Quest Logs: Difference between revisions
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== November == | == November == | ||
=== 6 === | === 6 === | ||
{{playerlog|Avallac'h | We | {{playerlog|Avallac'h | We visited the Vahlarot temple again, trying to find some of the hidden rooms. Crash took down a strange celestial corpse pinned to the wall which allowed us access to a tomb. Inside we found the remains of the leader of a great army which fell at the hands of what I believe to be the Sylvan. The history was inscribed on his skull, along with what looks to be a powerful spell. I will need to study it further. Lelyvia worked on her meticulous map, drawing every last detail of the temple. | ||
Oh and Brem is a mindflayer now. }} | Oh and Brem is a mindflayer now. }} | ||
Revision as of 07:19, 9 November 2020
Every quest inside of the world of Sunholm is logged by our adventurers so that other guild members can live vicariously though them, and so that other adventurers can stay on top of the successes and failures of the guild as a whole. If an adventurer shares a quest log with the guild then they are usually met with payment for their work by other guild members, however if there is ever a case where no member of the adventuring party provides a history of what happened then it is unlikely anyone will know about their deeds, or even that the world itself will remember their experiences (Characters will not receive exp for that session). There is no requirement for the style or form of the quest logs, they can be short summaries, a list of events that occurred, masterfully woven tales, sonnets, poems, songs, or anything else you would like, they must however contain information about all of the major story events that occurred.
Logs
November
6
October
30
When separated from my companions during our latest venture, I stumbled across a vicious creature which paralyzed me for a frightening length of seconds. I could do nothing but stand at the mercy of the creature and pray for the Morninglord to send me the strength to break free from its grasp. He answered, and with a newfound strength, I pushed through the paralysis and a fierce back and forth ensued with healing in the nick of time, several more stents of paralysis, and divine fire and light! In the tense final seconds, the grell and I both hanging by a thread, one final blast of holy fire put an end to the evil creature. By the grace of Lathander, I still stand! I shall spread his word with greater fervor and be his Dawnbringer in this land, spreading his merciful and protective light to all those in need!
While Lathander's grace granted me the strength to push through, it was a harrowing experience nonetheless, and I do not wish such a challenge upon anyone else. Thus, once I recover this week, I will rally my companions and return to the Temple of Vahlarot to cleanse it of any remaining dangers and bring back a full report. However, we have made great progress so far and unlocked what seems to be an ancient prison and tomb for beings long forgotten. One of which turned out to be a mindflayer, which we delivered to Hakvalak and Brem per their request in its original and additional bindings. Lathander willing, it will not break free and devour us as we sleep. At least two other beings either lie entombed or imprisoned in hidden consecrated rooms, and mysterious plaques have left more questions than answers of those that lie there. A more thorough and careful investigation is still needed to determine if it is safe to explore these rooms further, or if it's best to leave things as they are. For your safety, please steer clear from the temple until we declare it free of all threats; we will make all haste to do so and acquired some magical items from Milo to help hasten this endeavor.
Your humble local Dawnbringer, Lelyvia
23
This week we couldn't sway three lost souls from their wayward path to steal from the guild's treasury, but fortunately, we saved their lives and offered them a chance of redemption. I will vouch for their willingness of a second chance at their trial to try and save their lives again. Lathander give me the words I need to help them see the light.
I also failed to save a companion this week. We had journeyed deep within the Vahlarot Temple and had grown careless facing the monsters that infested it, not realizing the true dangers these creatures held. Thanks to your divine protection from evil, we managed to stop the insidious intellect devourer from controlling our fallen companion and smite it, but I had not the power to bring him back. Your sacred flame also helped us purge a foul creature that emerged from his stomach afterward. For that I am grateful, but please grant me more strength to protect my companions and bring them back. I know not what I would have done if Moz could not bring him back. I will do the best that I can with the powers you've granted me in the meantime.
Ever your faithful priest, Lelyvia
When I first arrived, I didn’t realize that the single building guildhall was essentially the entire town. I assumed that surely there was more, that the guildhall was simply stood apart from the rest of the encampment. Upon delivering our caravan’s shipment, I saw that the guildmaster was moving some boxes to the new vault that they had constructed. Feeling quite in the habit of transporting materials, I offered to help see the job through to the end.
There was one especially valuable box that the guidlmaster was particularly protective of. As we were escorting him with that box, we were ambushed by a few less advantaged residents of the encampment. The others who were guarding the transport with me made very quick work of them, and seemed to, for the most part, take some care not to kill them. Eventually we ended up delivering them to some holding cells, but their futures are not particularly bright.
Speaking of futures, I noticed that this town had no pub! Unbelievable! And what great luck perhaps. I know that the last few pubs I started did not go so well, but that was almost always due to some sort of foul competition. Now I can start the first pub in all of Sunholm. This might just be the break that I need! Perhaps a couple of those attempted thieves could be reformed and put to good use. It seems like they have no other option, and I have not much to offer. It could be a good match for now.
I was still interested in getting to know the area. A tiefling priest of Lathlander that had been helping us transfer boxes to the vault was very keen to get back and finish mapping a labyrinth. Not sure she was an entirely reliable cleric, but it was a good opportunity to see what the guild has been up to in the area.
We made our way through the bloodstained passages of the old temple, up until the point where they had previously left off. I could never have been prepared for the horrors that awaited us. Mind controlling creatures descended upon us. Controlling members of our party. At one point, the orc barbarian that had been our greatest champion turned on us, nearly killing us all before the priest figured out how to expel the creature from his freshly devoured mind. The horrors did not stop with the orc’s death. His stomach began to move with life. Upon cutting it open, we discovered some sort of slaad spawn that was quickly dispatched.
I returned to Sunholm with the rest of the party in much of a daze. In three days I had seen more horrors than in my entire ninety years prior. I saw just why Sunholm was the end of the road for so many.
Perhaps it would be best if I focused my efforts on setting up that tavern and inn. It would be great to have an income source beyond adventuring. I am not sure how many of those trips to the temple I could survive.
16
Because of this, Avallac'h was unfortunately too caught up looking into leads on the next temple (Or maybe he was trying to figure out why nearly everyone at the guild was looking at him strangely - it can be difficult to tell what preoccupies his mind and time - and we have no leads into that front either, though Sir Ignar hinted it may have something to do with his past), so he could not accompany us on this week's ventures.
Instead, Sir Ignar, Crash, and I decided to try and wrap up the exploration of the Vahlarot Temple. We vastly overestimated its size, however, and could only progress through about three more unexplored rooms before turning back in hopes we didn't make a wrong turn and run into another encounter. In preparation for our return trip, I began roughly sketching our journey back to the entrance and will bring more parchment next time for a more thorough mapping.
On a related note, Maerilith seemed to perk up a bit and a glint of a smile shone in her eyes when I showed her my sketches of the temple. She even pulled out some of her old notes to show a bit of the initial first floor explorations, showed me a few techniques to make the lines cleaner, and offered some of her supplies to make mapping next week's expedition easier. This is promising progress, and I hope presenting her a finished map of the temple will help her rediscover purpose in life or at least further kindle a new light within.
9
September
18
11
3
I would like to make a tower like that one of these days ... but did you see the construction prices at Sunholm. Highway robbery!
Sir Avallac'h, I agree that the construction prices are quite high, though I don't believe it quite falls under the category of highway robbery. I myself am hoping to found a temple of Lathander here at the guild at some point, and by the generosity of the guild and Lathander's grace, I believe it will one day come to fruition. For your own endeavors, might I recommend starting a weekly saving fund? - Lelyvia
August
27
Greetings fine folk of Sunholm once more! I apologize for my lack of a greater presence at the guild these past couple of months, but Lathander has shown me a lost soul in need of his restoring light, and I have been dedicating nearly all of my time to her.
Maerilith, as some of you may know, has suffered greatly from past traumas, and I am doing all that I can to help her forgive herself and awake to a bright new dawn under The Morninglord's healing light. I was making tremendous progress for the first month or so, too - she's begun accompanying me during morning prayers and began sketching again, a picture of the sunrise... Unfortunately, some of her former companions brought back a child later that day, which upon first sight, immediately brought my patient back to her original unresponsive, listless state. While... disappointed at her former companions for bringing back a reminder to some past trauma Maerilith experienced, I do recognize that she must one day confront her past and reach forgiveness with it. However, she is not yet in a state to do such, and such reminders are proving more harmful than not at the moment. The invisible whisperings at her ear are also not helping, but I can do nothing to stop them, and she often swats away whatever source they stem from anyways. The point of the matter is, Maerilith needs more space to recover and embrace her new dawn.
Given this, I have found a few other objects in her possession that trigger these harmful memories and have entrusted them under Avallac'h's care until Maerilith is in a better state. To ensure I'd placed my faith in a couple of her former companions correctly, I accompanied Avallac'h, Ignar, and Crash (a newer member of the guild that I must remember to speak with more about Lathander) on their journey to investigate a seemingly abandoned wizard's hut. Upon arrival, Avallac'h discovered that the owner of the home was Umlagi, the author of a book on how to make contracts with demons. After this unsettling discovery, we treaded carefully within the home.. Well, Crash began ripping paintings off of the walls, but I voiced my opposition to deaf ears. Out of the two doors available to us, we began our exploration through the left door and faced a large being of rock, which challenged us to prove our worth. By Lathander's grace, we managed to defeat the creature after suffering several grievous wounds - I thank Lathander for giving me the strength to bring back Crash back from the brink of darkness too many times to count - and retreated before we encountered any more of these "tests".
I fear that this group may be stretching the limits of their abilities, and after resting this week and provided Maerilith's condition allows, I will likely attend their next venture to ensure they make it back alive, Lathander willing...
July
16
9
We visited the Frontier Camp. There we crossed paths with Simon Cantalar who is still looking for his sister, and is still kind of pissed at us. We were able to pay Tsarra Faefiel a visit who let us escort Elaine Faefiel back to Sunholm.
Also, we are still taking applications for Death Squad. Act now to secure your spot.
June
18
Also Doctor ran off with Simon.
Ignar and I will be reviewing applications for Death Squad. Don't delay, space is limited.
11
Finally, we traveled to the Vahlarot temple to explore a bit more. We found quite a hoard of treasure guarded by a monstrous skeleton, but were able to overcome it. After the fight, I was approached by a Devil who called themselves Cal and attempted to bargain for my soul. Informed by earlier research with the book, I negotiated a bit, but wasn't compelled to wager my soul for the things they were willing to provide.
After a few days' travel, we returned to the Guildhall and assisted Svelta in demonstrating a new set of armor that is surprisingly resilient to both mundane and magical assaults. Poor Ignar was quite stalwart, but was eventually felled by Kurst. It was eminently clear why Cal was so interested in assistance in corrupting him.
4
In addition we met another construct named Legend that seems to be selling spell scrolls but doesn't seem to be very intelligent due to some unknown issue. Further studies on him will be needed to try to understand the nature of his malady.
May
28
Another adventure with team Aval... I mean team Deathsquad. Ignar, Doctor, and I thought we can clear the mines by ourselves. Things were going pretty good at first. We defeated many Minotaur's. We even fought some undead ones, which was a great source of large bones for Hakvalak (... I wonder if we ever delivered those bones). Toward the end, we encountered a couple of frightened children. Ignar thought we should toss them in a river. I should have listened. After trying to calm them, they snuck up real close behind me and stabbed me. The wounds were very deep. Luckily my arcane ward was up, which protected me from falling unconscious. Then, with a surge of adrenaline or a sudden need for vengeance, I killed one of the children with just a single grasp of my lightning charged hands. I escaped from the other one and my companions were able to defeat it. They turned out to be Doppelgangers. After falling, their true forms were reveled.
Then we met Mr. Whisper. He was a little bigger than the other Minotaur's. He was overflowing with confidence, which could only be rivaled by my own. He approached casually, shrugging off several of my fire bolts, before knocking me out with a single monstrous charge. I don't remember much after that. From what I understand Ignar was able to evade Mr. Whisper and drag me out of there. Maybe he was quite the Torero in his youth. Eric Silverhand was at the entrance and was able to seal it as we got out. Then We hobbled back to Sunholm. I haven't been feeling well ever since.
21
Greetings and well met, fine folk of Sunholm!
The High Temple of Lathander has tasked me with spreading the Morninglord's holy light in this new land, and I hope to share his great gift with you all. No one is too lost to return to his warm embrace - everyone can begin anew with each bright dawn. No matter the troubles, no matter the woes, no matter the darkness, there is always another dawn, another chance, another beginning. At the dawn, Lathander breathes new life into the world.
If any of you are interested in attending morning prayer, please meet me just before sunrise outside on the eastern (OOC: whichever side the sun rises on, I'm just assuming east) side of the guild. And if anyone is so moved by the Morninglord's cleansing light, I have set aside an alm's box, which I will use to fund all services under Lathander's grace, be it for performing holy ceremonies, giving to those most in need, or funding a dedicated temple of worship. Any amount is appreciated but none is required - the light welcomes all in its embrace without judgement.
Already the generosity and dedication of this guild's people inspire me. The continued caretaking of an enemy in hopes he will see the light, the teamwork and resourcefulness several guild members displayed in the mines when faced with impenetrable evil, and the charity of one who gifted an exquisite set of armor to me out of pure kindness. I have great hopes for this guild and hope I can share Lathander's saving light with each of you.
14
Now that I have your attention. The gruesome twosome, Ignar and I, grabbed the posting for devilish hounds attacking the farmers. Seemed like an easy enough task. Well it turns out, the devilish part was not an exaggeration. The wolves attacking the farmers were the work of druids. They were both summoned and humans shifting into wolf form. As we left Sunholm, Svelta caught up to us, eager to test out her very peculiar sword. I am not 100% sure, but it seemed as if she was collecting souls with it. Anyway, we found the family of druids responsible, led by a man called Mistletoe. After a little bit of stalking, it was revealed that the teenage sons of Mistletoe liked to eat the farmers sheep. We tried to reason with them, but they were not too friendly towards us "urban" folk. In the ensuing battle Svelta fell. We took her body back to Sunholm and Moz Lux revived her. Yes, it turns out Moz is more powerful then we thought. I am not sure how a fellow wizard was able to cast such a spell.
7
April
30
At the temple, we faced these bird-like creatures that could duplicate (sounds familiar, but this time we couldn't hit the duplicates). In the next room we defeated what I later learned was a Chuul, this giant crab-like creature that got its claws and tentacles all over Ignar. Avallac'h uncovered a chest, along with a nasty spike trap that left him unwilling to open it. I kinda expected it to be rigged with something similar, and so when blades shot upwards out of the chest upon opening, it wasn't an issue (I would've dodged them anyway had I not been anticipating them though). I'm starting to have some money again after these last few trips to the temple.
23
Another unfortunate soul found their way to this side of the portal under false pretenses. Kasdoth, a monk. Seems he didn't know it was a one way trip. He was a much better warrior than some of my usual posse cough*igna...*cough.
I didn't get to use my Rod of the Pact Keeper, and still don't know how I will be able to, but I had a dream the other night... Nobody here except Avallac'h knows who Kevlac was, but he was a Balor we fought on the other side of the portal. Anyway, I could've sworn it was his voice in my dream, saying he could teach me powers of The Fiend that would allow me to wield my new item. I'm not too big a fan of Kevlac, but if he comes back I might hear what he has to say.
In the temple we had to fight a few monsters, but most importantly I was able to acquire some platinum pieces that Zogg will love.
16
All of the excitement emboldened us and we almost bit off more then we can chew. Our scrappy little group tried to make it's way into the mines using the secret entrance. In the caves below, before finding the mines, we encountered a few Trolls. Those beasts are tough! We managed to down one of the creatures, but the other one ran away behind the protection of a third. Forced to retreat, we went back to Sunholm. I think we should be better prepared before venturing to those caves again. Maybe we could talk to the Minotaur prisoner. There must be a reason the Minotaurs can get by the Trolls. We could also ask about their leader and why they overran the mines. I may have a spell or two that could help us.
We met a new resident of Sunholm, who accompanied us to the mines. Doctor. I must say he is fascinating. I have only met a magical construct once before, and it wasn't very friendly (flashback to previous adventure with Taro). This one talks and acts as just like a person.
10
2
March
27
19
TLDR Mae will be summarizing the dungeon in her thoroughly rambling way, potentially posting a map to start cashing in mapping the dungeon, mentioning how Hakvalak has been missing for a while now and Svelta agreed to help watch Elaine before leaving; there will be a time skip to the guild where she will be red alerting about Elaine, briefly mentioning the new people who hopped in from the portal, the kicking of rude companions, and continued panic over Elaine
18
13
Upstairs, I found Elaine keeping herself entertained with some sort of trinket of Moz's, and she agreed to wait for me til dinner, so off I went with the group to the mines! A nice quick in and out adventure, or so it seemed like it would be... Turns out that a minotaur scout randomly pops up from the east, but never emerges from the sealed mine entrance... So strange, so there must be a back entrance! Unfortunately, the minotaur is pretty inconsistent, so we'd likely have to camp out to catch it... While the group continued east, I flew back in time for dinner at the guild, and asked Moz if she had the time to watch Elaine. She didn't, which is understandable with her duties. But, fortunately, Svelta was more than happy to help out, show her a few things about self defense, and in general keep an eye on her! I shall have to thank Svelta again for all of her help; I really appreciated it.
Back to group, I find them camped at a cave, which was pretty deep, but not a very good vantage point. So, I flew up to see what I could see, or if there was a better one, and found another camp, not but a half hour southeast of us. I couldn't make out the figures, but it was certainly a camp. Together, we ventured out, some more stealthily than others, but Jimmy pops out of his animal form once he recognizes them from the guild. It was Simon and his two sisters, Kali and Sarah! I'd only seen them around the guild, but apparently the group had run into them at the dungeon, too! Unfortunately, they hadn't anymore details to share about the dungeon, but by happenstance, they were staking out for the minotaur, too, so they were happy to team up to capture the minotaur! We decide to camp out in a triangular camp formation, about half an hour from one another to cover the most ground, and split up the watches. Taro, Ignar, and I in one, the Cantalar siblings in another, and Avallac'h, Jimmy, and his rambunctious kids in the third.
For my group, we took the cave we'd initially found, and I had second watch, which means, I had the task of waking up Ignar. Little did the old man know, I know how to wake up anyone with a viol! But... I did it a little too well, and woke Taro up early, too. Sorry again, Taro... Anyway, the night was quiet in our camp, and when we all awoke, the kids camp looked fine, but the Cantalar camp was no where to be seen! We quickly flew over! Well, I flew, Taro and Ignar walked. But no one was there... It looked like they'd just packed up camp and left. But at least no signs of a struggle were there either, so the minotaur probably hadn't gotten to them in the night.
So, I fly back up to check on the kid's camp, annnnddddd... They're gone now, too... I swear, that group can't be left unattended. Who's idea was it to bring children on adventures anyways!? Really, they should be staying back and playing with Elaine, they can get their worldly experience later! Ah... But Jimmy will be Jimmy and bring them along... So! We start heading over to their camp to see what had happened, but in the sky suddenly appears the words: "Good morning secret tunnel through the mountains find us Jimmy"
After a quick deduction of the not so subtle yet still not very specific announcement, we start to head back toward the mine where presumably some sort of back entrance had been found.
Okay, I need sleep, it's late, I'll try to finish before the campaign tomorrow...
5
February
27
First stop was the apothecary! Hakvalak had made some intelligence potions and was giving away free samples, but Taro and I were skeptical and so waited outside the shop while the others went in to try them. And in fact! It turned out that the potions really worked! He'd given many to the live goblin we'd brought in, and now he's intelligent enough to be the apothecary's assistant! I was blown away; the potion really worked for once!!! My faith in Hakvalak's ability had been restored completely. However... The others weren't super nice to Hakvalak, so Taro and I rushed in to make sure Hakvalak's feelings weren't too hurt and to ask if we could borrow the Bag of Colding again without the down deposit. Unfortunately, this time didn't go as smoothly, so we were left without a bag to hunt down grell parts. I picked up a potion of healing before we left though, just in case.
This dilemma led to more indecision of what to do, so we wandered over to the mine where Kurst had sealed the entrance off and Erik and his miners were camped. I asked if there was anything we could do to help, and we could bring food or get sealed into the mine til it was cleared, but... That wasn't really what we'd been hoping to hear. We thought to go west, but at the last second, changed our chaotic minds once more and decided to go north and scout out the area where the stone tablet puzzle (that Jimmy, Taro, and I had solved a replica of the week before) supposedly resided. So! More mapping out of the land ensued!
Across the plains, around the lake, along the river, into the mountains, we journeyed... Eventually, we came across a wide inlet, which blocked our northward journey alongside the main river, and emerged from a mountain whose top was lost to the clouds... But it seemed simple enough to get everyone across! I flew over with some rope, stabbed it through firmly into the ground with Taro's rapier, and tied the remaining around the hilt. Taro held the other end steady while the short ones attempted to make the crossing. Gar immediately lost his grip and down the river he went. Jimmy went to rescue him in elk form and allowed Gar to ride on his back across. Ignar seemed to grumble a bit more than usual as he made his way across with the rope successfully, and Jimmy helped pull Taro quickly over with a few quick pulls of the rope. Gar seemed confused after that. He kept saying how Jimmy was a magical elk or something..? He really wasn't helping ease our suspicions that he was a little bonkers
The sun had been setting at this point, so we decided to camp there for the night, but no sooner had we uttered the words "Let's camp!" than we discovered Ignar getting carried away by the river! Jimmy went to the rescue once again, but uh... We all saw more of Ignar than we wanted that night... Anyway! We had three shifts (Gar, Taro, and Jimmy) and all was quiet in the night; Jimmy looked a little smug in the morning though and had a bit more squirrel tails than I thought were reasonable on a necklace and belt...
With the sun up once more, we continued our journey! It was about another four hours before the river dried up and we emerged from the mountains. There, we were met with rolling hills, which I took advantage of by flying up to get a better vantage point. In the distance, about another four hours or so away, it was clear. A dark charred circle was there and was likely the resting ground for our highly suspected demon summoning puzzle. I mean, the puzzle read, "SUMMON THE DEMON HERE" in infernal, which really didn't sound like a good idea to try. The closer we got, the more and more it really didn't seem like a good idea. It was a purely uniform circle, about a half mile in diameter, filled with charcoal and small obsidian shards. There had been some footsteps through the area. Ignar, ignoring caution as usual, put some of the charcoal on his face and hair. Maybe we should convince the old gnome his adventuring days are past... His mind doesn't always seem there... But I digress At the center, I found the tablet and nine puzzle pieces floating in the air and shouted out with a prestidigitated loud voice to announce I'd found it. Once they'd caught up, I flew down to meet them at the epicenter...
Jimmy immediately began trying to solve it, but I really didn't think it was a good idea at that point and was trying to convince the others, too. While Jimmy couldn't read and thus spell infernal, he knew the puzzle and just started swapping out matching tiles, when he was about to place the last piece, I slept him and tried to drag him away, but it was too late! The tablet started glowing! I ran back to where the others stood and tried to convince them to teleport back to the guild with me before the demon was summoned, but no one was listening! Gar just started walking away, Ignar was pretending to eat something out of his bag, Jimmy stood proudly by what he had done, and even Taro wasn't super concerned. I just kept readying to teleport while trying to gather and save those who had saved me before, but they kept resisting rescue! Ah!
Meanwhile, the tablet grew brighter and a large (about one and half me's tall), muscled humanoid made of light started emerging; it's form becoming more solid and filling out as the seconds ticked by much too fast. Boney wings took shape and started to form, and only then did Taro go pale and agree it was time to go. Balor! He said it was a Balor!!!! So, working together now, Taro and I made a chain between Jimmy and Ignar to teleport back. I had my finger hovered above the button, paralyzed by curiosity and fear as the figure of light stretched, flexing its wings and letting loose a bloodcurdling scream as though it'd been trapped for thousands of years. Taro was the one who pushed my arm into the button, and moments later, we were in the cube... Just... Taro and I...
It's nearly been an hour. We're nearly out of the cube. Curse this hour long wait! Our friends are being, have likely already been, eaten, destroyed, utterly and entirely by the Balor that we left them to!!! No!!! Ah... We tried our best to save them... Why wouldn't they come with us!?! We told them of the danger! I can only hope the new person managed to run away fast enough, but he had shot a few arrows at it, which it likely wouldn't have appreciated... Sigh... What have we done...? I can only hope Moz can undo what we've done...
So.... We get out and tell Moz about the Balor, and she scrys the place, and all that's there is a... door..? No Balor, no mutilated bodies of our companions, no signs of anyone or anything really... And we tell her Jimmy was there, so she messages him, and apparently, they're all alive..? And it was all a misunderstanding..? And Moz indeed revealed that they were within a stone room filled with more doors... I'm very confused... Relieved! But confused. Ah... Today has been a roller coaster!
Alright, Jimmy's given me the scoop as he calls it. Apparently, it was a solar angel! And his name was Dæmon, which was a little lost in the translation... But apparently Dæmon owes Jimmy a life debt or something now!?! And they're best buds!?! Or so he says! But it's fascinating... Dæmon is supposedly the Guardian of the Doors, and opened that door we'd seen through the scrying orb and that they'd gone inside of. The solar angel had proclaimed lots of other things, too, apparently! The old gods of Sunholm may be free once more... What could that mean? Are there no gods here? Do cleric's powers not work here? Can they be found within the doors? So many questions! Ah! If only I'd stayed, if only curiosity had won over fear... Sigh... Well, Dæmon flew farther to the north after swearing an oath of gratitude to Jimmy. Perhaps more doors will be opened farther into the northern rings? But that will have to wait for another day...
20
Instead, we spent most of last morning arguing what we should do first. Since the last adventuring party had returned with a report of the small monster camp from the south, I really wanted to go deal with that before it got out of hand, and we'd get the chance to start mapping out the southern landscape! Plus, it sounded like we'd be able to knock out a second posting at the same time for our local apothecary, so we could kill two birds with one stone! The only problem with the apothecary's posting is that we needed fresh goblin parts... VERY fresh parts, so we knew we'd need to borrow Hakvalak's Bag of Colding. Only problem was that we didn't have an 1000gp safety deposit to put down to borrow it, even with all our gold combined.
We decided to try our luck, though, and went to talk with Hakvalak for the first time. And... Hm... He's an interesting character, I must say. His excitement rivals my own, but in a more... Unsettling manner. Anyways! He seemed okay with lending his bag without a down deposit so long as all five of us (Jimmy, Taro, Ignar, Avallac'h, Me) tried his mystery potion... While this would kill three birds with one stone, I was very nervous about there being any untoward and permanent effects. I.. I really like how I look and don't want some random potion changing any of that or anything else for that matter.
Since I'd finally repaired my relationship with Moz, I decided to run upstairs to ask her for advice, or at least for reassurance that she could undo any undesired effects from the drink. But, when I knocked on her door, it just creaked open without response, which was really worrying, but Kurst didn't seem to care when he burst out of his room and immediately picked me up by the back of my neck! I don't understand! I just knocked! I hadn't done a thing! ACK! I'm sorry... But alas, he seemed to think I had been trying to break into her room and tossed me down the stairs... Apparently, the door had been alarmed and Moz was out, so there would be no answers from her that day.
Accepting my fate, I sulked back over to the group and agreed to down the potion with everyone else. Ugh... It was awful, and no one seemed to be affected by it besides Taro and I, perhaps it was only effective against tieflings... But we both started tearing up and the day just seemed a little sadder for it. But Hakvalak seemed please with our cooperation, so with a little extra gold in our pockets and a loaned Bag of Colding, we began our southward bound journey.
We trekked across the land for a good nine hours, and since we'd taken a little bit to get started, night had thoroughly fallen. Fortunately, all of us had eyes well suited for the dark, so we didn't need to light any torches, which would have given away our position. Unfortunately, there was a crescent of moonlight, so me flying up to scout from above did pose a risk of exposing us further. Fortunately again, the monster camp had lit a campfire! So they were pretty easy to spot. I think we spent a little too much time debating on how to approach though, and the camp's scouting party got the jump on us! We easily took out the three wolves and wolf riders, two goblins and one hobgoblin (I got the killing blow on that one!). After that, we were trying to decide whether we had time to start harvesting the goblin parts before taking on the rest of the goblins and bugbears that we'd heard were in the camp main; however, the goblins made that decision for us!
Seven goblins suddenly appeared over the rise with one bigger goblin behind them, urging them forward, rallying them to attack! This fight was much longer, and we had to be careful not to damage the weaker goblins too much since they needed to be somewhat intact for part harvesting, but three ended up still being over stabbed, over clawed, and over zapped. I'd flown up to shoot at the boss who kept emboldening his lackeys while the others took out the rest, and once the last minion had been slayed, the goblin boss began making a run for it. Avallac'h hasted our bear friend, though, and Fingle managed to run the monster down and bring it's body back.
So! With one stone down, we began on the next! There was no time to waste when we needed fresh parts! Oh, right... And we had one goblin charmed... Since we needed a live one... That was a little awkward, we had him close his eyes at first, but eventually we convinced him to lay down in a cozy little bedroll, snuggled in nice and tight with some rope, all cozy-like. *sniff* *sniff* Why am I still kind of tearing up? Taro kept saying things and then crying, too, so we tried to leave him be best as we could as we began doing our best to extract all the parts Hakvalak had requested. However, after a few botched attempts, we had to ask Taro for some help with his more dexterous hands and the results turned out much better - minus one which he started sobbing and ruined the hide of.
But in the end, we ended up with some extra! For some reason Ignar wanted extra goblin and wolf hide for himself and someone carved out a heart, which definitely wasn't on the list, but I digress. Everything fit in the bag nicely though. Beyond our quest items, there were 10 scimitars or so that we rounded up for Svelta before heading over to the monster camp, realizing the supposedly reported bugbears had not arrived. However, the camp was empty. There might have been one spot where another tent could have gone, but we couldn't tell how recent of a departure that could had been. And to make sure no other monsters made claim to this place again in the future, we decided to destroy the camp! Jimmy wanted to burn all the corpses, too... That seemed a little much, but I wasn't going to stop him. We collected their ears and the heads of the big ones to show to Kurst for proof before piling them into a pyre along with the broken remains of their campground. Jimmy also stuck a few other heads on sticks around the flames and wrote some profanities in common in the ground and other words in scripts unknown to me. But I think we got our message across...
Anywho, our charmed goblin had definitely stopped being charmed before we finished all this, but trapped in the bedroll cocoon, he wasn't going anywhere, but we had to deal with his hollering the whole eleven twelve or so hours back to the guild....... Sigh... That had been the longest day. We were all exhausted when we'd finally gotten back around the same time we'd left the day before. But we had to turn in our quests still!
I was excited to show Kurst our proof of quest completion, maybe a little too excited in hindsight as I shouted his name all the way up the stairs... By the time we got to his door to try and explain we had a quest to turn in, his door had been slammed shut and locked, and shortly after, an area of silence was placed in the hallway. Sigh... I didn't mean to annoy him... But we realized that we'd have to try again later, except Jimmy who turned into a mouse and tried sneaking under the door to no avail before running off outside. The rest of us turned in our goblin and stuffed Bag of Colding to Hakvalak who was more than pleased with our results. Everything turned out well there, and he didn't want the extra goblin heart, but said it apparently is known for tasting good? Thus! An idea was hatched. We could try to cook Kurst a delicious dinner to soothe over this rough start and get back on the right footing!
During this Jimmy bursts in saying something about Kurst polishing his weapon and that it was a two hander, so we knew that'd probably give us enough time to make this meal for him. And I must say, I did a splendid job on crafting this goblin heart dish. Just in time, Kurst comes down the stairs, I offer him the plate, show him the proof, and try to hastily explain how we'd completed the posting before he got annoyed with me and left again. He gives us the coin reward wordlessly and continues on his way, ignoring the plate, and only curtly waving to Jimmy, who still seemed a little shaken for some reason... We'd tried our best.
Mox had apparently been watching from a corner in the main hall though and came over laughing as she shared that Kurst was vegan! Ack! I didn't know! She and Jimmy enjoyed the goblin heart meal though... I even got a pat on the back from Mox, so at least Mox still likes me! I'll still have to try to make amends somehow with Kurst... Anyways, adventure three complete!
14
If I don't make it out of this puzzle cube, this is the last will and testament of Maerilith, Sunholm's esteemed albeit short-lived cartographer. My viol shall be returned to the fey spirits of my home forest, whom gifted it to me before leaving on my first real adventure. The rest I don't care about. I look forward to roaming the forests of the Fey Wilds to which I'm bound and can only hope my ancestors don't have a stronger pull on my soul and drag me down... (Okay, you can start reading here. Sorry if I'm a little scattered, I didn't wake up feeling super great, and for some reason I had a pounding headache, which still hasn't fully subsided yet)
The next day of adventure began! After an exciting trip to the mines, I spent the day scouring the posting board for my next escapade out into the wilderness when the quest reward of a treasure map caught my eye... I just couldn't pass up the chance to see what a real map looked... erm.. to add another map to my growing collection! It was also a chance to try and make amends with Moz. So, I spent all day deliberating over that puzzle, but in the end, I had to sleep on it.
When I woke up this morning, though, it suddenly clicked, and I rushed upstairs to go tell Moz. Along the way, another person poofed in from the portal. He seemed one of those scholarly all-knowing types, but I was in a rush to answer the riddle before anyone else did, so I just directed him downstairs to where all the others were still lounging around in and continued my sprint upstairs.
Mox was in a much better mood this time around and happy to let me try out the puzzle box, so without any hesitation, I picked it up and said "Name" and next thing I knew I was somewhere else entirely. I started mapping out the relatively small circular room I had appeared within and gained my bearings as a few of my traveling companions from the day before began arriving. It was really sweet to see that they cared enough to come try and find me - Fingle really surprised me when he was the first one through. I shall have to remember not to abandon them in the future...
Anywho, we made the mistake of pressing a button set up on a pedestal in center of the room, which immediately started an increasingly ominous countdown with dimming lights and grinding stones that could only be reset back to normal by pressing the button again. So, we began taking turns pressing the button as we tried to figure out how to get out of this room. Perhaps it was a puzzle? Something to do with the codeword "Name"? So we tried mapping the letters to numbers and let the 20 lights go out to the number of each letter. By the time it got down to 1 for 'A', it was pitch black, the rumbling and grinding of stone had reached a peak, and the door raised ever so slightly, just enough for a mouse to get through... So then after resetting it to 20 again, we (everyone but Fingle) said, hey, Fingle, you or your mouse could get under the door, get to the other side and figure out how to open it from the other side! But instead, he said we just had to stop pressing the button and started taking a nap on the floor in front of the door.
There was no way we were going to let it get down to 0 though. It sounded like death and destruction! Eventually, though, we had exhausted all of our options.. Even when the wizard I'd run into earlier showed up, he had no other ideas on how to get out either. Taro allowed us time to prepare for death; others were more callous and impatient to let all 20 red lights go out. But in this time of finality and acceptance, I wrote up my will and composed my final song. There was no way I was going out quietly, without song in my ear and my viol at rest.
As the last light flickered out and my song reached a crescendo, the door opened, the lights returned, and we were not in fact dead! Instead, we were led into yet another puzzle room, but this one was much more straight forward. We just had to connect the three glowing gems on chains to the glowing gems on the three statues. The only catch was that each time they connected, there was a jolt of energy between the two that produced a bit of a shockwave and the ground started to rumble and shake. That didn't pose a problem til the last statue, which promptly fell and broke, it still seemed simple enough though, so I picked up the gem and headed toward the chain. I don't remember who stopped me (Thank you, mystery friend) and reminded me of the shockwave before it was too late, but the wizard, Aval-something, could fortunately mage hand the gem over. And thus, puzzle two was complete!
The last room opened, another circular room like the last, except this one had a bowl on a pedestal in the center with a hole in the center, which drained into intricate patterns on the floor. On the bowl were three words; I could only read the one in infernal, but together we determined that each one said "Blood" in another language. This riddle was clear as day! And I was ecstatic to unlock that treasure map and get out of the cube! (Oh, right, we were inside of the cube apparently, which was why the stone magnets didn't work; sorry if I forgot to mention that earlier)
So! I hastily dropped my wrist onto the bowl's edge to donate my infernal blood to the puzzle! But I.. I don't remember a lot after that.. My blood left me faster than I'd expected and I'd only enough time to bandage my wrist before passing out... I still don't know how I ended up in my bed, but that must have been the solution that worked and got everyone out. I really should read the rest of the entries in here to see what actually happened during my nap and see who has the treasure map currently. So excited for the map! Ah! Even the excitement of finding 4 gold on my bedside from my last log won't compare to getting my hands on that map.
Alright, enough writing and wasting paper, now to read what everyone else had to say about our second adventure together!
6
I am very pleased to hear that your sister and you have mended your relationship, I know how much it has been weighing on you. Things are still going swimmingly at the Sunholm resort, the great outdoors have awakened my long lost youthful energy. Just yesterday I joined a band of other guests on an expedition. A dwarf was looking for companions to help him hike into the mountains, he wanted to group up with some of his friends doing geological research in a nearby area. I'll spare you the details, but the trail we followed had some of the best views I've ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. The friends we met were also a lovely bunch, very friendly and hospitable. And great cooks too, we had a wonderful feast of wild game, I've never tasted anything like it!
Wishing you were here!
Ignar
And so we began our exploration out into the wilds! I flew up to get a better vantage (it was a glorious view) and began the start of our guilds maps of the surrounding area. We headed east, through sparse trees, which thickened before thinning and turning into a rocky terrain. There, after a couple hours of travel, we arrived at the hole in the ground mine entrance. Once under, we kept a fairly straight path, but! A minotaur attacked the miners and caused a cave-in blocking our forward progress. Using my navigating expertise, I led the group down the leftward tunnel, which eventually opened up into a beautiful spherical cavern.
While it was a dead end, it had great acoustics, so I flew up and performed the viola for our party, and it was the greatest I'd ever played... Sigh... I need to go back there sometime. But unfortunately, the minotaur didn't appreciate the lovely music, so it rammed its way into the room, breaking through a sealed off passage. Doing the sensible thing, I flew up to the roof of the chamber and fired eldritch blasts at the beast while my companions faced it head on, or bear on in the case of one of the short ones - Fingle, I think. Anyway, the minotaur was defeated quickly and had paved the way onward to the miners.
Eric Silverhand was pleased with our service, stamped our help wanted poster, donated his magnetic connection stones, and roused his wounded miners to get them back to work. He doesn't seem like a lot of fun, but the workers seemed to not mind so much as long as they were being paid. Turns out the guild really needs some iron to start building or crafting things. But our work there was done, so after finishing scavenging the minotaur, we went back to the guild!
There we fumbled about a little bit, getting to know the other residents and workers a bit more... Maybe annoying a few accidentally... (Really sorry again Moz)
But we eventually determined that Kurst was the completed quest giver, so we turned in our first quest together in only a matter of a few hours or so, and plenty of time left in the day for more exploration! I'm so excited to be here! This is a great start to a new beginning...