| The World of Teréth End - Chronicles - Othic |
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"Too often days swiftly pass / Weeping in the evening grass / There just is not enough time / Forthings you dreamt you'd do / The hours still drift by. "Too many years, too high a cost / Too many lessons earned but lost / And still you complain all the time / Cursing the days before you / Lamentng the days gone by. "And finally laying in your bed / Staring skyward, nearly dead / It all floods back one last time, / The chances that you left behind / But alas there's little left to do / ... but cry." Dirimoran song  |
Allies and Ambushes Returned to Oddon group meets with Lord Yurander. Jak is confronted at dinner. Alcerra performs services in the family crypt for Lisilla's children. Evidence of Danok activity is found alive and well in Oddon. Foulstern arrives, makes a temporary peace, and suggests the company leave. In the Ghûlwood the group is ambushed by thieves and a manticore. A thieves' den is found and emptied. Arriving at Oddon Keep the welcomed group dismounted and met with different people. Jak the Red and Kaithah walked to the main tower to talk with Thr. Enthor, Alcerra was pulled aside by the Chamberlain Felze and given a long note, and Mishara went in search of the wizard Idus. Idus, Mishara was told had left days before, but left the Elve the items he'd lent Idus to look over. On the morning of the 6th, Mishara was summoned to the throne of Lord Orun Yurander who related to the Elve a story about an Elve "spy" found dead in the gutters of Oth some 40 years prior. The old Lord asked whether Mishara had anything to do with this, and Mishara assured him that he did not. Sometime during this meeting, Kaithah ingratiated herself to the Lord and offered to play music at some upcoming event. The Lord, losing his chain of thought, felt this was a wonderful idea, and dismissed the group. Mishara spent the day wandering the streets of Oddon. He was harassed briefly in the street by a few of the Lords' Men whose armies were camped outside town. Following that nuisance he found a cutlery and ordered a scabbard to be made by the proprietor Acharal who gave the Elve a hard time about buying for a woman. Afterward, Mishara wandered toward the docks and met a young boy fishing. Mishara and the boy walked to a nearby wood where the Elve created a crude bow and set of arrows for the orphan. The Elve did not fully concentrate on his art as he was observing the nearby encampment while carving. That night, at the Lord's Dinner, Kaithah played some delightful tunes for Old Yurander while arguments elevated around the dining table. Jak, having worn his ancient armor to the dinner, piqued the curiosity of one of the invited guest, a Knight of the Iron Order, Thr. Geran, leader of the army camped outside Portage. After some questions the knight accused Jak with the invasion of Kry Shurulm and possible collusion with the Elve, Mishara. Thr. Enthor stood in the defense of Jak's character, explaining that they he'd helped defend Oddon Keep during the recent siege. Thr. Geran was unconvinced and agreed to summon Foulstern, the Lord's advisor, to settle the matter. With the argument at an end Thr. Geran asked permission of the Lord to excuse himself, and departed. Across the table, Thr. D'Chirr chuckled bemusedly while the Lord's first son silently slid from the room. Kaithah resumed playing her tunes. On the next day, Alcerra joined Lady Lisilla Yurander in the keep crypt to pray over the tombs of her children, at the Lady's request. Mishara and Kaithah meanwhile, journeyed into Oddon despite the day's drizzle and stopped for a time in an inn. Kaithah overheard a conversation between two dockworkers of two red sailed galleys pulling from the southern harbor a couple days past. Neither man could guess where the small ships were headed, for they didn't seem too seaworthy. Following their visit at the inn, Kaithah and Mishara visited Acharal's Cutlery and picked up the scabbard for Kaithah's Elve blade. The two then returned in the rain to the small wood, and observed a red and orange robed figure in the eastern camp summoning columns of flames from a bonfire. Soon afterward, the two returned to the keep. In a half-hour's time, the two lost the bandit's tracks amiss a jumble of stones. Searching among the rocky outcroppings they were soon attacked by barbs, whistling through the air. The barbs were followed by a massive winged monster leaping into the air. Mishara began firing at the roaring creature, but he pulled one back too far, and it splintered on his bow. In a hail of the tail barbs, the creature dove through the charred trees and rain. The Elve tried to find cover behind some of the low foliage but the creature plowed into him, savagely tearing at the archer with its large teeth. Jak rushed the creature and soon impaled the thing to the muddy forest floor. After searching the creature's cave they continued deeper into the Ghûlwood. Finding a cabin, Jak and Mishara carefully followed the disappearing footprints to the front door. Kicking and knocking in the boarded window they unlocked the door and enter the bandit's lair. Jak opened a side door and a small smoking pouch bounced out the darkness. Jak lunged forward into the darkness with his spear. A sword from the shadows found his back, but Mishara cut at the arm and it withdrew. With the Elve's help Jak found one resident and throated him. Turning into the darkness he talked a moment with the remaining bandit, who accepting his fate, told Jak that his life was done for the sword that had cut into his back was poisoned. Jak asked for an anecdote but learned that the bandits of the Ghûlwood don't believe in such things. Mishara watched as Jak the Red ripped his spear out of one man, and planted it into the second. The two found a small strongbox under the floor and returned an hour through the rain toward their waiting friends. When Alcerra finished praying over the dead, the group continued north into the darkening evening. With night almost upon them, they turned East toward Genter for the night. 10 Apr 1998
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Navigation People Acharal
(Exp4) Introducing Ghûlwood: Below
the buzzing Southswall lies a crooked
forest called the Ghûlwood. The
forest is littered wth stones and mounds which may be the remains of an
ancient cemetery on the site. Despite it's quiet, the wood is a
haven for bandits and thieves. The only road from Oth to the Elmark
passes between the forest's blackened boles. The woods were torched
in 648 DR by Endren's Seven, in
an attempt to rout bandits from the area. The plan worked long enough
to win the High Lord's favor and the permission to attack the Theocracy
of Danok.
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| Ref. PHB (Player's Handbook), © Wizards of the Coast  |
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The
next morning, Jak was summoned to the keep courtyard where he found a lonely
figure standing in a rain-drenched cloak. Drawing nearer, he recognized
Foulstern who had arrived during the early morning hours. Foulstern
explained that Thr. Geran wouldn't cause more problems for the next couple
days, but that the group should leave Oddon before the thard learned the
truth. Jak did not question Foulstern's actions but instead gathered
his friends and set out north, into the