Shadows over Sigil - The Eternal Boundary

The First Wheels Start Turning

"The planes are governed by laws, and laws can be learned. Learn these laws and you will master the multiverse. That is our goal."

Factol Hashkar

First Lady Day of Retributus, 126 HR

Yelmalis sat at his desk and stared out of the window. Sigil's weather was at its worst that evening, heavy rain pattering against the windows. Judging by the black trails it left behind as it trickled down, there was a good amount of soot mixed in. A portal to the Plane of Ash was probably to blame, and the prospect of having to clean the windows the next day didn't exactly lift Yelmalis' spirits. He wondered whether it would be worth teaching his monodrone familiar F-45 to do the job. But he lived on the fifth floor, and unlike the air genasi, the spherical little modron couldn't float down gently by feather fall in case of need. It would smash on the pavement and, at best, it would take Yelmalis quite a while to screw it back together again. No. He dismissed the idea. He had enough other things to worry about at the moment. Especially things he didn't really want to worry about , things he didn't want to be a part of. He wasn't a Sensate who was constantly on the hunt for new experiences. He wasn't a Believer of the Source who saw all of this as a necessary trial. And he was certainly not a Xaositect who welcomed every surprise, no matter how bizarre. He was a member of the Fraternity of Order and was first and foremost interested in furthering his arcane studies and advancing his career as a lawyer. What he certainly didn't want was to poke around the Hive with a devious yuan-ti and a gruff half-orc. And he surely didn't want to be part of a dubious prophecy. But yet he was. The words of his factol Hashkar left little doubt that he was one of the Chosen of the so-called Ring Prophecy and that it was therefore his task to find a mysterious artifact called Deus Machina. Exciting in itself, no question. And if this had been a research expedition or an academic project, he would have joined in immediately. A well-prepared and organized trip, colleagues you could rely on, an arsenal of high-quality research instruments and books full of neat and exhaustive records and documentation ... Yes, he would have liked that. But nothing here was well prepared, reliable or even documented. A few pieces of parchment with nebulous denotations. An obscure legend about an even more obscure artifact. And companions you couldn't choose, who were at best well-meaning but chaotic, or lawful but obviously uneducated and quick-tempered. The half-orc undoubtedly fell into the latter category. The Mercykillers might be an allied faction, but Yelmalis had to admit that they always gave him the shivers. Garush, an amazon from Acheron, easily towered over him by a head and had made no secret of the fact that her enthusiasm for the whole affair was limited. She was strong and certainly both brave and honorable, but equally harsh and hotheaded - traits Yelmalis was a stranger to, traits that intimidated him. She had obviously noticed that too, and the term "quill-driver", which she had used to describe him several times since then, didn't make things any better. He asked himself repeatedly and with a sigh why there couldn't have been someone from the Harmonium in the group. At least Factol Sarin, though direct and forceful, was not as gruff and bossy as Mallin, and so perhaps a respective Chosen would have been a little more pleasant to deal with. And yet, after all, the amazon belonged to the Triad of Order. The dark elf, on the other hand? She had been much friendlier, he had to admit. Dilae Tor'ana, that was how she had introduced herself. Exceptionally pretty, he realized, even though, as a female, she was not in the focus of his attention. Very delicate, very elegant, dancer, Eilistraee cleric, obviously of a rather gentle nature and just as confused and perhaps intimidated by the whole thing as he was. That, after all, definitely made her presence in the group enjoyable. But then again, she was clearly chaotic, according to his impression, and belonged to the Free League, a faction that didn't even want to be one and didn't think too much of rules in general or those of the City of Sigil in particular. That could only lead to tension, couldn't it? So he was glad that the Signers were at least a faction whose philosophy and goals he found, if eccentric and unproductive, at least not dangerous. Tarik appeared rather calm and reserved. The tiefling seemed to observe a lot and think things over before he said anything. A trait that Yelmalis appreciated and that certainly not all of the Chosen shared. The only feature that identified him as a tiefling were his red eyes, otherwise he looked like most of the human inhabitants of his homeland, the Vedic kingdom of Tharpura: jet-black hair, dark skin and dressed in the typical robes of the realm. He didn't seem too chaotic, and he was friendly and helpful. Perhaps, Yelmalis thought to himself, he would be well advised to stick to Tarik for the time being. At least he had a much better feeling about him than about Sekhemkare, a yuan-ti and member of the Fated, the fifth Chosen in their circle. The Taker seemed sly and distant, but he had to admit that perhaps it was also due to the fact that humanoid warm-blooded creatures were often initially unable to interpret members of the reptiloid races all too well. Nevertheless, the Fated in themselves had a philosophy he didn't know what to do with. All in all, there could certainly have been worse factions for an alliance born of necessity, but there were also some he would have preferred to work with. But it didn't help. He had ended up in this situation and would have to come to terms with it. His factol had made this clear to him - understanding of his situation and friendly as usual, but also unmistakable. And of course he didn't want to disappoint Hashkar. Not only because that would certainly not have been good for his career as a lawyer. No, it was also because he had the utmost respect for his factol. The old dwarf had led the faction for 126 years and had a knowledge of all sorts of topics that all too often amazed him. And unlike fellow factols such as Mallin or Rowan Darkwood, Hashkar had a pleasant and friendly manner in his personal dealings despite his position of authority, neither putting one on constant alert nor making one feel the power of his office. This had also made Yelmalis' first encounter with him much easier. As a simple lawyer and factotum for just one year, he had not yet had the honor of working directly with his factol or being allowed to speak to him. So it had been an important event and a source of great excitement for him when he had been summoned to an interview with Hashkar himself. It was an important case that did not involve many factoti, and he was one of the few who had been personally selected by Judge Jamis. The factol had wanted to see the factoti involved in the case because, unlike the factors, he did not know them all personally. All too clearly, Yelmalis remembered his nervousness when he had first entered his factol's office. Together with two other factoti, he had stood in front of Hashkar's desk. To calm himself, his fingers had unconsciously wandered to his vest pocket and started playing with the golden pocket watch inside. Just when he had caught and scolded himself mentally that this was not appropriate behavior in the presence of his factol, it had happened ... Suddenly he had been outside the door again. With the same people who just had the same conversation as a few minutes earlier, before entering. He must have stared at them, completely overwhelmed and stunned, but they had politely ignored his certainly stupid expression and continued their conversation. Yelmalis had been so surprised that he had only been able to stand by and continue listening, waiting to see if the scene would continue to repeat itself. And it had. The door had opened and Hashkar's secretary had invited them in. They had bowed deeply to their factol and he had addressed them. Everything had happened exactly as he had experienced it shortly before. Had he traveled back in time? The thought had slowly seeped into his mind, filling him with incredulous horror ... and he had barely caught Hashkar's words. Then he had reached the point where he had jumped back, the point when he had touched his watch. Almost automatically, he had put his hand in his vest pocket again and when he had reached the exact moment of his time leap, a tremor had gone through his body, it had felt a bit like an electric shock. His legs had given way and he had fallen ... right against his factol's desk. He had never been so embarrassed in his life, he had wanted to sink into the ground. But Hashkar had only raised his bushy white eyebrows and enquired how he was feeling. In his excitement and overwhelm, he had told him immediately about his assumption of a time leap - albeit stuttering and stammering incoherently. The sideways glances from the other two factoti had made the blood run hot in his cheeks. The elemental butterflies that always surrounded him - part of his airy heritage - had certainly turned deep pink, like always when he felt embarrassed. But contrary to all his fears, his factol had neither rebuked him nor been amused by his remarks. He had dealt with the introduction of the other two factoti briefly and succinctly, then dismissed them, but let him stay. Then he had taken an old parchment out of the drawer and told him about the Ring Prophecy and the Deus Machina. He had told him about his role as the child who moves through time and asked him to explore and deepen this gift.