Shesarai's Journal
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I feel so embarrassed. My father disdained writing in journals. He always said it was the easiest way to find out things about people that perhaps they wouldn't want to be known. But I feel like I've learned an important lesson. I was reluctant at first to tell the whole story to Rom. But he wasn't overly critical, and seemed to think that it had been a valuable lesson. So I decided to write it down and refer to it from time to time if I ever get the urge again.
I was lonely. Staying at the Grapevine is OK, but it's not like having a family close at hand. Since nobody was around, I went looking for my women friends. Willow left me a cryptic note saying that she was going with Leena to the Old Romani Camp. I hadn't been there in a long time. It seemed empty and depressing the last time I was there. But I was bored so I went looking for them. I wasn't stupid enough to try to sneak past the gnolls in the pass, so I went through the spider woods. Those spiders are easy for me to sneak past.
When I got to the camp, I heard sounds of battle. That's unusual. The place is almost always empty. I snuck around the road, looking for the source of the sounds. Just north of the old Heart Fires, I found Willow and Leena had just dispatched about five poisonous frogs. They were hurt, but very excited. They found them inside an old tree that they were exploring, but got attacked. After they healed themselves, they wanted to go back in and asked me to join them. Without thinking, I said "Sure!"
Inside this tree was really wierd. The passages were full of creepy mists, but I followed Willow and Leena into a small chamber to the right. There was a chest there, and another poisonous frog. Leena and Willow engaged it, so I joined them and killed it with one of my arrows. I hit harder than they do! They began looting the chest, excited by what they found, when suddenly a table entered the room, walking on its legs, and attacked them. A candelabra and a chair soon joined in. I hid myself.
Willow and Leena fought back, but appeared to be forzen or stunned. The tables kicked hard with their legs and Willow went down. I tried to heal her, but didn't get the spell off in time. Then Leena went down. Still hidden, I approached slowly and picked up Willow's body. The tables and chairs ignored me, so I put her over my shoulder and started to sneak out. I was so encumbered I could barely move, but I made it outside. Dropping Willow's body by a campfire, I went back in for Leena's.
This time, I was spotted. Not far from the entrance, three tables attacked me. I shot and killed one, but then I was overcome by confusion and frozen so I couldn't move. They beat me down and I fell unconscious. Somehow, I managed to revive a few minutes later, but was quickly frozen again. This time I went down hard and didn't get up.
I woke up in the Fugue. Willow and Leena were both there already. We agreed we had been morons, and prayed for divine intervention. On my knees, I asked Mysta's forgiveness. Willow called on Shandukaul, and Leena called on every diety she could think of. We promised to be good if someone would come rescue us. Eventually, the figure of a handsome man with a mustache came up behind us. I recognized him from his picture in the Temple. It was Kelemvore.
He listened to our plea, and sent a high priest to find our bodies and raise us. We got all our things back, then fell on our knees outside the tree and begged forgiveness. Each of us felt a strong heavenly light fall on us, that seemed to burn, but also to cleanse. When we stood up, we all felt better but much weaker. I found that I had forgotten the most advanced spells Mystra had granted me. I would have to earn them back.
Live and learn. When I finished my tale to Romulus, he said that it could have been much worse. He said that in Narfell, anything I did could get me killed, including doing nothing. He has been to the Fugue many times as well. "Learn from it!" he advised. I will. I'm not going into that tree ever again!
Login: AubreyMaturin
Characters: Romulus Grey, Bard the bowman
Trotter, Spooky halfling ranger
Shesarai Foutopolis, Red-haired cleric of Mystra