Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Journals of the Five: A Forgotten Realms Tale
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Aust Meliamne" data-source="post: 963" data-attributes="member: 95"><p>27th day of Marpenoth to the 14th day of Uktar, 1372 DR </p><p>Little did I know what was in store for us the last time I wrote in my Journal. </p><p></p><p>We began to examine the withered body, and found nothing on him at all, other than his dagger, and the holy symbol he was trying to craft. We decided to bury the boy, and Gruush and I were put to the task. We went outside to bury him and found 3 other graves recently dug. I decided that this was probably his family, and that he should be buried next to them. Kayla went off to find something to dig with, and I was left to my thoughts. Misha soon broke into them and told me that he had just seen a puddle move. Very strange indeed. Kayla returned to tell us that she hadn’t found anything to dig with. Right about that time, a blob lunged at me and missed. I told Misha and Vallia to come outside and help investigate. Misha finished the creature off, and was sprayed with slime. He fell over, frozen exactly as he had been standing. Vallia was the first to him, and told Kay to go get some water out of a nearby well. I pointed out that those blobs were made of liquid, and that might not be a good idea. Vallia agreed and pulled out her waterskin to use on Misha. I did the same, as well as Gruush. We took Misha inside after washing him off. </p><p></p><p>He was wet from having the slime washed off, and didn’t enjoy it at all. He told me so through the ring, and I told the rest that I would change his clothes when we got back. It was a bit strange to do, and I wouldn’t want to do it again. Misha was looked after by Vallia, and Kayla and I took Gruush to look down in the basement. </p><p></p><p>We looked down there, though I couldn’t see anything, and Kayla apparently found a puddle coming out of one of the barrels. She decided that it was safe, and tasted it. She promptly spun around, grasping her throat as she hobbled over to the stairs. Gruush quickly grabbed her and carried her upstairs. As we reached the top, Kayla giggled a bit, and told Gruush that she was fine. Gruush didn’t appreciate it very much, and proceeded to throw her against the nearest wall. Kay was a bit too quick for him, though, and tumbled out of his grasp. She still giggled from her prank, and Gruush was still unhappy with her. </p><p></p><p>About this time, Misha decided it would be enjoyable to tell me about the massage he was receiving from Vallia. I asked Vallia if she was really doing that, and she told me she was simply reading Misha’s journal. I told her what Misha had told me, and she told me he would pay. I almost wanted to dash into the room to see what she would do, but I decided against it. Misha was less than happy (at least, that is what he conveyed), and told me that I shouldn’t whine to Vallia. Whine? He must be a fool if he thinks that I would be jealous of him getting a massage. I had charmed my way into many girls’ lives, and gotten many massages. I told him as much, and he told me that one woman was good enough for him. I’ll wait until I see it before I believe THAT. I was a bit struck by his words, still, and I thought immediately of Aliya. I hope she will not hate me for having a past like that. </p><p></p><p>Kay, Gruush and I all decided to check the upstairs room, just in case. We went to each room in turn, and found nothing in any of them. We came back to the common room, and Misha told me that he was kissing Vallia again. I told him to stow his talk, and be wary of another tickling. He told me that he could move again now, and didn’t want me to disturb him. I told him I would not, but only for Vallia’s sake. He asked me if I still didn’t trust him, and I told him that I just didn’t like something about him. He turned to his pompous attitude, and began to spout off about all the great things about Misha. I simply told him that I hoped he would be more sincere with Vallia. He didn’t understand, but I didn’t feel like explaining it to him. Some things are better if you learn them on your own. I decided then and there to ignore his idiocy as best I could. </p><p></p><p>Misha and Vallia came out of the room, and joined us. We decided to look for the slime that Misha and Vallia had seen earlier. The most obvious answer was “down”, so we made our way to the basement. It was still dark down there, so Vallia decided to use a light spell on Kay. Kay began to glow fairly bright, and we all set off to the basement to make best use of the magic. We made our way down, and Vallia was the first to catch a blob. She attacked, and then I blasted the thing. Misha and Gruush both joined the fray, but Kayla wisely stayed back. The blob quickly retreated, but the damage had already been done. Vallia, Misha, and Gruush were all paralyzed form the blob’s slime. I heard the rain still beating on the roof, and I told Kayla to wait here and help keep guard over the others. </p><p></p><p>I ran to the kitchen to get some pans, and then I ran outside to collect some water in them. That was easily accomplished, and I made my way downstairs. I washed off Vallia first, then Gruush, then finally Misha. I looked at Kayla, then at the others. I sighed as I realized that I was going to do all the work. I began with Vallia, who I carried up the stairs. Next I took Gruush; I could not lift him, so the best I could do was drag him up the stairs. I finally got to Misha, and carried him up as well. Needless to say, I was quite tired. Kay told me that she would cook some food for me, and I was quite grateful. </p><p></p><p>The food was a bit stale, but still done rather well. I enjoyed the meal thoroughly, but after eating, I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. I was still sitting at the table, and I imagine my head made quite a loud thud as it hit the table. </p><p></p><p>I actually had a dream that night. I dreamt at first that I was simply spinning in blackness. I had no idea what was going on, and I couldn’t control the spinning at all. The spinning finally began to subside, and stone walls slowly came into focus. I was eventually spun around to see a woman chained to one of the walls. I moved closer to see what was going on. The exact instant that I realized it was Aliya my body was completely frozen. I wasn’t cold, but I couldn’t move any muscle in my body. I strained to move just an inch, but never could. I even tried to close my eyes; to prevent myself from seeing her like this, but I couldn’t even do that. I yelled out “ALIYA!” but it never made it out of my mind. My mouth was just as debilitated as the rest of me. About that time, I began feeling pain in the side of my face. I also heard someone talking, and I woke up. The side of my face was sore from hitting the table and sleeping on that spot. I was still very tired, because the dream had not let me sleep very soundly. I laid down on the floor now, and looked up at the ceiling, and saw that it was covered with the blobs! I quickly got to my feet as Vallia rushed out. I grabbed my things and followed. </p><p></p><p>I reached my horse outside, and leapt atop him. The adrenaline was flowing through my veins, and I was not feeling the effects of my dream. Misha was ready to burn the house down, and no one had any objections. Kayla left to go rescue the horse from the stable. Everyone was surprisingly callous toward her, saying that we should leave her. I couldn’t very well leave someone alone out here. I turned my horse to chase after her. She reached the stable and found the corpse of the horse there. I reached her a few seconds later, and I yelled for her to get on. She climbed on my horse, and clung tightly to me. A wise choice. I took off at full speed away from the inn that was now fully engulfed in flame. I caught up with the group, but we didn’t stop until much later. I understood completely, and decided that I could stand the halfling for a while longer. </p><p></p><p>We traveled along for many days, and I was feeling the effects of the dream. It made me weary. I didn’t feel physically tired or mentally constrained. It ate at my soul to feel so helpless. We neared the forests of Cormanthor. An elven man appeared, gesturing to indicate peace. He began to speak with Vallia, and she became very angry. Something about the way they spoke to each other... I could tell that they were not our enemies, but Vallia didn’t like this man very much. Finally, the man signaled, and 20 elves came out of hiding in the forest. The elven speaker told us that we were welcome in his village, and something told me in my gut that we had just found my future in-laws. It occurred to me then that I would need to learn the elven language. I asked Vallia if she would explain what had been told to her. She told me what he said. As far as I could tell, he was even more proud that Misha, but HE had the muscle to back it up. This man had an evil side to him, though. </p><p></p><p>We reached the elven village, and we were not very well received. None of the elves were necessarily mean to us, but we did receive many wary stares. I looked at all the stares, and each was filled with suspicion of us. There were very few men here. Many of the people we saw were women and their children. Thamior, the elf that had met us on the trial earlier, had led us to a large dwelling in the center of the village. He quickly went to the wagon to help Vallia down. She reluctantly allowed him to do so, and I thought to myself that I would not like this man, for whatever reason. The man helped her down, and held her close. Vallia allowed to do it for a moment, then broke away, and headed to the dwelling. Thamior told the elves to care for the wagon and horses, and ignored us. I dismounted, and continued to take in all I could of the village. Misha said aloud what I was thinking. We could trust these elves, at least for now. </p><p></p><p>The rest of us entered the meeting hall, and Thamior entered to tell us that food would be brought for us shortly. We all sat at the table, and I just waited to see how things unfolded before saying anything. Vallia was speaking solely for appearances to Thamior, and Misha began acting like a mercenary, albeit a bit dumber than even I would have assumed he would. Kay actually joined in on the act, and Misha soon named me “boss.” I figured my acting could use the practice, so I picked up on it, and joined in the conversation as the boss. They began discussing the reward from our last mission. They couldn’t decide whether it was 300 gp, or 350 gp. I told them I remembered it was 350 gp. They agreed with boss, and Thamior mentioned that the elves needed some help. He told us about a creature that was attacking elven villages, and asked for our help (in a round about manner, at least). The ‘merc group’ began chatting amongst itself about cost, and I felt like we didn’t need to talk too long about it. I said that 500 would be a fair price, and no one argued with the boss. It was rather funny to be considered the boss, and I began thinking of the best way to pull of the charade. I first thought of my weapons..... a shortspear and a light crossbow? Not very merc-like. If we have to keep up this ruse for very long, I’ll need to look into at least getting an ornamental longsword (maybe I could even learn to use it....). Maybe I should grow a beard as well..... Ah, just my little thoughts. Anyway, we agreed to help, and Vallia included herself in our little group. Thamior objected, but she quickly silenced him with her look. She asked for lodging for all of us, and all the while, I kept up my act. Thamior led Vallia away to her residence, and we all sat there, continuing to act for the sake of the guards. </p><p></p><p>All the while, Vallia was telling me that I should be wary of the people here. She told me that I shouldn’t mention Aliya, and that I should be especially wary of Thamior’s brother </p><p></p><p>I did my best to keep all of the others from causing an incident, and Gruush was the most successful of them. Kay mentioned Vallia’s name, speaking about Misha and Vallia. I quickly indicated not to even mention her name. We began to feast, and Misha recounted the time he killed 4 drow all alone. I reminded him that there were 7 drow that day, and that he had a little help from me. I rather enjoyed embellishing, and Misha began to go on about the time he fought some Zhentarim. Right at that moment Vallia walked in. She looked absolutely beautiful in her gown, and I was struck speechless. I recovered quickly, and asked Vallia through the ring if that was really her. She told me “just barely.” I wanted to laugh a little. I also wanted to tell her that she looked quite beautiful. I did neither, and merely continued with the story. </p><p></p><p>Misha was surrounded by 20 or 30 zhents (he couldn’t make up his mind which), and he only had a dagger. I told him he had to be joking, since we couldn’t afford daggers back then. I imagine he would have had fun with that, but Vallia interrupted us and told me through the ring that she needed to talk to me alone. I apologized as the boss, telling her that it was just old stories. She offered her arm, which I took, and led us to our home for the night. It was quite an excellent house, and I made sure to mention aloud what an honor it was to stay with the princess. She nodded her approval (of my acting, I think.), and brought us inside. We saw the elegance inside, and I made a comment about asking for more money. Vallia was once again upset at our act, and made it clear. We stopped, and I told Misha to pick up the act if somebody popped in. Vallia told us about Thamior and Tharivol, Thamior’s brother, who were promised Aliya and Vallia. Vallia felt that Thain, the brothers’ father, was the one responsible for her father’s assassination. I felt very sad at hearing that, and Misha felt that he should make the best of the opportunity. He went to Vallia and placed a hand on her shoulder, then kissed her. It pained me to see that. I had only kissed her three times, and yet it pained me to remember kissing Aliya. I also couldn’t stand to see the opportunist doing this to Vallia. I turned my head quickly, so I wouldn’t see. </p><p></p><p>They pulled away from each other, and Vallia began to talk about our future plans. With every sentence, Vallia became more and more angry. She finally became so angry that she threw her tiara to the bed. I didn’t want to see her throw away what she was because of others. I handed it back to her, and told her she couldn’t throw away what she was. She bent the tiara in her hands, and I saw that she couldn’t accept that right now. I decided to leave her alone, and she spoke to me with the ring. She told me that she had heard me call Aliya’s name all those nights ago in the inn. I told her that I had had a nightmare. She asked me to tell her about it, so I did. She said it was a bad omen, but I tried not to think about it too much. I made it to my room, and told Vallia that I had never had someone get into my head so thoroughly. She told me it was magic. I was shocked. Magic? Why would Aliya do that to me? She assured me that it was natural magic, fueled by my heart and amplified by my magical abilities. I felt better at hearing that, and felt that I would be able to sleep better with that in mind. It did bother me a bit that maybe magic was what cause Aliya to love me, but I didn’t have long to think about it. I was quickly asleep. I awoke to “MEN!” being shouted in my head. It shocked me a little; enough to wake me. I asked Vallia if she had said anything and she told me, “If it means anything, I think she would have loved you anyway.....magic or no." I was glad to hear her say that. Vallia has relieved much of my tension all the time I have known her, and this was yet another example. I might actually sleep well tonight. </p><p></p><p>No such luck. It seemed that as soon as I had lain down, the dream began again. I was spinning again, then I stopped, and the walls came into focus. I couldn’t move still, and I tried my hardest to move. This time, the dream went on a few moments more. A man in a cloak appeared in my view. He looked over me, and then I awoke suddenly, seeing that it was not yet sunrise. I did my best to try to sleep, and I tossed and turned until I gave up, and decided to talk to Vallia. It was near sunrise, and I couldn't stand to see those horrible images again.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aust Meliamne, post: 963, member: 95"] 27th day of Marpenoth to the 14th day of Uktar, 1372 DR Little did I know what was in store for us the last time I wrote in my Journal. We began to examine the withered body, and found nothing on him at all, other than his dagger, and the holy symbol he was trying to craft. We decided to bury the boy, and Gruush and I were put to the task. We went outside to bury him and found 3 other graves recently dug. I decided that this was probably his family, and that he should be buried next to them. Kayla went off to find something to dig with, and I was left to my thoughts. Misha soon broke into them and told me that he had just seen a puddle move. Very strange indeed. Kayla returned to tell us that she hadn’t found anything to dig with. Right about that time, a blob lunged at me and missed. I told Misha and Vallia to come outside and help investigate. Misha finished the creature off, and was sprayed with slime. He fell over, frozen exactly as he had been standing. Vallia was the first to him, and told Kay to go get some water out of a nearby well. I pointed out that those blobs were made of liquid, and that might not be a good idea. Vallia agreed and pulled out her waterskin to use on Misha. I did the same, as well as Gruush. We took Misha inside after washing him off. He was wet from having the slime washed off, and didn’t enjoy it at all. He told me so through the ring, and I told the rest that I would change his clothes when we got back. It was a bit strange to do, and I wouldn’t want to do it again. Misha was looked after by Vallia, and Kayla and I took Gruush to look down in the basement. We looked down there, though I couldn’t see anything, and Kayla apparently found a puddle coming out of one of the barrels. She decided that it was safe, and tasted it. She promptly spun around, grasping her throat as she hobbled over to the stairs. Gruush quickly grabbed her and carried her upstairs. As we reached the top, Kayla giggled a bit, and told Gruush that she was fine. Gruush didn’t appreciate it very much, and proceeded to throw her against the nearest wall. Kay was a bit too quick for him, though, and tumbled out of his grasp. She still giggled from her prank, and Gruush was still unhappy with her. About this time, Misha decided it would be enjoyable to tell me about the massage he was receiving from Vallia. I asked Vallia if she was really doing that, and she told me she was simply reading Misha’s journal. I told her what Misha had told me, and she told me he would pay. I almost wanted to dash into the room to see what she would do, but I decided against it. Misha was less than happy (at least, that is what he conveyed), and told me that I shouldn’t whine to Vallia. Whine? He must be a fool if he thinks that I would be jealous of him getting a massage. I had charmed my way into many girls’ lives, and gotten many massages. I told him as much, and he told me that one woman was good enough for him. I’ll wait until I see it before I believe THAT. I was a bit struck by his words, still, and I thought immediately of Aliya. I hope she will not hate me for having a past like that. Kay, Gruush and I all decided to check the upstairs room, just in case. We went to each room in turn, and found nothing in any of them. We came back to the common room, and Misha told me that he was kissing Vallia again. I told him to stow his talk, and be wary of another tickling. He told me that he could move again now, and didn’t want me to disturb him. I told him I would not, but only for Vallia’s sake. He asked me if I still didn’t trust him, and I told him that I just didn’t like something about him. He turned to his pompous attitude, and began to spout off about all the great things about Misha. I simply told him that I hoped he would be more sincere with Vallia. He didn’t understand, but I didn’t feel like explaining it to him. Some things are better if you learn them on your own. I decided then and there to ignore his idiocy as best I could. Misha and Vallia came out of the room, and joined us. We decided to look for the slime that Misha and Vallia had seen earlier. The most obvious answer was “down”, so we made our way to the basement. It was still dark down there, so Vallia decided to use a light spell on Kay. Kay began to glow fairly bright, and we all set off to the basement to make best use of the magic. We made our way down, and Vallia was the first to catch a blob. She attacked, and then I blasted the thing. Misha and Gruush both joined the fray, but Kayla wisely stayed back. The blob quickly retreated, but the damage had already been done. Vallia, Misha, and Gruush were all paralyzed form the blob’s slime. I heard the rain still beating on the roof, and I told Kayla to wait here and help keep guard over the others. I ran to the kitchen to get some pans, and then I ran outside to collect some water in them. That was easily accomplished, and I made my way downstairs. I washed off Vallia first, then Gruush, then finally Misha. I looked at Kayla, then at the others. I sighed as I realized that I was going to do all the work. I began with Vallia, who I carried up the stairs. Next I took Gruush; I could not lift him, so the best I could do was drag him up the stairs. I finally got to Misha, and carried him up as well. Needless to say, I was quite tired. Kay told me that she would cook some food for me, and I was quite grateful. The food was a bit stale, but still done rather well. I enjoyed the meal thoroughly, but after eating, I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. I was still sitting at the table, and I imagine my head made quite a loud thud as it hit the table. I actually had a dream that night. I dreamt at first that I was simply spinning in blackness. I had no idea what was going on, and I couldn’t control the spinning at all. The spinning finally began to subside, and stone walls slowly came into focus. I was eventually spun around to see a woman chained to one of the walls. I moved closer to see what was going on. The exact instant that I realized it was Aliya my body was completely frozen. I wasn’t cold, but I couldn’t move any muscle in my body. I strained to move just an inch, but never could. I even tried to close my eyes; to prevent myself from seeing her like this, but I couldn’t even do that. I yelled out “ALIYA!” but it never made it out of my mind. My mouth was just as debilitated as the rest of me. About that time, I began feeling pain in the side of my face. I also heard someone talking, and I woke up. The side of my face was sore from hitting the table and sleeping on that spot. I was still very tired, because the dream had not let me sleep very soundly. I laid down on the floor now, and looked up at the ceiling, and saw that it was covered with the blobs! I quickly got to my feet as Vallia rushed out. I grabbed my things and followed. I reached my horse outside, and leapt atop him. The adrenaline was flowing through my veins, and I was not feeling the effects of my dream. Misha was ready to burn the house down, and no one had any objections. Kayla left to go rescue the horse from the stable. Everyone was surprisingly callous toward her, saying that we should leave her. I couldn’t very well leave someone alone out here. I turned my horse to chase after her. She reached the stable and found the corpse of the horse there. I reached her a few seconds later, and I yelled for her to get on. She climbed on my horse, and clung tightly to me. A wise choice. I took off at full speed away from the inn that was now fully engulfed in flame. I caught up with the group, but we didn’t stop until much later. I understood completely, and decided that I could stand the halfling for a while longer. We traveled along for many days, and I was feeling the effects of the dream. It made me weary. I didn’t feel physically tired or mentally constrained. It ate at my soul to feel so helpless. We neared the forests of Cormanthor. An elven man appeared, gesturing to indicate peace. He began to speak with Vallia, and she became very angry. Something about the way they spoke to each other... I could tell that they were not our enemies, but Vallia didn’t like this man very much. Finally, the man signaled, and 20 elves came out of hiding in the forest. The elven speaker told us that we were welcome in his village, and something told me in my gut that we had just found my future in-laws. It occurred to me then that I would need to learn the elven language. I asked Vallia if she would explain what had been told to her. She told me what he said. As far as I could tell, he was even more proud that Misha, but HE had the muscle to back it up. This man had an evil side to him, though. We reached the elven village, and we were not very well received. None of the elves were necessarily mean to us, but we did receive many wary stares. I looked at all the stares, and each was filled with suspicion of us. There were very few men here. Many of the people we saw were women and their children. Thamior, the elf that had met us on the trial earlier, had led us to a large dwelling in the center of the village. He quickly went to the wagon to help Vallia down. She reluctantly allowed him to do so, and I thought to myself that I would not like this man, for whatever reason. The man helped her down, and held her close. Vallia allowed to do it for a moment, then broke away, and headed to the dwelling. Thamior told the elves to care for the wagon and horses, and ignored us. I dismounted, and continued to take in all I could of the village. Misha said aloud what I was thinking. We could trust these elves, at least for now. The rest of us entered the meeting hall, and Thamior entered to tell us that food would be brought for us shortly. We all sat at the table, and I just waited to see how things unfolded before saying anything. Vallia was speaking solely for appearances to Thamior, and Misha began acting like a mercenary, albeit a bit dumber than even I would have assumed he would. Kay actually joined in on the act, and Misha soon named me “boss.” I figured my acting could use the practice, so I picked up on it, and joined in the conversation as the boss. They began discussing the reward from our last mission. They couldn’t decide whether it was 300 gp, or 350 gp. I told them I remembered it was 350 gp. They agreed with boss, and Thamior mentioned that the elves needed some help. He told us about a creature that was attacking elven villages, and asked for our help (in a round about manner, at least). The ‘merc group’ began chatting amongst itself about cost, and I felt like we didn’t need to talk too long about it. I said that 500 would be a fair price, and no one argued with the boss. It was rather funny to be considered the boss, and I began thinking of the best way to pull of the charade. I first thought of my weapons..... a shortspear and a light crossbow? Not very merc-like. If we have to keep up this ruse for very long, I’ll need to look into at least getting an ornamental longsword (maybe I could even learn to use it....). Maybe I should grow a beard as well..... Ah, just my little thoughts. Anyway, we agreed to help, and Vallia included herself in our little group. Thamior objected, but she quickly silenced him with her look. She asked for lodging for all of us, and all the while, I kept up my act. Thamior led Vallia away to her residence, and we all sat there, continuing to act for the sake of the guards. All the while, Vallia was telling me that I should be wary of the people here. She told me that I shouldn’t mention Aliya, and that I should be especially wary of Thamior’s brother I did my best to keep all of the others from causing an incident, and Gruush was the most successful of them. Kay mentioned Vallia’s name, speaking about Misha and Vallia. I quickly indicated not to even mention her name. We began to feast, and Misha recounted the time he killed 4 drow all alone. I reminded him that there were 7 drow that day, and that he had a little help from me. I rather enjoyed embellishing, and Misha began to go on about the time he fought some Zhentarim. Right at that moment Vallia walked in. She looked absolutely beautiful in her gown, and I was struck speechless. I recovered quickly, and asked Vallia through the ring if that was really her. She told me “just barely.” I wanted to laugh a little. I also wanted to tell her that she looked quite beautiful. I did neither, and merely continued with the story. Misha was surrounded by 20 or 30 zhents (he couldn’t make up his mind which), and he only had a dagger. I told him he had to be joking, since we couldn’t afford daggers back then. I imagine he would have had fun with that, but Vallia interrupted us and told me through the ring that she needed to talk to me alone. I apologized as the boss, telling her that it was just old stories. She offered her arm, which I took, and led us to our home for the night. It was quite an excellent house, and I made sure to mention aloud what an honor it was to stay with the princess. She nodded her approval (of my acting, I think.), and brought us inside. We saw the elegance inside, and I made a comment about asking for more money. Vallia was once again upset at our act, and made it clear. We stopped, and I told Misha to pick up the act if somebody popped in. Vallia told us about Thamior and Tharivol, Thamior’s brother, who were promised Aliya and Vallia. Vallia felt that Thain, the brothers’ father, was the one responsible for her father’s assassination. I felt very sad at hearing that, and Misha felt that he should make the best of the opportunity. He went to Vallia and placed a hand on her shoulder, then kissed her. It pained me to see that. I had only kissed her three times, and yet it pained me to remember kissing Aliya. I also couldn’t stand to see the opportunist doing this to Vallia. I turned my head quickly, so I wouldn’t see. They pulled away from each other, and Vallia began to talk about our future plans. With every sentence, Vallia became more and more angry. She finally became so angry that she threw her tiara to the bed. I didn’t want to see her throw away what she was because of others. I handed it back to her, and told her she couldn’t throw away what she was. She bent the tiara in her hands, and I saw that she couldn’t accept that right now. I decided to leave her alone, and she spoke to me with the ring. She told me that she had heard me call Aliya’s name all those nights ago in the inn. I told her that I had had a nightmare. She asked me to tell her about it, so I did. She said it was a bad omen, but I tried not to think about it too much. I made it to my room, and told Vallia that I had never had someone get into my head so thoroughly. She told me it was magic. I was shocked. Magic? Why would Aliya do that to me? She assured me that it was natural magic, fueled by my heart and amplified by my magical abilities. I felt better at hearing that, and felt that I would be able to sleep better with that in mind. It did bother me a bit that maybe magic was what cause Aliya to love me, but I didn’t have long to think about it. I was quickly asleep. I awoke to “MEN!” being shouted in my head. It shocked me a little; enough to wake me. I asked Vallia if she had said anything and she told me, “If it means anything, I think she would have loved you anyway.....magic or no." I was glad to hear her say that. Vallia has relieved much of my tension all the time I have known her, and this was yet another example. I might actually sleep well tonight. No such luck. It seemed that as soon as I had lain down, the dream began again. I was spinning again, then I stopped, and the walls came into focus. I couldn’t move still, and I tried my hardest to move. This time, the dream went on a few moments more. A man in a cloak appeared in my view. He looked over me, and then I awoke suddenly, seeing that it was not yet sunrise. I did my best to try to sleep, and I tossed and turned until I gave up, and decided to talk to Vallia. It was near sunrise, and I couldn't stand to see those horrible images again. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Journals of the Five: A Forgotten Realms Tale
Top