The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith

The Observations and Musings of Dalia Sunrule, letters 1 - 4

And now for a different point of view...

Dalia's player, Zora, has been writing journal entries/letters from Dalia's point of view. Our GM, DH, gives 10% XP for such contributions to the campaign.

Here are Dalia's thoughts thus far:

Well, it's been a fairly boring adventure so far. This group I've hooked up with is one of the worst for working
together that I've seen.

You've got a bunch of selfish types that are just WAITING for a reason to betray the others.

There's the half-ogre barbarian that's mean and ugly until you get to know him.
That's Ufthak, and he's pretty much mind-candy. Very strong, very easy to control.
Kindel, a knife-fighter who's all style over substance. Typical sadist. Found out he's deeply afraid of Changelings.
It's been fun to mess with his head. Not too bright.
Eklavdra, a mage of no small ability. However, her arrogance leads her to do foolish things. Likes to summon undead.
Radagast, a priest who specializes in summoning, especially earth and fire elementals. If everything goes south,
he needs to be dealt with first. Does seem like the most honorable among this group. If I can sway his friendship, then
I'll feel a little safer.
Vim, last but not least, is their leader. An Artificer of some power, he's by far the most dangerous and the most likely
to turn on you.

We're on an airship flying into the Mournlands, headed towards a place to retrieve a schema that Vim has been tasked
to get by Baron Merricks. Attacked by undead wyvern. Got kinda hairy there for a bit, but pulled through okay. Everybody's
on edge, now that we’re in the Mournlands. Gods, I wish this trip would end.

As we get closer, it's obvious that the group we were worried about is already there. Everybody starts loading up on magic,
getting ready for a fight. Our orders are clear: kill everyone and get the schema. These poor people we're approaching don't
stand a chance. Time to switch sides, I think. This group just isn't for me. They're too obvious.

We get there in time to join sides with the unknowing group in a fight against some undead and a vampire. I sit out for a bit
'til I see "our" side winning, when I offer this new group my allegiance. Naturally, I do this quietly in case things go bad and
I have to fall back to working with Vim's bunch. Things get a little hectic as one of the new group's members decides to go
throw the schema at the half-ogre. Vim decides to take it and run, leaving behind a couple of his guys…Ufthak and Radagast. I
make a brief show of trying to get the schema, but I don't really care who ends up with it, as long as Vim is gone and I get
a chance to ingratiate myself into this new group.

Before things get ugly, as I can see these two groups have had their differences before, I take control of the half-ogre to show
my willingness to join these new people and keep the peace, as it were.

Turns out they're trying to rescue one of their own from the vampire, some Valenar priestess of the undying. Not fond of those,
as my particular skills are not as useful against them. We retrieve her and get ready to go.

More about this new group to come...
________________________________________________________________
Well, it has been a few days travelling with my new companions and I have some insights on each:

Xil - Changeling. So far the one who's most mistrusting of me, which is to be expected. Their very
nature lends itself to mistrust. Seduction doesn't work on those who have no specific gender.

Artemis - Human male, Artificer. Not too bright, but seems to know what he's doing. I don't think
I'll have to lie or cajole him at all, as he's pretty gullible.

Kylara - Aerenal elf female, Priestess. Summons the undying to fight for her. Arrogant like most
elves, seems to have a firm grip on the group. Hates undead.

Grinner - Half-Orc male, Investigator. Knows many languages and has many useful contacts I can
ingratiate myself with. Seems to be skimming off the top. He knows that I know. We have an
arrangement. Ply him with just enough of the truth and he won't feel the need to investigate me.

Caelen - Valenar elf male, Warrior. Worships the dead, but not like Kylara. Honorable. Arrogant.
Best candidate for mental control, if need be. Betting that if I prove myself useful, he'll accept me.


We managed to wake Kylara, and then travel under the half-ogre's guidance towards a way out of
the Mournlands. We found a resting spot that has a watering hole that heals wounds, which is not
easy to do in this accursed place. Displacer snakes took umbrage at us drinking from where they
reside, so we left.

Even though I have been given amnesty within the group, and been accepted as a part of them, I
show just enough ability to prove my worth, but not so much as to give away everything.

During these few days, it is interesting to sit back and watch their interactions with each other, to
get a better feel for who they are. Such as an argument over whether to bring back a banner of some
near-forgotten warforged leader.

Speaking of such, we came upon the sounds of a battle, and the male elf and I went to investigate. I
could tell he wasn't sure he liked me there, but I was so quiet I don't think he minded. Just one part
of trying to win him over.

We saw a warforged titan fighting against a small unit of warforged. I've never seen a warforged titan
before. Although patchwork in quality, it was still impressive. Not long after that, we saw signs of what
looked like a metal dome building. Again, the male elf and I went to see it. Although he seemed irritated,
once I showed him I could use invisibility on us to get closer, and would not give us away with as quiet
as I can be, he accepted me. Worked like a charm.

It turns out the metal dome was actually just the HEAD of an even bigger warforged being constructed
out here in the Mournlands! I'll bet that information is worth some money. That thing looks like it could
destroy a city.

After investigating that, we continued on our way out of the Mournlands, but not before a cadaverous
bullette emerged from the ground and managed to kill the half-ogre in the ensuing fracas. It's a shame
to lose a nice tool like that, but it happens.

More later...
___________________________________________________________________
It's been a few days and we come upon a village. Turns out an orc village calling itself the Red Hand has taken over and stiff fines and taxes are being placed on anyone or anything coming through here.

Not wanting to tarry in a place as filthy as this, I took it upon myself to appropriate a certain token from a nearby merchant. Said token says you've seen the one in charge and been taxed appropriately, so you can leave. We're on our way.

We finally arrive in Rhukan Draal and it's not a lot better. But at least it's civilization. At some point, Grinner asks me to help him identify a ring in his possession. I don't ask, he doesn't tell. Light abjuration, probably protective. Best I can do. He pays me, and we're good.

Now I have his confidence.

Artemis is all giddy at meeting a lady by the name of Eladryn D'Vown. She's paying for their -I mean OUR- services. He doesn't even look at the writ, just assumes it's good and tosses it into is homunculus. The puppy-like way he looks for her approval is disturbing.

She offers us a ride to Sharn. Pays us for accompanying her. Something just doesn't feel right. My suspicions are confirmed when I spot a warforged following us in Sharn. The group and I go to what is evidently their regular meeting place, the Broken Anvil. Not all that appetizing, but I can wash the taste out with something better later. I prevailed upon Artemis to show me to a nice inn to stay at until something else shows itself.

Kylara leaves for her homeland on a vision quest of some sort.

Artemis and Grinner divvy up the group's spoils, and Artemis seems apologetic that he can't offer much except money to myself and the changeling. I'm okay with that. He even offers to make any magical items we might want. I'll have to think carefully. What's a girl to choose?

Over the next few weeks, I'm moving around the city getting to know the layout. Time to do what I'm good at to supplement my income. Got to make sure to do it right and carefully.

I also find out the Artemis is missing. Seems his father was murdered, and Grinner is investigating it for him. They wonder if it might be a Dragon Below cult, and I thought of Radagast's plans, but he wouldn't have had time yet, if he's even made it back by this time.


List of known magic items:
Caelen - Belt of Giant Strength
Artemis - Homunculus; Wand of Lightning; Wand of Cure Light
Grinner - Wand of Cure Light; Ring;

"Contingency Plans" for my protection:
Charm the elven fighter. Send him after the Changeling. Changeling MUST be killed. Angry, vengeful
changelings are not good.
Charm the half-orc. Send him after the Changeling or Artemis.
Artemis: can probably just sweet-talk him. Blind him if necessary. Use Silence up close to neutralize his command words.
_________________________________________________
A few weeks have gone by and I'm settling in very nicely.

My "excursions" have garnered some attention from a local crimelord by
the name of Caibre.
He's "offered" me the opportunity to "donate" 10% of anything I make in
exchange for certain
"benefits" that go along with such enterprises. He's also willing to
forego any lost "donations"
up 'til this point if I help a friend of his who's in search of
adventurer types to find something.

This Caibre is not as dumb as he's letting on, but I don't think he's as
smart as he believes,
either. Knocking me unconscious is not a smart thing to do. Time is
money, and how much
did he waste there waiting for me to come to? Not to mention the old
saying: "You catch more
dire flies with honey than you do with alchemist's fire".

It's going to be fun pushing his limits.

Not one to necessarily believe in coincidence, he came into the Broken
Anvil during our meeting
and challenged poor Artemis to meet him in Artemis' own tower and
apologize publicly to him.
And Artemis wasn't even fully recovered from running into some of
Caibre's gnoll henchman the
previous night.

I think Artemis' father's passing has affected him more than he knows,
as he jumped up and
challenged Caibre right back. Boy's grown a spine, evidently.

We went to the appointed meeting place at the appointed time, me making
sure I spell-prepped
ahead of time. Artemis looks off his game as he went into this with
hardly any preparation at all.
Not something an artificer should be doing. He did passably well in the
confrontation. Caibre
had a bunch of gnolls there with a warlock and a Minotaur. Managed to
keep the warlock off-balance
with a well-done illusion, I must say.

After a couple of tries, I finally managed to get control of the
minotaur and had him off killing gnolls.
I got to Caelen in time with a potion of healing that Artemis had
supplied me with earlier. Saved
his life.

In the end, Baron Merrix showed up and decreed Artemis to be of house
Cannith now, and ordered
Caibre to leave.

I won't be taking Caibre up directly on his "request" to help a friend,
as we're even now for any
supposed loss of income he believes he's suffered. He's smart enough to
realize I could've sent
that minotaur at him at any time.

Call it an unspoken truce and agreement to his terms of 10%.

Although I don't think this group's heard the last of him.

We're possibly setting off on the morrow on some trek for an old
acquaintance of the group's. Will
write more then.

The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith, excerpt 13

(note: Devo's character journals are still running about one session behind)

"...were working as fast as we could. I was about four hours behind Stark, who had worked through the night, but I was confident I would make my pre-noon deadline. Hutch was over at the side table on his own project. He was trying to weave together some spare mithril wire I had set aside, holding the rather delicate assemblage up to his front wall or draping it over his lid. I kept my eye on him, but he didn't ask for help so I didn't interrupt him. What was he making? A doily or something?"

. -- An excerpt from the Craft Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6



"My mind was still spinning. The House Cannith administrators had been here less than three hours, but my whole world has been turned sideways. I am House Cannith now! As were the rest of the family, of course, but it was my actions, my ability that had brought the machinations of three generations to fruition.

But it was strange. It wasn't the House ring on my hand that made this feel so important. It wasn't the signature on my change-of-name forms, nor my name scribed out in such large, bold, letters on the "Acknowledgement of Incorporation ~ House Cannith" document. It wasn't my name on the title of this house, the monthly stipend, the promise that DR will keep his position in the foundry, the acceptance of LL into the Cannith administrative arm, Twiggy's education trust fund, or the stipend she and mother will receive.

What made it all so meaningful was the look in mother's eyes. She.... I don't know. She had life again. For the first time since father's death, she was taking an interest in the world around her. Cannith's offer to put a statue of father in the Court of Nine Lamps really inspired her. She smiled. Twiggy was actually laughing again! LL had caught the mood, too, and was pantomiming various poses for the statue. Some of the poses were quite absurd. Some made us miss father terribly.

But we are a family again. Now, I know, we will be able to move on. Has it really only been seven weeks?

...

...ever want to do that again. MK's "test" was simple -- capture his pet basilisk without harming it -- but it ran completely against my training. The creature had hidden itself back in the crowded shrubbery of the greenhouse. Views from all angles were blocked by vegetation, hanging planters, or stacks of ceramic pots. Unfortunately, my well-trained senses could not help but pick out details both large and small. There the basilisk; there his eyes; nothingness. Awareness again; basilisk, eyes, nothingness. The perceived loss of time was really throwing off my normally unshakeable poise. Fortunately, MK had provided us with a number of antidotes to the petrifying gaze of his little "pet". HU was kind enough to administer mine.

Unfortunately, he did not provide enough. Enough of the DC avoided the creatures gaze that we eventually overcame. The test passed, we listened to his proposal while an assistant ran out and fetched another potion for DA. She stood in stony silence on the table while MK talked.

The mission, as they usually are for MK, was strictly confidential -- business of the state, and all that. As such, I shall not record the specifics in this journal, except to say that someone had left Sharn recently, and possibly with a stolen artifact. MK wanted the man back alive and the artifact back in one piece, and he was willing to pay for it.

Not that he was paying a lot for it. He had his priorities off, too, paying too much for the man and not enough for the item. To each his own, though.

We accepted the job: a little charity for the king could only help our reputation. With DA restored, we were underway.

A clutch of magebred horses awaited us by the northern gate. We were twelve hours behind our quarry, who had fled in a large black carriage towards Zilargo. With luck, we would be able to overtake him before he left Breland. Luck is never on our side, though. That's why the DC is so fortunate that I am along. Who needs luck when one has skill?

The road to Zilargo was long, tiresome, and, if I dare say so, quite the pain in the posterior. It has inspired me to look into alternate means of travel [ref: CJ-V6-23]. I look forward to the day that I can complete that work.

We found signs along the way that our quarry had traveled our same route, and that we were catching up to him. What was troubling is that we found others who were searching for our prey, too. A half-orc from House Tharashk was ahead of us, hunting the same carriage and driver. There was word of a red-haired woman on the same trail. If we heard of her, she must be ahead of us, too. We redoubled our efforts.

I thought we were in trouble when we hired a local woodsman to take us on a shortcut through the woods of Breland's eastern border. XL used her shape changing abilities -- and her remarkable ability to flirt with the dirty peasant without retching -- to "entice" our guide. XL did not deliver on some of her implied promises, though, and I was sure our guide would leave us stranded.

Fortunately, we were attacked by ogres. Our guide -- wonderful human being that he was -- fled at the first sign of ambush and ran straight into a trap. We had to fight off the ogres, who finally retreated when we offered them one of the horses they had killed. Our guide was stuck in what, at first, seemed to be an enormous spider web. The creatures surrounding him were no mere spiders, however, but grotesque abominations in the guise of spiders. (Imaging being so hideous that you had to look like a spider to fit in. Yuck.) We drove the creatures off, but their very presence worried our guide. He told us of a seal of some sort hidden in these woods. It was his job to watch over this seal, for it held at bay twisted creatures from another realm. He was afraid, suddenly, that the seal was weakening, and that those spider-like creatures were proof.

We chatted that night over the camp fire and he spoke of abominations and their ilk. I asked him some questions about mind flayers [ref: PJ-V6-12], and the Orb of Xoriat [ref: PJ-V3-50, PJ-V6-14]. He had some advice for the former, but no knowledge of the latter. He mentioned byeshk, a metal that, naturally, I have more than passing knowledge of. He mentioned that even if it wasn't exceptionally effective against mind flayers, it would do significant damage to the dolgaunts, dolgrim, and other aberrations surrounding one. An interesting possibility, there.

The next day we went our separate ways. His "easy trail" out out of the woods disappeared into a rather nasty looking swamp a good half day shy of the eastern edge of the forest. Rather than going through, we decided to go around the foul smelling area. We saw an interesting Dhakaani tower -- a ruin left over from that ancient empire, but did not want to take the time to properly explore it. It was almost evening before we exited the forest. We found ourselves on the road to Zilargo.

DA was the first to see it: a black carriage ahead of us in the distance, moving rapidly away. I spurred my horse forward to give chase, but the rest of the DC chose to hang back, instead. Their plan was not to adventurously charge forward like heroes, but to casually approach, so as not to spook our prey. We were faster than the carriage, but not by a lot.

Our gambit never had a chance to play out. From the edge of the woods ahead of us sprang a dark horse and rider. The horse turned and galloped towards the carriage at full speed. Within moments, the driver of the carriage had noticed, and the chase was on. We all spurred our horses forward, in the hope that our magebred horses would catch up first to the mystery rider, then the carriage.

The rider was easy to catch up to, though not because of our superior horses. In rapid succession, first a lightning bolt then a series of magical missiles streamed from the carriage and slammed into the pursuing equestrian. The lightning severely wounded both rider and horse. The missiles struck the rider and threw him from his horse. We sprinted past.

I tried to get a look at the stranger as I rode past, but saw nothing but burns and bruises. GR must have seen something more, though, for he slowed down enough to tap the rider with a curative wand. He resumed the chase.

It was nearly nightfall by this point. We had almost caught up with our quarry. My keen senses picked out a stream of bright red hair on the carriage's driver. This was, indeed the prey we sought.

Obviously, the carriage -- which looked like it would be more at home leading a funerary procession than a high speed chase - was well crafted. It was taking an extreme amount of punishment, however, driving as fast as it was. It disappeared around a bend in the road ahead, taking a sharp, hazardous-looking turn around a gothic Dhakaani tower. That was good news, for we had been told that this tower marked the bridge into Zilargo, and the word we'd been given is that the bridge was unfit for carriages such as this one. Finally, we would catch up.

We approached the tower at full speed. Coming out from the woods to our left, however, was a large pack of wolves. There were a dozen, if there was one. They came out of the trees and, almost as one, turned in our direction. Obviously, this was no casual encounter.

It was my superior horsemanship that had kept me in the lead throughout the entirety of our chase. (To be honest, though, I think the whole chase lasted less that two minutes.) This was very fortunate, as I, above all the rest of my companions, was prepared to deal with this kind of threat.

But that is an obvious generalization, is it not? I am capable of dealing with all kinds of threats. I am a skilled artificer -- part of House Cannith, in fact.

But I digress. I pulled hard at my horse's reins, drawing a wand [ref: PJ-V3-48] as I did so. With a shouted command I sent a stream of electricity down their ranks, and three of the beasts fell. Four others had jumped aside at the very last second, and were simply quite badly wounded.

CA galloped past me. Perhaps he was too focused on the chase, and not enough on the obstacles? Regardless, he raced forward, intent perhaps on winning some elven honor. I would swear that it looked like he was going to jump his horse over the entire pack of wolves. He never had the chance, though. Quick as a wink, the wolves surrounded the horse and, snapping and biting, pulled it to the ground. CA, to his credit, leapt to his feet and came up, sword swinging. Before long, he was bourn to the ground as well, and was forced to pull himself up time and again. I advised him to lean a bit to the right, then sent another lightning bolt down the flank of the wolf pack. More of the wild dogs screamed, howled and lay still; never to move again.

GR was moving from one position to another, busy with his crossbow. He struck one wolf, then another, then another. XL and DA had disappeared someplace. Maybe together. DA had been giving XL some strange looks, lately.

CA, GR, and I were finishing up the last of the wolves when we noticed the carriage just around the bend. It was less than fifty feet away. LU, our prey, was no where to be seen, but a red-headed woman who we took as his sister stood there. We had heard reports of her on our journey, though we knew not what she did.

She showed her colors when she cast a spell of bodily harm at CA. We were making short work of the animals now, though, and she could see it. Her next spell was a short duration flight spell that she used to flee around the bend in the road and towards the bridge that must necessarily be there. The road had been running parallel to a deep river canyon for some time now.

I spurred my horse heroically into the small copse of trees on my right, running parallel to the path the red-headed wizardess had taken. It was a short ride, then HU and I slid off, standing at the very precipice of a four hundred foot drop. HU seemed a bit nervous, but I have no fear of heights.

The sun had set some time during our fight, and the light was fading fast. I could see the enchantress out in the middle of the collapsing bridge a fair distance away, going toe-to-toe with DA. So that's where she had gotten to. I had my wand [ref: CJ-V5-48] at the ready and let loose. A beam of electricity arced between the wizard and I, a semi-visible trail of energy and the scream of the red-headed woman the only after-tell of my power. I smiled, and readied another charge.

She had had enough though, and vanished -- a spell of limited teleportation it seemed. DA gave chase, picking her way carefully over the broken bridge, but came back a time later to report she'd found nothing. Our prey had disappeared completely.

I came back in time to see CA finish off the very last wolf, GR helping. XL was rummaging through the carriage. With a shaking voice, he called us over to witness his find.

The black carriage was not what one would expect to see in use by travelers. It did, in fact, look exactly like it should have been at the head of a funerary procession. It was a black hearse, complete with coffin. XL showed us the inside of the grandly decorated coffin, it's red velvet interior very finely appointed -- and covered with a sprinkling of dirt. So that's what DA had been shouting about. LU was a vampire.

Worse, he had seen us, then escaped. It was too dark to give chase now.

We set up camp at the tower that night. There was a little trouble with some ferocious and fiendish blood-sucking dire-bats, but DA and I took care of them. Quick work.

I'm looking forward to testing myself against a vampire. A showdown of his powers versus my intellect should prove interesting."


. -- An excerpt from the Personal Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6



"Voice box in Baby Betty -- quite disturbing"
"Placard: 'World's Greatest Ar' -- (incomplete?)"
"Moth with iron wings -- deceased"
"Stavros Tower, detailed, in miniature"
"Life-size bust of Twyla Heuw Cannith, sans eyes"
"Bronzed sandwich -- half-eaten, ham and onion"

. -- An excerpt from the "List of Unexplained Items Found in Lab With Stark After Long Absences" by Artemis Heuw Cannith, 998YK

Observations & Musings of Dalia Sunrule, letters 5 & 6

Letter 5

We met in a different part of the city at the Iron Gate at Myriad Tower to see who might employ us.

It was some botanist who claims he was from the Dark Lanterns. As a test, we had to find his
basilisk in and amongst all the plants and topiaries and capture it. Damaged was fine, but not dead.

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

Artemis and the rest headed around one way, tromping around enough to wake the dead ancestors the elves worship. I smartly decided to go the other way, moving invisibly on the wall, up about 20' to get a better vantage point, careful to not look to closely at anything, in case the basilisk was
there.

As soon as I saw some movement, I cast Glitterdust into the area to prevent the beast from hiding from us. And if I happened to catch some of my companions in it, all the better for me to see them so they won't be caught in any of my other spells.

In the end, Artemis, Xil and myself were turned to stone. I fell from the wall and luckily landed on
some topiary to break my fall and not me. I took all the precautions, yet something went wrong.

I'll need to research that.

After proving we could capture it, our contact told us the job.

We're looking for a rogue member of the Dark Lanterns by the name of Lukan Stellos. Seems at the same time a magical sword was stolen from the DLs vault. We've been offered compensation
for returning Lukan dead or alive. Worth more alive, of course. We've also been offered monies to retrieve the sword. By the way he upped the compensation on the sword, I'm guessing it's pretty valuable. It goes by the name Black Razor. Means nothing to me, but does to somebody, I'm sure.

Seems they have a tip that Lukan's heading to Trolimport. He took a very conspicuous looking black coach with him. Lukan is reportedly a master of disguise and deception.

This should be fun.

Along the way, my companions and I ask whether anyone's seem him or not. Supposedly, an elven woman was through here looking for him also. Another account has him with a female human with flowing red hair. Not all we hear can be trusted.

We've asked a local woodsmen on the way to take us through the forest, to gain ground on Lukan and the coach. We found some ogres that ambushed us. Not too much of a threat, but we lost a horse. Grinner's, and he wasn't happy about it. At least he showed some smarts and let the ogres have it. Smart man.

More as I learn it.
_______________________________________________
Letter 6

We made it through the forest to the other side. After we emerged, we
see the black coach ahead of us
on its way to the bridge.

After using Clairvoyance to confirm it was probably Lukan, we rode to
catch up to it. On our way, another
rider burst forth from the trees between us and the coach. During our
pursuit, we say some lightning and
magic missiles topple the rider from their horse. We found out later it
was the female half-orc we'd heard
had been asking around about Lukan. Her name is Kuralaa. I determined
from her thoughts that she was
hired by somebody from Aundair.

Just before we managed to catch the coach, an entire pack of wolves
stepped onto the road to block our
path. Figuring they were probably summoned, I encouraged Xil to run
them down. My mistake was riding
with Xil, as changelings have a tendency to want to run and hide when
there's action. As he made to bolt
from the path, I leapt from the saddle and cast Expeditious Retreat to
help me move quicker. I was already
invisible, as I didn't want to make our mount a bigger target if it
showed 2 riders instead of one.

Like they say, don't put all your gems in one purse.

I ran through the wolves so fast they hardly had a chance to snap at me
as they caught my scent. I stopped
just shy of Lukan and the red-haired woman he was with. I remained
silent and simply watched to see what
they would do. Lukan said something about Trolanport and Krell and
meeting up, things we had already heard
or suspected. Then he disappeared. No obvious spell, which causes me
concern.

I stepped to the side as the woman cast a spell at my companions.
Caelen was trapped fighting off the wolves,
Artemis was in the back slinging lightning -have to watch out for that-,
while Grinner was shooting his crossbow
and Xil was nowhere to be seen. Luckily I had Message going so could
let them know what was happening.

The woman attempted to cast Fireball, which would have been terribly
deadly for my companions, so I countered
it, giving away my position, a scant 15 feet away. She cast a swift Fly
spell and took off. I almost got her to halt,
but she resisted. With my quickened movement, I managed to catch her on
the dilapidated bridge and attempted
to render her witless, but the spell was not as efficacious as I would
have liked. She Dimension Leapt away out
of the darkness she had cast, and I lost her.

We're not done with each other yet, I can feel it.

We investigated the black coach, and found a coffin in it...confirming
my suspicion that he is indeed an undead.
When I saw him briefly, he had fangs, very pale skin and red lips. I
know he's a master of disguise, but that seems
a little overboard for a disguise.

We headed towards Trolanport and found that on the way, Lukan and his
accomplice had stolen a cart and a coffin
for him to sleep in. Again, I believe there's a good chance he's
vampiric now. With the information we found out
regarding Krell and Aundair, we found in Trolanport that the Aundarian
embassy is holding a diplomatic function
that night. We decided to crash the party and see if we can catch Lukan
by surprise. I am posing as a diplomat
with Artemis as my assistant, and Grinner and Caelen are my bodyguards.
Managed to get us in the front door
and distract everyone long enough to appear without causing any alarm.

Made some rounds, finally found Neya Ir'Krell, and read her thoughts as
she seemed awfully troubled. Would've
like to ask some pertinent questions to get better information, but
didn't want to give the game away. She evidently
knew Lukan was a vampire and was only concerned with how.

She doesn't seem to be afraid of him, so I'll keep my eye on her.

Lukan has arrived in the middle of the dance floor with a big black
sword in his hands.

Looks like the party has started...










__________________________________________________________

The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith, excerpt 14

"...and told Stark to fetch me some tea, since they would take some work to decipher. I looked over the notes, as I always do after adventuring abroad, and tried to make sense of what I had written. The first was obvious: "Gr-B (FF) xDC". I had saved the lives of the DC so many times, using my powers to keep them from plummeting to their deaths, that creating a Griffon Badge (or some other feather fall effect) for each of them was more a matter of economy than necessity. The next note, "Fl-Ca HU+m >MBH" was equally obvious. I am a man of culture and the big city, and riding a horse all day tests even my endurance: I needed some conveyance -- a flying carpet, perhaps -- that would carry both Hutch and I in comfort and style and could keep up with a magebred horse. The next note had me completely baffled. "Hutch needs an internal shelf that functions as a bag of holding." It made absolutely no sense. Was this even my handwriting? I looked over at Hutch, who stood at the end of the table with practiced nonchalance polishing his front latch with his knuckles. Hutch can't write. Can he?"

. -- An excerpt from the Craft Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6

"The craft of an artificer is one of practiced preparation. Sometimes one under-prepares. Sometimes, one over-prepares. The true test of an artificer comes when one measures the cost of one's preparations against the price of lack of preparation.
On the other hand, I believe that it is far better to be over-prepared, and waste resources, than to be caught unawares, and left floundering.

The Grand Masquerade at the Aundarian Embassy was... quaint. Certainly, I have experienced far grander [ref: PJ-V1-24]. Such is the privilege of one of my stature and upbringing. Then again, I have seen far worse. I must say, though; this is the first time I have ever attended a function of this distinction with the sole aim of killing one of the undead. A vampyre, to be specific.

The series of events that lead us to the Masquerade were interesting enough that I will pause a moment in my reflections to describe them.

After fighting the vampire and his magically-talented sister at the bridge on the Brelish border, we rested for the night. I see that I already mentioned the little bat problem [ref: PJ-V6-54], so I shall not recount that event.

The next morning, we picked up early and headed north, where we were told a ford crossed over the river that separates Breland from Zilargo. Though we were camping at a bridge, my exceptional training in all things crafted and engineered told me that it would be dangerous to take the horses across. Oh, we could probably do it, but we were already down one horse. Losing another would be a serious inconvenience.

After crossing over the river, we came back to the bridge and road, but on the Zilargo side this time. We thought that sticking to the road would improve our overall speed. I happened to glance across the bridge to the scene of yesterday's battle, and saw the largest wolf I could have ever imagined. It was easily the size of a strong coach horse. He was surveying the field of battle. When he saw us, however, he howled once into the air -- a mournful cry that evoked images of endless hunts and moonlit nights -- and ran off. The creature was quick, too.

We turned, and made our way down the road with all speed.

In due time, we came across farmsteads, then communes, then villages. We stopped every once in a while to see if the locals had seen any sign of our fleeing prey, but few could admit to such witness. Mayhap they were too short.

We did hear that a buckboard wagon was stolen, however. And then as we approached Trollanport we heard of another strange theft: that of a coffin. We were on the right track, it seemed.

Trollanport is a large city, considering it is inhabited mostly by gnomes and other small folk. Some of the buildings looked like they would be downright uncomfortable to venture into. Most, however, were built for a more normal sized occupant.

This is where the last of our clues lead. LU was to meet someone by the name of "Krell" here in Trollanport. Where he planned to go from there, though, was anybody's guess. With that little to go on, we set to work.

We took as our base of operations a "cozy" little inn by the name of "The Diamond Doorstop". The place had a very closed-in feel about it, but the food was excellent. After a quick lunch, we strategized our search, then split up to go our separate ways.

I must admit that HU and I spent a mostly fruitless afternoon in our queries. No one at the local Cannith chapter house knew anything of a "Krell", nor had any ideas on how to find a powerful artifact. I asked around a few other places, but to little effect.

Fortunately, the others were a bit more successful.

"Krell", it turns out, is none other than the Lady Ambassador Krell of Aundair. Evidently LU has some excellent connections. This is not to surprising, however, considering his background. GR had located the stolen coffin and cart, left abandoned in a rather seedy part of town. Our prey had gone to ground someplace in the city. With no other leads, we had to follow the only clue we had.

Fortunately, the Aundarian Embassy was hosting a gala Masquerade that very night. Under the cover of such merry-making, we would be able to approach the Lady Ambassador and speak to her. Better, we may be able to wait, and see if LU made an appearance. We had to run out and get costumes, of course. I chose a pant and doublet affair of dark blue silk with a gold sash. Very rakish. I chose it more for it's re-usability (the whole ensemble cost about three hundred gold), but it had the added benefit of matching HU. A silvered mask with sparkling blue arcane symbols completed the set.

HU complimented me on my impeccable style.

We almost had issue when CA and GR realized that they would have to leave their armor and weapons at the inn. Not even "courtly" weapons were to be allowed at the function. They protested, but eventually relented. I set a few preparations in place, but could have done far better.

I was prepared to lead the DC into the party. I am the only one in the party trained in such things, after all. DA, however, had other ideas.

She argued that she had been born in Zilargo, and would therefore have a natural advantage. Also, she can be rather well spoken when she needs to be, and would be able to talk her way past any problems that cropped up. Lastly, she claimed that she was no stranger to the homes and estates of the very rich. I did not ask her to elaborate on this last point, and she did not volunteer any new information.

I was not convinced that she should take the lead until DA mentioned that she would be using her magic to get us into the party. Now, I am a man of considerable skills, but I, above all others, know the power of magic. I consented, assuming that she would use her spells to convince the guards that we should pass without invitation, or that she would charm them into allowing her passage. But no. A mass invisibility spell, a silencing illusion to mask the sounds of the less agile members of our party, and we were in. A crude illusion of fireworks up near the ceiling distracted the party-goers long enough for us to re-appear, and we were in.

Cheap parlor tricks.
But we were inside, so perhaps the results speak for themselves.

The party itself was not as sophisticated as I would have expected of an ambassadorial function. The band was too loud, the lights too low for a masquerade, and the wait staff was mediocre. There was one serving woman, though, who seemed keenly interested in me and how my night was going. She was constantly hanging around. I know what she wanted, but I had work to do.

We spent the next hour alternatively splitting up to look for our prey, and roving around in a very conspicuous looking pack. I was the only one of the DC who knew how to move in these circles. DA wasn't doing bad, though.

We located the Lady Ambassador in short order. Our initial plan was to sit back and watch her, to see who she was interacting with. She was the hostess of this party, however, so we learned very little from that. At one point, however, she spoke to a man who looked very much like an Aundarian wizard. I watched as he cast a Divination spell. He spoke his reply to Lady Krell, who seemed quite surprised at his foretelling. For the rest of the night, she would be agitated and quite distracted. DA chose that moment to make contact.

So that we didn't lose the chance completely, I volunteered to fetch Lady Krell to DA, who was going under the nom de guerre of Lidia r'Kane. Droll. The Lady Krell was pliable enough under my well-mannered charms, and I brought her to "Lidia".

DA got nowhere. Lady Krell refused to speak of anything "business" related, and seemed quite distracted by her earlier Divination. She kept watching the dance floor. IN a span of time that would have been considered rude had she been dealing with one of her peers -- or even one of her assistants -- the Lady Krell dismissed DA and wandered away. She didn't even grant us the respect of pretending to have some place to go. DA didn't seem to notice this slight, and I thought it best not to point it out to her.

We held a quick conference amongst the DC, and decided to split up so that we could watch events unfold. We paid particular attention to the dance floor, which the Lady Ambassador seemed particularly interested in.

We didn't have long to wait.

An argument on the dance floor drew our attention. By the time the argument became apparent over the din of the party, though, LU had shown his hand. He stood there, the black artifact sword raised high overhead. Opposite him stood a human woman of indeterminate age -- she was resplendent in her blue dragon masquerade ball, but what she looked like beneath her mask and costume was anyone's guess. The fight was on.

Perhaps more to the point, the "flight" was on. The power exuding from the black sword was amazing and terrifying. It moaned with evil power. All who beheld it were terrified. Naturally, my long years of training and conditioning -- not to mention my steadfast composure -- allowed me to overcome this terror and act rationally. Few other at the party were so lucky. They swarmed towards the exits with no regard for who or what they trampled. The exodus was an exercise in unadulterated chaos.

It would have been interesting to watch, if there weren't other things going on.
Expecting a fight, I used some of my more potent items and abilities [ref: CJ-V4-30, CJ-V1-9, CJ-V3,98]. I needn't have bothered.

Two unarmed men came to the rescue of the woman opposing LU. They were skilled brawlers, both of them. It didn't matter, though. In short order, LU and the sword killed them both. One died screaming in horrified agony. Something much worse than a mere flesh wound had killed him. Perhaps the sword had stolen his soul? Regardless, it would make a study of the sword that much more interesting.

LU's red haired sister appeared. She argued with LU, all the while assisting him with her magic. The woman in the blue dragon costume started using some magic of her own, for both defense and offense. The Aundarian guards, mysteriously, were firing crossbows into the crowd.

XL came up behind LU and broke a chair over his back. I have to say, that did nothing but draw his attention. CA was moving up to do the same, but stopped when he saw the effect XL's chair had. Luckily, DA appeared just at that moment to hand CA the knife she had secreted in to the party. CA seemed happy to be armed, but not so thrilled at his only available weapon. To his credit, he leapt into the fray, fighting a vampire that was wielding an artifact-level sword, all the while carrying nothing himself but a common fighting knife.
IR was there in the fight, too. Where had she come from? Beside her stood a tall, gaunt looking elf in armor wielding a long spear. IR must have known what was going on, or she asked someone while I wasn't looking, because she leapt straight into the fight with LU.
My attention was on LU's sister. I knew that if we could stop her, our chances of capturing LU would be greatly improved. She had already managed to get off a spell that sped up the both of them. She was engaged in a battle of magic with the dragon lady. A battle that I was happy to jump into.

I started off, as is becoming my favorite, with my oak wand, the one tipped with the storm opal [ref: CJ-V6-23]. I have been burning through that one rather quickly, and will soon need to make another. It's electrical discharge struck true, naturally, leaving a trace line of energy between the two of us that would aid my future attacks.

She made eye contact with me, and I saw her eyes widen in fear -- possibly surprise. Good. She knew who it was that stood against her, and it caused her concern. She shouted to LU to run, and cast her next spell: she turned invisible.

At that very moment, the upper windows of the ball room exploded inward. Thousands upon thousands of bats swarmed into the room and began diving at the crowd. The already unbearable noise and confusion intensified dramatically as the panic of each partygoer intensified tremendously.

I kept my cool.

LU had been fighting with CA, IR, and XL. CA had been hit hard, and wasn't looking good at all. With his sister's warning, though, LU turned and fled, taking one last slash at my friends. CA staggered again, but persevered. LU fled, his magically enhanced speed serving him well. The DC gave chase, fighting against the fleeing mob that LU seemed to flit through so easily.

His sister tried to keep up, but she simply wasn't as quick as he. She was invisible, but the line of energy that connected the two of us was still there, so I threw another charge of electricity at her, and then another for good measure. HU applauded my efforts. I wasn't sure where she had gotten off to, but a moment later, the fleeing crowd pushed it's way through the door and revealed her body; trampled, burned, and quite dead.
LU, meanwhile, had escaped.

The DC gathered in the tumbled remains of the once fine masquerade ballroom and took stock of our situation. CA looked terrible, but reported that he had managed to follow LU all the way outside. The vampire had changed form once again, and took flight over the canal. The mage ambassador who had started the fight with LU had gotten away, also. Mostly because none of us had thought to try to stop her. We searched LU's sister, but found no indication of where they had planned to go next. I pulled off the wands she had used against us earlier.

At that moment, Ambassador Krell returned, and asked us what we had been up to. We explained what we knew of the situation, and she shared what she knew. She and LU had a long history together. She didn't think it odd at all when he approached her and asked for quick passage to Karrnath. She was surprised, however, to learn that LU was a vampire. Thankfully, she didn't hold us there long.

I asked IR how she had found us and what she was doing here. Her only answer was a cryptic, "The elders sent me." I had a better view of her armored elven companion and suddenly didn't want to know more. He was undead. Or perhaps Undying. I really don't know the difference.

Ambassador Krell told us the name of the airship that LU was headed towards, and told us that it left tonight. We had to hurry! Unfortunately, we weren't prepared for another voyage. Most of us had to leave our armor and weapons behind (not to mention our other gear) for the masquerade ball. I told the DC to go to the docking tower, stall LU and the ship, for I would go back to the inn and retrieve our gear.

I told HU to watch over the DC, and tried to comfort him by telling him I would be back soon. Without another word, I kicked up into the air using a flight spell I had prepared earlier, and raced off towards our inn. In my mind's eye, I could see HU racing along the boulevards with the DC.

Getting our gear was a trivial thing. I scooped most of it into GR's magic haversack. When it could carry no more, I bundled everything together as best I could and took flight once again. The Lyrandar docking tower was easy to spot -- it is the tallest structure in all of Trollanport. I was quite concerned that the flight enchantment would fade before I reached my destination, but I needn't have worried. The magic faded just as I was passing over the nearest dock, and I touched down gracefully, breaking immediately into a dead run across the tower. I could see the DC just coming up out of the stairwell moving rapidly towards the dock opposite me. I caught up with them.

Our timing could not have been closer. As we approached, a half dozen gnome dockhands were throwing off mooring lines so that the "Cloud's Destiny" could take flight. It was a beautiful ship, brightly painted, but visually dominated by the fiery ring that surrounded it at mid-ship -- its bound elemental.

We shouted for the ship to hold, but they were paying no attention. Our charge forward was impeded suddenly by the dockhands springing to attack. It was an ambush!
CA has never been one to stand down in a fight. He counter-charged one of the gnomes, and sent him flying over the edge of the dock. He paused only long enough to grab his double-scimitar from me. GR grabbed his backpack and pulled from it his crossbow. Bolts started flying towards the gnomes. XL, IR, and IR's companion launched into the fight as we tried to push our way past to the ship.

I deployed my wands, doing what damage I could. IR summoned up a monstrous zombie, which waded immediately into the fray. She then noticed what had somehow, mysteriously, inexplicably evaded my attention. "The gnomes," she shouted, "are are being magically compelled to attack us!"

Before she finished the sentence, I knew what she was going to say. Of course! All the signs were there. I had noticed the small, tell-tale signs immediately, of course. It was just that I was distracted by the monumental effort it had taken for me to fly all the way here. It was dark out. My arms were tired. They were very short people.

No matter, I had prepared for this eventuality, also. The last of the magic I had stored in my cane had been meant for LU and his sister. I had never had the chance to use it, though. Turning it's power, now, on the rough area of the gnome combatants, I released the energy and dispelled all of the magic present. IR's zombie disappeared.

At that very moment, the "Cloud's Destiny" started pulling away from the dock. XL and I ran side-by-side to the end of the dock, skirting confused gnomes. XL, who had earlier been willing to face a sword-wielding vampire armed with nothing but a chair, skidded to a halt at the very end of the pier, suddenly afraid to make the jump. My will is made of much stronger stuff, though, and I threw everything I had into a leap towards the rapidly moving ship.
In retrospect, I probably would have done better had I had my eyes open...."

. -- An excerpt from the Personal Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6

"Iron Golem, flat grey -- very heavy"
"Gorgon -- excellent possibility"
"Blue Dragon -- too... common"
"Gnome, complete with extended reduce potion -- BORING."
"Dragonmarked, Mark of Death -- evil?"
"Peacock, bright blue and gold, wide plumage -- very nice"
. -- An excerpt from the "The Short List of Possible Costumes" by Artemis Heuw Cannith, Trollanport, YK 998

Jade's Luck and Cloud's Destiny

(Continued from previous letter)

When the man started waving the black sword I felt a strange trepidation, but it swiftly passed. I made my way toward him through the crowd of panicking gnomes. Dalia had vanished.

When I got to the dance floor there were two men in white masks attacking the vampire, who seemed to be focusing his attention on a woman. The red-haired woman who'd been with him on the coach stood beside him. I grabbed an empty chair and hit him with it, cursing that I'd had to leave my weapons at the inn. The chair broke to pieces without doing him any harm.

The gnome woman reappeared long enough to hand me the dagger she'd hidden for me. It wasn't any more use as a weapon than the chair. The vampire grabbed one of the men and ripped out his throat. Then he ran.

The human woman disappeared. I ran after the vampire. It was hard to make it to the doorway; the guests were all trying to get out, and a swarm of bats had appeared from somewhere and were swooping all over the room. By the time I got outside the vampire had a long lead.

I chased him down to the canal, but he leaped out over the water and then vanished. I hung around for a while watching to see if he'd reappear like the one we'd met in the Mournlands, but he didn't.

When I went back into the embassy I found that Kylara had suddenly appeared, with an Undying warrior called Valadrin (sp?). The Elders had sent her for some reason. The Aundairian ambassador told us that she'd given the vampire a pass to board a Lyrandar airship that evening. We had to hurry if we wanted to catch him.

The artificer offered to fetch our things from the inn while the rest of us hurried to the docking tower. Somewhere along the way we lost the gnome, or maybe she was still invisible. And the half-orc woman was gone, too.

The changeling had a clever idea to disguise itself as the red-haired woman, who'd been killed in the fighting. We thought perhaps we could use her to lure out the vampire. I wonder if she knew her brother valued her so little.

When we got to the tower the ship was about to leave. A group of gnomes blocked our way as we ran up to the gangplank. I tried to shove past them without hurting them but managed to knock two of them off the walkway. Kylara summoned up a skeleton and in a few moments only a couple of gnomes were still standing.

The airship started to draw away from the tower. Then the human jumped across and caught hold of the railing near the ballista! Before I could react the ship was too far away to reach.

As I stood there watching it fly away a second airship rose up to meet us and a half-elf shouted out to get aboard. He said he'd been sent by the ambassador. It didn't look like much of a ship but we boarded.

After two days aboard we caught up with the other ship, which was on its way to Karrnath. The captain of our ship seemed awfully curious about who we were after and why. But when he told us to board a skiff before dawn we got really suspicious.

After a lot of argument Grinner tried to detect the vampire or his sword, but couldn't find any sign of them. That wasn't too worrying since he'd never been able to sense them before. Kylara cast a spell to determine that the human was still aboard the other ship and seemed unharmed.

We decided to go along with our captain's plan. We'd take the skiff over and rescue the human before the ship he was on could react unfavorably to the presence of a privateer.

We got to the other ship safely and boarded her, but as we were preparing to look for the human we spotted more skiffs leaving the privateer with boarding parties of armed men. We knew we'd been double-crossed when we saw the armsmen: they wore the sign of the Emerald Claw!

I found myself fighting alongside the ship's crew as we fended off the Emerald Claw warriors. I cut two of them down with a single blow each. The vampire turned up again and started attacking whoever was nearest him, the Claw men as well as the ship's crew. I couldn't do anything against him.

Then Grinner shouted out that the privateer was going to ram us! The human shouted for us to gather round him. By the time we could get together the privateer had struck the middle of the other ship. Both elementals broke free of their bindings and started battling as they fell to earth. Our ship was plummeting bow-first toward the ground as the artificer muttered an arcane phrase, and we all jumped over the rail.

We managed to float safely to the ground and avoid all the falling debris. It seems we were the only survivors. We couldn't find any sign of the vampire in the wreckage, nor the captain of the privateer. We were a short distance outside of Darguun.

In the name of Coriandor, I continue to seek glory in battle.

Caelen

___________________________________________________
Quips & Quotes:
(I've got more quotes than notes!!)

DH: "Don't worry - the rounds will go quickly."
sniffles: "What dream world are you in? You have players at the table!"

patv: (pretending to read GM's notes): "'Round 1: Players die.'"
sniffles: "Round 2: Characters die."

DH: "The bats fail their Reflex saves."
Hedrin: "Ah! I've got people in my hair!"

Jubilee: "Vampires can't cross running water!"
Devo: "It's not running. It's just sitting there."

patv: "I'll reproduce any wounds the woman had."
Jubilee: "Can we help?"

Devo: "Hutch swallows the Handy Haversack."
sniffles: "Heuw's Handy Hutch!"

DH: "The gnome falls off the gangway. Oh, the gnomanity!"

DH: "Instead of a fire elemental this ship has an air elemental."
patv: "So it sucks."
DH: "It blows."

Jubilee(to DH): "Do we need to break for the day so you can finish reading the adventure?"

DH(as NPC): "So what's the most interesting person you've ever tracked down?"
Hedrin: "A serial killer."
patv: "He killed Captain Crunch, and Count Chocula..."
DH: "...Snap, Crackle and Pop..."

DH: "Vampire? What vampire?"
Hedrin: "The vampire who summoned the bats that ate the rats that lived in the house that Jack built."

Jubilee: "I'm going to look over the side and yell 'Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die!'"

patv: "I'm looking for extra skiffs."
DH: "There are none."
patv: "This ship is out of code."
DH: "It's the Titanic."
sniffles: "It's the Skytanic."

Aboard the lightning rail

From: Caelen Siorath, Thrane

I'm writing you from the lightning rail to Flamekeep. We're still in pursuit of our quarry, who's heading for Karrnath.

The gnome woman turned up again at the airship crash site. She'd somehow been knocked unconscious in the hold, although I'm still not certain which ship she was on.

Kylara, Grinner and I stayed at the wreckage to keep scavengers and looters from the bodies, while the rest went to Sterngate to report the crash. When the town guard came we went to get rooms at the inn. There was no sign of the vampire there. But we assumed he'd be taking the lightning rail toward his destination, so we bought tickets ourselves.

An elf came up and started chatting with us in the common room, but he seemed a little too curious so the gnome followed him when he left. She got in a fight with him in his room and we had to go to her defense. We still don't know exactly what this fellow wants, but we're not having anything to do with him. He's not one of Kylara's people or ours.

On the way to the lightning rail the following morning we had our first sign that we were on the right trail. Bats swarmed us as we tried to board. The guards had been mind-controlled somehow, and the rail started to leave before everyone had boarded. I jumped aboard to try to help my companions but the carts moved forward so far I couldn't reach them. They all got aboard, though. I think someone must have cast a spell that made us all faster.

Kylara and the half-orc tried their best to find the vampire with magic, but had no success. The private compartments are all lined with lead. We just had to wait for him to make a move.

During the night some warforged showed up and started threatening other passengers. When my companions blocked the doorway some of them went onto the roof, so I climbed up to meet them.

I managed to knock one off the roof of the cart, but then the rail stopped suddenly and I nearly fell off myself. I managed to climb back up with help from Valirdryn, Kylara's Undying companion. Then one of the warforged demanded that we hand over the schema! I couldn't believe they still thought we had that thing.

We had more trouble than just the warforged, though. Halflings on flying lizards threw javelins at me. And my friends were fighting the vampire in the cart below.

I did my best to uphold the memory of Coriandor, but I can't do that if I die so I jumped back down in the cart. The vampire got away again, it seems.

(to be continued)
___________________________________________________________________

Quips & Quotes (maybe I need to start a separate section for these!):

Jubilee: "Hutch can see? Where are his eyes?"
Devo: "He keeps them in a lower drawer."

Zora(to Jubilee after she rolled poorly several times): "You might want to choose new dice today if you're going to come adventuring with us."

patv: "Market day is a specific day of the week. It's called Market Day."
DH: "But it's so hard to market."

sniffles: "Artemis takes a 5-foot step off the parapet."
Jubilee: "That's okay, he can't hit the ground - you've seen his dice rolls."

patv: "Because he's Captain Suck-Up, we took the job."
Devo: "Excuse me, General Suck-Up."

Zora: "Do you have any carry-on undead?"

Jubilee: "Well, we look like adventurers. He's undying" (gestures vaguely toward Devo) - "well, not him, but him." (pretends to point to Valirdryn).
Zora (pointing to Devo): "He's just brain-dead."

Zora: "Illithid vampires - it's like surf & turf but different."

sniffles: "I don't think we should give him any info."
patv: "So we're at an impath."
sniffles: "An empath?"
Zora: "I feel for the guy."

Hedrin: "We rub each other the wrong way."
Jubilee: "Perhaps you should stop rubbing."

DH: "So while everyone else draws weapons, Artemis just plays with his cane."
Zora: "It's a full round action."
Hedrin: "Actually, for a boy it's a standard action."
patv: "I think it's a free action."

Zora: "Do Undying come with Undying flies?"
Hedrin: "You only get flies with the combo."
Jubilee: "Waiter, I'm in my soup!"

sniffles: "Do we get on at Platform 9 3/4 and go through the illusory wall?"
Devo: "No, just the loser wall."
sniffles: "Artemis gets to go first!"

Zora: "There's Lucan!"
Devo: "He's Lucan pretty."

DH (getting up from the table): "I'm going to pee, then Grinner's up."
sniffles: "TMI!!"
Zora: "Yeah, we don't wanna know when Grinner's up."

Devo (rolls poorly on a Spot check): "Artemis goes, 'Where?! Boba Fett?'."

Jubilee: "I cast magic circle against evil. No non-good creatures can be in my circle."
patv: "They're not on your calling plan?"
Hedrin: "They're not in her circle of fiends."

Jubilee: "Would the train work in an antimagic zone?"
Devo: "No."
Jubilee: "I'd better not do that, then."

Hedrin: "Can you detect alignment? Has this sandwich gone bad?"

DH: "The captain casts protection from PCs."

sniffles: "The bats are hanging out in their cave - 'Oh, crap, he's calling us again.' " DH: "Nobody answer the batphone."

DH: "The tops of the train cars aren't flat. They're only flat in the lower level adventure."

The Ziggurat of Doom

I swallowed a potion and felt some of my wounds close. Outside the leader of the warforged, the one I'd knocked off the roof of the rail cart, was still shouting about the schema.

The human yelled back that we didn't have it anymore, to which the warforged replied that he'd have to take us all to see someone called the Lord of Blades. The artificer showed more backbone than I would've expected and declared that we weren't going anywhere with the warforged.

I jumped across to the cart my companions occupied and joined them. There was something odd going on in the middle of the cart with Kylara, but our foes were massing at the other end of the cart and I didn't stop to find out what it was.

The warforged weren't very good tacticians for having been made as soldiers. They all attacked from one end of the cart. I slew three of them. Grinner and the human were facing their leader, so I leaped behind him. He decided to withdraw and took a slash at me as he ran. Coward.

The gnome had cast her spell that gave us all great speed, but we still weren't fast enough to stop the halflings from picking up the leader and flying off with him. I'm sure we'll see him again.

The lightning rail wasn't going anywhere, so we settled down to rest a bit after determining that the vampire didn't have anywhere to go. The nearest shelter other than the rail carts was a ruined hobgoblin ziggurat about a mile away.

At midday we made our way to the ruin. The human cast a spell to let us walk on water so we could cross the stagnant lake that had formed around the structure.

When we got to the top and started to enter the place something happened that I don't recall clearly. I remember running, but not where I was going. Then the gnome spoke to me, and for a while my memory was just a blank. I stuck close to Dalia after that.

There were some creatures that looked like living black cloaks, but I didn't need to do much when they attacked.

The whole structure is rather unsettling. It's dedicated to some demon or monster from Xoriat.

We found a room where the walls were set with emeralds, though Dalia said they weren't greatly valuable. A skeletal undead beast attacked us. My blow destroyed it.

Going down into the bowels of the ziggurat, we found a flooded room inhabited by a nasty beast with tentacles. It smelled foul. It kept catching hold of us so we couldn't hit it. I finally managed to kill it and for good measure the homonculus set the carcass on fire.

The half-orc found a hidden door, and I pried it open. It led into a burial chamber, partly flooded. The half-orc had discovered that this place had something to do with the Dhakaani breastplate we'd recovered - there was a sword and a shield connected to the breastplate, and all of them were supposed to have some great power. The shield was in one of the sarcophagi we now faced!

Before we could get to the shield an oozy shapeless thing attacked from under the water. When I slashed through it the pieces moved on their own. I had to resort to the flail I'd acquired in the Mournlands.

After we finished it off Dalia went to open the sarcophagus and get the shield. The water started rising rapidly. Then the door shut. I could hear Kylara and Valirdryn pounding on the other side. I managed to heave it open again, and the human courageously dived under the water to find a way to stop the flood from rising.

After we'd got the shield, Grinner detected the vampire up above somewhere. We went back upstairs and found him in a great hall, sitting on a black throne beneath a statue of a demon.

This is the sort of adventure that is worthy of my ancestor's memory!
____________________________________________________________

Quips & Quotes:

patv: "I stick the black sword in the bed point first."
Devo: "The bed dies."

DH: "Xil can't let go of the sword."
patv: "Well, going to the bathroom is going to be a butch." (yes, he actually said "butch")
Hedrin: "Not for long!"

sniffles: "'My wand is out! I forgot to put it on the charger!'"

DH (after Grinner killed one of the warforged): "'Leave one alive - but not that one!'"

Zora: "How do you know the wand doesn't work? Does it go limp?"
DH: "Give that wand some Viagra!"

Hedrin: "It's silhouetted by the glowing ziggurat - it's a ziggurat lighter."

DH: "It lands in the copse of trees."
Zora: "The cops arrest it."

Hedrin: "I'm wearing sturdy boots."
Zora: "And Artemis is wearing dirty boots."

DH: "The undead minotaur's flesh oozes off the bones."
patv: "Ew! Five foot step away!"

Hedrin: "Dais ex machina. The ghost in the shelf."

patv: "It smells like the vampire's deodorant."
sniffles: "Old Must."

Devo: "I wet my pants all the time. I mean, I get my pants wet all the time."

The Observations & Musings of Dalia Sunrule, Letter 8

The excitement continues.

As a bunch of warforged under the command of one named Scimitar threatened us and demanded the schema we no longer had, the changeling was wrestling for control
over the sword Black Razor. As Grinner attempted to disarm him, the sword -using the changeling's body- cut deeply into Grinner, who managed to avoid death at -what we believe- the tip of a soul-stealing blade. Left a scar that healing could not remove.

The Aerenal elf would not let the sword out of her sight and gave us this information about the sword: Black Razor was created by the demon lords and held by the giants. It is one of 13 created. It absorbs all light, has a large red-faceted ruby in the pommel. It was wielded
by the fiends in the age of demons. At one point it was held by a warlord of Karrnath

I determined that it has a mind of its own and was attempting to use the changeling to take it north to Karrnath to some place called the "Red Keep", and would kill anybody getting in its way. It was afraid of going back to "the dark place", which I am assuming is the vault it
was in recently.

Meanwhile, Scimitar and his minions demanded we accompany him to his master, the "Lord of Blades." I'll have to ask around as to whom that might be. A fight ensued, but I stayed next to the changeling and the aerenal elf to make sure the sword didn't go anywhere. I enspelled
the room to look empty in case one of the warforged made it this far. I was keeping my eye on the bounty. We now had one half of our commission: the sword. Lukan comes next. He had loped off towards the ziggurat just before Scimitar's gang showed up in force.

Casting a spell to improve my companions' prowess, I stayed back to watch the sword, the changeling and the aerenal elf, who was demanding that she take possession of the sword. Shortly after the warforged were defeated, Kylara then took out a black orb approx. 4 inches in diameter and black energy came wafting out of it, shutting down ALL magic in the area, including the sword. I figured the sword to be of a power level unaffected by that, so either my estimations of its power are off, or that orb is more powerful than the sword.
Take note.

At this time that the elf was concentrating upon the anti-magic effect, my companions wrapped the sword in cloth and found a box to place it in. In addition, there were spirits
emanating from the orb, some of which even attempted to harm the elf. Definitely the look of "escapees".

We rested and I did my recitations, then made our way to the ziggurat with the hopes of giving ourselves a six hour window of daylight with which to find Lukan before he could
escape into the night again. As we breached the entrance, something magical assailed us and caused the normally heroic Caelen to flee. With a quick Suggestion spell, I managed to belay his flight and take up as my bodyguard until such time as we have captured Lukan. It was really a simple version of the suggested verbiage as taught in Semantics 201: The Art of the Deal, in the Academy. I had not only saved a companion and our best warrior, but secured myself a bodyguard.

This place was definitely devoted to fiendish gods, as their presence is painted on nearly every wall and tapestry in the place. After encountering several of the "inhabitants" of the
place, we came upon a room full of sarcophagi. Grinner used his dragonmark to Detect Person for Lukan, and found that Lukan -now free of the influence of Black Razor- was outsmarting us by going UP into the ziggurat, instead of DOWN, as we had assumed and proceeded.

Grinner also found the location of the Shield of Light. As you know, there are three items that put together create a map to the tomb where the Sword of Kas is hidden, according to
legends. The Stone of Kings, the Shield of Light, and the Breastplate of Fire. Unbeknownst to me, my companions had recovered the Breastplate of Fire previously and turned it over to House Cannith, I believe. Will find out more.

As we were attempting to retrieve the shield, the door to the room closed, and the water started rising quite quickly. A few Knock spells opened the door just enough for the rest to force it open. Quite a rush, as we were getting perilously close to drowning. I just love days like this.

We traversed upstairs, where Lukan is waiting on a giant throne for us. He seems much more like the kind of person I would associate with being a Dark Lantern now that the sword
isn't controlling him.

Wish I had something to control him with.

LIST OF SPELLS USABLE AGAINST A VAMPIRE:

See previous letter regarding Deathless Knights. Same spells work on
both.
(There is an interesting rumor that a vampire cannot attack someone with
a mirror. Will try to verify.)

Caelen the Vampire Slayer

Note: This campaign is going on temporary hiatus following this adventure. sniffles

As anticipated, the vampire was not an easy foe to defeat. He healed as fast as I could hurt him. His touch drained away the life of his victims. And he had the power to confuse the mind.

He didn't like it when the human artificer hit him with an unerring bolt of lightning. He ran around behind the demon statue, and when I followed him he managed to cloud my mind and make me try to kill the human. Kylara cast a spell to free me of his control.

The chamber swarmed with rats, but Kylara's spells held them off. Grinner kept trying to wound the vampire with a healing wand, since its magic does harm to undead. But that meant he got within reach of the vampire, and eventually the foul monster drained away all his life.

I fought all the harder after seeing my comrade fall. The half-orc was a worthy companion. Kylara's holy symbol glowed with the light of the sun, which the vampire didn't care for at all. He ran around the room like a hare fleeing a hound.

He got control of the human's mind just as he'd done me, but the arrogant human wouldn't believe he'd been affected. Kylara had to stand in his way to keep him out of trouble. The vampire managed to get Kylara's holy symbol away from her and cover its light with the lid of a sarcophagus. But Dalia used her magic to get it free again.

In spite of what he'd done to me before, when the vampire ran behind the statue again I followed him and hit him as hard as I could. He turned into a mist and seeped into the wall.

Dalia found a hidden door in the wall that led into a shaft. There was daylight there, so we assumed that the vampire had died, although we couldn't find any remains.

The human enspelled Grinner's corpse to find out what he wanted done. It told us to take his things and burn his body, so we did. It was just as well that we did so, since he would have become a vampire spawn in a few days.

We spend some time searching the temple, although we left the sarcophagi alone. The half-orc woman showed up again, but while we'd been fighting the vampire she was sent to find, she'd been stealing emeralds from the walls. We didn't offer her any share of what we found.

Among the things I received were a magic ring and an amulet that both give me greater protection. I wish I'd had them before we fought the vampire, though they wouldn't have helped against his mental powers. I'll have to see if the artificer can do something about that.

On the lightning rail back to the city I told my companions the ancient story you told me when I received my zaelshin tu, and read the verse for them that is inscribed on it. We don't know if it has anything to do with this black sword we recovered from the vampire, but it might.

After we returned to Sharn we took the black sword to the King's Hand. Even though we had no proof we'd killed the vampire, he gave us what he'd agreed to for the vampire's death. If you're concerned about the sword, it's in a vault here in Sharn.

I've descended to the depths below Sharn, traveled to the Mournlands, and now slain a vampire. I think I do the memory of Coriandor proud. But I still hope to find a way to Xen'drik to truly uphold his heroic spirit.

Caelen

Here's the story Caelen learned and the verse from his Zaelshin Tu:

The Jade Man
He strode from the Xen'Drik forest one day and stood in the square and
told the people what was to come-that the city lay in the center of some
particular configuration and that it was only here that the High Lords
could meet.
In return for the city, your line would, in the future, increase their power. He gave your ancestors great knowledge and the means to build a new city elsewhere. Those of your line were given the knowledge to build Aerenal and the City of the Dead. Coriandor was the strongest warrior, a great elf Hero of Xen'drik, a Giant Slayer. He wielded one of two ancient Black Blades of Power, now Lost somewhere on the Isle of Xen'Drik.

Brought to Xen'drik centuries before and wielded by mighty Elf Heroes, these blades were turned over to the Couatls and placed in the Crystal Cavern when they became too powerful to control. They were known by the names Ebonskaith and Black Kalagath and they have the ability to give the wielder unparalleled strength.

Runes on the Zaelshin Tu glow deep red and the following rede can be seen, written in ancient Elven glyphs:

"Thirteen times, the steps to the Mad Giant's lair;
And the Chaos Shield lies there.
Seven times seven are the Elder trees
Twelve times twelve warriors he sees
But the Chaos Shield lies there.
And the hero fair will the Mad Giant dare
And a Black sword wield for the sad giant's shield
on a mournful victory day."
_______________________________________________________________________
Quips & Quotes:

DH: "He reaches out his clawed hand to Grinner."
Hedrin: "Yes, he is a clod."

Jubilee: "Maybe when you're raised you become a commoner."
patv: "No, it's worse than that - you become a serf."
Hedrin: "Just bury me in the ground and I'll be serf and turf."

DH: "I didn't realize what a huge asset Lucan's sister was."
Zora: "Was she a big girl?"

Zora: "It's a religious temple. It's holey everywhere."

Devo: "This will be weird - the spell says it gives 'a semblance of life and intellect' to the corpse."
Zora: "That's alright - that's all Grinner ever had anyway."

Devo: "Well, that's it, except for the magic box."
Zora: "Well Hutch always wanted a little box of his own."

We're back!!
____________________

From: Caelen Siorath
Sharn
Breland

To my beloved Mother and Father;

I regret that I'm not coming home to join in the fight against the Karrnathi. But something tells me that isn't the way to bring glory to my ancestor's name.

I've been working with Caerlyn's Blade for a few weeks, as well as putting in some time at the stables. I hadn't heard from my adventuring companions much during that time. The human's in charge of his family's mansion and I think a couple of the others have actually taken rooms there. I'm not sure that's for me even if he does offer me space.

I will have to look for new lodgings soon, as the Blades are heading home to join the fighting. I'll let you know as soon as I've found a new place. It won't be for some time, though. I'll be traveling to the Talenta Plains next.

The human's found some ancient crypt where he hopes to get his hands on some special dragonshards. He's planning to trade them for a book. The book doesn't hold any interest for me, but the crypt is supposed to be older than the Dhakaani empire. That should provide some adventure worthy of Coriandor's name.

Dalia has heard that our nemesis Caiber sent some people and they didn't all make it back. His people aren't that good, but that news still bodes well for the challenge.

The artificer sent a message asking us all to meet at a restaurant called the Terrace Rose. The changeling showed up in a new guise - it's lucky we don't kill it out of hand when it does that.

The human gave us more information there about our latest venture. We'll be taking the lightning rail to the Plains, but we're taking along horses for further travel. I'll be glad of an excuse to ride Flamewind outside the city.

The human now has a bodyguard, a warforged called Sten. Evidently the Cannith people value the artificer highly, or so he claims. I don't know what I think of having a warforged around all the time.

While we were chatting Dalia started staring off at another box on the opposite side of the restaurant, which has an amphitheatre style to accomodate performances. She said she saw something odd over there.

Then the warforged announced that there were walking skeletons coming up the stairs. It started firing some kind of energy bolts out of its hands. Dalia shot off some kind of shadowy stuff that wrapped around the skeletons and held some of them in place.

Kylara was closer than I was and tried to command the skeletons, but it didn't work. Kylara yelled out that they were Stillborn. I'm not sure what that means, but they were Aereni who'd made themselves up to look even more like living dead than Kylara does.

I jumped up and ran to meet them but the stairway was too narrow so I leaped over the railing and ran along a balcony to get behind them. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I realized more of the Aereni were approaching, so I took a position to oppose them.

They tried to surround me but I sprang up on a table to get higher ground and slashed one of them fiercely. Then a blast of energy hit me from behind, leaving me bruised.

Kylara sent a Deathless soldier over to aid me, though I didn't need his help. I kept slashing at two Aereni at a time and even gave one of them a couple of good kicks to the head. They moved awfully slowly. I felt a blast of flames behind me at one point but it wasn't close enough to singe me.

After I'd taken care of the four Aereni I found that there wasn't much going on behind me. Kylara and the others had been talking about a dragon outside and then something about a wizard, but I'd been too busy with my opponents to catch it all. I went onto the balcony so I could see the full interior of the Terrace Rose.

The woman who'd been singing and most of the other patrons had fled. There was a creature made of earth and stone standing on the stage. Another Aereni had shown up, evidently the wizard, and Dalia was standing right next to him. I could hear Kylara chanting and then an undead troll appeared next to the earth creature.
______________________________________________________
Quips & Quotes:

Devo (to Kylara): "You can put your zombies in the closet."
Zora: "Which zombie do you want to use today?"
Devo: "Hmm, I thought I only had skeletons in my closet."

Zora: "She's a pole elf?! Pole elves rock!"
Hedrin: "Aw, I was hoping for a moon elf."

sniffles: "Did you say make a Spot check?"
Zora: "You need to make a successful Listen check to make the Spot check."
sniffles: "No, I need to make a successful Short-term Memory check."

Zora: "Have you seen my Spot roll? Because I'd really like to make one."

DH: "You see some skeletons coming up the stairs."
sniffles: "Kylara, stop inviting your friends along!"

DH: "That's why Xil is always late for breakfast - he's trying to find himself in the mirror."
Zora: "He couldn't find himself with a mirror and two hands."

patv: "Xil has a new job: substitute in the police lineup. He's number 4."

Jubilee: "My Deathless moves over here. He'll freak out the wait staff."
sniffles: "Waiter, I've been waiting so long I died!"

DH: "You see a cloaked figure holding a staff."
Jubilee: "He must be a wizard."
DH: "No, he's got a butler, and maid..."

patv: "What wizard through yonder window breaks?"

sniffles: "Do you need a permit to summon things?"
Jubilee: "I didn't summon those undead! They were here when I got here!"