Communique #9

Grigor,

These are busy times, so I hope you understand this week long delay. My last missive covered the journey and activities of Dorian’s Adventurers in the wake of the burning of the Halvenspring Church. Where I left off in my narrative I was intending to cover the events of note in Halvenspring during my absence with your brother Dorian.

The church was burned and we left on the 7^th of Winter Waning. On the 12^th Jeffos (the blacksmith) was found dead in his forge. No obvious cause was discernable, so it was assumed that his heart had given out. Marc Risus sent to Templemount for one of Jarvus’ apprentices to take over the forge (Jarvus being the Templemount smith).

Two days later is when the reports started. The Tainted Ones, for now more than just red caps are involved, began a series of lighting fast attacks on the area. The basic pattern – if there really can be said to be one – is a quick attack targeting a few buildings, killing as many people as possible, and then a retreat within 15 minutes. The structures attacked are damaged and collapsed if possible. Then nothing for a few days. Suddenly another attack. Here is a brief timeline and catalog of attacks to the best of my knowledge:

Winter Waning – 13^th Halvenstomb, 15^th Templemount, 16^th Halvenspring, 17^th Halvenstomb, 18^th Ramsrun, 19^th Templemount, 20^th Halvenstomb, 21^st Ramsrun, 22^nd Halvenstomb and Ramsrun, 24^th Stonechair

Spring Waxing – 1^st Woodnar, 3^rd Stonechair, 5^th Halvenstomb, 8^th Halvenspring, 9^th Templemount, 11^th Koylrest (as reported in my last communique), 14^th Ramsrun, 15^th Halvenstomb, 17^th Stonechair

Dorian’s Adventurers returned to Halvenspring on the 17^th. Then on the 20^th of Spring Waxing there was a major attack. More on that in a bit.

Of these “Nights of Lighting” as people have begun calling them, you should be aware of some details. First when they hit Halvenspring on the 16^th our sentries saw them coming and the whole attack group was slain with no losses to our village. We hit them with arrows and then rode out to meet them to finish them off. The Tainted Ones never made it within 30 feet of the palisade. Marc Risus believes that’s why Halvenspring was only attacked twice. Halvenstomb was whittled down so severely that all non-militia members were evacuated to Halvenspring after the Winter Waning 22^nd attack.

The second attack on Templemount specifically targeted the guard barracks, and dozens were slain in their sleep before the alarm was raised.  Baron Frederick sent messengers to each village announcing that he was fortifying Templemount and that the Barony residents should seek refuge there. He also called all able bodied militia men to be prepared to defend Templemount. Marc Risus’ verbatim comment to the messenger, “Go back and tell him it’s too late. He doesn’t have time to fortify. He’s on his own. He’s welcome to come to us, but Halvenspring will hold or die.” The other villages of the Barony apparently felt the same way. A group of families set out from Ramsrun for Templemount, perhaps a 20^th of the population, but never arrived.

The attack on Woodnar was odd. The amount of tainted metal and rotted wood in the town indicates that it was attacked, but no one knows what happened. The populace is just gone. Travelers and messengers speak of the eerie wicker dolls hanging in the windows, and a horrific fear that besets anyone in the empty village when night begins to fall. I think our friend the Puppet King did something; he certainly has seemed antagonistic with the Tainted Ones in the past. Perhaps he had a presence in that village similar to the one he had here, and no Knights of Mist Valley intervened.

Meanwhile in Halvenspring, with the attacks and reports and refugees pouring in, an unofficial war council was formed. Marc Risus, Pharun, Klaus, Onsmythe and Porter began meeting twice daily to plan and address concerns. Given everything that was going on, it’s no surprise that they missed a few things that I feel may have been important.

The new smith arrived from Templemount, and wondered why Jeffos’ tools were missing. Old Mally the swineherd just north of town was found knifed. People said it was bandits. Then the Kelty family farm was burned down. It was attributed to red caps. Then someone stole the new smith’s newly purchased cold chisel. It took me a few days to piece this all together. Both the Keltys and Old Mally lived over by the source of the Diving Creek, the spring which gives the town its name, and protection. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

When we (Dorian’s Adventurers) arrived back, we found a town prepared for siege. We reported in to the War Council, and got brought up to speed on town events. I took the scroll that Father Eon gave me to Onsmythe, and he was able to use it to revive Father Theodore. I heard about and began piecing together the events of the preceding paragraph. Having some suspicions I went in the night to the Plowman farm, and oddly enough it was empty. The next day both Toby and Eric Plowman were in town, looking worn out. I went again the next night, and once again found it empty.

Then came the Night of Thunder. We learned later that redcaps attacked Halvenspring, Halvenstomb, Templemount, Ramsrun, Stonechair, and Koylrest all at the same time, and stronger and fiercer than any attack before. Halvenstomb’s last holdouts were completely massacred. They penetrated into Templemount and burned the Baron’s Mansion to the foundation, with Baron Frederick in it. Koylrest was also wiped out. Stonechair pushed back the assault but took losses. Ramsrun survived, but more because they had the smallest force attack them.

They came at us from two directions, north and south. Marc Risus estimates about 150 redcaps and 50 steel toes led by 5 of those wraith like things. We did what we could with arrows but they came through the palisade (steel toes tore a hole in the northern section) and the fighting spilled out into the road and homes. It was night, but the fires lit the horizon with an angry orange glow. I left the south wall once they breeched the north, and moved through the streets helping where I could. Then I rounded a building, and in the yellow light of a burning home I saw into the smith’s forge. Toby Plowman had just knifed the new smith, and pulling the knife out began putting chisels into a bag. I waited, watching. He brazenly came out the front door. I made sure he saw me. Not a word was said until we both began casting. As men fought red caps through the buildings of Halvenspring in a night of red, orange, and dancing yellow he and I threw spells at each other. Magic missiles and gouts of flame tore at me. Force blasts and globes of acid ate at him. Finally he fell to his knees, dazed by a cantrip. While he gasped and struggled for control I walked over, reached up, and slowly pushed my dagger up into the flesh where his neck met his jaw above his windpipe. I kept pushing until I felt the tip scrape bone on the inside of his skullcap. Then I heading back to the wall hearing nothing, seeing no one.

A final stand was held at the Sleeping Dragon, which was by far the most secure building in town. We slaughtered the Tainted Ones as they came, and once they realized they had lost, we ran them down and slaughtered them as they retreated. Even though the palisade was breeched, and we fell back to the Dragon, we had fairly few casualties all things considered.

There has not been a red cap attack since, on any town (as I write this on the 4^th of Spring Waning). A messenger was sent to the King following the Night of Thunder, asking for his intervention. The messenger returned three days later. The King can send no aid. Uprisings sparked by the Chovalian Church are occurring throughout the Seven Vales, and King Albus has his hands full putting them down in his two kingdoms.

I went out to the Old Mally place to snoop around. I found not far from the spring an old mine entrance that had been opened recently. Heading in there was a short tunnel and then a very old steel door. Surrounding it were steel disks mounted into the stone which had a simple tree silhouette. Later I matched the symbol with the old First World Heraldic book scrap you found – it’s the Allanoric Order. So it’s a First World structure. There were tool marks on the door, and one of the disks had been pried out of the wall and was missing. Several broken chisels were on the ground. I could not find anything else of note about the place. Perhaps it means something to you?

Back in town, Eric Plowman was one of the casualties of the Night of Thunder, and their servant Melor left town the next day, presumably for the safety of a larger city.

Even though it’s been over a month since any sight of red cap activity, we are all still holding our breath. Dorian has been talking about another foray either into the Firnockt to scout the Tainted Ones, or southeast to investigate Woodnar. As of yet there are no firm plans.

I remain your friend and apprentice.

Osgood

Communique #8

(Note from the DM: Grigor receives this on the 24th of Spring, just as the Sea Hero rounds the horn and heads north along the western coast)

Grigor,

I don’t know where to begin. It has been over 70 days since you and your fellows rode out of Halvenspring, but it seems like a lifetime given the events that have occurred. I guess the best route is to give you the sequence of events chronologically, even where the narrative splits.

The Knights of Mist Valley rode out early on the morning of the 4^th of Winter Waning. Things were relatively quiet for a day or two. Then on the 6^th a cleric of Omnos named Feanor arrived. He announced that he served the true Omnian Church, that of the Chovalian Empire, and called upon all of the faith to swear fealty to the Chovalian Church.  When Father Theodore invited him into the village church to discuss things, Feanor denounced him as a false teacher who consorted with witches; witches he identified as me, Onsmythe, and Klaus. Your father and Marc Risus drove him out of town, letting him know he and his brand of Omnianism were not welcome.

Early the next morning, before sunrise, I was awoken by the cries of “fire”.  The church had gone up in flames. We were able to contain the fire but the church was lost and Theodore badly burned, almost to death. Onsmythe was able to get to him in time and heal the most severe wounds, but he slipped into a deep sleep (Klaus called it a coma) from which he could not be wakened. That evening Dorian came to me in our tower. He believed that Feanor returned and set the fire, and he, Wren, and Uval were going after him. I was invited along, and I went. We left that night.

We tracked Feanor and his retinue, some 12 guards (who had not entered the village with him originally) north to Halvenstomb. We found them taking rooms in the inn. He had denounced the Halvenstomb priest as well earlier that day, but Halvenstomb had not driven him out even though they were clearly uneasy about his presence. Uval wanted to confront Feanor directly, but instead we took Wren’s advice and set a hidden watch on the church instead. Sure enough Feanor’s group showed up past midnight, laying oil doused wood along the building. The Halvenstomb priest, Norris by name, was awake and came out to confront them. Feanor split his head open with his mace, killing him instantly. We attacked in that moment and slew Feanor and his guards.

It was a hard fight, and I killed several with spells. I changed a little that night. We all did. Each of us had killed redcaps before but this was different. The villagers came out and Sarl, the de-facto mayor I guess, put us under loose arrest for the next day. That evening (10^th of Winter Waning) he held an informal trial examining the event and declared us absolved of any wrong doing (and thanked us for our actions).

The following morning we left Halvenstomb and began making our way back to Halvenspring. We took a different route, swinging further to the south, and stumbled upon a tomb in the Firnockt. After a short group vote, we descended into the tomb.

The tomb was a mess of old forgotten crypts, and redcap warrens. We moved from room to room, fighting and examining both. We barricaded ourselves in defensible rooms and spent several nights while wren healed us. Each of us took our turn staring down the reaper; I sincerely wish we had someone with Fyn’s mechanical expertise and attention to detail – traps hurt us as much as the redcaps and walking dead did. Along the way we found quite a bit of gold and some magical items, mostly weapons and armor and such. No spells although I did acquire a staff of not inconsiderable power and a few wands. The bracers I mentioned in my last post (oh so very long ago) worked admirably and no doubt saved my life multiple times. After a week of working through the tomb we came upon a long tunnel. Having some familiarity with your adventures I suspected that this was one of the interconnected tunnels that the redcaps are using to move underground. After a brief discussion we decided to continue to explore, and thus went down the tunnel on the 18^th of Winter Waning. As near as I can tell this is when you sent me Journal Entry 22, though it would be sometime before I would be able to receive it.

We wandered that long tight tunnel for 7 days. There were many unlabeled intersections, but it seemed that every choice we made led only to more apparently endless tunnel. Only once did we encounter a band of redcaps larger than 4. Twelve redcaps and 2 steel toes came upon us in the dark while we camped and we only survived because the narrow tunnel prevented more than 2 from coming at us at once. Even still Uval barely survived and Dorian was severely wounded. Wren’s healing ability was tested as never before after the fight, but she rose to the challenge.

Our food supplies were running low so it was with a sigh of relief that we made a choice on the 8^th day that led us to another tomb complex. It took us 3 days to clear that particular tomb, and we stepped into sunlight for the first time in 17 days on the morning of the 4^th of Spring Waxing (Happy belated New Year by the by). We did not know where we were, save only that we were in the mountains.  We took a day to climb a peak and get a lay of the land.

We were in the West Almeneids of course, just north of Morning Mirror Lake. We took a day to rest on the peak and discuss our options. The Almeneids are largely impassable, so running along the range was out of the question, and we were on the east face so the Hidden Hills were out even if that was where we wished to go. Unfortunately the only viable option (and the one we took) seemed to be to head down out of the mountains and through the Tainted Wood section of the Firnockt on our way back to Halvenspring. In hindsight I suppose we could have re-entered the tunnels, but I think you can understand why we would have been very reluctant to do so. So the Tainted Wood it was.

It took us 2 days to come down off the mountain and enter the woods. The Tainted Wood… it was a nightmare. Almost no sunlight pierced the canopy, and every moment we were on edge. It was eerily quiet. Half way through the first day I heard a faint whispering. It was constant and though I could not make out the words it made my flesh crawl and my mind reel with a primal nameless horror. I found myself singing songs, doing math problems, repeating recipes – anything to distract from that mad whispering. Would that I had spoken up to my companions. Alas I did not and it was that evening that Uval went insane.

We began making camp and Dorian and I were agreeing that the Tainted Wood was not a good place for a fire when Uval walked over to Wren and suddenly buried his greataxe in her stomach. He tore it free, bringing out a good portion of her internals, and made to behead her when Dorian tackled him. Not knowing what to make of the situation Dorian tried to reason with Uval and subdue him. Uval began screaming. I was careful to take mental note of what he said. Here it is (repetitions deleted):

“The chains loosen!” “The God King comes, the Shadow falls, now is the time of chaos!” “The tide sweeps north, the fount shall be poisoned! The Harbinger lands on the shores of night!” “Wicker must not rise again!”

While Uval screamed these things over and over, he (being quite a bit stronger than Dorian) swung his heavy crossbow around from his back, put the point in Dorian’s chest, and pulled the trigger. The bolt punched all the way through him throwing his body back onto the forest floor. I then blew Uval head apart with a Blast of Force spell.

The crossbow bolt managed to miss Dorian’s heart and lungs, punching through under his collar bone and shattering his shoulder blade on the way out. Wren had managed to close her horrendous wound with her magic after pushing back in most of the contents of her lower abdomen, but passed out from the effort. That’s when I heard the drums. I punched Dorian full in the face, which brought him back to his senses.  Pouring our only 2 healing draughts into him, we conferred quickly. It seems we had all heard the whispering, and we certainly both heard the drums now. We each threw an arm of the unconscious Wren over our shoulder (I due to my stature actuall supporting her body more from the waist) and began a panicked stumbling run south.  The drumming followed us, and soon we could hear and then see redcaps in the woods.  We ran. I don’t remember much of that endless night, running through the trees, drumming filling our heads. What I do know now, after the fact, is that we ran all night, exited the Tainted Wood at sunrise and still they chased us. The drumming did not continue into the day. We continued running, quaffing potions of Bear’s Endurance and Haste as we went until our meager store was gone (a total of 4 Bear’s Endurance and 2 Haste). They followed, slowly closing the gap between us. It was midafternoon when they began throwing darts and spears our way. Both Dorian and I took many wounds, and as we broke free of the tree line in the late afternoon, a spear went through my leg. We didn’t stop. We ran right into the lake and sank into the still waters of the Morning Mirror as spears rained down around us.

It was Wren who saved us. She used her magic to somehow create a bubble of air under the water, and we rode the gentle undercurrent away from the shore and our pursuers. We rode out the night in that bubble, and Wren recast to allow us to continue through the next day. That evening we had been washed into the Greendeep. We put ashore at night and made camp. In the morning it was clear that Wren was dying. Her magic had sealed the wound, but the mess of her innards was slowly poisoning her from the inside. We patched up Dorian as best we could, but had to reserve the majority of Wren’s healing to keep her alive. Dorian and I rigged a stretcher and carried her along the shore and into the Firnockt for 3 days until we reached Koylrest at night.

Koylrest had been recently attacked when we arrived. It seems Baron Tullimus has converted to the Chovalian Church and turned a blind eye to their activities in his barony. A Chovalian priest, similar I suppose to Feanor, had denounced the local Omnian cleric and made clear that only the Chovalian version of Omnianism would be permitted in Woodspear Barony. The residents of Koylrest didn’t give a flying fig what their baron approved and had gathering in the town square, armed, to “encourage” the Chovalian and his guard to leave town. That’s probably the only reason the town survived when the redcaps attacked.

Redcaps swarmed into town and set fire to many buildings. Fully a third of the population was slain before the redcaps were pushed back. Mysteriously all of the Chovalians failed to survive. An Omnian Priest – our version – named Father Eon was traveling north with a companion, leaving the meeting you described in Carradeen I believe, and saw the fire. He came and did his best to help the townsfolk.

Dorian and I walked in the 2^nd night after the attack. Father Eon was still there and was able to fully restore Wren, for which he will always be mentioned in my prayers. The small healing spells Wren had been casting over the past few days to mend Dorian’s shoulder had actually healed the bone wrong, and Father eon had to break his shoulder blade with a hammer before healing him. Let me tell you, that is a sound that affects you in the pit of your stomach.  We spent the night in Father Eon’s tent, and being exhausted and emotionally wrecked Dorian and I told him everything. I had wits enough about me to avoid telling him about Alerhaus and his box and the Scrolls of Epic Legend, but most else got spilled that night.

Eon listened and absorbed our tales. He did not comment, but fed us and healed us as he listened. I slept better that night that any I can remember. In the morning Eon invited us to a private breakfast. He told us many things, but the following I found to be especially pertinent so I have reproduced it here:

“Vespatius was the catalyst. Things could have kept going on a low simmer, but when he called out into the Void he cranked the heat up to a boil. What you have to remember is that the most valuable thing is and always has been information. It’s why you might hoard moldering documents in a university tower. Or desperately search for a receptacle with your animated proxies. Or send your shadows to the four corners, listening. All looking for the same information. What I wonder, is if you already knew this information, and perhaps quietly always knew it to begin with, why send your pieces west?”

Dorian of course was completely lost in this speech but through your journals and adventures it made far more sense to me. Which is why I found myself saying, “You didn’t mention the God King.” Father Eon looked at me and suddenly smiled. “Yes, of course. That’s why.” He then gave us three horses and a scroll to give to Onsmythe, which he said would restore Father Theodore.  I asked him where he was going, and he said north to the university, to visit an old friend and perhaps borrow a book. His final words to us were, “Keep to the Omnian faith. Believe, place your trust in people who believe, and fear not a death in the service of the greater good.”

We rode out that morning heading northwest along the tree line. Our ride and camps were quiet; none of us had had a chance to process Uval’s death and the reality of that event cast a pall over our company. On the evening of the 3^rd day, 17^th of Spring Waxing, we rode into Halvenspring.

Here is where I have to rewind my narrative and cover events in Halvenspring in my absence. But it is late and I still have much to fill you in on. So now I shall rest my pen, pray that this missive finds you in good health, and continue my tale at the next opportunity.

Sincerely,

Osgood of Dragomir Tower

Journal Entry #22

Osgood,

My apologies for being so long out of communication.  We have bedded down outside of a fallen tower in the forest outside of Forestend.  Here is a brief recap of the last several days.

When we left Halvenspring we ended up spending the night in Woodspear, where the keep of Baron Tellemus is located.  Bajol had the beautiful idea that we sleep in his keep, as he was not there to stop us.  His Man-at-arms was quite accommodating, and we had a peaceful nights sleep.  The next morning we headed out to Longdock where we booked passage on a riverboat headed to Carradeen.  The 2 day trip down river was quiet and pretty relaxing.

Arriving at Carradeen was a pretty impressive sight.  This place is huge.  With ships, and people, and merchants everywhere.  We were mistaken for nobility when we disembarked and given a recomendation of a place to stay called The Ivory Cup.  So, Osgood, I need to take this time to inform you that there IS an "Other Half", and they live so much better than we do.  Not that our little tower is bad, but this inn was the most opulent thing I have ever seen.  Men everywhere in powdered wigs, hot baths, soft beds in large rooms.  Exquisite food and drink.  It is a lifestyle that would not be hard to get accustomed to.  The price, however nearly broke us, so our stay was very short lived.

That evening we met with Baron Fredrick and had dinner.  It was polite conversation, and a good meal.  He invited us to stay at the palace as members of his retinue, and we happily obliged. I also was able to pay a gentleman to track down Gwilyth.  I'm not sure if I ever told you about her, Osgood.  She is my sister.  Some 10 years older than me.  She was sent to Carradeen because her and my mother never got along, however I suspected it was something more.  Hopefully I can find her while I am in this region.

After dinner, I had a meeting with representatives of the Illmarian University.  They claimed to have little knowledge and were just simple merchants buying up documents.  They had no interest in FW artifacts that were not text of some sort.  I showed them the sheet with the Heraldic Signifiers on it, and they were extremely impressed.  We could not agree on a price, however, and I declined their offer.  That is when they attacked Fyn and I and we had to defend ourselves.  Needles to say, those 2 gentlemen will not be stealing from anyone ever again.

The next day was the big meeting, and what a meeting it was.  It was a massive collection of nobles, and wise men, and people jockeying for power.  The main even was the representative from the Choval Empire declaring that they have found the one way to be Omnian and all other people of faith must recognize their authority or some bullshit like that.  I stopped listening because I realized that this was going to result in a war one way or the other, and I will pay more attention when I have to choose a side.  There are more inportant things to deal with then petty men arguing over petty things.

Once the central speeches were concluded, I started to make my way through the crowd.  I ran into some representatives from the Parliament of Owls and we caught up on the goings on of late.  Nothing of note to write back about.  Then I spotted Mario across the room, and made my way to him.

Mario seems woefully unprepared to lead anything.  He is surly, and really only interested in garnering the favor of those with money.  We spoke briefly, and after convincing him that I might be a person of means, I received an invitation to dine with him in Gold Meadow.  What a better way to take that player off the board than at his own table.  Shortly after that meeting exhaustion set in and I retired to my chambers for some rest.  I think I came down with some sort of bug or something because the next thing I remember we were approaching the town of Forestend to the south.

Apparently while I was convalescing the group squared off with Daedalus on top of the palace.  His true form is that of a Manticore!  Oh, I would have loved to been there.  Sadly, Daedalus got away, but not without taking quite the beating.  Regardless, maybe now he will slink back to Shadowmount and leave us alone.

So we arrive in Forestend.  This place is fairly heavily fortified.  We found out while stabling the horses that it is not uncommon for beasts and Tainted to attack the city on average twice a week.  We got rooms at The Last Candle, where we also met some members of the Losten military.  They gave us some info on known locations of ruins and tombs, and agreed to serve as trackers and guides as we make out way to where we believe the Xinnian tombs to be located.  They also mentioned that they have seen far less redcap activity recently.  This could mean that all of Tainted activity is being focused on our region.  Be careful. 

We struck out this morning on horseback to the first known ruin.  On our way we overtook a group of feathered bears of some sort.  Like a half owl, half bear creature.  You know what?  I'm just going to call them Owlbears.  Done.  We fought some Owlbears.  Then we got to the tower.

We found this in a clearing.  It is old dilapidated, and reeks of evil.  There were also clear Steel-toe tracks moving in and out of the building.  Bajol sensed a strong evil presence within, and we entered to deal with the threat.  That presence consisted of 2 ghost like creatures that gave Bajol, Frumious, and Feydor a bit of trouble, but were eventually dispatched.  Not without taking some damage, however.  We are currently bedding down outside of the tower to get some rest, and so I can re-up on spells.

So how are things back home?  Since I have not heard form you, I am going to assume all is quiet.  I have an assignment for you.  But you must be inconspicuous about it.  I need to know why Klaus was sent to Halvenspring.  I also need to know what our city is hiding.  The people of the town, the fact that others get "assigned" here, the red cap concentration.  I can't shake the feeling like we are missing something right in front of our face.  So see what you can find out, but don't draw interest.  If something is about to blow, I don't want us to be the ones who strike the match.  Well, I'm going to do a little work on Daedalus' journal and then turn in.  Until next time.

Grigor

Journal Entry #21

Notes to self over the last few days:

Extensive tunnel system exposed by Dorian.

The party spent days trying to clean it out.  Full of Redcaps.

Discovered a crude map that seems to indicate a tunnel system and millitary style movements across the entire region.

On our way out we discovered FW ruins that mentioned the Lilly, and well as the Solarians, of which Bruhlor and Omnos seemed to be a part.

Found some very old undead things (They spoke FWC), and we dispatched them.

We did pick up some weapons an gear that should prove useful.

Upon returning to town we learned that Marc and Pharun already knew the level of Redcap activity in the area.

Met with Klaus Steelpick:

He is here on business from the Underground Mine, but seems to have become charmed by the area.  He also seems to understand his role here in the town.  He hinted that being a member of the Parliment of Owls might be more of a boon than I anticipated.  He did inquire about Marwin and said that when he is around things seem to escalate.

He did not have much information on those threads we have been pursuing, but did suggest we sail West. 

The biggest bombshell to drop was a piece of parchment that Klaus gave me with the insigne of the Solarians.  It is a guide to all of the heraldic symbols of what I am supposing are various orders aligned to different Gods/Avatars?

We have a couple of days here in town, and then we head out for Carradeen.  I ought to look for my sister while I am there.

G

Journal Entry #20

Osgood,

I realize that you were present for most of these events, but who am I to part from convention?

So I am going to jot down some notes regarding the last 24 hours just to keep the memories fresh.

Made it home to find Nolan still here, yet completely uninterested in most of what I had to discuss.

He is heading to investigate Mario Treyvan in Goldmeadow.

Found out all of the town save my mother was under the compulsion of the toy maker.  They were all wearing little wooden dolls around their neck.  When Bajol realized that his father was under the spell, he headed for my tower, as did Frumious and Feydor upon realizing Fr. Theodore was also bewitched.  Needless to say we headed to his shop that night to deal with the issue.  What we found will keep me from sleep for several nights to come, I'm sure.

A small squat cottage in a clearing, deep in the forest.  Around it, hanging from trees were small wicker figurines, and trinkets.  Frumious went to deal with a shed full of sticks, and raw material.  The rest of us went in to confront Salavic.  When we entered his shop, what we found was a figure made of wood, similar to a marionette.  It addressed us and as we began to attack it, it seemed to lose its life force.  I realized that the possessing entity was still in the room, and while we did not kill it, it did leave the area.

We decided to burn everything, and as we were getting ready to do that the puppet said that all would be destroyed this evening, or some cryptic shit like that.  We then burned everything BUT the magical item, one of which was a set of woodworking tools that identified as "Set 14 - Woodworking tools".  We took all of the magic item back to town and Fyn broke in to every home in the village removing necklaces.  Good thing too, for as soon as the tools were set on fire, all of those necklaces went up with a fire hot enough to smelt some metals.

So this morning we called a meeting at the church with ourselves, Onsmythe, Theodore, Nolan, Marc, Pharun, Klaus and the Grey Council.  Marc dismissed all but Us and my father.  He then proceeded to inform us that if we have bigger things to deal with, go and deal with them.  We shouldn't be bogged down here.

I was really looking for information once we got home, but I am guessing that information lies in another location.  Perhaps the tombs of Goldmeadow, or out on the Western Sea.  I also need to have a conversation about why she is the only person in the town immune to compulsion.

OK, we are off to talk with Onsmythe about the Human not Human thing.  Maybe he will have a little insight.

Journal Entry #19

Osgood,

Thank you for the update, you are becoming quite a wizard, lad.  Maybe soon it is I who will be apprenticing to you.  Please give this note to Nolan:

Nolan,

I am glad to hear you are safe.  You and I have much to discuss, and I could use your "resources" on some things.  I also have information of Thomas, as well as a host of other things.  I understand you were planning on leaving soon.  As you oldest friend, and family member, I would ask that you stay a few more days until we can talk about some things.  I would not ask if it were not important.

Grigor

Communique #7

Grigor,

I am delighted to know that I will see you soon.

As your apprentice, I have been somewhat remiss in my duties as I have failed to keep you apprised of my studies and progress – instead choosing to focus on local news and the specific tasks you have assigned to me. Allow me to rectify that before you arrive and see what I’ve done to your tower.

As you know I have been studying topics arcane and magical; I have also been studying spell theory and the art of casting. You will be pleased to know that I am progressing well in both areas. In addition to that I have undertaken the pursuit of several fields of study that dove-tail nicely with your instruction.

First please know that I take my role as your librarian very seriously, and have now become proficient in the creation, construction, and binding of books – as well as archival, restoration, and preservation.

I have also developed a keen interest in crafting and alchemy. You mentioned scrolls in a previous letter; I hope you are proud to find that I have scribed an assortment of arcane scrolls for our use.  In addition I have constructed a small stone alchemy lab next to the tower (but not connected as failed experiments have proven to be volatile). From there I have been able to craft several vials of antitoxin, tindertwigs, everburning torches, etc…

I have also expanded my alchemy practice into the creation of magical potions and have a very modest supply representing my efforts. Thanks to Phineas Whooperill I have also discover how to craft enchanted items that are far more wonderous than their mundane counterparts. I am currently working on a set of bracers that provide a magical effect that duplicates wearing armor. Unfortunately my first attempt also immobilized the wearer, BUT HE WAS WELL PROTECTED.

I am now fluent in 5 languages – Valian Common, Gnomish, Celestial, Illmarian Common, and First World Common. I hope to add Elven and Dwarven soon.

Finally my casting abilities have progressed where I can now cast Flaming Sphere – something of a personal triumph.

Your tower has now become, ah, more organized along my particular tastes. This was so that I could fulfill your various research requests more quickly. A minor rearranging of furniture and book organization, nothing huge and easily returned if you wish when you arrive.

I have reconstructed the third floor as you requested – dismantling my jewelry shop to do so, just so you know. Anyway, on to the local news.

Two days ago Nolan arrived from the north. He looked pretty exhausted and asked if he could stay here. As I write this he is down stairs eating lunch. He has not seen anything other than the first floor and has not asked – mainly he’s just been sleeping. He told me he intends to leave tomorrow morning, heading south into Goldmeadow. He inquired after you and the others and I told him you left heading east at the beginning of Winter Waxing. He seemed pleased and left it at that.

Eric Plowman and his son Toby found Nolan’s arrival far too interesting for my tastes.  I attempted to use Detect Thoughts on Toby as he was watching Nolan eat in the Sleeping Dragon.  All I got was “So the High bards continue to meddle in Illmarian affairs,” before Melor’s tunic got caught in the door and caused a commotion. What was most interesting to me was that following the physical comedy of Melor falling etc., Toby locked eyes with me in a way that told me he knew. For Eric’s part he inquired with your Mother about Nolan and the details surrounding his upbringing, who he hung out with, etc…

Just today we received word that the Baron will be coming to visit Halvenspring. The official reason is a managing tour of the Barony, but I think Marc Risus and Pharun’s activities far more likely a reason. He should arrive shortly after you guys, the following day if you keep your schedule.

Yesterday Klaus knocked on the door. He has noticed me testing my alchemical work and asked if he could see my shop. Not knowing what else to do I showed it to him. He politely asked me a few crafting related questions and made a few suggestions, which I was happy to take. We’re going to meet over dinner tonight in his tower and discuss the limitations of potion brewing.

Your brother Dorian has been making forays into the Firnockt, accompanied by Wren and Uval. Do you remember Wren? The Allade girl, Bruno’s daughter? She has been spending time with both Omsythe and Father Theodore, and I suspect picked up a few things with her new divine beliefs. Uval you wouldn’t know – his family migrated from Templemount a month ago. Anyway the three of them have been “exploring” and “patrolling”. I bring it up both to keep you informed and because I want to tell you about the events of last night.

Apparently they encountered a band of Redcaps because they are idiots and were walking at night through the Firnockt by the Tainted wood. They engaged and slew 3 Redcaps before deciding that they were outmatched – by Gwen’s account there were 8 of them – and fleeing. The redcaps gave chase and Dorian’s group ran for the closest building which was Salavic’s shop – he’s a halfling, a new resident who makes toys and baskets.  Anyway the Redcaps stopped and refused to enter the clearing where Salavic’s place is built. Why would they do that? That seems odd. Perhaps there is more to Salavic (note to readers – this sentence is struck through and ends with “Salavic,” as if Osgood thought it was a mistake. The letter resumes) They were just lucky I guess. Gwen’s account of the incident however mentions a figure made of smoke, about man sized, that was with the Redcaps. I wonder if this is the same kind of Tainted One you met on the road between Waymeet and Shadowmount? I asked around, looked into church records, and there has never been mention of any other kind of Tainted One other than Redcaps in the Firnockt.

As I researched that though, I came across an old record (well, old for Halvenspring anyway) mentioning a Redcap leader named Blackbriar. This implies that 1) Recaps are intelligent enough to have and follow leaders, and 2) have a sense of self enough to have names. This revelation is chilling to me. Is there an intelligence behind these seemingly random attacks? Why are things escalating? It is becoming clear to me – something is going on in the Firnockt. Something new – or rather something very old which is doing new things. I will confer with you more on your arrival, but I am of the mind to accompany Dorian and his friends on some of their forays. As with Toby Plowman, it may be time for me to become more than an observer.

Looking forward to your safe return,

Osgood

Journal Entry #18

Osgood,

So somehow I got confused on how far we were from home.  I know I said 4 days ago we were close, but now we truly are.  I am at the Inn in Rams Run, and we are riding hard.  Here is a quick recap of the last several days:

So we left Tradedock, and on the first night of camping we came across Orisus returning from having the Underground Mine take care of that Awakened that was still dormant.  The one that the Steel-toes were trying to uncover.  He is actually heading to visit a friend of his named Klaus Steelpick.  So he should be riding with us all the way back to town.  The ride has been cold, snowy, and creepy.  Crows flying overhead, every shadow is suspect, everything feels like your enemy when you are out here and running for home.

On the second day we saw a strange bird flying in an unusual pattern.  I sent Kyros to investigate, and as he got close, the bird turned into tiny wooden spikes and peppered him.  Kyros fell out of the sky, but is OK, I am happy to say.  Right about then was when the ground exploded in front of us and 2 large wicker . . . animals? charges at us.  I am including a sketch.

Once we damaged them a certain amount they dissolved into several wicker warriors.  They were easily defeated, but it was a tense few minutes.  Needless to say that quickened our pace, and we made a minor course correction to head for home as the crow flies.  (Maybe that is no longer the best expression for us to use)

That night, as we were sleeping, a shadow appeared to Bajol and Orisus (they were on watch).  It was the Shadowlord, and he was looking for the box to keep it out of the hands of his brother.  So either "brother" is a term used for all of those who were extant in the first world, or we are smack dab in the middle of the most fucked up family feud I have ever seen.  Either way, it was pretty spooky.  The shadow also seemed concerned that we were heading back to Halvenspring, that makes me even more convinced that the Puppet King is tied to our new Toymaker.

We rode on to Ram's Run, and then encountered Ichabod and the "Knights of the Mist Valley" harrassing a barmad in the inn.  He made us, and whispered to a partner that he knew pretending to be us would draw us out, and to tell Fengali that we are here.  I have no clue what the hell this is about.  Needless to say we took out most of them.  Ichabod got a way, and we tracked him for a while, but lost him in the dark, and the snow.  We just got back, and are turning in now.

So hopefully I will see you in 48 hours or less.  Omnos, I can't wait!

Grigor

Journal Entry #17

Whom do you Serve?

Knowledge

Knowledge or Secrets?  For Knowledge is mad, and Secrets are hidden.

Secrets

Well if it is Carrion you side with, carrion you shall be

I was wrong to protect you from the Puppet King.  No more.

 

 Osgood,

I shall explain what is on the preceding page in just a moment.  The good news is that we are a few days, at most, from home.  We are currently  in Tradedock in the Mark of Payrus.  I am sitting here watching Fyn sleep after a, somewhat, bizarre and terrifying experience. 

So, after our meeting with my fellow Owls (that feels real silly), we headed West with Marwyn.  This gave me a good opportunity to annoy him with questions, which I did.  We started talking about World Enchantments and he gave me some information, and a bit of a riddle.  The information is that world enchantments seem to have no single point or source of emanation, and that we can only observe that there is magical energy, but not the effect of said enchantment.  Frumious wondered if that meant Enchantment in the strict archane sense, or if it was just another way of saying magick.  I think that is an excellent question, and something we should look in to.  The riddle, of sorts, or the statement Marwyn gave me to ponder was that there is something linking world enchantments, the nature and shape of our world, and the metal used to taint the firstborn.  Yep, mind blown.  No theories yet, but pondering this gives me a headache.

We also talked about Vespatious.  He mentioned that Vepatious was trying to contact something or someone the day his tower fell.  He also thought it worth noting that Vespatious was not as, obviously, concerned with the shadow entity, as he was with Crow man, or Puppet King.  Both of those things bear some exploration.  Something else about Vespatious has been bothering me.  Why had he never read a single one of the Scrolls of Legend that he possessed?  I know he couldn't read all of them, but there were several that could have benefited him.  I find that odd.

So our conversation continued, and I mentioned a Jester, and Marwyn's face went immediately grave.  Apparently the Jester is a representative of the God King of the Giants.  So we now have a new player on the field.  My count is that this brings us up to 6.  At least.  Marwyn said he needed to go and inform others that there was a new player in the game.  He said that any one who says they are with him will have the mark of the blue anvil on their wrist.  Very much like the blue anvil we saw at Elliqor's.  Then he summoned a kind of Kyros looking creature out of the air, who picked up Marwyn and flew off with him. 

OH!  I found out about the Dwarves.  Apparently there is a Dwarven organization called "The Underground Mine", and they do Dwarf things, and protect Drawf interests.  So that explains that.  Also, regarding this "game" that has been going on, Marwyn said something about a "return to Godhood".  That sounds like it could have terrible repercussions.  So we need to see what the hell that is all about.  Also, Marwyn said something that I found quite interesting.  He said to think of the things occurring now like several "plays" all happening at the same  time, and with recurring characters who appear in different plays.  That analogy makes a lot of sense to me, and I would be well served to remember that moving forward.

I also have a thought on the Ilmarian University, Osgood.  They are trying to buy up all of the first world knowledge and lock it up in their academy to the North.  This may be a stretch, but does that reek of The Carrion King?  What do you think?

So after Marwyn flew away, we continued our journey heading West until we reached Tradedock.  This is a nice sized city on the River Avonwine, and everyone seemed very friendly.  As we were looking for a place to bed down for the night, we noticed an old beggar in the alley who was muttering to himself while being tortured by, what appeared to be, shadows.  He was swatting them off, but they kept coming back.  I cast detect thoughts to see if I could discover the thoughts of these "shadows", but they resisted the spell.  Regardless, Frumious seemed to chase them away.  At which point the beggar stood up and we could see the depth of his depravity.

Rags were all he wore, and he was barely wearing that.  His hair was matted and dirty, his face covered with dirt and blood.  Where was that blood coming from, you ask?  It was coming from the sockets where his eyes USED to be.  Oh yeah.  Creepy blind beggar!  My favorite of the horror story stock characters.  And there he was, one of our very own.  All of a sudden, he stood erect, became very lucid, and said, "I know the unspeakable name!"  Fyn asked him what is was, and the beggar said it.

Osgood, I am not going to write the name.  I am not going to tell you the name.  I hope to not have to think about this name for a long time.  The reason I am not sharing this with you is because when the beggar said the name, he exploded.  Now let me be clear, I don't mean a fireball went off, or his head swelled up.  I mean he fucking exploded.  We were covered in tiny little particles of that guy.  Not only was it gross, but I have never seen a spell like that before.  On some level it was amazing.  Terrifying, but amazing.

So, after we talked with the local constable, we went to an inn to clean up, get some food, and sleep.  After dinner, just a few hours ago, I came to the room to continue deciphering The Marquis' journal.  Shortly after that Fyn came in to call it a night.  I agreed to take first watch, and Fyn was fast asleep before long.  After, I don't know how many hours I got up to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing again.  That brings me to the writing on the earlier page.

When I turned around to get back to work, I noticed a large, very defined shadow writing in my book.  With my pen.  And my ink.  I can't say I was scared as much as I was intrigued.  You can see the exchange above.  After his note about being carrion, I felt myself being engulfed by shadow, constricting my throat keeping me from yelling for Fyn to help.  Now I was scared.  I reached out, mentally, to Kyros, and he was able to scorch the shadow enough to keep him at bay, and then all of a sudden his arms turned to tentacles.  Tentacles very similar to the ones that took Vespatious, and he whipped them around for a bit, then wrote in the book one last time and disappeared.  The last entry was "I was wrong to protect you from the Puppet King.  No more."

So I am pretty awake at this point, but hopefully, I am able to get some rest when I wake Fyn up in a few minutes.

So that is what has been going on here.  What about you?  How are you?  How are your studies coming?  I look forward to some nice long discussions with you about your spells, and abilities.  

In preparation for my return home, I need you to look into the following things:

* Start researching the concept of things that CANNOT be said.  I'm curious to know if there is more than the one unspeakable name out there that people are afraid of saying.

* I need you to restore the third floor back to working condition.  I know I told you to disassemble the room, but when I get back I am going to need to spend some time contemplating.  To that end, I could use a small pouch of the mushrooms that grow near my folks' house.

*Also, think about what scrolls you might want to keep around our house.  I will be spending some time scribing scrolls while we are home, and before the group sails West.

I hope all is well, and you and my tower will be a sight for sore eyes here very shortly.

Grigor

Journal Entry #16

Osgood,

I don't know where to start or where to begin.  We had our meeting with the Parliment of Owls, and well, it has given me a lot to digest.  I am only going to relate what we "know", but once you read what transpired I am sure you will have no difficulty in imagining the myriad speculations regarding the nature of the universe and our place in it that took place.

I will attach the list of questions I intended on asking, although I did not get to all of them.  Let me start with the Marquis.  Little was actually know of him by the Owls, but another gentleman named Marwyn was there and had met the Marquis.  He also had no new information to reveal.

We did get some clarification of the Awakened.  They seem to have no commonalities among them other than the fact that they survived the end of the First World.  They could range from a squirrel to something like the Marquis.  It seems as though those things that were underground fared much better than those above ground.  It makes me wonder if there are extant bloodlines from Dwarves who were underground at the time of the apocalypse.  That might be a line of research worth our investigation.

An Owl named Oscarius has a theory that there is no "First" or "Second" world, but that it is a continuous time frame.  I think we have enough information to abandon that theory, but he also believes that the world is round, and if that is the case, I am curious to see how the concept of the Void fits into that theory.  The other thing Oscarius had to say was that when you summon something, like a dragon, per se, it does not enter in a shape that looks like the dragons we see in the Dragon Wastes.  These dragons are vibrant in color, have wings, and look considerably different than our dragons.  I wonder if it is possible for a species to change over time, losing certain attributes and gaining others as needed for their environment.  I guess something like a growing, or an adapting?  I should come up with a catchier term . . . natural determination?  Selection?  I don't know, but there might be something to this theory.

(If you can't tell, I am looking for material for my first book, which I want to start on as soon as I get back home)

We also learned that Mario is indeed in the south trying to raise an army.  And by raise I mean RAISE an army.   So we added that to the super heroic hero clubs list of things to do.  I suspect he might be using a Xinnian tomb system in the south that we learned about from Telmon.

Let's see what else . . .  I learned that my maternal grandfather was the person that Vespacitous modeled himself after.  So there is that.

OH!  Right.  So apparently there was a pantheon of Gods in the First World, among them names like Arglos, Omnos, Bruhlor, Ellicor, The Puppet King, The Shadow Entity, the Carrion King.  So now these entites are here (NOT as awakened) but in a limited capacity.  They want something, Osgood, I just can't see what yet.  I suspect it is the same thing Vespatious wanted.  We ride out with Marwyn tomorrow heading in your direction, and I am hoping to quiz him a little more.  I am also getting the feeling that we are starting to play a much bigger part in this than I imagined.

Almost as soon as we left Halvenspring, we were visited by representatives of these entities.  The first being the Puppet thing in the woods, asking for the box.  I think we did, or took, or started something in that tower, and the fact we were in Halvenspring kept them from being able to find us.  Now that we are away from the protection of the spring, we seem to be being tracked and watched.  I wonder if perhaps this book box has a larger capacity than I previously thought.  I have never tried to pull books off ANOTHER shelf before.  We should play with this idea when I get home.

Let's see, I feel like I am leaving something out . . . Oh, I petitioned to become an Owl, and was accepted.  As a matter of fact, I might be, outside of Ilmar's university, a foremost authority on First World knowledge.  That just shows how little we know!  Speaking of Illmar's university, apparently they are trying to prevent First World knowledge from getting out.  I wonder if they are trying to keep certain facts/destinations of importance out of the wrong hands, or if their agenda is more nefarious.

Marwyn did tell us that the Bishop of the Choval Empoire has declared himself a sort of supreme pontiff and is forcing conversions to his brand of Omniamism.  He has taken control of that regioin, and looks to start a full court press (hoopball term) into bordering regions.  That can't be good, and I know Frumious will want to make that a top priority. 

Oh, I am not a human.  That was the thing I was forgetting.  NOT A HUMAN.  Apparently, the Xinnians were human, but we are not.  So, I don't know what in the hell to do with that, but the group's plan is to go home, take care of things, and then sail west looking for answers.  I don't even know what to say about this last point.  So I am going to leave it there.  Goodnight, and hopefully we can set eyes upon one another in a little over a week's time.

Grigor

Grigor's Questions for the Parliament of Owls (see Session 24)

Erasmus:

1.      What is the Marquis?

2.      What are his weaknesses?

3.      What is the history between him and Elliquor?

4.      What other notable awakened are you aware of?

5.      What can you tell us regarding the Carrion King?

6.      What can you tell us of the Puppet King?

7.      Were these deities in the first world?

8.      Was Vespacious an awakened?

9.      What was the relationship between these 4 entities?

10.  I feel as if there is something acting behind the scenes involving these 4 men.  Any insight?

Oscarius:

1.      What were the Dragon Wastes before they were the Dragon Wastes?

2.      What is currently happening there, and are the dragonkin there recruitable?

Grovath:

1.      Where is the lair of the Laughing Maid?

2.      Why is there a Silent Lady?  She makes nothing?

3.      Is it possible that Omnos created the Chronosi?

4.      What were they in the first world?

5.      How did they survive?

Telmon

1.      Location of hidden tombs?

2.      History of the Argloians?

3.      Any other first world history he is aware of.

4.      Who was Halven?

5.      What happened to Albaer Dragomir?

6.      Who is my mother’s father?

General Questions:

1.      How does one become an Owl?

2.      Tips for publishing books

3.      Signs and portents that are happening that I may be unaware of.

Communique #6

Grigor,

It has been one week since my last missive. I hope this finds you well and in good health.

I finally got Father Theodore to quit trying to make a priest out of me, although it took a small confrontation to do it. I finally snapped and basically told him the real reason behind my interest in his books. He took it rather well, but began asking me all sorts of questions regarding you and the others. I tried to be courteous but also hold my consul, but – and I hope you’ll forgive me – I wound up letting a few things slip. Most notable was he found out that you and I are in communication although he doesn’t know the exact means we use. This shocked him, and when I gently turned the tables and began questioning HIM, I learned something that you may find very interesting indeed.

The spring from whence our esteemed village gets its name has magical properties – specifically it stops and shields from any magical summoning, transportation, or scrying. As Theodore put it, to someone who can scry or use divination magic Halvenspring is “a hole in the grid.” He mentioned a few other effects that are denied, I can’t remember them all but what I do recall are: message, sending, locate object, and locate creature.

Having learned that information I began looking at my neighbors in a new light. Did you know that fully half of the population has been in the village for less than 50 years? Oh sure much of it is cross pollination with Templemount and Halvenstomb but still. Add that to the suddenly revealed abilities of men like Marc Risus and Klaus Steelpick, and your own rather mysterious family history and I begin to wonder how many of my neighbors are in hiding? And from what and why? Even Father Theodore is now something of a mysterious figure – I can’t believe he is just a simple parish priest after watching him fight off the Redcaps weeks ago.

The palisade is done. Marc Risus and your father continue to drill all abled bodied people nightly (breaking for Massday at Theodore’s insistence). They have approached the Grey Circle for funds, even if from a separate local tax, to provide a weapon to each villager. This was, oh about five days ago. Yesterday Slighnigh rode in and pulled Pharun and Marc Risus aside. I happened to be passing by and managed to overhear. Slighnigh told them that asking for weapon funding – how he heard about it I don’t know – on top of the palisade looks too much like arming for a rebellion against the Baron. The palisade he could overlook because of the Redcap attack, but the nightly weapon drills are alarming, and the providing of arms is just too much.  They were ordered to ratchet it down a few notches or risk the Baron’s displeasure. The impression I got was that the Baron was already displeased but that Slighnigh had been speaking on behalf of Halvenspring, using the Redcap attack as justification. Marc Risus’ answer to that was direct, and I quote: “If the Baron wants to saddle up and clean out the Tainted Wood we’ll be happy to relax and “calm down” afterwards. Otherwise we’ll follow the laws and get him our taxes, but we’ll be prepared to defend ourselves against anyone who threatens us. Anyone.” Slighnigh rode out within the hour.

The first floor of Klaus Steelpick’s tower is now finished, and in record time. He still comes out for his nightly walk, but his demeanor has changed – he seems to be troubled and often broods. Four days ago a dwarven merchant came into town, but went straight to Klaus’ tower.  He left in a hurry a few hours later – never even unpacked his wares. So perhaps that has something to do with his mood. It’s either that or when he went that night out to Salavic’s shop in the woods. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned Salavic to you yet, but he’s another new addition. He built a small shop/residence about a mile outside of town in the Firnockt where he weaves baskets and makes simple toys. He is not very sociable but seems harmless enough. There was something else about him I wanted to mention, but it escapes me at the moment. Regardless it was the next day when I noticed that the usually friendly and gentle Klaus was troubled and distracted. Now that I think about it, I don’t know that I’ve heard from or about Salavic since.

Finally we have a new farmer that moved from Woodspear named Eric Plowman. It is a small household made up of him, his son Toby Plowman, and one hired hand named Melor. I don’t trust any of them. Wasn’t it the Baron of Woodspear that conscripted you guys ten years ago? Anyway the Plowmans seem to be asking more questions than actually farming. The son Toby in particular has been eyeing me personally. I caught him using a Detect Magic spell – the wizard variant – in the Sleeping Dragon. I disrupted his casting with a Prestidigitation of my own. He and I stared each other down across the tavern, un-noticed by the other patrons, and I think it might have actually escalated if Melor hadn’t have summoned him home. Needless to say I’m choosing my daily spells differently now.

Regards,

Osgood

Journal Entry #15

Osgood,

So I am writing this from the bowels of a freshly excavated mine? I'm not really sure what to call it.  Let me catch you up.

After we left Waymeet with Marcus we were on the road for a few days en route to this Dwarven Sage, Bertram.  One night while we were camping Marcus let slip that he was "ordered" to Waymeet.  (this will be important later)  When pressed he became evasive, and we thought it better just to let it go for the night.  Also on this journey we were alerted to the presence of a sinister looking dwarf accompanied by 4 henchmen/hired hands.  Marcus identified the dwarf as someone named Fingali, and indicated that this person was of the illest repute.  We also learned some other interesting things from Marcus.

We spoke to him about the "Wanderers".  Apparently, there are 4 Wanderers, one for each cardinal direction.  One of the 3 is female, and they meet every five years in a given location to discuss their travels.  I believe, at present, there is no Southern Wanderer.  Osgood, I would love to figure out where these meetings take place, and be a fly on the wall for that.

*Note to self - develop a spell to turn myself into a fly.

Marcus had info about my paternal grandfather.  Apparently he adventured in the South, and my father was his squire.  It is more of a lead than I have had in a while.  Speaking of families, we also found out Fyn's family runs a crime syndicate in the East.  That could prove advantageous.

That was most of what we got out of Marcus, and sooner than later we were at Bertram's Tower in Corkhome.  His tower looks a lot like ours, actually, although I hope our workspace will not end up as cluttered as his was.

Bertram was perfectly nice, but only somewhat helpful.  I think we were of more use to him than he was to us.  He was fascinated in our account of the redcap creation ceremony we witnessed.  As a matter of fact most of what we talked about was related to redcaps.  We did learn some information though. . . and I will share the bulk of it with you upon my return home.  Some of this you should be told face to face.  Here is what I can share however.

Tainted ones seem to be tied to the specific demi-human race from whom they are made.  This means that there are 4 types (in theory).  Redcaps, as we know, are gnomes that have been perverted.  Those Wisp-Walkers were once elves, Steel-Toes were once Dwarves, and no one is sure what happens when a Halfling is turned. 

Bertram did tell us that he is part of a group of sages that meets regularly to discuss things, and invited us to their next meeting.  So, needless to say, we will be stopping in on our way to Halvenspring.

We left the next morning escorted by another Dwarf named Orisus.  As we traveled the temperature started to drop.  Significantly.  There wasn't enough hooch in Avonhollow to keep me warm.  Eventually we decided to stop in to a small farm an see if we could take advantage of their barn for the night.  As we rode up, we realized that this particular farmhouse was the only one we had seen with no lights on, so we stopped to investigate. 

We discovered that the house had been broken into, and a struggle ensued.  There was blood everywhere, but no bodies.  Bajol and I went to do a perimeter check and look in on the barn.  We didn't have to get too close before we realized something was very wrong.  All of the cattle were huddled up on the farthest part of the pasture from the barn.  The party assembled and then rushed the barn.  We found an impressive amount of gore, that led to a large bull in the last moments of it's life.  It had gored a . . . creature? who was also in it's last few moments of life.  This was, without a doubt, a steeltoe.  Massive, an misshapen with, big surprise, large steel boots.  Orisus and Fyn did a little tracking and we found the trail.  Apparently there were 5 or 6 of them carrying something still alive.

We tracked them to the location from which I now write.  It looks like they were digging tunnels looking for something.  That something was a door that we stopped them from opening.  We surprised them in the middle of a ritual that was very similar to the redcap creation ritual, only this time they were pouring the blood of their freshly slain prey onto the door/slab.  A fierce battle ensued and we came very close to being buried in that mine last night.  Luckily the tide of battle turned, and we won the day, albeit, not without some close calls.  Orisus' dog Snort almost fell in battle, and had it not been for the quick thinking of your brother, he would have surely been lost.  Your brother also did a fine job of stopping the ritual from working by casting a spell that cut the ritual off from it's demonic fuel source.

After they Steel-toes were defeated I did a little research on the door, and Bertram posited that it was probably containing an awakened that had yet to be released.  A little more study revealed that the inscription on the slab referred to what was behind it as the eyed horror.  So, yeah, there is that.  We spent some time debating (imagine that) what to do with this place and the thing behind the door. That is when Orisus spoke up and said he knew "some guys" who would be "interested" in "this", and that we could move on and trust they would take care of it.  I inquired to the nature of this "group", and, big shock,  I got more Dwarven evasion.  I am starting to think ambiguity and indirectness are racial traits.

So we leave in the morning, and I hope that this meeting will garner some more in depth information regarding what is coming.

OH, I have to thank you for your kind words in your last message.  They really helped me get over the hurdle on leaving the Marquis intact.  I am going to make some personal notes after I sign off.  No need to be alarmed, I am ciphering them on purpose, and you don't need to bother with decoding them.  I am also attaching my sketches of the Steel-Toes, and the slab in the "mine shaft".  File them where appropiate.

I hope all is well, and look forward to sitting down with you in person to discuss all we have learned on our travels.  Until then, may Omnos guide and protect us all.

Grigor.

5 -CC

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Communique #5

Grigor,

Greetings from home. Things have been relatively quiet in Halvenspring the past few days. Construction on the palisade continues as does militia training, but there is no major news to report. Slighnigh is apparently well enough to travel; he passed through yesterday. He is doing an unofficial census of the outlying farms and cottages to see if there were any other Redcap deaths. He seemed impressed with the preparations of Halvenspring but cautioned us against being alarmist. In his words redcap attacks are not unknown but tend to be few and far between. Marc Risus and Pharun calmly listened to his counsel and then asked if the Baron was going to interfere with Halvenspring’s actions. Slighnigh just shook his head and replied, “Not yet,” and then went on his way.

In your 8^th journal entry you asked me to keep a look out for divine magic related writings. So I began nosing around at Father Theodore’s church, reasoning that if any had come through with the surge of merchants this year he would have picked them up. Unfortunately he took this interest as me answering some sort of calling like my brother Frumious did, and now I can’t walk past the man without getting lectured in Omnianism. You got one Hawthorne to don the frock - back off Theodore! This has not produced any new lore for your collection by the way, only aggravation for me.

This crow man that you asked me to look into, and have mentioned several times: I think it maybe connected to several figures referred to in a few texts we have. I have been working on some theories as I peruse and study. One theory is that the Carrion King, the Rook Lord, and the Battle Wraith are all the same being.  They all have a crow motif or connection, although the Rook Lord calls them rooks, and the Battle Wraith refers to ravens.

The Carrion King follows plague and battle fields with a swarm of crows that feast on the fallen. When he visits a house or city death soon follows. 

The Rook Lord supposedly lives in a mountain top tower to the north, and his rooks fly far and wide gathering secrets and stories. The parapets of the tower are decorated with the bodies of those who tried to share forbidden secrets or find tabooed lore. A few elven heroes have sought him out for hidden knowledge with various levels of success.

The Battle Wraith is a figure that appears suddenly over battle fields before the fight. It usually appears in a flock of ravens, and observes the battle. Battles where the Battle Wraith is present are always incredibly bloody, and warriors find themselves unable to flee, fighting with a savagery to the last man.

You can see why I think they might be one and the same, or at the very least connected. All are connected with death, and all are for the most part passive –their presence has some sort of effect and they appear as a reaction to an event rather than causing one.

As for your request that I look for things related to “shadows, wicker, and crows” the closest I’ve come is a fragment that says:

Four survived the final battle and passed through to exist in a diminished state: one who walks with birds and death, one who walks with sticks and madness, one who lives in shadows , and one who stays hidden.

I have come across no writings that mention a jester, outside of common tales etc…

I have nothing on an Azure Guard – you have recognized the similarity in name to the Order of the Blue Mount I assume?

The Void is frequently mentioned, although rarely addressed. It seems to be that which is outside of creation. Summoning spells are said to bring forth from beyond the Void, implying that there is more out there.  Supposedly human and orcs came from “across the Void.”

Which brings us to one of my other theories. What if the Shard Peoples did not come, but were brought? If there are other worlds beyond the Void, is it possible that this is a prison creation of some sort? It might explain the recycled nature of our world.

You asked about early Firstborn settlements; there don’t seem to be any that we know of. Occasionally there are locations mentioned (see my notes about the Hanging Tree in previous communication) but nothing I’ve found that refers to a city or town. Remember that time period predates written record; all we have is oral tradition written down by humanity AFTER they began to colonize the north.

As for the mirror in magical practices – it is used as an arcane symbol for doors, transitions, and self. This is in addition to an obvious application in scrying and reflection.

The Silent Lady is in her halls beneath the sea, everyone knows that (I’m surprised you asked). But your question got me to thinking – where is the Laughing Maid? The Lightning Lord is in Enternal Ice, The Stone King is in Caulderon, but there is no common lore on the Laughing Maid’s location.

A final note regarding your “cowardice.” Based on your description of events I would hardly call you a coward. Your intent and your will was to do the “brave thing,” your inability to perform that action was based on group dynamics and your willingness to compromise – not your fear of the act. If your party had voted otherwise would you have gone through with your plan? If so then you are no coward sir.

Regards,

Osgood