Year 70

As the years go by, you know that day is coming soon that you won't and shouldn't keep Tulla sheltered from the surface too much longer. Granted you'll still be with her when that day comes, but having been to the surface every once in a while to keep apprised of the situation, Delerg still isn't exactly the friendliest place.

Victor dumped so much into the campaign to conquer Delerg he's been trying to get the most out of it by rebuilding Sinkhole into a proper town (Calling it Triumph). Apparently he's also decided to make more plans to develop the area namely by chopping down the jungle to the south and to the east. This has been slow going though especially to the east which you know full well just how hostile the jungle flora and fauna get in that direction. (Oddly he hasn't decided to expand north which is just as well since he'd probably call for the temple's ruins to be dug up or built over, or something similar and you'd have to deal with his troops more directly.) As a result of all this redevelopment he's not only got the pitiful remains of the enslaved Delergites working day and night, but he's also imported many of his subjects from Quala to do work as well. A lot of these seem to be prisoners of varying types. Some are genuine criminals like murderers and thieves. Most though just couldn't pay their taxes and it was either this or as a conscript to serve on one of the war fronts that Victor is engaged in with other Quala warlords.

Amusingly you're no longer on the "wanted list." An eternal captain by the name of Brom that runs the military garrison in Triumph claims he killed you during the final battle for Delerg. (In fact that's how he got his current promotion) You're not exactly sure how he "proved" this, but you're guessing he just threw a black cloak on some dead body, destroyed the face to the point of recognition and made everything up.

Naturally he brags quite a bit about doing it. You're not sure what's funnier, the fact that he's lying about it, or the fact that he managed to fool everyone into believing his lie (Including Victor, apparently).

In any event, it doesn't bother you since it makes life easier without some angry warlord trying to hunt you down. Besides you've got enough on your mind just looking after Tulla.

"Come on, get your head out of those books, its time for your training." You say to Tulla.
"But we train all the time! Can't I just finish this one book?" Tulla whines.
"No! We have to keep to a schedule. Now let's get to it."

Tulla puts away her book in defeat and leaves the library to head to the training room. It's been more of an effort to get her to do her training lately.

"Why do I have to train so hard? You never let me go up to the surface anyway." Tulla says.
"And you won't be going up to the surface until I'm confident that you can take care of yourself. I know you think I'm just being mean, but trust me what I'm doing is going to ensure your survival. I won't always be around, you know."

Tulla doesn't reply to your remark she just picks up her wooden sword and gets into the fighting stance you've been teaching her. You and her spar for a few moments and fortunately despite her less than enthusiastic desire to be here, she does not slack off and proves to be absorbing everything you've been teaching her all these years.

"Good. Glad to see you're taking this seriously. Now let's try something new." You say and change up your style. You tell Tulla to pay attention.

An hour later you and her are taking a break. Though it's mainly for you. Every damn bone in your body aches and the ravages of time never let you forget that your earlier years of near perpetual combat have taken their toll.

"Are you okay uncle?" Tulla asks in concern.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just old war wounds acting up as usual. We'll pick up training again in a few minutes."

While you lay prone recovering, Tulla decides to be inquisitive as usual.

"Uncle, did you train as hard as this when you were my age?" Tulla asks.
"Heh heh…I was trained harder than you at an even younger age." You chuckle.
"Was it the shadows who trained you so hard?"
"Not at first. It was some sadistic svelk bitch that called herself Mistress. She trained me up until I was twelve, and then I was transferred over to the shadows."
"Oh. So is that when you learned magic?"
"Yeah I learned it eventually. Never really liked using it though."
"I would like to use magic like a shadow! I've read you could turn yourself in invisible, make yourself really fast or even walk like a spider on a ceiling!"
"Yeah some of it was pretty handy I guess. Haven't been able to use any in years though.
"Because Dendrin doesn't like you anymore?"
"Not exactly…but something like that…yes."

You've explained a little bit about Dendrin to Tulla in the past, you don't think she fully understands all of it, but you do know that she spends a lot of time reading the old tomes about shadow history and such. Which is why she's been getting increasingly more curious about him and the shadows in general. She probably would like to hear a more personal view of the organization.

A view you don't even want to get into anytime soon. So you try to change the subject.

"Alright, we've rested enough, let's get back to it." You say getting off the floor.

Just as you're about to begin, Tulla makes a statement.

"It's a shame you and Dendrin don't get along anymore. If you did, you could teach me shadow magic and it would help me survive better."

You say nothing and just tell her to focus on defending herself. Tulla complies, but she's not the one that's preoccupied, you are. The remark she's just made is going to be the first step in a long series of questions and problems. You know she's going to eventually ask why can't she become a shadow. They already intrigue her the more she reads the books.

What are you going to do? Tell her she can't read anymore? Put further restrictions on her? The whole point of this is to make her independent and avoid sheltering her.

You dwell on this for the rest of day and until you manage to fall asleep…

Nothing happens. You fully expected Dendrin to visit and give some sort of "sagely" advice and most likely try to convince you to let Tulla become a shadow, but he doesn't.

Weeks go by while you're still struggling with this decision and you still get no visit from Dendrin. This is one of the rare times you'd actually wish he'd show up and try to convince you just so you'd have a compass of doing the exact opposite. Of course maybe he doesn't care. He did say he was bored of the shadows for centuries after all.

In the end this isn't up to him. This decision is on you. Tulla's interest in the shadows is only going to increase and you're going to have to let her find her own way or nip it in the bud now. The problem is despite all your own prejudices against Dendrin and the shadow religion in general, you'd be a complete hypocrite if you didn't admit that the training did provide you with the means of surviving this long. The shadow magic also helped in that endeavor. Even Tulla made that connection.

Tulla already shows much promise combat wise. If she could cast magic, she'd probably become very powerful indeed.

You don't allow it

Forbidding her to do anything or restricting her is only going to cause her to resent you even more or worse run away completely. You aren't going to let her be a shadow and become some indoctrinated idiot with no mind of her own though.

There's only one solution you can come up with, you're going to have to leave this place and live elsewhere. If the temptation isn't readily available then it the desire for it may eventually go away. Well you hope at least.

But where could you go? Its not like the surrounding areas are exactly all that friendly. The only places you can think of that might be relatively free of strife are the Nalin Empire and the Felkan Kingdom.

The Nalin Empire is closer since you'd only have to travel through part of Quala. It's still run by Matron Warden Brenda, and from what you know she keeps it pretty orderly and safe. It's somewhat amusing to think that you'd be running to a place that is basically the last remnants of the old Empire. Your only real concern with going there is that Brenda's as old as you and you've heard rumors that her second in command Tarna is a very ambitious woman. You might end up heading to a place that will either be going on a war of conquest or even suffering a civil war soon.

The Felkan Kingdom is a much longer trek and you'd have to travel through Quala and Arat, which is daunting prospect given how dangerous both places are. You also don't know much about the Felkan Kingdom save for the propaganda that the Empire told everyone which probably means it isn't that bad of a place. It still exists so you're guessing it's fairly stable.

In any case you'll figure it out later, right now you have to make preparations.

When you tell Tulla the news that you need to leave this place and go to the surface her reaction is a mixture of confusion and joy. Confusion to as why it is so urgent to leave, but joy that she's finally getting to leave. You make up a story of saying you've been noticing Victor's people scouting the topside of the temple ruins lately and how you think its only a matter of time before they try to either start digging or collapse the place on you. This excuse seems to work.

Tulla of course tries to pack some books with her, but you tell her to leave such things, as you need to go quickly and travel light. She complains a bit, but after you raise your voice slightly, she capitulates.

"Okay, I'm ready to go uncle. Do you think it's raining? I hope so, I really miss the rain." Tulla remarks.
"Well, we'll know soon enough, but I need to do one more thing first. Wait by the entrance, I'll be there shortly."

While Tulla waits, you head into the garden one last time.

"Talia, I'm leaving now and I probably won't be returning this time. I wish there was some other way, but I just can't allow Tulla to become a shadow. I need to take her out of this place. Its for the best anyway, can't allow her to become sheltered."

You move closer to Talia's grave.

"I'll continue to honor your memory even though I won't be here anymore. I promise. I love you you…goodbye." You say and kneel down to touch her grave before leaving.

Immediately after you and Tulla leave the temple, she happily takes in the outside scenery.

"The sky! The trees! Its all as wonderful as I remembered!" she says.
"Yeah, well keep the joy to a minimum, Delerg's become an even less friendly place than you probably remember too. We need to keep a low profile until we reach our destination."
"So what is our destination?" Tulla asks.

You travel to the Nalin Empire

The Nalin Empire is closer and quite frankly you're too damn old to be sneaking around on long extended trips nowadays.

"The Nalin Empire? Are you sure? I thought you told me it was run by an eternal." Tulla says.
"It is, but she's like me. She's a first gen and given that she's run the place for several decades without any attacks or other major problems it's one of the more stable places I can think of."

Your journey out of Delerg is fortunately without conflict. Your journey through Quala isn't however, though you're lucky enough to not get harassed by any professional soldier types and its just bandits.

Tulla does well against them, you don't do too bad yourself considering your age, but during the fight it's never been more apparent of how old you actually are.

"You okay uncle?" Tulla asks you after the battle.
"Yeah…(pant)…just…well like I've said before. I'm just old. Though I can honestly say, I'm proud of you and glad to see that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself. Now let's loot these sons of bitches and hope they actually robbed some people before their pathetic attempt on us. I'm pretty sure we're going to need some money when we get to Nalin."

When you eventually arrive in Nalin, you make your way to Dalt, which is one of the major cities in the land. Tulla is in awe. Most of her life has been spend underground in practical isolation. She's never seen anything so busy, everything is almost overwhelming, but she seems to enjoy it. The funny thing is, you're pretty much in the same situation as Tulla. Most of your life has been spent away from civilization and in isolation. Even when you were around other shadows you were still alone. Unlike Tulla though, you don't feel comfortable here.

"Uncle this place is amazing! There's so much here to do!"
"Mm, well keep in mind that while this place isn't Delerg or Quala, there are still dangers here. Perhaps more subtle ones. Here." You hand over what valuables you have to Tulla.

"Now with this stuff, you can probably get a room at a quality inn for quite a while. I imagine you'd probably be able to get a job as a serving girl easily, but I doubt that's something you'd want to do. So I suggest maybe something in the local security or maybe even the recruiting office. Given most of female soldier types I've noticed stomping around here, I don't think they'd turn you away due to gender. Age maybe, but after you prove what you're capable of, I don't think you'll have any problems."

You give Tulla a hug though she seems confused.

"Uncle, I don't understand."
"Tulla, this is your chance to start a new life. I wish you all the best with it, but this…" you make hand motions at the buildings around you. "This isn't me. I wanted to bring you to a place where you can have a normal life, well as normal as it can get anyway. And I have. As for me, I'm too old to change and get accustomed to new situations."
"But where will you go?"
"Oh, I'll be around. You don't think I'd just abandon you completely do you? I just won't be here. Besides, I noticed when we took that short cut through the woods; we passed a run down old cabin on the way here. Pretty sure it's abandoned. Seems like it would be a good place to spend my remaining years."

You give Tulla a hug. Tulla returns your hug and kisses you on the cheek, promising to visit you at some point when she gets the chance.

You leave the city and return to the abandoned cabin you mentioned to Tulla. The place is indeed abandoned. Needs some fixing up, but you can get to that tomorrow, its been a long past couple days and you're glad to have proper place to sleep for a change…

"You really think this is what's best for Tulla? Encouraging her to become some common soldier? A soldier of a government for all intents and purposes is a remnant of what you spent your life fighting against?" Dendrin asks.
"Yeah, I'm amused by the irony myself." You say. "But I believe she will thrive in this environment or least she'll have a better chance than where she was."
"If you'd gotten past your irrational prejudices, and allowed Tulla to become a shadow she would've thrived a lot better no matter what environment she was in.
"And that's what you're really pissed about isn't it? You were hoping that the shadows would be resurrected somehow with Tulla? Well sorry to disappoint you, but the shadows die with me and as far as I'm concerned they already died long ago."
"You short sighted fool, this wasn't about Tulla, this was a chance for you to finally achieve something worthwhile in your miserable life!"
"Yeah, well I've never been here to impress you, so if I'm no longer a source of amusement or interest to you I guess you can start leaving me alone finally."
"I suppose so. You're a great disappointment Eternal."
"I'm sure I am."

And that's the last time you ever hear from Dendrin ever again.

In the months to follow you spend fixing up your cabin and generally living a simple life. Tulla comes and visits you as she promised. The next time you see her she's in a soldier's uniform. Apparently she made an impression. She mentions that the Nalin Empire is always on the look out for new recruits anyway.

A couple years pass and the ruler of Nalin dies. Apparently Brenda committed suicide, but given how ambitious her second is, you wonder if Tarna didn't have anything to do with it. You briefly have a concern that Nalin will be plunged into civil war, but fortunately Tarna keeps the Empire together and it was never in such danger. Tarna is perhaps s a little stricter than Brenda is, not that it matters to you since you live a self-sufficient life in the middle of nowhere and have a "daughter" in the army. The only thing you ever have problems with is competing with the nearby kobold tribe for game.

Tulla still visits you from time to time, but the visits get rare due to her responsibilities, but you don't mind. She's living her life after all and that's what you always wanted for her.

 into decades and you live long enough to see the Nalin Empire embark on a war of conquest of Quala. You know Tulla was sent to the front lines because she made one last visit before leaving. You wished her luck as you always do, but you know better than anyone that war is an ugly business and death can come at any time.

You never do see her again. You never know if she was killed or if she was just on assigned elsewhere.

Eventually your last remaining years are spent as you most often lived: Alone and your thoughts mostly revolving around Talia. With your last dying breath you tell her that you'll be joining her soon.