Twitch sat in the common room of the inn--a dockside haven popular among foreign visitors to the Aerenal capital Shae Mordai--and idly turned her amulet of The Traveler in her fur-covered hand. The Outcasts had circumvented the lava trap in the ancient elven temple; had tumbled down the chute beyond into the temple's innermost chamber; had confronted the animated statue that served as the ultimate guardian of the shard of the Magic Sword; and had defeated the guardian to retrieve the shard. Now Sh'Nezz'Tar's ancient Magic Sword was even more potent, Envy was the Keeper of a magic amulet tied to the shard much as Twitch was the Anchor of a similar amulet, and the Outcasts had grown so mighty that they could .... They could .... They could what, exactly? Twitch looked down at the amulet in her hands. Your paths are traveled forward but understood backward,  she thought, and then silently chastised herself. For as long as she could remember--back to her days sailing on The Heartbreaker  with Captain Redtusk, who first introduced Twitch to the faith of The Traveler--Twitch had been having these silent monologues with The Traveler, recounting how her journey had taken her along His path. But that was always in retrospect: Twitch never knew ahead of time whether the path she traveled was the one that The Traveler might choose for her, and simply attributed her decisions after the fact to those that The Traveler must have intended. The Traveler was the deity of free choice. The Traveler was the deity of change and uncertainty. The Traveler didn't intend  anything for mortal beings; The Traveler was the force in the universe that encouraged mortal beings to think and choose for themselves. That was what drew Twitch to The Traveler's service. But if there were no higher being guiding Twitch's choices, then ... what should she choose next? Truly, the thought terrified her, in no small part because Twitch had come to realize just how powerful she and her companions had become. In her daily prayers, Twitch could sense that she now could invoke the powers to cause missing limbs to regenerate, or even bring the long dead back to life (assuming that the soul was willing to return from the afterlife). She could summon the power to allow her and her companions to travel the planes at will--provided that she was familiar with the plane to which she was traveling--or even dwell within the Ethereal plane for hours at a time. And, Twitch knew, her companions had become equally powerful in their own ways, too. There were few, if any, among the denizens of the places the Outcasts had traveled who could stand against their collective might. Demon lords and ancient giant kings, perhaps--and a highly frustrating kobold illusionist, when in his accursed fog-enshrouded lair, maybe--but few others. With great power , Twitch mused. Comes great ... what, exactly? Twitch was as free as she ever wished to be--rich, powerful, capable of traveling nearly anywhere she wished at her own choosing. But was that all there was--freedom for its own sake? Freedom without purpose was little more than random chaos--so what was the Outcasts' purpose? Twitch scowled at her amulet of The Traveler. This is why the people of Eberron worship other gods,  she berated the amulet. They're afraid of the responsibility that free choice entails. They want that choice made for them by someone else--someone who will tell them what to do. They are sheep. Twitch's eyes narrowed, and her teeth bared reflexively. And we are the predators. We will liberate these sheep from those who would seek to dominate them, even if the sheep themselves are unaware. Closing her fingers tightly around the amulet, Twitch called for the alewife, tossed her a platinum piece, and ordered a round of drinks for everyone in the pub, on her. As the cheers erupted among the mariners and travelers, Twitch raised her mug in a toast. "To freedom!" she cried. Joyful patrons around the common room raised their cups and echoed Twitch's toast as Twitch raised her mug to her lips with a grim smile.