Balefire leads the small group through a huge wood-backed mirror that has been erected in Teskil's old throne-room and into a small room with a velvet-curtained wall. The room smells faintly sweet, and those with enhanced senses will recognize the scent as a very expensive and fashionable men's cologne. The ceiling of the small room is vaulted and gilded, and the walls covered with ornate wooden paneling, but there is not much time to examine the chamber before Balefire pushes aside the velvet curtain on the wall and reveals another mirror, which she again leads you through.The mirror leads into darkness; then a faint crimson glow begins to make shapes appear. The radiance seems to burn like a flame within Balefire's crystalline body, and for the first time you can see the sigils and runes etched on the inside of her translucent "flesh," glowing amber from the light within."Disturb nothing ÷ this was the shortest route, but it is not ours."The dimly lit room is a great, vaulted chapel. Balefire's ruby radiance plays lightly over the glittering golden sun raised behind the altar. Under your feet gold and copper has been embedded in the smooth marble floor, a great Sunrose stretching from side to side of the vast chamber. Its rays vanish into those shadows that her light does not penetrate. Balefire murmurs a familiar word ÷ "Redemption" ÷ and the group suddenly stands in a great chamber filled with hundreds of fine musical instruments. The room is lit by firelight from another chamber, where four columns of flame seem to erupt endlessly from the floor."Few humans have come here," Balefire notes as she leads you past the shelves and racks of instruments both familiar and foreign, and into a hallway that leads away from the chamber of fire. "Only Thacarias ever grew up here." She presses against the ornately carved wall at the end of the hall and leads you through a small chamber dominated by a large throne, its legs carved into the shape of snarling skeletal hounds, its seat a curving vertebrae, the back huge arching ribs. Through another long hall, stairs, and into a room painted scarlet and filled wall-to-wall with books. The gilded titles, shining briefly as Balefire passes, catch your eye ÷ the shelves are filled with tome upon tome about vampires and the undead. But she moves you on, into a vermilion room filled with books on natural history, though another corridor into a vert room filled with books on political history, through a winding corridor, and on and on ... and gradually the group realizes that every inch of wall and ceiling space that is not covered with shelves of books or artworks or other curios is carved with tiny words ÷ names, descriptions, some sort of great, endless story. But there is no sign of other gargoyles.Finally, Balefire leads you down a huge winding stairwell ÷ no, it is actually two stairwells that twist around each other, never touching, a double helix ÷ and down into a huge natural cavern, the first such that you've seen in the gargoyles' Catacombs. As you descend into it you can see two pools of water at the edges of the cavern, and smell the faint scent of salt that indicates that the sea is near. The cavern is lit by small colored glass lanterns placed in small nooks and crannies all around the walls ÷ walls covered with that same small script that covers the rest of the Catacombs.Here are assembled all of the gargoyles that were nowhere else to be found ÷ a crowd of beasts carved out of a full spectrum of stone and jewel, some painted, some etched or gilded, some hideous, some beautiful, some as large as horses and others as small as newts. Emperor Adalane looms against one wall, great wings folded against his back, draconian body curled in serpentine coils and serving as a perch for a number of the smaller gargoyles."This is the Darkgather," Balefire murmurs to you as you descend into the cold, unnaturally still crowd. "This is where we ratified the Treaty with the Persifal and the old Archon of Cislunar."Heads swivel to follow you and Balefire as she leads you through a labyrinth of stone bodies, and to one wall of the cavern. There the script stops abruptly, and blank wall stretches into the darkness. A gargoyle made of blue-veined marble and shaped something like a praying mantis with a dragon's scales and a bird's face stands there with a golden pen. It bows ÷ a complex movement of multiply jointed limbs ÷ to Balefire, who gestures you into place at the front of the gargoyle assembly. You see other familiar figures there ÷ Rudior and Hubertillac stand near you, as does Griegor. All three look somber.Balefire turns to address the assembly, still glowing like a slender, rune-covered flame."We are the ones who stand between earth and sky. We are the ones who stand between darkness and light. We are the ones who stand between death and life. We are the ones who stand between.""We are the ones who stand between," the assembly replies in a deep, sonorous rumble that shakes through your bones, like a mountain getting up to walk."We do not blink, so we do not forget. We do not sleep, so we do not forget. We do not age, so we do not forget. We do not forget.""We do not forget," the assembly replies."We are the guardians of memory.""We are the guardians of memory."Balefire lifts her hands."Free Gargoyles. We stand here again too soon after our last gathering. One of ours has been shattered, and we must now collect the shards. Thacarias Pelindar came to us broken and left us broken. But while he lived he walked our halls and read our books and learned our ways, and his is part of our Story. We have recorded half of his Story here already. We are gathered now to record the rest. There are vampires among us tonight. They are also part of our Story. Tonight they will tell us what we do not know about Thacarias Pelindar ÷ my apprentice, our ambassador, and the only human to have grown up in our domain. Their words will join the others here recorded. We will not forget.""We will not forget!" affirms the assembly.She turns to the mantis-like gargoyle."Scribe?"The mantis bows again and sets the edge of the golden pen to the wall. Balefire turns back to you."You must tell us the truth, but you may tell it in any way you feel comfortable. Tell us Thacarias' story so that others will be able to read it and learn from it."Who will begin?"
Thacarias Pelindar, after becoming a vampire.