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<blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 3872392" data-attributes="member: 30035"><p><strong>A Dramatic Rescue</strong></p><p></p><p><em>Thanks for the comment, amethal. I suppose one of the problems with writing this in first-person style is that you only get to see what one character sees - and sometimes I forget to go back and clarify things that he might have learned later (or that I just forgot about). I'll see what I can do to remedy that now that I'm using audio recordings rather than handwritten notes to track our sessions. </em></p><p>-------------------------------------</p><p></p><p>Though it is a relief to at last have Covenant's journal in our possession, it has not proved as satisfactory a source of information as we had hoped. We are now in possession of numerous prophetic verses and other snippets of information regarding the Sword and the Gauntlet, but they tell us little more of what our next course of action should be than we should have known without them. </p><p></p><p>The high priest of the temple of Elishar gave us leave to visit the Hall of Prophecy, the inner sanctum of the temple, which previously had been barred to any but Nekaya-Re. There we spent some hours in discussion of the information we have gathered. The blind prophet we encountered in Arrabar gave many verses to Nekaya-Re that I had not previously been aware of - but I do not find them of much use. Prophecy is an inexact craft, it seems to me.</p><p></p><p>Several of these verses make reference to numbers of persons, or so it appears; the numbers seven and five appear in several places. We spent some little while attempting to determine what persons these numbers might represent. At first it seemed to me that the seven must mean my wife and her company, and a second seven in the same verse would then refer to myself and my companions. But this would then mean that Sandrue and Phaela must be included in that number, for now there are only six of us if we count Pakkin, and I doubt that the goblin is meant to be a person of import in fulfilling the prophecy. Must we then persuade Sandrue and Phaele to rejoin us in order to fulfill the prophecy?</p><p></p><p>More daunting still is a reference to "seven who fail", leaving us to wonder if this means Covenant's company or our own. The next verse referring to seven and then five makes more sense to me, though I wonder who of the seven and who of the five are to fulfill the prophecy and what will become of the rest of those numbers.</p><p>-------------------------</p><p><strong><em>*Note: Here are the verses Telemnar is referring to above </em> </strong> [sblock]</p><p>-- "Seven and Seven and Seven again, seven to proclaim it, seven to fail.</p><p>Seven to accomplish where others but wail."</p><p>-- "Seven and Seven, Five and Five, proclaim the Birth, find Him Alive"</p><p>-- "Seven of Seven, born in the light; five of five, shadows they fight; One</p><p>from the seventh, one of the five; five in the shadows, one found alive"</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p>-------------------------</p><p>Our discussion has cast doubt on our previous intention to visit the dragon in the Cloven Mountains. Not only is it clear that the dragon will not welcome us, but we now doubt whether Covenant's belief that the Gauntlet of Dawn is necessary to recover the Sword of the Dread-Not is correct. It seems that the Gauntlet is indeed a powerful object, but the Sword cannot be found or held by the bearer of the Gauntlet. </p><p></p><p>It is unfortunate that Covenant lacked the information which Osaze imparted to us. Had he known of this he might not have set himself upon the course that led to his disappearance. </p><p>[sblock]</p><p>Devo: "Nekaya realizes that she can recognize the faithful of Elishar by the light in their eyes. Which means that Pakkin would have a very slight glow."</p><p>Jubilee: "He's kind of a believer?"</p><p>Zora: "He's a dim bulb."</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p>Erim tells us that he has transcribed the prophecies and our discussion of them into the enchanted journal, so that information may be conveyed to Sandrue. Even if we are not meant to bring Sandrue back among our number, at least he will be able to give us his insight.</p><p></p><p>We have many days yet in which to determine what we shall pursue next. Liadan has planned a prayer vigil on behalf of her father at the temple of Lathanul. Until such time, we will contemplate our future while we find other activities to occupy ourselves. </p><p></p><p>Liadan has sought my assistance in selecting a warhorse. Though she is reluctant to choose a new mount, being very fond of Shadowcast, she has concluded that she needs a steed better trained for battle. Thus we have spent several days visiting horse ranches in the area in search of the ideal animal.</p><p></p><p>Baran has also devised a training regimen for us, to improve our ability to coordinate our actions in combat. When he is not drilling us in new tactics, he continues to make repairs to the temple of Elishar, and also has taken up once again practicing his craft of metalsmithing, which has languished since our time in Arrabar.</p><p></p><p>I have in the meanwhile pursued further my desire to free Ruathar from his bondage. It is a difficult task, for the trials by combat in which he is being forced to participate are conducted by the temple of the god Kord, and open to view only by invitation. Madu el Barake has never witnessed such combats himself. Liadan has asked at both Covenant House and the temple of Lathanul and can find no one there who will admit to having attended such a contest. Only those who have attended appear to know the location where the contests take place. </p><p></p><p>I am reluctant to circumvent the laws of Calimshan to achieve my goal, but I am determined to do all in my power to achieve it before we depart from this city. I continue my efforts to find the location of the arena. I am not forming a favorable impression of the faith of Kord if their interest in competition and strength includes forcing men to fight against their will. </p><p>[sblock]</p><p>Hedrin: "The first rule of attacking Fight Club is to find Fight Club."</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p>I have also been attempting to recover Ruathar's ancestral sword, with Madu's assistance. But this effort has met with no more success than the freedom of Ruathar. The man who purchased the sword considers it the pride of his collection and will not part with it at any price. </p><p></p><p>I pray that Corellon will grant me some boon to aid me in this effort. </p><p></p><p>Liadan has also been employing the powers granted her by Lathander to contact various persons of her acquaintance, seeking information about the state of our homelands and other affairs. Sadly she knows no one in the Hidden Hills.</p><p></p><p>But she has been able to contact Fallon Nightstar, as I believe I have documented previously in these pages. He continues to refuse to communicate with her. To learn more of his activities in Amn, she has created a scrying device with which to view him at a distance. Though I am not entirely comfortable with spying on someone without their knowledge, I cannot fault her desire to learn why he insists that he will only speak with her face to face. </p><p></p><p>Sadly it seems that our former associate may have reverted to the sort of activities we suspect he engaged in before coming under Garrett's tutelage. Liadan witnessed him interrogating a bound prisoner, though unfortunately her device did not permit her to hear what words were spoken, only to see a vision of the place and who was with Fallon at the time. </p><p></p><p>She has told us that she has also attempted to reach the paladin Sir Tyrion, but her spell failed to take effect. She has no way of knowing the cause of this. I hope that it does not bode ill for the paladin. Baran has used the same method to reach our friend Nicos, but he is no longer in company with Sir Tyrion and has joined the struggle to resist those who would restore the ancient empire of Chondath.</p><p></p><p>In preparation for the next portion of our journey, we have also investigated further the portal Nekaya-Re discovered in the Hall of Prophecy in the temple of Elishar. It contains carvings very like those in the ruined shrine that brought us originally from Cormyr. Erim has examined the portal and its carvings and has determined that it can only be opened by certain specific conditions. At least one other portal may exist in addition to the three we are presently aware of , each requiring similar specific conditions to activate - but it appears that each can be opened by a different key, so to speak. Most perplexingly, it appears that one of the portals requires a priest who can channel divine energies of a negative nature, something that neither Liadan nor Nekaya-Re can achieve. At present we are not certain where this portal leads, nor how we will be able to utilize it. </p><p></p><p>So many possibilities are open to us now. Gods grant that we choose wisely.</p><p></p><p>I received a message from our friend Madu that he had further information regarding Ruathar and would like to share it with me at my earliest convenience. My friends were also invited to attend. After employing my enchanted ring to contact my companions - for Nekaya-Re has been spending much of her time at the temple - I made my way to Madu's estate and my friends joined me there.</p><p></p><p>Madu explained that his efforts to negotiate a release had failed, and then asked me how far I would be willing to go to achieve Ruathar's freedom. I explained that while I do not wish to break the laws of the city, I am determined. Then I heard the sound of running footsteps and another servant hurried up to his master and murmured something urgently in Madu's ear. Madu turned to me with some excitement and explained that reportedly Ruathar had managed to escape his captors! </p><p></p><p>According to the servant's information, Ruathar was traveling in the direction of one of the city's poorest and most dangerous quarters. Madu readily gave his servants leave to show us the way and offered his aid in hiding Ruathar should we locate him. I helped one servant onto Aratan's back behind me and rode at the front of our company with all speed toward the indicated area. I had forgotten until we began our race to the poor quarter that our mounts had all been given enchanted shoes by Re-Horakhty. We galloped through the streets in curious silence.</p><p></p><p>The streets of this slum were too narrow and winding for safe riding, so the servants directed us to a neighboring stable where we could leave our mounts while we searched. Two of the servants who had accompanied us remained at the stable to look after our steeds. The third led us on into the maze-like arrangement of tumble-down structures.</p><p></p><p>It soon became apparent that the denizens of this neighborhood did not welcome our presence. We ran through the streets, Baran and I shouting Ruathar's name in my native tongue, but quickly found our way barred by a crowd of locals brandishing makeshift weapons, who demanded that we leave at once. </p><p></p><p>Baran had chosen to go in a different direction to widen our search, but he too came upon person who wished to block his way, though by his ring we could hear that his foes were servants of the temple of Kord, no doubt in hot pursuit of their "property". While Liadan and Nekaya-Re attempted to negotiate with the crowd we faced, Baran demonstrated his disdain for Kord's adherents by bringing down the man who opposed him.</p><p></p><p>Nekaya-Re meanwhile had managed to persuade the leader of the crowd that it would be in his best interest to accept a reward to assist us. We soon found numerous local residents rushing to offer us information about Ruathar's whereabouts, some of them even becoming confused when told to seek an elf and mistaking myself or Erim for the person we sought.</p><p></p><p>Having heard that Baran was engaged in a struggle, I parted company with the rest of my friends and ran to find him, followed by Liadan. We found him safe, though his foe had perished. A few moments later we heard a call from our friends that they had found Ruathar.</p><p></p><p>We rushed to the area to find two figures wrestling upon the ground. Ruathar had just dispatched his opponent. As he scrambled to his feet and assumed a defensive posture, I realized that I had in fact met him, long ago.</p><p></p><p>"I do not wish to fight my own, but I will not be taken again," he said, turning to Erim and I as we approached. I stepped forward, my hands empty, and replied, "I am Telemnar Rohendil, husband of Erendis. I have come to aid you."</p><p></p><p>"Is Erendis here?" Ruathar asked. I shook my head. "No," I answered. </p><p></p><p>"We shall speak of this further when this is done," he agreed. </p><p></p><p>"But first we must get you to safety," Baran offered in the tongue of my people. Already we could hear more hurried footsteps approaching.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sniffles, post: 3872392, member: 30035"] [b]A Dramatic Rescue[/b] [I]Thanks for the comment, amethal. I suppose one of the problems with writing this in first-person style is that you only get to see what one character sees - and sometimes I forget to go back and clarify things that he might have learned later (or that I just forgot about). I'll see what I can do to remedy that now that I'm using audio recordings rather than handwritten notes to track our sessions. [/I] ------------------------------------- Though it is a relief to at last have Covenant's journal in our possession, it has not proved as satisfactory a source of information as we had hoped. We are now in possession of numerous prophetic verses and other snippets of information regarding the Sword and the Gauntlet, but they tell us little more of what our next course of action should be than we should have known without them. The high priest of the temple of Elishar gave us leave to visit the Hall of Prophecy, the inner sanctum of the temple, which previously had been barred to any but Nekaya-Re. There we spent some hours in discussion of the information we have gathered. The blind prophet we encountered in Arrabar gave many verses to Nekaya-Re that I had not previously been aware of - but I do not find them of much use. Prophecy is an inexact craft, it seems to me. Several of these verses make reference to numbers of persons, or so it appears; the numbers seven and five appear in several places. We spent some little while attempting to determine what persons these numbers might represent. At first it seemed to me that the seven must mean my wife and her company, and a second seven in the same verse would then refer to myself and my companions. But this would then mean that Sandrue and Phaela must be included in that number, for now there are only six of us if we count Pakkin, and I doubt that the goblin is meant to be a person of import in fulfilling the prophecy. Must we then persuade Sandrue and Phaele to rejoin us in order to fulfill the prophecy? More daunting still is a reference to "seven who fail", leaving us to wonder if this means Covenant's company or our own. The next verse referring to seven and then five makes more sense to me, though I wonder who of the seven and who of the five are to fulfill the prophecy and what will become of the rest of those numbers. ------------------------- [B][I]*Note: Here are the verses Telemnar is referring to above [/I] [/B] [sblock] -- "Seven and Seven and Seven again, seven to proclaim it, seven to fail. Seven to accomplish where others but wail." -- "Seven and Seven, Five and Five, proclaim the Birth, find Him Alive" -- "Seven of Seven, born in the light; five of five, shadows they fight; One from the seventh, one of the five; five in the shadows, one found alive" [/sblock] ------------------------- Our discussion has cast doubt on our previous intention to visit the dragon in the Cloven Mountains. Not only is it clear that the dragon will not welcome us, but we now doubt whether Covenant's belief that the Gauntlet of Dawn is necessary to recover the Sword of the Dread-Not is correct. It seems that the Gauntlet is indeed a powerful object, but the Sword cannot be found or held by the bearer of the Gauntlet. It is unfortunate that Covenant lacked the information which Osaze imparted to us. Had he known of this he might not have set himself upon the course that led to his disappearance. [sblock] Devo: "Nekaya realizes that she can recognize the faithful of Elishar by the light in their eyes. Which means that Pakkin would have a very slight glow." Jubilee: "He's kind of a believer?" Zora: "He's a dim bulb." [/sblock] Erim tells us that he has transcribed the prophecies and our discussion of them into the enchanted journal, so that information may be conveyed to Sandrue. Even if we are not meant to bring Sandrue back among our number, at least he will be able to give us his insight. We have many days yet in which to determine what we shall pursue next. Liadan has planned a prayer vigil on behalf of her father at the temple of Lathanul. Until such time, we will contemplate our future while we find other activities to occupy ourselves. Liadan has sought my assistance in selecting a warhorse. Though she is reluctant to choose a new mount, being very fond of Shadowcast, she has concluded that she needs a steed better trained for battle. Thus we have spent several days visiting horse ranches in the area in search of the ideal animal. Baran has also devised a training regimen for us, to improve our ability to coordinate our actions in combat. When he is not drilling us in new tactics, he continues to make repairs to the temple of Elishar, and also has taken up once again practicing his craft of metalsmithing, which has languished since our time in Arrabar. I have in the meanwhile pursued further my desire to free Ruathar from his bondage. It is a difficult task, for the trials by combat in which he is being forced to participate are conducted by the temple of the god Kord, and open to view only by invitation. Madu el Barake has never witnessed such combats himself. Liadan has asked at both Covenant House and the temple of Lathanul and can find no one there who will admit to having attended such a contest. Only those who have attended appear to know the location where the contests take place. I am reluctant to circumvent the laws of Calimshan to achieve my goal, but I am determined to do all in my power to achieve it before we depart from this city. I continue my efforts to find the location of the arena. I am not forming a favorable impression of the faith of Kord if their interest in competition and strength includes forcing men to fight against their will. [sblock] Hedrin: "The first rule of attacking Fight Club is to find Fight Club." [/sblock] I have also been attempting to recover Ruathar's ancestral sword, with Madu's assistance. But this effort has met with no more success than the freedom of Ruathar. The man who purchased the sword considers it the pride of his collection and will not part with it at any price. I pray that Corellon will grant me some boon to aid me in this effort. Liadan has also been employing the powers granted her by Lathander to contact various persons of her acquaintance, seeking information about the state of our homelands and other affairs. Sadly she knows no one in the Hidden Hills. But she has been able to contact Fallon Nightstar, as I believe I have documented previously in these pages. He continues to refuse to communicate with her. To learn more of his activities in Amn, she has created a scrying device with which to view him at a distance. Though I am not entirely comfortable with spying on someone without their knowledge, I cannot fault her desire to learn why he insists that he will only speak with her face to face. Sadly it seems that our former associate may have reverted to the sort of activities we suspect he engaged in before coming under Garrett's tutelage. Liadan witnessed him interrogating a bound prisoner, though unfortunately her device did not permit her to hear what words were spoken, only to see a vision of the place and who was with Fallon at the time. She has told us that she has also attempted to reach the paladin Sir Tyrion, but her spell failed to take effect. She has no way of knowing the cause of this. I hope that it does not bode ill for the paladin. Baran has used the same method to reach our friend Nicos, but he is no longer in company with Sir Tyrion and has joined the struggle to resist those who would restore the ancient empire of Chondath. In preparation for the next portion of our journey, we have also investigated further the portal Nekaya-Re discovered in the Hall of Prophecy in the temple of Elishar. It contains carvings very like those in the ruined shrine that brought us originally from Cormyr. Erim has examined the portal and its carvings and has determined that it can only be opened by certain specific conditions. At least one other portal may exist in addition to the three we are presently aware of , each requiring similar specific conditions to activate - but it appears that each can be opened by a different key, so to speak. Most perplexingly, it appears that one of the portals requires a priest who can channel divine energies of a negative nature, something that neither Liadan nor Nekaya-Re can achieve. At present we are not certain where this portal leads, nor how we will be able to utilize it. So many possibilities are open to us now. Gods grant that we choose wisely. I received a message from our friend Madu that he had further information regarding Ruathar and would like to share it with me at my earliest convenience. My friends were also invited to attend. After employing my enchanted ring to contact my companions - for Nekaya-Re has been spending much of her time at the temple - I made my way to Madu's estate and my friends joined me there. Madu explained that his efforts to negotiate a release had failed, and then asked me how far I would be willing to go to achieve Ruathar's freedom. I explained that while I do not wish to break the laws of the city, I am determined. Then I heard the sound of running footsteps and another servant hurried up to his master and murmured something urgently in Madu's ear. Madu turned to me with some excitement and explained that reportedly Ruathar had managed to escape his captors! According to the servant's information, Ruathar was traveling in the direction of one of the city's poorest and most dangerous quarters. Madu readily gave his servants leave to show us the way and offered his aid in hiding Ruathar should we locate him. I helped one servant onto Aratan's back behind me and rode at the front of our company with all speed toward the indicated area. I had forgotten until we began our race to the poor quarter that our mounts had all been given enchanted shoes by Re-Horakhty. We galloped through the streets in curious silence. The streets of this slum were too narrow and winding for safe riding, so the servants directed us to a neighboring stable where we could leave our mounts while we searched. Two of the servants who had accompanied us remained at the stable to look after our steeds. The third led us on into the maze-like arrangement of tumble-down structures. It soon became apparent that the denizens of this neighborhood did not welcome our presence. We ran through the streets, Baran and I shouting Ruathar's name in my native tongue, but quickly found our way barred by a crowd of locals brandishing makeshift weapons, who demanded that we leave at once. Baran had chosen to go in a different direction to widen our search, but he too came upon person who wished to block his way, though by his ring we could hear that his foes were servants of the temple of Kord, no doubt in hot pursuit of their "property". While Liadan and Nekaya-Re attempted to negotiate with the crowd we faced, Baran demonstrated his disdain for Kord's adherents by bringing down the man who opposed him. Nekaya-Re meanwhile had managed to persuade the leader of the crowd that it would be in his best interest to accept a reward to assist us. We soon found numerous local residents rushing to offer us information about Ruathar's whereabouts, some of them even becoming confused when told to seek an elf and mistaking myself or Erim for the person we sought. Having heard that Baran was engaged in a struggle, I parted company with the rest of my friends and ran to find him, followed by Liadan. We found him safe, though his foe had perished. A few moments later we heard a call from our friends that they had found Ruathar. We rushed to the area to find two figures wrestling upon the ground. Ruathar had just dispatched his opponent. As he scrambled to his feet and assumed a defensive posture, I realized that I had in fact met him, long ago. "I do not wish to fight my own, but I will not be taken again," he said, turning to Erim and I as we approached. I stepped forward, my hands empty, and replied, "I am Telemnar Rohendil, husband of Erendis. I have come to aid you." "Is Erendis here?" Ruathar asked. I shook my head. "No," I answered. "We shall speak of this further when this is done," he agreed. "But first we must get you to safety," Baran offered in the tongue of my people. Already we could hear more hurried footsteps approaching. [/QUOTE]
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