#53 - Words and Worms

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

It turns out, we weren’t done.

Kard did some healing on Aleae and left for town. Rendar had tracked us and let us know that all was well with our stuff as he joined us. With the land-sharks dead, Eshka looked about and Cypher asked her about her earth magic. It was impressive to summon not one but two such fearsome beasts from bare earth!

As we walked about, some of us noticed that the earth was rumbling. I climbed up onto a rock wall and scanned the area. All at once this huge purple worm burst from the ground right in the middle of the group and right in front of me. I was wounded and bleeding but a rage came upon me and I mashed into the loathsome wiggler!

The whole party lit into the thing like they had been waiting for it! Spells and weapons tore into the beast, leaving huge wounds and frozen patches up and down its body—most of which wriggled under the earth. It knocked me off the wall and the fight raged on. It bit me and I dodged, then its stinger tail rose up and ran me through the chest like a spear....

When I woke up, Clarion was looking into my face, and the worm was dead. It took a few minutes to figure out that we had won and that in the process, Rendar had been swallowed and then fought his way out, cutting a hole in the worm’s side and sliding out again, covered in slime like a new baby. I wish I had seen that.

The male Stormwalker's mood had changed. Smiling, he helped me up and finally introduced himself as Durshast.

After some healing—my chest looks bad, and I am going to need a new scale or something for the hole in my armor—we moved away from the battle ground and sat down to talk.

The barbarian witch. Eshka—Durshast's sister—was making something out of the poison tail from the worm, a nasty weapon it seems.

It was time to tell my tale:

My tribe on Seren, the Bringers of Fire, is beholden to the red dragon Lucerix. He is old and powerful and wise.  He has visited our tribe many times in the tales and I have even seen him once, as a boy. He gives our tribe wisdom and magic and we give him our loyalty.

In my time, Radavar was our leader. He had instructed me as a boy and often discussed with me his plans and strategies when we raided other tribes. He was given insights into the Draconic Prophecies by Lucerix and I respected his will. Without the dragons to interpret them, the prophecies would seem to men as gibberish and we would lose our way.

We had long been told that the time of the Defiler would come.  That we would be called upon to resist the Defiler’s lies and that we would be tested as the Defiler came to corrupt all dragonkind. Somehow, the great dragons would need us and we could stand for them, if we are worthy
.
This was all I had known. But within this same year, a dark sage named Soloshan came to our tribe and began to say quietly that Lucerix was dead, and that his son Garcerix was his rightful heir. Soon his voice grew louder and some began to follow his ways. In the end, Soloshan and his dupes wrested power from Radavar. He was defeated in the rightful challenge of combat. Rather than kill him—as he would have wanted, for there is honor in death—he was left with us as our chief, but Soloshan truly rules. It is no way to be.

Scenes from the Last War

I was bound to die. There was no way for me to accept Soloshan as my leader, my chief or my king.  I would soon say something either in public or private that would start a fight or a war or simply a killing. Radovar and his loyal friends asked me to leave. I was to go out into the world, where war raged—obvious that the Defiler was behind such widespread chaos. I was to seek knowledge and allies and power that could help me upon my return to Seren. What I would find was not known, what I was to bring, or when, was not known. Radavar trusted me and he trusted the Prophecy to bring an end to the Defiler and his plots. I put myself in the service of his wisdom.

Since leaving, I have met stalwart companions who have fought beside me for reasons I do not understand.  Our paths are entwined by the dragons and I do not know which way to turn. Yet as I look back I can see a pattern, a guidance at work. I have great hope that the mace I now wield was named “the Defiler’s Dread” for a reason.

Is I finished up, I looked around.  The Stormwalkers were slack-jawed. After a few minutes of questions, they told their tale. Eshka did most of the talking.

It seems that their tribe had been duped by Garcerix as well. A woman who looked like one of my tribesmen came to them and told them that the Defiler was at work and that now as the time for all Serens to stand and fight. Acting in the name of Lucerix, the woman and her adviser convinced the Stormwalkers that a great fiend—one of "Khyber's first children"—was stirring: Katashka, the Demon Overlord of Undeath was to awaken from his dragon-induced sleep. The scales would swing and demons, not dragons would rise.

The Stormwalker's greatest warriors were lured away from their tribe on a false errand to meet with the other Seren tribes. Vulnerable in their absence, the Stormwalker village itself was then attacked and nearly wiped out by this woman, her pale, foreign adviser, and Garcerix the red dragon.

They believe that other tribes were treated the same, that Seren now lies in the hands of the foul, honorless Bringers of Fire and the usurper Garcerix.

Eshka cast a small spell of illusion and showed us likenesses of our enemies in the smoke. The woman Xiomara did look like a Seren from afar. I could clearly see that her fire tattoos were demonic, and not at all part of my tribe. The man was revealed and both Rendar and I recognized him—Cypher would, too, had he been himself. It was Avishad, the old wizard who had approached us on the Sky Talon, weeks ago, before turning into a raven and flying away when we rebuffed him.

Avashad

After defeat, the Stormwalkers who survived—Eshka, Durshast, and too few others—fled Seren to find answers for Seren’s troubles on the mainland, because all the foul players in their tale had come from afar. Once they reached the shores of Khorvaire, on the beaches of Q'Barra, they had been found by the House Phiarlan elves and joined up with the Carnival of Shadows. In exchange for their service and entertainment, the elves had done much research about the woman Xomara and found that she was a fiend-worshipping warlord from the Demon Wastes. The Wastes is a land in the northwest corner of this continent, a holdover from the Age of Demons. From what I hear, it may be a more dangerous place than the Mournland, for it has been a scar on Eberron for hundreds of thousands of years.

Xiomar herself hails from the Carrion Tribes, mostly human clans and cannibals who revere fiends. What is she doing outside of that foul land. More importantly, what was she doing in my homeland? Her purposes are most foul.

On discussing the Demon Wastes, Cypher said something like,  “You should travel to the Eldeen, for the people I serve there are also foes to this woman and the Demon hordes.”

Cypher, in the employ of the Eldeen? That makes no sense.

The Demon Wastes lie in the northwest
corner of the continent of Khorvaire, due
north of the Eldeen Reaches.
(Click for a larger view.)

Then it hit me.

“Claviger, is that you?” I asked.

Cypher looked up at me and after a long hesitation, he said, “Yes.”

I blinked. I think everyone did. Eventually, it sort of came out that Claviger was here with us, but bereft of his memories. He certainly fought with more martial grace than Cypher does. I don’t understand, but the group seems to think that somehow the final messenger had more to it than Cypher ever thought.

We decided to make our way back to the city while we puzzled these events and stories out.  Soon enough, we were washed in the river and headed back to the city in a rented fisherman’s boat.

We have a big dinner party tonight, and a meeting with a warforged of some renown in this land.

Perhaps the elf witch—the Mistress of the Carnival who looked more like Aleae than the other elves—can help us understand our fate.

Though, without Cypher, I feel lost.

#52 - Odd Behavior and Seren Honor

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

Out of jail and the search for the lost stuffed animal abandoned, we returned to our goals in the city. I was really dying to find news from Seren, and I regretted following Cypher and his fool’s errand. I know he hadn’t planned to get us arrested, but his focus on stuffed animals had just cost me my meeting with the Serans.

Luckily, when we returned to the carnival grounds, the Serens had left me a note, unusual for any Seren to write anything. The Carnival Master came to us to tell us that he regretted the Serens’ departure and that they were full of venom for me and my tribe, but that the note was genuine and that there was some bounty they were searching in the farms to the north of the city. Something about...ankhegs.

We set out immediately, thank the Dragon Between! Once out of the city, we could clearly see the tall blue spire that dominated the countryside by the riverside. Aleae seemed to have knowledge and I asked her about it. She took a crystal sphere out and made it light up. She told us to stare into it, Cypher joined me and we could see some sort of alternate plane, where things looked similar, but different from the area around us, yet the same also. She said this was Thelanis, her world, which is also called the Faerie Court. The blue spire was the same in the sphere and here in our world.

I don't understand. Cypher  spent some time walking with me talking about alternate planes of existence and explaining that there are creatures who can travel between these planes. Some dragons can travel also, the eldest and most powerful among them. The spires, I guess, somehow exist in both planes at once. I don’t understand.  Much that interests Cypher eludes me, but he is immensely resourceful and has helped me many times.

We continued walking and at one point, Aleae sent us all a secret voice message that we were being followed. Cypher did not understand that this was secret knowledge, and started walking around searching behind us. The follower seemed to disappear as soon as we started looking.

Then Cypher started acting very strange indeed. It is unlike Cypher to fail to understand anything and as we talked to him, he seemed to lose all knowledge of himself, saying only that he was fine and that we should continue on our mission. I asked about Doongul, and when his boat would arrive (he came on a wagon, this was a little trap I laid for Cypher). Cypher could not remember Doongul or Trug, his goblin companion. Strange.

Cypher was acting like he had been hit on the head. Hard. I’ve seen warriors like this after a battle. I asked him what was the first thing he remembered today and he said that it was Aleae telling us that we were being followed. Bad news!

We immediately stopped to sort this out. Some nearby fishermen were giving us the once-over, I could see that we were not welcome with them. I stood up front and let them know not to approach us, either. Clarion performed a ritual on Cypher and seemed to divine that it was Cypher’s "final messenger" that was the problem, that small machine inserted into his chest. Cypher took it out and stepped away from it, but he still had no memory. He returned the messenger to his chest and we all agreed that we were not going to be able to sort this out right here and right now.

I was really eager to continue going forward and so we all agreed to continue in search of the Seren Stormwalkers. Soon enough, we came to the second jetty and a clear set of tracks headed inland from the river. The Serens had gone this way. I was practically ready to run after them after all this delay. Soon enough, we came to some old stone ruins and then spied the corpses of a few ankhegs, the giant ant-beetle monsters that spit acid all over us way back in Droaam. The Serens had earned their bounty, it seemed.

I shouted out, “I am here and ready to meet with you!” As soon as I yelled, I noticed the female Stormwalker on top of some stone walls with her bow trained on us. The male came out and accused me of falsehood for missing our meeting yesterday. I explained that we were jailed for a fight and some property damage, but were soon found innocent and released.

The crest of Aundair

He said he refused to speak to me further until we had proven ourselves in combat. I agreed. The she-shaman used her magic to summon a monster, we were to fight whatever appeared. She said produced a flat, rune-carved stone and said, "This totem stone was wrought by the dragonspeakers of Worvrelyss the Cerulean Night. It will summon a foe worthy of testing that is native to the land in which it is placed. Survive and defeat the beast and you will prove you are willing to die for honor." Honor and courage is what they required for discussion.

The rest of the party agreed to fight with me, I am lucky to have found such good persons since leaving my home island. We waited in silence for the monster to arrive, the spellcasters each made preparations. Clarion had many spells to cast that seemed to empower us all, including a metal staff that sprouted into a banner that waved the flag of Aundair, which seemed to really inspire him. Soon enough the ground erupted underneath us. A huge, armored land-shark—a bulette—burst up from below, splattering us with rocks and dirt.

We unloaded on the land-shark in a way I have never seen us do before! Mashing, smashing, stabbing, burning, electrocuting, hexing and chopping it very badly before it gathered itself to bite me on the arm. Just as we thought we were finishing it off, a second one pounded up out of the ground, demolishing one of the stone walls and splattering us with stone and earth again.  It was no more than a few seconds before the first one died under my maul.

The new one, perhaps mated to the first, bellowed and pounced on Aleae, who skittered away while the land-shark burrowed out of sight. We then had a few seconds to stare around and wonder what was to happen next, we spread out around the area, knowing it couldn't have fled. These things were maddened.

Cypher, who was fighting brilliantly, tried to take my mace off my back—unusual and not permitted! I shrugged him off just as the second land-shark exploded up out of the ground beneath Cypher and I we were again hammered with rocks and earth. Aleae was ready with a massive onslaught of spells—her elven hands slung magic faster than I'd seen even Xoma to cast! The land-shark was knocked over on its side and I let loose with all the violence I could summon—Clarion's spells of pronounced doom seemed to be adding considerable strength to my arms, and the beast shuddered after I demolished the front of its head. Clarion himself stepped up and finished it off…

I turned to the Serens, wondering, are we done?

#51 - Bones and Bars

Journal of Clarion Tritone, Champion of Dol Arrah, Vassal of the Sovereign Host - Zarantyr 5th, 999 YK 

The gnoll—Mangra we later learned was his name—was still standing close by, but his demeanor had changed significantly since we had engaged him in battle. He no longer seemed cold and dispassionate. It would appear that my suspicion was true, that he had indeed been enchanted in some manner. Hurt, exhausted and faced with the prospect of our entire group’s opposition on him he bowed and pointed in the direction where Myrcose lay on the floor. “Bone!” he exclaimed, “Bone!”

I immediately made my way over to Myrcose in order to secure this aundairian traitor’s weapons, to learn if he had anything else in his possession that could pose a threat and to see if I could find what the gnoll was referring to. Amongst his clothes I found a spellpouch, two potions, three scrolls in a scroll case, a ring he wore on his middle finger, a rapier, coins, and a sheet of paper written in a language I did not understand. The writing was accompanied by excellent drawings of some of the adventurers in our present company. Not seeing Aleae anywhere, I handed the sheet to Cypher, who recognized the language as Goblin, and began to read:

WANTED: The human Magnus, the Tharashk half-blood Rendar, the black-skinned elf Xoma, the dwarf Doongul, the warforged Cypher. 1,000 gold pieces if alive, or 10,000 for all five. Half this amount if dead. Send location to Raza-Halb to Graywall through Speaking Stone, then wait to collect.

I continued my search amidst Myrcose’s clothes and found what appeared to be the jawbone of some sort of predatory canine. Perhaps a hyena’s. As I lifted the bone in my hand the gnoll eagerly and loudly snarled once again “Bone!” I asked the gnoll what needed to be done in order to free him from this spell. “Give me … bone!” he exclaimed. I gave him the bone and his demeanor changed even more, an immense sense of relief seemed to come upon him and he thanked me for freeing him. I don’t know why, but I was reminded of a strange story which I had heard eight months and fourteen days ago from a young wizard called Rettop. It involved a creature called a house elf and a sock.

Moments after Cypher was finishing up reading, I heard Aleae’s voice in my head. “Guards are coming! Will hide, we’ll meet up later.” Not exactly surprised by their arrival I informed everyone that the city guards were approaching. Magnus and the gnoll both raised their arms, obviously not preparing for a conversation. Cypher lifted the piece of paper he had just read and it looked as if he was preparing to burn it. Fortuitously Rendar stood right next to him and was able to stop Cypher from burning the sheet. It took a moment of Rendar’s explanation, but he was able to convince Cypher that this paper could be used in our favor, since it could help explain what had taken place here and that the hostilities were not our fault.

While there was some unease about the guards arrival amongst the group, we decided to fully cooperate with them. This fight had not been of our making. Except for trespassing on the property of whoever owned the warehouse—a transgression for which we had good reason, we had committed no crime, only acting in self-defense against this onslaught.

The Galethspyre guards arrived in great numbers, keenly pointing as many crossbows, at us and the sergeant commanded that we drop all our gear. Some did so faster than others, but we all eventually complied. I assured them that we had no intention of resisting but had every intention to cooperate and explain all that had happened, which was sure to exculpate us. The sergeant said, “Under the Galifar Code of Justice, you are all under arrest for crimes of assault, murder, destruction of property, and the misuse of magic. If you cooperate, you will be given a chance to address the charges and establish your  innocence. You would do well to be silent right now and answer only questions asked of you.”

The guards did not appear unreasonably hostile and simply appeared to follow protocol, which I could appreciate. Another sergeant arrived, using a pendant that could detect magic—it appeared that he was astounded by what he detected as he scanned the room and our equipment.

Without having our hands tied we were marched over to the garrison where further questioning was to take place. I found it difficult to contain my excitement about our recent battle and composed a soft victory melody on our path to the garrison.

After a short period in the garrisons waiting chamber, where we were offered to leave our armor if it should be more convenient, we were brought to our cells; quarters in which we would spend the next 24 bells. Our cells were located on both sides of a corridor. Stone walls were in between the cells on each side. The fronts were composed of bars with a door. To the back it offered a small barred window. It was not easy to talk amongst us, since we could each just see those who were in the cells ahead of us and had to speak extra loud in order for anyone to hear.

I spent the majority of my time in the cell silently, in prayers to Dol Arrah, in hopes that Aleae was well and that we would soon be able to continue our travels together. Many arguments ensued while we were in the cells. At first Magnus and Kard fought, mostly with Rendar and Cypher who they blamed to have dragged us all into what they called “this mess.” They questioned, “why had they had to run after the shifter girl?” This was only the first of a series of small quarrels amidst the cells.

Shortly after our arrival a human artificer accompanied by a warforged guard entered. The human carried a series of wands and seemed to spend a moment focused on detecting the presence of any magic. He informed us that the use of any and all magic was strictly forbidden and would result in immediate relocation to significantly less pleasant quarters underground. He added that, given the fact that we were under suspicion for misuse of magic, possibly being responsible for summoning the elemental that had, as we learned, killed a series of civilians in- and outside of the warehouse, it would be extremely unwise for any of us not to abide by this rule if we hoped to ever leave the prison.

The human opened my cell, entering with the warforged, and told me to hold still. He raised one of his wands and placed it upon my chest. A strong flash of energy erupted from the wand and I felt a series of strange sensations all throughout my corpus. After a moment the energy subsided and he took a step back expressing that he truly hoped that I was innocent, for he deemed me most unusual and would hate for me to rot in prison. He performed the same procedure on the other warforged. Cypher was somehow shocked by the wand in a most unusual and obviously unpleasant manner.

Shortly after this a lieutenant of the King’s Citadel arrived. When Galifar was united and not yet fractured into the Five Nations, the King’s Citadel was an intelligence agency for the entire kingdom. Now it serves only Breland.

Lieutenant Terek, as he introduced himself, held in his hands what appeared to be our case folder. I could make out our identification papers, which he held up as he made his round amidst our cells, checking them one by one. He also had the ransom note Myrcose had carried. He told us that he was quite certain that we were not to blame for the atrocities in and around the warehouse and that he was sure once the magistrate had reviewed all the evidence we would be free to go, but that the process could take at least a week. If we had any good reasons for the lieutenant to make a case that our release might be expedited we should provide those now and he would determine whether he would advocate on our behalf.

At first Kard tried to argue that a child’s life was at stake and that we would need to make sure she was safe. The lieutenant’s sympathies for “some stray”—as he referred to the shifter girl—were limited and he did not think this was any reason to expedite our case. Our argumentation, that our presence at the Carnival of Shadows dinner party was important seemed to amuse the lieutenant. As he informed us about a possible threat to the guests at the dinner—involving the Swords of Liberty, an anti-monarchy terrorist group—I assured him that we would be more than happy to assist in protecting the guests. He did not appear excited about my offer, still we continued to have an amicable conversation. A little while later he departed, informing us that he would consider whether he would expedite our case.

The next event amongst relatively quiet hours, which were only interrupted by guards bringing food to the heterotrophs, was the arrival of a doomsday preacher; a sad creature we had previously seen spreading his bizarre ideas from a pedestal in the city, who was now ushered into the cell next to Kard. It seemed that he was not going to stop sharing his “revelations” in the cell block. His returning, cyclic mantra was: "None shall see the 1,000th Year of the Kingdom—not as you are! The Dragon Below will rise before the year is through and devour the unfavored lands! The Lord of Eyes is her herald.”

I was very puzzled by his argument. The troubled human said there was absolutely nothing anyone would be able to do about that. Well, if that was the case then why did he need to tell anyone about this and more importantly why did he need to tell people not to resist her rise? If it was truly not going to make any difference whether people knew about it or not or whether they resisted or not, as he was trying to make us believe, then why did he care to tell anyone not to resist? He obviously had to think, that on some level, that it would make a difference whether one did or did not know about these coming events and whether one resisted.

I found myself strangely upset by this man’s idiocy and began arguing with him, trying to understand whether he was trying to advocate the rise of Khyber by asking people not to resist or trying to have them rise against Khyber through some kind of reverse suggestion. If he truly was all for the rise of Khyber and had his blessing, then Khyber was obviously extremely weak, since it would mean that she would not be able to withstand the combined force of the few sad souls that could possibly heed this man’s warnings and could be convinced not to resist as Khyber rose. The preacher got very angry at me and attacked the warforged race as soulless automatons, that had no place in any of this anyways. “Warforged will all be destroyed,” he insisted. “The Lord of Eyes craves only the living hearts and souls of Eberron's children!" Well, if there is any truth in his mad words I will be happy to resist the rise of Khyber with all my powers.

The symbol of Aureon,
Sovereign of Law and Lore

Later a barrister arrived to interrogate us further. A gnome of the House of Scribing, by the name of Arko d’ Sivis greeted us in the company of a priest of Aureon and a tall, ferocious looking female shifter lieutenant who was eying us impatiently. She was clad in a crimson uniform, clearly a member of the Redcloak Battalion, an elite Brelish that I have not heard much from since the war’s end.

The gnome asked us whether the gnoll was part of our group. We told him that he was not, but that he had been magically controlled by Myrcose and that it was our belief that he could therefore not be held responsible for his actions at the warehouse. Beyond that we did not know anything about him. The gnoll was removed from our cell block.

It was then that the priest began performing a ritual which I recognized as that needed to establish a Zone of Truth. I casually praised the priest’s skill and informed all present that it would be futile to attempt to lie while this spell was active. I felt like I needed to warn them, since I did not know how much some of them might have been inclined to bend the truth, which would not reflect well on all of us.

The gnome said that he would be making an argument on our behalf before the Magistrate and that it would be in our best interest to provide him with as much information as possible that could help establish our innocence and hasten our release. We explained truthfully what we knew about Myrcose and the unfortunate events that had taken place in the warehouse.

He said that all our accounts were consistent with the evidence except for the presence of another member in our group, possibly an eladrin who had not been apprehended. I vouched for Aleae and explained that she was not used to many of the procedures and institutions that seem common to us and was obviously startled by the arrival of the guards and had prefered to disappear before she could be apprehended. He did not seem exactly pleased, since the innocent rarely choose to flee. I suggested that they might be able to inquire with the Mistress of the Carnival who could possibly shed more light on Aleae’s behavior and reputation.

We were all asked to explain our current mission and the circumstances under which we had ended up in each other's company and in the warehouse, as well as give explanations for any of the items that could be found amongst our possessions. The gnome often made reference to the Korranberg Chronicles and the published stories about the others' involvement with events in both Zilargo and Droaam.

Rendar spoke of an amulet that had apparently fallen into their hands some time ago. He referred to it as “the Emperor’s Key.” The artifact appeared to be of great importance to the cultists who were at the heart of the events on the airship, which had been the beginning of the intersection of all of our paths. I am sure we will talk more about these matters soon. I am growing ever more curious to discover how much the adventurers might know about Reltran ir’Harran and Avashad.

I told the gnome about my travels with Aleae and my mission to find my friend Killian ir’Vanatar and discover what was behind the actions of Reltran ir’Harran. I also mentioned that I had items in my possession that belonged to Myrcose, for I did not know what crimes these could possibly be linked to.

The gnome was very interested in learning more about whoever was behind the wanted note for some of our group. Something was worrying him about this creature from Graywall who was calling himself Governor Trazzen.

When Cypher mentioned that they had the body of a certain General Darvashek in their possession, located at the House Orien enclave, the Redcloak shifter rushed towards Cypher’s cell, visibly agitated, demanding to hear who had killed the general. As Cypher told her that it had in fact been he himself, she first was in disbelief but then seemed deeply impressed as the priest assured her that Cypher could not have lied about this. Apparently the general was a highly wanted war criminal responsible for the deaths of countless innocents and as I heard to my great dismay, many Aundairian civilians. He was a wanted man, hunted by the Sentinel Marshals, Eberron’s most elite law enforcement force.

Before the gnome had arrived, Kard and Cypher had been arguing about a certain warforged called Claviger. Apparently both parties had had some kind of relationship to him, but Kard refused to reveal anything about what he knew. Now the gnome asked about this Claviger, but again not much was revealed.

Kard was giving the barrister a hard time in general, making it hard for him to make a good case on his behalf. He seemed entirely unwilling to share anything of possible importance and evaded most questions as best as he could.

In the end, the information we provided seemed to have been sufficient to convince the magistrate of our innocence. We were released on the morning of Zaranthyr the 6th—less than a day after first incarceration, so I deem that Dol Arrah’s blessing. As we exited the garrison Lieutenant Terek approached us and thanked us for our service. They had indeed been able to retrieve the body of General Darvashek and the Sentinel Marshals were on their way to retrieve the body the next day, wishing to personally thank Cypher and the group.

We made our way to the Carnival. Magnus was upset that he had missed his appointment with the Stormwalkers, the other barbarians from the Seren Islands the day before but hoped, that he might be able to find them today. The elves indeed had a message from the barbarians which was carved into a wooden tablet in what appeared similar to draconic script. Magnus translated the writing for us:

Follow the river north. Walk inland at the second jetty, if you dare to prove your honor—for the Bringers of Fire have shown none.

#50 - Shrines and Situations

Journal of Clarion Tritone, Champion of Dol Arrah, Vassal of the Sovereign Host - Zarantyr 5th, 999 YK 

Aleae and I had returned to the Golden Chalice, meeting with the adventurers whose acquaintance we had made the day before. We had spent the night at the Arcadium, a most impressive and formidable stone structure about half a mile outside of the city wall dedicated to the worship of the Sovereign Host. We enjoyed the beauty and serenity of the place and collected our thoughts on the events of the previous night. I spent most of the night in prayer while working on a miniature semblance of the statue of Dol Arrah found at the center of the shrine dedicated to my beloved goddess. She was rendered in red-hued stone as a stately human female in knight’s armor, hand on hilt, looking down. At her feet was a dragon perched on a cloud—Dol Arrah is sometimes depicted as a red dragon. I carved the image from a piece of wood from a Walnut tree which I picked up on our twenty-eighth day of travel from Arcanix. The moon seemed to let its light dance upon the fallen branch in a way that could only have meant that the Host wished for me to take it as a gift, and I could think of no better use for this formidable piece of wood.

From our meeting we quickly gathered that the night had been most eventful, at least for Kard, who had apparently freed a shifter girl called Aza from the hands of her uncaring evil stepfather, Cutter, and had subsequently lost her again as she had escaped during the night. Some in the group were worried about her safety and Rendar and Cypher had left the others to track her down. Kard, somewhat surprisingly, did not care much about what should now become of the girl, or perhaps he had simply expected it. Upon my suggestion he left for worship at the Arcadium.

After spending a short while outside the Golden Chalice in the company of Grapnel—whose Karrnathi origins keep me on high alert while filling me with a sense of pity—Cypher returned with news from the venture. He informed us that they had established the location of the girl, or at least that of the stuffed ghost tiger Cypher had given to her as a present the night before, and that it had lead them to a warehouse in a dockside district, a rough part of town.

While many details were unknown, the possibility that a young girl was in danger was reason enough for me advocate for a concerted effort to investigate the premises Cypher and Rendar had identified.

Upon arrival we spent a few minutes of reconnaissance. It was determined that Cypher would attempt to take a look insight through a window on the south side of the building, fifteen feet high. He was keeping in magical contact with Aleae who he asked to aid him shortly after he arrived at the window and looked inside. Grapnel and I lifted her up towards the window and she swiftly disappeared into the warehouse, followed by Cypher.

I was poised in anticipation of word from Aleae informing us of the situation inside the warehouse. Magnus could not bear this wait and began crushing his entire body into the door close to the window through which Aleae and Cypher had disappeared. From the way his body was met by the door I could tell that opposite side of the door was heavily barred by something. Sooner or later the brute force of Magnus would make its way through whatever stood in its way, but upon noticing Rendar rush towards the other door located on the east side of the building, which we had established as another possible point of entry to the premises, I decided to follow him, instructing Grapnel to join me.

As Grapnel and I approached, Render had already successfully cleared the door and began to make his way inside. Loud crashing noises and a deep rumble emanated from within. A battle was obviously upon us and I began to weave sounds of war into the air. I was filled with a great joy I hadn’t felt in many years while rushing into battle surrounded by my newfound acquaintances, I suddenly felt like I was amongst my war comrades.

Upon entering I saw Grapnel and Rendar rushing towards an earth elemental, which was approaching from the western part of the building, crashing through a series of stacked boxes piled all throughout the warehouse. Their trajectories were to meet twenty-three feet west of the door. As I joined them I was able to reach my sword to divert a great swing the earth elemental had targeted at Rendar.

From the south, my left, I saw a strange bolt of many lights making its way towards our location, it was changing colors and shapes many times mid-flight. It turned out to be an expression of Aleae’s magical powers; my dear eladrin friend had been standing atop a set of boxes near the southeast corner of the building. It struck the elemental, which suddenly appeared to melt into the floor. Had I not heard about earth elementals abilities to move through many earth-based materials as if they had no substance, I would have assumed Aleae possessed abilities far greater than anything I had ever known, and she had undone the elemental with one strike of her magic. I positioned myself in a clearing between the boxes closer to Aleae and in between the two doors. I was poised to jump at the elemental the second it would reemerge. By now Magnus, Cypher, Kard and Rungo were joining us. Cypher seemed to have helped Magnus clear the path of the other door from the inside and now the four were preparing to help in the fight with the elemental.

The elemental arose right next to Aleae, crashing through some of the boxes she had been standing upon. Gracefully she rose into the air and yet another bolt of strange energy emerged from her hands and hit the elemental as she made her way to the floor. This time the bolt twisted the elemental in its place and it dropped to the floor, making contact just as Aleae landed standing right next to it.

I threw my longsword at the elemental and, drawing my warhammer, began running towards Aleae’s location, ready to protect her, for I was doubtful she would be able to withstand a possible direct hit from this large creature. The elemental took a ferocious swipe at Aleae but she was able to avoid it. As we were all rushing in on the elemental, trying to meet our target, Magnus was the only one to successfully land a series of fierce blows.

The elemental once more disappeared into the floor. Rendar had rushed towards the southeast corner of the building, searching atop stacks of boxes where he had felt the location of the ghost tiger earlier. Just as he had found the tiger and was trying to pry open one of the boxes, looking for more of the girl’s belongings or the girl herself within, most of the boxes in that corner burst into pieces, parting to all sides as the elemental arose once more. The blast threw Rendar into the air, but he recovered quickly.

Cypher was now holding some kind of rod in his hand with which he began moving the elemental around the room. I was pleased to see that he was going to be able to provide us with a bit more control over this being. Our combined force crashed in on the elemental and it was surrounded during the last moments of our battle. A mighty swing was crushing down on Kard, but I was able to hold it off with my shield. I doubt that his mind, that seems so intensely set on hating warforged, had much appreciation for my aid, but who knows, maybe the experience of good deeds by warforged could soften his tortured soul. Rendar landed a mighty hit, which broke off one of the elementals arms.

As I noticed a man and a halfling entering the warehouse from the same east facing door I had entered and heard Cypher call out Cutter’s name, looking in the direction of the other door, I assumed we were about to face more adversity. Only a moment later one of the men threw a container at us, which contained a significant amount of alchemist’s fire. Most of us were merely brushed by the fire, yet Rendar was hit the hardest, and flames emerged at various spots on his armor. Seeing the tactical disadvantage in finding ourselves fighting at multiple fronts I called upon the powers of my beloved Dol Arrah to help me end the elemental. I landed a mighty blow with the dragonhawk banner and with Dol Arrah’s divine energies pulsating through the weapon the elemental split into countless pieces.

Magnus rushed to meet the halfling that had just appeared in the door and with a mighty blow crushed him and sent his lifeless body flying back out the door. Meanwhile Rendar, still showing signs of flames emerging from his armor, and I were beginning to unleash a series of blows upon the man who had thrown the container spreading the alchemist’s fire. The rest of the party headed in the direction of the other door, where Cypher had seen Cutter. As I swung my warhammer back, adding momentum to my next blow, I was struck hard by an unusually massive arrow. Judging by the force with which it crushed into my chest it had obviously come from the bow of a formidable warrior hidden somewhere in the dark corners of the warehouse, north, north-west of our position. Clearly this battle was not yet near its end.

Knowing that a second hit of this strength would most likely leave me incapacitated, I focused much of my attention on averting a second arrow finding its target, successfully; the next arrow glanced off my shield. We did not have to wait long until the warrior revealed himself. It was the gnoll that had shared the company of Myrcose, who now stepped from the shadows ahead of us, preparing himself for close combat as he unsheathed a short-sword.

It was at this moment that a mass of writhing black tentacles sprouted from the ground all around, some lashing wildly to inflict wounds while others attempted to bind us. Cutter’s man, weakened by our initial blows, was immediately crushed by these tentacles. Rendar and I could make out that the gnoll who had been approaching was not surrounded by tentacles, so it seemed that it would be wise to hasten out of the spell field and into battle with this—as Aleae would often point out—“irredeemably disreputable creature.”

Rendar, his armor still partially aflame, and I were hurt by some of the tentacles but were able to break free and rushed towards the gnoll. While our weapons were clanging against each other—one of the most beautiful sounds I had heard in a long time—the gnoll struck me as entirely different from any gnoll I had ever seen or heard of. He seemed completely removed from the battle, fighting very skillfully but showing no signs of any kind of emotion. This is entirely uncharacteristic for gnolls, who are known to appear as if bathing in anger and aggression as they fight. Was it possible that this gnoll was not acting of his own volition? This thought alongside Cypher shouting “What is the meaning of this!?” from somewhere south, south-west was the last I was aware before the gnoll sunk one of his swords deep into my side, causing me to lose consciousness.

Most warforged and scholars might discard what I experienced as nonsense, but as the gnoll’s last blow struck me and it was as if a chord was struck, a chord composed of nine tones. So far I have never heard another warforged speak of experiencing anything while they were incapacitated. I experienced no time, no space, no thought or other sensation, but there was only this sound. Personally I believe that what I heard is a manifestation of the nine deities of the Sovereign Host.

Hearing this sound before, while lying incapacitated upon the fields of Karrnath, was the reason why my dear friend Killian’s words had made so much sense, when he spoke of how he had been guided by the Sovereign Host in his belief that I had not fully perished and why I began to understand the priest’s words to be true when they would say that the world is as the gods and the gods are as is the world.

As Cypher reactivated me once the battle was over and I arose, I felt much stronger and more in tune with the arcane energies that fuel my abilities. Undeniably, my beloved Dol Arrah and the Host’s ninefold energies had had a major part in it, but I also can’t deny that I believe that the warforged artificer, Cypher, might possess unusual powers, with which he might have activated parts of me that had previously laid dormant.

Upon rising, I noticed the unconscious body of Myrcose on the floor twenty-two feet from me. As the others quickly filled me in on the few moments I had missed it became clear that he, being a powerful user of arcane magic, had been the main source of adversity we had encountered during this battle. Luckily he had been swiftly overcome, obviously underestimating our combined abilities.