"Do you know Dennig?" Kale asked Fasil, our guide.
Fasil shrugged. "I am not good with names and faces. In the end, neither matters. The patroness decides whether we live or die."
We retraced our steps back to the city of Lordahl on the surface. After a day, we found our way back to the cylindrical carriage. Once more, we paid our residuum to the statue of the woman with the outstretched hands, and the carriage delivered us back to the room with the mosaic of the man pouring out water from the gourd.
We went back up the stairs to the fountain, where we found the bull that we had left there, still eating the feed. We led the bull up to the room with the platform and tied it to the iron ring. We made our way up to the fork and to the upper room, waited until we heard the bull wail in fear, and scurried back up the passageway. As we passed, we almost forgot who we were.
We finally reached the surface and decided to part company with Fasil.
"My patroness has not seen fit to take you yet," remarked Fasil.
"Before we part ways, can we ask you something about the Raven Queen?" asked Kale. "Do you know one of her angelic servants named Gamerat?"
"The Raven Queen sends Gamerat on errands to help make things right. She gave him authority over life and death. The 100 were an aberration -- they were placed above death. That is not right -- the natural order should be preserved."
Bran nodded.
"If you plan to stay in the city," said Fasil, "perhaps you could volunteer to help us to maintain the Temple of the Raven Queen."
"I'd like to help with that," offered Bran.
"Thank you. Now that I know you, you may approach the High Guild and ask for me there."
"Maybe we could have a drink some time, as well?" asked Kale.
Fasil scowled. "Do not mock me, Mage."
We left to continue our search for the Ritual of Finding and the Challenge Ritual. Perhaps Provost Benjy could help us in our quest.
We found Benjy in class, so we waited outside and read the books to pass the time. After class was over, he walked outside to meet us.
"Was Pican able to help you?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Kale, "but we have some questions we'd like to ask."
"Maybe we could talk somewhere more private," suggested Benjy.
"We could bring some wine as well," offered Kale.
"Excellent! It's the full moon, and my stipend is not sufficient to cover such things."
Bran found a merchant that sold some decent wine, and we purchased the wine and met up with Benjy.
Kale handed the book on Pre-Centenarchy Law to Benjy. "What can you tell us about Illusionism?"
"Illusionism led the 100 to discover and contact the Chimera," explained Benjy. "The Pre-Centenarchy is from the time of the Judges. The Laws of the Judges would have prevented the coming of the Chimera."
Kale showed Benjy the "Illustrated Exploits of the Early Centenarchy."
"May I borrow this and have a scribe copy the notes from this?" asked Benjy.
Kale nodded. "Now, we need to find the Ritual of the Challenge. Do you know what that is?"
"It was used by the 100 to assert power over the army, I believe."
"If an explorer found some books and brought them back to sell them, where would they sell them?"
"Well, usually the Guildmaster gets the first choice of whatever is found. The Guildmaster buys the best of the artifacts recovered."
"Oh," Benjy continued, "I forgot to mention this. While you were gone, there was an eerie fellow who came asking for you. He was wrapped in cloth from head to foot. He called himself 'Baird'."
The lich. We had never found his phylactery, Kale explained earlier, which meant that he was not destroyed and could come back to life.
"Did you tell him that we were here?"
"No," Benjy quickly replied. "I didn't give anything away."
Tiny gave him a skeptical glance and whispered to us, "He might have been tight-lipped about our whereabouts, but Baird could still discern a lot from Benjy's mannerisms."
"Anyway," Benjy continued, "Baird left and flew back up to the teardrop. I wish he hadn't come by here. He had parked in the greens, and the vulture drakes shat all over the lawn. We had to get our first year students to clean up the mess."
"Who is allowed to go to the teardrop?"
"Usually the Chimerics. The teardrop is where our government is run from."
We thanked Benjy and left. Bran decided to go to the Temple of the Raven Queen and help Fasil with the cleaning. As they swept the temple floor, Bran asked Fasil if any of the Raven Queen's followers could help us in our quest.
"I do know people who know more than I," replied Fasil. "I can ask around. Give me a few days and I can introduce you to some of our followers."
Bran thanked Fasil and met us in the city. Ryn used his streetwise skills to find the bar where Dennig was at. In the bar, there were a dozen patrons, and a large man (perhaps 6' 7" in height) holding court. The man was quite drunk and had been paying for everyone's drinks. This had to be Dennig.
"And they went to the desert," Dennig sang, "and found a mystic river..." He turned to Carlagnios. "Sing with me!"
Carlagnios joined in. "I went upon the river, and drank a mighty drink..."
Dennig applauded. "We have a bard in here! Give him a silver piece!"
Carlagnios drank with him. They both continued to drink and sing until they were too drunk to stand.
"Why are we here again?" slurred Carlagnios. "I forget." He belched, and a small flash of fire lit up the bar.
"I need to piss," declared Dennig. "I'll be right back."
He stumbed to the bathroom, and we waited for his return. Time passed -- 5 minutes, 10 minutes -- until it became evident that Dennig was not returning.
We quickly made our way to the bathroom where we found Dennig on the floor. He had fallen over and was too drunk to pick himself up. Carlagnios helped him to his feet.
"Thank you," said Dennig. "What is your name, bard?"
"Carl...agnios."
"So," Kale interrupted. "We heard that you raided a library."
Dennig smiled. "I'm still living off that. It was a few weeks ago. It was great -- I had a buyer lined up and everything. It was the Guildmaster himself! I went up top to sell the books to him." He started to get sleepy.
I wondered whether we should tell the librarian where to find Dennig. Tiny pointed out that he was just a hard-drinking explorer with no moral quandries. In some ways, we were not all that different.
But it was clear that all paths led to the Guildmaster and that we needed to find our way up to the teardrop. That would have to wait, though -- we needed to sober up our drunken Dragonborn bard first.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Illustrated Exploits of the Early Centenarchy
From “Illustrated Exploits of the Early Centenarchy”, an illustrated children’s history book. The book is composed of engravings opposite simple captions.
Page 1:
“The suffering under the Judges’ Rule.”
Page 2:
“The Rule of the Judges is overthrown.”
Page 6:
“The treacherous Assassin are hunted and pay for their crimes.”
Page 17:
“Gezu gives his life to save the other 99.”
Page 22:
“Gezu’s brother, Garu, faces the Harrowing Ordeal and takes his dead brother’s place among the 100.”
Page 30:
“Under the guidance of Chimera, the new 100 unlock the secret of life everlasting.”
Page 51:
“101 is defeated for the first time.”
Page 61:
“Ores the Daring journeys to the hidden lair of the Stone Men. His clothing, knitted and magicked in the manner Chimera had taught him, blind the Stone Men.
Page 62:
Ores sneaks into the Stone Mens’ treasure trove and steals the Seed of Contradiction.”
Page 63:
“Ores plants the Seed of Contradiction in our world, whence grows the Whale.”
Page 64:
“Chimera is free.”
Page 1:
“The suffering under the Judges’ Rule.”
Page 2:
“The Rule of the Judges is overthrown.”
Page 6:
“The treacherous Assassin are hunted and pay for their crimes.”
Page 17:
“Gezu gives his life to save the other 99.”
Page 22:
“Gezu’s brother, Garu, faces the Harrowing Ordeal and takes his dead brother’s place among the 100.”
Page 30:
“Under the guidance of Chimera, the new 100 unlock the secret of life everlasting.”
Page 51:
“101 is defeated for the first time.”
Page 61:
“Ores the Daring journeys to the hidden lair of the Stone Men. His clothing, knitted and magicked in the manner Chimera had taught him, blind the Stone Men.
Page 62:
Ores sneaks into the Stone Mens’ treasure trove and steals the Seed of Contradiction.”
Page 63:
“Ores plants the Seed of Contradiction in our world, whence grows the Whale.”
Page 64:
“Chimera is free.”
The Librarian of the Buried City
Fasil led us through a long route to the library. "Before the city was buried," he explained, "the route was easier. But now we need to go through these tunnels that were dug through the buried city."
After a while, Fasil stopped and led us to a cul-de-sac. "We should rest here. We'll need to go through an area that is protected by the Drow, so you'll need to recover your strength before then."
After an extended period of rest, Fasil led us further down through the caves. "The Drow are active here during certain times of the day, so we'll need to be careful."
Tiny looked at Fasil and whispered to us, "I think he's been sneaking drinks."
"We've had a pretty easy time so far," continued Fasil as he led us through the tunnels. "Ah, we're here."
We found ourselves in a room with a shaft in the center of the room. In the shaft was a spiralling staircase leading down several floors.
"We should be ready for battle," Fasil told us, "so one of you should lead."
Firinne led us down the stairway, past two floors. On the third floor down, we found a path to the side that led to a door. Inscribed on the door was the word "History."
We went through the door and found ourselves in a ruined scriptorium -- a room for reading and transcribing scrolls. At the end of the room was a desk with a locked door. Bran easily picked the lock, and he opened the door to find a room that once housed books. Someone had been through this room and taken all of the books.
Bran managed to find one remaining book. It was a children's book titled "Illustrated Exploits of the Early Centenarchy." The book contained engravings with explanatory text on the facing pages. According to the book, the Early Centenarchy ended with the growing of the Whale and the freeing of the Chimera. Kale surmised that this Whale was the Cthona.
We left the rooms and continued down the spiraling staircase. At the next floor, we found a door labeled "Law." In this room, there were sections for books on the Law of Centenarchy and Pre-Centenarchy. The room was destroyed and the books were taken, except for one book on forbidden studies during the Pre-Centenarchy. Kale read through the book and explained that the studies included Illusionism -- the belief that the world itself is not real (it is just an illusion).
We made our way back to the staircase and went down to the next floor, where there was a door labeled "Physik." This room would have contained books about knowledge of the Body, but the room had been completely cleared out.
On the next floor, we found a door labeled "Religion." The door had been torn off its hinges -- perhaps from an explosion. Tiny noted that there had been a battle here in the past few months.
On the bottom floor, we found a door labeled "Arcana." We opened the door and found a room with a table. Behind the table, there was a Drow leaning back in a chair. He had one foot propped up on the table. Near his foot was a wand -- one of the wands that fired projectiles.
He turned to look at us. He was chewing a mouthful of some sort of leaves.
"Well," he asked, " have you found what you're looking for?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm the librarian."
"Really?" Kale remarked. "You seem to have extensive weaponry for a librarian. Are you a guardian of this place?"
"I was. What are you looking for?"
"We are seeking a couple of rituals."
"Well, send someone behind the stacks to look for them."
Unfortunately, this room had been cleared out like the others.
"So," the Drow asked us, "did you find it?"
"No," Kale replied. "We're looking for the Ritual of Finding."
"That should be here, but I guess it is not."
"We are also looking for the Challenge Ritual."
"That would be in the Law section up above."
"We couldn't find any books here."
"Well, then, you'll want to find the surface dwellers who took them. They came down here, looted the books, and killed all of my scribes. Their leader was a big, ugly human they called Dennig. If you find him and the books, send the information my way so that I can reclaim my books. Is there a place where we can meet to make this exchange?"
Carlagnios growled. "Why would we return the books to you if you're just going to give the books back to us?"
The Drow glared at Carlagnios. "I think I know who you are. You killed some of my people at the school."
"Well," Kale explained, "they attacked us."
"Wouldn't you defend your home against outsiders who would attack you and take your property?" the Drow asked.
We were silent.
"Have you ever dealt with the Guild?" Kale asked.
"Surface dwellers are filthy and should be destroyed," answered the Drow.
"Well... There's no reason for us to be at odds. Why should we be fighting over petty things when there are larger problems that we can deal with if we cooperate. Problems like... the Chimera."
The Drow cursed. "The Chimera is a thorn in our side. He does not show any respect for Lolth."
I shivered when hearing that name, remembering our encounter in the school
"Are there any other libraries where we could find these rituals?" asked Bran.
"This was our finest library," answered the Drow. "The books would have been here. You can still try to find Dennig and get the books from him. Make sure to let me know where he is."
"What's in it for us?" asked Carlagnios.
"Money, perhaps?" suggested the Drow.
Bran's eyes lit up. "We'll take the money."
Carlagnios growled. "Ignore the little one."
"Leave me a message at the school," continued the Drow, "if you want to contact me."
"How do we ensure safe passage to the school?" Kale asked. "We might be attacked again."
The Drow pulled out a stone attached to a leather string. "If you want safe passage, show them this."
"What do they call you?" asked Firinne.
"You can call me the librarian."
Firinne pocketed the stone and leather string. "So we just show this to them, tell them that the librarian gave this to us, and they'll let us pass."
The Drow nodded. "They'll... let you live."
We thanked him and left, making our way back to the current city of Lordahl, which sat on the surface above.
After a while, Fasil stopped and led us to a cul-de-sac. "We should rest here. We'll need to go through an area that is protected by the Drow, so you'll need to recover your strength before then."
After an extended period of rest, Fasil led us further down through the caves. "The Drow are active here during certain times of the day, so we'll need to be careful."
Tiny looked at Fasil and whispered to us, "I think he's been sneaking drinks."
"We've had a pretty easy time so far," continued Fasil as he led us through the tunnels. "Ah, we're here."
We found ourselves in a room with a shaft in the center of the room. In the shaft was a spiralling staircase leading down several floors.
"We should be ready for battle," Fasil told us, "so one of you should lead."
Firinne led us down the stairway, past two floors. On the third floor down, we found a path to the side that led to a door. Inscribed on the door was the word "History."
We went through the door and found ourselves in a ruined scriptorium -- a room for reading and transcribing scrolls. At the end of the room was a desk with a locked door. Bran easily picked the lock, and he opened the door to find a room that once housed books. Someone had been through this room and taken all of the books.
Bran managed to find one remaining book. It was a children's book titled "Illustrated Exploits of the Early Centenarchy." The book contained engravings with explanatory text on the facing pages. According to the book, the Early Centenarchy ended with the growing of the Whale and the freeing of the Chimera. Kale surmised that this Whale was the Cthona.
We left the rooms and continued down the spiraling staircase. At the next floor, we found a door labeled "Law." In this room, there were sections for books on the Law of Centenarchy and Pre-Centenarchy. The room was destroyed and the books were taken, except for one book on forbidden studies during the Pre-Centenarchy. Kale read through the book and explained that the studies included Illusionism -- the belief that the world itself is not real (it is just an illusion).
We made our way back to the staircase and went down to the next floor, where there was a door labeled "Physik." This room would have contained books about knowledge of the Body, but the room had been completely cleared out.
On the next floor, we found a door labeled "Religion." The door had been torn off its hinges -- perhaps from an explosion. Tiny noted that there had been a battle here in the past few months.
On the bottom floor, we found a door labeled "Arcana." We opened the door and found a room with a table. Behind the table, there was a Drow leaning back in a chair. He had one foot propped up on the table. Near his foot was a wand -- one of the wands that fired projectiles.
He turned to look at us. He was chewing a mouthful of some sort of leaves.
"Well," he asked, " have you found what you're looking for?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm the librarian."
"Really?" Kale remarked. "You seem to have extensive weaponry for a librarian. Are you a guardian of this place?"
"I was. What are you looking for?"
"We are seeking a couple of rituals."
"Well, send someone behind the stacks to look for them."
Unfortunately, this room had been cleared out like the others.
"So," the Drow asked us, "did you find it?"
"No," Kale replied. "We're looking for the Ritual of Finding."
"That should be here, but I guess it is not."
"We are also looking for the Challenge Ritual."
"That would be in the Law section up above."
"We couldn't find any books here."
"Well, then, you'll want to find the surface dwellers who took them. They came down here, looted the books, and killed all of my scribes. Their leader was a big, ugly human they called Dennig. If you find him and the books, send the information my way so that I can reclaim my books. Is there a place where we can meet to make this exchange?"
Carlagnios growled. "Why would we return the books to you if you're just going to give the books back to us?"
The Drow glared at Carlagnios. "I think I know who you are. You killed some of my people at the school."
"Well," Kale explained, "they attacked us."
"Wouldn't you defend your home against outsiders who would attack you and take your property?" the Drow asked.
We were silent.
"Have you ever dealt with the Guild?" Kale asked.
"Surface dwellers are filthy and should be destroyed," answered the Drow.
"Well... There's no reason for us to be at odds. Why should we be fighting over petty things when there are larger problems that we can deal with if we cooperate. Problems like... the Chimera."
The Drow cursed. "The Chimera is a thorn in our side. He does not show any respect for Lolth."
I shivered when hearing that name, remembering our encounter in the school
"Are there any other libraries where we could find these rituals?" asked Bran.
"This was our finest library," answered the Drow. "The books would have been here. You can still try to find Dennig and get the books from him. Make sure to let me know where he is."
"What's in it for us?" asked Carlagnios.
"Money, perhaps?" suggested the Drow.
Bran's eyes lit up. "We'll take the money."
Carlagnios growled. "Ignore the little one."
"Leave me a message at the school," continued the Drow, "if you want to contact me."
"How do we ensure safe passage to the school?" Kale asked. "We might be attacked again."
The Drow pulled out a stone attached to a leather string. "If you want safe passage, show them this."
"What do they call you?" asked Firinne.
"You can call me the librarian."
Firinne pocketed the stone and leather string. "So we just show this to them, tell them that the librarian gave this to us, and they'll let us pass."
The Drow nodded. "They'll... let you live."
We thanked him and left, making our way back to the current city of Lordahl, which sat on the surface above.
The Sorrows of the Map Makers
The Map Room was a broad room with curved, luminous walls. The room was elongated, more like an oval than a sphere. Kale looked carefully at the walls and reported that an enchantment made them glow. He also detected some magic from the floor.
On the floor was depicted a vast map of a world -- the Siege World. The map seemed to be old, perhaps created before the First or Second Apocalypse. The terrain of the world -- the mountains, the valleys, the plains -- was captured in what seemed to be an abstracted painting across the floor.
As we walked across the map, the names of cities appeared beneath our feet. We stopped to examine the names, and we noticed a bright light appear in a different part of the map. The light quickly vanished, and after a while, another bright light appeared in another part of the map.
"What is with these glowing lights?" Carlagnios muttered.
We spent about an hour examining the map before we found a part that could have been Lordahl. It was difficult to tell, since the map now described the world beneath the surface. Every few minutes, a glow would appear in another part of the map.
On the other side of the room was a doorway. In the room beyond this one, there was something moving. We carefully approached the doorway and looked inside.
The doorway led to a workroom with four tables and chairs. At each table was a hazy, ghostly figure, doing some paperwork. On the far side of this room was another doorway.
As we approached the figures, we noticed that they had ghostly wounds that they bled from. The blood was just as ethereal as the figures were.
"Hi," Bran greeted one of the figures. But the ghost continued to do his work.
Kale cast a spell to make the table glow, and the ghost looked up. The ghost looked around, as if trying to find the source of the glowing, before he looked at Kale and said, "All sturgeons, whales, porpoises, grampus, and large fishes shall be the due of the 100."
Kale made the other tables glow, and the other ghosts uttered the same, odd statements, as though speaking in some cryptic code of a law.
We went through the doorway at the far end, and we found ourselves in a room with no other exits. The room was a plain study with a single desk. A ghost sat at this desk as well. He was a wiry old man with split, braided hair and a beard. From a ghostly wound, he leaked ethereal blood.
"Please sit," he said, "I will be done shortly."
After a while, he lifted his hands to his face and rubbed them over his head.
"Now how may I help you? I am the Master Map Maker."
"We seek the location of the Centenarch," replied Kale.
"The Centenarch is nowhere," said the Map Maker. "Even a school child knows this."
"Nowhere?"
"You are asking me how to find nowhere. As you know, early in our struggle against the Lover of the Raven Queen, the Centenarch was magicked away to a pocket, where the Lover -- the Chimera -- could not enter. The door was open only to the 100."
"So how do we get to the Centenarch?" asked Kale.
"To get to the Centenarch, you must become one of the 100. Our world is ruled by the 100 from the Centenarch."
"So how do we become the 100?"
"To become the 100, you must ascend the slopes of the Bone Breaker -- a large, dormant volcano. At the top, you must challenge one of the 100 in an ancient ritual. They will answer your summons and battle you. Then, you must face the Harrowing Ordeal."
"How do we get to the Bone Breaker?"
"I can give you a map. You will also need the Ritual of Finding and the Challenge Ritual. Those you can find in any library. I can give you a map to that as well. Do you have any other questions?"
"Where are the focus houses?"
He frowned. "I used to know where the focus houses were, but I can't seem to remember now."
"What are the glowing lights in the map?"
"Those lights show us when someone is using our system for locating places. The lights tell us who is finding their way."
He scribbled down something on two strips of paper and handed them to Kale.
"Give these to the clerk outside, and they will draw up the maps for you."
We left the Master Map Maker and returned to the room with the four ghostly clerks. We handed the strips of paper to one of the clerks, who examined the papers and gave us a confused look. He gave the papers to the other ghosts, and they proceeded to draw up the maps.
When they were done, the clerk handed Bran the two scrolls, encased in nice, leather tubes.
"These are for you," the clerk said. "Now run."
Before Bran could respond, one of the ghosts cast his sorrows onto Carlagnios and possessed him. In his mind, Carlagnios saw what had happened to the ghosts when they were alive. "The demon for us," the ghost said, speaking through the voice of Carlagnios. "They slaughtered us all."
Another ghost possessed Bran and forced him to shoot at Firinne.
Kale quickly used his Orb of Imposition to transfer the possession from Carlagnios to another ghost. Firinne struck the ghost with a brilliant blade of light. It should have killed the ghost, but the ghost still remained.
"Their lives," Kale explained, "are shared. When we cause enough damage to kill them all, only then will they all fall."
One of the ghosts possessed Firinne. I would be only a matter of time before they possessed us all.
Kale cast a spell to put one of the ghosts to sleep -- the ghost that had possessed Firinne. She managed to break free of its hold on her.
"Now," Kale told us, "attack the sleeping one. If we can damage it enough, all of them will fall."
Carlagnios struck the sleeping ghost with this jagged axe. Firinne slammed the ghost with the fury of a martyr's retribution and glowed with a divine radiance that further damaged the ghost. I fired at the ghost with an excruciating shot and caught it in a hunter's bear trap, and the four ghosts vanished in a wail of agony.
As they disappeared, we could see them in their previous lives, savaged by the attacking demons. Was this part of the First or Second Apocalypse? This was truly a horrifying experience for these clerks.
We opened the leather cases and examined the maps inside. One map showed the path to the Bone Breaker (the mountain) from what appeared to be the buried city of Lordahl (beneath the present city of Lordahl). The other map showed the path to a library in the buried city of Lordahl.
We returned to Fasil and showed him the maps. He agreed to lead us through this buried city to the library, where we could find the rituals that we needed to find the Bone Breaker and challenge the 100.
On the floor was depicted a vast map of a world -- the Siege World. The map seemed to be old, perhaps created before the First or Second Apocalypse. The terrain of the world -- the mountains, the valleys, the plains -- was captured in what seemed to be an abstracted painting across the floor.
As we walked across the map, the names of cities appeared beneath our feet. We stopped to examine the names, and we noticed a bright light appear in a different part of the map. The light quickly vanished, and after a while, another bright light appeared in another part of the map.
"What is with these glowing lights?" Carlagnios muttered.
We spent about an hour examining the map before we found a part that could have been Lordahl. It was difficult to tell, since the map now described the world beneath the surface. Every few minutes, a glow would appear in another part of the map.
On the other side of the room was a doorway. In the room beyond this one, there was something moving. We carefully approached the doorway and looked inside.
The doorway led to a workroom with four tables and chairs. At each table was a hazy, ghostly figure, doing some paperwork. On the far side of this room was another doorway.
As we approached the figures, we noticed that they had ghostly wounds that they bled from. The blood was just as ethereal as the figures were.
"Hi," Bran greeted one of the figures. But the ghost continued to do his work.
Kale cast a spell to make the table glow, and the ghost looked up. The ghost looked around, as if trying to find the source of the glowing, before he looked at Kale and said, "All sturgeons, whales, porpoises, grampus, and large fishes shall be the due of the 100."
Kale made the other tables glow, and the other ghosts uttered the same, odd statements, as though speaking in some cryptic code of a law.
We went through the doorway at the far end, and we found ourselves in a room with no other exits. The room was a plain study with a single desk. A ghost sat at this desk as well. He was a wiry old man with split, braided hair and a beard. From a ghostly wound, he leaked ethereal blood.
"Please sit," he said, "I will be done shortly."
After a while, he lifted his hands to his face and rubbed them over his head.
"Now how may I help you? I am the Master Map Maker."
"We seek the location of the Centenarch," replied Kale.
"The Centenarch is nowhere," said the Map Maker. "Even a school child knows this."
"Nowhere?"
"You are asking me how to find nowhere. As you know, early in our struggle against the Lover of the Raven Queen, the Centenarch was magicked away to a pocket, where the Lover -- the Chimera -- could not enter. The door was open only to the 100."
"So how do we get to the Centenarch?" asked Kale.
"To get to the Centenarch, you must become one of the 100. Our world is ruled by the 100 from the Centenarch."
"So how do we become the 100?"
"To become the 100, you must ascend the slopes of the Bone Breaker -- a large, dormant volcano. At the top, you must challenge one of the 100 in an ancient ritual. They will answer your summons and battle you. Then, you must face the Harrowing Ordeal."
"How do we get to the Bone Breaker?"
"I can give you a map. You will also need the Ritual of Finding and the Challenge Ritual. Those you can find in any library. I can give you a map to that as well. Do you have any other questions?"
"Where are the focus houses?"
He frowned. "I used to know where the focus houses were, but I can't seem to remember now."
"What are the glowing lights in the map?"
"Those lights show us when someone is using our system for locating places. The lights tell us who is finding their way."
He scribbled down something on two strips of paper and handed them to Kale.
"Give these to the clerk outside, and they will draw up the maps for you."
We left the Master Map Maker and returned to the room with the four ghostly clerks. We handed the strips of paper to one of the clerks, who examined the papers and gave us a confused look. He gave the papers to the other ghosts, and they proceeded to draw up the maps.
When they were done, the clerk handed Bran the two scrolls, encased in nice, leather tubes.
"These are for you," the clerk said. "Now run."
Before Bran could respond, one of the ghosts cast his sorrows onto Carlagnios and possessed him. In his mind, Carlagnios saw what had happened to the ghosts when they were alive. "The demon for us," the ghost said, speaking through the voice of Carlagnios. "They slaughtered us all."
Another ghost possessed Bran and forced him to shoot at Firinne.
Kale quickly used his Orb of Imposition to transfer the possession from Carlagnios to another ghost. Firinne struck the ghost with a brilliant blade of light. It should have killed the ghost, but the ghost still remained.
"Their lives," Kale explained, "are shared. When we cause enough damage to kill them all, only then will they all fall."
One of the ghosts possessed Firinne. I would be only a matter of time before they possessed us all.
Kale cast a spell to put one of the ghosts to sleep -- the ghost that had possessed Firinne. She managed to break free of its hold on her.
"Now," Kale told us, "attack the sleeping one. If we can damage it enough, all of them will fall."
Carlagnios struck the sleeping ghost with this jagged axe. Firinne slammed the ghost with the fury of a martyr's retribution and glowed with a divine radiance that further damaged the ghost. I fired at the ghost with an excruciating shot and caught it in a hunter's bear trap, and the four ghosts vanished in a wail of agony.
As they disappeared, we could see them in their previous lives, savaged by the attacking demons. Was this part of the First or Second Apocalypse? This was truly a horrifying experience for these clerks.
We opened the leather cases and examined the maps inside. One map showed the path to the Bone Breaker (the mountain) from what appeared to be the buried city of Lordahl (beneath the present city of Lordahl). The other map showed the path to a library in the buried city of Lordahl.
We returned to Fasil and showed him the maps. He agreed to lead us through this buried city to the library, where we could find the rituals that we needed to find the Bone Breaker and challenge the 100.
They Lurk Within Stone
The Drow had escaped, and we were left with the bodies of the spiders in a long cylindrical carriage that was trapped within their webs. From the holes in the walls of the carriage, we could see nothing but the darkness of the tunnel. We felt a slight tremor as the carriage struggled against the webs.
"We need to free the carriage," said Bran. "Fasil, what do you recommend?"
Fasil pondered for a bit. "You could hack at the webs, but that would take time. A magical fire could damage the strands."
Kale nodded and cast a spell to set the webs on fire.
"And perhaps," Bran pointed out, "we should brace ourselves for the moment when the carriage breaks free of these weakening webbbbbbbbbbb--"
Suddenly, the carriage tore free of the burning strands and continued speedily through the tunnel, knocking all of us down.
Fasil sat up and looked into the distance. "We should be there soon."
Slowly, the carriage drew to a halt. We stepped out into a dripping, wet room. On the wall, there was a mural of a man collecting rain in a seashell.
Fasil pointed to a set of stairs leading up. "This is where we should be going."
The stairs led to a dirty, narrow tunnel. The tunnel meandered through the earth before broadening. We followed it through until we found ourselves in a wide cavern littered with rocks and boulders.
Before us was a long wall with a low, broad archway. Above the archway was some writing.
Firinne started to walk closer, and suddenly, the rocks around us came to life.
Five creatures emerged from the rock: two humanoids that appeared to be made of the earth itself, a third, smaller rock-like humanoid, and two beasts that had three claws around a single, staring eye.
At this point, Tiny, Garg, and Ryn suddenly vanished, leaving only the five of us (Bran, Firinne, Kale, Carlagnios, and myself -- Aelar) to fight the monsters.
"What in Melora's name are they?"
Kale examined the creatures from a distance. "It appears that they are two stoneshapers, a rockcaller, and a Xorn." He went on to explain at length the history of these creatures (an explanation that was well above my head).
"I don't understand," confessed Bran. "What are you talking about?"
"Something about where the creatures came from," answered Firinne, "but I don't get it. It didn't make any sense to me."
"He said something something Hill Giants something," Carlagnios replied and shrugged.
Kale rolled his eyes. He gave us an exasperated look, as though he had come to a realization that the monsters we were battling were far more intelligent than the rest of us.
One of the stoneshapers hurled a shard of rock at Carlagnios, striking him. The others burrowed through the ground and quickly flanked Carlagnios. The rockcaller turned into a boulder and bashed Carlagnios, but Firinne interrupted his attack with a beam of fierce radiance. Kale made a psychic attack against one of the Xorn, and it began to bleed from what appeared to be its nose. Bran struck the creatures with his daggers, causing further damage to them, and I shot the rockcaller with a biting volley of arrows.
The creatures continued to strike Carlagnios, bloodying him badly. But Carlagnios had had enough. "Come and get it!" he snarled, drawing the creatures toward him and striking with his jagged axe. He slashed at them so quickly that we could not see anything but a thicket of blades. When it was over, he had killed the rockcaller and bloodied both Xorn badly.
Rock dust flew everywhere, and the Xorn submerged partly into the ground, making them difficult to hit.
One of the stoneshapers slammed his fists against the ground, forcing a stone wall to emerge in front of him. Bran quickly dodged the rising wall, but Kale and Carlagnios were knocked down. Carlagnios was in bad shape. Firinne challenged one of the Xorn to draw him away from Carlagnios. Carlagnios was able to take a second wind and recover.
We managed to destroy the two Xorn, and the stoneshapers retreated by submerging into the ground.
We searched the rest of the cavern and found a pile of bodies in a corner.
"We're not supposed to touch the dead," Carl pointed out, but Kale proceeded to examine the bodies.
One of the bodies was an Eladrin, and the other was a Human. Perhaps these were explorers like us who were less fortunate in their battle against the stone creatures.
On the Eladrin, Kale found a suit of Fey Touched Leather Armor and 1400 gold pieces. On the Human, Kale found a powerful Amulet of Protection (more powerful than the ones we had purchased earlier) and 2100 gold pieces. We decided to give the amulet to Firinne and the leather armor to Ryn, although Kale decided to wear the armor until Ryn reappeared.
"Did you find anything else?" we asked.
Kale seemed lost in thought as he stared at the Eladrin's body. "I wonder if I could skin this."
"What?"
"Well," Kale explained, "the skin of a Fey creature would be useful for magical purposes."
"Excuse me???" interjected Ryn, who suddenly appeared at Kale's side. "Did you forget that I'm an Eladrin? Do you mean skin me as well?"
"Oh," said Kale, "I didn't see you there."
"And my ancestors were natives of the Feywild as well," I mentioned, "and so are Garg and Firinne's ancestors, at least one one side."
Kale sighed. "Maybe I don't need the skin after all. I seem to remember my mentor, Sta Sokeus, mentioning that the skin of an Eladrin was not tough enough."
Meanwhile, Carlagnios looked around for Fasil and found him in a corner of the cavern.
"Why are you hiding there?" barked Carlagnios.
"Me? I am just waiting for my patroness to decide who will live and who will die. It does not matter to me if the stone creatures die or if you die. Either way, the outcome is still the same."
Firinne approached the archway and read the words above the archway aloud. "Map Room." The words were in Old Warrior and formed a pun of sorts. The same markings could also be interpreted to read, "You are here."
"This is where I stop," Fasil announced. "I will go no further than this."
"In the past," he continued, "I have led some here who have found the answers that they were seeking. I have performed rites on others who have never returned."
We turned toward the archway and looked into the Map Room. There was some danger here, and we needed to be ready.
"I will wait for you here," Fasil said. "If my patroness decides that you live, I will lead you back to the city."
"We need to free the carriage," said Bran. "Fasil, what do you recommend?"
Fasil pondered for a bit. "You could hack at the webs, but that would take time. A magical fire could damage the strands."
Kale nodded and cast a spell to set the webs on fire.
"And perhaps," Bran pointed out, "we should brace ourselves for the moment when the carriage breaks free of these weakening webbbbbbbbbbb--"
Suddenly, the carriage tore free of the burning strands and continued speedily through the tunnel, knocking all of us down.
Fasil sat up and looked into the distance. "We should be there soon."
Slowly, the carriage drew to a halt. We stepped out into a dripping, wet room. On the wall, there was a mural of a man collecting rain in a seashell.
Fasil pointed to a set of stairs leading up. "This is where we should be going."
The stairs led to a dirty, narrow tunnel. The tunnel meandered through the earth before broadening. We followed it through until we found ourselves in a wide cavern littered with rocks and boulders.
Before us was a long wall with a low, broad archway. Above the archway was some writing.
Firinne started to walk closer, and suddenly, the rocks around us came to life.
Five creatures emerged from the rock: two humanoids that appeared to be made of the earth itself, a third, smaller rock-like humanoid, and two beasts that had three claws around a single, staring eye.
At this point, Tiny, Garg, and Ryn suddenly vanished, leaving only the five of us (Bran, Firinne, Kale, Carlagnios, and myself -- Aelar) to fight the monsters.
"What in Melora's name are they?"
Kale examined the creatures from a distance. "It appears that they are two stoneshapers, a rockcaller, and a Xorn." He went on to explain at length the history of these creatures (an explanation that was well above my head).
"I don't understand," confessed Bran. "What are you talking about?"
"Something about where the creatures came from," answered Firinne, "but I don't get it. It didn't make any sense to me."
"He said something something Hill Giants something," Carlagnios replied and shrugged.
Kale rolled his eyes. He gave us an exasperated look, as though he had come to a realization that the monsters we were battling were far more intelligent than the rest of us.
One of the stoneshapers hurled a shard of rock at Carlagnios, striking him. The others burrowed through the ground and quickly flanked Carlagnios. The rockcaller turned into a boulder and bashed Carlagnios, but Firinne interrupted his attack with a beam of fierce radiance. Kale made a psychic attack against one of the Xorn, and it began to bleed from what appeared to be its nose. Bran struck the creatures with his daggers, causing further damage to them, and I shot the rockcaller with a biting volley of arrows.
The creatures continued to strike Carlagnios, bloodying him badly. But Carlagnios had had enough. "Come and get it!" he snarled, drawing the creatures toward him and striking with his jagged axe. He slashed at them so quickly that we could not see anything but a thicket of blades. When it was over, he had killed the rockcaller and bloodied both Xorn badly.
Rock dust flew everywhere, and the Xorn submerged partly into the ground, making them difficult to hit.
One of the stoneshapers slammed his fists against the ground, forcing a stone wall to emerge in front of him. Bran quickly dodged the rising wall, but Kale and Carlagnios were knocked down. Carlagnios was in bad shape. Firinne challenged one of the Xorn to draw him away from Carlagnios. Carlagnios was able to take a second wind and recover.
We managed to destroy the two Xorn, and the stoneshapers retreated by submerging into the ground.
We searched the rest of the cavern and found a pile of bodies in a corner.
"We're not supposed to touch the dead," Carl pointed out, but Kale proceeded to examine the bodies.
One of the bodies was an Eladrin, and the other was a Human. Perhaps these were explorers like us who were less fortunate in their battle against the stone creatures.
On the Eladrin, Kale found a suit of Fey Touched Leather Armor and 1400 gold pieces. On the Human, Kale found a powerful Amulet of Protection (more powerful than the ones we had purchased earlier) and 2100 gold pieces. We decided to give the amulet to Firinne and the leather armor to Ryn, although Kale decided to wear the armor until Ryn reappeared.
"Did you find anything else?" we asked.
Kale seemed lost in thought as he stared at the Eladrin's body. "I wonder if I could skin this."
"What?"
"Well," Kale explained, "the skin of a Fey creature would be useful for magical purposes."
"Excuse me???" interjected Ryn, who suddenly appeared at Kale's side. "Did you forget that I'm an Eladrin? Do you mean skin me as well?"
"Oh," said Kale, "I didn't see you there."
"And my ancestors were natives of the Feywild as well," I mentioned, "and so are Garg and Firinne's ancestors, at least one one side."
Kale sighed. "Maybe I don't need the skin after all. I seem to remember my mentor, Sta Sokeus, mentioning that the skin of an Eladrin was not tough enough."
Meanwhile, Carlagnios looked around for Fasil and found him in a corner of the cavern.
"Why are you hiding there?" barked Carlagnios.
"Me? I am just waiting for my patroness to decide who will live and who will die. It does not matter to me if the stone creatures die or if you die. Either way, the outcome is still the same."
Firinne approached the archway and read the words above the archway aloud. "Map Room." The words were in Old Warrior and formed a pun of sorts. The same markings could also be interpreted to read, "You are here."
"This is where I stop," Fasil announced. "I will go no further than this."
"In the past," he continued, "I have led some here who have found the answers that they were seeking. I have performed rites on others who have never returned."
We turned toward the archway and looked into the Map Room. There was some danger here, and we needed to be ready.
"I will wait for you here," Fasil said. "If my patroness decides that you live, I will lead you back to the city."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Lesson in Risk and Reward
The stairs led to a long, low hall that was magically lit. In the floor, there was a long groove that had been dug out.
The walls had chipped mosaics and were glistening with moisture. Every so often, we'd hear a drop of water fall to the ground. One of the mosaics was a man with a gourd, pouring out the contents of the gourd.
At one end of the room was a small booth. From that booth extended a statue of two outstretched woman's hands. Fasil directed us to place the residuum in the hands. The hands slowly absorbed the residuum, and from one end of the room, a long tapered, alabaster cylinder slid along the groove toward us. When the cylinder reached us, it stopped.
"This is something that they used to travel from place to place," explained Fasil. "It is part of the ruined city."
He led us into the cylinder. Once we stood on the platform inside, the cylinder began to move along the groove again.
We were moving quickly. Once, we passed by a section of light. It passed too quickly for us to see anything, but Tiny noticed that there was a battle between Demons and Animata that was taking place there.
The cylinder kept on moving. Suddenly, we jolted to a stop, and we were all thrown to the floor. Two large spiders (Blade Spiders) jumped in to attack us, along with two other spiders (Swarm Spiders) and a dark elf (a Blade Master).
We were struck and poisoned again. Bran shot one of the spiders in his opening move and was quickly able to dodge two powerful blows from one of the Blade Spiders. Kale set the spiders on fire.
The dark elf summoned a cloud of darkness around himself and Firinne. Firinne was able to stumbled out and, in a Berserker rage, badly damaged the spiders.
Tiny weakened three of the spiders, but the spiders fought back. They stunned and poisoned Tiny and brought him close to death. Garg inspired Tiny to fight on, and Tiny healed all of us in a brilliant beacon of hope.
We continued to fight the spiders but held back in our abilities. Perhaps we were worried that we'd expend too much of our energies in this battle, and we wouldn't be able to fight the next battle as effectively. But in restraining ourselves, we let the dark elf escape with any treasures that we might have gained.
The walls had chipped mosaics and were glistening with moisture. Every so often, we'd hear a drop of water fall to the ground. One of the mosaics was a man with a gourd, pouring out the contents of the gourd.
At one end of the room was a small booth. From that booth extended a statue of two outstretched woman's hands. Fasil directed us to place the residuum in the hands. The hands slowly absorbed the residuum, and from one end of the room, a long tapered, alabaster cylinder slid along the groove toward us. When the cylinder reached us, it stopped.
"This is something that they used to travel from place to place," explained Fasil. "It is part of the ruined city."
He led us into the cylinder. Once we stood on the platform inside, the cylinder began to move along the groove again.
We were moving quickly. Once, we passed by a section of light. It passed too quickly for us to see anything, but Tiny noticed that there was a battle between Demons and Animata that was taking place there.
The cylinder kept on moving. Suddenly, we jolted to a stop, and we were all thrown to the floor. Two large spiders (Blade Spiders) jumped in to attack us, along with two other spiders (Swarm Spiders) and a dark elf (a Blade Master).
We were struck and poisoned again. Bran shot one of the spiders in his opening move and was quickly able to dodge two powerful blows from one of the Blade Spiders. Kale set the spiders on fire.
The dark elf summoned a cloud of darkness around himself and Firinne. Firinne was able to stumbled out and, in a Berserker rage, badly damaged the spiders.
Tiny weakened three of the spiders, but the spiders fought back. They stunned and poisoned Tiny and brought him close to death. Garg inspired Tiny to fight on, and Tiny healed all of us in a brilliant beacon of hope.
We continued to fight the spiders but held back in our abilities. Perhaps we were worried that we'd expend too much of our energies in this battle, and we wouldn't be able to fight the next battle as effectively. But in restraining ourselves, we let the dark elf escape with any treasures that we might have gained.
The Sacrifice
The cave began to get rough, and we found ourselves climbing up a rocky face. We climbed for half an hour before we reached the top. At the top, we found a corridor, and we saw a light approaching us from a distance.
As the light grew closer, we could make out a man, carrying a torch. "Hello!" he called out to us.
"Were those your zombies?" asked Carlagnios.
"No," the man replied. "Are there zombies here?"
He had dropped cheeks -- almost like a basset hound. He introduced himself as High Guide Fasil of the guild.
"My patroness allows be to live," he declared.
"Your patroness?"
"Yes, I am a follower of the Raven Queen."
"I am also a follower of the Raven Queen," Bran said. "Have you met her?"
"No, but I will meet her one day. One day, we all will meet her."
Tiny looked at him closely and whispered to us, "He's a heavy drinker. I think he might be drunk now."
"Where is your guide," Fasil asked us.
"He... uh... disappeared. Did you have a party of treasure hunters with you?"
"Yes. They met their end. But that is how I serve the Raven Queen. I bring people closer to her."
"I am on my way back to the city," he continued. "I need to get some supplies."
"Beer?" asked Tiny.
Fasil glared at him. "Do not mock me, Dwarf! I must return to the temple."
"The Temple of the Raven Queen?" asked Bran. "Where is that?"
"In the outer city above us. What are you here for? What do you seek?"
"We are looking for the Centenarch," answered Kale.
"It is a chair," explained Carlagnios.
"It's a piece of furniture," offered Tiny.
Kale corrected them through gritted teeth. "It was their seat of *power*. The seat of power of the 100."
Fasil gave him an empty look. "I don't know what it is, but I could take you to the Map Room. You might find your answers there. My fee would be 500 gold pieces."
"500?!?"
We discussed this amount amongst ourselves and finally agreed to pay the cost. We had just found 1100 gold pieces, so the price would not be that much of a problem for us.
"Now we need to go back to the surface to get some supplies," Fasil said.
"And you can show me the Temple of the Raven Queen," said Bran.
As we followed him back up, Kale recorded the path we took.
When we reached the surface, Fasil brought us to the Temple of the Raven Queen. Before we could enter, a Chimeric approached us. He stared at Garg.
"Where are you from?" the Chimeric demanded. "What business do you have here?"
What was the name of the town we had come from? We did not remember, but Firinne did. "We came from the town of Sour Well," she answered.
"And we're exploring the mines," replied Garg.
"Alright, you can go now," the Chimeric declared and walked away.
"The Chimerics are taking a census," Fasil explained.
"He better have counted me as a Dragonborn," Carlagnios muttered. "Dragonborn are always underrepresented in treasure hunting groups."
"As are Halflings," mentioned Bran.
Tiny chimed in, "And Dwarves. Why aren't many of us in these groups? It's the Humans, Elves, and their half-breeds who always seem to crowd all of us out. Why are they so popular?"
"Wait," interrupted Ryn, "you don't think they're lumping in Eladrin with Elves in general, do you?"
"Why?" growled Carlagnios "Elves are all the same."
"Are you kidding? Eladrin are a different race of Elves," explained Ryn. "And what about the Drow?"
"What are Drow?" asked Carlagnios.
"The dark Elves we just fought," said Ryn impatiently. "You know, the Arachnomancer? Lolth's Grasp?" He turned to Garg and Firinne. "Surely you'd want them to distinguish between Elves and Half-Elves?"
"Eh." Garg shrugged with indifference.
"Well, what about women who are treasure hunters?" Firinne pointed out. "Hello? If we're talking about underrepresented here, ..."
"Look, people, can we just go inside now?" said Fasil.
No one else was in the temple. There was a small altar to the Raven Queen inside.
"You should prepare for the event of your demise," Fasil told us. "I always ask people to do this before I lead them to the mines. Some of them will never come back alive."
After Bran and Fasil were done with their prayers to the Raven Queen, Fasil rattled off a list of supplies that we needed.
"500 gold pieces worth of magical residuum."
"Got it," replied Kale.
"250 gold pieces worth of magical components."
"Got that."
"A pair of bulls -- in the prime of health -- not castrated."
"Go-- wait, what?"
"And some feed for one of them."
"Did you say 'bulls'?"
"Yes, we'll need one bull to get into the mines, and one bull to get back out. We'll need to bring them with us."
"Don't the bulls get aggressive?" asked Carlagnios.
"Yes," replied Fasil, "but I have a feeling that you are the type of person who is good with aggressive creatures." He smiled.
"Where would we get bulls?" Kale asked.
"In the outer city, you should be able to find a herder that would be willing to sell you a pair."
The request for the pair of bulls seemed very strange. We asked Tiny if we could trust Fasil. "Yes, he'll take us where we want to go. He doesn't care much about what happens to us."
We made our way to the outer city and found a drover who had some cattle. Perhaps he might have some bulls that he would be willing to sell.
"So, you wanna buy some bulls? How about these ones? They came from my old grandmother, who used them only once every other Sunday."
He pointed to a group of scrawny bulls. Kale shook his head.
"If these will be used in some sort of magical ritual -- which I suspect -- we'll need exactly what Fasil requested."
"OK, how about these? I'll sell both to you and some feed that you wanted for 50 gold pieces."
The two bulls seemed to be in good health and had their virility intact.
"These will suffice," Kale answered.
"Oh, wait," the drover interrupted. "There's an extra 2 gold pieces that these will cost you. It's obligation for him -- the guild master. That guy who lives in that floaty thing."
"The teardrop above the tower?"
"Yup, that place. Anyway, is it a deal?"
"Yes, we'll pay for the bulls and the feed. Just out of curiosity, do you sell bulls like this very often?"
"Oh, about once a month or so," the drover replied.
We took the bulls and the feed and met back with Fasil. He led us to a guild house in the outer city. We walked past a guard who looked quite disinterested, and we walked down a ramp tha tled to a platform.
The platform descended and we found ourselves in a room with a crushed table in the middle. Fasil led us out to a door. When we looked behind us, we saw that we were coming out of an odd looking building. The door had a sign that said "Trust of Beric."
Fasil led us through a passageway untl we reached a fork. One path led upwards and the other downwards. We led the bulls down the lower pathway. The pathway led to a room.
In this room, the air became permeated with a sweet, rotted smell -- a smell that seemed to remind you that you forgot something. Something bad had happened here.
In the room, there was a platform with a locked iron ring. Carlagnios followed Fasil's instructions and tied one of the bull to the ring.
We followed Fasil back up the passageway to the fork and then followed the upper passage to another room. It almost seemed like this room was above the room where we left the bull.
We sat there and waited for 15 minutes. After that, we hear the bull lowing below us. Five minutes later, the bull was wailing in fear.
"OK, we need to move now. Put out your torches."
We used the wall to make our way back and quickly pulled the bull with us. As we passed the room with the bull, we could hear gurgling, keening noises. The noises were confusing. We almost forgot who we were. Kale whispered that the sounds were almost demonic.
We were able to pass the room quickly, and we found ourselves in an excavated room. It looked like a small civic square. In the center was a fountain. Somehow, water continued to flow through this fountain. We followed Fasil's advice and used it to refill our water.
We tied the bull to the fountain and left the feed with it. Fasil led us down a long set of stairs deeper underground.
As the light grew closer, we could make out a man, carrying a torch. "Hello!" he called out to us.
"Were those your zombies?" asked Carlagnios.
"No," the man replied. "Are there zombies here?"
He had dropped cheeks -- almost like a basset hound. He introduced himself as High Guide Fasil of the guild.
"My patroness allows be to live," he declared.
"Your patroness?"
"Yes, I am a follower of the Raven Queen."
"I am also a follower of the Raven Queen," Bran said. "Have you met her?"
"No, but I will meet her one day. One day, we all will meet her."
Tiny looked at him closely and whispered to us, "He's a heavy drinker. I think he might be drunk now."
"Where is your guide," Fasil asked us.
"He... uh... disappeared. Did you have a party of treasure hunters with you?"
"Yes. They met their end. But that is how I serve the Raven Queen. I bring people closer to her."
"I am on my way back to the city," he continued. "I need to get some supplies."
"Beer?" asked Tiny.
Fasil glared at him. "Do not mock me, Dwarf! I must return to the temple."
"The Temple of the Raven Queen?" asked Bran. "Where is that?"
"In the outer city above us. What are you here for? What do you seek?"
"We are looking for the Centenarch," answered Kale.
"It is a chair," explained Carlagnios.
"It's a piece of furniture," offered Tiny.
Kale corrected them through gritted teeth. "It was their seat of *power*. The seat of power of the 100."
Fasil gave him an empty look. "I don't know what it is, but I could take you to the Map Room. You might find your answers there. My fee would be 500 gold pieces."
"500?!?"
We discussed this amount amongst ourselves and finally agreed to pay the cost. We had just found 1100 gold pieces, so the price would not be that much of a problem for us.
"Now we need to go back to the surface to get some supplies," Fasil said.
"And you can show me the Temple of the Raven Queen," said Bran.
As we followed him back up, Kale recorded the path we took.
When we reached the surface, Fasil brought us to the Temple of the Raven Queen. Before we could enter, a Chimeric approached us. He stared at Garg.
"Where are you from?" the Chimeric demanded. "What business do you have here?"
What was the name of the town we had come from? We did not remember, but Firinne did. "We came from the town of Sour Well," she answered.
"And we're exploring the mines," replied Garg.
"Alright, you can go now," the Chimeric declared and walked away.
"The Chimerics are taking a census," Fasil explained.
"He better have counted me as a Dragonborn," Carlagnios muttered. "Dragonborn are always underrepresented in treasure hunting groups."
"As are Halflings," mentioned Bran.
Tiny chimed in, "And Dwarves. Why aren't many of us in these groups? It's the Humans, Elves, and their half-breeds who always seem to crowd all of us out. Why are they so popular?"
"Wait," interrupted Ryn, "you don't think they're lumping in Eladrin with Elves in general, do you?"
"Why?" growled Carlagnios "Elves are all the same."
"Are you kidding? Eladrin are a different race of Elves," explained Ryn. "And what about the Drow?"
"What are Drow?" asked Carlagnios.
"The dark Elves we just fought," said Ryn impatiently. "You know, the Arachnomancer? Lolth's Grasp?" He turned to Garg and Firinne. "Surely you'd want them to distinguish between Elves and Half-Elves?"
"Eh." Garg shrugged with indifference.
"Well, what about women who are treasure hunters?" Firinne pointed out. "Hello? If we're talking about underrepresented here, ..."
"Look, people, can we just go inside now?" said Fasil.
No one else was in the temple. There was a small altar to the Raven Queen inside.
"You should prepare for the event of your demise," Fasil told us. "I always ask people to do this before I lead them to the mines. Some of them will never come back alive."
After Bran and Fasil were done with their prayers to the Raven Queen, Fasil rattled off a list of supplies that we needed.
"500 gold pieces worth of magical residuum."
"Got it," replied Kale.
"250 gold pieces worth of magical components."
"Got that."
"A pair of bulls -- in the prime of health -- not castrated."
"Go-- wait, what?"
"And some feed for one of them."
"Did you say 'bulls'?"
"Yes, we'll need one bull to get into the mines, and one bull to get back out. We'll need to bring them with us."
"Don't the bulls get aggressive?" asked Carlagnios.
"Yes," replied Fasil, "but I have a feeling that you are the type of person who is good with aggressive creatures." He smiled.
"Where would we get bulls?" Kale asked.
"In the outer city, you should be able to find a herder that would be willing to sell you a pair."
The request for the pair of bulls seemed very strange. We asked Tiny if we could trust Fasil. "Yes, he'll take us where we want to go. He doesn't care much about what happens to us."
We made our way to the outer city and found a drover who had some cattle. Perhaps he might have some bulls that he would be willing to sell.
"So, you wanna buy some bulls? How about these ones? They came from my old grandmother, who used them only once every other Sunday."
He pointed to a group of scrawny bulls. Kale shook his head.
"If these will be used in some sort of magical ritual -- which I suspect -- we'll need exactly what Fasil requested."
"OK, how about these? I'll sell both to you and some feed that you wanted for 50 gold pieces."
The two bulls seemed to be in good health and had their virility intact.
"These will suffice," Kale answered.
"Oh, wait," the drover interrupted. "There's an extra 2 gold pieces that these will cost you. It's obligation for him -- the guild master. That guy who lives in that floaty thing."
"The teardrop above the tower?"
"Yup, that place. Anyway, is it a deal?"
"Yes, we'll pay for the bulls and the feed. Just out of curiosity, do you sell bulls like this very often?"
"Oh, about once a month or so," the drover replied.
We took the bulls and the feed and met back with Fasil. He led us to a guild house in the outer city. We walked past a guard who looked quite disinterested, and we walked down a ramp tha tled to a platform.
The platform descended and we found ourselves in a room with a crushed table in the middle. Fasil led us out to a door. When we looked behind us, we saw that we were coming out of an odd looking building. The door had a sign that said "Trust of Beric."
Fasil led us through a passageway untl we reached a fork. One path led upwards and the other downwards. We led the bulls down the lower pathway. The pathway led to a room.
In this room, the air became permeated with a sweet, rotted smell -- a smell that seemed to remind you that you forgot something. Something bad had happened here.
In the room, there was a platform with a locked iron ring. Carlagnios followed Fasil's instructions and tied one of the bull to the ring.
We followed Fasil back up the passageway to the fork and then followed the upper passage to another room. It almost seemed like this room was above the room where we left the bull.
We sat there and waited for 15 minutes. After that, we hear the bull lowing below us. Five minutes later, the bull was wailing in fear.
"OK, we need to move now. Put out your torches."
We used the wall to make our way back and quickly pulled the bull with us. As we passed the room with the bull, we could hear gurgling, keening noises. The noises were confusing. We almost forgot who we were. Kale whispered that the sounds were almost demonic.
We were able to pass the room quickly, and we found ourselves in an excavated room. It looked like a small civic square. In the center was a fountain. Somehow, water continued to flow through this fountain. We followed Fasil's advice and used it to refill our water.
We tied the bull to the fountain and left the feed with it. Fasil led us down a long set of stairs deeper underground.
Between the Veil of Life and Death
We took one of the passageways out of the school and continued through the tunnels. We reached a cave where there were tunnels to the left and right of us.
Tiny summoned the Hand of Fate, which suggested that we take the passage to the right. We followed the passage until we found ourselves in a natural cave. On the other side, in the distance, we could see three humanoid, looking in our direction. They just stood there, waiting.
We decided to move closer to see who -- or what -- they were.
As we grew closer, we discovered that these creatures were no longer living. One was also missing arms. Tiny and Carlagnios decided to approach them.
One of these undead creatures walked toward Tiny and Carlagnios. He reached toward Tiny's face, and Tiny quickly backed away. The creature stopped and just stood there.
Tiny circled the creatures to see what they would do. Carlagnios picked one up and shook it.
Finally, Tiny decided to stand still and let the creature approach him. The creature reached out, touched Tiny's face, and then walked back to the other creatures. They just stood there, doing nothing.
Carlagnios pushed one of them, tipping it over. It came back up again, righting itself.
"Hey!" Garg yelled at the creatures. But they did not respond.
Tiny thought for a moment about his earlier studies of undead creatures. "When someone reanimates a corpse, they can give the corpse a job to do. Perhaps that's what they are doing. Following someone's orders."
"Well," Bran said, "the Raven Queen doesn't like things that exist between the Veil of Life and Death. They need to die."
He drew his rapier and stabbed one of the undead. The creature stood there, flailing and trying to pull the rapier out. Bran shook his head.
"This is too sad. I cannot do this."
He withdrew his rapier and sheathed it.
We continued onward. As we walked, we heard the creatures shuffling behind us. They followed us as we walked, keeping a distance of 20 feet between us.
"We can't continue like this. What if they attack us when we're not ready. We need someone to destroy them -- someone who is cold and uncaring. Someone who would not be moved if they struggled to survive."
We all turned and looked at Garg.
"What?" Garg looked surprised. "What are you pointing at me for? They're not doing any harm. I see no reason to destroy them."
"Fine," Carlagnios growled, "I will dispatch them."
He walked over to them and lifted his jagged axe. With one blow, he split the creature's head in two, and the creature collapsed on the floor. He did the same to the two other undead creatures.
Carlagnios walked back to join us, muttering under his breath.
Perhaps this needed to be done. A creature unnaturally brought back to life and made to serve another could not lead a fulfilling existence. Like all things in nature, there is a time for a living creature to pass on and leave this world. Perhaps the time of these undead creatures had passed long ago.
Tiny summoned the Hand of Fate, which suggested that we take the passage to the right. We followed the passage until we found ourselves in a natural cave. On the other side, in the distance, we could see three humanoid, looking in our direction. They just stood there, waiting.
We decided to move closer to see who -- or what -- they were.
As we grew closer, we discovered that these creatures were no longer living. One was also missing arms. Tiny and Carlagnios decided to approach them.
One of these undead creatures walked toward Tiny and Carlagnios. He reached toward Tiny's face, and Tiny quickly backed away. The creature stopped and just stood there.
Tiny circled the creatures to see what they would do. Carlagnios picked one up and shook it.
Finally, Tiny decided to stand still and let the creature approach him. The creature reached out, touched Tiny's face, and then walked back to the other creatures. They just stood there, doing nothing.
Carlagnios pushed one of them, tipping it over. It came back up again, righting itself.
"Hey!" Garg yelled at the creatures. But they did not respond.
Tiny thought for a moment about his earlier studies of undead creatures. "When someone reanimates a corpse, they can give the corpse a job to do. Perhaps that's what they are doing. Following someone's orders."
"Well," Bran said, "the Raven Queen doesn't like things that exist between the Veil of Life and Death. They need to die."
He drew his rapier and stabbed one of the undead. The creature stood there, flailing and trying to pull the rapier out. Bran shook his head.
"This is too sad. I cannot do this."
He withdrew his rapier and sheathed it.
We continued onward. As we walked, we heard the creatures shuffling behind us. They followed us as we walked, keeping a distance of 20 feet between us.
"We can't continue like this. What if they attack us when we're not ready. We need someone to destroy them -- someone who is cold and uncaring. Someone who would not be moved if they struggled to survive."
We all turned and looked at Garg.
"What?" Garg looked surprised. "What are you pointing at me for? They're not doing any harm. I see no reason to destroy them."
"Fine," Carlagnios growled, "I will dispatch them."
He walked over to them and lifted his jagged axe. With one blow, he split the creature's head in two, and the creature collapsed on the floor. He did the same to the two other undead creatures.
Carlagnios walked back to join us, muttering under his breath.
Perhaps this needed to be done. A creature unnaturally brought back to life and made to serve another could not lead a fulfilling existence. Like all things in nature, there is a time for a living creature to pass on and leave this world. Perhaps the time of these undead creatures had passed long ago.
Trapped in Lolth's Grasp
Guppy collected his short sword and prepared for the journey. "It will cost you 50 gold pieces," he explained. "The guild controls the doors to the tunnel. It is a standard charge that all treasure hunters must pay."
We paid him the gold and followed him to a platform. As we stood on the platform, the platform began to fall into the earth. It was a slow, steady fall, but the sensation was still unnerving.
After a while, the platform stopped. We walked off and headed into a passageway on the side. After following the passageway for some time, we found another platform, which also descended when we stood on it.
After that platform stopped, we made our to way to a corridor. As we walked further, we found a number of alcoves where merchants were selling goods to the treasure hunters headed down. "This is your last chance to get torches!" "Rope! Get your rope!"
Fortunately, Bran had collected more than enough rope from the caravan of merchants that we had found massacred earlier.
Finally, we reached a metal door. 6 guards stood watch there. Guppy showed the guards his guild badge.
"Can I see your badge?" Tiny asked eagerly.
Guppy sighed. "No. You're in a guild town. You must follow the guild rules."
We went through the door, and Guppy led us through a low tunnel that led into the mines. We saw Servitor Animata digging through the earth, as if searching for something.
Guppy led us through more tunnels, down winding paths. It almost seemed as though Guppy were trying to obscure our path so that we would not remember our way through. Kale map our journey for future reference.
"Why are we going this long, roundabout way?" asked Garg. "Why not just take us directly there?"
"Look," said Guppy impatiently, "I found these places, and I take my clients to them. Don't you try to steal my places and sell them to other guides!"
"The thought had never crossed my mind."
We went down 3 or 4 more levels, through complicated passages. Along the way, we only found Servitor Animata, digging away.
We finally reached a small building. We stood on its platform, and the platform descended into the ruins of the school.
In the front of the school, we saw some dust and footprints, perhaps from creatures from long ago. No one had visited the school for a while.
"When you brought other groups of treasure hunters down here, how many groups died?" asked Tiny.
"Only 2 groups," Guppy replied. "Not everyone died."
In the middle of the school was a play yard. The ground was decorated with lines for some sort of sporting activity. On either side of the play yard were doors that led to classrooms.
In each classroom, there was a lectern in front and some benches in back. Doors directly connected each classroom with the one before it and the one after it.
Along the walls, there were words carved in and pictures above the words. The words were simple, like "Sword", "House", and "Food", as were the pictures above them.
"Uh, Guppy, this isn't the kind of school where we'd find the literature we're looking for," Kale pointed out.
As he spoke, he was suddenly surrounded by an unearthly aura. From the door to the next classroom, we saw a group of dark elves. They held wands that shot at me. In a matter of moments, I was quickly bloodied, poisoned, and enveloped in the same dark aura. The poison made me weak and kept eating at me.
I scurried into a corner, while Garg moved into the next classroom to confront the dark elves. They began to shoot him with the poison as well, but Kale was able to use his mystical orb to transfer the poison to another dark elf.
As Firinne and Carlagnios followed Garg into the next classroom, more dark elves appeared in the doorway to the center of the school. Tiny blinded one of them, and Bran quickly dispatched that dark elf to its maker.
The dark elves continued to shoot at us, weakening us with poison. But Tiny sacrificed some of his life energies to heal all of us in a glowing stream of life.
Kale summoned a cloud of a terrible stench in the next classroom, trapping some of the dark elves in it. And Carlangnios pulled the elves all toward him and brought down a rain of steel upon them, killing one.
One of the dark elves in the next room cast a terrible spell. She shrieked that we would not be able to escape Lolth's Grasp, and the floor in the next room was suddenly covered with ghostly spiders. Firinne, Carlagnios, and Garg were trapped and could not make their way through these spiders.
Ryn teleported himself in Firnne's place, moving her out of Lolth's Grasp. He struck at another dark elf and teleported back to safety.
Carlagnios scrambled out of Lolth's Grasp but Garg was still trapped inside. The dark elven spellcaster summoned a cloud of darkess to prevent us from seeing Garg, as he was being attacked. Tiny called out to Garg to give him strength, and Garg was able to escape Lolth's Grasp as well.
The dark elven spellcaster decided to escape, but Ryn struck her down before she could escape. Bran and Firinne bloodied another dark elf, who finally decided to run away. Tiny was able to heal the rest of us.
After the battle, we found over a thousand gold pieces on the dark elves. Bran also found one of their wands intact. He could use it to fire a poisoned projectile at an enemy. It was quite a brutal weapon.
It was then that Tiny noticed an absence in our party. "Guppy is missing," he announced. We searched the school but could not find him. Now, we were lost in the mines without a guide.
We paid him the gold and followed him to a platform. As we stood on the platform, the platform began to fall into the earth. It was a slow, steady fall, but the sensation was still unnerving.
After a while, the platform stopped. We walked off and headed into a passageway on the side. After following the passageway for some time, we found another platform, which also descended when we stood on it.
After that platform stopped, we made our to way to a corridor. As we walked further, we found a number of alcoves where merchants were selling goods to the treasure hunters headed down. "This is your last chance to get torches!" "Rope! Get your rope!"
Fortunately, Bran had collected more than enough rope from the caravan of merchants that we had found massacred earlier.
Finally, we reached a metal door. 6 guards stood watch there. Guppy showed the guards his guild badge.
"Can I see your badge?" Tiny asked eagerly.
Guppy sighed. "No. You're in a guild town. You must follow the guild rules."
We went through the door, and Guppy led us through a low tunnel that led into the mines. We saw Servitor Animata digging through the earth, as if searching for something.
Guppy led us through more tunnels, down winding paths. It almost seemed as though Guppy were trying to obscure our path so that we would not remember our way through. Kale map our journey for future reference.
"Why are we going this long, roundabout way?" asked Garg. "Why not just take us directly there?"
"Look," said Guppy impatiently, "I found these places, and I take my clients to them. Don't you try to steal my places and sell them to other guides!"
"The thought had never crossed my mind."
We went down 3 or 4 more levels, through complicated passages. Along the way, we only found Servitor Animata, digging away.
We finally reached a small building. We stood on its platform, and the platform descended into the ruins of the school.
In the front of the school, we saw some dust and footprints, perhaps from creatures from long ago. No one had visited the school for a while.
"When you brought other groups of treasure hunters down here, how many groups died?" asked Tiny.
"Only 2 groups," Guppy replied. "Not everyone died."
In the middle of the school was a play yard. The ground was decorated with lines for some sort of sporting activity. On either side of the play yard were doors that led to classrooms.
In each classroom, there was a lectern in front and some benches in back. Doors directly connected each classroom with the one before it and the one after it.
Along the walls, there were words carved in and pictures above the words. The words were simple, like "Sword", "House", and "Food", as were the pictures above them.
"Uh, Guppy, this isn't the kind of school where we'd find the literature we're looking for," Kale pointed out.
As he spoke, he was suddenly surrounded by an unearthly aura. From the door to the next classroom, we saw a group of dark elves. They held wands that shot at me. In a matter of moments, I was quickly bloodied, poisoned, and enveloped in the same dark aura. The poison made me weak and kept eating at me.
I scurried into a corner, while Garg moved into the next classroom to confront the dark elves. They began to shoot him with the poison as well, but Kale was able to use his mystical orb to transfer the poison to another dark elf.
As Firinne and Carlagnios followed Garg into the next classroom, more dark elves appeared in the doorway to the center of the school. Tiny blinded one of them, and Bran quickly dispatched that dark elf to its maker.
The dark elves continued to shoot at us, weakening us with poison. But Tiny sacrificed some of his life energies to heal all of us in a glowing stream of life.
Kale summoned a cloud of a terrible stench in the next classroom, trapping some of the dark elves in it. And Carlangnios pulled the elves all toward him and brought down a rain of steel upon them, killing one.
One of the dark elves in the next room cast a terrible spell. She shrieked that we would not be able to escape Lolth's Grasp, and the floor in the next room was suddenly covered with ghostly spiders. Firinne, Carlagnios, and Garg were trapped and could not make their way through these spiders.
Ryn teleported himself in Firnne's place, moving her out of Lolth's Grasp. He struck at another dark elf and teleported back to safety.
Carlagnios scrambled out of Lolth's Grasp but Garg was still trapped inside. The dark elven spellcaster summoned a cloud of darkess to prevent us from seeing Garg, as he was being attacked. Tiny called out to Garg to give him strength, and Garg was able to escape Lolth's Grasp as well.
The dark elven spellcaster decided to escape, but Ryn struck her down before she could escape. Bran and Firinne bloodied another dark elf, who finally decided to run away. Tiny was able to heal the rest of us.
After the battle, we found over a thousand gold pieces on the dark elves. Bran also found one of their wands intact. He could use it to fire a poisoned projectile at an enemy. It was quite a brutal weapon.
It was then that Tiny noticed an absence in our party. "Guppy is missing," he announced. We searched the school but could not find him. Now, we were lost in the mines without a guide.
In Search of a Guilder
After dining with Provost Benjy Bellingham and his wife Tella, we decided to go to the inner city to find a guilder. We needed to find our way to the tunnels, where we could find clues to the location of the Centenarch. Only members of the guild were allowed to go there.
In the inner city, we found a stall where we could buy healing potions. As we replenished our supplies, Tiny noticed someone trying to pick his pocket. He alerted the rest of us, who turned to confront the thief.
The thief was a young Gnome, perhaps just a child. He quickly fled, and Carlagnios followed in pursuit. The young Gnome had not gotten very far before he ran into a dead end. He turned around to see Carlagnios approach him -- an huffing, angry Dragonborn.
"What are you doing, kid?!!!"
The young Gnome wet himself in fear. He reached into his vest, pulled out 5 silver coins, and threw them on the ground.
"Please, sir, let me go! I won't do it again! I just wanted to buy some food."
Carlagnios' heart softened, although it was impossible to tell from his demeanor. He pulled out some rations from his pack.
"Here!" he bellowed, hurling the rations at the young Gnome. "Take this, and don't ever steal again!!!"
The rations caught the young Gnome squarely in the belly, and the force knocked him to the ground.
Carlagnios turned and walked away. He rejoined us and explained what had happened.
We still needed to find a guilder. Ryn offered to find out. He spoke with some people near the corner and found out that there were different offices for the guild around the city. The more powerful groups of "treasure hunters" could go to the better guilds and get better guides.
In order to get any guide, we would need to have someone vouch for us. We were strangers in this world and were not well known. (I suppose that I should be thankful that they did not know of my defeat in the town of Sour Well.)
We decided to ask Benjy to vouch for us. When we arrived back at the mage's school, Benjy was teaching one of his classes. We waited outside for him to finish.
While we were waiting, Kale started to stare at the tower in the distance. As he watched the inverted teardrop hanging above, he noticed three tiny specks landing on the teardrop. They seemed to be humanoids riding Vulture Drakes. Perhaps they were visiting someone who lived in the teardrop.
Benjy walked down the steps toward us. "So, you need an introduction to the guilders?"
"Yes," we replied.
"Some guides are more experienced than others. The more experienced guides know about the more dangerous areas in the lower city, Lordahl. But the more experienced guides are also reluctant to take novice 'treasure hunters' through the tunnels to these areas."
"What sorts of 'treasures' are in these tunnels?" asked Kale.
"Mostly artifacts from the time before. The guild master purchases the most interesting ones. It seems that the inhabitants from the time before lived in a Gilded Age. They created strange artifacts. A treasure hunter once found a singing rock..."
"Is there some way we could be vouched for? Some way we could be introduced to some more experienced guides?"
"Perhaps you should start with a simpler guide from one of the lower guilds?"
We did not believe that we could find the Centenarch by starting there. It would take too long. Perhaps there was a way for us to demonstrate our power and experience? Some sort of play to show our strength?
Benjy pondered for a moment. "I do know someone in a middle guild. He was a former student of mine who dropped out and joined the guild. His name is Pican. He is in the guild office in the inner city, below ground."
We made our way to the guild office. The guard at the door eyed us suspiciously.
"I don't know you," he declared.
Firinne quickly stepped forward and said, "We're here to see Pican. Benjy sent us."
"I don't know Benjy," he muttered. But his demeanor changed as he spoke to Firinne. "We do have a Pican here. Let me get him."
He returned with a man who looked quite unkempt. The man's face had a hangdog expression. He introduced himself as Pican.
"Benjy sent us. He said that you could vouch for us."
Pican looked skeptical. "We're all booked up now. We have no time to waste with novices who don't know how to fight."
"Well," Firinne said, "I have a VERY big sword and I'm VERY proficient with it." She drew her Berserker Bastard Sword to demonstrate her point.
"We've killed people before," Garg declared, glaring at Pican.
Pican lifted his palms up toward us and stepped back. "I believe you. I believe you. Let me check if there's anyone available."
He went back into the room, and we heard a faint buzzing of voices. Tiny, with his incredible knack for perception, whispered to us, "He's asking if anyone can take a bunch of novice treasure hunters down to the tunnels." Firinne scowled.
But Pican did return with a guide. Our hopes were high until they came closer and we saw the person who would be guiding us.
He was a Halfing (like Bran) and wore orange leather armor. His head was full of dense, dark hair. And he introduced himself as Guppy.
"Guppy?" Carlagnios sneered in disbelief.
Garg gave Guppy a skeptical look. "Have you really been in the mines before?"
"Yes," replied Guppy, "about a dozen times."
Tiny turned to us and whispered, "He's not right in the head." He turned back to Guppy and asked, "And when you were down there, did you find anything?"
Guppy cleared his throat. "Look, I'm the newest person in this guild office. So, I get to guide the treasure hunters that are less experienced. Most of the groups that I've led have been smaller than yours... In any case, I can take you to an interesting area."
Kale interjected, "Well, we're looking for something more specific. We're interested in the literature of the old world."
"Well... I do know of a school down there," Guppy replied. "Are you the mage of the group? Do you know how to make light?"
Kale scoffed and projected a glowing ball of light on Guppy's nose. "Do you want me to conjure something else on your face?"
"N-no," Guppy answered. "We can go now."
In the inner city, we found a stall where we could buy healing potions. As we replenished our supplies, Tiny noticed someone trying to pick his pocket. He alerted the rest of us, who turned to confront the thief.
The thief was a young Gnome, perhaps just a child. He quickly fled, and Carlagnios followed in pursuit. The young Gnome had not gotten very far before he ran into a dead end. He turned around to see Carlagnios approach him -- an huffing, angry Dragonborn.
"What are you doing, kid?!!!"
The young Gnome wet himself in fear. He reached into his vest, pulled out 5 silver coins, and threw them on the ground.
"Please, sir, let me go! I won't do it again! I just wanted to buy some food."
Carlagnios' heart softened, although it was impossible to tell from his demeanor. He pulled out some rations from his pack.
"Here!" he bellowed, hurling the rations at the young Gnome. "Take this, and don't ever steal again!!!"
The rations caught the young Gnome squarely in the belly, and the force knocked him to the ground.
Carlagnios turned and walked away. He rejoined us and explained what had happened.
We still needed to find a guilder. Ryn offered to find out. He spoke with some people near the corner and found out that there were different offices for the guild around the city. The more powerful groups of "treasure hunters" could go to the better guilds and get better guides.
In order to get any guide, we would need to have someone vouch for us. We were strangers in this world and were not well known. (I suppose that I should be thankful that they did not know of my defeat in the town of Sour Well.)
We decided to ask Benjy to vouch for us. When we arrived back at the mage's school, Benjy was teaching one of his classes. We waited outside for him to finish.
While we were waiting, Kale started to stare at the tower in the distance. As he watched the inverted teardrop hanging above, he noticed three tiny specks landing on the teardrop. They seemed to be humanoids riding Vulture Drakes. Perhaps they were visiting someone who lived in the teardrop.
Benjy walked down the steps toward us. "So, you need an introduction to the guilders?"
"Yes," we replied.
"Some guides are more experienced than others. The more experienced guides know about the more dangerous areas in the lower city, Lordahl. But the more experienced guides are also reluctant to take novice 'treasure hunters' through the tunnels to these areas."
"What sorts of 'treasures' are in these tunnels?" asked Kale.
"Mostly artifacts from the time before. The guild master purchases the most interesting ones. It seems that the inhabitants from the time before lived in a Gilded Age. They created strange artifacts. A treasure hunter once found a singing rock..."
"Is there some way we could be vouched for? Some way we could be introduced to some more experienced guides?"
"Perhaps you should start with a simpler guide from one of the lower guilds?"
We did not believe that we could find the Centenarch by starting there. It would take too long. Perhaps there was a way for us to demonstrate our power and experience? Some sort of play to show our strength?
Benjy pondered for a moment. "I do know someone in a middle guild. He was a former student of mine who dropped out and joined the guild. His name is Pican. He is in the guild office in the inner city, below ground."
We made our way to the guild office. The guard at the door eyed us suspiciously.
"I don't know you," he declared.
Firinne quickly stepped forward and said, "We're here to see Pican. Benjy sent us."
"I don't know Benjy," he muttered. But his demeanor changed as he spoke to Firinne. "We do have a Pican here. Let me get him."
He returned with a man who looked quite unkempt. The man's face had a hangdog expression. He introduced himself as Pican.
"Benjy sent us. He said that you could vouch for us."
Pican looked skeptical. "We're all booked up now. We have no time to waste with novices who don't know how to fight."
"Well," Firinne said, "I have a VERY big sword and I'm VERY proficient with it." She drew her Berserker Bastard Sword to demonstrate her point.
"We've killed people before," Garg declared, glaring at Pican.
Pican lifted his palms up toward us and stepped back. "I believe you. I believe you. Let me check if there's anyone available."
He went back into the room, and we heard a faint buzzing of voices. Tiny, with his incredible knack for perception, whispered to us, "He's asking if anyone can take a bunch of novice treasure hunters down to the tunnels." Firinne scowled.
But Pican did return with a guide. Our hopes were high until they came closer and we saw the person who would be guiding us.
He was a Halfing (like Bran) and wore orange leather armor. His head was full of dense, dark hair. And he introduced himself as Guppy.
"Guppy?" Carlagnios sneered in disbelief.
Garg gave Guppy a skeptical look. "Have you really been in the mines before?"
"Yes," replied Guppy, "about a dozen times."
Tiny turned to us and whispered, "He's not right in the head." He turned back to Guppy and asked, "And when you were down there, did you find anything?"
Guppy cleared his throat. "Look, I'm the newest person in this guild office. So, I get to guide the treasure hunters that are less experienced. Most of the groups that I've led have been smaller than yours... In any case, I can take you to an interesting area."
Kale interjected, "Well, we're looking for something more specific. We're interested in the literature of the old world."
"Well... I do know of a school down there," Guppy replied. "Are you the mage of the group? Do you know how to make light?"
Kale scoffed and projected a glowing ball of light on Guppy's nose. "Do you want me to conjure something else on your face?"
"N-no," Guppy answered. "We can go now."
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