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| fooberichu |
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www.seeleyware.com
Joined: 6/29/2007
Posts: 178
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Elvenkind don’t mix with others… at least that’s what I’ve always been taught since my early youth. Yet here I am deep in human territory in the volcanic city of Cauldron. I don’t mind one bit. In order to understand why I am here it would be expedient to explain where I started.
I’m from the branch of elves called the Alatheri, a strong and noble race with history as old as time itself. The Alatheri hold strong familial ties and strong moral values. Our society has lived in relative peace for several millennia, content with where we are but not afraid to defend ourselves when attacked.
We Elves, especially those of us from the Bloodfeather clan, have a long history of strong family ties. The Bloodfeather clan can tie our heritage back to the day of Reckoning – the day Elvenkind began; at least, our legends and history would have us believe that. I come from a long and strong line of soldiers and nobles. My clan has been a major part of our societies’ past for the last several hundred years. It is important to note that nobility doesn’t carry from Father to Son like the human dynasties, rather it is more along the lines of an elected position. The clan showing the most initiative and tenacity tends to land positions in government, it just happens our clan was typically said clan… until recent years.
My father, Araxia, broke that line with his drunken vices and disrespect for our ways. Yet, even though I despise him because of his choices and ultimately leading me away from our family, I thank him.
From a young age I was pulled away and able to view things from a clear point of view. I could see suffering the “garbage” of our society passed through… I was one of them. I saw how the nobility and rich of our society lived in haughtiness and disdain. I realized my own family had been in that frame of mind for centuries and perhaps my father’s misguided antics actually enabled humility to enter our qualities.
It is a blessing that our society strives for equality and allows those of any status the opportunity to grow and progress. At a young age I was noticed by the Heart and taken into the Sanctum. I was given several tests and proved worthy to become Initiate Jr. in the order of Leafwalkers – an elite group whose sole purpose is to protect and uphold the ways of our people.
Training came natural to me and I branched out, learning all facets of our order. The Leafwalkers are composed of several subgroups: the Purifiers, the Guardians, and the Shadows. Each group has an individual purpose yet each group works together towards the greater good of our people. The Purifiers are our teachers, scribes, librarians, and police force. They help purify our society and bring us closer to utopianism. The Guardians are our soldiers, bodyguards, warriors. They are trained in the many arts of war and work towards providing our people a strong arm to protect ourselves and advance our nation.
Last come the Shadows; those individuals trained in the arts of deception, knowledge gathering, and assassination. Their duties vary widely from rooting the evil out of our own society, removing their blight from our midst, to infiltrating enemy lands and learning their customs, movements, and, most importantly, their weaknesses.
As it stands, and as I mentioned, I am one of the few who have had the opportunity to learn in all three schools of the Leafwalkers. I excelled in combat, even learning the art of Battleweaving; that of binding magic to our weapons in order to aid us in battle. I learned to wield the [Katana] and [Wakizashi] and use each hand with equal potency. The bow came equally as easy to me with the ability to manipulate the magic fields that binds itself to nature, allowing me to guide my arrows along the winds of magic straight to a target and blast them back with the force of nature.
Not allowing myself to settle with only those arts, I also was educated in the Shadows. I was able to blend into my surroundings, learn to monitor movements of others, read their lips as they spoke, infiltrate areas I shouldn’t otherwise access.
Lastly, I was given the opportunity to train with the Purifiers. I learned how to interrogate the guilty before passing judgment, learn when they were telling the truth or lying.
I became what our people call a Triad – one of the Leafwalkers who can serve any calling. I was elevated to a position of strength, power, importance. Yet, I didn’t care. I wanted nothing more than to make my own path – always in the good of my people, I assure you – but one of my choosing. Instead of waiting to be assigned a task I went straight to the Heart and requested that I be assigned a mission of intelligence gathering amongst the peoples surrounding us.
Recent years have shown a lot of change in the nighttime sky – the stars have moved or new ones appeared in their place, weather patterns have changed, even the magic around us feels different. At first our Elders attributed it to a test or message from the Gods but when they failed to discern its meaning or purpose, we realized something more was at stake. Scouts were sent out only to find that we were no longer in our birthplace… or rather, our city came with us but we were no longer in the same lands we knew growing up. There were whisperings of the Great Change but our Elders were quick to silence those whisperings. They didn’t want us to consider that an ages old prophecy had actually come to fruition, certainly not under their watch and with them completely unaware or prepared for it to arrive.
I expressed my thoughts on how we were ill prepared to handle the changes; we have lived in stagnation for hundreds of years, never branching out from our lands and thus never fully learning how to deal with change. The Heart, ever fearful of our people’s continuance towards utopia, concurred. I was given freedom to act on my own accord, away from my people. With that freedom comes restriction, however; I would not have access to our resources and must find my own way.
I ventured from our haven with nothing more than my horse, armor, weapons, food, and training. I had no destination, no plan, just the desire to learn what I could of these people. Although noble in outward appearance, my reasons for volunteering this mission were selfish in part – I have always been fascinated with the idea of learning new things, meeting new races, obtaining adventure, and have been desirous to meet them firsthand.
I was granted that desire quite quickly. No sooner had I arrived to the main road than I encountered a small group of would-be bandits. They had overtaken a small wagon with an elderly merchant and his family, ill-equipped for their travels and certainly unable to defend themselves and their property. I approached directly and addressed the men (whom had taken notice of me and arranged themselves around their quarry). They issued a challenge – leave now or befall the same fate as these merchants.
I was not asked to help nor did I have any compelling reason to do so; no compelling reason, that is, beyond my own convictions. I turned my horse away as if to leave, the bandits returning back to their dastardly task in turn. Big mistake. I sprung from my horse and was upon them before they could react, slicing deep into the closest bandit’s neck, severing life in an instant. The other bandits fell to my blades quickly, their lives draining into a crimson pool at my feet. Wiping my weapons clean and replacing them to their scabbards, I approached the quivering merchant and extended my hand in friendship. He gladly took it and immediately began raining gratitude on me and expressing a desire to repay me. I declined.
Not wanting his family to have the same fate repeat itself on their journey (and seeing this as a perfect opportunity to integrate myself into their society) I offered to escort them to their destination. They were headed to one named Cauldron.
The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful. We celebrated each night with a round of diluted ale and stiff bread followed by song and dance. The merchant’s eldest daughter Mariah was quite taken with me (as well she should be). I wooed her with my wit, charm and my devilishly good looks. It didn’t take long before I lay with her and took advantage of my position (no pun intended) to learn more of her people.
Cauldron was unlike anything our stories and legends about the outside world had prepared me for. It was incredible! I was in perfect awe of its size, roughness, and yet natural majesty. I was always told that the lands outside our own were desolate, barbaric, devoid of civility. What I saw was a city that may have been through Hell but managed to pull through it a stronger entity. I took my leave from the merchant, thanking him for allowing me his company and for registering me as a mercenary in the city offices (an apparent necessity should I wish to retain my weaponry), and ventured into the city. I wanted to see it all – everything this city had to offer – and I wanted to see it right then.
I wandered the street for hours, taking in everything. The smells, some areas lingering sulfur, other areas scented roses and perfumes; the sounds unlike anything I had ever heard, a constant bustling about and hurriedness about them. The general atmosphere felt strange yet exhilarating all at once. I was intoxicated by it all.
Intoxication on my mind, I found my way to a pub, The Seven Selkie Club located in a district the locals called “The Baths”. The club was a dark, dirty place with a distinct feeling of lawlessness. I sat at a table in the corner where I would be able to see everything occurring in the tavern and keeping my back covered. I sat for hours observing the people, their mannerisms, their arguments, their essence and fiber of being.
This will be an interesting assignment for sure.
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| fooberichu |
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www.seeleyware.com
Joined: 6/29/2007
Posts: 178
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8/7/2009
I have spent some time in the city of Cauldron now, at least two weeks by my reckoning assuming that the time in this land follows the same patterns as my home. While observing the peoples and customs at the Seven Selkie Club I began to notice other Elves among the people there. It wasn’t long at all before I was noticed as well.
An elf approached me and introduced himself as Howard. I was instantly taken back as his name was less than traditional not to mention the lack of any accent in his speech. It didn’t take long to learn that Howard was actually a University-going human who had taken particular infatuation with those of my kind or, rather, those half-breed inhabitants of this world that were mistakenly called Elves. Howard – due to his infatuation – was keenly interested in all I had to say and was visibly pleased to learn that I am a full-blood.
For his shortcomings Howard still proved useful, a friend in this strange land. He introduced me to the Kingswood, a slightly unkempt section of forest to the Western edge of the city; a section of forest other Elvenkind and those who supported them had taken up residence. I must admit that I was more than a little surprised to find members of other clans there; clans such as Bloodclaw, Red Fist, and Ravenclaw were heavily represented in this forest whilst other clans only had one to two members representing. I was the sole Bloodfeather, not surprising since I am the only one who left the forest that I’m aware of. Even more interesting than the presence of some of the other clans was that we all seemed to band together rather than maintain our rivalries.
I spent the next week getting to know what the other clans knew about our circumstances and talking with Howard about his theories on how we arrived. What I could piece together was sketchy at best; somehow my world had melded with this world and, as such, the previous Elven inhabitants had somehow been altered and/or merged with the two factions present here. The only pureblood Elves (with included my people, the Alatheri) somehow appeared roughly the same time – entire villages, cities, and in some cases countries had somehow been transferred and absorbed into this world.
My home, the Blackwood, was one such area to be completely absorbed. That explains why our surroundings seemed familiar and yet only the stars and movement of the sun was different. Howard was interested to learn more about my people and the world from whence we came and I shared what I could. The more we talked the more I wanted to learn about this world and its people; unlike those of my clan I find the prospect of the outside world to be engaging and interesting and I thirst for the knowledge it can bring… hoping to satiate my curiosity.
During one such discussion with Howard it became apparent that in order to subsist I would need to seek employment. Howards means were meager at best and though he was more than happy to share with me it was neither fair to him nor I to continue with our arrangement. It was in this frame of mind that Howard directed me to a man named Jarold who was apparently seeking hire.
Upon arriving to Jarold’s home I was surprised to learn that I was to meet a Ratling, not a man. To explain my surprise I must first detail this race; Ratlings are an interesting race and one that I had never even dreamt into existence. They stand shorter than a man of average height, much more slender, but occupying the characteristics of a humanoid rat. In my inquisitions I have learned that they are related to the rat population in some degree yet possess intelligence on par with the other inhabitant races of the land.
Such as it was I was asked to sit in a waiting room with several couches. I appeared to be the first to arrive yet I was told many more would be joining me shortly. As if those words themselves were a conjuration to the elements other individuals started filing in and joining me. A pair of young men were next to enter; one a wiry fellow who could be no more than perhaps 16 (though to be fair I am still not accustomed to the appearance of humans and find it hard to judge their age). The other seemed slightly more grizzled but not much older… perhaps 18 or so. They talked quietly amongst themselves and took seat nearby. As I watched I noticed that the younger man was quite imbibed and realized that the talking going on was a direct chiding by the older boy.
Next to arrive was a gruff looking fellow who, by my judgments appeared to be in his early 30s. He had the appearance of a man who had experienced the world and what it had to offer, one who would not be surprised by anything to make his acquaintance. Of course that being said, he was more than slightly taken back when a small pixie appeared in the room with the same apparent purpose as ourselves. The pixie was just like any other I had seen – flitting about as if the world didn’t hold enough time to see all there had to be seen. The gruff man also noted my appearance and asked if I was one of the overly zealous university types or if I was a “real elf”. I responded that I was not one of the imposters but was indeed a real elf, yet another gesture that seemed to slightly surprise the man. Perhaps my assessment of him was incorrect.
Waiting didn’t last long before the Ratling entered and stated the job to us. He was an enterprising rat who wished to create a printing business in direct competition with the town criers. With his new enterprise ready to print the first issue he felt like he was receiving direct threats against his business and wished to hire us to protect the printing all for the sum of 10 silver each. Not familiar with the monetary system in this land I didn’t think much of it yet based on the reactions of those around me I deduced that this was a great sum of money for a seemingly menial task. If this is indeed the case I’m sure I can find an orphanage or some other place to leave my money for that is more than my needs dictate.
Jarold took us to the warehouse to check it out in broad daylight and then asked us to return to his home at sundown. I returned to the Kingswood after seeing the warehouse and spent the day quizzing Howard about the city and the history of the region. Time seemed to pass quickly and before I realized the time was upon me to return to Jarold’s home.
Arriving to the warehouse with my fellow coworkers we divvied out the watch to ensure rest and maximum alertness. It was during the sixth hour that we heard some noise on the roof and quickly entered a melee to defend the press. There were several orcs – yet another interesting race of this world that I had never seen before; Orcs are a porcine race with highly developed muscles and a penchant for destruction and fighting. No surprise then that they were hired to carry out this act of vandalism. Lucky for Jarold he hired a competent group with the ensuing melee proved.
I was quick to action, firing arrows at the orcs and managing to drop two of them by myself. Griff (as I learned the gruff man to be named) seemed to take the brunt of the attack whilst Bear (a giant of a man who apparently was hired before the rest of us) also took some hits. I maintained distance and fired volley after volley towards the orcs. One man – the apparent leader of this group – surrendered after we subdued his comrades and we learned that he was hired by the Last Laugh; a thieves guild or some such organization here in the city. When the guards and subsequently Jarold arrived we relayed that information and received our pay as the guards relieved us of the need to defend the press.
While walking back towards the inn we heard a female screaming for help and immediately sprung to action. I was surprised to see Griff act as he seems more to me the type of man looking for pay and not willing to lend an unhired hand towards anything. I suppose you can blame my lack of judgment on my unfamiliarity with the people here; with my own people I was more than capable of reading somebody and knowing their intentions and characteristics.
Nearing the screaming lady we were ambushed by a man as we rounded the corner. Griff quickly dodged out of the way while Bear and some of the others grabbed his attention. I ran past and took aim at some of the men surrounding the poor lady only to miss my first shot. I quickly redeemed myself as I connected shot after shot and dropped two of the bandits including the apparent leader of the pack. Griff mentioned that the men were painted with the colors of the Last Laugh, and interesting and seemingly random occurrence. The man (yes, man, not woman) who had been attacked by these bandits thanked us for our kindness and explained that these men were roughing him up and wanted him to take a message that they (the priests of Adanos) needed to take their noses out of the business they were looking into, that of the recent string of kidnappings in the city. We relieved the bandits of their gear and followed Rufus (the priest) back to his temple whereupon he wished to discuss things further.
Rufus took us to a waiting room in the temple whilst he went to fetch the high priestess and tell her of our deeds. The priestess returned with Rufus and explained the situation, then turning to offer us employ with the intention of aiding their cause. We accepted and I, having learned the nature of Adanos as a God of neutrality and nature, asked that we could receive a blessing to aid us in our venture. Jenya – the priestess – acquiesced and offered to give us a blessing the next day as she briefed us in our task.
Returning early the next morning we all received a blessing of Adanos and were given our instructions as well as some help including a roster of those who had gone missing and a small parchment telling us how we would locate the missing persons; the parchment told us to look for the keys to the locks and behind the curtain we would find the door where the people were being held by half a dwarf but not for long. Dwarves – I suppose it is inevitable that the world my people were transferred to would include the Dwarves. Short, hairy, dirty little beasts that prefer the tight caverns of the underground to that of the open, crisp air of the forests. I don’t have anything against the dwarves especially having never actually met one but just the thought of them sent a chill up my spine and yet I was curious to meet them and learn of their culture. I was utterly disgusted and yet somehow intrigued to learn that dwarven women maintain a small, well-kempt beard and even more so to actually see it in person. Who would have thought that a female of any race would display facial hair and that the other would find it attractive. Strange indeed.
Griff decided that the best way to learn was to go to some of his friends and see if they knew anything. He had a dwarven female friend he wished to meet up with in the caverns but we were given a sort of runaround trying to locate her. We first had to locate her uncle – Bulgrum Crystalmantle – before we could meet with her. They knew nothing about the place we were attempting to locate – the name escapes me but it has something to do with crystals – leaving us at a dead-end. Griff decided to seek out a couple of Ratling friends of his (Budo and Skitch) and see if they could shed some light on the deeper caverns, something that upon finding them they were unable to do. It was then that Griff noticed the connection about a locksmith and the keys and decided we should seek out the one sole locksmith here in the caverns.
Arriving at the locksmith we noticed he was tense, distracted, and possibly fearful of our presence. One of my comrades decided to start communicating via written words to determine the nature of his fear since he refused to talk about it (and kept gesturing back towards the rear of his shop). We learned that there were at least two individuals here keeping him under duress so we decide to do what we could to subdue them and proceed to learn what we could.
Rain – the pixie – made me invisible and granted me the ability to fly so I could take a bead on one of the intruders whilst Griff made ready to stab another one beyond the curtain in the home. The moment I saw Griff begin his attack I let fly an arrow which unfortunately did not drop the intruder. I was able to fire a couple more off before he got too far thus slowing him down so Griff could tackle him and take him prisoner. We learned that beyond the curtain was a door down to the deeper levels, true to the parchment we had acquired. What waits us beyond that trapdoor I do not know but for the better of this town and to save those people I am willing to do whatever it takes. Should we come out victorious I will relate our deeds in this journal so my people can learn more about this world and my journeys.
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| fooberichu |
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www.seeleyware.com
Joined: 6/29/2007
Posts: 178
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8/21/2009
As we were preparing to descend into the old city Jazridune a pair of Neo’s neighbors showed up, one of them carrying Neo’s pack. The man carrying the pack was introduced as Kor and, by appearance, was a trained warrior. The other was a wiry man called Remus. We made our introductions and were again about to descend when Khegan (as I learned the locksmith was named) interrupted us to give us a map and a small warning about the multitude of traps that likely lay down there.
As we rounded the stairs and entered a receiving room we noticed a room off to our left with the door slightly ajar and light playing through the opening. Griff neared it cautiously and motioned for me to approach as well gesturing that I should ready my bow. I made ready and approached him quietly, only to have Bear loudly ask what was going on. Griff couldn’t spare another moment and let his bolt fly, striking one of the grayskins in the other room. I hurriedly shot and struck another but, unable to prepare appropriately, only managed to slightly bury the arrow in the beast’s torso. One of the beasts ran down a corridor to the east whilst the other attempted to flee to the south but was subdued by Griff.
We cautiously pursued the other one but lost him in a dead-end. Searching around a moment we discovered a secret door – something Khegan had also mentioned the city was full of – and upon entering it found ourselves in an octagonal room with a free-standing floor suspended by large chains which raised up to the ceiling and descended below the platform. Fearing a trap we retreated back to the room whence we came and began investigating.
The doors back in the room we first entered were marked with the runes of the gnomish people, a “J” and an “A”. The door with the “A” was the one we found open while the other one was sealed shut. Griff attempted to muscle it open to no avail and yet when Shamus went to it and began straining against the door it gave and opened… only to spray a foul green gas into the doorway. He quickly retreated and we waited for the gas to dissipate before entering. We found a small hexagonal rod, roughly five inches in length and perhaps an inch in diameter with the rune of the letter “Z” imprinted on the end. We suspected these were keys as they matched holes in each of the marked doorways and figured we would need to follow the letters of the name of the city to reach our destination.
What ensued was an arduous journey through the old city, opening many a secret passageway and switching back and forth through rooms attempting to locate all the keys as well as the storage room Khegan had envisioned his familiar to be imprisoned.
At one point we came across another of the grayskins wrapped head to toe in bandages whom fled upon seeing us. We pursued him to a room where he quickly ducked behind a large table and sprung to attack Neo when he approached it. I quickly shot him with an arrow imbued to split into three, dropping him instantly. As I approached to investigate a pile of bandages laying roughly three feet in front of me suddenly sprung up as if alive and began wrapping themselves around me. I could feel something attempting to enter my mind but I resisted. As I was occupied with what was going on I didn’t see who but one of my comrades sliced the bandages clean in half yet didn’t seem to affect them. I took a swing but managed only to hit myself and cut deeply into my own leg. Neo told me to stand still and came towards me, hand outstretched. He simply touched my shoulder and grasped the bandages and I watched awestruck as they unwrapped themselves and slinked off me. He and Kor burned those and the bandages that were on the grayskin to ensure nobody else would have the same occurrence.
The others seemed surprised when Kor breathed fire to destroy the bandages but I’m not really sure why. I’ve seen plenty of street magicians perform the same feat back home, certainly not anything impressive to behold. I don’t understand these humans yet and how one thing can be completely normal to them and yet another will cause them to bumble about in awe. It will take some time to get used to them and learn their culture, to be sure.
Another thing to note this evening is the strange man Remus. I will clearly note that I am still learning their culture and the way people act but he seems off kilter, even for a human. My comrades would mention something completely benign such as how the squeeze through a doorway was a tight fit or than the rod for the keyhole was small and he would respond “That’s what she said” and then bust out in uncontrollable laughter like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard… even though he’s the one that said it. I don’t really know who this woman is that he kept referring to but I get the feeling she must be a conjuration of his mind as he certainly doesn’t strike me the type to grab the fancy of even a drunk human woman. I shall have to keep a wary eye on him, he just seems shady.
We finally found Khegan's familiar, a rat-looking creature named Starbrow. As I approached to let it out of the cage where it was being held the chest upon which it rested suddenly opened its mouth and asked where I was going. I stated I was going to let the rat out of its cage to which he responded that if I took one step farther he would eat the rat. I stepped back and we negotiated the familiar's release by feeding the chest some silver. After questioning him about where the captives were and the "half-dwarf" (which apparently was half dwarf, half troll; having never met a troll or heard of one I don't know what all the fuss was about but most of my comrades were visibly sick over the possibility that there was such a being in existence) we returned Starbrow upstairs to Khegan and received pay.
I am starting to learn what the monetary system here means and the sum we received was quite large not to mention some gold we found down below. I have much more than I could possibly need so the first chance I get I'll have to find a place to leave it... somebody with more need than my own. Perhaps when we find the captives some of them will stand in need or the Temple of Adanos could accept a donation.
We plan on reentering the city and locating the captives soon but are just taking a moment to rest and recover now that we've at least rescued Starbrow.
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PARTY LOOT:
2 magic stones marked with gnomish rune for “boom”
1 bag of gnarly vine stuff; we saw the grayskin use this to create an entangling vine when tossed
3 flasks red liquid
4 flasks clear liquid
8 “light” rods (twist the top and light comes out)
1 small vial clear liquid
3 cylindrical rods packed with solid substance and a cord coming out the top (Shamus used one and it produced a lot of smoke)
Locked spellbook
Small cloak (apparently magical)
Wand
Mandolin (gnome sized)
**
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| fooberichu |
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www.seeleyware.com
Joined: 6/29/2007
Posts: 178
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9/4/2009
Having rescued Starbrow and returned him to his master, Kor and Neo offered to stay behind and watch the trapdoor to ensure none of the grayskins came back through to retaliate on Khegan. Shamus laughed and snidely remarked “Wah, I didn’t get to kill anything so I’m not playing anymore”. We all shared a good laugh with that one as we descended back into Jazridune and made our way back to the platform that would carry us deeper into the caverns below.
As we passed through the doorway into the room with the hexagonal platform we noticed two humanoid creatures covered with yellow fur and staring menacingly at us. Both carried shields while one carried a sword and the other a spear. They charged toward us and a melee ensued. I carved one good before it turned and ran yelping towards the big chains in the center of the platform; it jumped into the hole and attempted to grab the chains on the way down. A satisfying splat accompanied the site shortly after he passed through the hole. The other one, the swordsman, quickly removed Remus’ main weapon-hand only to receive the same treatment from Griff; I was quite surprised really… not because Griff managed to pull it off, no, but rather because of HOW he pulled it off – with a knife.
With the furry creatures subdued we pulled the lever in this room causing the platform to slowly descend, resting uneasily in the caverns below as it came in contact with the body of the first creature who had attempted to escape.
Entering the dark caverns below it was quite apparent that they were not of the same make as the gnomish city above. Considering we had been told that the half dwarf / half troll was in the dwarven fortress we made the deduction that we were now in the dwarven fortress itself. The elevator opened us into a very dark room with two large rectangular cages, too large to hold a gnome yet too short to hold a human, and a strange looking statue of a humanoid. Shamus walked past the statue as he investigated the room only to be smacked in the back by said statue. A combat ensued which took its’ toll on our party; Bear took the brunt of the attack whilst Shamus and Griff took some hits as well.
At the other end of this room was a doorway we chose not to pass through – a smell so foul it could kill a small child wafted through the cracks in the door. Instead, we chose to look for more of the secret doors and were luckily rewarded one. Opening the door we saw a very large room with four more of the yellow furred beasts, one in each corner guarding two large doorways – one much larger than the other. We plotted our attack which involved Griff and I aiming for the two we could easily see, Bear would throw the door open and then Shamus and Remus would quickly run into the room. It went well; I dropped my foe in a single shot and then turned to fire another shot at the one Griff had hit, dropping him just as Remus approached to finish him off. Remus cursed something under his breath and turned towards the remaining two.
Bear smashed one soundly into the wall while Griff and Shamus turned their attention on the remaining beastie. Griff and Shamus worked on him and I gave him an arrow to think about though Griff managed to give him the last blow. Bear removed the other one from mortal worries.
This large room contained a massive statue of a dwarf with obsidian gems for eyes and draped in chains. The chains were magical in nature, something I found interesting… for why would one put chains over a statue and certainly magical ones to boot unless it had something more to it. The statue was facing the larger set of doors which we decided to open, revealing a large natural cavern spilling out into the darkness. A large bridge crossed a chasm leading up to this fortress and disappeared into the dark caverns. As that was not our mission, we closed the doors up and focused our attention on the other doors. Aside from the other set of large doors there was another secret passage leading out from the other side of the room… investigating it led to a fork; we chose to backtrack as the beasties were obviously guarding the other doors for one reason or another, we took that path instead.
The smaller set of large doors led us into a room with two more of the creatures identified to me as hobgoblins. As my comrades rushed to take them down they quickly learned what Khegan meant about the multitude of traps down here as the hobgoblins opened up two pit traps under them. While most of my comrades were able to avoid the traps Bear was not so lucky. He fell in to the second and didn’t climb back out. It wasn’t until after the combat that we found him impaled on some spikes, barely clinging to life. How we managed to get him out, I don’t know… but we did, and Rain was able to patch him back together. The combat itself was my stomping ground. I dropped one of the hobgoblins and turned my attention to the other, dropping him after he failed tackling Griff and was prone on the ground right in front of the second pit. He must have been trying to stand as I shot him for he fell forward and landed in the spikes below.
This room contained seven other doors. We began searching them one by one, finding two empty bedrooms, a barracks, a forge, and a small storeroom. One room contained two fleshy looking humanoid creatures and an array of kinky implements. Shamus told Bear to go in the room, he was not interested until Shamus told him he thought Mouse was in the large chest next to the bed. Bear entered, of course, and the fleshy things sprung at him. A very messy but quick melee ensued as my comrades chopped the fleshlings to bits and investigated the room further, only revealing more kinky objects.
The barracks, on the other hand, had plenty of sound coming from the other side so Remus devised a clever plan to lure them out and gain the advantage. For all his quirks he came up with a great plan – Rain would caused Bear and himself (Remus) to be invisible; Bear would stand to the side and behind the second pit while all of us save Shamus would be on the opposite side of the pit. Shamus would serve as bait to lure the hobgoblins out to him and then Remus would drop the pit just as the hobgoblins crossed onto it. The plan worked brilliantly and we mopped up all eight of the hobgoblins quickly.
We opted to leave the forge be for now and continued to the seventh door (where the two hobgoblins were guarding). This room revealed our purpose – the half-troll/half-dwarf intent on a heated argument with a dark-skinned dwarf, flanked by two hobgoblin guards and at his side a canine-like beast with several tentacles. Chained to the droll (as I decided to call the troll/dwarf) was a small human boy and near the back of the room were three more.
Again we laid out our plan to drop the guards in a surprise attack as we had done in the large entryroom previously. It didn’t turn out quite as well as the previous time. I hit mine and Griff hit his but neither dropped, though we certainly gained the element of surprise. Bear charged forward and was met by the dog which began howling fiercely at him, causing his ears to bleed. He grabbed at his ears in pain and spent most of the combat that way before passing out.
I peppered my opponent over and over but finally turned my attention to the dog as Remus got to the one I was working on. I figured I’d let him finish it off. As the combat progressed we were all surprised as a loud pop occurred and a huge eyeball with several eyeball stocks growing all over its’ body teleported into the room and boomed out to the droll that one of the boys – Tristen if I heard correctly – was not to be taken and needed to be returned to the orphanage at once. The droll agreed and let the eyeball take the boy; the eyeball somehow conjured a sack of coins out of thin air and “tossed” it to the droll as payment for his troubles and then teleported away. Whilst the exchange was taking place between the droll and the eyeball Griff slit the throat of one of the hobgoblins and Remus dispatched the other. Immediately after the eyeball teleported away Rain threw a huge fireball at the dog, burning a massive hole through it and killing it instantly. I had put my bow away and removed my swords during the exchange and took a swing at the droll from a good 30ft away using my powers to project the blow. I landed solidly and he spun around to see Remus standing behind him, thus thinking he was the one who had attacked him. He impaled Remus on the spear end of his massive axe though Remus managed to remain conscious. I readied my bow and with a well-placed final shot I dropped the droll to the ground. We quickly pounced on him and hacked and slashed accompanied with some fire to ensure the droll didn’t recover.
My comrades looted the corpses and we proceeded through the rest of the fortress rounding up all the slaves we could find and then escorted them to their respective homes. The orphanage indeed contained the boy, the head-mistress stated that some lady dressed in dark clothing and wearing a veil had returned him safely home.
Unfortunately some of the captives had been sold away before we could rescue them, most to the dark-skinned dwarf (who had managed to escape) over the last several weeks. I can’t say for sure but I think we may be asked to look further into this matter and perhaps rescue those unfortunate souls from the dwarf. I’m not sure how I feel about an extended stay in the underground but as my mission includes gaining as much knowledge about this world and its’ denizens (which would not preclude the underground), and my newfound comrades seem to attract the kind of work that will help me learn of this world, I believe I am committed to a lengthy engagement.
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| fooberichu |
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www.seeleyware.com
Joined: 6/29/2007
Posts: 178
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9/18/2009
Having delivered the former slaves to their respective homes we realized it was quite early morning and our bellies were rumbling in protest. Griff suggested we go to Cauldron International House of Waffles (or CHOW for short) and remedy our hunger.
While enjoying my waffles – a strange human meal made from flour and other ingredients and then cooked with a hatch pattern and then topped with butter and a liquid substance they called ‘syrup’ – we heard commotion start up in the streets. This was not your general late-night/early-morning commotion composed of the nightlife but rather commotion filled with “ooohs” and “aaaahs”. Rain and I went to the door to take a look whilst the rest of my comrades sat and ate. We noticed a well-adorned carriage flanked with royal guards approaching CHOW. It wasn’t hard to deduce that this was a visit from somebody in the government and, from the hushed whispers as he approached I also deduced that his name was Blackwell.
The man entered and approached our table recognizing and addressing Griff directly. He expressed his gratitude for our helping his fair city and invited us firstly to a banquet later this week in our honor and secondly to serve as guards for an envoy from a city named Khorinis. By the looks of some of my comrades it would seem that serving as their guards may be less than desirable yet, at the mention of royal pay, they seemed to not care too much. We agreed to serve as their guard (whom, by the way, had requested us directly having heard about our recent accomplishments).
It might have struck me as odd at the time but perhaps due to a long and tiring bout in the underground I failed to notice that Neo was acting somewhat strange. I haven’t known him for long so I couldn’t exactly characterize his behavior as strange I suppose, but he was asking me about where I lived. The reason that would have struck me out of the ordinary is that when I first met him we spoke in depth about my people and our differences with the other Elvenkind, specifically that my people do not live in trees but that we build houses around and attached to the trees. I might also add that given some of my training as a Leafwalker I should have picked up on some cues during our conversation but again, I will excuse my lack to the fatigue that had overcome me by this point. I will address later why I deem to place this in my journal.
Before going back to rest I stopped by the temple of Adanos and made a large donation, a sum of 10 gold. They seemed surprised that I would come make a donation at all, for one, having recently just received pay at their hands. Secondly they were surprised that the donation I gave was larger than the pay I had received. I didn’t offer an explanation nor did they ask one. For those who read this and know me, there will come no surprise; for those who read this and did not know me, I merely explain that money holds no value to me. I need only the possessions on my back and the skills in my repertoire to subsist in this or any land and there are far more people out there who stand in need. In retrospect, I wish I had donated that money to an orphanage whereupon it might have found more use than funneling back into the pockets of the priests or adventurers. Be as it may, I felt at peace with myself having divested my purse of such a large sum.
Another stop I made before going to rest was to an enchanter. I had heard from Mariah’s father that the enchanters could make enhancements to my bow and blades to aid me in battle. I was interested in enhancing my ability to take aim with the bow as amongst my comrades that seems to be their greatest need. The enchanter was a grizzled old man by the name of Tim. He talked on and on about his days as a young man and how he used to go about on little adventures. I quietly listened, waiting for him to roll back to the subject at hand – my weapons. When he finally did circle around we agreed on a price – 10 gold – to enchant my bow with the ability to take quick aim. He would have it done by the end of the day (the reason for the high price) so I could pick it up before taking our guard duty.
The rest of the day was spent in the Kingswood resting. Howard came to pay a visit around midday and I filled him in with my recent escapades. He was quite interested in learning more about me in particular but I left out any of the information regarding my training as a Leafwalker (and my subsequent use of those powers to aid my comrades). I just don’t feel that a non-elf needs to learn about my training, certainly not a university-going human who was attempting to write his thesis on my people.
Night came quickly so I went to retrieve my bow and meet my comrades at a tavern for dinner. While enjoying our dinner it was hard not to notice the group at the next table over. Four individuals – three men and one woman who, even by elven standards, was quite attractive – sat there moping over their apparent lack of success in the adventuring business. One man, a scruffy looking one, was the main instigator in the complaints. Perhaps hearing enough or wanting to spur them on, Griff called over at one point and asked how much they made from their last job. Five silver was their reply and, by the looks of it, they seemed quite pleased with themselves. Griff laughed it off and told the woman (their apparent leader) that she obviously didn’t negotiate well on their behalf. After some additional bantering back and forth they left in a huff, the last exchange between them being Griff telling her to give her uncle his regards.
Upon arriving to the mansion we were met with a surprise – the envoy wanted us to serve them dinner. Discussion amongst ourselves went rampant, some of us, including myself, wanted nothing to do with that. Others, including Shamus and Neo, wanted to serve them stating that it would reflect well on the city. In the end Neo, Shamus, and Griff ended up serving them dinner while the others stood guard. As dinner winded down and everybody was taking their leave it was pretty apparent that one of the envoy was quite taken with Griff and they left together. The rest of us took up our respective posts for the night.
During the night Griff rushed into the mansion and rounded all of us up, a golem and the lady from the envoy in tow. He informed us that all the guards (members of the Blackwatch and guards from the envoy) were all outside milling about muttering about brains – they were zombies. As we were discussing what we’d do a knock came at the door so I drew an arrow and aimed while Griff opened it. There stood Neo and Kor without their equipment… yet right at our side were Neo and Kor with their equipment. Arguing about who were the real ones and not Shamus finally had Rain enchant a stone with light and gave it to the Neo at our sides; Shamus shouted that he was not the real Neo and at that point Kor reached over and touched him with his staff. Shamus was instantly covered in tangly vines; Griff took the moment and took a shot at Neo, missing wildly. I swung around and took a shot at the imposter Kor, striking him with two out of three arrows from the multi-shot. The real Kor had ran in at that point and began attacking his illusory counterpart whilst the rest of my comrades were working on attacking the imposter Neo. Having seen that the fake Kor knocked one of my arrows aside harmlessly and wanting to end this quickly I shot an arrow past him, bounced it off the wall, and embedded it into his back. I empowered the arrow to continue spinning in his back, bleeding his life away. That turned out to be a good move because it dropped him and the imposter Neo immediately surrendered.
Griff got what information he could and then slit the man’s throat. We barred the doors and took to the second level of the home as we heard windows and doors crashing on the main level – the zombies entering the home. We found that save for the noble who was with Griff, the rest had been poisoned and were all wretching horribly. Miriam – a beast of a woman who seemed to be heading the envoy – was working on healing them of their poison whilst we held off the zombies. The golems did most of the work this time around and, by the time it was over, there was nothing but mushy zombies all over the place. To our credit, not a single noble perished in the fight and Lord Blackwell was quite pleased. So much so, in fact, that he offered us his retreat in the upper district as a reward. We could stay as long as we wanted and make use of his large wardrobe there.
I return back to where I noted I would fill in the details later. Neo and Kor had been taken captive by the Last Laugh when we sent them up to return Starbrow to Khegan. They had been replaced with members of the Last Laugh placed in disguise and tasked with infiltrating our ranks to learn more about us – where we lived, what we did, etc. They were responsible for the poisoning of the dignitaries, though Miriam stated she thought she knew who was responsible for the zombies and it was not them. Several members of the Last Laugh, 15 to be exact (including the two we had dispatched) were found amongst the dead. Griff, with a smirk on face, asked Rain to take a message to Jarold for publication in the Cauldron Bubbler in response to a message published there. The publication he was responding to read – “That’s three you’re owed. You’ll be paid back soon enough – LL” and titled “Making good on debt”. Griff’s response was “18-0, your move”.
I find my time here amongst the inhabitants of Cauldron and specifically grouped up with my newfound comrades to be quite enlightening. I have learned much about their customs, movements, governments, trials, and more. I also find my eyes to be opened to the true nature of my own society – that which is disguised as a pursuit of equality is, in fact, nothing more than a way for the select few to control the masses. I feel as though I have been a puppet, led along by a string all my life. Maybe my father was right to rebel the way he did. He broke the chain and spared me from becoming one of the puppet-masters or perhaps just another puppet in high places. I wouldn’t say I forgive him yet, but I am starting to see the more complete picture the longer I am away from home.
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