Log #11: Heart of Amber +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a quest for a gem which nearly ends in disaster, and the trials | | and tribulations along the way. Again, the killing beasts. How a | | dagger came to be decanted. Finally, a return home. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Andron of Bonisagus Magus (Eric Rowe) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Gorm the Hedge Wizard Magus (Matt Seidl) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Jenna Autocrat (Kevin Wong) Uniso German Grog Captain (Chris Van Horn) Ado German Grog Adrian German Grog Apiumi German Grog Astalonzo German Grog Hugo German Merchant Sven Priest of Odin Thyra Ghostly Girl +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "He may never enamel again." | | -Ballisto | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 4, 1201 Today has been a most busy day. I awoke this morning ready to begin my preparations for our trip to Germany. However, as I began to gather together my equipment, I realized that Decanter was missing. I began to yell at Ballisto and tear our room apart. Shortly, I had every grog in the covenant searching for my dagger. Soon, however, it became clear that Decanter has simply vanished. Unhappily, I gave up the search and sat down to breakfast. And it was then that I saw the object of my search; it had been under my nose the under time. That damnable hedge wizard, Gorm, was sitting at our council table, brazenly eating breakfast with the blade that I had been searching for. Knocking Gorm to ground, I reached for a weapon, ready to kill him. Once more, however, Ballisto stayed my killing blow. As Ballisto stood between us, Gorm stuttered out his story. He said that a girl had brought the dagger to him in the night. He began to describe her, and it became obvious that it was the same shade who has disturbed my sleep in recent weeks. Eager to save his skin, Gorm volunteered to contact the girl that was haunting me. I gave him permission, although I had the grogs carry him outside when he began clucking. When Gorm returned, he had the spirit of the girl with him. Together, they began to tell the story of Decanter's nefarious origins. The girl, Thyra by name, said that the dagger was hers, for it had been the weapon that had killed her long ago. She said that priests of the Order of Odin had wielded Decanter, using it to sacrifice her to their dark gods. And so, she had haunted the dagger ever since. Disgusted by the origins of the weapon that I wielded, I took it at once to the high cliffs of our island and threw it as far as I could into the sea. After the excitement of the morning, we completed our preparations to leave for Germany. Our destination is the city of Schwerin, where the letter from the mysterious Guardians of the Heart of the Oak was posted from. It is our hope that the amber that those priests guard is one of the six gems still missing from our door. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 5, 1201 Damned Bonisagus got uppity again today. Somehow, I ended up brawling with the lab worker once more. He nearly got the better of me when he blind-sided me with that anchor, and knocked me off the boat. I had to beat him into unconsciouness to teach him a lesson. Hopefully, he will learn this time. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 13, 1201 We really must find some new mode of transport. These week-long boat trips are really too much. Finally, though, we arrived in Schwerin today, and at once set out to look for Hugo, the man who forwarded the letter from the Priests of Odin. I must note that I've been feeling rather mellow since we first entered German waters. Thanks to thoughts of home and Agrippanilla, no doubt. And, that's probably why things didn't turn out as well as they could of in Schwerin. Hugo was rather easy to track down, and very shortly, we were speaking to him in his study. Rather than leaping at once at his throat, however, I decided to instead use subterfuge. I'm sure that Ballisto was quite proud. I explained to Hugo that we were the replacements for the Guardians of the Heart of the Oak, and that he should tell us where they currently were. I'm not quite sure what went wrong, but Hugo started screaming for help. Thus, we grabbed him and dragged him back to our boat, forcing our way through his guards. As we fled Hugo's house, however, Andron yelled that one of the guards had turned into a raven and flown. I fear now that the Priests of Odin here in Germany have been notified of our presence. Clearly, trying to talk first must be considered a failure. When we had Hugo back upon our boat, we made him tell us everything that he knew. He gave us the exact location of the Heart of the Oak, which is apparently the piece of amber that we seek, and swore that he did business with the Northmen only because we forced him to. None of us believed him, of course, but kindness filled our hearts today. Rather than killing Hugo, we simply threw him off the boat. Surprisingly, the bloated pig made it to shore. The Heart of the Oak is four days inland. Tomorrow morning, we will begin our trek. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 16, 1201 Clearly, living in Germany has strengthed the priests of Odin, for the ones that we encountered yesterday were much sturdier than their Northern cousins. So sturdy, in fact, that even I fell to them, though just barely. Perhaps, though, I should begin the story of our encounter at the beginning. Last night, we were camped, nearly halfway to the Heart of the Oak. We were speaking of how we would assault the Priests of Odin, but really unworried by the issue. Several days still seperated us from our prey, and so we grew complacent. It was nearly our doom. We were all awoken in the middle of the night by the yelling of the grogs. They were shouting of Killing Beasts, which brought me to full awareness very quickly. Sure enough, two of the creatures were bounding into the clearing. I barely had time to grab my maul before one of the infernal creatures was upon Ballisto. But, the beasts had not come alone. Bowmen out in the woods fired upon us again and again. And then, even worse, the barrage of spells began. Clearly, it was the Priests of Odin that we sought which were ambushing us. Ballisto and I dealt with the beast that faced us with alacrity. Thus, we were able to turn to our true foes. Using magic to look through the darkness, I directed Ballisto towards the location of the Priests of Odin. Shortly, shards of stone were exploding about them. The battle was a close one. Uniso and one of his grogs faced a second Killing Beast, but they did not do nearly as well against it. Uniso was wounded greatly before it was finally killed. The grogs who had charged our foes in the woods were doing nearly as badly, for our foes had been prepared, protecting their magi and bowmen with spearmen. Only Ballisto's continued assault saved us. He managed to intimidate our foes with his spells, and shortly, the cowardly priests of Odin fled. Our foes were much too far for me to do anything, but I was determined not to let them escape. So, thinkly quickly, I shouted out to them. Once more, I attempted to talk with our foes. Amazingly, I was successful. Our foes actually stopped and listened to me. Then, their leader, a man named Sven, challenged me to single combat. I was happy to accept, for it gave me a chance to defeat our foes without putting my friends in danger. I should have been awed by Sven when I first saw him, for he was a huge man, larger than even the biggest of our grogs. I was overconfident though, clearly lost in the fury of battle, so I thought nothing of fighting a man who could kill me with one strong blow. The battle should have been an honorable one, fought between myself and Sven. But, instead, Ballisto insisted upon intervening. Sven and I had dueled for but a few moments, exchanging several light blows, when suddenly I heard bow fire from the side. Ballisto had attacked Sven's fellows, and shortly combat erupted all about me again. I must admit that my memory of the next moments is somewhat hazy, no doubt due to the great blow that I took upon my head. I remember Apiumi attacking Sven. I backed off from the battle, determined to keep my word as best I could, not engaging Sven again until Apiumi lay at his feet, nearly dead. Nearby, Adrian fought like a madman, dropping two or three of our foes in quick succession. Since his brother died, Adrian has gained a new purpose, becoming the greatest of our warriors. We must think up some suitable reward for him. Andron, who I thought had abandonded the fight, returned just as it was ending, striking our remaining foes from behind with his staff. Clearly, he has been training with Ballisto in the art of war. It had become clear by this point that the fight was ours. Nearly all of our foes lay unconscious or dead. But then, Sven knocked Apiumi to the ground, and raised his axe far above his head, preparing for a killing blow. And so, I stepped up once more to face the Priest of Odin. The conclusion to our fight came quickly. For a short time, we exchanged blows, as we had before. But then, as I dodged a particularly fierce blow, my foot came down upon Apiumi's unconscious form. Although I managed to catch myself before I fell to the ground, I was still terribly vulnerable. The flat of Sven's axe smashed down upon my head. When I awoke this morning, I was in an inn, near where we had camped. I learned that we had been victorious, though Sven had escaped. There have been no deaths, although some of our grogs are in very bad shape. Apiumi is still at death's door. Tomorrow, we shall set out once again for the Heart of the Oak, leaving our wounded behind. Hopefully, there shall be no more guardians. Today, I am grateful to be able to rest. The wounds of my battle with Sven shall pain me for some time. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 18, 1201 Today, our quest to Germany was brought to a successful conclusion. In the woods, there was a house, just as Hugo had said there would be. The Heart of the Oak was hidden inside, and Andron was able to easily locate it. Unfortunately, the Heart of the Oak is clearly not one of the gems from our door. Rather, it is a large, irregular piece of amber. Still, Andron says that it is magical, so our time has not entirely been wasted. There were no more guardians about the Heart of the Oak. However, there was a most disturbing letter. It was from a member of House Bjornaer, directed, no doubt, at the warriors of Odin that we slew two nights ago. It was a cordial letter that seemed to imply that the Bjornaer was friends with the northerners. Clearly, this is a problem for the future. If members of our Order are associating with Priests of Odin, it may be time for another great cleansing. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 20, 1201 Under the care of the innkeeper's son, Apiumi has managed to recover a bit. At the least, he is no longer at the edge of death. We collected him and the one prisoner who survived our questioning and continued on to our boat. From there, we will go to Interritus, which is just a few days from us. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 24, 1201 I have just spotted the towers of Interritus. For nearly a year, I have been away from them, but still, they look like home.