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DING!!!
And congratulations on reaching two pages :)
Thanks :)
Yeah, it seems that we don't find many spellbooks in the adventure as written. To balance this, our DM decided that Sparkie can learn 4 free spells instead of 2 every time he gains a new level. Also, he made us find a spellbook on one of the ships we looted after our first naval battle.
Eleint 14th, 1375 (morning) – The Blue Duke’s Wrath
The new “Scorin” that we faced seemed like a terrible foe indeed: he towered above all of us, and wielded a massive two-handed sword that had somehow been shape-shifted along with his own body.
I tried to placate him: “Wait, we mean you no harm. There’s no need for us to fight!”
“Don’t try to save your skin,” he replied in a deep voice. He turned toward Sparkie: “You, why did you have to cast that spell? Why??”
He was casually swinging his massive sword around, and everything in his body language indicated that he didn’t consider us to be any real danger to him. As though it was merely an inconvenience to him that he’d have to kill us now rather than later.
“Why were you hiding like this, Scorin?” I asked. “… If that is indeed your real name.”
“Oh sure, you’d like to know! No, no, no, that’s not my real name. Bah, Scorin!” and he spat on the ground. “That fool. Well, you have to admit I wasn’t doing such a bad job, was I?” And he grinned insolently. Everything about him, his penetrating gaze, the way his lips seemed eager to taste our flesh, seemed utterly wicked. His vile tongue licked those lips as his eyes lingered upon Tyria. “I’m sure you would like to know, ‘Captain’, wouldn’t you?”
“So if your name isn’t Scorin, are you called Lissuto?” asked Lagaan.
The monster let out a booming laughter, and for a moment, he closed his eyes and hugged his great belly with his hand. We could’ve seized the opportunity to attack him at that moment, but we were still hoping to negotiate with him.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” concluded Lagaan as the creature’s laughter finally died down.
“Well, actually, maybe you heard of me,” replied the monster with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. “I am called the Blue Duke by some. Does that ring a bell? Does it??”
I’d never heard about him, but after a moment, Lagaan replied: “Yeah, it does. Did you use to work in Cauldron a few years back?”
“Huh! Har har!! So, after all those years, I wasn’t fully forgotten! Yes, yes, that was me, I was the leader of a TERRIBLE band of mercenaries.” His smile faded. “Yeah, and now look where I am.” He shrugged. “It’s those damned adventurers. They foiled my plan to take over the city, I had to relocate and do some business with… that bastard…”
“Which one?” asked Lagaan.
“Well, your boss. He sent me on a mission, so here I am, and now I have to deal with you. Well, this place ain’t so bad. Maybe after I’m done with you, I could stay here. Become the king of this island. Har!! Hmm… Nah, maybe I’ll just find a boat to take me back to Sasserine.”
“It’s a bloody s**thole here,” said Lagaan.
“Yeah, sounds like that, from what I’ve heard.”
“But why do you want to kill us?” I asked. “What would you gain by killing us?”
“You’re right, you’re right. Other than just indulging the fantasies I’ve had over the past couple of weeks…”
“But why didn’t you take out your aggression on the gargoyles already?”
He chuckled. “There was no need. I just… turned into one of them… I was with them when we saw you coming. I came back down here and asked this one to shackle me along with the other prisoners.”
I turned to Moretta and gave her a ‘that information MIGHT have been useful to us five minutes ago’ kind of look.
“But it wasn’t good enough,” continued the ogre. “You’re smarter than that.”
“Hmm. I’m just trying to understand this. You took the shape of one of the gargoyles, and talked with them. And they didn’t notice that ‘Scorin’ was missing?”
“Heh, they never found ‘Scorin’ in the first place.”
“Oh,” I said, as the truth dawned on me.
The ogre chuckled again, mockingly.
He’d woken up before the rest of the survivors of the shipwreck, and had seen the gargoyles approach in the distance. He’d taken the form of one of them before they captured Moretta, Amella and the other survivors who’d been washed up in that area.
“No, you’re right,” he continued, “I don’t really have to kill you all, I just have to kill… him” he said, pointing a meaty finger at Lagaan.
I chuckled. “Sounds good, go right ahead,” I told him, and he erupted in another burst of booming laughter.
“STOP!” said another deep voice behind the ogre.
“Hrrrnnn?” enquired the massive ogre, who turned around and saw Raguhl standing just behind him, his axe ready for combat.
“Don’t touch him, or you’ll have to answer to me,” warned the lizard man.
“Huh huh huh huh huh!” laughed the ogre-mage. “You’re funny!”
“What’s your problem??” rumbled Raguhl. “We saved you from that island, we treated you well. What’s your problem, man??”
“My problem? It’s that someone wants this guy dead.”
“Who?” asked Raguhl. “You take orders from that ‘someone’?”
“I get PAID, huh huh huh!!! I’m a mercenary. That’s what mercenaries do… Isn’t that true, Ulfgar?” and the ogre turned toward the dwarf and looked at him for a long moment. Only Lagaan noticed it at the time, but he later told us that the ogre had cast a discreet charm spell on Ulfgar at that moment.
“You’re a mercenary too,” continued the ogre. “If someone told you, ‘kill Belessa’, would you do it?”
“I bet he would if he got paid…” remarked Lagaan.
Ulfgar seemed to be weighing the Blue Duke’s words, and was looking my direction…
“So, what’re you gonna do, go back to Sasserine and get your gold like a good little boy?” asked Raguhl.
The ogre turned back toward the barbarian. “Yeah. Actually, Lord Dracktus was paying me handsomely to get rid of Fort Greenrock… That was my job there. Now, it came as a surprise that this guy asked me to get rid of Lagaan, but the pay seemed good, so it seemed interesting. What was his name again? Veerapan! Yeah, that’s it!”
Fascinating! Lord Dracktus is one of the nobles of Sasserine, though he has a sinister reputation, and most view him as little more than a bandit lord. His estate is in Shadowshore, where Lagaan comes from. This seemed to confirm some suspicion I had that Lord Dracktus is linked to one of the thieves’ guilds. Is it the same that Lagaan belongs to? And who is this Veerapan character?
I am very curious to know why Lord Dracktus wanted the remote outpost of Fort Greenrock destroyed. What does he have to gain by it?
“What price did Veerapan offer for my head?” asked Lagaan.
The ogre turned back toward the thief and grinned at him. “Actually, quite a bit, I wouldn’t have thought you were worth so much. Three thousand, can you imagine?”
Lagaan nodded with satisfaction. “Wow, that’s not bad at all!”
“Usually, I work for a lot more,” continued the ogre, “but in your case, I just saw it as a ticket back home. Here was a ship that could take me home, and you just looked so tasty. Huh huh huh!”
“Yeah yeah, but I got a question,” asked Lagaan. “Dracktus asked me to collect a thousand gold from you…”
“Yeah, he’s gonna pay for that,” interrupted the ogre. “He probably didn’t want to pay what he owed me. So he sent you after me, hoping that, at best, you’d succeed, and at worst, he’d get rid of you.”
“Hmm, three thousand, that’s really not bad at all,” Lagaan was still fantasizing over the handsome reward on his ugly head.
“Yeah, and Veerapan probably paid quite a sum for the Sending spell he used to contact me.”
“What was that?” asked Lagaan.
“Well, how do you think he reached me so many miles from Sasserine?”
“Oh yeah, a Sending like Belessa does.”
“Yeah, magic! Because I didn’t talk directly to him, I talked to that cleric of Umberlee. She sent me another message, by the way, Belessa,” he added in a mocking tone, “she told me that…”
“ah, never mind, I said too much already,” said the ogre, even though I would’ve loved to hear more about this. “Are you going to give me Lagaan or am I going to have to take him?”
The Blue Duke, grinning wickedly and drooling, bent down toward Lagaan to pick him up and eat him, but at that moment, Raguhl attacked him from behind. The ogre sensed the attack, though, and avoided it. The rest of us all followed up with our own attacks.
Sparkillo cast some Magic Missiles – some of the last magic he had enough energy for – and I cast a Command spell on the monster, but both failed, probably due to his powerful resistance to magic. Lagaan shot two arrows at the ogre’s back, since he had turned to face Raguhl. But soon after that, Ulfgar grabbed hold of the thief and pinned him to the ground. That weak-minded dwarf had been enthralled by the ogre’s magic, and was now aiding him in battle!
Beside me, Tyria pierced the ogre’s flesh with a well-aimed arrow, and started chanting a battle-song. With a snarl, the ogre gestured, and disappeared. He had turned invisible!
Raguhl moved next to the spot where the monster had disappeared, and swung his axe wildly, but failed to strike the creature. I cast a Dispel Magic spell on Ulfgar, but he remained under the creature’s charm. Tyria cast a Glitterdust spell around the area where the monster had disappeared, but the tiny specks of glowing dust failed to reveal his presence: likely, that spell also had failed to penetrate his magical resistance. It had been a long, grueling day, and that was the last spell that Tyria had the strength to cast.
Sparkillo cried out over the din of the battle: “Beware, those beasts regenerate!” He had moved away from the spot where the ogre had disappeared, and come closer to where Tyria and I were standing, near where Ulfgar was wrestling Lagaan to the ground. Meanwhile, Moretta and Johan had retreated behind us. Stragdar, Amella and Churtle were cowering in a dark alcove at the other end of the room, trying to avoid the melee. And Chochanika, Urol and Tavey had retreated up the stairs already.
Suddenly, we were surrounded by darkness: another spell cast by the Ogre-Mage!
“I felt him pass close to us!” yelled Amella from the far end of the room, trying to help us to pinpoint his location.
Raguhl looked around, then moved back close to Tyria and I, trying to block the only exit out of the room. Clearly, we did not want the Duke to escape. That weakling Lagaan was writhing on the floor, groaning as Ulfgar was mercilessly grinding the side of his face against the stone. I didn’t have a chance to fully appreciate the scene because of the surrounding darkness, but I cast another Dispel Magic around us. This time, I broke Ulfgar’s charm, and I also managed to destroy the invisibility hiding the ogre: we dimly saw his massive shape appear in the center of the room. Unfortunately, the darkness itself persisted. Tyria pierced his flesh with another arrow, and the ogre moved to where Lagaan was painfully standing up, cutting him with his massive sword. Lagaan screamed in pain but did not fall.
Raguhl rushed the ogre, but missed his mark again. Sparkillo’s Magic Missiles bounced off harmlessly, again blocked by the ogre’s magic resistance. Ulfgar, furious at having being mind-controlled, picked up his axe, and rushed the ogre with a roar. As he moved in, the ogre slashed him with his sword, but the sturdy dwarf also stabbed the large monster with his axe. Meanwhile, I moved forward carefully in the darkness, and cast a healing spell on Lagaan. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Stupid thief, always getting into trouble. I hope he realizes how lucky he is to receive so many boons from Umberlee.
The ogre, roaring furiously, slashed around him with wild arcs of his sword. He struck Lagaan again, and almost hit Ulfgar as well, but the blow bounced off the dwarf’s shield. However, the monster seemed badly wounded by then. “You haven’t seen the last of me!” he panted in his deep voice.
I believe his plan had been to transform into a cloud of smoke and escape, but unfortunately for him, he was then hit by Raguhl and Ulfgar’s axes in quick succession, and collapsed to the floor with a terrible roar of agony. Ulfgar had slain the monster!
We caught our breath as we stood around his corpse, still surrounded by a magical darkness that our light sources could only barely pierce. What a terrible foe… We are lucky to have survived his wrath, especially with our depleted resources. Sparkie and Tyria were both completely drained of magical energy, and my own was running quite low. We were all very tired for the mountain climbing, especially Lagaan, who’d looked like he was on the verge of collapsing with fatigue even as far back as our fight against the gargoyles.
We talked about what the ogre had said. Lagaan repeated that he’d heard of the Blue Duke as a powerful mercenary in Cauldron. His real name started with ‘Z’, he thought, but he couldn’t remember the full name. ‘Zarn’, ‘Zax’, ‘Zyax’…
“What about the real Scorin,” asked Lagaan, “what do you think happened to him?”
“He’s probably long dead, his corpse must still be back on Greenrock,” I replied.
I gently probed Lagaan about Lord Dracktus and Veerapan, but as expected, he revealed nothing.
We looted the ogre’s body and found a magical greatsword, a magical chainshirt and a non-magical longbow, all sized for ogres, so useless for us. The bow was too hard to bend even for our warriors. We also found a regular-sized amulet that radiated magic.
We decided to finally get some rest, here in the tower. Once we returned upstairs, we saw that the sun had started rising in the sky, and had banished the layer of fog that had covered the surroundings. This high in the mountains, under the clear sky, we had a breath-taking view of the region. The place must’ve made a perfect watch tower for the Olmans that used to live here. We saw the other mountains around us, and the sprawling expanse of jungle to the north, as well as the sea stretching to the north, east and south of us. This island is truly as beautiful as it is deadly.
We could even see the tiny shape of the Sea Wyvern’s wreck, far to the north-west.
Before we went to sleep, I tried twice to question the ogre’s soul by necromantic magic, but his aura of magical resistance blocked the spell. Frustrated, but too tired to try a third time, I gave up for today and went to sleep with the others. We’d selected the first underground level, which had been the gargoyle’s rookery, as our resting place. It was surprisingly clean, and the walls were decorated with faded frescoes representing stylized images of snakes, birds and leering faces.
Eleint 14th, 1375 (evening) – Looting the tower
That evening, I created water and food for everyone, so once again, Umberlee provided sustenance for that rag-tag group of dirty ingrates.
Later, I used my magic to communicate with Brissa. I learned that she was still alive, and had started the journey south toward Farshore, through some mountains. I told her to meet us at the Sea Wyvern’s wreck, and to my surprise, she hadn’t even seen it when she’d woken up. Her body must’ve washed up much further south than ours, but thanks to Umberlee’s mercy, the brooding painter had been spared.
Meanwhile, Sparkillo identified the ogre-mage’s loot. The amulet was one of natural armor, and after some discussion, we agreed to let Lagaan take it. Hopefully, he won’t be cut down so badly in the future, and I won’t have to intervene and save his sorry hide in every single fight anymore.
Looting the tower, we found bits and pieces of ancient armor of Olman make. We decided to take some with us, thinking that perhaps we’ll be able to sell it to some rich collectors back in Sasserine. We also found some fresh fruits (I never thought gargoyles ate fruit), as well as some war trophies of the monsters: severed heads mounted on rusty pikes.
Several of them were of lizardmen, and Raguhl’s grim glare ensured that for once, Lagaan and Ulfgar did not suggest any potential parentage between him and the deceased. Other trophies included the head of some dinosaur, the wings of a pteranodon, the head of one of the gargoyles (perhaps a rival?), and the heads of two dark-skinned humans (Olmans). The last head was the most unusual, but we all recognized it because we’d fought such a creature before: a Babau demon!
Apart from a few worthless shiny pebbles that the stupid creatures must’ve thought were valuable, we also found the chest that “Scorin” had brought on board the Sea Wyvern, what seemed like so long ago. Lagaan checked it for traps, but that incompetent buffoon failed to locate the arrow-shooting mechanism that struck him when he opened the chest with the key we’d found on the ogre’s body. Luckily, his newly acquired amulet’s resilience protected him from what could’ve been a vicious wound: the arrow head was coated with a dark liquid which Churtle identified as purple worm poison.
“Is very nasty!” she squealed excitedly. “If is in contact with your blood, is kill you quick!”
Then, she started arguing with Urol about which of the two midgets would have the honor of keeping the vile substance. While the two fools were yelling at each other, we examined the chest. It must be magical, because it seemed much deeper inside than outside. We found within it the partly decomposed heads of two white-bearded human males. I guess they were Druids from Greenrock that the ogre killed as part of his mission. We also found a bag containing some money and a few small gems, as well as fourteen potions. Sparkie identified them as seven potions of Nystul’s Undetectable Aura and seven potions of Undetectable Alignment.
A-ha! So that’s probably how he managed to escape our magical scrutiny while on board the Sea Wyvern. Clearly, this was a very well-planned mission. I’m glad we put an end to it and finally managed to slay that fiend. Curious to find out more, I decided to try again to question his corpse.
Moretta and I returned to the lowest level, and I cast my necromantic ritual. This time, it worked, and his eyes opened. They were now wholly white. His jaw muscles started moving, and his hideous tongue peered out of his gaping maw and licked some dried foam that lingered on his foul lips.
I smiled as I felt his wicked soul within my mental grasp.
“What message did you get from the Cleric of Umberlee?” I asked him.
“The b@~#~ transferred a message from Veerapan to kill Lagaan. And she contacted me again a bit later.”
I waited for him to finish that train of thought, but then saw that the fiend would require me to expand another one of the spell’s precious questions to say more.
“… and what did she say then?” I probed.
“She wanted us to meet when I got back. She had a business proposition for me. She said I should keep an eye on you.”
“What was her name?”
“Edvanda.”
A shiver went down my spine when he spat out the name of my most hated rival. I’d been pretty sure that viper had been the one behind it, but I needed confirmation.
Moretta gasped in surprise, and I met her eyes. Though she trusted me in almost everything, I felt she’d never really believed my suspicions regarding that b@*~$, Edvanda Balak. She didn’t just dislike me. She saw me as a real threat, and wanted me dead. Since she was the second in command of Umberlee’s temple in Sasserine, a powerful priestess in her own right, I was flattered. Despite her numerous flaws, at least she was a good judge of character, and had recognized my potential.
From what Lagaan had said and how he’d reacted, I felt that he was intent on getting some revenge within his organization once we returned to Sasserine. I felt like doing the same in mine. Perhaps he and I could work together?
I then asked my fourth and last question: “If we hadn’t revealed your true nature, what would you have done?”
“I would’ve waited for a few days or weeks after you’d brought me back to Farshore, then I would’ve killed Lagaan, blended in, and would’ve waited for the next ship back to Sasserine.” The brute grinned evilly. “Of course, while I waited, I might’ve alleviated the boredom by eating a few villagers here and there, and probably one of you guys as well. I always thought that soft little Sparkie looked absolutely delicious…”
Then, the disgusting creature belched cavernously, and went rigid. His soul had returned to whatever foul pit I had dragged it from.
Upon my return upstairs, the others asked me what the ogre had revealed. I smiled and told them of his plans to kill Lagaan and Sparkie, but I did not mention Edvanda’s plot. They have no need to be informed of the petty squabbles within my church, at least not for now…
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
We started the long and arduous climb down the mountain path soon after sunset. I would’ve rather done it under the daylight, but due to the previous night’s forced march, our schedule was now completely upset, and we dared not delay our return to the shore for another half-day.
Our group was now fourteen people strong: in addition to the six members of Trouble were Moretta, Amella, Urol, Tavey, Chochanika, Stragdar, Churtle and Johan.
When we reached the destroyed elevator, we found Avner waiting there for us with his horse. After Sparkie had allowed us to climb down safely with Feather Fall spells, we were greeted by a shower of complaints and spittle from the upset nobleman – whose stomach was growling in the background.
The core of his problem was that, when he’d been attacked by Terror Birds back at the foot of the mountain, Penkus had not helped him fight. Avner had had to flee – again – on Thunderstrike’s back.
“Is it true, Belessa, did you really forget to tell your T-Rex to protect Avner?” later asked Lagaan.
“No,” I replied with a grin. “I didn’t forget. I just decided not to.”
Lagaan chuckled.
After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the foot of the mountain. It was still the middle of the night: we’d made good progress. As expected, we found the gigantic, immobile shape of Penkus waiting for us where I’d left it. There were no marks on its bones, so clearly, the Terror Birds had not bothered it, because it would have defended itself.
We made preparations to rest at the bottom of the path. While the others were setting up camp, I contacted several people with more Sending spells. I reached out to Tolin and informed him that we’d gone down the mountain with the people we’d saved, and that we should reach the beach the following day. There was an edge of fear in his reply: “We reached the wreck, but were attacked by an elasmosaurus, a sea monster! We had to retreat! We’ll wait for you to fight it!”
I sneered in silence. Amateurs! They couldn’t even perform a simple rescue mission correctly.
Next, I contacted Brissa. I sent her a description of the location of the wreck, as detailed as I could within the prayer’s twenty-five word limit. She replied: “I’m still alive. I saw demons, and today I met strange white spiders. I’ll be there. Don’t leave without me!”
Last, I tried to contact Glantri, the dwarven doctor, but I got no answer. Was she dead?
During the night, our sleep was made difficult by the myriad of animal noises in the warm jungle night. Later, a group of nocturnal scavengers tried to get to us, but once they realized that Penkus was moving and capable of fighting, and not an inanimate skeleton, they retreated with shrill cries.
“What were those things?” I asked groggily, having been woken up from deep sleep.
“Some of those fascinating creatures called Rhagodessas,” replied Urol, who’d gotten a better look at them thanks to his low-light vision.
I shuddered uncontrollably, and I remembered vividly the agonizing pain when one of those terrible beasts had bitten my abdomen, the night that we’d taken the Blue Nixie back from Soller Vark and his men.
Rhagodessas… There were probably hundreds, or even thousands, of those creatures on the island…
I had a very hard time getting back to sleep after that, imagining every nearby noise to be one of the beasts skittering toward me in the darkness.
Eleint 15th, 1375 – Return to the Blue Nixie
Thankfully, I got the equivalent of a full night’s sleep thanks to my Ring of Sustenance. Most of my companions did not get a complete rest due to the bright sun shining in their eyes early in the morning, waking them up. After a simple breakfast, we started our trek through the jungle, heading north, toward the beach.
After about an hour, it started to rain, which came as a relief to most people, because the temperature cooled down considerably. We made our way carefully through the jungle, with us adventurers surrounding the civilians for their protection. Once again, the mighty Penkus forced several would-be predators to turn back, as they dared not face the terrible undead despite the easy meals that people such as Tavey or Johan represented. Oh, how I love this wonderful guardian!
We reached the beach around noon. It had stopped raining. We headed west. It was truly a beautiful beach. We would’ve thoroughly enjoyed the sight, the feel of the warm sand beneath our feet and the calm rush of the waves, had we not forced ourselves to remain alert, in case more of the island’s predators should show up and threaten the remaining crew of the Sea Wyvern.
After perhaps two hours, we saw the Blue Nixie in the distance. It took those buffoons quite some time to notice us, but eventually, the ship navigated closer to where we stood, and they dispatched rowboats to bring us in a few at a time. I took the last one, to ensure that I left none of my crew behind, and I brought Penkus along with me: he was walking beside the rowboat, gifted with a spell of Water Walking.
As I climbed on board, I noticed that the Blue Nixie’s crew seemed suitably in awe of my magnificent minion. I turned to face Tolin. He was waiting for me, his arms crossed over his chest, his face stern.
“Glad you could make it,” he said in his gruff voice. I noticed that his cloak was freshly torn.
“So, an elasmosaurus is giving you trouble?” I asked with a smile. “Well, Trouble’s here now, we can take care of it.”
A quick flash of anger appeared in Tolin’s eyes. “Actually, we already slew the beast. We decided to put it to rest before coming to rescue you here.”
“Oh,” I replied, “there must’ve been a misunderstanding, because the last time we spoke, you sounded quite scared, as though you were scrambling for your lives and waiting for us to handle the monster. But I’m glad you handled it like grown-ups.”
We glared at each other for a few moments, and then he turned his gaze toward the massive shape of Penkus.
“Is that your new friend?” he asked.
“Yes, you could say that.”
He smirked. “Well, it’s nice to see that you can actually have friends.”
I had a fleeting vision of his smug face being pierced by a trident, but before I could reply, he turned to give orders to the crew, for us to set sail toward the site of the wreck.
He then turned to Moretta and welcomed her aboard. She smiled coquettishly and the two started talking, while I went about some other business. So typical. Men are always intimidated by powerful women such as me, and they would rather go after an uglier, less charming woman, as long as she does not threaten their male ego.
Still, on this goddess-forsaken island, Moretta could to a lot worse than Tolin. At least, he’s a capable swordsman, and his arrogance isn’t quite as bad as Avner’s. Maybe he’d be an adequate mate for my little acolyte.
We sailed toward the northwest. Around sunset, we reached the spot where the remains of the Sea Wyvern stood against the sharp reefs. We decided to start on the repairs the following day. The Jade Ravens had brought a talented carpenter from Farshore with them: a dwarf by the name of Dranys Sellis. After chatting a bit with him, I learned that he was Glantri Daroken’s brother-in-law. Funny enough, he didn’t seem all that sad when I told him that I thought that she had perished. Perhaps he disliked her for her unusual sexual preferences. Perhaps she had brought shame to their clan. It wouldn’t surprise me: all dwarves are bigots.
We spent the evening with the Jade Ravens and their crew. To my relief, I noticed that the insufferable Liamae seemed to be absent.
“Wasn’t there a fourth member to your group?” I asked Zan, who was sitting next to me at dinner. “That chubby girl, what was her name again? Lie-mee?”
Zan shrugged. “Nah, she didn’t come with us. You see, she’s been acting weird since the storm.”
“Really? In what way?”
“Well, during that big storm when we got separated, Liamae got hit by lightning.”
I couldn’t contain my sudden eruption of laughter, and I spilled some of the wine from the cup I’d been holding. Once I had composed myself and wiped the wine that I’d spilled in my mirth, I asked with a big smile: “She was hit by lightning?!?” It sounded too good to be true.
Zan chuckled. “Aye. It didn’t kill her, though. But she hasn’t been acting right since then. She claims she had a vision as she was blasted, a revelation from her goddess, Tymora, Lady Luck herself. She says that she’s one of her holy servants now, a Favored Soul.“
“Rrrreeaalllyyyy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. That sounded quite silly to me.
“Aye. She didn’t come with us, even though Tolin asked her to. She said she had an important mission to do in the villages around Farshore. Maybe she’s going to try to convert the natives, or something.”
“Is that so?” and I felt a cold, hard edge slip into my voice. Once again, that tasteless wench and I seemed destined to be rivals.
A brief silence followed, during which I thanked Umberlee in a silent prayer for striking down the loathsome woman with righteous lightning. I did ask my goddess, though, to try and strike just a little bit harder next time, to make sure she actually died.
Zan then resumed the discussion: “Also, I guess she wasn’t too eager to see Lagaan again.” We both looked at the young rogue, who was talking animatedly with Ulfgar and Amella, at the other end of the table. “Not after what that lout did to her. Mind you, I only heard Liamae’s version of the story. It all seems quite silly, if you ask me.”
I turned back to Zan and flashed him a dazzling smile. “Would you like to hear my side of the story?” I asked.
He nodded with a grin, and I told him the real story.
We didn’t see much of Tolin during the meal. It seemed almost as though the Jade Ravens’ esteemed leader was going out of his way to avoid us, or at least, me. Did he feel threatened by the greater adventurers that we are?
Kaskus ate with us, but he kept quiet and spoke mostly to Raguhl and Urol. Avner seemed thrilled to be back among worthless commoners that he could lord over. Since those fools on the Blue Nixie had not dealt with his boundless arrogance yet, they actively tried to please him and obey his every whim. He’d been assigned a private cabin, and I saw him retire there with a “lucky” girl from the Blue Nixie’s crew after the meal was over.
Zan looked positively bored among the crew and with his two dull companions. Perhaps I had too much wine that night, but I found myself pitying the poor man. I told him the tales of our adventures in Tomoachan, and on Journey’s End, and also what we’d faced so far on the Island of Dread. His eyes shone with envious excitement.
Previously, the rest of my companions and I had decided to go and visit the mysterious pyramid from Lithira’s city while the crew would work on repairing the Sea Wyvern, which would take at least a week. I perhaps got carried away by my own tales, because I invited Zan to join us. I felt generous, and also, I was curious to see how he’d perform compared to Lagaan. Perhaps this was our chance to replace the foul-mouthed boy with a better rogue.
I finally retired to the cramped sleeping quarters that had been assigned to Moretta, Amella, Tyria, Churtle and myself. Clearly, we weren’t held in as high esteem as Avner in the foolish crew’s eyes. It mattered not, we would only spend a few nights there.
Before going to sleep, I used some of my remaining energy to reach out to Kregar’s mind. I learned that the dirty dwarf still lived, but declined the offer to join us, saying he’d “take it from there”, whatever that meant. Then, I tried to contact Glantri, but once again, I got no answer. I shall spend no more energy trying to locate that woman, for as far as I can tell, she perished in the shipwreck, and is now with her ancestors.
Eleint 16th, 1375 – The Sea Wyvern’s Wreck
The following morning, we, the members of Trouble, went with Dranys the master carpenter, as well as a crew of workers, to take a look at the wreckage. Amella also joined us, as it turns out that she’s a skilled carpenter in addition to her other talents: the woman’s quite versatile indeed!
The dwarf and Amella surveyed the ship’s remains for a long while, going around, and inside it. I went with them. The damage was even worse than I’d feared. After analyzing the situation, they concluded that about a third of the ship’s hull needed to be completely repaired, as well as all three sections of rigging, which had been totally torn off in the storm. It would use up most of the resources the Blue Nixie had brought, which had drained the supplies of Farshore. Dranys made it clear that Lavinia expected us to help replenish those stores once our ship was restored. The greedy dwarf also immediately informed us that he and his crew required a payment of a hundred gold coins for the arduous task, which he believed would take a full week at the minimum, even with two crews working in shifts.
Since we had no room to negotiate, we agreed to his terms.
While we’d been talking, I’d noticed that Raguhl had started to grow agitated. Once we were done, he motioned for me to come to him.
“Belessa,” he growled, “something’s not right. I came here right after the crash, but things have changed since then. Some of the things have been moved by someone. There, see that table? It was over there the last time I was here. I don’t think the sea current could’ve done that: it doesn’t come up that high.”
“So who do you think did this?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said glumly. “But come with me.”
He led me to Avner’s old cabin, and there, we found that… something… had made a kind of nest. It looked strangely like a bed made of sea-weed, hinting that whoever had built this was probably human-shaped and sized, but also an aquatic creature.
“And look at these,” said Raguhl, and he showed me some strange bottles of liquid that had been stacked in the room. Some contained dead fish. They looked like what a primitive alchemist of witch-doctor might use to brew potions.
“Hmmm,” I mused, “looks like some kind of creature’s decided to make itself at home in MY ship!”
The first crew then set to work on repairing the ship. Amella was overseeing the first shift, directing the workers with the same foul-tongued efficiency that she’d used as a first mate. I took the time to contact Brissa again by magic. So far, she was still alive, and still journeying toward us. “I hate snakes!” she told me. I also used some of my energy to Make Whole some sections of the hull.
While the crew worked, we’d decided that some of us would watch over them, to protect them in case a predator attacked. We were wise to do this. Around noon, I was on the main deck of the Sea Wyvern, directing Penkus, who was helping the crew to carry some of the heavier timbers, like a very sinister crane. Lagaan and Moretta were also standing watch on the deck with me, and Raguhl was down on the reef’s surface, tirelessly toiling away with the commoners. Meanwhile, the rest of Trouble, as well as the Jade Ravens, were on the Blue Nixie.
So it was that only three real adventurers, Lagaan, Raguhl and I were present to defend the workers when the thing from the deep struck…
And Penkus, Umberlee be praised that we had Penkus!
The attack came very suddenly: a large, ferocious ape materialized on the deck all of a sudden, and mauled a very surprised and very unfortunate worker to death. The woman’s body hit the floor with a dull thud, which was immediately followed by the beasts’ terrible roar and the sudden scream of the entire worker crew.
It took a moment for our minds to register that we were attacked: it just happened in such an unexpected fashion… But immediately, I thought that surely, the ape must’ve been summoned. It clearly appeared out of nowhere, I knew there was simply no way it could’ve reached the middle of the deck through stealth.
While I was wondering what to do, I heard another distant roar, and saw that, several hundred feet way, a huge primeval monster was emerging from the sea and attacking the Blue Nixie: another elasmosaurus… I hoped Tolin had not been lying when he’d said that his group had killed such a beast before, because now, flight was not an option.
The ape roared in pain as it was hit by two of Lagaan’s arrows. Moretta also reached for her crossbow, but her hands trembled with fear and she badly placed the bolt, and it didn’t even fire when she hit the trigger. The poor young thing hasn’t seen enough battles yet to keep a steady hand.
The ape rushed toward Lagaan and took a swipe at him, but the young man jumped back, avoiding the blow. Then, a second ape appeared right beside me! I only had time to raise my shield, and reeled from the impact of its massive fists against it. Thanks to my honed battle reflexes, I managed to block all of the creature’s attacks!
Now I knew that something really wasn’t right. I immediately suspected (correctly, as it turns out), that the intruder who’d decided to make my ship its home had returned; it was a powerful aquatic spellcaster, who probably intended on summoning monster after monster from the cover of the waves. I tried to locate him, but I was at the center of the deck, and didn’t have a good angle of vision, so I didn’t see him. However, I did step back, and hastily cast a powerful Dispel Magic over the area. The ape that had just appeared in front of me immediately vanished, but the one that faced Lagaan remained.
“Penkus!” I called, “kill the summoner!!”
And my terrible minion screeched a fearsome acknowledgement.
Lagaan pierced the ape with more arrows, while Moretta placed Umberlee’s blessing upon us. I saw Raguhl climb up on the deck’s railing, but at the last moment, he looked back behind him, and spotted whoever was summoning those creatures, so he jumped back down with a roar.
The ape swung at Lagaan, clawing his shoulder. I ran up behind it and stabbed it with a powerful blow from my trident: it let out a great cry of agony, and fell over the side of the ship, dead.
I was now right next to the ship’s railing; down and to my left, I saw that Raguhl was facing a strange aquatic creature that seemed to be part man, part squid. Its skin was green and viscous. Unfortunately, our mighty barbarian was utterly ineffectual against the fiend, as he was shuddering uncontrollably, had dropped his axe, and was holding his claws against the sides of his head as if he heard a deafening sound that none of us could hear. But from behind him came the mighty Penkus, who bent down and snapped at the strange summoner’s flesh with its massive jaw.
Lagaan had also noticed our foe and shot him with an arrow. By then, the workers had fled the scene of battle, and only Moretta remained with us.
Raguhl seemed to recover from whatever mental attack he’d suffered, but alas, after he picked up his axe, he attacked not our enemy, but Penkus! Once again, one of our dim-witted warriors had gotten mentally dominated and turned against us!
The vile aquatic being started another summoning spell. I contemplated hindering him with a Silence spell, but I feared he would flee the scene if I did, only to return another time, catching us by surprise again. No, it was a dangerous gamble, because he turned out to be a terrible foe, but I decided to try and kill him now. So I cast another Dispel Magic around Raguhl: I succeeded in freeing him from the mental control!
Penkus bit the summoner again, and Lagaan shot him with another arrow, but it managed to hold on to his spell. Moretta climbed down the ship’s side, and Raguhl turned back toward the squid-like caster, and flew into a rage, striking at him wildly, but none of his fierce attacks hit their target.
Then, two nasty things happened at once. A third large ape appeared right next to me; once again, I moved my shield in position just in time to avoid all of his attacks. But at the same time, the summoner called forth an Ice Storm that engulfed us all, including his summoned ape. We were all badly battered by the furious hail and biting cold. Moretta almost perished from the terrible spell, and she fled, knowing that this battle was beyond her.
I stepped back and tried to dispel the new summons, but my spell failed to cut its link to the material plane. To my right, I heard Penkus bite the caster again: that creature was indeed a very powerful foe to take such punishment from the immense skeleton, and keep on fighting.
Behind me, I heard Lagaan fire more arrows at the caster, but he cursed, so I assume he missed. This time, though, Raguhl’s axe slashed our terrible enemy. The being called down a roaring column of fire from the sky, which threatened to engulf Raguhl. Thankfully, though, the barbarian dodged to the side at the last moment, avoiding most of the damage from this agile move and his ring of fire resistance.
I had a hard time defending myself from the ape, and it managed to bite my left shoulder, but I escaped its grasp and stepped back, and hastily cast one last spell at the summoner: I feared he was going to try to flee, now that he was badly wounded, so I attempted to paralyze him. I assumed that such a powerful caster would likely resist the simple spell, and indeed he did, but you can’t blame a girl for trying.
I now had my back to the Sea Wyvern’s rudder; the ape was bearing down on me, roaring madly, with eyes full of hate. The merciless, massively muscled primate finally batted my shield aside and grabbed me in its powerful fists, driving its claws deep in my unprotected flesh. I dropped my trident and screamed from the pain, which only intensified as it started pulling, pulling on my arm, with its other hand holding my chest, and I feared it would tear my arm out of its socket. I almost fainted from the pain, and I thought that surely I was going to die right there and then…
… but a miracle happened!
Suddenly, the ape gave a terrified squeal as a great crunching sound erupted just above me. I was showered in warm blood, and dropped down unceremoniously on the Sea Wyvern’s deck. Through the pain-induced daze, I dimly saw the great furry ape’s bloody, broken corpse being utterly crushed by Penkus’s massive jaws. The skeletal Tyrannosaurus had saved my life! And to think that some fools still can’t understand how useful undead really are!
Suppressing a moan, I cast some healing prayers on myself, and was finally able to stand, with Lagaan’s help. I was a mess, completely covered in blood, my own and the ape’s. The young rogue had the good sense not to mock me, because I don’t think I could’ve ever forgiven him. The roles had so often been reversed in the past few days that any wise-arse remarks he could’ve made would’ve been very hypocritical.
I surveyed the situation and saw that the summoner’s head had been cut off by Raguhl’s axe. So we had finally prevailed in the end! Oh, great goddess of the deep, what a terrible foe he was! We’d never faced such a powerful spellcaster in all of our travels.
In the distance, we saw that the Blue Nixie’s crew had also prevailed against the elasmosaurus.
Only one person had perished in the fight on the Sea Wyvern: the woman who’d been mangled by the very first ape that had appeared. She was utterly dead, beyond even my great healing skills. Her crewmen told us that her name had been Amira, and that she’d traveled on board the Blue Nixie. She’d barely been in Farshore for a day before they’d had to sail away to come and rescue us.
I prayed for her soul to join Umberlee in the endless sea of the dead.
Then, we examined the corpse of the wicked spellcaster who’d caused her death. It was even more hideous than I thought. It looked like a creature out of a madman’s nightmare. Its head was bulbous, malformed, and hung too low on its flaccid torso. Its wide tail ended in three vicious-looking, poison-tipped spikes.
Lagaan told us that he’d heard about such creatures: they are called Kopru and can influence the minds of their enemies, much like the dreaded Mind Flayers of the Underdark, to whom they are perhaps related. Indeed, we’d witnessed the power of their mind control, which had taken hold of Raguhl.
We found some useful items on the corpse, including what Sparkie later identified as a ring of protection, a dusty pink ioun stone that provides additional armor, an amulet that can enhance a monk’s unarmed attacks, and a half-crafted periapt of wisdom. The item is useless as it stands now; the Kopru had likely been in the process of crafting the item, but once finished, I believe it will be even more powerful than the one I am wearing now. I shall hold on to it for now, and study it. Perhaps I can finish the Kopru’s work, in time, and claim the item as my own.
Even though they did not take part in the terrible combat, after much discussion, we agreed to give the ring of protection to Ulfgar, and the ioun stone to Sparkie, who adores such silly little arcane gadgets.
Eleint 17th, 1375 – Journey to the Ruins
I woke up in a foul mood this morning. I spent a terrible night – I was plagued by nightmares in which my body was rent asunder by huge raging beasts, or devoured by armor-plated monsters with huge jaws – probably my subconscious’s demented renditions of dire apes and Rhagodessa.
In the disturbing climax of my nightmare, I felt as though I was giving birth again, but this time, it was a hideous, slimy creature that emerged from my loins, a viscous, green-skin monstrosity with flailing tentacles.
My screams had awakened all of the other women in the room. Moretta and Amella sat by my side and comforted me until I regained my senses. Meanwhile, Churtle and Tyria just looked at me with a mixture of revulsion and pity.
How I miss my private cabin… Though I am able to keep a tight leash on my emotions during the day and maintain my lady-like bearing at all time, while I sleep, I am as vulnerable as any woman. Up until now, only Moretta had been aware of my terrible nightmares, but now, who knows what these lesser women will think of me. They know that even I can sometimes be as weak as them.
With the Kopru dead, we hoped that the repair crews wouldn’t be bothered by any more deadly predators. I prayed to Umberlee for their safety, and left the mighty Penkus in the care of Moretta, after instructing the great creature to follow her instructions during my absence.
The six members of Trouble ventured together again into the deep jungle of the Island of Dread. Our destination: the mysterious dungeon inside the pyramid of Lithira’s ruined city. All of us were curious to learn more about the strange visions that the old woman has had about us; the promise of long-forgotten treasure that might lie at the bottom of the ancient pyramid could not be resisted.
Zan the rogue accompanied us on this mission. Though a few of my companions grumbled about having to share the loot with him, I thought that, in the spirit of friendship, we should show gratitude to the Jade Ravens and invite one of them to share a small part of our glory. But not Tolin, because he’s so arrogant. And not Kaskus, because, frankly, who needs a Druid inside a pyramid?
The only incident of note during our journey through the jungle was a huge spider that confused us with some easy preys, and paid dearly for its mistake. The mindless vermin proved little challenge for our might.
Late in the afternoon, we reached the city of spiders. As expected, it was still crawling with thousands and thousands of the hideous creatures. There was no sign of Lithira. We called out her name for several long minutes, but she did not answer. I wonder where she was…
We then decided to make our way through the mass of skittering vermin, toward the central pyramid.
“We have to go through them?” asked Zan in an anxious tone.
“Yeah, we do, but they won’t attack us,” replied Tyria cheerfully. “Unless you’re too afraid, and you want to turn back and return to the ship?” she added mockingly.
Zan sighed, then replied, “No, I’ll take my chances here, even though I really, really don’t like spiders... I’m tired of you people always getting all the loot.” Tyria, Lagaan and I chuckled at that remark.
We carefully made our way through the spiders, some of which were quite large. It was not a pleasant experience, and in truth, we weren’t sure that the mass of hideous arachnids wouldn’t swarm us to death in the absence of their mistress.
At some point, Zan got really nervous and drew some daggers, as if to throw them.
I quickly stayed his hand: “Zan, do not attack them! You’ll get us all killed!!” I warned him.
He re-sheathed his knives, but I could see that he was pale and sweating.
Eventually, we reached the top of the pyramid, and the spiders let us be. Sparkie showed us the stone trap door that led inside. Raguhl and Ulfgar lifted it together, and revealed a dark opening that led into the mysterious depths into which we soon ventured…
Eleint 17th, 1375 (continued) – The tomb of Omokachan
We climbed down the ancient spiral staircase for what felt like a long time. The only illumination came from the magical lights emanating from my trident and Raguhl’s axe. The lizardman and I stood just behind Ulfgar and Zan, with the rest of the group following us. As usual, Ulfgar looked nervous, and I noticed that he started sweating as soon as we entered the building.
There were no spider webs in this place, so it seemed that none of the countless vermin that lived in the open had ever ventured here. A thick layer of dust covered the steps: it was obvious that no-one had been here in a very long time.
We climbed down for at least a hundred feet, which led us under the base of the pyramid. Eventually, we emerged into an ancient chamber. Further ahead of us, we saw a fountain of stagnant water, and a skeleton draped with an ancient, dusty shroud, sitting on a stone throne. To our right, we saw a door, which was surrounded by two Olman statues showing what seemed like war wizards dressed in armor, and wielding wands. Sparkie scanned the room for magic, but detected none. We ventured forth and started examining our surroundings.
Zan approached the skeleton with greedy eyes, and fetched from its ribcage an old shortsword that was caked with a thick layer of dust. He cleaned it, and we discovered that it was still shiny under all the grime. It had been surprisingly well preserved. We believed it was made of cold iron, which can be very useful when fighting demons. Since the last time we were in an Olman ruin, we did fight a demon, we figured we’d make sure to use the weapon if such a situation were to happen again. Ulfgar secured the weapon at his belt.
Meanwhile, Sparkie had examined the fountain. He had searched the depths of its basin, which was filled with disgusting water. Inside, he found only what looked like the hand of a stone statue. It looked like a woman’s hand, which was performing a strange gesture. It fit neither of the room’s statues. Amused, the elf played with the strange hand for a while, as it reminded him of the time he’d grown an extra hand from his shoulder, due to the mysterious mutation induced by the bite of the vicious creatures of Kraken’s Cove, a few months before.
While this was going on, I had been taking a look at the statues, but I did not discover anything interesting about them, other than the fact that they’d been hacked at with weapons.
Tyria then noticed that there were some old writings on the wall, covered in a thick layer of dust. She and Sparkie cleaned up the walls with several Prestidigitation spells. Tyria read the markings, which were in Olman. They spoke of the complex we were in, which were the crypts for the lords of a place called Omokachan – probably the ancient name of the ruined city in which Lithira now lived. Apparently, this used to be a port, although it was now several miles inland. It used to be ruled by “The Lords of the Sea and Wind”.
Near the end of the carvings, the name of Kiltalmak was mentioned. He had once been the caretaker of this place. The writings also said that soon, this place would be sealed, after the Great Outbreak. We discussed this, but none of us had ever heard of such an event.
We then diverted our attention toward the door. Zan played with it for a while, but it was Lagaan who managed to disarm the bar that was holding it shut from the other side. Then, Raguhl opened it with a kick, revealing a set of dark stairs leading further down. A gust of dusty wind blew in from the depths.
“Here comes TROUBLE!!!” roared Raguhl into the darkness.
Before venturing further, though, Sparkie asked me if I could speak with the spirit of the long-deceased skeleton on the throne. I chuckled and asked the elf, whose childlike impatience is legendary, if he would be able to wait ten minutes for me to finish the ritual before growing bored and exploring down the steps without me.
Once he’d reassured me, I began the preparations. First, I cast a Tongues spell on myself, guessing that I would need to address the spirit in Olman. Then, for several minutes, I chanted ancient necromantic prayers, and reached out to the spirit out the distant past. Finally, I made contact with it, and the skeleton animated under the influence of my spell. It spoke before I even began to question it.
“So long, in the abyss of time. I am back… Ask, and let me be.” it said in its otherworldly voice, using the ancient Olman tongue.
“What is the way to reach the treasures of this place?” I asked.
“There are no treasures; only the dead rest here. And past the great iron doors, the master of this place stays and watches. For this place he called home, to study the arcane arts.”
“What are the powers of the caretaker of this place?”
“He sealed himself right before my death and he’s probably dead by now. Dead…”
“Who killed you?”
“My friend, a fellow guardian of this place, who was turned by the evil tide of green that swept over our realm.”
“What was this tide that you speak of?”
”It came like the Caretaker said it would, for he had foreseen it in the stars.
The skeleton then resumed its initial position, and remained unmoving.
I then translated what I’d learned to the others. I was not thrilled to hear that there were no treasures here, but the others convinced me to continue nonetheless. Perhaps what he did not consider treasure might be useful to us, or perhaps someone had come here after his death, and had perished here, leaving behind some precious magical items.
“Perhaps this caretaker locked himself inside this crypt to avoid being contaminated by this ‘green tide’,” suggested Lagaan. “Hmm, I wonder if this plague, or the Great Outbreak as the writings called it, is in some way related to the green aura of chaos that was released in Kraken’s Cove when Vanthus broke the black pearl. The one that transformed Brissa Santos.”
“Aye, that’s exactly what I was wondering,” I said.
“Oh yeah, the chaos aura, I’d forgotten all about that!” said Tyria.
Sparkie smirked at her. “Oh, really? Well, it’s a good thing that you’re not like, a bard, whose job it is to remember stuff, right?”
Tyria stuck out her tongue at him.
We then continued to explore the dungeon. A short flight of stairs brought us to a cave inside which stood a gaping chasm. Crossing the void were two ancient stone bridges, each of which lead to a set of thick wooden double-doors.
Or at least, that’s what Ulfgar, Zan and Sparkie told the rest of us, because those of us with normal eyesight could not see that far. The place was very dark, and our lights did not reach the other side.
We then discussed the solidity of the stone bridges. Ulfgar said that they didn’t look solid, but Lagaan and Sparkie disagreed. I know nothing of architecture, so I took no part in the discussion. Although dwarves are known for their knowledge of stone craft, I think Ulfgar is the exception, and is some kind of freak among his race: he is clearly uneasy about being underground, and therefore, the rest of us paid little heed to his warnings, which ended up indeed being incorrect.
We sent Lagaan to scout ahead on the bridge to our right. We’d tied a rope to his waist, and the two warriors held it solidly in case the floor gave way under the thief’s feet, and I had cast a Light spell on his right bracer.
Lagaan played with the door for a while. After some time, he called back: “It’s stuck… I can’t get it open.”
“I’ll take care of it!” exclaimed Sparkie, who crossed the bridge with no rope, and joined Lagaan. Using the power of his magical axe, Sparkie opened a magical hole where the door had stood just a moment before. “There you go, my friend! Problem solved!” said the elf happily.
Unfortunately, before the rest of us could join them and explore what stood beyond the hole, we all heard some disturbing slithering sounds coming from above. A frightening vision soon appeared within sight: two gargantuan centipedes were climbing down from the sides of the chasm, which opened far above us into the darkness. One of the monsters moved toward Lagaan and Sparkie, and the other came toward the rest of us.
One of the enormous creatures was coming straight for Tyria and me! We were standing on a relatively narrow ledge, and I didn’t want to block the way for the warriors to attack the beast. I stepped back and cast a Shield of Faith spell on Raguhl. The halfling was slower to react, and the gigantic insect bit her painfully. Raguhl roared and moved into range. He tried to tumble past the attacks of the centipede, but failed to avoid them, and got bitten as well. The barbarian’s axe struck the vermin’s shell, but failed to penetrate it. Tyria, holding a hand over her bloody wound, retreated away from the melee and cast a Haste spell on us. Zan and Ulfgar also moved in to attack. The rogue missed, but Ulfgar struck the creature with a solid blow, and sickly green blood started oozing from the wound.
Lagaan and Sparkie were too far to be affected by Tyria’s spell, and from the sounds we heard, the fight did not seem to be going well for them. I briefly looked their way and saw that they had retreated beyond the hole that Sparkie had created, to try and escape from the centipede on their side. However, I heard Lagaan curse and Sparkie cast a spell, and I saw the flash of one of his Scorching Rays illuminate the room. Apparently, they’d run into something nasty in there. To make matters worse, the centipede was able to attack them through the hole. I heard Sparkie scream as the vermin’s mandibles bit him. He had been badly wounded, and as I learned soon after, had been poisoned. His body was already starting to constrict from the devastating effects of the toxin.
But I had more pressing matters to focus on: the centipede that was on our side had to be dealt with. The sheer size of the monster was unbelievable. It was even larger than Penkus! It bit Ulfgar, but the sturdy dwarf managed to shrug off the poison, just as Raguhl and Tyria had done. Raguhl struck the monster with two powerful blows, and Tyria hit it with a Sound Burst. I tried to get closer to Raguhl to heal him, but the slavering mandibles of the monster were wildly smashing around, and I had to advance very carefully, so I did not reach the barbarian immediately.
Suddenly, Ulfgar struck his axe with great fury against the side of the creature’s neck, and with a roar, he cleaved it in two! The being’s many legs were still writhing wildling in agony, but the creature was dead!
I cast a quick healing spell on Raguhl, then we all hurried over the stone bridge to try and help Lagaan and Sparkie. We saw more flames flashing from beyond the door, as well as some incantations muttered by a vile, rasping voice. I heard Lagaan’s voice shouting: “it’s getting closer, Sparkie!”. But between us and our allies stood the second giant centipede, which Raguhl attacked with his axe. Tyria started to sing, and shot some arrows at the vermin. Zan stabbed the creature with his rapier, and suddenly, we saw the monster rear its head out of the opening, and it was pierced with several arrows. One of Lagaan’s arrows must’ve hit with deadly precision, for the giant vermin fell over the bridge, dead.
The thief’s victory was a brief one, because just after he’d dispatched the creature, we heard him yell, and then his yells became muffled, and turned into strange gurgling sounds as though he were drowning.
I tried to reach Lagaan and Sparkie, but the centipede’s body was blocking the way. While the two warriors and Zan were trying to push it over the edge, I saw that a tall, emaciated woman with dark skin and an ioun stone floating around her head was casting fiery blasts at a large dark blob, out of which I saw one of Lagaan’s hands sticking out and gesturing wildly.
Though my first impression was that the woman was an enemy, the ioun stone and its body language made me realize that it was in fact Sparkie. I then remembered that he’d spoken to us while we’d been on the Sea Wyvern about his research on the Polymorph spell, and one of the shapes he was most interested in was the Annis hag, whose combat defenses were excellent, and who could still allow him to cast spells. Apparently, that had been one of the most popular forms used by the skilled wizards of the Witchwardens in Sasserine.
Finally, the men managed to push the centipede down over the edge of the bridge. While Sparkie was busy blasting the disgusting blob with fire bolts, I moved in around him and grasped Lagaan’s hand, infusing him with my greatest prayer of healing. I tried to pull him toward me, to save him from being digested by the horrible creature, but then the slimy monster moved over me and engulfed me within its disgusting body. Lagaan’s hand was still clutching mine, and we held on to each other as we thought we were going to perish together inside that monstrous abomination. For a few moments, I was surrounded by the vile acidic goo. My skin began to burn, and I couldn’t breathe. Thankfully, my equipment was not damaged by it, nor was I gravely wounded, because it soon lost its consistence, and dissolved to the ground around me: Raguhl and Zan had killed it.
Lagaan and I recovered from the ordeal. We were coated with the disgusting substance. Thank Umberlee, none of our precious possessions had gotten dissolved in the relatively short time they’d been in contact with the black pudding, as Sparkie called it. The thief’s skin was red, and he was coughing painfully: he had almost perished, absorbed by the creature. Thankfully, I was in much better state that him, as my contact with the monster had been much shorter.
Raguhl snarled. “What kind of weird creature was that?” He was holding his axe, which was still smoking from the contact with the creature: the mighty magical weapon had not been destroyed, but it might’ve been.
Sparkie then explained that fire is the best way to destroy a black pudding. Weapons just cause it to break into smaller puddings, which can attack on their own. I am thankful that we had Sparkie with us to deal with that monstrosity…
I healed myself, Lagaan, Sparkie and the warriors, while Tyria healed herself. As usual, the Jade Ravens, in this case represented by Zan, had taken no damage and had not been in any danger in the whole fight. Typical. Sparkie, who had now regained his elven form, had also been badly damaged by the centipede’s poison. He was crippled and moved painfully and clumsily. I cast several spells to restore his body to usefulness. The fight had taken a heavy toll on us: those vile creatures had been very dangerous indeed.
The Island of Dread is well-named. Since we’ve arrived here, we seem to encounter absolutely horrible creatures, which seem much more dangerous than what we’d been fighting before, on the Chult Peninsula. It’s a good thing that we’ve all gained in skill and power since the past few months of hard adventuring. If we’d had to fight these enemies earlier on in our career, we would’ve surely perished.
Tyria summoned an invisible servant to clean the room by pushing the goo into the chasm, one handful at a time. We came back later, but there were no treasures to be found here: if there had been at some point, the vile entity had surely dissolved them eons ago.
Zan opened the door that we found in the pudding’s room. It led to a small room with more doors and more dusty statues. We opened the door to the south and found ourselves in some kind of crypt. A dark and narrow tunnel twisted its way before us, and its walls were lined with many alcoves containing ancient bones.
“Can you make skeletons out of these?” asked Ulfgar.
“With the state those bones are in, they would be rather useless,” I replied. Indeed, I doubted that the simple magic of my wand could create potent undead here.
However, it soon became clear that some ancient, fouler magic was at work in this ancient burial chamber.
We explored the tunnel, walking in single file. Zan, Ulfgar, Raguhl and Tyria walked before me. Behind me came Sparkie, and Lagaan at the rear. I heard ahead of me that Zan had found a secret passage. But as soon as he activated it, dark shapes loomed out of the shadowy recesses of the crypt: out of some of the alcoves came some ancient mummies, the undying guardians of this place.
Few mortals can resist the terrifying presence of such vile fiends: only Ulfgar, Sparkie and I kept our wits when we were attacked.
One of the mummies charged Ulfgar, but he blocked the blow with his shield. Another one attacked Raguhl, but thankfully, its fist bounced off the lizardman’s chain shirt. I then held the holy symbol of Umberlee high before me, and called out one of her mightiest prayers. Two of the mummies were immediately frozen, and they watched my mistress’s symbol in awe, oblivious to the combat around them.
Behind me, I heard Sparkillo fighting with a mummy. He blasted it with fire, and managed to dodge its attacks thanks to his great agility (and his newly acquired ioun stone). Ulfgar hit the mummy that had charged him; that one and the one against Sparkie were still unaffected by my symbol’s power. Soon afterwards, Raguhl and Zan regained their senses and joined the fight. I continued channeling some dark energy through my symbol, and finally managed to paralyze the one Ulfgar was fighting. From that point on, it was easy for Raguhl, Ulfgar and Zan to cut down the three mummies that were at the front of the group. Meanwhile, Sparkie destroyed the fourth mummy with his mighty fire spells.
At last, Tyria and Lagaan emerged from their fear-induced paralysis. To our amusement, we saw that Sparkie had drawn some moustaches on Lagaan with a piece of charcoal, while the thief had been paralyzed. The bitter young man later tried to get even by picking Sparkie’s pockets, but the keen-eyed elf caught him in the act.
“Oh, Lagaan, are you trying to get my attention?” sneered Sparkie. “Do you need me to prestidigitate the p**p out of your pants?”
Only Ulfgar had gotten wounded in the fight, and thanks to his sturdy constitution, he did not seem to be suffering any effects from the dreaded mummy rot disease. Thanks to the power of Umberlee, these powerful foes had been easily defeated!
We found three gold necklaces on the mummies, and ventured past the secret door that Zan had discovered. It led to a small crypt at the middle of which was a large stone sarcophagus. It was adorned with the carving of a man dressed in feathered robes; he wielded a rod and a dagger.
Inside his sarcophagus, we found the bones of the long-dead mage, who had been called Teona Hwanhi, according to the writings I saw. We looted his belongings, which included a silver dagger, a wand of heroism, and a pearl of power attuned to arcane magic. We gave the pearl to Tyria, since it was more powerful than the one she already had, and she gave her old one to Sparkillo.
We returned to the middle room, and Zan – who, for some reason, asked to borrow Lagaan’s thieves tools – opened the remaining door. We entered a room with four more statues. They represented two men and two women, all of them obviously Olman mages. They were all depicted in the act of casting various spells. After some examination, we all agreed that they were casting, from left to right, Disrupt Undead, Ray of Enfeeblement, False Life and Gentle Repose. Four necromantic spells, of increasing power. Interesting. It sounded like some kind of riddle.
We also noticed that one of the women was missing a hand. We placed the hand that Sparkie had found earlier, in a pool of water, and I fixed it to her wrist with a simple Mending spell.
I then easily solved the riddle: we had to cast the appropriate spell on the appropriate statue. Sparkillo cast the first three, as he knew them. As he did so, with every spell, the eyes of one of the animals carved on the massive iron double-door to the south flared with pulsating energy. Afterwards, I cast the Gentle Repose spell on the last statue, because Sparkie does not know that spell. The eyes of the largest animal depicted on the door, a scorpion, flared to life, and the great door opened before us.
We entered what seemed to be the inner sanctum of the caretaker of this crypt. The large room had a complex metal device at its center: it showed Toril, the world we live in, as a huge globe, surrounded by other spheres representing the sun, the moons, and the brightest stars, which could all pivot around it. It was fascinating. Several moons and stars were aligned in a very special position. We discussed this, but none of us had knowledge of astronomy. Tyria, however, seemed to believe that such an alignment happened around a thousand years ago, and had not happened since.
Out of all of us, Sparkie was the one who was most interested in the mysterious device, and he began drawing diagrams of it one of his books. Ulfgar soon grew restless and decided to explore past the four doors that opened in the room’s walls, while the wizard worked. We went along with him.
The first door only led to a decrepit old kitchen, but the second led to what must once have been a magnificent bedroom. A large, dusty bed stood in the center of the room, and several cabinets were still around as well. When we started searching the room, though, a translucent apparition materialized among us. He looked like another one of those Olman mages, but his robe was much more richly adorned that any we’d seen so far, and he wore a bat skull on his headband. A glimmer of madness was clearly visible in his eyes, as he looked at us.
“Desecrators!” he shrieked in the Olman tongue, which I still understood, as my Tongues spell was still active. “You shall die for this! I am the great master of this place!”
He then moved forward and grasped Lagaan’s throat with his ghostly hand. The unfortunate thief gave an anguished wail, and his face went deathly pale. He managed to draw his rapier and pierced the ghost’s body with it. Raguhl and Ulfgar both roared with rage, and also hacked at the apparition with their magical weapons, and they seemed to be affecting it. Zan also attacked and hit. I presented the symbol of Umberlee before me again, but the ancient mage seemed unaffected by it.
Reeling from the attacks he’d just suffered, he did not seem to register the pain as a mortal, and sane, man would do. He merely glared at us and uttered: “I recognize you! You’re the ones! I’ve seen you!!” and then he started blinking in and out of existence, hovering between our world and the alternate dimension that is the ethereal plane. When he was visible, his face was shifting into that of a monstrous skeleton.
“I’ve seen you in the mirrors!!” he spat. He then gave a demented laugh, and disappeared for good.
For the next minute or so, we remained on our guard, expecting the dreaded revenant to reappear, but he did not. We then became aware of the fact that Lagaan was shivering uncontrollably. His face was still very pale, and he was sweating. But something else was amiss.
“You look different, Lagaan,” observed Raguhl. “I don’t know what it is…”
“I do,” said Tyria. “You look older, somewhat.”
“Huh? Older? What are you talking about?” asked Lagaan.
I examined his face. He did look older, more mature. Instead of a boy still in his teens, the thief now looked like a man in his mid-twenties.
I smiled. “Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” I said, as I presented to him the small mirror that I always carry with me.
He took it with trembling hands and looked at his reflection for a long moment.
“What… what happened to me?” he mumbled.
“I think it made you older,” repeated Tyria. “I’ve heard some stories of young people aging decades, until their hair was white and their bones brittle, from the touch of a ghost.”
“Nonsense…” muttered Lagaan, with a look of disbelief.
“Yes, Tyria, those are but old wives’ tales. Ghosts don’t have that kind of power,” I added.
“Well, how else do you explain it?” she asked.
I shrugged and turned back to Lagaan. As I took back the mirror, I told him: “Well, it’s not so bad, Lagaan. Thanks to that ghost, now you’re almost a man.”
Anger such as I’ve rarely seen flashed in the thief’s eyes. Clearly, I had touched a nerve. He replied with such fierce vulgarity that I would rather not write down those foul words in my journal. I’d no idea the Shadowshore slang could be so… colorful. Perhaps I’d gone too far this time. I decided not to push him further.
We examined the ancient bedroom and found the wizard’s remains on the bed. We discovered that he’d once worn magical items, but that they’d become unusable over the eons. We found what remained of his spellbook in one of the cabinets, but it crumbled to dust. Poor Sparkie. We did find a few jewels for our trouble, though. In the hopes of putting the dangerous ghost’s spirit to rest, we brought his remains to the crypt.
Then, we opened the third door, and entered a room with three strange mirrors. One of them was covered with a cloth, and another was broken. We could see our distorted reflection in it. The third mirror was peculiar: it did not reflect us, but rather, it showed a bird’s eye view of an ancient ruined city which we immediately recognized: Tomoachan! The mirror showed the central pyramid, and we understood that it must’ve been through it that the ghost had seen us. Three scrying mirrors were quite a useful find indeed…
We then decided to look into the third mirror, which was covered with a cloth.
There are some beings of the outer planes whose nature is so alien, whose power is so overwhelming, that mortal minds are pushed past the limits of their sanity when they but gaze upon them.
Through the third mirror, we caught the eyes of such a being.
I only vaguely remember a humanoid shape with writhing tentacles for arms, and two distorted monkey heads, hideously joined by a gaping mouth-like strand of flesh. Its eyes were pure madness. My ears were filled with mad screams, whether they were my own or those of my companions, I do not know.
When we recovered, Sparkillo had entered the room to see what had agitated us so. He had been the only one who hadn’t looked into the mirror, as he was still busy drawing diagrams of the apparatus in the main room. But the rest of us all had been driven temporarily mad by the terrible being. We were panting and sweating.
Ulfgar dared looked again past the curtain (which had mercifully fallen back to cover the mirror), and Sparkie looked as well. They were not driven into a panic, but that was because the demon had left. Three of its pets were now standing within sight. Ulfgar told us that they looked like big demonic lizards. Sparkie said they were extremely large Skulvin Demons.
We then talked about the demon. Some of us thought that it must have been Demogorgon, the strongest of the Demon Lords. But Sparkie and Tyria pointed out a few minor discrepancies: rather, the creature must be an aspect of Demogorgon, one of his heralds.
Two things were especially disturbing about the encounter: first, he had clearly seen us through the mirror, as clearly as we’d seen him.
Second, we vaguely remembered that he’d been inside some kind of Olman ruin. I felt a sense of dread at that thought, because somehow, intuitively, I felt that it meant that the fiend was right here, on the island.
And I remembered what Lithira had said:
“You should know that unnatural things lurk in dark places of the island. Be wary. I know that Four-Eyes have gazed upon you, and their servants seek you out. You would do well to avoid them.”
Had she been talking about this two-headed demon?
Were there more than one??
Still recovering from the shock, we went past the fourth door and entered the final room of the complex. It was an ancient library, and on all four walls, shelves were lined with hundreds of perfectly preserved books. An ancient enchantment protected them from time. The place was lit by five glowing skulls enchanted with eternal flames.
As soon as we picked up one of the books, it became clear that these skulls were more than mere lamps. They animated and floated up in the air, and attacked us. They were deadly foes: they could cast spells of fire, and also of defensive illusions. One by one, they let out powerful blasts of flame that engulfed most of the room. The books were protected from the fire by the ancient enchantment; but we were not.
I managed to avoid some of the flames by ducking under a table, but I was seared very painfully nevertheless. Only Lagaan and Zan, with their unmatched agility, were able to avoid the blasts altogether. Raguhl also was barely burnt thanks to his magical ring. Ulfgar and I suffered from the flames, but kept on fighting. Sparkie and Tyria, however, are not as strong as we are, and they were felled by the inferno.
The fight raged on, and our warriors and rogues attacked the skulls with their weapons. Sparkie had also blasted them with a few spells before collapsing. I tried to control them with my holy symbol, but they resisted my magic. After healing myself, I rushed to Tyria’s side and brought her back to consciousness with another prayer. She’d merely been knocked unconscious. I then rushed to Sparkie’s side and reached him just as Raguhl destroyed the last skull.
I prepared to heal the mage as well, but Lagaan grabbed my wrist at the last moment. I looked at him in surprise.
“Wait!” he said. “I want do draw a moustache on him before he regains consciousness!”
Sighing and shaking my head, I cast a healing spell on Sparkie, since I was not ready to risk losing our only wizard for a stupid prank. He blinked and weakly got back to his feet, with my help.
The fight had been quick, but brutal. Tyria and I healed everyone’s wounds, and then we examined the books. Many of them were on the subject of necromancy, some originated from the long-dead Nethereal Empire, or ancient elven realms I’d never even heard about. We discovered that, once they were removed from the shelves, they ceased to be magically protected, and were easily damaged and rendered useless. With a few careful applications of the Make Whole spell, however, I was able to save a few of them. We only took three of them for now, because I was too drained of energy to repair more than that: a book on Tanathos, another one discussing liches, and a third one that described nautical currents and navigation.
Then, Sparkie realized that the skulls were slowly regenerating: he destroyed them all with Dispel Magic.
By then, I was exhausted, unable to draw upon the powers of Umberlee any more. We decided to rest in one of Sparkie’s magical Rope Trick holes. Although the place felt safe, we still decided to keep watches, just in case. If Lagaan was able to find his way inside such a refuge, I was sure that other, more dangerous creatures could do the same.
As we ate, I found myself thinking back about the two-headed demon. Such raw power. I’d never seen such a powerful demon. Except the distant connection I always felt toward Umberlee, it was the most powerful entity I’d ever been in contact with. If it wanted to destroy us, surely it could do so easily.
Some of my companions discussed the creature and wondered if we would be able to destroy it, in the right conditions. They are fools. We will never be able to best such a terrible enemy. Our only hopes are to either avoid it, or make a pact with it. Perhaps it could find a use for us as servants.
But I kept my thoughts to myself, knowing that my uncouth companions could not understand how utterly foolish their simplistic hopes were.
Tyria started reading the nautical book as we ate, and she told me that it spoke of a magical current that powerful Olman wizards had created, eons ago. Apparently, she thinks it could be used to travel from the Island of Dread back to the Chult Peninsula in much less time than it took us to come here. Interesting! Of course, I would have to study it myself to determine exactly how many days we would save. Tyria’s nautical knowledge just wasn’t advanced enough to determine that.
I also overheard a whispered discussion between Lagaan and Sparkillo. The thief approached him about the aging effect that he’d suffered, and asked if the elf knew of any way to reverse it. As I suspected, Sparkie dazzled him with wild stories of mysterious elven liches, but did not give him any concrete way of restoring his lost youth.
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Huzzah! Someone's still reading this thread!
Yeah, the fight against the Kopru was pretty hard. If we hadn't had Penkus, we would probably have died. Man, those Dire Apes were nasty. I was actually very lucky, because except on the last round, the DM rolled absolute crap for their attacks (missing 3 attacks per round on Belessa's crappy AC17 requires some _really_ bad rolls).
What adventure are you guys doing now? I believe as far back as last november, you guys were already doing the Lightless Depths? You are so far ahead of us.
In 2 weeks will be the 1st anniversary of our campaign. And in october, Tyria and Sparkie's players (who are a couple in RL) will be moving to China for a year. Their characters will leave the group. It's going to be very different without them.
We are currently trying to convince another friend of ours to play a wizard for our group. He's playing Raguhl for now. I hope that when his wife comes back from a long trip in september, she will let him play on a regular basis!
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We got as far as the Temple of Broken Idols and then we went on hiatus. I'm not sure when we'll pick up the campaign again but if we do we might be in the same boat, loosing a couple, namely Kiki and Kale, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
A hiatus? :(
Are you guys playing something else for now, or not playing at all?
And it's not even sure that the campaign will continue? Man, it would suck if you guys didn't finish it. :( I sure hope we will finish ours (even though it will likely take us into 2010).
Why wouldn't Kiki and Kale's players be there? Sorry if I am asking questions you already answered on your own thread, but I've been avoiding the spoilery last pages :)
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As for Kiki and Kale, they have a child, which means they either host or find baby sitters. It can be a bit of a hassle and can cause a fair bit of stress. They both love RPGs but they might not be able to commit to a regular game for a while.
Oh, ok.
I guess that is the (relatively small) downside of having a girlfriend/wife who also enjoys RPG's: she wants to play too (although I find that much preferable to a girlfriend who thinks it's a stupid waste of time and resents the 5 hours every 2-3 weeks the guy spends on it ;) ).So you guys are starting to play Pathfinder games? Which ones? Are you starting Rise of the Runelords? I'm currently playing that campaign too: we could share our experiences there as well. :)
Is the same DM from Savage Tide going to be the DM of Shackled City and/or Pathfinder?
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Excellant work, Moonbeam! I just finished reading everything yesterday. I've been following Guy's "Lidu Diaries" as well, and I must say it's amazing how a different group, with a different outlook, can turn the same AP into an almost completely different story. Keep up the good work!
Thanks a lot, I'm glad you like this!
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I'm running RotRL, he's running shackled city, but we're not very far into either. Still on the first half of the first adventures in both.
Oh, you're DM'ing Rise of the Runelords? Cool! I am too! We have so much in common. :)
If you're interested, I am also posting a log of my RotRL campaign here.
We are about halfway through Fortress of the Stone Giants right now.
Eleint 19th, 1375 – Back to the wreck
Yesterday, we returned to the Sea Wyvern. During our absence, the crew was attacked again, this time by giant crabs. Moretta was able to direct Penkus to slay them, but they had time to kill two more of our workers. This is starting to get most inconvenient.
On the bright side, the incident seemed to motivate the crew, and they are now working harder than ever, trying to finish the job as fast as possible, so they can return to the safety of Farshore.
We brought back with us twenty-one books from the ancient library, as well as the magical mirror that was showing the central pyramid of Tomoachan. Sparkillo used Shrink Item spells to allow us to transport all of these items.
Upon leaving the caretaker’s chambers, we sealed the magical door behind us, thinking that perhaps we’d come back later to take more of these books. Sparkillo has begun researching the Teleport spell, and although it is yet beyond his means, he thinks that within a few months, he might discover its secrets, and be able to return directly to this library.
We paid Zan in gems for his contribution to our mission, however small it was. Sparkie asked him to keep his knowledge of the library secret, which I think was a mistake, because it gave the thief a hint of how valuable those ancient books really are. Thankfully, I doubt that the inept Jade Ravens will be able to get past the portal of the four statues… But Sparkie promised Zan to build a special wing in his name when he’ll return to Sasserine; indeed, the wizard already has visions of grandeur and is planning to create a grand library.
Eleint 22nd, 1375 – Time Lost
Sparkie, Tyria and I have been reading some of the ancient books over the past few days. Surprisingly, only a handful are written in the Olman tongue. The others are of various origins, and written in elven, dwarven, or old netherese. I’ve had to use magic to understand any of those tongues.
Those I’ve read have turned out to be not so interesting. Most describe landscapes that no longer exist, as the world has changed much since they were written. They might have some historical value, but nothing concrete. We’ll hopefully be able to find a buyer for them in Sasserine. Those that Tyria’s been reading deal directly with history, and we suspect that they will fetch an even higher price.
Seven of the tomes deal with necromancy, and Sparkie’s been reading them avidly ever since we’ve returned. One in particular holds his interest, as it describes the process for becoming a lich. I wonder why our long-lived friend is already so obsessed with immortality, while he still has centuries of life ahead of him…
Another book describes ways of restoring one’s youth. Lagaan and I have discussed this at great length with Sparkie. Lagaan seems hesitant to consider performing the rituals described there, as they are probably too sinister for his tastes.
- - - - -
Later that night, the thief and I found ourselves standing watch together on the deck of the ship. A cool breeze was playing with our hair, and in the distance, we could hear the strange sounds of nocturnal birds coming from the jungle.
“I don’t think I can do it, Belessa,” he told me. “That book is horrible… the dark rituals it describes… Seriously! It’s insane! Killing babies? Drinking their blood? Butchering innocent people by the dozen?? It’s not worth it.”
I sneered. “Nobody said regaining one’s lost youth was easy, Lagaan. If it were, everyone would do it.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he replied with a shrug. He stared off into the dark distance.
After a while, he continued. “It’s just so unfair. I’ve had to struggle all my life. I grew up on the muddy streets of Shadowshore. I never knew my father. I had to fight for survival every single day. And now that I finally get a lucky break… Now that I start getting rich and living the good life… This happens to me. Damn it!”
“I understand,” I said.
“Pfff, no you don’t. You lived an easy life in your fancy temple.”
I turned toward him with outrage in my heart.
“What temple? You think I was born and raised in a temple of Umberlee? Not so, my friend. You and I are much more alike than you think. I never knew my father either, and just like you, I was raised in some slums. I too had to fight for survival every single day as a child. And let me tell you, when I started looking like a woman, it only got worse.
“My mother was a lazy whore who barely took care of her daughters. We had to fend for ourselves. My older sister was a fat, mean bully who made my childhood miserable. She was a monster – I’m pretty sure her father must’ve been a half-orc. My younger sister was a frail little flowery thing; she was stupid and weak. I had to take care of her because neither my mother nor my older sister would. And in the end, it turned out to be a complete waste of time because she was too stupid to even be thankful!
“You think you had it hard in Shadowshore? Let me tell you, my boy, that place is a posh neighborhood compared to the slums of Westgate. We didn’t just have to deal with human scum there. We had a foul-tempered fire giant who lived down the street. We had beholders roaming the streets at night, one wrong look and you were dead! And we had some disgusting squid-faced sorcerers who ate little children’s brains as food – I lost count of the number of my childhood friends who just disappeared and were never heard from again.”
Lagaan was looking at me with wide eyes. “Okay, I’m sorry, Belessa. I guess you had a rough life too…”
I nodded and looked at the young man for a long time in silence. I hadn’t expected to blurt out so much. I’ve tried so hard to keep my past a secret since I’ve arrived in Sasserine. I couldn’t believe I was telling the obnoxious young thief all of this. And yet I felt a need to tell him more. I needed to ease the burden on my soul.
“I’m sorry too,” I finally said. “It’s just… It’s not easy for me. I feel like the rest of you don’t trust me. Even after everything I’ve done to help you all, healing your wounds, your diseases, and everything. Why won’t you accept me for what I am?”
“Well, it’s because all that we know about you is your religion,” replied Lagaan. “Come on, you saw how that priestess treated us back in Sasserine. She would’ve killed me and Sparkie if Ulfgar hadn’t saved us! And you sacrificed those prisoners aboard the ship. Did you really need to do that?”
I gazed into his eyes. “Yes, I did. Don’t tell me you feel bad for the b#!%# who killed you, Lagaan? She had it coming. She already escaped prison once. We knew that the only way to deal with her was to kill her. And Lars No-Neck… please… He was an insult to pirates everywhere. Even if he hadn’t tried to destroy our ship, he deserved to die!”
Lagaan chuckled.
“And just be happy I let you all convince me to keep Father Feres alive. I really wanted to kill that one!”
He laughed again. “But you see, Belessa? That’s why we’re uncomfortable with you. Sure, you heal us and all, but then you talk like a murderer sometimes. Don’t you realize that some of the stuff you say sounds really… evil?”
“Evil?” I chuckled. “Evil… No, it’s not evil to want to kill someone who wanted to kill you. It’s not evil to sacrifice an unworthy person in order to save a whole crew from perishing in a storm. That’s not evil at all!”
Lagaan smirked and shook his head. “Well, it’s a question of perspective I guess.”
After a few moments of silence, I continued: “Mother Zanda is a zealot, though. I’m not mean like her, I hope you see the difference?”
“Yeah, I guess I do…”
“I was furious at the way she treated you. I too was afraid that you and Sparkie would die. But what could I do? She is so powerful, and I had not recovered my powers yet at that time. I couldn’t stop her.”
I then realized that now I’d really said too much. Lagaan was regarding me with a puzzled expression.
“What do you mean, ‘recovered your powers’?” he asked.
I smirked and shook my head at my own stupidity. I’d said too much. I sighed and explained to him my situation.
“You see, Lagaan, when you met me a few months ago, though my powers were weak, I was not a young beginner like you.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” he said, implying he thought I was old.
I glared at him, and he smiled insolently.
“Your jokes about my age are quite pointless now, boy, because physically, we’re about the same age.”
He realized that I had a point and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. So, how come you lost your powers?”
“I used to be a powerful priestess of Umberlee. I had about the same powers that I have now… But as you know, my faith has many enemies. Some of them attacked my temple, and they managed to kill me.”
“What??” exclaimed the young man, with wide eyes.
I gave him a grim smile. “Yes. They killed me. I’m damaged goods.”
And then I moved closer to him, and lowered the velvet choker I constantly wear around my neck. It was a strange gesture, it felt oddly sexual, even though all I was showing him was the thin scar that remained around my neck.
Lagaan let out a low curse. “Wow… those guys cut off your head! Sheesh… So what happened, did someone resurrect you?”
“Yes. I had a lover, a powerful warrior. He recovered my corpse and managed to get me resurrected.”
“Incredible… Wow, we really do have a lot in common… We’ve both been dead.”
I nodded somberly. It was a strangely magical moment between Lagaan and me, alone under the stars, talking about my secrets.
“So… where is your lover now?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I think he’s dead.”
“How come you’re not sure?”
“He was working on a ship that was attacked by the Crimson Pirates. I was back in Calimshan at the time…”
“Well, at least that saved your life. But why didn’t you go with him?”
“I was kind of… pregnant.”
“What?? You have a kid?? How come you never told us?”
I hesitated to answer him. But in the end, I decided that I was tired of hiding. I wanted him to know who I really was.
“I was only a mother for a few moments. As soon as I gave birth, my son was sacrificed by some other priests of Umberlee. She had stripped me of my powers after my defeat, and she required a tremendous sacrifice in order to restore my powers. But I did not make that decision; the cultists in Calimshan did it for me.”
Lagaan was looking at me with his mouth hanging wide open.
“Yes, you see, my friend, there are some clerics of Umberlee who are really ‘evil’ as you say. Be happy that you’re with me. I’m a real sweetheart compared to those lunatics.”
“Wow, that’s really… messed up. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
An awkward silence followed.
“But if it had been up to you… You would have kept your baby, right?”
Again, I looked at him for a moment before answering.
“I’m not sure.”
Lagaan swallowed.
I smiled humorlessly. “What, was that an evil answer?” I asked jokingly.
“Kind of…” he replied.
“You know, Lagaan, we’ve had our differences here and there, and we’ve both said things we probably shouldn’t have. But the first time we met, I thought you looked like a really smart kid, and I felt you had some potential.”
“Oh yeah?” he said with a smile.
I nodded. “You haven’t disappointed me. You’re much better than Zan.”
We both chuckled.
“Yeah, that guy is pathetic,” he said. “He broke his thieves tools in the very first lock we found in those crypts!”
We laughed again, even louder.
After a while, he asked me: “Belessa… Were you really serious about those priests killing your baby? Or were you just pulling my leg?”
“I was dead serious. I just want you to realize that I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to get where I am today, and that I do NOT take my faith lightly, nor do I appreciate it being questioned.”
“Okay…”
“And also, that I understand your reticence at doing those rituals to regain your youth. They do sound disgusting, I agree.”
We spent the rest of our watch mostly in silence, thinking about what we’d said. I think Lagaan had a better idea of who I was and did not despise me as much, although I fear that he still considered me an evil person at some level.
Eleint 23rd, 1375 – Brissa barely alive
Brissa has returned today! The poor woman has suffered much during her travel through the jungle. We spotted her on the beach, and once we reached her, we saw that she was not only bruised and dirty, but that she wore a bandage over one eye: she’d lost that eye in a fight against a foul reptile. What’s more, she was very pale, and shook uncontrollably. We learned that recently, she’d been attacked by wraiths in the jungle, and they had stolen some of her life energy before she managed to flee.
We brought her back on board the Sea Wyvern, where Moretta and I healed her, cleaned her up and mended her clothes. We also fed her; she was famished. Alas, I could do nothing to restore her missing eye, nor could I restore her life energy, for I lack the diamond dust necessary to perform such a spell. I’ve heard that there is a diamond mine near Farshore, but until we reach the village, I will be unable to help her.
The unfortunate woman told us that she’d ventured deep into the island by accident, as she tried to reach Farshore. She believes that she got close to the center of the island, and saw a high plateau upon which danced eerie lights at night. She also saw some hideous Babau demons in that area, and was thankfully able to avoid them. Her years of survival as a thief in the slums of Sasserine saved her life through this ordeal: she managed to avoid detection by most of the monsters she ran into during all those days.
Eleint 25th, 1375 – Repairs ongoing
Today, the Blue Nixie left us to return to Farshore. The Jade Ravens were eager to leave this place, and I can’t blame them, because there isn’t much to do while the crew works on repairing our ship. Only three more days of work, according to Dranys.
Brissa is slowly recovering from the ordeal she went through, although she will remain forever scarred by it. The poor woman seems cursed by the gods themselves. We’ve saved her from the mutation at Kraken’s Cove, and now from becoming irremediably lost in the jungle, but how many more times will we be able to save her life?
Eleint 28th, 1375 – The Sea Wyvern sails again
Finally! After thirteen days, the workers have managed to repair the Sea Wyvern. We’ve extricated ourselves from that damned reef, and are now sailing toward Farshore. How wonderful it feels to be sailing again! We feel the gentle rolling of the waves beneath the hull of our mighty war vessel.
We are stopping often, for I must use much of my magical power to keep Penkus with us, as he follows the boat on foot, running on the surface of the sea.
Eleint 30th, 1375 – Arrival at Farshore
Today, at long last, we finally arrived at Farshore!
In the middle of the afternoon, we came within sight of the small community of wooden houses. As we approached the docks, we saw that a crowd of onlookers had gathered to receive us. But rather than the sound of cheering, we heard screams and worried voices; some of them pointed toward Penkus.
Once we were all on land, we were greeted by Lavinia and a group of villagers. I called out to the townsfolk not to be afraid of Penkus, that he was my guardian, but several children, and even a few grown women, fled the scene, screaming. Pathetic idiots!
Lavinia introduced us to the town’s most important citizens, whom we got to know better at the dinner she hosted that night. We noticed that the Jade Ravens and the Blue Nixie were not in town: the noblewoman informed us that they were on a mission in the region.
While workers unloaded the cargo from the Sea Wyvern, my companions and I were treated to a grand tour of the village. It was protected by a fifteen foot high wooden palisade. It contained two manors: the Vanderborens’ and the Meravanchis’. In the center of the town was the local church, a simple building with a high bell tower. Close to the docks were built several large warehouses. There was also an inn, the Last Coconut, near the docks. All in all, a rather rustic community, but that was to be expected of such a remote outpost.
Dinner at Lavinia’s was most pleasant. We’d finally gotten the chance to take a decent bath, which felt absolutely divine after our difficult journey through the jungle. Though Moretta and I had enjoyed a decent level of hygiene during the sea voyage, most of my companions had not bathed at all since they left Sasserine. It’s only when I met them again, once we were all clean, that I realize truly how badly they’d been stinking all this time. I’d almost grown accustomed to it.
Among the other people present was Lord Manthalay Meravanchi, Avner’s uncle. He was a gray-haired gentleman, perhaps fifty years old, with a stern, commanding demeanor. He had a much more imposing presence than his nephew. Also there were “professor” Hevrik Aldwattle, the town’s resident wizard, Father Vesserin Catherly, a half-elven cleric of Lathander, Telda Syren, also a half-elf, and the town’s herbalist, apothecary and midwife, as well as Militia Captain Ulvar Kabbania, the man in charge of the mercenaries guarding the city, and a member of Zelkarune’s Horns, like Ulfgar.
Also with us were Avner, Moretta, Amella, Chochanika, Urol, and a few people who’d sailed with Lavinia on the Blue Nixie.
That night, I found myself listening more than talking. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the town and its inhabitants. Some of the other guests asked us to tell them the tales of our travels, and Tyria spun them a story that lasted well past dessert.
I heard that the town’s warehouses were full of various merchandise ready to be sent to Sasserine. The local workers had been accumulating goods there for the past three years, as they had been expecting Lavinia’s parents to return month after month, in vain. Once Lavinia had returned, she had of course explained the reason for her parents’ long absence, namely, their deaths at the hand of her dastardly brother Vanthus.
The main goods that had been harvested from the island were spices, gems and exotic lumber. Lavinia was planning on sending the first shipment as soon as the Jade Ravens returned with the Blue Nixie. I also heard that recently, thieves had stolen some merchandise from the warehouses. They’d not been caught yet, and actually, the soldiers had no idea who was performing those thefts. I was happy that they’d started before our arrival, though. Otherwise, we might’ve been accused, especially due to Lagaan’s bad reputation as a thief.
Lavinia and Lord Meravanchi repeated what Dranys the carpenter had told us before: the reserves of ship-building lumber and tar were now very low, as they’d been depleted in the repairs of the Sea Wyvern. Since the Jade Ravens were otherwise occupied, the nobles needed Trouble to help secure those resources for them. Apparently, the lumber camp on the far side of the island of Temute, where Farshore was built, had recently been attacked by a tribe of kobolds who laired in nearby caves. We agreed to go and eliminate that threat, but after a period of rest: we were all weary from the trip.
I learned that 53 families lived in Farshore, including 220 human workers, and 20 adult half-elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings. In addition to these numbers were children and elderly people. Most of the humans living here had migrated from the Chult Peninsula, having been brought here when Farshore had been founded by Lavinia’s parents and Lord Meravanchi. A handful of Olman natives lived in Farshore, as well. From what I heard, the savages were adapting decently to civilized society, but there were seven other villages of those primitive people in the region: those had not yet been influenced by proper culture.
Some of those villages were located on a peninsula on the southeastern tip of the island, while others were on nearby islands. The peninsula was protected by a great wall built to keep dangerous dinosaurs out. Lord Meravanchi assured us that it was much safer than the rest of the island. The natives follow a shamanistic religion, but Lavinia told us with a smile that Liamae was traveling from tribe to tribe, trying to spread the faith of Tymora among them.
I felt my right hand clench into a fist around my fork. How I hated that stupid girl! Now she’d really crossed the line, trying to convert the savages before I even got a chance to meet them. Damn her!
Thankfully, I heard that she hadn’t met much success so far. The religious leaders of those people were called the Zombie Masters, and raised the dead as part of dark rituals, so that the living may continue to worship their ancestors beyond death. But obviously, the population of Farshore, squeamish fools that they are, disliked such beliefs. A few zombies had been raised in the local graveyard over the years, which had caused some panic among the simple townsfolk. Father Catherly “reassured” us that his associate had hallowed the graveyard to prevent any further undead from being created. Wonderful…
I also learned from Lavinia that there had been some tension recently between Tolin and Captain Kabbania, the mercenary leader. Apparently, the Jade Ravens’ arrogant leader believed that he was better suited to lead the defenses of the town.
Raguhl asked questions about the lizard folk on the island, claiming that he was eager to see some members of his race once again.
Lavinia kindly invited all members of Trouble to stay at her manor: she made several beautifully decorated bedrooms available to us. Unfortunately, the mansion wasn’t quite large enough for everyone, so Moretta, Amella and the rest of our crew had to rent rooms at the Last Coconut.
I slept blissfully that night on a soft mattress, under silken sheets…
Highharvestide, 1375 - Celebration
The timing of our arrival could not have been better, because the following day was the holiday of highharvestide. There was a frantic buzz of activity throughout the town that day, which my companions and I did not participate in very much, because we were simply relaxing from our recent ordeals.
The night’s celebrations were very pleasant, and we all had the chance to drink, dance and get to know the townsfolk better.
However, I felt that many people were avoiding me: clearly they were afraid of me, having surely heard of my dark powers, and they could all see the menacing shape of Penkus looming by the docks. I found myself wandering if people had been saying bad things about me behind my back. Who could it have been? Liamae? Avner? Surely not Lavinia?...
Marpenoth 2nd, 1375 – Stubborn weaklings
For the past two days, I’ve spent a lot of time going around town and getting to know the locals better. I started this trip with the goal of establishing a church of Umberlee in this community, and that’s also the main reason why Moretta came along.
However, I think things are going to be more difficult than I’d expected. Though many of the townsfolk are in awe of Trouble’s prowess (surviving deadly storms, killing dinosaurs and hydras), many are also wary of us, especially of me. They see Penkus as an abomination that should never have been created. I am able to explain to some of them how useful he can be as a weapon to defend their town, but many of them stubbornly refuse to see the truth. Fools!
Of course, I immediately recognized the source of that limited way of thinking: Father Catherly, the town’s cleric. He is a follower of Lathander, from a cult of zealous sun-worshippers, who violently oppose the existence of undead in our world. In essence, they wish to impose upon the rest of us the limitation of death, denying people the options of bringing back the unfortunate ones who have perished. What a terrible crime! And to top it all off, they accuse many other religions, including Umberlee’s, of being evil!
I went to visit the church, curious to have a private discussion with Father Catherly. Of course, I expected him to be stubbornly opposed to my own faith. He was a tall half-elf with blond hair and a well-trimmed beard. His long robes were of a golden color and he wore a thin gold crown. His staff was tipped with the symbol of a shining sun. I grinned every time I laid eyes on him, because his appearance was as outrageously gaudy as Sparkillo’s.
The priest’s eyes were dark, though, in stark contrast with his hair and clothing. He was alone when I entered his shrine, and I noticed that he frowned slightly when he saw me, before he put on a fake smile to greet me.
We spent some time in small talk about the various religions which were represented in this church. Indeed, though he was a priest of Lathander, all of the religions of the citizens of Farshore also had a small alcove in the temple. They were all of the religions that consider themselves “good” or “neutral”, of course – the more I get to know them, the more I feel that Farshore’s inhabitants are much too cowardly to be worthy of worshipping Umberlee.
I learned that another powerful priest of Lathander lived in the region. He was called Missionary Noltus Innersol, and traveled among the native tribes to spread the faith of Lathander. Another competitor in my way! Damnation!!! Would I have to kill all of these annoying interlopers to build my church?
From what I’d gathered about the strength of their healing powers, I believed that Father Catherly was slightly less powerful than me, but still a capable cleric. The missionary, though, seemed strong – perhaps even as strong as I am. He would not be easy to dispose of.
I then told Father Catherly that I had plans to build a temple of Umberlee in the region. I saw that his face tensed, and he said in what he probably thought was a helpful tone that I was welcome to set up a shrine to my goddess in one of the unused alcoves of this church.
The look I gave him then made him turn pale and start to sweat. I did not say anything. But my eyes said it all: “No, I do not want to use a dusty little alcove to set up a tiny shrine in your stinking church. I would rather see this pathetic building crumble to the ground before I debased myself like that.”
In a diplomatic tone, I said that I had a full-fledged temple in mind, but at that point in the conversation, he let go of any pretense at politeness and told me outright that I would never find enough worshippers in Farshore to justify a temple to my goddess. He also accused me of bringing an undead monster into town, and said that he’d ask for it to be banished from the city walls at the next town council, in a few days.
I listened to him in silence, and smiled. I was pleased that he’d been the one who’d lost control of his emotions.
“Are you sure you wish to oppose me like this, Father?” I asked.
“Yes. I will not let the likes of you corrupt this fine community!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Well, I’m sure it’ll be interesting to see where this leads us. But perhaps a day will come when you’ll regret the words you’ve spoken today.”
And with a humorless smile, I left his ugly little church.
- - - -
Meanwhile, Sparkie had been spending some time with Professor Aldwattle. They shared similar interests, and Sparkie had promised to improve the enchantments on Ulfgar’s axe and armor, and to create a new magical bow for Tyria. The Professor gave him access to his lab, and our elven companion began working on the items.
He and I also surveyed the village for the best spot for me to build my temple. Space was limited, unfortunately. But we noticed that the nearby cliffs would make a perfect location for a temple to my goddess, if we were willing to spend the time to carve out the stone to make it, and to build a bridge from the shore to the cliffs, which stood several dozen feet into the water.
Sparkillo kindly offered to help me build it with Stone Shape spells. He already started the work, but today, I went to tell him to put it all on hold. I did not have a good feeling that I would be able to build a strong base of worshippers in this town.
Sparkie, with his unfailing optimism, tried to cheer me up and see this is a challenge, and he planned on continuing to build his bridge (which, of course, would bear his name engraved on the stones). But I was beginning to have serious doubts about this.
I could only see three viable options:
The first was to bring back many more colonists from the mainland, people who would be more receptive to the faith of Umberlee.
The second was to visit the seven villages of the region, and see if some of the natives could be swayed to my religion instead of their own, Tymora’s or Lathander’s.
The third was for some unfortunate “accident” to happen to Father Catherly. It seemed like the fastest and easiest way to proceed, but I couldn’t quite imagine a discreet way of murdering him.
Marpenoth 4th, 1375 –New gold, ancient curse
Tonight, all members of Trouble spent the evening together at the Last Coconut inn. The owner is a flute-playing bard of merry disposition named Malfis Fairwind.
First, we went over the loot that we’d acquired during our journey over the ocean. Ulfgar, Tyria and Lagaan had sold many of the items at the town’s shops, which had proved to be no small feat given the limited local economy. All in all, we received about 4000 gold pieces each. Raguhl also took a Ring of Protection that nobody had claimed yet, and Ulfgar took a Ring of Feather Falling.
Tyria and Ulfgar had been spending most of their days in this place since we arrived. They seemed to know all of the locals. Tyria introduced us to a new friend of hers, the record keeper of the village. He told us some ancient tales of the region, the most interesting of which concerned the 8th Olman village that had once existed in the region.
The village of Kawibusa had been built here, on the island of Temute, about a hundred years ago. An expedition of hunters from that village had found a sunken temple deep in the jungle at the center of the Island of Dread. It had once been a temple to the ancient Olman gods. Some of the tribesmen brought back to the village an obsidian idol of a great ape, which was adorned with gemstones.
But the legend said that that very night, a thick fog surrounded the village of Kawibusa, and in the morning, when it lifted, the idol was gone, and so were all of the village’s inhabitants. Since then, the island had been considered cursed by the natives; that didn’t stop the colonists from building Farshore here, though.
We had all listened with rapt attention.
“So, do you know where those ruins lie?” asked Tyria.
The old man’s eyes widened in surprise. “No, no we don’t!” he replied. “We’ve actively been trying NOT to find them!”
Marpenoth 5th, 1375 – The town council
My companions and I attended one of Farshore’s town councils for the first time. Until Lavinia had returned, Lord Meravanchi had ruled over the community with the help of a council. Now, though, the nobles had to share the power. I noticed already that their views seemed to diverge on many key issues.
In the end, it was voted that I would have to keep Penkus out of the city walls. Lord Meravanchi had sided with me when I had argued that he could prove a valuable defender for the town. Clearly, he was a pragmatic man, who was more interested in the use of such a minion, rather than its origin.
The relations with the seven Olman villages also came up during the meeting, and I got the impression that Lavinia, as usual, showed weakness of character: she wanted to make too many compromises for their sake. She was afraid to stand her ground. Lord Meravanchi, on the other hand, was a firm and wise ruler, who had much more experience than her in dealing with the savages: he explained to her that we should press our advantage, since we were so much more powerful than them, with two groups of adventurers and access to the resources from the main land. We also offered them much to gain, since they were totally isolated from the rest of the world.
The question of the depleted ship-building wood and tar was brought forth again, and we assured the assembly that we would attack the kobolds during the coming days. Sparkie, Ulfgar and Tyria just asked for a delay to allow them to finish creating the new weapons.
After the meeting, I met briefly with Lord Meravanchi to discuss a few of the items that had been presented at the meeting. Our views seemed similar on almost every subject. He surely sensed that we could build a strong alliance, and he invited me to his manor for dinner the following evening.
Before returning to Lavinia’s manor, I took the time to bring Penkus out of the city’s limits. The guards at the gate seemed nervous and asked me if he could ever attack them.
“Only if you attack him first,” I replied.
Marpenoth 6th, 1375 – Lord Meravanchi’s hospitality
Dinner at the Meravanchis’ was most pleasant.
Lord Manthalay and Avner were both present, and I was astounded by how different they are from another. Lord Manthalay was intelligent, reasonable and had a strong presence. He was quite unlike any of the Meravanchi’s I’d heard about in Sasserine: according to the rumors, they were all depraved drunkards. Had he traveled to this foreign locale just to escape the decadence of his relatives?
I learned that he’d worked for some time in Sasserine’s navy and had been captain of his own ship. We talked about our respective experience at sea, and glorious naval battles each of us had fought. Of course, I did not reveal to him that I used to work with the Slave Lords; he would probably not be too fond of that notion. Instead, I pretended that I’d worked as a mercenary priestess aboard a frigate in Cormyr’s navy.
The man respected me as a captain, a cleric and fellow member of the Dawn Council. Finally, this was someone who appreciated me for who I was, unlike so many of the imbeciles in this town. What’s more, I was pleased to notice that his gaze lingered toward my cleavage several times during the evening, and I found myself casually flirting with him – much to Avner’s displeasure, of course.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown up without a father, but I’ve always had a soft spot for older men who represent some kind of father figure to me.
Though Lord Meravanchi was not as powerful or charismatic as Stalman Klim was, many things in him reminded me of my old lover. He was not married, he had no children. That was unusual for a nobleman of his age, especially since he was still a handsome man. I couldn’t help myself, but I already looked into the future and found myself dreaming of what a union with this man could bring me – a legitimate noble title, fame, money. I would be a member of a noble family of Sasserine.
There was only one minor problem I could see with this picture: I would become Avner’s aunt!
Of course, I might be thinking way too far ahead. But as I returned home, I found myself smiling at the possibilities. Some women would call me a cold-hearted viper for being attracted to a man only for the wealth and title he can offer me; but it matters not. Those women are all silly whores who only listen to their loins. I need look no further than Liamae for a fine example of typical female behavior. So what if I’m different than them? I’m better. They should try to be more like me, not the other way around.
Marpenoth 8th, 1375 – Brissa’s request
Tonight, poor Brissa came to see me again. She hasn’t yet recovered completely from her dreadful journey through the jungle. She asked me to restore some of her soul’s energy that has been stolen. Alas, I had to be honest with her: Umberlee hasn’t given me back that power yet, though I’ve prayed to her about it.
I promised Brissa that I would let her know as soon as I was able to help her. But I also reminded her that we’d need to purchase some diamond dust for the healing to take place.
“Oh, that I can help with,” she said with a cunning smile. “Leave that to me.”
I giggled at her audacity and watched her disappear into the night.
Marpenoth 11th, 1375 – An angry cleric
I’ve met Manthalay – Lord Meravanchi - a few more times since the last time I’ve written. So far, we’ve limited our discussions to matters of business. He shares my views on the attitude we should have toward the natives: we should force their hand if needed to bring culture to them. In the end, it will be the best thing for them and their future generations. It would be selfish of us to let them remain in their primitive culture.
Though he is not a worshipper of Umberlee, he shows my goddess a healthy amount of respect. He agrees that it might be better for me to build a temple in a different town than Farshore, given the hostile nature of its curate. He’s also said that I would be invaluable in dealing with the Zombie Masters, one way or another.
Manthalay thanked me for bringing his nephew safely to Farshore despite all the dangers we’d run into along the way. I could tell that he was somewhat sarcastic when he made his comment: clearly, he was embarrassed by the foppish Avner. I’d never seen him seriously berate the fool in public, but I had the feeling that in private, he did not hesitate to discipline him.
He also told me of his plans to build more ships to create a small fleet for the Farshore community. The supplies we’d brought from Sasserine were invaluable in building the warships, and he’d already hired Stragdar, the dwarven ballista operator, as one of his permanent employees.
So far, I’ve taken it slow with Manthalay. I can tell that he’s attracted to me, but he’s a stern man, who doesn’t like to give up control. He also realizes that I am a powerful woman, and he perhaps feels intimidated by me. But day after day, we are getting closer to one another. Maybe something beyond a mere alliance will develop in time.
In the mean time, I’ve continued to meet people in the village, making myself known. My goal is for the people to realize how talented a healer I am, so they learn to love and respect me despite the terror that Penkus inspires. I’ve had mixed results so far: many people are set in their ways, and trust Father Catherly blindly.
One woman who’s unhappy with the local priest, however, is the town’s baker, a widow. She bemoaned the loss of her husband two years ago, and asked me if I could allow her to speak with him. Father Catherly had always turned down her request. Clearly, he’s much more cold-hearted than people know.
I kindly agreed to help the woman, and at night, I brought her to her husband’s grave, and asked him the questions that she wanted answers to. They were of trivial things that the mind of common folk trouble themselves with, but it made her happy to hear her husband’s words through my lips. I trusted that she would spread some good words about me, as one of the town’s gossips.
Today, I got the proof that she did: Father Catherly, flushed and obviously very upset, confronted me at Lavinia’s estate. He demanded that I stop ‘desecrating’ the graveyard with my necromantic rituals. I smiled inwardly at his brusque approach, and feigned sadness and shock. I said that I was only trying to help a woman to deal with the loss of her beloved husband, and accused the uptight cleric of not really knowing what love is. Then, in a beautiful display of acting, I managed to bring tears to my own eyes as I complained that the cold-hearted priest had rejected me from the beginning, even though I’d just gone through an arduous journey which had almost cost me my life, as well as my crew’s.
The zealot was at a loss for words, because I’d managed to turn his holier-than-thou attitude back against him. He stammered an apology, and left the manor, while I grinned widely behind his back.
Marpenoth 13th, 1375 – The Jade Ravens return
Today, the Jade Ravens returned to Farshore with the Blue Nixie. I guess they finished whatever it was they were doing. Thankfully, Liamae seems to be avoiding us, most of all Lagaan. I’ve heard that she’s been venturing into the island to test her goddess-given luck, and unfortunately, she hasn’t been devoured by a ravenous dinosaur yet. That means I might have to do the job myself and eliminate her with my own means, when the time is right. She’s really starting to intrude on my territory now.
Before the day was even over, Kaskus had already left town. The villagers don’t seem to like his raptor pet much more than they like Penkus. Raguhl and Urol went to explore the nearby jungle with him.
Moretta told me that Zan’s been spending his whole time at the Last Coconut, bored out of his mind. He’s drinking himself silly and spending time with the few skinny prostitutes who work there.
In the mean time, I’ve started helping Lavinia and Amella to prepare the Blue Nixie for the long trip back to Sasserine. We have a lot of merchandise to pack into that ship…
Marpenoth 15th, 1375 – Farewell to Amella
This morning, we said our farewells to Amella as she left Farshore, navigating the Blue Nixie back toward Sasserine. I’ll miss her, and I pray to Umberlee to keep her safe from her deadly storms.
Unfortunately, she won’t be able to use the Olman book that describes the location of the magical current that links the Island of Dread and the Chult Peninsula. The instructions are very complex, and written in Olman. Sparkie’s asked his wife to start translating it, but it’s going to take the primitive woman a long time to copy the entire text. That’s probably the most complicated thing she’s ever done.
Marpenoth 16th, 1375 - The Kobolds and their Gods
After two weeks and a half of rest, we decided that we were ready to resume our life of adventure. We left Farshore that morning, with the sun shining down on us for the first time in several days. Raguhl led us through the jungle, following the directions that the locals had given us to reach the logging camp.
After a few hours, we ran into our first kobolds. They had green scales and might’ve been hard for regular folks to spot in the jungle, but they did not escape our keen eyes. We slew a few of them, and the others ran away screaming, leading us straight to their lair. We approached the side of a cliff. A noisy waterfall fed a small river that cut through the jungle, to our right. Several caves opened in the cliff wall, leading to the kobold tribe’s lair. We saw many little shapes coming out of them and pouring through the jungle, toward us. They shrieked in their language; Sparkie and Raguhl later translated and said that they’d been talking about their gods, who needed protection.
At first, the battle went very well. Those small beings were no match for our strength. I sent Penkus forward, and he crunched many of them in his massive jaws, one after the other. Sparkillo took the shape of a stone giant, and crushed more of the puny beings with his mighty fists; Ulfgar and Raguhl also slew many of them. Lagaan, who was riding on Penkus’ back, and Tyria also killed many little creatures with their deadly arrows. With the blessing of Umberlee and Tyria’s battle magic, we were far too deadly for even their elite warriors, who fell easily. I also summoned a fiendish dire wolf from hell itself to add to the mayhem.
But suddenly, a large green dragon emerged from the cave above the water fall. It spread its wings wide and soared above the battleground. Ulfgar and my wolf were fighting kobolds on the far side of the river, to my right. Penkus and Lagaan were fighting some in the forest, to the left. But Raguhl, Sparkie, Tyria and I made perfect targets for it, in the central clearing, and it breathed a foul cloud of acidic gas on us.
The pain was excruciating. My skin was burning, my eyes were stinging, and I was coughing uncontrollably. I dazedly made my way to the cover of some trees, and cast a healing prayer on myself. Once I had somewhat recovered, I looked around and saw that another green dragon had joined the battle: it was smaller than the other one, thankfully.
Ulfgar, Raguhl and the wolf were by then fighting a large group of kobolds on the other side of the river, but they seemed to have things under control. Sparkie and Tyria were shooting fire bolts and arrows at the two dragons, but I could see that they were badly wounded. I ran back into the clearing and healed Sparkie, just as the larger dragon flew down and attacked him. Thankfully, his thick stone giant skin protected him from harm, and he only suffered a minor wound. He unleashed the fury of his elven magic against the creature, who shrieked in pain.
Meanwhile, the two warriors and the wolf had slain the last of the elite warriors of the kobolds, as well as the smaller dragon, which had flown close to the ground to attack Ulfgar – a deadly mistake. When the remaining kobolds saw the dwarf’s axe chop off the head of the small dragon, they all fled in total panic.
The larger dragon also roared in anger, and breathed another cloud of gas on us – this time, it was closer to the melee, so it hit everyone in the group, except Penkus and Lagaan who were far away. Once again, we suffered greatly from the corrosive cloud, but Sparkie managed to knock out the dragon with a mighty fist. The wyrm fell to the floor and did not rise again.
I healed our wounds, and we briefly discussed what to do with the dragon. Green dragons are more honorable than others, and it might have been possible to negotiate with it, but we dared not run the risk of being double-crossed. The creature could’ve wrought terrible damage to Farshore if it had wanted to annoy us, by killing the town’s precious workers. Since we were so far away from Sasserine, it would’ve been a great inconvenience to lose any of the manpower available. So Raguhl chopped its head off, and Sparkie asked me to preserve it, as well as the body of the other dragon, for his collection. Indeed, the mage has been collecting body parts from the various exotic beasts we’ve encountered through our travels. He has quite a display to show, by now.
We were proud of having defeated two dragons, although according to Sparkie, they were only of juvenile and young age, so not very impressive by dragon standards.
Once we were healed, we entered the tribe’s caves. Most of the warriors were now dead, and only the women and children remained. They were easy to slaughter, and we got the job done in no time at all. I made sure those wicked little creatures paid for the pain their masters had inflicted upon us. Justice was served.
We also found the dragons’ hoard in the cave, and among it were many of the goods that had been stolen from Farshore. We realized that the thieves had been these nasty little kobolds all along! They really got what they deserved…
I attempted to contact the spirits of the two dead dragons, but their souls escaped my grasp. We took the treasure and the goods, and made the long journey back to Farshore.
We were greeted like heroes upon our return. I was pleased that we had the chance to show our prowess to the local community. We showed them the heads of the two dragons, and a few kobold heads we’d brought in as well. Little Churtle must’ve been relieved at the sight, knowing that she made the right decision in joining us: she could’ve easily had a similar fate, back in Sasserine.
Later that night, Tyria told the tale of our great victory to the patrons of the Last Coconut. People cheered and drank in our honor. Urol was present, and he commented on the two dragons we’d fought today; according to him, a much larger one used to live on the north of the island, though it hadn’t been seen in decades. Perhaps the two we slew today were some of its spawn. The dragon Urol told us about seemed much more dangerous, though. I doubt even people as mighty as we could defeat this gargantuan monster. I pray to Umberlee that our paths will not cross any time soon.
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I just finished catching up here as well and had to post, although so much has happened I'm not sure where to start. I do really like how you DM handled the Wyvern's crash and subsequent retrieval. It's different than written, but very appropriate.
And Belessa opening up to Lagaan... that's something I thought I would never see. What happened to her, did she eat something that made her temporarily delerious?
Oh, and I think I'd have to tell Belessa not to give up on her dream of establishing a Temple to Umberlee in Farshore... that just sounds like too much fun! She definately needs to come up with a few 'accidents' that can befall those other fool priests, or better yet some way to remove the confidence that the townsfolk have in them. ...hmmm yes, that is definately the way to go. Scandalize first, 'accidents' second.
And I thought for sure that Penkus was going to get a friend... no skeletal dragon coming up anytime soon?
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I just finished catching up here as well and had to post, although so much has happened I'm not sure where to start. I do really like how you DM handled the Wyvern's crash and subsequent retrieval. It's different than written, but very appropriate.
Awesome, I'm glad you guys are still both reading my log. I really love reading your comments!
Yes, I think our DM did a very good job. He's very adaptable and actually welcomes when the players think outside the box and give him an occasion to change/improve the adventure.
And Belessa opening up to Lagaan... that's something I thought I would never see. What happened to her, did she eat something that made her temporarily delerious?
LOL :) Actually, I almost did not put that scene in the log. I was initially planning on having it take place in the previous game, then cut it, then wrote it for this game, cut it again, and finally my DM convinced me to put it back in. Boy am I glad he did!
The thing is, Lagaan's player and I are the two who are most deeply role-playing our characters, so I wanted to have the 2 characters' relationship develop into something more. Especially since, unfortunately, the group is about to get a lot smaller, I wanted to strengthen the bond between Lagaan and Belessa so it would make sense that they would keep adventuring together even after half the group left.
Oh, and I think I'd have to tell Belessa not to give up on her dream of establishing a Temple to Umberlee in Farshore... that just sounds like too much fun! She definately needs to come up with a few 'accidents' that can befall those other fool priests, or better yet some way to remove the confidence that the townsfolk have in them. ...hmmm yes, that is definately the way to go. Scandalize first, 'accidents' second.
Thanks for the encouragement! I was a bit taken aback when we played this game, at how "goody goody two shoes" Farshore was. I had not expected it to be like this.
But Belessa is more persistent than me, so yeah, I guess she won't rest until she gets what she wants. I'm not sure yet whether that will be in one of the native villages or in Farshore. Belessa is such a racist, though, that she would prefer if her followers were people from the main land rather than some natives.
And I thought for sure that Penkus was going to get a friend... no skeletal dragon coming up anytime soon?
hehe... Well, Penkus is already pretty powerful. I don't want to create too many powerful undeads as it might upset the balance of the game (and piss off the GM ;) ). So for now, I think I'll stick with just Penkus.
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I love how this played out. Very natural. Great scene. Dare I say . . . best scene in the journal? Great work Moonbeam!
/blush
Thanks a lot! I'm also happy with the way it turned out. For once, I took the time to write a long dialog and it paid off.
Btw, I like that there are a lot of dialogs in Tristan's log. It makes it very lively and gives an accurate picture of the various characters' attitudes.
Personally I'd love to see Belessa keep working her magic on the old priest, getting him all flustered, maybe slowly turning the people against him. What Belessa needs is a big traumatic event to use as a wedge to separate the week from the strong . . . hopefully the adventure path will give you something to work with.
Oh, definitely, if fate is kind enough to provide a big traumatic event, that would be perfect. Belessa really shines in big traumatic events! ;)
PS I thought I'd posted comments on this journal just after you posted it. weird. Well better late then never I guess. I read the entry hours after you posted BTW.
Oh, thanks for letting me know, as usual I was getting all depressed and wallowing in self-pity, "boohoo, nobody's reading my log" and all that. ;)
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I feel that I've learned so much more about Lagaan from this encounter, you might remember me commenting earlier that Belessa didn't really have a foil, and you said "Lagaan is Belessa's foil", I must say that up until this point I didn't see it. I'm sure that Belessa intellectually down played him in the journal, but up until this point I couldn't see them as equals. But here, in this conversation, I can see Lagaan for the strong lead that he is.
I think there are pros and cons to writing an in-character journal. When I write as a narrator, I'm able to describe accurately every situation. But when I'm writing from Belessa's point of view, of course, I am glossing over a lot of events, or presenting them from her biased way. To the other players of our campaign, such changes are obvious (and comical), but it's true that it can be confusing to other readers.
Lagaan is a total smartass. He doesn't take many things very seriously, and this has led to conflicts with Belessa, who can be very touchy and intense.
I think I've been able to describe Sparkie's personality more than Lagaan's through the journal, I'm not sure why. Maybe because he's totally over the top in his silliness. Whereas Lagaan is more a smartass who says witty things, but with a straight face.
Marpenoth 17th, 1375
The b@~#! is back
Today, we divided the loot that we found in the kobold caves. We had to give some of it back to the people Farshore, as it had been stolen from them. Also, we gave away many thousands of copper pieces to the local populace in a party last night at the inn. It gave us the occasion to show Trouble’s generosity, as well as to rid us of that cumbersome crap.
There were a few magical items among the hoard, which we kept for ourselves. The most useful of those was a bag of holding which will allow us to carry even more treasure in our adventures. Raguhl will carry it for now, as it is quite heavy even when empty.
This afternoon, Liamae came back in town. We met by chance in a corridor of the Vanderboren manor. She immediately froze when she saw me, then put on a fake smile.
“Oh, Belessa, so nice to see you,” she lied. “I just came back from my visit among the natives.”
“Really, and how did that go?”
“Well, I wanted to visit them, see how they live, take the pulse of their lives. I have to tell you, I’ve really changed a lot, lately.”
“I heard all about that. Since you almost died during that storm?”
“Yes, I had a revelation. Tymora spoke to me. Now, I want to spread her faith. I’ve also changed personally. I’m more mature now, I’m wiser.”
I smirked, and asked: “Is that so?” skeptically.
“Absolutely. You’ll see. Hmmm… Have you seen Lagaan? I’d really like to talk to him. I owe him an apology.”
“I’m sure you do. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him in a few hours. I have no idea what he’s up to.”
“Oh, all right. Well, I’m going to see Lavinia now. See you later!”
“Actually, I was going to see her as well. We can walk together.”
She smiled, but I could tell that she didn’t feel comfortable around me.
We entered the sumptuous living room, and found Lavinia and Lord Meravanchi deep in conversation. Lavinia warmly greeted Liamae, and the young fanatic told us about her stay among the natives, and some of her experiences beyond the great wall, testing the luck Tymora had given her. It was really quite boring, but it gave me the time to file my nails.
Once she was done, the two nobles commented on the approach to take regarding the natives. Once again, they argued about it: Lord Meravanchi wanted to show a strong presence, but Lavinia insisted on making concessions and trying to build a relationship of friendship.
I had to step in and explain to her how naïve her ideas were. In the real world, you can’t be friends with everybody, and when dealing with inferior races, it is our responsibility to show our strength and introduce the savages to our higher culture.
“Lavinia,” I told her, “it was your parents’ dream to make Farshore a thriving community. Don’t throw their legacy away. You still have so much to learn, just listen to Lord Meravanchi’s ideas. He’s been here for three years already, he knows best how to deal with those people.”
But she looked at me with her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest, and would not be swayed.
Marpenoth 18th, 1375
No tar for you!
In the morning, I gathered my companions at the Last Coconut. Based on what I’d discussed with Liamae and the two nobles the previous day, I felt it was time to go get the tar that Farshore needed.
We’d written down the names of the villages on our map of the island. It was one of the closest, Mora, from which Farshore obtained its tar. We agreed to sail there that morning and find out why the production was halted.
We gathered a small crew, including Urol, Tavey, Chochanika and Johan, and we set sail aboard the Sea Wyvern. Also with us was a dark-skinned native named Jack, who’d been befriended by Tyria. She felt it would help our cause to have one of the savages with us. As we sailed, though, we found out that this “Jack”, whose real name was too complicated to remember, had been exiled from his community because he’d refused to become a zombie master. Instead, he was now working as an apprentice to Dranys the carpenter. The fool! He had given up on so much power and prestige, to become a mere artisan? Clearly, Tyria was wasting her time with this man.
I also noticed that Lagaan looked particularly cheerful that morning, and he whistled as he worked around the ship. I saw neither him, nor Liamae the previous evening. I could only conclude that the fat-bottomed priestess of Tymora had found him and showed him just how wise she now was… by having sex with him. Yes, I clearly saw a tremendous change in her behavior.
We arrived at Mora around noon. We were greeted by an old crone, Ayssa, chieftain of the village. Like all the native villages, Mora was divided in four small groups of huts, which each housed a different tribe, and in the center was the shrine of the zombie master.
We discussed with chieftain Ayssa; Tyria and Jack did most of the talking, but I’d cast a Tongues spell on myself to take part in the conversation as well.
“Tar?” asked the crone. “You want tar?”
“Yes, chieftain,” said Tyria.
“No tar for you! You come back… one year!”
“But chieftain, what is the problem? Why can’t we get more tar?”
“People of Mora get tar from village of Tanaroa. But Tanaroa has no tar to give anymore. Chieftain J’Kal of Tanaroa, and zombie master Mwembi have spoken with me: great danger near tar pits where Tanaroa get their tar. Workers scared… Refuse to venture there anymore. You want tar… You go ask people of Tanaroa yourselves!”
“All right,” said Tyria with a pleasant smile, “we will.”
As we walked away from the chieftain, Tyria asked Jack: “Do you know what the problem might be at Tanaroa?”
“I have no idea,” he replied.
Ulfgar turned to Sparkie and said: “That guy doesn’t know Jack…”
So we got back on board the Sea Wyvern and decided to go around the peninsula to reach Tanaroa, the village closest to the great wall. I remembered that Liamae had said that the natives were very nervous over there, but she hadn’t stayed there long enough to find out why.
We were sailing fast thanks to Sparkie’s Favorable Wind spell, but as we passed the southern tip of the peninsula, we noticed something disturbing: columns of thick smoke were rising over Farshore!
We immediately changed course and headed in that direction. Just before approaching the bay, I gave control of the ship to Raguhl, and cast some defensive magic on various members of the group, and so did Sparkie.
Farshore in flames
Finally, we came within sight of Farshore, and it was indeed under attack. Several buildings were on fire, and the clamor of battle was audible even at a distance. A large caravel with red sails, flying a red flag, was moored at the docks: the Crimson Pirates were attacking Farshore!
“TROUBLE is afoot…” commented Ulfgar, and we all chuckled.
We could see terrified townsfolk running throughout the town, trying to escape the few dozen vicious-looking pirates. Cries of women and children mixed with the raucous laughter of the attackers.
Ulfgar shot a few bolts from our ballista toward the pirate ship, but with little effect.
We quickly docked, and jumped out of the ship, leaving the non-combatants on board. Tyria cast a Haste spell on us, and we hurried into the village to help in what way we could. I would’ve liked to dock to the south, close to the nobles’ manors, but that imbecile Raguhl brought us to the north, because he wanted to save some of the simpler townsfolk. He and Sparkie rushed to the north, but the rest of us headed south and toward the center of the village.
We quickly ran into some pirates and defenseless townsfolk. Lagaan and Tyria unleashed a deadly barrage of arrows, while Ulfgar charged some pirates with a roar. As it turns out, my companions had decided to make a contest out of this event: whoever would kill the most pirates would win. The pirates that Ulfgar had charged were slain by the two archers. The dwarf cursed them in his coarse voice: “Hey, those were mine!!”, and Lagaan and Tyria chuckled at his anger. Ulfgar then charged around a corner, toward the church.
Meanwhile, I’d spotted a gorgeous red-haired young woman being chased by a hideous half-orc pirate, who was shouting lewd invitations to her. I was under the effect of an Air Walk spell, so I ran down, grabbed hold of the girl, and brought back her up with me. She screamed a bit at first, then understood what was going on when I set her to safety on the roof of the inn. She turned and beamed a seductive smile at what she hoped was her dashing savior… and of course was sorely disappointed when she realized I was a woman.
“Sorry, sister,” I said, “all the boys were too busy chasing pirates to save you.”
From the street below, the half-orc shouted for us to come “play” with him – since two girls are always better than one. Leaving the pretty redhead on the safety of the inn’s roof, I ran further to the east, following my companions, but still at the level of the rooftops. From that vantage point, I quickly scanned the town. The thick smoke made it difficult to see, but I noticed that there were many people fighting to the south: some pirates had run into Lord Meravanchi’s mercenaries and the Jade Ravens. I also spotted Penkus, who was still standing idle in the graveyard. Damnation! Those imbeciles had wrought their own doom by forcing me to keep the magnificent beast outside the town.
The church was not in flames yet, but I saw that a group of seven pirates was trying to batter down the door. Ulfgar charged them with a roar, and killed four of them in just an instant, cleaving their bodies in two with his mighty frost axe. The other three screamed and tried to flee, but were all slain by Lagaan’s arrows. My companions then headed north, toward the archive building, which was on fire.
This town is too small for the both of us
Just as I was about to follow them, I noticed a golden-robed figure running toward the church from the south. It was Father Catherly. Everything froze suddenly, as I looked at the silhouette: this was my chance to take care of him.
He reached the church just as Tyria was about to run off after Ulfgar and Lagaan.
“The church is safe, father,” she yelled, “we took care of the pirates!”
“Lathander bless you, child,” replied the priest. He turned to the guards who had followed him: “You, go north and try to save some of the townsfolk. I’ll make sure everything is secure in the temple!”
Tyria and the guards left, and he entered the church alone. I walked down into the street, and started summoning a Fiendish Dire Wolf. Just as I finished my incantation, though, Raguhl, Lagaan, Sparkie and Ulfgar, who had finished off the rest of the pirates to the north, ran back past the church, heading toward the docks. I think Lagaan and Raguhl caught sight of me and my minion as we entered the church.
Light from the sun and the nearby fires was filtering through the stained-glass windows. Father Catherly was searching the church, making sure that nothing had been stolen.
The enormous black wolf emitted a low, threatening growl, and I said out loud:
“Shouldn’t you be out there saving people, father?”
The half-elf turned around in surprise, and his eyes fell upon me and my beast. I had transformed my glamered chain shirt into a magnificent black dress for the occasion: his upcoming funeral.
There must’ve been no mistaking my intention when he looked into my eyes, because his features turned resolute as he said:
“So it has come to this…”
I grinned wickedly. “I warned you that you’d regret opposing me. You see, father… this town is too small for the both of us.”
And with that, I ordered my wolf to attack!
Father Catherly called out to Lathander and blasted me with a ray of searing light; it was painful, but it takes a lot more than that to bring me down. The devilish wolf jumped on the priest and dug its fangs deep into his shoulder, tipping him over into a prone position. I approached and, calling upon the power of Umberlee, I placed my hand on the man’s chest. He shrieked in agony as black tendrils of power coursed over his body.
Using the last ounce of his strength, before he died, he implored Lathander to curse me in vengeance. But a protective aura of darkness emanated suddenly from my holy symbol of the twin waves, and Umberlee protected me from the curse. I laughed mockingly at the fallen priest, who was lying helpless in a pool of his own blood on the floor of his church.
I motioned for my wolf to step back, because I didn’t want the corpse to be too visibly mangled. I knelt by Father Catherly’s side as I drew my sacrificial dagger from his sheath. I placed the blade against his throat and brought my lips close to his ear.
“And now, Farshore is mine…” I whispered, just before slicing his throat.
Once that was taken care of, I returned to the smoke-filled street. My wolf raged at being forbidden to devour the carcass of the priest, but I needed this to look just right. I took the corpse of one of the pirates Lagaan had shot, and brought it into the cathedral, making sure nobody saw me. I removed the arrow, and allowed my wolf to devour the pirate once he was in the right position. I also healed the bite wound from Father Catherly’s shoulder, and spilled blood on the pirate’s cutlass.
I looked at the crime scene, and thought it looked almost perfect.
“Just one more thing to do,” I told myself.
I lit up a torch and set fire to the church. Once I was convinced that it would burn well, I left it, while my wolf stayed behind to feast on the pirate within the burning church, for a few more moments before it returned to Hell.
Trouble victorious
As could be expected, Trouble saved the day once again. By the end of the battle, my valorous companions had butchered over thirty pirates between them. I learned that Ulfgar won the contest, although Lagaan, Sparkillo and Tyria had been close behind. Raguhl had apparently fallen back in the score, having wasted too much time saving people.
The highlight of my companions’ combat had been when they’d faced the leader of the pirates, a wicked-looking man wearing an armor made of coiled ropes. The man had turned invisible and had tried to assassinate Ulfgar, but the sturdy dwarf had survived and had easily slain him with only two blows from his axe. It had apparently been a most impressive feat of combat, and I wish I could’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Apparently, just after Ulfgar had heroically killed the leader, Lagaan had approached him and protested: “That still only counts as one!!’
Some of the pirates had tried to flee on the Sea Wyvern, but luckily, Trouble had caught them before they could do that. While we were patrolling the village, trying to make sure that all the pirates had been slain, I also offered as much healing as I could still afford. All around us, some people were wounded, some burnt, some trapped under wooden beams. The population of Farshore was desperately in need of a priest… Lucky for them that I was there!
I met Lagaan and Lord Meravanchi, who looked dashing in his mithral chainmail. I informed them that I had arrived at the church too late to save the unfortunate Father Catherly: a pirate had managed to slay him before I got there.
They might not have believed me, but that was my story and I was sticking with it! Those who know me well probably won’t be fooled by my scheme, but to the ignorant townsfolk, Father Catherly was truly murdered by pirates, and they will accept me as their new priestess!
All’s well that ends well…
The Crimson Fleet is coming!
That evening, Trouble joined the two nobles, the Jade Ravens and the important people of the town at the Last Coconut, where an impromptu town meeting took place to discuss the state of things after the raid.
In all, sixteen people had died, but we had lost nobody that really mattered. A few buildings burned down, but many others were saved, some of them by the water elementals that Sparkie had summoned, as well as by bucket brigades organized by the citizens. The mercenaries and the Jade Ravens had also slain a number of pirates, and had successfully defended the noble manors from being sacked.
We’d searched the pirates, and they had carried little of value, except their leader, whose rapier and armor were magical. Lagaan took the Keen Rapier, a deadly weapon, and Tyria took some of the magical ropes of the man’s armor to create her own. I recognized the leader’s corpse, and the noose he carried around his neck, because I’d heard rumors about the man. His name was Slipknot Pete, and he’d been condemned to death in Sasserine not long before I arrived. He’d somehow managed to escape the execution by magic.
But I’d heard of him before. He was a Crimson Pirate, and I’m pretty sure he was part of the fleet that Dolmord’s ship had faced when he disappeared. My heart swelled with the possibilities: by questioning his corpse, I might finally be able to learn whether my beloved had truly perished, or not.
While the rest of us were interested in the council, Ulfgar and Sparkie simply drank in a corner of the room. Ulfgar, who was already drunk, wasn’t even aware that there was a council. “Man, it’s crowded here tonight!” he grumbled to Sparkie.
Lord Meravanchi announced that one of the pirates had been taken prisoner, and he ordered for him to be brought forth for questioning. The prisoner was a skinny man with a bruised face, and who was missing his right hand. He looked around fearfully.
Lagaan, who was standing beside me, muttered: “Hmm, if I killed him, I would be tied with Ulfgar in the contest…”
Liamae and I were both very weary from having healed as many people as we could, but Tyria hadn’t bothered doing that, and still had energy left. She tried to charm the pirate, but he resisted her spell. Instead of unleashing Raguhl on him to make him talk, we decided instead to try a softer touch: Lavinia and I questioned the pirate in a diplomatic way.
As it turns out, the pirate, who was fittingly called “Lefty”, was very cooperative, realizing that he had nothing to gain by opposing us.
“Me and some of me mates, we were part of a merchant ship’s crew, m’ fancy ladies,” he told us in front of the assembly. “But there was a mutiny on board, and our ship got caught by th’ deadly reefs of Scorpion Island, near this here Island of Dread. Me mates and I built a raft and managed to paddle our way to the Emerald Island nearby, where we found Rat’s Nest. That be th’ refuge o’ some o’ the worst scum o’ the sea, and we found th’ rest of them boys there, though they be dead by your hands now.
“Those pirates didn’t treat us too well and made blood sport of us. We were hungry and at the end of our strength by th’ time we’d reached Rat’s End, so we didn’t provide much entertainin’. But I won th’ contest, though I must say me mates didn’t do so good. I lost me hand in th’ contest, and it’s since that day that the boys o’ Rat’s End have started calling me ‘Lefty’.
“Though they sure were vicious, th’ pirates of Rat’s End weren’t too organized ‘til Slipknot Pete arrived about a year ago. He was sent by th’ Crimson Pirates, y’see, to whip us into shape. I know he was getting orders from th’ Crimson Fleet, maybe by magic, and he was recently told t’spy on Farshore and send them reports.”
“Yeah, there was a spy here recently,” said Lagaan.
We all turned toward him.
“What? How do you know this, Lagaan?” asked Lavinia
“I spent some time on top of the cliffs. I had a really nice view of Farshore from up there, and I saw tracks of some other guy who’d been up there too. Must’ve been one of those pirates.”
“I agree,” said Johan, Tyria’s brother. “I was taking a look around their ship and I found this notebook.” He held up a small notebook for all to see. “Inside, there are reports going back to a month ago about someone spying on the town. They even mentioned Penkus in it.”
I turned back toward Lefty. “Was this your friend’s notebook?”
“Aye, m’lady. This mornin’, when Andrew told us yer warship had left th’ harbor, old Slipknot, he thought it would be a perfect chance to attack th’ town and prove our worth to th’ Crimson Fleet. Didn’t turn out so well in the end, I guess,” he concluded glumly.
“What about the Crimson Fleet? Are they planning on attacking us as well?” asked Lavinia.
“Aye, they are. Th’ fleet is scheduled to arrive in less than two months. They’re coming to take care of Farshore. Seems ye’re intruding on their territory.”
A loud cacophony erupted in the room once the citizens realized how much trouble they were in. Farshore seemed doomed. Slipknot’s pirates had been a rag-tag band of wannabes, but the Crimson Pirates were the real thing: they would raze the little town if nothing was done to defend it properly.
A long discussion followed about the different strategies to defend the town. Various people offered ideas on how to fortify it. A few even mentioned fleeing to safety, but they were quickly silenced by the others: these folks were from Sasserine, and did not give up in the face of adversity.
“Fleeing is not an option,” said a courageous townsfolk. “Never give up, never surrender!!!”
I brought forth the need to keep Penkus in a more adequate location: he’d been useless during most of the fight. Moretta had only reached him by the time the fight was almost over. He had not done much damage to the pirates, but those of them that had still been looting the village when he’d entered the fray had all fled in terror. Moretta had approached me fearfully after the battle, afraid that I might punish her for her failure, but I comforted her: the fact that Penkus had been too far to be used in the fight only highlighted his importance, and the foolishness of the decision that had been taken earlier.
“Yes, this enormous creature is of a frightening appearance, but when it did join the battle, it drove the last of the pirates away from your homes, away from your children,” I told the crowd. “Do you see now how important he is to this community’s defense? Father Catherly was a wise priest and a courageous defender of this community for several years. Today, he gave his life to protect it.”
I lowered my head in a phony gesture of respect for the fallen cleric.
“But if he were still with us, I am sure that he would agree with me that Penkus needs to be used! What matters now is the safety of the living, even if it means using the dead to secure it!”
“Captain Belessa is right,” added Lord Meravanchi, “we can no longer afford to let such a valuable weapon go unused just because of its nature.”
Jewan, the record keeper, mentioned a cache of high-quality weapons that had once belonged to the Rakastas, a race of cat-men who lived on the island long ago. He did not know where it was located, but it might prove helpful.
Lavinia also mentioned again that we needed tar, and we explained to her that none could be found in Mora. But we could travel to Tanaroa to find out what the problem was.
Tolin asked to be put in charge of the militia, while Ulvar, the current captain, scowled at him. Kaskus said he would try to charm some of the island’s wildlife to help us, and Raguhl said he’d try to contact his tribe, to see if perhaps a force of Lizardfolk could help us defend the town.
“Your tribe is on the Island of Dread?” asked Tyria with incredulous eyes.
“Yes, I was born here,” answered the big lizardman.
“Oh, I didn’t know that!”
Raguhl blinked at her a few times. “I’ve said it many times already since we met. Weren’t you listening?”
“Tee hee, I guess I get distracted sometimes!” said the halfling cheerfully.
The conversation then turned to discussing how to muster the native Olman population to help in the defense. Lavinia and Lord Meravanchi again fell to bickering, and finally, they put a stop to it.
“All right, it’s clear now that there cannot be two rulers to Farshore,” said Lord Meravanchi. “I say we should hold elections to decide on one leader, so everyone can move in the same direction.”
“Yes! Very good idea, uncle!” said Avner enthusiastically.
“Shut up, Avner,” said Lord Meravanchi, who kept his eyes on Lavinia.
“Very well,” said Lavinia. “Indeed, it seems the best way to go.”
“We will have elections in one week, then.”
“Can other people run for the elections too?” asked Lagaan hopefully.
Lavinia and Lord Meravanchi both turned toward the thief and answered firmly in unison: “No.”
“Oh,” said Lagaan with a disappointed look.
Another long discussion followed, where both leaders tried to sway the crowd to their cause, and I could already guess whom some people will support. Raguhl, unsurprisingly, will vote for Lavinia, as will most likely the rest of the group. They are just too easily swayed by her naïve, idealistic principles (and, in Sparkie’s case, by her pretty face). Ulfgar is a more pragmatic person, and I believe that he will support Lord Meravanchi. For once, we seem to think alike.
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He tasks me... he tasks me and I shall have him!
Now, let's see... First thing is first - I caught quotes from:
Seinfeld
LotR
Galaxy Quest
but I feel like I missed one... I may have to read this entry again just to be sure. By the way I'm impressed that you managed to fit all of those quotes into one entry :D. Denek's Easter Eggs.
As for the rest of the entry, I'm grinning ear to ear. I really loved the showdown between Belessa and Father Catherly. I'm really glad she siezed the moment and cut that arrogant *** down. Which of course I expected her to do at some point. It was icing on the cake that she managed to burn the church down as well.
One thing I'm curious about is exactly how evil the rest of the party is. Ulfgar, yes... but the rest of them I'm not so sure about. At least from Belessa's perspective they seem a little on the tame side. Perhaps a tad selfish, but not downright evil (of course the exception being their treatment of Avner, but who can blame them about that!)
What kind of goals are the others working toward here on Farshore and how far are they willing to go to achieve them?
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He tasks me... he tasks me and I shall have him!
Now, let's see... First thing is first - I caught quotes from:
Seinfeld
LotR
Galaxy Quest
but I feel like I missed one... I may have to read this entry again just to be sure. By the way I'm impressed that you managed to fit all of those quotes into one entry :D. Denek's Easter Eggs.
hahaha!!!!! You're awesome!!!!
I think you got them all. I am impressed! :)The "this only counts as one" was really said by Lagaan during the game, the other 2 I added as I was writing the log, just for fun.
As for the rest of the entry, I'm grinning ear to ear. I really loved the showdown between Belessa and Father Catherly. I'm really glad she siezed the moment and cut that arrogant *** down. Which of course I expected her to do at some point. It was icing on the cake that she managed to burn the church down as well.
Mwahahahaha... Yes, that was really satisfying... I almost did not attack him, when I noticed that Lagaan and Raguhl had seen me getting ready, but then I said "what the hell" and I did it anyway... Figuring they already know I'm evil.
One thing I'm curious about is exactly how evil the rest of the party is. Ulfgar, yes... but the rest of them I'm not so sure about. At least from Belessa's perspective they seem a little on the tame side. Perhaps a tad selfish, but not downright evil (of course the exception being their treatment of Avner, but who can blame them about that!)
What kind of goals are the others working toward here on Farshore and how far are they willing to go to achieve them?
All right, here goes:
Ulfgar is Chaotic Neutral on paper, but he's very brutal and ruthless and is closer to CE than to CG, in my opinion. His goal in Farshore is to drink all the reserves of ale. He's willing to drink 3 times his weight in ale every evening to reach that goal.
Sparkie is True Neutral. Initially, his player was planning on playing him as a complete a**hole, but as the campaign evolved, I find that Sparkie's actually a pretty nice guy, although he's somewhat inconsiderate. But he's more good than evil. He was adamant about protecting Father Feres from Belessa, and this last game in Farshore, he really tried to save people and put out the fire rather than going for the most kills.
I don't think he has a specific goal in Farshore besides exploring and having fun. He also wants to craft a lot of magic items and collect exotic monster body parts from the island.
Tyria is Chaotic Neutral and really fits that alignment. She's a happy-go-lucky girl who's not too worried about moral concerns (though she is far from being evil).
Her goal on the island is just to explore and have fun. She wants to visit Olman ruins to report her findings to the Seekers.
Lagaan used to be Chaotic Neutral and recently changed to True Neutral. He likes excitement and riches, and also harbors resentment against his thieves' guild master.
He is planning on going back to Sasserine eventually, killing him and taking his place.
Raguhl is Chaotic Good, the only good-aligned member of TROUBLE. He's very protective of Lavinia and strongly supports her. We've seen hints of his good nature in Belessa's log, when he wanted to defend Father Feres, and also when he showed genuine concern for Belessa when she had her breakdown after the Sea Wyvern crashed on the Island of Dread. But Belessa has trouble fully grasping the concept of an altruistic mind, so most of the time, she mistakens his kindness for stupidity. Raguhl is a lot smarter than she gives him credit for.
Raguhl's goal is to help Lavinia, to defend Farshore, and to make contact with his tribe.
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Ahh... It's very interesting about the alignments of the rest of the group. Actually it fits fairly well with Belessa's descriptions of them in her journal. Ulfgar, yes, that one was easy to see. I guess I was expecting more evil from the other members of Trouble, but never really saw it... this explains why.
So 1 down, and 1 to go. And if Lagaan and Raguhl get in your way, take them down too...
>:)
Marpenoth 19th, 1375
In a cell still he rots
In the morning, I spent several hours in prayer, paying homage to Umberlee for granting us victory over our foes the previous day, and for protecting me from the golden-robed priest’s curse. Lighting some incense, I also cast some divination spells; Slipknot Pete’s presence yesterday had revived my memories about the disappearance of Dolmord, my old lover, the father of my very short-lived child.
I questioned a herald of Umberlee regarding his fate, and the answer brought me both hope and fear.
“On the waves he went, on the waves he fought, and our mistress was pleased. On the waves he was captured, and on the shore he was beaten. In a cell he was tortured, and in a cell still he rots.”
I tried to learn where he was being held captive, and the answer was cryptic.
”Powerful magic shields oracles in the place where the servants of Hate’s Prince cannot be mentioned. All that can be said is that the flesh eaters haven’t tasted him yet.”
It was incredible! Dolmord was still alive! A conflicting storm of emotions raged within my heart: elation at learning that he was still alive, despair at hearing that he was being held prisoner in such dire conditions, after having been tortured. He’d been rotting in a cell for almost two years…
Hate’s Prince… The image of the hideous two-headed monkey came back to my mind, bringing a new wave of fear. That disgusting creature that had leered at us from within a magical mirror below the ruins of the spider-city… Was Dolmord kept within the lair of that vile monster?
Later, my heart still heavy with emotions and my mind trying to find a way to free him, I walked outside of the town to the place in the woods where the bodies of the pirates had been dumped. I attempted to communicate with Slipknot Pete’s soul, but it eluded me. I spoke with that of his first mate, the pustule-faced half-orc, but he knew very little about the Crimson Fleet. I learned that there were no pirates, nor any valuables, left in Rat’s End. It did not seem worth our time to travel there.
I met the rest of Trouble for lunch at Lavinia’s manor. The men – Sparkie, Lagaan and Ulfgar – already had maps of Farshore, and of the Island of Dread, spread out on the table, and were talking excitedly among themselves about the various defenses they could erect. Raguhl and Tyria also took part in the discussion, though they showed less enthusiasm. I tried to join in and provide my input, but the three men were so frantic in their planning that they all spoke at the same time and barely seemed to notice my presence. After I while, I simply gave up, ate a quick lunch, and left the building.
“Let them defend Farshore as they see fit,” I said to myself. “I care not. I’ll patch up the wounded and pray for the souls of the dead once it is done, in any case. “
I decided instead to focus on influencing events that were within my control: namely, the upcoming election. I knew that Lord Meravanchi would need my help to come out on top. So I spent the rest of the day going from house to house, meeting lowly commoners, shaking their greasy hands and pretending to care about their petty concerns.
I spent the evening with Lord Meravanchi, Avner, and a few of their supporters. I reported what I’d learned during the afternoon. It seemed that about a third of the population supported Lord Meravanchi, a third supported Lavinia, and a third were still undecided. We came up with various strategies to increase our popularity.
Lord Meravanchi smiled and seemed pleased to have me along to help is campaign. Strangely, though, I found myself distracted throughout the evening. I was thinking of poor Dolmord, stuck in a cell, probably in horrible conditions. How badly had they tortured him? Was he scarred? Maimed?
Though Lord Meravanchi is a handsome man for his age, I cannot deny that I found myself aroused by lust for another man, dreaming of Dolmord’s perfect body lying against mine. In a perfect world, both of these men would be mine – one would give me the status and wealth that I desire, and the other would satisfy my physical needs. Am I asking for too much?
Marpenoth 20th, 1375
Sparkillo’s mirror
The following day, I continued the efforts of the campaign. I approached both Tolin and Ulvar Kabbania, who were competing for the role of Farshore’s captain of the guard. Tolin, that pompous gasbag, was unconditionally supporting Lavinia, but Ulvar proved much more flexible in his allegiance. In exchange for a promise of undermining Tolin’s credibility as potential captain, I secured Ulvar’s support for the Meravanchi camp.
Later in the morning, one of Lavinia’s servants intercepted me and, panting as if he had run all around town trying to find me, told me that Sparkillo wanted to see me at the Vanderboren manor.
I went there and found Sparkie in the living room, standing in front of the tall mirror we’d taken from below the city of spiders. Tyria, Urol and Chochanika were also there, and after a few moments, Lagaan joined us as well.
“What is it, Sparkie?” I asked.
“My friends, I have attempted to use some mighty divination magic to scry on our opponents,” answered the wizard. “My first target was Vanthus, but alas, the results were inconclusive: I only saw a strange clawed hand reaching out of the sea in a most… unpleasant way.”
“Us think this is magic protection,” added Chochanika in broken Common. “Powerful wizard can protect from seeing from afar, show false image instead.”
“Indeed,” continued Sparkie,” but my attempt to scry on the Crimson Fleet itself has proven much more fruitful. I have seen three of their ships, commanded by some vile snake-like people I believe are Yuan-Ti. But I wanted you all to look as well and attempt to determine how far away they are. I have almost completed a second one of the lengthy scrying rituals, and now, in a few minutes, you will see these villains.”
We waited for Sparkie to finish his spell, and indeed, we saw three Crimson Pirate ships sailing in the open sea. So they weren’t following the coast… How cheeky. Clearly, they were very familiar with these waters. Sparkie moved the point of view to show two Yuan-Ti speaking to each other at the helm of one of the ships. We were lucky enough to catch something interesting in their discussion, among the mundane navigation chatter:
“I got the orderssss as well,” hissed the first one,” So we won’t be looking to get the pearl thisssss time. Vanthus will… I don’t like him…”
“I don’t either,” agreed the second one.
“Yesss… But alassss, he hasss the favor of the Cold Captain…”
I also heard two sailors talking in the background: apparently, they’d recently left Scuttle Cove. They were heading south and were sailing in the south seas. They hadn’t hit the Pearl Current yet. From my estimation, they were indeed about six to eight weeks away from the Island of Dread.
Who was this mysterious Cold Captain? And were they talking about another black pearl like the one that had caused the chaos at Kraken’s Cove? If Vanthus got his hands on a second one of those items, the results could be catastrophic. If he unleashed such power upon Farshore, the whole community would certainly be wiped out!
Marpenoth 21st, 1375
The strawberry cake
I continued campaigning for Lord Meravanchi. Slowly but surely, I felt that I was swaying more and more of the townsfolk to his cause, or shaking the resolve of some of Lavinia’s supporters. Many of the townsfolk had assumed that both groups of adventurers fully supported Lavinia only, but I convinced many of them that it wasn’t the case.
In fact, it mostly was the case. While not every member of Trouble or the Jade Ravens was as zealously devoted to Lavinia as Raguhl, most of them favored her over Lord Meravanchi, and the others were undecided or uncaring. The only ones I really had to worry about were Tyria and Liamae. They could’ve done serious damage to my campaign if they’d strongly supported Lavinia, but they did not, at least not so far.
On my side, Avner was helping me with the campaign, but he was not doing much good at all.
I spent the whole afternoon with a group of women – I’d been invited to a cooking party by Jinida, the redhead I’d saved during the Farshore raid. I guess she thought she was doing me a favor inviting me there. I felt completely out of place having to endure the inane chatter of these silly women, whose entire world revolved around cooking, cleaning and gardening. They could never understand the depth of my faith, or the excitement and glory of the adventures I’d gone through. These were simple souls I had very little in common with.
When we talked about clothing and personal grooming, I impressed them not only with my elegant beauty, but with the descriptions of the fantastic gowns and cosmetics I’d acquired from Rowynn Kellani’s lair under Sasserine. They gasped and applauded as I paraded in front of them, changing my glamered chain shirt into ever more extravagant gowns for their entertainment.
I looked around the room and smiled to myself at the intense jealousy within the eyes of some of the women. While some of them were in adoration and wanted to be like me, others hated me for my beauty and for my fantastic piece of magical clothing – those poor creatures could never afford even one of the wonderful dresses I could create for free, on a whim. It was wonderful!
I had much less success when it came to cooking, though, as the strawberry cake I tried to make turned out to be a barely edible disaster compared to what some of these women cooked. Still, hopefully, the afternoon hadn’t been a complete waste and these silly women would support Lord Meravanchi when came the time to vote.
Marpenoth 23rd, 1375
Lord Meravanchi’s kiss
Two more days of campaigning followed, during which I worked tirelessly to promote Lord Meravanchi. Every evening, he and I found ourselves working together late into the night, planning the campaign, and preparing speeches. Though we were focusing on the task at hand, an undeniable sexual tension was building up between us. Sometimes, our hands would brush against each other, or I would catch him looking at me when he thought I couldn’t tell – through the reflection in a window or a glass of wine.
Late that night, I was finally getting ready to return to my quarters in Lavinia’s manor. I gathered some papers from the table, and when I turned around to leave the room, Lord Meravanchi was standing right in front of me.
“I really want to thank you for everything you’re doing, Belessa,” he said in an uncharacteristic display of gratitude.
“It’s my pleasure,” I replied,” and I hope the people of Farshore will be pleased with the result.”
“But really, for your dedication. You’re spending so many hours working on this. It’s like you barely need to sleep at all. I don’t know how you do it,” he said.
I fingered my magical ring of sustenance. “It’s a lady’s secret,” I said with a coy smile.
He smiled briefly. “Is it? But truly… This campaign is going very well, and that is in great part thanks to your hard work, your skill, and surely… your charm…”
I giggled and smiled coquettishly. Our eyes were locked within one another’s. A long silence followed. I finally opened my mouth to say something, but Lord Meravanchi must’ve reached the end of his internal struggle at the same time, because he leaned forward and kissed me.
It was truly pleasant and it was, I thought, long overdue. But after a moment, I pulled away, with a fake shocked look on my face. The timing wasn’t right. After all, he hadn’t won the elections yet…
Lord Meravanchi immediately stammered an apology: “Forgive me, that was… I shouldn’t… I’m sorry…”
He turned and hurried out of the room.
I remained standing alone, clutching a stack of papers in one hand, and bringing the fingers of the other hand to touch the lips that had just been kissed. I smiled like a stupid teenage girl, because it had been a good kiss. I really hoped he would win the election, so I could finally give him what we both wanted.
Marpenoth 24th, 1375
Defenses for Farshore
The following day, Lord Meravanchi, Lavinia and I met the rest of Trouble, as well as the two would-be militia captains, to see what they’d come up with in terms of defense for Farshore. We were impressed. They had already laid out plans for the building of several watch towers, some shelters for the population in the woods, fortifications for the palisade and ballistae.
It turns out that Sparkie and Ulfgar had been reading some books on architecture, which had been saved from the fire at the archive building, and they had gotten some inspiration for the defenses from there. They had at some point considered building an artificial reef to shelter the entrance to the bay, but had finally scrapped that plan, as it would’ve taken too long.
We also discussed the need to build a temporary building to serve as a second infirmary to replace the burnt down temple. It would serve until I had the time to build a proper temple of Umberlee within the cliffs. Such a building would have to wait, though: all the available man-power was to be used for building fortifications and combat training until the pirate attack, and also, we did not dare attempt to carve out sections of the cliffs without a truly skilled engineer on site. Not knowing how to properly do it, Sparkie and I might just cause the cliff to collapse if we created holes in it with our magic. We would have to recruit someone of sufficient skill from Sasserine the next time we were able to send someone over there.
Lagaan had also now learned how to build ballistae: an impressive feat in just a few days. A few ballistae should complement the defenses rather nicely.
As far as the militia, we decided to train them especially in ranged combat: many simple bows and javelins would be made, and Lagaan and Tyria, our two archers, would provide some training for them.
Ulfgar had written down a detailed schedule for the building of the defenses and the training of the militia. It was good to see him doing something useful. The threat of the pirate attack had served the purpose of dragging him out of the inn and sobering him up, which was a miracle in itself.
They also asked me if I would be able to raise more undead creatures to defend the town. Alas, I had to inform them that the necromantic wand had crumbled to dust after I’d created Penkus: it had drained the last of its energy.
Lavinia outraged
After campaigning for the whole afternoon, I went to the assembly at the Last Coconut on this last evening before the election. That night, both candidates and some of their supporters gave speeches to the crowd of voters.
I had prepared a powerful speech of my own. I came before the crowd dressed in a splendid, flowing gown of shimmering deep blue silk. I felt myself irradiating an aura of charm, for I had enhanced my already considerable magnetism with an Eagle’s Splendor enchantment. I opened my mouth to begin the speech, and within the first few phrases, spoke the key words to Enthrall the audience.
It was a stunner. The crowd was spellbound, listening to my every word. I noticed that even Lagaan watched me intently, his mouth hanging agape. Everyone listened, enraptured, as I explained how Lavinia’s inexperience and weakness of character would bring terrible doom to Farshore (telling the tale of how, just a few months before, she had naively allowed her brother to kill both of her parents and steal the entire family fortune), and that instead, the people must vote for the wise and strong Lord Meravanchi.
I smiled and bowed at the end of my speech, under a thunderous avalanche of applause. Very proud of myself, I got off the small stage, only to find myself facing one of the only people who hadn’t been enthralled by my speech: Lavinia herself. She looked furious.
“We need to talk,” she said.
A few hours later, she and I faced off in her living room. We were alone. I could see that she was visibly very upset, and yet she shook slightly, probably in fear. Was she scared of what I could do to her if she angered me?
“I am disappointed, very disappointed with you, Belessa,” she said.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Lavinia, but as the new priestess of Farshore, it’s my duty to look out for the safety of the town. I only want what’s best for the citizens. I don’t think you’re ready yet to take the responsibility of leading the town. I’m sorry if the truth hurts your feelings, but I prefer being honest with you.”
“I feel betrayed,” she said.
“I’m sorry about that, but the contract that binds us doesn’t cover campaigning for you. I’m still entitled to the freedom of choosing whom to support in an election. I’m not your slave, Lavinia…”
“You’re not... Ah, you’re always twisting my words, Belessa! Of course you’re not my slave! But truly, can’t you see the good in what I have to say? Farshore is in great danger now, we can’t afford to anger the natives as well! We need their help! What Lord Meravanchi is suggesting is only going to alienate those we should ally with!”
“You are mistaken, Lavinia. Lord Meravanchi will secure their help! Do you really think the natives are going to help us just because we’ll ask them nicely? What, you want to cook them some pies and bring them flowers? Come on, the real world doesn’t work like that, Lavinia!”
She scowled at me for a few moments, and when she spoke, her tone dripped with venom.
“I see what you’re up to. You’re looking to control Farshore by yourself. Is that it, Belessa? Do you seek to control this colony… from the comfort of Lord Meravanchi’s bed?”
The little b*@%+!
I slapped her, hard. She brought her hand to her reddened cheek and I saw in her eyes a mix of shock and anger.
“You dare…” she snarled.
“I thank you kindly for the hospitality you have offered me, Lady Vanderboren, but I believe it is best if I now leave the confines of your manor. I will gather my belongings and depart as soon as possible. Good night.”
Indeed, I took my things and went to the Meravanchi manor. A servant helped me carry my bags inside, and brought me to Lord Meravanchi. As a perfect gentleman, he offered me hospitality even though I arrived unannounced at this late hour, and as a perfect gentleman, he did not offer me the hospitality of his own room.
Marpenoth 25th, 1375
The lizardman’s wrath
The day of the elections was one of high emotions for me. I spent the entire day in frantic activity, spreading some good word about Lord Meravanchi until the last minute.
Finally, the elections took place late in the afternoon, and the results were announced in the evening: Lord Meravanchi had won! Even though the victory had only been by a small margin, we rejoiced. Lord Meravanchi made a speech before the citizens, ensuring them that they would be safe from the impending pirate attack and that once that menace was dealt with, the community would thrive like never before.
A celebration dinner ensued, that was for the most part pleasant. It came to my attention though, that the results had been tampered with: apparently, young Tavey had been caught messing with some ballots, falsifying some votes in favor of Lavinia. The young noblewoman ensured everyone that he would be suitably punished, but given her lack of character and the fact that he’d been acting in her favor, I doubted the punishment would be adequate.
I felt a surge of anger grow within me as I looked across the room at Lagaan, grinning stupidly while he was groping his tattooed whore, Liamae. Obviously, if Tavey was involved, it meant that the thief had surely directed his actions. So once again, Lagaan had crossed me and had tried to discredit all my efforts of the past week. Just when I was starting to think I could trust him, that stinking rat once again tried to foil my plans!!!
Thinking I could at least make sure that some measure of justice was dealt, I kept an eye on Tavey all evening, and when I saw him slip out of the tavern by the back door, later in the evening, I quickly followed him. I caught up with him in a few strides. He turned around in surprise and his entire face took a fearful expression when he saw who he was dealing with. Even though I was dressed in an elegant evening gown, I must’ve looked like I meant nasty business. I grabbed his arm forcefully, my fingers digging deep into his soft flesh, and I pinched his ear.
“So you tried a bit of cheating, didn’t you, you little piece of filth?” I said venomously.
He winced at the pain and quickly apologized: “I’m sorry, Captain Belessa, it won’t happen again, I swear! Please!”
“Who put you up to this? Huh? It was Lagaan, wasn’t it??”
He was crying from the pain now. Fat tears were running down his soft cheeks, and his ear was turning bright red.
“Speak, boy!!!” I spat.
“Please, Captain, let me go! I won’t do it again, I swear! I swear!!! Please, you’re hurting me!”
“Let the boy go, Belessa,” said a deep growling voice behind me.
I turned around and saw the massive shadowy shape of Raguhl standing close to us.
“Get back inside, Raguhl,” I hissed, “this is between me and the cabin boy.”
“I said: let him go!”
“No. I have a lesson to teach to this little cheater!”
I turned back to face the weakly struggling boy, but at the same time, the monster rushed me with a deep growl. The impact threw us off balance, and all three of us found ourselves sprawled in the mud.
“Run, boy! Run! Get out of here!” grunted Raguhl as he struggled to keep me pinned on the ground.
I heard Tavey get up and run away, while I struggled against the furious barbarian’s grasp. It was in vain: though I am strong for a human, I couldn’t compete with the sheer strength and mass of the scaled monster.
“What are you doing, you freak??” I demanded.
“Defending Tavey,” replied the lizard man. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, Belessa?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Raguhl! Hitting a woman, why, that’s very chivalrous of you!”
“I’m not going to let you hurt any more innocent people, witch!”
“He cheated! You heard it too! He falsified the results of the elections!”
Raguhl gave another low growl and hoisted me off the floor as if I were a rag doll and slammed me against the wall of the building. Had it been another night, the noise would’ve alerted someone to come to my help, but unfortunately, the cacophony of the celebration inside drowned out the sounds of my peril.
“Don’t you dare talk about those elections!” roared the beast. “You betrayed Lavinia!! You betrayed us all!!! How could you???”
“Let go of me, you monster!” I said, struggling against his grasp.
The horrible reptilian face loomed before me, the sharp fangs glistening in the moonlight, and the amber eyes glittering with fury and the promise of pain.
“What are you trying to do here, Belessa? We saw you, you know? Lagaan and I… We saw you! You went into that building with that black wolf of yours. It was you who killed the Father Catherly, wasn’t it??”
“Raguhl, you’re choking me! I can’t breathe!”
“Answer the question!!!”
Gripped by fury, I could’ve killed the vile beast right there and then, and it looked like it wanted to kill me, too. But I couldn’t match his strength. I whispered the words of a spell to paralyze him, but unfortunately, he managed to resist it. He realized what I’d done, roared, and punched me in the face.
It felt like being hit by a maul. I fell to the floor again, my vision blurring. The whole world was spinning. I saw a thin trickle of blood flowing down from my face, I wasn’t sure if it came from my mouth or my nose. I was vaguely aware of Raguhl’s ongoing tirade.
“I won’t let you ruin this town, Belessa. I won’t let you kill anyone else. I should kill you right now.”
I got on my knees and turned to face him; perhaps I could try to cast another spell before he tried to kill me.
“I won’t, though,” he continued. “I will show you the mercy that you didn’t show Father Catherly. I hope you will learn something from this.”
Then out of the darkness, two men rushed Raguhl and stabbed him with cutlasses. They looked terrified of attacking the massive creature, but clearly, they were gallantly coming to the defense of a damsel in distress – in this case, myself.
It’s quite ironic that two plain militiamen with mediocre training and weapons, two men I could’ve easily defeated myself in combat, rescued me that night, but their bravado had the intended effect.
“Let her go, you monster!” shouted one of the men.
“What are you idiots doing? Don’t you understand? She’s the evil one!!!” growled Raguhl, as tried to keep the men at bay with swings of his claws. He could’ve easily killed the two militiamen, but clearly, he didn’t want to get in trouble with the town guard.
“Guards! Guards!” shouted one of the men. “The lizardman’s gone berserk! Help!”
“You fools! You don’t understand!” roared Raguhl in frustration. He looked around, and then dashed away into the shadows.
One of the men walked up to me as and helped me stand up. Everything was still spinning all around me.
“Captain Belessa, are you all right?”
“Yes, yes, thank you. I’m fine,” I said in a hoarse voice. I cast a healing spell on myself to stop my nose from bleeding.
“Why did the monster attack you like this?”
“We… had an argument,” I replied.
“We’ll call the mercenaries, they can stick that monster in jail,” offered my other gallant rescuer.
I wiped some blood from my lips. I looked down at myself; I was covered in mud. There were blood stains on the front of my dress. I must’ve looked like hell. That loathsome brute had humiliated me on this night of victory, what should’ve been a night of celebration for me! And in front of those simpletons!
“No, thank you. It’s all right. The beast is ill-tempered, but we’ll deal with it ourselves. Please, I would take it as a kindness if you actually kept this incident to yourselves. I do not want people to be alarmed for no reason. Now if you’ll excuse me… I really need to head home and freshen up.”
Despite my disheveled appearance, I tried to maintain a dignified air as the two helpful gentlemen walked me to Lord Meravanchi’s manor. Once I was inside my quarters, though, rage and shame welled up inside me. Raguhl!!! That wicked monster! He had actually attacked me!!! It was unbelievable!!!
I was emotionally drained from the horrendous week of spending time with stupid people, of having to feign interest in their miserable, pathetic lives, of having to smile and lie all day. The shock of being attacked by Raguhl, the stabbing pain of being betrayed by Lagaan again, the uncaring attitude of Sparkie and Ulfgar who hadn’t even consulted me in their military planning, Lavinia’s accusations, they all came crashing down on me with the realization of the terrible truth: I was so very alone.
Even Moretta had grown more distant recently, probably too busy spending time with that scum, Tolin.
I was alone… Opposed at every turn by those who were supposed to be my comrades.
Today, one of them had actually attacked me. Humiliated me! My heart yearned for revenge, to make the hated lizard man suffer as he had made me suffer.
But how?
I took off my muddy garments and collapsed to the floor, in tears. For a long time, I wept in misery, the stress of the recent weeks pouring out of my weary heart.
The mayor’s concern
After a while, I found myself lying on the cool floor, naked, with a certainty clearly fixed in my mind: Raguhl would pay for his actions. I did not know how, or when, but he would pay.
Of course, I could not directly attack him. I could not do it in an obvious way. I had too many enemies here. Lavinia. Liamae. Hell, even my own companions all hated me. I could be sure that they’d turn against me at the slightest chance I gave them.
No, I had to be subtle. I had to bide my time. I was a talented healer, and those despicable fools depended on me. There would come a day when their lives would hang in the balance. When I would decide who lived, and who did not. That day, none of them would oppose me.
That day, Raguhl would die…
Reassured by this morbid conclusion, I took a warm bath. Between that and the tears I’d shed, I felt strangely relaxed despite what had happened earlier. I found it amusing that I was spending time alone, on this special night, when I should’ve been out celebrating with the rest of those uncouth morons. Those damned fools, they could all go to hell. I hated them so much. I felt much better alone.
It must’ve been pretty late when I got out of the bath and started preparing my equipment. The following morning, my group was supposed to venture back unto the island and investigate the tar situation once and for all. It would be very interesting indeed to face Raguhl again. The creature had been lucky to resist my powerful spell. He might not be so lucky next time. I knew I had no chance of besting him in armed combat, but once paralyzed, all I needed was one moment to slit his throat with my sacrificial knife… And I wouldn’t have to worry about him ever again.
What was more worrying was the notion of the others getting involved. Whose side would they take? I knew they all disliked me, but I had clearly done nothing wrong here. Raguhl was to blame.
A soft knock sounded at my door as I was contemplating this. I quickly put on a bathrobe and said: “Enter!”
Lord Meravanchi slowly opened the door, making sure I was decent. He looked concerned.
“Belessa, I’m glad you’re all right, I was surprised when I realized that you’d disappeared from the banquet, and my servant just told me you came back bloodied and dirty.”
“I’m better now, thank you.”
“But what happened? Did some ruffians attack you?”
“It’s all right. I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
“Very well. I’m sorry you missed the celebration.”
“I’m not.”
He looked surprised. “Truly? But you’ve been so instrumental to this campaign; I would’ve liked to thank you publicly for your efforts.”
I walked past him and closed the door. Then I turned back toward him and, with a seductive smile, I opened the front of my bathrobe.
“How about thanking me privately?”
He grinned at the offer, and I saw the fire of lust in his eyes, which had been denied for too long now. That night, at last, he showed me just how thankful he really was…
Marpenoth 26th, 1375
Accursed tar
The following morning, we were woken up by a servant knocking at my door.
“What is it?” I called out sleepily.
“Captain Belessa, the wizard Sparkillo requests your presence at the Last Coconut, if you please.”
“Tell him I’ll be there in half an hour.”
A hand reached out and gently caressed by stomach.
“Nestor! Wait!” I called out.
“M’lady?” came the voice from beyond the door.
“Tell him I’ll be there in one hour.”
“Very well, m’lady.”
I turned around and smiled at Manthalay (I guess now I can call him by his first name). He smiled back and we kissed tenderly.
“Do you really have to go?” he whispered as he caressed me.
“Well, can you think of anything better I can do for Farshore than getting tar today?” I asked with a coy smile.
“Well, maybe not for Farshore, but for me…” he said with a grin.
I sighed. “Truthfully, leaving your side to go fetch some accursed tar is one of the last things I feel like doing right now. I wish we could lie together in bed all day…”
“Well, I’m the mayor now, I’m sure that can be arranged…”
I giggled softly. After a moment, though, I said: “I’ll have to go. Without me, who knows what perils those fools would get themselves into. Hell, they probably couldn’t even sail their way out of the harbor! But still… we’ve got time. Why don’t you give me something to remember you by before I go?”
Tanaroa
An hour later, I showed up at the Last Coconut and met the rest of Trouble. Raguhl mostly avoided me, only glaring at me every now and then. Nobody else’s body language showed that they knew anything about what had happened.
Urol, Tavey and Chochanika also came with us. We set sails and reached Tanaroa after a few hours. It looked similar to Mora, and we were greeted by several natives, among which was an old woman: chieftain J’Kal. In an awkward Common, she welcomed us to her village and asked us to follow her to her hut. On the way, we noticed that the villagers seemed busy preparing for a ceremony.
For once, I kept mostly to myself and let Tyria do all the talking. We learned from the chieftain that they didn’t have access to the tar pits anymore. Several scouts had died recently while exploring that area. The region was now prowled by a terrible dinosaur they called Temuti Tequami, whom Urol identified as one of the Seven Dreaded Monsters of the island. The chieftain nodded and assured us that this monster was truly terrible.
Also, she said that a mysterious fog covered the region nowadays. Raguhl asked about this tribe, and the chieftain said that the people of Tanaroa had an alliance with them. Urol told us that the lizardmen lived near a large lake not too far from the tar pits. The others decided to go and see them before going to the tar pits: they wanted to recruit them for Farshore’s defense.
Great. More lizardmen.
We heard sounds of a commotion outside, and we noticed that Sparkie wasn’t with us. He was then escorted inside the tent by several black-skinned zombies. With them came an old dark-skinned shaman with symbols drawn on his skin with colored paint.
“This man caused great insult to Zombie Master!” he said. “He tried to cast spell on me! What outrage! I order him to be banished from Tanaroa!”
Sparkie made some weak excuses to justify his actions, and Tyria half-heartedly tried to defend him, but in the end, she agreed that we all had to go anyway.
We passed through a huge gate in the massive stone wall that sheltered the peninsula from the rest of the island. Judging from its size, it was likely built at the height of the Olman Empire, not by the primitive mud-diggers who now lived in the grand wall’s shadow.
We walked through the jungle for the rest of the day. Every now and then, Raguhl saw tracks of dinosaurs on the ground, and we saw pteranodon flying high above. Far to the northwest, we saw the silhouette of two enormous, smoking volcanoes.
“Those are the fangs of Zodzilla,” said Sparkie. “That’s the bat-god of the natives. They were preparing a ceremony for him back in Tanaroa. They think he’s angry for some reason.”
“Wow, you learned a lot before you got us kicked out of the village!” replied Tyria with sarcasm.
“Hey! I didn’t do anything harmful, I just tried to make the Zombie Master my friend!”
Ulfgar, Raguhl and I were protected from the heat by magic, but the others were all sweating profusely, until a heavy rain started to pour down. The trail got thinner as we traveled north and Raguhl guided us through the thick vegetation. Sparkie wanted comfort, so he rode a magically summoned mount.
“Further to the north is the Bloodwater lake,” said Urol. “Raguhl’s tribe lives on the shore of that lake.”
Night fell as we left the thick jungle and entered a savannah of tall grass. We debated whether to stop there or not, but Ulfgar convinced us to continue north. We walked for a few more hours in the dark, before finally stopping for the night near a crossroad. The left trail led to the tar pits, while the right one led to the Bloodwater lake. Sparkie summoned up some Rope Tricks and we slept inside.
Marpenoth 27th, 1375
Misty nightmare
The next morning, we found ourselves stuck in a thick patch of fog. Even more eerie were the twelve bird corpses nailed to wooden crosses near our camp. Someone had apparently gone to some trouble to scare us. The carcasses looked a few weeks old, the birds’ necks snapped, and there were no visible tracks around the crosses. Yet we were convinced the crosses hadn’t been there the night before.
More puzzling was the fact that neither the native Olman tribes nor the lizardmen build such tokens of warning. Who could have done it, then?
We decided to continue in the direction we thought was north. After some time, we heard some panting and saw a humanoid shape running away from us, ahead of the path. Raguhl and Sparkie, atop his mount, ran after it. Raguhl called out in Draconic. The rest of us ran after them, and we heard Raguhl’s voice after a while, crying out: “Nooo!!!!”
We reached our two companions at the edge of a crevice. Raguhl said that the man he’d chased had looked like a lizardman. When he’d reached the crevice, he’d sacrificed himself with a knife and fallen in. We carefully went down the thirty-foot deep slope, but found no signs of the body. Sparkie tries to locate the knife by magic, but did not find it. Had the whole thing been but an illusion?
We continued forth, and noticed that the vegetation consisted of swampy, bloated plants and twisted trees with boils from which dripped green ooze. It was hard to determine which direction we were heading. Here and there, we saw corpses of deformed animals. This reminded us of the aura of chaos around Kraken’s Cove, except that the fog here looked more normal. Tyria said that the fog had an aura of conjuration magic, and tried to dispel the magic, but with no effect.
Urol was looking worriedly at the deformed plants and animals. “None of this is right,” he said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Tavey also looked very uneasy.
Eventually, we came upon old Olman ruins, among which were scattered some old tents.
“My village…” said Raguhl. “This was my village…”
The lizardman ran around, frantically looking for survivors, or any sign of what might’ve turned the village into this strange ruin. Clearly, it was now abandoned. The others followed Raguhl warily, ready for combat. I followed behind them, with a smile on my face. Poor, poor Raguhl. So his tribe had died a horrible death, how so very sad for him…
We eventually found the corpse of an Olman man tied to another wooden cross, upside down. His skin was greenish and bloated horribly. A gaping wound opened at the center of his chest. He seemed to have been dead for about two weeks. When we approached him, his eyes opened suddenly, and he spoke to us in Common.
“Welcome, travelers! You’ve come a long way to stay here forever! I see you’re all alive, that’s good! Well, at least for now. My home is your home, now and forever!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Raguhl. “What happened here?”
“Lizard-man, you will die.”
“He’s nuts,” said Ulfgar.
“Dwarf, you will also die! A horrible death…”
“What’s going to kill us?” asked Lagaan.
“The fog! You will die in the fog! Fogmire is this place. You can’t escape. Him who shall kill you also killed me. The Master. He will come, be sure of that!”
“Pfff, we’re gonna kill your master. We’re not afraid,” said Lagaan with a smirk.
“Yeah,” added Sparkie, “we’re going to wear his head like a little hat! Tu rlu tu tu !!”
The cadaver regarded us all for a while, then spoke again.
“I’ve been dead for so long. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be alive…”
“Yeah, I’ve been dead too, you know?” said Lagaan.
“This Master character you mentioned intrigues me,” said Sparkie. “I think I’ll try to scry him!”
At that moment, everything went pitch black around us, and we were hit by some hard items that fell from above. Tyria spoke the words of a Dispel Magic spell, and the darkness vanished. We saw that it was skulls which had been dropped on us. Raguhl, who’d been searching for tracks further away from us, said he’d seen the skulls appear out of the thin air above the bubble of darkness. He also said he’d found no tracks besides our own.
We examined the skulls. They were polished and clean, and came from human and lizardman heads. Urol screamed in terror at their sight, but the rest of us weren’t so easily scared. Lagaan and Sparkie chuckled and taunted the master, trying to force him to reveal himself.
“What does your Master look like, anyway?” asked Raguhl to the corpse.
“He looks like your doom!” answered the dead man enthusiastically.
“What happens if we kill your master? Will you die too?” asked Lagaan.
“He’s the Master… You’ll never kill him,” replied the corpse.
“Sure we will! We’re Trouble! We’re not afraid of your silly Master!”
There was something in the air here… Something intangible, but it felt similar to the aura of the lowest levels of Umberlee’s temples. An aura of powerful desecration...
I cast an Air Walk spell and walked up for a long time, trying to escape the fog bank and see our surroundings from above. But the fog seemed to go on forever, even at a high altitude, so I eventually went back down. We tried to disbelieve our surroundings, thinking maybe they were an illusion, but in truth, it seemed real enough. I poked the corpse with the tips of my trident, but he didn’t seem to feel pain. We asked him more questions, but he didn’t remember his name, where he lived or how he lived his life, didn’t know how long ago he died. He only said that the Master had come for him in the night and killed him.
“Well, I’m out of ideas”, said Ulfgar. “What do you think we should do, Belessa?”
I shrugged. “I dunno.”
I felt a strange detachment from the whole situation. While my companions were scratching their heads, trying to find a way out of there, I felt a sense of serenity. Time and space seemed to have stopped here, and I felt comfortable in this desecrated ruin that had once been Raguhl’s home. I could feel the pain in his heart: this was truly his worst nightmare. And it brought me joy. I didn’t mind being in here at all.
Yet eventually, we continued our exploration. We reached the edge of a large lake about three hundred feet further. Its surface was as flat as a mirror: no wind stirred it. Lagaan threw a rock in it, but few ripples were created. We then decided to backtrack and try to reach the tar pits. We walked for several hours, until the evening. Just as it was starting to grow dark again, we found ourselves among the ruins of Raguhl’s village again. We’d gone in circles. Some of the others cursed, but I just chuckled softly. Somebody was clearly playing with us. We just had to find out what it wanted from us.
We decided to camp there for the night. Sparkie tried to create a Rope Trick, but the hole led nowhere.
“The portals to other dimensions are not functioning correctly in here,” he said. “It seems as though we’re somehow in a tunnel between two different planes of existence.”
A sudden attack
So we decided to sleep in the fog. Since I hardly need to sleep at all, I stood watch for most of the night, taking the time to update my journal. Tyria sat next to me, looking anxious. We could see that the others were all having troubled dreams, except Sparkie, who was lost in his dreamless elven meditation.
Raguhl then relieved Tyria. We didn’t speak a single word to each other for a long time, until I said:
“So it looks like your whole village died a horrible death, huh?”
He glared at me.
“That’s a shame,” I continued. “A real shame. You must be devastated.”
He glared some more, and finally said: “If it’s the case, I’ll avenge them.”
“Of course you will,” I said with a sarcastic smile.
“Shut up…” he growled.
I chuckled silently. Then, after a few minutes:
“By the way, the other night, you caught me by surprise. But make no mistake. If you ever lay so much as a finger on me again, I swear to Umberlee that I will kill you and bring you back as a zombie.”
“You looking for a fight?” he said, moving his hand toward his axe.
“Not now, silly. The others need their beauty sleep.”
So we just spent the rest of the watch glaring at each other.
Finally, after several more watches, it was finally my turn to sleep near the end of the night. But just as I was getting ready to lie down, a strange sound erupted behind me, and was gone by the time I turned around.
Sparkie and Ulfgar had been sitting by the fire and had seen what happened.
“It took her!” shouted Sparkie. “A Bar-Lgura! A damned Bar-Lgura took my wife! Damnit!!!”
Everybody had been awakened by the elf.
“A what did what?” asked Lagaan groggily.
“A Bar-Lgura took Chochanika! It appeared, grabbed her, and disappeared!”
Indeed, the woman was now gone
“What’s a Bagura?” asked Ulfgar.
“A Bar-Lgura! They are simian demons from the foul reaches of the Abyss!”
“What’s a simion?”
“A monkey! A MONKEY!!! A fricking monkey!!! Oooo oooo ooo ooo!! Banana!! And he took my wife! Now stop asking me stupid questions, I have to try and find her!”
Sparkie cast a Locate Object spell on one of Chochanika’s personal items.
“Yes. Yes! I sense her! She’s far away, but I sense her. Come on, get your things, we have to go and save her!”
Well, it looked like I wasn’t going to get any sleep at all that night.
Marpenoth 28th, 1375
In search of Chochanika
So we found ourselves walking through the dark fog. My companions looked as tired as I felt, because they hadn’t slept well at all. They had apparently all had similar dreams of demon-haunted seas and jungles, where even the trees wanted to eat them. Over all this, they had caught glimpses of a horrible demonic statue with two baboon heads, leering at them. Again! Was this infamous four-eyed creature the source of our current peril?
Raguhl and Lagaan seemed especially shaken from the nightmares, as though a part of their soul had been tainted.
“So what did that creature look like, exactly?” I asked Ulfgar.
“Well, Sparkie’s right, it looked like some kind of demonic ape. It was about the size of a big human, with long brown fur and red gleaming eyes… real evil-like. Say, Belessa. I slept in my armor and my joints are aching all over. Could you cure that for me?”
I did so, and cast Endure Elements on him and myself to resist the suffocating, humid heat.
Following Sparkie’s spell, we reached a spire of black rock atop a low hill. Two sculptures of gigantic baboon heads were carved in the side of the hill, their immense mouths agape, each one leading into a dark tunnel. We took the one to the left, following Sparkie’s lead.
We reached an intersection, but immediately, a rumble erupted and a mass of stones fell upon those of us who were at the front of the group. I was buried under a mass of stones, but I miraculously survived. I struggled to escape, hearing through the stones the muffled sounds of my companions shouting and trying to dig us out, but I was stuck. Suddenly, a hole appeared in the stones, and Sparkie freed himself, Ulfgar and me from our predicament thanks to his magical axe.
As soon as he was free of the stones, Ulfgar panicked and ran out of the caves. Clearly, a cave-in was the claustrophobic dwarf’s worst nightmare. I ran after him and managed to calm him down with a spell. Then, I healed our wounds, and we continued. Down one tunnel, we found some crumpled and torn clothes that belonged to Chochanika. It seemed as though the ape-demon was peeling off the banana before eating it. She was probably down to very little clothing, judging from what we saw on the ground here.
Further to the left, we reached a corridor that ended in a set of tarnished bronze double-doors adorned with scenes of reptilian and bestial demons torturing mortals. On either side of the door was an alcove inside which was a statue of a hissing baboon with oily and red liquid flowing down its mouth. The blood-like substance evaporated before hitting the ground.
There was a message written in Abyssal below each statue. The left one said “Give of your left”, and the right one said “Give of your right”.
Lagaan showed unexpected courage by walking up to the door and opening it for us, even though the handles were covered with sharp spikes that caused him to bleed painfully. While the rest of the group entered the room, I took the thief’s hands in mine and healed his wounds.
“Well done, Lagaan,” I told him.
The chamber we entered was horrible. It was completely stained with blood. An altar stood before us, also covered with dried blood; upon it stood two tall black candles. To the side stood two dusty mirrors and two stone chairs. Sparkie cleaned up one of the mirrors, but its surface was bumpy, and it didn’t reflect anything properly.
We looked for secret passages for a while, and found none. We explored the rest of the caves and only found a dead end further. On a wall was a bloody handprint that seemed to belong to Chochanika. At the end of the tunnel was an old skeleton manacled to the wall. Near its feet was a stone covered with Olman writing. I handed it to Tyria and she read out loud what it said:
“No way out. The jungle is pain and suffering. Maybe it will end soon and the spirit of the hawk will take me aloft from this accursed place. I beg him to take me away before I am dragged to the altar of the two-faced one. There is no way out. “
“I can also read some other words on the stone… written smaller… Cannibal… Hungry… Out…”
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Wow! This was truly one of the more enjoyable reads I've had. So many things going on, especially in Farshore. I'm really interested to see how things progress with Meravanchi in charge and Belessa at his side (pulling the strings as Lavinia implied ;) ).
She is going to be so very busy. Rescuing her old lover, building a temple, dominating the natives, putting Lavinia in her place, killing Raguhl, and paying back Lagaan. I don't know where she is going to find the time.
I'm only half playing of course, since I know full well the pitfalls of having evil characters (and parties). Character killing can be a campaign ender, but of course the consequences are mitigated somewhat by being the running player in both cases. Still the other characters may not take kindly to anything overtly cruel happening to the scaley beast, and I'd hate for the campaign to end due to internal strife.
On the flip side of things I'm very impressed at how your DM is weaving these stories together. So far he/she has been able to avoid (and modify) some of the more troublesome parts of this adventure path, and I can't wait to see what comes next.
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I'm only half playing of course, since I know full well the pitfalls of having evil characters (and parties). Character killing can be a campaign ender, but of course the consequences are mitigated somewhat by being the running player in both cases. Still the other characters may not take kindly to anything overtly cruel happening to the scaley beast, and I'd hate for the campaign to end due to internal strife.
The fight scene between Raguhl and Belessa was painful for me to write. It felt bad to have my two characters fight like this (btw, it did not happen in-game, I made it up when I wrote the log), but it was inevitable. By now, Raguhl has witnessed too many foul deeds performed by Belessa. He has grown to hate her.
The person that Raguhl loves the most in the world is Lavinia. He considers her like a sister who must be protected. When he learned that Belessa had slapped her, and later, when he saw that she had ruined the elections against Lavinia, he was furious. Then, when he caught Belessa mistreating Tavey, it was the last straw for him... and he attacked her.
Still, Raguhl remains a very kind-hearted person, and although he felt like avenging Father Catherly's death, he found himself unable to kill Belessa.
I like the irony of the two "righteous" men coming to protect Belessa against the "foul beast" Raguhl, while in truth it is Belessa who is the monster and Raguhl is the pure being. I like the "beauty and the beast" contrast between the two characters, their physical appearance being the opposite of the beauty of their souls.
After writing the fight scene, I was worried because indeed, Belessa's reaction would be to want revenge for the humiliation she had just endured. But the way I wrote it, she realizes that she can't kill Raguhl in an obvious way. She has too many enemies, and they would band up against her. She has to wait for the opportune moment.
Most likely, that opportune moment will be after the end of the campaign, or will never happen at all. So don't worry about any killing between characters. Indeed, that can ruin a campaign, and I don't want it to take place, even if I'm playing both of those characters.
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Damn . . . she's really becoming diabolical, and not even remotely subtle about it either. I wonder how these little moves on Belessa's part are going to affect the campaign. Lavinia, for example, might now be an effectively obsolete NPC. I'll be curious to see how your DM juggles things.
Lavinia is still a wealthy noble, so even though she doesn't actually run the town, she's still going to be pretty influential, I would think?
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Damn . . . she's really becoming diabolical, and not even remotely subtle about it either. I wonder how these little moves on Belessa's part are going to affect the campaign. Lavinia, for example, might now be an effectively obsolete NPC. I'll be curious to see how your DM juggles things.Lavinia is still a wealthy noble, so even though she doesn't actually run the town, she's still going to be pretty influential, I would think?
I agree, though like Guy I'm waiting impatiently ;) to see exactly how it turns out. I imagine that after people begin to feel mistreated by Belessa or Manthalay they might flock to Lavinia's side. Manthalay has effectively been running the community since Lavinia's parents left though, so the populace might just be thinking "business as usual".
Marpenoth 28th, 1375 (continued)
Evil Sparkie and the Annoying Ritual
“So what now?” asked Raguhl. “We’ve searched these tunnels and haven’t found Chochanika. Could there be a secret passage, maybe?”
He turned to face Sparkillo, who seemed lost in thought. Finally, the wizard spoke: “I sense some powerful currents of energy leading to the blood-soaked shrine. I believe that sinister place holds the key to rescuing my beloved. We should investigate it.”
We returned to the small shrine, where the two stone thrones, the two warped mirrors, and the blood-caked altar of greasy green stone with its two black candles still stood.
“Yes,” continued Sparkillo, “I feel flows of dark magic coursing through this place. An aura of transmutation emanates from the thrones… evocation from the candles… and enchantment, illusion and conjuration from the mirrors.”
We examined the room for some time. Ulfgar and Lagaan searched for secret passages along the walls, but found none. I examined the altar and candles, while Lagaan observed the mirrors. Raguhl stood watch close to the door, keeping an eye on Urol and Tavey. We finally agreed that the key to unlocking this room’s mystery seemed to require us to interact with its features.
Ulfgar and Sparkie each sat on a stone throne. Ulfgar made grimaces at the elven wizard, who stared back in a dignified manner. Meanwhile, I lit the left candle, which illuminated the entire room in an eerie red glow.
“Well would you look at that…” said Lagaan, who was standing to my left. He was staring into the left mirror.
I joined him and saw that our reflections could now clearly be seen in the mirror. However, they were not truly our reflections. We looked disheveled, dirty and savage within the mirrors. Our images grinned back ferociously at us. I admit that I recognized a part of me in the beautiful, feral woman who stared back at me from the mirror - in a way, she was the real me. The Belessa who lies at the core of my being – buried deep underneath a veil of diplomacy.
“My pants are wet,” commented Ulfgar.
We all turned around and asked him what he was talking about. He showed us that blood had started flowing from the seat of the throne he was sitting on. Interesting. Sparkillo’s throne was still dry, though.
I then decided to light up the right candle, and a fiery explosion engulfed me. I was thrown off my feet. I stood up, cursing, and I noticed that the candles weren’t lit anymore.
“That was weird…” observed Lagaan, who had managed to evade the flames.
I agreed, and healed myself, also casting a Resist Fire spell to protect myself from any further explosion.
We all stood back, and this time, Sparkillo lit up the two candles with some carefully aimed Scorching Rays. Another fiery explosion ensued, which didn’t harm anyone this time, but both candles remained unlit.
Next, I approached the altar again and lit up the right candle. Lagaan and I still saw our reflections in the mirrors. This time, it was Sparkillo’s throne from which blood bubbled up. He also told us that he saw a dark glimmer within the right mirror, though none of the rest of us could see it. Sparkie waved at the strange mass, but didn’t seem to get a response. He stood up to move closer to the mirror, and I took his place on the throne.
The sensation of warm blood against my skin wasn’t entirely unpleasant as I sat down. And then, I saw it too: a strange shadow that hovered within the room’s reflection in the mirror. It was as if the act of sitting on the throne had enabled me to see it.
Sparkie approached the mirror and touched it… and then he turned back to face us, his hair grown wild and his face twisted in a demented grimace: he had been replaced by his evil reflection! Within the mirror, an image of the real Sparkillo was uselessly banging his dainty elven fists against the surface. He was trapped!
Tyria tried to disable Evil Sparkillo with a Hideous Laughter spell, but the wizard – who seemed to possess all of our companion’s abilities - resisted. Raguhl then rushed him and grappled him. But alas, Sparkillo is skilled in the art of casting spells without sounds or even gestures, and he threw a mighty Fireball into the room, singing most of the group. Thankfully, I was still protected by magic, and did not suffer from the explosion. Tavey and Urol, though, did not fare so well. The young boy fell to the ground, unconscious, and Urol, who had barely survived the blast, rushed to his aid and cast a healing spell on him.
I noticed that the reflection of Sparkillo in the mirror – the real Sparkillo – had been singed by the fireball just as his twisted clone had been.
“Don’t kill Sparkie’s double,” I shouted above the din of battle, “the real Sparkie would die as well!”
And with that said, I cast a Silence spell into the room, to prevent Sparkie from casting another one of his deadly fireballs.
Tavey, who had regained consciousness, and Urol fled the room. I moved beside Ulfgar, who was trying to subdue Sparkie’s double, who was still being held by Raguhl. The wizard cast a Grease spell on himself to escape the lizardman’s grasp, but it was too late – he was knocked out by the two mighty warriors.
We saw that the real Sparkillo within the mirror had also been knocked out. We left the room, because we couldn’t discuss what to do next within the aura of silence. Once we were back into the corridor, however, we saw the Bar-Lgura materialize before our eyes, grab hold of Urol, and disappear with him before we could do anything. The fiend had abducted another one of our companions! It had probably been spying on us under the cover of invisibility, waiting for the best moment to strike.
Tavey shrieked in terror at seeing the ape-like demon appearing so close to him and taking away the wizened gnome.
I approached the child and said: “I’m amazed that you survived such a terrible conflagration, boy. Most children your age would’ve been roasted by the blast. But you’re a mess, come here, I will heal your burns.”
The young boy looked at me fearfully: he seemed as terrified of me as he was of the ape-demon.
I flashed him a dark smile that probably wasn’t all that reassuring. “What’s the matter, lad, I won’t hurt you. I just want to heal you.” I took his hand and cast a healing spell that cured most of his burns. His frail body was easy for me to heal with a simple prayer.
I waited a bit, still holding the boy’s hand in mine. He was shaking slightly. I felt Lagaan’s gaze upon me, but he said nothing. Tavey said nothing either, which I thought was rather rude.
“What’s a well-mannered young man supposed to say when a kind priestess heals him?” I asked.
“Th-thank you, c-captain Belessa!!!” he quickly stammered.
I smiled again and smoothed his singed hair. “That’s a good boy!”
Evil Ulfgar and the Annoying Ritual
We then discussed what to do next. We knew we had to act fast before the demon devoured Chochanika and Urol (if it hadn’t done so already) or came back to abduct more of us. Lagaan told us that he’d examined the mirrors while the rest of us were taking down the evil Sparkillo, and he thought he understood how they worked: people who sat on a throne could see the swirling darkness and go through it as a portal. So it seemed that we had to trigger the mirror again and fight one of our doubles. The smart thing to do would’ve been to make the weakest member of our group to touch the mirror, but Ulfgar eagerly volunteered to be the next to touch it. Clearly, the brutish dwarf was eager to test his strength against the combined might of the rest of the group.
We all argued against it and forbade him from touching the mirror, but the stubborn dwarf wouldn’t be dissuaded and rushed into the room. We followed him and noticed that, thankfully, it was now the real Sparkillo who was lying on the ground. We carried him back out of the room and I healed him back to consciousness. We discussed the recent experience with him and he agreed with Lagaan’s theory: the mirrors could open a portal that would lead us away from this place.
Lagaan and Sparkie explained that we all had to sit on the left throne to be able to interact with the right mirror – which was positioned at an angle to reflect the person sitting on the left throne. One by one, we all did so, and all ended up with an embarrassing blood stain on our arse. Lagaan, being the extremely mature person that he is, made a crude joke about today being our time of the month, but his chuckles were quickly silenced by the dark glares that Tyria and I shot him.
We all held hands, and Lagaan touched the right mirror, where now everyone saw the swirling darkness.
Nothing happened.
Puzzled, we discussed this for a bit, and finally, Lagaan and Sparkillo conjectured that the portal was only half-open: we had to unlock the other mirror.
We played with the room some more. We sat Tavey down on the right throne, but the right candle stopped burning, and the darkness within the right mirror vanished. The mirror returned to its initial appearance. We lit the left candle again and forced Tavey to touch the left mirror. He was replaced by his double, whom we easily knocked out. After a little while, the real Tavey reappeared, and I healed him back to consciousness. The poor boy must’ve been having second thoughts about coming with us on this trip…
Raguhl then lit the other candle, and again, Ulfgar insisted on being the next one to touch a mirror. The rest of us all vehemently refused, but the stubborn dwarf refused to hear us; the only concession he made toward sanity was to lend his magical frost axe to Raguhl.
He touched the right mirror, and was immediately replaced by his evil twin. Sparkillo paralyzed him by magic, and I took some manacles out of my pack and fastened them around his wrists.
“Belessa carries manacles in her pack, why am I not surprised…” remarked Lagaan, and even I giggled at that one.
The thief then walked casually toward the paralyzed evil Ulfgar and, with a mischievous grin toward the imprisoned real Ulfgar within the mirror, took evil Ulfgar’s purse from his belt. The dwarf roared silently and banged his fists against the surface of the mirror.
Then, evil Ulfgar recovered his senses. He was shackled and couldn’t draw a weapon, but he still put up a fight, trying to head butt Sparkillo. Laughing mockingly, though, the agile elf easily avoided the attacks. The rest of us beat on the heavily armored dwarf who, even while in such a defenseless position, took an incredible amount of punishment before being subdued into unconsciousness by a Ray of Frost cast by Sparkillo.
Soon, the real Ulfgar returned to our world, and after I’d healed him up, he asked Lagaan for his purse. The thief smiled pleasantly and returned it to him. The dwarf greedily counted his coins.
“There are nine gold pieces missing,” he observed.
“What?” asked Lagaan.
“There are nine gold pieces missing. I counted them. Give them back to me.”
“Surely you must be mistaken. You don’t know how many gold you had in there.’
“Yes I do! I counted them! Now, I’m going to count to three, and if you don’t give me back my nine gold pieces, with interest, I’ll have to take them by force.”
“Come on, Ulfgar, it was just a joke…” protested Lagaan.
“One…”
“It’s not like I would steal money from you for real…”
“Two…”
“OK, OK, fine, here’s your damn money!” said the rogue, and he handed the nine gold to Ulfgar, along with thirteen copper to count as interest.
We finished the ritual, and now we all saw the twin swirling portals. But we didn’t know which one to take. We decided that I would then use a Divination spell to determine which portal to take.
That turned out to be a really bad idea…
During the ten minutes it took to perform the ritual, the flames on two black candles winked out, the swirling darkness vanished from each mirror, and to add insult to injury, none of Umberlee’s divine servants answered my call. Arrrrgghhh!!! I howled in frustration and let out a long string of curses in Abyssal. Now we had to do it all over again!!!!!
This time, though, we decided not to waste time by having anyone powerful touching the mirrors. Lagaan, Sparkillo and I grabbed hold of poor little Tavey, who was crying and struggling weakly. Raguhl was probably too tired of this accursed place – and too anxious to rescue his friend Urol – to protest. Even Lagaan didn’t seem to mind putting his little protégé through the ordeal, and he chuckled as we forced the defenseless youth through the grueling ritual.
It felt wonderful for me – I finally got to do what I’d felt like doing to the boy a few nights before, before the vicious monster Raguhl had rudely interrupted me. I savored the sensation of the weakly struggling boy trying to escape my iron grasp, and his desperate pleas for mercy.
Once it was done, the poor boy was in a sorry state – he had ugly bruises on his head that I didn’t have time or energy to heal – I wanted to keep my magic to heal the useful members of the expedition. The lad was completely out of his element, in this demonic jungle at the edge of the abyss. He perhaps wished he could run home and cry in mommy’s lap – but his mommy wasn’t here. The closest thing he had to parents in this place were Lagaan and I – and neither of us was the comforting type.
The Cave of the Demonic Apes
Finally, we were back to the point where both portals of swirling blackness opened up before us. Tyria cast a Haste spell on us, and I brought Umberlee’s blessing upon the group, and then, we stepped through the left portal. One by one, we were absorbed by the strange dark maelstrom: first went Ulfgar, then Lagaan, Raguhl, Tavey and Tyria. Only Sparkillo and I were left. The elegant elven wizard gracefully bowed before me, and let me step through the portal…
I emerged into a large cave where thorny vines grew along the wall. Before me was a pool of crimson liquid, perhaps blood. The cave seemed to be split in two levels – a natural bridge of stone covered part of the lower cave. To the left, a door stood in the wall.
A battle was raging around me – clearly, my allies had been attacked from the moment they had emerged from the portal. I saw patches of blood here and there in the cavern, some close to the portal and some quite far away; apparently, the fight had been hectic and opponents had moved around a lot.
My attention was immediately diverted toward Raguhl and the large, fiendish ape he was fighting. The two monsters were locked in fierce combat just a few feet away from me. I later learned that the apes – similar in nature to the Bar-Lgura that had abducted Chochanika and Urol, could teleport at will, and had already done so several times, either dropping my companions from the top of the cave, or bringing them away in dangerous places.
The ape roared and tried to grapple Raguhl, but the mighty barbarian pushed it back and slashed it with his greataxe. I tried to wound the creature with my trident, but its demonic hide resisted all of my attacks. Further back in the cave, I saw that Tyria was shooting arrows toward the ceiling. The ape she’d been firing at suddenly appeared right next to her and tried to grapple her, but suddenly pulled back its paw with a shriek of pain: the vicious little halfling had bitten it!
Tyria then began to sing a hymn of victory that inspired us with courage, and Ulfgar came to the little bard’s aid, smashing his axe in the ape’s back with a roar. Meanwhile, Tavey was cowering in a corner, trying to hide in the shadows. I could not see Lagaan, but later learned that he’d gotten teleported by one of the three apes that had attacked as soon as Ulfgar had set foot in the room – probably not too quietly, knowing the dwarf.
By the time I’d arrived, Ulfgar had already slain one of the enemies, but the other two apes had summoned a third of their kind. This summoned fiend was the one Raguhl and I were fighting now.
Sparkillo suddenly appeared next to us. The ape grabbed hold of him easily, and teleported away, but thankfully, the mage managed to avoid being ensnared by the teleporting effect. Tyria, alas, was not so lucky: she was grabbed by the ape she was fighting, and dropped from the top of the room. The ape tried to drop her on Raguhl, but the barbarian’s reflexes were perfect, and he avoided the small, soft projectile, who hit the ground with a yell of pain.
I saw that Ulfgar had been gravely wounded by the apes, so I moved to heal him. Sparkie cast Magic Missiles at Tyria’s tormentor, but the creature resisted the spell. The halfling got up with a snarl and cast a Sound Burst on the ape. The loud bang stunned the massive creature, which… fell on top of Tyria, further injuring the unfortunate little bard. With a roar, Raguhl, who was in a state of rage, chopped off the ape’s head.
Sparkie moved further into the cave and saw another one of the apes clutching to the ceiling: a third one I had not seen yet. He blasted it with Magic Missiles. Lagaan emerged from the door I’d seen earlier, observed the situation, and ran close to where Ulfgar and I were. At that time, the Haste spell that Tyria had cast on us faded.
Ulfgar, Lagaan and I were in a corner of the room which led to a flight of stairs, next to the corpse of the ape that Ulfgar had slain before I’d passed through the portal. As it turned out, the ape that Raguhl and I had fought when I’d first entered the room had been hiding near the stairs. Lagaan and Ulfgar attacked it, the dwarf letting go of his mighty axe in favor of a cold iron shortsword, a better weapon against those demonic foes, which were very resistant to the axe’s frost magic, and to regular metals.
The ape roared from the wound Ulfgar caused him, grabbed hold of the dwarf, and disappeared with him. Cursing, Lagaan ran up the stairs. As I started following him, I felt my movements become more fluid: Sparkillo had cast another Haste spell on our group!
Lagaan and I emerged on the bridge that overlooked the cave. One of the vicious apes stood there, and Lagaan shot it. Alas, the rogue’s arrows had little effect on the demon, which then rushed the rogue and raked him with its powerful claws. I invoked a powerful prayer of healing to mend Lagaan’s wounds.
From below, I heard a terrified shriek, followed by a hideous roar of agony. I later learned that the other ape, the one who’d teleported away with Ulfgar, had then appeared right next to Tavey, but had been slain by another volley of Sparkie’s mighty Magic Missiles. So only one of the demonic apes remained!
Lagaan and I stabbed the ape with our weapons, with little effect. Raguhl, Sparkie and Tyria soon came up the stairs to help us, but alas, the wicked creature grabbed hold of the rogue and teleported away with him. Thankfully, though, we heard the sound of battle ahead of us: Ulfgar and Lagaan seemed to be behind a door at the end of the bridge, locked in battle against many more monkeys: we heard a cacophony of wild cries, which were almost completely drowning out Ulfgar’s curses and battle-cries.
Raguhl started hustling in that direction, but he was panting heavily, and I could tell that he’d reached the end of his rage and was exhausted from the long battle. I cast a healing prayer on Tyria, who was badly wounded from having a heavy ape fall on her.
Behind us stood another door, from which no sound was coming.
“I wonder what’s behind this door!” said Tyria joyfully.
She opened it before I could do anything, and we saw a dark room littered with bones beyond it. In the center of the room stood a large, hideous black snake with a human skull for a head. Tyria immediately slammed the door shut.
“Yeah, let’s fight that one later, actually,” she said, and she met my furious glare with a sheepish smile. Stupid door-opening halfling!
At the end of the bridge, Raguhl opened the door, and the noises of wild monkeys fighting Ulfgar and Lagaan came amplified from behind it. We saw the lizardman disappear behind the door, going to help his brothers in arms. Meanwhile, the last demonic ape, badly wounded, had appeared near the ceiling of the cave. Tyria hit it with a Sound Burst, and Sparkillo cast more Magic Missiles in its direction, almost slaying it.
We heard the sound of a door opening behind us, and an incantation was soon followed by a terrible shock blasting Sparkillo and me! The naga had managed to open the door (with its jaw or its tail, most likely) and had cast a Lightning Bolt on us. Tyria!!! That little idiot!!! Why did she have to open that door??
“Fool of a Bramblefoot!” I snarled, “Enter the room next time and rid us of your stupidity!”
As if granting me my wish, the ape grabbed hold of the annoying halfling and disappeared with her. Good riddance, I thought at the time!
I immediately ran for cover from the spellcasting naga into the room where Raguhl had disappeared. The room had several columns, and was filled with bloody, hacked up corpses of rabid, demonic little baboons. They were smaller than the strong apes that had given us so much trouble, but there must have been more than twenty of them. Thankfully, Lagaan and the two warriors had slain them all. Lagaan and Raguhl had suffered minor wounds, but Ulfgar was covered in blood, a lot of it the monkeys’, but a lot of it also his own.
“A dangerous snake-like wizard is attacking us from behind!” I panted, and Raguhl rushed past me to go attack it. Ulfgar came to my side and begged for some healing, and I obliged him.
Outside, I heard the sound of some arcane duel between Sparkie and the naga. While I was healing Ulfgar, I peeked around the corner and saw that Sparkie had erected a Wall of Ice which the naga had pierced with some fire spell. A haze of cold wind blew through the opening, preventing Raguhl from attacking the snake fiend in melee. The barbarian threw a javelin at the monster and then retreated behind the wall, readying his greataxe for the creature’s approach.
Sparkie was hiding behind a corner, shooting spells at the naga, who retaliated with a Glitterdust, which failed to blind the elf. Meanwhile, Lagaan was climbing down toward the lower part of the cave, probably worried about his little apprentice. Ulfgar drank a healing potion, and I healed him some more. He was sweating and panting heavily, as weary as Raguhl after his bout of rage. Once he felt a bit healthier, he started walking toward the naga, but in his fatigued state, he was moving at a turtle’s pace in his bulky armor, and was soon blasted by a Lightning Bolt from the naga. He retreated back to my side, with smoke coming out of his armor.
“I’m going to need… more heals…” he panted, and I rolled my eyes.
Finally, the black snake slithered through Sparkie’s wall and was partially frozen from the effect. Raguhl attacked it, but the creature was protected by magic and none of the lizardman’s attacks connected. The creature cast Scorching Rays at Raguhl, which had minimal effect thanks to the barbarian’s magical ring. Sparkillo blasted our enemy with more Scorching Rays of his own.
The naga turned with a snarl and cast some Magic Missiles at the elven mage. It was hit in the back by Raguhl’s axe, and was finally slain by another volley of firebolts from Sparkie.
Fools in need of rescue
The battle was finally over. We’d defeated those deadly enemies, but at a high price: Ulfgar and Lagaan were badly wounded, and Tyria had vanished. Sparkie and I had almost used up all of our magical energy. I cast some regenerative spells on my companions to close their wounds, and we took about ten minutes to search our surroundings. We found several magical items on our foes. We noticed that the naga’s head now looked like a woman’s, rather than a skull. Had it concealed its true appearance behind an illusion? After a few minutes, the wall of ice disappeared and we were reunited with Lagaan, who’d found more loot in the naga’s room.
After a few more minutes of exploration, we found two chests in a secret room past the room with the baboon swarm. One of the chests was trapped, which Lagaan disarmed by being blasted by a fireball, but the other contained some money and more magical items.
The smell of blood and wet fur surrounded us, and we felt a sense of urgency at finding our vanished comrades. Though I was annoyed at Tyria’s stupidity, the little bard had her uses, and I didn’t want her to end up in a demon’s belly. Leaving Tavey to cower alone in the lower cave, Raguhl, Ulfgar, Sparkillo, Lagaan and I pressed on.
Past the bone-littered room of the naga, we reached a heavy stone door, which the two warriors struggled to open. Beyond it stood a room whose walls were adorned with frescoes of demonic apes and sinister landscapes. Within the room were two statues of hulking simian fiends, each with a missing hand. We’d already encountered a similar puzzle below the city of the spider-queen, and in the previous chambers, we’d found two such hands. As soon as we reattached them, the iron door in the far wall opened, allowing us to continue.
We came to a corridor lined with alcoves which contained eight statues of hissing apes, each holding a glowing torch. I studied the corridor with a Detect Magic spell and saw an aura of illusion around the statues. Lagaan warned us that the corridor was trapped, and that the statues would howl if we walked within it. I cast a Silence spell at the end of the hallway, just near the copper door that stood there. We walked through the corridor unmolested, reached the doors, and walked through them into an immense room.
Four more ape statues stood in the room, but an even larger, and much more terrifying one stood on the far side: a gigantic monster with two baboon heads and two wicked tentacles instead of arms. We’d already encountered a similar creature within a magical mirror, and had talked about this being recently: this was an idol of Demogorgon, the most powerful of demon lords.
To our right was the corpse of the ape-demon who’d brought Tyria into this room. At the center of the room was a large fire pit, from which fifteen-foot-high flames emerged. Slowly roasting over the flames were the tied, gagged and helpless figures of our three missing companions: Tyria, Chochanika and Urol. They were hanging upside down, dangling at the end of some ropes.
As soon as we entered the room, we heard the sound of a latch being activated, and a pulley system came into action, starting to slowly lower our distressed companions into the blazing inferno. We had to act quickly, or else our beloved, silly, helpless friends would perish in a most horrible way…
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Dun dun dun.
For the record I absolutely hated this particular dungeon. This for me was the absolute low point in the adventure path. The two throne puzzle ate an hour or more of actual game time. When we solved it there was no cheer . . . just a solitary mutter of "thank god"
I hope you guys survive this final encounter, seems you're going through this dungeon the hard way. Basically spreading yourselves out and fighting some of these lesser monsters almost one on one, and you might just be weakening yourselves before the final encounter. The last fight of HtbM was a doozy. One of these monsters nearly took out two of our PCs. We're talking one round from perm-a-dead.
Good luck!
Thanks ;)
Thankfully, the DM had warned me before the game that the upcoming puzzle was very difficult and counter-intuitive to solve. I don't really like puzzles to start with, so I was really bracing myself for something awful. Thanks to that, it didn't feel as bad is it would've felt if I'd had no warning. Also, like you said in another thread I think, it felt weird to have to solve a long puzzle in a "rescue against the clock" scenario.
Oh, we're doing the dungeon the hard way? I didn't know there was another way. We're not getting split up voluntarily, monsters just teleported us left and right during that fight. :( But yeah, Sparkie and I are almost out of spells, so I expect the last fight to be hard...
Also, we won't have Tyria with us for the last fight. She can't fight or cast spells, as I guess she is gagged. I wonder if she can Inspire Courage by humming? :D
Alas, this game was the last time we had Sparkie and Tyria's players with us. They are moving to China for at least a year. Hopefully, they'll re-join the campaign when they come back, but it might not happen. We're going to keep the two characters in the group until the conclusion of the adventure, then there will be some major reorganization of our group. We'll need a new mage, at least.
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“OK, OK, fine, here’s your damn money!” said the rogue, and he handed the nine gold to Ulfgar, along with thirteen copper to count as interest.
I was almost rolling on the floor when I read this. The fact that Ulfgar actually extracted the 13 coppers interest is just priceless!
"Fool of a Bramblefoot!” I snarled, “Enter the room next time and rid us of your stupidity!
:D
Sorry to hear about the disappearance of of your fellow players :(. I hope it doesn't stop you and the rest of your group from finishing this campaign out. After reading Guy's account of this adventure, and now yours, I think I'd probably remove the puzzle room altogether. I agree that it just doesn't fit with the rescue mission theme of the adventure.
Marpenoth 28th, 1375 (continued)
The shrine of Demogorgon
Lagaan drank a potion and turned invisible; Ulfgar started running toward the mechanism. On the platform that held the large statue of Demogorgon, we saw another of those ape-demons, larger and meaner-looking that the rest, appear and laugh at us. The creature was wearing boots, bracers and a cloak.
Raguhl charged the laughing ape, and I followed him, casting a Bless spell on my companions. Meanwhile, Sparkie used a Mage Hand spell to remove Tyria’s gag, which allowed her to start singing to improve our combat skills. Ulfgar managed to stop the mechanism, which temporarily saved Tyria, Urol and Chochanika from being roasted alive. At the same moment, Raguhl started battling the Bar-Lgura, which evaded his attacks.
Raguhl roared in rage: “This is just a damned illusion!” He looked around, and seemed to notice something, and started swinging his axe at what looked like empty space. Sparkie and I rushed to help Ulfgar with the mechanism, because the prisoners were still dangerously close to the fire, even though they weren’t being lowered any longer. I heard the demon ape scream in pain, and saw from the corner of my eye that Lagaan had reappeared close to Raguhl: he’d managed to wound our foe!
The Bar-Lgura moved to attack me and Sparkie, and was hit twice by Ulfgar’s axe. The demon sliced Sparkie’s chest with a claw, but I stepped behind the mage and healed the wound soon enough. Raguhl and Lagaan attacked the demon, but missed. It was very agile and dodged their blows easily.
Sparkie showed no sign of fear even against the large simian: “I am the mighty Sparkillo, and you will pay for kidnapping my wife!” he shouted defiantly, and then he unleashed a volley of Magic Missiles at point blank range.
The demon kept attacking Sparkie, and also activated the mechanism, causing our three allies to resume their descent toward the inferno. I healed Sparkie, who kept firing Magic Missiles, but this time, the magic was absorbed harmlessly by the demon. We heard the three prisoners scream: their heads were now very close to the fire!
Ulfgar had recovered his cold iron shortsword and he stabbed the demon with it. Our foe growled in pain, and then grabbed hold of Lagaan, and teleported away with him, unto the platform. Immediately, Sparkie and I returned to manipulating the mechanism, starting to raise our companions away from the fire once again.
I heard Lagaan scream: he’d been blasted by the demon’s magical ring, into the pit of flames. He quickly jumped out of the blaze, and thankfully, he and his gear hadn’t caught on fire. He shot arrows at the ape, while Raguhl and Ulfgar attacked it in melee, and Sparkie shot more useless Magic Missiles at the creature, who resisted them all. Meanwhile, I pulled and pulled on the ropes, hoisting the three captives higher and higher above the flames. Thanks to my great strength, I was able to save their lives!
Finally, Ulfgar dealt a deadly blow to the fiend with his sword, and the creature collapsed on a side of the platform. The others rushed to help me secure the mechanism in place. We’d saved the three prisoners, but we had to get them down. The two midgets were still squirming, but even from the distance, I could see that Chochanika had lost consciousness and was badly burnt – she needed immediate magical attention!
Using the very last of my magic, I cast an Air Walk spell on myself, climbed up to the captives, and healed Chochanika with my wand. Her eyes fluttered open. I grabbed hold of her, and using a dagger, I cut off the ropes that tied her ankles. I then carried her back down to Sparkillo’s side.
The idol of Demogorgon
Before I could go and save the others, we all heard a strange sound coming from the platform. We turned and saw, to our horror, that the idol of Demogorgon was coming to life, hissing and squirming in a disgusting manner. What foul creature were we now facing? For a moment, I considered suggesting a retreat, but Tyria and Urol were still dangling from the ropes: it would’ve meant leaving them behind to die.
With a shout, Lagaan shot a few arrows at the statue; they all bounced off harmlessly. Ulfgar charged it and stuck his axe deeply inside the stone, but then he got entangled by one of the thing’s four tentacles. One of the statue’s heads reared up and let out a frightening howl, and I noticed that some of my companions were shaken by the sound.
Sparkie shot some Magic Missiles at the creature, and I climbed back up to free Tyria. The second head howled as well, and now, I noticed that all of my companions were now shaking with fear. I was the only one who kept a cool head; clearly, I am the bravest of them all.
The enormous stone monkey was now flailing wildly with its tentacles, smashing Ulfgar and Raguhl with powerful blows. Ulfgar had managed to escape the grapple, and Sparkie shot another volley of Magic Missiles at the thing. They seemed to be doing some serious damage. Chochanika also fired a small ball of lightning, but she missed the huge target - what a useless girl!
Finally, it was Raguhl’s axe that shattered the statue’s torso between the two heads, and the whole thing crumbled to dust. Immediately, the entire complex started to tremble, and pieces of the ceiling started to fall around us. The ancient shrine was crumbling!
After I’d brought Tyria to safety and had cut off her ropes, I saved Urol. Tyria quickly went around the room and checked for magical treasure. She found some items on the demon ape, as well as on the central altar, and she also recovered her equipment, which had been stacked behind one of the statues in a corner. Then, we hurried out of the room and ran back into the two-layered caves. Lagaan grabbed hold of Tavey, who’d been cowering in the shadows, and we all passed through the portal, and ran out of the complex.
We emerged from one of the enormous baboon heads on the side of the hill, with a thick cloud of dust spilling out after us. We were safe! We’d made it!!
Marpenoth 29th, 1375
A well-deserved rest
It was now morning. All around us, birds sang happily, fresh wind blew and the sun shone brightly in the blue sky. We could all see, and I could feel, that we were now fully on the Material Plane once again. The link of the cursed place to the Abyss had been severed. We were home, sort of…
We returned to the ruins of Raguhl’s village, and saw that the chatty undead man was now truly dead. We camped in the ruins, to recover from the ordeal. We discussed what we’d seen in there. The statue had been a Lemorian Golem, which are a type of constructs that are built in Lemoriax, the capital of Gaping Maw, Demogorgon’s realm in the Abyss. There, the things serve as guardians and soldiers, but some of us had heard tales that they also could sometimes be found in our world, serving priests of the wicked demon lord.
The statue had seemingly been the source of the connection between our world and the Abyss. Once we’d destroyed it, the link had been severed, and we’d been set free to return to our reality.
Those ape-demons had been terrible foes. We had barely escaped with our lives. We spent the entire day resting. I used healing magic to cure my companions’ many wounds. The worst off was Raguhl, whose scaly skin had been terribly corrupted by the touch of Demogorgon’s idol. We glared at each other as I approached him. His terrible treachery from a few days before was still fresh in my mind.
“This demonic corruption will eat your flesh if I do not cure it,” I said.
He looked at me without a word.
“This is a dangerous island we’re on,” I continued. “Look what happened to your people. Even a big warrior like you could easily die or get afflicted with a terrible disease. I’m by far the most skilled healer on this island, Raguhl. Someone in your line of work is going to need my talents over and over again. So I’d suggest you forget about your murderous ideas, because even if you did succeed in killing me, I can assure you that you wouldn’t survive for long.”
He kept staring.
“So. Do I have your word that you won’t attack me again?”
For a long moment, he remained silent, then finally he gave a low grunt.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. I’m not going to heal you until you promise that you won’t attack me again.”
“All right, fine, I promise,” he growled. “I promise I won’t attack you…”
I smiled humorlessly. “I’m glad we have an agreement.” And then I cured his infection.
Marpenoth 30th, 1375
My lover in chains
The following day, we journeyed back toward the great wall of Tomoachan. Since Raguhl’s tribe had been wiped out, we had no reason to continue toward the north: we had to travel back south, and then west, to go to the tar pits. Therefore, we spent the entire day backtracking toward the crossroads, which we reached at sunset.
In the evening, Sparkie identified the magical items we’d found in the shrine. Some of them were quite potent, which reassured me that the entire escapade to the dead lizardmen village hadn’t been a complete waste of time: at least we had something to show for it.
We divided the loot. I took some boots of levitation, which resized to fit me, and a rod of silent casting. Lagaan took a ring of protection, as he often gets into trouble, and Raguhl took the cloak of resistance. We also divided several potions among the group.
Later that night, I cast a Sending to inform Manthalay of our delay, and of our victory. Thinking of my new lover, I also found myself thinking of my old one, who was rotting in a cell. I could also reach Dolmord through a Sending, now that I knew he was alive…
He answered… he was amazed that I was able to contact him. With my heart beating like a drum, I cast a second spell to ask him for more information on his whereabouts.
“I’m being held prisoner,” he replied, “as I have been for a long while. I’m being held at the Crimson Pirate headquarters. They haven’t killed me yet…”
That is all I heard. I couldn’t contact him again that night. I would have to wait for the following night… Now that I knew that Dolmord was still alive, I felt a strong sense of urgency to free him. But alas, it seemed he was not on the Island of Dread as I’d hoped. Could he be near Scuttlecove? But that was so far away…
For the rest of the night, I found myself thinking of him and his predicament. Manthalay was almost forgotten already. I could imagine myself being reunited with Dolmord… He would take me in his strong arms and kiss me tenderly…
Most likely, he thought that our child was alive. I was not sure I could bear to reveal the truth to him. In his cell, he needed hope. I would have to lie to him…
Uktar 1st, 1375
A lie for love
The following day, we traveled through the savannah. The weather was pleasant, and it felt good to be out of the mists and the humid jungle. A gigantic brown tarantula attacked us from beneath some rocks during the afternoon; but despite its horrific appearance, it didn’t cause any important damage, and we easily killed it.
We approached the tar pits near sundown, but decided not to venture into them in the darkness. We camped for the night.
That night, once most of the others were asleep, I cast some more Sending spells to talk again with my beloved. His answer was something like this:
“I know not for sure where I am kept. From what I’ve gathered, listening to the guards, they kept me alive because of some oracle. Something about someone dangerous linked to my past and my future. I don’t know what that means. Will you come to save me, my love? And how is our child?”
I lied and told Dolmord that our son was well, and that his name was Kalran. But I promised him that I would free him, and if Umberlee grants me the power, I will do everything I can to make good on that promise!
Uktar 2nd, 1375
Saviors from the sky
The following day, we ventured into the tar pits. We looked for tracks of the enormous dinosaur that was terrorizing the region, but to speed things up, I used my magical boots to rise high up in the sky. I spotted the creature in the distance, about an hour’s walk away. We all headed in that direction.
After a while, we heard the roars of the mighty creature, as well as some high-pitched screams. Clearly, it was on the hunt!
Sparkie created a Rope Trick in which he hid Urol, Tyria, Tavey and Chochanika. Then, using some Air Walk and Fly spells, the rest of us took to the air and headed toward the monster.
We soon saw it, and it was a reptile of gigantic proportions. It was larger than Penkus, larger than any monster we’d faced before. The brute had surely been in countless fights, and bore the scars to prove it. It was missing its left eye, and one of its arms was badly broken. Its entire body was covered with marks, and even now, a few arrows and spears stuck out from its thick hide. The huge tyrannosaurus was roaring angrily and chasing some panicked, fleeing little furry creatures. We recognized them as Phanatons, denizens of this island. Raguhl and Urol had told us about them, and I remembered reading about them in Larissa Vanderboren’s journal. Also, one of those little pests had attacked us in Kraken’s Cove, so long ago…
We interrupted the mighty dinosaur’s breakfast with a volley of arrows and spells. Sparkie shot some bolts of fire at it, and I opened with an ice storm, and then called down bolt after bolt of lightning to hit the colossus. The beast, which would’ve been a terrible foe on the ground, roared in frustration, as we all hovered out of its reach. No sense in showing nobility when fighting an animal: we used the cheap tactic of fighting it where it almost couldn’t reach us.
I say almost, because the creature had enough brains to grab hold of a tree trunk in its maw, unearth it, and throw it at Lagaan! The unfortunate rogue reeled from the impact, but survived.
But it was a battle we could not lose. The giant reptile eventually tired of the punishment and tried to flee, but we followed it mercilessly, and finally, it fell to our combined efforts.
The earth shook from the fall of the titanic monster, and the surviving little Phanatons all cheered wildly. We descended majestically toward them, like great gods who’d come from the heavens to save them. For good measure, I threw a few more bolts of lightning at the ground near them. If we are to be treated as their gods, I want to be known as the Queen of Storms!
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Here’s an updated version of my characters at level 9.
Belessa Darkwave (NE Female Human Cleric, Level 9) – Worships Umberlee
Str: 14 Dex: 8 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 20 Cha: 14; AC: 17, HP: 70
Height: 5’11”. Weight: 150 lbs, Age: 29, Date of birth: Eleasias 5, 1346
Long black hair, brown eyes, stunningly beautiful, wears a glamered armor that most often looks like either a chainmail bikini or an elegant black gown, wields a trident and a large shield.
Feats: Combat Casting, Negotiator, Iron Will, Silent Spell, Quicken Spell.
Skills: Bluff 7, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 20, Heal 6, Knowledge: Religion 8, Profession: Sailor 13, Sense Motive 15, Spellcraft 5, Spot 9, Swim 1.
Domains: Ocean, Storm (from the Forgotten Realms campaign settings)
Languages: Common, Chondathan, Orc, Abyssal
Main gear: Darkwood Trident +1, Glamered Chain Shirt +1, Periapt of Wisdom +2, Ring of Sustenance, Necklace of Prayer Beads (Bless, Healing), Large Shield +1, Boots of Levitation, Rod of Lesser Silent Casting.
= = = =
Raguhl (CG Male Lizardfolk Barbarian, Level 8) – Worships Gwynharwyf
Str: 20 Dex: 14 Con: 16 Int: 10 Wis: 14 Cha: 8; AC: 22, HP: 105
Height: 6’10”. Weight: 420, Age: 25, Date of birth: Ches 29, 1350
Has gray and green scales, amber eyes and sharp spikes protruding from his back, wears a chain shirt and wields a greataxe.
Feats: Track, Improved Grapple, Power Attack.
Skills: Climb 10, Hide 2, Intimidate 9, Jump 6, Perform: Drums 2, Profession: Sailor 4, Spot 11, Survival 10, Swim 12, Tumble 7.
Languages: Common, Draconic
Main gear: Greataxe +1, Chain Shirt +2, Ring of Fire Resistance (10), Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Protection +1, Gargoyle Crown.
Uktar 2nd, 1375 (continued)
Furry little friends
“You have slain mighty Sharp-Teeth! You have saved tar-gatherers! Us very thankful!”
One of the little Phanatons was chattering excitedly. Through magic, I could understand its strange language. I smiled at the wee being.
“Yes, little ones. We have saved you. We are great heroes who come from the land of humans. My name is Belessa, and I am the leader of this group. But what is it that you were doing here?”
“Us gather tar for village. Was very dangerous because of Sharp-Teeth! But he dead now, today is great day! Only three warriors were eaten by him, us will remember their sacrifice well! But what are you? Us never seen any like you before… Except him.” The little creature was pointing at Raguhl. Although the Phanatons all seemed fascinated by the various members of our group, they stayed away from the massive lizardman.
I smiled reassuringly. “This monster will not attack you unless I order it to. Do not worry about it. We come from the human village of Farshore, which is currently in great danger. The good humans who live there are about to be attacked by evil humans who will come on big ships. We are trying to find ways of defending our poor village. It is fortuitous that we’ve encountered you today. Perhaps your people would be able to join forces with us in defense of the whole island?”
I had little hope that the tiny creatures could do much to help us, but perhaps they would provide more targets for the pirates and thereby save human lives. The spokes-Phanaton blinked at me for a few moments before answering.
“Is not my place to say yes or no. Chief Teketek must decide. Us go see him once us gather tar. You come with us, yes?”
“How far is your village?”
“Is two days to north. Us take you there. Us know safe way through jungle.”
I translated what the creature had said to the rest of Trouble. We discussed this for some time, and decided to travel to the Phanaton village. After all, they might know things that could help us, and winning them over as allies would be helpful in defending Farshore, and maybe for trade as well if the town survived the upcoming pirate onslaught.
We let the little creatures gather some tar for a few hours. During this time, we went to fetch Urol, Tyria, Tavey and Chochanika. The gnome was fascinated to meet Phanatons again, and the little furry creatures were amused to see that some members of our group were nearly as small as them.
But Urol’s eyes went especially wide when he looked at the carcass of the enormous dinosaur. “By my grandfather’s beard!” he exclaimed, “That was the great Temau-Hti Tecuai itself! One of the Infamous Seven of the Island of Dread! You’ve slain it!!! You are great heroes indeed, my friends!”
“Yes… we are,” replied Sparkie smugly.
Although we didn’t have the courage to cut open the enormous corpse in search of loot, we found a magical kukri lodged into its thick leathery hide. It was apparently a weapon of Olman construction, and made of cold iron.
While the Phanatons were working, I cast a Sending spell to contact Chieftain J’Kal, the leader of Tanaroa. I informed her of our victory over the dinosaur, and that she could now send crews to gather tar.
Eventually, we started our journey toward the Phanaton village. We traveled through the savannah for the first few hours. While we were walking, I asked their leader, whose name was Tarnak, about the legend of the Rakastas’ weapon cache. I learned that the creatures had all been slain several years ago, and that their ruined city could be found about two days and a half away from the Phanaton village. At its center was a pyramid called the Temple of the Jaguar, dedicated to the shamanistic faith of the feline humanoids.
Eventually, we entered the thick jungle, and the Phanatons led us through it. They obviously knew the forest very well, even better than Raguhl, whose survival instincts had likely been dulled by the many years he’d spent in Sasserine.
The creatures were very careful to avoid any dangerous predators, and although we saw all manner of exotic animals during our journey, nothing dangerous attacked us as we walked. We set up camp at night, and the Phanatons gestured for us to put out the fire when we made one. My language spell had worn off by then, so we had some trouble communicating, but we nevertheless did what they wanted us to do.
Despite this precaution, though, we were attacked in the middle of the night. Four vicious reptiles came at us from the darkness: they weren’t much bigger than a man, but moved with great speed and had sharp fangs. Urol called them deinonychuses or something like that. Of course, although these predators were very dangerous, our warriors easily slew several of them. I must admit that I was surprised with the skill and ferocity with which the little Phanatons fought, also. They climbed up on trees with impressive agility, and then dropped on the reptiles’ backs and stabbed them with their sharp blades, softening their falls with the membranes underneath their arms. Clearly, the harsh life on the island had turned them into very efficient warriors despite their ridiculously small size. I guessed they would make better combatants than Farshore’s human militia. Indeed, we would gain much from an alliance with them…
Uktar 3rd, 1375
We continued our journey the next day. Once again, the Phanatons led us well through the jungle. Raguhl, Tyria and Urol seemed quite amused by their presence, and interacted with them as best as the language barrier would allow. However, I stayed more alert: though I admired the beauty of the island, I kept my mind sharp and ready for danger at any moment. Thankfully, though, the Phanatons succeeded in avoiding any other predators.
The heat in the jungle was suffocating. The Phanatons and Raguhl were more like beasts than like men, and seemed to handle the temperature well. Ulfgar and I were protected by magic, so we were also quite comfortable, but the rest of the group was miserable: they were sweating heavily, and were starting to smell quite bad now that they hadn’t bathed in over a week.
In the evening, I contacted J’Kal again by magic. My companions and I had discussed about the tension we’d felt in the village when we’d been there, a few days before. Clearly, something wasn’t right with the natives. If we wanted to get them as allies, we would gain by helping them resolve this problem. J’Kal’s answer to my question was vague, but she invited us to return to her village to see if we could help them appease the gods. I knew we were bound to return there within a few days anyway: the Sea Wyvern was still docked there, so we had no choice but to return there on our way back to Farshore.
I also sent a message to Manthalay to keep him informed of our progress. He told me that everything was fine in Farshore. I wondered if he missed me. He did not mention it in his reply. Men…
That night, I summoned some food for our entire group of travelers. The Phanatons were almost as amazed by that as they’d been at our victory over the dinosaur. I also discussed with Tarnak by magic again. I told him of the various demons we’d encountered on this island.
“Fogmire place very dangerous! Filled with ape demons, very dangerous! Me glad you destroyed them!”
“What about another demon,” I asked, “one that has two baboon heads? Have you heard about one such as that?”
The little Phanaton thought about it for some time, then answered: “No, me never heard of one with two heads.”
I watched my companions for a few moments. Phanatons were surrounding them, and trying to play with their belongings. Even the most trivial piece of our equipment seemed to fascinate the primitive little creatures. Ulfgar and Lagaan were shooing some Phanatons who were eyeing their weapons.
“There seems to be a strong demonic influence on this island,” I continued. “What other parts of the island are corrupted like that?”
“The central plateau!” replied Tarnak. “Is even more dangerous place than Fogmire. Many strong demons live there, very vile. Very sadistic. They cannot be killed by weapons. Us cannot fight them. Us just run, and hide in forest. But maybe you kill them with magic. You very strong, killed Sharp-Teeth!”
“What do these demons look like?”
“Those most known are Skin-Walkers. Very vicious! They look like human, but with living skin of lion on their back, like cloak that attack. They like two creatures in one. Both can attack, both very dangerous. Skin-Walkers, very mean. They kill for pleasure. And they very strong. Sometimes they come down from plateau, attack our people. They destroy old village of Phanatons, us have to move to new village. New village, better hidden now. They not find it yet.”
I translated to Sparkie and Urol, and asked them if they’d heard of the Skin-Walkers before, but they hadn’t.
“Skin-Walkers, they killed all the Rakastas. They very mean, very strong!”
“How many are there?”
“A lot many! Is whole tribe of them… Too many for us! Rakastas, they good. They friends of Phanatons. Us trade with them. Us sad they all dead. But us quicker than them, us hide better, us manage to stay alive.”
Uktar 4th, 1375
The Phanaton Village
Another day of traveling safely through the jungle. Our only encounter of note that day was a group of three young Olman hunters. Tyria, Sparkie and Chochanika conversed with them, and it turned out that the three dark-skinned young men were hopelessly lost. They’d been trying to pass a coming of age ritual by hunting for special game. We invited them to join us, but they seemed wary of Raguhl and of the Phanatons, as well as of the magic we told them we commanded, so they declined the offer. We gave them directions and wished them the best, and continued on our way.
We reached the Phanaton village around nightfall. It was a group of humble, but beautifully carved shacks built high up in the trees, away from most marauders. The little furry beings were wary at first, but thanks to Tarnak’s tale of our heroism, we were soon well received by them. We were introduced to chief Teketek, and he declared a feast in our honor that night.
The Phanatons played some wild music on various primitive wind and percussion instruments, and danced around a great bonfire. Tyria, Tavey, Chochanika, Sparkie, Lagaan and even the huge Raguhl joined their merriment. Ulfgar sat contentedly in a corner, savoring some rum from his “water” skin.
Later, Tyria, Chochanika and I let a few of the tribe’s females fix some beads and feathers in our hair, giving us an amusing “tribal” look. I giggled as I looked at my reflection in my small mirror: the result wasn’t bad at all!
The females were very surprised when I showed them my mirror: clearly, they’d never seen one before in their remote jungle. They were fascinated by it. When I told them I could sell them some, they were very eager. I felt I could easily bargain some mundane items with these savages and get a lot in return. I made a mental note of that, should Farshore ever need anything from these odd little creatures.
During the meal, Raguhl, Urol, Lagaan and I sat down with Teketek and his shamans. They spoke a bit of Olman, so the others could communicate with him, which I managed easily by magic once again. Like the other Phanatons, they asked us many questions about the world of humans, the Chult Peninsula, Sasserine, our great voyage, and we told them our tale.
We learned some information about the island. First, we learned that Raguhl’s tribe hadn’t been completely wiped out after all: many of them, including their previous king, had died when the land around their village became influenced by the corruption of the Abyss and turned into Fogmire. But some of the Lizardfolk survived, and moved to the north.
Although they were once the allies of the Phanatons, they were now ruled by a wicked king, and they now took pleasure in killing the little furry creatures. Furthermore, some of them had been mutated by the demonic influence of Fogmire.
Raguhl, once we translated that information for him, was first delighted to hear that some of his kinsmen still lived, but his mood soon darkened upon hearing of their corruption. He vowed to chief Teketek that he would journey to his village and try to set things right. Urol translated the big reptile’s oath to the tiny Phanatons.
We asked Teketek about the Rakastas’ weapon cache, and he repeated much of what Tarnak had already told us. The Skin Walkers had wiped the cat-men out seven years ago. The Rakastas had once been humans of the Olman empire, who’d contracted lycanthropy, becoming were-jaguars. They eventually evolved into a race that was entirely half-jaguar, half-man.
A war had erupted between them and the wicked Skin Walkers. The Rakastas built many great weapons to fight them, but alas, it was not sufficient. They were overrun, and butchered mercilessly. Their city now rested in ruins in the thick jungle, almost forgotten.
I then told chief Teketek about the impending attack of the Crimson Pirates on Farshore. I must say that I was very convincing: many little Phanatons gathered about me as I told the tale of war, and they looked at me with wide, frightful eyes.
In a voice choked with emotion, Teketek vowed that his tribe would come to Farshore’s aid. I had clearly managed to make him feel empathy for the humans: he pledged to send fifty of his nimble scouts to swell our ranks! Ah, I was very pleased with myself, and I knew that Manthalay would be pleased as well!
Uktar 5th, 1375
Tales of the Island
We decided to rest our weary legs for one day in the Phanaton village. We badly needed to relax for a bit, after the ordeal of Fogmire, and the long trek across countless miles of wilderness.
At breakfast, Lagaan and I sat next to each other, and we both watched glumly as Sparkie and Chochanika kissed and whispered soft words in each other’s ears. I could tell that Lagaan was aching to be with his beloved Liamae, and I felt a similar yearning for both Manthalay and Dolmord…
Later that day, Sparkie decided to scry on the Crimson Pirates again. I assisted him, and we saw again the snake-men on board of their warship, called The Hag. We didn’t learn anything interesting, except that they now had five ships in total. We saw the names of two of the others: The Stygian Shark and The Kraken. The pirates on those ships looked like really dangerous men, not like the riffraff from Rat’s End. Oh yes, Farshore was definitely in trouble…
We spent more time with Teketek. He asked us more questions about our land, we asked him more about the island.
He told us of the Black Fen, some marshes to the southwest where Bullywugs live. The Standing Stones were some funerary monuments; twelve huge standing stones, to the north. They marked the graves of twelve ancient Olman noblemen. I made a mental note of this: surely there were riches to be found there, if they hadn’t been plundered yet.
Candledark was a large network of mostly vertical caves filled with foul vermin. High in the mountains sat Ember Lake, past the Valley of Madness. In this valley grew many plants with hallucinogenic properties. With greedy smiles, Lagaan and Ulfgar started to formulate plans to harvest those plans and sell them in Sasserine. After a while, I joined them in their plotting: it had some definite lucrative potential!
Skyscar Peak was the island’s highest mountain, the home of gigantic birds called rocs. In the bay at the far north of the island lived a dragon turtle, and in the northeast part of the island had once lived a terrible green dragon called Xiureksor. The monster hadn’t been seen in several years, but still, we decided it was best not to enter its territory, just in case. Chief Teketek was amazed when he heard we’d slain two younger dragons, and while we were proud of the feat, we doubted that we’d be able to survive the wrath of a truly great dragon.
In the Rivenskull caves lived several tribes of humans that warred with each other. Those degenerates were seemingly even more primitive than the Olmans: they were barely more than beasts walking on their hind legs.
As we prepared for our departure the next day, we decided to leave Urol, Tavey and Chochanika in the safety of the village. Their lives had been put in great peril in Fogmire, and we had no desire to endanger them further. We also secured the help of three Phanaton scouts to guide us to the Rakastas’ city: Tarnak, as well as two other little creatures called Sookmook and Timinik.
Uktar 6th, 1375
We left the Phanaton village and traveled through the jungle, following our tiny guides. As usual, that evening, I contacted Manthalay to give him our status, and to receive his. The preparations for Farshore’s defense were going well. I also contacted Moretta, and she assured me things were going well for her also.
Uktar 7th, 1375
I was disappointed with our little furry guides today. It seems they got lost! We should’ve reached the Rakasta ruins today, but not so. Clearly, they don’t know their jungle as well as I’d thought. Raguhl, that lumbering brute, was of no help either. Meh! If I’d been born on this island like those imbeciles, I’d at least be able to find my way properly!
Once again, though, the Phanatons have managed to guide us safely. We’ve not been attacked by any predators. Or perhaps it’s just that the month of Uktar is a quiet period in the jungle…
Uktar 8th, 1375
The Jaguar Temple
Finally! We’ve reached the place where the Rakastas used to live.
Deep in the thick jungle, we found our destination: vine-choked ruins of stone, with a squat pyramid at their center. Here and there, we could see the gleam of old bones or the edge of a rusty weapon: it was clear that a great battle was once fought in this place.
The pyramid was decorated with many statues of men with the heads of jaguars. In the building’s southern side, a dark opening led inside, partly covered by a thick curtain of vines. As we approached it, Raguhl made a warning gesture and pointed at some large marks on the ground.
“A beast has roamed here,” he growled. “A huge snake. A really, really huge snake. Hmm… Such a beast will surely be a dangerous foe. We must be ready. I see that it’s gone inside the building… We will have to fight it.”
We told the Phanatons to stay back in the jungle, out of harm’s way, and we cast some protective magic on ourselves, and mostly on our two warriors. Guessing that the snake might try to swallow or constrict them, I blessed them with a spell of freedom.
Alas, we made a tactical error of not protecting Lagaan in this way, and having him at the front of the group, to check for traps. That was stupid: there couldn’t have been any trap, or the snake would’ve triggered them. We had not expected a beast so huge to be able to surprise us.
But it did. Somehow.
As soon as the thief set foot inside the pyramid, he was attacked by the great snake, which had been coiled around the entrance. We all rushed to his help, with our warriors roaring with rage and hacking at the mighty reptile with their blades. Sparkie, seeing that Lagaan needed my immediate healing, cast a Fly spell on me. I flew to the wounded man’s help, but got bitten painfully by the snake’s fangs as I did so. Ignoring the pain, I focused on the energy of my prayer as I approached the struggling form of Lagaan, who was being constricted by the serpent’s coil. Raguhl hadn’t been kidding: the creature was immense, about as big as the enormous centipedes that we’d fought under the city of the spiders.
I touched Lagaan’s head and released the energy inside of him, granting him the power of divine freedom. He immediately was able to escape the snake’s grasp and to retreat further back in the temple, from where he fired arrows at his attacker. I’d arrived just in time, as the snake had been about to crush him to death in its terrible embrace.
Ulfgar was also badly bitten by the snake, but he and Raguhl opened deadly wounds in the creature’s side. Tyria sang from behind, and cast a Haste spell on us. Sparkie burned the snake with some rays of fire, but it was Ulfgar who dealt the beast the killing blow. Another gigantic foe had been slain by Trouble!
After Tyria and I healed the wounded, we looked around the central room of the pyramid. The walls were covered with faded murals and lined with ancient totemic statues. At the back of the room was a beautiful jade statue of a jaguar. Though the rest of the temple looked old and decrepit, that statue was pristine, as if the artist had finished it the day before.
Sparkie then revealed the secret of the statue’s immunity to the passage of time: it was in fact an illusion! The wizard approached to touch it, but suddenly vanished with a surprised scream: he’d fallen in a pit hidden by the illusion!
I quickly flew to his rescue, but found him hovering in a fifty-foot deep shaft beneath the fake statue. He’d manage to prevent his fall through magic. At the bottom of the shaft was some dark, stagnant water. About twenty feet from the top, we saw the opening of a tunnel, with a ladder leading down to it from the top.
We all went down into the tunnel. It was so narrow that we had to go through it in single file.
“I’ll go first, to check for traps,” offered Lagaan.
“No, friend,” said Raguhl. “You’ve been in enough danger today. Let me take the front for now.”
The Judging Snake
The corridor’s walls were lined with alcoves which contained statuettes of jaguars with red, blue and green gems for eyes. Lagaan inspected them and told us that they could probably be sold for a hundred and fifty gold pieces each, but they weighed about fifty pounds each. Not a bad sum, if we managed to bring them back to Sasserine!
We also noticed that the floor was gently sloping down, and the tunnel was circling round and round around under the pyramid.
“How deep do you think we are now?” Lagaan asked Ulfgar.
“How the hell should I know?” grunted the dwarf, who was sweating as usual.
The rogue chuckled and mumbled: “Useless claustrophobic dwarf…”
Finally, we emerged into a room lit by flickering torches. On the walls, we could see murals of jaguar-headed men and women fighting troglodytes, dinosaurs and other enemies. Sometimes, they were riding saber-tooth tigers into battle. In other murals, they were praying in front of a pyramid.
There were several pillars in the room, and in the center was a bamboo platform. Lagaan started searching for traps while the rest of us stayed near the entrance. But soon, Sparkie hissed at the thief: “Lagaan! Be careful! There’s an invisible being over there!”
He pointed toward the end of the room. Sensing that it had been located, the beast spoke… in our minds. Through telepathy, it seems it was able to communicate with us all at the same time, and we understood its thoughts…
“Why have you come to this long-forgotten place?” it asked imperiously.
“We seek the legacy of the Rakastas,” I replied out loud.
“Take a few steps forward and see if you are worthy of it,” it spoke again in our minds.
None of us moved, sensing a trap. “Who are you?” I asked.
The creature did not reply, and Lagaan started to approach. “Lagaan, wait!” I warned him, but the rogue merely shrugged and kept carefully moving forward.
“Big deal, we’re just looking for a weapon cache,” he said.
Ulfgar also started moving forward, taking a look at the bamboo platform.
“And why do you seek those weapons?” asked the creature.
“There is a town of humans that is in great peril,” I answered. “We seek to protect them from the evil Crimson Pirates. The weapons stored here could help them defend themselves. You see, we seek to make this whole island safe for innocent people.” I was hoping that these diplomatic words would convince the being that we were ‘worthy’. “Alas, we know that the Rakastas are dead, and have no need of these weapons anymore.”
“You know of the Rakastas’ fate?” it asked.
“Yes.”
“Come closer…”
“Who are you?” I asked again. “We’re a bit scared of approaching a creature as mysterious as you.”
“I’m not scared!” grunted Ulfgar.
And then, the creature appeared before us: it was a great winged serpent with colorful feathers, and very wise eyes. It looked at each of us as if it could read within the depths of our very souls. I felt a shiver pass through my spine. I did not enjoy being judged by this celestial being.
“It’s a couatl!” said Sparkie. I’d heard the name before, but didn’t know what those creatures were capable of.
“Are you the guardian of this place?” I asked the serpent.
“I was… Come closer!”
Raguhl and I stayed in the back, wary of the strange creature, but the others all moved forward. Halfway across the room, though, Ulfgar, Tyria and Sparkie were halted as though by a magical barrier! Only Lagaan was able to venture all the way to the serpent’s side.
“What’s happening, Sparkie?” asked Ulfgar.
“I’m not sure. It seems like some kind of warding circle…” replied the elf.
“I want to feel you…” said the couatl.
It was fixing us all intensely with its eyes. For a few moments, it said nothing. Then, finally, it turned to me and said: “Leave this place, woman.” He turned to Ulfgar, “And you, I feel some taint on your soul as well.”
“Who, me?” asked the dwarf in surprise. “I never did anything evil!”
But the couatl did not seem convinced. “And you…” said the serpent to Sparkie.
“What? Hey! It’s me! Sparkillo! I’m cool, you can let me in! I like little snakes and stuff!”
“You bring a great evil within this place.”
“What are you talking about? … Oh, you mean this axe? That’s just something I picked up in Tomoachan. It can open a portal to Tanathos but that’s cool, I hardly ever use it. Don’t worry, I’m good.”
“Unworthy!” spat the snake, at which the elven wizard looked somewhat crestfallen.
“Be that as it may,” I said, “we seek the weapons stored here to defend the innocents of Farshore. If the Rakastas were your masters, and they are dead, you have nothing left to guard. They will not need these weapons anymore.”
“But it seems that now that you are here, I have a purpose once again,” it hissed. “I will not let you spoil my children’s legacy.”
But I felt that I’d managed to soften the serpent’s hatred for us with my wise words.
“Just leave,” it said.
“But these weapons are what we came for. We cannot leave without them.”
“You do not deserve them. My children died, and now I have nothing.”
“But if you give us these weapons, many people will survive.”
“People like you?” asked the serpent.
“No,” said Raguhl, who still stood near me. He pointed at me and continued. “I guess you can sense Belessa’s black heart.”
I gasped in outrage! How dare he?!
Ignoring me, the barbarian continued: “But please, oh wise one, the people of Farshore are decent folk and many lives will be lost if we do not arm them with these weapons. Please, consider these words. For once, what the witch said is true. The Rakastas do not need the weapons anymore.”
“What is your name, creature of the swamp, creature of green skin and yet blessed with a light heart?”
“I am Raguhl.”
The serpent did not seem impressed with the dim-witted lizard’s pathetic attempt at diplomacy. Sparkie, Tyria and Ulfgar also tried to present their case to prove to the couatl that they were decent folk, but they all failed miserably. Sparkie was successful only in demonstrating that he was a pompous arse. Lagaan remained silent: perhaps he felt no need to justify himself, since he’d managed to walk all the way to the creature.
Clearly, despite my supposedly ‘Black Heart’, I am the only coherent person in the group!
The serpent spoke again: “Raguhl, your group is not worthy to receive the weapons.”
“But oh couatl,” said the lizardman, “do you not care if the humans live or die?”
“Humans come in many different kinds. Some deserve to live, some deserve to die. Some beings, like you, are considered as monsters by these humans, yet you are much more pure of soul than those humans,” he said, looking at me. I felt a burning hatred swell within my heart, but I dared not attack the mysterious creature. If it came to a fight, I wasn’t sure whether the rest of the group would rally behind me against it…
“If we do not bring back those weapons, some of the pure humans will die,” said Raguhl.
“Should I care?...” we could see a great, bitter sadness in the creature’s eyes.
“The Rakastas are all dead, you have to live for something!” replied Raguhl. “What do you live for now?”
“For a long time, I have wept for those I have lost. And now, all I have is this old temple. It was a holy place for them, long ago. I swore to defend it. And I won’t spoil their memories by letting you have those weapons!”
“But the Rakastas made these weapons to be used,” argued Lagaan. “Would they really want their weapons to remain here, unused, for eternity? Is that really what they would want?”
“Maybe, one day, a more worthy group will come by,” replied the couatl. “And when that day comes, then yes, I will release the weapons. But that day has not come.”
“What if we pledge to wage war upon the Skin Walkers,” growled Raguhl, “to avenge the souls of the Rakastas?”
“Come closer, Raguhl,” said the couatl.
The barbarian approached, but just like Ulfgar, Tyria, and Sparkie, he was blocked halfway across the room. I smiled: the holier-than-thou monster wasn’t so pure of heart, after all! Serves him right…
“Hmm, what is this?” he grunted.
“Your heart is good,” said the couatl, “but I sense much confusion in it. I sense a hesitation to abide by a word given.”
“Those who deserve it, I serve well. I’ve pledged to defend the daughter of the woman who saved me from this island, long ago. And nothing but death will break that oath. But I won’t swear to serve anyone lightly, for as you know, the world is full of wicked liars who would seek to take advantage of me.”
The couatl considered these words for a few moments, and then answered: “In that weapon cache, there is a magical greatsword that I can give to you. That way, you can defend your people. But I will only give it in exchange for a promise to fight the Skin Walkers!”
“But that’s not what we need,” said Lagaan. “We’ve already got magical weapons, we want weapons to arm the entire village!”
“That is my final word. I will not arm the rest of you, because you are not worthy.”
“Yes, please,” pleaded Raguhl. “Though my companions’ intents may often be less than honorable, in this case, their goal is pure: to defend the innocents.”
Lagaan chuckled, and the serpent looked in my direction again, and asked “Even her?” in a tone of obvious disbelief.
He looked at all of us in turn, and seemed to listen to our very thoughts.
A Compromising Memory
“It’s true that this one is wicked,” continued Raguhl mercilessly as he pointed at me, “she serves the dark goddess Umberlee, and she killed the priest of Lathander who was protecting the village before we arrived!”
I bared my teeth at the despicable barbarian: he had no right to reveal that to the couatl! But upon hearing those words, the serpent took flight and came to hover just in front of me. Again, I wasn’t sure whether I should attack it, or hold action, not wanting to anger it even more. I could sense that Raguhl’s anger was surging up once again, and dared not get attacked by him again. This time, he might use his axe, and I could not fend off both of these vile reptiles at once.
I stood with my back pressed against the wall, in anticipation of an attack. The silly little Phanaton beads in my hair rustled softly with my every move, the only sound to break the silence as the couatl’s multi-colored face hovered just inches in front of mine. None of my companions acted; Ulfgar, Tyria and Sparkie seemed to be paralyzed by indecision: to attack or not? Lagaan was grinning and clearly enjoying the show.
I tried to stall: “I am now the last priestess in Farshore, if I were to disappear, the sick and the wounded would die!”
“Maybe they are better off dying than to get corrupted by an evil such as that of Umberlee!” hissed the serpent.
I sneered. “You are one to talk, snake.” My voice dripped with contempt. “For all your talk of purity of heart, you’ve stayed idle in this ruin, rotting in the shadows. Wallowing in the memories of those long gone, indifferent to the plight of those who still live. What have you done to help those in need? Nothing! But I am a divine healer! I’ve traveled the world, helping people!”
“Open your mind to me so that I may see the truth of your words,” said the snake.
But I went on: “I’ve risked my life many times, and have saved all of these people here, including your beloved Raguhl, many times from death.”
“Open your mind, priestess of Umberlee,” it said again.
We glared at each other for a few more moments, and finally, I let my defenses down and let the creature gaze into my soul. I tried to think of things that would soothe it, of all of the good that I’ve done recently. For as much as it would try to pass a judgment on me, I have done good, damnit! But as much as I tried not to think about anything incriminating, a scene from my recent passed welled up from my memories, only one of the many which could’ve sent the righteous creature into a rage.
- - - - - - - -
Light from the sun and the nearby fires was filtering through the stained-glass windows. Father Catherly was searching the church, making sure that nothing had been stolen.
The enormous black wolf emitted a low, threatening growl, and I said out loud:
“Shouldn’t you be out there saving people, father?”
The half-elf turned around in surprise, and his eyes fell upon me and my beast. I had transformed my glamered chain shirt into a magnificent black dress for the occasion: his upcoming funeral.
There must’ve been no mistaking my intention when he looked into my eyes, because his features turned resolute as he said:
“So it has come to this…”
I grinned wickedly. “I warned you that you’d regret opposing me. You see, father… this town is too small for the both of us.”
And with that, I ordered my wolf to attack!
Father Catherly called out to Lathander and blasted me with a ray of searing light; it was painful, but it takes a lot more than that to bring me down. The devilish wolf jumped on the priest and dug its fangs deep into his shoulder, tipping him over into a prone position. I approached and, calling upon the power of Umberlee, I placed my hand on the man’s chest. He shrieked in agony as black tendrils of power coursed over his body.
Using the last ounce of his strength, before he died, he implored Lathander to curse me in vengeance. But a protective aura of darkness emanated suddenly from my holy symbol of the twin waves, and Umberlee protected me from the curse. I laughed mockingly at the fallen priest, who was lying helpless in a pool of his own blood on the floor of his church.
I motioned for my wolf to step back, because I didn’t want the corpse to be too visibly mangled. I knelt by Father Catherly’s side as I drew my sacrificial dagger from its sheath. I placed the blade against his throat and brought my lips close to his ear.
“And now, Farshore is mine…” I whispered, just before slicing his throat.
- - - - - - - -
“Vile woman! Go back where you belong!” howled the couatl, and it whipped its tail at me, unleashing a powerful spell into my body with the touch. But for all its splendor, even that supposedly pure creature could not so easily dispose of a faithful priestess of Umberlee. My goddess protected me, and I resisted the magic.
I retreated to the narrow tunnel. “You foul snake!” I spat, ”give Raguhl the weapon, and let us leave this cursed place! And know that the souls of all those who will die in Farshore will be on your conscience!”
The couatl did not follow me in the corridor, and my words seemed to convince it not to continue attacking me. It retreated back to the far side of the room.
“Very well,” it whispered once again in our minds. “I agree to these terms. I shall give Raguhl a holy sword, in exchange for the promise that he will avenge the Rakastas’ deaths by killing the Skin Walkers. But apart from this holy sword, I shall give you nothing more.”
The others discussed the proposal for some time: they were not happy to leave with only one weapon, no matter how strongly enchanted it was. But eventually, they agreed with the snake’s terms.
“But tell me, couatl, what are the Skin Walkers?” asked Lagaan.
“They are the fiends who slew my children.”
“Yes, we know that, but what are they, really?”
“They came down from the great plateau. Demons, they are.”
“Like the Bar-Lgura?” asked the thief smugly. “Because we killed a bunch of those not too far from here.”
“No. These creatures were once Olmans who were killed in demonic rituals, their bodies flagellated by flails tipped with the claws of abyssal lions. They were then tossed on a pyre where they burned alive, and just as they died in this horrible way, the hides of the abyssal lions were thrown on the flames as well, and each pair of beings congealed into one unholy entity.”
A Pure Heart
Then, we all left Raguhl behind. As we climbed back up toward the surface, I assured Ulfgar that this wasn’t over. Once we were on the surface, while we waited for Raguhl, we discussed our options. Ulfgar and I were contemplating attacking the couatl. Sparkie tried to dissuade us, and Tyria wasn’t sure what to do. Lagaan seemed very upset as well, and just as Raguhl emerged from the pyramid a few minutes later, the young thief mumbled something about talking to the couatl, and ventured back into the darkness, alone.
The lizard-man carried a huge sword that glowed with painfully bright light. He held it carefully, as though he were in awe: this was clearly the most precious thing the beast had ever touched. We continued our discussion, and of course, Raguhl was opposed to attacking the couatl.
“Well, it attacked me first, you all saw it!” I said hotly as I confronted the barbarian. “But I resisted whatever magic it tried to use on me!”
“Actually, I know what it was,” said Sparkie. “The couatl tried to send you into the Abyss, Belessa. You know… What with the,… ‘return where you belong’… thing…”
Tyria started giggling, but my glare silenced her. The Abyss. That snake had had the nerve to try and send me to the Abyss! It’s true that the power of Umberlee is strong there, as she is feared by many of the denizens of that place. But the Abyss is no place for mortals. Even a soul as powerful as mine would be in great danger there. That creature had almost killed me… And yet my companions were hesitant to attack it! I couldn’t believe how ungrateful they were!
Only Ulfgar supported me suggestion to attack. Ah, dear Ulfgar… He truly seems to be the only one I can trust.
After a few minutes, Lagaan came back out of the pyramid, looking even more upset. He had his hands stuck in his pockets, and was mumbling darkly to himself.
“I do not wish to fight this noble creature,” said Sparkie, “yet I do not wish to leave this place with only one weapon, either. I propose a compromise: how about we try to bring here someone with a pure heart, and who would be able to convince the couatl of giving us all of the weapons?”
“Who do you have in mind?” asked Tyria.
I winced, because I could already guess the answer.
“Why, Lavinia, of course! Who could be better suited than her to resolve this situation? And with my newly discovered teleportation magic, I can bring her back here in a matter of moments!”
The others all agreed with his plan. I glowered at him darkly. Of course, the precious Lavinia. Everyone just loooooooves Lavinia. That spoiled, pampered, empty-headed girl! Of course, her heart was pure because she lacked the power to do anything that could corrupt it. Her life was so easy: she was pretty, young, and born in luxury. She had everything in life. Her existence was one where compromises were not required.
It was so unfair… That she was considered pure of heart, and I was not. And I had done so much more than her… I was so much better than her. Why could none of those fools realize that??
But I was also reluctant to return to Farshore without the weapons. I agreed to Sparkie’s plan for the good of the mission.
The elf vanished in a puff of smoke, taking Raguhl with him. The rest of us waited outside the pyramid. We expected our companions to return at any moment, but they took their sweet time. Lagaan, Ulfgar and Tyria discussed the encounter with the couatl, and their interpretation of what had happened. I stood away from them, my heart seething with rage. Once again, Raguhl had betrayed me. He had revealed my secret for all to hear… I’d seen the look of shock in Sparkie’s blue eyes when he’d heard about Father Catherly’s murder.
Now they all knew about it.
How dared that vile snake accuse me of being evil? Who did he think he was?
Of course, I am not perfect. But nobody is. For each of my actions that could be considered wicked, I had a reason. All of those that I’ve slain over the years had it coming. My life has been so difficult… I’ve had to make tough choices…
None of them can understand me…
After more than an hour, the two men returned with Lavinia. She’d taken the time to put on a fancy leather armor, to pretend like she was an adventurer like us. Pffff! What a phony…
Raguhl stood protectively by her side, and guided her inside the pyramid. I watched them go in, and I wished the pyramid would just crumble on them and rid us of their arrogant attitude of righteousness.
But instead, they came back out a few minutes later. Lavinia was beaming, and addressed my companions. I noticed that she pointedly ignored my presence.
“My friends, I have spoken with Tonatiuh, the wise guardian of the noble Rakastas. I was able to approach him in peace, and to convince him of the worth of this noble mission. He finally agreed to open the vault of weapons, and they are now ours to bring back to Farshore!”
“She was magnificent!” said Raguhl as Lavinia blushed slightly. “She did it! Tonatiuh said we could also take the other two holy weapons, and then he returned to his celestial world. I believe he lives in peace, at last.”
“Well done, lady Lavinia!” said Sparkie cheerfully. “Truly, we are fortunate to be blessed with the presence of such a charming young person! Only a maiden as fair as you could convince the eldritch wyrm to part with its treasure!”
I glared at Sparkie’s back. I could’ve killed him.
We returned into the pyramid’s lower level and indeed, we found the open weapon cache. Inside were many well-made weapons, just what we needed to arm the people of Farshore. We also found two other magical weapons. The first was a strange metal claw of little interest to any of us, but the other was a longbow which Sparkie identified as being deadly to evil extra-planar entities such as demons and devils. A very useful tool should we run into more demons!
Lagaan took the mighty bow and tested it. He whistled at the weapon’s great quality. “Hey, will this weapon’s enchantment cause more damage to the Skin Walkers?”
“Indeed, it should!” said Sparkie.
We spent the evening in the temple with Lavinia and the Phanatons. She seemed quite interested in the little creatures. Raguhl and Tyria told Lavinia the tale of our recent days of adventure.
I sat in the shadows, away from the rest of the group. I felt bitter and unwanted. The fools could keep their precious Lavinia if they wanted her so badly. See how useless she’d be when their bodies were broken and bloody, or infected with disease! Ha! No matter what that foul snake had said about me, no matter what Raguhl had accused me of, they needed me. Sooner or later, they would have to crawl back to me and beg, yes, beg for my divine healing!
To soothe my rage, I prayed to Umberlee. I focused on her power. I pictured the sea within my mind, calm at first, and then increasingly stormy, until I imagined myself in the heart of a great hurricane.
When I came out of my trance, I felt quite calm and refreshed. I was at peace again. I had nothing to feel guilty about. Everything I’d done in my life, every drop of blood I’d spilled over the years, had been in the holy name of Umberlee. Her acceptance was all that mattered. She was all-powerful. She was infinitely wise. That snake seemed quite puny and irrelevant now, compared to the greatness of Umberlee.
Uktar 9th, 1375
The Trial
My dreams were troubled that night. The peace of Umberlee left me as I journeyed in the world of dreams, and I found myself in a dark dungeon. My limbs were weighed down by heavy chains, and some faceless guards in heavy armor were pushing me along a dark hallway.
They led me to a great room which was illuminated by a hellish red light. I was brought before a great throne upon which sat a mighty reptile: it was Raguhl, only ten times larger than he is in life.
“Belessa Darkwave, you are brought before this court today to be judged for your sins!” he announced in a booming voice.
I felt helpless as I stood, minuscule, before him. I could neither move, nor speak to defend myself. Indistinct shapes moved at the edge of my blurry vision in this infernal room. A crowd had gathered to hear my sentence. I felt that they were all eager to see me dead. And soon I was looking not at Raguhl, but at the couatl’s form, gigantic, towering above me.
“Dirty whore and worshipper of a foul goddess, you have murdered some innocent priestesses of Sune in Starmantle! You have desecrated their temple, and have condemned the rest of them to the life of slaves, to suffer fates worse than death! Your actions caused the death of the hero Olzar Kadane, and nearly cost the life of all of his companions, who are cherished by the gods of light. What do you have to say in your defense?”
I tried to speak… I tried to struggle… but I could not.
“Vile temptress, daughter of sin, you even offered your own progeny in sacrifice to reclaim your dark powers! Such inconceivable blasphemy! Unworthy mother! For this, you deserve the agony of a thousand deaths!”
“Noooo!!!! Nooooo!!!!!” I cried.
Before me now stood not the couatl, but a great metallic dragon. Its scales shimmered in the red glow, and it stood all-powerful over me. The crowd of dark shapes was clamoring for my death.
“Worshipper of perversion!” it roared. “Weaver of lies! I am Zengon, the Iron Dragon, and I have slain your master! A despicable being such as you deserves only one fate… Bring her to the executioner!!!”
The men carried me away from the great dragon, and forced me to kneel before a man dressed in a black armor. His head was covered by a great horned helm, but I knew his face. I knew his name. Denek Drellrane. My murderer!
My tormentors brought my head down to rest against a cold stone. They pulled back my dark hair and exposed my pale neck to the black-armored man’s greatsword.
“I now send you to the valley of the dead, Falcona!” said Denek as he brought down his blade to slay me…
A Guilty Conscience
I woke up with a start. I was sweating and panting from the nightmare’s terror. I was inside the Rakastas’ temple once again… It had only been a nightmare… One of those dreadful nightmares… How often I relived this terrible thing… My own death. It came back to haunt me, over and over again.
Falcona?
Why had he called me Falcona?
I looked around. Near the entrance, I could see the great shape of the slain giant snake. My companions all slept around me. They had not heard me wake up.
Except Sparkillo. The elf sat in the shadows, but I felt his eyes on me.
“Troubled dreams, Belessa?” he muttered. “The sign of a troubled conscience, methinks.”
I remained quiet for a few moments as I caught my breath. Finally, I replied: “If it weren’t for a guilty conscience, I’d have no conscience at all…” and tried to go back to sleep. But it was in vain.
When morning finally came, the first thing we wanted to do was to return Lavinia and the weapons to Farshore. The young girl was eager to return to whatever it was she’d been doing there. Lagaan, Ulfgar and I were able to convince the others to steal the statuettes that decorated the shrine, as well.
Sparkie, Ulfgar, Raguhl and Lavinia disappeared with all the loot, and the three men returned after a few minutes. Ulfgar was grinning triumphantly: they had brought back a barrel of ale, and a smaller keg of rum.
We decided to journey back to the Phanaton village to get the rest of our expedition. Then, we’d travel to the new village of Raguhl’s tribe. It was clear that the lizard-men were a menace to the inhabitants of the island: Trouble needed to go deal with them. Raguhl had the hope that by slaying their evil leader, he might be able to convince them to abandon their war against the Phanatons.
And if that didn’t work, well then we would have the satisfaction of killing dozens of creatures that look just like that lizardman I hate so much…
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Candledark was a large network of mostly vertical caves filled with foul vermin. High in the mountains sat Ember Lake, past the Valley of Madness. In this valley grew many plants with hallucinogenic properties. With greedy smiles, Lagaan and Ulfgar started to formulate plans to harvest those plans and sell them in Sasserine. After a while, I joined them in their plotting: it had some definite lucrative potential!
Yay! More criminal activities! This is the kind of thing I was hoping to see from some morally ambiguous PCs. ;)
I also have to say that the encounter with the coatl was very intense. So I wonder what will happen now that poor Belessa's secret is out (I'm sure someone told Lavinia). Now that Sparkie has access to teleport, could he not just teleport back to Sassarine and bring back another cleric of Lathander (or whatever good faith) to oppose you? Would he do that?
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Yay! More criminal activities! This is the kind of thing I was hoping to see from some morally ambiguous PCs. ;)
I also have to say that the encounter with the coatl was very intense. So I wonder what will happen now that poor Belessa's secret is out (I'm sure someone told Lavinia). Now that Sparkie has access to teleport, could he not just teleport back to Sassarine and bring back another cleric of Lathander (or whatever good faith) to oppose you? Would he do that?
Woohoo, Chimpman is back!
Eeek, I made a typo in my text, which I only realized when reading your quote. It should obviously be:
"...formulate plans to harvest those planTs..."
The encounter with the Couatl was very interesting. Once again, I had to rely on my schizophrenia to play two diametrically opposed characters arguing with each other. :)
I don't think the revelation of Belessa's secret will change the behavior of the group, since they already knew she's evil. Ulfgar and Tyria don't give a damn that she killed the priest.
But yes, surely, Sparkie was shocked to learn of the murder. He didn't realize that Belessa was THAT evil (up until now, she'd only killed enemies of the group). Lavinia also probably hates her now (she learned of the murder through Raguhl).
I don't think Sparkie would go through the trouble of bringing a new cleric to Sasserine, because he's still only True Neutral. That's too much trouble for him. But it might help justify why he's going to leave the group at the end of this adventure.
Also note that now, Sparkie and Tyria's players have left, so the rest of us are trying to play their characters as closely as we _think_ they would've acted.
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Yeah :D Took the family on vacation last week and my laptop decided to die, so I've been out of it for a while. Need to catch up on some reading.
So how many actual players do you have left? Yourself, Ulfgar's player (is he a regular?), Lagaan's player, and the DM (Navan's player from the other thread, right?). What happens after the two characters leave the group? Are you going to replace them with other PC's or will the DM just adjust the power levels of the adventure accordingly?
Besides the planned adventure path, I'm really interested in what your characters decide to do on their own. Belessa establishing her own temple, her captured lover, the group getting into drug running, etc... Just out of curiosity, how much time does your group actually spend on these kind of things (basically character driven plots outside the published adventure path)? Do they enjoy that type of thing, or is it mostly just stick to the plot and run through the adventure?
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Yeah :D Took the family on vacation last week and my laptop decided to die, so I've been out of it for a while. Need to catch up on some reading.
Oooppsss... :( I hope you didn't lose any important data!
So how many actual players do you have left? Yourself, Ulfgar's player (is he a regular?), Lagaan's player, and the DM (Navan's player from the other thread, right?). What happens after the two characters leave the group? Are you going to replace them with other PC's or will the DM just adjust the power levels of the adventure accordingly?
Yep, we have our DM (Navan/Ruh from my other campaign), and 3 players: Ulfgar (a regular), Lagaan, and myself. We're sharing the task of playing Sparkie and Tyria between ourselves.
The goal is to finish the current adventure (#5) with the PC's we have now. After that, Sparkie and Tyria will teleport back to Sasserine and move on to other endeavors.
We're trying to recruit a 4th player to play a mage-type character. I'm not sure it's going to work out, though. If that fails, the DM will create such an NPC who will tag along with the group.
Raguhl may or may not stay with the group. We're not sure yet. I'd love to keep him, but for balance purposes, the DM might want to reduce the party to a 4-member group. Also, for RP purposes, if by then the relationship between Raguhl and Belessa has deteriorated to abysmally bad levels, it might be hard to believe that Raguhl would keep associating with the evil priestess. On the other hand, this AP sounds quite difficult, and we could sure use a 2nd "strong man" in our group to complement Ulfgar...
Besides the planned adventure path, I'm really interested in what your characters decide to do on their own. Belessa establishing her own temple, her captured lover, the group getting into drug running, etc... Just out of curiosity, how much time does your group actually spend on these kind of things (basically character driven plots outside the published adventure path)? Do they enjoy that type of thing, or is it mostly just stick to the plot and run through the adventure?
Alas, since we only play for about 5 hours every ~3 weeks, when we do get to play, we're pretty much "straight down to business". A lot of the "RP-fluff" I'm adding for Belessa is stuff I either create on my own as I write the log (like her dream in the last entry) or negotiate with the DM outside the game (like a lot of stuff for Meravanchi's election a few weeks ago).
BUT, I know Lagaan has been planning for a long time now to return to Sasserine and take over the thieves' guild. I am not sure WHEN it will happen, but I am pretty sure it WILL happen. Also, I know there will be a power struggle between Belessa and Edvanda Balak, her rival in the Sasserine Church of Umberlee, at some point. As far as freeing Dolmord, since it seems he's stuck near Scuttlecove, I imagine that it will be a long while before we get the chance to free him (I believe that is a L15-16 adventure?).
Stay tuned. :)
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Oooppsss... :( I hope you didn't lose any important data!
:) Luckily I've got a friend in IT. I've probably lost the computer (a laptop) - the screen has no power, but I'm hoping we can extract the HD and all it's info. It would be a bummer if I can't. For now I'm relegated to posting from work when I get the chance.
It's interesting... I was reading through the next AP and the designers actually chose to leave out a level (level 6 IIRC). I really love the APs. The older I get the less time I have (it seems) and the APs seem like they could really help in setting up a game. On one hand that's great. On the other hand you do loose something (heh, you can't get something for nothing after all). It seems like there is very little time for characters to pursue their own goals when being run through an AP.
Now, lots of folks on these boards were complaining about the missing level 6 in Second Darkness, but I kind of like the idea. It gives DMs the chance to inject some more personalized adventures into the story. Yes, it's more work, but it gives both the DM and the players a chance to make the story more their own.
I've been reading several campaign journals detailing various adventure paths, and I've noticed that this happens quite often. The low level characters will have some great historical plot hooks built into them and have dreams and aspirations of their own, but once they get thrown into the thick of the action they rarely have time to pursue these goals. Oh well... it is what it is. I still enjoy reading the journals, but I miss all of the surprises that come with home grown campaigns. ;) of course that might be just because I've already read through the paths...