NOTE- this recollection was written originally by Ashe Blackfist with inserts by Telaris to make it not seem like the moron who wrote it is the biggest moron on Tyrra, though he is in all fact, the biggest moron on Tyrra. Anyhow, written by Ashe with commentary by Telaris
Recollection of the July 8th, 605 E.R. Gather in Blackstone
It was to be one of the more adventurous of the trips we have taken as the Ducal
Court of Ashbury. Macgregor of Glen Cairn, Raeche, Talon, the newest member
of our court, Juluk, Fionna and myself, Squire Ashe Blackfist, all decided to
adventure in a far away land, which led us to Blackstone. Joining us on the
trip was Sir Telaris MacLeod of Neridia, Zoku, Mystic Wood Elf Extraordinaire,
and Squire Byron Levant of the Court of Trellheim in Ashbury. It was a long,
glorious trip, filled with early rises and yawning. We had been discussing my
recent race change to Wild Elf. Many have asked why I have decided to change
my race on a more permanent basis, and the only viable answer I can provide
is that my time as a half ogre has run its course. One day, when Neridia needs
saving, I will likely return, but for now, I am happy as an elf, or so I would
think, and this gather would question. We also had hoped to investigate a red
star which had been disturbing celestial casters for some time.
Upon our arrival in Blackstone, we were most upset to have heard that those
who we would normally seek to adventure with in these faraway lands would not
be in attendance. Indeed, Squire Seronia would not be there, nor would Her Excellency
Viscountess Kiera, Dame Parthynia, Baron Siranot, or even Marcus Gunnar would
be in attendance(Nor would newly minted Squire Anthony: Telaris). Even those
who I would have liked to get to see more of, such as Viscount Silvercord and
Baron Warclaw, were not in attendance. We had been informed that the gather
was comprised almost completely of adventurers from other lands. We also took
a noted lack of earth magick ability in town, as Telaris was by far the superior
earth scholar. For those who do not know Telaris, he somewhat detests the idea
of healing others, causing serious problems for our potentiality of needing
healing (No one dies, I simply prefer to use my spells to greater effect elsewhere:
Telaris). The beginning of the gather also had a noted lack of nobility, strange
for Blackstone. Myself and Squire Byron were the only squires in town, and Baron
Mithrilmist would not show up for at least 2 hours, leaving no one in charge
of town save for two squires and later we would find, some visiting nobility(Ashe
has left me out of this list, but I do count at least as a visiting noble, though
I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he assumed it was clear since
he briefly puts “Sir” before my name earlier:Telaris).
I spent much of this time introducing myself to new people. I was pleased to
make the acquaintance of Baron Kivuli of Fengate, and in particular a bull scavenger
named Tsunami. Tsunami had a very plain manner of speaking, but brutally honest
and intelligent in the most pragmatic of ways. He was both kind and approachable,
and he told me the abridged story of his adventuring. Shortly thereafter, adventure
was to find us. I am not sure of the details, but Sir Telaris brought us along
to what would be our group needing to interrupt a formal magic of great detail
and as we would soon find out, power. In attendance to this adventure was Macgregor,
Telaris, Beryl, Juluk, myself, and I believe two others(Roland and Algorian:
Telaris). We fought through many tainted goblins, and found a small house with
many lit candles and the formalist performing his dark magick. We attempted
frantically to blow out the candles and interrupt his intentions in some way,
and Telaris attempted to interrupt it in other ways. We were not successful.
On the formal’s completion, everyone experienced a dreamvision of sorts
in which we saw our entire lives pass us by. Of particular note during these
visions, was those points in our lives when we made a vital decision. When we
awoke, Juluk and I had rifted back into the tavern together, some notable time
after the rest of our party. (The formal was being conducted to alter the natural
course of Time’s flow. In this case, it succeeded and those present were
caught in the eddies of such powerful magic. All of us experienced the effects
to one degree or another with one exception. At my bidding and with my great
thanks, Roland made sure to early and safely bring back to town a scroll with
vital writings upon it. Because he did so, a code was broken that came in great
use several times: Telaris)
However, Juluk and I were not the same people we were before this formal. I
had become a Biata earth scholar of noted ability, and Juluk had become a stone
elf celestial scholar of great casting ability. This would be of great humor
to those who know, Juluk is a barbarian fighter, and he had been calling himself
Kujal(Not quite, though I confess to not remembering the alternate name either.
Possibly Kuluj. In either case, it was likely an anagram of Juluk either way:
Telaris) I believe when he awoke. We later found out, we had arrived with a
relatively different set of memories also, but for the time we had believed
fully the different memories we had. Juluk, for instance, had encountered Ulo
Mahdin and instead of avoiding him, had faced him and been struck down, then
turned into Ulo Mahdin’s minion. Ulo Mahdin was a monster we faced approximately
4 years ago, who took great pleasure in toying with the lives of “mortals.”
He had since been imprisoned, but according to Juluk’s memories, he was
still his servant. This led to him being attacked in his confused state. In
my confusion, I attacked in an attempt to defend my long time friend.
I was revived and explained myself. People questioned why I had become a biata
earth scholar, and I explained what I later found to be somewhat falsified memories.
I explained how almost a year ago to the day, I had decided to leave the Ducal
Court of Ashbury, and resigned my squireship to adventure down in the lands
of Blackstone and Therendry. I explained how I had adventured with Her Excellency
Zobrist and Baron Siranot and the rest of their crowd for the better part of
the last year and was hoping soon to become a squire again. I opted to not tell
people what exactly made me make such a drastic decision, and the subsequent
race change and spirit forge. I choose not to recall it in this recollection
also, in a most active manner.
It was decided that I was no longer a threat, but Juluk still was. He was taken
on an adventure shortly thereafter to help him realize about his last 4 years,
and I was not. He returned docile and friendly. The gather continued on, with
me not a part of the Ducal Court or a squire officially, much to the dismay
of some and delight of others. It is important to note that before this change
in time, I had fortunately told Squire Levant that he had the full permission
of myself, as the interim leader of the Court, to express his wishes upon the
ducal court, as if he had himself been leading them in times of need. At any
rate, the gather continued on.
As the night pressed on, attacks by goblins were a most common sight, and agitated
celestial type folks felt the pressure of the red star. Caliphar arrived that
night and expressed his confusion over my change, and I only make note of it
because of the priceless expression on his face, as he gave up trying to understand.
However, little else of note happened save for some random adventures of which
I was not a part. Everyone decided to go to bed, but not until after Sir Telaris
had tried to thoroughly convince me of the change in the timeline, of which
I adamantly disagreed and protested. He expressed how he was going to return
time to its proper order, and I was greatly concerned over this. As I returned
to the cabin, I was turned away from the Ducal Court cabin as I had rescinded
my membership, and was forced to sleep in another cabin alone for this night.
(So that no one will think ill of the Court, this was also done in part because
of my belief that Ashe might seek to kill me as I slept. Not Ashe as we all
know him, but the alternate version who was well-inclined to believe, though
mistaken, that I was seeking to end his existence: Telaris)
I awoke in the morning greatly distressed. I was one of the first and only people
in town awake, and the prospect of Sir Telaris altering my past and possibly
eliminating my memories, particularly the falsified ones of the past year, ate
away at the possibilities. Time, in all its vastness and power, is a very fragile
thing and can easily be broken in many ways, and the endless potentiality of
this, was mind boggling. I decided to do something to counteract the potential
of this, and while it may seem foolish to some, I did the most sensible thing
I could. I wrote a letter concerning my last year of memories, what I considered
at that point to be the most important of my life. I closed it in the hope of
finding a method to preserve it through any time changes that may occur. As
more people in town awoke and people trickled in, a fae calling himself the
game master came to the tavern with a new board game called Kandy Kingdom (ages
4-4000! Almost didn’t make the age requirement…) and of course, a
set of fae rules to go along. Eseentially the game, you would progress by rolling
your own dice. It consisted of five teams, any size chosen, and teams could
not help each other out except on their own turns. I chose to team with Algorian,
a man I had known and adventured with since the very day I began adventuring.
Needless to say, we know each other pretty well and between him, a very competent
fighter and myself, the newly forged largest earth scholar in town, were prepared
to face the perils of the fae game. Other teams were led by Baron Mithrilmist,
Telaris, myself, Sathen, and a team with Caliphar. The game itself, was based
on several simple bases- fate cards, which if you landed on a fate square would
have to suffer your fate. A cave, dungeon, or house square. Caves and houses
held various perils, dungeons would force you to lose a turn unless you rolled
the die well, a 5 or 6. There were also treasure squares and squares with silver
in them. Our team, as well as Baron Mithrilmist’s team, progressed strongly
through the game, with Telaris’ team also being in the running(We almost
won, infact: Telaris). Sathen’s team as well as the other team, lagged
behind due to poor die rolls most of the game. Towards the end, where you would
have to roll an exact die roll to win, made the game complicated though. I was
fortunate to roll exactly a 6 when I needed it, and won the game with Algorian,
and the prize was a powerful sword with 6 damage auras cast on it, rendered
for 2 years, but could only be wielded by someone with intense military tactical
knowledge. Algorian, notably fell under the effects of a euphoria at some point
in the game, which we took care of after it was over. Upon game completion,
the Game master gave away Kandy Kingdom to Beryl. The idea then dawned on me
that the Game Master was a fun sort of fae, and being fae was not privy to the
pulls of time in the same way Tyrrans are. I decided that I should give him
the letter I had written earlier that day, to be delivered to the future, for
the intended person.
I would like to add in here, part to tell the story, and part to let younger
adventurers know, how to deal with fae. When I handed the Game Master the letter
I asked if he could deliver it. In true fae fashion he asked what it was, and
what my compensation for delivering it would be. I told him to read the letter
to himself and he would understand why it needed to be delivered by him, and
that I’m sure he would just deliver it. He read and agreed to deliver.
When dealing with fae, I’ve found it’s easiest to be plain and simple
with what you want, but always to make sure they have some weird thing that
they might feel is compensation. He got one of my secrets, and I would hopefully
get my letter delivered. He did ask to seal it with a kiss, and when they ask
to do something inane, just do it! (One additional note to all. Understand that
the fae are beings from another plane that is very similar to Tyrra and that,
like most beings, can be learned of and eventually predicted. They are, in fact,
generally more true to their natures and thus predictable than almost any other
race you will encounter: Telaris)
After the game was over, we spent a short amount of time talking and chatting
before soon, we would have to go on an adventure to get rid of a rather large
Fiery/Shadowy elemental. I had faced some of these at the 9 day gather in the
great swamp, but I do not know much of the reason behind why they are here.
They made it clear though that they were only interested in fighting. Our forces,
which included the Ducal Court and companions, Beryl, Baron Mithrilmist, Baron
Kivuli, and Tomas, were pushed but I managed to keep everyone relatively alive.
The large elemental was quite a problem until Juluk unleashed celestial imprison
might, which were all returned to his memory, until I finally blast him full
of banishment horridness. See you in 24 hours sucker! Though he was not to return
this gather. (This was, in fact another instance of temporal disruption. I had
been told by Time that it was occurring and to gather a group to stop it. I
burst into the tavern, a group rapidly assembled and off we went. Because of
our efforts, a catastrophic rip in the temporal continuum was averted. These
infernal creatures were apparently causing it, though I am unsure if they were
truly the motivators behind it. Stopping them involved defeating their leader
and then entering their planar gate to extinguish their power in that area:
Telaris)
Random undead attack. On retrospect, I was foolish to not use my 3rd and 7th
tier spells, but such is adventuring. I spent some time meeting Leviathan, Sugar,
and Spice. I had never met them, but they are in fact hilarious and their dirty
sense of humor (humor? Maybe serious), had I still been a half ogre at the time,
would have probably found itself even moreso appreciated.
The time to fix… well, time, was rapidly approaching. I prepared for the
imminent doom of my past by speaking with Telaris and Tsunami. We went back
in time to interrupt the formal the gentleman was casting, and managed to block
it’s magicks using a candle Telaris had spent most of the weekend collecting
the components for. It was successful and we were returned to our former states,
however we retained the memories that were changed with the knowledge that they
were false. (This candle I used that Ashe mentioned was, in fact, the one the
town had gathered the components to assemble at my behest acting on information
from temporal beings. The wax from the bee queen, wood from the cursed wood
for the stand, a strand of fate’s loom for the wick, and elemental power
won from participating in the fae game mentioned earlier. My thanks to all of
the town for their help in this vital task: Telaris)
This became a great cause of concern in my mind. My memories had been altered,
and I knew them to be false, but they still reflected the potentiality that
could have been. Had any of us not or had made a different choice, the repercussions
of which can change our race, our skills…. Our entire outlook and what
we find important in life. It really made me personally wonder about the vastness
of possibilities, and indeed made me mourn over the lost vastness of potential
these other memories offer. I was once again Squire Ashe, Wild Elf.
The time was rapidly approaching to deal with the red star. We all gated to
the red star, those of us with skills that might earn us 2 silver per day teaching
peasants who have nothing better to do. We were required to teach the gate to
enter it, and I fear for the day when a giant red star returns to us as “THE
GREATEST LOVER IN EVENDARR CITY!” I personally taught it biata mind abilities,
which I had retained from the last year as the effects of being an earth scholar
had not yet worn off. We found out some stuff about the red star, apparently
it was a living being and had a mate that had crashed on Tyrra, and it was seeking
to be returned with it. I am not positive on details. (The star itself was not
a being, it was used to imprison two beings that essentially found in each other
the bond of mates. They hatched a plan to return to Tyrra that went awry, forcing
but one of them to land below what would one day become Whitestaff. Millennia
of attempts to rejoin its mate having failed, the one on Tyrra planned instead
to bring the star down to it. It could not use the gate. The mate, incidentally,
was dead upon the red star, its writing full of sorrow for the missing half
of itself, for its counterpart upon Tyrra it could no longer be with: Telaris)
This led to dealing with Dorik the Elder, and his group who did not trust the
star, thinking it would bring the end. I don’t know the fate of what happened
to this, as I was showering at the time(Dorik was executed prior to us utilizing
the Gate to the Red Star). Finally, came us needing to fight the large red creature.
The fight was filled with many powerful creatures whose nature I was not familiar
with. I spent the entire fight straight healing down a cave to reach the creature.
For 3 of the 4 levels, I was essentially healing the entire front line until
Leviathan both graciously and effectively aided me. We finally reached the creature,
who wrecked much havok on us until celestial might took him down, for he was
damaged either only by or mostly by the “I call forth” celestial magicks(The
being was using celestial magic to build pillars to channel enough energy to
pull the Red Star from the sky. It was, in fact, empowered by such spells but
by having all celestial casters pour so much energy to it in so short a time,
we were able to “burst the wineskin” as it were and have it explode
from the excess: Telaris). Upon his destruction, a group of people looted him
and stole what would normally be what would be the treasure distributed amongst
the town.
I’d just like to make a personal note that nothing is more annoying, and
I spent a great deal of personal resources healing the entire town 10 times
over. While I do not do so in the seeking of treasure, most people are ready
to recompense me for the service. Those who take from the town in such a manner
are garbage, and when they are discovered they will be treated as such.
At this, the gather ended and after rest, began the long trek home. (A couple
of notes. Whether or not the town helped in the forging of the candle and to
undo the alteration of Time, the changes undergone by six of us caught in the
periphery of the formal were temporary. In other words, Juluk would revert to
a barbarian no matter what, Ashe to an elf, myself to a scholar and so on. What
we did with the candle was to fix a far more egregious and serious tear in the
proper flow of Time and once again I thank the people of Blackstone for their
great help. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Barons Delwyn and
Kivuli for showing me that the Kingdom of Evendarr contains within it men of
great nobility and virtue and for being so accepting of my efforts during the
gathering: Telaris)
I apologize for the somewhat personal retelling of this story with not many
details, but the gather had possibly the most need for reflection I have ever
had from adventuring, and was a most personal experience. Perhaps others can
add more detail and more objective information, but I bid this writing find
you well and some small portion of it be useful to you.
Squire Ashe Blackfist of the Blackfist Clan
Ducal Court of Ashbury
Squire to Sir Dooron Malfour Von Capulus
Assassinator of the undeath plague
and
Sir Telaris MacLeod