Adventure Journals

This entry takes place several months after the previous narrative. Brighton left the group several game weeks earlier, as the group traveled the Pilgrimage Route. Also, Ulm Curvehorn and Rensil have joined the group. These entries are also written by the players themselves, as opposed to narrative adaptations by me.

This entry contains story elements from the adventure idea "Right End, Wrong Means" from Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom ©1996 FASA Corp. No challenge is intended to that copyright.

16 Mawag 1509

We returned in the middle of the night to the Cloud Runner, and the relative peace and calm of the airship. The visit to Talon's Vale proved illuminating. I now understand Bearclaw so much better. His village is much more developed than I had guessed, and the amount of power generated in Bearclaw's ceremony was stupefying. I wouldn't have believed in that amount of astral energy for the funeral of King Varulus III. Nevertheless, it happened, and I'm at a loss to explain it.

18 Mawag

The last two and a half days have been virtually eventless. All of us passengers have spent some time meditating on our talents. Ulm was particularly restless, and needed action to relax. He and Dorra engaged in a practice duel with wooden blades. I lost 2 silver betting on the troll. Never bet against the military. Mica restored our honor, however, and I got my money back. (Never bet against Mica!) The three of them seem to have bonded, although the wisdom of this is questionable. Ulm and Mica seem to have overlooked the fact that Dorra is only a temporary liason between us and Throal. Once our current mission is finished, she'll return to active duty. I hope Ulm remembers this.

Late this afternoon we were met by Travar's air patrol. Apparently several airships have disappeared recently, prompting an increase in patrol and escort duties. We then caught our first view of Travar from above. Despite having been here as an apprentice, I was overwhelmed by the aerial view. the sense of history radiated by the pre-Scourge architecture was immense. If only the walls could talk...

Our first stop was the Throalic embassy. The ambassador's aide, Blair, met us and filled us in on the particulars of the ambassador's disappearance. He had last been seen on the fourth by the elf merchant Tyresia Keels. Keels and Nurnborg often met to negotiate and argue over the Council Compact (Nurnborg's favorite topic). Given Nurnborg's interest and position, his disappearance could very well be a kidnapping by either a faction supporting making a Throalic protectorate of Travar, or a faction opposed to it.

Blair installed us in rooms at a nearby inn, The Happy Windling. Sorry Roahl, but the Drifting Griffin doesn't hold a candle to the Windling (and Throal is picking up the bill). We ate, had a quick strategy session, and then went to sleep, perchance to dream. And dream we did. Another shared dream, of the kind we suffered under the Dreamstalker, only this one was caused by Bearclaw. He told us that the Passions were allowing him to answer some (but not all) questions, and he had a message for us. The Shivalahala Syrtis had given him a riddle, and he shared it with us.

When the stone that was silenced sings again
When the crossroads have chosen which way to go
When the trust has been broken
And the dragon's daughter returns home

Our initial dissection of the riddle was as follows: the first line could possibly refer to the stone sphinx in the harbor at Thera, but this is simply the only possibility I can think of. The second line probably concerns Throal's crown prince, Neden, whose name means "crossroads." The third line probably refers to the Council Compact, although who would break it (Neden?) remains unclear. The dragon's daughter in the last line is most likely the girl Aardelea, or possibly the obsidian statue that she found. How these are connected is another question.

19 Mawag

This morning Silar and I returned to the embassy to search Nurnborg's quarters. A thorough search revealed nothing out of the ordinary, although Silar took some clothing to try using his Direction Arrow. Ulm is spending the day at a local smithy, trying to learn the local opinions on Throal and the Compact. Dorra, Rensil, and Mica visited Keels but found out nothing useful. Except for Silar's Direction Arrow, we have little to go on.

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