The ramblings of a bard - Agron Thornthistle

[pejsaboy]

I've been exploring the region around Hlint for a short time now. As time is calculated differently here than I am use to, I guess that I have spent roughly 150 days getting to know Hlint and it's surrounding areas. I first found myself in Hlint [after the dragon's summoning] on Satari, Mai 28 1401. Today is Threas, Decilar 12 1401. I think I'll need to find someone to explain the calendar to me!
Thus far I've recovered some stolen tax records from the ratman in the undercity. Thanks to Yaz Sunstorm for the help through that area. I've also assisted Erag [Hlint's undertaker] with the acquisition of an evil being's essence from the Hlint Crypts. Again, Yaz assisted on that task, As did Freldo. He is quite the singer!
Ragrian the bard had lost a necklace in a cave in the Sielwood forest, and commissioned me to find it for her. I had never come across such a large squishy cube before as I did in that cave.
Both the quartermaster and Ronus the wagon master had jobs dealing with goblins. The quartermaster needed the goblin scouts' ears [all five of them], and Ronus was after the goblin chieftain's head from deep in the red light cave. I have died more in that cave than anywhere in the area around Hlint!
I have also done a lot of exploring and adventuring around the region. There is a fairly large group of relatively new adventurers that I've been exploring with: Stygian Achnuman is an aspiring necromantic mage, Dean Clen only fights with his hands and wears no armor, so I assume he is a monk. Eveinej is an aspiring bard, and Kimli Stonefist is a fine dwarven fighter. I have also done a bit of exploring with Yaz Sunstorm as I mentioned before, and Kor Gromak. Kor is quite the spiritual warrior. If I remember correctly, he is a cleric of Grand. Just a few days ago Kimli and I made our way to Fort Llast, and a short trip into the mountains there. Apparently we were in over our heads, as we managed to lure a very powerful skeleton back into Hlint as it chased us from its crypt. Apologies to anyone who was injured in that mishap!
Despite the rather mind-numbing summons by the dragon, I have found myself mostly enjoying my stay in Hlint. I say mostly because I have done my fair share of retreating from battles and, quite often, dying in them. I may have to begin focusing a little more on honing my combat skills, and a little less on jest and singing. Perhaps I will also think about finding a tutor and learning to speak Elven. It's a beautiful language, quite the pity that I can only understand and not speak it.

[pejsaboy]

It seems that Hlint may be under the scrutiny of Blood. A few days ago Dean and I were on our way to the goblin wastelands with Tahless and Drogo as Tahless needed to do some mining, and needed an escort for his ox. Before making it to the gate however, we were intercepted by a large, dark hooded figure carrying a staff topped with an eye of some sort. Kyle Pandorn, who was also nearby, deduced that it must be a spy of Blood's, scouting for an invasion. It seems that a little later Rhynn had a run-in with the hooded figure and narrowly escaped death a handful of times. Kyle suggested that no one travel alone, even inside of Hlint.
In other news, I've quite the adventure to report on! Recently Dean and I accompanied Thomas Stormsinger and a large group of highly skilled adventurers totalling twelve, let me see if I can recall all of the names: Robert Hearth was the party leader, Silver led the way into battles, Creighton and his wife Tyrian, Axodeth, Sand Krows, Cymeran Vrinn... bah! I cannot remember the final two members, though they were all indeed instrumental in our success. Perhaps the names will return to me when my excitement level has returned to normal. As I was saying, we all headed to Fort Valensk by way of ship from Leilon. Thomas, Dean and I were a bit behind the rest initially. We caught up just outside of Fort Valensk and continued our way into the Berhagen Mountains. On the way to Shoufal we encountered a few gemstone golems that provided little difficulty for the group. After passing through Shoufal, which has an amazing panoramic view from a little plateau on a mountainside, we continued into the mountains. This time, Silver began leading the charges into battle, drawing the attacks from... HILL GIANTS! I'm not sure how he managed to take the abuse, but he took many boulders to the head with almost no injury! After fighting our way through the giants, we took a slight detour and visited the dwarf king's cavern hall. After all that, we fought our way back through the giants and golems to Fort Valensk, where we ended the night's adventure and Silver divvied up the coin he collected from the dead giants.
By the end, I felt I had learned quite a lot from my fellow adventurers, and have since begun working on my combat skills as opposed to my performing skills. I think having a good blade by my side will prove to be better than a mildly inspirational melody.

[pejsaboy]

*this passage is hastily scribbled onto the page*
Tonight I was part of a small group that escorted Cole Etinfall back into the greypeak mountains to return and pray at his grave: Jade Willow, Jaleel Al Korak, Maev O'Leary, Dean, Myself, and of course Cole. Thomas was with us briefly, but fell to some ogres early on and did not return.

[pejsaboy]

A good sized group was organized to rid the Haven Mines of the ogre infestation. The castle lord was quite pleased, and rewarded us well. The group leaving Hlint was comprised of myself, Dean, Jaleel, Aeryn, BB [Bandikoot], Rhynn, Eagle, Darren, Rollie, and Finola'. Just outside the mines we met with Tyrian, and Nepp, who were just leaving. They accompanied us back inside. I was very impressed with the skills of both Tyrian and Rhynn. They are both a magical force to be reckoned with. The rest of the group are impressive in battle as well. Jaleel fell to an ambush of ogres from behind on the way out of the mines, but he was able to return and succesfully recover at his grave with the aid of an invisibility spell.

[pejsaboy]

On the day of Rain Darsus' wedding to Sonya, Hlint was rather lacking in activity. After bumping into Rain and making introductions, he was kind enough to share with Dean and I some of the leftover food and drink from the wedding reception. With many of Hlint's regulars still travelling from Krandor for the wedding, Dean and I decided to go and hunt a few of the orcs that have been camped to the north of Hlint. While we were out, we bumped into Elgon Merrick. After disposing of a few more orcs, We decided that we would venture into the High Moors as Dean needed to deliver some skeleton knuckles to the witch.
Before leaving Hlint's northern outskirts, we were joined by Rain again. From there we made our way to the Eastern outskirts. After defeating the elf and halfling mercenaries in the area, We were joined by Drawna. We then made our way into the moors, and dispatched the first groups of the lizard men. Dean was able to pick up a will o wisps essence that Mage Dalton in Ft. Llast needs. After Dean delivered his skeleton knuckles to the witch, we were joined by Silverhand, and continued our way through the moors to the Clan Blood Temple.
After fighting our way through lots of tough lizard men, we were able to kill their leader and bring his head back to Garent in Hlint. Garent rewarded us very well for that. Apparently the lizard men had been causing him lots of problems.
I have noticed that my skills with the longbow are much more developed than my skills with a melee weapon. Perhaps I will concentrate my training in this area, there never seems to be a shortage of warriors to handle the front lines.

A few days after our adventure in the moors, Dean and I joined an expedition that was organized by Sallaron. Our group was very large starting out: Sallaron, Dean and myself, Glokk, Daniel Poetr, Dalan, Truk, Deagle, Serrisa, Amilia, Demetri, Jaleel, Godim, Tyrian, and Larissa.
We started the trip by heading through the rolling plains northeast of Hlint and into the High Forest. While in the forest, Jaleel was upset by the death of some of the wildlide and left the party. I was also able to obtain a brown bear pelt for Johan before leaving.
Our next stop was in Leilon. It was there that Sallaron remembered the Oak Longbow he had offered to sell me on a previous hunting trip. It took a large chunk from my meager bank account, but I feel that it was worth it. The oak is much stiffer than my previous hickory longbow, and I have noted a bit of an improvement in my aim from the added stability. Sallaron also gave me the better part of a quiver of arrows that were copper tipped with an oak shaft and falcon feather fletching. They provide an extra little punch over the normal arrows I have been using.
From Leilon we took a ship to Port Hampshire, and then made our way on foot to Fort Valensk. Outside of Valensk we successfully dispatched a small flock of harpies, and then met up with Ecthgow Ironbellows. Ecthgow joined our group, and we proceeded to take down a large number of trolls in some nearby swamps. Dalan Stoneaxe volunteered himself as bait to lure the trolls to us one by one. Thankfully he was not killed in doing so!
After returning to the outskirts of Valensk, Serissa and Deagle had to depart. We decided this would be a good resting place before venturing into the Berhagen Mountains and challenging the hill giants that live there.
After making our way into the mountains and through Shoufal, we encountered our first large group of giants. We made it through without any casualties, though many were a bit injured. At that point we paid a visit to the Ulgrid Dwarf castle and spent some time resting in their underground dock area.
After leaving the Ulgrid's cave, I must have been a bit disoriented by all the fresh air I was now getting. Before I could realize what was going on, I had been surrounded by giants and took quite a few boulders to the head. Unfortunately I was not strong enough to survive, and had soon bled to death. Almost as soon as I had passed from living, I was cast back into it and found myself near the bindstone in Port Hampshire. I waited there for Dean as I knew he would be returning to Hlint with me, and the both of us took a ship to Leilon and made our way back to Hlint on foot. It was a good walk, and gave me a lot of time to think and reflect on my recent flirtations with death and the soul mother. I began to feel much better shortly after arriving back in Hlint, and decided I should take some time and rest a while before doing any more adventuring.

[pejsaboy]

Tonight I made my way to Spellgard to pick up a nice copper star shield to aid me in battle. I've noticed that the merchants in Spellgard have lower prices for similar goods than the merchants in Hlint. On the way back I happened to notice a small camp of kobolds around the area of Lake Alon, so I decided to give the new shield a try. I was alone, and had been losing my bearings all evening, so the battle did not turn out as well as could be hoped for initially. I did ultimately defeat the vile creatures though.
Upon returning to Hlint, there were two deer just inside the eastern gates. I was able to calm one of them, but I think this angered the other deer as it attacked the first one on the way out of the gates. Before I could respond, the angered deer was killed by its former companion. I was a bit disappointed by this, but led the remaining deer back to the Lake Alon area where I have seen them grazing.
Now I sit here in the grass across from Hlint's branch of the World Bank, preparing for a much needed rest.

[pejsaboy]

The other day a lady by the name of Matilda approached Mercas and myself in Hlint, proposing a challenge of sorts: she asked us both what we thought it was that made a person decide to be good or evil. Ultimately both our answers, though different, were decided to be correct. She awarded us with a boquet of flowers each, which Mercas endowed with some sort of magical lightsource. Also, she told us about her idea of organizing an order of Knights to aid the world and fight back the 'decay' that was beginning as a result of the change in weather. The decay she spoke of, if I am not mistaken, is actually the decay in the people as life becomes more difficult to live from day to day. Food is harder to come by, it gets colder by the day it seems. The Knights, it seems, would be charged with maintaining food supplies, clothing, and the like for the people of the world. She asked Mercas and I to ponder whether we would like to be a part of such an order. I still am not sure of my thoughts on the idea.

More in the way of adventure, I was finally able to return some of the Vukas oil to Juanita in Fort Llast along with a handful of others. Leaving From Hlint, the group comprised of Jaleel, Eagle, Dalan, Erik, Niloc, Armolas, Elgon, Balazar, Mandalorian, Dean and myself. A ways into the Greypeaks we were met by Tegan, who assisted us further, and on the way back out.
As we got a ways into the mountains, we came to an area with quite a few ogre berserkers and a couple of mages. Initially we handled them ok, but they were quick to call on reinforcements that surprised us from the side. It was there that Both Jaleel and Dalan fell to the ogres. A very brutal battle continued, and a few only narrowly escaped death due to the quick actions of myself and others in the group with healing potions and spells. Jaleel was able to drag himself back to his gravestone, but Dalan remained in Hlint and then met us in Fort Llast when we had recovered the Oil. Juanita was pleased to have more of the oil, and rewarded us well.

Back in Hlint, Dean and I took our perch at the benches near the pond and waited in the event that some adventure would arise. After a long while of sitting, Cymeran approached us with the proposition of entering the desert and helping him carry back bags of sand for making crystal rods. By that point Dean had fallen into a trance of sorts and did not respond, and Cym said that it would not be worth the trip for just the two of us. Instead, we made our way to the mines at Haven so that he could mine a bit of iron.
We fought our way through the first level of ogres, and into the mining area on the second level. Cym has a celestial avenger that he summons, that is quite effective at dispatching the ogres. After a bit of mining, Cym broke his pick and we had to return with only a small load of iron. I feel I learned a lot watching Cym and his avenger in action, and have been able to advance a little in my skills as a ranger. I also feel that I could take a substantial bit more abuse in relation to what I could handle up to this point. [// +1 CON, +18 hp]

As I continue to gain experience and skill in combat, I wonder what use I will have of my skills gained working as a bard. My singing is mildly useful of course, as are the couple healing spells that I have, though I wonder if more can be done to bring the two skills together.

With that thought to keep my mind occupied a while, I will retire to a patch of grass somewhere here in Hlint and get some rest and prepare for the next big adventure.

[pejsaboy]

*This note looks to be scribbled rather quickly*
Was part of a group into the Haven mines to rescue Tahless: Sh'anda, Amon, Silveryn, Lillian, Lyle, Dean, Jaleel, and of course, Tahless.

[pejsaboy]

It has been some time since my last entry, though not much has happened since then. The most substantial was a trip to Krandor. A small child had lost her grandfather's ashes, and it turned out they ended up in the crypts somehow. The undead were tough, but we had a very capable group: Tyrian, Amon Blackfish, Dalan Stoneaxe, Daniel Poetr, Erik Kendall, Praylor Falcus, Dean, and Drawna along with myself. The child was very grateful to have her grandfather's ashes returned.
On less exciting news, I have spent quite a lot of time making arrows lately. Though much time was spent, It is a time-consuming process and the end results have been a bit smaller than I would like.
First, clay had to be gathered to make molds for the arrowheads. Then copper must be mined and smelted for copper ingots to mold into arrowheads. Also, tree branches must be chopped to form arrow shafts, and feathers plucked from birds for the fletching. I feel somewhat bad about hunting the birds, but I do not know of another material useful as fletching. Perhaps I will come across a more evil form of winged creature that I can harvest feathers from and not feel bad.
After all the work I have done, I have made roughly one hundred fifty arrows. Most have falcon feather tails, and about a third of them have raven feather tails. It seems a lot of work for the small advantage they give, and the small yield from a large amount of materials. I think I will have to look for harder metals or sturdier wood to make more powerful arrows, though I should probably do more practicing with materials that are easier to come by.

[pejsaboy]

Once again, it has been too long since my last recap. Yet again, not much has happened. I have spent much time doing relatively little, and spending no time in Hlint. I plan on changing that now.

While I was loitering in Hlint today, a drow happened to be selling all types of specialty jewelry. I ended up spending a small fortune [at least in my eyes] on three items: a ring and amulet of bull's strength, and a ring that aids in my hiding and sneaking skills. Daralith [if that is the correct spelling] threw in an extra topaz and silver ring [the sneaking one] 'for my troubles' as he put it. Quite generous, else I was in effect robbed. I'll believe that I made a good deal at 5800 gold pieces.

Today I also accompanied Sh'anda and Elhara through the Blood Desert to Port Hampshire. Elhara needed to gather sand for something. Imagine that, digging sand in a desert! While we were there, she introduced me to a manticore for the first time. Quite a nasty creature that! All went well however, and we made our way to Port Hampshire. From there we took a ship to Leilon and returned to Hlint.

I think I'll also be renewing my fletching efforts. The yields of hickory copper-tipped arrows are low, but the sooner I can become skilled in making those, the sooner I can make sturdier arrows of oak and harder metals. For the time being I will focus on making the shafts, as that is the most difficult part of the process for me. When I am a bit more skilled at that, I will return to making the entire arrows.