3. Blue Raven's Journal

Blue Raven's Journal


    1. Hobgoblin Fortress

    • I met two of my favorites from my journals. Ethuil and Noemi. We had an adventure together! It was a lot more satisfying than skinning sewer rats. We went to a place called Blackridge? The caravan master is near the SW gate out of the city. And from Blackridge we went to this cave guarded by hobgoblins and a bugbear.

    • Through the caves that had giant stone gates that would crash down from the ceiling and block the retreat! It was exciting. And I met another man. Who was good with a bow and with a shield and sword. But he said he's a secret and that I shouldn't write about him, because next time I die, I will get to know him all over... so he can keep being a surprise. He had a bald head though. Maybe that will make me think the surprise man is any bald man I see when I read this next! I think he'll like that.

    • Through the caves we came out into a vale in the mountains where the hobgoblins had built a whole fortress. With traps and barricades and everything! They tried to hit me with giant flame balls. But I went fast and even knocked their gate door down! There were also a lot of warlocks. But it made sense later. Oh... and a frosty imp kept sneaking up on us and using a giant ice storm. It flew as fast as I ran, so I couldn't catch it. But with Noemi and Ethuil and Secret Bald Man using their bows... they brought the gremlin down low!

    • Once through the castle, there was a secret entrance to a spooky dark dungeon. With strange red runed circles that would pop out demons with dangling dinguses that would race up and try to do things. Couple solid wacks to their jelly bags and they'd vanish.

    • We went further and there was a really big hobgoblin... maybe that was in the castle. Like a goblin the size of a giant! He took a lot of arrows and Noemi took out her shield and this wicked spear and took him on... took him down... I mean... out? Took him out? No. We were already out. Well... she poked him till he stopped hollering and flailing about.

    • Oh and the dark priest warlock guy at the alter... at the end of the dark dungeon? Ethuil took a break to look for lady demons I think.... so Noemi and me beat the crap out of that priest. It kept trying to use dark spells against her. But she had this cloak that would glow everytime he tried to use his black magic. She's pretty great. I'm glad we're friends. And then Ethuil showed back up... without a single hickey and collected the loot.

    • Oh, and Noemi wrote a limerick... it was... something like...

    There once was a demon named Clyde
    with what both of us ladies spied.
    With a dingus so long,
    there just wasn't a thong
    that it could even begin to hide.


    1. Memory Rebuilding

    • Visted the crafting hall had got to know the masters there. They all seem sad that I don't remember them. I have notebooks there for various crafting techniques. Those seem familiar. My body seems to know what to do in certain circumstance.

    • I spent the last few days hunting rats in the sewers. There were cultists of some kind down there that seem to worship ooze? And further, there were undead. Not unexpected, as when I went further, I found very old barrows. There were no rats. I guess the undead eat them? I did run across a fanged undead woman. Not decayed. She tried to... whisper something to me? Like a suggestion? Perhaps it was some kind of vampire? Don't know. She died like the others. Unless I don't know how to put them down if they... reshape? I did read in my journals that Peltach has a vampire problem.

    • I found the logging town called Norwick. There seemed to be a lot of talk about a missing priestess and purple worms. I am thankful now of poison resistance training at the monastery. Purple worm poison was my least favorite. I am thankful the missing priestess target wasn't my charge. I understand their distress. Something about goblins tunneling. So I went into the woods south of there... called the Rawlinwoods. There were goblins certainly. Deep warrens where they use beetles and umberhulk to dig. Their shamans were very good at dispelling my potion enchantments.

    • I also explored an underground town called Oscura. Dark happenings down there, but a strict government, thankfully. There is a merchant there that sells a leave the induces higher awareness, they seemed to know me... since they asked if I wanted my regular. I used it in exploring the kuo-tua caverns the gentlemen mentioned. Found a good source of nickel there.

    • I've read through my notes and have also mentioned a cave on the other side of a river that runs between Peltarch and Norwick. On the other side is a town the guards at the ferry said used to be a farming town called Jiyyd. The ferryman also seemed to know me and asked if I was leaving Apple behind this time. The cave had some fierce animals. Large. Expected based on my journals. I was very careful not to disturb any that left me alone. Silver and iron near the front of that cave. That was enough. The cave bear in there was the largest... well... I don't know what I've seen before, but he knocked me around pretty good.

    • I am making progress in making gloves and shields. I ran across a recipe for a new kind of bag. Made of stegadon. I visited a place in Norwick called Spellweavers. Some kind of wizard school. But they have a library open to the public! I looked up stegadons. They seem some kind of armored lizard. I am unsure of where to find them.

    • I have yet to run across any of the friends I've written about. Perhaps we were just acquaintances. Unsure. I will do more exploration around the lands of Peltarch to ensure the security of my charge, Lady Aurora Moonbeam.

    • I have read about some kind of ancient artifacts the Priest of Tyr has mentioned. The local criers and bards of the inns are all talking about them. Prompted by some singer with dragonscales about her face. I wonder if this is the same bard I talk about in my journals. I will ask Lady Aurora is this has anything to do with Selune, as the artifacts are supposed to be Silver Masks.


    1. Lost Again

    • Woke up in this chapel to Lathander. It was a good place to wake up. My skin felt odd. Tight. Like it was new. The priest had sad eyes. He told me hunters had found my mostly eaten body and a label burned into my leather wraps and brought me to this temple. The hunter said it was troll country where they found me.

    • I read the labels as I sat near the altar. There were a few, each burned into the leather. I knew I had burned them in. One said, "Temple of the Lighthouse, Peltarch". Another said "Bottleneck Apartment 7A, Peltarch". Another said "Blue Raven". Another said, "Read your journals." One said "High Priestess Aurora Moonbeam, Temple of Selune, Peltarch" Another, "True Hawk and Storm Dove, Monastery of the Bird, Damara."

    • The priest said that Lady Aurora was outside. I talked with her and she explained that I am in her service, and that my name is Blue... and that I am a Raven of the Bird Monastery of the Order of the Sun Soul. That each time I die, if Selune and Lathander think me still of use, they bring me back... but with a cost. I lose some memories. So I write notes to myself. She told me that I live nearby and that at my home, I have journals that I keep. She gave me a hug and Loona cried a bit, but was smiling.

    • I found my apartment. It is very cozy, and has a good view of the docks. There is a cat that is a good hunter of mice and rats in the alley below. I live alone, but have a wonderful bookcase of books. And of course, dozens of journals in my own handwriting. And I am sitting and writing this entry while at my little desk with some tea and nuts I found in the... my pantry.

    • I find myself unexpectadly emotional about some of the stories I am reading in the journals. Sadness mostly. These are people I know... knew. There is an ache of longing... that these stories I've written weren't just reflections of my memorie... but mine. In my own head.

    • The journals also say that I am a crafter and that my hall is nearby. I will go and talk with the masters there. It also says I have a horse named Apple that has a stall in the areas outside the walls. I should go rub her down. I also have a bank account. And a small business in a logging town to the south called Norwick. I haven't read all my journals... there is a lot more to me apparently.


    1. Visions of my Mother? Lathander?

    • It is good to sleep in my own bed once more. Much to think upon. I have written to my monastery in Damara once more. My Hawk and Dove wrote back and sent a pair of manuals to advance my training. Hawk sent me a series of exercises and maneuvers to advance my training in air fighting. I have been spending time observing and sometimes fighting the griffins and giant eagles outside Mavalgard. I will obviously not abandon my progress in Earth, but he is right. It is time to work on the Air element.

    • Dove sent me a rare book translated into Chardic called The Metaphysics from the infamous plane hopping monk and sage Aristotle. That Heron lent her translator and several script writers to produce a copy for me is… overwhelming. I must send her a jar of that honey I found produced but that Druid of Leth in Mavalgard. It will take me some years to master its teaching. But it is good to have something to while away the winter nights in my room.

    • I am making progress at last in working leather. I thought I was at my limits until another master suggested using magical enhancements to boost my clarity while practicing on krenhar hides. I have been scouring the caves of the Gypsy forests for more.

    • I fell once more to pride, and a pair of mages attached to a group of formidable bandits. I do recall the Chultan warrior Ax implored Tempus to take him to his wife and daughter while we were together in a gray place. And a song I hadn’t remembered before. I think my mother sang it to me when I was with her. I hope the voice singing was hers. It was beautiful. I can’t picture her face, as it was bathed in the brightest of sunbeams. A gift from Lathander. And my rebirth from that place was… difficult. But that little precious fragment of my time before the monastery… I need to focus prayer on the Lord of Light..

    • There were many in our expedition, a new dwarven face… hard shells and locust hordes… vermin lords. Mastodons. And a shard of memory about fighting a vortex of elements? Waking from a dream, more like.


    1. Demon Spider and the Weight of Earth

    • Waxes and wanes. Advances and retreats. I have been making both of late. One one expedition through the bugbear mines, with Atlas leading the way towards a pocket Elemental Plane of Earth, we encountered a large colony of deep orb weaver spiders. They were mothered by the largest bitch I have ever seen.

    • A dowager queen spider. We were lucky to have a good team. Owen kept the demon’s attention and took most of her poison, when she could get past his shield. The few times she turned, she was hemmed in by others. And when she headed for our casters and archers, I stepped in to block her advance. Formidable, but so long as kept her from shredding me with her mandibles, her fangs and poison did little to me. It was a marathon, but we won the race.

    • With Ethuil, Noemi, Tory, Atlas, Owen, Axer, Vin? and a few others… I have to get better at names… we were joined by Lady Tiller, one of the grown children of the Baron Tiller family. She was extremely competent with both shield and bow. We then entered the very edge of the Plane of Earth… seeking platinum and mithril to advance Atlas’s learning of metallurgy and smelting.

    • If this is the edge of the Plane of Earth, it gives me and idea why Earth Elementals are so grounded and strong. Just walking was like taking the heaviest load of ore I have ever packed out of a mine. And then to fight elders of their kind under these conditions? Hardest training I have ever endured. And blessed Lady… even this far away from her light Selene granted me silver to mine. Blessed night!


    1. Made Stone, then Broken

    • A companion of Axer... a forest gnome whose name escapes me asked me along to go to a guttaral place. Grunt? Gront? Something like that. The gnome spoke very fast. We went by caravan to an estate of some minor noble family... more like a mercenary outpost. Regardless, well defended and the families were welcoming. Marvanal? I must get better at names.

    • This was just a waypoint. We continued through some largely treeless hill county. Windy, with beautiful skies. Filled with griffons hunting. And a heavily armored turtle-like creature with a huge beak... bigger by far than an ox. They tunneled like umberhulks. We ran past to encounter an orcish raiding party.

    • We then met a group of gorgons with some kind of ogre-like protector. Sharptoothed and very strong. It well enough. However the next group seemed stronger... and I caught the eye of one of the gorgons. There was a part of me that knew when they shattered me... and converted me back to shards of flesh. I awoke in Peltarch. Tyr's high priest judged me worth bringing back. I will reread journals to see what I have forgotten. At least I know now that I am missing things.

    • The next day, at the urging of some of my crafthall companions, I went to Norwick to join the tourney they have there. Jousting, archery and bare knuckle fighting. I joined and was allowed to use my sling in the competition. It may have been unfair... I do not know. But we were out in the moonlight and I felt her presence guide my shots. I won!

    • Some found it odd to have me strip naked to join the competition of hand to hand combat. I found it odd that some others did not. Regardless there were many style present, which was VERY interesting. I did do well but was given a humbling lesson by a pugilist who is self-trained. Catalan? Catlan? He is a Peltarchian dock worker who regular fights at the Ferret Inn in Norwick.

    • He performed a move that not only struck the sternum to fold it in and potentially pierce the heart... but intuitively used his body's lightning to disrupt the nerve cluster... stopping the heart as well! We talked for some time and he showed me his technique. Prepared for it this time, I was able to fend it off... but still. Another example of the main lesson my masters taught. Learn from the world's sources. Books are all second-hand knowledge.


    1. Meetings Old and New

    • Who should walk into the crafting hall this evening but Thorin Goldenaxe! He has heard a call from his god. A map that has led him to return to Narfell from Damara. A stronghold for his kin. I have heard rumor of a meeting of the Council of Moradin. I shall have to practice the conversion of alcohol in my blood to be able to retain my sobriety and not insult my dwarven friends when they crack open the barrels. I can sense the excitement.

    • There was an easterner who also has dragon blood. Like my bardic friend Noemi. This woman was not like her however. Regardless of her skill, she was cocky. Perhaps it is a difference in where she is from? She moved very well however. I can imagine she is a formidable adversary... or ally.

    • Noemi and I had tea. I had collected a few of her bolts or quarrels. She mentioned meeting Thorin. Seems good people find each other. Also mentioned some kind of vampire spawn. I told her of my history with the local coven. I am not confident yet in my new Lathandric training of creating daylight with my soul. I shall have to be subtle in my investigation this time.


    1. Brothers Dwarf. Monastery of the Infinite Cask .

    • I ran into Master Horst today. He was having his armor etched by the dark crafters of Oscura. Unusual, but seeing as he is a master, something unusual is likely swayed by learning methods outside of his normal areas of expertise. It was good to see him once again, however I wonder if my old Master's memory has started fading? Regardless, I am over glad he still lives. Having seen him, it makes me wonder about some of the others I called companions years back. Yavie, Vick, Aoth, Garen, Unen, Warzi, Thorin, Tyrus... and a few others. I hope they are all well.

    • Spent the day working on those beetle shells. I know there must be a method of curing them. I'm thinking a form of acid I saw trolls using to tattoo themselves. Afterwards I went to take an evening meal and bumped into the singer Noemi. I asked about her songs, and sure enough the couple I recognized were Damarian folktales. I was able to give her the travelling bag I crafted from the dire bear skins. I hope it will be of service to her.

    • Noemi and a quiet elven gentleman (I can't recall his name) were chatting outside of the Mermaid. When the three of us decided to venture into the borderlands between orc and Peltarch lands to ensure they weren't edging closer, we were joined by a pair of dwarven brothers.

    • Axer and Kern Bochonok. Neither of them crafters as far as I could tell. Unusual. I think both were monks. I know at least Kern is of the Old Order with the manner in which he used kami. I am still uncertain of Axer. Both have visited and admired the Drunken Masters of the Infinite Ale Cask Monastery. As expected for dwarves they are tough skinned and stomached and rougher than raw granite.

    • The orcs were as expected. Encroaching and looking to build up numbers to push. It should be a while before they try again. I did find out that the spoils of killing those in their den sell better in Norwick than they do in Peltarch. Perhaps the competition is less fierce?


    1. Giant Encroachment, Scouting Mintas, Raft Source Found

    • The family-man Jimmy decided it best I don't scout the far side of the river for giant-sign alone. While I was asking around Hero's Bluff regarding sightings of the same, we ran across a hin and a what appears to be some kind of scaled woman with serpent eyes named Noemi. Not naga... there wasn't a sinister bone in her body. The hin, named Vin moved well.

    • They decided to join us, with the intention of finding the location the giant had culled their trees for their raft. We traveled well, attracting and dispatching some wolfs that mistook us for prey.

    • Jimmy's knowledge of the paths on this side of the river again proved helpful, as her knew of a cave that cut to the middle of the woods around Mintas Rhelgor. Once we entered, I recognized it immediately from the many miner ventures made by a troop of dwarves and my old master Gnarl Horst... as well as Thorin Goldenaxe. I miss them both and hope to see them again someday.

    • My apple eating friend is also adept at tracking and was able to identify many of the dire animals that creep in from the forest above... as well as the rumblings of the old guardian of rock and stone... the earth elemental. Depending on if the thing was hungry or not, it sometimes was placated by feeding it gemstones of various kinds. If not, it was very territorial.

    • Without the power of Moradin from my old dwarven friends, even my callused fists could do nothing to this creature. We were lucky that it wasn't in the path we intended through the woods.

    • We fought our way back out of the woods towards the windy plains... finding not only large cut trees felled by enormous axes, but also several landslides that had buried some of the gigantic dire animals there.

    • Those animals hit as hard as I remember, and were it not for Vin (who has to be trained by a monastery) at my side... I could not have borne the brunt of the attacks. The dragon-blessed woman Noemi also bolstered us with the most unusual songs, which I will ask about when I see her again. Finally, Johnny's bow rarely missed its mark and devastated many of the animals Vin and I pummeled.

    • Still, my assignment abroad has apparently softened me, and were it not for what appeared to be several caches of potions, I assumed left by giants looking to build a route through these lands, I could not have held my defenses. I will redouble my training. Those caches may be good places to ambush, as it could be a way to locate and counter the giant's efforts.

    • I was able to skin enough of the dire bears to make some new satchels from their pelts. I will share the materials these creatures sacrificed to my companions in the effort. While working on these pelts at the tradehouse, I came across another apprentice under Master Horton named Atlas. We talked about the giants (which he seemed very interested in) as well as further sojourns together to work our crafts in Master Horton's name.

    • Finally, I reported our actions to the gate guards at Heroes Bluff, the captain of the watch in Peltach, as well as my Lady Aurora at the Lightower Temple.


    1. Fell by Nars

    • I explored both river banks of the Scar from Heroes Bluff to the bridge east of Peltarch for signs of additional rafts being built or launched. Any trees dragged to the shoreline, I tried to track inland to where they were cut.

    • Lizard men and trolls in the nearby marshes seem to have found some arrangement, as they seem to tolerate each other and even attack in union.

    • I was bested by some Nars that were across the river from the old Cerulean outpost. Dove into the river to escape, only to be downed by arrows as I dove. The good thing is my body drifted downstream and out of their territory. The bad thing is that I died. I did not have an audience with Her. Only woke up to the faces of Jimmy and Thau'lira. Selune must have guided them to me.

    • The scroll that brought me back was a godsend, and that Jimmy parted with it for an acquaintance. Well, I am glad to have put him on the road to home ownership for his family. I will ask Lady Moonbeam to sign off on a recommendation with the owners of the Bottlefly Apartments where I reside. It would be a goodness to give their family a space of their own and the least I can do.

    • I reported my findings to Lady Aurora regarding the giant's crossings. Perhaps through her contacts she can find others that are investigating the situation as well.


    1. Return to Peltarch and Lady Aurora's Service

    • Returning to find my old apartment's key still worked is one thing. But that the banker's actually paid my rent all this time is... impressive. My reassignment took me quite by surprise, and took several years longer than expected. The dust was thick and it took me a better part of a week's off hours to get it back to order.

    • I am glad Lady Aurora requested to have me at her side once more however. It begs the question however, "Why?" There are many Sun Soul that would have jumped at the opportunity to serve a High Priestess. Many things unsaid about my return. It makes me wonder if there are issues in the priesthood.

    • The landscape and trails around Peltarch have changed quite a bit. I see that Seafarer's now guard the gates. Many of my mentors have moved on at the crafting hall.

    • I went exploring and came across a young follower of Auril. I must admit I have forgotten her name. We went exploring the kobolds den. Deeper and they seem to have found a dragon's skull that they are worshipping... quite fervently. That faith may be of use, given the proper leverage.

    • Lady Aurora's first prophetic act with me was to send me to Hin Hold in the middle of the night. The moon was bright, and when I got closer, I heard their town bells going off. They were under attack by frost giants. They were dead by the hand of a spellblade from Halruaa before I got into battle. He and a raider captain from High Hold and I tracked them back to their raft they built to cross the Scar River. I reported the situation to the Seafarer's guard to pass along to the Watch Captain.


    • I must thanks Selune tonight at the shrine for the reminder that I am suited better for the path of creation, than that of destruction. Helping the dwarves of Aura Runedar collect the coal and stone needed from the goblin mines is where I can do the most good. It is as straight a path as a beam of sunlight.

    • Being able to head up a crew of dwarven miners... even with their joke of telling me that the dwarven phrase they nicknamed me wasn't beautiful legger... but donkey knockers, I must admit, had me laughing as hard as I ever have. What a picture we likely made, with all of the coal dust on us, the only things shining was the white teeth of our smiles.

    • It is this rude nickname that made me realize it was their rough way of accepting me. Well... that and perhaps the cart of ale casks I had dropped at the edge of town to be tapped and drank by the coal mining crews returning with their loads.


    • One of the people I have grown fond of, and respect, recently rebuked me on being unconcerned with my companion's safety in unexpectedly attacking a vampire Garibaldi and Jorino were talking to. He said that it was pride that he was concerned with. Perhaps, I should certainly meditate on that. He would not say so casually.

    • Perhaps my faith in my Goddess is a form of pride. I think he may see it as a form of blindness. That it blinds me to reason. Perhaps. I have not had reason to question my faith in Her. She has sent me back to life several times. Were I not doing what She wants of me... I would think She would find a better vessel. I certainly do not assume to know Her reasons. And I know that I am very fallible. But this did not feel wrong.

    • Was there a plan to get us out if things went poorly? Had they waited for the vampire to spring the trap he had prepared... would it have gone any differently? And how?

    • I should temper these thought in that this concern comes from a many who professes to not have a path of his own choosing. Perhaps my focus on my path frightens him. Perhaps that is why he sees it as wrong. Faith is not a prison. Faith provides structure.

    • I did make a large mistake. I should not have accompanied them in the first place. We are on different paths. I am not defending others for a good story... or for glory... or fame... or riches... or to test my mettle. I do it because Selune says I must. That it is the right thing to do. Travelling with those that don't have trust... and that I don't trust leads to just such situations.

    • Was mine the right action? I will not know till Selune judges them.

    • There are techniques that allow a Sun Soul to expose their soul... an explosion of pure sunlight... called the Sunburst. I will explore this technique. Perhaps one of these times, when one of these vampires thinks it can simply change into a red mist and vanish... I will be better prepared to finish them.


    • Persistence. On my walks in the Rawlins near the wyvern bluffs south and east of Norwick, and the lower reaches of the Giantspire north and west of Peltarch and I finally found elm trees that are ripe for culling. The few logs I was able to cut cleanly gave me enough experience with the mill saw that I didn't ruin all the wood. One perfect small elm shield... joined tight and bound properly. Not as light as the darkwood shield that the Squire carries, but it will be a good heirloom to enchant for someone needing a backup shield. We will see if Mister Blake is interested.

    • My memories are there. They are not lost. It seems that each person, each unique landscape, each skill from my recent past has some kind of... key that unlocks them. My dear friend Autumn unlocked hers. She asked me to whistle. At first I told her I did not know how. But she asked me to try anyway. And when I did... out came a perfect single note. That's all it took. A flood of memories of our friendship came back. It quite overwhelmed me and I cried. I cried the first time since I was a small child. Decades of pent up sadness released.

    • Perhaps I need to come up with a method of releasing these powerful emotions that are suppressed with my training? Afterwards I felt more stable, more anchored than I have in a LONG time. The experience of losing parts of my memories, it felt so unfair. Especially since it has caused so much pain and sadness in my companions, my friends. Like they have been cut out of my life... and that our relationship has died as surely as I did. That I haven't really come back. But I can see now that this is a reminder from my Goddess, that live is fleeting and remembrance is more precious than any worldly treasures. I am humbled by Her lesson.


    • This seems like a really nice city. I'm glad Lady Moonbeam has accepted me into her service. Being a Sun Soul for such an important priestess of Selune is surely the Lady of Silver shining down on me.

    • I seem to have arrived at a fortuitous festival called picking day. There were many items spread out on the ground and a group of people invited me to take turns with them picking the items up. A gentlemen named Vick Blake explained the rules to me.

    • They kept mentioning something about a maze... and people were looking at me with a feeling of sadness. I hope I did not mess up one of the local customs or something.

    • There was also a young elven woman with wild braids of hair that was looking at me quite intently. She seems really familiar. I wanted to ask who she was, but it was very crowded in the Common area... and I felt it best to retreat and find the temple again.

    • I look forward to learning my new city. It was strange... when I talked to Lady Moonbeam she said I already had a storage chest AND an apartment in the city... but I do not recall setting either of those up! That is strange. I shall have to meditate on the matter to insure everything is ok with my health.


    • It is concerning that I cannot remember my last death. And, I am discovering that it seems to be a larger hole in my memory than just the traumatic part. And it isn't just... in order loss either. Not remembering Squire Aegiself for a few days... even looking right at him and simply... not remembering his name. I am having a difficult time, even with my mental exercise I use in meditation, of not being unreasonable scared of this.

    • It is as if... I am wearing something out. Something I cannot replace.


    • I don't know what to make of Lieutenant Reyhenna Jorino. She came to me while I was out on a sojourn with Unen to the gnoll's canyons. Unen was clearly uncomfortable with the conversation that was to occur, as I had already told him of what transpired in Peltarch's witch hunt.

    • I haven't taken let down my Order's discipline for anyone. Yet I asked her to symbolically 'take off' her uniform, and I would 'take off' mine. So we could speak as two women, two people.

    • She came to clear the air and perhaps assuage her own guilt... I am not sure. But I dumped my bucket on her. I don't know wether or not my perspective will guide her to a less blood-soaked path. I think she also came to suss out wether I could be trusted.

    • I hope letting her know that I would walk the path I felt to be true to my Goddess and my Order. And when they diverged from her path, and we butted heads once again, that I would not judge her actions. Only try to guide her true through my own actions.

    • She walks a fine line. I saw her tribunal, however slanted that view was. I have seen her at work in the orphanage. I have also seen her covered in blood, wading through Peltarchian soldiers who's believes were different than hers. But if I can have hope for a Shaman of Gruumsh, I think I can risk hope on her.


    • Garen, Sir Loreweaver, Sergeant Haltrude decided to explore a map that Sir Loreweaver has from his grandfather, who apparently was an adventurer in Narfell in his time. And there aren't many people who I would trust my life to as I would with these three.

    • Garen has shown to know his own abilities and has a more level head than I have found outside of my own faith. He is grounded and even tempered, and is always good council as well as good in a battle.

    • Sergeant Jane Haltrude is an independent minded woman who takes guff from no one. It was she and Miss Underhill that went against the directive of Smoke on that fateful day in the battle of the Western Towns. And both of them military... so even more dangerous to disobey a superior. Her morals are stronger than any steel I can make and always seem to point true.

    • And this young paladin Sir Linus Loreweaver. Fearless. Thoughtful. A natural leader. And one of only two companions that decided to return to me under the crypts of Norwick to insure my safety. And then to defend Autumn and I until he himself died in the attempt?

    • The maps were of areas I am well familiar with, but Sir Loreweaver seemed so excited to be following in his grandfather's footsteps that I mostly kept my counsel to myself. Through the spider's canyons, into the goblin's warrens and back up through their coal and tin mines. All was well in hand, till the always dim caverns went black as pitch... even dimming my own Sun Soul to a wavering shadow.

    • We heard someone scream and Linus took off running towards it. Garen and Jane counseled caution... but someone needed to watch the young paladin's back in this darkness. So I sprinted off with him. I bumped someone, in the dark running the opposite way... the sweat of fear pouring off of him that I could smell it. There were goblins that were dispatched... and by the time the greenskins had fallen, so had this stranger.

    • It was then I felt him... and even smell the faint lingering smell of burnt hair that I smelt the last time he had shown himself to me. The one they call the Adventure Killer. Seems another target. The man I had bumped into was dead. Throat slit by the jagged blade this creature carried.

    • He also judged Jane, knowing the details of what transpired that day. And also Garen... although, I was distracted enough by this thing's ki energy... that I don't recall what was said about Garen. I did notice that Linus was stunnned a moment while concentrating on this person. I should ask him what he sensed... if he is anything like the Squire Aegiself, then perhaps he got another perspective on the motives of this thing.

    • He did confirm that he was not one of the Silver Host. Perhaps one of the villagers that we saved or were somehow spared the elemental's fires? Regardless, it is apparent that this is likely part of the same.. entity that possessed Vere and briefly changed the Champion of Torm on Toril into a disbeliever in the span of a breath. Although, Sir Holmsmead's faith helped break through the will of this... parasite.

    • This was confirmed by the mage Surin Trusho... who appeared outside the cavern entrance. The same spectre of a man... both there and not there... that I first met in the lower Giantspire... visiting Reyhenna's childhood home. Some kind of memory collector. I initially though him a time traveller's echo. No he has revealed he is in possession of two... secrets. Primal underpinnings of how the universe works. Outside of planes and gods and mortal reality. And he sought the entity that inhabited Vere, Sir Holmsmead, and now this vengeful burn victim known as the Adventure Killer. Apparently, the power behind this is another one of these... prime truths... or basic secrets.

    • Regardless of the politeness of this Trusho... he has no morals to speak of. I also do not think he even knows what he would do with the power he seems to be attracted to... like a moth to flame. He offered whatever we valued as worth in exchange for capturing this... hmm... what do I call it... divine parasite? I am unimpressed.


    • The conspiracy to organize a military coup was stopped. Seeing Lieutenants Jorino and Grimm slicing their way through soldiers who had been ordered by their rebellious commanders to stop them... did not sit well with me. What if Autumn happened to be attached to one of those Commanders? Would she be casually gutted as well? I joined their attempt to get through the barricade at the gaol. But I pulled my punches... knocking out as many guards as I could before they were slain by the Lieutenant's swords. I applied magical balms to the pair to keep them fighting... and I am conflicted about that.

    • They continued on to the Commander they sought after the battle. I stayed and tried to keep alive as many of the wounded they created. These were fathers, brothers and sons of Peltarch. They were loyal men, who stayed at their Commanders sides. Condemned for their loyalty. I thought perhaps Jorino was different than Grimm.

    • When I found that Captain Gom was on their list of those intending to support a change in government... I couldn't believe it. I rushed to see if I could get to him before this... mob justice following Jorino. The tower was already surrounded... I bought a crossbow, pulled those bolts of teleportation out of my pack, and the scroll that would let me strike true and waited to see if I could hit Captain Gom. If I could pull him out, then I could talk with him... find out the truth. And he could turn himself in, rather than be forced into it. But to no avail.

    • Quaffing those potions of invisibility and haste made it easy enough to avoid the blockade around the tower. Scaling the outside was also less troublesome that expected. The locked iron door at the top however... was unexpected. At least I spoke to Gom through the door. Seems someone named Weyland's troops were between Jorino's troop and himself. He they made it to him... he would surrender... he thought. I urged him to stay true to the good man I knew he was.

    • Being dismissed and threatened with imprisonment when I brought this news to Jorino was... chilling. I returned then to the temple to insure none of the military infighting hurt my charges. I urged the Lady Moonbeam to move the temple of Selune to Norwick. This government and it's military is not a safe place for those of good faith. Like most High Priestesses I have met, she thinks herself invincible from harm. But there are other gods... with their chosen as well. No one is immune. She has unbreakable faith in Her. Mine, is less certain today.

    • The second time the bard Gariboldi has spoken to me like a child. I am glad she is not someone I am beholden to... or someone I am responsible to... or even someone I trust. Her rebuffing me when attempting to help the homeless singer Rebecca told me all I need to know of her moral convictions. She lacks faith in others. And seems to seek the glory of solving mysteries... without caring too much of the repercussions of what the truth brings.