Muttered by Rali Yvarai after the Althua...

[TheDragonMaster]

The Althua was going perfect. Where did it go wrong? Other than some lecher getting in over his head with a woman in front of his wife there weren't any complications. Well, maybe I shouldn't have called him an Orc in Heat, but he didn't care (or maybe didn't hear? no matter). And I can hardley be blamed for her taking offence. Everyone knows her propper place would be outside of the room they chose to hide in. That way she could have entered at a suitable moment, not engaging in an insult match with her obvious superior. Ah, no sense worrying about it, it was just a minor distraction anyway. A slight interuption though. Certainly not anything more.

But then Hrywinn came up to me. Placed her hand on my heart. True the Gem was glowing at that point, and she was warning me of it's glow. But still, of all the ways to draw my attention to such a thing. Even I know where the Opera must go from there. Was it truely the right scene to take her hand in? I took her hand by the wrist. I kissed her palm. The Husband didn't seem to care for it, but then they seldom do. No, no, no. It had to be the right scene. After all, she followed it up by taking my hand by the wrist and kissing my own palm. Bah, I know my place. I am The Rake. And she was the long lost family friend. Though I hadn't seen her before. Don't recall it anyway... But it had to be. With the Countess there in the Red gown. She was definitely there to play the role of the Female noble. It was obviously the moment where The Rake makes his fateful choice between his lands and his love. I've been in this type of Opera many times. I can't have misread this one can I? I know there is supposed to be a betrayal, but it isn't supposed to be the one the Rake chooses who betrays him. I'll have to find out who wrote this one. Clearly the man is Mad to think the audience would accept such an end.
True her Husband was right there, but a servant with a serving tray of poisond food from the Ruk banquet outside took care of him, at least he wasn't around later... no matter. How could she have betrayed me like this? This Opera...night, this night. This night did not end well.

Could it have happened while I was on stage? I'll grant I did sidestep propriety, but she didn't seem concerned with propriety before that. Though unveiling one wearing the black is a tad against tradition. What did I miss? And why couldn't the Staff keep those Bloody candles lit? I enter the stage, I present my case to ensure that the lowering of the veil for the night is accepted. Even the Countess nodded her agreement. He rose through the trap door, as planned. The flash of the lamps was brighter than I'd expected, and the Staff failed to keep the windows closed. The lights dropped. The wind, Yvarai save me, the wind! The ruk ran inside. They died there on my floor. Why wasn't Cavala among them!?!

But it showed me my path to safety. The spotlight shone about her. No one could have missed it. I followed my que. I ran to her. The script clearly said that I was to run to her. Plead my case, and we would flee the Storms fury together.

I begged her. I pleaded with her! Falling to my knees at her feet I ripped the hat from my head, clutched it to my heart, and cried out to her (still that weeping echoes in my ears, my eyes are still swollen from it). "I know what I want, and you are not it". What could she have meant by that? Is she seaking land? Does that yutz of a husband hold her heart? I must find out. That woman left me to die! She will pay for this! Her husband will pay for this! I will destroy those who ally with her! And I will destroy her.

The only response was to run after the Storm. The Opera was over, the Betrayal had come, I remember the flash of the lightning as I ran out the ruined doors of my Castle. I remember being driven into the stone by... I don't know. The Opera was supposed to be over, yet I'm stil on stage. So it mustn't be over. Was I supposed to be the Rake? How could I forget my part? Why can't I remember my next line?

The Baroness promised me she would teach me the ritual for making roses grow yellow. You know, I never realized what a soothing color yellow is. It really is quite misunderstood. I suppose when it is all you see you can't help but find it soothing. And so easy to grow the plants to create yellow dye. It takes some poisen to produce it, but that should be no problem. I'll get the materials I need and then I'll find her. She will regret what she has done to me.

[Paint Scribe]

Ga'hlinan's Journal

Ga'hlinan stared at her sleeping form for a long while. She breathed in rhythm to the slow sheets of rain that fell outside. The room was simple, though clean. However, the pulsing sound of rain unsettled him. He could hear other patrons of the wayfarer's station moving around, wood creaking as they paced uneasily.

He swallowed, fingering a knife at his belt. Finally, he took his candle to the table beside the window. Laying out a small leather journal he leafed through it and began to write with the provided inkwell.


Today has seen the beginning of the end. How I wish you had never been cursed Master of the Roads by the Countess.

My heart aches to speak, but I must record this. I must remember, even if My Beloved forgets. Yesterday by time standards, but today by sleep, we attended a Summer Party given by Baron Rali Yvarai. This was the man who took with him the yellow stone taken from the mines. It is a stone of madness and if I ever get the chance, I will shatter it.

We entered the party, and it was upon the entrance of everyone there, that The Storm began to brew. I knew it, as did My Beloved. She was unsettled as was a stranger, a Baron Coszi. She walked up to Baron Rali in a very intimate manner, quietly urging the request that the windows be closed.

At that moment, a candle blew out. It could not be re-lit.

Then, to gain her attention back to my side, I went to her and whispered my mistrust of the sole other Falcon in the room. As was her way, she studied him, and I saw the softening of her eyes which happens whenever the Unmentionable does it's bidding. She smiled to me, and for a moment, I lost purpose, caught in her glow.

"We need not fear this one. Look at his eyes." She smiled, and her hand touched my elbow. "Come, we have enough trouble with The Storm, let us not make trouble of our kin."

I had been looking at his eyes.

Everything in the room seemed wrong. If I brought it up again, I knew she would only reference my past, and blow off my concerns. I have saved her life too many times to count, how is it that she could be so... so Blooded!

Perhaps I should have known all along, that she was not strong enough for the Unmentionable. Still, surely there is time. There must be time. Oh Beloved!


At that, he set the pen in the inkwell and a single tear dropped to the page. He made no noise, nor moved an inch, just held a large hand over his closed eyes. Finally, he breathed a soft, deep breath and resumed.


After that, a baron died of poison and with his dying breath, issued a blood curse on the Countess, speaking her name to all the room. Panic overwhelmed, and even the stranger, Baron Coszi, even fell senseless, though something about that struck me as odd. The Countess had become angry then, challenging her Court Scholar in a mad rage. Perhaps he had been behind the blood curse.

It was then that the Falcon and his Seneschal approached us, and the shirt pocket of Baron Rali had started to glow.

My Beloved moved quickly, seeking to not let others see the glow, though at that point who could have missed it? She placed her hand over the glow, over his heart! Then she whispered something in his ear.

He took her hand from his heart and gently, slowly kissed the inside of her palm. I could have killed him for his audacity. But what happened next.


The pen shook in his hand and he bit down on the tip of his thumb. When he removed the thumb, a thin line of blood welled up.


She took his hand and returned the gesture.


Shuddering, Ga'hlinan stood leaving the pen on the table to dribble ink as it willed. He took his knife and slowly pressed it into the window sill, expending his wrath on that object until it was hilt deep. He sighed, putting his forehead on the hilt and finally released the breath he had held.

In the bed, Hrywin shifted. Murmuring something he could not make out.

He slowly stood and returned to his writing.


From then, a duel broke out. One of the Barons from our mining mission appeared to have gotten himself into some trouble with a beautiful ven. She and the Baron's wife were fast at work at destroying each other.

I thought to imitate them, and challenge the Baron, our host. But then, the Falcon had interfered. He urged me to wait, implying his own desires to join in. I hesitated long enough for the Baron to reach the stage and begin his speech.

While he spoke, I watched My Beloved. I looked at her eyes, which did not once look back at me. The softness that the Unmentionable gives her was gone. Instead a hardness, a cunning which belonged in any other ven was there. I went to her side, hoping she would give me her soft smile, the indication that she was pretending, that it was part of the Unmentionable. For the softness to return, but it didn't. I had a knife, and my heart was aching with the thought of what I must do.

And then the Baron Rali summoned the veiled son of our Countess. And The Storm finally hit.

My hand stayed the horrible act in the desperation of the moment. The Storm's icy wind chilled my bones. Servants were dropping dead around us, and panic and confusion ensued.

My Lady was running then, calling to me as she went to the Countess' side. I expected her to summon the Baron Rali, who was now screaming at his servants in madness. When she did not, I hurried to her side. Peering at her eyes, I saw that they were wild and unkept. Not frightened, but something else, darker. As though The Storm itself was inside them. I hope that I never see that look again.

While she made to protect us from The Storm, Baron Rali came up. He seemed to want to beg for his life, but madness had possessed him. His pitiful attempt could not even trigger the Unmentionable inside her.

She gently placed a hand on his cheek, and slid it to the glow in his pocket.

"My love, surely you must know. It is not for you that I love you." With a cunning, hard smile, she slid away from him. Returning to us, she whispered The Storm's name.

He fled upon her words, but my eyes were fixed on her. The wild look was back. Madness tinged the pupils of her eyes. For a moment, she looked at me, and they changed. Was it Pity?

She did not meet my eyes again until after The Storm ended. Instead, she stood tall, frozen in place, as though she thought that would mean anything to The Storm.

The next morning she searched almost frantically among the dead. In the darkness of the night, we had not noticed the loss of her Personal Guard. I tried to calm her, but she was not distraught at their loss. Instead she murmured, "Where is it? He could not have survived."

followed her until it made sense to stop her. I grabbed her arm and she made to strike me. To disarm her, I dared to kiss her lips. I hoped to awaken the Unmentionable and stop this madness. She ought to have said it this morning, but we were not alone. She cried out and pulled away. Though I had been gentle, I saw blood on her lips. Something that looked like toothmarks on her skin. But then those were gone.***

She gasped, and staggered. She looked confused. Given the state of affairs and her wild appearance, the Countess granted us permission to leave. I took her to the first standing wayfarer's station we found. She has slept since. In the morning, I will see if the Unmentionable restores her mind. But even then, I must consider that she has been tainted.

And I cannot forget the way she looked at me. Pity. I do not deserve pity, least of all from My Lady.


He sighed, and then noticed that his bloody thumb had left bits of red on the paper. he chewed on the new scab and then pressed a bloody print in the corner. He dusted the page and closed the journal, secreting it away in a hidden slot in his belt.



***changed to reflect the discovery of the Original Manuscript.

[Paint Scribe]

It had been two full days since returning from that terrible party. Baroness Hrywin had greeted her children tenderly, and had seen her Seneschal and approved his suggestions for improving the castle's living conditions. Her husband had been oddly silent ever since The Storm, and was now off training blades or something.

She opened her own journal, a green leather gifted her on her wedding day from her husband. She pieced through the pages, reading some entries before adding her own recounting of the events of several night past.


Baron Rali Yvarai should never have held a party on a Storm day. I fear he is lost to us now. A pity, as I really was looking forward to his Opera.


She paused tapping the metal sheath on her lips, considering a vase of wildflowers.


The night began ominously, for as soon as we had entered, The Storm began to tingle my senses. I have oft heard of Falcons who can feel The Storm before it approaches, and I think I shall never forget that sense. Though, may the Suaven have mercy on me and never allow me to experience such evil sorcery again.


She shuddered, setting down the pen carefully as not to leave any marks and rose. Walking onto the dais, she peered into the bright, cloudless sky, soaking in the sun for several long minutes. When her skin had stopped prickling from the memory of The Storm, she returned to her writing.


Others must have felt the madness as well. For my husband even suspected another Falcon of treachery that night.

There was another Baron there, a companion of Baron Vadim. I did not catch his name, for he was silent and left me feeling uneasy. Though there was little there that did not bother me that night. He was the only other who seemed to notice The Storm brewing. When Baron Rali blew him off, I urged him quietly to reconsider. I didn't want the Countess being alarmed needlessly.

When a single candle blew out, the Baron Rali heeded our warning.

I'll admit now, The Storm had me terribly distracted all night, and it only got worse as time went on.

Baron Rali had a funny, though rather uncouth comment to make of Baron Vadim and a pretty flirt who was trying to incite Lady Alexai's rage. I thought that foolish, but the flirt must not realize that Lady Alexai lived only to see whose blood she might spill. Of course, Lady Alexai heard Baron Rali's comment and sought to start an insult duel against him, to which her wit failed her. It must be difficult to live merely by one's temper and blood. Though she seems content enough.

The greatest distraction was the death of Baron Meza Mwrr. He dared to put a blood curse on the Countess. In my hurry to their side something happened. I heard Vadim's friend offering a solution and the Countess holding her hand out to accept it. Then the Baron had fallen in a slump. The Countess seemed dazed, and then enraged at her Court Scholar for failing to protect her. She bore down on him and I was certain she would slay him.

I noticed then that Lady Alexai had decided that her rage was best spent against the pretty flirt. The two women were locked in a duel, one which I had no doubt the conclusion.

All around was madness and confusion and I noticed that Baron Rali had begun to glow. Remembering the visit to the mines, I hurried to warn him of the danger. Baroness Lenor must be around.

It was around then that The Storm must have struck. ***I will not write His name down. I do not know if I will ever allow my daughters to know His Name. Dear Suaven. I would not call his notice down on my worst enemies.



Hrywin was shaking now. So much that she had to put the pen down. small flecks of ink spattered the page. She touched the side of her neck. It was ice cold. Trembling, she pushed back from the desk. Her body was shaking. A servant approached. "My lady?"

"Hot tea. and a warm compress."

"At once, my lady," the servant bowed before hurrying off.

She pulled a large armchair to the dais and sat, curled up in the sunlight. She stared at the blue sky, shuddering and shaking.

When the servant returned, she took the tea and placed the compress on her neck. The burning heat of it caused her to cry out, but she did not remove it. Preferring the burning heat to the icy cold.

"I will not write of Him," she whispered once alone. Then she wept. She must write of Him, if only to tell her daughters why they must never say His name.

Her words were shaky and she needed to stop many times before finishing.


The Storm's madness struck before He physically was there. The world became a confusion. A young couple kissed scandalously in public. A duel with blood shed in the host's house. Servants dropping dead. And then the windows flung open. The room went dark, but I could see His Form. It was as though His skin was glass - or ice - and his flesh beneath dark storm clouds. His eyes were like lightning. Upon seeing him, I screamed for my husband, running to the Countess' side. Each lightning strike colored the room with an ominous yellow hue.

The Countess and Baron Vadim talking sorcerous rituals. I did not know the Countess knew sorcery.

The Storm approached us, death spreading out from Him. I trembled as I whispered His Name. He stopped before us. Before me. Then he laughed. It was the sound of a hundred thunderclaps. He said my name. My secret name. It was as though my bones were filled with ice. I couldn't move. I was certain I was to die.

He reached out and took my hand. His touch was gentle, but his lips hurt as they left frozen skin in their wake. My fingertips. The back of my hand. The inside of my palm. "Please, no," I whispered.

"No?" he said coyly. "Perhaps you'd rather I looked like this?" His image changed, His face becoming Baron Rali's.

I struggled to remove my hand from his grasp and he laughed. "Or perhaps this?" He was the Earl then. I had never seen the Earl, so more I knew it was him, rather than recognized him.

"Would you seduce me with a kiss?" His lips found my breast bone. Pain bit into my chest. I dared not move. Some insane part of me wanted this.
In the distance, I could hear Baron Rali begging his lover to protect him from the storm. I heard her cruel words echoing in my head. Hazy, distant words that I cannot remember.

"Could you do it?" he whispered. His lips at the base of my neck. "Could you kill me?"

"Yes," I said, looking into the Earl's eyes and then my voice wavered.

It was Ga'hlinan's eyes that looked into mine. "Could you kill me, My Beloved?" I gasped. It was the name Ga'hlinan used in secret for me. I struggled to breath. And then I pushed him from me. "I said your name. Leave me!"

He laughed. Lightning struck. I cringed away. "Of course you have. Why else would I have noticed you? You are no great beauty. No great sworsdman. No great sorcerer. You have little to bring yourself to my notice. But isn't that the Point? Your little Triangle. Hiding from anyone's notice, until it is too late."

His hand locked around my neck, pulling me close then. His breath clean, like the air after a rainstorm. For a moment, it stilled me. Then his teeth bit my lower lip. I cried out as my lip turned to ice. "But it is too late. You are recognized. Your fellows are being hunted."

He continued to whisper in my ear while I wept at what he promised would come to pass. I wanted to deny it, but my voice had stopped. I cannot write his words. Perhaps if I do not write them, they will have no power. They were a prophecy, or a threat. He cannot have any power to influence the world for anything other than His direct destruction.

Finally, he kissed me again, sucking on my blood. "Remember these words forever. You will never see Solace. I will come for you. When I call your new name, you will come to me. You will come, or I will destroy everything you have struggled to protect. And if you get yourself killed, little bird, I will visit them and take my vengeance out on those you protect. So see that you are alive to come to me."

Then He was gone.

Hrywin put the pen down. She dusted the words, mechanically. The Storm's last words haunting her. She closed her journal and placed it in the locked drawer. Then, she stood, making her way to her bedroom. Curling up, she fell asleep, trying to forget the words which she knew she would never, ever forget.



*** til end reflects changes reflecting the Original Manuscript fragments.

[Paint Scribe]

The original journal entries were actually copies. A carbon dating of some fragments discovered in a small stone chest has revealed bits of the original journals of Hrywin Sinjin and her husband. Sadly, only scraps remain and there is not enough evidence to support if her experience that night was a reflection of the madness of the stone, or that The Storm actually has some kind of Presence.

Of course, a stifling of the idea that The Storm may have some actual Personality may be why the original was copied and changed.