Mission 4 - Journey To Candlekeep
The stench of Vanthampur Villa still clings to my memory, but our latest endeavors have led us far from its putrid depths. After reporting the grim events of the villa to Darmin Zodge (Captain), our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Commander Liara Porter at the Black Gate. She, a veteran of Fort Beluarian in Chult, had been summoned back to Baldur's Gate by her uncle to assume command of the Flaming Fist in the absence of Ulder Ravenguard.
We wasted no time in explaining our urgent need for passage out of Baldur's Gate, driven by the compelling suspicion that Thavius Kreeg was somehow responsible for the calamitous fall of Elturel. Commander Porter, surprisingly amenable, provided us with horses, provisions, and a contingent of guards to escort us to the northwest gate. However, not without a small cost: she confiscated our Flaming Fist badges, a clear demarcation of shifting allegiances and priorities.
A New Companion and the Road to Candlekeep
Our next stop was with Fallaster Fisk, who, upon learning we possessed the puzzle box, became positively ecstatic. With a fervor bordering on obsession, he rushed to gather his own provisions, eager to set out with us on the road to Candlekeep. He even brought along a peculiar tome, its title, Tastes of Callamshite, hinting at exotic and perhaps unsettling culinary delights.
Our journey began across the iconic bridges that converge at a tall, rocky island in the middle of the Chionthar River. These vital arteries of trade were so choked with buildings and merchant stalls that the river itself was obscured from view, leaving only a narrow, congested roadway. Wooden drawbridges connected these bridges to a formidable keep atop the island, where the proud flags of Baldur's Gate and the Flaming Fist waved in the breeze.
Highway Encounters
As we traveled, the mundane occasionally intruded upon the fantastical. We apprehended a couple of pickpockets. My own encounter ended with me handing the rogue a ration, advising him to take a break from his nefarious trade for the day.
Further along, our keen eyes spied a suspicious wagon driven by a seemingly ordinary human farmer. It was Iliran Tilorri - Mike's sharp glance that caught the glint of a weapon moving subtly within the hay bales on the back. Without hesitation, he unleashed a firebolt, igniting the hay in a sudden blaze. The mundane farmer instantly shifted shape into a red-winged fiend, its true nature revealed by the searing flames. I spurred my horse alongside the wagon, swinging my shortsword at the fiend. My blade found great purchase, striking deep, yet the fiend seemed disturbingly unphased. Baktha Tassup - Ryan loosed an arrow, but it flew wide. It was Salah Secumber - Hal's magical mace that truly bothered the creature, each swing seemingly causing it considerable discomfort. Wounded but defiant, the fiend retreated to the sky, soaring about sixty feet above our heads, from which vantage point it retaliated with its own firebolt.
The aerial battle was protracted, demanding patience and precision, but eventually, we felled the fiend and its hidden compatriots. We then moved to loot their corpses, discovering a magical spear clutched in the fiend's lifeless grasp. It is a flashfire spear
My dearest journal, the road to Candlekeep has been a journey of strange encounters and unsettling revelations. Our first night, nestled under the vast, star-dusted sky, was spent in quiet contemplation until Reya Mantlemorn broke the silence with a tale of her people, a story woven from the threads of history and legend.
She spoke of the lands west of Elturel, once plagued by fiends who stole away women and children to unknown fates. In their desperation, the High Rider urged his people to pray for divine intervention. Their prayers were answered. The next day, the goddess Zariel herself appeared, finding the fiendish portal and leading the highriders through it into Avernus. The portal, unable to withstand the might of these brave souls, buckled and collapsed under their weight. Thus, the fabled Hellriders were born.
The second day passed uneventfully, a peaceful interlude before the storm.
On the third day, we crested a ridge and saw a plume of smoke marring the horizon. As we drew closer, the grim scene revealed itself: two burning wagons, and two brutish ogres smashing about them. We charged, our hearts filled with a righteous fury. Swords, spells, and arrows flew, a cacophony of battle against the monstrous foes. Ira Ferox - Josh struck one with a shortsword, while Baktha Tassup - Ryan and Thomus - Thomas each launched a firebolt. Reya Mantlemorn's hammer met bone with a sickening thud, and Salah Secumber - Hal's guiding bolt shone bright against the ogre's hide. Ira Ferox - Josh landed a critical blow, and Iliran Tilorri - Mike’s firebolt, though it missed its target, whizzed close enough to finish the beast off.
Baktha Tassup - Ryan then set upon the second ogre, and Ira Ferox - Josh delivered the killing blow. On their bodies, we found strange, tribal armbands we couldn't identify. We took them, hoping that Sylvira Satticus could shed some light on their meaning. We found a few surviving humans, who explained they were refugees from Elturel, turned away at the gates of Baldur's Gate and harassed on their journey to find another sanctuary. It was on this perilous path that they were beset by the ogres.
The fourth day saw our journey slowed by a heavy, unrelenting rain, a somber pace that matched the mood of the refugees we had found.
On the fifth day, we arrived at a crossroads. One signpost read "The Way of the Lion," the other "Candlekeep." Fallaster Fisk, our scholarly companion, informed us that "The Way of the Lion" was, paradoxically, the fastest route to Candlekeep, so we followed his guidance.
At the gate, we were greeted by three monks—a human, an elf, and a dwarf. The elf demanded a gift for passage. Fallaster Fisk, with a knowing grin, offered his book, Tastes of Callamshite, a gift that was accepted with surprising grace, and we were granted entry.
Inside, Salah Secumber - Hal showed the monks the ogre armbands. They recognized the symbols, identifying them as the markings of an infernal cult faction. We made our way to the inn, where everyone seemed normal, save for a lone ogre in the corner, engrossed in a book titled The Sum of Theology by Saint Visera. He wore an ornate headband. Thomus - Thomas, in a moment of audacious curiosity, approached him and asked about the armbands. The ogre, startled, said he didn't recognize them but was intrigued by their tribal appearance. He then spun a strange tale about his headband, claiming he had taken it from a halfling he had slain in his more brutish days. As a result of wearing the headband, he had become an avid pursuer of knowledge, adopting the moniker Little One in honor of the halfling he had killed.
We retired for the night and, the next morning, headed straight to Sylvira Satticus.
We found her in a chamber of the keep, dressed in wizard robes, standing on a giant nine-pointed star emblazoned on the floor. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to meet you," she said, her eyes alight with an intellectual fire. "What have you brought me?" A small, spiny demon, a quasit, stood beside her, a strange familiar.
I presented her with the puzzle box. She spent a considerable amount of time studying it before spinning a tale of her own suspicions. She had long believed that Thavius Kreeg had conspired with devils to bring about the fall of Elturel, and she was convinced the proof lay within this very box. She called to her quasit familiar, Jezebel, who fetched a flask of liquid. Sylvira poured it onto the box, and the liquid seemed to defy gravity, clinging to the box's surface and encircling it like a mystical aura. Finally, with a soft click, the box fell open.
Inside, a stack of nine chain-linked plates, three inches per side, lay revealed. They were stamped with infernal runes, which Reya Mantlemorn immediately began to translate.
Be it known to all that I, Thavius Kreeg, High Overseer of Elturel, have sworn to my master, Zariel, lord of Avernus, to keep the agreements contained in this oath.
I hereby submit to Zariel in all matters and for all time. I will place Her above all creatures, living and dead. I will obey Her all my days and beyond with fear and servility.
I recognize the dispensation of the device called the Solar Insidiator, hereafter called the Companion. In my capacity as High Overseer of Elturel and its vassal territories, I acknowledge that all lands falling under the light of the Companion are forfeit to Zariel. All persons bound by oath to defend Elturel are also considered forfeit. I further recognize that this dispensation will last fifty years, after which the Companion will return whence it came, taking Elturel and its oath-bound defenders with it, if that is Zariel's wish.
All this is my everlasting pledge.
As she read the chilling words aloud, Reya Mantlemorn began to weep. It seemed that in taking the oath of the Hell Knight, she had, in fact, pledged her soul to Zariel.
We also asked Sylvira Satticus about the Shield of the Hidden Lord. She explained it was a symbol of good triumphing over evil, but that the entity within, Gargoth, was a powerful pit fiend sent by Asmodeus to corrupt mortals, a fiend who had become a sort of demigod. The shield, she warned, had the power to corrupt everything around it. The Hune family had held it for centuries, but it should not be returned to them. Instead, it should be kept in an extra-dimensional space, or, as she suggested, carried into the fiery pits of Avernus. As she spoke, the voice of Gargoth resonated psychically in my mind, begging me to do just that, promising to serve as a guide and advisor. I replied with a psychic image of me bitch slapping it and giving it the shush symbol.
Sylvira then told us that a dragon named Traxicore could get us to Elturel, where we could make our descent into Avernus. She also advised us to speak with a creature named Lulu while we were at Traxicore's tower.
With a final word of warning, she led us to some saddled griffins, and we flew off towards Traxicore's tower, our destination and purpose now clearer than ever.