Book Three, Chapter One, �Chivalrous Sieges Seriously Suck!�
We are the Erana Sir Martyn Yanyez De Barbudo and his mighty goat, Zytsi the glorious mason, Daniel the interesting Bard and Aruth of the War Wagon (but Liz hasn�t returned so Martin hasn�t left yet). Giles and Estalyn are staying in Thay for some reason or another. Giles needs training and Estalyn can�t go to Bejist.
OK shopping in Thay and then to Azadmere for the wedding. Bejist on Setha Heath is where Martyn has to kill the demon that�s chasing him.
Thay to Bejist is about a 3 or 4 weeks journey and its then about a month to Azadmere. OK so by boat to Bejist from Thay.
So we hire some staff: 2 porters, 1 cook, and Martyn�s personal servant
25d per month for basic servant, 25d, 50d, 100d gradings
Top quality servant - manservant 50d (basic), 75d, 100d (should be impressive)
Porters - 40d basic, 60d good quality
Cook - 30d ordinary, 40d travelling, 100d & 200d (really good cook in wilderness)
The cook and the porters are coming out of party funds.
Daniel made a 195 advertising roll for personal servant for Martyn. 17 turn up, 1st (a bar server) asks for expenses for turning up - of course not - he and 12 others leave. Next one seems good, Thay and Melderyn previous employers, �One�. Next one, �Two� is at upper class whore house �the House of Rainbow Moon�. �Three� is a servant at Temple of Sarajin (was a pirate before that) was at Lorkin when we were (Capel left town on boat) was wounded by a wolf there and now limps (werewolf?). �Four� interviews Martyn. 50 years old. His Earl Lord wished him to retire and he does not want to. Martyn picks �Four� after short discussions with colleagues.
�Four� is called Aliester Crawlie: references - 35 years as personal servant. Grew up with Earl. Nothing but the best. Ran manor and staff of 12. Brave in combat. His Lordship could not recommend him highly enough. (120d a month is his rate).
He gets us 2 porters and a cook for 200d a month and 200d worth of pots and pans and do on from party funds.
Cook - Grimes, old man with a wooden leg, untidy and unclean looking, excellent cook (not cordon blue, but good)
Porters: Louie (arbalest winder) and Caleb (animal handing) in 30s, brothers.
Good staff, got them fairly cheap, Crawlie knows the right people.
Buy some party herbs 6003d worth of herbs in fact (I got us a 5% discount).
Off to Bejist by boat on 1st Navek. Zytsi goes to doctor for sea sickness pills. Uneventful 4 day sea voyage. Dropped 4th Navek 8 miles from Bejist. Martin has chicken for dinner, bacon and eggs for breakfast. Rest of us have lumps of meat - well done (properly done). 4 hour wagon drive on 5th to Bejist. (Martyn�s sacked this place once.)
Bejist. Evil Temple. Khuzdul ruins, castle ruins, ruined village, Earthmaster place. Circle round to the north for hour or two. Temple of Naveh or at least it was. Temple with gardens and 2 cows, orchards, herb garden and 2 vegetable gardens.
Martyn sits on horse and goes to ruins - swords hums in presence of demon - hums from ruined tower. No tower hums from it.
Perhaps it only comes out at night? Perhaps I�ve been here before on my 1st adventure. Monks in black robes in gardens.
Tower comes out at night. Demon in tower, but it�s a non-solid tower. No idea how to get in, so we ignore it.
�����������
Sneak up to garden wall, goat ahead, 4 ft high wall. Lure them out with the goat. Oh no not again. 2 guards on back door.
Aruth places a wood wall behind 2 guards and in front of door and then shoots one. Martyn and goat arrive with hack. Next round. Smack, smack, smack. 1 has his leg chopped off and other gets war hammer in armpit. Invade Temple buildings.
Oh dear, Oops, er well how were we to know. OK so it�s really now controlled by the Temple of Larani. Martyn uses top quality healing herbs to heal the 2 guards. 1,500d compensation to the man whose leg was chopped off.
They keep the Naveh people out, stop their trade with the Pagaelin (So there is actually some Good deeds being done by the Temple of Larani. That must have been why we made such a mess of the 2 guards.) They are also trying to find out how to get into the tower. They have a 6 ft hole dug, sent 3 men in and they�ve not come back. They had been warned we were coming, not that it did them much good.
Silly argument over food - the cook is good and so is Martyn�s personal servant.
So we bravely advance on the tower the next day - 6th Navek.
Down a big hole. It can take the wagon �cos aren�t coming back this way! Oh what! Oh! OK!
Lowered into a hole, or rather wagon lift ready and 5 horses - Martyn�s and 4 on wagon.
Wall of darkness - a portal through which light does not pass.
����������� Inscription on stone in white marble hall:
Daelda� Warrior������������� Harn�s Lord������ Triumph����������������������� Evil
Heart��� King of Elves
((Should that be)) King Daelda of the Elves who died fighting a Demon.
No exit or even entrance. Touch a wall and it glows iridescent white. We travel the corridor for 10 minutes. To a Circular chamber, polished red stone, source less light, pillars, spiral staircase going up, alcoves, apparently empty. Sword is humming. 60 ft across. The hole at top is big enough for wagon 20 ft wide staircase.
Into another circular chamber. 6 very large arched windows equidistant - round room, we see the sea through all of them. A slightly different view, a different place! Big arched windows - 6 door ways to other places.
Hang about sword really hums at midnight and it dies down to normal (for this place) by 4 p.m.
The Cook�s Tale: In �73, a huge whale bit his leg off. They were after a great white whale. Sole survivor. He leg was trapped after he put its eye out, so he cut his leg off with a rusty dagger (boating accident in harbour really).
South Portal. Early evening sword starts up about 6. Get ready for midnight. Plan: Martyn on horse 1st and then rest in wagon. Into yet another circular chamber just like before but with no staircase.
Short fat demon looks like a man. 5� 4�, blood dripping from wound. Green silk tunic, light silver tunic. Furnished room. OK so Martyn talks to demon� - it�s the wrong one - Adlead. Portals have different views through them.
Imprisoned after a misunderstanding with the Elves. He tried to wipe them out. He though they wouldn�t mind. They sent their great hero against him. After a while, he becomes less evil, taller more pointy ears, more friendlily. Both want to talk, both want out.
Get the Eye of Kor from the Isle of Gyzem at Ridow the Sunken City - 20 fathoms deep. Entrance to city is 120 ft below city by isle. At very low tide, find cave mouth, go into it follow path find city.
The 1st portal room selects worlds. All the others don�t go to other rooms, only this one did. These ones open to locations on Harn. The previous one has an entrance to Midgaad - it was either north-eat or north-west.
So Martyn agrees to quest and Daelda (Adlead backwards or rather forwards) tell us how to get demon. Go to Araka-Alai, home of Ilvir (allegedly) - Oops sacked a temple of theirs - actually at their request. Go there and they will summon demon to you. We are cursed to perform quest - can�t return here without Eye.
The Elves built this place. Portals.
S���� - Ulfshafen
SW - Pesino
NW - Kiraz - over looking hills in way of
NE -� Azadmere
N��� - (Not prepared to tell) where we came from, strongly advised not to go there.
Harble�s Hammer is there (Ridow). Khuzdul hammer, throw and return, does �Earthquakes�
Through portal 1/2 hour from Azadmere 9th Navek
Go to Azadmere and see Sergeant Kruel. Not happy because some guards demanding tolls at Guthe Bridge. Oh looks like gratuitous violence time - week each way. All soldiers on wedding duty in Azadmere.
Daniel goes to Harpers to find out about Hammers. Kruel has clout and likes us so it�s not a problem. He misses the old days �Not so much �Hands off cocks, hands on socks� more like �hands off socks...��
Harble�s Hammer - legendary Khuzdul artefact. Last heard of when Khuzdul renegade under attack destroyed city of R�leyh or whatever it was. Throw and return hands of Khuzdul. Slays Gargun, Detects Gargun ((I�m sorry this is very inconsistent with Harnic history)) Earthquakes ?PD. at least +35. Mithral head.
March out to bridge, takes time about 6 days. 6 guys in leather armour - general riffraff, charged 10d each to cross bridge.
3 pack mules (party mules, 1 for arbalest), Crawlie on horse and Martyn on horse
Baron of� Nenda�s men charged toll, 2 or 3 seen more around. More travellers on other days. All being charged toll, all paying. At least a dozen of them. 1/2 dozen groups. Taken about a week to get there.
Bridge. Crudely built stockade at other end and gate on bridge. All crude and recent. We talk and faf and then have lunch. They actually seem legitimate, but it�s not legal to take this place. So Martyn threatens them basically. Hostilities begin in 1/2 hour (depressingly stupid paladin).
They open up on time with heavy crossbows, 3 on each of us. Fire arbalest, hits roof. It�s a flaming arrow. We retreat, they put out the fire. They fire at Martyn and he returns fire, at 360 ft, both sides miss. We retreat some more.
Our brains have turned to jelly. Martyn has invoked the Rules of War, Peace Treaties et al. We have a party.
The battering ram episode.
It got very silly, very silly.
We left after 2 days and returned to Azadmere. Kruel doesn�t really understand why we didn�t kill them - neither does anyone else - apart from Martyn. Use of gratuitous violence and diplomatic incidents allowed - who is this Baron of Kaldor anyway, never heard of him. 2 weeks wasted.
Get the wagon back, go back, cross river, come in that side (Daniel, Aruth and Zytsi). Martyn comes across to the other side and orders them to leave (Master of Kind). It works. So they start packing up. Mess around, we�re all in now. And then things go mildly wrong and melee ensures.
Martyn in building with 12 guards and 1 man in robes and 1 leader. Well Martyn is swung at and missed by a lot. He hit and hurt his victim �God he�s tough, run away !� They did. Oh !
3,200d in chest.
Aruth and Daniel help the soldiers escape, and carry out their personal belongings. Then the stockade was burnt to the ground. (The man in robes was an accountant)
End of Mission - didn�t we do well . . . . . . NOT !