My future volumes will be written in a Custom Cipher using the Auran
Alphabet but with Elven Vocabulary and Dwarven Punctuation. I will also be writing the text from bottom
to top on each page. This is to ensure the anonymity of me and my associates. (I decided to nix using nicknames. As much as I liked the idea, I kept accidentally using the real names.)
Chapter 30: A New Volume
As we rested in Oslo’s home and waited for my anchoring
charm to be completed, we discussed our situation. We needed to get back to Hammerfell to
collect our belongings and determine the extent of Pell’s betrayal. I seethed inside at the thought of him
walking around with my grandfather’s newly enchanted scimitar!
Shane was looking very haggard and admitted to having
strange dreams that he thought might be linked to someone he knew: images of
being shackled and whipped as a beast of burden. The latest dream he’d had involved getting
off a ship and he recognized the location, the port in Storm Guard. Oslo gave me the charm (and a new message ring
with one charge, as always) and Shane asked if we could be transported to the
city. Moments after collecting our
belongings, we found ourselves on the roof of an apartment building, squinting
at the darkness and shivering in the fall, night air. We got our bearings and headed for the docks
and as we approached, Shane could feel a connection getting stronger. He told us that it had to be his old
familiar. Unlocking his casting ability,
though divine in origin, must have reformed the link between man and beast.
As we zeroed in on the location, he could sense a cold
stable and stale hay. We found the place
and the creature lying in the stall was odd-looking in the extreme: shorter than our Halfling friend, but easily
two or three times heavier. He stood on
two legs and had no arms and was covered in a thick, blood-red hide. One long, straight horn projected from the
center of his forehead which was coated in Adamantium and etched with arcane
runes. The creature looked rather
malnourished and showed signs of brutal treatment. I healed him immediately and he blinked up at
us, immediately recognizing Shane (who he always refers to as “boss”.)
His name was Hex and he led us to a nearby tavern where we
found the merchant who had mistreated him and purchased him, illegally. After a nasty altercation with the man, the
city guard was called and eventually, the Knight Captain came to get to the
bottom of the situation. After uncovering
a litany of charges ranging from slavery to smuggling to fraud, the man was
immediately put to death.
Sometime during this ordeal, Lilly slipped away from the
group after telling me that she would meet us back at the Silver Dragon. Seeing the sun starting to come up, we
decided to head back to the inn to rest.
When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Lilly was
already here and had secured the top floor suite! After breakfast, a massage, a bath, and a
long rest (all of varying degrees of incredible) we were ready to secure travel
to Hammerfell.
While in the city, I made sure to check on the Baron and his
theater. Though it wasn’t the most
successful theater in town, it was critically acclaimed and gaining popularity. While visiting with the Baron, I did sell him
a new song, “Romance in the Rain” which I composed after witnessing Shane’s
reunion with his then-fiancé/now-wife. I
also used a snippet of the melody that was playing as she arrived. It was so hauntingly beautiful, I had to use
it. Also, while I was there, a member of
the props department gave me a cloth bundle.
It turned out to be a robe that when worn, transformed into a set of
fine studded leather armor.
I wished the Baron well and met up with Shane and his
familiar outside but before getting very far, we spotted two men following us
while carrying a basket, a tactic I recognized well from my last visit to the
city. Thinking they were after me again,
I created an illusion and ducked into an ally so Shane and I could counter
their kidnapping attempt. Strangely,
though one of the men saw through my illusion and spotted me, he told his ally
to keep after Shane. We still stopped
them handily and trussed them up for the city guard. They were actually a press gang looking for
strong men to row a ship in the harbor, the Concourse. Somehow, I don’t think that ship will be
getting very far, considering the city’s stance on slavery.
Soon after the guards had hauled the men away, another man
approached us, but instead of anything sinister, he offered us a meal. We got a message to our friends and Lilly met
us at the restaurant which was located in the bottom floor of the large
apartment building. The entire floor had
been opened up and turned into dining space.
The smells that greeted us were incredible and I actually heard my small
friend’s stomach growl as we were seated.
The man who brought us was named Rawul and he
was a gastromancer, a wizard specializing in culinary-based spells. For his aid and service to the owners of the
restaurant, he always eats free along with any of his guests. Since he hates to eat alone, he often finds
strangers to share a table and a meal.
And oh what a meal it is! The
Halfling chef is extraordinary. Every
dish in the eight course meal is outstanding and perfectly prepared. The fact that his restaurant isn't completely
packed is only a testament of a lack of advertising, something I am going to
rectify by talking to the Baron, whose theater is just down the street.
By the time we finished the meal and lounged around the fire
afterward, it was getting quite late. We
took our food in boxes and made our goodbyes.
The wizard handed me a scroll with a spell of his own design which
summoned a rain of boiling, slippery chocolate.
I thanked him and pocketed the scroll before we ventured outside. On our way back to the inn, dark shadows
swirled around us and man in a red cloak suddenly appeared before us. Later, Lilly filled us in on who he was: a
vampire from a group known as the Red Fangs.
(Yes, past tense)
The vampire had followers up on the roof of a nearby building,
ready to rain arrows down on us so I pulled out the scroll I was just given and
suddenly, the rooftop was filled with the screams of those being scalded by
boiling, slippery chocolate. None of the
assassins survived the gooey onslaught, either succumbing to the heat or
slipping and falling from the roof. The
vampire rushed Shane after his arrow buried itself in the undead being’s
chest. Fasa delivered some solid hits
but what really made him angry was the mage-bane arrow I sunk into his
back. He moved to me in a blur and
before I could react, needle-like fangs were buried in my throat.
I’m not sure exactly what happened next but something in my
blood ignited and the next thing I knew, the vampire was swollen like an
over-filled bladder. He screamed in pain
and exploded, sending bits of cloth and gore in all directions. The flesh melted into puffs of mist and
coalesced into one cloud which began to drift away. Still angered by the attack, I called on the
winds and captured the mist in Shane’s silver flask. I used Oslo’s message ring and told him briefly
what happened. In mid-sentence, there
was a flash of light and I was standing before him.
He held out his hand for the flask, disappeared into his lab and
returned after only a few minutes, swirling the flask in his hand. Raising it to me in a silent toast, he downed the
contents and to my utter shock, he became youthful and vibrant in
appearance. He looked and moved like a
man in his prime, calling up his knowledge spirit with virtually no
effort. Looking me over, he assured me
that my condition which he called the Curse of Night, should be curable by one the
clerics in Storm Guard. He thanked me
for my gift, gave me a new message ring and with an almost negligible effort, sent
me back to my companions. I stood
blinking in the night, still reeling in shock, but nothing further happened on
our way back to the inn.
Chapter 31: A Curse
of my Own
The next morning was painful. Sunlight dug at my eyes like hot shards of
glass and my skin felt like it had dried in the desert sun. Though we were planning to visit Shane’s
temple, we went to the temple of Erory, god of knowledge and healing. The first priest I spoke to, after being made
to wait for over an hour, looked me over and charged me a sum 180 gold up front. I showed him the amulet of favor that I wore
after retrieving it from the Dao Genie’s dungeon but rather than offer any sort of discount, he actually sneered and insinuated that I had probably stolen it from someone worthy.
He cast a basic Restoration spell and I blinked when he
finished because felt no different. He
sniffed in disbelief and recast the spell; again, to no effect. After stomping off in a huff, he returned
with an older and presumably wiser priest.
I refrained from asking if he was going to charge me a higher rate for
something not done. He was a much more
pleasant, albeit reserved man and seemed to genuinely want to help. After he cast the spell, I still felt
unchanged. He was shocked and left to
get his superior who turned out to be the Hierarch(ess) of the temple.
She cast a much more powerful version of the spell as well
as Remove Curse, but there was no effect.
The temple returned half of what they charged and I summoned up the
will to genuinely thank them for the attempt.
Shane and Fasa waited at the entrance and while I told them of the failure
clerics’ collective failure, the man
cleaning the anteroom approached us.
Though he was a lowly acolyte, he had seen something similar occur in the
past: curses that could not be cured. But he had seen a woman who could; a “witch-woman” living near Hammerfell had cured other incurable maladies. The priests here had renounced the woman’s
abilities because she had no formal training and had supposedly been gifted
with her power directly from the god himself.
We decided to look for the woman there, but we still needed to travel to Spearrow to retrieve our
horses. We gathered mounts and a series
of missives from Shane’s temple and set out at once; traveling through Reeve and Westbrook and
finally arriving at Spearrow. Sheila was
happy to accept the horses to be used by the townsfolk. Grusk was a gruff as usual, although he did seem to look a bit ill. He waved off our concerns and we went to rest
of Fennic’s hut and make sure our mounts were well fed and taken care of. Comet and the rest of the horses were quite happy to see us.
Inside, Shane mentioned something about remembering other rooms in
Fennic’s homes when he had visited in the past. We experimented with enchanted door and found three other rooms: the Teleport room complete with a circle in the
floor that I recognized in Oslo’s tower.
I examined the circle and stepped into it, drawing on the magical
energies inside of me. With a flash, I
was standing in the entry hall of Oslo’s tower!
Not wanting to set off any of his magical alarms, I activated the circle
and went back. I could tell the archways
worked in a similar fashion, but not knowing where any of them went, I decided
not to chance it. I did carefully write
down the symbols surround each.
The next room we discovered was the Armory and found a
number of useful magic items including a large batch of magical wands. The last room that we found was an
Observatory, complete with a massive telescope.
Looking at a log book that Fennic left there, I learned that we were in
the End of the World Fortress on a different continent northwest. Fennic had been doing research on
constellations and their relation to magical forces. I will definitely be coming back here to look
into this further.
It is time for sleep.
Tomorrow we travel to Hammerfell.
Chapter 32: Gains and
Losses
Events here in Hammerfell have been tumultuous for lack of a
better word. Upon arriving at the city,
we discovered that Pell had indeed acquired the deed to the mine and simply
sold it outright. They had no memory of
us having made the deal initially. They
only remembered that the elf was the owner.
There’s nothing we can do except mourn the loss of a fortune in gold.
On the plus side, the gear made by Glyph was still waiting
and I am now the proud owner of an enchanted scimitar. The enchanted strings from the violin I
received in Haschenal are worked into the hilt, giving me the ability to affect
undead with my spells and songs. It
also has the power to store spells and discharge them when I hit someone. Unfortunately, the loss of knowledge I was
suffering under the vampire’s curse prevented me from storing my most powerful
spell, Shocking Grasp.
We went to a few taverns, asking around for the whereabouts
of Pell’s former group and found them at a quiet place called The Ringing
Anvil. Merriment followed as we drank
and traded stories. I gave Archibald
one of the Triggering wands that I retrieved from Fennic’s armory. They had helped us greatly and lost
much. They were all very interested in
the news that Pell was seen taking a ship south and said that they were
planning to hunt him down and make him pay for his treachery.
As our revelry continued, I asked our server casually about
the healer known in this area. She
blinked in surprise and said a woman was actually waiting for us in the rooms
upstairs and had been there for three days.
About this time, something strange happened. The room became quite warm and the blood
rushed to my ears before moving to … other areas of my body. I glanced down at my drink and recognized the
effects of Nixie Dust, a powerful aphrodisiac.
Looking across the room, I spotted a comely woman who was staring at me
and winked. Then she walked over to me,
hips swaying in a way that made my blood boil even more. She whispered in my ear that she had been
admiring me and my stories and she wanted a more “private” performance. I fought the desire rising inside me and told
her there were better ways to get a man’s attention. Before she could press the issue, Lilly came
to my aid – pushing the girl away and seeing the state I was in, dragged me off
to my room.
My memory of this time is very hazy and I really hope that I didn't say or do anything too inappropriate.
I have very little experience with women. I’m not a virgin. When I used to perform in taverns and at
parties for the rich and influential, I was often approached by women. Though, the times were enjoyable, there was
never any talk of a relationship: not even with Kalliah. I would have lavished her with attention and
affection, but she and her father had ambitions that did not involve someone
like me. I love Lilly, but more as a
sister and I would hate to jeopardize that in any way. She is lovely and having seen her naked on
more than one occasion, quite desirable.
Unfortunately, with the Nixie dust raging through me I was hardly in a
state that I would want a “sister” to witness.
And then, the door opened and another woman appeared. She was tall and graceful with obvious elven
heritage. Red hair tumbled around her
shoulders and dark eyes taking in everything.
I think the room got even hotter and I had to fight my own limbs not to reach
for her. (Storms above, I hope she never
reads this…) Her name was Erish’dema,
which I recognized as “Bad Ass” in elven.
Amusement raged with desire but she took a brief look at me and realized
the problem. She cleansed the poison
from me and then removed the curse as if it were nothing more than a mild
cold. I fell into a restful sleep for the
first time since I was met the vampire.
I’m now sitting in the common room of the Ringing Anvil,
enjoying some breakfast. I’m dreading
when the rest of the group comes down to join me. Looking the ladies in the eye without
blushing is going to next to impossible.
Chapter 33: The Road
to Fennic’s House
The healer has decided to travel with us and thankfully no
one has made an issue of my artificially aroused state. After gathering our things and saddling
Fennic’s horse for Rish (as she has asked to be called) we set out on the road
again. We traveled toward the town of
Three, where Fennic’s map was marked with a simple “me”. According to his notes, he had a cottage
there and after seeing the rest of the rooms in Spearrow I was eager to see
what this place had to offer.
On the road, however, we ran into an ambush. Unlike some of the others we had dealt with
in our travels, this was much larger and much more organized. Goblins and Hobgoblins attacked en masse,
including a line of archers. As usual,
Lilly and Shane both ducked off into the trees to attack stealthily while Fasa,
Rish and I stayed with the horses. With
my liberal use of lightning and Fasa’s powerful attacks, they didn’t last
long. With Rish able to heal us, we were
never really in any serious danger.
Arrows fired at her were sent winging back at the archers thanks to the
enchanted staff that used to belong to Fennic.
When the attack was over, Shane returned with news that the
group was attacking primarily logging caravans to and from the city of
Elb. He had encountered their leader, a
hobgoblin/orc half breed ranger.
(hobgoborc?) The city had been
clearing the forest for miles around the city, slashing and burning the land
and he wanted to put a stop to it. Shane
assured him that it would be dealt with, if only he would stop his
attacks. We continued on the road, more
eager than ever to reach our destination.
Before we reached town, there was one other encounter of
note. A spectral entity stepped out in
from of our horses. He wasn’t hostile
and identified himself as Tom Nice, a bard who had been hunted down and hung in
a tree nearby. His crime was merely
singing about a Captain Ventarius of Perch.
I have quite a bit of experience with performing and people who are so
vindictive are people that need to be removed from the world. We found his body and put it to rest.
In thanks, he told us of a mission that he was on. He worked for the Songblood guild and was
heading to Storm Guard. He had uncovered
maps and information regarding the location of a treasure of great interest to
his guild: the Notes of Thendaris. He
gave us his information which led to the ancient elven ruins under the
city. If we could recover these notes,
we could even be considered for membership in the guild. Tom told us of the Paths of Power that could
aid us in our careers as adventurers and do-gooders. He gave us pass phrase and a location to
meet with the guild once we recovered the notes.
We’ve made it to Three and are staying at the tavern
there. We went to the bath house to wash
off the grime from the road and to relax for a while. Much to my initial embarrassment, there were
no separate facilities for males and females, so not only did I have to undress
in front of both Lilly and Rish, I had to share the bath and steam room with
them as well! I did my best to hide my
blush in the water and mist and to avert my eyes as much as possible. Luckily, no seemed offended by the situation
and I was reassured that the Nixie dust had truly been flushed from my
system. We all emerged feeling clean and
relaxed.
Back in the tavern, we asked about current events in the
region. The news of greatest interest was that the
city of Elb had recently come under new leadership. A half-orc named Grusk arrived on his worg
and had taken over the city. The current
logging operations were his doing and everyone in the region was worried about
what was going on. From the description
we got, this definitely was not the sheriff we knew and alarm bells immediately
started going off in my head.
Tomorrow, we’ll go to Fennic’s cottage where I plan on doing
research and exploring that place thoroughly.
I’m also going to use the Archways to his apartments in Storm Guard to see
what I can find out from the Great Library as well. While
I do that, I’ll send the rest of the group back through the Archway to Spearrow
so they can check on Grusk. I cannot
shake the feeling that he may be in trouble.
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