Dear Journal:
I can't believe that my mother has kicked me out! She says it is for my own good, but how can abandoning me to the dangers of the world be good for me? She's always saying I need to grow up and act more like an adult, but why can't she just accept me as I am!?! I thought mothers were supposed to love their offspring NO MATTER WHAT!?! One look at me and it's obvious that I'm not like anyone else in Wilkesmont. For one, I'm a half-elf! No one is gonna miss seeing these pointy little ears! And I'm like, a million feet taller than anyone else in this godforsaken city! What does she expect! I'm not like the other people here and it isn't fair for her to just boot me out because the humans my age are getting married and moving out. I can't believe how stupid this is! It is my dearest hope that if things go awry, someone will bring my poor, bloodstained journal back to my mother and she will forever regret turning me out like this.
Kativa who is the ONLY person in the whole world that actually LISTENS to me says that being on my own is probably a good thing as living with a mother who would kick out her own daughter is most likely detrimental to my well-being.
Currently I am headed into Daggermark to see if I can find one of my mother's relatives who can help me get started. My mother already has the monopoly on witchery in Wilkesmont and prevented me from opening up my own practice. She's acting so mean! At least she was willing to give me a little seed money to get started. Barely enough to get myself to Daggermark, but enough I suppose.
I can't believe how absolutely LONELY I am. I mean, even when I was younger and didn't have ANY friends, there were still people around that I knew. After leaving Wilkesmont, none of the faces I have seen have been familiar and I feel so.... boringly alone. At least I have Suton to keep me company. Kativa crafted me a beautiful leather shoulder harnest thing for Suton to perch on. I love it because he can sit there without digging his talons into my shoulder. When he perches there, he likes to bob his silky head against my cheek. He's sucha sweety pie!!
I was going to start writing all this when I was getting ready to leave Wilkesmont, but I've been so busy traveling and stuff that I haven't had time to actually write any of this until now. I am currently waiting in line to get into the gates of Daggermark. I have to go in the gate with all the other pedestrians and wagons and stuff and the wagons take FOREVER to get through the line. The guards are constantly searching wagons for gods-know-what and I am probably going to be here all day!
OMG so the CRAZIEST thing is happening! All the sudden these guys jumped out of the cornfields next to the road and ran up to this one wagon and started beating the TAR out of this little old man! ......Ok, now some weirdo do-gooder is stepping up and challenging the attackers. Do people not realize in Daggermark it's best to mind your own business! Ugh! Now a funny looking man is getting involved..... HOLY MOLEY! the funny looking man just got totally sliced down the shoulder by a HUGE sword!! I guess he wasn't wearing any armor under his robes! (Why get in a physical fight if you aren't wearing armor?)
So the two do-gooders are totally getting the stuffing beat out of them! I can see another half-elf is watching this fight and looking like she wants to join in. She doesn't look very tough. Suton keeps flapping his wings in my face. I know he's trying to remind me that I've been in the old man's situation enough times (four or more against one) and narrowly escaped with the help of strangers. If it gets much worse, I'm gonna have to step in....
Dear Journal:
So, as you can tell from my first journal entry, my first day in Daggermark, did really NOT go all that well. I soooo did not want to get involved but of course that old man was getting beaten and some do-gooders just HAD to step in. I totally would have left them to their own devices but they were totally getting the crap kicked outa them. And it wasn't a fair fight either, the toughs were outnumbering them. And then Suton reminded me that I have been helped outta similar jams and meybe I should pay back some of my social debt.
I stepped in and totally saved the dogooders asses. I unleashed some unholy hellfire on a couple of them and lit those stupid toughs UP! Despite my fiery entrance, things still didn't go all that well. NONE of the locals were getting involved (not that I can really blame them) but I mean come on, an OLD man was getting the stuffing beat out of him. SO EVENTUALLY with enough help form me and that other half-elf girl I mentioned yesterday, we managed to get the situation under control. The Guard FINALLY came at that point and put ME in handcuffs. I mean, WTF!! I'm practically just a little girl, why would they need to HANDCUFF me? Totally unfair.
Luckily the old man vouched for us that we were the “good” guys and they let us go. I was all ready to take off and start investigating the city when he decided to reward us. The little old man gave us a little jade figurine of a bird. Normally this totally would have rocked but it's magic and pretty much invaluable. How are we supposed to A) get a thing like that liquidated in a place like Daggermark and B) how can you split that four ways? Plus he said it had almost gotten him killed a couple times during his journy. Totally not the kind of thing I want to have in my possesion. I'm letting the half-orc carry it).
Oh, did I mention? One of the do-gooders is a half-orc! I was kinda surprised when I first noticed but no one else seems to see through her (rather unconving) disguise so I didn't say anything. I figure, I've gotten enough crap for being a half-elf that I didn't deserve so maybe I'll not say anything and give her the benefit of the doubt. Especially since, HOLY MOLEY that woman can take a hit like a brick! If we combined her toughness with my skills and spells, I would NOT want to meet that in a dark alley!
So, after all that excitement, we figured we'd go into the city and try and pawn this figurine off. We spent the night in a local tavern and I had a wonderful time sleeping in a REAL bed instead of a crappy night curled up in my cloak on the side of the ride. So, I am writing this the morning after my first night in Daggermark. Today we plan on going to a jeweler to pawn this thing off (if we can!) and get our reward taken care of. I might try to make friends with the bard, she seems cool (a bit snobby and one of the “rich” kids, but that could work to my advantage. If that doesn't pan out, maybe I can tag along with the half-orc and get a little protection. The fight yesterday reminded me of how fragile I am. So, we're staying currently in an inn, not the best place, but it allows me to take the time to write this all out so that is something. Since I think I've written about most of the activites from yesterday, I will now describe the people that are waiting to get our reward worked out:
1. Segulda: The half-orc woman. Like I said before, she thinks she's hiding her orcish half, but it isn't THAT hard to see through it. She's probably embarrased about it. Not that I can blame her really,.. it's like how when people see I'm a half-elf and know I'm a bastard. Only, I guess being a half-orc is worse because are typically ugly and stuff. Sometimes people think I'm beautiful because I'm “exotic” but I bet she doesn't get that very often. Hard to find Orcs exotic! She seems like a pretty stoic lady. She was the one who originally had to step in to protect the old man. Very... moral. Not neccasaritly “good” but definiently MORAL. (And she looks BADASS!) She's got this long duster and a tall imposing figure. I bet she can seriously give people an evil eye!
2. Chuko: The second do-gooder. He is definantly not from around here! He's got a seriously foreign look to him. He's cleric of Sarenrae and apparently doesn't know about ANY other religions EXCEPT his own. I'm not a HUGE fan of the whole “Dawnflower” happy sunshine stuff, but whatever, at least he can heal people, which is good. Although, he kinda ran off into a cornfield for a bit once he took that chop to the shoulder, but he came back to help once he healed himself up. I did noticed as soon as we got into the city he bought some armor, so if we come up to another fight as we try to sell the figurine off, he'll probably kick a bit more stuffing out of people.
3. Xerena: She's half-elf like me, but she looks like she comes from a rich family. She probably knows who her father is.... She's alright, a bit snobby, but I bet being out on her own is gonna toughen her up. Her fancy clothes were a bit torn up after the fight and we made a deal that if I fixed them up for her, she'd let me practice tattooing on her (she says if it will piss off her parents, she's happy to do it!) I'm getting pretty good, I just need to have more practice (currently doing a flock of ravens flying up my arm), good for practice, but tattooing other people is a lot different than doing yourself.
Thanks for writing this up. I look forward to more!
Dear Journal
Although it has only been a short time since I last wrote in here, SO much has happened! Shortly after I finished my last entry, the rest of the folks in this rather ragtag band decided we should get started on liquidating this figurine. We stopped by a jewelers' shop to see if we could get rid of it and she told us there was no way she was even going to touch it!
Apparently this guy had the word out that he's looking for these little jade things and if ANY ONE tries to do ANYTHING but immediately inform him when/if they come across one, he will have them instantly killed!
She immediately sent out an errand boy to go tell this guy about us. The rest of the group started bickering so I took off and followed the boy. I saw where he went and went back to tell the others. Then they started bickering about what to do since we knew the location and while they wasted time doing that, the little boy came back out and pointed us out to the brutes sent to fetch us. So at that point, the decision was pretty much made for us to go into this guy's place.
They guys' name is Kalen Jadesh and he's a prick. He did not give us NEARLY what he should have for the bird figurine and then COERCED us into going off to get another one! I KNEW the "reward" the old man gave us would be trouble!
So we had to go marching off to the inner city of Daggermark. Jadesh was kind enough to give us the proper paper work for entering the rich people's quarters and we got in no problem. We got to this house that we are supposed to recover the second figurine from and it's got two half-orcs guarding the front door. Segulda and Xerena decide to try and sneak down the alley and see if there is a way in. Of course, by "sneak" I mean look suspicious and attempt to be quite (they were horrible!) Thankfully, it appeared that there wasn't anyone around to notice and they came back to tell us there was a wall we could hop over and get into the backyard. I was all in favor of just tricking the guards at the front door into letting us in (they were half-orcs and looked like idiots... they had to have been pretty easy to dupe!) but of COURSE we can't do anything the easy way!
We managed to get over the wall, but of course it was with a clang and clatter. I still can't believe how good our luck was that no one came running out to kill us. We found a nice little back door that just happened to open into a room converted into a little altar/prayer room for Norgorber. Umm. Yeah. I did NOT sign up for this crap! There was a dead guy in the room (kinda expected, but still gross). Xerena decided to go off sneaking around (umm... by the way, people who make noise for a living shouldn't try to sneak. They're BAD at it!!) Of course she ended up attracting attention and of course the rest of my compatriots got involved in a fight which I ended up having to get mixed up in and save them! (by the way, I'm getting pretty good at the whole dazing bad guys so the rest can beat the crap out of them (they could still use some practice on their part).
Once we took out the guys wandering around in the hallways, we poked around and came upon a cleric and a gnoll. (WTF is a GNOLL! doing here?!?). I totally lit those two UP (and i might have accidently set the curtains on fire). The cleric was definitely one of Norgorber's. I know because he called out to his god and blasted us with unholy magic! I ended up getting caught in one of the blasts, and while I was fine, poor Suton was not. He got knocked unconscious! I immediately rushed away with his poor little limp body and used one of my healing scrolls to bring him back. I would seriously have DIED inside had Suton not made it. I am tearing up just thinking about it! Excuse me, I need a moment to compose myself. I'll write more later.
The following is the Campaign Journal of Kadife Kreslan. She is a fictional character in The following is the Campaign Journal of Kadife Kreslan "The Rise of Rovagug" which is a role-playing scenario run by Josh Frost. Opinions expressed in these posts are from Kadife's perspective and do not reflect the beliefs or opinions of the person playing her.
Your story, and style of writing, is damn good and I really enjoyed it until now... however I have a question... what is "The Rise of Rovagug" scenario you are referring to? Where could I find it? Is it a pathfinder society scenario?
It's actually the name of the campaign Josh is running here at the office. He's not using any published scenarios that I know of, but you never know what might make it into a product somewhere down the line!
I see, thanks a lot for the answer. However the Kadife Kreslan's diary is fantastic, I hope there will be, before or later, a way to make it playable.
May your collective characters' faces get eaten ... again, and again. ^_^
Dear Journal
Sorry I lost it like that! The image of the priest in his black robes (which were on fire thanks to me) lifting his hands up and chanting a prayer to Norgerbor and feeling that wash of unholy power and then the sickening feeling of Suton falling limp in my arms.... well, it still makes me shudder! I am just so happy that I was able to heal my little buddy!
So, obviously we managed to finish off the cleric and the gnoll without toooo much more hassle. As we sat trying to gather our wits and breath after that fight, Xerena heard a noise coming from behind a door. She and Chuko went to go investigate (I did NOT want to get caught up in another fight right away!) and discovered an appalling sight! There was a gangly human bound and gaged. That wasn't the appalling part though! Next to the human was a stubby little dwarf also bound and gagged. She was NASTY! (I can tell you it's a she because I found out since then, but at the time I actually couldn't tell if she was a she- or a he- dwarf!) I have never seen a female with a beard, even if she is a dwarf! Add that to my list of strange things I've seen since leaving home!
Xerena took the gag off of the human and I dearly wish she hadn't. He started talking and WON'T shut up! He immediantly took (especially) to Xerena but seems to think that all the women should be FALLING over him. Umm... EWWW!! On top of his total awkward comments and almost sociopathic belief that he is the leader, he and the dwarf keep implying that they've DONE *things* together. Ewwww! Although, I don't know if it would be worse to be the human or the dwarf!
So, it turns out that the human, (who's name I can't figure out) got kidnapped (although I don't know who would want him!) and the dwarf (Melga) came to rescue him (didn't do a very good job!) Melga calls the human “Beeker” but that doesn't appear to actually be his name... he has such an odd way of talking that I can't understand what his real name is. We decided that the extra support wouldn't hurt, considering the narrow escapes we have had so far and they found their gear and were willing to come with us to get revenge on the kidnapppers. We poked around a bit more downstairs and discovered a similar alterroom like the one we first found when we snuck in the back. Only... this time it wassn't a Norgober alter-room, it was a Razmiran one! WTF! Why are their TWO bizzare mini-temple/prayer/alter rooms here to TWO differnet gods? Completely crazy!
After making sure the downstairs was secure, we moved on to the upstairs. We still hadn't seen any sign of the jade unicorn and we NEEDED to find that! I (wisely) stayed at the back and of course, when that bold fool Xerena made it to the top of the stairs, some crazed animals charged down the hallway to attack. The relative ease at which these animals were taken care of gave the others far to much confidence. Some one ran down the hall to catch whoever had released the animals and then the trouble really started to brew! There was a sneaky little assassin in the room and he managed to nail Melga in the side with a dagger. Supposedly she's tough, but she was headed downhill pretty quickly. Of course, like usual, thinks were looking grim for the fighters, (they were all trying to crowd into this little room and just kept getting in each othes way!) until I stepped up and threw out a beautiful daze so the rest of the group could finish cleaning up their mess of a fight.
While everyone else was busy arguing about what to do next, I noticed the jade unicorn on the dresser and I tried to palm it. I was thinking I could produce it later and be a hero, but I totally wiffed it and everyone saw (whoops!).
So, the room where the assassin was hiding also had the cousin of the lord of Daggermark tied up on the bed. It looked like he had been tortured. He was talking big about how if we didn't do this and that then he would call the guards. Everyone got to arguing again and wouldn't listen to me when I suggested just killing him and framing the assassin. They we could pretend like the assassin had just killed the Lord's cousin when we busted in and although we were to late to save the old man, we did reign down justice upon the assassin and killed him. The old man in the bed got fed up with our arguments and some one *cough* Chuko *cough* thought it would be nice to untie him so he could be properly healed. Of course, then the old man opened the window and called for the guards. The rest of the group wanted to interrogate the assassin so Segulda threw him over her shoulder and doused him with some wine so we could pretend we were just taking our "drunk" friend back to a hotel.
We ran out the back of the house and over the wall (I'd like to point out that if we had just killed the Lord's cousin, we wouldn't be rushing out the back door for our lives! It's not like he was any sort of nice guy or anything! We would probably have done the world a favor by getting rid of him...) Anyhow, as we rushed out of the inner city, guards were rushing to the mansion. I am thanking my lucky stars we made it out of there without any more trouble! We tried to go give the unicorn to Kaden Jalesh but of course he mysteriously couldn't meet with us. Why did he make such a big deal about bringing back the figurine RIGHT AWAY if he was just going to ignore us?!?
We headed back to the hotel and the others went shopping while I stayed behind (to make sure the figurine was safe) and I taught Suton a new spell. I just got finished with that a little while ago and so now I am writing and catching up this journal while I wait for the rest of the folks to get back from selling some of the...umm...stuff that we...umm... found during our... umm... outing.
After today I CAN'T WAIT to get this unicorn gone and be done with this pack of fools!
Well, poor ole Beaker thinkin' he wuz gonna find some answers got himself captured and who better to save'em? Meeellllgaaaa! Yup! Beaker's kinda weird at times but I gotta say ain't nobody throw a better bomb! He knows ole Melga don't mind a 'lil splash of pain. I'm a DWARF! I reckon its okay lettin' him feel like he's in the lead, he's a good boy. Always drinkin' on that monkey-juice. I suppose there could be worse but that's wut I don't like about heem. Kinda like the snakey snake potion HEH HAHH HEHEEEEEH *cough* HAH!
Cuz I ain't no friend o'these crazies in Daggermark I got me-self captured. Always on purpose! I'm a dwarf! Sumtimes its the only way in, gettin' captured that is. I only do things on purpose, a dwarf never messes up. We know what we're doing. Anywho, once I got into that place there wuz ole Beaker, tied up. Kind of a nice look for heem. Can't say I'm glad to see him but if I had to pick someone to be glad to see, it'd be him...HEH HEHAHA HEHH *cough* HAHA HEH!
So yeh, ole Beaker was trying to tell me his escape plan when we heard people come in our room! But turned out to be some kinda like us, but a 'lil more theify...We don't wana get into stealin'. Dwarves don't need anything these humans may have...who steals junk?! HEH HAH!
This bunch was kinda unique...One real great guy, a healer cleric fella...Us Dwarves like clerics...especially this'n. Good guy. Gooood guy for healin' ole Melga. Now, one scrawy as heck shadow of a girl was in the back kinda tryin' to steal thangs...not very good at it but she's good at gettin' into things hah heh! Kinda bossy too...but she's a half-frail youngin' dressed so dark she looks like uh pile 'o soot.
HEH Soot...Awwww Yehhhh...Kinda reminds me... I remember the days 'o the mines....yehhhh. Bein' a miner was a fine time. Finnnnne time. I got lotsa kin but miss a special few. But 'nuf 'bout that! I have'te say, big woman Seggy is mighty tough. Good gal in battle. Beaker kinda likes Seg too, which I can't blame heem, she's a fine gal. Melga ain't greedy. I always told Beaker don't knock it 'til ye try it...Ye ever been with a warrior woman? HEH HAH HAH!
I can tell a lot 'bout people durin' battle and drinkin'. Since we never got...well, the others didn't...never got around to the drinkin' I finally realized there wuz another scrawy-butt in our group, not covered in soot tho. I think her name is "Skinny" er sumthin' like that. I swear these others were comin' into battle with toothpicks. Haven't ever seen a weapon before? Ole Melga will maybe get some business from these few. I like the craft of the weapons, who better than a Dwarf? None better!
So after pushin' thru that house we ended up gettin' kicked out by the guy we rescued. Whata bastard. That's a'ight though. Made our way to the Tavern HE H-HAHHHHHH!!! My fav'rite place in this dungheep Skidmark, I mean Daggermark! Got me sum ale right when we went in. Seggy was carryin' the guy we brought from that house but I had to get me some ale first thing. I was exhausted. They didn't want me to do any drinkin' yet but as one of few in the group who done some damage in the battle I figured it made more sense to do what I want. After all I gave them the dagger that was stickin' outta my chest. Felt like a decent weapon for a scrawny-butt.
I just have to say, that tavern was GREAT! I stayed there while they all went to some fella's house. Man, sphew! They had ale after ale sent up to me attached to the sweetest little two-legged appetizers. I didn't even pay for this! HEH HEHA HAAAAHHHH! Must like the Dwarves here! They need to get them boys some better clothes, they rip right easy. Well, after-all they weren't dwarves. But they all wanna climb Mount Melga at least once in their lives.
Turns out Beaker is not liked by many around here so I'll keep a watch fer any wrong-doin' toward heem. For a fella who ain't a Dwarf, he's my buddy, I have'ta say. So, I think we might stick with this group of half-frails but they may be alright. Sorry Beaker, but, Daggermark sucks...I'm ready to go back to the mountains! I'd be up fer bringin' ya with me ole bud.
Oh! About time for Melga to get her some pipe.......to smoke that is HEH HEH...Awwww Yehhhh....*puffs on her pipe* Plus, gotta take a leak...
So far:
Segulda (Crystal) = Seggy
Moro (Sean) = Beaker
Xerena (Rob) = Skinny
(Or the text version, if you prefer.)
Maro's journal, session 1. Daggermark.
The details of how I came to be a prisoner are a long, sad story. I grew up in Daggermark, the proud and handsome son of my wealthy merchant parents, and was sent to the poisoner's guild to learn how to make poisons--a lucrative trade in the City of Assassins, of course! Unfortunately number one, my parents angered a rival and were assassinated. I threw myself into my studies to deal with the pain. Unfortunately number two, I found that I had an innate talent for mixing poison reagents in my own body, and was able to achieve miraculous transformations to my already heroic physique. The folks running the school didn't take kindly to me using school property for these after-hours experiments, and they tied me up and dragged me somewhere until they could figure out how they were going to punish me.
While imprisoned, I saw at least one of those Razmir cultists in the building, which is strange because our people don't like those jerks because they're trying to steal our land. Also, there was some kind of dog-man, I think it was a gnoll, and they were talking about selling me into slavery--which is also strange because that's a violation of one of the River Freedoms.
Fortunately, Melga heard I was in trouble and arranged to get captured so we could break out together. What a woman! She is one hundred percent class. Fortunately, there was some sort of commotion going on nearby, and two people broke into the room where we were being held. One was a tall lady with a fancy hat named Sebulba, the other is a foreign priest named Mister Chuko. They and their two companions (both are lovely ladies) had broken in to find some kind of statue, and we agreed to team up to make sure we'd all get out alive.
So we fought some dogs, and this crazed assassin who was torturing a guy in a bedroom--turns out his victim is the cousin of the lord of Daggermark! Long story short, there was a lot of weirdness going on with the Razmir guys and the gnolls and the assassin and all, and he was just glad to be freed, and let us take the statue. Then he got pissy and insisted we leave. We took the unconscious assassin with us so we could question him.
We took the statue to the crime lord Kalen Jadesh, but his guards said he was busy and we should come back in the morning. So we went back to the inn where we had left Melga to watch over the assassin, apparently she had been pawing at the servants. We rested until the morning and questioned the assassin, but he didn't want to answer anything, even after I made him sick with one of my mutagens. He insisted that if we let him go, he'd only kill me (presumably for sickening him). We knocked him out and dumped him in an alley, then headed over to the crappy part of town that Kalen Jadesh controls.
Except it looked like someone had attacked the place. The streets were empty, his gate guards were dead, and someone had broken in. Inside his compound we fought some dogs and tieflings, probably working for whoever attacked the place, and we got to Kalen Jadesh's main room and found him dead clutching a bunch of documents--including documents explaining that there were more of these statue things--things people were willing to kill for. Which isn't really saying much in a city run by assassins, but you know.
So now we have some clues as to what to do next. And I have to hide my identity because the poisoner's school wants to kill or enslave me. And the assassin's guild wants to kill me, too. And probably whoever is after the statues wants to kill all of us. So it is a great adventure! And I can share it with some lovely ladies and Mister Chuko the excellent healer.
Next time, I'm bringing more bombs!
Dear Journal
I thought as a nice deviation from all the talk of killing and gore, I would describe the process of teaching Suton a new spell. Now, I'm sure other witches will have different methods, but the magic that binds a witch and her familiar is very intimate magic, so of course it will work differently for other witches. And, if Suton were ever to pass on, I'm sure things would be different between me and a new familiar.
So, for Suton and myself, we require a circle. I usually use chalk, but if a good surface can't be found, a circle in the dirt works as well. I light eight candles placed on the perimeter of the circle in the eight directions; north, south, west, east, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. Then I take out a scroll with the spell Suton will learn. I read the scroll to Suton and then tear it into eight pieces. One by one I take up a candle and use it to light a strip of the scroll on fire, letting the ash fall into a small ritual bowl. Once all the strips are burned, I have to add a bit of myself to help bind the spell between me and Suton. Just a bit of spit and a drop or two of blood. I thought it was kinda gross the first time we tried it, but it worked and that is the important part. It turns into a kind of mushy paste which Suton eats. If you've never seen a raven eat paste, well, I can't really describe it, but it's pretty funny.
It bothers me when people say “Oh, he's just a bird, why bother caring about him so much?” When Suton almost died, the others made fun of me for using a healing scroll on him, but they just don't get it. I was trying to think of a good comparison, to try to explain it, but there just isn't one. There are times when he launches off my shoulders to soar into the air that I almost feel like I am flying too. And he knows when I am sad, or happy or angry. So yeah, he isn't just any ole bird. He's my familiar. I'm his witch. He is my Suton and I am his Kadife.
Ok, tangent is over. Back to the killing and gore.
So, We tried to interrogate the assassin that we took out of the Lord's cousin's house. Let's just say that did not go so well. Everyone kept arguing about what to ask him and he wouldn't give us any decent answers. The Beeker kid gave him a vial of something and he still wouldn't talk. (Although, he swore he would kill Beeker, for trying to poison him so that was a bit of progress). I got out-voted and we ended up dumping him in an alleyway. I can't believe how many loose thread these fools leave. Don't they understand!? This is Daggermark! If you let someone you tried to interrogate live, they will most likely come back for revenge the next time you have you aren't looking!
So, after we dumped him in the alleyway, I noticed that Xerena hung back a bit. I didn't say anything, but the others noticed and prevented her from finishing off the unconscious assassin. I have a real love hate relationship developing with Xerena. On the one hand, she seems to understand a little better about trimming off loose edges and isn't so wrapped up in her own morality that she gets herself killed. On the other hand, she is so wrapped up in her own vanity, that she nearly gets all of US killed!
We headed over to Kaden Jalesh's compound-hideout-thing and could tell right away that something was wrong. The streets were eerily silent and the two guards at the front were slumped over with their throats cut. We went in cautiously (I don't know why we bothered to go in at all! We should have just took off!). Segulda tried to throw a smoke stick in to cover our entrance in case anyone was getting ready to ambush us, but she totally missed and it went off in the middle of the room instead of masking the entryway. We might have well just gone in with the bard singing and playing her stupid lute-guitar thing.
Proceeding forward we discovered that there were still in fact people inside. Well, not really people persay, cause they had HORNS and TAILS! Suffice to say, there was a good deal of blood and gore and figHting and killing. That darn fool Beeker almost got himself killed by rushing in without thinking! Lucky for him (not so lucky for the rest of us) Chuko was nice enough to heal him eventually.
Once we'd killed everything that wanted to kill us, we started exploring to see if we could find Kaden Jaelesh. Big surprise, when we found him, he was dead! There was this odd little cage in the same room as him and three frogs hopping around. Now, three frogs in a roomful of dead people, isn't exactly an innocent picture. I did my best to light them on fire, and they definitely did not appreciate that. Luckily the others helped me take care of them.
After the threat of the frogs was over we took a look at Jaelesh's body. There were a bunch of papers and letters and stuff, including some death threats and what-not.
We managed to find the little bird statuette in Jaelesh's compound, which is actually probably a bad thing. To some, finding a priceless jade figure might seem like a good thing, but I think it is bad, bad, bad. I mean, people were killing and maiming to get these things and now we've got two! I do NOT want to be killed or maimed over these things!
So, of course, we had to sit and argue about what to do. The letters have added a new angle to the mystery and we aren't so sure we're going to get paid for all the trouble we went through to get the unicorn.
Now, up until our “employer” got killed, I was beginning to think that the adventuring lifestyle was looking to be a not-so-bad way to raise money to start up my life, but now that it is clear payment is not very close at hand, I'm not so sure.
We decided to head back to the inn since arguing about deadly secrets in the middle of the City of Assassins isn't a very good idea. While we were walking back, we noticed that a lot of people were headed in the same direction. The inn is next to one of the city gates and there was a big parade leaving the city. As we neared, it appeared to be, all of the foot soldier assassins. I don't know why they are ALL leaving Daggermark to go marching off who knows where, but to me it seems like taking that many assassins out of the city can't be good. I mean, who will protect the city if some one tries to raid it?
Since the assassins were not really marching in sync, it was kind of boring. And I was a bit worried that some little urchin would use the distraction of the crowd to pick pocket me. We headed back into the inn to discuss what our next steps would be.
On of the letters we found on Jaelesh's body mentioned a student in the poisoners guild who had been in the same inn we are staying at. Apparently he had been overheard making threats and stuff. After questioning the innkeeper about it, it turns out he comes in every month or so and gets really really drunk and starts talking trash about kinda important people (not really a good idea for people living in a city where every life has it's price). After much discussion (and yes, more arguing) we've decided to wait until the next time he shows up and question him. According to the bartender, it should only be a few days wait. The others are busy making plans for their downtime, but I plan on laying fairly low. Maybe get some new scrolls and teach Suton a couple more spells.
Dear Journal
While the others were out gallivanting around the city doing who knows what, I stayed at the inn, as did Beeker. He was messing around with his bottles and vials and beakers.... Oh! I just realized,... I bet Melga is calling him Beaker, not Beeker like I have been writing. That would make sense since he has all the little potions and bombs and stuff. Hmmmm... Interesting...
Anyhow, after realizing yesterday that we probably weren't going to get rewarded for our efforts in obtaining the unicorn figurine, I began thinking.
I thought all last night and had a hard time sleeping. Suton could tell I was agitated and made himself a snuggly little nest out of my blanket in the crook of my arm. It was very comforting, but it didn't help me very much. I was awake to the wee hours of the night thinking that maybe I should take off. Leave these fools to deal with the problems we've been caught up in. I KNOW that leaving would be healthier for myself and Suton, but something kept bothering me about the idea of just up and going.
So, I did something I swore to myself I would never do again.
I was taught the intricacies of harrowing by my mother. My mother had been taught by her mother, who had been taught by her mother, etc, etc, etc. Since it was fairly established that the women in my family could harrow, my mother passed her knowledge of the tradition down on to me. Or rather, she tried to.
My readings aren't very good. Well, maybe... they're TOO good. Every time I try to harrow for people, it turns out badly. Not just a little bit badly, but REALLY badly. Not like “Your garden will suffer from pests this season,” but like “All your family will die and you'll be struck down with a horrible pestilence.”
Now... people will pay for harrow readings, even if there is a tinge of negativity in them, but NO ONE likes to be told they are going to die horribly, be maimed, have their house burned down, etc. Not only do they refuse to pay for those kind of fortunes, but they also get a titch angry. Sometime they get this funny idea in their heads that they can remove the bad "prophecy" by threatening, beating or killing me.
People in Wilkesmont knew my mother could harrow and so expected me to as well. I got into a number of VERY sticky situations before I learned to tell them that the elf in me blocked out the magic they assumed I should have inherited from my mother.
Harrowing is not something to be taken lightly. Especially when they always end with people suffering horribly... I certainly thought long and hard about doing it for this time. I could tell that the BEST thing would be to leave this rag tag group but I had sucha funny feeling in my gut that I really deep down knew that I needed to harrow.
Peacock Cyclone Beating
Midwife Locksmith Trumpet
Dance Waxworks Inquisitor
Now, to the untrained eye, the cards are probably nothing more than pretty (sometime gruesome) pictures, but for someone blessed (or cursed) with the ability to harrow, they are quite significant.
Life and its beauty are forever in constant motion. We had plans and patterns set for ourselves (even if they were simple and not very elaborate). My pattern, the framework I believed my life would revolve around, was to start my life in Daggermark, to set up shop and live happily ever after. I was setting up my frame to create the beautiful pattern of my life. We all were. Some of us, like Chuko, had just redone their framework, and redesigned how their pattern was going to turn out. But we all had our plans. But the beauty of these plans can only remain if our lives do not change. And boy are they changing! Something has happened that has forced our framework to bend and shift into a new plan, lest the delicate pieces snap.
There is something at work, some terrible force, that is trying to tear through us, trying to trap us, trying to torture us. It is not some random act of nature, but rather some evil being is trying to weave a pattern of destruction, and our threads are being pulled and tangled into this evil being's design, ripping apart our own. However, there is hope! We are being given the tools we need to destroy this evil being's plot and although our plans for our lives will have to adapt, our threads will not be cut, and the beautiful tapestry we are weaving with our lives will not be destroyed.
What we have to look forward to is not pretty. We will forever be under siege from all sides. Beset by those who would see us fail, by those who would destroy us. The attacks will not only come in forms of the flesh, but in more insidious ways as well. Our minds, our hope, our judgment will be attacked. But regardless of these attacks, we must not hesitate. We must stand firm and refute this evil power, declaring ourselves to be champions of life and beauty. We must not falter in whatever task destiny has put at our feet. We must pursue this mystery to the bitter end. We can accept no less than victory, we must forge ahead until the truth makes itself clear. We must, or we will perish as the world crumbles around us.
So, after having realized that there are dire consequences for leaving this group, I have decided to stay with the group. Until we figure out the mystery behind these jade figurines.
I have not told the others about my harrowing. I don't know that they would believe me if I did. Although, I have alluded to it, I don't want them to ask me to do it again. Or to get the idea in their heads that if they kill me, then my readings won't come true.
Dear Journal
Supposedly tonight is the night that the drunk student will be here mouthing off so we can go a little further along this mysterious path. I am sitting in the inn's common room with the others watching for the student. There are a lot of noisy drunk people, so I'm not sure it will be easy to spot him.
Xerena is sipping on wine, very daintily. We are both half-elves, and yet, she seems so much more... elven. And by that I mean, just in the way she moves and talks and LIVES the beautiful elven grace seems to be constantly surround her. Perhaps it is simply from a rich upbringing, but I can't help but wonder if it is because she has not been raised to be ashamed of her elven blood like I have been.
Melga seems like she is having a good time. Despite her gruffness and (I'll be honest) her rather disgusting habits, she is relaxing to be around. She doesn't care what others are doing. I could let out a huge belch right now and while the others would looked shocked and grossed out, Melga would probably give me a clap on the back and show me how it's REALLY done. It must be nice not to care about so many little details, like being clean and stuff. She isn't tied to as many social conventions as the rest of us, and so she doesn't have to worry about them! It must be freeing...
It appears the student has finally made his entrance. Well, he entered a while ago, but now he is drunk enough that it is actually pretty obvious he's the one we want to talk to. There seem to be a couple guys at another table watching him too. It is hard to tell if they are body guards or if they have similar motives as us. Xerena is going to try to flirt with the drunk guy to see if she can get him to talk. She is not impressed with my suggestion that she invite him up to her room so we can ambush him, and I can't imagine why she thinks it would be a good idea to ask dangerous questions to a loud drunk guy while in a crowded tavern in a city full of assassins and spies...
When I came to these faraway lands, fleeing the wrath of my cousin the Dragon King in distant Xa Hoi, it never occurred to me that I would become entangled with a ragtag collection of adventurers.
Now our fates are conjoined. Alas, the dwarf, Melga is surly and incredibly hirsute, but she is a formidable fighter. The human whom Melga calls Beaker is obtuse. The speaking sounds he makes are sometimes almost comprehensible. However, he has a deft hand with bombs and such. The half-orc woman, Segulga, is almost pleasant compared to the dwarf and her companion. And she has the makings of a mighty hero. There are two half-elves, each with her own problems. The young witch Kadife is truculent and inexperienced but her magics have proven effective. The older female, Xerena, is avaricious and combative. Her bardic skills have been quite useful but she seems only interested in corporeal gain.
Regardless, the six of us here in Garund have reluctantly come to an agreement. We will work together to collect the 12 figurines which might allow us to control and even conquer the dread Tarrasque. Sadly, the fate of the world is in our hands. I only hope the warning contained in the recent missive from my cousin, Duke Chen, does not portend ill for this endeavour. Hope, nay, I pray to my Goddess my champion, Sarenrae, that we will succeed.
Dear Journal
Well, that certainly did not go well...
As soon as it looked like we were going to be trying to get the loud mouthed brat out of the bar area, a couple of tough looking ruffians stood up and drew their weapons. Despite Segulda trying to diffuse the situation, we ended up in a nasty bar fight. I didn't really think I could handle any of the fighters without jeopardizing my life and I was feeling a bit useless but then out of the corner of my eye I saw the drunk student we were looking for trying to sneak out the back way. I pulled out one of my knifes and threatened him and he immediately cowered back into one of the booths lining the walls. I must admit, I did a lovely job of making sure our clue didn't drunkenly stumble away while we were distracted with fighting.
When the dust finally settled, we had killed one, gravely injured another and knocked a third unconscious. We drug the fighters to the back room and tried to question the unconscious one after waking him up. Unfortunate he was in no mood to talk. All he would tell us was that him and his team had also been looking for the jade statues and the drunk student had been their only lead. For all the fighting and risk of bodily injury, we didn't get much useful information. And the drunk was even worse. We simply could not get a straight story out of him. After trying to decide what to do, we realized that we were not currently in a good position to stick around and we heard the sound of the guards coming to question the innkeeper. We scooted out the back door and decided to take of to the only possible lead we had.
We are currently following aforementioned lead. I am of mixed emotions as we are headed in the direction of Wilkesmont. Would my mother be happy to see me? It has only been a few days after all, but perhaps she has realized her error in sending me out. But who knows really, we are heading first into the woods to seek out the man who thinks himself the next bandit king. Anything could happen!
I almost forget to mention!! Randomly Chuko took off. He promised he will meet up with us in a few days as he has “business” to take care of. Of course he said “business” in a very ominous voice. I know that we will meet up with him again, because of my earlier harrowing, but I wonder what the others think of his sudden departure.
The spot we are currently camped at is much better than the places I endured when I was traveling by myself. I must say, I heartily approve of having others around to help keep watch, to help cook and to keep company. Xerena is practicing on her kithara. It makes lovely sounds when she plays. It is a stringed instrument that is kind of boxy on the bottom with two pieces going up to hold the strings. The music is... well... I have no idea how to describe music in words... I wish I could... the way she coaxes sounds from the strings in plucks and strums is simply amazing. And every so often, when she's got everything all tuned up, she sings as well. I love Suton, but I much, much, much prefer Xerena's playing and singing to his squawking.
Looking around the faces of my companions, it appears I am not the only one enjoying the music. Segulda has her eyes shut and head lifted to the sky seemingly drinking in the sounds of Xerena's music. I wonder what she's thinking about. Her goddess? Her family? What to cook for breakfast? None of us has spent much time talking about our lives. I wonder why she does what she does. Actually, I just wonder what she does... And I wonder about the orc side of her. She seems so mysterious... and hard.... like.... steel.
Beaker seems to be off in his own little world. He's busy fiddling with his vials and potions and reagents. I wonder if he even hears Xerena's playing, he seems to be oblivious to all else but his concoctions. I wonder what brought Melga and Beaker together.... Speaking of Melga, I can hear her huffing and puffing her way back to the camp. Which means she is done with her watch and it is my turn.
I am so thrilled to go sit off in the dark by myself. (Did you catch the sarcasm there?) Segulda said it would be best to have the person on watch sit in the shadows so as to better listen and see any bandits or thieves approaching. My watch will of course be over well after everyone else is asleep. I'm not thrilled about having to wake up Beaker in the middle of the night, but such is my lot I suppose. And of course, as I will be sitting in the dark, I will not be able to see my pen or paper to continue writing... At least I have Suton with me for company...
Dear Journal
I fear this will soon become a common refrain, but I have to say, that certainly did not go well...
When I last left off, I was heading out to my watch. Everything was perfectly fine, nothing happened. Beaker woke up with minimum effort and little hassle and I slept like a baby once I crawled into my bedroll. The next morning started out surprisingly well. Beautiful weather, smooth traveling, etc etc etc. As I have begun to almost expect, when things start to seem like they are finally going well, something bad happens. This time, it was practically as soon as we entered the forest. Well, let me rephrase that... as soon as we had juuuuust gone deep enough into the forest that a quick retreat would probably result in everyone getting lost or running into a tree.
We got ambushed. Badly. For the record, next time a strange person shouts that we ought to drop our weapons and turn back because we are surrounded by archers, I will be very inclined to believe them. I tried to hide behind various and sundry members of my party, but they had a nasty tenancy to try to move up and get into hand-to-hand combat. Not really my cup 'o tea.
While we eventually totally annihilated those stupid ambushers, it was not without having taking some highly unpleasant hits ourselves.
Well, the breaks over, the rest are insisting we keep moving, although, I could use a bit more recovery. Not that I was injured per say, but the excitement of combat really can wear ya down!!