Scholar Notes – February 1215

• Keryth'rina

  • On the Origin of Keryth'rina

    • Adylla Vanwyn

    • Mother Laewen Sinar

    • Ristill Orana

• The Potion of Everlasting Peace

  • Effects of Different Dosages

    • One Dose

    • Two Doses

    • Three Doses

    • Overdose

  • Crafting an Antidote

    • The Spores of Mycena Pura

    • The Glutaric Acid

    • The Shard of the Deep Freeze

  • To Cure the Potion of Everlasting Peace

    • To Heal an Overdose

• The Story of Pax Tranquillis

  • Elberon Tasardur

    • Bloom of Blood

  • Pain from Panic

  • Procuring Peace

  • The Cult of Peace

    • Pax’s Protectors

      • Custos Pacis

      • Caritatem Aemulamini

      • Percussor Inquietus

      • Ira Dolentium

  • Pax's Plans - Deciphering the Schematics

Keryth'rina

Though little is known about the origins of Keryth'rina, the elven holiday of remembrance, it is widely practiced among Quinarians and Selendrians. Believed to have grown out of the devastating losses of the War of against Uelrog, on the 20th of February, all those who have lost a friend, a love, or a member of their family gather and recount stories of those who have moved on, sharing old memories and paying respects to those no longer with us. It is said amongst the healers and those who can step into the Nexus that, at near the dawn of day, spirits thus recalled can step closer once more and enter the Nexus again. While they lack the strength to return to the world of the living, for a few brief hours they are closer again to the friends and family they have left behind, and those tied to the Phokus report being able to speak to these spirits before they are drawn away again.

Local clergy in many towns began embracing the holiday, and performed a special mass each February on life, love, and loss. This mass attracted many mourners, elves who had lost love ones. It became a tradition to hold this mass and the church kept it long after those who had survived Uelrog's fury had gone to the land of their ancestors. Travelers came from all over Quinarian and Selendrias to pay their respects every year. Soon other churches took up the tradition and the Holiday of Keryth’rina.

On the Origin of Keryth’rina

Though the origin of the holiday is lost to time, many tellings of it report back to an ancient elf who lost his wife just before the War of Uelrog. She, a priestess at the local chapel, was much beloved by her community, and the entire township mourned her passing. Though he moved on to travel after her death, he returned every year on the anniversary of his wife’s death, and as he visited her grave, he would share stories with the townsfolk, old and new. Over time, others joined him in remembering their lost ones as well, and a tradition was born and spread over years. Though the name of the husband was lost, the names he first began reciting stayed within the story; the Sorceress Adylla Vanwyn, the Priestess Laewen Sinar, and the Alchemist Ristill Orana.

Adylla Vanwyn

Adylla Vanwyn was has a powerful and intelligent sorceress. Her knowledge of theoretically sorcery was unmatched by anyone at the time. She had acted as a consultant for prominent sorcerers throughout Quinarian. Most of them got stuck on simple mistakes. Miscalculation in their early work had multiplied until the problem was, for them, unsolvable. These consultations bored the young sorceress. She wanted to work on something no one had ever done before. Something new and groundbreaking. And one day an elf came to her door. He said his master had tasked him with creating something impossible, gold out of nothing. His work was interesting, and he was brilliant. Over months of long nights researching by candle light. The two fell in love. They married in the winter. No time for a lavish ceremony, they spent their wedding night in a library studying. Then one night as her husband lay sleeping. she had breakthrough. All this time they had tried to create gold when they could have figured out how to conjure gold. She rushed to her chalk board and her equations. All she really needed to do was find the right point on the Plane of Earth and they could surely summon the precious metal from there. No one knows what went wrong on the day they finally went to test her hypothesis only that the ritual failed and what she summoned wasn’t gold.

Mother Laewen Sinar

Mother Laewen Sinar was a priestess of Andorra in the Grand Cathedral of Light in the Quinarian Capitol. One day as she went about her duties at the Cathedral she came across a book that had been misplaced and went to return to the Rectory. When she got there she found an elf about to pour something into the sacramental wine. She knew at a glance it must be poison. What else could it be? She pleaded the elf not to do it. Not to kill the High Priest who would surely be the next to drink of the wine at the evening service. Not to commit this sin. She thought nothing of protecting herself from him. No begging on her own behalf. She simply wanted to save him from killing an innocent man. To her surprise he put down his vial and fled. The next day he came again. No poison in his hand this time. He told her he loved her. That he would do anything to be with her. She was wary. She knew it could be a trick. She knew he could still be a murder. So she told him she would not call the guards, if he truly gave up his killing. She told him also that she could never love a murderer. He said he would prove to her he was not any more. He went out of his way to show her that he had changed. Paid reparations to his victims. Studied his Holy Texts. She developed a feeling of love for him but a love stunted by hesitation. How could she ever know if he was earnest? But it wasn’t until years later that he proved himself. A shadow from his past caught up with him and accosted him in an alley. Mother Sinar was walking by when she heard the commotion. He held up his hands. He told them he was changed. And then he did something Mother Sinar had never seen him do. He begged. He humbled himself before them and begged for his life so that he could live a new life, and the shadow let him live. Mother Sinar went back to the abbey and waited for the new man. She thought of all the time he had spent trying to change and now she had proof he had. When the elf came again to see her she welcomed him with a kiss and told him he was no longer a murderer in her eyes. But if he was a new man he should have a new name lest other find him. He crafted for himself a name to stand for the peace he now sought in his life and took the name Pax Tranquilus. And they were happy all the rest of her days.

Ristill Orana

Ristill Orana was a master Alchemist in a small town. She was known in her town and the surrounding area for her amazing cure-alls. Townsfolk traveled from miles around for her potions. She had a gift for it. Although her products were known in the nearby towns her fame was only truly local. She never gave herself permission to dream that she would ever be at the forefront of her field, experimenting and creating new things. But then an elf came and offered her a chance to do just that. He wanted to make a potion. One that would help people remain calm when under stress. He wanted to help people. To reform criminals. To sooth the soul. To end war. How could she not get swept up in such and exciting dream. Her dreamer asked for training. He was an alchemist but he had never worked in medicine. So she taught him while they researched. She became enamored by his dream. She found and herb she thought might help. It caused a type of euphoria that could be used to calm a person. They tested it on rats, then pigs. They developed a potion that worked. But just as they were ready for human trials just as she had finally managed to woo her charming dreamer, she died.

The Potion of Everlasting Peace

The Potion of Everlasting Peace was designed to cure humanity of it’s aggressive urges. As anger is a secondary emotion usually caused by passion or fear the potion’s first acts to numb these feelings so that recipient cannot build their anger. The potion also contains a powerful narcotic which makes the recipient lethargic and unable to act on rage that does build. The potion is safe in small doses over a long period of time. Most members of Pax Tranquilus’ organization only receive a dose every week. It is extremely dangerous to have more than two doses within the same week.

Effects of Different Dosage

Depending on how many doses a person consumes in a short period of time, there are different effects.

One Dose

With one dose the recipient becomes pacified and tries to avoid engaging in any combat that comes their way, they also seek to find peaceful solutions to problems and end fights even if they are not involved in them.

Two Doses

If a second dose is given to a recipient they begin to exhibit symptoms similar to a person suffering from lethargy but for twice as long. While a person stricken with lethargy of the mind is lethargic for only 5 minutes a day a person with lethargy through the Potion of Everlasting Peace will exhibit lethargy for ten minutes per day. For one hour the recipient also exhibits an urge to spread the message of peace and bring others into the cult.

Three Doses

With this many doses in such a short time the recipient becomes almost tolerant of the euphoric qualities of the Potion of Everlasting Peace. They can only maintain their euphoria as long as everyone around them is peaceful. Any violence or mention of the words “War” or “Battle” at all will erode their feeling of peace and they will slowly become consumed with a building desire to end the person who broke their peace. It has been described as being like an itch that gets worse and worse. They will attack anyone who speaks of “War” or “Battle” and will seek out those who start physical fights to end them. They will become peaceful and euphoric again as soon as all conflict has stopped. The only people they won’t attack while in this state are Pax Tranquilus and his Lieutenants. Furthermore, under the effects of this much potion the addictive elements of the potion become too much to bear and the recipient will obey any command made by Pax believing that he will provide them with more.

Overdose

A person who has had more than three doses of the potion in a short time is at incredible risk of overdose. They become lethargic and tired and within half an hour will fall asleep and begin to die. It is critical that they are cured of the Potion of Everlasting Peace at this point or they will die. Once rescued from overdose the recipient is no longer at risk of death from the poison though subsequent doses will repeat the cycle once more.

Crafting an Antidote

It may be possible to craft an antidote to the Potion of Everlasting Peace. This antidote may be able to nullify all doses of the potion from a recipient. This potion requires two Ingredients: Spores from the Mycena Pura mushroom and a vial of Glutaric Acid. Additionally the potion must be mixed at temperatures well below freezing. Normal Ice will not reach the extreme temperatures needed craft the Antidote. Nothing on this plane is cold enough.

The Spores of the Mycena Pura

Mycena Pura mushrooms are a hearty species of mushrooms that excel at growing even through the cold. Known for their pale purple beauty they are often found growing on dead and fallen trees. In the wake of the demon war there are many such fallen trees. Quite a few such trees can be found fallen across the Eastern path which the Druids and rangers should know as the path to their Grove.

The Glutaric Acid

Glutaric Acid, a thin red liquid, is rare in these parts of the continent. Fortunately there is one place where it can be found in Travance. On the first floor of the Inverted Tower there are two locked boxes. Each has a vial. One holds the Glutaric Acid the other holds Barbituric Acid. Barbituric Acid is a thick red-gold liquid. Do not get these confused. Barbituric Acid is a key ingredient in the Potion of Everlasting Peace. Adding it to the Antidote will expose any within the area to be affected as if by the Potion of Everlasting Peace.

The Shard of the Deep Freeze

In order to create an antidote for the Potion of Everlasting Peace the antidote must be cooled temperatures well below the freezing point of water. No ice of this plane can ever be cold enough to chill this potion. You will need to travel to a point in the plane of water where it intersects with the plane of the air creating ice. A green sorcerer will need to perform a ritual to open a planar gate to the plane of water at the site of the former gateway to the plane of water. This ritual if performed properly will allow those who pass through the gate to breathe in the plane of water for a short time. Precautions must be taken as magic works differently on the elemental planes.

If you can withstand the cold and the peril of the plane of water, you should be able to find the Shards of the Deep Freeze. Be very careful when handling a shard as it is cold enough to cause severe damage to those that touch it. It is not to be handled by bare hands.

Fire Magic will be more costly to cast. Fire that is summoned to the plane of water will turn to steam as it passes through the water. The steam blast will affect creatures normally as if it were an attack made with normal materials and not magical fire.

Lightning is exceptionally dangerous to cast in the plane of water as the water of this plane soaks into the clothes of any who enter any lightning cast could harm all creatures in the area.

You will find that ice magic is easier to cast on the plane of water. It is less costly. Additionally, the spell tsunami pushes on all the water in its wake causing it to push enemies farther back than it does on our plane.

Yellow and green sorcery need to be performed in concert to open a gate to the plane of water and adapt those traveling to its atmosphere. This ritual, if performed properly, will allow those who pass through the gate to breathe in the plane of water for a short time.

To Cure the Potion of Everlasting Peace

Due to the twofold nature of the Potion’s euphoric ingredients and the narcotic the Potion of Everlasting Peace is incredibly difficult to heal. Each attempt to heal the potion as one would a poison neutralizes one dose of potion. Furthermore it becomes more difficult to heal as doses increase. A person who has been affected by one or two doses can be cured by any abilities that would cure a poison. A person who is in the grips of a third doses addiction can only be cured of their third dose of potion by use of Restoration (Either Druidic or Divine), a Greater Antidote, or the Ability Heal All Afflictions. The effects of the potion can be transferred as normal by Empathic Healers or by the Prayer Threads of Fate.

To Heal an Overdose:

While the recipient of the Potion of Everlasting Peace is conscious and awake they are constantly under the influence of the euphoric ingredients of the potion. At this point you have two options: neutralize the potion as you would neutralize a third dose or let the potion run its course and save them from the brink of death healing the last remains of the potion. Once the recipient lies down and begins to die the euphoric ingredients will have run their course and be spent. All that remains of the potion is the narcotic which can be healed by any means that would heal a poison. They will still be in Critical condition but once healed the narcotic will not prevent them from being brought back from the brink.

The Story of Pax Tranquillis

Editor's Note: throughout the Feast Weekend, the town received different portions of the history Pax Tranquillis. They have been rearranged from their original positions in the notes to form a more complete understanding of the narrative. The text therein has not been altered.

Elberon Tasardur

Centuries ago, a Quinarian by the name of Elberon Tasardur began his study of magic as so many had before him, and devoted his life to his craft. Gaining employment as court sorcerer to a lesser lord he had no shortage of supplies with which to practice his art. In exchange for his supplies and workspace the young sorcerer was tasked with creating a spell for his master, a ritual to grant him great wealth by conjuring gold out of thin air. When the task became difficult he sought the aid of an intelligent sorceress, Adylla Vanwyn. The two worked hard day in and day out, trying to perfect the ritual. They fell in love and were married. One day they had a breakthrough and at last felt they were ready to test the ritual. As it had been her stroke of genius that had lead to the break through his wife took it upon herself to test their theory. Given the nature of sorcery at the time, there was a great deal of risk to the ritual, and unfortunately the magical energies exploded outward and ultimately claimed her life and the lives of three others. His lord, needing a scapegoat in the wake of the tragedy he had funded, cast Tasardur out in disgrace calling his experiments too unstable.

Hoping to find a way to return Adylla to a living state, Elberon turned to a life of crime and became an assassin. Revenge was his motivator now, against his former master who had taken his resources and thrown him so neatly away. The kingpins and leaders of the underbelly of his city had no problem procuring sorcery materials from the black market, and in exchange for his powerful rituals, helped him train in their arts. As they realized how much of an asset his skills and aspirations were, they allowed him access to even greater resources than his old patron had, though his efforts in restoring his wife were fruitless. Over time, her consciousness slipped away from her focus, becoming inert jewelry once again, though the elf still kept it close, grieving over the loss of her when she was finally gone. With renewed vigor, he turned to perfecting his skills as an assassin, finally claiming his revenge but finding it hollow; there was no joy in the death, only grim closure. With nothing more driving him, he left himself to the guidance of his new ‘friends’, who were eager to shape him in their image. Over a long career of murder and thievery The elf had acquired many strange and powerful artifacts; among these was a flower, the Bloom of Blood, which if watered with his blood would maintain his youth and vigor.

Bloom of Blood

The Bloom of Blood is a flower now virtually extinct on this plane. While some adventurers and researchers have claimed to have found crops of it most who find it find their possession of such a valuable plant has made them a target for theft. The Bloom of Blood is a thorned flower similar to a rose. It has within it a mystical power that can only be used by one person in the life of the plant. When watered in the blood of a living person, the flower shares its eternal life. The flower must be watered every three days or it will start to wilt, and its owner will start to age rapidly. Neither the flower nor its owner are truly immortal; they are simply incredibly long lived. If either the flower or it’s owner are killed, the other will surely begin to age and die.

Pain from Panic

He was a rogue like no other. None were as stealthy as he. But then one night whilst breaking into the Grand Cathedral of Light to poison the sacramental wine something happened that had never happened before. He was caught. The elf was struck by the beauty of the young priestess who caught him and by the lilt of her voice as she begged him not to kill the high priest of the Cathedral. He fell in love with her and soon gave up his murderous ways. He would do anything to win her heart. He loved her but she still thought him a cunning murderer. She would not turn him in because she believed he deserved the chance to change but would not let him near her heart lest his change be a rouse. Years went by and he stayed true to his change. She began to see that his vow to lay down his blades was sincere and so she fell for him. Renewing his vow to live without violence, he took on the name Pax Tranquilus and began a happy life with his love.

Then came giant Uelrog and every man who could wield a blade was called to fight. The young priestess, Laewen, would not let Tranquilus be drafted. He had worked too hard to give up his killing she would not see her love forced to kill again. When the soldiers came for Tranquilus she stood between them. Unmoved by her pleas they pushed her to the ground where she struck her head and fell unconscious. They dragged Tranquilus off to the war where he was deadly and effective once more. He worried every moment for his love. He wrote to her everyday but she never wrote back.

When he returned home from the war he rushed to the Cathedral and his priestess and found it in ruin. In a small hut near the building he found the clergy but not his love. He asked for her. Had she been killed when Uelrog destroyed the church? No. She had not died by the hands of the beast. Not been killed in the conflict for which he broke his vows. No. She had been taken from this world on the very day he had been taken from her. When her head was bashed on the steps of the church. Tranquilus became obsessed. His love having died not by the threat but by those who ought to have protected her from it, he vowed to rid the world of its anger, of urgency, of panic. These things had cost him his love and he would ensure that no one suffered the same way he did. He turned once again to the method he knew best, poison.

Procuring Peace

Centuries passed as he worked. Day in and day out his bloody flower keeping him young. He consulted with alchemists all over the world. One young Alchemist, Ristill Orana, helped him to discover the means to make his poison halt anger. She found a plant which when ingested made the subject passive and euphoric. Pax soon fell in love with the brilliant alchemist. After the success of the first human trials, they celebrated together with champagne and fine food. The next morning however tragedy struck. The young alchemist was in conversation with a test subject. She mentioned the last Great War which the subject a former soldier had fought in. The memory of war pulled the soldier out of his euphoria. Unable to find peace with the memory of war in his head he attempted to remove that which had caused the memory by beating the alchemist to death. It took three men to subdue the soldier and give him another dose of the potion to calm him down once more. Pax now knew his potion was incomplete. He continued experimenting again, finding it easier now to let his lover go after experiencing the loss of his first wife and his second love, but was determined to protect anyone else he knew over his long life span from untimely death. The problem still persisted; though he could make his subjects peaceful they were paradoxically enraged at any thing not peaceful. Moreover the larger the dose that was given the more temperamental they became. He needed to suppress this rage. He needed to place his subjects into such a state of lethargy they could not rage. The answer made itself clear. By adding a powerful narcotic to the potion he could render those dosed so numb to the world that they could be nothing but peaceful. But the narcotic was too powerful and lethargy could quickly give way to a sleep from which none awoke. It took him decades to perfect the dosage. It had to be precise. Too much narcotic death, too little rage; the ratio took ages to perfect.

The Cult of Peace

Finally he was ready to test on large scale. It started with a bar, then two, soon he had an entire town intoxicated by his potion. It was then that he discovered a side effect of his potion. The narcotic effects of the potion were addictive. Not only was this town under the effects of his peace but they would do anything to remain so. Having finally perfected his formula, he tested it on a small community and found that while it worked in small doses, it could be dangerous in larger amounts. He carefully meted it out to his new band, and noticed over time the ramifications of the addiction; they all looked to him and obeyed him as their leader. In the aftermath of the death and destruction of the Demon Wars that began the Fourth Age, he decided that it was time for those most violent to follow his path of peace, and set his sights on Travance. When his followers were invited to the Proper by a member of the church, he let them move in over the course of the month, with careful instructions: they were to begin introducing the ways of peace to the townspeople, and those who were better at moving around unseen were to begin setting up his means of doing so. Thus the dispersal units were designed and made by his smiths, set up by his rogues, and await his formula to become active.

Pax’s Protectors

As he traveled, Pax gathered those who believed in his purpose, or who could benefit from his guidance and his brand of peace. He kept these close to him and they began to help him spread his message, each serving him in a specific capacity.

Custos Pacis

Palar Golos was once Captain of the Guard of small town on the Northern Edge of Glangsdale. A powerful Emerald Dragoon she held the cities defenses against dozens of raids by The Empire of Gaaldron. With her trusty spear in hand none could harm the people of her village. After attacks she would coordinate reconstruction of defenses and aid in repairing her soldiers armor.

Five years ago tragedy struck. A sentry spotted an oncoming Goblin Horde traveling through a narrow pass to the North. Without thinking Palar took all of her men and marched to intercept them. Unbeknownst to them a small contingent of goblins marched west and attacked the now unguarded town slaughtering every man, woman, and child. When the soldiers returned home in victory they found their homes burned to ashes, their livestock slain, and their loved ones butchered. They turned to their captain, despair in their eyes. How could she have been so impulsive as to lead them away from town without leaving anyone to guard it? How could she have been so foolish as to not look for other goblin troops? Why could she not wait to engage the goblins when they reached the city walls? Ashamed she fled the city and the accusing gaze of her comrades.

Palar drank herself into oblivion for over a year. But the drinking never numbed the pain of failure. That was when she met Pax. He offered her Peace. He told her she could honor the dead by helping him to bring peace to the world. He offered her a drink. A drink he said would finally numb the pain. Would bring her to his Peace. And it did.

Over time Pax slowly weaned her off the potion, teaching her how to deal with her pain and let it fuel her. Teaching her how to accept it as part of her being. To use her failure as reason to never fail again. Soon she was much more than his other cultists. She needed no potion to sustain her peace. She truly believed in Pax and his message of peace. She took a new name. Custos Pacis. Guardian of the Peaceful.

Caritatem Aemulamini

Constance Everly had led a simple life in Calisvorn. She was a wife to a humble miner and a mother to an adventurous son. She lost her husband to plague in 1205. In 1206 her son turned 16 and declaring himself to be a man now, he left home seeking adventure and fortune to send home to his mother. He came to Travance and found his adventure but also his death in a fight at the Dragon's Claw Inn in 1207. Devastated and alone Constance Everly turned to the church for solace. She became a cleric of Andorra. She hoped that with Andorra's blessing she could destroy the evil within the hearts of men. That evil which drove them to fight and kill. That evil which had taken her son.

Sister Constance, never felt she fit in at the church. Clerics of Andorra were rare, Templars rarer still. There were a few, perhaps a dozen clerics. But Templars and clerics were supposed to be soldiers of their deity. How could one be a soldier of a deity who abhors war? Sister Constance knew. She knew it was much more than simply protecting the innocent. You must punish those who harm them. How could the love of peace inhabit every one while the love of battle still beat within the hearts of men. Her son would still be alive if not for the violence of men. Shouldn't they be made to see the light.

She kept her thoughts on Andorra to herself. She knew she was alone in her belief that it was not enough to wait for the violent to see reason. The violent would never see reason. They would always find reasons to justify their actions.

It was only a few years ago when Sister Constance found Pax Tranquilus spreading his doctrine of peace at any cost. Here was someone that understood her, who knew what had to be done to bring about a true and everlasting peace. She knew that this was someone with vision and the ambition to make their dream a reality. A world without pain. He asked her to come with him, to join his cause. And she followed willingly. In honor of her new direction she took on a new name. Caritatem Aemulamini. Zealous Charity.

Percussor Inquietus

The first person Nina Bancroft ever killed was her mother. She knew because her father never let her forget it. When she was 6 and she knock down the noisy bird's nest outside her window, her father said, "I should have known you'd be a killer. After all you killed your mother when you were born." When she was 8 and the neighbor's yappy dog went missing, her father hit her and yelled, "What did you do to it, killer? Did you kill it like you did your mom?" When she was 10 and she killed him, he didn't say anything. He just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Working for various crime syndicates and governments she traveled the world silencing other people who couldn't keep their mouths shut. Who said damaging things. Who talked too much. One day she was contracted to kill another dangerous talker. Pax Tranquilus. Three times she came for him. Once with poison which the preacher identified. Next with an arrow which his Guardian deflected. Finally she came at him with a knife. She lunged at him but he was too quick. His blade coated in the Potion of Everlasting Peace he slashed at her and gave her peace.

Pax looked at the young assassin in his thrall. He had been the same once. He had changed couldn't she. All she needed was help. He could be that help. He taught her what he knew and used the potion to mold her in his image until she was his finest tool. He gave her a mission to silence those who had lost their way. To eliminate those who sought violence. To kill those who would spread lies and bring pain down on the flock. When she was finally molded he weened her off the potion as he had done to his lieutenants before her. He gave her a new name, Percussor Inquietus. Killer of the Unruly.

Ira Dolentium

On June 16, 1210 the Satyr Berserker known as Krotos Marsyas entered a rage from which he never truly emerged. That morning as any other morning Krotos woke up next to his mate. They ate together, and got dressed together and they left to hunt together. They were a deadly team, known to throw each other at opponents and slice foes in half in midair. Had they chosen to they would have been elite soldiers but instead their talents were most often used on prey and poachers.

It was a day like any other day. They were stalking a deer which had entered an open glen and were prepared leap out and attack it. Just as they sprung out everything changed they were caught in an ambush. Some 30 men surrounded them. Mercenaries by the look of them lead by a poacher who had escaped them once before. His mate entered a rage. In an instant five men had been cutdown. Krotos fought hard saving his rage for when his mate's rage ended. Ten more men fell.

He charged at the leader. There was a surge of chaotic energy and the world twisted. Faces switched bodies constantly. Unable to tell friend from foe he lashed out at the first enemy in reach. His machete bit into flesh. He heard the cracking of bone and soft thud. Sudden clarity overcame him and he saw his mate lying in a pool of blood her head nearly sliced clean off. He clutched her body too him as the mercenaries closed in. He entered a rage. None survived.

It was in this rage that Pax found him. Seeing an opportunity to test his potion he snuck up on the raging widow, and injected him with a dose of his potion. However unlike his other cultists who become passive and lethargic, Krotos' rage boiled at the Potion of Everlasting Peace and kept him from becoming euphoric and peaceful. Instead he was himself.

The potion suppressed his rage but the grief remained. Finding himself alone he vowed to help Pax end violence. It had been his violence against the poacher that had caused this fight. His violence that had killed his mate. He later found that it was easier said than done to quit his violence. While the potion gave him clarity his continued suppressed and unnoticed by his conscious mind, but trapped in the moments after the death of his mate. When battle disrupts the potions calm his rage resumes. Those who have survived seeing his rage say that they cannot tell if he is roaring or sobbing. They call him Ira Dolentium, Rage of the Grieving.

Pax's Plans - Deciphering the Schematics

From the schematics that were stolen from Pax Tranquilus, it’s obvious he intends to use several machines to distribute a gaseous form of his Potion of Everlasting Peace. This could spread and convert the whole proper to his ways before he moves on to the Lands and takes over all of Travance. The distributors consist of two shelves; on the top shelf will be one or two sheep bladders full of his potion. When the machine is activated one sheep bladder at a time is punctured, releasing the potion to the lower level, where the vaporizing agent waits. From there the vapor travels through a tube and is released into the air. It is paramount that the bladders of potion are removed from the distributors without the bladders bursting, or there is risk of further exposure to the potion and possible overdose.