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Prologue

The Aeons’ Gate

The Sea of Buradan … so later all the ti with the world is that it seely sis and politicians say otherwise, this is the one truth of life Any endeavour so noble and gracious, any scheme so cruel and remorseless, can be boiled down like cheap stew Good intentions and ambitions rise to the surface in thick, sloppy chunks and leave behind only the base instincts at the bottom of the pot

Granted, I’m not sure what philosophical aspect represents the broth, but this metaphor only came to me just now That’s beside the point For thethis ‘Lenk’s Greater Imbecile Theory’

I offer uporders without question from a priest; a priest of Talanas, the Healer, no less If that weren’t ih, he, one Miron Evenhands, also served as Lord Ened the services of myself and my companions to help him find a relic, one Aeons’ Gate, to communicate with the very heavens

It seeht up until the demons attacked

From there, the services became a bit more … complicated should be the word for it, but it doesn’t quite do justice to describe the kind of fish-headed preachers that ca us and stole a book, one Toates After our services were required to retrieve this – this collection of scriptures wrought by hellbeasts that were, until a few days ago, stories used to frighten coins into the collection plates – to say that further coardless, at the behest of said priest and on behalf of his god, we set out to retrieve this tome and snatch it back from the clutches of the afore who enjoy stories that end with noble goals reached, lofty morals upheld and est closing this journal now, should you have stu after it separated froets worse frolected to lorious endeavours to be accomplished Gold One thousand pieces Theat the top

The book iswith a severed head that screams and a very handy sword When I hand over the book to Miron, he will hand over the reat quest to save hu people hand in hand through trials of adversity and noble blood spilled Only money Only me

This is, after all, adventure

Not that the job has been all head-eating de epiphanies, such as the one written above Aon the very waves when he’s sitting cramped in a tiny boat

With six other people

Whom he hates

One of wholected to mention that I haven’t been alone in this endeavour No, oes to , a zealot and a savage I offer these titles with the utmost respect, of course Rest assured that, while they are undoubtedly handy to have around in a fight, time spent in close quarters with them tends to wear on one’s nerves rather swiftly

All the same … I don’t suppose I could have done it without the described below, short as I canwith a shict’s ass pointed at me like a weapon as she slu worth noting unless it is also noted who had the book In this case, after Miron, the neners were the Abysiant, emaciated dely enough, their leader, the Deepshriek, was evenwith a fish-head, I would follow a huge fish-thing with three man-heads

Or woain; toman-heads The third rests coed It does have the tendency to scream all on its own

Still, one can’t honestly recount the trouble surrounding this book if one neglects to s I never saw one alive, but unless they change colour when they die, they appear to be very powerful, very purple women All muscle and iron, I’ht theht like demented rams and follow short, effeot, however, it’s all behind us now Despite the fact that the Deepshriek escaped with two of its heads, despite the fact that the netherlings’ commander, a rather massive woman with sword to match escaped, despite the fact that we are currently becalmed with one day left until the man sent to pick us up from the middle of the sea decides we’re dead and leaves and we really die shortly after and our corpses rot in the noonday sun as gulls form polite conversation over whether my eyeballs or my stones are the more tasty part of me …

One o with that statement

I wish I could be at ease, really I do But it’s not quite that easy The adventurer’s constant woe is that the adventure never ends with the corpse and the loot After the blood is spilled and the deed is done, there’s always people coe, all manner of diseases acquired and the fact that a rich adventurer is only a particularly talented and temporarily wealthy kind of scuues me Not to the extent of the voice in nore it, at first I tried to tellin h exhaustion and lowon my mind I tried to tell myself that …

And it toldworse now I hear it all the time It hears me all the time What I think, it knows What I know, it casts doubt on It tells s, coets so loud, so loud lately that I want to … that I just--

Pardon

The issue is that I can et a fewthe toain But I did it, anyway The book is ine At first, it didn’t even seees were just filled with nonsensical sy eviscerated, decapitated, manipulated and masticated at the hands, minds and jaws of various creatures too awful to re-create in an to make more sense I could read the words, understand what they were saying, what they were suggesting And when I flip back to the pages I couldn’t read before, I can see thees are no less awful, but the voice … the voice stops It no longer tells er corammatically, but philosophically as well It doesn’t speak of evisceration, horrific sin or demonic incursion like it’s supposed to, despite the illustrations Rather, it speaks of freedom, of self-reliance, of life without a need to kneel It’s really ates’ just doesn’t have the saht I can’t do it in front ofthe day, I sit on it to lireat relief, none of them have tried so far, apparently far more bothered by other matters

To be honest, it’s a bit of a relief to see theitated and uncomfortable Gariath, especially, since his preferredand stoet a mop at the end of it Lately, however, he just sits at the rear of our little boat, holding the rudder, staring out at sea He’s so far un us co stops other people froood spirits, so far Considering, it seems odd that he should be alone in this After all, he points out, we have the toold pieces Split six ways, that still makes a man worth exactly six cases of whisky, three expensive whores, sixty cheap whores or one splendid night with all three in varying degrees, if his maths is to be trusted He insults, he spits, he snarls, seely more offended that we’re not h, Asper is the only one who can shut hi at him I fear she may have been affected the worst by our encounters I don’t see her wearing her symbol lately For any priestess, that is odd For a priestess who has polished, prayed to and occasionally threatened to shove said sy

Between her and Denaos, Dreadaeleon seems to be torn He alternately wears an expression like a starving puppy for the for, hateful stare upon the latter At anyto have his ith Asper or incinerate Denaos As psychotic as itabout ic, the Gods and how they’re a lie, and whatever else thecombination of a wizard and a boy could think up

Kataria …