September 10 - Aftermath

We have driven off the Norse, but at a terrible cost. More Bobs lay rotting in the field than return to Hommlet. The locals celebrated our victory, but the festivities were subdued with the specter of death and the very real fear of more warfare in the Spring. Until the next campaign season, Hommlet can rest, but every household mourns a father, son or brother; they prepare for a hard and lonely winter. I have ugly memories of the battle and can find no respite here. It had been my intention to ride off with haste, but Tyr'n convinced me to wait for him to teleport me and save weeks of travel.

As for our own party, we have few complaints. Sorak has claimed another trophy: a priest/bard this time, none of our company were slain (although Tyr'n's acid arrow wound nearly finished him off) and we have divided the recent spoils with our usual zeal. I have taken a Cloak of Protection for myself, a worthy prize, not the least because I saw Sorak eying it this past week.
We have a busy itinerary: I will visit my parents in Sweden and while there, find a worthy literary instructor to help me with my burgeoning poetry. Then it is off to Switzerland to visit the famous Dwarven armories. There, we will have our white-dragon scale fitted. I don't expect a warm welcome among the Dwarves, but fortunately their love of gold out-paces their hatred of the Elves. Finally, Tyr'n and I will arrive at the Portal, our ultimate destination, where I will rest and write. I will not leave there until at least early May.

If the Norse return, Hommlet will have to manage without me. I have other plans for the Summer, but I dare not put them down on paper here. I suspect certain party members have been reading my journal. Whoever you are, may you join Prindel in Faerie hell!

To Man

May your kingdom outlast memory,
A slow death old in bed,
To reflect upon the struggle,
And pass on wisdom in its stead.

But remember that long after,
The elves remain and sing,
Of Man! the cursed and mortal,
Who died more than he lived.

September 5th - Practice

When have I last lifted a sword for practice instead of battle? While the wizards held a final meeting to make sure their tactics were in order (they are not, but what is that to me?), Sorak persuaded me to put down my journal and take a few cuts in the yard. We grabbed blunted longswords, wooden shields, and donned leather armour. Some Bobs gathered round to watch the spectacle of two Elves in a friendly duel. I suppose he had good reason for it, since he fights so often in complete darkness, but the crowd thought it a tremendous stunt when Sorak also donned a blindfold. “Come on Fjord, don't you want to learn a new skill? You fight beside me, and you're going to need it.”

“When do I ever fight beside you, anyhow? You're usually flying through the air or prancing around with the wizards.” I took an easy swing at his body and he spun away, slashing at me from the side, but I lifted my shield in the nick of time.

“Oh ho! So that's your problem, is it? Feeling left out?” He lunged at me, attempting to spear my ribs, but I slapped his sword aside and dodged behind him. For a moment's whisper, he didn't know where I was and I kicked him in the back. He staggered forward a few steps but I didn't get a chance for another shove. Again he spun away and this time came at me full tilt. I raised my shield to block the swing I thought was coming, but instead he slammed his shoulder into me and knocked me to the ground.

“Bloody Swede! Don't you forget who's stronger here! We're supposed to be working on swordsmanship” I rolled away and came to my feet in time to greet his rain of blows. He knocked the sword out of my hand and mercilessly pounded on my armour and shield until I again fell down and suddenly his sword was at my throat.

“I guess I win the first round.” Some of the Bob's hooted and cheered. Still blindfolded, he kicked my sword in the air with his boot, sheathed his own and caught mine, all in one fluid motion. I gathered myself up and he handed me my sword hilt first. Feeling slightly humiliated, I backed off to collect myself. Sorak took off his blindfold and looked at me earnestly.

“Honestly though, I know how it must seem. You look at me as some pawn of these magic makers, following their orders as blindly as I often fight. I know you judge me.”

“It isn't the magic that bothers me, my cousin, nor do I judge you any more harshly than I judge myself. It is simply that these young mortals are rash in their decisions. For a group that has been through so much death and bloodshed in so short a time, there seems to be no perspective, no reflection on our purpose here. A wizard, a druid, a bard and a Half-orc are right now locked in a room, as you said, moving us around on a map as if we were pawns. Yet, their ages put together don't add to even one of us.”

“It is their war, Fjord.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Well, I am here to bring misery and death to the Norse. I thought we at least agreed on that.”

“We did, Sorak, we did. Gods know, I have even more reason to hate the Norse than you do, but I grow weary of our methods.”

“Well, you did die a few days ago. That can't be a pleasant experience for an Elf. Perhaps you need a break.”

“Perhaps I do.”

“But remember this, my Scandinavian kin, I am no pawn. Every order I have ever received was interpreted as a suggestion. I am my own Elf.”

We fought the next round without the blindfold or the tension. He was stronger; I was quicker. His experience was barely matched by my fencing skills. The Bobs were treated to a fine dance as we slashed and parried and whirled, and although I managed to poke him a few times with subtle feints and counters, he slowly wore me down. In battle, it wouldn't have taken him long at all. Not to mention that his sword would have us dueling in a sphere of darkness.

Perhaps I should learn blind-fighting.

September 5th - Dragon Slaying

My heart just wasn't in it. It was everything I look for in a mission: a worthy foe, excellent coordination, a specific and daring objective, and gods yes, an exit strategy that we all agreed upon. Even Kheops the Paladin, he whom we often had to drag out of the temple (unconscious or otherwise), was satisfied with just the dragon. And what a dragon it was! An elder white with breath as cold as the Scandinavian dawn and a tail that could snap a troll in two. It was almost beautiful. The tracers of light from Euranna's swings inscribed a composition of bravado and glory in the crisp midnight, punctuated with roars of agony from the great lizard as the blade bit into the neck.

I even bring home a souvenir – enough hide to fashion a new suit of beautiful white scale to match the well-worn black. Sorak grinned at me like a madman as he carved out his own piece. “It's better quality than the black, you know. If those fucking Norse think they can't lay a finger on me now, just wait until they meet me wearing this!” Good ol' Sorak, priorities always in the right place.

Speaking of madmen, Helmut swaggered up to me as we prepared to leave, laughing at some private jest with his sword (which, he claims, talks to him in a voice that only he can hear) “Hey Fjord, wanna lick my sword clean? HAR!” But as I stated, my heart wasn't in it. The usual snide comebacks weren't forthcoming, and I didn't feel like playing along by actually having a taste of the blood. Instead, I ignored him, and he was soon distracted by an opportunity to make offensive gestures toward Kella. “Maybe she'd like to lick my sword, eh? Or she might if her face wasn't buried between Cedrica's legs all the time. HAR!”

The thrill of victory eluded me. I had hoped that rushing back into battle would be therapeutic after my death at the hands of that vile lich. The humiliation of dying with nary a scratch on me was a chilling reminder that each moment was heavy with mortality. Why would the gods give any individual the power to kill without contact? A wave of a hand, a few dark mutterings and Fjord falls lifeless to the earth. What prevents this from happening again? They tell me they got him in the end, that the battle was a great victory. It consoles me not at all. And slaying this dragon wasn't slaying my inner demons.

It won't be long before the real battle begins. Time to put these thoughts aside. Soon I can rest, but for now, the daily bloodbath continues.

Memories of the Temple

I remember the trolls bleeding bile and burning,
I remember the smoke rolling through the deep,
choking out the darkness, challenging vitality.

I remember the window into heaven,
the nonchalance of those semi-deities,
the break from the norm of slaughter and downward traversing.

The final curtain, the human gods and their fantastical struggle,
the wonder in Kheops' eyes. In my century of life, can I say I have seen stranger?

I remember it all, except ...
Why did I come in the first place?

September 3rd - Resurrection

The giant had fallen, in which I had some small part. With no other foe to challenge me in melee, I sheathed my sword and pulled out my bow, intent on snagging earthward some vain enemy who had managed to kiss the sky. Unscathed, unnerved, unwavering, I bent the bow and ...

died.

And suddenly I was alive and well and back in Sweden. There was Tyr'n observing me with his cool, dispassionate eyes, his hands hidden within the folds of his robe. Another priest of his order (a master, I discover later, and the one responsible for bringing me back) exhaled in relief, nodded at Tyr'n and excused himself.

This was no house of Elrond, full of life and song, but a cave of surgical purpose, dark and dreary, clean yet saturated with the stench of death. There was light, but it seemed to draw the shadows in rather than cast them away. I had never seen Tyr'n look so comfortable as he didhere. We were both in Sweden, but only one of us was truly home.

"You passed away, but have now returned. Rise, there is work to do." I never expected Tyr'n to smile, and he didn't, but can a Elvish Necromancer make a joke?

And then I remember seeing Prindle drop lifeless to the ground in much the same fashion as I must have. "How is our little cousin?"

"He has gone wherever Pixies go when a Lich would see him dead." Poor, sweet, inane Prindle. He had nothing to trade for life, like my own potion of longevity.

"And so it was the Lich after all?"

"Of course. A powerful spell. You should consider yourself honoured to fall to such a worthy foe."

By now I'd gotten off the bed and I was reaching for my gear. "All wizards are cowards. I have looked every being I have killed in the eye."

Tyr'n nodded and this time he did smile. "So have I. But some I have had to ... animate after the fact in order to accomplish the task."

I intend to work out my frustration on Norse armies.

Longsword

You North have found the right of it,
The sword must needs be long,
But ere you hammered your first iron flat,
We had put our great steel into song.

My favourite, Anor, that fell from the sun,
Tempered by Tethrin Veralde',
Wielded to end a great darkness that gripped
Our shores and our skies and our vals.

A Song for the Lich

Can that which is dead die again?
Undead is different you say?
Living or no, bone shall eat steel,
Euranna! I'll sing as I swing.

September 1st - Prindle Day

A voice in the dark: "Let today be known as Prindle Day!" Today I donned my new Elvish chain. A nice fit. Nice and free after months in the dragon scale. There was this tree-climbing "incident" where it came in handy. Gods know I would still be on the ground being eaten, left for dead by my party, if I had been unable to climb.

Damned wolves. What have they left in my blood? And that nerdy gnome and his fortress cube; of all the times to be experimenting! These wizards and priests will be the death of me - our side or theirs, it seems to make no difference.

August 27th - Ashes

So the Temple of Elemental Evil has burned for its sins. Now what comes? A Norse army, intent on stamping out yet another wildfire, some undead monster with bagpipes (sigh), perhaps a dragon as well. Does this land not know rest? Would that I could retire long enough to at least make a new bow.

Still, I long for battle beneath open skies after so long in the dungeon. I feel as though I have been through the forge, folded and hammered into something sharper, stronger and greater than I once was. Now is the time of Fjord! May Odin and all the rest take pity on these vile raiders. I will be rid of them long before I have become a god myself. Now, which rings to wear into battle ...

Ring of Free Action

No wizard can hold me, beguile, defeat me,
No priest can call heaven or hell down upon me,
No warrior save one could press an attack,
And hope to gain still standing and hale.

A ring, one of many, so subtle and great,
Is but a part of my raiment of refuge,
The greatest of which can never be parted,
The blood of an Elf, the undying flesh.