Oct. 27, continued:
Unable to think of anything else useful we could accomplish in the field,
we returned to Elfport. I have completed a draft of a missive to the king
of the ogres, which I hope will at least buy us some time. I dread having
to deal with the ogres and the hobgoblins simultaneously! However, it is
all in Orus's hands, and I must just say my prayers and rely on him to see
us through.
Oct. 28 - Tamara is organizing traps around the compound, in case the
hobgoblins invade us. We went over the letter at breakfast, revising the
wording, and Alfredus generously offered up one of his gemstones to
enclose 'as a token of our good faith.' I used a roseate spoonbill as an
animal messenger, and I hope the poor bird doesn't have cause to regret
having met me. Robyn, Alfredus, and I are going on a scouting expedition
to see if we can locate the hobgoblin army, leaving Decimus in charge.
More charging cross country with marathon's prowess, and camping cold -
and the weather is beginning to turn nasty.
October 30 - The Tomb of the Archmages is crawling with hobgoblins - three
or four hundred, and it looks as though they've opened up the tomb again.
I suppose it was only to be expected. The fort has been considerably
expanded. I spoke to a squirrel, who told me, under the influence of
sunflower seeds, that the only hobgoblins who have left went in the
direction of the hobgoblin kingdom, and also that another woman had
questioned him on the same subject recently. I used Sending to contact
Decimus, who it seems spoke to Alyssa yesterday - she already knew what we
came to find out, and has more information which we'll get on returning
home. We're returning by a different route. No trouble at home yet.
October 31 - More sending. Apparently the Hobgoblin King is setting up
his winter court at the Tomb, and the Elven Ambassador will be moved
within the next two weeks. This would be our best chance to extract him.
I wish I knew exactly how the hobgoblin forces are deployed!
November 1 - My goodness, I'm tired, but I feel better than I have for
awhile! While we were gone, Decimus discovered an underground source of
magic, and a trapped secret door leading down to it. When he opened the
door, he heard what sounded like skeletal footsteps below, and prudently
decided to await our return before exploring. Though it was late and we
were anxious to start planning the rescue of the ambassador, we judged it
wise to remove any threat and gain any resources that might be present
below first - and I am so glad we did! We left Tamara in charge above,
and Robyn performed his ritual to make himself more effective against
undead, but it turned out not to be necessary, as the feared skeletal
armies turned out to be a single skeletal warrior circling the base of the
stairs. We proceeded through a number of locked doors, which Gaius easily
penetrated, to a sizable room containing a superior sort of crystal ball.
It gave us a fright, for when Decimus first activated it, it raised a wall
of darkness around him, which our torch could not penetrate. Unable to
get a response by shouting, and fearing he had been snatched from us, I
began a sending spell, but before I could complete it, the wall lowered
and he appeared exactly where he had been, enthusiastically urging us to
come and see for ourselves the superior qualities of this scrying device.
I advanced and complied, and it was indeed effective. Instead of
appearing small, distant, and silent, the desired scene appeared around
us, as if we were invisible in the midst of it, and we heard everything
just as if we had been there. We seemed to fly through the air, but could
change our altitude at will. We could not find Uncle, possibly because he
was not on the island but possibly because he has his anti-scrying
protections up. We had no difficulty with any scene we wished to find on
the island - the elven ambassador (in chains, with two other elves, in a
rough and barbarous court), the halflings, the Tomb itself. The vandals
are chopping up the uninscribed walls, I suppose in a search for secret
doors. Orus grant they not penetrate to Theodosius's tomb!
After answering the main questions that had troubled us - locating the
homes of the most prosperous halflings, for example, in particular that of
their wizard - we came out of the device and continued our explorations.
Robyn discovered a trapdoor in the floor, which when activated opened a
spiral staircase down to what seems to have been the apartment of the
harbormaster of Elfport. We have found his logs and spellbooks - Decimus
is cheerfuller than I've seen him for weeks - and retreated to
well-deserved baths and bed, though Decimus and Robyn lingered awhile,
playing with the device some more. I believe they "went to" Freeport.
Tomorrow, I think, Decimus and I should go through the harbormaster's
library studying the spellbooks and detecting for magic, while Alfredus
and Robyn study the hobgoblins through the device, and plan a strategy
against them. I am still puzzled how to deal with the halflings, but one
thing at a time.
November 2 - All right, I'm not as pleased with this device as I was
initially.
All of us who used it were plagued by hideous dreams about threats to our
homes. I dreamed I was a street urchin - possibly Gaius, though I was
never sure - roaming through a city in flames, which I think was
Tarantium.
Men in strange uniforms (sketch in margin) and gangs of looters roamed
the
city. The senators were being rounded up, and I think I saw Uncle among
them. Decimus had a similar dream, but he was Tamara, and a mob chased
her as a Leaguer, with results he prefers not to speak of. Robyn did not
go into the dreadful details of his nightmare, but it involved the wars of
the humans over his elven forest starting up again. We all agree that the
events of our dreams were happening in spring.
It could hardly be coincidence that the three who used the device were
the
three who dreamed. We returned below ground to experiment further and
look for a manual that would tell us how the device works. We found the
harbormaster's notes, but nothing so explicit as an instructional book.
Decimus also experimented with the device, and this is what we find:
When the archmagi and all their monsters arrived, the elves evacuated
this
city. The Harbormaster lingered longer than anyone else, obsessed with
protecting the port. The device existed at that time, used primarily to
safeguard the harbor. Certain spells can be cast through it, but we were
unable to discover which ones. The Harbormaster performed strange and
dire magics which resulted in his melding with the device. He is still in
it, still aware - and not pleased to have us here.
Decimus was urged to depart at once, as only we could save Tarantium,
only
we had seen "the men in black." I ought to know what this means. An idea
is hovering, and won't land.
I tried to contact Uncle through Sending, to inform him of this very
interesting development and warn him about the possibility of a danger to
Tarantium, and the Harbormaster - I can only say, attacked me. I fell
unconscious and dreamed I was Gaius, dreamed all the dreadful things that
happened to him in the streets and jails of Brigantium. If even some of
what I dreamed is true, I must add a regular thanksgiving to my prayers,
that Orus placed it in my heart to rescue him. Robyn had to cover my nose
and mouth to bring me to myself.
Alfredus grew angry while I was under the Harbormaster's spell, and tried
to strike the device. It dealt him grievous damage in the form of
lightning, and when he persisted, teleported him away. Decimus saw him in
the harem of some noble of the Guilded Leagues, leaping from a window to
escape the angry eunuchs armed with falchons, and convinced the
Harbormaster to return him to us. He landed in the river nearby.
My head aches.
We cannot control the device, but we have enough information to rescue
the
ambassador. Robyn is making the arrangements. I will have a special
service tonight, and will attempt to send a message to Uncle via animal
messenger, since there is no telling how far the Harbormaster's range is.
November 3 - Tamara in charge - after all, she is a princess - and
Alfredus as war leader at the base. Robyn, Decimus, Gaius, and I speeding
through the forest, carrying Decimus's portable potion lab. Gaius is
troubled that the Harbormaster knows so much about him. I am troubled
that our feet will never be warm again. I hope the albatross I sent off
makes it to Uncle.
November 4 - Robyn says there's a road down there. A track, maybe - not
a
proper road. Nor a proper bed. Nor proper meals. Decimus and I will be
brewing invisibility potions, so I hope our prey don't come too soon; but
I hope they don't delay too long, either.
November 5 - Robyn scouted about and found what seems to be the usual
route followed by the hobgoblins to the Tomb. I have set an animal spy,
and Robyn and Gaius are taking shifts to watch the road. At least we have
no nightmares. I wonder how all are at home, but I must save my powerful
spells against need.
November 7 - The crow I setas spy has arrived, as bidden to do when he
saw
the hobgoblin army. Robyn says there's no hurry. We'll keep ahead of
them till they camp, scout them, finalize plans, and strike tonight. He
has a rough plan already in place, based on which Decimus and I have
chosen our spells. Orus grant that all be well, and the ambassador be
worth the trouble!
November 9 - We have been forced marching, with scarcely time to think.
Robyn's plan worked charmingly. I cast Status so I knew where everyone
was. He and Gaius slipped invisibly into the hobgoblins' camp (they've
been studying the Tarantines; it was quite a professional effort). They
retrieved the captain's key-ring and three weapons which were decorated
with elven runes. I, waiting nearby with Primus, sent air elementals into
the camp to make a distracting wind, which opened the flap of the tent
where the ambassador and his two comrades were held. Robyn quickly and
quietly explained to the ambassador what was happening and passed out
three invisibility potions. I set a silence spell on the tent to
correspond, as nearly as I could judge, with the duration of this
explanation, and Gaius used the keys to open the manacles. Decimus,
waiting with our gear further away from the camp, at Primus's signal sent
ghost sound and dancing lights to distract the guards as they all left the
tent and climbed out, coming to meet me so I could set marathon's prowess
on our guests. Then off to rendezvous with Decimus, and we've been
walking ever since, it seems!
The ambassador's name is Takashi Moonflower - the same surname as Robyn,
which I suppose they will have to sort out. He has barely heard of
Tarantium, but came west to find a lost colony of elves - not the "vicious
crazy elfs" of the map, but they are who he came among. He and his two
companions are the only survivors of a hobgoblin raid. The wild elves do
not speak much. I explained about our scientific purpose and asked for
information on the various groups of the islands. They referred to the
Gaians and Alyssa as "nosy, always snooping in other people's business" -
and a good thing, too, as Decimus and I both said, for they'd still be
slaves to the hobgoblins if Domina Alyssa had not told us of their plight.
I sent a pigeon ahead to warn Greta and Tamara that we were coming.
Baths
and hot meals tonight, and the formal banquet will wait until tomorrow. I
have given up my room to the Ambassador (I hope he doesn't mind Scipio;
I'm afraid the other rooms aren't heated well enough for a parrot or an
honored guest), and we are all shuffled and doubling up. Dominus Takashi
is exceedingly polite, continually telling us how grateful he is and how
he is in our debt. I have told him, through Robyn, who is the only one
who speaks elvish adequately, that we did not rescue him in hope of any
reward, but that we understand the weight of debt and there will be time
to discuss the matter, later, when all are well and rested.
Things to do:
- Make animal messenger available to wild elves, assuming anyone survives
with whom they can communicate.
- Notify Alyssa of mission success; invite her to banquet.
- Take Alfredus & Tamara's detailed reports of events in our absence. Warn
them not to discuss the Harbormaster in front of our guests until we've
had a chance to discuss it further among ourselves.
- Set animal spies around perimeter of our territory.
- Discuss seating with Greta. The elves must be seated as suits their
status, but must also be with people they can converse with. Gaius should
be seated this once, instead of waiting table, but of course he must be
seated low. I hope he can stand the delay in dinner. It's a cheap enough
reward for his good service on this trip, and should impress on the minds
of the sailors that he is not some negligible boy who can be assaulted
with impunity. (N.B. Would he like to learn archery?)
- Take Tongues spell for banquet.
- Apologize to Ambassador for our rather harum-scarum lifestyle.
- Raid Harbormaster's closet for suitable raiment for Ambassador & Co.
- Learn Elvish; assuming our guests stay for a time.
- Thanksgiving service.
- Infirmary. Pay particular attention to removing disease among the cooks
and laundresses.
- The Harbormaster.
- The Halflings.
- The Hobgoblins.
- Orus spare me, I must sleep. No nightmares!
- Oh! Men in black - the ones that raided the villa in Aquitania, that we
couldn't catch, that left that peculiar grain behind! Discuss with
others.
