I write this as warning to all those who walk the Mists searching for Tier David or, as it is more often called, Traveler's Respite. It does exist. I know because I've been there... twice. However, it is not the peaceful reward it is legended to be. It is something far more sinister.

I was a member of the Resistance against the Tyrant Sargon XXIX. We had just destroyed him, and the different factions within the Resistance had fallen into squabbling over who was to rule now. Realizing this squabbling would destroy us just as surely as Sargon would have, Símeon Orance - great hero of the people and patriarch of the Resistance - told us of the Great Oracle of Tier David who had mediated such disputes in the past. We took Símeon's advice, and each group sent a delegation down the Ethereal Road to this Tier David in hopes of finding a settlement.

Tier David is a truly amazing place. Located atop the Heavenward Stair just off of the Ethereal Road, it is one large, open air garden floating in the clouds. Vegetation of all shapes and colors grows amongst flowing streams of crystal water and masonry of the finest marble. Caryatids adorned buildings and arches. Somehow the craftsmen had found a way to work gems of all colors into the sculpted marble, forming fantastic armor, weapons, and other details. Beyond all of this, however, there was a palpable sense of personal peace. Once we entered the garden, it was almost as though the pain and suffering of the revolution was just memories of tales of ages past told to us as children.

I believe this is why the mediations went so well. The factions were no longer concerned with getting just compensation for their suffering. We were merely concerned with finding the best way to govern now that Sargon was destroyed. In the end we succeeded, and an accord was signed.

As we left, Símeon informed us he was staying. The greatest hero of the Revolution had been affected by the place more than the rest of us, probably because he had suffered more than the rest of us—family raised to join the army of Sargon, village razed to the ground, tortured for three years in the prisons of Sargon—in the name of the Revolution. The Great Oracle had agreed to let him stay and enjoy the peace of the garden for the rest of his life. So, we returned home to implement the Accord of Tier David without the man who had made it possible.

A few years later, once the bulk of the work of implementing the accord was completed, I returned to Tier David to visit Símeon and let him know how well our work was progressing. The man I found there, the man who greeted me as a friend, was not Símeon Orance. It was instead some sort of stepfordian zombie, who had no memory of our exploits during the revolution. It spent its time reveling with the nymphs of the garden or in discussion of mindless philosophies rather than honing martial skills or recording details of the Revolution as Símeon did in his spare hours. It laughed and frolicked where Símeon was stoic and serious in deference to the great suffering that occurred during the revolution. It became obvious the Símeon I knew had been murdered by some foul treachery, and it fell upon me to revenge him.

As I came to this conclusion, the world around me seemed to darken, as though a cloud has drifted in front of the sun. The false Símeon and the nymphs recoiled from me as if in pain. The two nearest statues became animate, leveling their now glowing weapons as the stepped wordlessly between the doppleganger and myself. From behind me came the voice of the Great Oracle, "Brother Zealotus, why do you bring violence to my home?"

I turned to the Great Oracle, replying, "Are you not the Great Oracle? Do you not know?"

He only gave a wry smirk to my taunt, and a pale mist began to envelope me.

"Cease this foul magic!" I cried, "I have seen one vile sorcerer slain; I can slay another!" My words echoed oddly in the mist as I braced for whatever horrible end awaited me.

"Brother Zealotus," the Great Oracle replied as the mist faded, "Your violence has caused pain to my friends, damage to my lands, and - to be truthful - some degree of uncomfort to myself, so I have taken us somewhere we can speak without causing further harm." The last of the mist departed, and I could see we were standing at the base of the Heavenward Stair on the Ethereal Road. "Now, Brother Zealotus, why have you brought violence to my home?"

"Violence, you speak of me bringing violence, when it is you who have visited violence upon my good friend and the great hero Símeon Orance! Nay, I bring not violence; I bring revenge!"

The Great Oracle paused for a moment then sighed. "I see. Rest assured no evil has befallen your friend, he is merely happy. Quite possibly, truly happy for the first time in his life."

"Happy? Happy!? No, foul Sir, Símeon is not happy cavorting with nymphs and debating mindless philosophies! Símeon is a hero, a man of actions. He is only happy redressing great wrongs and saving others from the suffering he has had to endure. That thing you call Símeon may be happy in your insipid garden, but Símeon is not!"

"Brother Zealotus, please, be calm. Símeon is in a world where there are no wrongs to redress, where there is no suffering from which to save others, where even he has never suffered. In this world all are happy chasing nymphs through the garden, and some are happy debating philosophies.

"I know my words fall on deaf ears now, but someday, you will understand. You will return here to Traveler's Respite, or Tier David as you call it, to retire from the suffering of the world. But, I am afraid you still have a long journey and much suffering ahead of you before that day arrives. Therefore, I am sorry, but I can not allow you to return to your home. Your people have come so far since the defeat of Sargon XXIX, and your return would unravel that and perhaps the lands themselves.

"You are on a different road than the one you traveled here on. A merchant caravan will be passing by shortly. They are expecting you. Ride with them to the next lands, an unfortunate place known as Sun's Vigil. You will know what to do once you are there.

"Once last word of warning before I go. Do not step off of this road until the merchant tells you it is safe. This is a place of dreams, but more often nightmares. The violence you brought into my lands will surely kill you there. Good bye, Brother Zealotus, until next we meet." With a flash both the Great Oracle and the Heavenward Stair were gone, dooming me to a life of searching hopelessly for a way back home.

- Thomas Zealotus, Fantasy Warrior