AZURINE'S JOURNAL
May 22, 2018
My brother Corith, and I have arrived by boat to the city of Maniath. We wound up at a local Inn called, “The Laughing Trout” in Maniath. Upon speaking with the bartender, Shoberon, we discovered that there is some trouble in a little fisherman village called Fortiriel. It has been overtaken by an evil-doer. This evil one has slaughtered men, women and children and claimed this little fisherman’s village for his own- calling himself Lord.
My brother and I assembled an adventuring team to help take down this tyrant. A Cleric of Delrico named Frasch. A Rogue Halfling named Halina. She enjoys performing beautiful music with her violin... And also the coin that comes with it. A Sorceress named Talendara. She is trying to track down an heirloom dagger of which the lord of lightning may have information on. There is a temple atop a mountain where one can find the lords of light. A Fighter named Verlonah. Tragically, her family was slaughtered by drows. Sir Corith, my brother the Paladin. And lastly myself, Azurine. The Wizard.
We spoke to the mayor of Maniath, Thum Griol. An older and seemingly well liked gentleman. He has been mayor of this town for 20 years. He let us know that he can always be found in his manor. We arranged to investigate the problem of Fortiriel for 5 gold coin each. Not a bad deal. With our team, this should be easy as pie.
We left the inn but our journey was abruptly halted when we discovered a bloody carcass on our path. Before being able to fully examine it we were attacked by dark elves.
It was a close battle as we almost lost our fighter, Verlonah and my brother Corith. The hafling Halina has really proven herself to be quite useful and stuck the final blow against 3 or 4 of the assailants. Honestly, I lost track. The defeat was a just cause for celebration, as we barely seemed to have made it. But the bloody body awaits...
It appeared to be a dark elf male. The items he had were, a necklace from the house of Zydi, a parchment letter written in the language of the dark elves, and finally 12 GP which we divided amongst the 6 of us. We each received 2 GP.
June 5th, 2018
Thanks to my travels and teachings with Aunt Lumen, I was able to interpret the parchment that Verlonah found. It reads as follows.
Lltas,
Your discovery is very interesting to house Zydi. You are to travel back to Fumiel’Rial with a squad of 50 fighters. Uskri and Drax will accompany you to be my eyes and ears. But, you are in charge.
Go and only come back once you have the secret of Fumiel’Rial. Make House Zydi proud for the glory of Asyentheas.
Mother Fadldirah
We took a short rest before travelling to a nearby Inn called the, “Thousand Dragons,” which is located in the town of fenil. Still weary from last battle, we rested at the inn for a total of 6 silver.
When we awoke, we met a man in the inn named Luca. Upon hearing of our travel destination to Fortriel he told us to say hi if we came across his friend, George. Luca hadn’t seen nor heard from George in some time. Oddly enough, he seemed unaware of the mayhem that was taking place at Fortiriel. Of course, he seemed quite upset once we told him what was going on over there.
Fully rested with a belly full of Mutton, we pushed on to arrive at a bridge that leads to Fortiriel. The pathway was blocked by a gate. Three armored men and two villagers stood on the north side. On the south side there were several seemingly frightened villagers holding pitchforks. Two lighter armored guards stood on either side of them.
Words were exchanged and it became clear that these were the hostile men holding this village captive. The pitchfork wielding villagers seemed to be fighting of their own volition, but only because inside the village their families lives depended on their cooperation.
The battle began. I tried to sleep as many villagers as I could so that they would remain unharmed. In the process, I slept Corith but when given the chance I woke him up with a swift kick in the face… Hehehe.
The party battled both tactically and swiftly. Corith took some damage and fell, but was revived by our cleric Frash.
I only used up one of my prepared spells. Sleep.
The fight was a success but unfortunately, one of the villager’s life had been taken. This man named Job, foolishly attempted to take us on... The little one, Halina, put him down with little effort and no hesitation.
The heavily armored man who seemed to be the leader had gone further up the bridge into the village. So the party and I ran after him. I pray to Adoy we make it in time to save the families from being slaughtered...
July 5th, 2018
As promised, the party and I charged into the village proper. We had no idea what lay ahead, but we were driven by our quest to right the wrongs taking place in Fotiriel.
As we entered, we saw a guard stood several feet north of us. There were three more men behind him. To the northwest, another three armed men held two women and a young child hostage. The villagers seemed terrified. The enemies tried to warn us to leave, but we came here looking for a fight and weren’t prepared to leave without it. During our exchange of words they have given up the name of their leader…"StrongAle". Perhaps he is the tyrant responsible for this takeover. What could he possibly want with this little fishing village of innocent civilians?
The battle began. We fought valiantly but our enemies quickly multiplied, closing in on us. We were clearly outnumbered.
As usual, Halina, was the first to take down an enemy! She was followed by Corith who offed another offender! Good job big brother! Talendara moved east and discover two more enemies. Indeed we were outnumbered, but were we outmatched?
A guard closed in on me and struck me hard. Our fighter, Verlonah came to my aid and swiftly slashed the man’s chest open with her scimitars! He dropped to the ground and bled out. Thank you friend! Inspired by this win I thought to myself, ‘Perhaps we have a winning chance to save this village afterall!’
Just then, a half-orc and a dark-elf come out from a building. What business do they have with this group? And does the drow parchment we found have any connection to this?
The battle ensued and I managed to freeze to death an enemy mid fall! Too bad the bugger didn’t tip over, I would have taken great pleasure in seeing his body shatter to pieces. What kind of monsters imprison children and prey on the weak?
Corith disembowels another! Yesssssss! We are winning!
‘Hey, you half-orc and dark-elf, are you watching this!?!?’ Apparently they were because the drow took his leave, but the half-orc ordered the death of one of the hostages… The poor woman on the right never saw it coming. She went down before I had a chance to register what was going on. Nooo... Not another innocent life needlessly lost... Just like job outside the village.
I was disheartened and out of spells, things were looking dreary until Halina took another kill! Great job little one! Clearly, the half-orc was displeased. The order was given to decapitate the child…. The CHILD... At least her death was quick and she did not suffer... The remaining hostage on the other hand is presumed to be her mother. She seemed overcome with grief. I can’t imagine the pain one must feel to witness such a violent death of your own offspring...
What have we done? Were we wrong to come storming in? Enough blood has been shed... I looked up at Corith and the expression of horror on his face made it clear he and I were of like mind...
Corith raised his weapon in defeat. He announced that if they ceased the slaughter of the hostages, we would take our leave... The party agreed with Corith, and so we left.
We decided to rest and restock in the nearest village. We can return with a tactical strategy in place. They may have the numbers, but we have our skills, our wits, and each other.
We headed south back to the village of Fenil. Weary from the battle we decided to rest along the road in the forest. Corith took the first watch.
As dusk approached I crouched down and lay my heavy head and arms upon the cold earth. I can’t get the faces of those frightened villagers out of my head, but my eyelids are so heavy from the tiresome events of this afternoon….
I was abruptly awaken by Corith’s shouts… I attempted to blink away my sleepy eyes and saw a blurry but large silhouette. Apparently, a large brown bear came out of the woods and was charging straight towards us. I grabbed my staff and prepared my stance for battle. Verlonah was the first to encounter the beast. It succeeded in its attack on her and she took substantial damage! Heart racing, I noticed the beast appeared as frightened as we were, and frightened animals do tend to strike. Perhaps this could be the perfect opportunity to try out the latest spell I had scribed and learned. I began my chanting and the spell seemed to be working!
“Oh mighty beast, forgive my companions attack on you. Like you, we are just frightened. We mean you no harm. We simply seek to temporarily rest our weary heads undisturbed.”
The beast slowly made his way over to my feet. To my surprise, it curled up and fell asleep. Phewf. It worked! I kneeled down next to it and stroked its fur. Finally. Time to get some decent rest. I lay my head against it and fell fast asleep.
The party awoke fully rested. The bear accompanied us back to the village entrance and with one last glance at me, turned and walked away. Too bad. He was starting to grow on me, and he was kind of cute. Definitely a handy spell though. I would be wise to always have it prepared.
Time to restock and gather as much information as possible before we head back and annihilate those evil oppressors...
July 12th
Something has changed... I feel stronger than ever before... The time has come for me to pick a path. Necromancy fascinated me since I was a young child. Since the day Aunt Lumen first exposed me to the dark art. Because of its association with death, it is often seen as menacing and villainous. That doesn’t mean that I’ll turn evil. Or does it?
Aunt Lumen’s choice to engulf herlself into the dark art of Necromancy eventually got her banished from the palace. Mother did not agree with her sister’s views on toying with the dead, but then she was always jealous of Lumen’s power. Still. How can you banish your own sister? I suspect Lumen’s choices may have ultimately led to her murderous demise.
I promise you Aunt Lumen. I have not forgotten about you and I will not rest until I uncover the true details surrounding your death.
Alas, should I follow the same dark path as Aunt Lumen or will history repeat itself - destining me to suffer the same tragic fate?
No.
I cannot, and will not let that happen. I am not my aunt. I have light in my heart. The darkness that tainted that poor woman’s soul is indeed tragic, but we are not the same. I can only hope that my brother, Corith, can see that too.
******
We arrived at Fenil to rally reinforcements and restock supplies. We hoped to get more information out of Luca but unfortunately, he was drunk and incoherent. So we shuffled off to the general store to buy potions but the store keep tried to charge us 50gp per pot. That cheat.
We didn’t have any better luck asking Fenil's Mayor Steven, for any handouts or reinforcements. That pompous weasel wouldn’t help us. As mayor, he should be concerned that if StrongAle’s men expand their takeover, Fenil could be next.
But Steven seemed to value glory over the safety of his citizens. He had potions to spare but not without a price. Corith managed to appeal to Steven’s ego into listening to our requests, and Talendara appealed to his interest in fame.
Six vials of health potion and 10gp each in exchange for planting his flag if we were victorious. Should we fail, Steven wanted zero involvement. Typical... but the joke's on him. The little one decided to stow the flag, and I believe she had every intent of ‘losing it.’
This man acted so high and mighty. He barked at his servant as if she were beneath human. That foolish woman proudly took it. I have seen so many smug men with similar conduct. I for one would certainly have NO moral reservations puppeteering his dead body...
Sir Steven lives in his “castle” attached to other homes. If he had even a glimpse of the home I grew up in, it would make his head spin. This hole in the wall wouldn’t even suffice for the servant’s servants...
Our observant Cleric Frasch, noticed the woman who answered the door was not a servant at all, but rather, his wife. The bruises on her face did not go unnoticed. Our party agreed to return and help her. However, I’m not fully convinced that you can help someone who simply does not want to be helped.
Back to the store keep. Halina buys an extra pot. Two Gold Coin from Corith's pocket sends word back Thum Griol of all the events that have transpired.
Rested and restocked we head back to Fotiriel. The bridge was reinforced and further barricaded. They were expecting us.
We find two boats docked to the side. We use them as transportation across the water to the western side of the village, where we last saw the hostages.
We dock and try to stealthily sneak into town. Halina is the first to peak around the corner but she is discovered and starts to battle against the guard. Fraush and Talendara stay with her. A perfect distraction. Verlonah, Corith and I head around the other side of the town towards the hostages. We draw the enemies near trying to peg them off one by one.
We took down a guard but the villains use the same awful tactic as before. For each of our wins, they slay another villager. The large man from the bridge pops off the head of a child without hesitation. Monster.
I cast my spell mage armor to increase my defenses. I foresee a difficult fight lies ahead.
Verlonah is the first to reach the hostages. But the battle continues and another hostage goes down. A child is dragged away. Our very own Halina takes a fall. No..
Another hostage is slain. There are only two women left. I get closer to the heat of battle and yank one woman out of harm's way. Things are looking up as Frash checks on Halina and begins to heal her.
I untie the woman who was now the last surviving villager. I implore her to make a break for the boat and return to town but she refused to leave without her son. She seemed like she was going to rush back into the battlezone so I blocked her path with my staff and she accused me of being as bad as the enemies. Ugh. I’m only risking my life over here…
I can’t be sure what happened while I was dealing with this woman, but it seemed Frash and Verlonah took a fall as well. I heard a lot of shouts and the big guy finally went down. Oh thank Megnut. It’s finally over. May this village be at peace.
When I returned I saw the most horrific scene. One of the smaller guards bent down and was feasting upon the body of a dead hostage. Yech...And they say necromancy is a form of defiling the dead…
Corith swiftly and rightfully put that mad man down. What affliction was this? To feast upon human flesh?
The battle was won, our party was back on our feet and I had exhausted my spell power.
We searched the dead bodies and found a necklace. I held onto it to examine it closer at a later time. We fond a total of 80gp that was split among us. Each of the guards carried a type of coin with an interesting engraving and a gem in the center. Is this some sort of cult? A Letter is also found addressed to Farish.
Farish,
These morons will come back. Killed them all.
Once that done, kill the villager and hang them on the bridge.
Before coming back to Illmatar, burn the village.
StrongAle
I assume that Farish was the very large but now very dead man we had first met on the bridge.
July 20th
I told the hostage woman to crouch down and stay out of sigh and we will try to find her son. I can’t even imagine what was going through her mind. She was traumatized and fearful of me, but she backed away and crouched down.
We headed for the bridge. It still had us sealed in. Across the water, the guard that had ran away with the little boy leapt across to the nearby dock. The boy’s lifeless body lay next to him. To the south we could see two men on horses. Corith noticed that their insignia was the same as that of Sir Stevens Flag.
Well, well, well… Finally, the cavalry had arrived…
We shouted to the men to save the little boy and the battle began. Verlonah bravely jumped in the frigid waters and swam to the dock. That must be credited to some seriously awesome Elven agility. I wouldn’t dare brave the same lea… But before I could finish my thought, Corith catapulted himself over the railing... I slowly closed my eyes and lowered my head until my forehead hit my staff… *Tokk*
Oh brother...
I tied a lasso on one end of my hemp rope and tossed it to his flailing body in the water. He grasped it and started to guide himself to shore. Frasch and Talendara began climbing the rocks as I held the rope steady.
I couldn’t see all that was happening due to the barricades. I gathered that one of Stevens’ men had fallen. Verlonah helped in the battle. When I saw that Corith was close to shore, I tied my rope on the railing and started to climb the rocks. Corith aided Verlonah as did Frasch and Talendara as soon as they got line of sight.
Verlonah struck the final blow eliminating the enemy.
She checks on the little boy. His pulse was faint but the boy was alive. Our cleric healed him.
The boy woke up scared and hysterical. Verlonah pulled out her ukelele and Corith and her begin making what I can only assume was... Music? It was the strangest thing. They were terrible yet captivating at the same time. Even the little boy had stopped crying to stare at this peculiar scene unfolding before him.
We decide to make camp and sit for a well deserved long rest. The little boy was reluctant at first but seemed to have taken a liking to Frasch. He eventually lay his head to sleep. Stevens’ remaining guard passed out at some point. When he awoke he was crying in agony. Frasch checked on him, but honestly our healer’s wounds were worse than that of the crybaby’s… Ugh, I have no patience for this nonsense. I turned away and stared into the water as I lay back to rest.
When we woke up. Frasch gave the guard a silver to go to town to deliver news and get help to clear the bridge. The man was unimpressed. Instead, This man, Lord Wiliamson, struck a deal in writing with Corith. 1gp to go to town and bring men back to clear the bridge. 5 more gp for Williamson and 1sp to each man who helps upon their return. Tsk, tsk... Such an uneconomical use of coin.
We head back for the village proper and I retrieve my rope. The woman I saved recognized the little boy as “Bill.” She waved him over. He was reluctant as he clung to Frasch. Eventually the boy agreed to be released into her care. The woman seemed less insane and spoke the names of his family. Bill’s father George, his mother, and someone named Aingar… George? That was Luca’s friend. He will be sad to hear of George’s passing.
So much needless loss of so many loved ones.
The woman begged for my forgiveness for being ungrateful that I saved her life.
Unnecessary.
She did not know much about these men and why they invaded. Just that the large man had stormed in and attacked. Anyone who dared stand up to him was immediately slain. She heard the word Illmatar, which was also mentioned on Farish's letter. I showed her the coin we found and she said the darkelf had handed one out to everyone.
We searched the remainder of the village and Stevens’ men came to clear the bridge. Corith payed his debt and planted Stevens’ flag in the center of the town, just to credit his aid over Fortiriel. The villager woman and Bill seemed perplexed by this act. They understood that Stevens will now take over this village. It dawned on us that that may very well have been Stevens’ intent from the start.
The men, the woman and Bill went into the nearby buildings.
The party was left standing in the middle of town staring at this ill-placed flag. Not comfortable with the idea of this fool replacing the previous tyrant, Talendara chucks it into the fire. Corith temporarily leans on the door holding back Stevens’ men. When they came out, we told them how unfortunate it was that a gust of wind blew the flag into the fire, but they were prepared with some back up flags…
Finally, we decide to head to Fenil to collect our gold.
On our route we encountered a hideous creature. Half spider and half darkelf. I’ve never before seen the likes of this creature. We all attacked him with full force, but Talendara struck him with a chromatic orb magical crit! Well done my magical comrade! He didn’t stand a chance.
As we approach the body we noticed soot around his legs. It appeared he had taken some damage prior to our battle. Next to him was a star that had been drawn in the grass and some more soot surrounding it. Talendara and I further observed it and discovered it was a portal that had gone way wrong.
July 30th
Further examination of the portal confirmed it was indeed a drow portal that went wrong and broke. Our party collected a sample to examine later.
After a short rest, we headed back to Fenil. We stopped by the Thousand Dragons to see Luca and tell him about George and his son Bill. Luca was still in a drunken stupor so Corith spoke to the bartender, a female named Goorial. He asked her to pass along the message to Luca when he sobered and told her about the events that have transpired in Fortirial. Like Luca, see seemed unaware of the evil that lurked there. As the news spread throughout the inn Goorial offered the patrons a free round and a moment of silence. We headed out.
Onward to Sir Stevens and our gold. As we approached his lodgings it was apparent a party was going on inside. His badly beaten wife answered the door again. This time, no makeup was hiding her bruises. She led us to Stevens and he was putting on a shirt. Some of his friends were hanging around too.
We report our news and ask for our gold. That swindling miser tried to get away with only giving us half of what he owed... A man named Wesley, convinced him to honor his word and we collect 10 gold each. Who is this man who has control over Stevens?
Corith being Corith insulted Stevens and called him a wife beater. The situation escalated but Frausch quickly de-escalated it. Stevens verbally agreed to apologize to his wife and have her wounds tended to. We really ought to return and follow up.
We decided to rest for the night. We chose the thousand dragons inn over the Dirty Boar. A wise decision, as Goorial set us up with drinks, a free room, and breakfast in the morning. We did discover an interesting tidbit from her. Rumor had it, our party had slain 100 orcs. Just a slight exaggeration...
The next day we head out to see Thum in Maniath. We traveled by boat for 4 gold pieces. Thum was happy to see us and gave us 20gp each. Very generous of him. He requested that we continue to offer our services. He seemed particularly concerned with the drow involvement in Fortirial, and told us to seek out the Elf, “Shalherira Sarphine” for more information. He warns us to be weary of the traps the elves set up along the way. They clearly do not want enemies to breach their dome.
Thum had an interesting reaction to the mere mention of Illmatar... He laughed and told us it’s just a legend. A story told to scare children about a cave filled with monsters who eat brains. It’s supposedly located to the far East of Maniath Lake, on Shatish Island.
I told him of the the man we saw feeding on the child’s entrails and he quickly changed his tone. He told us to seek out Meemaw, the oldest person in town. She runs a kitchen called, “Meemaw’s Delicious Kitchen” and she’s known for selling the best cookies.
We see her and she not only claims she has the best cookies in town, she claims they are magical. If we gather ingredients for her, she will give us some for free.
10 Red Forseth Flower. Located in the forest to the north.
20 Lizzardmen Fingernails, from across the mountains.
10 Green Footrah Mushrooms, from Shatish Island.
She has a contact to the island. His name is Obron. He can be found at the Dancing Fool Inn, and we will see a singing girl behind the bar.
Meemaw tells us most people believe Illmatur doesn’t exist and was just used to scare children. But she once met a wise man who knew about this mysterious place. He said it was used as an ancient prayer ground for a long lost religion. It is also said to house a great deal of treasure that was an offering for their God.
The wise man left her a scroll which she shared with us.
It said the cave of Illmator was a legend. No proof of its existence was ever discovered, so skeptics argue that it never existed. It’s said to be located on Shatish Island and contains a great fortune. Many have unsuccessfully attempted to find this treasure. There are three main areas of interest concerning the treasure.
A round formation of trees called Nolan’s Cross.
The beach at Aniath’s Cave
A triangular shaped swamp
Somewhere in the island is the entrance to Illmatar, and a rhyme is needed to access it. The rhyme has been translated many times but it’s never fully accurate. If the conditions are completed Illmatar will show u its way.
To yell is to be shown,
Illmatar, Illmatar, Illmatar
The entrance
To stand is to be permitted,
In the center of ktorid creation
Entry
The time to,
A complete pale moon at its pinnacle
enter
Our plan is:
1- Go to the forest gather the ingredients and find Shalherira Sarphine.
2- Go to Meemaw to give her the ingredients and collect our cookies.
3- Go to Shatish Island to search for the pirates treasure.
Those cookies may come in handy to help overcome whatever atrocities we may soon encounter.
The party takes a minute to reflect on Verlonah’s personal stake against the dark elves. Her clan was slaughtered by drows and as far as she knows she is the last of her kin.
Before heading out to the forest. We pick up some rations from Luna’s spice shop and prepare for the journey ahead.
August 16th
We boat to the forest and Fenil. The boatman offered to take us for 5 gold each, which was too steep for our blood. Instead, we agreed upon free passageway as many times as we’d like, in exchange for an elven trinket. Perhaps a necklace for his wife.
We made it to the forest and got a very odd feeling on our skin. We arrived at a sign but there was a fork in the road. It was unclear which direction the sign pointed to. We saw three separate paths. I was in the middle of warning the party to tread cautiously, when Halina ran off into the woods yelling, “See ya later, suckers!” Sigh… The rest of the party chose the path most trodden.
Upon entering, we encountered a ghost like being. An elvish woman who stood but 7ft tall. I spotted Meemaw’s red forseth flowers just behind the woman. She refused to let us pass or pluck the flowers until we proved our trustworthiness. Option one, was to fight her. Option two, was to eradicate some evil that lurked in the forest and retrieve the Gem of Faquee. Halina wished to stay and fight and Frasch bore great mistrust towards the woman. Whether or not we would take on this new side quest, we decided it best to take our leave and save that tangle for another day.
Down path #2 we saw a cute little baby bear. When he spotted us he ran into a cave where the presence of other bigger bears was clearly very audible. Onwards to path #3…
After walking for about half an hour or so we arrived at a clearing and saw a Centaur standing before us. “Hello? We come in peace.” I asked him about Shalherira Sarphine and the Gem of Faquee. He did say the gem could be found to the north, but he was of little help. He became hostile and so the battle ensued.
I lit up the forest only to discover more centaurs and some wolves. Halina fell and I apply pressure to her wounds. The battle raged on and we dropped some enemies. As the bodies dropped they disappeared. Odd. Could these creatures be illusions? Thum did warn us.
When the battle was over we realized Talandera took the worst of the hits and had fallen. Weary from the battle Frausch was unable to heal her. We covered her wounds as best as possible and set up camp. The wolf that was covered in Talendara's blood had now disappeared, but the blood fell to the ground. I’m sensing this is definitely Illusionary magic. After our rest, Frasch was able to heal Talendara. She gasps a huge breath of air. Thank Gamor! He has chosen to spare her life today…
***
Corith paces in front of the group, he seems visibly conflicted. Finally he turns to Talendara and in front of the entire party speaks.
"I wanted to apologize to you, I believe in protecting my friends, and I still hold true to the values of friendship and compassion. But after what we witnessed in that town and that sick cannibal I find I need to be more focused on rooting out evil. The last battle we had... I made a mistake, instead of chasing the enemy I should have protected you. From now on I will no make that mistake again. Though I will continue to root out evil as my priority, I vow to you that I will always protect my friends. From now on what say you all in trying to battle our enemies together as a fist, rather than all of us getting into single battles?"
***
As Corith paces, Azurine sits on a nearby rock and pours herself a cup of wine. Reflecting on the horrors and near death experiences they have seen, she chugs it back rather quickly. Looking up at Corith, she thinks to herself - Oh great. I know that look. He's about to go off on one of his monologues again… She sets down the empty cup and begins to chug straight from the wineskin. Azurine catches the end of Corith's speech. She walks over to him, spilling some wine. She clasps her free hand on Corith's shoulder. She raises her drink and loudly shouts, "Here here! To ONE party, ONE fist!" Then promptly passes out.
August 23
The party headed north in the forest to seek out the Gem of Faquee. We arrived to an open area with a clearing to the east. We walked east but in a surprise twist of events, the party re-appeared to the southern edge of the same area…
Gah. I’m really starting to hate this forest…
Annoyed, I looked up to the sky and shouted, “Is nothing here what it seems???”
Just then, Frausch had a brilliant idea. He walked over to a tree and marked it with his weapon. Yes.. Now we will get somewhere! I thought. Off again we went through a path, only to find ourselves back to where we started. The formerly marked tree now lacked any evidence of ever being tampered with.
Huh. Not what I expected.
Thankfully, with the help of Verlonah’s wanderer background, she was able to hone into the path that was more heavily trampled. Before reaching it, two wolves popped out of the bush. Talen of course, immediately froze. Who can blame her? She was still reeling from her previous scuffle with these mangy beasts. No matter, both creatures dropped quickly.
Enough of this deceitful trickery and wastefulness of our time! Onwards!
We ventured down the path Verlonah suggested. After fifteen minutes or so we approached quite a sullen and dismal looking scene. The unmistakable stench of death filled the air and from a distance, some rather alarming sounds were faintly audible. Closer and closer grew the sounds of low and guttural growls.
Zombies... Definitely zombies.
We stepped forth and were encountered with a horde of undead.
Zombies, zombies, everywhere!
Their rotting flesh was peeling off their bones... Their limbs were sticking out at unnatural angles… and that stench, Ew. I almost forgot how bad they smelled. Almost.
As a party, we worked together like an unstoppable, well-oiled machine.
One party, one fist!
Just then, from the far end of the forest a giant ogre-like being approached. He was huge and hard to miss. Fear not, we are a swift and tactical lot. We eliminated nearby zombies while harnessing our firepower for the big guy who also eventually went down.
Wow, Corith’s speech must have really inspired the team. Perhaps I should have payed a wee bit more attention... Eh, maybe not. That wine sure did hit the right spot...
Either way, whatever he said seemed to to have worked.
Oh, and Frausch utilized a nifty little trick today. I must remember to ask him about this impressive control of the undead later. Somehow he was able to frighten the zombies into turning away from us. Any undead who stood within 30 ft from him swivelled around on what was left of their decomposing heels and lumbered off in different directions. Incredible! Bravo Frausch! Quite a useful trick when one is being swarmed by zombies.
Swiftly we pegged them off one by one and before we knew it the battle was won. Again, just like last time, the enemies dead bodies poofed away into nothingness.
Surrounded by rubble, debris, and open coffins we stopped to take in our surroundings. A floor made of stone lay in the center of this area. It was surrounded by columns and in the center lay a black hole. Corith tossed a torch down it. It disappeared but we heard it connect about ten feet below. Frasch cast the spell light on Corith’s glaive and they dipped it into the hole. Momentarily, we got a glimpse of the inside so Frausch lay down and stuck his head into the hole. Although briefly blinded, he reported he saw the the torch in front of a cave with spiderwebs. Do we pursue this cave? Or stray not from our current objectives? Decisions, decisions.
September 13th
Fatigued from the previous battle, I sat down and propped myself up against one of the pillars. With one leg bent up, I rested my elbow against my knee and lowered my hoodie over my eyes. We set up camp for the night. Despite the occasional chittering and clacking of what can only be assumed to be spider feet, night fell and day arose with little disruption. I opened my eyes to catch dawn breaking over the horizon. Sunlight peeked over the treeline and crawled across the land. Birds chirped in the distance, and I thought I saw a deer through the leaves. Such beauty and signs of life seemed misplaced juxtaposed against the death and undeath that surrounded us just a short time ago. A perfect paradox? Or perhaps, just perfect? Afterall, death is a necessary caveat for every living thing. I let my eyes feast upon this allegorical view of the world as I stared at the coffins that lay behind me while listening to the sounds of life all around me. Life and death are so closely intertwined and perpetually part of one another. Each will continue to partake in this dance as long as the other exists. Those with dismal views on necromancy fail to see the beauty in this.
More members of the team start to wake up and we noticed that Verlonah has disappeared. Perhaps she decided to explore on without us. My brother Corith, had not yet waken. Frausch tried to wake him and although he stirred, he slumbered on. Frausch looked at the sky and said, “Perhaps we could do with a little rain shower to help awaken our sleepy comrade.” Just then, Talen uncorked her water skin and poured water over Corith’s body. She was happily ‘making it rain’ above his head. I smirked and let out a snicker.
After taking a vote, we decided to go down the spider hole. Our cleric tied a rope around a nearby column and climbed down with ease. He lit a torch and yelled for the next to follow. Halina went next and was also fine. I attempted to follow their footsteps but severely lost my footing! I felt myself falling and before I had time to let out a scream my body collided with the hard floor beneath me. Ouch.. that.. Hurt.. To add insult to injury I was immediately attacked and poisoned by one very large and angry looking spider. My eyes darted around. As they adjusted I realize we were surrounded by giant spiders! One of them took a bite out of Frasch. Corith hustled down only to take a tumble as well. Caught off guard he too, fell victim to a spider’s bite. Talen brought up the rear and another creepy crawly lunged for her neck. Ugh! The party was in terrible-looking shape!
Struggling, we helped one another as best as we could. I cast mage armor to up my defenses and used a full force magic missile spell to blast away one of the smaller spiders. It may have appeared excessive but there is a method to my madness. Clinging on to life I invoked my necromantic powers of Grim Harvest. Feeling the magic surging through me I sucked back life force from that spider’s upturned and limp body.
The fight went on with ups and downs and so did my health. Finally the giant spider by my side stuck me so deep I fell to the ground and everything turned black. My comrades avenged me and brought me back to my feet. My mouth and throat were completely dry but hunched over and gasping for air, I was able to croak out, “Thank… you.”
We searched our surroundings. Over in the corner Corith discovered a rather thick spider web. He pulled out his polearm and hacked away at it as I stood on my tip-toes and eagerly peered over his shoulder. More dead bodies… Great. From them, Corith collected 13 silver as well as a blue gem. If it’s not worth anything major, perhaps we should save it for the boatman’s wife. We found a path and advanced through it. Continuing down a hallway we discovered some drops of fresh blood… Could it be Verlonah’s? Between the terrible lighting and dirt floor, we couldn’t discern where the trail lead. We walked forward and saw a passage that lead to an alcove.
Venturing further up the cove, we found 4 more dead bodies. We quickly checked a few pockets and found some silver. Very odd thing about these coins though... they were minted long, long ago… Perhaps a coin collector could place some value on them. Best tuck that away for later. Examining the bodies, it was evident that they were very old, almost completely withered away. Surely, one wrong poke and they would crumble to dust. The lighting was sparse but I did notice an upturned table riddled with arrows. There were a few chests in the room. One was opened only to discover some old dried up liquid inside. Perhaps some evaporated wine. Halina checked another for traps. It reeked and was covered in mold. Frausch managed to open a chest. Just then a nasty plume of gas escaped into the air. Frausch got a terrible face full of it and promptly passed out. Anyone nearby took some damage as well. Corith rushed over to check on Frausch but couldn’t see any signs of poison or ailments. He leaned over and slapped Frausch in the face a few times. That did the trick. Up he went and then we all peered into the chest… It was full of SILVER! CURRENT SILVER! That we could actually use! Praise Sa’heem for smiling down upon us today! Frausch, Halina, and Talen cautiously grabed a fistfull of coin and stuff it into their pockets. Not I, I strode on over to the chest and started stuffing every pocket and make-shift pocket that I could. Eyebrows raised, the others glanced at each other watching me gather my fill. I must have stashed about 400 silver pieces away. Taking my lead the others followed. Although, we may have been loud and jingly, we were still capable of fighting. IF we somehow survive these tunnels, this coin will come in handy. Fraush dug around inside the treasure box some more and found 5 healing potions which he distributed among us.
We were just about to head out until something caught my eye at the corner of the table. It was a book. Odd. I picked it up and saw it was a journal of a man named Marrick. I gently flipped through it, careful not to damage the pages. As I read on it became apparent that this man, Marrick, had spent the better part of his life searching for this elusive gem of Faquee. He seemed quite obsessed with locating it. He had reason to believe the gem was in these caverns. An entry spoke of the death of his three comrades who were unfortunately attacked by these creatures that did not breathe air, yet the walked on two legs. He thoroughly described the foulness of their stench, and how it was unbearable. Yup. Death breath. Sounds familiar… He claims the only reason he was able to escape is be because he ‘played dead.’ Ugh, what a coward… Apparently, the undead just walked over him thinking he was already gone. The final journal entry was dated some ten to twenty years ago. “Oh my God... They are coming back…” And that was the end.
At least there were some useful parts to the diary. The gem is in the shape of a diamond, yet red like a ruby. It’s also quite large, about the size of a human head.
I decided to further examine the bodies. I noted they were dressed as adventurers, like us. Newbie adventurers and all male, but still I couldn’t help but emphasize with them. How on earth did we end up here? I pray to Gamor that we shan’t suffer the same fate. I knelt down over the body closest to me. He had some familiar black smudges on his wrist. I pulled back my robe sleeve to compared them to the same black smudges on mine. No doubt, it was ink from journaling our passages. Feeling sorry for him, I silently vowed to Marick that we’d find that damn gem. I searched his pocket once more and collected another 4 gold pieces.
Our party left the alcove and came across another small area. We found a doorway but it seemed as if a giant rock had been wedged to seal this entrance from the other side.
Some things puzzle me about the discoveries we have made.
If it were the undead that killed Marrick and his friends, who shot at them with arrows? Were they undead archers?
Why are the coins in the chest new but the coins on the bodies so old? Much older than the bodies themselves?
Ugh. I could use another rest.