Ferrit's notes

[Serissa]

I traded 2 cougar bags to Bumblebee for 16 issues of his newsletter. I paid Lia the rent for this month and next month, since she is going on a trip.
  I sold Darkchild a cloth hood and a panther cape, and the same to Drogo. I traded a jaguar armor to Elgon Merrick for fire bombs and coal. Hewill need panther armor before too much longer. He already has one of my panther leather capes. Geldar Astendor would be interested in a lion bag.
  I gave Jennara 5000 coins, a studded black leather armor and a wolf armor, and 4 loaves of bread, all for the relief of Roldem. I've also given her a worg armor and 7 milks. Kyle has been donating building materials.

[Serissa]

Decilar 19, 1405 at about noon, our son, Cole Pandorn, was born.  He was delivered by his father, Kyle, with the help of Rain Darsus.  He has the right number of fingers and toes and all seems well with him.  We were both tired and fell asleep quickly.

[Serissa]

I really must overcome my fear of putting my thoughts down where they might be seen.  I keep this little book well hidden and I don't do much that other folk would think bad anymore.  Cole is more than three now, and I'm expecting another child in the fall.  Cole is a fine lad, stong and smart. He will be a good fighter someday.  He takes after his father more each day.

I was in the midst of a group of people near the bank yesterday, talking to Kyoro, when I felt the most terrible tearing at my mind.  I heard the voices of children crying.  Others in the group felt it too.  Lin'da used magic and Kyoro her bond with the land to determine that the effect was an illusion caused by the aftereffects of demonic spells cast in the area.  A frightening thought!!  I haven't felt it since, but I wonder who or what could have cast such spells in Hlint and why?

[Serissa]

Baby Aylana was born today. I was home alone, but had no great difficulty. I'm very tired now. I'll rest and think until Kyle comes home. Cole will have a great surprise--a little sister, born Novlar 10, 1409!

It seems a lifetime ago that I first came to Hlint, and it was in fact, half my lifetime.  I was about 18 then. I was freshly sprung from prison, escaping sentence for burglary and probably murder.  Now I am 36, newly a mother for the second time, with a new-born daughter, a fine young son, a good husband, and a home of my own.

How did such good fortune come to me?  Not by my doing.  I held survival as my only goal, and lying, stealing, even killing, as the best means to survive.  The great dragon chose me and spirited me away to Hlint.  The goddess Ilsare brought Kyle Pandorn to me and filled him with love for me.  All the rest followed naturally.

What filled all those years?  Still the struggle to survive, but now aided by Kyle and by real friends.  Kyle became my conscience, my guide to acceptable, then honorable behavior.  I wonder, do I have a conscience of my own now, after so many years of trying to be what I am not?  I am not sure.

While I rest here with my new daughter, Aylana Pandorn, lovely name...  While I rest, I must think about the events in my life that have marked me--changed me, I hope.

Ahh, Kyle is here.  I will think later.

[Serissa]

I remember the day I met Kyle.  We cleaned out the Hlint crypts, then went to the inn for a few drinks.  I threatened some drunk who was ogleing me, and Kyle intervened.  That was the start of it, his trying to civilize my behavior.

A few days later, I went to mine gold with Tatchien and some others.  Things went bad, and Tatchien fell protecting our exit.  I remember thinking, "better him than me".

I traveled with Kyle a lot, and he kept trying to protect me--a novel concept.  I liked it.  He told me he loved me.  I didn't really understand, but I thought I might like it.  Here was someone who really wanted to take care of me--not that I really needed help, but still...

I remember the first time I felt ashamed of being a thief.  Kyle and I had joined a trading group, and they said I could use what I needed.  They didn't really mean it though, and accused me of stealing.  Kyle managed to smooth matters over and explained to me that I should have asked first.

Over time, I came to trust Kyle and rely on him--something I never thought I would be able to do.  I think I even began to love him, though I wasn't sure just what love was, then.  He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.  On Sunra, Mai 15, 1395, 4 years after I first came to Hlint, Kyle and I were married by Vestlyn.

[Serissa]

Well, I'm afraid I've answered one of my questions about myself. Have I really changed? I have in some ways. I've learned to love--I love my husband, my children, my friends. I enjoy helping people in general, especially helping them get the equipment they need to thrive here. But my basic nature hasn't really changed, I'm afraid. When faced with a threat to a friend, my mind went black with the urge to kill--a poisoned dagger, a mis-aimed arrow... Only the fact that her betrothed is a friend and loves this girl kept me from killing her. Poor Daniel! He's the bravest and most honorable man imaginable, but her slanderous gossip called him 'coward'. She has apparently made up with him now, but who knows how much damage has been done to his reputation, and at such a critical time! She will have some doing to convince me to travel with her though. I don't want her saying that Kyle or I caused her death or were reponsible for her death in even the most remote way. I hope for my friend's sake that she grows into a person worthy of him and lives long and happily with him.

[Serissa]

I can't believe I told Daniel my sordid history!  I can only hope he keeps it to himself.  If not, I'll be in terrible trouble.  How could I have done such a thing?  I wanted to give him hope for his brother...  Love can betray my instinct for self-preservation.  I must remember that.

[Serissa]

There is a child in deadly danger and another who cannot rest.
 
 Pigeon Fair, age eleven, returned to her farm near Ft. Llast to find her entire family dead.  Making her way to Hlint, she was doing odd jobs to survive when her plight was discovered by Rhynn and Acacia. They and others discovered that the deaths were no accident and that Pigeon was still being hunted.
 
 On the year anniversary of their deaths, the shades of her parents appeared at the grave site, unable to rest because her small brother's body had been recently removed. Rhynn discovered that Pige,as she is called, was being regularly scryed upon by someone using her brother's bones. Drogo recovered a tunic from the boy's empty grave.  Examining the area, Triba found there were old signs of a struggle with a large animal.  The group was attacked by a bull and killed it.
 
 The family had been fighting with neighbors over a piece of land. After their deaths and Pige's disappearance, the neighbors bought up all the land.  Ortheus, Healer of Toran in Ft. Llast, stated that the sale was legal and final as no heirs had come forward, although the money could be returned to a rightful heir.
 
 After dispelling a magical ward on the tunic, Rhynn and Connor scryed using the tunic.  She saw a red eye with no iris.  She discovered that the boy's bones were kept far away in a stone room in a cold glass box.  There was a presence there who had the same eye mark.  Connor said it was a castle or manor house, with an eye symbol flag flown from the roof.  He thought it might be north of Haven.  Both felt they could identify the presence if seen again.  Rhynn thought he was gaunt as a rail, and pale or fair, and blonde.  Connor thought he was deep in a room underground.
 
 On the Fairs' farm, Rhynn and Connor found that negative energy had been forced through the weave, beginning on the second floor of a tower and ending at the gravesite.  It was not a powerful type of magic, but a good deal of force had been used to project it.  A nearby tower was determined to be the property of the Welkes.
 
 A visit to Mr. and Mrs. Welke revealed a lot about the couple.  Mrs. Welke called her husband a "cruel piece of sludge" who turned out the bull to torment local children.  She reported seeing bright lights and hearing animal noises--a cow, perhaps--on the night of the Fairs' murder.  She said that her husband did not farm, paying others to work the land.  She told Lex that she stayed with her husband because she felt he would probably torture and kill everything he found, if she left him.  Eavesdropping, Triba heard her tell him to go check the tower, that there was something in it he had failed to take care of.
 
 When I next saw the group, Connor had somehow been bound to the spirit of the four year-old boy Merlin, who still shares his body.  His presence seems to give Connor severe headaches.  They had found a spellbook at the Welkes with a blue lightning mark on the front. Investigating the Welkes' tower, they found five symbols on the floor connected to the magic that killed the Fairs, including the eye, the lightning bolt, a purple rose, a musical eighth note and a hollow green square.  The square belonged to an abjurer named Lewis News, who lives in Yrain. When the group managed to turn off some magical lights in the tower, negative energy began bleeding everywhere over the field, threatening to make a wild magic area.  Last I knew, that still needed to be fixed.
 
 We visited the town of Lorax, not far from Hlint, to look for the remains of the boy in the home of Blagart or 'Scrying Eyes", a diviner whose symbol was the previously found "eye".  His house flew banners of orange and red with a diagonal pattern.  When Acacea managed to bamboozle his housekeeper into letting us see him, we found that the only thing he seemed to be concerned about was the possible wild magic area. However, he seemed to have difficulty talking about the whole episode and mention of the Welkes' name brought on a complete collapse.
 
 In the basement on a table, we found an elaborately warded glass casket with separate protections against the wards blowing up the rest of the house.  Rhynn discerned a set of five interlocking wards which could kill anyone tampering with the casket.  With great difficulty, She managed to undo the wards long enough for Triba to snatch the casket.
 
 We ran from the house carrying the unconscious mage, some papers from the basement, and the casket, and then watched while the tampered wards blew up the basement.  We found the housekeeper safe at the inn.  Connor said that the casket could not be returned to its resting place until the field was cleaned of wild magic.  Corba examined Blagart and found him to be blind, and to have been slowly starving and probably suffering from lack of sleep.
 
 The housekeeper, Sahara, revealed that Blagart had stopped accepting work and visitors several months ago, about the time he had a letter from the Welkes.  He had had a two-day visit from a purple clad woman with short, dark hair a month later--a woman who may have teleported into the home.  She seemed like a gypsy.  Connor reported that the purple rose symbol was seen on a gypsy caravan passing thru Fort Llast about two years ago.  He said that Merlin saw them but did not go near.
 
 Around the same time, Connor remembered Pige saying, Brenden got into a shouting match with Welke.  Welke made some accusations that angered him.  Pige thought that her mother knew something about Welke.  Merlin had become deaf just before then.
 
 When we returned to the house, Connor discovered a crystal that was an oral diary in Blagart's bedroom.  Most of it was incoherent, but he talked about a 'SHE' who 'wouldn't stop talking', 'always screams' 'brought up infernal names', 'made "THEM" cry', and insisted that Blagart 'look for "HER"'.  Blagart had given this person a'key' with which 'she could go in all by herself'.  He wondered what he should do when he found 'HER' and wanted to stop looking.  He cried that he couldn't stand the 'LITTLE BOY'S' crying. Blagart also seemed worried about investigators from 'TORAN' visiting him.  We left him after sending to Spellgard for help for him.
 
 We next visited Lewis News, an abjurer in Yrain.  His home was also well warded.  He had been forced to help with the ritual to protect the wizards from negative energy.  He said that the rose was a woman in a gypsy band.  He was unable to offer much more help because he was under a geas, which also prevented him from leaving town.  A message was sent to Spellgard summoning help for him.  Returning to town some time later, we found the place totally deserted except for News, who was unable to leave and was starving.  Luckily, a cleric of Lucinda finally arrived, and we were able to leave him in her care.
 
 Connor found out from Acacea that the musical note pertained to a bard who lived in Lorax.  After traveling there, we discovered the bard Marlin playing a dirge so mournful and so powerful that some of us were grief-stricken and even filled with thoughts of suicide.  Connor managed to stop the song by disrupting the Weave around the musician, freeing us from its power. Temporarily released from the compulsion to play, the bard collapsed.  We spotted the sign of the eighth note on his lute and noted that he, too, seemed to be starving.
 
 Given the fatal nature of Marlin's music, Storold rode swiftly to Spellgard to summon help, which was not long in arriving.  Marlin spoke little while we waited, saying only "She's not who she says she is" and perhaps answering "Welke" to the question of 'Who is she'.  He also muttered "Rose...Welke..My Rose..My sweet rose..Natalia".

[Serissa]

Storold and Mylindra Doesscha, and Kyle and I were just outside Hurm yesterday. The Doesscha's had found something hidden--a path going down behind the known pirate encampment. We decided to explore.
 
 First we had to get past the pirates on top. They were very tough, hard to kill. Mylindra's Hammer spell didn't seem to do much to them. My best sneak attacks hurt them, but it took a lot of attacking to kill them. Their captain was an extremely skilled figher. Even his assistant was a thug so skilled, it was very hard to even hit him. We were connecting with less than one hit in five from all of us. It didn't help that Kyle accidentally started whacking on me for a bit. Only Mylindra and Storold's magic tipped the balance.
 
 After bandaging our wounds from this encounter, we started down the trail. At the bottom we found an area of sandbars and shipwrecks, swarming with pirates. It seemed like we encountered another group around every bend. Luckily, these were not nearly as skilled as their protectors at the beginning of the path. We dispatched them without too much difficulty. We even found another path back up the cliff to another encampment of pirates, dispatched them and went back down.
 
 We were on our way out of the area when we spotted a man moving furtively around a corner. Storold shouted and waved at him, hoping to talk. Instead, the man attacked us ferociously. He was an awesome fighter, so strong, fierce, skilled and tough that it took the four of us and Mylindra's Maiden summons more than three-quarters of an hour to kill him--and it was a near thing, at that.
 
 After we bandaged and healed our wounds, I cautiously approached a chest in the sand, fearing traps. I spotted one, and then Storold gave me a scroll to aid me. After casting it, I was appalled to see that one more step would have triggered a deadly gas trap that might well have killed all of us. I got the others to move back further and then removed it. JUst one step further on was a deadly sonic trap, which I managed to remove.
 
 I was examining the trap on the chest itself when we were attacked by first one and then another pirate. This fight was as bad as the last. We had battled desperately for nearly an hour, killing the first only to have the second attack, when the struggle moved too close to the deadly trapped chest...
 
 An electrical trap I hadn't even spotted was triggered! It finished off the second pirate and hurt us badly. I saw that Mylindra was standing practically on top of yet another trap and shouted to her not to move! As Mylindra stood frozen there, I tried desperately to disarm the trap. I was not skilled enough, and my efforts started it clicking ominously... I shouted to everyone to run! We ran around the sheltering corner of a cliff and waited. Almost immediately, we heard it explode!
 
 Returning cautiously, we found the chest charred and the lock and hinges broken. Inside we found a pirates' treasure of fine gems, magical stones, and gold coin. I shoveled the hoard in a bag, and we hurried up the cliffside trail and back into town. There we divided the spoils, congratulated ourselves on our survival, and retired for a well-earned rest.

[Serissa]

Saproprias--the healer in Katia's grove said he was a vampire destroyed decades ago, but we saw him in the Broken Halls and our actions released him. He did look strange--appearing and disappearing--so perhaps we have freed not him, but his spirit, and it will go to its rest. I hope so.
 
 We were looking for an ancient book--Kyle, Honora, Argali, Clarissa, Tegan, Krys, Iradril, Storold, Jennara, Marcus, Jharl, Katie (Khuren), and me. The book has information about an ancient comet that is coming again soon, or so we were told by an elf who looked at a rubbing illustrating the comet. We talked to the resident wyrm of Broken Halls, bringing gifts of raw bear meat and treasure. She gave us permission to search for the book if we would leave Jharl to entertain her.
 
 Katie told us about Broken Halls. It was an elven stronghold, besieged by an army secretly aided by a blue dragon. The elves made a pact with a dark elf necromancer to aid them. However, someone--maybe the dark elf, maybe another--brought down the protective magic to be able to use mud wyrms against the army. The ploy failed and the stronghold fell. This betrayer was supposedly cursed and killed.
 
 After a difficult journey thru corridors defended by all manner of pests and undead, we found an area with many urns. Three had plaques with runes on the floor in front of them, and two sets of eight led to obviously warded walls. In a separate room, guarded by epic traps, we found Saproprias, an urn circled by runes, and a set of eight tiles with runes. The man faded in and out and seemed completely unaware of us.
 
 Discovering that the plaques on the floor in front of the three urns could be depressed, we put the matching tiles on each and pressed them simultaneously. This is what released Saproprias.
 
 Since that did not affect the magiked walls, we tried putting a tile in front of each of eight urns, without result. We then examined the residue on the bowls beside the urns. Finding it was dried blood, Honora, Storold and I each cut ourselves and bled into the bowls. The wall pivoted open and a horde of skeletons attacked. We cleared them and found ourselves in a vast library. After searching the books, Jennara settled for one set upon a massive stand and written partly in what seemed to be draconic. Before we left, Storold overturned the urn that had been in the room with Saproprias and was covered with dust.
 
 We returned to the dragon, which is named Ju'sterizxme. She gave us two moons to come back with tribute, answers, and more stories from Jharl. When we finally exited into sunlight, Storold was injured by the light. We visited the Healer of Katia nearby, who insisted that he bathe in her holy pool to remove the dust, which was that of a vampire. She told us that there were rumors that a sect of the Mad God had been able to commune with Saproprias.
 
 We agreed not to talk about the dragon, to protect it from the green dragon cult, but I wonder... If they are the ones in contact with Saproprias, and if he knows about Ju'sterizxme, there is no safety for her.

[Serissa]

Kyle and I have a new daughter.
 
 Late Satari night, 3/21/1443, Berak, Emie, Wren, and I came across the scene of a massacre just south of Corax Lake. A well-dressed woman and her entourage had been slain by arrows fired from a nearby cliff. A trail of blood led to a dying man, also well dressed. He managed to point east, and whispered "cross". Then he died. Continuing, we found a young girl hiding in the brush.
 
 She was unhurt, but extremely frightened and would speak only to me. With much coaxing, she told us that a lot of men killed her family and took everything, including a large cross that was of great importance to the church. So far, I don't know which church.
 
 She told us that her name was Brittani, and that she had no family, no place to go. She seemed like a sweet child, and as I was the only one she trusted, I offered her a home. I started to take her home, then left her with an investigating patrol while we tracked the killers.
 
 We found their hideout, but the female leader was able to escape though a bolt-hole before we could reach her. She took the cross with her.
 
 I returned to Prantz, found Brittani, and brought her home. Now she and I are waiting for Kyle while we discuss how she would like to decorate her room. I haven't questioned her further yet. I don't even know her last name or how old she is. She looks human, but might have some elf blood...
 
 A new daughter, a child to liven up our home and warm our hearts... It will be good. It will work out just fine.