Salogel, the high elven archer, wandered into the Drakalor Chain on a bit of a lark, at the beginning of the New Year. He had missed out on last night's party, but didn't really mind, as most of the people in attendance were mad dwarven archers who had been trying (and failing) to wipe out Terinyo.
After chatting with various people in Terinyo, Salogel set off, and came to a small cave. Upon stepping in, he felt rather nervous, so he picked up a couple of scrolls that happened to be lying around and left, thinking to himself "Of course! She said that the puppy was off towards the north-*east*."
On his way back to the puppy-rescue, however, Salogel came across a band of roving raiders. Immediately recognizing them from Tywat Pare's description, he showed himself and--in a clear, firm voice befitting a noble elven warrior faced with nasty little brigands--demanded that they surrender.
Salogel's first kill in the Chain was a raider, and he freed the countryside from the dire scourge of Kranach, the raider lord.
Salogel pressed on to the dark hole on the pass where the tiny girl had mentioned last seeing her puppy, for he felt that time was short. Pausing only briefly to chat with Sixten, a hurthling shopkeeper who felt that setting up shop next to an ant hive was a brilliant business move sure to bring hordes of potion-seekers to his door, he headed into the depths of the cave, listening intently for the puppy's cute little "wuff"s.
Soon, the stairs down opened up into series of cavernous rooms. This did not surprise Salogel overmuch, for he knew about funny rock formations and the like. What did surprise him was the funny rock formation of white marble, quite close to the stairs. Being a devout little archer with the proper respect for co-aligned deites who TALKED LIKE THIS, Salogel sacrificed a couple of monsters that wandered in, politely found out which possessions of his were cursed, and continued.
Excitement filled Salogel as he descended lower into the cavern, tempered only slightly by the doubt that any cute little puppy could have survived the dangers he had passed so far. Nevertheless, he searched, and was delighted to find a small white fluffy puppy that was, indeed, cute. The puppy followed Salogel back to the stairs, but he first went back up alone, for he wished to commune with Correlius in private and thank Him for his success thus far.
A great deal of thanking later, Salogel felt that Correlius was extremely close to him. He uttered a final thankful prayer, and was astounded to find that he had been gifted with an extremely heavy mace. Joyfully equipping it, he went back to retrieve the puppy.
Travelling back through the cavernous rooms was easy, but there was a room with strange flickering lights that Salogel had to pass through in order to reach the stairs. The puppy, which was bounding madly about in joy, crossed Salogel's path at an inopportune moment, and he accidentally whacked it with his purifying mace.
And the puppy growled.
After offers of a bone, raw meat, and several truly desperate attempts to shake off the puppy without going near the ant hive had failed, Salogel had come to the conclusion that there was no particular reason why he had to rescue the thing and began to hope that the tiny girl would send someone to rescue her cute little elven archer. Nonetheless, being a generally nice sort as well as something of a doormat, he couldn't bring himself to actually *hit* the puppy. Gritting his teeth, he plunged upwards. It turned out that this was a sound tactical choice, as the puppy stopped chasing Salogel and went off to murder giant ants.
Dashing for the stairs, Salogel made it to a point where the horrible sound of rending chitin no longer reached his ears. As he caught his breath and wondered how he could possibly calm the puppy, he realized that--in spite of successfully escaping the fluffy jaws of death--he felt oddly tense.
Exploring, he found a door that burst apart at a touch, revealing a roomful of--skeletons! Salogel's eyes gleamed as the light skated across a roomful of shifting ivory bones. Gleefully wielding his Purifying mace, he proceeded to bash all the skeletons (as well as the shambling corpses mixed in with them). Afterwards, he sorted through the wreckage, and found nine bones that he thought the puppy might accept as a peace offering.
Bravely heading back down, Salogel caught the puppy's attention and cleverly lured it away from the giant ants. Withstanding the flashing teeth, he tossed it bone after bone. A startling transformation occured, the puppy's ragged claws and glistening, bloodied fangs shrinking away. Eventually, it was again the harmless little ball of white fluff with a flappy tail that Salogel had first rescued.
Wondering where the hell the tiny girl had gotten her pet, Salogel headed back to Terinyo. Happily reunited with her puppy, the tiny girl gave Salogel a piece of candy. Salogel accepted it gracefully, though a small part of him suspected he'd been played for a sucker. He stopped in to see Tywat, mentioned that Kranach was no more, and was happily surprised to find that Tywat's reward, while presumably no more heartfelt than the tiny girl's, was considerably more substantial. He accepted the sherrif's warning about an evil crime lord named Hotzenplotz and picked up some more provisions before heading out again, for Yriggs, the village carpenter, was still missing.
After stopping by to see Sixten and pick up some carrot juice and water (which glowed most attractively after being placed on Correlius' altar), Salogel headed on to the caves where Yriggs had vanished. In the caves, he met Jharod, a pleasant man who offered healing and teaching--provided, of course, that Salogel proved himself worthy. Wondering how to prove himself, Salogel travelled on, skewering and bashing monsters along the way and hoping that Yriggs prove to be somewhat calmer than the puppy. As he soon discovered, that was not to be. However, Salogel was fleet of foot and calm enough to reason that while Yriggs might be beyond his help, others could perhaps provide aid. Heading back towards Jharod and wondering if all adventuring consisted of having the creatures you were trying to help chase after you in a murderous rage, Salogel raced back through the caves.
Although Jharod apparently didn't notice the slavering carpenter until Salogel sprinted up and dived behind the healer, he was quick to react once Yriggs was within reach. Once healed, the village carpenter headed back to Terinyo with remarkable speed. Salogel picked up the items Yriggs had left behind and, now that he had a moment, chatted politely with Jharod. Imagine his delight when he found out that in leading Yriggs back to Jharod, he had proved himself to be sufficiently merciful! Salogel left the caves much happier, since he now knew how to better handle leaking bits of himself all over the Chain.
Now, at this point, Salogel was carrying a lot of things whose exact natures were unknown to him. While people in Terinyo were generally kind and helpful, he felt that travelling to a somewhat more worldly location might expand his horizons.
Striking out to the south-west, he came upon a ragged settlement. Remaining unmolested (after feathering an outlaw with arrows as a warning to the local population), he entered the settlement's rather grimy shop. Although there were several interesting things in the shop, most of them hardly marred at all by the filing that had removed the insignia of their previous owners, Salogel found nothing that resembled any of the potions or scrolls he was carrying. Disheartened, he dropped off some crude implements he had picked up and left the store.
About to leave Lawenilothehl, Salogel suddenly saw a florid figure to his left. Studying it from a careful distance, he saw that the man did indeed fit Tywat Pare's description of Hotzenplotz. Mindful of the crime lord's two bouncers, he retreated to a safe distance and waited until Hotzenplotz approached. It would be a difficult shot, sending a shaft past the corner of Barnabas' shop and through the doorway of the den of crime, but with a little luck...
Luck was with Salogel, and he swiftly dispatched Hotzenplotz and his bodyguards. However, since the other inhabitants seemed to be a little miffed about the death of such important figures, he thought it best to quickly search their bodies for evidence and then leave.
Finally returning to Terinyo, Salogel looked around at the little community to see if there was anything else he could do to assist them. He promised to keep an eye out for Blup's mother (wondering if she, like the puppy and Yriggs, would also chase him through cavernous halls when he tried to help her), and shared a very refreshing drink of healthy carrot juice with the little water dragon. He briefly discussed current chaotic events with Rynt, chatted with Tywat about the importance of Law, and stocked up on provisions at Munxip's, marvelling at the now reasonable prices. Then he set off into the wilderness, determined to seek out the source of Chaos.
Thus ends the first part of the adventures of Salogel, high elven archer and valiant bulwark against the encroaching evil that threatens Ancardia.
Set down by Frances, itinerant scribe and seneschal of Emmelgie.