The Spirits of Yesteryear

See Also: Bardic Knowledge

Thorne takes the Ash Hunter to see Ollonni who agrees to clean out the dry cellar of the Watchers' House as a temporary room. Ollonni notices that Thorne is become ragged and his skin translucent. He is losing his grip on the world. Lucky for Thorne Ollonni has just the trick and uses some alcohol drenched silk to stitch his spirit back into his body.

Hafwyn, Keribrar, and Anne go to the Fountainhead market to purchase some healing supplies. Keribrar also gets a small chunk of ceder and teak to use for Thaogut's chair. The three of them find a nice inn and rest until nightfall.

With the sun near the horizon the four of them meet up at the shore of the river. Karrin is already there waiting for them. Her time is near its end and by dawn she will be forced to return to the Flumen Dei Animas. With so much time trapped together they delve into each other's secrets. It is true that Hafwyn despises Keribrar and all elves of his ilk. He tries to mend fences but Hafwyn simply leaves the conversation. Karrin tells them that the proprietor of the Pustule is a skilled necromancer who fetches water from the river to pull spirits upstream to a gathering point he has prepared. Karrin has been summoned several times and looks forward to nothing more than returning to the river.

It takes hours following the river until they final catch sight of the river. The river is wide, stretching nearly a mile, but except for central channel is is shallow. A wetlands stretches on either side of the river - filled with sickly trees and reeds. Karrin warns them against getting into the river now that the sun no longer touches it. It will sap the strength of the living until their souls are bound forever to its flow. That flow once led to the sea and “what comes next,” but something changed that long ago. Now the souls are trapped going downstream within sight of the sea before drug back to the headwaters.

Lady Anne and Thorne take a potion that she made during the day that will weaken the bonds between the spirit and body. The others guard their bodies while their spirits enter the river and begin to travel upstream. They need to move the bodies higher on a hillock as the waters of the river sense their presence and surround them - lapping ever closer to them. It is not long before their spirits are beyond sight and their bodies begin to convulse.

Thorne and Anne speak with several spirits, many of whom they cannot understand. All of them realize they can never leave this river, but there is nothing they can do about it. When they reach the damn across the river they are returned to its headwaters to begin their cycle anew. There are thousands upon thousands of spirits on the river, but Anne is able to find a small gathering of those who appear like the cameo.

The people belong to the Sorcerers Kingdom, a name she thought more legend than reality. The few snippets point to a legendary city of gold, milk, and honey. A land forever blessed with spring and filled with humans wise beyond all other races. It was destroyed long ago and its bones reclaimed by the earth. If the kingdom was settled in this river valley it would be an intellectual coup. Unfortunately for her they are far too gone to even interact with her.

Thorne speaks with several spirits eventually finding those of the Lycene Empire. Their empire of dragon-kings existed before Theodova. They tell him that there lives an Old Woman on the river that has been here long before any others. Her spirit is strong and lives on a pond filled with water from the river, but not flowing towards its end. With time running out they force their way upstream.