9804.11
We spent about a week in Bretonius' castle, healing from the assassination attempt. Then went back to Midmeadow. Much to my amusement, I kept hearing the gossip about an orc that had bested 3 human fighters. Apparently, the orc is now the sub-chief of his tribe. Donnan wants me to write a song about the whole mess. I've decided not to. I may need one of those fighters to save my butt some day. Though, I am careful not to let it be known that those three fighters are a part of my group. I was barely alive with an arrow wound in my chest when it happened. I still can't believe that a single orc bested a Paladin and two fighters. Must have been on heck of an orc.
The last member of the party has finally caught up with us. Henry Appleyard, a huge human fighter. Handsome older fellow. Unfortunately, my instincts say that he is bad news. What kind of bad news? I don't know. He seems to have his own moral code.
It's going to be another 2-3 weeks for our wagons to be fixed for the road. Fortunately, (I think) Bretonius had something for us to do.
***
Before we returned to Bretonius' tower, I decided that I wanted to get him a gift for his generosity towards us. Yes, we all bare his wizard's mark but he has trained us, housed, clothed and fed us and protected us for quite some time. Donnan and I headed to the Bazaar where I was mobbed for autographs. ("Oh, the price of fame." As Donnan says.) Also, Donnan has acquired an admirer as well - unfortunately, the nubile lovely seems to be the Leader of the Orcs. (Which tells me that she is using magic to look so good.)
I found a lovely dragon oil lamp at Talan's Trinkets. He also gave me a beautiful necklace to wear at my next performance. Both items seem to have something unusual about them. It turns out that the dragon lamp had a secret compartment that had a 30 year old map of Greenplain. Actually, more like a hidden temple in Greenplain. I've let Donnan hold onto them for now. I figure after we do the favor for Bretonius, he and I can do a bit of adventuring. And the necklace turned out to hold a key stone to something. We just don't know what.
Dinner at Bretonius' tower was lovely as usual. Then we heard what kind of favor he needed from us. He has a friend, Britage, who has be mutated into an 8 foot tall man with 4 arms. We will be helping Britage to find the 4th of 5 items that will cure him of his mutation. Unfortunately, it's a sewer crawl. *yuck* We need to find an amulet.
***
Tymora's butt! What an awful dream. Woke up screaming. Woke up others with my screaming. I dreamt that a Drow was in the room with me. He told me that he would see me in the sewers. That I would become a Lady of Lloth. Damn that Paladin of Neural! I should never have trusted him. I can still feel the Tear of Lloth pressing to my skin. Gods, there's nothing like dreaming of being shackled to an alter and raped by a drider. *shudder* I'd rather never dream again than go through that again. It felt so real.
My screams caused Donnan to pop into my room to protect me - naked blades in hand and naked wobbly bits dangling in the breeze. It's not like I haven't seen them before but it put an odd, comical twist on the scary, surreal situation.
We went to speak to Bretonius about the dreams. He told me that becoming a Lady of Lloth meant that I was to become an Avatar of Hers. I'd rather die first. At this point, Britage came forward and offered his protection. The man is impressive, indeed. He also said that he would kill me himself before letting Lloth have me. I think he was trying to sooth me. It did not help. Donnan also pledged his protection. I knew he would. Bretonius added some protection to his wizard's mark. It seems that over half of the rest of the group dreamt of the Drow but was not afraid. They just do not understand the horrors of the Dark Goddess.
***
From there, we went to the sewers. Almost as soon as we get into the sewers, I see a vision of the Drow and he says "Greetings, I will be sending my pets for you soon."
Spiders. I -hate- spiders. Why does it always have to be spiders?
Traveling deep into the sewers, we were attacked from two sides. One side by spiders. One side by creatures of the Underdark. It turns out that these were all an illusion. Once we figured it out and dispelled the illusion, the Drow and his Champion appeared. The Drow called for a Champion to fight his in honorable combat. Britage stepped forward. I leant my voice to encourage and support him in the fight.
Disturbingly enough, during the ensuing fight, 2 things occurred. 1st, Collum jumped in and tried to disrupt the honorable combat. The man has no sense and no honor. 2nd, Henry had an extended conversation with the Drow elf off to the side, ending with the Drow kneeling before him to be cleaved in half. All Henry would say is that it was the Drow's time to die. That was what he wanted - to die with honor. This does nothing to sooth my worry about that man.
After the combat, where Britage was victorious, the party looted the bodies and then we traveled on. We decided to rest about 4 hours later with Donnan taking first watch. I dreamt again. The same dream, ride from the last point that it left off; trapped in the oh-SO-tender and loving embrace of the drider that had been taking his pleasure in me. It was horrible. I forced myself awake, only to hear that voice in my head, telling me that I belonged to him, that he would always be with me and that I would always be his.
I'm afraid I snapped and attacked the nearest male - Donnan, who had come over to check on me. After a brief but intense struggle, he cold-cocked me, knocking some sense back into me. I felt awful. I had attacked my best friend. I know I was out of my head, but that does not sooth the fact that I had hurt my friend. I knew I needed to talk to Bretonius or someone about getting the voice and dreams to stop.
***
After a bit more exploring, fighting spiders the size of dogs (Did I mention that I hate spiders?) and tripping traps, we found the amulet and quite a bit of treasure of platinum, gold, jewels and two spell books. Everyone in the party seemed quite pleased.
We spoke to Bretonius about the Drow and he assured me that the dreams would stop. Unfortunately, he did not know whose voice was speaking to me but was laying a trap to find out. Also, he spoke to all of us about helping Britage recover the 5th and final item to cure him of his mutation. Unfortunately, he says that this will not be as easy as finding the amulet. We will be hunting for an artifact.
There was much merriment in the Tower that night as we were all fed and clothed well, retiring to our rooms. Just as I drifted off to sleep, I heard a familiar voice whisper in my mind, "There will be another time, sweetheart." It startled me but I was so tired that I fell into a dreamless sleep before I could think of what to do.
All's well that end's well. I'm not sure if I could say the day ended well but at least I was still me; safe and sound in my bed.
Continue on to: 5. Revelations of Times Past