3. A Lone Swordsman: Journal of Thersos Sphaerideion

A Lone Swordsman: Journal of Thersos Sphaerideion


  • Narfell, such a long way from Chessenta. Yet, I feel at home here…there is a calmness that does not exist in Akanax. I have met many people including a woman that also hails from Akanax, Anna Sigerlson. I feel I am becoming involved in something more, something greater, than the constant wars that make Chessenta the divided land that it is. Like any land, however, Narfell has its faults, if that is what you could call it. There is something strange about these lands, and its people. I’ve seen more bizarre things than I care to remember. The people are another story…I suppose being disconnected from the rest of Faerun, Narfell attracts those with hidden agendas and strange behaviors. Still, there seem to be plenty of good-hearted people around. As I make friends and acquaintances, I’m finding out who I can trust…and who I cannot. Sometimes it is not so easy to see, but if there is one thing I have learned in Akanax besides the art of combat and war, it is that appearances can be deceiving.

    ((Note: the first few posts involve things that happened a couple of months ago, took me awhile to get around to posting this))


  • Of the few friends I have, there are two I know I can always trust. Cecil de Arnis, cleric of Helm, and his soon-to-be wife Arielle, a strong but kind warrior. We've gone many places as a group, and they have helped me find my way and a sense of purpose I've been searching for. Just yesterday I was with Cecil, Arielle, and a half-orc named Haji Stormrage. We were in the Central Plains, southwest of Jiyyd, and came across a cave. Haji was eager to see what was inside, so we went in and discovered a huge cavern infested with several dozens of giant spiders. Haji wanted to keep exploring, so we fought our way to the ends of the cavern, and Cecil and I both nearly lost our lives. I felt somehow worse than dead, but still living…we had underestimated the spiders. We had to fight our way out through more spiders, and Cecil fell in the fight. Arielle broke down in tears and I suddenly found the strength to carry his body and keep moving...I was determined to get out of this cave. Haji showed great strength in battle, and somehow remained unscathed, while Arielle and I were bleeding badly with near-mortal wounds. We left the cave and hurried back to Jiyyd when Cecil's body I was carrying vanished into nothingness. Helm had given him another chance, and he greeted us in Jiyyd, to our amazement. The gods seem to grant many second chances around here. Later...Haji and I were talking in Norwick. He said I was afraid in battle, that I had stepped back from the fight a couple of times. I have tried to be an honorable warrior all my life and I know I've never ran away from a fight, but perhaps this time fear got to me, I'm not sure. Perhaps I give the impression of being somewhat cowardly? If so, well…that explains other things. Nonetheless, I will try to find some way to be a leader, and show the people here my strength and skill in war.


  • Since the chicken incident, I've been wandering the lands by myself. I thought I was finding a purpose here…but now I feel as if I have none. Perhaps it is my trouble in love that is giving me this feeling of uselessness. I had grown somewhat close to Anna and thought she had feelings for me, and then find out she's involved with another man, Quinn Daemonfire. I seem to be making up for the fact that I can't be with Anna by thinking I have feelings for other women I know, but it must be only lust...as my mind keeps wandering back to Anna. An old Chessentan myth tells of a grand war caused for love...and in my darker moments I've been tempted to start one myself. I spend my days sitting around Norwick, watching the people go by with nothing to do. I've traveled to Jiyyd and Peltarch alone several times in search of something, anything, to give me a feeling of purpose. Occasionally I travel with others...but I never have anything of interest to say or discuss. I find myself as a lone swordsman.


  • A few nights ago, I was talking to a pretty, and somewhat shy, woman named Cailah and the well-known Wald Kent, nearby the well. Wald seemed rather curious about me, as he was asking questions about my past and somehow we started discussing values and morales. But then a few moments after he left…and as strange as this may sound, chickens began jumping out of the well. Cailah, a bizarre little man I would come to know as Sedrick, a few others and I were there when it happened. Strangely enough, the chickens really didn’t do anything, except for a couple that started biting Sedrick, but they were quickly killed. Jandor Norwick came out and called upon me to take the remaining chickens to a supposed chicken master in Ormpur. Only now I realize how ridiculous all this sounds, and the events that followed were stranger than anything I’ve witnessed in my life. Cailah was willing to help, and so was Sedrick. So the three of us set out for Ormpur with seven or eight chickens following us. We lost a few chickens to the bandits we passed, and I knew we would need to find more help. There was a large group at Sam’s hill, and we were greeted with strange looks. I explained our situation, and after being laughed at a Dwarven cleric of Helm, named Gorren, joined us. We arrived in Jiyyd to have more strange looks casted our way, but there Gorren found a friend, named Grimm, and convinced him to join us. A moment later we nearly lost him, as he got into an argument with a couple of half-orcs that were determined to either take his gold or kill him. I convinced Grimm it wasn’t worth it to kill these two, and we finally reached the East Road to Ormpur. The two half-orcs followed us awhile, making empty threats…but the wildlife seemed to catch their attention and they went off hunting. Perhaps they just had a case of bloodlust, who knows. So there we stood before the next leg of our journey, Cailah, Sedrick, the two dwarves Gorren and Grimm, our six remaining chickens, and I. Worgs and winter wolves lay ahead, but when we encountered them Gorren and Grimm displayed their skill with the axe and kept most of the chickens from harm. Still, some of the worgs got past us and killed most of our chickens; either the winter wolves or the worgs had a call that sent most of us into a daze, I’m not quite sure. We reached Ormpur with one chicken left, which suddenly breathed fire on the dwarves. The dwarves almost killed the last chicken themselves, but Cailah and I managed to keep them from doing so. Sedrick, in the meantime, took the chicken into his arms and started calling it his own, I noticed a dark nature about him. We passed the gates only to meet a man who seemed deathly afraid of our chicken. He told us where to find this chicken master, before running off. He had said there was a cave just outside Ormpur, where the chicken master lived. I had never seen Ormpur…but there was not much to see. A few houses and an inn, and people that clearly did not like our presence. We moved on to the cave, when Sedrick ran ahead with the chicken into the cave and we lost sight of him. When the rest of us entered, we heard him scream from far off. We found Sedrick laying at a man’s feet, unconscious. The man who stood over him introduced himself as Hoss the chicken master…it was one of the oddest things I’d ever heard. He was hostile to us at first, but after we explained our situation he concluded there was a demon controlling the remaining plagued chicken. The two dwarves threatened to kill the chicken again, but showed restraint. Hoss explained that he could remove the demon in a ritual, and had us all stand in a circle. If we broke the circle, the ritual would be broken as well. The ritual was successful, if the chicken turning into a…demon chicken…can be considered a success. We fought it off while Hoss disappeared, and in the fight I nearly lost my life. Cailah saved me with her healing, that none of us knew she had, and we returned to Ormpur to find Hoss drunk and surrounded by chickens. We left him be and went to the inn to celebrate our bizarre victory…everything after that I can’t really recall, but there were dozens of ale bottles on the floor. The dwarves must have had a drinking contest.