Kasek's Dreams

Dream 1 - Night of the 24th of Vlaihr, 2272

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You open your eyes, but nothing permeates your vision. You quickly look in all directions...up, left, right, and then down. You are visible to yourself as easily as one standing in a field on a sunny day, but no floor seems to be beneath you, and no details of your surrounding environment are evident. Confused, and somewhat apprehensively, you begin walking.

"Marble...maybe", you think to yourself as you listen to your footfalls on the invisible floor which echo out into the nothingness. You bend down to touch the floor which feels as smooth as the most polished stone you've ever felt. You grimace and mutter to yourself "What is this bullshit?" as you straighten yourself upright. Your eyes immediately fall upon Saman sitting roughly 30 feet in front of you, equally as well illuminated as you are in the vast emptiness which seemingly stretches for eternity in all directions. He is facing you, panting with his tongue hanging and tail wagging in a friendly manner.

"Saman, what the hell is this place?" you say, confused by your surroundings.

He stands and begins to walk past you. You reach out instinctively and run your hands through his fur as he passes beside you, but he ignores you and walks on. You turn to watch as he passes you and are immediately surprised to see a wooden door nestled in an obviously dwarven-cut stone archway roughly 30 feet in the direction from which you just came -- but only the archway and door are visible, also equally illuminated. Saman trots up, turns to face you, and sits beside the doorway looking at you expectantly.

You approach and open the door, and are met with a flash of blinding light. The light quickly subsides and you find yourself in a familiar cell, the smell instantly recognizable to you. "Shit..." you mutter under your breath as you realize you're back in your cell in the Salt Mines of Bhaevor. "Come on, Oskar, don't sweat it. The bitch probably had it coming", you instantly recognize the guttural voice of Ardakk The Broken, a fellow Skullcrusher and the muscle of your prison gang. "Yeah, they all have it coming." You turn to see Dharvenom, the Tiefling mastermind behind your group's gang lounging on the makeshift bed in the corner of your cell. "Don't worry about it Oskar, you did good. Two birds, one stone." He smiles at you, his fanged teeth showing as his face contorts into a wicked smile. Just then a bolt of lightning is heard, and you see Ardakk run past you to the window. "Lightning..." he grunts. "It don't look like rain..." Dharvenom stands and walks over to you and places a hand on your shoulder "Maybe it is an omen, friend. See, the Gods even approve." He begins to chuckle and Ardakk joins in as you look down at your open palms resting on a wooden table. Their laughter begins to grow louder and louder until you hear the uproarious laughter of a tavern fill your ears.

Immediately a mug full of Dwarven Ale is placed in front of you, and you look up to see Quarl Bandlebury sitting down in a chair beside you. "Drink up, lad. Next round is on you considering how successful you've become after deciding to stand me up." Quarl's voice slurs as he speaks, and he immediately begins downing his ale. You look around in amazement as you instantly recognize the Tavern in which you and Quarl often met for drinks known as the Skillful Hag.

"Why'd you do it, Quarl? You bastard," you shake your head looking at the friend who ultimately betrayed you.

Quarl ignores the question as he finishes his drink and wipes his mouth with the front of his sleeve before looking at you. "So, you were sayin'....you killed Aubrie AND Fadrin, eh? Well that's unfortunate, for all three of ye. Better keep that information to yerself. You're in enough hot water as it is without adding more charges to your record. You might become too lucrative to ignore!" He chuckles and grabs a second mug resting nearby and begins drinking -- the tattoo of the Nightshade Tracers clearly visible on the inside of his wrist as he drinks. You peer into the mug and your vision begins to tumble down into the glass, eventually going black. You turn quickly feeling the sudden rush of vertigo and see the wooden door closing behind you. You take a step back realizing you have returned to the black void. Saman barks beside you. You look down and see him peering off into the blackness behind you as he barks once more. You turn and see a middle-aged male Dwarf dressed in leathers standing at a distance from you. His face is weathered, his eyes a pale yellow, and his beard slightly unkempt. You don't recognize the leathers, however they look extremely versatile...something you could definitely see yourself wearing to accentuate your abilities. His hands are placed on the end of a wooden handle of a large two-handed mace that he leans on while studying you. Saman trots over beside the Dwarf, turns and sits in a submissive manner beside him.

"I know you...the Dwarf you once were." He states in a commanding voice at you. "Who do you choose to be now? I am watching, and the time is coming for you to make a choice." From behind him an ominous thunderstorm begins to materialize in the far distance. He straightens the leather helm adorning his head and hefts his two-handed mace behind him, strapping it to his back. He pulls a heavy crossbow from under his cloak as the storm continues to grow in size and the sound of thunder is heard. The wind begins to whip, and Saman stands and turns to face the storm. The Dwarf nods at you, "Be vigilant. Be a guide. Search beneath the Old Mage's Tower. It will be up to you."

"What will be up to me?" you ask the Dwarf.

He ignores your question. He then turns to Saman and commands "Protect him". Saman nods and trots to stand beside you. The Dwarf gives you a smile, and then turns and begins running at the growing thunderhead brandishing his crossbow. Streaks of lightning can be seen illuminating the clouds, and within the clouds you can make out the silhouette of a large figure...a humanoid form with long hair brandishing a trident, and a writhing mass of tentacles at her base. You catch the image for split seconds at a time, enough glimpses to see the form growing in relation to the storm.

You watch as bolts of lightning begin launching from the thunderstorm striking the imperceptible ground near the Dwarf as he runs. He deftly dodges the bolts and continues to run towards the storm. Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes before you, your vision goes white from the flash and your ears deafened by the sound of thunder.

You sit up in bed, hearing thunder roll in the background as the sound of rain can be heard coming from outside the tavern where you and your companions sleep.