Sammal the Quick, Bard of Zenulatsin - His head bitten off once by a giant dragon statue, he did not wait around to feel the bite of Baltor's axe. Treasure, dwarven relics on elven land, were the catalyst of the conflict which may well have saved the talespinner's life. Halls aflame were faced boldly, and perhaps this tomb was enough excitement for one book.
Baltor Bertorag - Never far from his weapon and ever hoping for battle. The staunch dwarf was a valuable ally but impatience was his weakness. It was his cheering that won the trial of heart, and his surrender that won the trial of body. Many a path did he clear through dense fey woodland, the cursed woodland that doesn't let go. He may still be cleaving today.
Jant Shira - The bodyguard to Marise, calm, quiet, confident. Always saving his strength for the times it was needed. When he and the scholar Maddich were separated from the group, it was only after many days that they could be reunited. A silent reunion, for passing the magical barrier had cost the warrior his life.
Ice Elementalist Marise Blake - The butterfly of the group, once hiding behind lead mirrors to avoid the greyguard's keen sense of evil. In the course of her trials she grew, caring, directing, preserving. It was she who tapped into the pulse of the land, they were her words which lent strength to Ward's contested instructions. And she is the one still sealing that gate, the portal of flame which would consume all. Forever frozen, dying, perhaps in pain.
Dragin Swiftbreed - The lone druid, in the company of his lone bear. Clever, observant, but ill at ease around those not of the animal kind. For many days he dreamed, pleasantly and festively. In his waking hours he was a valuable source of information about the land. But one by one the group grew smaller, and it seemed like Ward's every decision brought more peril. At the last, hunted by a camp full of pious locals, the druid turned right and set out in this world, on his own.
Cherene, Priestess of Thanbalur of Rivenwood - Assigned to the party as healer, the whispering priestess of the seas found herself frustrated by her soft voice, which oft went unheeded. Away from her church and further than ever before, her methods would differ; at times for the better, at times for the worse. It was she who kept the group going, running, walking, stumbling and crawling, on the physical plane. She exhausted her healing waters, quenched many a flame and manipulated currents to power a raft. But like her two companions, she never left the room of the three sages alive.
Gray guard Ward Merek - Like a fat round pillar he supported the group, bearing all burdens on top of his own. He was not always loved, he was not always trusted, or agreed with. Yet he bore weight, and made decisions, and ran his body ragged to spare whom he could what he could. First into the Fields of Summer, crusading against slavery, determined to win freedom, at the last choosing Iluadin's life over his own. But is he really ready to rest in death?
Iluadin Welteel - Often dreaming after his arrival in this strange place where the temperature was warm and the nights were absent, the wizard's apprentice still made a powerful ally. Strong of mind but with talents beyond those expected of a mage, the half elf took the place of the bard or rogue who dabbled in all arts. At one point, captured and bound, he managed to charm an entire settlement. There could be no problem without a solution for him. Except of course, that last one.
_________________ What the king dreams, the Hand builds.
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