(G156 15/02/2013 - BG - JF(GM) , AP)
DAY 166 (24th Eleasis)(August) cont ...
And so Fenrir talked to Sammu. To get him to open up he cut his arm with
Hull's dagger, but after that Hull said, 'That will do. Just let me know
if you want me to hit him for you.'
Sammu revealed that he had been sent by the 'Fiend of Durlag's Tower' and
he would give no more details that that, but he did go on to say :
'I am an assassin yes, but I am no danger other than to whoever my master
says I must kill. This man though - knows not what he does. He is a threat
to everyone in Faerune. He will unleash something dreadful on the world and
you will curse the day you had him in your grasp, Captain Hull, and did not
kill him. His fate is before him like the edge of an Abyss - or should I
say THE Abyss?'
He then went on to relate a story:
''
The speaker is Death
There was a merchant in Memnon who sent his servant to market to buy
provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and
said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in
the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me
and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from
this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Myratma and there Death will not find me.
The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in
its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went
down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and
said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this
morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of
surprise. I was astonished to see him in Memnon, for I had an appointment
with him tonight in Myratma
After that Fenrir decided he'd had enough and let Hull summon Mandral and the
couple were taken away to the inner keep for further questioning.
Then Fenrir went to the library to pay for search on the qualities of magical
'Bags of Holding' as he was formulating a plan to take care of Hallistar Blatt.
It would involve explosives smuggled into the man's quarters in a magical bag
but Fenrir had no idea if it was possible.
When he turned up at the Inn in the afternoon he saw Urol and Meree talking to
a rather worried looking Parrie. He went to ask what the problem was and Parrie
told him of a conversation she had had earlier:
''
Parry went to Marten and handed over pages of copies of Marten's books.
'Wow, thanks Parrie. A hundred pages? Awesome!'
'Would have been more, but Oz is still busy with other things'
'Oh' said the bard, 'Where you involved in that business the other night? I heard the woman
had used a potion of gaseous form to try and escape? And you healed her?'
'Err, that's right', replied Parrie.
'Quiet an adventure then. And now the other one has been found and turned over to the guards?'
'Yes, they caught him in the roof of the bunkhouse. Oz and Liamae mainly. I was there but
didn't get involved.'
'I see, I see. So, who is this Oz person? Do you know him well. And Fenrir Thunderstaff?'
'I don't know them very well. Liamae likes Oz though. She's a friend of mine, so if she likes
him he must be ok. Fenrir is ... ahem .. I like him too...'
Marten smiles, 'You have a soft spot for him?'
Parrie blushes, 'Well I did, but well, I'm not so sure now.'
Marten put his hand on her shoulder, 'Why not my dear? You seem concerned!'
'Well, I'm sure he's lovely, but I think he's mixed up in some bad things.'
'Deary me! What sort of bad things? Here, let me offer you some of this brandy. You seem
quite upset!'
'Thanks', said the young cleric as she sniffed back a tear, 'It's so tragic! And very
romantic! But I think .. well .. I know because he told me .. mixed up with demons.'
At this the halfing bard went as white as a sheet,
'Demons! Well. Well, well. That's not good.'
He quickly patted his pockets and the put some money on the table.
'You would do well to stay away from this fellow then. He's not just lying in some
misguided way to impress you?'
'I don't think so', gulped Parry as she took another big swig of brandy, 'When our ship
was attacked by trolls he swooped up into the sky on huge dark demonic wings and blasted
them into bits with ethereal bolts of evil.'
Martin stood up in shock and backed away,
'Dark demonic wings? Bolts of .. gulp ... evil?'
'Oh but', cried Parrie as she realised what she'd done, 'He's really lovely really. He's
not like that.'
'Oh!', replied the bard as he made to leave the table, 'You would do well to get as far
away from a man like that as you can! Take my advise and follow my example - run while
you still can!'
And with that Marten fled upstairs to his room.
Fenrir told her not to worry and left the inn. He then went invisible and flew off down
the road to Beregost. The town was about fifty miles away so he doubted that Marten would
have made it in one night. He flew along until it started getting dark and he thought he
had gone about thirty miles then settled down under a tree to sleep reasoning that Marten
would also be making camp.
DAY 167 (25th Eleasis)(August)
In the early hours of the morning Fenrir was treated in a worthwhile lesson in wilderness
survival and the recklessness of sleeping alone in a monster infested forest.
A wyvern struck him with its stinger as he slept, making him leap up and fly straight up
in the air. Surprised the wyvern looked for its prey, but Fenrir was now invisible too and
using magic to mask his trail and scent. The wyvern then flapped off and he settled down
into a tree to fight off the poison working its way through his body.
Happy to find that in the end he did not die he tried his best to sleep, this time while
he was invisible. The only way a monster would find him now would be if it trod on him.
In the morning he still felt terrible so he slept some more. He then settled down by the
roadside and watched the traffic coming and going. Only a few people would pass each hour,
either local farmers, pilgrims or travellers going about their own business.
In the afternoon a large group past and Fenrir flew ahead of them then landed and walked
up to the small figure riding a pony in its midst. It was indeed Marten, but he warned
Fenrir to leave him alone and was in much fear.
However Fenrir worked his charm and by the time they reached Beregost Marten was, if not
his friend, then at least persuaded to stick to the original deal.
They both spent the night in the Jovial Juggler, Fenrir resting to try and recover as
much of his constitution as he could.
DAY 168 (26th Eleasis)(August)
Fenrir woke, had his breakfast and flew back to Candlekeep, a journey that took about
five hours.
Back at the inn he talked to Urol, Parrie, Meree and Liamae who were concerned that
Oz had gone missing. He had left not long after Fenrir, also looking for Marten.
They decided to wait to see if he turned up later in the day, but he did not.
Fenrir spent the rest of the day reading.
DAY 169 (27th Eleasis)(August)
This morning Parrie had copied a total of 500 pages. Fenrir flew to Beregost and back
to check on Marten and hand them over.
Liamae and Meree left the keep in search of Oz.
Fenrir went to find out about Bags of Holding. The researcher handed him the following
text :
''
Notes from the journal of Bungee the Wizard
Being in possession of a large fortune I did commission the gnomish men to make me a consignment of twenty
bags of holding, built to the standard specifications of what one understands the device to be.
I wish to see what can and cannot be done with a Bag of Holding to further the knowledge of mankind.
I will test the Bags to their limit and if need be, to their destruction.
Bag 1 :
Firstly I did place my young apprentice inside to see what happened. When we pulled him out, he was found
to be dead.
I paid to have him resurrected and put him inside again although he did not want it. I gave him a knife
and told him to try and cut his way out from within. Once in, five minutes later the bag vanished.
The apprentice was never seen again.
Bag 2 :
Having heard that things happen when portable holes are put within I did this. It opened up a gate to
ye Astral Plane. The bag vanished
Bag 3 :
Next I did place an angry badger inside a bag. The bag vanished. I know not where the badger went
Bag 4 :
I will then place in Pseudodragon which I have ordered to tell my via telepathy what is going on in
the bag. The Pseudodragon could not use telepathy from inside the bag so I took it out.
Next I did pour water into a bag until it was full. Then I poured more until it did overflow.
The bag ruptured and was ruined. The water vanished.
Bag 5 :
Today I place 50 small items in the bag and found that each time I did go to take an item
I did only have to think of it and it would be the object that my hand found when I went
to reach for it.
I put my hand in while thinking of nothing. My fingers touched on nothing.
I poured in a pint of water and thought of water. My hand returned wet.
I tipped over the bag and everything came out, including the water.
I filled the bag half full of water then placed in a fish.
Ten minutes later I tipped it up and out fell a dead fish and all the water.
I took the bag to a pool and held it underwater. The bag filled with water and then vanished.
Bag 6 :
I summoned a small demon and placed it within the bag. It did not want it.
Ten minutes later the bag vanished.
Bag 7 :
I summoned a slightly larger demon, one which is capable of summoning other demons of its
kind and placed it within the bag. It did not want it.
Ten minutes later the bag vanished.
Bag 8 :
I made a construct - an animated candlestick - and placed it in the bag. It appeared not
to be overly keen on this. Ten minutes later I took it out and it was still animated.
I then put it in again. Five hours later the bag vanished.
Bag 9 :
I place a Displace Beast in the bag. It was angry. Ten minutes later I retrieved it.
It was dead.
Next I placed a Blink Dog in the bag. It kept on using Dimension Door though and was hard to get in.
I cast a spell to subdue it long enough to get it in.
I placed the Blink Dog in the bag. Three minutes later the Bag did leap into the air
and turn into a radish.
Bag 10 :
Today I did buy a genie small enough to stuff into a bag. It did not want to go, but I told
it to try and use it's planeshift ability to leave the bag and enter the Astral Plane.
I pushed the genie into the bag and fifteen minutes later the bag vanished and was replaced
by a portal to the Astral Plane.
Bag 11 :
I took an number of items and cast the spell Shrink on them. I then placed them in the Bag.
When it was time for the Shrink spell to wear off the bag turned into a startled monkey which
then rampaged around the room and knocked over a test stand.
I had the guards take it away.
Bag 12 :
I filled that bag with bottles of Alchemist Fire, to be 3/4 full. Next I summoned a small demon and
commanded it to enter the bag and smash the bottles.
The bag vanished. I thought I smelt strawberries but it may have been my imagination.
Bag 13 :
I placed Alchemist Fire a blink Dog and a Small Demon in this bag. Twenty seconds later the bag
turned into a bowl of custard. I ordered one of the guards to eat the custard. He did not die.
Bag 14 :
I placed a small demon, a blink dog, alchemist fire, a shrunk animated table, a shrunk displacer beast
and a genie into this bag of holding. A portal to the Astral Plane opened. A portal to the Abyss
opened. The bag turned into a sausage. One of the guards exploded.
Bag 15 :
I plan to repeat bag 14 but with one addition. In the bag I will place a small demon, a blink dog, a
shrunken animated table, a shrunken displacer beast and a genie. To this I will add a ghost.
Thus there are three things that can potentially open portals to the Astral Plane, the Abysmal Plane and
the Ethereal Plane. I am greatly interested to see what will happen.
(Archive Note : There is no more after this. It is assumed Bungee the Wizard did not survive whatever
happened as a consequence.)
DAY 170 (28th Eleasis)(August)
This morning Parrie had finished all the copying and Fenrir took them to Marten who
gave his clue in exchange, It was this :
'''Five Stones North''
When he got back to the Inn at Candlekeep he spent the rest of the day playing cards
with Urol and Parrie.
DAY 171 (29th Eleasis)(August)
Meree and Liamae had returned, battered and bruised from their sourjon in the wilds
around Candlekeep. They had found Oz's trail but for some reason it had wandered off
the road and deep into the wilderness. There they had lost it.
So they decided to leave the keep and sail north.
There was a good strong wind so they made good progress, over two hundred miles.
DAY 172 (30th Eleasis)(August)
Fenrir spent some time today speaking to Rizolde and Parrie. Rizolde had struck
a deal with Bnurgstickslackskin and had been rewarded with Warlock powers and a
'Pact Blade; which she showed him.
She also told Fenrir that she considered him her master, for the time being at
least.
Fenrir tried to warn her about the dangers of dealing with demons but it fell
on deaf ears,
The rest of the day he spent hanging out with Parrie and playing cards.
The Sea Wyvern made about a further eighty miles and many sharks were spotted
in the water.
DAY 173 (1st Eleint)(September)
The Sea Wyvern, with a good wind in her sails made a further 150 miles.
DAY 174 (2st Eleint)(September)
The Sea Wyvern docked at Daggerford and Fenrir went to the Dragonback Inn
where he was pleasantly surprised to find the some of the surviving members
of his coven. He had had Bnurg instruct them all to meet him here before
setting off for Candlekeep.
Tenets O'Fields was there, but dead drunk. Vinet the Bloody was there
well dressed and attended by his servants.
Vinet casually passed on the following information, fresh from Waterdeep:
- three people were burned at the stake in Waterdeep on DAY 167. They
were Fandangle the Wizard, Osha the White and Moonwoman. These were all
names from the list Fenrir had given Maliantor
- Luskan pirates had been going up and down the coast near Waterdeep and
had raided the Hove Farm refugee camp, taking many hundreds of people
as slaves. The Waterdeep Navy now had the pirates in a stand off.
- On DAY 170 elements of the Grey Hands in the Undermountain had returned.
Conflicting rumours were abound. DeRosan had either escaped, was dead
or was back in the city, depending on who you talked to.
- On DAY 172 the orc/barbarian horde that had been making its way
south from the Spine of the World had arrived at the gates of Waterdeep.
They had giants with them and they had been using catapults to hurl
rocks over the city walls. A force of guards had initially been sent
out, but had returned defeated.
- On DAY 173 there were a further eight people burned at the stake. Vinet
did not have their names though.
ADDITIONAL NOTES :
In regards to the situation with Marten;
So what can we learn from this? Silvanus knows I have made plenty of mistakes
in my adventures so before I say anthing more I will simply state this is just
a lesson for other bold aventurers to take heed of. In their place I could have
just as easily have failed.
The idea that the Fields were under a spell of geas existed only in Oz's head.
As the ideas came to him Sal simply agreed and this fiction grew into a story
that he beleived.
Then there was the confusion over the clothing in the chest that led to a
mysterious third person being needed to fit the evidence. The story that Oz
was building for himself grew more and more.
It wasn't until Meree thought to try putting some of the women's clothes
in the chest on 'Sal' that Oz realised the truth. The whole thing was a pack
of lies.
That, in and of itself was not a problem. False information lead to some time
wasting. The problem was that all this was that they didn't have much time to
waste.
The reason why they were in Candlekeep had been completely forgotten.
Marten sat along in the Inn and wondered what was going on.
It wasn't until he started questioning Parrie though that things went totally
'tits up', if you pardon my use of common slang. While Oz was making his
mistakes, Fenrir had already made his when he'd first arrived.
If you have a reputation in a large city then you can be sure it will
spread. And if it is a bad reputation then you can be sure it gets worse and
worse the further it travels.
Marten, possessor of a secret that would be of great value to the enemies of demons
would hardly hand it over to someone with such a reputation as Fenrir Thunderstaff?
It was no wonder that the halfing fled. Even if they had simply set someone to
watching him, this disaster could have been averted.
Luckily though, Fenrir did manage to find him, but that was down to luck as
much as anything else, and eventually luck will run out.