A Fallen Comrade

Everyone was living more or less peaceful lives, keeping your distance from your former comrades and hoping that your past would stay firmly in the past. Sadly, it was not to be. Jerry, who was monitoring a variety of government databases for any activity related to the party's known identities, suddenly got a flurry of hits looking for information on Harry. Apparently someone had queried the FBI's IAFIS database with Harry's fingerprints, and that caused all hell to break loose. Jerry decided he'd better warn Harry that someone was on his trail, but when he called the special number for Harry, someone else answered his phone. Thoroughly spooked, Jerry went on the run.

Within a few days, an article appeared in the International Herald Tribune, describing the strange murder of an American expat in Costa Rica. Jerry put out a warning via text message to the entire party that Harry had been murdered. No one knew who might have killed Harry, although speculation centered on Socerian or his followers, Avalon, or the U.S. government. While Jerry felt that staying on the move was the best way to stay out of the crosshairs of whoever had taken out Harry, everyone else reacted by hunkering down, hoping that staying within their protected enclaves and maintaining telecom silence would keep them invisible to anyone who might be hunting them.

Phil was the first to learn the folly of this strategy. As he slept in his mountain cabin, a cinderblock came crashing through his bedroom window, followed immediately by a cloud of noxious, poisonous gas. As he struggled to the secret trapdoor in the closet that led to a ladder down to the crawlsapce and a secret exit through a concealed gulley, his picturesque chalet was pulverized by a barrage of fireballs, lightning bolts, and magic missiles. Moreover, the gas was apparently heavier than air, and quickly sank to fill his planned escape route. Near death from gas and burns, he cast a Cure Serious on himself ... and suddenly found himself in the woods outside his cabin! He had no idea how he had gotten there, but he was grateful for the narrow escape. Some 50 yards away he could see his mountain retreat in flames, still under heavy fire. The lightning bolts and fireballs seemed to be coming from somewhere in the air, although he couldn't see anyone or anything in the sky. The magic missiles were coming from half a dozen shadowy figures scattered among the trees and behind a black van (and how had that managed to get there without him hearing it?). After a few more minutes, the firing stopped and all was quiet save for the crackling flames that were quickly spreading to the surrounding forest.  Then the figures on the ground piled into the van and sped off down the access road. Phil crawled off into the woods, staying upwind to avoid the spreading forest fire.

Phil managed to hike to the nearest town, where he'd stashed his escape kit in a beat-up old pickup he kept there. He called Jerry to tell him what had happened, and they agreed to meet in Wyoming (Jerry had been headed west, staying on the move). Jerry spread the warning to the rest of the party, but they continued to trust in the safety of their prepared positions. Chuck had at least abandoned his usual home, and had gone off to a deserted cabin beside a frozen lake in upstate New York. Within a few days, he experienced a nearly identical attack to the one that had nearly killed Phil: broken window followed by poison gas, fireballs, lightning bolts, and magic missiles. Luckily, Chuck had the presence of mind to cast Slow Poison at the first sign of gas, but unlike Phil, his cabin had no pre-arranged escape route. He cast a few defensive spells, like Obscurement,  to make him harder to hit and then cast Protection from Fire to try to limit the damage from the fireballs. As he did so, like Phil he suddenly found himself some 40 yards away, watching the attack on his cabin from behind a pile of rocks. He quickly crawled away without waiting to see how it would end.

With news of the assault on Chuck, party members begain to rethink their strategy. James and Mary decided that they'd be safer at sea, and set off into the South Atlantic on their heavily armed yacht. Phil and Jerry, having joined up, decided maybe it was time to get an "outside opinion", and cast a Divination asking, "What can we do to counter this threat?". The answer came back: "Safety cannot be found in this world. You must follow the Maker of the Gate." They decided this was a clear reference to Stonehenge, which Avalon had told them was also known as Merlin's Gate. So the word went out the party: "Meet at Stonehenge".

The party began to converge on the UK from all over the world. They still kept their communications with one another to a minimum, afraid of who might be listening in, and as a result ended up scattered across a variety of hotels and inns from Marleborough to Salisbury to Bath. Mary and James settled into a comfortable hotel in Bath, and were surprised by a knock on their door. Prepared for the worst, they opened it to find Avalon standing in front of them! But it wasn't the jolly, rotund Avalon they remembered. The figure in front of them was gaunt and haggard, his manner furtive and fearful. He insisted that he needed to talk to the entire party, that they were in terrible danger. Still not completely trusting him, Mary and James agreed to call everyone together for a meeting at a nearby pub.

When the party gathered the next day, Avalon told them what had happened in Arcadia. Years ago, he had an apprentice named Twynilllios, an extremely gifted mage. He had been a student of lore about the great Merlin, and was the one who had learned how to reopen Merlin's Gate. When Socerian misused this knowlege to flee Arcadia for this world, Twynilllios blamed himself, and was instrumental in the efforts to create the Books of Power that gave the party their current abilities.  He continued to study everything he could of Merlin, and travelled through the gates to all parts of the universe, studying source of Merlin lore never seen by any one man save Merlin himself.

Ultimately Twynillios came to believe that it had been a mistake to re-open Merlin's Gate, and that all the Gates between universes should be closed, to prevent unspeakable horrors from travelling back to Arcadia. This sparked bitter debate among the High Council of Wizards, and ultimately Twynilllios led a faction of wizards in open revolt, plunging Arcadia into civil war. His supporters hold the Gate in Arcadia, and he escaped through it to pursue his ends.

Unfortunately, the Gate to Earth cannot be closed as long as the party lives, due to the arcane connection created by the Books. He escaped with at least one of his acolytes, a cleric named Abbonandi, who helped craft the clerical spells by which the gods chose who should receive the Books; he can use these same spells to track the party members infallibly. Avalon does not believe the party can defeat Twynilllios and Abbonandi without some aid. And he fears that Twynilllios' plan extends beyond simply closing the Gates - he has promised his followers that he will return with unimaginable power.

Avalon has only one hope. He knows that there is one world that Twynilllios did not visit in his travels. Merlin made a home for himself in one of the worlds. He magically protected the Gate to that world and was never heard from again. Other wizards tried to follow, but none returned. Avalon's only hope is that some secret can be found beyond that Gate that Twynilllios is unaware of. When Avalon heard the results of Phil's Divination, he was overjoyed - it seemed to confirm his instincts that the party must follow Merlin, the Maker of the Gate.