39. A Festive Occasion
Perhaps on the next
occasion that danger threatens the good folk of Camber, it should be announced
that a feast is being prepared. This would seem much more efficacious for
drawing outlying folk to the town than a threat to their safety. I have never
seen the town so crowded, nor so festively decorated.
There are four couples to wed, and each has chosen a color to symbolize their union. All of their families and friends go about wearing ribbons of that color to signify their affiliation with that couple. My companions and I have been given yellow ribbons as we are included in the party of Billy Tanner and his family. But Liadan has been asked to stand with Esther Moonsilver during the ceremony, as none of the young priestess's family have arrived.
My friend Rock has made himself scarce, as the humans say, and I have spent my time with Nikos in his stead. I have introduced Nikos to many of my acquaintances here, and explained his presence simply as a distant relation of Liadan. Many people asked after Sandrue. I wish that he could see that he is missed.
We have learned a little more of the unusual visitors. Phaele in particular had some converse with the Halruuan elder, Aethrid Furnael, and his vizier, Burleau. It seems that such elders are very highly placed in Halruuan society. Elder Furnael's ship sank while crossing the Lake of Steam. I hope that this is not an omen of difficulty for our future, as we must also cross the Lake of Steam to reach our future destination in Calimshan.
Nekaya has become rather fascinated by another of the travelers, a man by the name of Pascal who dresses quite well and seems most sociable from what little I have seen of him. Perhaps she merely finds him handsome. Liadan also appears somewhat concerned with him, but I have not been able to find out what it is that draws her interest.
The four couples were wed today in a joint ceremony, presided over by the mayor, whose cousin is now bonded to Esther. I found the customs here charming but quite unlike those of my homeland. It brought me nostalgic memories of my own bonding to my beloved Erendis. I had felt some melancholy when we came so near to the place I was last parted from her, there in the Cloven Mountains. But the joyousness of the wedding ceremony lifted my spirits. I wish them all the blessings of Corellon Larethian or whatever deity they follow.
Liadan looked quite lovely in her scarlet gown, red being the chosen color of Esther's new family. It is seldom that I see Liadan thus, with her silver hair dressed and her hands empty of mace and shield. She offered the salt, which is one of the items given to the couple to signify good fortune for them, along with grain, wood, wine, and blessed water.
Rock has given the Tanners an enchanted acorn that was given him by the druids of Silvanus. I think that the newlywed couple were somewhat confused by this gift, but I know that my friend gave it out of the goodness of his heart.
Another stranger has arrived in Camber as well as those previously mentioned, but we know nothing of him other than that he is well armed and of an appearance somewhat similar to Nikos. His name is Wyrstalker. I can see nothing of concern about any of these strangers, yet I feel a sense of foreboding that so many of such disparate backgrounds should be present now. There is so little privacy available now that I have been unable to share my concerns with my companions. Perhaps on the morrow we may find a moment to ourselves.
There are four couples to wed, and each has chosen a color to symbolize their union. All of their families and friends go about wearing ribbons of that color to signify their affiliation with that couple. My companions and I have been given yellow ribbons as we are included in the party of Billy Tanner and his family. But Liadan has been asked to stand with Esther Moonsilver during the ceremony, as none of the young priestess's family have arrived.
My friend Rock has made himself scarce, as the humans say, and I have spent my time with Nikos in his stead. I have introduced Nikos to many of my acquaintances here, and explained his presence simply as a distant relation of Liadan. Many people asked after Sandrue. I wish that he could see that he is missed.
We have learned a little more of the unusual visitors. Phaele in particular had some converse with the Halruuan elder, Aethrid Furnael, and his vizier, Burleau. It seems that such elders are very highly placed in Halruuan society. Elder Furnael's ship sank while crossing the Lake of Steam. I hope that this is not an omen of difficulty for our future, as we must also cross the Lake of Steam to reach our future destination in Calimshan.
Nekaya has become rather fascinated by another of the travelers, a man by the name of Pascal who dresses quite well and seems most sociable from what little I have seen of him. Perhaps she merely finds him handsome. Liadan also appears somewhat concerned with him, but I have not been able to find out what it is that draws her interest.
The four couples were wed today in a joint ceremony, presided over by the mayor, whose cousin is now bonded to Esther. I found the customs here charming but quite unlike those of my homeland. It brought me nostalgic memories of my own bonding to my beloved Erendis. I had felt some melancholy when we came so near to the place I was last parted from her, there in the Cloven Mountains. But the joyousness of the wedding ceremony lifted my spirits. I wish them all the blessings of Corellon Larethian or whatever deity they follow.
Liadan looked quite lovely in her scarlet gown, red being the chosen color of Esther's new family. It is seldom that I see Liadan thus, with her silver hair dressed and her hands empty of mace and shield. She offered the salt, which is one of the items given to the couple to signify good fortune for them, along with grain, wood, wine, and blessed water.
Rock has given the Tanners an enchanted acorn that was given him by the druids of Silvanus. I think that the newlywed couple were somewhat confused by this gift, but I know that my friend gave it out of the goodness of his heart.
Another stranger has arrived in Camber as well as those previously mentioned, but we know nothing of him other than that he is well armed and of an appearance somewhat similar to Nikos. His name is Wyrstalker. I can see nothing of concern about any of these strangers, yet I feel a sense of foreboding that so many of such disparate backgrounds should be present now. There is so little privacy available now that I have been unable to share my concerns with my companions. Perhaps on the morrow we may find a moment to ourselves.
40. New Beginnings and Dark Endings
It is difficult to
speak now of the beginning of this part of our story, so dark is its ending.
But I will try to tell it in the order in which it occurred.
Though it was hard to find privacy in which to discuss our own concerns amid the noisy festivities of the wedding parties, my friends and I managed to gather and speak of when and how we wished to depart from Camber. Many of us sought to slip away quietly before dawn, to avoid prolonged farewells. Though we have no specific reason to feel thus, we all have a sense of urgency in seeking more information about Covenant's quest.
But Rock did not wish to depart so secretively, and in any case he had arranged to plant the magical acorn for Billy and Andrea Tanner on the morning following their nuptials. At first he insisted that the rest of us go on ahead and he would catch us up at a later time, but we declined to be separated from him.
Most of us made our way to the Tanner house, our former home during our previous stay in Camber, to witness the planting of the oak tree that morning. It grew instantly to a great height and spread its welcome branches well over the small house, even extending one limb that would be perfectly suited for a swing. I hoped then that the good folk of Camber would never have need to cut this tree. Now perhaps it will not matter.
We rode away without as many difficulties as we had expected. Perhaps the townsfolk were all too engaged in their celebrations to concern themselves with our departure. Nekaya rode away from our party to meet with Pakkin at the appointed place, and spent some moments chastising him when she learned that the goblin had taken crops from a nearby farm. She took him back to the farmhouse, which was presently unoccupied, and left a silver piece to repay the farmers. A useless task, or so it now appears.
Our breakfast had taken longer than we intended, and we had not ridden any great distance from the town by the time midday arrived and we paused to permit Nekaya to make her prayers to Horus-Re. As we completed our light repast, Nekaya and Erim heard a sound like thunder in the distance. We all saw a red glow in the sky lying in the direction of the town. We were at once alarmed, recollecting Gadron's warning. We began to prepare to return even before we saw the brief flare of flames in the heavens.
We rode back to Camber as swiftly as our mounts could manage. Aratan outdistanced all of the other steeds and I was obliged to rein him in as we came within sight of the walls. Nekaya called upon Pakkin to ride to the opposite side of the town and see what he might. Then a group of townsfolk came rushing out from behind a boundary wall beside the road, shouting of fire, fog, demons, and something blocking the gate. We advised them to flee and rode onward.
As we came nearer we could see two walls of ice had appeared in a funnel-like formation before the gate, with a third wall between them forming a doorway. Several creatures stood in this doorway that at first resembled bearded Men, but on closer inspection I saw that they had tails. All of them bore long glaives. Through the gaps in the ice we saw what appeared to be many corpses. Phaele at once hurled a blast of fire at the ice wall, bursting it into a chill mist that hid the bodies from view.
Rock shouted out "Barbezu!", which is evidently the name of the creatures we met. Erim warned that the creatures themselves could not be harmed by fire or ice, but were vulnerable to silver weapons. I drew my bow and the two silver arrows I had acquired and fired upon one of them as they rushed us. Behind me Nikos hurled his darts in a flurry of flying steel, while Nekaya called upon Horus-Re to bless us, and Erim endowed us all with arcane haste.
Phaele tried out a bolt of lightning on these barbezu and found it injured them well enough. Rock's hammer sent one of them swiftly back to the plane from which it came. Two of the barbezu turned their attention toward Phaele, and I spurred Aratan toward them to defend her. Their armored hides were difficult to penetrate with my blades but I managed to slay one. I caught a glimpse of Rock and realized that he had gone into a rage, not the usual cold fury he shows in most battle but a hot blaze that might have melted the ice.
The field was filled with bursts of lightning, shouting, and cold mist. I kept Aratan whirling around the second devil and managed to avoid taking any wound myself, though Aratan was struck once and began to bleed profusely. All the wounds inflicted by the barbezu bled freely. More barbezu appeared suddenly, and someone called out that such creatures can summon more of their kindred if they choose. But we were determined to destroy them all.
Once Liadan and I had disposed of the second devil nearest Phaele, we turned on a third nearby. Then I saw that one of the creatures fighting with Rock had summoned up a dome of ice, entirely covering that area and hiding my friend from view.
Erim attempted to dispel the ice with his magecraft but failed. Phaele hurled a ball of fire at it, shattering a goodly portion of one wall. That part had evidently been weakened by a blow from within the structure. But the interior of the dome filled with mist, making it difficult to see what took place within. Just as Nikos destroyed the last of the barbezu, we saw something larger and bony in form appear within the ice dome.
I leaped down from my saddle and approached the broken structure. As I passed through the mist I felt a fearfull chill. Phaele hurled another bolt of lightning at the dome and it filled with steam as more ice was vaporized. The bony creature made a motion, and suddenly a swarm of shapeless small creatures appeared at its feet, attacking whatever lay nearest to them. I sliced at them furiously with my blades as I tried to make my way toward Rock, for my friend was covered in blood and appeared near to collapse.
A gust of wind from behind me cleared the mist and steam, revealing that the creature Rock battled appeared to be made entirely of bone and had a long tail with a poisonous stinger at the end. Liadan rushed into the area and bestowed Lathander's healing on Rock, who seemed oblivious of his woeful state. I heard a crash outside, which I soon learned was the sound of Pekuah's hooves striking the icy wall. Phaele called upon her 'thunder lance' to strike the bony monstrosity. Rock continued to rush at it in a frenzy, while Liadan followed him about, calling upon Lathander's mercy.
Abruptly the bone creature vanished, reappearing just behind where Nikos stood. Phaele turned her magical lance on it once again. Nikos also struck at it and was wounded in return. This I could only see in glimpses, for I was still occupied with eliminating all of its small minions. When I looked again the bone creature was gone. Rock smashed the last of its minions to pulp.
The field of combat fell eerily silent. Nekaya advised us that she had examined the bodies before the gate and found no survivors. As we stared at the scorched roof of the barracks, just visible over the wall, we saw a strange greenish mist rising above the remains of Camber.
Though it was hard to find privacy in which to discuss our own concerns amid the noisy festivities of the wedding parties, my friends and I managed to gather and speak of when and how we wished to depart from Camber. Many of us sought to slip away quietly before dawn, to avoid prolonged farewells. Though we have no specific reason to feel thus, we all have a sense of urgency in seeking more information about Covenant's quest.
But Rock did not wish to depart so secretively, and in any case he had arranged to plant the magical acorn for Billy and Andrea Tanner on the morning following their nuptials. At first he insisted that the rest of us go on ahead and he would catch us up at a later time, but we declined to be separated from him.
Most of us made our way to the Tanner house, our former home during our previous stay in Camber, to witness the planting of the oak tree that morning. It grew instantly to a great height and spread its welcome branches well over the small house, even extending one limb that would be perfectly suited for a swing. I hoped then that the good folk of Camber would never have need to cut this tree. Now perhaps it will not matter.
We rode away without as many difficulties as we had expected. Perhaps the townsfolk were all too engaged in their celebrations to concern themselves with our departure. Nekaya rode away from our party to meet with Pakkin at the appointed place, and spent some moments chastising him when she learned that the goblin had taken crops from a nearby farm. She took him back to the farmhouse, which was presently unoccupied, and left a silver piece to repay the farmers. A useless task, or so it now appears.
Our breakfast had taken longer than we intended, and we had not ridden any great distance from the town by the time midday arrived and we paused to permit Nekaya to make her prayers to Horus-Re. As we completed our light repast, Nekaya and Erim heard a sound like thunder in the distance. We all saw a red glow in the sky lying in the direction of the town. We were at once alarmed, recollecting Gadron's warning. We began to prepare to return even before we saw the brief flare of flames in the heavens.
We rode back to Camber as swiftly as our mounts could manage. Aratan outdistanced all of the other steeds and I was obliged to rein him in as we came within sight of the walls. Nekaya called upon Pakkin to ride to the opposite side of the town and see what he might. Then a group of townsfolk came rushing out from behind a boundary wall beside the road, shouting of fire, fog, demons, and something blocking the gate. We advised them to flee and rode onward.
As we came nearer we could see two walls of ice had appeared in a funnel-like formation before the gate, with a third wall between them forming a doorway. Several creatures stood in this doorway that at first resembled bearded Men, but on closer inspection I saw that they had tails. All of them bore long glaives. Through the gaps in the ice we saw what appeared to be many corpses. Phaele at once hurled a blast of fire at the ice wall, bursting it into a chill mist that hid the bodies from view.
Rock shouted out "Barbezu!", which is evidently the name of the creatures we met. Erim warned that the creatures themselves could not be harmed by fire or ice, but were vulnerable to silver weapons. I drew my bow and the two silver arrows I had acquired and fired upon one of them as they rushed us. Behind me Nikos hurled his darts in a flurry of flying steel, while Nekaya called upon Horus-Re to bless us, and Erim endowed us all with arcane haste.
Phaele tried out a bolt of lightning on these barbezu and found it injured them well enough. Rock's hammer sent one of them swiftly back to the plane from which it came. Two of the barbezu turned their attention toward Phaele, and I spurred Aratan toward them to defend her. Their armored hides were difficult to penetrate with my blades but I managed to slay one. I caught a glimpse of Rock and realized that he had gone into a rage, not the usual cold fury he shows in most battle but a hot blaze that might have melted the ice.
The field was filled with bursts of lightning, shouting, and cold mist. I kept Aratan whirling around the second devil and managed to avoid taking any wound myself, though Aratan was struck once and began to bleed profusely. All the wounds inflicted by the barbezu bled freely. More barbezu appeared suddenly, and someone called out that such creatures can summon more of their kindred if they choose. But we were determined to destroy them all.
Once Liadan and I had disposed of the second devil nearest Phaele, we turned on a third nearby. Then I saw that one of the creatures fighting with Rock had summoned up a dome of ice, entirely covering that area and hiding my friend from view.
Erim attempted to dispel the ice with his magecraft but failed. Phaele hurled a ball of fire at it, shattering a goodly portion of one wall. That part had evidently been weakened by a blow from within the structure. But the interior of the dome filled with mist, making it difficult to see what took place within. Just as Nikos destroyed the last of the barbezu, we saw something larger and bony in form appear within the ice dome.
I leaped down from my saddle and approached the broken structure. As I passed through the mist I felt a fearfull chill. Phaele hurled another bolt of lightning at the dome and it filled with steam as more ice was vaporized. The bony creature made a motion, and suddenly a swarm of shapeless small creatures appeared at its feet, attacking whatever lay nearest to them. I sliced at them furiously with my blades as I tried to make my way toward Rock, for my friend was covered in blood and appeared near to collapse.
A gust of wind from behind me cleared the mist and steam, revealing that the creature Rock battled appeared to be made entirely of bone and had a long tail with a poisonous stinger at the end. Liadan rushed into the area and bestowed Lathander's healing on Rock, who seemed oblivious of his woeful state. I heard a crash outside, which I soon learned was the sound of Pekuah's hooves striking the icy wall. Phaele called upon her 'thunder lance' to strike the bony monstrosity. Rock continued to rush at it in a frenzy, while Liadan followed him about, calling upon Lathander's mercy.
Abruptly the bone creature vanished, reappearing just behind where Nikos stood. Phaele turned her magical lance on it once again. Nikos also struck at it and was wounded in return. This I could only see in glimpses, for I was still occupied with eliminating all of its small minions. When I looked again the bone creature was gone. Rock smashed the last of its minions to pulp.
The field of combat fell eerily silent. Nekaya advised us that she had examined the bodies before the gate and found no survivors. As we stared at the scorched roof of the barracks, just visible over the wall, we saw a strange greenish mist rising above the remains of Camber.
41. Horrors Within the Walls
With the sounds of
battle gone, all fell silent. The wall of ice to the west faded into
nothingness - Erim told us that this was because the demons that had created it
were now destroyed. Nekaya confirmed that none of the two dozen or so townsfolk
that lay before the gates had survived. They had managed to slay two of the
bearded devils before they fell, small consolation though this knowledge was to
us.
As we began to move cautiously toward the gate, we saw that there were no bodies beyond it within our field of sight. Phaele warned us that the greenish cloud we saw hovering over the town was a type of spell called a 'cloudkill', though it seemed oddly streaked with black in a manner she did not recognize. We dared not breathe this green cloud, for it was poisonous. To our fortune it did not cover the entrance to the town. Then Rock hear the sound of metal striking on metal coming from the militia barracks and broke into a run.
As we raced into the barracks we were met by a startling sight: the dwarven defender Stone, who had always manned the walls so faithfully in his stolid manner, his unarmored form now pierced by many arrows and with a sword embedded full to the hilt in his side. It was obvious that he no longer lived, yet he still moved. Rock rushed forward to free his kinsman from this horrid unlife. Nikos added his many darts to the blows of my friend's hammer. Nekaya turned down another corridor and proceeded toward the muffled sounds of battle.
Phaele hurled a jet of flame at Stone as Liadan ran past me, calling out to me to aid Rock. But seeing that my friend did not need my assistance, I turned instead down the corridor to the right and followed Liadan and Nekaya. I am able to move more swiftly than Liadan in her heavy banded armor, and thus saw at once that Nekaya faced a crowd of the town militiamen, all of them now reduced to an undead state as was Stone. They had been attempting to climb over a table that had been overturned in the stairwell, but when Nekaya approached they turned to meet her. She called upon the power of Horus-Re and they cowered away from her.
I leapt forward and slashed one of these poor unfortunates to pieces with my longsword. I heard Nikos running down the hallway behind us, indicating to me that Rock must have sent Stone to the halls of his ancestors. Then Liadan cried out in the name of Lathander, commanding the undead things to be gone, and they all fell as one. When they lay still we saw that none of them bore any wound beyond the one man I had struck. Phaele speculated that the strange appearance of the 'cloudkill' might explain this: the spell had somehow been combined with another, one that turned those slain by the poison into unliving minions of evil.
It was silent again, the sounds of combat we had heard now gone. Nekaya called out but received no response. We clambered over the bodies and the overturned table and proceeded into Serrah Puffleweis's office. Many had fallen there, hacked to pieces but with little blood - they must have been transformed by the cloud before they fell. There was no sign of Commander Puffleweis herself, but Rock found a trail of blood leading up the stairway toward the barracks roof.
Rock rushed up onto the roof and found Serrah in the northest corner, breathing with difficulty. Liadan and Nekaya both called upon the healing mercies of their gods to aid Serrah, but they could not entirely remove the effects of the poisoned cloud. The captain was very weak. She advised us hoarsely that any other survivors would have retreated to the winter shelter beneath the town hall.
Nekaya reminded Rock of the tea leaves the druids of Silvanus had given him, and with Erim's magical aid he quickly brewed a restorative tea for Serrah to consume. Nikos and I scanned the town during this time and saw that there were in fact three or four of the greenish-black clouds hovering about. We also saw that one structure had been almost entirely destroyed, though I could not determine what building it had been.
Once Serrah had recovered somewhat, she told us that the attack had come quite abruptly, preceded by the appearance of a strange symbol in the air outside the gate. We then carried her down and out of the walls to where our horses awaited us. Rock placed her on his placid pony Spirit and insisted that she flee at once, but she refused to go until other survivors had been found within the walls. The little group we had met outside when we arrived appeared to surround her, their number having now increased to nine.
Liadan then suggested that perhaps the temple of Chauntea might have some potions to counter the effects of the poison cloud. Though we were reluctant to separate, we decided to divide ourselves into two groups that we might search the town more swiftly. Phaele, Nikos and Nekaya would seek the home of the wizard Olson, as Phaele knew that he kept anti-venom always in supply due to his fear of snakes. The rest of our number, myself included, would go to the temple. Once our searches were completed we would meet at the town hall.
As we hurried toward the temple we saw that one of the clouds was also moving in that direction. Phaele had already warned us that these clouds seemed to have an intelligence of sorts, being 'living' spells, or so it seemed. Erim created a magical disk on which Liadan could ride so she would not fall behind. We made all haste to the temple. In the courtyard we found yet another sight to turn the stomach of even the hardiest warrior: a young girl, whom we recognized as Missy Briar, lay dead and being devoured by one of the town's many roaming dogs. The dog too was no longer living, its stomach horribly bloated with the flesh it had consumed, wisps of green gas still flowing off its body.
The undead dog let out an eerie howl and charged us. Its cry brought the rest of our companions running to our aid. Nekaya and I both rushed to meet the bloated hound, while Nikos fired swift arrows at it and it fell. Then a great pack of other undead dogs appeared, summoned by the howl, and advanced on us in a hideous parody of life. Phaele summoned a wall of flames between us and the dogs. Some of the dogs attempted to leap through it, but within moments all of the terrible beasts had been consumed by fire.
Both groups broke into a run, my immediate companions and I hurrying into the temple to complete our task. Rock remained at the door to watch for the advancing cloud. Liadan quickly uncovered several potions and a wand that would aid us. She distributed these among us, handing three potions of lesser healing to me and one of slightly greater power. She also employed the wand to heal some of Rock's wounds, for he was still suffering from the effects of battling the demons.
While we gathered up these items at the temple, our other friends ran to the home of the younger wizard Olson. There they found to their dismay that his corpse had been pinned to the door of his own workshop by large arrows, which they suspected had come from the bow of the mysterious stranger called Wyrstalker who had arrived on the previous evening. Olson still grasped a magic wand in one hand, and another had fallen at his feet. Phaele took up these. Within his shop they found several vials of anti-venom, as well as a staff, a magical pouch, and Stone's dwarven armor, which was apparently in the process of being enchanted. Nikos wrapped up the armor with the intention of presenting it to Rock.
When they had taken what they could from Olson's workshop, they departed for the shop of the elder wizard, Master Sonnohm. In the street nearby they found one of the visitors to the town, a woman warrior who had been serving as bodyguard to the Halruuan elder. She had evidently been slain by magic. When they came to Sonnohm's tower they found that it was the destroyed building Nikos and I had seen from the barracks roof. Nothing remained but a box chained to the foundations, which gave Nikos a shock when he attempted to touch it. They left it and turned toward the town hall.
As my party made our way toward the town hall ourselves, we came upon two more of the strangers, the two rough warrior men from Amn. They had both been slain by arrows, it seemed, but the arrows had been removed. One man bore a look of extreme horror upon his face, while his companion had been burned in a manner the mages identified as electrical damage. Erim determined that a hammer and one man's breastplate were enchanted, so Liadan took up the hammer and flung the body onto Erim's magic disk beside her. As we continued our journey she set the magic disk to wobbling as she tried to remove the man's breastplate.
When we met our friends in the courtyard outside the town hall, Nikos handed Stone's armor to Rock. Phaele and Liadan distributed the vials of anti-venom and potions among our party, and we debated whether to swallow some of the potions now, for they were intended to prevent the effects of poison rather than to heal such effects. We noted that one of the clouds was approaching. Phaele remarked that she felt we should attempt to destroy it as soon as we could.
Then we heard a male voice speaking to someone named Mirrus. A female voice replied to him that "the signs point to it being here". Then the cloud dispersed, revealing a woman clad in dark armor - and just for a moment, the form of Elder Furnael of Halruua.
As we began to move cautiously toward the gate, we saw that there were no bodies beyond it within our field of sight. Phaele warned us that the greenish cloud we saw hovering over the town was a type of spell called a 'cloudkill', though it seemed oddly streaked with black in a manner she did not recognize. We dared not breathe this green cloud, for it was poisonous. To our fortune it did not cover the entrance to the town. Then Rock hear the sound of metal striking on metal coming from the militia barracks and broke into a run.
As we raced into the barracks we were met by a startling sight: the dwarven defender Stone, who had always manned the walls so faithfully in his stolid manner, his unarmored form now pierced by many arrows and with a sword embedded full to the hilt in his side. It was obvious that he no longer lived, yet he still moved. Rock rushed forward to free his kinsman from this horrid unlife. Nikos added his many darts to the blows of my friend's hammer. Nekaya turned down another corridor and proceeded toward the muffled sounds of battle.
Phaele hurled a jet of flame at Stone as Liadan ran past me, calling out to me to aid Rock. But seeing that my friend did not need my assistance, I turned instead down the corridor to the right and followed Liadan and Nekaya. I am able to move more swiftly than Liadan in her heavy banded armor, and thus saw at once that Nekaya faced a crowd of the town militiamen, all of them now reduced to an undead state as was Stone. They had been attempting to climb over a table that had been overturned in the stairwell, but when Nekaya approached they turned to meet her. She called upon the power of Horus-Re and they cowered away from her.
I leapt forward and slashed one of these poor unfortunates to pieces with my longsword. I heard Nikos running down the hallway behind us, indicating to me that Rock must have sent Stone to the halls of his ancestors. Then Liadan cried out in the name of Lathander, commanding the undead things to be gone, and they all fell as one. When they lay still we saw that none of them bore any wound beyond the one man I had struck. Phaele speculated that the strange appearance of the 'cloudkill' might explain this: the spell had somehow been combined with another, one that turned those slain by the poison into unliving minions of evil.
It was silent again, the sounds of combat we had heard now gone. Nekaya called out but received no response. We clambered over the bodies and the overturned table and proceeded into Serrah Puffleweis's office. Many had fallen there, hacked to pieces but with little blood - they must have been transformed by the cloud before they fell. There was no sign of Commander Puffleweis herself, but Rock found a trail of blood leading up the stairway toward the barracks roof.
Rock rushed up onto the roof and found Serrah in the northest corner, breathing with difficulty. Liadan and Nekaya both called upon the healing mercies of their gods to aid Serrah, but they could not entirely remove the effects of the poisoned cloud. The captain was very weak. She advised us hoarsely that any other survivors would have retreated to the winter shelter beneath the town hall.
Nekaya reminded Rock of the tea leaves the druids of Silvanus had given him, and with Erim's magical aid he quickly brewed a restorative tea for Serrah to consume. Nikos and I scanned the town during this time and saw that there were in fact three or four of the greenish-black clouds hovering about. We also saw that one structure had been almost entirely destroyed, though I could not determine what building it had been.
Once Serrah had recovered somewhat, she told us that the attack had come quite abruptly, preceded by the appearance of a strange symbol in the air outside the gate. We then carried her down and out of the walls to where our horses awaited us. Rock placed her on his placid pony Spirit and insisted that she flee at once, but she refused to go until other survivors had been found within the walls. The little group we had met outside when we arrived appeared to surround her, their number having now increased to nine.
Liadan then suggested that perhaps the temple of Chauntea might have some potions to counter the effects of the poison cloud. Though we were reluctant to separate, we decided to divide ourselves into two groups that we might search the town more swiftly. Phaele, Nikos and Nekaya would seek the home of the wizard Olson, as Phaele knew that he kept anti-venom always in supply due to his fear of snakes. The rest of our number, myself included, would go to the temple. Once our searches were completed we would meet at the town hall.
As we hurried toward the temple we saw that one of the clouds was also moving in that direction. Phaele had already warned us that these clouds seemed to have an intelligence of sorts, being 'living' spells, or so it seemed. Erim created a magical disk on which Liadan could ride so she would not fall behind. We made all haste to the temple. In the courtyard we found yet another sight to turn the stomach of even the hardiest warrior: a young girl, whom we recognized as Missy Briar, lay dead and being devoured by one of the town's many roaming dogs. The dog too was no longer living, its stomach horribly bloated with the flesh it had consumed, wisps of green gas still flowing off its body.
The undead dog let out an eerie howl and charged us. Its cry brought the rest of our companions running to our aid. Nekaya and I both rushed to meet the bloated hound, while Nikos fired swift arrows at it and it fell. Then a great pack of other undead dogs appeared, summoned by the howl, and advanced on us in a hideous parody of life. Phaele summoned a wall of flames between us and the dogs. Some of the dogs attempted to leap through it, but within moments all of the terrible beasts had been consumed by fire.
Both groups broke into a run, my immediate companions and I hurrying into the temple to complete our task. Rock remained at the door to watch for the advancing cloud. Liadan quickly uncovered several potions and a wand that would aid us. She distributed these among us, handing three potions of lesser healing to me and one of slightly greater power. She also employed the wand to heal some of Rock's wounds, for he was still suffering from the effects of battling the demons.
While we gathered up these items at the temple, our other friends ran to the home of the younger wizard Olson. There they found to their dismay that his corpse had been pinned to the door of his own workshop by large arrows, which they suspected had come from the bow of the mysterious stranger called Wyrstalker who had arrived on the previous evening. Olson still grasped a magic wand in one hand, and another had fallen at his feet. Phaele took up these. Within his shop they found several vials of anti-venom, as well as a staff, a magical pouch, and Stone's dwarven armor, which was apparently in the process of being enchanted. Nikos wrapped up the armor with the intention of presenting it to Rock.
When they had taken what they could from Olson's workshop, they departed for the shop of the elder wizard, Master Sonnohm. In the street nearby they found one of the visitors to the town, a woman warrior who had been serving as bodyguard to the Halruuan elder. She had evidently been slain by magic. When they came to Sonnohm's tower they found that it was the destroyed building Nikos and I had seen from the barracks roof. Nothing remained but a box chained to the foundations, which gave Nikos a shock when he attempted to touch it. They left it and turned toward the town hall.
As my party made our way toward the town hall ourselves, we came upon two more of the strangers, the two rough warrior men from Amn. They had both been slain by arrows, it seemed, but the arrows had been removed. One man bore a look of extreme horror upon his face, while his companion had been burned in a manner the mages identified as electrical damage. Erim determined that a hammer and one man's breastplate were enchanted, so Liadan took up the hammer and flung the body onto Erim's magic disk beside her. As we continued our journey she set the magic disk to wobbling as she tried to remove the man's breastplate.
When we met our friends in the courtyard outside the town hall, Nikos handed Stone's armor to Rock. Phaele and Liadan distributed the vials of anti-venom and potions among our party, and we debated whether to swallow some of the potions now, for they were intended to prevent the effects of poison rather than to heal such effects. We noted that one of the clouds was approaching. Phaele remarked that she felt we should attempt to destroy it as soon as we could.
Then we heard a male voice speaking to someone named Mirrus. A female voice replied to him that "the signs point to it being here". Then the cloud dispersed, revealing a woman clad in dark armor - and just for a moment, the form of Elder Furnael of Halruua.
42. A Feast of Families
I must confess I do
not personally recall seeing Elder Furnael with the woman. My own memory tells
me that she rushed out of the cloud crying out for aid. But my companions tell
me that this was the result of some enchantment. Nikos and Erim recall the
event as I do, but the woman's subsequent actions indicate that Phaele and
Nekaya must be correct and that the woman somehow enchanted my memory to suit
her purposes. It was fortunate that not all of us succumbed to her spell.
Seeing as the evil cloud of death hovered so near, I had been reaching into my belt pouch for the antivenom potion Liadan had given me when I saw the woman. Phaele at once conjured a ball of lightning to hurl at the woman, and I was so confused by her reaction that I hesitated. Phaele shouted out a warning that she was not to be trusted. Having no better thought of what to do, I swallowed the potion.
Rock then rushed the woman. The green cloud began to extend a tendril toward him. The woman chanted some arcane syllables and was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness. Erim, still under the woman's spell, began to go forward to her aid. Nekaya shouted at him angrily, trying to convince him that the woman was our enemy. Liadan drew her quicksilver mace and began to strike at the cloud, causing it to dissipate where her weapon met its substance.
I began to move nearer to the area of darkness, wishing to help my friends, though I was still confused as to their cause for attacking the woman. I saw Nikos draw his blades Favor and Fortune and move into the cloud to aid Liadan's efforts, but they both found that the cloud was not so insubstantial as one might expect. It seemed able to grip them somehow and impeded their movement. Phaele spoke some sorcerous words, attempting to drive away the darkness, but her spell failed to take effect.
Nekaya had begun to recite prayers to Elishar and spin her hakra above her head, and now a sunny glow issued from the weapon and surrounded her as she moved toward the dark. Erim also tried to banish the darkness without success. But Liadan and Nikos had succeeded in destroying the cloud with their blows, thus freeing us from fear of its poison. Now the darkness began to move toward them. Phaele called out a warning to Rock, advising him that the woman would be able to see within her dark shroud even if he could not.
A voice from within the dark shouted out a blasphemous utterance, and I felt myself grow weak and foolish. I heard the woman's voice exclaim, "Why could this not be simple?" in a peevish tone, followed by something that resembled a prayer of healing. I called out to Rock, but he did not respond.
Liadan courageously stepped into the darkness and I heard her mace strike against something metallic. Nekaya had begun to pass into the dark area also, as the glow from her hakra spread. I thought I heard Rock's hammer strike against something. The woman uttered more arcane words and I was left standing in bewilderment, unable to determine what to do.
Phaele began to follow Nekaya's glowing form into the darkness, for the light of Nekaya's weapon was driving the dark away. Then a column of flames suddenly burst from within the darkness. I stepped forward, my wits having only just returned to me, and called out to the woman, demanding to know what was happening. She did not answer me. Nekaya's light had now entirely banished the darkness and I could see her flanked by Liadan and Rock. When she became visible, Pheale conjured a lightning bolt to strike her, and Nikos flung several of his darts.
I felt my strength returning and moved to aid my companions. As I did so, Phaele had summoned up her thunder lance but failed to strike the woman, who wore a suit of heavy armor. Rock threw down his hammer and wrapped his arms about the woman, but she shrugged him off. Determined, he grappled her again and this time she could not get free. Erim called upon her to surrender but she continued to struggle in Rock's grip. I had by this time reached her and slashed at her with my blade but I could not penetrate her armor.
Now all of my companions but Nekaya plied their weapons against her in a fury. Phaele used her lance to knock the woman into unconsciousness, and Rock pinned her upon the ground. We could now see that her armor was marked with symbols, which Liadan identified as the holy emblems of the sinister goddess Shar. She carried an odd weapon, according to Liadan the chosen weapon of Shar, a ring-shaped blade called a chakram. Rock kicked it away. He bound her with the troll-gut rope we had been given by the townsfolk.
Now that we had defeated her, we prepared to enter the town hall and seek for survivors. Rock and Liadan, however, chose to go out after the remaining clouds so that they could not come to the bolthole and attack the townsfolk. Before he departed Rock took everything he could find from the captive woman.
Inside the main hall of Camber's town hall, we found an unnatural silence. Phaele identified it as being under a spell, though much larger in area than such spells are usually made. Nikos bore our captive over his shoulders as we descended to the safe area. We could see that the door ahead was scorched. Then Nikos called out that he sensed something unseen in the corridor with us. He and Nekaya both called out for this invisible presence to show itself. Two men appeared in the chamber ahead of us. I did not know them, but Phaele recognized one as Burleau, vizier to the Elder Furnael, and Nekaya knew the other as the man Pascal whom she had so disliked for his spellcasting during the festival.
Nikos demanded that they tell us who they sought. Burleau casually asked if we knew who waited within the chamber beyond the scorched door. He then asked if we knew of Gadron, and Nekaya, not being one to dissemble, admitted that we knew him and that his stronghold lay in the Winterwood. This was not news to the two men. Phaele and Nikos then ordered them to surrender themselves to us, and Nekaya demanded that they tell us if they were responsible for the attack on the town. Burleau showed no remorse when he answered in the affirmative.
Phaele angrily summoned a lightning bolt to strike Pascal, and Nikos fired his bow. Phaele then surrounded the two men with a circular wall of electricity. Pascal responded by sending a line of fire down the corridor, burning us all. I drew my bow and fired into the electrical circle, but could not strike either man. Nekaya dodged past the flames and rushed into the room where the two men stood. Then Liadan and Rock reappeared, accompanied by an unknown man.
Nikos and I continued to fire arrows while Phaele plied more lightning, though both Burleau and Pascal seemed preturnaturally agile at avoiding our attacks. Pascal began to ask Erim if he was Gadron's apprentice, and also chanted a spell that transformed his fists into stone. Nekaya charged into the circle, heedless that it injured her, and attacked Burleau, who attempted unsuccessfully to relieve her of her hakra. Erim mouthed the words of a spell to slow their agility, but his spell had no effect.
Rock charged down the corridor and into the circle of dancing electricity. Liadan ran behind him. The stranger with them began firing arrows. Phaele chanted a spell that made a terrific noise and left Pascal deafened, but this did not prevent him from casting his own spell back at her. She stood as one dumbstruck, and I rushed into the circle to attack Pascal with my blades. When Nekaya swiped at him with her hakra a moment later he fell. Left alone, Burleau began to back away, but Liadan summoned her magic mace behind him. Rock, Nekaya and I all attacked him almost as one and he was slain.
Nekaya dragged Pascal out of the electrical circle, but he too was dead. Rock then went to the charred door and knocked, but his knuckles made no sound on the wood. The door was evidently guarded by some powerful magical protection. I went to Phaele to see if she had been hurt, and found that though she responded in some manner to my voice, she seemed unable to speak or move on her own. While I watched over her my companions attempted to force the door open, though they failed to make any impression upon it.
Suddenly a greenish cloud appeared at the end of the corridor, with a bright light at its center. As we all turned, expecting to face another of the deadly cloud spells, a wall of flame shot down the corridor and completely filled the chamber. Though I cringed from it, I found that it did me no harm, nor did it injure any of my friends. Only the stranger who had arrived with Rock and Liadan was burned. When the flames cleared, Gadron appeared.
The wizard told us that the evil folk we had slain had hunted him. We had already discovered that our captive, who had been caught by Pascal's flame and then Gadron's, was dead. Gadron did not say why these people sought him. He seemed older than when we had last seen him, and weary to the bone. We asked him if he could aid Phaele, and he summoned his familiar, an owl, which seemed to converse with Zahi the hummingbird for a few moments. Then Gadron touched a diamond to Phaele's forehead and she was restored to herself.
We despaired when Gadron told us that there had been no survivors of the townsfolk beyond those we had found outside the walls - the door was sealed to hold in some horror, not to save the people of Camber. Nekaya grew angry when it seemed to her that the wizard had failed to do anything to save the townspeople. He denied this claim but gave no further explanation. For myself I think that though his efforts may have been less than ideal, he was doubtless nearly outmatched by these fiends.
Gadron also told us that he had been unable to find any information about our missing companions. He suspected they were in some place where no magical scrying could detect them. When Liadan asked about Califax, he insisted that she could not possibly have seen Covenant's steed for the horse still waited at his stronghold. Gadron then asked Erim and Phaele to assist him in cleansing the area of Camber, and took them to the prayer rock. Nikos went with them to keep watch. The rest of us went out to search in the event that Gadron's claim of no survivors was incorrect.
While I did not see any of this, Nikos told us later that while they cast their spell he saw a vision of two places at once. He was both at the prayer rock and at Gadron's stronghold, which he had of course never seen before. He found himself at a pasture which held a great old horse, which he realized must be Califax. The horse did not behave in at all the same manner as when we had last encountered him. When Nikos attempted to lead him out of the pen he seemed reluctant to depart, but followed along docilely. Then the vision of Gadron's stronghold faded, and Nikos found himself standing within the walls of Camber holding Califax's halter!
Gadron announced that we must leave the town within the hour. He then surprised us all by asking Phaele to become his apprentice! He claimed that he had some great mission, of far greater import than our own efforts, in which Phaele could aid him. Phaele declined, but Gadron did not take his refusal as a permanent choice and remarked that he expected he would see Phaele again. I have little doubt that we will all see Gadron again.
Seeing as the evil cloud of death hovered so near, I had been reaching into my belt pouch for the antivenom potion Liadan had given me when I saw the woman. Phaele at once conjured a ball of lightning to hurl at the woman, and I was so confused by her reaction that I hesitated. Phaele shouted out a warning that she was not to be trusted. Having no better thought of what to do, I swallowed the potion.
Rock then rushed the woman. The green cloud began to extend a tendril toward him. The woman chanted some arcane syllables and was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness. Erim, still under the woman's spell, began to go forward to her aid. Nekaya shouted at him angrily, trying to convince him that the woman was our enemy. Liadan drew her quicksilver mace and began to strike at the cloud, causing it to dissipate where her weapon met its substance.
I began to move nearer to the area of darkness, wishing to help my friends, though I was still confused as to their cause for attacking the woman. I saw Nikos draw his blades Favor and Fortune and move into the cloud to aid Liadan's efforts, but they both found that the cloud was not so insubstantial as one might expect. It seemed able to grip them somehow and impeded their movement. Phaele spoke some sorcerous words, attempting to drive away the darkness, but her spell failed to take effect.
Nekaya had begun to recite prayers to Elishar and spin her hakra above her head, and now a sunny glow issued from the weapon and surrounded her as she moved toward the dark. Erim also tried to banish the darkness without success. But Liadan and Nikos had succeeded in destroying the cloud with their blows, thus freeing us from fear of its poison. Now the darkness began to move toward them. Phaele called out a warning to Rock, advising him that the woman would be able to see within her dark shroud even if he could not.
A voice from within the dark shouted out a blasphemous utterance, and I felt myself grow weak and foolish. I heard the woman's voice exclaim, "Why could this not be simple?" in a peevish tone, followed by something that resembled a prayer of healing. I called out to Rock, but he did not respond.
Liadan courageously stepped into the darkness and I heard her mace strike against something metallic. Nekaya had begun to pass into the dark area also, as the glow from her hakra spread. I thought I heard Rock's hammer strike against something. The woman uttered more arcane words and I was left standing in bewilderment, unable to determine what to do.
Phaele began to follow Nekaya's glowing form into the darkness, for the light of Nekaya's weapon was driving the dark away. Then a column of flames suddenly burst from within the darkness. I stepped forward, my wits having only just returned to me, and called out to the woman, demanding to know what was happening. She did not answer me. Nekaya's light had now entirely banished the darkness and I could see her flanked by Liadan and Rock. When she became visible, Pheale conjured a lightning bolt to strike her, and Nikos flung several of his darts.
I felt my strength returning and moved to aid my companions. As I did so, Phaele had summoned up her thunder lance but failed to strike the woman, who wore a suit of heavy armor. Rock threw down his hammer and wrapped his arms about the woman, but she shrugged him off. Determined, he grappled her again and this time she could not get free. Erim called upon her to surrender but she continued to struggle in Rock's grip. I had by this time reached her and slashed at her with my blade but I could not penetrate her armor.
Now all of my companions but Nekaya plied their weapons against her in a fury. Phaele used her lance to knock the woman into unconsciousness, and Rock pinned her upon the ground. We could now see that her armor was marked with symbols, which Liadan identified as the holy emblems of the sinister goddess Shar. She carried an odd weapon, according to Liadan the chosen weapon of Shar, a ring-shaped blade called a chakram. Rock kicked it away. He bound her with the troll-gut rope we had been given by the townsfolk.
Now that we had defeated her, we prepared to enter the town hall and seek for survivors. Rock and Liadan, however, chose to go out after the remaining clouds so that they could not come to the bolthole and attack the townsfolk. Before he departed Rock took everything he could find from the captive woman.
Inside the main hall of Camber's town hall, we found an unnatural silence. Phaele identified it as being under a spell, though much larger in area than such spells are usually made. Nikos bore our captive over his shoulders as we descended to the safe area. We could see that the door ahead was scorched. Then Nikos called out that he sensed something unseen in the corridor with us. He and Nekaya both called out for this invisible presence to show itself. Two men appeared in the chamber ahead of us. I did not know them, but Phaele recognized one as Burleau, vizier to the Elder Furnael, and Nekaya knew the other as the man Pascal whom she had so disliked for his spellcasting during the festival.
Nikos demanded that they tell us who they sought. Burleau casually asked if we knew who waited within the chamber beyond the scorched door. He then asked if we knew of Gadron, and Nekaya, not being one to dissemble, admitted that we knew him and that his stronghold lay in the Winterwood. This was not news to the two men. Phaele and Nikos then ordered them to surrender themselves to us, and Nekaya demanded that they tell us if they were responsible for the attack on the town. Burleau showed no remorse when he answered in the affirmative.
Phaele angrily summoned a lightning bolt to strike Pascal, and Nikos fired his bow. Phaele then surrounded the two men with a circular wall of electricity. Pascal responded by sending a line of fire down the corridor, burning us all. I drew my bow and fired into the electrical circle, but could not strike either man. Nekaya dodged past the flames and rushed into the room where the two men stood. Then Liadan and Rock reappeared, accompanied by an unknown man.
Nikos and I continued to fire arrows while Phaele plied more lightning, though both Burleau and Pascal seemed preturnaturally agile at avoiding our attacks. Pascal began to ask Erim if he was Gadron's apprentice, and also chanted a spell that transformed his fists into stone. Nekaya charged into the circle, heedless that it injured her, and attacked Burleau, who attempted unsuccessfully to relieve her of her hakra. Erim mouthed the words of a spell to slow their agility, but his spell had no effect.
Rock charged down the corridor and into the circle of dancing electricity. Liadan ran behind him. The stranger with them began firing arrows. Phaele chanted a spell that made a terrific noise and left Pascal deafened, but this did not prevent him from casting his own spell back at her. She stood as one dumbstruck, and I rushed into the circle to attack Pascal with my blades. When Nekaya swiped at him with her hakra a moment later he fell. Left alone, Burleau began to back away, but Liadan summoned her magic mace behind him. Rock, Nekaya and I all attacked him almost as one and he was slain.
Nekaya dragged Pascal out of the electrical circle, but he too was dead. Rock then went to the charred door and knocked, but his knuckles made no sound on the wood. The door was evidently guarded by some powerful magical protection. I went to Phaele to see if she had been hurt, and found that though she responded in some manner to my voice, she seemed unable to speak or move on her own. While I watched over her my companions attempted to force the door open, though they failed to make any impression upon it.
Suddenly a greenish cloud appeared at the end of the corridor, with a bright light at its center. As we all turned, expecting to face another of the deadly cloud spells, a wall of flame shot down the corridor and completely filled the chamber. Though I cringed from it, I found that it did me no harm, nor did it injure any of my friends. Only the stranger who had arrived with Rock and Liadan was burned. When the flames cleared, Gadron appeared.
The wizard told us that the evil folk we had slain had hunted him. We had already discovered that our captive, who had been caught by Pascal's flame and then Gadron's, was dead. Gadron did not say why these people sought him. He seemed older than when we had last seen him, and weary to the bone. We asked him if he could aid Phaele, and he summoned his familiar, an owl, which seemed to converse with Zahi the hummingbird for a few moments. Then Gadron touched a diamond to Phaele's forehead and she was restored to herself.
We despaired when Gadron told us that there had been no survivors of the townsfolk beyond those we had found outside the walls - the door was sealed to hold in some horror, not to save the people of Camber. Nekaya grew angry when it seemed to her that the wizard had failed to do anything to save the townspeople. He denied this claim but gave no further explanation. For myself I think that though his efforts may have been less than ideal, he was doubtless nearly outmatched by these fiends.
Gadron also told us that he had been unable to find any information about our missing companions. He suspected they were in some place where no magical scrying could detect them. When Liadan asked about Califax, he insisted that she could not possibly have seen Covenant's steed for the horse still waited at his stronghold. Gadron then asked Erim and Phaele to assist him in cleansing the area of Camber, and took them to the prayer rock. Nikos went with them to keep watch. The rest of us went out to search in the event that Gadron's claim of no survivors was incorrect.
While I did not see any of this, Nikos told us later that while they cast their spell he saw a vision of two places at once. He was both at the prayer rock and at Gadron's stronghold, which he had of course never seen before. He found himself at a pasture which held a great old horse, which he realized must be Califax. The horse did not behave in at all the same manner as when we had last encountered him. When Nikos attempted to lead him out of the pen he seemed reluctant to depart, but followed along docilely. Then the vision of Gadron's stronghold faded, and Nikos found himself standing within the walls of Camber holding Califax's halter!
Gadron announced that we must leave the town within the hour. He then surprised us all by asking Phaele to become his apprentice! He claimed that he had some great mission, of far greater import than our own efforts, in which Phaele could aid him. Phaele declined, but Gadron did not take his refusal as a permanent choice and remarked that he expected he would see Phaele again. I have little doubt that we will all see Gadron again.
43. A Chance for Justice?
It has been 8 days
since we departed from what remains of Camber. So much has occurred in that
time that it will be difficult to chronicle it all in a sensible manner, but I
will do my best. When I present this journal to my beloved on our reunion I
hope that my recollections will make sense to her, Corellon willing.
The wizard Gadron had told Phaele and Erim that he would "cleanse" the town, though he did not explain in what manner he meant this. We had only a short time to search for survivors within the walls, and as he had predicted we found none. Once we had departed from within the town the gates were shut and marked with an arcane sigil that conveyed a simple message to deter the curious. We caught a glimpse of a number of demons entering the town, presumably to be destroyed or trapped there by some arcane means of Gadron's making.
I suspect that most of my companions would have remained to aid Serrah Puffleweis and the few other survivors, had not a burning desire for vengeance compelled us to continue our journey. Liadan performed a moving memorial ceremony for the dead and we departed with heavy hearts. Serrah and the others believe that with time they will be able to reoccupy the town and begin again, though we have our doubts.
Before we left the town, Nekaya swore an impassioned oath to Elishar to seek justice for the slain and vengeance upon Elder Furnael. She wrote a letter to be delivered to the elders of Halruua complaining fiercely of his deeds. Phaele advised that such a letter might be at best ignored and at worst ill-advised, and reminded Nekaya that the entire nation of Halruua cannot be held at fault for Elder Furnael's evils. Nekaya, I think, is not convinced. It is her belief that all are responsible for the evils that others do, if they do not act to prevent such evils. I do not think Phaele was able to change Nekaya's mind entirely, but Nekaya was persuaded to make some alterations to the text of her letter so that the elders might find it less offensive. Though not all of my companions nor I agreed with the young paladin's opinions, we all agreed to sign the letter.
Nekaya is also convinced that Gadron, too, is at fault for the deaths of the citizens of Camber. She refuses to believe that he did anything in their defense. I know too little of wizards myself to be certain what he may or may not have done. I do not find Gadron a personable man, but that does not mean that he is of an evil nature, and in any case Nekaya would likely be able to detect it if his intentions were truly sinister. I think that she simply wishes to find someone to whom to assign blame, when she is not blaming herself for failing to protect the people of Camber from a doom she had no power to prevent.
As I had mentioned earlier, we have also come into care of Califax. Covenant's mighty steed seems somehow lessened in the time that we have been separated from him. He is passive and shows his age far more than he did when Covenant was present. Liadan insists upon looking after him herself, though of course I have offered to assist her. But I understand her desire. Califax is after all her father's horse, and she is convinced that her father will never return to her.
Nekaya held a vigil for three days, fasting and praying, before we took our leave of Camber. When she had recuperated, she called us all to her side and told us that she had received a vision. This vision told her to continue to the south to find enemies and justice. Her intention is to follow Elder Furnael, who she assumes will be returning to Halruua. Should our path still continue to Calimshan as we had intended, this means that we must part from her. Now that we have arrived in Ankhapur, I suspect that with her usual youthful impetuousness, she has misinterpreted the message.
The bustle and color of Ankhapur seems almost unreal after the terrible events in Camber. There is a festival of sorts taking place here, though nothing of the sort that took place on Camber's last day. The city is very crowded and seems to me to be pressed together on far too small an area of land, though most human cities seem cramped to me. The crowds here make me miss the meadows and gardens and great trees of my home.
On arriving we at once observed that there had been some sort of disturbance at the gate. Nikos, Liadan and Nekaya went to question several city guardsmen about the trouble, and Nekaya and Liadan offered the divine healing of their deities, which earned them a writ in gratitude that they may reclaim for healing at one of the local temples. While they spoke with the guardsmen, Nikos questioned a bystander who provided much information about the city and recent events.
It seems that over the past few days there have been several strange deaths, caused by the sudden appearances of monstrous creatures. Only the night before an ape with many arms had appeared and slain a man - a man who had already been reported dead! The creatures disappear as swiftly as they appear. How the dead man could be slain again the informant could not say. But our interest in this strange tale was deterred by the presence of two celebrities in the city. The first is Tyrion Sinistral, a paladin of the god Tyr, a man of great reputation. It was the second, however, who most aroused our interest. According to Nikos' informant, Elder Furnael of Halruua has been staying in Ankhapur for several weeks!
Naturally Nekaya wanted to go at once to the governor's palace, where Elder Furnael was reportedly staying, and expose his misdeeds to the governor. Erim was particularly opposed to any open confrontation of Elder Furnael, though he claims to have no fear of retribution. I am not one to counsel against confrontation when it is battle, but in this sort of matter I am not so willing to rush ahead without preparation. It occurred to me that the governor of so large a city as Ankhapur would have no good reason to see a band of adventurers such as ourselves. I doubted that the folk of Ankhapur would care what had happened to a small town such as Camber, it not being under their rulership, and though Liadan comes of a minor noble family of Cormyr, that does not seem to me reason enough for the governor to grant us an audience.
Nekaya, of course, did not wish to be counseled against immediate retribution, but we at last prevailed upon her to wait. The news we had heard was somewhat contradictory to what we knew of Elder Furnael, for we were told that he had arrived entirely alone, all of his retinue lost in the storm at sea. It was also said that the elder had been ill for some days and had not left the palace. Nekaya was persuaded that we should first be certain this man was the same man we knew before we made any plans of bringing him to justice. It was possible that this man might be some impostor, or even that the man we saw in Camber was the false elder.
In addition, Nekaya seeks to contact the paladin of Tyr, for Tyr is god of justice, and this paladin may be able to aid us in finding a way to bring the murderers of Camber to justice. Now we wait to observe the man in the palace, and to find an opportunity to speak with the paladin.
But this discovery in Ankhapur is not the only surprise we have had in the past few days. Liadan also revealed to us that Lathander has granted her the ability to magically contact any person of her choosing, no matter where that person may be. She has been using this ability in an attempt to reach our missing friends. Thus far she has had no success, for though this spell is divinely granted it is not guaranteed success. There may be some other magic preventing our friends from responding.
But Liadan has reached one other person of whom we know: Fallon Nightstar, who deserted us or was taken from us while we waited on the mountainside immediately after our friends left us. Ever taciturn, Fallon has refused to answer questions put to him by this magical communication, and in any case the spell does not permit a long conversation. Fallon is now in his home city of Amn. It may be that when we have completed our business in Calimshan, we will travel to Amn to find out what became of him. But that is a decision best left for another day.
In the meanwhile, while we wait to observe Elder Furnael, we have accumulated a quantity of items we have no use for, the spoils of battle against the ogres and the despoilers of Camber. Many of these items are magical, though many also are unusable for us, either because they are made for creatures far larger than any of us or because they use the foul shadow magic that none of us would sully our hands with. Phaele has seen to determining what these items are so that we can know their true value, and such items that we can use have been distributed among us.
We are staying at an inn called the Cobblestone, which was recommended to us by the fellow at the gate. Somehow it seems that Gadron has learned our whereabouts, though I suppose I should not be surprised that a wizard of his power could do this. A package arrived addressed to us, which turned out to contain a pair of saddlebags. When Nekaya opened them she found that they held far more within them than any ordinary saddlebag. After she had drawn out a collapsible chair Liadan recognized that these must be her father's things. Along with them came all of Califax's harness and tack. Naturally Liadan has taken charge of all of these items.
I must pause now. We are being circumspect and even here in the Cobblestone Inn we are keeping watch, in case Elder Furnael should attempt to dispose of us before we can expose him. I pray that Corellon keep watch over all of my friends, and most of all over my dear Erendis, wherever she may be.
The wizard Gadron had told Phaele and Erim that he would "cleanse" the town, though he did not explain in what manner he meant this. We had only a short time to search for survivors within the walls, and as he had predicted we found none. Once we had departed from within the town the gates were shut and marked with an arcane sigil that conveyed a simple message to deter the curious. We caught a glimpse of a number of demons entering the town, presumably to be destroyed or trapped there by some arcane means of Gadron's making.
I suspect that most of my companions would have remained to aid Serrah Puffleweis and the few other survivors, had not a burning desire for vengeance compelled us to continue our journey. Liadan performed a moving memorial ceremony for the dead and we departed with heavy hearts. Serrah and the others believe that with time they will be able to reoccupy the town and begin again, though we have our doubts.
Before we left the town, Nekaya swore an impassioned oath to Elishar to seek justice for the slain and vengeance upon Elder Furnael. She wrote a letter to be delivered to the elders of Halruua complaining fiercely of his deeds. Phaele advised that such a letter might be at best ignored and at worst ill-advised, and reminded Nekaya that the entire nation of Halruua cannot be held at fault for Elder Furnael's evils. Nekaya, I think, is not convinced. It is her belief that all are responsible for the evils that others do, if they do not act to prevent such evils. I do not think Phaele was able to change Nekaya's mind entirely, but Nekaya was persuaded to make some alterations to the text of her letter so that the elders might find it less offensive. Though not all of my companions nor I agreed with the young paladin's opinions, we all agreed to sign the letter.
Nekaya is also convinced that Gadron, too, is at fault for the deaths of the citizens of Camber. She refuses to believe that he did anything in their defense. I know too little of wizards myself to be certain what he may or may not have done. I do not find Gadron a personable man, but that does not mean that he is of an evil nature, and in any case Nekaya would likely be able to detect it if his intentions were truly sinister. I think that she simply wishes to find someone to whom to assign blame, when she is not blaming herself for failing to protect the people of Camber from a doom she had no power to prevent.
As I had mentioned earlier, we have also come into care of Califax. Covenant's mighty steed seems somehow lessened in the time that we have been separated from him. He is passive and shows his age far more than he did when Covenant was present. Liadan insists upon looking after him herself, though of course I have offered to assist her. But I understand her desire. Califax is after all her father's horse, and she is convinced that her father will never return to her.
Nekaya held a vigil for three days, fasting and praying, before we took our leave of Camber. When she had recuperated, she called us all to her side and told us that she had received a vision. This vision told her to continue to the south to find enemies and justice. Her intention is to follow Elder Furnael, who she assumes will be returning to Halruua. Should our path still continue to Calimshan as we had intended, this means that we must part from her. Now that we have arrived in Ankhapur, I suspect that with her usual youthful impetuousness, she has misinterpreted the message.
The bustle and color of Ankhapur seems almost unreal after the terrible events in Camber. There is a festival of sorts taking place here, though nothing of the sort that took place on Camber's last day. The city is very crowded and seems to me to be pressed together on far too small an area of land, though most human cities seem cramped to me. The crowds here make me miss the meadows and gardens and great trees of my home.
On arriving we at once observed that there had been some sort of disturbance at the gate. Nikos, Liadan and Nekaya went to question several city guardsmen about the trouble, and Nekaya and Liadan offered the divine healing of their deities, which earned them a writ in gratitude that they may reclaim for healing at one of the local temples. While they spoke with the guardsmen, Nikos questioned a bystander who provided much information about the city and recent events.
It seems that over the past few days there have been several strange deaths, caused by the sudden appearances of monstrous creatures. Only the night before an ape with many arms had appeared and slain a man - a man who had already been reported dead! The creatures disappear as swiftly as they appear. How the dead man could be slain again the informant could not say. But our interest in this strange tale was deterred by the presence of two celebrities in the city. The first is Tyrion Sinistral, a paladin of the god Tyr, a man of great reputation. It was the second, however, who most aroused our interest. According to Nikos' informant, Elder Furnael of Halruua has been staying in Ankhapur for several weeks!
Naturally Nekaya wanted to go at once to the governor's palace, where Elder Furnael was reportedly staying, and expose his misdeeds to the governor. Erim was particularly opposed to any open confrontation of Elder Furnael, though he claims to have no fear of retribution. I am not one to counsel against confrontation when it is battle, but in this sort of matter I am not so willing to rush ahead without preparation. It occurred to me that the governor of so large a city as Ankhapur would have no good reason to see a band of adventurers such as ourselves. I doubted that the folk of Ankhapur would care what had happened to a small town such as Camber, it not being under their rulership, and though Liadan comes of a minor noble family of Cormyr, that does not seem to me reason enough for the governor to grant us an audience.
Nekaya, of course, did not wish to be counseled against immediate retribution, but we at last prevailed upon her to wait. The news we had heard was somewhat contradictory to what we knew of Elder Furnael, for we were told that he had arrived entirely alone, all of his retinue lost in the storm at sea. It was also said that the elder had been ill for some days and had not left the palace. Nekaya was persuaded that we should first be certain this man was the same man we knew before we made any plans of bringing him to justice. It was possible that this man might be some impostor, or even that the man we saw in Camber was the false elder.
In addition, Nekaya seeks to contact the paladin of Tyr, for Tyr is god of justice, and this paladin may be able to aid us in finding a way to bring the murderers of Camber to justice. Now we wait to observe the man in the palace, and to find an opportunity to speak with the paladin.
But this discovery in Ankhapur is not the only surprise we have had in the past few days. Liadan also revealed to us that Lathander has granted her the ability to magically contact any person of her choosing, no matter where that person may be. She has been using this ability in an attempt to reach our missing friends. Thus far she has had no success, for though this spell is divinely granted it is not guaranteed success. There may be some other magic preventing our friends from responding.
But Liadan has reached one other person of whom we know: Fallon Nightstar, who deserted us or was taken from us while we waited on the mountainside immediately after our friends left us. Ever taciturn, Fallon has refused to answer questions put to him by this magical communication, and in any case the spell does not permit a long conversation. Fallon is now in his home city of Amn. It may be that when we have completed our business in Calimshan, we will travel to Amn to find out what became of him. But that is a decision best left for another day.
In the meanwhile, while we wait to observe Elder Furnael, we have accumulated a quantity of items we have no use for, the spoils of battle against the ogres and the despoilers of Camber. Many of these items are magical, though many also are unusable for us, either because they are made for creatures far larger than any of us or because they use the foul shadow magic that none of us would sully our hands with. Phaele has seen to determining what these items are so that we can know their true value, and such items that we can use have been distributed among us.
We are staying at an inn called the Cobblestone, which was recommended to us by the fellow at the gate. Somehow it seems that Gadron has learned our whereabouts, though I suppose I should not be surprised that a wizard of his power could do this. A package arrived addressed to us, which turned out to contain a pair of saddlebags. When Nekaya opened them she found that they held far more within them than any ordinary saddlebag. After she had drawn out a collapsible chair Liadan recognized that these must be her father's things. Along with them came all of Califax's harness and tack. Naturally Liadan has taken charge of all of these items.
I must pause now. We are being circumspect and even here in the Cobblestone Inn we are keeping watch, in case Elder Furnael should attempt to dispose of us before we can expose him. I pray that Corellon keep watch over all of my friends, and most of all over my dear Erendis, wherever she may be.
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