Tag: Candlekeep

New Friends!!!

On By ravonlockeIn Jeni, Journal, QuillLeave a comment

Hi! Jeni here! Scout report number…. Oh, I don’t know, it’s all just so exciting!

I met some new friends today! They just appeared out of the air with a genie in tow! Well, I think the genie was towing them, if I’m honest, but… a Genie!!! An actual Genie!

And they were so strange for Outsiders! A frog, a cat, a mouse, an elephant, and a green man. They looked more like fae than the usual Outsiders. But they really had never been here, and they had no idea where to go! I just HAD to Help them!

The green man had the sweetest, buttery candies! He said they wanted to go to the Winter Court, looking for somebody called Fistandia? I don’t know, something like that. The cat told me her name, and so did the frog! Oh no! They really do have no idea!

I tried to show the, but the frog got Really upset and jumped at me. I apologized and he let me go, but not before Winter responded. Oh dear! It was Doon, of all fae, of course it was. He’s so scary! I told him it was fine, but he threatened the frog. I think he liked it! Oh dear!

I really had to explain about the rules then, but I’ve never really tried to do that before, and I started with gifts, but it didn’t go very well. The mouse gave me a couple coins that smelled like the Ocean, he said. What’s an Ocean? It smells like salt and fish! When I tried to get them to trade for the other rules, it didn’t go very well.

Then Wind Dancer showed up, and she knew how to talk to them better about our realm and gifts and things. She asked them all what to call them, and they weren’t very creative. They decided on Jeni Two, Jeni Three, N, The Elephant Man, and Fuc. I don’t think the frog meant it to come out that way, but he giggled to hear her say it, so he left it alone. Then he promised peace to the Autumn Court in exchange for more information on the rules.

There’s a lot of talking about rules and fairy dust and elemental life, but finally Wind Dancer is satisfied and joins us on our way to court. She tells them they have to convince Three Nobles to support their bid to see the Queen. I am dreading them trying to trade with nobles, and it looks like they are, too. N is already very angry about everything.

It’s so pretty at Court! All the beautiful Autumn Colors! And all the tasty treats and shiny baubles. And Ooooh the Dresses! If only it wasn’t for the rules, I’d stay at court forever! But the game is heavy here, and I cannot stay for long. Help my friends and then their genie can take them home again. Then freedom in the trees once more!

Wind Dancer spots Treyvon first. Wind Dancer introduces them, and we try to help them be careful with their offerings as they try to offer things they’ve made of metal again. Eventually, N offers a set of childhood memories, Fuc offers to enact violence elsewhere for him, the mouse Jeni offers a lavender pillow to keep away bad dreams. Treyvon seems a bemused by some of them, but accepts N’s offer, and goes on his way. N’s in a really bad mood again, I hope he can stay calm.

Then Wind Dancer spots the Mouseguard nobles! They’re so cute and furry! I introduce the Jeni’s and Fuc to Acorn Icetwist. Mouse Jeni enjoys looking at all their contraptions and talking about mouse life and the mouse folk here. It’s a lot different on the Outside. After some talk, he trades two months of Big Boy, his metal mount, for their support with the Queen.

I don’t know how, but Wind Dancer manages to catch sight of Joy Quickcliff and call her over. Everyone talks too slowly, and I have to give her one of N’s sweeties to stay and listen. She rejects their offers over and over, until finally getting cat Jeni to offer her Tarot. Not just a reading, but her ability and her deck, for Joy’s support with the Queen. Oh boy, I hope this quest is worth it, they’ve given up So Much today!

The deals made, the first step complete. We can all feel it settle on us. Wind Dancer then takes us right to the Court to see the Queen!!! She is so Beautiful and Elegant and Wonderful!!! Her Knights are super scary, though! I hope I did a good job this time!

Changing Allegiances

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, QuillLeave a comment

That meeting was confusing. Spy Master was very angry. Made me angry, too. I have to talk to Red. Careful talk, secret. Can’t tell the others. Oh feathers, what have I done? He’ll protect me, he helped me. Not just my fault. Red thinks I’m useful. It’ll be okay.

…

I was right. Offered me a place. Have to think. Don’t jump. Don’t look too eager. Stay in the restaurant. Look after the boys. They fit right in. Pretend to think about it. Oh, Catbard will be so disappointed. Don’t tell her. Don’t make her sad.

…

Faewild? They’re all going to the Faewild? Fistandia might be there. I don’t want to find her. She’ll take her kitties back. Red says stay. Yes, stay. Don’t help them lose the mansion. Keep the kitties if they don’t find her. Soft kitties. Oh, She needs money for a key. Of course I’ll pay. Faewild sounds fun, and She’ll write the best songs about it.

…

Looking forward to Skullport. Orange had such a good adventure there with his big fight. Wonder what we’ll steal while they’re gone.

Candlekeep

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, QuillLeave a comment

Spymaster!!!!

We went to Candlekeep!!! He kept his promise and we went to the LIBRARY!!! They wouldn’t let us go in to see all the books, but then we did and it was so cool! And people go missing inside their own houses and we can read any book we ask for and they made copies of books for us, too!!! Spymaster it was so cool!!! And now we have a mage’s own house for ourselves, to take with us wherever we want, until we find her. She’s not really there, she’s left the plane, I guess. Red wants to use it for robbing places, but I just want to go inside and read all the books! And play with all the kitties! I need to learn how to make proper books and then I can just copy all her books. She has so many books and we can read them all!!! It’s like we brought Candlekeep home with us!!! Or at least part of it!

Right… proper report. Sorry.

We met the Gate Warden Callum Strongbranch, and he said our books were good enough – I gave him a book on stray cats of Waterdeep from Abena over at the Homeward Bookshop. She writes down all the cats she helps. So many cats, so I made a copy of it to take with me. They’ve never seen anything like that before.

He sent us to the House of Rest. Even their Inn is magical. It’s way bigger inside than the building is. A really friendly librarian, Sprig Summerfoot came then and asked us all what we wanted to read so he could gather all the books for us. Everybody but Red had come, but not everybody had an idea what they wanted. Some of us just wanted to see the Library, but Sprig said we weren’t allowed. So, we picked a bunch of random topics to read about and ate, drank, and went to the spa while we waited.

They wouldn’t let me take my… calligraphy kit into the reading rooms, have to pay for copies of the books, they said, not allowed to make my own. I read about Kenku myths and took notes on that weird Luskan tech for Mary Mouse. He really wants to make some of that stuff himself. But really, we came here to figure out why there are worms in Nevi’s bag of holding.

Sprig says that the book Mary Mouse needs was borrowed by a guy named Matrius, and written by a lady named Fistandia. Both of them have disappeared. Fistandia a while ago, but Matrius just a couple days gone. He says maybe we can help find him, and then we can look at the book. We agree, so after we get done reading, we go to bed to rest before going inside.

A new guy, Parmack meets us the next morning, and he lets us go inside the Library. We can’t look around too much, but it is Amazing!!! So many books, and it’s so big and pretty and… Oh. Sorry. Matrius had gone to Fistandia’s lab to try and find her, so Parmack took us there. She had lots of books and scrolls and all sorts of things in her room. Including the book Mary Mouse wanted – The Joy of Extra-Dimensional Space. It has some other guy on the cover though, Nevi says it’s Mordenkainen, or something like that. I start looking at the books, but Nevi gets real focused on Matrius’ notes and then looks up and says Scepter and a door appeared in the middle of the room.

I wrote a quick note to Parmack and slipped it under the door to him before we all went through the magic door. We found Matrius right inside, and he seems really happy to see us. He couldn’t figure out how to get back out. He has a little statue he wants to check out and invites us to look around for Fistandia. He runs out the door and we heard him scream as the door slammed shut behind him.

The tower we’re in is really cool, but some of the boys want to go outside and play in weird purple mist. That seems like a bad idea, and it is, but Nevi gets really stuck on it for a while. Then we start looking around and we find so many books and kitties! They’re really nice kitties. Well, most of them are, anyway, and… oh… Some of the books aren’t so nice either and attack us. But they figure out that she hid the keyword to get out on the spines of seven books, and this place was a gift from her goddess Mystra. There are two odd little men in the kitchen and Nevi said they should be able to talk, but they can, and they were really nice. They said the faerie dragons in the garden aren’t very nice, so we avoided them. But we found lots of cool books and tools and even a room full of monsters in jars. Orange decided to keep the biggest one to display at the Cabaret, but Nevi said we shouldn’t take too much since a goddess made this place. They still took some alchemy stuff, though.

We also had to fight a chair, and a toad demon, and a bookcase, and some hands. That was really strange, but the Big Guy said they might have animated because of all the magic. Some swords attacked us, too. It’s a strange place, this magic tower, but not too dangerous. There was a really cool room with all the stars in the sky, plus five extra stars that opened an extra door to chained books. They attacked us, too. Orange wanted to break the whole bookcase, but I wouldn’t let him. They looked like important books.

But we found the word to get out, Liberty, and went back outside. Matrius got killed while we were gone. Apparently that statue was a little demon. Silly mage, the imp was pretty squishy. Mary Mouse, Nevi, and Orange got held back as we all left the magic house. By Mystra? She told them we could borrow the house until we find Fistandia and that she’s on a different plane. The librarians were happy we figured things out, even if Matrius got dead, and offered us each any two books we wanted, too. I’m going to copy books from the magic tower, too. She has lots of good books.

Anyway, I’m home again if you need anything.

~QS