��� The chirping sound of a pigeon at my window woke me.� As I went to open the window, I immediately noticed something.

This was no ordinary pigeon.� It was a carrier pigeon with a message on it!� As I went to get the note off the pigeon's foot, the

pigeon went crazy flying everywhere in the room.� I called upon the little magic I knew and calmed the bird.� I opened the letter

and it read:

Master Excaliber,

����������� Your father, Seeker of Skybreak, has passed away and wants you to continue his quest for the legendary

treasure of Tempest.� Attached to this letter is the picture of Verdigris, the man who has stolen the map from your

father.� That map has the location of the legendary treasure of Tempest.� Verdigris was last seen in the port of

Waterdeep.� When you have obtained the map, bring it to me and together we will finish the quest your father had

begun.
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Bruenor

I rushed to my desk and wrote a letter back to Bruenor.� I wrote, "I have gotten the letter and I am on my way to Waterdeep

to get the map from Verdigris.� Excaliber."� I attached it to the carrier pigeon and sent it on its way.

��� Bruenor received the letter about an hour later.� After he read the letter, he started to think about his master's last day.

�About an hour before Seeker of Skybreak died, they had gotten into a verbal fight about how Bruenor could not make up his

mind.� Bruenor had said, "Master, we are going to have lamb for dinner; no, wait, we are going to have pork."� Because of that

fight, Seeker of Skybreak went for a walk around the forest surrounding the home.� Bruenor had gone out to tell Seeker of

Skybreak it was dinner time when he heard a magic spell being cast.� He ran to that place and saw that his master had been

stabbed repeatedly in the heart.� He looked up to see who was responsible for the murder and saw Verdigris running away

with his master's map.� Bruenor debated in his head if he should go for help or stay with his master.� He said, " I am going for

help; no-wait-I am staying with you.� No, I'm going for help".� Seeker of Skybreak replied in a low voice, "You never could

make up your mind."� Those were his last words before he died.� Bruenor got up and gathered his supplies and went out

towards Waterdeep.

*****

��� The morning after I received the letter, I walked through the town of Menzoberranzan searching for a merchant who was

selling horses.� Luckily, I found one, but he wanted one hundred gold pieces for the horse.� I had no choice and gave him the

money.� The rest of that morning, I continued to buy the necessary supplies I would need for the trip to Waterdeep, which was

about three days travel away.� I bought rations and a dagger.� After I collected these items, I was on my way to Waterdeep.
�

��� I departed from the town around noon and hoped to get to Waterdeep in three days, to meet Verdigris.� Around sundown I

made camp near a caravan also on its way to Waterdeep.� The people traveling on the caravan said they would give me two

hundred gold pieces if I guarded the caravan for the remaining trip to Waterdeep.� I told them I would.

��� That night, during my watch, I saw a sleek figure moving through the shadows.� I stood up and drew my dagger.� I quietly

moved around the caravan to see if everything was all right, when an arrow shot passed my head and hit the door of the cabin

behind me.� I quickly moved away from the spot where I was standing as four other arrows hit in the same place.� I ran to

where I thought the attacker was, but there was no one there.� I yelled for help and continued to search the caravan.� As I was

searching the caravan a thin black figure jumped from the trees with his sward drawn.� I quickly moved out of the way and tried

to counter attack with an attack of my own, but the attacker had slipped away.

��� The rest of the night was very quiet, and when morning came, the caravan was off again to Waterdeep.� The next two days

on the trip to Waterdeep were very uneventful.� When we reached Water deep, the people in the craven paid me my money

and went on their way.� We arrived around noon and I decided to go to a bar to and get something to eat and collect

information.� In the bar, I asked people if they had seen Verdigris.� One of them said that they had and said I could find him at

dock 69 on the other side of the port.� I ate my lunch and was on my way to the dock.

��� When I reached the dock, Verdigris was there, and I introduced myself and asked him if I could have my father's map.

Verdigris said no and had his bodyguards knock me unconscious.� When I awoke, I was in a dark alley.� It was about eight

o'clock at night, and boy, what a headache I had.� I went back to Verdigris' dock and sneaked into his ship wile he was talking

to a merchant.� Inside the ship, I headed for the captain's quarters.� There I discovered a chest, but it was locked.� I took out

my dagger and tried to pry the lock open.� While I was prying the lock, a guard noticed me and grabbed me by the neck.� I

stabbed my dagger into the side of his leg and twisted it so that it wound not heal.� As he held his leg in pain, I used the handle

side of the dagger and knocked him unconscious.� I closed the door and continued to try and open the lock.� After a few

minutes, I finally go the lock open.� When I opened the chest, I saw my father's map.� I reached in for the map, but when I

pulled the map out of the chest, an arrow came flying toward my head.� I quickly dogged my head out of the way, but the

arrow pierced my ear.� As I grabbed my ear in pain, I dropped the map, and it fell into the lit lamp and was set aflame.� I

quickly tried to grab the map, but to no avail; the map was lost and so was the treasure.� Behind me I heard a monocle laugh.� I

turned to see Verdigris, holding a map.� He said, " Are you looking for this?� Do you really think I am stupid to not carry the

map with me hahahahahaha...ow, my eyes!!"� While he was talking, I had picked up the hot ash from the burnt map behind me

and threw it into his eyes.� I then grabbed the map and ran off the ship.� When I thought I was safe, I turned around to see one

of Verdigris's men chasing after me with a sword.� I drew my dagger, but became confused when he grabbed his chest.� I saw

an arrow had pierced his heart.� When I turned to see who had shot him, A five-foot elf stood in front of me.� At first I didn't

recognize him but when he said, "What, no thank you?"� I realized that it was Bruenor. ��� That night Bruenor and I slept in an inn.� The next morning, we went to the dock to rent a ship.� Bruenor and I studied the map and discovered that the legendary treasure of Tempest was in the Old Hermit's cave.� That afternoon we set out for the cave.

��� One day's travel later we reached our destination.� We went into the cave and discovered a huge dome which held the treasure but we had to cross a bridge which was overhanging a pit of lava.� Standing at the beginning of the bridge was an old hermit.� When we approached him he ordered us to stop.� He informed us that the only way he would let us cross the bridge

was for us to answer his three questions.� In a scratchy, gravely voice the hermits asked me his three questions.� The first was simple.� What is your name?"� The second was also surprisingly simple.� He asked, "What is your quest?"� Now I began to get nervous as he prepared to ask his third question.� He thought for a moment and asked, "What is your favorite color?"� I was

amazed at the simplicity of his questions and was allowed to cross the bridge.� Bruenor now look very confident that he too

could answer these simple questions.� The hermit asked, "What is your Name?"� "Bruenor," he replied.� The hermit asked next,

"What is your quest?" "The trees of Tempest," Bruenor proudly replied.� The hermit thought for a moment and asked

Bruenor to spell TO.� Bruenor stood tall and replied, "T-O.� No wait! T-O-O.� No!! T-W-O!"� With that he was flung into the

lava.

��� After I crossed the bridge, I picked up the treasure and was instantly transported back to Menzoberranzan.� I opened the

treasure and found gold and gems beyond my belief.� From then on I promised to use that money to protect all that is good

and crush evil and its dark minions.
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� By: Christopher Lucarelli

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