Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Sunday, 11 Arodus

Still need to buy better ink. But I think I know how to make do wi h this for now. Dammit!

Anyway, Kali, called out, in Elvish, for me to come to her. She conjures up two horses, and quietly tells me at least one escaped out the back and we need to make sure they don’t create more trouble for us. Riding quickly in that direction, we quickly came across a mutilated body. It hadn’t reached the perimeter. Does that mean …

Something between a purr and a snarl sounded way too close, and we both turned our horses and rode back towards the house. It turns out that while these magical horses weren’t too bad, the magical lions were better and tended to gain on us. Two lions took up pursuit. On an open field, we’d have been lion food. But we both aimed for the exit with the rune, hoping that if we shot through it the lion would be trapped within. And fortunately for us, we were right.

I had a brief glimpse, I think, of Etayne in the doorway of the house looking first surprised as we approached at a high rate of speed, and then concerned as she saw why. I’m a little concerned myself that her apparent response to that was to close the door.

Meanwhile, Kali talked to Nihali, who told her that the escapees, as it were, had been handled by the cats. But she called them le pards. Dammit!

If I’m not mistaken, leopards are faster than lions. It’s good that they stopped when they did. The only other alternative would have been to try to lead them somewhere harmless (to us, like a party of arriving revelers). Which, it turns out, Nihali said was coming up the road. We took our horses off the road to quiet their hooves, and cautiously rode towards them, as much to check them out as to check for escapees meeting them.

Encountering none, we turned back before reaching the group. Returning cautiously to the perimeter of the yard, it appeared that the leopards had disappeared. Although, I suppose they could have been hiding in wait, but we both had the impression they were there for protection, not ambush.

We encountered the rest of our group exiting the house. Apparently they’d questioned Asvig and he’d died rather than answer their questions. And from all appearances, it was not his choice. His wife at first held us responsible but realized from our questions that perhaps he was wrapped up in more than she knew. Technically, the wereguild had been satisfied with Asvig’s death, but we still didn’t have the sword. We had more work ahead of us. When the rest of the group had left, they had left with the understanding that business between us and Asvig’s wife was concluded. Neither of us was happy with the result, but neither could dramatically improve on it either.

An uneasy truce. She did not know where the sword was, but if Snorri had it, it would probably be valuable. And a funeral boat is not just a means of saying goodbye .. it’s a means of taking it with you to the afterlife. Could the sword be on the boat?

About this time we heard the other party coming closer. We all hurried off into the bush. They had been preparing for the party (and a couple of them were already well prepared, if you get my meaning) so they weren’t really looking around much. We did overhear some comments about Stone-Eye that suggested whatever he’d died of had not come up suddenly, but rather had been noticeable for a while. “He ain’t been right for a few weeks” is what I recall hearing.

Moonday, 13 Arodus

Technically, it’s now Moonday, but yesterday is running smoothly into today with no interruption for sleep. We decided we needed to go to Flyn’s and let him know of our failure, but we were surprised to find when we got there that light shone from within. It was after midnight by this point, and although we’re not familiar with Fynn’s normal sleep habits, it seems late by almost any standard.

He was still awake, talking with someone by the name of Ookshaka. She looked bruised, or battered, andwsa worried that her husband Ulf had gone missing and that Asvig might be responsible. We grimly told them both that if he was responsible we’d never get a confession now …

Our interest in this was doubled as we heard more of the story fro Ookshaka. Two weeks ago, in response to our need for a guide through the north (we suspect) Asvig had imposed upon the guild for the guides to be busy for a while. Now Ulf had chosen to remain independent and claimed no allegiance to the guild, but Asvig had asked to hire him specifically for a special job over the next several weeks. Asvig was not happy when he’d refused.

And now he was missing.

But there was no body, no blood, just a strangely missing person. And it occurred to us that if the sword was on Stone-Eye’s funeral boat, maybe they’d try to get rid of Ulf the same way. It cemented our belief that we needed to inspect that boat.

Fynn and Ook looked at each other. The boat, it turned out, would be set ablaze at sunrise. There’s a good chance it had already launched, with a lengthy “fuse” so that it would be ablaze at sunrise. Ook said she could bring kayaks, however, for us to paddle out if we wished. Since the boat would be solely drifting, at the mercy of wind and tides, we stood a good chance of catching it.

Sigh. But still no rest. This will take its toll on us eventually; our spellcasters must be feeling it even more acutely.

And since, technically, that ends another day I shall report, again, that Qatana is still alive.

4am, Moonday, 13 Arodus

We found ourselves at Spearshaker’s Point, with Ook quickly explaining how one uses and balances in a kayak. Reluctantly, I left my armor at the caravan because armor and water simply don’t mix. Aside from the maintenance required after any lengthy exposure to water, there’s the whole idea that it makes me dozens of pounds heavier, in a medium where walking on the bottom is a poor choice. Ook said she’d meet us at a temple afterward and wished us luck.

The kayaks were all two-person, and we were bringing an extra one on the assumption that we’d be bringing back a sword, an extra person, or both. That meant two of us were riding solo – Sparna and Etayne. I rode with Qatana, in a half hearted attempt to keep her, well, I don’t know, I guess safe. Or maybe to stop others in the group from being annoyed by her. Or maybe to punish myself for some past or future misdeed.

Before we could launch, however, I noticed something in the water. It actually wasn’t too subtle. A giant crab was lying in the water near our kayaks, and rose up as we approached the shoreline. Apparently we looked like food, but food doesn’t bring sharp objects to dinner like we do. A tremendous amount of crab meat is available to us now … I wonder how long this will remain edible? I do like crab the few times I’ve had it.

Focus. Need to stay focused. But a little melted butter … focus.

We finally boarded the kayaks and took off, which allowed me to experience Qatana talking to me about the importance of Groetus. I reminded her that the end of the world was not happening at this instant, and that we should stay focused. But in terms of focus, I fear she had the better of me, because all I remember is replacing her words with visions of a great seafood breakfast. And regular, synchronized stroking to get us closer to the future funeral pyre that was our goal.

Etayne tipped over, and needed a little help. Otherwise, nothing of significance happened.

Finally we reached it, tying three kayaks to port and two to starboard. First item of importance was killing the “fuse” of embers that would otherwise burn through and set the boat on fire in a couple of hours. We hoped to be long gone by then, but why take the chance?

Radella and Ivan thought they heard something down below and went to check. This was an ordinary longboat, but with some planks laid across the gunwales to create an upper ‘deck’ and of course a lower one as well. Since we felt particularly vulnerable out here – none of us are really sailors – we (myself, Etayne, Kali, and Anavaru) stayed up top watching for unpleasantness while they (Rudella, Ivan, Qatana, Sparna) went under to find what was down below. We heard noises and the “corpse” topside was nothing but a mannequin.

It wasn’t too long before I spotted two boats in the distance, approaching us. They looked to be camouflaged to approach secretly, and each held four people dressed all in black. I doubt it was any local fishermen. Meanwhile, down below I caught bits of sound indicating there was a battle of some sort. Kali and I discussed how to best address the advancing figures. What we came up with (mostly her) worked very well.

When the figures got within range, she dropped rocks on them. That damaged some of them individually and their boats generally. At the same time, Nihali had been convinced to try dropping some alchemist’s fire on one of the boats. We held our breath as the flask bounced harmlessly off one boat, but then onto the other, shattering into flames.

Attackers started drinking potions of invisibility, but not being at the boat yet meant that as they entered the water, it was still apparent to our archers where they were. One, then another, then more found themselves at the gates of whatever afterlife they believed in. The very last one did in fact reach the boat, but when we offered him the opportunity to surrender, he replied, as though a mantra: “We are the shadows of the night. We are not the first and we will not be the last to come for you.” So we shot him.

Meanwhile, I was a little surprised to see our companions emerge from below carrying … well, a lot! They had not been counting, of course, but Sparna thought we’d brought up at least 12,000 gp worth of items and coins. Old Stone-Eye had apparently been some sort of undead, but true to funeral pyre form, the boat had indeed been loaded with his wealth and belongings.

But not the sword, and not Ulf. However we were able to recover from the four ninjas who had not sunk too deep …

[260] 4 things that look like eggs with delicate shells
[261] 4 potions
[262] 4 tindertwigs
[263] 4 daggers
[264] 4 MW shortbows
[265] 4 MW short shaft w/point
[266] 4 closefitting suits (MW)
[267] 4 jade raven statues
[268] MW thieves tools

We set the ship ablaze, Etayne gleefully using a spark, and made for shore. I don’t believe we got everything that was on board, but we got a good fraction of it and time’s just working against us. I am ready to take a good sleep, even though now day is breaking. Closing my eyes is all the darkness I need …

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s journal Arodus 11

Arodus 11, 4712

It has been a long day. Helva the witch and wife of the late Asvig seems to have landed on her feet. I can’t truly tell whether she is sad or happy that her husband is dead. Helva is now in charge so maybe she feels this is a good day. I asked Helva to give me some magical boots partly because they were nice and partly to see how broken up she was. It doesn’t seem to me that she was that upset about the death of her husband. Suddenly the group decided that the sword must be on stony one-eye’s funeral boat. So we headed back down the road towards the city, briefly hiding along the side of the road to let some of Asvig’s men pass. I knew the others wanted to avoid the conflict so I just let them go by unharmed. They were already pretty drunk so it seemed fine with me that for at least tonight we let them live.

Back we went to Fynn’s were we met the charming Uksahkka. Asvig’s men roughed her up pretty good and I now regret letting the second group of his men pass unharmed. Asvig’s men could have just threatened and then sent Uksahkka on her way but no they instead decided to beat this nice woman. Uksahkka was pretty beat up so I cupped her right hand between my hands and healed up some of her wounds. A highlight of the night was her look when Sparna pulled Asvig’s head out of the bag. At least we were able to give her some level of retribution.

As it turns out Uksahkka’s partner Ulf is a guide that has experience crossing the crown of the world. The problem is that Ulf is missing and he was last known to be going to Asvig’s compound two weeks ago for a job. Again we see this two weeks pattern. We also learned from Uksahkka that two weeks ago there were plenty of guides available with experience crossing the crown of the world but they all suddenly became booked. Ulf is an independent fella and it looks like they are making sure that he is not available. It is scary to think about what is after us and the influence that they must hold.

Uksahkka actually knew exactly where to find stony one-eye’s funeral boat. The thought of everyone is that both the sword and Ulf are likely on stony one-eye’s funeral boat.  I helped her up out of the chair as she had a little bit too much mead. She agreed to help us and we setup a rendezvous with Uksahkka at Spearshaker’s point.

4am Spearshaker’s point: Uksahkka brought kayaks for us to use to get to stony one-eye’s funeral boat. Luckily for us she also provided lessons on how to use the kayaks. Before leaving us Uksahkka gave me this wonderful clay token with a songbird stamped on one side. She tells us to take that token to the Shelyn temple in the Fire Quarter, hand it to them and they will take us to where she will be hiding. Kali was hyper interested in holding this clay token. She told me that this was the symbol of Shelyn. It was then that I remember seeing that symbol on my shoulder. I tugged on my armor enough so that she could see the song bird. Kali seemed a little shocked by my tattoo, I would have told her about the other tattoos but I wasn’t sure how she would react. I thought it was no big deal but I should have known that some may not be as understanding as Qatana, Sparna, Koya, and Spivey have been.

What is done is done, unless one has a spell to help people forget certain events. I am curious to learn about the gods so I asked Kali if she could tell me about Shelyn. Judging by her eagerness to tell me about Shelyn she must not be too upset about the tattoo, although I have to wonder if that would change if she knew about the others. We shared a kayak so that Kali could tell me about Shelyn on the ride out to stony one-eye’s funeral boat. Shelyn is another fascinating god but the path a Shelyn is just not for me. The love and beauty from within make some sense but I just don’t understand why the bodies displayed at the Gorum temple are not considered art. Kali tried to explain but I just didn’t get why it was not considered art.

We arrived at the funeral boat only to find a dummy double where stony one-eye should have been. We found some type of creature that Qatana says was some type of undead. I couldn’t see anything but the others told me he was nasty. Radella was pretty beat up so I provided her some healing. This was actually the first time that I have had to heal Redella and I suspect that it won’t be the last time. At least it was Redella I had to heal and not Kali, Etayne, or Anavaru.

On deck the others spotted boats approaching with Ninjas. While Sparna, Radella and Qatana found treasure and started filling the back of holding I went on deck to help the others. Once again Kali and Etayne made their big plans with Nihali dropping fire from the sky. I reminded Kali and Nahali to stay up high if they want to stay out of the path of the arrows that we will be shooting.

Kali did her stone call and we all start firing arrows. Even with the invisibility potions enough arrows were fired by us to kill them all before they reached the boat. Olmas said some stuff about allowing the last one to surrender but the last Ninja just said

“We are the shadows of the night. We surrender to none. And we won’t be the last to come for you.”

Olmas and Kali looted the bodies of the Ninjas still in the boats, the other Ninjas sunk down into the water out of sight. The rest of us went down to the treasure pile and kept putting more treasure into the bag of holding. Whether this is right or wrong we clearly should wait on selling anything until we leave Kalsgard. With this much treasure someone with the water breathing spell is going to look for whatever treasure makes it to the bottom.

The Ninjas attacking the boat makes me wonder if Helva is involved. She could have sent a message that we were heading to stony one-eye’s funeral boat. It is the only thing that makes since.

Character: Etayne

Journal Entry: What Just Happened

Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my Goodness! A few things happened tonight that I thought never would. The first is beyond my comprehension. Growing up being beaten, belittled and pinned, I just let those things happen to me. I never once thought that maybe I could take those who did it to me. Perhaps back then I couldn’t but maybe that made me stronger. Today though I wrestled with another person and WON! It may have helped that I cast Pox Pustules on my opponent first to distract her, but I beat her anyway.

I guess I should tell what lead up to this. After we left Fynn’s place we met back with everyone and Kelda was there. To my surprise I was relieved to see her. Okay I have to admit that I have become a bit protective of her. I am the only one who can mess with her. I don’t really understand this feeling I am having. Well, she is safe and several of us were sent to investigate the Swords disappearance at Asvig’s Homestead. On the way there we got tired of a storm of ravens following us, so the group dispersed them with force.

We came up to the homestead and surrounding the manor was a ring of posts. On each post resided the image that we say on the armbands of the force that attacked us at the bridge, the “Lion”. I keep seeing this image and the term Lion does not seem like the correct term, but I am having a hard time coming up with a better name for it. These post were magical so we assumed that they would conjure the creature who’s image was on the post. Someone noticed a rune scratched out on the path. We figured this was the key to getting through. Some of us we were able to recreate it and it payed off. We got threw with no altercations.

We proceeded to the back of the home. Something was heard at the back door and it was quickly entered. When I entered it was clear what it was. I worked to help dispatch these despicable Wolves that were trying to satiate their desires on unwilling pray. We discovered that there was a funeral party going on so there was much drinking. This will hopefully work to our advantage. We made a quick plan and the door from the kitchen was opened. Flashing lights and a thick layer of fog increased our chances of getting what we needed. Sparna led the charge into the room and proceeded toward were we were told Asvig and his wife (I believe they called her a witch) would be. Ling stayed back as I to advanced toward their location. I was excited to find out about this witch. Sparna subdued Asvig as I worked my way toward his wife. Witch? Where is her Familiar? Qatana cast Hold Person on here which allowed me to get closer and I hit her with a special spell I had been working on, Pox Pustules. It hit her and it hit her hard. I could see her discomfort. I kept hearing Qatana saying something about getting a hold of her, but she was in no position to do it. I had just a moment to think when I saw her eyes glow red…she IS a witch. That hag tried to use burning gaze on me. I reached out and got a good grip on her and wrestled her to submission trying to keep control of her arms and head. We convinced her that we had things under control with some persuasion. I was feeling GREAT!

Apparently Helva, that’s the witch, thought her husband was dead and began revealing information concerning Asvig and his dealings. She was quite upset when she found out her husband was not dead. She must have felt like a fool to have been tricked, not that that was what we were trying to do. When her husband came to we asked him a question and when he was about to answer, his mouth opened and turned into a Crimson waterfall of blood. The spewing blood let us know we were getting nothing Else out of Asvig. His wife was mortified.

Seeing that everything was under control there and that the others were taking care of things I let go of Helva, and went to the front door to keep a look out. I noticed that Olmas and Kali were not in the room with everyone else. As I was looking out the door I saw a horse go by with no rider. Then I saw Olmas rush by on a second horse looking as if something were chasing him. Sure enough I saw what was chasing him. It was a couple of those figures from the posts. Then it clicked those aren’t lions, but Leopards. I promptly shut the door and informed the group what I had seen. Some seemed upset with me for closing the door, but I was sure that Olmas would be fine. We were informed by Helva as to the time that they lasted. Evidently the sword was no longer in the building so we left.

So Asvig stole the Sword for Stone Eye (the clan leader) or something. Stone Eye was said to be dead, and he is being sent out via funeral ship. Some of us believe it is on the ship. We went back to the caravan, and regrouped. Then proceeded to Fynn’s to inform him that the injustice had been repaid. When we got there he had a lady in his home who was beaten and boozed. I tried to stay calm. She gave us some information that I am sure others caught. I was just focused on trying to find out who did that to her. She thought that her partner might be on the boat with the dead guy. I was to emotional to think rationally at the time, but since she thought this she provided kayaks for us to get to the funeral boat.

We met up with her at the river where she proceeded to teach us how to use the boats. I was still focus on her beaten state to pay attention. As we were preparing to get in the kayaks, out of the misty river arose  Giant Crab. After we dispatched it. We got in the kayaks 2 by 2 except for myself and I believe Sparna who each took separate kayaks.

well I guess I should have been paying attention because soon after disembarking Ling and I ended up in the water. The kayak flipped and I struggle to stay above water. It was both terrifying and exciting at the same time feeling the power that water had. The strength to push, crush and drag large objects in its wake. The chaos that lives within its flow. by the help of the others the kayak returned to its upright position and I was retrieved from the water. Now I was wet and it was Cold.

When we got to the ship I climbed on board and dried off a bit before disabling the fire starting device. Then the most amazing thing happened I offered to use Spark to set it aflame for when we leave the ship and everyone seemed to agree. Besides lighting camp fires I have never had someone agree with me to set something on fire. I was eager to not let anything prevent this from happening so I took post watching the waters for anything unusual. I watched with great intent never wavering. Much to my pleasure nothing was coming to inhibit my raising of the ship. Then Olmas sited a boat. I kept a vigilant eye to make sure nothing was coming on my side. I with this going on I could hear fighting below. I need to do my job so I kept looking. Soon everyone was congregating at the front of the ship, but I kept watching.

Then I was summoned. Kali asked me if I had the Alchemist Fire still with me. I gave her a big grin and she knew what that meant. She said you know where I am going with this. I just Smiled Bigger. She was planning on bombing the boats. She and I arranged to have Nahli drop an Alchemist fire onto the boats below her. It was brilliant and exciting.

It all started soon there after The fireworks were dropped, rocks plummeted and arrows rained. Much destruction was heaved on boats as bolts whizzed by. I just watched in awe as there was no more for me to accomplish. One boat headed over to where our boats sat in the water. I went over there to use my spear as needed, but the need was not there. The assailants were dispatched before reaching the boat. Who ever sent them sorely miss judged their skill verses our own.

Now we are without the sword, without the guide (who I realized if he was not already dead he probably wouldn’t have been on the boat), and sleep. I know Ling and I are beginning to feel tired, but there are so many unanswered questions.

 

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Arodus 12, 4712

Arodus 12 (small hours, Kalsgard)

It has been a long night and I do not see an end to it any time soon. In a few hours we meet Uksahkka at Spear-shaker’s Point for, of all things, kayak lessons (and in the dark, I might add). Dad would be proud. Or, perhaps instead, he’d lecture me for resisting his attempts to teach me anything involving paddles or sails years ago (as much as I enjoyed being a passenger on boats and ships of all sizes, I never had any interest in piloting them). He even told me once that “One day you will regret not having learned”. And here we are.

The definition of adulthood is realizing your parents were right about everything.

Suishen was not at Asvig’s farmhouse, and any hope of this coming to a quick conclusion has evaporated. Our only lead now is that it may be sitting on Snorri Stone-Eye’s funeral ship, scheduled to burn during his wake at dawn. I missed the interrogation of Helva and Asvig—I was more concerned with who had escaped from the hall at the time—but Helva suggested this possibility to us.

Snorri was Asvig’s Lord, or ring-giver as they are called here, and Snorri was even more closely tied to some shady dealings and this Rimerunners guild than Asvig, himself. Asvig, it seems, was just the go-to man for anything needing done that was not strictly legal (or even remotely so in some cases, I suspect) so that others would not be directly involved. Putting that sword on his lord’s funeral ship in tribute would accomplish two things at once: getting rid of it for good, and honoring the late Snorri, himself.

Except for the part where it just doesn’t make any sense.

Neither does the idea that Ulf might be imprisoned on that ship, too. At first it seemed like a real possibility, but now that I have had time to think on it, what would be the point? Asvig didn’t seem the type to play stupid games like this, especially when simply killing the man on the spot would get the job done and with a great deal more certainty. And just how hard would it be to make a body disappear in the Thanelands? We sent forty men to the bottom of the river with barely a trace, and we’ve had less practice at it. Asvig may have been a lot of things, but nothing we’ve seen suggested that he was incompetent or a fool. His only mistake seems to have been underestimating us, and to be fair, even then he was working on no information save for the fact that we existed.

So I am skeptical that we will find anything on this funeral ship save for Snorri Stone-Eye’s corpse, but it’s the only lead we have. Especially since Ulf wasn’t at Asvig’s farm, either—not that we knew to look for him at the time, but it was obvious there were no prisoners being held there—which just puts a capstone on this perfect day.

And the raid had started so well. With the death celebration (who are these people?) well under way we probably could have set the yard on fire without being spotted, so we had plenty of time to do this right. At the posts that surrounded the house, several of us put our heads together and reconstructed the rune that bypassed the summoning trap, then we quietly moved to the rear entrance and got into position.

That’s when we heard the muffled protests of one or two women, and the much louder, drunker, lecherous advances of some of the party-goers, through the door. Etayne, Radella, Qatana…they all tried to rush that door at the same time (I wanted to be right there with them, too) and within seconds we had burst through it and pounded the three accosters. They didn’t even have time to cry for help. Or beg for their lives.

After checking on the startled and frightened serving girls, we asked them about the layout of the house and where we would find Asvig. One of them actually asked us, “Are we being raided?” her eyes going wide with panic. No, dear, it’s not a raid. We’re just here to kill everyone. Gods.

There were over a dozen of Asvig’s henchmen in the main hall, and the battle there was short but bloody. We had timed this right, though, and benefited both from the chaos spread by our spells and their half-drunken stupor. Ivan and I threw back-to-back confusion into the room with a cloud of fog and a burst of glittering dust, and then our fighters charged in and did what they do. A few seconds later, I could hear the faint sounds of doors opening in the back of the hall where startled revelers were either escaping or trying to circle around behind us to counter attack. I summoned a wolf—the choice seemed appropriate for the setting—just outside the back entrance and he took off running almost immediately.

I took that as a cue that it was time to shut the door. And bar it.

In the main hall, it sounded like Sparna and Qatana had subdued the Longthews and forced an end to the fight, so I ran to the far end under the cover of invisibility—I hadn’t been seen yet and felt it was best that this remain the case—to look out the front door for any sign of the fugitives. That’s when I heard the sounds of lions roaring, and the screams of more men outside. So a few had gotten away, or at least tried to. I called for Olmas in Elvish, and used a spell and the pearl to conjure two horses for us to ride.

Origami Horse“We need to find anyone who escaped, and make sure they don’t reach the others who are approaching from down the road,” I said as he came up to the doorway.

After the initial confusion of holding a conversation with an invisible Vudrani woman speaking in Elvish from behind a horse that wasn’t there when we arrived finally wore off, Olmas mounted up and we rode around back to look for survivors. This was a bad idea. The survivors were two very angry lions, and they were staring right at us.

“Let’s go!” I called to Olmas, and quickly turned my mount around and fled to the front of the house. Olmas got the message and was right behind me. The lions, of course, bounded after us.

“Between the posts on the road, where we etched the rune!” I didn’t wait for his response, I just took my horse to a full run and bolted through. Fortunately, he had gotten the message..

The lions stopped just a few feet beyond the perimeter. I was hoping for that, but what if it hadn’t worked out? Olmas had the same thought and asked me what my backup plan had been. “To continue down the road and run them into the approaching party. And let them deal with the lions.”

Sometimes I have good ideas. I was almost disappointed that we didn’t get to try it out. Almost.

Nihali came to me then. I asked if she had seen anyone escape from the house. She had, “But they were mauled by leopards.” Leopards? That’s when I noticed something odd about the lions prowling around the wooden posts: they had spots. That explained why the lion figures on the armbands, and on the ones on the wooden posts, and even the summoned lions themselves didn’t look so much like lions; that isn’t quite what they were. (Note to self: ask Etayne about this later.)

If anyone made it off the property they didn’t go down the main path or stay on it. We rode a bit, just off to the side in the grass where our horses’ hooves weren’t as loud, until we were almost too close to the approaching group to safely stay out of sight. Not having found anyone, we headed back to the house—the lions or leopards or whatever they were had now vanished—and ran into our friends on their way out.

Hiding from the approaching revelers was easy as they were already drunk or well on their way to it. From the bits of conversation that we could hear they were going for the free food and spirits, not because they had any love for Snorri Stone-Eye. They were in for a number of surprises, not the least of which was the recent change in management.

Apparently, Asvig died while being questioned, suddenly and spontaneously, by choking on his own blood. It gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Etayne and Qatana saw it happen and said it looked like some sort of geas, but not one that they had ever seen or heard of. Want proof that Asvig was mixed up with some very, very bad people? There it is.

Which is, I think, part of why Helva was willing to accept a detente. She knew Asvig was guilty. She knew Fynn had been wronged and that his claim of blood vengeance was valid. What she didn’t know was exactly deep the hole was. She didn’t have to like what happened to her husband, but we had exposed something very ugly about him that she hadn’t known and it certainly gave her pause. She clearly wanted to rebuild their little fiefdom with far fewer surprises; one where she would be making the decisions. More power to her, I guess. In a strange way, I am happy for her.

If she is true to her word, there will be no retributions against us or Fynn, on one condition: that we never come around these parts again. It sounds like a ridiculous cliche written out like that, but it really was her only demand. Fair enough. In due time we won’t even be on this continent. It won’t be a difficult promise to keep.

And for our part? We had made good on Fynn’s request as his proxies, gruesome as it was, but there was no sword (and no Ulf). At least I didn’t have to walk back to Kalsgard.

I won’t have to walk to Spear-shaker’s Point, either.

Arodus 12 (dawn, Rimeflow River)

Either we have been set up, or Uksahkka is being watched. Someone knew we would board that funeral ship before it lit, and they obviously wanted us to be on it as it burned.

Aside from Etayne’s kayak capsizing—Ling did not seem too thrilled with this development—getting over to and onto the ship was relatively easy. It was getting off shore that proved more interesting: we had just gotten our gear packed up when an enormous crab came looking for its next meal. It took us all by surprise, but we recovered quickly and brought it down. Afterwards, I believe Qatana actually suggested that we cook it and have it for dinner. She was being completely serious.

We intercepted the ship just as it drifted past Spear-shaker’s Point and tied up our kayaks on both her port and starboard sides. The funeral ship itself was a longboat that had been converted into a barge. A deck had been built over the rowing benches, forming a cramped hold along the hull underneath. The funeral pyre and coals that served as a timer was up top. We threw the latter into the sea to prevent any accidents and then got to work.

Origami ship and canoes

It is no surprise that the raiders arrived within minutes of us. There was a narrow window in which we could pull this off, and there were only so many points along the river from which one could launch to reach the ship before the pyre was lit. That meant they knew where we would be and when, and the ninjas they sent after us only had to worry about being seen. Unfortunately for them, all that has happened today instilled a healthy dose of paranoia in the group so we had four pairs of eyes plus Nihali scanning the water for exactly this sort of interruption. Even in the foggy twilight, Olmas sighted the approaching canoes running 5 knots at 100 fathoms off the port stern. We had nearly a full minute to prepare for their arrival.

Down below, the other half of us had discovered that Snorri Stone-Eye had not died a peaceful death. His rotting, undead, and all-too-mobile corpse was chained up in the hold, smelling of decaying marine life. He had succumbed to some supernatural disease, perhaps a form of zombie rot or ghoul fever, and it seems his friends and family had gone to great lengths to keep this development a secret. On the funeral pyre, they maintained the illusion by covering a wooden manikin with a shroud.

What our friends didn’t find was any sign of Suishen or Ulf. Surprise. They emerged from the hold with the bad news just as the canoes were coming into range of spells and arrows.

We had two nasty surprises in place for the would-be boarders. The first was the downpour of rocks and dirt that had served me well just a few days earlier (it was all I had that could reach from this distance). The second was Nihali, who enthusiastically agreed to try dropping a vial of alchemist’s fire on one of the approaching vessels. Turns out, she has pretty good aim. I could feel her excitement as the boat caught fire.

Only one of the attackers made it to within arm’s reach of the ship, and that’s where he died.

While Suishen and Ulf weren’t on board, the morning was not a total loss. Snorri must have been well loved as he had a rather large pile of treasure to see him off to his afterlife.  We took a more practical viewpoint and figured he wouldn’t be needing it where he was going. We helped ourselves to a rather generous serving and stuffed it in the bag Sparna has been carrying. I estimated a haul of about 12,000 gold in coins, jewelry, and artwork on top of what they had already looted earlier.

I also learned something interesting about Ivan. Before Uksahkka left, she gave him a small clay token and said to present it at the shrine of Shelyn in the Fire Quarter when we were ready to make contact with her again. Naturally, the mention of my goddess caught my attention, and when I looked at the token I saw the unmistakable image of a songbird on one face.

“Ivan, would you mind if I held on to that?” I asked.

“Why?”

“Because it has a holy symbol on it. That songbird is the symbol of Shelyn.”

“You mean this?”

And he pulled back his tunic to reveal a tattoo of a songbird on his shoulder blade.

“I didn’t know what this meant.”

I think everyone was shocked, but none more so than I. We shared a kayak on the way out to the funeral ship, and I told him as much about her as I could in the time that we had.

One kayak over, I could hear Qatana doing the same with Olmas, only of course she was spreading the word of Groetus. She was really giving him the hard sell. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.