CampaignDialogue:SOTA

This is a transcription of all dialogues from Secrets of the Ancients. It's meant as a resource for Wesnoth writers. If you don't want spoilers, leave this page now.

Scenario 1: Slipping Away

Story Text

From the Journal of Ardonna of Tarrynth

9 XII, 22 YW:

It's unfair that we humans must die after so few years. Elves and dwarves live far longer. Though this may be the natural order, we needn't embrace it! The lords on the Green Isle knew how to live forever. Pursuit of that knowledge was declared illegal by King Haldric I, but I believe it's worth the risk. As I watched my family waste away of various maladies, I vowed that I woudn't share their fate, and if I can rediscover the secrets of the ancients, I'll be a heroine to the whole continent! I shall begin research in earnest this winter.

26 II, 23 YW:

My experiments with bats have proven unfruitful. I have determined that they don't truly drain the life force of their victims - it's an illusion. The blood loss weakens the victim, while the bat gains vitality because it has fed. There's nothing I can learn from bats about extending life. Now I have a problem: I'm forced to keep the bats and pretend they're my pets because I can't admit why I was studying them. In truth, it's not a burden - I've grown somewhat fond of the creatures, and I don't mind appering eccentric. I'm already marked as different because my hair is so light and I lack a sense of smell.

4 III, 23 YW:

Today, headmaster Aimucasur himself taught a class on moving objects with one's mind. The technique involves projecting one's will inside the item and then learning to move it as an extension of the body. Incantations focused the mind to the task. We practiced with inanimate objects, but clearly the same principle could be applied to unliving flesh. Nobody dared voice the thought, because showing interest in the necromantic arts results in expulsion. I was pondering that fact in class when I noticed Aimucasur glowing at me. I must be more careful in the future about which of my thoughts appear on my face.

15 III, 23 YW:

One of my bats must have been old, for it died. Boldly then, I decided to animate the corpse. I was pleased to see that it worked, but what was interesting was this: the first time the bat twitched, I felt a last spark of life energy flash through its body. I noted that it flowed through some kind of pathway. That gave me an idea. With my mind, I searched out all the life force pathways in its body using what I could sense in the living bats as a guide. Then I animated them all at once, and the bat flapped off the floor on its own (That's a trick old Aimucasur probably doesn't know)! Even better, the energy running through the life force network seemed to maintain itself, so I didn't need to continue to concentrate. Could this be the whole secret? Could all the ancient lords have had someone bring them back after death? I'd need another mage I trusted completely, but perhaps I can find someone with whom to make a pact.

Later:

With further observation, I've determined that this isn't probably the way to avoid death. The reanimated bat has no will! It does nothing unless I nudge it with my mind. Perhaps the will of a human is stronger, and someday soon I'll have the opportunity to find out... because I'm quitting the Academy. I'll be in my room when old Morvihn checks for the night, but not two hours later! I grow weary of this place and its restrictions on thought. So, no more brown initiate's robes, no more being ridiculed on account of my hair, no more pompous instructors. I'll teach myself the so-called "dark" arts and learn how to live forever! The ancients from the Green Isle found a way, so I can discover it too. When all these oldsters here find themselves breathing their last, they'll have to beg me for the secret. Perhaps I'll be generous. Perhaps not.

Ardonna: I should get off the island in case the ethics committee is concerned about a rogue mage. I shall not be dragged back in disgrace! I should be able to reach the town of Llorvin before morning. I can hide there until I can head for the dock. I'll need some traveling money for that, so go, my bat friends, and find me some gold!

It would be good to have even more bats as well. There was a colony in that ruined castle where we practiced conjuring fire, so I'll try to find that. The castle was also infested with huge rats as I remember, but I can certainly destroy those. I'll have to use ice though, as I never mastered fire.