(End of Sea Season 1615)
The group then headed to the West, in search of the squalid village of Tink. Unbeknownst to them, the local Troll population had been undergoing a little internecine strife and some Zorak Zoran worshippers were trying to prove their god’s superiority over other war gods, and they chose to ambush the party as they travelled through Sartar. The first warning was when one Dark Troll stepped forth onto the slope of a wooded hill above the party. This was in broad daylight, which is almost unheard of for trolls, and he bellowed out the challenge of his god. At that moment, darkwall spells appeared in the forest, and a hail of slingshots began to rain down on the group. Several trolls began to charge down the slope, and the party leaped to engage. This battle was recorded by Kenstral Londarsson, and may be read elsewhere.
The party travelled through Runegate fort, and took a few moments to reflect on the dark and evil power which the Lunars had used to conquer the gateway to Sartar. It served to remind them of the implacable and ruthless nature of their enemy, and steeled their souls to wage a war of revenge.
They reached Tink by skirting around the edges of the Upland Marsh, and pondered their quest to meet with Forang Farosh, for it occurred that Forang was not the only survivor of the Empire of Wyrms Friends that still resided in Dragon Pass – Delecti the Necromancer was another option for acquiring the lore that they sought. They quite sensibly ruled out this idea as folly.
Once they had sighted Tink, they decided to split up. Half the group headed to the Brass Hills to make a camp and to hide their numbers, realising that they could not trust Forang Farosh. The others entered Tink’s only inn, only to be stunned to learn that Forang had apparently been expecting them – or expecting someone. He had left a note instructing them to find his campsite at the highest peak of the very hills that the other party members had made camp in, and so, somewhat bemused they headed back to their comrades with the news.
Intrigued, they now decided to approach Forang as a group, and headed into the dark hills to the summit. There they found the enigmatic Forang Farosh with his entourage of concubine, pygmy and dragonewt. At the very summit were two plinths, which, in spite of their ancient origins, still resembled dragons. Forang had a small fire burning and beckoned the group closer. As they entered the firelight, much to the group’s surprise, the crested dragonewt flared up and began hissing and growling in the unmistakeable direction of Kulbrast. Kulbrast showed no sign of surprise and merely ignored the creature. Forang offered them all wine, and then spoke:
“So, we are met. Please forgive me my pretensions at mysticism. I have studied it for centuries and yet it still sits uncomfortably with me. Your arrival was not unexpected, but your form was unknown to me. Even now you may turn away from the destiny that lies before you, and return to your former lives, following whatever end you will…”
“My friends, we are present in momentous times: horrifying and cruel but wondrous and renascent. You currently exist on a world defined by the actions of men in imitation of their gods, but to the cosmos at large even the gods are as men."
“In the timeless simultaneity before the Great Compromise there was The Dragon. The Dragon, through the force of its own will became “All That Was”. This was devolution, however, because to become “All That Was” was to no longer be “All That Was Not”. It is this juxtaposition that lies at the core of The Dragon. It is the Cosmos, and the gods fight for their piece of it.”
“You, my friends, now stand on the very precipice of Eternal Truth, staring into infinity. It is right and proper that you cannot conceive its enormity as it stretches out before you, for that is the gift of mortality: the bliss of ignorance. You cannot see the vastness and the majesty that lies before your very eyes because of its sheer scale.”
“But Time draws upon us. A time of huge consequence and the Dragon is stirring. Its restless slumber will soon be shattered and its waking will shake the world. The scars of its last awakening are still vivid on the face of Glorantha, and new wounds will be carved in her flesh.”
“The Hero Wars are upon us, my friends.”
Forang then offered what he swore was a more accurate translation of the prophecy that the party had recorded and carried all the way from Pavis. It was similar to the first, but had several distinct differences, substituting draconic phrases for some of the more mundane. He stated that what the Lunars had translated as Emperor was more correctly translated as Dragonlord. What real difference, then? According to Forang, all the difference in the world. Finally and most cryptically, the phrase ‘The Empire will arise’ was replaced with, ‘The Dragon forth shall rise’. As to the meaning of the words, Forang could not, or would not say. He then began a chanted ritual in a strange language. The stone plinths began to glow, the portal to the east with a blue glow, the portal to the west with a red. The two merged with an unearthly purple haze. Forang addressed the group again:
“I offer you all a free choice. Go now. If any of you should desire a normal life, devoid of destiny, then step eastward through the blue portal. This life may be a content one and even a successful one while you are alive. It may be filled with strife and anguish but it will be yours because of the choice you made here tonight. But at the end, however it may come, you will fade from memory and into inconsequence: forgotten deeds of a forgotten son of a forgotten father of a nameless line.”
“If however you have marked anything that I have said and held it at its true worth, then take the red portal and receive your first glimpse at the grandness of the cosmos and your place within. In scale we are but dust to the trampling feet of the gods. But the Hero Wars are between men, and the gods themselves look on and hope for US to emerge victorious on their behalf. What awaits the heroes that will fight this war with all their skill and the wholeness of their spirit and the grand sum of their flesh? Immortality itself?”
Some pondered, others went straight through without a word, but all went.