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Peter Oliva Chris Labonville Mike Vandergrift Mike Lejeune Chris Warter Mike Unknown Hargrid Tenslayer Staff Details |
| Volume 1, Number 2 | June/July 1999 |
Jansen's Beginning | Journal Part 2
| Fluff - Journal for Adriel Part 2 |
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A Journal for Adriel - Part 2 written by Lady Korrynn of Daggerdale, Faithful of Mystra By Michel Duarte If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. This morning upon arrival to the Inn we all noticed the lack of people. At first we almost panicked, thinking the worst. We realized after a while that the light from the night before had probably scared them away, that combined with our reputations could make anyone run away. We could all tell Faraday was upset. His grand opening had died in a flash of brilliant light. He told Greythorne he was opening up. He went to the front doors and swung them wide open yelling "The Stone Horse is open!". The words passed his lips and people flooded from the warehouse where the gate is. They were running towards the Inn yelling praises of Faraday. I suppose it was their way of getting back at him for not opening for them the night before. We were all surprised. None of us would have thought they would have pulled a trick like that. The place was quickly filled and all the rooms were booked for a week within the first hour he was open. In the middle of this grand celebration for Faraday's Inn, all of the lights went out. A panic gripped us all, as these were magical lights, not easily extinguished. Just then a swirling mass of blue light began to form on the stage. As I was preparing a spell and Joe drew his sword, the Simbul appeared. She had a formal invitation being the queen of the only country to be our ally. Everyone in the room shrunk back from the witch queen. She said she had to come see if the Inn was formidable enough for the people of Aglarond. She deemed it worthy to the loud shouts of the Aglarondians. Just as she was preparing to step off of the stage I caught a whiff of pipe smoke. Elminster appeared next to his lady love on the stage. He said no grand opening of Faraday's would be complete without an appearance by him. He then turned to the Simbul and mentioned something about a "quieter" celebration and they both disappeared. The party went on for hours. Seeing old friends and making new ones. We all did our socializing and got back together at sunset to see the play at the theater. It would be the second showing but it was an original play by Samantha herself. It was about our battles with the Needling tribe of Orcs and the fall of Grinsira the red dragon. It was a full house and they all loved the show. She had many magical effects and the acting was wonderful, although the person that played me could have been prettier and a lot less whiney. So as you can see I had a full day of socializing. It isn't one of my favorite things to do, but for Faraday I would do anything. Azgetrion and myself left the party late in the evening, even though it seemed like it was no where near the end. We went about our normal evening routine of prayer and meditation. Your father went to sleep and I have been here writing for a long time now. Even Crimson is asleep, stretched out across the top of the desk. I suppose I should also get some rest. Even though I know I have more time than ever to do what I need, I push myself every day to get prepared for your arrival. Tarsahk-19-1369 Tower of Lady Korrynn and Azgetrion-Daggerdale It has been a few days since writing you last. I have been quite busy with the harvesting and sales of my crops. Chauntea has blessed me with a bountiful harvest. Apples, plums, cherries, peaches and corn. I have farmers who tend to the crops for me along with the few druids that wander through the area. They are all compensated very well for their work. That and a few donations and prayers to the goddess of agriculture has done good. Faraday has already purchased all of my plums. He has some recipe for a plum ale that nourishes one as like eating a whole meal they ate a whole meal. The things he comes up with. I'm sure that will become the only sustenance that the Nameless carry in their food chest! I kept 25 pounds of them for myself. I have a few recipes of my own I want to try. Not to mention giving some to my friends. I have donated a small amount to each of the temples in the area. I have also given some to the Daggerdale food storage. I'm sure there some of it will be preserved as well as distributed to the poor and needy. I have hired merchants and a few mercenaries to go to Shadowdale and Aglarond to sell my produce. So far everything is going well and I have instructed the farmers to increase the size of my crops. I try to see the rest of my party every day, but it has been difficult the last few days. Your father won't let me even walk to the Inn on my own. Between him not letting me out of his sight and everyone else never being around, I have seen only Palanor in the last three days. I am very worried about him and what Tymora has asked of him. I, along with the rest of the Nameless don't want to lose him. She has asked Palanor to go to The Lady's House in Arabel and slay Daramos Lauthym. As the high priest of her temple he has grown to be corrupt. When she went there during the Times of Trouble he grew full of himself and "his" temple. Palanor is to go there and kill him to cleanse the temple. He then will be the new high priest there. We cannot and will not let him go to Arabel. The rest of us will go and do this for him in the name of Tymora. It will then be our responsibility to name a new high priest. That way we can keep Palanor with us in Daggerdale. Never have the Nameless kept a priest in the party for very long. It hasn't been that we dislike them, (except in one instance) they all die. Palanor Luckbender has broken that curse and been with us for a year now, and he isn't dead yet. He has died while in our company but Tymora brought him back before we could take action on our own to resurrect him. He has become an essential part to our group and none of us will let him go now. I have heard from Palanor and some Freedom riders that Joe is busy training paladins of Shaundakul. Faraday has been trying to restock his horses. He took quite a loss in the battle with Malar. Jorin is building his home up the river from us. It is going to be entirely made of Duskwood. Not only highly enchantable but sturdy and beautiful. Samantha Crownsilver has been busying herself between her theater and her official duties in Cormyr. Your father is busy enchanting and organizing while I read, meditate and write in the journal. I have written enough of the present and should return to the past. So much is just a blur in my mind now. Twelve years ago.....seems like yesterday. Seems like another life. Tarsahk-20-1369 Tower of Lady Korrynn and Azgetrion-Daggerdale I had to look back to see where I left off in my tale. Not a pleasant place. One I am rather frightened to tell you about. As of this time in my life there are probably still implications which could occur, due to what I did. I was desperate. We were almost to our destination and we had no fighter. I was barely above casting Melf's acid arrow and still needed guidance to achieve more powerful spells. We were headed to Hillsfar. A place full of soldiers....the Red Plumes I think. I remember being stopped and questioned by the Red Plumes about five times before we arrived at the Inn. We were stopped mostly because of our halfling companion. This was before Hillsfar became totally prejudiced against all other races. At this point in time they were just beginning to run all the other races out of their town. We went our separate ways the next day to restock supplies and such. I went in search of training. As a desperate mage, eager to achieve more power, it didn't take me long to find a teacher. Someone to take me to the next level of magery. Her name was Naglathra and she was a Red Wizard of Thay. She agreed to give me needed training now and in the future if I would become a member of the Red Wizards. She said she could tell me secrets that would give me extra spells. I agreed. I wanted power and this witch with black eyes was going to give it to me. After I took the "oath", I was introduced to Blood Root tea. The first time I drank it I became violently ill, yet I craved more. The second time I drank it I felt empowered. I studied my spells and discovered I could learn more spells for the day than I ever could before. In my eyes I had made a great achievement that day by joining this group of wizards. I had heard much of them in my studies and knew that some of the most powerful mages in Faerun were Red Wizards. I was given a charm by my new teacher, Naglathra. It enabled me to call upon her when I was ready to be trained again. She also instructed me to go to Yulash to register with the Red Wizards. I was to see Zolztier Zolztan, who would be at the library in that city. I was to ask to see Thomas O'Niell, his alias in that city. Since Yulash was on the way to Shadowdale there would be no problem with making a quick stop there. After a few days when my training was completed she sent me on my way, with a good supply of Blood Root tea. Joe, Flagg and Olive had gotten food rations, a tent, a dwarven fighter, Brunnell and an elven cleric, Mordon. The dwarf had owned a smithy and stables. He had been burned out the night before our departure. That is when Brunnell made his decision to join us. He supplied horses. Even a smaller one for Olive. Mordon the cleric was simply unwilling to stay under the highly prejudiced environment any more. We were on our way out of Hillsfar and onto Yulash. We had close to a full cycle of Sylune before we would arrive in Shadowdale. This point in my life was when I became truly evil. I didn't care anymore that Joe had died. I was on my way to becoming the wizard I had dreamt of being. Flagg would never accept any of the swords that would join our group. It's kind of odd calling us a group, but back then we weren't the Nameless Band. We didn't know who we were then. Tarsahk-23-1369 House of Stars-Daggerfalls Well, it has been a busy past three days! The sales from my harvest are doing well, and we are very busy with the planning for the anniversary party coming up in a Kythorn. It is hard to believe that a year ago I was probably still in Shadowdale or wandering around Shraevyn's Tomb or the Spiderhaunt Woods. Daggerdale was still under Zhent control and Randall Morn was missing. We have accomplished a lot in a year. Other than having you, I don't think I will ever be more proud of anything than the way we rebuilt this nation. To think of how my life has changed in the last twelve years I shudder. I owe my life to Mystra. Not only has she shown me a better way to be, but she saved my life a couple of times too. When I enrolled with the Red Wizards I venerated Mystra maybe twice a week and I had never been to or had even seen one of her temples. I was told in my training with Naglathra that I should worship her more and was explained more about her. It was then that I realized how she was the most powerful goddess of all the gods. She controlled all things magical. I began to worship more frequently, like four times a week. Our trip to Yulash was fairly uneventful. That is if you don't count the orc bands and the stirge attacks. We quickly learned that our traveling companions were formidable. The dwarf more so than the elf, but then we were all green at adventuring so it was of no consequence who had more power. I was drinking the Blood root tea nightly, and with every sip I relished becoming a Red Wizard and dreamt of the power I would have. When we arrived at Yulash we were greeted by a half ruined city. Half of the town lay burning and in rubble. We came to find out that the town had just suffered an attack from the Zhentarim. They had taken heavy losses. There were no stables for the horses and the town didn't look that safe to just leave them on the side of the road. It was decided that Brunnell and myself would enter the city and the rest of the group would wait outside of town for us. We had no problems once inside the city other than finding the library and maneuvering through all the rubble. We did get some strange stares from people. I think the dwarf and the mage were a bit out of place here. For once I was glad for my age. It made me look to have much more strength as a mage than I really had. The library was a little upset from the battle but I was led to Thomas O'Neill anyway. Once alone with him my name was entered into a book along with other Red Wizards. What I wouldn't give to get a hold of that book today. Even though I have a different name and a different face than I did, I would still feel better if I could remove my old name from that book. I am unsure of how the Red Wizards handle such situations, but I do feel uncomfortable about it still. The Simbul would know more about this but I am embarrassed to admit this to her. Even though I know that she knows that I enlisted with her mortal enemies, she also knows that I am a different person know than I was then. After leaving the library and joining the rest of the group outside of the city walls I knew we had a straight shot to Shadowdale. Perhaps within the tenday we would reach the fabled city of adventurers. I discovered on our way out of Yulash that we would be going to see Elminster for further instructions on Olives mission. All I knew was we were supposed to hunt down her foe, Phalse. Now I found out I was going to meet the mage of all mages in Faerun. If I only knew then that Olive's mission had to be completed for her to gain admission into the Harpers. Tarsahk-24-1369 House of Stars- Daggerfalls It is a mere six days before our engagement will be official and the crown of Cormyr will know the true reason for your father leaving. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see Vangerdahst's expression when he finds out that your father and myself are having a child. I know how most of the Chosen feel about it. Most of them are worried about me, being young for a Chosen and bearing a child is dangerous. I know some of them aren't too thrilled with Azgetrion being the father. They think he is out of control and wild. They don't know him like I do. And besides, I don't think Mystra would have allowed it if it weren't someone worthy. You are a chosen yourself, not of Mystra's blood like some but of her faith and her magic. I have a hard time remembering all the details about our journeys. If you ever want to know more of what we did you can ask Faraday. He remembers what spells I cast to how many times he struck with his sword. The names, the faces, and the approximate time of year. I think all the magics that have run through my head have ruined my memory. From knowing the rest of the Chosen, it could be a blessing in disguise. The one part of our trip to Shadowdale that I do remember is the battle with the satyrs. We started our day knowing we would be at the Olde Skull Inn by nightfall. We walked down the road and around highsun we all began to hear beautiful music. The dwarf, Brunnell, was the first to drop away. Into a semi-sleeping trance. We all frantically rummaged through our belongings for wax or cotton, something to cram in our ears so we wouldn't hear the beautiful pipe music. I, with my components, gave wax out to Flagg, Olive and Mordon. No sooner had we blocked the music from our ears than four or five satyrs appeared on the road. They spoke the common tongue and they demanded to know where we were going, what our business was, and who we were. No sooner did the word Shadowdale pass our lips than they said we would have to give up magic and gold to pass here. It was give up our goods or fight these forest creatures. If I remember correctly we fought them first. We were lucky that they didn't have others with them hiding. We were also in the graces of Tymora and Mystra that they held no magic. I recall we slew two of them and the others ran into the woods. We woke Brunnell and practically ran the rest of the way to Shadowdale. We didn't want to deal with the satyrs again, not to mention whatever they might bring back to help them. We got into Shadowdale right at dusk. Olive pointed out Harper's Hill to us and a few other places. As we got into town she pointed out where Selune the witch lived, Storm's ranch and Elminster's tower. We went to the Olde Skull, which Olive led us right to, and sat down for evening feast. A servant girl approached our table and took our order. As soon as she walked away another woman approached the table. She introduced herself as the proprietress, Jhaele Silvermane. She seemed to know Olive, and offered us rooms for the night, for a few songs from Olive. Olive put a stack of gold on the table, saying she was to tired to perform. We ate our fill and then Jhaele brought out a hand keg to our table. Along with the ale she had a vial. She handed the vial to Olive and wished us all a good evening. We sat at the table and had our first taste of Mecle Brau. An illegal brew in some countries, but not in Shadowdale. In a drunken awe we sat and gawked at the other adventuring groups. So many of them, and they were all so well equipped with so much magic. Olive did give in and did an impromptu song on how we slayed the Gorgon, Old Smokey. I think she was trying to bolster our reputations, but at this point we were too messed up to care. We remained stinking drunk the rest of the evening, until Olive gave us the antidote. That what was in the vial! Without the antidote one would stay drunk inevitably. On our first trip there we stayed about six days. I still have to tell you of my first meeting with Elminster. You will hopefully grow up to know him like a grandfather. Mind you he can be stubborn and cranky at times. I remember that day well. Never would I have thought that I would ever feel comfortable around him. He does make me feel rather foolish at times, but I have no fear of him whatsoever. If he wanted to slay me, then let him do it. To die by the hand of a Chosen is to die by the hand of Mystra. And if the Lady deemed my death, then I welcome it with open arms. Written in character by Michelle Duarte |