We learned from the captured assassin that there were at least 3 other assassins that were hired to kill the members of House Avalus: a Windling, an Elf and an Ork. We also learned that the only description that was given of their quarry was “a dwarf traveling with a lot of bodyguards”. A description that could also apply to me. My companions decided that we should go ahead of the other dwarf group, which would most likely make me the first target of the assassins. To say that I was a bit leery of this arrangement would be an understatement (one shot by a highly trained archer and I’m toast). I wanted to travel with the other group; after all there is safety in numbers. But my life was overruled by greed, mainly the 70gp found on each assassin (it is so nice to know that I’m appreciated). I, however, went along with this because it could mean that an influential member of house Avalus would be indebted to us. This is not something to be taken lightly.

We continued along the pilgrimage road keeping an eye out for anything unusual. We noticed that the 2 T’skrang pilgrims had stopped to talk to someone, who then left the pilgrimage road heading towards the dwarven trade route that runs parallel to the pilgrimage road at this point. The 2 T’skrang then moved on. When we reached the point that the other had left the road, Andros and Wynarr decided to see if they could follow the tracks of the stranger. Unfortunately it started pouring rain and the Windlings lost the trail, although from the tracks it looked like a human or elf.

The rain continued for most of the day and everything seemed quiet, until Dederick took a step into a puddle and sank above his head in water. I recognized this as a spell: puddle deep an Elementalist spell. I began to get some rope from my pack and head towards Dederick. Kira also tried to grab hold of him and nearly fell in himself. The Windlings began to scout looking for the Elementalist when another spell came down upon us, this time a blizzard sphere. Kira and Garthik managed to pull Dederick out of the puddle without my rope, while I cast ethereal darkness on myself and headed back down the path hoping to obscure myself from view while getting out of range. A second more powerful blizzard sphere came down on me along with Dederick and Garthik who both tried to stay with me. That one hurt a lot and the only thing I could think to do was to get out of range, although I had no idea where our assassin was at, so I continued to head back down the path. I heard Wynarr cry out that he thought he saw something move on the Eastern side of the path. Both he and Andros began heading in that direction when the Elementalist suddenly appeared next to a large boulder. Wynarr quickly fired at the assassin while Andros swopped in on the charge. I think, although I was a bit far away to see clearly, that Andros flew through the assassin’s midsection. Anyway, the assassin went down, although he was still alive (it was an Ork and they can be pretty tough) but we quickly took care of that. The 70gp that we found on the Ork quickly confirmed that this was another of the assassins.

The next few days went by uneventfully and I quickly healed from the Elementalist’s attack. We peacefully continued along our pilgrimage. I burnt my prayer in the ‘Sacred Flame of Kralipur’, which left a permanent burnt spot on my left hand, and swam the pool of Floranuus to get sand from the bottom of the pool. The ashes of the prayer can be used to help protect you against horrors, while the sand of the pool of Floranuus, if kept under your pillow, will protect you from nightmares. Barsaive is a very dangerous place I am glad to have these talismans.