Tale 24 told by Taniwha on 28.11.2000
Siblings

As a youth, when I wandered these Realms in search of the stories that
tempt and tease the imagination, I once found myself on the Isle of Belaern
in a strange tavern. This place, deep in the wasteland known as the Blood
Sands, had a peculiar clientele that seemed mostly made up of... well...
Those that were no longer quite of this world, or quite of the next. As I
sat there, certain a story would find me, one did. A ghoul sat down next to
me, and with a sad look on his twisted face, began to tell me the story of
his strange life."

"I've forgotten just how old I am," he said, "but I remember clear as the
waters of the Sword Sea the first day I found myself in this form. I was a
soldier in the army of the rightful king. We were fleeing his evil brother,
when something terrible happened. I will never be sure exactly how this
happened, but I remember my lord telling us that if his brother caught him,
and if something in his possession ever went into his brother's hands,
Belaern would never be the same and he and his brother both would likely
die. I can tell you this. Belaern is not the same. But the brothers are not
dead."

He wandered away after that, and ordered another Bloody Mary, leaving
me with more questions than I knew how to frame. Belaern is
certainly an isle with a strange past, and it seems that those who
seek the truth often never return. Venture deeper into the mystery
at great peril... But it is true that those who survive great adversity
often receive great reward.