Galinndan's Legacy Journal A

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Ethasadril

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7-1-1859

Return of Golian

Golian
Things got off to an interesting start at Oskar’s father’s house, the only location I felt comfortable revealing my presence. While he is away at the moment, his butler made me welcome and I am safe for the moment. I met up with Oskar, and after catching up on recent events went to meet Gheshtal and Theren at Jaklodin’s Shrine. Before leaving, I changed my appearance, disguising myself as I have been forced to do upon returning to these lands. We all quickly shared stories – they were waiting for Tenebral, who did not show up for 45 minutes or so. Fearing the worst, we checked the morgue – she nor the druid children she was with were there or had been there, but there was a strange trend of people dying of late and being taken to the university anatomy wing.

Gossip on the street was that people were confused – people have been moving about a lot in government and academic positions – has there been scandal? Theren advised that the bodies were most likely in the lab, where, incidentally, the research that he is seeking (his old work) is also kept. Oskar remembered an old back door – we found it and gained access to both the Academy and the lab, and looked around. Two bodies were there: when reaching to touch one, an ochre ooze dropped down – given the nature of reanimation in our world, I can only assume the ward we broke was intended guard against the body itself and not intruders. We fought the ooze; after hitting it with lightning from Theren’s research machine, it shuddered and split in two. I killed one of the split pieces.

After looking around we observed, on a pedestal, an anatomy book written by the great healer Avecin opened to a section discussing cranial anatomy. One page in particular described a special bone, unique to elven kind, that was behind the nose – it is different between the fey races… I wonder what it means? There was also a box with a grain of blue fahrstone. The bodies had been partially dissected. The back of the neck was open on one, and it showed ossification of the spinal column in the neck region – the book stated that this was a hallmark of zombification or possibly exposure to Rigor?

Something under a box within the laboratory has just made an alarming thump, and then moaned three times in perfect unison with the bodies. These corpses will not be resting long, and are somehow linked with another entity. Could there be more? What research is truly taking place here? Things have changed since I’ve been gone, and not for the better. Both bodies also had incisions around the sinuses, but one did not have neck incisions, indicating that the sinuses were checked first. There could be an important correlation here.

Also, I believe a trap-door opened somewhere in the room. Before we leave, I want to check the room for useful chemicals or potions: I must ask Theren’s advice.

The Scholar Theren

Theren
I’m not sure what to make of what just happened… Not even a week after the anatomy department is closed down, there is obviously activity still going on in the lab (some kind of zombification/ossification research). Luckily it seems noone tampered with my research. (I don’t know what I would do if I lost all that work… I mean I guess I could redo it all… I mean I am the one who made it all up after all… That would take awhile though… uh wait what was I writing again… Oh right.) I found a crew of… misfit adventurers… and they helped my get my device back. (although I had to leave my charging device… which makes sense… it is kinda big… but now i gotta rebuild it… hmm… Anyway,) The lab had since been booby trapped with slimes, and there was also a trapdoor that I never knew about.

Anatomy 1401

Under the anatomy lab there was a sort of secret study area. There was a pretty simple puzzle to open all the doors that were otherwise magically locked (Well… it was a simple concept… achieving the unlocks was a little tedious.) One room was full of books and notes and some rather fascinating contraptions. (I really wish I would have spent more time studying the pendulum scryer type device… but it probably didn’t have many applications for my own research so… no matter.) Two rooms I didn’t get to explore but they seemed to be rather underwhelming compared to the study (there was a lot of neat stuff in the study). Actually, there was the…. cold room?... sure that's what I’ll call it. This room was apparently filled with large blocks of frozen ice with fey specimens inside them. The whole operation sounded interesting but was also entirely magical… so again.. no relevant discoveries there (for me… I’m sure it would be fascinating for someone… I’ve never heard of something like that before).

I’m glad i got to explore the fourth room though. It had another zombie specimen that was dissected in the same way as the others. (someone is really interested in post mortem ossification of feykind… I just can’t see the point because they all end up chaos beasts by that point). It was also full of a myriad of alchemical tools some potions and a vial labeled “skin chips”. (not sure what that’s for but it seemed like it would be interesting to play with) There was also a magic circle drawn on some parchment that looked like a ritual for farstone augmentation… or activation… or something. I tried my best to copy it down, but it was rather complex (and I’m not an amazing drafter.)

I just hope I haven’t bit off more than I can chew with this group. They were trying to smuggle some people into town and seem to have a propensity for getting into trouble. At least one of them seem interested in more intellectual pursuits so I may stay with them (plus they seem to be rich… or at least have inheritances or something… maybe they’ll fund me?)

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The Marran Empire

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7-3-1859

Inside the Kadet Enclave

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Kadet Enclave in Isamarr
Active party members: Gheshtal, Theren, and Roshan
Inactive party members: Golian

Here I am, injured and trapped in the depths of this Enclave. It would make sense to be forlorn in this situation, but I am ecstatic. I have only just arrived, but I have witnessed a concentration of undead activity that I have rarely seen. These are not just your typical undead. Something complex and sinister is trying to escape from this place. Powerful undead beings with something terrifyingly new to behold… intelligence.

I made my way down the Enclave’s layers, following the sound of that brass instrument Ghestal plays. It was surreal to hear music being used in such a manner. Weaponized harmony to vanquish the undead. I arrived just in time to be useful. My warhammer brought down several of the animated skeletons around me. Better yet, the largest of them seemed to be hopelessly trapped.

After brief introductions, we began scouring the depths of the enclave for anything unusual. We found a satchel full of treasures, and a wine-damaged note. I currently know very little of who these people are, but it seems they live complicated lives here. Relationships full of secrets, loss, and death. I have seen my fair share of death in Ethasadril, but something about struggling to survive in the tundra strips away most of the complexities of life.

We began to head back towards the upper layers of the Enclave. We soon realized we had been outsmarted. The undead creature that we thought was trapped had augmented itself with the remains of several horses. We tried to fight it, but it was painful to even attack it. We tried to retreat, but it morphed its shape and pursued us. The last thing I remember before everything went black was a whirling of bones and being engulfed in a huge maw of teeth. If it weren’t for Ghestal I would be dead.

Theren is now our only chance at escape. He managed to escape and head towards the surface. We will rest and await his return.

7-3-1859

After Escaping the Kadet Enclave

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Golian’s Place in Isamarr
Active party members: Gheshtal, Theren, and Roshan
Inactive party members: Golian

Theren has come through for us. He brought a small force of soldiers down to rescue us. Unfortunately, one of them was slain during the ensuing battle. I call it a battle, but it was more akin to an evacuation. The soldiers protected the group as we turned tail and ran. I feel like a coward, but I can barely bring myself to face these horrific creatures. They are no mere undead; they are something terrifying.

As we escaped, a multitude of voices of differing languages echoed:

"͖̟͉͗͝Ȉ̢̳͒͑ ̢̱̣͕̙̬͍̹͒̂ͧ͌̾̾̚h̜̙̆ͭ̋͐͘a̩̝̦̠͙̤͑̇͠v̱̝ͬ͑͒ͭ͞e̹̠̬͔̭̩͊ ̦̘͑a̚͠l͖̖͖͕̻͌̈ͯ̇̔̀̀r̼̟̿͐͂͐͐͊ͫ͠ē̥͇̙̤̺͉͉̈́̀a̮͉̠̺͎͇͗̏ͬ͝d̰̞͉̠̼͢y̢̺̗͉̳̟̗ͬ ̝̬̜m̩̫̝͔̝͖o͕͇͔̒͐ͨ͌̄̄̔v̗͖̦͖̻̔ͨ̑̋͠ê͖̘̗̓ͩ̓̌ͥ͑ͅd̛͕̻̬̭̓ͨͦ̐ͯ ͓͔͔̇ͥͬͮ̂̅͛o͓̦̥̠̝̦̐n̖̤̗͛ͧͩ̈̐ͣ̿͟"̙̟͎̗͛̃̓̽͢

̐ͭ͗̌̀ͤ̚͘ ͔̩̦̱͚ͅ"̯̖̲͕̳̇́ͅE͙̫̬̮͎̣͖͐͒̈̿v̜͍͙̪̟̯̪̈͌ê̤̫̼̟͓̬̻͐͆̀n̙͊̈̓͑ ̰̓̊ͩ͗ͮ͒͢n̷͕͎̯̦̰̗ͦ̐̈́ọ͚̲̹w͇̰̆ m҉͔y͔̦̝ͫͪͮ̑ͬͣ̕ ̯͕b̝͉̲̜̮̳̭̈ͧ̎͋̾ͣͪo͙͚̦ͩͣ̀̈ͭ̈́́d̢͎͈͈͍̝͚̼y̦̜̬̾̿ͯ̃ͥͫ ̴̣͎̮̖̞͓̾̓ͤ̏̈́̚t̶̟̍ͤͅr̛̗̻͇͔̫̫ͅa̭ͮ̔̔͂ͤv̝̥̰̣͈ͯ͒ͯ̓e̟̤̦̠̰̝͛͐͊̂ͯͤͅl͎̹̰̫͉͜s̨ͣ̉̃ ̢̥̫̦͈̣͙̺f̬̠͙̙ͦa͚̳͚͘r̻͖̫̱̘̝̓͌̎ͮ̅ͅ ̛̬͔̺̥͓̣̏̑̊̓ͫf̢̜͈͉͍̘̩ͪr̰̥͛̎̿͒̅ͦ̕ọ͉̗̰̽͆̄m͕̐͢ ̱̮̜͇͋͑͊t̼̜͔͇͓̳̑ͫ̾̕h̏̓͡ḭ̏ͤ͆s̱̝̹̥̺̲̩̅͆͗̐ ̳͚͉̻͒ͧ͂ͅl̡a̼͈͖ͣͤͧ̇͐n̘͍͙̭̤̆͋ͭ̄d̳̩̤̿͐ ͉̦i̻̹̱̗̼̥ͯ̍ͩͅn̫̣̠̿ͦ̃ͭ̓ͣ̂ ̰ͧt͖̎h̟̟̪̣͗̈́ͪ͋́ě̷ͩ̍͐ ̹̪͔̗̕ͅc͉͖̹̊̆͌̄̍a͝r̜̤̳̤̯̋̋ͮ̉e͇ͮ ̹͑ͫ͒̂́̽̓͜ö̴̂̀̚f̟̦̜̯͎ ̗̑ͫͭ͋̂͗ọ̵̜͍̈ͩ̚n͙͓̥̂͝e̗̙̭ͅ ͊͐ͩ̊̋o̯͒f̷̜̥̳̲̌̿ ̩̤̲ͬ̅͟y̠̼̳̒́͗o̢̯̖̊͑ụ̙͎̩̳̟͕̆͆̍͌ͯ̆ř̶͈̫̼̱̱ͅ ͗w͙̯̪̓ͬ̈́̚i̙̙͕͔̖̩͕ͦ̽͝ṋ̻͎ͧt͈͔̩͙̪̯e̥̮͈̭ͭ̑͂̏ͧ̌̆͢r̭͔̣͖ͪ̌̀̌̽̚ ̜̱̤̺̞͋͗̽͑̎͜ǩ҉̠̮͔̼̰i̢n͓͓.̘͖̼̲̀͑̋ͣ͊͞ͅ"̀͞

̼͍ ̧̱̓͌̂̏ ̸͕͖͖̫̹̮̫ͨ̎̋ͬͯ͋"̯̜̗̻̤ͤ̏ͦ̓̔ͣͅÍ̺̤͇̤̤̘̍̈́̾ͨ͗̾ ̩̫̜̭̱͚̩͛w̦̯͘iͨͭͯ̏̎ͯ͆ḻ͑̑̽̒̌͐l̙̦͕͍̽͗ͅ ̯̣͆̐̍̀̈́͆̏͠m͔͈ͯ̆̿͗̽ͅu͗͐ͥl͓̫͓̻̦̙͠t͎̖ͥ̋͟i̬̼̺͂̋ͧ̾̏p̾̊ͬ̆ͮ̏͝l͉̦̮̤͎̈̾̃͆ͪ̚͞y̙͈̠̥ ҉̠i̲̫̼̺̮͓̠̐ͨ͒n͓͎̼͔̩ͨ͒̍ ̙̬͍̤̌̓̂ͤ͞ͅŵ̷̞̲͂ͫi̗̱̼͒̾͋ͭͬnͬ̀͗̐̿̌͘t̾ͬͥ͛̆̽e̸̜͎͓̪̐ͤͪ́̋̈r̗̥̜̀̃̉͒̿ ̪̗͈̭͋͠a̵ͩ̾̔̋̉n̑͒̀ḍ̼̬̳̜͕̦ͨ̃̄̍ͫ̋ ̳͙̺͕͠r̭̼̰̀ͤ͞ȩ̘̮̂̈͑͑̋t̺͈̟̳̣̱͓͋̑͠ṳ̯̺͓̦͚ͣͦ̽͝ͅr͔̙̦̰͊ͮͬ̚n̵̪̗̾͋"̪̿͑̉

7-10-1859

Boarding the Great Eastern

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Isamaar
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Oskar, Regianna, Sceloran

The people of Isamaar are so helpful! Theren and I found a kind group of local fishermen to give us passage to the Great Eastern for a modest sum. They must have understood the virtue of our quest. While in transit, I met a fellow named Sceloran. He is quite the intelligent individual, and tough too - his idea of relaxing during his voyage was lying in a barrel of fish guts. Our goals seem to be aligned by fate, and he and Theren also share a quest for knowledge.

After making it aboard the Great Eastern, we were informed that the crew was running low on supplies because they cannot dock. We decided to help, and with the aid of some newfound friends (adventurers looking for Farstone), we ventured to the bottom deck of the ship. Loud banging noises were happening around us. The crew mentioned tales of a creature they called the Riveter. Perhaps there is some evil to vanquish aboard this vessel!

Sceloran discovered that we could unseal several passages by making an arcane gesture. We explored deeper into the passage. Upon opening one of the passages we were beset by the undead!

A Riveting Tale

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Isamaar
Active party members: Roshan, Oskar, Regianna, Sceloran

My companions and I made short work of the undead. After getting our bearing, Theren decided to head topside to let the crew know about the supplies. The rest of us pressed on deeper into the ship as the clanging and rending sounds continued around us. Sceloran pointed out pits in the ground and demonic bodies which, according to him, probably came from burning something called "blue Fahrstone". We opened the next door.

Suddenly, an emaciated and rather upset looking hydra came charging from the darkness. It must have been in previous combat that severed and cauterized one of its heads. Oskar began severing the beast's remaining with his ursine power, and we soon brought down the beast. The hydra had been snacking on some treasure which we took for ourselves.

We traveled on, and we found that the interior hull of the ship was rent open. Despite dispatching the Hydra, the loud banging continued. As we approached the gaping hole and peered into the bowels of the ship, I noticed my inscribed chain begin to glow. Things were definitely not right, and we decided to go get help. We convinced a guard to go and gather all the forces he could muster. Regianna ventured off and to talk to some sort of aristocrat, and we took the guards back into the depths of the ship once they arrived.

Using some rope, I asked my new found friends to lower me between the two hulls of the ship. The light emanating from the inscriptions on my chain began glowing even brighter. I noticed something in the darkness. The remains of two Dragonborn. As I approached, the smaller dragonborn's hands closed around a riveter he was holding, letting loose a loud bang. Suddenly, there was a rushing sound around me that sent chills down my spine...

Another one? Already? A mixed emotion of joy and terror overwhelmed me, and I quickly ascended to prepare for battle. "An amphipolon!" I shouted.

It was enormous, but we were better prepared this time. We fought with everything we had, knowing the horrible fate that would befall the rest of the ship if the amphipolon were not stopped here. I swung my warhammer for a final radiant blow, and suddenly it crumbled to dust.

They can be killed... I have learned so much already, but I know that I must grow greatly in strength and knowledge to give my homeland a fighting chance when I return.

When I snapped back to my senses, Sceloran had already saved the guardsmen around us. We headed back to the surface and were greeted by a very thankful crew. Oskar and Regianna managed to acquire some of the Farhstone they had been seeking. I don't yet understand its purpose, but I know it is powerful. I am glad that power is in the hands of the virtuous.

7-15-1859

Stefan's Faire Perfectus

Excerpt from Golian’s (Public) Journal
Location: Isamarch
Active party members: Golian, Roshan, Theren, Gheshtal, Sceloran

Altroff: Not disliked, used to be a technical artist, fiercely loyal to his inner circle: a shrewd business man.

We were told that Altroff no longer wants to meet with us – one of his guards liked our performance last night, and told us that the fortuneteller Ioan was also at the meeting where Altroff was told not to meet with us by the Circus Boss Stefan.

We went to Ioan's tent, which abutted a chapel used by the wandering priests who chuck the dead in rivers. We poked around, found some spells of abjuration, set off a magical alarm, learned that he might be a charlatan, then went into the chapel. There we found two lines of corpses twitching in time with the horrid amphipolon-rousing sound, (one of our party has a medal that pulses with that same energy – we must learn more about it.)

The corpses turned into centipede things, susceptible to fire. We killed them, but now there are shouts of "Necromancy!" outside the door! Gheshtal is hurt, but has my bardic inspiration. There is a golden bowl and sword that we should look at.

Excerpt from Roshan's Journal
Location: Isamarr
Active party members: Golian, Roshan, Theren, Gheshtal, Sceloran

This morning we spoke with a man hundreds of miles away. How someone has managed to put such magic into simple scrolls of paper is beyond me. After putting our heads together, the master wordsmiths of my traveling companions managed to come up with a concise message that got straight to the point:

  Esteemed Cezar, we wish to aid you in acquiring the Great Eastern for mutual benefit. Shall we meet?  
     Sincerely, house Kier.

We receive an equally terse reply:

  Baronetess: Accepted. Four days, isthmus, Stefan's 'Faire Perfectus'; have staff meet my agent Altroff. Contract work to be presented. Payment open to discussion.
     Best, Apostos.

I guess if we wanted to send longer messages we would need bigger scrolls.

We plan to set off to Stefan's "Faire Perfectus". I have not visited a fair before, so hopefully it is an experience worth remembering.

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I can barely remember last night. We made it to Isaamar uneventfully, and I finally was able to purchase some finery. I hope this bottle of wine will help break the ice with Cezar. Our tab was covered by some fine patrons of the bar. We must have put on a good show. I remember a strange mixture of music was played last night. I am honestly surprised anyone took to it. We are going to head out to meet with Altroff, one of the ring leaders here at the fair. He is looking to retire soon according to rummor.

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Well this is quite rude. We have been denied a meeting with Altroff. Apparently this was a last minute change in plans. We were informed that a fortune teller named Ioan might have more information.

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Well, I guess Theren has stickier fingers than anyone would have though. He set off an alarm lifting a scroll from Ioan's dwelling. To make matters worse, we tried to escape further inside and were attack by some sort of abominations. They were similar to amphipolons in that they were several corpses combined into one creature. We must eradicate any more of these scourge we find. The last thing we need is a full blown amphipolon attack.

Shark Attack

Excerpt from Roshan's Journal
Location: Isamarr
Active party members: Golian, Roshan, Theren, Gheshtal, Sceloran

We heard shouting from outside. "Necromancy!" While there was definitely some sort of evil magic taking place here, we were the vanquishiers of evil - no the cause. To prevent unneccessary confrontation we slipped out the back and made our way back through the shore. We came across a tent on the outskirts of the fair. Upon further investigation, we noticed a large amount of blood and a large hole in the ground. This is when we first realized the danger the town could be in. Holes like this can be caused by Bulettes (also known as Land Sharks). The tent itself had several pairs of manacles with symbols of Banicon on them. These manacles are used for binding the dead which temporarily allows them to be transported.

We quickly made our way to one of the animal tamers at the fair to get more information. He did not believe us at first, but once he realized we were serious we immediately went to Stefan's tent. There we met Stefan, another animal tamer, and a paladin from the mirelands named Iztak Tototl. We decided to go hunting for the Bulettes.

We began tracking the Bulette. The party split up, and I talked to Iztak for a while. We are kindred spirits after the same goal. He had a vision of a man from the dovelands striking down a great evil, and that sent him on his quest here. Unfortunately, he did not have any more useful information on the amphipolon threat we have been facing. After several hours of tracking we entered a cave. We found a river running through the cave as well as many dead bodies. We came across a dead Bulette that gave us a bit of a scare. We finally found the living Bulette and slew it. Our triumph lasted only a moment because suddenly my magic chain began to glow with a strong light. Suddenly, a Bulette amphipolon came burrowing through the wall!

We fought valiantly against the abomination. A vision of a white jackdaw suddenly appeared and gave us renewed vigor. According to Iztak, this was a symbol from the gods of the doveland. We finally killed the amphipolon. Afterwards, we noticed a staircase descending down further into the cave. Being battered and tired, we decided to head back to the fair for some rest and to talk to Stefan.

Ioan's Cards

Card	Person/Time	Verogod
Mask	Golian	-
Skull	Sceloran	-
Sun	Theren	-
Relic	Roshan	-
Rope	Gheshtal	-
Crossroads	Distant Past (Your Lifetime)	Savulcian
Raven	Recent Past	Banikon
Downfall	Far Future (Your Lifetime)	Sirrien

Casting Cards & Gyrum's Symbol

Excerpt from Roshan's Journal
Location: Isamarch
Active party members: Golian, Roshan, Theren, Gheshtal, Sceloran
After spending some time in a pub, we went to Stefan's tent. We were rewarded with gold, platinum, and necklaces, one of which had a symbol of a fortune teller. We split some of the gold with Iztak. We decided to return to investigate the stairs further. Upon entering, we noticed that this was most likely an enclave. It had a sign that it was claimed by Cezar. We returned to town defeatedly.

After parting ways with Iztak, we tried to negotiate a deal with Altroff. He was hesitant to meet with us, but Golian, using quite a bit of charm and displomacy, managed to get us an audience. Theren went to retrieve Ioan, and Ioan began casting our cards to give us a second chance. After the cards were cast, he still seemed quite steadfast in his belief that we were trouble. After arguing, he cast some sort of spell that revealed a vision of some great creature who is apparently hunting my newfound friends. I hope I can help drive this darkness away from them.

Once we got back to the inn, I could not get my mind off of the symbol I had been carying. If Iztak thought it was so offensive, it must have some meaning. After having the party looking at it, they translated the inscriptions. It read: "Test Dummy Hive Formation Step One MINDless". So this symbol is the cause of all the recent abominations that have been following us. How could I have been so careless? I endangered countless lives by bringing this with me. I have talked to Iztak, and I am taking his advice to seal it in a metal lockbox and send it down the river.

Altroff's New (Old) Enclave

Excerpt from Theren's Journal
I'm not sure why I hoped the enclave would be safe. They never are. (especially with this group, they ooze trouble in my experience). It seems like the enclave used to be a bank of some sort. Or a security office... or something. There was also alot of rooms that made it seem like a research facility, so color me confused. Also, one door looked like the front of a dorm or something. Pretty interesting stuff. The most fascinating was the subject of the ancient researcher. It seems he was attempting to preserve his family beyond death. He was etching silver beads with necromantic magics in order to prevent the decay of his family. He took the beads and it embedded them in the bones of his subjects. According to notes scrawled on the wall, he must have been trying to combat some disease or epidemic. His experiments failed unfortunately. Many of his subjects greeted us throughout the enclave as gibbering masses, and I suspect that his wife and child had turned to ghouls. Also, he himself turned to a very nasty creature that kind of reminded me of what little I've read about shamblemen. Anyways, the turned scientist nearly killed us all. We were 'saved' by another appearance of the Jager Kavka. He was apparently hunting the scientist. or something... I'm not sure... but after Roshan finished him the hunter took the corpse and disappeared. Either way we survived... thankfully. It would be quite frustrating to die before finishing my device. (Recent events have slowed its progress enough already). On the bright side much of the old scholars resources could very easily be repurposed to my own projects. (it makes the danger almost worth it.... Almost...).

Ethasadril

8-1-1859

Planning and Industry

Excerpts from Theren’s Journal

Regianna has approved my plan for developing the island. I've sort of been put in charge... kind of informally.. I think. Im not sure. But for certain the party's attention has swung to the island now. Sceloran and, surpisingly, Mavrorgi have expressed interest in the development of the island. I've learned that Sceloran spent some time with the miner's guild and he was able to produce a survey of the island and any mineral resources that we might have. Mav also has some naval experience that may prove useful for establishing any trade or fishing operations. The two of them have set off with Sleyd and Ghestal to find some marmaron to stabilize our island. I actually have high hopes for that group... I trust Ghestal and Sceloran to make smart descisions concerning the party, and I expect that Mav's sailing experience will help alot in the endeavor.. Not so sure about Sleyd though... He seems.. eccentric. Regianna has taken a particular interest in restoring some of her destroyed homeland... Which was apparently destroyed by... something.. I'm not sure.. but the party doesn't talk about it much... It might have been their own fault... or something terribly dreadful. I don't really have enough information to tell yet. In any case, I am working with Regi, Oskar, and the ever reliable Roshan to recruit some of her subjects as labor for the island. We are also investigating the status of her father (the official head of house Kier) who is apparently sick.

This is proving more complicated than I first expected.... According to what Regianna and Oskar have told me, some 400 people immigrated illegally through the Brightdoor all in an instant during the destruction of Apophia. I've advised that we make our association with the group very loose so that we do not incur any legal action against us... But I don't know if we will be able to get out cleanly. (Roshan is not a very good liar I think.. or at least he doesn't like it, and Regianna is very obviously dragonborn like most of the refugees.) On top of all this, Regi's younger brother has been in charge of the refugees. I have no idea who he is, but Lady Kier seems to think him unreliable... Hopefully things aren't too bad when we get there.

Gathering Recruits and the Search for Krif

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Bidor, Ethasadril
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Oskar, Regianna

When the portal opened I was expecting many more people. It was quite disappointing to see merely a dozen ragtag laborers huddled in their winter coats. I am used to the extremes of weather, but I am not sure how my friends felt in that moment. Regianna seemed intent on finding out how her father Shamash is doing. Perhaps the others were mainly focused on the cold. Regardless, we let the laborers through the portal and ventured forth to find Krif, Regianna's brother, who seems to have been missing in a mining expedition along with the rest of his accompaniment. We encountered some very helpful guards who gave us the necessary paperwork for a short stay after we negotiated the price down to only 50g. Oskar, being half dwarf, gathered some information for us, and we headed to the mine. Once there, I had to tell a half-truth to bluff our way in to the mine. We only have a day before the real rescue squad arrives.

We entered the mines, and took the mine cart to level 36, shaft 7. As we grew closer, we nearly crashed into a fallen statue. I hit what I thought was the emergency break, but it made the cart disappear beneath us. It was quite painful, but at least we stopped. The statues in the area were damaged by something we could not identify. Chunks of them were torn out. We did manage to find a stash of food. Suddenly we were attacked by camouflaging creatures that latched onto Theren's head. The area seems to be overrun with them, but we fended off the ones in our immediate area. I hope we find Krif soon. I don't like this place one bit.

Rescuing Krif

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Bidor, Ethasadril
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Oskar, Regianna

Krif is now safe! I never expected such a strange adventure in this cave, but at least we made it out alive. We encountered a strange creature that used laundry to evade our attacks. I will never look at chores the same way again. After dispatching it, we found 2 spell scrolls and strange sticks. We also found a symbol of Apophia which is Reggi's hometown.

We then entered a large, open area with a statue of a dwarf and a dragonborn. Our initial thought was petrification. We weren't too far off - it turns out these statues were actually being inhabited by strange demons. A huge rock golem along with the two statues attacked us. The demosn were using the physical form of the statues to attack. Theren noticed fahrstone in the cracks of the large rock golem and exploded it with fire. This gave us a fighting chance, and we eventually defeated the creatures.

We searched for and finally located Krif and his fellow miners. It turns out that Ihu and Isgu, two miners, had gotten into a statue carving competition of sorts. Everyone decided Ihu's statue was better. Isgu seemed upset and went off to carve another statue. Suddenly after there was a loud *boom*, and monsters came out and attacked the miners. We decided it was best if we left before the actual miner's guild party arrived. We told Krif to make up an excuse for our situation. Now we are off to find Reggi's father!

Excerpt from Theren’s Journal

Another close encounter of the dangerous sort. Our druid was able to convince the supervisor that we were an investigative team sent to rescue Krif's team (even though we for sure aren't), and we delved into the mines to find them. I'd never been in a mine like this, and know very little about the operations or procedures that the guild would use. (Those were the most dull classes in all of the academy when I was there, and I avoided as many as I could.) I deferred to my companions in most of our proceedings because of this. It was a mistake. It seems my friends understand mining procedures about as much as I do. Suffice to say, our ride down to the level Krif's team was on was not comfortable, and ended rather abruptly with us being ejected into a wall at a considerable speed.

When we finally picked our selves up, we began to explore the mine. There was no real signs of struggle throughout the quarters and storage areas of the shaft, but it does seem like it had unoccupied for some time due to the prevalence of cloak beasts in the area. One particularly stubborn one defended itself against our attacks with laundry. (It proved more annoying than dangerous, but had to be dealt with either way.) Once we arrived in the mine itself, I began to confirm my initial suspicion that a cave in had happened. There were two statues that really set our party on edge though. We were initially suspicious of petrification, as one of the statues looked eerily similar to Krif (according to Regi), but after some investigation we were unable to learn anything other than that they were stone. We found the fahrstone chamber untouched, which is a good sign, but as we were exploring it seems that the statues were moving when we weren't watching. I noted their movements mentally and we continued looking for the lost miners.

Regianna and Roshan started calling out to the miners in hopes of illiciting a response from the crew. Seconds before I could find them and urge them to stop, my fears came true. The ground shook and we could hear rumbling all around us. The echoing seemed to cause another cave in. I thought it was common sense that the geology could be unstable (we had already discovered many paths blocked by debris), but I guess the group is less knowledgeble than I thought. (I need to be sure to watch more closely in the future to make sure we don't make any dangerous mistakes.) The reason I say 'seemed' earlier is because we soon found another source of rumbling in the caves. A large rock golem. Two in fact. We were able to dispatch them after a fight through the peril. We began gathering more information from the area, and freeing the trapped miners who told us some fahrstone was burnt unintentionally, causing a number of imps to come and possess the surrounding stone.

On the Road to Cote

Excerpt from Theren’s Journal
Location: Ethasadril
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Oskar, Regianna

After some conversation with Krif we were able to learn that Lord Shamash has been taken to Doveland by his seneschal in search of a cure. (A solid plan considering how many reputable academies are in that region.) I suggest to our crew that we follow him there as quickly as possible to increase our chances of making the next portal window. Without much difficulty I am able to navigate us through the tunnels that connect the many urban areas of Doveland. We are well on our way at a rather quick pace, which normally would prove difficult for me (I am not the athletic type at all), but I was able to pull through and help us save some time. Of course with this crowd, no good deed goes unpunished, and we were accosted on the road. (You'd think for a group to be able to find this much trouble they must have made a deal with a demon... but.. then again...) We were being tracked by what at first looked like a chain devil, although as we fought it It began to reveal more of itself as the Jaeger Kavka. I was terrified! How had it followed us all the way out here, and why? Why was the Jaeger only looking at me? That seer from the fair said I should have nothing to fear from him. The answer is... I was charmed. Or some other kind of trick, which caused me great fear during the fight. I spent a lot of energy healing Roshan in hopes that he would dispatch the chain devil, and he did. To our great fortune, a gem merchant was traveling the road with us and after we "rescued him" from the devil he shoveled a large amount of his wares in to Roshan's waiting arms. (At least all of this danger has an upside, I can use this money to complete the trombone.)

The Striped Curse

Excerpt from Roshan’s Journal
Location: Cote
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Oskar, Regianna

We arrived in Cote unsure of how we would be welcomed. We soon learned that, despite Oskar's father being out of town, his servants were still present and willing to help. They pulled some strings, and I was issued a citizenship document. Reggiana was also given a temporary document. While this was exciting, we soon learned that there was some unfortunate news. An entire wing of the local university had collapsed. This was the wing dedicated to biology and medicine. Also, we found Reggianna's father, but he was under constant medical care. A curse had sapped him of his health. There are black stripes across his body that are slowly choking him. He is also missing a leg from amputation. The only thing keeping him from getting worse is a healer named Rashas who is keeping it from progressing. We know of several options that might cure him. We could take him to the infernal plane and cast remove curse. This is very risky, and the only rumor of how to get back is to ignite fahrstone from the infernal plane. Another option is to find and kill the demon who cast the curse. We have also heard rumors of a magical rod called the Rod of Avecin which is a panacea for anything short of death. Unfortunately it is under lock and key. Finally, we could find a powerful spellcaster who could cast the Wish spell. All of these options sound improbable, but Reggianna has our full support. We will succeed in rescuing him!

The Heist of Avecin

Excerpt from Theren’s Journal
Location: Cote
Active party members: Roshan, Theren, Golian, Tennebral, Ghestal, Oskar, Regianna

The group decided that we should plead with the lord of Cote, Ansel, to use the legendary Rod of Avecin to heal Sammash. Apparently, Golian has some ties with the lord (is there any one he doesn't know, it seems like this guy gets around alot...) In any case we were able to gain an audience with the manor steward. He said he would assist us with sending a message to Lord Ansel. When we arrived at the top of the dovecote we found a magnificent bird. Large and pure white, it resembled a phoenix, and had golden feathers adorning its wings and tail. The bird looked like it was sleeping, and in my curiosity and fascination, I failed to respect the two rocs that were caged and flanking either side. They burst out of their cages. (who built these? honestly... you'd think they might measure the strength of the birds... or magically reinforce the cage to ensure they can't escape.) After some tense negotiations (Oscar can talk with animals.. Neat... woulda been useful back on my parents farm) we were able to coax the rocs back into their cages.

After Golian finished his letter to Ansel, we moved to the great white bird. Its cage was locked with a heavy padlock. I forget who, but someone thought it would be wise to use the knock spell in a tower full of skittish birds. Either way, after a VERY loud knock and a disastrous flurry of feathers, the cage was open and the cote was now empty, save the white phoenix (that's what im calling it for now) and one of the rocs. We quickly recovered from the mass evacuation of doves and Golian asked the white phoenix to take the message to Ansel. With our work seemingly finished we proceeded leave the manor. Unfortunately, this adventure would not be with out its dangers (its these people I swear... maybe they enjoy the fear of death every week). Ansel appeared in the main hall of the manor to greet us, and he was not pleased. He was also not Ansel. The lord's face became cotorted, and then suddenly changed, to that of Galinndan (who I thought was very much dead, having been decapitated by the Jaeger). He struck out in wrath against Golian and Oscar, hissing angrily about them ruining his plans. The magic he unleashed on us was terrible. He pierced Oscar with what looked like a beam of pure arcane energy, nearly destroying him instantly. Obviously, we fled (or I would not be writing this today). It seems we will have to find another plan to save Regianna's father.

After some deliberation, our group has decided that the only remaining option for saving Regi's father is to sneak back into the manor and steal the rod. (The only feasible option anyways.) We will spend about a week gathering information, and planning our heist. Hopefully that is enough time, I've never done something like this. Well... I guess we did steal my research back. But that wasn't really stealing, it's mine to begin with.... It was a bit of a disaster too.. but we have more time to plan for this endeavor, so it should go better... I hope.

In preparation for the heist, I spent some time talking with a carpenter who has done some work on the manor. He seemed like a really nice fellow. Quite proud of his work too (a hallmark of any good craftsman). I spoke some with him about the manor itself, trying to learn anything about its layout or construction. Unfortunately, I did not have many good reasons for loitering in his shop, so after some idle conversation I excused myself. I did learn that he was the architect of those bird cages, (which were obviously not strong enough... but I wasn't about to get on his bad side) but not much else about the manor itself.

Ultimately, our heist was a failure. At least, for its original purpose. We were unable to find the Rod of Avecin. We did discover a number of other interesting things however (or at least I found them interesting, who knows what the others think). As one would expect, there were many spells and wards that had been placed on the manor. Immediately after we entered the entryway (which was suspiciously unguarded), they slammed shut and a few dozen doves flew headlong into the gates behind us, splattering themselves into an arcane rune. It was a rather gruesome spell that seemed to ward the whole of the manor inside and out. (I suspect that we will not be able to enter or exit the manor through conventional means until that is dispelled.) This ward also seemed to be slowly effecting our souls in some way according to Sceloran. (Never a dull moment.)

The rest of the first floor of the manor seemed rather mundane. There were a few enchanted rugs, that I easily avoided. (Rugs can't really use doors.) The second floor, however, held a real treat. Apparently the Lord Ansel (or Galindann... whoever) has a healthy appreciation for research, and his library ended up being one of the bright moments in this disaster of an adventure. I was stunned by how old, yet preserved the books were. A layer of dust was thick on the floor and shelves, but the pages showed hardly any signs of aging. Which is astounding, because I suspect that there wasn't a single page written later than 200 years ago. What a find! (The magnificence of this room seemed lost on the rest of our band of unfortunate souls, but I could not be swayed, and I combed the shelves for knowledge.) The rest of our group set about doing whatever things they thought necessary to continue, but there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity. Looking through the shelves I found a rare work of the physician, Avecin, (the real one, not our silly wizard) that was in excellent condition. I also stumbled across a very old text on shipbuilding. I decided to liberate these two books from this room. (Seeing as they obviously hadn't been touch in years, and myself and Golian would very much be interested in their contents.) After a few minutes, I noticed that the room had gone quieter, and the usual commotion of my companions had faded off. I looked up and noticed them sneaking off higher into the manor and begrudgingly left the library behind to continue on.