10th day, 3rd ride, March, 1372 DR
The morning went by quietly until I saw Abel do some martial excercises with his staff. He’s obviously not used to holding a weapon, but he is of good will, if a bit soft. I thought I’d give him some pointers. The best way to learn how to handle a weapon is by non-lethal sparring, so we did; or rather, we would’ve, if he hadn’t decided to try and ensorcel me with his witchcraft. I called upon Abaddon to have him hold his blasphemous tongue. He stood there, frozen, and I pushed him to the ground and walked off. I retired to my room to ride out the storm raging in my head.
After an hour I went downstairs and made plans with Abel to go to the garrisson as well as check out the possibility of lodgings at the Red Rock. I woke up Roland, who took a bloody hour taking a bath and getting dandied up. An hour! Doesn’t he know that if you touch it that much it’ll most likely fall off!?
As we crossed the river Tesh, I realised just how fed up I was with the Teshford Arms. The service was mediocre, the cost was high, but that ford left me with wet socks and boots more than twice a day!
We met up with Captain Durmark and relayed everything we had seen and heard on our trip to the Flaming Tower. When I told her about the dead craftsmen and Zhent soldiers it occurred to me that the only people able to overrun a group like that without being seen are Elves, but none are so cruel as to severely torture them. Perhaps there are Dark Elves in those woods, or Drow, as the Dalesmen seem to call them.
Captain Durmark hired a group of a dozen Halfling scouts. They will act as scouts and a fast strike force, able to move through the forest quickly and stealthily.
She also told us of a castle, Castle Dunbarton, protecting the Serpent’s Bridge, which croses the River Ashaba, which in turn divides the dale in a north and southern part. The castle was ransacked over a hundred years ago, when one of Lord Morn’s predecessors cut military funding and the castle fell in bad repair. There’s a camp near the castle, housing an unknown number of people whose identities are a mystery. Captain Durmark is afraid that an unknown enemy is fortifying the old castle. We’re getting ten gold upfront, plus a mount for the duration of this mission, and another fifteen gold upon our safe return. She says that if the group is an undesirable one, and their numbers are managable, we can take them out.
Ha! What a farce! There is no reason for us to do anything more than check it out. When I confronted her with that she tried to counter with a feeble argument of us doing something good for Daggerdale, and then that we were free to take what we found on the bodies (liek she’s going to be able to check!) If she’s not paying us extra, then I’m not lifiting a finger unless I’m feeling particularly charitable that day.
I just realised that the massing troops at the Flaming Tower might simply be a ploy to keep Daggerfalls’ attention to the north, a sleight of hand, a misdirection to cover up the massing of troops to the south. Perhaps Dunbarton is being fortifided by the Zhents in order to attack from two sides. From what I understood, Dark Elves live underground, perhaps their tunnels are providing safe passage for the Zhent troops.
Or perhaps one of the southern nations is trying to move in on the Dales. From what I understand, the Thetyamar trail goes all the way south from Daggerfalls, past Tilverton, into Cormyr. I’ve heard a lot of stories of the Purple Dragons of Cormyr, vigilant knights and awesome warriors. If this turns out to be true, then perhaps Abel isn’t here because he slept with a nobleman’s wife…perhaps he’s here sent as an agent to the Cormyrian crown.
Roland and I cut the meeting with Captain Durmark short and went to the Red Rock Tavern where we met up with Kessla, who told us about the gold bracelet. Apparently, it’s a part of a uniform, worn by the guards of Myth Drannor, the capitol of the Elven empire of Cormanthor. She explained a bit about the fall of the Elven empire, but couln’t go into greater detail because of time constraints. She said that the bracelet was over two-thousand years old, yet not especially rare, so it wouldn’t fetch us more than two-hundred, to two-hundred and fifty gold pieces. (If it turns out that she is willing to purchase it from us, then I’ll be getting a second opinion.) So far I’m a bit disappointed that the story behind the bracelet wasn’t more of an adventure.
Roland and I headed back to the Teshford Arms (wet socks), after we stopped by the market. It was already getting dark, so I didn’t have a lot of time to haggle with the armourer about the price of the repairs I wanted done on my armour. I manage to talk some sense into the man, who had clearly lost his by the time he named his price. I also bought some supplies (cloth, parafine, spirits, canvas, food).
At the Teshford Arms I dried my socks and boots near the fire, while I took the cloth I had bought and tore it into little strips, three layers each, before soaking them in the spirits. Then I wrapped them up in pieces of canvas, sealing that shut with parafine, making it nearly water-proof. The alcohol in the bandages wouldn’t evaporate for a few weeks, so they would be useful, ready-made, bandages for our next mission.
I asked some Dwarves about the road to Anathar’s Dell, expanding on the map that Captain Durmark gave us before we left for the Flaming Tower. Tethyamar trail to Tilverton. Halfway (approx. one day) Black Switch. Then Green Orb. Approx. half day later Serpent’s Bridge. Two hours SW is Upper Nettle. Road Sign: Anathar’s Dell (silver-mining community.)
A few hours later I went back to the now empty market to pick up my armour. The repairs made to it were excellently done. I didn’t tip the man, because he already got enough of my money, but I’ll certainly come back for more.
While I was discussing the map of Daggerdale with Thorim, which I had assembled over time, I found that in the western part of Daggerdale, there’s a castle called Bloodstone. Naturally, I was curious, coming from what is commonly referred to as the Bloodstone Lands. Apparently, this dale was for the first forty years ruled from Bloodstone by fifteen vampire lords. He explained what a vampire was. Undead.
