–==Official Submission==–
FROM: General Debinani Rahl
RE: Chapter Four – Thanos” Story

Thanos’ Story

I am a traveler. Or…..at least I was in my younger days.
I enjoyed seeing the world. When I would walk through the
woods and see the bright sun shine off of the sparkling dew
on the bright green tree tops, I am filled with the feeling
of life. I traveled just to marvel at the wondrous sights
before our eyes. No one really notices their greatness, but
I do. I’ve been to just about everywhere there is to visit,
but now I am just an old man living a boring old life. I
miss those days. I miss the people’s faces when Thanos
Aldrinir walks through their front gate. I miss the stories
I hear as I sit in the local tavern drinking after a hard
days work. They sometimes would say things like, “That’s
Thanos Aldrinir! I heard he once slew a three-headed dragon
with only a skinning knife!” or “Look! It’s him. It’s
Thanos Aldrinir! He once tool on an army of 150 orcs and
came out victorious and barely hurt. Yeah, those were the
good old days.

I have learned a great many things in my life time. I guess
you could say that I am a jack-of-all-trades. I can wield a
sword, shoot a bow, tame a wild animal, identify most
items, talk to the dead, identify potions by taste, hide
when all is looking grim, but most of all I harness the all
powerful skill of magery. I venture to say that I knew it
all. That is what caused me to make that great mistake.

I was about 25 when I let my knowledge go to my head. I was
in the middle of being trained in the arcane art of Magic.
With my great intelligence I learned quickly and soon
surpassed my teachers. That is when I decided I was going
to achieve the greatest magic of all. The magic of
immortality. During my travels I heard of an island not
known to too many. In fact I am willing to bet that it no
longer exists. I searched high and low for this mystical
island called Kriegspire. After about 5 years of travel, I
found what I was looking for. The island was the most
beautiful sight that anyone could see. It was as though I
were walking in a dream. It wasn’t long when I found a
stone tablet on the side of an old rickety shack. It
read “Here Lies the Key to Immortality.” Below it was a key
on hooks. I could feel my heart start to race. I eagerly
took the key and opened the chest directly below it. Inside
was a stone slab. Chiseled into it were the names of
generations of a family. I was dumbfounded and furious. I
was so caught up in my rage I failed to notice the man
beside me. I looked to see an old man wrinkled and weak
staring at me. He spoke, “I see you found our ”˜Stone of
Immortality’. It holds all of the names of my family from
the very first man to set foot on this island.” I
said, “What about immortality for me? I traveled across the
entire land many times over to find this?” “Son,” he
said. “True immortality cannot be found by mere traveling.
It is something found in the heart of each individual. Not
in some spell or vial.”

I can believe that I was so foolish. To think that
immortality can be achieved by a spell. I was so
discouraged and embarrassed that I hung up my sword and
place my spellbook back on the shelf. I have lost the
spirit of adventure that day, when I realized that many
years of my life were wasted. And I will never find it
again.

Well, that brings you to the present day. I am old and that
spirit is good. I can no longer adventure the way I used
to. I must sit at home and wait for the reaper to come and
take me away. I am just too old to get that spirit back. Or
am I? This is it. My last adventure. Who knows where the
road will take me. I grab my sword, armor, gold, food, and
spell book. I am off.

I leave Britain by way of the Northeast road. A walk a good
ways and nothing happens. What I doing out here? I am 53.
I’m in no shape for this. I turn to go back, and get no
more than 10 steps when I am struck in the arm. I fall to
the ground. I muster enough strength to look at the
aggressor. I see a huge man towering over me wielding a war
hammer and wearing a dreadful suit of bone armor. I think
to myself, “This is it. Thanos Aldrinsir’s last stand.
Brought down by a ruthless coward attacking an old man from
behind.” He then raises his hammer and , everything
suddenly goes black.

I wake to find me surrounded by men in green cloaks.
Scared, yet relieved, I say, “Hail,, I am Thanos Aldrinir.
Thank you.” “I am Debinani Rahl. This is Sandoval. That’s
Cethwyn Rhys. And that fine young lady is Holle Uchdbhan.
We are all members of the powerful and ” “Nice to meet you
all,” I followed, “but I best be on my way. Thank you
again.” I start to stand when I feel my left arm flare with
an immense pain. I cry out. Nearly passing out, I see
Debinani reach into his pouch and pull out a vial full of a
clear liquid. He then hands it to me and orders me to drink
it down. As I examine the potion, I am struck with the most
amazing sight of my entire long life. The potion is
changing colors before my eyes. I blink a few times to make
sure I am not dreaming. It then changes another color. I
quickly quaff the potion. My body started to heal. First
slowly, speeding up as time progressed until my entire body
was healed. It didn’t stop there though. I continued to
grow stronger and healthier. When the potion was finished,
I had been revived by a renewed vigor. Not only was health
restore, but life too! I felt young again. When I asked
Debinani what that potion was he simply replied, “Just a
greater healing potion.” “Yeah right. What was it really?”
He swore upon his own grave that it was only a healing
potion.

At this point, my historical conscience must take a stand,
the events of our first meeting were not so dramatic.
Sandoval, Antryg, Shade, and I were hunting east of Britain
when we came across Thanos and his companion doing the
same. A few uncomfortable, sword-loosening moments passed
before anyone spoke, and we joined up for a small venture
into Shame, which turned out to be nearly disastrous.
Almost a year passed before I received his request for
enlistment. Thanos had turned out to be quite an
accomplished mage in that time, and we were glad to have
him on board. Ever since, his performance has been quite
remarkable and he’s just about constantly due for
promotion, though my justification for which is usually
somewhat questionable.

And for the gods’ sake, it was just a bleedin’ healing
potion.

-Rahl

To this day I know not what that potion was nor have I ever
heard of such a thing. It seems as though either Debinani
is keeping a dark secret or the gods have look favorably
upon me. Which ever it is I care not. That omen was the
sign I needed. Within minutes I was offered a place in The
Society which I graciously accepted. The life of the famous
adventurer Thanos Aldrinir is reborn. And by life or death
I will protect those that I call friends. I will do
anything within my power to do what is best for The Black
Rose Society.