Settling In at the Edge

We had finally arrived.  They set us up at the inn, gave us rooms and thanked us.  We visited his holy Jerberz but he was tending to the injured. We helped for a little while then came back and got some food and drink.

Later the Edge held a service for those who had died during the a apparition's assault and for Katrin.  His holy Jerberz, wise and wizened, frail and potent at the same time, presided over the cerermony.  To my surprise the lovely and very unassuming elf with whom we were speaking earlier in the tavern turned out to be the leader of the Edge.  She is powerful but has the simplest of manners.  She asked me of my family and other matters and of my familiarity with a bow.  Slightly embarassed, I said knew it a little  but was more skilled with the crossbow.  She responded "ahhh yes, from your father the human side" She also asked if I knew of my "cloud" and was forgiving when it was clear that I was baffled and dumbstruck.  She smiled gently and told me there was much to learn about my proud elven heritage.  I felt less embarassed and more at ease though I must admit that at first I was suspicious.  I am not used to being treated nicely from the start.  I feel like I have had to earn any courtesies and niceties from others (with Sveta and Ellis as the exceptions).  It became clear though, that she was genuine.  She also gently suggested that I write a letter home for it might take a while to get back.   She seemed to have the kind of well-meaning concern that a mother might have.  I do not know why, but I want to do well by her.  She is right of course. I should write home.  I shall try to tackle this but I will have to write in code it in case it is somehow intercepted and falls into the hands of those who would wish me a less than bountiful existence.

Apparitions at the Edge

Many lessons learned in today’s battle.   For one; know your strength’s Sam.  Though it is true that your stout hearted friend Bronn teased you about your fighting skill it s no reason to run to the top of the charge.   Perhaps next time it would be wiser to hold steady my hand, hold back with my fellow companions and unleash a more powerful blow.   For in the end Bronn himself met an untimely death in the belly of a cube of jelly.

Haste oft speeds one’s demise

I’ve never felt such anguish as that caused by those odd apparitions.  Twas like losing everyone that was close to me all at one time, Ellis, Sveta, my home.  It was all deeply disturbing.  After I charged they ganged up on me. Fortunately several newcomers rescued us, for without their help it would have been a very different battle.  It turns out that all along I had been carrying them in my backpack.  The box  of Nistrama’s conjured forth a human who is remarkably elven like and a bit quirky but a grand fellow overall and his assistant.  The human acting elvish calls himself Professor Borjerz or Borjorz.  I did not quite catch it.  I will call him Professor B.   His lovely assistant was named Sariel.  A mysterious creature who like Lucien is often quiet.

Perhaps I will write a song but tonight I’ve a taste for warm bed and bath and some mulled wine.

Bridges Onward

In retreat from the Lance Forest in flames

As she crosses the bridge gone childhood games

 

In the crucible of hard journeys trials

She thinks back on her past looks down and smiles

 

Born to a house of great wealth but no care

Of the world’s troubles t’was never aware

 

She quietly rests by a broad trees’ shade

And thinks of the new friends she has just made

 

The tree starts to move like naught ever seen

It’s leaves shimmer colors reds, purples, greens

 

The smell it gives off a fragrant bouquet

Tucked under its branches here I could stay

 

It speaks to us says we are sufficient

We must fix the hole; fill what was rent

The Avatar is what  by men I'm called

And what it did next my heart it appalled

 

It conjured a small songbird onto a branch

And again its next move cause me to blanch

 

For it crushed the songbird onto my blade

And with this fierce magic new it was made

 

He called me his child, he called me “Blood Song”

this violent act seemed so terribly wrong

 

It’s voice was so gentle, my view so minute

It’s wisdom and depth one could not dispute.

 

In the end I suppose all go to the grave

And what matters most is that we are brave

 

The rest they too, all received a small gift

As it told us we must repair the rift.

 

It predicted for each a path of great fate

Cryptically it spoke no answer was straight.

 

It spoke to us. I thought of the seven.

Then the broad tree seemed normal again.

T’was gone in a flash as if n’er  t’was there.

But in its place now our moods much more fair

 

Seven in number our rag tag small crew

My goodness what if those tales are all true.

 

The road ahead a dangerous affair

So, let’s onto this rift to mend the tear.

Cipher of Around

Too long ago for anyone to tell
holly sages from high to earth they fell

Each held a secret a font of old lore
from the source of magic, pages they tore

In lands in the west, past desert and sea
runes in strange places a great oddity

Symbols and letters drawn figures in code
told a grim future where pitch blackness flowed

Cyril the Cipher Chief of the Mages
loved a good puzzle solving in stages

Under moonlight and starlight, fire, steel, wood, stone
explored every corner and weary he'd grown

Looking for monthto connect many signs
Intricate patterns, designs in designs.

Vigorous stude for nearly a year
every stone uncovered -  a new did appear.

Standing one day on a rock on Brine Hill
ingenious thoughts his head they did fill.

Not a moment too soon - scribbled and penned
the code - it made sense - his mind it did rend.

He babbled and muttered his mind seemed fried
Eerrily vapid, "he's mad" they all cried

Despondent grew those who saw his grim state
a  once giant wizard doomed by his fate

Reach for the stars and your fall can be long
King and queens, knights and knaves, weak and the strong.

Nary a one can espape the warp's weave
each person is caught unable to leave

Some say however that Cyril stayed true
sanity was his friend though no one knew.

Western Redoubt

This is one of two songs that The Avatar imparted into my head and told me to sing to Katrin and my companions.


You've heard the tale of Alestar Gren
So this friendly bard won't tell it again

This tale shall dwell on the stronghold and fort
and on the comportment of those in court

The stronghold was cleaved from side of a mountain
And tall in the center stood a great fountain

Grand the fort stood as a beacon of light
for world weary travelers; a rest for the night

Hospitality at Western Redoubt
reknowned all around famous about

It's staff congenial, it's guards had no fear
A place of great hope for those far and near

The fountain t'was in the heart of town square
held a magic of old; potent and rare

Those who took drink oft cured of what ailed
panacea t'was not but rare that it failed

People would come from distances vast
with hope that the fountain would cure them at last

The people inside Redoubt did flourish
As Gren their leader their hearts did nourish

Thus through skirmishes, war, brigand, wizards
the fortress held up through storm and blizzards

Yet when after Alestar Gren had died
very quickly it crumbled though they tried

It was as if this fort in the mountain
shared in Gren's heart as well as the fountain

It did not take long; with dust covered quick
Like a fort diseased; t'was if it was sick

In just a short while all windswept; entombed.
Nary a trace of the life once there bloomed.

Now Western Redoubt just a story told
of days bygone of heroes old

But ever t'is good, remember the light
Make your fort a beacon g'ainst the dark night'

The Avatar

I am saving this journal entry for the nearly mind blowing experience with "The Avatar"  I am still reeling and processing that one. 

With the bridge as a metaphor for crossing into adulthood and the raging forest fire as a crucible for radical transformation I feel as though I am no longer a child.   This last leg of the journey has been a major rite of passage. I now carry a kind of responsibility that I have not known before.

I will say this he gave me two songs and their intricate melodies to play.

By Bridge and By Fire

I've been experimenting with lyrical forms.  In my last ballad  "Long Lost Legend of Alestar Gren"  I inherited a basic story from the book that Sveta gave me but I decided to turn the prose into a song.  The rythm is iambic pentameter and I think Ellis would be proud of me.   In this next song I've taken our recent adventures and used the same meter to chronicle our voyage.


With ash in the air and forest ablaze,
we all stumbled on as if in a maze.

Through thicket and pine through bush and through brush
the party did press the party did rush

Till bridge over chasm loomed as their way
and the stench of scorched land befouled the day

And just when matters the the most dark they seemed
Up from the chasm dark tentacles teemed

Insubstantial as whisps floating in air
Rattling our pysches and leaving them bare

A dwarf the call Bronn appeared on the bridge
trouncing  pico then holding the ridge

Dwarf steel in hand he dealt a hard blow
then pulled it in close and felled the poor foe

Hard shots hit the foes but hardly they bled
As they flew near us they filled us with dread

Wer pushed the Caravan to cross the ravine
Paralyzed by fear of beasts never seen

Bronn donned an armor twas made of cold ice
Lucian knocked arrows and shot twice or thrice.

Bronn called on the earth to root foes in place
fierce and stong and those of his race.

The half-elven bard with a clang and shout
thundered fell createures, knocked them about.

The magical combo cause our foes much grief
their fall to below was our great relief

When Diesa was slain: brew nearly lost
Bardyn rallied forth no matter the cost

Save it she did and soon foes we did smite
We crossed o'er the bridge; slept for the night.

The tale of the battle by bridge and fire
Told to you now ti's meant to inspire

A message simple I'd like to convey
Against great odds one can oft win the day