diary

[cellio]

November 25 (Wednesday)

Grr. Mellan is an idiot. And a slimy creep. He actually tried to assassinate Duke Lareth! And we discovered that security isn't so great around here.

Prolix hadn't yet returned the ring last night when we went to sleep. In the middle of the night it went off, and someone from his room banged on our door and told us to head for the duke's room. Liandra and I got up quickly and grabbed essentials (healing kit for her, belt with pouches for me). Hrolf was already awake. We saw Turok, Prolix, and Kyle running down the hall ahead of us.

When I got to the door of the duke's room Turok and Kyle were already inside, running toward the bed and an intruder who was crouched over it. Kyle shouted "assassin" as I ran up. The room had one window, so I ran to block it while Turok and Kyle fought the guy. They managed to draw him away from the bed, so Liandra was able to slip in and take a look.

I started firing missiles into the assassin. He ran toward me (and the window) and he hit me a few times. I tried to grab him with an electric hand, but he was too fast. He dove for the window -- and went splat against the wall. I then noticed a sort of shimmering and the window disappeared, to reappear a few feet further down the wall.

Turok managed to subdue the assassin then. Once he was unconscious (but not dead) we tied him up with his own rope. We also found a large purse of Mellan's new coins. Meanwhile, Liandra reported that the duke had been poisoned but she had neutralized it. Turok was also poisoned (it was on the assassin's dagger), so she cured him too. She ended up using two potions in addition to casting spells; I remember how much effort she went through to make those. I'm glad she did, or Turok would have been in trouble.

Duke Lareth did have a guard, but apparently the assassin surprised him. We found him in a heap behind the door.

We shouted for help, and it seemed to take a while for other palace folks to arrive. After a few minutes, Duke Lareth was feeling well enough to stand up. We followed him as he stormed down the hall to Mellan's room.

The word "fight" does not adequately convey what happened. Duke Lareth was livid, and Mellan was a cowering, whining wimp. He admitted to hiring the assassin readily enough, at which point a voice from his closet spoke up, calling him an idiot for ignoring the curse against killing members of the royal family. This voice turned out to belong to Keland. So much for his loyalty. I suppose it's possible that he simply got dragged into this and that it wasn't really his idea; that's certainly his story. I don't know if Mellan could have acted on his own, though. He's pretty stupid, near as I can tell. Would he even know where to get an assassin?

To make a long story short, Duke Lareth had Mellan, Keland, and the assassin thrown into the dungeon until this morning. By the time we woke up the trial had already been held; the assassin was sentenced to death and Mellan and Keland are to be exiled.

And now we have a prisoner. Kaylin asked us to a meeting around mid-day to thank us for our efforts. She told us about the sentences and said they can't execute Mellan no matter how much they want to; imperial law forbids it, and there is the matter of this prophecy that calls for three plagues upon one who kills a royal family member -- a plague on himself, on his family, and on his land. Who knows if this prophecy means anything? But no one wants to take a chance. Pytor didn't believe the prophecy he saw from Pelor, and look what happened to him.

So Kaylin asked us if we would escort Mellan across the border to Tergia. I asked if this would pose a problem with the neighbors; she said Tergia won't like it, but they will heed imperial law. I also got the feeling that no one here in Draneken will shed any tears if Mellan has difficulties there.

She also told us of a pass that runs near where Duke Lareth said he saw that dragon statue. (I see that I failed to write about that the other day. While he was a griffin and out roaming the skies he saw a large dragon statue that sounded an awful lot like the ones under Shepford and Duvik's Pass. We expressed interest.) She gave us leave to claim anything we find there, and she also paid us for the escort service. In addition, she gave us the bag of gold that Mellan had used to pay the assassin. I get the impression that this is a not-insignificant part of the royal treasury. She did ask for the ring back.

I'm a little worried about this business with the prisoner. We certainly don't want him to get loose here, and we have to be careful to not cause his death. I for one don't want to bring a plague upon Shepford. But Kaylin asked very nicely and they are compensating us well, and they promised us good manacles and an optional key, so we said ok.

This evening there is going to be a large feast to celebrate Duke Lareth's return. We'll leave tomorrow. I have a few hours free, so I'm going to go shopping in this town.

November 25, addendum

Tonight Kaylin took me aside and mentioned that there are no other heirs, and the duchess died years ago. So Lareth now needs to take a wife and produce an heir. She didn't quite ask if I was interested -- in fact, I think she was really looking for a hint about Liandra -- but it wasn't as subtle as it might have been. I wish them luck.

November 26 (Thursday)

The feast last night was wonderful. It seems that Mellan has excellent taste. I thought it was kind of cruel of Duke Lareth to put Mellan in the next room where he could smell all the yummy food, but I suppose if one of my relatives tried to kill me I'd be pretty vindictive too.

Mellan is being a cranky prisoner. We've needed to threaten him on a periodic basis. He seems to have piped down somewhat when I started experimenting with fire near him. And the manacles provided by Kaylin are good and solid.

Today it has been snowing all day. I took the opportunity to see how flaming spheres interact with snow. They still burn just fine; the snow does not extinguish them. And the snow seems to be keeping what brush there is from catching fire. I'd be reluctant to try this in the woods, though.

Mellan wouldn't quit complaining while we were setting up camp tonight, so Kyle finally gagged him. We'll see if he's more cooperative in the morning.

November 27 (Friday)

Today we got to the road where the path leads off toward where Lareth spotted the statue. Liandra turned herself into an eagle and went looking for it. She found it, on a balcony in front of a very ornate door, but it's most of the way up a steep mountain. There is no way we could take horses or a prisoner.

I argued for dealing with Mellan first and then returning here, but everyone else wanted to check out the statue first. It's only a few more days to the border, so I don't see what the big deal is. But we're going to do this first. So we returned to "our" cave to prepare.

Prolix says that he can cast a spell that will make the climb much safer, but he needs three days to copy it into his spellbook. Three days! We're supposed to just sit here and wait. And me without a lab available. But it's ok, I guess; Liandra needs to replace the potions she spent dealing with the assassin's poison, and maybe we can finally make a salve to help Turok when he's lacking armor. And I do have some reading I can do. And flying practice wouldn't be a bad idea.

November 28 (Saturday)

We got a heavy snow today. I experimented with the interplay between fire and ice. Mellan had to be silenced again.

Flying is a little harder when it's snowing; the snow collects on your wings and weighs you down. Hrolf explained that it's just something you have to get used to. It doesn't seem to be causing him any problems; he brought in a large rabbit tonight.

December 1 (Sunday)

Ahmed's chapter on magical poison is interesting. It helped me realize that even non-magical poison can be detected by magic. Apparently poisonous attitudes can't be, though -- Mellan didn't react to the spell.

December 2 (Monday)

Today Liandra and I made an oil of magical armor for Turok. Nex time we have a fight in the middle of the night, or on the side of a mountain, and he doesn't have his armor, at least he'll have this.

More snow today, but it's not sticking.

Prolix finished writing his spell today. He then demonstrated it for us, walking across the ceiling of the cave on his hands and feet like a bug. He had to swallow a spider first, though, which is pretty gross. I'm glad I can fly.

Tomorrow morning we're going to leave the horses and Mellan, with Slade and Tasha to guard them, here in the cave while we investigate the statue. I wonder what we'll find.