== Toilday, Erastus 8, 4708; Sandpoint; evening ==

With the Scribbler dead we were able to explore and search the underground chambers more thoroughly, and without fear of hostile interruption. We took possession of the useful items the Scribbler had been wearing or carrying and returned to the doorway of the quill room, but not before Sabin took the head of the Scribbler and repeatedly bashed it against the wall until gore and grey matter were splattered about the place.

bag of diamond dust (750gp)

broken falchion

[1012] Cloak of Alluring Charisma +2 (highly decorative with intricate silvery trim)

[1013] +1 breastplate

[1014] +1 cold iron returning dagger

Trask cast Dispel Magic to remove the magical ward from the quill room, after which Sabin and I entered and carefully put the peacock feather quill into a silk sack I had prepared for it using an unseen servant, and the vials of ink in a bag of holding, along with the body of the deceased Sandpoint guardsman.

The vials of ink were regular ink of various colors, but the quill radiated an almost blinding aura of divination magic, the purpose of which we could not fathom.

[1015] vials of ink: 8 black, 1 violet, 2 blue, 2 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 brown, 1 pink

[1016] quill made of a peacock tail feather and a bone nib. Excellent quality and condition. Radiates overwhelming divination magic

For the rest of the complex, we found nothing new, although the room with the magical well of water fascinated us, and so we decided to return to the surface to inform father Zantus about the Temple to Lamashtu, which needed to be dealt with, and to gather a few items with which to “test the waters” of the mysterious well.

Kane and I approached the good cleric of Desna with what we had found.

“Father Zantus, we have discovered the source of Sandpoint’s most recent affliction: the earthquake uncovered a Temple of Lamashtu, the damned. Apparently it also triggered the appearance of one of her followers, and it was he who was responsible for summoning Shadow Mastiffs, which you all heard howling. We have slain this guardian, and killed all of the damnable hounds and dogs, devils and daemons he summoned; however the temple itself remains largely intact. We would like your aid tomorrow in removing the influence of Lamashtu. We realize that the town of Sandpoint, including the cathedral, has been through extremely difficult times over the past year, and if the cost of our proposed procedures is a burden, then some of us will gladly cover the costs of dealing with the temple.”

Zantus was extremely concerned, and agreed to come the next morning with us to cleanse the temple.

We returned to the well room and tried dropping in various items, ranging from a copper coin, to a twig of a living plant, to bits of gore and brain from the Scribbler. We even tried to dispel the magic of the well, but nothing we tried affected it in the least.

We have setup camp in the cell next to the pit to ensure nothing crawls out (or in) overnight.

== Wealday, Erastus 9, 4708; Sandpoint, The Rusty Dragon; evening ==

Before Father Zantus and his associates arrived, we returned to the complex and magically removed the runeforge rhyme visible in the temple area. We had decided that it would be best if others did not learn of the runeforge and try to seek it out, endangering themselves, and possibly our eventual quest (as seems likely) to this mythical, magical place.

Father Zantus arrived with his acolytes, and determined that all we really needed to do with the temple was remove the symbols and statuary of Lamashtu.

I used Stone Shape spells to remove most of the three headed jackal symbol that had been engraved in the floor, while Avia and Nolin set to work dismembering and reducing to rubble the statues of Lamashtu that sat in the alcoves.

We then took Father Zantus to the well room, where he scooped up a handful of water and sniffed it suspiciously. He noted how odd it was that the water seemed unusually clear, even with the stuff we had tossed in yesterday still sitting at the bottom.

For some reason Trask then dipped his hand in the water and drank from it! He coughed and sputtered for a moment before vomiting what he had drank (along with everything he had eaten for breakfast) into the well. He said it was the most horrid stuff he had ever tasted, and that he felt ill.

Rather than pursue how many other unusual things Trask might have eaten in his short life with which he was drawing the comparison, we used Detect Evil and noted that the water itself was evil. Unholy Water!

Kane made efficient use of Stone Shape to crack open the well, drain the water, and break the enchantment that refilled the pool with its evil contents.

We returned to the temple chambers to find that Avia and Nolin had moved on from destroying the statues to carving up the double doors that also held the symbol of Lamashtu.

With that work out of the way, Sabin and Kane walked about the rest of the level removing the remaining rhymes about the runeforge.

I had given some thought about what to do about the sink hole that was still blocking two of the major thoroughfares of the town, and asked Mayor Devlin, Sheriff Hemlock, and Father Zantus about it. I told them they could completely fill in the hole with rubble and stone, or Kane and I could use multiple castings of Wall of Stone to dome over the pit, restoring the surface roads to better than original shape over the course of a couple of days.

The town gratefully accepted our offer, which we will begin tomorrow.

And tonight we are back to sleeping in comfortable beds at the inn!

== Starday, Erastus 12, 4708; Sandpoint, The Rusty Dragon; evening ==

We have completed our work in securing the Sandpoint sink hole, and in its place now sits the Square of the Four Watchers. In addition to the stone work we created to seal up the pit, Kane, Avia and I commissioned skilled artists to erect statues of Desna, Sarenrae and Pharasma at three of the corners of the square, looking out protectively over the area. A fourth statue in the shape of a guardsman (using the image of the fallen guard whose body we had recovered from the quill room) was also commissioned to look out from the corner occupied by the town garrison.

Sheriff Hemlock and Father Zantus have ordered a stone wall be constructed beneath the street level, in the garrison cell, blocking off underground access to the ruins, but a vault door will be placed in the wall, in case there is ever a need to revisit this dismal place.

Kane and Sabin spent much of the last few days erasing as many of the writings on the wall left by the Scribbler as possible. They also used a clever combination of stone to mud, combined with create water (I lent a hand here) to remove any trace of the three headed jackal symbol in the floor that still remained.

We have also set up Rarallo in a magic shop of his own here in town. We sold an unused magical item (a highly enchanted short spear), and used the proceeds to purchase a store front, with workshop in the back and living quarters above, along with more than enough supplies and inventory to see him started in his new line of work.

We also forged an agreement whereby he would construct magical items for us at ten percent above his own cost. We would also give him the first chance to purchase any magical items we find in our travels for which we have no need.

All in all it seems like an equitable arrangement, and he has already started work on my Amulet of Inspired Wisdom (having finished Sabin’s book a couple days before).

Tomorrow we leave for the library to find what we can about the runeforge.

== Moonday, Erastus 14, 4708; Monastic Library; evening ==

So how to counter the threat of the ancient runelord Karzoug threatening to rise again to power? Could it be an answer lies in that forgotten place the Scribbler’s insane ramblings alluded to?

But even in this magnificent library, references to the runeforge were sparse and terse. Sabin and I slaved away using the mechanical librarian to retrieve volume upon volume of mouldering texts on esoteric topics. For every reference to the runeforge we found we had to sift through twenty books or scrolls. And often what information we found had already been gleaned from some other tome, or forced us to expand our search to other topics.

We had already learned from our previous study in modern day texts about the runelords that there had been a legendary Thassilonian place of learning for arcane knowledge. “Runeforge,” it was called, but it was lost when the ancient empire fell long ago.

It appeared that even during those ancient times, the location of the runeforge was a jealously guarded secret. The runelords considered it to be a strategic resource to their rule, and those chosen to study at there never returned: assignment to the runeforge was a life long commitment.

There, scholars worked endlessly inventing new spells and magical items the likes of which the world had never before seen. One of the last areas of research commissioned by the runelords for the runeforge was to find a way by which the runelords could escape death itself, and survive the fall of the empire, ready to return again when the time was right.

This sounded promising — anything that described how Karzoug could still be alive after all these millennia might also provide clues on how he could be defeated.

It was surprising to learn that the runelords themselves did not visit the runeforge, at least not after it had been well established. The runelords mistrusted one another, and they themselves put in place wards and protections to prevent any runelord or agent acting directly on a runelord’s behalf from entering runeforge.

But again, where was it?

The closest thing to a location we could find was that it was built on the edge of the Kodar Mountains to the north. This vast chain of peaks stretches across the northern reaches of the continent, and identifying a single peak among the countless pinnacles of the Kodar without additional information was simply not practical.

The Scribbler mentioned the eastern shores of a steaming mirror and a Mount Xin. Looking at modern day maps we quickly identified the Steaming Sea, to the north of Sandpoint, and to the east of that begins the Kodar Range.

I also remembered the notes written on Mokmurian’s map of the Lost Coast Road, identifying the Old Light of Sandpoint as an ancient and terrible weapon called the Hellfire Plume. Mokmurian was looking for evidence of a “traitor” called Xaliasa, with the thought that he might know the whereabouts of a runeforge key.

Xaliasa, as it turned out, was the commander of one of Alaznist’s Hellfire Plumes — the one at Sandpoint. Delving further we found evidence that regular payments had been made from Shalast (Karzoug’s realm) to Xaliasa, which was very odd considering that Xaliasa served Alasnist, Karzoug’s chief rival. We suspect that Xaliasa was accepting bribes from Karzoug, but in the end remained loyal to Alasnist, thus engendering the name “traitor” from Karzoug and his followers.

Then something occurred to me, and quickly I rifled through our bags of holding, pulling out the Scribbler’s dagger and the broken pieces of his falchion. There, carefully engraved in graceful runes on each of the hilts was the name “Xaliasa.”

We had uncovered the true identity of the Scribbler, which at the very least verified that he would have had knowledge about the location of the runeforge, and his cryptic hints over its location should be taken seriously.

Turning back to the ancient maps we scanned for names of the peaks at the eastern end of the Kodar Mountains, and found the location of Mt Xin. Comparing the ancient maps to our modern copies we saw that the same peak was now called Rimeskull.

We needed up to date information on this region in order to make travel plans to go there and find the runeforge.

Fortunately Kane, who has been creating wands all the time Sabin and I were working in the library, was in need of additional materials, and a trip to Sandpoint was quickly arranged for the next day.

In the meantime I searched for anything mentioning peacock feathered quills, but was disappointed to find it mentioned once, describing how associates of Xanderghul (runelord of pride) were known to write with such quills.

I then pulled out the quill (and suffered no ill effects from handling it) I tried writing various phrases in different languages using some of the black ink we found with it, but it simply performed like a normal quill — but an exceptionally well crafted quill.

== Toilday, Erastus 15, 4708; Monastic Library; evening ==

In the morning Sabin and Trask teleported to Magnimar with Nolin and I in tow.

Trask was looking to purchase a Cloak of Resistance, and so he headed off to the market district, while Sabin went in search of arcane supplies. Nolin waved and set off to visit his parents, leaving me to do a some research on my own.

I had heard that the Pathfinder Society was a good place to obtain relatively up to date and detailed descriptions of various geographical areas and sites, and I found the local office with little difficulty.

The area around Rimeskull, while not unknown, was not heavily traveled. The the high elevation and the high latitude combine to make for frigid conditions even during the height of summer. Mountain streams flow into Lake Stormunder at the foot of the Rimeskull, and from there the Steam River flows west into the Steaming Sea.

Near the mouth of the river a small village, Brinewall, protected by its own castle, once served as an outpost to the region, but the entire population of the town and castle all vanished sometime in the mid 4680s. All the houses, offices, merchants, shops, and other businesses were left as if the occupants had just popped out for a moment and would be right back. But right back never came.

There seems to be something tragic about anyplace with “wall” at the end of its name, and like Viperwall to the south, this sounds like a good place for us to investigate… after we’ve dealt with Karzoug.

The only “recent” visitors to the immediate vicinity of Rimeskull were Shoanti traders passing by. But even these reports date back one or two centuries. However, they do include the tale of a white dragon living in the peaks above the lake, which I found to be the most useful piece of information the Pathfinder clerk had to offer.

Troops had been dispatched to the area to deal with the dragon, but they had never returned.

“The dragon treasure was never found, and bound to be to still be there, and unprotected now that the dragon has died.”

I laughed, and asked how he knew the dragon was dead.

“Well, they sent all those soldiers, and that was hundreds of years ago, and even if they didn’t kill him, dragons don’t live forever.”

“Really?” I replied, “You do know that dragons live for thousands of years?”

Apparently he did not, “But still,” he enthused, “nobody has seen the dragon in all that time.”

He seemed not to make the connectiuon that the most recent reports from that area were those that mentioned the dragon all those years ago. Nobody has reported a dragon since, because nobody has visited the place since (and lived to tell about it).

What a silly man.

None the less, I accepted his offer to have copies made of the maps and descriptions they had of the area, and in return I let them copy Olithar’s journal.

He also mentioned another peculiar site far to the north, but more eastward. A place known as the “Mobhad Leigh,” which was a name of ill omen among my people, meaning literally, “The stairway to hell.” It is a huge pit of unknown depth with stone steps that lead down several hundred feet. Many, many years ago the Shoanti tried to use magic to plumb its depths, but the spell casters all dropped dead.

Interesting, but the site does not seem to be of Thassilonian origin (it was not on any of the ancient maps in the library), and we had enough distractions to contend with as it was.

I returned to the Feisty Fox to await my companions. I was surprised to see Kane and Rigel walk into the bar, with Avia and Trask close behind. Kane and Rigel were sniggering, while Trask looked looked sheepishly away, avoiding all eye contact.

I asked what had brought the three of them into town (all of them but Trask had remained behind at the library), but at that Kane and Rigel burst out laughing so hard that they could not speak, and Avia simply rolled her eyes. Trask turned a bright shade of red, but all I could make out from the two rolling on the floor was something about a trip around the world and a red cloak.

I guess you had to have been there.

I did see that Trask was wearing a new cloak (not red), but he seemed less than enthused to talk about it.

Soon after that Nolin and Sabin came in, and we all returned to the library, where I updated them on what I had found out about the Rimeskull area.

== Fireday, Erastus 25, 4708; Monastic Library; evening ==

We have completed our research in the library, and Kane has completed crafting his first set of wands.

One of the more interesting discussions we’ve had while here came about when Kane commented on how there were seven of us, just as there were seven runelords. This led us to wonder which of the original seven virtues each of us thought best represented us… but oddly enough the discussion quickly shifted from the virtues to the sins, and this is what occupied most of the conversation.

Which of the seven sins was most applicable to me? Wrath seemed likely, but deep down within I knew it to be Envy. Envy for those who remain oblivious to the realities of the world, and the never ending toil that the rest of us must undertake to keep it from being covered by darkness. Oh, but to live a simple life!

Yesterday we had all made a brief visit to Sandpoint to make sure all was still well (it was), and so I could pick up my Amulet of Inspired Wisdom from Rarallo. Others ordered additional items to be crafted, and Avia found someone to make armor from Longtooth’s hide.

Back at the library we briefly discussed our plans for tomorrow, when we plan to travel to Rimeskull and scout out the lay of the land.

== Starday, Erastus 26, 4708; Sandpoint; evening ==

I cast Wind Walk on myself and all my companions and we took to the air in the forms of wisps of vapor, and then sped northward. The plan was to keep relatively low to the ground (some fifty feet up) and avoid any obstacles or confrontations. Kane and I both had Status cast upon the entire party so we could keep tabs on where everyone was. We could also see one another, with some difficulty as small wisps of cloud.

It was nearly a four hour trip, but much preferable to having to make our way there by foot, boat, or horseback.

We flew up and over the first ridge of the Kodars to find the Steam River valley below us, and to the right, great Lake Stormunder. Patches of snow lined the river, but snow completely blanketed the ground everywhere else.

And Mount Rimeskull was there to great us, glowing in the morning light. It was unmistakable. A huge head had been carved into the side of the mountain, now ancient and crumbling and truly resembling more of a skull than the head of Emperor Xin that it once depicted. Its mouth was gaping open, which we could see was in fact the entrance to a cave. Out from the mouth a giant stairway led down some 200 feet to within 50 feet of the top of a round plateau.

The plateau was ringed with seven colossal heads each mounted on a squat cylindrical pedestal. Unlike the face on the mountain, and heads were amazingly well preserved, and each towered ten feet high.

We landed and assumed material form near the eastern shore of the lake and walked up to the heads, which all faced inward with gaping mouths open. I discovered that they were magical, but each had its own magic aura, and each face was carved into the image of a particular runelord.

           (d)
 N              (c)
 ^   (e)
 |                (b) --> To stairs and Rimeskull
    (f)
               (a)
         (g)

a. Alasnist (wrath): evocation
b. Xanderghul (vanity): illusion
c. Sorshen (lust): enchantment
d. Balamarius (envy): abjuration
e. Krune (sloth): conjuration
f. Karzoug (greed): transmutation
g. Zutha (gluttony): necromancy

We stared at the statues as I reread the Scribbler’s words about saying the proper prayer and casting the proper spell before each stone runelord to get a key to the runeforge from each.

And then in an instant I knew what we had to do: cast a spell (any spell) of the proper school before each statue.

Trask boldly cast Mage Hand before Karzoug, and there was a loud ringing, as if someone had struck an enormous bell, and a golden key appeared in the mouth of Karzoug, which Trask took.

Working quickly we made our way around the circle, with each statue making its own unique bell like ringing sound as it was activated.

f. Karzoug (greed): transmutation — Trask: Mage Hand
a. Alasnist (wrath): evocation — Takkad: Light
e. Krune (sloth): conjuration — Kane: Light
g. Zutha (gluttony): necromancy — Trask: Disrupt Undead
b. Xanderghul (vanity): illusion — Sabin: Mirror Image
c. Sorshen (lust): enchantment — Kane: Bless
d. Balamarius (envy): abjuration — Takkad: Protection from Evil

Just as I picked up the last key we heard Rigel shriek, “DRAGON!” as she pointed eastward, toward Rimeskull.

Hurtling towards us at a startling speed was an enormous white dragon.

Trask launched a Fireball at it, but it appeared to have far less affect than we had thought (or hoped) it would.

We had clumped together more than was wise near the center of the circle made by the heads, and the dragon made good use of its tactical advantage by breathing an icy cold blast down upon us as it swooped by.

Kane began to heal the party as I cast Prayer, and the rest of the team prepared for combat.

Trask sent another Fireball at the dragon, which fizzled, and Rigel snuck next to one of the heads and pulled out her bow to shoot at it as it flew by.

Only it did not fly by. Rigel’s arrow appeared to pass right through it as it swept up and landed before her, scooping her up in its jaws!

I cast Flamestrike at its tail end, which seemed to have hurt it, and Sabin performed his Dimensional Door trick with Kane, Avia and Nolin, popping up right before the dragon.

All three fighters began to beat on the dragon, but something odd was going on. Avia noted that while her eyes told her the dragon was in one place, her senses tuned to combat suggested it was someplace else.

But even with this knowledge, the fighters were unable to leave a single mark on the beast. But it obviously considered them a serious threat, and so it spit out Rigel, who landed in the snow some ten feet away and crawled behind one of the statues for cover.

I cast Greater Dispel Magic on it, and it was as if the dragon instantly jumped a few feet over — apparently it had been using some sort of spell to make it harder to hit.

Another Dispel Magic later and all of the fighters were having better luck hitting (and hurting) the dragon, and Trask’s Fireballs now seemed to be having their expected results.

The dragon breathed ice on us again, but Kane and I were managing to keep the team near to full health, while at the same time the dragon was now boasting serious wounds, and was bleeding from a myriad of slashes and gouges in its side.

We were pushing our advantage when the beast pulled back a short distance, rumbled some enchantment under its breath, and vanished.

Sabin, who was watching carefully (and speaks Draconic), shouted out, “Dimensional Door!”

We knew he must be within about a thousand feet of us hiding, but where? As one we turned and looked at the gaping mouth of the face of Xin, and the steps leading up to it.

True, we were healthy and still had some significant amount of healing and spells available to us. But we would be entering the dragon’s own den, and we all felt we should be better prepared before undertaking that.

Instead we teleported back to Sandpoint, and plan to discuss tactics over dinner.

Tomorrow we will Teleport back to the plateau, which will free two high level spells for me, and deal with the dragon.

And then we will deal with whatever lies within.