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The city of Lamis was a beautiful city, especially during the night. The lights of the candle-powered lamplights shimmered against the night sky, as if competing against the stars which glimmered with no pause in that deep blue ocean. Once again, the party found themselves inside the tavern of “The Crafty Fox” but, luckily this time, Brimelle was able to avoid the horrible jokes of the innkeeper. The five adventurers paid for lunch and for the overnight before settling down around one of the tables present inside the building.
Aliranne spread out the map on the wooden surface, pinning it down with the glasses they had used before. She started looking at it carefully, passing her finger over the possible route they could have used to reach Thoradin.
“If we go back to the small town on the coast and take a ship… we could go here near the ogre’s territory… and then pass through Silvan…” She stopped looking at the map. “…Kon, was it you who erased –Silvanost- and wrote –Sargasanti- over it?”
“Maybe.” Said the minotaur in a deep sharp statement.
“Kon, how many times shall I tell thee that it is called Silvanost?” Argued Brimelle.
“No, it’s Sargasanti.”
“Silvanost!”
“Sargasanti!”
“Silvanost!”
“Sargasanti!”
“SILVANOST!”
“ENOUGH!” Saphanael came in between the two, cutting off their bickering. “Stop this instant.”
“Oh, come on Saphanael!” Exclaimed Brimelle. “Thou should give me reason! After all it was thy homeland! The minotaurs took it away from thy!”
“Actually, we got it from the Knights of Neraka, we freed the elves.“ Kon es Kaz crossed his arms. ”And gave them jobs in the mines. We are their savior. You should study history a bit more: you know very little of it for a bard.”
Brimelle bit her tongue, remaining silent.
“Now, let’s go back to our route. Aliranne,” He turned his head towards the mage. “why can’t you just magic us inside of Thoradin with a teleportation spell?”
“Because I need to know the place I would be teleporting people to.” She pondered for a moment. “Which means that I could actually teleport you to the nearest place I know which is Delphon, my…” she gulped “… my hometown.”
“Why, that’s perfect!” Shouted Ruru. “Let’s do this!”
“I don’t know..” Aliranne hesitated. “I’m not really sure… it could be a bad idea… maybe… I don’t..”
“Aliranne!” Shouted the Kender again.
“What is it?” The mage asked, taken by surprise. As Aliranne could see, everyone was staring at her with a worried look.
“Thou… aged.” Replied Brimelle.
Aliranne raised an eyebrow.
“Now guys, it’s not the time to make such jokes about my ag-“ she stopped abruptly as her eyes fell over one of her hands.
The once smooth surface was now covered in wrinkles. She touched it with her other hand only to find out that her eyes were not deceiving her. In addition to that, she could no longer feel her teeth inside her mouth, leaving her gums exposed, and the strands of hair which covered her eyes were of a silver color with a tendency on pure whiteness.
“What happened to me!?” Shouted the mage, surprised and scared.
“Maybe it’s some kind of curse?” Proposed the Kender.
“Tsk, sure.” Kon es Kaz rolled his eyes.
“Hey, why don’t you ever take my suppositions seriously?” Replied Ruru offended
“Ruru,” Came in Brimelle “last time thou made a supposition thou affirmed that mine fiancée was a giant moth!”
“I can be wrong sometimes, can’t I?” He answered pouting. “And your description of him was rather bubbly and confused. Also centaurs are very close to nature and animals, so at the moment it sounded rather feasible…”
“Stop bickering you all.” Saphanael intervened to put an end to the situation. “It must be the alteration from the Test of High Sorcery. Aliranne, you are praying the price of your acts.”
Aliranne looked at the elf and the lowered her head, knowing that what he was saying was true.
“So what does she have to do now?” Asked Brimelle. “Shall we leave her be? Will she return normal?”
The elf looked straight at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Kon didn’t joke when he said that you’re a terrible bard. Shouldn’t you know it by yourself, instead of having to ask me about it? And to think that you should be the one more knowledgeable of the party..”
Brimelle did not answer. She reached instead for the door.
“Well then. I guess I will go for a walk. Call me back in the morning when everything is fixed.”
This being said, she walked off for a stroll in the nearby woods.

The morning after, when she returned, Aliranne was back in shape and resolute in her decision.
“We will travel to Delphon via teleportation and then we’ll journey through the mountains right into Thoradin.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Nodded Kon es Kaz.
“What are we waiting for? Let us go!” Exclaimed the bard.
Aliranne gathered the four adventurers in the back of the inn. She stood still, chanting, while the others put their hands over her shoulders in order to be teleported to the desert city along with the mage. Suddenly, a tunnel made of light appeared, such as the one they had journeyed through when they left the council of mages. This time, though, when they finally landed, they found themselves on top of a hill in front of an abandoned castle of ogre origins. The sun was up in the morning sky and kissed the golden sand at their feet with no extreme intensity. At the bottom of the hill, they could clearly see a big village with houses made of bricks or clay and seldom accompanied by a wooden roof.
“Welcome to Delphon, my friend.” Said Aliranne looking into the distance. “The place from where I escaped…”
“This reminds me…” Kon es Kaz neared the mage from behind. “You never really told us why you ran away from your family. Did it have something to do with your sister?”
Aliranne gulped. She turned around, facing her companions.
“Do you really want to know?”
They all nodded in unison. The mage sighed.
“I suppose it is only logical. After all, it was a matter of time.” She turned around once again, giving the others her back, staring off into the city down below. “The story began when my family arranged a marriage with a wealthy man from this same city, Wasi. I didn’t love him, obviously, and I was already engaged with someone else, Faraj… without my family permission, though. Anyway, the day of my wedding, I got replaced by my sister who had actual feelings for Wasi, but when he discovered that he had been tricked, he dishonored my whole family and disavowed my sister…” She stopped for a second before continuing. “I hid inside the city’s magic school for as long as I could thanks to the help of my betrothed, but one day Faraj betrayed me to Wasi and the only way I had to escape was through the teleportation scroll. And that’s how I met you.”
She switched back to her previous position: the others were staring at her with their mouths open.
“Uh… that story sure is something.” Affirmed Ruru.
“Yeah, but it’s just a personal matter. I don’t get why we should be influenced by it. You should try and fix the situation by yourself!” Stated Kon es Kaz who was the only one to not seem impressed nor anything by the white robe’s story.
“M-maybe you’re right.” Nodded Aliranne. “I’ll go to my house and see if I can talk things over with my family… would you mind waiting for me? There’s a lovely place you can rest in.. “The Secret Garden” it’s called. I’ll catch up with you.”
Without another word, Aliranne went straight towards the direction of her house, leaving her party members on the hill.
“…Secret Garden it is I suppose?” Asked Saphanael.
Brimelle nodded.
“Let us go.”
“See you there then.” Uttered Kon es Kaz, walking off.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Asked once again the elf.
“To the docks. I saw a few Kothian ships. I want to know how the conquering of Ansalon is coming together.”
“Suit yourself.” Replied Saphanale, leading the others towards the Inn.

The Secret Garden was a lovely tavern with, as the name suggested, a very big flourishing garden on its backside, hidden from the eyes of the passerby by the same walls which the main building was made of. The Kender, the elf and the centauress entered the tavern and settled inside such a garden, remaining astonished by its beauty: aside for the numerous blossoming plants, it had many small gazebos accompanied by piles of cushions and pillows which created a perfect place to enjoy a hookah in the sun. The three settled down in one of the gazebos and were joined after a while by the minotaur, coming back from the docks.
“News about the ships?” Asked Ruru hiding underneath the pillows.
“Not much, almost everything they told me I already knew.”
“Hmm. Predictable.” Stated Saphanael while he looked at Ruru who had started to run around the garden as if in a frenzy, now following a butterfly, now playing within the branches of a bush.
“He is a Kender, do not mind him.” Whispered Brimelle.
While Kon, Brimelle and Saphanael entertained themselves with the sight of Ruru, another familiar figure came in from the main entrance.
“Aliranne!” The small Kender yelled as he ran towards her. “You came back! How did it go?”
“Not good, unfortunately..” She sighed.
“Please, Aliranne, explain.” Murmured Brimelle, making her sign that she could sit next to her.
The mage walked uncertain. Her face was paler than usual and she had a weary expression covering her visage. She sat down and started playing with the ring she had on her left ring-finger before even saying a word of what she had just witnessed.
“I came where my house was… but I’ve found it to be empty, aside for…” She gulped. “…Faraj. He was there, chopping up herbs in the kitchen.”
“Did thou approach him?” Asked the centauress.
“No, I did not dare…” She raised her eyes. “I need someone to come with me so that we can try and get the information of where my family is from him.”
“Why can’t you just do it by yourself?” Questioned Kon es Kaz. “He’s just a mage like you.”
“No… I can’t. He’s… different. And I also have no idea of how powerful he became..”
“Then I will come with thee.” Stated Brimelle.
“I guess I’ll have to tag along for your protection.” Murmured Saphanael standing up and checking his sword. “Kon, Ruru, will you two join us?”
The minotaur growled.
“It’s her problem, she can solve it by herself.”
“I’ll make a quick stop at the bazaar!” Yelled the Kender instead, disappearing towards the entrance.
Kon followed him shortly after, walking in the direction of the temples.
“Ok, now that it’s only us, let’s revise a plan of action.” Proposed Aliranne. “I will knock on the door and when Faraj comes out, Brimelle will charm him and make him reveal what he knows. Saphanael will stay next to the house ready to attack whenever was Faraj to attack us first.”
“I like this plan.” Nodded Brimelle.
“Let’s do it and be done with it.” Concluded Saphanael.

The three came up to the hill where Aliranne’s house stood along with a small furnace on the side. After ll, she came from a family specialized in making glass through the sand of the desert. Saphanael hid near the furnace while the two girls reached for the door. Aliranne knocked three times and Brimelle charged her spell. A few moments later, the door opened slowly.
“Hello, how can I help you?” Faraj stood on the threshold, holding the knife he had been using to chop up vegetables in his right hand. “Oh… if it isn’t my lovely Aliranne, what a surprise.” He then eyed the centauress. “And… is that some kind of friend of yours?”
Brimelle, at that point, cast her spell over the dark skinned human, but nothing happened. She looked at her hands confused and then casted a terrified glance at the white robed mage. Aliranne was more intrigued in staring into Faraj’s eyes: they had a purple hue in them, something that was clearly dissonant from how she remembered him.
“Faraj,” She said firmly, “I’m here to ask you what are you doing in my house and where is my family and I demand answers!”
Faraj gave out a simple mocking laugh.
“Well, this is MY house, actually. A little too big for me, maybe, but it’s rather comfy.” He grinned maliciously. “And do you really want to know where your family is?”
“Tell me! Or else…!”
“Or else what?” He raised his eyebrows, cynical “Your friend here wasn’t able to even charm me properly. What tells you that you’ll be able to even lay a hand over me?”
Aliranne closed her hands into a fist.
“Just… tell me where they are!” She shouted, outraged.
“Fine, fine… I’ll just say then, that if you want to meet your family again, you’ll have to come to the well.”
“The well?” Aliranne asked. “Is that all it’s needed?”
Suddenly, Faraj’s face changed: his expression became of pure terror while the purple hue disappeared momentarily from his eyes.
“Please, help me!” he whispered in a crooked voice, but before he could say anything else, he had already regressed into his other form. “Sure, they will be there! Just come at the well. They are waiting for you.”
He didn’t leave the time for neither Aliranne nor Brimelle to respond. He closed the door in their face and walked away back inside.
“…what now?” Asked Brimelle, shaken.
“…Now, Brimelle, we ask for help.” She turned towards the city. “Let’s gather Kon es Kaz and Ruru, hoping they will accept aiding me..”
A hand was suddenly placed over the mages shoulder.
“Do not fret. I will not abandon thou.” Said Brimelle.
“And that is from me too.” Murmured Saphanael, coming back from the furnace. “My duty is to protect you, I will never let something bad happen to anyone in the party.”
Aliranne nodded her gratitude before walking back in the direction of the city.
“Let’s find the other two, then.”

Once the party got recomposed, they marched right up the well. It was an old well, renowned for being used frequently by the people of Delphon generation after generation . It was also a most peculiar well due to its location: inside a cave naturally formed on the side of the mountain range which circled the city of Delphon like a manmade wall.
When the group arrived at the entrance, waiting for them were many old buckets left to rust on the floor accompanied by a strong smell of opium. They could hear the sound of someone moaning coming from deep into the cave.
“Maybe it’s someone who needs our help?” Murmured Ruru.
“It must be someone from my family!” Exclaimed Aliranne as she sprinted towards the inner compartments of the cave.
As they all ventured down, they could hear the moaning more clearly while the smell of opium became so intense that they had to cover their mouth and noses with rags to avoid throwing up their breakfast. They kept walking, Aliranne leading them even more down the cave, through the bare stone tunnel, until they came to a strange opening. The walls were covered in colorful rags and veils while the floor was covered in scattered pillows such as the ones inside the Secret Garden. Many hookahs stood around the room, but what most caught the attention of them all was a basin in the rock, like a private room, covered this too by a veil thin enough to let them see what was happening on the inside: someone was having an intercourse with someone else, which was where the moaning of pain came from.
Suddenly, the figure on top stopped, sensing that someone else had entered the room. From behind the thin curtain, came out a man with his pants down who looked around pathetically scared.
“W-who are you, what are you doing here!?” he had the same purple in his eyes as Faraj.
“Wasi…” Murmured Aliranne before breaking into a wild run, trying to reach the small alcove fearing she knew who he was torturing inside.
When she reached that separated place, she found a horrible vision standing in front of her eyes: it was a woman, completely naked, with her lower parts covered in blood, probably her own. But the most creepy and gory thing about it all was that this woman was Aliranne’s sister, although with some modifications: her face was divided in two but not in a straight line. In fact, the two main phenotypes intertwined one with the other like two bucket of sand of different color. One half was the original face of the girl while the other was Aliranne’s. Even the hair were half and half, with various strands of one person overlapping the ones of the other.
Aliranne felt her senses abandoning her, but she could not let herself go, not it that moment. She bent down, picking up her sibling, covering her naked body with one of the veil which dropped from the ceiling.
“Saham.. Saham it’s me.. Aliranne…”
The girl opened her eyes.
“A...Aliranne... beloved s-sister...Our family is under the control of those... those...”
She could not finish the sentence as she started crying before the last word was even hinted. Aliranne started patting her back, to comfort her.
In the meanwhile, Kon es Kaz had taken care of Wasi, hitting him with a punch right in the face and sending him K.O. before he could even say “Bah”. While Kon es Kaz reached for Aliranne in order to aid her, Saphanael, Brimelle and Ruru heard something coming from the other room.
“It sounds like the spell for a magical barrier...” Said the centauress.
“We should check.” Stated Saphanael, nearing the entrance of the second cave.

When the three entered the room, they could see various couches with hookahs and pillows everywhere with two people smoking peacefully between the cushions. All the walls were literally covered in colourful veils and in the middle of the room, on the floor, stood the opening of the well. In front of it, a woman with the same features as Saham sat over a wooden chair, while a man and a woman made her air with a pair of fans. Behind the sat woman stood a red robed man, probably the mage the party had heard before.
“There’s a magic barrier right in front of the woman on the chair and it goes around the mage too.” Whispered Saphanale.
“And there is a pair of brutes hidden behind the veils on the far end of the room!” Added Brimelle, looking around.
“Well, I’ll take care of them!” Ruru stated before disappearing between the shadows of the room, nearing the hiding place of the brute on the left.
In the meanwhile, Brimelle and Saphanael started walking towards the woman on the chair. As soon as she saw them, the woman gestured the two fan bearer to leave her and go back to the couches. She smiled a twisted smile, with the lips of two different people.
“Good...” She murmured seductively. “I see that you received my invitation...” Her eyes scanned the room. “But where is my lovely Aliranne?”
“what do you want from her?!” Shouted Brimelle, harp at the ready.
“Well, she wanted to see her family, didn’t she? They’re all here, waiting for her to come.” She smiled viciously pointing at the people across the room
“We have no time for your little games,” came in Saphanael “tell us what you want from her and who you are!”
The woman laughed.
“I don’t have a name... and even if you were to know it, it would matter very little.”
“Saphanael...” Brimelle whispered at the elf. “I think we should not be asking who she is but rather WHAT she is.”
“Oh, I can see that the bard has some intelligence inside her head.” The woman stated.
She stood up, bending down and reaching for her toes. As she returned back up with her torso, her body started to change when her fingers passed over it: small horns, raven hair, malicious and seductive glare, and bat wings on her back formed the real apparel of the antagonist of the day. It didn’t take long for the adventurers to understand that they were up against a succubus.
“Now, do you understand what you got into?” The succubus laughed, taking flight.
In the air, she passed the magic barrier from above nearing the elf, who had already unsheathed his sword and was ready to attack. She stared at him intensely in the eyes, blinking a few times and speaking in her most seductive voice.
“Anyway, elf... do you really want to waste your life travelling and fighting only to then die? Wouldn’t you rather like being my champion?”
Her eyes glowed in a purple hue like the one in Wasi’s and Faraj’s, but the only thing Saphanael felt was a light tingling in the back of his head. He shook it decisively before replying in a roar.
“I will never be on your side! My honour is strong and steady!”
“Fair enough...” she shifted to her right, staring at Brimelle this time. “...but what about you?”
“I... I...” Brimelle saw the eyes of the succubus turning purple once again and then, suddenly, she lost perception of what her morals were as her eyes turned purple too. “I will be thy champion.”
“Good.” Replied the succubus, satisfied. She flew back over her chair, sitting there quietly. “Now, won’t you fight for me? Amuse me, waiting in this cave has made me incredibly bored.”

Without further ado, Brimelle charged towards Saphanael with the strongest spell she had memorized. To Saphanael’s luck, he was able to dodge the negative effects and ran back, decided on not to hurt his companion which he had sworn to protect. Bound to his words, he reached for Ruru who had, in the meantime, attacked the brute on the left. Exactly in that moment, Kon es Kaz and Aliranne had entered the room.
“Oh, I can see that the party-girl has decided to join us in this little... heart-to-heart reunion.” She snapped her fingers and, with that signal, the red robed mage moved from his place, casting a spell over Aliranne, encasing her into a trap made from the rock of the cave itself.
Kon es Kaz started charging the succubus, but was stopped in his run by the second brute who had come out of his hideout. The two started battling while Brimelle tried to attack Saphanael and Ruru and Aliranne cast a spell to escape her rock prison. As soon as she was out, the mage understood the situation and did not wait to dispel the charm imposed on Brimelle.
As Kon es Kaz was about to push the brute inside the opening of the well, the succubus took flight once again, landing exactly a few centimetres from him. She made him look at her in the eyes and repeated what she had said to the others.
“Won’t you fight for me?”
Kon es Kaz’s eyes acquired the purple glow the others under the succubus’s control had. He shook his head, glancing around the room, not interested in the brute anymore. He found his next opponent in Brimelle who was still a bit confused from the charming spell the succubus had laid upon her. Without hesitation, he charged her, attacking her with berserker rage. Brimelle tried to escape, but the minotaur chased her, attacking her once more. His sword, once used for good, pierced through her armour and through her flesh, slashing through intestines and other organs, putting a definitive end to the centauress’s life.
Aliranne paled out, but did not stop to grieve, not now. She dispelled Kon’s charm instead and went to fight the mage inside the magical barrier. Without the charm over him, Kon es Kaz resumed his fight the brute and, while the one attacked by Saphanael and Ruru was almost dead, the other one was still up on his feet. The minotaur attacked him with all of his strength, succeeding in sending his spirit to the River of Souls. Ruru and Saphanael had the same result while Aliranne was able to trap the mage into the magic tentacles she had just summoned inside the barrier. The succubus, feeling that her time was almost due, flew off from her “throne”, escaping through the entrance of the cave.

As soon as the fight was over, Kon es Kaz ran towards the lifeless body of Brimelle. He scavenged through his backpack, taking out as quickly as he could the glass vial of silver liquid. He neared the vial to the centauress’s lips, making her drink what was inside. Suddenly, Brimelle’s body started to glow. It recomposed itself and stood up in resting position. Then, slowly, it became of solid gold while a white small globe of light abandoned it flying off into the sky, passing through the rock of the cave. When the other three adventurers neared the statue, they heard a roar coming from above them, far beyond the roof of the cave.
Aliranne ran towards Brimelle, hugging the golden statue. Her face was met shortly after by a Kothain slap which sent her on the floor and made her lose a tooth. When she raised her head, Kon was staring at her, a cold stare, almost in a glare.
“I’m sorry..” whispered Aliranne. “I should have cast that dispel sooner...”
“Aliranne!” A voice came from the other room.
Aliranne turned her head only to see the figure of his beloved yet betrayer Faraj coming through. He no longer had the purple hue in his eyes and looked like a normal person.
“Faraj, how dare you!” She cried. “After all that happened...”
“Please, oh please, listen to me!” He begged “Let me tell you how things went... It’s true, I betrayed you to Wasi... his riches blinded me and I.. I was a fool. But I realized that I was wrong and that I couldn’t live without you! I love you too much...” He took out of his robe a dagger. “That’s why I have to do this...”
“Faraj?! What does this mean?!” Aliranne appeared agitated.
“I love you too much Aliranne. I wanted you back so badly that I tried to summon you, but instead I summoned the succubus. Now, our souls are intertwined which means that she will come back unless I...” He looked at the dagger.
“No... no, no, no! I’ve lost enough people I care about to lose you too!”
“There’s no other way.” Faraj said with a sad smile upon his lips. “I’ll always love you.”
With a sharp motion, he cut his throat with the dagger. Blood spurted everywhere as his body fell down on the floor, lifeless, leaving only the mortal remains for the heart of Aliranne to grieve.

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