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Journal of Days
~ Yulia Morningsong ~


Friday, Day of Beginnings, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

I am not usually one for keeping journals, most often I content myself with bits and twiddles of song making that fill innumerable scraps of parchment, but today was a Day of Beginnings. So I begin this journal with exactly that, my beginnings, for where else can one truely begin a story? I began my life as any other child, I grew, I learned, I sang, I danced, and I dreamed that one day I would be both great and famous, both mysterious and too well known, both beautiful and a force to be reckonned with. I was tutored in song and story toward that end, and my enthusiasm has never waned. The melody of my life however, was not to be played by my hands, for fate took ahold of me in one beautiful and terrible dream. And that is my True Beginning. I woke with the dream yet fresh in my mind, a melodious voice calling my name across the ether.. Yulia... Yulia.. I sought the voice but could not reach the source. Yet my seeking found for me a vision, as I awoke my mind held fast a fading image of a mine with the sense that great evil dwelt within. It was clear to me, even as the wisps of dream faded away, that it was to be my task to cleanse it. As the last tendrils of sleep left my waking mind a final thought echoed through it, "Never Suffer the Presence of Evil." I knew they were not my words, but nevertheless they reverberated strongly within me. Never suffer the presence of evil.. But what did I know of evil? What did I know of the vices of men? Sure I had seen a drunkard in the streets, but this is not the darkness that lurks within the hearts of men and beasts. It became clear to me then that it was all well and good to float through life blind to the hurts of mankind, but to do nothing was to give strength to those who wish us ill. A Day of Beginnings indeed.

Saturday, Day of Discovery, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

It was not difficult to find the mine in question, I spoke with the innkeep and he readily told me of the Silver Mine outside of town.. Apparently people have been ambushed and dragged off to it for some time now. Following the tracks out of town was a simple task, defeating the host of ill creatures within was another story.. I contracted an illness from some bestial rats and was unable to continue for several days..

Tuesday, Day of Delving, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

I returned to my task, delving deeply into the mine and discovered that it was entirely infested with ugly greenskinned wretches and disease-ridden bestial rats. I found a note in one of the chambers, left by some who had sought to do what I now intend.. It read "There is an Ancient Evil in the lower levels.. if only we could flood the lower levels with Blessed Water we could vanquish it... She is imbued with Unnatural Speed and Supernatural Strength, to meet her eyes is folly for a mortal man.." Wary but undeterred I continued my trek deeper into the mines. I came upon a most vile statue, reeking of evil and in the form of what I can only describe as some twisted Rat God.. I destroyed it as best I could and cut my way through many of the greenskinned wretches and several of the bloated rats before again their sickness raged within me..

Friday, Day of Sickness, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

I returned to the mine once more and was set upon by yet more of the rats who so plagued my efforts. Almost at once it seemed their sickness found me once more, draining the very energy of my limbs and searing in my brain. Furious at how much time it had already stolen from me I continued onward, the fire of my fury burning hot enough to keep my senses intact as I continued on, seeking the Ancient Evil I now knew lay somewhere beneath me..

Saturday, Day of Testing, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

Having slept fitfully in the dirty and forlorn corner of an empy rotting room I pressed on early, still feeling the fire of the sickness within me. As I cut my way deeper into the mines I opened a door behind which I found a self-styled "king" of the greenskinned wretches. I had been carving my way through several of his brethren to reach him and as I entered he and his two body guards lept upon me, I fought them vailiantly and when the bodyguards fell I saw something I never wish to see again.. The "king" took on an even more grotesque form, his body swelled and mutated and he took on the visage of a kind of half rat beast. I staggered beneath the double load of the fever within me and the wounds I had taken from the bodyguards but I faced off with this last regardless. I managed to end his fetid life, but not before he had sunk dripping fangs into my flesh. As I staggered away from his corpse I felt a new fire raging through my body, this one like claws inside me. I fled to the healer in town, desperate for her to remove whatever even now invaded the sanctity of my limbs. As I staggered my way into her now familiar house I saw the smith's broad form enter through the backdoor, stout cudgel in hand as I pled my case.. A kind of frenzy came over the healer and I saw fear in her face as she dashed into the backroom, the Smith and his cudgel uncomfortably close.. I do not remember much more of that visit, or the night that followed.. I can only assume that the healer fed me her concoction and the smith bore me to my room at the inn, for that is where I awoke..

Sunday, Day of Retrieval, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

Feeling immensely relieved to be hale and whole once again I ate a sparse breakfast and asked the innkeep what he could tell me of the mysterious clergy who had left the note in the mine telling of the evil below and their attempts to destroy it. I was told what was obviously a well-known story, but one that was not often shared. Fifty years ago the miners accidentally awakened the evil in the deep, the mine owner's greed had driven them deeper than was prudent and twenty men died in the time it takes to blink an eye and the rest fled.. The Owner's family was run out of town and the Owner himself lynched in what too often results when many families lose ones they love at the fault of one man.. Not long after a group of adventurers and clergymen came to fight the evil, but they two were turned aside. They did however manage to seal it away beneath a heavily runed grate, but it yet lurks beneath their seal. Pondering these new revelations I returned to sift through the belongings of the "king" and to seek understanding of the runed grate which held the Ancient Evil at bay. I discovered a key upon the body of the "king" and found that it opened a cache of weapons, some in much disrepair, but others of remarkable make. I spent much of the day moving these to my innroom so that I could put them to much better use than leaving them to sit, moldering away until some other scum came upon them. I returned again to the room with the grate and decided to test my luck beneath it, it was a short foray though, as the greenskinned wretches below rebuffed my attacks and I retreated for the day, collecting what was to be the last of the items I would take from that place, and returning to my room in the inn to try to get a full nights rest for once..

Monday, Day of Duty, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

My rest was not to last a full night though, for I was awakened in the night by the return of the luminous voice to my dreams. The melodious tones again called my name, but as they had been almost lazy before, they were urgent this time. Yulia.. Yulia.. Yulia! it built to a crescendo and I knew that I must ride west, the voice did not tell me what I would find, nor how I was to get there, but I borrowed a horse from a farmer on the west edge of town and took off as fast as I could get the beast to go beneath me.. Still groggy and riding in the dead of night I made my way west, the chill air and the sense of dread filling the night rapidly waking me. I noted that another horse beat a rhythmic path to the west as well. I am not the Voice' only friend it seems.. The ride seemed to take forever in the dark, the sounds of night subdued and urgent as the pounding hooves beneath us as we rode. We heard the cries of the townsfolk before we saw them, as we broke through the last of a stretch of woods our eyes met a sight that still brings tears to my eyes and lights a fire of rage in my heart. The same greenskinned wretches as I had been toiling against in the mines swarmed like flies over a rotton meal, cleaving at screaming fleeing townsfolk and cutting them down in numbers too terrible to recount here. yet tehre was some resistance, a few of the menfolk attempted to fight off the attackers, thought to little avail, but others had appeared to take the side of the innocents, myself and the other rider from Silverdale, the Smith as it turned out, were not alone in our struggle against them. He and I stood fast against the wave of green and atleast a half dozen others did their best to keep them from massing the huge gangs, keep them off balance and thin their numbers as best we could, though there seemed to be little hope against them. A song burst forth from my lips, a song of hope and courage and victory over a hated foe.. I maintained my song, hoping against hope that it would be enough to bolster the faint resistance against an interminable number of foes. The strain had begun to show in my voice long before the Knights arrived, parading on their proud warhorses and cleaving their way mercilessly through wave upon wave of green. The other allies who had stood with the Smith and I melted quickly into the woods, we joined them when we saw both that the Knights had the remaining greens well in hand, and that they were in fact Paladins of Predin, who would have asked uncomfortable questions, noble though their intentions are. I finally let my song fall and limped wearily and hoarse into the woods to climb back upon the poor horse which had bourne me here without question and turned it's head toward home, hoping it could find it for me. I tiredly tended my wounds and passed out in my innroom once more, having thanked the horse which carried me and returned him to his paddock. I awoke much later in the day, and noticing the large hole in the middle of my armor and the many rents now decorating the rest of it, paid the Smith a visit after eating a hearty meal, one I enjoyed far more than any other. It took Arik the Smith the better part of the day to repair my armor and though he said nothing of the work I know he had done the night before, he still bore the telltale wounds that proved he had been there.

Tuesday, Day of Summons, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

A night of fitful sleep interrupted by the screams of the innocent lives lost the night before was pushed aside as yet another dream invaded my slumber. This dream was accompanied by a summons instructing me to travel to the Barony of Divos, a land in need of aid. I was assured that another had come to rid the mines of their evil, I was needed elsewhere. I was to take Arik the Smith with me and we were to make haste to the Barony. I spent the day purchasng a wagon and horses to pull it, Amos a lazy brown with a lopsided white blaze and 3 uneven white socks and Toby, a spirited brown and white splotched horse became my trusty companions. I transferred my stash of goods and weapons to my wagon, purchased some new supplies and Arik the Smith and I began our journey.

Sunday, Day of Distance, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

We have been on the road nearly a week with only the creaking of the wagon and the antics of Amos and Toby to keep us company. Arik is a quiet but respectful man, and one who knows his proffession inside and out, but does not speak of much beyond that. My sleep had just eased back into a normal pattern despite the unknown land to which we traveled when I recieved another dream, this one by far the most troubling. A vision played out before me, a trembling mother clinging to a crying child as two faceless laughing guards attempt to wrest it from her grasp, she strikes at them, holding tightly to her child as the guard she struck pulls forth a blade and strikes her down where she stands, he and his companion laugh and drag the screaming child away. I woke drenched in cold sweat and shaking.. The faceless guards could have been any man in any city.. I hope never to see their true faces, though I cannot help the feeling that they are part of the reason Arik and I have been summoned to this Barony. I can say this though, if they meet with me they shall suffer a worse fate than those they have doled out, they deserve much worse for all that they have done..

Thursday, Day of Meeting, Month of Ivy, Year of the Stag

It has been some days since the last dream, though I find that snatches of it invade my slumber and I still wake in the night. The days have been much the same on our journey, long, dry toil along a bumpy road. Today however we met a traveler, he was on foot and went by the name of Vander, he too sought the Barony of Divos and offered us directions in exchange for a ride. He was as dusty and indistinct as his garments, but his voice was rich with feeling. He chatted with us off and on and inquired what we knew of the Barony, he seemed skeptical of our answers, but took them in stride.

Sunday, Day of Parting, Month of the Maple, Year of the Stag

Vander tells us we are about a day out of Riville, the closest town in the Barony of Divos from here, but he takes his leave of us. We bid him farewell and continued on to the town proper. I noticed my shortsword missing not long after. I assumed Vander took it, and perhaps he had need of it, as I had several more I replaced it with one from my wagon and didn't weep over its loss. I wonder why he did not take a weapon from the back, indeed I had better there, but I do not think I shall have the chance to ask him.

Monday, Day of Introduction, Month of the Maple, Year of the Stag

Early in the day our first view of Riville greets us. A ten foot tall forboding wall surrounds it and furtive people scurry about their business. A glowering sheriff eyes us as we make our way into town and despite my smiles and open greetings neither the sheriff nor any of the townsfolk warm to me. The Tavern of the Six Gods is the most prominent building in town and a smithy not to far off. Arik and I made our way into the tavern and were greeted with the closest thing to a smiling face within those forboding walls, Pat the barkeep fed us and provided us with drink. At the end of the bar sat a short dusky elf maiden wearing heavy tan robes which spilled a trace of sand from between its folds. She muttered over her drink about "Forest Fools" periodically and seemed in a poorer temper than I have seen in some time. A servant of Nor the Desert she is vehement that the darkness be vanquished, though I would not be surprised if she felt she needed no aid to accomplish that task. A lithe elven woman with multicolored clothes and incredibly long black locks came to my table and introduced herself as Thistle Down, she seemed quite amiable and I watched as the half dozen other people in the bar spoke and drank cordially with one another. I was certain none of them lived in Riville, they did not match the dour people I had seen going about their business. A bald man with a shimmer of a golden tone to his skin, piercing blue eyes and a dazzling smile approached our table and offered me a shortsword. It looked strikingly similar to the one I had lost, only gimmering with a strange light, he claimed a dusty traveler had given it to him, and he was certain it was mine. I thanked him and we spoke for a bit before he returned to his fellows. And so I met Thistle Down, Vashard Hall, Cutter Moonshadow, Corin d'Souldre'ar, Athis Jadys'varion, Endrin and Brenda. We were interrupted by a dramatic entrance of the sheriff warning us to not bring trouble to the town. He left us and some time into meandering discussions Pat mentioned that if we were truely intent on combatting the evils in the land then we should head west. His father had told him of a Shield of Doros the Defender said to rest in a tomb there. He told us that Doros had been the defender of Riville who had dissappeared. Rumor has it that he was a bit too trusting of the people of his town and was stabbed in the back. Pat also warned us that the dead walk the lands of the barony at night, that they are accompanied by all manner of fell beasts, werewolves, harpies, and the water is tainted so that it twists the mind, witch havens sprout up all over and vampires and wizards who've made dark pacts are said to reside further north. Truely this land is as accursed as I had feared and I do not know that with a group fewer than we are now we would stand much of a chance against it. After being told of the dangers which lurk the darkness in this Barony I worried for the safety of the town, but Pat assured us that no undead would make it past the town walls, Doros, he claimed, made sure of that. Cutter, Thistle, Corin and I took a walk around town seeking to talk with some people of the town, but none but a single lady selling garlic and garlic accessories, she was quite congenial, but she alone of the townsfolk would speak with us. We returned to the Tavern of the Six Gods to meet with the others and we decided that we should seek the Tomb to the west and hope that tools to aid us lay within.

Tuesday, Day of Trials, Month of the Maple, Year of the Stag
Wednesday, Day of Discovery, Month of the Maple, Year of the Stag