***The intricately covered
ice blue journal contains a single
blue crystal on the centre, with the simple gold lettering below it
'Lazulin' ***
Page 6
The wise warrior is familiar with that which he fights for. As such, I decided to visit a local traveling cirque, Phaelon's Festival of Wonders. They had arrived from Travar and it was their last night.
I went to take in the final performance of the Trials of Erilis Splinterhorn. While it lasted, it was a rather inspiring tale of an elementalist who sacrificed themselves to light the fireshield of Travar. Unfortunately it did not finish, the performance was interrupted part way through, the actors began to fall ill. This caused chaos within the tent, as there were hundreds of people, many of whom had been on flying carpets above the crowd to be a greater part to the illusory story. I, and a number of other adepts who had attended the show, quickly jumped into action as the crowd began to panic. I cut open an exit in the tent and drew the attention of panicked theatre goers with the Point of Triumph.
The other adepts were Bloodbeat the Nethermancer, Nib the Wizard, Malonin Tyrnith the Archer, and Jarock Hammer-Shield a Weaponsmith and father of an adept I've travelled with before. The actors had been poisoned while the box office was robbed of the weeks earnings. The 'champion', Onyx, was beaten and bloodied when he intervened.
We spent the next day and a half tracking them west, finally cornering them in the Servos Jungle. The thieves were either smart or lazy, I suspect more lazy. The only stretch of land that lead to the hole they hid within was naturally guarded by large predatory spiders. Mal spied them before they could surprise us, so we turned the tables. Jarock felt we should knock themThe Point of Triumph burst with golden light as we worked together to drivethe beasts off. Keeping an eye upon Jarock, I better understand how Vralino struggles so in combat. He spent most of the time trying to fake out the spiders by ducking and weaving, throwing off his balance to swing the warhammer. Finally as the spiders turned to flee, he connected with a wild flail though.
We stalked into the hideout, and Jarock pushed to the front. In response to the warning of the tripwire, he promptly set it off. For us, the element of surprise was lost. However, Jarock was not prepared for the enemy at the end of the tunnel. Arrows buried themselves in the middle aged ork, and battle was joined. I moved into the middle of the chamber with the Point of Triumph a glow to shed light upon our situation. It buried into the bandit in front of me and I turned to face his comrades. On the right side of the cave was an ork with a bow who was apparently the leader. Mal and the casters provided supporting fire from the cave while I moved to take some pressure off Jarock, the mages finishing the job. We finally subdued the leader and the remaining bandits surrendered.
While I accounted for the missing revenue, there was an overly sadistic interrogation of the two bandits. We bound them all and returned to Throal, returning the earnings to the cirque and turning these members of the Donaut Clan over to the authorities. We did not find the mastermind going by the name of Stryker, but hopefully his lesson has been learned, less our paths cross in the future.
It was a party of convenience, but the battle is not always joined when you are ready. So your weapons are what you can make do with. Malonin is a weapon of war, his arrows rarely missed their mark and struck true when they hit. Nib provided support for the rest of the party, allowing us to keep up with our quarry and be more resilient in battle, helping with spells against our foes where he could. Bloodbeat as well helped us make the battlefield our own, fearing and tearing away at their spirits. Jarock's daughter was obviously taught her offensive capabilities from her father, which makes me understand why she is better on defense. Jarock has the dreams of a fighter, but the heart of a storyteller. He fights as the hero's of a troubadours greatly flourished tales, not like the blade that a warrior must be. We shall test his skills at the forge and measure him against his daughter's travelling companion.
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