Dear Journal,
The release from my trance this morning was quite violent. I sprang to my feet and flew out to the deck where I nearly toppled over the railing as I heaved up all that was within me. To top it off, as Mia attempted to hold my hair back, it came out in her hand in clumps. The tear has stricken me with a grave illness, it seems. I have previously dismissed the boils it has brought upon my hands and the constant barrage of disturbing and mocking thoughts. I should have taken action sooner, I admit, but I had thought myself doing well to fight off this malady on my own. Elwoz took it upon himself to concoct some bizarre elixir after watching my condition deteriorate over the past month. He gave it to me several hours ago as we took our rest. He offered to explain the process of its creation, but after witnessing the churning and bubbling liquid which emitted a foul odor, I politely declined and muscled down the thick sludge. Curiously enough, it tasted like cheese. He says I must take another dose tomorrow and we shall watch my condition closely.
We caused quite a stir as our unconventional airship descended upon the city of Merkemia. Our ship, though repaired and flight worthy, showed obvious scars from battle and was still adorned with the severed head of an unfortunate fomorian, which has been stripped almost to the bone by birds. Guards scurried about like little ants below us, and we watched as they prepared their ballistae and catapults. It was not until Talos was within shouting range that he called out, settling the distressed guardsmen.
As soon as we disembarked, Talos and Alyana made our intentions to meet with the king known, and we were ushered off to the palace, down side streets so as to not cause a commotion, finally coming to the palace tower where we made our way up, expected of course, for word had been shouted from messenger to messenger before we left our ship. I was somewhat excited, for the highest ranking officer I had met in this city was Commander Joka, the abrasive dragonborn who commissioned me to purge the remaining undead from the ruins far outside the city walls before I met the 42nd.
We were led to the tower’s uppermost chamber where stood King Argamir and his advisor Zydrathis. This chamber must have been where Zydrathis studied, for the walls were covered with bookshelves which held tomes, scrolls, vials, and curious artifacts. Argamir was dressed quite modestly for royalty, his garb hinting at his military discipline more than his social status. Zydrathis, of course, wore the more ostentatious, colorful linens of magic-wielders who find themselves in these types of prominent positions. There is something comforting in the realization that this is not a behavior reserved for humans alone.
Both men were kind and genuinely pleased to see us. Word of mouth, and a bit of scrying magic, no doubt, had made our exploits known to the king far in advance of our arrival. He was quick to congratulate and thank us for dealing with the Dreknar threat.
Zydrathis was eager to see the artifacts we had gathered in our journeys. We followed him to a nearby table where he had cleared room and etched intricate runes. Within the runic designs, he gathered our crystal fragments and began to carefully and deliberately rearrange them several times. After a few silent minutes, and numerous pauses to reference a few books upon his shelves, he managed to arrange the pieces in such a way that they melded together, creating a strange, incomplete raven skull-shaped figure. Noticeably relaxed, which confused the nine hells out of me, Zydrathis began discussing with us the pressing need to destroy the Tear of Ioun as he sprinkled pinches of colored dust atop the artifact and periodically mumbled incantations from a book he carried as he circled the table. He told us that we must seek out the city of Trade Gate, which Talos recalled to be a distant town made famous by an enormous stone archway where, historically, many traders met to peddle exotic wares. An inter-dimensional trader named Estevan would be able to give us advice on how to do this, he claimed. We were to find him somewhere in the city. He claimed he wouldn’t be hard to find, for he always finds out when he is being sought out, and should realize our peaceful intentions.
His work finished, Zydrathis handed me the newly-formed raven skull, a magic wand, and a scroll. He said this skull is a vital tool in the fight against the forces of evil, and that the wand and scroll were to be used if the artifact saw the effects of a corrupted force.
We spoke with Argamir, indulging him with tales of how the newer members of the 42nd came to find themselves here. As we began to say our goodbyes, expecting to be dismissed, Argamir insisted on a final word. He thanked us again for what we had done for the kingdom, but claimed there is no reasonable excuse to demand more from the 42nd. After all, the only current citizen of the Merkemian kindgom and its lands is Talos. He pledged his support for the fledgling Denmok nation, and his alliance with Deisa’s Moraldrum dwarves. Our endeavors, Argamir claimed, now reach beyond the borders of Merkemia, and we should be released to do good as we saw fit over all the lands. With that, he officially dissolved the 42nd Adventuring Company, but admitted the name was now that of legend, and would not be easily shaken. As a last gesture of support, and gratefulness to Talos for his continued support for the kingdom, Argamir presented Talos with a beautiful pair of diamond-studded bracers in addition to the monetary compensation he offered to us all.
After we were dismissed, I felt it necessary to relinquish the Tear of Ioun to Talos, for I barely made it down the tower’s winding staircase, and I could hear the mocking glee the wretched stone felt at my suffering. Thankfully, my reptilian friend took the burden without a moment’s hesitation.
We had barely stepped foot beyond the palace gates before we were approached by a young and strikingly attractive teifling girl with a curious accent. Nira, as she claimed to be called, delivered to us a message from her employer, Estevan. He wished an audience with us at the Wild Boar, a reasonably civilized tavern within the city. She promised us there would be much “jink” to be made and “chant” to be heard (terms we would be quite familiar with by the end of the day). Her brief mission complete, she took her leave, only looking back to catch our stares as she moved her hips and tail provocatively.
Zydrathis did not lie. We agreed that our next move should be a meeting with this Estevan, who was looking for to a meeting with us as we were with him. Talos, though, wished to stop by the Temple of the Vanguard to visit his order. I elected to follow him while the others went about their business, agreeing to meet at the Wild Boar.
We met an old and wise clergyman named Draco or Dragos or something like that. I have met few dragonborn in my life, but they all seemed to name their offspring some derivative of the common term “dragon”. It’s hard to keep their silly named straight. Oh, what a joke it would be if we bred little “He-“ and “She-ladrins”.
Talos elected to leave the tear in their care, making me quite nervous. After all, the allure of the tear’s power may be too much for all but the most iron-willed. Even then, the tear may exact its wrath upon them. They took it to their clerics for observation to determine if they knew a way to destroy it. They agreed to keep it in good hands until we returned from our meeting with Estevan.
We met later with the others at the Wild Boar where we were directed down a long hallway to a small room where say the largest and blue-est ogre I had ever laid eyes on. According to his messenger, Estevan was an oni, and a powerful mage at that. I had never met an oni before, but I knew them from ancient texts and stories which described them as a demented and evil race. This oni was quite strange in that regard, as he wore a soft smile and greeted us warmly. He told us he ran an operation known as the Planar Consortium. Making it clear that he knew us and what we did, he got right to the point. His deliveries have been disrupted by bandits and sabotage for weeks. His organization is providing supplies needed for the Festival of Doors and he was expecting something very bad to happen. He claimed this disruption of the festival would doom the City of Doors to the wrath of the Lady of Pain. In his desperation, he asked that we investigate by meeting with his associate named Fesdon Crale at his shop in Merkemia. The eccentric, yet pragmatic, oni then tossed a few of us an astral diamond each, claiming the answers we seek and more payment like this await us once his worries are put to rest.
So as quickly as we entered, we were back out in the city with instructions to the Arcane Emporium, Fesdon’s shop of magical goods. A short walk later we stood face to face with this alleged friend of Estevan, a short, grinning, grey-haired human. For merely 100 gold pieces, a discount he claimed, he would give us a map and a key to Sigil, where we would learn more about the trade disruptions. He quickly went over the map with us, pointing to the location of the portal to Sigil which would be activated by this key, a plank of wood with runic carvings. Seeing our dismay at the isolated alley pointed out on the map, Fesdon reassured us that the portal must be hidden, for we wouldn’t want just anyone wandering between the planes. At that, he eagerly sent us on our way.
We were conveniently located near the airship and the Temple of the Vanguard, so we let our crew know we would be tied up here for a few days and to make themselves comfortable. We then stopped by the temple to retrieve the Tear of Ioun. The elder dragon told us to seek out the “Luminous Body” which held the power to destroy the relic, but this was all the information they were able to determine from their readings.
Finally, we arrived at a dark and dirty alley. As we neared the dead end, the key pulsed with energy. Suddenly, we found ourselves in complete darkness. Alyana, sensing the air pressure, determined that we were far underground. I fumbled around in my pack for a sunrod, which I tossed out at our feet, illuminating the small room we stood in. This room had only a small fountain upon the wall behind us, but the room opened out into a crypt of some sort ahead. As our eyes adjusted to the light, we saw several sarcophagi towards the end of the hallway, beyond a row of columns.
A figure, covered in tattered wrappings, stood at the opposite end of this room, and held up a talisman of Zehir, a well-known evil deity of serpents. Talos looked back at us to identify the creature, muttering “Yuan-Ti.” As he began to hiss his vile prayer, I took action. A divine light blinded the beast just as plague beetles began digging their way up through the sand at our feet. Luckily, he hadn’t the concentration to complete the incantation, and the insects scurried away as we burst from our small chamber into battle. Unfortunately, Talos slipped into a crack in the sandy floor and was trapped.
Ghostly apparitions entered the fray from two hidden side chambers, one spirit appearing as a giant spider. Though Talos struggled to free himself, we still held the advantage over these monsters. The undead to not last long against the cleansing light of Corellon, and ethereal beings are, at the very best, on par with the hordes of spirits Elwoz calls forth, or the unpredictable energy Without wields. In a few short moments, the spirits were cast back into the void and the Yuan-ti mummy lied in a heap.
After freeing Talos, we sensed a magical energy building slowly in the fountain near where we arrived. With Diesa’s help, we determined it was a portal back to Merkemia, but the power to transport us had to build back up, and would take some time.
Searching the rest of this tomb turned up the body of what we determined was the real Fesdon Crale. The man at the Arcance Emporium was an imposter, meant to dispose of us. On him was a note describing the attempted disruptions of the festivities in Sigil. Since we had time to kill while the fountain recharged its magical energy, I elected to speak with Fesdon’s corpse. Conjuring the arcane magics, I commanded the body to tell us what it knew.
We learned that Fedson had discovered the conspiracy to disrupt trade routes through the city of Trade Gate by a shapeshifting being made of beetles named Arthani, which we determined was most likely the imposter we encountered at the Arcane Emporium. The corpse told us the key to Sigil would be the phrase “The Center of All Things”. With that, the magic left the corpse.
After the fountain had recharged, we returned to Merkemia where we rushed back to Fesdon’s store in hopes of catching Arthani and avenging Fesdon’s murder. However, we were too late. Arthani had long since abandoned the store. We scoured the building for clues, but came up empty-handed other than discovering a ritual amongst his wares that might prove beneficial in the future.
From here, we made haste back to Estevan to tell him what we had learned. Thought distraught at the loss of a colleague, we convinced him to come with us to Trade Gate to put an end to this threat and avenge Fesdon’s death. Luckily, Estevan frequently travels using portals and guided us through one to Trade Gate.
We appeared next to a humble, rickety tavern where I proceeded to throw up violently. The sickness had not left me, and the journey there upset my stomach quite a bit. Beside the tavern door, paying no mind to our arrival sat a sleeping man. After unsuccessfully attempting to wake the man, Estevan peered inside the tavern to see all patrons asleep. We concluded that someone came here and drugged the people of Trade Gate, either with potions or magic. Scouring the area, Alyana caught a glimpse of a dim, pulsing glow in the distance, coupled with random crackling lights. We hurry down the street to a long dirt road where we saw the great stone structure described sitting out in the distance.
Hastening our pace, we came upon scattered and ravaged wagons, upon two of which each sat an Eladrin male. Along the trail to the arch were a series of poles which eminated the crackling lights, each of which were guarded by a small group of cyclopes. Directly below the arch stood a female eladrin in a beautifully flowing purple gown, reading from a scroll.
As we approached, one of the Eladrin, a face I recalled from my past as that of Thesselonious, attacked Talos with necrotic energy, warning us to turn back. As we retaliated, the other Eladrin rider and the cyclopes joined in the fray. Instantly, Without held out the orb which, not surprisingly, flashed with a light brighter than the brightest star, blinding every living thing in the vicinity.
When our vision returned, Thesselonious was upon me, and I had to flee from his attacks. There was nothing more I would have liked to do than to strike him down, but my usefulness in this battle was severely hampered by my illness, and I was not able to stand evenly against him. He and the other Eladrin rider were what we call “Lurkers”, undead fey creatures who ignore death while clinging to an old grudge. Unfortunately, I shall not entertain you, Journal, with this particular grudge. Suffice it to say, it is over.
The battle quickly turned in our favor as Talos called out to focus on the female who, as it turned out, was a lamia, a shape-shifting fey creature comprised of insects. This was Arthani, the one who killed and impersonated Fesdon and sent us barreling into a trap. She tried desperately to continue reading her scroll to finish a spell, no doubt. She seemed to be feeding from the poles surrounding the area and emitting a sinister magic. So I took it upon myself to rip one out of the ground, which disrupted her spell completely, bringing her nefarious plans to a halt.
Alyana disposed of Thesselonious, Talos dealt with the other lurker through a protective ward he placed upon me, and the cyclopes lay scattered about when Without convinced Arthani to surrender. She claimed her hand was guided by Tarvos, “The Demon Caller”. Unfortunately for her, magical fire still burned around her from the battle and overtook her.
Taking a minute to recover from the battle and the shock of seeing an old adversary, I rested beside a broken wagon as the others searched the grounds. Unfortunately, Thesselonious called out to me by name and I was forced to appease Without’s curiousity by telling my story. Perhaps, given the time, I may tell it again. I am blessed to have been so occupied over the many years since our last meeting that I did not reflect upon the event often.
Alyana found a clue amidst the fallen enemies. A flier for a place called The House of Song lay beside some of the lamia’s things, and upon it was written the name Tarvos.
Estevan nodded to Elwoz who spoke the words “The Center of All Things” which activated a portal within Trade Gate’s stone arches, like a thin, lavender curtain had been dropped. We stepped through, one by one, and as my boots touched the cobblestone of Sigil, vertigo once again took over and left me heaving. Estevan thanked us, but left for Sigil’s guild district to check up on his operations, but told us to seek out Tarvos and we would be repaid.
Of all the places to travel while I was ill, Sigil was probably the worst imaginable. I would have preferred to be upon the bobbing airship with Elwoz at the helm, slinging us from cloud to cloud. The ground here sloped upward until it made a ring above us, and did the same at a wider arc in the parallel direction. This city was a giant ring! Within the center of the loop orbited a thin mist and scattered dust from which it seemed to trickle down rain upon us. From cracks in the buildings and courtyards in this city grew an ugly greenish-brown thorny vine that seemed to be just as much a part of the architecture as the stone. Taking in this sight, I again went ill. It took all of us a minute to gain our composure in this whimsical place – all of us except for Without.
The halfling set off with us in tow. The city was crawling with creatures from all planes, simply going about their business. I witnessed a water elemental offer a friendly wave, answered by a Shadar-Kai necromancer who held three ghouls at the end of a leash. Elf and drow walked the streets without as much as a glance at each other. These sights, and countless more, were almost more dizzying that the bizarre terrain. Yet Without led us with a nonchalance which I found both comforting and terrifying at the same time. Elwoz, too, seemed less than surprised, though I imagine this may be the way he sees his surroundings at any given time.
We found a human man standing at a map kiosk outside an entrance to an inn built to look like a small fortress. The sign outside read: “The Battlements”. The man greeted us in the same strange accent as Nira, the teifling girl. The man was a guide, and told us there would be several guides scattered about the city in case we became disoriented or were in search of something specific. He told us we would find this House of Song in the Night Market. Apparently awestruck travelers like us are all too common in Sigil. So we grabbed a map and set out through the throng of creatures, none of which gave us more than a passing glance. For a few coins, the guide accompanied us to our destination, but found the House of Song deserted and dark. Confused, we began questioning the guide until Alyana stole our attention to let us know we were being followed by a shadowy figure, darting in and out of the crowds.
When we told the man we noticed we were being tailed, he became quite nervous. Pressing further, we were able to learn that it was Tarvos who was responsible for the tail, but he would say no more. Without tried to coax out more information with a charming lie, but when the guide refused, he lost his composure, leaping up in the guide’s face, screaming and shaking the terrified man and startling several passing bugbears with a thunderous bellow. The quivering man blurted that it was Tarvos that was behind the disruption in an effort to destroy Sigil by invoking the wrath of the Lady of Pain. He continued, saying that Tarvos, onto our efforts, abandoned the House of Song and was on his way to sabotage a shipment of cave fire wine to be used during the festival.
Satisfied with his confession, we dismissed the frightened guide. We were not about to take any rash actions in this unfamiliar place, and Without’s theatrics already attracted a number of uncomfortable stares. So we set out in search of Tarvos.
For a short time, we wandered the streets, gazing at the strange sights around us until we noticed a shifty-looking balgura standing in courtyard. As he gazed over the crowds, he saw us and shouted out a warning to Tarvos that we had arrived. We had stumbled into an ambush. The balgura, two demons, and two ogres burst into the courtyard, sending pedestrians fleeing in all directions. Some cast illusionary magic and slipped away, some floated up until they came to rest on the streets above us. Others cowered in vender stalls. Among the enemy stood who we discerned to be Tarvos, commanding the others to attack and protect him.
Throughout our fight the people and visitors of Sigil fled. Alyana and I were able to dance atop the buildings surrounding the courtyard, staying clear of the battle while Alyana and I distracted and confused the enemy. Eventually we prevailed, but Tarvos was able to flee in the confusion.
We acted quickly, Alyana and Diogi tracked Tarvos to a nearby warehouse. She broke in to have a look around, seeing Tarvos preparing several runic circles, obviously conducting some ritual to taint the goods within the warehouse. Alongside him stood an Immolith, a Needle Demon, and a couple of Vrocs watching while Tarvos spoke his dark incantation.
We stormed in, and immediately set ourselves upon Tarvos and his minions. Understanding the severity of the situation, we acted quickly to dispose of Tarvos and prevent him from completing his ritual. The other creatures fell quickly afterward.
Feeling satisfied, we decided to rejoin Esteban in the guild district. As we made our way there, we were passed by what the guides referred to as the “Daibus”. They are statuesque, floating humanoids who work for the Lady of Pain. We witnessed them head for the square where we first battled Tarvos, and very swiftly set to work cleaning the area. They righted spilled vendor kiosks, picked up scattered goods, and repaired buildings which took damage during our fight.
When we returned to Esteban's office, he was elated to hear that we had saved his business and saved Sigil from the wrath of the Lady of Pain. He offered us a night of rest at the Battlements, near where we entered Sigil, promising our safety there.
We inquired again about our urge to venture to the Luminous Body. Esteban said that he knew of three leads in our quest. First, we could go to the Stick's Oarsmen, a notoriously rowdy tavern, and seek out the Rule of Three. He may know about the luminous body. Second, Shimeshka, or “The Maurader”, whos information will cost us dearly. Lastly, he suggested that the Lady's Library may contain some literature to aid us in locating the Luminous Body.
We thanked him and set out to the Battlements where we now rest. I was in a hurry to write this day’s notes, so I have yet to see to my own rest. Tomorrow, we seek out the Luminous Body, and hopefully set out to destroy this blasted Tear once and for all. I shall have another dose of Elwoz’s medicine in the morning, so I hope I will fight off this sickness so that the tear may see my health return before it faces its destruction.
I pray until then that the guiding light of Corellon finds me in this place, wherever it is.
