The day started out relatively easily enough, we wandered through the slums trying to fine this girl who might have seen something of what happened. We eventually found her, and at first she was very frightened of us. We tried to placate her, me with some illusions and the others with skills of their own and when she got over her fear of us, she directed us to the sewers where she saw some of the others being taken. Of course we decided to go down there and try and follow the tracks. I can say that the stench of that place is not something I would ever like to revisit. To make matters so much worse, as we were wandering around down there, I managed to trip and fall and some of that vile water got into my mouth. Just thinking about it now turns my stomach.
We found several bodies that had appeared to have been fed upon and moving further into a dark chamber, we found several ghouls. We dispatched them with our usual flair and as we were examining the room further heard a strange noise that sounded like wet rags flapping in the breeze. We moved back out in the passageway and further down the tunnel and found that the entrance to another cavern had been hung with, indeed they were, wet rags. Pushing them aside, we made our way in and found, lying on a pallet, a small figure who turned out to be a boy. He explained that the ghouls had come as a response to his living in the area, apparently he needed the damp clothes that were hanging around the place to make it more comfortable for him. The ghouls apparently liked humid air as well. He seemed genuine in his apology and as thanks for us saving the town he promised that if we ever needed help we could call on him. How a crippled boy was going to be around to help up, I don't know, but we thanked him and made our way back out of the sewers. As I made my way out, I pulled out that filthy blanket I found in that wolf's den and hung it with the other rags. It would get better use here then with me.
We returned to the watch commander and he thanked us for our help and gave us what we needed for the adventuring license. We retired back to the inn for a much needed rest. I would have been happy if that had been the end of it, but as we were in the common room of the inn, I went up to get myself a drink. My foul feet tripped me up once again, but this time, it wasn't a mouthful of vile water I got for my troubles. I stumbled into a drunkard and he too offence. That's when the fight broke out. I don't know what happened but I remember a searing pain in my left ear. I think I may have blacked out, but what next I remember was Eramita next to me pressing something against the side of my head. As it turned out, that drunkard tore off my ear and I collapsed from the pain and loss of blood. If it had not been for Eramita staunching the wound I would most certainly have died.
It seems I need to reevaluate my companions. I thought them little more then servants, but they saved my life when they could have easily let me die. I wonder if this is what it is to have a friend? Growing up, I never really was allowed to associate with other people. This group I'm a part of is more then just me and others. We're all a part of something greater then the sum of it's parts. It's more then just what they can do for me. I have to start thinking more like what I can do for the group. And I have a handy reminder. My face will be forever scarred because of my arrogance. It could have been much worse and every time I look in a mirror I will be reminded of that. Thank you all.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
And Then What Happened?
Well, much has happened since writing in here last time. I'll start at the beginning and hopefully it will come together.
My last entry had our group with the elves at their camp, trying to gather some more information about our newly acquired spellscars, however, that turned out to be a ruse. With some shifty drugs and some quick fingered magical work that would make my teachers gape, they managed to put all of our group into a deep sleep. When we awoke, we found that we had been surrounded by a dense fog with a beast bearing down on us. It turns out that these Elves had some past history with our resident amnesiac and called out that this was punishment for some kind of indiscretion.
We disposed of the apparition and discovered that the camp-site we were in had been an illusion as well. What was left clearly hadn't seen any use for months. I will admit that our newest companions in the group, the Shadar-Kai, Alar'riel and the Shifter, Brambles, proved quite valuable in the fight and both seemed willing to accompany with us as we searched for the elves. Brambles seemed only interested in the possibility of more fighting and mauling, and I'm not ashamed to say that as long as it's someone else, I'm happy to have her along and the Shadar-Kai is rather scary too, but in a "massive-and-silent-you-are-merely-a-speck-of-dirt" type of way. We did need to rest from the fray, so we did, and then set out in search of the elves.
Because of the heavy rain, they weren't easy to track and before we caught up with them we were set upon by a group of foul goblins. During the fight something odd took place, although, with everything else that happened, it's probably not the most strangest thing to occur. I attempted to conjure up an Illusory Ambush at one of the foul creatures and when it flew towards it, the spell coalesced into the shape of a pelican with blood-red eyes. It flew straight at the goblin, but flew right by it's head and I missed it completely. I really need to work on my aim. I was quite shocked, and it seems to now be a constant occurrence, as it's happened every time I cast that spell now. During my magical studies, I had read of this phenomenon. It's called "Transference". Now, if I remember the text correctly, what happens is a mage's spells sometimes take the shape of something that causes deep and powerful emotions within the caster. One's lost spouse for a grieving wizard or in my case, a pelican for my intense fear. Rather humiliating.
After dispatching the goblins, we decided that the rain was too heavy and the tracks too few to continue tracking the elves, so me made our way back to the road with two new companions in our merry band. A pleasant note from the battles, our half-elf gained some of her memory back, able to recall a name: Eramita. She is unsure exactly what it is, but she believes it could be her name.
We made it back to the road and continued south along it, headed toward the city we had chosen as our destination in Brandenburg, when we spotted a landing on the shore that is used by ships. We decided to set up camp there to rest and possibly await a vessel to book passage on. I was only too happy to oblige, as my feet we quite sore. Brambles and Alar'riel went out hunting and managed to get some meat and pelt that we dried while we waited. Eventually a ship headed down river came into view and we hailed them down.
The Deva and myself decided it would be best if we were to talk to the captain to try and arrange passage. It turns out that he wanted to charge us an outrageous price for passage AND food. Well, Yraen wasn't too happy with this and tried to lower the price, but the captain became enraged and ordered her not to set foot on his ship. Luckily I was there to intercede, and through my superior capabilities at negotiating, managed to calm him down and get passage for us to the town in exchange for the others helping to unload his cargo at the town. I agreed, however as that is manual labour, I pointed out to the good captain that a mage would be better at helping elsewhere, like making sure the sails are filled with a good wind for his vessel.
The trip down river was uneventful. We arrived at the city and Yraen and myself made our way to the harbour-master to advise that the captain had picked up passengers and was not smuggling them in, another condition on our travel. We also spoke to a city guard who said we would need to talk to the city guard commander with our adventuring recommendation. We went back to the docks and joined up with the rest of our party and made our way to the watch house being escorted by a guard. He mentioned that we could get the commander in a good mood with a bottle of his favourite drink so we made a stop off and purchased one. On the way there, he also made mention of some "lowies" disappearing or some such, I really wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying.
The meeting with the watch commander went smoothly. He was impressed with our offering and would allow our two new members to become part of our adventuring party if we would investigate the matter of the "lowie" disappearances. He said that he was only doing this much, because family members of the ones who have disappeared keep coming in. We agreed and he gave us a token to show we were on official business and requested that we assign a name to our group. We chose "Bramble's Keepers". How droll.
We split up, each deciding to go our separate ways for now, I chose to locate the magical quarter of the market, and found a quaint little magic shop, where the shop owner was performing some kind of ritual. We spoke for a bit, I even asked him about the disappearances. Heh, I would love for father to see me now, all experienced with worldly matters and what not, taking an interest in the common folk. Anyway, he said that he didn't know anything apart from the fact that they were vanishing. I perused his wares and found a rather interesting flaming staff for sale. It was quite expensive and I had to barter and bargain with everything I had. I even offered my magical assistance with his ritual but the price was still much too high, so I offered him the orb we obtained in Brandenburg in exchange as well. Rather oddly, right after I made the offer, I swear I head this massive, blood-curdling scream clear across the city from the direction of the temple. I took that as some kind of sign to hang onto the orb for now. So I asked if he had any knowledge of the orb and he said he knew exactly what it was and would tell me for a hefty sum. I will have to consult with the rest of the group to find out what they want to do.
So we set to work at the ritual, and once done, I headed back to the inn where we said we would take lodging for the night. I managed to get in just before the innkeeper closed up and he gave me one of his premium rooms for only 2 gold pieces, can you imagine that? Tomorrow we will begin looking for signs of the "lowies". The watch commander said that one of the younger ones may have actually seen someone being taken, so we will try and find her tomorrow.
My last entry had our group with the elves at their camp, trying to gather some more information about our newly acquired spellscars, however, that turned out to be a ruse. With some shifty drugs and some quick fingered magical work that would make my teachers gape, they managed to put all of our group into a deep sleep. When we awoke, we found that we had been surrounded by a dense fog with a beast bearing down on us. It turns out that these Elves had some past history with our resident amnesiac and called out that this was punishment for some kind of indiscretion.
We disposed of the apparition and discovered that the camp-site we were in had been an illusion as well. What was left clearly hadn't seen any use for months. I will admit that our newest companions in the group, the Shadar-Kai, Alar'riel and the Shifter, Brambles, proved quite valuable in the fight and both seemed willing to accompany with us as we searched for the elves. Brambles seemed only interested in the possibility of more fighting and mauling, and I'm not ashamed to say that as long as it's someone else, I'm happy to have her along and the Shadar-Kai is rather scary too, but in a "massive-and-silent-you-are-merely-a-speck-of-dirt" type of way. We did need to rest from the fray, so we did, and then set out in search of the elves.
Because of the heavy rain, they weren't easy to track and before we caught up with them we were set upon by a group of foul goblins. During the fight something odd took place, although, with everything else that happened, it's probably not the most strangest thing to occur. I attempted to conjure up an Illusory Ambush at one of the foul creatures and when it flew towards it, the spell coalesced into the shape of a pelican with blood-red eyes. It flew straight at the goblin, but flew right by it's head and I missed it completely. I really need to work on my aim. I was quite shocked, and it seems to now be a constant occurrence, as it's happened every time I cast that spell now. During my magical studies, I had read of this phenomenon. It's called "Transference". Now, if I remember the text correctly, what happens is a mage's spells sometimes take the shape of something that causes deep and powerful emotions within the caster. One's lost spouse for a grieving wizard or in my case, a pelican for my intense fear. Rather humiliating.
After dispatching the goblins, we decided that the rain was too heavy and the tracks too few to continue tracking the elves, so me made our way back to the road with two new companions in our merry band. A pleasant note from the battles, our half-elf gained some of her memory back, able to recall a name: Eramita. She is unsure exactly what it is, but she believes it could be her name.
We made it back to the road and continued south along it, headed toward the city we had chosen as our destination in Brandenburg, when we spotted a landing on the shore that is used by ships. We decided to set up camp there to rest and possibly await a vessel to book passage on. I was only too happy to oblige, as my feet we quite sore. Brambles and Alar'riel went out hunting and managed to get some meat and pelt that we dried while we waited. Eventually a ship headed down river came into view and we hailed them down.
The Deva and myself decided it would be best if we were to talk to the captain to try and arrange passage. It turns out that he wanted to charge us an outrageous price for passage AND food. Well, Yraen wasn't too happy with this and tried to lower the price, but the captain became enraged and ordered her not to set foot on his ship. Luckily I was there to intercede, and through my superior capabilities at negotiating, managed to calm him down and get passage for us to the town in exchange for the others helping to unload his cargo at the town. I agreed, however as that is manual labour, I pointed out to the good captain that a mage would be better at helping elsewhere, like making sure the sails are filled with a good wind for his vessel.
The trip down river was uneventful. We arrived at the city and Yraen and myself made our way to the harbour-master to advise that the captain had picked up passengers and was not smuggling them in, another condition on our travel. We also spoke to a city guard who said we would need to talk to the city guard commander with our adventuring recommendation. We went back to the docks and joined up with the rest of our party and made our way to the watch house being escorted by a guard. He mentioned that we could get the commander in a good mood with a bottle of his favourite drink so we made a stop off and purchased one. On the way there, he also made mention of some "lowies" disappearing or some such, I really wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying.
The meeting with the watch commander went smoothly. He was impressed with our offering and would allow our two new members to become part of our adventuring party if we would investigate the matter of the "lowie" disappearances. He said that he was only doing this much, because family members of the ones who have disappeared keep coming in. We agreed and he gave us a token to show we were on official business and requested that we assign a name to our group. We chose "Bramble's Keepers". How droll.
We split up, each deciding to go our separate ways for now, I chose to locate the magical quarter of the market, and found a quaint little magic shop, where the shop owner was performing some kind of ritual. We spoke for a bit, I even asked him about the disappearances. Heh, I would love for father to see me now, all experienced with worldly matters and what not, taking an interest in the common folk. Anyway, he said that he didn't know anything apart from the fact that they were vanishing. I perused his wares and found a rather interesting flaming staff for sale. It was quite expensive and I had to barter and bargain with everything I had. I even offered my magical assistance with his ritual but the price was still much too high, so I offered him the orb we obtained in Brandenburg in exchange as well. Rather oddly, right after I made the offer, I swear I head this massive, blood-curdling scream clear across the city from the direction of the temple. I took that as some kind of sign to hang onto the orb for now. So I asked if he had any knowledge of the orb and he said he knew exactly what it was and would tell me for a hefty sum. I will have to consult with the rest of the group to find out what they want to do.
So we set to work at the ritual, and once done, I headed back to the inn where we said we would take lodging for the night. I managed to get in just before the innkeeper closed up and he gave me one of his premium rooms for only 2 gold pieces, can you imagine that? Tomorrow we will begin looking for signs of the "lowies". The watch commander said that one of the younger ones may have actually seen someone being taken, so we will try and find her tomorrow.
Moving on
After finally finishing up all our business in Brandenburg, we decided to make plans to leave and choose our next destination. The townspeople all but threw the maps at us for us to check nearby cities and outposts in the area. I wonder if they were trying to hint at something…
Anyway, after some discussion as to what our next course of action, being either we try to find out more information about this strange orb that Kalaral dropped, or to determine the exact nature of our Spellscaring, we decided we would find out more about our Spellscars. We chose a fairly large city not terribly far from Brandenburg, but would still require several days of travel to reach. We did have hopes that by following the river south we might manage to meet with a ship on it’s way down river and book passage, but that did not occur. We also we not able to persuade Lord Padrag to lend us his daughter to provide some light travelling music, for some reason he seemed averse to this idea. So we departed Brandenburg, with Lord Padrag’s recommendation for an adventuring license and a destination. Mortis Ironarm declined to continue with us, but did give us some good deals on a few items from his family’s forge.
We made our way south, along a road of sorts, for a couple of days without incident, when we began hearing sounds of a battle to our west. With the river cutting a wide, deep ravine blocking our path, we had some difficulty making our way across it. When finally we made it across we moved deeper into the trees toward the sound of battle.
Using the treeline as cover, we came upon what looked like a bandit ambush. An enraged elf and several of his companions were being attacked by some bandits. There was also someone lying on the ground, tied up with some strange ropes. Conferring quickly, we decided to aide the elves and launched ourselves into the fray. The elvin leader seemed grateful for some assistance. An odd occurrence during the fight, one of the bandits, who was using the treeline for cover while firing at us, suddenly stopped. During the fight, we made our way over to the prone individual and untied her and brought her back to consciousness. I know it sounds odd, but I’m sure before we headed over toward her, I heard a call inside my head, a call for aid. Once untied and awake, she proved quite helpful at dispatching the bandits
We managed to stop the attack and the last of our enemies withdrew. I decided to give chase to one of them, with the help of Weedy, who decided at that moment to change into my most hated and feared of animals, the pelican. At the time, I didn’t know it was her, and so got the boost of speed I needed to catch my quarry and end him. As I made my way back to the clearing, I heard a muffled thud as something hit the forest floor.
When I got back to the clearing, the elves were thanking Weedy and Yraen. We introduced ourselves to the once former captive who turned out to be a Shadar-kai named Alar'riel. She claims no memory as to how she wound up where she did. I examined her bindings but could determine no more then some arcane power is about them. As we were making conversation with the elves, we detected the presence of another. This one turned out to be a wild Shifter, but after calling out to her, she retreated.
We accepted the elf leader’s offer of hospitality and followed them back to their camp, where they had a feast waiting. Weedy and myself have decided to question the elf of his knowledge of Spellscars and he says he does have an old story about a Spellscared hero, which he is going to have the Story-Teller relate for us, so for now, I will put away my journal and make my way over to the table with Weedy, who’s decided to start wolfing down meat and drink already. I swear by Correlin, I’m the only one who has been taught basic table manners. Hmm, that’s an interesting thought, I might teach my companions the basics of etiquette.
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