A song of Ice and Dice

 Winter in Salzenmund All is quiet and all is still. Snow is coming down like big white napkins. Piles and piles of it gathered everywhere. Everything is frozen. The once grueling threat of a Norscan rider invasion is gone with it. Too much snow and ice has apparently dissuaded my old fellow citizens. They dare not go in over the ice.  A pity. I would have loved standing up on the city walls, giving them a warm welcome. A warm Aqshy welcome. Quite a sight it would have been. A nice sight with great burning ships and Norscan raiders alike. All huddled together, forming perfect funeral pyres. This kind of warm cuddly thinking is what gets me through these cold months and I confess it brings a smile to my face thinking about it every time.  However, I always loved winter. A paradox, I know, given my warm inner fire but I spent my childhood huddling around big bonfires, constantly feeding them, harnessing the heat and kindling the flames to keep sweet Sunniva and me warm...

 From the journal of Johanna Schwarz: The most insidious aspect of the forces of chaos is how they wither all they touch, their destructive power working long after their agents are vanquished. Malice was gone, at last, but her corruption was not. As we gathered in the wasteland that was once Dunkelkeifer, we could feel her vengeful breath breathing down our necks from beyond the grave. Both Johann and Eldur were pale and sick, ready to collapse at any point. We were all wounded, but their wounds showed the sickly tinge of blood rot. I’ve seen it before, after large battles, and many are the soldiers who have survived a hard battle, only to die in pain in bed days later. And Viktor was gone. Making makeshift sleds to lay our wounded comrades on, we made our way to the camp the villagers of Wulfhaven. They were many of them in bad shape, but cheered us as heroes for dispelling the evil pall that had cursed the land. Surveying the wounded and sick, we decided to seek refuge in one of...

From the journal of Johanna Schwarz 29. Kaldezeit, 2499 As we stood at the foot of the ancient ziggurat, trying to work up the nerve to ascend those dark steps, I could feel Morr’s breath. This was not going to be a fight like any other. Within the stony halls ahead, nestled like a grotesque spider in her web, was an evil older than the empire itself. A being so infused with power, arrogance and hatred that she saw the very strands of fate as her loom, to weave as she saw fit. Just the mere, impossible presence of her lair here, on the site of where the small settlement of Dunkelkeifer recently stood, a thousand miles from where we last saw it, was a testament to the force of that old, old will. What were we? Mere insects in the face of a giant. I could not help but recall those awful days a year ago, in the deep frozen wastes of the north. How her hook was planted deep in our minds, driving us nearly to our doom. And how her power even now burned through Eldur’s soul, leaving him a pa...

A death  It is a beautiful winter morning in Salzenmund. I found myself tossing and turning all night, plagued by dreams. I saw the girls dance around Johanna in an autumn forest, all of them laughing and in good spirits. I saw Solrun illuminated in Shallya's light, before her face suddenly turned wicked, her hands growing great claws. She jumped on Johanna's back and slit her throat before I could utter so much as a scream.  I take a brisk walk before breakfast in the icy cold, barely noticing my hands turning blue. I stop by Shallya's temple, praying that Johanna would make the right choice. My prayers go unanswered and the cold finally creeps into me body and soul on those icy pews.  I come back to the house as Johanna emerges from her room, her jaw set and determined. Clearly, she's decided. Quietly, she tells us that Solrun is the one - she is sure of it. The other two girls are to be swept away to far away temples, living lives in seclusion among monks. Only our p...

Chasing demons is a game of patience. They are caught through their followers and chasing their worshippers is as fickle and fragile like the flame of a candle. They are easily spooked. Flame extinguished and gone forever. We have to find a way to fan the flames and smoke them out. Many of our clues have however gone cold. But a few remain still and we do not despair. Life still goes on while checking out leads and surveilling the last targets we know, I for one spend my days with Mia, teaching her the ways of Aqshy and some investigative skills at the same time. Johanna and sweet Sunniva have been summoned. Posh dinner with the elector count, von Gosser. As Johanna prepares and Sweet Sunniva coaches her in etiquette, Victor polishes his sword. Ever eager to cleave someone in two. He is also attending the dinner though I doubt they will let him sit at the big table. We can do nothing but wait now. We have surveillance on the tunnels. The rumor is out about the apprehension of the cult ...

I finally got my new sword. I am really happy with it, the smith was as much of an artisan as his other work indicated.  I got exactly the slightly forward weighting I wanted, making both parrying and cutting better. Would be a problem if you're not strong enough, but it is perfect for me. Exactly the right dimensions and the trim is beautiful. The steel holds an edge very well, none of the brittle razor sharp bullshit, but an edge that keeps even after cutting up 4 guys in armour. I love it. I'll name her Eleanor! I was optimistic that I'd get an opportunity to baptise her in a fitting liquid quickly. But, if takes a for effing ages to arrange a baptism. I guess it doesn't help in the fight against chaos to just slaughter random people, even if they look funny, but being an inquisitor is more about reading stuff and talking to people than I expected. It gets kinda long-winded after a while...  Sunniva and Johanna look at the poems, but it isn't all that easy to fig...