Expedition Logs - Iume 1195SY

Expedition Logs for the month of Iume.

Cian's Log

 * We set out at around 6pm to go and investigate the nearby city.
 * As we skirted the past the festering pool, we noticed an equine animal with an almost luminescent mane.
 * Moving forward towards the broken-down camp Máel-tuili noticed a figure on the Skull hill and alerted it to Jessari. I couldn’t see it and it was not quintessential to our mission,
 * May study Later.
 * Moving past the river and with the city in site we came upon a field grave that was marked with five stones stacked above each other. Used as an impromptu gravestone alongside the riverbed the riverbed
 * As we came up to the eastern edge of the town we were set upon by skeletons and a single Specter from the red earth.
 * Mael & Maloree began dispensing of all of them, while Jessari revealed divine powers to help destroy the skeletons. This group showed themselves to be quite insubordinate in following instructions affording me some of my stronger magic’s.
 * Upon studying the area and the bones, I’ve learned that this red earth is laid upon unhallowed ground, any bodies left here may reanimate.
 * I have taken one of the skeletons with me for further study of the skull and bones.
 * We moved towards the suspected black smith building, which turned out to be a factory with a mimic inside. Jessari decided to front-line a mimic which was absolutely eviscerated shortly after by Mael-Tulli.
 * Inside the body of the Chest shaped Mimic we discovered a Necrotically charged trident of exquisite quality, however the years may have added rust and moss to it.
 * We tried to rest for a short while at an adjacent building but were interrupted by a humanoid Ratfolk Who proceeded to big bad wolf us all the way home. But quite honestly, we didn’t see it beyond the river.


 * The stacked stone towers (field graves) are warding off the area of earth that the skeletons can access from the city.
 * This mission while not categorically a failure, little to further our mission was discovered.

Maloree's Log
himself to shroud his movement. He lets the crew know he’ll meet them back at camp, if not before. FIN
 * Setting out through the forest
 * Cian, Jessari & Maloree set off in the evening (6pm) with Máel-tuili, searching for the blacksmith said to be based on the edge of the city.
 * They decide to make a straightish path SW towards the city edges, avoiding some of the dangers like the Festering Pool, Lizards Nest and Creepy Alien Statue.
 * To begin with, they walk confidently through territory well explored. Several kilometres away, they can see the Festering Pool alongside the valley.
 * As the party follow the river, they notice numerous wildlife taking notice of them as they pass, including a strange white-maned horse.
 * By 7pm, they’ve reached Boy Camp. It looks pretty trampled, something likely has stampeded through it.
 * Máel looks due East and says there’s something happening on that hill - Skull Hill. However there’s no need to investigate, just worth keep wary of on the way back.
 * The party continue through the forest, along the river. From this distance, Cian can see there doesn’t seem to be any smoke rising from the city at the eastern side, so entrance that way should hopefully be safe.
 * Dusky Stones
 * By now it is 8.30pm and getting dark. Jessari takes Cian’s hand so he can guide. Maloree lets El follow Cian by scent.
 * Maloree notices Mael and Cian sidestep a small pile of stones, clearly arranged in a pile. These look like waystones possibly, but Jessari thinks they’re actually for guiding travellers from being waylaid by evil spirits. She says a quick prayer and leaves a small offering.
 * Cian has a look around it to see if there’s anything more curious. He notices that some of the grass growing around the stones is coming out of a skull - this looks like it may actually be a grave… Jessari makes sure it’s covered up again before they leave.
 * Crossing the River
 * The crew continue south past the stones, following the meandering river. They now realise to reach the city they’re going to have to get across the river to continue. The river is about a 15ft jump.
 * Mael easily jumps across the river, being a gracefully acrobatic boi. He then ties a rope around a stump and tosses the rope back to the others.
 * Jessari also manages to jump across with a run-up.
 * Cian takes the rope and tries to ford the river, with his poor kitty Berry on his shoulder.
 * Maloree and Elvis jump across with a solid run-up as well.
 * Towards the City
 * The crew now try to approach the edge of the city quietly…
 * Maloree and Elvis are very quiet, as is Mael. All are careful people.
 * Cian and Berry aren’t quite as silent - Berry keeps telling him how he’s a Boomer and he can’t avoid being baited.
 * Jessari is even less quiet as she can’t see very well in the dark.
 * As they get closer, people’s vision starts getting clouded. Except for Cian’s, surprisingly.
 * Cian can see there is less grass as they get closer to the city. It’s replaced by red dirt.
 * But as they get closer and pass through the dead trees, Maloree hears Elvis wimper... as she looks down she sees a skeletal hand grabbing his leg!
 * Skeletons
 * The skeleton claws at Elvis, scraping his leg badly.
 * The rest of the skeletons close in on the group… some of the group can see a Shadow too!
 * Cian steps away from the skeletons as best he can and casts Dancing Lights around the group, so they can see.
 * In the bright light, the group can now see 11 skeletons surrounding the group!
 * 3 of them go for Cian, 2 miss but one claws at him.
 * 4 go for Mael, one scraping him but  another, lunging carelessly, is shattered entirely by his CLAÍOMH DHIAGA.
 * Another scrapes Elvis and several go for Maloree, nastily wounding her.
 * Mael hacks through another skeleton, Cian steps back and prepares to cast Web, signaling the group to get behind him.
 * Jessari channels positive energy to damage all of the skeletons. Several shatter instantly, but others stay intact.
 * Maloree signals a retreat - she and Elvis run past the skeletons, dodging their hands thanks to help from Mael. They get behind Cian.
 * The Shadow now creeps up behind Jessari and saps her strength…
 * The remaining skeletons now surround Mael and several of them catch him with some shallow cuts.
 * Mael is smart and ignores the skeletons, instead hacking at the Shadow. Miraculously he manages to hack through it.
 * Cian thinks to use Colour Spray, then remembers the skeletons are immune. Instead he fires a ray of frost, mildly damaging another skeleton.
 * Jessari now channels positive energy to heal all of the party. The undead of course do not benefit from this energy, thankfully.
 * Maloree and Elvis charge back in on another skeleton. Maloree stabs it but Elvis’ bite misses.
 * The Shadow goes for Mael, but somehow misses, to his relief.
 * The skeletons move to surround Maloree again, but with a better position she manages to avoid all of them. One lunges poorly, but her riposte can’t damage it.
 * 2 skeletons go for Jessari and one manages to scrape her.
 * Mael swings his CLAÍOMH DHIAGA at the Shadow, slicing it again but failing to fell it entirely. After this he assumes a stance, creating an illusory copy of himself to confuse the Shadow’s counter attack.
 * Cian moves towards the Shadow and fires a Magic Missile, which finally pops the Shadow entirely.
 * Jessari now moves away from the skeletons and casts Guidance on Mael.
 * Maloree steps backwards towards the group. She hacks at a skeleton and Elvis grabs its legbone, shattering it as he tears it away and getting his revenge.
 * 2 remaining skeletons follow Maloree, but cannot get a hand on either her or Elvis.
 * The 2 others go for Mael, but neither can get him either.
 * Mael swings his CLAÍOMH DHIAGA and shatters one of them in return.
 * Cian fires a Ray of Frost at one of the skeletons, finishing it off.
 * Jessari moves next to Maloree and casts Guidance on her.
 * Maloree chips at the last skeleton next to her, Elvis knocks him over.
 * The skeleton tries to stand up, taking another slash at Maloree. He tries for the Ume-shoryu on Elvis, however Elvis has exception fundamentals and does not succumb to his scrubby wakeup options. The poor skeleton now begins to drop back from its failed gamble, awaiting the spicy full punish.
 * Mael slices the hell out of the last skeleton on him, then dances around the last poor skeleton, running it through with the spiciest of full punishes. That’s what you get for not watching your dome, loser.
 * Undead Aftermath - to the City!
 * Cian tries to detect any magic on the last of the skeletons. He can’t feel much but maybe residual energy from an animation spell.
 * He figures out that burying bodies in this location may cause them to reanimate...
 * Cian and Jessari decide to take away 10 lbs of bonez to examine later.
 * They then decide to investigate the warehouse before them before moving on.
 * As the group move closer, they’re all pretty careful with making noise. Except for Elvis, who’s still barking excitedly about how he massively outplayed that scrub skeleton and how he never falls for that noob shit.
 * As they reach the building, the elves sneak a look inside. There’s a mysterious looking box and more broken boxes all over the gaff. It’s evidently not a blacksmiths… and there’s no residual magic.
 * The crew decide to go inside to take a look… Mael and Maloree go in, being the stealthiest two. Elvis stays outside and studies frame data.
 * Cian quickly casts invisibility on Maloree before she goes in, letting her get inside very stealthily indeed.
 * The pair easily make their way to the chest - it looks like it needs a key.
 * Cian casts message to Mael, asking for an update. Not much to report.
 * Jessari then realises she can see inside by touching the chest… with this realisation Mael leads Maloree out and brings Jessari in. None of this provokes much information, sadly.
 * As Jessari touches the chest, she finds herself stuck to it… as the realisation kicks in, the mimic’s tongue lashes out and lands her a cataclysmic blow, almost knocking her out entirely!
 * Mimic
 * Cian fires a Magic Missile at the mimic, splintering it.
 * As the mimic grips on to Jessari it tries to lash her again, to finish off its prey. Somehow Jessari ducks as the tongue swings menacingly over her head.
 * Mael now strikes at the mimic, seriously shattering it and sapping its strength.
 * Maloree mounts Elvis - more clumsily than usual in the dark - and moves herself into a space to charge the mimic once Jessari is out the way.
 * Jessari doesn’t try to break free, instead choosing to channel and heal herself.
 * Cian casts magic missile again, chunking away more wood.
 * The mimic lashes at Jessari again, this time grazing her.
 * Mael takes the opportunity to pick his mark and rams his CLAÍOMH DHIAGA into it, completely obliterating it.
 * Jessari breathes a sigh of relief, thanking Mael profusely for saving her. She then takes a moment to repurpose her magic to heal herself.
 * From the mimic’s remains they can in fact see it was holding something - a long, rusty trident.
 * Jessari doesn’t want to pick it up, but Cian does. From its feel he can tell it holds powerful necromantic energy. Jessari offers her bedroll to wrap it up in, so it can’t damage Mael.
 * Finding a safe space.
 * The crew decide they need to move through the NE edge of the city, scouting for the blacksmith’s. Rather than going back along the red, barren land and risking more skeleton attacks, they make a beeline through the city.
 * But before then, they need to rest. It’s a long march even back to camp, so they need to make sure they’re prepared.
 * The warehouse seems too big and open to offer protection, so they try to find a safer, smaller space.
 * They choose a small house in this ghetto part of town and spend a short time resting, eating rations and listening out.
 * As they do, Jessari hears a soft clop sound from outside, which doesn’t last long. There may have been a horse outside.
 * Strangely, it sounds like it may have been on stone. There isn’t much stone around town… what’s going on?
 * She can hear low whispering from outside as well…. They should definitely move on.
 * Now a nasty, yellow and extremely long-nailed hand appears on the wall… they can see a huge rat-like face and big pink ears.
 * RUN!
 * Cian quickly casts Web at the door - entangling the creature.
 * The crew now manage to get around the rat, out and away from the city and back onto the barren lands. As they look back they can see a massive swarm of rats following them.
 * Jessari quickly casts light to get some extra vision for the halflings.
 * Maloree takes the lead on Elvis and follows the tracks they made, hoping they’ll avoid disturbing any more dead if they take the same path.
 * Mael splits up from the group to divert the rats, casting darkness on
 * As they push through the scorched earth, some of the party start to feel signs of weariness. But not Elvis, he ain’t no scrub.
 * They can also see skeletons pulling themselves out of the earth in front of them. They need to get back to the forest pronto.
 * Jessari quickly passes Maloree a vial of holy water. Maloree lobs it at the skeletons with excellent precision, scattering them.
 * After the spirit stones, nothing follows them, but they keep running for their lives without looking back
 * All of the crew manage to jump the river without incident.
 * Back to Camp
 * The crew now carefully manage to get back to camp. By then, they absolutely collapse.
 * Mael returns an hour or so later, unharmed but likewise shattered. The whole party retire to bed immediately.

Jessari's Log
1st of Iume
 * Headed out from camp at 6 moving south towards the city following the river
 * Cian saw a pale equine creature mane seems to reflect light (east of current hex white R, V next to festering pool) but was unable to get a better view
 * Cut through boy camp (camp for boys) boy camp is in worse condition since last time we came through tepee tent has been trodden down stuff seems to still be there.
 * Máel-tuili noticed strange flickering silhouette atop the skull hill unsure what this was exactly.
 * Found the river again later and followed it before crossing and heading towards the city
 * Cian noted no smoke rising from the city.
 * “ALL ELVES SMELL THE SAME” Maloree, possible racist
 * Saw a small stacked pile of stones (possibly boundary or way stones) found immediately beneath the earth a skull unsure what for may just be a grave site. No other piled stones visible to Jessari
 * We crossed the river and began to stealth towards the city to what we thought might be the blacksmiths. On the easternmost point of the outskirts.
 * Red soil before we enter the city (high in iron from BLOOD) and many dead that rose from their very aggressive careful traversing in future.
 * We fought a large amass of skeleton’s and a shadow that drained the strength from Jessari, Mael is a formidable opponent.
 * Cian seemed somewhat annoyed after the combat was over probably due to them getting the drop on us.
 * The Stone structure may have been a warning as to the dangers present here or to the ground being tainted causing the dead to rise – though it may just be they died brutally and their bodies were not buried correctly
 * Fought a mimic got bullied ow dear go ow.  Found a necrotic trident within the mimic. We needed to rest within the bounds of the city and searched the ruined outskirts but found little in the way of cover from the ruined buildings.
 * As we rested in the outskirts of the city, we were attacked by a large rat faced creature bony malnourished hands seemed to have control of the rats it sent a swarm after us. We had to split up with Mael-tuili who used a darkness spell to help us lose the chasing swarm.
 * The dead began to rise around us but with the use of holy water and a channel from Teith we were able to lessen their numbers enough to escape the reddish soil which the dead did not follow us past. Crossing the river, we began the long trek back to camp.

Ursula's Log
Jhanna, Jessari and Fiona and I made our way south towards the city. As we neared the city, we were attacked by lizards. One of the larger lizards managed to grab me and swallow me whole. I cut my way out and we barely managed to survive the encounter with these beasts.

Despite our injuries, having already made it so far, we decided to venture a little further to conduct some reconnaissance. At the city, we found a decrepit building with spiral pillars (almost serpentine like). Some of it was collapsed and the building itself seemed to be made of orange-yellow stone.

In order to make it to this building, you had to cross an area covered in red sand. We were warned not to go near this by Jessari due to skeletons or other undead creatures. We decided not to go on further as Fiona identified the red sand area to be a haunt, a particularly powerful one. As far as I could see, there was no way across to the building without stepping on the sand and within the sand itself I caught glimmers of white.

We skirted the red sand area and approached the front of the city to identify how far the red sand extended. We approach the front of the city which had a pebbled road leading into the city. Upon this road was a dead horse lying betwixt two statues. The front of city was made of the same orange-yellow stone, however there was one building that stood apart in how drab and grey it looked.

Having already taken a beating from the lizards, we decided to retreat back to camp. On the way back, we stumbled our way near a camp of people wielding a bigger version of Marcy-Rose’s weapon. Unfortunately, they also spotted us and started chasing us. We did our best to lose them and return back to camp but we were unsuccessful. As Jessari was the fastest of us, we sent her onwards to call on the camp for help. In the meantime, we were captured and fortunately, Fiona was able to understand the language of these people and was able to convince them to let us go. You will have to speak to Fiona on the rest but it seems like they wanted to trade or speak further.

Jessari's Log
bend (before pile o stones) headed in the direction of rather large hill. rested the large one was able to swallow Ursula whole and flank in a manner similar to Ursula and the tiger (without being either side of the enemy)
 * Headed east following the river taking a west at the river
 * Followed by the yellow/green lizards they attacked us as we
 * We were able to overcome the lizards but decided it was too risky to carry on into the city so decided to search to see if the red dirt was to the west of the outskirts.
 * There was a watering hole to the west of where we were
 * Ursula spotted a dark shape about 50 kilometers away maybe a wyvern or some other flying creature (he just spotted it in the distance)
 * Found the red dirt (as shown on the map) just outside the city and Ursula was able to see a decrepit building on outskirts of the outskirts – building may be made of Rhyolite. The red dirt is not so much an indication but rather a haunt.
 * Saw the skeletal horse at the entrance to the outskirts (road way in) saw two statues at the entrance and a drab stone building of a different material than the other buildings (not the orange stone buildings like the others)
 * More of the yellow/green lizards were stalking us as we made our way back towards the camp
 * Saw people to the north near clambaketopia camp wielding guns we decided similar to Marcys guns
 * We were ambushed and I split off to tell the camp about the ambush managing to make it back to the camp in good time but leaving the others behind. Going to gather a group to go help them.
 * One of the locals talked to them calling kherran the tongue of murderers and talking with others they seemed to be curious about our being here. They shot Fiona as she drank a potion of comprehension. They seemed to get on well enough talking with one another through a translator and Fiona using her comprehend language.
 * We decided that we would meet up at the camp to talk to them in a couple of days though Jhanna and I think it may be best if some of us go to deal with the haunt if we want to really explore the city getting rid of this obstacle is essential.

Cian's Log

 * Rogdul and I  set out together to scope out a new forward camp
 * As we were walking out towards the largest hill Rogdul noticed a weapon towards a swamp and ruins.
 * We discovered a glaive near the ruins, as Rogdul picked up the glaive we were ambushed by a Piscine Wyvern, Which I have not heard any news oft since the demon war, these would attack Kherran soldiers as they approached murkier waters but are not restricted to that. It threw a mud Ball at him. They are oft prone to pick up enemies and return to their waters but they are relatively slow out of the water.
 * We retreated from the Bog Wyvern and checked the weapon to find out it was an obsidian glaive of magic qualities but not with any magical damaging traits. (+1 Obby Glaive)
 * My feet began to hurt as I was ascending the hill, so unfortunately that small I really saw.
 * Ambushed heading up the hill by a group of lizards, (those guys scared the hell out of me), Luckily Rogdul channelled the gods and dissected all of them.
 * We got to the top of the hill and
 * To the south west we see an abundant forest  almost a jungle. And beyond we saw a massive river, to the West we see sparse hill sand upon the horizon jagged mountains that pierce the sky.
 * Questions from the Mountain top.
 * City Landmarks
 * Beyond the main road in, has a concentration or taller spired buildings. To the west of the main road  and along the wall appears to be a larger auditorium styled building. Beyond the city and towards the east of the main road in appears to by a city looming cliff with a forest that appears to be coated in snow with a Castle atop the cliff.and to the west of the cliff seems to be a a jutting spire that resembles the statue from the sanctuary (feathered Lizard)
 * At the western most point with in the city seems to be a jungle region this would be skirting the great river.
 * We couldn’t see any burned out buildings from the mountaintop, as this could have given us a sign of the black smith.
 * Jungle to the south west
 * Bulkier lizard people exiting the jungle to ascend the hill. And there is a statue of a smaller humanoid
 * Fortifiable areas
 * Slightly below the top of the mountain to the south is a circle of stones that could be used to fortify an area. This seems quite sparse and with a good vantage view of the city and below.
 * Roosts for dragons
 * Dragons love castles from fiction.
 * Wyverns would generally go for more of a cave that son a cliff edge or somewhere with cover.
 * If a red dragon would have gone into the city it would have destroyed the castle and then created its roost within.
 * After all our thoughts on the city had been surmounted we moved further down to investigate the circle of stones.
 * The circle seems to have coiled stones that are surrounding the area, it gave off a specific conjuration aura that could trigger it
 * There was a darkened patch within the centre and flowers grew up the edge of the stones, in my estimation this circle could be used as quiet refuge as when approached the hiding team could use the reverse sides fate stones to stay out of sight.
 * This was then tested as we were set upon by a small pack of the larger lizards, Rogdul managed to dispatch of these quite swiftly. Surely without him I would be a dead man.
 * As we plotted a path down the hill making sure to steer clear of any packs of lizards.
 * At the foot of the hill Rogdul managed to spy some riflemen, we stealth our ways past them and then waded our way through the stream as not to make too much.
 * we proceeded with all haste back to camp. We were unable to find a proper shelter but we came back alive and with information, so are quite chuffed.

Rogdul's Log
7th Iume Scouting Mission Cian and I set out west to scout out the large hill. As we attempted to move between the festering pool and the Camp to the North, I spied what looked to be a weapon glinting the morning sun. We decided to move closer to investigate. Perhaps it will be a useful weapon to add to my collection or someone else. we will find out. As I drew upon the weapon it appeared to be a thinner bladed black mineral like glaive, half embedded in the ground. The ground around it seemed dryer than the rest. With my heart racing, I picked up the glaive and the ground around it seemed to collapse into the pool with a faint ripple.
 * Cian Leamhain
 * Rogdul gro-Skandar

As I did so a large amount of mud was thrown at me from the pool. With my quick reactions I was able to block it from blinding me, but I was still covered staggering me. I was able to back up to Cian who identified it as a type of Piscine Wyvern known for flinging mud at intruders. Cian backed away and shouted that we should back off. I agreed as it would be better to fight such a beast on our terms on land. It pulled itself out of the water, large hind legs heaving with great strength. It’s forelimbs much less developed. It was at this moment that I realised that there was mud that had splashed spectacles which enraged me deeply. I moved back towards Cian as we both decided to move away. It threw more mud at me covering and blinding me, so infuriating, cleaning my spectacles will take a long time. We both kept moving away at the wyvern backed off back into the swamp.

Cian then appraised the Glaive. He said it appears to be made of Obsidian. He then was able to find out that it is enchanted (+1).

We began to ascend the large hill to the west. Nearing the top, I could feel that I needed to rest soon. Suddenly we heard a menacing hiss from behind us, we spun round to see a pack of large Lizards right upon us. Two of them jumped Cian dealing a catastrophic blow to him. Cian jumped back next to me, and then casted invisibility on himself. Understandable given how much viscera he was leaking out over golden grass. I bellowed loudly, stepped in and tripped over some damn fucking rock. Causing the three lizards to attack. Followed by the entire pack they shredded through me. Honestly fuck these lizards they’re little shit cunts. I backed away, drank a potion. Then one of them jumped up near me. I buried my sword deep into the lizard, dropping it immediately. His lone packmate; as the rest were entangled in a web that I had not realised Cian had cast, attempted to run away. Bellowing in pain I charged after it, delivering a strike with the full weight of my fury and strength behind it, bisecting it cleanly. In the meantime, Cian was bombarding one of the lizards with his magical missiles I moved in and with two swings of my sword I dispatched a third lizard. Just after this the last lizard broke free of the web and fled through the grass. I drank some more potions and we headed to the top of the hill.

We rested on the top of the hill. We could see the low valleys that surrounded this hill that must have been several kilometres high. To the West there was a hill range and jagged mountaintops piercing the sky. Days of travel away. To the South/South East we could see the city and various spires going into the distance. To the North East we could see our camp with smoke trails making it easy. To the South West we could see a thick jungle and a huge river beyond.

In the north of the city near the entrance there is a larger concentration of tall and spired buildings. There is also a large auditorium west of the main road. At the back of the city it appears that there is a cliff that towering above the city with a palace/keep looming on top of the cliff. In what looks like it may be in the middle of the city it appears there is a giant spire that Cian reckons it may have a feathered serpent wrapped around it. Near where the river enters the city it seems like there is no urbanisation inside the walls. There is another lack of building going towards the keep that appears white? Potentially stone but it appears to almost shimmer like how snow does in the sun.

We spied a Humanoid statue and a circle of stones below us. We moved to investigate the circle of stones. As we approached Cian casted detect magic and could detect a faint trace of magic in the circle. He said it felt like a conjuration spell that could be triggered by some other conjuration spell to begin. He was confident that entering would not set it off and he moved to investigate. I spied two of these new darker lizards in the distance but they had not seemed to notice us yet. We decided to sneak into the circle and hunker down to avoid being seen, I noticed that the stones were covered in brightly coloured flowers as well as some vines. Looking closer at the flowers I believe it could have medicinal properties, most likely fermented into a sweet alcoholic beverage of some sort, I will try to cultivate this for future research.. Seeing the lizards moving up towards us we moved behind the stones. They kept moving closer so as they were within striking distance, we made the decision to attack the lizards. I let the fury take me and brandished my great sword with pure anger. They moved in; Cian’s magic missile hit the lead one while I my sword skittered off of its scales. They then both attacked me, mauling me viscously. I could feel them about to inject venom into me and I was able to push them off before they could. Cian was able to blind them with colour and I was able to dispatch them quickly and efficiently with strong strikes from my great sword. They are for certain stronger than the other lizards we had encountered earlier.

On the way back to the camp, I saw some lizards scattered about. We were able to plot a route through without being seen by them. I then saw a patrol of humans, Armed with guns of some design and armoured. We snuck by them and waded through a river. We kept on sneaking past the festering pool and were able to get back to camp. Fatigued and exhausted.

Now to clean my spectacles. They’re filthy.

Rogdul gro-Skandar

Xerksti's Log
Mission Objectives;

1. Meet with A Secret to ask about the Blacksmith entrance to the city, as well as the history/weaknesses of the Haunt in the area - Completed! The Blacksmith building has been marked on the map. The Haunt houses trapped souls of soldiers fighting a demon invasion and may be difficult (if not impossible) to remove.

- Started by heading East, wanted to avoid Dryad woods so took route past lizard nest. Had a very near miss with the lizards, but managed to pass safely.

- Approaching the tower where A Secret lives, it already has 4 men standing guard. They do not speak Kherran. Maloree drinks Fiona's Comprehend Languages Infusion (thanks Fiona!) and tells me the men are nervous with our presence, and do not want to fight. We stand down, and another man comes up out of the tower base - he seems to be the leader. His name was Usa. His clothes were weathered and worn, but the purple and finely made coat he wore stood out as being of a different sort than the rest of his outfit. I liked his style but had no way to tell him that. He sizes us up for a moment before leaving, Maloree made a good show at us being non-threatening.

- Heading to see A Secret, I first ask about the Haunt. It was originally a spell to defend the city from a demon invasion. The spellcasters of the city wanted to trap the souls of the demons in the Haunt, to use those demons to fight the next wave of invaders. However, there was a problem, and the demons didn't die in the way that was expected. Eventually the demons worked out what the Haunt was, and proceeded to pluck soldiers from the city's walls to bring them to the red earth to slay them, trapping their souls, which are still there to this day. The grudges of the city are deep, and A Secret does not think it easy to expunge a millennia of hatred.

○ The demons invaded through a wound in the earth to the north. A tear still exists where they entered. Eventually, the Kherrans came with their dragons to defeat the demons. Then the Kherrans replaced the demons with their dragons and left. Probably widely regarded as a dick move, and would explain how everyone is like, less than stoked that we're here.

- A Secret then shows me which building on our map is the blacksmith. After this, he is too full to speak with Maloree, but she was a good sport about this.

- Heading back to camp, having already had a near miss with the giant carnivorous lizards we have already had to escape from once on a previous expedition, I decide that perhaps we could tiptoe around Dryad Hell to avoid any danger. I don't think I should lead the way for a while anymore.

- The Dryads let us go, as they recognise us as friends of the wild. Next time we probably won't be so lucky.

Maloree's Log

 * Setting Out
 * Xerksti, Maloree & Elvis head towards the Information Broker’s tower, leaving camp mid-morning in the hopes of a quick round trip to be back by mid-afternoon.
 * They travel along previously trodden ground, navigating past the lizards’ nest and, despite Maloree being constantly loud and distracting, no lizards find them. Elvis growls to himself quietly about how much of a scrub his master is sometimes...
 * The continue to the base of the tower, but find a group of individuals waiting for them there…


 * The Visitors
 * The party find 4+ individuals spanned out around the tower as they approach. 2 of them have bows slung over their backs.
 * The party don’t want any trouble, so elect Maloree (as the most charming, obviously) to try to parley with these individuals.
 * Maloree quickly necks a Potion of Comprehend Languages and approaches, hands up to show they mean no harm.
 * One of the archers points and says something which Xerksti can also understand as ‘Kherran’? Maloree nods.
 * The archer goes to the hole in the tower and calls ‘Uhsah(?) we have company! The Kherrans are here!’
 * The party play it patient and wait for 20 or so minutes, until another figure emerges from the hole…
 * The figure is in a once noble but extremely well-worn coat. This is clearly the Uhsah(?) the archer called for.
 * Uhsah walks towards the party and asks what they want.
 * Maloree tries to explain they’re also there to visit the Info Broker for their own reasons. This falls on deaf ears as none of these people speak Kherran.
 * Eventually, Uhsah decides they should leave. The party let them go and wait until they’re well gone before going to the tower.


 * The Info Broker
 * Xerksti descends the hole and leaves Maloree and El to play Footsies and have a snack whilst they wait for him.
 * Xerksti trades more secrets with the Info Broker for the precise location of the Blacksmiths on the outskirts of the city. As well as some information on the Haunt just beyond the city’s boundaries. He learns that the Haunt cannot be forcibly removed by conventional means, sadly…
 * The Info Broker, well sated with secrets and alcohol, is done for the day. He says Xerksti’s companion cannot bargain any more information.
 * Xerksti asks if he can explore the Broker’s hole. Mr Secret replies that he’d rather keep the hole true to his moniker and bids him farewell. Xerksti ascends the rope easily, waving goodbye as he goes.
 * Xerksti comes back out the hole and finds Maloree and El engrossed in their game of Footsies. They clearly haven’t been keeping watch but miraculously no wild creature has taken advantage of their negligence.
 * Xerksti tells Maloree she can’t make any bargains of her own. Maloree isn’t phased - she forgot to bring liquor to appease him anyway, so just as well.
 * El thinks this was all a waste of time and Maloree will never beat him in Footsies. He is Footsies god.


 * Back Homeward
 * Xerksti suggests they try a different path home, moving around the edges of Dryad Hell. He assures Maloree it’ll be totally safe. Maloree trusts him and agrees…


 * Dryad Hell
 * Minutes into the part’s foree into Dryad Hell, disaster strikes…
 * Xerksti & Maloree are overcome by a sleep enchantment!
 * Maloree slides off El and falls. It’s a nasty fall and hurts like hell. She wakes up immediately.
 * As she moves to wake up Xerksti, vines start sprouting up from the ground around them, entangling both of them and El.
 * 2 mushroom people appear beyond the trees and advance on the helpless trio.
 * El manages to break his way out of the vines and Maloree commands him to get out of the way of the shroomers. She then jabs Xerksti and wakes him up.
 * The shroomers advance on Maloree and smack her a couple of times, dazing her.
 * Xerksti, now awake, casts Bladed Dash to escape the vines. He succeeds, shooting through and aiming a cut at a shroomer as he passes.
 * The shroomer reacts magnificently and clotheslines Xerksti as he passes, completely countering his attack and knocking the wind out of him.
 * El now rushes back and bites at the shroomer attacking his master, but is unable to get a grip on it.
 * Xerksti, now out and ready for action, channels electrical energy into his axe and hacks at a shroomer, taking it out immediately.
 * The other shroomer swings at Maloree again, seriously injuring her. El bites at it in desperation but only marginally wounds it.
 * Xerksti comes to the rescue and hacks at the other shroomer, taking it out as well.
 * As the warrior and the wolf move to pull Maloree out of the vines and flee, all are now suddenly overcome by sleepiness once more….. As Xerksti loses consciousness he hears: ‘Oh Children of the Wild, you shouldn’t have come here…..’


 * The Dryad
 * The 3 awake, all are entangled in vines once more. El & Xerksti are wounded but more scared than anything. Maloree is mortally wounded and almost delirious.
 * A dryad stands before them and regards them inquisitively… ‘Why have you come here, Children of the Wild?’
 * Xerksti claims honestly they meant no harm to the forest. Maloree, wincing constantly from her terrible injuries, pleads for her life to be spared.
 * The dryad cocks its head and speaks again: ‘Why have you come here? You seek the city do you? All who come here do. But know, for what the city has done to our home,  we shall exact vengeance.’
 * Maloree sense another dryad lurking behind her. She realises it could kill her in an instant in her position. She again pleas her innocence.
 * The dryad regards both Xerksti & Maloree again: ‘You have both shown you mean little harm to the wild. For this, your lives shall be spared. For now.’ She mutters something to the other dryad and it turns and disappears into the trees.
 * Xerksti offers to help the dryads exact vengeance on the city. ‘We do not require help. All those we exact vengeance on shall die. But to show your loyalty to the wild, come here again.’
 * Xerksti agrees. As the dryad leaves he asks ‘What’s your name? Mine is Xerksti.’
 * ‘I will tell you when you come again, Xerksti.’


 * The Way Home
 * As the dryad leaves, the vines begin to retract and loose the trio.
 * Xerksti quickly forces a potion down Maloree’s throat. She recovers enough to stand up after a couple of attempts, staggers somehow onto El’s back and follows Xerksti.
 * The trio march back to the camp slowly, as El is also wounded and can’t ran quickly.
 * Upon entering camp, the Maloree and El collapse.


 * Aftermath
 * Before the mission can be discussed with the others in too much detail, Xerksti takes Maloree aside and asks her to refrain from mentioning the Dryad conversation and the invitation to return. Maloree agrees, but on the condition that she and El will accompany him when he returns - they won’t let him go in there alone.

Ursula's Log
Jessari, Jhanna and I made our way south to reduce the effect and reach of the haunt thus clearing a path to the blacksmith. On our way there, we ventured through the boy camp. It seemed nature had begun to reclaim the camp.

We continued southwards and from a distance, we were able to catch a glimpse of the festering pool. The deer like creatures we had seen before were using it as a watering hole. I’m not sure what I saw but I noticed once those creatures fall into the water. It did not look like it lost its footing. For those investigating this pool, please use caution as there may be something that lurks underneath the water.

As we approached the city, Jessari noticed a large tree that stood out for its size. Its width and height were noticeably larger than other surrounding trees. It had sparse leaves and red blossoms with yellow centres to them. Given its size and its colour, it seemed like a very old tree. We attempted to identify magical aura around the tree and noticed that there was weak aura coming from the tree itself. Jhanna and Jessari were able to identify that ‘Meld with Stone’ had been used but targeted at the tree. We decided to investigate a tree on another day.

We continued on ahead towards the city and found ourselves in front of a of large building of varying conditions. There was a way through that avoided the red sand, however as we approached, I got an off-putting feeling. I wasn’t able to locate the source of this feeling. This was despite the area around us being surprisingly alive, with trees growing on the outskirts.

As we headed through a doorway into the city, we noticed a cellar on the outskirts, we looked through and it seemed the stairway down didn’t seem sturdy enough to carry our weight so we chose to avoid it.

On our way in, Jessari was able to use her magical capabilities to pierce through walls and see beyond. Inside, we found several doors. Once door had a metal sign with a symbol of a blade. Another door had a collapsed skeleton body with an armour of iron. Jhanna inspected the armour and said that whoever this being was, they must be very old if they were wearing an armour made of iron.

We entered one of the doors and found an armoury of sorts with weapons and armours on display. Jhanna inspected the armour and found that some of the armours had been glamoured. We also found materials made from obsidian.

Further into this room, there was a counter and behind that there were stairs. Heading down would have led us to the basement and there was a feeling of wrongness in there. We noticed that the basement seemed closer to the red soil so instead we headed upwards. Upstairs, we found a room covered in cobwebs and dust. We did not find anything of great value in here. However, there was a chest in a small and narrow corner of the room. I decided to investigate this chest further and unfortunately the chest was a mimic that attacked us. Given the cramped nature of the room, there wasn’t a possibility to move freely and the mimic came very close to ending my life. Jhanna and Jessari kindly exhausted most of their capabilities to keep me alive. Due to my companion’s ferocity, we were able to destroy the mimic. Afterwards, we discovered some sort of magical rod. Jhanna and Jessari can tell you more about this.

Given we were already very worn from our encounter with the mimic, we decided to head on back after Jessari used her capabilities to see through a few more walls. As I was more of a hindrance towards achieving our objective, I would like to volunteer to aid anyone who wants to head back there again to help further explore this city.

Cian's Log

 * We traveled to the camp at early sunset,as we came upon the camp we were met by a group three,  One larger gentleman and two marksmen
 * We were greeted by a the came leader (Ashha) who was adorned with garb that showed her in the image of the Winged Serpent.
 * She welcomed us into her tent where she sat with her second in command and seemingly granddaughter Metslah, and three others Two of which Fiona seemed to know already.
 * Ashha at first seemed spoke of not wanting to establish any relationship with our nearby camp, believing that only hardship could come of it. But now that her hand had been pressed and we were involved wished us to undertake three traditional tasks as a sign that we could be trusted.
 * 1. ATKATHLALANI - Choice between people ,
 * Ashha asks that we displace  the ikchmath, They have a small camp in the direction of the setting sun.
 * They wish for us to drive them away.
 * 2. Zohkatlani - The Choice of a soul to bury
 * One of theirs encampment was slain by the creature in the festering pool, they wish for us to slay the piscine wyvern  BY THE TOWER OF MOONLIGHT.
 * If we can retrieve its tongue of head she would see this as adequate proof.
 * 3. Tokathlathlani - The Choice to love
 * A way to show your love, a token or a showing of love.
 * They wish to show our love for them in some weird way. As if potential genocide and the revenge slaughter of a beast isn’t expression enough.
 * After this she decided to dump a whole load of information upon us, my scrawling below are my primary takings.
 * The Moonlight tower by the festering pool is said to be an old tower that overlooked the city over 1100 years ago, a strong mage was said to give aid and guardianship to the city. as the city fell he took his tower and fled.
 * Sinlos, a watchful serpent or a spirit of the world, “The world watches as we act” - broadly related to the world spirit from kharran knowledge, illunara has spirits for Seasona and mountains and everything else. The serpent bird is know as Sinlos - A World Spirit. It is almost is akin to ANAKSHMI - The Sage Ape of atasaran heritage.
 * The story of the cities fall:
 * Far to the north of the city, there was a tear in the, through it poured fire/earth metal and air aspects, they washed across illurnura, it found its way to Achtmetz  and drove the people from the city.
 * There are many unfriendly aspects still existing within the city.
 * Ashha asked us about the killing of the larger lizard, she let us know that since the killing of it, the darker and stronger lizard men are able to leave the big forest. They have started to (Hench lizards - Quearti-de-pon) leave the forest by the river and move into the lands beyond, we should be careful nearer the region where Jhanna ,Jessari, Fiona & Ursula, killed the large lizard.
 * After our conversations, they served us meals of Spicy beans and rice, Their meals seem to be primarily vegetarian, perhaps this is the way they have lived in unison with the forest, by only cultivating what they have planted.
 * Lo and Behold upon tasting the Meal was absolute hell fire.
 * After our conversations and meeting the camp, we were escorted from the camp we passed a tortoise the size of a royal carriage.
 * If you see this in the wilds probably best not to kill it.

Cian's Log

 * We made lunch camp by the big dryad tree on the way to the city. as we approached Jessari made a prayer to the tree and we were left in peace to rest beneath it’s branches.
 * As we left I decided to thank the tree in sylvan to which I responded, small meaningless chatter was had and the Dryad showed itself to us and said that it wouldn’t harm those that do not disturb it or the forest.
 * We pressed on to the blacksmiths to check out the basement passage. while on the way we stopped by an old inn that still had most of the barrels in the basement. (House party? Or perhaps a forward HQ)
 * When we got to the black smiths there was a long dead kherran knight out side the front, we pressed on into the basement as the other let me know that they’d already searched the rest of the building.
 * We spent an overlong period trying to break into a box that contained a plain white mask. But we were unable to retrieve the mask.
 * Locating the secret passage inside the basement. (Located behind a bookcase on the southern wall. It opened via popping from the wall and swung on hinges on the southern wall.)
 * Upon opening the tunnel we say a haunt that was reaching for the door… which swiftly disappeared.
 * We moved into the tunnel where the air was heavy with the smell of fear ( a mix of piss and stale bread?) along one of the tunnel walls we saw a shadowed silhouette of a body. Which seemed to be burnt into the very rock itself.
 * As we moved out of the tunnel and into the sewer of the city, Mael-tulli was set upon by a ghoulish bloody mass, we all fought it together and decided that after the fight we should head home.

Jhanna's Journal
We make our way through and towards the city, fortunately for once it seems like we managed to avoid running into any dryads, lizards or other would be distractions. We reach the big tree and decide to rest here a while. During this time, Jessari leaves out some seeds for the animals nearby, so I decide to play the bird flute and indeed a bird flew down and nibbled at them. Jessari said a prayer to the tree, which I think prompted Cian to try speaking to the tree. Apparently, they were speaking to the dryad in the tree? Wild

We make our way to the blacksmiths, and decide to head straight to the basement. Cian and I end up spending far too long on trying to open a metal box (what can I say, I can make locks, not so great at picking them) We managed to open up a hole in the box, until Cian could see a white mask in it, and then we kind of..just…let it there.

Meanwhile, Jessari had a chat with Mael Tuli and apparently had found? Noticed? (sorry distracted by the box) that there was a small breeze somewhere in the room. Upon careful examination, Jessari discovered that the source of the air was coming from behind a bookcase And it seemed to be a hidden door (honestly I half thought this was only a thing in stories)

We opened the door and made our way in.

After which I more or less immediately saw a shadow like thing stare at me, then disappears. Its hands seemed like they were almost reaching out towards me… or perhaps the door handle? Creepy either way

As we ventured through, we realized this was the tunnel for escaping, but as much as it was used for people to escape, there clearly were others who didn’t make it.

We kept moving on, and found a shadow cast on the wall that didn’t seem to have a person casting it. Okay definitely really creepy

Cian and I were thinking of heading back but Mael seemed very driven. (Personal note: And whatever reason has brought him here seems to have overridden his self-preservation… *did not leave this in public logs)

Eventually we found ourselves at a sewer, but before we could have a proper inspection of it, we get attacked by a strange bloody apparition. It doesn’t go overly well at the start. Also note to self, can’t seem to consecrate grounds in the middle of a haunt…or maybe a really big haunt. But we manage to pull through. Second note to self, positive energy doesn’t seem amazing at scaling back haunts of this side?

After we make our way back out, we decide to head home but Mael elects to hang back and stay.

Cian's Log

 * Now this is a story of how Elvis, Emiel, Maloree and I all went out in search of sustainable substances and with a dream of creating the next all vegetable feast.
 * On the way out to visit the dryad, we spotted something moving amongst the remnants of Boy camp, so decided to take a little look see. Upon arriving at the edge of the clearing where it used to be.
 * Maloree found some tracks of a large humanoids footprints. It looked to be bigger than an average human, and have far too many toes, and  fingers.
 * Emiel identified it as a Dimensional Shamblers, which aer one of the earliest users of teleportation, they came from the maelstrom to travel across many, many planes.
 * We may have scared it off, but it may have finished its business when we came upon it.
 * If we want to keep our eyes open for these in future, they are 7-8ft tall and pale with red tinges. When walking they may look drunk, but when attacking they can be incredibly fast. I personally have never heard of one being summoned to this land.  Emiel is immensely knowledgeable about them if we ever need to dwell on them any more. (these notes may be substance to misinformation as I wasn’t listening too well because knowing that Emiel is smarter than me, irked me so)
 * We left the boyland camp and moved on towards the dryads tree, and as if this journey hadn’t already had enough hold ups, we spotted a corpse in the sparse area of the forest, all it had on it, was a necklace with a metal plate and two fangs hanging from it.
 * Moving swiftly forward onto the actual dryad tree, I made an absolute arse of myself greeting the dryad with all the wrong attempts at pronouns,  but luckily our good friend Emiel, saved the day with a full minute of praising the tree an everything around it.
 * We spoke to the dryad regarding the nearby forest, which she claimed no domain over by mentioned that it was an untameable forest. That we were free to pluck the fruit from, but it seemed as if the inclination was that it may be dangerous.
 * Maloree asked about ways that we could speak to the nearby dryads rather than be aggressors or defending. She seemed to say that those who are friends of the forest are more likely to be better emissaries.
 * Lastly we introduced ourselves to her and she said she was just a lonely tree and had no purpose for family or a name, so because I have an urgent need to address things, I asked if I may refer to her as Sol, derived from her tree being from a solluku tree. And she inclined her head in a way that made me feel as if it was at least not an insult.
 * So we headed off towards the nearby forest to do some sweet foraging, found a tasty tree that looked to have some peach style fruits with white inside past the skin was shite floof and seeds. Then we found some flowers that bore some fruit, we’ll be planting many of these back home.
 * Then Maloree and Elvis started fighting a god damned 6ft mosquito, this thing was a god damned monster. Emiel healed any time this thing sucked their blood. We gathered up as much fruit as possible after this gnarly flying blood sucker died off to my amazing wands attacks.
 * With that fight we skedaddled back home to camp rather than bear the burden of another death in camp…
 * Hurrah!

Marcy-Rose's Log

 * Anamara and Troya (NPCs) are lugging stone away from the remains of the tower we broke
 * HOLE THERE'S A HOLE THERE'S A NEW HOLE
 * Blue light at the bottom, ladder rungs pulled out
 * Team won't let me go in :(
 * We tried to bait the wyvern out, but it turned out it had already left, so we started following the tracks
 * We followed it for miles, and after we saw it had slithered into a river, we followed the river east towards the coast
 * • A couple of large birds of prey attacked us, but were easily dispatched. We did see one of the large mosquitoes mentioned in a previous report, but it seemed unwilling to cross the water to get to us or the hawk bodies
 * We spotted a sprawling forest filled with the mosquito type things - definitely worth avoiding at all costs! Thankfully it was across the river, and we proceeded unmolested
 * Ursula spotted a lizard type creature - we chose to ignore it for now
 * We came to a split in the river where a tributary joined it from the south. It was very close to a hill with a camp - apparently, some locals that another of our number had a run-in with earlier in our expedition
 * The tributary came from a cave in the base of the hill. When we tried to cross to get to it, Leohnna was pulled underwater by a carnivorous fish
 * PIECE OF SHIT FUCKING GUNS WASTE OF MY GOD DAMN FUCKING TIME I SHOULDA DONE ARCHERY LIKE MY DADDY SAID FUCKING GOD DAMN MECHANICAL NONSENSE FUCKING GOD DAMN SHIT ASSHOLE FUCKER FISH FUCKING GET OUT OF THE GOD DAMN WATER FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCK GOD FUCK
 * Leohnna fell unconscious, but we killed the fish and she got better
 * We fell afoul of the locals pretty much immediately and high-tailed it into the cave, hoping our prey would be inside
 * In the cave, sure enough we found the wyvern, and Leohnna wasted no time wading into the deep water. She didn't last long, and sadly, the beast claimed another
 * After an arduous fight, and a few close calls, we managed to get the better of it.
 * We took a trophy to show our new friends, and laid what we could find of Leohnna to rest under a cairn in the cave.
 * We bolted from the cave, away from the locals who were laying in wait.
 * On the side of Skull Hill, we spotted the Dimensional Shambler again. It disappeared into nothing.

Rogdul's Log
We left at 9am, heading towards the collapsed tower with great haste. Nothing inhibited our progress; perhaps anything that would could sense our determination and blood-lust, this was personal.

Arriving at the tower we met with a couple of members from the camp collecting stone for stonemasonry. They had not seen anything of the creature but pointed out a hole that had opened up under the tower which looked distinctly man made. We attempted to lure the beast out of the puddle to no success. We then found some tracks leading away and began to follow.

We came to a river and followed the tracks downstream. We came under attack by some large birds of prey, these were quickly dispatched as I crushed it with my sword. We continued tracking, some of these large unsettling looking mosquitoes appeared on the other bank, they did not attempt to cross but they sent chills down my spine. Such alien pests. They did not follow thankfully.

We came across a fork in the river with one of the forks coming from a cave. Atop the cave entrance was some members of the wine-stained brethren. Attempting to cross the river to get to the cave Leonhnna was grabbed by a fish, there was some drama with Marcy’s pistols misfiring and I cut one of the fish in half. I pulled the unconscious Leonhnna out of the river and revived them. We made a dash inside the cave at this point hunting our prey.

Leonhnna didn’t make it, I don’t understand how I can be so weak to not be able to protect us from the horrors of this land. What good is my physical strength if I can’t even save one life. I’m not sure if I can handle this much longer. Is it worth the risk.

Cian's Log

 * Let’s go fortify the Blacksmith!!!
 * The old best friend and I set off in the early morning, to travel to see Máel-tuili, nothing much happened along the journey, Jhanna used her patrons magic to twist some wood over  the  river to turn it into a bridge.
 * How has it taken us this long to make a bridge over the river?? Lords, We’re progressing slow.
 * When we got to the city we noticed the two statues at the opening of the city  had some magic forces working on them but we were not able to ascertain.
 * So we quickly progressed to the blacksmith to check in on Máel-tuili, who seemed while slightly disturbed by the basement to be doing alright, however he did inform us that he’s just been spending the most of his time upstairs. Away from the basement.
 * We got down there and Máel-tuili shut the secret passage entrance  in an effort to calm the group, while Jhanna began to set up a little shrine to sanctify the basement.
 * Both were quickly set upon by three shadows, which began to attempt to scratch at them, Now i’ve heard of these before and with each successful strike they steal your very strength from you. Please be cautious if they attack your party. Magical armour is the best thing I could say to aide your efforts.
 * Jhanna and Máel-tuili, dispersed of the shadows quite rapidly and she finished off our sanctifying of the area.
 * Máel-tuili warned us that at the top of the main road he’d seen a horned beast that could have been a Minotaur. Upon leaving I saw this same beast with my own eyes and believe it too saw me. It carries a large Club in its hand, but did not raise itself from it’s seated position. None the less I was quite frightened of its presences and acknowledgements of us, It seemed to follow me with its gaze all the way to the main streets entrance.
 * Now this is just speculation but I wonder if there is anything that links the statues at the gate of the high road and the Minotaur's senses, or perhaps it could just be immensely good at keeping its watch.
 * It would be beneficial to us to find out if this Minotaur is known to any nearby factions, perhaps it has always presided over the city gate.
 * Well with little else to do we started heading back after a short break to avoid some lizards. And were accosted by none other than more lizards, we led them into the mosquito infested forest by sol’s tree and after a little rough and tumble and an extortionate amount of tactitioning and scheming (that Jhanna and I managed to communicate over a few short glances and in record time), we managed to hide from and ensnare our pursuers. Then lure a mosquito to attack them and ran away like children. Hilariously scary.
 * We then headed back but were forced to hide in the tower ruins by two giant birds of prey.  We met up with two of the labourers there and took a short rest. While they finished up for the day.
 * ALL OF A SUDDEN OUT OF NOWHERE IN POPS THE DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLER!!!!
 * He started to babble at us, so I cast comprehend languages on myself to see what he was saying,
 * “Please help me, that mage kept me locked beneath his tower, I have been here for so long, that I can not leave”
 * Without any way of conversing with them I moved within it’s reach and held out my hand and cast share language on them, the Shambler informed us that he was in so much pain from being here so long and asked us if we could find anyway to help them.
 * It was in a horrendous state of disarray, and looked as if in anguish it would could pull the very flesh from its head to correct the wrongs done upon it.
 * We asked how to help but it had no idea.
 * I truly believe that though these creatures are dangerous by nature, we would be callous to not help another being in its time of need.
 * I intend to descend into the area below the tower and discover the route to its anguish and finish it.
 * Also the creature has offered its aide to us if we should have a purpose for it, so it must have encountered Elves of nocturne before otherwise it would not understand our beautiful bartering ways.
 * Also just as a show of its trust and ours, we teleported with it back to the outskirts of camp.
 * And by all the texts in the world was the primitive teleportation powers amazing, it seemed to blast us into a pocket then another area near tot he camp then back again, hopping between planes like a child looking for its favourite toy in a house not it’s own. Truly! exciting! stuff!

Jhanna's Journal
We make our way with relative ease, bumping into Anamara and Troya. We follow along behind them before parting ways at the ruins.

Once we reach the river, I decide that I’d sooner avoid fording the river especially in this rain, so I decide to make a quick basic bridge. Honestly, not amazing work or craftsmanship but it’ll hold. Probably

After crossing the river we make our way towards the Dryad’s tree. As we approach, I note that with the rain the ground is looking fairly sodden near the mosquito forest. Probably not the worst to walk through, but running seems ill advised.

We rest up at the tree, we see a large mosquito fly out towards the edge, but otherwise leaves us be. And shortly after we set off again.

As we approach the city, we realize that we’ve ended up coming through a different direction, with two statutes overseeing the entrance (well, entrance of sorts). The stonework is weathered, but probably not quite as weathered as it should be. Cian notes that there is an aura of magic coming off of them, so I’m assuming that the magic is likely some kind of preservation magic. We head over to the blacksmiths, and there isn’t much sign of any change, or any sign of Mael either.

As I reach the counter I hear and see Mael come downstairs, we ask how he’s been keeping. He seems fine enough. Though he had been hearing voices in the basement, not perhaps too surprising considering what we saw last. He also mentioned some kind of guard to the city’s entrance proper? A minotaur, or horned beast. (I asked if they ventured anywhere else, and Mael says he’s hung around here mostly, but it seems like he’s hiding something? Can’t quite tell)

(Cian seems to pick up on something else being off as well, and asks if Mael was attacked, but Mael quite adamantly pushes back and once again affirms that he had not.)

After chatting briefly we head down to the basement, and I start setting up a shrine to Ulgrath

I prepare the alter, and begin to consecrate the ground, however as I do, I lose my concentration as an ill aura seems to wash over us. I look over at Mael and he seems quite visibly perturbed, and goes to close the door. But before I can reassess the situation, we see dark shadowy figures emerge from the walls. That’s new.

Cian begins placing some defensive enchantments on us, which seemed wise considering more shadows start emerging before attacking Mael

Despite everything, Mael lays into one of the shadows and completely eviscerates one of the shadows

Cian fires off some magic, and I let loose a pulse of positive energy. And immediately draw the attention of the shadows. Oops.

They attack me, fortunately one missed, and the other just about glances me. Mael once again dispatches another shadow, Cian once again fires some magic. I pull out my axe and try hit it, but miss (what a surprise). The shadow tries to leave but Mael slices through it before it gets the chance

After we take a moment to gather ourselves. I once again try to consecrate the grounds and this time it goes through. It’ll be gone by the time another group returns but the shrine should help any future attempts I might make.

We head upstairs, where I resupply Mael, and leaving him with a few extra bits of equipment and defenses.

(I vaguely bring up his determination to push through the tunnel when we were last here, but again, Mael seemed reluctant to speak on it, and mentioned it was personal, so I left it.)

After a while we decide to head back, but before leaving we decide to check on a few rooms. Turns out I’m also not very good at climbing rope…we wanted to maybe inspect a few more rooms but Cian notices that the horned gatekeeper seems to be looking towards us. So we decide best not to risk it and head off.

As we reach the city edge, we note that there are some lizards running through towards the foot of a hill. And seemingly moving in the same direction as us. So we decide to wait in the city for a bit longer.

As we kill time I speak to Cian about Ulgrath and tell him the story of the Creed’s founding.

An hour or so passes and the rain lets up, as we decide to return. We note that there are still creatures traveling around, albeit seemingly a different pack. Not wanting to dawdle and let it go dark, we decide to head off towards the dryad tree.

As we reach towards the tree, we notice that we’ve clearly been seen by the lizards, and they were making a beeline towards us. We head to the mosquito forest, and decide to set up an ambush there.

Hiding behind some trees we lie in wait, ready to go invisible

In time they near us and Cian starts making us invisible. Which helps. Somewhat…not too surprisingly they could smell us.

I stay still, hoping they don’t make a move as they seem to encircle me. Unfortunately for me, they chance it and while one missed, the other manages to snag me as I try move out the way.

Cian seeing this lets loose an array of dazzling colourful lights, and seems to bewilder the lizards attacking us. Before being set upon by a mosquito right afterwards. Shit.

So I make my way over and try go for the mosquito. Aaand I miss.

Cian backs away, and the mosquito tries to attack me, somehow missing me.

Not wanting to grabbed I decide to amplify my movement through magic, and hastily make my way over to a lizard, clearing the way for Cian to make a web. And whilst I’m at it try hit one of the lizards. Oh look, I missed again.

Cian webs them, though the mosquito seems to avoid it. And cian starts trying to run

The mosquito decides to go for the lizard in the web, thank Ulgrath.

And so the two of us pelt it out of the forest.

We head back and it’s relatively uneventful, until we make it to towards the ruins, and see some birds? Possibly raptors? Flying over head. Anamara and Troya seem to notice us and bunker down with us as we wait. After a bit, there is suddenly a strange rush of air

And we hear Anamara go “What the fuck”

And we see a tall, red, creature looking at us. I’ve…vaguely heard of these, Dimensional Shamblers

And before it starts to speak, Cian immediately casts comprehend languages. After listening, he reaches out a hand towards the figure, and surprisingly, the figure takes it. Stepping back, the creature starts to speak in Kherran.

Turns out the creature was used to help teleport the tower, but has since been trapped, and whilst we’ve (well, the camp, not so much me) somewhat released them, they still haven’t been fully released, and are anchored somewhat perhaps? Or at least, not able to freely control their abilities. Considering the tower needed it to move, and that it happened during the moons, likely a loss of control more so than an anchor. Seeing as it could still dimension door. And with that, it offers to take us home, and Cian rather enthusiastically accepts (I’m a little more tentative but…sure) and in a short few burst of magic, takes us near enough the camp, before departing.

Cian's Log

 * All the good friends set out at dusk, asking the standard questions as we went nothing’s changed and the eagles are still coasting on the wind traveling towards the south.


 * As we reached the tower the sun dipped below the horizon and felt super ominous. And then slowly out of the ruins we saw the shambles, we asked it what to expect to
 * Cian - “What could we expect below?”
 * Shambler - “Below there are Guards, Machinations, Creatures of light and cold, a place of great power and a prison. Something prevents me from teleporting out.”
 * Marcy - “What is it a prison for?”
 * Shambler - “Things like me, things that travel”
 * Jessari - “Would you like us to free those creatures?”
 * Shambler - “they seemed unfriendly”
 * Marcy - “What do you know of the creatures of light and cold?”
 * Shambler “I ran I could not stop, the creatures of light fed on my fear, and the creatures of ice, I could not see them until they appear”
 * Marcy - How could we go about fightin’ summit lye dis?”
 * Shambler - Probably hit them, I had just escaped I did not want to lose that freedom.”
 * Cian - If we get into trouble is there a way you could fetch us out.
 * Shambler *Shook its head thang* I could not teleport within, I had to climb out.
 * We nicknamed the shambler, Demi Lovato and went on our merry way down the quest hole.


 * Jessari went down the hole first with the aid of a rope, failed, and then used her fly spell.
 * Jessari then popped back up and grabbed me pulling me into the hole... followed shortly by Rogdul then Marcy-Rose.
 * We inspected the light and then the winged baboon statue. Just watery light thang and peculiar statue.
 * We entered the next room and Rog decided to check a cabinet nice and early which seemed to alert an ice type golem.
 * We began the old combat dance with an Ice Golem and two will-o-wisps, which slowly but surely, we dispatched, the will-o-wisps seemed to be able to disappear as much was they wished. And could only be attacked when two opponents worked from either side.
 * We then moved off into the room directly east of the entrance hole where we found a prison cell with a gem like key to the north of it.
 * Upon casting detect magic through the jail door, two more of the Ice golems showed up and thoroughly kicked our asses.
 * They dropped Jessari, then me, then Marcy fed Jessari a potion reviving her, just before getting slammed.
 * Jessari played dead while Rogdul ran away and kited the golems away from our bodies.
 * Jessari channeled to revive us.
 * Some crazy stuff happened with me spending far too long attacking the door gem. (stupidly bringing the golems back to us…. I clearly have donkey brains)
 * Through some sheer and amazing abilities Jessari managed to lure the golems to the other side of the room while Marcy and I ran past, and then caught up with us. (she’s gotta be the fastest halfling alive)
 * We caved in the exit to the tunnel and began ascending the rock face after a second rope was dropped down for us.
 * God damn, we survived through Jessari’s pure force of will.
 * Once we escaped the prison, we were confronted with our aide who lowered the rope down the hole for our escape. Who Jessari seemed to know quite well and be amenable to, he introduced himself as Iztac.
 * And then good old Demi teleported us back to the outskirts of camp. Demi seems happy to help us if we are in need of them.
 * I’m going to rest for a few days now.

Marcy-Rose's Log

 * We didn't bring the Firebelly infusion - wary that that may have been a mistake…
 * But maybe not!
 * At the site of the fallen tower, we found the Dimensional Shambler. It warned us that below was 'a place of great power', and called it a 'prison' saying there were 'guards and machinations'. The guards were 'creatures of light and cold'
 * It said the hole was a prison for things like itself, that 'travel'
 * The shambler said that the prisoners 'seemed unfriendly'
 * Apparently the creatures of light 'fed on the shambler's fear', and it 'could not see [the creatures of ice] until they were there.'
 * The shambler was scared but we were determined to proceed, so we thanked it for its advice and carried on
 * Apparently it doesn't have a name but we're calling it Demi Lovato
 * I made a super secure and good rope and then Jessari fell in the hole anyway, no-one appreciates anything I do
 * The 'creatures of light', ostensibly, were will of the wisps, although that might still be something else
 * The creatures of cold were almost certainly ice golems, which our party was ill-suited to handle
 * We defeated an ice golem and one wisp; another got away, so we kept on exploring the prison
 * We found a couple of hidden passages, leading to a large room with an empty cell in it. Marks on the wall indicated something in there trying to claw its way out, but it seemed empty
 * Got ambushed by ice golems. Some bad web-based decisions were made, like when Verizon spent a billion dollars on Tumblr
 * Tried to save Jessari and Cian. Healed Jessari and then got the shit smacked out of me
 * Everything going dark now
 * Dark and cold
 * I'm sorry Isaac
 * FUCK FUCK FUCK I'M ALIVE
 * AH FUCK BUT I'M PRETENDING I'M NOT
 * THINK IT WORKED
 * Jessari put us back on our feet, then distracted the golems while we got to the bottom of the hole
 * Cian threw out a fireball - we thought these things ate magic for breakfast but they seemed to take it pretty rough
 * By sheer fucking MIRACLE we got out - found Iztac there, who threw a rope down to help us out

Rogdul's Log
30th of Iume, Rajan

We set off for the hole in the evening around 7pm

It was sunny, the temperature had begun to drop from an oppressive 40, down to a still disgusting 35.

At Clambaketopia Camp a new stone building had been erected, as well as a wooden wall. Might be worth keeping an eye on them.

I did spy some of those large falcons flying around, but not near enough to us cause alarm.

As we arrived to the hole it had cooled to an uncomfortable 30 degrees. We spied the dimensional shambler in the rubble. Cian offered it share languages. It seemed to accept it, it first spoke in a strange language, and then Cian said we were going to head down into the hole.

It seemed receptive and then said, that there were guards down below, creatures of light and a place of great power. He mentioned it was a prison for things like him that travel like him? Her? It?. It said they are unfriendly. Amusing since they kidnap people and leave them in dimensions, they cannot survive in.

It said more about other dimensional creatures but I couldn’t concentrate as I was taken by just how long its arms are, like what an absolute knuckle dragging troglodyte. You can literally see its gears spinning away in it’s head while trying to think of what to say. How smooth is this brain?

I attempted to help lower Jessari down the hole but I slipped and dropped her. She was able to fly and then took Cian down. I then took the rope and began to climb down, the pillar gave way (Thanks Marcy) and I began falling. I was able to grab something on the way down to help align myself to help prevent braining myself on the floor. My shins exploded with pain but I was relatively unharmed. Marcy then climbed down with some finangling from Jess

Marcy and I examined the lamp and it appears to be a natural forming crystal structure of some kind. Marcy then said she could hear something “Slurping around”

I looked inside a closet before being jumped by something that looked made of ice. Instantly some magic missles bounced off of it fired from Cian's wand. He shouted out that it was an ice golem followed by curses. I attacked and could tell it was resisting my damage. The rest of the party got jumped by something I could not see and we began trading blows, I nearly died before Jessari ran over and healed me. I eventually killed this golem and it exploded into a cloud of dagger like shards. I was able to avoid most but I did get sliced fairly viciously.

Whatever the rest of the party was fighting disappeared and then appeared on either side of me and began sending bolts of lightning through me. I danced around them, eventually landing a couple of hits, we brought one done as a group but then the other disappeared. After awhile of being on edge we decided it had left.

I examined a locked chest but something was off about the lock, I decided not to mess with it. Marcy then called me over to see if I could break open some sections of the wall she had found. I tried to pull parts of it down in two different spots. Getting frustrated I took a run up and charged through the wall into a large room. We explored a little, the rest of the group found some interesting things but I was distracted by my exhaustion from raging.

We were then ambushed by two Ice Golems, things went really bad and everyone but me was almost dead. I ran. I can’t believe that I did. But I ran. As I left the room there was a flash of light that could have been Jessari’s healing aura. I hoped that they would survive somehow long enough for me to organise a rescue mission as I began the climb out. The two golems appeared and shot an icy breath up at me but it just barely didn’t reach, I could feel icicles begin to form on my legs. I continued climbing, as I neared the top the rest of the party burst into the room below me looking ragged. I almost lost my grip in surprise. Then a rope fell down next to me, I grasped it and climbed my way to salvation. I then grabbed the rope and helped lift the rest of the party out. A man who introduced himself as Iztac had helped us, and then had a private talk with Jess. In the meantime Marcy requested I carry her back passed out and started snoring softly. Sighing, I lifted her up as Jess and Iztac returned. Iztac left and we went to the shamble who was waiting for us. It proceeded to warp us back to camp.

Fionna's Log
Mission objective: The Choice between People - scout and potentially engage with the Ichmatl
 * General conditions
 * Searing heat


 * Way to the Xipil camp
 * Nothing happens


 * Xipil camp
 * We are let in and greeted by someone we haven’t met yet
 * They’ve been doing fine since the attack
 * We have a chat with Asi
 * Asi doesn’t think reconciliation is possible
 * She says the Ichmatl are here to take from the city, which is the Xipil’s by birthright
 * Ichmatl camp: warriors, no children or old people
 * Their camp is near the Circle of Stones
 * Asi can’t come with us because it would hurt her standing, and she has other duties
 * The Xipil have been talking about visiting us, but probably won’t until we’ve completed the trials
 * There are Zoquinantli (wyvern) spawning pools to the west
 * Cian claims we’re having a feast in two days and invites them to join us


 * Way to the Ichmatl camp
 * We see some Cuahlxo, mostly sticking to the sparse trees
 * We spot a spire with a lookout on top


 * Natural Spire
 * Cuahlxo are fighting with Ichmatl beneath the spire
 * We discuss whose side to take and end up just fighting everyone
 * Runt tries to save the person on the spire, who does not understand what she’s going for and would really rather not be saved
 * Ursula falls unconscious after being attacked by a Cualhxo, but survives
 * All enemies end up dead with the exception of the Ichmatl that Runt “saves” by throwing him from the spire
 * He is injured severely, but survives
 * We try to get information from him, but he’s quite resistant to all our diplomacy efforts
 * He tries to sway us against the Xipil
 * He says they will turn on us as soon as we try to enter the city
 * He tells us they cover their mouth and nose to keep themselves safe from spores
 * Ursula goes into a cave under the spire
 * It has basic amenities, spears, a fire pit, bottles and a bucket of alcohol, sword
 * We find a protection from energy potion, which I'll take back, identify and learn (eventually)
 * There is a scroll of burning hands, which Cian takes and learns
 * Runt names the Ichmatl Tezza because he refuses to give us his name
 * We decide to take Terrence prisoner and take him to our camp
 * We leave the corpses of the Ichmatl and the lizards in the cave and leave a couple of bombs with the lizards to make it look like they killed the Ichmatl
 * A group decision needs to be made about what to do


 * Way back home
 * Nothing happens, but more comfortable with rain and lower temperature

Runt's Log
Deer Stud,

Runt finally got to place where you lost adventure. Peepl hear seem nice. One lady gave me a cloak but Runt not sure how to put it on.

Today we goed to find adventure. Met some more ladies - Ursula was tall but sometimes short, she had big soft dog with bear ears. Fiona didn't like how warm it was and had portable shade Runt was jealous of. She also had a belt with lotsa drinks, probably to drink when it gets too warm. Runt thinks it nto very good for drinking because it isn't a lot but it must be elf thing. Cian was an elf too. Runt think he was short hair lady because he wore dress but turns out he is magic man.

We walked to some gate. It was very wARM and not nice. When we got to gate, Fiona wanted to talk to "Asi" but instead there was someone else there. Person had a staring contest with Runt but Runt won! She gave Runt reward of shade which is good because it SO WARM.

Fiona and staring person talk a lot. They say something about pools of water with babies? Not sure why it is issue. Some people died... maybe this place isn't so happy. After they talk, staring person told us to take as much water as we want!!! Runt goed to fountain but had to wait because MAN WITH SHADE ON FACE still think he should take water before Runt. To make it worse he gave Runt a THUMBS UP and still got water first. Strange place here Stud.

They said we need to walk more. Cian help Runt put cloak on, so Runt now has PORTABLE SHADE on head.

We set off to "West" and tall-short lady was having a bad time so Runt sprinkeld some water on her and she think it was funny but Runt was just helping.

Someone was stuck on big rock like cat in tree. Runt help. Lizards and some peepl were around fighting so everyone else helped with that. Runt goed to help person on rock. He really didn't want to be saved. He fall asleep when Runt got him to the bottom of big rock.

Fiona woke him up but man was still sleepy. There is "conflict", no man city and no allies or piece. Runt don't think any of this is adventure.

Group say rescued sleepy man not very helpful. Ursula went into ground hole in big rock, then say she want to give man to other tribe. Before we took him back to camp, Runt gave him little shake to see if he has shinies but he didn't have much on him.

Runt carry jelly man to camp.

Then all peepl were talking serious things Runt didn't understand.

Miss you Stud but I will see you when I find your adventure.

Marcy-Rose's Log
Jagad - Chief we met
 * Decided to make contact with the Ichmatl at an outpost we've previously seen to the west, rather than the larger camp to the south east who have reason to mistrust us.
 * To avoid the Xipil, we took a fairly meandering route. Spotted some familiar creatures on the way, but they didn't bother us.
 * We rested at the Stone Circle on the hill to the south west of camp. No signs people have been here, but tracks in the centre suggest it isn't offputting to the local fauna.
 * Marvor, our new naturist expeditioner, said it was some kind of gate the Fey used. Don't know much about them, but I've seen enough here to leave well enough alone - would advise that unless we absolutely know what we're doing, we should all do the same.
 * He reckoned that druidic magic of a particular kind would open it. But again, I don't think that's a good idea. Apparently it'll be fine if we leave it alone.
 * Took the opportunity of being high up to look over the city some more. Saw the castle - something big was moving around on top of it. Couldn't put my finger on it for sure, but the castle looked frozen? Something catching the light in there - something big, and snake-like.
 * We spotted what looked like a hatching pool for Piscine Wyverns. Hopefully, no-one needs to be told that's to be avoided.
 * We saw the Ichmatl down hill, and thankfully no-one overreacted. They came up to meet us.
 * Old temple outside the city. Someone there has been killing the Ichmatl, and they understandably want them dead. Has been killing with javelins, based on the estimation of the Ichmatl chief. He wants us to bring the head as proof, to their western outpost.
 * Has a serpent wrapping around the columns, no open door, no javelins in the grounds around. Grecian design. Made from different stone to other buildings (pale and grey, rather than earthy). In good repair, despite being just outside the walls - is very sturdily built, no battle damage.
 * We fucked around as close to the temple as we dared get.
 * We found out.
 * A thing on the frozen castle - a dragon - took flight and came in our direction. We debated where to hide and decided to make our way as far back to camp as we could. It didn't follow us further than the walls, but the air grew cold at our backs.

Jagad doesn't think much of the Xipil - he believes they're weak and insular.

Dranveidt - no longer human???

Red Earth: a haunt, where negative feelings of the dead reside. The city built a barricade of necromancy so any demons they brought would fight for them. However, the demons repurposed that, bringing everyone they killed outside to fight for them.

Runt's Log
Deer Stud,

On today adventure we walk in sun again. Runt don't understand why but wolf wag tail and it tickle and there was wind so that was nice. Then there was shade! I ran to shade and was SO TIRED but then I look back and no one was behind. Runt think Runt might be lost so Runt sat down and wait for the group.

When group get there we walk up biiiiiiiig hill. There were animals far away. It was cool seeing them like a zoo! When we turn to look around there was many big stones. Runt want to take one but wolf lady didn't want Runt to. She say something about Runt back hurting.

We waddle over to group and they waving so Runt wave too. Then Runt sees we waving at some small peepl, so we go over to them and they less small now. They say something about threat and aplo apogy  alpolo apology? Anyway they want gift so Runt give waterskin but Marcy ask them if they thirsty? It was gift so Runt don't understand why but they not interested anyway. Then Marcy start speaking sense.

Small now less small peepl want us to go on swicide mission to make up for some mens being dead. They talk some more then we shake hands but Runt not shake hands so Runt don't know why Runt say we. Then we see big building with snakes but no door. That is where we need to go for mission. So we start walking to red place and Runt want to see the lizardy animals again. They was sleepy and so was Runt then.

Then group say we go back to camp? No punching? They say there no punching in diplocy. Runt learn something new! Runt think Stud be proud if Stud was here.

SUDDENLY THERE WAS BIG DRAGON AND WE RAN AWAY AND THEN IT STOPPED FOLLOWING US BUT IT MADE COLD. STUD IT WAS SO COOL. STUD NEED TO GET HERE AND SEE DRAGON.

Miss you Stud! Runt be sure to keep some dragon jerky for Stud.

-Runt