(G144 07/09/2012 (fri) - KT - JF(GM) , AP , ON)
DAY 145 (3rd Eleasis)(August) cont ...
The rest of the day was largely spent in the Thunderstaff Villa.
The others filled in Fenrir with the things that had happened while
he'd been in prison (i.e. the raid on the devil chicken house, the
trip to Hommlett and the kidnap/rescue of Zoltan).
At two o'clock Cavu was sent off to try and learn a bit more about
the location of Giselle, but instead he came back with a dire warning :
'She said "And my lord revealed to me, the dead shall rise, sagging
rotten figures wrapped in red linen. Thirty-three soulless hosts of
inequity. Yea, every breast shall be filled with unholiness and filth,
every limb cursed with sores and weeping wounds. Their destination is
the abode of the staff of thunder, their touch is desolation, their
master is the Disciple of Asmodeus and their goal is utter destruction.'
He also said he would be going away for a few days, but would contact
them all again on his return.
There was much debate about this dire warning and they showed it
to Shallerim. He wasn't much impressed though, not really knowing
who Cavu was. It was agreed though, that it sounded like mummy's and
that they would be sent by De Rosan and attack the villa.
At three o'clock Fenrir went to Shallerim to ask for a 'loan' of a Hat
of Disguise. Shallerim said yes, as long as Fenrir supported him
against Arsten II.
To explain a little about Fenrir's family then, at this time it had
an inheritance problem rather like the one my own family has.
So, in the words of Fenrir's father :
'After the Black Knight, Fenrik became the Lord of Thunderstaff. He died
when I was just a young lad, the same age as Zoltan. When he did, his
obvious heir was Arsten the Yellow. For some reason though he declined it
and Baeron became the Lord.
Looking back I assumed there was some logical reason for it, but well...
since Baeron had presumably sold his soul to the demons, they may have had
a hand in making sure Arsten stepped down in favour of Baeron.
When Arsten the Yellow died, this was before you were born, Baeron, not
having any children of his own, named Arsten II as the heir. He would have
been the Lord of Thunderstaff if his father hadn't given it up so it is
logical. Shallerim could argue he is the heir though, being the next brother
in line, saying that since Arsten gave it up, he also gave it up for his son.
I hope they see sense anyway, arguing about it inside the family will only
make us weaker ...and the jackals are at the door...'
Now, Baeron's consort was a lady called Marle and she favoured Arsten. But most of
the rest of the family favoured Shallerim, reasoning that he would be a steady pair
of hands, whereas Arsten was young, arrogant and unpredictable.
At six o'clock Gharlie left saying she could be contacted in the usual
way.
Corum had been sent to the North Ward Watch house to see what he could find
out and at eight o'clock he returned and said that there had been no evidence
of De Rosan at the Yuan-Ti villa.
It was decided they would all stay at the TSV tonight, because of the
warning about the mummies so Sylvia went home to get some clothes and Nes
and Raya were sent for.
The two spare rooms in Fenrir's side of the house were separated into
girls and boys with Liamae, Raya and Sylvia in one and Alduin, Oz, Corum
and Nestoone in the other. Fenrir had his own room.
At eleven o'clock Fenrir enlisted the help of Raya and raided his uncle's
secret room. He found some gold and some sinister magic pipes.
That night Oz had a nightmare about being trapped in a barrel and did not get
much sleep.
DAY 146 (4th Eleasis)(August)
Oz decided to get the sleep he needed and slept until noon. Meanwhile Fenrir
arranged with Shallerim to get some oil, jars and alchemist's fire.
The rest awoke and took breakfast in the family room of Fenrir's part of the
Thunderstaff villa. The newspapers were brought in and among other things
they read that the City Guards were putting down supplies and putting up
tents about half a mile south of the city.
When he did wake up Oz went out to see what he could find out about what
was going on and learned that the tents were for the refugees from outside
the city and the sick.
At five o'clock in the afternoon Fenrir went back to his uncles chambers.
He wanted to lock the secret door again, but his uncle found him and made
sure he left.
Fenrir and Alduin helped make improvised fire bombs from the oil and jars,
weapons they hoped would help fight the predicted mummy attack.
Oz spent the rest of the day studying spells.
Later, during the day, Jolly Underdown came and asked to speak to Alduin.
Alduin told him a few things, but when asked who he worked for did not give
any more answers.
When Jolly said, 'Answer all my questions or you'll be snatched from your bed
tonight and the next person you talk to won't be as friendly as I am.', he was
told to bugger off.
Another bit of interesting news came their way. Apparently an orc horde had
sacked the town of Mirabar, far to the north, in the shadow of the 'Spine of
the World' mountain range.
After dinner, as they all sat around planning, a fight broke out between
Corum and Sylvia. It started like this:
Corum : 'She's just a silly old bat'
Sylvia : 'She has a point though'
Corum : 'No she doesn't!'
Sylvia : 'Come off it, even my side of the family have a better claim to
the estate than yours!'
Corum : 'Are you trying to deliberately wind me up? The inheritance goes
through my mother, not my father! You know that.'
Sylvia : 'Yes, but your mother is dead.'
At that point Corum will lose it! 'How dare you! Leave her out of this.
The line of inheritance goes through her to my brother. That's how it works!'
Sylvia : (perfectly calm) All I'm saying is, you have a claim, my father
has a claim and Janny has a claim. We can sort this out with a family council.
Corum : Are you stupid? Family council? There is no such thing! It would
just be Ellientte and the other double-el's ganging up to have a go at my father.
Sylvia : (standing, angry, pointing) Don't call me stupid.
Corum : Don't point your finger at me, you rotten old harpy!
Sylvia : Right! That does it!
With that Sylvia launched herself at Corum and a proper fist fight ensued.
She gave Corum a good couple of blows, but he punched her hard in the face
and split her lip. She went down on one knee and was ready to fight again,
but Corum stalked out the room. Oz tried to calm down Sylvia and Fenrir
went after Corum.
*** This next entry can be skipped, but if you are interested dear reader,
here are some details on the current Lavius family issues ***
It is best to go back to my great-great-grandfather. It was him that
brought on the families fortunes and built the castle where my family
now resides. It was a nice place then, but has fallen into great disrepair.
His name was Grovner Lavius of Kryptgarden.
He had three children Ellientte, Nirel Lavius of Ghent and Basiljet
Lavius of Kryptgarden.
Now, it so happened that Ellientte was a woman so when Grovner died
and Nirel (the great-grandfather of myself and Sylvia) had also died
(hacked to death by orcs!), the estate fell to Basiljet.
Nirel Lavius of Ghent did have time to father several children though,
including Bericho of Ghent, who had a son called Sireco, who in turn
had seven daughters, one of whom is Sylvia.
Nirel Lavius of Ghent's other son was the infamous Nirel "The Black"
Lavius, a terribly wicked man, who among other dreadful sins, married
his governess (Adelle Godder-Saunders) and had a son, Humber.
Humber of course had four sons, Nissa, Elric, Corum and myself, Jarroll.
On Basiljet's side then, he married a lady called Ellen Pyre and had
a daughter Lady Sherren Lavius and a son Thampsen Ostrajet of Kryptgarden.
Thampsen being the male was the heir, so when he died, his son
Kroakus Ostrajet inherited the estate.
Meanwhile Lady Sherren Lavius married a well know rake about the town
of Waterdeep called Lord Villent DeLucy. Among other children they had
a daughter called Lady Eviline DeLucy Lavius.
Now Eviline married Humber and was my mother. Eviline and Humber were
second cousins, sharing Grovner Lavius of Kryptgarden as their
great-grandfather. Sadly Eviline died when I was young.
So the current inheritance problem in the Lavius family is primarily
caused by the fact that Ellientte Lavius is still alive. She is a hundred
and eight years old but still going strong!
Now her husband is long dead and her son Grovner Sireco Lavius-Lavius
died of old age. But he did father children when he was alive, one of
whom was called Sobriety Lavius-Lavius. Now he too is dead (hacked to
death by trolls!), but his son survives, a young and pleasant natured
man called Janakkes Lavius-Lavius.
I doubt very much Janakkes would be that bothered about being lord
of a pile of stone two days north of Waterdeep but his great-grandmother
has her heart set on it. Ever since Kroakus died she has been adamant
that Humber should not be in the Kryptgarden Estate and that Nissa should
not inherit.
According to her Janakkes is the legitimate heir as Humber's father
Nirel the Black was technically disinherited when he was exiled - but!
my family did not inherit the estate through my father, but through my
mother, when her cousin had died she was next in line to inherit. This
fact seems to have been forever lost on my great-great-aunt though.
Ellientte doesn't even consider Sylvia and her sisters as they are all
girls. No one else in the family has any interest in it, just this batty
old woman who lives in a very distant past.
She is my great-great-aunt and quite an amazing woman, but has caused
my father no end of grief as she sits in her villa in the city, plotting
against my side of the family.
*** end of insertion ***
They spent the rest of the night eating and drinking then went to bed.
DAY 147 (5th Eleasis)(August)
During the night, at about six o'clock in the morning, Oz was awake and
heard a stone-metal scrapping sound coming from the 'boys' room. He
went in to investigate and to wake everyone up, just as a gargoyle came
bursting in through the window.
More came from other windows and Alduin was hit by a tanglefoot bag, but
it did not slow him down much. As gargoyles came in through windows they
threw nets at people and managed to bag first Sylvia and then Raya, but
the others dived in to cut the ropes before the gargoyles could escape
with their victims.
Oz, Raya, Alduin and later Fenrir fought them off bravely. Corum's sword
just scraped off the stone skin of the monsters. Corum was famed for his
miserly attitude to money,
'Buy yourself a magic weapon!', called Fenrir cheerily.
Liamae was next to be netted and was dragged out the window and into the
sky. Oz rushed to the window and cast a 'launch' spell that cut the rope
between the gargoyle and the net. Liamae fell forty feet and broke her
arm.
Two gargoyles landed but one was quickly killed at the heroes all leapt
from the windows to defeat them and another was captured.
