Jaden’s Journal 17th of Snow, 802

I will continue my story here, as it seems important that it be recorded, but also that it be kept from the wrong eyes.

When I touched the mace, there was a sound like an enormous thunderclap, a bright flash, and thenÉ Nothing. When I awoke, it was to find everyone looking down at me with great concern. The large fellow in the strange garb helped me to my feet and I felt better at his touch. Noting that there was a group of large ugly men running toward us, he told us we didn’t have much time, and that we must make a decision. I looked down to see that the fox had turned into a coyote. I knew there must be some significance to this, but didn’t have the time or energy to think about what it might mean.

The man told us we had two options, to go back to Bliss and continue where we had left off, or to go to “someplace completely different” and start a new reality on a new world. He was the same gentleman who told Stephen that it wasn’t necessary to do what was expected of us, that we had free will. It was most confusing, since his words seemed almost chosen to divert us from our path, and yet, I did not sense that he was evil.

Blackhawk asked if this world was our future, or a possible future and the man gave a strange answer, that it was a part of a reality that never should have been, a diversion from the Creator’s plan. He explained that the other world he could send us to was a theme of the song which had never been touched by the enemy. While that sounded quite wonderful, none of us wanted any part of it. He looked at us with compassion? Pity? And told us each goodbye as he pulled out an enormous cloak of raven feathers, hand stitched and beaded with semi-precious stones. He swirled it in a great arc above our heads and we had the sensation of falling once again. As we fell, a voice laughed, “It isn’t the first time I have done this.”

The cold blackness gave way to a field of stars, and the sound of great muffled wings stroking against the void echoed inside of our heads. We could sense each other, which meant Rary’s Telepathic Bond was still working, and we were startled when we heard a squawk. The stars swirled and we were buffeted and then there was bright light and warm earth. As we looked about, we saw a lovely clear stream, and even I could sense that the song was strong around us. Everything felt very balanced, as if this place were perfectly aligned. The sun was setting and a huge moon was already in the sky. A black bird, a raven, flew off from us toward the orb, which took up at least a quarter of the horizon. We realized we were in a deep canyon. Raven said a prayer of thanks to the great bird who delivered us to this place. Blackhawk became an eagle and flew off to scout the area. The sky was different here than any I’d ever seen before. There was evidence that people and animals had been in the area, and Blackhawk brought news of a nearby settlement of some kind. We decided to wait until morning to teleport back to Bliss, feeling that we were safe as houses. Stephen, Blackhawk and DeVal seemed happier than they had been in a long time, and plunged happily into the crystal stream. I followed, finding it most delightful. Elensul, however, was strangely agitated, refusing to partake of the cool waters of the stream and instead prowling the banks with Saba in his hand.

I suppose he was the only one who was not surprised by a bass voice saying,

“These are the funniest fish I have ever seen!”

We looked up to see a wild, comic looking gentleman, with a huge forked black beard, and the little hair on his head mostly covered by a funny hat studded with what looked like insects. On closer inspection, they proved to be hooks with finely crafted false insects attached to them. He carried several fishing rods in his hand and suggested that there were people waiting for us and could we please dress and move along? Stephen asked who he was, and he said that most people called him the fisherman, but that he was sometimes called Sube. When we inquired as to where we were, he gave a rather cryptic answer, “The End.” We followed him through pristine forest, ancient trees brimming with good health, each leaf and needle sparkling as though individually polished. We passed a statue of a dwarf, worn nearly shapeless by the elements. The shield in his hand held a symbol that might have been the Adventurer’s Guild device. Sube sang a sea chanty in a language that we didn’t understand as we walked, and Stephen was more than happy to improvise along. As we came around a bend in the well used path, an enormous cliff arose before us, resembling nothing more than the prow of a ship. Carved in it’s face were many openings, worked with bricks around the edges. We followed Sube down the steps and at the bottom was a figure watching us. He was mostly in shadow, but I could see that he was wearing a great coat, and had a sword buckled around his waist. In his hand he held an ornately carved staff. Suddenly I knew him. Mister Hope!

“We have been waiting a long time to see you.” He smiled.

The gigantic moon, colored orange by the setting sun, continued to rise higher in the sky as Sube and Mister Hope conversed in muted tones. The conversation ended with Mister Hope assuring Sube that we would be along presently. Leading us to an embankment in a dry riverbed, he tried to explain what we were doing there. He said that reality looked like a tree, with the trunk as the beginning and branches that are created by your actions, the different realities or potentialities that can be. He said that there is only one path in the multiverse that represents the path of the Creator. A great battle has been going on for all time. Some are in accordance with divine desire, others strive against it. He stopped and looked at us, as if to bracket what he was about to say with great importance. “At this moment in time, the powers of light have won the war.” It took us a moment to absorb this statement. The powers of light would triumph! He continued, “Counter melodies took on a life of their own and Gods there created their own melodies. A powerful outsider pulled you from your reality, and you must be returned there or the powers of darkness will win.” I thought about my first contact with Mister Hope, how he had called the Foxes “pivots” and thought I understood what he was saying. Without the Foxes influence, the light would lose. No wonder the agents of the dark wanted us out of the way!

“The theme of darkness has concluded. All that was intended by the Creator to happen, has happened. This is the Place. Everyone who is here at this moment has surrendered their will to the Creator. Now, the powers of light are firmly victorious. A great many things we did (or will do) happened as a result of your actions. You Foxes are bound into the events that follow. Free will and duty will take you where you must go.” He went on to tell us that he was the most knowledgeable person in Bliss on the subjects of “The End” and time travel. He then became very serious. “Many lives hang on this instruction, so listen closely. A day will come when I am under duress. I will leave my ring of keys on my desk in the study. Jaden, you will find the keys. You need to use them to open the drawers of the desk and grab anything useful. At the base of the stairs is a green door. You know the one. You need to unlock the door, put the keys in the lock on the other side, and close the door with the keys locked in. I will come to you looking for my keys, and you must deny knowing where they are. You must then leave the island and indeed, Bliss, with the rest of the Winged Foxes. Keep a low profile. I will be out of the picture for a few years, but when I get back, I must not know where you are.” Puzzled, I asked Mister Hope what could possibly cause us to need to hide from him, my Mentor and friend. He said, “There will come a time when I decide to take the torc and bracers, fearing that the Foxes are to weak to do the task at hand.” As we were trying to digest this disturbing news, there was a rustling in the bushes and a small figure leapt toward Raven and hugged her ferociously around her legs. It was the halfling we called Mr. Biggerstaff! Elensul asked Mister Hope if he knew the halfling’s real name, but he didn’t. All he would say was that he was one of the Powers, and had a very sad story. He then said we have a hard burden, and that it would cost a lot, but would be worth it. We followed Mister Hope down some steps to an overhang. There was the effect of a cave, but it was obvious that it was man made when we stepped up to two 50 foot tall doors, carved in complex relief. We recognized the writing on them as the same as the writing on Tholos, but when we asked what language it was and what it said, Mister Hope laughed and said there was no record that we had that information, and that the company logs about Xcrawl had not survived. We entered the doors and found, carved deep inside of the mountain, a palace of marble and gold. Mister Hope said it belonged to an Emperor once. There were beings of many races I recognized and some I didn’t, moving about. We went through another smaller door which was covered with mithral runes of protection. The hallway was quiet, but the room was filled with the glory of the Song. I burst into tears at the sheer beauty of it. In the center of the room was a ring of silvery metal, a sphere and a half ring. There was the Mahali, making gestures as she held her bright blue sphere. Mister Hope said to the Mahali, “I believe they are ready.” He pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Stephen. “You asked me to give this to you.” Then to us, “This is a sphere of eventuation. Prepare.” There was a bright blue glow, too bright to keep our eyes open. And bang, we were face down on the deck of the ship. Tharni’s ship!

I believe I have written as much as I need to here in private. Let this journal entry serve as a reminder when the time that Mister Hope spoke of comes.