Closed.

Dhea let out a soft curse and dropped her head to her knees, before flopping back underneath the tree and resting. She’d needed to rest for a little while, but her drive to get out of the Baklands and to kill the Serpents was....overpowering, to say the least.
She also felt horrible for making Ethera so uncomfortable.

She had an inkling that it wasn’t going to be the only time she’d feel like that.
 
She felt much better after her rest and had more energy to continue her journey.

The dirt path led to the north, toward the tower she saw in the distance. As she followed the road the sun was starting to set.

Suddenly, after an hour of walking, the land around her shimmered, disappearing from view. The surroundings transformed and she was back into the dust and sand of the Baklands that she had seen before encountering Shadrack. Her boots crunched on the gravel underneath and when she raised her eyes she saw that the tower was no longer white with a golden dome. It was plain grey and crumbling. The dome was gone.

The path curved to the west in front of it.

- Enter the tower.
- Continue ahead.
 
Dhea shook her head, before heading towards the tower. It had been her destination in the first place, but she’d gotten side-tracked by many things.
A good kind of sidetracked, because information, but sidetracked nevertheless.

She wondered what was in the tower, if there were more things to answer her questions.
 
The sun was sinking and the sky was turning purple as she walked toward the tower. The sides of the tower were too smooth to be natural, though it was partially crumbled. There were no stones or brickwork, the whole tower looked like it was at one point made out of a single block of stone. Thick gripweed curled up and down the tower like wool around a sheep. Beyond it, a canyon lay deep in the ground.

There was no visible doorway on sight, not even after she circled the tower from all sides. However, as she was taking a full circle around it, she saw something move at the flat top of the tower.

- Climb up the gripweed.
- Cast a spell.
- Move on.
 
For the second time that day, Dhea cast a spell of weightlessness. It seemed to be a better idea than climbing the gripweed, for fear of it breaking and her falling to her death.
And something was moving at the top of the tower.
That caught her attention.
 
She felt light as a feather, but she did not move upward. The spell caused her weight to be reduced, it did not allow her to float in the air at will. She would not be able to climb that way.

- Climb up the gripweed.
- Cast a spell.
- Move on.
 
The climb took her a couple of moments. thankfully the gripweed was sturdy enough and did not crumble. She managed to haul herself up over the ledge and onto the flat surface of the rooftop. Only to be face to face with a hooded figure that made a chill crawl down her spine.

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- Get away.
- Address the figure.
- Cast a spell.
 
Sensing danger spells seemed to be the most common things she had cast these recent days. Dhea kept that hand behind her hip, eyes narrowing at the hooded figure.
She still kept her hand on her blade, just waiting for it to attack first.
 
"Wait wait wait!" The figure spoke in a rather gentle sounding voice, although urgent. "Don't be alarmed, I'm not going to hurt you!" It waved its hand toward Dhea, dispersing her spell. "I'm not dangerous to you. This appearance is not by my choice." The figure extended one skeletal hand, examining it. Dhea could not see his face under the darkness of the hood, but the voice was definitely a male one. "I have dabbled in dangerous sorceries for far too long." A small sigh. "I'm Lorag, Analander. You might have heard of me. In fact, I know you have, since we have spoken once before in future. Or rather, we will speak."

Lorag's steward had said to Dhea that his master was dead.

- Greet him.
- Ask about his death.
- Ask about his sorcery.
 
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”
Dhea made a slight face, before bowing ever so faintly. She felt her face heat up a little, likely because she had made assumptions again.
“Your steward said you were dead....I assume that’s partly true?”
Her eyes examined the cloak, the staff. She was...intrigued by Lorag.

“Oh! I should probably use my manners.”
Again, she bowed, her cheeks still a faint pink.
“It is good to meet you...I believe.”
 
The figure inclined his hooded head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, again. I had hoped you would find my grave. It's not a proper grave, you know. There's nothing underneath it. My body is here." He patted his chest. "Although withered beyond recognition now. I have been experimenting with time sorcery for a while. Now I'm..." He examined his skeletal hand again, as if in deep though. "Part Wraith. My existence somehow seeped through the cracks in time." A sigh. "It is all my fault really, I was never satisfied with the amount of knowledge I had. Always yearned for more. But, that's not important!" The figure stepped over to Dhea, then produced something out of its sleeve.

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A crystal, unlike anything Dhea had ever seen.

"The product of my tampering with time. The Beacon." He said, offering it toward her. "It's for you. You need it more than me. It will allow you to travel between Ishtara and Kakhabad at will. Two different countries, the same place, different times. You might need this more than you think."

- Thank him.
- Ask about Xirin.
- Ask about Lorag.
- Ask about the Serpents.
 
Dhea took the Beacon, before tucking it away in one of her many pockets. She nibbled on her lip, still unsure of how to continue.
“Thank you, but I do have more questions, if you don’t mind.”
She frowned slightly, before sighing.

“The Serpents. You know about my task, I’m guessing...”
She fiddled with her hands, shaking her head again.
“I need to know how to defeat them or where to find them. Please.”
 
"I'm afraid you will have to learn about them on your own. I have tried to avoid the Serpents as best as I could. Especially the Serpent of Time. Ugly creature. Very smart. It will most certainly lay a trap for you at some point. It will be the most difficult to kill out of all of them." Lorag explained, leaning on his staff. "I don't know much about the rest of them, except that all will be hostile." He sighed again. "Well, it is time for your to continue with your quest. I suggest you rest here before that. The dark approaches and the area ahead is not safe during the night."

Dhea had not eaten that day and was growing hungry.

- Rest.
- Continue.
 
Dhea moved a little further from the edge of the tower, before taking out a small part of her rations and sitting down. She had rested before, underneath the tree, but it had been short.
And night was coming. That would be dangerous to traverse for now.
 
She ate and set up her sleeping bag for the night, while the Wraith that was Lorag kept watch over her.

He was not there in the morning and it was time for Dhea to move on.

The road led her past a fissure that split the earth where once a river ran. Now the river was far gone and an empty canyon was the only thing that remained after it. She walked a bit further on as the wind picked up, blowing dust in her eyes. There was a bridge ahead of her, or rather the remains of a bridge. Underneath it the fissure was so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. There was no way across it.

- Examine the bridge.
- Use The Beacon.
- Cast a spell.
 
Before used the Beacon, she moved to examine the bridge.
Perhaps there was something of note to be learned on how it had been destroyed, or even if there was something to be found.
 
The bridge was destroyed as if by an earthquake or powerful sorceries. It had at least three big arches at some point, but now only the middle one held, although by a thread. There were boulders and scrapped masonry everywhere. What little was left of the bridge was unsafe to cross. Dhea could reach the middle arch perhaps if she took a leaping jump, but she would need to throw her gear ahead of her if she didn't want to tip over.

The canyon of the river ran deep beneath the bridge and she would not survive that fall, that much was certain.

- Jump over the gap.
- Use the Beacon.
- Cast a spell.
 
The crystal lit up as she touched it. There really was no special incantation needed. Even though Lorag did not explain to her how to use it, as soon as she thought about Ishtara, the world around her shimmered. The scenery changed.

The fissure flooded, turning into a roaring river. Majestic stone arches rose into the air, crossing the river. The bridge was in front of her. Fully formed. For the briefest of moments the nose of a Narwhal appeared above the surface of the river, but then it was gone, carried away by the current.

The road ahead was well paved, curving a little to the right. She crossed the bridge warily, but the ancient stones did not budge underneath her, the bridge stood solid.

On the other side the grassy plain stretched ahead in front of Dhea.

- Go north.
- Go east.
 
Dhea looked from side to side, nibbling on her lip. Going north had been her best option so far, but...something called her to go east. Who knew what lay in that direction.
 
She took the road to the right, that lead across the plains and toward the distant mountains. The earth was warm beneath her feet, she could feel it even through the soles of her boots. The sun was beating down already as it was approaching midday. It promised to get only warmer. As she walked forward she felt a slight tremor underneath her feet.

"Better run." Courga whispered in her mind.

- Run.
- Stay and see what happens.
- Cast a spell.
 
Dhea looked at the ground, her head shaking as she started to speed up.
And then, she started running. Whatever was causing the ground to shake like that, it was not going to be friendly.
 
She abandoned the road, running across the bone grey plain. Whatever was bubbling underneath the ground did not follow her.

It was very warm now, causing her to sweat under her cloak. Tramping across the dusty plains took her most of the morning and well into the afternoon, to rejoin the road on the other side.

A few hundred yards from where she was was a camp of covered wagons and carts, with a fire burning in the middle. Figures were moving around the camp, but none called out to her. Perhaps they did not notice her yet. In front of her, further to the east was the road that eventually climbed up into the mountains.

- Approach the camp.
- Continue forward.
 
Her brain immediately perked up when she saw the camp.
They could have supplies, maybe a place for her to sit and rest.

Dhea approached, trying to make herself seem less threatening as she did.
 
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