Six - A Weight is Lifted

Mission Log - Entry Six

Thirteen days have passed since I have seen my home in Heaven's Reach.

Though our journey is far from over, our mission is a success. Zoraisis is defeated, Castle Denmok is rid of its wicked infestation, and Locklear is recovering.

Our day began with Valor magically interrogating Tree Gazer and Sehl as we prepared to continue our search of the castle. A divine aura shrouded us all, and I recall feeling compelled to speak only truth. Though is it not in my nature to be deceptive, this was an odd sensation that, strangely enough, Valor did not leverage. He instead focused on Tree Gazer and Sehl, and only yielded Tree Gazer's regret at fleeing and hiding when demons and kua'toa came and took her friends. She also shared that her people are sensitive to iron, which nullifies their inherent magical abilities.

Lady Almareth sent her familiar, the tiny dragon named Pip, outside to scout the castle from above. She reported that the host of kua'toa and other creatures which inhabited the castle were fleeing, heading to the northwest mountains where distant smoke was seen on the horizon.

Sehl explained the teleportation effects he blundered into during our battle with Zorasis via the floor mosaic in an adjacent room. After some experimentation by throwing rocks and other debri into the room, Sehl felt confident that he could utilize its properties, leaping into the area where he briefly grew in size and then turned gaseous, much like Zorasis did during out fight. He then flew out a window and down into the floor below.

Rather than make this same attempt, the others and I instead lowered ourselves out a window onto a balcony below us and began our search, reuniting with a corporeal Sehl.

A dungeon of sorts was the next room to discover, lined with cells containing various creatures each in a comatose or fugue state of sorts. Dangerous beasts and creatures of wicked design say motionless or paced their confinement. A dwarf stood out among these prisoners. Wild-eyed and seemingly delirious, he acted as if he could not see us beyond the bars. Thinking myself his liberator, I shattered the lock to his cell while the others deliberated on what to do with the captives in this room.

This may have been an unwise decision, for the dwarf rushed out, swinging a broom stick as if it were an axe. Valor momentarily distracted him with a holy word of command which the dwarf thought came from Moradin. As his delirium returned, so did his anger, and Sehl attempted to pacify the dwarf with a punch to the face, which went as well as could be expected. It wasn't until I offered some brandy that he calmed and told us his name was Varrick before falling asleep. He has more bravery than wit and he seems content to follow us out of the castle, expressing no further hostility.

A scared young woman, calling herself Shelaria, paced another cell, so Jessicat saw that she was also freed. We asked questions of her which she evaded, and seemed very eager to leave us. Finally, after continued scrutiny and pleas to stay with us for her safety, her patience was exhausted and she attacked, her features twisting and morphing into a demonic countenance after failing to charm Sehl with seductive words. I understand she was a creature born of evil, but I am deeply unsettled by freeing someone only to strike them down. We left the rest of the captive creatures in their cells, which also caused me discomfort. The danger of their release was too great, but I fear we have condemned some of them to a slow and painful demise.

Pressing on, we worked together to overcome an illusory snake pit which lied in our path along a hallway leading to a lounge or den, decorated with morbid taxidermy mounts of demonic creatures and what appeared to be the head of a guard captain by the insignia on the hat atop the head. Several vials were discovered; one of L'larna blood, as Tree Gazer informed us; one of water, which refills itself after it is depleted; and one of a mist-like substance. Meanwhile, Valor was aided by Sehl in escaping a room with a creature disguising itself as a pile of gold.

Another gold-imitating creature lodged itself in Lady Almareth's arm as she inspected the corpses of several castle guards. In desperation, she allowed Pip to use its stinger to attack the creatures making their way up the inside of her arm. Valor came to the rescue with a quick incision and extraction of the creatures whilst his healing magic sealed her wound.

In another dungeon, a man hung shackled by his arms from the ceiling of a barred cell, a blackened sword running through his midsection. Our suspicion was that this was Zoraisis's patron, Olman One-Eye, because he had an eyepatch. As I entered the cell to investigate the scene, a voice called out to remove the sword. I took this opportunity to ask the voice, telepathically, of a cure for Locklear's poison, but its responses were elusive and I suspected it lied.

The others set upon the corpse. Jessicat first removed a green gem hidden in the corpse's socket behind the eye patch. Valor then burned the body with a divine fire before attempting to retrieve the sword, but neither he nor Sehl could stand to be its bearer, for they felt an evil force within. I elected to keep the sword in my care. I suspect, when the time comes, I will be able to destroy it if it contains the essence of Olman One-Eye, which I believe it does. The voice returned as I took the sword into my possession, telling me the poison was blended with l'larna blood, which makes it resistant to magical cures. While apparently true, the sword cannot be trusted and all are safer with it in my care.

We backtracked in our search to a room with many bats resting in the ceiling, but our focus was on a door with demonic images carves upon it. Beyond the door was a chamber containing an altar where we found a strange staff which had one end carved to look like a withered hand. The staff possessed a curse to which Sehl fell victim when he touched it. The young elf claims to have been aged nearly two decades by the weapon, but it was not evident to we who are not as long-lived. It was offered to me, but it wasn't until later in the day that I mustered the courage to attempt combating the cursed implement. 10-20 years is nothing to an elf. It may mean death for those with my affliction. However, when the time came, I resisted the magic and now I will wield it in combat.

The most important discovery of the day laid in an arboretum we located within the tower. It was here we found 7 other l'larna, among them Silver Fire and Golden Eagle. After Tree Gazer's reunion and our introductions, we discussed the urgent matter at hand. Silver Fire informed us that, since iron disrupts their race's innate magic, a toxic dose of iron would allow for magical healing to cure the poison.

Another of the creatures, called Night Breeze, told us she was able to travel great distances in a short time through a magical network of the forest, so we gave to her one of the sending stones and asked her to travel to Carse and give the stone to Sagrath. After detailed directions were given, the creature disappeared into the trunk of a nearby tree.

We hurried to the poisoned elven woman upstairs to begin administering the cure, which Valor prepared from some iron detritus laying about the tower. Lady Almareth was able to make contact with Sagrath and relayed the instructions for curing Locklear as well. Both of the victims showed immediate improvement, with our patient regaining consciousness. It appears that this was not Zoraisis's wife, but Estria Denmok, half-sister to Alyana, ruler of the Denmok kingdom! Before falling into a restful sleep, we learned that she had been in this suspended state since the fall of Castle Denmok many years ago and knows nothing of our current time.

Hearing the tales of our experience so far, Silver Fire offered to thank us by performing a resurrection on Sehl's Scoffer friend, Rosalie. Amazingly, partly due to the preservative magic of the cabinet in which her body was stored, Silver Fire returned Rosalie's soul to her body much to Sehl and Bastillion's mirth.

With that, our mission has completed. We have accomplished much in these few days. An assassination attempt was foiled. Locklear and Estria were saved. Lady Almareth is unharmed. Zoraisis is defeated and his castle liberated. The mysterious l'larna, who have agreed to take their remaining people and hide within the mountain forests near Heaven's Reach, have been rescued. While we mourn our losses, we celebrate the friends we have made and will begin our long travel to Northwarden tomorrow. Perhaps now we are safe, the killing can end, and we can return home.

Five - Costly Progress

Mission Log - Entry Five

It has been twelve days since I have laid eyes upon my home. I accept now that these records of my travels may find themselves in the hands of enemies or future travelers rather than the archives of Heaven's Reach, so burdened with peril my journey has become. It is with this possibility that I will write with more candor. That said, my resolve has not wavered and I will faithfully execute my charge of protecting Lady Almareth.

Though not all remain, the names of the brave soldiers and companions who accompanied Lady Almareth and Sehl should be remembered: The scoffers - Rosalie and Bastillion - and the four royal soldiers - Rufus, Yemen, Vale, and Düblphart. While we must say farewell to Rosalie, Rufus, Yemen, and Vale, we remember their noble sacrifice and I pray their bravery caught the attention of the Seldarine and they are reborn with their favor. For all our loss, we have also gained allies whose names are to follow.

We broke camp in the morning, fortune seeing us unmolested during the night. Though his intentions were pure, Sehl's attempt at foraging for food left several of our party with looseness of the bowels that bothered them most of the morning.

With pitons and rope, we fashioned a crude means of scaling the castle walls, finding ourselves upon battlements connecting the five towers. Upon these paths were littered the bones of varied creatures, both human and beast, long picked clean and bleached by the sun.

Without hesitation, we cautiously began our search. Nearing the first of the towers, Madam Oliphant was overcome with curiosity at peculiar sounds and entered quietly. Within the first room we encountered strange, three-legged creatures whose bodies were each but an enormous eye. The beings emitted a terrible, shrieking sound that was sure to have alerted every soul in the castle. Stranger, still, was the cloud of noxious gas expelled as they were felled. Madam Oliphant and two of the guards were rendered unconscious by the gas for some time.

A slamming door lured me into an adjacent hallway, intentionally concealed. As the others gathered themselves, I stood at the ready before the door which I was sure the sound originated. When the others joined me, we stormed in, ready for battle, but found on one at first. Searching the room, I found an official Denmok seal, which I stowed away, much to the chagrin of Bastillion who eyed the mark with covetous attention.

Hiding within the room, nursing injuries, we discovered a pair of whom we may count among our first allies of the day. A halfling named My-Fingers and his companion, a cleric of Avandra known as Shalaa - the first Dragonborn I have met - had traveled to Castle Denmok on behalf of Northwarden to discover the source of demonic incursion upon their home. They warned us of more kua'toa - the fishmen we encountered from the bowels of Carse - and orcs which have made the castle their home and appear to be in mental communion with Zoraisis. With their injuries and fatigue, they desired to return to Northwarden, so we helped them descend our rigging and escape. As our orders from Sagrath were to travel to Northwarden upon finding Locklear's antidote, I sincerely hope we will meet these two again.

Continuing our search led us to our first foes, a group of pale, muscular humanoid figures with slithery tongues too long for their mouths and hollow, soulless eyes. Vicious and mocking as they were, my newfound powers of rebuke and the others' swift action were too much for the undead creatures.

Sehl heard a crash from upstairs which we joined him in investigating. It was there that we were set upon by a dangerous, unseen force that attacked with devastating, invisible energies. Room to room and floor to floor we chased the being, leading us into our first skirmish with monstrous rats, which proved difficult to dispatch. They dealt Sehl a terrible wound that left him unconscious and barely clinging to life.

As we dispatched the rats and ran out upon the battlements, the unseen force attacked again, killing Rufus with an invisible gale of malicious power before it ascended into an upstairs window. Lady Almareth sent forth her familiar to see what lie in wait above. Several fish creatures waited for our arrival, poised for attack. We met them head on, including other elderly kua'toa with cruel and dangerous magic in the tower's kitchen, and soon all were dealt with and the invisible, harassing creature was either dead or had fled.

We took time to catch our breath and tend to Sehl. Madam Oliphant administered a potion which woke him from his troubled, feverish sleep, but it was apparent the sickness was still plaguing him. We also built a pyre to tend to Rufus, for it was our wish to both honor him and prevent any malicious force from raising him to oppose us. In our search we found other medicinal potions, some alcohol and tobacco, as well as a cabinet which held strange preserving magics within. Jewels and coin were quickly snatched up.

Taking a moment to venture out and investigate the black tower, we found it covered in a thick, oily substance that Sehl found painful to touch. No obvious entrance presented itself, though windows and balconies above were clear of the black ooze.

In a small, putrid storeroom adjacent to the previous tower's kitchen, we found a shackled creature suffering from delirium. She resembled a gnome, in a way, but her hair seemed to be leaf-like in appearance. It was clear she was some sort of forest creature. She briefly spoke, though it strained her to do so, so we allowed her to rest. She told us her name was Tree-Gazer and her people were known as Llar-na. I, nor the others, had ever heard of this people. I hope to learn more of them and return this knowledge to my family.

Leaving her to recover, we searched further, disposing of a lone kua'toa hiding within a lavish bedchamber. An orc, holding a crossbow stood within another room where magic behaved strangely. A small pixie manifested from Lady Almareth as she tried to attack the creature. The orc did not seem to react in a natural way to our presence, and Sehl found that a tiny, shadow-figure was casting illusions and magical disruption within the room. With his lead, we defeated the trickster and normalcy was restored.

Ascending the tower, we found ourselves met with a large gelatinous creature and three large snakes. While the creatures were vanquished, the serpents took their toll upon Lady Almareth's soldiers.

We came upon an astrolabe, whose star-gazing equipment sat out upon a balcony covered with a false roof which appeared to be decorated with a mural of stars. However, these stars turned out to be hidden malignant wisps that took Rosalie's life and drained myself and Madam Oliphant of much life energy. Sehl convinced us to place her body in the preserving cabinet we discovered earlier. A vain gesture, I am sure, but his grief was great and, frankly, unexpected given what I have been taught of elves.

Soon after, we met the next of our allies, and a wonder of science and magic. Words escape me in my attempt to describe our newest companion, Valor, who appears to be a sentient golem of sorts, bound only in faith to Erathis, but apparently in none other's control.

Sharing our mutual goals, we set off to further search the tower, wandering into a room covered in fetid droppings of its inhabitants, a collection of harpies. The fight was a tough one in which we lost Vale and Yemen, leaving Düblphart the only remaining soldier of Lady Almareth's retinue. Much to my humiliation at the time, I did briefly succumb to a harpy's hypnotic call, but was able to free my mind after a moment.

It was apparent that we had reached the top of the tower, and still had no cure or means in which to enter the ominous black tower. Reaching the end of a hallway, we came to an open window facing the central black spire. Across a gap was another window. After discussing options of crossing the gap, I held a rope and lept across, breaking the glass and landing within a sort of laboratory. Within the room were several skeletal models including those of a human, troll, and orc. As the others crossed the rope, a skeleton animated and, surprisingly, its only task was to clean the glass which I had spread about the floor. Also within the laboratory was a caged monkey, which I freed. He travels with me now and I have given him the name Ho'aloha [good friend].

Venturing further into the black tower, we came to an opulent bedroom decorated with erotic imagery. A pale, nude human woman laid upon a bed, introducing herself as Zorasis's mistress Merkwind. She calmly led us to Zoraisis, who appeared to be asleep. He rose and after looking over our group, vanished as Merkwind attacked, exposing herself to be a vampire. As we fought her, a scream, then a roar came from a nearby room, taking a more bestial nature until a figure, part man but mostly bear, entered the fray. Madam Oliphant finished off the vampire with her stolen spear, its holy energy dealing a killing blow from which no undead has been seen to rise. The bear-man, however, was a grueling ordeal, but also fell to our assault. Unfortunately. my prayers and rebukes had no effect on the pair.

Continuing in search for Zoraisis, we discovered an unconscious elven woman laid upon a bed with a dagger through her heart. It was found that approaching her caused one to slow in time. Some magic kept her in a suspended state of time.

Bats began to swarm the room, one of which took the form of Zoraisis. Calling forth the spectral forms of divine warriors, Valor swept aside the bats and his attacks along with Madam Oliphant's spear caused Zoraisis to take a gaseous form and attempt to flee. Chasing him from room to room, we finally finished him in the laboratory, confirming Valor's suspicion that Zoraisis, too, was a vampire, for the battered gaseous image of our nemesis futilely crawled upon the floor in an attempt to escape, before going limp and later turning to ash.

With our enemy defeated and those killed in Carse avenged, we turned our search to Locklear's cure. Searching Zoraisis's library, we discovered that the lady frozen in time was his wife, who had fallen so ill that desperation forced him to make a pact with Orcus and was turned to vampirism by one named Olman One-Eye. The corruption of this pact distracted him from his task of healing his wife as he turned to dark service. It was Zoraisis that caused the downfall of Denmok many years ago, conjuring a portal through which demons entered our realm and cast the kingdom into ruination. An avalanche covered the region, and only Castle Denmok was spared, through Zoraises's magic.

The frozen woman gasped and gurgled after Zoraisis fell, his magic no longer keeping her alive. Valor cast healing magic upon her as I removed the dagger but it was clear that she, like Locklear, suffered from a sickness brought on by poison. It seems that Zoraisis may have one more victim, even in death. I sat with her and offered my prayers, although she was unconscious. I fear it is unlikely that she will survive, but I will do all I can to help her.

Whatever malady befell Tree-Gazer also lifted upon our victory, as she told us she now remembers searching for her companion, Golden Eagle, and also spoke of a magic user among her people called Silver Fire, who may hold the secrets to Locklear's cure.

The top of this tower has become a safe haven of sorts, for no entrance or exit can be found. We are in desperate need of rest and must tend to our injuries. I also have much meditating to do, for I am troubled by my quickness to kill the kua'toa while I have recently spared lethal action toward those I battled in Carse. Do I look upon them as others might look upon me - a monster? Or perhaps it is an unconscious realization that these desperate times call for a stronger hand. Regardless, I have not given my enemies the opportunity to repent, and for this I am ashamed.