The Chronicles of Etinerra

The end of the Damned Legionnaires

Grel’s report to Jorann at the Temple

Grel: Priestess, I am deeply troubled. Would you sit with me and hear my tale?

Jorann: Of course my child. Please tell me what happened.

Grel: It was the 9th day of fall, Boraen, Balto, Beladur and Fergus were discussing some intel that they had gained about some legionnaires who had gone off to fight some monsters and never came back. It seemed a fine idea to go off to find where they fell and lay claim to their weapons. The fact that there was some beast which had dispatched an unknown number of Legionnaires was troubling, but we decided that we were up for it.

So off we went, Boraen, Balto, Beladur and Fergus, Ostlen, myself, Vilhelm, Josef and a thoroughly distasteful and cowardly tracker named Golub. We set off to hunt down these rumors and see what we could find.

I was getting an annoying feel of chaos from Boraen, and when I asked him what it was, he pulled out a crystal shard of pure chaos! He allowed me to destroy it, but I was unable! It was too powerful. I covered it with holy water, but it only pitted the surface slightly. I was more than a little disturbed. Since we were going to Ulichton anyway, I stopped in to see Torak. He seemed to be getting along well. I showed him the crystal and charged him with it’s destruction. He was less than thrilled….He tried blessing it, but again, it was far too strong for him. He reluctantly agreed to continue blessing it, but then I mentioned that Jorann could probably take care of it. He immediately jumped up and started making preparations for his journey. I left him then and met up with my companions.

They had found more rumors and people who remembered the legionnaires going off.
We went off to the woods where they had last been seen. They had gone after a beast that was apparently afraid of fire. Rumor had it, that if you had a fire, it would not attack, but if you didn’t, you would never be seen again. We wisely decided to light a campfire. We heard the beast come near, but it never approached the fire.

In the morning, we continued in the direction it went. We came across a worn deer path. We decided to follow it, and soon came upon eighteen of the Legionnaires themselves marching on the path. Something seemed very off with them, but I wasn’t sure what. Balto shot a sling stone off into the woods, and half of them charged into the woods after it, while the others waited for them. No words were spoken. Again, it seemed very odd, but I wasn’t sure what was wrong.

Then Boraen jumped down from a tree right behind them. Immediately they turned around and charged him. It was only then, that I noticed that they were attacking with their hands and teeth. They never drew a weapon. These Legionnaires were the Damned!!! If only I had realized sooner, perhaps there was a way that they could have been cured. But with them attacking Boraen, I had no choice but to defend him.

I called out to Balto, to entangle as many as possible. He did, and half of them were stuck in place. We were able to dispatch them, but I can’t help feeling that if only I had realized sooner, they could have been saved.

Priestess, it is not that I feel that my actions were wrong, but that an opportunity to save eighteen powerful fighters for the kingdom has been squandered partly by my lack of insight. What can I do to assuage this guilt?

Jorann: Grel my son, you can’t take the blame for everything that you don’t know. We are but mortals. We can only do the best that we can. I feel sure that if Tangadorin had meant for you to rescue these Legionnaires, he would have given you better insight. You can’t blanme yourself for what could have been. There are an infinite number of them. We can only do our best, and hope it is enough.

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