Company Log

28th Meadow, 802

The Wind Shrine

My cousin Blackhawk elected not to record our journey to the Wind Shrine, nor what happened next, but I feel that some of the information he omitted may be important in the future, so I will include the bits that I feel are pertinent, with apologies to the Winged Foxes for any breach of their trust.

At the top of the Shrine is a chair, giant sized, that has been used for far seeing for long ages. Both Jotork (henceforth to be known as Elensul Lotharian) and Stephen elected to sit in this high seat. Elensul called on Sulimo, Lord of the Wind. He appeared to be seeing something very far away, he grimaced and his head sagged. When he was able to speak, he told of visions, armies to the south, trolls and orcs massing while small kingdoms squabbled. An otter, trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t say what. An enormous red dragon, the Sea of Grass, full of brass dragons,. Violet eyes. A city of elves in a forest, a city of the undead. A woman dancing for another woman, a man being stoned by a crowd. As he related these images, a great shadow passed across the sun, and Elensul was rewarded with a visit from a huge eagle, who said “firstborn, did you summon me?” Elensul replied, “Yes, Lord, I seek guidance in this time of troubles.” Sulimo said, “Guidance will be given, help will be made available, but you must be able to recognize it.

Next, at the urging of Blackhawk, Stephen chose to sit in the high seat. He later said he would have tried without anyone’s urging. He said it was out of arrogance, but I prefer to think it was out of courage.

Stephen didn’t fare as well as Elensul, he was struck blind and knocked unconscious by his vision, which I am loathe to report. He wouldn’t tell us at first, what it was that he saw, but finally, after much prodding, he said he had seen me, mowing down Raven, and Blackhawk, and Elensul, and even my sweet Lia, with a sword. I could tell how much the telling pained him. This prophecy was a great blow to me personally, but the rest of the company and Sister Fara did their best to assure me that it could be a false prophecy and that if I did anything other than I would normally do, it could actually bring the events Stephen saw about.

I must say that as horrifying as the visions were, it is hard to stay sad or afraid in this place.

Raven had a vision of her own, without the aid of the chair, but was reluctant to share it. She said it was personal. This was problematic for Blackhawk, who had gone outside for a moment and stumbled onto a dragon. At first he refused to believe it was real, but when we told him we had seen an enormous shadow pass by at the same moment that the dragon flew away, he was forced to agree that it probably was real. The description he gave was that the dragon was huge and grey. Sister Fara said if it was a silver dragon, it must be a very old one, for the young ones shine quite brightly. She also said she has seen dragons here many times. I couldn’t help but think of the dragon we saw in the isles, whose color we could never determine.

As Fara, Lia and Raven ministered to Stephen, I observed that the building we were in was long and low, made of beams and stone that is not native to this area. How the builders got it here is beyond my imagination. There were large windows without glass, yet the room was comfortable, warmed by a magickal fire. Fara graciously offered to let us stay since Stephen’s condition would preclude our leaving. The path is treacherous in the light, so we were glad not to have to attempt to traverse it in the dark. There were some small rooms for sleeping, but we elected to stay near the fire for the night. Fara offered us some bread and cold clean water, prompting Blackhawk to ask about a font we saw on the way up, carved with a likeness of a Uli flower. She said it was of elvin craft, and was there to refresh weary travelers. She invited us outside, and it was bitterly cold, but the view from the Shrine was worth it. It was a view of such refinement that you could see the color of each individual star, and there were billions of stars, looking like someone had scattered handfuls of gems onto a black velvet cloth. Blackhawk pointed out a particularly bright star that Elensul said was part of the prow of a ship that sails the heavens.It was bitingly cold, so we went back inside then.

Raven asked if she could walk around safely by herself, and Fara replied that she could, but not to stay out to long because of the cold and wind. Upon going outside to pray, Raven met a raven who didn’t seem to be a real bird. It did not respond to her speak with animals spell, but instead, flew around her head 7 times and then flew off to the south. She questioned Elensul about his vision and asked Fara what was 7 days to the south. (depending on the mode of travel, it was open sea or perhaps the druid grove.)

Suddenly, Elensul cocked his head and stood, saying, “If I’m not back in 15 minutes, come and get meÉ” He headed off into the night, to the East. When he came back in, he was changed, somehow. He seemed to have grown. He said that he had heard a second voice in the hymn, it intermingled and got louder and louder. He stepped outside and saw a beam of starlight illuminating the throne. He heard a lilting female voice. It was Mistress Varda, wife of Sulimo. “The time of the elves is coming to a close,” she said, “but you will be a deciding factor in rallying the elves. You will fight many battles and help to determine how much longer they are here, and to what end they come.”

At this point, Sister Fara asked if we wanted to hear a bedtime story. She told us some about the Wizard Wars, and then spoke at length about resurrection and the churches stand on it. It had been a long day, and when she finished speaking, we all drifted off to sleep.

29th Meadow, 802

The sun rose, bright and cold. Fara was already up, and she looked incredibly beautiful considering the hour. She said she wanted to show us something, she said it was a 20 minute walk at a slow pace. It’s a lovely place, we walked along the top of the ridge, rock crystal sparkling in the sunlight. Fara told us to walk carefully at the top of the cliff, and we went over the side. I had a fright when I almost slipped off the edge, but Lia saved me once more. I don’t know what I would do without her.

There was a cave cut into the side of the cliff and we went inside. The cave was plastered and it’s walls covered with an elaborate fresco of a battle scene. It was quite similar to the one that Elensul and I saw at the library in Puddleby.It showed the king of Ardania fighting alongside the western kingdom, all of the Ardanian nobility, the confederated baronies and the elves, carrying not the Marquessa’s standard, but the Princesses. I see Vallen Fox’s standard, an unadorned rampant fox. Fara explained that the fresco was painted a thousand years ago by a courtier in the Duke of Carzala’s retinue. In the middle of the back wall was a fissure that ran into the floor, and we were surprised when Fara called us to follow her down into it. She spoke and some little spheres of light sprang up around her. She stepped into the fissure and told us to always keep at least 3 points of contact with the rock. There was an immense crevasse below us and it was rather harrowing, but moving slowly and methodically as Fara showed us, we all managed to make it into a natural chamber. It was beautiful, many faceted and lit from within. It was like being inside of an enormous jewel. Propped against a wall there was a stick and some fabric, and across from it, a shield, bearing the device of Vallen Fox! Someone had added a coronet above the foxes head, and we marveled at that. In the center of one wall, inscribed in the stone was the following:

Life is for living, feel to your fullest,
Challenge the challengers, carve out your place.
Faithful to friends, relentless to foes,
Loving to kin, fulfilling your wyrd.

Below the inscription was a sword, seemingly plunged into the living rock of the wall. Fara explained that it was an artifact, the Sword of the Four Winds, which once belonged to King Arden. He made two pilgrimages to this place, once before the war, and once after. I tried (foolishly, perhaps) to pull the sword from the wall. There was a whistling sound, but it didn’t budge. Blackhawk tried, first, visualizing the family and history, and later saying the words of the inscription, but while he felt a chill, once again the sword stayed put. Now it was Stephen’s turn to try. As he grasped the hilt, there was a sound like a blast of trumpets underground, but still the sword was not moved. Stephen told us that he had felt a surge of energy from the bracers, but that it was the King’s sword, not the Taoiseach’s. He said something bothered him about the shield and standard, but couldn’t elaborate.

We went back to the shrine, where Fara told us that there were several ways off the mountain, the obvious, back the way we had come, but there was a way that was a greater test of one’s faith. At the far west point of the railing, she pointed out a place that seemed worn by many feet. She told us that if we stepped off of the railing at that point, we would fall safely and would not be harmed. For some reason, Blackhawk chose this moment to try to call the dragon, unsuccessfully. He then picked up a small crystal and put it in his pocket.

Fara told us that she knew that we would be the answer to many of their prayers, and reminded us that good is an active force in the world. She told us she would try to see us at Solstice. It was then that we noticed that she was floating about 3 inches off of the ground. She took something off of her belt and a great breeze came past her.

One by one, we stepped off of the cliff, and as if held by unseen hands, floated safely down the 3 mile drop. Raven was last, as she was hard pressed to convince DeVal that it was safe.

We spent the night at the crystal chapel and then headed back to the Guild. Lia promised to come for the ceremony on Solstice and said that we could leave messages for each other at the Elf Song Tavern.

Once we were back in our quarters, Roderick came to see us. He seemed in a great mood, and glad to see us. He said they’d settled on some contracts for us, so there will be work to do. Later in the evening, there was a knock at the door. A slender fellow was bobbing nervously outside. He asked Stephen if there was a Maxfield Fox here, and Stephen at first said no, which surprised me. He caught himself then and invited the man, who was from the Courier’s office, to speak to me. He handed me a letter, covered in dust. He said it had been waiting for me for some time, but had somehow been forgotten. He seemed quite apologetic as he took his leave, and in my hands was a letter from Uncle Max. We all were saddened anew by the revelation in the chapel, and realized that we hadn’t told anyone about Carlotta’s message. We have an appointment with the Deputy Guild Mistress tomorrow, and I suppose we will tell her then. Will she believe us, though? That is the question.

Respectfully submitted by Maxfield Jaden Fox