Maran 16-23, 653 DR: Dealings with the Ort Bragnar Bar draw to a close. Grazzad’s final guard are found and killed in the Dwürden keep. Dammon finds a magical tome. The group leaves the caves and Mishara receives the Call of Calsàdor. Mishara treks northwest across the mountains to Calsàdor where he receives the Ancient Duty. Group continues south and kills Dire Bear. Group camps near hot springs.

Continued from Grazzad’s Command.

Kændor, 16 Maran 653

Almus shrugged his shoulders, but there was nothing more he could do. Jak nodded and returned to the slave cavern where there were furs to lay on away from the carnage and broken mushrooms. The mission into the tunnels of the Ort Bragnar Bar, in search of the missing caravan and Lord Rott’s box was looking less and less hopeful. There seemed to be no end to the burly monsters and according to Kehen, the Dwürden slave who spoke through the translations of Ezíkus, there were hundreds more waiting just outside the mountain. Not a member of the group had not been wounded, and all shared the empty stares of people trying not to remember when a companion was brutally hacked down beside them. The blood-spattered place stank of death and they would not be able to remain here long.

Ezíkus explained Kehen’s agitation. The Dwürden seemed dumbfounded that the Ortor had not sent another wave into the caves to rout them. He suggested that they should press forward despite their injuries, or retreat from the complex entirely. Jak fished an old potion from his supplies and felt the restoration of its magics course briefly through this battered body. The relief was slight, but it gave him the strength to stand and return to the main cave. Dammon stood waiting among the mushrooms. He explained that the “keep” was deeper in the caverns and within that area a handful of Ortor were waiting in ambush. They both understood that somewhere in the keep might lie the stolen box, the focus of their mission. It was finally decided that they should muster the remaining fighters and push forward into the rear of the old keep, from which Mishara and Tressta had recently returned. The twisting cave came to a cracked stone door and a series of rooms that were abandoned except for piles of furs scattered about the floors.

As Tressta slipped through a third door, arrows shattered into the surrounding stonework. Ortòri talk could be heard in the distance; the ambush was near. Almus enchanted a necklace with light and Dammon summoned a spirit to carry it into the dark room. As the light moved into the pillared hall, one after another of the group slipped in and hid behind the pillars there. Arrows flew from a distant balcony where the Ortor held positions behind the crumbling statues of ancient Dwürden lords. Slowly the group pressed forward under cover of darkness, moving from pillar to pillar. Saldus killed the first of them with his crossbow, while Mishara’s arrows found the rest. As they made their way up to the balcony they found five of the creatures dead. Jak made sure that they would not stir again.

The area was explored. Beyond the balcony, a set of double-doors opened into a vast pillared hall. The walls and columns were covered with Dwürden reliefs and an old lettering. The floor was littered with piles of matted hides, and the stench of the Ortor was thick in the air. At the chamber’s end a large drum was found whose skin consisted of stretched Yrūn faces. Tressta, searching the back wall, found a hidden door which shifted inward from her touch. Jak pushed the door open to reveal a passage running behind the hall’s rear wall. Kehen looked in and saw a symbol of Death on the wall inside and explained that the passage led to a tomb and that they should not enter. Meanwhile, Dammon cast a spell which led him to a golden-leather bound book hidden beneath a pile of fine furs. Impressed with the magic that it radiated he stowed it among his possessions for future examination. In the hall’s corner they found an expertly crafted wooden box encased in delicate iron workings of circling dragons, sitting within a blast circle. Dammon explained that the box radiated tangled Vorbid magics. Tressta determined that there was no trap but that it was locked. With their treasure in hand, the group turned and left the caverns behind.

As they moved through the areas of fallen companions and Ortor, Dammon explained to them that there may be three Ortor scouts awaiting them in the canyon outside. Slowly, they worked their way through the narrow tunnels with more than a score of addled slaves traveling behind. Reaching the room of the pool once more they swam and crawled through the underwater passage. In the outer cave they stopped and waiting for their eyes to adjust to the daylight outside. Once their sight returned, Mishara stepped into the open air, and changed. Standing in the cold air and churning mountain canyon winds, the Eylfāe stood straight and put his longbow on his back, drawing the sword that Norgus had dropped when he died. His friends watched as he then put on Norgus’s torc and hides, outwardly transforming himself into the barbarian they’d met in this same canyon days before. An Ortòri sniper was spotted, but Mishara’s mind grew cloudy when he tried to draw his bow. After much internal conflict, he and Jak rushed across the canyon floor and up the mountain-slope, dispatching the archer and one other. Regaining his breath, Jak noticed that Mishara had a faraway look in his eye as looked into the western peaks. The Eylfāe explained that he must go to Calsàdor, Norgus’s homeland.

The group reassembled and decided to stay near the cave mouth for a day, until Flender was strong enough to bring through the underwater passage. Their mountaineer soldier had not awakened in days. For the day’s remainder and throughout the following night, Ezíkus and Almus tended to the wounds of the injured. Mishara stood in the freezing winds and snow watching for signs of Ortor moving among the stones and mountainsides. If any were there, they kept hidden.

Malídor, 17 Maran 653

Come morning, Ezíkus reported that Flender had improved and might be moved later in the day. When the weak man could be moved he was carried through the underwater passage and warmed by a fire on the far side. When everyone had been moved in this manner, and warmed so as not to freeze in the blowing winds outside; they moved the entire group away from the Old Taldàni Road and up into the western mountain slopes. There, after hours of walking and searching the slopes, Flender and Mishara found a large outcropping of rock hidden behind a stand of pines. Here pine-bough shelters were built and a large bonfire was constructed to keep the shore-less hide-wrapped slaves warm. After a watch or two, Tressta returned from an unsuccessful hunt. Food was rationed out to all that huddled on the mountain slope.

Arguments flared by the fireside about what should be done next. Mishara insisted that he needed to visit Calsàdor and return the weapons to the people there before he could continue southward into Taldàna. Jak suggested that they accompany Mishara, but others protested that the slaves would not survive mountain crossing, and Saldus refused to abandon the mission given them by Lord Rott. The only objective remaining, he explained, was to carry the box to Taldàna. He had lost most of his soldiers, and did not want to risk the mission with unnecessary side-trips. Tempers flared as the discussion bore on. It was suggested that Ezíkus and Elidir should return with the slaves to Oð but this too was dismissed as dangerous, and ultimately foolhardy. It was finally decided that the group would continue south along the Old Taldàni Road and when they reached a warmer place they would rest and wait four days so that Mishara could find them, for he was to continue on to Calsàdor alone. With this agreed upon, Mishara gathered his things and stalked out into the snowy mountain-slopes. He would not return.

Amdor, 18 Maran 653

When the morning sun’s fingers stretched down the snowy slopes, the group finished their breakfast and broke camp. Flender reported that Ortor parties were camped along the valley road, so they had to find another way. After searching the slopes, Flenderwas able to lead the group south along a snowy ridge. After many watches, they descended again to the Old Taldàni Road, stopping only to bandage the bare feet of the slaves that followed them.

Mishara looked for Calsàdor.

Wōdìndor, 19 Maran 653

The group continued south along the Old Taldàni Road.

No one could know his exact thoughts, whether they be of betrayal or fear of what lie before him. The disgruntled Eylfāe traveled tirelessly across the jagged landscape. At the end of the second day, he came to a wooded mountain slope where two bowmen stood along a narrow path. The leader introduced himself as Collus, a Ranger of Calsàdor. He asked Mishara questions about Norgus and how he’d come to possess the items he wore and carried. Mishara expressed that he only wished to return the items toCalsàdor and be on his way. The ranger and his men, some more of which emerged from the surrounding trees, escorted the Eylfāe to a small bucolic village on the mountainside.

He was led to the Grey Inn there where he was visited by Eril Klirvane, a “teacher” for the people of Calsàdor. The two talked for some time about Norgus and the village and the fact that (as Eril put it) the sword Iskaravor had chosen Mishara, despite theEylfāe’s insistence that he had merely picked the item up from the corpse of Norgus. Eril dismissed the idea that the occurrence had been merely chance and explained that the priestess would make things clearer to him. Mishara insisted that he was not the Defender of Calsàdor and that this was all either a mistake or an evil plot. More than once the Eylfāe thought to set the items aside, but he could not bring himself to discard them.

A small time later, Mishara was led up the mountainside to a small round temple. There an old woman, hunched by the weight of her necklace, greeted him. She introduced herself as Ina Orgya. He continued his arguments that this was a mistake but the woman only told him, it was not his time to speak. She walked to the far side of the room and grabbed an elaborate scroll. While holding the scroll she said many things in an old dialect that Mishara could not grasp. Finally she read from the Scroll of the Ancients. When done she explained that the ritual was complete and that Mishara was now the new Defender of Calsàdor. The Eylfāe was enraged. Crossing the room he snatched the scroll from its table and threatened to toss it into one of three roaring fireplaces of the chamber. Ina pleaded that he reconsider, but offered no resistance. The rangers simply stood and watched. Finally, the priestess ushered the rangers from the room and explained more of the Calsàdorans to the angered Eylfāe. She explained that they were an old people, and that the scroll had been handed down to them from their most distant ancestors, to ensure that they could live in peace in these very dangerous lands and times. This did not quell the Eylfāe’s anger, who stormed from the temple with the scroll under one arm.

Within the village he found a narrow three-story building with a glowing lantern hanging from a post near its roof. The priestess had explained that here he would find Eril Klirvane, who might be able to explain more to him. He knocked on the door with his sword and the teacher answered. Mishara stormed inside looking for an important chair, but finding none that were extraordinary. Eril tried to calm the Eylfāe, but Mishara insisted that the people of the village were evil to have done this to him, and again threatened to toss the scroll into the fireplace. Eril cast a spell to protect himself from fire, and offered to discuss matters with him. Eril explained that Ina was one of a line of priests who kept the traditions and wishes of their distant ancestors alive. He explained that the priestess believed that the people of Calsàdor were the inheritors of Cuilarulyr, a secret Eylfāe city hidden among the northern peaks and that the scroll had been given to their ancestors at a time near that city’s end. He explained that the Ancestral Scroll ensured that there would always be a guardian of the village, so that when the “king” returned, his people would be safe. Eril went on to explain that all of Calsàdor were descended from a long line of Eylfāe, diluted over the millennia by the Defenders that had served. Norgus had been an Yrūn when he arrived, Eril explained, but was accepted as part of the community when the Defender duty was granted him. The wizard tried his best to convince Mishara that being a Defender was a boon, not a curse, but the archer would have none of it. After a time, Eril escorted Mishara to the cottage that awaited him, that awaited all Defenders.

Iyldor, 20 Maran 653

After traveling south for three days, the group descended into an wooded valley crossed by a mountain stream. Here they replenished their water and organized a hunting party to find food, which was growing terribly scarce with nearly 40 mouths to feed. Before the hunting parties departed however, the quarry found them. Moving among the slender pines something very large circled. Flender ran forward to spy on the monster and returned more pale than the snow. He reported that it was a bear but that it was as large as a cottage. No sooner than his description had been delivered, a roar trembled through the mountain valley and the dark shape charged through the trees. Jak positioned himself in the Dire Bear’s path with Punishment set against the monster’s advance. Almus came to his side to enchant the spear. The monster-bear rushed forward. Another roar filled the valley as Punishment sunk deeply into the monster’s hide. A paw the size of a wagon slashed at Jak ripping into his armor and dragging him through the stream beneath the monster’s bulk. The Dwürden warrior Kehen rushed forward with his hand-axe, but the bear swatted him aside before he had crossed half the distance. Saldus and Elidir charged forward, stabbing with their swords. Tressta circled the beast and sunk her rapier into an undefended flank. Another roar filled the valley, followed by the sound of millions of icicles falling from the trees. Almus darted forward to administer to Jak’s struggling form, but as he did so the giant bear’s claw lashed out and killed the young priest. Jak struggled but could not budge the monster’s paw. He could feel his breath ebbing; it would not be long now. Joining the fray, Dammon unleashed a barrage of Arcane missiles but they did not seem to bother the beast. After what seemed like minutes, the repeated stabbing and slashing of its foes weakened the monster, until it wobbled and fell with a woeful groan, collapsing onto Jak’s smothered form.

After digging their comrade out from beneath the Dire Bear, Dammon, who had levitated himself above the fray early in the battle, spotted a possible camping spot on the southern wall of the valley. After a while, Flender returned from the area and agreed that it was a good location for hot springs bubbled from the mountainside there. The injured and the slaves were taken to the spot and a good camp was set. After bandaging wounds and setting-up camp, Ezíkus was laid to rest beneath a stone cairn, one more lost to the High Lord’s quest. After harvesting meat from the giant beast for several watches, the party settled-in by the fire. Over the next few days, the gaze of more than one fell upon the Dragul Box they had recovered. How could the contents of such a small chest, be worth the lives of all that had been lost?

Irídor, 21 Maran 653

Resting and waiting for Mishara.

Roydor, 22 Maran 653

Resting and waiting for Mishara.

Sūdìdor, 23 Maran 653

Resting and waiting for Mishara.

Continued in The Old Taldàni Road.

Characters

• Dammon Shroudson
• Jak of Cænden
• Mishara Mythdaras: geased
• Saldus Greymane
• Tressta Drynsval
• Cr. Almus of Roð: killed
• Bakrot: killed
• Cruss the Fat
• Familiar
• Elidir ur Saldagir
• Eril Klirvane
• Ettegus Tolvor: unknown
• Cr. Ezíkus of Roð
• Fagkûr: killed
• Flender Orgh
• Glashnag: killed
• Glorag: killed
• Ina Orgya
• Kehen Churbul
• Lûrgûk: killed
• Norgus of Calsàdor: dead
• Khagûm: killed
• Rorn Garadur
• Snagrol: killed
• Syla Garadur
• Valus ur Saldus

Played: 06 Jan 2001