August 26th

 

The Gatekeeper Rises from the Underworld

From Zog the Fishmonger:

This was from Humlity's site (humility.chessienet.com)

Ar! S'been too long since I've returned to the sea to meditate and find me lost serenity!. Ah, the oceans - I'd git back to 'em, I would, if that rat fink Sledge dinnae loot me gold and gems with usin' games o' chance over in the village!. Blackthorne's runions be damned!. I hae never beheld such luck at dice as that swaggerin' Hemp Clanner buck!.

E's been havin' me kill vermin that are infesting the village ever since - holdin' me own boat drydocked!. Tellin' me ta work off what I couldnae pay fer me over-waggerin'. Aye, the old sodded Zog brought low agin 'cause o' rum and dice!. Loosin' me good ship 'Rapine' to a sprout!

That's what brings me to ye. Seems there is a rift somewhere, leadin' deep down into the earth - a festerin' pit with a stench so fearsome rats and the like wanna nest in it. Right in the very center of the village!.

So there I be, just mindin' me own jug and doin' me work when I begins ta hear this wailin' and moanin' coming outta the rift!.

By the great god of storms! T'was none other than that Gatekeeper spirit agin!. As if this wasn't enough - next thing I'm knowin', me rum bottle shatters into fragments as a portal opens practically on top o' me skull!. Out runs the spirit of that fella Mayor Winfield, followed by a huge Red Dragon named Nyx, and then the beasts slave, Stormchaser. Ar, I ken what yer thinkin - ye all beleive that tamers train dragons. I'm tellin' ye, though, dragons just let tamers think that so they can get gated around to lots of cheap meals!. Har! if they only knew...

So just when I am about to go outta me mind, along comes JEG, and now I am knowin' I got hell ta pay. Not only are rats creepin' outta the rift, but there's a dead Mayor wailing, a red dragon roaring, and the corpses of some poor lad named Tempest litter the village!. Ar! - me achin' skull!.

Soon'ze they bring the Mayor back among the living, he relays a tale of murder most foul. Kilt by someone named Cat's Eye, 'e was, even as he welcomed a visitor to the fair town of Paxlair. But it was worse! Old Winfield mightin' a stood a chance with the murderous Cat if'n he fought Cat alone, but that old evil Eye, ar! - was healed by some knavish idiots who kept him livin' whenever the Mayor brought him close to death!.

Evidently, the Gatekeeper, alerted by the trauma to Winfield, arose from the underworld to behold the battle, only to see victory snatched again and again from Winfield's hands by those discourteous nobles that seem to be everywhere in Felucca. And so, with a terrible death groan, Winfield perished as Cat slew him... all the while celebrating the aid he had from people whose reputation indicates they should know better, damn their eyes!.

Stormchaser, JEG, Tempest, and Balsam Jr. returned Winfield to Paxlair. Harried by his wounds, Winfield sought rest as the Gatekeeper led those gathered to a site of corruption - a marble structure whose doorsign read "Oberon Pass" and belonged to one "Pyrites". The house had strange flowers on the porch from 'evil calandryll', and 'dissident' and 'from gold of fools'.

Evidently, Cat assaulted Winfield and Paxlair from this structure. Why would normally freindly Oberon Pass attack Paxlair?. Why would those of reputable notoriety go unpunished for aiding murder? Ar!. Me achin' skull!.

Suddenly, the Gatekeeper possessed me! A message was conveyed as the Gatekeeper wailed...

'The land is not safe. The land has many problems, of which politics is ranked. A quest caused by the actions of others must not be overlooked. This land is not ordered, not like the underworld. The house you have been shown is a source of Barbarianism, of the depravity and inconsistency of the decaying lands called Felucca. Let the Mayors tale inspire all citizens of the realm to investigate this source of corruption, to seek knowledge regarding the resolution of such terrible inconsistenicies'

And with that thought in me head, the next thing I'm knowin' is that Stormchaser is lookin' down at me as I lay at rest on the swaying deck of the Rapine, just offshore of the village.

'yer debt is paid, seek ye rest on the seas you so love'

Aye. I shall do just that.

 

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