UPDATE
Dealing with Adrienne is , at this point, a complicated matter... abused emotionally and physically by the succubus mother who raised her - among mortals oddly enough - she is mentally unstable, ripe for the picking when the Dark Queen Takhisis (Mistress of the gods of darkness (evil) ) sent her agents to appeal to Adrienne.. Adrienne has willingly and wholeheartedly devoted herself to life as a priestess (cleric) of Takhisis, convinced that after the dragonarmies take over the world they'll create a new and better society, one where children ... such as herself in the past.. never have to be abused again. To make matters even worse she's pregnant with a child who is supposed to grow up to help the other heroes save the world when Takhisis tries to take it over AGAIN , decades into the future ... A future version of Serinda showed up ... two future versions actually ... to show the PC's images from the future (reprinted below)... Adrienne is madly in love with Eolaer, warrior and comerade of the heroes at one point who has now mysteriously vanished ... the last time the heroes met Adrienne Rin convinced her that he would use his wild "chaos magic" to try and find Eolaer.. content with the idea that Rin could return her beloved Eolaer to her Adrienne vanished ... when she will reappear and what she will do if Rin hasn't produced Eolaer by then remains to be seen....
For more on Adrienne's past history and childhood see the following link .. this is "in character knowledge" for both Rin and Serinda ....
whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=forumroleplay&thread=370&page=1whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=forumroleplay&thread=577&page=1(reprint of visions from the future )
There's a flash of white light , the sound of a boom... abruptly a woman is on one knee, her head bowed, an exhausted look on her face...
It's Serinda... albeit older, perhaps in her thirties, perhaps older... yet still almost inhumanly beautiful.... dressed in purplish-white robes.. are those wings on her back?
She slowly pulls herself upright... then her eyes abruptly fill with tears when she sees Rin .. " Of course... you were still alive back then" she pulls the kenku into an embrace, tears falling freely... " How I miss you old friend ... no one could annoy me the way you could...".. She looks at the rest of you fondly, warmth in her eyes... " Eolaer... Za'era... .. you all looked so DIFFERENT back then " her voice is softest, her eyes warmest, when she regards the dark skinned elf.
Walking over to her younger self.... the present day Serinda.. she cups her younger self's chin in her hand.. " GODS I was so young " whispers the older Serinda, smiling affectionately at her younger self.. leaning into her younger self's ear she whispers again... " I'll tell you a secret child.. that massive tower we dreamed of when we first started our studies with Aurian... standing in the middle of an island, it's white marble shining in the sunlight, and at the very top, a massive sparkling purple crystal that seems to contain a bright fire within, almost like a lighthouse... a beautiful tower watching over the world, mages trained to be guardians of the world, to protect and serve the people, a shining beacon of light... it comes TRUE .... guess who the boss is there ? "
Her smile fades suddenly... " I need to show you something... " She speaks in the harsh words Rin and Serinda recognize as the language of magic... lights and colors play about the older Serinda's fingers as she gestures delicately , gradually forming into a moving picture of sights and sounds..
A beautiful young woman stands, gray skinned, horned and tailed with scales running down her back... Eolaer instantly recognizes her as a younger looking version of Adrienne, Adam's sister... but her eyes are exactly the same color as Eolaer's, a vibrant green... right now they're filled with fury as she raises her blade, blocking a clawed swipe by a frightening looking dragon with five heads.. red, blue, black, white, and green ... those of you who have read the Disks of Mishkaal (everyone except possibly Serinda, up to her if she's read them ) recognize the five headed dragon as an aspect of Tiamat herself, head of the Gods of Darkness... the gray skinned woman is dressed in gold and silver plate armor with a platinum triangle on it.. the symbol of Paladine, head of the Gods of Light, husband of Mishakal, father of Habbakuk.. " LITTLE FOOL" hisses the dragon in an inhuman voice " YOU HAVE NO HOPE ! NOT AGAINST ME! THE REST OF YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS ARE HELPLESS, FALLEN BEFORE MY DIVINE MIGHT.. PUT DOWN YOUR SWORD AND I'LL GRANT YOU A QUICK AND PAINLESS DEATH.... PATHETIC WEAKLING ! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN MY GREATEST CHAMPION BUT YOU LET THOSE FAILURES.. YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER.. LEAD YOU ASTRAY FROM MY GLORY.. NOW YOU HAVE PAID THE PRICE...."... Indeed, the rest of you in the vision... aged perhaps twenty years... are lying on the ground.. Eolaer a grizzled man in his forties still reaching for the five headed dragon with a snarl on his face " Stay the FUCK away from her you five-faced bitch ! " ... the older version of Serinda and Za'era lay, still breathing but unconscious, not too far away....and a surprise .... Adam lays unconscious on the ground tail still twitching... apparently he rejoined the group for this particular fight... Rin lies on the ground as well, roughly torn in half as if by the dragon's two gigantic hands, guts and intestines spilling out of the cut seperating the two halves of his body...
" My MOTHER is Adrienne Vondell, a High Preistess of Paladine" the gray skinned woman shouts, " My FATHER is Eolaer Vondell, Habbakuk's Holiest Warrior, His Favored Soul... They are my STRENGTH, not my weakness... and when I strike, I do so in their name ..." her sword glows a brilliant white as she declares this... screaming " PAAAALLLLAAAADDDDINNNNEEEEE " she drives it into the dragon's breast.. it screams, rearing it's head... she strikes again, lopping off first one head then another... Eolaer recognizes the fighting style instantly, it's almost exactly like Eolaer's own... the dragon screams again, falling to one knee... and the woman rushes at it, leaping through the air foot extended forward in what you all recognize as the classic flying kick Adam the half devil - Adrienne's brother - has used so often... the dragon trips, falls backwards through a portal before it... and Eolaer , having dragged himself to her, grabs the gray skinned woman by the ankle before she falls in after the dragon.. the dragon's cry is one of pure rage and anguish from deep within the portal before it slams shut.
" Heh... stopped her from taking over Krynn again... just like your old man did before you... " chuckles the older Eolaer in the vision weakly before passing out.. the woman touches Eolaer speaking softly.. his wounds begin to fade... tears fall from her eyes onto Eolaer's face as she looks toward the butchered kenku.. " Oh uncle Rin... "
The vision shimmers and slowly fades... the older Serinda looks at the rest of you intently, particularly at Eolaer and Za'era.. " I trust what you've seen here wasn't lost on you?"...
Another flash of white light , the sound of another boom... another figure before you, sprawled on her knees... she looks up and what she sees might very well be shocking to the younger Serinda... herself, in her forties... still beautiful but it's a beauty that has faded with time... aged, whitened hair, some wrinkles... one eye is gone, the other glows red within her dark robes .. the face is worst of all.. cold, dispassionate.. a killer's face....
The new arrival struggles to her feet and glares at the previous, white robed future-Serinda.. " Asswipe" ... she snarls by way of greeting to her other self .. " Whore of Nuitari" snaps the white robed future Serinda by way of response.
The dark robed arrival shuffles foward.. and abruptly vanishes, reappearing right in front of Rin as she suddenly backhands the bird-man with her bare fist.. " You STUPID-LITTLE-BITCH, you have NO idea what you've done have you? " snarls the darker Serinda.. she raises her hands, almost threateningly.. there's a HOWL of agony Serinda immediately recognizes... necromancy ... as a dark light spills forth from her fingers , eventually congealing into moving pictures and sound...
It shows all of you as you are now in the present day - your current selves - locked in battle with Adrienne.. Adrienne is dressed in the battle-armor and holy insignia of Takhisis... Rin's whip smacks into Adrienne's face and comes back to him, Adrienne's eyes impaled on the shards of glass inbedded in the whip... she staggers backward then stiffens, her eyes going glassy as frost forms over every inch of her body, Serinda .. the younger, present day Serinda... whispering the words of magic, rays of frost spraying from her fingers... she falls to the ground .. there's a tinkling sound as her frozen body breaks into jagged chunks of ice-flesh... Eolaer stares in stunned silence then howls in agony , lunging for Serinda, Za'era trying to restrain the grieving warrior... he moans struggling in her grasp.. " My child.. MY BABY ! "
" We didn't have any choice" Serinda explains in soft tones.. " She was about to kill us ... she allied herself with the forces of darkness when she chose Takhisis - she wasn't willing to turn away from the Dark Queen the way Za'era did ....we would have been in danger from her forever thanks to the .. relationship... Eolaer has with Za'era... .".. Za'era merely hangs her head, looking at the ground, sorrow etched on her face...
The images swirl abruptly then take form yet again.. an older Serinda years from now.. the same , darker Serinda who is showing you this selfsame vision... is on her knees.. the five headed dragon before her triumphant...
" Where's your friends little mage? Wasn't that what it took the last time for you to defeat Me? A TEAM ?" Takhisis puts a mocking emphasis on the last word.
" Stuck together... long enough... to stop you the first time.... then Eolaer left... couldn't stand the sight of Serinda... killing his.. unborn.... you know damn well what you did to Za'era... .. ... ... Adam.... Rin... killed each other... misunderstanding YOU fostered ' Dark Bitch ' ... Rin.. helped... kill Adam's sister.. " Serinda grits through clenched teeth.. parts of her robe are on fire, others drip with an acid-like substance, still other parts are covered with frost... apparently a remmant of her battle with Takhisis...
" Made it easy enough to hunt you down one by one and kill you" comments Takhisis airily... " The drunken warrior was a particularly tasty treat - it was as if he marinated himself... and even after death Za'era serves My purposes once more.. or at least her undead corpse does... " She looks down at Serinda, sneering at her. " You pathetic little thing.. look at you and your vaunted morality ! You even took up the dark arts hoping to stop me ... what a desperate, foolish little wench you are."
" Go on.. finish it " snarls Serinda , her voice laced with pain.
Takhisis pauses, considers... there's a smirk in her voice as she says " No.. I think it would be far more painful for you to live.. to see the world around you twisted, warped... remade in My dark glory... you were the last hope for the resistance... and now that they've seen you defeated... there's no one left to oppose Me "... the scene switches to an army on the battlefield, routed, several of the elven soldiers crying out for help, looking at Serinda with stricken , hopeless eyes as ogres, goblins, dragons and worse decimate them .. the remainder of the Silvanesti and Qualinosti elves...
Takhisis's laughter fills the sky as she takes to the air, raining down fire, ice, acid , electricty and noxious gas from each of her five heads, the remaints of Serinda's army falling beneath her attacks.... tears squeeze their way past Serinda's clenched eyelids , her face contorted in a sort of emotional agony, her jaw clenched.... she looks up once, gives Takhisis a defiant look.. speaks a word of magic, and vanishes... the vision pouring forth from the darker Serinda's fingers abruptly ends.
" STUPID.... FUCKING.... LITTLE.. BITCH " the dark robed Serinda repeats, but this time looking at (the present day) Serinda , her finger pointed towards her, trembling with rage... " I should KILL you where I stand ... I should - " The white robed Serinda steps protectively in front of her younger self and the darker Serinda subsides.. evidently the older Serinda is so embittered she no longer cares what her fate would be should she kill her own self in the past...
" Come dark sister.. it's time for us to return to whence we came" says the other future Serinda softly.. the darker Serinda laughs bitterly at that , a hopeless sound.. then reaches out abruptly, grabbing Eolaer''s wrist as she stares into his eyes desperately.. " DON'T let them do it.. don't let those two idiots.."... the darker Serinda finds herself unable to complete the sentence... she collapses, the white robed Serinda grabbing her... " It's time to go back " repeats white robed Serinda softly then she pins the younger Serinda with a stare.. " Remember this young one.. and remember this as well .. "
(Basically the cube recaps all the events in the forum that took place in the " Adrienne falls to Takhisis " flashbacks covered in the forums... including, in painstaking detail, images of Eolaer and Adrienne making love at the points where it occurred in the flashback... you see everything and I do mean EVERYTHING ....)
Both older Serinda's vanish without a trace.
