Leaving
the Valley of the Care Bears we decided to head west, to Xartal-by-
the-(ice)-sea. Once again doubling back on our trail to throw off
Tanarak Dell, we wanted to buy armor in Xartal for Tev, Krelga, and
Timroth, though with only one zinc piece and a handful of silver I
didn't think we'd get much. Towards the end of the first day we were
engulfed in a chaos storm, which sweep through the land wrecking havoc
and destruction, another little thing we have to thank Chaos for. Like
my Da taught me I quickly got the rest of the party building a snow
shelter, Timroth showing that he's a natural snow sculptor.
We spent the night in our ice castle. I had a vision, or perhaps it was
just a dream that came true. I don't know. All six of us were standing
before a tall, cylindrical something. A building? A tower? I'm not sure
other than it was inscribed with squares, triangles, and circles. There
were no doors or other openings that could be seen. I stood still, not
able to move as one by one the others went up to the tower and placed
their hands on its surface, a greenish-orange mist emanating from the
tower and engulfing each in turn for a few seconds, leaving each
seemingly untouched. Except for Krelga, who took on the same
greenish-orange hue as the mist withdrew its hold form her.
And then I awoke. Everybody dreams, I suppose. My dreams tend to be of
little snow rabbits and snow turtles and snow frogs dancing around
singing happy songs about the glory of ice and cold. I don't remember
ever dreaming about real people before. Still, it's not something I
would normally have worried about, and I put it out of my mind until it
actually happened. But that was later. In the meantime we brushed off
the snow and continued our journey to Xartal.
A day later we encountered a Janer. A lone Janer. For some reason we
thought it was a Gnartroll, which would have meant that we were all
dead if the Gnartroll was inclined to attack us. But it wasn't. Tok
said that we really needed a pack animal and cautiously made his way
forward. Tev circled around to try to cut off any retreat, though I
don't see how he could have stopped a Janer by himself. The rest of us
stood around trying to keep still so as not to scare the Janer off.
The Voice whispered Danger to me and I almost fell down in surprise.
But I quickly regained my wits and readied my bow, prepared for
anything as the Janer, in a most uncharacteristic for a Janer way,
attacked Tok. My arrows flew, but bounced off its resilient hide.
Everyone else started rushing forward as I rained arrow upon arrow on
the Janer, who shrugged off every hit and proceeded to break Tok's leg,
then started dragging him away (again, most un-Janer-like).
As Krelga reached the Janer, I finally thunked an arrow into its eye.
That made the Janer drop Tok and rear back on its hind legs, allowing
Krelga to cut it in two with her axe. The Janer fell. I started walking
up to the rest of the group as they stood around looking at the dead
Janer. Suddenly Tok started leaning forward as a gigantic
purplish-yellow worm wriggled out of the bottom half of the Janer.
"Kill it!" yelled Nakaro as Krelga held her head and screamed "it's in
my mind!" Acting quickly, Timroth speared the worm and killed it.
A strange creature, the worm. Some sort of gigantic parasite that had
taken over the Janer, living in it and controlling it, thus explaining
the Janer's strange behaviour. Why it attacked us though, especially
since it wouldn't have been able to kill us all, is a mystery. That's
the second time that The Voice has talked to me, and both times it
spoke true. Maybe it's some sort of sorcery or other foul magic. But
until it becomes dangerous I can probably keep this to myself so as not
to alarm the others. How would they react, I wonder?
555/1/23. Today we met a patrol out of Xartol. They came upon us
suddenly and before we could hide, something that's easy to do in the
vast icy plains of my homeland. As a former Cold Army soldier, I was
"volunteered" to go forward and talk to their scout. Fortunately they
didn't want to fight and agreed to not report us until they returned to
Xartol at the end of their patrol, which will be a couple of days after
we ourselves arrive at Xartol.
|
555/1/25. In
Xartol. For some reason, probably because with such an unusual mix of
races we're too conspicuous, Tok and I were selected to go into the
city and barter. Not that I had anything against it, though Tok with
his broken leg would be a problem. Still, he insisted he wanted to go.
I get the feeling he doesn't trust me. Then again, I don't think he
trusts anyone, including Timroth.
Tok did most of the talking to the merchants. I played his loving
"wife". We had to buy armor for our "kid" and pet "dog" and a large
"friend" for gifts, but we had to have it by the end of tomorrow. Tok
can be quite persuasive and he got quite good prices for the armors.
For Timroth we bought a full suit of hard leather which was already
available. For Tev we were only able to have a hard leather helmet made
in one day. But we also bought him pony saddle bags, a bit large for
him but now he can stop using the "I don't have hands" excuse and carry
some stuff. For Krelga we had hard leather breastplate and helm custom
made for her. Satisfied, we're retiring for the night at a local inn. I
worry that the patrol will arrive early and we'll be trapped in Xartol.
555/1/26. In the morning we talked to some locals who described some of
the nearby "attractions." This included some sort of magical tower
directly south of her; nearby hills, covered with totem poles and said
to be haunted; and what sounded like another outpost much like the Cave
of Monsters that we tried to visit. I'm not sure where we will go after
Xartol. Personally I'd rather leave this whole area so that Tanarek
Dell can't find us, then we can return next year after they've
forgotten all about us.
Unusual occurence while we were eating breakfast. I caught a "thief"
reaching into one of my packs. Tok immediately threatened the poor
Vikul, probably not the best thing to do in front of witnesses, but
something that I've come to expect from the hot-headed Tok. The poor
man explained that he had dropped something in my pack and was only
retrieving it. When I looked I found a piece of parchment with the
hated Heat Rune emblazoned in one corner. But before I could take a
closer look at it the Vikul grabbed it and ran off. We didn't want to
bring too much attention to ourselves so neither Tok nor I chased the
man.
The rest of the day went by without incident. We picked up the armors,
left town safely, and rendezvoused with the rest of the group. Nothing
had happened while we were gone. We discussed where we should go next.
The Voice spoke to me: "the tower". With that my mind was made up and I
convinced the rest to go with me to the magical tower.
555/1/28. We reached the magical tower today. It is a high cylinder,
tapering at the top, perhaps a hundred meters high. Only when I saw it
did I realize that it was the tower that I had dreamed about a week
ago. Much like in my dream, its icy white surface was carved with
symbols. Good enough to use as handholds, which prompted Nakaro to
climb the tower. Seeing a disaster waiting to happen, I piled up a
bunch of snow under him, so that when he fell (which he did on the way
down) he would hit the snow, which did manage to partly cushion his
fall.
Everyone was examining the tower, except for myself and Krelga, whom I
watched closely. She seemed hesitant, approaching the tower in short
hops, then waiting intently as if she expected some unexpected danger
to show itself. I didn't know whether to stop her or not, because I
still wasn't sure if my dream was a warning or just a glimpse into the
future. So when Krelga finally laid her paws on the surface of the
tower I was ready for anything.
But nothing visible happened, except that Krelga immediately jumped
back as if shocked. We all clustered around her. "What happened?" "I
don't know, it was like we exchanged energies." The others hadn't felt
anything so it was obvious that the tower had somehow chosen Krelga.
For what though, we don't know. One more piece of the puzzle. There is
a plan, I know it. Why else the dream? Why else The Voice? Some sort of
power directing us. I'm not sure whether to be terrified or comforted.
|