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TRAVELOGUE

Deitricha’s Journal

Packed and ready, we set out down the Black Road of the Zhents. We knew there were plains, mountains, and more plains to cover before we reached the Anauroch Desert, and began to settle down for a long journey. I thought it best to ride with Ebin and Tyan, at least at first, so Theona and Areon could have some time alone together.

Of course, we weren’t half a mile along the road when Areon and Theona’s wagon stopped ahead of us. We peered around the side and saw - a small cart and donkey in the ditch. Their owner was an elderly man, almost blind, who was muttering about being pushed off the road by the caravan ahead of us. Theona seemed to think this was typical Zhent behavior.

Of course, we all pitched in to help, with the usual results - the donkey and cart eventually made it back onto the road, while the rest of us ended up covered with mud and looking like we’d done battle with half the Zhent caravan. The old man was thankful, at least, and offered to sell us anything he had for a good price. Theona bought fishooks and twine, while Ebin was pleased to get some holy water. We put him in the right direction and told him he was almost to town, then moved on.

That evening as we made camp, Theona and Ebin had a surprise waiting for them! Their small purchases had turned into items of much greater value: twine into troll-gut rope, fishooks into glowing crossbolts, holy water into eight vials of cure serious wounds which Ebin was happy to share out to us all. I thought things like that were travelers’ tales! I wonder who that old man really is? Pleasantly surprised, we settled down to a quiet night.

The second day was quiet, too. We reached the foothills of the mountains and began our trek toward the pass. That evening, I asked Theona about how meeting Areon’s parents went. She said she’d been too stressed and sober(!) to pay much attention. How odd. The next day was quiet, except for the sight of a large red dragon sillouhetted against the distant mountaintops. We camped that night along the trail, finding signs of the bigger caravan. We seem to be using well-established stops, but no one seems too worried about being predictable. The fifth night, Areon heard stones sliding and caught sight of small humanoids riding wolves and fanning out to attack us...

I woke up to Areon shooting and shouting, and a wolf chewing on me! Goblins rode other wolves, and the scene quickly became one of confusion. I remember stabbing at the wolf with my dagger, seeing Tyan being attacked in his bedroll as well, and Theona shooting her crossbow from under her tent flap. As we killed the various wolves and goblins, it became clear that the wolf attacking Ebin was a hybrid of something else. A lot of our attacks passed right through it! And then, Ebin suddenly stopped fighting and told the rest of us that the thing needed to be protected, not destroyed!

Next thing I knew, we were attacking the creature, and Ebin was shouting and trying to attack us. Theona pulled out her wand of enfeeblement and began using it on Ebin while he tried to charge her. By the time we hit the thing enough to make it leave - we didn’t kill it, it just disappeared - Ebin was lying on the ground with Theona holding a sword over his throat, still trying to attack her. Tyan had to cast some spell that made him drool and flop about helplessly before we could relax! I’m ashamed to say that we simply tied him to a wagon wheel and went back to bed rather than wait for the spells to wear off. Next day, we passed over the crest of the mountain range and descended toward the plains.

Posted by Kate on September 8, 2005, 19:16 | Deitricha’s Journal