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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8588168" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center">It Tastes Like Chicken - 3/30/2022</h2><p></p><p></p><p>The sun was rising behind the Ironroot mountains, somewhere behind the thick grey cloud cover. We thought it might be just early, but as we rode it became clear that what light we had was the best that could be hoped for. The twilight conditions made riding through the thick snow a slow trek. Fortunately, the snow didn’t seem to daunt the magebred steeds, and they plodded ahead, crunching snow under hoof. The bright spot in all of this, was that it wasn’t snowing. Yet. The threat hung overhead, but as time passed, it appeared to an empty one.</p><p></p><p>But as we progressed, it became colder and colder. Everyone had pulled out blankets and wrapped themselves within, relying on the heat from the horses to stay warm. I was constantly using white strands on my armor, to both warm it, and stop the accumulation of frost. It wasn’t a fire’s heat, but it was something I could do. The others handled their problems of staying warm in very creative ways.</p><p></p><p>The warforged didn’t seem to care about the cold, but they did seem concerned about their joints freezing in place. They rolled their shoulders, stretched their arms, and even walked ahead of their horses so they could stay mobile. But otherwise they said nothing. The Blade was also not used to the cold weather, and wore a blanket under his great leather cloak the cowl up and pulled close to his skull. I even noticed that he had put on layers of masks, one on top of the other, to keep more of his face from the elements. Adrissa was smaller than almost all of us, and she just folded over blankets on top of themselves, doubling the layers.</p><p></p><p>But it was Doxx and Rosa that made much more unique choices. Doxx usually wore the face of an old woman, rail thin and bent. And while she was still an old woman, she was now plump, seemingly adding six or seven stones worth of weight to herself. So while she didn’t fit in her clothes well, the bulk added warmth. Rosa took this to a different level, and stopped riding her pony entirely and just became a white furred bear that looked like it had consumed enough to sleep through winter. I admitted that I was envious; I would love to experience the world in different shapes, to fly in the air, or soar beneath the waters of lakes or oceans. But I would have settled for a fur coat of any kind.</p><p></p><p>This left Gossamer out, his fur and body weight not enough to keep him warm. My blankets didn’t leave enough room for him to snuggle comfortably either. So he sullenly asked to be put in his extra dimensional space to wait. It wasn’t warm there, but it was far from freezing. I didn’t even bother to ask him to scout ahead, as just a couple moments of flight was enough to gather ice on his wings. So he moped in his space, clearly not wanting to admit that he wanted to be in his hiding space.</p><p></p><p>The wintery landscape had changed, into flat plains, and we left the stands of trees behind us. While it wasn’t snowing, there wasn’t much to see but endless white in all directions. Everything was hushed, except for the sounds of hooves crunching the snow. I doubted that wolves or anything else could sneak up upon us in the open. And nothing did. But as the cold increased, we finally could see it again; the wall.</p><p></p><p>It reached from the snows and plunged upwards into the roiling grey clouds, while spreading out and curving to the left and right out of sight. As we tread farther south, it just grew and grew, and features on it became more distinct. The thick trunks of thorns weaved around themselves. It seemed that from them, puffs of snow and ice constantly fell from the twisting shoots from far heights. But the tops were concealed high in the cloud cover, giving no indication how high they grew. Around the tops, lightning flowed through the clouds, flashing brightly within. Occasionally you could see a fork streak across the sky, illuminating the walls, so you could see thin twisted shadows between the huge stalks. The stalks were a darker shade of grey, edged with white ice, and thorns pointing every which way, which meant they had to be massive. It reminded me distantly of razorvine in Sigil, although snow and ice were rare occurrences within the city. More and more of it became clearer as we all approached. Finally we came to the top of a ridge and could look down into Cattbron.</p><p></p><p>Cattbron was in a low valley, bisected by the Lightning Rail like the river did in Denning. The buildings’ chimneys blew smoke into the air, giving it a hazy quality. Every building was topped with thick snow, and the streets were clogged, almost burying the smaller buildings completely. But some work had been made to clear streets, as there was snow piles, on the road leading into town. As the light faded, it was clear that life was normal as could be for a spring day as everbright lanterns illuminated the streets.</p><p></p><p>“It looks snowed in, but otherwise fine,” The Blade noted, sounding muffled under his cowl.</p><p></p><p>“Well, the vegethingies didn’t get this far,” Doxx muttered between chattering teeth. “Probably means eyerot isn’t here either.”</p><p></p><p>“Let’s find the Cannith enclave here,” Sage said after a moment. “Between its library and stores, we might as well secure what we can. Afterwards, you can all rest in the Golden Dragon here.”</p><p></p><p>“Do we have to?” I asked between chattering teeth. My armor just seemed to soak in the cold and with each breath I took, the frigid air seemed to burn in my chest. “Can’t we warm up first?”</p><p></p><p>“I want to see this book, and read it while you rest,” Bookshelf said. “The tagget oil can wait until morning.”</p><p></p><p>“To Cannith then,” The Blade said with a touch of bravado. “It should be dusk by then and shadows up in full. Just the way it should be, in case we need to interrogate the tinkers there.”</p><p></p><p>“Growfff…Gro…I don’t think we need to treat them as criminals,” Rosa said her voice changing from deep and husky to her normal soft alto tones. She had just shed the form of the white bear, and gave The Blade a reproachful look.</p><p></p><p>“We should be prepared!” The Blade insisted, swiftly replacing his current rime covered mask, with a clean black leather one from a pouch at his side. “If they aren’t criminals, they have been criminally duped. So, they will act like criminals and deny any involvement, so we should just save time and treat them as such.”</p><p></p><p>Doxx opened her mouth to say something, and then just shook her head instead. Rosa just shrugged. “As you like. Let’s do this swiftly and get warm again.”</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p></p><p>The streets were deserted, as anyone with sense was indoors staying warm. But they were lit, with everbright lanterns shining in the now dark streets. The shadows seemed to creep in from snow choked alleys, and small flakes of snow descended from above, with a trace of a cold breeze causing the snow to drift in front of our approach. We made our way to the cut in the town, where the lightning rail was, and to start our search for the Cannith Enclave. It wasn’t hard to find, as it was a large warehouse like building, next to the House Orien rail station. It was big, and made of red brick, and was taller than any of the other buildings in town. High on one side facing the street parallel to the raid, was a large coat of arms, with a bull made of iron staring straight ahead. Below it was an open area, covered from above from the elements, with a pair of iron bound doors.</p><p></p><p>Before heading there, we stopped next to the Golden Dragon Inn, and gave them our horses to board for the night. My legs were still in agony from the ride, stiff and barely able to move, and I stumbled forward with a little difficult as we crossed the road and approached the doors. On one of the was a sign:</p><p></p><p>Cannith East Enclave</p><p></p><p>We are closed due to weather</p><p></p><p>Night deliveries use the intercom next to the door</p><p></p><p>“What’s an intercom?” Doxx asked. Both the warforged looked at each other and shrugged.</p><p></p><p>“I am not familiar with such a thing,” The Blade said. “Sharn uses speaking crystals on some estates in Skyledge.”</p><p></p><p>“It must be this,” Adrissa said, and she moved to the right side of the doors. Attached to the brick wall was copper tube which had one end enter the wall, and that stuck out of the brick, turned downwards, and then turned and flared out into a bell like shape. Above it was a hastily attached sign that pointed out the obvious.</p><p></p><p>THIS Intercom.</p><p></p><p>--The Management</p><p></p><p>“Helpful,” Rosa said slight annoyed. “How does it work?”</p><p></p><p>“You put your mouth near the open receptacle and shout what you need. Seriously...some people…”</p><p></p><p>We looked around in confusion, not recognizing the voice.</p><p></p><p>“Here!...HereHereHERE<strong>HERE<em>HERE!” </em></strong>and I realized, that the sound of a voice was coming from the copper tube that opened here.</p><p></p><p>The Blade leaned forward and asked in a gravelly voice, “How did you know we were here?”</p><p></p><p>“I can see you on the crystal monitor. Nice outfit. What did you want?”</p><p></p><p>“We need to talk to someone…more in charge,” The Blade said annoyed.</p><p></p><p>“I’m as high as you get with the snow. The local management is off in Krona Peak on a retreat. And I’m stuck here. Alone. Again!” the voice grumbled.</p><p></p><p>Rosa sighed, stepped up to the tube, “We need tagget oil and—”</p><p></p><p>“Well…you’ll have to wait till someone can open the safe and process a sale!” the voice said irritably.</p><p></p><p>I nudged Rosa aside and leaned down to the copper bell and spoke into it, “What’s your name?”</p><p></p><p>“I said that I can’t do…oh. Uh. Kalborius. Kalborius Framlin.”</p><p></p><p>I continued, “Look we’re tired, and we really would like talk and explain our urgent need. And besides, we need a book as well.”</p><p></p><p>“A book, eh? I do like talking about books.” Kalborius said with a thoughtful tone. “You look familiar too…oh why not. If you rob the place, I can tell the managers ‘told you.’” At that, there was a loud click, and the sounds of bars scraping and sliding behind the door. Sage pushed on the door, and it swung open while the frozen metal hinges made a horrid screeching sound, revealing a foyer.</p><p></p><p>The foyer was a large square room, paneled in bronzed wood on which hung the house coat of arm. The rails and balusters were gilt in golden, silver and iron shaded metals, forming knot like patterns over many of the surfaces. The metal reflected the everbright lanterns around the hall, and on sconces on the railings of the stairs. The stairs themselves, ringed the walls as they ascended the interior walls leading upwards a great distance. Finally, closed mahogany doors were centered in the walls, going each direction. In the center of the room sat a wooden oak desk, which had an assortment of papers, forms, quills, and stamps, all neatly arranged in front of an empty chair. We all hurried inside, to take in the comparatively warmer air, compared to the outside. Bookshelf came inside last, and shut the door, as we stood there and shook the melting snow off our garments. I was already pulling on a light strand and was wicking away the melting snow, when we realized that we were alone.</p><p></p><p>“So where is this…Kalborius?” Doxx asked aloud as she looked around squinting critically at the room. I shrugged as I pulled Gossamer out from his hiding space</p><p></p><p><em>--Ah…warmth. I would say about time, but this is worth the wait.</em></p><p></p><p>“On the third floor where the library is!” Kalborius’ voice sounded, from a copper funnel mounted above us, attached to a tube that ascended upwards and branched in different directions. “Come on up, its warmer up here.” And I eagerly started up the stairs, the encircled the room, followed by the others, all while Gossamer flew circles in the center of the open space, keeping his elevation just above where we climbed. But while he might have been on the third floor, it was clear that whatever comprised the first floor, the second-floor landing was far above. But as we climbed our host kept talking to us, each time from a different funnel as we kept moving.</p><p></p><p>“So, anyway what is this about a book?” Kalborius asked.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, the book is one that we found in a reference—” Doxx started before getting cut off.</p><p></p><p>“--Very nice. What is the title?”</p><p></p><p>“Title…” Rosa said, her voice trailing off. She opened her pack and pulled out the journal we found on the Cannith researcher down in the bowels of the machine. She started flipping through the pages muttering, before shaking her head. “We...we don’t know. We know it was written by a gnome from Trolanberg, and that Sylannis d’Cannith had read it—”</p><p></p><p>“Ah! I know precisely what book that is! ‘Dhakanni Artifice and other Rumors, Undebunked Again!’ by Waldif Pentoalium d’Sivis. Strange how popular it has been over the last year.”</p><p></p><p>“What makes it popular?” Rosa asked confused.</p><p></p><p>“I have no clue!” another funnel spoke aloud as we wound our way upwards. “I have never read it myself end to end. But I do remember others commenting how bad a read it was. Especially Syl. She really hated it. So did the other three in their own way.”</p><p></p><p>“Three?” Adrissa muttered, her eyes furrowed. “Three read it in the last year?”</p><p></p><p>“No…three <strong><em>others</em></strong> did, besides her.” The voice chided the now annoyed teenager.</p><p></p><p>“Who was the first one?” I asked.</p><p></p><p>“Ah…tall lanky man with dark hair and green eyes, dressed in leathers. Well-travelled and softly spoken.” Kalborius said thoughtfully. “I’m not even sure why I let him see it come to think off it.”</p><p></p><p>“Moragon,” Rosa said.</p><p></p><p>“Yes! That was his name! It sat on the shelf for months, and the Syl looked at it. But the last two pulled it out only weeks ago, one right after the other.”</p><p></p><p>“Anything notable about them?” The Blade asked, his voice low and gravelly.</p><p></p><p>“The first one was an elven fellow. Long straight hair, blue eyes. Had the robes of a Karrnathi miltary attache. Old but still spry like all of them are.”</p><p></p><p>“That sounds like…Lolopethes?” Doxx said confused. The Blade shot the old woman a look their eyes both narrowing in suspicious.</p><p></p><p>“Did he read anything else?” The Blade asked.</p><p></p><p>“Hm?” Kalborius said over the copper tubing from yet another funnel. “No. He came in, asked for the book by name, and then left satisfied. No…not satisfied. Amused…Not sure what he found funny. And actually…I don’t remember why I let him see it either.”</p><p></p><p>“That seems too specific a pickup and read,” The Blade commented. “I have a hard time understanding why he would have had to think about a book, he specifically came to read here. Something here doesn’t make sense.”</p><p></p><p>“Your mask is probably too tight,” Doxx said mildly.</p><p></p><p>“It stays on better that way,” The Blade replied, not acknowledging the jibe. “So who came next?”</p><p></p><p>“A woman, on business from House Medani—” Kalborius started.</p><p></p><p>“—Raven hair and favoring a blue dress I would guess,” I said.</p><p></p><p>“Yes! —”</p><p></p><p>“—Mellisandre—” Doxx said her mouth pursed like it had tasted bitter fruit.</p><p></p><p>“—But she asked for it in a different way. She asked about what the other chap had read. Now we don’t share our checkout records normally…but I didn’t make any for him. Or her. Or the other guy. And why did I tell her anything?...”</p><p></p><p>“She asked about ‘what the other chap read?’…just like that?” I pressed.</p><p></p><p>“Oh no…she knew his name.” Kalborius’ voice said from the next funnel. At that we all stopped on the current landing, halfway between the second and third floor and looked at each other.</p><p></p><p>“Melisandre does know everyone doesn’t she,” Bookshelf noted.</p><p></p><p>“This is beyond coincidence,” Sage agreed. “We do not understand what is at play here.”</p><p></p><p>“But she does,” Doxx said. “She fed us all a line in our letters for a game of her own design.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t agree,” I said causing the old woman to glare at me. “I met her, and she helped me out of a bad situation. She seemed genuinely invested in helping Taryn.”</p><p></p><p>“Could Taryn be in on this?” The Blade asked grimacing. “Or is he caught in this web as well?”</p><p></p><p>“He seems to be very…focused on the mine for his uncle,” Rosa said. “And even if he was lying, I doubt that Debrika would have been ignorant about it. Or put up with it.”</p><p></p><p>“I can agree with that,” Doxx said. “She’d lay into him with that maul if she thought he was going down a path she didn’t approve of.”</p><p></p><p>“She didn’t approve of much as I recall,” Bookshelf commented.</p><p></p><p>“No, she did not.” Doxx concurred.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I have the book here with me,” Kalborius continued. “Careful now, you don’t have to damage the doors up here—”</p><p></p><p>We all looked at each other confused. I then spoke to the copper funnel, “What are you talking about Kalborius? We haven’t gotten to the—”</p><p></p><p>“WHAT!?! NONONONO G-G-G-GET AWAY FROM ME YOU---URK,” came Kalborious’ panicked voice, followed by a wet slurping sound and what sounded like muffled thump, like something was dropped into a sack.</p><p></p><p>We ran up the stairs, pulling out weapons; Adrissa and The Blade, on bows, Sage his armblade, Rosa, Bookshelf and I our foci. When we reached the third-floor landing, the first thing we saw was that the lanterns were ripped from their sconce that once flanked the door. The door itself, was solid and bound with oak, but it now lay on its side, as if something ripped it off its hinges and flung it against the stacks of shelves within. Gossamer who was already ahead of us to start with, quickly flew inside the room and sent me a first impression that made me clench my teeth together.</p><p></p><p>--<em>Oh, this is <strong>not</strong> good.</em></p><p></p><p>We darted inside and looked around. It was a long rectangular room, and here we saw more lanterns pulled from sconces and discarded onto the floor. A rug lead down the middle of the room, passing by shelves nearly twice my height holding books, scrolls and other stacks of paper, haphazardly stacked in very unorganized piles. About halfway to the other side of the room, was a more open section where a shattered desk was on the floor. On top of the desk were books and papers, all crushed underfoot of the large creature that stood before us.</p><p></p><p>It was dark green and covered in slime and boils. It stood as tall as the bookshelves around us on spindly legs that seemed too slight to carry its prodigious bulk which fatty bulk quivered as it turned to face us. Its long arms nearly reached the ground and each webbed hand ended in sharp talons. It’s large yellow cross slit bulbous eyes stared at us for a brief moment before widening, and then narrowing as if vexed. It took a deep breath and opened its huge mouth and bellowed with a deep guttural sound that echoed in the room, while spittle flew from its mouth. And as it did so, it swished its great tongue back and forth. Near the end of its roar, I could see to my horror, down into its gullet and saw the wide eyes of a man, his dark hair and purple robes matted with slime.</p><p></p><p>“HELP M—” Kalborius screamed from the open mouth of the creature, before it clamped its mouth shut, and began licking its lips and flexing its claws in anticipation.</p><p></p><p>“That…is a huge frog,” Adrissa said disbelieving her own eyes.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a frogging problem!” Doxx shouted he ran with Sage to free the man in the belly of the beast.</p><p></p><p><strong>Session Notes:</strong></p><p>Well...go ahead and guess what it is that has eaten our friend Kalborius. So if you thought things were weird and horrific, the players hadn't seen anything yet. But at this point I must disclose that there is a private joke here about Myrai and Kalborius.</p><p></p><p>You see, Myrai and Kalborius were adventurers briefly in an abortive "Curse of Strahd" campaign that lasted one session. Kalborius was my son's charater and he is playing Sage here. Both were characters with very specific backstories and entrances (Myrai was dropped into a river, and was going to hipped in Barovia.) But the group as a whole, couldn't get into the gothic horror themes that the dm wanted to portray. The players started to turn it into absurdist slapstick. This really annoyed the DM, and he gave up that evening. I was looking forward to the gothic drama personally, but I so was invested in Myrai as a concept, I just took her, at level one and reused her in the Souls of Legend campaign.</p><p></p><p>Much later, Myrai and Kalborius appeared in a homebrew campaign, in a distorted version of reality in a parallel Sigil, where my son and I were playing lizardfolk characters. The party we were part entered a bar, who were filled with characters from prior adventures, in an enternal champion moment. All of that was run by player who plays Bookshelf in this adventure. In that bar, the players of Rosa, Doxx, and The Blade met characters of our past adventures in an endearing moment.</p><p></p><p>So good characters are never wasted; they always find a good story.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8588168, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER]It Tastes Like Chicken - 3/30/2022[/CENTER][/HEADING] The sun was rising behind the Ironroot mountains, somewhere behind the thick grey cloud cover. We thought it might be just early, but as we rode it became clear that what light we had was the best that could be hoped for. The twilight conditions made riding through the thick snow a slow trek. Fortunately, the snow didn’t seem to daunt the magebred steeds, and they plodded ahead, crunching snow under hoof. The bright spot in all of this, was that it wasn’t snowing. Yet. The threat hung overhead, but as time passed, it appeared to an empty one. But as we progressed, it became colder and colder. Everyone had pulled out blankets and wrapped themselves within, relying on the heat from the horses to stay warm. I was constantly using white strands on my armor, to both warm it, and stop the accumulation of frost. It wasn’t a fire’s heat, but it was something I could do. The others handled their problems of staying warm in very creative ways. The warforged didn’t seem to care about the cold, but they did seem concerned about their joints freezing in place. They rolled their shoulders, stretched their arms, and even walked ahead of their horses so they could stay mobile. But otherwise they said nothing. The Blade was also not used to the cold weather, and wore a blanket under his great leather cloak the cowl up and pulled close to his skull. I even noticed that he had put on layers of masks, one on top of the other, to keep more of his face from the elements. Adrissa was smaller than almost all of us, and she just folded over blankets on top of themselves, doubling the layers. But it was Doxx and Rosa that made much more unique choices. Doxx usually wore the face of an old woman, rail thin and bent. And while she was still an old woman, she was now plump, seemingly adding six or seven stones worth of weight to herself. So while she didn’t fit in her clothes well, the bulk added warmth. Rosa took this to a different level, and stopped riding her pony entirely and just became a white furred bear that looked like it had consumed enough to sleep through winter. I admitted that I was envious; I would love to experience the world in different shapes, to fly in the air, or soar beneath the waters of lakes or oceans. But I would have settled for a fur coat of any kind. This left Gossamer out, his fur and body weight not enough to keep him warm. My blankets didn’t leave enough room for him to snuggle comfortably either. So he sullenly asked to be put in his extra dimensional space to wait. It wasn’t warm there, but it was far from freezing. I didn’t even bother to ask him to scout ahead, as just a couple moments of flight was enough to gather ice on his wings. So he moped in his space, clearly not wanting to admit that he wanted to be in his hiding space. The wintery landscape had changed, into flat plains, and we left the stands of trees behind us. While it wasn’t snowing, there wasn’t much to see but endless white in all directions. Everything was hushed, except for the sounds of hooves crunching the snow. I doubted that wolves or anything else could sneak up upon us in the open. And nothing did. But as the cold increased, we finally could see it again; the wall. It reached from the snows and plunged upwards into the roiling grey clouds, while spreading out and curving to the left and right out of sight. As we tread farther south, it just grew and grew, and features on it became more distinct. The thick trunks of thorns weaved around themselves. It seemed that from them, puffs of snow and ice constantly fell from the twisting shoots from far heights. But the tops were concealed high in the cloud cover, giving no indication how high they grew. Around the tops, lightning flowed through the clouds, flashing brightly within. Occasionally you could see a fork streak across the sky, illuminating the walls, so you could see thin twisted shadows between the huge stalks. The stalks were a darker shade of grey, edged with white ice, and thorns pointing every which way, which meant they had to be massive. It reminded me distantly of razorvine in Sigil, although snow and ice were rare occurrences within the city. More and more of it became clearer as we all approached. Finally we came to the top of a ridge and could look down into Cattbron. Cattbron was in a low valley, bisected by the Lightning Rail like the river did in Denning. The buildings’ chimneys blew smoke into the air, giving it a hazy quality. Every building was topped with thick snow, and the streets were clogged, almost burying the smaller buildings completely. But some work had been made to clear streets, as there was snow piles, on the road leading into town. As the light faded, it was clear that life was normal as could be for a spring day as everbright lanterns illuminated the streets. “It looks snowed in, but otherwise fine,” The Blade noted, sounding muffled under his cowl. “Well, the vegethingies didn’t get this far,” Doxx muttered between chattering teeth. “Probably means eyerot isn’t here either.” “Let’s find the Cannith enclave here,” Sage said after a moment. “Between its library and stores, we might as well secure what we can. Afterwards, you can all rest in the Golden Dragon here.” “Do we have to?” I asked between chattering teeth. My armor just seemed to soak in the cold and with each breath I took, the frigid air seemed to burn in my chest. “Can’t we warm up first?” “I want to see this book, and read it while you rest,” Bookshelf said. “The tagget oil can wait until morning.” “To Cannith then,” The Blade said with a touch of bravado. “It should be dusk by then and shadows up in full. Just the way it should be, in case we need to interrogate the tinkers there.” “Growfff…Gro…I don’t think we need to treat them as criminals,” Rosa said her voice changing from deep and husky to her normal soft alto tones. She had just shed the form of the white bear, and gave The Blade a reproachful look. “We should be prepared!” The Blade insisted, swiftly replacing his current rime covered mask, with a clean black leather one from a pouch at his side. “If they aren’t criminals, they have been criminally duped. So, they will act like criminals and deny any involvement, so we should just save time and treat them as such.” Doxx opened her mouth to say something, and then just shook her head instead. Rosa just shrugged. “As you like. Let’s do this swiftly and get warm again.” [HR][/HR] The streets were deserted, as anyone with sense was indoors staying warm. But they were lit, with everbright lanterns shining in the now dark streets. The shadows seemed to creep in from snow choked alleys, and small flakes of snow descended from above, with a trace of a cold breeze causing the snow to drift in front of our approach. We made our way to the cut in the town, where the lightning rail was, and to start our search for the Cannith Enclave. It wasn’t hard to find, as it was a large warehouse like building, next to the House Orien rail station. It was big, and made of red brick, and was taller than any of the other buildings in town. High on one side facing the street parallel to the raid, was a large coat of arms, with a bull made of iron staring straight ahead. Below it was an open area, covered from above from the elements, with a pair of iron bound doors. Before heading there, we stopped next to the Golden Dragon Inn, and gave them our horses to board for the night. My legs were still in agony from the ride, stiff and barely able to move, and I stumbled forward with a little difficult as we crossed the road and approached the doors. On one of the was a sign: Cannith East Enclave We are closed due to weather Night deliveries use the intercom next to the door “What’s an intercom?” Doxx asked. Both the warforged looked at each other and shrugged. “I am not familiar with such a thing,” The Blade said. “Sharn uses speaking crystals on some estates in Skyledge.” “It must be this,” Adrissa said, and she moved to the right side of the doors. Attached to the brick wall was copper tube which had one end enter the wall, and that stuck out of the brick, turned downwards, and then turned and flared out into a bell like shape. Above it was a hastily attached sign that pointed out the obvious. THIS Intercom. --The Management “Helpful,” Rosa said slight annoyed. “How does it work?” “You put your mouth near the open receptacle and shout what you need. Seriously...some people…” We looked around in confusion, not recognizing the voice. “Here!...HereHereHERE[B]HERE[I]HERE!” [/I][/B]and I realized, that the sound of a voice was coming from the copper tube that opened here. The Blade leaned forward and asked in a gravelly voice, “How did you know we were here?” “I can see you on the crystal monitor. Nice outfit. What did you want?” “We need to talk to someone…more in charge,” The Blade said annoyed. “I’m as high as you get with the snow. The local management is off in Krona Peak on a retreat. And I’m stuck here. Alone. Again!” the voice grumbled. Rosa sighed, stepped up to the tube, “We need tagget oil and—” “Well…you’ll have to wait till someone can open the safe and process a sale!” the voice said irritably. I nudged Rosa aside and leaned down to the copper bell and spoke into it, “What’s your name?” “I said that I can’t do…oh. Uh. Kalborius. Kalborius Framlin.” I continued, “Look we’re tired, and we really would like talk and explain our urgent need. And besides, we need a book as well.” “A book, eh? I do like talking about books.” Kalborius said with a thoughtful tone. “You look familiar too…oh why not. If you rob the place, I can tell the managers ‘told you.’” At that, there was a loud click, and the sounds of bars scraping and sliding behind the door. Sage pushed on the door, and it swung open while the frozen metal hinges made a horrid screeching sound, revealing a foyer. The foyer was a large square room, paneled in bronzed wood on which hung the house coat of arm. The rails and balusters were gilt in golden, silver and iron shaded metals, forming knot like patterns over many of the surfaces. The metal reflected the everbright lanterns around the hall, and on sconces on the railings of the stairs. The stairs themselves, ringed the walls as they ascended the interior walls leading upwards a great distance. Finally, closed mahogany doors were centered in the walls, going each direction. In the center of the room sat a wooden oak desk, which had an assortment of papers, forms, quills, and stamps, all neatly arranged in front of an empty chair. We all hurried inside, to take in the comparatively warmer air, compared to the outside. Bookshelf came inside last, and shut the door, as we stood there and shook the melting snow off our garments. I was already pulling on a light strand and was wicking away the melting snow, when we realized that we were alone. “So where is this…Kalborius?” Doxx asked aloud as she looked around squinting critically at the room. I shrugged as I pulled Gossamer out from his hiding space [I]--Ah…warmth. I would say about time, but this is worth the wait.[/I] “On the third floor where the library is!” Kalborius’ voice sounded, from a copper funnel mounted above us, attached to a tube that ascended upwards and branched in different directions. “Come on up, its warmer up here.” And I eagerly started up the stairs, the encircled the room, followed by the others, all while Gossamer flew circles in the center of the open space, keeping his elevation just above where we climbed. But while he might have been on the third floor, it was clear that whatever comprised the first floor, the second-floor landing was far above. But as we climbed our host kept talking to us, each time from a different funnel as we kept moving. “So, anyway what is this about a book?” Kalborius asked. “Yes, the book is one that we found in a reference—” Doxx started before getting cut off. “--Very nice. What is the title?” “Title…” Rosa said, her voice trailing off. She opened her pack and pulled out the journal we found on the Cannith researcher down in the bowels of the machine. She started flipping through the pages muttering, before shaking her head. “We...we don’t know. We know it was written by a gnome from Trolanberg, and that Sylannis d’Cannith had read it—” “Ah! I know precisely what book that is! ‘Dhakanni Artifice and other Rumors, Undebunked Again!’ by Waldif Pentoalium d’Sivis. Strange how popular it has been over the last year.” “What makes it popular?” Rosa asked confused. “I have no clue!” another funnel spoke aloud as we wound our way upwards. “I have never read it myself end to end. But I do remember others commenting how bad a read it was. Especially Syl. She really hated it. So did the other three in their own way.” “Three?” Adrissa muttered, her eyes furrowed. “Three read it in the last year?” “No…three [B][I]others[/I][/B] did, besides her.” The voice chided the now annoyed teenager. “Who was the first one?” I asked. “Ah…tall lanky man with dark hair and green eyes, dressed in leathers. Well-travelled and softly spoken.” Kalborius said thoughtfully. “I’m not even sure why I let him see it come to think off it.” “Moragon,” Rosa said. “Yes! That was his name! It sat on the shelf for months, and the Syl looked at it. But the last two pulled it out only weeks ago, one right after the other.” “Anything notable about them?” The Blade asked, his voice low and gravelly. “The first one was an elven fellow. Long straight hair, blue eyes. Had the robes of a Karrnathi miltary attache. Old but still spry like all of them are.” “That sounds like…Lolopethes?” Doxx said confused. The Blade shot the old woman a look their eyes both narrowing in suspicious. “Did he read anything else?” The Blade asked. “Hm?” Kalborius said over the copper tubing from yet another funnel. “No. He came in, asked for the book by name, and then left satisfied. No…not satisfied. Amused…Not sure what he found funny. And actually…I don’t remember why I let him see it either.” “That seems too specific a pickup and read,” The Blade commented. “I have a hard time understanding why he would have had to think about a book, he specifically came to read here. Something here doesn’t make sense.” “Your mask is probably too tight,” Doxx said mildly. “It stays on better that way,” The Blade replied, not acknowledging the jibe. “So who came next?” “A woman, on business from House Medani—” Kalborius started. “—Raven hair and favoring a blue dress I would guess,” I said. “Yes! —” “—Mellisandre—” Doxx said her mouth pursed like it had tasted bitter fruit. “—But she asked for it in a different way. She asked about what the other chap had read. Now we don’t share our checkout records normally…but I didn’t make any for him. Or her. Or the other guy. And why did I tell her anything?...” “She asked about ‘what the other chap read?’…just like that?” I pressed. “Oh no…she knew his name.” Kalborius’ voice said from the next funnel. At that we all stopped on the current landing, halfway between the second and third floor and looked at each other. “Melisandre does know everyone doesn’t she,” Bookshelf noted. “This is beyond coincidence,” Sage agreed. “We do not understand what is at play here.” “But she does,” Doxx said. “She fed us all a line in our letters for a game of her own design.” “I don’t agree,” I said causing the old woman to glare at me. “I met her, and she helped me out of a bad situation. She seemed genuinely invested in helping Taryn.” “Could Taryn be in on this?” The Blade asked grimacing. “Or is he caught in this web as well?” “He seems to be very…focused on the mine for his uncle,” Rosa said. “And even if he was lying, I doubt that Debrika would have been ignorant about it. Or put up with it.” “I can agree with that,” Doxx said. “She’d lay into him with that maul if she thought he was going down a path she didn’t approve of.” “She didn’t approve of much as I recall,” Bookshelf commented. “No, she did not.” Doxx concurred. “Well, I have the book here with me,” Kalborius continued. “Careful now, you don’t have to damage the doors up here—” We all looked at each other confused. I then spoke to the copper funnel, “What are you talking about Kalborius? We haven’t gotten to the—” “WHAT!?! NONONONO G-G-G-GET AWAY FROM ME YOU---URK,” came Kalborious’ panicked voice, followed by a wet slurping sound and what sounded like muffled thump, like something was dropped into a sack. We ran up the stairs, pulling out weapons; Adrissa and The Blade, on bows, Sage his armblade, Rosa, Bookshelf and I our foci. When we reached the third-floor landing, the first thing we saw was that the lanterns were ripped from their sconce that once flanked the door. The door itself, was solid and bound with oak, but it now lay on its side, as if something ripped it off its hinges and flung it against the stacks of shelves within. Gossamer who was already ahead of us to start with, quickly flew inside the room and sent me a first impression that made me clench my teeth together. --[I]Oh, this is [B]not[/B] good.[/I] We darted inside and looked around. It was a long rectangular room, and here we saw more lanterns pulled from sconces and discarded onto the floor. A rug lead down the middle of the room, passing by shelves nearly twice my height holding books, scrolls and other stacks of paper, haphazardly stacked in very unorganized piles. About halfway to the other side of the room, was a more open section where a shattered desk was on the floor. On top of the desk were books and papers, all crushed underfoot of the large creature that stood before us. It was dark green and covered in slime and boils. It stood as tall as the bookshelves around us on spindly legs that seemed too slight to carry its prodigious bulk which fatty bulk quivered as it turned to face us. Its long arms nearly reached the ground and each webbed hand ended in sharp talons. It’s large yellow cross slit bulbous eyes stared at us for a brief moment before widening, and then narrowing as if vexed. It took a deep breath and opened its huge mouth and bellowed with a deep guttural sound that echoed in the room, while spittle flew from its mouth. And as it did so, it swished its great tongue back and forth. Near the end of its roar, I could see to my horror, down into its gullet and saw the wide eyes of a man, his dark hair and purple robes matted with slime. “HELP M—” Kalborius screamed from the open mouth of the creature, before it clamped its mouth shut, and began licking its lips and flexing its claws in anticipation. “That…is a huge frog,” Adrissa said disbelieving her own eyes. “It’s a frogging problem!” Doxx shouted he ran with Sage to free the man in the belly of the beast. [B]Session Notes:[/B] Well...go ahead and guess what it is that has eaten our friend Kalborius. So if you thought things were weird and horrific, the players hadn't seen anything yet. But at this point I must disclose that there is a private joke here about Myrai and Kalborius. You see, Myrai and Kalborius were adventurers briefly in an abortive "Curse of Strahd" campaign that lasted one session. Kalborius was my son's charater and he is playing Sage here. Both were characters with very specific backstories and entrances (Myrai was dropped into a river, and was going to hipped in Barovia.) But the group as a whole, couldn't get into the gothic horror themes that the dm wanted to portray. The players started to turn it into absurdist slapstick. This really annoyed the DM, and he gave up that evening. I was looking forward to the gothic drama personally, but I so was invested in Myrai as a concept, I just took her, at level one and reused her in the Souls of Legend campaign. Much later, Myrai and Kalborius appeared in a homebrew campaign, in a distorted version of reality in a parallel Sigil, where my son and I were playing lizardfolk characters. The party we were part entered a bar, who were filled with characters from prior adventures, in an enternal champion moment. All of that was run by player who plays Bookshelf in this adventure. In that bar, the players of Rosa, Doxx, and The Blade met characters of our past adventures in an endearing moment. So good characters are never wasted; they always find a good story. [/QUOTE]
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