Topic: Adventure Notes
From the Very Fabulous Desk of Marcellus de la Fuente,
Poet and Swordsman of Isenor
(printed on 100% druid-processed paper)
Journsday, 20 Leokloom, 1093 AC
My dear friends,
I am in the process of recruiting and supplying for the manor; I am
also helping Jade gather some information for some trouble she is
having back in Haven's Hold, but she offered to deliver this message
for me, so I am sure she can tell you about that herself. As I am
helping her, so she is helping us be sure we get the manor—and more,
perhaps.
I am writing because I realized I never had a proper chance to tell
you in full detail the tale of my and Golda's strange "vision" we
shared after being afflicted by the dread wraith's touch. As I have
thought it over now that I've had the luxury of traveling rather than
fighting goblins and zombies left and right, I've realized it may be
more relevant than I first thought.
Exhausted by our fight with the wraiths that horrid night before,
Golda and I stopped to rest after we had collected the horses. We fell
into a strange slumber, entering a dream which as far as we can tell
was the same experience. I seemed to dream that I was—or rather, that
I occupied the mind of one Amaryllis Krenwood, a master of song and
sword like myself. She was an outcast scion of a Empire noble family
and had sought work as an adventurer and mercenary during the Two
Hundred Years War. Yes, we seemed to be cast back in time, when the
Empire battled with Sheenosek over the territory now won by the Haven
Rebels.
Golda shared the experience of Ivar Keligsgrad, a mighty dwarven
warrior; though quite different in outlook, Amaryllis felt some
kinship with the dwarf, as both were exiles from their families. Ivar
and Amaryllis had been hired to go on a mission along with two others:
a human mercenary from the famed Legion of the Wolf's Fang, named
Aldred Aedelberct, and a deep halfling (the kind that live in the
north hills of Vargild) named Evenseer, who was at one with the
rhythms at the earth, which moved at his command.
And who was it that hired these four intrepid adventurers? None other
than the great Thaumaturge Sarothane of course—he who engineered the
tunnels that likely helped the Empire defeat Sheenosek, and who of
course built the manor and wizard's tower complex we have taken on to
cleanse. According to Amaryllis's memory, in excavating his tunnels,
Sarothane had discovered strange magical energies emanating from an
underground area not far from where Merrywell now stands. He was
puzzled, because he had not noticed the energies when he'd first began
his project; he wanted to see if someone was attempting to dig through
and sabotage his efforts. It was deep underground—almost but not quite
to the Hrifgard, where the drow and deep gnomes live.
Not wanting to interrupt the tunnel dig, Sarothane had Evenseer—who
was knowledgeable of underground and Hrifgard travel—lead the party
through an old Hrifgard access tunnel just across the border to
Greengate, where through divinations they had determined probably led
to the area from where the energies were manifesting.
Where Golda and I "came in," as it were, Amaryllis and Ivar had
finished investigating the dead end of a pathway in this "road to the
Hrifgard" and went to catch up with their party members, who were
investigating the other fork—only to hear the noble Evenseer scream.
It pains me to cut what could be a fascinating battle narrative, but
I'd best get to the point in this case—Aldred and Evenseer were
fighting a drow, a half-orc, and two humans in dark robes. Aldred and
Evenseer were cut down as Ivar rushed into battle. The one human
ordered the other human to, "Forget this and follow that witch!" The
half-orc moved to attack the human, but the drow commanded him not
to—to deal with the "interlopers" (by which she meant us) before
handling the "Sheenoseki scum."
So the drow and half-orc worked together, versus the humans. And upon
hearing "Sheenoseki" something clicked—the human had a horrible ritual
scar circling his bald head. According to tales that are told to
frighten comrades over campfires, such a scar marks the Talons of the
Immortal—the Lich King of Sheenosek's guild of assassins. Only special
cases have such a scar—when the Lich King wants the enemy to know who
is after them.
"We" were forced to defend ourselves and were fortunately victorious.
Searching him, we saw the half-orc bore a strange, flickering tattoo
of a black serpent, similar to Darkstride's brooch. I ought to point
out that it's also odd for a drow to fight alongside a half-orc as a
relative equal. Drow tend to view most other races as potential
slaves, especially savage humanoids such as orcs.
We found another dead drow along the passageway, killed with a
poisoned blade—no doubt in the possession of the other Talon. We
thought perhaps this was "the witch" but we were very sadly mistaken.
The passage ended, opening into a large, dome-shaped room. The room
temperature seemed to drop suddenly and considerably, but we felt
compelled to come closer. Every inch of the round walls seemed
inscribed with arcane marks of which I had not seen the like. The only
contents of the room was a simple stone table or altar, on top of
which was a jar. The jar seemed to be made of clay, and seemed
unremarkable apart from some jagged gems and crystals seemingly
haphazardly stuck into it.
Next to this stone table, we saw yet another drow, this one in silk
robes (unlike the others' motley armor), melt the Talons' very face
off with a spray of magical acid. "Send that as a message to your
King," she said as the man died. Some of the runes in the room glowed
a little and then faded.
Amaryllis attempted to parley with the drow—Sheenosek was a mutual
enemy, so surely they could help one another? But the drow would have
none of it, saying that it would make it far more difficult for their
actions to be blamed on the Empire. If only she knew that Amaryllis
had little love of the Empire herself—just that Sheenosek was the
greater evil. Before they could respond further, the drow moved to
"eliminate witnesses."
Fortunately, Ivar was her first target and the sturdy dwarf shook off
her magics. We charged into the room and had her flanked—but this was
apparently what she wanted. She drew forth a rod and shouted a command
word, and we suddenly found ourselves paralyzed, down to the very
soul, overcome with darkness. She ran back the way we came, and
shouting another command word, the doors to this room slid shut,
sealing it completely.
Yes, doors. In addition to the entrance we came through, there was
another passage leading to the southwest... towards, roughly,
Merrywell.
The paralysis was wearing off, but the runes in the room and the
crystals in the jar glowed with life, reaching into our hearts with
black claws. Ivar attempted to activate a rune—perhaps a means to
alert Sarothane? But there was no time for rescue. The very area
drained the life out of the two adventurers, leaving their souls
twisted and tormented—to become the two dread wraiths we had
encountered. Clearly after death they escaped the place—perhaps
seeking vengeance on Sarothane? This part is unclear to me—the family
lived there for 60 years before the wizard Byldar unleashed whatever
it was that forced them to evacuate. They likely would have noted a
haunting—but perhaps the libraries we found could help, or something
inside the wizard's tower would clear this mystery.
I hope you find this useful. Our enemies have been at work for a long
time—and perhaps Darkstride was in search of awakening whatever it was
the drow witch had sealed in along with Amaryllis and Ivar. If it
hurts Sheenosek, such an awakening could even be beneficial—but then,
evil in search of destroying evil usually does so for its own
advantage, and not for ours.
Best wishes to you and I hope to see you soon with good news, if not
supplies and recruits, in hand.
Yours most sincerely,
Marcellus~~~