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Campaign Diary of Abernathy's Company (runs 11-20) (1828) Tuesday, May 23 - As the Company travels across the grasslands of central Harkran, another group of riders approaches. They are: A tall, rangy, black-haired swordsman who matches Eddings’ description of Bavaro; a big, beefy swordsman with red hair and a red beard (Hundley); an older man with a receding hairline and a crossbow (Laetner); a female half-elf, also with a crossbow, along with a bad attitude (Rytan); a hunched over fellow in a grey cloak, no weapons visible (Toad); and a large man with a mace, garbed as a Stormknight of Werthis (Oakley). This group pulls up about 20 yards away from the Company, at which point Tor unexpectedly turns his horse around and bolts. Hundley calls after him "Master Tor! Come back! They miss you at home!" (run 11 begins) The riders chase Tor, who wheels his horse around to talk to his pursuers. There is a brief exchange between Tor and Hundley, in which the red-haired man demands that Tor give himself up. Tor respectfully declines. Before there is much further discussion, the Stormknight Oakley charges at Tor, shouting "Die, accursed Utholite!" (Stormknights are holy warriors of Werthis, God of War. The Church of Werthis bears great enmity toward followers of Uthol Inga, a mysterious Goddess generally known only as "The Watcher." Uthol Inga, as the legends say, turned traitor when the other Gods were fleeing from the Great Adversary, and became the Adversary’s consort. She was then betrayed herself by the Enemy, and fled to Charagan on the heels of the other Gods. Because of Uthol Inga’s betrayal, Stormknights will often attack Her worshippers on sight.) Oakley is put to sleep in his saddle, courtesy of a Command spell, and Hundley decides a fight is going to be necessary; he tells his group to spare Tor, but to kill the others if they must. A fight ensues, and the good guys win, though not without some close shaves. Hundley and Bavaro both acquit themselves well, the mage Toad fires Magic Missiles at Mrs. Horn, and Laetner drinks a potion and then breathes a tremendous gout of fire at Kay. Nearly everyone in the Company fights well, however -- Kay is on fire (sorry...couldn’t resist) with her bow, and fells two of the attackers (though unfortunately she kills Hundley outright with a lucky shot through the eye). Also, the strange wind kicks up again in Kay's vicinity, a wind which pummels Laetner onto the ground, where he is then caught in an Entangle spell. He is later found to have died of suffocation, though with no apparent cause. Laetner, Bavaro and Hundley die in the fight, but Rytan and Toad are captured alive. Oakley is also captured, having been tied up by Dranko while asleep. A brief interrogation reveals that Hundley had hired the rest of his crew, claiming that Tor was a follower of Uthol Inga, and that his capture would bring a great monetary reward for all of them. Oakley is understandably upset when he discovers he has been duped, and the Company frees him. There is some debate about the morality of letting Toad and Rytan go, since both are mercenaries obviously willing to kill for pay. In the end, those two are released as well. Tor reluctantly admits after the battle that his real name is not "Tor Bladebearer," but Darien Firemount, and that he is the son of the Baron of Forquelle. He was already planning on running away from home, to avoid a boring life of administrative duties, when Abernathy’s summons came. Hundley is a minor noble in his father’s court, and though a twit, not someone he would have suspected of murder. Flicker nearly wets himself thinking of the riches of the House of Forquelle. Once everyone is healed up enough to continue, they continue to follow Abernathy’s Arrow™ in their pursuit of Larkin, Embree, and the magic bracelet. Wednesday, May 24 - The Company arrives in Tal Lor in the evening, though it is clear now that the Arrow is pointing past the town, toward the coast and the city of Oasis. Tal Lor is a depressing little place where nothing seems to be of decent quality. The word “mediocre” seems adequate to describe nearly everything there. The party pays a visit to the Town Elder, a dry bureaucrat named Knawblok, and asks him if he knows or has seen Larkin and Embree. He says that he has not. Thursday, May 25 - Friday, May 26 - Travel to Oasis Saturday, May 27 - The Company arrives in Oasis, a large and busy city on the south coast of Harkran. They hire a teenage girl named Cora as a guide, who shows them around Oasis and flirts with Tor, much to his embarrassment. They ask Cora if she can learn anything about Larkin and Embree, and then go hunting around themselves. After a day of fruitless searching, they retire to their inn, the Fool’s Trumpet. Monday, May 28 - In the morning Cora shows up with news. Through various unspecified contacts, and at great expense, she has arranged a meeting for the Company with Larkin and Embree. The party spends the afternoon discussing the upcoming meeting. (run 12 begins) They decide on what they will be willing to admit, and what they will stonewall about. Cora gives them an address and a password and even accompanies them most of the way. Flicker remains down the street to watch the door, while the rest of the Company goes inside an innocuous building at the invitation of a guard. Larkin is there, along with a woman with short blond hair ( Beltray ) and a younger man with a goatee (Branson). Beltray seems to be the leader and does most of the talking. If one were to assume that she could magically detect lies (and she strongly implies that she can), then from the conversation that follows, she learns: * that the Company is not working for someone who (to their knowledge)
is destroying magical items. That much information seems to satisfy Beltray. She tells the Company that she and her companions are part of an Order of Preservation, interested in keeping magical items from destruction, and that the Wilburforce bracelet is now safe. There is at least one group of people actively destroying magic items, and she suspected that the party is involved with such a group. She suspects a group of dark-skinned elves called the Mors Tarathi, about whom very little can be learned. (There is, she says, some purposeful information-suppression going on.) In general, a good deal of information is passed between the two groups, though Beltray and Larkin are unwilling to divulge anything more about the magic bracelet. Speaking of dark-skinned elves: near the end of the meeting, a number of them attack the building! (The party also notes that they are hairless, like Tharnius.) The Company and Order fight them off, though two manage to escape. One of the Order is slain, along with the guard that had been watching the door. One Mors Tarathi is Slept and taken alive, but when his gag is released, he dies soon after, apparently from poison. An examination of the body (yuck!) shows that the dark elves have odd poison sacs embedded in the roofs of their mouths, that can be broken open by forceful poking with the tongue. This dark elf has committed a grisly suicide. Monday, May 29 - Following the fight, the Company rides back to Tal Hae to report their findings to Abernathy. Tuesday, May 30 - Thursday, June 2 - travel to Tal Hae Friday, June 3 - The Company arrives at Tal Hae to find that guards and soldiers are everywhere, including members of the Ducal garrison. The gate wardens report that there has been a major attack on Calnis by a small army of gnolls and kobolds, and that the security level of Tal Hae has been raised as a precaution. The Company goes to the Greenhouse to report in to Abernathy, but finds to their shock that the Crystal Ball doesn’t turn on. A Detect Magic check reveals that the Wards on the house still function, and the Icebox is performing normally also. However, the High Priestess of Ell (one of the few others in the city with a correspondence with Abernathy) is similarly unable to communicate with the Archmage. Disturbed, the Company decides to go to Calnis and talk to Tharnius, who they hope has survived the attack... Saturday, June 4 - travel to Calnis Sunday, June 5 - ...unfortunately, he didn’t. The entire block on which Tharnius lived and worked was sacked by the humanoids, and the party discovers Tharnius’ body in the rubble. Morningstar casts Thought Capture and discovers that the sage’s last thought was of his desk; in a drawer of that desk a letter from Tharnius to Abernathy, which is full of Capitalized Nouns not known to the Company. The party is left to ponder. They know that the Blackbloods and Flinders are the tribal names of the gnolls and kobolds. They’ve recently learned what the Mors Tarathi are, and they know what the Mirrors of Semek are. But they’ve never heard of Sharshun, Moirel’s Eyes, a Seki, the Masking, or Alykeen . They decide to follow up on the mention of the Seki, taking from context that it’s some sort of monster they have a duty to fight. After that, they intend to try to reach the Mirrors of Semek in time for Flashing Day. (The Mirrors of Semek are seven black stone obelisks, 80’ tall and 20’ wide, set in a circle 150’ in diameter, and each with a flat shiny side facing inward. They stand in the empty plains of southeastern Harkran, about 80 miles from Tal Hae. Once every year (June 21st, at high noon), strange colored lights flash between the Mirrors, creating an especially bright column of light in their center. The annual event typically attracts about a hundred "tourists" who want to see the spectacle.) (run 13 begins) Morningstar, who is able to contact certain other Ellish priestesses by entering a communal "dream world," asks for some research to be done on the unfamiliar terms mentioned in Tharnius’s letter. (This dreamworld is called " Ava Dormo " (or sometimes the Dreamscape). It’s another Plane that overlaps and mirrors the Prime; most people don’t have the wherewithal to reach it, but some Ellish priestesses are called by the goddess to be "Dreamwalkers," and are taught the secrets of the place.) Monday, June 6 - Tuesday, June 7 - The party travels to Walnord with a stop in Woodfork Wednesday, June 8 - The Company arrives at Walnord in the evening, and asks around to see if any sort of monster has been seen in the area. They learn from a local ranger named Teren about an odd wolfpack seen recently in the forest. By all signs the pack is made up of large, male wolves of nearly equal size, perhaps six or seven in all. Thursday, June 9 - Bright and early, the Company gets up
and goes wolf-hunting, heading north into the woods above Walnord. Along
the way they discover the remains of a deer, stripped clean, almost skeletonized.
Later there is a wolf howl, that to Kay’s ears is somehow strange and unnatural.
Finally they come to a clearing, and on the far side a pack of wolves, normal
in appearance save for their large size and patches of greenish coloration,
can be seen devouring some large fallen prey. During the fight, as each wolf dies the remaining wolves pause, howl -- and then grow in size, strength, and even start to become humanoid in appearance. By the time only a single creature remains it is at least as much biped as wolf. The Company manages to dispatch the pack in an extremely close combat; at the end more than one party member is unconscious and bleeding, while some others are visiting single-digit land. After some healing up, Kay and Dranko skin the creatures, and the Company takes the pelts along with the head of the last and largest. They head back to Walnord, where Teren is extremely skeptical of their story even in the face of the (gruesome) evidence. More healing follows. Friday, June 10 - (run 14 begins) The Company leaves Walnord, hoping to reach the Mirrors of Semek by the 21st. Saturday, June 11 - (Festival of Arrival; Day of Bounty - Pikon; Calipa’s Eve - Ell) travel to Calnis Sunday, June 12 - travel to Calnis Monday, June 13 - Company arrives in Calnis, stops only briefly...the city is still recovering from the raid. Tuesday, June 14 - travel to Tal Hae Wednesday, June 15 - They stop in Tal Hae en route to the Mirrors of Semek. There’s still no sign of Abernathy, but there is a letter for Morningstar from some Chroniclers at the Temple that contains some information about the Tarathi, Moirel, and the Seki. The Company doesn’t stay long before continuing on to the Mirrors. Thursday, June 16 - Saturday, June 18 - The party travels to the Mirrors. Sunday, June 19 - As the sun sets, the Company reaches the Mirrors of Semek and makes camp. There is a crowd already starting to gather, including about twenty Ducal guards (who are regularly dispatched to keep order at the annual event.) Monday, June 20 - The Company spends a fun day at the Mirrors. One of the first things they discover is that Sagiro is also there, hanging out with a couple of friends and claiming that he is only there to watch the spectacle like everyone else. At this point the party is spoiling for some fisticuffs with the wiry little man, but Sagiro diffuses their incipient violence by apologizing to Dranko for insulting Delioch at their last meeting. He even congratulates the Company on their acquisition of the Matun Essendi. He is so darn pleasant, in fact, that the party refrains from beating him into a pulp. Later the party chats with a man named Pelidoster, one of several people wearing green turbans and calling themselves the Disciples of Semek. This group of fanatics claims that Semek is a God of Light and Wisdom who long ago chased a Demon to the Abyss through the Mirrors, and that after he has conquered his foe, Semek will return via the Mirrors to reward all who stand vigil there. Ummm, yeah. Before going to sleep, Dranko decides to climb one of the obelisks, slips near the top, and nearly falls 80’ to his death. But that’s all. Tuesday, June 21 - In the time before the Mirrors flash, the Company does some Detect Magic-ing, hoping to discover an Eye of Moirel. There are several minor magic items detected among the crowd, but the Mirrors themselves are hugely magical and are masking most other magic in their immediate proximity. Minutes before the flash, two men go out into the center of the circle; one is a ragged and slightly deranged looking guy who runs out, and the other is a more wealthy chap who walks out and grins at the crowd. (This is to be expected; every year, one or two people run out into the Mirrors as they flash. Nothing ever happens to them.) A woman runs out and argues briefly with the second man, and then returns. Both men are standing in the center when the light show begins; at exactly noon, bright lights flash out from the Mirrors to form a seven-sided star pattern, and concentric smaller "stars" appear within it, culminating in a bright pillar in the center that reaches into the sky. After about three minutes (during which nothing has seemed to happen to the two in the middle) a third man, cloaked and hooded so his face isn’t visible, runs out from the crowd into the lights. Dranko and Ernie run in to give chase, and Flicker fires a sling bullet. When the newcomer reaches the center, he holds something aloft in the light, though what it is isn’t clear. However, when Dranko and Ernie reach him, the man has lost his substantiality, and their attacks, including a beautiful diving tackle from Ernie, pass right through him. Right before the seven minutes of the Flash are up, Dranko catches a glimpse of the man’s face—he is one of the bald elves from the attack in Oasis. As the lights cease, the elf vanishes. Afterward, Morningstar casts a Thought Capture in the center of the Mirrors; the spell reveals a thought of someone thinking that a drastic and probably perilous thing was going to happen to him, but not sure of any specifics. Wednesday, June 22 - Morningstar casts two more Thought Captures. One cast on the spot where Sagiro’s tent had been gets the thought: "Why won’t he tell me anything?" The other is cast at the site of the Utholite campsite, and picks up a thought of serene watchfulness. The Company heads back to Tal Hae to train. Thursday, June 23 - Saturday June 25 - The party travels to Tal Hae. Sunday, June 26 - The Company arrives back in Tal Hae and goes immediately to the Greenhouse, but the Crystal Ball is still dead, and there’s no sign of Abernathy. There is another letter from the Temple of Ell , with some information that might be about an Eye of Moirel near the town of Medir on the island of Nahalm. Levec visits in the evening, discouraged that he hasn’t found any trace of Larkin or Embree, as the party had requested. He shares some news he’s heard, that Calnis isn’t the only city that's been attacked recently. There are rumors aplenty of other humanoid attacks on cities throughout Charagan. The Company asks Levec to find out anything about the Oasis Mages’ Guild (as they think of Beltray's group), warning him that the utmost discretion should be exhibited. Dranko goes to visit Praska. En route, he sees that there is now a seemingly permanent window high on Abernathy’s tower, which typically has no visible windows or doors. At the Church of Delioch, Dranko learns that Praska was caught in another crime, and rather than face more punishment she fled the Church and seemingly the city. Monday, June 27 - Sunday, July 10 - (run 15 begins) Some party members train for their next levels. Dranko learns in a a letter from Praska that a large amount of gold is being diverted from the church, to fund a project of some sort in the desert near the city of Sand’s Edge: Monday, July 11 - The Company has decided to go to the town of Medir, to look for the Eye of Moirel mentioned in the Ellish letter. They go by ship from Tal Hae to the city of Kynder Hold on the island of Nahalm. Tuesday, July 12 - The Company spends the day visiting with Mrs. Horn’s family (who live in Kynder Hold). The Boxwoods (her maiden name) are a wealthy family with a large estate, and the party spends some fun time running around in their hedge maze. Mrs. Horn’s youngest brother is simple-minded but amiable; Kay sings him an elvish song, the words to which she doesn’t understand. (Kay’s mother taught her the song when Kay was very young; her mother doesn’t know what the words mean, either. ) Wednesday, July 13 - The party sets out for Medir on horseback Thursday, July 14 - The Company arrives in Medir, a small but prosperous town well known for its excellent vineyards and plethora of wine merchants. The Company spends the evening at the Crying Eagle Inn. The town is still vaguely on guard from attacks by "beastmen" (later learned by Morningstar to be hostile humanoids called "Greylacks") which had started up almost a year earlier, but which haven’t occurred in almost a month. The party asks around, and they find themselves talking to an old and depressed mercenary named Cassel. He remembers the Isaac mentioned in the Ellish letter. Isaac, he says, had been killed by his own comrade Dunbar, and that Dunbar’s son Wenius had gone south into the mountains years back and had not been heard from since. That seems like a decent enough lead, so… Friday, July 15 - …the Company sets out south, aiming for the mountains. They stay the night in an abandoned farmhouse, since it’s more than a full day’s travel. That night, Abernathy visits them in a dream, channeled through Morningstar, telling them in a broken message to tell Tharnius to warn a person named Fylnius about something, and (if the translation of the dream is correct) that he himself will probably be okay. Saturday, July 16 - The party reaches the mountains, and after some searching finds an entrance into a network of caves. They discover and fight a small group of Greylacks, who seem half-starved but still put up a decent fight. Some of the creatures have already died of starvation, and bodies and bones litter the ground. They do have some loot in a back cave, and among the treasures are a black sword labeled "Gorok-Nil" and a ruby-capped rod with the words "Dismay" and "Inferno" written on the side. But there’s nothing fitting the description of an Eye of Moirel. They continue down into the tunnels. Eventually they find some caves once inhabited by humanoids – probably goblins. The goblins, however, appear to have left months ago. The party does find a dog-sized lizard sitting peacefully on a rock, but it poses no threat. Many of the halls seem to have been created via blasting (as opposed to plain digging), and there are rock shards all over the ground. In what appears to be a large central chamber a huge lizard appears from a side-passage, slithering quickly out to face them. It is over 30’ long from nose to tail, with what appears to be crystal teeth and a crystal tongue. Embedded in its left eye-socket is a small white gem. A ha! (run 16 begins) The Company decides to flee for the time being, with Kay badly wounded from the Greylack fight, and Mrs. Horn out of spells. They run back through the smaller tunnels, where the giant lizard cannot follow. Behind them, they can hear it beginning to blast after them; the sounds of lightning bolts reverberate through the caves. The Company flees back to the surface to rest up. Sunday, July 17 - Monday, July 18 - They regain their strength outside the mountains, and experiment with the ruby-capped rod. They find that the rod shoots fireballs when the word "inferno" is uttered, and cloaks the user in an illusion of crackling fire and demonic-looking smoke when "dismay" is spoken. Tuesday, July 19 - The company heads back into the caves and tunnels. They find that the huge lizard has blasted out more tunnels, apparently in an attempt to pursue them. Back in the central cavern, they engage the beast (which they are now calling "Lizardo") in battle. Lizardo fights with crystal claws and teeth, and also fires lightning bolts out of its crystal eye (though doing this seems to confuse it for a moment). One of these hits Flicker square in the chest, knocking him out! As it becomes wounded, it becomes evident that the lizard’s body is made partly of flesh and partly of a strange crystalline substance, and that it is slowly regenerating its wounds. After a difficult battle, in which Kay’s gartine sword breaks on the crystal lizard, and in which Dranko leaps on the beast’s neck and attempts to pry the Eye from its living socket, Lizardo is slain and the Eye removed. Not trusting the gem, (hey, what’s not to trust? The gem only got itself embedded in the eye socket of a lizard, grew the creature to 50 times its normal size, and imbued it with the ability to fire off lightning bolts!) the Company keeps it sealed in a kettle with the lid tied on. Wednesday, July 20 - The party travels back to Medir with the Eye of Moirel secured. They stay the night at the Crying Eagle. Thursday, July 21 (King’s Day) - Early in the morning, Dranko, Flicker, Tor and Ernie (all staying in the same room) are woken by a loud clattering sound. The Eye is escaping! The kettle, still roped shut, has rolled itself off a night-table, knocked open the door, and is now bounding down the main stairs of the inn. With the party in pursuit, the kettle kareens through the common room, out the door of the inn, and down the street. It makes it a couple of blocks before Tor catches up and stops its escape with a flying tackle. Unfortunately, the noise has alerted one of the town guard. In a moment of extreme awkwardness, the Company explains that they were practicing a sport called "Catch the Kettle" (yeah, yeah, "Catch the Kettle") commonly played in Tal Hae. The guard is highly skeptical, but since no actual harm was done (and since the guard is probably not eager to spend more time than is necessary with bunch of crazy foreigners), no one is arrested for disturbing the peace. With the Eye back under control, the party departs for Kynder Hold. Friday, July 22 - (run 17 begins) The Company arrives in Kynder Hold, to drop off the horses at the Boxwood estate before heading off to Sand’s Edge. Their plan is to investigate the "expensive project" that Praska learned about, the one being covertly funded by members of the Church of Delioch. Saturday, July 23 - Sunday, July 24 - They voyage to Sand’s Edge. Monday, July 25 - The Company arrives in Sand’s Edge, a large but poor city on the southern edge of Nahalm thatborders a great desert called the Mouth of Nahalm. A bit of asking around reveals that there is a large archaeological dig going on out in the desert near to the city. The priests at the local Church of Delioch seem not to know any more about it than the average citizen. There is a recruiting office in the town, hiring haulers and workers for the Dig, and Kay goes to find out what is required to gain employment. She convinces the recruiter, an unpleasant woman named Claria, that she is fit for the rigors of the job despite her size, by breaking the arm of one of the guards there in an arm-wrestling match. Kay is noncommittal about the job, but learns that one needs special travel-kits just to survive in the desert. That afternoon the party discusses plans at the Rusty Mug tavern. Although the details aren’t worked out, they decide to buy some of the kits, and probably to strike out alone across the desert. Dranko finds a general store that sells the desert-travel kits and discovers that one needs a special form to buy them. In a fit of improvisation Dranko pretends to be an "official" buyer of the kits, one who thought the forms had been sent along ahead. He finally convinces the harried proprietor of the store that he’s legit, mostly because he’s willing to pay the full price for the kits. But then Dranko realizes he has no way to haul seven kits (which are quite large), so he runs off to find a cart. But then he realizes he’s not carrying enough money for a down-payment, so he hands over a gold necklace for the cart. But then, when he gets back to the store with the cart, there’s someone there legitimately buying the kits! Dranko covers by sowing more confusion (and gets his money back when the proprietor refuses to sell the kits to him), and then offers to help haul the kits out to the buyer’s cart. And although his help is refused, he keeps hanging around, and when seven kits are loaded onto the cart, Dranko hops on and drives it away! He brings the kits back to the Rusty Mug, and then ditches the stolen cart in another part of town. Faced with this new situation, the Company decides to head into the desert that very night. (The Mouth of Nahalm is not a run-of-the-mill desert. For one thing, it's surrounded by a tall cliff, making it more like a big bowl of sand. For another, the desert contains a number of large (c. 50-100 yards in diameter) round rocks, jutting out of the sand like icebergs. Lastly, the sand is so fine that it cannot be walked upon without special broad sand-shoes (like snow shoes); without them, a person will sink in up to the waist. If they're lucky.) After the rest of the party has been successfully lowered into the desert (sand shoes already on), Dranko starts to climb down the 50’ cliff, but slips at the top, and falls head-first into the sand. He sinks in up to his ankles, and though the rest of the group pulls him out before he suffocates, he is left partially deafened from the experience. The party spends the rest of the night trekking toward the closest of the large islands of rock that dot the Mouth of Nahalm. Tuesday, July 26 - Near sunrise the Company reaches the rock island. Its top isn’t flat enough to camp upon, so they spike their padded hammocks into the side of the rock and go to sleep. (The travel kits come with hammocks and spikes meant for just this purpose.) Not long after, as the sun begins to rise higher, a hideous creature launches itself out of the sand like an arrow, its head striking the rock, just missing some of the sleepers. It’s a long, flat, mustard-colored worm with a rock-hard head and a maw full of sharp teeth. (run 18 begins) It continues to attack the mostly-immobilized group, vanishing into the sand after each strike. (Its back end never actually leaves the sand.) Kay launches arrows at the flatworm when it shows itself, and Flicker likewise fires off some sling bullets. Tor and Ernie hack at it when it comes within range (clumsily, as they’re perched on precarious hammocks staked to the side of the rock), Mrs. H casts a Magic Missile, and Morningstar uses up many charges of the Inferno rod on it. It still doesn’t die, but after taking numerous bite wounds, the party injures the flatworm enough that it vanishes into the sand and doesn’t return. Dranko has spent the time climbing up to the top of the rock and securing a rope, so that the rest of the party can be hauled to safety. The Company resets their hammocks, this time much higher up on the rock. They sleep through what’s left of the afternoon. In the evening they awaken and continue on toward the dig site. Wednesday, July 27 - - In the very early morning, as the Company nears the Dig (taking place at the next rock-island over), they spot, intercept, and subdue two armed men approaching the rock from the direction of Sand’s Edge. Morningstar’s Mind Read confirms that the men were sent from town to warn someone named Mistress Varliss that seven kits had been stolen, and that she should be watchful for intruders. One of them carries a signed and sealed note, authenticating that the messenger and his message are legitimate. The party marches with their prisoners to the rock of the Dig, as dawn approaches. There is an obvious "front door" of sorts, where a large scaffold and pulley-system have been built to hoist men and equipment up to the actual dig site atop the rock. They circle around to the "back" of the rock, and formulate their plan. Eventually, as dawn breaks and the sounds of many workers waking atop the rock are heard, Dranko, Morningstar and Tor walk around to the scaffolding and call out for guards to lift them up. The top of the rock is round and mostly flat, a circle maybe 70 yards in diameter, covered almost completely with tents, small buildings, and some excavation sites. By flashing the confiscated paper, Dranko, Tor and Morningstar are allowed to see Mistress Varliss, who had not yet woken up. When Dranko claims that Mokad sent him, Varliss doesn’t appear to know what he’s talking about. She then gets suspicious, and asks whether Khorl or "the investors" sent him. Dranko, thinking quickly, says it was the investors, and Varliss nearly goes ballistic. Apparently there was an arrangement wherein the investors (presumably Mokad and his group from the Delioch church) agreed to stay both ignorant and anonymous. Varliss speculates to herself out loud that Khorl must have been bullied into allowing Dranko’s visit by the investors, but in the end she assents to allowing Dranko and his "entourage" a tour of the premises. A lowly worker named Morris shows the three of them around the Dig. Many of the workers seem to be loafing and idle, and the reason is that the object of the Dig has actually already been found. The three are shown the first couple of aborted excavations, and finally the only remaining active site. Two levels down in the rock, in a chamber that had to be broken into (having no obvious doors), stands a large (c. 8’ tall) statue of a gargoyle made of red marble. Its wings are folded back and its head is tilted down with eyes closed. Dranko is admonished by a worker for just laying a hand on the thing; he wisely chooses not to lick the statue. The prime focus of the project is now to find a way to safely get the statue out of the room without harming it; since the island of rock is made of a soft stone, great care must be taken. Estimates are that it will take another week or two to get the statue safely away. Having learned that much, the three members of the party descend back to the sand and tell the others what they saw. They all strike out for another nearby rock, taking the two prisoners with them, and arrive late at night. They free the prisoners after first bribing them to point any pursuit in the wrong direction. Thursday, July 28 - (run 19 begins) The Company continues to march eastward and slightly northward through the early morning hours. Tor has by this time been the recipient of multiple Dispel Fatigues administered by Dranko, and while alert, he is starting to become addicted. As dawn approaches and they are nearing the last rock west of the river, another flatworm attacks. The party defeats it in fairly short order, but nearly exhausts the rod Inferno in doing so. After vanquishing the worm (and collecting some of its teeth for souvenirs) the party makes it to the rock and camps upon it. While most of them sleep, the rock shakes, then lurches a couple of feet, then stops. They all come awake with alarm... an earthquake? There is no further movement after that, but it now seems obvious that the rocks aren’t actually rooted in the sand, and probably float slowly around the desert. Nothing else alarming happens, and there is no sign of pursuit. Friday, July 29 - The Company finally makes it out of the Mouth of Nahalm, climbing out of the bowl of sand and schlepping a couple hundred yards to the river. Dranko, whose hearing has been getting worse each day, dunks his head in the river to clear out his ears. Unfortunately this only increases his deafness -- now he can’t hear anyone not talking right into his ears. Flicker begins to translate for him in Thieves’ Cant. The party journeys up river, hiding from barges coming down toward Sand’s Edge, and waiting for one that can take them upriver to city of Hae Kalkas. When a small forest gets in their way, Kay makes her way along the narrow wooded coast (to keep an eye on the river) while the rest of the party follows a parallel game trail a quarter mile inland. They discover the tracks of some large clawed humanoid, but choose not to investigate. That evening Kay hails an upriver-going barge and the party pays a goodly sum for passage the rest of the way to Hae Kalkas. Saturday, July 30 - In the morning, the barge lets the Company off in Hae Kalkas, a huge city immediately notable for its grand stone buildings and its not-unrelated significant Dwarven population. There are many guards and soldiers about, and the city is under curfew, since there have been Orc raids recently from the nearby Kalkas Peaks. Apparently the fighting is going well, and the Dwarves are driving the Orcs back into the mountains. Dranko goes to the Church of Delioch, and is cured of his deafness by a cleric there. Sand pours from his ears. He then speaks with a priest named Ploken, telling of his fears and suspicions that the Scarbearer leadership of the Tal Hae church has been embezzling church money, or at least using it in a suspicious manner. The party stops afterward at the Sages Consortium of Hae Kalkas, a great library (closed to the public) out of which work a number of sages, each of whom has his or her own specialty. A sage named Richter offers his services for the standard Consortium deal: 10 gold for a question he can answer right away, otherwise 50 gold per day, paid in advance, to research a particular topic. Richter tells the party a number of things, starting with the fact that Fylnius is the name of one of the Archmagi. He knows the names and locations of many of the Archmagi, as they are his area of specialty: there is Alykeen in Minok, Cranchus (a dwarf) in the nearby Kalkas Peaks, Grawly in Hydra, Koenig in Yen Hae, and Salk at Hae Charagan, the capital of the Kingdom. He knows the locations of the remaining four—one is in Oasis, one is in the city of Ghant on the island of Lanei, one is in Tal Hae, and a fourth is somewhere in the Mouth of Nahalm—and he knows that Fylnius is one of these, but not which one. He does not know Abernathy’s name, and he doesn’t know the name of the other two. Richter also has some information about the Sharshun and Mors Tarathi, though not a lot the party hadn’t already learned (or at least suspected) from other sources. Most oddly, Richter talks of a mighty spell cast long ago that has caused (and continues to cause) both memories and historical writings to fade. Even as Richter speaks, he himself seems to be afflicted by this spell—he constantly loses his train of thought, especially when talking about the Sharshun or the Mors Tarathi -- and complains constantly of a bad headache. In the end, he seems to forget what he was talking about. Notably, the members of the Company are able (thus far) to remember everything they’re told with no ill effects. Sunday, August 1 - Tuesday, August 6 - The party travels to Tal Hae via Kynder Hold, picking up their horses at the Boxwood Estate. Saturday, August 7 - Friday, August 20 - (run 20 begins) Back in Tal Hae, the party trains. During their recent trip an unmarked crate has arrived at the Greenhouse. Eddings has kept it in one of the spare rooms, since it smells sort of funny. Opening it reveals (shudder) the severed head of Levec Oldbarrow, the Company’s spy. It has been hacked off, and the tongue has been cut out. There is no return address. Priestesses at the Temple of Ell cast Speak with Dead upon the head, but the only information they get from it is two indistinct words that sound like "Oasis Mages." Also during this time the Chroniclers at the Temple of Ell find some information about the statue being dug up in the Mouth of Nahalm. The statue matches the description of a Blood Gargoyle , an extremely powerful and malevolent creature that once wiped out an entire city, including hundreds of trained soldiers. According to the story (told by a fugitive from the supposedly-destroyed city) the Gargoyle was eventually defeated by a very powerful wizard. Saturday, August 21 - During their two weeks of training, the Company decides that the best way to find Fylnius is to ask another archmage, and since Abernathy is still AWOL, the next best choice seems to be Alykeen, the archmage in Minok, mentioned in Tharnius’ letter. Their ship departs in the morning. Sunday, August 22 - They travel to Minok Monday, August 23 - In the morning the Company arrives at the city of Minok on the western shore of Harkran. They spend the day asking around for someone named Alykeen, and inquiring about anyone thought to be the most powerful mage in the city. No one recognizes Alykeen’s name, but a few people mention the name of Freya, the most prominent figure at the Minok Mages’ Guild. The party is able to make an appointment to see Freya that evening, and in the meantime they post a note up in the Mage Guild dining hall, a note that mentions Alykeen and the Seki by name. When the party returns for their meeting, Freya is of little help (and annoyed at the intrusion), but a man is standing toward the back of the Guild lobby, holding up the note and trying to subtly catch their attention. After Freya departs, the man motions for the Company to follow him back into the Guild House. Once in his room the man becomes extremely angry, and chews out the party for leaving Alykeen’s name up in a public place. His name is Parkitt, and he is Archmage Alykeen’s apprentice. Although he is a bit snippy (Alykeen’s name and identity are closely guarded secrets), he does tell the Company that Fylnius is the Archmage of Ghant, and agrees that an attack on Abernathy is likely to mean an attack on Fylnius is forthcoming. (Of course, he doesn't say why he thinks this...) Parkitt promises to have Alykeen attempt to contact Fylnius, but suggests that the Company go there anyway, as Fylnius is often hard to reach. Tuesday, August 24 - The Company books a ship that will take them to Lan Hae. Wednesday, August 25 (Founding Day - Tal Hae) - Saturday, August 28 - They travel to Lan Hae |