[EF] Times Lost (2/2019 - 7/2019)

[Judas D'arc]

Summary: They are known as Times Shades, manifestations of individuals known to be dead from any point in that dead person's history. After more than two years of random appearances across Britannia, their mystery remains unsolved. But there are some who know more than they are telling.

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May 2017 to January 2019:

During this period, time shades -- younger, past incarnations of individuals known to be dead -- began to appear across Sosaria, with no real explanation other than that time and reality were broken. While most of these manifestations were random and brief, there were three that seemed to particular deviate from this pattern, appearing multiple times and demonstrating an actual purpose: Katalin Blackwell, Corinna, and Rhys Jarrett, all members of the Rangers of Spiritwood who had died violently in recent years.

9/11/2018:

One strange night, the Salty Dog tavern in Britain was visited by the time shade of Lady Alionna Arroway of the infamous Stower family, and she appeared to be decades younger than when she was murdered by the ranger Eldaern Mallorn. Upon finishing her wine, Arroway asked if anyone was acquainted with an individual called Radimes. When some Riverwatch Rangers claimed they were, she led them down to the basement. Arroway told them that they came highly recommended by someone called Montague, and that she expected them to do the job quickly and show discretion. She then explained that their target was a red gem attached to an amulet, a family heirloom of the Haxley family of Britain. The time shade warned them that the current Lord Haxley was an odd sort, a disfigured, half-man who considered himself a philosopher and followed Lord Blackthorn's Chaos Guard. When finished, they should contact Arlin Kensdrick of Vesper to arrange delivery and payment. Arroway then vanished from sight, in the manner typical of time shades, implying she had played out an event that had occurred in her past.

2/1/2019:

At the Horse's Head in Jhelom, a woman called Neve (who was secretly Kalanna of the Emerald Fist performing a task for Lord Haxley of Britain) and Rorik of the Library of Scars were seen questioning a man in his mid-fifties who also wore the uniform of the Library. He strongly resembled Braknar, former guildmaster of the Library once known as the "Old Man of Jhelom" because of the longevity of his leadership and lifespan. After speaking with this individual, Neve and Rorik departed, only to soon return carrying the fresh scales of an ancient wyrm. The Braknar look-alike then discussed a past job that the Library participated in, retrieving a peculiar looking ruby from the Demon Temple on the Isle of Fire then delivering it to Delancy, a Vesper merchant.

3/11/2019:

Tora, a bounty hunter who perished years ago during Minax's invasion of Trinsic, appeared near Wrong of Trammel, searching for the runaway bride-to-be of a wealthy nobleman. She was soon approached by Kalanna, still calling herself Neve, who aided her in locating her quarry inside the dungeon. Upon her capture, the girl revealed she was only 14 years old and did not want to marry her awful betrothed. Tora did not care, and Neve, aware that both were time shades and this event had already occurred decades prior, chose not to intervene. Instead, she asked the bounty hunter about her time as a guard for the merchant Delancy of Vesper, and a peculiar ruby he owned that was stolen from him by bandits that attacked one of his caravans. The bandits were arranged by Cubbins of Cove, an employee of certain powerful Magincian nobles, which dissuaded Delancy from retaliating against him. After refusing Tora's advances, Neve departed, and both time shades soon returned to whence they came.

4/12/2019:

One night, while speaking to a mainland Skara Brae farmer named Larenya for unrelated reasons, Kalanna of the Emerald Fist was approached by the time shades of Corinna, Katalin, and Rhys. The trio explained they were there to help Kalanna retrieve an item she would need in the future, and that they must act now while certain others were distracted. Their appearance confused both women, but Kalanna agreed to follow the rangers, and Larenya stated they could converse another time, if necessary.

Corinna, Katalin, and Rhys then suggested the recruit some of their former fellow Rangers of Spiritwood for assistance. At nearby Riverwatch, they encountered their old comrades Tserim Arryth and Nightshade. Though reactions to the time shades were mixed, those of Riverwatch agreed to accompany them to the lair of Navrey Night-Eyes in the Underworld. Once they had successfully defeated the creature and obtained a strand of her web, the group traveled to the Shattered Skull in Skara Brae. Corinna advised Kalanna to keep the web safe, and that it could be used for life, death, virtue, or anti-virtue. And with that, the three ranger time shades faded away.

[Judas D'arc]

5/30/2019:

At the Salty Dog, the seer Aila experienced a series of visions: spirits of the dead, no longer dead, returned; a five pointed star that floated above and below; three rangers who walked a windy path; and a white robed figure that stalked the halls of Castle Britannia. As the last of these visions was the easiest to identify, those gathered visited Lord British's former home, where they encountered Lord Haxley seated in his office on the second floor. He was not surprised by their visit, and when asked about Aila's vision, explained that time has been in chaos for years, with the most obvious sign being the time shades, which lately had increased in frequency. Haxley admitted he had been investigating this phenomena for a special client of his, but would not reveal their identity. Finally, he told them that the most recurring time shades seemed to be former members of the Rangers of Spiritwood, who could be found in or around the Shrine of Spirituality in Trammel.

Next, they traveled to the Spiritwood, where they encountered Corinna's time shade. She was concerned about Katalin, who was supposed to manifest alongside her. Unfortunately, something caused her to appear instead within the Stygian Abyss, where she was trapped by a demon that fed on souls. Corinna begged them to rescue her before it was too late. Among those gathered was Leo Mune, former member of the Rangers Guild of Skara Brae and one of Katalin's murderers.

In the Stygian Abyss, they found an entranced Katalin seated at a table near the Devourer of Souls' lair, slowly being drained out of existence. With some persuasion and effort, Leo was able to trade places with and free her from this trap. Before escaping, the freed Katalin gave Kalanna a piece of void essence that she had found, advising that she should hold onto it. The group then attacked the Devourer in order to free Leo. Unfortunately, by the time it was slain, the former ranger had vanished, presumably consumed by the demon, though at least earning redemption with his sacrifice.



6/19/2019:

At a brief gathering of the Fist, Chanticleer invited their recent ally, Tabitha Wardwell, to officially join the group, and she accepted after briefly considering the offer.

6/22/2019:

Lord Haxley approached the Emerald Fist and others at the Salty Dog, stating he wished to speak with Ezekial and Kalanna at Castle Britannia, where he maintained an office despite recently resuming his old position as Governor of Trinsic. At the Castle, Haxley informed them his special client was concerned about the damage the time shade manifestations could cause to their world. Somehow aware of Ezekial's secret research into creating a device capable of refining time magic, the client believed a large scale version of it could help solve the crisis. According to Haxley, this individual could also aid them with the device's missing ingredient, which was needed to stabilize such a large concentration of time magics.

6/28/2019:

The Fist and their allies met in Emerald Town to discuss Haxley's suggestion and Ezekial's research. This device, the Tempus Cradle, had the ability to refine and collect time magic, and could fix the chaos causing the time shade manifestations. As they spoke, the Emerald Empress warned them this solution could open the door to other things. According to Ezekial, the first ingredient for this large scale version of the device was called the Infinity Prism, a unique crystal found in the Prism of Light beneath Nujel'm. The group traveled there, battling their way to chamber of the Shimmering Effusion, where they destroyed the creature and successfully retrieved the Infinity Prism.

7/1/2019:

At the next King's Council meeting, Governor Haxley issued a warning to raise awareness about the recent increase in time shade manifestations, stating how he and others were trying to fix it. Towards the end of the meeting, the time shade of a woman slain years ago during the cyborg duplicate Lord Blackthorn's attack against Yew appeared. She spoke about the violence and brutality of the King and his Juka forces before vanishing.

[Judas D'arc]

7/5/2019:

After retrieving the Infinity Prism, Ezekial mentioned its translucent nature made it difficult to shape into the lens form needed for his Tempus Cradle device.  The Empress suggested that because the art of glass blowing was valued in Ter Mur, they should seek out their ally, the gargoyle scholar Ak Lem.  As usual, Ak Lem was at the Royal City Museum.  When advised of their dilemma, he informed the group of an ancient artifact called the In-Hur Vit-Tas.  Rumored to belong to the gargoyle who perfected the art of glass blowing, it was stolen from the Holy City of Ter Mur a few years ago.  While the culprit was never caught, it was widely believed that the dastardly gargoyle Fel Auks was somehow involved.

The Fist and their allies then traveled to Queen Zhah's dungeons, where Fel Auks was still imprisoned for crimes committed during the Technocrat threat.  In exchange for his help, he required three things: 1) raw slith meat to eat; 2) a promise not to share what he knew with the Ter Mur authorities; and 3) a wing job.  Although he eventually relented on the last of these, the group fulfilled his first two conditions.  The dastardly gargoyle then confessed to having "knowledge" of the theft of the In-Hur Vi-Tas, and told them it was sold to Bart, a human living inside the Britannian encampment in the Underworld.  

Bart was easily found at the Britannian encampment, strung out on Silver Serpent venom.  He admitted to stealing the In-Hur Vi-Tas, part of a scheme to become wealthy by using the artifact's magic to create a special type of silver serpent venom and addicting the goblins of Underworld to it.  But the goblins made for poor customers, and the plan failed, leaving Bart broke and abandoned by his partner, Fel Auks.  Eventually, he gave the he artifact to the pirate One-Eyed Wilson, in order to pay off his debts, and he was glad to be rid of it.  The group recognized the name One-Eyed Wilson, he was a pirate who served the infamous Hairy Bastard, Captain of the Mondain's Member, and had died attacking the Fist's decoy Black Market.  As the Governor of Britain had recently mentioned that a Black Market was scheduled for the next day, they decided to attend and look for any clues related to the missing artifact.

7/6/2019:

At the Black Market, there was no sign of either the Hairy Bastard or his men.  However, the Fist did encounter Oswin Stower.  When questioned about their quarry, he mentioned that the Bastard refused to bow to the pirate Hook's recent takeover of the Thieves Guild, and that he and his crew had been scarce ever since.  Oswin also told them that the infamous pirate was rumored to have Stower blood and ties to the Camorra, an influential Nujel'm social club.  He also offered to look into the In-Hur Vi-Tas matter for the group.

7/11/2019:

A quiet night at the Salty Dog was interrupted by the appearance of the time shade of Devon Hawkins, a former member of the Rangers Guild of Skara Brae.  He immediately demanded that Kalanna come with him if she wanted to save her friend.  Those gathered grudgingly followed, and Hawkins led them to the Yew Crypts, where two dark elves were attempting to sacrifice the time shade of the ranger Okami to Lloth, their dark goddess.  The group swiftly intervened, killing the drow and saving the "life" of this past version of their deceased friend and ally.  Upon being rescued, the ranger explained that his captors were members of House Pharn, and he believed that they were responsible for the disappearance of his fellow Shadow Rangers, the group that Okami belonged to decades ago.  Before his capture, he learned the location of two other members of House Pharn, one in Buccaneer's Den, and the other in Minoc.



In Buccaneer's Den, they located Imbros Pharn, not skulking about the tunnels as expected, but at the bathhouse enjoying an erotic massage from the prostitute Raina, whom some of the Fist had previously encountered.  Enraged by Raina referring to her as her mother, Adegas slew the prostitute, while Okami wounded and then killed Imbros, who knew nothing of value and was less than mindful of exposing his private parts. Next, they found Ultrine Pharn in the Miner's Guild of Minoc. He explained he was once a warrior of House Pharn, but after years of conflict, turned his back on the ways of his people to pursue the path of a craftsman. But instead of harming the dark elf, Okami put aside his hatred and grudgingly accepted that Ultrine had changed and was not responsible for the Shadow Rangers' disappearance. However, this was not good enough for Hawkins, who proceeded to murder Ultrine and remove his eye lids. He then gave them to Kalanna, advising her that it was important she held onto them, before disappearing.

Upon their return to the Salty Dog, the Fist and their allies were approached by the time shade of Corinna, who requested that they follow her to the Yew Crypts because Okami was in grave danger. When they explained that this had already occurred, Corinna noted that she was too late and then vanished.

7/15/2019:

In Emerald Town, the Fist and their allies met to make preparations to obtain the next part for the Tempus Cradle, an advanced power core from the Clockwork Exodus.  They journeyed to the Exodus Dungeon and gathered the items needed to enter the powerful automaton’s lair.

7/18/2019:

A few days later, the group used the collected items to enter the ruins beneath Ver Lor Reg.  There, they battled the Clockwork Exodus, and once it was destroyed, retrieved its advanced power core for use the Tempus Cradle.

[Judas D'arc]

7/19/2019:

Oswin Stower stumbled into the Salty Dog to inform the Emerald Fist that he had learned of an attack planned against the City of Jhelom planned for that very night, in retaliation for Frey's call for war against Nujel'm at a recent King's Council Meeting. According to Oswin's sources, the Hairy Bastard and his crew were somehow involved.



Those present then journeyed to the Jhelom to warn Frey and joined him in a search of the city. Eventually, they met a band of pirates assaulting the headquarters of the Brothers in Arms warrior's guild, slaying its members and setting the building aflame. A battle occurred, and all of the pirates were either slain or fled. The only clue to their identity was the piles of rubies scattered around the scene, with ruby and red being the gem and color of House Odello of Nujel'm. But whether or not they were truly responsible remained to be seen.

7/24/2019:

The time shade of Rhys Jarrett entered the Salty Dog and told Kalanna he was there to help her obtain Primeval Lich dust, another item she would require in the future. As they discussed the matter, the time shade of Devon Hawkins interrupted and stated that Kalanna needed to accompany him to collect the horn of the Abyssal Infernal. Forced to choose between the two dead rangers and their tasks, Kalanna eventually chose to follow Rhys. The Fist and their allies accompanied him to the Primeval Lich's lair in the Stygian Abyss, destroying the creature and collecting its dust.

7/26/2019:

Sarain, formerly of the Kingdom Everthorne and a recent acquaintance of the Fist, approached them for assistance with a time shade matter. She claimed to be haunted by the time shade of Dai of Everthorne, who perished during the kingdom's destruction years ago. Originally from Tokuno, Dai was also an awakened Fae, and due to this, was aware of her current predicament and also trapped in what the fae called The Dreaming. In order to resume her proper rest, Dai needed someone to awaken and challenge Serado the Awakened, the Sleeping Dragon of Tokuno, who was also somehow tied to The Dreaming. With the creature distracted, Dai believed she could free herself. Unable to accomplish this alone, Sarain needed the Fist's help. Those gathered then traveled to Tokuno and battled Serado's minions, and while Dai never actually manifested, this seemed to accomplish their task. At the end of the fighting, the group did encounter the necromancer Kunori, father of the deceased Riverwatch Warden Okami. However, he was subsequently killed by Garnet of the Riverwatch Rangers.

7/29/2019:

A few days later, Sarain returned for more help, stating that she was haunted by more dead of Everthorne. She asked if they could introduce her to Lord Haxley, due to his knowledge of the time shade crisis. Agreeing, the Fist and their allies escorted her to Castle Britannia and introduced her to the Governor. Upon discussing this matter, it was decided the group would seek out the Everthorne time shades at the Yew Cemetery, where Sarain had encountered them, and discover what they wanted. Leaving Haxley and the wounded Sarain behind, they traveled there, but did not find any signs of time shades; instead, they discovered a decomposing corpse and a journal, which revealed that both belonged to Sarain. With the understanding that something was amiss, the group returned to Castle Britannia in time to witness Sarain kill Haxley. When confronted, she admitted to having embraced her dark nature and told them to give her regards to the Ancient One. Sarain then vanished in the manner typical of time shades.

7/31/2019:

*Crier Announcement: Governor Murdered?

Two nights ago, Lord Haxley, the current Governor of Trinsic, was reportedly murdered inside of Castle Britannia. A solicitor by profession, Haxley was a native of Britain and often utilized an office in the largely abandoned castle to conduct his non-gubernatorial business. The identity of his killer, rumored to be one of the so-called time shades that have been manifesting across Sosaria with alarming frequency in recent days, has yet to be disclosed.

While their true origins lie in mystery, time-shades are purported to be the brief manifestations of those known to be deceased, from a point in their life prior to their deaths. They are not ghosts or spirits of any kind, as they are fully capable of interacting with the physical world before they vanish, supposedly to return to their proper places in history. At last month’s council meeting, Haxley announced concerns about the recent proliferation of time-shade appearances, and the King tasked him with gathering further information about this ongoing crisis.

The Governor was last seen alive inside Castle Britannia, meeting with a large group of people, including members of the Emerald Fist, Riverwatch Rangers, and other, unaffiliated individuals. None of them are considered suspects in his murder, but are believed to have witnessed it.

Following Haxley’s death, his corpse was supposedly claimed by a representative from Trinsic, but no funeral service has been organized. Oddly, the city has yet to officially acknowledge his death, issuing no formal announcements. Instead, its has merely stated that Trinsic will attempt to verify the veracity of these reports