Quest for a Sword

(Basilica of Aderra, Narthal, Stryre 22^nd July, 1600)

Sigred calmed the adventurers, who were a bit wary of their new surroundings, and showed them to a set of airy, comfortable guest rooms. As he left, Surya stopped him, and requested directions to the cathedral's library. Sigred shook his head with a smile; "You'd never find it on your own," he pointed out. "I will find you a guide." He left, closing the door.

Surya investigated his room, finding a wardrobe with an assortment of both secular and clerical attire; he settled for a plain white robe which he closed at the waist with his own weapon belt, the black shape of the sheathed sword out of place against the priestly attire. He settled to wait for his guide.

Sack looked around him, unimpressed by the scale of the building. His room, like all of them, was on the ground floor, with a large glassless window opening out onto a small courtyard enclosing a herb garden and ornamental pool, open to the sky. His curiousity stirred, he stepped out through the window and moved across the garden. Looking around and seeing he was unobserved, he wandered down some corridors at random. After peering into a few unoccupied monks' cells, he happened on a small side chapel. Entering, he peered around, intrigued. A small altar was at the far end, and an assortment of small icons hung from the walls. These latter were made of gold and silver; Sack's accquisitive instincts took over - and he pocketed several.

Kobort had decided that Nose-biter needed some care and attention. Drawing water, he gave the owl a good bath, and fed him some titbits, before getting cleaned up himself.

Hildraft, waiting (more or less) patiently in his room, was disturbed by a knock at the door. He opened it to find Sack outside, looking furtive. Entering and closing the door, the half-orc revealed his loot, and asked for the dwarf's expert assitance in quickly melting it down. Hildraft kindled a fire in the heath of his room, unpacked his tools, and melted the incriminating items down into nice unobtrusive ingots.

Surya's door opened again, and Sigred introduced a quiet young monk called Brother Joram, who he said would guide the Tellaran to the basilica library. Leaving, the two negotiated a vast labyrinth of passages and courtyards, finally coming out into a large courtyard, with a large building at the other side, reached by a flight of wide steps.

Brother Librarian examined the sword for a few moments, then addressed Brother Joram. "We'll need Brother Armourer to fully explore this," he said, "would you request he join us here, please, Brother?" Though the request was diffident, Joram hastened away to satisfy it. The two turned to the books, and started checking

Kobort, feeling a desire to get his bearings went out for a wander - just missing the returning Sack, though he didn't know it. Walking out through the passages, he made a definite attempt to work his way upwards. In the end he found a tower, and, climbing it, found a balcony about half-way up. Stepping out, he found the entire basilica and - beyond it - the city of Narthal, laid out before him.

He greeted Surya, and, once the issue was explained to him, asked with elaborate courtesy if he might see the weapon. He drew the blade carefully, flinching visibly at the sword's touch, and then swiftly dismantled it, removing the pommel, quillons and grip to reveal the tang, and the maker's inscription on it. This he copied (rather larger) onto paper and handed up the ladder to Brother Librarian. After a while, the ancient librarian cackled with triumph. Lifting an ancient tome, he read out what he had found.

Surya thanked the pair  - accepting Brother Armourer's offer of sparring practice some time - and returned to his guest room, to find Sigred waiting; Archpriest Delloch had summoned his guests.

The priest had obviously gotten cleaned up and dressed in his best; he wore immaculately polished plate armour, with a pure white surcoat blazoned with Aderra's sign over the top; his head was bare and he carried no weapons. Guiding them through the maze of corridors, he led them to the Archpriest's rooms; the guards opened the doors and ushered them through.

The room beyond was obviously the private conference chamber of the patriarch of the Aderran Church. A long, heavy table ran the length of the room, lined with chairs; four of them had heavy goblets of gold and crystal standing before them; a flagon of wine rested on the table. With exquisite courtesey, Delloch invited them to be seated. Sack, ever unpredictable, ignored this and wandered around the conference room, examining the decorations with a professional eye. Delloch eyed this behaviour with some puzzlement, then shrugged it off. Turning to the others, he began to explain his proposal.

He explained that, at the height of the Elf Wars between the elves and the Dragon, the mastersmith Elverandil forged the six most powerful weapons ever created in Alair - the Six Swords of the Noldor. These were created for six of the greatest heroes of the Noldor; Celundir "Lance of Light", Lómorfil "Orchammer", Dolkar "Longarm", Thyril "The Soul Harper", Galóriand and Dolthoron. Most of these heroes, singly or with armies, assaulted the dragon Varkar and attempted to kill him; all failed and died; most of the weapons were either captured by Varkar (who covets and collects such things), or destroyed.

All this was ancient history (though of course occuring in the future as relative to the heroes' original perspective), but six months ago, a traveller and adventurer with ties to the Church of Aderra had returned from a foray into the Desolation with a package of papers from a sealed courier pouch he'd found outside the ruins of Lantalaure. He himself had no interest in them, and had donated them to the basilica library. Interested, the monks examined the papers and crossreferenced them against the vast archives of elven documents held in the library. What they found interested Archpriest Delloch greatly.

Circumstantial evidence, hints and references brought the priests inescapably to the conclusion that there had been seven Swords of the Noldor created by Elvarandil for the hopeless war against the Dragon. The seventh Sword, apparently named Mergil, appeared to have been intended for the hero Asildur Mithmaras, who is told to have launched a suicidal solo attack on the Dragon before the fall of Lantalaure. No account of the Elf Wars record Mergil being used in battle; unlike Fangtil, Aglarka and Asharn, the Dragon has never triumpantly announced its' capture.

Delloch concludes from this that the sword must have never left  Lantalaure, and is almost certainly still within the ruins of the House of Swords - Elvarandil's workshop and manor - within the remains of the city.

Delloch felt that retrieving the weapon would serve many purposes. First of all, it would make a splendid addition to the royal regalia – and though church and state were not entirely interdependent in Stryre, Vardar Peacock’s nickname was not earned for nothing, and the addition of a Sword of the Noldor to his personal gear would be make him very grateful. Secondly, if Mergil is still in Lantalaure, sooner or later someone would find it, and if that someone owed allegiance to the Dragon, the sword would be lost. If any hope at all existed of making an end of the Dragon, it must lie in the Swords of the Noldor, crafted by the greatest weaponsmiths ever to walk the earth for that purpose.

But – if the sword did exist, the Empire would want it. The forces of the Dragon would want it. Nhased probably wouldn’t want it, but who can tell? And if the elves were still around anywhere, they would beyond doubt want  – in fact, expect – that Mergil be turned over to them.

So Delloch wanted a small, skilled band to enter the Desolation, travel to the ruins of Lantalaure, locate the House of Swords – Elvarandil’s forge and home – and retrieve Mergil from its’ hiding place.

At this point, the dwarf Hldraft, delving back into his early memories, remembered some things he'd learned from his forgemaster. The old dwarf had visited the elves many times, and had even met Elvarandil on a couple of occasions. In talking to Hildraft, the old smith had related Elverandil's description of his home. Hildraft felt pretty sure that with the aid of a map of Lantalaure (which the basilica library could easily supply), he could locate the House of Swords; and he said so. Sigred and Delloch were electrified by this news. One of the weak points in their plans was that no-one now knew the exact location of the mastersmith's dwelling.

Then - of course - the sordid matter of money came up. Archpriest Delloch explained that he was prepared to offer 20,000gp  per survivor of the group that successfully returned Mergil. In addition to this, the Church would furnish equipment to assist the group. Sack and Surya imediately fell to haggling, and managed to beat Delloch up to 75,000gp, although it rather appeared he had not been unprepared to go that high. The group accepted the commission.

Their next step was to draw the equipment offered. A polite monk guided them to Brother Armourer's forge and store-rooms, where the burly monk exchanged their battered equipment for new, where appropriate enchanted with the most powerful enhancements he was capable of. Arrangements were also made with Brother Ostler for five horses and tack suitable for travel in the Desolation. Finally, Brother Armourer agreed to arrange the sale of their surplus equipment.

All this settled, the adventurers decided to make a trip down into the city proper. Kobort and Hildraft set off to locate the local MageGuild; Sack and Surya went to find some food and a drink.

The two warriors dropped into a quiet merchants' tavern for a meal, then forayed into the seedier side of town. Leaning against a bar, tankard in hand, they were approached by half-a-dozen young men of the merchant class, who appeared to take great exception to Sack's half-orc appearance. "Look!" one of them cried, "it's an animal. Why should we have to share our inn with animals?"

Sack responded by leaning closer to the speaker and sniffing him in a beastlike fashion. As the man bridled, the half-orc reached un-noticed into the man's groin - and gripped hard! As he did so, he realized that the man was wearing a metal protective codpiece. Before anyone else could react, the other man on Sack's side swung a tankard at him, and the two on Surya's side swung punches.

Sack closed his grip violently; the codpiece collapsed, pulping the contents, and the unfortunate victim collapsed. Surya smashed his pewter tankard into the face of one of his opponents, breaking both the vessel and the unfortunate man's skull; he drew the Sword of the Dead Legions and stunned the second with the pommel; the last man was clubbed down by Sack. The two left pretty rapidly after that.

Kobort and Hildraft had discovered the MageGuild; they were cautious at first, but once they established that he wanted to do business, things eased up. The MageGuild operated a very good business, disposing of magical artifacts on behalf of adventuring parties to other interested individuals, for a 5% commission. Kobort requested - and received - a list of the items so available. Hildraft also requested a quote for the enhancement of his Bracers of Defence to a better level of protection.