6th day, 2nd ride, April, 1372 DR
I woke up ravishingly hungry and immediately went down to find Roland at a table downstairs looking over the map he had copied in Dalian’s tomb. Immediately fascinated, he told me he was planning on making a better, more preservable copy of the map. I asked him if I could contribute to the process and if he could make me a copy, too. I’ve said it before, maps have always fascinated me. It might be a little blasphemous to say, but it almost makes you feel like you’re looking down upon the world from heaven. When I die and my soul is transported to Fury’s Heart where Abaddon resides, I hope to one day gaze down upon the world I now inhabit and know what I’m looking at, where my feet have tread the soil and which of the mountains I’ve climbed and which of the forests I’ve hunted in. In order to do so, I need to recognise it and I think maps will help.
After several insisting several times, Abel finally convinced me to take a bath. I wasn’t going to pay Olavia’s insane prices, so I settled for a quiet stretch along the River Tesh to bath in the shallow end of the edge. After I returned to the inn and had donned my gear, Abel and I went to visit the garrison one more time. There we were invited to speak to Randal Morn, Lord of Daggerdale. He asked us if we’d be willing to go on a mission to the mines of Tethyamar in order for us to recover an artifact that, once given to the dwarves of the Brightblade clan, would restore the friendship and trust between the humans and dwarves of Daggerdale. Lord Morn wasn’t convinced the dwarves would stand in defense of Dagger Falls once the Zhentilar launched their inevitable invasion. When asked why, he told us the story of Coldran Morn, former lord of Daggerdale whose wife once asked for an item from the dwarves, which they refused to give her. In return, she took the item and several dwarves died in the process. That’s where the feud between the humans and dwarves — and Morn and Brightblade in particular — originates from.
I was feeling more and more confused about what I was doing in Dagger Falls. Torn between the desire to search for Heron and the need to support myself and perhaps make a difference in Dagger Falls. Many of Abaddon’s chosen become Lightning Lords or Archons of Fury. They carry our Lord’s special favour and naturally gravitate towards regions of conflict and strife in order to support the populace, to allow them to endure the coming troubled times and to help them fight their battles. I wonder if I am feeling the friction, the static, the building tension between Dagger Falls and the Zhentilar and if I’m preternaturally inclined to remain and witness the first spark. Either way, I knew I had to commune with my Lord over these matters.
After dinner I hiked up to a clearing I had seen high in the hills. It was secluded by the virtue of its inaccessibility and therefore a perfect spot. Once I reached it, having a beautiful view of the surrounding hills, the river, the waterfall and the town, I began my ritual. I had communed with my Lord before, asking for guidance in smaller decisions, but this time I was asking for something large, and I wasn’t sure that he’d answer me. So the tribute to Him was going to be epic. I don’t know how long it took me, but when I finally came to my senses an angry thunderstorm had formed overhead, jabbing lightning strike after angry strike down into the clearing around me, scorching the earth and cleansing the land. I watched the lightning strikes and yelled out my questions at Abaddon each time the sky split open. I pleaded for him to show me the way and then it hit.
Well, I was hit. By lightning. And I was immediately infused by the sights and sounds of my past, significant moments flashing by like lightning, each moment leading me to that point. I saw the Rite of Selection in which I was chosen. I saw my tutelage under Heron. I saw him chasing the storm. I saw myself leaving Steppenhall and Damara, arrive in the Dales… and then my image focussed on the icon of Malar that the werewolves had been carrying. The same icon we had found when examining the attack on Eagle’s Aerie.
Malar.
The Beast Lord. The Lord of the Bloody Hunt. The Red-Faced. Most Savage.
I never realised it before and I am pained to have not seen it before this moment. I beg Abaddon’s forgiveness and hope he accepts my flawed memory.
Abaddon has been around since before time, when Faerûn was nothing more than a swirling chaos of the elements. Before there was light, there was Abaddon, before there was substance, he was there. For countless millennia he lay there, as nothing became something, as air formed around him, seas formed beneath him and earth formed below that; slowly building up enough energy for that first spark, for that first bolt, for that first light. And when it came, it was brighter than any light that followed since. In that instance Selûne and Shar were born, and in their first battle Talos was born.
Abaddon is one of the Elemental Energies, representing pure energy, He represents the fifth and most elusive element. The other four; Kossuth, whom His first spark spawned, Akadi, Istishia and Grumbar. He maintains relations with all of them, though His relationship with Kossuth is strained, llike that of a father who loves his rebellious son.
He is also one of the Five Furies, together with Talos, Umberlee, Auril and Malar, residing on the plane of Fury’s Heart. He maintains neutral but friendly relations with all of them, with the notable exception of Talos, who is constantly trying to usurp his portfolio, considering it his rightful property. Talos opposes Abaddon constantly, and would kill Him if he thought he could get away with it. This has attracted the attention of Malar, who opposes Talos as much as Talos opposes Abaddon and has granted Him an open invitation to stand with him in opposition of Talos as the leader of the Deities of Fury.
Either Heron is here, with the werewolves, or I am supposed to be here. It cannot be a coincidence that Abaddon and Malar are united here in Dagger Falls. I must know more!
