Solomon Blackmantle's page

Our kingdom now covers almost the entirety of the Stolen Lands. Things had been going quite well of late, with the only real trouble being some adventurers who got a bit rowdy and ended up destroying the Sword and Scabbard. Of course, this completely outraged Noapte. Which made what happened next all the more surprising.

It seems Illiamace, Evindra, and he are all three now married to each other. Illiamace and Evindra were married publicly, and Evindra is now co-Queen with Illiamace. Noapte's part in it has been kept secret, with them only telling Serenity and I. I don't know why Noapte wanted it a secret, but I will respect his wishes.

Noapte has also gotten an assistant of sorts, a kobold lass named Ahria. Apparently, after the first battle with Irovetti's forces, the kobold forces were so decimated they were all but wiped out by the mites. Ahria only survived because she was at the Olegton Academy studying under Sensei Katsumi. We got vengeance for the kobolds, and made sure the mites would not return to bother anyone in our kingdom.

*Here appears a sketch of Ahria*

This peacefulness only lasted a short time, as the fey realm started intruding into our kingdom. I don't completely understand what was going on, but it caused great havoc and damage around our lands, and had the people worried to no end. Ahria's advice for overcoming problems seems to consist of "when in doubt, destroy it." Oddly enough, this has so far proved to be the right choice.

We seem to have gotten a short respite from the troubles, and managed to rebuild the damaged areas, and calm the people back down. From what Evindra says, though, this mess is far from over.

Noapte decided to use his skills to try to find us a way into Irovetti's palace without raising the alarm. Which would have actually worked... had he not forgotten to take care of the guard in the next closest watchtower.

Of course, he raised the alarm, and the whole place was ready for us. Patrols of guards seemed to pop up like mushrooms. As soon as we'd finish fighting one group, it seemed another came through a nearby door.

We survived the mushroom patrols, and found Irovetti in his throne room with an Oni (or so Noapte called it), the fellow I jousted with in thew last round of the Rushlight tournament, Koth, and several more guards. Illiamce was quite fast with her spells, and threw a small swarm of meteors at them. She killed all the regular guards, and Irovetti fled. We had a rough fight with the other two, but managed to emerge victorious.

After a fairly brief search, we found Irovetti in his hidey-hole in the dungeons, along with a naga. Again we had a tough fight, but managed to pull through the victors again. Noapte called for Irovetti to surrender in the middle of the fight, and he responded by nearly killing Nopate. He did ultimately end up surrendering though. We put him on trial for his crimes against our nation, and executed him after he was found guilty.

A gargoyle, along with two fire-breathing hounds in the dungeons also nearly killed Noapte, but once again we managed to emerge victorious. We also destroyed a huge creature that looked like a cross between a worm and a caterpillar, and a couple of smilodons.

We found the shawl belonging to a woman we found trapped in a water clock in the old abbey, and rescued the diva of an acting troupe. She was quite relieved to be rescued, obviously, and threw herself into my arms when I found her in her cell. I managed to extricate myself, and we took her back to her home.

Finally, we annexed the city of Pitax and rebuilt Littletown. Our claiming of Pitax also resulted in the dissolution of one of the trade houses, one belonging to the Strocalli family. I don't think many, if any people were sorry to see them go, with all the rumors about how deeply they were in bed with the city's criminal element and Irovetti.

Yet another broadsheet came out, this one deriding Noapte and I for our "foul murder of a woman of faith." However, the editor made a mistake this time, seeing as how only three people knew what happened with the assassin-nun, and one of them was dead.

We found one of the working girls at the Sword and Scabbard was actually a spy in King Irovetti's service. She had been keeping him informed by prying Noapte's secrets out of him magically, and also using said secrets to try to destabilize the nation. Noapte took it quite personally, and I believe he had been developing feelings for the woman. We gave her a very public trial, and she now spends her days in our jail.

Serenity confronted me on something else written in the broadsheet, my confession of love for Serenity. It's certainly not how I would have liked her to have found out, but it did work out for the best. She returned my feelings, and we are now married. She seemed reluctant at first to accept my proposal, and I found out why. She's not human at all, but a pearl dragon. She told me she too had loved me for the longest time, and that was one of the reasons she never told me. She feared I would reject her. I assured her, and actually told her myself this time, that I loved her, all of her, and that her being a dragon didn't change how I felt about her. I shared the secrets I had been keeping with her as well, namely my alternate identities as the head of the thieves guild and the queen's jester.

We fought several of Irovetti's forces while exploring the Uplands, and even managed to convince the barbarians to switch to our side. Our victories over the outlying forces we all decisive victories on our part, and we were feeling quite confident. Especially after Noapte assassinated the leader of the Catspaw Marauders. We took the fight to Irovetti later in the year. We first tried to lay siege to Pitax, but it was looking like they'd be able to hold out so we changed to a more direct assault. It was the hardest fight we ever had, especially given that the barbarians deserted during the siege. However, Irovetti's trolls deserted as well, so the siege wasn't a complete waste of time and resources.

It'll be some time before the centaurs and our regular army are ready to fight again, but we destroyed Irovetti's forces. Now all that remains is to confront Irovetti himself.

We returned to the monastery that Irovetti had his men try to ambush in and managed to free a woman named Evindra from imprisonment in a water clock. She asked us to retrieve a shawl for her. She admitted to not knowing precisely where it was, but felt it might be in the possession of whoever stole the things of the gimfen who had imprisoned her. As the only other people we have known to be at the monastery are Irovetti's men, it seems he is a likely candidate for possessing it. I have no idea why it is so valuable, but it seems desperately important to her.

It also seems Mimic Mansion has not taken our warnings seriously, as they sent yet another assassin after me. This one I found particularly foul. Not only did she have the temerity to disguise herself as a nun, but she proved just as bigoted towards the fey as many of the people from back home. I took issue with her slurs toward Illiamace, assuring her she would die for them, but also tried to correct her mistaken impression that Illiamace was the one I was in love with. She accused me of lying to try to save my own life. Noapte showed up about this time and struck the killing blow on her. Knowing how sensitive his hearing has been in the past, I should not be surprised if he overheard what the assassin and I said to one another. So far, though, if he did hear anything, he has not said anything about it. I don't know if I am happy about this or not.

We tried to convince the boggard tribe in the swamp to stop raiding travelers, but they flat out refused. It was a shame that it came to it, but Illiamace and the rest of the council decided to take the fight to them. Our forces were victorious, and it will be some time, if ever, before the boggards are strong enough to start raiding again. This is further ensured by the fact that we claimed the area of the swamp surrounding Lake Hooktoungue, so our patrols will help keep the remaining boggards in check.

Well, it seems I was right about people now believing I'm in love with the Queen. Another broadsheet came out, this one solely dedicated to smearing my reputation. First, claiming I am "dangerously violent" for maiming Prince Sirenus, and that it was my "obsessive love" for the Queen that led to it. Neither Illiamace or Serenity has said anything about this, so I don't know what either of them are thinking.

Also putting a spin on my activities in the Rushlight tournament stating that my outrageous lies had embarrassed the kingdom. Of course, they never once mentioned the fact that my lies were told as a part of one of the contests in the tournament.

And finally, more embarrassment in that I was drunk during the joust, again, neglecting to mention that every other competitor was, and that it was tradition. Fortunately, most of the people in the kingdom seem to think better of me and no real trouble came of the yellow journalism.

We heard from some of my spies that Irovetti was up to further mischief, developing some kind of mass Cloudkill device. We investigated, but it seems it was a ruse to lure us into an ambush. One that was very nearly successful. I was nearly killed twice, and Illiamce was incapacitated most of the fight by their spellcasters stunning her.

We barely came though it, and learned some information about Irovetti's that may prove very useful if it comes to all out war. Which is looking more and more assured everyday.

We also managed to destroy a dragon that had taken up residence in an elephants' graveyard. We were asked to get rid of it by the graveyard's protector, an ancient mammoth that could speak. He granted us a reasonable amount of ivory for our service, and in return we are going to do what we can to help protect his charge. Which will become easier if we claim the lands near it in the future.

Just when things were going so well.

A neighboring kingdom sent one of their scion to the kingdom, hoping to arrange a political marriage between him and Queen Illiamace. I think she was considering it as well, at least until he shoved his foot down his throat.

Apparently, he told Serenity that once he was married to the Queen, he intended to take her as his mistress. He also made veiled threats about her revealing it to the Queen, claiming he would call it slander and it would lead to war. It took some doing, but I (as Gilbert) convinced her to tell me what had happened when I saw the look of shock and discomfort on her beautiful face.

I then proceeded to humiliate the prince with my mockery, and he was so incensed he challenged me to a duel. Which was precisely my plan, as now he himself had caused an incident by threatening the Queen's jester. I secretly cast a spell, hiding my actions as a part of my performance whispering to Illiamace to name Solomon Gilbert's champion in the duel.

She did so, and Prince Sirenus demanded the fight be to the death. I, however, had no intention of letting him off that easily. Our duel was set for High Noon the following day, quite dramatically appropriate. He brought out a vicious looking thrusting sword with a serrated edge. A weapon designed to do one thing... kill.

The fight was brief, as I stabbed him in both of his arms, announcing the first was for threatening the Queen's Jester, and the second was for making me get up early in the morning. Lastly, I slashed him across the face, giving him a scar across his nose and proclaiming that to be for the insult he offered my Queen, and someone I loved.

The Queen then commanded that "the trash" be removed from our kingdom.

Later, a broadsheet came out detailing some "scandals" ab out Noapte and myself. How Noapte was using his Chunin as a personal secret police force, and claiming him to have the blood of demons running through his veins. The only ones who knew about the former were Nopate, his mother, Illiamace, Serenity, and myself. As for the latter, I have no idea whether it is true or not, but it seems just mindless sensationalism to me.

As for my, they claimed I was the Queen's "personal plaything." It seems perhaps someone has interpreted my outburst at the duel as a claim to love Illiamace. Dear God, can anything else get in the way of me telling Serenity how I feel about her? Though, I expect now, there is little point in saying anything if she believes I love Illiamace.

In other news, King Irrovetti of Pitax invited us to take part in the Rushlight Tournament. Noapte and I were the competitors for our kingdom. Noapte made a decent showing in the Archery competition, and was dead last in the test of Strength. I did quite well in the Bluffing competition, though I had to try twice as the first go around left the onlookers unable to decide between Pitax's champions claims of spying on and disrupting our nation and my claims of winning a fencing match versus a demigod of swordplay. In the end, however, I won. I also managed to win the Midnight Joust, while drunk, a far cry from my first foray into jousting.

Howeve3r, it seems our invitation to the tournament was a ruse to draw us away from our kingdom, so Pitax could send in an invasion force. Our first taste of true war left us the victor, though we lost the kobolds and it will take the quite some time to rebuild their forces, if they ever can. Pitax's forces fared less well, with their wyverns routed, and their regular regiment and trolls destroyed. Our militia will need some time to recover, and then we might need to take the fight to Irrovetti.

We managed to rescue the kidnapped girls, who, aside from being frightened, seem none the worse for wear. We also found that more cultists had been stirring up the barbarian tribe. We eliminated the cultists, and their thrall, the barbarian leader.

We came close to death several times, as the leader's lair was rife with traps and foul undead. We also managed to defeat a huge automaton (Illiamace says it was an iron golem) through sheer luck. Come to find out, we'd have had a much easier time if we had remembered the scarab Noapte threw in his bag. Ah well, any fight you can walk away from, I guess.

We gave the leader's sword to the barbarian tribe as a peace offering, as it was a holy relic or some such to them, and it seems to have worked. They are no longer raiding into our lands, and I think our northern border should be a bit more secure since any enemies that come that way will have to come through the barbarians. We can't exactly call them allies, but still.

We received word that a neighboring kingdom is sending an envoy to discuss a potential political marriage between Queen Illiamace and their prince. We have a reception planned, that I will be attending in the guise of Gilbert. I don't believe anyone has really missed me, as I made my absences gradual. Just not showing up all of a sudden would have garnered a lot of suspicion, but letting people catch glimpses of me from time to time, and fewer such over time alleviates suspicion.

Or, at least I hope it has...

We got a bit more exploring done, and are finally ready to take on the barbaric tribe that was in league with the Baron.

During our explorations, we came upon burrows laced though a granite hillside. I was wondering what sort of creature could burrow through rock, and found out. Though, not the way I would have liked. Two beasts that looked like eight-legged badgers with golden coats came out of the burrows, and attacked Noapte and I.

One managed to get a grip on my arm, and I was sure I would lose it, but Serenity displayed both a presence of mind, and physical strength that completely surprised me. She pulled the beast's jaws open, by hand, and got it off my arm. Noapte was horribly injured by his, but we managed to slay both without any casualties on our side.

We also found a book of vulgar poems on an ettin we defeated. We might sell it eventually, as it looks to be worth a bit of money, simply for the fact that it is signed and could be a valuable historical document for that. I say eventually, as Noapte has been reading the poems.

All hail Queen Illiamace.

Yes, we finally expanded enough to be recognized by the surrounding lands as a full-fledged kingdom... or queendom, I should say.

Serenity and our militia have been training with the new fighting academy, and they seem to be on the up and up. I myself found a gimfen duelist to teach me to be a better fencer. She seems a bit unreliable, and I'm sure one day soon I'm going to find she's wandered off somewhere.

Our new found importance has brought new challenges, one of which being a mage who tried to charge "tolls" on the road going near the berry patch. He wouldn't have been nearly as much trouble, had he not had a death dragon henchman. Illiamace killed the mage easily with a fireball, but the dragon was a lot tougher. Nopate and I were both beat to hell and back before Serenity and Illiamace managed to finish the foul beast off.

I also invented an enchanted item. It is a rather simple thing really, basically, I enchanted my mirrorshades (the only item I have left from Angel) to grant me a dramatic visage all the time. Illiamace actually laughed when I finished them, and seemed quite impressed by them.

We added Fort Drelev to our duchy, and had quite a time repairing the damage the Baron had done. God, the man was an idiot.

Things have calmed down somewhat, and we've been exploring the lands around Drelev while trying to find Kisandra's sister and the other women. We managed to get an elasmosaurus for the taxidermist, and destroyed the foul undead in the swamp.

The duchy has been expanded quite a bit more, and is doing quite well. A group of people asked to start a fighting academy in the duchy. Illiamace wasn't sure about them, as apparently they have a history of having members turn to banditry. I talked to them a bit, though, and feel they are resolving to try to restore their school to its former glory and honor.

We had some trouble with a group of foul pixies and worgs, one of the toughest fights we had been in to date. It didn't help that they entangled Illiamace in a bunch of vines and other plants rendering her unable to cast any spells for most of the fight.

I also had an unnerving experience with a foul creature Serenity said was called a naga. When we first met it, I didn't think she was so very bad, feeling as though she were a friend I had known at one time. I was outraged when Noapte attacked her, and I tried to defend her. After she was destroyed, I came to my senses, though Noapte still took a swing at me.

The two gimfen we fought all those years ago turned up again as well, having stolen a spellbook from a Laudenian woman named Ahlonania. I believe the theft was a ruse to draw us out, as they attacked us in an alley while we were searching for the thieves. One of them slashed Illiamace's left eye out, an act he paid for with his life. Ahlonania was quite pleased to get her book back, and offered to share its secrets with Illiamace and I.

We freed Fort Drelev, and the people named Lord Numesti the mayor of the town. The Baron turned out to be a shameless coward, and blubbered like a baby when we stopped him from fleeing the city. The Baroness had a vicious little dog she called Jewel, and it was all I could do to control the beast. I didn't want to harm it, as it is an innocent animal, but it didn't return the favor.

The people of Fort Drelev decided to exile the Baron and Baroness, and have joined our duchy. Lady Quintessa Maray has attached herself to me, and has expressed quite a bit of shock and remorse over the Baron's actions. She reminds me far too much of the women I knew during my acting career, and I have to try to find a way to get her to leave me be, though preferably without being rude. Nopate seemed quite jealous of the attention she was giving me, and I wanted nothing more than to tell him he was quite welcome to it. Serenity has said nothing about it to me. I hope she doesn't get the wrong idea about things.

We also rescued several refugees from Pitax, and escorted them to Wyvernsbridge.

Noapte's mother showed up, and wanted to know if he learned patience yet. Apparently he had run away from home when he was a teenager, to go "see the world" but only was away two days.

He introduced her to us, and showed her what we were doing with the duchy. She immediately suspected him of being behind the preponderance of brothels in the land, and Serenity confirmed this for her.

I also got him in a bit of trouble with her as well, pointing out that he had lacked patience at least once, when he claimed to have gotten drunk and that resulted in his attempt to usurp my job as Spymaster. I know the getting drunk part is a bald faced lie, but I am undecided as to whether or not I should call him on it.

She asked Noapte if he had considered what the people who worked in the brothels had to go through, as well as their families. He spouted a bald-faced lie about having considered them being able to provide for their families, but she easily saw through that assuring him "he couldn't lie to her."

So now she's staying on in the duchy and teaching at the academy in Olegton.

We escorted a bog strider home, and got proclaimed bog-friends by the bog striders. We also built several more walls in our cities to shore up the defenses, in case of another attack.

We built a new city, called Wyvernsbridge, that is more of a fortress right now than anything.

The oddest thing was meeting a gigantic toad like humanoid creature that demanded we surrender our souls to it. Illiamace refused outright, and we managed to drive the creature off, though it promised we hadn't seen the last of it. With its foul stench, I hope to God it's bluffing.

A woman named Kisandra warned of us an impending attack on Tatzlford. We got there just in time to defend the town. It was back and forth for a while, with the attackers (mercenaries, barbarians and trolls) attacked quite zealously.

However, between the militia of Tatzlford defending their homes, Noapte's chunin harassing them from the trees, and of course, Illiamace's fire spells we ultimately prevailed.

We lost a few good people, including two of Noapte's chunin, and I myself was nearly killed by a troll.

Kisandra's motives weren't completely altruistic, however, as she hoped by warning us she would secure our aid in rescuing her father and sister, and freeing her home from the man behind the attack on us. Illiamace agreed to us helping her, which I would have tried in any case, even had she refused. Which is something I do not believe she would have done, as she is basically a good person, from what I've seen.

Things are going well for the kingdom otherwise. We expanded a bit, and shored up the defenses of Tatzlford, building walls and a watchtower there in case of more trouble. Nopate scouted the city Kisandra's from, and we felt it would be wise to take a bit more time to prepare before trying to topple the government there.

I enchanted several pairs of boots to aid us in exploring the swamp between our land and the city. This seemed like quite a good idea after Nopate and Serenity almost stepped in quicksand.

We explored the area near Varnhold more, and I managed to get myself swallowed by the biggest Venus Flytrap I've ever seen. Luckily, my friends killed it before it could finish making a meal of me.

We also found a couple more likely spots for mines, and the lair of a pearl dragon. Serenity got quite upset, as the poor creature's body had been defiled. Noapte, in a display of colossal insensitivity, wondered aloud how much money the bones would bring. Serenity turned absolutely white, and I fiercely nixed the idea. He acquiesced, though he did try to defend his comments as him being "that devil taxman." I dryly replied he was leaning more towards devil than taxman, in that instance.

We added Varnhold and the surrounding lands to our duchy, though some of the other leaders were opposed. Mostly due to the instability such a large influx of land and people would bring. Xamanthe, who is now the duchy's Marshal, was opposed on the grounds of the conflict that had been occurring between the Nomen centaurs and the people of Varnhold. I reassured her, pointing out that by adding them to our land, and submitting them to our laws, we should be able to head off any more difficulties.

The addition went more smoothly than I think any of us were expecting, and things have settled back down nicely.

So many undead... along with other even fouler creatures.

We destroyed the cause of the troubles in Varnhold, and undead cyclops spellcaster calling himself Vordakai. Whether it was the same Vordakai from the centaur legends, I don't know, but we suspect it might have been.

We managed to rescue 42 of the citizens of Varnhold, and the daughter of the centaur leader, one Xamanthe. The upshot of this is that Varnhold has expressed an interest in joining our duchy (that STILL needs a name) and the centaurs sort of adopted us into the tribe.

Speaking of the duchy, I have finally managed to get one of my alter egos into a position of power in the underworld of our capital city. "Count" Gwaednerth Iorwerth is the guildmaster of the Night Court thieves' guild. I have a tilen woman, Lathlanna, who is ostensibly the assistant guildmaster, but as Gwaednerth is more of a figurehead, she does most of the actual running of the guild. We took for our symbol a ring that looks like fanged teeth, with a small red gem on one.

In my guise as Gwaednerth I have fair skin, dark red-black hair, and pale grey eyes. The hat of disguise I fashioned takes the shape of an eye-patch over my left eye, and I affect a dark halo. It seems to quite intimidate the underlings. We do not get involved in prostitution, as that is legal in our land, and no trafficking in drugs. Thefts are to be committed with a minimum of violence, as aside from me not wishing to see people injured, it makes them less likely to do something stupid. I hope...

I'm still not sure how to broach the subject of our relationship to Serenity, hopefully I'll get some ideas in the days ahead.

We managed to make a tenable peace with the centaurs. We were quite lucky in that regard. When we first met the centaurs, they came charging at us in a fairly threatening manner. Given what we saw and learned in Varnhold, I'm not surprised they would have a mistrust of humans at the very least.

Noapte looked as though he were going to advise Illiamace to fireball the lot of them as they were charging toward us. I am glad the Countess has a cooler head than he. First, I am not sure she could have killed them all with one shot, and we would definitely have had a fight if she had not. Second, I am sure if we did manage to kill them, peace would have been rendered impossible.

They escorted us to their camp, and their leader looked as though she were barely restraining herself from ordering us sent away (at best) or killed on the spot. I talked her into hearing us out, and while she didn't immediately trust my words, she did deign to assign us a task to "prove our worthiness." She asked us to retrieve a holy weapon, a bow, stolen from her people by the spriggans. Noapte displayed a bit of the intellegence I know he usually has, and pulled the bow we found in Varnhold out of his bag.

It turned out to be the one she sought, and her manner toward us became much warmer. She gave us much information, after first assuring us her people had nothing to do with the problems in Varnhold.

She told us of a valley that was connected with some of the other information we found in Varnhold. She also informed us of the location of the spriggan lair, and asked us to make sure the foul creatures were eradicated. Finally, she asked a personal request. It seems her daughter may have broken taboos, and ventured to the valley. She asked that we find any news of her fate that we can.

On the way there, we encountered yet another creature I thought was only in stories, a cyclops. This one stood as tall as a building and nearly killed Serenity and I. I don't know how the others managed to slay it, but it was dead when we awoke.

The spriggan lair turned out to be empty, which was a bit of a relief. However, on our way from the caves to the valley, a horror I can barely fathom set upon Illiamace. It resembled nothing more than an inky black cloud with two clawed arms jutting from it. It struck Serenity when she moved into its path to black its access to Illiamace. The attacks on both of them left them pale and wan, and they both had been "chilled to the depths of their souls."

We managed to stop the creatures attacks on Illiamace, but I do not know if it was destroyed. I have decided to keep the healing spells I learned prepared, and I am getting a bit better with the wand.

We should be to the valley by tomorrow, and we will see if any more clues present themselves there. If not, I have no idea where we will go next to find what happened in Varnhold, as the information we got from the centaurs about what we found in Varnhold is our last clue.

So, things are a mixed bag at the moment for us.

The jousting tournament was small, with only eight entrants, including myself. I was knocked out in the second round, and Noapte caught one of the competitors cheating. A narros giving his name as Melkirk was using poison on his lance. We confiscated the culprit's equipment, awarding it to the competitor he had poisoned, and then exiled Melkirk. He vowed revenge as he left town. The second competitor was the one who went on to defeat me, but I'd rather lose fairly, than win unfairly, even if I wasn't directly making it unfair.

A black knight asked for the Duchess' favor to carry in the tournament, which she granted, though she showed little interest in him beyond that.

I also asked for Serenity's favor, but since my clever plan to enter the tournament and use it as an icebreaker to express my interest in her was derailed by my untimely defeat, I'm pretty much back where I started. She did blush when I asked her, so perhaps she does share some interest in me.

Noapte stole a roc's egg, and not five days later, the beast managed to track him down at the ford near Varnhold. Illiamace postulated it was his distinctive scent that the beast had followed. Luckily, the roc was defeated, though it was a fairly tough fight.

One of the other students from Mimic Mansion was sent to assassinate me. He got the drop on me, and tried to cast a spell on me, but there was no effect. I went on to defeat and capture the assassin. The assassin seemingly took a perverse pleasure in infuriating Noapte when he tried to question him, and Serenity and I had to pull Noapte off the assassin to keep him from killing a helpless prisoner. We ended up confiscating his gear, and sending him back to Mimic Mansion with a warning not to send any more people after us.

And finally, Illiamace was standing a bit to close to a bulette, as Serenity called it, and managed to get her hand sliced off when it swiped at her with one of its massive claws. We managed to get the hand reattached, by a priest in Restov, for a sizable donation to the church's "Widows and Orphans Fund" but there was a lot of worry before then.

I drew another picture of Serenity, to show how much she's grown, and how beautiful she's become.

Serenity Sketch

She's wearing the Hag Shabble we found on the cultists we rooted out of the city. I know she's not happy about it, given where it came from, and the type of people who generally wear such things. However, Noapte insisted, and she also does understand it has some useful enchantments.

Fortunately, she really only uses it while we are out in the wilderness, so her discomfort is lessened somewhat by that.

I have decided I will enter the tournament, as she has found some (ostensibly) neutral people to judge it. As well, I think asking for her favor will be a way to hint at my interest, while still maintaining a proper distance. I have no illusions that I will win, though it is a possibility. It'll take all the skill I have, a lot of luck. We have seven other participants coming to the city, and I hope we are back before they arrive, so as to greet them properly.

Nopate and Illiamace decided to walk around town for a bit, to hopefully draw out that assassin who attacked Illiamace those many months ago. I was sceptical of the idea, figuring the assassin was long gone, so I took the opportunity to catch up on some work.

Serenity has decided to organize a joust, in order to make use of our arena. I am tempted to enter, and perhaps ask Serenity for her favor, to carry during the tournament.

Any way, it turns out I was wrong about the assassin having left, and the plan worked. They drew her out, Nopate having disguised himself as a merchant and having Illiamace acting as though she were trying to convince him to open a shop in town. The assassin attacked, and Noapte subdued her. We held her prisoner for a short time, and put several guards on her. Noapte asked Serenity to question her, but she got no information from the woman.

I was a little put out by this, as it is supposed to be my job, and I might have had a better chance at getting information from her. I said nothing, though, as Serenity is quite capable, and I didn't want to seem as though I didn't trust her to conduct the questioning.

Later, the woman escaped. From what the surviving guards said, she slipped her bonds, and one thinks she cast a spell to do so. Two were killed in her escape. I turned the town upside down looking for her, and unfortunately was forced to kill her when I found her.

Our benefactors asked us to look into the lack of communication from a neighboring community. We got over there with little problem, but found no sign of the inhabitants. They seem to have all disappeared in the midst of their daily activities. The community was overrun by foul fey creatures Serenity called spriggans. We eliminated the lot of them, though we had a few tough fights.

I find that my training in using magical items is not up to par, managing to injure, and nearly kill myself with a wand designed to heal. I am going to try to improve my skills with it, and hopefully at least not injure myself when using it.

One last oddity, a raven was found to be following us. Illiamace drove it off with a magic missile spell. I was quite surprised the bird was not killed, as I have seen her kill wolves with less missiles than she hit the bird with. So, now we have another mystery to ponder.

So much has happened.

Noapte tried to get the Baroness ... err, Duchess, now, I should say, to give Lily a job. At first he thought of giving her a leadership position, but the only one she might have been qualified for that we wanted a new person for, Grand Diplomat, I didn't feel she would be good at.

He then spoke of getting her a staff position in the castle, suggesting Illiamace "try her out." Given his relationship with the girl, it came out as a sexual innuendo. He then spoke of "finding a position for her" and we all but rolled on the floor laughing. The situation solved itself though, as apparently they have now broken up, but Noapte has not shared why and I didn't pry.

As I stated earlier, Illiamace is a duchess now. The people our benefactors sent us were pushing for more expansion, and we obliged. We annexed Tatzlford, and started a new town at Oleg's, now called, appropriately enough, Olegton.

Loy, the mayor and co-founder of Tatzlford has now accepted the position of Grand Diplomat in our new Duchy.

The duchy's defenses have proven efficient, dealing with bandits and a saboteur who tried to destroy the brothel in Stagsfall. If I were a suspicious person (and I am becoming so increasingly, with my job) I would suspect someone is trying to anger Noapte.

There were some odd rumors circulating about Noapte and "creative taxation of the brothel." We quashed them, but "Gilbert" has taken to charging pretty girls who visit the court a kiss on the cheek as their taxes when mocking Noapte.

We cleared the will-o-wisps out of the tower near the lizard folk camp. We got some small help from the lizard folk, as they allowed us safe refuge at their camp. It was quite tough, but Illiamace taught me the magic missile spell she used that proved so effective against them, she I was able to help some.

I also got my rapier enchanted. It seems I am the only one who is asking Illiamace to put her training to use. She has enchanted no items for herself, nor any to sell, so far as I know.

On a more personal note, I am finding I enjoy Serenity's company more and more as time goes by. I'd like to make our relationship more than it is, but at the same time, I don't wish to make her uncomfortable and potentially ruin our friendship. I'll have to give some thought on how to best broach the subject with her.

Things have been going relatively well. The people are happy, there have been no attempts on any of our lives (well, beyond the standard adventuring dangers), and our coffers are filling up nicely.

The lizard folk have sued for peace, claiming us to be "a strong and fearsome tribe." They have assured us they will no longer hunt humans or fey, though claimed the right to defend themselves from such if attacked. We assured them we understood they had that right.

Noapte managed to get in trouble while answering a call of nature again. This time a green dragon ambushed him while he was doing his business. We managed to kill it with little difficulty. I joked that maybe we should have someone hold his hand when he answers the call, like a parent with their child. I do know, however, that I'm not volunteering for the job.

I managed to get one of my disguised personae hired as Illiamace's court jester. In that identity, I call myself Gilbert Bunny. It's quite a good way to keep an eye on the nobles of the court. People pay little attention to the jester, save to laugh when I mock Noapte.

We found a lair of trolls with the help of a giant I got drunk with some beer I managed to conjure with one of the spells I learned during my training. The trolls were a tough fight, and I nearly died. We would not have made it at all had it not been for Illiamace and her fire spells.

When we got back to our village after dealing with the trolls, we found it had been attacked. Several houses and the brothel had been completely destroyed, the latter completely outraging Noapte. Why, I have no idea, seeing as how he is seeing a local girl not employed by the brothel. Her name is Lily and she works in a local tavern. He asked me to check up on her, and I did so personally, disguised as a thief named Urbano. She is quite the flirt, and reminds me far too much of many of the woman I met during my acting career, but she seems quite harmless.

At any rate, we tracked down the huge abomination that had attacked the town, another one of those strange owl-bear combinations, this one easily twice as large as any I've seen previously. Serenity and I both nearly died fighting it, or so Noapte says, but is was destroyed in the end. He had it stuffed by a local taxidermist, and has the body on display in the castle. I find that a bit gruesome, but the people think us all the more heroic for it.

Reading Serenity's entries in this journal got me to thinking, and she has blossomed into quite the beautiful young woman. I also need to remember to assure her I am proud of the way she handled that rabble-rouser while I was away.

Eight months of training, then only when I finish do I learn that I was being trained as an assassin.

My first mission... assassinate Illiamace. I didn't refuse outright, as I am quite sure I would have been killed on the spot by the trainers and not a few of the other students.

When I got back to I called together Illiamace, Noapte, and Serenity, and told them what I had been ordered to do. I assured them I had no intention of following that order. (I wouldn't have done so even if Illiamace wasn't a friend, assassination isn't in me.) I warned them that this would likely bring us trouble. They will probably try to assassinate me once the find out about my refusal, and then assign someone else to assassinate Illiamce. However, I plan on using my position as spymaster to try to keep tabs on any suspicious activity and hopefully head off any attempts on our lives.

Things have been going fairly well. The people have been a little restless, but with no scandals this quieted down rather quickly. Even with the rather high tax rate Noapte has saddled the people with, we are just barely keeping our new land in the black.

The people have taken to calling him "that devil tax-man." We got out and about, finding an enormous wolf that had been causing trouble in the outlying regions, and dealt with it rather decisively.

When we got back, a werewolf had been troubling the village. We captured the culprit, and managed to cure him of his horrible curse. He was set to work off his debt to society by serving the community.

Our benefactors sent us some help (and I shouldn't be surprised if they are also to keep an eye on us). They are all competent, but just barely so, and I think we plan on replacing them as soon as we can find people more suited to the positions.

The kobold tribe swore loyalty to Illiamace, and our new land. Their conflict with the mites is ongoing, so I won't be surprised if they ask for assistance in that regard at some point in the future.

We found an old barrow, filled with undead creatures. Somehow, Noapte managed to punch himself in the face while we were fighting one of them. I refrained from teasing him about it, as I myself somehow managed to stick my rapier in my own foot during the same fight.

When we returned to town, Illiamace set to repairing the sword one of the undead carried, and I was contacted by some people about learning to put my acting skills to far greater use. I was quite intrigued, and am leaving this journal in the care of Serenity, while I am off undergoing this training.

((Solomon is taking the Chameleon prestige class, and so will be away for basically one level's worth of the adventure.))

So, it seems our backers for the exploration were so impressed with the job we've done mapping the region and reducing banditry, that they've asked us to found a settlement there.

Illiamace is now a baroness, which is good, as I don't think any of the rest of us were truly interested in the job. Noapte said outright he "doesn't play politics." He's now the treasurer of our new community. Not a big change there, seeing as that's one of the things he did while we were adventuring.

I'm now, to put it bluntly, a spy. I keep an eye on the criminal element of our community, and any neighboring lands. We don't really have any that I know of yet, but who knows what the future holds.

And finally, Serenity is our general. She is suited to the job, but it does amuse me a bit that we have a teenage girl in command of our (currently non-existent) army.

Our village, and land for that matter, have both yet to be named, but I'm sure Illiamace will make up her mind about that soon enough. We built a road to Oleg's, and a number of farms along it. We also rebuilt the Stag Lord's fort into a proper castle, after clearing out a number of undead that befouled the area around it.

We also finished exploring the last of the area covered by our first charter. Illiamce set me on fire to get rid of a swarm of spiders that had engulfed me. I remember waking up in quite a lot of pain, but at least I was still alive. Serenity looked awfully pale when she was looking at me, but she managed to return the smile I gave her.

We brought Oleg a matched pair of tatzlwyrm heads, and he's got them preserved and displayed in his trading post.

Well, I'll leave it here for now, I've got to go keep an eye out for what minor crime we currently have in the village.

May 17

We got back to Oleg's trading post to find another wanted poster waiting for us, this one offering quite a large amount of gold for killing the bandit's leader, someone calling himself the Stag Lord. We also learned the bandits had been sending forces to try to reclaim the liquor we appropriated from the bandit camp.

We decided that, since they kept sending more men, we should wait for them the next time they showed up. We didn't have long to wait, as that disagreeable woman with the axes showed up with about 8 men the next day. I think many of them were the ones who originally fled the camp with her when we assaulted it.

With the help of the guards that had been assigned to the post, we defeated them handily, and even managed to capture the axe-woman when Noapte knocked her out with one shot.

We questioned her on the location of the bandit's main camp, and I managed to talk her into telling us by pointing out that if she was so sure this Stag Lord would easily kill us, telling us where the camp was would ensure our deaths.

She told us the way to get there, and while thinking about it now, it seems quite roundabout, I was so full of my own "success" that I didn't question it.

I suggested a plan wherein we disguise ourselves as bandits using the dead bandits uniforms, and taking the liquor with us, since the Stag Lord seemed so bent on getting it back.

We followed the route we were given, and the "bridge" she told us was there turned out to be ruined, and all that remained was one heavy rope across the river. We also met a very disturbing individual, resembling nothing more than a walking corpse. He bade us bring him the body of the Stag Lord, and we agreed, not really being interested in fighting this creepy thing.

Illiamace fell off the rope as she was crossing, but easily swam out of the river. I wasn't as lucky after my own fall, nearly drowning myself and ending up easily twice as far down the river as she did. But, I Obviously survived, and we made it to the camp... or I should say, fort.

We approached the gate, and when the gate guards challenged us to give the password, I spotted a crucial flaw in my plan. Fortunately, the bandits accepted my bald faced lie about being new recruits who had not yet been given the password.

Once inside the Stag Lord appropriated the liquor, bade one of his men to pay us, and disappeared back into his hovel. I suggested another plan, given that Noapte was a ninja, and thus reputedly good at assassination, we wait until the Stag Lord got tanked, and Noapte "finish him quietly."

That part of the plan went exceedingly well, with Noapte killing the Stag Lord with one well placed stab to the kidneys, from what he told us. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to take any of the other bandits out quietly, and got into a mass melee with them. Well, with all but one. The one who accepted my story joined in on our side, and we dispatched all but one of the bandits.

The one who got away was, I am ashamed to admit, my opponent. He was a good fencer in his own right, almost as skilled as myself. We exchanged insults while fighting, but I wasn't able to bring him down when he fled.

We also had a bit of trouble with vermin in the cellar. Illiamace got the worst of that, when a large swarm of rats engulfed her. She, however, maintained her cool, and redirected her sphere of fire to engulf both herself and the rats. She was severely burned, but the rats were destroyed and one of the potions, as Illiamce called them, we found on a bandit soon set her to rights. Magic never ceases to fascinate me.

We also saw the oddest creature I have ever seen, looking like some strange combination of owl and bear. Noapte had suggested leaving it in its cage, but Serenity and I both nixed that idea, pointing out it was cruel to allow any creature to starve to death. So we rigged up some ropes, and pulled the gates open from a safe distance. It let out one odd hooting growl at us, then lumbered off into the woods.

We used the tools and some of the wood in the fort to fashion a crude wagon, and though it creaked and groaned, it held and we managed to haul quite a large amount of trade good and money back to the trading post. We have yet to sort through it all and determine its value, but we have some time before we plan on heading out exploring again.

May 6

Our explorations have been going well. Noapte has decided to dispense with his weapons for the most part, electing to fight unarmed. This has improved his combat ability immensely.

We have met quite a few bandits, though most of them keep escaping us. I have the feeling we are going to eventually run into a group too large to handle, given all the ones that keep getting away.

We also explored a mite lair, and subsequently forged something of a peace with the kobolds in the area. Noapte did have an interesting (in the Chinese curse sort of way) suggestion.

He remembered a vial of alchemist's fire we had found, and suggested we use it to burn out the mites. We pointed out the many hanging roots in the tight caves we were in. Then, we pointed out that in the unlikely event we escaped the ensuing inferno if those roots caught, we would lose what we were in the lair to find in the first place.

He replied "It was just a suggestion!"

I assured him that being set on fire once in your lifetime was already one time too many.

I got bored while traveling, and decided to sketch some pictures of my companions.

Noapte

He's ugly, and we rib each other about our apparent lack of combat skills, but he's fair, and always keeps his word from what I've seen.

Illiamace

It amazes me that a blind woman can be so accurate both with her sword, and her magic.

Serenity

She's a sweet girl, and I'm glad we could help her. She must have really been hungry to have had no complaints at all about eating military rations.

and of course, because I have a gigantic ego, a self-portrait.

Solomon