Chapter Two: An Ardaven Welcome
Lord Kellurion proved to be a fairly affable, if somewhat imperious, fellow. The Seekers took some small amusement in the way he dealt with his butler, Mensel, and they enjoyed his excellent brandy. Amongst various matters of state, two important facts emerged: they need to come up with Colors (a flag to fly, denoting their identity), and the King wished them to come to Public Court in three days. This taken care of, Artimus spent a few moments informing the innkeepers of several establishments of their search for crew. The whole group (minus Edryn, who indicated that he wished to catch up with some family business), then met for an excellent dinner at the Inn of the Weary Gryphon, where Innkeeper Marcus d’Bathel treated them to a fine meal, including “Basilisk tail”, a “farcie” made with chicken and hot peppers.
The night passed largely uneventfully, except for Aldemar. In the middle of the night, he was woken up by a dull throbbing ache from the hand in which the crystal was embedded, and, for a moment, in the dark, he thought he could see it glowing, slightly. After a while, with the ache faded and no obvious glowing, he went back to sleep, wondering what it meant.
After a good rest, the party began pursuing various goals. Artimus met with an old shipmate of his, one Meldias “Sarge” Blackhair, and his half-orc companion Garokh Crookedtooth. Artimus hired them both, assigning Meldias the position of First Mate and happy that, with Garokh, they would now have someone capable of teaching the Seekers how to use the ballistae and catapult. Meldias promised to look into some promising leads for crewmen, and the two parted ways happily.
A mysterious message was delivered to Red Talon by a young boy named Lark. He indicated that a hooded and cloaked man had given him 2 copper pieces to tell Red Talon to meet “Dyne” in the alley behind a tavern called The Copper Bowl. This seemed to mean something to Red Talon, and, slowly, the others got the story out of him that this was a man he considered tantamount to a father, but, also, that he had thought he was dead. Temper, especially, seemed wary of this, and it was agreed they would accompany him, at least as far as the Tavern itself.
Aldemar, Red Talon, Ranlok, and Madcap went to the dwarven neighborhood of Ardaven, known as the Dwelve. Here, the streets were roofed, giving the illusion of being underground or in a building, in deference to the very common influence of dwarven agoraphobia. There, on the Street of Steel, they encountered a smith named Karok who promised to make a suit of modified banded armor for Red Talon. He also sold the hish’ta a masterfully worked warhammer, in exchange for several other masterwork weapons the group had captured in their various battles. Madcap purchased some arrowheads as well so that he could make his own arrows. Madcap then traveled to the elven neighborhood of the Gardens to purchase a masterwork shortbow. Artimus and Cotterpin looked into the purchase of some gnomish cannons from a gnome named Fezzleweg, but the price was too dear. Cotterpin sulked in his alchemist’s lab aboard ship while Artimus purchased a masterwork lute from one Alfred Luthier.
The group met back at the ship before preparing to depart for Darktown. Before they left, however, a dwarf appeared at dockside, requesting permission to come aboard. He asked to speak with Ranlok, and the two went to speak privately. The dwarf identified himself as Thurnon Kegbreaker, a wizard and scholar of dwarven legends and antiquities, and he had noticed something odd about the dwarven waraxe that Ranlok carried. It was not, as Ranlok had originally surmised, the Barakuld (a weapon that would shield as well as attack); that was only an illusion meant to keep the axe's true nature hidden. With Ranlok’s permission, Thurnon dispelled the illusion, revealing that this weapon was, apparently, the Tarmakuld, or Throne-Axe. It had been one of the traditional weapons of the dwarven king, and its reappearance might mean a return to greatness for the dwarven people. With this heady revelation, Thurnon promised to research all he could about the Tarmakuld. He left the ship, leaving a thoughtful Ranlok behind to ponder what this meant, especially in light of the vision he had received in The Mirror…
To Be Continued!
Lord Kellurion proved to be a fairly affable, if somewhat imperious, fellow. The Seekers took some small amusement in the way he dealt with his butler, Mensel, and they enjoyed his excellent brandy. Amongst various matters of state, two important facts emerged: they need to come up with Colors (a flag to fly, denoting their identity), and the King wished them to come to Public Court in three days. This taken care of, Artimus spent a few moments informing the innkeepers of several establishments of their search for crew. The whole group (minus Edryn, who indicated that he wished to catch up with some family business), then met for an excellent dinner at the Inn of the Weary Gryphon, where Innkeeper Marcus d’Bathel treated them to a fine meal, including “Basilisk tail”, a “farcie” made with chicken and hot peppers.
The night passed largely uneventfully, except for Aldemar. In the middle of the night, he was woken up by a dull throbbing ache from the hand in which the crystal was embedded, and, for a moment, in the dark, he thought he could see it glowing, slightly. After a while, with the ache faded and no obvious glowing, he went back to sleep, wondering what it meant.
After a good rest, the party began pursuing various goals. Artimus met with an old shipmate of his, one Meldias “Sarge” Blackhair, and his half-orc companion Garokh Crookedtooth. Artimus hired them both, assigning Meldias the position of First Mate and happy that, with Garokh, they would now have someone capable of teaching the Seekers how to use the ballistae and catapult. Meldias promised to look into some promising leads for crewmen, and the two parted ways happily.
A mysterious message was delivered to Red Talon by a young boy named Lark. He indicated that a hooded and cloaked man had given him 2 copper pieces to tell Red Talon to meet “Dyne” in the alley behind a tavern called The Copper Bowl. This seemed to mean something to Red Talon, and, slowly, the others got the story out of him that this was a man he considered tantamount to a father, but, also, that he had thought he was dead. Temper, especially, seemed wary of this, and it was agreed they would accompany him, at least as far as the Tavern itself.
Aldemar, Red Talon, Ranlok, and Madcap went to the dwarven neighborhood of Ardaven, known as the Dwelve. Here, the streets were roofed, giving the illusion of being underground or in a building, in deference to the very common influence of dwarven agoraphobia. There, on the Street of Steel, they encountered a smith named Karok who promised to make a suit of modified banded armor for Red Talon. He also sold the hish’ta a masterfully worked warhammer, in exchange for several other masterwork weapons the group had captured in their various battles. Madcap purchased some arrowheads as well so that he could make his own arrows. Madcap then traveled to the elven neighborhood of the Gardens to purchase a masterwork shortbow. Artimus and Cotterpin looked into the purchase of some gnomish cannons from a gnome named Fezzleweg, but the price was too dear. Cotterpin sulked in his alchemist’s lab aboard ship while Artimus purchased a masterwork lute from one Alfred Luthier.
The group met back at the ship before preparing to depart for Darktown. Before they left, however, a dwarf appeared at dockside, requesting permission to come aboard. He asked to speak with Ranlok, and the two went to speak privately. The dwarf identified himself as Thurnon Kegbreaker, a wizard and scholar of dwarven legends and antiquities, and he had noticed something odd about the dwarven waraxe that Ranlok carried. It was not, as Ranlok had originally surmised, the Barakuld (a weapon that would shield as well as attack); that was only an illusion meant to keep the axe's true nature hidden. With Ranlok’s permission, Thurnon dispelled the illusion, revealing that this weapon was, apparently, the Tarmakuld, or Throne-Axe. It had been one of the traditional weapons of the dwarven king, and its reappearance might mean a return to greatness for the dwarven people. With this heady revelation, Thurnon promised to research all he could about the Tarmakuld. He left the ship, leaving a thoughtful Ranlok behind to ponder what this meant, especially in light of the vision he had received in The Mirror…
To Be Continued!
