Dear Diary:
A lot has happened in the last week. After we got back from the undertunnels, things calmed down a bit. Blue was patched up by the resident nurse, a dwarf who is a cleric of Berronar. Though there was some awkwardness when good old Estivan kept referring to her as a man. Must have been the facial hair that had him confused.
The loot was sold off for a tidy profit. Given the damaged state of my chainmail, I decided to seel it and go for something lighter—a mithral breastplate will fit the bill well, and it will look a bit nicer, to boot. It should be ready in a couple of days—I also requested some protective magic. A batch of potions, a new weapon, some magic boots to make me faster, and an enchanted headband that should keep me on my feet longer in a fight round out my haul.
A hundred or so did go into a donation to the church of the cleric—the least I could do, after all.
Something that we still haven’t been able to do is get anyone to identify that dwarven axe. Apparently, the expert on such matters is away on business. Given the shock Silver took, no-one wants to be the one to take it out of the bag—that thing hates dragons (it was made to kill them, so that makes sense) and apparently, that category includes us.
Hergal has continued to enquire about his book—I’ll say this for him, he doesn’t quit easily once his mind is set on something. More questions about my mother. All the talk about my family life keeps making me recall growing up with Khalid—and from there wonder what I could have done or noticed to cause things to turn out differently.
As well as that, staff from the college have been looking down the tunnels…
“…..ah yes, a Banelar, Estivan was asking about it earlier, he's down with Professor Hammerfa right now.” said Albion. “But a Banelar is mostly a underground creature, with maybe some swamp and mountian habitats, although usually near river and minor settlements that they can corrupt, enslave, and prey. They usually have an association to and worship Bane, hince why the're such evil bastards."'.
“....thank you. I'll go talk to Hammerfa.” Usha replied, and turned to leave.
"He's down where you guys were yesterday. Oh, and the professor wanted to tell you that Ogerud wanted to talk to you and your merry band at some time."'.
With a nod of acknowledgement, Usha went back down the tunnels she’d helped explore yesterday, and eventually coming to the underground lake, found Estivan climbing into the lake and saying "Well, I don't see any passages or any way for this thing to get in. Say, do those Banelar's have a particular dislike for Dragons?
"The one we killed probably does.” said Usha. “What's happening here?"
"Hey, would you mind holding this lamp up so I can start working on it?" said the other man, an old, bespectacled wizard. He was cut off by a splash as Estivan jumped into the lake, and gave a sigh that was becoming familiar to Usha as the trademark sound of anyone that spent too much time near him.
"Never had that happen when I walk into a room before." she said. "You're Professor Hammerfa? What is this?"
"Ah, not much but a little dissection of this sucker.” he replied. “Might want to see on Estivan though."
Estivan had started splashing around in the pool, finally seemed to twig on that he’d find looking under the water easier without a heavy backpack, and so took it off, and threw it at her. She stepped aside, and let it hit the wall with a crash. He finally stopped playing around in the water, and came out.
"Well now we know where they come from. That could be an opening to somewhere deeper.”
"The thing that bothers me is this.” she replied. “Whoever destroyed that village used fire spells. This thing didn't."
Right on cue, there was the glare. "That’s right, and that thing doesn't have legs. Remember we saw clawed foot prints with the tail marks...”
"Which weren't the skum."
"Something else destroyed the kobold village.” he said, pointing to the Banelar, seemingly too wrapped up in his own throughts to notice she’d just said pretty much the same thing.
"I don't know.” said Hammerfa. “If there was a true opening to the Underdark, this place would be crawling with fungus, and illithids and other nasty things, so it probably isn't a big opening, or it might be flooded as well?"
"Well, if we want to look through the tunnels underwater, perhaps one of the wizards could summon something aquatic, and send it through there to have a look? A water elemental, maybe?" she suggested. The only reply was the odd squelch and unpleasant organic sound as Hammerfa continued dissecting the darktentacles.
"You know, if I inherited my father’s ability to breath water, I might have searched it myself." said Estivan unhelpfully.
"And maybe get tipped over a waterfall or eaten by something down there?"
"It might be a great adventure, but thankfully, I didn't inherit it. I'd hate being more like him.”
"What, was he polite and well-mannered?"
No, you wench. He was a black hearted perverse rapist, vilely evil, with out a shred of decency, moral character or redeeming qualities.
Usha closed her eyes, and counted to three. Some people were so blind. "Well, I've got an evil brother, so we're even in that respect. Oh, and call me that many more times, and you're going under that lake again, head first. I'll work with you if I have to, but show a little respect. Understood?"
"Respect why should I respect a low born....."
Usha glanced at the lake behind him, calculating how much of a push he’d take. But no, he was unexpectedly looking embarrassed. "You are right....”
Hammerfa pulled his head out of the guts of the creature, putting something purple and shiny into a specimen jar. "Well I'm more than likely to stay down here and carve this big guy up. You two can head on up if you want, but as you do, tell Albion to stop by. That and you guys should go and talk to Ogerud, said there was something important he wanted to tell you."
"Yes, Albion mentioned that."
Estivan spoke up, looking profoundly uncomfortable. “My actions toward you and to the nurse yesterday have been disgraceful of me.”
"If you're looking for me to disagree with you at some point, I won't. Actions speak louder than words, if you want to prove your true face isn't the mirror opposite of the one I can see." She turned and left.
….and that was where we left off. Not sure if I should be relieved that he’s not completely impervious to reason, or annoyed that I didn’t get to stick a fist in his face.
I also tried reaching out to Mr Blue….
"Blue, are you in there?"
"Yeah. Come in."
Usha walked into his room. Mask back up. She’d replaced it before the nurse had seen his face the previous day.
"I just wanted to say thank you. You did well down there yesterday. The other thing is that when Carudan was trying to save your life, we saw your face. I'm assuming you didn't want that to happen."
He hesitated. "Its okay. Did anyone else see me?"
"No, I put it back up on the way out. But if you don't mind me asking, why?"
"The guild that trained me and I had a bit of a disagreement. I left without there permission and currently hiding from them. That’s why I don't use my real name. Just my alias of Blue Dragon."
Privately, she wasn’t sure of the wisdom of that. Concealing a distinctive face, yes, that made sense. But then adopting a name that pretty much stated what you were…..
"At first I assumed it was for a different reason. You've seen how messed up Carudan is about his parentage, I assumed it was the same thing with you."
"No. Nothing like that. This is more for my safety then anything."
"It just seems a pity to keep your true face hidden, no matter the circumstances."
"It doesn't bother me. I have spent a lot of time in the shadows. Besides I have other concerns that are more important then showing my face."
"It still seems a bit of a waste. Well, so long as you're happy with it, that is what matters. If you want, you could probably find a magic item that changes your appearance. Which reminds me, you'll want to talk with Silver about your share of the things we pulled out of the hole."
“How was that for timing?” asked Silver, coming into the room. “I’ve got coin pouches for everyone.”
….another enigma. He seems decent enough, but the nasty little voice inside my mind wonders if his pursuers are entirely unjustified. Still, never let a resource go to waste—I’ve been learning a few of his skills over the last week. I may have skin that could stop a spear, but I’ll be facing worse things than spears, and I’ll need agility to help me stay alive, as that snake-creature proved.
I say snake-creature, and I thought it to be a naga, but according to Albion, it was something else—a Banelar. I hadn’t ever heard of them, but apparently, they’re servants of (surprise, surprise), Bane. I can tell you, when I heard that name, my blood ran cold (and no, that’s got nothing to do with my reptile side, thank you very much). It makes me worry, too. Would a servant of the Black Hand be holding a grudge against the college just for breaking his sleep? I doubt it, there will be a bigger picture.
There always damn well is.
At some point, I started talking about these other four people and me using the word ‘us’. Not entirely accidental, that. You see, the Dean recently called us to his office….
"I hope you're feeling better than the last time we met." said Usha. The five of them were in Ogerunds office, the most expensive and lavishly decorated in the college.
He looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that. But please rest assured I have done my best to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. But where are my manners, please have a seat."
"I'll stay standing, thanks." said Silver. Usha took a seat, as did Blue and Carudan.
"Well, although I dismissed your offer earlier last night, I've had some time to think and bring it up with the rest of the chairmen. Usha, I was just wondering if that offer might still be standing?"
What offer….oh yes, that one.
"It could be."
"It's just with the Skum, that mess over in the woods, and several other occurrences around here, I've been thinking that we... might use some extra security around here. Now the entire board hasn't approved it, but from those I've talked to, they see you as a very valuable resource we would be crazy to simply send you away."
Mercenary work. That sounded good.
"I'd be willing to, certainly, especially if you've got servants of Bane nestling under the university. What terms were you thinking of?"
"Well that's what I was going to ask you. I was thinking something like 50 gold a week salary with at least a 5 year contract as security consultants and emergency troubleshooters?"
"Something shorter term, maybe. I like it here, but I don't want to get too committed. How much involvement were you thinking of?"
"Well, if its just five years. I doubt I would grow bored or tired of dealing with wizards in that time." said Silver. He’d certainly changed his attitude on ‘book magic’ at some point, then.
Estivan spoke up. "I would accept this offer, including the 5 year term. I am still very young and which my Draconic blood, who know how many years there will be in my life.
"Are you searching for a shorter term contract or a more flexible 'free' time or vacations?"
"Both, ideally. Tell me what I'm expected to do first." said Usha.
“Mostly helping to make the campus safer, keep nasty magical things like those Skum from messing about, telling us how to beef up security, and handling a few... sensitive situations where we can not spare our own personnel. As you noticed, we only have one security personnel, Marius, and you commented on how effective he is..."
Presumably, Marius had been that guard at the gate when they had first arrived.
"A year, and we'll see how it goes after that. After all, one of us might have become sick of the other by then."
“Only that amount of security, and you are that far out on the fringes of civilisation…..”
"I know, but we didn't have enough money after setting up the college, paying the professors, and getting the supplies for a professional guards or a small mercenary company. But as you have proven, you are quite a better investment."
….and so, dear diary, it might be a longer association with the college and these people then I assumed. I’m not happy at being locked into any contract, but it’s tolerable. And given their less than extraordinary role in stopping all the incursions so far, I doubt the wizards could stop me if things deteriorate enough for me to just get up and leave. Not that I think they will, mind.
Edit: Missing deity. Don't you hate it when that happens?
