Written by: Kelly “Charis” Perfetto
Raynor of Ashenmark started many of his announcements this past weekend with a greeting that I greatly enjoyed and would like to replicate.
Hello good people of the Realms and anyone else who happens to be here! I spent all of this past weekend in Ashenmark, trying to learn about becoming an adventurer, and I have been asked to document my experiences.
The atmosphere Friday night was largely one of conviviality and recreation. I met many new people, including a small group called ‘Misery’ who say they are newly formed around these parts. The baby with the group was running around waving some sort of ‘soul reaper’ blade at peoples’ ankles. As some people dodged the hazards, others played a variety of gambling games. Most notable to an outside viewer were the dinosaur races, which came accompanied by choruses of cheers and groans of defeats as the raptors vied to place. Eventually a fire was lit outside. When I went to investigate, I and others met Amanita, the new small god of mushrooms and decay. It was certainly an unexpected experience, and we all partook in eating food-grade mushrooms in their honor.
Two more things from that evening stood out to me. One was the Brie and cranberry tarts. What wonderful little creations. I believe we have Umbra of Ashenmark to thank for those. The second thing of note is that adventurers seem very eager to turn their blades on each other, everyone from close friends to strangers they have just met. It is certainly a practice that I hope not to have to become accustomed to.
Saturday brought many friendly competitions during the day. I admit in between learning about others’ cultures, navigating the labyrinth with new friends, and sitting in on impromptu lectures I was not able to observe many of the tournaments. It seems that the fights were fair and entertaining, and those who participated received vouchers for the impending auctions. Meanwhile, teams of six worked to complete the labyrinth. I had heard that adventurers have a strong competitive spirit, and so when I heard that all of the teams were collaborating outside of the maze to share information I was quite impressed. I was on team Cerulean Company and Friends, ledleadled in all but name by Griffin. With his guidance from studying what others before us had done and one previous trial as a group, we were the first to complete the labyrinth.
As the sun began to set, we were called indoors for food and the auctions. There were many wonderful dishes and tea time available before and during the two auctions, only one of which was turned into a vocal bidding war. Court, though, was truly what turned into the spectacle of the night, ranked just higher than a tense rescue of some of the Chimeron Militia members.
The high table received gifts from many of the cities and provinces of the nation. As that was settling, Sir Killian dragged in a prisoner, the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Wolf Swiftarrow. This ‘Wolf’ was clearly unstable and up for a fight, wrestling with Killian even while bound, and at least once lunging for my belongings. The prisoner was accused of a series of horrible crimes, and now that he was finally caught, Highlord Temorse ruled that he was to be executed at dawn.
Many people seemed to think that something was amiss. Under the guidance of Sir Laika and Dame Phee, I cast a vision and asked for help to find out what would happen with this prisoner. Squire Margaret confirmed that the Wolf had indeed committed these crimes, and for heinous reasons at that. When I looked to the next dawn, I had a vision of an axe falling, a chorus of agonized howls, and an overwhelming feeling that what was dead would remain dead and the whole city would feel the consequences. Squire Margaret also looked toward the future and saw that an unknown potion maker would be very helpful to us. We tried to find Highlord Temorse that night to warn him, but he had disappeared.
Dawn broke on Sunday. At least four hours later the adventurers began gathering in earnest. I am told this is common.
We were told the execution was supposed to have happened, but Ashenmark did not not have the resources to spend to confirm. The city of Goldenhall where we had been guests for the last few days was suddenly overrun with enraged wildlife, and the sworn members were out and about trying to remedy the situation. Onyx did a quick divination and confirmed that the prisoner still lived. With both problems at large, the adventuring party set off. First we encountered the blacksmith Yon, who needed help recovering their apprentice and raw silver. The group fought their way through awakened trees, popping disgusting sap sacs, and eventually recovered the apprentice and enough silver for some axes. Making our way closer to the prison we came across Melf the alchemist, whose shop had been overrun by hounds. These same hounds had been previously released from the kennels, had killed their master, and had rampaged throughout town. Now they were trapped in the back room of the potion shop, eating strange and powerful ingredients.
As the party was dealing with the dogs, Magus Kwido offered that I and others could investigate the nearby prison. Here we found a dead stone golem and a dead man, covered in an apparent calling card - flowers just like ones from the tree we had seen gifted to Highlord Temorse by Master Emmerik of Elimlemirre Isle the night prior. After a quick investigation, I revived Wayne the prison guard who gave us some information and went on his way. We met with the rest of the group at a strangely empty tavern.
Our rest did not last long, as just outside Ser Vesper and others had found a visceral trail of blood, still fresh. At the other end was Elsie, one of the tavern keepers, who had been viciously mauled by wild animals. After further recovery, and with some reminding from Magus Kwido, we recalled that Temorse had intended to plant the strange tree gift in Gaia’s grove. We set off.
The tree had grown to enormous proportions over night, and more awakened trees guarded the grove. Expedient seer magic revealed that Gaia did not wish the tree to remain, and so the group began chopping at the trunk with silver axes. With each strike, null magic rippled out from the tree like the peals of a horrible bell. On the final strike, the magic was gone completely, the corrupting tree fell, and the guardians of the grove retreated.
There were still problems about town as the sworn members of Ashenmark urged us to evacuate the city. Yon’s legs had been crushed, the beekeeper was dying of enraged bee stings, and Melf was dipping in to his emergency potions which still worked under the null magic effect. Still, it seems we were able to bring all the townsfolk we had encountered with us, relieving them of some of their ailments as well. We found resistance from yet more awakened trees and animals along the way, and it was a tense fight seeing as even the most basic spells would not work. Eventually we made it outside of the city and back to an area where magic worked.
It seems as though there is a small conspiracy brewing against the lords of Ashenmark, spurred on by this Emmerik of Elemirre Isle and Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. For now the null magic remains in place. With a soon-to-be-booming alchemy business and such warm hospitality and delicious food, I would still gladly return to Ashenmark and hope to one day work to help resolve resolve their magic problem.