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Once upon a time there was a fair maid, beeing in love with
a druid, who lived in the deeper forest northwest of the town.
often she went there discarding the dangers of the woods.
once upon a time the druid made some new experiments, concerning with the elements. he tried to change water to stone, stone to air, and air to water again. Those axperiments took great concentration and energy and while he was in the deepest of his spell his maid stumbled upon him, and broke the spell.
the assembled energy went awry and the druid was sucked into
the earth, while around him the ground began melting. his last cry was to the girl, a wish for her to leave the place immidiatly, but the maid ran for him, wanting to save him from his doom. thus the elemental anergy also enshrowded her and her limbs became stiff and stiffer. in fear she tried to run but soon she couldnt move at all.

thus it is, that the girl rests in the woods, changed to stone, while near her, there i an everlasting pool of molten rock. and once in the while the statue sheds some tears, it is told, and people feared this place and shunned it.
and soon a thick forest grew around this place of doom and nobody saw the place in many years. still it is there, as rumors tell, as is the forest.

There he stands....wearing a shiny Armor made of finest steel....standing in front of it, this statue, after that he Looked on that smelt ground...and the tears runned out of his eyes, just of that cause the sadness of that place...


In deep concentration, Sturm kneed down and prayed to Paladin, his only god, how to help that souls to get their peace of eternety...

I have been following the fire path a while. I have collected some energy from it, and my experiments have shown much. If the druid fumbled a spell, and is now turned into a lava field, and the woman is turned into stone, so it is both spirits affecting their surroundings. Both have a burning fire in their souls, and this fire keeps them from finding a way out. I will start some researches immediately. But i need to protect the books i read from fire before i use them. One of my experiments has shown a funny effect, i seem to explode from time to time. Even my skin gets very warm sometimes, without geting a fever. I have to think of a way to solve this too. It is annoying, but it shows the power of the fire. If there were no fire, there were no life.
With the right knowledge, it should be easily possible to turn both persons back. I wil start some experiments immediately.
For example, if the lava is cooled down, and the statue is heated, both in the same time, it may be possible to make the energy flow in the area "snap" back to normal, turning both persons back into their normal reality focus.  Eventually. I gotta continue my experiments.

some fearies from the woods reported strange growth near the place of tragic.
even those treeloving beeings came to fear this enchanted forest were strange magics are at work, be they good or be they evil.
for who knows if its good or if its evil, that comes from pain eternaly felt.

I will scout that location immediately, and look what can eventually be done.

Damien, be careful my friend. I have heard rumors of horrors they lay in wait.

If you need a friend, call on me.

Damien writes down a letter. Smoke emerges from his grey cloak.

"Jhai!
Thank you, Dax. I feel much power in that place ! The flames burn high !
When i teach young ones the ways of magic, i always let them start a campfire first, to teach them the way of using magic. Magic has much to do with fire. The flames of magic can do much, as can do the flames of emotion. Bith persons seem trapped there in emotions. The druid and his wife. Both give themselves the guilt of having made a fatal mistake, but both are trapped there in their own guilt, but all is powered from strong love. Their feelings keep them from recognizing that only silly circumstances lead to their misery. Both want to protect the other one from being guilty of the happenings. Both do not recognize that the circumstances have lead to their doom, and they both are not guilty. So both stay trapped there, and their love, and their blindness powers their prison.
If i start to cool down the lava a bit, and in the same time, heat up the statue, the energies of both will be balanced, and they will recognize that it is not necessary to blame oneself... so their reality will "snap" back to normal.
I fear that there will be a reaction from that, i mean the surroundings will react to the change. I think both people will quickly return to their human form - but releasing some amounts of energy on those who are near.
Since i have made some experiments with fire, and since i am well protected against magic, i will approach the place alone, and start the experimental rituals. Since i am exploding sometimes, and cause explosions on others - that was a result, a kind of curse, to some of my higher experiments with fire magic founded on some old scrolls i got my hands on - i do understand the powers of fire and ice quite good. Both are only power movements in different directions. So i am best suited for this mission.
I only fear that it might become impossible for most people to bear my presence in the next time, when i start to absorb the energies in that place. But i think i know enough and am strong enough to try it.
My advice to all people is, stay away from me when i am approaching an area in the next time. My body temperature increased in the last time, and i was able to start both flames and frost to places in the last time without needing any concentration. It started accidentaly too.
The power i feel now, the fire, calls me to that place. I must follow that call. I must restore balance there. I am bound to the fire that burns in my bones. And to the frost the absence of that fire can cause.
I have given some detailed instructions to Latharan Caine, a good friend of mine. He may help out when i am not there in the next time.
I now must leave to that place. I feel the call of the flame. And i know, i won't miss it. If i fail now, some people will have instructions about what to do."

Damien pins the letter with a dagger to his desk. His hands seem surrounded in flames now. As he turns around, the burning glow of his eyes hidden under the cloak, he starts to run north... moving with almost inhuman speed. His footsteps seem to burn into the floor, until he crosses the river, and soon is not seen anymore.

Next day : No Damien to be seen...

hmmm..thats all long ago now! Anybody heard some news? If Damien do not returns in a few days we should think about starting our own expedition!

Darzog

I heard nothing from damien
well i thing i look around a bit  maybe i see anything.
if someone starts a expedition to search what happend with damien pls tell it me
i will go then with you.    



Sir Sirius The Healer    adjudant of the grey rose

Keep in mind what happend to Damien, who also wanted to explore on his own!
I suggest a expedition with at least 3 members (one fighter, healer and mage minimum)
What about today 20:00 CET?? We meet at the library - ok? Then we should go north and make some experiments with the statue and the lava field. Perhaps its really a Teleporter-field and Damien went through it into another world.

Darzog - novice of zelphia, godess of water

ok  i will wait at the shop at 8:00 pm cet
i will hope we are not too late to help
if we can help

Sir Sirius The Healer     adjudant of the grey rose

The Faeries of the woods tell of further changes in the remote glades.
just a few of them still venture in the enchanted forest and witness growth and decay.
was it the humans, that came here recently, who influenced the earth magics with their magics??

they dont know what to think of it, and decided to watch.

Night. Dream time...
The people are sleeping, others are still awake to "visit" the homes of the rich ones who are not at home, others are planning, but most of the people, sleeping, and many dreaming after another hard day's work.
Some of these dreaming people, most common Elves, Lizards, and especially fairies, are sensible to magic. And magic sometimes influences their dreams, especially when it is strong and natural magic.
This night, the natural magic flow pulses with a strange power, as if floating with an own will...
This will seeks contact, seeking the minds of the sensitive people, floating their minds with a formed vision.
The vision shows a place. A place in the woods, overgrown. A tall, grey robed figure, wearing a gnarled staff, approaches the place by moving through the plants without breaking them. In fact, the plants move to give way to the person.
The eyes under the cloak burn with red fire, and heat from under the cloak makes the air above it blur. The person stops at a statue, then moves over to a lava pit. The man seems to try to talk with the lava, and the lava seems to respond by forming words with bubbles. Then, suddenly the vision changes. The sky is dark now, and stars stand in it. The robed figure has removed his cloak, and Damien's face is to be seen. He sits on the grass, seemingly meditating, and moving his fingers like weaving a web with strange patterns, his lips forming strange, ancient words. After a short while, an "unseen" line - the dreamers can see it, but know that it is invisible - connects the lava pit and the statue, and Damien's head. Then, Damien spreads out a web that connects every being of the place, every plant and every stone.
A voice speaks in the dreamer's heads, low and soft with elven accent. It forms a word : "Balance.".
In this moment, the lines connecting the statue and the lava pit seem to become visible. the whole place starts to shine in a strange light, and then reacts with a flash - The figure of Damien is not to be seen anymore. Instead, a pulsing, living web now floats over the whole place. the Voice speaks again, now forming the words "Failure." and "Trapped."
Then, the two places, statue and lava pit, are surrounded with a "marking" glow. The Voice says "Balance." again.
The dream fades away, leaving a fading impression of a word : "freedom."...

hmmm...strange dream...
this morning I went northwest to visit the field and the stone-maiden again. as i expected there were more trees and flowers than yesterday. they must have been grown there overnight and very rapidly. perhaps all this was causen by the magical energy wich was freed during Damiens ritual.  maybe all the trees around are the products of failed rituals before. i dont know. my only idea at the moment is, that the whole place is overloaded by uncontrolled magical energy. so i always go there with minimal mana in my body and immediately remove energy when floatig back into my body. i do this by casting fireballs into the waves of the ocean. becaus there (i hope so) the magical energy vanishes without any bigger reaction. the problem is, i dont know how big the amount of mana is that must be drained from this cursed place....and also i do not know if my theorie is perhaps completely wrong....but if i see no other chance in helping damien and the coursed druid-couple i will keep doing so!

any other suggestions?

darzog - novice of zelphia

hmm if u wish i will try to help
i will try to ask Brágon (the god of fire) for help because fire is here a strong component of the magic there and i will try to contact damien in a mental way so i can find out what was going wrong with his ritual
perhaps Tanora (the water goddess also known as Zelphia) can help us with some power to regain the balance

I would prefer going on only with the help of Zelphia!
But i think you already guessed this. If we can we should do all that stuff without the power of fire!
Remember: Fire is the uncontrollable element that often leaves a line of destruction behind!
By the way, who says that all this has anything to do with fire??? Just because there's a field of fluid earth and rock? hmmm...
water to stone. stone to air. and air to stone!.
but what happend was: flesh to stone and flesh to earth.
Perhaps me and some others may help you in a ritual trying to reach Damiens mind!
Trying to get in contact with him is defenetly a good idea!
we will see...

Darzog, novice of Zelphia

I wil try it at 0300 pm cet (14:00 game-servertime) tomorow

tomorrow = thursday

The grey robed, tall figure of Damien slowly enters the place, using his quite burned-looking staff as a help to walk. He pins a notice to the board, then slowly walks back to the library.

"Greetings people,
Whoever wants to help with the place with the lava druid and the statue persons, handle with great care. One person, no mater how much power and knowledge may be used, is not enough to bring balance to the place. Approach with care and only in groups. After starting a ritual to restore balance to the place, i got trapped there. The place responds to magic actions in a very unusual way. Olórin, Angaria and Sir Sirius managed to get me out, but i very exhausted, and not able to walk to the town on without help. In fact, the place seems to drain power from persons near. I guess that i passed out several times on the way back, and it does need some strong stuff to cause such effects on me.
So when approaching that place, be careful. AND don't walk there alone. I'll gonna get some rest."

The day is a silent one, no wind, barly any sounds, even the creatures of the forest seem
to stand still in apprehension.
suddenly a strong, hot windgust carrying a strange smell sweeps over the northwestern forests.

then again all is silent.

Sitting in the quiet room upstairs the Library, Damien writes something... and suddenly freezes. His eyes change from the normal color to a burning red glow. With no expression on the face, he stands up, and looks in northeast direction, as if looking through the walls. Slowly, the eyes get back their normal color. He slowly sits down again, and continues to write.
"Not yet," he mumbles, "not yet."