Solon shakes his jowly head and he blanches at the mention of the Dragon's Blood, "Overstep myself?! By no means! The city will be in need of magical protection and I am by right the inheritor of Ghul's properties and magic as his last living apprentice. As for the dragon's blood . . . Ghul had his long years, hundreds of them in fact. It's time for new blood in Odessos. Urash and I are going to open a school in fact; a place where any potentiate can be tested and come and learn the art. To the hells with these fussy Hyperboreans and their hidebound ways of secrecy I say! It's high time the this was an age of men. Let these decadents kill each other off and work their schemes."
Rhenmyr picks up the demon's weapons and find them still warm to the touch the next day . . .
--Epilogue--
The troupe remains together for another day, recovering from their wounds, burning the unholy abomination of fused corpses, and leaving the bodies of Abazion and Dunamir to the crows. You each clasp hands, say your goodbyes. Mab and Rhenmyr set off into the wilds, Marcan and Oona stay with Solon, Amon, Borric and Urash long enough to reach the main road where the Keltic Bard and Pictish woman head east for Kaer Eanyn, while Solon and the others make for Odessos and points beyond.
Borric the Barbarian:
At Zelkor's ferry the Kurgan takes what little treasure he claimed from the sorcerer's hoard and books passage on a galley bound for the north. Several months later he arrives on the dismal, snow-swept shores of the northern Aixenos Sea and home. Broke and clanless, he bides his time in port towns looking for honest work for several months. Luckily boredom abates when rumors of war start to filter into the dockside taverns and the hammer-swinging barbarian signs on with a band of reavers bound for the shores of war-torn Kimmeria, where the forces of the Golden Emperor of Commorium and the city-state of Kor have broken their truce. Borric makes a name for himself as a reckless boarder of enemy ships. During the short war, tales of a rampaging hammer-wielding Kurgan single-handedly sinking a Commorium war galley is shared in awed tones in coastal watering holes for months after. Borric fights in several more battles and receives great honor and glory, but eventually a treaty is signed between Kor and Commorium, and the hordes of Kurgan mercenaries fighting on both sides are mustered out. Feeling cheated and betrayed a fiery warrior with a big hammer gets angry and rallies nearly 1,000 fellow Kurgan to his flag. The horde ambushes the treaty signing, and the infamous Battle of Three Armies is recorded in the annals. It is unknown what became of the rebel Kurgan leader, some say he was killed in battle, others say he was captured and beheaded, and others say he escaped with a small cadre of retainers and plied the seas as a reaver and pirate. The histories are uncertain.
Marcán and Oona:
The Keltic Bard and the Pictish daughter of a Blacksmith share a quick courtship, and marry a season later. With the clan devoid of its Druidic leadership and its chieftain, the charismatic and bold bard is nominated by the elders and nobles to assume the title of Chieftain and Protector. His rule is prosperous and under his direction the Eanyn clan forges ties with several Pictish tribes in the distant north, ushering in a new age of trade and cooperation that causes Kaer Eanyn to boom and reach a place of prominence it had never seen before. He and his bride welcome four strong sons and two well-favored daughters into the world, all of whom share the bright red hair and fiery temper of their mother. Marcán's reign lasts for over 30 years, when he finally steps down and abdicates to his eldest son as arthritis robs him of his former vitality. He dies in his sleep surrounded by his family in his 72nd year.
Mab and Rhenmyr:
The two hardy men born and bred for the wilds spend more than a month hiking across the dense forests and rolling moorland of Getae, have several near brushes with dire bears, cave lions and other hazards. Eventually they reach Crannogmere, where the two are welcomed as heroes and they relay the story of their adventures (including the rescue of Oona from Otherworld to her father's great relief). The two winter in the lakeside village, where many repairs are still needed in the wake of their mad chieftain's misrule, while under the curse of Ulfheonar. Despite his wanderlust, Mab agrees to take over the duties of village Drune and remain. The crone/sorceress Ymae/Aphrodisias disappeared without a word but left a note with Oona's father Fidach to deliver to any of the troupe who might return, "If you are reading this message, then I have gone to look for Oona. With my magic she has disappeared from my sight, but I believe she has been taken to the Netherworld -- Annwn. I hope you found what you were looking for, but if not I can only advise you to turn aside from your foolish quest to bring Koren back to life. Whatever geas he laid upon me is lifted so my mind is free and I am no longer bound by his manacles. Let sleeping dogs lie! Good luck and the gods go with you." Rhenmyr decides to head out on his own and tracks the Sorceress's path back to the long staircase at the top of the mountain Mynnyd Torri and its ruined broch. Steeling himself and armed with his ever warm demon sword (that he's been talking to for weeks for some strange reason?) and carrying the phial of "dragon's blood", he enters the long strange staircase and disappears from our tale.
Amon, Urash & Solon:
Three three sorcerers go to Odessos to investigate Koren's tower, armed with his grimoire full of secrets, passwords and diagrams. Odessos is barely recovered from the plague, but the beggar problem seems to be almost non-existent now. Koren's tower is still abandoned and shunned by the people of Lowtown, but with a few well placed spells and some judicious bribery the three take possession of it and set about cleaning it out of any remaining hazards. Workers are hired, repairs are made over several months and within a year the three have settled down into a strange collaboration of Master and apprentices. Solon is pompous and overweening (as usual) and after six more months Urash and Amon depart after having their fiftieth shouting match with the difficult and now quite power-drunk Solon. Urash claims to have found clues to the Al-Hakim text buried in Koren's old tomes, and the two set sail for Stygia. What becomes of their quest is unknown.
Fifty years later . . .
The immortal God-Emperor of Commorium is slain by a nameless assassin. All anyone can say of the brazen attack is that the man's face was shrouded by a mask and he bore a flaming whip and a flaming sword, he was accompanied by a slim feminine figure in a diaphanous gown. The two opened some sort of gate and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Chaos erupts across the empire as petty lords, noblemen, princes, and a dozen other Hyperborean claimants all try to seize the Sun Throne. With Commorium consumed by civil war, its human dominated colonies take the opportunity to rise up and within a year the ancient, 10,000 year old "Eternal City" is a smoldering ruin and the few remaining Hyperboreans are either enslaved or have fled for the far corners of the earth.
A new age has come.