Genie in a bottle (Entry 100)

by Hayley Thomas

Dear Diary,

With the excursion into Keralon a failure, we licked out wounds and thought about what to do next. We could accept the king’s terms of course, it would save a lot of lives, but that meant not acting anymore. I laid out the consequences clearly. If we accepted, that would be it. If we didn’t accept, we’d condemn a lot of knights to death. And seeing as freeing them had massively failed, there was not really a third alternative. Well there is, but Alistan refused. We could accept, and then act against King Ulther anyway after we had gained the power needed to do so. But his honour stops him from breaking that promise.

As we have time to reply to the king, we set off to find another way to stop his plan all together and break his hold over Keralon. We headed into Lorewood, in search of the Foxant. Amarra needed its egg for the ritual to bind all four Elemental Hearts to one person. It begged the question of why Amarra wanted Luke to bond to the items, instead of doing it herself. Luke suggests that it is because she sees him as a surrogate son, her own dying a long time ago. But I have my doubts. Bonding to all four Elements will have its dangers and she knows this. And she’d rather have Luke face that danger than do it herself.

Gael led us through the Lorewood in the direction of where the nest of the Foxants would be. The growing influence of the feywild was impossible to ignore. Everything is more chaotic and more colorful, more dangerous. It is beyond time that we do something about this. After a full day of travelling, we neared where the nest would be, but decided to spend the night and approach it in the morning when we were all well rested.

Luke put up his magical mansion, and while small fey creatures came to have a look, out of curiosity most likely, we had a restful night.

The next morning we set off for the last stretch to the next. The closer we came, the more signs of ancient ruins started appearing. This hadn’t been here before and we figured that it must have been transported from the feywild due to the barrier weakening. Yet another sign of its massively increasing influence.

It was early afternoon when we arrived at the location of the Foxant nest, and we quickly noticed signs of a large avian predator in the vicinity, as well as trees that had been prepared to serve as traps. Luke used his magic to locate the nearest egg, and then we tried sneaking closer. The stealth approach, which always works so very well. We arrived at what used to be a small square with a fountain in the middle, now serving as a nest. The foxant sitting next to it, looking squarely in our direction.

Gael stepped forward to speak to it, explaining in a very direct manner why we were there. We needed its egg, and there was no nice way of saying that. Luke stepped in to help explain why we needed it. It became clear quickly that the creature was not inclined to help us. It suggested transmuting a human baby into a foxant egg and using that instead of demanding it give up its egg. I saw through the ploy. It would never work that way, but the foxant had made a valid point. They are sentient creatures, and it had just been pointed out that we would never sacrifice one of our own babies for this.

It then suggested that it could think of an alternative, but in reality it was just another ruse to get away from us. With a sigh I pulled out my board and sat down to cast a ritual to look for an alternative myself. To my shame I have to admit the thought had never occurred to any of us before now that there might be other ways. Convenience had taken over. And the answer was there, another way existed. Another magical item which allowed this was already on the material plane, it would just be harder to get.

With more than one option available now, a discussion broke out. The moral question of using a sentient creature for the ritual, which we were, or at least should have been, aware of already proved to be a big stumbling block. I was all in favor of trying the alternative, but insisted we should take the egg as a safeguard. If the other plan failed, we would need a backup. Or just abandon the entire idea altogether. I turned to the foxant, asking it if it knew of a possible location of such an item. It also used some of its magic and said the closest was several thousand miles away, buried beneath the sands in the Valley of Heroes.

The lamp of a genie perhaps? Able to grant wishes. It would be a dangerous excursion for sure, but we had no other choice. In the end we did not take the egg, but Luke did persuade the foxant to give up one of its feathers, so we can find it again if all other plans fail. With that done, we teleported back to Tarn to prepare for a trip to the desert.

After having collected some gear we might need, and changing our clothing to a much warmer climate, Luke teleported us to the Valley of Heroes. Or well, tried to, because we ended up in a different cavern underneath the sands. There was no obvious exit in sight, so we started looking around until we found a tunnel filled with sand. Luke summoned an earth elemental to start digging through it and after about an hour, we had an open tunnel we could follow. All over the walls of the tunnel we found writing in giant. Warnings of dangers ahead. We of course ignored those and headed on, finally finding ourselves in the large cavern that had been our original goal.

The cavern was split in the middle by a deep chasm, and over this chasm a bridge had been built. In the middle of the bridge a statue held the lamp in its hands. The entrance to the bridge on either side was flanked by braziers, and the statues of four giants flanked the wall on our side. Obviously nothing of this would be a trap right? When Luke stepped forward and crossed the barrier created by the braziers, the statues came to life. The skeletons of long dead giants brought back to life in their animated armors attacked us from two sides. I turned one into a turtle and kicked it into the chasm, before turning it to stone as it tried to climb back out.

In the meanwhile the rest took care of the other three threats. With the guardians dealt with, we turned back to the bridge. So how do we get the lamp off the statue in the middle? When Luke made a second attempt at stepping closer, a deep voice rang out.

“No evil may approach!”

It boomed, and then we got hit with a powerful blast of energy, knocking us back, and knocking out Luke. I quickly put him back on his feet and then turned to the bridge. Whatever magic was guarding the lamp, must have had magical sensing. So I turned to Alistan and weaved a spell around him, masking him from magical senses in an attempt to bypass the trap altogether. It worked. Alistan stepped forward to the statue and took hold of the lamp.

As soon as he laid his hands on it, the voice boomed out again.

“Thieves! You try taking the lamp without passing the test?”

Another shockwave of energy swept over the bridge, slamming into Alistan, but he held fast. With a mighty effort he lifted the lamp off the statue and rushed back off the bridge.

Seeing as we didn’t want to risk taking it back to Tarn, we activated the lamp right there. Marraki Al’Sidan, the female efreet trapped inside the lamp appeared. It seemed to be surprised that we weren’t giants, seeing as they were the ones who had trapped her in the lamp to begin with. Luke then said what we needed, wishing to be able to attune to four magical items. She smiled, saying that was an easy thing to do, and with that, it was done.

Alistan and Liliana, always noble, then tried to destroy the lamp to free the efreet from its prison. Gael made a short attempt at stopping them, but to no avail. Surprised and pleased to finally be free after so long, Marraki promised she would come to Tarn, at noon, one year from now, and if she finds us there, would grant us another wish. Then before she vanished, she warned us that we had probably made a lot of enemies amongst the giants with our actions.

With our goal accomplished, without the need of sacrificing a sentient creature to a ritual, we teleported back to Tarn

Continue reading...

Entry one: The trials

Entry two: The bramble

Entry 3: Rosebloom

Entry 4: Hearts and Dreams

Entry 5: of ghosts and wolves

Entry 6: Hillfield and Deals with Fae

Entry 7: mysteries and pastries

Entry 8: The scarecrow ruse
6th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Entry 9: A betrayal of satyrs
7th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 10: The fate of twins
8th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 11: Cursed twins
10th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 12: Loss and despair
11th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Hayley's rules to being a Witch

Entry 13: the price of safety
12th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 14: A golden cage and fiery tower
13th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 15: A trial by fire
14th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 16: Keralon
15th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Letter to Luke 1

Letter to Luke 2

Letter to Luke 3

Letter to Luke 4

Letter to Luke 5

Letter to Luke 6

Entry 17: I shall wear midnight
1st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 18: peace in our time
2nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 19: Caern Fussil falls
3rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 20: I see fire
4th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 21: Cultists twarted
10th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 22: Ravensfield
14th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 23: The Hollow Hill Horror
15th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 24: Burn your village
16th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 25: Ravensfield burns
17th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 26: There will be blood!
21st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 27: A happy reunion
22nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 28: The embassy ball
23rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 29: The fate of Robert Talespinner
24th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 30: A royal summons
28th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 31: of Dogville and Geese
29th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 32: A boggle named Pim
30th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 33: A deal broken
1st of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 34: The cost of doing what is right
2nd of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 35: A dish best served cold
9th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

entry 36: Cornu returns?
10th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 37: A letter from Amarra
11th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 38: The case of the (not) missing villagers
14th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 39: A curse broken
15th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 40: Into the Lorewood
18th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 41: Cabin in the Woods
19th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 42: Myrdin and Anaya
20th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 43: Into the Immerglade
21st of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 44: A tale as old as time
22nd of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 45: The truth
23rd of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 46: Luke's Ordeal
24th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 47: The festival
26th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 48: Trouble at the Cathedral
2nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 49: Quinn's court
4th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 50: onwards to Latebra Velora
5th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 51: Where is my cow?
6th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 52: Here be dragons
7th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 53: Dragon hoard with a side of scarabs
8th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 54: Leave the basilisks alone
9th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 55: Return to Ravensfield
10th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 56: The needs of the many...
11th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 57: Dreams of Sister Willow
12th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 58: wetlands be wet
13th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 59: Baron Perenolde
14th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 60: Talebra Velora and the lady Morenthene
15th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 61: Cypria
16th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 62: Dragon takes Knight
17th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 63: Return to Talebra Velora
18th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 64: Your presence is “requested”
19th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 65: I stand alone
20th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 66: A day of normalcy
21th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 67: Into the Neverhold
22nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 68: The Warg King

Entry 69: Chased by birds

Entry 70: Whitewail

Entry 71: Nimmerhold

Entry 72: The menagerie
29th of Gobu, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 73: To the library!
30th of Gobu, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 74: The people's tournament
First of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 75: Nimmerhold party
First of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 76, The return home
Second of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 77: A week of peace
10th of Mannan

Entry 78: The tomb of the First King
11th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 79: I had a dream
12th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 80: The ritual for Sister Willow
14th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 81: Trouble at the Briar Ring
15th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 82: My day as a crocodile
21st of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

The return of the twins (Entry 83)
22nd of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Earth and Sky (Entry 84)
26th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Wolf's Rest betrayed (entry 85)
30th of Mannon

The end of a chapter (entry 86)
first of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

On the road (Entry 87)
second of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

The Red Knight (Entry 88)
7th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Dear uncle… (Entry 89)
8th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Cut the bridge (Entry 90)
10th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Home (Entry 91)
13th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

A tale of two shadows (Entry 92)
16th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Eileen Inkheart and the cursed village (Entry 93)
17th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Nidhog at the end of the world (Entry 94)
18th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Into Hillfield (Entry 95)
24th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Did it have to be spiders? (Entry 96)
12th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

The burning tree (Entry 97)
13th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Deep down the city (Entry 98)
14th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Heavy is the crown (Entry 99)
21st of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Genie in a bottle (Entry 100)
24th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Bad blood (Entry 101)
27th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Think about it (Entry 102)
2nd of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Arca Valon (Entry 103)
6th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Myrddin's grand plan (Entry 104)
10th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Nearly lost you (Entry 105)
11th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Who let the dogs out? (Entry 106)
18th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Genie in a bottle (Entry 100)

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