Novgorod Log #23: The Icelandic Free State +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a trip to Iceland, and the heroes, priests and magicians of that | | place. Also, a visit from Resarcia, and the death of a founder. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Agripinilla of Jerbiton Maga (Chris van Horn) Aethmunder of Bjornaer Potted Plant (Don the Delayer) Andron of Bonisagus Magus (Eric Rowe) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Carmen of Bjornaer Maga (Donald Kubasak) Felix of Flambeau Magus (Dave Pickering) Gorm ex Miscellanea Magus (Matt Seidl) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Little Claus Norse Grog Leader Big Claus Norse Grog Jarl Norse Grog Lars Norse Grog Skald Norse Grog Arnodd Great Shaman Aud Old Woman Dotta Young Woman Fred Flame Demon Ignacious of Flambeau Magus Oom Young Woman Resarcia Seeker Thorri Squishinson Norse Hero +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Chicken magic is the weakest of all magics." | | -Aud | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Spot's Report to Fluffy July 3, 1203 Twenty Two Hundred Hours Sir! This evening the magus Felix approached Loretta and myself with a proposition. He expressed his long admiration for the mental prowess of us two, and suggested that we could work more closely with him, using our brains to direct his brawn. In return, Felix offers to supply us protection. He has duly sworn that if any moves against us, he shall slay them. Almost as an afterthought, Felix asked another favor of us. He spoke of the shrub in the council room, which was once a magus, saying that he would be quite pleased if it were suddenly to die. And then, Felix left us. I must say, sir, that I believe that his proposition is a good one, and that we should work more closely with him, as he desires. In addition, I believe that slaying the bush as he wishes would be an excellent sign of our good will. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus July 4, 1203 Yesterday evening, there was a depression upon us, as we were all saddened by Aethmunder's fate. This morning though, there was new hope in our covenant. Looking at the potted plant that sat in the corner of our council room, we were reminded that Aethmunder was not truly dead, simply elsewhere. Somewhat comforted, we turned once again to the future. We decided to leave at once for Iceland, something that we had put off for a year. There, we hope to gain the fourth of our gems. Some cowards, Andron chief among them, wanted to wait another year before we travelled to Iceland. They were worried that the winter would be upon us before we could return. We left those cowards at home. There are just four of us going to Iceland: myself, Carmen, Felix and Ballisto, the remaining founders of the teeth. With such good friends beside me, I am sure I will find only success in this adventure. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus August 12, 1203 Finally, today, we arrived at Iceland. I was beginning to despair that we had gone past the island, and would continue on until we'd fallen off the edge of the world. The journey itself was bad, enough, the monotony only broken by my sparring matches with Felix, as we both trained in our new weapons, sword and axe, but the uncertainty only made it worse. I was very happy when I first saw Iceland's smoking volcano this afternoon. Our first stop in Iceland was a city named Langjokull, a member of the Icelandic Free State, which apparently has some ties to our own Baltic lands. We spoke with people there, asking of the Stone of Bol, which is said to contain the gem that we seek. Unfortunately, they knew very little of it, and, in fact, suggested to us that it might still be in Ireland. Fortunately, the citizens of Langjokull were able to tell us the location of Iceland's Great Cathedral. According to the information that Nova gained back in Poland, that is where the Stone of Bol is. It will be a few days before we get to the cathedral, for we will have to circle around the island, and then travel a considerable distance inland. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus August 15, 1203 I am afraid that we have continued to make little progress in our search for the Stone of Bol. Today, we arrived at the great cathedral of Iceland. It was a rather tiny place, scarcely a church, let alone the greatest holy place of a country. After seeing the conditions in Iceland, I shall never again consider my Baltic home a barbarian land. We spoke with the bishop at the cathedral, and found that he knew as little as the peasants back in Langjokull. Like them, he suggested that the Stone of Bol might be in Ireland. Fortunately, our visit with the Bishop of Iceland was not entirely useless. He has given us two new leads. He spoke of a wise woman who lives in the nearby wastes, and a group of magical men who live in the volcano. Tomorrow, we shall talk to the Pagan woman, and see what she can tell us. Afterwards, we shall go the volcano, and see what the magi there might know. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus August 16, 1203 Finally, I think we're finally getting somewhere. Near noon today, we came upon the small hut of the pagan woman Aud. We asked her of the Stone of Bol, and were delighted when she responded at once, saying that she knew precisely where it lay. But then, the stupid woman tried to bargain with us. She boldly stated that she would only tell us the location of the Stone of Bol if we killed the diabolists who dwelled within the volcano. I was ready to start torturing the hag. I was just telling Aud that I'd killed old women for less when Ballisto and Felix both restrained me. Speaking soothingly, Ballisto said that we might have a place in our covenant for one as skilled as she, for Aud had earlier mentioned that she could see the future in the entrails of horses. Then, he went on to say that we'd be happy to investigate the people who lived in the mountain, and slay them if they truly were demon worshippers. Aud seemed quite pleased, and told us that the Stone of Bol lay in the tomb of an ancient hero named Thorri Squishinson. She offered to take us straight to it as soon as we had investigated the magi in the volcano. I'm sure that we will quite quickly learn that the men of the volcano are magi of Hermes, and thus be able to proceed on to our true goal. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus August 19, 1203 Just as I'd expected, the men of the volcano were indeed magi of Hermes. Clearly, they are not diabolists, but I can't help and wonder what other dark secrets they might be concealing. To start with, it was very hard to find the covenant itself. We spent over a day looking, and I'm sure that we walked right by the entrance several times, without seeing it. When we finally came across the entrance, it was by accident. At first, only guards greeted us. We had to bully them, and push them about a bit before finally a magus was brought to us. Felix recognised him at once as Ignacious of Flambeau, a magus who had disappeared, with five of his fellows, several years ago in the North. Ignacious, however, introduced himself as a Jerbiton, making me even more suspicious. It soon became obvious to us all that the magi of the volcano were not the diabolists that Aud feared, and thus we were prepared to move on. Ignacious, however, grew quite agitated, worried that we would reveal the location of his covenant, something which he wanted to be very secretive about. So, the idiot tried to get us to swear secrecy upon some gem. A gem much bigger than an egg, and not the Stone of Bol, by the way. We refused, giving our simple word, sworn upon no arcane object. I, however, doubt that I shall keep it. I am quite angry at this Ignacious fool, for he threatened us, saying that we would be killed if we revealed the location of his Icelandic home. I think I shall have a pleasant conversation with the next Quaesitor I see about the magi of this place. Before we left, Felix tried to negotiate with Ignacious for a while, offering vis for library use. Ignacious, however, was as protective of his books as most of the members of the Order, and thus the fees that he demanded were much to high. So, we left the Icelandic Covenant behind us. When we return to our boat, we shall circle around the island, journeying to the village where Thorri Squishinson and the Stone of Bol are buried. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus August 26, 1203 Today, we completed our mission, although the ending was not quite the one that I had hoped for. It was well into the night when we docked at the village which had been Thorri Squishinson's home. We came ashore quietly, hoping to avoid the scrutiny of the villagers. Unfortunately, they were uncharacteristicly alert, and thus spotted us while we were still disembarking. I would have just stormed past them, uttering dire threats. Felix, however, with a group of grogs, went up to a villager and began negotiating for wives. I was quite astounded. Both Lars and Big Claus had spoken of the beauty of the women of Iceland, but I hadn't expected a move so blatantly stupid. Finally, I decided to take advantage of the distraction, and with Carmen and Ballisto continued on to Thorri's barrow. Our friends eventually caught up with us. As we gazed upon Thorri's barrow, Aud told us that she believed Thorri to now be an afterganger, that is some manner of zombie. We prepared to confront him as we began to dig. When a voice came forth from the barrow, demanding our business, we were not terribly surprised. However, when Thorri appeared before us as a spirit, we grew somewhat more worried. Neither of those who could deal easily with spirits had accompanied us upon our journey. Thus, we listened politely to Thorri's shade as he described the many magi and warriors that he had destroyed before us. Fortunately, Thorri's ghost was quite reasonable. We told him of the gem that we sought, and Felix even offered his new axe in exchange. The ghost led Lars down into his tomb, and a few minutes later our grog had returned, the Stone of Bol in hand. We were disappointed however, for the stone that it contained was not one of our door gems, but rather a tiny blue rock. We were all ready to leave, to return home, our mission a failure. Felix, however, insisted on talking with the ghost a bit more. He began asking the ghost of the various magi that he had killed, hoping that some of them might have carried items of Verditius. He was soon rewarded. Before we left, Felix had traded his magical axe for a great ivory staff, topped by a ruby. It is said to burst into flames whenever it is touched. Before we left Iceland utterly behind us, we stopped once more in Thorri's village. There, Lars and Big Claus fought little mock battles and won themselves wives. At least someone got something out of our expedition, I suppose. As a side note, Thorri's ghost told us of another tomb, of some ancient warrior named Valine. He suggested that we should loot it. Perhaps we will, sometime in the future. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus October 10, 1203 Our return home today was a somewhat turbulent one. I cannot say that it bodes well for the future. Almost as soon as we docked upon our island, we were greeted with bad news. First, we learned that we had all missed a visit by Resarcia. Apparently, she was somewhat distressed, to come upon her own island, and find not a single magus that she recognised. She demanded some notes on the door and the gems, items which Andron has been studying. Hopefully, he will actually provide them to her. Resarcia stayed upon the island for but a short time before leaving. She will return in the Spring, when she expects to talk to us all. Learning of a missed visit from Resarcia was nothing compared to the bad news that we were told next. We learned that Aethmunder the shrub had passed away while we were gone, apparently of natural causes. To say that I was infuriated would be to underestimate my emotions. I started raging at once, demanding that the Aethmunder's murderer be found. I asked Aud to look into the future, pointing out that we had many chickens that she could use. She was quite reluctant at first, saying that only horses would work, but finally, she agreed. She ripped apart the chicken and gazed deep into the entrails. And then, she looked up, and announced that Aethmunder's death had indeed been natural. I do not think I have mentioned the properties of our new opal before. Like all of the door gems, it seems to have a distict effect upon our environment. The sapphire has made the water about our convenant extremely clean and pure, while the ruby has made the temperature about our covenant always perfect. The opal, however, seems to cleanse our minds. Since it has arrived, it has become very easy to sense the emtions of others, almost as if they were clearly written upon their faces. Anyways, my point is that when Aud said that Aethmunder had died of natural causes, it was clear to all of us that she was lying. Felix burned her to death before I even had my sword unsheathed. Afterwards, Agripinilla summoned her spirit back, and coerced the hag to tell us the truth. Apparently, Aud had known that her powers would not work if a chicken was used. Felix, however, had not wanted to waste covenant resources upon buying a horse, and so had told her to look at a chicken, and lie. When it had become obvious that she was deceiving us, Aud had been about to tell us all of the deal that she and Felix and made. He had warned her that if she did so, he would kill her, and thus he did. Not that it mattered, for I would have slain her in a moment more. So, in conclusion, we truly know nothing about Aethmunder's mysterious death. It is something that shall have to be investigated in the future, by any means possible. After the unhappy news of the morning, we did consider some other issues today. Felix played with his staff for a while before finally taking it apart. Apparently, it is a greater magic item than we had realized. Besides the ivory staff and the ruby head, there were also eight more gems hidden inside. Every one of them is enchanted, although how useful they will be, now disassembled, is anyone's guess. I also spoke with Gorm a bit this afternoon, to discover what had happened to the shaman Arnodd. Apparently, the magician is somewhat of a coward. It seems that he is seeking more information on us before travelling to our island. Hopefully, he shall be hear some time soon. The thought of Weris still stalking the island worries me. Now, the time has come to retreat to my lab, I think. Between our failure in Iceland, and Aethmunder's death, a depression has set upon me. I am ready to give up for the winter, and return to my studies of Muto. Perhaps when a new Spring has dawned, the world will seem a brighter place.