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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ancalagon" data-source="post: 7208614" data-attributes="member: 23">SESSION 7 I awoke again about an hour later, as Torin knocked on the door to tell me they were going to sleep outside, in order to save money. Feeling much less grumpy, I offered to sleep outside with them and take a watch. After sleeping in the inn for six hours, I feel much better. I'm finishing my watch, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep now. June 7th I was able to sleep after all. Finis woke us, once again, with a song to the sun. At least his singing is improving. We ate a hearty breakfast in the inn, and were joined in our meal by Suleiman, the man who helped us last night. I think he must be from the Western Samadhi, judging by his accent and dark skin. Suleiman offered to join us on our journey, saying that he's good with a sword. I don't doubt it; he looks as if he could lift Selimar's wagon! Our journey has been quite enjoyable, for a change. Altair and I discussed mathematics for most of the day (because he is a merchant, he has some knowledge of accounting, and therefore, a little mathematics). I am especially interested in the system the Cimbrians use to represent numbers. Rather than using our relatively awkward system of adding and subtracting amounts from each other to represent a single number, they simply use one symbol to represent that number. At first, I thought that such a system would be silly, as there are of course infinite numbers to represent. But they have an ingenious pattern that avoids this difficulty. I hope to write a treatise on it someday, as it certainly makes most calculations much easier to perform. The others have passed the day talking to Suleiman. I did not hear much of the conversation, but I have gathered that his full name is Suleiman Matar al-Qazim, and he is from Hejaz. I thought I heard him say that he is a former slave, but I'm not sure (on a side note, I have seen no signs of that evil practice in any of these lands). They worship only one god in Hejaz, Shai'allah, but it is unclear to me whether they believe all other gods are false, or whether they believe theirs is simply the most powerful. We are now in a caravan of ten carts and wagons, traveling to Duma Faifni together. There is much singing and dancing, and a smile is on every face. Lunch was a truly merry affair. I ate mine quickly, so that I would have time to search the area for useful herbs before we set off again. This afternoon we were joined by a man in white robes, riding a beautiful horse. Selimar tells me that the man is a Wizard of the White School. Blades struck up a conversation with him. We were worried that Blades would, in his somewhat dimwitted state, say something that would offend the wizard, but I think the wizard took a liking to him. He told us that his name is Xavier, from Ivalo. We made small talk, and he rode off to greet the others in the caravan. By late afternoon, the fields of grass had been replaced by fields of flowers. We soon reached the small town of Concord, where we stopped for the night. The Ale and Pipe is the local inn, and we are sleeping in the common room tonight. There are some elves here, and I decided to ask them what I should do about the elven chain Palimor gave us, and that we considered Taelsyn's. They seemed very interested in how we acquired the armor, so I told them of our encounter with Palimor. They concluded that Palimor had meant for the mail to be a gift to the whole party, so I could keep it without fear of angering the elves. The elves wanted to hear more of our adventures, so they bought me a fine meal and a drink, and we chatted the night away. Some halflings joined us soon after I began our story. What a merry day it has been! I'm going to bed now. Blades has decided to sleep outside with the flowers, for some reason. I can't imagine what must be going through his head. June 8th Dearest Brethren, Praise to the light-bringer! Gloria in excelsis Prometheo! I hope all is well at the temple. I have recently sent another packet of my writings to you, via a merchant. Today is the first day in my new log. We awoke to a bright sunny morning, and quickly prepared to go. After packing our belongings onto the wagon, we noticed that Blades was nowhere to be seen. Searching the area, we found two things: One, flowers are apparently the chief product of Concord, as there are huge fields of them planted on every square foot of available soil. Two, Blades had wandered around the valley in the night. Torin, after being pursued by an unfriendly dog, found him and brought him back. We were soon on our way. It was another happy day of travel. In the early afternoon, we came upon a river, and followed it for about an hour. Cresting a small hill, we finally saw Duma Faifni. It sat by a lake, on a large hill. Huge throngs of people were gathered around it. Music and strange smells drifted up toward us. The colors are almost blinding--many bright banners are flown, and the style of clothing can be politely described as "flashy" (gaudy and vain would be a better words). Camps surround the city for a radius of half a mile. The road was congested with travelers, and our progress slowed to a crawl. A large makeshift building outside the city served as the temporary headquarters of the Red Branch Knights (the King's knights). Selimar said that he had business to attend to, so he took his leave. We thanked him for his trouble and made our way toward the city gates. Although the city has put on its best face for the festival, Blades and Torin pointed out that the newer buildings are in poor condition, especially compared to the fine construction of the older buildings. Still, the merry spirit of the city overwhelms whatever architectural flaws the buildings have. Soon after making our way through the gate we heard the whinny of a horse, and a man cried out. The crowd parted in a panic, as a horse charged through, dragging a man behind it! The man had his foot caught in the stirrup, and try as he might, could not get loose. We sprung into action, with Torin charging forth to calm the horse (as I've mentioned, he has a way with animals), as I jumped to grab the reins. Blades, however, finally revealed the degree to which that foul plant had injured his mental faculties. He drew his sword and swung at the horse's leg, striking it. This, of course, caused the horse to panic again, just as we were calming it down. Torin nonetheless managed to calm it, and we made sure Blades did not swing again. I healed the horse's wounds, and we apologized to the rider for Blades' actions. He seemed unsure of whether to thank us or not (but he did). He walked away quickly, leading the horse. We went about trying to secure an inn, but after a brief attempt at bargaining (and finding that it cost upwards of fifty bronze a room), we decided that we could simply sleep outside. After designating the Merchant Quarter's Gate as a meeting point, we agreed to rendezvous at dusk. I went to look for Ionian merchants, and the others went their own ways. I soon found a large group of Ionian merchants. They were as happy to see me as I was to see them, and they invited me to return with them to their pavilion. They were finishing a busy day of selling and buying, and were returning for dinner and rest. I chatted with a man on the way back. He seemed kind enough, but I soon discovered that most of the Ionians derisively refer to the Cimbrians as "goats". Apparently they see them as an inferior race. I find this disgusting. We must educate our fellows; the Cimbrians are different, but not inferior. They have shown me great kindness (for the most part) since I first arrived in Alcyone. At the pavilion, I found a merchant named Glaucon who says that he is returning to Demopolis after the festival! He seems to be a good man, and does not refer to the Cimbrians as "goats". I asked him if he would be willing to carry this log with him, and take it to you at the temple. He quickly volunteered, saying that it would be an honor. We spent a great deal of time chatting, sharing the stories of our travels here, and sharing fine Ionian food and wine. How I miss home! I gave him enough money to hire a guard for his trip to the sea. I don't have enough gold for him to hire a guard for the whole journey, so pray for his safety! When and if he gets there, I suggest that he be rewarded for his efforts on our behalf. I took my leave of the Ionians, and returned to the Merchant's Quarter Gate. There I met Torin, Finis, and Suleiman. I was about to ask where Blades was, when we heard some shouting around a corner. Torin and I went to investigate, while Finis distracted a local town guard with idle conversation. Looking around the corner into an alley, we saw a boy, perhaps twelve years old, on the ground, his face bloodied. Three large Cimbrians stood over him, promising to pummel him for trying to steal from them. Torin and I suggested that it was not their role to dispense justice. This didn't persuade them, and they ordered us to leave. We didn't, and they attacked. I cast a flame blade, and this frightened one man off. Torin struck the other two on the head with the flat of his battle axes, knocking them unconscious (a very difficult thing to do!). The child seemed to be all right. I asked him if he had tried to steal from one of the men. At first he denied it, but after a stern look, he admitted it. Then he claimed that he had a poor sister to feed, but when that failed to elicit sympathy from us, he seemed defeated. I tried to explain to him that stealing is wrong. Finally, he apolagized, and seemed sincere. I asked him if he needed a job (I intended to offer him one, although I have no idea what he could do for us), but he said he had one at an inn. Much to our surprise, he said that he could get us rooms at the inn, which was called "The Slippery Eel". Although we didn't like the sound of the name, it was better than sleeping outside again. The boy, whose name was Balstead, took us straight to the inn. The owner, Braggi (who is from the Free Cities), thanked us for protecting Balstead, and offered us rooms. We agreed,of course. Torin told us that he and Blades had met an old dwarf friend, Oomosh. Oomosh was creating a piece of armor to enter into a contest, the prize of which was 1000 gold pieces! Blades, who is an expert armor-smith, agreed to help create a helmet, for half of the prize. This was especially important because, earlier in the day, Torin and Blades had gone to several temples and churches, asking about magic to heal Blades' mental affliction. One church offered to charge only (only!) 1000 gold for a powerful heal spell. Of course, we do not have anywhere near that much money. I'm not sure how we will raise the money, but we will, somehow. It was getting late when the stories were done, so we went to bed. Before blowing out the candles, Finis advised me that he is being followed by priests (or the servants of priests) of the local diety whose symbol is an anvil and a sword. I hope they do not have evil intentions towards Finis. But I will not worry about this now. It is time to rest, for tomorrow will be a very busy day. June 9th I went again to visit the Ionian Merchants, from whom I purchased new clothes. Our old clothes were dirty to the point of being foul, and falling apart. Before putting on my new clothes, however, I went to the poorer district of town, which is called Hillsborough. I did not want to appear too well-off, as that would likely make these poor folk uncomfortable. I spent the day trying to help them with their illnesses and other problems. The poor people of this city are actually fairly well off. Most of them are not very sick; nor are they lame or otherwise unable to work. They are simply between jobs, or temporarily down on their luck. Chronic poverty does not seem to be much of a problem here. At first I was surprised by this, but when I consider the amazing array of opportunities a city such as this must provide--the many, many jobs that there are to be done--it is not so surprising after all. The others spent the day wandering the city, taking in the sights, and trying to find a way to get more information about that mysterious map we found in the orcish ruins. Finis entered a foot race. Apparently, the race went all the way around the lake! While Finis ran, Torin offered his services as a pie-tasting judge, and Suleiman placed wagers on the foot race. Finis won the race handily, and Suleiman won his bet. Torin ate a great deal of pie. I have found that I am most comfortable here when I am in the marketplace. There is always the danger of pickpockets, but it is only a slight danger. What does it matter, when all around there are people trading things they value little, for things they value more? Imagine the happiness that is created in a marketplace! Every time a man buys a pound of apples from the apple cart for two bronze pieces, he is saying "I value apples more than I value having two bronze, so buying these apples makes me happier". The merchant is saying "I value these apples less than I value two bronze, so selling these apples makes me better off". And money! What a wonderful innovation! Imagine what would happen if, instead of using money, the buyer had to go find something the apple seller wanted. Suppose the apple seller wanted beef. The man who wanted to buy the apples would have to find something to trade the butcher for beef, then take the beef to the apple seller (in fact, our Ionian word for money, pecunia, comes from our ancient word for cattle). With money, it takes but one transaction! I sometimes wonder if Prometheus may have had a hand in its invention, as well. We met back at the inn at dusk. They told me that they had not learned anything new about the map, and we were about to retire, when we heard a loud roar behind us. We turned to see a column of flame shoot down from the sky, striking a building, and setting it ablaze! That must have been powerful magic--perhaps a flame strike (although I am not familiar enough with such magic to be sure). Of course, we ran to the building as fast as we could. A crowd had gathered outside. Suleiman tried to organize the people into a fire fighting brigade, telling them to get water from the well. One of the onlookers informed us that there was an old woman on the second floor--and that the roof would soon collapse. I prayed that Prometheus would grant me resistance to fire, and tried to enter the door. It was locked, so I broke a window and climbed inside. The downstairs area was filling with smoke, but I could still see pretty clearly. The furnishings and decorations were elegant--even extravagant. I took a deep breath, and ran up the stairs. There were two doors, and I took the one that seemed to lead to the window in which the woman had been spotted. A woman's body lay on the floor. I picked her up and ran back down the stairs, meeting Finis on the way up. He opened the door for me, and we ran outside. Two minutes later, the roof collapsed. The elderly woman was not injured; she had simply inhaled too much smoke. We soon revived her. She told us that her name was Blaise, and she was a metal merchant (retired). She said that she heard shouting in the courtyard of the house, and then the building caught fire. We decided to investigate the courtyard, and found a skeleton there, still burning. We suspect that this poor soul was the target of the spell, not the building. Unfortunately, the only other clue was a piece of cloth lying near the body. I told a town guard member that I might be interested in having access to the body, so that I could do some magical investigating (If I use the Candle of Invocation, I can cast speak with dead). He gave me a writ of permission, granting me access to see the body before it is buried. I am not sure if I will investigate or not (there is only so much one man can do; I cannot right all the world's wrongs!), but I would like to keep the option available. After all the excitement, there was nothing left to do but go to bed. June 10th Our day started with a visit to Chun the wizard, who is rumored to be very powerful, if eccentric (and sometimes downright unfriendly). Many people recommended him when we asked for help with our map. We located his tower, but he did not answer the door. We decided to wander the streets together. Our first stop was a zoo, where we saw some old friends: the giant turtle and the blightening. There was also a large six-legged cat with tentacles coming from its back, and the most unusual ability to shift the position of its image--it is hard to explain. There were other strange creatures, as well as a great many horses and pigs. We encountered Xavier again, and asked him about our map. He recommended that we visit the temple of Oghma the Binder. Torin volunteered to go to the temple, since the rest of us did not seem inclined to do so (What an industrious dwarf--he not only excels in combat; he does historical research!). Xavier showed him the way, but not before suggesting that we go listen to a performance by some Cimbrian singers. I am glad that he did so; they were truly beautiful. Their music is actually not so different from that of Ionia, although theirs is not so solemn. I am not a musician, however, so I lack the musical vocabulary necessary to tell you more. That evening we returned to the inn. Much to our surprise, both Torin and Blades met us there. Blades had been working on the helm almost non-stop, but Oomosh had asked him to leave tonight (Blades had been sleeping by the forge as well--that's dedication!). Torin's investigation at the temple of Oghma had revealed that the ruins of Duncan Keep, which are portrayed on the map, are 250 miles away. I suppose it will be a while before we get around to investigating Duncan Keep. Braggi has offered us an unusual job. He has a cask of fine wine which he intends to sell tomorrow, and it is sitting in the common room, on top of the bar. He is worried that the local thieves guild will attempt to steal the wine tonight, before he can make the sale. We are to guard the cask until the morning. I am not sure how the thieves intend to take the cask, but I fear that it will be much more clever than brute force. We are about to begin preparing defensive positions. Braggi, who has tried some of the wine and is fairly inebriated, has locked himself in his room. Hopefully, no one will try to take the wine, and Braggi will sleep peacefully through the night. Based on past experience however, I don't think this will be a peaceful night. I must aid my fellows now.</blockquote>

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