Oathday, Arodus 8, 4712 evening
Ullerskad
After a day of uneventful travel we arrived in the small city of Ullerskad. It was late, and so we set up camp on the outskirts by the river (which we all now viewed with suspicion) and I made dinner. Kalsgard is a day and a half travel west from here, and because we plan to arrive in the city at sunset, we have tomorrow morning in Ullerskad to do with as we please.
As usual, Kali has a long list of must do tasks, but it feels more like a holiday than a work day to me.
Fireday, Arodus 9, 4712 evening
On the banks of the Rimeflow, one day from Kalsgard
There is a rather large temple dedicated to Gorum in Ullerskad which many of us decided to visit. It was rather austere and seemed more like a fortress than a church, but then I guess that’s what you get from a diety whose sole purpose is to encourage combat. Not good versus evil or right over wrong combat, but just combat for the sake of combat. This is rather arbitrary and cruel, and church doctrine states that when all warfare stops, Gorum will cease to exist.
Good riddance.
Next to the temple is a grove, and hanging from the trees are corpses of all kinds. We asked and found that these were sacrifices made to Gorum.
Gorum is not considered an evil god, but he is clearly cruel and heartless. Word of this place would serve no better purpose than to spread enthusiasm for Groetus and the end of the world. I spent the rest of the morning sketching what I saw to share with others as the occasion sees fit.
Kali and Sandru spent their time talking to guides and buying maps for our trek across “The Crown of the World.” Kali seems upset by the sheer magnitude of the ice over which we must cross for many leagues, and is driving herself crazy with the logistics of successfully making such a crossing… possibly in winter.
I still think we should have gone for a sea route. The shortest distance is not always the quickest, or the easiest, or the surest.
Starday, Arodus 10, 4712 evening
Bone Quarter, Kalsgard
We spent the day traveling to Kalsgard, and on the way Kelda shared some tidbits about her home.
Kalsgard is a walled city surrounded by farmlands. The region is hostile, and so the city walls are tall and thick, and farmers either return to the safety of the walls at the end of each day, or dwell in fortified manor houses.
Kalsgard is divided into districts, which the locals call “quarters” even though there are more than four. The quarters are separated by walls, but unlike the main city walls, these have been breached over the years to make travel and commerce more convenient.
The Bone Quarter is the poor section of town, but it is also where visiting caravans stay. The inhabitants look down on the people who arrive in the caravans, and so we should not expect a warm welcome.
The Jade Quarter is where the people from Tien live, who usually remain isolated in their own little part of town.
The Amber Quarter is where goods are crafted, with a large presence of skilled jewellers. Most of the citizens wear some jewelery (some more than is tasteful, I have already noticed) and each clan has its own design.
The Fire Quarter is the rowdy district, with pubs, brothels, gambling halls and such.
The Ice Quarter is the center of the city’s trade, and it is also where the Runestone sits. This large chunk of rock marks where the city of Kalsgard was founded more than 5,000 years ago.
The Horn Quarter is where the farmers live and sell their goods. Kelda gazed off into space at this point, mumbling something about “honey” in a dreamy voice.
The Oak Quarter is home to lumber mills and shipwrights. This is where Kelda’s family lives.
The Stone Quarter is a quary, and is where the stone and metal smiths live and work, but there is a temple to Torag here too.
The Ivory Quarter is the business district, which is also where the trade guilds are located.
There is an under city where much Kalsgard’s dwarven population dwell and work. Dwarves are held in high esteem here, because of their reputation as excellent smiths and their prowess in battle.
By sunset we had passed through the city gates and circled the wagons on a grassy field somewhat away from the more squalid parts of the quarter. Conflicting smells of smoke, hay, horse manure, rotting vegetation (or was it just cabbage?), and chamber pots mingled and worked their way into our clothing and hair
Sunday, Arodus 10, 4712 late afternoon
South of Kalsgard
Kelda wished us well and left for her home in the Oak Quarter along the river.
We rented rooms at an inn in the Ivory Quarter (“Sven’s Honorable Retreat”) in order to make a more favorable impression on the locals, and then went over our list of things to accomplish in Kalsgard (thanks, Kali). Etayne and Ana remained in the Bone Quarter to guard the caravan.
We needed to find the person to whom Ameiko’s grandfather had sold the family sword. Fortunately we have a name (Fyn Snaevald) whom we can ask after around the trade guilds. Kali and Sandru would do this, but first Ameiko insisted on going to the Jade Quarter to… I don’t know, mingle?
This seemed like a bad idea and a waste of valuable time, but Kali and Olmas accompanied her on her social call. And while Ameiko did take the precation of changing her appearance via a magic ring, an ever growing flock of ravens followed her around wherever she went. Eventually she admitted defeat and returned to the inn, where she sulked in her room.
Kali was now free to go with Sandru to the Ivory Quarter to find out about Flyn.
Radella and Sparna had taken off early to check out the Under City, and snoop about town to see what they could find.
Spivey and Koya seemed to think we were on vacation, and went into the market to shop. Ivan went along as an escort, but did not seem overly thrilled.
Shalelu and I went to the Fire District to investigate the armbands our attackers had worn.
The Fire Quarter was clearly best seen at night, when darkness hides the ugly sorted truth and warm lamp light casts everything and everyone with a healthy and inviting glow.
In the harsh bright light of day the reality was far less welcoming. Dirty and often hastily constructed buildings crowded in upon one another, creating a tangled warren of cobbled passageways, and leaning drunkenly against each other. The predominant smell was from the vomit and urine that coated the lower walls and slushed out onto the pathways.
But the bars were still open for business, and stepping over the slumped form of a man sleeping off the excesses of the night before in the doorway, we entered one such fine establishment.
It was dark within, for there were no open windows, and a smokey fire provided the only light and thankfully masked the most offensive of the quarter’s aromas. We sidled up to the bar and ordered drinks.
I put a silver coin on the counter to pay for the drinks, and followed that with its gold cousin, upon which I kept my finger. This caught the eye and interest of the barkeep, and I drew forth an armband.
“I found this on the bank of the river some days ago, and want to return it to its owner.”
The man looked a little startled, and stuttered, “Th, th, that’s the symbol of Asvig Longthews. He has a lot of men, and each wears that armband.” He then lowered his voice, as if realizing he shouldn’t be heard talking so freely about such things, and offered, “He’s a powerful chieftain in these parts and is best left alone.”
He would say no more to us about Longthews or anything else, and so we left and worked our way over to a higher end of the quarter.
From the outside “The Lustful Gnome” was relatively clean, and so I asked Shalelu, “What about this one?” She cast a scornful glance at the garishly painted sign depicting a gnome peeping through a window, with one hand down his trousers and the other making a lewd gesture, and replied, “Sure, this is just the sort of place where I want to spend my morning.” Takoda quipped an encouraging, “Perfect!”, and we went in.
The bar stretched along the entire length of the entry hall, at the end of which steps led up to the private chambers above. A few bleary eyed locals were sitting at one end and a dwarf snored loudly at the other. We took a pair of stools in the middle, and I immediately set out two gold coins.
“What’ll ya have?” asked a dapper little man with a towel draped over one arm, eyeing the gold eagerly.
Quietly I replied, “We need to return something to Asvig Longthews, but do not know where he lives.”
The dapper man hesitated, and from the dwarf end of the bar came a tremendous roaring loud greasy honk of a fart. Shalelu whispered urgently in my ear, “We really want to move this along a little faster…”
I put another two coins on the counter, and our well dressed server quietly said, “His estate is about a two hour walk south of town.” and the coins vanished into his vest pocket.
We made good our escape, just in the nick of time judging from the groans and shouts of protest from the patrons as the noisome cloud of dwarven effluent filled the bar.
We all met up back in our rooms at Sven’s, where we exchanged news. Kali and Sandru had found where Flyn lived (and Kali had apparently established a contract between her family’s trading company and a local guild). Radella and Sparna found nothing of interest in the Under City, but while wondering about they noticed a boy keeping a watch on Koya and her party.
When captured, the would be spy said he had been paid to leave notes about our activities in a rain barrel on a specific corner. When Ivan and company checked, the barrel was gone.
Ivan then shot an evil grin my way and said, “We went shopping for clothes, and we got you something too!” He pulled out a pair of trousers and a blouse of purple and green. My first thought was to reject these outright, but Pookie chimed in, “Ooh, what bright colors. People will pay attention to you when you wear those while teaching about Groetus.” Great idea! I enthusiastically accepted the clothes, and thanked Koya, Spivey and Ivan for thinking of me.
We needed to get to Flyn’s before whoever was watching us did, but at the same time we did not want to lead Koya or Spivey into a dangerous situation. Olmas agreed to accompany them back to the caravan and exchange places with Etayne. I think he was missing his horse. We also sent word to Kelda that she was being watched and in danger.
When she arrived Etayne told us an interesting story of her morning. A man came over and warned her that we were being watched, and that word had spread about the quarter describing each of us and offering coin in exchange for news of our actions. She gave him some gold coins, and he agreed to return with more information about the people asking after us. She hid in an out of the way spot waiting, but the man never returned.
We made our way to Flyn’s house, but a few blocks away an old blind beggar croaked, “They know who you are and they are coming for you.” We asked him what he meant, and he said that someone paid him (using Menkai coins) to say that line when someone who smelled like cabbage came by.
I took a quick sniff and looked at Etayne. “What? When I was hiding in the Bone District I must have ducked behind a cart of cabbages.” Timber unhelpfully added, “And I thought that dwarf smelled bad.”
The good news was that Flyn was still alive after all these years (and after all we had encountered today) and he remembered buying the sword from Ameiko’s grandfather. The sword’s name was Avril’s Hammer, and he purchased items like that to sell to collectors. But this sword was special, and he kept it above the mantle place.
We looked at the indicated spot to see hooks where a sword had once hung, and turned expectantly back to Flyn. Just two weeks earlier someone had broken into his house while he was out, killed all of his servants, and stole the sword. One of his servants was barely alive when he returned, but the only thing he said was, “Pay the lion’s due!” before dying.
We mentioned that we suspected Asvig Longthews was behind it, and Flyn replied that if it were true, then he was within his rights to claim blood vengeance against Asvig. Apparently this legally (or at least socially or culturally) allows one to take the law into ones own hands when someone has done you great harm (and refuses to compensate you).
Flyn said if we brought him Asvig’s head (and the sword), he would give us the sword.
And because Asvig sent his men to slay us, we too held this right against him, which pretty much meant we could deal with Longthews as we saw fit. And no time was better than the present, so we thanked Flyn and returned to the caravan to gather Olmas and Ana.
Kelda was waiting there for us with a gift. She thanked us for the warning (she had thought she was being watched), and once again thanked us for saving her life in Brinewall and accompanying her home. She bowed, turned and walked off.
[256] scabbard. Once per day when a sword is drawn it receives an attack & damage bonus:
+1 for 10 rounds
+2 for 5 rounds
+3 for 3 rounds
+4 for 1 round
On our way south we noticed that a flock of ravens was following us. Kali’s own raven, Nihali, said they were just a family of ravens. It was odd that they were following us, but she could neither see nor sense anything wrong or unusual about them.
Unusual or not they were clearly spying on us for some purpose, and this would not do for what was supposed to be a stealth mission. We casually walked up to a tree where most of the ravens had come to roost, and I set off a Sound Burst in their midst. A few arrows later and the flock had dispersed, with the ravens flying back to Kalsgard.
The road led right to Asvig’s estate, which we could see through the trees some distance ahead. We approached it from the woods on our left, and could see a large house had been built in a clearing, which was surrounded by a ring of large and tall wooden posts. At the top of each was carved the head of a lion, much like the ones on the armbands.
We discovered that a magical trap was set upon each post, with the space in between acting as a trigger. We debated various ways of getting past when Sparna pointed to where the road passed through the ring. A symbol had been drawn on the ground, but had been brushed away… but hastily, by someone in a hurry, and so much of the rune was still visible.
I have sketched the rune on some paper, and we think we can redraw it when we want to enter the circle. But that will wait until after dusk. From where we are hiding we could hear the sounds of a riotous party well underway, but we want the cover of darkness before moving in.