He awoke on the shore of Laelia in Suaralis surrounded by no one he recognized, no one at all. His armor, once shining in its prestige and vanity was now rusted by the seasalt breeze. His once purple, imperial cape now long singed a sleezy brown by the musted sands.
"How long have I been gone?" Decius buried his face in his hands. Checking his stones he realized even those were now long forgotten, with no connection to former friends and colleagues. A cold shame engulfed his body as he stared across the ocean to the Isles he had dedicated himself to. Of promises broken and dreams that would never be fulfilled. Tears broke upon his cheeks as the waves broke upon the rocks. A pitiful scene for a First One.
Decius picked himself up and made his way to Laelia in his "Imperatorial regalia" to find supplies to journey east. In town he acquired a horse and a suit of the finest plate mail left over from the occupation he had lead not so long ago. The ironic fact that the gold in his coin purse could not rust at least gave him hope, that the Gods still smiled on him. Not least he had his old longsword repaired, still engraved with the symbol of the Imperator. Now not nearly as reminiscent of his former self, he hooded himself.
After staying in the local tavern for a few hours he overheard some hunters complaining...
"I lost all my furs from the last fortnight because of that bitch!"
"Hey you know Johanna gave good warning what would happen if you didnt pay her tax."
Decius approached the men to gain information of this so called Johanna and her brigand activity. And so it was that Decius went from a former Imperator to an adventurer and hedge knight, and became set for a course even he could not have imagined.
