Jahnoth is sitting crosslegged on the floor, deep in meditation, eyes closed.

As you sit in meditation, calling for Sol to hear you and bless you, you feel...
A Presence...

Jahnoth slowly opens his eyes, regarding the presence he feels.

And sees nothing. The Presence is all around you, but it is not incarnate. It is
strong, and more than a little frightening.

You feel... a tugging. The Presence seems to be drawing you out of your body,
pulling at your soul.

Jahnoth closes his eyes again as he feels this... tugging. He lets it slowly
pull him away.

You hear a booming voice, not out loud, but not telepathic, somehow resounding
through you, "Good, good... Come to me, my son... Come to me..."

Darkness(#11894RJ) Jahnoth has arrived.  Jahnoth breathes a little deeper, "I am
here...."

You drift for what seems like ages of the world, through darkness, arriving at
darkness... The Presence is around you, but stronger now, taking shape...

Jahnoth tries to feel out with his senses.

Suddenly, a Light pierces the darkness, a burning, fierce light, full of power.
You are in Sol's presence, and He holds you in His hand.

Jahnoth looks around, then down in reverence, "Mighty Sol." His voice a whisper.

Sol grins wider. The grin is decidedly predatory. "So, my child. You wish to be
tested... You know the dangers?"

Jahnoth nods his head, confident and frightened at the same time. "I do."

Sol rumbles, louder than the seas, "Good. But first, there is a choice you must
make." He places his other hand beside the one you stand on, then pulls them
apart. You feel a rending in your whole being, and when you are aware again you
are looking at Sol from _both_ hands. You look at yourself, and you are in both
your Dragon form, in his left hand, and your Dimoh-Khiu, in his right.

Looking a bit stunned at seeing himself seeing himself, Jahnoth looks, with both
heads to Sol. "What choice?"

Sol booms out, "What are you, Serpen or Verdimm? If you wish to follow the path
of the outseiders, you may not follow mine. If I will test you, you must be of
Crinos. _CHOOSE_!"

A bow and arrow made of flame appear in Jahnoth's Dimo-Khu forms. He takes aim
at his Dragon form and lets the arrow fly, striking himelf in the neck. He
immediately drops the bow, which disappears, as he gags slightly. His voice is
then proud, "I am Verdimm!"

You feel intense pain, first as your throat is pierced by an arrow of flame,
then as your body is incinerated in an unimaginable blast of heat. When you
return to your senses, you see Sol's left hand empty, and realize what happened.

Sol rumbles, like the shift of the earth, "Good... Good... If you take the form
of the Serpen again, you will die. Other forms are your choice, for I recognize
that your blood is not pure, but not that one. You understand?"

Fighting back a small wail, Jahnoth falls to his knees from the pain, then from
shock. He closes his eyes as a sweat froms all over his body. "I understand."

Sol nods. "Then it is time. I will send you now to the plains, near a
Ret-Ti-Senek lair. You will enter the ancient city you find there, and will go
into the one building that is still standing. I'll tell you no more. If you
fail, you will die. Are you ready?"

Jahnoth nods and stands, "I am. The only building standing."

You say "Very well. One more thing: the city is in the spiritual control of my
Great Enemy. You will learn much of them. I cannot guard you against that. Be
strong in mind. Once you have entered the building, leave the city as soon as
you are able. I cannot visit you within.""

Butte overlooking the ruined city in Crinos(#1436RJ) The grass of the far
eastern plain ripples gently around this hill, stirred by a near-constant wind
that blows in from the east. To the south of this butte, the Wolune' river, wide
but shallow here, slices its way through the plain to the east. Large mounds of
earth towering hundreds of feet into the air fill the northern horizon, the
shapes of their occupants, the Ret-ti-Senek, seen milling about their bases.
Surrounded by these earthen towers lies the profusely overgrown ruins of a once
great city, the stone walls and proud towers now crumbled for the most part.
The light of day brings out the life of the plains, as the sun rides slowly
across the sky, another day in the winter. The sky is clear.

Jahnoth has arrived.  Jahnoth looks slowly around, all his sense at the ready
for anything.

You find yourself on teh outskirts of this city, watching the scurrying Ret's.

Jahnoth quickly searches for the one building standing.

The building is not visibile from here, only the ruins of the once-great city.

Jahnoth makes his way quickly down toward the city. As he does so, he shifts
into his Dimo-Khu form if he isn't in it already.

Before you have gone very far, many, many worker Ret's seem to notice you. They
all line up in two parrallel rows, with enough space between them for one
person, along the line you were about to take into the city...

Thundersnow sees the lined up Ret's and... smiles. A red film covers his eyes as
a burst of speed comes to his legs, propelling him rapidly between them. His
claws and teeth are ready for blood-letting if that is what they want.

As you run past, each Ret reaches out and nips you with their jaws. Not a
significant thing, just a very little blood, but there are _thousands_ of them.

Thundersnow takes a deep breath as he hurries along, trying to ignore the bites
as he goes, knowing who the Ret's are.

As the bites build up, you are soon bleeding from what seems like a million
wound, and are no longer running. In fact, you are working hard to walk, due
blood loss. Fortunately, you can now see the building you are going for: it is
mosque-like, and would be made of gold, you think, if it wasn't black... In
fact, everything in the city is black, the ground, the grass, the trees...
Everything except you and the Rets.

Breathing deeply, trying to conserve energy, Jahnoth puts one foot in front of
the other, keeping himself upright and proud. His gaze does not wander from his
goal... the black building. That is all his mind sees and feels now. The blood
runs down his body, but he ignores it.

Finally, when it seems you can take no more, the Rets turn and leave. You feel a
great mental presence, probably the hive Queen, and your wounds stop bleeding.
You notice, however, that the bone is showing in a few places on your legs and
hands.

Thundersnow shudders at seeing the whiteness of bone protruding from his body.
HIs gaze again returns to the building. His thoughts, "Must enter in."

As you approach the building, you notice that there is only one door, and that
it is, apparently, a solid piece of gold, with that wierd blackness covering it.
The door is carved with scenes involving Sol, both embodied and as the Sun.
There is no handle, and no opneing mechanism of any kind that you can see.

Thundersnow looks at the door for a moment, then, knowing it probably won't
work, but it won't hurt to try, "I command this door to open to me. I am on an
errand for Sol."

Thundersnow says the words with a strength of voice that he's not felt before.
As if the depths of his soul are coming to his mouth, adding strength of will to
his commands.

You feel, rather then see, the darkness reach out for you, filling you with a
sinister coldness... A part of you is still standing in the city, but a part of
you is surrounded by gibbering horrors and endless, infinite coldness, knowing
that if you stay still, you die...

Thundersnow almost allows himself to panic as he feels and hears the madness
about him. Not seeing if the door opens, he starts to claw and scrape at it,
pushing with his formidable strength as he tries to escape the darkness.

On the plain, your body attacks the door in fear. In the darkness, you stay
quite still, and the horror crowds...

Thundersnow calms himself, gathering his will again. He then attempts to project
his mind, his spirit, into the building. "Sol, I come."

You take a step forward, body and mind together. Your nose is pressed to the
building as you stop... You stop only because the horrors are clutching at you,
keeping you back...

Thundersnow takes another deep breath, trying to collect all his faculties and
will again. He focuses then onthe horrors surrounding him and commands,
"Begone."

The creatures move back jsut enough to allow you to take one step...

Thundersnow closes his eyes and takes that one step, keeping his mind and soul
full of purpose, and faith. He remains calm, then. He speaks, almost to himself.
"Sol."

You slowly move forward, your body sinking into the blackness of the building's
outer wall like a spoon into pudding. The horrors still surround you, but they
are not pulling you back. They are, however, telling you an awful lot about
their nature and their plans, apparently in an attempt to scare you... It's in
great danger of working.

Thundersnow keeps himself focuses again on his goal, on Sol. He tries his best
to ignore all that is going on around him. Though he feels a madness creeping
in.

Just as you are about to wail in despair and give up, you push through. Your
body and mind rejoin, and you find yourself in a large, high-ceilinged room. The
darkness is almost total, except for a glowing, redish yellow orb on an altar.
The shadows are beating around it most intensely. The only presence you feel is
that of the Darkness. You notice, also, that there are shelves of books all
along the round wall of the room.

Being a secret love and obsession of his, he gazes at the books for but a
second. He then looks at the orb, studying it. Realizing that this must be his
goal, he moves toward it.

You find yourself before the altar, staring into a miniature sun, apparently.
You notice the conspicuous absence of Sol's presence in the artifact.

Thundersnow tilts his head slightly as he studies the artifact. He reaches out a
hand as if to touch it, not undertanding the significance completely, but drawn
still to the power that it must represent.

The light and darkness continue their interplay.

Thundersnow reaches out and places both hands lightly on the orb. As he does so,
he calls out in a low voice, "Sol."

There is a.. wave of energy from the artifact. It suddenly occurs to you that,
while the artifact was created by Sol and holds his power, he is not actually in
contact with it, the Dark keeping him away, hence the lack of his presence. When
you look up there is a small whirlwind in front of you, a flame ot your left, a
fountain to your right, and a stone arch to your back. You hear an echo of Sol's
voice from the Orb: 'Choose'.

Thundersnow looks quickly around at the four elements, the reaches with his left
hand toward the flame. "I choose fire."

With a whoosh, you find yourself within the fire, apparently microscopic and
surrounded by a variety of elemental flame beings. Before you, in all his fiery
majesty is Bellenos. Around you sputters lava, with flames everywhere.

You say "You choose fire? Are you certain? The ways of fire are not those of
mortals..."

Thundersnow stretches his hands out to the sides. "I choose fire, Lord
Bellenos." His eyes start to flicker from within in anticipation of power and
might.

Bellenos smiles brightly. "Well, then, the choice is made. Welcome home...." And
you feel burning....

When you come to, you are still in the temple. There is an opening in the wall
where you came in, the elements are gone, and the beings of darkness are _very_
agitated...

Thundersnow rises from the floor quickly as he looks about, his hand rests
quickly on the orb, trying to contact Sol again.

Sol is still out of reach, blocked by the darkness, which appears to be
preparing to attack you... You can feel beings reaching out for you...

Thundersnow gathers himself together and bolts quickly for the door.

The door closes behind you. You run out of the city without incident, and the
few Rets you see all bow their heads briefly as you pass. Only when you have
left the black area do you notice two things: That there are stylized flames
embedded in your skin (like a tatoo but not) from your wrists to your elbows,
adn there is a handprint burnt into your chest in charred flesh...