Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
- ewancummins
- Evil Genius
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Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
The party explores and excavates the dragon's lair over the next two days, recovering three chests of treasure and a surprise--a malnourished human infant and a clutch of what Meela identifies as lizardman eggs that were kept in an air-filled side chamber.
The baby is weak and could die without clerical aid, so dropping it off in the nearest village would be a rather callous move.
Alwina appoints herself the child's guardian without asking anyone's leave. She's unmovable on this count.
Luckily, the unholy power of Bane can create milk.
..........
Displaying your newly-won riches in Elmwood might not be wise, so the party gets aboard the vessel Cadorna has waiting and out onto the Moonsea as quickly as possible. A last check around to find if any local mothers are missing a little one turns up no bereft parents.
Alwina muses over baby names.
…………...…….
The voyage back north across the Moonsea takes a tenday because of ill weather: snowy squalls, blinding fogs, and violent gales that lash the decks with freezing rain.
Theophilus gets seasick.
….
The ship reaches reach Phlan's harbor late in the evening of a cold, dreary day, where Master Cadorna's hired men and guards wait to unload the treasure and the nailed-shut box containing proof of your success: the dragon's severed head.
.....
At a private meeting room in his manse, the Master merchant greets you all warmly.
“I toast your great success. You have done well. As we agreed, keep this to yourself. The riches should more than compensate for any lost fame. I'll confirm your group's exploit through other channels later, if you like. For now, silence like the dead." He smiles, congratulates you all again, and then makes his excuses as he hurries away to his offices.
….
A couple of days pass in meetings with Cadorna’s appraisers and in study of the magical items in the dragon hoard.
Benn seems distracted, and he sends messages to Cadorna.
…..
Then, five days after returning to Phlan, you get a midnight summons to the Cadorna textile factory.
Master Cadorna, with a dozen armed men on hand, leads you into a strong room where he indicates an object on a table, something round hidden under a black cloth.
Pulling away the cover reveals the rosy Orb.
“You have one hour. That ought to be sufficient. The object is not to leave this room under any circumstances. And this settles all debts.”
He pauses, his handsome features pensive.
“I do pray you will see something that helps you find your way back home.”
He leaves the room, posting his guards outside the door.
Benn approaches the Orb, hands trembling slightly…
The baby is weak and could die without clerical aid, so dropping it off in the nearest village would be a rather callous move.
Alwina appoints herself the child's guardian without asking anyone's leave. She's unmovable on this count.
Luckily, the unholy power of Bane can create milk.
..........
Displaying your newly-won riches in Elmwood might not be wise, so the party gets aboard the vessel Cadorna has waiting and out onto the Moonsea as quickly as possible. A last check around to find if any local mothers are missing a little one turns up no bereft parents.
Alwina muses over baby names.
…………...…….
The voyage back north across the Moonsea takes a tenday because of ill weather: snowy squalls, blinding fogs, and violent gales that lash the decks with freezing rain.
Theophilus gets seasick.
….
The ship reaches reach Phlan's harbor late in the evening of a cold, dreary day, where Master Cadorna's hired men and guards wait to unload the treasure and the nailed-shut box containing proof of your success: the dragon's severed head.
.....
At a private meeting room in his manse, the Master merchant greets you all warmly.
“I toast your great success. You have done well. As we agreed, keep this to yourself. The riches should more than compensate for any lost fame. I'll confirm your group's exploit through other channels later, if you like. For now, silence like the dead." He smiles, congratulates you all again, and then makes his excuses as he hurries away to his offices.
….
A couple of days pass in meetings with Cadorna’s appraisers and in study of the magical items in the dragon hoard.
Benn seems distracted, and he sends messages to Cadorna.
…..
Then, five days after returning to Phlan, you get a midnight summons to the Cadorna textile factory.
Master Cadorna, with a dozen armed men on hand, leads you into a strong room where he indicates an object on a table, something round hidden under a black cloth.
Pulling away the cover reveals the rosy Orb.
“You have one hour. That ought to be sufficient. The object is not to leave this room under any circumstances. And this settles all debts.”
He pauses, his handsome features pensive.
“I do pray you will see something that helps you find your way back home.”
He leaves the room, posting his guards outside the door.
Benn approaches the Orb, hands trembling slightly…
Last edited by ewancummins on Thu May 14, 2020 1:25 am, edited 4 times in total.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
- ewancummins
- Evil Genius
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- Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:35 pm
Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
BENN'S VISION
The strong room turns to ice, everyone in it frozen and glazed.
In the depths of the Orb a door appears in the pinkish fog, appears, and grows larger, larger...
Soon Benn is standing in the Mists, before the rough oak paneling of the portal. He can hear voices on the other side.
A faint murmur, far off and yet very near, that might be Dorgio.
A child crying. His son, maybe?
Charlotte calls his name, startled, as if waking from a dream "Benn? Benn!"
A rush of wind swirls the fog.
The door rattles in its frame. Trying the handle, Benn finds it stuck fast.
He yanks, pounds, kicks, but it won't open.
Another voice, familiar, but not a loved one or friend:
Jonathon Matyr whispers though the keyhole.
"I keep my promises."
The door handle slips from Benn's white-knuckled grip. He flies backward or else the door shrinks as it flies forward. The mist all around thins and Benn is standing in city streets, surrounded by lanterns in the winter night borne by huddled, cloaked passers-by.
He casts about, taking in everything he can make out, memorizing landmarks, looking for a legible sign.
He discerns a crest carved and painted on the lintel of the nearest building, which looks like an armory or fortress of some sort. Two birds, dark, facing each over on either side of a capital R, some details he misses as the fog closes back in and blinds him.
The vision ends quite abruptly, leaving him standing in the room surrounded by his comrades.
It seems little time has passed.
The strong room turns to ice, everyone in it frozen and glazed.
In the depths of the Orb a door appears in the pinkish fog, appears, and grows larger, larger...
Soon Benn is standing in the Mists, before the rough oak paneling of the portal. He can hear voices on the other side.
A faint murmur, far off and yet very near, that might be Dorgio.
A child crying. His son, maybe?
Charlotte calls his name, startled, as if waking from a dream "Benn? Benn!"
A rush of wind swirls the fog.
The door rattles in its frame. Trying the handle, Benn finds it stuck fast.
He yanks, pounds, kicks, but it won't open.
Another voice, familiar, but not a loved one or friend:
Jonathon Matyr whispers though the keyhole.
"I keep my promises."
The door handle slips from Benn's white-knuckled grip. He flies backward or else the door shrinks as it flies forward. The mist all around thins and Benn is standing in city streets, surrounded by lanterns in the winter night borne by huddled, cloaked passers-by.
He casts about, taking in everything he can make out, memorizing landmarks, looking for a legible sign.
He discerns a crest carved and painted on the lintel of the nearest building, which looks like an armory or fortress of some sort. Two birds, dark, facing each over on either side of a capital R, some details he misses as the fog closes back in and blinds him.
The vision ends quite abruptly, leaving him standing in the room surrounded by his comrades.
It seems little time has passed.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-
- Champion of the Maiden
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
Kat looks at Benn anxiously.
"What did you see? Do you know where we need to go?"
"What did you see? Do you know where we need to go?"
- ewancummins
- Evil Genius
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
Benn relates major details of his vision, describing the door and the city.
A little later, after a brief discussion with the Orb’s current owner…
Master Porphyrio Cadorna recognizes the crest Benn described from his vision.
“That sounds to me very like the arms of Raven’s Bluff, a major city on the Dragon Reach and a center of magical learning as well as trade. I do vaguely recall some tale about magical portals there… If you want to go there before spring, I advise you to leave very soon—winter storms and ice will make travel perilous by water and the roads will be worse yet. I am sending just one vessel south before conditions worsen—a cargo of donations and discount goods for Harrowdale.”
He shrugs.
“If you’d like to go, I can instruct my shipmaster to sign you on as guards, working passage, and drop you off in Raven’s Bluff on the way to winter harborage in Hillsfar. He won’t have trouble hiring new men there—the city fairly crawls with mercenaries and out-of-work adventurers.”
A little later, after a brief discussion with the Orb’s current owner…
Master Porphyrio Cadorna recognizes the crest Benn described from his vision.
“That sounds to me very like the arms of Raven’s Bluff, a major city on the Dragon Reach and a center of magical learning as well as trade. I do vaguely recall some tale about magical portals there… If you want to go there before spring, I advise you to leave very soon—winter storms and ice will make travel perilous by water and the roads will be worse yet. I am sending just one vessel south before conditions worsen—a cargo of donations and discount goods for Harrowdale.”
He shrugs.
“If you’d like to go, I can instruct my shipmaster to sign you on as guards, working passage, and drop you off in Raven’s Bluff on the way to winter harborage in Hillsfar. He won’t have trouble hiring new men there—the city fairly crawls with mercenaries and out-of-work adventurers.”
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
- ewancummins
- Evil Genius
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- Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:35 pm
Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
KATRIN ALONE
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Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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- Champion of the Maiden
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
KAT
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Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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- Champion of the Maiden
- Posts: 2744
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
- ewancummins
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-
- Champion of the Maiden
- Posts: 2744
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:50 am
- Location: Oxford England
Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
- ewancummins
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-
- Champion of the Maiden
- Posts: 2744
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:50 am
- Location: Oxford England
Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
- ewancummins
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-
- Champion of the Maiden
- Posts: 2744
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:50 am
- Location: Oxford England
Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
- ewancummins
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Re: Chapter 18 The Door in the Fog
VIEW CONTENT:
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)