Hero Wars
Issaries, Inc. |
The Travels of Biturian VaroshHarmony in the City
I used my Path Watch and set off at haste from there, sure
of ambush or avenging party. The incident terrified me. We pushed hard, resting
only a few hours at a time until we reached the foothills about Tada's High
Tumulus. Under the haunted shadows I halted, and set up an ambush of our
own, but no one followed. Cautiously we waited two days, then skirted the
edge of the hills for distant Pavis at an easy pace.
Pavis anciently made the city from the innards of the Faceless Stone Statue after it defeated Waha in a wrestling match. Thus, say Pavis' priests, the victory of the Statue over the nomads is ever-present. Victory was not present when Jaldon Goldentooth took the city at the Second Age's end. It is said that giants built the great walls, and seeing them makes me believe this to be true. The walls are 8 meters high in their low spots, and as high as 27 meters where the ground dips. The walls straddling the river were once formidable fortifications, but now they are open, walked on only by desultory raiders hoping to drop upon a passing boat. The current settlement is outside the giant walls, as if today's citizens are not suited to such grandiose style. Only a few brave city priests pretend that the ancient ruined city is still of value. Trolls live there, plus some scattered bands of tough scavenger humans. Treasure-seeking adventurers regularly comb the rubble. Valstatch Guilder, a prominent Sage of Lhankor Mhy, said he wanted to purchase only sacred stones, or else the fossil spells rumored hidden somewhere in Tanok's Puzzle Canal in the Big Rubble. When I would not sell my Truestone, Valstatch demanded either I take his offer to enter the Rubble or to leave with his anger. I chose to think on it. While strolling, I learned of an approaching holy day at the nearby Sun Dome Temple, and that the new market at Corflu had not yet seen much business. Then I came upon a local procession, part of some minor neighborhood festival. I was unwilling to become engaged, but followed at a distance. I detected the ambush early and fell back. Even from a distance I recognized Lunar scimitars flashing in the sun. Then arrows twanged from a rooftop, and two Lunars fell. The processional guards engaged the other attackers, though at poor odds, and the city priest stuck the staff and idol into the ground and barked a command. I thought to cast Countermagic upon myself but, even so, found myself filled with an unnaturally peaceful feeling. I was well-aware that I'd been overcome by a very powerfully-backed City Harmony spell, and like everyone else I saw I did not mind. Even one of the archers climbed down from a rooftop to join us, and I saw it was Jarang Bladesong, an Orlanth worshipper I had interviewed earlier that day. I noticed too that the Lunar ambushers who'd joined the procession also studied him. The holy staff was paraded all about the perimeter of a nasty Shantytown section of Pavis. We formed the head of the parade. The residents, wounded Animal Nomads without mounts, the lost at heart, and adventurers and mercenaries awaiting jobs all clustered and followed us, singing bar-room ditties. At a tavern, the priest passed the hat. A wheel on such a day was good for all the gods, and that's what I paid. The priest collected 22 Guilders, 7 clacks, and 3 bolgs. I volunteered to approach the nearest ale dealer, planning my best bargaining pleas as I went. My skill made an easy mark of the merchant, and I got twice the normal value of ale for the cost. He had no use for the lead bolgs, saying he'd never serve a troll nor touch his money. I thought to keep them as mementos, but passed them back to the priest. I reached my lodgings well after nightfall and realized that the time to return my answer to Sage Valstatch was long past. I took that as a sign from Issaries concerning my decision, made a note to dismiss the Lunar foe from my party, and decided to set out at dawn for the Sun Dome community. I would be foolish to engage in heroics when my mules were still so well loaded. |
