-Travelling
back to Aghione, the party consulted Kleber, the palace's resident
scholar and personal tutor to Princess Aurelie. Kleber informed them
that knowledge of the fourth Word might be gleaned from either Dido
of Capricorn or Boethus of Aquarius.
-Andronikos
attempted to purchase poison, but was unsuccessful.
-Cruum
spent a great deal of gold to find a hireling. His call was answered
by a young warrior named Jean-Baptiste, and the dwarf took him on as
his shield-mate and apprentice.
-Taking
a great overland journey, the party decided to visit Boethus of
Aquarius.
-The
Atlantean was discovered in a seaside grove, issuing a haughty
challenge to the interlopers.
-Cruum
attempted to overawe the apparent youth boasting strength of arms.
The youth produced and aluminum amphora which shot a torrent of water
which knocked the sturdy dwarf from his feet.
-Andronikos
enchanted the Atlantean scion made to bargain with him, asking after
scrolls or Atlantean artifact. Boethus expressed disdain for the
accumulation of such trifles. He was however forthcoming about the
location of the Word, stating that it had fallen into a forest tarn
north of the village of Zilia. A young woman drinking from the tarn
had inadvertently taken the Word upon herself.
-Many
in the party recalled Zilia as the first settlement they encountered
upon the island.
-Heading
to Zilia, the party inquired after rumors of any young ladies known
to wander the northern woods. They heard of a tanner's daughter,
Beatrice, not unknown to them.
-At
the tanner's home, they found the girl comatose, with her grieving
father and an ineffectual village priest flinging droplets of holy
water and droning scripture.
-The
priest, Father Pascal, held that the girl was shot of elves, her
spirit stolen. If her spirit were not reunited with her body soon,
she would wither and die.
-The
party investigated the tarn, which lay not far from the cave from
which they first emerged upon the island.
-Something
peppered Cruum and Baraldur with tiny arrows coated with soporific
venom as they searched the area. Fray caused the invisible attacker
to fall from the air with a spell of holding while Andronikos induced
it to reveal itself by a charm.
-The
diminutive archer, a pixie, was induced by further threats to reveal
the location of the girl's spirit with his kinfolk in the forest of
talking beasts to the north. The party made haste to that place at
once.
-At
the edge of the forest, the party encountered Brieg the woodsman's
humble cottage. He allowed them to stay the night. It was noted
that Brieg and his folk lived in terror of the fair ones dwelling in
the forest, and Brieg's wife prudently furnished a nightly saucer of
milk on the croft.
-Heading
into the forest heedless of Brieg's warnings, the party encountered
the sight of an ancient battle, littered with bones. The bones of
two warriors arose and did battle. The creatures could only be
harmed by enchanted weapons, such as Baraldur's trident and the great
black sword taken from Edulf.
-Unfortunately,
Edulf's blade was in the possession of one of Cruum's hirelings, all
of whom had fled from the skeletal warriors. Andronikos was able to
find the wayward soldier, reclaim the blade and bring it back to
Cruum.
-The
battle was thus won, with much hacking and hewing and the shattering
of vials of holy water.
-Further
along the forest path, the party found a circle of ice blue stones
from which issued the voice of Pelagius the Sorcerer, entreating them
to leave him to his rest and bemoaning the inferiority of the
present. Cruum by eloquent words convinced the wizard that the
party's quest was one which would have seemed fair even in the dawn
of the world. The wizard gave his blessing and advised them that the
statues ahead amongst the circular ruins were unnatural and
troublesome.
-The
path split in twain, with one direction indicated by a dilapidated
sign as "Sorrow's Path." After brief deliberation, the
party decided to take the path, heedless of its name.
-The
road grew dark and a terrible gloom settled on the hearts of the
companions. Their resolve was sapped and their health waned as they
walked the cursed path.
-The
party encounters Ser Geoffroi de
Riventosa, a questing knight traveling with his squire Phippe and his
steed Boniface. Ser Geoffroi
identified himself a champion serving the Lord of the Invisible
Fortress, on a quest of atonement for slaying a fellow knight in a
tourney. He challenged the bravest of the party to stand forth and
face him in single combat.
-Cruum
took up the challenge, only to see the contest nullified by a Charm
Person spell from Andronikos. In light of his ensorcelment, Ser
Geoffroi was glad to accompany the
party on their way through the woods.
-Soon
the brave companions came upon the circular ruins upon which the
shade of Pelagius had counseled them. Standing all around were
statues of warriors, their features obscured by wind and weather and
creeping mold.
-Searching
amongst the statues, the party was ambushed by a foul basilisk, but
the creature was slain before anyone could be petrified by its deadly
gaze.
