• The journey on the boat had been a misery for nearly everyone but Shay and the Trolls. The adventurers were land bound, for the most part, and the vast swathes of churning water unsettled even the stoutest of stomachs.

    The Trolls were spared the worst of the sickness, having been raised on ships-- Shay claimed that her Troll heritage was helping *her* ignore the sea sickness, but no one was entirely sure whether or not that was true, or if Shay (very much a human, as far as anyone could tell) was crazy.

    Still, one less seasick person on the journey couldn't hurt, and Shay ended up spending most of their travel time rubbing backs, holding back hair and fetching water-- once the boat landed on the grey and rocky shores of Claddach, however, it was her turn to fill sick.

    She landed unsteadily on the beach, her eyes wide as she scanned the shore.

    "...this is it. This is the place from ma' vision." She murmurs aloud, her soft, slurred Swamp Folk accent adding a dreamy lilt to her awed words. Arhilde, her fellow Swamp Folk adventurer, turned to look at her, with a grin of relief. "Good! It woulda' sucked if we'd come out her for nowt, girl."

    Arhilde's voice was harsher, but had the same slurring drawl that marked Swamp Folk as different from the cultured peoples of Nova Thul. Heironymous looked up from where he was making notes in his little book, his face still pale from sea sickness.

    "Then where to next, Shay?" He asked, looking curiously at her. Shay found herself blushing, despite the gravity of their situation. Heironymous was an attractive, well spoken young man and he hadn't *quite* rebuffed her terrible attempts at flirting in the past. Still, he made her nervous as hell whenever he spoke, and it took her a moment to regain her composure to speak. "Um...this way? Towards that big hall..."

    She pointed off into the distance-- further up the shore, a trail of wreckage and debris led to the gutted ruins of what must have been a great city in ages past. A large manor house lay in the city's centre, still mostly intact. It would be less than five minutes walk to reach it but...

    ...great swathes of dark, abyssal creatures stood in the way.

    The rest of the adventurers looked where she pointed, their faces grim. There was some grumbling, but soon enough, everyone unsheathed their weapons and cast their protective magics, ready to do battle against the evil hordes.

    The trek to the city was a nerve racking one, as the very trees came to life with abyssal force, pulling their roots from the ground and surging forward, lashing out with their thorny branches. They cut the creatures down as quickly as they could, shouting orders and encouragement to each other-- a hard fight, but no one was too injured at the end of it, so they pressed on, quickly.

    As they made it into the heart of the abandoned city, though, they came upon a strange sight-- abyssal creatures of earth, wood and rotted flesh dotted the land, as was expected of tainted earth, but not a one moved. As the adventurers approached, cautiously, the abyssal creatures continued to stay frozen in place, only their strange, hollow eyes following the passage of the group.

    Unnerved, one of their number, a laisuar with sharp, sweeping horns named Kendra, swung viciously at one of the monsters; it was only then that it attacked, quite savagely and the other adventurers were forced to come to Kendra's rescue.

    Even then, though, none of the other creatures attacked. Frightened, the group ran past them quickly, occasionally glancing back in confusion. Shay found herself lingering when the creatures locked eyes with her, disconcerted, as usual, by the intelligence they seemed to display.

    At the crest of the hill where the manor lay, three humans, brigands, by the look of their motley clothes and notched weaponry, hailed them over. The adventurers approached slowly, still unnerved by the swarm of motionless Abyss behind them.

    Up close, they bore strange, virulent look green veins upon their faces-- a fact that gave the adventurers even more pause. When one of the people spotted Shay, she waved her over. "Oy! Scoill's Dottor! is that you?"

    Shay jumped, startled from the daze caused by walking through the place of her visions, and nodded, tremulously. "Um...that's me. I think. Kinda..." She stammered, uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny the brigands had turned on her.

    "Come with us, then! Scoill's waiting for you!" She shouted, waving cheerfully. Disturbed, but determined to see this mystery to the end, Shay nodded and followed them down the hill, the adventurers following her with no small amount of misgiving, a feeling that only intensified when one of them asked about the motionless abyssal horde below and was told, quite cheerfully, that "the master" kept them in place.

    As they approached the manor, Shay shivered, despite herself. It looked *exactly* like the one in her vision-- inside, the rooms were gloomy, but the veined brigands moved with confidence, leading the group to a great Troll drinking hall. On the throne at the far end sat a human man absolutely covered in these strange green veins.

    He looked a cruel and powerful man, with a cunning glint to his eye and a great axe across his lap. He stood when the group approached and looked past them, his sharp eyes locking immediately on Shay.

    "So. You have finally come. This is good." His voice is deep and harsh to the ears, more growl than speech, with a sharp sibilant undertone that carries and echoes in the empty hall.

    "Um...who are you?" Shay stammered, wholly confused and more than a little frightened.

    "I am Scoill Drag's Dottor, Thane of Thanes and Thane of Claddach." He says, his voice ringing with regal authority. The adventurers consider this, with bemused looks.

    "...wasn't Scoill a woman?" One of them mutters, while the others approach the throne, looking for answers. "Why did Shay dream of this place, then?" Another asks.

    The man frowns. "I called her. She comes."

    Shay blinked. "Then...the visions...those were you? But how?"

    He walks a few paces forward and she finds herself walking to him, almost automatically, his piercing gaze never leaving hers for a moment. When they re close enough to touch, close enough for her to see each green vein pulsing across his face, he speaks, softly. "We share a bond, you and I."

    To the rest of the group, then, he speaks. He tells them the story of how he was Thane of Claddach (and in the telling, he is female-- they learn that it was Scoill's great gifts of magic that let her possess this man's body) and how the evil tyrant, Amon Tor and his false Serpent God struck him down.

    But Scoill was too powerful to die and so, she remained on the island, gathering servants to her side, imbuing them with her Shaman's Songs and marking them as hers. At the notion that the body she inhabited was once someone else's, the adventurers grumble between themselves. This sounds like dark sorcery, to them, but then they do not fully understand the ways of the Trolls and the Trolls in the adventurer's group, Fjorgn and Finnan do not seem overly concerned with this proclamation.

    Scoill speaks to the adventurers of an alliance, of gaining power and forever destroying Amon Tor, a feat that would bring great peace to the world. The adventurers, slowly, look swayed by 'his' arguments-- they are heroes, after all, and doesn't every hero want to overthrow an evil tyrant?

    They ask how they can contact Scoill, again, and although 'he' mentions agents, 'he' also mentions the bond that 'he' and Shay share. If her blood is spilt, a connection will be forged...

    Shay reels at this, but agrees to help 'him'. Evil must be purged, the world must be made safe-- that's what they tell you when you become an adventurer.

    As the group makes to leave, though, she gathers the courage and asks him why they have this bond. "Your people were weak-- they gave you to the Abyss. I took you, instead."

    At the mention of her people, all long dead-- how, she never learned, she jolts. "Then...you...did you kill them?" She whispers, eyes wide.

    Once more he leans in, voice a sibilant hiss. "You did."

    "W-what?"

    "I merely helped."

    "H-how? I...how did I--"

    "You are stronger than you know. That is why I chose you."

    He says more, after, but it all falls on deaf ears and eventually, they retreat to the boats. The terrible morning where she found her village burning and everyone dead, right down to her family and her sister's newborn babe...that had been her doing. Tears welled up in her eyes and she lost her balance dropping to her hands and knees as she convulsed, sobbing on the ground.

    Arhilde, Heironymous and Name, the giant laiasaur monster who called her friend, all stopped to ask her what was wrong. She shook, uncontrollably.

    "Its *my* fault. I'm...a monster. I killed them, I killed them all!"

    "...well, we kinda' guessed that already, sugar." Arhilde drawled, brightly. Shay looked up, eyes flashing with rage. "When were ya'll gonna' tell *me*, then?"

    She threw her sword away from her. "No more! Never again."

    "Why is Shay sad? Did someone hurt Shay? Name fix it. Who does Name kill to fix it?" Her laiasaur friend rumbled, simple face awash with concern.

    "No more killin', name. NO. MORE." She shouts, striding past him, past all of them, and down to the ships.

    Scoill needed her blood to grow strong? Then she could have all of it. Shay didn' want it, any more...