We very quickly realized that the Staff would Apport us only to locations where it had been previously when it was fully assembled, or to locations that Karek had been at some point in his life.  The latter apparently a perk of the actual wielder.  It would not return to it's humble origins when merely a collection of parts.  Biteki described "Transmogrification" to us - that the Staff was no longer a collection of items - it was something else now.  It had actually become the ancient item.  "It's reality is altered." he said with a wink as he looked at me.  "It captured the demon here, not in Forbesh."

And so, the closest that we could get to the darkness in a practical way was Ekos Zorbesh.  We covered the staff and Karek carried it on his back as we boarded a ship bound for Gandus.  Arriving there we had to spend three times the normal charge to engage a ship to take us to DOM.  No one wanted to travel there.  Most regarded us as crazy for wanting to.

The passage from Gandus was rough.  A howling gale most of the way added days to the trip.  We had decided that we would not spend any time in the City of DOM.  We did not want to force a confrontation with the demon in a populated area.  Though I must admit that an army of Domish elite would have been welcome in dealing with "followers".

The darkness had expanded.  As we sailed through the Strait of Isban closing in on DOM, we were met very early by the now familiar dark clouds.  Fortan and Isban were also now under the malaise.  The blackness now nearly covered the entire continent.  The temperature dropped rapidly as we drew closer.  I knew that this meant an entire season of crops would be destroyed.  There would be famine among the peasantry this winter. 

The mood at the docks where we were dropped off early in the morning were as dark as the sky.  Our captain of ship would not spend one additional minute in port, but set sail for the return trip to Gandus immediately.  It took the greater part of that day to locate a boat to take us to Giorda.  I finally had to reveal that I was Tirian and on the King's business to force the owner to take me further into the ink than he was willing to go for mere money.  And even then, Forcellus had to lay hand on sword momentarily to prove my point.

On the passage to Giorda, no one spoke a word.  Our captain looked as if in a trance, with dead eyes.  We all were feeling it.  It was a hopelessness beyond comparison.  A nameless terror that was impossible to resist.  It sapped your strength.  You only wanted to sleep, to escape - but unable to gather the presence of mind to run.  We went through the motions.  We left the boat.  The captain made no move to immediately sail away but listlessly stared at us from the deck as we walked off into the dark town.  He may still be there staring into nothingness.  The town was more of the same.  It seemed like the dead of winter.  No one was on the streets.  We made our way to the inn.  It was open, but deserted.  "Anyone home" I shouted, but there was no immediate answer.  Instead, I heard faint sobbing.  Forcellus walked past the ale barrels and into the back.  There he found the innkeeper, sitting on the floor holding a sobbing woman.  "I'll be back" he stated.  She continued crying.  "We can wait" said Forcellus.  "It does not matter" he said.  She has been crying at nothing for two weeks."  I began to realize just how deadly the darkness had become.  Apparently she was lucky.  There were those in town that simply went to sleep and lacked the ambition to actually rise again.  Or even breathe again.

Next: Demonic Desolation

"The ancient relics of the Age of Magic are all stolen.  Soon they will be scattered to the winds" said Biteki ominously.  "They are like the seeds of destructive plants long ago eradicated.  Your darkness may merely be the first sign of the coming danger."  It was a cheery conversation.  I hoped then that he was wrong.  He was right of course, but life does go on, and all happiness was not henceforth withdrawn from the world.  However I shall not tell this tale out of sequence.

Concentrating on the matter at hand, I asked "Where might one find this demon?"  I assumed that he would say "in the center of the darkness", and so I added "and where in the darkness is the center?  It's borders seems to fluctuate."  "The demon could be anywhere." said Biteki.  "But there are a few places that it might desire to visit.  Even if only to enact revenge.  Of course those responsible for it's Geas are long gone, but the demon may wish to defile the scene of the crime.  If you will forgive my analogy from before - he may wish to rewrite the story of the place, a new final chapter."  "To dance on their graves" Forcellus eagerly added.  An entirely apt description that I also heard a Grimdun use once.  "If so, where would these places be?" I asked.  Biteki looked thoughtful, then answered.  "It depends on where, when and by whom he was originally summoned.  If by Morbreth, he might be in Halifax.  If by Zokesh, he could be in Deniz or perhaps Forbesh as that is where Zokesh summoned demons into the Temple of Fuegon."  The last one made sense, though recalling our trip to Forbesh filled me with renewed dread.  "We were there" I said, describing the Dragon's Lair on Mount Orgarath.  "There were entities there.  We were not able to banish them."  "The Staff was not complete then" said Biteki.  "And in any case you were not given Nehethban's full attention, or you would probably not have survived.  You met up with part of his entourage, perhaps.  The great demon himself would have probably gone to the ancient Portal there - where he was originally summoned."  "We saw no portal" I said.  "There was only a hallway and a room".  Biteki studied my face and then asked.  "Was there any enchantment?  A female, perhaps that appeared to you?"  "No" i answered.  "There was the green imp" Veltek offered.  "That would do it" Biteki surmised.  "The imp could not disguise the Power stone, but he could prevent you from seeing doors."  I recalled the darkness and the nightmare that was our progression through the Temple and I could well believe it.  Biteki went on "The Imp will not be able to fool you now that the Water element has given your staff True Sight.  It is clear that you must return to Forbesh.  Imps do not appear on their own.  You were very close."  I wondered if the Staff could Apport us into Alcazar's room in the temple, but Biteki voiced a competing plan.  "You may not need to do battle in the Temple" he said. "The Staff is not what summoned him, but it was most likely what was used to imprison him in the Alak-ans.  It will be a powerful beacon to Nehethban once he becomes aware of it's presence.  The demon will know that he needs to defeat it."   "What if he simply runs from it?" I asked.  Veltek added "and wouldn't he WANT to be banished?"  "Perhaps" said Biteki "but I doubt it.  He is free and clearly the most powerful entity in the world at the moment.  He will want to take advantage of that.  I am sure that he will not accept the shame of running.  Go and begin to banish his darkness - he and his followers are sure to come to try to stop you."  I wondered what "his followers" would mean.

Next: Back in Harm's Way

We were seated in comfortable room that contained a hearth and a small glowing fire.  It was somewhat damp and cool in the caverns of Zenabesh.  We in the Kundun Pass high up in the mountains to the north of the Khaniz Barrens, but it seemed now that we were deep in the center of the world.  We had asked Biteki the Zenabeshi about the break-in, and he described it to us in some detail.  It had occurred some thirty years ago - and still complete repairs had not yet been effected.  "The Necromancer Quarak and his Ezmeri Had woman Alaika and a Jasou Kineticist named Jakanal broke into this stronghold attempting to steal the Alak-ans.  They had first presented themselves as students seeking knowledge.  We see so few visitors that we welcomed them.  We had secretly hoped that we could convince them to join us in our work, our numbers had dwindled over the years.  But they had their own plans.  An army appeared under their command of some fifty men.  They defeated the ancient Wards with their combined talents and entered the inner Sanctum of Holding.  There something went wrong with their plans.  They began to tear at each other.  Greed led them here, and greed does not stop at the doorstep.  When presented with vast spoils, how is one to choose who-gets-what?  Jakanal, The Jasou apparently had the answer.  He had secretly arranged an army of his own.  He stalled Quarack to allow them time to march on Zenabesh.  When they arrived they handily defeated Quarack's army.  In his efforts to destroy Jakanal during the battle, Quarack used his Necromantic skill to release certain Demons that were held captive in Zenabesh.  I do not think he was prepared for the strength of these demons.  And especially not for the one that we call 'Nehethban" (death-bringer) though it's actual name is not known.  It is said to have been held captive in the Alak-ans since the Morbrethi Necromancers put him there over ten thousand years ago.  How Quarak imagined that Nehethban would serve him or help him to protect his hated prison could only be Quarack's own delusion.  At first we had hoped that Quarack had managed to banish.  But I now believe that the darkness is the north must be Nehethban's work."

So we had a demon to hunt.  Would the Elemental Staff be up to such a task?  "It must be" said Biteki.  For it is our only hope.  The world no longer contains powerful Morbrethi Necomancers.  We are like children compared to the practitioners of the ancient magics."  This was sobering news.  But I had other questions.  Why is there an unpeneterable darkness in the room we Apported into?  And if our magic does not work in that room, why were we able to Apport in?  "I have an explanation, but it requires a leap of faith.  The universe is comprised of stories.  Stories that define reality for all of us.  If we believe something, then on some level it becomes true.  It is real for us.  If we all believe it, then it becomes true for many.  Great gems of Power are capable of holding stories.  One of those stories is the belief that a Gem of Power can hold stories, you see?"  "Not really" I admitted.  "It is a leap of faith.  The Alak-ans contains a description of reality that is different from ours.  It has described even the space around it.  Let us say that under it's rules, certain magic is allowed, and certain magic is not."  "Like a selective Ground spell?" I said, referring to the Enegetics spell.  "Yes, but it is not a spell.  It is simply a description of reality."  "And this reality persists in the room even thirty years after the gem is removed?" I asked incredulously.  "And even if I don't believe it?" "It is a very powerful stone." he said.

Next: The Path of the Demon

Latakas was correct.  Karek did have visions.  Too many visions, and too confused to make a clear choice.  Lacking any context, his mind tried to attach the fleeting images to places that he had known.  As he and I had shared few of those places, we produced no direction that meant anything to either of us.  But we did agree that returning through the Antarans would be a bad idea, so in the end we simply chose one of the images that flashed through his mind that seemed the darkest and most foreboding, reasoning that it might be the home of the darkness.  And so, as Latakas has instructed us, we all stood near Karek while he held the staff aloft, and as he concentrated on the image in his mind - he shouted "aka" (meaning "we go" in Khanizat) and to our mixed surprise, we went.

We suddenly found ourselves in an inky blackness.  Veltek attempted to cast a Light, but failed.  "Your magic will not work here" a voice called out from the darkness in accented Domish.  He then apparently repeated his message in Zorbeshi, then Khanizat.  "Where are we" I spoke, "and who are you?"  "Follow my voice" he said.  No light can enter this place.  There is a spiritual Darkness here."  We slowly walked toward the man's voice.  We were in a large room of some kind.  At every step I imagined a precipice before me.  Or some lunging beast.  I began to hallucinate, my eyes flashing lights before me.  The voice remained our only beacon.  "You are in the halls of the Zenabesh" the voice continued.  "Light will be possible very soon."

We eventually exited through an open doorway.  Normal darkness greeted us instantly as if we had walked through a curtain.  We had entered another large room.  As Karek exited the darkness, the Elemental staff instantly blazed with light and our host appeared before us.  He was a small, intelligent looking human man.  The room that we were now standing in was a circular cave with several doorways positioned around the circle equally distant from each other.  Evidence of neglect (or destruction) was everywhere.  Chunks of wood scattered about seemed to have been the doors themselves, as none of the doorways were blocked.

"It is true then" said the small man as he stared at the glowing staff "The staff has returned."  "Yes" I said.  "And we it's wielders.  Who are you?"  "Forgive my lack of hospitality" he said with a small bow.  "My name is Biteki.  I am of the order of the Zenabesh.  You stand in the halls of the city that bears the same name.  As you can see, we have suffered a great attack.  Our ancient and sacred strongholds haves been violated, and our honorable charge defeated.  Many of us are dead.  Those that remain have now rededicated their lives to the recovery of the ancient relics that we were charged with protecting, and of strengthening the fortress of Zenabesh against future attacks.  I am afraid that we had grown complacent.  We and the world will pay dearly for our lack of vigilance."  This man called Biteki continued in this fashion for some time.  It was an admission of guilt, given to us as if we held the keys to his redemption.  Apparently we represented the world to him, and he sought absolution from all of us.  We allowed him to vent, but in the end, urgency forced us to cut him off.  "We have much work to do" I said, "and that is all the time we have for introspection.  We must now act."  "Of course" he said with passion - relieved that we did not exclude him from the task.  To reinforce this (for I did like the man) I said "We will need your help.  We have questions that you may be able to answer."

Next: Of Demons and the Alak-ans