Rise of The Runelords - David Drake's Saga

by Raulfur

This is the Rise of the Runelords series as told by of David Drake, an American pagan who got tricked into the adventure. This series shows how he comes to understand the world and his journeys through it. The first three posts detail his companions, Faunra: a time displaced elven Magus, Dame Rebekah: a child of crusaders, and Jonathan: a skinwalker monk/kineticist. Still ongoing.

83. Day 79 or Recovery

Day 79: Oathday the 6th, Kuthona, 4707

I woke up today to the continued sound of the downpour that has been occurring since before we got here. I honestly didn't worry about it before, but Jakardros had brought it up late in the day yesterday before we headed to bed. It was nice to have the chance to rest in a bed and not have to stand watch. Granted it took a long time to clean out the fort of the ogre stink, but burning their bodies did change the smell a little. Before we headed to bed last night, Dame Rebekah asked if my device can keep an accurate measurement of time. I told her that it can, and has been since I got it. She asked me to find some way to tell her when it had been a little less than twenty-four hours since Faunra had gotten struck by the spectre.

Apparently, there are things that can be done to attempt to remove the blot on one's soul just before that time, but not too far before that time. I asked her why twenty-four hours, and Dame Rebekah noted that it was part of the grand bargain between the light gods and the dark gods, that the rotation would get time with either before becoming permanent. I shrugged and set my timer for the appropriate time. Actually, I set three alarms, starting at twenty-two hours after the event and finishing about five minutes before the event.

Jonathan showed off a new ability today, the ability to fly. Him and Dame Rebekah took to the skies to survey the area around the fort for any danger. Him by himself and Dame Rebekah astride Bucepherous. For most of the day, Jonathan, Dame Rebekah, and I worked on helping to rebuild the fort. Dame Rebekah focused her divinely granted might into reshaping the stonework of the fort to be repaired, I worked on mending items, and Jonathan used his supreme lifting ability to remove trash and debris, and bring other supplies in. Faunra spent the day meditating and trying to refocus her soul to ensure that she did not suffer the stain on her soul forever.

I ended up learning a new pair of spells too! When I woke up and didn't remember exactly where I was, and I could smell the faint smell of ogres, I felt the need to have my armor on me and it instantly assembled around me. I didn't faint after that, but I did get really light headed. I also determined that I had an ability to generate duplicates of myself like Faunra can. I showed her early on in the day, and she told me that she was fascinated by my progress. She noted that it was likely that I was gaining some measure of power from the spellcasters that I helped to slay, making her ponder on what that might mean.

We thought about it for a minute and I noted that since I had not been in the world a long time, especially not growing up here, maybe I acted like a kind of magic sink for when it gets to be ambient in the air. Faunra told me that this was an interesting theory, and that she might need to study me when she has more time. I told her that it was no rush, and that we could look into it when we were all back in Sandpoint. I went over all of the spells that I could now bring forth, and Faunra noted that they all seemed to be spells that were ones that other Magi like her learned. I shrugged and said that it seemed like an obvious situation, since I had been seeing her cast arcane spells the most. She said that this sounded logical, and I left her to rest, think, and meditate.

Jonathan cooked up some good meals with all of the gar and mountain lion that we still had. Shalelu had gone off during the morning to go inform the people of Turtleback Ferry of the situation with the Black Arrows. When she got back, she told us that Mayor Shreed wanted to hear the information directly from us. I shrugged, and told her that we could probably head out tomorrow, when Faunra's rest and recuperation was completed. I think I noticed a bit of guilt in Shalelu's eyes, but she hid it quickly.

It was a fairly simple day, considering all that had occurred. We had overtaken a fort that had been captured by Ogres, when we were only asked to go check in on it and find out what was happening. Jonathan told me that he had passed along word to Sir Jasper, and Sir Jasper had passed word back that he would be getting to Magnimar tomorrow and that he would be meeting with the Lord-Mayor as soon as he could. We finished off the day with all of us doing what we could to help Faunra recover from the effects. Jonathan was pushing healing energy into her, Dame Rebekah had given her some conjured Ambrosia, and I was using whatever sources of positive energy. In the end, it was successful, and Faunra threw off the undead curse. We celebrated and headed to sleep. It would be a ride back to Turtleback Ferry tomorrow.