The record of Darden, former Baron of Silver Rock
For some reason, the mystery behind Silver Rock triggered some sort of memory of the priestess of Vasari from some of her studies. She went back and looked through some aging tomes from the history of Vasari's activities within the land. She found a tale about a baron whose attempt to stop time from aging him offended Vasari greatly, so she visited him with some sorts of punishment. Vasari didn't get into details, even with her followers.
If this is the right baron, we at least have a possible explanation from the barony's disappearance and the odd time incongruity. Research will continue.
Darden.
: Darden rides into Silver Rock on his icy steed, checking to see how the rebuilding goes. While checking on workers building roads and monitoring the construction of a fountain, he notices a woman looking at the manor with interest.
Darden wanders over to the woman, intending to welcome her to Silver Rock, but is surprised when she turns to him. It's Vasari.
::Darden bows::
"Greetings Milady, you're not hear to tell me I have to leave again, are you?" he asks.
"No, Darden," she says smiling. "I realized that the curse I had placed on the barony had ended and I returned to see what was being done with it."
"A curse?"
"Aye. Have you seen the unusual feature of the stonework here? Have you wondered what it is?"
"Yes. I'm having dwarves look into it."
"That won't be necessary. I can tell you what it is. It's time."
::Darden raises an eyebrow::
"Time? The manor is made out of time?"
"Why are you so shocked?" Vasari asks. "You've fought demons made of fire and dragons made of water. What's so bizarre about a house made of time. But actually the answer is no. It's not actually made of time. The stones have been magically altered to absorb time That's what causes the shimmery effect. The original baron did it to try and outsmart me to keep from growing old. He sought immortality and thought living in such a mansion would
keep him from aging. I knew such a plan wouldn't work, but it amused me to watch his efforts. What actually ended up happening is that the stones themselves are immune to the ravages of time. But that ability doesn't pass along to anyone around it. I punished the baron and seperated the barony from time, and the rest of the lands for 500 years."
"But I see it's returned. I have heard that you had been asked to build the barony into a part of the realms. Good luck with your efforts. There is a limited supply of that stone left. Feel free to use it, but once it's gone, do not attempt to manufacture any more. I don't like mortals who play with the realm of time I am responsible for."
::Vasari turns and starts to walk away, slowly fading.::
"How did you punish that baron?" Darden asks out of curiousity.
::Vasari turns back to Darden.:: "Oh I just gave him what he wished for."
Vasari smiles a wise little smile and fades away.
I've begun obtaining ancient documents, scrolls, books, etc. in order to increase our own knowledge and fill our archives.
After an intense negotiation session with Varnius (A bartering session, not a battle--he has quite a collection of legally-obtained historical documents) I purchased several aged documents. I found parts of one set of scrolls interesting and felt I would share it with you, and explain my reasons why.
This is what I could read from the scrolls.
"After weeks of treacherous climbing (I lost one bodyguard in a rockslide), at last we are within sight of Hemnon's Anvil. We set up camp for the evening and while the others set up canvas windbreakers, I sat and watched the huge plateau, fascinated from what I could see. Huge thunderheads boiled above the plateau. Lightning rained down from the clouds constantly, striking the flat part of the Anvil, and constant booms of thunder echoed across the space between the nearby mountains. The lightning illuminated some large structure on the plateau (A keep or tower, perhaps?), but I could not see any detail. I could also make out huge winged creatures, of draconic origin, soaring around the plateau. I saw them get struck frequently with lightning, but it seemed not serve so much as a distraction to the beasts.
I must confess that my courage is waning. Hemnon and his minions aren't known for their hospitality and their militaristic attitude and frequent conflicts with the gods make this a risky endeavor. I fear I'm doing nothing but putting my life and the lives of my allies in danger. But I've come too far to turn back. Tomorrow we break camp and head to the plateau."
The scroll ends here.
Some questions raised by this scroll.
- Who are Hemnon and his minions?
- Where is Hemnon's Anvil? Does it still exist? If so, why have we not encountered it?
- What is that structure on the Anvil? What were those beasts?
- Is this place a threat to the safety of the realms? If so, why?
While I was going over some paperwork in my office today I began hearing some strange whispering sounds. I wandered around Silver Hall and discovered a strange glowing circle on the floor in the library. Much to my horror, strange phantasmal creatures came out of the portal and drifted around the room. Then, without warning, hordes of undead and demonic creatures burst out through the portal -- death dragons, bealor demons, flail beasts, and other nasty creatures.
It was a very hard fight for those Silver Rock residents who were present and ran to protect us. Unfortunately, this time our isolation played against us. Others were interested in helping destroy the undead -- unfortunately they had a very difficult time trying to find Silver Rock. As a result, it took some time for us to destroy the dark invaders. Eventually though we destroyed enough of the creatures that they were unable to maintain the portal and it collapsed.
My concern is that it was not an isolated incident. So much of the barony's past is lost to time (literally, as Vasari eliminated much recorded history of Silver Rock to punish the previous baron). I've noted some geographic anomolies in the area (they're mentioned on the notes on my desk.) Construction workers are set to begin the digging to build the archives, which coincidentally will be located under the library. We'll be keeping a close eye out to see if there's something within Silver Rock that's related to this violent incident.
Darden
