2001-01-18: Treachery At Journey’s End
There were some brave fellows the evening last, who gathered to begin a journey to right a wrong. The Candle of Leadership was lost to a group of UO:Ogres. I was trying to bring it to the safety of a bank vault on Ocollo when I was ambushed on the way to town from the shore. I managed to survive the attack, but an Ogre Lord relieved me of my pack. I quickly proceeded to gather a group of friends from the Journey’s End Tavern to retrieve the lost item. All seemed to be going well, until something else occurred that I was not prepared for at all. Still new to the fellowship at Journey’s End, I did not know that all who frequent the tavern are not honorable and trustworthy. As it turned out, two in our party had conspired to take the candle for themselves. One nasty little fellow named Lich Soulstealer had gained the help of another named Xan and had convinced him to keep the candle when it was retrieved, and subsequently turn it over to him. When they attempted to return this sacred item to me, it had been reduced to a normal candle. I claimed that this was not the candle I sought. Regardless, the candle’s absence has become know to me. And, as such, we have taken on the arduous task of crafting a new one. The ingredients are still not all known to me, but for this night we have retrieved the Grinder of Gak from Lord Irvin of Cyclops Valley. At first, he was more interested in sending a group of Mages after us than speaking to us. At our pleading, and the shouting of others for Xan to stop trying to kill this evil Lord, we did gain enough of his attention to request the needed item. In return, he has told us that we will need to perform some task at his bequest in the future. This alone has me worried, though we have retrieved the first item and there will be more to gather henceforth. When we returned to the tavern, Lich Soulstealer claimed to have control of the candle’s energy. However this is not confirmed, it is only known that the candle does not exist in its original form. The simple act of holding the candle with evil thoughts would be enough to destroy it. But he and his partner Xan were held accountable for this treachery, and it seems evident that they intend to stand in our way of retrieving all the items we need to recreate the candle.
