Hi there everyone! It's been a while since I added anything here and for that, I apologize. Between the holidays, a bit of writer's block and some other issues, I wasn't really getting a lot of writing done. I recently started gaming (D&D) with a new group and something clicked. I usually create fairly elaborate backgrounds for the characters that I play and my newest addition was no exception.
His name is Jazhir ibn Faheed and he is a Rawun, an Arabic-style bard. After our first game, I decided to keep a journal of the events of game sessions. Here is the first set of entries and I'll warn you, this post is rather long\. There is an introduction which goes over his back story, but I'm going to leave that out for now. If you're one of my fellow players from the game, I hope I didn't butcher anything TOO much. If anything is really wrong, let me know and I'll make edits.
So begins Jazhir's Journal:
Entry 1: Something
New
My day started like many others: cleaning my master’s lab,
studying in the library, practicing my sword work in the courtyard. Oslo called me to his study and after getting
cleaned up, I went to see him. On the
table behind him, I noticed an odd assortment of carefully-packed equipment
suitable for long journeys. After
getting my attention again (no small task, I assure you) he explained what he
wanted me to do.
Now, Oslo is old. I
don’t mean “elderly”. I mean OLD, like a
musty tome, faded, tattered and covered in dust. He had me around his castle seemingly to do
his bidding in return for teaching me about magic. (Not that I really had a choice in the
matter, of course.) One of his former
apprentice’s had been doing research into magic that could ease the wizard’s aching
bones but they hadn’t been in contact for almost two years. Oslo wanted me to meet him and retrieve
whatever information I could.
The apprentice’s name was Fennic and he lived in a small
village as a hedge-wizard, which means he helped make sure crops and livestock
were healthy. He also preformed magic to
improve the weather and to make life better for the villagers in general. That kind of life sounded pretty boring to
me, but I decided not to judge; I had a job to do.
Besides basic provisions, Oslo gave me two other items of
interest. First was an old
battered-looking satchel that was enchanted with magic that preserved anything
placed inside. He wanted me to collect
any interesting reagents that could be used for alchemical and magical
experiments. He especially wanted the
hearts and other organs from live sentient creatures: goblins, orcs, and the
like. When I started to protest, he
assured me that he did not expect me to go on a wanton killing spree, but if I
happened to be required to defend myself from such beings, he wanted to make
sure nothing went to waste. Oslo is not
an evil man; just practical and always looking to increase his knowledge. This, more than anything, has put me at ease
with him.
The other item he gave me was a bracelet, gold and crusted
with small diamonds and sapphires. The
days of travelling with my father replayed in my mind and I found myself
pondering its worth. Oslo explained that
in a few days’ time, he would teleport me back to his castle to report what I
had found. The magic within the bracelet
would serve as a link to my location. If
I found someplace to hide the bracelet or, better yet, found someone to wear
it, I could be teleported back to where I had been transported from.
Oslo instructed me to finish my preparations for the
journey. I dressed in my bland, but
well-made travelling clothes, but I packed a few extra outfits as well. Clothing is important. They allow you to blend into places and keep
people at ease. I find that sometimes,
the simplest disguise is changing the clothes on your back. I also readied my weapons: a short bow over
my back; a dagger tucked into a concealed sheath on my wrist; on my belt, the
curved jambiya that my father gave me and finally, my grandfather’s
scimitar.
Lastly, I secured my most prized possession: a straight,
slender rod of polished oak; tapered to a point and ringed with bands of silver
at the thicker end. It was a wand that
let me cast a spell to completely disguise my appearance. I absolutely love wands. This, I tucked into another sheath on my left
wrist.
Now, I must go back to Oslo and have my body sent through a
magical vortex to a far-off land that I’ve never seen before to make
discoveries, meet new people, and collect treasures and stories. I must admit, I really love my life.
Entry 2: A Cozy
Little Village
I am currently sitting in my room at the tavern in Fennic’s
village. It has been an eventful day as
you will see by this entry. Tomorrow
should be even more interesting.
I appeared on a well-maintained road and off in the distance
was a set of small buildings that turned out to be the village served by
Fennic. Recalling the maps in Oslo’s
library, I was impressed by the range and accuracy of my master. The street was hushed and deserted with the
exception of a glowering half-orc wielding what was either a very large
crossbow or a small ballista. He glared
at me suspiciously, but I smiled at him and walked toward what was obviously a
tavern.
The inside was clean and rustic but had a pleasant, homey
atmosphere. Some old-timers were playing
cards in one corner of the large common room.
The only other patron was a young blonde girl. I looked again and realized that she was
actually a Halfling. Her clothing and
equipment made it clear that she was traveler like me. The food smelled quite good but I had a
feeling that I wouldn’t be able to eat some of the rustic fare.
The barmaid came over to my table and confirmed that most of
their food was pork-based (which I do not eat).
They had a vegetable platter and bread and the ale was surprisingly
good. I chatted with the woman, who was
well into her mature years, but still attractive and well-endowed. The general news about the town was alarming:
the dead were rising and attacking townspeople.
The cleric of the local temple was unable to do anything to affect these
things.
When I asked what Fennic was doing about it, she confirmed
my worst fears: Fennic was dead. He
passed away months earlier, seemingly of a heart attack. I was immediately suspicious and my concerns
grew as I learned that the “undead” appeared right around the same time that he
died. I asked if Fennic had any enemies
in town and learned that he did his job very well and was respected in the
community. He helped everyone in town
with improving the weather to help crops and driving away predators from the
livestock. Even the tavern had an
enchanted mouse trap in the kitchen.
After brunch and securing one of the two rooms available, I
introduced myself to the Halfling girl (who had taken the other room). Her name was Lily and though I got the
impression that she was a thief, I found myself trusting her immediately –
almost as if we were meant to travel together.
We shared a drink and talked about what was going on in the town. Curiosity was obviously a trait we both
shared.
As we talked, another interesting person entered the tavern,
a dwarf who had obviously been traveling by foot, judging by the dust on his
well-worn boots. He was armed with a
spear and had a pair sticks tucked into his belt which marked him as either a
stick-fighter or a drummer. He ordered
food and ale (of course – he’s a dwarf!) and asked about a room. The innkeeper told him that Lily and I had
the rooms and soon after that, he joined us at our table.
His name was Fasa and he had traveled here from Storm Guard
because the cleric of the town posted a job about clearing away the undead
problem. Being a noble and adventurous
sort, he was here to do the job, which paid a nice sum of gold and some healing
potions. Since we were all interested in
finding out what was happening (and because I suspected it might have something
to do with Fennic’s death), we agreed to work together.
Later in the evening, the tavern got very crowded as the
townsfolk arrived to drink and socialize.
I told some stories and earned another meal and some spare coin. I find that people are always more willing to
talk to you after you’ve entertained them.
One of the older men in the crowd had recently been visited by the
undead. It had walked onto his farm and
killed a pig with a wooden axe and dragged it off into the woods. What was even more interesting was that the
thing looked like a neighbor’s son who had died years ago, but he looked as
healthy as he did when he was alive.
A brief brawl between two young men (over irrigation methods
of all things!) was broken up by the half-orc sheriff. Other than that, nothing else of note
occurred so Lily and I went off to our rooms while Fasa settled himself by the
fire. Tomorrow, the three of us are going
to check Fennic’s hut and then look in on Farmer Joe and his missing pig.
Hmm, there seems to be someone rattling my window…
No one there. Whoever
it was, they weren’t very determined.
Entry 3: The
Hedgewizard’s Hut
I met Lily and Fasa in the common room and discussed our
plans over breakfast. It was a brief put
pleasant meal but I think we were all eager to be on our way. Following directions supplied by the innkeep
and his wife, we made our way down the road out of town and north along a faint
trail. We ended up at a run-down looking
one-room hut. Definitely not the place
one would expect to find a wizard of any skill or power.
Knowing that things are often not what they appear to be, I
shifted my senses to detect for magic.
As expected, there was powerful magic on the house. Well, to be exact, the door. Following an impulse (which I do with
somewhat alarming regularity) I went to the door and said, “Oslo sent me.” Immediately, the door swung open to reveal…
A run-down looking one-room hut. We all looked carefully around the inside
but everything was completely as it seemed: dusty floor, fire pit with cooking
utensils, a small dining table and chair.
Everything looked well used, but where were the wizardly
implements? Where was the library full
of scrolls and books? Where did he
sleep?
Lily noticed something out of place. Foot traffic in the dust revealed that Fennic
really didn’t move around this room very much.
Just back and forth from the door.
And that is when it hit me – the magic on the door was much more
powerful than a magical trap or alarm.
I closed the door, said “lab” and opened it again.
And stared at a block of solid stone and the passive face of
a gargoyle. It opened its eyes and
spoke. “You are not the master or an
invited guest.” I asked what sort of
guests the master entertained and it answered “beautiful, nubile women”. It seems that Fennic was a bit of a Lech. Following another impulse, I closed the door,
retrieved my wand and disguised myself as a “beautiful, nubile woman.” It’s not the first time I’ve done that. Sometimes women can enter places a man
cannot.
I opened the door and asked to enter but the gargoyle
refused again. It told me that I was
wearing too much clothing. Correction,
Fennic was quite a Lech. Or maybe the
gargoyle was… Either way, I closed the
door, adjusted my disguise to be nude and opened the door again. This time the gargoyle swung back and allowed
me to enter. I looked back at my
companions. Lily shrugged and got
undressed. Small though she may be; she
is definitely both beautiful and nubile.
Fasa declined and said that he would wait in the main room.
The lab was a fascinating place and I found a number of
interesting items: a jar of vampire
dust, some gemstones and powdered diamond, a scroll of Summon Nymph (LECH!) and
finally, Fennic’s research notes for a spell to easy aching bones through a mix
of Necromancy and Transmutation. I also
found his spellbook which spawned a mouth that shouted, “I was fucking
poisoned!” as soon as I touched it.
We checked for other rooms, trying different names. His bedroom had a bed that could comfortably
sleep a moderate-sized family and I was covered in rich furs. I went through his extensive and eclectic wardrobe
and assembled an outfit fit for any noble.
We also found some items of note that he would no longer need: magic
rings, a robe, earrings, and a staff. I
knew that Oslo would be able to identify them, so we stored them safely away.
His Pantry was well stocked but uninteresting. Same was true for his Bathroom (though, we
were all very interested in trying his tub).
There were four other rooms which held a number of surprises. His Den had an incredible number of books on
stories and histories. It also had maps
and some notes tracking the site of ancient ruins and another set regarding a
string of recent murders where the victims were all magi. I selected a few books of stories including
one from my homeland and another ancient volume of elven tales.
His Library was protected by another gargoyle and informed
us that only Fennic could pass. Having
been shown images of the man by my master, I placed another Illusion over
myself and entered. It was stocked with
an impressive collection of tomes of magic and arcane research. I selected one volume that contained spells
developed by students at Radashil’s Academy of Magic. I thought Oslo might find it interesting.
It took some trial and error until we found his Study and
here we found records detailing his interactions with the townsfolk: what he
did for them and what he received from them in return.
The last and probably most important room that we found was
the Vault. Lily wanted to go charging
in, after checking for traps, which we found.
Fasa stepped in and triggered a trap she didn’t spot and lost a good
chunk of his spear in the process. After
looking at the long hallway, covered in colorful tiles and flanked by a number
of suits of armor which radiated strong magic and seeing the massive door with
its equally massive set of nine locks, we all decided it would be best to leave
this room alone.
We’re sitting down to some lunch before we head over to
Famer Joe’s place to investigate the murder and theft of his pig.
Entry 4: The Bone
Eaters
I’m currently sitting in the massive over-stuffed chair in
Fennic’s den and thinking over of the events of the day. Lily diced me for the use of the bedroom, but
she won. Fasa is curled up on the floor
by the fire in the main room. I can’t
complain, however, this chair is quite comfortable.
We left the Hut in afternoon, determined to find answers to
the “undead” problem before nightfall.
It didn’t take long to reach Joe’s farm.
The village really isn’t that big. The old man showed us the pen where
his pig had been. He gave us the wooden
axe, still crusted with the animal’s blood.
His description of the man made it unlikely that he was really what he
seemed. His neighbor’s son had died
three years previous but the man’s appearance was the same as when he was
alive. Not likely that it was a zombie.
Then Lily and Fasa found
tracks. Ghosts and the like don’t leave tracks, or
wield wooden axes, or kill pigs and drag the body back into the woods. Following the trail, it led to a cave in a
hillside, which was directly behind the cemetery, which was next to the temple. We all thought it would be nice to actually
get paid to do the job we were about to do.
We spoke with the cleric, a lovely lady named Sheila who was quite
surprised that there was someone or something living behind the cemetery. She agreed to pay us the gold and healing
potions and to also heal of us any injuries sustained in dealing with the
problem. (Which was sorely needed as you’ll
soon read.)
We went back to the cave and Lily stealthily scouted the
entrance. This is, of course, an
understatement. I think that a gnat
would have been more noticeable than her. She spotted traps set up inside the small
cave. Squatting around the meager, she
saw four hunched figures wearing tattered loincloths. When she described the things to me, I had no
idea what they were, but we quickly came up with a plan.
I used my minor telekinetic magic to drag the bear trap on
the left side of the entrance to the right side. Lily went into the cave to spring the second
trap, a swinging spiked branch, when the occupants were in position. Fasa climbed up over the cave mouth where he
could attack with his spear. My part in
the plan was to draw the creatures out into the open so I formed an Illusion of
Farmer Joe, pitchfork in hand and hid in the bushes behind the phantasm.
Adopting an accent from this region, I began calling out to
the “pig-stealing bastards”. Lily saw
what happened in the cave and related it to us later. Each of the squat beings grabbed bones off
the floor and chewed on them. As they
consumed the remains they took on the appearance of the former owner of said
bone. They headed out of the cave and
one got stuck in the bear trap. Lily
sprang the other trap and injured two others and the fight was on in earnest.
I drew two of them out to Joe’s image and focused my
concentration on keeping their attention as long as I could. Fasa attacked one from above which began to
climb up after him. But the two still in
the cave went after Lily. I didn’t want
to leave her without any help so with a final distraction from my phantom farmer;
I rushed out and attacked with my scimitar.
Now, I’d like to say that I was dazzlingly effective but
that would be a lie. I’ve been training
in combat, but not extensively. I
slashed and cut one of the attackers until Fasa jumped down and helped take my
opponent down. We turned on the other
that was now climbing back down from the rocks and dispatched it. About the same time, Lily walked nonchalantly
out of the cave, with barely a scratch on her.
Glancing inside there was one corpse riddled with arrows (which she
borrowed from me!) and a second smoldering and sputtering near the fire.
The combat wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done and so, we
returned to Sheila in the temple. After
paying us, she examined the bodies and recognized them as Pasacha, which happen
to be smaller, less intelligent cousins to the powerful and evil race of feline
shapeshifters known as Rakshasa. The
creatures could innately detect magic and were drawn to those who could wield
arcane power. I surmised that these
must have been the creatures responsible for the deaths of the magi between
here and Storm Guard, probably even Fennic.
(All they would have to do is appear as a beautiful and nubile girl and
he would let them right into his home.)
So after getting healed, we headed back to the tavern for a night
of celebration. We dealt with a pair of would-be thieves who were following some kind of "Adventurer's Correspondence Course". I think I may have to look into the publisher of those guides - they are rather ingenious.
Afterwards, we retired
to Fennic’s hut which brings me back to the present here in my master’s former
apprentice’s study. I think I’ll grab
another book of tales and read until I fall asleep.
