Trapped in Ebon Stadmont

Summary

 * Location: Given to you by Andewen in the past inside the Ebon Stadmont, Summerset
 * Author: Andewen
 * Collection: Summerset Scrolls
 * Quest: The Ebon Sanctum

Content
I was a fool to ever come to this forest. I thought myself clever, powerful, unwavering, but through my many years of isolation I now see the truth. I was headstrong. Proud. So very, very foolish. And I've suffered because of that.

I've been trapped within this forest for decades now. Trapped within the past. My face is filled with wrinkles, my heart darkened with regrets. My life was stolen from me. Yes, stolen. I know that now.

There's something keeping me here. Over the years, I've named this presence, this jailer. The Spirit of Ebon Stadmont. She's watched me. Studied me. And it's she who trapped me here. Cut me off from the present. Cut me off from the rest of the world.

This entrapment set in motion the moment I stepped within this forest. Why didn't I question it? That voice, leading me, guiding me. Straight to where she needed me. And how long was I ignorant to it? How long did I study this language, used it, tried to bend it to my will? Too long.

She needs this language for something. She understands it, but cannot use it. She needs me, just as I need her. Her whispers tell me only that which she wishes me to hear. And I listened, and I obeyed. Unknowingly loyal, unknowingly obliging. But no longer.

I've figured it out. No more leaning on whispers, no more working through her will alone. The Southern stone. Baneweh telde. That's the way I'll return to my original time. And then I can stop all of this from happening. I can stop myself from stepping into that doorway, and into this prison.

I suspect she knows though. Despite my relative ease moving through this forest so far, so long as I do stay within it, all of my attempts to travel to the Southern stone have been thwarted. This silent battle between me and the Spirit has lasted months now, but I'm determined. I will break free. I will stop this. I must.