Ascent Quest

The Wanderer: A scarred, half-kystaran man, with a notable grey pallor due to his heritage. He's had a long history traveling the world, and a knack for languages. He has broad skills, and the ability to at least try to do anything he wants to. It seems he once killed his lover, and hasn't killed a person since that day. Recently, he's become Ageless, giving him all the strength he had in his youth.
>Affinity: Gains extra uses on runes, and some magics see The Wanderer as Kystaran.
>Runeword: Can say a second word when using a single rune, emulating an Element rune when using a Shaping rune, or vice-versa. Very tiring, and increases DCs.
>Recharge Rune: Knows a ritual that can be used to recharge a rune. However, it is so exhausting that The Wanderer all but loses consciousness after he does so. It's recommended that he do it only once at the end of each day.
>Young Again: All physical-based actions are now Skilled.

>Domain Access Device: A strange left-handed gauntlet that can open portals to Domains.
>Servant Identification Tool: A peculiar right-handed gauntlet that gives the wearer information about any Remnants they touch.
>Short bladed spear: A simple, reliable, martial weapon with a point at one end, and a blade along the other.
>Steamsling: A pressure-powered weapon that fires bolts long distances. Can fire naga teeth.
>Kystaran Armor: Lent from Tarda, the kystaran armor is thick plate armor that covers every available surface.
>Leaf-bladed sword: A short weapon with a short hilt.
>Pushblade: A forearm-to-shoulder set of armor, with a ratcheting, retractable blade on the forearm.
>Adventurer's Kit: Complete with compass, lanterns, and a day's worth of rations.
>Electric Lantern: A battery powered wand that fires a bright beam of light. It's very sturdy.
>Heavy Firearm: A two-handed, very powerful gun that can fire either slugs or pellets. Slow to reload.

Runes/Artifacts:
>Earth Rune: 1 uses left. Elemental rune, Represents stone or metal.
>Time Rune: 1 uses left. Elemental rune, though you don't quite know what it represents.
>Blast rune: 1 uses left. Shaping rune. Fires a slow moving bolt that bursts when it collides with something.
>Surround Rune: 4 uses left. Shaping rune, in a hollow sphere around the user.
>Self Rune: 2 uses left. Shaping rune; bestows the element to the user.
>Lightning Rune: 7 uses left. Elemental rune, represents raw energy. Doesn't require a Shaping rune to be useful.
>Cloaking Device: 100% charge. Not a rune. Nystaran technology, turns user invisible for a short time.

Character List:
>The Wanderer: A middle-aged man with no name and a long history of odd jobs. His current job is to find uncommon magic artifacts and send them back to his employer. He uses a different name each new place he goes to, and his current name seems to be 'Nathan Wolfwood'. He has the same recurring dream.
>Miriam: The tavern keeper. Once a doctor, but she came to Dirstarn Village several months ago due to unnamed 'problems'.
>Dalton: The villages' blacksmith. He's the unofficial leader of the village, and has a pressure engine next to his forge. He has a young daughter, who was apparently born in Delura. He's a fugitive, charged for Kidnapping and Treason.
>Ann: The blacksmith's daughter. She's shy, likes the dragon, which she has named Gareth. She has a talent with languages and using runes to devastating effect. She has the talent for wizardry, and is apparently the descendant of deluran royalty.
>Cromwell: An incredibly lanky man with a high voice, Cromwell is the artificer of the village, and a self-styled researcher of magic. His current project is on assisting Tarda with the laws of magic.
>Dragon / Bruno Toadscream / Gareth / Malchak: A clumsy, overweight dragon; the village stray. He likes bellyrubs, Ann, and The Wanderer. The Wanderer has mentally named him Bruno Toadscream, for no particular reason. He's apparently been named Gareth by the blacksmith's daughter, and named after Mal by... well, mal.
>Malchak: Also known as Mal. A gardian man covered in cloth. He has reddish skin, yellow slitted eyes, and a large musket. He's a rather good shot, but he doesn't speak lelan at all. He was bashiki in the past; an assassin, or 'person hunter' in his tongue. He has a deep, warped scar in his chest- it's impossible to tell if the scar is from a burn or not. Lately, he's gained the galdian ability of Beastmastery, allowing him to control animals.
>Leroy: A mutant with an abnormal lower jaw and skin, Leroy is one of the farmers in Dirstarn village. However, due to his eyes, he's only able to come out on overcast days or at night.
>Steve: A remnant who is completely loyal to The Wanderer. It's incredibly strong.
>Tarda: A mysterious kystaran woman who has a domain underneath the temple. She is the head of the Runic Project, and is rather pretty. She's taken the Wanderer and Cromwell as her assistants.
>Kaederi: A mysterious kystaran man who seems to be in the city's noble district. He is the head of the Domain Project, and has only ever spoken through a Remnant. He's attempting to kill or injure Tarda, for reasons unknown, and wants to release Kyssd and Bruun from their entrapment.
>Marcus: A deluran boy from the 'Third Hand Talon', he's on the same mission as the Wanderer. Lately, he's been injured by being given a dynamic hug by a pair of naga.
>E.E: The sociopathic superior of the Wanderer. Wields two pushblades, and is fond of using them on whoever he's talking to at random intervals.
>Failure: A strange 'person'  who is an amalgamation of other people. Born from the 'Heart' project, and immortal.
>Rebel: A strange entity who has an unknown past. Located in a small black core, it was born from the 'Mind' project, and inadvertently reads the minds of those nearby.
>Kyssd: A teenage girl with pale silver skin and unnaturally grey hair, from one of the Wanderer's dreams. Protected by a monsterous dragon named Bruun.

Synopsis: Thread 1.

After spending the entire day before in a carriage, our Wanderer arrived on the eastern edge of Kystara; Dirstarn Village. He was almost instantly met by Miriam, who said that the wanderer's Employer asked her to take care of him. After quickly explaining that he didn't need to pay for room and board, the two spoke for a time, learning about some of the other people in the village. After a quick meal, he set out to meet Dalton. Despite the blacksmith's wariness, the Wanderer introduced himself as a treasure hunter and made sure none of his belongings were damaged by the trip. After spying a single glance of Ann, the Wanderer moved on, meeting with the villages' third person of interest, Cromwell. During their conversation, Cromwell gave the Wanderer an offer- He'd give him magic runes, in trade for the hearts of golems.

Having figured he'd introduced himself to the important people in the village, the Wanderer set out, north, to the city. After passing a locked door to the temple, he ran into a dragon. The small, useless creature took a liking to him, waddling after the Wanderer. Eventually, the two reached the city. The sun was starting to set, so he merely intended to scout before returning home, but he noticed a golem just outside of the city. He quickly decided to sneak after it, and pulled out its core. The golem dead, the wanderer decided to quit while he was ahead and walk home.

It was night when he returned, grabbing a meal and asking Miriam about the dragon. He barely spent time on the pleasantries before heading out again. The Dragon quickly ran off to meet with Ann, while the Wanderer himself made his way back to Cromwell's house. He traded in the golem's core for a couple runes, learned to use them, and headed back to the tavern once more, going to sleep and having yet another recurring dream, with the woman, the endless plain and sky...

When he woke up, it was raining outside, and he could clearly hear screaming.

Synopsis: Thread 2.

Outside of the tavern, three inhuman creatures were dragging Miriam away- all three with unnaturally black skin and brilliant red eyes. The wanderer fought, shooting one with his steamsling and getting in a fight with another. He took a pretty bad hit in the ribs, but eventually, Miriam and the Wanderer finished both off, just in time for Cromwell and Dalton to arrive, ready for battle. Cromwell ended up taking one body to dissect, while Miriam and the wanderer explained what had gone on to Dalton; the creatures- Remnants- had come into Miriam's room and tore her out of her bed, getting outside before the Wanderer could wake up to save her. Dalton's response was that the remnants had never come into town before. Miriam wrapped the Wanderer's side and recommended he get some rest... But there was still the risk of more remnants in the village.

There were no more remnants in the village, it was quickly made clear. The wanderer headed into Cromwell's tower to ask him about getting golems as guards for Dirstarn, but Cromwell- covered in remnant ichor- explained that he had troubles getting the golems to see villagers as allies instead of enemies. The wanderer decided to take a look at it, and his heritage played a part - the golem core changed colors, buzzing in his palm. Cromwell instantly decided to experiment, and used the core in a golem body. When it woke up, its eyes locked onto the Wanderer, and it said it was 'following' in Kystaran, following the wanderer. It refused to listen to any voice commands, and when it noticed Cromwell, it attacked, declaring him an enemy. Thankfully, the core was removed again before anyone could get hurt, but it showed progress. The artificer promised to translate the runes on the core for the wanderer, and they parted. The Wanderer went back to his room, and slept.

When he woke up, Bruno was in his blanket, and started licking his face. Downstairs was Ann, looking for the runaway dragon, and Miriam. The Wanderer and Ann were introduced properly, and she declared that Bruno's name was, in fact, Gareth. With a non-commital 'okay', the wanderer ate a late breakfast and headed out for exploring- at the mansion.

The Mansion was ancient- abandoned for much longer than the city's mere 10-20 years. The Wanderer crept into the front doors, and there, in the shadow, was a creature with a near-limitless amount of limbs- fingerless arms, footless legs, and similar, all wretched and wicked. Sneaking by would be too dangerous to risk- the remnant was too large, and the wanderer had no easy way of killing it. He retreated, for now, making two torches and looking for other entrances.
There were only three entrances, the iron door in the back was locked, and the hole in the tower was too high up to climb. Despite that, though, the Wanderer used his Earth rune to create footholds. When he started to climb, though, Gareth - or Bruno - arrived, squeaking and scared.

Chasing him was a Jackalope- an enormous, bearlike creature with a crown of bones- with tusks, antlers, and horns in every which direction. It was a very, very angry creature, and made its displeasure known with a roar. That, in turn, awoke the Remnant, who came bursting out of the mansion to collide with the white-furred monster.

The wanderer climbed, as two monsters raged beneath his feet.
The Jackalope lost, by the way.

Synopsis: Thread 3.

Avoiding the monster outside, the Wanderer examined the chest he found at his feet. Though it was full of rotted paper, at the very bottom was a strange gauntlet, somehow protected from age. He wandered the tower, finding and fighting a remnant in the library, and found evidence that someone else- another human- was somewhere in the mansion with him.

He followed the evidence, which was in the form of footprints, down an enormous amount of steps to a cavern, far beneath the earth. The Wanderer didn't see anyone except for a strange circle engraved in the wall. When he made the mistake of touching it with his gauntlet, though, it opened up into a shimmering wall of whirling liquid; and a Remnant climbed out.

When the Wanderer sprinted away, back up the stairs, the sound of gunfire stopped him. The stranger had shot the remnant to death, and came out of the shadows. The man was covered in cloth, had a rather powerful musket, but didn't speak lelan, the common language of the village and the capital to the west. The Wanderer knew the tongue, though, and could talk with the man. Eventually, the Wanderer decided to touch the portal with his gauntlet, and got pulled in.

On the other side was a plain of sand, with violet skies, and strange structures in the distance. However, in the area, the only notable thing was a seat, and half a dozen uncomfortably feminine remnants. Sitting in the seat was a living Kystaran - a living kystaran that wanted to kill the Wanderer and harvest his spirit.
So the Wanderer did the only reasonable thing- he killed the kystaran, taking a bad wound to his upper arm for his trouble, and took a few runes.

When he spilled out of the portal afterward, the Wanderer collapsed. When he woke up again, the foreigner had patched up his arm and made some food. That's when the two started making plans to leave the mansion, somehow.

Which they did. With judicious amounts of fire, abusing the remnant's size to their advantage, and finally, running away.

Synopsis: Thread 4.

The two didn't arrive until sundown, and when they did, Mal mentioned that he'd found a strange book in the mansion. The Wanderer chose to buy it from him. With the money he earned, Mal bought room and board, while The Wanderer went to Cromwell's tower to talk to him.
At Cromwell's home, the wanderer and artificer talked about many things- the book, which contained 'notes on modulating the power draw from a rune', the glove, which seemed to be something like a key, and finally the Wanderer told him about the strange portal from yesterday. Cromwell was very interested, and forced the wanderer to promise to show him another portal, if he finds one. Finally, the discussion done, the wanderer went back to the tavern and slept.

The next morning, Mal and the Wanderer talked about working together, and deciding how to split the loot. They only came to a tentative agreement to split the loot directly in half when they return. Once done with breakfast, the two went to the blacksmith. While Mal purchased more supplies for his musket, the wanderer discussed armor with Dalton, who eventually decided to get some guardsman armor from his friend in the capital. The Wanderer didn't have the money to buy it, yet, but Dalton was of the opinion that it'd be better to have the armor before the wanderer needs it.

Finally, the Wanderer and Mal set off toward the city to search for treasure. While on the way, they came across a jackalope den full of pups, but decided not to try to steal one. When they reached the city, the two saw that most of the city's districts are closed off by gates, and decided to start checking the towers first. When Mal climbed one with his setae-palm gloves, the wanderer noticed- and recognized them- as belonging almost exclusively to a chapter of the gardian military that served as assassins.
Which is when the remnants arrived. Stunted, mutated things came out of the alleyway, seeking the wanderer. However, he was clever enough to use his fire rune to maximum effect, burning away any of the remnants that didn't retreat. Finally, Mal pulled open the door of the tower from the inside.

Synopsis: Thread 5

After collecting the meager treasure in the tower, the two discussed where to go next, as their findings weren't worth much. The two eventually decided to go search the gatehouse at the entrance to the city, in case it had some kind of map. When they entered, they found and fought a golem, stealing its core before they got hurt. That done, they checked the gatehouse and found both the map they needed and the Wanderer picked up some old weapons. From there, they decided to head toward the noble district, but on the streets they were found by three strange, winged remnants.
The remnants attacked, and the Wanderer couldn't get out of the way in time. He was pounced by the diving remnants, and had his back torn up before Mal could shoot it off of him. While bleeding, he crawled into cover with Mal and the two shot down the rest of the remnants. Only then did Malchak see how bad the Wanderer's wound was, and treated him. It was painful, to say the least. Finally, the two decided to head back to the village before night fell and anything worse happened.

During the night, the Wanderer had another dream- not his recurring one, this time, but one of the past. He remembered who Malchak was, in the past- someone he'd once fought on one of his jobs. The Wanderer had pushed him out of a window at the end, before escaping with his employer's request.
When he woke up, the Wanderer heard Leroy and Miriam talking downstairs. He came down to meet the mutant, who was complaining about wyverns. It didn't take long for Leroy to hire the Wanderer to find and destroy the wyvern nest. After leaving the tavern, he went to Cromwell's house and had most of his runes identified- before testing the 'unknown' rune. Both parties were surprised to see a remnant appear, and the two found out that the remnant obeyed all of the Wanderer's orders, provided they're given in Kystaran.

Mal came out of the trees, and expressed surprise at the remnant. After explaining everything, the Wanderer also offered to let Mal play with some of the runes, after which they went back to the tavern to split the loot from yesterday.

Synopsis: Thread 6
After splitting their loot and melting down all of the useless silver and copper, Mal and the Wanderer both noticed Ann sneaking off into the trees to do something. After a short discussion, they decided to leave it alone. the Wanderer offered to bring Mal with him to Leroy's farm- but Mal declined, saying he'd gotten enough rocks thrown at him for a lifetime, so The Wanderer went off alone, leaving Steve behind.

At the farm, the wyverns were already there- beings with six limbs- four talons, and two wings with which to fly. They were small, but smart, trying to lead the Wanderer into a trap. When he brought up his steamsling to simply kill the wyverns, they broke off their plan and headed toward their nest.

The wanderer followed, sneaking his way into the mountains, finding the nest inside of a ravine- it was almost like a hive made of branches than anything like a nest, but that didn't matter. The Wanderer simply used both of his flame runes and a blast rune, creating a massive explosion in the heart of the nest, destroying it and killing all of the wyverns inside.

Leroy wasn't awake yet, and wouldn't be for some time, so The Wanderer simply went back to the heart of the village. He was on the path back when Ann came out of the trees, paling when she saw the wanderer. The two had an argument- mostly Ann criticizing the Wanderer for taking the dragon into danger- and eventually the girl decided to show him what she was doing.

Ann took the Wanderer into a clearing in the forest, and revealed- she, on Cromwell's urging, was practicing with runes, figuring out how to modify their use without using additional runes. She'd achieved using it with a cylinder already, and showed it off... As well as revealing that she knew kystaran fluently, much better than Cromwell, or most likely anyone in the country.

As soon as she left, the Wanderer walked about, thinking- before he resolved to try that experiment himself. After trying and failing only once, he somehow figured out the trick to it. Dizzy and exhausted, he relaxed against the cylinder of stone he'd created, and fell asleep.

After a dream about his past, The Wanderer awoke again sometime after sunset, and headed back to the farm. When he got there, Leroy was ecstatic about all of his crops being right where they should be, and brought the Wanderer inside to take a look at all of his belongings. The Wanderer eventually chose a battery-powered lantern as his reward, as it was much sturdier and rugged than his own oil-fueled lamp.

He was reminded about the temple key being stolen by the wyverns, and feared that it was destroyed- so he headed back into the crater where the nest once was. After digging around, he eventually found it, perfectly intact.
And then he realized he was being watched. When he turned, someone ran away from him, sprinting into the woods. After chasing it- impulsively- almost the entire way back to the village. When he finally fell over, somewhere on the road, the person looked back at him.

And The Wanderer recognized her. From his past.
That woman should be dead.

Synopsis: Thread 7
The Wanderer woke up the next morning, getting his arm checked out by Miriam, and then he left to speak with Mal about yesterday. When he did, however, Mal revealed something- that he'd remembered where he first met the Wanderer, in Galdia. The wanderer's job that time had been to steal some royal ivory, and Mal had caught him. In the resulting tussle, Mal was pushed out of a window, and the Wanderer got away.

Surprisingly, Mal didn't seem to care, and asked where they'd go to search for treasure. The Wanderer decided on the temple, and headed inside. Beneath the altar were stairs that led downward, ever downward, into large catacombs. At the bottom, there was an enormous remnant, wearing steel armor... But it didn't attack. Instead, it led the Wanderer deeper into the catacombs.

At the very back, around a corner, was a lit chamber, complete with two blockaded doors... And another portal. After a few moments examining and copying the glyphs around the edges of the portal, he headed back, back out of the temple. No use risking another trap, of course.

When he came back outside, a carriage arrived in the village. Jerwyn, the carriage driver, apparently arrives each week to deliver mail and take things back to the capital. The Wanderer received a letter from his employers and some funds. He sent back his own letter, as well as a few letters to various people he knows, and put in a request for better weapons or exotic runes. And then he headed to Cromwell's home.

Cromwell quickly requested the Wanderer's blood, seeking it as one of the only ways to control the golems. The Wanderer agreed, but only if Cromwell also worked on the portal glyphs- which the artificer quickly agreed to.

Finally, he went off with Mal to drink. Ann came along, for reasons unknown, and the Wanderer found himself talking.

About himself.

Synopsis: Thread 8
The Wanderer woke up in the forest, in a small hut woven out of twigs and grass. Mal had constructed it, the galdian explained, when the two went out to find a jackalope cub. Luckily, they didn't. The two talked about what the Wanderer had done the previous night- primarily trying to teach languages to Ann and Mal, with, in Mal's case at least, limited success. The two scrounged up some food, and made plans to go back into the temple. Then  they started to walk.

Inside the temple, it's just like it was before- with the double doors guarded by enormous remnants and the portal waiting for them. With Steve's help, they sent a message into the portal, and got one in return- that the owner's name was Tarda, and that the portal wasn't a trap. Despite the Wanderer's wariness, Mal climbed in, all but forcing the Wanderer to follow. Inside was a small, young kystaran woman who called herself the 'Third Wizard and design head of the Runic Project'. Tarda refused to explain what the Runic Project was until they did a task for her; to go into the city and find a particular book for her.

The two left the portal again promising to find her the book, but when they left... Remnants attacked, primarily in two groups. From the city flew more than a dozen winged creatures, the Wanderer fighting most of them off, and from the forest to the south came mutated, twisted creatures and many-armed remnants. During the battle, Mal was injured, and the Wanderer was snatched into the sky and brought toward... the city.

Inside the city, the Wanderer was flown up to the tallest tower in the noble district. There, standing on the featureless roof, was a Remnant, a strange glyph in its forehead. And it spoke.
It named itself Kaederi, head of the Domain Project. As he explained, the Domains are prisons, of a sort- and named Tarda as a criminal, trying to twist her project to her own ends and giving her the blame for the sudden vanishing of all kystarans. He gave her blame for everything- using everything she has to manipulate people into doing her bidding. Starting the war, even. Kaederi said that he was the one responsible for the Wall. When the Wanderer asked why the remnants all attacked, Kaederi was surprised- he hadn't sent the twisted, inhuman remnants nor the ball-of-arms creatures.

In order to attempt to prove his words true, Kaederi finally gave the Wanderer a gift. A second gauntlet, one that would be able to tell the Wanderer about any remnants he touches, giving him more information about them, and then carried him all the way back to the village. Inside, the villagers were still recovering- Mal was the only one hurt, though Ann was exhausted from using so many runes, and Cromwell had finally figured out how to manipulate and control golems.

However, when the Wanderer entered the tavern to check on Mal, he saw that the man had a massive, warped scar in his chest.

Synopsis: Thread 9
After entering the tavern, Miriam finished checking over Mal and The Wanderer, patching them up as best she could. Then the two went wandering around the village, seeking out all the remnants they could so that the Wanderer could test out his new gauntlet. It seems that the dead ones are difficult- sometimes impossible- to examine. When he examined Steve, however, the Wanderer learned that through the glove the remnant's form could be modified.
The two eventually decided to enter the city, stay overnight, and find the town hall. Mal left to gather supplies, and the Wanderer changed Steve, giving him wings and a more powerful tail. Ann arrived, and seemed much more friendly to the Wanderer- after asking, it became clear that he'd told her some of his story. Mal returned. supplies in hand, and the two made their way toward the city.

The sun was setting when they finally arrived, so the two went back to the guardhouse to sleep for the night. During the wanderer's watch, he found some armor and watched the Remnants fight. Larger ones that he'd never seen were getting attacked by the mutated, smaller ones.
The next morning, the two headed toward the central district. The Remnants slowly started following them, too wary and sparse to attack, while the two made their way to the gate. When they did, the Wanderer opened the gate through a rune and the two made their way into the Heart District proper.

More remnants started pouring in around them, gathering and becoming more confident as they went. They reached the Town Hall, and entered, the remnants crowding around the building as they did so. The Wanderer and Mal searched the building- the former found a few documents leading him to a record room in the basement.

And the moment he got to the bottom, there was a woman waiting for him- one from his past. One he'd killed.
And then she vanished.

Synopsis: Thread 10
In the record rooms of the town hall, the Wanderer quickly gathered what data he could, the papers too heavy for him to carry alone. With Mal's help, the two looted all of the data and left. However, outside was an enormous, hound-like remnant, which chased the two. The Wanderer slayed it by running through the gate, back into the entrance district, and destroying the earthen pillar that held up the portcullis. the portcullis smashed down on the remnant and killed it... But when the Wanderer used his gauntlet on the remnant to figure out who created it, the name he got was strange; 'Failure'.

Now that they were in the entrance district, they noticed something strange. All of the smaller, degenerated mutants had followed them into the district with the town hall. There were little, almost none of the creatures, and the ones that were there were no threat. Mal and the Wanderer split up to go find whatever goods and treasure they could. Mal found a strange movement rune, but magic items were lacking, other than that. That night, the two headed back toward the village, using Steve to pull the wagon full of loot.

The next morning, The Wanderer woke up and went to speak with Ann again. He had her translate some of the papers for her, and he learned- his mother had been put on trial for treason, when he was less than a handful of years old.
And then she started to teach him Kystaran. In return, he gave her something he'd found in the lootpile- a bright blue necklace. Ann seemed to appreciate it.

Finally, he approached Mal. Mal had decided not to do anything today, resting and protecting the loot. That was when the bashiki revealed something- the letter from his sister contained some kind of code, complete with hidden messages. It seems that his sister is trying to uproot a specific Galdian chieftain.

Synopsis: Thread 11
The Wanderer headed up to Cromwell's tower, reminiscing about his past, and talked with the artificer about the portal runes, and the rune on Kaederi's remnant's forehead. Apparently both of them were only half of a proper rune- the other half being somewhere else. The Artificer promised he'd do more study, so the Wanderer spent some time in the tower doing his own study- translating the notes based on his slight kystaran knowledge. He didn't learn much- but he did learn that they were talking about the Wall- which apparently required a sacrifice. The sun was down by the time his translation work was done, so he headed toward the tavern. After talking with Miriam and Leroy about his mutation, The Wanderer went to sleep, making a note to have Dalton check out his armor in the morning.

Dalton judged the armor as 'terrible'. Too tight, too rusted, and too cracked to be much use. He could have refitted it, but the wanderer declined, preferring to wait to get better armor. Instead, he spoke with Mal, who seemed bothered.
Mal had finally finished his codebreaking, it seems, and his sister was asking him to hire a mercenary to assassinate the chieftain. In this case, she asked specifically for the mercenary who had given Mal his scar and killed his family- E.E. The Wanderer knew the man, so he wrote a letter and promised to get into contact with E.E.

The two decided they'd do some more searching for treasure, because they had the time, and the wanderer had Steve lift him up into the air. From his vantage point, the wanderer saw two things of note- a destroyed fortress, hidden in the hills and populated by strange, floating and glowing figures, and a blackened pulsing heart.

The heart was as large as a building... And it was the thing creating so many mutated, twisted remnants.

Synopsis: Thread 12
Mal and the Wanderer quickly decided to destroy the heart, if it's possible to do so, and went up to Cromwell's tower to ask for his help. Cromwell listened to the two, and agreed to help- provided that The Wanderer used his remnant-scanning gauntlet on the heart, alongside some artificer trickery to 'store' the information inside of a golem core. The wanderer agreed to try, and the three of them set out, Steve and a golem going with them.

The three headed into the forest, where mutated, twisted remnants poured out of the trees and attacked. The Wanderer fought, but he let himself get split up from the group and took another bad wound to his back, opening and worsening the injury he still had. Eventually, he used his runes to get back to the group, and the five of them smashed down the rest of the swarm.

After quickly treating his own back with admirable skill, The Wanderer took everyone else toward the heart. the clearing was filled with remnants, and one of the ball-of-arms creatures were slowly climbing out. The group constructed a plan, and set out to follow it.

Steve pulled the Wanderer into the air, holding him above the swarm and heading toward the heart. Mal came out of the trees and started firing at the group- just to hide behind the golem when the remnants set out to defend themselves. When they all clustered up against the golem, Cromwell was given a Fire and Blast rune to take care of them. The plan worked without a hitch, but then... It came time to kill the heart.
The heart spoke... And invoked three runes to create a Sustained Earth Surround around itself. The Wanderer couldn't let it do that- so he pushed himself out of Steve's arms and fell onto the heart just as the Surround closed above him.

And a creature spoke to him. Not the heart- but something akin to the heart's master. It's body was made of a strange, liquid, tarry substance, and it was almost more spell than person- but it still spoke.
It named itself 'Failure', and asked The Wanderer why the man had taken to trying to destroy his minions. It didn't accept the wanderer's answer and attacked. The Wanderer managed to survive long enough for Cromwell's golem to punch through the stone- after which, he left, and Cromwell threw another Flame Blast into the hole, vaporizing the heart.
At the last moment, Failure ranted about how it would kill everybody- and that it would kill something named 'Rebel'.

Back at the village, the Wanderer was nagged about getting more injuries, and then he spent the rest of the day doing translation work with Ann. Soon, the sun set, and the Wanderer went into the tavern to sleep.

When he closed his eyes, though, that strange ghostly remnant appeared, apologizing about her nature... And then she vanished again.

Synopsis: Thread 13
When the Wanderer woke up, it was raining outside heavily. Mal was nowhere to be found, and farmers kept entering the tavern to stay while the lower lands started to flood. The Wanderer made his way outside to find Mal, and found him at the beach- saving someone from drowning. A stranger. After helping Mal and the young boy back to Miriam, the Wanderer decided to meet with Ann, and learn more Kystaran. There it was revealed that Ann has a talent of her own- her skill in acquiring languages was near superhuman. She quickly learned galdian, and did her best teaching Kystaran to the wanderer.

After learning what he could, The Wanderer met with Mal, and the two decided to not make a waste of today- and head into the temple to speak with Tarda. Tarda welcomed them warmly, seeming not put out at all by the fact that neither of them had the book she asked for. The inside of the domain had changed entirely, though the inhabitant said it was illusory. It seemed she just wanted to play.
Despite this, the Wanderer proceeded to casually question her, asking about the Failure. Failure is, it was revealed, Tarda's sister- and a dozen other wizards, fused together and irreparably insane. Not to mention, immortal and impossible to kill permenantly.

His questions mostly answered, save those about the ghost, Tarda told the two that she'd show them some proper magic- something born not from the runes. She proceeded to take mud from the Wanderer's boots, and create a doppelganger of herself with it. Happily, she realized that she could leave the domain with it, using her doppelganger as a puppet. The Wanderer, Mal, and Doppletarda left the domain, and headed to the surface.
They weren't out of the catacombs before she started to melt back into mud. She fell apart entirely a few moments after leaving the temple. However, Ann had good news- the shipwreck survivor was awake.

He was also very strange, as an inhabitant of the strange island nation Delura. He was scared of Miriam, calling her a 'witch', and refused to speak with Ann. Something about the Wanderer made the boy speak up, however, calling the man 'sir'. It seems his name was 'Neophyte Marcus', and that he'd circumnavigated the world to get to Kystara for a mission- to learn about magic runes, and to learn about how to make them. Despite that, the boy seemed not only naive, but awkward.

Lunch soon started, so the two headed into the common room. Marcus's first response upon seeing Dalton is to lean over to the wanderer and ask why there's a fugitive in the village.

Synopsis: Thread 14
Marcus, Mal, and the Wanderer ate together that day. It seems that Marcus knows little about Dalton- only that he's wanted for both treason and kidnapping. He said that he doesn't intend to do anything with Dalton, as trying to capture him would interfere with Marcus' mission.

Miriam came by to check on the three, and Marcus introduced himself. When he said Third Hand Talon, though, Miriam's expression changed. Later, the Wanderer got her alone and asked what that meant- and as close as Miriam could explain, the 'Third Hand' means that marcus is essentially a delurian agent or assassin, trained extensively to survive in other lands, and the 'Talon' means that there's something strange about him, significantly out of the ordinary.

After the talk with Miriam, the Wanderer turned to Mal- and asked if he wanted to go find the book that Tarda had asked for. The bashiki was fine with it, and the two set out as soon as the rain stopped, heading toward the city. They had a few problems in the central district, getting past the mass of remnants to get to the town hall, but Steve was able to fly above the thrown rocks and deliver them to the hall's roof. From there... they descended.

After finding and marking all of the traps, the two descended into the basement's secret door, stepped through the traps, and entered the strangest chamber the Wanderer has ever seen.
It was shining. New. Sitting in the center was a strange, glimmering dome of light, some kind of enormous dragon hiding within. The pedestal with the book on it was nearby, covered in dust and worn- unlike everything else in the room.

The wanderer touched the shimmering dome- and something started howling into his mind, alien reverberations quaking. He heard a great many phrases, both in languages he knew and languages he didn't, describing a great many events surrounding the entire span of the world. He pulled his hand back, quickly, and tried to recover- he was freezing, quite suddenly. The dome had sapped all of his heat. After doing his best to recover, he and Mal grabbed the book and left.

However, in the town hall itself, all wasn't going to plan. Something just outside, something large, was trying to smash their way in. Mal and the Wanderer hurried up, the latter ordering Steve to carry the former away, when that something large came up to the rooftop. It was a remnant, almost like the muscled ones from before... But modified, with a steamsling-like weapon built into its arm. The Wanderer fought it for a time, and finally relied on using a Time rune to fight it.
The time lance disintegrated the thing's arm... But frost scattered the ground, the air fogging up as the lance shot past. It was freezing, the Wanderer knew.
It reminded him of that dome, deep below the city.

Synopsis: Thread 15
The Wanderer and Mal woke up the next morning, and quickly decided to head back to the village. On the way, they saw Marcus- alone, killing a jackolope with little but his dagger and cable. Checking to see what had happened to the den, the two of them saw that the cubs no longer had their mother protecting them. The Wanderer spent some time trying to tame them, but to no avail- the jackolopes were uncontrollable. Instead, the two ended up skinning them for pelts.

Now with the book, back at the village, The Wanderer decided on making a duplicate of it- a fake to give Tarda, so that if she did turn on him the moment she got it, she'd remain trapped. After having Cromwell help him with it, The Wanderer went down to the temple, alone.

Tarda greeted him warmly, and the Wanderer mentioned that he'd found the book- alongside that strange, magical dome. Tarda reacted with alarm when he mentioned he'd touched it with his hand, but quickly calmed when the Wanderer seemed unaffected. He gave her the fake book, which was made out of Cromwell's notes, and Tarda panicked. She'd believed that Kaederi had been trying to spy on her project and was doing a rather good job at it. Eventually, as it was a fake book, she threw it aside and sat down, falling into despair.

The Wanderer felt guilty, and told her the truth- that the real book was somewhere outside of the portal, and that he'd been testing her reaction. When he left the portal to grab the book, though, he heard fighting- Steve and a strange, lance-armed remnant were fighting. It saw him, and chased him. The Wanderer grabbed the book, reentering the portal.

The Remnant followed him. Tarda started casting some strange spell, and left it to the Wanderer to keep it busy until her spell finished. During the battle, though, at the last possible moment, The Wanderer was gored through the chest... And his heart was stabbed through. However, Tarda's spell completed itself while the Wanderer slowly died... And then she used her magic on him instead, taking a knife to one of her own remnants.

The Wanderer awoke in the tavern, in his own room, with Miriam watching over him. He'd only been out a few hours, but he was in surprisingly good shape. He talked with Miriam about what happened- he'd been dragged out of the temple by a large remnant, bleeding badly, but it looked like... yes, his heart and the entire wound area had been replaced with remnant flesh. After Miriam told her story and fell asleep, he heard Tarda speaking to him, somehow. She asked him down to her domain again.

Inside the portal, Tarda explained what she'd done... And asked for his help. Carving a rune on the outside of the portal- it would allow her to finally be free.
He did it.
She was freed.
And then, smiling, she lead him in through the chamber's great double doors.

Synopsis: Thread 16
Inside was the Runic Project. The entire runic project- a crystal, looted long ago, contained the entire project. The runes themselves were simple *requests*, to which the Project responds with power. After Tarda showed off the entire Project, the two talked quite a bit. The Wanderer learned that he doesn't have the talent required to be a wizard, and that it's impossible to duplicate the Project in question. Tarda made him a blank rune in thanks, and then the two ate some ancient, ancient food together; food that had been put in stasis.

The two climbed up to the temple, trying to find people to meet- but it was late at night. Tarda met Leroy, and during the talk, revealed that she was over seventy years old, though she hadn't aged during the past sixteen.
The two entered the tavern, sat, and drank as they talked. The sun slowly rose, and Miriam, Mal, and Marcus eventually awoke. The Wanderer's heart felt strange, and turned the discussion toward it. Tarda revealed that while his heart might be rather normal now, it could have any kinds of side-effects, or it could revert to a human heart eventually.

The group didn't have long to talk, though, as Ann eventually entered, Bruno in her arms- when Bruno roared angrily at Tarda.

The Wanderer, working entirely on instinct, pulled Mal and Tarda behind the table, knocking it over to act as a shield from the flames that started spewing from Bruno's mouth.

Synopsis: Thread 17
Bruno swelled and pulsed, growing to the size of a humanoid, and Tarda cursed and mentioned that it was some kind of parasite. The Wanderer fought the parasite, which was bursting out of Bruno, and then easily punched it out, tearing the parasite itself out with his bare fists.

Tarda was angry- very angry, in fact, upon using magic to find out why the parasite was there. She exclaimed that Kaederi- her apparent rival- was still alive, and that she'd have to remedy that fact. While she ranted, Marcus learned that she has the Runic Project, but Tarda changed subjects and asked he, Mal, and The Wanderer all to split up and find different components for her spell. From Mal, she asked for notes from the mansion. From Marcus, she asked for enchanted silver from the noble district. From the Wanderer, she asked for Rebel's core, from the Ruins. The three split up.

The ruins had a powerful spell over them- floating, humanoid figures called Defense Systems drifted around, using raw elemental magic to attack anyone who violates their laws. The Wanderer entered, and with a few dangerous moves, grabbed a badge that would proclaim that he's allowed within the ruins proper, so that the Defense Systems don't attack.

On his way down, he met 'Rebel' again, that ghost- and something became rather obvious. The reason it keeps taking the shape of people he knows is because it doesn't want to be hated. He told it that he'd prefer it take its own shape, and it vanished. He claimed Rebel's Core not long after, and went back to the surface- to find the remnant from the rooftop, now more powerful than before.

Meanwhile, Mal was in the mansion, sneaking in without sight. However, while climbing past one of Kaederi's strange rhino-remnants, he botched it, and revealed himself.

The Wanderer didn't have time to play with it. He destroyed it with several runes. When he returned to the village, Marcus was there, complete with silver on his back... But Mal wasn't. The Wanderer hurried toward the mansion, Steve coming with, and the two flew toward the mansion to find it surrounded in flame. Strange rhino-remnants, like the ones that had destroyed The Wanderer's heart, waited for the fire to die off.

Mal was covered in blood, ranting and firing at the remnants. The Wanderer had Steve drop him, and used lightning. Steve pulled Mal out of the window, and started to fly him back to the village.
It became obvious that the reason Mal was bloodied was because his leg was gone. The Wanderer wasn't too pleased with the idea of not being able to adventure with his friend- so he dove into the flames to find Mal's leg- as it can be reattached, with enough effort.

Synopsis: Thread 18
The Wanderer wandered the mansion, seeking Mal's limb, when a monster arrived. A naga- a tall, powerfully built creature, too human for comfort and too inhuman for hesitation. The Wanderer killed it, with both his runes and weapons, and recovered Mal's leg from within the naga's body.

He returned to the village, leg in hand, and spoke with Miriam. Miriam said that she'd need Tarda's help if Mal wanted to avoid a lengthy recovery, not to mention the complications that naga venom would cause. The Wanderer climbed atop the temple to find that Tarda had inadvertently called the naga, by drawing energy from the temple, but quickly told her to help with Mal.

From there, The Wanderer spoke with Ann about her past. She'd been from somewhere else, once upon a time, and sailed around the northern coast of the continent. Eventually, she fell asleep, and The Wanderer carried her home... And talked with Dalton about his past. While he was particularly free with his information, it seemed like he wasn't telling the whole truth. After sharing a drink with him, Ann woke up... And The Wanderer let them have a private conversation, as he wandered off.

At the Tavern, Tarda was abusing magic in order to heal Mal. It was unnatural and uncomfortable for everybody involved, and Mal was rather fortunate not to have been conscious. Afterward, Tarda asked The Wanderer if he would be her assistant. He agreed, and Tarda was ecstatic about the news. While the three of them finished up with Mal's leg, they talked about Rebel, and its strange reluctance to speak recently, as well as a handful of other topics.

Finally, it was late- so the Wanderer slept. His dream, however, was abnormal. In it, the world was a jungle he'd never seen, and a young girl noticed him. The enormous dragon from the dome under the town hall was there, and the girl seemed to be connected to it. She was surprised when The Wanderer spoke, and gave both her and the dragons' names; Kyssd and Bruun, respectively.

Synopsis: Thread 19
The Wanderer woke up the next morning, with Tarda sleeping in his bed, so he headed down to the tavern's main room to talk with Mal. Mal was conscious now, but couldn't walk- his leg needed more time to heal. Then he left to grab the naga body from the mansion, and on the way back, the caravan returned. The Wanderer gained a few letters- one from his employer- and a strange, unnatural rune. Then he sold all of the cargo he and Mal had gathered, earning four thousand coins, and then made his way back into the tavern to give Mal his half of the coin and talk to Tarda.

Tarda explained that the strange rune was counterfeit. It wasn't connected to the Runic Project at all, and had its own alien function she didn't understand. The two talked for a time, before Tarda excitedly went out to go dissect the naga, while The Wanderer purchased her clothing. He also bought armor from Dalton, as well as a pushblade. When Tarda returned, she returned with gifts- Naga teeth, complete with corrosive venom, crafted to fit into his steamsling.

As Tarda was covered in ichor, the two went out to swim at the beach. The wizard spoke much about magic, and the three important forces at work- Lifeblood, Spiritforce, and Leyline power. She admitted that the talent for wizardry may be able to be transferred, but at the cost of the death of the talented one. After swimming, Marcus needed to be distracted so that he didn't follow Tarda to her workshop. The Wanderer did so, giving Marcus semi-fake notes on runes to copy, as well as talking with Mal about more news he gets from his family.
When Tarda finally returned, she asked the Wanderer for help building her superweapon.
She named it Mudimuna. The Indomitable Project.

Synopsis: Thread 20
After a long day of working on the Indomitable Project, Tarda declared that she and the Wanderer were done for now; the project needed to soak in moonlight for some time. The Wanderer went down to the caravan again to deliver notes and such to his employers, and recieved a letter from an old friend- Abel. Abel sent him a strange electronic box, assuming the Wanderer would figure out what it was. The Wanderer, in turn, went to speak with Ann. She looked worried, and asked about the deluran queen. When the Wanderer said he didn't know much, she asked him to talk to Marcus about it- and complained that the older boy never speaks to her.

The night was growing long, so The Wanderer headed back to the tavern, where Tarda was waiting. She taught him how to recharge runes, but told him that he should only do it when he's about to go to sleep, as it would exhaust him. When he tried it, he found she was right- and passed out from the exertion.

In the morning, Mal woke the Wanderer up, grinning and walking on his new leg. He was clear to do things again, though his thigh still ached, and asked the Wanderer where they should go. The two adventurers quickly agreed to head toward the city, and went downstairs for breakfast. Down there was also Leroy and Marcus. The Wanderer saw a chance to do a few things while they were there, and asked for Leroy's help deciphering the strange cube. The nystaran analyzed it, and mentioned that it was a horrifically powerful bomb. Simple and easy to activate, incredibly destructive- but there was no way to activate it from a distance. He offered to put a timer on it, and left to go back to his home and work on it.

Which is when the Wanderer pulled Marcus aside, and asked him why he refused to talk to Ann. For once, Marcus' tone changed, and the two started arguing. Marcus was forbidden from having anything to do with the 'succession war' in Delura, and Ann apparently had enough of a possible claim to the throne that he wouldn't speak to her, for fear of losing his neutrality. The Wanderer finally sighed and moved on, unable to change Marcus' opinion, and spoke to Dalton about talking to Ann about her heritage. Dalton thought about it, and then, now armed with a very powerful bomb, the Wanderer and Mal headed toward the city.

The city was a warzone. Failure and Kaederi were at war here, the latter making lots of use out of his flying remnants, the former slapping down strange swelling pustules of black remnantstuff, that kept bursting into powerful creatures. The Wanderer and Mal went around, up the docks, and wandered for a time. They had a small fight with a kaederi-controlled remnant, and headed onward. Eventually, they found an office building explaining where a few packages were, and in which warehouses. They set off first for something secret, once sent toward Galdia, and after getting there, Failure stood there.

Failure didn't stay long. He stayed only long enough to slap down two swelling pustules and spring away. The Wanderer tried to destroy the two before they became remnants, but was too slow- and the remnants burst out, incredibly strong and partially consisting of stone. During the fight, the Wanderer's breastplate was broken into a million pieces, and he was stunned. Mal fought them off, wasting most of his firebombs, and dragged the Wanderer inside.

Inside the warehouse, after recovering, the two found the package they went all this way for- a small pouch. Inside, was a brilliant totem, made of bone, hair, and strange glowing glyphs.
They decided not to touch it for now- not until Tarda takes a look- and headed for another one of the warehouses with treasure inside.

Synopsis: Thread 21
Steve was missing. The Wanderer and Mal headed to the enchanted silver warehouse, and finding nothing there, they decided to go to the last location on the list- A shipment of pottery, ceramics, and other art. On the way, however, they faced another of Kaederi's remnants- a strange humanoid one, wrapped in silver cables. It used magic to deflect all of their attacks, and its own offense almost crushed Mal and the Wanderer. However, it seemed to lessen its defense while it's going on offense, so The Wanderer took that chance to kill it with a hastily repaired steamsling.

Inside the warehouse, the treasure they wanted was there. The two took it out to the docks and swam most of it- the part that wouldn't be damaged by water- across the waterfront to the beach. Once there, they waited for Steve to return... But to no avail. He was lost.

The two returned to the village, their winnings good but The wanderer's lost armor and remnant weighing on him. He got his steamsling repaired by Dalton, then spoke to Tarda. She told him that she had another job in the caves. The Wanderer asked about the 'secret project' they had found. Tarda analyzed it, and said that it was a totem designed to awaken Galdian beastmastery, but could awaken other powers if they were lucky. The Wanderer decided not to risk it, and gave it to Mal. Mal experimented with his new power, ecstatic about it, and then The wanderer decided to check on Cromwell.

Cromwell hadn't been eating much. For the past several days, he's been working for Tarda, analyzing her own notes and trying experiments with several things she'd given him. The Wanderer asked Miriam to make sure Cromwell got fed, and then headed into the forest, trying to find Mal. Instead, he found a jackolope- being controlled by Mal. It led him to Mal proper, and the two talked for a time- before an idea occured to them.
They could take the Jackolope into the caves.

Synopsis: Thread 22
The Wanderer, Mal, and the Jackolope headed into the caves, in search of Tarda's treasure. They met and fought some kobolds, and made their way to the kobold village. There they faced and fought a powerful troglodyte- the jackolope dying in the battle. As a consequence, the kobolds 'adopted' the two survivors of the battle. With the friendship of the kobolds, the two did recover the artifact Tarda asked for, and brought it back to her lab. There Tarda revealed what it did- it was her 'treasury', in that she carried a great many objects inside of it.

The next morning, there was quite a bustle in the village as the farmers all made their way to the tavern. Miriam said that it was a harvest festival, and that they'd taken the date from the kystaran calendar to celebrate. When The Wanderer went to talk to Tarda about it, but Tarda refused to start celebrating- because Kaederi is ahead of her in power and time. Instead, she set The Wanderer and Mal to a task- a task to to seek Kaederi's hiding place, giving the two magical amulets to allow them to track it. From the temple, she set up an anti-scrying spell to protect the two from Kaederi's prying eyes. And then the two set out.

When they got to the city, Failure arrived to speak to them, and requested a parley, of all things. Warily, The Wanderer spoke with them, and it became obvious that Failure only wanted one thing- they wanted Steve to stop slaughtering everything it could get its hands on. After making Failure promise not to hurt Wanderer or Mal for the rest of their 'natural lifespan', Failure took the two to meet Steve.

Steve had... changed. Consumption of a great many other remnants had changed it, and distorted its form to something vaguely human... But it was powerful, very powerful.
Just as The Wanderer was about to leave to continue his scouting, Failure offered more information- information about where Kaederi was.

He was in the sky. Kaederi is within the sky.

Synopsis: Thread 23
After Mal verified Failure's claim, The Wanderer confirmed for the second time that Failure had no desire to consume people, and then tested out Steve's suddenly incredible strength. The three headed back toward the village, where the festival was still going on, and The Wanderer told Tarda everything he'd found out- about Kaederi, and Failure, and even mentioned Steve. During the discussion, The Wanderer mentioned how Rebel hadn't talked to him recently, so Tarda gave the two some privacy.

Rebel revealed a few things about its own nature, and borrowed The Wanderer's form to talk to him- it mentioned Tarda's plans for after Kaederi is defeated, and knew something about Miriam that it refused to talk about. Tarda and Mal returned not long later, so Rebel vanished. While Tarda, drunk, went back to work, The Wanderer and Mal headed down and into the festival. While eating, Mal gave The Wanderer an offer- one to become a galdian nobleman, if the wanderer helps him regain his father's land. While he agreed to help, he wasn't sure about settling down, and told Mal so.

After the festival, The Wanderer went to sleep, but Rebel was waiting in his room. There, it revealed more things- Things it had stolen from kaederi's mind. Kystara was still alive. The people were hidden somewhere, sequestered inside a domain or something similar... And that the wizard's goal was to open the dome beneath the town hall, releasing the dragon and whatever else is inside.

Leaving him with that thought, Rebel left, and the Wanderer went to sleep.

Synopsis: Thread 24
When The Wanderer woke up, he woke up to Tarda knocking on his doors. That's when Tarda revealed something - monsters were on their way. Lots of them. The wanderer proceeded to run about the village, getting help from everyone possible, and even met with Marcus. Marcus, meanwhile, had learned from Cromwell that the notes were fake, and he wasn't happy about it. Despite that, Marcus agreed to help.

Soon enough, the fight started. Marcus got injured fighting two naga, and both of Cromwell's golems were destroyed. The Wanderer, however, killed a hook-armed demon, and a strange nystaran beast who could turn invisible. After looting their bodies, he went to speak with Tarda and eat breakfast. Tarda said that there were two days until the project was complete, and asked for the rune he had gotten from his employers. The Wanderer gave it to her, and headed on to identify his loot from Leroy. Leroy identified the parts of the nystaran monster, called a 'lurker', and the only useful device it had was the object that made people invisible for a time.

On the way back, Rebel confided to the Wanderer that someone was coming. Someone by the name of E.E.

Synopsis: Thread 25
After heading back to the village, now worried about E.E, Miriam asked the Wanderer to bring food to the injured Marcus- and he did. The two talked for a time, and then The Wanderer revealed that Tarda's unable to make a significant amount of runes- and that they'd be impossible to remake in any significant number. Marcus didn't like being lied to, but upon being told that his mission was impossible, he changed, and revealed things.
Like, for example, the fact that his commanders plan to interfere in the seccession war, and had to get Marcus out of their hair by sending him to a far off land. After explaining, he asked for the Wanderer to take him to Dalton's house, so that Marcus could discuss the war with Dalton and Ann.

The next morning, the wanderer ran from the tavern, avoiding Miriam's reprisal for helping Marcus out of his bed, and met Mal. The two talked for a time, Wanderer giving Mal some advice on how to deal with E.E when it came time.
However, E.E was already there, hiding in the bushes. With a surprise attack, he jabbed a pushblade through the Wanderer's lung. Mal was very unhappy with these events, as were the wanderer, but E.E also agreed to Mal's job offer, giving him rediculously low rates. The Wanderer's lung was in pain, the injury reacting strangely with the remnant heart- but it was somehow regenerating, black tendrils preventing the Wanderer from dying. E.E had been called here not only by Mal's letter, but also a letter of sorts from Miriam, detailing how Tarda had suddenly appeared. The boisterous man wasn't pleased with that, and had a short talk with the Wanderer about finishing his mission- but accepted the wanderer's excuse and wandered off to speak with Miriam.

After recovering from his painful, regenerating lung wound, The Wanderer traded away all of his treasure with the caravan, and then headed to play with Bruno. Ann was there, of course, and the wanderer tested out his invisibility device. It worked properly, and allowed the wanderer to steal the dragon without being seen. After it ran out of power, the two talked about Ann's future. She revealed that the choice to return to Delura was left to her, and she was tempted. After dispensing uncharacteristically philosophical advice, The Wanderer just went back to petting Bruno.

Both were alarmed when Bruno hiccuped a burst of flame.

Synopsis: Thread 26
Ann and the wanderer quickly went to the top of the temple to speak with Tarda about Bruno's abnormalities. It turns out that it was due to the remains of the remnant parasite that was once inside of the dragon. The two decided not to do anything about it now, and then the Wanderer asked about his lung. Tarda had no clue, so she said she'd speak with Cromwell about what it may be.

The wanderer said his goodbyes to Ann and Tarda, and headed down to the caravan to look through for more arms and armor. While he had no better armor, he did have a notable weapon- a large, powerful firearm, very weighty. He said that he would only trade it away if the wanderer grabbed a very particular unnatural stone for him, and the Wanderer agreed. But the stone sounded precisely like the same material that made up the Runic Project and golem cores, so he went to cromwell's tower to get more information.

At the tower, Tarda and Cromwell had multiple theories as to what's wrong with the Wanderer's remnant heart; mostly reasons due to Steve's influence. Steve was so degenerated that it was exacerbating the mutation effect of the wanderer's own heart- he'd have to destroy or give the remnant away. He decided to keep the remnant for now, and got the information he needed to grab the crystal.

Mal, Steve, and the wanderer set off to the mines, where remnants were still mining the stuff. For once, they didn't attack, instead giving the Wanderer an entire load of the stone. On the way out again, however, Kaederi waited, with a new remnant. It was able to deflect almost all attacks, and even *stop* steve entirely, but when it got too close, The Wanderer used every rune he could think of, making the remnant fall apart. Kaederi howled in agony, and high in the sky... his fortress started to descend.

Synopsis: Thread 27
Kaederi was starting a ritual to destroy everything, according to Tarda. However, she had a plan- To send the Wanderer in to destroy the focal point of the ritual- the tallest tower in his fortress. However, this posed a problem with the wizard's barrier... But, tarda had a plan. She learned how to create free-ranging domains to push people inside of, and set the domain to go 'around' the barrier before letting go again. The Wanderer said his goodbyes, and set off into the domain.

He came through on the other end, and was immediately attacked by dozens of floating, grim spheres. He fought his way to a rooftop to orient himself, and then headed toward the tower.

There, He met Kaderi. At least, a doppelganger of him. He demanded answers, but the wanderer didn't have any save a bolt from his steamsling. He sailed off of his rooftop, onto a balcony, and ran toward the tallest tower. Lightning crackled from the edges, but he didn't care. After running past all foes, he reached the rooftop.

Which is when Tarda communicated with him. She'd used scrying to find the location of kaederi's notes, and needed him to make sure it's clear so she can arrive. He set the bomb, went back down the tower, and ran into the study There, Kaederi was waiting for him, in yet another attempt to slow or stop him, but The Wanderer used a time rune on him first, causing Kaederi extreme pain from trying to control a puppet body from a distance.  Tarda arrived, and started grabbing books to put into her treasury, and then sent the Wanderer back to the surface. A few moments later, she arrived- bleeding badly. Kaederi had stabbed her.

After the wanderer patched her up and had miriam check her over, Tarda promised to give the Wanderer a ritual in return for his help- a replacement to his remnant heart. For that, though, she needed the heart of a monster, or something with a similar power- like an egg. The Wanderer took Mal down and into the kobold village, where a troglodyte was attacking, and they tracked the troglodyte back to its home. There they found the egg, but the Wanderer was savagely wounded by the female trog. Mal killed it, and the two set home- but the wanderer's remnant heart was acting up with some amount of vengeance, mutating his leg painfully. The two limped back home, and Tarda immediately started the ritual.

The last thing she said before putting him under was this. 'This is the ritual that made me look like I do now. This is your reward, Strelok.'

She'd never learned his name.

Synopsis: Thread 28
The Wanderer awoke feeling strange. When he sat up and examined himself, he looked... younger. His body had been changed to that of the prime of his life, and according to Tarda's explanation, he'd stay that way. His response, of course, was to go out drinking with Mal. Miriam reacted with shock and alarm at first, but slowly started to adapt.
The sun started peeking over the horizon, so The Wanderer went down to the smithy, and spoke with Dalton a time. Ann came out, was suitably impressed, and the three talked a time. After Ann stomped off due to her father's teasing, the Wanderer was told that Dalton intended on leaving the village- Even if the wanderer succeeds in taking down the castle.
Figuring he should thank Cromwell for helping him, the Wanderer headed toward his tower and learned some things about him- that he lacked Lifeblood because he also lacked a heart. Instead he had some sort of pressure-pumping brass architecture in its place.

Finally, the Wanderer headed back down into Tarda's laboratory, where she was having trouble taming the Wanderer's remnant heart- it seemed to rebel against her, making Steve uncontrollable. The two talked for a time, and then sparred; Tarda was much better than he'd thought she was. Finally, after a talk about the future, and bemoaning his lack of magic, Tarda said that she could likely transplant the Talent from someone else- Ideally, Kaederi.

The Wanderer jokingly replied that he'd need a teacher. Tarda took him seriously, and offered- That in five years, she would take him under her wing as Apprentice- If he wanted, of course.

The wanderer couldn't decide. But that moment, Rebel spoke up. Munimuda was complete. The Indomitable Project was ready.