Interlude II - The Six Months
For your benefit, and to keep record of what has happened, I shall recount to you what has happened within the last six months.
The first thing that happened was that you, Scribe, were damaged. We had been unable to contact you for, well, anything. The journal also refused to be written in, any ink or fluid that touched its pages vanished immediately. We came to the conclusion that you may have somehow bound yourself to it, and seeing that the journal has begun updating itself again, I have to assume that this theory is somehow valid.
After we took Galstia's remaining Variarmor arm, Ambrosia began to work together a new set of armor for me. This armor, which Ambrosia has taken to calling the GILGAMESH Type, allows me to shift my armor around my body, and lets me absorb metals to form weaponry from them. It also, amazingly, lets me shift the Gauntlets of Ash off of my arm. It's... amazing, to be honest.
For the first time in my life, I'm able to touch my wife. I eventually need to shift the gauntlet back onto my arm for balance purposes, but the momentary reprieve is nice.
I have also, somehow, gained an army. It started out as just a group of people who wanted to stop Galstia from destroying villages. Word seemed to have spread though, and I've gained support from places as far as the land outside the Void. Gesva has even joined our fight here. She's agreed to help train the new recruits, which seem to constantly be pouring in.
On a less happy note though... During those six months, my other has passed, as has Ambrosia's. In fact, nearly all of Aurelia seems to have been wiped off the map. Witnesses have said that it was a giant dragon that burned the country into oblivion. I am to assume this was Galstia's doing, his revenge against King for imprisoning him. All this does is cement my need to end his life.
Odette has, as I have told you before, also been felled by Galstia. She... she didn't even have time to protect herself. We've all taken this pretty hard, but Vanth seems to be having the most trouble coping with it. He's been doing a little better about it, and has taken to teaching magic to the more mystically inclined troops. When we finally confront Galstia, I intend to bring Vanth with me. He would come with me regardless, this I know.
Jilsi has been growing steadily, both mentally and physically. She's about as tall as my stomach now, and she's been a little chatterbox too. She's still pretty sweet on Tymise, and I think he may be reciprocating her feelings as well. It's... not the most conventional romance I've ever seen, but if they're happy, then I am fine with it.
Due to the growing army, Tymise has had to expand the ship quite a bit to accomodate the growing troops. He's been unable to locate a decently sized crystal to keep it in the air with the added girth, but perhaps someone in Ephah can provide one. He'll also need to find a way to shield the entire ship for when we eventually pass back through the veil into Famia.
Toth... Mother, has been attempting the best she can to be a mother to me, and I'm grateful for it. She's not doing the best job in the world, but it's Toth. She has her own, unique way of showing love. I just wish she'd stop scaring the new recruits with her fire breath. She says that after we conclude our business in Ephah, we should head to Paa. She refuses to say why, but she's not exactly the kind of person you want to say "no" to.
Ah, right. On the topic of Gesva, she brought back a couple of old friends as well. Karn and Indu have rejoined us, if only because the situation beyond the veil has worsened. It appears that there's been widespread cases of Del infection. According to Indu, shortly after they returned to Famia, an exploratory vessel sailed to The Wastes in an attempt to find out more about it. Unfortunately for the rest of Famia, they brought back a caged Del. Unsurprisingly, somebody became infected, and went mad, causing a chain reaction that's nearly overtaken all of Sufea. In the ensuing chaos, Karn suffered a neck wound that robbed him of his voice. It doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects on him though, he can still communicate through his usual grunting and pointing. Thankfully those crystals in their necks have kept them from succumbing to Del influence.
That's... pretty much it, now. I've amassed an army, composed of nearly every race under the sun. If I had a country, I'd be a king, but for now I am only a leader, Lord in name only. I have to say, Scribe, it's... a lot of weight on my shoulders.
Sir, what about your eye?
Ah right, I've almost forgotten about that... I've... not actually lost my eye, not entirely... I mean it's still there, it's just completely black. I can still see through it. In fact, I can actually see even better than before. I can see things that I don't think anyone else can see. Like Vie. Apparently she's not inside Vanth's head, she's just invisible to everyone else. I can now see why Vanth seems a bit... flustered at times. I'd not worry about the eyepatch but... I feel that it might freak out some people.
Hopefully we'll reach Ephah soon. It'll be nice to be on dry land again.
