3. Journal of an Elf with Wanderlust... Mari Yuhanna's Journal

Journal of an Elf with Wanderlust... Mari Yuhanna's Journal


  • Journal of Mari Yuhanna, Inventor, Engineer, Alchemist and Wizard

    Well, I have left home and took a ship to the first place where I didn't recognise the name. I chose some place called Peltarch. Needless to say, ships on the seas and rivers are not designed with elven sensibility. While I was on the ship I did manage to improve a number of their more common devices and show some of the sailors how to maintain them. The First Mate seemed appreciative, the Captain was his ambivalent best.

    I'd write entries for each day, but they consist of waking, avoiding bringing up breakfast on the rocking ship, walking around the deck and avoiding boredom before falling asleep.

    It has been a number of weeks, I've stopped trying to keep track of the days… it's too dreary to think of the days of nausea and poor food. Most of all the lack of wine! Sailors seem to like this cocktail of poor water and some kind of horrific alcoholic mess... Needless to say it's only endearing quality is its ability to take the marks from my boots. The First Mate says we will be at Peltarch soon.

    I have arrived in Peltarch. It seems to be at least partly civilised. I wandered into the Theatre and around the Bazaar. Near a Sundial, almost in the centre of the town, I encountered a Bard by the name of William. I've forgotten the rest of his name... At any rate, we spoke and he mentioned that some nearby town had more traffic than this stone-walled city. I can't say I relished the idea of wandering the roads at night... and then he took me into strange woods. I dislike bandits, but you can't bribe a bear with coin! We made it through without an incident, probably because of good fortune more than anything... Now I am trudging through the rain to some village with a scattering of huts and some Keep with Wizards... I don't know what I might find here, but then again I came to wander and find what existed. I will slowly walk south to my homelands... I've planned for this journey back home to take roughly 35 years, so I can spare some months here around this village of Norwick and the town of Peltarch. Now to find something to read, something interesting, a new device or possibly some alchemical concoction I have not seen before...

    They may even have some wine out here, the frontier lands are said to be surprising...

    Mari Yuhanna


  • Seems I've exhausted all the libraries in this area without finding any suitable agent to use to poison the goblin population in Rawlinswood. Potentially such a plant does not grow in this region, so instead I will leave via ship in the morning to find better libraries and more learned scholars than this backwater barbarian land.

    Mari is seen heading to the docks in Peltarch in the morning and purchasing fare to Waterdeep


  • I have recently come to be in the possession of some particularly disturbing looking seeds. I am hoping that I can find some resources, either in the Spellweaver Library or in whatever other public libraries I can access in Norwick and Peltarch, to determine if these seeds are poisonous.

    If they are indeed poisonous, what lethality they have and if certain species or animals find it to be more lethal or less lethal. I'm hoping that they are particularly noxious to the greenskin races, but I have no way of determining now and I dare not plant them for fear they will not germinate and also my lack of skill with plants.


  • The last few days have confirmed my resolve on two fronts.

    Apparently the Gods don't want me, I'm sure I should have been dead many times over, yet I live. I'll assume its because they have no need for a doubter amongst their afterlife children. I will of course no doubt, now that I have voiced this, draw the attention of some deity who thinks that my soul will be a great addition to their throng of sycophants.

    Also, I curse the goblins of this region. More than once have I not only been taken by surprise by one, but then they manage to hit me in a particularly weakened place at just the moment when I choose to flee. I am determined now, to take every last option available to me to exterminate the greenskins from this region. I shall have to go looking into some rare anatomy and physiology books, especially regarding compounds poisonous to Greenskins. I'm not sure how much sense I will make of the actual anatomy, but if I can glean the alchemical information I need… then I will be one step closer. I need to find one that has no affect on normal humans, elves, dwarves and the other proper races. It will no doubt be poisonous to those of mixed orc/goblin heritage, no great loss there. The world is better without the constant reminders of goblin and orc raids. Of course, I will think of my sister and dead brothers while I organise and carry out this task.

    It will be best if it also has no affect on common animals. Then I can feed it to the deer of the wood, and liberally spread it on the pastures. Then when the goblin-kind eat of the deer, they will die. If this cannot be done, then I suppose I shall have to settle for slaughtering them with bow and blade. If I must, then I'll do that. Such an inelegant way to do it.

    I wonder if there are animals I can easily test my theories on. Possibly badgers and hawks will provide easily captured specimens. I can then apply the poisons to cooked meat and ensure they are safe for humanoid consumption. Of course I will need to start with very slight doses and check for illness, nausea and other signs of poisoning. I will of course avoid intentionally killing anyone. It may also be a good option to feed some of the poisons to livestock, particularly cattle that will produce foods that will be consumed by humanoids.

    For all of this I will need time, resources, information, more information, experiences and gold. This is going to be a long-term project, but one I will enjoy.


  • Well this has been a very… trying experience. I have been attempting to gather more resources and instead I've been forced to flee from combats. These trivial beasts I am getting from my Summoning Spells are terminally frustrating. Dire Hawks... WHO wants a useless bird! It can't cause significant damage, it dies at a strike barely stronger than a stiff wind and otherwise seems to be useless. I have heard there is some kind of arcane guidebook out there that will allow me to modify my summons to ensure I get the more useful, tougher beasts to engage in the business of melee combat on my behalf. Of course that is until some other large goonish type fellow comes past who is willing to be a living shield for myself, and potentially show some ability to kill things with weaponry.

    Barely anything of value, let alone anything to use in alchemy or enchanting, has come my way. I will need to get access to more resources, more power and more opporunity to put a significant dent into the population of those paltry pathetic goblins.


  • My journeys of late have been slow. I must spend more time investigating this Spellweavers group. When I have more experience and resources at my disposal I will begin working on a number of things.

    #1: Enchanting Items, potentially with hidden drawbacks and curses if I can. It will be hard to mask some of them I'm sure, it may be impossible to do longterm.

    #2: Manufacturing new alchemical potions. I am thinking of finding a way to mimic the stimulant nature of Coffee. But of course to continue to make coin, I will potentially need to find ways to encourage people to regularly buy these new alchemical potions. I do remember that Coffee was addictive to some and there may be options there.

    #3: Making new devices. I have not noticed the people of this backwater of civilisation using anything that was not designed for killing. There seems to be little in the way of tinkering knowledge here. If it can't be solved with an axe or an arrow… then magic is the solution. Unfortunately this may be the worst place to begin my quest to invent some truly universal devices. I may have to just resort to enchanting items and alchemical potions to fund my future journeys.

    However, around here the town guard seem to be useless. Half the roads are run by bandits, the other half seem to be run by goblins. What's worse, stepping outside the walls seems to be to step into the maw of goblins, undead or violent beasts. There has been no broad settling influence of civilisation here. Looking at the town guard, seems to only prove my point. They are barely better than alcoholic thugs; they drink marginally less and are marginally less surly. One of their leadership, Albryanna, seems relatively agreeable but tired of herding her cats around. The "chain of command" found in proper armies and proper guards is non-existant. I've seen more organisation from an Orc Warband; at least the lesser ranked orcs seem to know their 'sergeants' will cut their head from their shoulders if they run in cowardice before Elven archers. As usual the flighty humans, with their heads full of their own percieved longevity and glory, are the worst offenders.

    I am curious how the Wolf-Druids keep their glades, or circles or whatever they call them in this part of the world, free of the ever-present goblins. It may be that they have instilled a superstitious fear in the short-lived green-skins. Perhaps we need to do more of that to keep them further from the gates of this fortified tavern called Norwick.

    I will endeavour to spend more effort on getting my gold reserves up. This may require simple goblin-extermination, though while rather common does provide a certain... satisfaction. I'd prefer to be doing it through enchanting and alchemy but these take time and effort and research and resources I do not have.

    Mari Yuhanna the Blue


  • I've now been on two separate journeys down to where the goblins appear to live. They come in numbers, as goblins always do. This is starting to explain the intense assault I saw on the walls.

    I made a little deal with Jerrick; I stop poking his bears and he's willing to act as my escort on these trips. Seems fair to me - we're making each other's lives a little easier. The goblins have a mixed variety of loot; everything from coal to pickaxes to weapons to gemstones of value. I may also spend some more time hunting to acquire food, instead of wasting coin with the innkeeper for that dried out roasted chicken they sell.

    Other interesting things have been happening. I'm learning a lot about who is who and what they can do (or can't do).

    I will need to make sure I keep some good protective spells around me in the future. I'll have to send a letter to the Professor of Illusions and ask him for some moderate theory, especially in things like false terrain and invisibility. I'll work on invisibility in particular during my spare time, I suspect I will need it to escape from Werewolves, or Vampires, or Malarites…


  • It looks like those Malarites are little better than snarling wolves. One of those Malarites, I've forgotten his name because it is truly irrelevant, threatened to take out my tongue today. I'll remember that and gleefully take the opportunity to put that little puppy in place. In the meantime I will need to prepare myself for that day and improve my skills in both combat and arcane knowledge; hopefully that Jerrick will keep the puppy on a short leash until then. Maybe it will learn to stop snarling and stop pissing on every tree it finds… Don't know if Jerrick is a Malarite, he at least seems to be better behaved and well trained.

    I like Kylar, he's both got a sense of humour and a little clarity in his head. Smart old man. Don't know if he's somehow tangled in this broad druidic/ranger mess; if he is then he is keeping his nose out of the main pissing contest.

    There seems plenty of those insects around nearby, I'll practice on them and I'm sure the graveyard will hold various undead. I strolled that way and saw an animated skeleton so either there are evil necromancers around with plenty of spare time or that graveyard is housed with numerous tortured souls that wake the dead time and time again.

    Well, I should put some of my alchemical and engineering studies on hold. But I do think I should potentially work on some alchemical assistance; maybe something to increase strength, endurance or speed. I will have to spend time in the library reading on medicine and alchemy.

    Mari Yuhanna


  • Let me describe most of the last few days… very very amusing if nothing else. Clearly the Norwick Guards are chosen for their calm, rational, exemplary knight-like behaviour. Locrian, henceforth to be called Mr Bannister, took offence at me reminding those nearby of his recent fall from a balcony after being attacked by a vicious raven. After he took offence, I spent the next few days in the local jail until Albryanna decided that I was to be released.

    That Locrian is... a hothead and will no doubt get into trouble again with someone else... possibly someone who will kill him.


  • Today I met a few… interesting... people. It looks like the local druids and rangers are little better than timber wolves peeing on trees for territory, howling at each other and biting off each other's ears. Bah the whole thing is a stupid spectacle. Hopefully next time they'll keep their squabbling dogs outside the walls. And then I met... Mr Peacekeeper.

    Mr Peacekeeper the Slayer of Oscura. That title is more long-winded and useless than the Professor of Arcane Divinations Into Lunchtimes and Homework. About as pointless. Probably just means he issues the beatings and kickings in this "Oscura" place. Goes around wearing red armour and big spikes... Woohoo Hero of the People... Of course the solution to every problem is to summon a green slaad and bait someone into fighting it. Clearly he was chosen for his GREAT and ALL-SURPASSING intellect! The Scholar! The Great Drizzt the Second! Defender such as has not been seen since Torm and Helm!

    At any rate, I have found where the colonies of Crypt Beetles and some nearby wolves are. I'll do what I can to keep their numbers down, but then Wizards are not known for standing toe-to-toe with their enemies... And today, like many before and no doubt many after... I'll be seen running full speed for the fort.

    Mari Yuhanna


  • Well apparently the goblins around here are very aggressive and have aggressive friends. It seemed like nearly 100 of them assaulted the south gate of Norwick along with spellcasters, hobgoblins, orcs, devilish birds and even an earth elemental. Those lessons in outerplanar beings at College have proved themselves useful for something other than passing the Wizard's exams.

    Several of the fighters in town will no doubt have a nice array of new scars after todays fighting. Most seemed to acquit themselves well, I aided in bringing down a number of goblins with both my bow and the wand I brought with me. Many of the fighters in this part of the world seem a little foolish… charging away from the assistance of a number of archers and spellcasters off into the mists to chase after the enemy. A few of them were caught and I was injured by some kind of magical area effect spell... I failed to notice the caster until I'd been significantly injured.

    After the combat, while many others were tending to their wounds, I think I finally figured out how to make that faster-reloading crossbow I've been drafting on and off since I was taking engineering classes. Drawing the string by hand and having to load the bolt by hand all seemed to be too clumsy for me. I've drawn up a way to do it all with levers and simple metal components. Now with the design I have, I'm going to try find more accomplished craftsmen who will aid me in turning this drawing into a reality.


  • Well, It seems like I will be spending my days in this region migrating between Peltarch and Norwick… My fear of bears is lessened, but the keep along the forest path makes me calm but also more concerned... Keeps aren't just built because a local noble has a few too many coins in his treasury...

    At any rate, I have met a number of more people and certainly things are getting more interesting...