Author: Narrator

Finn found himself a cactus.

The end.

Having set out from Delta in the company of a Temple Master and two young Paladins (though, from the demeanour, not as young as Finn), our trio sets out to cross Eron’s Desert, destined for the University. It feels important here to note that our trio is setting out on foot, likely much to Araxis’ dismay, though she is too polite to say anything. Young Finn arranged the journey with his fellow Paladins, and with a needs must attitude, did not question the travel arrangements before committing to the plan to meet in front of the temple door on an atypically bright morning in Delta (though the atypical nature of the morning was not a prerequisite of the plan).

The journey between Delta and Last is a well travelled one, which meant there was a distinct lack of interesting features on the trail. Such things were already likely picked up by small children who passed through the area first, or the occasional adult who never gave up an interest in polished rocks by a roadside. On their arrival they found Last to be what many before them had – plain, but reliable.

With their loaned tents set up the three set about their evening. Daphne communed with Theo, while Araxis and Finn went to the bar in Last. There was moonshine in the bar, which Araxis was determined to down with a suspicious dose of a optimism that it would keep them warm at night. Daphne eventually joined, whereupon Finn kindly purchased her drink (having recently found five gold coins, which, he suspects, she put there in repayment for the damage to his armour). She downed it in one gulp, swearing that the Ribbon at Arms would never serve such swill.

Insides sufficiently warmed and stripped of their lining by the evening’s night cap they headed back to the tents. Araxis warmed some hot rocks for everyone’s sleeping bags and the night passed without incident, though perhaps their dreams were buoyed by stories of dragons and lost temples told by the Temple Master.

As our ragtag group moved away from Last, they could feel the air getting increasingly parched, and could see the sun glittering off the wide expanse of sand that lay ahead. Around midday they stopped to quench their thirst and eat some of the hard cheese from their pack (hard cheese being a requirement on such walks). Daphne spotted a rock that looked like a grinning face, but otherwise they encountered nothing out of the ordinary.

Their encampment for the night was well-trodden (that fun rock was really a stroke of luck); everyone passing this way stops before the yawning mouth of the canyon’s cliffs. Two walls of layered stone lay before them, with the road to the university wending its way between.

In the morning, they awoke to walk through the aforementioned cliffs. It was surprisingly pleasant – the gentle slope of the canyon’s walls mean they had some shelter from the heat of the rising sun, but not so much that they failed to shake off the chill of a desert night.

As they left the shelter of the canyon walls, they could see the gentle, rolling expanse of the desert. They could see it much closer than last time we remarked upon the view, when it was just some sparkles under the sun. Despite the harsh facade there is life in a desert. Finn caught sight of a flicker of a tail behind a rock – likely a lizard startled by their movements.

More seasoned adventurers might have reflected on this uneventful journey as a streak of luck, and wondered when it might end. Our adventurers did not.

As they approach their encampment for the second night of the travels through the desert (Last doesn’t count because it is not properly in the desert, you see), they saw the looking figure of the long abandoned temple the Temple Master told them about. Earlier, sensing Finn was disappointed, he told him this story to give the young man something to look forward to.

“Did they teach you about this?”, he asked. “This was the a Temple of the Oath of Vengeance. You can still make out the inscription above the door, ‘By Any Means Necessary’. Ironic, in a way, for one of that took that too far. They had built the temple in the desert as a suitable climate to accompany their vows. One of them, though, did the unthinkable, and broke his oath. The ruins are the reminents of their mistake.

“We stop here each time we pass to remind ourselves of our tenets of devotion – to honour and do as much good without harm to others, and duty. This is a solemn reminder that we are responsible for our actions and their consequences, and above all, to the oaths we have made.”

Deeply intrigued by the story of the temple, Finn convinced the others to join him for a trip to go explore it before bed. It was an hour’s walk away. While walking to the temple the also walked themselves into a wild magic surge. Such surges are wily things – they can’t be detected, but are easily triggered by any use of magic or magical ability.

Not knowing this, and having no suspicions triggered by the ease of their journey thus far, Finn used his magical ability to detect good and evil. Before he had a moment to register the feelings being relayed to him, the wild magic surge took hold. Finn struggled to control it and redirect its power but was unable. Araxis, in a wild attempt to held, punched Finn with a gust of air. Too late, it struck the now cactus shaped Finn, causing significant damage to his prickly visage. Araxis, meanwhile, had to deal with her own surge of wild magic. It made all in the party vulnerable to piercing damage – fortunate there were no foe in range, and the impact of that surge passed widely unnoticed. A significant factor in that may have been the fact that Finn was now a cactus and had drawn considerable attention to himself in having done so.

Unsure what to do, Daphne picked Finn up, and the two began the walk back to camp with Finn. Along the walk they brainstormed possible solutions for solving this problem. They also disturbed a monster, and were soon swarmed with spiders. Daphne passed Cactus-Finn to Theo, who flew him out of harm’s way. Unaware they were still in the range of the wild magic surge, Araxis cast a spell, which the surge turned into the fortunate side effect of causing a lightening strike on the spiders. This hastened the spider’s defeat, and our protagonists’ journey back to camp.

The return necessitated the retelling of the adventure, for one cannot go into the desert with a Paladin friend and return with a cactus without answering some questions. The Paladins were unable to offer any solution, so it is here we leave our adventurers. Slightly prickly, very confused, out of Ki points, and likely in need of a rest.

After so long aboard the paddleboat, Finn was glad to finally be setting foot back on solid ground—in the Delta, no less. Not that he didn’t enjoy his time aboard the vessel. He was not prone to seasickness, and the accommodations had proven quite luxurious. Finn would have to make his gratitude to Araxis known for that. Growing up in the temple, his existence had always been modest. On the boat, Finn had a cabin to himself, a soft bed, and the food in the mess rivalled anything he had eaten since leaving home. The time aboard the ship had offered Finn an opportunity to meditate and pray, something he had missed on the road to Delphinium. What’s more, Finn had met yet another benevolent soul in the world, and had become fast friends with a kind and generous woman. She shared many a story about her life, and in parting had bequeathed to Finn a treasure in the form of a “Bag of Tricks”. With that said, Finn was eager to continue his journey of devotion, and while the float down the river was fruitful, he wasn’t sure he would find his Calling aboard the boat. 

The Delta marked the largest city that Finn had ever visited, and it was undoubtedly the farthest from home he had ever ventured. Not that he was wholly unfamiliar with The Delta. He had certainly read about it in his studies. He was eager to visit the temples to pay homage to the Grand Masters, and to extend tidings from Ulther. Reading about a bustling city and experiencing it first hand; however, are two very different things. No sooner had Araxis, Daphne, and Finn disembarked when Finn was approached what seemed to be a kind and desperate young man. The man pleaded with Finn and his party to deliver a package on his behalf. Without awaiting an answer, he thrust the package and a bag of 10GP into Finn’s arms, shared the address of where the package was to be delivered, and raced off into the throng of creatures bustling along the quay at the Goods Docks, supposedly to catch an immediately departing boat. 

Finn was dazed. Araxis seemed mildly annoyed. Daphne seemed skeptical of the encounter, and her skepticism was exacerbated when on old gnome started laughing at Finn.

“You’ve just been had” he chortled, “good luck getting illegal goods through the port authority”.

Certainly, Finn knew that the ports of big cities were hubs for scum and villainy, but Finn sensed no malice in the in the now vanished young man, and he was usually very good at sensing such things. Out of a sense of charity, and against Daphne’s (possibly sound) advice to stow the package behind a crate and pocket the GPs, Finn decided to join the queue for entry into the city, intent on delivering the package before sunset. 

Arashi joined the queue also, but made it known that she had much to accomplish that afternoon, and would not be able to aid Finn. Instead, she would secure lodging for the trio, and Finn thought he heard her mention something about a tattoo, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Part of him wondered if she was just making excuses to see if Finn would be able to accomplish this task without her help. He was sure the elf was warming to Daphne and he, but he also sensed they would have to prove themselves to her if they were to remain in her company. After a moment of hesitation, Daphne joined the line also, a few creatures behind Finn. Finn wondered if she might tag along with him for the afternoon, just to see if he would get himself into some serious trouble. 

No such trouble found them with the Port Master, and once through Finn had his first good look at the city. It was beautiful to behold, with all manner of creature bustling to and fro, all manner of shops and merchants stacked on top of each other lining streets that vanished in to the distance, and all manner of intoxicating smells permeating the air. Above everything, the domes and belfries of the temples could be seen, and Finn sensed peace. Unfortunately, he could not dwell on the feeling, as he and Daphne had to reach their destination before sunset, and they found themselves at the edge of an immense city.   

The first order of business was to find a map of the city, which actually wasn’t very difficult at all. Given their proximity to the ports, Finn and Daphne found themselves in a district with a number of map shoppes and vendors of information. The duo made their way into one such shoppe; a quaint and musty old establishment, with a quaint and kindly old proprietor. After some fruitful bartering, Finn and Daphne found themselves in the possession of several maps, which Finn was sure would prove useful on the journey to come. One such map was especially intriguing. It appeared to be a second-hand map with some very interesting notes scrawled on it. Unfortunately, Finn and Daphne did not have time to study the notes in detail, but Finn made a mental note to study the map in more detail, when the opportunity afforded itself—perhaps Araxis might have some insight into the messages. 

After a whirlwind race the Bellfrew District, and skirting the edge of Temple District, Finn and Daphne found themselves at the edge of the Guildhalls. And by a strange twist of fate, the twosome ran right into their travelling companion, Araxis. Finn praised The Light for this fortunate twist, as somewhere along the way he realized that in their haste to depart, none of the three had made plans to meet up again. Reunited, Araxis quickly pointed out the precise location Finn and Daphne were looking for, and without a moment to spare the trio entered the door by the lamp in an alley just north east of the main forge. 

Inside, Finn found a dimly lit hall that seemed to stretch much further than he would have expected from the building’s exterior. Midway down the hall was a desk that seemed to grow as Finn approached it. When he arrived at the desk itself, Finn found himself face to face staring into the eyes of a curious old Dwarf, who seemed to have no idea where there should be such a curious trio of travelers standing in front of him. It was then that Finn held out the package he was carrying and in his best Dwarfish, tried to explain what had taken place, and why it was he and not S. Oliver making deliveries that evening. 

Hesitant at first, the Dwarf eventually accepted the package with gratitude, and Finn felt that perhaps his Dwarfish had warmed the old creature’s heart a bit. The Dwarf was so grateful for the timely delivery, that he insisted on displaying his gratitude by bestowing a gift to each of the bearers. After a series of questions were asked, and a series of answers were given, the dwarf produces for each member of the trio, a bespoke item specifically chosen to suit their need. Wondered and bewildered, Finn was gifted a cloak of protection. Daphne was gifted an immovable rod, and Araxis was given a brooch of shielding. 

After so many days spent in quiet contemplation and pleasantly mundane conversation aboard a boat floating down Marna’s left, the last few hours had been a blur. Leaving the Forge, Finn was happy to have accomplished a good deed, but was even happier to know that Araxis had succeeded in finding lodging for the evening. 

The Ribbon at Arms pub is a quaint pub in a one pub town, like so many that line the road between the moon and the sea, with its fine mead, hearty stew and a host of regulars who warm the stools. The evening began as most do at the Ribbon at Arms, with a welcoming firelight playing on the dark paneled walls, and a heady din permeating the warm and cozy air. Corrin was seated at the table, his table, directly adjacent to the roaring hearth, ready to share a pint of ale and a rambling story with anyone willing to lend an ear, or not savvy enough to avoid eye contact. Daphne, the Inn keeper’s young daughter, was going about her work as a barmaid in an adept, yet perfunctory manor, obviously not stimulated by the menial tasks she had grown up performing, and clearly longing for more from her life. In fact, her mind may have been completely preoccupied with something else entirely on this particular evening. 

Along with the pub’s usual cast of character’s there were a few new faces, passers through town, stopping for a warm meal and a chance to lay their head on a soft pillow for the night. In a dark corner of the pub, at a solitary table sat Araxi, a wise and travelled Elf who preferred the company of herself and longed to be home, at her cottage deep in the woods, but instead found herself spending the night in Ribbon at Arms before heading up the road to the university in the morning.

Another stranger, Ulfineas, had unwittingly been snared by Corrin. Ulfineas was young, for a half-elf, and despite the obvious signs of learning and wisdom, it was clear he was rather naïve about the world at large. He may have been travelling on his own for the first time in his life, and thus didn’t know any better than to avoid the table in a pub adjacent to the fire. 

Ulfineas was settling into a second horn of mead and the third act of one of Corrin’s epic meanderings, when all of a sudden, a woman broke through the front door of the pub, obviously distraught, yelling something about a magic lamp having been stolen from her home. At the entrance of this wild woman, Araxi shrank a little deeper into the shadows, having no energy to deal with the petulant whining of an entitled human, such as the one now screaming in the doorway. Ulfineas, tired of piecing together the point of Corrin’s pointless story, and looking for a distraction, turned towards Andromedia, perhaps a little too eagerly, and locked eyes with the hysterical woman. Surveying the room, Andromedia looked first towards her husband, who had clearly been patronizing the pub all evening, she looked at the eager stranger by the fire, she noticed the dark figure in the shadows and finally, pointing a figure at each of the unfamiliar faces in the pub, she shouted 

“It was them, they stole the lamp”

What ensued was a tangle of accusations and recriminations from Andromedia, with an earnest plea for sense and clarity from Ulfineas, and a yawning half-effort to excuse herself from Araxi—which only infuriated Andromedia even further. The excitement in the pub was reaching a boiling point. Andromedia’s husband Arthur was called to defend his wife’s honor and made a move to shove Ulfineas, only to find himself tumbling towards the sticky floor of the pub a moment later after a retaliatory push from the stranger. 

While all of the excitement was occurring at the front of the house, Daphne was trying to quietly slink into the background, perhaps fearing that Andromedia’s accusations might find her next. Realizing that things might go from bad to worse however; when Arthur hit the floor, Daphne moved forward and tried to make peace between a woman whom she clearly had little respect for, and two strangers whom she hardly knew. With her husband on the floor, and sensing a loss of advantage, Andromedia eventually listened to reason and was talked down from her hysteria. 

Under the sage guidance of Araxi, who had taken charge of deescalating the situation, it was decided that the two strangers in the pub would recover the lamp within the next 24 hours, lest they face an investigation from the sheriff of Twillingsby. Normally, this was just the sort of petty entanglement Araxi tried to avoid, but calculating her options, she had decided that it might actually be easier to simply find and return the lamp, than have to deal with any ensuing investigation. Besides, she felt like she might have a pretty good idea of where to start looking for the lamp anyway. 

Once the uproar had died down, Araxi noticed Daphne quietly slide out of the front door of the pub. 

“We have to follow her” she said to Ulfineas, almost one syllable at a time. 

Clearly, she had to speak slow to the youngling, as he had missed what was so painfully clear to her—Daphne had taken the lamp, or at least she knew the whereabouts of it, and following Daphne was the key to remedying this inconvenience—possibly in time to get a solid night of rest. 

Araxi and Ulfineas began following Daphne out of town and to the edge of the dark wood. Daphne was not exceptional at hiding her tracks, and the two strangers were making no real effort to conceal their pursuit. It wasn’t long before the three of them came face to face in the moonlight, in what Araxi hoped wouldn’t be a tedious and tiresome encounter. 

After some playful back and forth, trying to suss out the truth of the situation, Araxi sensed an advantage—it was clear that this young woman yearned for an opportunity to escape the small town she had found herself stuck in, and Araxi clearly longed for her bed. And so, before long, a bargain was struck—if Daphne replaced the lamp without incident, she could accompany Araxi to the university. And since Ulfineas was travelling in no particular direction, with no particular purpose he could join this unlikely duo—a small adventure to sate the palates of the younglings. Besides, Daphne mentioned that the bargeman might be sweet on her, and a free trip up the river might have Araxi rid of these two even sooner. 

Returning the lamp was an easy feat. In fact, some trickery on Daphne’s part had the lamp hanging on its rightful hook at Andromedia manor before the evening could even have been considered old. What’s more, Daphne’s trick with the chickens may have even impressed Araxi, just the tiniest little bit. 

Back at the Inn, a plan was struck to meet the next morning, and set out for what Ulfineas and Daphne hoped might be a grand quest, and what Araxi hoped would be an uneventful two days on the road with her new travel companions.