State of the Syndicate: Eleasis, 1502 D.R.

There is... much to be said of this month, and little that I will say. Less still that I wish to say, but I've a certain responsibility to uphold, I suppose.

There has been little work for me. The lower ranks -- of which there are many new, though I've met precious few of them, as I have kept to my home -- are awash in jobs aplenty, but none of them seem to find their way to the higher. I would, almost, that I could drop back to theirs, so that I might maintain an income. My projects, learning and the crafting of powerful magical items, interfere with my business. I've apprentices now, of course, and employees, but they mostly pay for themselves with little left over.

That is about all that may be said for the professional state of the Syndicate. As for the personal....

Well. I do not wish to speak of it. It does not matter. Nothing does.

-- Yashir adh Rumahr

20 Eleasis, 1502 D.R.

Work at last. I am glad indeed for the opportunity to take my mind off of things and simply apply simple, physical solutions to problems. The mission was taken on by myself, Solia, Shev, Bri, and Vincel.

There was... awkwardness all around. It is the first time I've seen -- well, that is not pertinent to the mission.

A personage simply called SEER summoned us to the town of Beregost, and the Burning Wizard Inn, to discuss the job. The ancient Ulcaster School has recently been cleared out (and its headmaster raised from the dead?), but the adventures who accomplished this task were unable to penetrate into the library, where some very important magical items and scrolls and such were stored. Instead, a band of pirates got in.

There was... a great deal of explanation and backstory, but ultimately, the problem had indeed a simple solution. We were to go in, navigate the ruins, wait for Ulcaster's wizard apprentice friend to perform a ritual to open the library door, secure the trove of items, and kill anyone who got in our path.

Many people got in our path.

We accomplished our goals, despite a labyrinth of corridors, puzzles, and pirates. SEER and Ulcaster seemed pleased, and we were paid accordingly.

-- Yashir adh Rumahr

11 Eleasis 1502 D.R.

It has been some tendays since my last official job with the Glassfang Syndicate. Perhaps the same can be said for my compatriots, for it seems most of them had forgotten how to comport themselves in a professional manner.

We were summoned to protect a Lords' Alliance caravan passing through dangerous moors around the city-state of Neverwinter. Captain Ilyra Venn greeted us courteously and informed us of our task, warning us that the High Road had become dangerous and that previous caravans -- and guards -- had gone missing. If quicksand and insect swarms weren't enough, trolls were said to be in the area. I detest trolls.

While Salviron and I listened and did our best to establish a proper working relationship with our clients, Surx pouted, wailed, and bemoaned her spurning by Na'ima, who was not present but who seems to have finally convinced Surx that they are not in fact in a romantic relationship together. Shev has become fully possessed by his blubbering pint-sized megalomaniac of a patron and spent most of the mission screaming impotent demands for servitude and cookies while failing hilariously to convince anyone that it was just Shev and not a many-eyed planar aberration bent on world domination as soon as it figures out how legs work. Bri struggled to come to grips with this, and was consequently a mess. Venn rightly rebuked us all, but still sent us on our way.

For a time, the journey was uneventful. We traveled. We found a station along the way from which the missing guards had set out, but little information there beyond hints at vague dangers. We pressed on. One of the carriages nearly went off the road into the swamp, but we remembered at last how to work together and managed to succeed in saving it. Our clients, who had become more and more skeptical, began to take us more seriously.

Then came the ambush.

A wrecked cart lay across the road. When Bri went to clear it, a hidden chain popped up to begin ripping apart one of our carriages, and then the trolls attacked from all sides.

I shall spare the details for the most part. It was a grim fight, and Surx especially took a beating; some of these trolls were very different from the simple brutes that had attacked my home, spiritual entities that struck at the very soul. But we preserved and destroyed them one and all. What does bear mentioning is that, given the opportunity, these trolls ignored or distracted us and went directly after our most valuable cargo. This strikes me, though I am no expert, as very un-trolllike behavior; they have always seemed to me most fixated on their next (preferably sentient) meal. These focused on *things* for which they should have had little use, and they knew exactly what they were looking for and where to find it, and attempted to flee once they had it.

I suspect, then, that they were directed. These attacks cannot be random.

We uncovered also the body of what seemed to be a Lords' Alliance officer. On the corpse we found a filthy, tarnished badge, which we returned to our client upon our return trip. They were glad to have it, and in fact seemed excited in a grim and dangerous sort of way; it must have indicated something to them that eluded us. They asked about a duty log, which was not present with the body -- meaning someone must have taken it.

All interesting stuff, and surely important for any followup we might be called to do. But ultimately none of our business. It was a job well done, and we were paid, and that is all that matters to me.

-- Yashir adh Rumahr