Saidan el-Djafara and the Siren

[Arjan]

This is the campaignlog of one of my players, a khinasi bard.. :)

Character history

Saidan el-Djafara was born as the youngest son in the tamounzada family el-Djafara. His youth had been a quiet one, and his father, Malik el-Djafara, the Grand Sultan’s cousin, favored Saidan above any of his other sons and daughters.

From his earliest memories, Saidan always loved music and poetry, something that was strongly encouraged by his father. Knowing that his son would never follow his footsteps (after all, Malik had at least 14 sons and daughters before Saidan with his two primary wives alone, not counting the countless of children with his concubines), Saidan’s father prepared him for a life of scholarship and arts. At his fourteenth birthday, Saidan’s father took him along to see Grand Sultan Beshid el-Djafara. The Sultan and the young boy got along quite well and spent many an evening after that initial meeting. Saidan entertained the Sultan with stories and poems, and in return the Sultan let Saidan enter the great royal library. Here, the young man came into first contact with the Awnsheglien, the terrible beasts tainted by the blood of Azrai. Of course Saidan had heard stories of the beasts, but the library gave him much more information on all kinds of secret stuff. The library even held the tome Danzig’s Libram on Those Enemies of the Blood. This magnificent book, the authoritative on all those creatures that were disfigured because of Azrai’s blood curse, also had a small entry on a being called the Siren, and it was this story that swept Saidan’s heart the most. This creature, cursed with a voice that killed anyone who heard it, brought sadness and pain to the young man’s heart and from that point onward, the two beings were irrevocably linked, even though they did not know each other. Jerusha Fjoldan was her real name.

Soon after, Saidan had read all there was to know about the Siren, or at least, all that was written on the subject, and Saidan felt incredibly sorry for her. It might even be so that he was falling in love with her, even though he had never laid eyes on her. He made a vow to himself that he would be the one that would lift the curse from the Siren, and that they would both live happily ever after.

The friendship between the Grand Sultan and his cousin did not go unnoticed however. The Sultan’s Grand Vizier, Démiel el-Jamal, and his mistress Ouisira bint Filah saw danger in the friendship between the uncle and the cousin. The Sultan became more and more lively again after each visit from the boy, and was harder and harder to control. Of course, they could not just discard Saidan, that would draw too much attention to themselves. So instead, they used his abilities against himself. The two spread rumors of a young bard at the Sultan’s court, and that the Sultan was actually listening to the young man as an advisor. The more the rumor spread, the more honor the Sultan was losing, and the less he was respected by his subjects. Once Saidan’s father learned of this he called his son to him. Saidan was so ashamed that he brought this much disrespect to the Sultan, that he told his father he had lost Sayim and would go on a voluntary exile. Although stricken with grief, Malik had no choice to let his son leave. Without saying farewell to the Sultan, Saidan left.

Alone in the world, Saidan left for the only thing outside Djara that he was familiar with: his invisible love, the Siren. His first travels brought him through the elven woods of Rhuannach. Here he was captured and brought before the Sad Queen, but his song and poetry bemused the elven regent and he was allowed to stay for a couple of weeks, in return for some song and dance. When it was time to leave, the Queen gave him one advice: although singing and dancing for money might be despised in Khinasi lands, other lands have much less problems with this profession. If Saidan were to survive, he had better get himself a lute and a whistle to be able to sustain him. And so Saidan became what his upbringing had told him to distrust the most and what had gotten him exiled in the first place: a bard. The Queen actually gave Saidan his first musical instrument: a flute that, when played, brings forth some of the Queen’s own saddened moans.

His second journey took him to the borders of Khinasi: Kozlovnyy, now under Vosgaard rule. Hunted and distrusted because of his new profession, Saidan almost abandoned the Queen’s advice. However, at that time he met with a Rjurik tradesman, who told him of how revered bards were in his homelands and that Saidan had a skill and a blessing that he shouldn’t just give up because some people might not like his songs. This gave the young bard new hope and quickly left for Saarmen in Müden, where he was to take a ship to Blackgate, in the Rjurik lands of Danigau. There he found great support for his abilities and he decided to stay there a little bit longer to be able to accomplish his dream: to release his love the Siren from her dreadful curse. But for that he needed money, and lots of it…..

[Arjan]

Dearest Jerusha,

It has been a while since I last wrote you, but that was because there weren’t too many messengers out on the sea. Four weeks, three days and two hours I spent on that ship, and every second of it was agony. Not only because the journey seemed so painstakingly slow, but also because the sailors were a rowdy bunch with whom I didn’t like to spend a single day, let alone over four weeks. However, the thought that every day was a day closer to you kept me going.

The journey was a rather uneventful one. Although everyone on board was afraid that we might run into the Kraken at any time, I knew that nothing would befall us. Leira wouldn’t be so cruel as to let me come so close to you and to take it all away again.

Finally, after what seemed like years, I arrived in Blackgate, capital of Danigau. I am truly far away from home now. Not only is the weather cold and wet, but less and less people are speaking my tongue, and I have a harder time getting my wishes across. Luckily I’m a quick student, and I have picked up on the language well enough to convey my simplest needs.

The trip to Blackgate has drained my purse aplenty though, and it seems I need to spend a few months here to gather some currency to further my trip. And every hour seems like an eternity being away from you, but what must be done, must be done. I decided that I’d best perform at a local tavern to pay for a room and some food. To my chagrin there already was a bard performing at the first inn I walked into, but she agreed to perform a duet with me. I quickly found out that my singing skills were no match for hers, so I decided to play the flute that the Sad Queen had given me. That was much more to the liking of the patrons of the bar. Evidently, my playing had attracted a fellow of half-elven origin. Hadaad he introduced himself and we started off quite well. Before we had decided that it might be wise to travel together for a short while, there was some commotion in the bar. Apparently, another half-elf had decided to pick some pockets and was busted in the process. As you are probably aware of, Danigau doesn’t favor thieves very well, and he was quickly detained by the tavern’s bouncers, who were threatening to hand him over to the officials so he could be fed to the Kraken. A pretty harsh penalty if you ask me and my new friend Hadaad agreed with me. So we decided to help the fellow out a bit. I started a song that would enthrall one of the bouncers, so my friend could render the second harmless. However, mayhem quickly ensued when the bard and the bartender decided to join the fray. The bard put a sleeping spell on the pick-pocket and the bartender threateningly walked towards us. It was then that a third half-elf decided to join in. This odd reeking person walked over to us and started to help us. He was quickly rendered harmless though, when the bartender put a spell on him. Things started to look grim for us, but it was then that three men appeared out of nowhere. They made quick measures of the situation, paying off the bartender for done damages. The half-elf with the not so nimble fingers was taken aside and he and the three men were having a conversation of some sorts. That gave me the time to look up the third half-elf and asked who he was. He introduced himself as Walker, a ranger from the woods to the North. He too was new in town and saw in us some comrades who he would like to spend some time with. Hadaad and I agreed that there was probably safety in numbers, so we were happy to have him along. In the meantime the thieving half-elf, of whom I later learned his name was Arielyen, came towards us to thank us for our help. He also mentioned that he had gotten himself in some mess and that he would like our help with that. Hadaad, Walker and I agreed to keep him out of trouble. At the same time Arielyen could help us getting to grips with Blackgate and Danigau in its whole, as the half-elf thief had grown up here.

Apparently Arielyen had gotten an assignment of the three men, to help them out with an upcoming auction. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, but he knew that he’d better go along with them, as they didn’t seem the type of guys to double cross. Arielyen wasn’t told of the specifics of the job though, only that he needed to be present when he was needed.

With that in mind we decided to go shopping to equip ourselves with some top notch items. Some of the tavern’s patrons helped us out with some information, telling us that the Everything Shop was probably the best place to go to. It had excellent second hand items, for a bargain price. We needn’t to be told twice, and we immediately went there. But what a bust! Indeed, the shop was loaded with items, but hardly at a bargain price. In stead, most items were even more expensive than new ones, so double as steep for second hand items. So we decided to quickly return to the tavern to confront the people that referred us. But once back, we noticed that several of our items and some money had been stolen from us! Of course, the patrons didn’t know a thing about it (the faceless mongrels!), and thus we agreed to sneak back into the shop in the middle of the night.

Once back to the shop, I found out that Hadaad also had some thieving abilities. It left me stunned! What place is this where theft is punishable by death, but where thieves are roaming the city at every corner! Something like this would never happen in my beloved Jafra. But I digress, back to the story.

As mentioned, Hadaad was quite proficient with his lock picks and had quickly opened the door. Once inside we were surprised by a dreadful moaning. So much so that it had left several of us, including myself, standing around confused. I can’t remember the details of what happened inside, I only know that I was standing back in the street when I recovered. From what the others told me, there were some odd creatures inside who were throwing around lightning arches. It dawned to us quickly that these beings were too powerful for us and so we return back to the tavern.

However, it seemed that we weren’t alone in the matter. We had obviously been watched because we hadn’t returned for a few minutes or we were approached by some suspicious men who approached Arielyen. I later found out that these men were from a local thief’s guild that had some stakes in the Everything Shop and were willing to help us out with some muscles if we were to go back to the Shop the next night. It didn’t seem like we had much choice, especially since these men were form the guild that had helped out Arielyen earlier that day.

And so the next night we were back, instantly approached by a woman and a man. They didn’t introduce themselves, but that was hardly necessary. Before we knew it the door was open again. This time I decided to remain outside and to inspire the others with some song, given the fact what happened to me the last time. The fight was brutal but short. We almost didn’t make it, and Hadaad had actually fallen. Luckily, Walker was able to give him some first aid when everything was over and we had killed all three of the odd creatures that were inside the building. When we were looking for our stuff, we discovered a Halfling, obviously the proprietor of the shop, in the basement, tied to hands and feet. Upon releasing him he explained what happened: the three creatures inside the shop had kidnapped him a couple of months before and were able to assume his form. They had taken over his life and had raised the prices of everything by a threefold. They had also made some ties with a second thieves’ guild who were robbing the clientele of all those items that they had just procured, being able to sell them again and again. This explained why Arielyen were so keen on helping us out with our problem. This doesn’t bode well for us now though, as I fear that we now have made a life long enemy, in only our second day in the city. But ah well, that’s something for later to worry about. Right now I’m going to bed and dream of you.



Hope to see you soon dearest.



With love,

Saidan.

[Arjan]

My sweetest,



My apologies if my writings are a little illegible, but I have to write these words in the dark of night. We have just been attacked by some hideous creatures (which we have luckily been able to defeat) and are very cautious for any further assaults.

The last time I wrote you I talked about worrying for reprimands of a thieves’ guild that we had been working against. Well, it’s safe to say that I needn’t worry anymore; my fears have become real now, so at least I know what to expect now. You might remember that we had thwarted a guild by freeing the proprietor of the Everything Shop, Sam Heart. In return, we had the appreciation of one guild (of we still not know the name), but had most definitely made an enemy of the second one. Well, after we left the Shop and were about to lick our wounds, we had been approached by some shady figures again. Most definitely another guild, but I cannot say for sure if these people were part of one of the first two we encountered or was a new one altogether. Suffice to say, that these men had another deal for our beloved friend Arielyen. All we had to do was infiltrating a warehouse and eliminate another guild’s head mistress. Whether this guild was a fourth one or one of the others we had been dealing with is another mystery. I do not know how many guilds this city has, but being a week in Blackgate has complicated dealings a lot. We are not sure who we can trust anymore, and I suspect it only gets worse from here. But that’s something to worry about in the future.

All we had to worry about now was how to get inside the warehouse. I wasn’t sure if we were to deal with the situation at all, but both Hadaad and Arielyen were very keen on proving themselves to the locals, and it would have been dishonorable for me to let them go without support. So I decided to help them, and Walker was with me on that. After all, in a city full of strangers, you had better keep close to the people you know about. I quickly scoped the talk of the town and we learned that the head mistress of the guild was ____, the sister of the person who hired us. Apparently the two siblings got into an argument about some kind of heritance and couldn’t stand each other’s presence. We learned that the sister was out of town in some kind of mines, and we thought that was ideal to stake out the building for future use. While we were at it we could copy some files for our employers use.

Things didn’t work out as we planned though. For one, the building was next to impenetrable, and the guards appeared to be more than our match. After a few botched attempts, we decided not to risk our lives any further than we already had and to give this goal a rest for a while. We did realize that that wouldn’t make us very popular with our employer though, and wondered what to do next. Luckily, Walker remembered seeing a poster that asked for experienced travelers for a daring mission. This job was handed out by the Duke of Danigau, and we agreed that this was probably a good excuse to leave town for a few weeks.

The next day we arrived at a long queue in front of Blackruft Castle. It appeared we were not the only one interested in the job. Dozens of people, luckily mostly farmers and commoners, were standing in line, hoping to earn a little extra money to feed the wife and kids. It seemed the Duke wasn’t so stupid as to hire any old ‘adventurer’, but wanted only the best people for the job, as there was some kind of tournament. Those men and women who succeeded best in archery, swordsmanship and assorted other tasks would be hired. Of course, my fellows and I, together with a few strangers, outdid the farmers splendidly, and when it was all over we were picked out from the bunch to get our assignment. Together with us were some other people, a female (at least, that’s what I think it was) dwarf, an elf and a human.

Upon hearing our assignment I had to choke a bit though; the seven of us were to investigate a ruined keep in Wiereg, which was taken over by the Gorgon several decades ago. Addlersburg, as it is called, is now abandoned, but reports tell that creatures have been sighted, and the Duke fears that the place is stirring again, possible presenting itself to be a threat to the Dukedom in the near future. Our job was to find out what is going on there, and seeing if indeed this place might be a threat.

So that is where we are now. We traveled several days to get here, and once arrived were attacked on sight by some hideous gnolls. Of course we’ve slain them and now were healing our wounds. This place is indeed a ruin; there’s not much standing anymore. And the night is falling quickly now. I think I see some movement in the shadows, but I can’t be sure. I don’t like this place; everything is eerily quiet. Walker tells me that not even the animals make any noise. I fear that this is going to be a very long night….