A Land Far Away

((My first story in this forum! Yay! Before I begin, I'll warn you that I'm not the... most experienced writter, although I do enjoy it. Anyway, based on my latest character, although he'll probably die before anything great or adventerous will happen))



Ah, Shieldmeet - the one celebration of the year that no one would miss. Well, maybe not the only one, but certainly one of the more important ones. There’s also Highharvestide, Midsummer, Greengrass, and of course the full moon celebrations that we have, well, once a lunar cycle. Then of course there are the holydays of Yondalla and her children, and family birthday celebrations, but they go without saying! Anyway, Shieldmeet is by far, not only the most important of them, as it only happens once every four years, but also the funnest!

Folks from all over the country side gathered together. It was the one time that our sleepy little burrow became truly alive, as we were able to put on the best show in the entire country! In the entire Faerun! You see, Great Uncle Jimmy was an adventurer back in his youth, and managed to quite a fortune. Rumor has it that under his small cramped burrow that he shares with Great Aunt Mari and her sisters, just east of town, there are caverns and caverns, all filled with riches far past any dream! They are true, you know. No one believes me, but I have seen them with my own two eyes!

It was a few years back now – 8 to be exact. This time 8 years ago, just before the Shieldmeet festival that year. Eri and I were, of course, really looking forward to it! It was the first year they had let me play, and Eri had been asked to help out with some of the illuminations. Aunt Mari, some how, managed to catch us and asked us to go and fetch Old Jimmy from his house. Well, the next thing we knew we’d found our way into this cave – we’d never known about it before, in fact, no one I knew did! It was just suddenly there! Takes a Redfoot to find these things. More specifically, it takes an Eri Redfoot leading you down the wrong path to find it.

So there we were, in this dark, dark cave! Luckily for us, Cousin Eri knew a few tricks or two using that magic stuff, and soon had her cloak glowing like the day. It was a dark damp cave – like the types you read about in stories, where the evil monsters always hide! Foul orcs, murderous goblins, treacherous Cultists. You name it and I can point to a story where they hide in these sorts of caves! But then I could point to a story where just about anything happens. I’ve always had a great love for stories! It’s so fascinating to read about dragons, knights and poor helpless maidens, or paladins of Tyr leading the armies of good against those dark evil creatures that were spat out by the lowest hells!

So, as I was saying, there we were, in this dark, dark cave! Luckily for us… hmm, this sounds familiar. Where was I? That’s right! We were just opening that door. It was a strange door, looking back on it - red glowing runes all around the frame. Just as I pulled the handle down, a bright glowing light burst from the door and… well, that’s unimportant. As I was saying before, Old Jimmy had quite a fortune, so was able to even pay for some of those Human Wizards to come up from Beluir to make a load of illusions. Dancing lights, spinning music, flying fairies! The lot! It was really quite a show – much better than any of the other towns for miles and miles around!

On this particular Shieldmeet, just after I had finished the opening dancing (yes! That’s right! Old Jimmy, bless him, let ME play the opening dance!) I caught site of this young lass. Well, she wasn’t so young, probably even a year or two older than myself. But what caught my eye was the small fact that I’d never seen her before. Now, for all you Big Folk out there reading this, that may sound like nothing unusual, but when you’ve spent your life living in a place like Luiren, you’ll know what I mean. So, I quickly went over and introduced myself, as one does. Before long we were dancing and having a jolly time. But the next thing I knew along marches Great Aunt Mariand comes and takes this poor lass off to Yondalla knows where.

The night proceeded quickly after that, and before long things began quieting down. Me and Eri were busy sweeping up the kitchen (from playing the opening dance to sweeping the kitchen – how degrading is that, I ask you? I guess it’s what happens when you try and sneak off with one of those tasty pies! It was worth it though!) when we got onto the topic of this strange lass. Turns out Eri had noticed her too. Before long we had decided that we’d go and find her, and somehow rescue her from the clutches of Great Aunt Mari.

Don’t get me wrong, Great Aunt Mari is a wonderful person and all. She just has this tendency to talk and talk, and drift carelessly from one subject to the next, and before long completely forgot the point that she was making. It really can get quite annoying! I don’t know how her sisters still can live with her! Ah, I’ve done it again! What was I saying? Ah yes, there we are. Searching for this strange lass…

After a bit of sniffing around, not literally of course, we found out that Great Aunt Mari had taken her off to the local Shrine for a chat. This isn’t completely unheard of, the Shrine is generally considered one of the places people can go and talk in peace and quiet, without having people interrupt them.

Me and Eri... Eri and I, sorry, quickly sneaked our way up the hill overlooking the shrine, and there they were! It was quite a beautiful place, truth be told. Really lush, green grass, with nice wild flowers all around, then of course the shrine itself sitting in the middle of the little valley and today with glowing coloured lights floating magically through the air! And there they were, sitting on the grass, talking.

Eri muttered something softly under her breath, and a carefully aimed ball of magic was launched through the air, striking one of those glowing balls just behind Great Aunt Mari. BANG! Oh, hearing her scream brought upon the greatest laughing fit I’d had in a long, long while! Only that sharp pain you get when someone grabs you forcefully by the air snapped me back into a sober state. Oh, was she in a foul mood!

Before we knew what had hit us, we’d been volunteered to accompany – no, we’d been volunteered to go a few days ahead of this poor lass, making sure the journey back home was safe for her! Turns out she was some distant relation of Great Aunt Mari who was visiting our homeland from some far northern village, a few days march outside of this Baldur’s Deep city or what ever it was called.

We had to head south west, that very dawn (which was, you might like to know, only two hours away by that stage!) to Beluir, then to catch a boat to… well, you don’t want to know the details, I’m sure. Let me just say it was long, tiresome, and made me decide to keep my two feet upon solid ground from this point onwards.

So, in short, that was the story of how we ended up in the mythical city of Skullport. Skullport, you ask? Well, read on and find out!

A door squeaked slightly as a small figure poked his head out, casting light across the dark, damp street.

“Tobi! Tobi! Where are you?! Is that you there Tobi!?”

“Yes Eri! Of course it is. Keep your voice down, you’ll wake people up!”

“Tobi! You should know better than wandering off on your own like that! You could get lost or… worse! Skullport is a dangerous place, remember, not like back home! I don’t want you to leave my site again – you do remember what Great Aunt Mari said, don’t you?”

A grin slowly crossed Tobi’s face as he glanced across the dark street of Waterdeep.

“Yes, I’m sorry Eri. Skullport is a very dangerous place. You know, the thing that has amazed me the most since we arrived here are the stars.”

“The stars?” Eri glanced skyward, peering at the stars. “What about them? They look normal”

“Exactly! They must be shinning very bright to seem normal when we’re miles under ground!”

“Why do you think it’s called Skullport for!? You should have paid more attention to Old Jimmy’s stories, shouldn’t you? Anyway, it’s getting late, let’s find an inn”

“Alright, alright. Let me just finish giving the tailor instructions for my new clothes. Can’t arrive there wearing these old things, can we now!”

A laugh erupted from Tobi, as he closed the door and went back inside the Waterdeep Tailor’s shop.

“Arrive where?! Where are we going!? Come back here Tobi and tell me!”

Eri yelled after him. A few moments later the door squeaked open again, and a small head poked out, wearing a grin from ear to ear on its face.

“Looks like someone else didn’t listen to Great Aunt Mari, doesn’t it?”

With that the door slammed shut, plunging the street of Waterdeep back into darkness.


* * *


So there we were, waving goodbye to the City of Splendor, or what ever those vain Big Folk call it! Our stay had been short but pleasant, even if flees had bitten all night long! And the food we had put a bad name to all food ever made, even the food made by Cousin Eric, which is saying something! But I’ve never been one to complain!

So there we were, waving goodbye to the City of Splendor – the greatest human city north of Amn, or so I’m told. A city that songs are sung about throughout the world. A city that we’ll more than likely never ever see again, due to the perils of the journey we were under taking. And do you know what Eri said? Some great memorable comment, that Bards for ages to come would quote in their ballads of Eri and Tobi the Greats? No! Some wise, deep comment that Sages throughout the multiverse would marvel at? No! I believe her exact words were “Those clothes look silly, Tobi. They make you look like a beetle.”

“A beetle?!” I laughed. “What a silly thing to say! Cousin Eric use to wear clothes like this all the time!”

“Of course he did! And he looked like a beetle as well.”

“Well, never mind who looks like a beetle. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us if we want to get to the next inn tonight – I don’t really fancy spending another night sleeping under a hedge!”

“Why? Where are we going?” A slight surprise was in Eri’s voice, and I must admit a grin crossed over my face.

“North, of course; like Great Aunt Mari said.”

“North? Oh, we’re headed to Cormyr! I’ve always wanted to go there.”

I think it might pay for me to spend a few moments to tell you about Eri at this point. Eri Redfoot is my third cousin on my mum’s side. Or was it my uncle’s cousin’s niece? Well, let’s just say that we are related some how or another! Both of us spent our childhood mostly in the same Warren. She is a few years older than me, but we’ve always go on great! As the saying goes, we were best friends since before we were born. Now, of course, that is impossible, but it feels like that.

I wrote a short song about her once, which I’ve copied the first verse below. I think it explains her better than my words here ever could!

Eri, Eri, that little rat,
Ever since I first knew her she was always quite fat.
She’s eat and eat, and grow and grow,
Perhaps one day she might EXPLODE!

Of course, she wasn’t really fat. In fact, she was always quite skinny. Nor did she eat a lot and she certainly didn’t have a long tail, so couldn’t have been a rat either. But apart from those small errors, I think it describes her nicely! I’ve still got a bump on my head from the first time I sung it to her, while we were on the road a few hours outside of Waterdeep. Her pet Raven, Redwing the Vile, seemed to find it funny, even if she didn’t.

Eri, to put it one way, isn’t the best map reader around. She was never too keen on geography. The number of times we found ourselves wandering into the wrong persons burrow, or getting lost in a forest when we were out picking berries by the river! So, when Great Aunt Mari told us we were going to go to this Haven Hill Warren, you can see why Great Aunt Mari instantly told me to follow Eri’s orders. “Eri’s in charge, Tobi! You listen to everything she says, won’t you?” That’s how we ended up in Skullport, when we were really in Waterdeep, or how we set off north out of Waterdeep towards Cormyr and arrived in a small town to the north of Waterdeep, called Triboar. Or at least I arrived there. Alone.

Good story! Funny! Makes me laugh! You (yes, YOU!) should read it!

And incidentally, I'm Eri.

The dark figure nodded, sadness ingrown deep in his eyes, as the fire threw dancing shadows across his face.

"Yes, there is a war there."

"Ah, you are a refugee then, sir?"

"No, I am not. I am a healer," the stranger smiled slightly. "I am just taking a break. It gets very tiring"

"Oh, a healer, you say? The art of healing is a great gift indeed."

"Gift? I would hardly call it that."

"But it is. Think about it - how much joy and pleasure can you bring to so many peoples lives with just one simple act of healing?"

"I guess if you look at it that way."

"So what is Silverymoon like? My Great Uncle Jimmy use to tell tales of a magical bridge there!"

The stranger chuckled. "Yes. The Moonbridge. It truely is an amazing site. By day, it appears as if you're walking on nothing. Yet by moonlight, it is the most amazing site you will ever see. The entire thing glows with energy of brilliant shades of blue and silver. It's things like that that make the war worthwhile."

"That would make a great painting!"

"It would. There are many famous paintings of the bridge at night."

"At night? I'm talking about at day!"

"Well... there wouldn't be much to paint during day."

The small hin laughed, as he looked into the flames.

"That's the point! I've never been good at painting!"


* * *


Ah, Silverymoon, the Gem of the North. The first thing I noticed on the way there was how cold things get! The very first day I arrived it began to snow! I'd never seen snow before this, making it a day for the record books. Uncle Jimmy had told us about it though, as we use to sit around listening to his tales back home. Much to warm back there for anything like this. But in Silverymoon, now that's a different matter!

So I did the smart thing - I went in search of some nice warm fur clothes. You'd expect upon arriving in such a cold place there would be merchants all over the gates swarming you trying to sell their latest designer warm clothes, or at the very least some helpful guard to point you in the direction of somewhere warm. But was there? No, of course not! After spending a good half hour, wading through knee deep snow (well, not quite knee deep, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference if it was!) I finally found it!

Streching out far across that great river streched.. well, nothing. But that was the joy of it! I ran out across the bridge, and sat down right in the middle, looking over the side of the river. A serious looking person past me as I was sitting there, carrying a sword and shield with him. I'd later find out his name was Horace Klein, although he doesn't know I over heard him whispering it yet. With such a serious look on his face I decided I'd try and bring a smile to him, or at the very least a push into the freezing cold water for me, and threw a nicely made snow ball at him. Tymora must have closed her eyes that moment, or prehaps she was smiling upon me - either way, the snow ball flew way over head, missing him completely!

Well, I scurried the rest of the way across the bridge, and soon found myself standing at the door of none other than a furier shop! Ducking inside to the warmth of an open fire, I quickly puchased myself a nice warm fur cloak and boots! Nothing better to keep the cold off, I was told. I guess only time will tell if that's true or not.

So there I was, lost in Silverymoon (and this time Eri didn't get me lost! That's certainly a tale to tell!) with a brand new fur cloak, boots and only a few coins left in my pocket; one of which soon went to a friendly young lad I met who was training to be a wizard.

But my luck continued to hold. Before long I over heard a convosation about some expedition! Sounded like an adventure for sure, and what's an adventure without a Redfoot along to the ride? A hunt for crystals, it turned out to be. Now, you may be asking yourself, what's so hard about hunting objects? You see, the trouble is when the objects are located in dark, dark caves, somewhere way off the road! Espcially when you get such confusing directions. Head out the gate; turn left here; turn right there; hop up and down on one foot, spinning in a clockwise direction. Yeah, you get the point.

Despite the silly directions the company is certainly friendly enough. Two charming young ladies, Elm and Lindy. Elm, a healer who worked on her uncles farm, and Lindy a scribe from Waterdeep, on the run because of some nastey business back there. Then there was a travelling merchant I met in Triboar. Well, he wasn't so much of a travelling merchant, he actaully wanted to start up a tobaco store in Silverymoon - seems his plans in Triboar fell through. Then there was Horace, the over serious boring person I mentioned earlier. I did end up getting him with a snow ball - that got a few laughs! And how can I forget the two dwarves. Can't say I know much about them, but dwarves are dwarves are dwarves are dwarves are...

Anyway, as I was saying, that's how I ended up there. Now we just need a flashy name for the bards to sing in ages come!