Do you believe in fate? [PC: Firebug]

[Game Master]

The images of the books owner were erratic and made little sense to the Mystic. Flashes of a high elf, wood elf, halfling, gnome, human, mountain dwarf, and just about every humanoid race in existence. The faces were all old and male. Firebug had always caught glimpses of the most current owner of an object being read, but this seemed to be showing the books complete history of owners. then it was over.

Firebug blinked rapidly until his eyes regained focus. As always he was unaware of how much time had elapsed but before him stood the old man Gardrax with a mischievous, lopsided grin on his face and his left eyebrow cocked. "Ready to come back from wherever you were?"

Firebug could only nod and hope the Alchemist didn't know what he had attempted. Whatever the Alchemist knew he wasn't letting on as he sat across from the Mystic and set the paper on the table before him.

"First I must apologies for being late. It took me a good half hour longer then expected. This paper is far more complex then even I first thought. You got off cheap." This last statement Gardrax spit out with some annoyance but quickly resumed his lecture.

"The magical paper before you is actually a Fate deck or Deck of Fate. The power-word "Quarlok" reveals its true nature.

Sure enough the piece of paper promptly grew in size and splitting to become a deck of playing cards. The back of the cards looked like a yin-yang symbol made of fire and ice.

"I can't show you the cards themselves because the faces are only visible when drawn from the top of the deck by whomever holds them. Watch." The alchemist fanned out the 26 cards face down all bearing the yin-yang symbol. Flipping them over revealed blank, white sheets. Gardrax then flipped them back over and shuffled them. "You may revert the cards into the illusion of paper for ease of storage and to fool would be thieves, by speaking the power-word "Loktoor". Note that only the holder may speak the words to any effect."

"This deck of cards is rare and powerful magic and as the name implies the item will forever control your fate while you posses it. Normally I would offer to buy a magical rarity such as this, to add to my personal collection however, the deck is all about chance and the luck of fate. I'm a gambler by nature and I fear this deck would bring me great troubles if I possessed it." The wizard cleared his throat before continuing.

"Now on to the fun part. The deck of fate is made up of 26 cards. 11 will bring you some form of gain or boon while 11 others will bring you ruin and loss. The remaining 4 cards are neutral in a way added in for balance. The 11 cards of ill will have black backgrounds while the 11 cards of prosper will be backdropped in red. The 4 neutral cards will have a mixture of the two colors. Unfortunately do to the chaotic nature of the Deck I was unable to determine the exact causes of the 26 cards though I did manage to gleam the titles. These should help you to take an educated guess as to what may happen." Gardrax slides the deck over to Firebug and folds his hands in front of him on the table.

"Now I shall give you the rules of the deck and the titles of the cards themselves;

Rules:
1. May only draw one card per 24 hour period.
2. Power word to reveal true nature is 'Quarlok'
3. Power word to hide true nature (turn to paper) is 'Loktoor'
4. Only the holder of the cards may invoke the power words
5. Holder may allow another to draw a card in his stead but must remain holding the deck.

26 CARD Titles:

Cards of Prosper (red)
1. Key
2. Throne
3. Gem
4. Knight
5. Sun
6. Vizier
7. Star
8. Moon
9. Fates
10. Luck
11. Chalice

11 CARDS of ill (black)
1. Fool
2. Void
3. Ruin
4. Skull
5. Idiot
6. Donjon
7. Rogue
8. Flames
9. Talons
10. Weakling
11. Broken

4 CARDS of Balance
1. Jester
2. Scales
3. Favor
4. Wanderlust

This concludes our business I believe. My manservant will escort you out." Gardrax waved to the ever present troll. "Oh and one more thing. I forbid you to draw even a single card while within one hundred yards of my shop. If you do I shall be very upset and our relationship will take a sudden turn for the worse. Is this understood?"

[sfliegel]

"Loktoor," spoke Firebug, and then he rolled the paper backup and put it away carefully in his belt pouch. He then stood and extended his hand to the old man, "I understand sir. Thank you for all of your time as well as the use of your library. In the future, should I need to do research would I be so permitted to use your library?"

[Game Master]

"Why yes, certainly. I think one hundred gold crowns for a days use sounds fair. Now if you'll excuse me I have mushrooms that need tending."

With that the Mystic was escorted to the main room of the shop.

[Game Master]

Firebug left the Gromek head with the Troll who insisted he would not consider this as a bribe to get on his good side. The mystic left just as the troll started nibbling a horn.

In search of his party members Siff was the easiest to find. She had predictably made a sizable donation at the church and was preaching as a guest speaker to a small group of followers. She finished shortly after spotting Firebug and hurried off stage. Her face was flushed and she had a serene smile.

"That was wonderful. Did you see me up there? How was I? Did the peasants seem to feel what I was saying? Oh, no one was yawning were they? I do hope they understood the message. Do you think they did? I can preach there as often as I like as far as the staff is concerned. Isn't that wonderful? Oh! How was Gardrax? He sounds mysterious. What race is he? Is he mean? I hear that alchemists are stingy and mean. Did he know anything about the lizard head? They say alchemists are very knowledgeable about all sorts of topics. Oh, listen to me going on and on. Please, tell me. How did it go?"

[sfliegel]

Firebug smiled softly as he layed his hands on her shoulders, "ok, you need camemille. You were wonderful. The crowd was awe struck and hung on every word. Now, how about you walk with me and I wil tell about the alchemist and all he has been able to tell me."

As they walk in hopes of finding the rest Firebug relays everything that Gardrax has told him about the demon as well as what he read in the book. He goes on to tell her that he tried to "read" the book to learn more about him as well. Finally, he tells her about the paper and what it really is and laughs as he tells her about the warning not to use the cards around his shop.

[Game Master]

"Well the Church teaches that gambling is a sin. I've never been one to gamble. I'm sure Gaul and Reeks will be intrigued to say the least even if this deck of yours does sound dangerous. Are we letting Constable Ritage and Lord Kursaville handle this Gromek involvement or are we investigating it further on our own? I've gotten the feeling that you believe there is more to all this. What's going on in that head of yours? You know I can keep a secret."

Just then the two came upon Reeks and Gaul. Gaul was being bodily thrown out of the Drunken Griffin by Gorcheck the bouncer while Reeks waltzed out with hands tucked into his belt roaring loudly with laughter.

[sfliegel]

"I see you lads are having fun. If you lads are finished we need to meet with Kursaville so we can discuss what I found out. So Gaul, do I want to know what you were up to?"

[Game Master]

Gaul smiled mischiviously. "Ah, no. Gaul think it not important. No."

The party headed for the Constable office. On the way after Reeks controled his laughter he inquired about the interview with Gardrax the Great.

[sfliegel]

"My friend, Gardrax seems to be everything you think he is. He has possession of magic on a scale that I have only read about. I think it best we keep him as a friend and we do our best to keep our distance."

Firebug smiled and slapped Reeks on the shoulder, "would you care to join me should I need to visit him again?"

Finally, they reached the constable's offfice and group paused at the door. Inside seemed as busy as every with deputies and clerks hurrying back and forth. "Once we have Kursaville's ear, I will catch everyone up on the details of my visit with Gardrax."

The group pressed on toward Kursaville, following Firebug as they weaved through the activities trying to stay out of everyones way.

[Game Master]

Kursaville smiled briefly as he saw his friends. He had a haggered look to him and he dragged his palm down over his face to clear his head before speaking. "Welcome my friends. Sit down, sit down. I'm a bit busy handling complaints between Halfhelm's dwarves and all the new people in town staking claims on the mountain. Its a headache but mundane. No demonic creatures for miles." Kursaville half smiled. Firebug could tell his attempt at humor was only skin deep. He was still deeply troubled by the events in the tunnels. "Enough of my troubles. What brings you to see me so soon.

[sfliegel]

"Well I had my meeting with Gardrax. I was able to find out quite a bit about that thing we fought. It was indeed a demon that we killed." Firebug continued explaining what Gardrax told him as well as what he read. Emphasizing the danger of such a creature and the fact that it was associated with the weapon smugglers, well, things could be going from bad to worse.

"I heard that Fire Brand sacked another town, it is all too possible that such a creature might be under the direction of these demons." Firebug paused as he dropped into his seat and began pinching the bridge of his nose. "That is how these monsters work. They control other powerful things to do their bidding. So those weapons could have been either to supply the demons, Fire Brand or both. I need a nap."

After a long moment of silence Firebug rasied his head finally and looked at Kursaville, "we're going to have to prep the soldiers and gather the town militia. If these weapons were flowing to support either of these armies they very well may be coming to find out why. Not to mention, that note we found indicated that this was their last shipment." Firebug fished out the journal from his pack and opened to the first page, "it looks like this has been going on for some time. There is no way to tell exactly how many weapons and armor we are talking about. We need to question those smugglers! We need to know who they were meeting with, how many weapons and armor they moved and what sizes, human size or larger. Lord Kursaville, can you spare anyone? These smugglers can not be killed until we can gather all the facts."

[Game Master]

Kursaville had a pained look of regret on his face. "I agree my friend. The problem is that the Baron wants this closed and buried quickly. He doesn't want to scare the townsfolk or the new comers staking claims. All these new folk in town are increasing business and making Garrotten a regular stop on the river boat travel. Truth is the gold rush is good for growth and the Baron doesn't want news of smugglers and demons ruining it for him. He ordered the execution himself and I already failed to appeal it. He won't even allow visitors. As far as he is concerned they are already dead."

He stroked his chin in thought.

"I do have a couple leads I can give you 'unofficially'. First By the looks of that letter Their is an ogre chief involved. See that name there. Slayer. There is a wanted poster right over there on the wall for a Master Slayer. He's an Ogre Chief running one of the largest Ogre tribes in the mountains. Secondly Halfhelm never did catch the troll that we saw in the tunnels. He's still roaming around in the mines somewhere. Either of these two could give you the intel you need. Tell you what. I'll give you one of our best freelance bounty Hunters. He's a dwarf and happens to be in town. Goes by the name Silverbeard."

The group looked at Reeks who's name was also Silverbeard.

"Don't look at me. I have a big family. Could be a cousin."

[sfliegel]

Firebug stood and shook Kursavilles' hand, "with your recommendation, that means a lot. We will meet with Silverbeard and begin planning."

The group slowly moved out of the constable's office, Firebug slapped Reeks on the back, "so you have any other family we should know about?"

Reeks groaned, "lad if you were only old enough to have known my grandfather. There was a man you would have wanted to know. Well, actually he hated mystics come to think 'bout it. Guess it's a good thing you didn't ..., " Reeks walked out the door lost in thought.

Firebug paused and turned back to Kursaville who had already gone back to reading for another case, "when we're ready to make our next move, will you be joining us?"

[Game Master]

Kursaville paled visibly but quickly regained his composure. "I think it would be best if I stayed in town. Silverbeard is better suited for your kind of work I think. I'll be here if you need me."

Firebug walked outside. "It will be at least an hour before this bounty hunter was tracked down and told to meet with us." Siff commented. "We better get a bite to eat and discuss our plans."

The group agreed and went to the Travelers Inn for some food after telling Kursaville where to find them. Siff wanted to go to the Griffin but, Gaul stated it would be best if they avoided the place for a few days. With not much else to talk about on the way Siff began telling the others about Firebug's magical deck of cards. Gaul and Reeks gave each other a sideways glance before Reeks cleared his throat. "Ahhh, Listen Firebug, if you don't intend to use them cards, I would..oof.."

Gaul poked Reeks in the ribs with his elbow.

"That is to say, Gaul and I would be happy to take them off your hands for you. No need just letting them go to waste."

[sfliegel]

"Wait a minute. Don't you two get any crazy ideas. These are not gambling cards. These are destiny cards and could cause some serious damage if their magic is used inappropriately. While I don't believe in the whole destiny thing I do believe that the cards contain powerful magic that could cause harm to the person who misuses them. Now let's get something to eat, I'm starving."