Fireday, Lamashan 11, 4707; Thistlestop; after noon

As I completed my previous journal entry the bodies of the fallen goblins were searched and anything useful was taken:

[123] potion Cure of Moderate Wounds (Avia)
[124] potion Cure of Moderate Wounds (Nolin)
[125] breastplate (small)
[126] +1 dog slicer
[127] dented crown (small)
[128] key ring
[129] wand of silent image (5 charges)
[130] potion of Cure Light Wounds (Sabin)
[131] horse slicer
[132] masterwork studded leather armor (small) (Kane)

While scanning through my earlier journal entries I realized that this goblin king must be Ripnugget, whom (according to Tsutso) helped plan the attack on Sandpoint. The little oaf was still out cold, and nobody wanted to waste healing energy on him so we tied him up and Rigel and Sedjewick dragged him along.

To the north of this throne room we found Ripnugget’s bed chamber, and upon seeing the squalid room reserved for goblin royalty, my opinion of goblin kind plunged to a new low.

From within a desk we found an ugly silver holy symbol of Lamashtu, with her lovely three jackal heads staring back at us with garnets for eyes. At least the gem stones and silver will be worth something.

[133] silver holy symbol of Lamashtu (ugly)

Next was the elimination of the threat from the goblin dogs in the yard, which Avia, Nolin and Sabin dispatched quickly.

In the yard, before the door of an out building were two dead goblins with crushed heads. The door of the out building had been nailed shut, and within was a war horse in a piteous state. We left the horse until we had explored the area.

To the north of the yard was a door leading to a series of small hallways and yet more doors, which in turn led to the goblin privy (words cannot describe the stench), an office with a round table and five chairs, and stairs leading down.

To the south of the yard was a door leading to a storage room (tools, tack and harness), and within was a cage with two rabbits. I brought the cage out and we provided fresh food and water, plus food for the horse scavenged from outside the fortress and clean water.

Nolin and Avia then brought the horse out from its prison and after calming it, Nolin led it outside where he decided to remain for the time being, tending to its needs. We pulled a few boards off the wall of the stockade near the stairs leading down so Nolin would have easy access if we called. We left Ripnugget with him.

The rest of us crept down the back stairs, which were stone and of a quality exceeding the skill of the goblins to delve. The steps ended in a rickety wood door of goblin make.

Beyond the door was a large room that had been used for the planning of the Sandpoint attack. A large table was in the center of the room surrounded by chairs, and on a wall was a large slate board with many chalk markings. A map of Sandpoint had been drawn amid various other scrawling comments, including the following:

Once the Whispering Beast has been tamed.

Sin-spawn will invade Sandpoint from beneath.

The room boasted another door to the east and one to the west. We opted for the east door, which led down a hall to a small room. The lower four feet of the walls in this room were covered with crudely drawn goblins — goblins attacking humans and doing all sorts of nasty and disgusting things to them. The drawings appeared o be made with mud, dirt, and if my nose was not deceived, goblin dung.

On the north wall of the room was something more interesting: a drawing of a sideways view Thistlestop island complex. The goblin fort squat atop the top, with the rooms and halls in which we now stood drawn below. An beneath all, in a large cavern in the center of the island a huge chained goblin was depicted with a dog slicer in each hand. If the scale of the drawing was consistent (and believed), then this was truly a goblin giant, towering some thirty feet high.

Sabin decided that it was bad policy to leave an unchecked door behind us, and so he opened the west door of the large planning room.

Within was a smaller room with a table covered by scrolls, stone tablets, and bits and pieces of ancient relics. Excavation tools lay against one wall, and a lantern on the table lit the room. On the near side of the table was a hooded figure.

The figure looked up just as Sabin struck her with his mighty ax. She fell to the floor, mortally wounded. I stepped in and stabilized her so she would not die, and then searched her to see if she carried anything that would explain her presence and function here.

[134] steel wand (magic)
[135] potion (magic)
[136] scroll of Sleep
[137] scroll of Comprehend Languages
[138] scroll of Minor Image
[139] scroll of See Invisible
[140] scroll of Whispering Wind
[141] dagger (returned to Akenja)
[142] cloak (magic)
[143] silver comb
[144] silk gown (returned to Akenja)
[145] finely crafted torch (magic)
[146] pouch of spell components (probably)

Most of the books and scrolls on the table were written in Thassilonian, and described the ancient empire. There was also a spell book.

[147] Books and scrolls from this room
[148] Akenja’s spell book

The woman was obviously a spell caster, and according to Avia, evil. She was young (in her 20s perhaps) and had dark skin. Sedjewick had seen her around Sandpoint, although he did not know her name.

We gagged and bound her and decided it was time to get some answers. We hauled her up to where Nolin was waiting and I channelled enough energy to revive the goblin king.

Ripnugget was a boastful and vain little cuss, and gave us little more than threats and braggadocio at first — even after we pointed out that his great empire of goblins had just been decimated by a handful of strangers. But then Kane said something to him in that yapping sound I’ve come to recognize as goblin language, and Ripnugget began to provide slightly more useful answers.

His excuse for attacking Sandpoint was that the goblins were destined to rule the world. I imagine this would be similar to the way cock-roaches have managed to infest much of the world.

Old king Ripnugget hated Tsutso and had nothing but scorn for him, but he was either in such fear or awe of Nualia that he would say little about her.

He did think that the large goblin in the drawing on the wall below was real, and that all of us “long shanks” would get our comeuppance when it was released upon an unsuspecting world. Of course the fact that he told us meant that this event would hardly be a surprise, but there’s no talking logic with a goblin.

With his reticence for answering questions about Nualia, Ripnugget had out lived his usefulness, and he fell in combat, as promised, with Kane.

With a little more channelled energy our other guest awoke. Having just spent the better part of half an hour questioning Ripnugget with little to show for the effort, I decided to try the direct approach with our spell caster.

“You have two choices,” I told her, “Refuse to answer, lie or distort the truth and die slowly, or answer honestly and live.”

She opted to live, and proved quite cooperative.

Her name is Akenja, and her primary job on site was to research ruins and relics for Nualia. She specialized in Thassilonian society and had been in Nualia’s employment for several months. Side note: it seems to me that Nualia pays rather well — indeed far more than anything we could hope to match had we thought to buy off those working for her with coin.

Akenja spent most of her time working here, although she had been to various other ruins. Mostly Nualia brought her items to identify here, and she felt certain that Nualia was looking for something specific, although she had no idea what that might be.

She said that there were others working below, mostly human, who did the bulk of the dirty work.

Tsutso and Nualia were close, but Akenja could not hide her contempt of the vain little man.

Nualia had been present at the fort just the previous evening, and was probably somewhere down below even now.

The sin-spawn were nasty, and could be summoned from the wells of power that the ancient Rune Lords had created. The only functioning well of which she was aware was the one beneath Sandpoint.

She already knew that the under caverns of Sandpoint had been opened up and were actively being researched by the Sages’ Guild. Most likely this meant that Nualia was also aware of this, and we should warn the sages that there was a greater risk of invasion than we had already thought.

Akenja promised to leave the area and not return — in fact after telling us so much she thought her only option for personal safety was to flee as far from Nualia as she could. We led her to the bridge and allowed her and her familiar (a cat) to leave.

We regrouped and returned to the complex below.

South of the “island diagram” room was a large hall with double doors off to the west, a short corridor ending in a door east, and a door south.

A waft of air with a salt tang came in through the cracks of the east door, which made us suspect that the tentacled creature Nolin had seen the day before lurked within. Cracking the door open Avia saw rough hewn (or natural) tunnels leading off in various direction, and an opening directly ahead partially blocked by hanging nettles but looking out over the bay.

Avia stealthily stepped in a few paces before she saw a giant squid creature hiding in a small chamber to the southwest. She quickly returned and shut the door.

Meanwhile Nolin had opened the southern door, beyond which was a large room with several ramshackle doors to the south, doors east and west, and another exit to the north. A lantern hung from a hook in the north wall and dog pelts were piled in a corner. Nolin backed out from the room and closed the door.

The double doors were stone and carved with figures of pregnant women of different races with demonic creatures crawling out from their wombs.

These doors opened onto a large cathedral chamber with columns lining either side. The west end of the room was raised above the floor and accessed by stone steps, which lead up to an altar of black marble and a statue of Lamashtu the Hideous beyond. Braziers smoked on either side of the altar, and on either side of the door were fonts containing dark frothy water.

Sedjewick rushed into the room, and in his eagerness did not wait for the rest of us. Two pair of dark red glowing eyes peered out from the smoke rising up from the braziers, following him has he confidently strode up to the steps.

Kane called out just two large hairless hounds stepped out from behind the braziers. Sedjewick pulled up short, but before he could make it back to the doors two more hounds flew down from the ceiling blocking off his escape.

The hounds ripped into Sedjewick, who dropped unconscious as the rest of us flung ourselves into battle.

The hounds were the most difficult things we had yet encountered, and it took the combined efforts of our entire party to slay them. Our front line fighters were doing their best holding off the damnable things, but they proved difficult to hit and difficult to harm. Avia grabbed Sedjewick as Nolin and Kane provided a rear-guard, and we fell back to the hallway.

Avia and Nolin stood their ground in the doorway while Kane and I provided healing and magic support. Sedjewick was back in action and singing encouragement as Sabin entered the fray with his ax and offensive spells.

Alas, but Rigel and Trask fled the battle early on, for the hounds occasionally let loose with a horrific baying that filled the listener with dread. Eventually they mastered their fears and returned to the battle to aid in the final defeat of these dastardly demonic dogs.

With the hound menace removed we cautiously explored the cathedral. The left and right hands of Lamashtu held glowing kukri, but these were part of the statue and glowing orange and blue by means of continual flame spells.

Ashes upon the altar appeared to have been the cremated remains of some poor soul — possibly Father Tobyn. We removed the ashes and used picks from the other room to hack at the altar and roll it off the dais, and then proceeded to hack off the arms and heads from the statue.

While we were engaged in these activities Nolin was standing guard at the entrance and heard the southern door open and close. He peered around the corner to see a bugbear loosen an arrow at him, which missed and clattered to the floor. Nolin anxiously signalled for the rest of us to keep quiet and of the presence of enemies in the corridor.

Trask scampered out the doors and across the hall before he could be shot, and Avia charged in to engage the bugbear in combat. Avia took an arrow for her efforts, but she carved into her opponent as Sabin stepped up from behind to offer support.

A short while later a well armed man appeared at the north end of the hallway and shot an arrow at Avia. Nolin raced over and disabled the man, who tossed aside his weapons and cried for mercy.

Meanwhile the bugbear ran off back through the room to the south, up the main stairs into the fortress, then around to the back stairs and down into the room where we had found Akenja. It was frantically searching the west wall for something when Avia kicked in the door and finished it off.

Searching the west wall revealed a secret passage and a stair leading down.

Meanwhile Nolin had disarmed the man and searched him for possessions while I questioned him.

[149] masterwork bastard sword
[150] composite long bow
[151] 20 arrows
[152] potion (healing, according to the man)
[153] banded mail (magic)
[154] masterwork heavy shield
[155] magic torch

2 platinum pieces

The man is a mercenary and knew very little of use. He and the bugbear were the guards on this level, but he was not allowed to go to the restricted lower levels. He had come up the stairs when they first heard us arrive and then down the back stairs to launch a sneak attack.

Avia assured us he was not evil, and so we gagged and bound him in the slate board room and promised he would live provided he remained still and silent.

The bugbear was carrying the following:

[156] potion
[157] studded leather armor
[158] heavy flail
[159] master work composite bow (+4 STR)
[160] 16 arrows
[161] 4 arrows (magic)

4 platinum pieces

We have gathered together in the board room and are deciding on our next course of action. According to the man the rest of this level should be foe-free, and and so we ought to finish exploring and mapping it before we tackle the stairs down.

It may be that Nualia lurks below along with other allies, and we are currently tired and low on spells and energy.

But can we wait?

Dear Father,

This. Is. Awesome.

This letter won’t get sent for some time, of course, because I’m still in danger of being fried or stabbed or electrocuted at any moment. If it is found on my dead body I hope somebody will have the good grace to send it along. The last time I was this close to death was, I think, when I broke our magic pitcher that we normally kept on the kitchen table. It always had cool, fresh water and I vividly recall you had me by the throat for “carelessly destroying such a valuable item”. As a ten year old, of course, I couldn’t imagine why you might not just go buy another, but that’s not always possible, is it? There is nothing like living on the edge and by your own wit, and going without fresh water for a time to drive home the value of such an item, and to really understand why, of course, glue or even a skilled glass artisan could not restore such an item to working condition.

I get it now. It’s magic. Sorry about that, almost 8 years later.

You had said that adventuring “gets in your blood” and you made it sound like some sort of horrible yet fascinating disease. And it is, really, isn’t it? You do come to like that prickly feeling that runs down your back when you hear a sound behind you and you remember with a sinking feeling that you did not close and lock the door you just came through, don’t you? And you can’t really explain it to anyone who hasn’t been there and felt it too.

Someday when I return you’ll get to read my entire journal, of course. And I hope that my writings will raise the temperature of your blood like my reading of yours did. And speaking of blood .. there’s more to our heritage than you’ve said, isn’t there? Sure, I knew about the claws, and you hinted at other things, but you said they would only reveal themselves “in due time”. And now I find that fire captures my fancy, and the one spell I have that sets my hands aflame … it seems to be stronger than the ones others do. It seems I have an affinity for fire, or it for me. What other secrets will I learn?

No matter. It’s all good. And you can probably tell I’m greatly enjoying this search for adventure I’m on. I’ve found it, by the way. I’m with a group that is trying to defeat some sort of demon seductress or maybe succubus, or — I don’t know. It’s hard to keep up. She wants to destroy a nearby town, and there’s been plenty of evil around this place, including shrines and altars to LaMashTu. But it’s not too hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys, and the bad guys ARE losing.

At Thistletop (I don’t know if you know where that is, but I’ll assume you do because I’m not going to give a geography lesson) we were trying to find out more about this Nualia and her actions here. We killed a goblin chieftain, or king, or something, and declared a whole lot of stuff ours now: healing potions, weapons, and armor. The goblins have taken over the surface and created some crude structures, but this rock has been here lots longer than they have and there are subchambers below the surface where people – or creatures – are digging up old artifacts to assist Nualia in her plot to destroy Sandpoint. We’ve killed all (I think) of the goblins here, but there are others — bugbears, giant geckos, and the like. Even other humans!

We discovered two very different ones. One could have been me in a different universe — she was a scholar first, and she gave no care to the effects of her research. It was all about the knowledge for her. The paladin said she was evil, but is that just what happens when the books rule you? We nearly killed her at first, but then revived her, talked with her, and sent her on her way. She was so … cold. She was respectful but really into her research. Had I not taken this journey, that might have been me in a few years. The room she was in was a wealth of knowledge to the right person. I recognized bits and pieces of it, but she freely admitted she was helping research ancient artifacts and yes, spells. Lyrie, her name was, but she wasn’t anything special to look at.

Nolin, of our group, took pity on a horse we found that likely was destined to be a goblin meal. It’s interesting; he seems to have a way with animals while also having a way with a particularly big looking sword. Glad he’s on our side but who could have known he was an animal handler too?

Oh, and the other human was mercenary through and through. And really, not very good. He surrendered rather than be killed, and then offered to join US! I should think not. If he changes sides that easily, I’m not sure I’d trust him at my back. We took his possessions and sent him on too. Unfortunately, as a sorcerer, I found his booty of weapons and armor to be wholly unsuitable for my use.

As we continued exploring we found a few unusual things. One was some sort of land squid — it looked like a squid but could walk on land. We chose not to disturb it, as we weren’t sure if we could handle its tentacles. It didn’t see us. And there was a room ..

The door to this room had raised figures of human women giving birth to horrible abominations. Our bard, just had to go in … and upon entering what appeared to be a place of unholy worship, he promptly drew the attention of 4 hellhounds, or something resembling that. They took great gouges out of him and — even THIS exhilarates me — they had an unearthly howl that drove Rigel and I away in unexplainable fear. We both tried to crowd into the same corner of the same distant room which, truth be told, wasn’t half bad until we awkwardly regained our senses and pretended we actually hadn’t been huddled against each other.

Being that close to her, I suppose I should check my belongings!

We returned to the room in time to see the last of the hounds reduced to ashes or dust by our fighters. The bard was barely alive — actually, I was told he had been near death several times — and the party was exhausted. It was in this state that we met the bugbear and the mercenary (did I mention the bugbear?) within a few minutes of catching our breath. I guess noise carries underground, eh?

My friends were surprised when I jumped into this fray but I just felt so … alive. Of course our claws were something you told me about early on, but you didn’t tell me everything about our heritage, did you? Oh I know you did say “more will be revealed when you are ready” but I’ve noticed an increasing fascination – no, that’s not the right word – study, perhaps, of fire. The one fire spell I have I seem to be able to cast better than our other mage but I can’t describe the technique I’m using to him. The flame is brighter and I believe the fire is hotter. And yet, for all that, I seem to burn myself even less easily than before.

Ah, but I mentioned the fire already didn’t I? It’s hard to focus sometimes.

What surprises await me? Part of me wishes you’d told me more, and part of me is looking forward to the discovery.

No matter. But I don’t see how you ever gave this up. The thrill is addictive. Did Mother make you stop? Would that be enough? I don’t know if it would be enough for me to simply be ordered to stop. I feel like there’s so much more yet, and I simply MUST experience it.

When we chased the bugbear, it went into a room that seemingly had a secret panel, because when we killed him he was frantically searching along a wall. And now, briefly, we are collecting our thoughts and belongings before descending deeper into this rock via the secret passage we’ve just opened.

I’m sorry if this letter is hard to follow. It is hastily written in an uneven hand by your very excited son, and I fear I haven’t related things in exactly the order they happened. But it’s pretty much right. I mean, if it — oh, it looks like the party is ready. When I return you’ll have to read my entire journal, as it is more structured and pedantic and proper and calm and easier to read. But after today I just felt like I had to send a letter that would get there sooner. I had to share. Even if it won’t really get sent until I return to the city. Or my body does.

But I think I’m getting more powerful. I think I feel it. I think I’ll survive. Perhaps .. perhaps even vanquish. Was it this way for you?

your giddy son,
Trask

Fireday, Lamashan 11

Wow it is Fireday, Lamashan 11 already. I had to ask Olithar what day it was and if he wasn’t a stickler for putting the date in his journal entries I would have no clue what day it is. Since getting away from the strict guild regimen I seem to care less about keeping a strict account of days. His attention to the details and always working to record everything is well kind of disturbing, although the healing that Olithar and Kane have been doing are the only reason that we are still alive. Those flying creatures would have easily slaughtered us had it not been for the great healing.

We found a war horse that Nolan has become fast friends with. The horse has been mis-treat by the goblin, but what do you expect they are goblin. Besides to them this was just food. Olithar believes that this goblin king/warlord’s name was Ripnugget and that he is linked to the invasion planning. Kane spoke to him and made an offer to allow him to die with honor. In the end Kane finished him off and Ripnugget has taken his proper place in society, Ripnugget won’t be bothering anyone anymore.

We found a researcher/mage named Akenja that Olithar offered freedom if she answered questions honestly. She was employed by Nualia to do research on stuff that they have been finding down below. We allowed her to take her cat, dagger, and gown as we sent her over the bridge. I thought that we should just throw her over the side into the water but luckily for her Olithar, Avia, and Nolan were insistent that she be able to just walk away. We still need to identify those magic items and see what spells she had in her spell book. Looks like I will be able to add some spells to my spellbook when I can afford it. I’ll have to have Sedjewick or Trask look through the spellbook to get an inventory of the spells Akenja had in our new spellbook that I can copy into my spellbook.

I have begun to feel some kinship with this thrown together group of people. I really thought that my pursuit of magic doomed my chance at any such kinship. I was even glade to see Avia pull annoying Sedjewick’s limp body out of danger and back where the healers were able to get him back on his feet. It was kind of funny that Sedjewick moved forward into the room while Rigel and Trask ran away in fear. I tried to stop them to make sure that they were safe without success and luckily they both ran into the room and hid under the table. In spite of my instincts I stay back to make sure they were safe. I jumped into the fray in time to cast magic weapon for Noplan and to hand Avia a healing potion. At that point Avia and Nolan had the fight well in hand and it was just a matter of time before we defeated those evil creatures. Once these creatures were defeated Olithar and I began working to destroy that alter. It turns out that we were a little too loud.

Nolan heard the door to the south open and after waiting and waiting Avia confronted the bugbear threatening us. Soon after she engaged the bugbear an arrow shot from the north. Luckily Nolan was ready to spring into action and take care of the threat, this human took a hit and surrendered. Down south I join the fight with Avia on the bugbear. This bugbear took a lot of damage and just kept hanging in there, I am not sure that even Avia could have survived that much damage. Avia and I chased the bugbear as he ran up the stairs and around to the other side back to the room we found Akenja in. Avia broken down the down and we found him looking for something on the wall. All along there was a secret door that we missed that leads down. Now we have to decide if we have time to rest and allow the healer to recharge or do we move ahead possibly without healing.

I have decided that my true path lies in both magic and arms. I need to find a way to walk in both the mage and warrior paths at the same time. For me life consists of a balance between these two sides of me, the barbarian and the mage. For too long I have tried to ignore the warrior inside and to become a true mage. I will never be a true mage, Sedjewick is more of a true mage then I am, at least he would fit in with the other mages in the guild. Today I am perusing greater understand of wizardry which is providing me we access to new spells but my new mission is to find a way to walk both paths.