Campaign Journal 02/24/2012

[Greylen]

(Part 1 - The start. Note that I'm using real names until I remember your character ones )

Conner pushes back from the desk, rubbing his temple as he stretches out his cramped back and fingers. He slumps against the back of the chair, letting out an oh-so-silent sigh, as not to alert the other just next door that he'd completed the latest round of letters, proclamations and other correspondence that had been piling up the last six months or so that Lord Morgrymn had been dominated.

Briefly Conner had a vision of the piles of papers in front of him exploding into beautiful flame, along with Balthazar's beard. A grim smile touches his lips as his imagination was quite adequate to alleviate his mood, lucky for his 'personal assistant'.

"Personal Assistant? More like head torturer." he mutters to himself as he shuffles the papers around as if still working in the automatic way he's picked up these past two weeks to gain him a little more private time for his own thoughts. He KNEW he wasn't being fair to Balthazar, his personal assistant and head scribe of the tower, but the man seemed to have a sixth sense that told him when Conner had completed one task, to set another before him without delay.

As if summoned by his thoughts, a firm knock at the door and the scraggly bearded face of Balthazar appeared from around it, without waiting for acknowledgement.

"Sire, are you complete with those treaties yet? There are several townsfolk waiting to speak with you and... oh, you are, how wonderful.`&" he gleefully starts to gather up the various piles as he gestures to the door.

"If you please, sire. They are waiting in the Great Hall." he shoos Conner out the door, two guards coming to attention and following a few steps behind as Conner starts down the hallway, laughing to the guards, not having gotten in a word edgewise, as usual. He shrugs rolling his eyes.

"If either of you ever comes before me in trouble, make sure you have Balthazar to speak for you. He'll wear me down in no time with all his prattling. " Conner speaks softly, despite being a good ten yards down the hall already, the old, grizzled sergeant joining his laughter, the other, a young, serious officer, not sure what to do with his new liege. He settles on mumbling, "Aye, Sire." gravely.

Conner just rolls his eyes again with another laugh, stepping lively and covering the distance to the Great Hall quickly. Everything he does these days seems to go so fast, he sighs to himself.

Getting to the Great Hall, he enters, moving a little slower, as he passes the deputation from the town, nodding with a smile to each, the smile broadening at the sight of a pretty half-elf with fiery red hair. She gets a soft wink as he finishes walking up the steps to his 'Throne' and sitting beckons them forward. He smiles inwardly to see the red-head flushing, despite the coolness of the room.

"Welcome. What do we owe the honor of your presence today?" Conner states with a bit of pomp. Not much, but just enough to settle down his own sense of humor, so he doesn't laugh outright before hearing the townsfolk out. In the back, he notices Balthazar entering and sitting in his usual corner to take notes.

An older, greying, but stout man steps forward, his face set in a bit of a grimace. "Forgive us the hasty nature of our visit, your majesty, but it has come to our attention that you have declined to levy taxes on the town to rebuild. While this is appreciated, we have come to find out how we are to rebuild without assistance.`&" The mans voice is steady, though his he can't help a small quiver in his legs as he stands facing this new, powerful and unknown ruler.

Conner leans on the arm of the throne as he appraises the deputation. Evidently this was quite a concern, as he notices quite a few of the prominent citizens of Shadowdale in the small party. The red-headed half-elf, having regained some control, eyed him warily, though not unfriendly.

"It's a simple matter of supply and demand.", Conner begins matter-of-factually. "We've confiscated the properties of those who collaborated willingly with the Zhents and Drow. Guilt was determined in a zone of truth cast by my good friend, Jaren. It turned out to be quite... substantial. You will all be receiving a share of those monies to assist you in your own rebuilding." Conner gives them all a very grim smile, "Besides, those traitors will be doing most of the labor for you as well, before being shipped off to the sword coast to be sold."

The silence was deafening as Conner's smile softens a little, an eyebrow raising in question. "Was there anything else you wished to discuss?".

The older man and his deputation recovered and started backing away, bowing, "No Sire. You are most generous. Thanks you." Conner nods, waving his permission to retire and they all flee the room.

Conner allows himself a soft chuckle as looks at Balthazar, "So what is next on the docket?" he inquires a little wearily. Balthazar just stands and hands him a piece of parchment. "Seems you've been summoned to appear before the Coronal at Myth Drannor, Sire." his voice cracks slightly as most people never come back from that cursed spot.

Conner laughs happily and waves over a soldier, "Captain Stubbens, I am about to start on a journey of indeterminate length, would you be so kind as to make sure you and Balthazar keep things in one piece while I'm gone." The Captain bowing nods, "You can trust us, sire."

Conner claps Stubbens on the shoulder with a smile, "I know I can." then excitedly, he bounds out the door to get ready to go, much like a puppy finally having been released from it's leash.

Stubbins and Balthazar give each other side looks, then with a shared smile, move to start preparing for their lords absence.

[Greylen]

(Part 2.)

"What an amazing day!" Conner exclaimed, not realizing he was talking out loud as he and his companions rode through the forest, the bright sunlight filtering in dazzling rays of light through the canopy above.

The temperature had been steadily climbing since Shadowdale had been liberated, the Daleland seeming to be freed of some dark spell, as much as the city had been freed of the Zhents and Drow. The snow was all but gone and the weather had stubbornly refused to be anything but sunny and mild for the past two weeks.

The white mare picked a sure-footed path through the forest as Conner continued to exclaim excitedly at each new marvel and beautiful vista. His companions sharing slight snickers at his obvious relief to be free of the twisted tower and all it's responsibility.

Conner now wore the Amulet of Ashaba openly, having become used to having it as a normal part of his gear. The light and strong links of Mithril gleaming dully underneath the amulet as he shifts his cloak back behind him in the unexpected warmth of the day.

The three travelers cut quite a sight, decked out as they were for any and all trouble that may come their way. The easy way they sat on their steeds, the ready weapons and the attentiveness of at least the two dwarves, told a different story to observant eyes, than the one portrayed by the endless prattling of the man in the lead.

As they came to the end of the forest, even Conner seemed to finally be aware of the many forest creatures that followed them silently. Savage eyes were always on the trio as they left the forest and started the climb to a crumbling wall, evidently a ruin of some kind.

When the two elves appeared to block their way, even Conners horse was surprised, pawing nervously a moment under Conner's inexperienced hands, before a soft word from one of the Elves calmed the skittish animal.

"Who are you, travelers, and what is your destination? Know that Myth Drannor is no longer a place for you to plunder the treasures of the elves." the first elf spoke with a hint of scorn as he confronted Conner.

Conner eyed the two elves carefully, noticing for the first time, the wolf laying to the side of one of the elves. Smiling he holds up his hands, "We are not here to plunder, but come at the request of the Coronal. I am Conner, lord of Shadowdale and these are my companions."

The two elves glance at each other, bursting into cynical laughter. "The Lord or Shadowdale is our guest here, fool. Now tell us who you are." The two elves grip their weapons tighter as their eyes narrow, ready to do battle if needed.

Suddenly a voice booms from the Amulet around Conner's neck, "This is Conner, Lord and Ruler of Shadowdale, master of the Twisted Tower, as rightfully proclaimed by the Amulet of Ashaba." The voice ends, leaving all a little stunned, including Conner, evidently some magic involved in that declaration.

The two elves, shaken, yet still suspicious still bar the way. "What was that? A c-cheap parlor trick?" one starts, falteringly.

Conner sighs and shakes his head, "Forgive me, while I AM the Lord of Shadowdale right now, it is hopefully just temporary until Lord Morgrymn is cured and able to return. The blasted Amulet proclaimed me King after my companions and I liberated Shadowdale, with a little help." Conner gives the two a self-deprecating chuckle and a shrug.

Finally the light of belief is seen in the two elves eyes as they look at wonder on the little band. "The hero's of Shadowdale? Of course, my lords, we have heard of your deeds even here amid the ruins of Myth Drannor. Forgive us for being so mistrusting. We get a lot of adventurers looking to loot our once fair city, even after all these centuries." They bow respectfully to the three.

Conner smiles waving off their apologies, the two dwarves look on in a little distain at the elves. "No need for apologies. We completely understand, but we do need to talk to the Coronel, though we should probably first talk with the Spell Master first, if he is available."

The two elves nod eagerly, pointing to portion of the city where they can see a glint of blue from a lake, "Of course, please follow us, my lords" they turn and lightly tread a path through the ruins, wending their way towards the lake.

Having established their identities, the two elves were now quite friendly, asking all sorts of questions as the walked about the going's on in Shadowdale and how they liberated it, since they'd only heard hearsay and rumors.

Conner was quite glad to fill them in, talking about the many battles they'd fought and in particular how they cleared out the castle, laughing with them about the firewalls down the defensive positions at the tower and the final battle with Lord Morgrymn, trying not to kill the possessed man.

Finally they came to a section of the city that was above a beautiful lake. While not large, the lake had a most marvelous boat moored at a dock there. It hardly seem to fit the size of the lake, yet there it was. It actually gave Conner a bit of a headache to look at it for too long, but he stared at it long enough to realize some of the spells on that ship were not ordinary.

A section of the open ground next to the lake also gave Conner cause to hold his head with a little pain, as the faint outlines of an invisible tower, wrapped in spells too numerous for him to discern in anything but detailed study, shimmered in the bright sunlight.

"Come, we are already seen. If you are to be admitted, we will be greeted at the tower." one of the elves spoke softly, leading them down the small hill to the base of the invisible tower.

As they arrived, another elf seemed to appear out of thin-air, this one familiar to the three, Simon.

"Hail and welcome to my tower. If you'll follow me." he nods to the other two elves, who bow and take their leave, then turns, disappearing again.

Seeing him pass through the shimmering wall, in his sight, Conner follows, gesturing to his companions. A small tingling sensation, and they are in a large room without, seemingly, walls.

Two other people, a human and a dwarf, were bent over what seemed to be a map. As Simon joined them, for the first time, Conner wished he'd not made his Arcane sight permanent as his head throbbed at the power gathered around that little table.

"Boric you know, but let me introduce Greylen, another good friend of mine." Simon gestures to the other two, who nod in greeting. "Please come and take a look at this map with us." he continues, looking down.

Walking over to the table, his eyes somewhat averted, Conner catches the eye of the new human, Greylen, who's lips quirk humorously, his own eyes glowing the same as Conners.

"Headache?" Greylen asks, his eyes crinkling with humor. Conner nods curtly, looking down at the map on the table with some relief.

"This is the Windsong tower" Simon begins. "From your discovery of the gold and silver rings granting access in our enemies possession, we have determined that this ancient tower of might and power here at Myth Drannor might be in some danger." he nods to Greylen who holding up a hand, displays a gold duplicate to one of the rings they'd found in possession of the Drow in Shadowdale.

"This ring marks a master at the Windsong tower. With it, or with one of the silver ones denoting a student, you can gain access to the tower through any of the many portals around the city. If the enemy can access the tower, there is no end to the mischief and destruction they can cause to the city and surrounding area." Greylen remarks somberly. He glances at Simon, frustrated excitement in his glance.

"Unfortunately, we have been called away on matters even more dire and cannot take the time to investigate this ourselves. As the hero's of Shadowdale, you've proven your capability. We ask that you undertake this task in our stead and find out what the enemies plans are with the tower."

Simon nods and adds, "You may not be alone. The tower holds many secrets, not the least of which is the tower is infused with the life of one of the masters a millennium ago. If you can contact this spirit, you may have an ally... IF you can convince him of your intentions and allegiance. It has been many years he has been defended the tower against all enemies. He may be quite suspicious and hostile at first."

Looking at the map on the table, Conner looks over at his two dwarf companions, who nod, then back to Simon. He grins, the familiar battle lust shining through his usual calm. "Sounds like fun".

[Greylen]

(Part 3)

Simon, Boric and Greylen looked at each other as I said those words, their approval evident for us.

Simon spoke for them all, "That is good you have confidence. However, we would still like to aid you since it seems your other companion, Joel, will be indisposed for a time. Let us introduce you to the Coronal, then we will introduce you to another friend of ours. Perhaps he can be of service as well."

We followed Simon to the newly reconstructed Palace of the Coronal. The fact was, it was still in process of reconstruction, yet the great hall was complete and the Coronal, who turned out to be a woman, was holding audience. She was quite beautiful, but prudence held my tongue and my teasing nature during our presentation to her.

The meeting itself was quite short. A quick declaration of thanks and an offer to help and we were ushered out, our heads still whirling a bit. Simon said he would meet up with us later as the Coronal's servant took us to the treasury.

"Any one item in this room is yours to take, by order of the Coronal." the elf said, bowing to us. It was quite generous and the items varied greatly in power and usefulness. We each took our time, upgrading a few items and even convincing the servant to swap some of our unneeded items for others of more usefulness.

Finally done and equipped as well as we could be, we found ourselves outside the Coronals palace again, Simon meeting us at the gate with the two elves who had met us as we entered and probably the strongest looking Centaur I have ever seen. The muscles in this Centaur's upper torso looked to be chiseled from adamantium, his horse half bigger and stronger than any mundane war horse.

"This is Scott." Simon nods to the Centaur, who I now noticed had a hawk on his shoulder. "He has agreed to help you."

I nodded, holding my hand out to the small giant with a smile. "Hi Scott, I'm Conner. Welcome to the party." His answering grin as he clasped my hand was pretty grim and his handshake fairly mangled my hand as I grimaced in pain.

"Hnmph, that's quite a handshake." I managed with a weak laugh, as his grim smile softened into a humorous one, a loud laugh following. "Forgive me. I forget how weak normal humans can be." I nodded stepping back and rubbing the feeling back into my hand as he bends down much lower, his horse half almost kneeling to offer his hand to Jaren and Rob.

Both of them seemed to fair much better with his handshake, Rob actually grinning as they squeezed each others hands for a full minute. I just shook my head as Scott again laughs good-naturedly.

"Seems these two are as tough as the rock from which they sprang." he chuckles and I get the feeling he's going to fit in just fine.

"These two will show you the portal where you will be able to enter the tower, with the aid of this ring." says Simon, handing me a silver ring of the Windsong tower. "Be careful and trust no one while there. We do not know the extent of the infiltration, or if indeed there is any, so report back to the Coronal any findings when you return."

Simon turns to go, then looks back at me, a small smile on his lips as he adds one last thing, "Oh, and with that ring, do be careful of any spells you cast in the tower. If you damage anything I doubt you'll get far with the master spirit of the tower attacking you at every turn." and with that he disappears, a small popping of air sounding where he'd just stood.

Glancing to my companions, I give them a small shrug with a laugh and turn to our two elf friends, "Lead on, my friends. Seems we should get into that tower as soon as possible." They laugh and lead us a little deeper into the city.

"This doorway is a gate." they finally announce as we arrive at a nondescript archway. "When you enter, just direct yourself and your companions to the tower entrance using the ring Simon gave you. You're on your own from there."

"Thank you both for your help. Until we meet again, may Tymora's luck and Mystra's blessing be on you." we each clasped our new friends forearms and then with a small breath of anticipation, we all stepped through the archway together.

A brief dizziness and a picture comes to my mind of all the portals around us, one very bright and pulsing, a small light from the ring on my finger showing beaming directly towards that pulsing gate. Recognizing it from the magic of the ring, I will us to it and will a small crack, we appear in a long, high-ceiling room.

The first thing I was drawn too were the amazing pillars of the room. Shaped like living trees, they seemed to be growing out of the floor, with the branches holding up the ceiling, though they were of stone. The room was roughly one hundred and twenty feet long, with these pillars about every 20 feet.

A soft light was radiating from the ceiling, making everything in this area easily visible and a small fountain burbled happily in front of us, some coins glinting in the water.

"Spread out, let's take a look around before we do anything." I spoke softly to my companions. I winced as they all started walking down the hall, their armored and hoofed footsteps echoing loudly.

With a small sigh, I took out a gold coin, tossing it into the fountain for good luck. It seemed we were going to need it, as I joined my companions in walking down the main hall.

[Boric Glanduum]

Good grief, man.
And yet, I want to keep reading! Keep it coming!

[Greylen]

(Part 4 - Thanks Jaren, hoping to finish today, if not tomorrow. )

As we walked down among the pillars of that stunningly beautiful hall, I couldn't help notice that despite his bulk and hard hooves, our newest party member, Scott, was actually one of the quietest in movement. Much more so than our walking tin cans and even myself, though I can walk somewhat quiet then concentrating on it.

My problem is I'm always trying to figure out something as I walk. Walking is too mundane an activity to hold my attention, so only a part of me is even aware of walking usually. The rest of me is trying to figure out the particulars of that new spell I've been working on, or what is producing the light radiating at the top of this hall... or how did they get the trees looking so life-like and made out of stone. I am simply too busy to be bothered with 'Walking'.

So, imagine my surprise when an elf steps out from behind a column, arms folded, regarding us warily. I didn't feel quite as bad not seeing where he came from, as my companions seemed a bit surprised as well.

"It's about time you came. Are you my relief? Do you know how long I've been waiting?" The first words from the elf demanded of us.

Thinking quickly and also thinking he was an enemy, I played along.

"Yeah, we're here. So what is the situation?" I asked with the universal bored expression of the professional soldier. My companions, also recognized the opportunity and played along.

The elf's eyes narrowed as he got a good look at our party, widening slightly at the Centaur form of Scott.

"You're not followers of Shar." he said softly.

Again, I tried to bluff, but while I can intimidate the fleas off a Dire Wolf, bluffing is not my strong suite.

"You doubt our Lady?" I tried once more, but he just shook his head.

"I've never seen a Centaur in the service of Shar." His look was one of complete disbelief and being unmasked, so to speak, I nodded

"I suppose not." and with a quickly muttered incantation, I tossed a surprise Orb of Cold in his direction. Blasted thing went right through him. I cringed as it hit the wall behind him, but with some divine favor, it didn't penetrate the protective spells of the Tower.

The surprised look on the Elf's face didn't last long and with incredible speed, he closed the distance between us, lashing out at me with a long sword.

I gritted me teeth from the pain as it bit into my shoulder, but twisted away before it could do much damage. I stepped back behind my companions as they closed in on the warrior.

"Remember we need him alive." I cried out to my companions as Jaren's hammer swished through the apparition, clanging off the floor with his mighty swing. Rob's axe following, with the same result.

Scott bellowed in rage and running around the pillar, some small scrabbling heard on the stone floor, appeared behind the thing, swords flashing. One finally seeming to bite into the Elf, who grimaced in pain.

Knowing his secret, I threw an orb of force this time, but went wide of my mark, narrowly missing Scott and again hitting the wall of the tower. Luckily the wards held again.

The flurry of weapon play way amazing between my companions and the lone elf. While most missed their mark, enough connected that the elf was wincing from the pain with each swing. Suddenly, he turned and stepped into one of the tree pillars. Directly into the stone trunk.

"I shall watch you." came a disembodied voice from the tree and all of a sudden it hit me like an empowered, maximized lightning bolt. I called to my companions to halt their attacks and blushing slightly from embarrassment, called out to the elf.

"Forgive us master elf. You must be the caretaker of this tower, are you not?" my voice wavered a little as I spoke, not used to making such blunders as this one.

"Indeed I am. And you are not followers of Shar. Who are you?" came back the voice.

Clearing my throat, I glace around to my companions with a small sigh, seeing the comprehension and chagrin in their faces as well.

"We are not followers of Shar, but enemies of her and her plans. We have been asked by the current council in Myth Drannor to look into the possibility of enemies having penetrated into your home. I take it you have had run ins with the followers of Shar?"

"I have." the tower guardian replied. "They have infiltrated may of the areas of the tower, and disabled my ability to track them. The only thing I am sure of, is the Atrium level holds an evil that I am not sure you would be able to overcome at this time."

I tap my lip with my finger a little nervously as I ask my next question. "Will you help us to clear out the interlopers?"

He replied, "I cannot. I have been wounded and must rest for now." we all hung our heads a little sheepishly at that point, "But I will watch and we will see if you are who you say you are... and will help or hinder accordingly. The stairs to the left lead to the dormitory, the stairs to the right, the tower armory. Touch nothing, take nothing that is a part of this tower. I will be watching."

With that, the voice and presence was gone.

Turning to my companions, I shrug ruefully, "Well, at least we realized our error before we took it too far." They don't seem to be in the mood for a laugh, other than Scott who smirks at me, so we turn back to exploring.

There were two ways out of the great hall. Stairs to the right and left, going up, as indicated by the tower guardian. Figuring one way is as good as another, we head up the right to the Armory. Not that we could necessarily TAKE anything, but it was, well, an armory. The pull was too irresistible.

The stairs ended fairly quickly in a large vaulted room, weapons and armor studding the walls and racks. Mirthril, and master grade weapons abounded, as did a whole row of magical weapons I noticed with my Arcane sight.

We moved about the room, appreciating the quality of the work, when Jaren noticed a faint line in the stone. Evidently there was a secret door.

Heading over to investigate, suddenly the wall slide back, as did two others in the room, a large stone golem with blue glowing eyes stepping out to confront us. Golems also stepped out of the other two slots we'd missed.

"Who sent you here?" a voice boomed from the Golem in front of us.

"We meant no harm, the tower guardian sent us. We promised to touch nothing." I stammered out in surprise.

The golems silently starred at us for a moment before the voice boomed out again. "Then go and touch nothing. We will watch."

Nodding we all fairly fled the room. Knowing elven magic and the importance of the room, we were probably lucky to get out of there alive.

Moving down the stairs quickly, we cross the great hall and head up the stairs to the left. Coming up into the center of the room, we are confronted with 12 doors. Four on each side and two before and behind us.

Being as quiet as possible, we move from room to room, finding almost all of them identical, except two with false walls. Behind the one, was a door leading up. Behind the other, well, my arcane sight indicated it was another teleportation portal.

Checking the door first, we found it was locked, which led us to a sudden and interesting realization. Not one of us could open a locked door quietly and without damage. This event even caused Rob, the most serious among us, to laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation, as we'd promised not to break anything, so were stymied in this direction. Calls to the Tower Guardian to see if HE could open it for us, went unheeded.

Resigned, we went to the other false wall.

"Now make sure you follow me quickly." I admonished the group as I stepped through the wall and appeared at the top of a flight of stairs going down. The subsequent arrival of my companions made that area quite uncomfortable until we started down the stairs.

The hallway let us to an intersection, the corridor extending down and going left and right. Exploring the left and right, we found rooms with cages and tables in them.

"These seem to be dissection rooms, but I can't imagine Elves doing anything like that." I muttered to no one in particular. Scott leaning to inspect the cages noticed bones of a number of types of animals.

"Looks like Hawk, Owl, Ferret, frogs and a few others." he points out the various skeletons.

"Sounds more like the types of animals that would be familiars." I mused, which was the best explanation we could come up with on short notice.

Not finding anything of interest, we went back to the intersection and kept moving down the hallway. Another small room and we were teleported again.

This time we arrived in two separate groups on platforms above a large circular room. The room had many exits. meeting in the middle, we went north first, finding a large garden. Statues of Lathandar and other elven gods decorated the beautiful area. But not seeing anything of interested, we decided to go south in the circular room.

South proved to be a shrine area.

"May Mystra strike them down", I swore as we entered and saw a desecrated and defaced statue of Mystra before us, A large mosaic of tile that should have been in front of the statue, was also pulled up and scattered about the room. There was not much else in here.

Something tugged at my mind, though and I could not leave the area of my Goddess desecrated in such an evil manner. Quickly consulting my companions we decided we did not have the expertise to fix the statue, but the mosaic. I was VERY good with puzzles and putting it back together would at least give the area some of it proper feeling.

Getting to work, with the help of dwarves, it took us 8 hours to finally get the last piece in place. The moment we slipped it into place, though, the whole mosaic suddenly glowed and fused back together. The newly formed holy symbol of Mystra glowed magnificently and I felt a rush of relief, despite the still defaced form of my Goddess.

Suddenly the Tower Guardian was face to face with us again, standing on the mosaic, looking refreshed and healed and something a bit more. He smiled at us, which I must admit was a relief as well.

"Well done. You have restored a part of my power to detect enemies in my tower." He bowed slightly to us in appreciation.

"Is there more we can do to give you your full power back?" I asked eagerly, knowing the advantage this would give us.

"Other than restoring the statue to Mystra, no." the guardian pointed to the defaced statue that was beyond our ability to fix. "But I can tell you right now, that there are undead in the area off the Dormitories, that I can feel now you have restored me in part."

We all ahhh, remembering the door. "Can you open that door for us? We cannot open it without breaking the door down." Jaren asked hopefully.

"Nay, but it will be of small consequence if you break through it. It would be a small matter for my repair golems to fix." the guardian gives a small laugh, "Though your restraint is most appreciated."

We all smile and nod, "No time like the present. Let's go and find out what's behind that door." I say to my companions, my smile turning to an excited grin at the prospect of battle.