Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

November 19th, 2016

Character: Olmas

From the personal journals of Olmas Lurecia

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Wealday, 12 Rova

I knew I had been tracking this giant-mage for two days now, and I could sense I was getting closer. The signs were fresher and every now and then I imagined I could actually smell his stench. Sparna was right; you really could smell them if you knew what you were … smelling for. There’d been no sign he knew he was being tracked.

I crept slowly to a clearing. At the far side, there was a small fire, and there looked to be something cooking over it. Perhaps today would be the battle. The others were too far behind to give them time to catch up, but with the element of surprise this was very doable. But first, scout, always scout. Shalelu had certainly taught me that much. I began to carefully, silently circle the clearing, searching for traps or additional enemies.

About 3/4 of the way around, I came across a track too small to be that of any giant. Did he have minions? I had not observed any before today. I studied the track. It was relatively fresh; probably only a couple of hours old, and it too headed cautiously towards the clearing.

Curious, I followed this new track. The small boots could be that of a true elf, or perhaps a small human or half elf. But there should be no others in this area. A disturbed area seemed to indicate a scuffle … did the giant now hold a prisoner? That would complicate things.

I was startled by a booming, stilted voice in Common.

“Ah, you have arrived,” the voice echoed from the far edge of the clearing. “I felt it appropriate to wait.”

Was he talking to me? I had been silent; there’s no way …

“You can bear witness to my success!” I could see now that the giant was indeed facing my direction, and seemed to be holding a struggling, bound figure.

It seemed the element of surprise was lost. From the cover of the woods, I replied, “You will not have success unless you kill ME. And that shall not happen tonight. I will be there when you rest, and I will be there when you sleep. You will die of exhaustion when you find you cannot adequately –”

“Stop your prattle and view your defeat yourself!” As the bound figure swung behind the fire, and the fire’s light shone upon it, it’s face was evident.

It was Ameiko.

That couldn’t be! She should not be here! She .. she … sigh. She was fully capable of moving as quickly and silently as myself. Again, the lure of adventure had taken ahold of her and now in a moment of carelessness …

“I will be rewarded richly for this!” he laughed, and with his free hand, he swung a mighty, spiked club that landed with a sickening, dull thud on Ameiko’s head. She immediately stopped struggling. He laughed again. “Despite the magic at my disposal, there’s something so pleasant and visceral about a good stout tree! I am not so skilled at this as some so I apologize if this will take several attempts!” And he swung again, and there was a dull crack this time. “Ah, that was much better!” he said, grinning. I leapt forward from my place of hiding and
And awoke in a cold sweat. At my side was Suishen, and I was still in my mithril breastplate, which was my standard sleeping garb these days. I was wet, cold, and uncomfortable.

For the last three nights I had had variants of the same nightmare. My responsibility. My failure. In every one of them, Ameiko had been trying to escape my custody like a child from a parent. She was working against me, not with me.

It was still relatively early in the night, but this needed to happen now.

I nodded at this hour’s guard as I walked over to where Ameiko slept. I moved her blade just out of reach before gently waking her, and smiled slightly as her instinctive grab did not find the expected blade. Her eyes narrowed. “Olmas?”

“I would like us to talk,” I said softly. “Alone.”

“NOW?”

With a sad sigh, I replied, “Yes. Now is best if we wish it to be private.”

She looked at my face, nodded, and arose. Together, we moved to a place well within the camp but still away from other sleepers.

“Ameiko,” I began, “I completely understand what it is like to have expectations of you that you did not set yourself. As a half elf, it has been a large part of my existence. But what I have come to realize is that those moments require not simply introspection nor dismissal, but instead, discussion and compromise.”

“My, Olmas,” she said almost mockingly. “You’re talking like some kind of diplomat now. Vying for a position in my court already?”

“Please. I am serious. Until the past few months, I knew you only through Shalelu. I had met you a few times, but I didn’t really know you. I knew of you more than I knew you.

“Then came the revelation that you were heir to a legacy nobody in our corner of the world suspected to exist, least of all you. You do not feel like royalty and you do not wish to be treated as royalty. And yet you find yourself in that role, and with a giant bullseye painted on your back for good measure.”

“Tell me about it,” she almost snapped back. “It’s an incredible shock and change for me. I never pictured myself living up to the expectations of my own father,” and her eyes drifted a bit, “let alone an entire empire.” Her eyes focused again, and she continued. “I need to surround myself with advisors and protectors I trust already.” Looking directly at me, she said, “I’m glad to have you as one of those, Olmas.”

I gestured back towards my belongings. “A few weeks ago, that sword came into my possession. It would seem it chose me as much as I chose it. It bestows upon me a … I will stop short of calling it an obligation but instead, a responsibility.” I took a deep breath.

“However, members of my order take responsibility very seriously. I find myself needing to protect and defend a person who has, so far as I know, never found themselves needing protection or needing to be defended. Someone who feels much more at home fighting for their friends than having their friends fight for them. Someone who abhors being dependent.

“And yet here we are.” I fiddled nervously with my hands.

“You represent both an office, and a person. I want to see you survive to fill that office, but I wish to do so without driving away the person I am growing to know. We can joke about ‘your highness’ and ‘my protector’ but we truly need to have a way that I can communicate to you my concern and you can communicate to me your desires without either getting angry with the other.

“When the day comes when you are truly worried, and truly need help, I want you to be able to tell me that, knowing that I am only there to help and that it does not diminish you, in my eyes, as the brave soul you already are.”

Ameiko paused a moment before replying. “Thank you for your service, oh protector of mine.” As my face fell and I prepared to reply, she laughed. “Yes, I understand well enough that when we are done with this journey we will need to be more regal and watch our demeanor when in public.” She paused again. “Will you then serve me as my personal guard or is it your quest simply to deliver me there?”

“I believe,” I replied slowly, “that that will be your decision, not mine. When you ascend, we should revisit this question.” I smiled at her, and she gave a goofy grin back.

For the first time in weeks, I slept well the rest of the night.

Character: Olmas

The Annals of the Order of the Dragon

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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.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Arodus 18 – Lamashan 6, 4712

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Arodus 18, 4712 (evening, Kalsgard)

Today we confirmed that Kimandatsu killed Silverskorr. Qatana used a spell to speak with the dead, and the ogre mage’s eyes opened and stared blankly into the distance. The whole thing was a macabre puppet show. Her eyes and mouth twitched as she spoke, and we saw unnatural flashes of her tongue as she answered Qatana’s questions in a rasping, lifeless voice.

This is what our lives have become.

I sent word to Lute in case it would help. Not that it was proof he could use, but at least he could make the claim with confidence.

On the way over, I also stopped to send a letter home, and to hire a solicitor to deliver a small package to Helva. I am sure she’ll appreciate the contents. I have had enough of Kimandatsu, Snorri Stone-Eye, and the Rimerunners Guild, and right now I just want to watch it all burn. Part of me wishes we could witness the fallout from Lute’s little meeting with the Crown, but of course it would be foolish to stay here too long. It is just a matter of time before the Five Storms figure out what happened and come looking for answers. We need to disappear long before that.

The Five Storms. Who comes up with these names? That is what Ameiko, and by extension, we, are up against. Apparently the divine right to rule is taken fairly literally over there. From what we could piece together from Kimandatsu’s answers and Suishen, they were responsible for a widespread, and highly successful, assassination campaign against the five royal families of Minkai. Ameiko’s grandfather had the foresight to see what was unfolding around him, and got his family out before the oni caught up to them.

Whatever puppet government rules there now is apparently unpopular, and more importantly, suspected to be illegitimate. The return of an Amatatsu, someone with that divine right to rule, could serve as a catalyst for a genuine uprising. We just need to get her there.

We’re going to make the crossing now, at the worst possible time. The idea is, if we wait until the right season, we’ll probably not live to see it. If we leave now, on what looks like a suicide journey across the Crown in the dead of winter, and take our time doing it, it will look like we ran off in a panic and died in the attempt. The trick will be surviving our own cleverness.

Arodus 21, 4712 (evening, Kalsgard)

Ameiko joined me at the Shrine again today. She has been playing her samisen while I practice with Shiro. Which is actually kind of amazing. Dancing to her music is very inspiriting and also kind of nostalgic. It recaptures some of the feelings I had when we were growing up.

We had a long talk on the way back to the caravan.

“You know, I never thought I’d see the day when you swung a weapon. I mean, really swung one.”

“I prefer the dance. And I know. Please don’t remind me.”

She grinned at me. “Maybe I should have tried music back then.”

When the bullying turned violent—genuinely violent—Ameiko didn’t teach me to fight: she taught me to avoid fights. How to be alert for trouble; how to get away if I was cornered. It worked most of the time. When it didn’t, she was usually there with a potion lifted from her dad’s storeroom.

“I’m glad we did it the way that we did,” I said.

“Yeah. Me, too.”

We walked in silence for a bit and I could tell she had something on her mind. She gets this faraway look when she is deep in thought. I decided not to press her on it. She’d tell me, or not. You didn’t force things with Ameiko.

After a couple of blocks like this, she finally said, “When we left Riddleport, I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t know if I could do this.”

I smiled. “Tell me about it.”

“No, not the trip, Kali. The whole thing! The ‘ruler of my empire’ part. At first I didn’t even want to say the words.”

What do you say to that? There were no secrets like this in my family. No one was hiding their past from anyone. I had no idea what she was going through. Fortunately, she saved me from having to come up with some kind of a response.

“But, and this is what’s strange, as we get closer and closer to it, I actually feel like…I don’t know. Like, it’s what I am supposed to do. It’s just gradually feeling more…normal. More right.”

This actually took me aback. The first time Olmas had a conversation with her about her role and importance, I thought she was going to lose it. Like, it might actually come to blows. Even Suishen had stopped baiting her on the topic, and baiting people is all Suishen seems to do.

“This is a long way from almost punching the last person who called you ‘princess’,” I said.

She grinned at that. “Yeah. I guess I have just grown more accustomed to it. Still, it won’t be like the old days, will it?”

“That’s an understatement if ever I have heard one.”

“Do you think they’d let me sneak off for an adventure, or a night of singing in a tavern?” She gave me a wry smile, but I knew she was only half-joking. I played along, anyway.

“Oh, Gods, can you imagine? You’d put the entire country in a panic! I don’t know what would be worse, you disappearing, or them finding their empress in a common tavern.”

We had a good laugh over this, imagining the possibilities. Then the laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. I looked over to her and saw that her face had gone completely pale. She looked nauseas.

“Ameiko? Are you OK?”

“I almost ruined everything.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Genius that I am.

“I really screwed up, Kali,” she said, in a shaky, faint voice. There as a small park up ahead and I steered us over to a bench as she spoke. “I just wanted to get out to the Jade Quarter, you know? To learn some more about…” Her voice trailed off.

She sat down on the large, wooden bench. It was probably sized right for an Ulfen, but for us it was big and uncomfortable. But it was a place to sit.

“I even disguised myself, you know? I am still pretty good at that. And I thought I had done really well and could just…blend in. Not be noticed. Like I used to do. And instead…” Her voice broke then. “I am so sorry, Kali. You all are doing this for me, and I almost wrecked everything!”

She buried her face in her hands. I put an arm around her and she leaned into me. We sat there for I don’t know how long. A few minutes, I think. I knew better than to say “it’s OK” because, well, because it wasn’t OK, and she knew it, and patronizing her wasn’t going to help. But neither would lecturing.

I finally worked up the courage to say something.

“Ameiko, when we raided Ravenscraeg, we went in there without any protection against poison. None. I mean, that very morning before we left, they put that arrow into the side of the wagon, and it was coated with the most expensive, most exotic, most deadly poison known to man. You would think we would have gotten the message.”

Ameiko looked up at me, her face red and a little puffy, and said, “This is not making me feel better, Kali.”

I ignored her and went on. “The point is, we all made mistakes. Mistakes that could have gotten us killed. Ours almost got Olmas killed. No one blames you. I don’t blame you. We all ended up in over our heads.”

She thought about this and I watched a tiny smile appear at the very corner of her lips. “That was pretty stupid of you all.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said. “Anyone who wants to give you a hard time over this needs to look in a mirror first. And, they’ll have to go through me, too.”

Her smile became a tiny snort. “Gods, Kali, I can go through you.”

“Me and Qatana, then.”

I got her to laugh, which was a good sign, I think.

Her voice was steadier now. “Let’s get back.”

Arodus 26, 4712 (night, Turvik)

We had a going away party for Etayne tonight. Is that the right word? Party? It didn’t feel like a celebration. Or rather, it did until it didn’t. I guess it just really hit me, right then and there, that she was leaving. I got up to get another drink, but instead just kept walking out the door.

Qatana found me several minutes later, sitting out front.

“Is everything OK?” she asked.

“No,” was all I could muster for an answer.

She looked at me and then, in what I can only describe as classic Qatana fashion, asked, “Does this have something to do with your hair?”

I had given it the first of what will be several growth spurts the day we left Kalsgard. I didn’t expect it to go unnoticed, of course, I just would have preferred better timing for that conversation.

“No, it’s not related to my hair. I am just growing it out. I am literally growing it out.”

This is not what I wanted to talk about, but it’s Qatana. You have to answer the question. Thoroughly.

“It’s just a spell I learned,” I added.

“Oh. So what’s wrong, then?”

“People keep leaving.”

I don’t know why it was affecting me like it did, but it was. I didn’t really expect Kelda to stay on with us, of course, but then Herlgarval announced it was time for him to move on. Then Spivey was next. And finally Etayne, who had been with us since the beginning.

“I saw some mice in the building out back. Do you want to go try and catch them?”

And, believe it or not, that actually sounded comforting. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

We returned to the party a while later with several in tow.

Rova 14, 4712 (noon, The Path of Aganhei in the Middle of Fucking Nowhere)

The last few weeks have been a grind. The days are all running together, and the landscape has barely changed since crossing the mountains, just like the routine. Each day we get up, break our fast, travel 5 hours, stop for lunch, travel again, and then stop for the night and for dinner. (Well, the others eat. Thanks to the ring, I only nibble here and there for the tastes.)

My day doesn’t end there. I work the next several hours enchanting one in a seemingly endless string of items for myself and the others: earrings that protect me from the elements, boots so Sparna can keep up with us, a huge extra-dimensional storage bag, beads to make campfires, even a halter for Kasimir. As I said: a grind.

The catch? I can’t really complain because we need all this stuff. You know, if we want to live. Gods, that sounds so trite. But it’s true.

I need a change in scenery. I am trying not to think of what it will be like on the ice.

Rova 20, 4712 (evening, Path of Aganhei, Rimethirst Mountains)

Skygni met up with us in the foothills of the Rimethirst Mountains. So far he seems content to simply shadow the caravan from a distance, disappearing from time to time to hunt. It’s only been a couple of days, but I have to admit I feel less trepidatious about his presence than I did back in Ravenscraeg. The few times he’s interacted with us he’s actually been polite.

What does it say when the winter wolf has better manners than the sword?

Rova 23, 4712 (night, Path of Aganhei, Urjuk)

Is this what our journey is going to be? One sad and depressing scene after another? The frost giant that attacked us wasn’t just old, he looked haggard. Worn down. One of the others, Sparna I think, inspected his axe and said it was so rusted and decrepit that it wasn’t worth repairing.

We tracked him back to the cave where had had been living with his winter wolf companions (what a tense moment that was: my fear was that Skygni was not going to take to us fighting others of his kind, but it was clearly not an issue). This was about what you would expect. Rags, bones, and not much else. He was living the dream.

Not too far from the cave entrance was a wrecked caravan wagon. Inside we found the remains of a man that, amazingly, Ulf recognized. Apparently he was another Crown guide. We asked Ulf if he would like to bury the body and he said yes, so we held a small ceremony and put him to rest.

Welcome to the Crown of the World.

Ramashan 6, 4712 (evening)

We spotted a silver dragon today. At first I was scared to death, because it was a dragon, but then once we figured out it was silver instead of white most everyone, including me, relaxed. It shadowed us for a while, doing lazy circles and loops in the sky above us.

Dragons are quite beautiful once you stop being terrified.

Ulf wants to visit a small village off the main path before hitting the ice. He has never traveled during the “off season” (as he calls it) so he wants to get some more information on the road ahead. Fair enough. We have a guide for a reason.

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s journal entry for for Arodus 15 – Lamashan 9, 4712

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We had saved Ameiko and it was now time to attend to the creature behind the remaining door.   Qatana took the lead and worked out an agreement with the winter wolf named Skygni.  Some of the party including Helgarval were not please with allying with Skygni. We opened the door and then moved into the next room where Skygni fed on the dead minions. Qatana and I spent time with Skygni as he got his fill and then I helped Skygni get past the statues. I really wish that I could shapeshift into a wolf of the winter.

With Sygni freed from prison we were able to pack up the loot and get a good night’s sleep. This morning Qatana put glyphs of warding around the castle, I only wish we could be here to watch the spell go boom. I really miss fireball. I wonder how long it will take to learn how to activate wands like Radella. I am sure that a wand of fireball is expensive but it might just be worth it once my skill is high enough.  It still doesn’t make any since why the gods do not give fireball to their devoted followers.

On the way out of Ravensceag the others wanted to head down the stairs. I suggested that we just float down but they said they need to make sure it is safe for the authorities. The giant wasps provided less entertainment then watching Olmas attempt to keep in front of Ameiko. I am not sure what was funnier the way the sword insulted Olmas or Ameiko telling Olmas to defend her as she stepped into battle. It is a good thing these were not tough as I was laughing too hard to even shoot.

The mood turned sad as we found an elf inside with punctures all over the body. Deathwatch showed that although he was technically still alive his internal organs were failing due to the creatures eating him from the inside. In an instant both Qatana and I both realized he was going to die and it was more about how much he will suffer.  I provided this elf with a merciful end to his suffering.  Radella was upset until we explained that he was going to die today even if we got rid of the creatures inside him.

The trip back to Kalsgard was for the most part uneventful.  The only drama was Olmas trying to convince Ameiko that she is the heir and needs to stay out of danger. This went about as well as me trying to convince my sister to not do something.

Qatana’s obsession with the guild and selling ravenscrag took a big twist with Lute clearly stating that the guild was finished. I didn’t admit this to Kali but she was right to protect Lute.  I am glad to know that the guild is being disbanded and Qatana was visibly satisfied with the knowledge that the guild was going to be disbanded.  I can’t help but feel good about the downfall of the guild, at least we won’t have the guild chasing us.

Helgarval announced that he had uncovered the mystery of the frozen shadows and he feels that Desna has other purposes for him. We all said our goodbyes and then watch as Helgarval flew off.  Eytane also announces that her calling is taking her in a different direction. I will miss the disgusting looks that she gives me and the way she shows that she is just tolerating my presence.  Well I still have Ana to provide the disgusting looks but she just doesn’t have the same flair as Eytane. So we are now down a healer. Qatana, Kali, and I talked about this and we decided that wands of cure light wounds are needed. Healing in combat is going to get interesting.

Desna and Gorum still wanted me to follow this path with Amieko, Koya, and Qatana. It is clear that my path is going to take me to the crown of the world, how exciting. I have a hard time understanding how Eytane would think about missing out on such an exciting adventure.  I have the problems of food, cold, and darkness figured out with Kali working on two items that will solve the cold and darkness problem. I still do not have a way to survive in high altitudes or ensure that I can find my way back to the caravan if I get separated for an extended period of time. Kali and Ulf have been talking about the sickness that can hit people in the darkness, I will just have to rely on Qatana to cure me if I fall victim to this ailment.

Kalsgard was a great city and I enjoyed my time visiting the taverns throughout the city.  Compared to Sandpoint this was a huge city and there were things here that you just can’t find in Sandpoint or Magnimar. I was really tempted by a Mithral scimitar. I loved the weapon but it was just too much money to spend for what would be a rarely used weapon.

We have left the city of Kalsgard. Ahead is the constant darkness, deathly cold, starvation, and places where just breathing is a challenge. Looking back at the city as I move ahead of the caravan to scout I have to wonder if I will ever see Kalsgard again. It may have been a mistake to not send a letter to my sister but why should I disrupt her life with these troubles.  For all I know there still could be agents of the Oni that could get hold of my letter. If I tell her the truth then I am just stressing out my sister with something that she has no control over. If I try to lie to her she is going to know something is up, she always does. So the best thing is to just not send a letter. She knew when I left Sandpoint that it would likely be Months or a couple of years before I return, no reason to worry my sister.

We made our way to Turvick where we parted ways with Etayne. Kali seemed to be the most emotional about Etayne leaving the group.  I have to admit that I will miss the dirty looks that she would give me from time to time, especially when I called her the healer.  The most interesting thing about Turvick is Ulf comment as we entered the city “Can tell it’s summer because no one is drunk”. Who couldn’t love a community that enjoys its drinking? This would be a great place to open a brew pub.

Up in the Urjuk area we have a clash with two winter wolfs and a giant. I was finally able to use the dispel magic spell to dispel the  giants obscuring mist. I think Kali was trying to tell me to not dispel the obscuring mist but I knew that Sparna was already heading to the giant so I figured it is best if he can see the giant. With Skyni’s help the winter wolfs and the giant were defeated.  Our friend Skyni detected some tracks that lead to a broken caravan car. With detect magic we find a magic map that should help prevent us from getting lost on the high ice.  I am still a little worried about people getting lost on the high ice. To me the scouts seem to be at a high risk to getting lost. Since Omlas will likely be staying by Amieko’s side he likely won’t get lost but the others might.

While out scouting I saw a silver dragon fly over the caravan. I later found out that silver dragons normally don’t hurt people and that the dragon was warning us about ice tolls ahead.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Arodus 17, 4712

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Arodus 17, 4712 (night, Kalsgard)

I left Irori’s church when I was fifteen. I want to to say that it was not an easy decision, or that I struggled with what to do, or even that I felt guilty about it afterwards, but in all honesty none of those are true. It was an easy decision and I knew I had done the right thing. Irori’s path was not right for me, and I probably stuck with it far longer than I should have because I felt giving up was an admission of failure.

The thing is, mom and dad never pressured me, that I remember, when it came to religion and worship, though I am sure it pleased dad to see me follow his path. When I turned eleven we traveled to Jalmeray, one of the earliest trips to see dadi and dada that I remember, and for the first time I really felt connected to my Vudrani heritage. Obviously that was only on dad’s side, but I looked Vudrani and that is what mattered to me. I stood out in Varisia, specifically in Sandpoint but in Korvosa as well, and I came home from that trip taking pride in looking and being different, and in identifying with a completely foreign culture.

It also made me a little more arrogant, a little more obnoxious, and probably a lot less tolerable. It’s embarrassing thinking about what I was like 10 years ago, but what kid isn’t awful in some way at that age? Though with all that was going on back then, this sort of thing obviously did not help. But that’s another story.

At first I found Irori’s teachings to be enlightening and inspiring (confession time: I actually still do, mostly) but ultimately I was fighting my own physical limitations. The diet, the physical and mental exercises, and the emphasis on discipline and control I could manage, but when it came to “strength of body”, at least in the literal sense, I struggled. Struggled and failed, whether I wanted to admit it or not.

Why bring this up? Because I always get asked how a Vudrani came to Shelyn. I mean, it must be pretty unusual if it keeps coming up. Either that, or people just genuinely don’t know, and all they have to go on are stereotypes about Vudrani, Irori, and the pantheon of a thousand gods.

“Do you ever get tired of having to tell that same story, over and over?” Ameiko asked.

“It’s hard to talk so openly about my flaws, especially with strangers. But it’s where I ended up that matters the most. So, I guess I don’t.”

The thing about Shelyn is, she teaches the value of appreciation. Appreciation for what is around you, for what you can create, for what others create, and for what you can build together. I feel like I am a part of something.

We came to the shrine today in part to donate to the reconstruction effort, but mostly we just wanted to have that shared, communal experience that only Shelynites can provide. They were renting a temporary space just a few doors down to serve as a place for worship and gathering. Colored silks and other fabrics draped the walls and entrance, small but dramatic floral arrangements and greenery added splashes of color and a pleasant fragrance to the air. And then there was the music and dancing.

We were there most of the day. I needed to purge Ravenscraeg and Kimandatsu out of my head. Ameiko probably did, too.

One of the handful of people that asked me the question I always get asked was a Tian man named Jukodo Shiro. Here’s the thing: he was different, and I bring this up because it has become a sort of turning point for me. Most of those who are active in Shelyn’s church, the ones who aren’t clergy? They tend to be performers or artists of some sort. But like me, Shiro didn’t fit that mold. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly how. He was just different.

He apparently sensed something in me, too, because we talked for a couple of hours. The whole time, I had this feeling he was trying to take the measure of me in some fashion. It wasn’t rude, it was just…it was like he was probing for something without really coming out and asking what. Like he was testing the waters. Whatever it was? I guess he found it because out of the blue he asked, “Have you ever wielded the glaive?”

I almost opened my mouth to blow him off. I mean, are you shitting me? How did I possibly look like “glaive” material?

When I was twelve years old my dad tried to teach me how to use the khopesh and it was a disaster. It was heavy and clumsy, and I was barely strong enough to hold it much less swing it with any purpose. I would eventually start wearing one strapped to my back, but that was just for show (because it looked wicked, and in Magnimar I needed the deterrent). But actually use it? Hell, no. So, the glaive? Me? Really?

But I figured he was getting at something, and maybe it was important that I actually listen for once, and wait to hear what it was. So instead, I answered politely and honestly. “Never. I doubt I could even hold it properly.”

By this time, Ameiko was off playing her samisen, accompanying a couple of other musicians. The melody filling the space was light and playful, and the tempo upbeat; music that was perfect for dancing. So I was only a little surprised when he abruptly changed the subject again, and asked, “Do you dance?”

Mom and dad—mom, especially—were not going to raise a daughter that couldn’t dance. So, yeah. “I can. Are you asking me?”

He smiled and said, “Something like that. May I?”

I nodded and stood up with him. And, I kid you not, he picked up his glaive that was leaning against the wall behind us. And he proceeded to teach me how to swing and even twirl it in time with the music.

I am still more or less in shock. The pole alone was over a foot and a half taller than me, and yet he was swinging it gracefully in time with the music. I remembered seeing something like this before, back when we visited Andoran several years ago. Dad called it the Color Guard, but while that was mostly for show what Shiro started teaching me went beyond that. He could swing the pole and the blade around, fluidly, into what was clearly a strike. My motions with it were less polished and confident, but I was amazed at how swiftly it moved in my hands, at first under his direction, and then on my own. This was most definitely not the heavy, clunky khopesh,

“Dancing and fighting are not that far apart,” he said. “At least, not with this. The glaive is a weapon of grace and beauty in the right hands.”

Except for the part where it kills people. But of course I didn’t say that.

“You would make a good missionary for Shelyn. Her church needs more than just clergy and artists: it needs faithful from all walks of life to serve as role models. It’s something I think you should consider.”

This, too, took me by surprise. “Me? I never considered myself to be a role model for anything.”

He smiled at me. “Most role models don’t.” After a short pause, he went on. “You should look the part, though. It’s important. Come back tomorrow, around noon, and I’ll show you some more.” He tapped the pole of his glaive with his right hand. “If you are interested, of course?”

I said yes.

Character: Kali

Communique

Arodus 17, 4712

To:
Nassim Goods
Dockway District
Magnimar, Varisia

Ohsith,

Twfo twonfi tw fosefi ontw ththoh se twfoei thon twoh siei twohni oh fisi twon foon nisi onfofi twoh setw twfion sefi onohth tw twsi fifo ei ohse ontw thfi ohei sith sision sefo twseoh tw twsi onfo ontw thsi thfoni.

Oneise,
Fithei

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Arodus 15 – Lamashan 9, 4712

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Wealday, Arodus 15, 4712 evening
Ravenscraeg

The sun has finally set on this seemingly endless day. Ravenscraeg has been secured, and aside from the wasp creatures trapped in the glass case down in the lab, we are the sole occupants of the keep.

After Ameiko and Ulf had been rescued Kali took Etayne and Radella up to find Lute. I turned my attention to the cold door we had skipped earlier.

“Who is there?” I asked through the heavy door.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” demanded a gravely voice.

“I am called Qatana, and my friends and I have taken control of this fortress.”

“So, you serve Kimandatsu?” was the angry reply.

“No,” I replied, “Actually we killed her and all of her henchmen. In fact I have her head right here. What are you doing in there?”

“Captured. Kimandatsu thought to make me her pet.” It retorted with a snarl.

“I am a human, what are you?”

“I am a wolf of the north. My name is Skygni, and I long to roam free upon the snows and ice of my home land.” There was a heavy thud as it threw itself at the door.

A winter wolf then, and from the north where we were bound. I realized immediately it could be a valuable ally once we were on the ice. It sounded like such a nice wolf and it was clearly wrong to leave it here to suffer and die from neglect.

“Wait a few minutes, and when the rest of my companions return we will set you free if you promise to leave without attacking anyone.”

Kali returned and reported that Lute had (as one would expect) happily received the news of Kimandatsu’s end.

I announced my intent to release the wolf so we opened all of the doors between the cells and the kitchen.

Radella unlocked the door and out punced a massive silver grey wolf, easily the size of a large bear. White fur fringed his muzzle and ear tips. He stepped forward towards me and sniffed the head I held aloft, and then sniffed me.

“He is so cool,” whispered Takoda (the pun may very well have been intended), while at the same time Star eagerly asked, “Can we keep him?”

“If you are hungry you will find some freshly killed bodies on your way out.” I offered. “We too are heading north, and if you would like company on your way to your home lands, we could travel together.”

Skygni replied, “That might prove interesting. I shall look for you when you travel north.”

And after snacking on a dead ninja, he left.

Surprisingly not everyone was pleased with this outcome. Kali looked like she just eaten a lemon, and Helgarval was positively sputtering with indignity.

“You can’t just let it go, much less ask it to accompany us! It’s evil!”

Timber hissed, Jerk!” but I shushed him.

Ivan and I both made the argument that Skygni would be serving a greater good, but Helgarval was stuck in his way of thinking. “It is evil. It should be killed.”

I then asked, “Is there no chance of redemption for anyone once they have started down an evil path?”

That gave Helgarval pause for thought, and he seemed willing to accept Skygni’s presence on the grounds that we would be saving him from his evil ways. It could happen.

“And monkeys might fly out of my butt,” quipped Pookie (ever the realist).

Oathday, Arodus 16, 4712 night
Kalsgard

We are finally back at the caravan — it is nice to be home. And while the day long ride back from Ravenscraeg was uneventful, leaving the fortress was not as stress free as we had hoped.

Our morning started with Kali and Lute discussing what had happened here, how that affected him, and what it would mean for the guild. Lute surprised us all by stating, “The guild is finished. I am going straight to the king. We will not stand for this!”

That was comforting.

“As for me, well I still have my business, and once the king hears about what I have done here, well I am sure I will be more than fine.”

What he has done? Kali and I looked at each other and grinned. Ivan stifled a snicker. This was perfect. We could let Lute handle the guild and the political fallout of all that had happened here, and we could walk away with the loot we gathered (no strings attached) and the guild would be finished. We also need not pay Lute any share of the treasure.

We encouraged Lute to move forward with his plan, and provided him with the guild documents we had found to prove its wrong doings.

The day was already looking up. Until it wasn’t.

We were making our way down the switch-back ramps that led down from the keep’s front doors (which we had avoided on the way in) when a pair of very large wasp-like creatures clambered out from a crevice in the cliff face and attacked.

We quickly killed them and explored their small cavern in the wall.

I wish we hadn’t, but it was for the best that we did. The thin form of an elf was lying unconscious on the floor. Looking closer we saw he was riddled with small bore holes. Ivan stated that there were grubs living in the holes, and examining the hapless elf I could see that while technically he was alive, he had already been more than half eaten from within.

There was no way we could save him, and no way we could leave him to this horrific suffering. Ivan slit his throat and Etayne set the body on fire, killing the grubs within.

It was a relatively quiet trip back to Kalsgard, interrupted only by an ongoing argument among Suishen, Olmas and Ameiko over her role in the company, which appeared to have ended in an uneasy truce (or stalemate).

Fireday, Arodus 17, 4712 evening
Kalsgard

We spent a full day preparing for our upcoming trip across the Crown of the World. I purchased some useful equipment, including the Boots of the Winterlands we had found in Snorri’s stash.

Near the end of the day we visited Finn and showed him Suishen, which remained mute during the entire visit (a welcome respite, given the bickering between the sword and Ameiko).

But the day’s big news came from Etayne. She announced that she had been having disturbing dreams of late, and she felt forced to investigate what they portended.

She would accompany us to the next outpost and from there return to southern lands.

We were all saddened by this news. Etayne has been a stalwart companion on our adventures, and we have come to rely on her skill with potions and other concoctions (and with icky goos and liquids in general). She was also our primary healer.

More than anything, though, I will miss her curiosity. I felt like we were kindred spirits in our eagerness to explore.

Starday, Arodus 18, 4712 evening
Kalsgard

Early this morning I spoke with Kimandatsu.

Using a combination of Owl’s Wisdom and Speak with Dead I asked the ogre’s head some questions.

“Did you kill Silverscore?”

“Silverscore. A most useful tool. Yes, I killed her.”

“Who are the members of the Five Storms?”

“The five most powerful Oni in Tien Xia.”

“What is the ultimate goal of the Five Storms?”

“We will rule Minkai as is our right.”

Interesting.

Upon Kimandatsu’s final answer, Helgarval flew up and said that we had solved the mystery of the Rimerunner’s Guild and as such, his time with us was at an end. “May Desna bless you,” he said, and flew off.

Also interesting, and combined with Etayne’s announcement from yesterday, also somewhat depressing.

We found Lute and passed on what we had learned from Kimandatsu, noting that the doors on the Rimerunner’s Guild office were already boarded up. Lute had been true to his word, and the king quick to act.

I crafted a wand of Lesser Restoration with the rest of my day.

Oathday, Arodus 23, 4712 evening
Kalsgard

We have worked with Ulf to ensure the caravan has been properly outfitted and provisioned for the upcoming trip. Tomorrow we leave for the outpost town of Turvick, a journey of some three days. I created a couple wands of Cure Light Wounds.

Earlier in the week Kali and I found Yin-po and made contributions toward the reconstruction of the temple to Shelyn. Kali’s gift was far more substantial than my own, but when the new church arises from the ruins the grinning face of Groetus will be among its adornments.

Sunday, Arodus 26, 4712 night
Turvick

Our trek northward has resumed, and as we travel further north the trees become stunted with dark green, almost black needles. They clump together in thickets and forests around the marshy sunken sumps that form between the crests of hills.

With marshy ground comes mosquitos. I really had the damned things.

We had a small farewell gathering for Etayne at the Winsome Troll earlier this evening, but it felt more like a wake than a party. We leave upon our separate ways in the morning.

She left us with an assortment of potions and the wand of Identify.

Fireday, Rova 21, 4712 evening
Urjlik

The colors have been stark and few as we continued northward. An artist with only white, slate grey, and burnt umber on his pallette could easily paint a scene from our journey at any given moment on any given day. No mixing required.

Koya is the only one dressed in bright colors, but they seem brash and out of place here. I think she has felt this too and she has kept inside her wagon.

We crossed the pass in the Rimethirst Mountains and made our way to Urjlik. This was once a giant stronghold and it is said that giants come here to die. A somber legend for a somber land.

Moonday, Rova 24, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

We elected to follow the main caravan route northward, avoiding the “short cut” that led into the hills due north. Apparently the river crossings for the short route were beyond the ability of our caravan to make safely, and the short cut would in all likelihood have led to a long delay.

And so it was surprising when early in the day a voice from the sky challenged us to stop and turn back.

“I am Kjaerulff, spirit guardian of these sacred lands. You have invaded our home, turn around and be off.”

Yes, well his claim seemed dubious and we had no intention of turning around. Detect Magic showed the voice to be a simple illusion spell, and so I challenged it.

“Oh, confound it all!” shouted a gruff voice as a giant stood up from behind a low lying hill. “So be it, interlopers. These are not your lands.” He then began to chant, and an obscuring mist formed around him.

Ivan dispelled it.

“Blast and confound you,” the giant shouted, “At ’em boys!”

With that a pair of winter wolves charged across the snow toward us.

Kali glared at me, but I called out to Skygni, who came running to our aid, engaging with one of the other wolves.

We set to work, and soon there was a dead giant and two dead winter wolves lying in the snow, their blood coloring it a shocking scarlet. All in all I found it rather sad, but the stupid thing would not listen to reason.

Interesting enough during combat Kali was actually wielding a weapon (a glave) which was unusual for her.

We took the useful stuff the giant had been carrying, and then followed his tracks back to a cave. A broken down armored wagon was outside, and we found a scroll tube hidden on a human body. Ulf recognized him as having been another guide.

[381] wand of elemental touch [12 charges]
[382] rusty great ax
[383] gold plated astrolabe
[384] magic map of the high ice:

  • +2 bonus to survival checks for not getting lost
  • +5 bonus to security checks

Fireday, Rova 28, 4712 evening
northern caravan route (Bearleg Lakes)

We are passing through the Bearleg Lakes region. The marshes have grown in size and with them so have the mosquitos. You’d think the cold would kill them off, but you’d think wrong.

Sparna has been busy working on his double headed dwarf weapon. He’s already fairly lethal in combat as it is.

Starday, Rova 29, 4712 evening
northern caravan route (Taraska River)

We crossed the great northern river today. We celebrated at dinner with the Korvosan wine I had rescued from Ravenscraeg, some succulent meat and tubers Ameiko roasted, and an apricot cobbler I made for dessert.

Ameiko and I have been doing the cooking, and we trade off who cooks which meal each day to keep it interesting. Sometimes, like tonight, we join forces for a single meal. Ameiko likes to grill over the fire or roast in the hot coals, while I prefer the dutch oven and saucepan.

Moonday, Lamashan 1, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

Nihali reported that we were being tailed by a pack of dire wolves. Skygni recommended that we just let them be. We did and they eventually moved along to hunt easier prey.

Beorn expressed his disappointment that we couldn’t also have a dire wolf as a companion.

Fireday, Lamashan 5, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

We encountered a neatly stacked pile of frozen human corpses along the trail today. They had been clawed to death, and tracks led off for a few hundred feat before vanishing.

We made several guesses as to what could have killed them, but we could not figure out why anyone would then take the trouble to stack the bodies.

Starday, Lamashan 6, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

A silver dragon swooped over our caravan today before flying off to the east. We all wonder what that means.

Toilday, Lamashan 9, 4712 mid day
northern caravan route

The silver dragon flew low over our caravan a short while ago and called out, “Ho caravan, there are ice trolls up ahead.” It then flew off.

I have never seen a dragon before, and am delighted my first dragon was both friendly and helpful. I joined in with my mouse friends in wishing that the dragon could accompany us on our journey.

But Ulf only grunted, “Humph. Ice trolls. They are smaller than regular trolls, and as you would expect, adapted to the cold. And they’re smart.”

It sounds like more trouble is coming and soon.

Character: Sparna

Sparna’s letter to parents

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(written in Dwarvish runes)

Mother and Father,

By Torag’s Will this missive will reach you at the time of his choosing.

When we parted, the plan was for me to gain experience and knowledge of the world by serving as a caravan guard for Dwarf Friend Sandru. I was content with this role. Last long it did not. Early on in our travels, Sandru suggested that I accompany some of the other caravan members when they left the caravan to explore. I politely questioned the wisdom of the act as I was his caravan guard, and not a watcher of children. He chuckled, taking no offense, pointing out that a caravan is made up of more than wagons and cargo. That all who travel with the caravan are also part of it, and as such they needed to be guarded also. Bowing to his wisdom and experience, I accompanied the (the word children is scratched out) others when they left the caravan.

I will leave the telling of the antics and escapades of my ‘companions’ to a later time, for I must pose a question that has been bothering me since I joined this caravan. Can you catch insanity from those you travel with? For, while I have become close companions with my fellow travelers, their actions and motivations still escape me. Most show no discipline to their thoughts and actions, but instead of this being followed by ruin, it is more times than not followed by success. It doesn’t make sense. But I’ve come to accept this. For the longest time, I unjustly thought they were all suffering from some sort of insanity. Now, it is just one companion that I think this. Qatana, a follower of Groetus. She claims that the mouse skulls she wears as prayer beads talk to her and give her advice on how to act and respond to all situations. No one else hears these voices. But her insistence of the existence of these voices have raised doubts to my own sanity.

I had always planned on following in your footsteps Mother, in being a armor smith. But that was not to be as I discovered early on in our travels that finding good dwarven weapons is not easy. So in my foolishness, and against your advice, I started forging an urgosh of my own. I’ve been working on it for months now and am finally reaching completion. I say finally, as up til now, as have always found just another thing I could do to improve it.

Looking back, I see Papa Sparn doing the same over the weapons he was crafting. Always attempting perfection, never being satisfied with his work. I know that Papa Sparn claimed the weapons would talk to him, but that he never quite understand what they were saying to him. I know this is why you advised me to stick with armor, so I wouldn’t fall into the same trap as Papa Sparn.

I should have heeded your advice. As I complete my urgosh, and I see now that it will be my Master’s piece, I am starting to hear something in the ring of the metal, see blurry images when I heat the metal, smell possibilities when tempering the metal. I fear in traveling with these companions, nay my friends, I have contracted some of their insanity and I am becoming like Papa Sparn.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Arodus 16, 4712

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Arodus 16, 4712 (night, Kalsgard)

I pulled Lute aside this morning for the conversation that we’d all been somewhat dreading but knew would have to happen. The problem here was that we just didn’t know how he was going to react or what questions he would have about our involvement. We were able to more or less hide the fact that we spent much of the evening quite literally looting Kimandatsu’s treasury down below, a treasury filled with coins and bullion that had been embezzled from the Rimerunners Guild that he was still a representative of, but any reasonable person would certainly suspect that we were not being entirely forthcoming about why were here or what we were doing.

It was too late in the day to head back to Kalsgard, so we spent the night in the living quarters on the main level. The ninja’s former bunk rooms were nicely laid out, and even the others were comfortable if a little sparse. Not as inviting as home, but several steps up from the caravan and the coat closet.

The rooms all adjoined the main entry hall, and the latter was as good a place as anywhere for us to talk.

“You realize the guild is in trouble here, right?”

Luke practically laughed in my face. “Oh, the Guild is in more than just trouble. You have no idea. I’m taking this to the King.”

I nodded at this, and then asked, “And how about you? Are you going to be OK, financially, when the Guild collapses? I suppose you are technically owed a weregild, but I don’t see one coming out of this.”

“Oh, I’ll get by,” he said. “I have my own business. My finances were not completely tied up here.”

This was about what we wanted to hear. It meant Lute was not going to try and claim everything we found in Ravenscraeg as a Guild asset, or try and help them recover from this debacle. More importantly, it meant he probably didn’t care what we did so long as we were discreet about it. Discreet, we could manage.

Lute expected all the assets of the Guild to be seized by the Crown, including Ravenscraeg, just as I suspected. That seemed to satisfy Qatana. What she really wanted was to make sure the Guild got nothing out of this, ever (trying to claim the place as ours and then sell it was more of a secondary goal, I guess). In a lot of ways, leaving the copper down there worked to everyone’s advantage, as it left physical proof that Guild money was used to finance the Frozen Shadows.

Our motives for doing that were hardly altruistic, though. We counted five crates filled with copper trade bars, and the main reason we left them behind was because, logistically, it would have been a ridiculous amount of work to remove some two thousand pounds of metal that barely totaled a thousand gold in value. We could easily have spent half that just getting the damned things out of there—not to mention the time—and we’d still have to deal with the Guild marks after we were done.

“What do you need to help sell the story of what happened here?” I asked. The head of Kimandatsu was certainly shocking, but ultimately it proved nothing. We talked about this briefly, then Etayne blurted out, “What about the journals?”

I made a mental sigh right as Lute asked, “What journals?”

I was planning on turning them over, of course, but I wanted just a little more control over the narrative. But the cat was out of the bag now. “We have the Rimerunners Guild’s business ledgers and they show numerous transfers of large sums of money, all marked as ‘development expenses’ for Ravenscraeg.”

“Yes! That! That is exactly what I need!”

It turns out Lute is a pretty shrewd businessman, which I guess should come as a surprise to no one. I made it clear we weren’t going to tell the story of how we got it, and that in general we didn’t want our involvement in this to be widely known. He turned that thought on it’s ear. “Once I get back and show them what I’ve accomplished here, you won’t have to worry about that.”

And here we were concerned we might have to buy him off.

It was a brilliant idea, really. We quickly crafted a nice little story about his investigation into the Guild’s misdeeds and their ties to the Frozen Shadows. We were his anonymous agents, hired to help uncover the evidence so that he could bring them down from the inside, and he had set himself up as bait. I wish I had thought of it myself. None of us wanted or needed the glory, and Lute really did deserve to be a hero here. Despite threats and intimidation he had stood up to Silverskorr, and he did it without anyone to look out for him.

To complete the picture, and also keep him safe just in case, Radella and I escorted him to his home when we got back to Kalsgard. He had been gone for several weeks so it was quite a shock when he returned. Even more so that he was accompanied by two young, foreigner women, one of whom radiated an aura of do-not-fuck-with-us. This story will likely last him a lifetime.

The repercussions from this will apparently be huge. According to Lute, the Guild was closely tied to the Linnorm King of the Thanelands, Sveinn Blood-Eagle, and of course Silverskorr was well-connected in Kalsgard society in general. This won’t be a simple matter of just shutting down the Guild operations: it will be a scandal that is talked about for years to come. We’ll be here for at least a week as we prepare for the trip north, which means we’ll get to watch the start of it unfold.

Other changes are on the horizon for us, too.

Tonight, Etayne announced that she’ll be accompanying us as far as Turvik and then taking her leave. Apparently, she has been having troubling dreams for the past few days and is concerned about what they might be telling her. I know very little about witchcraft, and even less about interpreting dreams, but I do know Etayne: her journey with us began with dreams much like the ones she is having now, and that they are back is something to take seriously. Another change is coming for her life, one that will take her on a different path than ours.

Regardless of the reason, this was hard to hear. We’ve only been together for a few months, but it has been an intensely personal experience. I have told my friends here things about me that I never thought I would tell anyone, and the abruptness of this feels like a physical piece of me is being cut away.

And in another of life’s strange twists, though we are losing a friend we seem to be gaining a winter wolf.

I was not happy about this and I don’t know how it happened. When I left to check on Lute, the others were working on a plan to safely deal with what was behind that door—the aforementioned winter wolf—and when I came down they had gone from giving it a clear escape route and negotiating a truce to practically inviting it to come with us. They are out of their damned minds.

OK, I am lying. I know how this happened. Skygin hated Kimandatsu. And I do mean hated. She captured him and was trying to train him as a pet, apparently, because I guess she was an idiot. I mean, can you imagine? And, how humiliating would that be to be treated as just some simple animal? When he learned that we had killed her the whole tone of the conversation shifted. Then Qatana starts chatting with him as if doing that was somehow normal and the next thing I knew he was all, “It may amuse me to travel with you for a while.”

My stomach sank. Skygni is scary. A wolf the size of a damned bear, snow-white with what looks like a layer of frost around his muzzle. I get that feeling he could kill any one of us and not give it a second thought. It’s not that I don’t see the value in having him allied with us for a while—there are certainly advantages to that considering where we are headed—but he isn’t going to place the same value on life that we do. You also don’t just show up in someone’s fishing village with a giant, man-eating carnivore as part of your greeting party, particularly one of the variety that likely terrorizes them in the first place. What kind of reception are we going to get when we stop to resupply?

And besides, this meant traveling with a gruff, arrogant wisenheimer, insulting us and pointing out all the flaws, faults, and weaknesses of humanity. Doesn’t Suishen already have that job?

Helgarvel had more immediate objections. This sort of arrangement was in direct conflict with his very nature. Qatana and Olmas countered that Skygni would be unwittingly serving a higher purpose while traveling with us. And they did have a point, one which Helgarvel seemed to accept at least for the time being. But I can’t help but see this argument as a thin veneer.

I don’t know. Maybe I’ll come around.

Or maybe I’m just in a mood. Here’s the thing: the last few days have been hard. We certainly have a great deal to celebrate here, and I don’t want to take away from that, but there have been all these crappy moments. Watching Shelyn’s temple reduced to rubble. Seeing Runecaster just sort of…slump over and die, alone. Weighing down bodies in the freezing darkness and then dumping them in the river, one by one. Etayne, telling us she’s leaving. Asvig choking on blood in front of his wife. Finding Ameiko’s samisen in that trunk.

This morning we ran into a pair of spider eaters as we descended the rickety stairs from the front entrance of Ravenscraeg. Lute was more than a little frightened so I took him on the express to the ground while the others dealt with them. When they finally came down I could immediately tell something was wrong. Radella and Qatana looked positively grim.

“What happened?” I asked.

For a while no one said anything, but eventually I got the story. Spider eaters, you see, lay their eggs inside of living hosts, kept paralyzed by their venom. When the eggs hatch, the young eat their way out. The two we fought had created a nest out of a fissure in the cliff face. The elf that Qatana found inside was technically still alive.

We get front row seats to all of this.

On the return trip Olmas and Ameiko had what I would consider an argument. At issue was Ameiko’s status as the heir to the kingdom of Minkai, and to our knowledge, the only surviving member of the original royal families. The Seal may have granted eight of us the divine right to inherit that position, but that is quite obviously Plan B (and I am pretty sure that none of us want that job, anyway). Coming to terms with this has not been easy—how could it be?—but also largely irrelevant.

Her literally unique position is by nature a fragile one. The commitment we made to take her to her homeland is also a commitment to get her there safely and do everything in our power to retake her kingdom from the oni that have usurped it. To accomplish the latter we must first do the former. That was the point Olmas was trying to make.

Ameiko is my friend, though, and this put me in an uncomfortable position. This all started because Ameiko had been growing restless in Sandpoint, looking for some excuse—any excuse, really—to adventure, explore, test her wits and skills, and hone them both. She still thirsts for that. And I get it. But the thing is, Olmas is right. I just couldn’t say it, because my role is to support my friend, not gang up on her.

There’s also counter point to be made, and it’s this: we can’t lock her away from the world (that’s what my grandmother wanted to do with me, and thank the gods mom and dad had more sense than that). As a corollary, we can’t permit her to grow soft, either. Everything she and I have learned about Minkai suggests there is growing unrest among the people there, and the regent that currently occupies the throne is deeply unpopular. Given what we know now about the Five Storms, that illegitimate government is a puppet of their making. When Ameiko gets there, she will have to be equal parts princess, leader, and warrior to take her rightful position as ruler. And I think that is the point she was trying to make, just not in those words.

In the end, they agreed that she would not take needless risks with her life. I think that’s fair.

I actually don’t envy Olmas’s position here, as he has to both answer to Suishen (who is acerbic at the best of times) and take all manner of shit from Ameiko. She can be merciless.