He wasn't certain how much time had passed.

Only that it had.

He clutched at his chest, the feeling of a broken heart.

The old man had lost something terribly important to him...only he wasn't certain what it was.

He was laying on the inside of a tree, the root section.

His body felt as though it was weakened and tired from a long slumber.

As he came too there was the strong scent of a root, and earthy mud all around him. The tree kept me safe? He thought to himself as the senses returned to his body. There was no way of knowing how much time had passed, only that it must have been a long time indeed. He looked up and saw the cavernous under portion of the tree he'd slept under that whole time. How did that old nursery rhyme go? Jotham Oshoshin thought to himself as he stood up from the muddy ground. He uttered a silent prayer to The Thayne, his patron, Khal'Jaren. The old man, a relic of the past, stood up on the inside of tree and took a look around. There were plenty of openings about, so he could definitely walk around. The ceiling of the chamber was tall enough for him to stand. Those old trees...the oaks...they are sturdy ones aren't they? Jotham yawned and allowed himself a moment to stretch. Strangely enough, all of his equipment was present. He gathered his belongings and decided it was high time to stretch the ol' legs.

There was tremendous stiffness in his legs, but that was slowly worked out as he moved and stretched.

Immediately, he noticed that he was still in Scara Brae...by how many years? There was no way of knowing.

He was deep in one of the many forests of Scara Brae, his instincts told him that.

He looked up and saw that the stars were largely the same, some of the positions for the constellations were only slightly off.

Jotham carefully made his way out of the tree.

He kept looking up as he made his way out, the trees in this part of Scara Brae were very tall, sturdy old ones.

The stars of Althanas twinkled...they were always so bright and lively.

The earthy smells of plants and vegetation made Jotham realize how hungry he was.

First order of business...I'd better eat. There's no way to know how long I was asleep. He thought to himself as he looked at the old tree. Strange thing is...I don't remember this place...it's almost as if...

"It's been roughly two hundred years old man." Came a Goblin's voice. "My people put you there in stasis after what had happened. My Elders thought you weren't ever going to wake up again."

The goblin had light brown skin, wore surprisingly elegant clothing and had stark yellow eyes. He was short, but somewhat taller than most goblins were. Jotham studied the lad before him and nodded.

"Two hundred years?! Do you know what actually caused the slumber?" Jotham had to know.

"The relic that bitch of a Queen came to steal from us...it reacted. You were dead for about an hour back then. I wasn't present, but my elders were by about five generations." The goblin paused and pulled out a parchment for Jotham. "One of the rulers of your time wrote that for you in the old tongue. It was passed down in my family from generation to generation. Waiting for the day this would happen." The little goblin passed the parchment over to Jotham.

Jotham carefully grabbed it. He unrolled it, and studied the goblin runes. It was familiar to him...he knew the old texts very well. He just had not realized, until that moment, that they had become the ancient text by the goblin's own reckoning. Jotham read the message very, very carefully. It was an apology, but more importantly, it was a letter of hope. It also spoke of the last known location of the relic. Jotham sighed. All this madness for a device they don't even know how to make work. I hope it was all worth it. Jotham looked at the little goblin.

"I trust you have watched over this location for a long time, haven't you?" Jotham asked.

"By your Hume terms, it's been roughly five generations of my people. The knowledge being passed from Father to Son, across history." The Goblin continued. "I know you must have a lot of questions. The relic was lost a long time ago...there is no record of it anywhere. You, with your actions...helped bridge the connection between Hume and Goblin societies." The Goblin did not stop. "My Father would have loved to see this day, the day the old Wizard finally woke up."

Jotham had no way of knowing how much The Goblins lost by the time the current night actually happened.

"So what happens now?" Jotham had to know.

"There is someone that you must meet. After that, you are free to do whatever you wish." The Goblin said plainly.

Jotham nodded, stole a glance back at the tree and then went with the Goblin to go meet whoever needed meeting...