Servants of the Swift Sword (A Kalamar campaign)
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Wicht
Hero
The Kalamar Player's Guide is a great resource. Amongst other things, it lists a different canon for each of Kalamar's faith. The Servants of the Swift Sword's canon is called "To Serve" and is a collection of 21 Heroes. Each Hero is a biographical account of a different heroic figure. The heroes emphasize manners and ettiquette as well as courage and good humor.
The 21 heroes are left open in the Player's guide (though it mentions that Saint Nolano, a halfling, is the third hero). I chose to make one of the Heroes be Saint Rimon, and the story in the interlude is my introduction of this saint, a man renown for both wisdom and courage.
If you want to create a canon for a faith, I would recomend reading the many books listed in the Kalamar Player's Guide for ideas.
The 21 heroes are left open in the Player's guide (though it mentions that Saint Nolano, a halfling, is the third hero). I chose to make one of the Heroes be Saint Rimon, and the story in the interlude is my introduction of this saint, a man renown for both wisdom and courage.
If you want to create a canon for a faith, I would recomend reading the many books listed in the Kalamar Player's Guide for ideas.
Wicht
Hero
Chapter 5 – Taesoo
As the dawn light grew, Alairic walked from the shrine back to the small house in which the others were sleeping. He was musing on his vision, turning over lessons from his past in his mind, trying to think of which one might be meant. Perhaps it was when Deochoo told me I should work on my concentration, he thought, clearly recalling that as a lesson. I haven’t worked on it either like I was supposed to, thought Alairic guiltily.
Opening the door to the house he went in and started waking up the others.
“Wake up! Get up you sleepy heads!”
He gave Niccolo a shove with his foot, “Niccolo, wake up!”
“Go away stupid Paladin,” mumbled the sleepy half-elf.
“Are you two at it again?” asked Tilliana.
Over breakfast, they discussed their plans.
“We are still no closer to finding Giovan,” said Alairic.
“I think we should go back and check out Roona’s cave while she’s not there,” said Niccolo, “I want to know where she got that staff and backpack out of and I am not sure I trust her completely. She seemed a little suspicious.”
“Hmm,” said Tilliana, “and here I was thinking we should go have a look at this Island she told us about.”
“Personally, I wanted to go and talk to this Captain Scythe that Froima mentioned and see if he might know anything,” interjected Alairic
“Yeah, it seems likely it was pirates involved,” said Niccolo.
“You know,” said Alairic, chewing his food thoughtfully, “If there was a big enough ship, they could have put out a plank to that cliff where those tracks ended and that might account for them ending the way they did. What do you think thief? Though I guess you really have no choice huh?”
“No, I gotta go where you guys go,” said Heidon, “And it really does not matter to me.”
After quite a bit more debating Niccolo managed to convince them to go back to Roona’s cave before they did anything else. So, breakfast finished, they set off. As they were leaving the village, they met Froima.
“Where are you guys going?” he asked them.
“We are going to go back up to Roona’s cave and check some things out,” said Niccolo, “There were some things that did not make sense to us.”
“Well make sure you come back to Taesoo when you are finished,” said Froima with a big smile, “I will have a surprise for you by this evening.”
“Ok, we will,” said Alairic.
The trip along the coast was uneventful and they found they were already beginning to learn many of the landmarks. They skirted around Tiolo’s beach, so as not to yet encounter the old woman and in a couple of hours had reached the cave site. The fish-men bodies were gone, dragged off into the sea by something. They carefully and methodically searched the cave and were rewarded with two discoveries. The first was a secret niche, well hidden, about two feet to a side and several feet deep. The second was a large crack in the cave wall by the spot where Roona had first mysteriously appeared. Niccolo got on his hands and knees and checked it out.
“There’s a larger area a foot or so further through here,” he announced, squinting into the darkness of the crack. They searched for some secret entrance into the other area but could find none. Indeed, other than the bed, the cave was empty.
“I think we oughta check out that island now,” said Tilliana, “If it is certain that the spined lizard thing came from there then someone ahs been there and we might be able to find more clues if we look there.”
“Well, first we have to get back to Taesoo,” reminded Niccolo, “and see what Froima wanted to show us.”
They arrived back in Taesoo about an hour after noon only to find that when they entered the village, people stared at them funny and moved away as if slightly anxious.
“What is this,” asked Alairic attempting humor, “I washed all that stuff off me already!”
The others laughed but they too wondered at the reactions of the villagers, who for the last few days had seemed friendly enough. Their questions increased when, in the middle of the village they were met by the Froima’s remaining four guardsmen. Each was carrying a crossbow and each crossbow was loaded and ready to fire. As they approached the four companions they each aimed their crossbow at Alairic.
“We don’t relish shooting you, sir, but if you don’t come with us quietly we will.”
“What’s this about?” the four companions exclaimed all at once.
“We are arresting you for the murder of Froima.”
“I did not kill Froima!”
“Alairic couldn’t have murdered Froima!” protested Niccolo, “He was with us all morning and we weren’t even in town, we were out past Tiolo’s beach all morning.”
“I didn’t say we necessarily believed ourselves sir, doubtlessly there is foul magic of some sort at work, but we have thirty or more witnesses that watched and will swear that they saw Alairic drag Froima into the shrine of Naemae and stab him repeatedly on the altar.”
“I will go with them,” said Alairic humbly, “They are after all just doing their job, trying to uphold the law, but you three can work to clear me.”
“Who saw this happen?” asked Tilliana.
“Just ask around, the village is not that big and I am sure you will easily find ones who were there.”
Tilliana noticed that a crowd of villagers was watching them and called out, “Who here saw it?”
A small number raised there hands. Tilliana singled one out and asked, “What did you see.”
“I saw this man drag Froima into the shrine and kill him on the altar!” exclaimed the man.
“You are sure it was Alairic, he had the same face and everything?”
“Of course he had the same face, it wouldn’t have been him otherwise!”
“There was nothing different? Think hard.”
“Well,” said the man thoughtfully and honestly, “He did use a different sword, It weren’t as big as that thing he’s got on his back now, but that don’t prove nothing he could have switched weapons easy enough!”
“Was there a raven?” asked Niccolo.
“No there was no raven.”
“We will get the judge in here tomorrow,” promised the one guard who had done all the talking, “He will find out the truth soon enough. I’ll send for him at once.”
The guards led him away and Alairic went without a word, not even protesting when they took his weapons from him.
The other three watched him go and then tried to decide what to do. Finally Niccolo and Tilliana decided that Heidon should ask around the village and learn what he could while they investigated the shrine itself.
“Meet us back in the shrine in a couple of hours,” said Tilliana.
They found nothing at the shrine. There were no clues, only blood on the altar. Froima’s body had already been removed and nothing else in the shrine or the yard had been touched.
Heidon did not have a lot to report when he came back, only that those that watched it had said it had seemed as if Froima was being sacrificed as he was being killed and that Froima had walked as if in a daze to the altar, laying his own body on the rock.
“That doesn’t sound like Froima,” said Niccolo, “He was kind of a fiesty fellow.”
Tilliana and Niccolo, followed by Heidon spent the rest of the afternoon trying to see if they could learn more than Heidon had. Tilliana managed to glean one interesting fact hitherto not mentioned. After killing Froima, the murderer had cut out the heart and dousing it with oil had burnt it on the altar besides the body. But other than that there did not seem to be a lot more about the story to learn.
They decided to go look at the body. The village undertaker had possession of the body and was already building the wooden coffin in which Froima was to be buried. He freely let them examine the body. But they gleaned no clues from the corpse. Froima had been stabbed and his heart cut out, but that was all that could be told and they had already known that.
“You wouldn’t happen to know which way the murderer ran out of town after he killed Froima would you?” Niccolo thought to ask the undertaker.
“I believe he ran out of town to the west.”
“And we were east of town all morning. That’s one in Alairic’s favor anyway.”
As they were leaving, the undertaker stopped Tilliana, “Froima was a devout worshipper of Naemae and despite the circumstances after a lifetime of devotion, it seems appropriate for a cleric of Naemae to do his funeral. Would you be able to do that?”
Tilliana agreed to do it and they set a time for the following morning.
They decided to go visit with Alairic. The village jail had only one cell, the only brick structure in the town. Alairic sat within reading “To Serve” when they entered. The two guards without let them in without a fuss.
“I learned something,” said Alairic as they told him what they had found out, “The guards say that Froima was worried about the crew of the ship anchored out in the bay and had told their captain that he would only allow five of the sailors ashore at a time.”
“Hmm, they might be pirates and they obviously had a reason to be upset at Froima. I wonder if there is a shapeshifter on board?” mused Niccolo
“Could be worth looking into,” said Alairic.
“You want to know what I think,” said Niccolo, I think we should hunt for that runt that stole the gold! You remember, Tolo, that gnome.”
“He could be anywhere!” exclaimed Alairic in disbelieve, “What about Roona, we were told that she was a shapeshifter and maybe she can shapeshift into something more than a fish.”
“I think we might want to investigate that ship,” said Tilliana.
“Why don’t you follow some of the sailors in town and keep an eye on them and you might want to see if you can find out where the guy ran when he left town.”
After a bit more discussion it was decided that Heidon and Tilliana would keep an eye on the sailors and that Niccolo could see if he could find any tracks. Feeling a little better with something to do, they left Alairic who returned to reading his book of scriptures.
Surprisingly, Niccolo managed to find a lone pair of tracks where he was told the man ran west out of the village and with skill he followed them for about an hour. They ended about a mile west of the village near the beach. Niccolo examined closely where the tracks stopped. The markings looked very much so like the markings looked on the cliff near Tiolo’s beach where the tracks had also ended abruptly. Niccolo thought for a moment and then decided to examine the ground past where the tracks ended. He was rewarded by the discovery of a feather, a foot in length and grey. Having an idea he went back and looked for a different type of track. What he found was not what he expected. He had been looking for a large paw print, perhaps that of a great cat. Instead what he found was the markings of a giant bird with a claw at least six inches to eight inches long.
Meanwhile the other two investigators were discovering nothing. They had found the sailors, all five of them, easily enough. They were in the village bar drinking and talking. Heidon and Tilliana took a seat out of the way, but where they could watch and listen easily enough. The five sailors seemed to be interested in the death of Froima, but nothing in their conversation indicated they had any inside information. After about an hour, one of the sailors started a fist fight with one of the villagers and the bartender threw out all five of them. The drunken men stumbled off, cursing Taesoo, its inhabitants and vowing revenge. Tilliana and Heidon followed them. The men climbed in their rowboat at the beach and with unsteady strokes rowed back out to their ship.
The sun was going down and it dusk was deepening. Having nothing else to do, they headed back to the jail where they met both Alairic and Niccolo. Niccolo described to them what he had found and showed them the feather.
“I am thinking it’s something like a griffon,” said Alairic.
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Niccolo.
“I think we should get on that ship and see if we can learn anything,” said Tilliana. Niccolo nodded in agreement.
“How are you going to do that?” asked Alairic, “For all you know they are a bunch of pirates. Sneaking aboard a ship of cut throats doesn’t seem that smart.”
“We could row out there,” said Tilliana.
“If you got me close enough, I could swim over and sneak on,” suggested Heidon.
“I still don’t know what you hope to accomplish but I wish you would find out something that would show I did not do it,” said Alairic.
The other three had made up their mind though and headed out into the night to sneak aboard the ship. They found a fisherman on the beach who agreed to rent them his rowboat for a gold coin and after Niccolo paid him, they pushed out and with Tilliana rowing, they made their way out towards the ship. The water was dark and the moon was hidden behind clouds, but there were lights aboard the ship to aim for. They steered for a spot just past the light of the ship. As they rowed, they thought they heard another boat rowing over the noise of the ocean waves. Tilliana stopped rowing and sure enough, off to their left they heard another boat being rowed, this one away from the ship and towards the beach.
“I think we should follow that row boat,” said Tilliana.
“Lets get out to the ship,” hissed Niccolo.
They got near enough to the ship and Heidon, removing his armor and sword prepared to swim over. He carried with him only his longbow and daggers. Diving off the side of the rowboat, he swam towards the ship. He reached it without difficulty and grabbing the anchor chain, he climbed quietly up it. Peering over the side of the ship he saw two men on the other side of the ship staring out towards the village. They seemed to be the only ones on deck. Still moving stealthily, he climbed over the side and eased himself onto the deck. On the other side of the deck he saw steps leading up to a higher deck and a door that most likely led into the crew’s quarters. There was a cargo hatch between him and the men staring over the side. Feeling emboldened, he decided to make his way to the door to the quarters.
He stepped forward and the board under him squeaked loudly. The men spun around and saw him.
“You there! What do you think you are doing?” They drew out short swords.
“Hardly pausing to think, Heidon drew out his bow and fired at them. He hit one of the men who went down, clutching at the arrow in his chest. The other man ran at Heidon across the deck, slashing with his sword. His sword hit and cut into Heidon. Heidon dropped his bow and drawing out a dagger plunged it into the man’s chest. Overhead, a man positioned in the crows nest began shouting out a warning cry. He was silenced by a well placed arrow fired by Niccolo. The other two, having heard Heidon’s fight had rowed towards the ship. As Heidon looked over the bodies, Tilliana climbed up to the deck and Niccolo tied off the rowboat to the anchor line. Then he too joined the others on deck. Just as Niccolo cleared the deck, the door to the crew’s quarters burst open and out strode a giant of a man. He sported a beard and held in one hand a greatax. He wore a chainmail shirt. Behind him was a smaller man dressed in leather armor and holding a shortsword.
“What are you doing on my ship!” hollered the big one in the merchant tongue, “I’ll cut off yer head and feed em to the sharks!”
“Just try it,” said Tilliana, drawing her sword. It was then she noticed how badly hurt Heidon was from his exchange with the other two men. Heidon drew on his bow and fired a shot straight into the man. But the man did not fall. Instead his face grew bright red and veins stood out on the side of his neck and his eyes bulged. With a roar, he charged with astonishing speed across the deck, plowing into Tilliana with a mighty sweep of his great ax. The other man also charged forward, swinging at the petite woman, but Tilliana turned his blow and sliced at the larger man, missing. Niccolo stabbed at the man with her longsword, missing and following through with a dagger, but he was too quick and sidestepped the hidden thrust. Clearly such tactics weren’t going to work on this man. Niccolo dropped his dagger and focusing on using just his sword cut into the man.
With eyes still bulging, the man swung at Heidon who ducked the swing. Moving around the man, Niccolo swung at him again, drawing a little more blood. Tilliana, deciding it would be easier only fighting one, swung at the other man, cutting him open with her huge sword and taking him out of the fight. Meanwhile the pirate captain managed to hit Heidon with a terrific blow that laid the young man out on the deck. Again Niccolo hit the man and now the man turned on the half-elf, with a swing that cut through the half-elf’s armor and opened a large wound. Tilliana, hoping Niccolo would be able to handle the man for a while on his own backed up away from the fight and offering up a prayer helped Heidon regain his feet. Niccolo parried one more stroke and then cut the man yet again. But though he bled from many cuts, he refused to fall and continued to fight fiercely and madly. Tilliana offered up one more prayer of healing for Heidon and then, grasping her sword firmly, she charged the man, shouting to get his attention. As he turned towards her, she brought her sword down on his head, cleaving it open.
All of them were badly wounded from the heavy ax, but they were still alive. Tilliana tended to their wounds as best as she was able, using her divine spells to stop the bleeding and heal the worse of the injuries. Heidon claimed the chain shirt as loot and Niccolo examining the ax decided to take it for her own. Then they set out to investigate what else the ship held.
Alairic was beginning to doze when the door to the jail banged open and in rushed one of the guards, his hair disheveled and his sword drawn.
“We need your help! Pirates from the ship in the bay are looting the town. They have already killed the other three guards! Please help us.”
“I will help,” said Alairic rushing to his feet and moving to the cell door, “let me out.”
The guard fumbled with his keys and then opened the door. He motioned Alairic to his sword and daggers which they had stowed on a small table nearby. Then, once Alairic had his sword on and was ready they went out. There were three men, all with swords drawn, coming down the street.
“These were the ones that killed the other three.”
Alairic drew his sword.
“Get ‘em men,” said one of the men and the three pirates charged forward. Alairic ducked a sword swipe and managed to land a glancing blow on one. The guard next to him was charged by two and though the turned one blade and stabbed the man, the other pirate, obviously a more skilled fighter, sliced into the guard. Alairic parried another stroke and then swung around. The weight of his greatsword carried through the mans defenses and then into the man himself. The pirate fell to the ground dead. The guard too finished one of the pirates and then parried a stroke from their leader. Coming at the pirate from the side, Alairic nicked him. The pirate however, ignored Alairic for a moment and with a powerful stroke cut open the guard who fell to the ground dying. Alairic made the man pay for ignoring him by once more delivering a hit with his heavy blade. The pirate, sensing his peril turned to fight but it was too late. With a powerful overhand swing, Alairic’s struck. The man moved just enough that the stroke missed his head, but cutting into his shoulder, the blade carried down into the chest and the man was dead.
Alairic took stalk of his situation for a moment and decided the best course would be to get help. Dimly he recalled where the mayor lived and headed off in that direction. There were two men banging on the mayor’s door when he got there.
“Open up and we may not kill you,” one of them hollered.
“You two, what are you doing!” exclaimed Alairic.
They turned and faced him, “Get out of here or we’ll give you some too!”
Alairic charged. He swung and missed, but managed to sidestep their swings. Then bringing his sword around he decapitated one and backing up a moment out of the way of the other man’s short sword, he swung, letting his swords weight carry him forward. The edge of his sword sliced through the other man’s arm and into his chest.
“Good job,” said the mayor coming to the door. The mayor was a short man with a balding head and gray hair. Alairic thought he could see some gnomish ancestry in the man’s features.
“Thank you sir,” said Alairic.
“Now what are you waiting for, get out there and get the rest of them!”
Wearily, Alairic turned to do as he was told.
He found two more of the men. They were in the process of breaking into the village store.
“What do you want!” they cried.
Alairic answered, “You need to stop this.”
“I would like to see you make us,” said one of them with a laugh.
Alairic sighed and charged. Carried forward with the momentum of his armor and his sword, Alairic delivered a powerful attack. His sword swung through the air and sliced one of the pirates from head to groing. But the other one moved quickly as Alairic was regaining his balance and stabbed into Alairic’s side with his sword. Alairic manaed to find the strength to bring his sword around, cutting into the man’s side, but somehow the pirate managed to stay on his feet. Alairic prepared to attack once more but the other man was too swift and stabbed at Alairic again. As the blood flowed from the wound, everything went black for Alairic.
Searching the ship, Tilliana and the other two swiftly discovered there was no one else aboard. They found some money in both the captain’s quarters and the first mates quarters, and Niccolo took the captain’s log to study. In the hold of the ship there was a lot of cargo. But it was mundane stuff for the most part, cloth and spices.
“I say we burn the ship,” said Niccolo, “That was if the pirates are on the shore, they won’t have anyplace to flee to.”
The others agreed and Heidon had the honor of lighting the fire. They boarded the rowboat and began rowing back to shore. As the rowed, the fire spread and the ship began to sink into the ocean water. Tilliana prayed as the ship burned and offered it up as a sacrifice of victory to Naemae.
There was a crowd to meet them when they returned to shore. It was the villagers with torches and crossbows. But when the villagers saw who was rowing, they cheered and welcomed the companions ashore.
Alairic was back in the prison cell they discovered. The villagers, seeing him fighting the pirates, had taken courage and banded together and killed the last few themselves. Alairic was bandaged and carried as a hero to prison.
Morning brought both the local judge and new council. The judge was a priest in the Courts of Justice and he quickly set about hearing the facts of the case. When he discovered though that Alairic was not lying when he testified that he had not been in town at the time of Froima’s death, the Truthseeker determined the paladin to be innocent and set him free. The villagers cheered at this for the events of the previous evening had made him something of a local hero.
“I knew you were innocent all along,” was the common refrain Alairic heard that day. There was even talk of having him take Froima’s place. Alairic made no response to such ideas and when he had a moment, he offered up a sacrifice at the shrine to Naemae, thanking him for the victory.
Niccolo meanwhile read the log of the Raging Sea, that being the name of the ship they had sunk. According tot he log, the ship had recently been purchased by the Captian, a man named Grinkar and had just two weeks ago successfully plundered his first merchant ship. The Captain had anchored off of Taesoo to try to lay low for a time before selling the merchandise in Aasaer. The pirates aboard the Raging Sea had no connection to either Giovan or the plundered villages.
They counted out the money they had taken from the ship and split it up. Alairic, Niccolo and Tilliana all deposited a good percentage of their take in the shrine offering box. Niccolo tried to talk Heidon into tithing, but the young man did not see the need.
As the dawn light grew, Alairic walked from the shrine back to the small house in which the others were sleeping. He was musing on his vision, turning over lessons from his past in his mind, trying to think of which one might be meant. Perhaps it was when Deochoo told me I should work on my concentration, he thought, clearly recalling that as a lesson. I haven’t worked on it either like I was supposed to, thought Alairic guiltily.
Opening the door to the house he went in and started waking up the others.
“Wake up! Get up you sleepy heads!”
He gave Niccolo a shove with his foot, “Niccolo, wake up!”
“Go away stupid Paladin,” mumbled the sleepy half-elf.
“Are you two at it again?” asked Tilliana.
Over breakfast, they discussed their plans.
“We are still no closer to finding Giovan,” said Alairic.
“I think we should go back and check out Roona’s cave while she’s not there,” said Niccolo, “I want to know where she got that staff and backpack out of and I am not sure I trust her completely. She seemed a little suspicious.”
“Hmm,” said Tilliana, “and here I was thinking we should go have a look at this Island she told us about.”
“Personally, I wanted to go and talk to this Captain Scythe that Froima mentioned and see if he might know anything,” interjected Alairic
“Yeah, it seems likely it was pirates involved,” said Niccolo.
“You know,” said Alairic, chewing his food thoughtfully, “If there was a big enough ship, they could have put out a plank to that cliff where those tracks ended and that might account for them ending the way they did. What do you think thief? Though I guess you really have no choice huh?”
“No, I gotta go where you guys go,” said Heidon, “And it really does not matter to me.”
After quite a bit more debating Niccolo managed to convince them to go back to Roona’s cave before they did anything else. So, breakfast finished, they set off. As they were leaving the village, they met Froima.
“Where are you guys going?” he asked them.
“We are going to go back up to Roona’s cave and check some things out,” said Niccolo, “There were some things that did not make sense to us.”
“Well make sure you come back to Taesoo when you are finished,” said Froima with a big smile, “I will have a surprise for you by this evening.”
“Ok, we will,” said Alairic.
The trip along the coast was uneventful and they found they were already beginning to learn many of the landmarks. They skirted around Tiolo’s beach, so as not to yet encounter the old woman and in a couple of hours had reached the cave site. The fish-men bodies were gone, dragged off into the sea by something. They carefully and methodically searched the cave and were rewarded with two discoveries. The first was a secret niche, well hidden, about two feet to a side and several feet deep. The second was a large crack in the cave wall by the spot where Roona had first mysteriously appeared. Niccolo got on his hands and knees and checked it out.
“There’s a larger area a foot or so further through here,” he announced, squinting into the darkness of the crack. They searched for some secret entrance into the other area but could find none. Indeed, other than the bed, the cave was empty.
“I think we oughta check out that island now,” said Tilliana, “If it is certain that the spined lizard thing came from there then someone ahs been there and we might be able to find more clues if we look there.”
“Well, first we have to get back to Taesoo,” reminded Niccolo, “and see what Froima wanted to show us.”
They arrived back in Taesoo about an hour after noon only to find that when they entered the village, people stared at them funny and moved away as if slightly anxious.
“What is this,” asked Alairic attempting humor, “I washed all that stuff off me already!”
The others laughed but they too wondered at the reactions of the villagers, who for the last few days had seemed friendly enough. Their questions increased when, in the middle of the village they were met by the Froima’s remaining four guardsmen. Each was carrying a crossbow and each crossbow was loaded and ready to fire. As they approached the four companions they each aimed their crossbow at Alairic.
“We don’t relish shooting you, sir, but if you don’t come with us quietly we will.”
“What’s this about?” the four companions exclaimed all at once.
“We are arresting you for the murder of Froima.”
“I did not kill Froima!”
“Alairic couldn’t have murdered Froima!” protested Niccolo, “He was with us all morning and we weren’t even in town, we were out past Tiolo’s beach all morning.”
“I didn’t say we necessarily believed ourselves sir, doubtlessly there is foul magic of some sort at work, but we have thirty or more witnesses that watched and will swear that they saw Alairic drag Froima into the shrine of Naemae and stab him repeatedly on the altar.”
“I will go with them,” said Alairic humbly, “They are after all just doing their job, trying to uphold the law, but you three can work to clear me.”
“Who saw this happen?” asked Tilliana.
“Just ask around, the village is not that big and I am sure you will easily find ones who were there.”
Tilliana noticed that a crowd of villagers was watching them and called out, “Who here saw it?”
A small number raised there hands. Tilliana singled one out and asked, “What did you see.”
“I saw this man drag Froima into the shrine and kill him on the altar!” exclaimed the man.
“You are sure it was Alairic, he had the same face and everything?”
“Of course he had the same face, it wouldn’t have been him otherwise!”
“There was nothing different? Think hard.”
“Well,” said the man thoughtfully and honestly, “He did use a different sword, It weren’t as big as that thing he’s got on his back now, but that don’t prove nothing he could have switched weapons easy enough!”
“Was there a raven?” asked Niccolo.
“No there was no raven.”
“We will get the judge in here tomorrow,” promised the one guard who had done all the talking, “He will find out the truth soon enough. I’ll send for him at once.”
The guards led him away and Alairic went without a word, not even protesting when they took his weapons from him.
The other three watched him go and then tried to decide what to do. Finally Niccolo and Tilliana decided that Heidon should ask around the village and learn what he could while they investigated the shrine itself.
“Meet us back in the shrine in a couple of hours,” said Tilliana.
They found nothing at the shrine. There were no clues, only blood on the altar. Froima’s body had already been removed and nothing else in the shrine or the yard had been touched.
Heidon did not have a lot to report when he came back, only that those that watched it had said it had seemed as if Froima was being sacrificed as he was being killed and that Froima had walked as if in a daze to the altar, laying his own body on the rock.
“That doesn’t sound like Froima,” said Niccolo, “He was kind of a fiesty fellow.”
Tilliana and Niccolo, followed by Heidon spent the rest of the afternoon trying to see if they could learn more than Heidon had. Tilliana managed to glean one interesting fact hitherto not mentioned. After killing Froima, the murderer had cut out the heart and dousing it with oil had burnt it on the altar besides the body. But other than that there did not seem to be a lot more about the story to learn.
They decided to go look at the body. The village undertaker had possession of the body and was already building the wooden coffin in which Froima was to be buried. He freely let them examine the body. But they gleaned no clues from the corpse. Froima had been stabbed and his heart cut out, but that was all that could be told and they had already known that.
“You wouldn’t happen to know which way the murderer ran out of town after he killed Froima would you?” Niccolo thought to ask the undertaker.
“I believe he ran out of town to the west.”
“And we were east of town all morning. That’s one in Alairic’s favor anyway.”
As they were leaving, the undertaker stopped Tilliana, “Froima was a devout worshipper of Naemae and despite the circumstances after a lifetime of devotion, it seems appropriate for a cleric of Naemae to do his funeral. Would you be able to do that?”
Tilliana agreed to do it and they set a time for the following morning.
They decided to go visit with Alairic. The village jail had only one cell, the only brick structure in the town. Alairic sat within reading “To Serve” when they entered. The two guards without let them in without a fuss.
“I learned something,” said Alairic as they told him what they had found out, “The guards say that Froima was worried about the crew of the ship anchored out in the bay and had told their captain that he would only allow five of the sailors ashore at a time.”
“Hmm, they might be pirates and they obviously had a reason to be upset at Froima. I wonder if there is a shapeshifter on board?” mused Niccolo
“Could be worth looking into,” said Alairic.
“You want to know what I think,” said Niccolo, I think we should hunt for that runt that stole the gold! You remember, Tolo, that gnome.”
“He could be anywhere!” exclaimed Alairic in disbelieve, “What about Roona, we were told that she was a shapeshifter and maybe she can shapeshift into something more than a fish.”
“I think we might want to investigate that ship,” said Tilliana.
“Why don’t you follow some of the sailors in town and keep an eye on them and you might want to see if you can find out where the guy ran when he left town.”
After a bit more discussion it was decided that Heidon and Tilliana would keep an eye on the sailors and that Niccolo could see if he could find any tracks. Feeling a little better with something to do, they left Alairic who returned to reading his book of scriptures.
Surprisingly, Niccolo managed to find a lone pair of tracks where he was told the man ran west out of the village and with skill he followed them for about an hour. They ended about a mile west of the village near the beach. Niccolo examined closely where the tracks stopped. The markings looked very much so like the markings looked on the cliff near Tiolo’s beach where the tracks had also ended abruptly. Niccolo thought for a moment and then decided to examine the ground past where the tracks ended. He was rewarded by the discovery of a feather, a foot in length and grey. Having an idea he went back and looked for a different type of track. What he found was not what he expected. He had been looking for a large paw print, perhaps that of a great cat. Instead what he found was the markings of a giant bird with a claw at least six inches to eight inches long.
Meanwhile the other two investigators were discovering nothing. They had found the sailors, all five of them, easily enough. They were in the village bar drinking and talking. Heidon and Tilliana took a seat out of the way, but where they could watch and listen easily enough. The five sailors seemed to be interested in the death of Froima, but nothing in their conversation indicated they had any inside information. After about an hour, one of the sailors started a fist fight with one of the villagers and the bartender threw out all five of them. The drunken men stumbled off, cursing Taesoo, its inhabitants and vowing revenge. Tilliana and Heidon followed them. The men climbed in their rowboat at the beach and with unsteady strokes rowed back out to their ship.
The sun was going down and it dusk was deepening. Having nothing else to do, they headed back to the jail where they met both Alairic and Niccolo. Niccolo described to them what he had found and showed them the feather.
“I am thinking it’s something like a griffon,” said Alairic.
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Niccolo.
“I think we should get on that ship and see if we can learn anything,” said Tilliana. Niccolo nodded in agreement.
“How are you going to do that?” asked Alairic, “For all you know they are a bunch of pirates. Sneaking aboard a ship of cut throats doesn’t seem that smart.”
“We could row out there,” said Tilliana.
“If you got me close enough, I could swim over and sneak on,” suggested Heidon.
“I still don’t know what you hope to accomplish but I wish you would find out something that would show I did not do it,” said Alairic.
The other three had made up their mind though and headed out into the night to sneak aboard the ship. They found a fisherman on the beach who agreed to rent them his rowboat for a gold coin and after Niccolo paid him, they pushed out and with Tilliana rowing, they made their way out towards the ship. The water was dark and the moon was hidden behind clouds, but there were lights aboard the ship to aim for. They steered for a spot just past the light of the ship. As they rowed, they thought they heard another boat rowing over the noise of the ocean waves. Tilliana stopped rowing and sure enough, off to their left they heard another boat being rowed, this one away from the ship and towards the beach.
“I think we should follow that row boat,” said Tilliana.
“Lets get out to the ship,” hissed Niccolo.
They got near enough to the ship and Heidon, removing his armor and sword prepared to swim over. He carried with him only his longbow and daggers. Diving off the side of the rowboat, he swam towards the ship. He reached it without difficulty and grabbing the anchor chain, he climbed quietly up it. Peering over the side of the ship he saw two men on the other side of the ship staring out towards the village. They seemed to be the only ones on deck. Still moving stealthily, he climbed over the side and eased himself onto the deck. On the other side of the deck he saw steps leading up to a higher deck and a door that most likely led into the crew’s quarters. There was a cargo hatch between him and the men staring over the side. Feeling emboldened, he decided to make his way to the door to the quarters.
He stepped forward and the board under him squeaked loudly. The men spun around and saw him.
“You there! What do you think you are doing?” They drew out short swords.
“Hardly pausing to think, Heidon drew out his bow and fired at them. He hit one of the men who went down, clutching at the arrow in his chest. The other man ran at Heidon across the deck, slashing with his sword. His sword hit and cut into Heidon. Heidon dropped his bow and drawing out a dagger plunged it into the man’s chest. Overhead, a man positioned in the crows nest began shouting out a warning cry. He was silenced by a well placed arrow fired by Niccolo. The other two, having heard Heidon’s fight had rowed towards the ship. As Heidon looked over the bodies, Tilliana climbed up to the deck and Niccolo tied off the rowboat to the anchor line. Then he too joined the others on deck. Just as Niccolo cleared the deck, the door to the crew’s quarters burst open and out strode a giant of a man. He sported a beard and held in one hand a greatax. He wore a chainmail shirt. Behind him was a smaller man dressed in leather armor and holding a shortsword.
“What are you doing on my ship!” hollered the big one in the merchant tongue, “I’ll cut off yer head and feed em to the sharks!”
“Just try it,” said Tilliana, drawing her sword. It was then she noticed how badly hurt Heidon was from his exchange with the other two men. Heidon drew on his bow and fired a shot straight into the man. But the man did not fall. Instead his face grew bright red and veins stood out on the side of his neck and his eyes bulged. With a roar, he charged with astonishing speed across the deck, plowing into Tilliana with a mighty sweep of his great ax. The other man also charged forward, swinging at the petite woman, but Tilliana turned his blow and sliced at the larger man, missing. Niccolo stabbed at the man with her longsword, missing and following through with a dagger, but he was too quick and sidestepped the hidden thrust. Clearly such tactics weren’t going to work on this man. Niccolo dropped his dagger and focusing on using just his sword cut into the man.
With eyes still bulging, the man swung at Heidon who ducked the swing. Moving around the man, Niccolo swung at him again, drawing a little more blood. Tilliana, deciding it would be easier only fighting one, swung at the other man, cutting him open with her huge sword and taking him out of the fight. Meanwhile the pirate captain managed to hit Heidon with a terrific blow that laid the young man out on the deck. Again Niccolo hit the man and now the man turned on the half-elf, with a swing that cut through the half-elf’s armor and opened a large wound. Tilliana, hoping Niccolo would be able to handle the man for a while on his own backed up away from the fight and offering up a prayer helped Heidon regain his feet. Niccolo parried one more stroke and then cut the man yet again. But though he bled from many cuts, he refused to fall and continued to fight fiercely and madly. Tilliana offered up one more prayer of healing for Heidon and then, grasping her sword firmly, she charged the man, shouting to get his attention. As he turned towards her, she brought her sword down on his head, cleaving it open.
All of them were badly wounded from the heavy ax, but they were still alive. Tilliana tended to their wounds as best as she was able, using her divine spells to stop the bleeding and heal the worse of the injuries. Heidon claimed the chain shirt as loot and Niccolo examining the ax decided to take it for her own. Then they set out to investigate what else the ship held.
Alairic was beginning to doze when the door to the jail banged open and in rushed one of the guards, his hair disheveled and his sword drawn.
“We need your help! Pirates from the ship in the bay are looting the town. They have already killed the other three guards! Please help us.”
“I will help,” said Alairic rushing to his feet and moving to the cell door, “let me out.”
The guard fumbled with his keys and then opened the door. He motioned Alairic to his sword and daggers which they had stowed on a small table nearby. Then, once Alairic had his sword on and was ready they went out. There were three men, all with swords drawn, coming down the street.
“These were the ones that killed the other three.”
Alairic drew his sword.
“Get ‘em men,” said one of the men and the three pirates charged forward. Alairic ducked a sword swipe and managed to land a glancing blow on one. The guard next to him was charged by two and though the turned one blade and stabbed the man, the other pirate, obviously a more skilled fighter, sliced into the guard. Alairic parried another stroke and then swung around. The weight of his greatsword carried through the mans defenses and then into the man himself. The pirate fell to the ground dead. The guard too finished one of the pirates and then parried a stroke from their leader. Coming at the pirate from the side, Alairic nicked him. The pirate however, ignored Alairic for a moment and with a powerful stroke cut open the guard who fell to the ground dying. Alairic made the man pay for ignoring him by once more delivering a hit with his heavy blade. The pirate, sensing his peril turned to fight but it was too late. With a powerful overhand swing, Alairic’s struck. The man moved just enough that the stroke missed his head, but cutting into his shoulder, the blade carried down into the chest and the man was dead.
Alairic took stalk of his situation for a moment and decided the best course would be to get help. Dimly he recalled where the mayor lived and headed off in that direction. There were two men banging on the mayor’s door when he got there.
“Open up and we may not kill you,” one of them hollered.
“You two, what are you doing!” exclaimed Alairic.
They turned and faced him, “Get out of here or we’ll give you some too!”
Alairic charged. He swung and missed, but managed to sidestep their swings. Then bringing his sword around he decapitated one and backing up a moment out of the way of the other man’s short sword, he swung, letting his swords weight carry him forward. The edge of his sword sliced through the other man’s arm and into his chest.
“Good job,” said the mayor coming to the door. The mayor was a short man with a balding head and gray hair. Alairic thought he could see some gnomish ancestry in the man’s features.
“Thank you sir,” said Alairic.
“Now what are you waiting for, get out there and get the rest of them!”
Wearily, Alairic turned to do as he was told.
He found two more of the men. They were in the process of breaking into the village store.
“What do you want!” they cried.
Alairic answered, “You need to stop this.”
“I would like to see you make us,” said one of them with a laugh.
Alairic sighed and charged. Carried forward with the momentum of his armor and his sword, Alairic delivered a powerful attack. His sword swung through the air and sliced one of the pirates from head to groing. But the other one moved quickly as Alairic was regaining his balance and stabbed into Alairic’s side with his sword. Alairic manaed to find the strength to bring his sword around, cutting into the man’s side, but somehow the pirate managed to stay on his feet. Alairic prepared to attack once more but the other man was too swift and stabbed at Alairic again. As the blood flowed from the wound, everything went black for Alairic.
Searching the ship, Tilliana and the other two swiftly discovered there was no one else aboard. They found some money in both the captain’s quarters and the first mates quarters, and Niccolo took the captain’s log to study. In the hold of the ship there was a lot of cargo. But it was mundane stuff for the most part, cloth and spices.
“I say we burn the ship,” said Niccolo, “That was if the pirates are on the shore, they won’t have anyplace to flee to.”
The others agreed and Heidon had the honor of lighting the fire. They boarded the rowboat and began rowing back to shore. As the rowed, the fire spread and the ship began to sink into the ocean water. Tilliana prayed as the ship burned and offered it up as a sacrifice of victory to Naemae.
There was a crowd to meet them when they returned to shore. It was the villagers with torches and crossbows. But when the villagers saw who was rowing, they cheered and welcomed the companions ashore.
Alairic was back in the prison cell they discovered. The villagers, seeing him fighting the pirates, had taken courage and banded together and killed the last few themselves. Alairic was bandaged and carried as a hero to prison.
Morning brought both the local judge and new council. The judge was a priest in the Courts of Justice and he quickly set about hearing the facts of the case. When he discovered though that Alairic was not lying when he testified that he had not been in town at the time of Froima’s death, the Truthseeker determined the paladin to be innocent and set him free. The villagers cheered at this for the events of the previous evening had made him something of a local hero.
“I knew you were innocent all along,” was the common refrain Alairic heard that day. There was even talk of having him take Froima’s place. Alairic made no response to such ideas and when he had a moment, he offered up a sacrifice at the shrine to Naemae, thanking him for the victory.
Niccolo meanwhile read the log of the Raging Sea, that being the name of the ship they had sunk. According tot he log, the ship had recently been purchased by the Captian, a man named Grinkar and had just two weeks ago successfully plundered his first merchant ship. The Captain had anchored off of Taesoo to try to lay low for a time before selling the merchandise in Aasaer. The pirates aboard the Raging Sea had no connection to either Giovan or the plundered villages.
They counted out the money they had taken from the ship and split it up. Alairic, Niccolo and Tilliana all deposited a good percentage of their take in the shrine offering box. Niccolo tried to talk Heidon into tithing, but the young man did not see the need.
Wicht
Hero
Chapter 6 – Dragon Isle
“Where do we go now?” Alairic asked. They had spent the day celebrating the release of Alairic and the destruction of the pirates. Their celebration was only slightly dampened when one of the fishermen casually informed them that the boat they had sunk would have brought them a hefty amount of gold if they had sold it to someone. Now however, the celebrating was done and they were back at the house next to the shrine in Taesoo.
“Personally,” continued Alairic, “I am beginning to think we should go ahead and go talk to Roona again. We are looking for a shapeshifter and she is rumored to have that ability. We are absolutely no closer to figuring out what happened to Giovan then we were six days ago.”
“I agree,” said Niccolo, “So far we have burnt down a village and sank a pirate ship, but neither of those seem to be in any way connected with our original mission.”
“I still think we should find a way to get to that Dragon Isle that we were told about. We are going to have to sail there and we will need a ship,” said Tilliana. The words hung there a moment and then Tilliana groaned and sank her head into her hands. They had had a ship but had sunk it.
“The man who murdered Froima went west,” said Niccolo, speaking aloud as she thought, “Foorun is west of Taesoo and this Scythe is supposed to be west of Foorun.”
“I think Scythe will be a dead end too,” said Tilliana.
“Why don’t we question Roona in the morning, assuming she is still there,” said Alairic, “And then we can go from there.”
“You never know, she could have moved on,” said Niccolo.
The next morning, as Alairic had suggested, they once more walked out to Tiolo’s beach. Roona was sitting before a fire, looking just as she had when they had left her. She was sipping out of a cup of something hot and when she saw them coming over the dunes, she waved them over.
“Good Morning!” said Alairic cheerfully, “And how are you doing this morning?”
“Well I was doing alright,” complained the woman, “Though I am not surprised to see you, I was wondering when it would sink in through your thick skulls!”
“What?”
“You obviously need to know more about this Dragon Isle, and I don’t know much but let me tell you it’s a nasty place. For one thing, obviously, there’s a dragon, big and old, he lives at the top. The whole island is basically one big mountain and its crawling with lizards: flying lizards, spined lizards, nasty lizards that will chew your leg off until you fall and they can get at your throat, kobolds in the north, little dragons. And then of course there’s the old temple built hundreds of years ago and abandoned. I don’t know much about that but when I was younger I heard stories there’s a demon buried in it, that can’t get out.”
Alairic’s ears perked up and it became obvious he was thinking hard, “A demon?”
“That’s what the stories say.”
“Can you tell us anything about the island?” asked Tilliana, meaning for roona to elaborate, but the question annoyed the old woman.
“Weren’t you listening the first time? I told you what I know, if you want to learn more, I suggest you go to Zoa or even Xaarum and find someone else who might know more.”
“Oh,” said Tilliana, “Well is there anything else we can do to make you comfortable or help you out here?”
“Young lady I have survived out here for the last eighty years and I will for another eighty I imagine!”
“Eighty years!? How old are you?” asked Alairic impolitely.
“None of your business!”
“Sorry.”
“So what have you been doing out here?” asked Niccolo, trying to steer the conversation back to a point from which they could gather some information.
“I buried that poor baby that had been in the hut and of course those men, and have gone for a few swims.”
Alairic looked and spotted the gravesites some ways up from the beach.
“Can I ask you,” began Tilliana not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to ask, “Is there anything you have noticed along the coast lately?”
“Yeah,” said the old woman gruffly, “Its not a good time to be a villager is it?”
“Hmm, your right there,” said Niccolo
“I haven’t seen anything and now that I told you what you came to ask me, you can go and leave me in peace.”
“Right,” they said and feeling dismissed they turned to walk off. Alairic stopped and looked back over his shoulder. Roona was staring at them like a hawk. With a sigh the paladin turned and walked after the others. About halfway back to Taesoo, it struck them that they had failed to question her about her shapeshifting abilities. The woman had dominated the conversation.
“And I forgot to check her to see if she was evil,” sighed Alairic.
“Dumb Paladin,” quipped Niccolo more out of habit than anything else.
“I want to go learn more about this demon,” said Alairic, “I think we should head back to Xaarum, tell Deochoo what we have learned and see if we can find out anything more about Dragon Isle.”
“Why?”
“I had a vision, a warning from Naemae two nights ago. I was told about a demon that was buried, that it was to remain buried. And I think we should do some research. Being brave is not the same as being stupid you know, Naemae does not appreciate warriors who enter battle unprepared.”
“Ok, ok,” said Niccolo, “Let’s go back to Xaarum.”
That afternoon they were back in Xaarum. Deochoo heard their account with interest and agreed that Alairic was right, research was what was called for.
“I will ask around for you and see what I can learn about this Island,” said Deochoo, “It might take a few days though. There does not seem a lot you can do in the meantime so I advise you to relax for a bit.”
It did take Deochoo two days to hunt up the information. Alairic spent the time studying. Heidon and Niccolo mostly relaxed, though they also made a trip to the market. They sold off a few things they had picked up and Heidon for some reason decided he needed to be better armed and purchased both a battle ax and a morning star. They also bought more arrows. Tilliana perhaps spent her time the most productively. She purchased her own copy of “To Serve” from the temple and then spent the rest of the time locked up in her room. She was preparing scrolls of healing.
At the end of two days, Deochoo summoned them.
“I had to call in a few favors to get this information,” he said, “but I did find out about the island and it looks to be worth checking into.”
“For starters, no one is quite sure anymore whether the island is named for the ancient green dragon that has made its lair atop the island or for the many forms of reptile life that cover it. The island is home to some creatures that can not be found anywhere else. The whole island is basically a big mountain. It is three miles long, north to south and a mile wide at its widest. The east and west sides are sheer and no craft could land there. There are spots on the north and south sides of the island where boats can beach. The south side has a thin strip of land, isolated from much of the rest of the island by cliffs and oceans and the north has a larger flat area with two bays. The north half of the island is also covered with kobolds.
“Because of the sheerness of the mountain, the presence of the dragon and the kobolds, the island is mostly avoided by everyone. Ships captains in particular do not like to go near it when they learn of the dragon, who has been known in years past to sink an occasional ship. But that wasn’t always the case. About three hundred years ago a pirate built a village on the southern strip. He also built a temple to the Veuxoo, the Creator of Strife, on the southern slope of the mountain. A band of Elvish adventurers destroyed both the village and the temple, but there were many demons in the temple and one of them they could not defeat. They instead used powerful magic to entomb him within and then set up traps to keep out the unwary. Fortunately, the location of the temple and specifically, the existence of the demon do not seem well documented. I only accidentally discovered that last part myself.
“Alairic, it seems to me that Naemae has chosen you in particular to make sure that this demon remains buried. This, I deem is your mission from the Swift Sword. You and you alone are charged with journeying to this island. However, I think it seems obvious that this could easily be connected with the dissapearance of Giovan. Tilliana can accompany you. The other two I cannot bind pr se, though Heidon is already bound…
“We have worked so well together thus far it would be a shame to break up the group,” said Niccolo, “I will travel with them.”
“Very good! You of course will need a ship to reach the Island. Passage can most likely be found in Zoa, but there may be a ship anchored in Foorun which will agree to take you.”
In the end they decided to walk the short ways to Foorun first to attempt to find passage. They were in luck for there was one ship heading to Geanavue and the captain agreed to drop them off on his way, but his terms were less than agreeable. He wanted a hundred gold pieces for a rowboat and 20 gold pieces apiece for passage and would drop them off ten miles from the Island and let him row. They managed to bargain with him until he agreed to a total price of 150 gold pieces and a row boat let out two miles from the island. He would get no closer for he had heard about the dragon. He was bound to leave the next day, the 14th of sowing.
Tilliana had been in much thought ever since they had left Xaarum and after finding the passage she excused herself from the others and promised to be back in time to sail.
Then, taking her stuff, she made the journey back to Xaarum alone. Deochoo was slightly surprised to see her again.
“I feel I am ready to be a Defender,” explained Tilliana when they were alone.
Deochoo smiled.
“Are you my child, well, I must ask you then, what evil have you defeated?”
Tilliana thought.
“I fought undead in Hooberan’s, servants of the Rot Lord and defeated them. And in Taesoo I fought with Pirates and helped save the village.”
“Then you have indeed defeated evil, and I will agree to your promotion. But with promotion comes responsibility. When you return from your journey we will discuss your responsibilities in more detail. For now, a simple acknowledgement of your new rank will suffice I think and though we don’t have time for a full ceremony, we will arrange one for you when you come back. Your mother I believe has new robes already prepared for you.
“In fact if you want the truth,” said Deochoo with a smile, “I suspect she has robes prepared for you for when you ascend to become the Valiant.”
Tilliana met the other three in Foorun the next day, resplendent in her new rank. Her cheerfulness soon turned to illness however when the ship set sail. Tilliana was not alone in her seasickness, Heidon also spent the first few hours of the voyage retching over the side of the ship. But Heidon quickly gained his sea legs leaving Tilliana alone in her wretchedness. The ship had been out to sea for eight hours before Tilliana finally adjusted.
“I do not like sailing,” Tilliana declared.
Through the night the ship sailed and it was not until noon of the following day that the island came into view. It was indeed a single mountain rising green out of the ocean waters. The whole island was forested. The captain used his spyglass to show them that there was a ship anchored off the southern tip of the island.
“Where do you want let off, north or south?” he asked them
“South,” they decided.
Two miles from the island, the captain steered his ship to the north and they let off the four adventurers in a small row boat. Niccolo rowed and soon they were pulling away from the ship towards the island. An hour into the rowing and the island was nearer and the ship that had brought them was fading into the distance.
They were too far from the other ship to make out activity on it but they decided to land as far away from it as possible, figuring that their every movement could be seen.
“No sinking that ship,” warned Tilliana.
“No, its not like we are going to have any other way to get back is it?” said Alairic.
An hour later and they were pulling the boat up onto the beach. There was a cliff, nearly a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet in height to their left, just north of them. As far as they could tell, the cliff extended for the whole length of the southern strip of land, which at its widest could be no more than a quarter of a mile wide. The cliff extended not just to the east, but it also circled to the north, out into the ocean water. The beach stretched out to their right, a thin strip of sandy land interrupted occasionally by trees. As they gazed down the length of the beach, they saw that there were four legged lizards flying on thin wings out from the trees and over the ocean water. They appeared to be fishing and there were many of the creatures skimming over the surface of the ocean to the southeast.
“Which way?” asked Alairic.
Their choices seemed limited. They could follow the beach until they reached the spot where the ship was anchored. There had appeared to be a small camp there of some sort, though the distance was too great to make out much detail. They could also joureny straight through the forested strip of land, though the foliage was dense and the wildlife they had been warned about. Or they could follow the cliff seeing if there was some way to scale it. In the end they opted to follow the cliff, avoiding being found if possible.
“I think we should try and find this old shrine first,” said Niccolo, “And go from there.”
They Pulled the rowboat into the trees and tried to hide it. Then, that done, they set out. Following the cliff was not hard. Trees did not grow on the rock face itself and the foilage seemed less dense, though rocks at the foot of the cliff warned of the danger of falling boulders. They went slowly but surely. As they walked, they observed many more examples of the native life. Many small lizards scuttled on the trees and through the foilage. At least twice they saw bipedal lizards. They were about five feet long with a crested back and their teeth appeared sharp. These would watch them intelligently and then take off quickly through the undergrowth. Occassionaly they would see more of the winged lizards in the branches overhead. They observed that there were sharp hooks on the scaly backs of these lizards. But none of the reptiles bothered them.
There were many small waterfalls that fell down the face of the cliff, gathering in small ponds and then flowing in streams out towards the ocean. An hour through the forest and they came to an opening in the trees. The reason for the clear space was readily apparent, a large pond, the largest they had yet seen, nearly a hundred feet in width lay before them. Water cascaded down the cliff , frothing white at the northern edge of the pond. Pretty as the pond was, what truly grabbed the attention of the four travelers were the four large spined lizards basking along the edge of the pond, the largest of these lay only a few feet from Alairic who stopped short.
“I think we should go around and not bother them,” said the paladin, nervously eyeing the clubbed tail of the reptile which was only five feet away.
“I agree,” said Niccolo and they started to move away.
But the reptile had startled at the sound of their voices and it turned its head to look at them. The spines on its back flaired up and it let out a trumpeting bellow.
“Uh-oh,” said Heidon and he drew an arrow and fired at it. The arrow sank into the beast and in a flash it was turning on them. Niccolo fired another arrow into it and then the creature was attacking, it’s tail flashing through the air. Heidon leaped over it and drew out his battle-ax. Alairic stood there, momentarily confused, not sure what to do, his hands gripping his sword. Tilliana suffered no such problem and speaking words of encouragement, she offered up a prayer to Naemae. All four felt emboldened and could feel the energy of the god blessing them. Heidon swung his ax and connected, but as he did so he was stabbed by the creatures quivering spines.
“You fool!” said Niccolo “You should have used your bow.”
Her casting done, Tilliana charged the lizard, but its defenses were better then her attack and not only did she not hurt it, but two of its spines ripped into her. Another of the lizards was moving now, its spines also flairing. Niccolo seeing this to his right fired at it and then as the arrow sank in drew out the great ax he had taken from the captain of the Raging Sea. Alairic dodged the spines of the first lizard and cleaved into it, killing it. Even as it died, another of the nearby lizards slipped into the water.
Heidon, still hurting from the stabs of the first lizard’s spines decided to heed Niccolo and once more picked up his bow. As Niccolo dodged the tail of the second lizard, Heidon fired an arrow. It flew true and sank into the creatures eye. Alairic charged forward and though he was caught on one of the spines, he landed a killing blow.
For a moment all was still. The fourth spine lizard at the northern edge of the pond watched them but did not move.
They stared at the pond, knowing the third lizard was in there. They did not stare long. It charged out and at them, spines erect, a shower of water flying off the sharp tips. The lizard barreled into Niccolo, catching him with its spines. Tilliana charged forward, cleaving into it, but the exchange hurt her dearly as several of the spines penetrated through her armor and into her skin. Heidon back away and fired at it, his arrow barely nicking it. The creatures clubbed tail lashed out and caught Niccolo, knocking the half-elf senseless to the ground. Alairic swung, but as one of the spines caught him, his swing missed. Tilliana backed away from the creature and drew a scroll from her back. As Alairic kept the creatures attention she used one of her scrolls to heal the half-elf.
The effect was immediate and Niccolo, once more on his feet wasted no time. Gripping the great ax firmly, the half-elf sank it into the lizard. Though his blow was powerful, it did not stop the lizard and Niccolo paid a heavy price. Two of the spines stabbed into him and clutching at the bleeding wounds, the half elf once more fell to the ground, unconsciousness swiftly taking over him. With a sigh, her eyes firmly on the lizard, Tilliana drew out her other scroll to heal Niccolo again.
Alairic with a roar decided to finish the fight. Heedless of the creature’s deadly defenses, the paladin rushed at the lizard, cleaving its brainpan open. With a twitch it died, but Alairic could only stare at the wounds on himself. One of the spines had penetrated through his chest.
The paladin pulled himself away from the lizard and fell to the ground, dying. Tilliana was not about to let that happen. In a moment she was at his side, the divine energies of Naemae channeling through her body, closing the paladin’s wounds. It was enough to bring him to the edge of consciousness.
Thanking Tilliana, the paladin proceeded to use his own gifts and soon he was strong enough to stand. Tilliana took a moment to heal her own wounds and then some of Heidon’s.
They heard shouts and for the first time, undistracted by spined lizards, they looked across the pond. They saw a camp, located just beyond the few trees on the other side of the pond.
“We are in no shape to take on a whole camp of pirates,” said Niccolo, guessing that that was who occupied the camp, “Lets back up into the forest a bit and prepare ourselves a bit better. Alairic and Heidon, still sore and weak, agreed. Tilliana, though she felt fine, saw how badly Niccolo was still hurt and also agreed.
Moving quickly they left the pond and traveled back into the trees.
“Where do we go now?” Alairic asked. They had spent the day celebrating the release of Alairic and the destruction of the pirates. Their celebration was only slightly dampened when one of the fishermen casually informed them that the boat they had sunk would have brought them a hefty amount of gold if they had sold it to someone. Now however, the celebrating was done and they were back at the house next to the shrine in Taesoo.
“Personally,” continued Alairic, “I am beginning to think we should go ahead and go talk to Roona again. We are looking for a shapeshifter and she is rumored to have that ability. We are absolutely no closer to figuring out what happened to Giovan then we were six days ago.”
“I agree,” said Niccolo, “So far we have burnt down a village and sank a pirate ship, but neither of those seem to be in any way connected with our original mission.”
“I still think we should find a way to get to that Dragon Isle that we were told about. We are going to have to sail there and we will need a ship,” said Tilliana. The words hung there a moment and then Tilliana groaned and sank her head into her hands. They had had a ship but had sunk it.
“The man who murdered Froima went west,” said Niccolo, speaking aloud as she thought, “Foorun is west of Taesoo and this Scythe is supposed to be west of Foorun.”
“I think Scythe will be a dead end too,” said Tilliana.
“Why don’t we question Roona in the morning, assuming she is still there,” said Alairic, “And then we can go from there.”
“You never know, she could have moved on,” said Niccolo.
The next morning, as Alairic had suggested, they once more walked out to Tiolo’s beach. Roona was sitting before a fire, looking just as she had when they had left her. She was sipping out of a cup of something hot and when she saw them coming over the dunes, she waved them over.
“Good Morning!” said Alairic cheerfully, “And how are you doing this morning?”
“Well I was doing alright,” complained the woman, “Though I am not surprised to see you, I was wondering when it would sink in through your thick skulls!”
“What?”
“You obviously need to know more about this Dragon Isle, and I don’t know much but let me tell you it’s a nasty place. For one thing, obviously, there’s a dragon, big and old, he lives at the top. The whole island is basically one big mountain and its crawling with lizards: flying lizards, spined lizards, nasty lizards that will chew your leg off until you fall and they can get at your throat, kobolds in the north, little dragons. And then of course there’s the old temple built hundreds of years ago and abandoned. I don’t know much about that but when I was younger I heard stories there’s a demon buried in it, that can’t get out.”
Alairic’s ears perked up and it became obvious he was thinking hard, “A demon?”
“That’s what the stories say.”
“Can you tell us anything about the island?” asked Tilliana, meaning for roona to elaborate, but the question annoyed the old woman.
“Weren’t you listening the first time? I told you what I know, if you want to learn more, I suggest you go to Zoa or even Xaarum and find someone else who might know more.”
“Oh,” said Tilliana, “Well is there anything else we can do to make you comfortable or help you out here?”
“Young lady I have survived out here for the last eighty years and I will for another eighty I imagine!”
“Eighty years!? How old are you?” asked Alairic impolitely.
“None of your business!”
“Sorry.”
“So what have you been doing out here?” asked Niccolo, trying to steer the conversation back to a point from which they could gather some information.
“I buried that poor baby that had been in the hut and of course those men, and have gone for a few swims.”
Alairic looked and spotted the gravesites some ways up from the beach.
“Can I ask you,” began Tilliana not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to ask, “Is there anything you have noticed along the coast lately?”
“Yeah,” said the old woman gruffly, “Its not a good time to be a villager is it?”
“Hmm, your right there,” said Niccolo
“I haven’t seen anything and now that I told you what you came to ask me, you can go and leave me in peace.”
“Right,” they said and feeling dismissed they turned to walk off. Alairic stopped and looked back over his shoulder. Roona was staring at them like a hawk. With a sigh the paladin turned and walked after the others. About halfway back to Taesoo, it struck them that they had failed to question her about her shapeshifting abilities. The woman had dominated the conversation.
“And I forgot to check her to see if she was evil,” sighed Alairic.
“Dumb Paladin,” quipped Niccolo more out of habit than anything else.
“I want to go learn more about this demon,” said Alairic, “I think we should head back to Xaarum, tell Deochoo what we have learned and see if we can find out anything more about Dragon Isle.”
“Why?”
“I had a vision, a warning from Naemae two nights ago. I was told about a demon that was buried, that it was to remain buried. And I think we should do some research. Being brave is not the same as being stupid you know, Naemae does not appreciate warriors who enter battle unprepared.”
“Ok, ok,” said Niccolo, “Let’s go back to Xaarum.”
That afternoon they were back in Xaarum. Deochoo heard their account with interest and agreed that Alairic was right, research was what was called for.
“I will ask around for you and see what I can learn about this Island,” said Deochoo, “It might take a few days though. There does not seem a lot you can do in the meantime so I advise you to relax for a bit.”
It did take Deochoo two days to hunt up the information. Alairic spent the time studying. Heidon and Niccolo mostly relaxed, though they also made a trip to the market. They sold off a few things they had picked up and Heidon for some reason decided he needed to be better armed and purchased both a battle ax and a morning star. They also bought more arrows. Tilliana perhaps spent her time the most productively. She purchased her own copy of “To Serve” from the temple and then spent the rest of the time locked up in her room. She was preparing scrolls of healing.
At the end of two days, Deochoo summoned them.
“I had to call in a few favors to get this information,” he said, “but I did find out about the island and it looks to be worth checking into.”
“For starters, no one is quite sure anymore whether the island is named for the ancient green dragon that has made its lair atop the island or for the many forms of reptile life that cover it. The island is home to some creatures that can not be found anywhere else. The whole island is basically a big mountain. It is three miles long, north to south and a mile wide at its widest. The east and west sides are sheer and no craft could land there. There are spots on the north and south sides of the island where boats can beach. The south side has a thin strip of land, isolated from much of the rest of the island by cliffs and oceans and the north has a larger flat area with two bays. The north half of the island is also covered with kobolds.
“Because of the sheerness of the mountain, the presence of the dragon and the kobolds, the island is mostly avoided by everyone. Ships captains in particular do not like to go near it when they learn of the dragon, who has been known in years past to sink an occasional ship. But that wasn’t always the case. About three hundred years ago a pirate built a village on the southern strip. He also built a temple to the Veuxoo, the Creator of Strife, on the southern slope of the mountain. A band of Elvish adventurers destroyed both the village and the temple, but there were many demons in the temple and one of them they could not defeat. They instead used powerful magic to entomb him within and then set up traps to keep out the unwary. Fortunately, the location of the temple and specifically, the existence of the demon do not seem well documented. I only accidentally discovered that last part myself.
“Alairic, it seems to me that Naemae has chosen you in particular to make sure that this demon remains buried. This, I deem is your mission from the Swift Sword. You and you alone are charged with journeying to this island. However, I think it seems obvious that this could easily be connected with the dissapearance of Giovan. Tilliana can accompany you. The other two I cannot bind pr se, though Heidon is already bound…
“We have worked so well together thus far it would be a shame to break up the group,” said Niccolo, “I will travel with them.”
“Very good! You of course will need a ship to reach the Island. Passage can most likely be found in Zoa, but there may be a ship anchored in Foorun which will agree to take you.”
In the end they decided to walk the short ways to Foorun first to attempt to find passage. They were in luck for there was one ship heading to Geanavue and the captain agreed to drop them off on his way, but his terms were less than agreeable. He wanted a hundred gold pieces for a rowboat and 20 gold pieces apiece for passage and would drop them off ten miles from the Island and let him row. They managed to bargain with him until he agreed to a total price of 150 gold pieces and a row boat let out two miles from the island. He would get no closer for he had heard about the dragon. He was bound to leave the next day, the 14th of sowing.
Tilliana had been in much thought ever since they had left Xaarum and after finding the passage she excused herself from the others and promised to be back in time to sail.
Then, taking her stuff, she made the journey back to Xaarum alone. Deochoo was slightly surprised to see her again.
“I feel I am ready to be a Defender,” explained Tilliana when they were alone.
Deochoo smiled.
“Are you my child, well, I must ask you then, what evil have you defeated?”
Tilliana thought.
“I fought undead in Hooberan’s, servants of the Rot Lord and defeated them. And in Taesoo I fought with Pirates and helped save the village.”
“Then you have indeed defeated evil, and I will agree to your promotion. But with promotion comes responsibility. When you return from your journey we will discuss your responsibilities in more detail. For now, a simple acknowledgement of your new rank will suffice I think and though we don’t have time for a full ceremony, we will arrange one for you when you come back. Your mother I believe has new robes already prepared for you.
“In fact if you want the truth,” said Deochoo with a smile, “I suspect she has robes prepared for you for when you ascend to become the Valiant.”
Tilliana met the other three in Foorun the next day, resplendent in her new rank. Her cheerfulness soon turned to illness however when the ship set sail. Tilliana was not alone in her seasickness, Heidon also spent the first few hours of the voyage retching over the side of the ship. But Heidon quickly gained his sea legs leaving Tilliana alone in her wretchedness. The ship had been out to sea for eight hours before Tilliana finally adjusted.
“I do not like sailing,” Tilliana declared.
Through the night the ship sailed and it was not until noon of the following day that the island came into view. It was indeed a single mountain rising green out of the ocean waters. The whole island was forested. The captain used his spyglass to show them that there was a ship anchored off the southern tip of the island.
“Where do you want let off, north or south?” he asked them
“South,” they decided.
Two miles from the island, the captain steered his ship to the north and they let off the four adventurers in a small row boat. Niccolo rowed and soon they were pulling away from the ship towards the island. An hour into the rowing and the island was nearer and the ship that had brought them was fading into the distance.
They were too far from the other ship to make out activity on it but they decided to land as far away from it as possible, figuring that their every movement could be seen.
“No sinking that ship,” warned Tilliana.
“No, its not like we are going to have any other way to get back is it?” said Alairic.
An hour later and they were pulling the boat up onto the beach. There was a cliff, nearly a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet in height to their left, just north of them. As far as they could tell, the cliff extended for the whole length of the southern strip of land, which at its widest could be no more than a quarter of a mile wide. The cliff extended not just to the east, but it also circled to the north, out into the ocean water. The beach stretched out to their right, a thin strip of sandy land interrupted occasionally by trees. As they gazed down the length of the beach, they saw that there were four legged lizards flying on thin wings out from the trees and over the ocean water. They appeared to be fishing and there were many of the creatures skimming over the surface of the ocean to the southeast.
“Which way?” asked Alairic.
Their choices seemed limited. They could follow the beach until they reached the spot where the ship was anchored. There had appeared to be a small camp there of some sort, though the distance was too great to make out much detail. They could also joureny straight through the forested strip of land, though the foliage was dense and the wildlife they had been warned about. Or they could follow the cliff seeing if there was some way to scale it. In the end they opted to follow the cliff, avoiding being found if possible.
“I think we should try and find this old shrine first,” said Niccolo, “And go from there.”
They Pulled the rowboat into the trees and tried to hide it. Then, that done, they set out. Following the cliff was not hard. Trees did not grow on the rock face itself and the foilage seemed less dense, though rocks at the foot of the cliff warned of the danger of falling boulders. They went slowly but surely. As they walked, they observed many more examples of the native life. Many small lizards scuttled on the trees and through the foilage. At least twice they saw bipedal lizards. They were about five feet long with a crested back and their teeth appeared sharp. These would watch them intelligently and then take off quickly through the undergrowth. Occassionaly they would see more of the winged lizards in the branches overhead. They observed that there were sharp hooks on the scaly backs of these lizards. But none of the reptiles bothered them.
There were many small waterfalls that fell down the face of the cliff, gathering in small ponds and then flowing in streams out towards the ocean. An hour through the forest and they came to an opening in the trees. The reason for the clear space was readily apparent, a large pond, the largest they had yet seen, nearly a hundred feet in width lay before them. Water cascaded down the cliff , frothing white at the northern edge of the pond. Pretty as the pond was, what truly grabbed the attention of the four travelers were the four large spined lizards basking along the edge of the pond, the largest of these lay only a few feet from Alairic who stopped short.
“I think we should go around and not bother them,” said the paladin, nervously eyeing the clubbed tail of the reptile which was only five feet away.
“I agree,” said Niccolo and they started to move away.
But the reptile had startled at the sound of their voices and it turned its head to look at them. The spines on its back flaired up and it let out a trumpeting bellow.
“Uh-oh,” said Heidon and he drew an arrow and fired at it. The arrow sank into the beast and in a flash it was turning on them. Niccolo fired another arrow into it and then the creature was attacking, it’s tail flashing through the air. Heidon leaped over it and drew out his battle-ax. Alairic stood there, momentarily confused, not sure what to do, his hands gripping his sword. Tilliana suffered no such problem and speaking words of encouragement, she offered up a prayer to Naemae. All four felt emboldened and could feel the energy of the god blessing them. Heidon swung his ax and connected, but as he did so he was stabbed by the creatures quivering spines.
“You fool!” said Niccolo “You should have used your bow.”
Her casting done, Tilliana charged the lizard, but its defenses were better then her attack and not only did she not hurt it, but two of its spines ripped into her. Another of the lizards was moving now, its spines also flairing. Niccolo seeing this to his right fired at it and then as the arrow sank in drew out the great ax he had taken from the captain of the Raging Sea. Alairic dodged the spines of the first lizard and cleaved into it, killing it. Even as it died, another of the nearby lizards slipped into the water.
Heidon, still hurting from the stabs of the first lizard’s spines decided to heed Niccolo and once more picked up his bow. As Niccolo dodged the tail of the second lizard, Heidon fired an arrow. It flew true and sank into the creatures eye. Alairic charged forward and though he was caught on one of the spines, he landed a killing blow.
For a moment all was still. The fourth spine lizard at the northern edge of the pond watched them but did not move.
They stared at the pond, knowing the third lizard was in there. They did not stare long. It charged out and at them, spines erect, a shower of water flying off the sharp tips. The lizard barreled into Niccolo, catching him with its spines. Tilliana charged forward, cleaving into it, but the exchange hurt her dearly as several of the spines penetrated through her armor and into her skin. Heidon back away and fired at it, his arrow barely nicking it. The creatures clubbed tail lashed out and caught Niccolo, knocking the half-elf senseless to the ground. Alairic swung, but as one of the spines caught him, his swing missed. Tilliana backed away from the creature and drew a scroll from her back. As Alairic kept the creatures attention she used one of her scrolls to heal the half-elf.
The effect was immediate and Niccolo, once more on his feet wasted no time. Gripping the great ax firmly, the half-elf sank it into the lizard. Though his blow was powerful, it did not stop the lizard and Niccolo paid a heavy price. Two of the spines stabbed into him and clutching at the bleeding wounds, the half elf once more fell to the ground, unconsciousness swiftly taking over him. With a sigh, her eyes firmly on the lizard, Tilliana drew out her other scroll to heal Niccolo again.
Alairic with a roar decided to finish the fight. Heedless of the creature’s deadly defenses, the paladin rushed at the lizard, cleaving its brainpan open. With a twitch it died, but Alairic could only stare at the wounds on himself. One of the spines had penetrated through his chest.
The paladin pulled himself away from the lizard and fell to the ground, dying. Tilliana was not about to let that happen. In a moment she was at his side, the divine energies of Naemae channeling through her body, closing the paladin’s wounds. It was enough to bring him to the edge of consciousness.
Thanking Tilliana, the paladin proceeded to use his own gifts and soon he was strong enough to stand. Tilliana took a moment to heal her own wounds and then some of Heidon’s.
They heard shouts and for the first time, undistracted by spined lizards, they looked across the pond. They saw a camp, located just beyond the few trees on the other side of the pond.
“We are in no shape to take on a whole camp of pirates,” said Niccolo, guessing that that was who occupied the camp, “Lets back up into the forest a bit and prepare ourselves a bit better. Alairic and Heidon, still sore and weak, agreed. Tilliana, though she felt fine, saw how badly Niccolo was still hurt and also agreed.
Moving quickly they left the pond and traveled back into the trees.
Wicht
Hero
One note concerning events in chapter 6...
Servants of the Swift Sword are expected to undertake 3 quests during their life. One is a mission from the Swift Sword himself. One is a mission from the halls of the Valiant. And the third is a four year journey of seeking in which the Servant is expected to travel the land and undertake heroic deeds.
The quest to Dragon Isle represents Alairic's quest from the Swift Sword.
Servants of the Swift Sword are expected to undertake 3 quests during their life. One is a mission from the Swift Sword himself. One is a mission from the halls of the Valiant. And the third is a four year journey of seeking in which the Servant is expected to travel the land and undertake heroic deeds.
The quest to Dragon Isle represents Alairic's quest from the Swift Sword.
Spider_Jerusalem
Explorer
This story keeps on getting better and better.
What sort of level are these characters at the moment?
Spider.
What sort of level are these characters at the moment?
Spider.
Wicht
Hero
I was going to post a character update after our next session. Alairic is currently third level, courtesy of his solo fights, while the other three are about 100 exp. short of third. Tilliana spent 100 exp. for advancement within the Servants and then some on scrolls so she is currently the lowest in experience, though not by much.