Heritage of Dragonsreach (UPDATED September 4, 2007)

[sniffles]

By the Lady's Command

Roland mentioned to us later that he'd detected a definite sense of hostility from Sondaicus' hangers-on, but he was uncertain if it was toward him, or Hedrin, or just anyone who opposed Sondaicus' mastery in wrestling. Hedrin had recovered enough under the healers' ministrations to stay and watch the rest of the matches. Latan and Percy decided to return to Silver Cottage. In between matches, I overheard a rumor that other dragons than the local copper ones might make an appearance during the festival. When I told Roland, he speculated that they might be the Lady's children, which I'm ashamed to say I hadn't even thought of.

One of the leading contenders in the wrestling arena - other than Sondaicus - was a local gnome called Tybo. Everyone was looking forward to seeing him meet the champion. We watched Tybo meet with a monkish fellow who seemed very calm and imperturbable at the beginning of the match, but by the time the match was over he was getting quite irritated with the gnome's taunting and agile dodging. The monk spent more time chasing Tybo around the ring than wrestling with him, I think. But I couldn't help wondering how the gnome would fare against Sondaicus, who seemed so fierce and is so large. As we were told, Sondaicus' Blessing seems to be that he is better able to withstand pain than an ordinary person. When he wrestled any hurt done to him seemed just to fuel his energy rather than drain him as pain would do to most folk. I don't know if that would include the pain of embarrassment, however, which is what Tybo seemed best at inflicting.

In the evening after the matches Hedrin and Roland decided to go looking for Sondaicus, while I chose to let my new companions take me to dine at a very nice eating establishment. I quite enjoyed it. As I said before, I had decided I might as well enjoy being treated as a celebrity while I could - and on reflection that was probably the best choice.

Roland and Hedrin found Sondaicus in a rough tavern. He didn't show much interest in discussing Dragonsreach or his other companions with them. It sounded to me like their conversation was not very productive. I was out very late, and when I returned to the cottage I found Hedrin had fallen asleep in the garden, so I heard nothing about his evening until the following morning.

The wrestling matches continued the next day, and Hedrin, Roland and I went once again to see Sondaicus perform. I think that Roland's new friend Mirriam was not really very pleased to be watching anything as crude as wrestling, but she didn't complain. Roland was rather distracted by her presence. She's a very attractive young human lady.

Eventually the much-anticipated match between Sondaicus and Tybo began, and Tybo was managing to keep out of Sondaicus' graps quite handily at first. Suddenly Hedrin exclaimed that he'd caught sight of Percy in the crowd. As I was wondering why Percy hadn't come to sit with us, Hedrin got up and went to him. I couldn't see what happened with them, for at that point Sondaicus managed to grab Tybo and began crushing the poor gnome in his tremendous grip. Then he let go, and Tybo fell to the ground as limp as a lock of hair. I think I forgot to breathe for a few heartbeats.

Tybo was dead. Sondaicus had crushed him. He seemed not at all upset by this, Roland told us later. I was too shocked to notice. Roland commented that he thought the big man was only disappointed to have lost a worthy opponent. While we were all still staring in horror, I began to feel an odd but familiar sensation. Then Roland dropped and tumbled headfirst down the tiered wooden seats right to the ground.

I managed to climb down on wobbly legs just as the healers ran to Roland. Mirriam was holding his head in her lap. He was alright; he's simply been so overcome that he lost his balance. Hedrin rushed off to assure himself that Percy was alright. Once I saw that Roland wasn't seriously hurt I hurried back to the cottage to check on Latan, who had chosen not to come with us to the wrestling contest.

I arrived back at the cottage just in time to see Percy going in, and Hedrin came rushing up just a moment later. Percy was upset but unharmed. We found Latan in the garden as usual, but she was lying on the ground looking up at the sky and weeping, so I knew she'd felt it too. She already knew that it was Tybo who had passed. She managed to gash her head when she fell, though she didn't notice until she got up.

Latan told us that she'd had a strange vision when Tybo died. She'd felt as if his spirit tried to enter into her, and then had sensed some other force pulling him away. This appears to confirm our worst fears about Lerner Provol. It seems that he may have learned a way to steal the Lady's Blessings from others when they die, and is intentionally causing the deaths of some of the Blessed for this purpose. Strangely, when she touched Tybo's spirit, Latan learned a great deal about him. She discovered that he was apparently being trained to track Provol and the others, even though the gnome didn't come from Dragonsreach. We don't yet understand what is behind this revelation. I suppose it will be some time before we learn.

Hedrin was furious and wanted to have the militia out after Sondaicus, but we dissuaded him. After all, it could easily be claimed that Tybo's death was an unfortunate accident. We decided we'd better get in contact with the temple in Dragonsreach at once and tell them what had happened, so we hurried to the local temple and asked the priests to use their enchanted bowl again.

Communication with the temple was rather odd this time. Father Borabyl answered the summons, but not right away, and he seemed rather harried, shouting at something we couldn't see. There were little voices tittering and bright lights in the background of the view the bowl's waters presented. Father Borabyl explained that the Seelie Court was visiting Heritage! I was immediately sorry I wasn't home to see, as I think Latan was as well, since she has little contact with her fey kin.

Father Borabyl finally had to cast a spell of silence around himself to quiet the fey folk so he could talk with us. Latan described in more detail how she'd heard a strange chanting when Tybo's spirit was drawn away. Hedrin explained that when he'd seen Percy just before Tybo died, Percy had looked very sad and seemed to know what was going to happen, but Percy didn't recall having been at the match at all! Unfortunately some of this information I think got lost, as the fairies were harrassing Father Borabyl again until he invoked the Lady's name to subdue them.

Once we'd shared our knowledge with Father Borabyl and had been advised to stay away from Sondaicus - not a warning I needed, I must say - we began arguing over what we should do next. Hedrin still thought Sondaicus ought to be accused of murder. He's right, but I doubt the Milvarune militia would see it our way. It doesn't matter now, for as we were discussing this we all felt abruptly overwhelmed by the presence of the Lady.

She appeared to us in her usual guise, as a beautiful silvery elven woman. She had a mission for us of much greater import than arranging for Master Whitetree to come to Dragonsreach, or even discovering what Lerner Provol is up to. Someone desperately needs our help. This person carries a book called the Cyrinishad, supposedly the true story of Cyric. Cyric wants this book at all cost. It is such a powerful artifact that even the gods cannot destroy it. It has been disguised with spells so that no one may scry its location, and its bearer - who is also its author - is accompanied by a protector, but this protector must be away or unable to serve, because we are needed to get the bearer to a new hiding place. If Cyric could lay hands on this book, he could cause even the other gods to be swayed by his will.

I think I know now that there are indeed books that are not meant to be read.

 

[sniffles]

Our visitation with the Silver Lady took only a few moments, but when I became aware of the ordinary world again I realized that it had taken no time at all! The priest who was with us was rather confused when Roland grasped him by the elbow and began urgently requesting all the curatives the temple could spare. Roland hustled him toward the temple stores while I persuaded him that he needn't seek the chief priest's approval in advance. Latan, Hedrin and Percy raced off to get horses for us, while young Troy hurried back to Silver Cottage to gather our personal possessions on our behalf.

Once mounted, we set out rapidly for the docks and Master Whitetree's ship. It was late afternoon and the streets of Milvarune were full of revelers. Our horses did not so much increase our speed as make it easier for us to push through the crowd. As I've mentioned before, Hedrin does not get on well with animals of any kind, and he soon became frustrated with trying to control his mount and ran off on foot.

We all managed to arrive at Master Whitetree's vessel at once despite having gotten separated in the crowd. It was a relief to find that he was expecting us and was prepared for immediate departure. Troy turned up only a few moments later with a carriage full of our belongings and two servants to unload them. Not that we had brought so much with us, but it did make boarding the ship much quicker. Troy had forgotten Latan's courtier's attire, which did not disappoint her in the least. I think she's taken to wearing more clothing only because it gives the rest of us comfort. Roland gave the boy a substantial reward for his faithful service and told the servants to enjoy the run of the cottage for another day.

As the ship drew away from the docks, I caught site of some of my new admirers waving farewell. I suspect it will be a long while before I can enjoy that kind of appreciation again. I doubt there will soon be many opportunities to give a recitation or tell stories to anyone other than my friends and the sailors. Roland's lady friend had also turned up to say goodbye, but he sadly had no time to spend with her.

Our great hurry to depart at first seemed all for naught, as we had no idea how to find the woman Rinda. We only knew that she was somewhere outside of Milvarune and near water.
I suppose someone must have been watching her in order to gather this much information, as we were told that even the gods cannot scry her location. We weren't told who had been spying on her. Or perhaps it was Cyric's followers who spied on her and followers of some other deity spied on them. No matter; we would proceed with what few clues we had been given. We didn't even know what she looked like.

We hadn't gone far from Milvarune when Hedrin, who had climbed up in the rigging, caught sight of a small boat on the shore. Hedrin, Roland and myself joined some of the sailors in a longboat and rowed to the spot to investigate. There was no one in the boat, which had been drawn up on a tiny bit of rock. Hedrin could find no tracks on the stones and the odor of the sea confused his sense of smell. Then we realized that the tide was coming in. We began shouting urgently for the boat's passenger to come out.

Hedrin sensed her first; she'd hidden among the rocks. She came out warily, which I suppose I can understand, as no one could warn her that we were coming to her aid. She clutched a parcel tightly, just as I imagine I would clutch such an object were I to be given charge of it. We were able to convince her to go with us, though she was reluctant since her companion was still missing. I think only the encroaching tide really made up her mind.

Once Rinda was settled aboard the ship with every amenity Master Whitetree could provide, we set watches outside her cabin door. Near dawn, another vessel was spotted, and Latan, who had spent much of her time in the crow's nest, noted that it appeared to be on a course to intercept us. Master Whitetree ordered his ship to turn away, but the second vessel moved with amazing speed and in no time it had drawn alongside. Its deck was swarming with men, whose insignia I recognized as representing an organization called the Whisper Knives. I'll never comprehend why such groups choose to identify themselves to others.

The Whisper Knives began boarding our vessel as fast as they could. I had taken out my bow and fired on them as soon as they were within range, but in the pre-dawn gloom it was difficult to aim. When they began to board I drew my blade and whispered a quick prayer to the Lady, feeling myself filled with her grace. I had an alacrity that is not ordinarily mine, but it did not make me a better swordswoman, only a quicker one. I was sorely wounded, as I had only my leathers and my dueling cloak to protect me.

I was on the forecastle and had my back to the rest of the ship, so I didn't see much of what my friends did in the struggle. Roland was in the stern with Captain Whitetree, shouting exhortations to inspire our courage. Latan fired spells from the crow's nest, and Hedrin attacked with claws, blade and eldritch energy amidships. Even Percy appeared and began pummeling Whisper Knives with his stool. But we were sorely outnumbered.

The affair went from bad to worse when a second ship appeared to port! Even more distressing, Latan shouted out that Diceros was aboard that vessel. My blood ran as chill as a mountain stream. I had a brief respite and managed to turn to look - just to see that Diceros was not alone. Lerner Provol stood on the deck of that other ship, preparing to leap across onto the deck of our vessel while jovially remarking, "Well, you've got yourselves in a bit of a pickle!".

Even that shock was eclipsed a moment later. Rinda had come up onto the sterncastle when the first approaching ship was spotted. Now she decided to retreat below decks, but she stumbled on the steps and dropped the casket that held the Book. It burst open and the Book tumbled out upon the deck.

I have always felt compelled to look at books, but never has the compulsion been so irresistible as when I saw that foul Book lying on the boards. I think I would have gone for it even had it been surrounded by demons. Then in my mind I heard the words Percy had spoken when he was possessed with the gift of prophecy: "Some books are not meant to be read". The desire to look at the Book was snuffed out like a candle flame.

Unfortunately my friends did not have benefit of that thought. Hedrin sprang across the deck like a cat Then the Book lifted up off the deck and began to float out over the waves like a leaf in a breeze. I realized that Latan must have sent Isaura to fetch it. As the air elemental flew away with the Book in her grasp, I saw a woman lift off the deck of Lerner Provol's vessel. She had been standing behind him, a dark woman with two black wolves at her side. She did not suit the description of any of his companions from Dragonsreach. As she flew out toward the hovering tome, Hedrin leapt across onto Provol's ship and then vaulted out toward the Book.

Lerner Provol shouted "Get back!" at the flying woman. The woman fired a blast of dark energy that resembled what Hedrin can produce, and the Book began to tumble toward the water. Latan screamed in anguish as Isaura fell, her form so insubstantial that she could not penetrate the water. Hedrin caught hold of the falling Book and began to plunge toward the sea with it clutched to his breast.

The dark woman swooped down and caught him like a huge raven swooping for its prey. Latan began trying to attack her with spells, then turned her fury toward the woman's wolf companions in revenge for her attack on Isaura. The woman deposited Hedrin on the deck of our vessel without relieving him of the Book. It had been my greatest fear that Lerner would get his hands on that terrible volume. Roland shouted out to him that the Lady had tasked us with protecting it, and demanded to know if Lerner still claimed to serve her. He did, though I'm not sure I believe him. But he seemed to know what the Book was and to have no interest in it.

In the meantime the Whisper Knives had evidently decided that this was too much for them, as Lerner's companions were much more formidable than we were. They retreated to their ship and departed. Lerner announced quite casually that he meant to slay us, but that he would let us be while we protected the Book. He called the wolf woman back to his side and his vessel drew away. Hedrin was staring at her with a foolish expression on his face and they waved to one another in just the way that Roland's lady friend waved goodbye to him when we left Milvarune.

Now I suppose that we truly must stay with Rinda and the Book as long as we can, until we find some way of protecting ourselves against Lerner and his friends. Lady be with us. We will need your aid.

 

[Hedrin]

Hedrin goes in the Drink

Our GM (Zora) had plans to tease my character (Hedrin) with a warlock woman nemesis. We weren't supposed to come anywhere near each other, but to hit each other with Edritch Blasts. We both have enhanced range on our Scent ability and we were to maybe scent the beastieness of the other. The other way would be to fail a will save after being hit with a EB, then we'd "taste" the beasty flavor of the blast. Eventually in the game we'd come togeter and realize that we were made for each other. Never did our GM think that we'd race headlong together to get the book and that after making will save after will save when she blasted me, she would finally came into physical contact with me and I rolled a natural 1 on the will save. Automatic catistrophic failure. I was totally smitten, and she was too. Then he had to watch the love of his life sail away with a boatload of homical maniacs. Roleplaying will be interesting next game.....

 

[Devo]

I finally had a chance to ask Lerner what he was up to and who he served, but he never answered any of my questions. The bastage! Grrrr.

 

[sniffles]

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Oh, criminy! That database failure really hit this thread hard. I'm not even sure how many episodes are missing. I'm going to leave a couple of placeholders for future updates, as soon as I can locate my notes for the missing sessions.

sniffles
_____________________

Well, I finally stumbled across some of my notes - nearly a year later. Oh well. At least I can fill in the gaps a little.

Previously, our intrepid Silver Claws were en route to Candlekeep to deliver Rinda and the Book into the care of the monks there. As they approached the entrance, they were accosted by more Whisper Knives, who were evidently attempting to seize the Book. A struggle ensued and at the last moment the Silver Claws managed to get to the head of the line and beg aid from the monks. Recognizing Rinda and her burden, the monks sent the Whisper Knives packing and welcomed the Silver Claws to Candlekeep.

The Wonders of Candlekeep

We were welcomed by a monk called Halvor, who obviously knew who Rinda was already. I'd been worried that we hadn't anything to offer in exchange for admission, but evidently our presence as Rinda's temporary protectors was sufficient to gain us entry.

Halvor placed us in the care of a monk named Daria, who remained our guide. Rinda was quickly hustled away to some private accomodations, while Daria conducted us to the guest dormitory. Roland was ready for a rest, but I couldn't wait to consult the stacks. I'm afraid Hedrin and Latan weren't terribly excited about visiting the archives. Neither of them have any great interest in books.

As it happens, there's far more to Candlekeep than books and scrolls. It's a city of impressive towers, full of exotic visitors, and a seat of learning of many kinds. While I immersed myself in tomes on the draconic dieties and researching what the rest of the world knows about Dragonsreach, Roland joined a local debating society and impressed them with his rhetoric, and Latan was introduced to a group of druids who were doing some kind of research of their own. Hedrin discovered that there are other folk like him here as well, and soon had an opportunity to enjoy some physical training.

After I'd satisfied my curiosity about the public image of Dragonsreach, I turned my attention to learning more of the Blessed in the world. There's not much to learn, at least not from any books in Candlekeep's library. I found only three volumes that mentioned people such as ourselves, and of those only two had any actual information other than a reference. The third book was of most interest: it contained a small amount of material written by none other than Merrick Ne'Tranel! It seems our Father Merrick may once have been a monk here himself. I'm surprised that I never heard rumor of this.

My studies led me on beyond the Blessed to the language of the ancient dragons, and I was soon so engrossed that I scarcely saw my friends. Archaic draconic is a subtle and powerful tongue, full of nuances that I can't yet fully comprehend. But I feel that I'm on the edge of a great discovery, if only I continue to apply myself diligently.

While I busied myself with ancient draconic, I didn't notice that we hadn't seen Rinda since our arrival. But I did prick up my ears when reunited with my friends one evening and Roland mentioned someone he'd met. He'd come across an older monk by the name of Breonne Ne'Tranel - the brother of Father Merrick. Evidently he has some knowledge of the Blessed, and Roland has been able to arrange for us to meet with him - no mean feat by Roland's description.

 

[sniffles]

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Waterdeep

I'm afraid that when we arrived outside of Waterdeep I was completely insensible. Roland had suffered the same response to a view of the fey realm, as had our poor unfortunate coach driver. Once Roland revived he set to work trying to awaken and pacify the driver, who was naturally rather distressed at finding himself no longer near Candlekeep.

The road into the city was quite well traveled, but as we continued our journey with our flustered driver we observed that this didn't prevent a group of orcs attempting to ambush a group of merchants. Their efforts didn't get them far. There were too many people on the road to let an ambush pass without providing assistance to the victims in driving off the brigands.

We entered Waterdeep through the south gate. Waterdeep is an amazing place, so full of life and so cosmopolitan. As we traveled to the inn I put my head out and stared all around at the colorful people I saw passing by, identifying the costumes of many distant lands, even visitors from as far away as Chult. The sky overhead was full of flying people, some flying by magic on their persons and others being transported by magical devices or flying creatures. Roland caught sight of a rider on a griffon and conceived a desire to try this himself. I would have joined him in that endeavor, but we quickly learned that it was far too costly for our purses.

After we made our way to the Tree of Life, an inn Latan had found in a guidebook she'd read at Candlekeep, Roland and I were eager to explore the city. But Latan and Hedrin weren't so enthusiastic. We wandered out of the inn for a while, roaming the streets and eating far too much at various vendors, until we were so tired we had to return to the Tree of Life and collapse in our comfortable beds.

On the following morning Latan and Hedrin decided to go to the wharfside district to seek the offices of Master Whitetree and look for a way to gain our coachman return passage to Candlekeep. Roland wrote a courteous note to Khelben Blackstaff asking when we might meet with him. Then he and I set off to see more of the city.

There were performers everywhere, of every type and race and quality. Eventually we happened upon an area where posters were hung with information about performances being held at the New Ollam College, which we were both naturally eager to see. According to one poster, an avatar of Jaedrig Pol himself was scheduled to appear in the following evening!

Excited by this, Roland and I headed for the college. We heard the most excellent muscial performances while passing through the tunnel that leads to the promontory where the college is situated. Along the way Roland kept me amused by expertly imitating the accents and speech patterns of the locals.

While we were standing in the courtyard of the college admiring everything, Roland overheard a man bemoaning the fact that he had tickets to Jaedrig's performance but wasn't able to attend. With his usual charm, Roland was able to persuade the man to part with them for 20 gold pieces each. Our only difficulty now is that we have only 4 tickets and there are 5 of us!

Quips & Quotes for this session:

Jubilee: "Did we get XP for seeing that?"

Devo: "We're going up to C7 and C4 on the map. We're blowing up C4."


_____________________________________________________________________________
The Performance of a Lifetime

Roland and I had the immediate mission of seeking more tickets to the performance. We also overheard that the Lord of Waterdeep would be attending!

I searched for books in several shops as we made our way back to the inn. When we arrived we learned that there had been a message from the Blackstaff seeking to meet with us on the evening of the performance. Hedrin would have been glad to get home right away, I think, but Roland and I were so crestfallen by the idea of missing Jaedrig's appearance that he gave in. Roland composed another note to the wizard to ask that he allow us another day.

Percy turned out to have been busy in our absence; he'd acquired a chest. It turned out to be a magical chest, capable of holding far more than its exterior would allow. He'd packed it full of all sorts of spices and ingredients. There was even a cooking fire tucked in the bottom! When the chest is shut the fire is put into a kind of stasis. Percy was so eager to get this chest and its contents that I think he gave up some of his own personal possessions in exchange for it. He seemed inordinately proud of his acquisition.

The next morning we received another reply from Khelben. As it turned out, he would be attending the performance too, and quite understood our desire to remain in Waterdeep a bit longer. Roland sent him a note to thank him for his kindness and went off to the wharfside to negotiate passage home for our coachman, who'd been spending far too much time enjoying the Tree of Life's selection of beverages.

Latan guided us all to the palace of Waterdeep for a tour of the grounds once Roland's mission was accomplished. As evening neared we all put on our best attire and hired a carriage to take us to the college - the coachman was rather worse for his indulgence and didn't know his way around the city in any case.

Our seats turned out to be excellent. We couldn't have asked for better. When the audience had settled on the cushions, the curtains drew open and without any fanfare Jaedrig Pol walked onto the stage and began to tell a story. He told the story of the Time of Troubles and how he came to be a god. I'd never heard the story from his perspective before. I could visualize every scene as he described it as though I'd seen it myself.

Somehow, despite being thoroughly engrossed in his tale, I still managed to look around at the rest of the audience and realized that seated in a box to my left were several people who bore a striking resemblance to his companions in the story. I was left wondering if these people were really his companions, or if he had merely based his description on the people in the box. I suspect it was the former. I wish I could have met them.

Once he'd finished his moving story, Jaedrig abruptly disappeared. We had all been sitting still and quiet as cats, and now we realized we'd done so for an entire night! But I'm not at all tired. I'll have to transcribe his story as soon as I can. That saga will be something to keep the historians occupied for months on end!

Quips & Quotes:

Zora: "A chapbook - is that like a chaproom?"

Jubilee: "Could I put food in my familiar pocket and keep it fresh?"
Devo: "You'd have to ask your familiar."
Hedrin: "And then if you ate it you couldn't have any more for a year and a day."

 

[sniffles]

For Service to Faerun

(Note: This summary is for the session that took place on May 5, 2006.)

I was so busy chatting with Darbin Merryweather about New Olamn that I didn't even know my friends had caught sight of Father Merrick in the audience leaving the theatre. Apparently they went to great lengths in an attempt to catch his attention, all without success. Latan even took a short side trip to the Lady's shrine, hoping he would repair there after the performance.

When she returned to the theatre I was still in conversation with Merryweather, a charming older human gentleman. I indicated to him that I could make no immediate decision about joining the college and he seemed to find that a satisfactory response. I must admit it was very difficult not to simply cry, "Yes! Yes!". But I am in service to the Lady, and that is a responsibility I cannot lightly put off.

As it was nearly dawn by this point we returned to the Tree of Life. We had to hurry to see off the carriage driver to the dock where his ship departed. He wouldn't let us ride in the carriage; I believe he thinks we're cursed somehow. Roland jokingly promised that should we ever return to Candlekeep we would make it a point not to hire him again. After we said our brief farewell to him we went back to the inn for a few hours of rest.

Once we had rested Latan and I went to view a menagerie of strange creatures, while the boys went to the market with Percy, who's determined to stuff everything he possibly can into his enchanted chest. The menagerie was fascinating but rather sad. Surely all those lovely creatures would be better off in their natural state. I think Latan would have set them all free if she could. She became quite determined to find a tressym to purchase, although such animals are far too dear for her budget. On reflection, it's odd that she would want to buy a tressym when she was so eager to release the animals from the menagerie. Ah, well, there's no explaining the ways of the fey folk.

Percy discovered that his chest has even more wonderful features than he first thought. He'd been so excited buy his purchase that he didn't read the instructions. The chest can not only hold far more than it should be able to, and hold its contents in magical stasis so they don't decay - it can also be made to reduce in size (which would have been convenient for Percy when he brought it back to the inn), to lock or unlock at a command, and even to vanish into an interdimensional pocket! What an amazing object.

At last our appointment with the Blackstaff arrived, and we took a carriage with all of our belongings to his windowless, doorless black tower. An apprentice named Maresta emerged from within the tower to meet us by merely stepping through the solid stone wall. I'm certain that must have been more than a mere illusion. Once inside we were conducted to a waiting area. After a short time a woman with silvery hair stepped through another wall and introduced herself as the famed Laeral, Khelben's paramour (perhaps even his wife, or so I've heard).

Laeral was in no great hurry to open the portal, and listened with interest when we told her the tale of our experiences in Candlekeep and Waterdeep. When we had told her all we felt comfortable sharing, she made a few arcane gestures and a dark opening appeared in the air before us. Laeral told us it would take us directly to the temple in Dragonsreach, should the Lady will it so.

Hedrin stepped through first. As I followed, I found myself emerging into a chamber that I recognized as being part of the Lady's temple, though I didn't know precisely where in the temple it lay. We were met by a priest, someone I didn't recognize, though Latan knew him. She also knew the way out of the temple from that chamber. We went at once to report to Commander K'Von.

Commander K'Von greeted us with an unexpected warmth - he shook our hands, and even met his son with enthusiasm! He told us that in two days a ceremony would be conducted in our honor, to reward us for the service we had performed for the people of Faerun. We could bring members of our families, but otherwise the ceremony would of necessity be small. Naturally only a few people could be allowed to know what we had done in Candlekeep.

I went straight home to tell Naneth all about my adventure in Candlekeep - although I didn't mention Brionne getting angry with me, or nearly being evicted. I don't think Naneth would appreciate that. She's been to Candlekeep herself, of course. We hardly stopped talking long enough to rest and eat. Ada came in and sat quietly listening, as he always does. I love my dear Adarinya.

The ceremony was held at dawn deep inside the Lady's mountain, in a chamber I've not seen since I was first presented to the Lady, and will likely not see again for a long while. We passed through a massive pair of silvery doors. Despite being in the heart of the mountain the room felt warm and welcoming. We prayed with Father Merrick, and I felt as if the Lady stood beside me listening to my every word.

Which in fact she did. The Lady herself appeared to thank us. That is an experience so wonderful I have no words to describe it. How can one define a goddess with mere words? Perhaps if I knew how to write properly in the ancient Draconic script I might come near to being able to write of it. I must seek out that tome I was told of by the archivists of Candlekeep. I still dream of someday seeing the Lady in her natural form, as a dragon, and now I also dream of being able to converse with her in the ancient tongue of her people. But all of that went out of my mind during the ceremony, replaced by a joy and sense of well-being that I wish I could cling to all the days of my life. It is such an honor to serve her.

The Lady presented each of us with a gift of appreciation for our service to her and to the people of Faerun. Percy received a silver torc. Roland's baton was given an enchantment. Latan received a ring. Some magic was added both to Hedrin's rapier and to my thinblade. Through my blade I now have access to spells I could not have known before. The Lady placed a rune upon the blade to contain the spells. And through her power, only we can access the special magics she imbued these items with. Should my blade ever fall into the hands of another, it will be only a finely crafted thinblade.

As a final reward, we've been permitted to take three months free of militia duties.
I believe Roland plans to visit his family in Sembia, and Latan may go with him. Hedrin intends to continue working with the militia even though he's not required to do so. I think he may be trying to get closer to his father. It makes me feel glad that I am so near to my own Ada, though he's so often away from home.

I intend to spend my time writing. I have Jaedrig's tale to transcribe, and Rinda's story as well. If I can make the story of the Time of Troubles what I truly wish to make of it, perhaps I can submit a copy to Candlekeep in token of appreciation for their hospitality. And of course there is the book on the Draconic tongue to read...



Quips & Quotes for this session:

Devo: "They audit a prestige class."

Zora: "He likes dice."
Devo: "They're good with rolls."

Devo: "I got a +1 club. I'm going clubbing!"

 

[sniffles]

Three Short Months

I neglected to mention that we had one last 'mission' prior to our three months of leave. Commander K'Von asked us to test some potential new recruits to the Heritage militia. On the morning following the award ceremony we met in the practice yard to find ourselves facing six people who appeared to be from one of the less civilized parts of Faerun. By their attire I gathered they were from Narfell.

I expected to be providing them with a demonstration of tactics, or perhaps sparring with practice weapons, but Commander K'Von had a harsher demonstration in mind. The newcomers were to face us with real weapons. I noted that there were several priests from the Lady's temple on hand to prevent any fatal wounds.

The newcomers didn't demonstrate much in the way of tactics of their own. Their fighting style appeared to be focused on personal prowess, which I suppose I should have anticipated. Not surprisingly, they misjudged us; we don't look like seasoned warriors. They assumed Latan would be weak because they saw her casting a protective spell on Gylf, and they completely disregarded Percy - more fools they were.

Roland began an inspiring oration and the newcomers charged. We made a good demonstration of our flanking techniques. I have to admit that despite their lack of teamwork the new arrivals are strong fighters. The combat could easily have gone against us with one well-placed blow.

Hedrin was hurt rather badly. He was focusing more on use of his rapier than his eldritch powers, I think due to his father's encouragement. Before the fight began, Commander K'Von had to give the new people a brief lesson in the effectiveness of a rapier in the hands of a master swordsman.

Percy demonstrated once again how effective he can be when he took one of the new people out with a blow to the head from his stool. Poor Gylf could never set his teeth on the fellow I directed him to attack, but at least his presence distracted that opponent a bit and gave me a slight advantage. I waited a short time before calling on the Lady's Blessing, but since we were outnumbered and they were showing such strength I decided to use every advantage I had at my disposal.

The new arrivals all chose to remain in Dragonsreach when given the opportunity. Their squad has been dubbed the "Newts", which is of course an insult, but they seem to bear it well.

We've been given sad news. After the combat demonstration, we dined with Hedrin's family and his mother told us that assassins had managed to infiltrate Candlekeep and slay both Rinda and her protector. The current whereabouts of the Book are of course unknown. I will have to make time during my leave to flesh out what I've written of Rinda's story. It seems even more important now to remember her.


I've certainly left this journal untouched lately! I've been far too occupied with transcribing the saga Jaedrig told during his performance in Waterdeep. Naneth has been a great help during this effort. She's a bit dubious of the veracity of some of Jaedrig's claims - just because he's a god doesn't mean he's honest, I suppose - but she finds the story just as fascinating as I do. Thanks to the Lady's gift to me, I can make as many copies of my manuscript as I like using the second rune she inscribed on my sword. I'll be sending a copy of the finished manuscript to Candlekeep shortly.

Now I must turn my attention to Rinda's biography. I wish I knew more about Gwideon - I'd gladly write his biography as well if I could.

While I was busy writing my friends have all been occupied as well. Hedrin has been made a captain and has been responsible for training the Newts. Roland returned to Sembia to visit his family - sometimes I forget that the Raeburns aren't his true blood relations. Latan went along with him, as did Percy, but after their initial visit she and Percy went to Cormyr so she could seek out a tressym. Roland remained in Sembia and worked for his father.

Latan and Percy returned to Dragonsreach with not one but four tressym. Latan found three orphaned kittens and was able to recruit an adult female tressym to serve as a sort of nursemaid for them. I believe she plans to adopt one of the kittens as her companion or familiar when they are old enough.

Now that our leave period is up, we've been assigned a patrol in company with the Newts. There are reports of drow in the mountains.

Quips & Quotes this session:

Zora: "Who put four-and-twenty fiendish blackbirds in this pie?"

Hedrin: "I've fallen and my Charisma can't get up!"

Zora: "The barbarian rages some more!"
Jubilee & sniffles: "Double rage."
Devo: "Double secret rage."
Zora: "I double-dog rage you!"

Devo (to Jubilee): "You should take that feat next level, and then take the feat that lets you run the game."
Zora (he's the GM): "I wish I had that feat."

 

[Hedrin]

Hedrin has been made a captain and has been responsible for training the Newts.

We determined that captain was too high a rank for what we wanted to do. He ended up a Sgt. Major.

Hedrin

 

[Zora]

GM Intervention!

I'll rarely -if ever- correct someone's writeup, as it's coming from their character and allows for mistakes, things being misheard, etc.

The "captain" thing was definitely my error. I am notoriously bad with military-esque ranks, and have said so on many occasion.

I think Hedrin was EXTREMELY shocked to find he made captain, until with some help I looked them up and realized my error.

My sincerest apologies to Hedrin for that mistake.