Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Faris arrives in Ironfell and requests permission from Lord Aaron to borrow the city’s wizard.

As I headed to Lord Aaron’s manor, an old fisherman recruited me to find a jewel missing from the statue of Nilena, Goddess of the River. Awkwardly, he believes Lord Aaron stole it. I accepted his advance of three gold, then headed to the lord’s manor, delivering the letter from Lord Fellmont.

I was surprised to learn that Lord Aaron openly despises Lord Fellmont, though he acknowledged receiving frequent assistance from West Haven. He granted permission for Edvarius to accompany me only after finishing his current assignments, and suggested I might be able to assist.

Leaving the house, I spotted a jewel in the treasure room. Assuming it was the missing jewel, I attempted to sneak past past the guards. When they noticed me, I convinced them that as Lord Aaron’s guest, I should be allowed in. The jewel was, in fact, brilliantly beautiful, emanating a calming power, but that energy seemed to be faltering. I picked the lock and retrieved the gem, feeling no guilt at stealing it from this man whose greed was endangering his own city. I returned the gem to the statue on my way to find Edvarius. The fountain immediately began to flow when the jewel was reset, and the water seemed cleaner than that of the river.

Meeting Edvarius was depressing. He detailed all the problems facing Ironfell and bid me travel north to parlay with the giants. He seemed relieved at the prospect of going to West Haven, but angry about the tasks in Ironfell that took priority.

Faris sets out on her next great adventure, sent to borrow the wizard Edvarius from neighboring Ironfell. A simple quest, surely.

I bought myself a mule for the trip, figuring it would be useful for the four day journey. I also hit up the job board for a bit more coin, not knowing what I’d find in Ironfell. I tried to help an ill grandmother, but you can’t cure old age. My live performance at a tavern actually fared better, and did spying for a betrayed gnome.

On my way out of town, I bought more rations and health potions, drinking a couple immediately to make up for the excursion into the wizard’s lab. There was no sign of game near the road, though as I sat down to eat some rations, it became apparent why – a bear lumbered into my campsite and lounged across from me. I offered her some of my foot, which she snuffled at before eating, and realized her name was Fola.

Late the next day, I encountered a broken-down wagon with one wheel off. The supposed merchants asked for my help repairing it, but I hesitated, something seemed slightly off about them. Sure enough, they drew weapons and attacked me. I missed one entirely, killed the second with a shot, and reinforced my third short with damage from the wizard’s wand. The unharmed ruffian fled, leaving the wagon and his friends’ corpses. Their weapons were in terrible condition, but they had some gold and a Wanted poster of themselves. I suppose I can claim that reward. Having cleared the area, I decided it was a good place to stop for the night.

I arrived in Ironfell and took a quick stroll around town before seeking the wizard. The herbalist mentioned being out of potions and low on ingredients because boaters kept buying her out. That may be partially because the Beacon, a light in the middle of the river, is fairly dim. As I walked along the river, I tried talking to some other residents. A fisherman flat out ignored me, though I noted his catch seemed small and generally unhealthy. The ferryman was more forthcoming, said they haven’t gotten much work because of the raids, and the people to the south blame them for the mysterious poisoning of the river. A porter bought one of my health potions, rambling about rodents shooting at him last time he went north, and expressed concerns about giants that direction now.

It has been a while since an update. Rest assured, the adventures of Faris Leafwind continue with some amazingly poor dice rolls, and the occasional good one.

Hoping it would lead to more work, I met with Fellmont immediately. He believed all of the weirdness was related to the wizard Godwin’s disappearance and asked me to help investigate. I agreed, of course, with some misgivings over Victor’s previous statement that the wizard was a traitor, a belief his father and Commander Rufus didn’t seem to share.

Fellmont directed me to the wizard’s lab, to see if I could spot any clues he had missed. arriving there, I bumped an experiment on his desk, splashing acid on myself. I tucked away a health potion from the bookshelf, planning to heal the damage later. I slid a book from the shelf and heard a click as a secret door, covered in runes, opened. I was unable to read the runes and the door shocked me. It shocked me again when I tried to bypass the magic lock. The door was seriously kicking my butt, I couldn’t even force it open. I paused to drink the health potion I had found, then smashed the door open.

I stared in shock at a cracked dragon egg in the middle of the secret room. I stepped closer to look at it and flames erupted from the ground, singeing my clothes. I chugged my last health potion before moving in when the flames died down. The egg was filled with that shimmering black ooze I had seen at the church. I grabbed a nearby vial and carefully let some drip in without touching it. As I finished, some of it tried to move towards me… ewww.

I also found a locked chest, and luckily, I found the key hanging on the door frame. There were a couple potions and some gold hidden away. I stowed them in my bag, along with a wooden wand with a thread of gold, and returned with the information to Fellmont. Together we shared it with his father, Lord Rowan Fellmont. While dubious, he thought it best to send me questing for Edvarius, Ironfell’s court wizard. I met with Rufus again to negotiate the terms. We agreed to twenty gold on delivery, with four paid in advance for preparations.

Seriously, this brief excursion into the wizard’s chamber kicked my butt! That was mainly due to unfortunately low dice rolls. Hopefully those will gradually improve, along with my skills as I level up.