Heat 6 - Afternoon

Where to begin? The last day has seemed almost an eternity. This is an official transcription of the Company log, so I suppose I ought to pick up where Blackhawk has left off. Still, my personal thoughts will intrude on this transcription. How can I avoid such when we have learned so much today?

With Raven's removal of the church symbol, some sort of beast was summoned. It is amazing what a sudden influx of uncertainty will do! Even as the thing was forming, I was ploting a course of action. I thought I was acting rapidly, but Elensul and Raven were a absolute whir of action. Even as the thing, a grotesque mockery of life, formed, Elensul was jabbing it with the javelin that Saba gave him. The creature did not like this. It quickly flew up, on it's batlike wings, 30 feet into the air above one of the bushes. Even in the gloom, I could tell that it's wound was smoking! Yet, before Elensul had even moved, Raven looked as if she were about to cast a spell. Instead, she decided to pause a moment. When the monkey thing flew away from Elensul, she decided to act. I must say that I am often amazed by the powers she commands. With the clouds and the rain, it seemed that she would call down more bolts of lightening. Instead, a column of fire poured down out of the sky, lighting the whole scene. For a moment, it seemed that the spiny little beast would weather this firestorm. I could see that it seemed to be encased in a coccoon protecting it. At least briefly. Then, whatever eldritch defenses it had collapsed and the fire consumed it. As a cinder, it fell to the ground.

I stood there for a moment, looking to see if there were any other surprises. I had barely even had time to act. What a night! My swordplay against the bounty hunter was next to useless. My spells were shrugged off easier than my rapier. If it hadn't been for the wand that I carry, I would have contributed very little to the nights battles. And even the wand would perhaps, be better used by somebody else. My study of arms was too haphazard to excel in that area. My study of magic is a mere hobby compared to the powers that Raven and Jaden command. I don't even make a good thief. There are times when I take a great deal of pride in my variety of skills. But at times like last night, I feel as if I barely contribute to the welfare of the party. My gift is with my voice. Any real threat that I present seems to be to governments and organizations. I am a conveyor of ideas. That people might listen to me scares those like the Blackcloaks. Philosophers speak of the power of ideas. And philoso phically, I would agree. But there are times when I just wish that I could wield the same physical power as my friends. To strike almost uselessly at an opponent while my friends are suffering from an onslaught, does not sit well with me.

But I have made my choices in life. My voice still holds power. I can study further the Song of Creation to hone that power. Shape it. Perhaps I can produce small bits of magic to assist my friends where I may. To support them in their need. At times, it seems small payment for the puissance they lend me. When there is need for my powers of persuassion and negotiation; my abilities to uplift and strengthen, perhaps I might win them the support that we will desperately need.

Perhaps I am spiralling down into the murk of depression. The news we have received today has not uplifted my spirit. But, I get ahead of myself.

We all converged on the bounty hunter after the summoned beast fell. It seemed the thing had immediately ripped our captives throat out. An unfortunate occurance. I am sure that we could have learned something if he could have been questioned. However, after we looked through his equipment, I think he received justice. Roderick and his people arrived and we immediately began describing the whole affair. We apologized for the inadvertant death of the bounty hunter. I had checked the body to see if I could identify any obvious traps. The guy was carying so much equipment that it was hard to tell. Roderick looked over the tabard and proclaimed it a counterfeit of a legitimate City Guard uniform. We felt better about this as it meant a Guard was not killed to acquire it. Roderick also informed us that the body would be taken to the Church and that we might lay claim to the equipment there if we chose.

We wanted to see if there was any information we could learn of the bounty hunter. Something among his belongings that would indicate where he came from and where he had been. As we stripped the body of it's equipment, I checked everything for any indication of traps. There was one pouch that struck me as odd, so we decided we would wait to investigate his equipment further. Jaden did use a cantrip to see what magic might be among the bounty hunter's belongings and reported that much of his equipment glowed with such power. This news, of course, serves only to fuel our belief that the Blackcloaks have been hoarding magic all this time, not destroying it as they have claimed. We brought everything back to our quarters and decided that we would look at it again after lunch.

I was up in the early morning and Blackhawk and I visited Rosewater with the Dawn. We had quite a discussion. Jaden came down to receive his first guitar lesson and the three of us spoke at some length. Such dreams my friends have! I hope they are able to seek their happiness. Unfortunately, a somber mood came over me and I left. Fortunately, an early lunch with Raven helped and I was in good spirits as we began to investigate the bounty hunter's items. Possibly the most significant find was an Inquisitor's Robe. By this, we know our foe was not a mere bounty hunter. It appears he was a highly trained assassin that was seeking Elensul. We found a plethora of alchemical ingredients. Our foe was also carrying a rapier, a short sword and a dagger that all radiate magic. As does his armor. I set aside the pouch I feared was trapped as we examined the other contents of his pack. We located several small bottles, potions. He was also wearing two rings. Both which radiate magic. Digging further, we found 2 scroll tubes. I set those aside. Intending to check those when I checked the pouch. However, Jaden was excited to see them and immediately picked one up. I breathed a sigh of relief as he opened it and nothing unusual occurred. He pulled out the parchment and studied it for a few moments. He is pretty sure it is a scroll of Ice Storm. It would make a good addition to his spell book! He then picked up the second tube and cracked it open. The expression on his face gave my heart pause as he flung himself backwards. Flame erupted from the tube, but he managed to get by with nothing more than singed eyebrows. Would tha he had allowed me to search them beforehand. But he is fine, so I do not begrudge his eagerness. We also dug out a slim stick of wood. Not unlike the wand I have been carrying all these months. One thing is for sure. The Inquisitors have no compunctions about using magic. Regardless of their spoken dogma.

We also recovered another heavy pouch. Opening it, we discovered thousands of golden coins. All from the Western Kingdom and apparently 800 years old. On one hand, I understand that this is generic coinage that could be used almost anywhere without much question. On the other hand, there are over 3900 coins that appear to be minted from the same time period. This strikes me as odd. Particularly since they were after the raising of the Veil. Why would an Inquisitor have so many of these coins? I am reluctant to give my paranoia and fears too much power without any real proof. Could the Blackcloaks have had some sort of presence in the Isles from so long ago? I do not know.

When we were finished, we still had the odd pouch to deal with. We could tell that something was inside, but the pouch seemed a bit more airtight than should be normal. Examining it carefully, I could discern pinholes along the top. What could be inside? We tossed around a number of different ideas on how to deal with this puzzle. In the end, I decided that I would follow Blackhawks suggestion to seal the holes with wax. We then decided to head out of town and open the pouch. I figured that if there were any fire-based trap, I would prefer to have it as far away from the Guild stronghold as was feasible.

Once outside of town, I dared to unbuckle the pouch and slid my fingers up inside. I was hoping I would feel some indication of what the trap might be. Possibly disarming it. When I felt a stab of pain in my fingers and felt a little lightheaded, I knew I had somehow erred. I slowly pulled my hand back out. Raven used an orison and confirmed that I had been poisoned. Between her and Blackhawk, they were fairly sure I was victim of a spider bite. Raven cleansed me of the toxin and I drew forth my dagger, slid it under the pouch flap and moved it violently back and forth. Then, I set the pouch on the ground and used my rapier to open it up. Several small spiders came darting out in every direction. As luck would have it, one shot over to where Jaden was standing, several dozen feet away, crawled up his leg and bit him as well. He blanched, but the poison did not seem to have any lasting affects. I used a cure to help him fight off the damage the toxins had caused. Finally, we tipped out the contents of the pouch and investigated those as well.

Gems, many gems. There was also a set of lock picks and a curious headband with a pearl set in it. Elensul tried it on and reported that he felt enlightened somehow. We were pondering all of this when a Guild messenger came running out to deliver a message. It seemed we were wanted in General Liam's quarters immediately.

We headed back and were welcomed into another debriefing of sorts. The Journeyman addressing us looked somewhat familiar. Though I could not immediately remember why. I will not go into depth on the tale. It is long and parts of it are best saved in an accounting of Maximillian's life. The Journeyman was a spy for the Guild serving in Ardania. Lawrence Crawford is his name. It appears the church is attempting to consolidate power in Ardania. Toward that end, they have excommunicated the Foxes and the de Greys. They somehow managed to capture Uncle Max and murdered him brutally. It is strange that their actions against him do not seem the worst crime in my eyes. The accounting we heard leads me to believe that the Inquisitors are manipulating the minds of the Ardanian people and causing them to be nothing more than pawns in their game. By excommunicating the families, and then forcing the spectators to participate in Max's murder, they win over the populace with nothing more than their need to assauge their guilt. Masterfully manipulated. At least they still feared Max's voice. They understand the fine line they are walking. Oh! But if I had the chance to return. I would turn their lies against them and counter their mind control wherever I might. I must bide our time. We will bring them to justice. The Guildmaster and his staff were strangely quiet through Lawrence's tale. They did not strive to answer any of our questions afterward either. I am assuming that we, as Novice Journeymen, are not privy to their concerns. Perhaps we will learn more after Solstice. Until then, I mourn and seethe. It appears the rest of the Company does as well. But we will retain control so that we may taste victory in the end.