Prelude to The Kirinal Disintegration

Ion sleeps . . .

He walks through a city embroiled in battles. He is a ghost, a helpless watcher. The citizens of the city fight for their home and the tide seems to be turning.

Darkness fills the sky and purple lightnings rain down indiscriminately on the just and the wicked. Dull thuds fill the air and ominous rumblings shake the ground.

Suddenly, from the midst of the conflict a robed figure carrying a bundle wrapped in cloth bursts out. He runs for the city gates as the explosions grow more frequent. Black smoke and strange energies fill the air.

He falls to his knees outside the city gates and mumbles words over the bundle. The wrappings fall away to reveal a child with silver eyes. Behind him, the black clouds explode in multi-colored light. The city begins to die. The man says his last words, a combined prayer and apology, as the child fades away, transported to another place.

As the man is engulfed in the wave of energy, his gaze turns upon the dreamer. He looks directly at Ion. He mouths the words, "Forgive me." and "Save us." Then he is gone, torn apart by the light.

Ion bolts awake, his sheets soaked in sweat, his hands shaking.

Suddenly, someone is pounding on his door. "Milord! Milord! There's a messenger here from Wizard's Peak. It's from Duke Chagroth!"

At first, Ion is confused. Why do they bring this message to him? Then he remembers, Ash and the others have gone to make an assault on the Hall of the Fire Giant King.

Later, in his study, Ion studies the scroll. The wax seal bears both of Chagroth's seals, as Duke of Silver Range and Chancellor of Wizard's Peak University. He breaks the seal open and opens the scroll.

An image of Chagroth's head appears above the scroll and begins to speak in deep even tones.

A Letter from Chagroth Durinhelm to Lord Ion the Evoker

As Ion rolled the scroll back up he was filled with a sense of foreboding. The answers to his past would soon be answered, but was the truth something that he really needed to know?