The Journal

Allie gently and gingegrly picks up the journal. Portions of it crumple between her fingers. She gently blows off enough of the dust to read the writing, careful not to destroy more of the document. Many parts are missing and illegible, though the early entries are in better shape. In fact, that first page is pristine. This is what she reads to you all, as you make temporary camp to eat and take some water:

Caer Falken Inn 60a: The Journal

My Journey to the Underdark
~ Wanda Wayward

It was with eager anticipation that I accept this task from the Order of the Harlequin, to seek out the Underdark and discover the plots that the denizens therein wage against the surface dwellers. I have been tasked to find proof that this place exists, return evidence to support it, describe newly discovered creatures, unknown to us on the surface and bring back artifacts of this fabled land to the city of Talagon for scientific and historic purposes.

This task has been sanctioned by the King himself, and the newly instilled Court Wizard, Viziera, believes that there is a link between the goings on of the Underdark and the recent sightings of vampires of great power in heavily populated areas. It is her belief that the vampires serve a greater master, and she alludes to a Vampire Lord who is said to lie in hiding in her homeland in the desert region.

An army would be too great a host to send on such a mission, and likewise, a solo adventure would be doomed to failure. So I have been asked to travel with several companions. Our guide is a half-orc ranger named Ogmar, who is little trusted by some of our party, but whose knowledge of ground dwellers is beyond question, not to mention his skill as a dungeoneer. Hathor the Heavensent, a Paladin of great repute and Knight Protector of the Realm serves as our Holy advisor and moral compass. Durbin the Dauntless, a master thief of great stealth and cunning, is perhaps the most nimble of dwarfkind I have ever heard of. He knows traps and rocks with equal expertise, though he is dour and unruly at times. A great human warrior from the north, a giant compared to me, comes with us with his great axe and heavy armor. He is known simply as Crush. Bolthaziar the Black is an incredible sorcerer from a distant land, and is the only dark skinned human I have ever had the honor to meet. He tells of a homeland filled with vast jungles, cannibals, dynosours of immense size and magical crystals that grow from the very earth. Some day I would like to accompany him back to his homeland. He insists that he has been unable to find his way home for countless years, but that is just the type of challenge I enjoy!


Thanks to our dwarven thief, who discovered the narrow crevasse in the mountains above the Valley of the Watchers, we have discovered an alternative to fighting the monstrous iron menaces that block our entry to the Underdark. Narrow it was, but we were able to repel down into a deep chasm that granted us access to the place we wished to enter. Unfortunately, there was a cave in as the last among us made his way down. Bolthaziar has broken his ankle, and despite our paladin?s healing powers, is now forced to walk with a limp. Fortuantely he carries little and wears no armor. Unfortunately, that means of entry can no longer serve as the means for egress.


(this entry is damaged, the page torn and the ink smeared, all that is legible is the following)

?.bats everywhere. They were huge, so big I could have ridden one. Ogmar managed to shoot two to the ground before others fell upon him, wounding him sorely but not critically. Then the screeching began?some alien shouting, but almost as a real person?s language???. The bat men surrounded us, and we were outnumbered 20 to one. Giant, fiendish creatures they??. Awoke in a patch of mushrooms, surrounded by lizards??. was dead, and I was sad, but ??.

We buried our mage in a pit and covered him with rocks. The task was grueling, as the stench of burning troll pollutes my nostrils. These fiends must have more cunning than we were taught as children. While they fell readily upon our warriors, they concentrated all of their efforts upon The Black after his first fireball incinerated three of their number. Cruel and relentless they were as they tore his body to pieces, even as we hacked their bodies into a like number of pieces?only to have them reattach those severed members, where they grew back before our very eyes. I have been told that trolls never retreat. Perhaps they have gone for aid, and I spare only enough time to scribble this quickly as Hathor heals the dwarf and half-orc.


(several pages are missing, torn or damaged beyond repair. In fact, no pages from this point forward are complete, and all writing is in fragments.)

?.and I fear we have taken on too much. It has been a week down here and our food stores diminish. While I would that our dwarf had not blown himself up disarming that trap, I must admit selfishly that our food may hold out a bit longer in his absence?..

?never sleep soundly again as the sight of Ogmar?s death will never leave me, even as I close my eyes. His screams as his brain was pulled from his skull and devoured as his heart still beat is enough to?. And while I have the head of?. Oh how my head aches, and the holes in my face??


?.the sight of these people as we watch from our hiding place may have been worth the price of this sad journey?. females call the shots?? mune to my few magics, but not to Hathor?s blade?.. ty is vast, and it rivals Talagon in?? erstand the connection between the dar?.es and spid???.


?.not for the ?..rm that attacked them as they p?? never have escap?..hated enemies sure, yet their screams of terror still tugged at my?. but we escap?.


Here we die, and even as I write this, I fear that Hathor?s breathing has ceased. Magics, potions, scrolls, food, water?all gone. I fear this has all been in vain, as we cannot get past the Iron Golems that still guard the entrance?..as my order shall never no, unless perhaps by augu??er?s venom works upon me and I grow sleepy?..hand cramp?.cannot writ mor?. Life still was an adventure worth living

Shanti stares broodily into a dark corner as Alli reads. "Bat creatures.....and trolls. Trolls we've met before. They set upon the mage because fire is their truest enemy. But the bats....and the creature that ate the man's..." Her voice drops to inaudible, thoughts racing about the well rounded party that went in, and their dire end, she lifts aqua eyes to her comrades, knowing this is a gauntlet that all have accepted, and hoping that all will see it through and be able to speak of it in Tindale, seated around a table with drinks everflowing.

Allie puts away the book carefully into her bag of holding. The document is a relic that the Guild should have. This also explains a lot of recent events that happened to her in Talagon City. "Convinced they are real now?" She asks somberly of Corynn, the skeptic. Again the Halfling reminds the others, "It is not too late to turn back if your hearts are not with this. Unlike for our ill fated predecessors, the exit is clear." She then asks Oakshade's help in giving the two bodies a proper if quick burial, and starts to move stones to cover the bodies.

Oakshade listens with growing interest and horror, as one by one he hears of the doomed party's exploits and unhappy endings. He tries to make the most of what appears in the writing, but more importantly, the parts that must have been written and are now lost. The things left unsaid.

Helping Allie and the others to make a shallow grave, he helps lay the bodies to rest. He knows others may desire to loot these bodies of whatever items of value may have remained, but does not pause to allow the desecration of these two heroes.

Bowing his head, he clears his throat and says:

"To all of the gods who may hear me now, knowing that each of these heroes must have been supported by one of you, I ask that you grant eternal rewards and places of high regard in your Afterlands for these good people who sought to do your bidding and save all of the good peoples of Talagon and beyond.

"I ask that you watch over Wanda Wayward, Ogmar the Ranger, Hathor the Heavensent, Durbin the Dauntless, Crush the warrior brave, and the stranger to these lands, Bolthaziar the Black. These names were all known to me from my days at the Temple in Talagon, and in their honor, as well as in the honor of the good folk I now journey with, I swear to do my part to see this quest through.

"In exaltation and honor to Stellari, Lunari, Solaris, Tor, Mother Gaeia, and of course Jester, whose servant lies here and on whose quest it seems we now venture upon, I ask that they be granted your highest gratitude for the service they rendered in your names.

"Blessed Be"

Corynn keeps watch in silence as the journal's read and the bodies later interred, sparing a glance at the halfling as his only reply to her question about the reality of the drow. Only when the group seems about ready to move on does he speak up:

"I want to see this underground city that the journal mentioned, but I don't think it's a good idea to risk the loss of what little information we've already gotten. Especially the way it was gotten -- those fallen few deserve to have their story known."


(OOC: Ooh! Giant bats! [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img] )

Thaylias kneels before the corpses as Allie reads from the discovered journal. He cannot take his eyes from the familiar colors and symbols on the armor/clothing of what appears to be a fallen human. His eyes swell with grief looking at the golden crossed swords set upon a crimson field, the symbol of the Knight Protectors emblazoned on the shield that lies prone on the ground.
The young human knight makes it his duty to make a proper burial for Hathor the Heavensent and of course helps everyone with the other fallen hero in what ever means possible. Once Hathor in interred he quietly goes to pay his final respects and quotes the code of the Knight Protectors.