Dear Diary.
Today started off just as any other day. We packed up our things and started off towards the castle. Greyin said that he had some business to attend to in Coopersville and he went out on his way. He seemed to be an interesting fellow. Perhaps we will see him again in the future. Paths do seem to cross quite often.
The ride to the castle was pleasant. We spoke of happy things and everyone had a smile on their face. I was anxious to see the castle and it took a long time to get there. I am thankful however, that we made it to our destination safely. Castle Delacaste...what can I say? I have never seen anything like it. The walls of the castle stood at about 10'. At the corners of the castle were 50' tall square towers with small walkways in between each of them. A large gatehouse greeted us as we rode up. Steel pegs held the large oak doors. Everything seemed to be in order except for the fact that the doors were slightly ajar. We all stood before the magnificent sight for a while just taking in out surroundings. I didn't want to go in at first...I know that sounds strange but I suppose part of me just wanted to keep the castle in my imagination. Finally after so long I was getting to see what I have dreamt about for so long. Just as we were entering the castle some one approached us from behind. A voice cleared its throat. We all turned around to see a woman behind us. August began to approach her with his hand on his weapon and I followed. "August is that you" she said. We were all shocked and now looking towards August. "I recognize that voice..." he said pausing, "I feared you were all dead, or taken...Ryl?" It seems that she was part of a group that he once traveled with...the rest are apparently dead. My first reaction to this woman was that of distrust. Her silver hair and green eyes peered back at us and it made me uneasy. I hesitated to make her acquaintance as August introduced her. What is she doing here? Surely she just isn't wandering around the castle walls...I fear that this woman has some alterier motives but August seems to trust her with his life. This I do not like. Well...I digress. I could go on for paragraphs with incoherent ramblings on why I dislike Rylandrelle but I will spare you and continue on with the story.
We headed through the doors. Before us was a courtyard of sorts highlighted by a shoveled path. We warily put our horses in the stable and proceeded to enter the castle. When we opened the door we were greeted by the wonderful smell of food. There were candles all around, a grand stairway, a warm inviting fireplace, and several portraits. I immediately recognized one as Jay. This indeed was far more spectacular that I could have ever imagined. I didn't expect to find such a lavish castle let alone one that seemed to be inhabited and extremely well kept. We all wondered around looking here and there. I opened up one of the doors and to my surprise there were vegetables and knives floating about the kitchen! I have never seemed such a site. Tibor protested about entering the kitchen but Ted and I were the first ones in. We were a bit to hasty however. Upon investigating one of the cupboards we were met with a downpour of flour. We both were covered from head to toe! In retrospect it really is quite funny but I was so embarrassed. I am positive that the red of my face was showing through the powdery white of the flour. Ted thankfully took all eyes off of me because he was running around waving his arms about proclaiming that he was a ghost. It was all I could do to keep from laughing myself silly. I am so glad that Ted is here with us. His comedy is greatly appreciated.
Just as we were all exiting the kitchen we saw Tibor facing five skeletons. I surely did not expect that we would find such a foe in this castle. The battle was a successful one but no thanks goes to me. I, as usual fumbled about missing almost everything that I swung at. In a frivolous display of emotion I lost my temper and threw down my sword in exchange for my scimitar. I know that it is my anger that keeps me from being a successful fighter. I will work on my temper...I must. Our new member Rylandrelle however seems to be a marvelous fighter. Her beauty unfortunately greatly surpasses her skillfulness. Oh listen to me! Could I be jealous? Oh, again…I digress. The battle drew to an end as Ted hurled himself through the air trying to knock the skeletons down. He is a strange fellow indeed. August somehow ended up falling face first onto the floor. I was glad to see that someone else was having as much trouble as I was. We all seemed to be performing rather poorly but given that we were startled by the appearance of the skeletons I suppose we are not to blame.
We continued on through the castle. Every room was more beautiful than the next. We came upon a bedroom. It was truly beyond words. I lied upon the bed and thought that I never wanted to get up. Thoughts of silk gowns and gossamer veils floated in my mind, but alas such is not the life of a renegade like myself. We moved on until we came to a doorway that seemed to be blocked by some sort of force. I, strange as it seems, was the only one who could pass through the doorway. I reached my hand through the invisible shield so I could pull one of my companions through but who grabs my hand...it was Rylandrelle. Why she took my assistance I will never know...surely I could think of a few other people I would rather be stuck in a room with. She wanders about aimlessly looking at a platinum shield on the wall while I found a magic book. I tried to read it but just looking at the words made me sick to my stomach. After some deliberation I threw it through the seam, to Tibor. He determined that it was a book of the Dark lady. Such news was extremely unsettling. We put the book away and left the room. All the while Rylandrelle was wining about how we should take the valuable platinum pieces.
We continued down the hall and up the stairs. There we were met with a grand dining hall. The smells from the kitchen were wafting up the stairs towards the end of the hall. I heard from behind Rylandrelle still complaining about the items we left. I turned to her and scoffed something along the lines of "You can't get in without me and I choose not to steal from a departed friend"
I ventured down the stairs to make sure that the kitchen was indeed below and to my surprise there were skeleton archers heading straight for August and myself. I turned around and pushed him up the steps. Heading from above the dining hall were more skeletons. Jelek reacted quickly and launched a fireball at the foul creatures...but he was to fast for August. Unfortunately August was burnt and his eyebrows have been burned completely off. After some time we were victorious. We sat about wondering what exactly was going on. August found a suspicious door so Rylandrelle made it so that we could not see Ted and he went upstairs to investigate. I found this funny. I'm sure he could pull a few pranks on us this way but he behaved and went about spying.
We all ended up upstairs with him, listening to what was behind the door. There were men’s voices talking about Coopersville and a "thing" that is located there.
It is obvious that the two speaking were bothers and they were mages. They also knew we were in their castle and they weren't happy. We stood with weapons drawn and we finally moved in. I grasped the cold metal doorknob and I hesitated. I am always nervous when heading into a situation like this. Then again...who isn't? There were four men, two in armor, and two mages. We headed into battle. I tried to get information out of them but they were disclosing nothing of importance. Any magic attempt made by our party was thwarted, a dispel magic amulet guarded the room. Our tempers flared but we all did fairly well in the fight. Rylandrelle was wounded greatly in the fight but in the end she was ok. We stood about trying to gain information on out assailants and trying to decide where to rest when a loud voice called to through the room. Out of the shadows walked a small dark skinned human wearing lots of armor and carrying a large black mace. I confronted him, asking why he was here and what he was doing but he only walked towards me mumbling. He looked about the room while the others hurled insults at him. He defended himself and his lady, the dark one. We attacked and beat him until he screamed for mercy. I drilled him and he told us little information before he started to rot before our eyes and fell lifeless to the floor. We were all exhausted. I fell to my knees and rested on the hard wooden floor, my sword fell beside me. I can only imagine how some of the others felt, I was perhaps the strongest one left. I luckily suffered few hits. We decided to rest in the castle, Tibor headed outside, I can understand his not wanting to sleep in an Anthorian castle but I thought it unwise to separate. We headed downstairs, I thought Rylandrelle might need some help giving her current condition, so I suppressed all of my feelings and offered her a hand. She turned it down with a forced smile and continued to struggle.
The others are sleeping now, I am sitting alone in the hallway. My eyes are burning from the lack of light and rest so I will leave you. Until Tomorrow.
Your humble servant,
Vitriol
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