sniffles
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The Collected Journals of Artemis Heuw Cannith, excerpt 20
"Stark held the pieces together as I infused each in turn, following the investiture of magic with the a rubbing of the compound we had mixed together earlier. It had taken almost an hour to get this far, but it had been a fun challenge: creating a non-permanent binder that would hold the two thin plates together. Stark and I were in the last stages of implementation when I looked over and saw Hutch clamping similar plates together with hairpins. He had about almost twenty of them done, stacked up neatly to one side. I looked to Stark, who looked at me. I hate mundane solutions to interesting problems. Wait.... Why was Hutch carrying hairpins?"
. An Excerpt from the Craft Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 7
"I awoke this morning sore, exhausted, and soaked in sweat. Images of DA's last moments had danced through my dreams all night and I was not well rested. It took more than half an hour for me to get out of bed -- an event that hasn't happened since the fever I'd had as a child. I have always been energetic, always been ready to go out and take on the world. But now.... Now, I have seen such things. So much death. So much pain. Is this what it means to "live by the sword"?
What have I become?
When I did get up, I took special care with my appearance. I didn't want my state of mind to introduce doubt into my companions. I know that they look up to me -- expect me to lead. I have a responsibility to them, and I cannot fail. Not again.
I busied myself for the first part of the morning with household affairs, then went into my laboratory. I sat with S1 and HU for a while, but couldn't work up the drive to get S1 started on any projects. I set a few things out of his reach, then gave him free reign to work, clean, or organize the lab as he wanted.
XL came over about the time I expected he would, and had with him the items I asked him to fetch last night. Missing from the bag he held out to me, however, was the rare ointment I had put at the very top of the list. I had drafted a very fine letter to Master Huygen d'Cannith with the express goal of convincing said alchemist to sell that rare commodity. Obviously, I was not convincing enough.
We had to wait to see if that lack would lead to our destruction.
GW spent the night at the tower (after making a very unusual rooming request), but had gone off a little while ago to fetch our healer. She returned with a halfling named Robin (RO).
RO was an energetic fellow, but smelled as though he had been up all night in his cups. I examined his dragonmark to determine it's veracity, and concluded that the mark, at least, would prove useful. After a few minutes of questioning, I concurred with XL that RO would be a good addition to our expedition. He was eager to join us. Very eager.
In short order, we were ready to go. I gathered the DC, plus RO and GW, in the music room so that we could go over any last minute preparations. I had HU put the alchemist frost and spark that XL had acquired the night before out on a table and quickly explained their use. I refrained from commenting on Master Huygen's choice of vials for the two types of alchemy. He had chosen a periwinkle blue for the frost, rather than the universally accepted frost blue. Worse, both vials were the same shape. Dangerous when one is in a hurry and needs to know what one is grabbing. Still, the alchemical symbols for "Cold" and "Electricity" were in prominent relief on both front and back of the containers. I hoped that the DC were as well-trained as I at rapidly distinguishing the two by touch so there would be no mistakes.
Adding to the collection on the table, HU set down several vials of alchemists fire and arranged them in pairs.
XL, bless him, loyally chose to stick with the brand of alchemist's fire that was my own creation, rather than using something from an unknown. I commended his decision, but told him that Master Huygen was a well-respected alchemist, and that cold or spark could occasionally solve problems that fire could not. He would not be persuaded. The rest of the group, barring RO, of course, helped themselves to what they wanted.
HU, seeing that two vials of spark and two of frost remained, happily gathered up the surplus vials and stowed them away. I, meanwhile, was giving a brief lecture to RO, showing him which wand bracer held my healing wands, and which wand did what. He seemed very impressed that the wands would identify themselves to any who could use them.
It is sad how a lack of education can reduce even a respected member of House Jorasco to a veritable bumpkin.
Once everyone was ready, we departed. XL had the idea of passing the the Key [ref: PJ-V7-53] to CA, to see if someone untrained in the finer arts could use it. I thought this a capital idea, and passed the key over. With some trepidation, he used it open the music room door into the Lost Room.
The Room was as it had been every time we visited. It was a bright sunny day outside the keep. A fire burned in the hearth and the interior seemed undisturbed. Once again, CA stepped in to guard the only other known entrance -- a stairwell leading down to a closed door. GW went to one of the windows to look out -- I think she wants to go exploring. This was RO's first visit and he certainly was impressed.
Once we were all in the room, I came in and closed the door. CA came once again to open it. I calmly attempted to guide his concentration so that he was focused on the particular door we sought. When he opened the door, however, we were looking out on a stable. An elven stable hand stood with his back to us, speaking to what appeared to be a Valenar-bred horse. CA closed the door rapidly, but I think the stranger turned and saw us before CA could do so.
I looked to CA, who seemed embarrassed, but was trying to play it cool. I told him that he had done well so far, but he needed to focus on our desired location. On his second try, we opened the door to the Vault of Crimson Stars.
Signaling for silence from the DC, I strained my ears, but did not hear the tell-tale "All Clear" message I had left in the vault the last time we were there. A magic mouth, triggered when this door opened, was supposed to signal the all clear. If it didn't, that could only mean one thing: someone had been through the vault since our visit last night.
I told my companions as much, and we moved quietly through the doorway and into the Vault. Closing the door, I re-opened it up onto the trapped room. My suspicions were confirmed: the bodies of two tomb robbers lay in the room, and the loud whirring of spinning blades filled the air. They had activated all of the traps we had, and it killed them. At least one of their number had survived to open this door, though, so some had survived. We debated what to do for a moment, then decided to engage the enemy that still lived, rather than loot those enemies that had fallen. Cautiously, and as quietly as ST could manage, we crept forward.
It was hard to say -- even with my training -- whether or not more people had passed through this hallway since our last visit. The dust was heavy, but we had tramped back and forth a number of times in our last visit.
We were just passing through the statuary room when a sudden grinding klank sounded from up ahead, followed by a loud shout. Almost immediately, that same sound that had plagued my dreams of last night came to us; hundreds of wood bearings bouncing across stone, a wave retreating from a pebbled shore, a swarm of flesh-eating scarabs. Evidently, the survivors from yesterday's swarm had joined forces to feed again.
Before the first sounds from the swarm had time to echo, XL was clambering up onto one of the statues.
I told everyone to stay where they were, and pulled one of the patches from my robe [ref: CJ-V7-30]. It reverted to a scroll, which I read immediately, and with more than just a modicum of grace, I lifted off the ground and flew around the corner towards the swarm. They could crawl, but they could not fly. I would be safe.
Evidently, that was the theory of the vault's other visitor. I came around the corner to see not one, but three portcullises dropped across the hallway. The first was cut through, thanks to ST's work last night. Trapped between the other two, however, clinging to the ceiling some how, was a dinosaur the size of a massive dog. On the dinosaurs back -- underneath the creature, from my point of view -- was a halfling in native garb. Reins, tassels, hair, and the occasional loose tie was hanging down from this odd duo, so I knew that gravity had not been adversely affected in the area. Nor were they flying. The dinosaur was somehow walking on the ceiling.
At the same time that I came around the corner to witness this odd spectacle, the swarm came around the far corner and into sight. It swept towards me just as I raised my wand [ref: CJ-V6-66]. With a strange battle cry, the halfling on the ceiling gestured towards the bugs and a small explosion of fire sent dozens of the tiny creatures scattering.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be actually hurt by the fire. I hoped to have better luck.
With a word, I sent a bearing-sized ball of energy sailing through all three portcullises to land in the midst of the swarm. It exploded outward in a massive detonation of super-heated fire as soon as it hit. Bugs went flying everywhere, rattling off of stone and portcullis like an explosion of hard biscuits. The halfling cried out again, and I realized he was yelling "Fire! Fire!" with disturbing enthusiasm. Reforming on the move, the swarm churned slowly towards me. With another cry, the halfling summoned a solid sphere of fire and set it in the insects midst.
Needless to say, the DC did not follow orders. GW appeared behind me, followed by ST. GW unleashed one of her spells, sending two searing beams of fire towards the swarm. They scattered away from the points of impact, however, and only one or two of the insects were hurt.
The swarm moved forward to cover GW and ST. ST just had time to throw his alchemist's spark before he was completely engulfed. CA had the unfortunate luck to arrive just at that moment, and was caught up in the mass, also. He swung his sword into them, and though the blade did little damage, the infusion I had placed upon it [ref: CJ-V1-12] melted the creatures by the dozen. HU, following CA, pulled up before he was swarmed and threw a vial of alchemist's spark at the creatures. Many died.
The sight of thousands of medallion-sized insects slowly eating my companions alive nauseated and revolted me, but I kept my head about me. I realized that this group was more resistant to fire than the last. With a shout, I told GW to switch to electricity. Following deed to word, I switched wands [ref: CJ-V5-38] and let loose a stream of energy that destroyed the creatures by the hundreds. GW did the same, using a spell to coat her blade in electricity then sweeping it broadly through the swarm. The combined energy of our two spells spread from one scarab to another, and soon there was nothing left but a few survivors scuttling off into the darkness.
The ancient halls of this unhallowed place were not silent, however. CA was screaming and thrashing. The swarm had burrowed into him while we fought, and he was left struggling for his life, being eaten alive from the inside, out. Unwanted images of DA's last moments came unbidden to my mind.
Stumbling out of control, CA fled the scene, trying to run from an enemy he could not fight. I shouted for XL to slow him down, then for ST to grab him. DA had died to these creatures, but only because we didn't know how to stop them. Now, we did.
One of the things that I had sent GW out to find the night before was an answer to the swarm problem. She had visited House Jorasco, who told her that the flesh-eating infestation of beetles acted much as a disease does -- though, of course, the individual elements of a disease were much, much smaller than a flesh-eating scarab. I didn't quite buy into their beliefs, but they were the experts in such things. While ST held CA still, I quick-infused a spell into my cane to remove disease [ref: CJ-V1-12]. Knowing I may not finish in time, I called out to RO (who had run away at the first sign of trouble) to do what he could for CA.
CA was strong, but he couldn't hold out long against such an adversary. RO was moving far too slowly, and I wouldn't risk CA's life on untested ability. With a word, I touched my cane to CA's abdomen and let loose it's magic. The forced expulsion of scarabs was... disturbing to watch... but it freed CA from their feasting. Robbed of their meal and the companionship of their fellows, the beetles scuttled away into darkness.
I checked CA's wounds and the wounds of the rest of the DC. We didn't get through the fight unscathed, but did far better than we had last time. Knowledge and preparation are key in all things. I set about healing those who were injured.
ST, meanwhile, had gone forwards to cut through the bars of the portcullis, freeing the halfling trapped within. XL reported seeing a body while he was up on the statuary, and retrieved said corpse from it's hiding place in the corner of the room. It was another of the DG adventurers, killed, perhaps, by spear wounds. GW, in her practicality, searched for magic on the body and removed any items of interest.
We moved on, finally, meeting up with the halfling. He introduced himself as Conshru (CN) and his mount as Grix (GX). He looked like one of the halflings that we saw riding patrol outside, so I subtly asked of him what he was doing here. CN told us that his tribal brothers sent him in because a group of seven adventurers entered this sacred place without first asking permission. CN was unclear as to what he was supposed to do to these tomb robbers, but his fixation with fire provided some clue. This worried me, as we did not have permission to be here, either. It took a very delicate hand to weave the conversation that followed in the direction I needed it to go, but, naturally, I succeeded brilliantly.
By the end of our discussion, CN had invited us to accompany him deeper into the vault. We had accounted for six bodies so far, and the seventh must have continued onward. CN hinted that he was dissatisfied with his life amongst the tribe, and that he wanted to see Sharn. I cultivated that desire with grandiose descriptions of Sharn, her towers, and the wide variety of people, places, and things one could find in such a place. By the end, CN was hanging on my every word.
My hope, naturally, was to bring him back to Sharn with us when we left, rather than letting him return to his peoples and explain our presence here. He seemed the type that would be open to the idea later -- CN himself didn't mind our presence here, as he wasn't told to keep us out. He just wanted to find out what happened to those who had come before us.
So we traveled together to find out what happened to the last tomb robber. And, of course, to look for the dragonshard that we had come here to find in the first place.
I took the lead, searching carefully as we went to make sure we triggered no new traps. The way was clear. The hallway continued to slope downwards, an angled spiral down to gods only knew what.
Before long, the hallway turned another corner and left us standing before a large archway with a scarab motif above the doorway. Three runes marked the only decoration we'd seen to date, but none of us could make anything of them. I searched for traps while GW searched for magic. We found neither.
Beyond the arch was a chamber almost one hundred feet deep, forty feet wide, and just over forty feet tall. Three massive carvings evenly spaced along each of the side walls depicted more hawk-faced men; these more than forty feet tall and bearing the weight of the ceiling upon their carven backs. The last two carvings stood above a dark, ten foot wide pit that separated the far side of the room from the side we entered in on. The ceiling here, as it was back in the well-trapped room with the original statue, was black, with stars depicted in red inset gemstones. I stood under the arch for a few minutes, shining HU's beacon lantern here and there and looking around. The rest of the DC (plus our new followers) stood behind me. The room was large, silent, and dusty.
I began the long process of searching the floors and walls for traps. No more mistakes.
It took more than a few minutes to cover the room. By the time I was done, we had determined that except for a trap door just in front of the pit, the room was safe. A curtain of magic divided the room, however, over the pit's location. On the other side of the pit we could see a large sarcophagus propped up against the far wall. In front of it was a dry basin, and in front of and to either side of the basin was a large brass brazier. The room was otherwise plain.
As I disabled the trap door, I began investigating the pit. There was some magic above it -- abjurative in nature -- and everything below floor-level was obscured by magical darkness. Bringing out a rope, I plumbed the depth of the pit to see that it was merely thirty feet down. We could climb down, but what would we find?
CN, still walking the walls with his dinosaur, crossed over to the far side of the room. When he crossed over the pit, however, he and GX started to fall. CN twisted and turned, landing on the far side of the pit. GX scrambled and rolled, and landed on this side. They looked at each other for a moment, before GX backed up and leapt across the pit. The companions reunited (CN leaping onto GX's back), and backed away from the pit.
The sarcophagus opened.
I had had images of what we might find in the sarcophagus, and the creature who stepped out met every one of my expectations. Well, all except one. He was massively tall, probably nine feet tall in total ,with an elaborate headdress. Covered in bandages, he satisfied every image of a two-copper theater rendition of a mummy attack, except that he moved very quickly. He carried a wicked looking black rod, too, and as I watched it pulsed to life with black energy. The strange thing about the creature, though, is that it looked hobgoblin rather than hawk-headed. It was definitely out of place here.
We didn't stop to dialog about it's alien appearance, however. Quick as a wink, CN and GX withdrew from the creature and raced back up the wall. The mummy bore aloft his dark scepter, and black-fire electricity erupted from the weapon, striking CN and GX both before arcing off towards the nearest statue.
GW responded as I am learning she is inclined to: she quick-cast a spell of extra movement and leapt over the pit. Her speed was sufficient to reach the mummy, but her attack deflected off of dusty bandages. XL jumped across too, and positioned himself to get into the fight.
I had seen three people cross the pit, and two of them do so with magic. My extensive training in all things magical took the miniscule clues provided by my companions actions and formed a very vital piece of information. Hovering above that pit was a veil of anti-magic. No magic would cross the barrier. I pondered, suddenly, how the pit itself could then be shrouded in an obviously magical darkness? How, too, was the lightning from the black rod piercing the veil so as to strike the pillar?
I urged my companions to bring the battle back to this side of the pit. The obstacle was only ten feet across, but I wasn't sure ST could leap that distance. He was built for durability, not mobility. CA must not have heard my orders, because he leapt across to take the fight to the creature.
CN dropped fire down upon the creature, who reciprocated by blasting CN, GX, XL, and GW with lightning from his rod before withdrawing to the other side of the basin. GW followed, and in a flurry of magic and steel destroyed the mummy with a single hit. Fire and lightning were her specialty, too.
Most of us gathered on the far side of the pit to tend wounds and examine the area. Looting the fallen mummy was a priority for most, but there were some who were simply looking around, too. I joined in the search: our path lead here, but there were no other exits, nor any sign of the dragonshard we had come so far to find. I started my search at the sarcophagus, then expanded outward from there. No traps. No secret doors or compartments. Nothing.
I looked over the gear that the mummy had carried, but the dragonshard wasn't there, either. The scepter looked rather interesting, but that was research for another day.
We were still missing one tomb robber. If the scarab swarm had consumed him, then we would have found the gear piled at the location of his death. We had found nothing, though. With few other leads, we lowered ST down into the darkened pit, but brought him back up as soon as he reported more scarabs. It seems the pit was full of them.
Our last lead, then, was the trap door in front of the pit. The DC stood around me as I opened it up. A shaft descended into the darkness, angling slightly towards the pit. I could see right away, though, that the shaft would descend beneath the scarab-filled pit. What we did not know was how far down it went, or what was down there.
HU came over to help, and dropped a lit sunrod into the shaft. It slid and bounced until it descended out of sight. There was a slight curve to the shaft that hid it's endpoint from our vision. We waited a moment, to see if anything would respond to the noise and light, but nothing did.
Not trusting what we could not see, I infused a quick spell into my cane [ref: CJ-V1-12] and cast my vision down the shaft, centering it on the sunrod. My clairvoyance revealed a rectangular chamber twenty feet wide and fifty long, filled with three alcoves along each of the side walls and another on the far end of the chamber. The floor was covered in an indeterminate amount of water; piles and piles of bones extended out of the water, but didn't exactly fill the room. The body of a human male lay at the base of the shaft. Was this, perhaps, the chamber we sought?
I told my companions what I had seen, and they immediately set to work. ST drilled a hole in the stone with his energy blade, then secured a piton within it. HU, meanwhile, tied two ropes together so that we could descend the steep slope with less difficulty. CA opted to go down first.
It seemed to me that CA was disappointed that he did not get to fight the mummy, and so was eager to find another battle.
Following CA was GW, then CN, then ST. I had the opportunity to follow XL, but decided that if a four hundred pound warforged was going to trip up and slide down the shaft, I would rather be behind him than in front of him. I followed ST, then HU, XL, and RO came after.
I had never used a clairvoyancey spell before, but they work just fine. The chamber was just as I had seen it earlier, though better lit now that more light filled the room. I had just found a stable place to stand when trouble arrived.
Mummies burst forth from the nearest alcoves, one on each side of the room. ST turned to fight one, keeping it pinned in the alcove. The other stepped out to attack XL. Before we could react, a gibbering shade of pure blackness drifted out of one of the walls and charged straight towards GW. XL stood fascinated by the sound the creature was making, and CA stood paralyzed at the sight of the mummies. I have to profess that I was feeling a deeper despair than I ever had before. Still, there was a fight to be had!
From my wand [ref: PJ-V5-62], I unleashed a handful of magic missiles at the shade, my other targets seemingly not as critical. A mummy slammed his dusty fist into XL, knocking him out of his reverie. The other mummy clawed at ST, but was rebuffed. The shade struck GW, who began babbling a bit herself.
Our footing shifted slightly as the bones beneath our feet started to quake. from the center of the room rose two massive skeletons, each the size of an ogre. They struck out at any living creature near them.
CN responded with his normal war cry, and a small explosion of fire struck the skeleton and the mummy nearest XL. ST was having trouble with his mummy, but XL struck his a solid blow, the infusion I had placed on it earlier [ref: CJ-V1-33] cutting through the creature like an axe through soft clay.
As if we didn't have enough problems, a pair of well-preserved hobgoblin corpses came out of the far alcoves, and started making their slow way towards us across the piles of bones.
The shade's incorporeal form protected it from GW's counter-attack, and when it touched her again she giggled and started babbling a little louder. I hit it again with force missiles from wand, then GW followed up with a sword strike that hit true, and the creature discoprorated.
ST continued to trade blows with his mummy, while XL turned his attention to the skeleton behind him, using the infused haft of his spear to good use. The creature was large enough that in this room it nearly divided our party in two. CA came out of his reverie, and made his way towards the nearest skeleton. The combined efforts of the DC caused the creature to collapse before CA could get there, so he turned, instead, towards the mummy fighting XL.
CN continued to unleash fire into our enemies, and the remaining skeleton fell. Two zombies shuffled up into the fight. CA, XL, and GW teamed up on the mummy, dropping him, then CA turned and with one strike cut the nearest zombie in two. CN destroyed the other zombie.
ST, meanwhile, was still fighting determinedly with the mummy he had trapped within the alcove. GW called for ST to move aside so she could get a clear shot in, but ST pressed forward, keeping the creature contained. Eventually, though, it, too, fell, and we were alone in the chamber.
Once again, the DC spread out to search the chamber. I busied myself making sure everyone was healed before beginning my search.
XL had gotten hit at some point during the fight, and a black decay was spreading slowly but inexorably across his skin; deadened flesh was flaking off into dust and blowing away on a wind that wasn't there. Was this the mummy's curse, as is so often depicted in the theaters?
We had little time. Whatever it was, it was killing XL. I took out the only scroll I had capable of breaking a curse [ref: PJ-V7-84] and read it over XL's wound. I could feel the magic of the scroll fighting against the mummy's power. Then I felt the curse break. The blackness was still spreading across him, but it was just killing him now, not disintegrating him. Not good, but better. Rather than figure out where Robin was, I pulled out our only potion of disease removal and spread it over the wound. More progress: the disease was no longer spreading. XL was saved!
RO came up from whatever concealment he had found during the fight to administer aid. His curative wand was helpful in restoring CA to full health, and his restorative wand set both XL and GW aright. I tended to ST myself.
With all of the DC healthy once again, I utilized a divinatory wand [ref: CJ-V6-59] to search the room we were in in two broad sweeps. The body of the adventurer had some interesting gear (he was, in fact, the last member of the DG adventuring party), and the mummies had a little bit of useful gear. There was nothing else in the room of interest, though. Nothing buried under the bones, nothing concealed within the walls or floor. This was another dead end. Where was that dragonshard? Had it already been stolen, centuries before we got here?
We returned to the upper chamber, and began a long, exhaustive search. When that proved fruitless, I set about identifying the scepter that the mummy lord had carried. Perhaps it held some clue?
Identification of a magic item is a long, tedious process. Quite interesting, though. While I was working on the scepter, CA and CN went back out to the outer chambers to collect anything of value still on the bodies of the DG tomb robbers. I warned them to be wary of any traps that might still be active.
An hour later, the black rod provided no clues as to where we should go next. It was an interesting device, though, with a negative energy effect on anything you attacked with it and special electric-fire abilities that worked only in this room. But it didn't answer the questions I had about this place. Where was the dragonshard? Why did the mummy we fought here not "fit in", thematically speaking? If the tomb wasn't built for that creature, who was it built for? Where was he?
GW had the idea of lighting the braziers on fire and filling the basin with water. It seemed a waste of effort to me, as there was no magic to be triggered by such activities and my -- very thorough -- search had found no mechanisms that would activate. Still, we had little else to try, so we got about it.
The fires were harder to light than I expected. There were traces of residue in each, and we tried using existing materials to light the fire -- in case it mattered. We were able to get the fires started, though, through sheer determination. Nothing happened, unfortunately.
The basis was easier to deal with. GW collected water skins from the DC and simply poured them in. There was an immediate and obvious affect.
The water did not splash or ripple when poured into the basin. It went in like poured glass, filling the basin and reflecting the red lights that glowed in the ceiling. We had determined quite some time ago that the lights where placed in a very detailed pattern, mimicking the placement of stars in the night sky. The scarab motif in the entrance to the chamber held a cartouche with three symbols -- each of them representing a known constellation. We had identified the constellations mapped out on the ceiling, but had been unable to discern any pattern or hidden meaning behind them.
Those same three constellations were reflected in the pool before us. This wasn't a mirror, though. It was a portal.
But where did it lead? GW tried lowering a rope into the pool, but the rope simply gathered on top of the water. When she reached down to touch the bottom of the basin, it seemed endless. Not wanting to leap into the unknown, I began the process of infusing my cane with a spell to analyze the gate [ref: CJ-V1-12]. It was a magic I had never done before, so I took my time with it.
GW, however, was not one to wait. I had told her what I was doing, and was already in the middle of it, when she simply jumped into the pool. There was no splash; no ripple. There was just GW disappearing into nothingness. With barely a second's hesitation, CA followed.
That's all we need -- rivalry between our two best swordspeople.
There was a cry of great injustice from across the room. CN had just returned from another scouting expedition to see CA jump through the gate. Not wanting to be left behind, CN and GX ran across the room, jumped the pit, and leapt into the basin at full speed.
Or perhaps "Fool Speed" would be a better descriptor...."
. An Excerpt from the Personal Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 7
--------------------------
"Reignstones on rosewood"
"Whiskers from Kytons"
"Bright copper scepters"
"Wyrmwood in pitons"
"Brown parchment punk-sticks tied up with fronds"
. An Excerpt from the list, "These Are a Few of My Favorite Wands" by Artemis Heuw Cannith
"Stark held the pieces together as I infused each in turn, following the investiture of magic with the a rubbing of the compound we had mixed together earlier. It had taken almost an hour to get this far, but it had been a fun challenge: creating a non-permanent binder that would hold the two thin plates together. Stark and I were in the last stages of implementation when I looked over and saw Hutch clamping similar plates together with hairpins. He had about almost twenty of them done, stacked up neatly to one side. I looked to Stark, who looked at me. I hate mundane solutions to interesting problems. Wait.... Why was Hutch carrying hairpins?"
. An Excerpt from the Craft Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 7
"I awoke this morning sore, exhausted, and soaked in sweat. Images of DA's last moments had danced through my dreams all night and I was not well rested. It took more than half an hour for me to get out of bed -- an event that hasn't happened since the fever I'd had as a child. I have always been energetic, always been ready to go out and take on the world. But now.... Now, I have seen such things. So much death. So much pain. Is this what it means to "live by the sword"?
What have I become?
When I did get up, I took special care with my appearance. I didn't want my state of mind to introduce doubt into my companions. I know that they look up to me -- expect me to lead. I have a responsibility to them, and I cannot fail. Not again.
I busied myself for the first part of the morning with household affairs, then went into my laboratory. I sat with S1 and HU for a while, but couldn't work up the drive to get S1 started on any projects. I set a few things out of his reach, then gave him free reign to work, clean, or organize the lab as he wanted.
XL came over about the time I expected he would, and had with him the items I asked him to fetch last night. Missing from the bag he held out to me, however, was the rare ointment I had put at the very top of the list. I had drafted a very fine letter to Master Huygen d'Cannith with the express goal of convincing said alchemist to sell that rare commodity. Obviously, I was not convincing enough.
We had to wait to see if that lack would lead to our destruction.
GW spent the night at the tower (after making a very unusual rooming request), but had gone off a little while ago to fetch our healer. She returned with a halfling named Robin (RO).
RO was an energetic fellow, but smelled as though he had been up all night in his cups. I examined his dragonmark to determine it's veracity, and concluded that the mark, at least, would prove useful. After a few minutes of questioning, I concurred with XL that RO would be a good addition to our expedition. He was eager to join us. Very eager.
In short order, we were ready to go. I gathered the DC, plus RO and GW, in the music room so that we could go over any last minute preparations. I had HU put the alchemist frost and spark that XL had acquired the night before out on a table and quickly explained their use. I refrained from commenting on Master Huygen's choice of vials for the two types of alchemy. He had chosen a periwinkle blue for the frost, rather than the universally accepted frost blue. Worse, both vials were the same shape. Dangerous when one is in a hurry and needs to know what one is grabbing. Still, the alchemical symbols for "Cold" and "Electricity" were in prominent relief on both front and back of the containers. I hoped that the DC were as well-trained as I at rapidly distinguishing the two by touch so there would be no mistakes.
Adding to the collection on the table, HU set down several vials of alchemists fire and arranged them in pairs.
XL, bless him, loyally chose to stick with the brand of alchemist's fire that was my own creation, rather than using something from an unknown. I commended his decision, but told him that Master Huygen was a well-respected alchemist, and that cold or spark could occasionally solve problems that fire could not. He would not be persuaded. The rest of the group, barring RO, of course, helped themselves to what they wanted.
HU, seeing that two vials of spark and two of frost remained, happily gathered up the surplus vials and stowed them away. I, meanwhile, was giving a brief lecture to RO, showing him which wand bracer held my healing wands, and which wand did what. He seemed very impressed that the wands would identify themselves to any who could use them.
It is sad how a lack of education can reduce even a respected member of House Jorasco to a veritable bumpkin.
Once everyone was ready, we departed. XL had the idea of passing the the Key [ref: PJ-V7-53] to CA, to see if someone untrained in the finer arts could use it. I thought this a capital idea, and passed the key over. With some trepidation, he used it open the music room door into the Lost Room.
The Room was as it had been every time we visited. It was a bright sunny day outside the keep. A fire burned in the hearth and the interior seemed undisturbed. Once again, CA stepped in to guard the only other known entrance -- a stairwell leading down to a closed door. GW went to one of the windows to look out -- I think she wants to go exploring. This was RO's first visit and he certainly was impressed.
Once we were all in the room, I came in and closed the door. CA came once again to open it. I calmly attempted to guide his concentration so that he was focused on the particular door we sought. When he opened the door, however, we were looking out on a stable. An elven stable hand stood with his back to us, speaking to what appeared to be a Valenar-bred horse. CA closed the door rapidly, but I think the stranger turned and saw us before CA could do so.
I looked to CA, who seemed embarrassed, but was trying to play it cool. I told him that he had done well so far, but he needed to focus on our desired location. On his second try, we opened the door to the Vault of Crimson Stars.
Signaling for silence from the DC, I strained my ears, but did not hear the tell-tale "All Clear" message I had left in the vault the last time we were there. A magic mouth, triggered when this door opened, was supposed to signal the all clear. If it didn't, that could only mean one thing: someone had been through the vault since our visit last night.
I told my companions as much, and we moved quietly through the doorway and into the Vault. Closing the door, I re-opened it up onto the trapped room. My suspicions were confirmed: the bodies of two tomb robbers lay in the room, and the loud whirring of spinning blades filled the air. They had activated all of the traps we had, and it killed them. At least one of their number had survived to open this door, though, so some had survived. We debated what to do for a moment, then decided to engage the enemy that still lived, rather than loot those enemies that had fallen. Cautiously, and as quietly as ST could manage, we crept forward.
It was hard to say -- even with my training -- whether or not more people had passed through this hallway since our last visit. The dust was heavy, but we had tramped back and forth a number of times in our last visit.
We were just passing through the statuary room when a sudden grinding klank sounded from up ahead, followed by a loud shout. Almost immediately, that same sound that had plagued my dreams of last night came to us; hundreds of wood bearings bouncing across stone, a wave retreating from a pebbled shore, a swarm of flesh-eating scarabs. Evidently, the survivors from yesterday's swarm had joined forces to feed again.
Before the first sounds from the swarm had time to echo, XL was clambering up onto one of the statues.
I told everyone to stay where they were, and pulled one of the patches from my robe [ref: CJ-V7-30]. It reverted to a scroll, which I read immediately, and with more than just a modicum of grace, I lifted off the ground and flew around the corner towards the swarm. They could crawl, but they could not fly. I would be safe.
Evidently, that was the theory of the vault's other visitor. I came around the corner to see not one, but three portcullises dropped across the hallway. The first was cut through, thanks to ST's work last night. Trapped between the other two, however, clinging to the ceiling some how, was a dinosaur the size of a massive dog. On the dinosaurs back -- underneath the creature, from my point of view -- was a halfling in native garb. Reins, tassels, hair, and the occasional loose tie was hanging down from this odd duo, so I knew that gravity had not been adversely affected in the area. Nor were they flying. The dinosaur was somehow walking on the ceiling.
At the same time that I came around the corner to witness this odd spectacle, the swarm came around the far corner and into sight. It swept towards me just as I raised my wand [ref: CJ-V6-66]. With a strange battle cry, the halfling on the ceiling gestured towards the bugs and a small explosion of fire sent dozens of the tiny creatures scattering.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be actually hurt by the fire. I hoped to have better luck.
With a word, I sent a bearing-sized ball of energy sailing through all three portcullises to land in the midst of the swarm. It exploded outward in a massive detonation of super-heated fire as soon as it hit. Bugs went flying everywhere, rattling off of stone and portcullis like an explosion of hard biscuits. The halfling cried out again, and I realized he was yelling "Fire! Fire!" with disturbing enthusiasm. Reforming on the move, the swarm churned slowly towards me. With another cry, the halfling summoned a solid sphere of fire and set it in the insects midst.
Needless to say, the DC did not follow orders. GW appeared behind me, followed by ST. GW unleashed one of her spells, sending two searing beams of fire towards the swarm. They scattered away from the points of impact, however, and only one or two of the insects were hurt.
The swarm moved forward to cover GW and ST. ST just had time to throw his alchemist's spark before he was completely engulfed. CA had the unfortunate luck to arrive just at that moment, and was caught up in the mass, also. He swung his sword into them, and though the blade did little damage, the infusion I had placed upon it [ref: CJ-V1-12] melted the creatures by the dozen. HU, following CA, pulled up before he was swarmed and threw a vial of alchemist's spark at the creatures. Many died.
The sight of thousands of medallion-sized insects slowly eating my companions alive nauseated and revolted me, but I kept my head about me. I realized that this group was more resistant to fire than the last. With a shout, I told GW to switch to electricity. Following deed to word, I switched wands [ref: CJ-V5-38] and let loose a stream of energy that destroyed the creatures by the hundreds. GW did the same, using a spell to coat her blade in electricity then sweeping it broadly through the swarm. The combined energy of our two spells spread from one scarab to another, and soon there was nothing left but a few survivors scuttling off into the darkness.
The ancient halls of this unhallowed place were not silent, however. CA was screaming and thrashing. The swarm had burrowed into him while we fought, and he was left struggling for his life, being eaten alive from the inside, out. Unwanted images of DA's last moments came unbidden to my mind.
Stumbling out of control, CA fled the scene, trying to run from an enemy he could not fight. I shouted for XL to slow him down, then for ST to grab him. DA had died to these creatures, but only because we didn't know how to stop them. Now, we did.
One of the things that I had sent GW out to find the night before was an answer to the swarm problem. She had visited House Jorasco, who told her that the flesh-eating infestation of beetles acted much as a disease does -- though, of course, the individual elements of a disease were much, much smaller than a flesh-eating scarab. I didn't quite buy into their beliefs, but they were the experts in such things. While ST held CA still, I quick-infused a spell into my cane to remove disease [ref: CJ-V1-12]. Knowing I may not finish in time, I called out to RO (who had run away at the first sign of trouble) to do what he could for CA.
CA was strong, but he couldn't hold out long against such an adversary. RO was moving far too slowly, and I wouldn't risk CA's life on untested ability. With a word, I touched my cane to CA's abdomen and let loose it's magic. The forced expulsion of scarabs was... disturbing to watch... but it freed CA from their feasting. Robbed of their meal and the companionship of their fellows, the beetles scuttled away into darkness.
I checked CA's wounds and the wounds of the rest of the DC. We didn't get through the fight unscathed, but did far better than we had last time. Knowledge and preparation are key in all things. I set about healing those who were injured.
ST, meanwhile, had gone forwards to cut through the bars of the portcullis, freeing the halfling trapped within. XL reported seeing a body while he was up on the statuary, and retrieved said corpse from it's hiding place in the corner of the room. It was another of the DG adventurers, killed, perhaps, by spear wounds. GW, in her practicality, searched for magic on the body and removed any items of interest.
We moved on, finally, meeting up with the halfling. He introduced himself as Conshru (CN) and his mount as Grix (GX). He looked like one of the halflings that we saw riding patrol outside, so I subtly asked of him what he was doing here. CN told us that his tribal brothers sent him in because a group of seven adventurers entered this sacred place without first asking permission. CN was unclear as to what he was supposed to do to these tomb robbers, but his fixation with fire provided some clue. This worried me, as we did not have permission to be here, either. It took a very delicate hand to weave the conversation that followed in the direction I needed it to go, but, naturally, I succeeded brilliantly.
By the end of our discussion, CN had invited us to accompany him deeper into the vault. We had accounted for six bodies so far, and the seventh must have continued onward. CN hinted that he was dissatisfied with his life amongst the tribe, and that he wanted to see Sharn. I cultivated that desire with grandiose descriptions of Sharn, her towers, and the wide variety of people, places, and things one could find in such a place. By the end, CN was hanging on my every word.
My hope, naturally, was to bring him back to Sharn with us when we left, rather than letting him return to his peoples and explain our presence here. He seemed the type that would be open to the idea later -- CN himself didn't mind our presence here, as he wasn't told to keep us out. He just wanted to find out what happened to those who had come before us.
So we traveled together to find out what happened to the last tomb robber. And, of course, to look for the dragonshard that we had come here to find in the first place.
I took the lead, searching carefully as we went to make sure we triggered no new traps. The way was clear. The hallway continued to slope downwards, an angled spiral down to gods only knew what.
Before long, the hallway turned another corner and left us standing before a large archway with a scarab motif above the doorway. Three runes marked the only decoration we'd seen to date, but none of us could make anything of them. I searched for traps while GW searched for magic. We found neither.
Beyond the arch was a chamber almost one hundred feet deep, forty feet wide, and just over forty feet tall. Three massive carvings evenly spaced along each of the side walls depicted more hawk-faced men; these more than forty feet tall and bearing the weight of the ceiling upon their carven backs. The last two carvings stood above a dark, ten foot wide pit that separated the far side of the room from the side we entered in on. The ceiling here, as it was back in the well-trapped room with the original statue, was black, with stars depicted in red inset gemstones. I stood under the arch for a few minutes, shining HU's beacon lantern here and there and looking around. The rest of the DC (plus our new followers) stood behind me. The room was large, silent, and dusty.
I began the long process of searching the floors and walls for traps. No more mistakes.
It took more than a few minutes to cover the room. By the time I was done, we had determined that except for a trap door just in front of the pit, the room was safe. A curtain of magic divided the room, however, over the pit's location. On the other side of the pit we could see a large sarcophagus propped up against the far wall. In front of it was a dry basin, and in front of and to either side of the basin was a large brass brazier. The room was otherwise plain.
As I disabled the trap door, I began investigating the pit. There was some magic above it -- abjurative in nature -- and everything below floor-level was obscured by magical darkness. Bringing out a rope, I plumbed the depth of the pit to see that it was merely thirty feet down. We could climb down, but what would we find?
CN, still walking the walls with his dinosaur, crossed over to the far side of the room. When he crossed over the pit, however, he and GX started to fall. CN twisted and turned, landing on the far side of the pit. GX scrambled and rolled, and landed on this side. They looked at each other for a moment, before GX backed up and leapt across the pit. The companions reunited (CN leaping onto GX's back), and backed away from the pit.
The sarcophagus opened.
I had had images of what we might find in the sarcophagus, and the creature who stepped out met every one of my expectations. Well, all except one. He was massively tall, probably nine feet tall in total ,with an elaborate headdress. Covered in bandages, he satisfied every image of a two-copper theater rendition of a mummy attack, except that he moved very quickly. He carried a wicked looking black rod, too, and as I watched it pulsed to life with black energy. The strange thing about the creature, though, is that it looked hobgoblin rather than hawk-headed. It was definitely out of place here.
We didn't stop to dialog about it's alien appearance, however. Quick as a wink, CN and GX withdrew from the creature and raced back up the wall. The mummy bore aloft his dark scepter, and black-fire electricity erupted from the weapon, striking CN and GX both before arcing off towards the nearest statue.
GW responded as I am learning she is inclined to: she quick-cast a spell of extra movement and leapt over the pit. Her speed was sufficient to reach the mummy, but her attack deflected off of dusty bandages. XL jumped across too, and positioned himself to get into the fight.
I had seen three people cross the pit, and two of them do so with magic. My extensive training in all things magical took the miniscule clues provided by my companions actions and formed a very vital piece of information. Hovering above that pit was a veil of anti-magic. No magic would cross the barrier. I pondered, suddenly, how the pit itself could then be shrouded in an obviously magical darkness? How, too, was the lightning from the black rod piercing the veil so as to strike the pillar?
I urged my companions to bring the battle back to this side of the pit. The obstacle was only ten feet across, but I wasn't sure ST could leap that distance. He was built for durability, not mobility. CA must not have heard my orders, because he leapt across to take the fight to the creature.
CN dropped fire down upon the creature, who reciprocated by blasting CN, GX, XL, and GW with lightning from his rod before withdrawing to the other side of the basin. GW followed, and in a flurry of magic and steel destroyed the mummy with a single hit. Fire and lightning were her specialty, too.
Most of us gathered on the far side of the pit to tend wounds and examine the area. Looting the fallen mummy was a priority for most, but there were some who were simply looking around, too. I joined in the search: our path lead here, but there were no other exits, nor any sign of the dragonshard we had come so far to find. I started my search at the sarcophagus, then expanded outward from there. No traps. No secret doors or compartments. Nothing.
I looked over the gear that the mummy had carried, but the dragonshard wasn't there, either. The scepter looked rather interesting, but that was research for another day.
We were still missing one tomb robber. If the scarab swarm had consumed him, then we would have found the gear piled at the location of his death. We had found nothing, though. With few other leads, we lowered ST down into the darkened pit, but brought him back up as soon as he reported more scarabs. It seems the pit was full of them.
Our last lead, then, was the trap door in front of the pit. The DC stood around me as I opened it up. A shaft descended into the darkness, angling slightly towards the pit. I could see right away, though, that the shaft would descend beneath the scarab-filled pit. What we did not know was how far down it went, or what was down there.
HU came over to help, and dropped a lit sunrod into the shaft. It slid and bounced until it descended out of sight. There was a slight curve to the shaft that hid it's endpoint from our vision. We waited a moment, to see if anything would respond to the noise and light, but nothing did.
Not trusting what we could not see, I infused a quick spell into my cane [ref: CJ-V1-12] and cast my vision down the shaft, centering it on the sunrod. My clairvoyance revealed a rectangular chamber twenty feet wide and fifty long, filled with three alcoves along each of the side walls and another on the far end of the chamber. The floor was covered in an indeterminate amount of water; piles and piles of bones extended out of the water, but didn't exactly fill the room. The body of a human male lay at the base of the shaft. Was this, perhaps, the chamber we sought?
I told my companions what I had seen, and they immediately set to work. ST drilled a hole in the stone with his energy blade, then secured a piton within it. HU, meanwhile, tied two ropes together so that we could descend the steep slope with less difficulty. CA opted to go down first.
It seemed to me that CA was disappointed that he did not get to fight the mummy, and so was eager to find another battle.
Following CA was GW, then CN, then ST. I had the opportunity to follow XL, but decided that if a four hundred pound warforged was going to trip up and slide down the shaft, I would rather be behind him than in front of him. I followed ST, then HU, XL, and RO came after.
I had never used a clairvoyancey spell before, but they work just fine. The chamber was just as I had seen it earlier, though better lit now that more light filled the room. I had just found a stable place to stand when trouble arrived.
Mummies burst forth from the nearest alcoves, one on each side of the room. ST turned to fight one, keeping it pinned in the alcove. The other stepped out to attack XL. Before we could react, a gibbering shade of pure blackness drifted out of one of the walls and charged straight towards GW. XL stood fascinated by the sound the creature was making, and CA stood paralyzed at the sight of the mummies. I have to profess that I was feeling a deeper despair than I ever had before. Still, there was a fight to be had!
From my wand [ref: PJ-V5-62], I unleashed a handful of magic missiles at the shade, my other targets seemingly not as critical. A mummy slammed his dusty fist into XL, knocking him out of his reverie. The other mummy clawed at ST, but was rebuffed. The shade struck GW, who began babbling a bit herself.
Our footing shifted slightly as the bones beneath our feet started to quake. from the center of the room rose two massive skeletons, each the size of an ogre. They struck out at any living creature near them.
CN responded with his normal war cry, and a small explosion of fire struck the skeleton and the mummy nearest XL. ST was having trouble with his mummy, but XL struck his a solid blow, the infusion I had placed on it earlier [ref: CJ-V1-33] cutting through the creature like an axe through soft clay.
As if we didn't have enough problems, a pair of well-preserved hobgoblin corpses came out of the far alcoves, and started making their slow way towards us across the piles of bones.
The shade's incorporeal form protected it from GW's counter-attack, and when it touched her again she giggled and started babbling a little louder. I hit it again with force missiles from wand, then GW followed up with a sword strike that hit true, and the creature discoprorated.
ST continued to trade blows with his mummy, while XL turned his attention to the skeleton behind him, using the infused haft of his spear to good use. The creature was large enough that in this room it nearly divided our party in two. CA came out of his reverie, and made his way towards the nearest skeleton. The combined efforts of the DC caused the creature to collapse before CA could get there, so he turned, instead, towards the mummy fighting XL.
CN continued to unleash fire into our enemies, and the remaining skeleton fell. Two zombies shuffled up into the fight. CA, XL, and GW teamed up on the mummy, dropping him, then CA turned and with one strike cut the nearest zombie in two. CN destroyed the other zombie.
ST, meanwhile, was still fighting determinedly with the mummy he had trapped within the alcove. GW called for ST to move aside so she could get a clear shot in, but ST pressed forward, keeping the creature contained. Eventually, though, it, too, fell, and we were alone in the chamber.
Once again, the DC spread out to search the chamber. I busied myself making sure everyone was healed before beginning my search.
XL had gotten hit at some point during the fight, and a black decay was spreading slowly but inexorably across his skin; deadened flesh was flaking off into dust and blowing away on a wind that wasn't there. Was this the mummy's curse, as is so often depicted in the theaters?
We had little time. Whatever it was, it was killing XL. I took out the only scroll I had capable of breaking a curse [ref: PJ-V7-84] and read it over XL's wound. I could feel the magic of the scroll fighting against the mummy's power. Then I felt the curse break. The blackness was still spreading across him, but it was just killing him now, not disintegrating him. Not good, but better. Rather than figure out where Robin was, I pulled out our only potion of disease removal and spread it over the wound. More progress: the disease was no longer spreading. XL was saved!
RO came up from whatever concealment he had found during the fight to administer aid. His curative wand was helpful in restoring CA to full health, and his restorative wand set both XL and GW aright. I tended to ST myself.
With all of the DC healthy once again, I utilized a divinatory wand [ref: CJ-V6-59] to search the room we were in in two broad sweeps. The body of the adventurer had some interesting gear (he was, in fact, the last member of the DG adventuring party), and the mummies had a little bit of useful gear. There was nothing else in the room of interest, though. Nothing buried under the bones, nothing concealed within the walls or floor. This was another dead end. Where was that dragonshard? Had it already been stolen, centuries before we got here?
We returned to the upper chamber, and began a long, exhaustive search. When that proved fruitless, I set about identifying the scepter that the mummy lord had carried. Perhaps it held some clue?
Identification of a magic item is a long, tedious process. Quite interesting, though. While I was working on the scepter, CA and CN went back out to the outer chambers to collect anything of value still on the bodies of the DG tomb robbers. I warned them to be wary of any traps that might still be active.
An hour later, the black rod provided no clues as to where we should go next. It was an interesting device, though, with a negative energy effect on anything you attacked with it and special electric-fire abilities that worked only in this room. But it didn't answer the questions I had about this place. Where was the dragonshard? Why did the mummy we fought here not "fit in", thematically speaking? If the tomb wasn't built for that creature, who was it built for? Where was he?
GW had the idea of lighting the braziers on fire and filling the basin with water. It seemed a waste of effort to me, as there was no magic to be triggered by such activities and my -- very thorough -- search had found no mechanisms that would activate. Still, we had little else to try, so we got about it.
The fires were harder to light than I expected. There were traces of residue in each, and we tried using existing materials to light the fire -- in case it mattered. We were able to get the fires started, though, through sheer determination. Nothing happened, unfortunately.
The basis was easier to deal with. GW collected water skins from the DC and simply poured them in. There was an immediate and obvious affect.
The water did not splash or ripple when poured into the basin. It went in like poured glass, filling the basin and reflecting the red lights that glowed in the ceiling. We had determined quite some time ago that the lights where placed in a very detailed pattern, mimicking the placement of stars in the night sky. The scarab motif in the entrance to the chamber held a cartouche with three symbols -- each of them representing a known constellation. We had identified the constellations mapped out on the ceiling, but had been unable to discern any pattern or hidden meaning behind them.
Those same three constellations were reflected in the pool before us. This wasn't a mirror, though. It was a portal.
But where did it lead? GW tried lowering a rope into the pool, but the rope simply gathered on top of the water. When she reached down to touch the bottom of the basin, it seemed endless. Not wanting to leap into the unknown, I began the process of infusing my cane with a spell to analyze the gate [ref: CJ-V1-12]. It was a magic I had never done before, so I took my time with it.
GW, however, was not one to wait. I had told her what I was doing, and was already in the middle of it, when she simply jumped into the pool. There was no splash; no ripple. There was just GW disappearing into nothingness. With barely a second's hesitation, CA followed.
That's all we need -- rivalry between our two best swordspeople.
There was a cry of great injustice from across the room. CN had just returned from another scouting expedition to see CA jump through the gate. Not wanting to be left behind, CN and GX ran across the room, jumped the pit, and leapt into the basin at full speed.
Or perhaps "Fool Speed" would be a better descriptor...."
. An Excerpt from the Personal Journal of Artemis Heuw Cannith, Volume 7
--------------------------
"Reignstones on rosewood"
"Whiskers from Kytons"
"Bright copper scepters"
"Wyrmwood in pitons"
"Brown parchment punk-sticks tied up with fronds"
. An Excerpt from the list, "These Are a Few of My Favorite Wands" by Artemis Heuw Cannith
