Eriden Glantawe

''This is a contribution by David Wilson. For further information on contributions please read The Guide to Contributing.''

Eriden Glantawe is an Elven Wizard specialising in the school of conjuration and performance. He IS in fact, a conjurer of cheap tricks. He has a familiar, Strigs, who most often takes the form of a very small owl.

Personality
Eriden is clearly inexperienced and sheltered in terms of how the world works, he expects the world to be full of wonder and adventure as the songs describe but without all the danger that less sheltered folk accept.

He dislikes bards, sorcerers, warlocks, clerics and anyone who uses magic without studying it the way he has. Nothing against the individuals but he sees them as 'cheating at magic' or being 'barbaric and inaccurate'. Magic is a science to Eriden and watching others use magic differently annoys him.

Background
Eriden Glantawe, born Eryn Glantawe, spent most of his life in Falkara. He grew up as part of a family of bards and was taught the ways of performance. However, Eryn found casting spells through music and dance to be inaccurate and frustrating so he sought out education in the school of conjuration. Treating performance like a science suited Eryn much better than the methods of his family, and this kept them on good terms as he was still very much 'part of the troupe'. One of the first spells he learnt was the ritual 'Find Familiar' which allowed him to summon Strigs, a fey spirit that often takes the form of a small owl.

As time went on Eryn thought himself to be far more mature than his peers of the same age, hence quickly adopting his adult name, Eriden, far sooner than was expected. His family didn't like this as it breaks tradition and they did not believe him to be experienced enough to call himself an adult. This prompted Eryn, now Eriden, to leave Falkara and The Never-Ending Forest in pursuit of the 'experience' his family believed him to lack. Packing light with spells written on the insides of his arm wraps and basic items at his command through the use of his magic, he set off to experience the world.Soon after setting off on his travels, he found himself surrounded by awakened shrubs. Having not trained in the art of combat magic he was totally unprepared to deal with them. Luckily the half-drow Vex was close by and noticed the distress, coming to Eriden's aid. They have travelled together since.

Somewhere on the way to Antassa from the north-east, both Eriden and Vex were ambushed and knocked unconscious instantly. They woke up in a cage with the human Rhian. Not long after they were joined by Loryn, Arkos, Jjenk, and Klink. With the increased party size, they soon took the opportunity to escape...

Eriden's Journal
"Vex and I woke up in a cage. Poorly made but I didn't get a good look at the key. There's a human in here but he seems a bit beat up.

"Not long after my last entry the goblins brought in new prisoners. I also got a good look at the key. Luckily there were enough of us to push out of the prison but we were forced into the caves. It went a long way down but Vex seemed to know what to do in that environment. I haven't learnt the names of these people yet but there appears to be a Goblin paladin, Gnome bard, a brutish Dragonborn, and a curious bird-like creature. We learnt the name of the man in the cage, Rhian, a resident of Antassus. What a strange group for fate to have placed together.

"We came across a burnt down hamlet today. I believe I read 'Ende' on a signpost. Some human brat tricked us into thinking he was a refugee from there and then lead us into a trap. We managed to hold our own but the shit stabbed me in the back as soon as fighting broke out. He's our prisoner now, I keep making his lips taste bitter, it's rather hilarious to watch.

"Finally we reached Antassus. Vex tried talking me into searching the sewers for something or other, don't know why I went along with him really. I thought the tavern may be a good place to practice my flute again since the band's song was one I recognised but that ended in a bit of embarrassment, I don't think anyone really cared too much.

"A high ranking merchant named Don Jacobo gave us a job to collect an amulet of his from that goblin camp, I guess we could use the money. I learnt the names of the others, Jjenk the Goblin, Arkos the Dragonborn, Loryn the Gnome, and Klink the Kenku. Klink is a peculiar one, speaking many voices but only a few words. 'Shiny' seems to be one of its favourites. It also has shown some ability to cast spells, clearly not as a wizard casts spells though, I suppose probably a sorcerer. Can't expect such a creature to be so well learned.

"We've set up camp close to the goblin's cave. Just off the road, hopefully they don't spot us. Don Jacobo gave us three barrels of black powder, Eyo knows what we'll do with them.

"I'm starting to feel like my training was in the wrong things, maybe I wasn't ready to leave Falkara yet. I just stand around and make the floor slippery while these experienced adventurers do the real work. Hopefully I'll find my niche soon... note: stop foreshadowing events in this journal, those events tend to come true.

"We entered the cave today without much opposition, we saw what we assume to be almost the whole camp marching towards Antassus this morning. All they left behind was a few ill-equipped guards and an old Wizard. His name was Elross a name that we thought belonged to the armoured figure from before. It turns out HIS name is Kane. Elross appeared to be under some enchantment and attacked the others when they tried to leave, this angered Arkos who proceeded to behead the wizard, much to Jjenk's dismay. That action seemed to strike a nerve for the goblin. Nonetheless we recovered the amulet we were sent for and also a strange tablet with a number of runes. It looks like a bit of celestial but I can't be sure.

"We've been travelling towards Vozelsk for a while now, we all decided that Antassus was probably a no-go due to the goblin siege.

"Turns out Vozelsk has been closed off, so we will have to think about our next move. This amulet we recovered appears to be able to reveal the true intentions of people, I can see why Jacobo thought it to be of vital importance to the well-being of the realm. The inn-keeper suggested we speak to one of Elross' friends to work out where Elross' house is. We will do that in the morning.

"We spoke to the man briefly, he didn't appear too sociable but let us know where to go. Elross' house was easy to find but it looked as though no one had been there for some time, I suppose he had been missing for 15 years. We worked out that the tablet we found was meant to open a magical chest in Elross' hidden basement, a local priest helped us with the translation and some of Elross' notes helped us with the order. Not only was the chest locked with magical means but it was trapped with some sort of swarm of clockwork bugs. We found a few items inside, most excitingly some magical scrolls and a manual of clay golem creation. It all seems a bit over my head but maybe one day I'll work out what some of these instructions mean. We also found proof of the existence of a true heir to the empire, this is dangerous information, gods save us if anyone finds the note or this journal. Time to head north.

"We got to the town of Hemholm today. We managed to barter entertainment for free bed and board but my skills have drastically faltered. I couldn't hold the crowd with my spells at all, surely from lack of practice. The gnome kept them engaged enough to keep us in good graces with the landlord. While I was outside composing myself for the second act a pair of hooded figures came and told me that we have allies in our cause, I don't know what to make of this but they didn't kill me which I assume the emperor's men would have done.

"We arrived at Mordtal to find the town preparing for a coming siege. We agreed to help the effort in exchange for pay but before getting down to business the loud-mouthed dragonborn managed to get the attention of an old man claiming to be our friend. Derick (spellcheck needed) overheard Arkos speaking of the emperors spies and the true heir. Now we are resting in Derick's home with him and his... son? Servant? A half-giant who seems to be mentally challenged. I didn't know half-giants existed. How he was birthed doesn't bear thinking about. Long story short Derick has offered to take us to the true heir through the old dwarven tunnels. He says its the safest way and I suppose we can trust him. Vex knows caves anyway.

"We made it to the entrance of the old dwarven fortress. Sent our horses away, pitched camp. It's been a fairly uneventful day, though the north does get a bit chilly, especially at night. Derick told us he is part of a group that has been keeping care of the heir, it seems they plan to split the north from the empire. Back to how it was years ago. A noble cause I suppose. He hasn't been through the tunnels in a long while so hopefully what he claims about their safety is true.

''"The last day or so has been taxing on everyone. The tunnels were not as safe as we were lead to believe. First I got my hand almost bitten off by a sort of door-creature, then Derick woke a bizarre shambling mound of corpses and cobweb which did a number on a few of us. That's not the worst of it. We sent Vex ahead to try and make sure our campsite was safe but the dolt managed to fall into a hole inhabited by an awful acidic ooze. By some miracle Loryn and Klik managed to save his life but before he was even out of the hole we were ambushed by a group of orcs and a troll. They killed Montague in a single swipe and Jjenk flew into a rage... he fought back the troll alone while the others were dragged into tunnels and Vex and I fled. We should have stayed to help, the orcs didn't want our lives anyway and we all ended up in the same cages. If we had stayed then maybe we could have helped Jjenk. He was brave to stand one on one with that thing but there was nothing he could do without help. The orcs let us go. Their boss, a huge floating one-eyed head, tasked us with finding the Sunspring that it will use for ruling the world. We don't have a choice that thing has our blood now. No doubt it could sentence us to the most form of punishment imaginable. We made Jjenk a crude coffin, cremated his body within, and buried the casket by a river. I wish we had helped...''

'''On our way to Torade we came across a pink scaled dragonborn being harassed by a small patrol of dwarves. Arkos quickly ran to the aid of his kin. They didn't stand much of a chance against all of us, I do regret lashing out like that but after the last few days the last thing any of us needs is to be taken prisoner again. The dragonborn's name is Razz, looks like he will be coming along with us. I've just asked him about his magic but seems secretive about it, some of his spells I've never seen before and would love to learn more. Maybe it's one of those [WHERE RAZZ STUDIED] tricks, a secret of the order, who knows. Either way we changed our plan from entering Torade, which is occupied by dwarves, to sneaking into the dwarves' quarry to see if the heir is there instead. I wish I hadn't taken this path, being tied to an underground warlord by blood isn't something to write home about...''

'' 'Today we witnessed the dwarves check the blood of each child from Torade against some scepter. Razz seemed pretty interested in it but they took it back to the keep. The heirs blood appeared to activate the scepter and Derrick confirmed his identity. Amazingly we managed to escape the quarry during the chaos of the Regedai raid on the camp. Now I just wonder what our plan is, but that's a problem for the morning. It's time I got my head around this new spell, 'Leomund's tiny hut'.''

'' 'I'm starting to have doubts about my decision to travel with this group. Arkos has proven himself time and time again to be too hot-headed, I believe this new dragonborn to be some sort of warlock using power he did not earn, summoning fiendish creatures with the blood of the fallen, and even Klink has started to behave strangely. They raised the corpse of a goblin today to fight for us. Derrick and his friend left early this morning while I was studying and took Oren with them. They were in league with Kaine this whole time and took the boy as a sacrifice to wipe out a third of the Regedai population. I told them what was in store for us past that door but no one listened, that damned dragonborn stomed in and all we got for the effort was some gold and trinkets. Derrick and his friend died in the fray while Kaine and his ally got away with everything they had planned. This is no way to appease Darszun. This is insane we should be searching for the sunspring so we can have our freedom back.''

'' 'Razz and Klink both had strange visions today, both apparently of the same location. Although I would like to travel back to Falkara to find more information on the myths of the sunspring their visions seem to be drawing them north, hopefully not so far as to greatly hinder my goal. Vex and I have both agreed to travel with the group until we can steer them south again, we have managed more as 6 than we ever could as 2 and it would be good to try and keep that up, I fear that without them our task would be too great and we would never free our throats from Darszun's knife.''

'' 'I spoke today to Razz about his reckless conjuration of fiends, Klink about their reckless use of necromancy, and Arkos about his reckless desire to run into battle and risk our lives as a result. Razz appears keen to keep practising as long as he can enact some form of control over these creatures, which I am afraid won't last forever. Klink seemed quite distressed, it's difficult to tell but I don't think their going to make a habit of raising the dead. Arkos is unshaking in his conviction, he believes he's doing the right thing but I would much rather keep my neck on my head.''

'' 'We have been travelling about 2 weeks now and we're almost at Port Naginsk. The Frozen Legion has treated us well as mercenaries. Not sure if I like that term, but I suppose that's what we are for now.''

'' 'Tonight was glorious, the commander sent us to destroy a number of cannons in a fort the dwarves had taken. Everything went according to plan and then we sallied out with the Frozen Legion on boats to crush the dwarven blockade. Such a rush, we were even given a ship and small crew as payment for our service. Maybe it's about time to give this band a name. I put forward 'Jjenk's Mask' but I don't feel like it will stick.''