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January 29, 2005

Chapter 2: Visitors in the Night

After discovering the lost hideout of the legendary Korga, the three explorers returned to Shadowdale to revel in their newfound fame. The rains had stopped, and the festival of Greengrass was held, but soon things started to return to normal. Then, one morning, Chance was gone, her room at the Old Skull empty. Despite Thomasin's fears, the young thief only took her share of the recovered treasure.

Leif, however, almost failed to notice Chance's disappearance. He mostly kept to his room, and did not participate in the festivals or the nightly entertainment that the Old Skull offered. Thomasin attributed his friends reclusiveness as being a result of being around so many people; Leif, more accustomed to the quiet of the forests, was often uncomfortable in crowds. But when Thomasin caught Leif sleepwalking, his hand extended into the fire of the hearth, he began to worry - especially about the way that Leif clutched the curved dagger to his chest, much the same way that they had found it with the skeleton of Korga. Thomasin turned to the Log of the Gar, desperately seeking answers to the many mysteries that were unfolding.

* * *

It was a loud night in the Old Skull, and the only thing that Finster wanted to do was forget. Forget about his silly idea - his stupid idea - to make money by pretending to be a sage in Shadowdale. For Shadowdale's most famous resident and sage, Elminster, had seemingly taken it upon himself to help Finster's business. Despite all of the young mage's best efforts, a small sign stubbornly pointed at Finster's door, proclaiming him to be the one and only Elminster. At first, the business was good, but soon the full burden of impersonating a sage of great renown began to wear down on Finster. Time after time he tried to destroy the unwelcome signpost, but time after time it appeared again - pointing right to Finster's door. So here, in the local tavern, Finster tried to use wine to come to terms with his identity crisis.

When the door opened and the cloaked patron entered, Finster barely noticed. When the patron removed her hood and made her way to his table, Finster barely noticed. When she started to speak, introducing herself as Auriga, a follower of Tymora, Finster barely noticed. When he picked up his wine and threw it on him...Finster noticed. He did not understand, but he noticed. In a few short minutes, Auriga had wrested Finster's problem out of him, and, in even fewer, shorter minutes, she had decided to take it upon herself to fix them.

Meanwhile, Leif had decided that the dagger he now held, along with the dreams he was having, needed to be investigated. He left his room, and went downstairs to talk to Jaele. The innkeeper admitted knowing nothing of arcane ways, but suggested, half-jokingly, that Leif could always ask Elminster, the local sage. Desperately in need of answers, Leif left the Old Skull, turning towards Elminster's tower. Having overheard the conversation, Auriga, eager to confront the old sage about her new friend's dilemma, hurried after. Finster decided that he'd had enough wine (or at least enough company), and started to head home.

Elminster's Tower gave up none of its secrets, but Leif and Auriga were not to be disuadded. Leif marched right up to the tower's door and planted himself on the front stoop, waiting for the Sage to let him in. Auriga took a more vocal approach; she began demanding that Elminster remove the cursed sign from in front of Finster's home, and that it was not Finster's fault that Elminster was directly across the street. Finster, meanwhile, swung his way drunkenly home, trying his best not to allow his head to split open with Auriga's proclamations. When he approached his door, however, he noticed that the sign was gone - along with his house. Elminster had taken care of the problem.

* * *

Morning came, and Leif awoke to find Elminster's butler, Leaho, standing over him with a broom. Over breakfast, Leaho explained that the Sage was currently out on other business, but the answers that Leif sought could prehaps be found with Eudora, a venerable diviner who lived alone in the woods south of the village. Thanking his host for the information and hospitality, Leif headed back to the Old Skull to get Thomasin. Entering the taproom, he found the bard already awake, and in polite conversation with Auriga. Finster was there as well, eagerly eavedropping on a farmer who had claimed to have seen a mysterious cottage which had appeared in the middle of his field. Leif explained about Eudora, and Thomasin voiced his support. Auriga, somewhat uninvited, offered to accompany the adventurers to "bring them some luck." Finally, Finster volunteered to show them the way, because he had nothing else better to do.

After supplying themselves in town, and discovering that Finster's house was destined to wander thr Realms with or without an occupant, the party set out. They followed the road for most of the day, then turned west along a forest trail until nightfall. They set up camp, and had just begun to drift off, when the sounds of howling wolves broke the night's silence. Thomasin had barely enough time to rouse the others before they were set upon by strange wolves - dark, shadowy beasts which came out of the night to attack with savage ferocity. Finster threw a sleep spell, but the shadow wolves were not effected, and only Thomasin's sword and Leif's dagger seemed to have any effect. When the battle was over, the wolves were all dead, leaving no remains except for dark, shadowy stains upon the forrest floor. Thomasin had suffered a bite to his thigh, but Auriga quickly treated him.

The next morning, the party set out again, travelling through the forest all day until finally coming across a modest homestead just after nightfall. The cottage was small, with a thatched roof and a large garden out front. Behind the cottage, a stone tower rose up amongst the trees. Leif approached the door to inquire of the inhabitants. Before he could knock, though, the door opened, and a wizened, nut-brown old woman with wild white hair stared him down. As her gaze rolled across the assembled group, she let out a snort.

"You're early"...

Posted by Terrepin at January 29, 2005 05:06 PM

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