as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.
Wealday, 15 Arodus
Rested, and slightly healed, we quickly discussed what our next steps would be. It was clear the group had a variety of ideas about how to proceed, so we focused on more immediate problems: we had (unexpectedly) rescued Ameiko, and (expectedly) Ulf. The original mission was to return after rescuing Ulf, and nobody disagreed on that.
There was a brief discussion that then focused on what to do with the growly thing behind the cold door. It was evil, we knew, but it wasn’t clear if that meant we should release it, leave it, or kill it. It didn’t seem we’d actually come to a firm conclusion yet when Qatana boldly walked up to the door and began a conversation.
The creature inside had been captured by Kimindatsu, but other than incarceration, not much else had happened. It seemed encouraged to find we’d killed the mage, and offered it was a wolf. We had a brief side conversation about wolves that could talk and how dangerous they may be before Qatana resumed and learned that cold is comfortable for this wolf, and that the reason it got captured was that “any idiot can get a lucky shot once”.
Well, we’ve certainly lived that life.
We concluded, not unanimously, that we would release the creature, but first would take Lute “out of harm’s way” (that is, out of sight so he wouldn’t know). Anavaru took him to a “safe” room which would not be on the direct path out of the building that we presumed/hoped the creature would use.
Finally, Radella unlocked the cold door (the necessary key was on the keyring she had.) The rest of us, but for Ana, stood nervously nearby.
Out came Skygni. He was not just a wolf; he was a HUGE wolf. A “winter wolf”, we were to learn later. Qatana proudly held Kimindatsu’s head aloft, and Skygni sniffed it. “There are fresh bodies in the adjoining room if you are hungry”, said Qatana. I was a bit startled at that, but upon reflection, it did seem practical. We had no use for them and they had been killed in a fair (heh) battle. I’d have had more problem with that if we had left them to be killed or had killed them for that purpose. In addition, bodies that had been gnawed upon would further muddy the trail we were leaving behind us, which would only help.
We told him we would be travelling north in a few days, and he thought about it and said he may meet us on the road. We then parted ways.
Helgarval was positively livid, if it is possible for a celestial being to be livid, but seemed a little taken aback, and calmer, when I pointed out we had cleverly tricked evil into helping us do good.
Qatana put some wards on the obvious entrances to dissuade any unwelcome visitors in our absence. In discussing things with Lute, it became apparent that covering our tracks and the future of Ravenscrag was not going to be a problem at all. He intended to go to the King and rat out the guild, demonstrating all “he had to do” to get free and regain control. If our part in this were to come up at all, it would be as, at most, some nameless mercenaries he’d hired to assist in the cleanup.
No mention was made of the treasure room, and Lute did not ask about any remaining things of value. The “compensation” was left unspoken and uncounted.
For the moment, anyway. Most of us were already thinking about what special, probably expensive, items we would need for the mission over the crown of the world. Radella had given a very rough estimate of each person’s take on what we’d found to be in the neighborhood of over 10,000gp.
It was late, so we slept, knowing, for once, that we were not likely to be awakened by our guards and find ourselves in peril.
Oathday, 16 Arodus
Ivan suggested we simply all float down to the valley below, but several of us felt we needed to test the rickety stairs and determine that it was not a hazard to future owners. The stairs did not prove to be a horrible problem – they were sturdy enough while still looking rickety 🙂 – but the real problem was the insect infestation. Namely, two giant wasp-like creatures which were living in a crevice in the cliff face, and which seemed to consider us as potential food. Etayne labeled them “spider grabbers” and while collectively we exceeded eight legs, the creatures apparently were either quite flexible in their food choice or could not count very well.
Lute quickly asked to be floated down, and Kali complied. He was SO done with the stairs.
Of more importance, however, was a more personal interaction. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ameiko pull her weapon and prepare to move forward. Even though my companions were in peril and my place is alongside them, paramount to that is the protection of Ameiko. I stepped between her and the danger and said, “Let me handle this, Ameiko.”
Her vaguely mocking response was to look at me and say, “defend me if you wish” as she moved past me. I hurried after her and, although the others had done most of the damage already, landed the killing blow upon the last spider grabber. I whirled to face her, angry, and she smirked. “Well done, brave warrior” she said without a trace of a smile. I glared at her and said, “Your will, my grace” and was pleased to see her flinch and glare.
But only momentarily. We can’t continue this way. In one way, this is exactly the sort of responsibility and duty I’ve been seeking, and in another way it so NOT what I want to do to/for Ameiko. We will need to talk. I do not wish to antagonize her, but she also has a new responsibility and it will take all my tact to try to introduce that idea to her.
Meanwhile, inside the crevice we found a grim sight. An elf lay there unconscious, with dozens of little holes in him. It was apparent that although he was technically still alive, he was nothing but food for the little grubs that had been laid inside him. It would take major magic to rid him of them without costing him his life. Ivan bore the sad task of hastening him to his destiny.
We reached the horses without further incident, and estimated another day’s journey to return to Kalsgard.
Fireday, 17 Arodus
During the return trip, I tried to have that conversation with Ameiko. It did not go well, in part because I had not counted on much of the rest of the party eagerly watching both our discomforts. Ameiko got defensive, and I got angry, and Suishen threw in a not-so-helpful comment here and there and the end result was, well, at least we did not physically hurt each other. But I felt, in reality, we got farther apart. We will need to work on this more.
We estimate we will need one to two weeks to accumulate gear for our trip north. We know now that we each have 13,255gp of additional wealth with which we can outfit ourselves. For me, this translates to:
First, I paid off the loan from Kali. Since I believe she might actually be offended were I to offer any extra as a token of appreciation, I have instead made a small donation to the temple of Shelyn, to be distributed and used at her discretion. She seemed to like that.
Second, I have been restricted in this chainmail. It has served me well, but now with sufficient funds, I went and bought myself a +1 mithril breastplate. It affords the same protection but is much much lighter.
Third, I realize that the stronger I am, the more dangerous I am. I bought a belt of giant strength +2.
Fourth, I’ve been wearing an amulet of natural armor +1 that we acquired from our foes. I formally purchased that from the group.
Fifth, Suishen will protect me from the elements so long as I have it near or on me, but Kasimir will have no such protection. I paid Kali 500gp to enchant his halter to provide similar protection for him.
Lastly, I feel I’ve been lucky more than I have a right to be. To insure that streak continues 🙂 I bought a cloak of resistance +1.
Later this day we visited Finn, and displayed Suishen (who mercifully was silent). He identified it as the missing sword (unnecessarily 🙂 ) and it seemed to provide a bit of closure for him to know it had been retrieved.
Etayne also took time today to announce, with little ceremony, that she needed to leave us. She has had troubling dreams that she believes may be portends, and she needs to investigate. This will hit us hard, as she has been a strong force for healing. This leaves us only Qatana to rescue us in battle – tactics will have to change and I suspect more potions will need to be purchased.
Starday, 18 Arodus
Qatana was able to Speak with Dead to talk to Kimindatsu and verify that she had killed Silverscore, and also got some noncommittal answers about the Oni. Hard to tell if that’s all she knew, or she was intentionally trying to be vague (the spell only compels truthfulness, not completeness).
Helgarval took this opportunity to celestially exclaim “my work is done here!” and leave us. Since I got the impression he was trapped on this plane I’m not sure where he’ll go, but it’s not like we can stop him. Perhaps we’ll run into him again at some point.
Sunday, 26 Arodus
We are in Turvik, and it is time for Etayne to take leave. She has left us with
2 potions of water walk
5 potions of CLW
2 potions of CMW
[118] 1 wand of identify
2 potions of lesser restoration
[204] 1 scroll of CMW
[214] 1 scroll of remove curse
[207] 1 wand of inflict moderate wounds
A great celebration (well, great for the town of Turvik) was had, and she will be missed.
It is the end of summer now, and we are considered adventurous by most in the town. The last caravan left two months ago to avoid the winter, while we intend to embrace it.
Moonday, 27 Arodus
Today we departed and left what will constitute civilization behind. Life will not get any easier from this day forward.
Toilday, 18 Rova
Skygni appeared today. Helgarval notwithstanding, we seem to have made a friend, or at least an ally.
Fireday, 21 Rova
Today we discussed routes. Ulf mentioned that we could take a “shortcut” straight north, but the price would be a difficult crossing at the river later. We judged the risk to the caravan to be too great and chose to take the longer, but ultimately safer route.
Ulf also mentioned we were entering a valley where, by legend, giants come to die. I have no trouble with dead ones, but I hope any not yet dead will just finish their task quietly.
Moonday, 24 Rova
While minding our own business (!) we suddenly heard a booming voice in the air: “I am Kjaelrulff! Why do you bother the spirit guardians of the giant lands?”
Qatana, as is her style, stopped and asked why they needed to know, and what they intended to do about it.
The voice replied, “The spirits will rise up and destroy you!”
About this time, somebody with detect magic announced that, well, they detected magic. The voice continued, “There are 1000 giant spirits here!”
Qatana asked, “If you’re a spirit, why must you use magic to speak?”
“Oh confound it!” and bounding over a hill came two wolves. They were large enough they might be winter wolves like Skygni. By the way, where was he now? Would he be upset about our fighting the wolves?
We paused.
First wolf attacked Qatana. If this went unanswered, we would need to defend ourselves and we could not do that without blood being shed. But Skygni arrived then and cleared the air by savagely attacking the wolf himself. Then Kjaelrulff himself appeared – a live, not dead giant – and cast an obscuring mist over part of our group. Ivan promptly dispelled it, much to Kjaelrulff’s obvious displeasure.
A magic-wielding giant is unusual, but not unheard of. With Skygni helping to occupy one of the wolves, we had no real trouble dispatching them. Kasimir and I waded into battle, and did not do as well as I might have hoped. Sometimes the fates do not smile upon you. Ameiko, thankfully, did not participate.
When all was said and done, we were left with an old looking, ragged, giant (dead) and two thin, underfed wolves (dead). I guess everyone needs to earn a living but this “waylaying travellers” gig did not pan out well for Kjaelrulff. We recovered
[381] wand of elemental touch (12)
[382] great axe, badly rusted
[383] gold plated astrolabe
We noticed faint tracks to the east. Following them led us to, I suppose, his home. There was a broken wagon there, and a corpse that was pretty well preserved in the cold. Ulf, unfortunately, recognized him as a fellow guide. We found a scroll tube [384] containing a magic map, which would make travelling through the area a little easier.
The battle helped break up the monotony, but you couldn’t help feel that life was very hard here.
Fireday, 28 Rova
We have been travelling through an area generally called the “Bear Leg Lakes”. Here there was the occasional grouping of cabins, as this was known to be a good hunting and fishing area. This time of year, however, the cabins were empty, even though Ulf assured us there was still fish and game available.
And he was right – we were able to actually increase our provisions a little as we passed through this area.
Starday, 29 Rova
Today we crossed the Taraska River. Although this was the “easier” crossing, it nevertheless took us a full two hours to get the entire caravan across. The river was not frozen, so it took some care, but we did well and didn’t lose anybody or anything.
Moonday, 1 Lamashan
Nehali reported we are being tailed by a pack of dire wolves. While the advance notice would allow us to not be taken by surprise, after consulting with Skygni we decided it might be easier to just not encounter them at all. By choosing our route carefully and not presenting ourselves as a target, we encouraged them to pass us by.
Fireday, 5 Lamashan
A most peculiar and grisly sight. We came across a stack – and I mean actually, neatly, stacked – of human corpses. They were frozen, and didn’t appear particularly recent although they had not been fed upon by anything and were, of course, frozen solid. Anavaru looked them over and said that something with impressive claws had torn them up. Some sort of battle had happened here, but then the corpses were stacked afterwards.
I can’t imagine this means well for us.
Starday, 6 Lamashan
Today we saw a large, flying thing off in the distance. It appeared to glisten silver at times, but did not approach us. It may be a dragon. It came from the north, seemed to parallel us for a while, and then flew off to the east.