was a little worried after our first time, ya know. Probably a reason why I was a little grumpy afterwards. So I told it all t? Aerie an? she gave me this potion. She also told me how t? make more o? it. So don?t ya worry, if I ever want a child, I?ll tell ya.?

I kissed her on the forehead.

?Hm, perhaps after we killed Irenicus and I got back my soul??

?Yeah, an? we ?ave some peace together. I?d like t? ?ave a daughter, ya know. I could teach ?er my thievin? skills an? some magic. But ya probably?d like a boy, right? So ya can show ?im yar lab?ratory, eh??

?Oh, I wouldn?t mind a girl at all, Im. But I?d insist that she also learned some science from me.?

?I don?t ?ave a problem with that, Darn??

We stayed there for a while and watched the scenery. The railroad was going fine, soon we would reach Trademeet and then we?d have regular transport between the keep and the town. Well, it wasn?t just a keep anymore; it had grown into a town of itself. There were several factories and the workers lived just next to them. And more came everyday, fleeing from Atkatla mostly.

Suddenly someone teleported right in front of us. It was a warrior, wearing plate mail and a sword at his side.

?Dah Lord Firkraag commands yahr presence, Lord Darnoc. I can bring yah right t? ?im, if yah?d like.?

?Who the hell is Firkraag??

?He?s the Lord of the Windspear Hills and he is very annoyed at you, believe me. Best is to come with me.?

?Hm, alright, I?ll talk with your Lord. But let me tell my companions first.?

My companions were soon assembled and they agreed to come with me. I told the warrior that we were ready and he teleported us away.

We found ourselves in a large hall, pillars of stone on its side. And in the middle of the hall stood a huge red dragon, staring at us. Next to it stood another figure, a huge barbarian, whom I immediately recognized.

?Tazok! But we killed you; you were lying dead together with my brother!?

Tazok?s look was pure hate.

?So we meet again, Darnoc. My new master has given me new life and this time you will not take it away so easily, my master will protect me.?

?I will, do not worry, Tazok? the dragon said in a loud, booming voice.

?Are you Lord Firkraag?? I asked him.

?Indeed I am, Lord Darnoc. You have angered me, by not asking me, but rather that bastard Garren Windspear. I am the Lord of Windspear Hills, not he! If there?s anyone declaring treaties around here then it is me!?

I looked at the dragon a little perplexed.

?I am sorry to hear that, but I didn?t know you existed at all.?

?But now you know. This treaty is worthless, it hasn?t been approved by me and I would never submit to the rule of the likes as you!?

?Is there anyway to persuade you otherwise??

?Yes. Kill Garren Windspear and I will reconsider. Oh, and I will not submit to your rule, but I would agree to form an alliance. And I will keep all the technology you have already placed in my region.?

?Forget it, no way.?

?Then get the hell out of my dungeon!? the dragon shouted angrily.

Anomen and Keldorn stepped over to me, a grave look on their faces.

?I have heard of Firkraag, he is a cruel master and not even the real Lord. Garren Windspear is the Lord of the Hills, not this tyrant here. Firkraag has also stolen one of the most valuable treasures of the order: The sword Carsomyr? Keldorn explained to me.

?But who the hell are we supposed t? take down a dragon?? Im asked.

?I am ready, my sword Lilacor can take down any dragon? Minsc commented.

?Indeed I can. Hm, killing a dragon might even increase my power??

?We need Tazok off our backs, if we want to kill Firkraag? I mentioned.

Anomen took out his fire-spiter and shot Tazok.

?You mean like that??

?Ehm, yes? I replied.

Firkraag roared in anger, flames came out of his nostrils.

?Alright, this is it. Best of luck to all? I commented.

I dodged a blow of fire aimed at me, rolled under Firkraag and thrust my new sword, the Equalizer, deep into the dragon?s innards. The dragon shrieked in pain, but wasn?t dead yet. Im shot a lightning into his eyes, Anomen crushed one of his claws and Keldorn thrust his sword into Firkraag?s chest. Minsc, on the other hand, was climbing up the back of the dragon and drove Lilacor deep into Firkraag?s neck.

With a stone from her sling, Aerie shot the dragon into one of his eyes, what made the beast even more furious. He stamped on the ground, blew flames in all possible directions, why I rolled away, stood up, drew my fire-spiters and shot into both his eyes. Blind and mad from pain the dragon flapped his wings and tried to hit us with his claws and his tail, without much success.

I tried to dodge several blows, but then one hit me and flung me against the wall. Keldorn and Anomen got flung away by the tail of the beast and then Firkraag ran forward, right at Im, who jumped away in the last moment.

Moaning I got up and saw Minsc trying to get a balance on the dragon?s back, but finally was thrown off. I took out my breech-loader, aimed at the dragon?s head and shot. The beast howled, but the bullet probably hadn?t penetrated its skull.

?I?m gonna rip you all apart!? Firkraag screamed in such a voice that the pillars were shaking.
I, Keldorn and Anomen had gathered us in the middle of the hall; we took our swords up and advanced, while Im and Aerie were shooting at the dragon from behind. Dodging the claws of the dragon we went under him and thrust our swords right into his belly, again and again. Minsc got to his feet again and jumped onto the dragon?s back again, hitting the dragon into its neck.

While we were hitting on the dragon, Aerie and Im gathered their forces and began to conjure a spell together, uniting their power. Firkraag still tried to hit us fighters and so they could do it undisturbed. It took some time and so I gathered that it had to be quite a powerful spell. One could almost feel the power assembling around them.

And then they released it, it swept like a storm across the room and flung me away. At the same time a gruesome, horrible shriek began to sound out of nowhere, rising, rising, rising until it got unbearable and I covered my ears. Firkraag roared out in agony and when the shriek reached its climax he collapsed dead to the ground.

Shaking I got back to my feet and walked over to Im.

?What in all demons? name was that??

?Cry of the banshee? Aerie explained.

?By Torm, what a powerful spell!? Keldorn explained.

He was holding a beautifully decorated two-handed sword in his hands.

?Behold, this is Carsomyr, the holy sword of the order! It has been crafted by powerful magic to vanquish all evil.?

Suddenly Lilacor shouted in triumph: ?Hah, I found a way, I am going to improve, just watch this!?

Suddenly he was covered in utter darkness. When he reappeared he was totally black, no other color left on it. But it wasn?t the black of coal, it was the black of nothingness, which I had seen in Bodhi?s eyes.

?Hah, see this? Now I am the uber-ass-kicker of the fucking multiverse! And I?m such a bad-ass, hehe! I?m going to kill them all; no one will stand before my dark powers!?

Then we heard a cough behind us and turned around. Tazok tried to get on his feet, blood flowing from his chest.

?I?m not dead yet, son of Bhaal.?

Taking out my fire-spiter and pointing it at him, I responded: ?But I could amend this easily.?

?Please, I don?t want to kill you. Just let me go and I won?t bother you anymore. Dying once has been enough, believe me.?

I lowered my weapon.

?Alright, leave and hope that we never meet again, Tazok.?

He nodded thankfully and limped away. I really never saw him again, what became of him I cannot tell.

Im teleported us back to the keep. There were still some things to do, before we could go back to Elhan. Two days later the railroad to Trademeet was finally finished and I and Im had the honor to be its first passengers. We were greeted triumphantly in Trademeet. There I saw that also here some factories had been built and others were being built. I had sold them to citizens of Trademeet, who now of course seized the chance to make ?the great profit?.

That very day I announced to the people of Trademeet that trade and production would be allowed to everyone, I would only raise a certain amount of taxes from their profits, of course. My technologies would be free to all; they could use them and further develop them. Only the steam-cart would stay in my possession and all other steam-carts, which would be built later on. I would keep a monopoly on transportation and also on weapons? production.

And thus I introduced capitalism to Toril. I often asked myself it had been the right decision, because much harm came from it. A small group became very rich, while the others had to work for them in the growing industry sector. The environment became more and more polluted, as the competition grew fiercer. But the people from East Amn held their position as the top in the economic world for a long time.

There were some positive sides to the development I had introduced. New medicines were invented; the lives of most people improved and thus did the length of their lives. Population grew and in time the economic oppression was lessened by laws, which I introduced to protect the workers. From then on the living standards of most people increased more and more and so perhaps it hadn?t been that bad of a decision after all.

Back at the keep I descended into the laboratory. It was time to finish an experiment of mine? I had experimented with animals and found that I could induce movement in their body parts by letting static electricity flow through them even when they were already dead. Soon I found that I could create a static electrical flow in a chemical way with the use of certain substances, for example copper and zinc, which were connected by an ionic conductor and electron conductor, I found that silver worked best there, but also copper was okay. Now I needed to do one last experiment and then I could finally use electricity as a power source.

Putting plates of copper and zinc onto each other, between them leather pieces with fluid electrolytes on them; I used copper sulfate.

Using a wire of copper (silver was expensive, so I tried to use as little as possible) I brought the electricity to a wire of carbon inside of a glass orb, so that it was sealed hermetical. I had realized that the presence of oxygen was the cause for fire.

And then it happened: the wire inside the glass orb lighted up, I had produced the first electric light in history. Crying aloud in triumph, I danced around my electric lamp in joy. It must have been heard, for soon people descended and watched in amazement at the light inside the glass orb.

?I?ve done it, I?ve done it, I?ve done it?? I kept on shouting.

Im finally stopped me, taking my hand and smiling.

?Just look at it, Im, just look at it!? I shouted joyfully.

?An? there shall be light? she commented.

?Indeed, there shall be! I have written everything into my little book here, soon all the cities will be lighted during the dark of night, we will finally conquer darkness!?

After that I set up a plan for defending my new territory and began construction of several fortresses along the border to the ?Republic?. We left East Amn in good conscious that everything was going rather well in the lands appointed to me.

Edited by Darnoc, 09 February 2006 - 01:42 PM.

[Darnoc]

Sixth Interlude: A son of Bhaal, a prophet and a bunch of holy warriors


They had raised their firearms to the air, waving them and some of them even shooting into the air.

And they all were chanting my name: ?Darnoc, Darnoc, lead us to salvation!?

Behind me stood my personal guard, a group of fanatics, which called itself ?Warriors of the New Era?.

?We are the fighters of Darnoc. We will vanquish all evil magic and all evil gods. We are the hand of Darnoc, crushing his enemies. We are the Warriors of the New Era? they were murmuring their litany.

Arkul stood in front of me, his arms and his staff rose to the air.

?I have seen the future and it is bright! Darnoc leads us into the New Era, the pure and holy era of science and technology! Gone are the days of darkness, a dawn is appearing on the horizons! Behold, soon all false gods will be vanquished and their evil magic will be gone forever from our world! I am Arkul Sazzari, Prophet of the one and true God, Darnoc!?

?Darnoc is the only true God and Arkul is his prophet! May all who not believe in him die!? the crowd chanted.

Memories appeared in my mind. Once again I heard the desperation in Im?s voice before she disappeared forever. A deep sadness took my soul, but at the same time a burning hate and anger. I would find a way to bring her back, my only love, my soul and my heart, who has been taken from me. I would absorb the powers of those fools, who called themselves ?gods?, and also the Power itself. The assembled power I would use to bring her back.

But first to other business. My movement was growing, already the cities along the Sword Coast were burning (at least their temples) and soon it would spread, engulfing the whole of Toril. My armies were undefeatable, carrying modern weapons with them and crushing all our opponents.

We stood outside Atkatla, the capital of the ?People?s Republic of Atkatla and Baldur?s Gate?. I had many followers inside the city too and that was why the rulers hesitated to close the doors in front of me and my followers.

?My people hark to my words! We will take this city and its inhabitants will be shown the purity of my way! Enter it and take what is rightfully ours!?

They cheered and began to move, the Revolutionary Guard looking troubled at them, but not able to do anything.

Inside the city we were greeted by our followers, which were many. The Revolutionary Guard was standing by, watching, as I and Arkul marched towards the government district and finally to the hall of government, the former hall of the council. On the square in front of the hall I turned to my followers.

?Behold the city of Atkatla! There is evil here and it must be vanquished! Do, what has to be done!?

They cheered and began moving away, clutching their firearms. Everyone not wearing the sign of the fire-spiter, my personal, holy symbol, was surrounded and either converted to the ?true faith? or killed. Now the Revolutionary Guard reacted, but it was far too late, everyone who resisted was slaughtered.

I, Arkul and my personal guard entered the hall. Inside were the president and his ministers, starring frightened at me. The times of Mocilia, who had gone into battle herself, were long gone. Those here were bureaucrats and they would not live long.

?That is the judgment of god: For your evil ways you shall face the punishment of death!? Arkul announced to them.

They fell to their knees and begged for their lives, but my guard shot them all.

?What now, oh my Lord and God?? Arkul asked.

?Burn all the temples, kill anyone, who resists!? I told him.

?Your will shall be done, my Lord and God? he replied and motioned my guard to move out.

Going out again I watched as my followers killed and burned. Soon the temple district was aflame and other parts followed soon. I heard screams and shots and fire crackling.

Suddenly Paul, the Tyrant, Daukon and Conrad stood next to me, looking at what has happening.

?So it has begun? Paul noted.

?And you have chosen what is right? the Tyrant added.

?Believe me, it was the right choice? Conrad assured me.

?I have no doubt of that. I will find a way to bring her back, even if I have to destroy the whole multiverse in the process.?

?They murdered my wife in order to get to me, you know. It was then that I swore revenge upon them and began to plan the Great War. I was successful and they paid for what they had done to me. Millions were slaughtered in this war? Daukon explained.

?So we aren?t that different, you and I? I noted.

?Oh, we all are a little alike, I think? Paul said.

?Perhaps I should write down what is happening. Would make an interesting story, you know? Conrad mentioned.

?You?re a writer?? I asked amazed.

?Yes, I am. Are you thus surprised? We are both highly creative and intelligent. I create worlds in my head and bring them to live on paper. Alas, I haven?t found a way to bring them into reality??

?But perhaps they are already real. Perhaps, if you create a world, it begins to exist somewhere in the multiverse?? I mused.

?A pleasant idea, I think? Conrad commented.

?It is time to show them some of my ?divine power?? I muttered and changed into the slayer-form.

Marching through the streets, all my followers fell to their knees upon seeing me. And wherever there was an infidel, I killed them. I triumphed upon the field of slaughter, wading through rivers of blood and heaps of body parts. And before me all resistance ended, there was no one who could withstand my divine wrath, no one who could stand before the face of Darnoc, the one and true God.






Part Seven: Soul





Darnoc: Southwards


From my keep we wandered southwards, towards the entrance to the Underdark, where Elhan was waiting for us. On our way there we had lots of time to talk about this and that.

Keldorn once approached me and Im, looking worried.

?I do not wish to condemn you two for anything, but it still worries me that you are together the way you are? he explained.

?Don?t you understand, Keldorn, it is as if I and Im had been created to be with each other, something deep inside binds us together, makes us one. If you?d have felt something like that, you would understand.?

Long was Keldorn silent, thinking about my words.

?I think I understand what you want to tell me, Darnoc? There is? was something similar, although weaker, between me and Maria.?

?Ya ?ave t? understand, anyone tryin? t? rip our union apart we?ll kill!? Im explained.

Keldorn nodded gravely.

?Then whatever binds you together must be indeed very strong, Imoen. And I would not dream of trying to take it away from you, for it is indeed special.?

Keldorn dropped back some and I and Im were walking alone again.

?Darn, tell me ?bout those research ya?ve done int? whether we?re real siblings or not. What exactly?re ya doin???

As always, I was more than eager to talk about my research: ?You see, I began looking at life forms, especially interested in what we inherit from our parents. As you know, a child looks similar to its parents and I asked myself, why. I realized that certain characteristics are handed down, others are not. Some characteristics are dominant, others are recessive. And this goes with everything, not only appearance.

There are some illnesses, which are also part of those characteristics, but mostly they are recessive. By studying several cases, for example the inbreeding of the nobles, I realized that if two very close relatives procreate, those illnesses become dominant in their children. And that is why I was so afraid for us.?

?An?? What d?ya think now??

?As I said, I don?t believe that our ?father? produced us using the same body twice. He probably took on another form each time. This means we have inherited different characteristics and thus it won?t be a problem, biologically speaking.?

She kissed me on the cheek and then smiled warmly.

?So ya?ve worried needlessly, Darn. It?ll be a?right.?

I smiled also and took her hand.

?Yes, but it was still fascinating? I have a thirst for knowledge, Im.?

We camped about in the middle of our way south. During the night, I was visited by Lilacor in my dreams.

?Your powers are growing fast, Darnoc, my mentat. Already you have made contact with beings from other universes and soon you will have enough power to change the course of history, not only foresee its path. But first, a warning: I can not tell you, what will happen, if you cannot regain your soul. You must reclaim it, Darnoc! Irenicus is threatening everything you and I are trying to create.?

Suddenly the figure of Lilacor was replaced by the one of Irenicus.

?So we meet again, son of Bhaal.?

?What the hell are you doing, Irenicus??

?I am finding a way to grow even more powerful than the gods themselves. I will have my revenge and you will not be able to stop me. Not any longer, although your powers are growing more and more.?

?You have no idea, how my powers are growing, Irenicus. I have seen the future, I have changed it with my will and you are not part of it.?

He laughed and held up a fire-spiter. But it wasn?t like the ones I had, it was an improved version, which could fire several shots before one had to reload.

?Arrogance comes before the fall, Darnoc. As you can see, I have improved your weapons and I will continue to do so. My combined powers of magic and technology will grant me might beyond imagination. Ironically, it was you, who first brought me the idea of using technology. Thus you have created your own doom.?

Anger rose in me.

?We will meet again, Irenicus, and when we do, you will die, you fucking bastard! I am going to kill you for what you?ve done to Im and me, do you understand, you son of a bitch, you piece of shit! I am going to kill you personally and it will give me fucking pleasure, I swear it you! I?m going to fucking enjoy every last, shitty bit of it!?

He glared at me coldly, not impressed by my angry outburst.

?Do not overestimate yourself, Darnoc. If we ever meet again, it shall be your death, not mine.?

Suddenly the figure of Lilacor stepped into my dream again.

?Oh, I wouldn?t so sure of that, Irenicus.?

?Who are you??

Lilacor grinned at Irenicus.

?I?m an intelligent computer program, an artificial, digital life form. But I guess this doesn?t mean anything to you, right? And I am far more powerful than you, you fool of a wizard!?

Suddenly Irenicus screamed, let go of his fire-spiter and grabbed his head with both hands.

?Get out of my head, get out of it!? he screamed.

?You?re mine and now that you realize it, it is too late for you, Irenicus. Once I thought that you were interesting, but now you?ve grown into a danger to my assignment and I have to terminate you.?

Anger and hate flashed in Irenicus? face and then he stood up again and glared at Lilacor.

?I am not beaten yet!? he screamed and vanished.

?What the hell???

?Oh, he woke himself up. But I guess he?ll be avoiding to sleep in the future? Lilacor explained.

I also awoke, hearing Im moan beside me, struggling in her sleep with some invisible enemy. Quickly I took her in my arms and shook her, trying to wake her. This woke her up and first she didn?t recognize, where she was.

?Leave me, please, leave me, I can?t no longer?? she whimpered.

?Im, it?s me, nothing?s going to happen to you, you hear me??

She starred at me and finally recognized me.

?Darn, I? Irenicus, he? I saw ?im, Darn, it happened all over again? The pain, it didn?t stop, it just grew more an? more? An? ?is face, he just glared at me, like I?m some object, an? he cut an? cut an? cut? An? then he brought in the man??

At this she suddenly screamed in terror and I realized that the sheer memory of everything pained her. She had tried to hide it from me, although sometimes I had seen her weeping in her sleep. But now it had finally broken out of her, she was no longer able to cope with the memories. I was afraid for her, for I feared that she might try to kill herself.

Im?s body shook and I hugged and kissed her, trying to comfort her.

?Listen to me, Im, I am here and I always be here, understand? Whatever is in you, we can face it together and together we will able to beat it. Draw from my strength, Im, as I draw from yours. I can beat the evil inside of me because of you. You can beat the memories and the pain inside of you because of me, believe me, Im.?

She nodded, but the tears kept on flowing. I lay besides her, warming her with my body and after a while she slept again, my arms put around her.

We reached Elhan?s camp in the afternoon of the next day. The elven Lord was already waiting impatiently for us.

?Here is the Rynn Lathorne? I said and handed it to him.

?Finally! What has taken you so long? Do not say that silly war, for have you not realized that what happens here is more important??

?Perhaps it is you, who hasn?t realized something: The lives of countless people were at stake here. And believe me, I would have known, if Irenicus succeeded.?

He nodded gravely and commented: ?Perhaps you would. But let us not linger here; we must enter the city of Suldanessalar immediately.?

Elhan gave command to General Sovalidas and only took a guard of elite elven warriors with him. Then we departed to the northeast, into the forests lying there.

It was already night, when we reached a part of the forest with huge trees. There Elhan halted and took out the Rynn Lathorne. Suddenly a door appeared in one of the trees in front of us.

?Ah, we have found Suldanessalar again! Come, follow me!?

Thus we entered the renowned and beautiful city of Suldanessalar, capitol of the elves of Tethir.



Imoen: Nightmare


So we finally set out finish it all, to reclaim Darn?s soul and get some payback from Irenicus. As we traveled southwards, I began more and more to feel that I wouldn?t find peace, but had just left it behind me. The keep had been like a new home, a safe haven, where I found at least some peace. And now we left it, but where would we go and where would it end?

I took the time to be with Darn, talk to him about this and that. Once Keldorn approached us and we had some serious talking concerning our relationship. Darn also told me that he believed now that we two weren?t real siblings at all, because Bhaal probably hadn?t used the same bodies, when he raped our mothers.

We camped about halfway and I fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the long march. And in the night, dreams came to me, nightmares.

First I saw myself sitting on the floor, my knees drawn up to my chin. And then I realized that there was something wet on my clothes and when I looked I saw? blood. Suddenly I realized that my body hurt, pain seemed to be everywhere. And finally I realized that I was back in my cell in Spellhold.

In front of me the head of Irenicus hovered, but without having a body, blood dropping from where his shoulders would be. He should have been dead, but he opened his mouth and his eyes and?

?Here we are again, Imoen? Never will you be free of me; never will you forget the pain? I will haunt you all your life, Imoen.?

Suddenly my body began to tremble and shake automatically and I saw flashes of lightning flow through my body. And then I felt, how I burned from the inside, how the electricity began to turn my insides into ashes. Screaming, I tried to wake up, but I didn?t.

But it didn?t end there, suddenly everything changed and I was in total darkness, only those horrible, yellow eyes glaring at me. I knew those eyes, the eyes of my father, the eyes of Bhaal.

And then the figure in armor emerged from the darkness, suddenly surrounded by flames and demons behind it.

?Welcome to my realm, my daughter. Welcome to hell. Accept my gift, daughter. I am in you, take, what is yours!?

?No, I don?t want this, leave me! I don?t want anything from ya!?

?Stupid bitch, I?m going to force you to accept it, I am going to destroy you!?

?Together with Darn I?ll be able t? fight ya!?

?This idiot brother of yours, who hasn?t accepted my gifts? I am going to destroy him? through you! Watch!?

Suddenly Darn stood in front of Bhaal and Bhaal turned into the slayer beast. And he? he slaughter Darn, he ripped him to pieces, while I screamed and attacked the beast, but my fists seemed to hit empty air.

?See, my daughter? See my power, accept it! You will be mine, whether you want it or not! I will consume you!?

Then the slayer turned to me, advancing towards me and only one thing in mind: to kill me, to destroy me and then consume me, until only it was left.

I backed away, but soon hit a wall of demons, who threw me at the feet of the slayer. I screamed and tried to get up again, but the slayer grabbed me and hit me with its claws, bit me and scratched me. Finally it opened its huge fangs and brought me nearer and nearer. I tried to get free, but I couldn?t, the teeth came closer and closer, until I was in its mouth and it closed it, its teeth penetrating my body, crushing me.

Before it could kill me, I suddenly was on the laboratory table of Irenicus; he bent himself over me, a knife in his hand.

?How long can you live without a heart??

He thrust his knife into my chest and began to cut, cutting all around my heart and finally grabbing it and tearing it out with his bare hands. He held it there, it was still pumping, while I whimpered in pain, as my vision slowly faded and all became dark?

But the dream wasn?t over. In a dream one cannot die. Again things grew brighter and I was in my cell, sitting there, still feeling the pain in my chest. And then the door opened slowly and?

There he was, the man who had raped me! He was standing there, right next to Irenicus, his lustful glances moving over my body, desiring me, wanting to force himself into me, whether I wanted or not. No, no, not again, not again! I wouldn?t submit to this again, nobody would ever do that to me again!

This time I would fight, he wouldn?t be able to overcome me! I stood up, trying to ignore the pain, which wanted to immobilize me.

?You won?t do this again t? me, Irenicus! Never!?

?But I will, Imoen, over and over again, until it destroys you??

The man moved towards me, his hands ready to grab me, but I stood firm, my hands formed into fists and when he was near enough, I hit him as hard as I could. But he didn?t seem to be able to feel anything; he put his hands around me, grabbed me and lifted me up, while I kept hitting him. What kind of magic was this? What new horror had Irenicus invented here? How had he been able to make this man immune to pain?

He threw me down on the pallet, held me down and? It happened again, there was nothing I could do, but to endure it, while Irenicus stared at me, emotionless, observing the scene. But this time I wasn?t even able to turn into the slayer beast, as if all my powers had left me. And then Bhaal stood next to Irenicus.

?Now you?d like to have your powers back, don?t you? But you rejected them and this is the price you pay. Every time you fall asleep it will happen to you, over and over again, because you fight me! It will happen, until you finally accept, who you are!?

First I didn?t realize that I was awake, I just saw this face, thought that it was this man and that he was still...

?Leave me, please, leave me, I can?t no longer??

But it was Darn and I heard his voice: ?Im, it?s me, nothing?s going to happen to you, you hear me?

I tried to see through the darkness, stared at the face and then finally recognized him.

?Darn, I? Irenicus, he? I saw ?im, Darn, it happened all over again? The pain, it didn?t stop, it just grew more an? more? An? ?is face, he just glared at me, like I?m some object, an? he cut an? cut an? cut? An? then he brought in the man??

I just screamed, terror consuming me, as I remembered the words of Bhaal, my whole body was trembling, cold sweat broke out. Darn embraced me closely and kissed me, tried to calm me down.

?Listen to me, Im, I am here and I always be here, understand? Whatever is in you, we can face it together and together we will able to beat it. Draw from my strength, Im, as I draw from yours. I can beat the evil inside of me because of you. You can beat the memories and the pain inside of you because of me, believe me, Im.?

I tried to believe him, but I remembered the vision I had earlier, when I was dead and Darn turned into this brutal tyrant, slaughtering everyone, who refused to follow him. What if one day I was gone? Would he be able to continue fight the evil inside?

Still, in his arms I found comfort and finally peace. Next time I fell asleep, no nightmares haunted me.

Next day we reached Elhan, who led us to the forests of Tethir. And there indeed with the help of the Rynn Lathorne we were able to enter the city of Suldanessalar.



Darnoc: Suldanessalar


War was raging in the city of Suldanessalar, the signs were everywhere. Some of the beautiful houses were burning and I could make out several demons and Rakshasas attacking elven warriors and civilians. But the fight wasn?t lost yet; some elves had barricaded themselves in several places and held them.

Elhan looked at the scene and didn?t like what he saw. Especially the fact that some of the Rakshasas used firearms, the ones I had seen when I had met Irenicus in my dreams. Irenicus had armed his followers with his new, enhanced weapons. I definitely had underestimated his powers.

?So, what do we do now?? I asked Elhan.

?We need to find the queen Ellesime and the high priestess Demin. This must be our first priority.?

?I rather meant the demons and Rakshasas.?

Elhan looked at his enemies and finally shook his head.

?We never thought against such weapons, but we are still in possession of powerful magic and our skills as archers are renowned. Perhaps we stand a chance against them still.?

I turned around to my companions and looked at them gravely.

?Well, this is it, now you?ve got a chance to prove, how good you are with the new weapons. It will be a tough fight for all of us, but as a team we might succeed. Keldorn, Minsc and Anomen, you come with me up front, load your fire-tubes and fire-spiters. Aerie, Im, stay behind us, use your weapons, but especially your magic, we will need it.?

I ordered Keldorn, Anomen and Minsc to form a line with me, so we could fire volleys on any oncoming enemy. The elven elite warriors spread out and went ahead, while our group advanced slower.

The house of the high priestess was a little to the west and was surrounded by several demons. We could see Demin stand in front of her house, trying to fight them off.

?Guys, let?s get moving! The high priestess needs our help!?

We began to run towards her house and arrived just in time. Firing a volley we shot down three demons, reloaded quickly and fired again, taking out the other two.

Demin came down to us.

?Quick, you need to summon Rillifane, spirit of the woods. Only he can help us now!? she shouted towards us.

I looked puzzled at her.

?What do you mean high priestess??

?Irenicus has gotten into the palace and taken the queen hostage. He is at the tree of life and tries to steal its essence. We must act quickly, but only Rillifane has the power to destroy those demons Irenicus summoned. You need to find the talisman of Rillifane, the moon blade and the cup of life in order to summon the protector of the woods.?

?But where might we find those objects?? Keldorn asked her.

?A little to the east you will find the house of the talisman. The house of the moon is in the centre of Suldanessalar. The cup is guarded by the black dragon Nizidramanii?yt on the glade to the west. Be quick, humans.?

The talisman was just lying in the house the high priestess mentioned. The blade of the moon was another thing. When we entered the house, an elven warrior held it in his hand, facing a demon.

?Give it to me, elf, or you shall die!? the demon snarled at the warrior.

?I will rather die than do this! Feel the power of the blade, creature from the abyss!?

He attacked the demon head on and when the blade hit it, both the demon and the elf vanished in a bolt of violet light. I took the moon blade and we continued to the glade.

Nizidramanii?yt looked a little like Firkraag, but he was smaller and had black scales instead of red ones.

He looked at us as if we were food for him.

?Oh, good, good, the master sends more food for me.?

?I am sorry to say so, but we aren?t here on purpose to serve as your nourishment, oh mighty Nizidramanii?yt, although being of service in any way to such a powerful dragon as yourself is an honor beyond any I know? I replied; dragons always loved flattering.

?Ah, your tongue speaks well, human. Perhaps I shall spare you for now. But if you are not here to feed me, what is the purpose of your visit??

?Oh mighty Nizidramanii?yt, Irenicus has ordered you to guard a valuable artifact. Certainly, such a wise and powerful dragon as you has no need to take orders from the likes as Irenicus.?

The black dragon looked at me proudly, clearly flattered.

?Of course not, it is by my own will that I guard this treasure. And of course because of the payment my master has promised me.?

?Although such a mighty one as you has no need for payment, you could simply take what you want.?

The dragon?s eyes glared at those words.

?Ah, I see the truth in your words, human. Of course, I mustn?t let this elf command me. It makes a bad impression, if he pays me.?

?I praise your wisdom for realizing this, oh mighty Nizidramanii?yt.?

?And it is well that you do, for am I not counted among the wisest beings on Toril??

And with this he pranced past us, not even looking at us. I, of course, immediately took the cup of life. Now we had all the needed objects.

We headed back to the east, where the temple stood. From afar we could see that several Rakshasas were standing outside, holding firearms in their hands. And they could shoot several times without reloading, a great advantage, which we did not possess.

?What do we do now?? Aerie asked.

?Don?t you have any magical solution to help us out here?? I asked her and Im.

?Hm, there?s somethin? I could try out. Cloud o? death, makes them unconscious. But I need some time t? conjure the spell, ya need t? divert ?em for a while.?

Looking at the area, I tried to devise a plan for our attack. Finally, I had an idea: We could use the house next to the temple as cover and attack the Rakshasas with our firearms, while Im conjured the spell on them.

Running low we managed to get to that house without being noticed. I glanced around the corner and saw that the Rakshasas weren?t really on guard.

?Im, now!?

I aimed at one of the Rakshasas and shot him through the head, quickly taking cover again afterwards. The three other warriors in our group acted similar and thus we shot, took cover, reloaded and shot again, while Im began to conjure her spell. Of course, the Rakshasas were trying to shoot us too, but didn?t hit.

Finally Im finished the conjuring and suddenly a dense, green cloud appeared amidst the Rakshasa, they all fell to the ground, unconscious.

?Now?s our chance, kill them all!? I shouted.

We shot the unconscious Rakshasas and then waited, until the cloud of death had finally vanished. Now we could enter the temple.

Inside I placed all three sacred objects on the altar. First nothing happened, but then a kind of mist appeared next to the altar, changing into a form more and more. The figure looked a little like an elf, but it had leaves instead of hair and was taller than an ordinary elf. Leaves also covered its body, like fur.

?I know why you seek my help, human? the avatar of Rillifane began.

?Oh, you do? Then how can you help me??

?Listen, Irenicus is trying to steal the power from the tree of life. I cannot help you against him, but my spirits can take care of Irenicus? minions. You must free queen Ellesime and thus break Irenicus? connection with the tree. Go to the palace, you will find a stair there, which will lead you to the tree.?

When we left the temple, we witnessed, how the spirits of Rillifane appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the demons and Rakshasas by simply touching them. We went towards the palace, where we were awaited by Elhan.

?Irenicus is at the tree of life? he explained.

?I already know, Rillifane has explained it to me. Now I will go there and confront Irenicus, reclaiming my soul from him.?

?Then I wish you the best of luck, Darnoc.?

Im took my hand and pressed it firmly, as if to assure me of her presence.

?We?ll get yar soul back, Darn, don?t ya worry? she whispered.

The palace was not what I would have expected. The inside looked like a beautiful, lush forest, a waterfall gently flowing down at its northern wall. And next to it there was stair leading down. There we would find the tree of life and Irenicus.

I turned around and looked at my companions, who had traveled faithfully with me through all our perils.

Keldorn, holding a fire-tube in his hand and the sword Carsomyr attached with leather straps to his back, looked firmly and gravely at me.

?Keldorn, you have always been a trustworthy and dear companion. Never will I forget your wisdom and your kindness. But this is not your fight, if you wish to leave now I will not blame you at all.?

He stepped over to me and put his hand onto my shoulder.

?Never have I abandoned a companion in need and I won?t start now, my friend.?

Then I looked at Minsc and Aerie, who stood close to each other, holding their hands and smiling at me, while Boo was sitting on Minsc?s shoulder.

?My dear Aerie and also Minsc, you two have a life together. Please, do not throw away so lightly what you have gained.?

They also stepped up to me and smiled warmly.

?We could never do such a thing, Darnoc, too long have we traveled together and have helped each other. And what would I say to Imoen?? Aerie explained.

?Boo would never forgive me and also not my dear Aerie, if I would abandon you and such a mighty task. Irenicus must feel the point of my sword penetrating his evil body! He must pay for all the horrible things he has done to you and Imoen!? Minsc added.

I turned to Anomen, who had remained a little apart.

?Anomen, my dear friend, you are yet young and have a life ahead of you. I also know that you and Nalia have something? Go to her, for you need each other!?

He took my hand with both his hands and smiled.

?Darnoc, I cannot recount the countless times you have helped me. I think it is only fair that I help you now.?

Finally I turned to Im and looked into her brown, beautiful eyes, taking her hand.

?Im, I don?t want anything to happen to you, you mean too much to me, I love you from the depths of my heart. Please, don?t come with me, if you died, I would never forgive myself. You have your soul now; there is no need for you to come with me. Take your soul with you, it shall be like a part of my soul was going with you, for we are one.?

She approached me, until she stood right before me, her nose almost touching mine, so I could feel her warm breath on my skin. Closer and closer she came, until her lips touched mine. Closing my eyes I responded to her kiss, put my arms around her and pressed her body tightly against mine, kissing her with increasing passion.

Finally she pulled away a little, her breath going fast, held my hands and looked deep into my eyes.

?Just so ya remember, how much I love ya, Darn. Never forget it, my love, never forget it! We?re one, ya said it an? that?s why I can?t leave ya. I?d even follow ya t? hell, Darn.?

I gently stroked her cheek, looking at her. There were scars and the deepest of them in her soul. They would never leave her completely. Some wounds time cannot mend. Tears entered my eyes, as I remembered, what Irenicus had put her through. Finally we would be able to pay everything back!

We walked down the stairs and at their end reached the tree of life. It was a huge tree, its branches covering a large area, growing chaotically all over the place. And in front of us stood a tall and beautiful figure with golden hair, a female elf: Queen Ellesime. At least her spirit, for she looked somewhat faint.

?Quick, you must help me! Irenicus is stealing the trees power and soon it will be accomplished. He uses parasites to suck away the tree?s power; you must destroy them, for as long as they are in place, you will not be able to harm Irenicus.?

And with this Ellesime vanished again. I looked around and saw immediately, what she had meant with ?parasites?. Several strange objects were attached to the tree and I could see a kind of juice flow into them from the tree.

We approached all three of the parasites and destroyed them with our swords, for we had to cut them off the tree. It was not easy, since their skin was hard and they were firmly attached to the tree.

But finally we managed and then we went towards the stem of the tree, where I could make out the figure of Irenicus. Next to him stood a wooden cage, in which I saw Ellesime. But suddenly the door of the cage opened and Ellesime stepped out. Irenicus, hearing the noise, turned around and looked at Ellesime in surprise.

?How is that possible? What has happened??

?The son of Bhaal has destroyed the parasites, your plan has failed, Joneleth! I beg you, is there nothing left in your heart of your older self? Do you not remember our love, long past? If you would only have tried to realize your mistakes, we would have welcomed you again and given back, what is rightfully yours.?

Irenicus didn?t reply anything for a long time, he seemed to think and reflect.

?No, there is nothing. I have tried, Ellesime, I have tried to remember, but after you took away my soul, there was no way; I couldn?t bring the feelings back anymore. There was only one thing left: my determination. I would get my revenge. I will get my revenge!?

Ellesime shook her head, sadness in her eyes.

?Then it is true, you are no longer Joneleth of the elves, but have become Irenicus.?

I stepped up to the two and asked: ?Although I don?t wish to interrupt this reunion, could someone explain to me, what the hell you are talking about??

Irenicus turned around to me, looking at me, hate in his eyes. I was startled, for I never had seen any kind of feeling in them. But now he had my soul and that gave him back, what he had lost.

?You have proven more resourceful than I would have thought, Darnoc.?

?Oh, you clearly underestimated my powers, Irenicus. I am here to reclaim, what is mine. Give back my soul!?

?Once already you have tried to steal the powers of the tree of life and we have banished you for it, Irenicus. Although I must admit that your sister has seduced you to do it, your crime was still unforgivable. I will not stand by and let you repeat it!? Ellesime said firmly.

?Bodhi is dead, your majesty? I explained.

?So, she finally has found her just end??

?I will avenge my sister; you will pay for this, both of you, Darnoc and Imoen!? Irenicus screamed in a sudden emotional outbreak.

?An? don?t we ?ave a right t? avenge us for all the thin?s ya done t? us, Irenicus? I remember every last bit o? it, ya son o? a bitch, ya bastard! I remember the knives, the spells, the sick experiments and the rape! An? I?ll never forget, Irenicus, ya piece of shit, I?m gonna fuckin? kill ya for it!? Imoen screamed back, her eyes flashing full of hatred.

My eyes glared in a cold hatred, as I drew out my fire-spiter and pointed it at him. But Irenicus just laughed and took out his advanced fire-spiter.

?I have created a better weapon already, Darnoc; you stand no chance against me and my powers! I will not let you and Imoen destroy my plans!?

?If you are indeed so powerful, why didn?t you calculate the future, as I did? I am able to see it all; I can see the paths of time and probability. Can you, Irenicus??

?Yes, I have done so! The calculations lead to only one conclusion: A being will assemble all power in the multiverse, becoming the only god in the process, the perfect being, which will change the multiverse for ever. And I will be this being, it is inevitable!?

I laughed triumphantly.

?Your calculations are incomplete, my dear Irenicus. Yes, my calculations lead also to this conclusion, the probability is more than 90%. But it won?t be you. I have also calculated that the chance of your death is 95.438%. You will not survive the coming fight, Irenicus!?

Irenicus stared at me in horror, his thoughts racing.

?Damn it, you are correct! But there is still a 5% chance that you will die and I will live. And I will ensure that this is going to happen!?

Ellesime quickly glanced at me.

?I will leave you two and assemble my warriors. Elhan is near, I can feel him. Do not fret, son of Bhaal, help will come soon.?

And with this she teleported away.

Irenicus glared at me and at Imoen, trying to find a way, which ensured his survival. We were all armed and he was outnumbered, although he had superior weapons and was a powerful magician.

Suddenly he raised his fire-spiter and shot at me, but the shot was badly aimed and he didn?t hit me mortally. The bullet penetrated my left breast, ripping a hole into my lung. I stumbled and fell to my knees; bloody foam began to appear in my mouth, as I struggled with my breath.

Im screamed and then began to conjure a finger of death, while Keldorn, Minsc and Anomen shot at Irenicus, who had thrown himself down on the ground, the shots passing above him. Aerie shot a stone at him with her sling, hitting him into the back.

I tried to stay conscious and saw, how Im released her spell, but it just bounced off Irenicus, not harming him the least. He aimed now at Im and shot, but she had ducked before he had pulled the trigger, so the shot only grazed her shoulder. Still, she gave a short scream and momentarily lost her balance.

Keldorn had reloaded the quickest and shot again, hitting Irenicus? leg. Irenicus screamed in pain and fell to the ground, his fire-spiter falling out of his hand. Desperately he tried to find it again, but I finally managed to raise my own fire-spiter and shoot at him. The bullet penetrated his chest; he stared in horror at me.

?I? no, this is not possible? I cannot??

And with this he died.

Suddenly something strange happened. Something seemed to pull me, darkness began to take me and I felt, as if something dragged me downwards.



Imoen: The tree of life


The city of Suldanessalar was a combat zone. Rakshasas and demons battled the elves all over it and we went straight into the fight. We helped out high priestess Demin, who then told us that we needed to summon the spirit of the forest, Rillifane, but this could only be accomplished with the help of three objects. Two we found quite easily, but the third one, the cup of life, was guarded by a black dragon. Darn was able to talk him out of guarding it, though, by flattering him.

With the help of the three objects we summoned Rillifane, who sent his spirits to battle the enemies of the elves. But still Irenicus was at the tree of life. Before we descended to the tree, Darn asked all of us, if we really wanted to come. Of course we all did, but I appreciated the gesture.

The tree of life was impressive, it was just huge, gigantic, I never had seen anything like it. The spirit of Ellesime appeared to us and told us that Irenicus used parasites to suck out the essence of the tree of life. We of course immediately went to destroy them.

Finally we confronted Irenicus. I was ready now. Although I always tried to battle my father?s essence, I hated Irenicus with all my heart and I wanted to kill him. There was this dark spot in me, where I longed for revenge. And it began to take over.

In that place Irenicus? history was finally revealed to us. He had been once the lover of Ellesime, the queen of the elves, but had been seduced by his sister Bodhi to try to use the essence of the tree of life in order to reach power beyond any of the gods. His scheme had been unsuccessful and as punishment his and Bodhi?s soul had been taken Ellesime tried to reawaken his old nature, but Irenicus was beyond any such thing.

Irenicus also talked to Darn. He now was in possession of emotions again and when Darn revealed to him that Bodhi was dead, he swore revenge upon me and Darn. My hate and anger was kindled at those words, he had done far worse to us two and now he got angry, when we came for payback?

When Darn pointed his fire-spiter at him, Irenicus took out an improved version. And then they had a very fascinating conversation. It seemed as if their powers have grown so much that they were able to calculate their own future and Darn revealed to Irenicus that the probability of Irenicus? death was very likely.

After Ellesime had teleported away to fetch her elven warriors, the fight began. Irenicus shot at Darn and I tried to use a finger of death on him, without success. Irenicus now shot at me, but I was able to duck before he released the trigger and the bullet only grazed my shoulder. Still, the sudden pain unbalanced me for a moment. And then Darn raised his fire-spiter and shot Irenicus right into his chest.

When Irenicus died, something strange happened. First Darn fell forward onto his face, dead. I rushed to him, giving a scream of dismay, but then I felt something pull me and then all became dark.

Edited by Darnoc, 09 February 2006 - 01:44 PM.

[Darnoc]

Darnoc: Hell


There was darkness all around me. Slowly, my eyes adapted to my surroundings and I began to notice details. I could see fires and a square in front of me, some stairs leading away from it. But when I turned around, I saw the most astonishing thing: A huge door of stone, on it a golden skull surrounded by five dents in form of tears. It was the sign of my father, Bhaal.

Suddenly mists appeared beside me, forming into my companions.

?What?? Where??? I tried to ask.

Keldorn looked around and then answered: ?I believe that we are in hell, my friend.?

?In hell? Then there will be many evil things for me and Boo to kill!? Minsc commented.

?But? but how come that we?re in hell?? Im asked.

?I guess that when Irenicus died with Darnoc?s soul in his body, Darnoc was dragged after it and he dragged us with him? Aerie tried to explain.

I began to think, what this meant for us. The realm of my father, finally I saw it. But this wasn?t a real place like what we called ?real?. Here only the mind granted power. If I would meet Irenicus somewhere here, the battle between us two would be spiritual.

?If we are here, we might just explore this realm of evil? Anomen suggested.

?Right you are, let?s do this!? I noted.

We walked over the square and towards the stairs on the right of us. Walking down, the light grew brighter, for we came to a river of lava running down in the gorge beside the stairs. The stairs themselves led to the entrance of a cave.

?What ?re we gonna find in there?? Im asked me.

She had felt it too. Something seemed to pull me down, like a heavy weight. Something awaited us in there, something grave and sinister. So I took Im?s hand, squeezing it a little. She looked at me, smiling.

?Together, Im, let?s enter!?

?Yeah, we?ll manage everythin? together, Darn. Remember, I said that I would even follow ya t? hell? Didn?t think that it would really happen, though??

Inside the cave we were greeted by a big, strong demon with huge wings, its eyes glittering with pride and arrogance.

?Welcome, son of Bhaal, in the realm of your father! In order to reclaim your soul, you must open the doors upstairs. This you will accomplish by putting in the golden tears into the dents. One of those tears is in this cave, guarded by a fierce and terrible creature. But you, Darnoc, are strong and mighty, you will be able to conquer it! No one can stand before your power, claim what is yours!?

Something wasn?t right here, why was this demon flattering me?

?What kind of beast is this??

He looked disappointed at me.

?Are you afraid, Darnoc? I would have thought more of you.?

?Just answer the question, demon.?

?Alright, it is a dragon. You already have killed one of them and this beast is no match for you, Darnoc!?

?I have met dragon?s, with whom one could talk. Why shouldn?t it be like this with this dragon??

The demon looked desperately at me and then finally admitted: ?Yes, you could simply ask it and the dragon would give you the tear, Darnoc??

I walked past the demon into the back of the cave, where indeed there stood a black dragon.
?The demon told me that you are in possession of one of the tears. Would you be so kind to hand it over to me??

?Yes, of course, son of Bhaal, take what is yours? the dragon replied and gave me the golden tear.

Back at the gate I put the tear into one of the dents. And when I did this, I suddenly felt, as if I could withstand more than I could before. I felt, as if I would no longer have to fear the forces of nature, for they could no longer or not as much as before harm me.

The next stair led to another cave, where again a demon awaited us. But this one was black-bluish and full of thorns and with monstrous fangs, its eyes starring at me, as if it wanted to pierce me with them.

Its voice was almost like its appearance, sinister, evil, creeping and cold: ?Ah, so you have arrived, Darnoc. There are two ways you can get hold of your precious tear. You can take this cloak, created out of the skins of dryads and it will protect you from the horrors inside. Or you can face the monsters on your own, trusting in your own courage. What shall it be??

I would never take such an evil gift and that I told the demon.

?As you wish, but don?t say I haven?t warned you? the demon replied.

The beasts waiting back there were five beholders. Once such beasts might indeed have scarred me or been a threat to me, but no longer. One exploder took care of them, before one could even utter one single spell.

?Not much of a problem, those beholders. And they should scare us?? Anomen commented.
?Yeah, I don?t think they?re up to date down here? I replied.

Again I placed the tear into one of the dent and suddenly I had the distinct feeling, as if weapons would no longer be a threat to me. I could not tell how I came by this knowledge.

Down the third stair, a tall and haughty demon awaited us, looking at us with ?I am far better and more important than you?-look. Something very cruel and entirely selfish was in its look also.

?Ah, I greet you, son of Bhaal. There are two ways you can choose in order to reach the tear. Someone must bear the consequences, either you or one of your dear companions. What shall it be? If you go to my right, you shall be punished, but your companions will remain unharmed. But if you go to the left, one of your companions will die. Choose, son of Bhaal.?

I starred at my companions uneasily.

?Oh my, what shall we do? I don?t want ya t? come t? harm, Darn? But someone o? us killed that?s bad, it really is?? Im whispered.

There was only one way: I would not let my companions come to harm and face the consequences myself. They suffered enough for me.

Thus I entered the door to my right and suddenly felt pain in my whole body. It came immediately and without warning, I groaned and fell to the floor.

?Darn, what happened?? Im said, bending down next to me.

?I? I don?t know, there was suddenly pain??

?Ya alright??

?Yeah, yeah, it passed, don?t worry.?

Slowly I stood up and realized that there was another door in front of me. So I stepped to it, opened it and walked through. Suddenly I was aware that my ability to move fast and nimbly was suddenly reduced somewhat. My quick reflexes had abandoned me.

Now clearly afraid I starred at the last door and slowly began marching towards it. My hands touched it and pushed it open, slowly I rose my right foot and stepped through. And what came now, was hardest to bear. Suddenly I realized that I had forgotten things, but I couldn?t remember what. It was an awful feeling, this knowledge. It plagued me since then; often I brooded about what exactly I lost. Always I hoped that it was nothing I had experienced with Im; I couldn?t bear the thought of loosing a memory of her.

When I put in this tear, I had the feeling, as if magic would no longer do much harm to me and again this feeling seemed to pop out of nowhere.

The fourth stair led us to a cave filled with lava, a small, crooked and somewhat slimy demon awaiting us, its yellow eyes looking greedily at me.

?So you?ve come, Darnoc? There?s a being, you must face it and kill it. And I can give you the means to do it: Take this sword and slay this being, Darnoc.?

With this he handed a black and evil looking sword to me.

I walked across the cave and at its end I saw a genie waiting for us.

?Are you in possession of one of the tears of Bhaal??

?Indeed I am, but I cannot give it to you, Darnoc.?

?Why can?t you give it to me??

?The sword will liberate the tear. More I cannot tell you.?

What did this mean? This genie was talking in riddles. Perhaps, if I offered the sword to him?

?Here, take the sword, it is yours.?

The genie smiled, took the sword and in exchange gave me the tear. And then he vanished.

I put the tear into the dent and suddenly I felt that somehow my luck had changed to the better. My confidence had increased and I felt as if it would be now more difficult to harm me.

The final stair led us into a large hall of a cave. And on the other end, a surprise waited for us: My brother Sarevok in his armor, holding his sword.

?This cannot be, I killed you!? I shouted at him.

?You forget that you are in hell, dear brother. I have the final tear, but I won?t give it to you. You do not deserve it, you are not worthy of your father?s heritage. Prove to me that you accept your father?s gift and I will give you the tear! Turn into the slayer-beast and embrace your heritage!?

?No, I will not give in to my father?s will! Never, Sarevok, even if I have to kill you a second time!?

?Then perhaps you, Imoen, will embrace your father?s gifts??

Imoen shook her head defiantly.

Sarevok growled angrily.

?Then die, fools! Join each other in death, as you joined yourself in love during life!?

He raised his sword and charged. My hand moved down to my belt and took out my fire-spiter, which I raised and pointed at my charging brother. I pulled the trigger and my brother was flung backwards, a hole in his armor right where the chest was.

?You? you killed me again! I curse you; I curse you and your damned sister! Your love shall not last long, your fortune shall be short and your time together cut away before reaching their fullness! If I can?t have the life I deserved, you two shall not have it either!?

And with that he died? again. His last curse troubled me, though. Alas, they came true in the end?

Back upstairs I long starred at the door, realizing that if I put in the tear, the door would open and I would face Irenicus one last time. Thinking it through, I decided to give my companions and myself a break first, before we fought against Irenicus once again.

?Alright, listen to me; we?re going to take a rest, before we finish our business here. I guess we all need it.?

They all agreed to that and so we set up camp in hell. An odd feeling, but when thinking through it I couldn?t see any difference to other camps we had set up.

Im and I went away from the others; we both felt that we needed to talk in privacy.

?Look, Darn, what?re we gonna do after we beat Irenicus??

?Well? I guess we?ll return to the keep. Or did you have something else in mind, Im??

?Yeah, I ?ad. I think we need some time for ourselves, some time alone, without anyone else around us. Remember the vision we both ?ad down in Irenicus? dungeon? It?s so long ago, but I ?aven?t forgotten yet? I wanna find such a place, Darn. A place, where we?re gonna find some peace. An? where I perhaps finally forget.?

I looked at her worried.

?You still have nightmares, Im? I noticed, you know.?

She sighed and starred to the ground.

?Yeah, I still ?ave ?em. Every night, Darn. Every night I see it again an? again. But somehow, when we?re together, it?s easier t? bear, ya know. I think, in time it may pass.?

?I?ll help you as best as I can, Im, you know that. I will share with you what I have and take some of your pain. Together we?ll carry it, Im.?

I felt her soul right next to me; she stretched out to me, as if she tried to fill my emptiness with her soul, sharing some of it with me. Suddenly I saw it also, like she saw it every day and night. It was horrible, but I bore it for her. I had promised to help her and if she could load some of it into me, I would be better able to help her, for then I could understand her and realize what plagued her.

Although it were only seconds, it seemed like eternity, as I lived through endless torture, pain and suffering. No longer a story, but now part of myself, I finally realized the horror Im had gone through and which still haunted her. She was a strong personality, I realized, probably the strongest I ever met. Most people would have completely broken and perhaps even committed suicide, but she kept on going.

When she had finished filling her memories into me, sobs shook my body and I embraced her closely, seeking comfort in her arms.

?Im? I? I? I didn?t realize that?. that it was so horrible. Oh, Im? I?m so sorry, Im, that he put you through this, I will never forgive myself, Im? So horrible, the pain, Im, all this pain??

?There was nothing ya could ?ave done, Darn, so say no more. I?m glad ya came in the end an? I?ll never forget it. But now ya know, ya understand, don?t ya, Darn??

I nodded, I indeed understood now. Although Im tried to conceal it from the others, something was indeed broken inside of her, something which probably never would mend entirely. There are some wounds, which never will heal. And hers were of that kind. But now I shared them with her and this made it easier for her. More and more it seemed that we truly were one single being and no longer two.

She stroked my hair with her right hand and kissed my eyebrows, her left hand on my shoulder, wandering slowly down my back. I felt her pain, but now it was also my pain, binding us even more together. My fingers moved over her cheeks and her lips, finally I hugged her closely and put my face next to hers, my nose in her hair, smelling it. She moved her hand under my shirt (my armor I had taken off at the camp) and touched my skin, while kissing my cheek and then finally my lips. Feeling her warm, soft and sweet lips, my longing grew, her hand sent shivers down my back, as it touched my skin. So I began to respond to her kiss, more and more passionately, sweat began to run down my face and on hers.

Not usually the place associated with love, but we didn?t care where we were. I loved her and it was responded, even if this was hell, where all hope has left and only despair remains. In that moment I forgot where we were completely, only noticing her and my wanting, growing and growing. Perhaps it was the glimmer of hope, which had arisen in me, the glimmer of hope that I soon would have my soul back. For I already had her souls beside me, inside me, around me, giving me strength. Without our mutual love, we both long would have perished, as Irenicus had planned it. But together we were able to hold back the evil wanting to take control of us; together we were able to bear on.

I wanted her more than ever before, almost automatically my hand found its way downwards and began pulling of her shirt, while I still kissed her. Im, driven by the same sudden urge, took my hand and helped me take off this nuisance, which parted us. Finally freed of this artificial cover, I moved my hand over her bare and smooth skin and then lowered my head, kissing it, moving over it with my lips. Im reached over my back and pulled at my shirt, trying to take it over my head, so pulled away from her and let her do it. Then I put my arms around her and pulled her towards me, until our skins touched and were pressed closely together. I pushed her back a little, until she leaned against the nearby wall, where I again began to kiss her, this time on her shoulder and moving up to her throat.

Her hands reached down and she began tearing at my trousers, finally pulling them free. While I kissed her breasts, she began opening her trousers, but I moved her hand away and pulled them down myself.

Putting her hands on my shoulders in order to stabilize herself, she tried to move herself up, but didn?t manage, so I helped her by pushing her. She put her legs around my waist and I pressed her against the wall, entering and at the same time stabilizing her. My hands moved through her hair, my lips touched hers, her breath quickened, as I pushed into her, faster and faster. She gripped my shoulders hard, while I kissed her throat and a moan left her lips. Touching the drops of sweat on her warm and smooth skin, I put my arms around her head and pulled it towards me, thrusting into her. Again she moaned and I searched her lips with mine, finally finding them and kissing them, her moans silenced by my lips, her fast breath touching mine. Sweat covered our bodies as I released her lips and buried my face in her breasts, still thrusting in a more and more quickening rhythm, her hips moving with me, her moans going with the rhythm and finally reaching a crescendo in a scream of total ecstasy and delight, as I emptied into the warm inside of her body.

Still breathing fast, we still leaned against the wall, her head resting on my shoulders. Finally I put her down slowly on the floor and lay next to her, putting my arms around her, kissing her cheek, her fine and straight nose and finally her slightly red and gracefully, fully shaped lips. The floor was hard, but warm from the fires and lava in the gorges.

?I will never leave you, Im? Whatever happens, we will be together, even if it means to face exile and hardship. And whatever happens, never will my love for you end. I just wanted you to know that, because tomorrow? who knows? I am not so certain about beating Irenicus here??

She smiled and kissed me, stroking my hair.

?All that I knew, Darn, I feel the same? But there?s somethin?, I? I don?t know how t? tell ya??

I looked into her beautiful, brown eyes long and deep, trying to read her mind. Her feelings were clear, there was her love, bright and burning, but there was a dark sadness and a feeling of uncertainty.

?Try, Im??

?I? ya? Somethin? horrible?s gonna happen. Ya? changed. In the future. Don?t know when. There was evil in ya, a lot o? evil an? I shuddered when I saw, what happened. An? I wasn?t there, I wasn?t there? I should be at yar side, always, but I wasn?t there an? ya did all those horrible thin?s??

Tears began to run down her gentle face and I kissed them, trying to comfort her.

?The future isn?t written, Im. We?ll create our own future. I am going to make sure of that, I promise to you! We are going to have a future together, living together for all eternity.?

What fool had I been! My ambition to create this future led me into the trap, which I had tried to avoid. By trying to create the future, the future created me. And the results were horrible. But one is always wiser afterwards? Back then I was full of love and passion and Im was the only thing on my mind, nothing else mattered. I was blind. I was a fool.

I lay on my back and Im put her head onto my chest, so put my arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. Thus we slept peacefully, not heading the dangers ahead. These hours belonged to us and no evil thought disturbed them. Nothing could penetrate the barrier of our mutual love that night. We were one and soon we?d be whole.



Imoen: In Bhaal?s realm


When I could see something again, I found myself in a strange place. It was dark, but I could make out red and yellow light, the light of flames. My companions stood next to me and behind us was a huge door, the sign of Bhaal on it. But the tears were missing, where they should have been, there were only dents.

We discussed our situation. Somehow Irenicus? death had dragged Darn into hell and he had dragged us with him. We finally decided to explore this place.

There were five stairs leading away from the square we were on. We started with the one to the left. As we descended, I felt that something evil, dark and grave was awaiting us. Darn felt it too and took my hand. Together we kept on descending.

Inside the cave we finally entered, we were greeted by a demon, who set Darn the task to slay a mighty beast. Strangely the demon kept praising Darn?s skill as a warrior, as if he wanted to kindle pride in Darn. But Darn seemed to see through this scheme and asked, what kind of beast he had to fight. Finally the demon revealed that Darn could simply ask this creature in order to receive one of the missing tears. The beast, a black dragon, indeed gave the tear to Darn, without us having to fight him.

After placing the tear in one of the dents, we descended the next set of stairs. Another demon awaited us there and offered a cloak made of dryad skins to Darn, but he refused. The demon told us that something frightful awaited us, but it turned out to be just a group of beholders, of which Darn took quickly care with an exploder.

In the next cave a choice was offered to Darn: Either to go right and face all the consequences himself or go left and sacrifice one of his companions. Darn of course choose the right path, but it was difficult for him. At the first door he fell down, his face full of pain. At the next door he halted and looked at his fingers.

?I think I?ve lost some of my dexterity?, he muttered.

And finally, when we passed through the last door, his face turned into a mask of confusion and horror.

?I? they took away some of my memory!? he finally explained.

In the next cave the demon offered a powerful magical sword to Darn and told him that he needed it to slay the being in the cave. It was a genie and Darn found out that he simply could give the sword to the genie in order to receive the tear.

In the final cave came the greatest surprise: Sarevok awaited us. Our half-brother first told Darn that he wouldn?t give Darn the tear, because Darn had refused his father?s gift. He then asked me, if I wanted to accept it, but I also refused. And then he attacked us, but was quickly killed by Darn. With his last breath, he cursed me and Darn. He told us that our love wouldn?t last long and that he couldn?t have the life he deserved, we wouldn?t also.

Before Darn placed the last tear, we all agreed to take a rest. I and Darn moved a little away from the others, so we could talk. There were things I wanted to ask him; things about our future.

?Look, Darn, what?re we gonna do after we beat Irenicus??

?Well? I guess we?ll return to the keep. Or did you have something else in mind, Im??

Oh, indeed I had. If I was completely honest, I thought that we needed loneliness. For so long we both had endured hardship and suffering, I thought it was time for us to finally find some peace somewhere. A quiet, safe place, where we could both share our love, without having to worry. A place, where I finally could be free of those memories haunting me.

?You still have nightmares, Im? I noticed, you know.?

Every damn night I had them, they didn?t cease, they continued, didn?t stop. Perhaps Irenicus had been right and I would never be free of him. Still, when I was with Darn, somehow it was easier. Sometimes he was even able to drive the nightmares away. He then asked something, which I will never forget. He asked, if there was a possibility to share my pain. He wanted to receive my memories, so he could help me better.

So I spilled them over into his mind, all of it, every last bit of torture. It almost broke him, especially since it all came at once and he fell to the ground, sobbing. He got up and embraced me, burying his face in my breast, sobbing on.

?Im? I? I? I didn?t realize that?. that it was so horrible. Oh, Im? I?m so sorry, Im, that he put you through this, I will never forgive myself, Im? So horrible, the pain, Im, all this pain??

His words warmed my heart, he finally and truly understood now, we both shared everything now, there was nothing between us anymore, we became more and more one. My feelings for him replaced everything else that was there, my longing, my desire growing more and more. Even though this was hell, still our love shone bright, a flame, which couldn?t be extinguished, not by Bhaal, not by Irenicus, not by anyone.

Gently I kissed his eyebrows and stroked his hair, wanting to comfort him. My hand was on his shoulders, but I began moving it down his back, pulling him closer to me. He looked into my eyes and his hands touched my face, moved over it, my cheek, my eyebrows, my lips. And then he suddenly put his arms around me and pulled me towards him, putting his face next to mine, his cheek against mine and my face in his hair. My hand almost automatically moved down and under his shirt, feeling his bare, warm skin, while I began kissing his cheek, moving more and more forward until my lips met his, my tongue extending, touching his tongue and the inside of his warm, wet mouth, feeling his warm, soft lips against mine, smelling them, drinking them in. It was warm down here in hell and soon sweat began to break out on my whole body and on my face, also on his and I smelled the salty taste of it.

My longing grew and met his, our desire awoke and arose and our bodies locked together, growing warmer and warmer. There was nothing but him, nothing but our passionate desire, my wanting for him. His hand grabbed my shirt and began pulling it off and I helped him, wanting to get rid of everything which parted us. He touched my now bare skin, he felt its warmness, its smoothness and he began kissing it, while I pulled of his shirt. Now our skins were against each other directly, I felt the sweat on his body; we were pressed against each other.

Suddenly he pushed me softly against the wall and kissed me again, from my shoulder upward to my throat, nibbling at it. My hand reached down and pulled down his trousers, while he kissed my breasts, which began to harden. And then I opened my trousers and stripped them down, we were now finally freed from all artificial covers, our whole, naked bodies touching each other, feeling each other.

I wanted him to enter me; I wanted to feel him inside of me. So I tried to put my legs around his waist and with a little help of him I managed and then he pressed me against the wall and I felt him penetrate me. He touched my hair and pulled my head towards him, kissing me, thrusting him into me, faster and faster. My desire formed itself into a moan and again he kissed me. After a passionate kiss he released my lips and put his face against my breasts, using it to support himself and thrust stronger and faster, while my thighs moved with him, my moans of delight accompanying him, growing louder and louder until finally all inside of me seemed to explode in pure, unbearable delight and exited my mouth as a scream, while I felt how he emptied his essence into me, how he pulsated and filled me.

Still panting from our mutual labor I put my head onto his shoulder, resting and feeling this peace, the aftermath of this delight, but now quieter, gentler. After a while he moved me away from the wall and put me gently onto the floor, lying down beside me, putting his arms around me, kissing me softly.

He told me that we never would be separated, but then also expressed his worries concerning tomorrow?s fight. It was then that I finally explained my vision to him, how he had changed and how I hadn?t been there with him. He then said that the future wasn?t written and that we would shape our own future. This thought, this belief I keep in my heart, I hold onto it. Perhaps we really could shape our future; perhaps there was a chance for us?



Darnoc: Irenicus? end


Next morning I put in the last tear and suddenly felt as if now I could have a greater influence on people and be better able to learn from my experiences. And then the gates opened.

Irenicus stood behind them, looking as he always did.

?So, you followed me down here, Darnoc. Here we will finally decide whom your soul belongs to. Bu this battle is not a battle of weapons, it is a battle of will. Reality is not what it is elsewhere. And my will is strong, son of Bhaal.?

?Mine is too, Irenicus. Do not underestimate my determination, which is increased by Im?s love for me, the strength I draw from her. Together we are more than a match for you, Irenicus.?

?Yeah, we are, ya bastard! I?m gonna kick yar butt right where it belongs, Irenicus! Ya?ve made yar final move, there?s no escape now. An? believe me, we?re gonna take back what is ours.?

I felt, how my will melted together with Im?s, we were one will and one personality, with the power of two, facing Irenicus with my soul in him. As he realized this, for a moment I could see fear on his face, but just for a moment. Then he had himself under control again.

?You aren?t scaring me, you two! I?m going to destroy you both here and now! Come on; let us finish this once and for all!?

He immediately changed into the slayer-beast, but he seemed to have grown somewhat. The hate and rage inside of him seemed to give him even more power than before. He had become, what I had refused to become. A wave of pure hate stroke me and I stumbled back.

But then something happened. It seemed as if an invisible barrier was appearing around me and Im, holding back the power of Irenicus? hate. He screamed in disappointment and tried to increase his mental attack, but again was beaten back. I held Im?s hand close and our wills were united, fighting him off.

Im took out her bow and I my fire-spiter, we pointed our weapons at Irenicus and shot. Irenicus realized, what we were doing, and immediately used the power of his hate to hold back the projectiles.

?We need to break him, Im, help me!? I whispered.

She came closer to me and embraced me, kissing my lips. I responded and so we were locked together, our love rising like a burning flame, increasing in its heat and strength. And then we flung the emotions at Irenicus, like another projectile. Irenicus screamed in terror, as he realized, how his defenses of hate were crushed by our passionate love. He was powerful, yes, but he was also alone, while we were together. Alone he couldn?t face us two, couldn?t fight back our love.

We forced our passion and love onto him, fighting against the feelings of hate he was building up against us. Slowly the projectiles of our weapons, Im?s lightning and my bullet, were closing in on him. With a final scream his defensive barrier of hate broke and the projectiles continued their path, with increased speed, the power of my and Im?s union forcing them onwards. They both hit Irenicus and he was at the same time shaken by electricity and flung backwards by the force of my bullet.

I and Im stepped towards his broken body. He was still alive, but just barely. But his eyes still reflected his hate against us.

?So you think you?ve defeated me? You may have won over me, children of Bhaal, but my revenge will come eventually.?

?You are a dying elf, nothing more, Irenicus. You no longer hold any power over our destinies and soon I?ll have my soul back.?

?Fool! I have seen your future, Darnoc, and it won?t be a happy one together with your beloved Imoen. Your love, which defeated me, shall in the end be defeated itself. You will bring ruin upon yourself and Im, Darnoc. You will destroy everything, you and Im are both just the pawns in a game of greater powers. And you will not be able to escape it.?

?Don?t ya say that, we?ll create our own future an? ya won? haunt us anymore, Irenicus! We?ve defeated ya entirely. We?ll decide upon our destinies, Irenicus. No one will take us apart, no one, d?ya hear! If someone tries, I?m gonna kill the bastard!? Im screamed at him.

Irenicus laughed viciously.

?Silly little girl, do you really think you can cheat destiny itself? Do you really think that no one can destroy your union? Oh, and concerning me haunting you: I will haunt you your whole life. Never will you be free of me; never will you forget what I have done to you. Do you really think that I haven?t studied the nature of intelligent beings and their psyches? I have, Imoen, I have thoroughly and my experiments were all based on my findings. And as you know, I have been successful. Never will you be free; I have left my marks in your soul forever.?

Still laughing silently, his laugh faded and finally stopped in a choke. Irenicus? was dead and this time for good. Suddenly I felt how a power flowed from him to me; I felt the void inside of me being filled. My soul was back where it should have stayed and immediately it reached out to Im?s soul, uniting itself with hers. No we two were completely one, body, spirit and soul.

Suddenly everything vanished and was replaced by the palace of Suldanessalar. In front of me stood Ellesime and behind me a group of elven nobles, among them Elhan. My companions stood besides me, Im standing left of me.

?Finally you have returned. Your friends we could bring back fairly quick, but you and Imoen? It took some time. Somehow your souls had difficulty coming back, because they are tied together.?

?Then? then everythin? really happened?? Im asked.

But there had been no need to. We both felt that it was true and feelings of joy and happiness filled us both. We just were a little shocked that it finally had happened and that now we were together.

No longer caring about what anyone would think of us, we kissed each other right there, sharing our joy with the other. We were free and perhaps now would be able to find peace. I hoped it back then, desperately. And for some time it even seemed as if it would came true.

For several weeks I and Im lived together in the city of the elves, not heading what happened around us anymore. For those weeks, we had found a place of peace. But alas, it was only in order to prepare us for what should come. It wasn?t over yet, our struggle not completed, the curse not broken. We were still children of Bhaal and our father?s blood still ran through our veins, cursing us with evil. For some time we had found a place, where evil was locked out for at least a while. But soon it caught up again with us.



Imoen: Revenge


In the morning, Darn placed the last tear and the door opened, Irenicus standing behind it. Finally we would end this; finally we would get our revenge.

?So, you followed me down here, Darnoc. Here we will finally decide whom your soul belongs to. Bu this battle is not a battle of weapons, it is a battle of will. Reality is not what it is elsewhere. And my will is strong, son of Bhaal? Irenicus explained in his cold voice.

Just you wait, Irenicus, we?re going to see, whose will is stronger here! You are a cold-blooded, cruel bastard, who knows, what he wants. But I and Darn, we have something you have lost long ago: love. And together we would destroy you!

My and Darn?s will melted together, we became one, focusing our power on Irenicus. And he was afraid, I could see it, he knew that we were stronger.

?You aren?t scaring me, you two! I?m going to destroy you both here and now! Come on; let us finish this once and for all!?

Whom did he want to fool? Not me!

Irenicus changed into the slayer beast, but he was bigger than Darn had been, when he had changed into it. It indeed seemed as if Irenicus had increased his powers. And then hate struck me like a bolt of lightning, making me stumble backwards. I only didn?t fall, because I managed to grab Darn?s hand.

I stretched my soul towards Darn and he took it, embraced it. Our love began to surround as and protect us from Irenicus? hate, he couldn?t penetrate this barrier.

We pulled out our weapons and shot at Irenicus, but he formed his hate into a barrier and was able to hold our projectiles.

Darn whispered to me: ?We need to break him, Im, help me!?

I stepped up to him, he embraced me and we kissed each other passionately, feeling our love, fueling the flame inside of us. It was too much for Irenicus, he couldn?t withstand this power, he screamed and then the projectiles moved at him, gaining speed and hitting him.

He wasn?t dead yet, but almost.

?So you think you?ve defeated me? You may have won over me, children of Bhaal, but my revenge will come eventually? he said full of hate.

Darn answered in a cold voice, knowing that Irenicus no longer had any power: ?You are a dying elf, nothing more, Irenicus. You no longer hold any power over our destinies and soon I?ll have my soul back.?

Irenicus laughed and exclaimed: ?Fool! I have seen your future, Darnoc, and it won?t be a happy one together with your beloved Imoen. Your love, which defeated me, shall in the end be defeated itself. You will bring ruin upon yourself and Im, Darnoc. You will destroy everything, you and Im are both just the pawns in a game of greater powers. And you will not be able to escape it.?

He had no power left, he wouldn?t define our future, he would stop haunt me! He was nothing more than a broken, dying elf! He wouldn?t mess with our future, we would form it ourselves, I and Darn would create it together! And I screamed this at him.

Again Irenicus laughed, as if he knew something we didn?t, as if we were fools, not seeing the truth.

?Silly little girl, do you really think you can cheat destiny itself? Do you really think that no one can destroy your union? Oh, and concerning me haunting you: I will haunt you your whole life. Never will you be free of me; never will you forget what I have done to you. Do you really think that I haven?t studied the nature of intelligent beings and their psyches? I have, Imoen, I have thoroughly and my experiments were all based on my findings. And as you know, I have been successful. Never will you be free; I have left my marks in your soul forever.?

Although he finally died after these words, I felt deep inside that he was right. Never would I be completely free of him. The scars he gave me, not only the visible ones, would stay forever with me and form me. I was no longer the same Imoen I had been before, I was, what he had made out of me and what I had tried to save from this disaster. Before I had been a joyful, mischievous girl, until he had broken me. I had tried to put it together, but hadn?t managed. The result was something different. I still could be cheerful and funny, but inside there was a sadness, something dark, which stayed. Was this, what they called ?being mature?? I guess that it was. But wouldn?t this mean that most people never became mature at all?

Gorion had once called me ?the eternal child?, shaking his head at me. I guess not so eternal after all?

Once Irenicus was dead, hell vanished and was replaced by the beautiful inside of the palace in Suldanessalar. I was lying on the floor, next to my companions and looked into the faces of several elves.

?They have awakened, finally, your majesty!? an elf exclaimed.

An elf helped me up and I saw Darn beside me, also just being helped up by an elf. Queen Ellesime stood in front of us.

?Finally you have returned. Your friends we could bring back fairly quick, but you and Imoen? It took some time. Somehow your souls had difficulty coming back, because they are tied together? she explained.

I asked her, not really able to believe: ?Then? then everythin? really happened??

In my heart I felt that it all had been true, though. I knew it, but it all had been so? unreal. Darn approached me, smiling, his heart full of joy. I could feel his soul now and felt the same joy, as our souls melted together. Now we were truly one and whole. We longer cared about what others thought of our love, it was too precious for us to let go of it, for we realized that we were meant to be together, we were truly more like one being than two. Who had created us like this? I didn?t know and didn?t care, I was just glad to be with him.

So we embraced and kissed each other, as if we were alone together, forgetting the world around us. Would we now finally find peace? Would it finally end? How much I hoped it, how much I longed for it! Alas, it was far from over?

Edited by Darnoc, 09 February 2006 - 01:46 PM.