The Chapters and Cast of the Ballad
Many meetings came in brief time
Between the locksmith of 271;
And the others on the issue to chime;
Of the technicians changes mostly done.
Talk of Aengus' mysterious past;
Marle's devilish transformation;
How Elivia's parents held her aghast;
And Talindra's recent reincarnation.
Only Fennle kept to her own devices;
And heard not of Lohn's tragedy;
Of loved ones lost to fire's license;
While she considered her own anomaly.
Upon the rise of the new day;
The heroes of the eclectic crew;
Set about with no more delay;
Errands of which they had a few.
Marle took him reading the tomes;
Learning of grey dwarven history;
Of ancient bonds in illithid homes;
And of their acquisition of cruelty.
Talindra and Lohn directed their feet;
To shop at Chansyrl Fine Harness;
Where Phaendra sported fine learther;
Set with tools the locksmith to impress.
Elivia checked in with her contact;
And bridled at the Lords' dawdling;
The Alliance dismissive of the pact;
Binding the cults in the hills crawling.
Angus disappeared on tasks unknown;
While Fennle attended to her daily training;
The paladin moved to where dresses were sewn.
To speak to Haeleeya of Enclave's leaning.
Then suddenly the sky darkened above;
And the wind howled of rage unleashed;
People the storm did push and shove;
Roaring with the sound of some beast.
Talindra pushed out into the road;
Battered by wind-thrown stones;
Away from where the wind flowed;
She guided many to spare their bones.
Marle recalled her Kansas roots;
And rushed down to the inn's floor;
Called for all to direct their boots;
To the cellars and escape the storm's core.
Elivia eyed the unnatural wind;
And felt it not the work of a spell;
But rather a chaos unpinned;
An item or weapon most fell.
The priestess of Mystra bent her divine might;
Brilliant wings unfurling and casting light;
As she bent her power the weave to right;
And soothe the town's windy plight.
The center of town was spared windy groans;
Giving all time to rush and pass word;
To seek the Tomb of Moving Stones;
Marle and Lohn then spied a great bird.
The Feathergale Knights swept in from all sides;
Swooping in toward the butcher's jail;
Fennle waited for the enemy tides;
And Marle with yarting urged all to not fail.
A pair of hippogriffs made their appearance;
As Elivia released secret words of arcane fire;
gained with the Whispering Crown's assistance;
The inferno wrapped the enemy in an aerial pyre.
One hippogriff and a vulture dropped as crisped bones;
As their riders drifted slowly to the ground;
While another vulture squawked from arrows of Lohn's;
Now within its side a home new found.
Talindra sent Emris to seek her sword and shield;
And tracked the second hippogriff as it appeared;
A vulture then passed low over the monk in the field;
From whom a hail of sharp darts was released.
A vulture from the battle quickly fled;
As Marle continued to sing her song;
Due to the locksmith another bird bled;
And Elivia's power glowed quite strong.
The clouds twisting above cleared briefly;
As the paladin called down a fire of the moon;
Bracketing the hippogriff and rider brightly;
And slaying the beast before it could croon.
Fennle lashed out with her darts vicious;
Felling one touched by rogue's barbed shaft;
As well as one a beacon of Mystra's witness;
And a third vulture barely managed to last.
Elivia unleashed a barrage of magical fury;
Upon one of the falling knights of the air;
And Fennle gave one a greeting rather scary;
Yet another gained an arrow from Lohn's fare.
The Feathergale Knights railed and decried;
Calling them traitors of Waterdeep's throne;
And claiming to act in loyal Waterdhavian pride;
As some fled into the windy storm.
Talindra and Fennle took great offense;
As did the Waterdhavian Priestess;
And set about capturing those showing less sense;
And the tiefling shed her disguise to make one harmless.
Only one of the drifting knights managed to land a blow;
Slicing at Fennle with naked sword;
The others were swiftly brought low;
Despite many a boast of their powerful lord.
The priestess's chant began to fray;
After a quarter of an hour had passed;
The tiefling bard took to the air without delay;
And plied her music to the task.
A song of needing heroes swung through the sky;
Bolstering the soothed weave just a little bit more;
The tiefling's performance was a legendary high;
And ended with an inspiration for the cleric's score.
Elivia emboldened by bardic power and song;
Plied her aasimar might and divine authority;
Against the wind with a sound like a gong;
Clearing the storm and revealing the cult's barbarity.
The town beyond Elivia's shield was much torn;
Farmlands uprooted and buildings shorn;
Only the heroes' action spared the main town this morn;
And prospects of winter seemed much forlorn.
Elivia was quick to cast a sending toward her temple;
Requesting aid and repeating the word of the foe;
She quickly received answer that was most simple;
Now that the danger did easily show.
Interrogating the cultists revealed a chilling thought;
That the cults had spies within the town;
Watching their actions and telling what they wrought;
And giving the cult leaders cause to frown.
Meanwhile to Marle's incredible surprise;
The townsfolk did not rise against her dropped disguise;
Hesitation and uncertainty met her devilish guise;
But quickly they realized her heroic reprise.
Quickly did they set about to head south;
Marle's song of rest keeping their horses fresh;
Cultists with bonds on hand and gags in mouth;
Savra amongst their number as on they pressed.
The morning of the next day they had a surprise;
A squad of devotees of the Crushing Wave;
Fleeing where something dark and dangerous lies;
They then encountered Elivia's Dragon Slave.
The fireball cleared the battle of most of the band;
And softened up the others for the heroes account;
A cultist became a snake of water and fled the land;
But could not escape the paladin and her mount.
From there the path to Waterdeep was mostly clear;
Though they saw scouts flying three hundred feet high;
Quickly these toward the north did steer;
To inform their masters of what their eyes did spy.
A squad of Waterdhavian soldiers entered their adventures;
With a cleric of Chauntea dispatched by Elvia's call;
These they spoke to and passed onward to the City of Splendors;
To receive training and gear in order to face the coming brawl.
The Chapters and Cast of the Ballad
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