Attached is the history of the
infirmary, including the loresong of the cloak pin, the fall of the Citadel
as it relates to the demise of those in the infirmary, a brief synopsis of
the more unusual rooms and items in the infirmary, and a look at the present
inhabitants... |
River's Rest is a town of mysteries and for many years, one that
had perplexed those that took up residency there was that of the door that
could never be opened, phased through or unlocked. The door was part of a white
building in the Citadel complex situated next to the zoo. As time progressed,
most efforts to find out where the door led to or what the building was faded
as many figured that it would be one of the many mysteries that would never be
solved. All this changed however, not long ago with the return of the enigmatic
elven scholar, Taistil.
Taistil Agalloir appears to be in his 130's and bears long, braided
white hair and tanned leathery skin. From his appearance and clothing, he looks
to have spent many of his days traveling from city to city and town to town,
studying lore and researching in libraries and archives. He had appeared in
River's Rest once before gathering stories of things that people had seen
during their time in the lands. This time, however, his return to River's Rest
was not to gather knowledge or historical information. Rather, he had come to
impart an artifact that he had come across in his wanderings. Though he
professed to have no concrete information about the object, he believed that it
had something to do with the Citadel. The artifact proved to be a cloak pin,
which he entrusted to Lord Frijthof Shoun, founder and at the time, chair of
the Beacon Hall Archives, provided that he would house it in the museum that
were proposed to be a part of the building of the Archives. With that, Taistil
took his leave once again and it would not be for many months until he
returned.
The cloak pin is a disk of carved onyx. Inset in silver is a
stylized image of a falcon's head. On the obverse side of the onyx pin is the
inscription "Falcon Company...First to Fight." A small nick mars the
beauty of the cloak pin. Once sung to by a bard, it became apparent that the
nick was not the result of time, but bore witness to a fortuitous event in the
original bearer's life, and death. Frijthof pressed Oliga, a bardes who was in
town at the time to sing to it and the following are the images evoked by her
song as she saw them:
"You become dizzy and
disoriented as you begin to sing. Time becomes fluid, distance becomes an
illusion. As your senses recover you see a gathering of young, uniformed men
and women of all races...Elves, Humans, Halflings, Giantkin, Dwarves. They
stand in formation in a large, marble-floored chamber. In the background are
six pennants, three in blue and three buff-colored. On the buff pennants are
the images of a boar, a ram and a thrak. On the blue pennants are a falcon, a
hawk and an eagle. In the center of the room is a marble stairway. Standing on
the bottom step is a tall warrior in battle armor. A large blade hangs naked at
his side. One by one the young cadets step proudly forward and are embraced by
the tall warrior, who then presents them with a cloak pin."
"Out of the
mist comes a patrol of young soldiers wearing blue-grey cloaks, all bearing the
falcon head cloak pin. They are led by a grizzled, human sergeant. His face
bears the scars of many battles and brawls, one ear has been almost completely
chewed off. The sergeant glares at a young, half-elven woman hobbling near the
rear of the patrol. He raises a hand to his mouth and makes a soft clucking
sound like a nesting grouse. The patrol halts. Four soldiers take perimeter
stations while the rest relax. The sergeant gestures for the young half-elven
woman to remove her new boots. Her feet are covered with bleeding and oozing
blisters. The sergeant mutters to himself and reaches into his pack for a jar
of salve."
"As I
continue my song I find myself suddenly surrounded by noise. Shouts of
desperation, the barking of orders, the clash of weapons, the screaming of
wounded. Soldiers wearing blue-grey cloaks are in a running skirmish by a large
band of trolls and krolvin pirates. The half-elven woman, older now and bearing
a fresh wound in her arm, tugs at her broadsword, which is firmly wedged in the
ribs of a dying krolvin. The grizzled sergeant, herding his squad toward the
tall spires of a citadel, hesitates long enough to shout at her. He kicks a
krolvin boarding axe in her direction. She snatches it up, grinning fiercely.
They run to catch up with the others, pursued by howling trolls and barking
krolvin."
"As I sing
the scene shifts again. Now you are haunted by a deathly quiet. You see the
one-eared sergeant pull shut the door of whitewashed building. Inside are
hallways leading north, east and west. Furniture is piled in each of the
hallways, forming crude barricades. The sergeant clambers over one barricade to
where a small band of soldiers rests, sharpening their weapons and repairing
the straps of their armor. The half-elven woman has her back to the wall, half
asleep, the krolvin boarding axe still in her fist. The sergeant walks among
the soldiers, offering advice and words of encouragement...though none of hope.
Suddenly a krolvin pirate leaps over the barricade, thrusting a spear into the
chest of the sergeant As he collapses still more krolvin attack. The half-elven
woman kills the first krolvin and stands over her fallen sergeant, dealing
death to any foe who comes within the reach of her blade. A thrown dagger
strikes her cloak pin and ricochets into her throat. She falls to one knee,
puts one hand to her throat, looks up into the battle-crazed face of a krolvin,
sees an axe blade arcing toward her head...."
The images brought to light when the pin was sung to revealed many
things. The description of the tall spires was that of the Citadel located near
River's Rest on the mainland at a time before it had fallen during the Kannalan
Empire. It was discovered that the whitewashed building was none other than the
one in the citadel grounds that bore the door that could not be opened. When
Taistil was to return to River's Rest again, months later, he came to give
lectures regarding the colorful history of the town, some of which enabled us
to understand more about what the pin revealed.
Taistil related how, at the time of the Kannalan Empire, River's
Rest grew to be a glorious trading port. With the rise of wealth, prosperity
and power, the Empire grew overly confident and began to believe in their own
indestructibility. The threat of barbarian attacks were never taken seriously
by the Emperor and the leaders of the kingdoms were unable to prevent their own
downfall. Eventually, all kingdoms were lost to the barbarian raiders, except
River's Rest. The town became the last to withstand the assault of the
barbarians and kept that stand for many years.
The last Commander of the Citadel was an excellent tactician and
divided he army into two battalions, a heavy battalion and a mobile battalion,
each of which was comprised of three companies. Each company was represented by
an insignia; the heavy battalions were represented by beasts of the land: a
boar, a ram and a thrak. The mobile battalions were represented by birds of the
air: a falcon, a hawk and an eagle. In the pin song, the pennants bear these
insignias on a field of either buff (symbolizing the land) or blue (symbolizing
the air). As was described in the pin song, the army was an amalgam of
different races. As the notoriety of the Last Commander arose, warriors from
the surrounding areas joined the army and benefited from their collective
strength and enthusiasm. The most elite and what proved to be the most
effective company in the army was the Falcon Battalion which relied on speed to
serve devastating raids on the enemy's supply trains. Their effectiveness in
this manner of fighting served the army immeasurably, not only in cutting off
the necessary supplies of the enemy but also in boosting the morale of their
own army. Being chosen for the Falcon Battalion was a honor which was not lost
on new cadets and is apparent in the pin song. The pin itself is an emblem of
pride.
The time span between the times of the Last Commander and the
images in the pin song is about five hundred years and during that time, the
Citadel suffered a slow and agonizing fall. It began with the ascension of
Millah Pradapt to the position of First Cord within the Falcon Battalion. She
was a war leader who had come from the eastern tribal regions and was able to
engage the Falcon Battalion with it's greatest efficiency and effectiveness. It
was under her auspices that the Falcon Battalion gained it's greatest
notoriety. She also gained the favor of the Last Commander but was spurned by
the Council of Mages. The Last Commander had created the Council of Mages at
the time of the restructuring of the army. The role of the Council was to
advise him on the tactics and uses of magic in the war effort. Millah Pradept was
a prideful warrior and refused to use magic in her maneuverings and engagement
of the Falcon Battalion. As a result, the Council of Mages turned against her
and proved to be an issue of contention between herself and the Last Commander.
In the spring of 4011, the Commander planned a large offensive
against the enemy hordes and it was to be the Falcon Battalion that would lead
the first blow. The night before the attack, the Commander went to her tent to
encourage her to change her mind regarding the uses of magic in the assault.
The next morning, his body was found in her tent. The Commander's untimely
death began the unraveling of the Citadel. The campaign was put on hold and
Millah Pradept was arrested for his death. Regardless of her protestations and
the testimony of her troops to the contrary, the Council of Mages threw her in
the brig and was never seen again. A new Commander was never named as it was
the custom for the previous Commander to name his successor, which was never
happened due to the untimely death of the Last Commander. The Council assumed
control of the kingdom but were never able to effectively lead. The kingdom
lost lands to the hoards of trolls and orcs which had been plaguing it for
centuries. The Mages turned to dark magic instead of the army, resulting in the
creation of undead and mongrel creatures meant to battle the hordes. As a
result, the populace of River's Rest became alarmed and refused to support the
Mages or the Citadel. The solution the Mages turned to was to crush the dissidents
and force them to renew their support of the Citadel. With reluctance, the town
acquiesced and renewed their support.
However, when the krolvin joined forces with the troll raiders in
4058 M.E., the fragile balance shifted in favor of the barbarians. The Council
of Mages were unable to reach a consensus about how to meet this new threat. In
the end, the loss was complete. The town of River's Rest, which had relied on
the Citadel to provide military support was overrun and were few survived to
flee. The Citadel compound was breached and the images of the final hours of
the Citadel are captured within the pin song. The Falcon Battalion, still
prideful, but having lost the support of the town and the leadership and
support of the Council made their last stand in the infirmary. The invaders
killed everyone that they found. However, the complexities of the swing bridge
to the Citadel fortress refused the entry of the krolvins during the attack.
When the krolvins were able to finally cross the bridge the day after the
attack, the fortress was empty with the exception of some corpses of the guards
stationed there. No one knows what became of the Council of Mages.
The krolvin pirates that fought with such bloodthirsty force
during the attack still inhabit the infirmary where the last stand was made by
the most elite force in the army. The compound of the Citadel still reflects
the ferocity of the attack but nowhere else is it more evident than in the
infirmary. The infirmary had been sealed up for centuries by some magic,
perhaps a curse, that only the return of one of the Falcon Battalion's cloak
pins could dispel. When Oliga related the images she saw when she sang to the
pin, Frijthof and the others with him came to realize that the building which
the troops had retreated to in order to make their final stand was the
enigmatic building in the citadel grounds that had the door which would not
open. With a new found curiosity, Frijthof, Higuchi and Aeto ran off to find
the door as impassible as ever. It was not until Frijthof wore the pin that
they were able to push in the door and be the first to have stepped into what
proved to be the infirmary for over a thousand years. In that time, the
building and its contents have been rather well preserved, and bear only some
signs of decay.
Upon entering the infirmary, on sees the following: Furniture has been piled in each of the
hallways leading away from the entry room, forming ineffective barricades. Each
of the barricades has been breached. Skeletons, all savagely hewn and hacked,
are strewn about the area. A sign hangs crookedly on the wall. The sign
reads: Infirmary. Quiet Please. When
the skeletons are examined, the result evidences the brutality of the attack: The hacked and hewn remains of humans, elves
and dwarves all lie entangled in a tragic embrace with those of krolvin. Bits
or armor and broken weaponry lie scattered among the skeletons. It may in
fact be that brutality which has enabled the krolvin pirates who died in the
attack to continue to haunt the infirmary beyond the grave. Their brutality is
apparent just by looking at them: Gnarled
white hair drapes in locks over the krolvin pirate's face, which is fixed in a
constant murderous leer. The pirate's puffy grayish-blue skin is slashed and
punctured with what must have been mortal wounds, but the foul creature before
you pays the ancient injuries no heed as she seeks to continue her plundering
ways well beyond the grave. Though perhaps not so difficult for the
seasoned and well trained hunter to overcome, the undead pirates which reside
there are comperable in strength to their living warrior counterparts. However,
these undead pirates also carry a powerful disease. If infected the hapless
adventurer could die rather quickly if they are unable to ward off the disease
or cannot heal themselves sufficiently. The disease is potent and dissipates
slowly once established in the body.
The pirates carry long-handled gaffs and boarding axes, both are
used onboard seafaring vessels. Gaffs are long poles bearing a nasty hook on
the end. They are most commonly used to grab rigging, objects or fish out of
the water, or to pull up next to another vessel before boarding it in an
attack. A gaff makes for a particularly gruesome weapon, causing puncture and
rending wounds. Boarding axes are carried by raiding parties when boarding
another ship. Though they can be used as the krolvins do- as a weapon against
their enemies, they also are used to break down doors, cut lines or rigging,
and for basically breaking things when attacking another ship. Boarding axes
are small one handed affairs, similar to a hatchet, giving it increased
maneuverability compared to waraxes. The size of the axe also makes it useful
when not engaged in warfare for cutting rigging and for making other repairs-
although the krolvin seem to spend few hours on peaceful affairs.
The krolvins are communicative, although it seems they have a few
preferred phrases. They speak a mixture of common and krolvin, making for
colorful and somewhat puzzling phrases and sayings. "These grarrog wouldn't last a week on a fighting ship!" This
is one of their favored sayings, "grarrog" apparently meaning
something like "weaklings," which they frequently use against their
combatants. Other sayings that they've been known to use are: "Ye're like the rest o' yer
kind...ain't got grawel pra awrda!", the meaning of "grawel pra
awrda" can only be guessed at, but probably means something like
"guts" or something to that effect. "I see the mordg in yer eyes, puny grarrog!", "mordg"
probably meaning "fear."
"Best be fer runnin', grarrog! This currarik is now gno Krol!", "currarik"
may mean "building" or "place" and "gno Krol"
perhaps means "belongs to Krols." "Ap
gno Krol, an' I spit on yer corpse, grarrog!"; this is a bit more
confusing, as "Ap gno Krol" could mean almost anything along the
lines of "long live the krols" or "power to krols." "Moradg tezt gno Krol!" is
another enigmatic saying which could amount to almost any patriotic saying
until more of the krolvin language is revealed. And finally, "Got some good booty fer the
cap'n!" which is rather self-explanatory.
The breaching of the infirmary must have been a fast affair once
the Falcon Battalion had been overcome. There is evidence everywhere of things
haven been disrupted quickly. The treatment rooms still bear the skeletons of
patients and their surgeons who had been interrupted in their work. Implements,
herbs and the like still remain. Having little to defend themselves with, the
surgeons and patients probably put up but little resistance and as a result,
there's relatively little destruction in the other parts of the infirmary
beyond the barricaded entryway. Besides the treatment and recovery rooms which
one would expect to find in an infirmary, this one also contains workshops for
metal, wood and glass working. All of the workshops still bear evidence of
unfinished prostheses for limbs, hands, and even eyes. These workshops probably
were built during the flourishing of the Citadel era when the Commanders and
Mages encouraged the flowering of knowledge of the sciences. During this time,
the zoo was also probably built for the same purposes. Those who worked in the
workshops to produce such fine prostheses as articulating metal hands had no
lack of patients even in the best of times during the Citadel Era as skirmishes
with the trolls and orcs always resulted in some casualties.
There are also some other unusual rooms in the infirmary which,
thankfully, were left undisturbed. Upstairs is a meditation room in the center
of which is a fountain with meditation cushions. This, along with the temple
downstairs, shows that those that practiced medicine and the healing arts had
an interesting mixture of beliefs in science, spirituality, and religion. The
temple is not dedicated to Imaera, as one might assume. Rather, it is dedicated
to Aeia, the earth goddess associated with River's Rest. Her symbol of the lily
is inscribed on the goblet and basin as well as in a tapestry bearing the white
lily on a field of green, which still remain in the temple. As to what part of
a ritual these relics may have been a part of, no one can tell, however, small
amount of salt still remains in the basin. Salt may have been used in cleansing
rituals as one of its many uses is as a cathartic.
There is imagery dedicated to Aeia throughout the infirmary, but
perhaps the most spectacular is the tapestry in the staff bedroom. When viewed,
you see: The vivid colors of the tapestry
have been untouched by time. the woven image retains all its artistic power.
The tapestry depicts a tall, sharp-featured man standing in a garden. His head
and left arm are swathed in bandages. In his hand he carries a pair of pruning
shears.
As you gaze at
the tapestry you feel almost as if you are drawn into the scene. You feel a
gentile breeze blowing across your face. You smell the sweet scent of flowers
and the rich odor of newly turned soil. Somewhere a tropical bird warbles an
intricate melody, the last note of which seems to linger in the air.
The man moves
about the garden with the easy grace of a warrior. He stoops to examine a leaf
and remove a slug. He lays his hands on the plants as if he can draw strength
from them. At the sound of footstep he looks up. In the distance, silhouetted
against the setting sun, is a woman wearing a white robe and carrying a lily.
The tranquility of the man's face is replaces by a look of joy. As he stands to
greet the woman you feel yourself slowly and inexorably pulled back into the
present.
There's been some speculation as to the identity of the man in the
tapestry. He may be the ghostly gardener who tends Aeia's gardens. The
resemblance between the two are striking. The
gardener was a tall human male in life, with sharp features. By the look of
concentration upon his brow he was probably a passionate thinking man. Both
hold the gardens with the same reverence. There is little known about the
ghostly gardener. It could be in fact that Aeia had many followers of this sort
(perhaps many of the staff of the infirmary at one time, explaining the presence
of the tapestry in their bedroom). Rather than any specific individual, the
gardeners could be emblematic of the followers of Aeia. In any case, the staff
that worked in the infirmary had a strong tie with Aeia.
Upstairs in a private section of the infirmary was built a temple,
most probably built in service to Aeia. The temple has a magical bond with
Aeia's Gardens which are found outside in the Citadel grounds. The pool of
water which appears as smooth as glass is actually a portal to the fountain in the
center of Aeia's Gardens. If this was used as an escape route during the
attack, it was unlikely to have proved to be of much use as the troll and
krolvin hoards would have already overrun this area of the Citadel grounds and
would have killed any who had sought this portal as a means of escape. However,
that this portal to the Gardens exists is fascinating. The portal is only one
way, so if someone were to leave the temple for the garden grounds, perhaps to
find a healing herb, he or she would have to walk back. Perhaps the builders of
the infirmary foresaw an attack such as the one that occurred and sought to
ensure that those within the building had alternate routes of escape. Or
perhaps, the two are merely linked through their common purpose.
If the pool was meant to be an alternative escape route, it would
not have been the only one of these. Another is located in the glassworks
workshop through a hidden passageway. The passageway leads to a dank
underground tunnel which eventually ends in a room that offers a passage back
out into the Citadel grounds near the Armory. At one time, a cabinet had
blocked or hidden that end of the tunnel, although now it has been fallen on
its side and ruined. The room is not little more than a pile of rubble, having
suffered severely from the krolvin attack. Perhaps the master of the infirmary
had sought to escape through this route but met with a bad end as bones still
lie in this area- with gnaw marks, having either been suffered in the attack,
or what's more likely, the effects of scavengers after death, as trolls and
krolvin are not so animalistic as to rend their enemies apart using their teeth
instead of weapons. The master of the infirmary probably built this secret
underground passage, or someone in association with the master as it was
obviously meant to keep the other staff and patients from using or finding this
room. Perhaps he used the room at the end of the tunnel as a workshop of sorts,
in order to carry out experiments or research in private. If the master was in
fact the builder of this secret workshop, than he may as well have been the one
to have used the glassworks. It is interesting that the master did not make
this secret passage off of his bedroom for a more private manner of usage.
Regardless of secret passages and magical portals, those found in
the infirmary at the time of the attack, whether they were soldiers bravely
making their last stand, patients who had suffered from previous attacks, or
staff members who worked on unaware of what was about to happen, all suffered
the same fate. The infirmary and the objects associated with it give us a vivid
picture of what had happened over a thousand years ago, yet still leaves
questions and more to be discovered. the question of what lies beyond the door
that had puzzled so many of us for so long may have been solved, but the
infirmary remains as enigmatic as ever.
Acknowledgements:
My special thanks to Frijthof Shoun's player, Mark Bowditch, for providing me
the logs of his encounter with Taistil and his other help and recollections.