Renewal 4
Notes by Fulumbar Mithrilshaft
We had been traveling for some time in these tunnels. The tunnels twisted around but thanks to my keen Dwarven underground senses I was never without direction. Upon coming to a large lake, Joshua cast a spell that let us tread upon the water as if it were solid earth. That man is quite wonderful I tell ye, always there to heal yer wounds, break any accused enchantments, and bring other beneficial magic to our aid. As Cirlyn frolicked across the lake, we simply watched on in amazement at his strange antics. I tell ye, that boy is not straight in the head. That doesn?t make ?im any less good in the fight, just curious at all other times.
After walking a great deal more in the tunnels, Balthazar stopped dead in his tracks and pointed to something down an eastern tunnel. I can only guess he heard something, cause I could not see anything far inside of the tunnel. Suddenly, Cirlyn started asking what was down the tunnel in his characteristically loud voice. If whatever was down the tunnels didn?t know we were here before, they sure did then. To make matters worse, the elf Kyrt threw some magic spear down the hall and we heard something cry out in pain; so much for ?em being friendly.
Balthazar and I braced for an attack, and sure enough it came. The ettin came barreling down the hall, its two heads in agreement for probably the first time in a week. The ugly bastard rushed right passed me and received me axe, Duri, in his left calf for his efforts. Two other ettins then charged at both Balthazar and me pinning us in against the wall.
Ettins are none too smart and the same tricks work against them over and over again. As such, we Dwarves have developed a special style to fight large and stupid creatures like ettins. Due to this form of combat, I was able to avoid most of the blows directed at meself. Wish I could have said the same for the elf, though. He got knocked out by one of the stupid bastards.
Due to the two large stinking bodies in front of me and Balthazar swinging wildly with his battleaxe, I could see little of the surrounding area. But I could not miss the blasts of fire that went off right in front of me. I swear that they singed me beard. Small rays hit the giants and dealt grievous burns to the flesh. Now, not only did the Ettins smell, but the smell of burning flesh entered the caverns. Next thing I heard was a choir of angels singing as Joshua was casting a spell upon the elf.
After I dealt the finishing blow to the last standing ettin, Cirlyn and Joshua started bickering about our next course of action. That course lead us on a six-hour useless journey that I had to stop because we may have gotten into the underdark. Due to my incessant demands that we turn about, we came out of the caverns at sunset.
Our next stop was the most interesting sight I had seen in some time. The illusionary ?Kingdom? of Andaluria proved to be a nice place to stay, though I have to wonder which appearance was real, as Joshua pointed out. We were then ?knighted? by ?King? Jared, and shared in a feast created by Joshua. A feast with no alcohol I might add. Very disappointing.
Renewal 5
The fifth day of Renewal proved uneventful and the elf cast an invisible disk that gave Addabar?s foot and my knee some rest after being cut in half and shattered respectively.
Renewal 5-8
The other days of the journey back to the city likewise passed uneventfully until we arrived in Cauldron on the eighth of Renewal. We arrived in the mid-morning and strangely the roads were untraveled. We found out the reason for that quickly enough. The guards to the city were demanding a one hundred and fifty gold piece entry! I would be damned if I were to pay such a unjust fee.
Renewal 9
We snuck in during the early hours of the ninth. Joshua opened a hole in the wall for us all to pass through, which he afterwards closed behind us. We made for Cirlyn?s house and stayed there for the remainder of the night.
Addabar, Joshua, and Cirlyn get dressed up to go to the Cusp of Sunrise to meet with a Lady Celeste and Davkid Splintershield. I also noted that Kyrt left at the same time without a word. While the others were gone, Balthazar and I exchanged some rumors we had heard. I had heard that the Thieves Guild was planning an assassination on the Lord Mayor. Balthazar told me that some duergar had come to Cauldron to seek revenge on their buster slave trade. I told Joshua about the Thieves Guild plot and he let me know that they had been trying to contact the guild for some time.
I was appalled! I had thought that these adventures to be respectful people, not a bunch of brigands. I decided I would have nothing to do with such people, so I left. I found out that the people were disgruntled with the Lord Mayor and the fact that he had cancelled the festival of Renewal.
Addabar came running after me to talk to me about the reasons for the contact with the Thieves Guild. A number of ales later he had me convinced.
Renewal 10
On the Tenth of Renewal Addabar and I go to see Jenya Urikas, High Priestess of the Hooded One. Upon recognizing Addabar, Jenya grew his foot back and fixed my knee with her magic. I spent much of the day speaking with Jenya about the current state of the city. I learned that the Lord Mayor had raised taxes over one thousand fold, and that the people were so frustrated that there was rumor of a protest on the fourteenth.
We spent the next few days working on this tunnel project that Joshua devised to sneak us in and out of the city.
Renewal 14
On the fourteenth of Renewal, notices appeared calling for a protest that evening. The party decided to go to the protest, and to go armed there might be trouble.
The protest was huge; the throngs of people made it near impossible to move about. It did not take long for Adeskertrove Maavu to step upon his soapbox and give a riveting speech. He claimed that Alek Tercival, Paladin of the Hooded One, had called out Terseon Skellerang, the Captain of the Guard, to fight a duel. The challenge was not publicized by the city as law demanded. He also claimed that the Nobles were only looking out for themselves and cared not for the citenzry.
Suddenly Sergeant Skylar Krewiss came out with a half-orc entourage and he unenthusiastically placed Maavu under arrest, which immediately provoked a riot.
The rioters killed the half-orcs and were pushing the Sergeant through the crowd. I lowered my visor, hefted my shield, and rushed right through the crowd toward the Sergeant where I took up keeping the crowd off of him. Cirlyn arrived cast a spell rendering the Sergeant invisible. Having defended the Sergeant, I looked toward where the fight had broken out and saw my friends defeating some monster.
Now we just needed to get out of the riot in one piece.