Evening in the Arena, Readying 20, 591

I suppose I should start from Melkot. That way Drago can get caught up with all the events; at least as I remember them and from my point of view…

My errand to Melkot was happy and unhappy. Drago must be wondering where our friends the dwarves and Father Adalwulff come into this tale. They were recruited there, and they have figured large in our successes.

Sir Aramek and Father Wat accompanied me to Melkot. We stayed at an Inn outside the city because I wanted to learn more of the town before presenting myself as a representative of Prince Prospero. While staying at the inn, we had the good fortune to meet a priest of Fharlanghn, Brother Cerball. He set up a meeting between myself and the governor of Melkot.

At that meeting we warned the Mayor of the danger Thracia might pose to Melkot. It was at that meeting, I first met Grim and Morgrym. They were the mayor’s guards. Unfortunately, we also met Serlo, Mayor Weibex’s advisor. It was he who conspired with an evil cult to kill Father Wat. The same assassins would have killed Sir Aramek and I, had Father Adalwulf not stepped in to save us.

The mayor then offered us support in our quest to end the danger Melkot poses. He gave us a generous sum of gold to buy magic which might prove helpful to us. We also gained the help of Father Adalwulf and Grim and Morgrym with their kinsmen, though they cannot stay beyond first light this morning.

We returned to Thracia and found our friends again. In our absence they had scouted a large portion of the city and learned a bit of it’s situation. I also learned that a falling out between Sir Indranil and Drago resulted in Drago’s expulsion from the squad. I am glad to have you back.

Now, let’s see… what happened next. So much has happened it seems like a month or more has passed.

I suppose the next major event was the fight in the Wight House. We were pretty hard pressed by a troop of gnolls, but in the end we prevailed. Sir Aramek proved to be quite proficient with his wand of Scorching Rays, and Sir Indranil dispatched a powerful leader of the gnoll clan.

It was after that, Sir Indranil decided we should pursue the gnolls up the cliffs to their village. We had another tough fight on our hands there too. I am glossing over a list of heroic deeds by all hands of course, but I am concerned with taking too much time. Still, it’s thrilling to recall Lady Rain’s heroics to open the gate, the charge of the dwarves and Indranil’s capable sniping which kept us from being stopped by the gnoll’s own archers. I’m sure we’ll all have a great time embellishing the stories in the coming days.

In any case, it was after this fight that we found ourselves with four deathwalkers captured and enslaved by the gnolls. Sir Indranil and I and Father Adalwulff differed on how to proceed with questioning them. This resulted in a major disagreement between Sir Indranil and Father Adalwulff, and they fought a duel. Fortunately for all, it was not to the death and Father Adalwulff showed both wisdom and mercy. However, it was after these events that Sir Indranil relinquished command to me.

Following that I asked Lady Rain to interrogate the prisoners. She learned a great deal from one of the women named Ulpu. Ulpu provided us with important intelligence including maps of the deathwalker caverns and warning us about Tavasmok. She also told us that both Adelina’s parents were held in the villa at one point. And while her mother was still in the villa, her father was sent elsewhere. We were left to assume and to hope that this meant he could be found in the deathwalker caverns. While discussing these plans, Sir Indranil and I differed on certain key choices. He decided to leave for the boat immediately.

Following our interrogation, we decided to launch a bold plan of raiding the deathwalker caverns in hopes of finding Adelina’s father. Then attacking the relief column of deathwalkers, when they marched through the city to the caverns. We hoped to make these attacks look like gnoll-work. And if Tavasmok took the bait, we would raid the villa in hopes of finding Adelina’s mother.

The events of that raid were quite different than planned, but resulted in our being found by Drago, Ulmar and Sir Indranil. So, all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

Following Fingol’s story, he passes his spyglass over to Sir Lorindel. “You’ve keen eyes. Keep watch for Tavasmok for us, while Lady Rain and I confer.”

Fin then turns to Lady Rain, “May I ask you to walk with me a while?”

They walk around the upper perimeter of the arena in as much as the ruins allow and engage in a quiet discussion. Upon returning, Fin turns to Father Adawulff “Good priest, You seem ready to endorse this idea of eliminating the deathwalker priesthood and taking over the deathwalker rank and file as a check to the beastmen. Have you thought through this idea? We are here with light provisions and will need to leave this place from time to time for fresh supplies. What happens to the check on the beastmen then? Do you think that a few guards is what is stopping the gnoll army? Or is it Tavasmok? I think eliminating him is far more destabilizing than anything we have done thus far.”

“As a priest of Pholtus I recognize that those aligned with Law can be
trusted to a certain extent, and though they may have evil ambitions
they also want stability and not wanton destruction. We might be able
to form a temporary alliance with Tavasmok if it is impossible to get
rid of him. Perhaps we can exchange hostages,” he glances at the
Deathwalker captives, “Saeva, and Ulpu’s family, for at least Jaana
and the two men. I will not condone giving up or betraying Ulpu
however, as she has come to the Light of Pholtus. Anyway, if we can
exchange hostages and form a temporary alliance to fight the Chaos and Evil of King Stronghoen then I think Pholtus will not be displeased.
But I will say that under no circumstances must we directly be
involved in any evildoing or the condoning of evildoing. If we can
make a deal with Tavasmok without tainting ourselves we might be able to get back Saeva without violence, and then together with them defeat King Stronghoen. But both we and they must understand that after the temporary alliance is over we will again be enemies. So we should be careful of the terms of the agreement so that we can make sure that we are clear of them when the fight against the beast-men is over.”