[Pathfinder] Return of the Runelords, part 1: Trouble in Roderic's Cove

 

Seren Aelsonor

Roderic's Cove

As written by Seren Aolsonor to Master Taeral Shalevar

Master Taeral - 

I've arrived in the town of Roderic's Cove as you directed and introduced myself to the associates of your old adventuring companions. I don't know if you knew who I would be meeting, but it came as a surprise to me that Tor's pupil is a white-haired barbarian woman, from the lands of the Linnorm Kings judging by her tattoos. Her name is Zinovia. With her is a black-haired young man who looks to have some elven ancestry, by the name of Hunter Eldersin. They seem to be quite close but I don't know if Hunter is also one of Tor's students. My third new companion comes from distant Tian Xia originally though he doesn't resemble what I've seen of those people as he has red hair - that will be explained later. His name is Huli but he's said that we are welcome to address him as Fox. He knows Tiressa Avendale, although by his description he can't be called her student or apprentice. The last member of our little group is Lonn Mann, who also seems to have some elven ancestry in him. He hasn't said who his mentor is of your friends. 

Zinovia

Hunter Eldersin

Fox (Huli)

Lonn Mann

It didn't take long before we glimpsed some of the trouble you warned me to look out for. We'd all left the inn and gone to the market to purchase some supplies when I noticed a group of people making threatening gestures toward a man who was standing by one of the merchants' stalls. The man they were menacing wore clothing that appeared to have Thassilonian symbols on it, which caught my attention. I pointed this brewing altercation out to the others, and Hunter and Lonn went over to try to resolve whatever dispute was going on. Both of them have proved to be more charming and clever of speech than I am. Just as the rest of us walked over to listen, a terrifying specter of a human man appeared and frightened almost everyone into fleeing, though somehow I managed to resist its frightful appearance.  Hunter resisted it also. When I glanced over at Hunter he had a strange black sword in his hand, even though he wasn't carrying a scabbard.

I turned back to the apparition and realized that it wore the visage of Sir Roderic, founder of the town, whose portrait I'd seen in the inn. I also knew that this was a ghost. The ghost of Sir Roderic groaned, "No, not my cove!" and a flood of some liquid spilled from his mouth. I recognized that he was appearing in an unusual place, as a ghost ordinarily should appear in the place where it lived or perhaps where it died. Sir Roderic had been murdered, so we learned later, but not in the marketplace. His spirit must have been aroused by the threat of violence in the town he had so much devotion to.

Sir Roderic's ghost

After the others recovered from their panicked flight and came back to meet us, Lonn picked up some residue of what had issued from the ghost's mouth and kept a sample. It glows slightly and may have alchemical properties. We found the shopkeeper to whom the man wearing the Thassilonian symbols had been speaking and asked him what he knew about that person and why the others had been threatening him. Lonn took the lead in speaking with the merchant. The merchant didn't know any of the people involved in the incident, but he did believe that the folk who had been menacing the symbol-wearing man were members of a group he referred to as the Road Warriors, who by his description are highwaymen or brigands. He also told us that the man wearing the symbols had been trying to recruit him into an organization called the Hornfangs, and had been trying to ask the merchant to make pendants in the form of one of the symbols on his garment. The Hornfangs are evidently organizing the downtrodden residents of the town to better their lot - an admirable goal, but it appears that their methods may leave something to be desired.

Thassilonian runes

Hunter tried to locate the customer who wanted the pendants, but was unable to find him. Then he noticed a woman of our kindred standing across the way watching us with great interest and trying to catch our attention. Fox told us her name is Audrahni. She is caretaker of the graveyard here, and Fox worked for her when he first arrived. 

Audrahni

When she saw that we'd noticed her Audrahni approached us and told us that she would like to speak with us. She asked us to come to her house, which stands just outside the cemetery, to dine with her that evening. She has dwelled here since before Sir Roderic died more than ten years ago. She should be a useful source of information about the town. We agreed to meet her for dinner.

Cemetery and Audrahni's house

After we left Audrahni we sought out some of the town guards and asked them about the troubles. They warned us against spreading rumors about the ghost, which of course we would never do. They also told us about the Roadkeepers, which is another name for the gang of brigands the merchant had described. The mayor has offered a reward to rid the town of them, as they charge a 'toll' to travelers and cause other troubles. The guards also told us more about the Horned Fangs, including that eight of their members had been mysteriously slain all at once a week ago. Sir Roderic's ghost had also been seen then and some of the townsfolk were blaming the ghost for the deaths.

We decided we should see the mayor next and made our way to her office. There was a crowd of townsfolk there clamoring for attention and complaining about the appearance of the ghost, but we were able to arrange to see the mayor right away. Mayor Larenza Thort told us a great deal of interesting details. Evidently the Roadkeepers are led by a goblin! The eight people who died a week ago showed no sign of the cause, which led to the ghost being blamed. She told us Sir Roderic had become secretive in his later years and gone on many journeys around the territory surrounding the town. Sir Roderic's manor hasn't been opened since he was murdered by a woman named Cassias who tried to embezzle from the town. We asked if we could search it but Mayor Thort demurred to permit that. Sir Roderic's family never came to settle his estate, which was odd, though soon enough we discovered the reason for that. She did agree that if we could rid her of the Roadkeepers and win the reward she would allow us to enter the manor. She doesn't care how we deal with the brigands, but told us that if they didn't survive we should be sure to let Audrahni know. I'm reluctant to slay them, but I realize that to deal with them there may be no other option.

Mayor Thort

After we left the mayor we returned to the inn to prepare for our dinner with Audrahni. As we climbed the stairs to our rooms, Zionovia noticed a woman going down who had an unusual broken sword with her. This woman ignored Zinovia when she spoke to her. This woman may be important, as indicated by what we found later.

Mystery Woman

Broken Sword

We had a very pleasant dinner with Audrahni that evening. After we dined we settled in her sitting-room to talk. She told us about the event that resulted in the deaths of the eight people. There had been a report of a shadowy figure fleeing the area. She also explained that the Roadkeepers had once been ruffians in the town but had been driven off when the Horned Fangs group formed and there was still conflict between the two groups. She knew little about the Horned Fangs. 

The conversation then turned to the death of Sir Roderic. Audrahni had examined his body immediately after his murder. She told us that among the items found after his death had been a list of valuables that included a reference to an old sword he'd found in a ruin, which met the description of the odd broken sword Zinovia had noticed the woman at the inn carrying. But she was too young to be the woman Cassias, who had reportedly fled to join pirates in Riddleport according to Mayor Thort. This sword, however, was the only item on Sir Roderic's list that was missing from his manor after his death.

Audrahni advised us we should speak to a child named Kynae Fromperton or his father Kolton to learn more details about the mysterious deaths. We could find Kynae near the docks, she suggested. Kelton was a drunkard, she said, but may have witnessed the tragic incident and perhaps had told something to Kynae. We took this information and planned to talk to some of the downtrodden folk about the Horned Fangs and those who had died, as well as to seek out the boy and his father the next day.

On the following morning Hunter bought some food and took it with him as we headed for the waterfront to seek Kynae. Hunter has many brothers, he says, thus he is experienced in dealing with children. Zinovia questioned me about using my spells to entertain the child and gain his trust. She only knows of magic as the magic that Tor employs and I had to explain to her that I am far from Tor's level of mastery and have no spells for summoning beasts in my spellbook. As we wandered the docks I confess I became distracted by my own thoughts as you've so often told me not to do and I nearly lost the rest of the group.

Kynae Fromperton

We found Kynae soon enough. At first the lad was reluctant to speak with us, but Hunter and Lonn persuaded him to be more forthcoming. He revealed that he himself had witnessed the event that resulted in the deaths. He hadn't seen a shadowy figure fleeing - he'd seen a tall woman wearing green robes whose hands had glowed green just before the victims died. This woman had been shouting angrily at the others, demanding to know where they had acquired something, though of course Kynae didn't know what she was referring to. But she had grabbed hold of one person's shirt when she shouted. I wonder if perhaps that person wore a garment like the man in the marketplace who had been accosted by the Roadkeepers, a garment decorated with Thassilonian runes. 

As the conversation continued Kynae revealed that he often slept by a particular warehouse on the dockside, but on that night he had been driven away by a member of the Roadkeepers. When Kynae described this person we realized he'd been one of the people at the market the day before. We had been fretting over how to learn more about the gang and this seemed like it might offer an opportunity. Kynae also spoke of another building on the dockside that reportedly had ghosts. He showed us where it was and we learned it was known as Roderic's Wreck. We went back to the mayor's office to ask for permission to enter it after we parted from Kynae. 

Kynae's warehouse

Before we parted from Kynae both Fox and I offered to help him if he needed it, which seemed to concern Lonn. But he is only a child, and one with no parent who truly cares for him. If we can give him something to eat and make sure he doesn't fall ill my heart will feel better at ease. I know you will say I'm being foolish over a human child when their lives are so brief, but why should a child have to suffer?

We didn't see the mayor on our second visit to her office, but her clerk gave us a letter in case the guards objected to us entering the Wreck. We then returned to the waterfront and approached the house Kynae had pointed out to us. The clerk had told us it was Sir Roderic's former business office for his import and export business and before that it had been his home, but it had been vacant since his death. The building was in disrepair, though all the windows were boarded over. Kynae had said he'd seen people coming and going from it but we found little sign of that. The front door wasn't locked or barred. The front steps were in such poor condition that Zinovia stumbled on them twice. I waited at the foot of the steps with Lonn while the others went inside. Just to be cautious, I cast my armoring spell and I noticed that Fox did the same though his seems a bit different in form.

Roderic's Wreck

The front door opened with a loud creak, releasing an odor of rotting flesh that even I could smell from the bottom of the steps. Zinovia noticed evidence of something having been dragged through the dust on the floor. The door opened into a hall and a staircase led up to the second floor. Zinovia opened the first door in the hallway and announced that there were cockroaches inside the room, though she neglected to say that they were as large as hunting dogs! They didn't like being disturbed. Zinovia went into the room to attack them with her sword, but found that their hard carapaces deflected her blade. I ran up the front steps and looked through the door of the room at the insects. Despite their unusual size they were in most respects like their much smaller kin, but of course such creatures are quite hardy and difficult to slay. Hunter had produced his strange sword, which he can summon magically, and while he and Zinovia tried to cut the roaches to bits Fox and I shot rays of frost and flame at them. The roaches bit Zinovia several times. It took her and Hunter quite a bit of effort to kill the roaches. 

The room the roaches were in proved to hold some silver picture frames that we were surprised to find had been left there, though they were very grimy and perhaps anyone entering the building had failed to recognize them for what they were. Hunter suggested selling them to earn funds that we can use to get healing from the local priest, and I told my comrades that I have some skill myself in treating wounds.

There was a door leading into another room from the room where the roaches had waited, but it was well that we didn't open it. We went out into the hallway to the next door on the same wall as the first room. Zinovia opened it, exclaimed, "Spiders!" and slammed it shut again. When she explained that it was a swarm of spiders that had started to rush the door, we decided to leave that room be and go on. There was a door under the stair and Zinovia opened it too, slashing out with her sword in alarm when brooms and mops fell out of the cupboard. 

We proceeded on down a second hallway to our left and opened the door on the left side of that hall, which led into a large room facing away from the harbor. There was a moldering couch in the room, but what drew our attention was a heap of corpses in the far corner and a cluster of ghostly shapes that flowed out of the wall and moved toward us. I felt my heart beat faster but wasn't driven to flee. Fox, on the other hand, abruptly transformed into a black and red fox and raced out of the building!

Haunt

Fox in vulpine form

Lonn realized first that the ghostly shapes were a haunt. The haunt vanished after Fox fled. Hunter went after him but lost sight of the fox. While they were gone Lonn and Zinovia went into the room and examined the bodies. The corpses had been there for some time and were long decayed. The rotting odor must have come from the haunt. Lonn observed that the haunt would probably be resolved if the bodies were buried and first suggested we bury them outside the building, until I reminded him that Audrahni is the gravedigger and cryptkeeper here and could dispose of them more appropriately.

Hunter returned then and joined Zinovia and Lonn in examining the remains. He discovered evidence on the bodies indicating they might be from Sir Roderic's family. Now we know why no one came to settle his estate. To my horror there were remains of children as well; the murderers had stabbed the adults and hung the children. If we can find the perpetrators we must punish them. There is absolutely no excuse for murdering an innocent child.

Fox reappeared by this time, much chagrined. He then revealed to us that his true form is that of a kitsune, though he can also assume human or fox form. I think he was fearful of how we would react to this news, but as Hunter said to him, we hold no fear or disdain for him because of this. Next time we won't find his transformation such a surprise.

Huli in kitsune form

After Fox returned we moved on to the room across the hall. I remained at the end of the hall, standing near the door of the room of spiders, though I confess I worried they might stream out from beneath the door. When Zinovia opened the door to the other room she saw a strange plant within the room, which immediately began to move toward her and attacked. I couldn't see it, but Lonn told us it was a type of ooze that could exude acid and could also strike like a club. 

Garden Ooze

It was my mistake to try to move into the room across the hall from which I could watch Zinovia and Hunter battle the ooze. The thing struck out at me as I passed the open doorway where it was. The blow left me so hurt that I could only stagger into the room with the corpses and collapse on the filthy couch. After Zinovia and Hunter dealt with the garden ooze, Hunter used a wand in his possession to heal the acid burns I had suffered, as I was too disoriented to treat myself. I must see if anyone in the town can sell me any curative potions as I won't always be able to treat my own wounds. 

Characters are now 2nd level.

Next: part 2 - Murder Most Foul

[RuneQuest] Brylaneth's Journey, Prologue: Initiation

I am Brylaneth, daughter of Eonor of the Haraborn. My mother was Enkaina daughter of Armatar. I will tell you the tale of how I became a woman. This is the secret that you must not share with any man.

The winter before my courses came, my mother died of a fever after a long sickness. The autumn of the year before that my father fell down one day in the cow byre and didn't wake again. My mother's mother Onella Owl-Eye and my mother's sister Senrina cared for me. It was during Sacred Time that the story I tell came to pass. In the days before my blood came I had strange visions and heard voices when no one was there. My grandmother and my aunt took me to a place where I would be separate from my brothers, uncles, and boy cousins. They bade me rest and do no household chores. My grandmother gave me a bitter black tea to drink. 

That night I had a troubling dream. I saw ghostly women wrapped in winding cloths like the dead. They came to me and told me to go with them. A procession of dead women took me to the Riddle, where the priestess Morganeth who was blinded by the Crimson Bat waited. It was that night I realized the younger woman who always assisted her was her eyes, even though Morganeth always seemed like she could see. 

The women stripped me of my clothes and washed me. I shivered, not so much of cold as fear. I had been told all my life that it was death to enter the Riddle. The women of our clan go there when they die. My mother went there, but I was still a girl then and could not carry her with the women. There are images of Babeester Gor on the walls by the entrance. After I was prepared, Morganeth said to me that I must go in. At first I thought she meant into the Riddle, but she touched me at my navel and said I must go into the center of my spirit self. But she meant I must go into the Riddle too.

They put a crown of flowers on my head and covered me with scented oils. Any other day I would have enjoyed that. But then they made me go inside. I heard strange noises and felt things brush against my bare skin. It felt like there was something watching me from the dark. Fear took hold of my heart and I ran without knowing where I was going.

Being afraid is tiring. After a while I stopped running and stumbled around in the darkness. Then I saw a dim light ahead. I realized that the Riddle was a spiral like the Air rune, that went downward into the earth with each turn. I came to the lower part and there was Morganeth again. She said, "Five souls stir within you. You must awaken them." She told me I must conquer each element by finding what he needed. I didn't understand what she meant then. She said I must do as the goddess did. 

Then I wasn't in the Riddle anymore, I was walking toward a tiny replica of our village, that was brighter and more colorful than in the ordinary world. The sky above was bright green. I saw many women of our clan who I knew were no longer in the living world, like my mother. They gave me honey cakes and spring water. I ate and I ate. I played games with them and sang songs. Then a stream appeared that wasn't there before. I followed it until I came to a great water, bigger than any water I'd ever seen before. I thought it must be the sea. There was a fountain by this great water, and a man came out of it. He was naked and very handsome, with skin the color of sky and water. I knew he was Zaramaka, the lord of the seas. 

There was a great mountain across the water, a perfect cone rising up. I wanted very much to go there. Zaramaka asked me what I desired and he told me he could take me there if I gave my body to him. I could see his desire. It was obvious. I knew from the lore my grandmother taught me that Ernalda gave him what he desired, and I remembered what Morganeth said. I gave myself to him. At that time I had never lain with a man before, though as children we sometimes played at it when our parents weren't too near. It was very pleasant. Afterward I knew my first soul had awoken and I had entered womanhood. 

Zaramaka took me across the waters in his arms. When we arrived I saw that there was a perfect golden dome on the top. My eyesight was sharper than it had ever been before. I could see a long way. I climbed up toward the golden dome. It was very hot there and Yelm's light was very bright. The soil was dried out and nothing grew on that hot mountain. I came to a lone man who was trying to plant seeds. He was very tall and thin and had flowers in his hair too. I knew he was Flamal. He said to me that nothing would grow here. I gave him some of my blood to nourish his seeds. This woke my second soul. I climbed up toward the golden dome with Flamal and now the mountainside was covered in green.

The sky turned blue as we reached the magnificent palace, and golden stars shone above us. Inside the palace everything was covered in gold and gems and there were white horses and griffons. I was taken to meet Yelm. He offered to make me his concubine. Orlanth was there too, but sometimes he would vanish and then return. Orlanth and Yelm held a dancing contest. They danced very differently. Yelm was formal and graceful. Orlanth danced like he was fighting. Yelm won the contest. After the dancing they had a contest of magic and Yelm won again. I saw that Eurmal the Trickster was there too. Orlanth and Yelm held a contest of music, Orlanth playing a bagpipe and Yelm playing a harp. Orlanth seemed to mock Yelm. The Storm Lord spoke to me, and I thought he was very handsome. 

Then Yelm shot Orlanth with an arrow. Orlanth took his enchanted iron blade and struck Yelm with it, and suddenly Yelm fell screaming into Hell, spraying golden blood as he fell. Now I was in a bedchamber which I knew was mine though it was nothing like my sleeping place at home. There were handmaids with me. Orlanth came, and Yelm's guards pursued him. We made an escape plan but I can't remember what it was or why we had to escape. There was a great loom in the chamber but it shrank until it was tiny and Orlanth gave it to someone. 

The palace descended into the Underworld. Seasons changed and it became a winter of despair and hunger like the years my mother told me of. I saw someone I recognized from our village and in this vision I had rejected him, though I hadn't done any such thing in the mortal world. Argan Argar came to me and told me I could escape by pretending to be dead. I was wrapped up in winding cloths. Orlanth looked on me and didn't believe I was dead. Someone else said I was dead, and then I couldn't move my limbs, as if I really had died. Then I was back at the mouth of the Riddle again, at the beginning of the ceremony. A cold and deathly voice spoke from the darkness. The voice told me to wake up. It was Ty Kora Tek. A voice said, "This is how it ends. The girl is dead." I felt my fourth soul awake. I felt despair that I was dead and then acceptance. Orlanth approached me and kissed me, the kiss of Life.

I stumbled through a golden doorway into an empty space and there I found Ernalda at a great loom surrounded by six handmaids. They wove life with the silk of an immense spider. Ernalda told me to come and claim my birthright. I saw myself heavy with child. My fifth soul woke and I found myself back in the Riddle. On the floor was a shape that grew into me, lying dead at my feet. A cold wind blew against my skin. A woman appeared. She told me her name was Yvarn and asked who I was. She said she was the wife of Heort. She explained to me the cycles of birth, death, rebirth, and the cycle of conception. The Brylaneth on the floor was the girl I had been. The Brylaneth who left the Riddle after that was a woman of the Haraborn of Black Stag Vale. 

Brylaneth's Journey Continues

[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 27: Trouble From the East

 

From the journal of Lythande Syldorei

The Rushlight Festival in Pitax will take place three months from now. Zander indicated he was reluctant to go as he dislikes member of the nobility, but I think we've persuaded him to come with us. There will be many people attending other than nobles from neighboring countries, and after having met the king of Pitax I can't think of the people as similar to the Swordlords of Restov.

Reislin made a journey to New Stetven on her own to purchase some useful items. 

The snow is melting and the air grows warmer. We've received several messages from the settlers to the west who wish to establish the village of Tatzlford there. They are eager to get started. We will direct more resources toward that effort when the weather improves a bit more. 

But in the meanwhile, we've heard from several farms to the east, outside the current border of our territory of some creatures that have emerged from the mountains to slaughter livestock. We have determined this should be the next problem we investigate.

Starday, 10th Pharast

We arrived at a farm not far from the Shrike Cascade to find immediate evidence of the trouble we'd come to investigate. The first sign of something unusual was a sheep carcass on the roof of the house. More carcasses scattered the area around the barn. Whatever creatures had attacked the farm, they had not eaten all the livestock they slaughtered. 

Worryingly there was no sign of the farm's residents. But there were clawed paw prints, and then Reislin found a long bony blade in one of the fallen sheep and recognized it for what it was: a spike shot out like a projectile by a manticore. As the tracks in the muddy ground appeared fresh and some of the sheep appeared to have been recently killed, Reislin suggested that we find cover.

But our presence had already been detected. We heard a loud roar from the roof of the barn as a manticore appeared. Its call was echoed by that of a second manticore from the area around a storage shed nearby. 

Zander lifted into the air and flew toward the second manticore. Reislin followed by granting magical speed to the rest of us before she took cover behind a large bush. I followed Zander toward the second manticore. Maria went racing past me at her best speed with sword and shield in hand. Through her communication spell, Reislin warned us that manticores are more clever than ordinary animals and can even speak in a limited form. They are also capable of firing many spikes such as the one she had found in the sheep carcass, which they use in addition to claws and bites to attack their prey.

As Zander, Maria, and I turned our weapons against the second manticore, we heard a screech from overhead. I saw a winged form fly over us, circling toward the barn, but its wings were unlike the featherless things the manticores bear. Reislin called out, "Something's coming!" with clear anxiety, having assumed that this third creature was in alliance with the manticores. 

As the manticore I fought with Maria and Zander grew weaker from our blows, Zander flew off toward the barn to help Chahana with the other beast. Then Maria dealt a final strike to the manticore and it slumped to the ground, leaving me free to go to the barn as well. I emerged from behind the shed to find the other manticore under attack not only by my friends but by the griffin we had met before!

My spirit rose when I spied the griffin. I have been unable to cease thinking about this magnificent creature since it met him. Zander had slain the other manticore by that time and I was able to greet him and thank him for helping us. I regret that he can't speak, but somehow I feel I can understand him nonetheless. He was able to communicate to me through motions of his head that he had come to fight the manticores. 

But Reislin didn't recognize him and it took some time before we could convince her that he wasn't an enemy. Chahana went into the barn to seek the missing farmers but found no one. Reislin went into the house and discovered that the family had taken shelter from the manticores in the cellar beneath the house. They were unharmed and very grateful to be rescued. 

Reislin says that manticores are innately cruel beasts and they may have come to attack the farm only because it was there and not because it offered an easy food supply. It seems that building a watchtower in the eastern part of Neotellus will be a wise decision, as we need to protect settlers there from other creatures coming down from the mountains. There could be more manticores. Reislin took some of the spikes from the slain manticores for her research. Perhaps these will be useful should more such creatures threaten our territory.

Wealday, 13th Pharast

I had expected my winged friend to part from us once the manticores were dealt with, but he has remained with us much to my pleasure. After we left the farm we went on to make certain that the manticores hadn't done harm to any of the other farms nearby and were relieved to find them well. It's also well for Neotellus that these people now know who we are and that we will protect them.

Later

After we returned to Lorewynd we learned that there had been some trouble with zealots causing disagreement between adherents of different gods in the town. I went to speak with leaders of both factions and was able to negotiate a settlement between them, praise the Dawnflower.

We have made Tatzlford an official community of our province, and to celebrate this have committed to the construction of a tavern for the hamlet as the community members need a meeting place to socialize and relax. We've also incorporated the area around the Shrike River into our province and identified a location to build a watchtower. Jubilost and his team notified us that they've reached Lake Silverstep to the southeast, a lake that according to old tales was formed in the footprint of a silver dragon.

While our town and its surroundings are growing, they are becoming too civilized for Zander's family. They have begun to speak of departing from Lorewynd to settle new territory of their own. After they heard of Jubilost's report, they've mentioned a desire to visit Lake Silverstep. It would be good to have friends settled near there. 

Next: part 28, Battling Demons and Decisions

[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 28: Battling Demons and Decisions

From the journal of Lythande Syldorei

We have one month until the festival in Pitax. There's much to do in Neotellus before we make our journey there. We go not as adventurers but as the leaders of a territory, and we must present ourselves as such.

But preparing for our journey is not the only task we have had of late. Reislin has spent several months working with the wise woman of Zander's clan, Maraleaf, to determine the best method to deal with the demon she has imprisoned within herself. The plan they have agreed upon is to release the demon within a circle of protective magics, which will prevent it from escaping until Maraleaf can capture it once again. Her lingering illness has been a result of taking the demon within herself without the opportunity for sufficient preparation. Maraleaf and Reislin are confident that they can hold the demon and that Maraleaf will be able to contain it safely. 

Toilday, 3rd Gozran

We gathered at the hut the tribe had constructed to house the circle of protective magics with our weapons ready to stand guard outside the circle and aid against any escape attempt by the demon. The hut was filled with thick smoke from four braziers standing in the corners with smoldering herbs in the coals, and from numerous candles placed in a rough circle around the center of the structure. Maraleaf thanked us for coming and asked if we were ready. We agreed that we were, and when Maraleaf warned that members of the clan who were her blood relations should not enter the hut as their presence could weaken her resistance, Zander put his head outside and shouted at his family that everyone should remain outside unless he summoned them. There was no danger in his presence as he was adopted into the clan. 

Reislin then cast a spell upon everyone within the hut and began to slowly lay out the components for the protective circle. She formed it of powdered silver that had been steeped in holy water, laying out the circle very precisely on the floor and explaining what she was doing as she worked. When she had finished, Maraleaf made another circle inside Reislin's, inscribed much more quickly and with less precision. Then she sat down in the center of the two circles and both she and Reislin began to chant.

The glow of the braziers brightened and then darkened into a strange illumination that was still light yet somehow seemed black. Smoke began to issue from them. A shadowy duplicate of Maraleaf appeared within the circles, gaining substance and color and then warping and twisting into something else. Maraleaf had warned us that what we would see would be an image, not the true demon but a pale reflection of it. A being that seemed made of flames had taken shape there. I could feel its evil aura with little effort.

The fiery demon spoke, saying, "So this is the prison I must break." It reached for Maraleaf but then recoiled. "Foolish mortal, you assume I am but one!" it sneered. Then it reached into its own chest area and drew out something that resembled a burning heart. It squeezed this object and sparks flew out, passing out of the protective circle into the four braziers in the corners of the hut. The demon gave a sinister chuckle as the four braziers rose up on their feet and moved to slam themselves against the circle of protection. A dome of silvery light was revealed where they struck.

Chahana had been ready with her bow but she now dropped it and readied her sword and shield. I had my keen spear at the ready with a vial in my free hand to anoint the blade with a blessed oil it should that be needed, but I did not pause to pour the oil over the spearhead and instead thrust the spear at the brazier nearest to where I stood. Soon three of the four braziers faced me and my comrades and Zander rose into the air and flew over the silvery dome to face the fourth brazier. Pausing from her concentration, Reislin called out that the braziers were constructs, not living creatures, and their nature was an evil one. This let Maria turn her judgement against them, and I also began to smite the brazier I fought with the Dawnflower's righteous anger. Maraleaf and Reislin continued to chant while our blades rang against the metal vessels. The demon took this opportunity to attempt to break free of the circles, but each time it was driven back. One by one the braziers were shattered, spilling now ordinary coals upon the floor of the hut. Except for the sounds of fighting the interior of the hut seemed strangely quiet. If the Tiger Lords outside were calling out to us we could not hear them, nor did we know if they could hear our battle.

Then Maraleaf reached into the demon's chest, and it vanished. There was a sudden rush of noise from outside the hut. Maraleaf now appeared younger and healthier than before, as though a burden had been lifted from her. She and Reislin assured themselves that the circle of protection had not been broken, and when they were satisfied Maraleaf was able to emerge from within it safely. 

There was much celebration after this success. Zander and his family drank and ate heartily for several days, and we joined them in this though not for so many days. Out of gratitude they gave us many gifts. I was blessed with an enchanted belt that grants me greater strength. 

After the success in imprisoning the demon, we returned our attention to the affairs of our territory. The Tiger Lords are welcome to stay but they wish to seek out a home of their own. They were much interested in the lands to the East near the mountains, which we have not yet claimed. They wish to settle near Lake Silverstep, as there are rumors of orcs in the mountains and they seek to battle them.

We have commissioned the construction of a watchtower near the Shrike Cascades to the north of Lake Silverstep, to give us warning of any dangers from that direction. The new town of Tatzlford has been officially established and a mill will be built there to provide support for the settlers, as well as a small garrison of militia to protect them. We have laid claim to the land around the farm that was attacked by the manticores. A tower will be built for Reislin where she can practice her magics in peace and safety within Lorewynd. A stable is also being built beside the inn to house travelers' horses, and there will be a platform built on the roof so that my new friend the griffin can alight there. I look forward to when he chooses to share his name with me.

Next: part 29, The Rushlight Festival