Martin’s Sword

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Martin's Sword #5 Game Over
GM: Martin
Season: Autumn 793WK

Party

• Bleyze - scribe
• Martin
• Serendipity
• Sabrina
• Axis
• Feyan ;ed maybe?

Employer

Martin

Mission

The recovery of the fifth sword of the Sword of Sif

Scribe Notes

By Bleyze From SGT Issue 1

Over the last three months one of the greatest quests undertaken by any guild member was completed, The recovery of the fifth sword of the Sword of Sif by Martin completed five years of questing to recover the pieces of this mighty artifact.

The final sword was found in the continent of Terranova. It was located in a dragons lair in the centre of the Sea of Silt, a vast dust bowl 500 miles across in the middle of the Great Desert.

Crossing the Sea of Silt the party had to contend with the forces of nature as well as the unnatural fauna. The dust in the air caused frequent lightning strikes making flying dangerous. At one stage Bleyze was incapacitated in flight by a lightning strike. Rendered unconscious with severe muscle strains and a broken leg it was only the quick thinking of Martin that stopped him crashing into the ground, with potentially fatal consequences.

Later when the party was stopped doing spell preparation a mana worm invaded Bleyze's brain. Feeding on the mana drawn in during spell casting the worm rapidly grew to a dangerous size. The only way to kill the worm was for Bleyze to walk through a Wall of Starlight. BIeyze was able to pass harmlessly through the wall but the worm was killed. It's death throes however gave Bleyze serious concussion, which the party were unable to completely cure.

The party went under an enormous Windstorm that surrounded the lair and flew over a 25 mile wide lava moat that protected a city in the middle. A brief encounter with Drow militia where Bleyze was again knocked unconscious, this time by successive mental attacks, prevented any hope of negotiating.

The party then flew for the centre of the city where a huge life draining force field protected the inner lair. Using effective barrier magic's the party where able to penetrate this layer before more guardsmen arrived.

The Lair was a garden dotted with stands and statues. At the centre of the garden was the fifth Sword of Sif. Protected by Spheres of Annihilation and the force field. Martin overcame these obstacles, combining the swords into their original whole and disappeared from view.

Bleyze, on lookout circling above the party saw the Ruby Scourge approaching from the east first. The Ruby Scourge is a 50' Tall Red Dragon Defiler. The party were now in serious danger the dragon was approaching far faster than they could escape and the defiler when it cast magic would suck the energy for the spell from those around it. Tales of the creature spoke of dried husks and bare skeletons left in its wake.

Realising the situation was hopeless Bleyze yelled a warning to the rest of the party and looked for a weapon with which to head off the beast. If only to buy time while the others escaped and prevent it casting. Using Infravision he located a large spear with a potent magic aura surrounding it. Ignoring the protective field surrounding the spear Bleyze swooped down and grabbed the weapon. Turning to face the beast he took to the air. Sabrina called out to her patron and a Rainbow bridge started to appear behind them. Bleyze charged the beast, rising rapidly to meet it head on, as the bridge behind started to solidify, the rest of the party were moving towards it. On the first pass Bleyze missed the beast drawing its attention away from the party. Then the beast breathed. Bleyze had been expecting this and had every protection spell the party could cast in preparation He felt the heat of the blast wash over him and was unaffected, then the sand that the beast also breathed struck flaying him alive. His bones stripped of their flesh falling in a gleaming heap at Serendipity's feet. Serendipity scooped up the bones and ran for the bridge with the rest of the party. The beast paused to mind probe Serendipity and let out a roar as she entered the Rainbow Bridge. The words were "Other Lands!!!"

Because of the intervention of the bridge the party were able to escape. At the other end of the Rainbow Bridge lay the city of Midguard where the Lady Sif resides. Martin was already there awaiting the arrival of the party and after questing for the sword for so long gave it back to it's rightful owner, the Lady Sif.

Appendices

Astrology Reading

Letter from the Guild

Dear Sir,
During the cataloguing of certain new astrological data and theses, we discovered that a particular, rare, oracular symbol may have been misinterpreted in certain recent astrology readings.

Routine checks of archival readings filed with us revealed that this symbol had been used in a reading performed for you by the Baron Neuf-de-Pap, the Teleri Silverfoam, that had then been deposited in the library along with the notes from the subsequent abortive expedition.

 We certainly have no wish to criticize the Baron's otherwise elegant reading, but rather offer this reinterpretation, complete with footnotes, free of charge, in the hope that the new reading may in some way help you towards your goal.

Kind Regards,
    Hildegard of Whitehill,
    for the Guild Astrological Service.
    "Working towards a brighter future"

Revised Reading

Original Question: How do we find the next part of Martyn's sword?

In Kadath did Xanadu,

(and others),

A mighty dome decree;

Where elven sacred rivers ran,

And caverns measureless to man,

Bordered a sunny sea.

So thrice ten leagues of fertile ground,

With crystal towers were girdled round:

And here the gardens spoke with sensual trills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree,

And here were forests older than hills,

Enfolding shady spots of greenery.

In Kadath did Xanadu,

(and others),

A mighty dome decree;

And if decrees forever held,

Forgiveness made for heroes felled,

There'd be no fiery¹ sea.

So thrice ten leagues of glassy² ground,

With fire founts³ are girdled round:

And here gods sang a funeral dirge,

Where blossomed hate and enemies,

And here they placed a ruby scourge⁴,

Concealed in crystal greenery.

In Kadath did Xanadu,

(and others),

To dream a mighty dome;

And rivers, caves and sunny sea,

Are frozen in tears of misery,

In sorrow for their home.

So thrice ten leagues of blasted ground,

With swords and towers are girdled round:

And near god-kin in silence mill,

Where sensual gods in laughter lay,

With faces older than the hills,

Exposing all their sadness and dismay.

Footnotes

1. This is the original misinterpretation. The oracular symbol was originally interpreted as icy, whereas the new material suggests that this is its opposite meaning. Thus in the new version the term fiery has been substituted.
2. The original interpretation of frozen is still valid, but the suggestion that this term refers to something ice-like but the product of extreme heat has led us to take the liberty of reinterpreting this term as glassy, as in context it probably refers to some vitreous substance such as obsidian.
3. This misinterpretation was most probably caused by the confusion surrounding the fiery/icy symbol. We find no substance to the suggestion of pendency, and are of the opinion that it most probably refers to some sort of fiery vent, or less likely, a form of geyser. An alternate interpretation is of some form of upthrust protrusion (probably volcanic in nature). Because of this, we offer the alternate line "With crystal crags are girdled round:".
4. Whilst this is the same as the original, it may have more meaning with the new interpretation. A scourge is person or thing regarded as an instrument of divine vengeance or punishment. A volcano could be seen in this light, and this possibility is particularly compelling when taken in conjunction with its adjective and the preceding lines.