Journal of Arcadius

Gathering Forces

The time draws near. We must strike them soon. We will need strength.

We fanned out to different parts of the world in search of a priest who stands high in the favor of their deity, one with the power to help keep us alive in the battle to come. There are few in the world.

I took Shullat with me to my homeland, to the capital city of the Five Rivers, and there we found no one of sufficient might. I used my contacts and influence to scour for information. Shullat seemed uninterested in more than the most cursory study of the history between his time and ours, so I arranged for him to train with a unit of the elite Home Guard. He seemed to enjoy the experience well. Then, I heard news of a possible contact among the priesthood of the old gods. Shullat used his powers to teleport there, arranged a meeting, and then we went to one of the old temple complexes in the desert. It was a place worthy of honor and veneration, deep in the history of our land. The clerics did not have one of their number sufficiently powerful for the task before us, but instead they readily agreed to send large number of their order to aid Hrogar's army.

We then duly contacted Hrogar and made the necessary arrangements for them to join forces. Hrogar had not been idle, and he was within perhaps two weeks of readiness.

We also gathered the pieces of the staff, and requested the aid of Hrefna to study it. She determined that it draws its power from life force, initially that of Aboleth-followers wearing psionic crystals, but if sufficient power cannot be found, then through the crystals to others nearby. Thus, the staff destroys both the Aboleth and their followers in one grim stroke. Alas, the price is too high! It is possible that the first use of the staff, ten thousand years ago, drained the lives of millions. Perhaps there may have been followers of the Aboleth in such numbers then, when they had vast armies of cultists in the field, but in the current war they use smaller numbers and more secretive ways. Assuredly the use of the staff this time would slay vast numbers of innocents.

I cannot take part in such an evil deed. We must find another way.

The others have agreed, and have returned two pieces of the staff to their distant locations, while Hrefna has taken the third to hide somewhere new.

Lord Pelor, praise thee, we shall soon be ready!

*A*