An encounter with a halfling trickster has made Aegon question his ability to make decisions, and whether he should continue to lead the Troupe. They are now travelling through rocky plains soaked in the blood of a Celestial that saved humanity, continuing on their way to the Firewine Bridge Ruins.
1 Eleasias 1368
We make our way back down to the ground, away from the meditating monks. Though their story was interesting, they seemed selfish and arrogant when it came to claiming blessings from the dead Celestial. I wondered for a moment if the death of a Celestial could cause the dead to rise. It would explain why there are many walking corpses in this area.
As if in answer to my question we hear the creaking of bows being drawn, and we see skeletal hands holding the taut strings. Four of them launch arrows at us, while two more approach slowly with war hammers at the ready. Rose charges them with Chesley Crusher at the ready, though she nearly stumbles after an arrow hits her in the shoulder. Verr’Sza destroys one of the skeletal warriors as Rose recovers her fighting stance.
The rest of us use a small cliff face for cover as we return fire. Rose smashes the remaining skeleton warrior. Only the archers remain now.
They drop their bows and pull up the halberds hanging from their rib cages with unnatural speed. They somehow move quicker without flesh and sinew. The thought of it unnerves me.
Halberds clash with halberd as Rose teaches them her favourite dance. Cat is able to dart into the midst of their skirmish, and tears apart one of the skeleton’s bindings. While they are distracted, we are able to move closer and with better aim, more skeletons are destroyed.
Rose smashes the last skeleton to pieces with a heavy thrust. Whether from a necromancer or through Celestial blood, their are less of these undead abominations to concern ourselves with now.
We continue along the cliffs, ever wary for more undead that may roam this accursed ground.
When we come to a large canyon it isn’t skeletons or zombies that ambush us. Instead arrows rain on us from yipping kobolds.
The manage to miss every shot, but they are nimble and maintain their distance from Rose. She switches to her crossbow and joins the rest of us in killing them at range.
Our aim proves better than theirs and their incessant barking is finally silenced by Khalid.
They aren’t worth scalping, so we just strip their corpses before moving on through the canyon.
Later, we come across a man moving at a quick pace through the canyon. Despite his speed he doesn’t seem in too much of a rush. We ask him where he is headed and he answers, though he seems a little flustered.
I hadn’t considered that before. The bandits are attacking caravans on the Trade Way, which affects both Amn and Baldur’s Gate. If neither are behind the raids, then naturally they might blame each other.
More bandits, this time Chill hobgoblins. Khalid puts an arrow through one while Rose closes in on them.
As Rose and Cat cleave their way through them, our red mage is struck in the belly. He seems less hurt, and more irritated that they would dare hurt him.
He reaches for some Gooseberries and their healing properties help to close the wound.
The remaining hobgoblins try to keep their distance from the Chesley Crusher, so Rose switches to her crossbow again.
Arrows and bolts fly across the canyon, cutting down the hobgoblins in a brutal flurry. Their blood now mingles with that of the ancient Celestial.
There is only silence left as we step over the corpses and continue on our way.
We come to a small path that leads up to a large plateau. A gnome rushes down the path when she sees us. I feel like I recognise her from somewhere. She seems distraught, almost in tears and doesn’t hesitate for a second when she sees us.
Rose: What’s wrong? You seem in distress.
Recorder: Please, this is urgent. I am Recorder, a lorekeeper travelling with Sir Mark Harmon, a paladin of the Harmonious order. He is still down there in the Ulcaster ruins with the others being overwhelmed by a necromancer.
Of course! I helped her find Sir Mark before they set out on their journey from Candlekeep. That’s how I know her.
Recorder: I’m not strong enough to help on my own, please help me.
She looks away as she says this, as if she is trying to hide her shame.
Rose: We’ll help. What is the threat?
Recorder: Sir Mark and I ran was travelling with an expedition. One of our members had less than fine reasons for joining and betrayed our party with the dead at his beck and call.
I believe with your help we can prevail and still save Mark.
Rose: Very well then. Let us take care of this problem.
A wave of relief washes over her face.
Recorder: Then let us go. We are running out of time.
So there is a necromancer here. It explains the walking dead that have been accosting us on our journey. Looks like its time for the Troupe to hunt down another of these mad men.
Recorder will join us in our hunt for this necromancer.
She is a loremaster. Not quite a sage, but is perhaps more well read than I am.
Her black leather armour is enchanted and has a glowing purple hue to it.
She says she plays the flute, and can be quite charming when she does so.
I notice a small white furry creature run around her leg and up her back. Edwin screams that there is a rodent upon her and Recorder laughs as it sits on her shoulder. She gives it a stroke and introduces her pet ferret, Gustav, to us.
I ask her about her weapons and she tells us she has a crossbow loaded with Bolts of Lightning.
I tell her that if we are to fight a necromancer we need to be prepared. I ask her to take a look through my scroll case to see if there is anything she can learn. She copies a Scroll of Magic Missiles to her spellbook.
She fails to copy a scroll of Mage Armour. She finds a Scroll of Ghoul Touch she can use, but doesn’t like the idea of having a necromantic spell in her spell book.
I ask Rose for the Bag of Holding to see if we can upgrade her equipment. She takes an Orc Shaman’s Cloak, finding she can move more freely when wearing it.
For some extra protection she takes a buckler. It won’t help against ranged weapons, but it’s better than nothing.
We upgrade her light crossbow so she can make better use of those Bolts of Lightning.
And just in case anyone gets too close to her, we give her a Heart of the Golem so she can fight back.
She’s not a druid, but as a Loremaster she tells us she can still make use of a ring meant only for those close to nature.
With Recorder ready for the fight in the school ruins I go to hand back the Bag of Holding to Rose. She refuses and says that it is time she stepped down. As long as she is with us, she told me, I won’t be the true leader. Her decision shook me, but she is right.
The Bag feels heavier, though it should be weightless. Perhaps I was feeling the weight of Rose’s trust in me. Was I ready for this? She thought so. And I could not let her down.
I don’t want her to go, but she assures me that if I ever need her again, I’ll find her in the Burning Wizard Inn. I worry as I watch her walk away, having to face the dangers of the road alone. But having seen how she handles herself in a fight, I don’t worry for long.
It’s time to take the lead. I tell Khalid he should take point as he is the strongest fighter in our group. And since he’s going to be the first our assailants target, we agree he should upgrade his armour. There is some enchanted plate mail in our Bag that he can use.
Now we are ready to ascend to the plateau then descend into the Ulcaster School Ruins. But before we do, Khalid offers Jaheira a gift.
Khalid: I d-dug them out with the roots. So I c-can replant th-them afterwards. See… I rolled a wet cloth around the root bulb, it should not get damaged.
Jaheira: That’s better. But why are you giving me flowers?
Khalid: D-do I have to have a reason to g-give you flowers? They are beautiful like you, so I th-thought…
Jaheira: That is very sweet of you, dear.
Khalid: B-besides, today is… is… our anniversary of a k-kind.
Jaheira: Anniversary? Khalid, are you sure?
Khalid: Yes, I had p-proposed to you for the f-fourth time on that day. Do you not r-remember?
Jaheira: I remember now, dear… And I am still sorry that I was too unsure of your feelings at the time to accept at once.
Khalid chuckles.
Khalid: I had to convince you somehow that my feelings for you were m-more serious than a patient’s gratitude to his healer. P-proposing seemed like the right way of doing it.
Jaheira smiles.
Jaheira: And you did it differently every time… What if we elude everyone tonight and celebrate appropriately?
Khalid: There is only one th-thing a husband can say to his good wife to that.
“Yes, dear!”
He’s definitely the more romantic of the couple, though I can see why Jaheira loves him now. He has this ability to break through her stoic exterior. I don’t think it’s something I could ever do.
Khalid takes point and leads us up the small path to the plateau. Atop it we find a man wearing robes covered in runes that glow in various colours.
The Peddler: Stan, the peddler at your service. I buy and sell everything. And even more… for a small fee I keep your inventory safe. Give me your extra weight and we meet get it back if you need it. No hauling of heavy backpacks over the roads.
I travel all over Faerûn and you will meet me wherever you go.
We take a look at his wares and find nothing we need. Khalid does take the opportunity to clean out the mundane equipment from our Bag of Holding. We get over 1800 gold for it. We thank the Peddler for his services and move on along the plateau.
We move past him and take in our surroundings. There are ruins here outlining what would have been the shape of a few buildings. This must be the ruins of Ulcaster School that Recorder was on expedition. It’s eerily quiet. Almost too quiet, as if even the winds avoid this place. A chill sets into our bones as we cautiously make our way closer to the ruins.
Suddenly, Edwin is struck by two arrows. Blood oozes out onto his red robes, and he reaches for his pouch full of Gooseberries. Khalid rushes to protect him, shield at the ready.
We distract the skeletons to protect Edwin while he heals himself. The Peddler joins us in this, but doesn’t attack the skeletons directly. Edwins wounds start to close up, but he is still frustrated at the amount of blood he is losing.
We destroy more of the skeletons and the Gooseberries really start to work. Edwin finds the strength to rejoin the fight against the remaining skeletons. The Peddler runs away from the fight, leaving us to deal with the necromancer’s minions ourselves.
Jaheira destroys the last of them and I ask Edwin if he needs help. He turns me down, making very sure that I understand he can look after himself.
We start to explore the ruins and find the shadow of an old man wandering around. Though his visage is blurry we can see he is an aged man, wearing the robes of a mage or a sage. Khalid approaches the ghost, and though it talks it does not seem lucid.
Its raspy voice echoes inside our minds, each word sending shivers down my spine. The air grows colder with every syllable, as though the ghost pulls the warmth into its grief.
Is it talking to us, or to itself? Despair rings in its voice, it is reflecting on things lost.
Recorder: Keep pressing, Aegon. Perhaps we will have an understanding with a few more words what he is trying to say.
I take her advice and we keep following the ghost. It walks through Khalid and he shivers as he chills to his bones.
So it seems there is a tome in the lower levels that the ghost needs. I feel a kinship with it. I lost my father, and with his death I lost my home. My only way back is to have a great and valuable tome. I will find this ghost’s tome, and perhaps another I can use one day.
The ghost wanders off, repeating the same words over and over. It has nothing new to say for now.
