This 17th day of the Phoenix, year 273 B.R.U.
The sun dawned cold and dim this morn, there is a chill in the air and every surface feels slick due to the humidity of the swamp. Lincoln died and his spirit fled, his enchanted mace lost to us. The scene around showed the damage we did to the area in the battle. Minimal really, how much can you really harm a swamp.
About the only good thing to say this morning is both Jason and Velish seem to be well. Velish in fact has gained something from this experience. A unique knack for capturing a scene with charcoal and dye seems to have been awakened in him and he insists to use it to aid in cataloguing our journey here in Jhivantane. We spend the day recuperating, as much as we hate to stay in one place we certainly need it. We need rest, not just healing and all the mages of the group need to study. I myself cannot remember the last time I actually ran out of spells.
In the morning we will head further inland but for today we are scouting the area and we have found several components. There are many mushrooms in the area of the poisonous variety and many of them seem to be of component quality.
We quickly collect seven poisonous mushrooms of formal quality and even manage to find two edible mushrooms of component quality, here in the swamps of Jhivantane. This helps as the poisonous mushrooms are all low energy power components which gives us seven out of the needed one hundred for that. The edible mushrooms are low energy elemental components and we don’t need those for completion of our contract. They go to the coffers of the Fist, unless of course our hunger grows to the point where we will need to consume them.
All in all a much better day then yesterday.
This 18th day of the Phoenix, year 273 B.R.U.
Another cold dawn greets us but now we are ready to start out again. And the Captain calls the Fist to order and we start off towards the east and the supposed location of Oglat, the dark city itself. Overnight Jason was plagued by nightmares causing him to wake screaming several times, I can only imagine what those things put in his mind. Velish seems no worse and did not have nightmares. By the end of the day we have made some progress into the swamp but the travel is slow. Ahead of us we see the barrow from which the raveners that killed Lincoln must have arisen. Two raveners could be seen watching atop it and clouds of bats flew through the air behind them.
This time we are prepared and we come to this battle in daylight. We sweep in to the field of view with Lt Foretia leading the eyes around to where they will be the most useful. The Captain leads the way for the assault when out from the Barrow came Orakash, reformed no doubt but his barren skull now showing the damages Dreadmallet did to it two days prior.
The Captain stalk the creature who now carried Lincoln’s mace. We owe vengeance said the Captain. Orakash just laughed. You come to my domain after I let you be for two days and think to kill me here. I laugh at the stupidit… He never got to finish his sentence as Lt. Foretia and the rest of the eyes ran behind he and his raveners from their cover and struck such mighty blows from surprise as to shatter the bones that made him up. The Captain and the skirmishers then joined in and Dreadmallet’s rhythmic pounding on the bones of Orakash continued from the night before. My sorcerers did great damage as well and our healing was of course in need but not a single life spell was required for so precise was our strategy and attack that not one of us fell in battle here.
Once these creatures were defeated and Lincoln’s mace was recovered we entered the barrow itself. A dark cave system filled with ghouls and ghasts and the occasional ravener. We struck each down in turn as we sought the heart of the barrow. And once there shattered the bones that arose and the bottle we found there, Orakash’ face swirling gaseous within awaiting his reformation, one that would never come. We bottled the essence that attempted escape on its final death and found it to be the rarest of all power of highest energy yield. Scattered other components were found including two more of the weakest power, goblins teeth that were left in a skull we found and a gold key that was left behind by some victim in the past. About seven other components as well as an enchanted item and some coins were found but none of those brought us closer to our goal.
Windlight, our resident shaman pulled from his pouch the trappings of his office. He could purify the earth about him by channeling his own life into it and he knelt to do so here. “I will rid this barrow of its power to make the dead walk,” was all he said as he drew upon himself to do this. It was something we had seen him do before and we expected it would be of particular use on this journey but just after he started he screamed in pain and collapsed. The fact that we needed no life spells before was of great comfort for Windlight needed one now.
He arose after the life spell was given and said “the earth here it hungers for life, I gave it a bit of mine to feed on and remove the stinking taint but it was not enough. It reached out and devoured nearly all my spirit.” He shook his head sadly, “I cannot purify even the smallest area of this land.” And then he wept for the earth around us as ghouls and ghasts begun to rise again.
This 23rd day of the Phoenix, year 273 B.R.U.
For the last four days we have moved steadily eastward, after abandoning the hope of destroying the barrow we fought our way out and continued to move east. The swamps only seemed to get worse and we fought undead each day at least once. The attacks have become so steady that I hardly need mention them anymore, it would be a difference to note in the chronicles if a day went by without them. We have found more components and if we were doing this for ourselves would have probably taken our profit and left but despite the rate we are finding components most are not of the quality or strength that the Arcanium needs. We have managed to slay a wraith and its essence was a temporal component of the second rank of strength. Still many to go. Of course low strength power components we can find. Several more goblins teeth have been collected and a few more poison mushrooms, those now total seventeen out of the one hundred we need and we hold four of the twenty required components of Arcane Power, two of the twenty required temporal components and none at all of void, spirit, or elemental force. Of these we have many of the lowest rank, enough in fact to complete several formals the Captain has requested in Valor’s Gauntlet. But we have months left of this mission and if our pouches bulge by the time we are done so be it.
This afternoon we spotted a tower in the distance. Kygior who knows this area a bit better then the rest of us having adventured here before says its at least three days away still as the swamps have become nearly impassable.
The Captain figures any tower in this place is bound to be haunted by the walking dead and thus a place for us to find what we need. We set out and the tower grows a bit closer before it is time to make camp.
This 25th day of the Phoenix, year 273 B.R.U.
After two days of steady progress we have once again struck a problem and this time a serious one. Tobert Gydalson was gathering mushrooms which looked promising as components when he was bitten by a spider.
His hand immediately swelled and turned black. It is so painful he can barely use it. We have tried to purify his blood with no effect. We have tried to leech the poison from his hand and we have tried antidotes all to no effect. Then despite the fact that it did no good when Jason was bitten by the horror worms, the Captain used the sharp edge of the Blade of Sighs to remove the arm at the elbow and then we restored the limb. The pain eased but the hand returned blackened and shriveled. Tobert can use the hand, it functions but we are not comfortable with the end result. Debate held us there for three hours as we thought about sending Tobert to resurrect in Valor’s Gauntlet. Many argued that we were being picked off one by one and each who leaves makes it that much more likely that more would perish. Others argued that they would not trust Tobert to guard their back as he may lose the use of the hand again. The final decision though was made on the fact that Tobert had died five times before and better to live with one hand then not live at all with a failed resurrection. We continued toward the tower. The only benefit here is that the spider which bit Tobert turned out to be a void component of fairly strong energy.
This experience has brought back Jason’s nightmares which were beginning to fade and Velish just seems calmer then ever and continues his sketches for the chronicles.
This 1st day of the Bull, year 273 B.R.U.
It is hard to believe it took so long to reach the towers base but it did. The swamp is slow travel and undead fights grew more common as we got closer. We were attacked by Bats and Goblins, recovering six more sets of teeth, and several specters which gave us two specter essences and four units of spirit energy.
But here at the base of the tower we face another type of challenge. A massive creature made up of writhing snakes but vaguely humanoid guards the base of this tower. In another direction a second creature stands perhaps twenty yards away it is also vaguely humanoid but its body is made of collected swords, spears, and other weapons all held together in some unseen fashion and moving of their own accord. The weapons are cracked and pitted with rust but seem none the less deadly. Finally a third creature stands beyond the sword thing. It too is humanoid in form but a deep buzzing sound emanates from it. Undelaine who has eyes sharper then an eagle swears its skin crawls as do insects. Velish looked with horror on his face...”I will not place those upon parchment,” he whispered to me.
The Captain turned to us and with the concise gestures that we all learned when we joined this company signaled to us what he wished us to do. If we wanted to get into this tower then clearly we needed to get past these creatures. We moved to position stealthily but as Yvaine Locksley, ever clumsy off his horse passed by a low wall of rock a symbol appeared in midair as he tripped some form of glyph.
Appeared glowing in midair and a loud voice echoed across the small vale the tower stood within.
“This place is untouched, it shall remain so until needed, it is guarded, none shall pass the Guardians of Jhivantane.”
We had all heard legend of the guardians of Jhivantane. None described them well; there were many different stories. All were horrors and protected important areas in their swamps. The legends speak of circles of power in the midst of the swamps and towers and crypts and cairns and places of wonder. Things from lost ages of magic. And they speak of the Guardians, those that protect the hidden things for whatever truly rules the Dark Realm. Apparently we had a last warning for the things still did not attack nor did they move toward Yvaine though all could here him start to mutter about things hungering for his hide again. The Captain raised his hand and then clenched it suddenly into a striking fist. The signal to attack. Each of us knew our targets, two eyes each on the snake thing and the sword thing so one could get their backs no matter which way they faced…if they have backs. The insect thing would have Undelaine, the best trained of the eyes, a former assassin by trade recruited rumor holds from the ranks of the Veiled, the ones who call themselves the Followers of the True Death. They say the Captain was his target and when he could not kill him instead he gave him his oath. No matter what the truth of this most mysterious and deadliest of men I was simply glad he was on our side. Though another eyes would not flank with Undelaine two of our best warriors would, the Captain and Balasar Skyright, ‘the Basher’. The Basher was master of the horse and his charger was 6 hands higher then the next largest of the horses, it needed to be to fit him upon it. We joked that his mother dallied with a giant and that gave us a giant of our own. He is seven foot four inches tall and must weigh close to half a ton. I’ve never seen a living foe make him step backwards. He weapon was simple, a club that for anyone else would be a two handed weapon. Runes were engraved on its head and I never have been able to read them. Yvaine would fight the sword beast and Herrod the snake. The rest of the horse and skirmishers would fill in as we saw the progression of the fight. Karal would also fight the snake thing, David the sword, and Kygior the insect. Myself and Windlight would wait in reserve and for our healing.
The battles were epic, another example of the power of this place versus the skill and strength of our warriors. If not for our strategy the day would have been lost along with the lives of our warriors. As it is, Yvaine was lost in this battle and just as he feared his killer hungered for his flesh.
It was soon obvious that the creatures did not fear blades for each strike would only knock away a snake or two, or perhaps a sword or a few insects. The warriors and scouts began to strike their mightiest blows which would cleave entire sections out of these guardians knocking them to the ground where they would disperse. The snake creature was a difficult battle and all who fought it needed to be leeched of the poisons that it used upon them by the earth magics of Windlight. The sword was not the most puissant of enemies but it did absorb tremendous amounts of damage until David and I began to pelt it with shatter and destroy spells knocking off the weapon bearing limbs it would sprout. Our success at doing this was in part the cause of Yvaine’s demise. Yvaine had backed away from the beast as he had swung his arm for all it was worth. He had turned to see the Captain’s group faltering against the insect thing and the thing lung for the Captain. He sprung into action and shoved the Captain out of the way and fell to ground where he had been standing. The thing of insects swallowed him whole and then seemed to grow larger. His arm stretched forth and reach for aid but then was completely engulfed by the crawling things. All who were left standing turned to fight the creature but most of our spells were expended, all the might of our arms was gone, for minutes we swung at the thing killing it insect by tiny insect. Minutes crept by as each in turn swung until their arms were limp and they needed healing, only four or five of us could get near the thing at any time and even my sorcerers were swinging their seldom used weapons for any weapon which struck it only killed a single insect. Finally it fell and the remaining insects tumbled to the ground and began to scurry away. We knew it was too late and that Yvaine’s spirit would have fled for resurrection but we did not know the worst for when the thing came apart a pile of bones fell to the ground with scraps of Yvaine’s clothes upon them. He had sought not resurrection but the Hero’s Graveyard.
He was the first of us to meet permanent death in a long, long time. I hope this damn contract is worth his life and burial in a shallow grave without a spirit farewell. Windlight said what we were all thinking, “if we see Yvaine again it will be as the walking dead in this stinking swamp.” And then he turned and walked away from Yvaine’s last rest, if it was truly that.
The guardians were powerful but not so powerful that we were sure that was all that guarded this place. They must have destroyed and consumed many though for when they were all killed a great deal of treasure fell to the ground. We found no less then six enchanted weapons and a great deal of gold and even a few components including a few bottles of glowing gases which proved to be things needed for our quota, interestingly enough there was nothing left made of paper or leather or any of the softer materials.. Then too were a lot of the separate parts of the creatures actually component quality. Skin of garden snakes and rainbow rattle snake skins, no use for our quota but literally twenty of each were found good for formals of creation and destruction but not of high strength. Many insects and spiders from the thing that killed Yvaine termites for destruction wasps, tarantulas, and trap door spiders for creation, about twenty scorpions which are low energy components of arcane power bringing us closer to the numbers we needed there. And in the creature of blades we found assassin’s daggers used for the spiritual energy inside and even three swords of a villain which were each good for moderately strong components of void. After this fight we were now closer to our goals but not yet there and at the rate we are going are pouches will be full and we may still never meet it.
“Camp,” called the Captain, and pointed to the low opening of the tower. He did not want to be out here in the open, he preferred the unknown of the lowest reaches of the tower to it. Or maybe he did not want to be forced to see Yvaine’s grave and wonder if anything would emerge from it.
This 2nd day of the Bull, year 273 B.R.U.
The night went surprisingly quiet, nothing attacked and in the morning Yvaine’s grave looked untouched. The tower turns out to be completely hollow with a stair running in a spiral all the way up to the top of the tower where it opened into we knew not what.
While the sorcerers were studying Lt. Foretia signaled Kiryn Montage to the stairs. Kiryn was an enigma, the only woman now in the Fist. She was a joy to work with and probably loved by more then one of the company but she would choose no favorites among us. The Captain recruited her after she had pick pocketed the High Mayor of Gelban when he was negotiating with the Captain for the surrender of his city after we had breeched its walls. She was the best of the eyes at working indoors and spotting traps. Her skill was indeed needed for she disarmed at least twenty different traps along the way to the top and even missed two but she easily dodged the darts which flew toward her.
Finally we reached the door to the top of the tower. She checked it most carefully for traps and then still not convinced of the benign nature of the door a scryed it for enchantment with my mage side. No less then seven different sigils were revealed. I shook my head and began casting dispel magics at the doors, seven dispels later I stopped and signaled Kiryn to open the door as I stepped across the portal to hold the spells down. The rest of the company went quickly past me weapons and spells at the ready. The sight they saw did not fit this room. It was mainly empty but had a single shabby, disheveled, malodorous man standing within it, a chest was behind him and nothing else at all, not even windows to see the twisted lands around it.
“Is it time?” it asks. “Is the waiting over?”
We approach cautiously still ready for battle.
“Who are you? Time for what? What is this place?” the Captain fires off three rapid questions.
“No can’t be time yet, it still waits, still trapped, it will be time though. The jailers are not enough. The time will come. Until that I am waiting.” He just kept snapping off bits of speech, looking around the room to see if anything was there. He had awkward almost spasmodic movements, like a man lost his mind in drink or lotus.
Everyone sort of stood there and just looked at each other. We didn’t know what to do. He was obviously insane. He continued to talk.
“No... you don’t know. I am waiting. He will come. We could not beat him. Until then I wait. Here I am safe. Here I am locked away. Guarded. But... no,” he almost whines, “no...why did you do it? My guardians, they are not there. No they must be there. Or he.. I see it will happen anyway. One way or another…”
While he was muttering Kiryn had snuck behind him and had the chest open. Inside was a suit of armor covered in arcane symbols and carved bone and a sword that glowed through the scabbard.. to my mage sight it seemed more powerful then the Blade of Sighs and Dreadmallet together. The man ignored her and continued to mutter.
He points to the corner, “there see it happens now…” From a small hole comes a rat crawling in search of a morsel of food or some crumb. “See, rats were his, they were always his. Now there are no guards, I will have more guards. NOW!” He screamed, his voice so loud and piercing it cut through our ears like a pick into stone. The rat so small begins to twitch and writhe. The man starts to mumble. “Noo.. fi… th.. no.. his cr.. ture is h….” None of us could move we were stunned by the sound that still echoed through our skulls. I could not even catch all he said.
The rat still writhed, and twitched and convulsed. Rabid flecks of spittle flying from its maw. The man still whimpered and then the skin of the rat peeled back. It flayed itself from inside out. Then it started to consume its own muscles and viscera. Bits of rat flesh go flying away from its mouth until there is nothing there but a pile of skin and bits and a skeleton of a rat which still moves. And then takes a step toward the man. And then begins to grow until it is the size of a horse…Balasar’s horse. Then it stalks the man.
It lunges at the man who lifts his arms in stiff imitation of rigor and then changes. There is little left that looks like a man now it is the remains of life, what floats out a the grave when nothing is left… and its hands glowed with magestrength.. its entire self glowed with magestrength and it began to hurl power such as we have never seen at this creature.
Suddenly the force that held us was gone. The Captain signaled a retreat and we were down the stairs and at the door when the top of the tower exploded. We took shelter as best we could with shields covering our head but rocks battered us. We crawled through wreckage all alive and out what was the door and saw three creatures standing… looking outward… guarding… One of snakes…one of swords…and one of insects.
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