Once the group gains entrance to Draigdurroch's tower, it becomes evident that its frozen chambers hide a sinister story...
Session 8: Elemental Shards
Once the group gains entrance to Draigdurroch's tower, it becomes evident that its frozen chambers hide a sinister story...
Warming up is hard to do
We left Aygon's dwelling using a secret service door that was more comfortable to use than the entrance from which we had accessed his abode in the first place.
This time we followed what seemed to be an ancient path that led further into the icy hills. The day passed chilly and miserable as the previous one, and when we were already thinking about giving up the search, we found a big cavern in the face of a cliff. The cave showed signs of having been inhabited by a big group of Goblins, but at the moment it was deserted.
It seemed that fate was against us, but we did not want to give up so easily. We climbed the cliff where the cavern was located and, in the distance, detected the outline of what seemed to be a tower. It seemed to be far away, so we made camp in the cave. It was a damp, chilly, dreary night with the blizzard blowing outside and the sound of Adolfiel's chattering teeth constantly interrupting my meditation.
Another freezing day, another exhausting hike, but this time it seemed we had a clear goal! As we got closer to the building, it became clear that it was indeed a tower, and that it was completely encased in ice! It dominated its surroundings, built atop a low hillock, surrounded by suspicious-looking statues of wolves and mages. The ice encasing the tower was erupting from its roof, and our suspicions that the terrible weather conditions had a magical cause grew stronger.
I was so worried beholding the statues for any hint of them being magical guardians -during my studies in Fallcrest I had read many stories of wizards protecting their towers with that sort of creatures- that I was completely surprised when chunks of snow and ice took the shape of gigantic scorpions that charged us. Other pieces of snow coalesced into icy snowmen that threw balls of hard compact ice at us. It was clear that something was amiss in the tower, and that these creatures of ice had been somehow attracted by the cold emanating from it.
The battle was violent and dangerous; Streisan charged the monsters as if she had lost her mind after all the frustrations of the previous days and it was difficult for the rest to keep her pace. Only with the help of Vistra was she able to survive, but her courage and recklessness motivated the rest of us to go on and with courage, determination and lots of luck we were able to defeat the ice elementals.
After the battle, I explained to the rest my fears about the statues and we decided to topple them. Some animated and attacked us, but most of them had been shattered by the cold and gave us no trouble.
With the blizzard growing stronger, we digged the ice out of the entrance doors and entered the tower...
Scientific Notes
Well, even though the creatures we found around the tower are clearly not natural, I could not resist making a drawing of the scorpion-like ice elemental. I think I will add an extra chapter to my Ecology book, one about the different Planes of Existence and some examples of its creatures, which in some books of old are called Elementals.
This time we followed what seemed to be an ancient path that led further into the icy hills. The day passed chilly and miserable as the previous one, and when we were already thinking about giving up the search, we found a big cavern in the face of a cliff. The cave showed signs of having been inhabited by a big group of Goblins, but at the moment it was deserted.
It seemed that fate was against us, but we did not want to give up so easily. We climbed the cliff where the cavern was located and, in the distance, detected the outline of what seemed to be a tower. It seemed to be far away, so we made camp in the cave. It was a damp, chilly, dreary night with the blizzard blowing outside and the sound of Adolfiel's chattering teeth constantly interrupting my meditation.
Another freezing day, another exhausting hike, but this time it seemed we had a clear goal! As we got closer to the building, it became clear that it was indeed a tower, and that it was completely encased in ice! It dominated its surroundings, built atop a low hillock, surrounded by suspicious-looking statues of wolves and mages. The ice encasing the tower was erupting from its roof, and our suspicions that the terrible weather conditions had a magical cause grew stronger.
I was so worried beholding the statues for any hint of them being magical guardians -during my studies in Fallcrest I had read many stories of wizards protecting their towers with that sort of creatures- that I was completely surprised when chunks of snow and ice took the shape of gigantic scorpions that charged us. Other pieces of snow coalesced into icy snowmen that threw balls of hard compact ice at us. It was clear that something was amiss in the tower, and that these creatures of ice had been somehow attracted by the cold emanating from it.
The battle was violent and dangerous; Streisan charged the monsters as if she had lost her mind after all the frustrations of the previous days and it was difficult for the rest to keep her pace. Only with the help of Vistra was she able to survive, but her courage and recklessness motivated the rest of us to go on and with courage, determination and lots of luck we were able to defeat the ice elementals.
After the battle, I explained to the rest my fears about the statues and we decided to topple them. Some animated and attacked us, but most of them had been shattered by the cold and gave us no trouble.
With the blizzard growing stronger, we digged the ice out of the entrance doors and entered the tower...
Scientific Notes
Well, even though the creatures we found around the tower are clearly not natural, I could not resist making a drawing of the scorpion-like ice elemental. I think I will add an extra chapter to my Ecology book, one about the different Planes of Existence and some examples of its creatures, which in some books of old are called Elementals.
Session 7: Menace of the Icy Spire
Having convinced the strange Aygon to give them shelter for the night, the group set out to put an end t0 the Frost Goblin menace, and end up discovering a long-forgotten tower encased in ice...
On the right track?
After having spent some time in Relkingham for Ghesh's funeral, we headed towards the north. During our time in Relkingham we heard some rumours about possible ships similar to those that had attacked the elven settlement having been sighted near Marshport.
On our way north we stopped in Sylfren, so the three sisters could have some time with their mother. I have to say the trip being uneventful was a welcome relief from the adrenalin rushing charging we've had to endure in the past few days.
I must admit that the chances of completing my pilgrimage have gone to the near impossible. I have taken up a path which will allow me to spread Berronar's teachings, and I must now follow it to it's end. I spent a lot of time in Marshport at their rather small hospital, helping to heal those that require it while some of the others were gathering information. In the evenings I was filled in on what information had been gathered; hearing about the evil that was happening to the north across the mountains, about the legend of Angerplea and the Black Cry which could possibly be related to our quest to find out what had happened to the elves.
But although we gathered information, we got no further regarding to where we should go next. I decided to ask guidance from Beronnar. I received a sign, pointing me to the north. I feel the events across the Whitecap mountain range is where my presence will be required. But after having talked to the Major of Marschport, he talked about increased goblin activity in Nirnwood to the north and how it could pause increasing concern to travelers to Marshport. I was convinced by Tyrion and Sariel that clearing this issue could possibly save lives and shouldn't require that long, compared to the time it would take to travel to the Nantir Vale.
Traveling to the Nirnwood forest, we found the weather fighting against us. The cold biting through our thick winter clothing. We met a band of brigands that were easily defeated. They seemed more like misplaced souls than brigands after we had a talk to them. They had found a map of a supposed 'treasure' cove. We decided to see if we could find this location with the help of the brigands. Arriving at their camp we found it had been attacked, most of their materials and supplies looted. We followed the tracks, reaching a group of frost goblins. We managed to dispatch all but the leader who managed to flee dispite Tyrion's efforts.
We finally found the location of the map within a cave system. A solid metal slab with engravings into them saying 'death awaits you', curiosity having taken the better of us we went to investigate. This lead us into a rather diabolical system of traps, which unfortunatly, Streisan beared the brunt of their trickery. Getting dumped into filth, burned on several occasions. I did my best to protect her but the nature of the traps made this very difficult, I am thankful though she managed to survive the ordeal. The final trap was a dragon, very well crafted as it seemed a dragon from the front, although there were some quirks which tipped us off it actually wasn't. But as soon as Streisan and Tyrion managed to get behind the dragon it was clear that it was mechanical. They disabeled the dragon and we found a goblin, rather well dressed, unfortunalty without a tongue. Later we found the culprit of the trap systems, which ended up being a gnome (although we can't confirm this) who through a failed experiment ended up as a weapon able to change it's size, shape. Having a chat with him, and apologising for having invaded his home, we managed to convince him to give us accomodations while we searched for goblin threats in the region. I also managed to convince him to lend me the Draconomicon, although at this time I am unsure if I will be able to decipher it as it seems far more complex then I originally believed.
We are still going to be searching for more traces of the goblins in the area, but for now I'm happy we got comfortable accomodations, especially as it's comfortably warm.
On our way north we stopped in Sylfren, so the three sisters could have some time with their mother. I have to say the trip being uneventful was a welcome relief from the adrenalin rushing charging we've had to endure in the past few days.
I must admit that the chances of completing my pilgrimage have gone to the near impossible. I have taken up a path which will allow me to spread Berronar's teachings, and I must now follow it to it's end. I spent a lot of time in Marshport at their rather small hospital, helping to heal those that require it while some of the others were gathering information. In the evenings I was filled in on what information had been gathered; hearing about the evil that was happening to the north across the mountains, about the legend of Angerplea and the Black Cry which could possibly be related to our quest to find out what had happened to the elves.
But although we gathered information, we got no further regarding to where we should go next. I decided to ask guidance from Beronnar. I received a sign, pointing me to the north. I feel the events across the Whitecap mountain range is where my presence will be required. But after having talked to the Major of Marschport, he talked about increased goblin activity in Nirnwood to the north and how it could pause increasing concern to travelers to Marshport. I was convinced by Tyrion and Sariel that clearing this issue could possibly save lives and shouldn't require that long, compared to the time it would take to travel to the Nantir Vale.
Traveling to the Nirnwood forest, we found the weather fighting against us. The cold biting through our thick winter clothing. We met a band of brigands that were easily defeated. They seemed more like misplaced souls than brigands after we had a talk to them. They had found a map of a supposed 'treasure' cove. We decided to see if we could find this location with the help of the brigands. Arriving at their camp we found it had been attacked, most of their materials and supplies looted. We followed the tracks, reaching a group of frost goblins. We managed to dispatch all but the leader who managed to flee dispite Tyrion's efforts.
We finally found the location of the map within a cave system. A solid metal slab with engravings into them saying 'death awaits you', curiosity having taken the better of us we went to investigate. This lead us into a rather diabolical system of traps, which unfortunatly, Streisan beared the brunt of their trickery. Getting dumped into filth, burned on several occasions. I did my best to protect her but the nature of the traps made this very difficult, I am thankful though she managed to survive the ordeal. The final trap was a dragon, very well crafted as it seemed a dragon from the front, although there were some quirks which tipped us off it actually wasn't. But as soon as Streisan and Tyrion managed to get behind the dragon it was clear that it was mechanical. They disabeled the dragon and we found a goblin, rather well dressed, unfortunalty without a tongue. Later we found the culprit of the trap systems, which ended up being a gnome (although we can't confirm this) who through a failed experiment ended up as a weapon able to change it's size, shape. Having a chat with him, and apologising for having invaded his home, we managed to convince him to give us accomodations while we searched for goblin threats in the region. I also managed to convince him to lend me the Draconomicon, although at this time I am unsure if I will be able to decipher it as it seems far more complex then I originally believed.
We are still going to be searching for more traces of the goblins in the area, but for now I'm happy we got comfortable accomodations, especially as it's comfortably warm.
The Ice, the Fire and the Gnome
Getting an employment
The mayor of Marshport was impressed to see a group of Relkingham rangers offering their services. He told us there had been some complaints of Goblin raids in the north-eastern farms and roads and that he would reward us if we could do something about it.
Having nothing better to do, we did some preparations for the journey. As it will be seen, it was not enough, but everybody else was so frantic about leaving the city that they did not allow me to spend a little bit more time preparing; a pity, as I was really enjoying the scholastic atmosphere of Marshport's library.
There are two kinds of adventurers: those that rush to action and those that fill their bag of holding with useful stuff.
The Ice...
We spent the following days freezing in various meadows, hills, forests and gullies of Marshport's countryside. Even though we were well prepared for the cold, the winter was being specially harsh and the wind and snow was our constant companion.
After some days of exploring and tracking, we met a group of Elves! They acted very suspiciously and after some "talk" they were forced to give up their fishy attitude...- Streisan calls it surrendering. They had bought a map which, according to them, pointed to a treasure. When we accompanied them to their camp, we discovered it had been robbed by a group of Goblins, who we promptly tracked, battled and soundly defeated. Only the goblin boss avoided our wrath.
With nothing better to do -apart from freezing-, and not knowing for sure whether the Goblin menace was vanquished, we followed the map instructions. The map led us to a cavern complex which we navigated with great spelunking skill, to arrive to a strange-looking black plate with the words "Death awaits those who enter here" or some crappy scary phrase like that.
There are two kinds of spelunkers: those that know when to turn back, and those that don't...
Brave adventurers as we are, we disregarded the warning and tried to open the obvious door. Unexperienced as we were, it took us some hours to figure out that we only needed to push the plate.
...the Fire...
The plate was some kind of doormat, cleverly set in rails that allowed it to rotate and show different phrases "Welcome", "I'm not at home", "Trespassers will be Incinerated", "Death Awaits Intruders" and such... the smell of treasure and hidden knowledge attracted us, like Kobolds are to adventurer's swords.
Anyway, to describe it quickly, in another great show of recklessness and thoughtlessness, Streisan managed to fall in every single trap of what we considered a tomb seemed to contain, even when she was not leading the way: she got dumped into a pit of filth, burnt, crushed and more, all of which she endured with her usual stoicism and good humour (this is obviously a joke, dear diary).
There are two kinds of elves. Those that jump on the pit and those that hover over it.
After some time wandering the tunnels we came face to face with what looked like an enormous wyrm of legendary power. After some time observing the wyrm, we realised it had to be some kind of mechanical contratption, and Tyrion and Streisan could finally show their best skills and did what they are best at: destroy the machine-dragon.
...and the Gnome
It turned out that what we though was a Tomb full of treasures was the household of a gnome artisan called Aygon, fond of traps, mechanical devices and stupid jokes. And what is more, someone or something had turned him into a weapon! So he could not leave his house and had a mute Goblin servant that helped him go to the loo and read him bedside stories.
Anyway, the Gnome's house was warm, full of intelligent games, nice wine and better books, so we decided to stay and talk with him. He constantly demanded jokes from us, and though we all tried, I must say Tyrion's were the best -must have something to do with him being a Hummy and all.
In exchange of letting us stay and sleep at his home, Aygon requested our help to contact an artisan friend of his that lives between Marshport and Fort Eyrie, so that he would come and repair the dragon.
Well, and that's all for the moment; I'll start reading a couple of books I borrowed from Aygon before going to bed.
Tomorrow we'll try to find more Goblin tracks. We are going to give it a couple more days before going back to Marshport... I must not forget to put some mining stuff in the Bag of Holding, I think it would be useful.
Scientific Notes
Not that it's really my area of expertise, but I found Aygon's traps amusing and clever thought, so I asked him to sketch them for the group. I don't think anything I saw in Aygon's home can really help me with my Ecology book, although we found some interesting beetles in the cellars... bugs are great in Ecology books!
The mayor of Marshport was impressed to see a group of Relkingham rangers offering their services. He told us there had been some complaints of Goblin raids in the north-eastern farms and roads and that he would reward us if we could do something about it.
Having nothing better to do, we did some preparations for the journey. As it will be seen, it was not enough, but everybody else was so frantic about leaving the city that they did not allow me to spend a little bit more time preparing; a pity, as I was really enjoying the scholastic atmosphere of Marshport's library.
There are two kinds of adventurers: those that rush to action and those that fill their bag of holding with useful stuff.
The Ice...
We spent the following days freezing in various meadows, hills, forests and gullies of Marshport's countryside. Even though we were well prepared for the cold, the winter was being specially harsh and the wind and snow was our constant companion.
After some days of exploring and tracking, we met a group of Elves! They acted very suspiciously and after some "talk" they were forced to give up their fishy attitude...- Streisan calls it surrendering. They had bought a map which, according to them, pointed to a treasure. When we accompanied them to their camp, we discovered it had been robbed by a group of Goblins, who we promptly tracked, battled and soundly defeated. Only the goblin boss avoided our wrath.
With nothing better to do -apart from freezing-, and not knowing for sure whether the Goblin menace was vanquished, we followed the map instructions. The map led us to a cavern complex which we navigated with great spelunking skill, to arrive to a strange-looking black plate with the words "Death awaits those who enter here" or some crappy scary phrase like that.
There are two kinds of spelunkers: those that know when to turn back, and those that don't...
Brave adventurers as we are, we disregarded the warning and tried to open the obvious door. Unexperienced as we were, it took us some hours to figure out that we only needed to push the plate.
...the Fire...
The plate was some kind of doormat, cleverly set in rails that allowed it to rotate and show different phrases "Welcome", "I'm not at home", "Trespassers will be Incinerated", "Death Awaits Intruders" and such... the smell of treasure and hidden knowledge attracted us, like Kobolds are to adventurer's swords.
Anyway, to describe it quickly, in another great show of recklessness and thoughtlessness, Streisan managed to fall in every single trap of what we considered a tomb seemed to contain, even when she was not leading the way: she got dumped into a pit of filth, burnt, crushed and more, all of which she endured with her usual stoicism and good humour (this is obviously a joke, dear diary).
There are two kinds of elves. Those that jump on the pit and those that hover over it.
After some time wandering the tunnels we came face to face with what looked like an enormous wyrm of legendary power. After some time observing the wyrm, we realised it had to be some kind of mechanical contratption, and Tyrion and Streisan could finally show their best skills and did what they are best at: destroy the machine-dragon.
...and the Gnome
It turned out that what we though was a Tomb full of treasures was the household of a gnome artisan called Aygon, fond of traps, mechanical devices and stupid jokes. And what is more, someone or something had turned him into a weapon! So he could not leave his house and had a mute Goblin servant that helped him go to the loo and read him bedside stories.
Anyway, the Gnome's house was warm, full of intelligent games, nice wine and better books, so we decided to stay and talk with him. He constantly demanded jokes from us, and though we all tried, I must say Tyrion's were the best -must have something to do with him being a Hummy and all.
In exchange of letting us stay and sleep at his home, Aygon requested our help to contact an artisan friend of his that lives between Marshport and Fort Eyrie, so that he would come and repair the dragon.
Well, and that's all for the moment; I'll start reading a couple of books I borrowed from Aygon before going to bed.
Tomorrow we'll try to find more Goblin tracks. We are going to give it a couple more days before going back to Marshport... I must not forget to put some mining stuff in the Bag of Holding, I think it would be useful.
Scientific Notes
Not that it's really my area of expertise, but I found Aygon's traps amusing and clever thought, so I asked him to sketch them for the group. I don't think anything I saw in Aygon's home can really help me with my Ecology book, although we found some interesting beetles in the cellars... bugs are great in Ecology books!
Cranks, levers and wheels
For most of the time in Marshport, we went around the city trying to get information about the missing ship. Although we learned some interesting things, the trail was cold. All our information came from before the attack on our village, and not from after. They could be anywhere.
We learned from the major of the town that the north of the Whitecap Wall was under attack from evil beings and that there had been some raids on the merchants on the road to Marshport. He asked us to go investigate a little. We decided to go as it seemed that all kinds of evil were coming from that direction, even the foul weather.
The investigation was very interesting, we discovered some goblin clans and, helped by a group of elven treasure hunters, we got rid of most of them. However, their leader was very fast and it escaped before we could catch him.
While we were following his tracks, we found a cave that, after some exploration, gave us access to the most annoying place I have ever seen.
It was the household of a gnome artisan, fond of traps, mechanisms and stupid jokes.
We pushed into the corridors, piqued by curiosity and found trap after trap after trap, each more painful and humiliating than the one before.
I fell into all of them, sometimes repeatedly.
I got burnt, crushed and even sunk into a pit of filth. I was angry beyond measure, I even had to stand the jokes of my sisters, while I was going first and falling into yet another trap. How unfair can the world be?
The final joke was a stupid mechanical dragon that was so well made that it took us some minutes before realizing it was fake.
Me and Tyrion ran behind it and we destroyed the machine, giving us access to the living quarters of the gnome.
He (or it, he was a gnome trapped into a shape shifting weapon, of all things) gave us some information, proved he could be at least as talkative as my sisters and tested Tyrion's love for gaming (which I'm starting to find interesting too).
I left the gnome's cave with some lessons well learnt:
- Sometimes, your eyes can deceive you. Even a dragon can be copied.
- Gnomes are pricks, especially when they are intelligent and get bored.
- Next time we find traps, Adolfiel will go first.
We learned from the major of the town that the north of the Whitecap Wall was under attack from evil beings and that there had been some raids on the merchants on the road to Marshport. He asked us to go investigate a little. We decided to go as it seemed that all kinds of evil were coming from that direction, even the foul weather.
The investigation was very interesting, we discovered some goblin clans and, helped by a group of elven treasure hunters, we got rid of most of them. However, their leader was very fast and it escaped before we could catch him.
While we were following his tracks, we found a cave that, after some exploration, gave us access to the most annoying place I have ever seen.
It was the household of a gnome artisan, fond of traps, mechanisms and stupid jokes.
We pushed into the corridors, piqued by curiosity and found trap after trap after trap, each more painful and humiliating than the one before.
I fell into all of them, sometimes repeatedly.
I got burnt, crushed and even sunk into a pit of filth. I was angry beyond measure, I even had to stand the jokes of my sisters, while I was going first and falling into yet another trap. How unfair can the world be?
The final joke was a stupid mechanical dragon that was so well made that it took us some minutes before realizing it was fake.
Me and Tyrion ran behind it and we destroyed the machine, giving us access to the living quarters of the gnome.
He (or it, he was a gnome trapped into a shape shifting weapon, of all things) gave us some information, proved he could be at least as talkative as my sisters and tested Tyrion's love for gaming (which I'm starting to find interesting too).
I left the gnome's cave with some lessons well learnt:
- Sometimes, your eyes can deceive you. Even a dragon can be copied.
- Gnomes are pricks, especially when they are intelligent and get bored.
- Next time we find traps, Adolfiel will go first.
Am I not an elf and a brother?
Today we have had a tough day in the forest. The wind is pretty cold and the snow does not let us keep the speed we would like to. At one point, we have found the tracks of a big group of goblins (at last!). We were tracking the goblins, when suddenly, a voice comes out of some trees: two elves were blocking our way. They seemed quite nervous and hostile. At first I was happy to see two elves (I do not like the nasty smell of humans), but their aggresivity was growing fast. Some seconds afterwards, a group of elven archers was surrounding us. All of them were very nervous and did not believe we were hunting the goblins. It was pretty obvious they had somthing to hide...
The fight was fast. These archers were not very brave and after we hit their chieftain a bit hard, they decided to surrender. At this moment I realized their commander was hiding some kind of document from us so, with all my diplomacy and tenderness I took it from him. It was some kind of map, but I could not recognize the area. The elves had not heard anything of any goblins and they were very hostile to us... and they wanted to hide the map. What could that be? We told them to take us to their camp. They might have something we could find useful (food, equipment or even information they might drop in our way to the camp). However, by the time we got there, the camp had been obviously attacked and plundered. Someone (the goblins?) had taken everything and burnt the tents. However, in their escape, they have not bothered erasing their track.
We rushed after the raiders until we found them. They were very strange creatures (it is the first time I have ever seen a blue goblin!!) that were carrying all the goods of the elves. We attacked them and managed to take all the food back, but the goblin commander managed to scape.
After the fight, the elves finally believed that we were tracking the goblins and, in their conversation, they suggested that the map was leading them to a treasure (damn, no "X" showing the place in the map; anyway, we should have known) and offered us to join them in a 50% - 50% basis. After a tough negotiation, we agreed on a 70% - 30% of the treasure (yes, I know, we can also be terribly convincing if we try). Tomorrow we will go on looking for the treasure (and the goblins' liar) if this stupid snow does not kill us first.
The fight was fast. These archers were not very brave and after we hit their chieftain a bit hard, they decided to surrender. At this moment I realized their commander was hiding some kind of document from us so, with all my diplomacy and tenderness I took it from him. It was some kind of map, but I could not recognize the area. The elves had not heard anything of any goblins and they were very hostile to us... and they wanted to hide the map. What could that be? We told them to take us to their camp. They might have something we could find useful (food, equipment or even information they might drop in our way to the camp). However, by the time we got there, the camp had been obviously attacked and plundered. Someone (the goblins?) had taken everything and burnt the tents. However, in their escape, they have not bothered erasing their track.
We rushed after the raiders until we found them. They were very strange creatures (it is the first time I have ever seen a blue goblin!!) that were carrying all the goods of the elves. We attacked them and managed to take all the food back, but the goblin commander managed to scape.
After the fight, the elves finally believed that we were tracking the goblins and, in their conversation, they suggested that the map was leading them to a treasure (damn, no "X" showing the place in the map; anyway, we should have known) and offered us to join them in a 50% - 50% basis. After a tough negotiation, we agreed on a 70% - 30% of the treasure (yes, I know, we can also be terribly convincing if we try). Tomorrow we will go on looking for the treasure (and the goblins' liar) if this stupid snow does not kill us first.
Boredom in Marshport
We have been in Marshport for quite a long time and we are making little progress (if any) in our investigation. Vistra is devoting herself to healing the poor, while Sariel, Streisan, Tyrion and myself try to look for more information about the pirates that raided out town. We have asked the sailors and businessmen in town about the ship and we have heard nothing but fairy tales: some people say it is a ghost ship, others say it is cursed, some others that the captain is a daemon or something like that. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing useful. Our stay at Marshport is not only sterile in terms of information: these stupid humans are corrupting us. Tyrion has spent a small fortune gambling and my own sister Streisan has started also taking this stupid and dangerous activity. Tyrion was even interested in a greedy, lustful human female and Streisan and me had to free him from her lecherous arms (in his defense I have to admit she was really good looking). At the begining he protested a bit but I am sure he will be grateful to us one day.
To avoid all the vice present in human cities, we have decided to visit the Mayor of Marshport and, even if he had no useful information about the raiders, we offered him our services. Perhaps the town had some trouble we could fix, while we keep ourselves busy for some days and earn some money to go on in our quest. He mentioned some unimportant goblin raids coming from the north. Apparently, some farmers and travellers had been attacked by these goblins in the area close to the mountains.
So, we prepared our expedition. It was winter already (a pretty cold one, at least for a delicate lady of the forests as me), so we took all the things we needed for a journey of some days through the snow. While crossing the gate out of Marshport, I was happy again: back to the beauty of Nature, to the forests... and out of this ugly, noisy, dirty and boring city of Marshport. Hurrah!
To avoid all the vice present in human cities, we have decided to visit the Mayor of Marshport and, even if he had no useful information about the raiders, we offered him our services. Perhaps the town had some trouble we could fix, while we keep ourselves busy for some days and earn some money to go on in our quest. He mentioned some unimportant goblin raids coming from the north. Apparently, some farmers and travellers had been attacked by these goblins in the area close to the mountains.
So, we prepared our expedition. It was winter already (a pretty cold one, at least for a delicate lady of the forests as me), so we took all the things we needed for a journey of some days through the snow. While crossing the gate out of Marshport, I was happy again: back to the beauty of Nature, to the forests... and out of this ugly, noisy, dirty and boring city of Marshport. Hurrah!
Private Investigations
We only stayed two more days in Relkingham, enough to say farewell to Ghesh in a moving funeral, and to receive the gratitude of the whole city and the Caliph, as our quick action and sacrifices had saved Delornen from a terrible fate at the hands of the Vecna cultists.
We are now members of the famous Rangers of Relkingham! Although it won't heal the loss of the Paladin, I hope such an honour will help Streisan overcome her grief.
The Rangers also told us that some strange ships had been seen in the north, near Marshport. As we also had to deliver a letter to an elf in Sylfren, we thought our best bet would be travelling to the north. I was also delighted by the prospect of visiting a real town, with a real library full of interesting books, as I wanted to get the sad emotions of Ghesh's death out of my mind.
At Sylfren
After an uneventful journey of several days, we arrived at Sylfren, where we gave the letter to the elf Luboc and visited mama.
Mama was doing great and was happy to hear that we had survived the ordeal at Delornen. As things are going quite well financially, I felt obliged to give her some money to support her in this difficult times, before she is able to come back to Leavendale. I was very proud to see my sisters offering her part of the reward we received in Relkingham... Sisters' Power!
Luboc was a shoemaker and, although not particularly gifted, some of his craft caught my attention and I decided to invest part of my money in a beautiful pair of purple and green shoes. They'll fit greatly with a robe I saw in Fallcrest in my Academy days, and I hope I'll be able to glitter as much as possible the next time I visit the Academy there.
Marshport
The trip to Marshport was also uneventful. Marshport turned to be a busy medium sized town, and the weather was amazingly cold and windy. I immediately went to the main Library; as I have now some money, I paid my yearly fee to the Guild of Adventuresome Alchemists and Wizards. The fee will allow me to get free access to many libraries around the north and will make it easier to obtain components for magical rituals, I hope.
I discovered lots of interesting books and I immediately turned my attention to one about the classical art of Magic and another introductory treatise to Alchemy.
In the meantime, Streisan, Adolfiel and Tyrion searched for rumours that could lead us to the raiders that had attacked Leavendale. Ioun always preaches that real information can only be found in the towers and libraries of the sages and, as I feared, they did not find much information in the lowly dens of iniquity they visited.
Although their attitude as information seekers is commendable, I am afraid that Tyrion is leading both of my sisters to a life of gambling and lowly acquaintances. I will have to start looking for some intelligent and interesting catch for them, but with their limited capabilities of conversation, I am sure it will be a big problem.
The Black Cry and the ghost captain Angerplea
After several days of gambling and drinking, they managed to hear some rumours about a legendary ship named the Black Cry and its captain Angerplea. Some said the ship had been seen sailing north, some said it had been seen sailing south, and others said the whole thing was just a legend.
I also lost one full research day in Marshport's library, but could not dig any new information about the ghost ship.
Without knowing well how to proceed (Vistra told us her god was indicating her to move northwards, while Tyrion's sixth sense indicated him to move southwards), we decided to try our luck with Marshport's mayor... maybe chance would point us the right way...
We are now members of the famous Rangers of Relkingham! Although it won't heal the loss of the Paladin, I hope such an honour will help Streisan overcome her grief.
The Rangers also told us that some strange ships had been seen in the north, near Marshport. As we also had to deliver a letter to an elf in Sylfren, we thought our best bet would be travelling to the north. I was also delighted by the prospect of visiting a real town, with a real library full of interesting books, as I wanted to get the sad emotions of Ghesh's death out of my mind.
At Sylfren
After an uneventful journey of several days, we arrived at Sylfren, where we gave the letter to the elf Luboc and visited mama.
Mama was doing great and was happy to hear that we had survived the ordeal at Delornen. As things are going quite well financially, I felt obliged to give her some money to support her in this difficult times, before she is able to come back to Leavendale. I was very proud to see my sisters offering her part of the reward we received in Relkingham... Sisters' Power!
Luboc was a shoemaker and, although not particularly gifted, some of his craft caught my attention and I decided to invest part of my money in a beautiful pair of purple and green shoes. They'll fit greatly with a robe I saw in Fallcrest in my Academy days, and I hope I'll be able to glitter as much as possible the next time I visit the Academy there.
Marshport
The trip to Marshport was also uneventful. Marshport turned to be a busy medium sized town, and the weather was amazingly cold and windy. I immediately went to the main Library; as I have now some money, I paid my yearly fee to the Guild of Adventuresome Alchemists and Wizards. The fee will allow me to get free access to many libraries around the north and will make it easier to obtain components for magical rituals, I hope.
I discovered lots of interesting books and I immediately turned my attention to one about the classical art of Magic and another introductory treatise to Alchemy.
In the meantime, Streisan, Adolfiel and Tyrion searched for rumours that could lead us to the raiders that had attacked Leavendale. Ioun always preaches that real information can only be found in the towers and libraries of the sages and, as I feared, they did not find much information in the lowly dens of iniquity they visited.
Although their attitude as information seekers is commendable, I am afraid that Tyrion is leading both of my sisters to a life of gambling and lowly acquaintances. I will have to start looking for some intelligent and interesting catch for them, but with their limited capabilities of conversation, I am sure it will be a big problem.
The Black Cry and the ghost captain Angerplea
After several days of gambling and drinking, they managed to hear some rumours about a legendary ship named the Black Cry and its captain Angerplea. Some said the ship had been seen sailing north, some said it had been seen sailing south, and others said the whole thing was just a legend.
I also lost one full research day in Marshport's library, but could not dig any new information about the ghost ship.
Without knowing well how to proceed (Vistra told us her god was indicating her to move northwards, while Tyrion's sixth sense indicated him to move southwards), we decided to try our luck with Marshport's mayor... maybe chance would point us the right way...
Marshport
Today we have reached the city of Marshport. I do not like human cities. They are noisy, dirty and ugly. Today, we have been looking for some information regarding the raiding ship that attacked Leavendale. In the harbour and in the taberns they know that the ship was anchored in the bay, but it did not go into the port. We have found no useful information, except for the colour of the sails (brown). These humans are not very perceptive!
By the way, life in the city is terribly expensive. I hope we do not have to stay here for too long. Sariel has tried earning some money with some magical tricks, but with limited success. I think next time we should clap like real fans rather than booing her as Streisan and me did: perhaps we can get more money from the public that way.
By the way, life in the city is terribly expensive. I hope we do not have to stay here for too long. Sariel has tried earning some money with some magical tricks, but with limited success. I think next time we should clap like real fans rather than booing her as Streisan and me did: perhaps we can get more money from the public that way.
Return back home
After the big battle in Relkingham, we heard some rumours regarding the raiders that had attacked our town. Apparently some travelers had seen a similar ship in the northern city of Marshport. So, without delay, we have decided to go to this city. Fortunately, our town is in the way to Marshport, so we have stopped there to see how things are going after the attack. Gradually life is coming back to the town, but the wounds opened with the raid will take a long time to heal.
We have also visited Mum in Sylfre. She looked very happy to see us. We checked she was ok. After dinner, while I was helping her with the washing-up, I have asked her if she was worried for the future; we are not there now, she has to live in town (which is far more expensive than the life in the forest)... when we started talking she was with that typical "I'll be ok, darling" attitude of hers, but then, when I have offered her some money to help her, she has looked at the coins and then at me. Finally, she has kept the coins in her pocket. I know it's weird, but I have the feeling she was a bit disappointed.
We have also visited Mum in Sylfre. She looked very happy to see us. We checked she was ok. After dinner, while I was helping her with the washing-up, I have asked her if she was worried for the future; we are not there now, she has to live in town (which is far more expensive than the life in the forest)... when we started talking she was with that typical "I'll be ok, darling" attitude of hers, but then, when I have offered her some money to help her, she has looked at the coins and then at me. Finally, she has kept the coins in her pocket. I know it's weird, but I have the feeling she was a bit disappointed.
Pieces of the puzzle
After the battle at Relkingham, the group got some information about our lost friends. The ship that we had seen attacking our village seemed to have stopped in a harbour called Marshport, at some days riding distance.
We left Relkingham with a new member of our party, one young Relkingham ranger who asked to come with us to the north. He has not talked much yet, maybe he's shy... or maybe he would talk if my two sisters would ever stop. Sometimes even the dwarf priest looks exhausted with their chattering.
The trip to Sylfren was blissfully boring. No wild animals, no undead, just the landscape and some time to think about Gesh.
We passed through our home in Leavendale and verified that everything was safe. The village is getting back to life, but many people are missing and families have been broken. They were happy to see us, but we did not have the news they wanted to hear. We went on to Sylfren, where we found mum. She was doing fine, although she was getting tired of depending on our relatives' hospitality. I was happy to be able to help her and with the money from the three of us, she will have no problem for the time being.
After the others had gone to bed, I had the chance to have a long conversation with mum. She had seen inmediately that something was wrong and was waiting for me.
I told her everything, how I had felt the first days, the places we had visited and how my mistakes had taken me to Relkingham that day. I told her that I did not know what to do, how gilty I felt and that I was afraid of going on and hurting one of my sisters (if I ever hurt one of them, I want it to be because of MY decision, and because not some evil priest's spell).
She listened to me quietly and after I had finished she told me a story about our family.
One day as we were playing in the yard, something terrible had happened. The three of us were fighting as usual while mum was in the house and not really paying too much attention. As always, Sariel tried to boss us around because she was the oldest, and as always, we did not want to do what she wanted. However, this time Adolfiel and me decided to join together to fight against her and started beating her. She grew really afraid, felt cornered and helpless. Out of panic, she yelled and streched her arms. A blue bolt of energy rose from her fingers and struck Adolfiel, leaving her on the ground motionless.
It took some days to heal Adolfiel, but since that day she has that strange tic in the face that makes her so unpopular with boys.
The family learned that day that Sariel had a talent for magic, that she did not know how to control it and that we could be dangerous to each other, specially Sariel.
That night, it was decided that Sariel would leave us, go to the north to study magic and learn how to control her powers. The family broke apart.
I did not understand why mum was telling me this story, I knew it already.
She explained to me that for many years she had felt gilty for what had happened. She should have been there to stop us. She had felt like as she had lost a daughter because of her mistake that day, until Sariel returned. And she had finally realized that the losses of the past had bought happiness later.
She said that Gesh's death was a tragedy and that it was good that I was sad about it. But she said that I had to accept the responsibility of my acts and make sure that it never, never happened again. But I had to go on. I did not have the right to stop or act depressed, our enslaved townsfolk and my sisters needed me.
That night I did not sleep, I stayed up thinking. Mum's words did not help me feel less guilty. What she wanted me to do was to accept my mistakes and go on.
I would do it.
For the moment.
We left Relkingham with a new member of our party, one young Relkingham ranger who asked to come with us to the north. He has not talked much yet, maybe he's shy... or maybe he would talk if my two sisters would ever stop. Sometimes even the dwarf priest looks exhausted with their chattering.
The trip to Sylfren was blissfully boring. No wild animals, no undead, just the landscape and some time to think about Gesh.
We passed through our home in Leavendale and verified that everything was safe. The village is getting back to life, but many people are missing and families have been broken. They were happy to see us, but we did not have the news they wanted to hear. We went on to Sylfren, where we found mum. She was doing fine, although she was getting tired of depending on our relatives' hospitality. I was happy to be able to help her and with the money from the three of us, she will have no problem for the time being.
After the others had gone to bed, I had the chance to have a long conversation with mum. She had seen inmediately that something was wrong and was waiting for me.
I told her everything, how I had felt the first days, the places we had visited and how my mistakes had taken me to Relkingham that day. I told her that I did not know what to do, how gilty I felt and that I was afraid of going on and hurting one of my sisters (if I ever hurt one of them, I want it to be because of MY decision, and because not some evil priest's spell).
She listened to me quietly and after I had finished she told me a story about our family.
One day as we were playing in the yard, something terrible had happened. The three of us were fighting as usual while mum was in the house and not really paying too much attention. As always, Sariel tried to boss us around because she was the oldest, and as always, we did not want to do what she wanted. However, this time Adolfiel and me decided to join together to fight against her and started beating her. She grew really afraid, felt cornered and helpless. Out of panic, she yelled and streched her arms. A blue bolt of energy rose from her fingers and struck Adolfiel, leaving her on the ground motionless.
It took some days to heal Adolfiel, but since that day she has that strange tic in the face that makes her so unpopular with boys.
The family learned that day that Sariel had a talent for magic, that she did not know how to control it and that we could be dangerous to each other, specially Sariel.
That night, it was decided that Sariel would leave us, go to the north to study magic and learn how to control her powers. The family broke apart.
I did not understand why mum was telling me this story, I knew it already.
She explained to me that for many years she had felt gilty for what had happened. She should have been there to stop us. She had felt like as she had lost a daughter because of her mistake that day, until Sariel returned. And she had finally realized that the losses of the past had bought happiness later.
She said that Gesh's death was a tragedy and that it was good that I was sad about it. But she said that I had to accept the responsibility of my acts and make sure that it never, never happened again. But I had to go on. I did not have the right to stop or act depressed, our enslaved townsfolk and my sisters needed me.
That night I did not sleep, I stayed up thinking. Mum's words did not help me feel less guilty. What she wanted me to do was to accept my mistakes and go on.
I would do it.
For the moment.
The eye of the cyclone
These are dire times for our group.
After finding that the treacherous Vizier left for Relkingham, the group was left undecided. I managed to make it accept the race against time, and against all odds, to catch the Vizier before more evil doings. I am afraid none of us was prepared to fight undead atrocities as well as realising that there are things more dreadful than death itself.
I am happy to report that through sheer determination and willpower, and despite tiredness and doubt, we reached Relkingham well ahead of our best hopes...so well that we could prevent the Vizier to reach his goal.
We managed to enter the temple, through riots, undead and junkies. We had to fight against the mightiest paladin I ever saw, and in his death he took with him a truthful paladin of Erathis, Nietche. I think that none of us realised the corruption the were facing, if it could turn a paladin out of its loyal path.
But duty was calling, and true to our beliefs, we rushed in the temple fo find the Vizier bathed in the wickedness of Vecna, surrounded by undead and ready to battle. We finaly ended this madness, but in doing so, the group lost its innocence. Streisan killed Ghesh while being dominated by the Vizier.
I realise now, that even if I am surrounded by elves and dwarf, they are still children and life had still spared them. How can I explain to them that worse things can always come. That they should enjoy joy and happiness when it occurs because these memories will help them sweep away the sorrow of dire days? They are children, and that is a chance for me to lead them to adulthood.
I hope that Streisan will realise that she was not in the control of an evil priest to reach a despicable goal, but that she was guided by Erathis himself to prevent the desecration of one of his most faithful servant by being turned into Undead. I want to believe that. Because it is easier, because it is better, and because it is the only way to realise the awful truth of life: No matter what happen, you must go on. Because life does not wait for you.
I do not know whether I am a good example for them. I am enjoying everything that life throws at me to protect myself of the evil lurking in the shadows. I like to gamble, I like companionship and love, where and whenever I can find them. It sometimes look like selfishness or carelessness, but I do not want regret or sorrow when I die, and I wish everybody to feel the same way.
We nearly lost our lives in a mad gnome dungeon, and the way Streisan was throwing herself to the danger, makes me fear for her life. But I hope that she will remember that he has a greater goal that died by carelessness or grief...that hundreds of people, of her people, awaits for freedom and her dying will just destroy their hopes.
Courage my children, because worse an better thing will always happen tomorrow.
After finding that the treacherous Vizier left for Relkingham, the group was left undecided. I managed to make it accept the race against time, and against all odds, to catch the Vizier before more evil doings. I am afraid none of us was prepared to fight undead atrocities as well as realising that there are things more dreadful than death itself.
I am happy to report that through sheer determination and willpower, and despite tiredness and doubt, we reached Relkingham well ahead of our best hopes...so well that we could prevent the Vizier to reach his goal.
We managed to enter the temple, through riots, undead and junkies. We had to fight against the mightiest paladin I ever saw, and in his death he took with him a truthful paladin of Erathis, Nietche. I think that none of us realised the corruption the were facing, if it could turn a paladin out of its loyal path.
But duty was calling, and true to our beliefs, we rushed in the temple fo find the Vizier bathed in the wickedness of Vecna, surrounded by undead and ready to battle. We finaly ended this madness, but in doing so, the group lost its innocence. Streisan killed Ghesh while being dominated by the Vizier.
I realise now, that even if I am surrounded by elves and dwarf, they are still children and life had still spared them. How can I explain to them that worse things can always come. That they should enjoy joy and happiness when it occurs because these memories will help them sweep away the sorrow of dire days? They are children, and that is a chance for me to lead them to adulthood.
I hope that Streisan will realise that she was not in the control of an evil priest to reach a despicable goal, but that she was guided by Erathis himself to prevent the desecration of one of his most faithful servant by being turned into Undead. I want to believe that. Because it is easier, because it is better, and because it is the only way to realise the awful truth of life: No matter what happen, you must go on. Because life does not wait for you.
I do not know whether I am a good example for them. I am enjoying everything that life throws at me to protect myself of the evil lurking in the shadows. I like to gamble, I like companionship and love, where and whenever I can find them. It sometimes look like selfishness or carelessness, but I do not want regret or sorrow when I die, and I wish everybody to feel the same way.
We nearly lost our lives in a mad gnome dungeon, and the way Streisan was throwing herself to the danger, makes me fear for her life. But I hope that she will remember that he has a greater goal that died by carelessness or grief...that hundreds of people, of her people, awaits for freedom and her dying will just destroy their hopes.
Courage my children, because worse an better thing will always happen tomorrow.
Session 6: The Marshport Blizzard
The search for the Leavendale raiders leads the party to Marshport in the hopes of finding new clues - but the trail isn't the only thing that's getting cold...
Bitter is the flavour of victory
Today has been a strange day, one of those days when you do not know if you should be exultant or miserable (and I am not talking about those special days of the month, but about key moments in life). However, as I normally tend to be positive, I would rather start telling you, Dear Diary, that I am writting these lines before going to sleep (I have not slept in the last day and a half and I am really exhausted).
Last night, after having buried the corpses we found in Hamona, we followed our journey to Relkingham. After some hours, already at dawn, we reached the city walls. At first sight, everything seemed pretty normal, except for the fact that some horses were walking free outside the city. When we reached the gate, we asked the guards if the High Priest had arrived to the city. Apparently, he had reached the harbour not so long ago. Perhaps we were still on time, but we had to act quickly.
We rushed to the Mayor and explained him the situation. When he knew the High Priest was not obeying the Queen's orders, he immediately helped us and some of his soldiers joined us in our fight. We all went to the Temple, hoping we could stop the Edict. However, a paladin of Erathis did not let us enter the sacred building. At that moment, we heard noise and cries and a riot started in the city. Apparently many of the citizes were missing their beloved seeds and wanted to have them. After solving the small problem of "ordre public" in town, we tried to break into the Temple. However, what we found there was not what we expected.
A paladin of Erathis, indeed one of the paladins that served the High Priest, was fighting with a small party of undead against us. Soon we understood the situation: the High Priest had betrayed the sacred order of Erathis and was now a follower of evil Vecna. He had even turned the Altar to Erathis into a huge flame of obscurity. When I was about to shoot him, he used his evil powers to throw me to the flame and keep me out of the fight. Although I was trying to get free, the flame was far too powerful. However, after some efforts (and maily thanks to the help of my companions) I managed to get rid of my prison and fight back... but the battle was not evolving as I expected: my sister Streisan suddenly turned and started charging our paladin (yes, the handsome dragonborn). She made him fall and then she killed him. I could not believe my eyes: what was she doing? After that she looked confused and dizzy, while the rest of us surrounded the High Priest and made him pay for his sins.
After the fight was over, I realized that the evil High Priest (now he did not look so "High", ugh?) had cursed my sister and was controlling her movements. She felt horribly for the dramatic result of our adventure and she could not feel relief even in the fact that we had freed a whole country from the slavery of Vecna's cultists.
Myself I had a strange feeling in my stomach. Of course I was sorry for our paladin, but when we got out of the Temple, the sun was shining, the city was free and joy was in everybody's faces. When I saw the Mayor, I could not help it: I went towards him and kissed him. At the begining he was confused but then he understood the battle was over. Then, the army of Relkingham, with whom we had fought against the cultists of Vecna, decided to consider us as Members of Honour of the Rangers of Relkingham.
So, that has been my day. While I am finishing today's report, I hear people sing and dance in the street, and Streisan cry silently in her bed. Life can be complicated.
Last night, after having buried the corpses we found in Hamona, we followed our journey to Relkingham. After some hours, already at dawn, we reached the city walls. At first sight, everything seemed pretty normal, except for the fact that some horses were walking free outside the city. When we reached the gate, we asked the guards if the High Priest had arrived to the city. Apparently, he had reached the harbour not so long ago. Perhaps we were still on time, but we had to act quickly.
We rushed to the Mayor and explained him the situation. When he knew the High Priest was not obeying the Queen's orders, he immediately helped us and some of his soldiers joined us in our fight. We all went to the Temple, hoping we could stop the Edict. However, a paladin of Erathis did not let us enter the sacred building. At that moment, we heard noise and cries and a riot started in the city. Apparently many of the citizes were missing their beloved seeds and wanted to have them. After solving the small problem of "ordre public" in town, we tried to break into the Temple. However, what we found there was not what we expected.
A paladin of Erathis, indeed one of the paladins that served the High Priest, was fighting with a small party of undead against us. Soon we understood the situation: the High Priest had betrayed the sacred order of Erathis and was now a follower of evil Vecna. He had even turned the Altar to Erathis into a huge flame of obscurity. When I was about to shoot him, he used his evil powers to throw me to the flame and keep me out of the fight. Although I was trying to get free, the flame was far too powerful. However, after some efforts (and maily thanks to the help of my companions) I managed to get rid of my prison and fight back... but the battle was not evolving as I expected: my sister Streisan suddenly turned and started charging our paladin (yes, the handsome dragonborn). She made him fall and then she killed him. I could not believe my eyes: what was she doing? After that she looked confused and dizzy, while the rest of us surrounded the High Priest and made him pay for his sins.
After the fight was over, I realized that the evil High Priest (now he did not look so "High", ugh?) had cursed my sister and was controlling her movements. She felt horribly for the dramatic result of our adventure and she could not feel relief even in the fact that we had freed a whole country from the slavery of Vecna's cultists.
Myself I had a strange feeling in my stomach. Of course I was sorry for our paladin, but when we got out of the Temple, the sun was shining, the city was free and joy was in everybody's faces. When I saw the Mayor, I could not help it: I went towards him and kissed him. At the begining he was confused but then he understood the battle was over. Then, the army of Relkingham, with whom we had fought against the cultists of Vecna, decided to consider us as Members of Honour of the Rangers of Relkingham.
So, that has been my day. While I am finishing today's report, I hear people sing and dance in the street, and Streisan cry silently in her bed. Life can be complicated.
Defeat within Victory
I would have like to be able to write this down earlier, but the anguish and pain within my heart have made me cower from writing the events of the last few days down and the terrible event it lead to, hoping that by not writing about it, not talking about it, it would not be real. But I can hide no longer, as a cleric of Berronar I must be strong, how can I hide from pain and help others to accept and live through it, make their lives better even through the hardships? How can I do my duty, how can I aid others if I cannot even help myself. So here we are dear diary, the first step in accepting the fate that has befallen our group. My heart is torn, but I believe this trial has made me stronger, I pray to Berronar that it is so.
After having traveled to Wylea, we had met with the Caliph and managed to convince her that the edict was not a good idea, at least till more thought and other options had been considered. But that was when the first tragedy happened, a man trying to reach the Caliph died just after having told us what was happening, the Vizir had stolen the edict and was planning on making it holy law despite the Caliph's orders. After having bested some guards told to keep us in the Palace, we managed to get to the secret entrance who's existance had been given to us by one of the Caliph's servants. We ended up in the sewers, smells I'd rather not describe attacking our nostrils the deeper we ventured. At one point we found a cavern, which as we ventured through had some slimes attack us. Fortunatly we dispatched them with fair ease.
But we kept hurrying to the Vizir's temple to hopefully prevent him implementing the edict. As we arrived at what seemed to be the entrance to the temple, we got hit by barrels pushed by attackers from the top of the stairs. Tyrion charged, and was badly injured and dying. We got pinnen in the stairs by one of the paladins trying to push through to save Tyrion. I admit I do not know if my faith could have saved me if Tyrion had died, we have traveled a lot together and... (that will have to be for another day). Fortunatly through the battle we managed to find out that the paladins had been sent by the Caliph to protect the temple and do what we had come to do, prevent the Vizir from implementing the edict. But as information reached us that the Vizir was at the harbor we rushed there to find the ships burning, the Caliphs personal ship leaving all of us knowing the Vizir was on board.
Grabbing horses, we rode. I don't remember for how long, trying to save every minute by pushing ourselves and the horses to the limit, time had become a torrential flow who's passing we could not measure. We arrived at a small village, my horse tired from the ride. We tried to get to the stables and hopefully ask the owner for some fresh ones, but all we found were terrified horses and undead attacking us from all over, their left hands and eyes had been cut showing us Vecna's hand in these events unfolding. Pushed by the fact that time was the one luxury we didn't have we dispatched them quickly and continued our ride. The horses grew tired, our bodies also were starting to feel the drain of us pushing ourselves to the limit. Further along we saw a burning watchpost, bodies litered on the floor. Ghesh and myself were compelled to give them a proper sending off, with a quick prayer we added them to the flames so their flesh and their souls would be cleansed before reaching the afterlife. Again there was no time to stop, we rode on reaching Relkingham tired and physically exhausted. But we received news that the Vizir had arrived not long ago, our plan had worked and we had managed to save conciderable amounts of time. We rode to the temple, where our way was barred, we got attacked by humans overcome by drugs attacking us, it pained me to see them die but I could not fathom the concequences if we failed in stopping the Vizir. Undead soon joined the fray, and we were assisted by Nietsch, a paladin of Erathis, and a few of his companions. The first tragedy of the day as Nietsch was killed by Jeryn, a paladin helping the Vizir who had renounced Erathis, althought there was a small concolation in Nietsch having struck Jeryn down.
But there was a pillar of darkness eminating from the back of the temple and again we rushed forward hoping to prevent these terrible events to progress any further. Dispatching some the final bodyguards, we finally arrived at the Shrine of Erathis in the temple, standing before it was Avonazemon, traitor to humanity and his god Erathis, now a minion of Vecna. Before we even had time to react he pulled Adolfiel in a swirling cloud of hands and eyes. We pushed forward, rage a part of some, cold anger in others, fighting for what was right and good in this world. We were pushing him back but suddenly using his powers of the mind he attacked the will of Tyrion taking over his mind. Tyrion managed to brush it off fairly quickly though before causing considerable damage. We kept pressing the attack, even Adolfiel swirling in the mass of hands and eyes managed to pull off some very impressive attacks hurting Avonazemon further. But our luck ran out, Avonazemon managed to take control of Streisan's mind. Probably knowing the battle was lost for him, Avonazemon used Streisan to attack Ghesh who weakened by the battle against Avonazemon fell prone to the ground. Using everything we had we tried to stop Avonazemon, help Streisan break his control but he was just too strong, using all his strength for those last moments defiling everything that was good.
This dear diary is where my passage has lead me to, I do not wish to hide the tears the pain of these last day has caused me, innocents hurt and dying, the valorous paladin Nietsch struck down in his combat against evil. But the true event that I will never be able to forget, and who's pain will follow to my end of days was Avonazemon last act, bending Streisan's mind into one last desperate command, the execution of Ghesh. It is not only the death of Ghesh, a paladin we would all have called a friend, but what truely broke me was to see Streisan's face as Avonazemon's control broke over her as his death neared. I cannot fathom the horror she must be going through, having witnessed unable to help oneself, kill a friend. I admit, and I hope Berronar can forgive me, that at that moment I was broken overwhelmed by the pain that the evil in this world can unleash.
But through the guidance of Berronar, I believe I have found my purpose. This sort of pain, this sort of evil is but a drop in a wave crashing on the world. I must be strong, I must live with the pain so others won't, I must aid those that need it, I will be Berronar's shield upon this world molded by the trials I will face and I pray to Berronar that my faith will be enough to save me and that in death I may face her on Mount Celestia, with my head held high.
After having traveled to Wylea, we had met with the Caliph and managed to convince her that the edict was not a good idea, at least till more thought and other options had been considered. But that was when the first tragedy happened, a man trying to reach the Caliph died just after having told us what was happening, the Vizir had stolen the edict and was planning on making it holy law despite the Caliph's orders. After having bested some guards told to keep us in the Palace, we managed to get to the secret entrance who's existance had been given to us by one of the Caliph's servants. We ended up in the sewers, smells I'd rather not describe attacking our nostrils the deeper we ventured. At one point we found a cavern, which as we ventured through had some slimes attack us. Fortunatly we dispatched them with fair ease.
But we kept hurrying to the Vizir's temple to hopefully prevent him implementing the edict. As we arrived at what seemed to be the entrance to the temple, we got hit by barrels pushed by attackers from the top of the stairs. Tyrion charged, and was badly injured and dying. We got pinnen in the stairs by one of the paladins trying to push through to save Tyrion. I admit I do not know if my faith could have saved me if Tyrion had died, we have traveled a lot together and... (that will have to be for another day). Fortunatly through the battle we managed to find out that the paladins had been sent by the Caliph to protect the temple and do what we had come to do, prevent the Vizir from implementing the edict. But as information reached us that the Vizir was at the harbor we rushed there to find the ships burning, the Caliphs personal ship leaving all of us knowing the Vizir was on board.
Grabbing horses, we rode. I don't remember for how long, trying to save every minute by pushing ourselves and the horses to the limit, time had become a torrential flow who's passing we could not measure. We arrived at a small village, my horse tired from the ride. We tried to get to the stables and hopefully ask the owner for some fresh ones, but all we found were terrified horses and undead attacking us from all over, their left hands and eyes had been cut showing us Vecna's hand in these events unfolding. Pushed by the fact that time was the one luxury we didn't have we dispatched them quickly and continued our ride. The horses grew tired, our bodies also were starting to feel the drain of us pushing ourselves to the limit. Further along we saw a burning watchpost, bodies litered on the floor. Ghesh and myself were compelled to give them a proper sending off, with a quick prayer we added them to the flames so their flesh and their souls would be cleansed before reaching the afterlife. Again there was no time to stop, we rode on reaching Relkingham tired and physically exhausted. But we received news that the Vizir had arrived not long ago, our plan had worked and we had managed to save conciderable amounts of time. We rode to the temple, where our way was barred, we got attacked by humans overcome by drugs attacking us, it pained me to see them die but I could not fathom the concequences if we failed in stopping the Vizir. Undead soon joined the fray, and we were assisted by Nietsch, a paladin of Erathis, and a few of his companions. The first tragedy of the day as Nietsch was killed by Jeryn, a paladin helping the Vizir who had renounced Erathis, althought there was a small concolation in Nietsch having struck Jeryn down.
But there was a pillar of darkness eminating from the back of the temple and again we rushed forward hoping to prevent these terrible events to progress any further. Dispatching some the final bodyguards, we finally arrived at the Shrine of Erathis in the temple, standing before it was Avonazemon, traitor to humanity and his god Erathis, now a minion of Vecna. Before we even had time to react he pulled Adolfiel in a swirling cloud of hands and eyes. We pushed forward, rage a part of some, cold anger in others, fighting for what was right and good in this world. We were pushing him back but suddenly using his powers of the mind he attacked the will of Tyrion taking over his mind. Tyrion managed to brush it off fairly quickly though before causing considerable damage. We kept pressing the attack, even Adolfiel swirling in the mass of hands and eyes managed to pull off some very impressive attacks hurting Avonazemon further. But our luck ran out, Avonazemon managed to take control of Streisan's mind. Probably knowing the battle was lost for him, Avonazemon used Streisan to attack Ghesh who weakened by the battle against Avonazemon fell prone to the ground. Using everything we had we tried to stop Avonazemon, help Streisan break his control but he was just too strong, using all his strength for those last moments defiling everything that was good.
This dear diary is where my passage has lead me to, I do not wish to hide the tears the pain of these last day has caused me, innocents hurt and dying, the valorous paladin Nietsch struck down in his combat against evil. But the true event that I will never be able to forget, and who's pain will follow to my end of days was Avonazemon last act, bending Streisan's mind into one last desperate command, the execution of Ghesh. It is not only the death of Ghesh, a paladin we would all have called a friend, but what truely broke me was to see Streisan's face as Avonazemon's control broke over her as his death neared. I cannot fathom the horror she must be going through, having witnessed unable to help oneself, kill a friend. I admit, and I hope Berronar can forgive me, that at that moment I was broken overwhelmed by the pain that the evil in this world can unleash.
But through the guidance of Berronar, I believe I have found my purpose. This sort of pain, this sort of evil is but a drop in a wave crashing on the world. I must be strong, I must live with the pain so others won't, I must aid those that need it, I will be Berronar's shield upon this world molded by the trials I will face and I pray to Berronar that my faith will be enough to save me and that in death I may face her on Mount Celestia, with my head held high.
The price of pride
I live in shame.
I have failed terribly and I cannot get over it. Since that day, I have not rested well, I do not eat anything and I keep getting dreams about him. I cannot forget that I killed Gesh, paladin of Erathis.
I keep on reliving those days, trying to understand, to find a mistake, a decision that could have prevented my terrible acts, but I cannot find it.
When we left Wylea, we were in a big hurry. We wanted to gain time at all costs to stop the vizir, Avonazemon from consecrating the trade tax law. The speed at which we travelled was at the end just enough, but the cost was great, it nearly cost me my life.
We had to fight all the way to Relkingham. The lands between the two cities had been attacked by some horrible monsters that raised the undead. They tried to oppose our passage and, even though they were unable to stop us, they made us more tired.
When we arrived to Relkingham, I was almost dead of exhaustion. We had had four combats without rest, ridden for two days and almost killed our horses.
The city was calm, the Vizir had arrived and he was hiding in the temple so we decided, again without resting, to go warn the Mayor.
As we were crossing the main square, right in front of the temple, we found some soldiers that told us that in fact the fighting had already begun... and had already been lost. The Vizir and his evil minions had taken over the temple and were performing evil rituals right at that moment!
We decided to act, enter the temple and stop the Vizir there and now.
Right as we were getting into the temple, the evil minions of the Vizir started to act. They attacked the city square and a great combat started. With the help of the soldiers, we were able to kill the evil servants, even the great paladin that came out of the temple in the middle of the battle. It took all of us to kill him and finally the leader of the soldiers that were helping us sacrificed his life to stop him.
The temple doors were clean of enemies but it was closed shut and we were in a hurry, so we sneaked through a roof into the back gardens and from there we got to the altar.
By the time we got there, I was almost fainting with fatigue. I had been unable to focus and my reactions were so slow that the enemies kept avoiding my thrusts. Although it kept trying, my body felt drained and I knew I was almost at the end of my strength.
As we got into the altar room, the despicable piece of faeces that was the Vizir did a horrible spell to my sister Adolfiel that left her helpless. Gesh and me hurried to her help and got close to Avonazemon so we could attack him.
Then came the most horrible moment of my life.
As we were fighting, I got too close to Avonazemon and for a second, I was vulnerable. The Vizir approached me, put his hand on my arm and came into my mind, commanding me to follow his orders.
I was so tired.
I could not resist, he was too strong for me.
My body was taken away from my mind and used as a puppet, while I watched helpless.
I turned around and with one powerful attack, I sent the paladin to the ground.
I tried to stop it, to throw him away from my mind. But I could not.
With a second attack I killed the honourable paladin, the future husband of one of my sisters (which one I do not know, maybe both), tall and strong.
Some minutes later, Avonazemon finally paid the price to all the evil he had provoked. He had become a servant of an evil god of the undead and had tried to promote this law to have many human sacrifices for his god. I hope he gets to feel ten times the pain he has brought to us.
We saved the temple, although it had been desecrated and got rewarded for it, we are very popular in the city right now.
The rest of the group is not talking much about Gesh, not even my sisters. They let the Mayor and the citizens think that all of us were heroes, but it was not true. Not all of us were free of guilt. Although they do not say anything to me, I know they are thinking about what happened in the altar.
The morning after the combat, after having finally rested, I went alone to the hills outside the city and burnt a small sacrifice for Gesh. I burnt the figure I was making for mum. She will understand, in the figure I was represented as a heroine helping others, and this is not true any more. It's the price for my pride.
I wish I could talk to mum, she would understand.
I have failed terribly and I cannot get over it. Since that day, I have not rested well, I do not eat anything and I keep getting dreams about him. I cannot forget that I killed Gesh, paladin of Erathis.
I keep on reliving those days, trying to understand, to find a mistake, a decision that could have prevented my terrible acts, but I cannot find it.
When we left Wylea, we were in a big hurry. We wanted to gain time at all costs to stop the vizir, Avonazemon from consecrating the trade tax law. The speed at which we travelled was at the end just enough, but the cost was great, it nearly cost me my life.
We had to fight all the way to Relkingham. The lands between the two cities had been attacked by some horrible monsters that raised the undead. They tried to oppose our passage and, even though they were unable to stop us, they made us more tired.
When we arrived to Relkingham, I was almost dead of exhaustion. We had had four combats without rest, ridden for two days and almost killed our horses.
The city was calm, the Vizir had arrived and he was hiding in the temple so we decided, again without resting, to go warn the Mayor.
As we were crossing the main square, right in front of the temple, we found some soldiers that told us that in fact the fighting had already begun... and had already been lost. The Vizir and his evil minions had taken over the temple and were performing evil rituals right at that moment!
We decided to act, enter the temple and stop the Vizir there and now.
Right as we were getting into the temple, the evil minions of the Vizir started to act. They attacked the city square and a great combat started. With the help of the soldiers, we were able to kill the evil servants, even the great paladin that came out of the temple in the middle of the battle. It took all of us to kill him and finally the leader of the soldiers that were helping us sacrificed his life to stop him.
The temple doors were clean of enemies but it was closed shut and we were in a hurry, so we sneaked through a roof into the back gardens and from there we got to the altar.
By the time we got there, I was almost fainting with fatigue. I had been unable to focus and my reactions were so slow that the enemies kept avoiding my thrusts. Although it kept trying, my body felt drained and I knew I was almost at the end of my strength.
As we got into the altar room, the despicable piece of faeces that was the Vizir did a horrible spell to my sister Adolfiel that left her helpless. Gesh and me hurried to her help and got close to Avonazemon so we could attack him.
Then came the most horrible moment of my life.
As we were fighting, I got too close to Avonazemon and for a second, I was vulnerable. The Vizir approached me, put his hand on my arm and came into my mind, commanding me to follow his orders.
I was so tired.
I could not resist, he was too strong for me.
My body was taken away from my mind and used as a puppet, while I watched helpless.
I turned around and with one powerful attack, I sent the paladin to the ground.
I tried to stop it, to throw him away from my mind. But I could not.
With a second attack I killed the honourable paladin, the future husband of one of my sisters (which one I do not know, maybe both), tall and strong.
Some minutes later, Avonazemon finally paid the price to all the evil he had provoked. He had become a servant of an evil god of the undead and had tried to promote this law to have many human sacrifices for his god. I hope he gets to feel ten times the pain he has brought to us.
We saved the temple, although it had been desecrated and got rewarded for it, we are very popular in the city right now.
The rest of the group is not talking much about Gesh, not even my sisters. They let the Mayor and the citizens think that all of us were heroes, but it was not true. Not all of us were free of guilt. Although they do not say anything to me, I know they are thinking about what happened in the altar.
The morning after the combat, after having finally rested, I went alone to the hills outside the city and burnt a small sacrifice for Gesh. I burnt the figure I was making for mum. She will understand, in the figure I was represented as a heroine helping others, and this is not true any more. It's the price for my pride.
I wish I could talk to mum, she would understand.
Such a gory, mourning story
After the defeat of Jeryn, a nasty purple cloud coalesced in the sky, on top of the Temple. A loud boom was heard, and a column of unholy light suffused the temple and the square... the corpses began stirring, and a sense of dread overcame us.
We took a short rest, then hurried to the interior of the temple. We defeated the last remnants of the Vizier's bodyguards and entered the main chapel. Avonazemon, the despicable Vecna traitor, was waiting for us. He had just finished desecrating the altar of Erathis and a column of hands and eyes was swirling around the altar. With a flick of his hand he ensnared Adolfiel in the nasty cloud and started playing cat and mouse with us. Ghesh, Tyrion and Streisan charged hi, but we found to our dismay that the Vizier had powerful ways of persuassion. All of us had problems trying to focus on him, and sometimes he would wave his hands and fingers and we would act as puppets in a theatre, awkwardly following his dirty commands. Also, the corruption of Vecna was strong near the altar, and we felt our life forces flow into the horrible column.
Even with all his dirty tricks, it looked like the Vizier was not going to be able to stop our coordinated efforts, but then he took control of Streisan and my poor sister could not resist the insidious commands of the Vizier; one quick thrust of her spear was enough to leave the already weakened Ghesh prone. The Vizier knew he was defeated, but his cruel mind was not going to pass into Oblivion without causing even more damage than he had already caused. He saw the opportunity and commanded Streisan to finish off the Paladin. With a forced expression in her face and yanking movements, Streisan plunged her spear in Ghesh's body. When we saw the Paladin expire, we were all enraged by this ignoble act and charged the Vizier with holy fury. His subsequent defeat was poor consolation for our bitter loss.
We left the temple bloody, exhausted and with tears running down our cheeks, carefully carrying Ghesh's mangled corpse.The mayor of Relkingham and the guards and rangers of the city were also devastated, having suffered the loss of many friends and colleagues. We all embraced each other, knowing we had barely been able to save the city from Vecna's doom.
We went to the inn to rest and bathe ourselves, then I started writing this long sad entry in my diary, my mind was filled with all the glorious moments with Ghesh, and I meditated on the elven prayer "Friends Farewell" and my eyes were moist again.
We took a short rest, then hurried to the interior of the temple. We defeated the last remnants of the Vizier's bodyguards and entered the main chapel. Avonazemon, the despicable Vecna traitor, was waiting for us. He had just finished desecrating the altar of Erathis and a column of hands and eyes was swirling around the altar. With a flick of his hand he ensnared Adolfiel in the nasty cloud and started playing cat and mouse with us. Ghesh, Tyrion and Streisan charged hi, but we found to our dismay that the Vizier had powerful ways of persuassion. All of us had problems trying to focus on him, and sometimes he would wave his hands and fingers and we would act as puppets in a theatre, awkwardly following his dirty commands. Also, the corruption of Vecna was strong near the altar, and we felt our life forces flow into the horrible column.
Even with all his dirty tricks, it looked like the Vizier was not going to be able to stop our coordinated efforts, but then he took control of Streisan and my poor sister could not resist the insidious commands of the Vizier; one quick thrust of her spear was enough to leave the already weakened Ghesh prone. The Vizier knew he was defeated, but his cruel mind was not going to pass into Oblivion without causing even more damage than he had already caused. He saw the opportunity and commanded Streisan to finish off the Paladin. With a forced expression in her face and yanking movements, Streisan plunged her spear in Ghesh's body. When we saw the Paladin expire, we were all enraged by this ignoble act and charged the Vizier with holy fury. His subsequent defeat was poor consolation for our bitter loss.
We left the temple bloody, exhausted and with tears running down our cheeks, carefully carrying Ghesh's mangled corpse.The mayor of Relkingham and the guards and rangers of the city were also devastated, having suffered the loss of many friends and colleagues. We all embraced each other, knowing we had barely been able to save the city from Vecna's doom.
We went to the inn to rest and bathe ourselves, then I started writing this long sad entry in my diary, my mind was filled with all the glorious moments with Ghesh, and I meditated on the elven prayer "Friends Farewell" and my eyes were moist again.
"Aeons passed since our essence
from the Maelstrom of Chaos was fished
and in the beautiful Wheel of Living
we were allowed to roam free.
Our threads entwined such a short time
and yet that I knew you always it seemed
now you wander the forest no longer
and the Feywild your home is to be.
Will you cross again the waters?
Will you again in the Circle live?
I hope I'll recognise your likeness
when the Wheel's next turn makes us meet."
from the Maelstrom of Chaos was fished
and in the beautiful Wheel of Living
we were allowed to roam free.
Our threads entwined such a short time
and yet that I knew you always it seemed
now you wander the forest no longer
and the Feywild your home is to be.
Will you cross again the waters?
Will you again in the Circle live?
I hope I'll recognise your likeness
when the Wheel's next turn makes us meet."
Session 5: Avonazemon's Ashes
Avonazemon, High Priest of Erathis and Vizier of Delornen, is finally revealed as a champion of Vecna, and claims the life of Paladin Ghesh in the ensuing battle...
Something is rotten in the state of Delornen
After some days of travel by boat, we have arrived at Wyllea, capital city of Delornen. Impossible as it might seem, these people are even wealthier than the inhabitants of Relkingham. While the paladin goes to the Temple to do his paladinish things (this guy speaks even less than Tyrion... I do not even know his name!) we have found the Royal Palace. There, we have asked for an audience, which was granted quite fast (considering we wanted to talk to the King, and to talk to a simple mayor we had to wait some hours). While we were waiting, the paladin has joined us and, shortly afterwards, we were called in the presence of the King... that happened to be a Queen!
The reception took place in a large, luxurious room. I really think these people have too much money - with much less, the elves can live in the forest much better than these stupid humans. The paladin and Vistra explained the situation to the Queen and, at the begining, she was not really receptive. I would say she was rather hostile: she even suggested that we were simple muppets controlled by the Mayor of Relkingham! How did she dare! That arrogant and stupid Queen! She thinks she is important because she is tall, has intense green eyes and can afford rich silk dresses that fit her comely and proportionate body perfectly! I really do not care about the Mayor, the seeds or the stupid economical sustainability of the humans: I want to know what happened to our neighbours and friends. At that moment I was very angry... so angry that I decided to shut that outrageous and poissonous mouth of hers. However, I myself did not choose correctly my words (now I cannot remember them, but I DO remember the faces of my sisters when I spoke... next time I will have to bite my tongue). Fortunately enough, the Queen did not seem to have heard me and went on talking to the paladin. Although when he is with us he does not seem to be very talkative, he turned out to be very eloquent with the Queen (apparently rich queens seem to be his kind). He was so eloquent, that the Queen decided to revoke the edict. She gave the pertinent orders and left the room.
Suddenly we heard a cry. One of the servers of the Queen shouted that the edict had been stolen (by the High Priest?). By the time we could reach close to him, he had been murdered, and we were trapped within the Palace. Moreover, the guards of the Palace wanted to keep us there. Again the paladin tried his apparently brand new skill to talk but this was too much for me: I shot four arrows at the closest guard and the fight began. After a short fight, the soldiers surrended and one of the servers suggested that the fastest and safest way to get out of the Palace was through the kitchen. And there we went. Unfortunately, the "safe" way out was through the sewers of the stupid city! After wandering in the darkness and meeting some "abandoned pets" that were not very receptive to our presence, we found a corridor leading to the Temple. And there the worst fight in my whole life took place.
A group of heavily armored soldiers was guarding the Tempel. They were many and very strong. Our arrows and swords seemed useless against them (particularly agains their commander). At a certain moment, our beloved paladin decided to chat again (he does not use this faculty quite often, but I must admit he is really effective) and then we realized that these soldiers were obeying the orders of the Queen and were trying to prevent the High Priest from making it official. As we had the same objective, they showed us the way out and went to the harbour. There, we saw that all the boats were either sunk or in flames and one of them was sailing away, towards Relkingham. As the soldiers told us, the Temple in Relkingham was the closest Temple to Wyllea and the fastest way to get there, by boat.
With the aid of the Queen, we took some horses and rushed towards the city. The way was much longer by road than by boat, but we had no choice. At dusk we arrived to the town of Hamona, where we intended to change horses. However, when we got there, we realized something was not going well. The town was empty and the few horses left, nervous. Suddenly we got attacked by a group of undead. When we got rid of them, we noticed that many of them had a left hand and a left eye excised. According to Vistra, that seemed to be a ritual made by some cultist of an evil god. Who knows. The paladin insisted in burying the corpses. After a while, we went on.
Half way to Relkingham, we have reached a crossroad military post. It is in flames and there are many corpses on the ground, with the same synthoms as the undead in Hamona. This paladin wants to bury them also (perhaps he wanted to be gravedigger when he was a kid). Actually, I am writting these lines while he digs. I am really tired.
The reception took place in a large, luxurious room. I really think these people have too much money - with much less, the elves can live in the forest much better than these stupid humans. The paladin and Vistra explained the situation to the Queen and, at the begining, she was not really receptive. I would say she was rather hostile: she even suggested that we were simple muppets controlled by the Mayor of Relkingham! How did she dare! That arrogant and stupid Queen! She thinks she is important because she is tall, has intense green eyes and can afford rich silk dresses that fit her comely and proportionate body perfectly! I really do not care about the Mayor, the seeds or the stupid economical sustainability of the humans: I want to know what happened to our neighbours and friends. At that moment I was very angry... so angry that I decided to shut that outrageous and poissonous mouth of hers. However, I myself did not choose correctly my words (now I cannot remember them, but I DO remember the faces of my sisters when I spoke... next time I will have to bite my tongue). Fortunately enough, the Queen did not seem to have heard me and went on talking to the paladin. Although when he is with us he does not seem to be very talkative, he turned out to be very eloquent with the Queen (apparently rich queens seem to be his kind). He was so eloquent, that the Queen decided to revoke the edict. She gave the pertinent orders and left the room.
Suddenly we heard a cry. One of the servers of the Queen shouted that the edict had been stolen (by the High Priest?). By the time we could reach close to him, he had been murdered, and we were trapped within the Palace. Moreover, the guards of the Palace wanted to keep us there. Again the paladin tried his apparently brand new skill to talk but this was too much for me: I shot four arrows at the closest guard and the fight began. After a short fight, the soldiers surrended and one of the servers suggested that the fastest and safest way to get out of the Palace was through the kitchen. And there we went. Unfortunately, the "safe" way out was through the sewers of the stupid city! After wandering in the darkness and meeting some "abandoned pets" that were not very receptive to our presence, we found a corridor leading to the Temple. And there the worst fight in my whole life took place.
A group of heavily armored soldiers was guarding the Tempel. They were many and very strong. Our arrows and swords seemed useless against them (particularly agains their commander). At a certain moment, our beloved paladin decided to chat again (he does not use this faculty quite often, but I must admit he is really effective) and then we realized that these soldiers were obeying the orders of the Queen and were trying to prevent the High Priest from making it official. As we had the same objective, they showed us the way out and went to the harbour. There, we saw that all the boats were either sunk or in flames and one of them was sailing away, towards Relkingham. As the soldiers told us, the Temple in Relkingham was the closest Temple to Wyllea and the fastest way to get there, by boat.
With the aid of the Queen, we took some horses and rushed towards the city. The way was much longer by road than by boat, but we had no choice. At dusk we arrived to the town of Hamona, where we intended to change horses. However, when we got there, we realized something was not going well. The town was empty and the few horses left, nervous. Suddenly we got attacked by a group of undead. When we got rid of them, we noticed that many of them had a left hand and a left eye excised. According to Vistra, that seemed to be a ritual made by some cultist of an evil god. Who knows. The paladin insisted in burying the corpses. After a while, we went on.
Half way to Relkingham, we have reached a crossroad military post. It is in flames and there are many corpses on the ground, with the same synthoms as the undead in Hamona. This paladin wants to bury them also (perhaps he wanted to be gravedigger when he was a kid). Actually, I am writting these lines while he digs. I am really tired.
Wind riding to Relkingham
I can hardly control my tears while I write this last passage of my diary... Ghesh is dead! We were destined to form a family, with lots of half-elf-dragon kids! Even seeing him with Adolfiel would have been better than this! I knew that dead crow was a bad omen!
It all happened like this:
We arrived to Hamona -these Humans like giving names to their kids and villages that sound pretty silly in Elf, but they are a puny race anyway- in search for fresh horses that would allow us to keep galloping towards Relkingham.
The village was deserted and as soon as we tried to get into the stalls we were assaulted by a bunch of disgusting undead; most of them had their left hand cut and their left eye plucked away... a sign of the despicable god Vecna! His followers are always searching for secrets to control for their own advantage, instead of spreading knowledge to everybody, as is good and reasonable.
I immediately became suspicious of the Vizier and this damn Tariff: if the Tariff was implemented, many people would lose their hands and eye, and that would please that horrendous deity thousandfold... I prayed Ioun to help us in our task to defeat the Vizier, as I was sure now he was a traitorous follower of Vecna.
After burying the corpses in Hamona, we galloped all night long towards Relkingham and there were many times I thought I'd fall from the horse due to exhaustion. We passed an inn that had been attacked by raiders- probably another group allied with the vizier, and by this time it was clear to us that he had prepared everything beforehand to try out a coup against the Caliph. Our companions, Ghesh, Tyrion and Vistra decided to burn the bodies, although Adolfiel, Streisan and I told them it was a pity to lose time in such minor details. Nature should be allowed to follow its course, and they should have said a short prayer and left the bodies to the Feys and other heralds of Corellon so that they could still be useful to the Circle of Life. I used the time they spent resting and massaging my sore bottom.
After hours of exhausting riding, we arrived at Relkingham. We learnt from the Guards that the Vizier and his bodyguards had arrived only a few hours before us, but had already stormed the Temple of Erathis.
While we were discussing, in the square in front of the Temple, on the best way to assault the building, a guard came and told us there were some riots; the news were confusing, as they seemed to be people bent on attacking the Vizier, but when they arrived at the square it was obvious everything was a ruse, as their leader was wearing a symbol of Vecna.
The ensuing battle was dramatic; we received the help of some Rangers of Relkingham and a Paladin of Erathis while the rioters received the help of some of the Vizier's bodyguards that attacked us from the temple in an attempt to surround us.
In the final combat, Paladin Jeryn, the leader of the Vizier's bodyguards, charged us. Only thanks to the cooperation of all members of our group and with the help of Paladin Nietsch were we capable of defeating him. Both paladins killed each other in their last furious strikes, and the mighty sword of Paladin Jeryn broke when he pierced Nietsch's heart with it, probably the sword knew the last deeds of Jeryn had been too evil and felt ashamed of taking the life of such a noble person as Nietsch.
It all happened like this:
We arrived to Hamona -these Humans like giving names to their kids and villages that sound pretty silly in Elf, but they are a puny race anyway- in search for fresh horses that would allow us to keep galloping towards Relkingham.
The village was deserted and as soon as we tried to get into the stalls we were assaulted by a bunch of disgusting undead; most of them had their left hand cut and their left eye plucked away... a sign of the despicable god Vecna! His followers are always searching for secrets to control for their own advantage, instead of spreading knowledge to everybody, as is good and reasonable.
I immediately became suspicious of the Vizier and this damn Tariff: if the Tariff was implemented, many people would lose their hands and eye, and that would please that horrendous deity thousandfold... I prayed Ioun to help us in our task to defeat the Vizier, as I was sure now he was a traitorous follower of Vecna.
After burying the corpses in Hamona, we galloped all night long towards Relkingham and there were many times I thought I'd fall from the horse due to exhaustion. We passed an inn that had been attacked by raiders- probably another group allied with the vizier, and by this time it was clear to us that he had prepared everything beforehand to try out a coup against the Caliph. Our companions, Ghesh, Tyrion and Vistra decided to burn the bodies, although Adolfiel, Streisan and I told them it was a pity to lose time in such minor details. Nature should be allowed to follow its course, and they should have said a short prayer and left the bodies to the Feys and other heralds of Corellon so that they could still be useful to the Circle of Life. I used the time they spent resting and massaging my sore bottom.
After hours of exhausting riding, we arrived at Relkingham. We learnt from the Guards that the Vizier and his bodyguards had arrived only a few hours before us, but had already stormed the Temple of Erathis.
While we were discussing, in the square in front of the Temple, on the best way to assault the building, a guard came and told us there were some riots; the news were confusing, as they seemed to be people bent on attacking the Vizier, but when they arrived at the square it was obvious everything was a ruse, as their leader was wearing a symbol of Vecna.
The ensuing battle was dramatic; we received the help of some Rangers of Relkingham and a Paladin of Erathis while the rioters received the help of some of the Vizier's bodyguards that attacked us from the temple in an attempt to surround us.
In the final combat, Paladin Jeryn, the leader of the Vizier's bodyguards, charged us. Only thanks to the cooperation of all members of our group and with the help of Paladin Nietsch were we capable of defeating him. Both paladins killed each other in their last furious strikes, and the mighty sword of Paladin Jeryn broke when he pierced Nietsch's heart with it, probably the sword knew the last deeds of Jeryn had been too evil and felt ashamed of taking the life of such a noble person as Nietsch.
Session 4: Holy Blood
The heroes return to Relkingham to stop Avonazemon's plans, but must first confront the vizier's champion, Paladin Jeryn...
Tyrion: a lonely voice of truth
Well, I guess the bad actions of my youth are catching up. Karma is a bitch.
First: impossible to get a job in this bloody town, and yet I need money to fund my research. So I end up taking the jobs nobody wanted. I did not think I would end so low as to babysit a dwarf priestress for a pilgrimage. Can't tell you the jokes I had to suffer when I took it...Why? ha, yes, I did not tell you: she is a BEARDED dwarf priestress. Yeah, seriously. And no, no way.
Second: As we travel through a forest when end up in an elven village. No time to relax or find some nice looking company, the village is being attacked by slavers. Cutting through the hordes we exit the village with a fistful of villagers. And BAAM, karma comes back and I end up with the ugly sisters. You would think that elves are good looking (we all saw the posters of Lodoss...man!), but here, I took a severe blow. Between a bearded dwarf and three ugly sisters... I guess I will multiclass in monk!
Three: we reach the penitentiary of Leavenworth...ok, the city of Realkinkham, but there is not much difference: Half the city is under the influence of a drug, if you want to get ou (by boat), you take the chance of having a piece of you cut for calming the wrath of a God, drunk sailor bang at you door at night to get shag and ugly sister sariel wakes you up naked (see second point to understand why it is awfull)...I never thought you could have so many warts THERE.
Fourth: we go to the city of Wylea to plea the Tariff to stop this madness of cutting off people's extremities. So we get a boat and I end up between: a crew of sailor, a bearded dwarf priestress, three ugly elven sister AND A DRAGONBORN. A kind of dracoid humanoid scary as hell. What is wrong with this world? Will I have to call myself "Tyrion the frustrated" or what?
And Five: Although we manage to convice the Tariff that she should cancel this cutting people madness, the vizir steals the paper and wants to make it divine law. Guess what: yeah, we get to fight (well, you know: at the bad place at the wrong time, with the wrong people) and of course (karma) who ends up bleeding to death because stupid paladins think we are the bad guys...yeah, me. Fuck! I have nightmares of the ugly naked sister poping up my head all the time now...
So to sumarize: No way to get laid (I mean, considering the choice of partners), beaten to death by mistake and well position warts popping in my head... this will look so good in books of history or, even worse, in a bard song.
First: impossible to get a job in this bloody town, and yet I need money to fund my research. So I end up taking the jobs nobody wanted. I did not think I would end so low as to babysit a dwarf priestress for a pilgrimage. Can't tell you the jokes I had to suffer when I took it...Why? ha, yes, I did not tell you: she is a BEARDED dwarf priestress. Yeah, seriously. And no, no way.
Second: As we travel through a forest when end up in an elven village. No time to relax or find some nice looking company, the village is being attacked by slavers. Cutting through the hordes we exit the village with a fistful of villagers. And BAAM, karma comes back and I end up with the ugly sisters. You would think that elves are good looking (we all saw the posters of Lodoss...man!), but here, I took a severe blow. Between a bearded dwarf and three ugly sisters... I guess I will multiclass in monk!
Three: we reach the penitentiary of Leavenworth...ok, the city of Realkinkham, but there is not much difference: Half the city is under the influence of a drug, if you want to get ou (by boat), you take the chance of having a piece of you cut for calming the wrath of a God, drunk sailor bang at you door at night to get shag and ugly sister sariel wakes you up naked (see second point to understand why it is awfull)...I never thought you could have so many warts THERE.
Fourth: we go to the city of Wylea to plea the Tariff to stop this madness of cutting off people's extremities. So we get a boat and I end up between: a crew of sailor, a bearded dwarf priestress, three ugly elven sister AND A DRAGONBORN. A kind of dracoid humanoid scary as hell. What is wrong with this world? Will I have to call myself "Tyrion the frustrated" or what?
And Five: Although we manage to convice the Tariff that she should cancel this cutting people madness, the vizir steals the paper and wants to make it divine law. Guess what: yeah, we get to fight (well, you know: at the bad place at the wrong time, with the wrong people) and of course (karma) who ends up bleeding to death because stupid paladins think we are the bad guys...yeah, me. Fuck! I have nightmares of the ugly naked sister poping up my head all the time now...
So to sumarize: No way to get laid (I mean, considering the choice of partners), beaten to death by mistake and well position warts popping in my head... this will look so good in books of history or, even worse, in a bard song.
"Hear, hear, this is the story,
of a poor sad man named Tyrion,
willing to let his mark on History,
and end up hoping for Oblivion.
He was versed on using the sword,
and commanded the elements,
but of that remain no word,
and people laugh at his torments.
Skilled bodygard by trade,
he fought to repell the distress,
but miserable is was made,
garding a bearded dwarf priestress.
Still on his way to glory,
he tracks and hunts slavers,
but end ups having for lorry,
the trio of ugly elven sisters.
My, my, it could not be worse,
but fate is treacherous mistress,
females with head like a horse's,
and body he sadly saw undress.
Poor, poor Tyrion the frustrated,
whose balls end up so swollen,
that one day, they exploded,
and in madness he was driven"
of a poor sad man named Tyrion,
willing to let his mark on History,
and end up hoping for Oblivion.
He was versed on using the sword,
and commanded the elements,
but of that remain no word,
and people laugh at his torments.
Skilled bodygard by trade,
he fought to repell the distress,
but miserable is was made,
garding a bearded dwarf priestress.
Still on his way to glory,
he tracks and hunts slavers,
but end ups having for lorry,
the trio of ugly elven sisters.
My, my, it could not be worse,
but fate is treacherous mistress,
females with head like a horse's,
and body he sadly saw undress.
Poor, poor Tyrion the frustrated,
whose balls end up so swollen,
that one day, they exploded,
and in madness he was driven"
Intrigue at Wyllea
The trip to Wyllea took only two days, during which my sisters managed not to destroy the vessel or damage the reputation of the Elven race too much with their petty discussions.
We arrived to Lake Wyll and were witnesses of a wonderful view: the white colours of the lake's waters, due to the abundant wyllflower. The show was magnificent, and having Ghesh around only made it better.
We lost no time and went to the Palace to discuss the matter of the Tariff of Relkingham. We were received by the Caliph in a magnificent throne room, beautifully decorated with all kind of tapestries and carpets. The Caliph was sumptuously dressed, but I did not like her choice of colors and her nose looked like a crow's...
Anyway, we explained why implementing the Tariff would be a bad idea for Delornen and, thanks above all to the elocuency of Ghesh, we were able to confirm her that the Tariff should not be sanctioned; even Streisan was able to express herself in sentences longer than 5 words. At last all those days of schooling her prove to be worthwhile. A courtier, impressed by our way with words, even gave us a letter to deliver to her brother Luboc in Sylfren and told us of a secret passage in the kitchens to leave the Palace through the sewers, in case of emergency.
But things were not going to be so simple: as soon as the Caliph left the throne room, the Seneschal came running and warned us that Avonazemon, the Vizier, had stolen the Tariff and wanted to sanction it in a temple of Erathis.
We suspected he would try to carry out the binding ritual in the Temple of Erathis in Wyllea, so we rushed to the kitchens, having to deal with some of the vizier's guards that feebly tried to block our way. There we found the secret passage Luboc had mentioned, and Adolfiel led us through the sewers and some narrow cavern passages - where we were assaulted by some bizarre monsters that looked like gigantic versions of Streisan's favourite porridge.
We entered the temple and got into a nasty fight thinking the guards were some of the vizier's followers, but our tactical position was disadvantageous, as we had to climb a narrow stair to reach the temple, and when the guards received us with a rain of heavy barrels and Tyrion was beaten almost to death we realised they were much more powerful than us and we were forced into giving up our violent attitude...- Streisan calls it surrendering.
Luckily for us, the guards were supporters of the Caliph. After realising that the Vizier had robbed the Tariff parchment, they were sent by the Caliph to protect the Temple. A short conversation and some witnesses convinced them that we were also in the Caliph's side. They also told us that the only other temple the Vizier could use to enact the Tariff was in Relkingham. We rushed to the port to see all boats burning and a lonely sailboat in the horizon.
We then talked with the Caliph and decided to pursue the Vizier on horseback. Now we are making our way as fast as we can, while I use my Ghost Hand to scribe these lines; in an hour or so we will arrive at Hamona where we will exchange our mounts for fresh ones, as Vistra's is suffering under her weight.
I see dark clouds in the horizon, and only minutes ago a crow flew towards us and dropped dead in front of my horse... bad omens indeed...
Scientific Notes
I have decided to name the horrible creatures that attacked us in Wyllea's sewers, Mocus Streisanorum, in honor of my sister and her taste for strange looking porridges. I'm sure she will be grateful when her name appears associated with such a wonderfully unique creature in my ecology book. I have also added a drawing of the creature at the end of the diary.
We arrived to Lake Wyll and were witnesses of a wonderful view: the white colours of the lake's waters, due to the abundant wyllflower. The show was magnificent, and having Ghesh around only made it better.
We lost no time and went to the Palace to discuss the matter of the Tariff of Relkingham. We were received by the Caliph in a magnificent throne room, beautifully decorated with all kind of tapestries and carpets. The Caliph was sumptuously dressed, but I did not like her choice of colors and her nose looked like a crow's...
Anyway, we explained why implementing the Tariff would be a bad idea for Delornen and, thanks above all to the elocuency of Ghesh, we were able to confirm her that the Tariff should not be sanctioned; even Streisan was able to express herself in sentences longer than 5 words. At last all those days of schooling her prove to be worthwhile. A courtier, impressed by our way with words, even gave us a letter to deliver to her brother Luboc in Sylfren and told us of a secret passage in the kitchens to leave the Palace through the sewers, in case of emergency.
But things were not going to be so simple: as soon as the Caliph left the throne room, the Seneschal came running and warned us that Avonazemon, the Vizier, had stolen the Tariff and wanted to sanction it in a temple of Erathis.
We suspected he would try to carry out the binding ritual in the Temple of Erathis in Wyllea, so we rushed to the kitchens, having to deal with some of the vizier's guards that feebly tried to block our way. There we found the secret passage Luboc had mentioned, and Adolfiel led us through the sewers and some narrow cavern passages - where we were assaulted by some bizarre monsters that looked like gigantic versions of Streisan's favourite porridge.
We entered the temple and got into a nasty fight thinking the guards were some of the vizier's followers, but our tactical position was disadvantageous, as we had to climb a narrow stair to reach the temple, and when the guards received us with a rain of heavy barrels and Tyrion was beaten almost to death we realised they were much more powerful than us and we were forced into giving up our violent attitude...- Streisan calls it surrendering.
Luckily for us, the guards were supporters of the Caliph. After realising that the Vizier had robbed the Tariff parchment, they were sent by the Caliph to protect the Temple. A short conversation and some witnesses convinced them that we were also in the Caliph's side. They also told us that the only other temple the Vizier could use to enact the Tariff was in Relkingham. We rushed to the port to see all boats burning and a lonely sailboat in the horizon.
We then talked with the Caliph and decided to pursue the Vizier on horseback. Now we are making our way as fast as we can, while I use my Ghost Hand to scribe these lines; in an hour or so we will arrive at Hamona where we will exchange our mounts for fresh ones, as Vistra's is suffering under her weight.
I see dark clouds in the horizon, and only minutes ago a crow flew towards us and dropped dead in front of my horse... bad omens indeed...
Scientific Notes
I have decided to name the horrible creatures that attacked us in Wyllea's sewers, Mocus Streisanorum, in honor of my sister and her taste for strange looking porridges. I'm sure she will be grateful when her name appears associated with such a wonderfully unique creature in my ecology book. I have also added a drawing of the creature at the end of the diary.
Chaos in Wylea
During our boring trip on the boat, I decided to carve a wooden figure to inmortalize my heroic acts in Leavendale. It will show me protecting my helpless (and ugly) sisters, the two travellers and the civilians from the slavers, and I intend to bring it to mum as a gift when we come back. The time spent on the boat was enough to start it but I could not advance as much as I wanted (I cannot let my sisters find out, they would break it or throw it away).
Our stay in Wylea was even briefer as the one in Relkingham. We got there and went to see the Califf. Our conversation with him was long and really complicated, but it finally paid off. We convinced the Califf that the tax law was wrong and that it should not be confirmed!
This was great news, maybe we would save our friends after all.
However, right as we were preparing to leave, there was a commotion outside the conference room; The Califf's senescal had foud out that the Vizir intended to pass the law anyway (by making it a holy mandate, these humans are crazy) and he was murdered while trying to warn the Califf about the Vizir's betrayal.
We decided to try to stop the Vizir and tried to run out of the palace as fast as possible, but the palace guards tried to stop us. I was already very bored from the trip and the long discussion, so I became very, very, very angry and we (mostly me, but my sisters helped a little) killed one guard and forced the others into surrendering. Once again victorious, we escaped the palace through a tunnel and went to the temple through the sewers.
When we got to the temple we were in such a hurry that we attacked the guards that were there without asking questions. This proved to be a mistake, firstly because they were good guys (loyal to the Califf) and secondly because they were much more powerful than us.
After nearly losing our human companion we were "forced into giving up our violent attitude" (this is how Sariel calls it, I call it surrendering).
It was difficult, but we were able to convince the temple guards that we were just foreigners caught into their internal problems.
They told us that this temple was safe from the Vizir, and that if he wanted to perform the ritual needed to make this law into a holy mandate, he needed to go back to Relkingham.
Without hesitation, we decided to go to Relkingham to try to stop him. So we ran to the boats and we found that the Vizir had burnt or sunk all the boats to stop pursuers. This Vizir seems to be really clever! Or at least, more clever than us (in my sister's case, this is not very difficult).
The only option left was to go to Relkingham using the road and changing horses at the small village midway.
We left Wylea barely hours after getting there, going back to Relkingham as fast as we could. I do not know what will happen, but I doubt we can overtake the Vizir.
I still do not understand many things, like why is the Vizir doing this or what is the relation between the tax and the snow or why are my two sisters looking all the time at the Paladin as if they were going to eat him alive.
I hope he notices and laughs at them, that would be fun.
Our stay in Wylea was even briefer as the one in Relkingham. We got there and went to see the Califf. Our conversation with him was long and really complicated, but it finally paid off. We convinced the Califf that the tax law was wrong and that it should not be confirmed!
This was great news, maybe we would save our friends after all.
However, right as we were preparing to leave, there was a commotion outside the conference room; The Califf's senescal had foud out that the Vizir intended to pass the law anyway (by making it a holy mandate, these humans are crazy) and he was murdered while trying to warn the Califf about the Vizir's betrayal.
We decided to try to stop the Vizir and tried to run out of the palace as fast as possible, but the palace guards tried to stop us. I was already very bored from the trip and the long discussion, so I became very, very, very angry and we (mostly me, but my sisters helped a little) killed one guard and forced the others into surrendering. Once again victorious, we escaped the palace through a tunnel and went to the temple through the sewers.
When we got to the temple we were in such a hurry that we attacked the guards that were there without asking questions. This proved to be a mistake, firstly because they were good guys (loyal to the Califf) and secondly because they were much more powerful than us.
After nearly losing our human companion we were "forced into giving up our violent attitude" (this is how Sariel calls it, I call it surrendering).
It was difficult, but we were able to convince the temple guards that we were just foreigners caught into their internal problems.
They told us that this temple was safe from the Vizir, and that if he wanted to perform the ritual needed to make this law into a holy mandate, he needed to go back to Relkingham.
Without hesitation, we decided to go to Relkingham to try to stop him. So we ran to the boats and we found that the Vizir had burnt or sunk all the boats to stop pursuers. This Vizir seems to be really clever! Or at least, more clever than us (in my sister's case, this is not very difficult).
The only option left was to go to Relkingham using the road and changing horses at the small village midway.
We left Wylea barely hours after getting there, going back to Relkingham as fast as we could. I do not know what will happen, but I doubt we can overtake the Vizir.
I still do not understand many things, like why is the Vizir doing this or what is the relation between the tax and the snow or why are my two sisters looking all the time at the Paladin as if they were going to eat him alive.
I hope he notices and laughs at them, that would be fun.
Session 3: Desperately Seeking Avonazemon
The characters escape the caliph's palace and begin their chase of the corrupt vizier Avonazemon - but darker forces seem to be at work...
The city of Relkingham
Relkingham was a little strange. It was the first time I had ever been in a city this big, and I did not like it. People was rude, mistrustful and for some reason beyond me, sailors kept trying to flirt with Sariel and Adolfiel (Usually, not even strong alcohol makes strangers this blind).
During our stay at the city we tried to get more information about our missing kin. No one knew about them, but as we started to learn about the current affairs of this human city, things got more complicated.
It's very long to explain, but there seems to be a lot of problems with laws, taxes, legal drugs trade, a god, a major, a califf, a vizir and snow in the mountains. It is not very clear to me yet who is who and why, but probably the dwarf will know. She seems pretty knowleadgeable and way less bratty than Sariel, so when I find the time I will ask her. I specially did not understand the law and tax part, because at home we are an anarco-sindicalist community and we do not pay taxes or have laws.
Sariel tried the drug and I finally understood what was making the sailors find Adolfiel or Sariel attractive. This drug seems dangerous, I will stay away from it and check that none of my sisters put it in my food.
After two days in the city, we decided to go see the Califf to Wylea. I do not agree very much to this, as it seems to me that we are moving away from the slavers and not towards them, but the snow in the mountains seems to be so important here that everyone thinks that having snow, our friends will be safe.
Humans are very strange...
We were lucky enough to have a boat provided by the major to help us get there safely and quickly. The plains and the woods around Relkingham had proven to be quite full of very big, hungry animals and I liked avoiding the trip on foot.
During our stay at the city we tried to get more information about our missing kin. No one knew about them, but as we started to learn about the current affairs of this human city, things got more complicated.
It's very long to explain, but there seems to be a lot of problems with laws, taxes, legal drugs trade, a god, a major, a califf, a vizir and snow in the mountains. It is not very clear to me yet who is who and why, but probably the dwarf will know. She seems pretty knowleadgeable and way less bratty than Sariel, so when I find the time I will ask her. I specially did not understand the law and tax part, because at home we are an anarco-sindicalist community and we do not pay taxes or have laws.
Sariel tried the drug and I finally understood what was making the sailors find Adolfiel or Sariel attractive. This drug seems dangerous, I will stay away from it and check that none of my sisters put it in my food.
After two days in the city, we decided to go see the Califf to Wylea. I do not agree very much to this, as it seems to me that we are moving away from the slavers and not towards them, but the snow in the mountains seems to be so important here that everyone thinks that having snow, our friends will be safe.
Humans are very strange...
We were lucky enough to have a boat provided by the major to help us get there safely and quickly. The plains and the woods around Relkingham had proven to be quite full of very big, hungry animals and I liked avoiding the trip on foot.
The Mayor of Relkingham
This morning Sariel has taken some of the seeds. As I suspected, the effect was not very nice (at last for the rest of us): she has started laughing and has gone out of the bedroom... without putting on all her clothes!! She has gone to Tyrion's to explain some stupid things (which she found very funny, I wonder why). Actually I have not even understood what she was saying. If I think about it... was she trying to have something with him? Perhaps she has not noticed the chemistry between Tyrion and Vistra. I should tell her.
My morning has been terribly improductive. I have gone to the marketplace (basically to see what kinds of furs they have here), but there was no market. Only some street performers, who did not know a word about the raid. However, Sariel and Streisan have got an interview with the Mayor of the town for the afternoon.
In the afternoon, all of us have gone to talk to the Mayor. While we were waiting in a chamber (by the way, the richest decoration I have ever seen, wow), a really handsome dragonborn paladin has left his office. He was so huge, and had such a wild aspect... I could not avoid looking at him (my luck has not lasted, though; he has left the palace quite fast). Some minutes later the Mayor has given us audience. We have explained him what had happened in Leavendale, but he seemed to be more interested in the trade edict than in our city. The edict has been signed by the (did he say king??) at Wyllea and will probably be read at the altar of that city by the High Priest, which will make it official.
Apparently, he might have thought that we can help him with the edict, because he has offered us some means to get to Wyllea. At the begining he wanted to lend us some horses but Sariel has convinced him to lend us a boat (sometimes she can even be useful!). The best part is that the paladin is coming with us. I will have to help Streisan to get closer to him. I think he would be a great brother-in-law.
My morning has been terribly improductive. I have gone to the marketplace (basically to see what kinds of furs they have here), but there was no market. Only some street performers, who did not know a word about the raid. However, Sariel and Streisan have got an interview with the Mayor of the town for the afternoon.
In the afternoon, all of us have gone to talk to the Mayor. While we were waiting in a chamber (by the way, the richest decoration I have ever seen, wow), a really handsome dragonborn paladin has left his office. He was so huge, and had such a wild aspect... I could not avoid looking at him (my luck has not lasted, though; he has left the palace quite fast). Some minutes later the Mayor has given us audience. We have explained him what had happened in Leavendale, but he seemed to be more interested in the trade edict than in our city. The edict has been signed by the (did he say king??) at Wyllea and will probably be read at the altar of that city by the High Priest, which will make it official.
Apparently, he might have thought that we can help him with the edict, because he has offered us some means to get to Wyllea. At the begining he wanted to lend us some horses but Sariel has convinced him to lend us a boat (sometimes she can even be useful!). The best part is that the paladin is coming with us. I will have to help Streisan to get closer to him. I think he would be a great brother-in-law.
From Spiders to Dragonborn
Since the attack on Leavendale so much has happened I don't know where to start. On our way to find clues about the raiders in Relkingham, we got attacked by huge spiders! Not only that though, Sariel is quite talkative and distracted by her we ended up stuck in a huge spider web. The battle raged while Sariel and myself futily attempted to get clear of the web, but Tyrion managed to get us both clear of it. (He earns his money, but I sometimes wonder if there's more behind it than the money...) After we managed to get the spiders to flee, we continued on our journey, hoping for a hot bath though still have itches everywhere and always seem to find some strands of spiderwebs everywhere! But of course that couldn't be it, we still had to be attacked by a pack of wolves. Truely not our day, fortunatly for us we managed to dispatch them fairly easily with some impressive magic from Sariel and well... some barbaric executions from Streisan. Have to admit these sisters seem to be able to handle themselves quite well, it's quite unfortunate that they never seem to stop talking.
Anyways finally we arrived at Relkingham and I have to admit I was eager for that hot bath, but having booked an inn for the day we first made some inquiries around town. What we found out was shocking to say the least, not only was there a large trade of a narcotic plant, which we found out later from villagers and Sariel's experimentation on herself (I'm not sure Tyrion will ever be the same again..), but the Caliph of Wylia was going to implement a tax requiring sacrifices of the flesh! I had never heard such dispicable and horrendous law, especially after hearing it would likely become Holy Law for followers of Erathis. I went to the Temple of Erathis to see how they felt about this. In the temple I encountered what to say the least was an 'impressive' paladin of Erathis. Dragonborn, huge and very scary he introduced himself as Ghesh, we talked a bit about how he felt regarding the laws, and that he told me he was on a carrier mission to give a message to the Vyzier and High Priest of Erathis in Wylea.
To gain further information we made an appointement with the Mayor of Relkingham for the next day, and finally I was able to get the much wanted bath I was hoping for.
The next day we met with the Mayor of Relkingham who told us that this law would destroy the trade of Wyllflower (the narcotic plant) in his town and would be a disaster for the economy. He wanted us to go on a mission to Wyllea to try and confince the Caliph not to implement the tax. Although I do not agree with saving the trade of the narcotic plant, the tax is a far greater evil in my eyes and we decided to accept the quest. Although we did have to ask some help with fast transportation and a lettre of introduction to get us access to the Caliphs palace which the Mayor provided for us. At the Mayor's office, we also met Ghesh, who seemed to have fluttered the three sisters and even silenced them for a few seconds (a feat I thought near impossible). As he was traveling in the same direction and said he would help us to try and convince the Caliph not to implement the tax, we invited him to join us as it would be faster on the boat the Mayor had provided us with.
Anyways finally we arrived at Relkingham and I have to admit I was eager for that hot bath, but having booked an inn for the day we first made some inquiries around town. What we found out was shocking to say the least, not only was there a large trade of a narcotic plant, which we found out later from villagers and Sariel's experimentation on herself (I'm not sure Tyrion will ever be the same again..), but the Caliph of Wylia was going to implement a tax requiring sacrifices of the flesh! I had never heard such dispicable and horrendous law, especially after hearing it would likely become Holy Law for followers of Erathis. I went to the Temple of Erathis to see how they felt about this. In the temple I encountered what to say the least was an 'impressive' paladin of Erathis. Dragonborn, huge and very scary he introduced himself as Ghesh, we talked a bit about how he felt regarding the laws, and that he told me he was on a carrier mission to give a message to the Vyzier and High Priest of Erathis in Wylea.
To gain further information we made an appointement with the Mayor of Relkingham for the next day, and finally I was able to get the much wanted bath I was hoping for.
The next day we met with the Mayor of Relkingham who told us that this law would destroy the trade of Wyllflower (the narcotic plant) in his town and would be a disaster for the economy. He wanted us to go on a mission to Wyllea to try and confince the Caliph not to implement the tax. Although I do not agree with saving the trade of the narcotic plant, the tax is a far greater evil in my eyes and we decided to accept the quest. Although we did have to ask some help with fast transportation and a lettre of introduction to get us access to the Caliphs palace which the Mayor provided for us. At the Mayor's office, we also met Ghesh, who seemed to have fluttered the three sisters and even silenced them for a few seconds (a feat I thought near impossible). As he was traveling in the same direction and said he would help us to try and convince the Caliph not to implement the tax, we invited him to join us as it would be faster on the boat the Mayor had provided us with.
Arrival at Relkingham
Today we have arrived at Relkingham. We have been talking to some locals to see if we can find some information about the raiders. The city is much bigger than Leavendale: there are stone houses everywhere, and even the city walls are made of stone. The harbour is well protected and is also quite calm. I would have expected much more activity. One of the sailors has told us that an edict will be enforced very soon. According to this edict, trading with some seeds appears to be somewhat dangerous (you may have to make a human sacrifice to transport these seeds... these humans are completely nuts!). As the law is not valid yet, but is likely to be valid in the next days, nobody dares to start a journey without knowing the price to pay for the transport fees.
Sariel has tried to obtain some further information regarding the raides of Leavendale, but nobody seems to know anything about them. They are sympathetic, though. They have given her some seeds. They call them Wyllflower. I do not rely on them. I have been living in the forest all my life and I do not like the aspect of those seeds.
Tonight we are sleeping at an inn. There were only two rooms left (surprise! guess who are sleeping together??? yeah, Tyrion and Vistra). I hope we can sleep with all those drunken sailors downstairs...
Sariel has tried to obtain some further information regarding the raides of Leavendale, but nobody seems to know anything about them. They are sympathetic, though. They have given her some seeds. They call them Wyllflower. I do not rely on them. I have been living in the forest all my life and I do not like the aspect of those seeds.
Tonight we are sleeping at an inn. There were only two rooms left (surprise! guess who are sleeping together??? yeah, Tyrion and Vistra). I hope we can sleep with all those drunken sailors downstairs...
Eventful Trip to Relkingham
It took us several days to arrive to the first Delornian city, Relkingham.
During our travels we were ambushed by Spiders - I have hated them since my nice sisters filled one day my bed with several of them just before we went to bed- and they gave us a hard time, jumping from tree to tree while injecting their venom. We also were attacked by some stray wolves, but after I put them to sleep, Adolfiel and Streisan defeated them with well placed blows... Sisters' Power!
Relkingham, a beautiful city for human standards, trade seemed to be slow. We learnt that the Caliph, Fanden Linam, wanted to pass an Edict that could impose a hefty tariff on the Wylflower trade: human sacrifices to Erathis! Anyone that crossed the Relkingham Bridge would be forced to pay offering some part of their bodies to Erathis! How barbaric humans are!
After some inquiries, we became acquaintanced with the town's situation. Relkingham was in dire straits; snow had not come to the Cairntops and this could spell disaster to the Wylflower production. Hoping to be able to appease Erathis, the Caliph had decided to impose the Tariff. After a short interview with the Mayor, during which we explained him the danger the raiders of Leavendale posed also to Relkingham, the Mayor offered us compensation and help to track the raiders if we could travel to Wyllea and convince the Caliph to stop signing the Tariff.
In the Town Hall, we also met Ghesh, a handsome Paladin of Erathis, with a commanding presence. He was like no one I had seen before, with the features of a powerful dragon sculpted on his beautiful face. The Mayor told us that Ghesh would accompany us, as he had to deliver a message to the Vizier Avonazemon, Supreme Judicar of Delornen.
Since Ghesh is accompanyin us, Adolfiel has been playing more with her hair, Streisan is excited about talking with him about the best movements with a polearm, and I have decided to question him about Erathis and his family... Ioun, guide my path to absolute knowledge!!
Scientific Notes
Wylflower -see drawing at the end of the diary- seems to be a powerful drug that improves the mood of those who eat its seeds: I had a most wonderful experience with it the first night we arrived at Relkingham.
I have also talked with several Sailors and it seems that Wylflower Elixir is particularly powerful in improving one's focus... I will try to gain the knowledge of obtaining the Elixir to see if it is helpful for my investigations... at least it will make a good addendum to the book I am writing on the ecology of the Sylfaen Forest and the surrounding nations, Ioun be praised!
During our travels we were ambushed by Spiders - I have hated them since my nice sisters filled one day my bed with several of them just before we went to bed- and they gave us a hard time, jumping from tree to tree while injecting their venom. We also were attacked by some stray wolves, but after I put them to sleep, Adolfiel and Streisan defeated them with well placed blows... Sisters' Power!
Relkingham, a beautiful city for human standards, trade seemed to be slow. We learnt that the Caliph, Fanden Linam, wanted to pass an Edict that could impose a hefty tariff on the Wylflower trade: human sacrifices to Erathis! Anyone that crossed the Relkingham Bridge would be forced to pay offering some part of their bodies to Erathis! How barbaric humans are!
After some inquiries, we became acquaintanced with the town's situation. Relkingham was in dire straits; snow had not come to the Cairntops and this could spell disaster to the Wylflower production. Hoping to be able to appease Erathis, the Caliph had decided to impose the Tariff. After a short interview with the Mayor, during which we explained him the danger the raiders of Leavendale posed also to Relkingham, the Mayor offered us compensation and help to track the raiders if we could travel to Wyllea and convince the Caliph to stop signing the Tariff.
In the Town Hall, we also met Ghesh, a handsome Paladin of Erathis, with a commanding presence. He was like no one I had seen before, with the features of a powerful dragon sculpted on his beautiful face. The Mayor told us that Ghesh would accompany us, as he had to deliver a message to the Vizier Avonazemon, Supreme Judicar of Delornen.
Since Ghesh is accompanyin us, Adolfiel has been playing more with her hair, Streisan is excited about talking with him about the best movements with a polearm, and I have decided to question him about Erathis and his family... Ioun, guide my path to absolute knowledge!!
Scientific Notes
Wylflower -see drawing at the end of the diary- seems to be a powerful drug that improves the mood of those who eat its seeds: I had a most wonderful experience with it the first night we arrived at Relkingham.
I have also talked with several Sailors and it seems that Wylflower Elixir is particularly powerful in improving one's focus... I will try to gain the knowledge of obtaining the Elixir to see if it is helpful for my investigations... at least it will make a good addendum to the book I am writing on the ecology of the Sylfaen Forest and the surrounding nations, Ioun be praised!
Trip to Relkingham
Walking through the forest is really dangerous... but the hills are not safer. After leaving the refugees in Sylfre, we have decided to go to Relkingham to see what's the situation there. It is a human city on the river bank (the same as Leavendale), so it could also be attacked by the raiders... or it could be them who attacked our town!
The two travellers who helped us in Leavendale have also joined us. They are very strange: one is a small woman (wearing a beard! there are really strange creatures in this world... I think her name is Vistra) and the other one, Tyrion, is a human (as the raiders... mmmh). They do not talk too much, but I think there is more than friendship between them. They make a really strange couple (a human and "that"... I suppose nobody's perfect!).
The journey is exhausting: appart from the distance, we also have to deal with the wild animals, that keep treating us as their dinner. First it was some spiders, and then a pack of wolves. Enough for today.
The two travellers who helped us in Leavendale have also joined us. They are very strange: one is a small woman (wearing a beard! there are really strange creatures in this world... I think her name is Vistra) and the other one, Tyrion, is a human (as the raiders... mmmh). They do not talk too much, but I think there is more than friendship between them. They make a really strange couple (a human and "that"... I suppose nobody's perfect!).
The journey is exhausting: appart from the distance, we also have to deal with the wild animals, that keep treating us as their dinner. First it was some spiders, and then a pack of wolves. Enough for today.
Session 2: The Tariff of Relkingham
The group arrives in Relkingham to investigate the slaver raids, only to discover that the town is in a plight of its own...
Taking care of the refugees
We all slept comfortably in our cottage, and the following day we decided to accompany our Mama and the other refugees to Sylfre, so that they could feel secure while we pursued the raiders.
At half distance from Sylfre, we arrived to Cousin Alfrediel's inn. Cousin Alfrediel has always been interested in Streisan, although he is too clumsy while courting and very slow cutting trees with a trident, and because of these important reasons, Streisan had never taken a liking for him. A pity, as they would make such a nice couple! And he is a very good cook!
Anyway, other refugees from Leavendale had flocked to the inn and the smoke of the town had been noticed by a group of valiant Elven Rangers that had grouped together to investigate the tragic events. We left the refugees with them, and Mama with Cousin Alfrediel.
Vistra had told us that he was in a pilgrimage to Wyllea, the capital of a human caliphate called Delornen that expanded to the south of the Sylfaen forest. We all agreed that Delornen would be a good place to obtain more information about the raiders... and we were also curious to see how her relation with Tyrion would evolve, so we decided to accompany them... Sisters' Power!
At half distance from Sylfre, we arrived to Cousin Alfrediel's inn. Cousin Alfrediel has always been interested in Streisan, although he is too clumsy while courting and very slow cutting trees with a trident, and because of these important reasons, Streisan had never taken a liking for him. A pity, as they would make such a nice couple! And he is a very good cook!
Anyway, other refugees from Leavendale had flocked to the inn and the smoke of the town had been noticed by a group of valiant Elven Rangers that had grouped together to investigate the tragic events. We left the refugees with them, and Mama with Cousin Alfrediel.
Vistra had told us that he was in a pilgrimage to Wyllea, the capital of a human caliphate called Delornen that expanded to the south of the Sylfaen forest. We all agreed that Delornen would be a good place to obtain more information about the raiders... and we were also curious to see how her relation with Tyrion would evolve, so we decided to accompany them... Sisters' Power!
Leavendale under attack!!
Today has been the worst day in my life. Everything has started as usual: I have taken my furs, helped Mum with the breakfast and gone with my sisters to the city. As they always do, they have been a nuisance all the way up to Leavendale. Once there, we have prepared our goods (Streisan carves marveilous figures in wood, although I like to make her believe the contrary) and I have gone for a walk to see the other stands... well, not really: I wanted to see if he was there. I have found him at the other side of the marketplace, helping his sister to set up his merchandise. He is so cute! This time I have even dared to ask him the price of some of his pots. Unfortunately, he did not know himself and had to ask his sister, who came with a wide smile to destroy all my strategy. I could only find a stupid excuse to go back to our stand. I think Sariel and Streisan did not see me (I hope).
Suddenly, when I was trying to think another way of talking to him, we heard some cries and some noise coming from the houses nearby. I ran to see what was happening and saw some humans that were setting the city in flames! I ran back to alert my sisters, who got ready for repelling the raiders. Two travelers, who were visiting our marketplace, also rushed to help them. There was fire and smoke everywhere. The poor elves that tried to scape where chased and killed by the raiders (or by the collapsing buildings). We managed to scort a small group of people outside Leavendale and to hide them in the forest. From there, we could still hear the cries of the prisoners. I managed to climb a high tree, and to witness the events taking place in the city: large groups of elves where forced to walk in a line and the raiders set fire to the few houses still undamaged.
This afternoon we have searched for more people in the forest. Now that the danger is not as evident as in the morning, I have started worrying about him... he was not among the survivors and I have not seen him during the attack... if he is... dead? I have ran to the city: the situation there was chaotic: corpses on the floor, the houses burnt... Like mad, I started looking at the corpses to check if he had been killed. The tears did not let me see. I tried to calm down and went on with my task. After having checked all the corpses I realized that he was not there. It was a strange feeling: on one hand I was happy because he was still alive, but on the other hand I was terribly worried: who were those raiders? why have they attacked the city? why had they taken all those people? where were they taking them? I went to the river bank and saw some traces of light boats. Apparently they have come along the river... at least that's something.
Tomorrow we are going to take the survivors to Sylfre. Many of them have family there and it is probably the safest place to be: it's in the middle of the forest and far from the river.
Suddenly, when I was trying to think another way of talking to him, we heard some cries and some noise coming from the houses nearby. I ran to see what was happening and saw some humans that were setting the city in flames! I ran back to alert my sisters, who got ready for repelling the raiders. Two travelers, who were visiting our marketplace, also rushed to help them. There was fire and smoke everywhere. The poor elves that tried to scape where chased and killed by the raiders (or by the collapsing buildings). We managed to scort a small group of people outside Leavendale and to hide them in the forest. From there, we could still hear the cries of the prisoners. I managed to climb a high tree, and to witness the events taking place in the city: large groups of elves where forced to walk in a line and the raiders set fire to the few houses still undamaged.
This afternoon we have searched for more people in the forest. Now that the danger is not as evident as in the morning, I have started worrying about him... he was not among the survivors and I have not seen him during the attack... if he is... dead? I have ran to the city: the situation there was chaotic: corpses on the floor, the houses burnt... Like mad, I started looking at the corpses to check if he had been killed. The tears did not let me see. I tried to calm down and went on with my task. After having checked all the corpses I realized that he was not there. It was a strange feeling: on one hand I was happy because he was still alive, but on the other hand I was terribly worried: who were those raiders? why have they attacked the city? why had they taken all those people? where were they taking them? I went to the river bank and saw some traces of light boats. Apparently they have come along the river... at least that's something.
Tomorrow we are going to take the survivors to Sylfre. Many of them have family there and it is probably the safest place to be: it's in the middle of the forest and far from the river.
Slavers on Leavendale
Me and my two sisters were as usual in the market selling our farm products and my wood carved figures (I'm an artist, although my sisters laugh at my art, they are just too stupid to understand). The attackers tried to burn the village with us inside. We were forced to escape the village and help some civilians and two travellers against the slavers. Luckily, me and my sisters were good with our weapons (mum always tells us to take our weapons everywhere, specially in the village). We were able to protect the civilians and even wait for the travellers to join us. They were clumsy (they are not elves) and had a lot of trouble passing a small water obstacle. They joined us when we escaped the burning village and ran home to make sure that mum was all right. There was no problem at home, but our village was destroyed and many of our friends had been enslaved. We decided to make sure that mum and the survivors were taken care of in the next village and decided to travel south. We are going to track the enslavers and try to liberate our kin. They had come to the village by boat, and the nearest harbour on the river was Relkingham. So to Relkingham it is, with my two sisters nagging all the time and the two strange travellers (there's something between those two, I still do not know what) that happen to go this way.
Sariel's Diary
Raid on Leavendale
It looked like it was going to be a normal market day. Adolfiel was combing her hair in the bathroom until the last moment... though it never seems to work with the lads of the village, she always manages to annoy me and Streisan when she blocks the bath. Streisan was training her muscles cutting wood with her trident, and I was finishing the last page of a mostly interesting book about the history of Leavendale and the riots against the Charcoal Tax that almost completely destroyed the town 200 years ago.
As usual, I conjured my servant hand to finish packing for the market: furs from Adolfiel, wood and woodcarvings from Streisan and some medicinal herbs I had found while investigating a nearby copse of trees.
It was a gloomy and wet day indeed, and Adolfiel lost in a one minute rain shower all the coiffeur work of the morning.
We occupied our usual place in the market square, and less than an hour had passed when we heard a commotion coming from the outskirts of the village. Adolfiel went to take a look at what was happening and came back saying that some Humans were attacking the village, burning with oil and torches every house they could get their hands on!
We ran towards the closest battle din and found there a bearded Dwarf and a cloaked Human trying to protect some of the village's citizens from a band of nasty looking Humans. We aided as many villagers to flee the village as we could and the Dwarf and Human proved also to be quite resourceful during the escape, helping a woman and her child in a most spectacular way, although they seemed to have trouble jumping the pool near Clumliel's shop... something very strange, as even the elven kids seem to be able to jump it without a problem.
We run towards our cottage to verify that Mama was safe, and we found that the raiders had not discovered our home. We thanked the travellers and learnt their names: Vistra the Dwarf -the name sounds ridiculous in Elvish, but we try to avoid laughing too much when we are in front of her - and Tyrion the Human. We also learnt that the Dwarf is a female, even though she has a beard!
We immediately tried to gossip with her and asked whether Tyrion was her boyfriend, how they had met and whether they had Princesses in Dwarvenland, but she mumbled something about a headache and ajusted her helm tighter... a pity they don't talk much, as they make such a nice couple...
After a short refreshment, we went back to the village in time to see the last raiders shoving their captives into some longboats and departing. They seemed to be commanded by a big Human in full black plate armor and a red cloak. We promised ourselves we would not rest until we had rescued our fellow citizens from the claws of the raiders!
It looked like it was going to be a normal market day. Adolfiel was combing her hair in the bathroom until the last moment... though it never seems to work with the lads of the village, she always manages to annoy me and Streisan when she blocks the bath. Streisan was training her muscles cutting wood with her trident, and I was finishing the last page of a mostly interesting book about the history of Leavendale and the riots against the Charcoal Tax that almost completely destroyed the town 200 years ago.
As usual, I conjured my servant hand to finish packing for the market: furs from Adolfiel, wood and woodcarvings from Streisan and some medicinal herbs I had found while investigating a nearby copse of trees.
It was a gloomy and wet day indeed, and Adolfiel lost in a one minute rain shower all the coiffeur work of the morning.
We occupied our usual place in the market square, and less than an hour had passed when we heard a commotion coming from the outskirts of the village. Adolfiel went to take a look at what was happening and came back saying that some Humans were attacking the village, burning with oil and torches every house they could get their hands on!
We ran towards the closest battle din and found there a bearded Dwarf and a cloaked Human trying to protect some of the village's citizens from a band of nasty looking Humans. We aided as many villagers to flee the village as we could and the Dwarf and Human proved also to be quite resourceful during the escape, helping a woman and her child in a most spectacular way, although they seemed to have trouble jumping the pool near Clumliel's shop... something very strange, as even the elven kids seem to be able to jump it without a problem.
We run towards our cottage to verify that Mama was safe, and we found that the raiders had not discovered our home. We thanked the travellers and learnt their names: Vistra the Dwarf -the name sounds ridiculous in Elvish, but we try to avoid laughing too much when we are in front of her - and Tyrion the Human. We also learnt that the Dwarf is a female, even though she has a beard!
We immediately tried to gossip with her and asked whether Tyrion was her boyfriend, how they had met and whether they had Princesses in Dwarvenland, but she mumbled something about a headache and ajusted her helm tighter... a pity they don't talk much, as they make such a nice couple...
After a short refreshment, we went back to the village in time to see the last raiders shoving their captives into some longboats and departing. They seemed to be commanded by a big Human in full black plate armor and a red cloak. We promised ourselves we would not rest until we had rescued our fellow citizens from the claws of the raiders!
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