The Call of Infinite Possibilities - Derthaad - 28.07/04.08

Co-written with the always chatty Celina
This write-up also contains Celina's session write-up for Left Ajar 

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    It's evening in Fort Ettin as Derthaad finds himself entering the Great Hall. He arrived a couple of hours ago after he heard that the Runaway Library has appeared and is now permanently stationed in Port Ffirst. He dropped by in search of someone who might know of this event, someone who, to his luck, appears to be sitting at the bar, drinking some wine.

"Hello Celina," he says, taking a seat next to her.


Celina is sitting at the bar again in her own world. She swirls her glass of red wine in her hand and takes a sip. Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice approach and takes a seat next to her. She looks over and notices the familiar blue Dragonborn “Derthaad”. She grins “What are you doing here? Are you… stalking me?”


He returns her grin. "Well... have you done anything that requires said stalking?"




    She smiles “Of course not. But I did just come back from the Library, you know that one that likes to pop up in different places every now and then. Would have figured you would have turned up for that. Surprised to not see you there”. Then she takes another sip from her drink and finishes it off. She gets the attention of the bartender and asks for another glass of wine, as she’s ordering she turns to Derthaad “I am assuming you’re joining me for a drink? What are you having?”


"Sure... and the same" smiling at the irony of the situation, at the fact that the last time the Runaway Library appeared it was he who questioned her absence. Once the drinks have been brought in, he takes a sip and then gestures towards Celina "About the Library, I got distracted with other things... work and... another library. But, what happened this time? I heard that the Library is now here to stay?"


Celina takes a sip of her drink “Ha what happened? Lots happened. Would you like the short or long answer?”


"Hmh-" he lets out while taking a sip, weighing the options. "Well... whichever version you'd like."


“Ha, how about something in the middle then”. She holds her drink between her hands and looks to Derthaad “Well, you’re right the library, it’s here to stay. It all began with Kelne getting a letter from Cyanne and Chonk. Kelne found me at a bar, naturally, and showed me the note. Cyanne and Chonk were looking for their mum. They had searched a lot of places with no luck. They still needed help. Kelne was concerned and asked me to join them on the trip. I love that Halfling, so how could I refuse. Anyway, there was a small group of us that Kelne had gathered and we went to the library. You know we went to a new section in the library this time. Got to see the Weaver Room”.


Derthaad's brows shot up at the mention of the room. "Huh, if I remember that map correctly, we never got to go to either the Pool or the Weaver Room. I assume it had something to do with rugs? I believe some cultures like weaving their history into rugs and have them displayed on walls instead of paintings." He then takes another sip from his drink, feeling slightly remorseful at the notion that he got so distracted with work and his new 'training' he missed the chance to help Kelne in the search for their mum. "Did you guys find something, regarding Kelne's mum?"


Celina smiles “Ha, alright Mr Smarty pants. Yes, you are correct. There were tapestries around the room which we noticed were of the mum we were looking for. We got the machine working and it started creating new tapestries with new images showing Chonks mum in a location in the library. Kelne asked Chonk if he had considered that the library was in fact his mum. This had him puzzled for a bit and in the end he agreed it could be true. Fast forwarding ahead, we figured we’d stay in the library after the mysterious third bell. We had a plan to go to the Archive Room which we found had a secret passage. Chonk, Cyanne and Joon came to join us. Oh yeah, Joon was grouchy at me because of…”, she thinks for a moment and then snaps her fingers and points at Derthaad “oh right, you were there. Remember that fantastic business opportunity I told him he should set up, the one about him taking bad memories away from people voluntarily since he needs them to eat anyway, well he went ahead and did that. And it is actually working out very well. BUT apparently he doesn’t like it. He’s getting too many customers, which is a bad thing? Ha, and for some reason I got the vibe he blames me. Can you imagine that? Me? For a successful idea. He kept glaring at me, with all of his many, many eyes. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to attack me or not the whole time”. She shudders and takes a sip of her drink.


Derthaad stood the entire time, listening intently to Celina go on about the events in the library, but started to think that just letting her go with the story may have been a mistake, for she was not stopping. "Do you breathe when you ramble that much?" he asks her once she is done, with a slight smirk on his face.


Celina slowly glares at Derthaad and grins “Ohh shut up! You want to hear how it ends and how heroic I was or not?”


As always, he matches her grin, but with one brow raised as if in surprise "Oh, you were heroic? Well, now I have to hear this. Please, go on."


“Yes… me… heroic. It’s a regular occurrence. I am amazing. It shouldn’t be a surprise”, she winks and grins. “So, we enter the hidden passage in the library and the whole place as strange. We look around the room and sure enough Chonk, Cyanne and Joon’s mum was floating above in some dream like state. Covered through layers of glass. Kelne tried to talk to her but this weird voice came out of nowhere and demanded we leave. We didn’t. A fight broke out. But then.. you know those golden tarrasques on the arches as we go in. Yeah, well one of them came to life. It was made of glass but damn that thing was freakin’ massive. It attacked us and we attacked it back but we were doing feck all damage to it. Heret got super close to it to stab at it, but then the tarrasque opened its mouth and swallowed him whole. All I could do was watch in disbelief. But then I had a smart idea, you see. I took out my rope and attached a piton to it and used my catapult spell to launch it down its mouth, so Heret could grab it. I chipped one of the tarrasque’s teeth doing it but it worked. A few moments later, myself and Joon pulled out Heret. So it worked. See hero”. Celina smiles pleased with herself.


“Oh yeah but also the rooms kept changing theme ever so often. In the last one, we were getting flooded and everyone was getting washed away with the currents, so I used my rope trick spell. I started climbing up my rope to the pocket but didn’t that stupid tarrasque spot me and try to target me instead. I was kicking down on it and roaring at it. When suddenly we all could hear a voice in the room telling the tarrasque to stop. It obeyed and we found out it was the mother. Cyanne, Chonk and Joon had a wonderful reunion. And the mother decided she wanted to make a home in Port Ffirst. All the children were to go with her and tah-dah happily ever after”.


"As I asked before... do you even breathe?" asks Derthaad in thought while finishing his glass and then gesturing for a refill for both. "You kept mentioning 'Mother'... so, did they finally find her? Also... what was her name?" he asks, scratching his brow.


“You know I can hold my breath for a really long time. It’s a useful trick”. Celina winks “And… I could win medals for my talking. You should be privileged”. She tosses her hair in vain. “But to answer your question… yup they really found her. She gave them a warm big soppy hug and everyone was happy. And the mothers name was… hmm… what was it again… ohhhh right Breola”.


"So was she just in this secret room all this time?" Derthaad's face was puzzled, trying to understand Breola's situation in all of this. "Was she under some sort of stasis, a spell of some sorts? How did she remain hidden for so long?"


Celina nods "Basically yeah. From my understanding it was a spell. Something like 'Magic Jar', which she gave part of her own sentience too. So, essentially she was the library. However she got stuck for 25 years and couldn't leave. Ha, could you imagine - being stuck somewhere for so long? I don't even think she realised how long she was gone".


"Being stuck in a jar for 25 years..." Shivers run down Derthaad's spine at the mention of such a fate. "I would rather not" he says, taking another longer sip from his drink. "So what now? Was she released from the jar? Or is she still in it?"


“Yeah I basically said it before”, Celina takes a sip of her drink before she continues “She’s released. We fought the tarasque which snapped her out of the spell. She’s walking and talking now. No longer stuck to the library. But that’s why the library is staying there in Port Ffirst now. No more Breola in there anymore. See, makes sense now, right?”


Derthaad gives a smile at the mention of the library's permanent residence. "Hmh, now we get to play more of that one game with the 'Deck of Many Things' without having to worry about the third bell." He takes another sip before softly adding "And probably get some research done on various topics as well."


Celina nods happily. “Exactly! I definitely want a round of that game again. Of course, I’ll win this time…”, takes another sip of her drink. “But… obviously that’s me. 100% pure hero”. She grins. “So… tell me what things have you been up to Mr Citywatch? Can you top my fantastic story? I know it’ll be hard to do but I’ll listen anyway”. She grins again waiting to hear any adventures he’s been on lately.




    Derthaad grins and side eyes Celina "All right, Mrs Apple Princess, I can top that." he starts, downing his glass of wine and then gesturing for another fill. "What do you last remember of Gerhard?"


Celina smirks at the Apple Princess comment. Then she focuses, “Gerhard?”. She pauses for a bit thinking “I mean I met him a few times. He sold me his whip and helped me with the apple adventure in the library that one time. He seemed fine. Why did something happen?”


"Oh boy... a lot happened." When the barkeep arrives, he tells them to leave the bottle between them. "We're gonna need this" he says, holding the bottle, pouring for both of them. "So... to summarize the prequel to our most recent excursion... Gerhard came to Kantas in search of his friend Henri, who apparently disappeared through a portal back in Faerun and wasn't seen again ever since. Said search led him to the Feywilds where we found some ancient ruins with a language not even the 'Comprehend Languages' spell was able to pick up. That's how ancient that language is. Through some collective work, we opened a portal within said ruins that lead us to the moon where we got more answers from a friendly pit fiend named Copernicus. You may have seen him during... during the fight. He told us about what it's known as the Infinite Staircase. It's a pathway with multiple doors towards multiple planes and realms. One can travel it in two ways, by themselves or with something known as a Call. You may have noticed Gerhard's unique silver bow, that was a Call. If someone is willing, they can travel the Staircase with it." He pauses for a bit, gazing over at Celina, gauging to see if she's following all of this.


“Wait… are you telling me you’ve been to the moon?”, she looks confused and shocked. “Gerhard’s silver bow… ok… I vaguely remember that. Was it silver? Maybe… Then Multi realms… A Crazy Staircase… you know, just continue. I’ll figure it out after…”, she waves him on to continue and tries to process everything she’s heard.


Derthaad chuckles a bit at Celina's look of shock and confusion before continuing. "Well, we found out that there is a price to be paid for travelling the Staircase. Gerhard was spared thanks to his Call. However..." his expression tuning a bit sour "Henri wasn't so lucky. Later after the moon visit, we travelled a bit through the Staircase, trying to tread in Henri's footsteps. First we ended up in Mercuria, the second layer of Mount Celestia, glum place, not that much to see, everything seemed to be made out of bronze. Hmh... it reminded me of the descriptions of Mechanus, the plane where my magic is linked, just less gears and cogs. Then we went to the Wildlands, the place Gerhard saw through the portal when Henri stepped through back in Faerun. It turned out to be a good lead. We then landed outside the city of Dis, in the second layer of Hell. It is here that we found Henri. It is here that we learned of the price one pays if they do not have a call... their own soul. When we saw Henri, his eyes were completely silver. He was completely under the influence of the Staircase... and the only thing he wanted to do was to just walk the Staircase. But that... is also when we discovered... him. The one behind this. The one who calls himself Mister."


“Ooooooo… wow! That’s a lot of places not in the Dawnlands… Ok you beat me on the travelling part. Your own soul as payment? Damn, that’s dooming stuff. Wait… was everyone not doomed then aside from Gerhard? But… you’re still here”. She looks over, wide eyed and curious. She wants to hear more of the story “All mystery and this Mister person. Sounds vague and extra mysterious. Small question, had you heard of this Mister person before?”


Celina's genuine curiosity is... welcoming. He smiles at this, he never thought that sharing his adventure with someone can be this... pleasant. "On the 'doomed' bit, fortunately for us, we travelled enough as to not have the effects be that advanced. On who's Mister..." Derthaad's free hand tightens into a fist "imagine a face with a smug, one that the moment you see you have the seething urge to bash his head in and leave him bleeding on the streets." Derthaad's tone picked up, anger clearly building up.


Celina nods to Derthaad as he mentions people being smug. She immediately thinks of Red Blades. That Dragonborn that loves chickens. Stupid Red Blades, but she doesn’t bring it up. As Derthaad gets angry, she is surprised and chuckles to herself. She has never seen this side of him. This person is clearly messed up. She stays silent and listens fascinated with everything she's hearing. “Sounds like Mister is a good temptress”. She is mildly intrigued and equally concerned about someone who can get under Derthaad’s skin like this.


He glances towards Celina, seeing the look of surprise, and more importantly hearing her chuckle. His voice and mood calms, before he continues "You'll see later what I mean by it. For as to what he is... he is one of the Infinite. They are the stewards of the Staircase, they enact its will. Mister was the one enacting Desire upon those who seek to travel the Staircase. He was the one pushing them beyond, to the point in which all they wish is the Staircase." He pauses to take another sip, rubbing his brow. "The problem is how the Staircase works. One can only walk it if one is willing to do so. But... the more you walk, the more you are willing to do so. The effect is subtle, it's... it's kind of like this wine" he gestures towards the bottle "the more you drink from it, the more you want to drink... even if the end result isn't pleasant. In the case of the Staircase... the result is one's soul being completely assimilated into the Staircase."


Celina looks at the wine and nods “But yes, I get your point. It sounds like a vicious cycle. With a crappy ending… so what happened next? You put a stop to this Mister?”


"Well, that encounter was excursion number two" he extends two fingers towards Celina. "Excursion number tree had us back on the moon” now extending a third finger. “This was when the war preparations had just started.”

“Gerhard wanted two things: to find out more about his Call, the Staircase and especially a way to free Henri; and to ask for aid during the fight. On the latter, we recruited Copernicus. On the former, we've met with Andromeda who, like Mister, was also an Infinite. However, unlike her 'brother' she was more lenient and pleasant to talk with. She told us that Gerhard can indeed break Henri free, but that would lead to shattering his Call and thus exposing him to the influence of the Staircase.” At the mention of this exposure, his mind went back to what had happened, to what could have happened and to what he was prepared to do to make sure he was getting Gerhard back home.

He stopped his mind from lingering on it for too long. The story will get to that point in time and he needs to continue. “A way around that was the use of a certain someone. One they refer to as Father, or Gentleman as the preferred name. One who's entity has been imprisoned in a box, one we cannot open, not by ourselves. Andromeda was kind enough to give Gerhard the box since he was the only one capable of talking to him while in that state. The idea was to use Gentleman's power as a means to try to free Henri without Gerhard losing his Call completely” his mind shifting to the small quill that became of his Call.

“Interestingly enough, for some reason, Mister also wanted said box." Derthaad pauses, taking a sip to wash the dryness that was settling in his throat. "You see, when Gerhard opened the door to get us to the moon, Mister appeared to him, saying that he will let us pass if we bring him Gentleman's box. Gerhard agreed... initially. Andromeda also explained to us that Gerhard, and by extension his Call, belonged to a steward, to one of the Infinites, which for him it was Mister, which Gerhard didn't trust. He searched for a way so that we can get back without giving over the box. Thankfully a solution was offered: for Gerhard to accept Andromeda as his steward, which meant that there was nothing Mister can do since an Infinite cannot go against someone under the stewardship of another Infinite."

"And thus" says Derthaad with a small dramatic flair "we got back home, Gerhard got the means to free Henri and Mister got screwed over."


Celina sips her drink and nods a long throughout Derthaad’s recount of the story. There’s a lot of information but she is understanding most of it. She pauses for a moment “Right? So are you planning on going back to fight this Mister? And free this Henri? Also what has Minster done directly to you that has you so mad? Or is it more of a general annoyance at him and his ways?”


"Well, this is where the fun part begins." He says with a smile, clearly forced as it does not extend to his eyes. "Somewhere in between that moon run and the next time I met with Gerhard, which was right after the war, right after..." He stops mid-sentence as if hit by a realization, a small warm smile replacing the force one as he looks at Celina "... after I dropped by..." his expression then shifting back to his previous look as he continues recounting the events. "Somewhere in between those two meetings, our dear friend Gerhard got a little too excited and got himself a girlfriend, a scholar by the name of Orianna."


Celina’s eyes go wide hearing all the gossip now “Ohhh Orianna. Yes, I met her once. She’s a fellow Tiefling. Wait, she's with Gerhard….? Ohh… fascinating”. She says with glee. “It would appear you have all the news, Derthaad. So what do you mean by too excited? Did she or will she join in on the adventure?”


"Well... I think you may know what I mean by excited." he says, raising a brow, with a clear meaning behind that last word. "They're not as good at hiding things such as you, so it was pretty obvious by just looking at them."


Celina’s eyes go even wider in shock and excitement. She laughs “What? Ha, those two. Ha, amazing. You know, I actually I can see it working… Interesting”. She eyes over to Derthaad “And wait, was that a small compliment there? Ha”. She grins.


Derthaad returns the grin “Maybe? Also, interestingly enough, both of the two Infinites we met also seemed to be tieflings, which is why upon seeing Mister's smug face I was somehow reminded of you" he says with smile, eyeing Celina's. "But... unlike him, you're a... a good person. Way better than him" he says with a lower voice, clearly showing his disdain towards the person.


“Hey, how dare you call me a good person”. She says teasingly. She grins and adds softely “I mean of course I am. You’re too kind Mr. Citywatch. Always knowing , always watching, always seeing”.

Celina reaches for her drink and takes a sip. As she’s drinking, she reflects on the details Derthaad has shared so far and notes how angry he gets anytime Mister is mentioned. A tiefling who’s really bad… I mean if he’s able to annoy Derthaad this bad, this person must be terrible. And part of Celina can’t help but want to also feel the urge to meet this person. She whispers under her breath “I would love to see this Mister person”. Then she looks towards Derthaad and talks in her normal tone “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you ever get this angry before. I need to hear more of this story. So please continue”.


Derthaad was about to oblige, but then his mind fully grasped the meaning of her words, to which he gives off a defeated and incredulous sigh. "Do you... want to meet all the wrong people?"


“Well, are you insulting my taste in friends… how dare you?”. She says teasingly and grins “I mean fiiine… this Mister person doesn’t sound great... But they’re a Tiefling so I’m intrigued… ok?”


Derthaad narrows his eyes, but continues, trying not to be too judgmental about this. "You see, Orianna did join us on this adventure. However, it was... unwillingly." The word came out in a serious tone as his mood took a more grim turn. "That second meeting I told you about, we met in front of the dragon as a way to relax and unwind after the invasion. It is then when he introduced us to Orianna. It is then when... Mister showed himself" disgust now coating that name. "You see, the Staircase, and by extension the Infinites, have some powerful magic, one that can freeze someone in place, one that can completely disable one's magic... one that can render someone completely useless. You see, Mister was furious at Gerhard for what he pulled off, but he was unable to do anything to him directly thanks to his stewardship now being under Andromeda. So... he did the only thing that he was able to do to get to Gerhard."

"He kidnapped Orianna... while we all just sat there, unable to do a thing to stop that shit." The anger from earlier rising once more, but dissipating once more before continuing. "So, as to answer your previous question, it's a mix of both: general annoyance... and this. He kidnapped someone under my watch, right under my nose... so I may have taken it a bit personal."


Celina’s eyes widen again “Ohh Damn. Shiiit. So, he froze you all in place and then took Orianna? That’s clever… but also evil. Wow yeah, I can see how that would be infuriating to a Sergeant. Did you manage to get her back or find her? I bet she didn’t stay kidnapped for too long?”




    "A month..." he says with an almost deadpan voice.

"Sadly, tracking her down was out of our reach. We had to rely on Andromeda's help. We later found out that she has been taken to a demiplane, one that was 'thrown out of synch with the rest of the Universe' as she explained us, which is the reason why it took so long. It was like..." Derthaad holds his hands forwards, eyes unfocused as he tries to come up with an explanation "...what my knowledge of magic can attest... I would assume it was like you're given a page to find a word on it... but that specific word is on a totally different page that you do not have."


“A month… Damn that’s a long time”, Celina again looking surprised. “So, Orianna was trapped in this demiplane the whole time? Does time travel the same? Or is it like more ahead or something”


Derthaad dawns a pensive expression, pondering what effect time have had inside that plane. "I... hmh... don't... I think... she may have been..." He groans then, rubbing his brow "It either didn't pass at all, or it passed slower... or the same rate. She seemed normal, nothing about her indicating that time may have passed quicker for her. Or at least her hair seemed to be of similar length as to how it was when she was taken."

"But..." he continues after taking another sip from his wine glass "once she was found, Gerhard summoned all of us, those who have been with him throughout this entire debacle: Kavel, Marto, Beets and myself. The plan was the same as before, nothing changed. Yes, Orianna's kidnapping may have hasten things along and made them slightly more complicated for Gerhard... but like Henri, she was tied in with Mister." Derthaad then points a closed fist towards Celina, extending a finger, one by one, each corresponding to a step of the plan "Go to the Library of All Knowledge; Shackle Gentleman's power to Gerhard; Find Henri and Orianna; get them back Home."


Celina sips her drink “It literally feels like I only saw you a few days ago. How is it you have this long adventure hidden from me?”


"Well, about this adventure..." Derthaad leans in closer and, with a brow raised and a smug smile he says with a lower tone "you didn't ask." Before Celina could reply, he draws back, a sliver of that smug still on his face. "Also, all of this," he says, performing a hand wave as to encompass something "some of it happened a while ago, the rescue mission being the last one and only happening last tenday. So no, I did not have this epic adventure behind your back without me telling you" he says with a smirk on his face.


Celina grins back and sighs “Ok fiiine”. She pauses for a bit “But back to your plan, which all sounds SUPER simple… by the way”, Celina says sarcastically knowing full well it’s all complicated. “Why was shackling the Gentleman’s powers to Gerhard required?”


"In regards to that question," Derthaad continues, taking a brief sip "as I mentioned before, Andromeda told us that Gerhard can indeed break Henri's bonds to the Staircase, thus freeing him from that state. But it did come with the cost of Gerhard losing his Call and losing his protection from the Staircase's influence, thus ending up like Henri. One way of preventing that from happening was to borrow some of Gentleman's power, using him as a 'alternative power source' if you will."

He then gestures towards Celina "And in order to do that, we had to shackle Gentleman to Gerhard."


Celina tries to process everything quickly “Right, so was this Gentleman willing to do this? Did it go ahead?”


"He did, but not because he wanted to something good... but simply because he was getting bored. He is one of the Infinites and they have immense power. In fact, as Andromeda stated, Mister himself can remove us from existence with a snap of his fingers. And no, it's not just a simple Disintegrate, oh no..." his voice gaining on a slightly more grim tone "he can erase from existence itself. A Disintegrate spell leaves behind some ashes and the person's soul is left intact. This," Derthaad jabs a finger in the table "what they are able to do... they can erase everything of ourselves, as if we didn't even exist. Gentleman is of equal power to them, if not stronger, so he's not the type that would simply care about our well being. He most likely did it 'cuz he was bored being locked away in that box for so long."

"Oh" Derthaard raises a finger towards Celina "I would assume your next question would be 'Why was he locked away in that box?' Well... we were told that, at some point, Gentleman wanted to fully open the Staircase." He takes in a breath, as if to continue, but stops himself, looking at Celina and realizing that this also may need an explanation. "You see, a manifestation of the Staircase is a simple portal, but more silvery. Another is literally a staircase, as you might have guessed by the name" he says, gesturing towards Celina. "At some point, literally walked it, a spiral, silvery staircase, like the ones you see in towers. This one, however, was filled with doors of various shapes, colours and materials, all leading towards various planes and realms. Gentleman wanted to open ALL of them at once. Sounded like a noble goal, until it was found out that the price was the total collapse of the Universe itself... a price that was willing to pay. Thus, he was imprisoned by the other Infinites in that box."


Celina looks puzzled for a moment “Is Gentleman a Tiefling too? Also I am wondering why you hate this Mister person more than this Gentleman? Gentleman doesn’t sound much better than Mister. Sounds like a real bad guy stuff? And then he’s also tethered to Gerhard… an actual decent person. Would one not take control of the other or something? Heck what do I know”. Celina continues sipping her drink waiting to hear more.


"I... actually have no idea if he is a Tiefling," responds Derthaad with a shrug "never saw him, only Gerhard could and I never asked him. However, the difference between him and Mister is that Gentleman's 'bad guy stuff' was mostly due to him not caring about the others and being overzealous, where as Mister took Orianna, someone who was completely innocent and had no dealings with the Staircase, to specifically get to Gerhard." His eyes lock on with Celina's, all traces of warmth gone, his face now as if looking at a heinous criminal. "He specifically put her in in harms way so he can draw out Gerhard. You have to be a special kind of vile to do such a thing."

"But..." he puts his free hand up, eyes closed, taking a deep breath. When he finally speaks, his brows are raised, the small smile on his mouth, the warmth from earlier returning "I mentioned about a Library."

Derthaad lifts his glass only to find it empty. He refills both their glasses, takes a swig and, as he's about to continue his long, seemingly endless story, he pauses, smiling as if remembering a fond memory. As he throws a glance at Celina, seeing her wide and curious expression, eager to hear more, he feels nostalgic, remembering the days by the campfire that he once shared over a decade ago with the comrade from his old squad, how they each had their own exciting life story. He remembers how it was, how it went, how in that night it ended, how it ---.

He shakes his head and clears his throat, pulling himself from that place, and landing himself in the here and now.

"When the day came that Andromeda found Orianna's location, Gerhard gathered us and we proceeded with the plan. First step: getting to the Library of All Knowledge where we will meet Andromeda and perform the next step." A small chuckle then escapes Derthaad "In a way, I ended up trading one library adventure for another."


Celina grumbles and sighs “Ok fine, I get your point. Mister is worse”. She takes a sip from her newly topped up glass and smiles “But ohh you and libraries are like magnets. Ha, were you in heaven in that one? What was that like?”


Derthaad grins at her, returning her teasing nature "I'm sorry, me? Weren't you the one who found this Library? How am I the one with a magnet for them?"


“Well let’s look at the facts. You also found the runaway library and now you have another one. I, Celina have one point and you, Derthaad have two points to libraries. Therefore you attract them more” she winks. “To be fair, I don’t really go to libraries often. I mean what type of games room did this one have?”


Derthaad chuckles at the mention of the game room. "I don't think this one had a game room, at least not from what I've seen. Also, about two points, I would state that it was on your request that I ended up at that library. Remember? The request you had to find the apples" he says, waving his hand in front as if describing something mysterious and magical. "The same way as I ended up to this other library on Gerhard's request."


“Ohhh right. Yes, I did ask for your help then…”, she thinks back to that day. It feels so long along. The only thing she can actually remember is stealing that magical shiny apple, then returning it to Root afterwards with her apology. Not one of her fondest memories. She sighs trying to push it to the back of her head.

“Ha, ok fine. I am good at finding stuff. Maybe I should be a ‘sergeant’ then…”, she winks and grins “But go on, what happened in this library? You get a big head of knowledge or something?”


"Well... no. Didn't particularly have time to wonder around it and see what it has to offer. However, we did indeed see it and went in and...well... one thing I can say about it is that... it. was. gigantic." he accentuates every one of those last words, bobbing his head for each. "In fact... gigantic is an understatement. That thing... it had a roof with spires that went up to about a mile in height. The entrance to it, the doors were massive and, although my understanding was limited, they seemed to be engraved with... with what I can only describe as the history of the entire world" he says as if not fully sure of what he's describing. "And... the inside... well, the room we entered seemed to stretch for a mile as well, another set of doors of equal size barely visible in the distance. But the ceiling..." his expression now one of awe "it... it looked like it was stretching into the sky above... into the night sky. Celina," he continues, rubbing his brow "the ceiling looked as if it was made of space itself. Bloody dammit, so many stars were visible."

After a few seconds, he finally shakes off the look of wander on his face. "I am no book nerd. I only like books as much as they give me the information I need. But... one must admire the architecture, 'cuz it was grand. Huh... now that I think of it... it was indeed fitting for one named 'The Library of All Knowledge'."


Celina was never one for libraries but even she was impressed hearing the description of it or maybe it was the way Derthaad was describing it. “Oooo sounds amazing”. She pauses to think back what Derthaad had said previously. She takes a sip of her drink “So, then you get to the library and what happened? Also, why was this library the meeting location?”


"I can't remember exactly why she chose the Library of All Knowledge as a meeting place" he responds, resting his temple on one of his closed fists. "But I think it may have had something to do with the next step, in that it's very nature may facilitate it."

Derthaad takes another sip of wine. "You see, the next step required to shackle Gentleman's powers so that Gerhard. It was a good thing too, 'cuz without it, I doubt he would have been able to see this through. Heck... even with that additional power, it was close."


Celina asks curiously “Close how? What happened?”


"Well, firstly, Andromeda took us into a separate study room to perform the ritual to shackle Gentleman onto Gerhard. Have to say, it wasn't the as interesting and awe inspiring as I was hoping. It looked cool, but nothing that blew me away" he ads with an unimpressed tone. "However, what followed was less boring" he continues, taking another swig. "It seems that, while he was fully under the protection of Andromeda, Mister was unable to find Gerhard, not fully at least. After Gentleman was shackled to him, we were found by him. Andromeda dealt with Mister the moment he appeared, but he wasn't alone, he brought some friends along, other Travellers of the Staircase, each with their own Call."

Dertaad's mood became a bit sour as he continued this particular event. "This... this is where it could have gone bad. Well... technically it could have gone bad in other instances, but... this..." his voice trailing off, as if lost in thought, his face troubled.


Celina’s eyes go wide, wanting to hear more but also feel genuine concern for Derthaad out of the blue. She notices his troubled expression. She hasn’t seen him like this before. She automatically directs herself to the wine. She thinks boozes helps her, surely it’ll help him. She tops up his drink followed by hers with the wine. Then she cups her two hands around the drink “Ohhh crap… must have been real bad huh?”. Celina envisions the worst. Lots of people dead. She sits there sipping her drink, waiting until he’s ready to continue. Suddenly a wash of confusion passes over her as to why she was being nice to him. She continues sipping her wine in silence wondering what’s wrong with her.


Derthaad swirls the wine in his glass, staring at it, as if it might reveal some hidden secret. But he does not take a sip. "There were four of them against five of us. Yes, the numbers were in our favour, but they were... stronger. Out of the four, one of them, a yuan-ti woman, seemed to be a wizard, but... she wielded magic that I have never seen before. I managed to keep her at bay, Counterspelling her while also making sure she was at the receiving end of my magic. But... we nearly fucked up. I lost sight of her as she hid behind a bookcase. I threw my Lightning bolt at it, clearly feeling a hit, thinking it was done. But oh boy... was I wrong."

He doesn't know why. Maybe it is the wine, or just Celina's genuine curiosity and... her look of concern. For some reason, it loosen him, it made him want to say more, want to let forth what he's been so used to holding back. Wanting to finally say what bothers him.

"Her final spell... all of the sudden, a small black sphere, as dark as nothingness itself, appeared in between Gerhard, Kavel and myself, a small little orb. But... in a blink, everything went so dark that it felt that light has stopped existing, everything went so loud that we could barely hear out thoughts, everything went so hot that it felt like my scales would fall off my skin, everything went so heavy... it felt like the universe itself was throwing a fit and decided that we should be on its receiving end. It..." his face went from troubled to concern and then to guilt. "During the fight, Kavel was grappling with one of them, a genasi woman who seemed to be some sort of monk. When the spell landed, she was being held by Kavel. When the spell ended, mere seconds later, she was gone... a pile of ash remained at Kavel's feet" he said in a low voice, riddled with heavy guilt. "In those few seconds, Gerhard, Kavel and myself... we could have shared Silvia's fate. All because of my FUCKING cockiness" he ends, a fit of anger in his voice, directed at himself. "All because I didn't FUCKING move to have line of sight of that yuan-ti... to confirm the kill... to... to try and Counterspell it before it struck."


Celina stares at Derthaad. Wondering where this honesty from him is coming from all of a sudden. She stares at him for a few moments. Eventually she replies “Pfffft… come on Mr. Citywatch. You can’t expect to watch and know everything ALL the time. I know supposedly nothing gets past you. But you have to give yourself a break. Heck, I’m sure you did plenty of spells that saved the day that you aren’t mentioning. You gotta remember… you… didn’t… die. And did the others? No. Focus on that. Learn for the future”.

Celina sips her drinks and stares at him “And also didn’t you say to be before… what was it… something something it is not good to dwell on things… it can lead to…”, Celina thinks back really hard to what Derthaad said to her when she was beating herself up about Sammy and Derthaad gave her advice. But remembers the day but she struggles to remember his exact wording “kookiness… ah that’s not the word you used. Fuck… was it Loco? Nutty? Feck, I don’t remember. But… you know what I mean right…? Anyway sound familiar?”.

She takes another sip. “Also, maybe I’m glad you didn’t die. Like if you were gone, it would mean I would have to go find someone else to annoy on a regular basis” she grins. She starts to realize she does enjoy his company. All their drinking session have been surprisingly fun to her and therapeutic. She thinks to herself it would feel strange if they just stopped doing it suddenly.


Derthaad grins, being pulled back from his moment of self pity, as he returns Celina's gaze, with some slivers of warmth in his eyes. "Didn't know you cared that much about me. I'm flattered" his voice sounding its previous joking tone. "Also, when have you become so wise?"


Celina grins. “I’m always wise…”. She pauses to think “But is that how your adventure ended? Surely there’s more?”


Derthaad nods, but before moving forward with the story, he ads one thing. "It is not good to dwell on them for they can lead you down the path of insanity." he says, quoting the words he told her once, chuckling a bit at the irony of it. "I know. But still, I cannot help but feel responsible for my recklessness."


Celina snaps her fingers and then points her index finger towards Derthaad. “Yes that’s exactly that irritating phase I forgot”. Celina smirks after. But suddenly she drops it. She knows now is not the time. She sighs and reaches over and gently pats Derthaad on the shoulder. “I know the feeling, pal. I know”. She reflects to his words used on her with the Sammy situation. She quickly reaches for her glass and finishes the end of her drink in silence.


A warm smile emanates from him, from Celina’s act of comfort. He takes a longer sip, finishing his glass. As he pours them a new round he now notices they were actually at the second bottle. "After the fight was done, Andromeda returned to us, or... a part of her did. The Infinite have some weird stuff, they can multitask by being in multiple places at once. So, she was both fighting Mister and helping us. Thankfully, part of that help was restoring our vigor and mending our wounds. With a flick of her hands, we were back to normal."

"Now, the next part of the plan was to find Orianna and Henri, something that Andromeda already did. She found where the demiplane Orianna was being kept and opened a portal for us to go there."

There was a pause in Derthaad's narration, for as he recalls the events, his mind rests on him and Andromeda slightly retreated out of ear shot, the discussion, his plea for help... the agreement he made with her. Andromeda's words resonate now in his mind.


Derthaad shakes out of his moment of contemplation as he continues the story. "We went through the portal and we were in this small little room, filled with books and scrolls and a pale blue ambient light. And at the study, there she was, Orianna. She was relieved when she saw us, as she ran, hugged and nearly kissed... me."


Celina’s eyes go wide with surprise “Why you? Wait, were you and her… a thing? Did you guys date? Or was it… purely physical? What about Gerhard? Ohh Derthaad you sly Dragonborn”. Celina winks.


Derthaad smiles with a smug, as if he just baited Celina into a trap. "Well... thing is though, she wasn't our Orianna and the Derthaad she was talking about wasn't me Derthaad" he finishes, smug on his face as he points towards himself.


Celina looks puzzled “Wait... what? What does that mean? Another Derthaad? There’s more than one of you? Do you have a twin? Does Orianna have one too?”. She tries to think about what it means but she looks confused.


"You see," continues Derthaad with amusement upon seeing Celina's confused look "Andromeda didn't find Orianna by pure chance. The day before we've met, Mister let Orianna have a conversation with Gerhard. I'm not sure of the means, but whatever it was it meant that a link had to be established between the two, one that Andromeda may have used to hijack and find Orianna's position. During that conversation, Oriana was able to tell Gerhard of Mister's plan; to do what Gentleman failed and fully open the Staircase. In order to do that, he needed to find the Mechanism that Gentleman used, one that he needed to find, one that needed Orianna's help. I don't recall all the details, but it seemed that the location of said mechanism and she was crucial in finding it. So crucial in fact, or may I say desperate, that Mister didn't kidnap our Orianna, Gerhard's Orianna, he captured multiple of them afterwards. Multiple versions of the same mind working on solving the puzzle to find this Mechanism. Multiple versions from multiple universes, all kidnapped for his ideals" Derthaad spats out, disdain for Mister showing once again.

He pauses for a second, eyes staring head on into Celina's "4392 versions, to be more exact."


Celina laughs “What? Ha wow! That’s a LOT of Orianna’s. Holy Moley. Wait, why do you know the exact number? Did you count them all?”, she raises an eyebrow. “Wait… did you get to see them all? Did you see other versions of you?”


"Hmh" intones Derthaad, taking another sip of his wine. "No, I didn't. And... honestly, I would have no idea what to make of such an encounter and... what I would do if I saw another version of myself."

"But that's beside the point" he quickly shakes off the thought, wanting to continue narrating the string of events. "We knew of all of these versions of Orianna from Andromeda, she was able to sense all the versions of her. We also found out that the reason we stumbled upon another version of Orianna was because Mister overlapped the demiplanes." Sensing Celina's confusion, Derthaad quickly searched for a valid analogy to help her understand. "It's like one of those pop-up books for children, those with various cut-outs that rise up when you go from page to page. Basically, the stacked demiplanes were like a closed pop-up book, and when we accessed one it randomly chose which page it opened. Andromeda was only able to point us towards the book. It was up for Gerhard to go through the pages."


Celina nods along. Processing even more information “So you were really relying a lot on Andromeda to tell you the right information? Also this Mister sounds… even more insane”.


Derthaad sighs and shakes his head, but it is clearly in agreement to Celina's statement. "Yeah… well… at this point, I think insane may be an understatement."

"Before we moved onward, Marto made sure that blue Orianna, the other Derthaad's Orianna, was escorted out and Gerhard made sure Andromeda knew of what was happening. Thankfully she was able to have Copernicus and Lamel look for other Oriannas. Oh, forgot to mention, only Gerhard was able to speak with Gentleman in any way, and only he was able to telepathically communicate with Andromeda."


“Blue Orianna? But… isn’t Orianna already blue? I do recall that tiefling having blue skin that time I met her? Also only Gerhard could talk to Gentleman and Andromeda. That sounds like A LOT of voices in someone’s head. Was it like that whole time? I mean you sure it was Andromeda telling things and not… you know… Gerhard going crazy?” Celina looks to Derthaad curiously.


Derthaad rests his head on his free hand in pondering. "By Gerhard's accounts, it was more of a non-invasive communication, something more akin to a Telepathic Bond spell. They weren't talking all the time, just when prompted or when needed.

"Now, regarding the correct demiplane," he moves on "this is where Gentleman's power ended up being crucial. Gerhard needed his help to flip the pages and have us land on the correct demiplane. Not sure what he felt when he did that," he ads with a thoughtful expression, trying to imagine what Gerhard may have felt at that moment "but I was definitely able to sense that we indeed teleported from one demiplane to another. The world around went blurry, distorted for just a little, and then it stopped. It felt a lot like my teleportation spell... but in place."

"Anyway," he again brings himself back from his idle thought "we were thankful Gerhard didn't have to spend too much of Gentleman's power, since he still needed a good chunk to free Henri." Derthaad takes another sip of his wine. As he glances over at Celina, he cannot help but feel that same warmth and will to continue, seeing her eyes wide in awe, like a little child being told an epic story.

"We only had a couple more demiplanes; one in which... sadly that Orianna didn't survive. Thankfully, Gerhard identified that it wasn't ours... but still... The roof of the demiplane, of all demiplanes, was open, revealing the night sky above, as if a gateway to space. Sadly, whatever this Orianna did, she was up there, frozen, motionless... lifeless..." the warmth from earlier not replaced with a cold, as if the cold from space has reached him all the way down here.

'Who mourns that Orianna?' he thought to himself 'Is it another Derthaad? Or is it a different Kavel, or Marto or Beets?'


Celina sighs trying to process things “So, wait how did you know that Orianna was dead. Like for sure? I mean you mentioned there were like… what a billion Orianna’s? Could one of them not be make of glass? Hence the lifelessness? Also thinking about it more, like how was Gerhard… and you… and the others after seeing a this potentially dead Orianna? I know it’s not ‘your’ Orianna but it’s still an Orianna. Seeing one dead, that’s gotta be messed up...”. She trails off imagining seeing dead versions of herself somewhere.


Derthaad shakes his head, now lowered as he shares in the silence of the moment along with Celina. "It... At first it was... harrowing, the sinking feeling that we may have failed. But we soon noticed that there were some distinct markings, some tattoos that made her a different from our original one." Derthaad takes another sip, but then holds his glass up in the air, staring at it thoughtfully. "It's strange. Even though it wasn't our Orianna, I still feel a bit of responsibility for her fate."


Celina continues to ponder to herself what it would be like to have other versions of herself around and how she’d feel seeing one dead. “Why do you feel responsible? You didn’t put her there. Also Derthaad, you have to remember you can’t save everyone”


“I know,” he says begrudgingly, “but it still doesn’t stop me from making me feel as if I could have. As if, maybe by doing something quicker, more efficient, we could have gotten there fast enough, in the hopes of saving this one. Alas…” he trails off, rubbing his brow as he realises the futility of sitting too much on this. He gives a small smile barely visible as, again, the irony of this entire situation sets in, of how he told her not to dwell too much on the ‘what could have been’.

"Anyway," he moves on, not trying to let the feelings of pity and guilt settle in too much "we then moved on to another demiplane, one in which this Orianna was being escorted by Copernicus through a portal. This one wore black clothing. Thankfully, Andromeda let us know that the freeing of the other Oriannas was going smoothly and that the cases of... Oriannas that didn't make it back were few and far between" he said, trying to sound a bit more reassured by that idea, but still somewhat feeling pity for them.

"And then, finally, we thankfully landed in the demiplane containing our Orianna."


Upon hearing the ‘correct’ Orianna was found, Celina adds “So, how do you know for sure this was the correct Orianna you were looking for? How do you even tell?”


"Well, she looked the same as the day she got kidnapped. Ah yeah, I said blue Orianna 'cuz she was wearing a blue shawl, whereas the original Orianna had a light pink one. And, considering those two reactions upon seeing each other, I would say that indeed that was our Orianna."

"While those two were reunited once again and sharing a moment, guess who decided to show his ugly face? No wait, don't tell me," he puts his hand up as if to stop Celina from whatever she was going to answer, if she was going to answer "it was Mister." This time, although Derthaad's voice still contained traces of disdain towards this person, it was mostly anticipation for what was about to come. "And oh, how he talked about us foiling his plan, about how we stopped him. Oh... he also brought Henri along with him. And oh, how he talked about the price we have to pay for our intervention while looming one hand above Henri." Derthaad's voice was theatrical, as if reciting a horrible play, clearly meant to mock Mister. "Sadly for him though, Andromeda stepped in, but she wasn't alone. Thanks to our actions and the amount of Oriannas discovered, we had enough evidence pointing against Mister's actions."

"The verdict?" he asks with a slight glee in his voice. "You know how I mentioned that Gentleman was locked away in the box? Well, he was locked away by someone in particular. The same someone that heard of all that Mister has done and decided to take matter their own hands. In that moment, a column of silver mist appeared in the center of the room and from it emerged the Infinite they refer to as Grandmother. Oh, you should have seen the look on Mister's face when she appeared." Derthaad's disposition now seemingly sunny when talking about him. "Of course, like any grandmother that is faced with a misbehaving grandson, slapped him so hard that she caused a thunderous boom and shook the room. She then proceeded to take him away while pulling him by the ear" he finishes with small chuckles.


Celina laughs out loud “Ha, to be honest it sounds like a fitting punishment for Mister. Grandmother”, she chuckles to herself and sips her drink. “So… is that the happy ending? Ohh but tell me, what happened to all the Orianna’s? They just go back… Also, were you sad about the one Orianna and the other Derthaad? Did you get to talk to that one again?”. Celina asks curiously.


Derthaad shakes his head in response, then looks at his empty wine glass and the empty bottle between them. After a moment of thought, rubbing his brow, he orders another bottle for the two. "No. And, to be honest... I don't know what I would say to them. Maybe... to congratulate them?" he says with an unsure tone. "Also, the other Oriannas were all portalled out to safety and sent back to their respective universes."

As the new wine bottle reaches, cork freshly popped, Derthaad refills their glasses. "Anyway, about the ending? Yes, it was a happy ending." Derthaad says with a warm smile and look of relief. "After Mister was taken away by Grandmother, Andromeda left us with a portal back to the outskirts of Daring Heights. And also, she left us with Henri" he ads, taking another sip which seemed sweeter. "After we got back, Gerhard used the last of Gentleman's powers to remove the effects of the Staircase not just from Henri, but also from Kavel and myself."

"And thankfully, Gerhard still had control over himself. He still had his Call, although now it looked more like a quill rather than a bow, and he no longer had full control over it. He said that now he is no longer tied to Andromeda, but to the Staircase itself and that he will have to travel it whenever the Staircase demands it. I don't what that means, but from what I have observed, it seems to mean that he will have to travel every now and then while living his normal life."

Derthaad then gives a smile, a warm one, but it also seemed to have some faint bitter notes to it. "I'm glad that there is a happy ending for one story."


Celina nods along as Derthaad continues his story about the other Orianna. Then she grins as another bottle gets popped open and a new glass is poured. She didn’t even have to ask. She felt pleased. She starts sipping her newly poured drink. “So… the fact you only mentioned Kavel and yourself needed to get the effects removed makes me wonder why it’s just you two? Did you see anything else weird on the staircase?“. She sips her drink and stares at Derthaad.

As she sits thinking, she realised she managed to get a whole story out of Derthaad’s and she didn’t even trick him to do it. She found the whole story mesmerising and refreshing for a change. He was honest with her. It doesn’t seem like he was hiding anything. She wonders why that is? But dismisses it quickly. She isn’t ‘going to think of it now.

She goes back and ponders his last words “What do you mean for only one happy story ? I also have told a somewhat happy story… What is Mr Citywatch referring to?“


"Well... did I...? Yes, I did mention it" he asked himself as he realises that the wine may finally be having its effect. "Yes, there were Marto and Beets with us as well, but, unlike Kavel and myself, they weren't there for *all* of our previous trips through the Staircase, so its effects were less. Me and Kavel, on the other hand, have started to be under its influence. In fact, as we landed in the Wildlands, Gerhard noticed that something was off with me and Kavel since he looked worried. He didn't say a thing when I asked him what was bothering him, but his expression said it for him."

"As for the story..." Derthaad continues slowly, his voice coming through an exhale, "Gerhard and Orianna..." pausing again, trying to arrange his words carefully as he realised that he may have let slip a bit too much of his mind, that maybe that wasn't the best note to end on. "Yes, indeed, your story also has a happy ending, just like this one." He picks up his glass of wine, slightly relieved that, hopefully, the saddening feelings have been averted. There will be a time to think more of such things, but not now.

"To stories with happy endings" he says with a smile as he raises his glass towards Celina.


Celina raises an eyebrow as Derthaad doesn’t answer her question. She wonders if he’s trying to protect her or even him from mentioning a happy reunion for the couple. One couple not consumed by the doom, gloom and death. She stays silent.

Celina raises her glass to Derthaad's toast and does a cheers with it.

“Yes, to the happy end for those two which I didn’t even know existed before today”.

Celina downs some of her drink and then looks towards Derthaad. “Well, that’s some story to be told. Lots of suspense and mystery. Not sure I can beat the multi-planes/worlds though. But sounds like I need to go on more adventures now to get something juicier”. She feels her competitive nature coming out all of a sudden. She thinks to herself that she is going to find something to beat that story and rub it in his smug face. Well ok maybe, he doesn’t have one all the time. But in this version in her head - he does.



Celina grins and smiles “... So here’s to more adventures”.