The Quest for the Silver Star
Dramatis Personae:
Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard of Valor and Bae'qeshel of Lolth, the Silver Tongued Siren
Eurydice, Aurora's faerie dragon familiar
Gabrielle
The Interpretive Dancer
After months of spending every spare moment I had scouring the library, looking for something that would help me undo whatever Pharin had done to my people, I finally found the reference to something called the Silver Star. It seemed to be a combination of a Fates card and a Wish, and it could undo anything. I had to find it.
I tried using Legend Lore on the Silver Star, and found it was last used to reinforce the southeast wall of a city. After another week or so of research I found three different locations it could possibly mean, and only one would have actually had a southeast wall. It was in the Sea of Dust along the Hellfurnaces mountains, and was so ancient that its name had been lost. I couldn't find Gabrielle anywhere, so I decided to go hire myself some muscle- Dervish's mercenaries in the Dry Steppes should do nicely.
I teleported over there, and with some persuasion I hired fifteen of them. I had to do this in two teleports, since I couldn't take sixteen people in a single go. The first teleport didn't go so well, and the seven who were with me were scattered away. I popped back over to the oasis, not telling the other eight about their lost buddies, and teleported again... We found ourselves surrounded by thri-kreen- oops? I bamfed us back to the oasis, but not before the thri-kreen killed four of them. I felt a little bad, so I gave them a bunch of money and left.
My story to the other bards was much more valiant, in which I didn't lose anyone and they slaughtered a bunch of thri-kreen before I got us out of there. My bards totally bought it- except Gabby and the Dancer. The Dancer was interesting to me, she never spoke, and she looked like a Vale Elf, but said she wasn't one. All of her communication was through interpretive dance. I was fascinated with her.
I went back to my books after sharing my tale, before Gabby and the Dancer found me. The three of us teleported right to the city gates- Gabrielle's teleport was better than mine, but she is THE bard. I marched up to the gates and pulled on them, opening these ancient doors with a marvelous feat of strength. Gabrielle and the Dancer had to help Aurora open the gates, she wasn't strong enough to do it on her own.
The city was covered in sand, and devoid of all life- which we expected. It was eerie how calm everything was in here. Since the place was huge, the three of us split up- but not before Gabby cast something to give us telepathy so we could communicate. I found what seemed to be an underground complex, so I used my Ring of Djinn Summoning to have one come clear the sand for me so I could get to it. It took longer than I'd like to admit.
When it was finally cleared enough, I found a corridor that sloped down, hopped on my broom, and went down. After a little while, I realized I wasn't really moving- this was some sort of maze spell. The moment I realized this I found myself in total darkness.
Aurora spent several minutes flying down this false path before realizing she wasn't moving. In that time, the Dancer found her, said- without saying- that this had to be connected to the star, thought for a moment, and vanished. Aurora took a couple more minutes, and a hint from Gabrielle, to find the path.
I could see Gabby and the Dancer, but in a kind of abstract way, like they were there, but not really. I thought about the star, and saw something glimmering on a pedestal. I turned to tell my friends, but they weren't there. The moment my hand closed on what I was sure was the star, the darkness melted away and I found myself in a vision.
I saw the city when it was thriving, and they were in a great battle. Undead and demons were attacking the city, and the residents were fighting hard to protect themselves. I was shifted around countless times, seeing the fight from many angles. It was incredible. Eventually I could see the commander of the attacking army- Vecna... and he was still alive. A chill ran through me as Vecna looked up, right at me, and seemed to stare into my soul.
The next thing I knew I was standing in front of the gate, holding a glimmering box made of ivory. The gates were closed, and Gabby and the Dancer were there. Gabrielle asked where the hell I'd been- apparently I had been missing for two weeks now. Neither of them remembered going into the city with me- it was like so many legends.
I looked at the little box in my hand, and attempted to will it into a star- it worked! The three of us realized it was a puzzle, and we'd need a wizard to help fully unlock it.
As we prepared to head back to the College, suddenly a beacon of pure darkness shot up into the air, on the other side of the continent. The cultists had found beaten us to the beacons. Fuck.
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| Map by Anna B. Meyer |
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