This past weekend my travels took me to the Hinterlands, the northernmost area I have explored yet on the continent of Avalon. I went there because there was rumored to be a library there which would contain many texts, which I could then copy and add to The Great Library of Navin Weuntzel. My friend Gawl thought that he had a map which would show where this library was, so he joined me on my trip to the Hinterlands. Also coming along were my friends Kain and Draco.
Upon arrival, I was surprised to find out how very different the Hinterlands are from everywhere else I had visited on Avalon. Whereas most areas are stacked with adventurers of great experience, in the Hinterlands the toughest adventurers were only able to cause ten dagger blows or so worth of damage with a sword blow. Coming from Ravenholt and Avendale, where many warriors can swing a sword twice as hard as that, it was very surprising to me.
It wasn't very long into the gather that a man wandered into town, and told us that the wise man in his village had summoned a creature that he couldn't control, and the creature had killed everyone in town. The man begged us to help him, and told us that in order to do so, we would need a sword, a ring, and a necklace. We would be able to retrieve these items by going through portals that would open at various times during the weekend.
The first portal opened that very night, and Baron Gustav, a noble visiting the Hinterlands from farther south, organized a group to go through the portal. Myself and all my companions decided to go on this quest, because we wanted to help defeat the creature which had been summoned. Besides, we were having precious little luck deciphering Gawl's map, and needed something to do.
Baron Gustav, a man apparently familiar with military formations, insisted that we maintain a strict order during the quest. He wanted the fighters in front, with the casters behind, with everyone in rows and very little space left between rows. Unfortunately, the order didn't hold for very long, as adventurers don't tend to follow orders very well in battle. For my part, I was supposed to be directly behind the line of fighters, as I had been appointed the official healer for the quest. This was because I was the only healer in town at that time capable of casting life spells. Of course, that offered little comfort to me, because if I went down, there would be no one to grant me the gift of life. Of course, if necessary, I was prepared to make that sacrifice, but it's safe to say that I was going to make every effort to dodge all death spells coming at me.
Fortunately, we did not encounter any death spells. All we encountered were strange colored animals. There were purple ones, and orange ones, and maybe other colors as well, but I don't recall. I think somebody said that the animals had been hideously mutated by someone, but I am not certain. We fought through several waves of these animals until we came to an orange alligator. He was releasing nauseous gas, and a couple of people had to resist it, and one got sick. However, all in all he was pretty easy to defeat, and when we took him down, we got the ring.
The next mission was run the next day, I believe around two o'clock in the afternoon, if I was reading the sun correctly. They had mechanical time-telling devices there, but I do not trust those. A good adventurer knows how to read the sun. Anyway, I unfortunately was not able to go on this adventure, as I was out in the woods looking for the library at the time. However, Gawl and Kain were able to go on the mission, and they reported to me about it. Apparently the group encountered more strangely colored creatures. These ones were able to make people break into fits of laughter. After fighting through many waves of them, they finally came to the leader of these animals, who was wileding a large two-handed weapon. They defeated the leader, and discovered the item they were looking for, which was a magical short sword. I do not know its exact effects, but some told me that it allows enhanced attacks both normally and when swinging from behind, and also allows the casting of several spells. All in all, it seems to me to have been a very powerful magical item.
The third mission occurred Saturday evening, and this one I was present for. Unlike the first mission, which was unlimited in terms of the number of people that could be brought, the third mission only allowed for the bringing of eight people or so. Both knights of the land, Sir Tenson and Sir Kentaro, went on the mission, along with myself and Kain, and four other people whom I unfortunately cannot recall at this time. We were attacked by more of the strange colored animals, but were able to dispatch of them fairly easily. The problem was that when we killed some, they were quickly replaced, and so it seemed as though we were fighting an overwhelming tide of them. Rather than stand and fight forever, we pressed further on into the cave that we were adventuring in. Finally, we came to a large line of animals, one of which had the necklace we were looking for. Sir Kentaro, a large celestial caster, cast sleep upon the majority of them, and thus made them easy pickings. We defeated them with little trouble, took the necklace, and left the cave again.
When we got back to the tavern, we had what was needed to perform the rituals (there were two needed, one earth and one celestial). The entire town gathered in the tavern, and we discussed what would be needed for the rituals. There was a suggestion made that we should cast both rituals from a celestial circle, but I argued very strongly against that. My knowledge of formal magics is not extensive, but my research indicates that a formal magic cast in a circle of the wrong type will automatically go into dark territory, and thus has a large chance of failing. After that discussion, Sir Tenson, Sir Kentaro, Tyrra Stardust, and a couple of the other powerful casters in town all went behind a ward to figure out what components would be needed for the ritual. Once they had all the components gathered, a shocking development occurred. The man who we had been helping grabbed all the components and rifted out. Fortunately, Sir Kentaro managed to grab him before he fully rifted, and thus was able to go with him. Unfortunately, Sir Kentaro had the ward key, and thus all the most powerful casters in town were trapped behind a ward. This was especially problematic because we had no formal components or scrolls to destroy the ward with.
Fortunately, Sir Kentaro won his battle and came back with the components. We then moved to the field to cast these rituals. I am not certain why we were casting the rituals after the person we were casting them for betrayed us, but I probably just missed that part.
Anyway, we moved out to the field, and our mission was to protect the ritual from the poltergeists that were attacking it. Unfortunately, this proved difficult, because these were very strange poltergeists. They were not undead, and thus were unaffected by harm undead spells. They also, though, were non-corporeal, and thus could not be affected by any form of weapons, including magic weapons. So, essentially, the entire town had to protect a circle from these poltergeists, and the only people who could effect the poltergeists, the celestial casters, were inside the circle. Suffice to say, it was not an easy task. Several poltergeists managed to infiltrate the circle, but fortunately the rituals were completed anyway. The earth ritual put a spirit into the body of a willing host, and that host was then supposed to deliver us a message.
Instead of delivering a message, though, the host ran off. Along with Sir Tenson, Sir Kentaro, and Tyrra Stardust, I ran off after him. He made it all the way back to the tavern, which was a fairly long run, and sprawled a message on a piece of paper. The message told us that a band of gypsies (I believe the Greenstar clan, but I could be wrong) had been attacked by orcs, and asked for our help.
The spirit then left the host, and the host was returned to normal. The poltergeists were still around, and we essentially couldn't hurt them, so they were a problem. They had caused all types of havoc out on the field, and it took us a while to clean up. Fortunately, I discovered that Kain was still alive. Draco showed up the next day, but I didn't see Gawl again for the rest of the gather. I have not seen him since then, either. I hope he is okay.
Unfortunately, we had to leave not long after the poltergeist battle, and so did not get to aid in saving the gypsies. I hope that turned out all right. I suppose I shall find out the next time I get a chance to visit the Hinterlands. We didn't find the library, but I gave the information I had to Sir Kentaro, and so hopefully he managed to find it. I hope that they found useful items there, as well.
I think that my experience in the Hinterlands leave many lessons to be learned. First, when there are no extremely powerful adventurers around, those that are there have to learn to stick together and fight as a team if they hope to survive. Second, don't split up. Splitting up was how we lost Gawl, and it was obviously a tragic mistake. Third and finally, if you're going to go to a largely unsettled area, make sure you are well-armed first. It might just save your life.
Scribed by Seronia on the 23rd day of May in the year 602.