Double (Triple?) Entry starting 5/18

Trying to figure out what the time span of this entry was tough.  We started the battle on 5/18, took off Memorial Day weekend and then finished the battle on 6/1.  Then I missed the 6/8 game but worked out what J was up to during that time.  So this is almost a triple entry!  Hope it works out okay.   As always fellow Weekend Warriors, please let me know if I butchered anything too badly.

Chapter 46: The Battle of Stormguard

The last 24 hours have been… interesting.  Our research in the Necropolis turned up three potential sites for the planar rift, but the problem is that the rifts would need to be consecrated in order to close them.  The city has a law preventing the consecration of anything in the graveyard because of potential conflicts with legally-recognized temples.  The only way to accomplish our goal would be getting the Council to grant us permission to consecrate the rift sites only.

Which is exactly what we were doing when the battle began.  The council was reluctant to allow us to do anything but there was suddenly a blast of negative energy that rolled over the entire city.  We rushed to the windows of the council chamber and saw a massive wave of dark storm clouds rolling toward us from the east.  Reports began pouring  in from all over the city: Vampires and other undead were moving through the streets and large ships accompanied by Sahuagin raiders were moving in from the docks to the east and the King’s river to the northwest.

The unnatural storm clouds swirled directly over the Necropolis and the council needed no further convincing.  They gave us an emergency authorization to close the rift by any means necessary.  The Lord Knight called on the wizard’s guild to coordinate communications and mount a counter-offense.  One of the wizards allowed us to use a specialized communication spell to contact anyone we wished.  I called on Tal, Erra, and Shane.  Tal agreed meet us at her shop in the center of town while Erra and her group, who were already in the eastern part of the city, would meet us at the Necropolis.  Shane arrived immediately to begin the fight as well and suspected that one of his old group was involved, Nevin - follower of the Devourer.  Shane suspected that this person was also connected with the Red Fangs.  Lastly I called on Oslo and he assured me that he would be in the city soon.

As soon as I finished talking with him, a group of the wizards became alert and began to ready teleport spells.  I shouted at them to bury their grudge against my master, but they refused, speaking of lost treasures of the Wizard King.  After they disappeared from view, I turned to the Lord Knight to protest but I found that he was already livid and declaring the men traitors who would incriminate the entire Guild if their actions were supported.  The council agreed as well but I still worried for my great-grandfather.  I spoke through the communication spell again and warned him.  He was already fighting but assured me that he would be okay.

I felt terrible for getting him involved but there was nothing further I could do.  We had to close down the rifts in the Necropolis so we gathered outside and moved into the city.  I attempted to dispel the storm clouds using the magic I learned from the Wizard King’s book, but the forces at work were too powerful for me to counteract.  We rushed from the Council Building to Fennic’s apartment in the Noble Quarter.  On the way, we ran into a pack of rogues who were working for the Red Fangs.  After dispatching them, we encountered a group of Sahuagin clerics and their followers.  Neither of these groups posed any major threat, but they did slow us down.

At the apartment, Will and I took the arch to Mid-town to meet Tal while the others went straight to the docks.  Luckily there were enough spell-casters among our groups that using the arches didn’t deplete our spells too greatly and soon, we were all together in the right part of the city.  We rushed up the street toward the Necropolis, but we were still miles away.  Luckily, a wagon pulled up to a stop at one of the intersections and Rish recognized her friend Moon driving.  Nothing stopped us on the way, although, Will called out as he saw a fruit vendor being attacked by a group of raiders led by someone that Will swore was his father.

Unfortunately, we had to press on to our destination and soon the gates of the came into view.  Erra’s group had already found a route into the graveyard near one of the potential rift sites: the tomb of the infamous Pirate King of Stormguard.   We fought a group of undead, zombies and ghouls mainly while Rish prepared the consecration ritual to seal the rift.  When it was over, the gaping hole in reality sealed shut and the undead around us slumped lifelessly to the ground (no pun intended).  Overheard, the unnatural cloud cover began to dissipate and the ever-present feeling of dread began to fade.

We gathered back at the gate, killing a few more straggling undead when suddenly, the clouds rolled back in, darker than ever.  A new wave of negative washed over the city that could only be caused by another rift opening; this time, even larger than the first.  Mak and Rish pin-pointed the source and I realized that it had to be in the center of the Necropolis.  With the undead rising around us, more powerful than ever, we had to find a way there: Moon’s wagon!  Rish suggested a sanctuary spell, but it wouldn't be large enough to protect the wagon and the horses.  Luckily for us, I had a solution.  Rish would ride with Moon at the driver’s seat, where her spell would protect the horses.  I could ride inside with everyone else and use my Rune of Chalk to protect us there.  The only problem left was Mak and his worg, but he assured us that they would be fine on their own.

We reached our destination quickly and after releasing the protection spells, we approached a large mausoleum.  The ground around the building was broken by writhing and grasping skeletal hands.   Will tried to move through but became stuck immediately.  Lilly leaped gracefully from the wagon to one of the six doors and began dealing with the traps and locks.   Mak circled around the building to find another way in and from the length of his disappearance he must have found one.

Once Lilly opened the door, we all made our way into the mausoleum.  Inside, we spotted the rift immediately, but other than that, we saw nothing.  As soon as we entered, the doors slammed shut and sealed us in.  The floor dropped away to reveal a group of skeletal warriors surrounding Mak and his worg as they faced their leader.  It gave of waves of evil magic that seemed to warp the air around him and though he was battered and bloody, the half-orc faced it bravely.

Before we could join the fight, another surge of magic flared around us.  I recognized the energy as a teleportation spell and instinctively reached out for Tal.  As I grabbed her hand, the world shifted and we found ourselves standing on a dark, barren landscape.  Cold tendrils of darkness surrounded us and began to sap our life force and I realized that we were standing on the negative energy plane.  If we stayed too long, we would be turned into undead husks, but looking around, there was nothing that we could see to help us.

Tom spoke suddenly and when we turned, he appeared to be completely solid but the worry on his face was obvious.  He couldn't help us directly, but he was able call on someone that could.  He chanted in a low booming voice and on the “horizon” a figure came striding toward us.  He was a large man, dressed very strangely in a yellow, high-necked shirt.  His hair and beard were snow white and he wore a strange red-crystal visor over his eyes.  He greeted as all with a blinding toothy smile and introduced himself as Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer.

He and Tom spoke quickly and Othar assured us that he could get us back to our correct plane of origin.  We just had to find a horrible monster, subdue it, and force it to open a portal to send us back; which is exactly what we did.  In an odd twist, the creature plane shifted back to Tal’s bedroom and though our celebration at being alive was enthusiastic (and sent Tom rushing out of the room), it was brief and fully clothed.  Taking a quick inventory we found that both of us were slightly translucent around the edges, almost ghostly in appearance.  I also discovered that my flight ring was gone but there was a rolled up carpet in the bed with us.

I eagerly examined the rug, hoping that it was of the flying variety, but the thing attacked me, wrapping around my body and making it impossible to move or even breath.  As my vision was going dark, Tal saved me, using a setup of clamps, wires and pulleys on the carpet (don’t ask) and stretching it out so that it released me.  We emerged from the room and Tom narrowed his eyes disapprovingly.  I decided not to protest and asked for a way to contact everyone.  He offered a way, but it involved me trusting him more than ever.  Seeing no other option and having no reason not to trust the man, I agreed.  He stepped into me and suddenly my mind was filled with all the spells he knew; and they were powerful spells indeed!

I (he? We?) cast a telepathic communication spell that allowed me to contact all of my companions at once.  I was pleased to learn that everyone was alright, more or less, and informed them that we needed to get back to the Necropolis as fast as possible.  Oslo (who I included in the telepathic message) told me that he could teleport two of my companions to me.  Lilly and Fasa were the farthest away so, I chose them and after burning a few more spells in the teleportation room,  we were racing back through the streets toward the Necropolis. 

On the way, I spotted an injured guardsmen slumped against an abandoned shop.  His wounds were severe and he couldn't walk.  He'd been run down by a flaming wagon as he and his unit tried to advance on the necropolis.  I healed him enough to get him back on his feet and we moved on.  As we neared the graveyard, we spotted a flaming wagon careening down the street toward us.  Seeing no other good option, we headed up to the roofs and continued there.   When the graveyard came into view, we stopped and stared at the nightmare the place had become.  Packs of powerful roving undead wandered everywhere but as we watched, a force pushed into the area from the west: the clerics and paladins of the city’s temple district had arrived and were cutting a swath of destruction.

Mak’usk arrived, preforming an exceptional jump on his worg over one the flaming wagons.  We met with him down on the street and soon after, Will hobbled up to us, looking and smelling like he had been through hell.  His wounds were severe and he was coated in filth so I used a few spells to clean and heal him.  I also gave him one of my baggier shirts to wear under his armor as his seemed to be in tatters and the leather was chafing and aggravating his wounds.  As we looked around we spotted Rish further in the graveyard and rushed to meet with her.

There were two knights with her, one was undead and the other was Half-dwarf I’d seen her working with before.  We were all taken aback when Sir <name> announced that he and Rish were courting, but before we could get any confirmation of that, we were set on by a massive force of powerful undead, led by the original Lord Stormguard himself!  We all fought to keep them away from Rish as she began the consecration ritual.  I don’t know exactly what she did, but a wave of positive energy exploded outward with three major consequences: the rift was sealed; all of the undead including Lord Stormguard and the unknown knight helping us collapsed; and lastly but most distressing of all, the entire Necropolis was consecrated.

I’m sure that won’t go over well.

Many heroic-types would have called it a day then, but we still had something personal to deal with: Will’s father.  After regrouping and healing, we set off through the city again, noting the distinct lack of undead.  There were some Sahuagin to deal with but those only slowed us down.  We found Will’s father stalking through the street with murder and mayhem in his eyes.  I tried to fascinate him with bard song, but whatever enchantment held in its grasp was simply too strong.  (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!)   Luckily, we were able to render him unconscious and Rish, Tal and I could study the magic which was emanating from a collar around his neck.  Judging by the scarring from the worn leather, it was clear that this collar had been on the man, a long time.

Very carefully, we managed to disengage a trap mechanism and remove the strip of leather.  If we hadn't been successful, Will would have suddenly been made an orphan.  Once the collar was removed, we revived his father, but the man was completely confused.  His last memories were of falling asleep in his home.   We had seen other men with Will’s father when they were rampaging through the streets and if they were under the control of devices like this, we could help them.  Luckily, Rish had an idea.  Using a bit of creative thaumaturgy, she rigged up a tracking spell using the collar we had to track the device it was linked to.

Moving quickly through the city, we followed Rish’s spell, first to the docks where we found two large ships in port.  Men stood guard; all wearing the same collars, but the spell directed us to a nearby tavern.  As we scouted the building, we found a group of city guardsmen, many of whom were badly injured.  We healed them quickly and they told us about a sniper firing alarmingly large arrows at anyone who approached the tavern.  We left them to watch our flanks and went up onto the roofs to get a better view.   Moving as stealthily possible, we formulated a plan.

Dropping water into the single fireplace would produce a large amount of smoke, driving the men inside to the exits.  We sealed the back door so that they could only come out the front where we were waiting in ambush.  As our stealth experts were carrying out their part of the plan, I spotted something interesting:  a dead body, surrounded by blackened smears of ash which were vaguely man-shaped.  Next to the corpse was a sword, driven deeply into the tiles.  I could sense the magic from the weapon and as I drew it easily from the roof, I noted a distinctive red colored blade.  It was a Sun Blade, legendary for its devastating effect on vampires and the like, as evidenced by the ash surrounding the swords fallen wielder.

I stowed the sword for now as every was now in place for the attack.  The first wave went down quickly and during the fighting, Will got impaled with what looked like a harpoon attached to a heavy cord.  He was pulled away from the fight, but quickly recovered.  Raging fiercely, he almost disabled the sniper while we were forced to deal with a second wave of much more competent attackers.  One spellcaster tried to turn Tal to stone, but she resisted and Lilly killed the man by burying her sword in his back.  (I still need to thank her properly for that.)

When the battle was over, we found the control collar and disabled it.  All of the collars linked to it and dropped off the enslaved men, leaving them stumbling around in confusion.  None of them could remember anything and hopefully that will be taken in consideration at their trials.  Exhausted from our encounters, we all stumbled back to Fennic’s dockside apartment for a well-earned rest.  My mind was racing, so I stayed up to write out the experience while it was still fresh in my mind, but sleep is beginning to win the battle for my attention.  Plus there is a lithe, warm body in my bed to cozy up to.

Chapter 47: Aftermath

Much of the city is in ruins and our group has all gone their separate ways for a bit.  I've been spending most of my time with Tal.  We had business plans to arrange, especially with the Lord Knight.  He has already commissioned some lightning cannons to be placed on the city walls and to defend the docks.  I also have finalized my plans for my “Tubes of Distant Missives”.  The enchanted scroll tubes use the teleport spell I developed to instantly send messages over long distances, a fraction of the cost of other forms of magical communication.  We finalized the contracts with the Lord Knight and having heard rumors and accusations of his incompetence, I made sure the documents were “accidentally” dated weeks ago.

To support these business ventures, we needed to assemble a work force.  There weren’t enough hours in the day for Tal and me to build all of these things by ourselves.  We moved through the streets of the crafters district around Tal’s shop and drove off looters from partially destroyed shops.  We offered the victims work and they gladly accepted because they needed the work to get back on their feet.

The evening following the attack, I was suddenly teleported away to Oslo’s tower.  He looked terrible, older than ever and obviously in quite a bit of pain.   One of the attacks that the guild wizards used on him, a vile spell called “Soul Daggers”, was slowly and steadily killing him.  He was so drained by the ordeal that he didn't think that he would survive long.  Guilt welled up inside me because I was the one that called him to Stormguard.  I was responsible for his current state.  I rushed to my room and collected the vile containing the essence of the second vampire that I had killed.   It took some convincing, but he mixed the potion and took it and though the effect wasn't as pronounced as the first one, he looked much stronger and assured me that he could deal with the curse. 

Later, he told me that he was beginning to consider study the wizard king’s secret for longevity and I certainly hope that he unlocks that mystery.  Oslo is the only family that I currently have contact with and I don’t want to lose him.  We discussed some of the things I had learned and encouraged me to keep working.  I can’t read the old man’s moods very well, but I suspect he’s proud of what I've managed to do so far.  It’s a good feeling.

…..

Back in the city, Tal and I continued recruiting a work force and making business contacts.  Inrus’s grandson, Quentin agreed to work with some of the rehabilitated enchanters we rescued from Lilly’s father and they are already working on the first batch of Missive Tubes for the Lord Knight.  I’m currently working on a custom one for myself.  It’s nice to share a workspace with Tal as she toils on projects of her own.  Strangely, Rish showed up at the shop as commissioned a very unusual clock for some unknown purpose.

Seeing how urgent the project was, I decided to find some other skilled help.  I contacted the Feldor family, the gnomish tinkers who owned the mansion where we recovered our clockwork golem and one of Rish’s swords.  The family was in dire straits and was very grateful for the work.  As a show of good faith, I also informed them that the mansion was inhabitable again and I gave them back the engineering texts that were written by their ancestors; after having copies scribed, of course.  The rest of the library is still with us though – call it a “service fee”. I also worked out a contract with the De'Jay family to supply the iron needed for our projects.

I had little contact with my friends but I assume they are all doing well.  I heard a rumor that Lilly was taking over some of the brothels and other businesses on Pleasure Street.  Good for her!  I’ve come to love that girl like a little sister and I want to see her happy.  Maybe I should set up a date with one of Erra’s adventuring group.  Or that dishwasher at the Hobbit House…  That boy is positively smitten!

…..

Over the last week, I've been spending my evenings at the Observatory, studying Runic magic.  The two runes I've learned so far have been incredibly useful and I am close to unlocking a third.  Tal’s been spending so much time working that I don’t think she minds having me out of her shop.  Oh!  And Shane stopped by with some water from Riverton and my experiment was a complete success!  Treating the lenses of my spectacles with the water does allow me to see through the invisibility enchantment and it has no adverse effect the perception-enhancing spells already on my glasses.

Yesterday, I also met with the Gray Elf merchant and purchased a length of cloth for a future project.  I was lucky to catch him because he was in the process of packing to depart the city for a prolonged period.  Now I need to find a really proficient tailor, but that’s for a project for another time.  I really need to check in with everyone.  I heard some interesting rumors about an Admiral from Rengar and group of thugs down at the docks who seemed very pleased that the Royal Navy was here.  Also, I heard about a crazed ranger going attacking someone who I suspect was Will.  That boy collects enemies like a camel collects flies!   I hope the others have managed to keep out of trouble, but knowing them, it’s quite unlikely.

Interlude

A Date with a Tinkerer

They make a very odd couple, walking hand-in-hand through the night-time streets.  The man is a human dressed in a loose fitting tunic and pants which are tucked into finely made riding boots.  He has dark hair and bronze skin and though not large compared to most of his race, he towers over his gnomish female companion.   Standing only a few inches over three feet, she is lean and muscled, wearing tight-fitting black leather breeches and a matching corset over a burgundy linen shirt with billowing sleeves.  She glances up him often, merriment and affection glittering in her pale blue eyes and in return, he looks down at her fondly.  In those moments when their eyes meet, she seems to get lost in his gaze, the color of storm-darkened skies lit by flashes of lightning.

Their destination doesn’t seem to matter as they wander almost aimlessly.  A mischievous smile plays over her mouth as she guides them toward the door to a shop.  He looks at her in confusion as the windows are dark and tightly shuttered.  She steps up onto a crate next to the closed door and with surprising strength; she grabs his gray tunic and pulls him into a soft playful kiss which quickly escalates into something more passionate as his hands slide around her tiny waist.  They finally part from each other’s lips, panting softly until they share a soft laugh.  Something catches her attention and she turns to look down the street, eyes narrowed.

The city of Stormguard is second in size only to the Rengar, the capital city of Revelous and though it possess one of the largest and most trained guard forces, the streets can still be dangerous.  She reaches down to loosen her sabre in the sheath at her hip and seeing the gesture, he slowly draws a scimitar from the scabbard on his belt.  From an alley only 30 yards away, two men step out of the shadows.  Dressed in black, they stalk toward the couple with naked steel glittering in their hands.

She reaches into a pouch at her waist and pulls out something metallic.  She flashes a wink up at her companion before leaping away from him, swinging the object over her head in a circle and hurling it at one of the men.  A metal bola spins through the air and wraps around the man’s sword arm.  He lets out an alarmed shout and looks down at the weapon.  Strands of copper are woven into the chain and wrapped around the spheres as well.  He flexes his arm before glaring at the woman darkly as if to say, “What was the point of that?”

The gnome looks back at her date and grins as bluish-white sparks are already dancing over his body.  The electricity snakes down his left arm to coalesce around his hand.  With a softly-muttered phrase, he hurls the lightning at the man, the current striking the bola before jolting through his whole body.  The electricity then jumps to the man’s partner and both of them jerk and writhe from the energy coursing through them.

Before they can recover, the gnome rushes forward; clicking and whirring of metal springs and gears accompany each of her steps which are much larger than one would expect from such a small person.  With sabre drawn, she spins past him and delivers a vicious slash to the back of one leg, hamstringing him.  He cries out and drops to one knee before lashing out with his short sword, but the swing is wild and she easily dodges out of the way.

The other dark-clad attacker recovers and moves into a position flank the girl, but another ray of electricity arcs into him and he turns to see the other half of the couple charging at him.  The rogue’s blade flashes out but likewise, hits nothing.  Music fills the air as the lightning wielder begins sing a lively tune.  He and his gnomish friend both seem invigorated by the song and move with quicker, more assured steps.  They almost seem to move in time with the music, dancing around their opponents in fluid motions.

In less than a minute, street is quiet once again as the couple stands over the lifeless bodies of their assailants.  Kneeling, the bard examines their wounds before singing another soft tune.  A soft glow spread over their bodies and some of their wounds heal over but they do not wake up.  The woman pulls a length of wire from her pouch and secures their hands while he pulls out an intricately-decorated scroll tube, a piece of parchment and pen.  He quickly writes on the paper, rolls it up, and places it inside the tube before muttering softly and pressing a button on the cap.

Tal grins up at Jazhir and says playfully, “You certainly know how to show a girl a good time.”

“Just wait my jewel.”  He replies with a wink.  “The night is young.”

Hand in hand, they continue down the street, leaving their assailants to be found by the city guard.

  - JWG

Entry 5/11/13

So I had to edit the ending of last week's journal since we continued with the party.  Presented here are the rest of the events of that crazy night.  I hope I didn't butcher anything too badly.  Even though this entry isn't very long, there was a LOT going on!

Chapter 43: Loose Ends

As we milled around in the aftermath of the party, there were still a number of questions hanging over the air.  Why did Stormguard Intelligence try to abduct Tal?  Why did the Fasa’s brothers attack him?  Who were the samurai who defended the Lord Knight?  Why was that noble dead?   We needed answers and the Lord Knight wasn’t letting anyone go until those answers were discovered.

The dead intelligence officer was first.   Rish checked over the body and then cast a Speak with Dead spell.  He was sent by the King of Revelous because a Diviner in Rengar had delivered a prophecy regarding the Lightning Cannons that Tal and I were working on.  In the next great war, the ultimate victor would be whichever kingdom had the most of those weapons, so the idiots decided the best way to ensure their victory would be to kidnap the creator.  Tal and I have been discussing plans for the device and had planned to make a deal with the Lord Knight for purchasing the weapons and making more, an exclusive contract!   The Lord Knight was almost as furious as we were.

Seeing nothing further to be gained, Rish released the spell and we examined another dead body, that of a Ja’held Allovar, minor baron who sat on the Council of Lords.  She confirmed that the man’s wine had been poisoned and he died of heart failure.  Earlier, he had been seen talking with Count Riely Vorhst and we learned two were arguing over water rights.  The dead lord was trying to repeal a law that made it illegal to catch and use rainwater in the kingdom.  We can’t make any accusations since we have no proof, but Vorhst owns a large area of land near Qualm, including Sky Lake.  (Hmm, he DID look a little pale to me…)   But he also owns the water rights to most of the area along the river north of Stormguard.  This may also be related to what’s going on in Bennic, where the people were building a lot of boats.  That is something that is going to need to be investigated, likely by the Lord Knight, but I will make inquiries as well.

Mak spoke with the samurai and learned that they had nothing to do with any of the attacks and were surprised as everyone when the assassin revealed himself as one of their group.   They gave Mak an enchanted belt pouch as a way of apology.  Seeing nothing else there, we examined the bodies of the Monks that attacked Fasa.  One of the men had been Fasa’s friend.  They had trained together so it made no sense that they would have attacked; especially since they were there as added security for the party.  When I examined them, I found a faint but lingering transmutation spell on the bodies, a berserk spell.

Shocked that a spell like that would work on trained Monks, we did some more investigating.  Their cups showed some strange residue and when we went to the kitchen we found that the water that they were being served to them was laced with the same substance.  The effect of the drug was that the water was highly alcoholic, making the monks highly susceptible to enchantments.    The guards were also drinking the water and many of them were quite drunk which explains their lackluster performance in protecting the party guests.  We found that the drug got into the water through the ice, which was delivered to the party from a business called the “Frost House” located by the docks.  The Lord Knight will be sending investigators there immediately.

During our investigation, Will watched from his post in the rafters and when we finished he called out some of the suspicious things he found.  First was the disappearance of an extremely lovely gnome from the party guests.  At first I looked to Tal and Erra, but the missing woman had been dressed in a lavish gown and her name was Belladonna, like the herb that can be potentially lethal when consumed.  I immediately had a theory that she was the one who either poisoned the baron or cast the Berserk enchantment on the monks, or both.  We will have to watch out for her.

Next, Will called out to two men in the back of the room who were acting suspicious.  Money and a small pouch had stealthily changed hands.  The Lord Knight called them forward and man doing the purchasing was revealed to be a minor noble named Bramsby.  He had purchased an illegal recreational drug known as “sapphire dream”.  The two men were sentenced to 20 lashes and Mak took them to another room to carry out the punishment.

After they had gone, we looked in a young girl who was looking flushed and unsteady on her feet.  Patrice deejay was here for her first party after coming of age.  She had been drinking wine but swore (convincingly) that she hadn’t had very much.  Unfortunately, she had been watering down her drink which only increased the alcohol content.  She was worried about her Aunt Hecuba, who was missing.

A speedy search of the house followed and the woman was found in a closet upstairs, bound and gagged.  She had been looking for her niece when she was attacked by two mystery assailants.  Will checked around the area and in the thick carpets, he found distinct prints of two men in boots similar to what a Ranger would wear.  Heading back down to the party, we found the men.  They immediately addressed Will as an escaped slave, making tensions rise even further.  Fortunately, the whole story came out soon after.

Lord Vincent Garrous had led the young woman upstairs to take advantage her.  He paid the two slave hunters to “occupy” Hecuba so she wouldn’t interfere.  The Lord Knight was very uneasy about confronting Lord Garrous because the man supplied the majority of weapons and armor used by the city guard and militia.   The two families were at odds over iron production in the area and Garrous was trying to disgrace the family to secure his holdings.  Rish examined both the lord and the girl and as we found out later, she slipped him an herb that would make it impossible to “perform” for a couple of weeks at least - serves the piece of dirt right.

The last encounter we dealt with involved another suspicious-looking individual that Will spotted.   He described the man and “too calm” and when we confronted him, I could see what he meant.  Nothing about the events of the evening rattled him in the slightest.   His name was Thomas Gular everything I had heard about the man was unflattering to put it mildly.  Though he was technically a “Sir” by inheritance, most people referred to him as “The Prick”. 

The Lord Knight finally released everyone to go.   Tired and drained from the evening we all left to get some rest.   Tal offered to let me stay at her place.  After the attempted abduction, I decided that would be a good idea, so I escorted Tal back to her workshop while the others headed back to the Midtown apartment.  Clarrens went with them so he could return to the stables.

It’s now the following morning and as I write this, I’m drinking the last of my coffee while Tal is still asleep in bed.  Last night ended in a wonderfully unexpected way.  I won’t go into details but the plans I had for making an item to let me change size won’t be necessary.  My girlfriend is quite adventurous and… athletic.  Calling her that is still a new experience.  I don’t know that the future holds, but I am certain that I want her to be a part of it.

Chapter 45: Party Crashers

The next day, we began to look into Lilly’s newly acquired assets.  The Lord Knight would be dismantling any of her father’s illegal operations, but we decided it would be best to look things over ourselves.  The first thing we examined was her father’s ship.  Her first order of business was to disband the crew and fire the captain.  Our timing couldn’t have been better as a letter arrived for the man, via magical means…  Hmmmm, that gives me an idea.  But never mind that now.

We went through the ship and found a number of things of interest.  We freed his traveling harem and I believe they will find working at the Silver Dragon to be much more … satisfying.  We also found a set of sheets made from the beards of dwarven ladies, truly a revolting concept.  The invoice said it was to be delivered to the “Empress of Lust” via her envoy on the docks.  He shouldn’t be too difficult to track down – the document says that he is a half-ogre and I’ve only ever seen one man that fits that description.  I believe this “Empress” may be the woman behind the enchantment attacks on Lilly and Will at the Feldor heir apartment. 

Lilly went through the rest of the ship and found some records of her father’s dealings with the various pirate organizations, in all parts of the world.  We even found maps of the shipping lanes he uses to avoid the pirates.  If we want to cause further problems for the man, turning those maps over to said pirates could make things very difficult.  Along with the information, we found a few items: a spear, shortsword and couple of potions.  One of the potions and the sword were highly useful to bards, so Lilly gave them to me.  In the hold, we found crate of rare truffles and a live dire lobster, which gave me an idea.

To celebrate surviving the Lord Knight’s party, we went out for a special dinner.  I invited Tal along with Erra and her adventuring group and we met at the Hobbit House for dinner.     The chefs were amazed at the food we brought and they turned it into an amazing meal.  Mak helped out in the kitchen as well. Erra’s group was a fun bunch of little folks.  The tallest of the party was the dwarf fighter.  The rest of the group consisted of two more Gnomes and the three Halflings.  After dinner, we went to their favorite tavern, a place near the docks called the Broken Branch.  Though it was crafted from the remains of a giant tree by druids, the place was roomy and lively.  We were enjoying the atmosphere until a scream pierced the revelry.  One of the waitresses stood at the door to the cellar, blood streaming down her face from wicked claw marks. 

Our party, now double in size, moved down into the dark cellar and encountered another wraith of the same type that we had fought twice before.  This time, however, as we attacked the creature, a dozen more appeared, rising up out of the floor.  A fierce battle took place, but to make matters worse, a shadowy figure dropped down from the ceiling and attacked Rish.  He slashed at her with a wakazashi and I immediately remembered the stories of the set of swords that she carried.  He told her to hand over one of her blades and he would withdraw.

Unfortunately for him, the last of the wraiths were being dispatched and we all attacked the man and cut him to ribbons.  Rish took up the last blade of the prayer-killer set and an odd look flashed in her eyes, similar to the expression when she spoke with her god.  She nodded and assured us she had it under control and with the last of the wraiths taken out, we decided it was best to call it a night.

The presence of the wraiths a third time cannot be a coincidence.  The most likely cause would be a rift in the Negative Energy Plane and the fact that there were so many wraiths this time could mean that the rift is getting larger.  Rish mentioned encountering something “dark” in the city’s immense graveyard known as the Necropolis.  We need to go there to investigate, but we should do research first and enlist the assistance of some clerics, maybe at Rish’s temple.  (Since she seems to be the Hierarch now!?!  When did THAT happen???)

Another terrible thought has occurred to me as well.  We encountered another powerful undead being recently: Lilly’s fiancé, the spell-wrapped mummy.  He could be the one behind the rift and the attacks: even more reason to be careful…  

Entry 5/4/13

Chapter 40: Home Again

Ahhhh Spearrow…  The trek here was fairly uneventful.  We made a brief stop in Benic and found about 50 or so people rebuilding the town and for some strange reason, a large number of boats.  We were ferried across the river and learned that some massive spiders had been hunted and killed in the area.  The carcass of a huge one was stretched out in the town square.  Seeing nothing to be concerned about, we wished them all the best and went on our way.  Though, now that I think about it…  What ARE they building all of the boats for?

Our only other encounter was with another Negative Energy Wraith similar to the one we encountered under Stormguard.  If we see any more of these creatures, I may be concerned.  Maybe the barrier to Negative Energy Plane is weakening?  Or someone or something is sending these creatures against us.  Whatever the cause, we have other things to be concerned with.

Luckily, Spearrow isn’t one of those things.   The town is in good hands.  Grusk is keeping the peace nicely.  Three heads on stakes decorated the front of his office.  They belonged to the group that had tried to kill him so as grisly as the site was, it was definitely justified.  The Runny Eye goblins have settled in well and seem to be accepted by the town.   Everyone seemed happy to see us so that made for a good evening.  There were only a few things that put the reunion into something less than stellar.

First, we were informed that there were two instances of people asking for our whereabouts.  The first was a strange other-planar creature that was described as smelling of “fire and metal”.  Will paid a surprisingly skilled goblin artist for a detailed picture of the individual but none of us recognized it.  I have a suspicion it may have something to do with Arkhazral, the Effreet that was imprisoned on Nicotem’s island.  I only hope that there is not hostile intention involved.  The second individual spoke with the goblin chief but no one seemed to recognize him. 

Second, while visiting and talking with townsfolk in the tavern, I spotted Tom Nice.  The ghost informed me that he was haunting me and had been since the ritual with the Bloodsong guild.  He can’t be more than 150 feet from me.  Though I do enjoy his company and having him around could be helpful, I don’t want us to be stuck with each other forever.  I’m going to do some research and discuss the situation with Alair at the guild.

Lastly, we learned that a prostitute had moved into town and according to the rumors, she was from Rengar.  Initially, I was afraid that she might be part of the Red Fangs, trying to spread their influence throughout the kingdom.  After confirming that she had been seen outdoors with her head uncovered during the day, I ruled out her being a vampire.  The other possibility was the Enchantress who as we learned from the guards in the city, originally came from Rengar.  Rish was extremely worried about this possibility and admitted that she had past experience with people like that.  I didn’t press for details as she was obviously distressed.

So we paid the lady of the night a visit.  Tom followed and went into the house first, indicating that she was alone and had no magical devices present.  (He also informed us that the woman had fake teeth – strange.)  Will and Rish waited outside while I took on the disguise of a young farm boy and went inside.  The woman who greeted me was attractive but looked like she had to work to be so.  She had a soft soothing voice and a pleasant manner.  She sat me down on the couch and I played up the shy virgin act.  I know – really not that much of a stretch for me, but I still had to be convincing and get information from her.

After a few minutes of intentional awkwardness, I had found out that her name was Wendy and that she was definitely not a threat.  I could detect no lingering traces of magic in the room and saw nothing to indicate that she was anything other than what she seemed: a whore looking to make a fresh start in a quiet place.   She seemed to accept my act and when I excused myself she made no move to stop me.  When I stepped back outside, Rish was practically red-faced and after I told her what I learned, she went inside, closing the door behind.  Will and I stared at each other awkwardly until there was a commotion in the trees behind the house.

Fasa had spotted a goblin hiding there and held the squirming little green man by the scruff of the neck.  With some convincing and a surprising amount of coin from Will, the goblin told us that his chief had him spying on the townsfolk, especially those that visited the prostitute.  I asked about the goblin clan and he told me about large spiders in the woods.  Strangely, he also said that if we were going toward the temple, we better bring a pot of honey.  After agreeing to report to Will as well as the chief, the goblin scurried off back into the darkness.  Now we have two reasons to speak with the chief.

Rish exited the house, looking angry, but not murderous.  We decided to call it a night and head back to the hut and we rode in silence.  Now I’ve reclaimed my favorite resting place in the den:  the large over-stuffed chair.   Tomorrow we’ll check in Sheila and the Goblin Chief and likely be back in Stormguard by dinner time.  After more than a week of rations and tavern food, I may have to take Tal and her sister to meet Rawul at the Hobbit House for a meal.

Chapter 41: Preparing for the Party

Though we were beginning to cut it close on time before the Lord Knight’s birthday, we did look in on the others in Spearrow before returning to the big city.  On the way to the temple, we encountered a brownie on the road.  The tiny fairie demanded a toll to continue on the road and though, he couldn’t be less intimidating, we all noted the dozens, if not hundreds, of his fellow fey in the trees to either side of the road.  Though we were willing to pay their price of food for their group, we didn’t think the townsfolk would appreciate the added cost for going to visit their local temple and graveyard.

It seems they had come here from a far off forest known as Blackthorne and Will looked stunned.  It seems that he is originally from that region and it is a long ways away – another continent in fact.  Their forest had burned down, along with the nearby town and by some twist of fate, they ended up here.   Seeing such a large group, I had an idea.  I offered them as much food as they needed if they would move down to the woods around Fennic’s hut.  In return, they would protect the place and chase off any intruders.  To our delight, they agreed - on a trial basis at least.

We moved on to the temple and informed Sheila that the road was clear again.  She thanked us and let us know that things were going well in town.  She had seen Shane, but not recently.  She promised to tell him that we were looking for him if she did see him soon.   We left the temple and headed straight to the goblin caves.  The place looked quite a bit different from the first time I came here when I first arrived in the area.  The busy tribe of humanoids was hard at work expanding the tunnels and creating a home for themselves.

 

We were taken to see the clan chief and found at that he had a very good reason for keeping watch over the activities of the townsfolk: Grusk asked him to!  The goblins were naturally stealthy and able to see in the dark so they made excellent spies and informants.   This allows the sheriff to discover problems early enough to deal with them before they get out of hand.  It’s good to see the goblins not only fitting into the town, but helping out as well. The Chief also informed us that the person looking for us was an infamous bounty hunter known only as the Hellhound.  Specifically, he was asking about Shane, so we've got one more thing to discuss with our former ranger when we finally see him again.

With nothing else to check on, we went back to the hut and made sure the brownies were settling in and had food.  Clarrens was in the stables to take care of the horses so we made sure that he left out food for our new neighbors as well.  Having that settled for now, we took the archway back to Stormguard; bypassing the enormously inflated taxes at the city gates.  I feel a bit guilty about breaking the law like this, but with the amount we move back and forth, the fees would severely deplete our resources.  Also, we've been doing a tremendous amount of good for the region so I feel that we've earned a financial reprieve.

My first order of business was to check in with Tal.  I’d been gone a little longer than planned and I didn't want her to worry.   I shouldn't have been concerned because I received an enthusiastic greeting from the excited tinkerer.  With her sister gone for weeks and even months on end, she was used to prolonged periods of separation.  Also, she had made a breakthrough with the Lightning Generator and had begun talking with potential buyers about useful applications.  She was excited to see the books we had recovered from Feldor’s mansion but that was nothing compared to her meeting Clarrens.  She studied and talked with the golem for over an hour and after that, she continued to pour over the manual for his construction.  I’ll admit, I am little jealous of the time she is spending with the metal construct, but it really is a marvel of arcane engineering.

Next, I met with the Baron to discuss the purchase of my new epic tale, “Curse of the Clockwork Ghost”.  He was very interested in the story and immediately had ideas on how it could be performed.  He made two offers:  a flat fee for the tale or a small percent of the house receipts from the performances.  As I was still fairly wealthy from selling the Wizard King’s Spellbook, I chose the latter.  Being a partner of sorts was much more satisfying and potentially profitable over a smaller amount now.  I look forward to seeing our story up on the stage.

Knowing that the assassin going after the Lord Knight was doppelganger, I decided to do some research on how to deal with shapeshifters.  I figured the best place to get information like that would be the Wizard’s Guild.  Unfortunately, when I arrived and asked for admittance and fees for consulting, the wizard in charge was extremely rude and condescending because of my association with Oslo.  He actually quoted prices that were ten times the normal rate.  Luckily Mak was with me and asserted some of his authority as an Inquisitor in defense of the city’s leaders.  He paid the normal fees and we were led to a consultant.

We learned of three ways to deal with our assassin.  First, we could spread a mixture of salt and iron at the base of any entrance.  Crossing that would cause the shifters disguise to melt away and reveal its true form.  Second, mage knew a spell which could detect any Transformed creatures, but the range was extremely limited and could only target one such individual at a time.  He offered to make us a wand but the cost would have been prohibitive.  The third option was get the creature to imbibe a specially crafted drink known as Wine of Burning Truth and as fate would have it, I knew a talented wine-maker.

Leaving the guild (gladly), I traveled through the arches to the Starfire Winery where I met with Raz.  He did indeed have some of the wine in question but to my dismay, it cost 2000 gold per bottle!  I had enough to buy a single bottle but that was all so I attempted to work out a deal instead.   If the Lord Knight would sign a contract to use Raz as a supplier for his party and other events, Raz would hand over one bottle for free.

We all met with the Lord Knight after that and he immediately agreed to the contract with the winery.  

Though the salt and iron mix wouldn’t work on the main entrance, we planned to place it over the window sills and any entrances into the house that wouldn’t see much traffic.   We decided against using the assistance of the Wizard’s Guild, though in hindsight, the Lord Knight could likely have gotten their assistance at no charge.  For the wine, I came up with a plan.  Each person that approached the Lord who he knew well would be asked a question that only they would know.  If the person could not answer correctly, nearby guards would immediately detain them.  If the person was not well-known, the Lord would offer a toast of the special wine.  

Rish would stay by the Lord Knight’s side with her Sanctuary spell and healing magic ready for use.  Will would be up in the rafters for a bird’s eye view.  Mak planned to be in the kitchens to ensure none of the wait staff was involved while Lilly, Fasa, and I would be mingling among the guests.

There are still two more days to prepare, but none of us had any other ideas for further preparations.  I’ll be eating dinner tomorrow night with Tal and her sister who just arrived in the city today.  According to Tal’s letter, her sibling is very eager to meet me.

Chapter 42: A Night of Chaos

Dinner with Tal and her sister Erra went very nicely, though Rawul had other matters to attend to.  I am amazed at how much those two can eat!  (Something I will never ever say anywhere but here – I may be inexperienced with relationships, but even I know that much!)  Erra is every bit as lovely as her sister, but where Tal is smart and quick, Erra seems languid and wise.  They both have a lively sense of humor and we exchanged stories of childhood and more recent adventures.  Erra is a druid and an adventurer and was very interested to hear the story of our travels to Sky Lake, especially about Shanna’Drina, the druid caretaker of the region.  Tal told me that she had a surprise for me and the sisters shared a sly smile.  I was understandably nervous and after everything that happened last night, I was quite justified in that worry.

We spent the next day getting everything ready for the party: we raided Fennic’s wardrobes to clothe everyone in suitable finery.  Actually, Rish was the only one needing a dress everyone else would either not be dressing up or already had their outfits.   We arrived early to the Lord Knight’s home so that we could get into position and make sure everything was set up.  Looking back, I don’t think any amount of preparation could have made us ready for everything that happened.

As the guests arrived, things seemed to go smoothly until I got my first surprise.  Tal was there doing a floor show using the lightning generator!  She had two assistants as well, her sister and Clarrens!   The show was quite impressive and she looked amazing in an outfit that seemed to be made of nothing but moving clockwork parts.  Unfortunately though I wanted to spend time with her, I had a job to do, but I’ll admit, I was distracted.

Which is probably why I was so surprised when a doppelganger suddenly appeared in front of the Lord Knight.  Rish activated her Sanctuary spell and at the same moment, a trio of monks attacked Fasa.  He smashed one of the attackers brutally but before I could move to his aid, three men in heavy Lunarian armor, similar to Mak’s advanced on the Lord Knight!  Mak charged them while Will rained arrows down on them.  I assumed Lilly was doing what she does best, sneaking into position to attack.  A scream caught my attention and I turned to see two men going after Tal.  One was trying to wrap her in a cloth sack while the other was pulling plates off of the lightning generator.  Erra cast a spell on the man with the sack and he froze in place.

Suddenly the generator let out a pulse of electricity and people screamed as they tried to get away from the malfunctioning device.   I yelled at Clarrens to protect Tal while I charged in.  Knowing that I had to get that generator away from the crowd, I activated my flight ring and rushed in, grabbing the heavy cylinder, and flying up into the rafters.  Current raced through me but I shrugged it off as I secured the device on one of the heavy beams, making sure it was far enough from Will and the crowd below.

The monks and the samurai were dealt with.  Erra and Clarrens had taken care of Tal’s attackers.  The Doppelganger actually looked terrified and bewildered.  Under the effects of the wine, he couldn’t lie and swore that he was only a diplomat.  From behind the knight, one of the guests lunged for the Lord Knight.  Malarkius had made his move!

Unfortunately for him, we were all ready and after a brief but bloody battle, he assassin was lying unconscious on the floor.  I called out to the guards to secure Xristopheles as well, knowing he was somewhere in the crowd.  The Lord Knight also ordered his guards to seal the room so that no one could leave until everything was sorted out.  We all looked around at each other and suddenly realized that someone was missing, Lilly!

We called out for her, searching around but it was obvious that she was gone.  Will spotted an open window but without knowing how long the kidnapper had left or where he could have gone.  I activated my Message ring and told Oslo what had happened.  His response was simply, “teleporting in 30 seconds”.  I was dully aware of hands grabbing onto me, including Tal and Erra.  In a flash of arcance power, we all appeared on a rooftop.  There was a bit of scrambling as few of those transported were left dangling over the edge.  All I could see was the man in black running along the roof, the man who had attacked and taken my closest friend.  The flight spell from my ring was still active and I shot forward until I passed him.  A red haze settled over my eyes as I drew out a wand and fired.  The Doom Gaze spell took the man and he crumpled in a lifeless heap.

Voices, angry and alarmed, came toward me but I grabbed the man’s belt and opened it.  Inside was all of Lilly’s belongings and clothing, shrunk down into miniature.   With a slight bit of relief, I spotted the bracelet, but I was looking for only one thing: a simple ring that held the bone fragments of an elven sage.  Without a pause, I slipped it on, feeling a slight sting of life being drained from me.  The image of Belthazar appeared in my mind and I demanded to know where Lilly was.  He didn’t know but after my five questions and an observation from Tom (that Lilly’s Father was at the party), I realized that she had to still be at the Lord Knight’s manor.

After retrieving Fasa from where he had fallen, we all raced back to the house and as soon as we were back inside, I called for the Halfling business man to be detained.  He was smug, arrogant and thoroughly detestable.  I tried to make him drink the Wine of Burning Truth, but he refused.  However, after I accused him of abducting his daughter, the Lord Knight ordered him to drink it.  When he did, the truth came spilling forth like a flood of corruption.

He had kidnapped Lilly and on demand, he reached into a belt her shrunken unconscious body, still alive but naked.  Rish took her as we began to interrogate her father.  Thanks to the wine we all learned what a terrible piece of filth her father was.  First, he tried to declare that he had the right to take his daughter because he was protecting a minor but then revealed that he only wanted her so he could “sell” her to someone else like her current fiancé.  Next, he confessed to numerous illegal operations:  slave trading and drugs were just the tip of the iceberg. 

After exposing his numerous crimes, he tried to pull a fast one.  He declared all of his assets to be the property of Lilly and that all crimes were her responsibility, by the laws of his country.  Fortunately, the Lord Knight assured him that she would not be prosecuted for said crimes and that the laws of her homeland held no sway here.  Panicking further he declared diplomatic immunity and unfortunately, the laws did dictate that it had to be granted.  He would be forcibly and magically deported without delay.

Lilly was still unconscious so we moved on to interrogate Xristopholes and his hired assassin.  Seeing the methods that Mak was going to employ, I decided to excuse myself so I could check on Tal and Erra.  We checked on the men that attacked her and learned that one of the men escaped and that the other was a member of Stormguard Intelligence.  I recovered the lightning device after making sure it was deactivated and we spent the rest of the evening talking.

I later learned that the attempt on the Lord Knight’s life was punishable by death.  Xris was trying to have the knight killed so that he could expand his holdings into smuggling and other less-than-legal pursuits.  It wouldn’t surprise me to learn of a connection to Lilly’s father, but that won’t be possible for them any longer.

The party wound down and we are all resting back at the Midtown apartment.   Lily woke up briefly as we settled her in bed.   Rish is watching over her.  I believe Mak and Will are checking over the Armory and if Fasa isn’t with them, then I’m sure he’s off meditating somewhere.  I made my farewells to Tal and Erra after promising to meet them at the workshop tomorrow.  I had been afraid that tonight’s craziness would have been too much for them, but after I received a kiss from each of them, (Erra’s on the cheek and Tal’s a long, lingering one on the mouth) I think things will be alright.   - Removed because events occurred in the following week that contradicted these events.  Read on to see what happened!! -

Entry 4/27/13

Chapter 38: Assassins, Vampires, Elves and other Nasty Things

Life in Stormguard has been relatively uneventful for the last week.  One of the first things I did was study the Wizard King’s spellbook.  I learned that it is one of a series of three such texts and it detailed the use of elemental magics in harmony with the body.  Through the correct rituals it could greatly extend the life of a person.  It also allowed me to delve further into my Djinn bloodline.  If I concentrate, I can now see the currents of air, like swirls of white and blue in the air.    Also, I’m fairly certain that the mild weather we’re experiencing is due to me pushing the storm clouds out to sea.

I decided to sell the book and after wrestling internally, I gave Oslo the option first.  One of the first spells in the book was a brutally effective disenchant spell.  We both decided it would be best not to put that knowledge in the hands of a city which rigidly controls the transport of magical goods into their gates.  He gave me a small coffer with the warning to open it someplace with plenty of room.  I chose one of Fennic’s more plain bedrooms and from the small container poured ten thousand platinum coins.  A good portion of my share went to a couple of items from Inrus’ Shoppe: two new wands, an enchanted haversack, and a set of magic spectacles to help me spot things easier.  With the deal that I worked out with her in trade for a map to Thendaris’ manor house, I got everything at a discount.

Most he others have been busy as well.  Rish helped a group from her temple to clean out the vampire nest that we discovered.  One of the paladins who fought at her side was the very famous Dyer Maskil, a half-dwarf.  Someday, I’d really like to know more about his background.  I’m sure it’s a fascinating tale.

Mak has been focused on making some new armor since his was severely damaged in our trek through the catacombs.  I showed him how to use the archways so he could do his work at the temple of Torag in Hammerfell.  While he is working, he asked me to look for some Elf Fabric to make his over-tunic.

The only problem is that Elf Fabric is only made by gray elves and they are extremely rare outside of their own lands.  They are an extremely private people and humans especially are not welcome.  I found that Fennic had an Archway to gray elf lands, but his notes made it clear that if I were to stop in for a visit, it would likely be the death of me.  The fabric they make is said to be enchanted in such a way that it can double as armor, turning as hard as granite when it is struck.  Even monks can wear it but conflicts with a monastic order broke out over use of the armored robes and now elven assassins enforce a ban of monk usage of their cloth.

I found that there are approximately two dozen gray elves spread throughout the city of Stormguard.  Over half of them were nobles serving as ambassadors, but of the remainder, I found one merchant in the noble quarter.  He was a pleasant enough fellow and to my delight, he actually had Elf Fabric for sale: at one gold per square inch!  To make a tabard for a person of Mak’s stature, the cost came to 750 platinum!  Luckily, he will be paying me back because my funds are almost depleted.

The most important thing on our agenda was warning the Lord Knight about the assassination attempt.  Lilly and I tracked down some information on the people named in the letters we found.  “Xris” was the name of a minor noble of Melody Hall.  I’m not clear of his motivations other than being a pompous, over-indulged child, but then, maybe that’s enough.  I've read and recited many tales about conflicts that were started for even less valid reasons.  The corpse we found was Gren, a man-servant of lord Xris.  Information on Malarkius was even more disturbing.  He is an unparalleled assassin and to make matters worse, he’s a doppelganger as well.  I hope that alerting the Lord Knight in advance will ensure his safety.  There are still almost three weeks left to prepare before the celebration.

After warning the Lord Knight, Rish proposed a job that she needed help with.  She had a lunarian blade in her possession and needed more information about it.   Years ago, when she first came into contact with her god, she hid another similar blade inside an abandoned house north of the city.  I took her to the great library to do some research.  (I swear; it was not a date!)  With the help of one of the guides, we found some very detailed information.  The swords were part of the “Prayer-killer” set.   They were forged in Lunasigra during a time when holy wars were ravaging the country.  The emperor commissioned the forging of these weapons and gave them to his champion.  This warrior’s task was to seek out men and women of faith and slay them so that no such wars would plague his lands.  Rish currently held the smallest blade, known as Heretic.  The largest blade, Faith-slayer was the one she hid away.  According to the legends, if anyone held all three blades, they would truly be a force to be reckoned with, especially against anyone who wielded Divine magic.  Someday, I am going to have to hear this woman’s story, maybe over dinner.  I should invite Dyer as well.  Who knows, they could really hit it off!

While we were still at the library, we also researched the history of the Feldor mansion where she hid the blade.  It belonged to an extremely prosperous family of gnomish tinkers.  Their house was the envy of many noble families of Stormguard until tragedy struck the household.  According to the stories, there was a dinner party at the mansion and one of the guests was a witch.  Insults were made and a fight broke out and the witch put a curse on the house.  Some of the clockwork servants went berserk and killed everyone who didn't flee the house in time.  Since then, no one has successfully gone into the house and lived to tell the tale – except for Rish, of course.

In addition to a basic set of floor plans for the house, we found at that the family’s descendants still live in Stormguard, though they have fallen on hard times.  Lilly and Will went to check out the surviving heir’s home to see if there was anything that could help us enter the cursed house.  By some strange coincidence, I was walking Tal home after a very nice dinner when I saw Will struggling on the stairs of the apartment building where the Feldor family lived.  Tal and I rushed to aid him and when we arrived I found that he was in the thrall of a powerful enchantress.  I used my Bardic Countersong and disrupted the magic while Lilly broke free on her own and attacked the male enchanter.  Before we could do anything else, the female of the pair activated a teleport spell stored in her ring and they disappeared.

As we recovered from the encounter, I introduced Tal to my friends, and the four of us went to the guard station to report the incident.  There had been a number of other similar attacks so the guards took our report very seriously.  Afterwards, Lilly and Will rushed off without another word; maybe because they were too shaken up by their encounter.  The magic used on them caused their minds to be overwhelmed by feelings of desire and lust and having recently withstood the effects of Nixie dust, I can understand just how disconcerting that situation can be.  Although, I did notice that they ran off together…  No, I’m sure nothing happened!

I’ve just returned to the Midtown apartment after walking Tal home.  My business and dance partner has come to mean a great deal to me and I wanted to make sure she got home safely.  She was very appreciative and I still feel the warmth of her lips on mine.  I must say, I think I have discovered the best use of the Enlarge Person spell.  Unfortunately, I will have to work on a way to increase the spell’s duration if our kisses are going to last that long.  Her sudden change in height was really hard on my back; though, a little muscle strain is totally worth it.

Chapter 39: The Clockwork Ghost

We’ve left the Feldor mansion and I have decided that I will be writing out this story and selling it to the Baron for his theater – absolutely amazing!

At Rish’s urging, we reached the house an hour or so after sunrise.  It was silent and feeling of foreboding hung over the building like a shroud.  Blackened tendrils of vines snaked up the brick walls, like veins of dark blood.  In the center of the grounds we spotted a reflecting pool surrounding a fountain.  There was no water, but the artwork was amazing.  All around the outside of the place, nothing moved but we could all feel the unmistakable sensation that we were being watched. 

Rish led us around the house to the chapel but stopped in her tracks.  The colorful stained glass windows where she had entered years ago were gone.  There was only smooth stone which as evidenced by the newer brick and mortar and the fragments of glass was a relatively recent change.  Not seeing a way in there, we moved around to the servant’s entrance.

The locks were simple enough for Lilly to bypass and we entered a small kitchen area.  In the center of the floor was a smashed clockwork construct that reminded Rish and I of the butler described in the stories we found.  According to Will, there was also evidence of a murder here, but there was no body left behind.  Feeling uneasy, we headed toward the chapel, but in the hallway, a blast of scalding and rusty water blasted Mak as we passed a crack in the wall.

I used my mending wand to repair the crack so we could all pass it safely.  Further down the hall I got singed by a strangely mobile wall sconce.  It arched down and touched a lit gas lamp to the back of my hair.  After patting out the flames, we rushed down to the chapel doors.  A large barrel of brackish water was next to the door and as Lilly and I examined it, an unseen force scooped out a large amount of the fowl water and splashed us.  Unfortunately, the water also contained a number of hungry leeches.

Lilly and Mak used salt to clear the creatures off of her while I scorched mine with a blast of lightning.  Taking stock of the situation, the more magically inclined half of our group could sense the presence in the house; similar to a ghost, but more mechanical in nature.  Mak could detect evil from whatever the entity was.  We came up with a theory that it might have been the butler, a construct that the house’s owner had invested a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy.  Deciding it would be best to recover the sword quickly, we rushed into the temple.

In a hollow under the altar, Lilly and Rish recovered the long, curved blade marked with the same runes as the dagger Rish already carried.  She got a distant look in her eyes as she held the sword and looked up toward the doors suddenly.  A voice called out suddenly, demanding that “Lillian” come out.  We all looked to Lilly but she was frozen in what I could only interpret as a mix of confusion, horror and anger.  We retrieved another sword from under the altar, a bastard sword that had a holy aura and gave it to Will.

I grabbed Fennic’s hat and put it on Lilly so that she now looked a bearded wizard dressed in arcane robes.  I also cast Enlarge Person to complete the disguise so she now looked human.   Not a moment too soon because there were three people standing in the entrance to the chapel: a Halfling with a handsome, distinguished look and powerful, commanding presence.  He introduced himself as Lilly’s fiancé and demanded to know where she was.  I noticed Rish staring at one of the humans behind the Halfling and saw her hand drifting over the hilt of Faith-Slayer.  A cleric then and judging by the robes worn by the other man, he must have been an arcane caster.  I also noted that they weren’t coming inside the chapel.

We managed to convince the Halfling that Lilly had run off with our valuables and disappeared.  I don’t think he was believing our story, but the house chose that time to interject with crashing sounds  and hisses of steam from somewhere behind the men.  Shouts of alarm rang out and I told them that the place was haunted and we all needed to figure out how to stop whatever was causing this before it killed us all.

The Halfling seemed to believe this and took his men upstairs to the attic to search, leaving us to check the basement.   As soon as they were gone, we compared notes and were all convinced that Lilly’s intended was some form of undead.  We had an idea to reanimate the butler so it could be let loose on the group and started for the kitchen.  A spectral voice stopped us and said, “downstairs”, so in true adventurer fashion, we went to the basement.

There we found a massive construct which was badly damaged to the point of being inert.  Among the pile of metal was a large woodsman’s axe.  Next to the remains was a huge boiler which supplied the hot water throughout the house and after glancing over at Mak’s scalded armor, I had an idea.  I positioned Will, Rish, and Fasa at the valves of the boiler while I readied my Gust of Wind spell.  Singing a song to help with timing and precision, I pushed the magical torrent of air into the metal cylinder. 

A surge of super-heated steam shot up through the house, blasting out of all the pipes throughout the levels above.  Screams erupted from upstairs followed a bellowing voice full of hatred and anger.  It definitely sounded like no ordinary Halfling and it was coming our way.  Without knowing what to expect, we were all justifiably nervous.

Since the disembodied voice directed us here, I asked aloud what happened so many years ago.  Was the house haunted because of the curse?  “No curse” was the answer followed by “Guests attacked my master - was protecting him.”  I asked the clockwork spirit if it would help us versus the evil thing in the house.  It agreed and I used my Mending wand on the pile of metal.   The body reformed but it took a second charge to finish the process.  As it shuddered to life, I asked the construct if it had a name.  Clarrens was the reply and it swore to help and protect us.  Picking up its axe, the clockwork man strode up the stairs.

After a brief discussion, the rest of us went upstairs as well to fight whatever Lilly’s fiancé was.  When we arrived, Clarrens and the Halfling were squaring off, except the Halfling had dropped his guise and appeared as a three foot tall desiccated corpse wrapped in rune-covered cloth.  We recognized him as a
spell-wrapped mummy and from what I could recall, they were extremely powerful.

Unfortunately for him, there were a number of cards stacked against him in addition to the powerful clockwork construct.  Will’s Ranger training was specialized in hunting undead.  Mak and Rish were both divine casters that had attacks affective versus creatures like this.   He also had no immunity to attacks from Lilly’s blade or my lightning.  What proved to be his undoing was Rish consecrating the area where we fought and me using the Rune of Threads to levitate the body over holy ground, preventing his escape.  He screamed and exploded in a flash of light.  (Unfortunately, Rish informed us that if he could reform again if there were another set of wrappings within 100 miles.  I’m sure he will be back.)

With Clarrens restored, the house was quiet.  No ghostly presence lingered in the walls and Mak assured us that the construct itself was no longer evil.  He agreed to serve us and our plan is to have him stay in our stables to protect and care for our mounts.  After that, we spent some time examining the house and I was excited by the large collection of books!  A few prized volumes stood out from the rest.  First was a detailed manual on how Clarrens was created.  Next was a large tome of engineering practices written by the master of the house and last was a detailed account book of the family’s dealings.

I know that Tal is going to love looking at the first two and I suggested that we give the third to the surviving member of the family.  The rest I planned to add to Fennic’s Library and the others agreed.  Lilly eventually found the family’s safe and produced a Master Key from her pocket which I assumed came from the apartment where she and Will ran afoul of the rapist enchanters.  (Do all adventurers have that kind of bad luck?!)  The safe was intricately trapped as only a master engineer to could.  With my musical assistance and the remaining charges in my Knock wand, we got the safe open.  Inside was a single item: an Iron Flask.  I knew of items like this from my homeland as they are used to ensnare outsiders and force them into obedience. 

I can’t help but think that this flask will only cause us trouble, especially if there is something already stored inside.  We loaded up the rest of the library on our horses and set off to the north.  Traveling back through the gates of Stormguard with a magical construct and all of the items we now carried would have incurred a huge price tag.  The only other option was to travel north and west to Spearrow where we could use Fennic’s hut there.  I will have to have a message sent back to Stormguard once we get to Reese.  I only told Tal that I would be gone for a few days and I don’t want her to worry.  She mentioned that her sister was going to be visiting and that she wanted us to meet.  I’m sure that will be fun and I’m looking forward to it.

Entry 4/20/13

Chapter 34: Research and Worry

It’s been two weeks!  I haven’t been able to contact the group and I am going out of my mind with worry!  I checked in with Sheila and Grusk in Spearrow and found out that the former managed to heal the latter (with assistance from Rish) from a Mummy Rot disease!  Someone really did try to kill Grusk and from what I can tell, the group left the village and headed back north, but even checking in Hammerfell and Perch, I haven’t been able to find out any information.  I really hope they didn’t move on to Elb without me!

Oh, that reminds me, I’ve discovered where most of Fennic’s teleport arches go!   Obviously the three locations I mentioned already, but also three apartments in Stormguard which are all warded so their use can’t be detected.  Another arch led to a cabin on the ground of the Starfire Winery.  I met with the owner there to inform him of Fennic’s death.  He was a very pleasant elf named Raz, who besides making some truly wonderful wine, was a wizard who often worked with Fennic.   His specialization in Destruction-type spells made him a force to be reckoned with and he even made some of the magical traps guarding the Vault in Spearrow.  I will keep him in mind if any of my group needs to enchant their weapons with more destructive magic.

Another arch leads to a jungle located on the border between Lilly’s homeland of Rolonia and Grundo.  Other than a general impression that he enjoyed the hospitality of the area, I assume he went there for exotic materials for spells or possibly some of the wildlife there.   In his journals, I also found out that he did a lot of bounty-hunting for the nearby kingdoms.  I am glad that he wasn’t the one put onto Lilly’s trail.  That would have been much more dangerous than the dark paladin we encountered and I fear that we would not have fared so well.

The next arch was definitely used for relaxation.  It led to a cabin on a tropical island.  The sea and surf was quite beautiful and relaxing.  I am going to need to get rid of most of the clothing he left behind.  I shudder to imagine him in such skimpy attire and judging by the amount of female “clothing”, he must have brought company here often.

Speaking of females, the next arch I investigated made my stomach crawl.  It led to an unoccupied room in the lady’s dormitory of the Forthwright School.  There had been rumors of an invisible lover that could sometimes be found in the room and a number of sexually-adventurous young women had become pregnant after their “ghostly” encounters.  I made sure that none of children sired by Oslo’s deceased apprentice were in need of aid.  The girls were all of noble houses at least so the children would never want for anything.  Fennic was an amazing mage, but a despicable person.

The next arch I used led to a “Familiar Farm” where they raised many wondrous and magical creatures.  The staff was all friendly and accommodating and I spent a couple of days learning about the place and its wondrous inhabitants.  Someday, I plan to find a familiar of my own – something that can fly!

There were five other arches that I discovered, including one that had no destination set as of yet, but I didn’t feel comfortable exploring them and I had other things that I needed to research until I could reach my friends again.  I went through Fennic’s notes regarding the “dark constellations” that he studied in his Observatory.  As I looked at his diagrams, I realized that he had made an error with some of the runes.  They were the same symbol, but rotated or tilted.  In studying the runes in detail I managed to unlock two magical effects: a rune to make cloth lighter so that it could levitate or even fly and another that created a temporary protective circle.   I plan to study this magic further, as I find the time!

During my time alone, I spent quite a bit of time in Stormguard; though I made sure to travel in disguise when I traveled through the streets.  I missed my disguise wand more than ever, but Fennic had a strange wizard’s had that transformed its wearer into an elderly bearded wizard, complete with arcane robes.  It was a terrible look, but no one would likely recognize me.  During my time in the city, I did two things.  Study and research at the Great Library and I met a girl.

It’s not what you might expect (though, after my rather embarrassing behavior in Hammerfell and my shyness around my female friends, you probably don’t expect much).  Her name is Tal'edesha or just “Tal” for short.  She’s a gnomish tinkerer and engineer and besides being attractive and deadly with a blade, she is extremely intelligent.  We made a deal to produce items similar to the lightning generator that we discovered in the ruins of Ka’Fel.  Everything is in the experimental stage at this point, but I look forward to our progress.  I also started working with her to learn the magic techniques used by her kind to effortlessly maintain illusions.  We sparred a little and her blurring, dexterous style is something that I could definitely adapt to fighting with my scimitar.  Plus her movements make me think that she would be an excellent dance partner, though I might have to use magic to either make her larger or me smaller.  Regardless, I look forward to spending more time with her.

Besides my very pleasant times in Tal’s company, I did quite a lot of research.  There was very little about my family history other than vague mentions of some of the more famous of my ancestors.  There was quite a bit on Oslo, however.  In his (much) younger days, he had been a member of the Wizard’s guild in Stormguard and spent a great deal of time exploring and adventuring.  He found a staff that inspired him to leave and go to the land of my birth, but guild tried to take the staff.  A great fight broke out that left buildings melted, with stone running like hot wax.  Arcane duels set off explosions that rocked homes and even shattered windows in the Lord Knight's palace.  In the end, Oslo was left barely alive but the dock side was in ruins and the wizards guild had to pay blood price to the city and repair all that was damaged.

I didn’t find out anything new on Nicotem but all accounts; the Efreet that he imprisoned was a nasty character.  He is known as a warrior and a con man and though he isn’t powerful by his kind’s standards, he is still considered a Lord.  It is also said that he is quite vengeful so I will be sure to hide my connection to him and the man-djinn that imprisoned him so that he will not decide to take any form of retribution out upon me or my friends.

Researching the Bloodsong guild that Tom’s ghost spoke of yielded very little information.  Asking around, I did learn that they are seekers of knowledge and work to influence events from behind the scenes.  I found stories of how they spent vast fortunes to recover a lost tome or map an uncharted area.  Information appears to be what they value most.  It is also said that they have uncovered rituals that can gift a person with great power in multiple areas of expertise, merged together in one seamless blend of knowledge and ability.  I’ve studied Tom’s information and along with a detailed map of the ancient city and the current city, I have found a route to the location of the notes belonging to the ancient elven wizard, Thendaris.  Once I meet up with my friends, I intend to find these notes and meet the guild.

The last thing I looked into was the vampires that have moved into the city.  Known as the Red Fangs, they are based in the capitol city of Rengar, where they have dominated the shadows for the last three centuries.  I learned that the vampire that we killed was named Edgar White and at nearly a century old, was a high-ranking member of the group.  Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find out anything further about why they have suddenly decided to move on the city of Stormguard.

Though I have enjoyed my time to research, study and make new friends, I really miss my group.  I hope I can get in contact them soon! 

Chapter 35: Reunited!

Finally!  We’ve gotten back together again, but things will never be the same.  It seems I missed out on an epic adventure!  Elb was liberated, Shane has regained all his power and knowledge, Lilly killed Mala’kai, and a new member has joined the group!  I still have to sit down with Shane to get the whole story (now that he is a master Bard once more), but I despair at having missed such important events.

Shane teleported the group inside of Stormguard and I rushed to meet them as quick as I could.  Before I could find them Lilly had disappeared, presumably to meet with her guild, but it saddened me that she couldn’t wait until after I got there.  I greeted others warmly and met the new person, a large man dressed in outlandish armor that I recognized as a style from Lunasigra, the Land of the Full Moon.  His face was covered in a masked that hid his features but his voice was deep and rich.  He introduced himself as Mak-ausk but insisted that I call him Mak. 

Shane had to excuse himself to attend to some business, leaving me alone with Rish, Fasa and Mak.  Not quite sure where to go first, we headed down the street in the general direction of the Silver Dragon, but before we could reach the inn, we were surrounded by a group of heavily armed and armored members of the temple of Irori.  Their orders were to detain Rish and bring her to the temple to face charges of Heresy.  To say I was outraged is an understatement and I came to her defense immediately, but there was nothing I could say.  We were all escorted back to the temple and informed that it would take at least two to three days to have the trial.  The inquisitor in charge was livid at this and I made my own objection because we had need of Rish’s healing skills.  A grizzled paladin came forth, dressed in plain but sturdy armor.  He guaranteed that our friend would receive a fair trial while another young man stepped forward to offer his services as a cleric.

Seeing no other option available to us, we departed and I led the group back to the apartment in the low quarter.  Though it was the shabbiest in appearance, it was also the easiest to get to unobtrusively.  Mak, Fasa and I talked with the new cleric by the name of Chad as we walked and eventually ran into Lilly who was leading a man in armor.  She introduced him as Warren, a paladin who was here to hunt the Red Fangs.  We reached the place and went inside to chat and get to know each other until there was an urgent knock on the door.

Since no one was supposed to know this place was occupied, I made sure everyone had weapons ready as I opened the door.  There stood a young man with dark hair and dark, angry eyes.   He was handsome and had darkly-tanned skin, but I couldn’t tell where he was from.  Standing the same height as me, he narrowed his eyes and I could see wariness in his tense stance.  He introduced himself as Will and said that Oslo sent him but before he could say much more than that, there was a crash and a dark figure hurtled in through the window.  Another followed him in, but we engaged the pair and disabled them quickly: one of them was terribly wounded by Will and Mak and the other was held by Chad’s magic.   Thanks to Fasa, no others managed to get inside; though they did try.  

We tied up the two humans to interrogate them.  Chad stabilized injured man’s wounds and in his weakened condition, he was much more cooperative in answering our questions.  The men, including more outside that Lilly had taken care of, were hired by the Red Fangs and sent by a vampire named Gregory Bones.  Before they could say anything further, we heard a crash in the hallway.  Standing in the shadows was a tall, menacing figure.  The gleam of red eyes and the glint of sharp, white teeth told us all we needed to know of our visitor.

He charged at us, but thanks to the blessed stakes that Warren had provided, we managed to dispatch him with little to no injuries to our group.  As he puffed away into mist, I used my command of air to capture him in the same flask that Edgar had previously occupied.  In the chaos of combat, the injured man escaped, leaving his partner dead with a stiletto buried in one eye. 

Quite the welcome for everyone!  To rest, I took them all through the arch to Fennic’s tropical island.  In the morning we are going to visit the temples and make sure everything is in order before heading into the ruins beneath the city so everyone is getting some rest.

Chapter 36: Trouble Above, Trouble Below

Our trip into the catacombs was a success!  Although, we have some concerns that we need to follow up on along with a potential business opportunity.  There’s also the Blood Song Guild!  But I am getting ahead of myself.  Let me start with how our morning adventure began that morning.

Temple district was busy as always as we went to the Temple of Irori so Chad and Warren could report the attack last night.  I went along to check on how Rish was doing.  The Paladin and the Inquistor in charge were both livid because the Hierarch was delaying the trial unnecessarily.  While the holy-types checked in, Fasa and Will waited outside.  I watched everyone as I usually do and noticed someone acting very strangely.  He was looking around a little too intently, especially at the more martially-inclined people in the room, almost like he was taking inventory.

I had been hearing rumors of paladin and other Faris going missing in the town so I decided to check on this individual.  I walked up to him to ask what he was doing but saw me coming, turned, and ran.   He was caught quickly and after questioning the man, we learned that he and others like him were being paid by some shadowy individuals for reports about the military strengths of the temples. 

Outisde, Fasa and Will had been watching another suspicious acolyte and when we moved toward, him he ran as well.  A chase led through the streets and in the direction he was running, we spotted a cloaked figure wearing a large brimmed hat and standing in the shadows.  He turned and ran too as well, but I called up a stiff breeze and blew the hat off his hand.  He immediately screamed and burst into flame in the morning sun.

The paladins all rushed around the smoking corpse and made sure nothing disturbed the undead creature’s final rest.  Unfortunately, that means I couldn’t add my third vampire to my collection.  Ah well, it’s still for the best.  We learned that the local butcher shop had been compromised by the red fangs and group of them were nesting beneath the place.  The throng of holy warriors made short work of the place and now the streets are just a little safer.  

We left the temple district and headed for the docks to enter the catacombs and began navigating our way through the ancient passages.  Will turned out to be an excellent guide as I immediately got turned around.   Our first difficulty was with a pack of rust monsters, but between the use of range weapons and wood staves our equipment came through unscathed.  The bulk of the group went down with a well-placed lightning ball.

After that, we ran into a wraithlike undead that would have been much more dangerous if not for the fact that we had a cleric and a paladin in our group.  We carefully avoided a gloomdrake, continuing through the tunnels and we didn’t encounter anything else of interest until Will spotted a dead body wedged into an alcove.  We found letters on the corpse between two individuals, Melarkius and Xris who are planning an assassination attempt against the Lord Knight at his upcoming birthday celebration.  As soon as possible, I will be delivering these letters to the Lord Knight and finding out who these people are.

Soon after finding the body, we encountered a group of Duergar.  They seemed to be focused on studying the support columns of the catacombs.  Consulting the maps I brought, we realized that the supports would likely collapse major portions of the city if they sabotaged them .  I don’t know if these dark dwarves are in league with the mysterious assassins but it seems too great a coincidence.

We set up an ambush for the group and devastated them with our initial attack.  Will proved to be a very competent archer and Mak used his blades to inflict terrible wounds.   I delivered a strike to one that I didn’t know I was capable of.  I practically cut the dwarf in half and the lightning unleashed by the spell stored in my scimitar finished him off.  One of the survivors of our ambush pulled out a small whistle and called for reinforcements.  A much larger group arrived and the fight continued in earnest.  There were a number of wounds on our group, but we managed to finish them off and even capture one of them.  Thanks to Chad’s communication spell, I was able to interrogate him and learned that they were sent here to map the region so they could hold the city ransom or possible just conquer it. They had been working for a year and half and have a tunnel under the northwest part of town that connecting to their lands.

Seeing no other option, we dispatched our prisoner and moved on.  Nothing else of note occurred until we reached the ruins of the manor house of Thendaris.  The building was mostly intact and quite impressive.  I took some notes, made some sketches and committed as much about the place as I could to memory.  Seeing this building, still standing after thousands of year, is an opportunity of a lifetime.  We searched the interior and found a library.  Most of the books and parchments were little more than dust but I found the notes in a protective case, still intact.  I used mending on the papers to make sure they wouldn’t crumble at my touch and looked them over.

They described a process to combine bardic music effects, something that I will definitely want to peruse in more detail if the Blood Song Guild will allow me.  After storing them carefully, I searched some more and found a spellbook belonging to the Wizard King.  This could be worth a fortune!  I intend to contact the Wizard’s Guild to see if they will purchase the volume; after I study it thoroughly, of course.  Although, Oslo may want to look at it as well, so perhaps I will wait to see what he wishes.

Still exhausted from our trek, we thought it prudent to rest here in the manor house.  When we are ready to move on, we will head to the surface and deal with everything we found out.

Chapter 37:  The Blood Song Guild

My head is swimming with knowledge and power!  I don’t know how long it will take for me to sort through it all.  I’m sure my fellow Guild members feel the same, but I am getting ahead of myself.  Writing this out does help sort through the chaotic maelstrom in my mind so I will describe what we’ve been through.

After resting in the Thendaris' house, we found a different route to the surface and emerged from a grate in the floor of a magic shop.  An elderly woman flared with arcane power at the intrusion, but fascination and bemusement won out over hostility.  We thanked the woman for her time and went on her way.  Though, I will have to return there to peruse her wares.  She may even be interested in the route down to the manor house so she can look through the ancient place.  Of course the Blood Song may wish to have exclusive access.  <writing trails off to indecipherable scribbles>

I apologize, let me continue.  Since our subterranean trek had taken almost three days, we went to Irori’s temple first to check on the status of Rish’s trial.  To our surprise and delight, the trial was complete and she had been exonerated of any charges.   The paladin had served as an excellent defender for which he will always have my thanks.   Once we had Rish back with us and said goodbye to Chad and Warren, we headed to the Purple Parrot tavern to meet the Blood Song Guild.

We were directed to an upstairs room and were met by a very distinct looking half elf who introduced himself as Alair.  Dressed in leathers, he was skinny, even more so than I but slightly taller.  He had green eyes and green hair as well while his skin was dark, almost the color of tree bark.  After giving him the notes, he was impressed and offered us membership in their ranks.  During a brief ceremony,  I distinctly saw the ghost of Tom Nice in the back of the room.  After it was finished, Alair took us into a private room and asked us if we wished to partake of the ritual of joining.

He told us that he was a druid and wizard and the ritual allowed him to advance in each distinct set of skills and abilities as a seamless hole.  The ritual would allow us to do the same.   Since Lilly and Fasa had only one set of skills that they trained, the process would do little for them, but for me, Will, Mak, and Rish, the ritual could be very useful indeed.

One by one were led to another room in the complex.  Being the only woman present (and I assume at some unheard urging from her god), Rish went first.   I never saw her leave the room and Alair returned to lead me inside.  After getting confirmation that I was definitely committed to this, he nodded and left the room.  The walls were circular and a dark red in color and the only furnishings in the room were two large mirrors.  Standing well over six feet tall, the perfectly polished surfaces were framed by an ornate swirling pattern of gold, copper and silver.  Suspended from the exact center of ceiling was a flickering lamp that, in contrast to the mirrors, was plain unadorned steel.  Without realizing I had even moved, I found myself standing between the mirrors, directly into the lamp. I could feel the pulse and hum of magic in the room but before I could reach out with my senses to study them a spectral voice echoed through the room. 

“Look to your left.”  I did so and saw the mirror but the surface was blank.  “Picture in your mind what it is to be a bard.”  As I did, images began to appear in the mirror hazy at first, but with increasing clarity and detail: singing in a crowded tavern, pouring over musty tomes, sweeping my scimitar in a practiced, complex pattern, smiling, laughing, and commanding.

The voice came back again, “Look to your right and picture what it is to be a sorcerer.”  Again the blank surface swirled and I saw flashes of lightning and swirling winds and in the center of the storm was me, hovering in mid-air, my hair whipping around my face, my eyes glowing with electric fury.

“Now look straight ahead and hold the images in your mind.”  As I complied, the mirrors rose off the floor and slowly began to rotate around me.  As each one passed in front of me, there was a flash and I was left with an image blazing in my eyes, like the glow remaining after looking at a bright light.  Faster and fast, the mirrors spun and the images became an indistinct blur: Singing, Casting, Dancing, Laughing, Whirling a staff, Reading a Book.

Then with an explosion of brilliance, the mirrors shattered and fragments of glass showered me from all sides.  They shards didn’t cut my skin; however, they embedded themselves inside of me, shredding my very soul.  As I fought to stop myself from screaming in agony, a warm soft radiance cascaded down around me.  I looked up to see the lantern giving off a study warm glow and the light bathed me and soothed me.  I can only describe the sensation as that of knitting my soul together once again, but now stronger than ever.

Knowledge and power grew inside me, stronger as both a bard and a sorcerer and equal in skill and ability.  Spells flooded into my mind and as well secrets unknown to me before I entered this chamber.  Weariness swept through me and I collapsed to the floor.  I had a vague sensation of being lifted and carried but darkness claimed me until I awoke in a soft, warm bed.

I stumbled out of the room and staggered into the common room of the Purple Parrot to find Rish, Will and Mak all there looking as bad as I felt.  Alair walked up to our table once I was seated bearing four tankards of cold, clear water.  He smiled at us, but didn’t say a word before turning and leaving through the front door.

After drinking my water, I pulled out journal and began to write.  The others didn’t say anything but a feeling of camaraderie was present that hadn’t been there when we came here last night.  A new path has opened before us and I am excited to see where it leads.