Sjer's Tale
Occurs on the evening of the 9th day of 373yp.
This night begins at my shop. It is a little dusty still. We have only been in the place for 14 days and we have been slow to clean up. It is a three story shop. Living quarters upstairs. Basement, soon to be wine cellar downstairs. The main floor has both a front and back door. The back door exits outside the market through a three foot wall. Very handy, that.
Everyone is inside tonight. Lasaam, Tameer, Jaliim, Tavisja, Volorn, and myself.
We have been examining the two large rings and the mirror that were the rewards of TheShadowWaterWarehouseVolumeTwo. Jaliim and I believe that the mirror is holding people and that the rings are a means of transporting things. There are matching rings elsewhere that these two pair up with.
As we stand there discussing things, one of the two rings lights up and a letter flies from it as if tossed. I pick it up to read it and Tameer moves toward the rings. As I read, both rings light up and a stream of scarob beatles come boiling up and into the room. The two rings look as if they are foaming a dark mass of living insects.
We are instantly surrounded by thousands of beatles. They bite and poison us. Our nausea of this smelly revolting mass is overwhelming and movement becomes impossible.
The swarm quickly covers and consumes Lasaam. Tameer and I are also covered and the swarm begins to comsume us. I can do nothing to save myself as an incredible revulsion of the insects overwhelms my senses. I can barely manage to stagger in any particular direction. Jaliim comes up behind me and pulls me out before any beatles get under my skin. He takes me over and begins pulling me up the stairs.
Tavisja has been madly rummaging through the meager supplies I have piled into the back corner and, finding a few flasks of oil, begins dousing the beatles with it. Some of the oil splashes onto Lasaam as well.
The attacking swarm seems to cover and dig into Lasaam. His screams die quickly as the bugs start stripping the flesh from his bones and then consume him entirely. The bugs seemed to enter under the skin, eating him from the inside out.
I recover from my nausea once out of the swarming mass. I look back and see my people, trapped, seemingly only awaiting death. I quickly call upon my bond with Volorn, giving myself the power of a spider. I move up across the ceiling and hover over Tameer. Tameer, dying quickly, jumps up and grabs onto me. I am hoping we will get a reprieve, but the swarm begins to move up the wall and continues eating Tameer. I struggle to drag him away but he is a heavy thing and my arms are not made for carrying such weights. Once more I use the power that Volorn imbues me with and heal Tameer. I feel the awful damage that the tunneling scarobs have wreaked on his flesh. As the flesh begins to knit itself together, the bugs are forced out of him by the pressure of the healing tissues. The scarobs stop pursuing Tameer at that point.
They turn their attentions instead to the other people down on the floor.
Just then Tavisja lights the oil and the bugs begin burning. The effect of the fire is not as great as it should be, but crisped shells start appearing on the floor after the scarobs move towards Tavisja. He makes a leap over the bugs who turn and follow him toward the stairs.
Jaliim, who had been upstairs looking for some way to deal with the situation returned with an oil soaked rug and, lighting it, throws it down upon the beatles on the stairs to prevent them from ascending. As with the fire down below, although some of the scarob beatles were dying, on the whole the fire did not seem to be slowing the swarm down any.
Volorn was the next to be cornered by the chittering mass, the end seemed to be coming quickly for him. Knowing all of us would die without my spiritual guide, I jumped into the mass of beatles and called upon the link we shared to draw upon us a hardness of skin that would slow the beatles consumption of us.
I saw Tameer return from upstairs with my desk, using it as a large swatter, jumping and putting his full weight on the bugs, but they only spilled out sideways from underneath it.
Then I healed Volorn and myself, and, taking stock of how little damage we had inflicted. Called upon the great speed I had often used before to flee with Volorn up the stairs and out into the streets. We could not outlast the scarobs in that tiny space. Perhaps by drawing them out we could let them feast on others less precious than ourselves.
They came boiling up the stairs and out the back door, pursuing us because of the bugs still inside. I was trying to heal us again to force the last of the beatles out so that we could escape clean, but the nausea of having the creatures under my skin was more than I could bear. Just moving away from them was the best I could manage for half a minute or so until I could gather my wits and concentrate properly.
I had just manage to clear our bodies of the black horrors when they suddenly stopped and reversed directions. As they left us to the wonder of the gathering crowd I tried a little misdirection and disguise. Although I am sure I was not recognized, no one seemed interested in the name Jerezal when I tried to suggest he was the one running from the beatles.
When I returned home, I learned that Jaliim had put a message through the rings to begin negotiations with Jerezal. This was the cause of the scarob withdrawal.
A Series Of Notes Passed Through The Rings
1.
Sjer,
You and I continue to cross each other meddling in our affairs. You have of my possessions, a mirror, two stone rings and a signet ring. I want them back. I can take them by force or you cvan return them. Communicate your intentions by letter. Give your reply to the messenger Tavimir ail Masir. Your code word is Iron Cobra. To demonstrate my seriousness ...
Jerezal
2.
My master will succumb to your beatles and you shall have no prize. Call off your bugs, so we may give you your answer!
3.
Jerezal,
Pass me all the keys to the mirror. I will give all items to you, mirror, keys, rings. What signet?
Sjer
4.
Sjer,
Interesting and flawed proposal. How will you guarantee the return of the items?
5.
Jerezal,
Scarobs anyone?
I realize you have the upper hand. Still, I can be difficult or we can change the flavour of our relationship.
6.
Sjer,
I agree. Perhaps you can take the items to a prearranged location and I provide the keys. I assume you want to release your associates. I will keep the rest.
Jerezal
7.
Jerezal,
Send one key of your choice now as a token of your goodwill. Tell me the place to meet and the time.
Sjer
8.
Good.
Bring the item to Fish and Bell after dusk tomorrow evening. You will go to the back entrance into the stable. Here is a key.
Jerezal
End Of Notes
The key passed through the ring by Jerezal was given to Jaliim. He went down and, using the key, let a large horse out of the mirror.