The temperature became increasingly colder as our group headed northeast to Baddira. Admittedly, I am fairly used to cold weather as we had plenty of it in Quentari and Ravenholt, but I do not miss it. The group was enlivened by Sir Duncan, whose brogue was unique and pointed him out in conversation like a thumb with a splinter in. The trip was fairly uneventful, thankfully, and we arrived without incident, wherupon we found Matron Stella with no troubles. The good Matron entrusted me with one of the ward keys, as their quarters always have one cast upon it. Staying with us were Ahmed, Sir Duncan, Masacha, Andro, Spindle, Patrick, Roisin and two of the Montool brothers. It seemed the Montool brothers were fairly young, a suspicion I confirmed later. As an aside, I wonder if Sir Taliesan Pax thought my nose powdered, since he seems to think the Quentari have such a tradition. He and Duke C'Moggan ought to have a beer, but more on this mistaking me for a no-fun stuck up all serious elf later.
Friday night we met some of the other adventurers of New Stormholdt in the Tavern. Among them were Soaring Falcon, Notari of the Golden Cat Tribe, Sir Taliesan Pax, Wolf Totem of the Silver Buffalo Clan, Sergeant Loran Plainswalker, another son and daughter of Quentari, and another elf with an interesting background also named Luna . I congratulated Sergeant Loran on his upcoming Wild Elven Initiation Ceremony, facilitated by Roisin Onora of the Fire Deer Tribe.
Soon after gathering in the Tavern, spirit members of Wolfpack floated around sniffing people. I'm not certain what they were looking for, but they passed us by without incident that I saw. After that, Spindle told me that members of Wolfpack were looking for some asstance, and asked some of us for aid. Together with Ahmed, the Montool brothers and Luna, Spindle, myself and the members of Wolfpack were taken to a place where we had a meeting with two potential candidates for the next pack alpha. Originally I was reluctant to leave Pendar, but Spindle assured me that we would be helping battle against undead, which might help in the later battle against Gresh. Apparently both were highly qualified and neither were distinguished as the clearly better candidate. They sought outside assistance in resolving this, because a pack can only have one alpha lest it split, and their numbers could not support two tribes.
To this end, each alpha candidate was given a quest they had to complete. By assisting them with this quest, it was hoped we would learn something about the nature of each candidate and therefore give a fair recommendation on which should be named alpha. First, we accompanied Fangtooth to get an orb out of a ruin infested with undead. This was a very difficult task, and my sword arm was very weary from fending them off as we dashed through the ruins after the orb. After he had successfully retrieved the orb, we also faced some mummies and other undead which were no small challenge. Fangtooth held off some greater undead by himself, and we all triumphed over our foes. The mission accomplished, we returned to the pack. Then we went with Grimclaw to hunt down and slay a giant spider which had been a menace to the area. We fought many very poisonous spiders until we reached our quarry. It was truly huge, as large as the cabin that my companions and I were staying in. With Grimclaw's help we were able to slay the beast and return in victory.
We at first were in a quandry about which of the two, Grimclaw or Fangtooth, stood out as a better candidate for alpha. They both fought bravely. They both showed wisdom and leadership. Several favored one or the other. I asked Spindle for his advice, being that he is much more familiar with Wolfpack. He or Loran suggested that because Grimclaw fought with us and Fangtooth fought alone, that Grimclaw made the better alpha. The reasoning is that a pack works together and the alpha leads the pack from within the group rather than working alone. Based on this reasoning, we unanimously recommended Grimclaw to be the new pack alpha. Our recommendation was discussed among Wolfpack and later we learned that Grimclaw had been chosen as alpha. We received a boon from the pack to be called in when need dictated, and this came in handy indeed the next night in our quest to save Pendar from the vampire Gresh Maul.
The first indication that Duncan's "mentoring" and "protection" were not as I at first assumed was to be seen when we returned from our trip with Wolfpack. Masacha and Andro told me they had been concerned for me, but apparently Duncan assured them I would be fine. Truth be told, he was right, we were fine, and had we not been fine they would have heard word or seen us resurrect in the Circle in the Tavern. As an aside, I do wonder at the tradition here in Southwest Avalon of having a Circle in the Tavern with no separate Healer's Guild building. I intend to change that in Drakesbridge when I am able. In any case, all was well and we sat down to rest and whet our appetities. At some point, Duncan made a point of having me read over his lyric book, pointing out one of the baudiest songs I have ever heard on the face of Tyrra, even beyond others taught to me by the ever-loving Wood Elf Rayna. Certainly the "The Ball of Kerrymuir" makes "Roll Your Leg Over" seem something you could sing in the children's creche. (In the land of the Wood Elves they might at that). Thinking that I should have shared this with Duncan, who would appreciate it, I have sent him a copy of the lyrics I remembered. But I digress.
The Wild Elf Roisin transformed before us in the Tavern into a Treant, with vines all around her. She assembled people to help her with a grove she has protection of. Being very worn from our battles with undead, and being honor bound to help watch over Pendar, I was unable to join the party. It looked to have many strong and capable adventurers in and they were able to help her. There turned out to be a problem with her grove, she was under attack by an opposing grove infected by necromancy. She was saved, fortunately, and I am glad the fiesty Wild Elf is alright. Others of my companions assisted with this and other needs during our stay.
During Saturday afternoon, Ahmed, Spindle and I went with Matron Stella to visit the Baroness in the Wolfpack Valley where she was being guarded for her safety. Matron Stella had a long conversation with her in which we hoped to learn something of the Vampire Gresh Maul's weaknesses. Unfortunately the Baroness didn't know anything that could help us tactically although she did provide some background on the situation. In the end, she told us she didn't want to stay where she was, she wanted to help in town. Matron Stella was very leery of this, but as the Baroness is due to be the next Head Matron, was honor bound to follow the Baroness' wishes. It was agreed that the Baroness would come to town around evening to help us in our fight against Gresh Maul.
That afternoon, with Ahmed, Duncan and Andro to hunt down some Kobolds who had been robbing people on Northern Highway. Unfortunately they used Web and Imprison Spells on us. Had I been thinking more clearly, I would have used a Release on Ahmed. As it was, we were all immobilized or cut down (and stabilized, fortunately) and robbed. My sword Aeroligh was taken, along with most of the valuables of those who were not Imprisoned. When some of us came to, we dragged the still imprisoned Duncan to the tavern, where we found many others Imprisoned, injured or Webbed. Accidentally, I am said to say, I healed a Kobold who looked suspiciously like one of the Montools. Fortunately, the creatures stayed around to try to sell their loot and so they were hunted them down. We all got our property back including Aeroligh. I am impressed with the honesty of those who hunted down the monsters, as they could have kept things for themselves and said they had been lost. Every potion, scroll, coin and possession was returned.
Sir Alith led a foray against the resting places of Gresh Maul's minions near the lake during the day. The strategy was to thin his forces when they would be at their weakest. Indeed, we dispatched many undead to their proper rest, including one hideous undead infant, which was truly frightening to see. While we attempted to find a way into the crypts where the vampires rested, we received information that vampires in mist form were heading toward town. It seemed the entire exercise had been a distraction. We returned with all due haste to town. We were forced to wait until nightfall to face Gresh Maul.
The tension began to mount as evening approached, heralding our battle with Gresh Maul and his vampires. Pendar's friends were acutely aware that this evening would determine whether she regained her true self and form or became one of his minions permanently. During the wait, Sir Duncan, as part of my “knightly training” I later learned, shared some lyrics with me. They were some of the baudiest lyrics on the face of Tyrra I have ever seen. The song is called “The Ball of Kerrymuir” and I admit to blushing and giggling furiously as he sang it to a few of us at the table. In a brief bout of squire like duty, I helped him with armor and straightening his shirt and tucking in his pants. There's also something about the male Alyrian Knights and losing their pants, the causality of which escapes me. Duncan spoke with Sir Alith to open friendly relations between Alyria and Baddira, and so succeeded in his primary mission to Baddira. Hopefully trade and alliances between our area of the continent and Baddira can be expanded.
At some point, as the room got more noisy during our preparations for battle, I had trouble hearing things people were saying at times. At one point, Sir Duncan accidentally (I am quite sure) leaned over to say something in my ear. Methinks that perhaps the good Duke neglects to tell his knights about the full effects of this on purpose. Or maybe it's due to not having a lot of female elves around in Alyria. In any case, that lesson is one Duncan will take home with him. It will be interesting to see how he is in future visits to Alyria.
All too soon, all gaiety ended. Four of our number, including Sir Alith and the Biata Patrick had transformed into Iron Golems to provide for the front line defenses. The pain this powerful Celestial Formal Magic must have caused Guildmaster Patrick is a testament to his bravery and loyalty to his friend and kinswoman Pendar. We learned, however, that Pendar was not Gresh's main goal, the Baronness was. She was brought out of the protective Earth Circle in the Tavern to the front where she was kept under guard. What followed was about four hours of grueling combat, a battle of attrition that at one point I feared we might lose. Although we were armed with many potions and scrolls of Awaken, many supplied by Pendar herself, too many people were Charmed by the innate powers of the Vampires and dragged off. They later appeared fighting by the Vampires' side. Fortunately we were able to Awaken them when they reappeared. A few, such as Andro, had been bitten and so were infected. Fortunately they were able to be kept to the back of our forces, unconscious until we could cure them. Being that they were not as far gone as Pendar, that was not difficult. During certain points in the battle I noticed that Duncan was more attentive to the positions of our comrades than I previously thought.
There were concerns about Pendar being able to communicate thoughts or be controlled by Gresh. Unfortunately, she had to spend most of the battle unconscious so that she could not aid the enemy. Sir Alith & a handful of comrades went to Gresh Maul's lab. What occurred there is unknown to me, but in the end Gresh realized he could not have the Baroness and therefore let her former husband the Baron and Pendar both go free. I had thought Gresh would need to be vanquished in order for Pendar to be freed, but he needed to relinquish all of her blood. He did this voluntarily. The Biata had to resurrect, but once she did she was once more her own self. While the mission did not go as I expected (a theme for the gathering, it seems), our main goal was accomplished.
There were other tasks to be done in the local environs but I was exhausted and so I returned to the cabin shortly after Duncan, similarly exhausted. Speaking my suspicions, I asked him what Duke C'Moggan had intended for me to learn during this trip, as it appeared to have nothing to do with the Code of Chivalry. He said that the Duke believed I already had the qualities to make a good knight or he would not have given me the title. Being Quentari, His Grace thought that a more apt lesson would be that not everything in knighthood, or life, is serious and that I should remember to laugh on occasion. If His Grace ever meets Random or Kestryl, he might understand the irony in this. If he ever hears me sing the songs Rayna taught me, he might also understand. Perhaps one of my future visits, that I am sure to make to my liege-lord, I can explain. Truly, though, I am touched that these good hearted men should be concerned for my spirits and emotional well-being.
Now, I am travel back to Drakesbridge with others who made this trip. It will be good to be back in the place I currently call home. Things seem so much simpler in comparison to New Thunderholdt. In the meantime, I am sharing some of the lyrics to the songs I have learned over the years with Andro. One of the things I still enjoy on the road are the songs around the evening fire. Fo now, I will write of one last thing and then send this scroll to join the others in the Library at Drakesbrigde.
Now about that no-fun stuck up all serious elf perception, the truth is that the Quentari reserved nature does lend us a certain air of aloofness among those we don't know well. So we have somewhat earned the reputation for being serious no-fun sticks in the mud. However, those who get to know us will see our more jovial side. We have passion in many things, when the mood so moves us, and humor is no exception. For myself, the reason this "stick in the mud" generalization is not actually the case (formal writing notwithstanding) is mostly due to Wild Elven and Mystic Wood Elven cousins in Ravenholt. I also owe a lot to my family mate Rayna, may I see her again in this life should her homeland ever open up again. And no small amount of my evolution of character comes from my human companions in Ravenholt. So the irony of a Wild Elf or Mystic Wood Elf mistaking me for a stick in the mud who does not know the meaning of "fun" strikes me as funny. Ah, I do so love my cousins. If I have learned anything in my travels, it is not to make assumptions about someone based on race or background anything else.
It was good to see my friends in Drakesbridge again and put my feet up in a familiar place after weeks on the road. Xnyl and her lifemate Nerrik were present when Ahmed and I re-entered the Tavern. Jomar, Andro and Hiss had not yet returned from Alyria. Masacha is once again off tending to her young ones and Spindle is similarly off on personal business. There was another new face in the tavern, a human gentleman by the name of Rylander, who seems the quiet sort most of the time. His was a strong presence in battle, however, and I was glad to have him with us. As Xnyl, Nerrik and I were catching up on news, Jomar and Hiss appeared in the Tavern, having been Rifted in by Lord Law himself. We grow more to resemble Ravenholt as time passes, for good or ill, with Rifts and Elementals abounding. The colorful Gypsy was now sporting his new white triple braid with the green arrow of Drakesbridge. This is his symbol of his rank as Captain of the Drakesbridge Town Guard. It is a responsibility he is taking seriously, going even as far as to eschew his wanderings in our current time of danger. It is a noble sacrifice for him, to stand by his responsibilities and by Drakesbridge.
Ahmed Rahab traveled to the giant bees in order to re-negotiate trade with them. He took only a few of us, including Nerrik and Captain Jomar, and a representative from Mynea. The Tavern owner wished for a less obtrusive talk than last time. They were gone for a time, and came back with horrific news. "Royal jelly is people!" they exclaimed. It seems that House Mor of Mynea had contracted with the bees to make a "special" Royal Jelly. It was addictive, unlike the regular kind, and required that a person be absorbed into the hive to be made. Fortunately, the group was able to get away.
Meanwhile in the Tavern, I spied a new notice posted on the wall, through which I learned of horrible news. Sir Duncan of Alyria had been captured, tortured and killed by agents of Gloomwood. He had been on a mission of peace to Redmarch to meet with the former Ambassador Snorri Steelhelm to assist with the Resistance. He suffered torture and foul magics before making his journey in final death to his spirit's rest. The good Knight remained loyal to Alyria, and as far as can be magically ascertained he divulged no secret information regarding Alyria nor anything that might be used against Redmarch. He died with honor as a warrior and will be remembered as such. It was hard receiving the news, as I had just been speaking of him to Xnyl. The lady Sarr was very supportive and I feel we have the beginning of a friendship. It is encouraging to have the promise of a female confident here. I had wanted to make a copy of Duke C'Moggan's full announcement of this news for this Library, but unfortunately it had burned with the Tavern, and I will get to this in a moment. During the cleanup of the last few days, I did find a copy of it among the debris. I will remember Duncan as the brave, honorable, jovial soul I but briefly had the honor of fighting and singing beside. Travel swiftly to Paradise, my friend.
Not too long after Hiss' arrival back in the Tavern, he passed out as we were speaking outside. He had no visible wounds and we could not determine what had caused his unconsciousness. We brought him behind the Healer's Circle for protection, and after a few minutes he awoke to tell us he had experienced a Vision. In this, he saw a horde from the Fortress of Entropy advance on Drakesbridge, and then saw our town burning. He said that we needed to get Lord Law to help us destroy the Fortress in order to prevent this. He also said we needed to enlist Madame Sparkle's help once again in traveling there using a method swifter than walking. We were very apprehensive of going back to the Fortress of Entropy, as we were sorely pressed during the last visit. The only person who had been able to affect the Ravener on that trip was Pendar, who had a sword with a Damage Aura, and she was not in town. Given our previous experiences with Lord Law, and his traditional aloofness, I was not sure how much assistance he would be providing.
Captain Jomar spoke with Lord Law, who after all is now his commander, and the Elemental agreed to travel with us. Together we all walked to Market Street, where Madame Sparkles had a shop, but we were told by the current owner that she had moved. Her trade was now run from her house on the outskirts of Drakesbridge. In her yard were a few of the sheep with innate ability to Sleep people, and so we were very careful. Well, all of us except for Xnyl, who was intent on chasing them. Nerrik attempted to restrain her. Jomar and I pointed out that she should be allowed to give chase, for the problem would resolve itself, and it did. She and Nerrik took a small nap as the rest of us spoke with Madam Sparkles, who Jomar seems particularly fond of and is courting in his own way. She provided us a magic item, a small wand with streamers. We were required to hum a special tune, and to dance for a bit to activate it. It seemed for a moment that I would be treated to a rare sight of seeing an Order Elemental dance, but he Rifted himself to the Fortress after the rest of us had arrived, using us being there as an anchor for his own travel. Ah well, scholars can't have every whim of curiosity satisfied.
Once again we faced the stone guardians at the front. Jomar bravely faced the door alone, taking on the responsibility of our choice. Once again we mis-interpreted the riddle. Fortunately the lightning damage was slight. This time we had no mark on Jomar's brow to guide us to the throne room. We decided to use the rule of always turning one way in a labyrinth to navigate the corridors. After fighting some Chaos Trolls, there were quite a few weapon and shield shards on the floor. Their casters had thrown many Shatter spells, among others. For a moment we wondered how we would fight past the rest of the creatures in the corridors, until Lord Law stepped in. He cast Celestial and Earth protectives on us, and then took the lead in the battle through to the throne room. He is a powerful caster indeed, having many ranks in both the Earth and Celestial disciplines. He was able to merely walk past those creatures of Chaos in the Fortress, raining destruction on them. Upon reaching the Throne room we saw the Ravener, accompanied by a humanoid being with a swirling face called the Son of Chaos. The latter left, to the surprise of the Ravener, saying he had grown bored of this place and had other things to do. We fought their Chaotic minions and defeated all foes, including the Ravener. The Fortress began to crumble and so we quickly activated the wand to return to Drakesbridge. The wand crumbled on our return, its magic spent.
We found ourselves in a room that I had seen before, entirely white with no apparent windows, doors, or other openings, controlled by Lord Law. He sensed something amiss, and suddenly the walls revealed a panoramic view of Drakesbridge. We discovered we were in the very top of the Tower of Law. We looked out, and to our surprise saw the town in flames, the very thing we had sought to avert. The streets were filled with zombies and skeletons, led by Grungeous. Lord Law teleported us to the Tavern to assist with the defense of the town and he also took the field. Among the undead hordes was a Banshee. She and other undead caused most of us, at one time or another, to flee in gibbering terror from them. Fortunately we had some Awaken spells and potions and so were able to recover at least a few times. The battle was fierce and we were outnumbered. Most buildings were set on fire by undead who were either aflame or carrying flame. We tried to save the Tavern but eventually the structure had suffered too much damage and collapsed around the Permanent Earth Circle. We retreated to the Healer's Guild building, so recently completed. My own life was saved in the middle of this with a Life spell cast by Xnyl, who I had dragged around trying to get her out of the battle. I'm not sure who had roused her. Fortunately, the Guild still stands, and it from there that I write this account. The Permanent Earth Circle, amidst the rubble of the Tavern, is also still functional.
As we fought in the area around the Guild, Grungeous called out to Lord Law during the battle, taunting him. The foul undead said that Lord Law had fallen for a trap, a distraction while the Son of Chaos moved on Drakesbridge. The two beings fought long and hard, and in the end Lord Law was victorious. Many of us fell in the field that day, including myself. I did not see the end of that battle, but heard of it later from the one or two who did not fall. My spirit, I felt, was drifting further and further from my body when I received a Life spell from Lord Law. Later I was told that he had started a Formal Magic to destroy Grungeous permanently soon after I was cut down. Given that Formal Magics last 5 minutes, and bleeding out and dying take not much longer than that, he must have arrived just in time. For the sake of our comrades I am grateful he did. Without my live presence, there would have been no one in town capable of performing a Resurrection for the others who were in need of it. I don't know where our spirits might have traveled to seek Resurrection if no one was in our Circle. We have information leading us to believe that a being calling himself the Lord of Undeath is orchestrating these attacks, and had been working with Grungeous, the Son of Chaos and the Hysterions.
That evening, the group was more somber than usual as we sat in the Healer's Guild, resting from the day's hardships. Andro joined us, after having delivered some new recruits to her tribe. Despite the setbacks, we celebrated two major successes. The Fortress of Entropy and Grungeous are both destroyed. We received a note from fast courier from Alyria telling us about something remarkable which has happened to Lady Nala. I will detail that in another scroll. In fact, I suspect there will be a few scrolls dedicated to this, as the situation is unique. Ambassador (former I suppose) Nala Strongbow has joined with a spirit calling herself the Daughter of Life. She is not a Life Elemental, nor like other beings that are known, from the information we have thus far. She is said to be a spirit who protects Alyria and who has manifested at least one other time in the past. What this means for the Guild is that our most powerful Earth caster, the only Invested member who can Invest others, is duty bound to Alyria and wants to stay there. We are trying to get her to travel here to help with the mutual defense of Drakesbridge and Alyria. I hope her willing to Invest another Earth caster while she is here who can then in turn Invest other members. We very much need more than one person to be able to Resurrect others here at all times.
We found an opportunity to strike at the Hysterions, who were poised to soon launch another attack on Drakesbridge. We discovered an encampment of theirs not too far from town. We were able to clear out some of these strange undead with jester visages, who carry the Hysterion disease. We found a gruesome lab table with work they had been conducting to produce new soldiers. There were half a dozen citizens of Drakesbridge of various races who were bound and had wounds inflicted on them. They were being infected with the Hysterion disease. I am happy to report that all were able to have their blood purified and we returned them to town safely. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish clearing out the Hysterions because we needed to escort these citizens back. It may also be that they outnumbered us and we would have been slain if we had tried. We will revisit that at another time.
We had two visitors to the Guild that evening, of opposite sides of the coin as it were. The first was Lord Malcador, the new Ambassador of both Gloomwood and Redmarch, come to see Captain Jomar, myself and the others. He and I had a small disagreement over his desire to bring his undead servant Bob into the Guild. After some time, he sent Bob back to his Embassy, letting the incident go “for now”. Hopefully he will know better than to start a conflict with us, as I desire none with him. It could only end in Lord Law punishing people. He must understand that due to our Oath, it would be very difficult for me to allow the abhorrent undead into the very Guildhall. The Tavern would have been a different matter. I may not personally like it but I must respect the laws of the town. Of the things Lord Malcador discussed, of interest was his claim that people enter into undead servitude in Gloomwood by their own choice. In the case of the lesser, mindless undead, I'm not sure how that could be proven or not aside from prior written consent. It was not the time for prodding on that point. Another notable item was that former Ambassador Snorri Steelhelm is wanted by the government of Gloomwood for various crimes including sedition and treason. Finally, Lord Malcador told us that the Redmarch government, due to unrest such as he said was caused by Steelhelm, welcomed Gloomwood's leadership. Redmarch is now a Gloomwood protectorate. When speaking of Grungeous, the former Ambassador of Gloomwood, he declared that being a rogue agent, who was not working with the permission of the Gloomwood government. He also claims to know nothing of the attack on Sir Duncan. He tried to cast doubt on the information from Alyria that the villains responsible were of this city-state. Alyria will have to determine the truth of that.
Our other visitor was Lord Malchit of Alyria, Emisssary of the Daughter of Life. So infused with Life was he that his very countenance had a rosy glow. He told us about the Daughter's assistance to the Guild of Healers in Alyria and that she would like to assist and -“direct”? may have been the word he used – the operations of all Healers Guilds in Alyria and eventually others in the area. He asked to be a member of our Healer's Guild, a request I told him I would consider. Quentari try not to act in haste, but with careful thought. We spoke of a previous time the Daughter of Life had appeared in Alyria to protect her in a time of need. Overall his visit was very pleasant.
Now we have a town to rebuild. There is much to do and much to think about. As we rebuild, we also are aware that those who would see all our work reduced to rubble are not finished. Still, hope and freedom live still in Drakesbridge. Today, we win.