Act Two, Chapter Thirteen "Betrayal" (2021-07-24)

Cade's Log 2021-07-24

I was betrayed.  I have never been so furious before.  People died because of my negligence.

Dolosius told us that his father used to rule Portas and when he died he and his siblings, a sister Khalis and brother Kolemos, were supposed to rule.  However, his sister mind controlled Kolemos and ousted Dolosius.

Something felt off at the start, and I asked around several taverns in Portas about how they felt about their rulers.  I was told was that the general temperament under the current rulers is pretty pleased. The economy is booming, citizens enjoy freedom and safety and overall seem happy. During your research you do learn that crime is less profitable under the new ruler as she banishes anyone suspecting of preying on the common folk. Additionally, you learn that any magic used to manipulate the mind is met with violence if necessary but usually banishment.  

I also learned that the previous ruler was an egomaniac tyrant obsessed with their own power. They used people to increase their power and only those that were loyal or useful to the leader had a good life.  But I had believed this to be Dolosius' father as when I asked people about Khalis & Kolemos' brother, they seemed to not connected it to the previous tyrant ruler.

We had many conversations with Dolosius and he kept his story straight and I never doubted the person I considered a trusted friend. 

Another thing that should have been a larger red flag was Dolosius' friend Flynn.  He acted ever so much like the villan I have read about in other novels.  But I trusted Dolosius and thought he was just being naïve about Flynn.

Well, rather then assassinate the rulers, we were able to convince Dolosius, during a party on Liberation Day, to debate with Khalis & Kolemos using a speech and that we would support him if he won the crowd to exile his siblings.  Well when it came time to make this speech, Dolosius floundered and I realized he had lied to us all along.  He was the one who used mind controlling magic on Kolemos and he was the previous egomaniac tyrant.

At the end of his speech, he called for Flynn to act and Flynn had his men attack the crowd.  A battle ensured and for the first time, our group did not fight as a team.

Our newest member, Ship, attacked Khalis and Kolemos as did Dolosius and Elric.  Lotty seemed frozen, not knowing what to do.  I chose to heal the innocent crowd and go after Flynn with an elephant I summoned.

I was able to stomp Flynn to death after crashing through a building with the elephant to get him.

The battle went back and forth.  Both sides had taken a lot of damage and I had to bring Ship back to consciousness a couple of times.  But without us fighting on the same sides, we were all bound to lose.

Eventually, Elric put the traitor Dolosius down moments before I was going to and that ended the fight.  Khalis promised to not kill us if we surrendered and we did.

We all have been exiled from Portas.  Elric and Ship had their equipment confiscated because they attacked Khalis and Kolemos.  The traitor Dolosius was healed just to be publicly executed.

Although I was lied to by a person I felt was a trusted ally, it was my negligence in not looking harder before we acted that caused many innocent people to die.  The blood is on my hands.

Act Two, Chapter Eleven "One Cool Cat" (03/07/2021)

As the group stand on the deck of "The Booty Eater” they all feel the sense of danger looming just outside the visible range of the fog; Dolosius can sense the thoughts of enemies over water and Elric can hear something akin to wings flapping in the distance. Feeling a fight brewing Capt. Craz sends Dolosius to fetch a crewmember who’s probably sleeping below deck as he may be handy in a fight.

 

When Dol wakes the sleeping fighter he grabs his precious gourd and once in hand “Sailing Ship” is only too happy to join in a fight to protect his captain and so rushing to the deck we see a tabaxi dressed in a rusty breastplate, a red bandana holding back dreadlocks poking out from his red tricorn. 

Before introductions can be made to this “new” member of Craz’s crew the group hear screams from the outskirts of the boat as crewmembers are picked off one by one; someone seems to disappear from the stern of  ship, Carr lets of a scream in the crows nest before silence returns.  The silence is quickly disturbed by a siren like call, a magical melody floating through the fog charming the crew onboard.  As Dolosius and Elric start walking towards the sound of the song the rest of the crew realise they have been surrounded by attacking harpies.

 

Our brave heroes manage to fight off the charms of these winged beasts and win over their enemies but not before Dolosius almost gets lured in to the ocean.  The group can’t help but notice Sailing Ship is a handy fighter, jumping around the rafters with ease, deftly using his blade to protect his captain and the crew.  Eventually the harpies are defeated and the ship sits in relative safety once more and the crew tend to their wounds, Craz has lost another crewmember and Lotty’s new friend Carr took a hit, Lotty manages to heal him up before she joins the group to make introductions to Sailing Ship and discuss plans for when the group arrive in Portas.

 

Dolosius explains to Sailing Ship that his estranged brother and sister are the current rulers of Portas, their father was the ruler and when he passed left the three siblings in charge. Shortly after Dolosius’ sister, Khalis, used mind control magic on their brother, Kolemos, to manipulate him and force her own ideas on to him.  Despite being exiled from Portas Dol still has some friends there that may be able to him over throw the current system.

Sailing Ship explains to the group that he has been working with Craz for a while and whilst he seems to the rest of the group to be somewhat permanently intoxicated he’d be a good fighter to have on side, Sailing Ship describes himself of being ‘born of the sea’ and hints that he may have a coup of his own to persue, he gives his notice to Craz that he’ll be leaving crew when they reach port and the group discuss their plans, at length, with no decisions made, for when they arrive at Portas.

 

The group agree to retain the ships services for another week and give Craz some extra gold to bribe the officials at port to ensure a smooth landing.  Craz has been to Portas before and all he knows is that it was once ruled by a nefarious ruler until he was overthrown and has been in peace ever since.  As far as Craz knows Portas is a thriving city with good trade and economy and suggests the group tries to speak to some of the older generation in Portas to find out more about the history.

 

Before arriving at port Cade spends some time looking out in to the ocean to try and discover new wildlife species that he may never have seen in his landlocked years.  Spotting something new, Cade got a little too close to the edge and unfortunately lost his footing just enough to take a tumble off the side.  Thankfully Cade had spotted a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the ship a few days earlier and quickly using his abilities managed to transform in to one of the beautiful finned creatures and do his best to keep up with the ship. Sailing Ship, unfamiliar with Cade’s druidic abilities grabs a rope and jump overboard to save Cade.

As the overboard rescue mission turns in to the clusterfuck expected from our heroes the rope Ship was holding snaps away from the boat; trying to grapple Cade’s dolphin form Ship manages to hold on in the most inappropriate place and loses him grip, drifting further away for the steady moving boat.  As Lotty drops the anchor to try and slow the ship, Dol and Elric look for more ropes and ways to help their friends back on the boat Cadephin turns around to try and rescue Ship now. As Cadephin tries to swim under Ship to help speed his return to the ship he also suffer from misplaced assistance and instead nosebutts Ship in the throat knocking him unconscious… under water.

 

Cade summons a giant eagle who missed an airlift on Ship but does manage to lift Cade from the water and return him to the ship in his normal, wooden form. In the mean time Lotty puts her faith in her friends to rescue her and jumps overboard, casting alter self as she falls she sprouts gills and webbing between her fingers and swims as fast as her little legs will kick to Ship and manages to push him back to the surface.  With Dol & Elric’s help the group manage to pull Lotty & Ship back on board and continue to Portas, Cade’s fear of the water firmly cemented he retreats to his cabin for the evening. Ship shares a tot of his rum with Lotty to celebrate surviving the day but it seems the little gnome can’t hold this liquor like she normally does and after taking a second sip from the Gourd as a “straightener” she passes out right there, snoring on the deck of the ship.

 

The following day the group arrive in Portas, bribes paid, shipped docked the group arrive in Dol’s home town.

Act 2 Chapter 10 - Book Burning (2021-06-27)

 

My Dear Cousin Massinissa,

We’ve made our way out to sea on a number of quests that are likely to turn a rich reward. We’ve hired a ship captain by the name of Captain Kraz, whos’ turned out to be as salty as I can be, on a ship called The Booty Taker. I’m writing now, midway through our travels to Portos – former home of the little demon I told you about before, and we’ve just left Alya – home of worship of the exalted gods, as we were in search of a soul stone.

I’ve checked the ship for various communique of our order, and found that much of the ship must be as ignoble as we are. I asked the captain if he knew of any quick loot to be found throughout the sea, and he mentioned a few sunken cities and ships, as well as a dragon’s nest on one of the islands. This we already knew, but it was good to confirm our previous information, but I do hope he leads us to a side stop or two to gather some much needed gold.

When we arrived at Alya, I stayed behind on the ship. Something didn’t quite settle right with that town; their devotion brimmed over to zealotry. I have an interest in knowing the untold story of the Divine Cataclysm, the one that wasn’t written by the winners, and I’ve found a book that’s illuminating some of those tales. More on that later.

The rest of the group – The little one, the little devil and the tree – carried on into the city. I saw them at the gate from the ship, and the guards were exacting in their policing of outsiders – no weapons, no magical items, and visitors were required to wear a sash of red. I don’t like to stand out as it is, and that would have been a bridge too far.

It’s good I didn’t go. The group ended meeting the religious leader of the city called the Divine. Not since leaving the Underdark have I heard of such pomposity. The group reported back that after they asked to purchase a soul diamond, she asked them to talk at length about  why they deserved the diamond each explaining their good deeds, but the Divine turned the conversation about me – and, in part, about book I found.

She probed their minds, and showed them illusions from their memories of our interactions – clearly painting me in the worst of light – minimizing the good works I’ve done, and exaggerating the questionable ones. Just like a propogandist.  Nonetheless, I suppose I owe you some back story on the book.

As I’ve noted previously, I’ve an interest in the godly players of the Divine Cataclysm. I’m sure there’s a  truthiness to the stories we have as written and taught, but I think there’s more to those stories. I’ve been searching for manuscripts that predate the Cataclysm, or at least tell more of the events than we know. In an old book store in Sierrona, I found a wizardly book seller who, after a bit of back and forth, gave me the book I was looking for: the Demonomicon. I paid a hefty price in gold for the book, but I believe it was worth it.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve read a few chapters in it. Each time, I feel a little more powerful, in abilities and knowledge. It does take a toll though, on my appearance. The book talks about the personalities of Aion, and the other gods, portraying them as self absorbed and even cruel. It then discusses how the Demon Princes fell and created demons, their power coming from twisting the chaotic forces around then. And finally, at least to what I’ve read to, the book discusses what the book, and items like it have to offer: enhanced powers and abilities. These abilities come at a price, of course, but so does everything in life. 

Either way, my companions said something that stuck with me: the Divine called the process of gaining power through the book Abyssal Indoctrination, whereas the book describes it at Abyssal Empowerment. One man’s virtue is another’s sin. What did concern me though, is that the Divine noted that the book is filled with the spirit of either a Demon Prince or his champion, and that spirit can posses someone who goes too far.

I’ll probably take it slower from here on out.

The Divine was impressed with Lotty and group, and gave them a soul diamond, so the stop in Alya was worth the annoyance. We set sail again, this time for Portos. Cade pressed the little demon for more information on his hometown, and it turns out Dolosius’ father once ruled there. When he passed, he intended for Dolosius and his two siblings, a brother and sister, to be co-regents. After some time, a change overtook his brother, where he seemed to align himself with the sister consistently. Dolosius soon found out that his sister had cast a spell on his brother, and he was a puppet to her whims. The two soon banished Dolosius leading him to eventually cross paths with our group, and here we are.

The little demon plans to remove his siblings from power, with our help, by any means necessary. Now, that’s my kind of problem.

I’ve hear strange noises this day, just outside our vision around the ship. There’s a deep fog and we may be in for some trouble.

Remember always, Si Vales Valeo - If you are strong, I am strong.

Yours,

Elric Dolour