Report: Emissary of the Third Canon
General Summary
Vinny Maze brought Stiks and I a letter that he had found on some dwarves on a prior excursion. This letter turned out to be of huge import: It told of the coming of the Third Canon of Celestine to Renvere. However, it was only afforded passage to the border, and a new group would need to escort it the rest of the way to Gravesend. Not wanting to trust this most holy of missions to any mercenaries, we quickly formed a group: Myself, Stiks, Aunt Robin, Sir Elron, and Vinny (who was brought along in the stead of Dodo, the latter still being shell shocked from his last mission.
So it was that we left Gravesend on the backs of our steeds (a particularly impressive Elk having been conjured by Sir Elron). It was slow going, especially when we got up into the mountains, and eventually we made camp for the night. After some pleasant conversation around the fire, it was an uneventful rest. The next day, however, was to prove extremely eventful.
Our first encounter was with a massive silver-tipped Roc with wisps of black smoke. It attacked, and seemed particularly hell-bent on my own self. While some of our mounts were spooked, Aunt Robin held firm the reins of ours, and we fought tooth and nail against this massive foe. My first thought was that this great demon was sent from hell to prevent us from reaching our goal, and denying the good people of Renvere the word of Celestine, but it cried out in Elven that we were “thieves!”. After suffering grievous wounds, it picked up Stiks and Sir Elron, carrying them high into the air… and then dropped them. Aunt Robin’s fast thinking created a web of bees to slow their fall somewhat, and then she delivered a final blow from 320’ away. It was truly incredible. The problem was that it fell quite far away, and the way to reach it was treacherous.
Sir Elron saw that he could not make the climb in his platemail, and so he stayed with the horses, while the rest of us clambered to the felled beast. While its breathing was labored, it yet lived. We consulted quickly, and not wanting to make any assumptions, we resolved to heal it, and have Stiks try to speak to it in the Elven tongue. It would not listen to reason, nor enter into conversation but to say that we stole the staff from Brother Nago (It is important to note that this is a lie: this staff was recovered from the Tusker Goblins). Fearing that the conversation would go nowhere, we had prepared for the attack, and quickly put it down again. It was right around then that we heard Sir Elron’s cries. We quickly ended the giant roc’s life (it turned into a Runidiri soulstone), and rushed to Sir Elron’s aid.
He had been beset by evil looking dwarves (probably kin to the ones who had stolen the third canon’s letter). After what must have been an intense fight, he went down just as we arrived. I sent Gloria to his aid, and through her cast a healing spell, bringing him back to the fight. Vinny and I feather falled to the ground, while Stiks hurled himself into the fray, so beset with rage that he was blind to any danger posed to himself. As the dwarves began to fall beneath our onslaught, the final dwarf (a mage) began to flee. I summoned the spirit of the great boar within my staff, and charged it down.
Battered, but undaunted, we continued our trek. When we finally spotted their camp, I kicked my horse into a canter, and made first contact. The mercenaries they had hired were demon hunters of the Sacred Flame. Titania and her crew were much more impressive than the Hell Howlers, but had little time as they had pressing business elsewhere. They teleported away, leaving us with Priest Timmons Waycrest (a high priest of the Celestine Empire), and several individuals who had begun to travel with the small caravan: Gilfy Summertoe, and Rita and Sal Croft (coming back from the Empire after a pilgrimage).
Priest Waycrest seemed to think our little band to be fairly rough and tumble, but luckily Sir Elron’s courtly manners helped smooth things over. He wanted to be off as soon as possible, and despite the long day, we set out at once. We made camp in the same spot we had the first night, but this time there was more danger in the woods: torches were to be seen moving towards us. We finished our rest, and set out at first light, making our way quickly for Gravesend. Unfortunately we were detected, but my familiar Gloria’s scouting gave us a heads up, as 3 elves rushed to attack.
I had spent the last day ruminating over our encounter with the Roc. Stiks had reckoned it to be a fey creature, it had left behind a Runidiri soulstone, and the bird had shrieked about the staff I had. Hoping to avoid any bloodshed, I shouted out with my magically enhanced voice: “Are you Brother Nago?”. The three elves in Eagle Masks said that they were looking for people to interrogate, surrounding the loss of the staff, as well as the death of their ‘God’. The staff I wanted to hand over, and even brought Vinny forward with the stone, but this seemed to anger them. Of course, if they thought the animal spirit was their God, they would have been furious that we had slain it.
I tried. I tried so hard to avoid any further fighting, but the terms they offered were unacceptable: no humans could set foot in their woods, or their life would be forfeit. Imagine if a child ran into the woods chasing a butterfly? Or a young man entered to hunt a doe to feed his family… only to be cut down by Runidiri elves on a promise that I had made? It could not stand. We finally had to best them, but we made sure not to kill them, and even cast magic so that they would stabilize, and come to consciousness in their own time.
We continued on to Gravesend, and thus it was that the third canon of Celestine arrived in Gravesend. We had fought animal spirits, dwarves, and elves, but our mission was complete.
Post Script:
After delivering the canon, we received word that Sir Pinna’s body and caravan had not reached its destination. It seems that Vinny’s dream was prophetic.
The soulstone was entrusted to Stiks, as well as Brother Nago’s staff. I am hopeful that he will be able to make peace with the elves along with Mr Pales.
Scribed by Jene Dark
Adventuring Party: Jene Dark, Robin Foster, Elron Cartwright, Vincent Maze, Stiks
Date: 05NOV21
Report Date
23 Nov 2021
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