7/13/2007

The night passed uneventfully having returned to the inn after the collapse of the tower. We had attempted to meet up with Corvis to receive some coin but were turned away because he was still recovering. We were asked to return tomorrow because he would start taking audience again. When morning came we rose and set out to meet with Corvis and were allowed entrance. He recognized our efforts to save the town and paid us well for those efforts—a good 48 gold pieces. Wondering if we were planning on passing back through this way after we took journey, he stated that should we pass back through he may have some work for us. Thanking him for his time (and money), we excused ourselves.

It was our intention to leave but Schmendrick insisted on taking some time with Aaron to learn a spell to open locks. I was much obliged to let him considering our past experience with locked doors. Alex suggested (or rather asked) if that meant we would take the time to teach him more about the company and perhaps do some drills. Mort and I glanced at each other with a knowing look—having never performed any such practices in our year together—but agreed that that would be a wonderful idea and proceeded to set up some training. Kern was more than happy to direct the formations and I was happy to see that, except for Crespin, the rest of the group was holding a solid line. Let us hope that when the time comes to test our formations and training we will all remember.

Another night passed in Glimmering.

We rose early the next morning hoping to put as much distance between us and this forsaken city and took our leave. Traveling hard for the next five days and stopping in the small towns along the way, we finally made our way to Knight’s Bridge. While I hesitate to call it a city, it was certainly much larger than any of the places we had stopped along the way. What I found interesting was the town’s namesake—a large bridge crossing the river which divided the town into two sections. Atop the bridge were some small buildings and notably a somewhat larger one near the center. The town was clustered heavily around the bridge like chicks to the mother hen.

Making our way to the inn, we passed a monument of some sort, likely in homage to some leader from the past. The statue was of a heavily armored knight atop a large horse, his sword held high in the air. The horse was reared up with its forelegs in such a way as to suggest it was about to trample somebody or something underneath it. Interestingly, the look on the man’s face was not one of anger, fear, or concentration, but rather one of serenity. I took a mental note to learn more about this individual; he seemed to be a man facing adversity or destiny with a clear conscious.

Having secured some rooms for the night, we all were happy to dine in the commons area and get something other than “road food”. We were enjoying the hearty meal and boisterous music when a loud thump was heard outside immediately proceeded by the door swinging open. A haggard man with a pearly white beard entered and looked around. Rivulets of water ran down his face and large drops fell from his clothing into a puddle on the ground. Glancing past him, I noticed that it still quite dry outside, not a cloud in the sky.

The man seemed intent on something, taking in everybody’s characteristics as he looked about the room. Finally, his eyes resting on Mort, his bulging eyes seemed to bulge even further to the point I thought they would burst from his skull before he approached us seeming to think he recognized us (or perhaps sizing us up to help him with some task). Stepping up to our table, the man asked if Mort was “Mort” to which he (Mort) replied that he was. Sighing heavily, the man followed through with the statement that if Mort was indeed Mort then Griswold must be here and we must be Griswold’s Irregulars. We all glanced at each other quizzically, still wondering who this man was and now, more importantly, how he knew who we were. Surely our reputation doesn’t precede us that well.

Launching into a maniacal monologue, the man went on about how we needed to get some boy to help us at Schmendrick’s lab in Pangoria because the boy knew how to read the book. This definitely caught my attention because nobody knew the real reasons we were headed to Pangoria, even most of my comrades didn’t have an inkling. I thought that either this man was a spy set to waylay or journey or that this man really knew what he was talking about (even as crazy as he seemed to be) and we needed to pay him close attention.

Almost as quickly as he started telling us everything, he abruptly interrupted and asked if we wanted to see a trick. I could see my comrades were curious and was not surprised to hear them answer in unison with a hearty “yes!” Shaky Pete—as Mort had taken to calling the man—led us out to the street and began waving his index figure around in the air. As he waved his finger it started to glow a deep crimson red and he suddenly pointed it at an outhouse down the street and sent a massive fireball its way. People jumped out of the way screaming and clamoring to escape. Turning towards “Shaky Pete” we stated that what he had just done was illegal to do within city limits; his face drained of color as he realized the truth in our words and stated “I’ll be back!” to which he promptly disappeared. We returned to our food and drink.

Later that night as we all separated to our rooms, I was interrupted by a knock at my door. Darby was there and informed me that our visitor from earlier that evening was back… and sitting squarely in the middle of his room looking for Schmendrick. Mort, Schmendrick, Darby, Kess and I all returned to Schmendrick’s room and began talking with him. Apparently he had forgotten to give us all the information.

Flaming Pete—as Mort had decided to change his nickname to—told us where we could start looking for the Peter (the boy). Peter came from a town named Bruton and that the townsfolk there would know where the castle was. We asked him how he knew all this and were somewhat surprised with his reply. A prophecy. Even more, we were surprised to learn that we had only three weeks to find the boy and get to Schmendrick’s lab before we would all be “seriously screwed.” Crespin (who had joined us by then) blurted out that he could use some serious screwing. The man didn’t seem to miss a beat as he replied that we wouldn’t want the kind that would happen if we don’t retrieve the boy and have him help Schmendrick.

Turning to Kess, he told him that he needed to go to “that tomb and it would be there.” We all looked at him like he was an idiot since that was the most useless bit of information any of us had ever heard. Kess, thinking he was being clever, asked the man if he would give him a map. We all laughed as Flaming Pete pulled out another piece of paper and scribbled a picture of the inn and wrote “heer” and then on the opposite side scribbled some mountains and wrote “toom”. Drawing an arrow connecting the two, he grinned satisfactorily as he handed the paper over to Kess. Kess was not satisfied and asked some more, finally learning that a lady by name of Alisha was there waiting for him.

Mort went down to the commons and asked around if anybody knew where Bruton was. He learned that it was a day and half’s journey west from here. We decided that we would follow the man’s “prophecy” after having him write it down twice (and seeing it was absolutely identical in every way), feeling that this truly was a prophecy of some sort and that we had better do something about it.

After purchasing three new horses—Vance actually purchased one for himself—we set off to Brutol. Luckily Flaming Pete had an enchantment up his sleeve and he cast a spell to cause our horses and Crespin’s lizard to run extra fast. We reached Brutol in a half hour—the fastest land travel I have ever experienced.

Entering town, Mort asked a passersby if he knew anything about “Peter” which was returned with some information. Peter was an urchin here in town but they didn’t give much beyond that. Asking where the Mayor lived, the person pointed us straight down the street to a twin building. We rode forward and then Mort and I entered to speak with the Mayor. Asking him about the castle we had seen in the distance, we learned that it had been abandoned for nearly one hundred years but recently a man had taken residence there. We pressed for information about Peter and learned where he lived with his mother Nancy down in the slums. Thanking the Mayor for his information, we continued down to meet with Nancy. Mort made some quip about how Peter is a “Nancy-boy”, whatever that means.

Reaching the boy’s home, we were greeted by a woman who was outside doing wash. Wasting no time, Mort asked her where her son was. She cringed with the mention of his name, hesitating to answer us. After Mort explained that we thought he was in trouble and needed rescuing, relating to her how we learned about him, she seethed as she asked if we thought “that’s where they took him”. Pressing more, we learned that the man who purchased the castle had wanted to hire her son but, because of the amount of money offered, she knew it was a sour deal and refused to let the man hire her son. Shortly after, he disappeared.

Asking if she had any of Peter’s prized belongings, I was awarded an old, worn toy soldier. Using my magic I was able to visualize Peter in a library working hard to cross reference several books stacked around him. Following through with a trace, I felt that he was indeed at the castle outside of town. Taking our leave, we charged out to the castle hoping to recover him.

As we approached the castle gate, we saw a large stone elemental blocking the entrance. He made no move to attack us as we approached so we called out stating that we wanted to meet with its master. It stated that he was currently indisposed but that if we would like to wait we could meet with him later. Mort answered that we would wait ten minutes before we absolutely need to meet him.

Ten minutes passed, Mort asked if its master was ready to meet with us yet. It stated that he wasn’t yet and which point Schmendrick attempted to banish it with the spell he had been preparing. Nothing happened… well, not exactly. The elemental’s eyes opened quickly and it proceeded to ready itself to attack. I followed through with the spell I had been preparing (intending on opening the wall after Schmendrick banished the elemental) and attempted to turn the elemental into a bunch of air. I felt it resist, unfortunately. Guess I should have used it on the wall.

Battle ensued as oft does happen with our group. I lent Mort some strength so he would be unstoppable, and fearing we would be attacked from above I put a missile shield over myself and Schmendrick just in time for a rain of stones to come crashing towards our group. Mort, Vance, Kess, and Crespin were all at the front battling fiercely to destroy the elemental. Deciding my best course of action was to get above the action, I used my magic to lift myself into the air and begin flying. As I rose into the air I watched as the elemental also lifted Crespin into the air, almost in unison with my own ascent. The core difference between our methods were, aside from the vehicle of transportation, the fact that the elemental hurled Crespin off the cliff towards the ground below.

I watched helplessly as Crespin flailed wildly before hitting the ground with a loud, wet THUMP! Surprised (or maybe not so surprised), I saw him stand back up and shake the dust off. He started yelling expletives and gesticulating wildly towards us before Darby healed him and he started running back up the pathway.

Turning my attention back towards the courtyard below, I saw a huge man running from one of the inner buildings towards the building at the base of the wall. I couldn’t place it but there was something off about him. I heard a loud crashing and looked below to see Mort finish the elemental off into a heap of rubble and dust.

Glancing at my hand where I held a large concussion bolt, I wondered what I should do with it…

Entry for August 10, 24, and September 7 (dates I missed)

[placeholder -- will fill in the blank when Mr. Jeremy fills in the blank for me on what Griswold discovered in his time]

10/5/2007

This morning we arose early to prepare for the day.  Having placed out ads and due to the huge success our party has enjoyed both in the arena and in mercenary service in general we expected to have a large pool of candidates.  Almost immediately after we sat down for breakfast a constant stream of applicants filed into the inn seeking interview with Mort and I.

Countless hours passed with an even more countless number of applicants.  Mort and I struggled to find recruits of caliber that could fill the massive holes in our ranks.  Kess, Crespin, Schmendrick… they all decided to leave the group having reached whatever goals or achieved enough power to follow those goals they might have.  Kern, Elaina, Vance, Alex… they have all disappeared since arriving in Pangoria and our attempts to locate them have been in vain.  In the least, Alex, Kern, and Elaina left before I could pay them and Vance disappeared without coming to ask me for pay.  Desertion is cause for suspension of pay and booty rights within the group so at least Mort and I will have more to divvy between ourselves.

Midday arrived and we finally had narrowed our search down to three candidates.  Nim—a priest of Danica who had accompanied us during our assault on the Varu; Joe Solider—a soldier we have campaigned with in the past and who comes from a long line of soldiers.  The interesting thing about Joe is that by joining up with mercenaries he is, in effect, disgracing his family’s legacy of military service.  I’m sure there is a reason (of course, I also left military service to become a mercenary and my family has a long line of soldiering though it isn’t much of a tradition with us… my own father broke the cycle).  Lastly a weasel of a man by name of Beckham.  With him near I was sure to tuck my coin purse deeper into my robes and sit farther away.  There was something about him I didn’t trust, perhaps his upbringing on the streets.

Beckham claimed to have served with Vengeance Returned which seemed odd… if he had indeed served with them and was good with roguish activities as he claimed, I can’t see why they would ask him to leave or why he would leave them on his own accord.  They seemed to be a good group of mercenaries, their assistance against the Varu was much needed and well appreciated.  I asked Mort to follow up on Beckham’s claim.  Upon returning, he stated that he had indeed served with Vengeance and that Nox stated that, if nothing else, Beckham serves as a good front-man to find traps.  Mort, not wanting to lose his prepubescent ward, stated that he would like a “dispensable rogue”.  I agreed and we offered Beckham service with the Irregulars.  Nim and Joe were easier hires, having served alongside both of them at one time or another.

Something Mort warned against and has continually brought up over the past year with new recruits is their potential of being spies.  The prince’s recent interest in our affairs and his unwelcome hiring off our members has definitely left a sour taste in my mouth and I agree whole-heartedly that we are likely a target of interest.  As Mort once said, “it is better to have our enemies in our midst than where we cannot see them.”  While I doubt any of our new companions are spies we will definitely keep an eye on them.

Having filled our ranks with all the new recruits that bore some semblance of the type of men we were looking for we now needed a job.  Nim was fairly intent on getting back to Tristen, his whole reason for joining up with us, actually.  I was not.  I still needed to recover the spider silk which is located in the caves up in this area and I was loathe to return back to Tristen or leave Pangoria without them.  My search in the city for a dealer or anybody with information had been somewhat a waste, though I did learn that Wellington, a town about a day march from here, was in close proximity to the caves.  I made my intentions known to Mort and he didn’t disagree (which actually surprised me, I thought he might put up some resistance, though I’m not certain why I thought that).  He stated simply that I’m the one paying so it didn’t matter to him.  He’s right, of course, in his answer.  Although “second” in command (I still find it strange to be called the leader of this group; I received the position by default rather than by any true merit), Mort at least has to pretend to follow orders from me for sake of the recruits.

Needing supplies for our trip, Mort and I took to the markets.  Whilst returning we were more than a little surprised to find Pip.  I don’t think Mort noticed, but as Pip turned to meet our gaze I saw his left hand dart out and remove a coin purse from a passer-by.  I’m sure had Mort noticed he would have said something.  Frankly, so long as it isn’t my purse or somebody I know I could care less.  We chatted with Pip for a few minutes before Mort asked him if he’d like to come along with us.  I expected a “no” but was surprised again as Pip grinned ear-to-ear and said he would love to come along.  Funny… had I know we would run into Pip I might not have hired Beckham though given Pip’s past experience with us I think he will likely bolt at any minute once he gets a few more coins in his purse.  Beckham will still prove useful.

The next morning we set out early for Wellington and passed the day in relative peace.  I kept a wary eye on our new recruits but as the day progressed I decided to be more open with them.  I had a good chat with Nim about the differences between magic and divine power.  It was somewhat amusing to see the views of Danica though Nim was rather polite and never directly accused me of anything or attacked my honor.  I don’t personally hold the same views as he—that magic is disdainful and shouldn’t be used—but I cannot hold anything against him for those views.  I had heard some awful things about the church of Danica from those rebels down south and, so far, according to my own experience I have not seen anything to suggest they are a bad lot.  Misguided, perhaps, but not a bad lot.

Joe Soldier seemed to hang off Mort the whole time, asking him about his experiences in battle and sharing his own.  He seemed to recount over and over about our campaign against the wraiths which, if nothing else, proved entertaining and a good booster for our other new recruits.  Joe seemed to puff the story up a bit but neither Mort nor myself moved to correct him.

We finally arrived in Wellington the next day near the middle of the day.  I immediately sought out the inn and began asking around for a guide to the caves.  It wasn’t long before a man there asked if I wanted to go to the same cave that a mage had sought out the day before.  I was intrigued that another man would be seeking the very same caves and asked if those would be the ones containing spiders.  When the answer was yes, so was mine.  Apparently this mage and ourselves have common interests in the caves.  I hired Octavius to be our guide and intended to leave immediately but he cautioned against going at night (which is when we would arrive should we leave right now).  I heeded his caution and we spent the night in the inn.

The next morning we rose early and set out for the caves.  Upon arriving we noticed that the grass had all been charred around the entrance of the cave, something Octavius found rather strange.  He said that when he was last up here only a couple days ago the grass was in pristine condition.  I heard Mort mutter something about a dragon which got the rest of our companions talking and finally Mort admitted to accidentally releasing the dragon.  Sometimes things are better left unsaid and usually Mort will say them.  I wouldn’t personally admit to something like that.

We entered the caves and began searching.  Almost immediately we came across a small side room with a large tomb in the center.  Nim was able to read the lettering and told us that it said “Here lies Callum, Lord of the Frost.”  Interesting, indeed.  It would seem this man is somehow related to the Frost Witch.  Too bad Vance wasn’t here with us as he seemed rather interested in the Frost Witch, so much so that he left us to search for clues around her existence.  We pressed forward and continued investigating until we found the mage lying prone on the rocky path.  His hands were clutched at his throat as if in extreme agony, his body cold to the touch.  Pip snatched the man’s sword and stated that it was now his.  Not wanting to argue right now, I filed that away in my mind to talk to him about later.  He certainly doesn’t know how loot rights work… freaking ninja.

Mort asked Nim if he could heal him, having seen that the poison let off a slight magical residue.  Nim was surprised at the request and stated that he really didn’t think so but that he’d give it a try.  I think we were all surprised when the man’s color returned to normal and he started coughing.  Once he finally came to we quizzed him about who he was, what he was looking for, what happened, etc.  He looked around for his sword and asked us if we had seen it.  Again, I was surprised with Mort.  Mort remained silent and didn’t say anything about one of our comrades having taken it.  None of our other comrades mentioned anything about it either… either they didn’t think it was their place to do so, or I’m surrounded by a bunch of thieves who would’ve done the same.  I thought about bringing it up but decided against it.  Pip had already disappeared with the sword and come back without it, telling the man that maybe a spider threw it down the hole.  That was the most preposterous thing I’ve heard yet.  If the sword surfaces (in other words, if Pip shows up with it again) I’ll get him to give it back, even if it requires some threatening on my or Mort’s part.  I will also need to talk to Mort about this… he isn’t acting the way he normally does.  I don’t pride myself on being an honest or upright man, but I value his honesty and truthfulness and this recent change is definitely for the worse.

Continuing deeper into the caverns we reached a large anteroom with a living picture on the wall much like the one of the snow witch.  It showed two men, one rather large, the other much shorter.  We also deciphered some more text which said “the purge of flame has begun and no one will live”.  Talking with Owen (the man we had revived), we learned that apparently the Lord of Frost and his brother, the Lord of Fire, had some quarrel.  The purge of fire likely was related to the brother and how he attacked the Lord of Frost at some point.  We continued investigating and came across a large stone bridge crossing a deep chasm.  The bridge was narrow and looked too risky to cross on foot, so I floated across while my companions crossed precariously.  The other side yielded a pool of hot orange liquid.  While discussing it, Beckham yelled out the Lord of Fire’s name and the pool seemed to change.  Mort climbed in and noticed that it was a portal of some sort, at which Pip jumped passed him and right through it.  Beckham was fast to follow, the rest of us stayed behind discussing things.

A short time later Pip returned, all pink, talking about what he had found.  A large room with all sorts of fire and stuff and a door that was completely engulfed in flames.  I decided to let Mort investigate so he went along with Pip.  I decided it was best that I go along as well after several minutes passed and flew along and through the portal.  On the other side and once into the large doorway I was somewhat surprised at what I saw.  Mort, Pip, and Beckham were attempting to free a man encased in ice.  They had pushed the large block of ice containing the big man (the big man from the living painting, no less) over to some of the flame.  The ice was melting somewhat quickly and Mort was muttering under his breath about taking his sword.  I told him I was not ok with this and that he should stop.  They commented some about the several statues that seemed to be guarding the iceman and that as the ice melted they statues seemed to be animating.  I reinforced the thought that was a bad idea but Mort ignored me. 

Standing there watching, I saw the statues start to move.  Mort now had enough of the ice melted away that he could grab at the man’s sword and did so, attempting to yank it free.  The man resisted!  The next few moments passed in a blur, the statues attacked us and I quickly flew upwards out of range while Pip and Beckham disappeared back out towards the portal.  I stayed to make sure Mort would get free but he yelled for me to get out of there… I hurried out but waited at the bridge.  A few more moments passed until I heard him (long before seeing him) running out of there.  In his hands was the frost lord’s sword and not far behind him was the frost man—with a bloody stump for one of his hands—with several of the statues trying to grapple him.  As Mort crossed the bridge and the man followed I let loose with a concussion bolt, striking the bridge just below the large man.  He was blasted off the side of the bridge and sent plummeting into the deep chasm below.  Mort thanked me as he reached the other side and I just stared at him in disbelief.  The honorable Mort I once knew has been replaced with a thief, a coward, a liar.