No Rest for the Weary, Part II

[The handwriting looks slightly different, like the writer got interrupted between the past journal entry and now.]
 
A lot proceeded to happen in a very short amount of time. In the seconds it took me to finish stumbling backward and catching myself in the dome, there was—well wait. Since I currently have the luxury of time, let me paint a better word picture. Crowded in the antechamber of Rue’s office was essentially the entirety of Force Grey, our entire party, plus, Mae, Krey, Myri, and Holly. We had between two and three arcane protective domes up at any given time, several people held spells at the point of being able to release them, and anyone with a weapon was tensed and ready. Additionally, several people were in notable states of undress. Also, Charlie just looked pissed that any of this was happening.
 
So back into it. Seemingly simultaneously, Roscoe took a shot at the djinn with his crossbow, the protective wards in Rue’s office went off, Andres cast a spell that injured the djinn, Rue held Azuredge to the creature’s throat and demanded to know who sent it, the djinn conjured a swirling wind effect that pulled me right up against Andres’ dome… and Blackthorne called me on his mirror to impatiently demand assistance. I told our dear captain that we were a little busy. Duraz then pushed in front of me, huffing about me “trying to leave” before figuring out the wind situation himself. After a momentary struggle, he left the dome and raised a wall of stone.
 
Somewhere behind us I could have sworn I heard Blackthorne telling Charlie to unwrap him from the rug, but I was more fixated on Rue pressing Azuredge a little closer to the djinn’s neck and asking yet again who sent it. The djinn just laughed at him, though, and said in an amused tone, “You care for her.” I didn’t like the way it spoke. The creature then added that the Mother of Secrets sent him from her realm. I felt my blood run cold at the thought that a portal to Tajna’s home plane lay so close.
 
Roscoe—in Myri’s shirt and some tiny shorts—knelt in front of the djinn and told it to listen to Rue. Something about the way he said it must have worked, because the djinn seemed to accept its fate and give in to the inevitable overwhelming force of how many people were around it. Krey then caused some snow, so Mae took her out of the room. Much of Force Grey also left, and the wizards debated what to do about the portal since the stone wall currently blocked it. I expressed my dissatisfaction with merely a stone wall standing between the portal and Xotera while Rue and Seksgar continued to restrain the djinn. I noticed Azuredge seemed… bloodthirsty, like it wanted to end the djinn and Rue was actively resisting the weapon. The djinn admitted that its job was to take me back to Tajna at all costs. Get in line, asshole.
 
In the background, Blackthorne emerged, freed of his rug, and demanded to know where his chest was. He was also still in the tattered remains of his clothes, so Charlie gave him her cloak. Blackthorne also was a dick about one of Fern’s cookies we still had. Raven was also eyeing Myri hard, which makes sense, as she was in a very tiny shirt that I think belongs to Roscoe.
 
My attention was overtaken, however, by Duraz pointing out that this attack was a distraction, and there were other “windows” into the Prime similar to this one. There also assuredly were other targets. While inane shit continued happening around us, I took a minute to focus on creatures not native to this plane and felt sure there were strong celestial and fey creatures nearby, which made sense, but also some fiends and undead. Myri astutely asked me in writing if I thought we were being listened to and watched, and I nodded. She then scrutinized Raven incredibly thoroughly before whispering to him, after which he promptly took the djinn to Blackstaff Tower. Saxon closed the portal behind Raven, disconnecting the tower from the temple.
 
We then relocated to one of the demiplane rooms in the temple to speak more freely. I made everyone convince me they were who they said they were, though, before entering. While in the room, we discussed many things: (i) Rose’s absence and our concerns over Ash and Lily’s wellbeing; (ii) whether there are imposters in the temple; (iii) whether people were wearing their amulets to protect us from being scried upon*; (iv) where we would go from here, since increasingly, nowhere seemed safe; (v) that we should fill Vajra in; and (vi) the need for codewords for a good number of people and objects. I found it amusing that Duraz made a begrudging comment that he “under[stood] why Zin is the way she is, now.”
 
Then as the conversation turned to WE (which is kind of amusing, because some of the people most surprised by this revelation had already known), I paid way less attention because it became urgent for Rue and I to reacquaint our lips. I vaguely remember Duraz starting to complain about it, but something shut him up.
 
At some point, Holly went to collect Kumrag, and we all relocated to one of the Harpers’ safehouses. She seemed to have anticipated this genre of thing, because it even had a nursery. We then discussed the constellation of problems and tasks before us while Myri tended to Blackthorne’s terribly pus-filled wounds. (Once, when I looked at him, it genuinely looked like he had a horrific tiki mask on him, flickering on and off his face.) On the subject of his ship, Rue confirmed it was in Sehrbaz. I also re-remembered how little my companions remember the literal history of our world as I tried to get anyone to agree with me that his ship was likely more than just a ship.
 
From Percy, I learned a few key things:

• The Chosen of Mirkul is the necromancer that’s plagued Xotera since my Protectors days.
• The identity of the Chosen of Nydra and their nature.
• The Chosen of Loucura died.

 
As we circled around which priority to tackle first, I told them plainly that if anyone from the Protectors called me back to their ranks, I would find it exceedingly hard not to comply, even if the rest of the group had other plans. When it sounded increasingly like we were, in fact, going to Teoria next, Holly, Myri, and Rue all confirmed they would be coming with us. On one hand, there is a comfort in knowing strong allies and important people will be with us, but on the other hand, it feels increasingly risky and like a sign of how dire the times are.
 
I then raised the issue of the journal that belonged to (or is?) Karsus, asking if we should try to use it for any reason. (Roscoe tried to steal it, too.) Oghma encouraged the exploration, saying that all knowledge was good (typical), and eventually we settled on having Rue write in it. I didn’t love this, but I remembered his goodness and willpower allowing him to resist divine evil in the Feywild and kept my concerns to myself.
 
Through the journal, we learned Karsus was previously the Chosen of Mirkul and has no connection to the current Chosen. He also said there were nine pieces of his soul spread across Xotera… and used my name. I don’t know if Cas told the journal my name or the bullshit about prophecy is true, but it is exceedingly rare that prophecies name people like that. The journal did say Cas had told it things about me. He also claimed to have created Keppenis himself.
 
And so that’s that. We will soon head to Teoria and confront the undead that await us. And that necromancer. I don’t know if I am ready to step back into this chapter of my former life, but it doesn’t matter whether I am or not.
 
* I hadn’t realized Rue gave up his for me when he gifted me this one…