Grettir receives a magical distress signal from his sloop, the Kistin. Paradoxides teleports Grettir, Salrod and Girindor to its cabin and they find it waterlooged. The ship has foundered just off the coast of Tyros, an island in the Southern Seas, famous for pirates, dangerous demonic beasts and perfumes. They rescue those of the crew still aboard and get them to shore. There they find Harman the captain who lies dying. He speaks his last testament to Grettir.
His death on Tyros was a prophesy, and he blames only himself for daring the winter storm rather than staying on Cos. He tells of a casket he left with the witch Midice in Lyra some 40 years before, which will buy a new ship. He gives his ring as a token to Midice, and passes beyond the veil.
Most of the crew are evacuated by teleport to Sequarl, leaving only Atelius, Elin and N’Dono. Some salvage is made from the shore, and then the party march inland to the town of Ianda. There they hire guides and prepare to cross the interior of the island. They encounter the giant demonic bats called Varts – peculiar to Tyros. Then they are attacked by a huge Minotaur, that they track back to cave full of more Varts, which seems to go a long way into a mountainside. They have heard tales of a Wizard’s Maze on Tyros.
While considering their options they are attacked first by a giant spider and then a double-headed demonic snake. They slay both but Grettir is bitten by the snake. The virulent poison from snake-bite causes them to teleport back to Sequarl for urgent medical aid.
They come up with a new plan and teleport to Cos, where they find their friend, the merchant Adelius. He lends them a ship to take them to Lyra in Tyros and they manage to avoid sea-serpents and all other encounters en route. In Lyra they meet the witch Midice and present Harman’s ring along with a gift from Grettir. Midice appears to be a beautiful woman in her prime, but Grettir and some others can see past the illusion to an ancient, and plainly powerful, witch of doubtless ambiguous morality. Nevertheless, she greets them courteously and invites them to dinner. She tells them something of Harman’s story and confirms that she has a casket taken from an Imperial galley, which she has held in trust for a band of pirates. The agreement between them was that the last alive would inherit the casket. She confirms that Harman was the last to die and is happy to accept them as his heirs. The casket contains treasure and three scrolls from an Imperial library, still sealed with ancient wax.
As they bid farewell to Midice she reveals that at her last meeting with Harman it was she who prophecied that the next time he landed on Tyros it would be the death of him.
D-15
OE Date: April 688
Characters: Grettir, Salrod, Girindor, Paradoxides NPCs: Kistin Crewmen: Harman, Atelius, N’Dono, Elin
Real World: When – Summer 1991; Where – Berkeley
More detail (and a slightly different narrative) may be found in Salrod’s Diaries