Xeno looked down at his wavering, transparent body. It was not at all what he expected to see. Ghost, he could handle. Tall, he had rather grown accustomed to of late. But githzerai, well - that was not at all what he was prepared for or willing to deal with.
"Why aren't you a gnome?" asked Kobayashi - who was looking a whole lot more solid - in fact, was the solidist, realest person in the group right now. Xeno felt a supreme peeve building up. Not only did he hate not having an answer for the dead monk, but even more than that he hated not having an answer for himself.
"I don't know, CHAOS??" He hoped that would mollify him. For the time being, it did.
Having reclaimed Rodant, the crew returns to the trio of ships, only to find an agitated Xoe on the deck of Dashiell. She tells of a captive mind flayer who, for reasons known only to him, asks for Xeno by name.
When the crew investigates, they find the old illithid BERGENHEIS, who is at first surprised to find Xeno isn't gnome. But as both Xeno and Kobayashi bristle and call for the immediate execution of the prisoner, Bergenheis attempts to stay the execution by asserting his claim that he is merely trying to keep the entire universe from ending. Temporarily intrigued, they let him live, and Bergenheis tells of his people coming into possession of a device known as the EVENTUALITY PRISM - an object that refracts time into its component elements and reveals the future that is most likely to happen.
In the future that was revealed by the mind flayers, however, it appears that Xeno is responsible for the destruction of the entire universe.
"LIES!" cries Xeno, who immediately attempts the keening wail of a banshee in order to slay Bergenheis. Fortunately for the rest of the crew present in the small room, Xeno does not appear to have that power. Instead, it is Bergenheis that throws Xeno's mind into a tumult with a psionic blast that sends Xeno back to the playground of his youth, where Xeno succumbs to visions of loneliness, isolation and mushroom dodgeball. Bob the Mushroom (from Aquae Sulis) makes an appearance, as does Clavdivs, who informs him that he he is now communicating to him through the mushroom tea...
At this point, Spencer, fearing losing Xeno to the illithid, tries to intervene with his scythe, but fails. He refers to Spencer as a 'refraction golem' and freezes him on the spot.
Bergenheis then releases Xeno from his grip, and again attempts to assure him that he is an ally. Bergenheis recalls the course of events after using the Prism, and how it was revealed that the universe would end with Xeno slaying the Creator - the being responsible for the very existence of the universe - with a weapon carved from a single piece of sapient pearwood.
The mind flayers then mobilized - gathering a fleet of over 200 ships to scour the crystal sphere for Xeno and every last scrap of pearwood. They had nearly exterminated every last pearwood tree known to exist - only to find the last one had been taken off Athas by two humans and a Mul. They traced Xeno to the Rock of Braal, only to find that he had skipped out in a ship won from Abdullah Faloon. They eventually traced both to the planet Ata'ri, and had sent a strikeship down to get one or the other, only to lose the ship off of Port Harbor and never hear from it again. #deathcommandos
Xeno again becomes agitated, not wanting to hear Bergenheis out. The mind flayer pleads with him to listen - calling upon the 'discertainty principle' - the belief that by revealing the primary eventuality to certain involved parties, one can change the certainty of the eventuality.
Xeno and Kobayashi, having had enough of Bergenheis' talk, attack and kill him on the spot.
As his body melts away, the only thing left behind is an amulet which bears a curious symbol...
Having reclaimed Rodant, the crew returns to the trio of ships, only to find an agitated Xoe on the deck of Dashiell. She tells of a captive mind flayer who, for reasons known only to him, asks for Xeno by name.
In the future that was revealed by the mind flayers, however, it appears that Xeno is responsible for the destruction of the entire universe.
"LIES!" cries Xeno, who immediately attempts the keening wail of a banshee in order to slay Bergenheis. Fortunately for the rest of the crew present in the small room, Xeno does not appear to have that power. Instead, it is Bergenheis that throws Xeno's mind into a tumult with a psionic blast that sends Xeno back to the playground of his youth, where Xeno succumbs to visions of loneliness, isolation and mushroom dodgeball. Bob the Mushroom (from Aquae Sulis) makes an appearance, as does Clavdivs, who informs him that he he is now communicating to him through the mushroom tea...
At this point, Spencer, fearing losing Xeno to the illithid, tries to intervene with his scythe, but fails. He refers to Spencer as a 'refraction golem' and freezes him on the spot.
Bergenheis then releases Xeno from his grip, and again attempts to assure him that he is an ally. Bergenheis recalls the course of events after using the Prism, and how it was revealed that the universe would end with Xeno slaying the Creator - the being responsible for the very existence of the universe - with a weapon carved from a single piece of sapient pearwood.
The mind flayers then mobilized - gathering a fleet of over 200 ships to scour the crystal sphere for Xeno and every last scrap of pearwood. They had nearly exterminated every last pearwood tree known to exist - only to find the last one had been taken off Athas by two humans and a Mul. They traced Xeno to the Rock of Braal, only to find that he had skipped out in a ship won from Abdullah Faloon. They eventually traced both to the planet Ata'ri, and had sent a strikeship down to get one or the other, only to lose the ship off of Port Harbor and never hear from it again. #deathcommandos
Xeno again becomes agitated, not wanting to hear Bergenheis out. The mind flayer pleads with him to listen - calling upon the 'discertainty principle' - the belief that by revealing the primary eventuality to certain involved parties, one can change the certainty of the eventuality.Xeno and Kobayashi, having had enough of Bergenheis' talk, attack and kill him on the spot.
As his body melts away, the only thing left behind is an amulet which bears a curious symbol...
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