Le'vester's Adventure Compendium

[Viobane]

It has been a strange day. In a life full of strange days, this does not seem like such a big deal. In fact, in a sense, strange days give me material to write this, my first epic tale. I have spent much of my life collecting tales from others. I never imagined I would end up with my own personal story to tell, but it has come.  I woke up this morning in front of a dragon! My goodness, they are just as awe inspiring... No make that MORE awe inspiring in person than on the many tapestries I have seen adorning various walls of the rich or decorative types. Anyway, this particular dragon told me that a certain creature had returned to stalk and despoil the land of Layonara. And I was going to play a role in stopping him! Ha! Me? A devil-spawned loathful creature? Well... Perhaps the dragon sees me in a different light. After all, dragons are supposed to be able to have millinea to develop their wisdom and perceptions.  So he (she? How do you tell on those slithering things? Actually, I don't want to know) told me to follow a path of memories... The funnies thing was that these "memories" were nothing I had ever encountered. Some elf that said he had one piece of advice to give me. Some woman giving me tidbits of history of the realm (as if I didn't already have some knowledge of it). And then a talking statue? Come to think of it, now that I'm writing this down, it does seem a bit fanastical. Am I in a dream? If I am, I sure hope that this manuscript comes with me. I don't want to have to write it down twice!  So this statue took me to a countyside village named... Hilit? Hillt?   Of course, with my luck, the first person I encounter is a priestess of Ilsare. I'll be sure to act cordial toward her and her cronies, but I just can't stand their organization! The churches should serve to enlighten the people, not just love them to death! I'm all for helping others, but not to the point of such vanity and gloryhogging in the name of a deity! Aragen bless! I'm just happy that I'm only a lowly bard in training and not a priest. "Priests" of Ilsare and the clergy of Aragen are always at odds over the details of faith. Such a waste of time when the Ilsarians are obviously such idiots.  Anyway, I decided not to speak to her and instead went to find out more about the town. I was pleased to notice a small crowd hanging around in pleasant conversation. I'm not ready to enter into such dialog... Especially since they might actually look at me more closely, and I can't stand the idea of being shunned again. Especially when starting such a grand adventure!  There was a good sign though. A large half-giant type of huminoid came ambling through the city gates and was welcomed as a friend! The people even lovingly called him "pig"! Well, I hope it was friendly. I'm not ready to stand up to anyone directly at this point. If it's true, though, perhaps there is hope for me?  So I asked one of the townsfolk about other supplies and was given the directions to a few placed further outside the town center. I had entered the town with nothing more than a shoddy pair of leathers and a run down small crossbow. I needed to supplement my wardrobe and weapons if I was to continue on in any kind of style.  I was able to find a nice tunic to wear under a pair of studded leathers (only slightly used). I got some dye to make it a bit darker. I always figure the darker my attire, the less chance someone will notice me when I don't want to be noticed.  At another corner I got some food supplies for the road and headed on to another shop, which had a nice crossbow I had to get. The bigger the weapon, the harder they fall. Or is that the bigger they are the... Oh nevermind.  I used the same philosophy at the weaponsmith and picked out a nice heavy mace and a shield. I've got to be able to look the part of knightly adventurer, right? Just on the off chance I learn to paint, I've got to paint myself in glorious adventurer's gear!  Once I left the shop, there was a poor sort of guy who must have hit his head or something. He did nothing but stare at a stack of barrels and a wooden wall... Now I don't have a problem with that sort of behavior, but the guy looked genuinely lost... I asked if I could help him, and he asked me to do a favor and deliver a letter to some guy in the town. Great. Just what I need... A REASON to talk to people. But I agreed to it, so I decided to gracefully leave and find this guy quickly.  I wandered around asking the populace, but no one seemed to have any idea. I went to the town hall and found some particularly beautiful artwork on the walls. I spent a bit of time admiring the various works, but found no one. I went onto the roof of the building and looked down, but as no one was wearing a nametage above their heads, that didn't help matters much.  So then I had to talk to a town taxman. I was just trying to find this guy to deliver the note to, but then this guy tells me he lost some tax forms in the sewers. Why in the nine hells he was hanging out in the sewer, I'll never know, but I decided to help him out as well.  I went into the sewers, which as far as sewers go, weren't too shabby. I wandered around and found my first "monster"... A large rat. Really, I should be facing bigger stuff, but then again, after the first stupid thing bit one of my toes, I decided to take them a bit more seriously. I wandered around killing the blasted things and found a few rocks in front of a little crawlway. Never one to miss a chance to satiate curiosity (must be some halfling blood in me somewhere), I checked it out and found that it led to the cellars of the town tavern. Vowing to remember this secret path, I travelled back and went deeper into the sewers, intent on finding the slimy thing that took the taxman's papers...   That's when I found these hideous little spiders. About as big as the rats, they were, and creepy indeed! I tried to fight one of them at the same time as a rat and managed to fall down and hit my head. I'm not sure what happened next, because I woke up a bit later with a throbbing headache and a painful bite on my calf. I saw the spider and rat start to stir and I RAN!  Okay, I need more training on the heroics... That I can agree on. However, my curiosity paid off, because I was able to escape the little bugger by using the crawlspace. When I got into the tavern, I decided to ask around about the guy I needed to deliver the papers to, and again made the mistake of asking someone who also had a favor to ask. Where are people's manners? Asking for favors from complete stangers? Really...  So now I have to find a guy's necklace. Serves him right for trying to kill goblins or whatever it was he was after. But alas, now it's on my list.  It was at that point in my adventure that I started to get a bit worried. Too many things to do, and no idea where to go. I asked a guard by a gate, and AGAIN, I got asked to do a favor. This time to kill some goblins. I shuddered at the thought and ran out the gate, but not before politely accepting. I hit my head repeatedly over that stupid blunder.  So I wandered around the countryside and ran into some attacking birds, then an orc! I've never seen one except in books, so it was quite a thing to witness. He kept shooting at me with a crossbow, so I opened fire back at him... But then another bird attacked me, so I grabbed my mace. Why, oh why did I think heavier was better? A slug could have parried better!  One of the crossbow bolts hit me in the chest so hard, it knocked me down and stunned me... When I got back up, I ran again. But this time, that big bird followed. When I went to open the gate, it's talons grabbed the back of my head, and next thing I knew, I was sitting in front of a nicely runed cross.   So began my journey. Hope you keep up with me. I know I'll be a better adventurer... I know it! My sponsor always said I had potential... Of course, he WAS drunk an awful lot.

[Viobane]

Well, today's events were encouraging and frghtening at the same time...

I decided to find a companion in order to have a bit of assistance with some of the monsters and animals outside of town. I came across a halfling, who was on a search for gobin ears. I seem to remember one of the guards asking me to follow a similar request, but I have so many tasks on my plate right now, I'm just not sure.

So, I decided to accompany him on his quest. At that time, an archer who looked quite a bit more experinced, asked if he could guide us. Since I didn't know my way, and neither did the halfing, we accepted. This archer led us around the countryside for most of the day. We battled gobins and entered their cave for a bit of exploration. It felt good to be a part of a team. It seems for me, however, such things are temporary. The halfing left us, and then the archer and I were beset by goblins (which was my own fault. I was feeling cocky and took a quick pot-shot at one in the distance). They knocked me out, and my archer guide stopped my bleeding with a bandage before we both escaped.

He told me that I should always attack with a plan, and never just wontonly enter into a battle without some forethought. I made some humorous comments to lighten the mood, but I realized that he was very correct. More than I could know. We said our farewells, and I went back to town, deciding to just wander and meet more people. Then I saw him.

After I left my home village to escape my heritage, I spent a lot of time doing odd jobs and working at taverns. I also spent a good majority of that time learning as much as I could about the lore of the land. I wandered upon a temple of Aragen, and was awestruck. So many books, so much knowledge. I absorbed all I could get my hands on. But nothing could prepare me for what I stumbled on to in that temple.

As I read a book on the races in the land, I happened upon a chapter on planar creatures, one of which was called a "tiefling." I was horrified. The description, the pictures. None were normal looking humanoids. All had horns, or tails, or fur or pointed teeth, ot other monstrosities. But for all the physical characteristics in the book, the one underlying truth was I was one.

And in the village today, I encountered another tiefling. The first I had ever seen.

He had skin and hair the color of molten lava. He had horns, and a tail... And his eyes glowed.

I was awestruck. I watched him interact with a crowd of what appeared to be friends, one of which was a paladin... And they were not horrified at his appearance!

I watched, not realizing how long I sat there, my crossbow hanging limp in my arms. Suddenly one of the women in the crowd hailed me as the "crossbow guy," and I snapped to my senses. I walked up to this tiefling and asked if I could speak to him. He suprisingly agreed, and I led him behind a building to speak with him privately.

When I mentioned I was a tiefling as well, he said he could smell it on me. I asked him how he could live with all the bigotry towards tieflings, he gave me the most profound example... He walked back to his friends, asked them "what is at the end of darkness." His friends tried to come up with an answer... One woman laughed, another pondered, the paladin said "the dawn." This tiefling said, "Why don't you find out," then he pointed and a ball of pure darkness came from his finger and engulfed the crowd.

They all laughed, and I resumed the dumbstruck stance I had before. When the same woman who called me the "crossbow guy" asked what we were doing behind the building, this tiefling said something like, "he's just afraid to tell you all that he's a tief."

I've never been so embarassed... My face turned a shade of red almost as bright as the tiefling's skin... I had heard that tieflings could create darkness, but had never thought to try and do it myself. At that moment, I instantly knew what to do, and put a cloud of darkness over the crowd and ran... And ran...

I was somewhere in the wilderness, tears streaming down my face... I collapsed in a heap and rested. But when I awoke, I remembered the archer talking about the idea of having a plan of battle... And it dawned on me that I could use my darkness as an advantage!

I wandered further in the countryside. When a monster attacked, I sent out a wave of darkness and made short work of it. I had never known such joy. I started back toward the forest where the orc and his bird comapnion had defeted me... But this time, when I went to create the darkness, a profound exhaustion came over me. I tried again and almost passed out. The orc started shooting arrows at me. One hit my arm. I tried to run, another hit my leg. I fell, bleeding, on the ground.

I woke up later in a pool of blood. Somehow the flow had stopped. And I knew... It was a tactic that had its limits, but one that would serve me well in the battles to come.

I'm not sure how I will continue to deal with my heritage, but tonight, I feel some part of my soul has been calmed.

[Viobane]

I decided to try my luck against those vermin in the sewers again. More bad luck as far as my adventuring skills go. That crossbow was just too darn heavy, and the mace was nice, but also too heavy. I kept missing the little buggers. So I gave up when I ran into a WALKING rat, and ran. It looked like a wererat... One of those lycanthropes I've read about before, and I wasn't going to mess with it. I could barely kill small little beasts at that point, let alone a full fledged monster!

I then chose to try my luck again with the goblins. Fat chance for me. I ran, screaming again (not so good for my singing voice), and ended up hiding behind a few trees, out of breath. I was standing there, quite pleased that I had gotten away when two of the creatures jumped out of the shadows and shot me down. I couldn't move, and was pinned to the ground, my lifeblood all around me when I heard a hot swishing sound and bright lights followed by many crackles and the sound of screaming goblins. I felt tingling course through my body, and I could move again and the pain was gone. A man stood beside me, asking if I was okay, concern in his eyes.

I almost started crying, I was such a pitiful person. I became very depressed and was on the verge of hanging up my adventuring hat for good. This man, Sam was his name, offered to talk to me over some drinks at the tavern. Since my immediate plans at that time invloved waiting tables and serving drinks, I decided I might as well start by getting very drunk, so I readily agreed.

We went to the tavern and I told him my woes. How I was a failure of an adventurer. How I couldn't even face up to some stupid goblins that other warriors could kill with their eyes closed (at least they all do in the stories I've read).  Sam reassured me and bought me that drink. As we talked... Or truthfully, as I spilled my sorrows at him while he listened... He offered me a great opportunity. He said he would help me visit the nearby crypts. He had heard that an undertaker wanted something from there, and led me to speak to him.

The undertaker smelled quite bizarre, but did indeed have a favor to ask me. It did indeed involve the crypts.

So Sam led me to them, but before going in, he cast some spells on me. I've never felt so powerful before! My large, heavy, cumbersome mace burst into flames, and I felt very strong and more protected... ANd I could have sworn those spells smelled like a warm summer meadow.

He led me into the depths, helping me fight and ward off the walking dead. I felt like a warrior of legend, beating back the hoardes and starting their brittle bones on fire from my now mighty weapon.

Eventually, we ended up running into some dark soul among a host of ghouls. Their rotting flesh was like butter to my hot mace. (Yuck. I never want to use such a comparison again. I won't be able to eat buttered bread for awhile now.)

So we exited the crypts with the item the undertaker wanted, and I had learned a number of new battle skills and more about the essense of magic from Sam. I even had thought of a new song while we adventured at death's door.

We went back to the tavern and then met a blue clad priest of Lucinda. He was eager to help defend the townsfolk and adventurers by giving out healing potions and scrolls to fight evil. Sam had to leave to make an appointment, but this priest, who I ended up just calling "father" asked me to help him collect ingredients for potions. I decided to join him, and another adventurer by the name of Herger joined as well. We followed the priest into the depths and I found myself becoming less and less attached to my crossbow as I saw Herger wield his bow so effortlessly.

I was again able to learn quite a bit more about how to defend myself, and even learned one of the lessons my sponsor had tried to teach me for so many years: how to use my songs to inspire and turn the tide of battle. Well, in this case, the songs were just a great chance to test the acoustics of the crypt's marble walls. The cleric was too good at raising his holy symbol and turning the undead to dust.

Eventually we had finsished the priest's dirty work and had collected a lot of gross skeleton knuckles. If that's what healing potions are made of, I'm not sure if I want to use them anymore. Is it worth becoming a cannibal over?!?

That little quest ended up helping me earn enough gold to let me upgrade my clunky crossbow to a nice sleek longbow, and Herger agreed to teach me some of his archery skills by hunting goblins together.

I was able to gain some much needed revenge on those foul things, and also made some pretty good shots as well!

Herger and I eventually parted company for other tasks, but it felt good to just travel with someone. I had my bardic sponsor for a long time, but he was almost more of father, and we mostly spent our time reading books or drinking. Today had been a bit of insight into the true delight of companionship! Herger and I parted, and he left me with a handful of bloody goblin ears. Does adventuring always have to be this disgusting?

-----------------------------

I've been able to avoid showing my eyes to others so far. The priest gave me a glowing ring that makes it even harder to see my unnatural eyes, anyway, so I'm feeling a bit more confident about joining up with my fellow adventurers. Maybe I'll never have to let on that I'm descended from some sort of hellspawn.

My day ended by going back to the sewers where I started. I ran into that rat king again, but this time I was ready. He is king no more, and I'm starting to shape into a real adventurer... I wonder if I'll ever be as heroic as the ones I've read about?

Nah. I got a nice light rapier, but I still get sore using it, and I've got blisters all over my fingers and forearm from that bowstring. Heroes don't get sore and get blisters, do they?

Maybe heroes are all cannibals that use healing potions? If that's the truth, maybe I should rethink this hero-hood idea.

[Viobane]

Another day of adventuring and skill-building. I've been working on my song-writing skills as well, although I saw the legendary Ozymandias and know I have a LONG way to go. Wow, that bard can sure sting those notes together well, even when humming!

I spent some time with this elven man who is afraid of light... Kiva Darkchild. I decided to call him DC, even though he initially balked at the idea of that nickname. I think it sounds heroic. We joined up with a much more experienced rogue, Pyyran, who agreed to teach us more about strategy. We wandered off toward the goblin caves, and it was immediately obvious that Pyyran knew what he was doing. He kept to the shadows, jumping out at the enemy when they least expected it. The three of us were able to confuse and make short work of those short goblins.

We continued into the depths until we came to the chamber inhabited by the goblin chief. Pyyran gave me a strange bag full of a powder he had been using. He said it was made from stink beetles. He asked me to wait and throw it at the doorway when he said to... He crept into the shadows, and a moment later he yelled to throw as he ran through the doorway, many goblins on his heels. I tossed the bag, which hit the ground and erupted into a cloud of horrible smelling dust. The goblins started choing and some fell to the ground. DC and I started filling them full of arrows, and the ones who made it through the cloud by holding their breath were easily cut down by our blades.

I've never considered such a plan! Baiting the enemy and having a trap ready! Using some kind of distraction! I kept many mental notes as we ended our hunt, DC and I much the wiser.

We disbanded, and later I discovered an interesting character. His name was Prothos. He was a goblin. I first encountered him sitting on a bench in the village, so I knew he wasn't like the others. I sat down, fascinated and encouraged by the idea that such a creature could be accpeted by a society outside of a goblin tribe.

He told me he used to be a slave to the drow (I've heard of them, and they sound dreadful. I think I've even seen a few wandering around adventuring in the area, but they must be different than their underworld dwelling brothers). All of a sudden my glowing eyes didn't seem like such a big obstacle. I had been hiding behind the light of the ring the priest had given me. It's glow seemed to drown out my unnatural facial feature, and made me feel much more comfotable in a crowd.

After spending a bit of time with him, I wandered the land alone, investigating the area and trying to determine if there were other areas I could safely explore. All the recent battles had made me weary of individual war, however, so I kept my distance from the few monsters I saw.

Later that day, I encountered DC again. This time, he was with a crowd of folks, and he asked me if I wanted to join them on a goblin hunt. I figured it would be another great opportunity to learn about battle. We ventured off with three dwarves, who I had never had the pleasure of adventuring with before.

Their battle tactics were different than Pyyran's had been. Eschewing the need for shadows, the dwarves plowed into the enemy yelling their battle cries, ignoring insignificant cuts and blows of the goblins.

We were, of course, victorious, with little damage to ourselves. These dwarves were interested in mining, and a mage who was also in our party argued with me about the value of mining. I have never been much for manual labor, preferring the serving drinks and singing work that involves a lot of tavern time. We ended our debate with no real conclusion. When we got back to towm, she wandered off for a minute and came back and gave us each a ring made from the stones we had mined. Mine was made of greenstone, and I have heard that such a ring will keep you better guarded rom poisons. I put it on, just in case, but still a bit skeptical about its use. I now saw why people decided to do that kind of grunt work, however.

Later, our party stood around deep in discussion. It seems DC had apprenticed himself to one of the dwarves. He was attempting to learn dwarven, which seemed like a good idea, as this particular dwarf has a very strong accent. The topic of mining came up again, and this time they discussed the idea of hunting in an ogre cave! I shivered at the thought. In my wanderings, I had encountered a runt of an ogre and had only bested him by attempting to use the tactics Pyyran had taught me (they worked well, by the way).

I agreed to go, only to see the countryside. I knew that my meager battle skills would be supportive at best. Before we left, a man who joined us, Jin was his name, gave me a helmet of island design. One of the dwarves laughed at how it looked on me and grabbed it off my head, running into the village. He came back minutes later with a reconfigured helmet. I tried it on and DC commented it made me look like a fox. He applied some dye to its sides, making a reddish hue and said that made it look even more like a fox. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I was willing to give it a try.

We ran through the countryside, passing many areas that I would have loved to explore further. At one point, I rounded the corner of a marsh and was chided by one of the dwarves for almost bringing death upon us. I did not understand at the time, but followed blindly.

We encountered some very scary looking undead creatures that were dispatched with style by the dwarves, and finally made it to the cave.

When we went inside, even the dwarves kept to the borders of the cave, drawing a few ogres out at a time. At one point in the battle, an ogre mage sprayed a cone of such ice cold that I was forzen on the spot. If it wasn't for the quick response of Jin, I would have been an icicle.

We were victorious, and I was stunned by the battle prowess of those sturdy dwarves.

They decided to go clear the marshes of the quickly reproducing trolls. Again, my desire to learn and my thickheadedness led to agreeing to ccompany them. Initially, all went well. The dwarves had axes that were imbued with fire, so they were able to burn those reproducing abominations to a stinking pile of rotting flesh. I kept getting distracted by the stench, and finally at one point in our battle, we were attacked at all sides. A troll got past the dwarves and came for me. I pulled out my rapier and shield, grimly making a stand. The troll was so strong! It swiped my shield arm aside like a willow branch and it's claws penetrated my leather armor.

I fell into the stinking marsh, blood flowing everywhere. My consciousness ebbed... I could hear the others finishing their battle and coming over to me, concern on their voices. Jin attempted to heal my wounds... But the blood had already stopped flowing and the curative prayers did nothing for my flayed flesh.

My mind drifted, and I felt darkness. When I finally awoke, it was at the celtic cross I had opened my eyes to before. This time, my body was ethreal, and I was confused. What was all this, then? Was I dead? Had my soul left this earth? I decided that perhaps I should go to the graveyard and see if death pulled me into its breaches.

I went into a crypt, but the unnatural skeletons attacked me as they had before. I defended myself and just as the battle ended, a paladin in glinting armor appeared before me. He took off his helm and I could see his concern. He asked my name. I could not remember... A part of my mind was busy with something, and whatever it considered, it was not easy to access my past, my identity. I pondered my fall with the trolls directly, and all of a sudden my name was clear to me for a brief moment. I said it aloud, and it immediately sounded hollow in my throat. Was that truly my name?

This paladin nodded his comprehension and explained that I needed to meditate upon my grave or think to my soul for comfort and release from the ethreal state. It seems the Soul Mother had allowed me to return to the world of Layonara, but held a bit of my essense behind. I followed his advice and went back to the tavern, contemplating this most recent series of events with a stout mug of liquor in my cold, clammy hands.