Amidst the Cogs of Mechanus II

Malgen waited a moment after Carmella finished her tale. It is a relief sister, that you have been freed from torment. My guilt has been lifted and yet I still feel that I am not at peace. Why have I not ascended to my rightful resting place?

Carmella looked at her brother sadly. We must be parted for a while longer I fear dear brother. Even now, my time here in Mechanus draws to an end. Soon I will ascend to Mount Celestia to be in the halls of our kin. You will continue on your path in the mortal realm for a time yet.

Malgen looked confused. But I have done what was asked of me. Why am I to be denied my reward in the afterlife? Why do I not get to ascend the mount as well?

Aurax stepped forward. His hollow voice, which seemed to come from some place far distant, answered the warrior. You cannot find peace until your mortal remains have found peace. They currently hang in the halls of Mount Bloodmoon as a trophy for those who lord over that dread mountain. Only when your remains are returned to your family's tomb in Vodymsira will you find peace.

Malgen felt helpless. I don't understand. How is it important to the Lords of Law that my bones be interred with my family?

You are a symbol of order and justice to those who now live their lives out in the mortal realm. If your remains are returned, hope will spring in the hearts of the people and they will fight with renewed vigor to maintain the Law of Inolba. Even now, agents of Chaos and Destruction plot their great march on the lands of men. As the Fifth Age of Man draws to a close, the future of Inolba will be tested. The time is coming when people will have to look to the deeds of legends to gain hope for a new tomorrow. Without this hope, the lands of men will surely be lost.

What agents do you speak of? replied Malgen. Surely the heroes I found in the keep will put an end to Mullahey and order will be restored in the Westmarch.

Aurax turned his pale eyes to meet Malgen's gaze. There are other, more powerful forces at work than the diseased halfbreed. Infyrana herself stands ready to enter Inolba.

Malgen gasped. Surely not her. I thought her long dead.

It is not so. She will return; that has been ordained. And many more will die before her reign of terror ends...

Amidst the Cogs of Mechanus

A Prologue to Session 8 - The Madness of Bedla-Ra

The Fortress of Disciplined
Enlightenment

The ghost of the man once known as Malgen glided effortlessly through the ordered halls of the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment in the heart of that Immortal Plane of Law known as Mechanus. He passed several long-bearded Guvners on his way who were too involved with their mathematical formulae to take much notice of him. At last he came to the door he sought. In front of it stood an obsidian behemoth wearing bronze plate mail that was as wide as it was tall. As Malgen approached, the creature’s eyes began to glow behind its visored helm and it rose up to its full twelve foot height.

                Marut VIII. By the order of Aurax you may enter.

Aurax the Inevitable

  Malgen passed through the cog-like door and entered the room beyond. Like the rest of the fortress, this room was Spartan, but well organized. Charts of various sorts, written in languages beyond Malgen’s ken covered the walls. On a marble table in one corner stood a model of the cosmos. In the centre of the room, a large creature resembling a centaur stood in front of a plush velvet sofa. It was the colour of ivory and had two wings of beaten gold emerging from its back. Its face, as smooth as porcelain, with milky white eyes, was expressionless. Behind the creature someone sat on the sofa, but the great equine’s bulk prevented Malgen from discerning who it was.

                Aurax, Malgen said, I am saddened and grieved to announce that my quest has failed.

The Inevitable named Aurax turned to face Malgen. As he did so, Malgen could hear the click and whizz of thousands of gears turning. Aurax’s face remained expressionless, and when he spoke his voice seemed to echo as the sound of someone in a vast empty chamber.

                It is not so. Those you tasked with completing this quest have proven successful.

Malgen’s face lit up at the Inevitable’s words. Hope was kindled in his heart.

                How can that be? They all died. I saw their souls return to their physical bodies myself.

A voice like honey sounded behind the Inevitable.

                They did die. But it was by their own hands. And done after their charge was complete.

Aurax stepped away with a flourish, revealing a beautiful raven haired young woman sitting on the sofa.

                Carmella?

                Yes brother, it is I. Freed at last from the sickness that infected my soul thanks to your effort and those whom you charged with seeing the task done.

Carmella

Malgen glided forward to get a better look at his sister. She looked just as he remembered her in life: a radiant, but delicate beauty. Guilt washed over him at the thought of all her spirit had endured over the course of the last five centuries.

                I found them in the Keep, he began. They were the first good souls to enter in centuries. Tired and bloodied from their battles, I found them resting in one of the towers. I coaxed five of them from their sleep and bade their consciousnesses rise and take physical form. The sixth, an elf, was awake and suffering from some wasting malady that demanded his full attention; and so I was not able to enlist his aid. I then led them through the portal to that realm of mad souls known as Bedla-Ra where I knew you to be imprisoned. That was the last I saw of them. Tell me what happened once they entered that ever-transient realm of the Nightlady.

                As you wish, brother.

Before she picked up the tale where her brother left off, Carmella paused and her face took on a ponderous expression, as one trying to remember a dream which has faded from memory, or relate a tale experienced by a person unfamiliar to them.

Continued…