The battle with Azeroth and the Varu was both long and painful. Nim destroyed that ghost like creature that he called a devil. Things got real iffy when Mort went chasing off after Azeroth by himself and didn't come back for a while. Azeroth came back pretty quick and we retreated up to the giant lake where we came in. We setup our defenses in the town where the blue men once lived. A couple of them were there, waiting for us. They were disappointed we hadn't killed Azeroth yet.
Mort joined us shortly after. He said something about Nim guiding him, but I don't understand all the things the priest does. The second round of combat with Azeroth was challenging. Cole said that the stone he had allowed him to use magic while Cole and the others could not. Azeroth came with 4 others and the fighting was fierce. Most of us took significant injury before the big explosion. Cole says the explosion was from the destruction of Schmendrick's orb. Apparently Azeroth tried to use it and it blew up on him. Schmendrick says it was anti magic area that saved the rest of us. I don't remember much, as I was unconscious.
When I came to, I immediately verified that Azeroth was dead. I think Mort's friends are suspicious as I was perhaps a bit too forceful with my questions about the dead Varu. I did convince Nim it was in everyones best interest to make sure that he could never come back from the dead. After the ritual, Mort stripped Azeroth's body and carried it back to the Varu camp where Cole burned the body. The ashes where gathered up and dumped into the lake. They all assured me that this was final and there was no returning from the dead for Azeroth.
An interesting thing happened not long afterwards. Cole was inspecting the tear when another group of Varu showed up. It had cracked sometime during the battle and was oozing out some gray stuff. These Varu seemed to know many of the party members and had come to talk. Espe, as they called him, was now the clear heir to the Varu throne and needed the crown to prove his validity. Mort reluctantly gave it to him, but not before making some kind of deal. Apparently, it was the only way our two races would ever live in peace, but the Varu, as a people, would never accept it willingly.
The next few hours were quite crazy. We breathed in some black smoke which took us to the Varu's homeland. From there, we were supposedly taken prisoner and escorted to the prison. When we were alone with the prison guards, they gave us back our weapons and showed us the way out. We then took that tear that Cole had and went looking for some kind of magic thing that gave the Varu some of their power. Cole tried to explain it to me, but I just don't understand magic well enough.
Using the tear, Cole managed to break the power thing and then we only had a short time to get out of there. We had to kill dozens of Varu on the way in and even more on the way out. We got to the prepared gate in time and the Varu who opened it was killed by his own kind. Nim closed the gate behind us.
A lot has changed since the battle with the Varu. Six months have passed. We have gotten several reports that the Varu have lost many of their powers. Most cannot walk through walls anymore, and some even lost their ability to cast spells. Tensions between the two races has eased up some, as Contender and Espe have been working together to have peace. The mark that Pete left on Mort's arm has faded and Pete hasn't been seen since. Griswold, having gathered sufficient wealth to retire has done so. Cole decided to head back to Phoenix to work at the school and take a break from the road.
With all indications that Azeroth is truly dead, my mission here is finally over. It greatly saddens me that I cannot return to my own time and to my own people but everyone assures me it cannot be done. I'm glad I didn't have to kill Mort, but I would have, should it have proved necessary. I would do anything to protect my son, even if meant I had to kill his father. I am now starting to question if any of this was necessary. Mort seems to have succeeded without my help or interference and Azeroth is dead. Had I not listed to Valamar and come to Mort's world, would things not have ended the same? Would I not have had the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with my son and my own people?
I have been manipulated and controlled all my life. When I was but 12 my father's advisor, Frea, told my father that I would need to marry at the festival after my 16th birthday and they seemed to know who it was going to be already. I overheard and dreaded that Frea would once again prove to be right. In an attempt to foiled their plans, I stole some of the forbidden medicine that helps a woman gain child and seduced the least likely candidate I could find. Surely that would prevent their plans form working. But it was all for not, as they had known I was to marry Mort. Frea had seen it all in one of her dreams.
When the tribe leadership fell to me, Frea once again tried to control my life. She told me her dreams. Many things she told me that came true, but a few did not. One day her dream said that I should seek out Valamar and convince him to help me find Mort. Mort would have a battle with Azeroth she said, and if they both lived through it, then it would be the end of my people's way of life. The end would not come in the future, where they battled, but back in my own time line, before my son's 25th birthday.
After long discussions with both Frea and Valamar, it was concluded that I would travel to the future to stop this from happening and then return. Valamar lied to me. He had no way to return me to my own time. I am now stuck here in a world I do not know and without anything to care for. I spent too long preparing to kill Mort, should it prove necessary to stay with him. I must find a new place, a new life. Perhaps I will make a pilgrimage to my tribe's home. I won't stay there long, as I do not want to face Valamar again. I don't think I would live through such an encounter, but I'm not sure my rage would allow me not to try and kill him.
Vance has spent time studying the witches heart and I think he has a plan for it, but he is not telling me what. I wish him the best, but I believe that heart is a cursed thing and will not bring him good fortune. I fear telling him so has not made him any more my friend. He and Nim have been discussing traveling to Vance's homeland. Nim has been assigned to go there and Vance is thinking of going with. There is no reason for me to go with them.