The vast bridge stretched before us, seeming to go on forever. We literally could see no end to it, but had no choice but to continue on. After walking for a while, we encountered another enormous angel. This one spoke in Celestial and since I was the only one who spoke the language, I was chosen to translate. This was unfortunate. The angel said that one of us must be left behind, and asked me which one of us it would be. I thought of Elensul's strength, and lawfulness. I thought of Blackhawk's woodlore, and keen vision. I thought of Raven's grace and natural cunning, and her great power, and Stephen, Taoiseach, diplomat, talented performer. Without consulting the others, I suggested that I was the only logical one to stay behind. Suddenly we were plummeting toward the earth. No spell would slow our descent. We hit the ground with enough force to leave indentations, but were suprisingly uninjured. The rest of the company berated me when they understood that I had caused our "fall from grace," then we started the climb once more. We all agreed that the path seemed much steeper, and my legs, which had been sore before, were now screaming in pain as we ascended the steep slope. The road up was slippery and treacherous and we were suddenly surrounded by a group of blink dogs. They were quite interested in Raven and I was glad that DeVal had elected to remain at the crystal chapel. Oh yes, another odd occurrence, the halfling from the land of the first born came trotting down the trail toward us. He would not be waylaid, slowing only long enough to wave. The path diverged and we went into a cave, where we found a strange little man with a basket that he claimed would take us quickly up to the summit. All of us declined, which was for the best since not all of us would have fit. There is always a sense there for me that the climb should be made under one's own power, without spells or other assistance. Finally the path began to look familiar, as we entered the cavern where the crystals threaten to encase you. There were some frightful moments when one after another of my companions seemed to give in to the despair of that place, but somehow we all managed to come out on top and then there was Fara to greet us. We were thrilled once more by the Song of Creation. We entered the temple area and I was disappointed to find that Lia was not there. Fara said she was going to be at the Michaeline monastery before us and would create a diversion if need be, but that we would probably not see her until we returned to Bliss. Trying not to be morose, I listened as Fara detailed our task. Also listening was a young woman who Fara introduced as Tamara. She was lovely beyond imagining, fair haired with the palest blue eyes. She was to accompany us on our task, as she is a priestess of the faith. We were to go to the chapel of Saint Mathias and into the pocket dimension where his remains are laid. There, we were to exchange his shroud, a shroud of resurrection, for one that Fara provided. We would have to face at least one powerful angel, and if he tried to stop us, we would know that the task was not divinely sanctioned and we would have to give up the hope of bringing the magick back into the world.

Respectfully submitted by Maxfield Jaden Fox