Finding Purpose

The story of Ardan following a vision to the Godhammer Crater and finding (perhaps) the purpose for which he was granted powers.

Visions and Regrets
In the summer of the year 487, before the Avalanche left to face the Lady of Hours, Ardan received troubling visions in his sleep. The last visions he had showed him the Airwood Valley in the Jungle of Daggers where he later met both his current companions and Andromeda Fierra, the last descendant of the emperors of the Old Imperium. Ardan helped both, but he was still unsure what exactly his purpose was there. In his new visions he was shown a great wasteland with an enormous crater in it, and he felt called to that place. After a few days researching in the library of the Frost Lodge he learned that the place he saw was the Godhammer Crater, a place where the old Imperium defeated an ancient evil that threatened to destroy the world. He did not know why, but his Benefactor (the God-Emperor?) wanted him to venture there. So, he packed his belongings, said his farewells to the rest of the Avalanche and promised to return once his business was concluded, whenever that may be.

Unfortunately, the Godhammer Crater was on the far side of Aegeron, on the southern border of the Kingdom of Hastogar, near the Eastern Waste, south of Fort Deadwater. Ardan was no stranger to long journeys and found that the fastest route would be through the mountains in Davalon to the elven kingdom of Londar, where he can book passage on a boat sailing the Mir Aefhin River to the Great Lake. He had no trouble crossing the mountains, the snow has thawed months ago, making the journey a lot easier than it was for the Avalanche last year. In Dawnhold he joined a caravan of wood elf artisans who were heading back to Londar. He chose to conceal his warlock abilities to avoid unpleasant questions and pretended to be an envoy of a noble house from Azure on official business to Londar. This helped him avoid almost all question, as it gave him an air of importance among the common folk who knew little about the workings of nobles, while those moving in higher circles promptly ignored him, as these envoys are almost exclusively sent out for petty errands (e.g. buying a genuine wood elf bow for the birthday of the noble's son). As he traveled, he kept tweaking the story, moving his destination.

From Londar a boat brought him to the Great Lake. While sailing the lake one could easily think they were at sea as it stretched to the horizon in all directions. Ardan hadn't seen the Lake for over three centuries, when he traveled as part of entourage of Legatus Verus. At the time Ardan was a lowly servant of the Imperial Palace, one of the dozens who were assigned to accompany the Legatus as he was visiting the IX. Legion in the south. It was a long time ago, then Ardan still had Livia and his daughters were only in their teens. He spent all of his wage to bring them along on one of the supply ships so that they could enjoy Laketown, as a sort-of family get-away the nobles like to go on. His recent boat trip over the Great Lake lasted many days, and while the memories of the past were sweet at first, they slowly turned from nostalgia to a showcase of bitter regrets. He should have spent more time with Livia and the girls. He should have stayed with her on that day, before the end. Why did he think Duty was more important? He had forsaken his Family for Duty, but in the end, when it mattered the most, he forsook Duty as well. As the days passed and with nothing to do, he fell deeper and deeper into regret and self-loathing. Then one night he could not take it anymore and reached for the bottle. He locked himself in his cabin, opened it and started gulping as if he was dying of thirst. The elven spirits did their job, soon his eyes were clouded and he fell into blissful oblivion.

But the nothingness only lasted for a moment, because the vision of the Godhammer Crater returned, clearer and more vivid than ever before. He saw the jagged glass spikes at the edge of the crater, made from the sand melted by the awesome power of a weapon powerful enough to slay a god. In the giant crater he saw the image of a middle-aged half-elf woman, she seems to be standing in front of a half-buried door under some stone arches, fascinated by the strange runes on the door. Then behind her a dark shadow appears moving towards her. Ardan tried to call out to her but she could not hear him. Meanwhile the shadow inched closer and closer to her. Then Ardan woke up in his cabin with the empty bottle in his hand. Looking outside he could see that it barely any time has passed since he had drunk the spirits and yet he felt none of its effects. His sorrow was also gone, replaced by determination. He was overcome with a feeling that at the bottom of that horrid crater he will find his Redemption.

Crater of Glass
His visions told him that he needed to hurry, so he bought the two fastest horses he could find after disembarking in Murky Waters. He rode south-east for days, barely stopping to rest or eat. After five grueling days he found himself at the rim of the Godhammer Crater. There was no clear way in as the jagged glass shards at the edge made all attempts of entry the equivalent of dying by a thousand cuts. A quick fly over the rim confirmed his suspicion that the landscape of jagged glass continues inwards the crater, he couldn't just fly over the rim and walk towards the center. Ardan decided to rest and meditate on what needs to be done. First he recalled what he knew about this place. Most students of history are aware that during the Century of Conquest an ancient evil arose in this land that threatened to devour all life on Aegeron. This evil was an ancient deity of immense power, it had many names, but most called it the Sorrow. While the rest of Aegeron fled from its path, the Imperium rose to fight it. Mortals had no chance against such an abomination, but with the aid of the Gods the Imperium created the Godhammer, a weapon of such terrifying power that dwarfed even the mightiest of Edicts. It took immense courage and unimaginable sacrifice, but in the end the Godhammer was created and the Sorrow was defeated with it. It is rumored that a moment of utter silence fell on the entire continent when the Godhammer burned away the Sorrow, even the stars went out for a moment. As Ardan pondered this, he realized that he somehow knew more (maybe a gift from his Benefactor?). He recalled that the aftershocks of the Godhammer are still present in the crater and it burns all divine creatures who tries to expand its domain to the crater. In other words, the Godhammer Crater is forsaken by the Gods. Why did the women he seeks go to such a horrid place?

Ardan spent the next day going around the rim of the crater, looking for a way in. As he was doing one of his short scouting flights, he noticed what looked like a camp inside the crater. He decided to investigate and flew closer. He found that it was indeed a camp, it was set up on a small patch of glass that was quite smooth (unlike the other areas that were covered by razor sharp shards). The camp was quite small, there was a single tent and a small campfire that appeared to be not more than a few days old. The tent had a few personal items in it and Ardan was contemplating looking through them. On the one hand, manners demanded that he left the owner's possessions alone and patiently waits for their return; on the other hand, prudence dictated that he checks out for whom exactly he was waiting for. In the end prudence won. Ardan found that the camp belonged to a human called Mixaryl from the city of Galekadi. She was artifact hunter who made a living plundering abandoned, ancient places and selling magical artifacts to the highest bidder. A person who only cares about money, fortunately Ardan was fluent in her language as he had brought quite a few gemstones with him for the road.

He did not have to wait long for Mixaryl to appear, her entry was quite unmistakable as she arrived riding a 20 bx 20 ft flying rug. Naturally she was surprised to find her camp occupied, but Ardan's charming introduction (augmented by the exchange of gems) made her much more hospitable. Ardan spent the evening chatting with Mixaryl, and she turned out to be quite knowledgeable about the area, as she had been plundering it for artifacts remaining from the Imperium's great battle with the Sorrow. But she was not only a scavenger, but also an artificer of great talent (the flying carpet was her creation) and an aspiring wizard. She told Ardan that she used fire to melt the glass in several spots of the crater, creating suitable surfaces to make camp. When Ardan told her about the half-elf woman he was seeking and he mentioned the stone arches and the door with the runes, she suddenly got very interested. She told him about an old imperial vault that was built after the Sorrow's defeat, which was rumored to house the remnants of the imperials who fought, along with their equipment. The complex was buried and no one knew where the entrance was, but what Ardan described sounded like that. She offered to team up with him, provided they split everything 70 to 30, her way. Ardan had little interest in money, so he quickly agreed.

Hunted by Demons
In the morning they headed out together on the flying carpet. Although Ardan had some reservations about traveling at high speed above razor sharp glass spikes on a very unstable and dirty looking rug, he had to concede that it allowed them to travel much further into the crater. Soon they arrived at the very place he saw in his vision with stone arches half buried in glass shards. Mixaryl recommended they split up to cover more ground and she promptly left towards the northern end of the area. With all the colored glass shards and sand around, Ardan found it quite hard to find the outlines of buried structure, but after some investigation he noticed a trail on the ground, in the shards. He followed it and found that someone had been excavating the side of a hill. As there were no wagons, pickaxes and other equipment around, he deduced that whoever was digging here was using magic. As he approached he noticed a door covered in runes, the same door he saw in his vision. The door seemed slightly ajar, but as he tried to open it he noticed that his hands couldn't quite reach the door. There was an invisible force field in front of it, preventing entry. Seeing that he had no other option he called out: "Anyone in there?"

A few seconds later the door opened and a half-elf woman appeared wearing fine (but quite dusty) robes. She was the one from Ardan's vision! After a brief introduction Ardan learned that her name was Avys, she was a scholar from Iregion. She came to the crater to find the vault that the Imperium supposedly built there and through extraordinary luck she found an entrance that seemed mostly intact, but unfortunately her work was interrupted as she was attacked by a demon. She only survived thanks to her protective amulet and the potions she brought along, but the demon was still out there. She had the barrier put up to keep herself safe, as had been keeping it up for several days. As she mentioned the word "demon", a cold shiver went down Ardan's spine. He still vividly remembered that day in the Imperial City, when the demon horde devoured millions of people. He found the prospect of facing one of those monstrosities terrifying. But he probably wouldn't have to if they left right away. After a laying out some well constructed arguments he managed to convince Avys to abandon her research, let the barrier down so they can take the flying carpet of Mixaryl and fly away to safety. Turns out Avys knew Myxaril, as both had been working in the crater for years and was relieved to have someone else to rely on if the demon returns.

Avys agreed, gathered her most essential gear and let the barrier down. Ardan led her back to the center where they found Mixaryl. But as soon as Avys laid eyes upon her, she stopped and dropped her things, while visibly shaking. Then she whispered to Ardan: "That's not Mixaryl...." As soon as she finished, "Mixaryl" smiled and suddenly turned into a terrible creature with the lower body of a great serpent and the upper torso of a humanoid female with six arms, holding a wicked demonic blade in each. A marilith, a cunning and extremely powerful foe.

Then everything happened at an almost unnatural speed: the marilith charged, and Ardan managed to jump into a Dimensional Door just in time to avoid the blades. Meanwhile Avys summoned mirror images of herself, forcing the creature to randomly guess which one was her. But this barely stopped the demon, it turned around with ease and was about to charge again when Ardan unleashed a volley of eldritch blasts on it. While they did little damage by themselves, their force pushed the creature back and sent it tumbling into a spear like glass shard, impaling part of its torso. Such a wound would have killed most creatures, but it was but an inconvenience for the marilith. It dismounted itself from the glass spike with ease and charged Ardan who had nowhere to hide this time. He would have been cut to pieces if not for the timely intervention of Avys who conjured a stone wall between him and the demon. But a few inches of stone could not stop such a beast, it effortlessly smashed through the wall. While it could not stop the marilith, the wall slowed the demon down enough for Ardan to mostly get out of its reach. Still, the demon managed to land a blow on Ardan's back, the wicked blade carving a long path in his skin, leaving a fatal wound. Ardan felt his strength leaving him as blood gushed out from his back. Gathering his last strength Ardan put all his hopes in one last spell and tried to banish the marilith. It was a long shot, but the Gods or maybe Fate itself was on Ardan's side as the demon was suddenly pulled back into the Abyss. Not much after Ardan passed out from blood loss.

Planning the Return
Ardan awoke a few days later at an inn in a small desert town west of Galekadi. It seems both him and Avys survived the ordeal. He spent the next two weeks slowly recovering, despite Avys applying various magical potions and ointments to his wound, as the cursed blade of the marilith cut deeper than any mortal weapon could. During this time Ardan learned that he and Avys have something in common. They were both there when the Imperial City fell, although Avys was only 13 at the time. She was with her mother, Archmage Aweahl, when the demons struck. They fled to the Arcane Directorium, where her mother took her deep underground. There she gave her a special amulet and told her to keep it safe as it is a key to something very important and made her promise that one day she will return there and use it. Then she used some kind of magic on Avys and in a moment she found herself in the wilderness hundreds of miles away from the city. She immediately started looking for her mother and managed to join up with Archmage Carric and the remnants of the Directorium, who told her that they saw Aweahl, her mother, fall. Having nowhere else to go, she followed Carric and the others who went on to found the Kingdom of Iregion. As the daughter of a former archmage she was offered an apprenticeship, and years later became a full member of the Iregion elite, a Master Wizard. She found that her interests were more aligned with finding and understanding old magical artifacts than with playing politics in Iregion, so she started traveling Aegeron looking for forgotten magic. She had forgotten all about her amulet and her promise to bring it back to the Imperial City, but she started having strange dreams recently, showing her the Imperial City. Then the demonic assassins appeared, the marilith she and Ardan banished was not the first.

As she regaled her story Ardan's mind started racing. Could this be it? Does he finally have some answers? It was clear to him that his Benefactor wanted him to save Avys. She is getting similar visions, maybe He is sending her a message too? In the end Ardan decided to share his whole story with Avys, not omitting even the most shameful parts. The half-elf listened attentively, the at the end said "Maybe it is really the ghost of the God-Emperor talking to you. Maybe it is some other being toying with us. But it is clear that our fates are intertwined and whoever is your Benefactor, he wants us to be in the Imperial City. We both made a promise to return. I guess it is time." For several more days they talked and made plans. Finally they agreed that Avys would return to Iregion where she can ward herself from the demons and she would start planning an expedition beyond the Demonfence, into the Imperial City. Ardan agreed to stay a few months to help organize the expedition. Once things are more or less set up he was to return to Stoneharbor and look for brave and reliable adventurers who would be willing to accompany them in to the heart of the Hellscape...