We have decided that at low tide we will go back down to the beach and check for another way to get into the complex. Trask and I sat watch while the other slept four hours. Nothing interesting happened while the other slept and Trask and I moved around to make sure nothing got in. After four hours we woke up the party and got ready for travel back down to the beach.

Down to the beach we go. A lot of standing around as Avia and Nolan swim out to check for alternative ways to get to the goblins other then walking across the bridge. I was a little concerned about swimming out there as I could see that Avia and Nolan were struggling, I think it would be safer to dodge arrow then make that swim.Nolan found hand holds under the bridge but we decided that the effort to swim out and climb was not worth it. Next they checked out a very little island, yah more standing around. In the end we decided to just go back, sleep and go across the bridge during the day.

I have discovered that Sedgwick does not know undercommon. He seemed disturbed that I was speaking in a language that he did not understand. Sedgwick’s obsession with language is kind of funny and at the same time frightening. Did I make the wrong choice; I don’t seem to be the same as the other wizards. I was so obsessed with learning magic that even banishment did not matter to me. All that training to learn magic and in the heat of the moment I revert back to the old ways and just hit things with my axe.

The next day when I woke there was Halfling . It seems that he was supposed to be fed to the beast when Avia, Rigal, and Olithar saved him, even more dead globins. After regaining our spells we began the raid on the goblin fortress.

We devised a plan to get through the doors. It worked well enough that one goblin came out and he was killed before he could close the gate. We quickly killed the goblins from the barracks and the goblins in both towers, seems the goblins in the towers didn’t even know they were being attacked. Looks like we over planned and over estimated goblins at least to this point. Chanting from behind double doors provided guidance on where to go next. Leading the way Avia headed into the room, these were a lot tougher then the wimpy goblins as evident when Avia was dropped by a pair of commanders, and luckily our healers were able to heal her up again after the battle. I was able to get in a couple of killing blows and the mighty Sedgwick was also able to show some skill with the bow as the last remaining commander fell. All is as it should be, we are alive and the goblins are dead. We kept the king alive so that we can question him before we finish killing him. Well I guess he is the king, given how many goblins we have killed I am not sure how much of a kingdom he has left. After we get some information from him it will be time for us to reunite him with his followers.

Fireday, Lamashan 11, 4707; Thistlestop; two hours past midnight

Goblins are slow on the uptake, but they do eventually catch on. After the silent image of a frisky pooch failed to bring any additional goblins over, and firing arrows and balls of fire resulted in just more of the same in return, we decided to change the bait.

After a few minutes study, Sedjewick created the image of one of the most recent goblin guards sent over, happily holding a large greasy bone with copious amounts charred bits of flesh hanging from it. He then positioned it at the foot of the bridge, beckoning to those in the fortress to come over and enjoy the feast.

How could any goblin resist? Certainly three of them could not, and soon the garrison was short handed by a trio of guards.

When the same image failed to bring over additional suckers, Sedjewick changed the image to be Tsuto, who then stood on the near side of the bridge and sternly glared at fortress, gesticulating firmly that they were to send aid.

Unfortunately having already lost nearly a dozen guards in less than an hour, someone in the the fortress had become suspicious, or at least confused enough to stop any additional goblins from heading over.

One of the goblins stuck his head out of the gate and shouted a few words. Unfortunately none of us speak goblin, and so after an awkward moment of silence, the goblin made a rude gesture towards the image of Tsuto and closed the gates.

We then decided it was time to explore around the foot of the island in the hopes that there would be another entrance.

We spent a fair amount of time discussing whether we should leave the bridge intact, cut it down, cut the ropes such that if anyone tried to cross it would collapse, or cut the bridge down but tie ropes on our end so we could pull it back up.

In the end, after noticing that the bridge was most probably trapped at the far side such that the goblins could send intruders plunging to the rocks below, we decided to leave the bridge as it was, and just head down to check out the beach.

But low tide was not until midnight, and so we decided that most of our party would sleep for four hours, while Task and Sabin kept watch, and then we would all catch on sleep up in the wee morning hours after the search.

At 10:00 we propped up some of the dead goblin guards near the bridge head and lit a camp fire near them, hoping it would give the illusion that watchful eyes held vigil.

We then scampered back down the trail and onto the beach. The sea was out far enough that we could walk to where the island was closest to the head. It did not look encouraging. The island was eighty feet off shore, and while the water was relatively calm in the ebb tide, small waves still splashed against its rocky feet. I estimated that the water plunged at least twenty deep at the shallowest point.

The island itself was round — incredibly so; almost like a huge stone ball had been dropped and sunk halfway. There were no obvious caves or access routes up the eighty feet to the top.

This prompted a discussion on whether we should tackle the cavern on the main- land side first. The fierce creature that guarded the room was apparently not nocturnal, and should be fast asleep having gorged itself on all of the goblins we had tossed down its hole earlier that day.

Once again Sabin was the logical choice to enter, because only he could see in the dark. At least this time he was able to walk in from the north cave entrance and look for secret passages without having to swim.

The only thing he found was satiated bunyap.

Back to the island. I volunteered to swim out to the island and work my way around the base to see if there was some other way in or up on the far side, but Avia and Nolin were far better choices for this task, and they agreed to head over.

Because this was a scouting foray, and because they would be swimming for most of it, they shed their heavy armor, and with a silk rope tied to Nolin they splashed into the cold water and swam to the island.

Nolin made his end of the rope fast to the rocks, and we did the same on our end, providing an easier passage to and from the island. Avia then remained on guard where the rope was tied while Nolin, who had the greater skill for both swimming and climbing, slowly worked his way around the island.

It was disconcerting to watch him work his way around the side of the island, occasionally falling into the sea and having to climb back out, and finally vanishing from view. After maybe a half an hour he appeared around the other side of the island. A few minutes later he and Avia were back with us as we listed eagerly to Nolin’s report.

It was not good news. There were crude hand holds just beneath the rope bridge, which would still leave a nearly impossible climb for most of us, but there was no other way up, or secret entrance.

On the eastern side of the island he had seen a large patch of overgrown vegetation hanging down over a hollow in the cliff’s edge. He watched as a bird, disturbed from its roost by something, fly out and under the vegetation. Just as the bird flew by a long tentacled arm shot out and grabbed the hapless bird with an explosion of feathers, snatching it into the darkness.

He also noticed a small island just to the east, closer to the main land. Earlier in the day the sea mists had obscured it, but now its wet rocky surface gleamed in the moonlight.

Avia and Nolin swam out to this island, with Rigel following after a rope was secured, but other than the remnants of an old camp fire perhaps a few months old, they found nothing of interest.

On the beach we held a brief discussion about what to do next.

It was obvious that the rope bridge was our only way across. It was also obvious that we needed to get to the far side to prevent anyone from releasing the bridge’s suspension ropes while we crossed.

We decided to use the image of Tsuto again, but this time he would be leading a gang of “prisoners” into the fort. Sedjewick would create the image over himself, and Avia and Sabin would pose as his able assistants, with the rest of us each playing the role of down trodden captive.

The Tsuto image would include a bloody cloth around his neck, explaining (or so we hoped) why Tsuto could not talk.

We then set up a watch and most of have prepared for sleep.

Fireday, Lamashan 11, 4707; Thistlestop; morning

Some time after the sun came up, those of us who were awake and on watch heard the sound of goblin squeals coming from the entrance to the bramble encampment.

Rigel had placed caltrops there earlier, which gave us an early alert. Avia and I raced over to the sound of the squeals while Rigel ran to the head of the bridge to see if we were attacked on two sides.

Avia and I saw a small band of goblins sitting on the ground and pulling caltrops from their feet. They looked disheveled (even for goblins) and injured, as if they had been in a fight before arriving.

In their midst was a small naked halfling tied to a pole held by several of the goblins. A prisoner!

Avia and I charged in, slicing and dicing goblins and making short work of the unhappy band. Rigel arrived then and may have shot an arrow or two into the fray because one of the goblins was tormenting his prisoner while we dealt with the his fellows.

A short time later and the only goblins around were dead.

I cut the bonds on the halfling and untied the gag in his mouth. Out streamed a long string of words in some foul tongue, which I was fairly sure was a curse aimed at his dead captors.

His name is Kanelbene and he is a priest of Desna! And he speaks goblin.

He was heading to Sandpoint for the Swallowtail Festival when he and his companions were attacked by a large band of goblins. They were overwhelmed, and all killed except for him. Kane, as he calls himself, was only taken alive because the goblins realized he was a follower of Desna, and planned to sacrifice him to Lamashtu.

We explained what had happened in Sandpoint, and why we were here. Kane was all too happy to help us in quest to find Nualia, and to help kill any goblins that might stand in our way.

We revised our plan to include Kane as one of Tsuto’s cohorts, and dressed him in the goblin armor and robe we had liberated earlier. A blood soaked rag for a hood to conceal his face completed the disguise.

We are rested and ready to put our plan into effect. I feel highly confident that we will be able to easily gain access to the fortress with no fighting at all, and then… well then we will see what we find.

Fireday, Lamashan 11, 4707; Thistlestop; before noon

All appeared to be going well as Sedjewick, posing as Tsuto, and Kane walked over the bridge. On the far side Kane called out that his master, Tsuto was injured and demanded entrance.

The gate opened and a single goblin guard came out. We then discovered that the goblins hated Tsuto, and hated Nualia even more. He was incredibly suspicious and wasn’t buying our cover story that Tsuto had returned and captured those who had been luring goblins across the bridge to their deaths the previous day.

He recognized the cloak Kane was wearing, and realized that something was amiss.

As he called out a warning about intruders, Kane released a cloud of obscuring mist before the gates (part of our back up plan), as the rest of us grabbed weapons and raced across the bridge (the rest of our back up plan).

The goblin guard was dead in an instant and we all passed through the still open gates, closing and barring them behind us.

The floor in the entry chamber was packed dirt, and on one wall were mounted the poorly preserved heads of horses and dogs. On another wall a pair of bat wings were pinned with some rusty knives, but there was also a much nicer knife, which I nabbed for the group.

[1100] Steel pearl handled knife

From behind a far door we heard the shout of goblins and half a dozen or so charged in and attacked. They died rather quickly with minimal effort or cost.

We then began to explore the fortress. The walls and doors were all salvaged from other structures (mostly ship wrecks we guessed), and were poorly assembled, but none the less quite sturdy.

Avia and Sedjewick quickly moved on to take out the guards in the west tower — I later heard Sedjewick guarded the base of the tower while Avia killed the two goblins that we sleeping above by herself.

Sabin and I made for the east tower, checking on a few doors before we got there: the most important thing we found was a set of stairs leading down.

There were two guards in the east tower who gave us little trouble.

We looked out over the rest of the fortress and saw that most of it was under cover. Some goblin dogs ran about a large yard at the foot of the west tower, and it looked like two goblins were sleeping (or dead) next to an out building.

We met the rest of our party on the main level, before a pair of double doors at the end of a short hall. Kane was listening at the door and he reported the sound of chanting, and goblin voices calling out commands.

We burst in, with Avia in the lead, and the rest of us close behind.

This was a large room used for ceremonies — perhaps a throne room of sorts. In one corner was a curved raised dais, upon which sat an ornately clothed goblin with a big head and a crown (a goblin king?). Next to him was another goblin chanting and on his other side a giant chameleon that hissed menacingly at us.

There were four posts in the center of the room that supported the roof, and set with iron spikes, impaled on which were hands. Furs and pelts clad the walls, and a large horse skull was mounted above the seated goblin.

The goblins in this room appeared better equipped and better trained than any goblins we had encountered before, and for a brief moment I was worried about the outcome of the battle.

There was a group of goblin fightewrs in the center of the room, and we took these on first.

We realized that the chanter was supporting these goblins much like Sedjewick does when he sings, and he became the target for our ranged attacks.

Rigel, Trask and occasionally Sabin launched attacks at the chanter and it fell, removing that advantage from our foes. All the while Sedjewick sang on and provided what ranged support he could.

Avia and Nolin provided our first line of fighters, with Sabin and I providing the second line. We were all fighting quite well and had already dropped two of the uber goblins (Avia took one out in her first attack) when the king called out some orders and the three or four goblin fighters who had held back near him all leapt into the fray, with two of them attacking Avia.

Kane was channeling energy from Desna to heal us, but I was caught in combat and could offer no immediate healing assistance. The king sent his chameleon against Nolin and lept into the fray himself, felling Avia with a mighty blow.

I had always known that Nolin was a quite capable fighter, but I did not realize how effective he could be when motivated. He quickly finished off the chameleon and then turned to face the king and slew him with a single swing of his great sword, cleaving the great goblin’s head in two.

Avia was quickly healed, and we bound the goblin king, and I stabilized him so he would not die.

We have questions.

Rigel and the others are gathering the equipment and possessions from our fallen foes so that we may use them for good.

Ambush!!! Goblin attack. Goblins were short lived as we slaughtered this band of boot biters. Even pretty boy almost got dirty. I have never really cared for the taste of goblin and these things are too weak to be considered anything but pests. I killed a goblin or two but the party would have slaughtered these vermin even if I was not there. So we moved on.

Down the beach we heading and up to an underwater cave. As I can see without the requirement of a light source I went into the water to check out the cave, trask at my side. He obviously could not see as he almost ran his head into the rocks a couple of times. Inside the cave we found what Sedgwick described as bunyip, half shark and something else. After a discussion we decided to leave this sea creature alone for now and move on. Feasting on the meat of the bunyip just was not meant to be, at least not yet!

Backtracking we worked our way up to towards the bridge we found caves cut into the brush. Rigal, Olithar and I scouted into the tunnels. We witness Globins dropping other globins into a hole. We later discovered that they were feeding the bunyip. We found what looked to be two groups of goblins, a main force and an area with growling sounds. A great cat like thing jumped out and as we took its life we heard a goblin cry out, looks like someone lost a familiar. There was some confusion as Avia started to run over and help Nolan but instead had to run back and save Trask as he was overrun with goblins. Rigal, traks, Olithar, and Avia had this situation well in hand so I moved back over to assist Nolan. As I returned to Nolan the goblin mage returned with a flaming blade. That cool flaming blade hit me and everything went blank. Nolan must have slain this creature while I was out, I am not sure how long I was out but someone had stripped the gear off the goblin mage while I was out. Through the ringing in my ears I can almost hear fathers words “Magic, why you want to become frail and weak, only those cursed with magic in their blood not true warriors. You not even bless by the gods, you bring dishonor to the family. You no longer my son”. Could I have actually not traveled down the correct path? My master did tell me that the path of the wizard is not suited for everyone and that I still must find my true path. Did I dishonor my family for nothing?

For the rest of the day we found interesting ways to kill goblins, Olithar played goblin on a stick to present a goblin and then shoot bolts at the towers. We didn’t really get to kill any goblins that way but we were entertained. Sedgwick used silent image to create a dog and then other goblins as we used these images to lure countless goblins to their deaths. At least this time as was able to properly assist Nolan and Avia in slaughtering these pesky goblins. Bloody goblins and goblins parts started to stack up, although the goblins are fresh meat I have never liked the taste of goblin so I will just eat the travel rations. The humans are squeamish anyway so eating goblins is not really an option; besides these are just weak goblins, there is nothing to be gain by consuming there heart.

Oathday, Lamashan 10

The fact that there is an entry here at all rather foreshadows the result of our skirmish with the goblins. And that, truly, is what it turned out to be — a skirmish, not a battle. Despite their superior numbers, they could not overcome a significant handicap: they were goblins.

There was 10-12 of them, and although there was a line of archers at the rear to pepper us with arrows, there aim was as good as mine with my darts. For the most part, their strategy didn’t harm us. Several including myself had minor wounds, but my two magic missiles gave more damage than I took. I was hoping to use burning hands to good effect, but the rest of our group was so eager to engage the little pests that I couldn’t use it for fear of harming friends.

Friends. Do I have friends? I guess slowly and imperceptibly I may have gained some. I at least have comrades in arms, and we fight to protect each other as much as ourselves. While my magic missiles are unerring, I must admit I admire the smiting that the paladin and half orc are capable of. From what father told me before I left, as I learn more spells and gain more experience at handling magic, I will become valuable in different ways, but there’s something attractively visceral about being able to cleave an enemy in two.

In any case, Olithar was able to do a group heal which fixed all the minor wounds I received in the batt- I mean, skirmish. A quick search among all the bodies revealed all of 10gp. Still, that’s almost one gp per goblin which is unusually rich from my limited experience.

We continued on to the coast, somewhat more wary now but also somewhat more confident. I was carrying the scroll of burning hands we retrieved earlier, as well as the scroll of cure light wounds and the metal wand of shocking grasp.

Upon reaching the coast (and it wasn’t much farther) we followed the treeline along the coastline for a ways until we were able to catch sight of what Sedgwick said was Thistletop. It was a tall, roughly cylindrical island separated from the mainland by only a hundred feet or two, if that, and joined to it by a rope bridge. Atop it appeared to be some sort of garrison or barracks — in any case, it had visible guards.

Well before we reached its base, however, we found a small cove with what appeared to be a partly underwater cave leading into the mainland. It spoke well of our luck to find this, as it was low tide and during high tide, the opening might not even be visible. As it was, it seemed likely that one would end up having to swim underwater to truly examine it.

Having some aptitude in that, I volunteered, as did Sabin. Sabin had the advantage, however, of incredibly good eyesight in low light, and we didn’t have to go far in before a) we were forced underwater, and b) the light became decidedly more faint. He quietly made his way to a chamber inside where he observed what the locals call a ‘bunyip’. It looked like a very large sea lion or walrus, with unhelpful elements of a shark, and apparently it is carnivorous and does have a reputation for sometimes attacking boats and eating fishermen. The cavern also featured some sort of opening from which there was light, so we assumed it opened to the sky (probably some dozens of feet up judging from the heigh of the cliff we must be beneath.)

Upon reporting this, there was a vigorous discussion of the bunyip’s purpose. We thought at first it might be a guard for the goblins, but finally concluded it might also just be a sea creature, and we had found its home. We also decided killing it might be hard and really of no value. And so we spared its life. (Or fate spared ours; one never knows.)

As part of that discussion, we decided an attack by sea was ill-advised. It wasn’t at all clear we even could reach the pinnacle of Thistlestop via ascent, and even if we could, we would be under constant attack by guards from above since such an approach could hardly be construed as stealthy. Well, strike that — it could be if we did it at night, but climbing wet, slippery rocks in the dark would seem idiotic to even the dimmest among us.

So it was we decided to ascend the mainland cliff and scout the rope bridge. This was also not simple; unless we truly meant to go straight up (see detriments listed above) we needed to backtrack some and find a way to “ascend” through the woods where the land was lower and more level.

Exploring in this direction, as we neared the top of the headlands we found a thicket of brush and bramble. There seemed to be some game trails which led through it here and there, but the tallest among us had to hunch over to avoid getting caught on the brambles. The passages seemed to be a 2-4 feet wide and maybe five feet high.

Before too long, we found these game trails seemed to lead to a what appeared to be a more heavily used trail. It was not much taller, but noticeably wider. We surmised we were getting close to the rope bridge and perhaps these bigger trails had been made by goblins. We were on alert.

Fortunately, in a poorly executed manner of hiding the trail, we came upon what seemed to be a door-ish appearing effort of woven bramble across the trail. It was clearly an artifical construct, and drew us to that path like a moth to light. We knew now we were on the right trail.

Rigel went ahead to scout, and while she was gone we heard a tremendous roar followed by goblin voices. We were all quite grateful to see her return unharmed, and although she was able to elaborate upon the variety of forks and trails that lay ahead, she too had heard the noise but could not explain it.

Sabin, Rigel, and Olithar moved cautiously ahead and to the right to explore an area that Rigel had not. They bore witness to a barbaric sight. A small party of goblins dragged another towards a hole in the ground. The dragged goblin was bound, seemed terrified, and was struggling as best he could while bound. Without too much difficulty the party of goblins tossed him into the hole. After a brief pause, there was another roar, clearly emanating from the hole, but it sounded less … demanding. Could such an animal sound connote … satisfaction?

The trio quietly came forward after the guards left. This apparently set off some yapping from goblin dogs further to the right, but they went to the hole, peered down it, and suddenly it was all clear. The hole led to the bunyip lair. And the bound goblin had become … bunyip lunch. Or dinner. But why would they be feeding their own to this creature? What hold did the creature have over them that they would feel compelled to do so?

Cautiously following the trail the guards had taken, they found it led to an overlook of the rope bridge and, of course, the beaches below. Had we come this way, we would not have arrived in secret. West of this viewpoint came the sound of goblin voices and possibly the flicker of a fire. Returning to our party, the scouts found yet another lookout roughly to the south of the goblin voices.

Strategizing commenced. It is very easy to overthink goblin strategy, we reminded ourselves, so we did not need to come up with a clever or complex path. Simply put, we decided to lure as many guards as we could back to the hole with another bunyip-like noise, and pick them off one by one. We could control two forks and attack them from the rear after they passed, as well as the front. We may not draw all of the guard out, but when one doesn’t return, presumably more will come out to investigate. The dogs seemed penned up. We could take them out later, like shooting fish in a barrel.

Myself, Rigel, and Avia would be the rear attack. Olithar, Sedgwick, and Nolin would be the frontal attack. Sedgwick would use his mimicry skills to reproduce the sound, and then they would engage the guards that appeared. We would cut off their escape should they retreat. If there seemed to be some left, repeat.

What could go wrong?

Things went wrong right from the start. Despite Olithar’s insistence that he’d heard dogs, when the sound went up his party was attacked by a large CAT, and this wasn’t any old housepet. It jumped upon Olithar and the three of them battled to get it off before they could even engage the goblins. When finally the slew the beast, a single, great, goblin-like cry arose from further up the trail.

No sooner had they slain the creature than the goblins were upon them. One battled them while the second slipped into the passage towards the dogs.

Meanwhile, I was frustrated because our party was to provide rear attack and instead my companions had followed me as I cautiously advanced up the corridor. “Go back!” I hissed. “Go help the others!” And as Rigel and Avia took off towards the sound of battle, I discovered goblins are not without ears.

More goblins than one person should fight emerged from the firelit room, responding to the ruckus. I was able to surprise one, but needed to back up slowly to avoid being surrounded. I toyed with yelling for help, but that might also bring goblin reinforcements if my voice echoed across the nearby chasm. My best hope was that my companions would now hear the sound of THIS battle, and return. This was an excellent time for burning hands, but unfortunately it is somewhat trickier to execute during hand to hand combat and the spell fizzled. I took some cuts and glanced anxiously over my shoulder.

Nolin, meanwhile, had entered the dog area and found 4 there tethered. The goblin that had escaped was here and now with a little time to eyeball him, he appeared to be a magic user of some sort. Not one to be distracted by pretty robes, however, Nolin ripped into him. With little ceremony, and in under a minute, he was a brightly dressed, dead goblin.

Seeing that there were no visible goblins (Gogmurt, the magic user, had disappeared from their sight before their arrival), my companions turned around and came back to find me fighting several goblins. With Avia there, and eventually the rest of the party, we were able to put them down. My wounds were again minor, despite the early mismatches, and Olithar later did another mass heal which brought me back to full health.

With the goblins dead, and the dogs still tethered, we could take time to examine what we’d found. In particular, the magic user seemd to have some interesting belongings. There was:

some +1 leather armor [115] (goblin sized, alas)
a +1 cloak of resistance [116] (also hanky sized)
a potion of cure light wounds [117]
a potion of speak with animals [118]
two potions of tree shaping [119]
a wand of produce flame [31 charges][120]
a spear [121] that was not magical
a sling [122] that was not magical

Following the trail to its ending, we found another bramble barrier which, when removed, led us to the rope bridge.

We returned and killed the dogs, which were still tied up. Not very sporting, I know, but better safe than sporting.

In the firepit room, we found evidence of a sleeping area, but little else. It was still a little mysterious as to what this encampment was for, given that apparently goblin sacrifices were made here. Unless .. maybe that’s it. If the goblin with the magic items had been a priest then maybe the bunyip provided a convenient means of sacrifice. Come to think of it, the struggling goblin HAD been dressed differently …

Or was the shaman their captor, and .. but then the guards …

Hmm.

Watching secretly from one of the guard posts, we could see the guards on the other side seemed to be amusing themselves rather than actually guarding. They also seemed to be dressed differently than those on the bodies on this side. The bridge did not seem particularly well maintained.

Recalling just how intelligent goblins were (idiots) we concocted a cunning plan. Goblins hate dogs. Sedgwick created the illusion of a dog, had it run out onto the bridge, and bark several times. Sure enough, 4 goblins eventually came over to try to kill it. When they followed it into the woods, we killed them. Four less …

We also used the bodies of the goblins we killed to appear to be watchmen at the viewpoints. The towers started shooting at the (dead) goblins. We shot back. Eventually they started shooting flaming arrows and “killed” one of the dead goblins, so we had to replace it. This time, we shot flaming arrows back. There was now a full fledged flaming pincushion war going on. The flaming arrows actually set small portions of the wooden towers on the far side on fire, although there were in no immediate danger of burning to the ground. I raised the stakes by using the wand to actually send a fireball over.

Four burlier looking guards came over to “punish” us. Once they entered the forest .. four less.

Some felt this was going too slowly. Myself, I’m thinking they’re just stupid enough to keep it up until there are few enough left that we can simply storm the gate. But a growing number of our party thinks even now a raiding party might be sneaking up on us, having exited Thistlestop thru some secret passage. The consensus seems to be we should take the fight to them. Sigh. This is working, after all! Oh well. I don’t feel strongly enough about it to argue.

Oathday, Lamashan 10, 4707; Thistlestop; Late afternoon

We had left the road this morning and were marching through the area the locals call the Pauper’s Graves when the goblins struck. A small swarm of these little vermin ran screaming out from the Nettlewood on our right.

A little better organized than the goblin foes we’d already encountered, this force included a half a dozen archers who formed a line at the forest eaves as their the main force of fighters swept in and engaged us in melee.

Better organized or not, they were still goblins, and we swiftly killed the lot of them with minimal injury to ourselves.

We continued our hike to the coast, a little more warily than before, and soon came to a small bluff overlooking the deep blue waters of the Varisian Gulf. Scrambling down onto the beach we walked northward on the as the land began to rise upon our right.

After about an hour of pleasant walking, the beach became more pebbly than sandy and what had been a gentle rising bluff leading up to the east had become a rocky cliff, which soared ever higher.

The shore line bent around to the west and looking ahead above the hazy mist of sea spray we saw a great headland jutting out to the north and ending in a precipitous fall a hundred feet down to the water. A steep sided island abruptly rose up from the water to the same height, as if some giant among giants had taken his gargantuan axe and cleaved the great gash between island and headland.

We crept along the foot of the cliff for cover and were soon close enough to see that a long and narrow plank bridge suspended between ropes connected the top of the cliff to the island heights. Upon the island itself were vague forms of ancient stone structures, but these were overshadowed by a more recent wooden fortress. Before the fortress walls we could barely make out the shapes of goblins and their accursed goblin-dogs patrolling the perimeter.

Our way west was blocked by a finger of the sea that had flooded a large fissure in the cliff, some ten to twenty feet wide and perhaps a hundred feet deep. The steep walls of the cleft kept the water in perpetual shadow even in the the bright midday sun, but nestled into the far wall we could descry the entrance to a cave at the water’s edge.

Most of the cave was underwater, but because it was already low tide, this was the best time to explore where it might lead. Sabin and Trask volunteered, and after leaving their gear with us they plunged into the cold gulf water and swam over to the cave. A few feet in the cave was completely submerged, and it was dark within, but Sabin having the natural eyesight of his people dove beneath the water and swam in some sixty feet.

There the cave opened up into a natural grotto with a domed ceiling. In the center of the dome was a circular patch of blue from a great natural shaft that climbed straight up to daylight more than a hundred feet above. To the north was another cave that led out to light, and to the south was a ledge some fifteen feet long following the curve of the cavern wall just above water level.

Upon the ledge slept a large half shark and half seal monstrosity! Sabin quietly dove back through the cave and out to where Trask waited, and swam back to the relative safety of the beach.

We decided to back track south a ways to where the cliff was lower and easily scaled, and then make our way along the cliff top to investigate the bridge.

The Nettlewood. Now I know how it got its name. The trees that grow here are stunted, gnarled twisted things that struggle for survival against a vast thick blanket of scrub, thorn and bracken. Passage through the forest would have been impossible but for the animal tracks that meandered through even the densest thickets. These were terribly narrow with a ceiling of dense foliage that forced us to walk bent over.

Eventually we crossed a more substantial track: one that looked as if it were of goblin make that appeared to lead in the direction we wanted. A short while later the track opened onto a small clearing where a handful of other trails all met together.

The trees had thinned out here, finally yielding to the riot of vines and brambles that towered some 20 feet overhead. Set in the wall of thorn before us was a screen of brambles woven into a small barricade that, had it not been so crudely made, might have been intended to disguise the opening beyond.

A small tunnel led through the brambles. Rigel sneaked in and had been scouting about for a few minutes when we heard a tremendous roar echoing out from the thorny hedge followed by the shout of goblins. A moment later Rigel returned and described the forks and openings in the vegetation, but had no idea what might have made that bestial cry.

Sabin, Rigel and I formed a small exploratory party and slowly made our way to the first chamber of sorts to the right of the main tunnel. Peering around the tunnel wall we watched in horrid fascination as a group of goblin guards came into the chamber from an tunnel at the opposite end, dragging behind them a bound goblin who had a look of terror in his little, beady, rodent eyes.

Without a word of ceremony the guards flung there captive down a large hole that was in the center of the chamber. Another roar boomed up from the opening, but this one less demanding and more satisfied than the other.

The guards left and we scrambled forward to look down the hole. As we passed from the tunnel to the chamber we saw that the tunnel in fact led on east, but narrowed such that it was easy to miss. From beyond this thin gap I heard the distinctive growl of goblin dogs from beyond.

We quietly crept past this opening and looked down into the hole. In the darkness we could see the faint flicker of light on water and could hear the thrashing about of something large. Sabin thought that this was most likely the very shaft he had seen from the grotto below, and the great roaring had come from the shark-seal beast he had seen within.

We followed the tunnel back the way the guards had gone and found it ended at the cliff’s edge with a spectacular view of the island to the north, and the rocky shore far below.

To the west was a small side tunnel, and from there we heard the crackle of a fire and subdued goblin voices. We gave that passage a wide berth and returned to the original tunnel and took the left branch, which led to another lookout — this one to the west.

We returned to the rest of the party and hatched a plan to lure the goblin guards back to the hole, where we would be waiting in ambush. Sedjewick used his talents to project the sound of the roaring beast we had heard echoing up from the shaft.

Goblins are creatures of habit, and not known for the deductive reasoning. This worked to our advantage and a moment or two after Sedjewick imitated the roar a pair of goblin guards cautiously entered the chamber. But just as we were about to spring our trap, a large red colored cougar leaped out from the narrow gap before us and right onto me.

It is a good thing that Nolin and Sedjewick were with me, and together we slew the great cat. Just as the cat dropped dead, a scream of anguish came from the brambles to the east. And then the goblins were upon us and as we killed one, the other slipped in through the narrow gap.

The sound of battle wafted in from the northwest as our companions met with a small force of goblins. I raced over to help with those goblins leaving Nolin and Sedjewick to deal with the stray.

Nolin was first through the hedge, but in the room beyond was not one, but two goblins plus half a dozen goblin dogs tied to stakes some two dozen feet away. One of the goblins was crouching down near the dogs, and wielding a blade of flame. The other ran out through a southern passage. The crouching goblin stood and blasted Nolin with a ball of fire.

Meanwhile the rest of us were mopping up the last of the goblins, which freed Sabin to go check on Nolin and Sedjewick. Sabin entered the hedge just as the mage like goblin dropped him with another fire spell, but Nolin and Sedjewick had closed into melee by that time and quickly slew the little fire crazed freak.

A few minutes later and the other goblin was dead.

I healed Sabin and the others injured in the fight, while the goblin dogs were all killed still tied to their posts. We dumped most of the corpses down into the shaft.

On the spell caster we found a handful of interesting items, which Sabin identified.

[115] +1 leather armor (small: only a halfling or another goblin could make
use of it)
[116] +1 cloak of resistance (also small)
[117] potion of cure light wounds
[118] potion of speak with animals (Avia has this)
[119] 2 potions of tree shape (in my pack)
[120] A wand of flames (31 charges): golden metal with flames engraved on it
[121] small spear (in my pack)
[122] small sling (in my pack)

We followed the new tunnel as it bent around to the north, passed an outlook looking east, and ended in a wall of thorns. Unlike the last barrier we encountered, this one looked as if it had been grown here on the spot. No matter, using a hand axe we quickly cut it away and found that the tunnel led out to another overlook, only the rope suspension bridge led over to the island.

On the far side of the bridge was the wooden fort and a heavy double door. Wooden towers rose up from the east and west side of the fort.

We watched as a small knot of guards gathered around one of their companions who had caught a small bird. He tied a string to the bird’s leg and let it fly about while his comrades threw stones at the poor creature.

Must they make wanting to kill them so easy?

Using a silent image of a dog Sedjewick managed to lure the goblins from before the fortress wall across the bridge and into our awaiting arms.

A little more work with his happy puppy and the gates opened, sending another squad of four goblins to throw themselves upon our weapons.

Sabin and I then tied a goblin corpse to a stick, tied a small bow to that, and I made it dance about the northern facing lookout while Sabine shot arrows over at the tower. Arrows came back, and the more we made our meat puppet dance the more arrows came over, until some came back flaming.

That gave us another idea and we set a few arrows alight ourselves before sending them over. Trask joined in on the fun and launched a ball of flame from the wand at each tower, causing flames to burst on its wooden structure.

But other than irritating those in the fortress, we clearly weren’t making any progress on getting over to the island. And we were worried that there might be a secret entrance through which a small horde of goblins could at that very moment be issuing forth to confront us.

We still had one element of surprise on our side: so far all the people in the fort knew was that some rouge goblins have slain guards from the island, and have shot arrows and flames at the fort.

We are now discussing our options, as I make this journal entry. I’ve also sketched a crude drawing of our surroundings so we have it for a reference. I’m afraid the position of the island is a bit off (too far west), but I haven’t the time to correct that now because we have arrived upon a course of action.

Using the small barrier of brambles we hacked down to shield our identity we will move up to the suspension bridge and tie our ropes to it; then we will cut the suspension ropes and let the bridge drop from our side. If we need to we can haul the bridge back up and with a couple of mending spells repair the ropes.

Once we’ve closed off that means of escape from the island we will climb back down to the beach and search for some other way to access the island.

Toilday, 24 Rova

Time has not flowed linear for me these past few days. At times, it seems I’ve been places that I have yet to go to, while other times I completely lose track of where I’ve been. The side passage, the conversation with Ameiko, the return of the incriminating notes to her …

It might be that I’m still just stressing out about the claws. Nobody has said anything, so either they didn’t see it, or they think it unworthy of comment (unlikely) or they are blanking it from their mind as one would a traumatic experience.

But the stress must not be mine alone. Kyras, against our expectations and wishes, yesterday returned the notes we found to Ameiko, on the theory that they were private property. To me, and to several others, these seemed evidence of a crime, or several crimes, and it seemed complicit to quietly return those. I don’t think we were of a mind as to what to do with them, but returning them wasn’t foremost, I’m sure.

And Kyras refused to discuss it. He got so angry he left the group. And so we find ourselves one fewer.

But well before that — or was it after? again, time has lost its normal flow to me this last week or two — we discovered a most fascinating room. It was perfectly spherical, but objects were floating in it as if in a bowl of water. No that’s not right either, because objects in a bowl tend to sink or float, not choose a point in the middle. Something about this room allowed objects to simply float in the middle.

There was a ragged book[110], a scroll[112], a dead raven (complete with maggots)[109], a twisted iron wand[111], and a bottle[113]. The walls were plated in some sort of red metal, and black lightning bolts kept shooting randomly from plate to plate. There appeared to be discomforting words formed by the bolts, like WRATH, and DESTROY ENEMIES, KILL, CONQUER.

Unconcerned, Sabin tied a rope around himself and went for a float. He helped retrieve the items mentioned above, and seemed to suffer no (further) ill effects.

It was commented that this would make a very lucrative attraction, but it was pointed out that without knowing what created the magic here, we’d be playing with fire. I did a read magic and determined the scroll was a scroll of burning hands.

Sedgwick read over the book, and announced it seemed to be a prayer book for LaMashtu, the mother of all monsters. The little demon we killed was apparently a “quasit”. The book was full of all sorts of fun LaMashtu facts, like an altar dedicated to LaMashtu appears to have dirty water oozing from it. Hey, we’ve seen one of those.

When we returned, I brought the garrison commander up to date on almost everything. He agreed to place a guard at the goblin barracks in case anything were to try to come into the city that way.

But as a party, we realized, we were all running a bit short of gold. And since the city was unlikely to pay us for our work to date, we felt that the items we’d found, if they had any value, should belong to us. And so it came to pass that we tried to sell the giant statue of the stern angry mistress that we’d found. Writing on the bottom identified it as “Elaznist”. Sedgwick thought that might be one of the ancient rune lords.

So we hauled it away — no easy task — and decided as a group to try to sell it. To someone, for some proper amount of money.

With time on our hands, we were able to inspect the items we’d retrieved a bit more. The wand, as I saw it, was a wand of shocking grasp with 28 charges. I am carrying it currently.

That evening, Kyras and Nolin and I were at the inn when there was a ruckus. A woman ran in claiming her husband had been attacked by a goblin. Avia, Sabin, and Olithar had remained at the glassworks factory, so we sent word to meet us at this woman’s house and we rushed to help.

And it really was a goblin. And her husband, I’m afraid, really was dead. And unfortunately (but we didn’t tell her) being used as goblin food. It didn’t take too much effort for three people to hunt it and kill it, but the poor husband didn’t have the advantage of superiority in numbers, nor a decent weapon.

I arranged for some pie for the kids, and a room for the family and we cleaned up the scene a bit so the woman wouldn’t have to. Father Zanthus will take care of the arrangements for a service.

Wealday, 25 Rova

Olithar got creative and seems to have made money for us all. Today he has sold the right to visit the things we found in the tunnel (altar, cells, etc.) — which we refer to as “the historical area” — for 1000gp, and arranged to sell the statue on consignment. It may go for again as much if all goes well.

But with cash in hand, all of us who needed additional training was able to afford same.

Avia, Sabin, Rigel, Nolin, and myself needed 100gp for our “continuing education credits.”

Sedgwick needed 150gp, and Kyras needed 200 gp. Of our 1000gp we’d received, this left 150gp. We purchased 2 scrolls of identify and 2 scrolls of cure light wounds for 25gp and 50gp, respectively, leaving 75gp in the party’s coffers.

And it was now, on Wealday, Lamashan 9, I think, that Kyras tried to thwart the will of the group. While Avia and Olithar were adamant that he’d done wrong, I was just upset because we hadn’t had a chance to decide as a group. It might have been the case that we’d make the same decision, but whether we did or not it was not supposed to be a personal decision but a shared one.

Ah well. He seems quite the independent spirit .. perhas our paths will cross again.

Oathday, Lamashan 10

In reading through Tsuto’s journal, there was mention of a sacrifice on “the Thistlestop altar” so we think perhaps our next clue will be found there. We do not expect the Thistlestop goblins to throw a party in honor of our arrival, so we are proceeding cautiously. I am carrying one of the scrolls of CLW as I’m one of the few that has a decent chance of using it if needed.

Despite our caution, it seems I was wrong. The goblins have thrown us a party. You could say they’ve invited us to dinner. I suppose it’s hard to be stealthy to a goblin in its home turf.

Battle ensued .. more details the next time I sit down.

Toilday, Rova 24, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Evening

Earlier today we trudged back into the smugglers’ caves and through the vile complex, used by the followers of Lamashtu, to reach last unexplored area. The door was unlocked, and after checking for traps Rigel opened it.

Beyond was a fairly long and narrow corridor ending in a closed door in the distance. Off to the side was another stairway turret leading down, which was disappointingly blocked by yet another cave-in.

The door at the end of the corridor opened onto a bizarre spherical room. The walls were of red metal. Black electrical sparks arced across the walls, briefly forming Thassilonian words for “wrath”, “kill”, “destroy”, “enemies”; much like the words etched in the walls of the cathedral complex. The entire room glowed with magic.

Floating in the middle of this room were several objects, which were retrieved by magical means.

[109] Dead raven (freshly killed, but with maggots floating about it)
[110] Ragged book: written in Abyssal with gruesome images. Later study revealed it to be Prayer Book to Lamashtu, with information about the creatures often summoned to do her bidding, with a list of strengths and weaknesses for each.
[111] Twisted metal wand with forked tip (later identified as a wand of shocking grasp with 28 charges)
[112] Scroll (magic, but I do not recall what was determined about it)
[113] Bottle filled with red fluid

Sabin tied a rope around himself and while I held on to one end, he drifted out to the center of the room, where he floated safely.

As interesting as all of this was, it brought us no closer to finding Nualia and putting a stop to her evil machinations.

Kyras thought a more thorough search of the woods across the river to the east of Sandpoint was in order, and so Rigel, Sabin and I joined him. What a relief to walk above ground in the pleasant woodlands as the dappled sunlight warmed our faces.

We did find the remains of a crude goblin encampment that overlooked the town, complete with goblin corpses — somebody had been here before us.

Lacking any clear course or better ideas, I suggested we return to the red marble statue and see if it held any clues.

It did, but not what we were expecting, and not helping with our current quest at all. Thinking that the statue might be positioned over a secret entrance we tipped it over. There was nothing but the bare stone floor beneath the statue, but on the underside of the statue’s base was inscribed the name “Alaznut.”

Sedjewick thought this was the name of a Rune Lord. Ancient history, and its presence here may predate the taint of Lamashtu… or in some sinister way be some how part of it and our quest. More questions, but no answers.

Trask’s regular reports to the Sandpoint Guard did yield some help in the form of one guardsmen, Barret, who was sent to watch the entrance to the tunnel complex from the goblin barracks to the north. This was one less thing for us to worry about, and we welcomed Barret and helped him settle into his post.

It is now evening, and Avia, Sabin and I are remaining in the Glassworks basement to keep watch, while Nolin, Trask and Kyras returned to their rooms at the Rusty Dragon. Rigel accompanied Sedjewick home — hmm.

Toilday, Rova 24, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Late Evening

Another entry for the day: there was a goblin in the middle of Sandpoint!

Indeed the filthy little bugger was hiding out in the home of a local family;right in the closet of some poor lad. Kyras thinks he set up a nest of sortsthere after the raid some nights ago, and had been foraging out at nights.

The boy had been complaining of monsters in his closet, and when his fatheropened the door to show him it was safe, out lept the goblin, dog-slicerslashing, and with a snicker-snack off went the father’s head!

The mother grabbed her two children and ran off to the Rusty Dragon, screamingfor help. Fortunately our trio of fighters were on hand, and after sendingword for the rest of us, ran to the goblin infested house. It turned out tobe an infestation of one, which Nolin and Kyras swiftly killed.

Sedjewick thought it might be a Thistlestop goblin. We alerted the townofficials and recommended they search Sandpoint for other goblin nests beforeanother innocent family fell victim.

Wealday, Rova 25, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Morning

With no new leads for us to follow or imminent threat to thwart, there has been talk of training. While I have no new skills to learn, my companions all do, but there is concern about the cost of hiring those skilled enough to teach. We are not wealthy and have little enough gold for daily expenses.

However, I have a plan, and am off to talk with the local Sages’ Guild.

Wealday, Rova 25, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Afternoon

All has worked out almost as well as I had planned, and we now have gold enough on hand for everyone to complete their training.

My idea was simple: rather than have father Zantus bury the underground complex, why not put it to good use?

Quinq, the local head of the Sages’ Guild was interested in what we had found beneath the Sandpoint, and agreed to pay 1,000 gold pieces if we could obtain permission for them to have exclusive access to the ruins. In addition he will find a buyer for the red marble statue of Alaznut for a commission.

Mayor Deverin is happy with the arrangement, as is Sheriff Hemlock (who returned from Magnimar earlier), because the tunnels will now be under constant watch.

Father Zantus was reluctant to agree to this arrangement at first, but the idea of dedicating the old cathedral complex to Desna seems to have won him over.

One odd bit of news from the sheriff (courtesy of Trask) is that he did indeed find out why the north gate was unguarded and unlocked on the night of the goblin attack: Lonjiku Kaijitsu (Ameiko’s father) had paid someone handsomely to ensure the way was clear.

Was this really Lonjiku’s doing, or Tsuto’s done in the name of his father?

Wealday, Lamashan 9, 4707; Sandpoint; Noon

It has been two weeks since my last entry, and while my companions have spentthe time training, I have worked with Father Zantus on dedicating the cathedralcomplex to Desna. Father Zantus has been filled with glee because Lamashtu andDesna are such bitter enemies.

Some of us have also made copies of the bestiary portion of the old book, andI gave a copy to Father Zantus.

This morning, however, has not gone so well.

We finally met with Ameiko to explain about the Sages’ Guild access to thecaverns (they will use a different entrance and the access via the Glassworksbasement will be sealed).

We also wished to discuss any information about her family to see if there wassomething there that concerned Nualia that had been overlooked.

During these discussion Kyras handed over the rather incriminating papers wehad found in the Glassworks safe while we were routing out the goblins andsearching for survivors.

Some of us were taken quite by surprise by this act, because the papers alsospelled out the wrong doings of the notorious Scarnetti family, who have anasty reputation in the region for evil deeds.

Avia and I were quite vocal in our disagreement with Ameiko taking thedocuments, and a great argument broke out among us. In the end Kyras walkedout in disgust — leaving us forever.

Ameiko left with the papers in hand (looking rather smug, I thought).

It seems there are two sets of laws in this land: a benign system willing to overlook justice for the reputation of the wealthy; and a stringent inflexible system for the rest of us.

Wealday, Lamashan 9, 4707; Sandpoint; Evening

Still reeling from the loss of Kyras, we all meat as a team this afternoon and decided upon a course of action.

It seems clear from Tsuto’s journal that Thistlestop is where Nualia has spent much time, and so it is for there that we shall embark in the morning.

May Sarenrae grant us the light to find our path.

Oathday, Lamashan 10, 4707; Sandpoint; Morning

We are about to leave. We plan to take the The Lost Coast Road up to the border of the Nettlewood, and then cut across the open country before the wood to the coast. From there we shall stealthily make our way up the beach to Thistlestop itself.

Wealday, Lamashan 9

I never understood why Joaqin spent so many of his nights writing in that book of his until now. If it’s not written down, it’s almost as if it didn’t happen, or as if it happened differently than it did. Memories are hazy and the farther back they are the worse the fog. I doubt that I will ever have the same discipline as Joaqin, and I clearly lack his gift for words, but I see the value in recording events, even if I am not very good at it.

I had what some might call an epiphany tonight: I understand why these goblins attack in what is effectively suicide waves. It is because each and every goblin truly believes that he will succeed where countless others failed and died. It is that simple. You can see it in their faces as they attack. It is as if they don’t understand their own mortality. You could send 100 goblins against an army of men and the last one standing would climb over the bodies of the first 99 to press the attack. The irony is that this works eventually…if you have enough goblins to spare.

Put any town under a loupe and you will find flaws. That may sound bitter and pessimistic but it is a lesson I learned early on at home, then later again, and once more here. It does not surprise me that there have been shady dealings between the elite of Sandpoint, though the consequences have been astonishing. I don’t know if their goal was to destroy this town or if these people simply didn’t understand how events can rapidly spiral out of control, but without our intervention I am sure that destruction would have been the result. It may still be for all we know. I have no doubt that we are only scratching the surface of something much larger. This much is so obvious even simplest of the townsfolk have the same suspicion.

The argument with Kyras was unpleasant though not surprising. We have not been together long enough to learn how to deal with differences in our ideologies (Joaqin would be impressed with my use of that word), and some of us are less flexible than others. I probably started the morning in the former camp but now I am not so sure where I sit.

Thanks to Olithar I can stop worrying about money at least for the near future. My extended stay here has slowly but steadily emptied my purse. I suspect we will be here a while longer.

Moonday, Rova 23, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Late Evening

A moment’s rest after the battle in the underground cathedral and we were once again ready for action.

Our first order of business was to search the body of the little imp-like daemon, where upon we found the following items.

[100] curved dagger (magic)
[101] tiara: a rub like gem set in a circlet of silver
[102] black silk gown, embroidered with the symbol of a seven rayed star
[103] bracelets (poorly made and of little value)
[104] necklace (matching in quality to the bracelets), with an obsidian holy
symbol for Lamashtu dangling from it

Sedjewick concluded that the seven rayed star represented the seven deadly sins, and from what we had already seen of the place, we agreed.

The runes and language used in this cavern complex was Thassilonian, which I had learned while exploring the ancient ruins of Magnamar. Sedjewick also knew this tongue, and together we translated the runes that had been carved over every square inch of the cathedral walls as invoking or celebrating hatred, warfare, murder, wrath and the like.

The two small doors opened unto small closets, one of which was empty and the other contained ancient and tattered robes and a cheap ceremonial dagger. All were old and had not been used for a very long time.

Despite being tired, bloodied, and mostly out of spells, we decided to press on with the exploration of the caverns.

We gathered in the statue room, where Rigel peered intently at the heavy iron bound wooden door and muttering something about iron mongery.

Meanwhile Nolin and Trask took the eastern passage that led up a series of short steps before ending at another door. Nolin boldly opened the door and found a small circular room with another shallow, circular pool of water encircled with skulls set on spikes. Hearing comments about the door Rigel was looking at, the two rejoined us in the statue room.

With a small click, Rigel unlocked iron bound door and then, almost as an after thought, pressed her ear against it. Hearing nothing she silently opened the door and we peered into the gloom within to see a large chamber with a wood walkway leading from the door off to the right. Stairs on either side led down below the boardwalk. The unmistakeable sound of steel against stone echoed up from within.

Rigel crept out to the edge of the walkway just as Avia quietly announced the presence of evil within the room. Two of the clawed creatures pulled themselves up and slashed at Rigel, who quickly retreated back to the door.

Moving fast, Sedjewick shot one as Avia and Nolin charged in, each slicing at a foe. Sabin and I also entered the fray and the we over powered the creatures, efficiently slaying both.

Rigel and I descended the stair case and realized we were in a prison, with cells lining the perimeter. Skeletons with rotting fragments of clothing clinging to their boney remains were all that we found.

The walkway to the east, however, led to a torture chamber that was well equipped with rusting cruel devices for inflicting pain and agony. To the south a doorway opened into a small chamber with three more doors. To the east a door opened to a set of long stairs heading down into large dark space, ice cold, and reeking of corrupted flesh.

Out from the darkness a pair of red glowing eyes flashed in our direction and a booming voice yelled “None shall invade my chamber!” Avia bravely descended the stairs with myself, Sabin and Kyras close behind.

Waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs was a giant of a goblin, but with extra deformed appendages protruding from unexpected areas. The sight of it was sickening, and it gathered itself up as we advanced and spat a huge globule of blood at Avia, which hissed and sizzled like acid.

The four of us hacked at it viciously, and it dropped under our onslaught.

Now that we were down in the room we could see that there were some eleven pits carved into the floor, each with a rotting wood lid, and each containing an animated corpse; honestly, who thinks of these things and then goes through the effort of creating them? We quickly killed the zombies, and looked over the remains of the bizarre goblin giant, where we found a handful of useful items.

[105] long sword (magical)
[106] hand axe
[107] Silver dagger (Trask is now using this)

The room also had a passage leading south, but we decided to wait until our team regrouped before tackling another unknown tunnel.

All this while Rigel and Sedjewick were busy in the small room to the south, where they found that each of the three doors had a symbol representing one of the seven deadly sins. Within each cell were the skeletal remains of a sadly disfigured human, one with a misshapen skull, the next with an elongated rib cage, and the last with three arms.

The floor of the room was littered with torn bits of paper with writing, which Sedjewick and Sabin determined were instructions for casting arcane magics.

We gathered together in the torture room and discussed our next course of action, and decided to explore the circular room Nolin and Trask had found.

I found myself in the lead as we trudged back to the statue room and then up the stairs to the round room. No doubt these circular pools ringed with skulls have some significance that is eluding us. We stared at the pool for a while, feeling somewhat easy about the smears of dried blood along the rim and speculating over what it might mean, and then turned our attention to the stone door on the opposite side of the room.

As I opened the door some giant bat-like creature fluttered into the room and attacked, but it was quickly dispatched by Nolin, Sabin and Trask.

A short hall with a short flight of stairs up ended at another door; this one locked. Rigel stepped up and worked her own brand of magic on the lock and opened the door. Beyond was a turret with steps leading up, but the way was blocked a short distance on by a cave in. We guessed that the top of the turret at one time must have opened onto what is now Chopper’s Island.

It was now so late that we decided to return to the Glassworks for the night and continue our exploration in the morning. We retraced our steps back to the basement and set a watch.

Sabin used this time to identify some of the items we had uncovered earlier.

[ 90] potion of Cure Light Wounds (Kyras has this)
[ 92] +1 ring of protection (Nolin wears this)
[100] +1 returning curved dagger (in my pack)
[105] +1 long sword (Avia wields this)

Moonday, Rova 24, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Late Morning

In the morning light it was decided that we should report to Mayor Deverin and Father Zantus.

I met briefly with father Zantus and quickly updated him on what we had found since our last meeting. I took the little daemon-imp corpse as evidence, which certainly got Zantus’ attention! While I omitted Tsuto Kaijitsu’s name, I did let Father Zantus know that it was a town insider who helped stage the attack on Sandpoint, and shared with him the contents of the diary, especially where it pertained to Nualia and her father, Tobyn. I also explained how Nualia’s hatred of her heritage had spilled over to encompass all of Sandpoint, and while the attack we had expected had not occurred, this plan had likely been disrupted by our interception and execution of her partner.

Father Zantus was most interested in the underground cathedral, and I have promised to bring him there later so he and his clerics can destroy the place.

I met up with Trask, who had a meeting with the mayor as I spoke with Father Zantus, and asked how it had gone. He appeared to blush, as if his conversation had not gone quite as smoothly as he would have liked, but I gather from his stuttered reply thatthe mayor was now suitably informed of our actions and status.

We are now back in the Glasswork’s basement, preparing for another trek into the tunnels to explore the southern passage we had skipped the night before.

We’ve decided that depending upon what we find there, we should consult with Ameiko to see if she can offer any insight into what we have found since we last spoke.