Road to Kiev, Chapter Six

Souvenirs
Tuesday, September 20, 987 AD

The party returns to where the Wyvern was felled and remove segments of their wings. Each party member carries one piece of Wyvern wing just in case it turns out to be on the shopping list. We travel for a mere twenty minutes and rest away from the bodies.

Ridiculous Side Journey
Wednesday, September 21, 987 AD

Edward talks to a robin about the Wyverns. It says that they are 'unnatural' and that most of them live in the northlands. Men live by the shore, it says. The girls and Nicolae see two figures skulking in the shrubs. Nicolae sleeps them and they are bound and gagged. They have bows and arrows, which are removed, and are dressed in peasant clothing. When they awake, on of them speaks halting German and explains that they were hunting for small game for their village. Gunther insists that they take us to their village above Reynaldo's protestations and of course everybody sides with Gunther. First the two head southeast for an hour, and then south for another hour. Three more hours pass before Reynaldo insists they tell us where we are going. They reply that they are lost. We let the idiots go and walk northwest for an hour, then north for another hour. We rest.

Giants!, round 2
Thursday, September 22, 987 AD

The party goes back to where the giants humiliated us and plan to bushwhack them. The party reconnoiters around the hill and and finds another two entrances in the back of the compound. The plan develops from that: Isabela is to stay near the front entrance with a darkness stone covered in cloth. At the appointed time, Isabela is to remove the cloth, then get out of its range to keep an eye on the front. Hopefully, the giants' attention will be focused on the front and we can ambush them from behind. Isabela does her part, but the giants come out of the back at the initial stage of our charge and we have to fight them without the element of surprise. And fight we do. Nicolae manages to cast blindness on one of the giants. Over a thousand points of damage are inflicted on each giant before Wong finally figures it out. In our previous encounter, only the giants hit by the Fireball were actually taking damage. We light torches and douse them with oil. The giants attempt to sue for peace, but they are ignored and burned alive. We clear their compound. Gunther retrieves his 200 platinum pieces and an extra 93 gold pieces are found, plus a bracelet or giant's ring that turns out to be non-magical. We rest in the compound.

Rest and Relaxation
Friday, September 23, 987 AD

We rest all day in the compound like true conquerors.

Walking
Saturday, September 24, 987 AD

We find the trail again and head north. We reach another river, a quite large river and rest.

House on the Danube
Sunday, September 25, 987 AD

We follow the river eastward and find a human dwelling. Catarina knocks on the door and a Greek voice answers from inside. We are invited in and an old woman tells us this river is the Danube. She mentions that three or four days ago, she was visited by a group of four women, possibly elves (even though they are extinct), heading south. We leave her and continue eastward.

Wyvern Scare
Monday, September 26, 987 AD

Walked all day long towards the east. During the third watch that night, a Wyvern flew overhead, but did not seek a battle.

Riverside
Tuesday, September 27, 987 AD

After our initial six hours walk, we see a river join the Danube from the north and a village on the juncture. We elect to bypass the town and continue on out journey.

Bankside and the Clear Glass Road
Wednesday, September 28, 987 AD

During the early morning, we see a new star emerge, as if something momentous were to occur on this day in the far, far future. We walk east and see another river join the Danube and another village at the juncture. There are also many fishermen at this part in the river. We elect to try to cross to the village and possibly resupply. Reynaldo, in Greek, asks if anybody can take us across the river. Oleg, a fisherman, responds with a yes, but if we would like to go anywhere or see anything else. He attempts to extract money from the tourists and mentions a ruin nearby. We take the bait and Reynaldo gives him 15 gold pieces with the promise of more (over everybody's objections) if he shows us this ruin. He gives the fifteen to his boatmate and agrees. He takes us to a pi-shaped structure in the middle of the forest, about an hour away from where we met Oleg. Gunther gives him another 15 gold after we uncover a glass road under the structure. We follow the glass road southeast until nightfall.

Walking on the Glass Road
Thursday, September 29, 987 AD

We walk along the glass path, digging every few feet to make sure we are still walking upon it. We encounter another pi-shaped structure, but this one's a little beat-up. We continue until nightfall.

Wyvern Dispatch
Friday, September 30, 987 AD

In the morning, two Wyverns attack, but the battle is short-lived after Nicolae blinds them both and they fly away, possibly to crash against the side of a mountain. Edward is nonetheless very hurt. We once again continue on the glass road until nightfall.

Ancient Elven City... with Leeches
Saturday, October 1, 987 AD

The path suddenly turns south and another pi-structure is found. Reynaldo gets atop this one and sees that the forest thins out towards the south. After a few hours walk, the ancient Elven city lays before us. The party immediately explores. The second building we enter is full of huge leeches. Five of them immediately attach themselves to Reynaldo, but Nicolae manages to sleep three of them and Thalia and Gunther kill the other two. Every other leech, save one that latches itself onto Nicolae, is killed on the ground. Wong, Gunther, Edward, and Thalia attempt to remove the leech from Nicolae and after numerous attempts are finally able to do so. Only Reynaldo goes down, and so the party rests outside of the city.

Codes and a Woman
Sunday, October 2, 987 AD

We go back to the leech building and clear it of all remaining leeches. Reynaldo finds writing on the wall that reads: UCTB BPLN IN VT RBCCL ENIL. Then he is told to get on a white rafter to check the ceiling out. The rafter turns out to be ceramic and cracks under Reynaldo's weight. He is pinned to the wall with the possibility of more of the building falling. He sends everybody out of the building before he attempts to extricate himself. He oils himself up and the wiggles out with nothing else falling over. They move onto the next building, which also has writing on the wall. It reads:

BLCC AMPXEEX TLTNLC LCC MIVT SVN TL H PH N G LATO L CCMP EN VT IPRD LC PN LT HPDE CA BNMD SVN MP VS LHQQDF LI VB SADQ DXEEX PNA TL

HG RCCLD PEC NMD AX QTP RS CLN THPDE SE SVN VT PLQ

In the next building, we find a very well-dressed woman who speaks Greek very well and is very curious about the outside world. She says her name is Irethazan. First she asks about Bogamils, whom she calls a heretical sect of Christianity. Then she mentions Throkianism, whom she calls a heretical sect of Islam. We become very curious about her.

End Chapter Six
Previous: Road to Kiev, Chapter Five
Next: Road to Kiev, Chapter Seven