Notes and Crap (entry thirty-seven)

[insert random Eligius doodling's over the course of a week of travel, various prayers to Shizune Hikari]
 
Well I haven't properly written my thoughts on the last week of travel. We traveled this glassy hellscape for several days straight, seeing nothing but foggy and clear glass beneath our feet, glancing upon the bedrock below, and nothing but the heat and the bright sun to give us company. We killed all of the Immortal Flames cultists in the previous camp, so we were left with no sense of direction, hardly a sense of their plans besides a shred of burnt text we found. We were at our wit's end when we finally found another wreckage of a small town, or what we later found was the ruins an entire Abbey and town that was retrofitted for their uses. Admittedly, I was rather hasty in my attack, used explosive kunai on a group of them, alerting the entire town's worth of immortal flames. It was a long and difficult fight, many of us nearly dying in the process. However the risk bore plenty of fruit, we managed to capture one of the Immortal Flames' cultists, I dominated his mind to my will, and through that magic we got the information we desperately needed, combined with the surrounding landscape after facing off against the Bone Devil a day later.
 
The Daughter of the Phoenix carries a great power within her, the remnants of the Primordial Phoenix that struck down this land a century prior, likely was born in this devastation or carried this great power within her blood.... a sorcerer like me. From what the cultist said, has died over and over again, and always to come back, I believe ritualistically killing her, accidentally, or many other means. The Father of the Phoenix is an old man, ancient in his stature, gray long hair, beard, not much is known about his name, or any other identifying factors; he rarely shows his face. The immortal Flames' goal was to use this "daughter's" innate power to bring forth a second calamity, and concentrating it using the power of the Plane of Fire, a large, several miles long ritual circle that surrounded what's left of the mountain the original phoenix was defeated.
 
With that information gotten... we decided the fate of the cultist, we chose to spare him. Enforcing my will upon his mind, he marched back to Demonitis to allow himself to get arrested by the guard there... and ignoring my spell enacted orders to carry food and water with him. Among the corpses of his fellow followers, we found a lot more scripture [information forthcoming, Eligius writes it down all here], it will take time to read it all. As we decided the fate of the cultist, a great pillar of flaming light sprout up into the sky, we have little time.
 
Marching onwards westward, traveling along the ritual circle river of lava surrounding the pillar of fire. We were ambushed by the Bone Devil again, and the husk of a fire serpent sprouting forth from the molten rock. It was a hard fought fight, my mind greatly impacted by the Devil's fear effects, and devil's normal immunities to elemental magics, I was out of my element in this fight, the others fared better however, defeating this wretched creature.
 
To this day, I can somewhat understand why we spared the devil, killing it would have caused problems down the line, perhaps problems we could have taken care of! Given that I have signed a contract already with Azaerlea, and now Varis signing one between that creature and Azaerlea as well, even with the stipulation that no more harm will come to us, where did that promise go when I originally signed it? A new devil and their forces are bound to show up until we somehow stop this madness!
 
It would be madness as well to trust a single word this Bone Devil says, as his past actions spoke for themselves. The Winter's Children cultists turned into grinded down corpses with... so many limbs removed and replaced... and stuffed into creating snow golems, and their souls devoured. I wished to end that devil's wretched life, banishing him for decades to the ooze of the hells, but... for Varis's sake, my respect for Filea's Oath of Mercy, and for the sake of my soul, we let him live. He provided scrolls to aid in resisting fire, but I will not partake in his hellish magic, I have my own methods of protection against the fire magics.
 
However... his words that I may end up in hell, or perhaps the Abyss due to my heritage, my rage....I pray to Shizune he is wrong. I do not trust a word he says, but... I admit I have my doubts. I would never cast my hand on an innocent life, never again. I pray that I stay alive long enough to prove him wrong... the Immortal Flames and beyond will bring my body and power to its limits. Well at least one thing Novia, if I hand this book of random notes and crap to you again, lest be assured that my worries were for nothing!