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Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 11:53:49 +0800
From: Simon Huband <[email protected]> To: Simon Huband <[email protected]>,

Glenn Butcher <[email protected]> Subject: Grey's diary (part 6) (corrected) Mime-Version: 1.0
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Corrected...

After an uneventful journey, we arrived in Whiteheart today, and handed over the prisoners to Atli, the Jarl. In an unexpected twist, Hoskuld demanded the right to trial by combat, which Atli accepted. I am under the impression that to not accept may have lost Atli face. Strange really. Clearly Hoskuld is guilty, and yet they still allowed him trial by combat. He might have had some trick up his sleeve, and the result of the combat could have been disastrous.

Thankfully these worries were not substantiated. Indeed, Atli dealt with Hoskuld within a mere thirty seconds of combat, much to the surprise of the onlookers. Apparently Atli has displayed far more skill than most thought he had. The conclusion being that he must have been receiving much training. Curious, since I didn't think he was that good. Surely he is no better than Xeris was with a sword? Well, no doubt he will improve over time.

I inquired as to what would happen with the body. In these regions they burn the corpse. Fortunate, since this reduces the chance of someone resurrecting him. Or even using him for other necromantic purposes, I suppose.

Having dealt with Hoskuld, the question remained as to what the party should do next? I jokingly suggested that perhaps we could go to Saho, or the Black Isle, and retrieve another piece of the Sundered Man. Surprise surprise, Roland thought this wonderful idea, and was all for it. Roland and no-one else, I might add. I admit to myself that I found it a strangely appealing idea. However, I don't think I'm quite ready to die yet.

Another more immediate problem was to try and find out who tried to assassinate us. Unfortunately, we really cannot think of any way of achieving this.

In the end, after much prompting by Thora, we decided to try and find a temple to Nyx that is supposed to be in these parts. If we find it, the plan is, quite simply, to destroy it.

We've agreed to split up in our search, which will take a week. I'll be in the falcon. You'd think that with all the flying that I'm doing that evolution would dictate that I grow wings.

That was an uneventful week. For everyone. A few very small skirmishes with the local flora and fauna, complete with no sightings of mysterious gloomy temples with black robed people wandering around. I did see a few birds flying about though.

We heard some news though, which has changed our course of action. Apparently an army of Heldannic knights is passing through Vestland. Well, they don't appear to be trying to conquer it. As far as we can tell, they'll either be heading to the Jarldoms, or Rockhome. Thora went around via her trees to try and find out what they are up to. Just recently they passed by Norvick, the capital of Vestland. There are ten thousand troops, all mounted and in glittery armour, with no supply wagons. We hypothesised that they are using their flying ships to transport supplies, and perhaps some priests creating food and water. Without supply wagons they travel fast.

Given that various party members have a vested interest in knowing where they are going, we have decided to investigate further.

Well, so much for temples of Nyx. Off we go again.

I did a sending to some dwarven fellow for Gurzurk today, informing him of the possibility of the Heldannic knights passing through. The response was that he would get back to us.

Gurzurk and this dwarven guy have some weird lingo for communicating. Hmm, oh well.

We arrived, and left, Landersjord today. Surprisingly, it's a nice place. They have some nice ships in port, and even stone buildings. The town is a bit smaller than Soderfjord, and clearly there are some wealthy citizens. Merchants no doubt.

After some enquiries, it seems that the locals have only heard rumours of the army, so now we go to look elsewhere. Given that they aren't here, it seems that they aren't heading to the Jarldoms. So Rockhome, perhaps? But we don't think that they'd really want to invade Rockhome, so where from Rockhome? Perhaps into Ethengar, to catch them by surprise? Or will they pass into the Ylaruam, where they can do the Pantheon knows what. Or maybe they intend to go to Darokin, invade, and control the economies of most of the countries in the regions? They might want to do this. Nothing really seems good. Lots of questions and only guesses for answers.

We arrived at (and left) Rhoona today. Landersfjord is nice. Rhoona looks like a rubbish dump with buildings. It's pretty large, with a good quantity of caravan traffic, and a number of dwarves. There is also a partly built duke's palace, which has been partly built for a while, and no doubt will remain partly built for some time yet. The locals comment that he is really a jarl, but styles himself a duke, like a southerner. The locals don't sound that impressed by southerners.

The Heldannic army passed through yesterday. They didn't take any food from the city, though they helped themselves to the local brew. It is clear that they are being supplied somehow. Most likely those flying ships.

What's more is the possibility that flying ships could be used to ferry foot soldiers.

We need to find out where they are going. It is possible that they will head into Ethengar, and if so, then there may be supplies stationed at the narrow channel through which they would have to pass.

So we are now flying to see if that is the case. We saw the dust cloud of the army a few hours after leaving Rhoona, and it appears that the caravans ahead of the army are not aware of the imminent passage of the army, so people to the south are basically clueless.

We also passed a deserted dwarven fort that is left open for anyone to pass through. Gurzurk doesn't seem to care. I think the attitude is that if it's on the surface, then dwarves don't care. Unless if it's gems on the surface.

Nope, no stockpiles apparent. Maybe there's a really powerful illusion at work?

We caught up with the army again. They took the western route. We've decided that the best thing to do is just follow them, and hope we don't get caught.

The army didn't head toward Ethengar, instead they kept heading south. They then passed south through the capital of Rockhome.

Lani, with her sharp eyes, first noticed the specks that occasionally dropped out of the sky to the army. On closer inspection, it seems they are receiving supplies from flying ships.

After some days, the Heldannic army has passed very briefly through the Ylaruam, and is now heading west, towards Darokin.

We have decided there are a few possibilities. Perhaps they intend to enter Darokin and invade Aengmor (that which used to be Alfheim). This seems extremely unlikely. Karameikos? Karameikos is pretty much allied with Thyatis. Apparently the last ruler gained Karameikos independence (it used to be a protectorate) by giving up his status as a Thyatian noble (something to do with succession, I think). They are on good terms with each other. Given that the Heldannic knights are allied with the Thyatians, we really doubt that they would risk that alliance. And for what? Maybe there is a powerful artifact in Karameikos, although there is no evidence to substantiate this.

The other possibility is they intend to invade Darokin. Darokin is certainly in a weak position, what with the threat of Hule (aka scum), and the humanoids.

Since possible invasion of Darokin concerns us, I did a sending to a mage in Corunglain, someone I know in passing from the time spent there last winter with Turia, when we helped against the humanoids. It turns out that the Darokinians are already aware of the army, to which I indicated that we are willing to help if they are hostile.

The mage should get back in contact with us shortly.

Hmm. Alfheim is now Aengmor. If I'm spelling them right, then they both have seven characters, and both begin with an A. Well, probably coincidence. I wonder where the Shadow Elves got the name. I'll have to ask Phoranin. Oh, and those trees look terrible on the map. Looks really gloomy. Phoranin really should work on her artistic ability. But I don't think I should tell her that. Maybe it's a shadow elf thing.

Erm. Well, it appears that the Heldannic army, that which we have been concerned about for the past month, is in fact here to help fight back the humanoids.

Oh well. Since we're here, we figure we may as well go to watch.

Can't help but feel a touch embarrassed.

We are now in Corunglain. It seems that spirits are high, since the Darokin troops will get some respite. The Heldannic knights, which have been ferrying troops in for a while now (and number 20000), are the only ones who will be advancing beyond the border. They don't want any help either, so we don't get to join in.

Apparently the idea is to exterminate the humanoids. A sort of once and for all thing, I suppose. Well good luck to them. I get the feeling that it will be like trying to exterminate rats. Mostly futile, that is.

We can't really figure out why they are willing to help the Darokinians. There really does not seem to be much that would motivate them to do so. Clearly they have the troops to spare, since they are only fighting a sea battle with the Alphatians. But still, surely this is a costly venture.

I suppose there must be lots of back door politicking going on. There usually is.

Of course, another possibility is that they want their troops to get a bit more experience before they start fighting (if they start) the Alphatians on land.

Well, with little better to do, we figure we'll see how things go.

We've been watching the slaughter for a while now. The only bit of extra news is that the Heldannic knights would like to capture (whether intact or not is beside the point) Thar, the self-styled king of the crater.

Almost as a spur of the moment, some members of the party decided that we should do a sending to some people called Jose and Martin, who are from some place called the Savage Baronies. Miles away. As it turns out, they are presently staying in Athenos, a major seaport of Darokin. Given how close they are, and the fact that many of the party have not seen them in a while, we'll head down there to chat.

This place is really large. There are ships from all over the world here (although I couldn't see any from Alphatia).

Jose and Martin seem like nice enough people. Martin looks normal. Jose looks like he's out to impress. He looks flash. I'm sure he's popular with the girls, the way I'm sure he likes it.

Ahhh, and then, talking separately, Lani drops the suggestion. A dragon that is red, but not red. Well, apparently in the Savage Baronies, there is some curse, where a substance called vermeil affects all those who come in contact with it. The visible effects are that creatures tend to go red. Consider a dragon. It too would go red, although it may not be a red dragon. Hence, a dragon that is red but not red. It just seems so plausible. That's good thinking by Lani!

Furthermore, apparently all of the Baronies are magical! So much magic. The volume is just enormous. Apparently red steel (a metal related to the vermeil) is easy to enchant as well. But the sheer quantity of magic. How could the Baronies have become this way? Later, we were told of some tales of why this may have come about. One involved a big dragon trailing blood all over the place, and the other of a lot of the scorpion men being killed and turned into the red dust.

It is an interesting question. I don't believe it could be a natural phenomenon. Or perhaps I'd prefer it if it weren't natural. The tales seem crazy to me, but no doubt whatever caused this was long ago, and usually there is some ounce of truth to such tales. A dragon trailing blood? Must have been a big dragon. And why a dragon? Well, maybe once there was something that trailed lots of something. Who knows maybe it was like the comet that hit Glantri, except made of vermeil. And the scorpion man story. I don't know what to make of that.

But the sheer quantity of magic involved. It's enormous. Apparently the spread of this region is increasing (slowly). Perhaps this is tied in with why magic seems to be weaker now than it did in the past. Maybe the spread of this region is directly related. The magic has to come from somewhere? Perhaps the amount of magic in the world is finite, and it is using it up. Then again, maybe not. Maybe magic is finite in quantity, and by simply casting spells, we are reducing its availability.

Well, maybe I'll see if Zim and Leo are both willing to find out for me. One day, perhaps. I don't want to keep asking them for things. It is kind of rude.

Anyway, apparently there is a dragon called Pyre in the region. It is famous. It lives with the orcs, so is not in the area of effect of the vermeil. However, it could regularly get whatever it requires to survive vermeil withdrawal symptoms from the Baronies, or maybe the orcs can get a supply of it. In the past, Pyre also stole some religious relic from a country controlled by druids, called Robrene. Thora loves the idea of a country ruled by druids.

So now we're going to head off to the Baronies. We'll avoid the actual Baronies for as long as possible, since it only takes a week or two before one is cursed by the vermeil. We asked Leo if it was possible to avoid the curse, but he said it was not.

I'll be going by boat, with Turia and some others. Should be interesting. I've never been by boat before, and it'll give us some time to relax.

Phew. Turia and I have been sick the past few days. Unable to enjoy this relaxing trip. The weather is nice too. An idea occurred to me that maybe it was possible to slow the onset of the curse, but Leo determined this to be impossible.

Oh well. Three weeks or so left of this voyage.

We arrived in a place called Slagovich today. And man is it impressive. We sailed into a small enclosure, and then somehow they flooded the region such that the water level rose up to the same level as the city that is at the top of the cliff. Amazing. I wonder if it is magic, or if it is mechanical.

The ship was towed towards a warehouse.

Hmm, seems like there might be something developing. Just perhaps. Lani and Martin hugged when we said our good-byes. Well well well.

Thora did her usual trick with trees to go and speak to those druids (they apparently have an entire organization to deal with Pyre). She returned without incident. Pyre is a fire-breathing dragon, so it appears it is a regular red dragon, and not one that has been turned red by vermeil. Although it is too early to discount the possibility that Pyre has a piece of the sundered man. Pyre does live in the jungle with the orcs, possibly as their sort of king. So if went after Pyre, we'd first have to get through orcs. Basically, Pyre is reputed to be very, very nasty. The druids lost an artifact called the ebony eye to Pyre. It is clearly not what we want, unless not all pieces of the sundered man are ashes. Pyre does use magic. Apparently there are more dragons to the north.

Interestingly, the druids consider people of Thora's religion to be heretics. Must be nitpicking over something. To me a druid is a druid. They all love nature more than nature loves itself.