Geode Fe

Journey's Start

Packing up all my gear, I left early so I can make it to meet my friends at sunrise outside the 11 story tall octagon tower located in the south east corner of the city.

We all arrive at sunrise and have a terrible time trying to knock on the front door of the wizards tower. There is a 40 yard area around the tower that looks like it was used as a horse corral, and then a funeral pyre. All churned up and covered in ash. Bailey, such a trusting cleric, goes to walk right out into this death zone. A hasty grab pulls him back with only an acid burned foot.

A bit of careful searching finds what appears to be a path, but the first step down it, the side of the tower falls down like a draw-bridge and nearly smashes us flat. We gingerly traverse this wall-stone bridge over the death zone to reach a trap door in the floor. Bailey heads down the 3 story ladder and puts up quite the fuss when he gets to the bottom. He started hooting and hollering about where did we go, and why did we leave him all alone. I reach the bottom of the ladder, and I see what he was making the ruckus about. The ladder quite disappeared, and the room we where standing in had a ceiling much lower then the height we had climbed down from. It was quite unnerving watching Cal step through the ceiling, and climbed down nothing towards us. He seemed rather amused about the whole stunt.

After the deadly front yard, the overly aggressive front door, and vanishing ladders, I was almost relieved to see Mikhail the wizard in the next room. I say almost because he is either lieing to us, or intending on us getting killed. He is offering to pay us each 200gp to assist a student of his in gathering a few unique ingredients for on of their projects. I was going to turn around and leave if the door hadn't vanished like the ladder had.

Then he called in his student. The most beautiful creature you have ever seen! A stunning young red headed woman. We where all tripping over our tongues to help. There was something strange about her, every time she turned around, I would swear she was wearing something else. Her name is Elva, or Evy for short it seems.

We ask her where she need to go to find her items and she rattled off the following items.

4 mushrooms that grow only on the oaks in the Ucashica,

Thupan shield of green fakes,

2 lbs of raw Ronen ore,

Two sprigs of cedar from the Eltan forest,

and a lock of dwarven hair.

Turns out she is as silly as she is beautiful. She has no clue as to where she is going, or the dangers involved. We asked Elva if she was ready to go, and she said she was. Standing there in a dress fit for a ball! I pointed out her shoes where not fit for travel, and the shoes changed themselves 3 times until they became boots that would leave blisters something fierce just walking across a village green. Thinking I was fighting a loosing battle, I figured she would learn by the time we reached the next major village a week's journey away.

Baily, Cal and I where each given 10gp as a down payment for the travels. Cal went to see some merchant he knew about some gear he needed. Bailey went to fetch himself some travel rations, I asked him to pick up some for Elva as well. Elva and I went to an herbalist in the city whom I knew received regular deliveries from the village nearest my house and left a note for my father as well as 3 gold. I told him that a mage had hired me to find some ingredients and he was paying enough for me to buy a team of horses!

Bailey caught up first and tried to give Elva her rations. She refused them, the silly twit. I started to ask Bailey to carry them for her when Cal shows up with a run down cart pulled by a tired old nag. The cart, while worn looks to be in serviceable condition. He even has a spare wheel for the cart and a barrel of food and water for the horse. He sold me the horse on our future earnings. I am not sure why he kept the cart. It is much too heavy for him to pull without the horse. City folk never did have much sense.

Elva produced a horse out of thin air. Maybe that wasn't why she was concerned about her shoes. The thing didn't seem to be alive even though it moved as a horse should. Creepy.

I showed my 2 friends my armour and decided to put it on for our journey. With one of the four of us in armour, maybe the bandits will leave us alone.

We made good time during the rest of the day. We found a little copse and boulders to stop for the night. We unhitched the horse and I brushed it down and fed, watered and hobbled it. Cal undertook hiding our passage off of the road. Baily, well, he did what he does and started praying. Elva thought to make herself useful and make a fire ring. Her methods where... bizarre at best. She arranged pink rocks around in a circle and set a fire beetle to firing the stones. I am really not used to being around a magician. Quite unnerving the way she disregards a quite dangerous animal like the fire beetle.

After a bit of confusion on Elva's behalf about where the house wasn't that she was to sleep in. We got her settled down in the cart for the evening.

I drew first watch. I wish I could say it was uneventful, but it wasn't. A lame wolf limped into camp with that glazed, half crazy look in it's eyes. A single arrow put it out of it's misery. It appears to have been in a foot trap very recently, and chewed it's own foot off to gain freedom. I can't even imagine.

I was awoken right before dawn. The rest of the pack was snooping around the camp. We built up the fire and they left.

I got a good price for the goats at market. Father was right, the prices are higher in the big city. The prices for the supplies we needed where higher too. All said and done, father and I cleared 3gp. A months wages if we where to work in the town by our cottage. In the village near our cottage I wouldn't have even been able to buy all the supplies. I have never made so much at one time in my life! I hid fathers half in the supplies.

I went to festival. I only played 2 games, the arrows where so crooked I am surprised nobody shot the person standing next to them, and the throwing knives must have had a sliding weight inside or something, the way they wobbled and jerked through the air. Actually, the both of them stank of magic.

I wandered around for a while. A few of us where getting hungry, so we found a stand that sold turkey legs. Father and I haven't seen a turkey in years, so I had to get one. I went to pay for it, but somebody stole my coin purse! I about sat down and cried right there! That was for my horse! Curse the Unnoticed One! One of the guys I was with bought my supper out of pity.

I was still in a foul mood when we left. On our way out, a man wearing the fanciest robe I have ever seen steps out of the shadows and tells us he has a job for us. He said his name is Mikhail, that he will pay well, and to meet him at his house in the morning. Then he vanished in a poof of black smoke. Everybody was talking about how he lives in the tower at the edge of the city, and how crazy he is and how trespassers to the tower are blown up and worse!

I think I can make my missing 15 silvers back if he pays as well as he claims. I am a week early already, and father expects me to stay a week to gather the supplies. I will tell Old Man Henderson that I am leaving, pack my bag, and meet this mage in the morning.

I bumped into Old Man Henderson on my way to the big city. He and his dogs where on their way back to his farm from visiting the birth of his new grandson. He offered to help me as far as his place if I helped him repair a stone fence in return. He also offered to put me up while I was in the city.

We made really good time, the two of us and his 3 dogs. The four of them are all getting old now, and can't move like they used to. I think they all miss herding. I could swear the dogs where smiling in their sleep when we made camp.

We didn't have any trouble with bandits. We did see a couple of burnt out wagons and some fresh graves along the road.

Old Man Henderson's fence was in pretty bad shape. He thinks some of the neighbors have been digging through the fence for stones to sell to the mages in the City. We did find a small geode while we where repairing the fence. Amethyst he says. I was tossing in some of the smaller rocks to fill in between the large stones, and it broke open. He said it was good luck, being my Namesake and all. I had to tell him how my mother named me that because they are so plain yet strong on the outside, and have such a beautiful heart. I always thought it sounded like a girls name.

I miss my mother. I can barely remember her any more. Just the times when she told me the story of how I was named... and her laugh. She had such a wonderful laugh. I am surprised how much I miss home and father too.

Anyway. I am to town tomorrow. Old Man Henderson told me where to find an honest stock merchant. I am a week early in arrival. There is a small festival in town, before the main harvest. I shall be able to catch the last day of it.

Tomorrow father is letting me bring the outer meadow culls to market. It's not that I haven't been to a town alone before, I have many times, it's that I am driving the largest flock of the year to market from our farthest meadows to the big city, Asorga. He expects me to be gone for well over a month.

We have had a really good couple of years. We haven't had the same problems with bandits that the farmers closer to Asorga have been having. The wolves have taken a few, but we have taken just as many wolves, so I guess it is even in the end. Father said that the prices should be really good this time of year, due to the demand for fresh meat and the poor supply from closer to the city. It makes sense, really.

I am to keep half the price I get for the goats. HALF! I will have a horse of my very own in just a matter of a few years now! Father says I will drive a better bargain if I have something to gain from it. I am also to get some supplies. We need fresh arrows, 200 feet of good rope, 6 yards of canvas to make spring birthing a bit dryer, a couple of new bells for the lead ewes as they keep seeming to loose them, a new bucket for the well, a new shovel to replace the one we broke this last planting season, a pot, and salt. I mustn't forget the salt. The rabbit and venison stew really needs salt.

I am hoping to see my friends. I really hope some of them will be in Asorga. I am going to go past the big hollow oak, and get the armour I found in the bandit camp. I can't believe that fool let the bear get him. Lucky for me, he was was the same size as me. They are going to be so jealous when they see my armour, buckler, and fighting boot knife. A real warrior! Father would skin me if he knew I had any of it!

I worry about father being alone for so long though. He seems to get sad every time I got to town since mamma died of the fever. I think he is still ashamed of selling the horse to buy mamma the medicine from the wizard in town and not getting back in time. He doesn't talk about it though. He should be fine alone considering. We haven't seen sign of the wolves near the cabin in nearly a year, so the flock there should be ok with just the dogs while father bringing the remaining highlands flock down to the cabin.