3/5/2000 Chronicle

Drash 10 to Drash 24

Seeking shelter from an incoming storm the group enters the basement of a neighboring house. In one of the corners Malus discovers a secret door and forces it open. Briefly exploring of the underground complex the group returns to the surface to wait out the storm with the loot they have recovered. Brudik found large bolts of blue and gray cloth. Giovanni bought back a crystal ball to aid him in his meditation. Kailin recovered some gems and jewelry to help out the group's financial situation.

After the storm broke the group found their horse gone but the saddles have been left behind. Searching and waiting a day for the horses to return turns up no new clues to their disappearance. Rather than spending more time looking for the horses the group sets off towards the south-southwest where Brudik believes they will run into some form of civilization.

Twelve days later the group comes upon a ramshackle little village at the edge of a very deep and wide chasm. The town populace is a mix of human, dwarf, elf, orc and a few other races. Most of the 200 or so people here ignore the group and go about their own business but Giovanni stops one individual to ask some questions. The man, in a language comprised of several others mixed together, tells Giovanni that he is in Seventown, or something very similar to that. He also points out the tavern before he rushes of to finish his work.

Entering the dimly lit structure of the tavern the group seats themselves at an open table and orders drinks. A middle-aged centaur brings the drinks to them and Brudik is disconcerted to see that the centaur's honor braid's, along with the rest of his hair, have been cut off...

Drash 25 to Darsh 37

After their first warm meal in weeks the party begins their investigation of Delbins whereabouts. They ask Alec, the centaur bartender, if he has seen a dwarf matching Delbin's description recently. Alec says no but they should check with Firm and has a little half-orc girl named Lisette take Giovanni and Kailin to the mayor of Seventown. Following the meandering trail that Seventown is based around down to the lake that fills the bottom of the canyon, Giovannin and Kailin are led into one of the few stone buildings in the entire town.

There they are introduced to a well spoken and well dressed ogre named Firm. During the conversation it is learned that Lisette met Delbin and that he left for the south some time ago. Firm suggests that they hire a guide if they are going deeper into the desert. He recommends an orcish warrior named Thomas and tells Lisette to find Thomas as well as the dwarf Kagen to translate for him.

Lisette takes Giovanni and Kailin back to the tavern and runs off to find Kagen who she returns with a short while later. Kagen, clearly annoyed at the little girl's incessant tugging on his arm, notices that Thomas is sitting in the tavern. Since Thomas can speak Imperial, Kagen sees no need for a translator and after explaining the situation to Thomas he stomps back out of the tavern.

Thomas is an experienced deep desert guide and after a little haggling agrees to take the party to Stonehaven. The night Thomas throws lots of money around at the tavern and the party begins to think that they may have overpaid for his services a little bit.

In the morning while the rest of the party is buying supplies Brudik approaches Alec, whose real name is Demic Red Lightning, and discreetly inquires about his past in the hopes of recruiting him to help return Pathwalker's Spear to the centaur people. Alec tells Brudik, in no uncertain terms, that he no longer wishes to have anything to do with the centaur tribes and his place is in Seventown now. Disgruntled by the lack of honor exhibited by Alec, Brudik leaves the tavern and catches up with his friends as they ready themselves to leave for Stonehaven.

A few days into the journey Kalin uses a spell that he has learned from Trae'nedoel's grimoire to transform himself into an eagle so that he can scout the area. During his flight he discovers a small injured dog in the desert. The dog appears to be maddened by pain and thirst and only the combined efforts of Kailin and Elshon allow them to treat the dog's injury. Sometime that night the dog escapres from camp despite the vigilant eyes of the night watch.

The next night the party is confronted by the ghosly apparition of a little girl holding the dog. Expecting the worst the party prepares themselves for battle but after telling a few party members that they are "not nice men" and telling Kailin that he is a "nice man" the little girls gives him a small stone egg and fades away.

Thomas notices that the commotion generated by the party preparing for battle seems to have awakend or attracted the attention of one of the desert's larger beasts, he is unsure which one though. The mystery of the beast's nature is solved when a giant scorpion erupts from beneath the sand in the center of camp causing a great deal of confusion. During the swirling chaos of the following melee several blows glance off the scorpion's tough carpace and strike other party members, but finally the scorpion is defeated. Thomas, being the practical soul that he is, informs the party that fresh scorpion is considered a delicacy in the desert and ecnourages them to join him in his midnight snack.

The folowing morning the Greyan Horses magically appear in the campsite. Malus confirms that "one second they weren't there and then a second later they were standing within the camp." Accepting their good fortune, after a brief and unsuccessful query of the horses by Kailin, the party mounts up and continues in their journey. With the aid of the horses the party is able to reach the rocky spires that shelter the underground town of Stonehaven several days ahead of schedule...

As the group rides into town Thomas tells them that they need to speak with Samus, if anyone knows if Delbin came through here he would know. Making their way through town they notice that an unusually large number of people are armed and a large metal grate is being constructed for the well in the center of town.

Samus tells them that he believes the dwarf they are looking for stayed a few days at the Bluerock Inn and then moved on to the south. Curious about the construction going on around the well in the center of town they ask Samus why a grate is being built. Samus informs them that "fishmen" came up out of the well and went on a rampage before they were driven back to whatever depths they came from. The group tells him what they know of these "fishmen" and that they believe that they might be connected with the "fishmen" who attacked the dwarven settlement.

Thanking Samus for his information the groups heads off towards the Bluerock Inn to see if there are any other leads. There they find Mae, a middle-aged dwarven woman who is very protective of her guests privacy. She refuses to tell the party anything about Delbin, claiming that how does she know that they aren't out to do him harm and until she is shown different she isn't saying a word.

In an effort to convince her that they only have good intentions Giovanni goes back to Samus and asks if there is anything he could do to change her mind. Samus thinks that he could change her mind if the group will accept his bargain. He needs 50 lbs. of steel or iron to finish his grate and if the group can provide the appropriate amount of metal he will talk to Mae. After much grumbling Malus offers his armor and several other metallic items up for trade. Mae accepts this offer of "good faith" and tells Malus that Delbin stayed at the inn for a few days and then left for the south.

With not much more information than they began with the group once again journeys southward. They follow Delbin's trail through Sprakling Waters, Kharieh and finally end up in White Rock after several months of travel.

Entering White Rock everyone can see the Sentinel Tree that stands in the center of town, reaching over 300 feet in height. Thomas leads everyone to his friend Kireon's house where they see one of the strangest sites.

A blindfolded mule is standing on the side of a elaborately carved stone house, an older dwarf is feeding it a carrot and holding the lead rope. Off to one side a little ways a gnome is having an animted discussion with a younger dwarf who is looking skeptically at the mule. The gnome seems to be saying something to the effect that, "I told you it would work." About this time the older dwarf reaches up and removes the blindfold and the mule rears up and falls to the ground on top of the dwarf. The other two rush up and help the dwarf to his feet and try to calm the mule.

Thomas explains that the younger dwarf is Kieron Stoneplam and the gnome is Greebo Shiderstock, he doesn't know who the older dwarf is. As Kailin goes to help the older dwarf calm the mule the rest of the group approaches Kieron and Greebo. Now Kieron is saying "I told you so." When Greebo sees Brudik his eyes light up and he says "I bet they would work on him."

After a some brief introductions Brudik agrees to try to magical horseshoes that Greebo has made and soon Brudik is walking on the ceilings and walls of Kieron's house.

Malus asks if Kieron knows of a dwarf named Delbin and after some hesitation he introduces the old dwarf as Delbin. He and Greebo found Delbin wandering around outside the city one day and brought him back to town to take care of him, apparently his mind has been shattered.

During the conversation it comes out that Delbin has chosen Kieron to be the new Sovereign and the new Wielder also, something that has never happened in dwarven history before. Malus' attempts to get Kieron to assume the mantle of dwarven leadership are declined because Kieron believes he does not know enough to be an effective leader. Malus offers to bring the Speaker of the Stone to Kieron so that he could learn what he needs and Kieron grudgingly agrees to this proposal.

Brudik learns that the Midnight's Day Chasm is a few days travel to the southeast of White Rock and believes this may be the place where his dreams have been leading him. Trying to learn more he visits with the old centaur Kamor-Bloody Rock. Kamor is a very old centaur who, it is said, has journeyed to the Midnight's Day Chasm. He is throuroughly senile as a result of wherever he has been. In his ramblings he tells Brudik that "the paths to the past lie in darkness." With this new information Brudik spiritually prepares himself for the journey to this chasm.

Kailin meets a minotaur druid named Violet as he spend time communing with the Sentinel Tree. Violet is intrigued by Kailin's mission and offers her aid to him in completing his quest. The Sentinel Tree looks upon Kailin as a sort of newly sprouted relative and offers his own bark to protect Kailin during his journeys.

The group gathers together again after exploring their own intersets for a day and it is determined that it would be best if they parted ways for a time so that all their goals can be completed. Elshon will accompany Malus to the Speaker of the Stone, Giovanni will go with Brudik to retrieve Pathwalker's Spear and Kailin will remain behind to grow the rose-ivy. The next morning the friends part ways....

The majority of Kailin's time is spent with Violet tending to the seedling rose-ivy. During this time he teaches her many of his hedge wizardy ways and she tells him of her people in the Farlands. The minotaurs used to have a culture as rich and beautiful as any other culture of the civilized races until they were enslaved by the Overlod Dellanomanestelles. Now the High Minotaurs work to overthrow the Overlord and return their people to their previous glory, Violet and the minotaur warrior Silver are here looking for allies in the quest. She teaches him some of the layout of the Farlands and a bit of Tor, the language of the minotaurs.

She also tells him of the Lost Legion and how they still exist in the Gigesh Mountains. They used to be allies with the minotaurs but since the enslavement there has not been much contact between the two groups. The Legion has made allies with the drakes of the mountains and have been able to work the plentiful adamantine deposits into weapons and armors to aid them in their battles angainst the Changed Ones.

Brudik and Giovanni make their way to the Midnight's Day Chasm to the southeast of White Rock. There they find what looks like a city that has been pulled straight down into the earth, some of the buildings perch precariously on the sides of the canyon walls. Preparing torches they move beneath the ruined archway that frames the path to the bottom. As they pass below the lip of the chasm it becomes eerily silent and no sound other than their own footfalls can be heard. Reaching the bottom the find a deserted city that appears to have been forgotten by time. The buildings are all in prefect condition with no eveidence of rot or dust accumulation anywhere.

Continuing down the main avenue they eventually come to a large temple contstructed entirely of great white marble columns supporting a shallow dome. A faint light can be seen within the columns. Catiously ascending the stairs to the temple they catch sight of the great starry black altar that Brudik has seen in his dreams. Surrounding this altar are nine pedestals backed by faceless statues. It appears that the statues represent the gods and in front of them are various items that could possibly be associated with them.

Brudik, completely focused on his task, only gives a cursory look at the pedestals and approaches the black altar. Laying on the altar is the bottom foot and a half of a spear of old centaur design. As he reaches for the broken spear shaft a robed man steps from the shadows and says, "Everything has a price. Are you prepared to pay it? Consider carefully."

After a short discussion they learn that the man's name is Colonus and his duties as caretaker of this place include warning those that come here of the price. Seeing the Giovanni is a Friend of Maeder, he asks if Giovanni would return a ring to the Monastery.

Giovanni takes the saber in front of Quellor and the coin in front of Testa and Brudik takes the broke spearshaft of Pathwalker's Spear. As Brudiks hands close around the artifact he and all his belongings disappear. Colonus tell Giovanni that Brudik has paid his price and that Giovanni should leave soon because the guardians have awoken.

Returning to the surface Giovanni is attacked by spectral figures who pass through his body leaving behind freezing cold and bluish marks. When he finally reaches the surface he discovers that he has been aged several years by his experiences in the Chasm.

Giovanni decides to wait for Brudik to return and after he doesn't show up the next morning he goes back to the Temple to question Colonus. Colonus is able to tell him that the saber is Quietus, the blade of Fodran, and the coin is somehow connected to Testa's powers. He does not know where Brudik has gone.

Giovanni returns to White Rock and tells his companions of Brudik's disappearance. Consulting a priest of Tan he learns that Brudik has completed his quest and now rests with Jemmis and the other great centaur heroes.

Guided by Thomas, Malus and Elshon quickly make their way to the Stoneshout clan where they are greeted by Fraddin Whitespire, the dismissed Speaker of the Stone. Interested in the news concerning Kieron, Fraddin agrees to with them to White Rock. When they get back to White Rock Fraddin and Kieron begin discussing everything that Kieron needs to know and make plans to overthrow the false Sovereign. Many messages are sent to the other dwarven clans seeking allies and political standings.

During the night in the middle of the third week of Kieron's education a great physical and spiritual disturbance wakes everyone in White Rock. Fraddin tells the group that the barrier between the shadow and physical realms has been breached in White Rock. With Fraddin's aid they quickly make their way to the source of the disturbance and find a "rift" between the two realms with demons pouring through. The town's defenders help the group vanquish the demons but the rift remains.

Recognizing the Demon Lord Pox and his involvement with the fellstones the group begins searching the town of White Rock for the stones. Malus and Giovanni grab a masked warrior to help them in their search while Kailin, Elshon and Violet begin searching the other side of town. They quickly find that all five cisterns have fellstones in them, retrieving the stones the group brings them back to the rift.

With the Fellstones collected in one area the rift tears wide open and Pox, along with a large horde of demons are able to cross the barrier. Realizing that they need to destroy the fellstones in order to seal the rift the group burns the scroll to summon the Arcnorum, who appears and prepares to do battle with the demons....