Amiri Giantslayer's page

Seltyiel! Look out for that giant green liz

So we waited and we watched for a couple of days, and today Samaritha and the Cyphermages left Devil’s Elbow for Riddleport.

We accepted Zincher’s offer to work for him, but we had an agenda of our own. The first night in camp, we heard arguing from a nearby tent. We slipped out to listen from the shadows, and overheard Zincher and Akron heatedly arguing. We were seen by Akron, who came to our tents later that night. After a bit of discussion, he decided that we were trustworthy and confided in us that he was really a marine from Korvosa under cover in Riddleport. He told us that it was in his best interest if Zincher was kept alive, as Zincher was Akron’s best source of information about Riddleport. This put a huge crimp on my personal plans. I don’t like Zincher very much, and I have been considering for some time how Riddleport politics work. When Saul Vancaskerkin “disappeared,” we wound up the owners of the Golden Goblin. We then made a very lucrative business deal that benefited us greatly. I have been thinking about how many businesses Zincher owns, and how much I would have to gain if he were to also “disappear.” I like Akron, but his mission may get in the way of my plans.

Akron did tell us that Zincher had been acting strangely as of late, but I had observed this fact already. At this time we decided that Zincher was most likely in league with the dark elf we chased from Riddleport.

The next day we explored the island. We went to one of the lighthouses first, but found nothing but ruins and centipedes. A swarm of the bastards almost took out Seltyiel, but a few well placed bursts of flame finished off the swarm. Then we investigated the crater left by the falling star. We found very little skymetal, only about two pounds, but we were attacked by several of the slug-lions. We killed them fairly easily despite their speed. Then we went on to the other lighthouse. When we were almost there, we were approached by a small floating light. It seemed to attach itself to me, and since that moment it has been floating around me everywhere I go. We determined that it was the ghost of a willowisp. When I listen very closely, it plays music for me. We moved on to investigate the remains of the tower. The monk went inside, and Seltyiel searched the rubble around the tower. I stayed back with Lini because her snow leopard refused to approach the tower. While he was searching, the monk was attacked by the wrathful spirit of Yarris. He exuded a burst of his holy energy, and the wraith seemed angered by the occurrence. I charged up to the tower and smashed into the wraith with my magical sword. It seemed to be hurt by the attack, and retreated into the tower proper. I was able to get to it, and destroyed it with my second swing. After killing the wraith of Yarris, we found a glowing longsword and some money in the rubble inside the tower.

It was early afternoon, and so we headed back to camp. We had decided to sleep in the afternoons and do our exploring in the mornings. At night we are paid to keep watch on the camp. Samaritha watched over me as I slept. We all were waking up and getting ready for our watch as the Cyphermages were just beginning to bed down, when a cry came up from the far side of the camp. We ran out of our tents to find that several of the Void Zombies were attacking the camp. It was a short fight, but one more of Zincher’s thugs was killed in the battle. After the excitement was over, I decided to keep watch over the edge of camp where Samaritha slept. While on watch, I observed Zincher sneaking out of the camp on his own. Assuming he was going to check in with his dark elf ally, I remained hidden and marked the trail down which he crept.

This morning, we escorted Samaritha and the Cyphermages to the Flying Cloud. Now they are safely off the island, and it is no longer necessary for me to remain in Zincher’s camp. We are resting today, and tomorrow morning, just before dawn, we plan to find out exactly where Zincher went during his nocturnal wanderings.

So here we are now, resting in the camp of Clegg Zincher. What a strange series of events has led me here. I am happier now, though, because I got a new sword. It hurts me to kill things with it—literally—but it hurts the things I hit even more.
After fighting the dark elf in her lair and witnessing the bolt from the sky slamming into the island of Devil’s Elbow, we made the best we could from what we had. Even though the dark elf had escaped, we gained a great amount of treasure from her cavern. We were in the process of trying to sell these items or trade them for things we had more use for when we heard of a shop attempting to liquidate their entire inventory as quickly as they could. We went straight there and met Karn, a man who obviously was not the owner of the shop, selling off the shop’s stock at extremely low prices. We attempted to barter with him, but he did not have much left. However, he said that he might have a few other things to talk with us about and suggested that we meet in the office of the Golden Goblin a few hours later. Having found no replacement for my sword, we went to another shop—a weapon and armor shop called The Midnight Blade. The shopkeeper, a Quadiran, sold mostly daggers and the like, but he did have a couple of greatswords that carried with them a magnificent enchantment. Both were more than I could afford, but I had a feeling that after the meeting with Karn we would have a little more disposable wealth. I left the shop, temporarily stymied, but hopeful that one of those swords would soon be mine.
Only a few moments after we returned to the Golden Goblin, Karn arrived and began to talk business. He brought with him several choice items that he had not sold at the shop. He was interested in buying the business to use as a front for other activities, and was willing to pay fairly well. However, his eyes really lit up when we told him about the tunnel beneath the place that stretched across the river. He traded several powerful items to us in exchange for the Golden Goblin and our silence about the smuggling tunnels. Many of the items were of little or no use to us, but we were able to take them out to the market and trade them for stuff we needed. I was able to take some of the weapons and armor to The Midnight Blade and trade them for a greatsword that, when it connected with an enemy, did a small amount of damage to me and a huge amount of damage to my foe. I was also able to get a couple of rings for myself and several good items for my companions.
Lini went out into the wilderness for a day or so while the rest of us conversed with Kwava about the dark skinned elf we had found. He did not believe that the elf was really a drow, but did think that we had uncovered the renegade that he was hunting. He explained that the dark skin could be done with some sort of body paint. He said that he would report back to his masters, and that we would be hearing from him soon. Lini returned with a snow leopard at her side—a powerful ally for the small druid.
When we returned to town, we turned our focus to getting out to Devil’s Elbow. We had some revenge to serve up on the renegade elf, and we thought it would be a good way to get some extra money to pick up a little skymetal in the process. There were a couple of possible options for ways to the island: there was a fast mercenary boat available in the harbor, and there were rumors of a pirate ship anchored north of town. We decided putting our lives in the hands of pirates was a bad idea, so we went to meet with the captain of the Flying Cloud, one of the fastest ships on the ocean.
The captain of the Flying Cloud was cold to us at first, but during our meeting we heard someone messing around up on the main deck. We ran up the stairs, and were able to interrupt several thugs attempting to set the ship on fire. We quickly killed them all, with the snow leopard killing two faster than I could kill one. After this battle Captain Creesy was much more cordial to us, and even told us we could use his rowboat to approach the island.
The next day, after gathering a few supplies, we sailed out to the island. We had obtained a map of the island from the department of public works, and could easily see where we needed to land. As we neared the island, we could plainly see where the falling star had impacted. There was a huge crater, almost a mile across.
The captain was unwilling to get too close to the island, and so dropped us off in a rowboat about a mile out to sea. We had to row all the way in to a small dock area. The buildings of the dock had collapsed, and it seemed that the dock might not be too far from this same fate. As we approached, we were hailed by a dwarf of the Gasforges. He wanted nothing more than to escape the island with his few remaining companions. He told us there was no skymetal, but that if we did find anything that the Gasforges would be gracious enough to help us forge what we needed from it. He also said that there were fast, silent monsters infesting the island, and that they would lay some sort of larvae in the tongues of the dead. We allowed him and his companions to take the rowboat back out to the Flying Cloud. Captain Creesy was to return for us in three days.
During our approach to the island, we spotted several flashes of light up at the tower on the apex of the mountain. The dwarf told us that the Cyphermages were trapped there---including my dear Samaritha. We hustled up the mountain, and reached the tower in a little less than an hour. They let us inside, but everyone was injured. I gave Samaritha a potion that would help to cure her wounds, and Lini and the monk healed the others. In only a few moments, however, there was a cry from the top of the tower. Samaritha and I ran to the observation deck, and could see that there were dozens of strange creatures circling the tower. The creatures began to throw themselves at the tower and began crawling up the sides. I was able to hit several of them with my bow, but in the chaos I couldn’t target a single one and therefore was unsuccessful in killing any of them. As they mounted the tower, the massive weight of the beasts started a landslide under the foundations of the tower. It fell over onto its side and started to roll down the mountain towards the sea. I did everything in my power to keep Samaritha safe, and protected her with my own body. I was able to brace the two of us pretty well, and when the tower fell off the side of the cliff and dropped sixty feet to the water, I was able to absorb all of the damage that she would have taken.
When the strange beasts fell into the sea, the salt water melted them away like acid. As far as I can tell, these things look much like lions but are more closely akin to slugs. Gross.
Once Samaritha and a couple of the other Cyphermages were secured and healed, we discussed what to do next. I felt that finding another safe place to hold out was best, and suggested the tower on the west side of the island. However, Samaritha would hear no word of it. She insisted that we go to Zincher’s camp and beg for his protection. This course, although repugnant to me, was what the group decided on.
We were able to reach Zincher’s camp without encountering any more of the creatures, and as soon as we arrived we were ushered into his tent. He tried to be nonchalant about our arrival, but I could see the fear in his eyes. He is right to fear me—I don’t like him very much. He told us that we could stay in his camp and that he would pay us to do work for him. We could either attempt to harvest skymetal, capture one of the slug-lions, or protect the camp from attackers. And so here we are. It was easy to find an empty tent, as only a few of the original thirty or so men that Zincher brought to the island are still here. I suppose I will work for him for a while, but after Samaritha and the other Cyphermages are safely off the island, two days from now, the rules may well change.

We figured out what was beneath the hatch, but were unable to do much about it. We killed a few troglodytes, and then we found a black-skinned elf. It seems that the legends of the drow are true. We fought her as best we could, but in the end she escaped us and I broke my sword. As she made her escape, we saw a star fall from the sky and blast a nearby island. We were high enough to be unaffected by the resulting tsunami, but many of the citizens of Riddleport were dragged out to sea. The Golden Goblin was not damaged, and so we are in pretty good shape--however, my sword is still broken.

We have returned to the Golden Goblin, and now the gambling hall is ours!
Seltyiel knows Saul better than any of us, and he said that the two most likely places for Saul to hold up would be in his office or in the basement. After a bit of brief discussion, we decided that the basement would be an easier place to defend: therefore, we thought Saul would probably be there.
Most of the group thought that stealth would be the best way to get to Saul, so we snuck up to the back door and started to discuss how to get in. While the rest of the group wasted time talking, I bashed in the back door. Within but a few seconds, I was descending the stairs to the basement. Bojask was not in his room, and it seemed that nobody was in the basement. However, as I was about to go back upstairs, I heard movement down in the arena room. I moved towards the room, drinking a potion to help shield myself from attacks as I went. As soon as I turned the corner, Bojask threw an axe at me. I easily deflected it and hit him with my massive sword. He reeled back, but did not fall. I hit him a second time, but he still did not fall. However, I could tell that his two grevious wounds had taken the fight out of him. Sajan hit him in the face, dropping him, and then twisted his neck around with a brutal crunch.
With this, I heard my other companions yelling in the hallway. I went back out and saw them battling several hired thugs. Seltyiel stepped back into a room, and I had an open lane to charge one of the thugs. I ran down the hallway screaming my challenge, but only injured myself in the process. I wound up fighting four thugs and three thieves, killing all but one who fled. I did more damage to myself than the enemies did to me!
Behind me, my companions had their hands full with Saul, his pet devil, Beyar, Hans, and another rogue. However, Lini had made friends with Bojask's pig, and was leading it in to attack the little devil. I saw an opportunity to pin Saul in, and quickly ran back up the stairs to come down at him from the other side. By the time I got back downstairs, however, Saul had dropped Sajan and Seltyiel and ran past Lini into the arena. He was dusting off the floor, and there was a trapdoor under the sand! By the time I reached him, he had thrust the key on his hand into the lock and opened the trapdoor. I quickly kicked the door shut and jumped on top of it. As he was attempting to recover his weapon, I caved his head in with a mighty chop of my sword.
Now the Golden Goblin belongs to us, but it seems we have troglodytes in the basement. Tomorrow we venture through that trapdoor and see what lies below!

The next morning, I wished to take the fight to our enemies. Saul, however, was against it. He suggested that we instead reopen the Golden Goblin as quickly as possible. We spent the entire day cleaning up the place, and by the next morning it was ready for customers again.

Vancaskerkin told us that he had some new information about those who had attacked us. He said that he had uncovered a secret meeting in a place called the Boneyard, where the city disposed of all its trash. Little did we know that the trash he wished to dispose of was us. We went there to disrupt the meeting, but were ambushed by several wererats. Had it not been for the warning and intervention of an elven warrior, it might have taken a very long time for me to defeat the vermin.

The elf explained that we had been set up by Vancaskerkin, and that he was in the area chasing after rumors of rebellious elves. In exchange for our assistance in chasing down these rumors, he allowed us to rest at his campsite. Now we are going to do a bit of planning and soon we will have our vengeance against he who betrayed us.

The plot has thickened since our last meeting, love, and much has been revealed. Only a few days after defeating Zincher's thugs down at the docks, it came to pass that two bosses moved against us in tandem. On what seemed to be another ordinary night, after a pretty good take, we were all performing our normal duties. Sajan, the new floor manager, and Seltyiel, the new head of security, were cleaning the tables in the main gambling hall. Lini was outside, working on the landscaping, and I was vigilantly taste-testing the liquors at the bar to see if any had gone bad. I was only on the sixth bottle when Lini came running into the gambling hall saying that there were aggressive thugs outside. A few moments later, all of the windows were smashed inward, and several street toughs forced their way in and attacked my comrades. They began throwing Alchemist's Fire on the tables in an attempt to burn the place down, but only one gaming table went up.

Not one to miss out on the fun, I charged one of the poor saps throwing Alchemist's Fire. With a single swing, I reduced his head to a spray of red mist. His buddy looked a little nervous, and he had every reason to be. On my very next swing, my massive blade cut him in two. By that time, one of the other security guards had arrived. We used the bodies of our attackers to smother the flames on the gaming table. I heard a scream coming from the kitchen, and ran back there to see what had happened. I threw the door open and was quickly attacked by two more thugs. The fools. They hardly lasted a moment against me. There was a half-orc there as well, and he was very hard to hit. At one point in time, I raised the sword I took from a dead Frost Giant's hand to slice him in twain, only to have the point sink itself into the ceiling! I abandoned the sword, but just for a moment, as I ripped him apart with the glove I fashioned from the claw of a bear. At that time, Sajan began to yell down that there were more invaders upstairs. Three of the guards freed my sword, and I scooped it up as I began to run towards the stairs. As I was running, I almost stumbled over the body of Dalanna, one of our young serving maids. I care not when men kill each other, but when the bastards ruthlessly murdered one of my girls it sent me into a blood rage. I used my hate to propel me even faster up the stairs, skipping two or three steps with every bound. I wanted blood to follow blood. When I reached the catwalk above the gaming room, I saw five opponents. Two of them had positioned themselves to take cheap shots against me as I emerged onto the catwalk, but they both missed. I leapt to one, and ripped him in half with a single swing. My rage spurred me on to the leader, who thought he was going to kill me easily. His head left his shoulders much faster and easier than he had anticipated, I am sure! Two of the five were already dead, but I was not done yet. I leapt from the catwalk and chased the two that were fleeing into the night. They escaped me, but I left them with a warning that I hope still rings in their ears.

Gather close now, my dear, and hear my tale of blood and battle. A hunter I was in my homeland, far to the north, but I have never seen the kind of bloodshed as you have here in Riddleport. Not to say that I mind so much--I was just surprised that I could have so much fun among your tribes!

It all started just a few weeks ago when I arrived in town. The wee one that travels with me, Lini, was coming here to study that blot you have in your sky. I came with her to help keep her safe. Soon after arriving, we passed a bar and gaming hall that had quite a bit of activity going on. I convinced her that it would be a good place to get a drink or three and meet a few people that might be able to tell us about the blot. She finally agreed, and we entered in the middle of some sort of gambling tournament. I went straight to the bar and ordered the first of many drinks. Before I knew it, there was a bright flash and I was blinded. It seemed that some thugs were attempting to steal the jackpot chest from the tournament! Most people fled or cowered, but I certainly will never back down from a fight—even if it is not my own. Once I regained my sight, I attacked the nearest thugs. Before long, the villains were defeated and I was being offered a job by the proprietor of the Golden Goblin, Saul Vancaskerkin. A few others had helped to defeat the thieves, including little Lini, and we were all offered jobs helping to rebuild the place.

Vancaskerkin also had us do a few side jobs for him. After the disappearance of his floor manager, we had to go to said floor manager’s home and try to track him down. The place had been ransacked, and was occupied by bums. We found out that the last time anyone had seen him, he had been on his way to make a payment to a moneylender. We went to the moneylender’s flat, strongarmed him, and figured out that he didn’t know anything.

Our next job was one near and dear to my heart—we were sent to pick up some really good booze from the docks. Even this was more fun than I had thought it would be, as there were some guys down there trying to buy it out from under us. Nobody gets between me and my drink, and I was quick to draw my massive blade. We tore them up, recovered the liquor, and returned to the Golden Goblin to rest, recover, and try a bit of our newly rescued booze.