Starday, Pharast 1

The surviving members of the Black Arrows created crude funeral pyres and Takkad said his words. Then we lit the flames and watched as the fire consumed it all: the obscene house burned to the ground, and the bodies of those slain were reduced to ashes. The smoke was, I am sure, visible for many miles but miraculously we did not attract any unwanted attention. And that was that.

What came next was less pleasant, and in many ways more distasteful. That Kaven would willingly and so eagerly turn on his own, knowing the fate that lay ahead, left me in a bitter mood. There are those in our party who believe he may have been influenced by magic, in the same way that Trask had been, but what I saw was just a young man with no moral compass and a desire to live a life where riches are given and not earned. There is an obsession that comes with the influence of magic, and it is something that I have seen enough of to recognize, but what is most telling is the change in a man’s character. In Kaven I saw no such thing. Magic was not necessary to get him to betray those who put their trust in him.

That Jakardos did not see the connection between Kaven’s convenient excuses and delays and the attack on the fort is not surprising. Who among us would look at one of our own? Who would suspect a traitor? He is fortunate that we were here, not just to aid in their rescue but to also provide an objective eye.

Soon we travel to Fort Rannick, which we hope to retake form the ogres that invaded many weeks ago. While I am sure it will be dangerous, possibly even deadly, I am actually looking forward to the simplicity of battle. We know what side we are on, and what side they are on, and that is all there is to it. This will be a welcome change.

== Fireday, Calistril 28, 4708; Ogrekin Farm Stead; Afternoon ==

Mammy’s demise did nothing to curb the stench wafting off her bloated sack of a body, and so we hastily searched her boudoir for any hidden treasures. We found two desiccated bodies in a pair of coffins, but little more.

To the east a door opened to Mammy’s personal latrine. We gagged at the offensive odors assaulting us from within, but Mammy herself was hardly less foul, and so we were well conditioned to endure the toxic vapors within.

I declined to look for myself, but Rigel reported that there were three pits: two used as expected, and one filled with the corpses and bones of tiny little ogrekin.

Avia detected an evil presence directly beneath the floor, but search as we may, we found no secret access below.

Back into the hall we found a plundered storage room behind west door. The door across the hallway was trapped, and in attempting to disable it a large metal spike crashed through the door, pinning it shut. We decided to save this room for later.

To the north was a bedroom with more humanoid fetishes hanging from the ceiling. A pile of sewage glistened in one corner, and a lumpy mattress filled with twigs and other vegetative matter lay in the center of the floor.

Avia detected an evil presence to the east, and so we returned to the hallway where she used her mighty strength to shove open the door.

It was a dining room fit for the ogrekin. Rotting flesh was draped over the serving platters along with gelatinous lumps of quivering, rancid fat. I believe at this point my brain began to refuse all stimuli coming from my nose, which would come in handy a little later on.

The chairs were adorned with bleached human skulls, and upon the table was laid a cloth of human leather.

Two doors lined the eastern wall, with the one to the south trapped in the same fashion as the one through which we entered.

The northern door opened onto an ogrekin nursery, complete with two young ogrekin children. Toys carved of wood (or bone) were strewn about the place along with the bodies of hapless woodland animals. The walls were smeared with finger paintings done in blood and other disgusting bodily fluids. Low bookshelves were lined with skulls.

We killed the ogrekin larvae and searched the room, finding a jade ring still on the finger of a severed hand.

[258] jade ring

Rigel disabled the trap on the other eastern door of the dining room and we entered the kitchen.

Sabin and Trask immediately ran to the windows and puked.

Gore, blood and body parts (mostly human) were piled in baskets, draped across counter tops, and piled in corners. This grisly fare had been left out for quite some time and the smell was truly horrific.

It was not my first encounter with those who feast on necrotic human flesh, but I wondered at Rigel’s apparent indifference to the carnage. Perhaps she too has some dark story from her past that has hardened her heart to such atrocities. Or maybe she just doesn’t care.

Rigel found a stairway leading down, and we called over to the rest of our team and continued our exploration in the cellar.

A dark, dank and moldy stairway took us down west to a short hall with doors to the north, west and south. The terrible stench from the kitchen was replaced with the smell of damp rotting wood and something else… something vile.

To the north was a large room with a couple of large tables. It was used for skinning the ogrekin captives, and I need not provide details of what lie within.

To the west was a large room filled with household clutter: most of it broken and discarded.

To the south was another ogrekin: this one limping about and chatting to its enormous pet rat — I’m not certain, but I may have heard it softly utter “Mr. Whiskers” in a disturbingly affectionate tone. Needless to say the same fate befell the ogrekin and Mr. Whiskers as befell Mammy.

While large, this room was mostly empty and unexceptional, which made us all wonder why it warranted a guard. Of course that’s when we noticed the large set of double doors in the southwest corner. And these doors opened into a wide hallway that ended in another set of double doors.

And through these double doors was… a swamp, of sorts. Thick masses of slimy vegetation and sickly green mosses covered the walls and grew in thickets upon the floor. A nasty smell, like a compost heap gone bad, wafted in on the steamy air.

We all had bad feelings about this room, and with discretion being the better part of valor, we had Trask launch a fireball into the center of the room.

Something huge, unpleasant, and angry rose up from the heaps of plant matter in the room and shambled over toward the doorway. Another fireball later and a lot of hacking on the thing, and it slumped to the floor and stopped moving.

We heard shouts from the far side of the room, and shoving the dead muck monster out of the way we found four people, three of whom had been slashing at the thing from its back side.

Three of our allies were rangers from Fort Rannick! Jakardros, who was the leader of the Black Arrows, Vale and Kaven were out on patrol when a well organized band of ogres attacked the fort and killed all within. The patrol had been captured and brought here for Mammy and her kin to hold captive (and apparently eat).

The forth was a monk named Derrel. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was he who broke down the door from their cell, which had been weakened by the fireballs, and led the flanking attack on the swamp creature.

After some much needed healing we led the rescued up and out front, where Shalelu and our bear friend were standing guard. There, much to out surprise, Jakardros broke down in tears. It seems he and she are related, and there was a great deal of emotion at their meeting.

The rest of us returned to the house to explore the second floor, and Derrel accompanied us to search for his stoeln gear. There was a hallway at the top of the stairs with a door on either side.

The east door opened onto an attic storage space with tables, flasks, beakers and bric-a-brac. Derrel found his gear stashed on a shelf, and we found a few items worth keeping.

[259] 5 flasks of acid (one used later)
[260] 3 sets of masterwork thieves tools

Behind the west door was a large bedroom with seven, filthy beds lining the walls. Based on the lack of sanitation and the abundance of smells we assumed more ogrekin slept here.

A cedar chest in one corner held a sack of coins, which when Rigel lifted it out she was hit by a nasty razor that had been dipped in spider venom.

23 gp
110 sp
121 cp

Back outside we caught the end of a heated discussion between Jakardros and Shalelu, with him huffing, “You can be just like your mother.”

Leaving them to work out their family issues we approached the barn, with Derrel once again joining us. The doors were unlocked and within we found… well the inside of a barn suffering from neglect.

Catwalks ran along the upper half of the north and south walls, beneath which were dog kennels (no doubt for the ill fated Rukus and his equally ill fated hounds), while piles of hay rotted in the corners. A wall ran across the width of the barn about two thirds the way in, with a large set of double doors barred by large timbers.

Three ogrekin were lounging within, and Trask managed to confuse them momentarily by asking why they didn’t come in when they heard Mammy calling. Dumb-struck they replied, “When we hears Mammy callin’ like that we knows to stay away.”

I discovered that a hold person spell was wonderfully effective on ogrekin, and shared this information with the rest of the team. Soon there were three fewer of Mammy’s brood left to bother the world.

We unbarred the double doors, but they were blocked shut from the other side. Taking to the catwalks we quickly made our way to the smaller doors above, and entered the back section of the barn.

There, in the dim dusty light from the gaps between the boards that clad the barn walls, we beheld a giant spider web. Its sickly opalescent threads as thick as twine were woven into a great twisting funnel that led down into the shadows below.

We could make out the forms of men hanging by manacles in a large rusted cage in the southwest corner, and a similar cage, empty, on the opposite side.

I actually like spiders, and find their industry and skill at weaving the most amazing patterns out of delicate strands of self spun silk a marvel. But this was something else; this was an unnatural corruption of nature and altogether repulsive.

Our first concern was rescuing the men in the cage, and as we made our way along the catwalks, the guardian of this silken fortress sprang forth and attacked.

It was a great wicked thing, with wicked malice peering out from its multiple sets of eyes clustered upon its grotesque head. Great fangs hung down from beneath a set of pincher like mandibles, and its jointed legs hideously clicked and popped as it clambered about the web, dragging its oversize filthy grey bag of an abdomen behind.

The battle was sharp and intense, and Derrel was poisoned with a jab from the spider’s fangs, but in the end we triumphed and then thing dropped to the ground with its legs curled up beneath it.

We rushed over to aid the men in the cage only to find that they were long dead.

Rigel and I climbed down the spider’s funnel and verified that the beast was truly dead. While down there we found a chest that contained a number of useful and valuable items.

[261] An agate studded gold ring
[262] Silver necklace of emeralds
[263] +2 DEX leather gloves
[264] Sack of coins: 210 gp, 452 sp, 108 cp
[265] Ruby inlaid red dragon scale cloak clasp
[266] +1 Shocking Elvish long-bow (this was returned to Jakardros)

We are preparing to return to Turtleback Ferry, where we need to obtain an anti-venom for the spider’s poison coursing through Rigel and Derrel’s veins.

We must also think of what to do about the ogre invasion of Fort Rannick. While were hired by the Mayor of Magnimar to find out what happened to the Black Arrows, which we certainly have done, should we do something about the ogres?

Jakardros said these ogres appear to have been well organized, which is unusual for ogres. I dislike how soon the ogre invasion took place after the disappearance of Lucretia, proprietress of the now burned and sunk Paradise, and her association with the sihedron.

I can think of one beautiful and powerful woman also associated with the sihedron symbol from our very recent past. This woman turned out to be no woman at all, but a lamia matriarch. And as a follower of Pharasma I know well their origin, shape, and penchant for chaotic schemes of ruination and destruction.

I think this is no coincidence.

But we have one more task before we return to town: we are to set flame to this blasphemous farm stead.

Fireday, 28 Calastril

I am taking a few moments to write while the surviving members of the Black Arrows decide what is to be done with the remains of their companions.

The sights in the farm house will be with me for some time, and were as gruesome and violent as any we have witnessed to date, including those at the Misgivings. We have all agreed that the house and the barn will be burned. This was one of those rare moments where we were all in consensus, and almost no words needed to be spoken to reach it.

An interesting twist to this tale: Jakardros, the apparent leader of the Order, was revealed to be Shelalu’s step-father, who apparently left her after her mother was killed (when? where? how?). There is more to this story– much more– but now is not the time to ask. It does, however, explain Shelalu’s personal interest in our mission, the cold stares once they learned of one another’s presence here, and Jakardros’ breakdown outside.

I must go; they are ready.

Fireday, Calistril 21

We are finally putting some distance between ourselves and Magnimar and I am happier for it. As much as I enjoyed visiting with family and friends, there was always this constant reminder of why I had left and I suppose I’ve also become accustomed to our travels, and a lifestyle that ties us to nowhere in particular.

We’ve been joined by Takkad, who refers to himself as a healer. It is obvious to all that there is a religious aspect to this, but for whatever reason he does not talk a great deal about it. To each their own. My friends actually gave me a bit of a hard time for what they say was more an interrogation than conversation when we were finally introduced, but what did they expect? I am told he had been watching us for a few days– at which point I did recall seeing him in the inn on several occasions, I had just not put much thought into it at the time– and with our recent experience with shapeshifters and Xanesha I thought a bit of caution was in order, especially when a man claiming to be a healer just happens to come along at exactly the moment when we are in need, and still hurting from Olithar’s death.

Shalelu also found us again (how does she do that?) and asked to join us on our journey to Turtleback Ferry. At first I was as cautious with her as I was with Takkad. How many coincidences could we have in one week? But it did not take long to put that fear at ease, especially once the stories about Sedgewick came out. How she managed to stay in his company for so long remains a mystery with me, though obviously her patience did have its limits.

I assume her motivations for joining lie in her kinship with the rangers up north. I know she was not “hired” by the mayor as we were. I always suspected our rather large “gift” was something of an unspoken retainer, and now I know. I am not offended by this, it’s just less direct than I prefer to be. This has earned me more a small amount of ribbing from my companions.

We cross the river in the morning, and then begin our travel through the forest. I asked Shalelu what to expect, as she has been this way before, and her reply was a unhelpful side comment about gnomes. It was the voice of someone with a great deal of patience; patience that had not quite reached its limit. I wonder what that says about Sedgewick.

Moonday, 20 Abadius

The service for Olithar is done, and the freshness of his death is beginning to fade a bit. I realized I could do with a bit more training during this apparent lull of lawlessness. I gave 225 gp to Sabin to make me scrolls of see invisible, make invisible, and spider climb while I went to do training.

Although my efforts took about four weeks this time, I am able to spend evenings away from the labs and the specially constructed rooms, and be with the group of people who, I now readily admit, I call friends. It was during these times that we also have come to know a man who, at first, seemed to be watching us. Upon talking with him, it seems it was more a matter of looking for an opportunity to meet with us. The pub provided both.

Takkad, it seems, also has a score to settle with Xaneesha, or at least her followers. He was a member of another band of mercenaries trying to prevent the murders in the city, and he saw many of his friends die. I think he’s out for revenge, yet he seems so calm and measured. “He was always such a quiet man.” On the other hand, he does seem skilled in the healing arts, and we do seem to be a troupe who excels in bloodying themselves.

Upon completion of my training, I also will know two new spells: fireball (in a way, replacing our lost Olithar’s skill) and disrupt undead, a rather low level spell which nevertheless might be able to slowly destroy an undead creature.

Toilday, 11 Calastril

The Mayor called us together to thank us again, and oh, by the way, now that we’ve proven ourselves capable of large difficult tasks, would it be any trouble to take on this one rather small task as, you know, a special favor?

Seems there’s this band of rangers to the east that have been affiliated with Magnimar in the past. They help protect a town over there … Turtleback Ferry. They’d had a little trouble with ogres and the like, but the order of the Black Arrows had helped keep things on an even keel. Except, they haven’t been heard from for a while now. Could we please go see if they were okay? Here’s 300 gold, each. If there’s any trouble, I’m sure you’ll do fine.

Well, this isn’t an afternoon type of thing. This is probably a week and a half to two week journey. That’s just getting there! We’ll be taking a little time to collect items, plus my training isn’t quite done yet.

We’ve decided on several expenditures — horses for all, suitable for light combat, at about 110gp each, and the party is buying an actual bag of holding (type I). I myself decided to acquire a handy haversack. It’s only 5 lbs but is like a bag of holding in that it can carry much more.

Wealday, 12 Calistril

According to the rest of the group, Shalelu approached them today and asked to come along. Rigel gave her a steely eye but her spirits seemed to improve when she learned that the bard Sedgwick had mysteriously disappeared. We’ve unanimously agreed she would be useful to have along, especially since she mentioned she’s familiar with the route to Turtleback Ferry.

Toilday, 18 Calastril

We’re estimating an 8-10 day journey to Turtleback Ferry. We’ll go by way of Nybor (about 3 days distant) which we are told is roughly the size of Sandpoint.

Oathday, 20 Calastril

Arrived at Nybor, about on time. It’s what we were told it would be, except the inns are more pleasant than what I expected.

From here, the Old Sanos Trail leads along the foothills of the Malgorian Mountains. Legend has it that the trail moves if you wish ill to gnomes. It’s funny the superstitions that different areas of the land develop!

Starday, 22 Calastril

Well, Tekkad has already proven his worth! At watch last night he noticed a giant snake trying to make Nolin be a meal rather than a fighter. It was ultimately dispatched, and it will serve as food and maybe trading fodder at the next trading post.

We’re estimating 5 days to Bitter Hollow. Shalelu says we’ll cross the “wicker way” which resembles a boardwalk over what would otherwise be a very marshy trail.

Oathday, 27 Calastril

Again, we made good time and did indeed reach Bitter Hollow in 5 days. Shalelu carefully describes Bitter Hollow as “less civilized” than Turtleback Ferry, and it does seem much more of a frontier town. There’s maybe 50 people or so who seem to reside in or near this town. The Gator’s Nest is the local trading post, and we hastily traded some supplies for our snake meat.

We got to Turtleback Ferry about an hour before dark. The Turtle’s Parlor is the only inn in town, so we set up accomodations and headed to the common room.

We started asking about the rangers, and learned that no rangers had come to town for supplies for several weeks, which was unusual.

Fireday, 28 Calastril

As the innkeeper went about his tasks today, I noticed an odd but significant tattoo on his back. It was a sihedron. When I asked him about it, though, he got angry and denied it was there .. which was odd because I’m sure I saw it.

Eventually he was able to tell us that it indicated he was a regular customer of the Paradise, which was a large boat that offered entertainment like gambling and ladies-for-rent. However, a few weeks ago, the entire boat caught on fire and sank to the bottom of Claybottom Lake, taking a number of customers and presumably the proprietor, an attractive lady, with it.

The same timeframe that the rangers stopped checking in. Coincidence? Maybe.

They never found the boat. It was out in the middle of the lake when it caught on fire. It would come into shore to pick up customers, and then head out to the middle for the evening. Nobody went looking for it because the lake has some serious predators residing in it.

We’ve decided to head north to the Fort and see if we can get to the bottom of this.

Later, 28 Calastril

Never did make it to the fort, but we were seriously distracted.

We had not gone far when Kane and Rigel heard the cries of an animal in pain. Not too far off the trail there was a bear in a trap. Rigel thought this was not a normal bear, and I must admit, I’d have expected a trapped animal to be angry, and it almost seemed to be whimpering. Tekkad healed it, and as Rigel manipulated the lock to release it, we heard the sound of dogs baying in the distance, and getting closer. When released, the bear didn’t run away, and didn’t attack her. It thanked her with big wet sloppy tongue kisses before turning to growl in the direction of the approaching dogs.

We decided to defend the bear.

I pulled out my disguise hat and willed it to make me look more like a hunter. Kane took to a tree. When the dogs burst upon the scene, it was obvious they were trained hunting dogs. They sized up the situation and immediately moved to surround us, although the did look a little hesitant at the size of our party (plus the bear!).

They were quickly dispatched. But interestingly, I tried to give the bear some commands, and he seemed to understand me a little. Clearly this bear was no ordinary bear.

While the fighters were having no trouble with the dogs, I ran in the direction they’d come from. Trained dogs don’t usually hunt alone. And sure enough, trying to keep up with the dogs was coming an ogre! Well, smallish one. And, as it turned out, youngish one.

Also, it really wasn’t a true ogre; those things are huge. But it was some sort of ogre/human cross, called an ogrekin, and appeared to be the mental age of about 5-7 human years old. And it seemed to respond well when treated like a young child too. Rukus, as we found it’s name was, willingly handed over its weapon, and gave us some information about its family before, ultimately, we killed the abomination. We discovered its blanket seemed to be made from a collection of Black Arrow emblems. This did not bode well.

One of the pieces of information he’d provided was that they had captured (and eaten, ugh) humans — given the patches, the rangers from the fort would be a first choice, each of us thought. But it seemed there might be several more ogrekin there, and we weren’t sure how many of those we could handle at one time. Even this young one was amazingly strong.

Avia and Rigel scouted ahead a bit and almost literally stumbled over another ogrekin about Rukus’ size. They managed to dispatch it, but Avia came back with some good bruises and bloody parts.

We retrieved

[244] a +1 ogre hook
[245] A ring of protection +1
[246] A amulet of natural armor, +1
[247] spear, +1
[248] Belt of +2 strength

So it was we decided to call on Mammy and Pappy Ogrekin. We approached a small, previously abandoned homestead. The two prominent features wer a farmhouse on the left, and a barn on the right. Everyone decided to go to the farmhouse.

Although we are usually pretty careful about traps, I’m thinking that the familiar setting of a rural home lulled us into a sense of false security. Avia detected no evil, but we failed to check for traps. Just as you might think, when Sabin opened the door he was hit by a couple of traps. First he got stabbed in the face by a hidden part of a wind chime, then attacked from beneath by large steel tines that came up through the floor boards. Not a pretty sight. Healers jumped to Sabin’s and Avia’s wounds.

Then we noticed the Really Bad Smell. But before investigating it too much, we did check for traps. And found a couple. It was easy enough to disarm them, but I don’t think we’ll make the mistake of not checking again.

Avia detected evil to our left, and since a corridor led that way, we went with the paladin’s senses. We opened the door at the end of the corridor, only to find ogrekin that we later identified as Mammy (who complained a lot), Benk, Kunkal, and Hodge.

The last three, judging from their pale pallor, were undead. If killing ogrekin was so hard, what would we do with undead ogrekin?

No matter, the battle was joined and all pitched in. The big fat sloppy ogrekin that was sitting on the bed, stretching it to the limits, was apparently a magic user. But our own magic users were able to cast an enfeeblement spell on her that made her stupid, meaning she forgot a lot of her spells, and at that point we had her. Rigel did some amazing stuff with her arrows again, and soon their bodies were spread on the floor.

My new disrupt dead spell came extremely handy. We eventually killed all 4, and retrieved from the rubbery folds of Mammys fat abdomen

[249] Masterwork quarterstaff
[250] potion (cure light wounds)
[251] scroll (animate dead)
[252] wand of magic missile (caster level 3) [43]
[253] wand of enfeeblement [27]
[254] wand of vampiric touch [33]
[255] belt of mighty constitution (+2)
[256,257] two Varisian dolls

We’ve the rest of the house to search, yet, and the barn of course. I hope we’re not too late for the majority of the rangers.

== Moonday, Abadius 6, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

This group appears to be a little disorganized, or perhaps it is their grief over their fallen comrade that makes them so unobservant of those around them.

I have watched them come and go from the common room of The Copper Griffin for much of the afternoon and learned a bit about each of them.

There are two fighters, muscular and well equipped, who seem all business with dour expressions and few words — all of them direct and to the point. They seem like lawful types, and the woman is probably a paladin. I take it from what little conversation of theirs I’ve overheard that the man was once a member of the Magnimar guard, but the background of the other is uncertain.

A very young man is a ranger or a spell caster, and this one is very talkative. Too talkative. Every thought that passes through his head seems to leap from his tongue as if escaping the cluttered and claustrophobic place of its birth. Or maybe this is but an act to put others off their guard.

And then there is the odd couple: a halfling and a small human woman. The two are inseparable and seem to have the same grace and furtive movements as Cyrith of the light fingers and dubious morals. The halfling seems very concerned about the safety of the woman, and hovers about her like a fruit fly about an over ripe peach. Maybe she is pregnant with his child?

I have met few half orcs in my travels, and none so friendly and talkative as Sabin. Or it might have been the large amount of drink he had consumed before staggering over to my table. Heavy with drink or not, he was still guarded in his conversation, and while he was willing to discuss adventuring in general, he shared nothing specific about the rest of his party or what they have been doing. He appears to be a rare blend of warrior and magic user.

I will continue my visits to the inn until either Sabin introduces me to his companions, or there is a good opportunity to introduce myself.

Watch and wait.
== Fireday, Abadius 17, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

I have finally been introduced to the entire party, although it came about in a rather haphazard way.

Sabin and I were quietly talking at our usual table when several of his friends came over and sat down. The young man, Trask (definitely a spell caster) has started training and had a lot to share about it. Quite a lot. And before I knew it the entire group was gathered around listening to Trask while eyeing me with curiosity and suspicion.

As Trask showed no sign of slowing down, Sabin, Nolin (the warrior) and I went over to another, quieter table to talk business. We exchanged stories about our respective encounters with Xaneesha and her cult, and I learned that they had lost their primary healer in their assault on the Shadow Clock.

Their loss was certainly to my benefit as I specialized in healing and other clerical matters.

It turns out that the party had formed in an impromptu manner only six months before to deal with some unpleasantness in the coastal town of Sandpoint. They share their profits evenly among themselves, which is a pleasant change from the usual arrangement.

The paladin is Avia; the halfling is Kane, who is actually a healer; and Rigel serves as the party’s expert treasure hunter.

They were interested in my story of the cultists and my group’s failed trip to the saw mill, and said they would contact me later if they were interested in my services.

No doubt they would check out as much of my story as possible, although little enough of it is public knowledge.

No matter, I will continue my evening meetings with Sabin for friendship sake alone.

Watch and wait.

== Sunday, Abadius 19, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

The group has decided to use my services, but for the time being there is little for us to do.

Neither they, nor I, nor my Irregulars have heard anything unusual that could be attributed to Xaneesha or her cultists.

Could it be that my new found friends had actually destroyed Xaneesha without realizing it, or is she is biding her time before acting again?

Nothing split seven ways is nothing, and while my daily expenses are small, they do exist, and my gold reserves are slowly dwindling.

Watch and wait.

== Toilday, Calistril 11, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

We gathered again this evening because the Lord Mayor has hired us (300 gold pieces each in advance!) for a special job.

A town to the north, Turtleback Ferry, had been having trouble with a number of ogres and their ilk and had requested aid from the nearby cities. Magnimar had been the only one to respond and sent a troupe of rangers, the Order of the Black Arrows, to set up an outpost there and deal with the problem.

Things had gone well for some time, with regular reports arriving weekly from their headquarters at Fort Rannick. But the reports stopped coming and were now long overdue, and the Mayor was concerned over the safety of his rangers.

We were to travel up to Turtleback Ferry and investigate.

Trask still has a week’s worth of training, but the rest of us will prepare for the trip and we will leave on the 18th.

== Wealday, Calistril 12, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

We had a small surprise this afternoon. We were gathered together in the The Copper Griffin’s common room when an elf clad as a ranger came over and asked to come along on our trip to Turtleback Ferry.

Her name is Shalelu, and my companions all knew her, but it became much colder at Rigel’s end of the table, and I noticed her glaring at the elf. At first I thought this must be some former lover of Kane’s, but Trask rather gleefully asked about someone named Sedgewick, whom apparently rather abruptly left the party (in general) and Rigel (in particular) to run off with Shalelu months before.

Shalelu is familiar with the way to Turtleback Ferry, which will prove useful, and so quite naturally we all voted for her to come along (with Rigel abstaining).

== Moonday, Calistril 17, 4708; Magnimar, The Feisty Fox; Evening ==

We leave on the morrow and I spent part of the week rounding up each of the Irregulars. I gave each a gold piece with the caution that it might be the last payment they receive from me for quite some time.

Most of them are street savvy and wise for their ages, but for some of the youngest ones I made sure they had an older companion to look out for their interests while I was away.

The most talented of my band of spies, an eleven year old girl who answers to Atuni, I have left with an organization with whom she can build a future. I have paid for her tuition and boarding for a full year, and have little doubt she will be more than able to earn her own way beyond that should I not return.

== Toilday, Calistril 18, 4708; The Lost Coast Road; Evening ==

Finally, we are on the coast road not far from Sandpoint. We have been riding steadily all day long and hope to complete our journey in 10 days or less.

The conversation around the small camp fire turned to encounters on previous trips along this same road. On one such trek they saw a huge black winged horse, known locally as the Sandpoint Devil, leap into the sky. On another a group of gigantic lizards attacked them.

They also discussed some haunted mansion to the west of here called “The Misgivings”, where apparently they still had unfinished business of which they spoke with dread.

We’ve set the schedule for the watch that we will follow for the remainder of the trip. I share the third watch with Nolin.

It will be a cold night.

== Oathday, Calistril 20, 4708; Nybor; Evening ==

We arrived in Nybor after dark. The trip has thus far been uneventful, which is hardly to be surprised with such a large group of well arrayed travellers, each mounted on his or her own war horse.

The town is small and it is hard to tell much about it in the dark, but they have an inn with four rooms for us to share, and a hot meal is waiting.

== Fireday, Calistril 21, 4708; The Sanos Forest; Evening ==

Nybor must be a picturesque town, perched on the southern most shores of the Ember Lake, and the western end of the Sanos Forest, but we left before dawn and so its charms remained masked by the darkness.

We crossed the river on town ferry, which is guided by one set of ropes and is pulled across by another. It took two crossings to get all of us and our horses over, and from there the trail immediately plunged into the dim forest.

Shalelu said the trail was safe enough, as long as you harbored no ill will towards gnomes. We saw a few gnomes at the inn, but we will be passing to the east of a large gnome settlement on our way through the Sanos. I have met many gnomes and get along with them as well as any other race, although I admit to chuckling out loud when I remember poor Og’s comment, “They taste like chicken!” I’m fairly sure he was joking.

It made for a nice change to move through the forest, and the soft earth trail covered by a cushion of leaves and needles has met with the approval of our steeds.

It is oddly quiet, but more in a muffled sort of way than disturbing.

Thick clouds rolled in after lunch, but it does not feel like rain. Darkness came early beneath the canopy, and we were forced to make camp before our usual time. We are mindful of the forest, and our camp fire is quite small compared with the blazes from our previous evenings on the road.

== Starday, Calistril 22, 4708; The Sanos Forest; Evening ==

A giant snake attacked our camp last night during Nolin’s and my watch, but we quickly dispatched it; and I spent the rest of our watch butchering the animal and smoking its flesh over the fire. Snake is tasty, and there is enough here to last us for a long while.

The day itself passed without event, or a glimpse of the sun for that matter, but other than a few hesitant drops, it has remained dry.

== Oathday, Calistril 27, 4708; Turtleback Ferry; Evening ==

The cold rain began overnight, and we quickly broke camp and continued along the path. The forest soon gave way to an open but boggy woodlands, and not long after that we came to the end of the trees altogether. A long sliver of marshy ground, the Shimmerglens, stretches from Coal Lake to the north down nearly all of the way to Lake Syrantula. The Skull River flows through the middle of this land of fens, connecting the two lakes.

The rain renewed its assault with vigor, and travel by horseback would have proven all but impossible but for the most remarkable of structures: a boardwalk, aptly named “The Wicker Way”, which connected the Old Sanos Way to the small hamlet of Bitter Hollow on the river.

There is little to commend about Bitter Hollow, other than the strong will of its people, who built and maintained the passage over the marsh. But the town is filthy, as if all of the industry of its citizens was expended upon the Wicker Way, leaving none for cleaning.

We paused briefly to barter our smoke snake meat for some supplies at The Gator’s Nest, and pushed on through the wet and gathering gloom.

We were thoroughly soaked by the time we rode into Turtleback Ferry and sought refuge at the town’s only inn, The Turtle’s Parlor.

We queried the inn keeper about the rangers at For Rannick. He said the fort was thirty miles up the river, and the that rangers mostly kept to themselves, but came into town on a regular basis. It had been at least two weeks since their last visit, which he admitted was unusual.

== Fireday, Calistril 28, 4708; Turtleback Ferry; Morning ==

After a comfortable night spent in the common room next to the large hearth we purchased more provisions for the trek north. As the inn keeper bustled about, Trask noticed a small tattoo on the innkeeper that looked like a sihedron.

We carefully looked at the other people milling about, and noticed another man with the same tattoo.

I mentioned the tattoo to the innkeeper, and he was reluctant to talk about it, but with a little encouragement he told us a disturbing story.

A while back a large boat showed up on the lake, run by an elegant lady who offered various forms of entertainment like gambling, drinking and whoring. The quality of services offered by Lucretia on the Paradise were well above average, and each evening the boat would dock at Turtleback Ferry, take on its load of eager customers, and then sail out into the lake until the wee hours of the morning.

Regular customers were offered the seven rayed star tattoo, which would give them discounts on board the Paradise.

A few weeks ago the entire boat with a full load of customers caught fire and sank into the murky waters of the lake — a lake filled with ferocious predators that prevented escape or any sort of investigation of the sunken wreck.

We none of us liked this news. There is too much coincidence here: the sihedron symbol associated with a beautiful and powerful woman — just as in Magnimar.

== Fireday, Calistril 28, 4708; Ogrekin Farm Stead; Noon ==

The rain resumed its steady assault as we followed the road north and back over the river. We caught glimpses of the very southern tip of The Storval Deep, on the far northern shores of which my clan has made many a camp.

The rain slowed and then stopped as ragged clouds parted to reveal a few patches of blue. The tips of mountain peaks peeped over the tops of the trees, but as we moved north the forest closed in, limiting our view to a hundred yards in any direction.

Shalelu lead the way, but it was Kane and Rigel who heard the muffled cries of an animal in pain. Rigel crept through the undergrowth and came upon a bear with its leg caught in a steel trap. It saw Rigel and let out a whimper, like a dog. The rest of us gathered around, and when Rigel released the trap the bear lavished her face with wet sloppy kisses.

Obviously this was a companion to someone… probably a ranger. I healed the bear’s wound as we heard the approaching sound of dogs baying. We moved forward into a small clearing when the pack of dogs burst through the shrubs and attacked.

The dogs were quickly killed, but a loud humanoid came crashing into the clearing where it stopped and stared at us. It wiped the drool from its chin before shouting out, “I is hunting that bear, so unless you wants to be hunted too you better stay clear.”

It looked like a small, deformed ogre — an ogrekin: the misbegotten offspring of an ogre and some poor captive. It then noticed the slain dogs laying about and burst into tears sobbing, “My dogs! My dogs!”

Trask was able to talk it into surrendering its spear (a very nice weapon), and then got it to tell us about where it came from. It, or he, said his name was Rukus, and he lived with his “mammy” and siblings a ways further on. He got his spear from the humans that his family had caught “and killed and et.”

He then showed us a blanket he carried that his mammy made, and Shalelu gasped: it was made from a collection of Black Arrows emblems!

We sent Rigel and Avia ahead to explore, and another ogrekin attacked them, but they made short work of it. They continued on until they caught sight of a farm-stead — a house and a barn — a mile or so from our clearing.

[244] +1 ogre hook
[245] iron ring of +1 protection (Avia)
[246] amulet of +1 natural armor (Nolin)
[247] +1 spear
[248] belt of +2 strength (Nolin)

Rukus was sent along to meet his brother in ogrekin heaven, and quietly we made our way to the small settlement. It was all in a ruinous state of disrepair and unpleasant smells wafted out from both buildings. Sad patches of crops could still be seen amidst the riot of weeds, but they were all wilted and dying.

Small human fetishes, made from sticks and bits of fabric and stuffed with mud and human hair, were set out about the path that led up to the house.

We opted to check out the house first, reasoning the ogrekin would be more comfortable in the barn and might use the house to keep prisoners. The windows on the first floor were boarded up, and there was a wide porch up front and a rickety set of stairs leading up.

The porch roof was held aloft by thick pine pillars crudely carved to depict gruesome things: manticores impaling children, wolves devouring women, and other obscenities. A large rocking chair made from various body parts sat off to one side while a wind chime of human bones clattered in the breeze.

Kane, Avia and Sabin climbed onto the porch and listened for a while, but all was quiet within. Sabin then opened the door, and as he did spikes shot out from the wind chimes as blades cut up through the floor boards, slashing the trio. I was surprised that Rigel had not gone up to check for traps, but apparently Kane has some skill in this area, but had simply forgot.

After a small amount of healing Rigel and I went into the house and the others followed, although Shalelu and the bear remained outside. It stank within. Really badly. The interior decor matched the exterior: a dire beg pelt lay on the floor before a large couch made from all sorts of disgusting things.

Avia detected an evil presence to the left, and so we checked the only other door for traps. The door opened to a large hallway that continued north, and branched to the left, with various closed doors on either side. Rigel did the usual for the door to the left, and Avia burst into the room.

A giant bed took up much of the space, and laying upon it was a gross, bloated ogrekin, with layers of fat rolling down from its head in waves, and pustules that wept greasy yellow excretions. Atop its head were thin lank locks of oily hair, and it opened its jowly mouth and shrieked for its offspring to come to its aid.

There was little doubt we had found mammy.

Keeping her company was a triplet of ogrekin, each boasting some horrific deformity, but all undead. They pressed the physical attack while surprisingly mammy launched devastating magical attacks that sapped abilities. Rigel moved in with her bow and began to shoot things at point blank range with good results.

Avia took the brunt of the spell effects, but still managed to cut through one of the undead ogrekin. Sabin also joined in the action, and I wiggled into the room to channel energy against the surviving two undead, which were quickly destroyed.

Mammy was of sterner stuff, and things may have gone worse had Sabin not touched her with an Enfeeblement spell, rendering her mostly impotent, and eventually dead.

This place makes me want to vomit: there are coffins in the north side of this room containing the remains of who knows what, and the stench is truly awful.

But we must find out what happened to the rangers, and so we press on.

[249] masterwork quarter staff
[250] potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
[251] scroll of Animate Dead
[252] wand of level 3 magic missile [43 charges]
[253] wand of Enfeeblement [27 charges]
[254] wand of vampiric touch [33 charges]
[255] belt of +2 constitution
[256-257] Varisian dolls [used when summoning creatures for extra HD]

Moonday, 6 Abadius

In the end, my hearing was not faulty.  I did hear “spider climb” and I did hear ropes, and I did indeed hear “long way to fall”.  So we’re going to ascend the tower, from the outside, during broad daylight, with the crowd watching.

So Father, if you’re reading this between blood spattered pages, please do thank the person who brought you this journal and ask them if they know what became of my body.

For the first time I can remember — and perhaps it’s because this is such a public endeavour — I do feel apprehension.  You never mentioned this, Father, but perhaps it’s natural not to admit to your son that there will be times when you are scared but can’t do anything about it.

There is a shy but attractive girl in the gathering crowd that I saw at the market when I was picking up rope, and since I don’t believe we’re ready for this ascent just yet, I think I’ll go talk with her a bit as a bit of pleasant distraction.

Moonday, 6 Abadius

How prophetic my feeling was.  How profoundly prophetic.  All hail Trask the prophet, and then curse him for having blurry vision and not seeing the true target of misfortune.

Right after Avia rudely broke into my conversation with the girl, just as she was about to tell me more about where she lived and a bit more about the area, and had offered to

Ok, I have to write this.  I thought paladins were above petty emotions like jealousy but I really think Avia crossed the line, just because I was talking with someone my own age and she felt threatened.  I do agree that she is strong and skilled but I don’t see how that affords her the right to dictate who I talk to and find interesting.  A simple “we’re ready” would have done fine.

Anyway, so after my having been physically dragged away from the young lady, we all positioned ourselves in front of the tower, and Sabin cast Spider Climb on himself while the rest of us received the spell by virtue of the six scrolls we (well, Kane and Rigel) had bought.  (That ran us an astounding 1000 gold pieces.  When I think of how I was scrabbling for silver on my trip here, I’m reminded of how much has happened in just a few months.)  The seven of us arranged ourselves two to a side but one side, of course, had only one.  And up we went, much to the pleasure of the crowd, judging from the ooos and ahhhs.

Little of import happened until we reached the scaffolding near the top of the tower.  The four of us nearest the scaffolding had been suffering the occasional brick being tossed down at us by something so we knew we’d be pausing there to deal with something.  And so it was that Sabin, Nolin, Avia and I found three of the faceless creatures we’d seen in Aldrin’s townhouse, and once we neared they brandished their weapons and the battle began in earnest.  Although these creatures were powerful, fate had placed our three strongest fighters in their path. With some maneuvering, I was able to arrange line of sight so that I could toss in the occasional magic missile.

When the first one died, Nolin cheerfully announced it had to go over the side.  “The crowd,” he explained.  “A body falling from the tower will show them we’re really doing things.”  It had a strange twisted sense of logic to it, so over the side it went.  And we heard a noise come up from the crowd below as it hit the ground about 150 feet below: “ohhhhhhhh”.

While this battle was happening, the other three were still ascending. With the clock tower being between 30 and 40 feet on a side at this point, they were unaware that we had stopped to fight.  They could neither see nor hear the evidence of battle, and so they kept going.

The swordplay and magic missiles continued on the scaffolding and it wasn’t long before another fleshy corpse was hurled to the ground below. (“ohhhhhhhh.”)  With only one creature and three fighters left, I saw little I could add to the battle, so I continued my ascent of the last 20 feet or so.  When the last creature was defeated and sent plummeting (“ohhhhhhh.”) the others also continued their ascent.

It is well that we went up as quickly as we did.  By the time I got up there, I could see an inhuman yet strangely attractive half-dressed woman with bat wings flying slowly around the building, and Rigel and Kane seemed to be silently battling some sort of serpent woman with a very long ornate spear.  She was wearing a mask and …

And I realized I couldn’t hear a thing.  A quick word out loud to myself confirmed that there was probably a spell of silence in this area. Quickly reviewing my spells, I realized that there was none that I could cast silently.  Almost anything offensive, though, required line-of-sight, so I couldn’t step away to cast it if it caused me to lose sight of my enemy.  I found it odd that Olithar was not up here already, but perhaps he, like I, was seeking a place where he could say his spells. Since spider climb did not require I necessarily have a rope to climb, I ducked and scampered across the face of the walls, trying to reach the other side where I expected to find Olithar.  I found that only a few feet below the edge of the roof, the silence ended, and I also found that it was not uniform all the way around the roof.  I hoped that when I reached the other side I might find Olithar and a place I could use my spells.

About this time the three fighters came up, and Avia immediately engaged the creature.  Its spear was wicked fast, and although she took damage as she approached she steadfastly made her way to within her weapon’s reach and made it pay dearly for its attack on our party.  This snake lady, however, was not going to go down easily.  Meanwhile, the creature we presumed was Xaneesha continued to survey the battle, flying slowly around the building.

I poked my head up on the other side of the roof and discovered that while the silence did not extend as far down the wall here, it did still prevent me from even poking my head over the wall and speaking.  But I did see Avia battling the creature, and Nolin and Sabin coming to the top of the roof themselves, but I now was on the backside.

And there was still no sign of Olithar, here, on the side of the building he was supposed to be on, and I began to feel a tingle of concern move up and down my spine.  There was no sign of him on this wall that I could see.  I began to fear the worst.

Refocusing, I remembered from previous battles that our swordsmen had commented how much easier it was to strike an opponent who was concerned about an attack from the rear. So although I really am not well suited for close attack as others in our group were, I realized I was the only one on the backside of this creature. Soon she would have three formidable swordsmen in front of her, and if a distraction from the rear afforded them a better opportunity to defeat her, it seemed well worth it.  Besides, she couldn’t strike at all of us at once and although I was a distraction, I was much less a threat and might well provide a distraction without great danger to my much lesser armored self.  As a sorceror, I was rather useless in an area of silence anyway; here was a way I could contribute.

So I too engaged the creature, who noticed me instantly.  In the next attack she managed to get two jabs at Avia and one at me.  Wicked fast, I remembered belatedly as blood poured from my wound.

Emboldened, Rigel too was able to surprise the creature with an arrow (with surprisingly good results — she must have been practicing!) Avia continued to weaken it, and Nolin and Sabin joined their swords to the effort.  Bereft of my magic missiles and burning spheres, I brought out the claws and cut her up a little too.

I had a brief feeling of despair, like we weren’t winning the battle, but of course we were and I shook it off.  A quick glance, however, at the faces of Rigel and Nolin suggested they’d been hit by the same feeling and were fighting on grimly but with less enthusiasm.  Another spell, I realized.

Suddenly, she took to the air.  No longer in close quarters, Avia was able to peg her with a quick arrow before she winked out of sight. Xaneesha stopped circling and landed at one corner of the roof. Rigel shot an arrow at her and she too winked out of sight.  Hindsight suggests, since that was the first hit she’d taken, that she had been nothing more than a phantasm all along.  In fact, with greater hindsight, I realized that the creature we’d been battling was, in all likelihood, actually Xaneesha.

We noticed the silence had ended, and Kane hastily stumbled over his words as he told us that Olithar had actually been the first to engage Xaneesha, if you can call being turned to stone at first glance an engagement.  As we gaped, he continued that she had then pushed him over the edge and he had fallen over 150 feet to the ground below and broken into several pieces.  I glanced down and could make out a pile of stones which had been our friend. “I have a mend spell,” I said. “I’ll go down and put him back together and maybe we can do something for him.”  I started to descend.

Suddenly Xaneesha appeared one more time, hovering in the air, and shot a scorching ray which blistered Avia.  I stopped my descent and took the opportunity to send another magic missile her way, which struck most satisfyingly.  And then she disappeared again.  I hesitated, wanting to help Olithar but not wanting to abandon my friends if she were still present.  Avia tried to sense evil, but couldn’t find any sign of her. Perhaps she was gone for good.

And then, from below, we heard the most awful, gurgling scream that was quickly cut off.  The crowd, even from 180 feet up, seemed agitated and one or two broke away to inspect the broken status before backing away and pointing.  And I realized, there was no help for our friend.  The transformation to stone had been temporary, and the intended mending not in time.  He had resumed flesh form, but having been broken into several pieces, he quickly (we can hope) died, bleeding profusely onto the ground around him.

It took us almost two minutes to descend safely to the ground and make our way over to him.  By then it was certainly too late to do anything.  Kane explained that Olithar had no sooner realized that there was an area of silence over the roof than Xaneesha had turned her attention to him.  Her eyes had glowed green, Olithar startled … and then turned to stone.  No opportunity to defend himself, no opportunity to draw a foe’s blood. Her rush to then push him over the edge telegraphed what we could not know: the spell was not permanent, and if the battle went on long enough, he would become a threat again when the spell wore off.

And so, an ignominious — dare I say igneous? — end to our comrade. Like many of us, he had made arrangements in the case of his death, and first among them was an admonition that he was not to be brought back. Such an action would cost us thousands of gold even if we could arrange it, but his wishes took the possibility out of our hands.

We had on occasion discussed theology, he and I, and he was astounded to find that I considered clerics and paladins to simply be adept at manipulating magical energy, much as I am, and that I considered gods, churches, and religion in general to simply be a complex means of focusing upon the energy around us and manipulating it.  For me, I seem to be able to gather it and have it flow to me, but for people with “divine powers” they seem to require the trappings of the office — the garb, the weaponry, the symbols, the devotion — to attain the same command of magic.  They attribute this to gods while not realizing their own capabilities.

Although I dearly wish I could have such a discussion with him again, I see now the truth of my position.  If gods existed, and had power upon this earth, how could they allow something so evil as Xaneesha so meaninglessly take the life of not just a random person, but one of those few supposedly chosen to expand that god’s influence on earth? What’s the point of being a priest if you don’t get special treatment? If such gods exist and they treat those most loyal to them so shabbily, why on earth would anybody else give them the time of day?  No, it’s even more clear now that the pantheon of gods is just a human construct for explaining some people’s skill with magical energy.

We disagreed on this very basic belief, but still, it was always in a respectful way, and I shall miss him. I take no pleasure in being shown right.

It turns out that Rigel, that human truffle pig, had nosed around the areas at the rooftop and found a non-magical scroll [243] that was a list of names.  Many were crossed off, and we recognized them as victims from both Magnimar and Sandpoint.   It was clear by the mere existence of the list that the victims chosen were not at all random.  We had noted earlier that they seemed to come from all walks of life, but this list underscored that the collection, as a whole, was precisely designed and chosen to be a cross-section of the city and countryside.  To what end, I don’t rightly know.

Most notable among the names not yet crossed off were the mayor, and our own Rigel, which evoked an odd combination of pride and paranoia from her.  However, next to the mayor’s name were numerous notes about his comings and goings, his eating habits, his travel plans — many personal notes about his life.  If he was not yet a victim, he was destined to be soon unless he made some changes.

The guard was adamant about not being able to take us to the mayor until we made mention of what information this scroll held.  They paled and said they would talk to a supervisor.  So it was that Nolin and Sabin visited the mayor later that day; Nolin due in part to his having strong connections to the city, and Sabin due in part to his being particularly bored, I think. I can’t imagine he went along to facilitate the conversation.

They returned telling us that the mayor took the news most seriously, and had said he would see not only to his on safety but all of those on the list.  Nolin skeptically relayed this part, indicating by his gestures and inflection that he tended to believe they had simply been humored on the visit.  The mayor had stated, however, that if the killings did indeed stop for a week after this latest battle, we would be rewarded for our service to the town.

For our part, we’ve agreed to protect Rigel regardless of the mayor’s intentions, and Rigel graciously agreed to being the object of our protection, deciding that she liked being among the living and not becoming the canvas for a seven sided piece of grisly art.

Moonday, 13 Abadius

Seven days to the hour, Sabin and Nolin and I returned to the mayor’s office for a followup visit.  There have been no more killings, but we were unsure if the mayor meant what he said.  Can’t hurt to ask.  And to be honest, I can’t say if the absence of ritual murders was because she has truly left and moved elsewhere or she’s simply healing from the beating we gave her.  The mayor was not present at his office, according to his seneschal, but he was throwing a lavish dinner that evening in our honor and we should all show up at 6.

With the mayor not seen on this visit, we had visions of doppelgangers and golems and the perfect opportunity to kill us all in a single stroke were we to appear at this previously unannounced “dinner”.   However, upon reflection, we decided perhaps we were living just a wee bit paranoid.  Avia headed over a mite early to secretly scout the grounds and the area, and she did see the mayor, and evidence of a party being set up so perhaps our paranoia was a bit overmuch.

So we struck a balance, dressing well but by no means weaponless.  And other than hearty greetings, repeated toasts, many congratulations, and much shaking of hands, nothing unusual happened at the dinner.  Well the mayor DID award us each 6000 gold pieces. Each.  6000.  Gold.   Pieces.

It took a moment to realize that while we were not yet filthy rich, none of us was exactly dirt poor any more either. I’ll need to do some training in the coming weeks, and for once I’ll have no trouble paying for it. We really have come quite a distance in just a few months.

Most of us, I remind myself.  Some of us, sadly, were unable to complete the journey.

Wealday, Abadius 15

Olithar’s death still hangs over us. Over me.

I am not naive. This work that we do is dangerous and not without significant risk, and Olithar like the rest of us knew those risks and faced them willingly and without hesitation. In the past months we have seen many terrible sights, witnessed violence on a scale unheard of in modern times, and confronted an ugliness that would chill even the most hardened man. Though we never spoke of it directly, we were all aware of how close each of us has come, some of us over and over again, to giving our life for this cause, and that it was but a matter of time before misfortune caught up with us. And so it did.

Part of me understands Olithar’s wishes to not return, but part of me also wishes that it wasn’t so. Such is growing up, I suppose.

I am frustrated that Xanesha lives. We were close. We had her. But we lacked skill with ranged weapons, having relied too much on magic in the past to meet this need. As prepared as we were, the assault on the tower has revealed a critical gap in our capabilities, and it is one that must be filled.

One wonders how much higher a price we would have paid had we not taken the time to plan our rather unusual ascent up the clock tower. It is clear from Xanesha’s meager defenses that she had expected nothing more than a simple, direct assault from the interior stairs. By coming up the outside with magic to aid our ascent we were able to reach the scaffolding nearly unscathed, closing the distance so rapidly that they had no time to adjust to our tactics. The best they could muster were a few bricks that were left over from the feeble attempts to repair the structure, thrown at us as we climbed.

If our plan had a flaw, it was that it simply worked too well and allowed half of our party to reach the roof without adequate combat support. From what Rigel and Kane describe, however, that may not have mattered in the end, for Xanesha had a few tricks of her own and Olithar’s fate was sealed in the first few seconds of her appearance. The best we might have managed had we all been there would be to give her more targets to choose from, and that is a sobering thought.

Even unprepared and disadvantaged Xanesha proved a difficult and capable foe. Had we been forced to come up that scaffolding as she had intended we might be mourning more than just one of our friends. Our cleverness is cold comfort, however, as Olithar is dead while Xanesha lives. I am not one for revenge and settling scores, but…this situation does not sit well with me.

Joaqin says that feeling will pass. I hope so, because I cannot afford to have my judgement clouded.

The mayor has made us rich men (and women) and I have to admit that I am surprised, shocked even, at what he has done. Not just the money, or even giving us his word and then keeping it, but also the actions he has taken to protect his town, and the citizens whose names appeared on Xanesha’s list. This is not the Lord Mayor Blah Blah Horse’s Ass that I thought I knew, or maybe it’s that he’s far more complicated a man than I ever gave him credit for and that I only knew one facet of many. I don’t know. In the end, he is doing the right thing, and not just for himself.

I would never have guessed.

At the memorial service for Olithar at the temple of Sarenrae.

Near the conclusion of the service, Kane wearing the formal robes of an under-priest of Desna (colorful butterflies and all) walks slowly to the front of the room. Head bowed, he waits for the chuckles from the party to subside and whispering in general to stop.

In a soft voice

“I first met Olithar a couple months ago. Looking back, I can see the gentle touch of the Lady guiding me onto this path. For I was indeed lucky the day I met Olithar, he and his companions rescued me from being a sacrifice to the darkest of enemies. I did not see the Lady’s hand at this time, nor did I see the Light that guided Olithar to this meeting place, but I know now our paths were meant to cross. Olithar, like all big folk, was a mystery to me. He was a man of fiery passions. That was no more evident than on the fields of battle, always leading the charge, taking the fight to those that preyed on the weak and helpless. But, after battle and off the battlefield, Olithar was as gentle a soul as you would ever meet. He was taken into the Light before I could truly begin to understand him. He was a companion, a friend, and a mentor. Though we followed different paths to where we met, we parted company much to soon.”

Kane walks over to where urn containing Olithar’s ashes rest. Pausing, he bows his head in silent prayer. A continual flame appears in front of the urn. Turning back to the audience.

“I will always feel his loss, but am comforted that he is at peace in the Light.”

With that Kane steps down and returns to his place in the audience.

== Wealday, Kuthona 18, 4707; Magnimar, Kyver’s Islet; Afternoon ==

Having followed up on the contact information for payments to “B7” from Aldrin Foxglove we have found ourselves in a lumber mill called “The Seven” on Kyver’s Islet in the south of Magnimar. We’ve overcome attacks from the evil masked workmen there only to find ourselves in custody of one of the chief justices for the city itself, Ironbriar.

Avia had detected an evil presence in the room where Ironbriar was found alone and cloaked with invisibility. He was no longer radiating an evil aura by then, but we did detect two spells had been cast upon him — an enchantment and an abjuration. The latter could have been the result of his hiding his alignment.

And while Ironbriar did attack us at first, when the enchantment spell was removed he calmed down a great deal and became informative and almost helpful.

He claimed he had been enchanted by an evil enchantress named Xanesha, and that it was she who was responsible for the series of ritual murders that had plagued Magnimar for these past months. He admitted that he had played some part in the grizzly killings, but only while under Xanesha’s control. He was angry with Xanesha and wished her killed, but knew his influence and power in Magnimar was compromised, and he wished to leave the city as quickly as could be arranged.

Avia was dubious of his most of his claims, and thought the two best courses of action were to either hand him over to the city officials, or execute him ourselves.

The problem with the first proposal was that Ironbriar was the head of the city’s judicial system, and it was unlikely that our word would be taken over his. And the second proposal assumed his guilt with only the circumstantial evidence we possessed.

And yet to me he seemed to be telling the truth, or as much of the truth as concerned us. I spoke long with him about his faith, and found that he was a follower of Norgorber, which would indicate he probably did have an evil aura when not masked by magic. Followers of Norgorber are split among various factions, each following some specific aspect of their evil god and mostly ignoring one another. It made little sense for a career politician, of which Ironbriar was certainly one, to work toward destroying the very fabric of society from which he derived his power.

Ironbriar promised that if we let him go he would take care of the cultists (both dead and alive) that remained in the mill, and leave the city within twelve hours — just long enough to take care of some personal matters and provide an official reason for his extended absence from Magnimar.

He said if we allowed him this, he would provide us with information about Xanesha that we could use to find and eliminate her. Furthermore once he was safe and established in a new location he would send a reward back to us, as well as check up on our progress with Xanesha.

We debated his offer long among ourselves, and finally agreed providing that Ironbriar allowed Sabin and Trask to accompany him until we received the promised information. To this he acquiesced, using the cover of hiring the two as body guards to explain their sudden and constant presence in his company.

Unknown to Ironbriar, Kane and Rigel provided support for Sabin and Trask by using their stealthy skills to follow Ironbriar, and to make sure there was no obvious attempts at treachery.

They left for Ironbriar’s house a short while ago, and we are about to leave the mill ourselves. We gave Ironbriar the name of the inn at which we had been staying, but we plan to move to different part of town today. We will keep one room at the old inn for future correspondences with Ironbriar.

== Oathday, Kuthona 19, 4707; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Midnight ==

Kane arrived at our new inn just after midnight with news that Ironbriar was leaving the city via one of the southern gates. Task and Sabin were still with him and Rigel was tailing them.

As we quickly walked to catch up (at a discrete distance) can told us that Ironbriar had immediately gone from the mill to his grand house in the swanky Alabaster District, where he proceeded to send letters to various associates about town. He had been cordial to his two guests, even inviting them to share in his dinner, and hid nothing obvious from them. In fact at one point he apparently offered both long term employment, which they both declined.

Rigel caused a bit of commotion by sneaking into the house and setting off an alarm of some kind, but if he was suspicious of our party, he did not show it.

Shortly after midnight he changed into traveling clothes and left for the south of the city.

We ran into Sabin and Trask on their way back from seeing Ironbriar leave the city on foot. At the gate he had told them what he knew of Xanesha.

She had set up her headquarters in the ruinous structure known as the Shadow Clock. This tower was built in the Shadow district of Magnimar, an unsavory part of the city that resided completely beneath the ancient ruins of the Irespan.

The Irespan is nothing short of a massive bridge, perhaps built by or for a race of giants, that stretched westward over the bay from Magnimar. Everything about it is massive, although now all that remains of it is its eastern terminus. And yet even this tiny fragment is so large that it dwarfs all other structures on this side of the continent, and it covers an entire district of what is by no means a small city.

The name of the Shadow District itself may have its origins by being in the shadow of the Irespan, but it now reflects the nature of its businesses and inhabitants.

The Shadow Clock is a tall tower that was built many years ago to house a clock, but it was never completed and it has fallen into neglected decay. It is considered structurally unsafe, and the city has closed it off from the public.

Ironbriar said that Xanesha lived there with five “misshapen” men to do her bidding, and that it was she that taught him the vile sihedron ritual used in the murders.

She had also sent Aldrin to Foxglove Manor to collect the evil fungus that grew there, knowing full well what it would do to him.

Ironbriar also told us that Aldrin’s payments to the sawmill were for hush money to keep hidden the fact that he had murdered his fiance, Iesha.

We returned to the inn and briefly discussed our plan of action. Although Ironbriar saw to it that his departure from the city would not draw any undue attention, at least for a while, it would be obvious to Xanesha that he was no longer under her thumb. We decided to wait a couple of weeks before making our move against her in the hopes that she will have once again relaxed her guard.

This would also give time for Avia, Sabin, Kane and Rigel to train.

Trask, Nolin and I plan to make a short trip out from the city after sunrise to see if we can find a trace of where Ironbriar has gone.

== Oathday, Kuthona 19, 4707; Yondabakari River Valley; Evening ==

We set out on horse back as soon as it was light, leaving Magnimar by the southern gate and following the likely route used by Ironbriar. Despite the overcast sky and chill air our trip was at first pleasant as we traveled next to the Yondabakari flowing within the banks of its wide valley.

Small farms and hamlets lay on either side of the river with their fallow fields and prickly orchards of bare trees. Inns also lined the road, and after a pleasant break for lunch in one such pub we continued on.

The sun slowly wheeled around behind us and cast long shadows on the road ahead. Inns ceased, farms came further and further apart, and the number of people we passed on the road dwindled to a few hearty souls before petering out altogether.

The next village was an hour or more ahead and grey sky darkening with the fading light as we debated whether to push on to the comforts of a night indoors or find a suitable camp site near the road.

The road had dipped into a boggy stretch of land and was just beginning to rise back up again when we came upon three large mounds of mud and clay.

A grotesque toad-like head rose up from behind one mound and stared at us with protruding eyes. As we approached to investigate three slimey green creatures lept up onto the mounds and waved spiked clubs threateningly at us.

Boggards!

As a child my guardians had told us stories of the evil frog-like men who haunted the swamp lands, capturing and eating unwary travelers. I had thought these tales told to keep restless youth from straying far from the farm, but here they were in the flesh (warts and all) menacing my friends and I.

No doubt they thought we were farmers on the road at dusk hurrying to our home and fields and ill prepared to meet any attack. They thought wrong and were quickly slain.

Alas, but we found the remains of several hapless travelers on whom the boggards had feasted earlier. Little remained but 20 pieces of gold and a few basic weapons.

We wound up pushing on to the village and reserved a nice set of rooms for the evening. We had missed the usual evening sitting in the dinning room, but after hearing about our victorious encounter with the boggards the inn keeper was happy to stoke the kitchen fire and prepare a delightful late supper for us.

== Fireday, Kuthona 20, 4707; Yondabakari River Valley; Evening ==

An altogether uneventful day. We continued along the undulating road as it passed through a land of low hills which fell away to the south into a wide expanse of marsh.

By chance this evening we encountered a small caravan from Wartle heading towards Magnimar and we all agreed to share camp. They had seen nobody on the road matching Ironbriar’s description, which confirmed our suspicion that while he may have set out as a lowly traveler on foot, Ironbriar was a man of too many resources to remain so for long.

Our companions are a lively group, and we are all gathered about a small but bright peat fire which is keeping the fog from the swamplands at bay. While in stark contrast to the night before, our evening has proven to be no less accommodating.

== Starday, Kuthona 21, 4707; Yondabakari River Valley; Evening ==

A soft but prolonged drizzle started late in the night and we broke our sodden camp just before dawn. Being lightly burdened we left caravan behind as kept a brisk pace, and rode long until after dusk. We are but a few hours from Magnimar, but there is no urgent need for our return and the horses have earned a rest in a dry tall with hay and fresh water.

To be honest I too am glad to have a place to sleep indoors out of the persistent cold mist that followed us all day.

== Sunday, Kuthona 22, 4707; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Evening ==

We returned to Magnimar by mid day and Nolin has has decided that he too should hone his skills and sharpen his abilities before our encounter with Xanesha, leaving Trask and I to fend for ourselves.

We decided to reconnoiter the area about the Shadow Clock tomorrow.

== Moonday, Kuthona 23, 4707; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Evening ==

Like virtually all residents of Magnimar, I have seen the Irespan, and have even approached the top as close as city officials allow the public. But I have never before been at the feet of this cyclopean structure, and I must admit that it takes some getting used to. I walked about looking up and gaping like a yocal from the sticks who has wandered into a city for the first time.

The locals who we passed were completely oblivious to the thing under which they spent their lives. We followed their example and plunged deeper in the the Shadow District with eyes level. We kept a short distance apart, with me in the lead, but still close enough to rush to one another’s aid if needed.

The day was already dim with cloud cover, and it was like walking into twilight as we passed under the shadow of the bridge and made our way to the massive support near which the Shadow Clock had been built.

Had it been completed the Clock could have been a local wonder to lift the district up and above the unsavory reputation it now held. Now, however, it simply served to reinforce the feeling of sinister doings, secrets, and decay and ruin that permeated the area.

With a square base about sixty feet on a side the tower lumbers up on itself some one hundred and eighty feet, gently narrowing with its rise until it is capped by an ornate belfry. A large clock face frozen at three o’clock glares down upon passerby and the figure of an angel perches atop it all.

But it is all a ruin. The mortar between the stone and brick crumbles, the wood is gray and warped with age, and the windows gape out with no glazing. In some places metal framework pokes out from the ruptured skin of the building, and near the top on one side a teetering mass of scaffolding, itself now derelict, fights a losing battle to keep the structure from toppling down upon the business and residences that surround it.

We spent some time walking about the Clock, taking side streets and alleys so as not to be obvious in our intent, but saw nobody approach the tower, nor indeed pay any more attention to it than they did the bridge above.

Trask and I returned to the inn where we compared notes and drew a few diagrams and maps. We had seen no other entrance at ground level than the heavy doors which had been chained and locked by city officials, but it seemed like that was as good an approach as any.

The rest of the day began to weigh heavily on me and so I found father Tyrion at the Temple of Sarenrae and volunteered to help out with the local outreach programs that aided the less fortunate citizens of the city.

== Fireday, Kuthona 27, 4707; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Evening ==

Sabin and Kane have completed their training.

== Wealday, Abadius 1, 4708; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Morning ==

It is New Year’s Day! There was a midnight ceremony at the Temple of Sarenrae in which I participated, just as last year. I cannot help but to reflect back upon the old year and all the changes it brought.

== Fireday, Abadius 3, 4708; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Evening ==

Avia returned to the inn looking confident and ready to resume the hunt for Xanesha. Rigel also returned from training, but is often the case with her we did not notice her arrival so much as we simply became aware that she was once again with us.

When we returned to our old inn for our daily check of message from Ironbriar we found a cloaked man waiting for us in the common room. Without exchanging any names or details we informed him that we were following the advice of our common friend and being cautious about tying up a certain “loose end.” We told him we ought to have more to report in two weeks time.

He stated that the parcel beneath the table was for us, and got up and walked out.

After the usual checking for traps and magical devices we took the box up to our room and opened it. Within were seven small bars of gold — each worth five hundred gold pieces.

This was more awkward for some of us than others, but I know that what is not immediately spent defeating Xanesha from my share — for I view the gold as payment in advance for services to be rendered — will go toward the local charities the Temple of Sarenrae supports.

== Sunday, Abadius 5, 4708; Magnimar, The Copper Griffin; Evening ==

There was another ritualized murder last night. While rumor of the killing swept through the city in the usual way, we sought out our contacts in the town guars to glean additional information.

The more than two weeks since the previous killing was the longest interval between any two killings since they began — typically there was a murder every few days. We could not help but connect this to our activities at Aldrin’s townhouse some two weeks earlier and Ironbriar’s departure from the city.

We found Nolin, and although he had a week of training left he agreed that we could not delay our investigations while the murder spree continued.

== Moonday, Abadius 6, 4708; Magnimar, Shadow District; Dawn ==

Well before dawn we made our way to the Shadow District and approached the doors enmasse. Our plan was to simply walk up to the doors, disarm any traps, unlock any locks, and then move inside as if we were authorized to do so. It seemed likely that any attempt at a covert operation in this shady district would generate more notice (and possible interference) than a direct approach.

Our plan worked and soon we were inside. But the interior of the clock, while perhaps fascinating to an architect or builder, sadly dissapointed us.

From within the Shadow Clock looked more decrepit and tumble down than even its ruinous appearance from the outside indicated. It was a single, massive chamber towering up into the darkness above with no floors or partitions beyond the handful of ramshackle walls leaning against one another along the eastern wall.

Windows were cut into the tower higher up, but the pre-dawn sky still looked inky black from within. We brought out our magical torches and looked about the place in dismay.

The floor was made from stone, and showed no signs of any secret trap doors leading down. A rickety stair led up and up, connecting with the outer walls some fifteen feet up and following them around and around as it spiraled up to the top, which skulked in darkness.

A few piles of rubbish littered the floor here and there, and through the gaping doorways in the eastern interior walls we could see that the ceiling for the rooms had collapsed and they were now open above the the main chamber.

We noticed a large number of foot prints in the dust on the floor leading up the stairs, and checked the stairway very carefully only to find that it was as unstable and unsafe as appearance made it appear.

One door to an interior chamber in the northeast corner was intact and closed, and as I made my way towards it to see what lay within, a huge creature stood up from what I had thought was a pile of refuse and attacked. It looked like someone had stitched together various parts from animals, humans and other creatures into a single nightmarish form. It wielded a scythe with unexpected skill and from a belt around its middle hung an assortment of shrunken heads.

It proved resistant to fire and damage our normal weapons, but Avia switched to using the adamantine sword and was dealing the thing deathly damage. After a fierce battle Sabin finished it off by planting his axe in its face.

[241] +1 scythe (Nolin)
[242] cloak of Elvenkind (Avia)

Beyond the door was yet another room with a collapsed ceiling and nothing more.

Trask and Sabin volunteered to clamber up the rickety stairs to see what was at the top of the tower, and as they began their ascent the rest of us continued to search the base of the tower, uncovering a sack with coins and a few other valuable looking oddments.

125 gold pieces
309 silver pieces
a tarnished silver ring with “To AV, with love” inscribed on it (not magical)
an ornate silver mirror

We heard a loud creaking sound as the stairs complained of their load and threatened to come down. Trask and Sabin came down, and Sabin, who could cast Feather Fall and save himself in the event of an emergency, climbed up alone.

Three times around Sabin ascended the stairs and came to the level where a window was set into each of the four walls. By now the sky was pale, and we could watch his progress in the wan light.

Sabin then paused, as if listening to something above, and all of a sudden there was an incredible cacophony of clanging and clanking as one of the massive tower bells came crashing down. It smashed through the stairs where Sabin was standing and tumbled to the ground, crashing into Trask before coming to rest on its side.

Sabin drifted slowly to the ground and said he had heard someone sawing through the ropes that held the bell just before it came down. We healed him and Trask and were debating our next course of action (a Fireball shot up to the top was momentarily a popular idea) when there came a great banging at the doors.

The entire west end of Magnimar had no doubt heard the frightful noise of the bell, and the City Guard had showed up to investigate.

The chief constable was highly suspicious of our presence at the tower, but we managed to deflect his concerns toward the corpse of the scarecrow monster we had slain. He asked the crowd that had now gathered around the doors if they had seen anything like this in the area before, and one man said he had seen it coming in and out from the tower, and another reported that things could be seen flying in and out from the top of the Clock.

The constable inspected the bell and commented on how it looked like the ropes had been partially cut through some time ago, and then the rest of the way quite recently.

We told him that we wanted to climb the tower to catch whoever it was that dropped the bell on us (and who was no doubt responsible for the strange monster), to which he acquiesced. He set up a watch about the tower to keep and eye on our progress and to see if anything flew in or out while we were scaling the Clock.

We are currently discussing how best to climb up now that the stairs are impassable, and have decided upon some combination of Spider Climb and ropes.

The sun is just now peeping over the horizon although it is still dark beneath the Irespan, and it is time for me to pray. We shall have full need of the spells Sarenrae can grant me this day.