Back to Fritzholm's notes for sessions 6-10
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When I joined the party Ivy seemed a bit out of it. I later learned that this was due to a spell the Tower Master(tm) had cast on her while the party was in his room. We talked for a bit and the Tower Master(tm) departed our company.

Soon, a man came up the stairs. He stood about 6 feet tall and was dressed mostly in black. I drew my sword and asked who he was. He said his name was Ayaan and that he was son of the lord and lady of Kosh, a land to the east. Ivy refuted this, insisting that the lord and lady of Kosh were childless. Dvym confirmed that Ayaan wore the crest of Kosh upon his cloak. An arguement ensued. We argued about everything from Ayaan's claims to leadership to our next move. Rex cast a quick sleep spell on us to stop our bickering. It did not have its intended effect as everyone else but myself resisted the spell. I woke an hour later, completely rested, which was very good because I had been running on less sleep that I would've liked. It was about this time that Ayaan told us his reason for coming to the tower. He said that the Tower Master(tm) had greviously harmed the lands of Kosh and was none other than Lord Krill! We debated this point at length with even Clythe having his doubts. Eventually, Tower Master(tm) himself arrived. I put the question directly to him. "Are you Lord Krill?" He answered in only a round about fashion with a great deal of the same doublespeak he had heaped on us from the beginning. I strode towards him and asked again. He pointed to his deeds asking if he had not treated us well. It was still no answer. The party prepared themselves behind me as the Tower Master(tm) backed towards the magic portal through which he had made his enterance. Though he told me to keep my distance I walked with a few feet of him and asked again. He stammered unsure of himself.

"Yes," he admitted "I am Lord Krill." With that he lept through the portal with me in chase just before the portal closed.

Fireday, Avril 20th Continued...

I told him that I didn't want to kill him if I could avoid it, and that this was his best and possibly only chance to inform those whose destiny it was to destroy him of any truths that would exonerate him. In other words I offered him a chance to tell me why we shouldn't kill him. At first he was pompous. He told me that I should fear for my life, standing here, facing down a mage of his power. What was to keep him from killing me right here? I knew the Wand of Wander was not my real weapon. I told him that I was the sole person among the party who had such a distaste for fate that they would think twice about killing Lord Krill when it was so clearly our destined mission. If he were to kill me now there would be no stopping it. The other party members, already inclined to destroying him, would take my death as and act of war. There is no denying they would have their vengance.

He seemed disheartened by this. It was a truth he had wanted to avoid. As I watched and waited, still keeping the wand pointed directly at him, he seemed to turn from the epic the Tower Master(tm) figure to that of a weary old man, burdened by a weight he had been ignoring for years. I sort of felt sorry for the guy. He sighed and began telling me about what Lord Krill really was. Of course the Tower Master(tm) knew of no method of comunication other his normal vague references to legend. He couldn't tell me much of anything and shortly resorted to having me ask direct questions. I probed at the mystery of Lord Krill. Oh how I wish I could have drawn on Jonas' skills of reasoning. He would have gotten a much clearer picture of the situation that I was able to. Nevertheless, it was up to me. I did my best. This much I did learn - Lord Krill was not so much an individual was a concept. Dvym later called it an 'Archtype'. Many people had been Lord Krill before he had. Killing them had not killed Lord Krill. It sounded at first like demonic possession, but the Tower Master(tm) said an exercisism would be of no use, later I felt it was like a story I had heard once about the Dread Pirate Roberts. In the story the title of Dread Pirate Roberts was enough to strike fear into the hearts and minds of those who heard it. The title was passed from person to person and with the title came the persona. I'm still not sure that's a good analogy, but the whole thing was a little fuzzy to me.

I moved beyond the confusing matter of who and what Lord Krill was. I asked the Tower Master(tm) if we could continue on our quest without killing Krill. He said that was up to us. I questioned him about the sword. He told me that we were fulfilling its destiny even more than our. I asked if we were to travel back in time to undo something we ourselves had done. He shook his head. I asked and asked. In the end he offered me a deal. He would gather information we needed to continue with the next stages of our quest, and he would phrase a special wish on my behalf. I would return to the party and convince them not to kill the Tower Master(tm). I'm convinced that deal was not struck on the strength of my threat, rather the Tower Master(tm) truely wanted to aid us. Just before we returned to the tower he told me two things. The first that Ivy wanted me. I had a feeling to that effect and I wasn't quite sure what to do about it. I should've searched my soul for my true feelings for her, but instead I put that aside and turned my attention back to our quest. The second was that "The Traveler says Hello." So the Tower Master(tm) isn't the mysterious Traveler, but they are in touch. I made note of this information, possibly for later use. I returned to the tower ahead of the Tower Master(tm) to be certain the party would not attack.

When I arrived, the party was a little surprised to see me back so soon. Rex jokingly suggested that I never gave them time to rescue me. Dvym asked me what happened and explained about the discussion I had with the Tower Master(tm). I told them that I doubted killing the Tower Master(tm) would get rid of Lord Krill. I tried to explain what I thought Lord Krill was. I also told them that the Tower Master(tm) was preparing clues to what our next move should be. Dvym claimed I was a fool for expecting that the Tower Master(tm) would provide anything other than the same sort of useless information we had found on most of the scrolls in the tower, but offered no alternative courses of action.

The Tower Master(tm) emerged from his room a short while later and brought forth a good deal of information. He started out by telling us we had 4 or 5 paths to choose from. Each would lead us to a star - Sun, Moon, Day, Night, and Orb. I staggered at this news. Were these the same star gems I had been sent after by that accursed Warden Bob and the townspeople of Jarad? My mind reeled. I tried to deny it to myself, but it was too much to be coincidence. There were the towers here and in Jarad. There was the Traveler and the Tower Master(tm). Now there were once again five star gems. I was headed down the same path I had headed down once before. The Tower Master(tm) tossed a scroll to us. This scroll was to be delivered unopenned to a deviner in [a port city to be named later]. He also gave us three clues, which were the exact sort of useless riddles Dvym had expected. I paid them no attention since Ivy was carefully jotting them down. He told us that when we finished the first stage of our quest he could transport us someplace useful such as the port city, the mountains where a piece of the gem was to be found, or an underground arena in the swamps where another piece of the gem was to be found. I tried to remember my last quest. Yes, Durental had spoke of mountains, the Mountains of Pain. He had mentioned swamps too. A piece of our quest had been in the Swamps of Death. It fit together perfectly. There was no doubt.

The Tower Master(tm) sent Clythe off to check on something downstairs. I motioned for Ivy to follow him, which she did. While they were gone the Tower Master(tm) explained that Clythe was a copy - some sort of clone or simulacrum. We were somewhat surprised at this and not quite sure what to make if it. Clythe returned shortly.

We mulled our situation over and decided that we could go out into Karad an destroy the temple of Krill. When this brought no retribution this would be a sign to the people of this land that Krill was no more. Possibly then his hold over the land would be broken. However, before that we still had unfinished business to attend to. The Tower Master(tm) summoned up another feast and left us. We talked about the Doors of Choice as we ate. Rex was set on the idea of entering the doors. I too felt the urge to pass through those chaotic doors for better or worse. I needed a wildcard to fend of all this patterned destiny that had been building its walls around me all over again. Ayaan was also convinced to go through the doors which made me smile. He seemed to be less rigid than Jonas, more willing to take chances. I decided to drink enough to build up my courage for the task. Unfortunately the party decided they wanted to solve the last puzzle before entering the doors. This made sense, but I wished I had not indulged in wine before pitting myself against one of the tower's puzzles.

We went downstairs and Clythe gripped the pin that held the dome and ring in place as he had done before. This time, however, I planned to whack the dome off the pedestal when he removed the pin. Dvym suggested that I use something that had once lived like Ayaan's wooden staff, since it might not conduct the shock Ivy received when she tried to move the dome, but he also reasoned that a magical device such as the staff might be more prone to conduct the shock. Taking both of these pieces of wisdom in mind I choose to use my wooden sectional pole. It was long and wooden and non-magical. Pip stood by with the staff in case I failed. Clythe gripped the pin and started lifting it from the pedestal. Sparks and ripples of energy popped and crackled over Clythe's arms. It was very unusual to watch. I had no idea what sort of magic would cause this effect. Clythe pulled on the pin until it came free of the dome. By this time the blue energy covered his whole body and he was straining just to hold the pin in place. It was time for me to act. I swung and knocked the dome aside. At the same moment the pin jerked and drove itself into Clythe's chest. I gasped and leapt to him, but I did nothing as there was a qualified healer in our midst. Dvym grasped the pin to remove it from Clythe's chest. He asked if he should remove it quickly or slowly. It was a very smooth object so I suggested he remove it in one pull. He did, and Rex cast a cure wounds spell on Clythe, but there was no effect. Clythe appeared to be dead. Ivy screamed, but Pip calmed her by explaining that Clythe was a real person, but some sort of a clone. The hole in Clythe's chest matched the size of the ring for the obvious reason that the pin had recently fit snugly in both. I took the ring from the pedestal and placed it expermentally over the hole. It was no good. Shortly thereafter, the Tower Master(tm) arrived. He was in grief. "How could you let him die? He WAS a real person. How could you let him die?" he cried out, but I thought differently. I suspect it was the nature of the puzzle that only the true Pure One could accomplish the task. Since this Clythe was some kind of a copy he was unable to complete the task intact. How the Tower Master(tm) had overlooked this fact, I don't know. Maybe he saw is error and maybe not, but either way his grief was profound. I suggested a number of options. Maybe he could send Clythe through the Doors of Chance in hopes we would be revived, or maybe the Tower Master(tm) could travel through on his behalf. I also suggested that the people of Karad could resurect him as they planned to do with the nobles we returned to them from the giants' valley. The Tower Master(tm) threw all these suggestions aside and left with the body of Clythe. Was he being stubborn or did he have another plan?

We somberly went upstairs and prepared to enter the Doors of Chance. Dvym had decided he would go last and use the Free Pass in hopes of cleaning up any terrible results. Knowing that the center door was the most powerful, we all decided to enter that door. I gathered up my equipment and presented it to Ivy in the case of my untimely demise. She asked me if she could use some of my spell ink. I had no problem with this. I brought only my armor, Justice Bringer, and a rope and grapnel. Ayaan choose to go first. He stepped into the center door, and returned slightly more handsome. What and odd effect I thought at first, but Ayaan soon proved to be a good deal more agile and even somewhat more intelligent. I decided to go next. I stepped in and returned. Was there a change? I felt little change if any. At least I was in one piece. Rex went next. He stepped in. The was a scream. He fell out the doors and colapsed. He was dead! Dvym would see what he could do about that as he entered the doors clasping the free pass. As he returned Rex did indeed rise to his feet. I grabbed him to stop him from going into the doors again. It all felt very strange. This was the magical climax of the mighty tower of Karad?

I went over to Ivy to gather up my equipment. She was just finishing some notes in her spellbook, and was curling up to take a nap. How odd. She didn't seem very interested in the results of the Doors of Chance or even happy to see I had survived. Surely, she had copied the scroll's spell into her personal list. Maybe she was anxious to test it out. Mages need sleep to clear their minds before they memorize spells. I wondered which spell it was. Sure enough, when she awoke she went right to the task of reading her spell. It didn't take long before her eyes rose from the page and fell directly on me. I didn't like the look of this. I broke eye contact and focussed my mind as she gestured in my direction. I heard the words "Ditonimous Conspiracalli" and immediately knew which spell was being cast, for I had tried to learn it once myself... I concentrated on fending off the charming effects and somehow it worked. I felt the wash of love and admiration fade and lose its grip on me. At that moment I realized that I'd have to do this as a daily task if I didn't act quickly. If Ivy would cast the spell once what was to keep her from trying it again. She'd catch me off guard eventually. No one was going to charm Fritzholm Hammermill! Luckily, I had a plan. I pretended that the spell had worked. I've seen a few people who have been subject to the spell and I felt I could convincingly act the part. I smiled adoringly at Ivy and went to put my arm around her.

Dvym and Ayaan proceeded to discuss spells. I left them to this and thought for a while. Would our plan to destroy the spector of Lord Krill by distroying his temple really work? It seemed plausable. Would we be freeing the Tower Master(tm) of some real burden? I did not know. Why must things be so esoteric? I shook my head and rested a while.

Rex and Ivy returned after only a short time. They were talking about platonic friendship which made us all relax a little. Friendship between these two came as no surprise to me. It's good to see the team gel a little more. We all gathered around to decide if we had any further business in the tower. The Tower Master(tm) had informed us that once we left we could never return, so we didn't want to forget to do anything we might later regret. The only ideas we came up with were to try our hand at the crystal ball. We choose to look in Durental, the cleric Nikkos and I had left the piece of the star with a couple of years ago. I focussed on the crystal ball and soon an image zoomed in. I saw the grasslands near Jarad and the valley village we had journeyed to before. He was there, but they had constructed a new temple. Good, I'd know where to find Durental when the time came. Next Pip tried to focus on the Sword of Ages which had presented itself to her in a dream. This was no use just then. Dvym also tried this to no effect. This complete, we gathered up our stuff and made to finally leave the tower. I scrawled out a quick note to the Tower Master(tm) which read

I returned to bad news. Jonas and Brand were gone. Brand had passed on and Jonas had been taken back to his homeland by relatives. It was a somber moment, but not unexpected based on the advanced stages of their various illnesses. They were both among the greatest of men. My prayers go out to Jonas. I will visit him soon if this quest allows.

Dvym had sent for Gwareth, the head justice we spoke to when we entered the city, and explained to him that we were going to destroy Krill's temple. Gwareth did not take to the idea at first. He was sworn to protect the city and this its stuctures, specifically the temple. He was also leary of the reprocussions of this action. We told him that Lord Krill was no more and destruction of his temple would be a symbol of this. Dvym reasoned with Gwareth that the temple was a sign of a blight on the city of Karad and the surrounding lands therefore its destruction would be in Karad's best interest. Begrudgingly, Gwareth agreed. We set forth shortly thereafter.

I did not remember seeing Ivy during or after the battle. Had she snuck off? Her actions as of late had become very curious. I'd have to wait and see what came of it.

As the guards stood watch Dvym and I discussed our options. I was still aching from our recent battle and was in no condition to battle the town forces of Karad. Dvym suggested that we need not fight them, but merely fleeing the town would be addiquate. I pointed out that we needed to stay and destroy the temple or there would be no indication that Krill was no more. That would leave the first part of the quest unfinished. If we could believe the Tower Master(tm) we could not continue the quest until we complete this first task. Personally, I did not see how this fit into the grander scheme of our quest, or for that matter, what our quest really was. Anyhow, we decided that someone needed to go collect our horses and equipment from the stables. Ivy was no place to be found. Rex had just left with a few women. (How had I not noticed that?) which left only Dvym, myself, Pip and Ayaan. We choose Pip and I wrote a message to the effect of granting her proxy to take my belongings from the stablemaster's care. Before she returned, however, our problem was solved. Gwareth had convinced the quorum to allow us to demolish the temple.

We went to work with our sledges, picks, and hammers. Within a few hours we had crippled the structure and filled the four corner pillars with black powder. We had the crowd back up to a safe distance and in one great display of destruction we blew the pillars to bits and watched the temple come crumbling to ruins. Let that be a lesson to evildoers everywhere!

Dvym and Pip thought it would be a grand idea to throw a huge party for all the townspeople of Karad commemorating the events of this day. A huge party? Who was I to argue? I have surely wined and dined well these last few days. A party would fit right in. I went with Dvym to the stables to tap the party loot to fund this party. Along the way I tried to convince him that he had grossly overestimated the cost of such a party. I know more than a fair bit about carousing, gatherings of this size, and the cost of ale. When we arrived at the stables we ran into a little trouble with the stablemaster. He did an admirable job of protecting Ivy's equipment. We tried to convince him that we were not after anything that was personally owned by her, but mere after group posessions. Eventually he saw reason. As Dvym counted out the requesite 50 or so gold coins there was a thwack and a ring off his helmet. Unable to control his reflexes, Dvym spun and kicked at this perceived threat which turned out to be only Ivy smacking him with her bow. She went sailing across the stable from force of the kick, which seemed more to be aimed at sweeping her away than actually injuring her. How did she sneak up on both of us like that? I had never noticed her ability to be that stealthy. Maybe it was the use of one of her spells, or maybe I hadn't given her abilities enough credit. Though I tried to defuse the arguement with my 'Charmed Fritzholm' act Ivy and Dvym bickered on and on. Oh boy.

Eventually the preparations for the party were in place. We bought beer by the wagonload - hundreds of gallons and rented 10 taverns as well as hiring minstrels and other entertainers. Ivy did not like the idea of spending the group funds for this event. Why? Simply because it was Dvym's idea? This seemed to be just the sort of idea a bard would love. We might even make the destruction of Krill's temple an event to be celebrated for generations by starting them out with this one party. I can think of no better use of 50 gold pieces. Ivy and I returned to the Blue Manticore Inn to get ready for the party. My preparations were simple and I waited for her in the common area of the inn. I was chatting idly with the inn's cook when Rose appeared on the scene. She looked simply stunning wearing a festive ruby colored spring dress. Rose was very pleased to have located me and asked if I would accompany her to the party. I said yes, of course, and gave her a hug. I took a moment to explain to Rose about how Ivy had tried to charm me and how I had to keep up the act lest she try again and succeed. Shockingly, she believed my true but dubious sounding story. When Ivy came to the common room wearing an equally beautiful ball gown I introduced the two. They shook hands and Ivy excused herself to go meet her date.

At this point I thought the night would work out just about perfectly. Ivy handled meeting Rose gracefully and the fact that she had an escort for the evening's festivities would mean that I could relax and enjoy myself since I would not have to act charmed and try to juggle two women. Why any man would try to conduct romantic relationship with two or more women simultaineously is beyond me. I was glad that I would not have to attempt it tonight. Still, not everything went as smoothly as it could have.

First of all there was an incident at the second pub we visited. Shortly after Rose and I met up with Dvym, Pip, and Ayaan at the Sloshed Stag Ivy arrived and began to play a lovely song on her violin. Dvym coaxed some mediocre musicians to join in and he added his own musical non-talent. I'll have to admit it was a bit humorous, but it certainly didn't do the song any good. I suggested we let Ivy play one song solo. She played a slow ballad to he date who was completely entranced and bedazzled. I wondered if she was using magic, but dismissed the notion. Before she could end her song, however, some joker stumbled out and fell at her feet. This buffoon used the arm Ivy was playing with to help himself up, apologizing all the while. I stood up to remove the man, but as several others around me also found out, the floor was coated with marbles. The scene quickly degenerated into comic mayhem. It was very humorous, but Ivy saw nothing funny about it. She stormed out.

About an hour and a half passed without further problems. We went from bar to bar shaking hands, arm wrestling (Dvym's spell still working - I won every match that night), telling tales of our travels, dancing up a storm, and of course drinking our fill. Did I mention before what delightful company Rose was? It was a grand night and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The night would not end unspoiled. We were in our 6th pub of the night listening to an old woman talk about the days before Lord Krill put his grip on Karad, when Ivy arrived. She had changed into her adventuring clothes, which struck me as odd. I convinced her to join us and tell the crowd about the mirror puzzle. She reluctantly sat down and began her tale, but before she finished a clumsy waiter spilled flour all over her. She was enraged. It seemed like no coincidence that the jester who had earlier ruined her violin performance was there in the bar with us. She chased him out at sword point. Things settled somewhat until Rose and I were ready to head to the next bar. When she stood up she realized that someone had cut the hem out of her dress. It was an appauling stunt. If I ever catch that jester...
Dvym loaned Rose his cloak and I escorted her home. We talked for about an hour back at her house. She was tired and wanted to turn in. She appogized for ruining my night, but I told her that was nonsense. I had enjoyed the party wholeheatedly. Where had she gotten such a foolish notion? I gave her a good-night kiss and bid her farewell to return to the party. 4 bars and two hours later I staggered up to my room and passed out on the floor.

Much later that day a woke. I felt pretty bad, suffering from the night's drinking, my wounds from the battle at the temple, and a aching stiffness from sleeping in my armor. I gathered buckets of warm and cool water, propped the door back over the doorway and washed the smell of the party off of myself and my armor. I tried to find Rex for some herbal treatments, but it looked like I was the last of our group who was still at the inn. Seeing there was still a few hours of daylight decided to find Ivy and see if I could find out what was going on the last few days. I set about town gathering food for a picnic meal. That seemed like a good way to talk to her alone in a situation where she'd be comfortable. I bought a selection of fruits from a street vendor and some wine, bread, and cheese from the provisioner. That complete I wandered around the merchants area hoping to run into her, but I couldn't find her. No one had even seen her lately. I thought back to her last dissapearance and decided to try the stables where we located her last time. Sure enough she was there. I coaxed her into joining my for a picnic, which was made easier by the fact that the townspeople were hunting her for some reason. Just as we mounted my horse to ride out of town to a suitable picnic site Rex arrived. He asked if I had seen Ivy. Evidently her invisiblity spell was still working on others. I told him she was here on my horse, but that we'd like to be alone to talk. He agreed. He seemed relieved that she was OK. We left the stables and rode out of Karad.

About 3 miles from Karad I found a pleasant little picnic site near a pond. I hopped off my horse and layed out the blanket, but before I set out the food I noticed a large warhorse drinking at the other side of the pond. I approached it and offered the horse a few apple slices. I could not see its rider anywhere. I felt the saddle. No one had been riding this horse today. How unusual. I brought the warhorse over near our picnic site and tied its reins to the tree where my own cavarly horse was tied. Ivy pet the warhorse a few times. She seemed a little intimidated by the massive size of the creature. It was nearly half a foot taller at the shoulder than my horse and it would have completely dwarfed the pony she normally rode.

We sat down to eat. I had a lot of questions for Ivy. Why did she keep disappearing and sneaking off? Why did she oppose the party we threw? What had put her in such a foul mood at the party? Why did she resort to trying to charm me? Was she still jealous of Rose? There were more things I wondered about, but I couldn't put my finger on them. I hoped Ivy might volunteer some information that cleared things up. I didn't get around to asking her everything, but what came of it was that she and Dvym were trapped in a petty cycle of playing tricks on each other. She said it would go on forever, since she would never let Dvym show her up. I told her there was no place for that on this quest. She would just have to rise above such pettieness. She looked at me as though she wanted to say something. I waited, but she couldn't quite say it. Was it a change of heart? I don't think I ever actually got her to say she'd stop her feud with Dvym. She told me about her troubles with the jester. Evidently, he had followed her all night and had even crippled her date. Why had I not apprehended that jester when I had the chance? Ah yes, it was Dvym. He had stood in my way just before Ivy had chased the jester out of the bar at sword point. Why would Dvym protect the jester? Was the jester a pawn in Ivy and Dvym's feud, and if so, why would he disgrace Rose such? Maybe I should ask Dvym at a later date.

We finished our diner. Ivy told me she could not return to Karad, so I would go fetch the rest of the party and we could gather out here. I walked both horses back to Karad and went to locate Dvym figuring he could recognize the coat-of-arms on the barding.

Not only did he recognize the coat-of-arms, but he also gave me a complete description of the horse's owner moments before she arrived. The young lady introduced herself as Sybil O'Leary and informed me that she was questing after the Lavendar Root. I asked her how come her horse was left wandering about the countryside and she was unable to give me a satisfactory answer telling me only that she had been poofed here by mysterious means. I chuckled. Mysterious indeed. It was probably the doing of The Tower Master(tm). No sooner had I said the name did he arrived. He told us that the Lavendar Root was to be found in the same place as the piece of the star gem. Since most of our adventuring group was together at this point he asked if we were ready to go. I pointed out that Ivy was outside the city, but he said that was no problem for him, so I asked if there was a town nearby where he was teleporting us, since I needed to restock on certain items of equipment. He said there was and the others seemed anxious to get on with it. With a magical flourish and some colorful dust we were transported to the mountains.

Immediately upon arriving (all together) in the mountains we met a strange shirtless man. He drew his sword and backed away cautiously. We assured him that we meant him no harm and after he got over his startle he told us his name was Ali and that he was headed to the same town we were. Naturally we invited him along