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The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith
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<blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 3112068" data-attributes="member: 30035"><p><strong>The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith, excerpt 13</strong></p><p></p><p><em>(note: Devo's character journals are still running about one session behind)</em></p><p></p><p>"...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?"</p><p> </p><p>. -- An excerpt from the Craft Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>But we are a family again. Now, I know, we will be able to move on. Has it really only been seven weeks?</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>...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.</p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>We accepted the job: a little charity for the king could only help our reputation. With DA restored, we were underway.</p><p> </p><p>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?</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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. </p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>Worse, he had seen us, then escaped. It was too dark to give chase now.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>I'm looking forward to testing myself against a vampire. A showdown of his powers versus my intellect should prove interesting."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>. -- An excerpt from the Personal Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 6</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Voice box in Baby Betty -- quite disturbing"</p><p>"Placard: 'World's Greatest Ar' -- (incomplete?)"</p><p>"Moth with iron wings -- deceased"</p><p>"Stavros Tower, detailed, in miniature"</p><p>"Life-size bust of Twyla Heuw Cannith, sans eyes"</p><p>"Bronzed sandwich -- half-eaten, ham and onion"</p><p> </p><p>. -- An excerpt from the "List of Unexplained Items Found in Lab With Stark After Long Absences" by Artemis Heuw Cannith, 998YK</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sniffles, post: 3112068, member: 30035"] [b]The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith, excerpt 13[/b] [I](note: Devo's character journals are still running about one session behind)[/I] "...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 [/QUOTE]
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