Souvenir: Note from
Akarist
It began with a rescue mission. You were too late to save Edgar
Torvald, a researcher who had been investigating Oranbega, the home of
the Circle of Thorns. But you did find his last message, a map scratched
into his jacket lining.
You raided the Magic Library marked on the map, but instead of books,
you found several crystals containing a powerful energy.
The Circle then kidnapped one of researchers MAGI would need to decipher
the crystals' power. When you rescued her, she told you that she had
been spared from certain death by a mysterious Circle mystic named
Akarist. This same Akarist had told her how to access the crystals you
had earlier uncovered.
You descended into the depths of Oranbega once more in an attempt to
contact Akarist. He fought you and perished in the battle, but left
behind a cryptic message full of dire warnings about the knowledge you
sought.
Due to Akarist's hints, the truth about the crystals was revealed: they
were receptacles for souls that had been imprisoned by the Circle of
Thorns. One of the trapped souls explained that the Circle's spirit
thorns could be used to usurp control of a body. Acting on this
information, you confiscated a number of spirit thorns before they were
sold in the city's underworld.
One of the imprisoned souls claimed to know where a much larger Library
of Souls was. Unfortunately, he was having trouble getting his bearings.
You took the crystal containing the soul of Ashton Fletcher to the place
where he died, so that he could orient himself.
With the coordinates confirmed, you fought your way to the Greater
Library of Souls and liberated ten soul crystals containing hundreds of
victims trapped by the Circle of Thorns.
One of these trapped souls proved to be none other than a henchman of
Baron Zoria, the reputed founder of the Circle of Thorns. According to
this soul, the Baron was not the Circle's leader. Instead, he was a
prisoner in another soul crystal. What's more, Akarist, the Circle
mystic who had helped you, was to be imprisoned within a soul crystal as
a traitor. Descending once more beneath the city, you rescued both Zoria
and Akarist, and leaned the truth about the Circle of Thorns.
For nearly a century, the Circle of Thorns was believed to be a cult
working out of the ancient underground ruins of Oranbega. The truth is
far more sinister. Oranbega is no ruin, but a city of spectral wizards,
wraith-like mages who have lived in it since before recorded history.
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