[While waiting for his next assignment in Sasserine, Corhim Sparkledingle has been having adventures in the world of Harmony. He got there by using a magic ring given to him by Orimander, a gnomish wizard. He has already recovered the Coral Gem on behalf of his patron - Mr Honeycutt.]
DAY 585 (8th Marpenoth) (October) cont ...
Mr Honeycutt was delighted to get the Coral Gem back into his possession. It was late evening now so he gave an address to a house and a key to Corhim and told him he could treat the place as his own.
It was a nice house, the right size for a gnome, with lots of small rooms, comfy nooks and cosy parlours. There was a sort of housekeeper in residence - a pink nert (the pink nerts were known to be a roguish caste) called Polly Pendrake.
There was a small library and several nice bedrooms. Corhim looked at some of the books in the library but they were all written in languages that he could not read.
Polly brought him his supper and after that he went to bed.
DAY 586 (9th Marpenoth) (October)
As Corhim ate his breakfast Mr Honeycutt rushed in. 'I have just heard that the Crimson Gem's location has been discovered!' he gasped. 'Can you go today? Time is of the essence!'
Corhim shrugged. 'Sure.'
'Excellent! I will give you directions to the Old Oak Grove, where you should meet with Elowen Greenleaf and find out more from her.'
'Can I go to the shops first?'
'Oh well, yes,' said Honeycutt, his whiskers twitching. 'I suppose so. I will write you a note for Mrs Tinkersprout. If you go to her shop you'll get a good deal if she knows I sent you.'
Corhim was much like Reinward in this regard - he loved the shops! And he spent a long time looking around, looking at interesting magical items and planning out all the things he would buy when he had the money.
He also liked that Harmony was built for beings the size of gnomes. He was used to living in Waterdeep, which was human-sized and it was a new experience for him to not have to reach for door handles, jump up steps and to be able to use a latrine there was no danger of falling into!
Eventually he was ready and looking at the map he had been provided with it looked like the forests were not far from the outskirts of Harmony.
As he headed west he saw that the forest was filled with lush colours from the plants and wildlife that fill the area, but as he went further he saw evidence of the strange colour outages. The same sinister magic that was dulling the city have struck here too — fading the flowers and greying the leaves.
After one hour of walking he entered the Old Oak Grove. He heard a cry of alarm and what sounded like arrows whistling through the air. Near the Old Oak, he saw a small sapling with a tiny, frightened face flanked by two gnarled thorn bushes (they were twigblights) that look threatening.
The thorn bushes were nasty and aggressive and too string for Corhim to fight so he summoned ten badgers to do it for him.
Once they were dealt with he helped the small awakened sapling with a potion of Cure Light wounds (which I should note was given grudgingly!). She was Elowen Greenleaf and she was dressed in a Sapling Scout uniform that included a green sash with stitched-on badges.
She told Sparkledingle:
'I'm involved in a matter of great importance! Mr. Honeycutt has entrusted me with a mission to find the Crimson Gem, one of the six Gems of Power. But there’s a problem, and it’s why we need the help of someone like you. The gem is guarded by the legendary Scarlet Sentinel, and no one knows how to get past it! All I've got is this tattered map!'
Elowen showed the map to Corhim. It illustrated the rough location of what could have be a cave mouth or doorway.
'Those are lemon drop trees,' she said point at the map. 'That must be where we need to go - the Lemdrop Ledges! Some say that, long ago, temples were carved into the cliffs, and I've often wondered if the rumours were true.'
Corhim also noticed some cryptic glyphs are drawn next to the doorway on the map.
As they began their journey, he realised that he really needed a weapon of some kind. He had really been stuck until he had summoned those badgers, so he picked up a big stick and decided to use it as a club.
Elowen reckoned it was a two-hour hike from the Old Oak Grove to the Lemondrop Ledges. They noticed the colour outages extend into the wilderness. Even the animals were noticeably duller, and some are now just tones of grey. They also noticed a chimeric fox that seemed to be following them.
The fox followed them for a distance, curious as to where they were going. After two hours of walking they had to admit they were lost, and as it got dark they decided to make camp in the forest. The fox sat down and watched them.
Corhim and Elowen consulted the map, now totally lost and unable to find the Lemondrop Ledges.
Much to their surprise the fox spoke. 'I know where it is, it is four miles west of here.'
Corhim had forgotten to buy food when he had been at the shops (too busy drooling over magical items he could not afford!) so they ate some of Elowen's Sapling Scout cookies. They were ok, but Corhim wanted a proper meal.
'Can you get us something?' he asked the fox.
It left the camp then came back with a dead rabbit which it dropped at Corhim's feet.
Neither of them had lit a fire before, or skinned and cooked a rabbit so it took them a long time to make something hot and edible.
Corhim asked Elowen how she had came to be. She told him that she was an awakened shrub. A 'Fortune's spindle' plant that had been awakened by ancient druid magic that dwelt deep in the forest.
The split the watch and Corhim studied for four hours by the light of the fire when it was his turn. It was a quiet night.
DAY 587 (10th Marpenoth) (October)
In the morning the Fox took them to the Lemdrop Ledges and eventually they began to smell the scent of fresh lemons as they reached the top of a bluff covered by Lemondrop trees. Sheer cliffs fell 100 feet from the bluff into the ravine below.
These deciduous fruiting trees had silvery bark, distinctive spiky, green leaves, and clusters of small, lemon-sweet fruit. Birds, bees, and other forest animals loved these fruits as it gave them a boost of energy.
Corhim took 12 lemons from the trees. After that they started looking for the temple they had come to find. As they did so though they were attacked by twigblights again! Corhim cast Colourspray and Elowen slashed at them in terror, using her dagger.
The fighting was brutal and while they were the winners they were both badly scratched up. Elowen was trembling, she was shaken badly. Corhim tried to comfort her, but did it clumsily. She shook her head and went to look at the cliffs again.
Corhim was annoyed at her and said, 'Hey! Do you feel bad about the fight?'
'Well, yes!' she said, as if it should have been obvious.
Corhim felt targeted. 'I helped you! What skills do you actually have anyway?'
Elowen was furious. 'More to the point what skills do you have? All I saw was flashing light and glitter! It was me that had to fight them.'
'Now listen..!' spluttered Sparkledingle. 'Soon I will learned much more powerful spells!'
Elowen sobbed and walked off. 'You're horrible!' she cried.
Later he went to talk to her again.
'Well, we are here now, we may as well go get that rune we came for. I'll need your help.'
'It's not a rune,' she said sulkily. 'It's the Crimson Gem.'
They eventually spotted the entrance to the temple on the other side of the ravine using Elowen's spyglass. Corhim then flew across the ravine, carrying Elowen in his arms. She was not heavy.
On the other side was a thin ledge and a doorway. The doorway to the temple was a bas-relief archway carved into the cliff. The bas-relief comprised leaves, flowers, and plants of all different varieties.
It took them a long time, but eventually they worked out that the runes on the map told them what flowers to press on the door. Foxglove, Spiderplant and Catspaw was the answer.
Cautiously they ventured inside. The air smelled dank and stale as they looked into a dark tunnel that lead into the cliff. Colourful pictograms on the either side of the tunnel showed a variety of scenes: happy nerts frolicking beside a well from which a rainbow of colours pours forth; the city of Harmony being built; an amulet that had six colourful gemstones in it; and a scene of a great library being built.
It was not long before they found their way to the chamber of the Scarlet Sentinel. They approached the entrance. It was
a circular, 75-foot-diameter room with a 20-foot-high domed ceiling.
In the centre of the room, they saw a faintly glowing red gemstone hovering above a 12-foot-tall statue of a warrior that sat atop a stone dais. The gemstone’s glow dimly lit the room. On the floor, a large red circle etched with strange sigils surrounded the statue and extended across most of the room, leaving only a 5-foot wide path around the edge of the circular chamber. As if sensing their presence, the statue’s eyes snapped open and glowed red.
The Scarlet Sentinel was made from blood onyx and depicted a strange, humanlike creature with elongated arms and fangs that jutted from its wide mouth.
Corhim was scared and it was a long time before he worked up the courage to get the gem. The easiest way would be to fly above the statue and grab the gem, but he was nervous of what would happen if he did so. He wedged doors, tried various spells, but in the end he had no more excuses and he just had to do it!
Using a Fly spell he went as fast as he could to whizz over the statues head and get the gem. It swung an arm at him and it hit! He was badly bruised but he bravely went on and nabbed the gem and flew back as fast as he could.
'Leg it!' he yelled at Elowen as he headed for the door.
And so it was, after a long but uneventful journey they made their way back to Harmony. Elowen was excited to see Mr. Honeycutt again and while she was happy that the mission had been a success she was still smarting from what she felt had been harsh treatment from Sparkledingle.
Still, Mr. Honeycutt was overjoyed at the return of the Crimson Gem and wanted to know everything about the adventure while he scribbled copious notes in his black notebook.
For their troubled, he awarded Elowen with a shiny badge of merit for outstanding service and promoted her to Sapling Scout First Class.
To Corhim, he gave a pouch containing 200 gp and invited him to join the elite ranks of the Lorekeeper Society. As Corhim already had a Lorekeeper pin he did not need another one.
Finally he went home to get a much needed bath and a nice cup of tea.
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