The Chapters and Cast of the Ballad
Arriving in Waterdeep with prisoners in tow;
Each of the band sets about to their own task;
Rewards to each their factions did bestow;
Granting each training in anything they ask.
Elivia set herself to learn the ways of armor;
To carry it, wear it, and still call on Mystra;
Along with skills to bear arms as a war caster;
Then she set herself spells to scribe and draw.
Talindra settled at an inn outside the walls;
Working with the warriors of the Enclave;
To master her use of shield to prevent falls;
The better her comrades in battle to save.
Fennle took herself to the fortress of the Gauntlet;
And spent day and night in focused sparring;
Learning to stop the action of the swiftest hornet;
A sentinel on the field of battle action barring.
Marle joined with the harpers to slip out of town;
To find a master in another place;
To teach the art of seeming not a clown;
While holding two blades to a foe's face.
A hole in the ground, with no trace to find;
Lohn took to the Zhentarim to learn the secret;
Of how to travel unseen and leave others blind;
A stealthy operator from whom arrows frequent.
The rogue Angus slipped into the crowds;
And a new face slipped into his place;
Rumors throughout the town made loud;
Of one who sought an even older face.
In the course of their individuals business;
About the sixth day since coming to Waterdeep;
A thing occurred that brought no little stress;
As several of the band noticed those who creep.
Elivia had a brief encounter in a high-class inn;
With a man who had no understanding of nobility;
Dressed in fine clothes of passe fashion;
He seemed an adventurer new found to gold's vanity.
Talindra noticed herself being followed;
But when she tried to lure him alone;
The man caught realized he was being allowed;
And stepped off before her blade could hone.
The rogue of new name and fresh face;
Caught sight of his own second shadow;
And led the fool into a drunken place;
Where fights only required a mug to throw.
Fennle grew bored of the militant life;
And traipsed to an inn of gladitorial flavor;
There she saw someone with suspicion rife;
Into the arena she jumped battle to savor.
Another fool sought Lohn unsuccessfully;
Lingering too long in the Black Network's home;
They were slain by the Zhents quite easily;
And Lohn was directed toward the city to comb.
As Fennle's enemy was pushed into the arena;
He drew his sword to the crowd's distaste;
And set himself against the gladitorial diva;
His blade with covered in a vile paste.
Lohn watched from shadows as someone arrived;
To talk of being caught out by the elk-riding knight;
Immediately from the duergar's string arrow released;
Coming from invisible hand into his back to strike.
Nicked by the assassin's venomed blade;
Fennle felt a hefty burn through her veins;
Then the Celebrant Robes provided aid;
Transmuting poison to end pains.
Back at the hideout the assassins fled within;
As the duergar worked to the arsonist's art;
Starting fires here and fires there again;
Leading the assassins to fall apart.
An exchange of swift action and defense;
Between assassin and Sun Soul monk;
Rosued the crowd to a passion most tense;
Before Fennle's patience thinned with the punk.
Another assassin, bruised and covered in ale;
Appeared near the hideout to see the smoke rise;
In time for his life to most immediately fail;
Once Lohn's arrow to his heart flies.
A most curious sound of ripping air within;
And the assassin hideout was quickly silent;
Only the crackle of flames heard in the den;
Those within having left through magic's vent.
Fennle took her prisoner back to the Order;
And sought out Elivia to speak of her Robe;
Lohn sought the inn where Talindra was boarder:
And shared information on the recent probe.
Angus was performing his own investigations;
When calls went out from Elivia in Mystra's temple;
To check in with each of the band's stations;
To meet at the hideout seemed the plan most simple.
The fires were out and the building was watched;
A pair of Waterdeep Guards waiting outside;
By Elivia's life and position top-nothced;
They were granted entry to see what within lied.
Talindra's tracker's eye easily found signs;
Eight people had lived inside the place;
And their leader had recently seemed to change minds;
With a newfound love of luxuriant grace.
Fennle presented their friendly assassin a sample vial;
And Angus confirmed the Gauntlet's finding;
An extract of vipers and nothing more vile;
Though the monk thought there was something more binding.
Elivia's spells and knowledge arcane;
Confirmed the use of conjuration's art;
And she sensed the evidence of the profane;
Brimstone of the Nine Hells lingered like a fart.
As the others made their investigation inside;
Lohn caught sight of another straggler;
The poor-fashioned fop whom Elivia once spied;
Who turned and left on seeing the Guards swagger.
Within the monk helped searching about;
And found a half-written note the ink still wet;
Regarding a potential alliance with elmental lout;
By the one who worked at the head of this threat.
The duergar followed him as a quiet presence;
Unseen and unheard by the assassin nervous;
The locksmith continued in hidden attendance;
Until the mark stopped to wait at an empty warehouse.
Considering the evidence of a planar shift;
And the ranger's conclusions of a change in mood;
With the new acquisition of many a fancy gift;
Elivia concluded the mind behind this killer brood.
As she gave her concerned diagnosis in the hideout;
Lohn across town saw a rip in the space reveal a hand;
Snatch the last assassin's head and left the body to spout;
An arrow slipped into where the monster did stand.
The fiend looked about for Lohn but could not see the dwarf;
And chuckled in amusement as he shook out his bloody claw;
A promise was made that he would be returning to the turf;
Then he turned back to Hell and thus left the rakshasha.
No comments:
Post a Comment