Novgorod Log #10: Day of the Chicken +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | In which the final fate of Flambeau Marinus is learned. Of the | | continued quest for the Master of the Killing Beasts. How two madmen | | came to the covenant of Nature's Teeth. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Carmen of Bjornaer Maga (Donald Kubasak) Felix of Flambeau Magus (Dave Pickering) Gorm the Hedge Wizard Magus (Matt Seidl) Ivarr of Tremere Magus (Sean Matheis) Nihil of Criamon Magus (Chad) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Una of Tytalus Maga (Clayton Springer) Franz Ship Captain (Shannon Appel) Jarl Nordic Grog (Kevin Wong) Lars Nordic Grog Little Claus Nordic Grog Skald Nordic Grog Lupo Village Boy Master of the Killing Beasts Shaman Weris of Flambeau Wandering Magus +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "As long as we're his only friends, he's screwed." | | -Pacifer | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From the Writings of Jenna Autocrat of Nature's Teeth 30th of September, 1201 Carmen and Pacifer travelled to the Sowyer's Field today to collect the vis from it. Their trip was successful, and our vis stores have been augmented. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 1, 1201 When Jarl told us that he had seen an orange sail upon the horizon this morning, we began to prepare for war. We were sure that the magi of Flambeau Marinus had come to have their vengeance upon us, for the trick that we had tried to play upon them. We stood upon the shore of Nature's Teeth, spells of destruction at the ready. We were prepared to destroy as many of the magi of Flambeau Marinus as we could, before we fell ourselves. Our disappointment was great when only Weris disembarked from the boat. After we had moved to our council room, Weris began to tell us a tale of woe. He said that he regretted not listening to our warnings, for just as we had predicted, the Order of Odin had descended upon Flambeau Marinus. The covenant had been utterly destroyed. Although I did my best to maintain a somber front, I was truly ecstatic. Our manipulations had worked better than I would ever have believed! For some time, Weris told us of the last days of Flambeau Marinus. Weris said that since he had not been utterly surprised, he had managed to escape, along with a young magus named Nihil. He had not seen any others flee from the burning covenant, but commented that the elders had been quite resourceful. It is my fervent hope that they did not escape, lest plans of vengeance be hatched against us. When Weris had finished his tale, he asked a favor of us. He said that he would be heading off into the North, to investigate the Order of Odin. The journey was to be a long and dangerous one, and he did not want to expose Nihil, the magus who he had escaped Flambeau Marinus with, at risk. Thus, he petitioned for Nihil to become a member of our covenant. We spoke with Nihil for a time, and decided that he seemed a reasonable person. If he survives a week upon our island, he shall be welcomed into Nature's Teeth. After Weris left us, to make his preparations to leave Nature's Teeth tomorrow, the rest of us spoke for a time. Felix and I considered killing him, in an attempt to erase all traces of our subterfuge. Ballisto, however, ever the voice of reason, restrained us. He believes that the information that Weris will gain in his Northern journeys could be very valuable. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 8, 1201 I had the oddest experience last night. In the middle of the night, I awoke, my skin crawling. Looking across the room, I saw what seemed to be a small girl, dressed in a blue dress. She was chipping away at my work bench with Decanter. I gave a yell, and leaped at her, but as I did, she disappeared. It seems that one of the ghosts of this island has taken a personal interest in me. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 9, 1201 Nihil returned to our covenant today, cold and shivering but alive. As was expected, he was accepted into our covenant. Now, we are heading North, to seek out Gorm, the mage who once escaped from the Master of the Killing Beasts. It should be a good test of Nihil's skills. Our preparations are almost complete; we should be leaving within the hour. It is good to be free of my lab. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 10, 1201 A most amusing interlude today broke the monotony of our trip. As we sailed North, we spotted a ship heading our way. Felix and I were pleased, for we both thought that the ship looked somewhat rich. Thus, we decided to raid it, taking whatever wealth they might have. Then, as our ship closed with our poor victim, arrows began to rain down upon our deck. We quickly realized that the ship we were closing with was a pirate vessel. As we were speaking of battling them, they had been completing their preparations for an attack upon us. For a moment, we were all struck by the irony. Then, we decided to teach these would-be raiders a lesson. The battle was a short one. As arrows and fire began to drop upon the pirate's deck, the cowards abandoned ship. A few actually made it over to our boat, and managed to board it before they were killed. In but a few moments, all of the raiders were dead but one. In the battle, Nihil proved his usefulness. Chanting Perdo spells, he slowly destroyed the pirates vessel. By collapsing the masts and breaching the hull, he helped to bring the battle to a quick and satisfactory end. Even better, he continued to be useful after the battle was done. Using a spell of the mind, he convinced the surviving pirate that we were his trusted friends. Thus, our prisoner told us all that he knew. We learned, unfortunately, that our pirates had been poor ones. The only spoils that they had won were a cargo of oranges. The oranges are amazingly fresh, and thus worth some small amount of money, so we shall take the time to visit Turpis, and leave him the fruit. Perhaps he shall be able to make a profit by trading with Haverstadd, where the oranges were taken from. Fresh fruit in October is a very rare thing. Then, it shall be off again, to the lands of Gorm. A long journey still lies ahead of us. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 20, 1201 Finally, after over a week upon the Baltic Sea, we have come to the islands where the hedge wizard Gorm is said to live. The trip has been an exceedingly boring one, not at all what I hoped for after leaving my lab. At the least, we should now see a bit of excitement. We stopped upon two islands today, looking for Gorm. On the first, we spoke with an old woman, but she was able to tell us little beyond myths of a mage of chickens, who protected these isles. Our visit to the second island, however, was much more fruitful. There, we met natives who knew of Gorm. They are sure that he is located upon the island to the North. I am pleased, for our journey is almost at an end. Tomorrow, a native boy named Lupo shall guide us to Gorm. Then, at last, this quest will be at an end, and our vengeance against the Master of the Killing Beasts shall be that much closer. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 21, 1201 Deceit, treachery, death. What a day it has been. Things started off quietly enough when we sailed from the island where we had spent the night. The boy, Lupo, was with us, ready to lead us to Gorm. He chatted amiably about how he was sure that Gorm was on the island just to the North of his. For a time, things seemed to be going well. However, as we sailed, Jarl commented on a land bridge which connected the island we had left, and the one that we were sailing towards. We thought it odd that we sail when we could have walked, and so we turned to Lupo. The boy became very nervous, and tried to deny the existance of the land bridge that Jarl had seen. By this time, we had all become very suspicious; our questioning became more insistant. Finally, Lupo broke and told us the truth. He said that a messenger had been sent to Gorm yesterday, to warn the mage of our coming. It had been Lupo's task to delay us as much as he could, so that Gorm would have more time to prepare. Only after wasting many hours was Lupo to actually bring us to the mage of the chickens. None of us were happy in the least with this betrayal. So, we forced Lupo to tell us the exact location of Gorm. Afterwards, we threw his body overboard. It was but a few hours later when we came to the hut of Gorm. He was not at all what we expected. Granted, he did carry a chicken upon his shoulder, but I had thought we would meet an old grey-haired magus, the scars of many battles marking his feature. Instead it was a boy who greeted us. The Gorm who had once escaped the Master of the Killing Beasts was long dead. Only his former apprentice survived. Already we were displeased with this Gorm, for he had told the villagers of the South to betray us. When we began to talk to him, he did little to better our impression. He spoke of the Master of the Killing Beasts, and his hatred for him, but seemed unwilling to provide us with useful information. Worse, he kept talking of the powers of the great chicken. Slowly, I became convinced that he was mad. The last straw came when Gorm called us weaklings, saying that the Master of the Killing Beasts would kill us all if we dared face him. My anger at this foolish, useless boy had become so great that I could take no more. I yelled for Felix to burn him. The look of fear upon Gorm's face as fire and lightning exploded about him was most heartening. Clearly the hedge wizard had learned some fragments of the Hermetic way, for a magical shield protected him from utter destruction. Still, within seconds, he lay upon the ground, stunned and near to death. He would have been slain in the next moment if Ballisto had not demanded that we stop. Convinced of our seriousness, Gorm began to babble of everything he knew. He spoke of the Master of the Killing Beasts, and the mountains he lived in, a place called the Nails of Pain. Gorm spoke of a magical metal helmet that the Master wore, and how his head was made of flames. He told of the tousands of trolls that the Master of the Killing Beasts controlled. Even when Gorm had told us all he knew of the Master of the Killing Beasts, he continued to chatter. He told us how he was a shaman that could speak with spirits, and how chickens were the focus of his magic. When finally Gorm had told us all he knew, I would have killed him. Ballisto, however, restrained me again, saying that having a spirit master upon our island could be useful. So, we shall bring him (and his hoard of chickens) back to Nature's Teeth. Perhaps, if he does prove useful, we shall even allow him into the Order. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 28, 1201 Our trip home from Gorm's island was uneventful, and now, we have begun to make plans for our next step in the war. For the next week, we shall remain at Nature's Teeth. Ostensibly, this hiatus shall allow us to rest before our next trip. In reality, we wait so that we may watch over Gorm for a time, before we leave him upon our island. Then, we shall be off to our homeland, Germany. In the notes that Ballisto recovered from Malmo, he found reference to a group of Odin priests who watched over a magical piece of amber there. We believe that we must steal the amber from them quickly, for in the letter that Ballisto recovered, the priests begged for relief, saying that they had stayed in the Southlands for too long. And then, we should have two of the seven magical gems. After our trip to Germany is complete, we shall winter at Nature's Teeth, studying and gaining strength. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 30, 1201 This evening, I was visited again by my ghost. I did not see her this time, but when I woke I found a tree carved into my bed. I dearly wish that Agrippanilla was here to help me decipher this mystery. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 31, 1201 Finally, after sleeping in the uncomfortable fairy bed for over half a year, I have discovered my birthday! We shall celebrate today. I fear, however, that that damned book of Vim left its imprint deeply upon my mind. My dreams were of that detestable art, as was the Vis that I collected this morning.