Red, but Blue

[The following is hastily written on a scrap of paper, despite Searc's claim of a journal]

Dear Journal:

This is very odd. I've never written to myself before. But, then, I haven't ever really needed to. I wonder if I should be doing this in third person? It seems silly either way. I wonder what Lucious writes in his Journal. I hope he's safe. At any rate:

Up until now, I have Searc has always been one step ahead of the game. He's the best in his class, the strongest, the most magically adept. It's no wonder that men are jealous, women want to sleep with himm, and the masses want to give him all of their money.

I've He's not so sure anymore.

It all started when his friend Bemmut become the High Priest of Allness, and he paid Searc some petty change to go into this dangerous place called the Banewarrens.

Here's the catch, see? The Banewarrens also happens to be where the Black Grail is kept. And, for those of you paying attention (not Searc!), that's a powerful, evil artifact which turns elves into dark elves and maybe worse. Searc's people, the Grailwarden dwarves, guard the White Grail, and maybe see they'd like to guard or destroy the Black one, too.

Yes, well, if only our hero had bothered to find out. But no, he was happy rushing in, making a gold or two here and there, and maybe almost dying a few times.

But I'm Searc's not running around with the Emperor's train anymore, nor manhandlin' goblins off the mountain paths, nor shooting beams of light at some overgrown birds. he's got more questions than answers, and none more important than the Grail.

The Sword of Lies. A sword with such power it drove Bemmut insane, and mobilized the might of the Pactlords. Where is it? Could it be that the sword we found is actually the Sword we he seeks, but its power is so great it actually lied to the Church? Could it be behind the mysterious double doors into the Banewarrens?

The purple dragon. Darkstar? Is the dragon itself "darkstar"? Was it hiding something, or merely an evil to be contained? And what the heck do I do with this pedant now.

The sealing rod. How did it get from the rags of Dana into the alternate dimension which contained the construct? What was the Palatine [sp?] doing with it, over 800 pp, and the rest of the treasure?

What the frickin' heck was that alternate dimension? Why was there a red dragon, a bugbear, a devil angel, and a bunch of wyverns? What's up with the angel being all dark and evil? Why was the dragon trying to kill the angel? Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

I hate this stupid journal. Hate hate hate.

Okay, so we all jumped in the construct, and managed to teleport the rod out, and some platinum. But then, we know that things could enter that world. Does that mean the dragon can leave? And what about our brave paladin; is he alive, flying towards us on his incredible mount as we speak?

But despite all the danger, despite all the horrors, despite all the money, I just can't seem to concentrate, or care. My mind keeps going back to the Black Grail, just a room away from me, through a pulsing void which threatens to destroy all of my belongings and leave me asunder in a distant plane, perhaps never to return.

I know I should have done something sooner. I thought about it every day, but it always always second place to something else: getting undead goo out of my shoe, scrubbing grime and green slime, buying a wand or crafting a shield.... And, what if it was all a hoax, anyways? What if it was wishful thinking that made me so sure that the Grail was waiting somewhere in that maze of death?

But my divination suggests otherwise. Perhaps I am still misled, perhaps I would risk everything and gain nothing. And still the nagging voice in my head cries, "What do you have to lose, but a pile of shiney toys?"

If it comes down to it, I know the Banewarrens must be sealed if anything tries to escape. But, if I have a second chance... how much do I risk to recover a dirty drinking cup?

Red

P.S. I think I hear Lucious!!