OOC: Greetings readers! I apologize for the long delay in posting anything new for a while, but I'm totally going to blame it on the double exp events we had, the raids, and the winter event! I know I'm sorely behind now... I did many new quests without even realizing I'd done them to start with, but I never posted them up for her. I do plan to get Kylisha's Chronicles all caught up and I do have that final 'Katalogue' from Kytitia to make as well... I'll get to it, but thanks for your patience anyhow! NOW, to the stories!

IC:

*She enters with a reserved poise, her massive, two paw sword sheathed. Her armor looks as if it had been badly damaged and dented as well, clearly, she'd been fighting hard against powerful creatures at some point in her absence.*

There's so much going on with the Dalimond Peninsula.... I just never imagined how badly the Aegis have affected our realm. Well, I'll cover some of that in detail as I talk over my adventures with you.

When I was last here, I was in a bit of a somewhat emotional state... riddled with worry for the Observatory Outpost, here to collect supplies for them.

I was right to be worried too, but I need to talk about some things before I get to that point. Anyhow, I did manage to find the Quartermaster, Elmond Weiss as I needed to. While he seemed to be an okay type, he still annoyed me quite badly when I brought him the request forms that Sergeant Nansi had asked me to deliver to him. I suppose its really no fault of his own, if I'm being honest, but the reason I got annoyed with him was because he refused to give me the supplies I needed without first having those documents signed by my *she adds with a sneeringly sarcastic tone* FAVORITE Officer, Hanlon.

Naturally, when I heard that I had to take these documents to HIM, I was not very happy, to say the least... That officer... well, there's so many things I'd want to do to and say about him, but I don't think they'd be appropriate for a... friendly conversation. Nevertheless, Hanlon once again proved to me WHY I despise him so much. The first thing he said to me was, 'Soldier, I'm very busy so speak quickly. Ah, a signature. Signatures, that's all I do these days.'

Well, if he's SOOOOO busy JUST signing signatures... how can he possibly be 'busy'? I'M the one doing these tasks for the benefit of HIS subordinates! How can he even think that he is more busy than I? Maybe I should knock him down a few pegs... humiliate him a bit and even drag him into the armies of the Aegis... I'm certainly much stronger than he now.

Anyhow... sorry to get side-tracked again, but you should have come to expect that by now, we Saris are like that. After dealing with the annoyance of associating with Hanlon, I returned to Quartermaster Weiss and he granted me the supplies I needed. I then hurried back to Bristugo and jumped into the portal for Heart where I told Sergeant Nansi about the supplies I'd gotten. She seemed exceptionally pleased and gave me directions to the Observatory Outpost.

The undead that I'd destroyed previously, of course had been replaced, but much like my sister, Kytali, I rushed through them once more, battling my way through their forces until I broke free of them and could continue my journey to the Outpost. I went through the Goranthis Forest, following my map and the instructions Sergeant Nansi had given me. Eventually I found my way to the Outpost and, thank Merrasat, it still stood. I hurried in through the gates and took note of the detachment stationed there.

The one who approached me, Sergeant Ral Ortos, appeared to be in command. He welcomed me warmly and with great relief when he saw the burden I carried for them. He offered to attune me to the Outpost to make it easier for me to return, while apologizing that he needed my help with even more Aegis problems.

Considering how bad the Aegis had threatened Heart, as well as the Tombs, and, of course, as a calling befitting my profession, I listened with bated breath, dreading every moment as he explained the situation to me.

He told me that before the Observatory was built, there was a small village known as Rastiphan in which the builders used to live, but when the Observatory fell, the Aegis captured the village as well, leading to it becoming blighted. Since its capture, it's become filled with undead and automatons, according to his information. He asked me to go to that village and destroy a number of the undead patrols to help reduce the attacks.

I made my way to the village, did a bit of scouting, and found that indeed, his information was correct, but the automatons were quite far away from the Outpost and never left a particular area... it looked like it might be a Gnomian contraption that generated some sort of energy that the automatons rely on. I know, because if I got close enough, my fur would prickle and floof, making me feel like a big puffball. Anyhow, when I got near the device, the automatons did rush to attack me, but I quickly retreated and they only followed me so far before they appeared to lose power and become defunct. To make sure, I tried this a few more times with the same results, leading me to develop this theory and it seemed to be right.

Perhaps that was why Sergeant Ral Ortos didn't mention that he felt I should worry about those contraptions, they weren't really a threat to the Outpost. I returned to the primary reason of my mission and destroyed a number of the undead patrols. These didn't seem near as dangerous as the enemies I'd faced in King Vandus' Tomb, so I was able to make through with only minor injuries, most of which my Blessing of Life ability mended easily enough. With the power of my Stand Against Darkness and my Aura of Light, the Aegis crumpled before me like a wind scatters loose leaves.

Feeling pleased with myself at my success, I happily returned to Sergeant Ortos and delivered my report, in addition to the observations I made about the automatons as well. He seemed very pleased with the results and thanked me for the information about the automatons as well, which he passed on to the Scholar at the Outpost.

He did, however have some bad news for me though, which, needless to say, wasn't entirely too much of a surprise. While I had been doing my research and taking care of the Aegis patrols in the few days I'd been away, he'd taken some of his soldiers to ready and store some supplies that I'd brought so that the Outpost could lead an assault on the Observatory itself. Unfortunately, it appeared that some of the Gnomian Scouts around the Observatory had spotted them and told... whoever leads them about what happened and in turn, once Sergeant Ortos and his team departed, they sent their own teams to raid and steal the caches of supplies.

Sergeant Ortos and his team had returned some time later, ready to attack, but found all their supplies gone and the Aegis repelled their attack, at great cost to Sergeant Ortos' team. Not all of them were Gifted and some were felled, only to be returned as undead and turn against their former comrades. They had not known that their supplies had been stolen and they certainly didn't have a Paladin like myself with them, since I'd already been busy fighting in Rastiphan.

Hearing this news both infuriated and saddened me, not at Sergeant Ortos, at least he actually DOES something, unlike Hanlon in Dalimond, but at the Aegis. All that work we'd done... just to be undone with a single assault AND the Aegis ranks swelled even further with those that had been brave enough to fight against them, but had not been Gifted.

I was painfully reminded of the Lost Patrol on Kion again and I lost my composure once more. I know.... I'm not proud to admit it... but like I said before... that's a memory that just... keeps hurting me constantly. Somehow, the Aegis manage to open old wounds without even knowing that they are. What... kind of power is that? To be able to make me relive something as terrible as that... time and again. They have a sinister power to them and I can't even begin to explain it.

It took me a while to recover myself, with Sergeant Ortos' help, thankfully, before I was ready for him to give me my next task. I suspected I had somewhat of an idea, but I wanted to hear for myself, just to make sure I had all the information I needed. He warned me about ogres and pygmies that had become blighted and been turned into Aegis, in addition to some sort of flies called 'Corpse Flies', and then, of course, all the undead gnomes. He wanted me to recover these supply caches and destroy a large number of the Ogres, Pygmies, Gnomes, and flies.

I steeled my resolve, prepared for battle, and left to do as he asked. I followed the road from the Outpost towards the Observatory itself and I found fields of the B'nari Tribe, flies, and Gnomes. Seeing their numbers gave me pause and I had to collect my courage, but after a few moments, I sprinted deep into their hordes, heading towards the areas that Sergeant Ortos had told me that they'd last seen their supply caches. They were heavily guarded by all the creatures and I fear I overestimated myself a bit, to be honest, or perhaps I was just too emotionally traumatized at the time to think clearly enough to fully consider the danger.

The Aegis rushed me with countless numbers and I quickly switched to my sword and shield, realizing the amount of danger I was in. I channeled every ounce of my power into all of my most powerful undead-destroying abilities as a Paladin, in conjunction with my skill with spirit and nature magic. I was able to stand against two waves and collect half of the caches before I became utterly exhausted and the Aegis overwhelmed me. As my vision faded, I saw some of the former Militia members staring at me with cold... smug expressions and gloating over my defeat.

I returned to my bind point in Harro, quite distraught and hurting... not physically, of course, the Gift mends that... but... mentally... emotionally... and spiritually. Like a flood... or tidal wave all the memories of my failures and defeats at the paws of the Aegis came back to mind. The time with Talenth, the Lost Patrol, King Vandus' Tomb, the loss of many of Sergeant Ortos' soldiers, good, capable men and women, and now... this...

I cannot begin to express the pain and hurt... just... that it was overwhelming and I can't recall just how many tears I cried. Mother and Ryshayria found me there, actually, and came over to speak with me as I sat upon the ground, crying bitterly. The two of them, as well as many of their comrades in arms had just suffered a terrible defeat at the paws of the Aegis Generals and they needed to rest for a bit before they could try to attack again.

The two of them spent some time with me, telling me about their battles, trials, victories, and defeats. Both of them understood how I felt and comforted me while we rested. I knew I had to return to the fight and save the Outpost. If even Mother and Ryshayria will suffer deaths at the paws of the Aegis... it doesn't mean that they are immune... in spite of how powerful both of them are. Perhaps its not because I'm weak in general... but because the Aegis are finding ways to grow stronger and get ahead of our own strength and are much more dangerous than people like to think they are.

I decided to return to my own fight and leave them to theirs, thanking them for their support. They left to spend some time at a tavern to recover and I returned to Bristugo, then used the portal to the Observatory Outpost. Sergeant Ortos saw me and looked surprised, thinking I'd completed the task. He asked me as much, but I told him that even I had been overwhelmed, although I'd managed to recover most of their supplies and that I was returning to finish the job. He nodded solemnly, encouraged me, patted my back, and thanked me for all my help.

When I returned to the battlefield this time, I was a bit more careful in how I approached them. I scouted out areas that I'd be able to lure them to and fight on my terms. I used those spots to control the number of Aegis that could attack me at any one time and eventually destroyed many of the patrols, using everything I had to make them suffer. I was successful, finally, and recovered the last of the stolen supply caches.

I returned with word of my success to Sergeant Ortos and he thanked me heartily and then gave me a tight hug, which made me feel better and even proud of what I'd done to save the Outpost. He also gave me a large sum of coin and some trophies to sell for even more coin.

He did say he suspects that there's still more going on, but that I should take a break and speak with Paladin Geriad to let him know of my progress so far. That's why I'm here now, I'm going to rest to recover from that death and tell Paladin Geriad about what I've been doing since we parted ways the last time.