Christian Vinatori's page

God's this town has a bad air about it,

Piper returned injured late last night having retrieved a box with several flasks that Vinorek(Little Blondie) was able to recognize as something called a "Haunt Siphon". Strange little bottles that are supposed to have an effect against lingering souls of the dead and trap them in some manner. Strange item indeed to find in a Crypt at a temple of Pharasma but I suspect the Lady and Vincent, for all his well meaning intentions, will forgive us for any temporary 'slights' that trapping these malevolent spirits may have.

Alexander took care of Piper's wounds in a rather quick order one might expect from a Gorumite(quite a bit less fanfare than most of the other priests magics) as Piper explained to me that there was more things in the Crypt than the dead, explaining that he was assaulted by some giant insects moments after he arrived. I could tell by the look in his eyes he was eager to go back for the rest of the things he had found, but I asked him to stay put and that we would ask the local priest of Pharasma for permission to enter the Crypt on our own tomorrow in order to ask some questions about Harrowstone.

Piper seemed a bit crestfallen, but I had seen the way he staggered in as much as he tried to hide it from the others. He needed time to rest and we had secured a valuable tool according to Vinorek's assessment that would help us against any spiritual malevolence we expect to encounter when we visit Harrowstone ourselves. It was not worth risking further incident at the moment.

I could see the weight of the days travels upon each of my cousin's faces and dismissed them all for the night, saying we would reconvene in the morning to do some research. Unfortunately I believe I might have had a bit of a slip of the tounge when I warned them to, "Use the manners your mother taught you." with regards to being a guest in the Lorrimer estate. Vinorek let it slide, but I could see Vincent's brow stiffen. It is hard to believe it has been so many years since my aunt's death...

This morning unfortunately had us awaken to even more trouble it would seem. The sounds of shouting in the streets brought us all out to see what was going on and we discovered a statue that was defiled with a large letter 'V'. Cursing inwardly I stowed my signet ring away before approaching the Sheriff. He fortunately suspected it was some childish vandalism and did not immediately cast suspicion our way. It was easy to see the town guard's were ill staffed for dispersing such a large crowd so I offered our services to help.

It appears news travels rather quickly and our earlier 'performance' at the cemetery seemed to only aid our effort to disperse the crowd. With some effort we dispersed the crowd peacefully. Though I saw quite a few rude hand gestures pointed in our direction as the people left. Friends may not come easily here it would seem...

I write this as we have all settled down for lunch at the Lorrimer Estate but we are about to depart for the Temple of Pharasma to attempt to gain permission to access the crypts 'officially' and perchance gain some insight into the prison of Harrowstone. I will write again as time permits.

-Christian Vinatori II

The audacity to interrupt a funeral and level false accusations against the Professor. Such a disgraceful thing for our final memories of such a great man. That man, Gibbs. He will need to bring more than that commoner rabble to defeat a trained group of fighters like my cousins and I.

The fight was over quickly, I gave the order to only subdue the men despite their intent. Our young cousin unleashed a magical attack against Gibbs when the man had not taken direct action against us. I fear I might have been a little harsh in my reprimand of him. We do not start fights with the locals no matter how loose their jaw may be. The last thing we need is to get in legal troubles in such a small town.

Afterwards, we all said our parting words over Lorrimer's final resting place. Despite the initial introduction to the people of town, the ones who had actually gathered to pay their respects to the Professor were polite but it was not the appropriate time to try to discuss things further with them.

The gloomy graveyard was quickly becoming a bit oppressive with the chatter amongst those gathered about the angry mob that had attacked earlier. Our presence was drawing undue attention, I could tell Piper did not approve of this as he seemed to become antsy. Fortunately Kendra was quick to save us from extended scrutiny.

We were brought back to the Lorrimer estate as we were apparently mentioned in the Professor's will. I believe we were all caught by surprise by this, even Kendra seemed a bit surprised as the Constable read off Professor Lorrimer's requests. He wished us to help secure his estate in Ravengro and ensure that Kendra was well taken care of. Though his second request was slightly more unexpected.

The Professor was a strong proponent of the concept of "Know-thy-enemy", he did not find knowledge of any sorts to be inherently evil. It was the soul of the man possessing the knowledge that could only manage the evil intent. This was perhaps what made him so invaluable of an ally my family. Our hunt is unrelenting, and as any hunter knows, the sharpest blades mean nothing when you cannot find a place to bury them.

His second request was that we return some questionable "religious" texts to the Academy in Leopistat and offered a rather impressive sum of money for the delivery. I almost regret that we cannot do more for the Professor, but his final wishes will be seen to. The honor of the Vinatori depend on it.

Upon reading the professors journal, we learned he had been investigating the Wispering Way. A long time enemy of both the Vinatori and the Lorrimer's. He had been investigating the ruins of an old Prison named Harrowstone when he was killed seemingly at random by falling debris. He also attacked while there by some malevolent spirits. Spirit's are much more difficult to deal with than corporeal undead and outside of little Blondie's magic, we will be ill equipped to deal with them.

Fortunately for us, the professor seems to have uncovered a secret cache of magical supplies that we could use protect ourselves within a crypt at the Temple of Pharasma. Upon learning about this, Piper quickly volunteered to retrieve it so I sent him on his way. I perhaps offended the sensibilities of Vincent with my approval of burgling a temple, but as the professor's journal had stated, the current clergy was unaware of its presence and I assured what was not required for our investigation would be returned. Alexander fortunately did not seem opposed as I believe we both share the same dedication to our families goals of purging any undead menace we encounter. I strangely have found more and more over the past few weeks that we are agreeing on the best course of action.

I'm anxiously awaiting Piper's return at the moment and hold firm that he was the best man for the job.

For now, I'm going to go speak with Kendra to give her the Varisian Scarf and console her as best I can. She was strong for the others. Holding her emotions in check as would be expected from a proper lady but I could see the pain behind her eyes...

A deep fog has slowed our approach since we arrived in Ustalav and put us on our guard. The gloomy weather seems to have taken a lot of the conversation out of our travel and my companions seem to have all become vigilant that we don't stumble unwittingly into an ambush. I've sent Piper ahead to scout for any signs of trouble.

It's well known Ustalav can be a rather dangerous place, the mountain ranges to the North are home to Orcs. Then there are the more insidious threats of course... It never hurts for us to be safe.

On a small side note, I purchased a Varisian Scarf for Kendra. Perhaps to remind her of the time we had spent together in our youth... During Professor Lorrimer's stay with our family in our youth, Kendra was just like another cousin to us. In our teens though, our relationship changed... When Lorrimer came to reclaim her, it was....

Perhaps the words need not be written. I suppose it is the weather that has me thinking of the past... Piper is returning now, next time I write shall be once we arrive in Ravengro.

In the words of my Father, "To be a Vinatori, one must bear his scars."

The news of the Professor's passing was devastating to the Vinatori Family. He had been a dear friend and long time ally, perhaps even closer than that to my parents. I know I would not be the same man I became without him. I fear the loss of loved ones has become part of the Vinatori family as much as our holy mission mission. All of those who travel with me, my family all, have been marked by the death of those we love. It takes hold of your heart, steals your breath, and destroys all reason. As we travel my thoughts drift to my dear Kendra and the pain of her loss...

I will do my best not to speak of sad affairs further though! Despite the grim venture we undertake on, this is the first time I believe all of my cousins have gathered together. So there is some time to discuss how they have grown and changed since we were boys. Being the oldest of this generation of Vinatori, I have the unique perspective among them to say I have seen them all grow into the strong men that are worthy of our name. As my father was before me, the role of leadership falls to me with regards to our family mission. I pray I am worthy of the responsibility of leading and the respect that they have shown me since their return.

In our youth this was perhaps not always the case though. Where-as Piper have been thick as thieves as long as I can remember, there was always a tension between Alexander and myself. He is a few years my junior and the teenage years were hard on him. By the gods they were hard on all of us for certain, but I believe he felt this more keenly than the others. I imagine it was around the time I was 15 or so... A few years after the death of my sister Alara. I was perhaps a bit morose still, but I admit I came to blows with young Alex on several occasions. I believe he perhaps resented how my station as my father's child seemed to somehow give me rank above him. At such an age, boys are prone to fighting anyway to carve out their station between themselves, but this was a bit different from the tussling that one might expect of boys. There was always such a serious conviction in his eyes, I would have sworn on my life he despised my very existence. I admit I was perhaps a bit hard on him and at the time I was quick to anger myself. After one particularly viscous thrumming, I mocked him openly in front of my younger cousins out of frustration. The words in my head do not deserve to be written on paper. They were shameful, childish words, but I said them none the less.

It was hardly a month later that I had learned Alexander had run off. Piper did his best not to allow me to blame myself for it, but in my heart I felt my words pushed him further away. It was years before he eventually returned to the family. He was nearly a head taller than me, and a man grown. Things were frigid between us for some time, but as we began to travel alongside each other we learned quickly that neither of us were the children we were when we last had spoken. He had seen War first hand, traveling with Priest's of Gorum and learning the ways of the God of War himself. He lost himself to the violence of it all, but as time went on, he explained that he found the war between the people of Lastwall and the Orc's of Belksen to be little more than brutal savagery on both sides. It would seem the teaching of the Vinatori family has found ground within his heart and he once again wished to return to a fight that had purpose, where good can be done! My father would have been so proud to hear those words. I feel fortunate that we have grown closer in the past years, Alex is a staunch ally, and trusted cousin and most importantly as Piper has on many occasions pointed out, "Not someone you would want to trade blows with anymore."

Next, of course there is Vincent. His story is the most troubling of all of ours. He is not entirely human, and stands as proof of the insidiousness of the enemy of the Vinatori. The word for him is Dhamphir and his cursed lineage shows with every graceful step he takes and how the sun brings tears to his eyes. Piper is distrusting of him despite my assurances he is family. His birth and the death of my dear Aunt have caused fissures in our families structure, and I would be a liar if I said Vincent does not suffer for that which is not his fault. Unlike my other cousins he did not spend most of his youth with us, and instead was sent away to a temple to better 'curb' his tendencies that were a result of his damned blood. He is largely distant from me, from all of us I believe, save for his younger brother who shares he shares the features of their mother with. I will not speak in depth of his beliefs, but I imagine the strict code he holds himself to is required to keep the darkness at bay. This is something I understand and respect. I pray in the future that what must be done, need not conflict with his sensibilities. The family needs his strength.

Vincents younger sibling, who has had the lovingly given nickname of 'little blondie', is lithe and frail but strong of heart. He bears the nickname with a slightly begrudged look that one might expect. As the youngest of us all with such a fair face he is given a hard time by most of us. Vincent is quick to come to his aide, which generally keeps our jests to a minimum. None the less, despite his age of 18, he seems to have inherited some form of power as magical gifts come natural to him. Also, he is a staunch Desnan, which unlike the rest of us who pray to the lady for protection while we travel, he engages in her rituals with a fervor one might expect from the most devout of the wanderers. His father seems to have lost some control over the boy as he has allowed quite a bit of wandering already. I think it is perhaps that he see's a bit of his deceased wife in the boy's face. Never the less, his youth makes him generally a pleasure to travel with and his magical powers will serve the family well once he settles into that role. Perhaps some time alongside his seniors will temper his youthful spirit with some wisdom. That said, we all remember what it is like to be that age, and if he hasn't inherited the looks of the rest of us, he seems to have inherited some of our willfulness.

The last of my companions is the one dearest to me. Piper is my oldest friend and the closest thing I will ever know to a brother in this world. He fought unflinchingly for my sister Alara against insurmountable foes at my side and I owe him my life as well for that day. Piper has changed a lot since her death. More specifically, his father, my uncle was effected greatly by her death and the special 'training' he forced Piper to endure has been.... I do not know how to put it into words that will not disgrace our family's name so I will abstain at this point. What I will say of Piper is he is quick witted, fearless, and will not hesitate to do what must be done. I above all trust him, but I fear his judgement has been skewed somewhat by his fathers unorthodox teaching methods. With time, we will see what comes of him. I worry he is perhaps becoming more self destructive as time goes on. He does appear to at least trust my judgement at the moment so I have hope for him. Perhaps some time traveling with the family will bode well for him.

Speaking of Piper, I hear him giving Vincent a hard time... Let me go diffuse the situation before it comes to blows, I'll write more in a few days as we approach Ravengro.