Charraj Cain, Wizard and Ex-Investigator

[Charraj]

For the better part of a year now, I've tried to stay out of things. No involvement in the happenings of the Coast, no going out of my way to help anyone, no risking my life to fight evil forces. I mean, I tried to help before, tried to do good, and look at where it got me.

But has my adopted philosophy of non-involvement turned me into some sort of coward?

Today, I was scouring the caves in Amn for some magical texts with a hired gnome named Nelwynn. We came upon a chaotic scene. An armored man was fighting several lizards, and a devil and a vampire were involved in the fray. Nelwynn and I stayed in the shadows and watched. After the lizards were killed, the devil and the vampire stalked after the armored man. I thought they were about to avenge their lizard masters or somesuch. Breaking my own code of non-involvement, I conjured an orb of acid and threw it at the vampire. At this, the devil revealed his true shape: that of a mage. The mage unleashed a flurry of powerful spells upon me and Nelwynn, most of them necromantic. If not for our wards, I am sure the gnome and I would be the undead servants of that necromancer right now.

The magical duel continued, with the armored man taking no sides. The vampire was soon destroyed, and after that, it was me and Nelwynn versus the necromancer. I am glad that I hired the gnome; it was only with his help that we were able to beat back the necromancer. We were about to deliver the killing spells when the armored man shouted for us to stop. The necromancer, to my shock, listened to the man. Nelwynn and I ceased our attacks, as well. The necromancer was obviously beaten, and I had no idea what the armored man was thinking.

The armored man spoke to us, and it quickly became obvious that he was acquainted with the necromancer. I was about to attack both of them, but the necromancer spoke the words to a teleportation spell. The light from his spell enveloped both of them . . . and then fizzled. The necromancer was staggering where he stood, bleeding profusely. I think I actually felt some pity for the mage. Years ago, in my darkest moments, I had dabbled once or twice in magic that is best left untouched. I wondered what had driven this other mage to embrace such darkness so wholeheartedly. I tried to tell the necromancer that his way of magic could only end badly for him. The armored man told the necromancer to go outside, and Nelwynn and I made no move to stop the mage from leaving. The armored man soon left, as well. In letting them go, I told myself that I should not get involved any further.

Now, I wonder if I did the right thing by letting them go. I'm wondering more and more if my philosophy of "non-involvement" is just some sort of excuse. I'm wondering if that necromancer could ever actually learn the error of his ways. I'm wondering if Nelwynn and I should have just killed the necromancer and his friend and been done with it.

When I still lived in Istari Tower, what would I have done? And would that have been the right thing to do?

In my time back home in Neverwinter, I think I only became more lost.

P.S. Losing half of my spellbook last tenday didn't help, either.

[Charraj]

My philosophy of strict non-involvement has resulted in the following:

• A necromancer still lives, most likely animating corpses all day, every day.
• I have lost the friendship of she who helped me escape from the Underdark.
• An evil high priestess who thinks nothing of perverting and destroying souls is freely walking the Trade Way.
• A psychotically stab-happy girl currently has more altruistic tendencies than I do.
• And I'm working for my parents.

Might be time to dust off the old white cloak, see if I can regain a little control of my life.

[Charraj]

Life's not bad these days, can't complain. I think I've found a good balance between "self-preserving non-involvement" and "zealot-level do-gooding."

I call it "tactically applied altruism." Actually, I just made that up on the spot, I don't really call it that. Moving on.

So basically, I spend most of my time helping the family business back home in Neverwinter. BUT when business requires me to visit further south along the Coast, I come prepared. See, I know that the section of the Sword Coast from Waterdeep down to Nashkel is seething with chaos, madness, and general gut-wrenching danger. And I sure as the Nines don't want to risk my hide dealing with all that anymore. But I can help those who DO!

I sell magical wards to adventurers who are going to fight dangerous menaces. I patrol the Trade Way (sometimes in invisible safety). I save people who are in dire trouble. I help defuse sticky situations (okay maybe not, but I'm working on it). And I get to teleport home in time for dinner.

So I stay relatively safe while helping out the Sword Coast. Pretty perfect, if I say so myself. And I do. Say so, that is.

Business is going well, managed to sell an enchanted cloak to some filthy rich bard a while back. Made so much coin off of that sale, it almost makes me want to convert to the worship of Waukeen.

Also, my research is going better than expected, so that's another positive.

Feels good.

[Charraj]

They came for me today. I don't know who. Zhents? If I had to guess, I would have said the Thayans were behind it. But maybe it was the Lolthites in Sshamath, finally getting back at me.

This is what I get for coming back to the Coast. I was just at the Friendly Arm Inn, keeping company with some strangers at the campfire. Then some woman started asking me some questions about my mark. Fair enough. But then this woman began to ask me about old Weavemasters, pretty insistently. Didn't say why. And frankly, I just want to leave the Weavemasters behind me. So when I got a chance, I teleported away to Amn.

I wanted to blow off some steam, so I began to ward myself to fight some lizards. That's when the air elementals ambushed me. Luckily, I had already warded myself against electric energy, and I was able to further ward myself for battle.

Here's where things got really suspicious. I suddenly saw that same woman from the campfire, standing behind the air elementals. She had somehow followed me. I have no idea how; I did not have her pegged for a mage. She wore leather armor, was wielding daggers at the campfire. (Then again, that matches my description, so why am I even surprised?) Anyways, she must have traced my teleport. And if she is a magic user, she obviously summoned the two air elementals to attack me. She's clearly powerful. After a long fight, I took out her air elementals while she watched from safety. Then the woman made a show out of sheathing her swords.

In hindsight, it was obviously a trick to play for time. Because before I knew it, about six more people were surrounding me. A lot of them were from the campfire. Maybe all of them. One was a gnome; I got a good look at him as he moved to flank me. I demanded to know who sent them. One of them, another woman in a hat, told me with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "the Zhents."

Let me tell you, that did not make me feel better.

Whoever it was, they knew me. They had tracked me down to Amn and attacked me. And now they had me cornered. I imagined myself finally being brought back to the Underdark and given to the High Priestess of Lolth. I imagined the Red Wizards gloating over my severed head. Hells, I imagined that woman in black from the Thieves Guild years ago, coming out of the shadows and demanding her payment. It was not the most comfortable moment of my life. Actually, Hells with it, I'll admit it: I may have been somewhat shaken.

Then they all started to assure me that they meant no harm. Stupid naive fool that I am, I almost believed them.

That's when one of them warded herself with a Spell Mantle and Spell Breached my wards.

The next few moments were a blur. I hate to admit it, but I may have panicked and hurled spells a bit blindly. Suddenly, I saw my opening, and made a break for it.

Turns out I made a break for it, right into the lizard cave. Brilliant. I hid in the winding tunnels of the cave, waiting for them to follow me in. But they didn't. After another period of waiting, I thought that maybe they'd dispersed. Then I realized that they were probably waiting for my wards to fade before coming in after me. I decided that I couldn't wait in the cave forever. I made myself ethereal and casted Haste on myself, then I bolted out of the cave. I only saw a few of them as I raced by, and then I was sprinting like the wind up the mountain trail.

As I write this, I am sitting in a tavern in Nashkel with my back to a wall. I am watching the door and windows very closely. (Okay, not that closely, because I am writing in this journal. But I am still looking at them every few seconds.) They won't get the drop on me again.

But I am realizing that, as much as I want to, I can't teleport home to Neverwinter. Not when these people can trace my teleports so easily. I'd just be leading them right to my family. No, I have to stay and deal with this somehow.

Maybe it's time to go looking for the old Weavemasters, after all.

[Ricastle]

// From the misadventures files...................With permission from Charraj Cain. //

I'm sitting at the fire have a nice time with Jules, Ivan, Boddy, and others when this man in white comes about. He's got some sort of mark on his head. At first I thought he was a sloppy eater, or perhaps some cult, I don't know, so I go ahead and try to get a better look. I could swear I've seen it before, on Pain and others. The mark of banishment. I go and ask him about it, bit rude I was I suppose, but it's best to point things out in case he's some ner-do-well. And who does wear white these days unless they are Illmateri or hiding somethin, trying to appear what they are not.

So I ask him straight away and he does respond that he has no idea what I'm talking about, so I don't know, I figure I'd ask him if he were a slave. He enthusiastically agreed, far too enthusiastically while he did wipe his brow. Some odd gnome tried to claim him as his own and well, he sort of went all with it. Desperate times, desperate measures I do imagine. I kept pressin the matter of banishment and he did keep attempting to confuse, if I'd not been the one asking the quesitions I'd think I'd been amused by this all. Awfully suspicious him being so nervous when bounties were brought up. Then Solaris came about and gave Charraj a quick hello like she tends to do, tellin me he was one of those weavemaster fellowes.

Then we seemed to be getting along nicely and I offered to buy him a drink. Soon as I turned my back that odd man plum used a teleporation spell, how bloody rude of him. Stiffin a lady that, so I decided to follow em and teleport away, findin him near some cave. I saw him wardin while I was in the shadows and I figure I best allow him in case he gets even more nervous then he is. Some air elementals must have heard him casting and ran up to him. I sat and watched, like I do, he seemed to handle himself well. When they had been dispatched, I gave him kudos and sheathed my weapons. Of course, being the odd nervous man he seems to be he probably thought I had something to do with it. Despite my friendly tone.

And then, I hear voices. They followed me. Obviously not helpin matters none, I think he actually started to hyperventilate. Oddly enough, he started to count down, starin daggers at me. For ells sake, I had no weapons drawn so I use a wand of mantle figurin he was going to go all mental. He targeted me with spell so I slip in the shadows to try to knock him out before he hurts someone. Cept, my blow to the head missed it's mark and he cast high level magics upon myself and Solaris knockin us out cold. I hear he went runnin into the caves in a panic. Considerin rumor of what I'd heard about some man blowin up a tower or whatnot in baldurs gate, I figure best stay away before he brings down the entire cave upon everyone. I heard afterwards, rumor confirmed, he's certainly on mystra's list, for his magical experimentation without proper consideration to the consequences. I imagine Laitae likely chided him to no end. I suppose if I run across him again, I may try and make nice with the nervous git or just steer clear. He is certainly a dangerous man, as much as to himself as others, likely moreso then his enemies

[Charraj]

Figured I should go incognito if I had to travel. My disguise worked. Today, I saw the gnome and one of the women from the other night near the Friendly Arm Inn. I doubt they recognized me. But I knew them. My attempts to glean information weren't very successful, but the gnome did offer me a pair of enchanted gloves. I accepted, so that I could try to analyze its magic. Maybe it will tell me something about the gnome and who he works for.

Saw a hyper halfling today, too. And I mean, exceptionally hyper. I've heard some rumors about a clan of hyper-energetic and abnormally fast halflings. She matches the description, but who can tell for sure? I think her name is Penny.

[Ricastle]

After my duties had ended upon the wanderess, I teleported inland as I often do. Magic has spoiled me, in particularly teleportation. As I was enjoying the boatswain, Aidan's story of romance, a man in the mask came along. Some doll mask that I've seen before worn by deadcrow assassins when they assaulted Ivan. The man did not seem like an assassin to me, however, his muffled voice and manerisms did seem vaguely familiar. Perhaps he is one of the assassins that did assault Ivan or perhaps I've meet him before, perhaps not. Regardless the mask looks ridiculous.

[Charraj]

Okay. So maybe I let paranoia get the better of me. Some of the people who tracked me down to Amn have been vouched for. If it is a conspiracy of some kind, it's not as big as I feared (probably). I still find it hard to believe that so many people would trace my teleport out of simple curiousity, though. So I'd better not lower my guard completely.

Still, I need to work on my Mystran restraint. Maybe if I hadn't teleported away, it wouldn't have piqued the curiosity of so many people. And then maybe the whole incident could have been avoided altogether. But if I use too much restraint, I run the risk of being killed. Bah.

On another topic, I joined the Sword Coast Commercial Exchange on behalf of my family's business. Maybe this will be the financial foothold that my family's been looking for in the Baldur's Gate region. Time will tell.

While I'm here working with the Exchange, I figured I could make myself useful. So I also joined something called the Order of Lions. It seems like an organization that's just trying to help people. I think I can be of some help with my enchantments and wards; hopefully I can keep some of their people from dying. Maybe it'll be a step towards redeeming myself in Mystra's eyes.

Speaking of which, I met a member of Mystra's clergy recently. Since I can't enter Baldur's Gate to visit the Temple of Mystra, it's been a while since I ran into any of Her priests or clerics. The cleric didn't seem angry at me or anything, once she learned who I was. So maybe there's hope for me yet. She accepted a donation from me for the Temple.

Hm. I should ask her about her thoughts on Mystran restraint.

[Charraj]

Got a letter from my family today. Apparently, the Calishte merchant cartel known as the Rundeen got attacked recently. Whoever did it killed three out of five of the Rundeen's leaders, and took out fifty of their agents, too. My family just got confirmation of this, and they're pretty excited about it.

So why all the excitement? Well, it turns out the Rundeen were the reason my family moved to Neverwinter before I was born. My parents were traders, but they weren't part of the Rundeen. And in Calimshan, that basically meant they couldn't do business. So, being the greedy bastards that they were (are), my parents made too much of a stink about it, and they were forced to flee. They fled to Neverwinter and changed their surname.

You know, I always thought "Cain" didn't sound very Calishte.

Anyways, now the folks are making noises about moving back to Calimshan, or aggressively expanding back into Calimshan, or whatever. They're considering calling me back from the Baldur's Gate region. But the last thing I want to do is get involved in a conflict between a) a cartel in turmoil and b) a gang of assassins.

My parents are letting old grudges and emotions cloud their decision-making, and it's not going to end well. They can go stampeding back to Calimshan if they want; I plan on staying right here.

---

Huh. If our real name isn't "Cain," then what is it? I should probably ask.

[Charraj]

Okay. So my parents have finally found an obsession with something other than money: their name and honor. It's actually kind of impressive, and worrisome at the same time. With that recent attack on the Rundeen, my parents are really gearing up to make a move back into Calimshan and "reclaim the family honor" or whatever. Unfortunately, it means they've got me teleporting back and forth between Neverwinter and the Baldur's Gate area. Looks like all that tutoring they put me through when I was younger was so that I could help them make this sort of move.

What a pain.

I mean, they didn't even tell me our real name until a tenday ago. Hells, I didn't even know "Cain" was a fake name until this month. And now they expect me to help them plot and intrigue their way back into a country that I've never even stepped foot in. No thanks. They can get themselves killed on their own time.

Charraj "yn Khalim el Khanh." Gods. I'm just going to stick with "Cain."

[Charraj]

//Edit: I really like how Caleb supplements "Deacon: A Summertime Story" with music to set the mood for the reader. With a nod to Caleb, I'm going to try doing the same for some of my RP-related posts.//

Hidden: show

So a few days ago, Sister Aeili gave me a signed copy of her two-volume treatise, "Mystran Dogmatics." I polished it off in one sitting while drinking tea in the Friendly Arm Inn. Yesterday, I had a chance to speak with Sister Aeili about Mystra's dogma. I only had one question, really.

How can Mystra tell practitioners of the Art to use restraint, but then encourage them to always learn and create new magic?

See, in Sister Aeili's treatise, she explains that Mystra tells Her followers, "When magic imperils you, hide it or hurl it away into other planes rather than destroy it, for any destruction of Art is a sin." Okay, fair enough, right?

But if you follow Mystra's dogma and always learn and create new magic, then the next logical extension is that powerful and dangerous magic will inevitably be created. So doesn't this create peril, and won't you have to hide the magic or hurl it away into other planes?

Why research new magic, if you'll just end up having to throw it away? After all, Mystra placed hard limits on magic after Karsus's Folly. Doesn't that say something about whether or not we should research magic at all?

I admit, there was (is) a personal aspect to this question for me. After all, I was researching a Tenth Circle spell when I created the planar breach that got Istari Tower disbanded. Sister Aeili was kind enough to help me work through it, though.

What I ended up realizing was that even Tenth Circle spells, with all their power, would not imperil anyone . . . if they were not used. That is where restraint and wisdom come in. Just because you research something does not mean it needs to be used. Ideally, one should research the Art out of love for the Art.

"Ideal" is the operative word. Mystra's dogma seems to contain a contradiction, but if you view Her dogma as a framework for an ideal world, it makes sense. In her book, Sister Aeili's first advice is that magic should be practiced with love. In a world where everyone practices the Art with love, wisdom, and restraint, we could learn and share magic without fear of its misuse.

But one could say that that's not realistic, right? The world we live in is filled with necromancers, Thayans, drow wizards, and worse. How can you use magic with love, restraint, and wisdom? How can you share your knowledge when there is so much evil waiting to take advantage of it? But that is why Mystra wisely told her followers to hide or hurl away magic if it imperils them.

And you know, maybe that means that powerful magic will eventually get hidden or hurled into the Astral Sea, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. But even if that's the case, the creators of that magic would still have the joy of discovering the unknown. And the magic would still be given to Mystra.

Mystra's dogma gives us something to strive for. Research the Art for love of the Art, but don't necessarily use it. If it's never used, magic won't imperil anyone. Until the world becomes a better place, use restraint and wisdom when sharing your knowledge with others. Be prepared to hide or hurl away your magic if necessary.

Thank Mystra for Sister Aeili. I feel like I can finally start to forgive myself.

[Charraj]

So there's this armored warrior named Valiant that I've seen around, and today it looked like he was finally going to put an end to that mad fire genasi. Not going to lie, I was not trying to stop him. Teris is a lunatic, if you ask me.

Well, turns out Valiant was drunk off his arse and stark raving nuts. He got kind of crazy in my face, and I started having second thoughts about the whole Mystran restraint thing. I mean, the man wears plate armor and carries a huge sword. Not exactly good for me.

Anyways, at some point Valiant took out his manacles, and I took that as my cue to leave. I tumbled backwards away from Valiant, and I guess he was too drunk and weighed down by his armor to really react. Once I was safely out of his reach, I teleported away. No one followed me this time. Safe!

Okay, so maybe I could have used some other way of leaving, aside from casting a Fifth Circle spell. But I wanted to be sure of my escape; otherwise, I might have ended up using even more magic.

Anyways, I can't tell who's worse, Teris or Valiant (okay, probably Teris). Is it too much to hope that they'll end up destroying each other?

[Charraj]

Been a little while since I wrote in here.

I'm currently at an inn in Athkatla, with some spare time before I go to bed. I've got to say, this city makes Neverwinter look like a farming village. It's crazy what you can find here, and my room makes me feel like I'm sleeping in gold.

Tomorrow morning, we're going to see if we can broker a deal with some Amnian noble. I figure I'll leave the talking to my companions; I don't know much about Amnian etiquette, aside from what I've read in books. I'm sure it'll go well; my companions seem to know what they're doing. I'd probably just get in the way.

Anyways, a few things have happened in the last few tendays.

Ulgoth's Beard got attacked by sahuagin and doppelgangers, and I got sucked into defending the village. Thank Mystra there were other defenders, because I was trying to refrain from using the Weave, and it wasn't working out so well. The sahuagin mages were casting Bigby spells at me, and holding me down pretty tightly. I ended up using my magic quite a bit, which I wasn't happy about. Sister Aeili assured me that I did the right thing, but I can't help thinking of it as a failure on my part.

Anyways, another one of the defenders casted Vampiric Feast in the heat of combat. Right at the edge of the village. At first, I figured the mage for an evil necromancer, of course, and spoke as such. But after observing the mage a little more, I got the hunch that there was no real evil intent behind that spell. After all, it was done to defend the village, and the mage was treating the dead with respect. All the while, the mage addressed me with contempt, saying I didn't know anything about the mage's work or circumstances.

I didn't argue any further. I was too familiar with the mage's rhetoric. Such words came out of my own mouth, back when I had that very same spell in my spellbook. What would have been the use in pointing out that Vampiric Feast steals life force to create undead? Or that the spell is evil, in every sense of the word? Of course the mage knew all that; anyone with the skill to cast that spell is no fool.

Whatever rationale the mage used to justify casting that spell in a village would have deafened the mage to anything I had to say. Furthermore, the mage seemed to know about my own history, my own mistakes. The mage was correct, of course; what right do I have to lecture anyone?

I think I'm coming to realize something. Mystra's teachings can't be forced. Only someone who's open to them will fully appreciate the truth of Her teachings. And in this world that's so dangerous, where you have to protect yourself against so many threats, how many people will be open to the idea of using restraint?

May Mystra walk with that mage. I believe the mage means well, but is misguided. And I have no moral authority to say anything.

Also, my parents made the move to Calimshan about a tenday ago. It's anyone's guess as to how they'll do. Despite all the grief they've given me over the years, I wish them well.

Time to head to bed. Business to do in the morning.

[Charraj]

My second night here in Athkatla. I am exhausted, but at least I'm heading home tomorrow. Found a caravan heading north, and they're letting me join for free if I'll help escort the wagons. Done deal.

So why am I exhausted? Well, turns out that Amnian noble is a violent lunatic. Right in front of us, he beat a woman in the head repeatedly with a gold lantern, just because she was asking for leniency on her rent. I spent the rest of the meeting planning a defense in case he decided to get that violent with us. Thankfully, he only threw our gift back at us.

After the meeting, I found the woman. She had been thrown in the gutter, and her wounds were far worse than I had thought. She was unconscious with severe head wounds, bruises and gashes all over her face and skull. I could even see wounds on her scalp, through her hair. I did what I could to heal her, and then took her to a temple.

The whole time, I was thinking about how it was my fault that I just stood there and watched him beat this woman. Gods willing, Jonas will never find out that I just stood by.

So what to do about this noble? I wanted to stop him. But magic was, and is, out of the question. Between the Cowled Wizards and my commitment to using restraint, the last thing I'm going to do is chuck a fireball through someone's window. And without any knowledge of Athkatla, I don't know who this guy's friends and enemies are. I have to assume that he has plenty of people bought and paid for; he's one of the richest people I have ever met.

So I figured, I need someone who wouldn't be in this noble's pockets, who won't stab me in the back. Someone who knows Athkatla better than I do, and is willing to do the right thing.

I asked myself what Jonas would do (pretty reliable life philosophy, really). Then I realized that a paladin would be pretty helpful in this situation. Then I remembered being told that the Radiant Heart HAS A GODS-DAMNED BASE OF OPERATIONS IN ATHKATLA.

Sometimes I really want to hit myself, I'm so slow. I mean, I'm wondering who I can turn to for help, who would know Athkatla and be willing to do the right thing. And I don't immediately think of the building full of paladins? I'm a flaming idiot.

Anyways, I got directions to the Radiant Heart in Athkatla and went directly there. Amazing building. What's even more amazing? The paladins listened to what I had to say. Turns out, there have been rumors of this noble doing this sort of thing before. The Radiant Heart said that they could take it from here, which was a relief to me.

Paladins. I don't know what we'd do without them, I swear.

((I am just putting a reminder here that this journal is not ICly available to other characters, so any information here should not be known ICly! ))

[Charraj]

Today, I tried to blame the Thayans for the incident in Baldur's Gate. Didn't really go as planned.

I should probably stick with taking responsibility and owning up to it.

Hm. Maybe that can be my article in the Gazette.