Morning. Another day in this place called Dereth. This place filled
with danger. This place that I, Nashan once called archmage, must now
call home. I watch as the twin moons set in the distant sky and the
blazing sun ascends. I have watched this changing of the guard a
hundred times and yet I am still amazed at how different it is from
Faerun.

Faerun. The name even sounds foreign to me now. The place of
my birth, now a stranger to me. The winds of destiny sweep us all where
they will. It is what we do when we land that is the substance of our
lives. So I have chosen to make the best of this since the day I
stepped through the portal that carried me far from home. Left me
standing in a new world, an archmage with no magic. It has taken time
and many trials, but I have begun to become something of what I was. I
have mastered the basic tenants of spell working in this world and have
begun to weave more powerful spells. I realize that only through time
and sacrifice shall I once again number myself amongst the powerful.

Though I boast of my recovery from apparent doom, as I look
down upon the gentle face of the sleeping woman by my side I must admit
that I would not be what I am without her. Though she possesses beauty
to rival that of any elven princess, to stare at the deadly level of
her bow is a frightening thing. It is usually the last thing any that
have seen it ever see. She is Sianna Starryder, archer and warrior. As
my wife and sworn vassal she has fought valiantly beside me. She has
stood with me against the hordes of monsters that roam the lands, as
well as the vile murderers that prey upon those less skilled. She has
slain many that sought my end. She makes each foray into the unknown a
grand adventure. I am proud to face death with her by my side.

She stirs as the smell of eggs and fresh bread swim through the castle spire that has been our home in recent weeks.

"Wake my Love", I whisper into her ear.

"What! Shreths?" she says as her bow appears in her hands.

"No, just breakfast." I say putting my hand on her arm.

"Breakfast folks", Mulendran says as he is putting the food on the makeshift table at the top of the tower.

It had become somewhat of a custom for us to eat every meal
there. From there we could watch the sun rise or set and watch the
Shreths and Drudges spawn. Spawning is the magic that somehow keeps the
world populated with horrid creatures of all types. As one of them
dies, another is teleported in.

"We will be leaving for the Cragstone Dungeon after we eat", I say to him as we sit down.

"Very well Nashan, I will get our things ready for the road", he replied.

Mulendran was an Aleuvian archer who could no longer bring
himself to raise his bow since he had slain a young female mage. He had
at one time been tempted to the dark path of random murder that so many
in Dereth have chosen. Since that day he swore that he would never take
another life. While in Holtburg he heard the name of an honorable mage
that had recently passed through town and went in search of him. He
felt that perhaps this mage could teach him what he needed to learn to
keep his oath or at least make his end swift if he betrayed it. He
found me in the castle twenty miles outside of Cragstone that Sianna
and I now share with adventurers from all over Dereth. His story
touched me since I recently had to slay a young female fighter who
sought an easy kill in a mage running alone on the beach. I accepted
him as my servant so long as he kept to his oath and promised to kill
him if he didn't.

After breakfast we pick our packs and head down to the lower
level. Sianna notches an arrow as I gather spell components. Without a
word we run down the two flights of stairs that lead to the ground
floor. The two drudges and armoredillo that are there barely have
enough time to turn our way before we are out the door. We continue to
run across the courtyard to the front gates as armoredilloes and
drudges chase. The archers and wizards that share the fort take their
cue and begin to rain arrows and bolts of magical fire down upon our
pursuers. In moments we are through the gates and onto the open plains.

It seems like hours before we stop to rest with only the tall spires of the castle visible in the distance.

"Are you ok?" I ask trying to catch my breath next to a tree at the top of a hill covered with pine trees.

"Fine, but we don't have much time to rest. Those reedsharks we
passed are still behind us. We need to move and soon." She replied
barely winded.

Tired and in no mood to move I turn back towards the bottom of the hill and release a volley of firebolts at the lead shark.

"Dammit Nash!" Sianna scolds firing three arrows at the next in line. Weaponless, Mulendran takes to the trees.

The first of them takes a blast of fire to his face. His
armored hide protects him from most attacks, but this fire is magical,
it burns deep into his skull. He gasps his last as the second blast
hits his brood mate in the back. The second shark takes the blast in
stride and continues up the hill only to have two arrows find his neck
halfway there. The third, seeing the others fall, turns to run and is
skewered in the side with an arrow moments before he is incinerated.

Despite the quick deaths of the reedsharks, we still only
rest for a few minutes when the next group of monsters is deposited by
the damnable spawning magic. We continue to run for the rest of the day
dodging large groups of monsters and plunging through the ranks of the
ones we can't detour around. By nightfall we are just outside of
Cragstone.

In Faerun, a town was a welcome sight for road worn
adventurers. Dereth is a much different world though. The magic that
allows men to cheat death somehow perverts their souls turning some
into little more than psychopaths bent on killing everything they see.
Still others use towns as hunting grounds of their own, to procure
items without facing dangerous monsters to get them. It is for this
reason that we avoid town. Instead we run along the sand of the beach
to the lifestone. There we bind our life essence to it. If we do meet
our end in this dungeon our bodies will resurrect here. Quickly we
cover the distance to the swirling purple portal that will take us near
the dungeon.

I exit the portal miles to the south of Cragstone near a
series of hills infested with Phyntos Wasps and Banderlings. Phyntos
Wasps are just that, wasps, only they are about two feet long and can
pierce anything less than platemail with ease. Banderlings are tall,
lizard like creatures that dine on human flesh.

Whispering the words to an arcane phrase, I reach out to the portal that must be near.

"It is two miles to the north." I say as Sianna materializes.

She quickly counts her arrows and tests her bowstring. "Ready".

"Mulendran, we will lead them away. Find a way through." I say as he materializes.

He nods and Sianna and I run straight through a family of
Banderlings. As planned they give chase and manage to attract a number
of giant wasps as well. Leaping boulders and dodging trees we keep just
ahead of the mass of monsters just long enough to let Mulendran slip
through.

"I am through the portal Nashan", he says through the
telepathic link that is created when anyone swears an oath of
allegiance to another.

"You next my love", I tell Sianna.

"See you inside" she replies ducking the swinging club of an
Outcast Monouga that decided to join the chase and sending two serrated
arrows into his groin. Within minutes I hear the sound of the portal
whisking her to the dungeon.

I stop behind a tree to ready spell components for a moment.
I can hear the throng of monsters looking for me, but they are too
late. I step out from behind the tree and unleash the spell I have
prepared. Diving into the energy of the portal I can hear their screams
as the jet of acid that I released hits them.

Inside the dungeon we find adventurers that have opened shops
for those who keep it clear of monsters. We are quickly accepted in
their ranks and begin the job of killing mosswarts and drudges. In the
few hours we are there we explore the darkest halls and deepest
recesses with some stalwart fighters and mages beside us. Then disaster
strikes. Later that day we are preparing to head back into the lower
tunnels when the alarm is sounded. I turn to see two armor clad
fighters slaying every man and woman in their path. I yell to Sianna to
run, only to see a Barker Mosswart who leads the monster tribes in the
dungeon impale her with his spear. I cast some of my most powerful
magic at him, full of rage, only to have them bounce harmlessly off. As
I prepare the components to my next spell, I feel the smack of a
guantleted fist smash into the back of my head. Fortunately I loose
consciousness before the flaming axe severs my head from my body.

Back at the lifestone Sianna and I wait the few moments it
takes for Mulendran to arrive. Shaking our heads we decide to seek our
fortunes in the wilds in order to replenish the life energy that is
lost each time a soul is called back to the lifestone.

A few miles away we find a group of Drudges near the
riverside. I let Sianna release her frustrations on them as one after
another falls to her deadly bow. Each time they spawn she sends another
into the void. I concentrate my efforts on killing the larger
Banderlings and Shreths we encounter on the way. Then we see him. A
magnificent giant sitting near the river. A Hunter Shreth.

"Be ready to run honey. This guy is dangerous." I say as we prepare to attack.

"Gotcha", she replied sticking arrows in the ground for easy access.

I reach deep inside my Art and summon the cold from the north.
The ice shard I send at the shreth is huge, but does little damage. He
rises onto his massive front hooves and charges me. I release two more
shards before I feel the drain on magical weave that surrounds Dereth
become too much. The beast takes the shards to his chest but doesn't
slow. Arrows fly from a nearby boulder as Sianna tries to slow its
charge. I send bolts of fire and acid at him, to no avail. He is nearly
dead when he reaches me, but alive enough to sink his fangs deep into
my neck and shoulder and throw me thirty feet. I feel the call of the
lifestone as he turns to finish me only to find five arrows plunging
into his heart.

"Nashan!" Sianna cries as she comes to cradle my head in her lap.

"Shhh, fear not my Love. Here not even death can separate us." I say trying to smile as I breath my last.

In moments I see the glow of the lifestone before me and hear her thoughts.

"I am waiting for you my Love. Waiting with the treasure that the beast carried."

"Fear not. I am coming to you my sweet wife. I am coming." I
reply. With a satisfied grin on my face and the setting sun at my back,
I start the run back along the beach through the dark tide. This is
life, and death, in Dereth.