Friday 17th December 356 AC - addendum
Later that day a messenger once again knocked on my door, given that they never seem to bear pleasant news I trust these messengers are well paid for their task. The lad politely informed me that there had been an ‘incident’ in the library involving Sir Dominic. It would appear the great & noble Chosen One of Paladine was indeed determined to retrieve the scroll he was so set upon finding, so determined in fact that he threatened the life of the head librarian and had to be subdued martially by Brother Ithariel. Less than an hour as a full Knight and he assaulted a scholar in our most high sanctum - I shudder to think what will become of him later.
On my way to the ‘high grade’ holding cells where I dreaded to find Sir Dominic stewing I was interrupted by yet another runner. This time the altercation involved Starsong & Nedlog and as I was hurried to their location the boy informed me that they had apparently assaulted the private suite of the three mages stationed here as liaison to the Knights’ Council. I assured him that this could obviously not be the case but as we neared the coven’s suite & the scorch marks on the walls came into view the pattern of events became somewhat easy to recognise.
The kender had such a look of wonderment upon her visage, as if she had just witnessed the mages turn themselves inside-out & back again, that I suspected no repercussions on her part. The plains-woman on the other hand was literally frothing with rage and I asked that they both be returned to their rooms, vowing on my honour that, in case the mages should press charges, they would both remain within the walls of the Clerist’s Tower.
So weary was I that I did not recognise the inherent dangers of such a vow when a kender is the subject. In hind-sight I understand why the Council sent a ranking Knight to collect these five from Palanthas rather than expecting them to make the, relatively simple, journey alone.
To conclude that eventful afternoon I collected Sir Dominic from his cell before retiring to prepare for the banquet that evening.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Dragons attack! (Apparently)
Friday 17th December 356 AC
Suddenly a cacophony of bells erupted across the sombre compound. My companions expressed confusion at the sound, having apparently been absent for the entirety of the War of the Lance, but my ears were all too familiar with the sound of the dragon attack alarm. Though it had been some time since the dragon bells were rung, my response to them during the war on so many occasions helped earn the rank I hold today. Despite my protest that I should be defending the walls with my brothers, Sir Andrew of the Sword ushered the group swiftly away to a secure location. To call the Tower dungeon a secure location is, of course, generous at best but I have to assume that Sir Andrew was genuinely concerned for all our safety and not simply intent on incarcerating us at the first opportunity. Why he felt the need to place a guard on our locked door I have yet to understand.
We found ourselves in the large common room of the dungeon - upon the walls are ten doors, the one through which we entered and the doors to nine secure cells. The only one of these holding rooms that had any obvious occupant contained the Aurak draconian arrested by ourselves not two days ago. Immediately I felt some irritation that the creature had not been executed upon arrival but I understand some care must be taken while undertaking that task, given the magical nature of the beast. That circumstance does not help me comprehend why the aberration was given a book to read.
From a dark corner of the room (either from an open cell or simply the shadows in the curve of the wall) a well built, young human approached us. He introduced himself as Ariakan, though we quickly recognised him as the son of the Dragon High Lord Ariakas. Some discourse was observed between Brother Ithariel and the Dragon Lord’s son before they engaged themselves in a somewhat tense game of chess, while Sir Dominic & Starsong attempted to interrogate the draconian prisoner. I cannot record the details of either conversation with any clarity as, I must confess I was so infuriated at our unjust confinement.
Eventually my blue blood won the battle over my patience & I beat upon the door demanding to be attended to. When the dungeon door opened I found myself confronted by a Knight of the Crown - my junior in rank, years & experience. I commanded an immediate audience with Sir Andrew and stormed off like the duke I was born to be, trusting the young knight to follow in my wake at his own discretion.
I was led to a board room where, after a vexatious delay, I was joined by Sir Timothy McCarthy, a ranking member of the Order of the Rose and very much my superior. This humbled me somewhat & neutered my pious rampage. Sir Timothy explained, with extreme diplomacy, that we were brought to the dungeons in haste & that it was indeed an error of judgement. He did point out that Ariakan was believed to be the target of the attack and he was reassured to have Sir Dominic & myself in place to defend the asset.
Bowing graciously & showing the appropriate decorum, I thanked Sir Timothy for his time before noticing that Sir Dominic had joined us. My brother at arms took this opportunity to once again request access to the scroll he sought in the Tower library but again he was denied.
This left Sir Dominic somewhat upset, as he was quite determined. I later learned that in communion with the Great God Paladine, Sir Dominic had been given clear guidance that he should acquire this scroll - by any means.
Suddenly a cacophony of bells erupted across the sombre compound. My companions expressed confusion at the sound, having apparently been absent for the entirety of the War of the Lance, but my ears were all too familiar with the sound of the dragon attack alarm. Though it had been some time since the dragon bells were rung, my response to them during the war on so many occasions helped earn the rank I hold today. Despite my protest that I should be defending the walls with my brothers, Sir Andrew of the Sword ushered the group swiftly away to a secure location. To call the Tower dungeon a secure location is, of course, generous at best but I have to assume that Sir Andrew was genuinely concerned for all our safety and not simply intent on incarcerating us at the first opportunity. Why he felt the need to place a guard on our locked door I have yet to understand.
We found ourselves in the large common room of the dungeon - upon the walls are ten doors, the one through which we entered and the doors to nine secure cells. The only one of these holding rooms that had any obvious occupant contained the Aurak draconian arrested by ourselves not two days ago. Immediately I felt some irritation that the creature had not been executed upon arrival but I understand some care must be taken while undertaking that task, given the magical nature of the beast. That circumstance does not help me comprehend why the aberration was given a book to read.
From a dark corner of the room (either from an open cell or simply the shadows in the curve of the wall) a well built, young human approached us. He introduced himself as Ariakan, though we quickly recognised him as the son of the Dragon High Lord Ariakas. Some discourse was observed between Brother Ithariel and the Dragon Lord’s son before they engaged themselves in a somewhat tense game of chess, while Sir Dominic & Starsong attempted to interrogate the draconian prisoner. I cannot record the details of either conversation with any clarity as, I must confess I was so infuriated at our unjust confinement.
Eventually my blue blood won the battle over my patience & I beat upon the door demanding to be attended to. When the dungeon door opened I found myself confronted by a Knight of the Crown - my junior in rank, years & experience. I commanded an immediate audience with Sir Andrew and stormed off like the duke I was born to be, trusting the young knight to follow in my wake at his own discretion.
I was led to a board room where, after a vexatious delay, I was joined by Sir Timothy McCarthy, a ranking member of the Order of the Rose and very much my superior. This humbled me somewhat & neutered my pious rampage. Sir Timothy explained, with extreme diplomacy, that we were brought to the dungeons in haste & that it was indeed an error of judgement. He did point out that Ariakan was believed to be the target of the attack and he was reassured to have Sir Dominic & myself in place to defend the asset.
Bowing graciously & showing the appropriate decorum, I thanked Sir Timothy for his time before noticing that Sir Dominic had joined us. My brother at arms took this opportunity to once again request access to the scroll he sought in the Tower library but again he was denied.
This left Sir Dominic somewhat upset, as he was quite determined. I later learned that in communion with the Great God Paladine, Sir Dominic had been given clear guidance that he should acquire this scroll - by any means.
Monday, 1 August 2011
An Orderly Interrogation
Friday 17th December 356 AC
At 6 am my slumber was disturbed by a knock at my door. No cleric this time but a servant sent to inform me that my presence, along with my travelling companions, would be required in the main court one hour thence. Upon arrival we found a large table set with a meagre breakfast platter for each of us and one extra place set, I have yet to discover the intended occupant of that seat.
As we began to break our fast we were joined by three ranking knights and a guard of Crown knights. Sir Richard of the Crown, Sir Andrew of the Sword and Sir Timothy of the Rose joined us at the table and once their guard were situated around the periphery the door was locked.
Our eminent superiors began proceedings by thanking Sir Dominic & party for joining them, explaining that this was simply protocol. This meeting reeked of many things but from the first I knew standard protocol was not one of them. Growing up at the heels of a Grand Duke one learns a thing or two of politics. Sir Timothy continued by reciting an account of Sir Dominic's heroic act (the primary requirement for advancement to the Order of the Sword). Rather unusually Sir Dominic & his party all claimed ignorance with regard to the act in question, this being the defence of the innocent on November 22nd as witnessed & signed by the red mage Horstman. Though I was not party to the details, there were murmurs amongst the group of missing weeks and, if you would believe it, time travel. Whatever the cause of the confusion it was clear that the details would not easily be reconciled. On one thing Sirs Timothy, Andrew & Richard were clear – Sir Dominic was to hand over the sword of Sir Thomas Pinchin, a pre-cataclysm relic that Sir Dominic recovered while on his knightly quest. I could not understand the reasoning but Sir Dominic appeared reluctant to give over the sword, claiming some moral quandary. At that the Knights Superior left us to discuss matters, leaving the guard in place about the room & the door locked behind them.
As the bolt clicked into place the familiar look of Kender triumph settled across Nedlog's features and she drew from her sleeve a scroll that had been shown to Sir Dominic by Sir Andrew and then withdrawn. I considered admonishing her but I must confess curiosity won the day as I recognised this to be the scroll Horstman had charged me with delivery to Sir Dominic just prior to his death. At the time it had been sealed but now I could see that it contained only the letters 'NMTFMHPCMCWTTRA' which meant nothing to Sir Dominic or anyone else at the table. Similarly the others could provide no more information on the supposed heroic act, beyond the fact that they had all thought themselves dead before waking in Palanthas weeks later with no memory of what had transpired. We also noticed for the first time that there was an inscription of some sort on the blade of the sword Sir Dominic guarded so zealously, though the writing could be recognised by neither mage nor scholar among us.
Realising that only further confusion lay ahead of us Sir Dominic requested that Sir Timothy & the others rejoin the group. At length a commotion could be heard outside the locked doors. A mage of the Order of Law finally burst in demanding that Azshauna return to the Tower of High Sorcery immediately to report to with Par-salian, Master of the Conclave of Wizards, with the three furious knights following swiftly behind him. Once Lady Azshauna was on her way I apologised for the swift & nimble fingers of the kender & returned the scroll to Sir Timothy. By this time Sir Dominic had also remembered his place and offered up Sir Thomas Pinchin's sword to Sir Andrew with his most humble apologies.
Although neither Sir Dominic nor any other could honestly attest the accuracy of the statement provided, he agreed to sign it as truth. Between his party's previous dealings with Horstman & my own we judged him to be an honourable soul, true to his word. Indeed is it not in the nature of the red mage & his ilk to be neutral in all things?
With the sword returned & the act of heroism confirmed Sir Andrew was the first to welcome Sir Dominic into the Order of the Sword. Drinks were served, toasts made & congratulations offered.
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