19 Eleasias, 1368: Back to Shandar's Tower

1:00pm
As they walk back toward the Teshford Arms, Routunious stops and asks, "Elessaria...do you think they are dead?"

Elessaria says, "Selina isn't. I can see her and the cats inside the globe. She doesn't seem to be in any danger...probably the magic of the globe sustains her."

"But, what about the other two. The ones who are now stone figures?"

Elessaria reminds Routunious as she hands him the two small figurines, "If they are dead, the wizard could resurrect them. The contract said so, free of charge."

Routunious puts the figurines in his pocket, and conducts an inventory of the contents of Tick-A-Tick's compartment. Stored in the automaton are 1pp, 1062gp, 51sp, and 13 cp. He says to Elessaria, "We've got plenty of money for the return trip."

Holding the figurines of Stago and Merle, Elessaria says, "Dead or not, Shandar needs to be informed of this, and of the warning. He's the only wizard we know who is powerful enough to counteract something...this bad."

Routunious says, "Use the stone, we've got enough to cover being sent back even after two or three resurrections."

Elessaria pulls the Stone of Recall from her pack, and Routunious reaches out to hold her arm, and with his other hand, holds onto Tick-a=Tick. By using the command word, the stone is activated and they are instantly transported in a crackling flash of energy to Shandar's secluded tower.

Once back in the safe company of the wizard and his band, Routunious and Elessaria realte the traumatic events of the previous day. Shandar listens to everything and then sits for a long moment, pulling on his pipe with a slow intake of breath. He says,"This is not a welcome development."

Routunious sputters, "Of course, this isn't a welcome development! But why has this development happened? Who did this thng? And how are you going to undo it?"

Shandar sighs and says,"You remember the evil wizard who first stole my items from me...Nesha?"

"Yes, of course," Routunious riplies, "Nesha took your artifacts, and your spellbooks."

Elessaria adds, "And people said that he used his power to make contact with the Lower Planes...and either consorted with or attracted the attention of a demonic entity. In either case, they say he was captured by evil forces and pulled into the Abyss."

Shandar nods, and says, "Very good. You listen well."

"So, do you think what we saw was some sort of demon?" Routunious asked.

"That may be, though why any demon would want you to cease your quest, I can't say. I'd always thought that Nesha was being held a prisoner of his hoped for allies, tortured endlessly for the rest of time...but it may be that he has struck some hateful bargain and is himself becoming something infernal. Perhaps, my friends, you have met Nesha himself. One of his favorite illusions was to appear as a ball of green lightning, as you describe. Perhaps he is also looking for that which he has lost and wants to scare you from the trail so that he might find them before you can return those things to me." The old wizard stops then, a very puzzled look on his face.

"Let me see the figurines of your companions...you have them with you?"

Routunious pulls the two figurines from his pockets, and Elessaria carefully removes the snowglobe from her pack. Shandar raises his eyebrow even further.

"Further unwelcome developments, I see."

Elessaria says, "Indeed."

"Well," the wizard sighed, "at least you all weren't killed or...immobilized."

"If we'd all been killed, how could we have delivered the warning to you?" Routunious offered.

"True. Message received, loudly and clearly. But, you realize this doesn't affect your contractual obligations?"

"Part of the contract specifies your aid and assistance in things pertaining to recuperation, restoration and resurrection." Elessaria countered.

"She reads as well as she listens," Shandar said through a smile.

"We understand all applicable fees will be charged," Routunious says, "but I'm sure you understand that we are better off working for you with our original number than as we are now. Can you return them to their original forms?"

Shandar studies the figurines and peers into the snow globe, at last he says, "I think I can help, but it will take time and if Nesha or his agents are already in Dagger Falls, then time is something we do not have in abundance. Which member of your party would you like me to concetrate on first?"

The elven ranger and the human priest confer for some time, and in the end decide that they have the greatest need of the gnome illusionist's talents. Elessaria says, "Stago first."

"So be it," Shandar says, as he retires to his conjuration chambers.

Mina, Shandar's cleric steps forward to ask, "What else can you report? We should waste no time and while Shandar labors to bring your companion back to us, perhaps I can help make sense of the rest of your story."

Elessaria removes the dwarven sword from her pack and unrolls it from the center of her bedroll onto the table. She says, "This sword was found in the dwarven outpost. It bears runes upon it which I lack the ability to read."

The beautiful priestess examines the sword closely, while Routunious examines her. He gets somewhat flustered as he relates the tale of the sword's discovery. Eventually, his stammering makes Mina uncomfortable.

"These runes are of a curious, ancient type...I think it would be better if I examined them in my private study."

"Of course, of course..." Routunious assures her as she departs with the sword, "We'll be out here if you require any assistance!" Elessaria only rolls her eyes.

After an hour the elf hears two sets of footsteps descending the stairs from the second level of the tower. Shandar is leading a very confused and slightly dizzy gnome.

The wizard says, "It took a good deal of doing, but I brought this one back."

"Stago!" Routunious shouts, overjoyed at the sight.

Stago says, "I'm fine, I think."

"You're as fine as you were, my diminuitive friend," Shandar says.

Stago asks, "Would someone do me the very small favor of telling me what in the world happened up there? And could you do me the very great favor of telling me over a good, hot meal?"

Everyone laughs and Shandar directs Marie to meet the request, and she heads to the kitchen to start cooking. As she does, the party sits with the wizard and the tale is recounted again. Shandar listens attentively to see if any new information comes to light the second time around.

"Don't discount anything, tell every detail," Shandar says, "you never know what might be important."

They tell of the sleeping sickness and meeting Randal Morn. They relate how they haven't heard or discovered anything relating to the staff they seek. When they get to the point of the glowing green orb, Stago stops them.

"Selina is in a snow globe? Let me see it!"

Cautiously, the globe is handed to the gnome, who peers inside it and then shakes it.

"Stop that!" Elessaria shouts.

Stago hands back the globe, saying, "But that's what you do with a snow globe, isn't it?"

Elessaria peers into the globe and sees a very tiny Selina shivering with her cats in a flurry of snow. Shandar offers to take the globe and says that he will keep her in the tower and work on her next.

"The enchantment on the other figurine, that which now contains Merle, is of a different nature than that used on Stago. I am not sure how to undo it. It could well be that the effect is temporary in nature and will reverse of its own accord. To that end, you should take it with you, for she may return to normal at any moment. I've devised a break away pouch for you to carry her in, so that should the effect reverse, she won't pop up at the bottom of your pack."

Stago asks, "Why can't we stay here until you can figure out how to restore her?"

Elessaria answers for the wizard, "That thing that struck you down is after the same thing we are, and there isn't time to sit around here while he researches the proper magics. He can do the research while we continue looking for the staff and if the effect wears off, then Merle and Selina will pop back up. If it doesn't, then Shandar may have found the answer by the time we return."

Shandar agrees, "Correct, but I think it might be better to leave the snow globe here. The figurines are nearly impervious to damage, but I can't say what might happen should the snow globe shatter from the rigors of the road."

At this point, Mina returns from her sanctuary, "The blade is magical, that is certain. This word, Olar, it is the name of the blade."

Shandar's eyes widen, "Olar means--"

"Mage Killer!" Stago finished for the wizard.

"That is correct. A dwarven sword fashioned for the purpose of killing wizards."

"May I see?" Stago asked. He looks at the runes on the blade, and says, "Yes, Olar is the name of the sword, and this name...Dorn the Grim, is the maker. Dwarven isn't so different a language from Gnomish, you know."

Everyone in the room nodded as if they did know, whether they did or not. Stago reaches out to trace the runes with his index finger, though very careful not to touch the blade.

"The blade," Stago continues, "possesses a keen and lethal edge, but is additionally perilous to any practicioners of the magical arts by virtue of exactly the sort of enchantments dwarves are so good at. The full inscription reads: I am Olar, forged by Dorn the Grim of the Brightblade Clan, blood of Belgin and Miira. Those last two names must be his parents or kinsmen or something."

Shandar says, "Interesting find. What can you tell me of the finding of it? Leave nothing out."

Routunious explains, "It was on an altar in the outpost, Elessaria pried it out of the hands of a dead dwarf."

"And this blade," Elessaria begins with an icy tone, "only works on wizards and not priests?"

"Can we keep it?" Stago asks.

"You can't even hold it, why would you want to keep it?" Routunious says.

Shandar interrupts, "Best not to hold onto it. Any dwarf, especially a member of the Brightblade Clan, who sees you toting it around or trying to sell this blade may consider you a blood enemy and call killing you for it a matter of racial honor."

"That," Routunious says, "would be bad."

"Do we put it back, then?" Stago asks.

"No, I think that if the sword were meant to be returned to the altar, it wouldn't have allowed itself to leave. You say you had visions while in the outpost?"

Elessaria answers, "Dreams...possibly visions. The priest and I were asleep, but we dreamed the exact same dream." She went on to recount the exact events of the dream, with Routunious chiming in to ensure that no detail was omitted.

Shandar says, "Interesting." The old wizard spreads his hands above the blade, also careful not to touch, and mutters the incatation for an identify spell. The blade's deadly properties are fully revealed to him.

THE SWORD "OLAR": +1 short sword, +2 against mages. Any magic user touching it suffers 1d3 hp damage per round in addition to any damage which may have been dealt by its edge in combat.

"I think that you have been chosen by the dwarven spirits to return the sword to its rightful owners, the surviving members of the Brightblade Clan. I would advise you to keep this curious item close at hand, and in secret, until the opportunity presents itself. And, given the great uncertainty at this stage of your quest, it is entirely possible that a weapon with these unique properites might be very useful. But I'd get rid of it at the first opportunity that presents itself to put it in the hands of the Brightblades."

Routunious asks, "What can you tell us of the Bladebrights?"

Shandar walks to a bookcase, and while removing a tome, says, "Little. This reference is a minor history of Daggerdale, it doesn't go any further back than after the vampire infestations."

Stago croaks, "Vampires?"

"Long ago, nothing to worry about now," the wizard said, flipping through the pages to find the spot he was looking for. "Here it is. The tale of Belesaria and the clan of the Brightblade dwarves."

Stago asks, "Who is Belesaria?" Then, recognizing the similarity, at least phonetically, to the name of their elven leader, he eyes Elessaria with some fresh curiosity.

Shandar answers, "The Mage-lords’s wife."

Routunious interjects, "Who is the Mage-lord, again? I'm having a hard time keeping all this straight."

Shandar sighs, and continues, "Colderan, who was the ruler of House Morn around 100 years ago."

"Morn?" Asked Elessaria, "As in Randal Morn?"

"The same, Colderan was Randal's great grandfather."

"And Belessaria was his great grandmother!" Routunious said, happily.

"Yes, you're paying attention, good." Shandar sat down with the book and waited for the party to calm sufficiently for him to continue. He read, "The Brightblade goldsmiths lived in delvings in Daggerdale, in peace with the ruler of House Morn, the Mage-lord Colderan. Belesaria, was a proud and arrogant woman, who believed that the people of the dale were her servants, not she their protector."

"That usually leads to trouble." Stago says, getting engrossed in the tale.

Shandar goes on, "One cold day in autumn she went to the Brightblade dwarves to buy fine jewels. The Brightblade dwarves had just finished crafting a masterpiece gemstone for their king under the mountain, and as soon as Belesaria saw it she demanded to buy it. The dwarves refused, Belesaria offered more for it, and still they refused. Vowing vengeance for this slight, she stormed off."

Stago says to Routunious, "Straight to her hot head husband, I bet, to stir up a hornet's nest."

"Exactly so," Shandar says, "When Belesaria returned, she told her husband that the dwarves would not sell her their finest work, only their trinkets. She told her husband that the dwarves had told her to her face that she was not fit to wear anything more than the baubles no dwarf would want. The Mage-lord's pride was wounded and he was so angered by the lies his wife had told him, that he swore to teach the dwarves a lesson."

"Trouble. I told you." Stago says, and is hushed by a stern look from Elessaria.

Shandar continues, "Returning to the Brightblade delvings, the dwarves explained that the gem his wife sought was a tribute to their own king, and that they had meant no insult to Belesaria. The Mage-lord realized the difficult position his wife had put him in, but could not back down without a loss to his own prestige after the threats he had made against the dwarves in public. He told the dwarves they could keep their precious stones, and hoped that their king choked to death on their gift. But, he told them, they owed him an equal duty while they maintained an outpost in his dale, and equal respect. He threatened the dwarves with a sorcerous curse if they would not pay him a great tribute of gold and worked steel as an apology for their insults."

Stago asked, "How did that work out for him?"

Shandar looks up from the book as he says, "As you suspect, the dwarves refused, but, knowing the power of a mage’s wrath, the clan and all their kin gathered what they had and left to dwell with cousins under the mountains to the north."

Elessaria asks, "But the two we found there...why did they stay behind?"

"My guess," The wizard said, closing the book, "is that the dwarven skeletons are the remains of the chief priest and the clan leader of the Bladebright dwarves who once lived here. The two dwarven heroes probably tried to kill Colderan, even though they knew enough about his power to be aware that their end was upon them. Sending their kinsfolk to the halls of their cousins in the Mines of Tethyamar, Elshar Kurl, the priest, and Dorn the Grim, the chieftain, remained behind to buy time for their clan, knowing that they would probably die. They kept up the appearance of an entire clan resisting Colderan’s forces and the rest of the clan escaped. Since you found them in the forge room, it seems likely that the two dwarves sought to destroy the upstart mage and his curse by forging a sword of cold iron. Just as you saw in your vision, they made the blade of dark ironstar steel and chanted sorcery with every strike of the smith's hammer, but ultimately the blade must have failed them. Colderan could not touch the blade that was meant to slay him, and his magic was not powerful enough to destroy it. And so, it was left to the next living souls who entered that chamber to discover it...you."

Elessaria says, "What a sad story."

Shandar replies, "Yes, indeed, and it explains why to this day, the Brightblade dwarves will render no aid to descendants of House Morn, including their only male heir, Randal Morn."

"Hmmm... And this fellow is Randal Morn's grandfather, eh?" Stago asks.

"Don't judge a person by his forbears," says Shandar. "Now," he continues, "You mentioned some writing in dwarvish on the walls, writing you copied down?"

"Yes," Elessaria says, pulling out the parchment upon which she had copied the runes.

Stago takes the parchment and reads out the runes copied by Elessaria. "Your dream seems correct. It looks like it was written by Colderan: Children of Earth, for your insults to Belesaria, my beloved, your axes shall be blunted and your crops shall wither. All living things shall flee my unhallowed might. In seven days, I shall tear down your halls, and leave no stone standing. Signed, Colderan the Mage-Lord."

Routunious asks, "If the dwarves fled and Colderan killed the priest and the chief...what happened to Mage-Lord and his wife? Why isn't Randal Morn the leader of Daggerdale today?"

Elessaria interjects, "Zhentarim mercenaries and spies deposed the Morns after the fall of Teshendale, 50 years ago."

"How do you know that?" Stago asked.

Elessaria sighs and says, "Because, I listen when people tell me things. You should try it."

"I listen, but I guess I'll need to start writing everything down. So, the Morn's were deposed 50 years ago, but that doesn't explain what happened to this Mage person."

Shandar flips forward in the book, and says, "Historical data is sketchy at best, but indications are that not long after the dwarves left Eagle's Eryrie, Belesaria fell deathly ill. Colderon suspected it was poison, and blamed the dwarves. Nothing he tried, neither magical nor clerical seemed to halt the wasting effects of whatever she was afflicted with. There were some reports that the Mage-lord even sought the aid of dark elves, contacted through subterranean tunnels beneath the town. When Belesaria finally died, Colderan buried her in a secret location, fearful that the dwarves might return to exact even more retribution on his wife's corpse. He never revealed burial sight, even to his son, Randal's father, though it is said he frequently spend long periods of time their wailing in his grief. Colderon Morn died not long after his wife's death, a bitter, hate-filled man. Legend has it that his apprentices buried him secretly in a hidden laboratory somewhere beneath the town of Dagger Falls, and then stole his spell book. And that is the sum total of all that is known or written about him."

Marie enters with a huge wooden platter piled high with strips of fried small game meat and mashed turnips, all covered in gravy. She says, "Time to eat, you can talk again later."

As the others move to the table to enjoy the quickly prepared meal, Elessaria approaches Shandar, and draws her sword. She says, "Shandar...this is the sword which I recovered from the tor. The gnome said this inscription named it God's Bane, when he read it with the brooch of translation. I never had it identified...would you?"

"Of course, my dear," Shandar says, and casts the spell. After reading the item, he tells her, "This is an amazing artifact, and one which may prove useful indeed one day. Against all common opponents it will always strike more quickly and deal more damage than a non-magical sword of its type...however, against creatures of other planes it will be even more deadly, and deadly in proportion to the level of its weilder."

God's Bane: +1 longsword, +1 per level of weilder against extra-planar entities.

Shandar and Elessaria join the conversation at the table. While they eat, there is a discussion of hiring additional adventurers as subcontractors. Shandar says that is acceptable, but anyone brought into the party, regardless of the status given them by the original signators of contract are also bound by the terms of that contract and the original signators will be held responsible for any breeches of the contract by new members of the party.

After dinner, the company convince Shandar that it would be to the advantage of all to return to Dagger Falls in the morning, after the adventurers have rested.