Novgorod Log #24: The Merchant of the Killing Beasts +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a quiet winter, and the visitors that came to the island of | | Nature's Teeth: Seeker, Quaesitor, Tremere and Mercere. The politics | | of France, and how they intruded upon the quiet Tribunal of Novgorod. | | Finally, the Merchant of the Killing Beast, and the man who called | | himself the Master. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Andron of Bonisagus Magus (Eric Rowe) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Felix of Flambeau Magus (Dave Pickering) Gorm ex Miscellanea Magus (Matt Seidl) Nihil of Criamon Magus (Chad Weetman) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Torris of Tremere Magus (Kevin Wong) Little Claus Norse Grog Leader Adrian German Grog Big Claus Norse Grog Jarl Norse Grog Lars Norse Grog Skald Norse Grog Arnodd Great Shaman Drassus of Criamon Magus Fides of Mercere Redcap Gravito of Tremere Magus Karl Merchant Paulus of Quaesitor Magus Resarcia Seeker Styr Killing Beast +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "If he comes and kicks our asses, we'll be in a much better position" | | -Pacifer, On the Master of the Killing Beasts | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus February 11, 1204 It has been months since I have written in this book, so lulled have I been by the quiet of the Winter. Still, the winter has been a most productive one. I have finished training with my new sword, and finally feel competent with my weapon. Since, I have studied buth Muto and Aquam vis, learning more than I thought possible. I remember the depression that set upon me last October, and I am glad to say that the Winter indeed has washed it away. I think this coming year will bring good things. I was finally reminded to set down my thoughts today by the fact that a visitor came to our Covenant. Resarcia returned, as she had promised she would. She was happy to see us all gathered together, and we all spoke for some time. Resarcia looked through Andron's notes on the door for a while, and questioned us all about it for a time. She was happy to see that we had recovered three gems, but less pleased that we knew so little about them. We really have to do something about all of the magic items that we know so little about, including my own sword, I suppose. Before Resarcia left us, she certamened Nihil. Apparently, she was upset over him destroying that Mask. Resarcia won the certamen, of course, and now Nihil may not destroy artifacts of the Old Ones. Afterwards, Resarcia departed. But, she left a covenant revitalized, reminded of our purpose upon this barren island. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus March 3, 1204 Today, another visitor, one Fides of Mercere. It is quite encouraging to have Redcaps visit us so regularly. He brought the usual mix of correspondences. Only one was of real note. One Drassus of Criamon, a hermit from Germany, sent a letter to Ballisto. Drassus has asked permission to come to our covenant, so that he may observe us. We discussed it for a while, and saw no harm in it, so we have given Drassus permission to join us. We're all still curious about that Icelandic covenant we encountered last year, and so Felix sent a letter to House Jerbiton concerning it. Hopefully, they will be able to give us information on the strangely reticent magi who live in Iceland. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 8, 1204 Winter has finally broken, and so we held a Council Meeting today, trying to plan our actions for the next year. First, we questioned Gorm about the shaman, Arnodd, who is supposed to help us with our Flambeau problem. Unfortunately, the shaman is still stalling, pleading other commitments. Again, he has said that he will leave soon. We shall see. In a week, when Nihil has finished certain of his studies, we will be leaving for our first expedition of the year. Last year when we spoke with Old Marcus, he told us of a merchant who sold killing beasts. It is that merchant that we will visit next week. We hope to learn more about the Master before we slay him. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 14, 1204 This evening, we were greeted by a most irritating visitor. I am still so furious over the whole meeting that I can barely write, but I will try. It all began when a whale began circling our island. He had been sent by Ulf, of course, to warn us of a coming boat. So, a group of us went to the cliffs and waited, watching the tumultuous waves. Finally, a ship came over the horizon. As it sailed into our cave, Ballisto, Felix and I headed down the steps to greet our visitors. There were two magi aboard the ship, Gravito of Tremere and Paulus of Quaesitor, surrounded by a score of crossbowmen. The crossbowmen looked quite nervous, and all had their weapons ready. The group of them were some of the stupidest people that I have ever met. The boat was still docking when we arrived in the cavern. As ever, Ballisto took the lead, and he began to motion towards the boatmen, waving them towards a safe berth. As Ballisto began to gesture, a sudden twang was heard. Soundlessly, Ballisto fell to the ground, a crossbow bolt piercing him straight through. As I was pulling my sword from its sheath, shouting dire threats, Felix was casting a spell. Seconds later, every person upon the boat was covered by a layer of oil. If the Tremere had not smacked the crossbowman to the ground, and the Quaesitor had not started screaming, shouting that the fighting must stop, I am sure that the whole boat would have gone up in flames in the next second. We should have just killed the bastards. I don't know why we hesitated. But, after verifying that Ballisto had just been incapacitated and not killed as I had feared, we talked. Gravito apologized for his grog, swearing that Ballisto had only been shot because it had looked like he was casting spells. The madman went on to insist that he had good reason for feeling nervous, saying that we had killed several of his grogs. The Quaesitor simply stood by, nodding sagely. I can not say how close they both came to dying in those minutes. Finally though, we agreed to continue the conversation in our Council Room. The Quaesitor joined us, but the Tremere stayed behind, afraid to set foot upon our island. According to the Quaesitor, some time ago Gravito's master, some French Tremere, had set the old sage Marcus in the North. He had gifted him with many magic items, and in return the old sage had continuously supplied the French Tremere with vis. All had been well until the shipments had stopped, because of us slaying the old fool, of course. I must say, I wondered about the whole story. Marcus had said he was a thousand years old, and had stated extremely clearly that he had no associations with the Order of Hermes. Further, considering how uncooperative Old Marcus was, I can not believe that he ever would sent vis back to foolish Tremeres in France. It seemed that Gravito's entire story was in doubt. Gravito demanded that we return the boots and vials of herbs that we had taken from Marcus, and further stated that we should pay a fine in vis. When the Quaesitor presented the Tremere's demands, we laughed at him, so ridiculous were they, and so removed from anything written anywhere in the code. And then, we moved on to the real issue, the fact that Gravito's grog had nearly killed a mage. The code is quite clear on that matter, and Gravito is clearly guilty for his grog's actions. However, we soon learned that Paulus was a corrupt Quaesitor. He refused to make a judgement on the issue of Gravito's guilt, saying that it could be decided at the Tribunal of 1207. We argued for a long time with that damned Quaesitor, but it soon became clear that Gravito had paid him off well. There was nothing that we could do turn the Quaesitor to the true teachings of Guernicus, and so we finally bade him leave. By that time, we were all furious at Gravito, and had decided that it would be in our best interest to engage in a Wizard's War, and kill him before the next tribunal. So, before the Tremere's boat was utterly gone from our land, we engaged in a bit of subterfuge. Carmen visited the two of them on the boat, and while she was there, she reached out and yanked a lock of hair from Gravito's hand. Then, she flew quickly from the boat, and there was nothing that either of the corrupt magi could do. When Carmen returned to the Council Room, we all talked about Wizard's Wars for a very long time. In the next couple of years, perhaps 1206, perhaps 1207, Gravito shall be abruptly surprised, by a set of Wizard's War announcments, from each of us in the covenant. He shall rue the day he tried to kill a member of the Teeth. I should note that as we discussed acting together in a War, we considered the spell of Wizard's Communion, and how we could cast much more powerful spells by using it. Nova has already begun work upon a Communion spell. By the time 1206 rolls around, we should all be trained in it, and ready to strike out with the spells of the Arch Magi themselves. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 16, 1204 Wednesday's events still lie heavily upon our minds, and Ballisto still lies in bed, badly wounded, but we have not let it distract us from our responsibilities. As we agreed last week, we set out today, determined to find the Merchant of the Killing Beast, and bring justice to him. Oddly, just as we were leaving, another boat was heading towards our island. It was the strangest ship that I had ever seen. The sails were dotted with pink spots, and the whole boat seemed to have an air of frivolity about it. Only one man was aboard the ship, the Criamon Drassus. Drassus spoke warmly with us for a bit, commenting on all manner of insane things, from the weather of the island, to the enigma and his good boat Sally. Finally though, he headed on, to meet with the other magi of our island, and we continued onwards as well. The merchant that we seek is just Northeast of Stockholm. We should be to him in just a few short days. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 18, 1204 As expected, we confronted the Merchant of the Killing Beasts this afternoon. It was a good battle, and one that we emerged victoriously from. Karl was the name of the Merchant of the Killing Beasts, and we had little trouble finding him. It was not long before we were all gathered into his small home, questioning him. We tried to be subtle at first, and trick Karl into telling us of his Master. But, he seemed nervous, constantly glancing at the three killing beasts which lounged about. It was obvious that Karl feared for his life, so we quickly moved to end the threat. The battle was a short one. Still, despite our careful preparations, and despite the element of surprise, it nearly ended disastrously. Every time we have fought killing beasts, from that first encounter back in 1201, we have underestimated the creaturse. Gorm would have been slain if not for the intervention of several grogs. Even worse, one of the dogs crippled Torris, twisting his tongue terribly, causing his spells and speech to be slurred. Still, we managed to slay the three beasts. Victory was ours. We turned the merchant's little hut upside down afterwards, and found that our expedition had been quite worthwhile. Besides a good deal of money, we also recovered a set of maps. They point directly to the home of the Master of the Killing Beasts. And then, we turned towards the Merchant and began to question him once more. He broke quickly, and revealed all that he knew of the Master of the Killing Beasts. Unfortunately, it was not much. He told us that he had been pressed into the service of the Master of the Killing Beasts, forced to sell the monstrous creatures. Boats were regularly sent to the Master's far away land to retrieve the beasts that the Merchant sold. The Merchant had never actually met the Master of the Killing Beasts, but he had heard rumors, rumors of a huge man with a Head of Flames. The Merchant confirmed the Master's associations with trolls, stating that he never left his land without a guard of at least a score of the beasts. When we sure that the Merchant had told us all that he knew, Felix killed the man, and then, we turned homeward.