Etag is dying.  You see that now.  He says, "The Black Curse will take me.  There is no possible way for me to have the healing done now."  His eyes droop a moment.  His lips are dark with congealed blood, as are his fingertips.  His eyes seem shadowy and bloodshot.  "I must speak of things before I die.  You must survive."

He coughs and then looks at the bloody sputum in his hand.  "I have only hours, and the delirium and insanity will rob my brain even before then."

He takes a deep breath.  Speaking only comes with effort.  "I must tell you of the Telling of the Three, and of this mountain, and these lands, and all the changes wrought among them."  He pauses, squinting in pain, and then says, "Changes wrought by you, I think."  He nods toward Borimer and Kahan.  "You wield the Deathbane and the Godslayer.  I knew you would come."

He tries to hold his head up proudly for a moment and says, "My name is Faerl Yorthaeyorn, as I told you.  But I am called 'Etag' because long ago I reversed the gate."

He points toward the chasm.  "I asked you about Tienna, yes?  Your companion Hatchman said you come from the Krusark Kingdom, and King Thresh III sits on the throne.  He said the king was still alive.  But you," he says, pointing to Kahan and Borimer, "indicated the king was dead.  King Krusark, yes?  Your groups, wherever they came together here, did not come from the same Tiennas.  Remember that I told you: 'This is very troubling.  Neither or your stories matches the correct historical account of Tienna at the time of the Kuvlah Tah, which will not take place for another thousand years.  And the fact that your stories do not match each other means the Telling of the Three was true.'  Remember that?"

He points to the sky outside the cave.  "What do you see?"

Squinting, you see a moon rising above the peaked mountains.  "That," Etag says, "is Tienna.  You said it was destroyed, but it isn't.  Not yet.  That event will not occur for another thousand years.  You have traveled from there to here, but also from then to now.  Events now can change the future of Tienna, as you and Hatchman have shown.  But this also means that when I closed the Gates of Time, I was too late.  The changes already came.  They were perhaps inevitable.  I see it in your appearances here.  I see it in the revival of this Black Curse.  I see it in the earthquakes and opening of chasms in the mountain you just traversed.  These are not coincidences.  I came here for a purpose.  To find you.  And warn you."

He begins coughing.  "I need water," he says.  "I need water."  Cough.  "Then I can say more."  He looks at you, but he is becoming weaker, his eyes squinting.

He stops and coughs.

"This is overwhelming for you all at once, but there are what we call Markers in time beyond which any portal cannot open backwards.  Anything before that Marker is set in stone, you might say.  Except that the Gates of Time allowed the Gods to change even markers.  I was guided to the Gates and closed them, but I was too late.  The changes in the past happened before I could get there, and now are forever in place.  I know his name, the name of the one who started this calamity.  He went through the Gate before me.  His name was Tarimar.  He was an understudy of a wizard, the same wizard who trained me.  That wizard's name is Azaron Ashe.  Ashe is mastering portals of time and space.  He says time and space are inextricably bound.  I do not know how this can be, but it is so."

He coughs again, takes some more water.

"His last experiment, though, resulted in a transfer of magics from Tienna to Allevia.  This upset the balance and continuity of the worlds.  You are probably aware of this in your world.  You have tales of the magic and dragons suddenly disappearing from Tienna.  This was because of Ashe, and that was...was...when was the Marker set?  It was...oh, the times are not clear in my head.  It would have been twenty years ago or so, maybe thirty or forty.  And the last Marker set in place just 8 years ago.  Between the influx of magic in Ashe's experiment and the travel and havoc wrought by Tarimar--whatever he did--the face of Allevia is forever changed.  Ecosystems are unrecognizable in places.  Old plagues are rising again.  Dragons rise from their slumber, and creatures have been called from otherworldly chasms.  There is a desert changed to pure glass, mountains have fallen to valleys, and mists have changed to poison.  Most of the world still remains as it was, but the pockets of destruction are there where the magic came through strongest."

He takes a sip of water.  "Does any of this make sense to you?  You must understand so you know what you must do.  So you can know about the Telling of the Three."

Etag coughs again.  The drow is looking worse by the minute.

"Let me be brief," he says.  "First, this plague will spread unless you find Unther.  He is a gnome in the hamlet of Chikaar, at the base of these mountains.  These gnomes you rescued probably know him and can get you in his good graces if you save them.  Unther knows the ways of old.  The Black Curse originated in these mountains before being eradicated.  Unther knows how to heal it.  Sadly, time is insufficient for me.  But you will all catch it soon, so you must find him before it takes you."

You remember Malissin dying just one or two days ago from the Black Curse.  It has already taken one of your group.

"You must take Unther some Lathia berries, also called 'Earth Berries,' and he knows the spell to cast on them that will cure the disease.  Lathia are plentiful in certain parts of the world, but are scarce around here.  They heal most anything when eaten, but their power does not last long when removed from the branches--10 or maybe 15 minutes.  But if you soak them Earthsilver, it will preserve their power even longer, up to a day.  Earthsilver is that healing water that flows in the land.  It is rarely found together with Lathia, but they are both found within this mountain."

He nods toward the cave entrance, which goes back deep and dark into the mountain.

"There is only one problem.  As you descend, you will not only see the handiwork of many wizards and men, you will see the object of their attention.  A great wyrm is stirring within this mountain.  Your arrival here has disrupted enough to alert his senses to something odd entering the world."

He stops to begin coughing again, his hands now shaking slightly.

"This wyrm, a great dragon, slumbers in a lake of Earthsilver, while Lathia grows on the ledges around him.  This heals him constantly.  Warriors have sought him out, thinking that to kill him and take his scales for use as shields will save them from harm.  Wizards have many theories themselves.  You must pass him to escape this mountain.  It will not be easy.  It has never been done.  Even the giants shun this mountain."

The drow begins breathing heavily and places his hand on his forehead to take a break for a moment.

Then he says, "It will be especially hard to get these gnomes safely through.  Do you understand what must be done?"
* * *

"I am correct that you know Azaron Ashe, right?  He was the one who sent me, but he would not give me your names.  We have been scribing a history of the world and prophecies of the future based on our travels in time and space.  Ashe plans on calling them the Xren Codex, but he insists on having them written in Ancient Allevian so that he cannot stumble upon it himself and read it."

The drow pauses, as if understanding that further explanation is necessary.  "By stumble upon it, I mean that Ashe has been in many places and many times, and has lived longer than any man, elf, drow, or dwarf, supplemented by longevity potions and spells.  He has mastered time and space and all magics related thereto, and overall he intends to do good, though I suspect he wants to eventually be admitted into the pantheon of the gods.  But he does not want his younger self--in the future--to stumble upon things he oughtn't to know.  Not until he is ready.  You have met him and understand his ways, yes?"

* * *
Etag says, "The wyrm's name is Ozymandius.  From the tales of the few who have survived, the dragon is quite mad and has no honor or goodness left in it, if there ever was any.  I fear you will have to kill it.  To do so, you will need to draw it away from its healing lake.  I have never been in the mountain, and know little more than what I've said.  I came to these mountains through a different route."

At the end of his words, movement catches your attention, and you look across the fallen bridge to the giants' cave.  The giants have regrouped, and they begin scaling down the mountain.

Etag says, "The giants will not forget your escape, and their pride is great.  They will likely scale this mountain to fight you here, but they will not enter the mountain of Ozymandius.  In any case, their descent and ascent here will take many hours, likely over a day.  You can--"

He pauses in a fit of coughing.

"You can rest here safely for 12 hours, maybe a little more."

He coughs again.  "Give me a few minutes rest, and I will tell you of the Telling of the Three."  His eyes droop closed as he begins to breathe heavily once more.

"There is a pool of Earthsilver down there."  He points deeper into the darkness of the cave.  "This is where I made preparations before coming to find you, and I remember it.  It will heal your wounds before you rest.  As you travel Allevia, you will find that Earthsilver can be found in some caverns and caves, places where the sun and air will not quickly take away its power.  And the healing Lathia, or Earth Berries, are found in the outdoors, growing here or there.  They are only rarely found in caves or places where the sun will not reach.  That is why the lair of Ozymandius is unique.  It has both in the same spot."

He touches his forehead, reaching into memory.  "The name Ozymandius was given to the dragon by the builders of the pyramids many centuries ago.  Because of the deserts of their land, some say that Ozymandius is a blue dragon that came from the deserts and breaths lightning.  Yet there are others who say blue dragons do not reside in mountains, and that it is a green dragon that breathes poisonous gas.  Other rumors say it is a red dragon that has just been tainted by the waters so that its colors have faded, and that it breathes fire.  As you can tell, the reports are inconsistent.  But I believe the more common and reliable reports indicate that the dragon is of a reddish, amber or brownish color, indicating perhaps fire or acid.  Perhaps it is a yellow dragon if it truly originated in the desert.  I simply know rumors, not enough facts to be of help.  It is an ancient dragon, and perhaps knows spells.  No one has denied that."

[Private to Kahan Singh: I took the name from an episode of Breaking Bad, and recalled it being a poem and ancient Egyptian pharoah.  So it has no further meaning than that.]
Etag looks at Kahan.  "You may prepare as you wish for the giants, but they will not go beyond this cave.  They fear Ozymandius and will not proceed further than here.  As long as you are not here when they arrive, you should be safe from them."

He says to Tahldar, "Your world is not so different.  Drow are despised here as well in most places, and with good reason.  But there are a few of us who have broken away for the betterment of this world, and who seek goodness."

Etag leans against the wall, his leg starting to tremble.

"The Telling of the Three is an ancient fable, but like many fables, it is rooted in truth.  The 'Three' are Fate, Time, and Will.  Eons ago, the gods decided that their will is an absolute and should guide the universe.  They call their will 'Fate' because it is what must happen absent interference of the other two.  They put Fate like boat in a river called Time, for it to flow with a current and ensure Fate reaches its destination.  But to their creations they granted free will.  This is Will, and it can be rocks in the river, dams that stop the flow, or even tributaries leading to different branches of Fate.  The gods were pleased by this unpredictability."

Etag stops, face grimaced in pain, as his arm begins to spasm.  It slows, and he continues:

"Some of the gods began to gamble and create various fates to place bets on, each wanting Will and Time to push the boat of fate in their direction.  But this created wrath, dissention, and a divide among the gods.  They each became ruler of their own domains--the planes, the hells, the heavens."

He stops and coughs, blood coming out and onto his hand.

"One of the less noble gods, whose name varies depending on the person telling the tale, determined another way to make Fate go his way.  He created the Gates of Time.  Through this, the boat of Fate could be put back up the river and futures could be changed.  But it had an undesired effect.  The Fates were never meant to exist simultaneously.  Changing that boat -- what you would call The Present -- brings with it changes.  The gods forever banned the use of the Gates of Time but could not destroy them since they were created by a god.  The gods obeyed this law, but not so their creations.  The wizard Azaron Ashe, my mentor, obeyed this law, but his other pupil, Tarimar, did not.  He went through the Gates, disrupting the world at the last Marker before I could devise a way to close them more permanently.  And now you will see things in this world that were never meant to be."

Etag stops to grimace in pain before continuing.

"Knowing of this folly, and yet of their promise to allow free will, the gods devised the Reckoning, known among these gnomes and their dwarf cousins as the 'Kuvlah Tah.'  It is a function of destruction and rebirth, and we mortals are caught in its stream.  There is a force created by the gods; it is a force that can overcome all other forces and laws; it is the primary force of creation and destruction; it is the force created for the gods to put the Kuvlah Tah into effect, and it resonates through our worlds, Tienna and Allevia.  We call this force ‘magic,’ and it is meant to be in balance – what is called the Kish Gilah -- but when it is not, it is destructive.  It mars the membranes of realities and of the planes.  When you saw Tienna destroyed, it was because the rush of magic created a Kuvlah Tah so strong that it destroyed the entire world, and sucked the magic dry from this world, Allevia.  That was pure Kuvlah Tah, but what happened when Tarimar went through the Gates of Time is that it formed a warped and mutated magic upon the land.  It will kill Allevia if not stopped, much more slowly – but just as surely – as it destroyed Tienna.  But it makes the world a sick and unnatural place.”

He winces in pain and coughs violently.

“To keep the Kuvlah Tah in balance, the Five Pillars were created by the gods.  Each has two incarnations imbued in objects--artifacts.  And you carry at least two of them that I have seen.  You have heard of the Five Pillars, yes?”

He waits for an answer while wincing in pain.

Etag says, "A pillar has a foundation and supports a structure above.  So it is with the Five Pillars.  There is an object imbued with magic forming a foundation and supporting each of the Five Pillars.  The Five Pillars themselves are:

First, power over life and death.
Second, strength greater than mortal flesh.
Third, power over time and space.
Fourth, the power of cunning and wisdom of the gods.
And fifth, the power of persuasion over will.

"The artifacts were scattered and their identities lost with time, except for a few entrusted with knowledge.  The gods did not see good in having them all in one place and in one possession because the power would be too great.  If all the artifacts are brought together, they result in crushing the Gates of Time and resetting the world to its original state.  This can be good or bad, for whoever brings the artifacts together will himself become a god to rule in dominion over the two worlds for good or ill, and the artifacts will be scattered again."

Etag looks over at the objects scattered on the ground by Kahan.  He coughs violently, squints, and points.

"I see here you have the Sceptre of Shi'iki and the Dagger of Ikishi.  These are the artifacts for the First Pillar."  He points to Borimer's sword and Kahan's mace.  You also have the Godslayer and Deathbane, the two artifacts for the Second Pillar.  And you have the Eye of the World and the Eye of Tarsek, both artifacts for the Third Pillar.  And the Berillian Brooch, an artifact of the Fourth Pillar.  It appears you have only three more artifacts to collect."

He coughs, begin spasming slightly, and says, "There is one more problem.  You have come back in time with these objects.  This means that they each exist twice -- the seven in your possession and the entire ten that exist in this current time.  Therefore, there are, for example, two Godslayers in this time -- the one you possess and the one that is out there...somewhere."

His leg begins shaking, and he holds it down with one hand.  "I must be quick.  Seek out Tenvillah.  He is a gnome scholar in the village below this mountain.  Seek to get in his good favor.  He may require you to prove your worthiness of his trust, and part of that will be delivering as many gnomes here as possible safely back to their village."

He nods to the gnomes you have saved -- those who have survived, that is.

"Tenvillah also knows how to cure the Black Curse, and you will need to bring the following to him."  He pulls out a piece of parchment and hands it to you.  His hand is shaking and mottled with dark pools of blood.

"I have...little time.  Take Marty to...  Beware the man with the white hair."  His face contorts in pain.  His words appear to be nonsense now.  "Climb the Talon.  Cross the Sea of Glass.  Find the gnome brothers who speak as one.  The Xren Codex will..."  His voice fades as he winces in pain.

Then he suddenly says, "It is over."  He mumbles to himself, and his entire body, including his spellbook and his clothes, become engulfed in flame.  He runs to the edge of the cliff near the rope bridge and jumps off.  You might expect screams or yells, or even the sound of impact, but you hear nothing.