The party finds that things in Sigil are eerily similar to when they left some days ago. There are a lot of whispers, though, that were not there before: whispers of trouble in many places. Nemeroff soon resolves that he must return to his troops, as suddenly the battle against the efreeti has gone badly.

The rest of the party is called by the Great and Terrible Bone Witch to a private house somewhere towards the center of the city. She explains her abrupt disappearance: the man she had tackled was an ancient enemy, a wizard-servant of Tiamat that she had hoped to find in this place. From him, she had extracted lore that would be of use to the party.

At this place are also three others that Agon, Gromley, Harald and Zog did not recognize...

Martha and Sonliin, please introduce your characters.

Martha stands up from the chair and curtsies awkwardly. 'Pleased to meet you all', she says politely. 'My name is Martha Venger. The Great and Terrible Bone Witch believes we may of assistance to each other.'

She knows who some of these others are - has even taught about them in history class. Everyone's heard of Archmage Agon, obviously. And the paladin next to her had a familiar crest - Lord Sonlinn perhaps? An august group this!

'I received a message from Bahamut, shortly before he was killed', she reveals, deciding instantly to trust these brave-looking men. 'He said he had found a weakness in Tiamat's defences. I have had an omen on this matter. That's why I am here. If our paths are aligned, I would be honoured if you would allow me to work with you.'

She itches her face nervously. She's not usually impressed by power, but this is different. These people might adopt her as part of their group. She might make friends, find some sort of family. Have people to take care of. She had to play it cool, not get too friendly too fast. 'You can just call me Grandma Martha if you like', she suggests. 'Anyone married? Kids?'

The gnome on the floating disk made of energy zips over to her. Getting up from a pillowed longue chair, he bows to the woman with a flourish of his hands. "Greetings dear lady! It is so nice to meet someone with a degree of refinement! No offense to my companions, but they get positively dull after a while." He grinned at the others.

The strange glowing orb floated near the gnome's head, and let off what sounded like an annoyed sigh as the gnome spoke.

"Quiet, Baldrick!" The Gnome snapped at the floating bit of energy, which just made it sigh again.

"I am Gromley Underhill, diplomat and adviser to house Phiarlan. It will be a great pleasure to travel with you on this most unfortunate of tasks." 

Harald stomped forward and held out a gnarled hand.

"Pleased tae meet ye, hen.  Ah'm Harald.  They cry me Gaptooth sometimes 'coz Ah lost a couple o' teeth in a wee stramash a few years ago."

Martha grins. 'What a shame Harald. Don't worry, I'm great with soups.'

'As for this 'unfortunate task' Gromely, I would have thought the notion of destroying Tiamat would be a happy one. Shame about Bahamut, but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs!'

In reply to Martha (msg # 5):

"The unfortunate part being more of the fact we have to engage in it at all. I thought gods always fought each other for all time, and all that. Now with Tiamat's foil gone, we are looking at our own eternal war-even if we are successful, I doubt any of of the dragon lady's followers will be on the forgiving side."

He raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I would not equate the loss of one of the major forces against evil as 'broken eggs'. It makes it sound like he can be easily replaced."

The short, ordinary-looking human next to Harald rolls his eyes at Gromley's comments. At Martha's comments, he straightens up rather abruptly, losing expression in his face.

"I beg your pardon, but if you are here to leave the 'eggs' broken, you may leave. Some of us had a more substantial relationship with Bahamut and find news of his death perhaps the worst news we have received in a long time.

"I do not often claim a name, but the last name Bahamut called me was Zog, so by that name I introduce myself. And in that name I ask you: how are you going to help us save Bahamut, exactly?"

He does not seem overtly angry, but there is something in his eye that suggests he is deadly serious.

Arriving in Sigil, Soliin looked around to locate the person that went by the name "Great and Terrible Bone Witch" finding the directions he headed to the private house that she was located. Heading up the stairs, he knocked on the door.

"Good day."said the air genasi wearing plate mail armor "I was told that the one known as Great and Terrible Bone Witch resided here?" he asked. "I am Sonliin from the temple of Ioun in Greyhawk,Oerth. I was told that Bahamut has perished, is that true?"

'Hmm. Cunning. I'm thinking the Great and Terrible Bone Witch told us what we needed to hear to bring us together. I hadn't realised your goal was saving Bahamut, good Sirs. Hmmm.'

She introduces herself brightly to Sonliin, but doesn't answer his query in case she makes another faux pas. 'Temple of Ioun! Interesting. It all comes together' she mumbles.

'I'm sorry if I made light of your loss, Sir Zog. I did not mean to offend. To be honest, I wasn't really intending on saving Bahamut at first, but now that you mention it, that would be helpful in fighting Tiamat. My primary aim is ending her dark reign. I think the stuff she's done is terrible, don't you?' She bites her lip. It's probably best not to mention her past right now. Let it sit for a while. Too many paladins.

'The gods do fight each other, Gromley, but they rarely finish each other off. Some sort of unwritten heavenly rule I should imagine, preserving the balance and all that.' She waggles a finger in the air like a schoolteacher. 'Which is precisely why this terrible tragic event might be our opportunity. With Bahamut gone - I mean of course temporarily weakened Zog - we must defeat Tiamat in order to restore the balance. I have a feeling Ioun would agree.'

A goblin woman waves Sonliin in. "I am she, Sonliin of Ioun. And the lunatic woman here is quite correct--it is precisely Ioun that we need.

The Great and Terrible Bone Witch next introduced a third being, an angelic being named Amyria. For an angel, Amyria does not look well, and in speaking reveals the cause:

“I .. have not been well. The others believe that my grief over Bahamut’s passing and the progress of the war are responsible. I have done nothing to dissuade them
of their ideas, but they are incorrect. Since the fall of the Platinum Dragon, my dreams have been wracked by increasingly vivid visions. Each night I see myself pierced through with an arrow of bone wrapped with sinew and flesh and adorned with burning runes. Silver-chased blood spreads from my wounds and runs from the head of the arrow. The power of these visions is frightening and ancient beyond explanation, but I cannot describe them as evil or malicious.

“With every fiber of my being I know these visions to be a gift, a last gift from Bahamut to his beleaguered children. The artifact from the visions is the key; it must somehow be able to foil Tiamat’s foul schemes. You all were considered allies of Bahamut or at least enemies of Tiamat. I beg of you to search out the identity of and recover this fateful artifact, without which I fear we will all be lost.”

"And the only way I know to be sure to find this is to secure the help of Ioun herself. This, Sonliin, is where we hope you can help us. Can you lead this group to the astral domain of Hestavar and entreat your patroness to aid us?"

Agon felt the lose of their patron as keenly as any. This was, in the end, a wizard's war. His magic and knowledge against the likes of IrFelujhar, and the lich's thousand year scheme had proven superior in the end.

"A pleasure to meet you, Martha and Sonlinn." He said in a smooth baritone.

Agon's eyes visibly lit at the suggestion of a journey to Hestavar.  An entry into the cosmic archives was something even the greatest wizard aspired to. "In desperate days like these, we should take any thread. I trust your visions, Amyria"

'I concur Agon. My visions have shown that Ioun will provide the missing piece of the puzzle. We will find this unpleasant-sounding bone arrow, and use it to kill Tiamat. Onto Hestavar!'

This was exhilarating. And much better than she had been expecting. She gets a pang when she recalls her schoolkids back home - will they miss her? Probably not. She has no one to miss her, to hope she arrives safely home.

'Amyria', Martha takes the sad angel aside later. 'Look I'm not being rude, just giving you a homely heads-up. You look terrible. You need to pull yourself together. He's gone, and you need to move on. IF you need someone to talk to, even just to sit down and have some tea and just talk about the weather, I'm here for you'. She puts her hand on the angel's shoulder. 'Time is a healer', she adds, remembering too late these things are likely different for angels.