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ROLEPLAYING DIARY
Eno of the fifteenth year
Eno the first
Vasaan leaves the Northern Fortress and heads back home to Herat. She comes across a pit with a wounded half-dwarf, named Kharbridge. She walks back with him, but he is slowed by his wounds. Fortunately she finds some adventurers, who offer them shelter, food and a little healing.
Eno the second
Vasaan takes her injured friend, Kharbridge, back to the Fortress of Torbat-e Jam, makes sure he is comfortable, then begins her journey home all over again. Meanwhile in Herat, Khalid learns a skill in maneuvering in rigid leather armour. Athora is looking through an Elven book. Khalid continues practicing his meditation. Shylock and Colin hang out with White Order, now that they are full members. They have dinner with the White Order captain, a quarter-dwarf called Zon-Kwar.
Eno the third
Shaba learns a third skill in spoken dwarven.
Eno the fourth
The study and training continues
Eno the fifth
Colin learns a skill in maneuvering in Chain armour.
Eno the sixth and seventh
More training.
Eno the eighth
After finishing her running mission Athora learns two skills in Region Lore for the area traveled, the Kavir Wastes (once a forest, but now a dry wasteland). Khalid finishes his study of cleansing meditation.
Eno the ninth
The group is approached by a member of the court, an official named Kran in the evening. He wants a translator to talk to a dragon. As Shaba is a passable archaic dragon speaker they accept. They are whisked away to the Flying Corps, where they are assigned to hippogriff riders who take them towards the Northern Fortress by air.
Eno the tenth
They continue there travel by hippogriff to Torbat-e Jam.
Eno the eleventh
They arrive at the fortress and meet the dwarven ambassador, as well as making the acquaintance of the Gerenal in command of the fortress. It seems the dragon, a fearsome creature that has obviously been alive for many centuries, landed on plain outside of the fort and just sat their. After a few days a brave soul ventured out onto the plain under a sign of peace. To everyone's great surprise the dragon just sat there. It tried to communicate in a tongue no one at the fort could understand. So the call was put out for a translator. The dragon has now been sitting on the plain for a week.
The ambassador looks pale, he has no desire to face the dragon. But he must do his duty, and so takes Shaba, Vasaan, and a few dwarves out onto the plain to talk with a creature that could just swat them to death with a single swipe.
Shaba and the dragon quickly establish a communication. The dragon is impressed that a human would learn the ancient tongue of the dragons. The dragon begins to tell a tale. A long-winded tale.
I am Cartek Atulet Tarekushebu, he who fought and vanquished Cartepresh Blackscale, and has mated with Sekhmum Hedjonsu the Golden and fathered brethren that number as the branches on a tree. For many cycles of this world I have hunted, and been hunted. I have always respected the ways of my brethren, and kept the old alliances, and the old enemies in my thoughts. I have fought beside the wings of the Giant Eagles, and fought against the hordes of orcs and goblins. I have slain all those who have sought out my lair, be they of the day or night peoples.
For many cycles of this world of rock and earth my kind have lived in accord with our values, our gods, and our surroundings. Our numbers may have dwindled in places, but have grown elsewhere. Some of the dragon races have grown more numerous than others, but such is the ebb and flow of time.
Yet something has broken the balance and order of our lives. Three cycles of the sun past a four new dragons have appeared in the skies. Their are without flesh, and fly on wings of bone. With unerring accuracy they have hunted down many of my kind. In battle they have no code of chivalry or honour. They refuse to fight in single combat. They refuse to give quarter.
They came to my lair eighteen moons ago, and all four attacked. I survived, only because my mate was their also. We fought bravely, and with honour. We fought hard and long in the skies, among the clouds, and between the mountain tops. We fought with magic, tooth, tail and claw. We fought alone, separated from each other, fighting two foes each, only catching glimpses of each other through the clouds.
Our foes had dark magiks, felt no pain, and did not tire. We were not so fortunate. After many hours of battle my mate, the most magnificent Sekhmum Hedjonsu, felt her strength fade. She knew she could not hold off the two fiends she was in conflict with for much longer. In a last of of devotion she broke away from her foes and flew to my aid. I had damaged the wing of one the single-minded beasts attacking me, and had then flown down as fast as I could, thereby separating my foes. The dragon of bone that followed me closely had outpaced its companion, and I had seized my chance, fighting it tooth and claw in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks. Alas, even with my strength and cunning it held more than its own against me.
Then I saw a blur of movement, as my beloved threw herself at the creature and drove it down with her into the rocks below. With joy I saw the foul creature smashed into many pieces. Yet it was sadness that ruled the day, for the impact had left the matchless grace and beauty of my Sekhmum lying still on the valley floor. I flew to her side, and nuzzled her one last, and all to brief, moment, and then, knowing her to be beyond help, made the most horrible decision of my long life.
I fled.
These creatures had not followed the code, so while I felt the shame of surrender, I also knew my opponents tactics required no chivalry on my part. With tears clouding my eyes I flew as fast as I could, using the peaks and valleys to throw of my pursuers. They followed me unerringly, and I feared my time was soon to be over. In desperation I flew toward the territory of an old rival, Osirert Isarna the Red. In my rage I thought I was doomed, and, rather foolishly I wanted to see if I could use my rival as bait, or at least bring the same doom down upon him. I regret such a low-minded action, especially given what happened next.
Osirert, and his mate Osiris Redscale, came to my rescue. They knew better than I the nature of the foes we fought. Animated bone dragons, from the city of those who will not remain dead. In our glorious solitude Sekhmum and I had not heard of this threat, but my Red foes had lost relatives to these creatures, and had seen them from afar. Such was their hatred of these creatures of animated bone that they did not even consider the old rivalries, they simply uttered the words of welcome and peace to me, and the words of conflict towards my pursuers, and joined in the battle.
While it was rather odd, fighting wing to wing with old foes, with their knowledge of the creatures, and the lessons I had recently learned at their claws and teeth, we were able to drive them away by concentrating our attacks on a single foe, aiming for its wings. Then fleeing, turning to fight the faster of the foes, again damaging the wings, and fleeing once again. Then turning to attack the remaining pursuer as three-to-one. Eventually we damaged our foes sufficiently that they no longer pursued us. We were too exhausted and injured to attempt to finish them. Later we had reports from others of our brethren that four dragons of bone had been seen heading slowly towards the city of those who will not remain dead. At this news I wept, as my beloveds sacrifice was diminished. She had saved me, but not vanquished her foe.
After this encounter, and unexpected alliance, it was agreed that the old grudges should be put aside, and so an event that has not happened in the lifetime of an elf occurred: a Council of the Dragons. More than two score of our brethren came together in peace. Almost all had lost relatives or encountered the creatures and fled. Consensus was easily reached, in only sixteen days.
It is hard for us to unite together. Rivalries between families, between colours, between individuals are sometimes more than a millennium long. Greed and envy often end close friendships, or even pairings. So it was difficult for large groupings of us to live in the same mountain range, but it had to be done. A few refused to band together, preferring to risk all to keep their hordes hidden. It seems they all have perished our hidden themselves too well to be found again.
But enough of us submerged our natural instincts to form a communal living area, and as the old adage goes, “There is peace in solitude, warmth in pairing, but safety in numbers”. Dozens of us have been attacked since then. Sadly, several of us have perished. More have been wounded gravely. Yet we have driven off these creatures of unlife many times.
However, we cannot continue like this for much longer. Each death for us is a so long to replace. And in all this time we have destroyed only one of their number, while more than a score of our number can fight no more.
We face the extinction of race in these parts, which may be considered welcome by some of the two-leg races. Yet when we are gone from this region will these undead dragons of bone cease to hunt? Will they be content to wait to see if others of our kind eventually move in to the territory? Will their makers have no more use for them?
I believe even those as short-lived, and therefore short-sighted as the two-legs can appreciate the continual hunger for ending life such creatures possess. When we dragons have been killed or fled, you will all be their next targets.
We dragons propose and alliance. We cannot defeat the three remaining dragons of bone. If we flee, or perish, it seems unlikely you will be able to defeat them either. We therefore offer a truce between our kinds. A cessation of hostilities in the continual battles for loot, food, and territory that have existed between us since the two-legs first walked into our homelands.
We suggest a battle here, at the old elven fortress the dwarves have made even stronger, between the dragons of bone, ourselves, and as many two-legs as you can muster. We shall lure them here, and together we shall defeat them.
Together we will have both the strength and the numbers to face these foes. Together we have the ability to return to the balance of the past. Together we can defend the living from those that do not remain dead.
I shall wait on this plain until you return with an answer.
Shaba summarises this speech a little. “The dragons say some undead dragons are killing them, and we could be next. They want an alliance to defeat these creatures from the undead city. They suggest luring them to this fortress and them joining forces to defeat them. They also suggest getting together as many dwarves, human, elves, etc. as we can to help.
The dwarven ambassador has Shaba explain that he will have to seek approval from the King at Herat. The dragon nods, then closes its eyes. Slowly, the ambassador and his entourage leave the plain. They then take flight on hippogriffs and race back to Herat.
Eno the twelfth
They continue their travels by hippogriff, into a strong headwind.
Eno the thirteenth
They keep traveling, as the wind just gets stronger.
Eno the fourteenth
They do not realise the true nature of the dwarf plans. While our heroes go and recruit non-dwarves to fight the battle, the palace does not even attempt to inform the other dwarven tribes. The reason is that they are sure the other dwarves will try the same thing the Herat dwarves are about to do. They begin sending their troops out into the wastes and mountains in an effort to find the unguarded hordes of the dead dragons. They figure they have a free pass should they encounter any actual dragons, as they can say they are scouting the undead dragons. So they tell our heroes to only say the threat is from the indead city, and only to mention the undead dragons as a deal-maker.
Dorin/Brativ is a court official, read spy, for the Herat court. He is assigned to our heroes to ensure they stick to the script, and to aid them as he can.
This is the first of many injuries to Shylock's nose, which seems cursed in some way for the number of scars and breaks it takes in the ensuing years.
They arrive at Herat and are rushed to an audience with some high officials. The officials interrogate Shaba in depth on what was said, then go confere with the king and his inner circle. When they return they tell our heroes they have accepted the dragon's proposal, and ask them to act as traveling ambassadors and go and recruit heroes and troops to come to the fortress to arrive in Herat by the beginning of the seventh month (a date suggested by the dragon). They agree, and begin to preapre themselves for a long journey south to Qandahar and back. Our heroes do not guess the real reason why.
Eno the fifteenth through eighteenth
Supplies are bought, horses are groomed, and weapons purchased, sharpened and oiled.
Eno the nineteenth
Our heroes leave Herat, they are met by Brativ, a court official they had talked to often. Indeed, Brativ had acted as a minder when they were in an official meeting, and had advised them well on etiquette. He asks they call him Dorin on this journey, and has arranged a cover for them as traveling metal merchants, and provides a cart laden with metal goods, drawn by two stout dwarven ponies.
That night they are ambushed by some skeletons, but defeat them and capture the necromancer that was nearby controlling the skeletons. They decide to execute the necromancer, as they suspect he is a spy from the undead city. Quick action by Vassan saves Khalid from a nasty curse, as their prisoner tries to utter a final spell as when he knows he will die. She puts him to sleep, by asking her familiar, Meep, to sting him.
Overall the encounter leaves Dorin with a broken bone in his shield hand, and Shylock breaks his nose.
Eno the twentieth
They travel on to Adraskan.
Eno the twenty-first
They rest the day in the relative safety of Adraskan.
Eno the twenty-second
After traveling the day in a heavy snowfall, our heroes make camp in the cold, white wilderness. After darkness falls they are approached by a desperate woman who tells them she is fleeing an arranged marriage. She calls herself Quill, and is very attractive. She explains her family agreed she would marry and old merchant is order to settle some debts. She tells them she is in love with the local warrener (rabbit farmer), and he arranged her escape, but could not travel with her. She begs them to escort her to the next town. They are suspicious, but some in the party cannot refuse the pleas of an attractive woman.
She waits until all are asleep except the first watch of the night, Shylock and Colin. She makes small talk with them, and easily influences them both. She shows affection to them, flirts, seduces Colin in a heartbeat, and then while both are in a hypnotic state starts to cast spells on the both. Nothing she tries works, despite the advantage she supposes she has with the successful trace-like state. Colin's natural magic resistance (he just doesn't believe in magic) foils her every attempt at mind-control and sleep, and Shylock's magic items, combined with some amazing luck, drain her of her magic power. She knows she is no match for the party in combat, and that if she attacks the two love-sick idiots they will snap out of the trance. So the vampire seductress turns into a bat and flies away, leaving only a fur coat, her silky dress, and a pair of copper earrings behind.
Eno the twenty-third
They travel on, heading south-west along the old dwarven road.
Eno the twenty-fourth
As it gets dark they see the lights in the windows of a small town, and push on to get to the safety of an inn. They spend the evening supping ale and trying to read some magic Runes.
Eno the twenty-fifth to twenty-eighth
They march on is snow, wind and sleet.
Eno the twenty-ninth
While traveling they encounter some hunters returning to civilisation laden with pelts. There is some discussion of trade, but our heroes decide against buying any.
Eno the thirtieth
The golem was being tested by a pair of wizards, but our heroes fail to figure this out.
They encounter an iron golem wandering about. They follow it for a while, but as it is going off-road they leave it and return to their travels.