[scifibarbie]

Idont know how i get mixed up in all this stuff!

I was heading back from stone a few days ago when i saw a bunch of frineds gathered near the docks in mariners hold. There was this rough and tough dwarf who was recruiting help for Red Bear from hurm to go in seach of some sword or something.

I guess it was an important artifact that the red bear had been looking for this thing for many years. The dwarf, he was first mate i guess, chartered us a ship to go to some place out in the middle of the oceans! He said wed know if wed found what we were looking for when we got there. So cryptic..sheesh.

Well...we found this small island with lots of wrecks all around it. There was a siren singing and that lived there, I guess i musta been zapped by her cause i really dont remember much from the time i heard this song until the time i was on teh island!

there was a small temple on the island, na teh sea hag, shed been singing actually, was kinda rude at first. But then she took a liking to our bard and the two were sitting and getting all smoochy (not really, but i liketo tease him about it) while we were trying to figure out how to enter a temple the hag said was nearby.

We finally did. It was a temple to Shindelaria and it was huge!! The archaic (i think she was the temples head priest) asked why we were there and what business we had with them. Me being me, and remembing the story uncle Kyle told me about how he helped free the avatar of shindi along time ago spoke right up. I introduced myself and said i was the niece (well its sorta true) of mr Kyle. She knew who he was right away, and she actually ended up being pretty polite to me after that!

Well, we told what we were after and why. It was then she told us that what we sought must never again be returned to to the world. She seemed pretty upset. She said it had to do with a terrible moment in the past, some centuries ago. She said she woudlnt speak of it openly, since its tale was only known to the high priestesses it was such a horrible thing. She told us generally about it, how a pirate named Jothrum had conquered the oceans and made war upon all that sailed the seas. Inthe end he captured and put to death and his body severed and taken to the far distant reaches of the seas!

She said she would send us to a grotto were all the knowledge we sought coudl be found. I never breathed underwater before! That was really weird, but kinda neat too! From a small undersea temple we entered the grotto, there was air in there actually, but it was terribly cold...worse than Krashin!

We found this pillar in the middle of one of the small caves along our path. It told the story of Jothram. It seems he started out as a small time thug and cutpurse, but somehow he ended up making a deal with Mist herself, or so it was said. Afterwards, he untied the pirates and raped and pillaged the oceans until none were safe who traveled the seas! How the waters would calm, and the winds be in his favor whenever he appeared, and his enemies would founder in sudden storms and squalls.

In the end, it was a priestess of Mist who sowed his undoing. She made a deal with many merchant houses and set a trap for Jothram. There was to be ahuge shipment of gold leaving some small port in secret. Jothram took the bait, and was set up by a huge fleet of ships..he was finally caught!

He was judged guilty, and the priest of Mist who set him up decreed his punishment. To be quartered by ship and his body sent to the far reaches of the seas. He was lashed, one limb per ship...and then the 5 ships set sail in 5 differnt directions. And that was the end of Jothram.

the part of the legend that we were concerned with was the sword of jothram. Supposedly if one were to gather all teh parts of Jothram, then he would be resurrected and the horrors he brought upon the world would return! Sounds like another person im dealing with right now...

The shindies seem to think the sword is the actual key to Jothrams power and that the person who wielded the sword of Jothram could unite all the pirates of the world under one banner. That he would repeat Jothrams 45 years of terror on the high seas! It sfunny..though..the words on the pillar also said one of good character could unite all the pirates of the sea under one banner, but would be a noble and benevolent leader of seafarers.

Well..obviously this has sparked alot of debate amongst us all! We have a shindi bard with us, and a misty bard..always a good combination Nothing but icicles between those two. Me..I just wanted to see this sword. If its as powerful an artifact as it sounds like..I really have my reservations about returning it tothe world. But, I also realize that if we could find its location, then even if we left it here..others would eventually come and take it. I felt it best to recover the thing and truly see if it held sway over mens hearts..or if it was merely a rusted sword. I guess it must hold some sway, cause hardy and mr lex are constantly arguing over it. Who is gonna take it, are they gonna leave it or giveit red bear.

I think the worst of it came down when i found this book. It turned to dust in my hands, but one page survived..it had a bunch of lines on it, with blotches at various intervals. Chiara said it represented notes, like music. the bookcase it came from had skel heads all around it taht made a terrible racket when i took the book initially, an there was a large drawer with keys on it. Push a key and give the wrong note...and someone was turned into mummy! Poor Yvale got it twice! I guess lady luck didnt like her that day.

well..teh other part was some hag trapped behind a magical barrier. Turns out she had the key ( amusical note i guess) and hardragh got that from her. Well..Chiara decided to destroy the sheet music i let her see. And that jsut started a whole nother mess. Jaigs though he was being funny by pressing the random key on the keypad thinger...Thats how poor Yvale got it the second time!

After awhile, since chiara obviously wasnt going to be of any help. They guys decided to try and push the bookcase out of the way. After awhile they managed to do it! We went into a small grotto where there was a hole in the ground and pedestal with saltwater on. They were both emitting really strong magical energy..complete opposites..abjurative and evocoative magics...they were in a state of war it seemed. It was a tough riddle to figure out thats for sure!

//to be continued