Excerpted from the journal of Etaf
Gerin
October 12, 1376 (The Year of the Bent Blade)
We have spent the last 3 days staying
in this small village near the dungeon that we recently explored. I chafe at
the delay, but it was necessary to give us time to prepare. Quas does not
expect us back in Waymoot until tomorrow, and we plan to be ready for whatever
trickery or task he has in store.
October 13, 1376
Our group set out today for
Waymoot, but the journey was not yet 3 hours old when disaster struck. Francis
cried out suddenly, stopped the rest of us in our tracks. “The
Bag! It’s been taken!” Someone (or thing) had taken the Bag of Holding
from him – and within that was the Tome we’d worked so hard to capture!
We made a quick search of the
area, but found nothing. Omiata, though, saw Ahmed moving away from the rest of
us, and followed. Once unobserved (he thought), the ranger pulled out the Bag!
Omiata quickly called the rest of our group, and we subdued the ranger and
retrieved the bag.
But it wasn’t truly the
ranger. A few veiled threats (by the rogue) and forthright questioning (by the
cleric) revealed that this was a doppelganger, a creature able to take on
nearly any form. It was working for some priests of the Black Rose – and they
had taken the Tome! A quick search of the Bag confirmed that the Tome was no
longer in our possession.
Before we could chase the
thieves, we needed to find the true Ahmed. The doppelganger led us back to the
village, and after some searching we found the ranger, stuffed into a barrel
like so much dirty laundry. He had overheard some of his captors’ plans – they were
to return to a place called the Free City in the Giant’s Plain.
One of the men had been named Captain Okaral.
A little healing magic of
Lathlander rendered the ranger fit to travel, and leaving the doppelganger to
face justice with the villagers, we went after the Tome thieves. Their trail
led us back to Waymoot, where (thanks to our flying mounts) we were just in
time to see them enter the Broken Boar Inn. We tracked them to a room – past a surprised
common room, whose patrons included Quas – but they vanished into a portal that we could not activate. With
our deadline from Quas approaching, I had no choice but to tell him the truth.
Quas (and Oahbe,
speaking through him) was clearly displeased, but evinced no particular
surprise. He had warned us of interference, so he had expected something of
this nature. “One month I give you, to retrieve the Tome and bring it to me” he
told me. “There will be no more reprieves – fail this time and nothing will
save you or your sister.”
October 15, 1376
It took all of yesterday to
fly to the Free City. Today, after a brief camp outside, we entered in search
of this Captain Okaral and the Black Rose priests. We had arrived just as the
city, led by the Lord Loris Raknian, was preparing to host a great tournament. Bands
of adventurers entered the tournament to compete for rich rewards. This
interested us, of course, but we had no time to spend on such things.
Omiata soon made contact with
the local thieves, and learned that friends of his were in the city. Information
from them led us to the conclusion that we must enter the tournament after all,
for that was the only way we were likely to gain the ear of Lord Raknian, and
he was the only one in the city who might help us. Omiata’s
friend was willing to sponsor our entry and share the rewards, so soon we were
entered as contestants. In the next few days, the tournament will begin.
October 17, 1376
Entering the contest proved to
be a wise move. As Lord Raknian arrived at dinner last night, his guard captain
caught Ahmed’s eye. “That’s the man! That’s the one they called Captain when
they captured me!” Luckily only we and our sponsor were able to hear this
outburst over the noise of the gathering. Indeed, Captain Okaral was the
trusted guard captain of Lord Raknian.
We decided to fight in the
tournament, and learn more about Okaral and his involvement with the Black Rose
priests. Some discreet queries among the other contestants revealed rumors that
Raknian himself was involved as well, with both the Black Rose order and the followers
of Kyuss. Such a partnership could only spell bad
news for the Free City and its people.
Our first tournament match saw
our group in a four-way bout against a group of female arcane archers, a shapeshifter leading a group of hobgoblins, and a trio of
horse-bowmen. Our simple tactics worked very well – defend ourselves only if attacked,
allowing the others to wear themselves out fighting one another. We took only
minor wounds and were declared victorious.
October 18, 1376
Having won our first round
batter, we were given a day to rest. We took advantage to explore the area
where we were housed, in caverns underneath the coliseum. A little scouting by
the ranger and rogue revealed a passage to a hidden chamber, a promising sign
in our search for information. It was guarded though, by a demon and a cleric
named Bozal. The demon was mighty, destroying the
dwarf’s beloved axe and nearly succeeding in killing BadAxe
himself. In the end, though, our group succeeded in defeating both guardians.
We found no conclusive proof of a conspiracy to attack the Free City, but
enough clues to indicate a major disaster in store for the end of the
tournament.
Last updated 11-08-2005 by Skip Franklin