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Journals of Chance Paedragn
Mordun 21, 12880
An overview of the western edge of Loche Isle. On our first expedition-since the assault of the Quegans-(approximately Assuras 20) we took heavy casualties-Bolas decapitated, Theo lost a leg , and Marcus was nearly hung by a demon. Three demons beset us and, with the demise of Bolas and the involuntary amputation of Theo's leg, we persevered against the minions of evil. Faster Isan of the Divinity of Lathidus helped our cause. Sanjian and I bested one and the others managed the other two. I collected two hearts of demons and three claws. We left immediately after battle.
Mordun 22, 12880
Trip number two to Loche Isle to find out about the mysterious pictoral map we were given. Found a passage in the new cliff face where the tower at position 2 used to be. Proceeded down the hall and found moving walls. The statues that stood in the middle of the hall acted as stoppers for the blocks of wall from slamming into each other.
Four mummified corpses attacked us but were quickly dispatched by Bolas, Theo, Sanjian, and I. The creatures spilled open into piles of maggots and putrescence. We heard another crash as Bolas' foot cracked through the floor.
We watched the floor begin to crumble away and us with no place to go. Taren managed to stone shape a way out of the death trap and Theo promptly began maintaining a detect traps spell. We managed to make it past traps galore for quite some time. And then we heard noises…
I snuck forward with Theo (who couldn't see because I was using infravision only and there was no ambient light around for him to use. As we got closer to the end of the passage, I had Theo lay on his stomach so that it would be easier to conceal him. A good thing too since what we saw was not friendly. In a cavernous opening in the passage, we spied on one of those fierce black-winged Skuhlbearors and a lithe looking warrior with long gray hair as they conversed. They didn't seem to notice us so, I crept back to the rest of the party and signed to Sanjian so that we would not be heard. He told the others what we were facing while I moved back to check on Theo.
When everyone caught up with Theo and I, we devised a plan of attack so that the world might be rid of another of those monstrosities and anyone so foul as to be in league with it. Moments later, Taren threw up a wall of fire around our foes and, at the same time, Theo threw a ball of fire into the middle of the ring. The combined effect was enough to draw shrieks of pain from both our adversaries. I had to admit to myself that we've gotten quite a bit better at this stuff than when I started.
Fearing the concussive golden ball that we knew the beast could throw, we spread ourselves out. Bolas and Sanjian made a b-line for the now- bald man running from the blaze with their weapons drawn. At the same time, the Skuhlbearor leaped from the flames with nigh a scratch on him. So mighty was his bound that he landed nearly thirty yards away from the inferno…right next to Taren, Marcus and myself.
From there, only what happened to me is a certainty in my mind. The beast landed near me and, I managed to inflict minor damage upon him before I was forced to parry his attacks so that I could evade his blows. Marcus and Taren didn't fare quite so well as I did. Taren took a claw to the shoulder and Marcus took a shocking tail to the face…ouch. Eventually, they fought themselves clear-I had already gotten out of the combat- but not before Marcus took heavy wounds.
Bolas and Sanjian, meanwhile, had entered combat with the charred man and, with a mighty swing, Bolas nearly cut the man in half. Death quickly gripped the man and the body lay still. No sooner had the warrior fallen than Bolas turned to charge the blue-striped beast that had just clobbered his friends. Sanjian hesitated only a few moments longer over the twitching body of the charred fighter.
I stayed well away from the skuhlbearor during the ensuing combat so that I might protect Theo as he cast his spells. Magic missile is most assuredly his most effective spell in any given situation. Even such a resistant creature as the one we faced took visible damage from a good many of the bolts of energy that flew from his fingers. Several such missiles impacted at the same time that Bolas swung his great axe.
Sanjian and Bolas hit the beast like an earthquake, but the Darkspawn was not created without a mind. A globe of inky blackness enveloped us all like a terrible blanket. I followed the wall out of the darkness and toward the opposing side of the room where a set of double door stood slightly ajar. It was a few minutes before I heard the boom.
I had not quite made it to the door when I felt the ground shake slightly and saw propelled out of the darkness as though he had been knocked back by a huge fist. Bolas, likewise, was thrown vaguely toward me by the impact of what could only have been the effects of one of the skuhlbearor's golden balls. What a terror those creatures must have been as shock troops during the Black Scourge!
Bolas took cover by the wall of fire that was still up and Sanjian ran back into the fray…I must admit, the man has guts. I looked to the prow warrior near me and noticed that he was badly wounded. I quickly pulled my glove off and loaned him my ring so that he might magically heal some of his wounds. I love that device. I've been so lucky since I found that thing and I don't have to rely on Theo to heal me all of the time.
I heard Marcus' voice in the darkness somewhere and then the loud clash of what I can only assume was his sword against the chitinous exoskeleton of the skuhlbearor. A loud moan from a throat of gravel bellowed from the blackness and then a crash as the creature hit the ground dead. Marcus began dragging the creature out of the darkness and I got an idea…I went down to help my ranger friend. While he was pulling the creature out of the darkness, I cut one of the creature's claws off as a trophy. It matches the demon claws I have very well.
We all rested inside the doorway that I had taken cover in for a bit while Theo used his magic to heal us…
Tarmere 3, 12880
Theo contacted Sarusar who then distracted Daglan while we made an insertion into his tower.
Bolas and Marcus turned to ice statues in the tower from Marcus's unexpected opening of a chilling door. The blast of cold air was sufficient enough to burn my skin and turn the two named companions iinto perfectly clear ice sculptures.
Trapped ourselves in Sarusar's extradimensional "workshop" when retreating from Daglan by destroying the only portal into it. Got out of it by jumping into the "nothing place"--a void between space and time.
Met Samuel--the barkeep of the Down Under.
Tarmere 4, 12880
Late at night, Taren returned the Heart Leaf to Lady Silentdream's Arnorian Arbor tree.
Tarmere 5, 12880
I make my first bold move with the Thieves' Guild in Tel Akbar. I walked the wharves making obvious my apparent wealth to draw attention (something that I am usually careful not to do). When "mugged" by assailants, I gave up my silver pouch and parried away the dagger at my throat.
When I backed out of the alley, I told the muggers hiding in the darkness around me that they could come out now. As I walked away, I couldn't help but toss a gold piece down the alley and say, "Oh, I forgot one!"
Meanwhile, Taren had ended her quest for the Arbor tree and was allowed to use the ancient druids' looking glass to search out answers to many of our questions. Also, she was confronted in a sense by some of the conflict of the old druids.
Sanjian and Theo traveled to Chalsea to find restoration of the life force that was sucked from them by spectres atop Daglan's tower two days before. 6 Tarmere
Theo and Sanjian go to the church of Arden in Chalsea to get restored. Theo made dealings with the high priest there--agreed upon the creation of a powerful rune of healing for the church in Tel Akbar as payment for the restorations that my two companions would receive. Also, bestowed upon them was a quest spell that bound them to this end.
I met the leader of the Guild's network of spies after finding about ten of my own eyes-and-ears slaughtered behind the Laughing Frog the day before. By doing so, I opened my information capabilities manifold, but it will cost me, I am sure.
Tarmere 7, 12880
Marcus and Bolas are brought back to life by Sarusar after Taren wished--I still can't believe it--them back to the inn along with Daglan's focus rod. This rod will allow us to travel to where the Crown of Souls is held so that we can destroy the necromancer.
Tarmere 11, 12880
Two days passed for us in the dark void where Daglan hid the Crown of Souls. >From there, we travelled to Briliag's house in Shalost. We bought all of his doses of that true-seeing drug of his. He seemed a bit anxious to get rid of them, especially when we noticed ten guards heading for his house.
We folded to the clearing across the salt lake that we created on our first assault on Daglan's tower. Immediately after entering the clearing Taren encirled us in a wall of fire to protect us from the advancing undead that had been alerted to our position by some foul magic. A few minutes of that passed before we were immersed in the same deadly black fog that we were caught in when we fought Daglan with the intent to trap him with our magical pyramid.
Taren dropped the wall and we scattered. Taren, Marcus and Bolas got caught in an acid storm. From there, things got really confusing. Theo and I got blown up by a fireball that came from nowhere. Theo opened a portal to the top of the tower and threw a volley of magic missiles at the necromancer.
We saw the evil mage literally run down the side of his tower and disappear. Shortly after that, a clap of thunder and light signaled the arrival of a titanic figure that easily reached one hundred feet in height. At the same time, a bony dragon-like creature flew toward us with a fiercesome speed. It swooped down and picked Theo up in its maw as it passed. My friend blew a piece of its mouth off and then he fell to lie in an unconscious heap. I raced to his side and tended his wounds--he was nearly slain by the fall.
Bolas was quickly snatched up in the creature's mouth. He hacked at the creature until it finally fell from the sky. I was amazed to see my friend actually hanging from the creature's jaws by a rope between its teeth as they both plummeted to the earth. With a hauntingly wet crunch, Bolas hit the ground and did not move...at all.
All the while, the titanic creature was throwing massive balls of fire from its hands at some unseen opponent...later, we found out that it had been Sarusar. Then, it cast its huge eyes on us. As it took its first step toward us, Sarusar appeared through one of those blue doors of his.
He began preparing to transport us to the temple of angle on Loche Isle. The enormous creature reached us in a half dozen strides and pounded me with one of his massive fists. The world swam and I think I saw the face of Death's mistress before I realized I was alive.
Taren would have gotten crushed by the second fist, but she burned out her magical stone in the process of avoiding the beast's attack. Sarusar then blinked us back to the temple so that we could be protected by the goodness of the place.
Sarusar reincarnated Bolas - mostly he just dies - into the form of an elf. Also, about twenty minutes after we arrived at the temple, the titan showed up nearly a mile away and the shield around our holy place held it off. Thank the light of Lathidus for that blessing.
I now sit resting and waiting for Theo to regain consciousness and will reorganize my thoughts. Our next attack on the necromancer will surely be the last...one way or another.
Tarmere 15, 12880
We waited for two days for Theo to regain consciousness at the white temple of the angels. Once he came to, he healed up everyone that needed it and I explained the plan that I had come up with. After we hammered out a couple of details and matters that I hadn't accounted for, Theo opened a portal for me to go to Tel Akbar. With one of Sarusar's black stone rings firmly around a finger, I stepped through the gate to the clearing that we have used so often. I'm sure that I owe my continuing good health to the fact that Theo had suggested that I wear one of the black rings because assuredly Daglan would have locked onto me the instant I left the protection of the white temple.
I quickly entered town and found a hotel room. Inside the hotel room I donned the guise of an old dwarven man in robes and exited out my window under the cover of pre-dawn. I quickly made my way to the Temple of Light to ask the blessing of Lord Lathidus at the alter and under the eyes of Father Isan. From there, I traveled to the Arm of Justice to talk to Saul. After making myself known to him, I related Lord Commander Serig's fate to the faithful knight and saw his face grow passive and stoic. Instead of sorrow marring his face, a sort of resolution bordering on pride spread across his visage. It was then that I realized that he was proud of the sacrifice of Serig and yet melancholy when he thought of the Lord Commander's fall to the hands of evil.
After I finished my tale, I inquired about the possibility of assistance from the holy warriors of Lathidus. Saul told me that there were some holy men in the temple and that he would tell them of my inquiries as soon as they came out of their prayer. I got something to eat in the neatly kept tavern across the snow-covered street. I ordered some hot cider and a big plate of flapjacks. By the time I had nearly finished my meal, a page entered the eatery looking for me.
I returned to the temple and Saul introduced me to a prow looking fellow named Lord Malacronan and four of his compatriots. They were on their way to the United Kingdoms with Lord Father Myram, Second in the Light of Lathidus. Though I was well disguised and Saul had not given Malacronan my name, he saw through my guise and hailed me with a look of achievement. I asked him how he knew my name and the holy knight told me that he had asked counsel of Lathidus to find someone that knew of the fate of Lord Commander Serig. It was then that I was hit hard by the realization that I had met this man before. Lord Malacronan had been one of the men with Serig the last time I had seen him alive. Apparently, he was the only survivor.
We sat in counsel for quite some time as I explained the situation with Daglan and the plan to destroy him. Originally, I had hoped for another companion of Malacronan's named Father Justicius to come with us so that we might have a cleric to defend us against Daglan's undead followers, but Justicius had continued on to Hana while we were in discussion. Just as I thought that our party might be in a serious world of hurt, Lord Father Myram entered our private chamber and announced that he would be accompanying us. My prayers to Lathidus had not gone unheard.
It was getting late in the day and I knew that we had better hurry to get to the clearing so that we would make it to Theo's portal. My new friends gathered their belongings and took their blessings and followed me through the streets of Tel Akbar. We made reasonably good time to the clearing and, shortly thereafter, the all-too-familiar plane of space opened in the center of the clearing and we stepped through.
I made introductions between the six men of Lathidus that came with me—Lord Father Myram, Lord Malacronan, Sirs Aeldrae, Brandon Cole, Jared and Miroc—and my friends. We further outlined the plan and then were about to take our rest when Theo made a suggestion. "We should do something about those imprisoned people over in Minothad."
This started a whole line of debate but it was eventually agreed that we would free them…right then and there. So, I grabbed the proper control pyramid and Theo opened a portal directly above the corresponding device in the razed city of Minothad. When I stuck the pyramid through to touch the big pyramid, I felt like someone ripped part of my soul from me. Theo's dimensional folding portal had gone awry…I watched as my fingernails and hair grew to unmanageable lengths, but nonetheless managed to deactivate the soul trap in the charred city.
The scream of surprised demons and tortured souls will probably haunt me to the end of my days, but what we did was right…and would serve to help us later.
Tarmere 16, 12880
A gray dawn broke with Theo transporting the men of Lathidus to the original clearing we had used to test the pyramid—four days east of Lord Kartekast's personal manor. Once there, Father Myram and the others were to set up our pyramid and prepare for the coming storm.
Theo contacted Sarusar and told him we needed a distraction so that we could catch Daglan unaware. Our arcane associate agreed and we gave him thirty minutes to play his part.
At the preordained time, Theo took us to the top of Daglan's tower so that we might finish what we had begun. We had all sniffed the true seeing drug that we had bought from Briliag so that we could see through any illusions that our necromantic foe my have had up. After that, the rest becomes a blur.
As soon as we came out of the portal we scattered to search for Daglan—in Serig's body. In the process, Marcus, Taren, Theo and I took cover in the machicolations of the tower or, in my case, the stairwell. Bolas and Sanjian rose off the tower top since Theo had imbued them with the ability to fly so that they could better search our surroundings.
Marcus spotted Sarusar battling Daglan about 250 feet above us and pointed so that our two prow warriors could engage. Sarusar was surrounded by wraiths and specters but seemed to have all his attention focused on Daglan. Bolas flew straight for Daglan while Sanjian took a wider trek to avoid obvious attention. A trio of undead broke from their formation near Sarusar to engage with Bolas. Looking beyond them, I saw Sarusar wave his arms about and heard Daglan shriek in surprise as he plummeted to the ground. Sanjian made a valiant dive to grab the body before it hit, but could not catch it in time and it was consumed by the horde of land-based undead surrounding the black tower. The corpse was about halfway to the ground that I realized that something was amiss. Daglan was more than a match for Sarusar and it would take more than a few waves of the hand to destroy him. Moments later, Theo confirmed my suspicions through his magical link to Sarusar—he'd been controlled by Daglan from the outset. This was a giant trap to lure us all to him.
We signaled Sanjian on his way down that our real enemy was still in the air; he nodded but retrieved Serig's body first. Theo threw lightening bolts and fireballs at the undead closing in on Bolas. I saw a wraithlike form descent toward me and launched two of my throwing daggers at it. Marcus hacked at it with his magical bastard sword and took two blows in return. I could almost see the life ripped from his body at each touch of the abomination, but he persevered. I came up behind the creature and plunged my daggers into its ethereal form. With a how, it dissipated into nothingness as the creature refused to be bound to this realm any longer.
Moments after we regained our cover, a massive ball of fire erupted in the center of the tower. I dove further down the stairs to avoid the blast and the others found decent cover in the machicolations of the tower. All in all, we remained relatively unscathed.
Sanjian made a beeline for Daglan and was very nearly to him when the necromancer raised his hand; the most terrifyingly beautiful splash of color sprayed forth and hit my dark friend. From the damage he had already sustained and this new hurt, he cried out in a manner I will never forget. A shriek of agony so pure is was obvious that his life had been ripped from his body. His mortal shell plunged earthward and was instantly surrounded by the legions of undead.
I looked up in time to see Bolas crash into Daglan—in Sarusar's body—with his black stone ring clad fist leading his way. As they tumbled through the air, Bolas took hits from Daglan's life-stealing minions and we all knew that he couldn't take much more. The two grappling enemies slammed onto the roof of the tower and Theo immediately began the incantation to dimensionally fold us to the clearing. We struggled for a few seconds against some of our foe's minor minions as we waited for the gate to open. With the familiar flash, the portal opened and we all ran through. I pulled Serig's body through with me so that he might have a true warrior's burial.
Instead of the original plan where we would push Daglan through the portal and onto the activated pyramid, Theo took us to a spot a few feet from the item. Within seconds, the warriors of Lathidus fell on the creature and Lord Father Myram rushed to Bolas' side. The man…er…elf that I know as Bolas was a withered husk of the prow warrior I was used to. I know that feeling all too well. When Daglan initially possessed Radaga, he hit Sanjian and I enough that we could feel ourselves slipping into the realm of the unliving.
Before I continue with the tale of Daglan's demise, allow me to completely describe the surroundings. Around our clearing, a ghostly war was being waged. Thousands of spectral figures battled in a perimeter around us. Some seemed to be holding others out of our space and others just acted as though they were releasing pent up rage. It was when I saw the ethereal figures of children fighting and heard the war cries that I realized that the phantoms of Minothad were fighting for us to hold off the encroaching undead for us.
The warriors of Lathidus made quick work of the prone necromancer. One of his legs was hacked from his body and the rest was pitched at the pyramid in hopes of saving Sarusar's soul.
We were all about to take a collective sigh of relief when a gray mist began to boil out of the disembodied leg. We all watched in horror as eight spidery legs ripped out of the limb and raised it off the ground. A strange glow lit the underneath of the creature's "body" and then we were struck by its two-pronged assault.
The gray fog roiled around us and began to sap years from our lives. At the same time, tendrils lashed out to grab at us to draw us in. Three of the warriors were quickly snared up and things began to grow desperate.
With Bolas and Sanjian both out of action, Marcus and Taren became our two foremost combatants but neither wanted to engage the beast. I tried to think of some way to end the ordeal and lift the weight from our shoulders. Then, I literally struck the load from my back by pulling our unused pyramid from my backpack. With a yell of warning, I activated the device and leapt back. Moments later, the bodies of five warriors of Lathidus and the spider creature slumped to the ground. We quickly retrieved our comrades' bodies and then Taren immolated the soulless spider with a wall of fire.
It was finally over, but not without a heavy cost. Sanjian, Serig and Sarusar dead; five noble warriors of Lathidus imprisoned and Bolas drained nearly to death. All of us, with the exception of Bolas and Myram, were older by decades and none of us felt very good. The matter of Daglan's destruction was not over, but his threat to the realm certainly was. That would be a subject of great debate and theological complication for a good time to come.
Theo rested for a bit and then whisked us to the angelic temple so that we could rest and take advantage of its curative properties. The moment we all stepped through the portal, we were blinded by a warm bright light. I knew immediately what the source was since I had been there to release the angel from its marble prison. In omnipresent voices, both angels spoke to us of the evils that we had help banish and that the world should be grateful. They said that they would return when they were needed and would be found by those who would be chosen by fate as we had been. The female voice told us that we had done well and suffered much and that we should have our desires. The two angelic beings bid us farewell and then the brilliant light was gone.
I suspected that we had been granted wishes as payment for our work on Loche Isle and thought that one would best be used for my friends. I wished that we would all be returned to the condition that we had been in at dawn with the exception of Serig and Sanjian. Their beliefs would not allow them to be revived and I chose to respect that. Bolas was remarkably more like himself and happy as the hells to be done with all the adventure for a bit. Marcus seemed to be back to his jovial self and the rest of us didn't feel nearly so bruised, battered or burnt as we had moments before, but a cloud did hang over our celebration.
A man that had traveled and joked, battled and bled with us had perished. Sanjian was with the party before I came along and, had it not been for his suggestion, I would never have been allowed to accompany Bolas, Connor, Theo and Taren on the adventure that would forever change my life. Along the way, he had introduced me to his trainer, Shohan, who has trained me since and we learned things from each other that none of the others could understand. His passing will always be remembered as will his valiance and honor.
We returned to Tel Akbar, spoke with members of the churches of Lathidus and Arden, Shohan (so that he might deal with Sanjian's body), gathered our families and notified some other dignitaries of the intention to tell the tale in the Bards College. We traveled to Lord Kartekast's manor to tell him that we had destroyed the undead menace that had plagued his realm and we were greeted with a celebration already in progress. Theo helped me tell the tale with his magic and we all had a good time. After the feast wound down, we invited Kartekast to watch the official telling in Tel Akbar and he agreed.
All of our families were gathered for my telling of the Rise and Fall of Daglan as were a great deal of notable officials from the Gulf of Bengyar region. I noticed a few other faces in the crowd and not all of them were familiar to any of us, but I'm sure that all will be made clear in due time. It was one of the greatest accomplishments of our lives and my proudest moment. With the telling of that tale, I took my first step toward a goal I've striven for my entire life.
Ilyun 21, 12880
I have no idea what I just got myself into with my friends, but it seems to be working relatively well. Theo and Taren are flying over the mountains north of Castellan and through the valley of lightening. We are in contact with them thanks to Theo’s magics, but only from time to time. They are searching for a place to dimensionally fold us to. Hopefully, they’ll find that place soon.
Christian’s getting a little out of hand at times, but I attribute a good deal of that to his inexperience outside of the city. He also has his problems with attitude, but Harold and I keep him well busy with training. Harold and he seem to like each other now, thank Lathidus for that, and that makes my job of watching him a bit easier.
Ilyun 22, 12880
We’re in the Ki’Kiri Jungles now. The hike has been long and muggy, but we’re about to bed down for the night. I couldn’t help but mention to Christian that this is a little different that what he’s probably used to and that this is what adventuring tales are made of. He smiled at that and remarked that maybe he’d finally have some material to write a tale of his own with.
Ilyun 24, 12880
Well, last night pretty much sucked. Bolas had just relieved me for watch when he raised a mental alarm...allowed by Theo’s maintained thought- pool spell. I stood back up and ran to him. He told me he had noticed movement in the tree line. Theo, now awake, illuminated the area with a lightstone he’d had fashioned. In front of us ranged about thirty lizardmen; some of whom rode odd mounts.
Theo tried to parlay with the creatures, but they just kept up their methodical advancement, telling us that we had not seen the signs against trespassing on their lands and that if we wanted to leave we could swim across the river we had put at our backs...the water was over a mile wide.
After finding that parlay wouldn’t work, Theo did what he always does. He fireballed the center of the group and incinerated about three lizardmen and two mounts. After that, the battle was joined. Standing at Bolas’ side, I was rushed by one of the mounted lizardmen. At the last moment before I thought I would be impaled by the man’s spear, the mount reared up and actually stood...yes, stood...on its hind-legs. The rider attacked from this position and so did the mount. I soon learned that the creature was somewhat intelligent when it parried one of my dagger thrusts.
Taren raised a wall of flame behind the lizardmen to keep them from fleeing or from receiving reinforcements. I noticed a few men fall to the ground clutching their throats after being bitten by the mounts. Poison is a terrible thing. So distracted was I by this that I, myself, was bitten, but managed to fend off the grasp of death.
We managed to defeat all but a handful of them before a sakarabru...we’d faced one before so I researched the name...stepped OVER Taren’s wall of fire and swallowed a lizard and his mount in a gulp. Theo removed the effects of the poison lingering in our systems before we had to engage this beast.
Compared to last time, we made short work of the creature, but Marcus got swallowed by the beast. He was unconscious when the few of us cut him out, but he still lived and Theo brought him back to full health...along with a good many of us.
I got a chance to survey our casualties and it wasn’t pretty. We’d lost about nine of our footmen to the jungle already, though we had captured a handful of the lizardmen to act as guides. Theo’s magic allowed him to communicate with the creatures who said that they lived a few days up river and that they had dealings with tall beings with many tongues protruding from their faces. For some reason, that just doesn’t sound like a nice kind of person to me.
On a note of pride, for both Harold and myself, Christian participated in the combat. He helped me dispatch one of the lizard’s mounts with his crossbow...the same one that I took from one of his muggers months ago. He did well and seems to have a little more respect for the men around him. He’ll come around eventually.
Ilyun 25, 12880
This morning has to have been one of the funniest moments of my life. After bargaining more with the lizardmen about guiding us and deliberating for an ungodly long time about where we wanted to go, Taren had a glorious idea. She bespelled us all, including our mules, and helped us walk on water. In the middle of a mile wide river, you’d be surprised at how little interference you get in the jungle...hehe. The best part about the sight was that those poor lizardmen that we released must, at this very moment, be starting a new religion based around our party of wizards, warriors and druids. Ha!
Ilyun 28, 12880
Taren scouted ahead with her magic and found what seems to be an abandoned temple complex. We’ll camp here for the night.
Ilyun 29, 12880
Marcus said that he saw an enormous flaming ringing fly down from the night sky and zip off over the jungle during his watch. Since it posed no threat to us, he mercifully let us sleep. Our core group, Bolas, Marcus, Taren, Theo and I, explored three large temples in the complex (that just happened to radiate a faint magic) and found that three of them lead to a vast central chamber. As we descended down the passage-ways of one of the pyramids, we passed through three strange blue motes of light that seemed to radiate downward from verticle shafts ascending to the top of the structure. I later noticed that they had the strange effect of seeming to hold time still when looking from one side to the other. The central subterranean cavern was cylindrical-shaped with thick, steel cables in a web-like fashion across its middle. Several more thick cables supported a gigantic crystal from the domed ceiling of the chamber. Theo flew around in the cavern...the only way to traverse the room...and found a nasty disintegration pit at the bottom. Bolas has convinced us to steal the crystal and sell it for a GOB of money. With what I figure we can get for that rock, we’ll be able to fund a dozen more mad-cap expeditions like this one. Maybe Theo and I can finally go check out that bowl of Abu Maris that my Dao told me about.
Mordun 2, 12880
Ouch! Theo spent a few days storing magic so that we would be able to handle any nasty surprises brought on by pilfering the stone. In the middle of last night, the largest lizard I have ever seen attacked our party. Marcus noticed it on his watch and woke me up. We could tell that it wasn’t a dragon...no wings...but that it was still huge. Through Theo’s maintained thought pool we were able to silently wake up our companions. Everyone instinctively fled for cover when the fifty foot tall creature leapt on top of the three story building Marcus and I were standing on.
Just as we turned to flee, the vicious creature snatched Marcus up in its maw and chewed on him with teeth half as long as I am tall. Theo being Theo, blasted the creature with a lightening bolt and forgot that the strike would conduct into Marcus. After the bolt, the lizard cast Marcus fifty feet through the air and onto the roof of a distant building. I, being but a morsel to the creature, ran like the wind.
I jumped off the side of a building just as the creature used it as a springboard to get to the rooftop where Marcus had recently landed. Taren and one of our captains began thrumming arrows into the beast...unfortunately drawing its attention. Marcus escaped and came to stand in the alley next to me. I loaned him a use of my ring so that he might receive a bit of healing and then he bravely waded into the creature. Harold got in the beast’s way and got flung bodily to the far side of the complex. He was alive, but in no hurry to face the creature again.
Shayle and Brerdon both got munched and Bolas got swallowed. He was into the creature’s gullet before I could blink. This renewed my vigor and I redoubled my dagger-flinging. The same minute that I ran out of daggers...twenty one in all including my magical one...and was reaching for my sling, the creature fell to the ground with a massive thud. After its death throes, we cut an unconscious Bolas out and Theo revived him.
As we dined on lizardmeat, I cut out two of the incisors of the creature so that I could have a dagger or two made of them. Theo used his stored magic to heal our party so that we might be able to boost that giant crystal.
Sometime during the winter, Late Corvere?
It's almost Turningspare I think. This is the first entry that I have made in several months due to the fact that we have been cast eons back in time by this gods-forsaken rock. Tel Akbar does not yet exist...nor does the Eastern Empire for that matter! We’ve been a little busy building a cabin and watching Theo divine the nature of this stone a bit better. A race known only to us as the Merilin are the custodians of the stone. We thought that they had vanished when we took the stone, but they actually live in many times at once. They can guard the stone from within the cover of Time itself.
Shayle and another of our scouts have been captured by the Merilin, but they are completely content working for them. The Merilin are actually one and the same as the tall creatures with the protruding multitude of tongues that the lizardmen in our own time consort with. The Fates have their own ways of dealing with tomb raiders, I guess.
We’ve also been attacked by, for lack of better descriptive words, what appear to be bulky, hairy, unevolved halflings. If we’re so far back that evolution still can be seen at work, I’m a bit more unnerved that I was previously. We killed the creatures once, but then had to kill their undead corpses as an unnatural cloud of fog seemed to command them to attack our cabin. Marcus and I were both paralyzed by the creatures and, if not for Theo, would have been consumed by them while we still lived. Eventually, we managed to kill them and run off the cloud, but it hurt...a lot.
The only bright light in this time trap has been that I left a specially prepared package in the ground beneath where the Travelers Rest stands today so that my great great grandfather, will find it when he breaks the ground to build the original Rest. A few words of advice, but nothing to change the system of events that has made my family what it is today. Time is a difficult and dangerous thing to dabble with, I think.
We’ll see where we go from here...I surely don’t know. I think that we must assuredly make some sort of deal with the Merilin to get back to our own time.
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