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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Justinian" data-source="post: 1309058" data-attributes="member: 6358">This is a little longer than usual, since it's been several weeks since I updated.  --------------------------------------------------Departed PCs: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Othi, elf druid. Left to help his family, and avenge a relative's death.</li> </ul>-------------------------------------------------- Session 4: Swords for HireThe orcs fulfilled their promise, and sent the group downriver on a barge filled with copper and other trade goods. A few other travelers bought passage south to Erendar on the barge with them, including a bard named Marrek. He livened up the trip by telling tales of adventures, and eventually one of the group started talking about the mines of Bellhold and what they went through. When they got to the part where the Dragonstone shattered, Marrek was shocked. He asked them to repeat the story in detail, and then went off by himself and started reciting something in a low voice. This continued throughout the night.The next day, he told them why he had been surprised. Like most bard tales, it began long ago. Five centuries ago, more or less, when a small-time cooper named Julian suddenly walked out of his market stall and said to no one in particular, “Flame comes out of the east, and the earth shall rend the speaker apart.” As he finished saying this, Erendar was invaded. Warships from the east attacked the harbor, and sorcerers rained fire from the sky. During the panic that followed, Julian stood peacefully in front of his stall, and continued speaking. A nearby bard had witnessed this, and found it unusual enough to keep listening. Nearly a full day later, Julian was still speaking. The bard was still listening to him, even though little of what he said made sense. Suddenly, the buildings began to shake as earthquakes and disintegrates tore city and ground apart. A fissure opened up below Julian, and he disappeared into it as falling rocks crashed in around him. At this point, the bard fled back to safety, but he had memorized all of what Julian had said. In the years to come, bardic circles passed on and analyzed Julian’s words. Though incomprehensible at first glance, his words, in hindsight, often seemed to foretell major events. His words became known as the Proclamation of Julian, but they were kept secret by the bards, and handed down from generation to generation. One day, they believed, it would all become clear.Marrek had matched one of the verses with their story about the Dragonstone, or so he believed. “The breakers of the sapphire heart shall ride the copper river. They shall rid the sky of stones, and their word will drown the song.” Marrek believed that the Dragonstone was the sapphire heart mentioned. In his opinion, they were currently riding on the copper river, in a way. Marrek didn’t know what the second sentence was about, but he said that he’d record the information in the annotations to the Proclamation. Perhaps someone else would be able to figure it out. He was pleased to find even this much correspondence with current events.They arrived at Erendar shortly afterwards, and gathered up the wagon and their gear to enter the city. There was a group of guards at the gate, and one of the guards came out to talk to them. He introduced himself as Jared, the lieutenant on duty. It was his job to explain the laws and requirements currently in force in the city. As there had been no such position when any of the group had left Erendar, they asked him what had happened since.After the gods disappeared, the nobles moved into a position of power. The most powerful formed a loose council and convinced the City Guard to support them. They promised to enforce the taxes and keep the city running (and not incidentally, pay the Guard’s wages). This worked well for awhile, but it seemed that some people in Erendar didn’t believe the nobles had quite as much of a godly right to rule them. Demonstrations began to spread, and they weren’t usually peaceful. The nobles had no choice but to reassign most of the City Guard to work as bodyguards. As Erendar used to be a large and law-abiding town, there were enough to give every major noble three bodyguards, and at least one bodyguard for the minor nobles. This pleased the nobles, but no one else. The City Guard was displeased about being reduced to a skeleton force that could barely keep order in the main streets of the city, and the people were unhappy that they couldn’t express their displeasure in the traditional way. Using the continued discontent as a leverage point, the nobles gained more and more legal power. Currently, anyone who attacked a noble could be executed on the spot by his bodyguards, and nobles were notoriously loose in their definitions of an attack. The Guard recommended that all travelers peacebond their weapons and allow them to be officially sealed, so that it could be proved whether they had drawn a weapon if necessary.This was disturbing news to the party, especially the part about power-hungry, cruel nobles. They had their weapons peacebonded at the gate, and asked Jared if he knew of any good places to stay that had stables for their wagon and horses. He recommended a large inn named The Broken Spear in the southwestern part of town, and gave them directions. It was easy to find, since it was on a street mostly occupied by tall warehouses. The Broken Spear was clearly a warehouse that had been thoroughly converted to an inn, and it also looked very popular. The party made their way inside and managed to rent a large room that could hold them all for about a week, planning to look around town before deciding what to do next.Othi contacted some of the elves in town, and heard disturbing news about his family. Apparently, his aunt had been murdered recently, and his family was in danger. He decided that he was needed in the elven capital more than in Erendar, and prepared to leave immediately. The rest of the group wished him luck and gave him his share of the gold, but didn’t want to leave town again so quickly. Popo took most of the unidentified items over to the psionics guild to have them identified, and the group then split up the ones that were useful from the ones that simply represented gold. The most interesting item was a whistle that could generate a cone of sonic energy once per day in the hands of a psion. The group agreed that it was worth keeping, and Popo was anxious to test it out.The next day, most of the group researched the opportunities for inebriation in town, since the week-long harvest festival began tomorrow. Aoshi, however, was researching possibilities for jobs. He first went to the shrine of Garaihn in the center of town, to see if anyone was there. A single priest remained, named Brock, but he didn’t seem very lucid. His sole focus was on finding his god again, and he begged Aoshi to help him, although he had nothing to offer in return. Aoshi promised Brock that he’d definitely hunt for Garaihn, if he came up with any leads. Aoshi went next to the headquarters of the City Guard, and asked if they needed any short-term help on the streets. He was told by the sergeant on duty that the Guard wasn’t allowed to recruit anyone at this time. Aoshi then asked if there was any place he could get work, and the sergeant recommended joining a mercenary guild. He suggested one called the Axemen, originally founded by dwarves but now an eclectic and highly respected guild. Aoshi thanked him and went to the Axemen guildhouse. He spoke with a representative of the guild, and determined the entrance requirements. Considering this a good day’s work, Aoshi went back to find the rest of the group. They were more concerned with preparations for the feast tomorrow, and said that the guild could be dealt with after the holidays were over.Aoshi spent the next week studying various creatures in the psionics guild, preparing for when he could shift his shape. The others caroused with the city in a lengthy denial of the current stifling political situation. The nobles were paying the entire cost of the feasting this year, and many people were mollified by this action, forgetting their previous disgruntlement.The group rents a smaller room at The Broken Spear to hold ther supplies, but holds off on renewing the larger room’s rental until they have talked to the guild about jobs. When they arrive, the guild representative is more than happy to explain the requirements of membership. [See earlier post for details on the guild.] He shows them several contracts that could be done, and explains that the reward for their first contract is taken by the guild as an entry fee. After some deliberation, the group picked the one that offered the least, and was closest. This contract had been posted by an alchemist who was experimenting with nonmagical oils that simulated magical potions. He had developed a formula that worked like enlarge person, except that it worked on more than humanoids. Unfortunately, he found this out when some spiders got into his workbench, and grew to the size of small dogs. The alchemist fled his workshop, locked and sealed the door to his house, and went to the Axemen’s Guild for help. They set up a meeting with the alchemist at their inn, and questioned him for some time about the specific details of the problem. He wasn’t sure how large the spiders were, since he suspected that the potion might have continued to work. He offered them some flasks of alchemist’s fire in case they found it useful, and gave them the key to his door. As the group wanted to complete this contract before the end of the day, they hurried off to clear the house of spiders. Nothing came out as they opened the door, so Feliks carefully stepped into the front room, followed by his dog. The walls were covered in webs, but no spiders could be seen. The others filed in behind him, and Popo lit a torch to illuminate the darkened room. As he closed the door so that nothing could escape from them, a spider even larger than Feliks’s dog sprang forward, and several smaller spiders came down from the ceiling to attack. It didn’t take long for the adventurers to cut through the spiders, with little injury, and Aoshi continued through the room to the hallway beyond. He saw the stairs down to the alchemist’s workshop, but before he was halfway there, he was attacked by even more spiders. They bit him more than once, and he retreated back into the front room so others could take the lead. Feliks moved forward, and between his sword and Popo’s lesser concussions, the spiders only lasted long enough to poison Feliks once. He was weakened, but decided to press on. They moved down into the basement, and saw spiders everywhere. A large spider crouched over the shattered remains of a worktable in the center, and a puddle of strange liquid could be seen on the floor. Medium-sized spiders were scattered around the room, and the shelves around the room had smaller spiders all over. Popo figured this was a good time to try out the psionic whistle, and luckily moved before the spiders. He eliminated most of the smaller spiders with it, wounding the larger ones, and then got out of the way for the fighters to come down. These spiders began trying to web Feliks, Aoshi, and the animal companions, but only delayed the inevitable. Slowly, the medium spiders dropped to the combined attacks, although one of them managed to further poison Feliks. Luckily, Aoshi was able to kill the large spider with his ranseur before it could reach him.With all the visibly dangerous spiders dead, the group quickly cleared an area around the pool of liquid, and searched the room for any other dangers. Riguallaun went to get the alchemist while the others guarded the room. The alchemist was soon back, and he mixed some chemicals into the liquid, changing its color. He pronounced it safe enough now, and sent them back to the guild with a signed acknowledgement of completion. The group returned to the guild and were confirmed as members. The guild representative gave them each a medallion for identification, and then they returned to The Broken Spear. Even though there wasn’t much room, they hung hammocks in the room with their gear, and rested there while Feliks healed from the spider poison.</blockquote>

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