Week 29-37
It´s been a long time since I have written in my diary. So many things have happened. Where to start..
The biggest change is that Sleipnir and I are separated. Indeed. I never thought that day would come, but .. here it is. He has always been a jealous one, but I have also thought that he would trust my word instead of others. He did not. He was convinced that Caddrel and I had an affair, and while I told him all the meetings with Caddrel were of Ranger-nature and things - he still didn´t belive me. Instead, he chose to listen to exiles who confirmed his greatest fear. And in the process, accused me of terrible things. Then he changed to a cloak, was often seen in town all drunk , and seemed to be happy in drowning his sorrow and staring at the bottom of a glass. But, a love like ours do not die easy. Time will tell....
It´s been awhile since this scetch was taken. I think we were on a rescue-mission. Snaggy. Once we entered this snell we were swamped by beasties. I have never seen Snaggy so loaded with beasties as this night. And not only the regular orgas, but there were packs of large red orga and rages as well. Merlisk and I were able to get a good position on the west side, and from there, we pummeled and healed. With a little bit of planning, Merlisk got Kojiro up - and then Kojiro was able to drag Jjh down to Merlisk and he got her up, and from then on - all it took was time. It was a glorious battle!
This is the proof we all have been waiting for. That Geraldus is indeed a wizard. Darin Brure offered a special treat for wizards in town one day. One keg of ale free of charge to .. wizards. Naturally, we dragged Geraldus off to the brewery, and he was there offered a keg, for 0 C! So there!
Have you ever encountered this exile? Rehgassat.....Rihusssuzyt... Rephwhatever.. sigh.. ah well. He must be the most silliest exile ever jumped in a puddle. He claims to be a poet and a singer of great talent. I suggest you use kudzu, to block both his song and poetry out. Alas, he seems to be convinced I love him dearly, and no matter what I say or do - he only takes it as a gesture of love. Even when I told him that the darshaks on Ash would enjoy his talents very much and he rushed off to earn some coins in the Horde, that didn´t make him think otherwise. Last time I met him, he was very proud, as he could tell me that he now had a position in the courthouse - one of great importance and responsibility. I wonder if the Home of the Disadvantaged have a spare room...
Week 38
I went trough a mirror, a working one - and ended up in a strange place. I heard that many were fallen in the fourth floor of Tenebrion´s keep, so I entered. Only to be swamped by loads of undine. Bones and Jade and others came to the rescue, and after some initial failings - Jade was able to get me up and we stood alongside eachother with our backs to the wall, fighting blue -robed ones. When that floor seemed safe other healers that were waiting came in, and we could also meet up with a large rescue force. This sketch is taken just before we charge into the fourth floor. We had heard there were many banshees there. It were.. around 7 or so. But with this group we managed to take them all down, and raise the fallens. And then the world collapsed alas. Days later I found myself back in the temple. But I still remember the struggle and battles and the carnage...Clanbored has a visionstone from a talk with Tenebrion. He tried to make a deal with the exiles. They would give him a Purgatory pendant, and he would send his blacksmith to us. Still trying to decide if Tenebrion is yet another foe who love to talk with exiles when they are fallen, or someone that can be an ally. We don´t have many of the latter...
Week 39
The carnage level has been low for some time now. Also because I have been devoted to another task, to finally get my first Greatsword ever. Although I am what some would call a super-fighter, I am not as rich as many others. Low skea, and a high maintenance cost makes sure of that. And when I have had over 10K earlier, there was always a ball, a beauty pageant, a Purg pendant, some sunstones, some berries and dye etc that came in the way. But now I own one! Hooray! I have tested it on Xar´Noths and Greymyrs, and it works wonders. Master Atkus tells me teaching me has taught him much. I can hit a Xar´Noth after it swings if I time it really good without a greatsword. With one, I can almost hit at will.
Typically enough, when I had bought the greatsword, my sunstone wore again. It´s now in the second stage of wearness so to speak, and I´m in a bit of panic. I have not seen Steunora around, and Aki popped out of the library but I forgot to ask him to tune it. I have to wake up Zorton I think. Speaking of which, there is rumours floating about that the mystics seems to become more useful - as their boosts have grown in power. Indeed. I even heard that a Tuz´Noth was killed quite easily with the help of <censored> the mystic. This is of course information that needs to be withheld from the Council, as they would need to change their self-image totally.
On my search for coppers I have also spent some time on the "island previosly known as Fire Island". And I and many others have been searching for a way inside the fence. Sleipnir the Knight was able to see a lot of exit sparklies on the other side, but no sign of a path that leads in. These strange beings walks along the fence, sometimes stopping and mumbling, nodding solemnly and then continues their walk.
Week 40
In a very old book I found inside the library I read about someone that was called "Kala Shana". It wasn´t clear if this was a group, a race a caste or a single person . The "Kala Shana" fought their arch-enemy for many eons, a young wizard. Finally they made an item to try and defeat him, but he became aware of their intentions before they were ready, so they hid it. Rumours have it that this item is somewhere on our islands. Yor said he knew about such an item, but he also said he wouldn´t tell me since I was "dew´ed" Really! Everyone have told him it´s just a passing annoyance. Some shivering, some coughing of blood - and then it stops after a few days. We are speaking of around 50 exiles here, or more - that Qual has given the "dew treatment". Surely no one can think that all these are controlled by Qual? Such nonsense. Whatever use would Qual have for all those anyway. It´s not like he seems to have shortage on ´Noths for his purposes. I think his real intention is to split the exiles, and sadly - he seems to succeed. Where everyone looks over the shoulder - thinking, is this an exile I can trust or is this a dew´ed one. It´s a sad state of affair.
The mirror to Tenebrions castle opened again, and many exiles went. The first group met a messenger from Tenebrion, wanting to close the deal on the Purgatory Pendant, in exchange for a blacksmith. The exiles were reluctant, thankfully I might add. Because, when more exiles went to his castle, we learned that Tenebrion might not be what appears to be. We charged into his keep, working our way slowly - fighting at every floor , and also falling...I must confess, I lost count of where I was, at which floor I was in the battle that ensued. At every floor there was a scroll. Lundar made each of the professions read it, and it turned out that every profession got a different message. He deciphered it in the order of mystic, healer, fighter. Here is the deciphering made by Lundar.
1th floor
"...crystal shines... ...complete star... ...the path..."
2nd floor
"...my efforts... ...miserable failures... ...to return life..."
3rd Floor
"...secret to prevent... ...diseased minds... ..eludes me..."
4th floor
"...to continue... ..need more fresh... ...healthy bodies.."
5th floor
"...intelligent behavior... ...mere instinct... ...only semblance..."
6th floor
"...transfer mind... ...dispose of body..."
Alas, we didn´t get a healer message on the sixth floor. However, when fighting something I thought was a regular greater wraith or something of that kind, when it fell, I sensed that this was the " Keeper of the key". Indigo picked the key up, but still do not know where it might fit.
At the fiftth floor there were a red cloud floating around. I accidentally tripped inside it, and were surrounded by beasties on the sixth floor. More exiles charged in, but the beasties were so many that they soon fell. All in all i think there were 20 fallens at this floor. It looked grim indeed. But from this position the remaining survivors were able to fight our way out again, and raise the fallens. As soon as we had however, 3 banshees came - and the situation turned again. I still do not know my way around this place, it´s still all new to me. To fight there is cramped, and even more so with the undine that just stare at you and do not move much. When we all had fallen, we were sent to this freezer room, where a figure that called himself Morty had some horrid plans for us. Thankfully, we were saved by a persistent group of exiles, and Ippon chained us all out of there.
Tenebrion´s keep update. I got a letter from Lundar, and apparently Tenebrion came back. This is what Lundar writes. I am sure a full report will be made available soon in his journal.
Also, Tenebrion was at it again, later that day, and he met a few of us
outside his tower, to try and secure a deal. For some reason, Tenebrion had
white hair, when we met him. This time, Tenebrion trusted us enough to send
his blacksmith, a dward named DunDura'a. DunDura'a claimed he could make
almost any item, including new weapons and armor.
Also, you know that locked room on the west side of the courtyard? Well, I
remembered Indigo had found the Mist Key earlier, and suggested she try it
on the door. As Indigo approached the door, the Mist Key glowed
brilliantly, and the door opened. The door leads to some extensive caverns
filled with undine.
One interesting encounter we had was with a stone wall. While travelling
the lower levels of the cave, we found a crystal shard surrounded by a wall.
I found, much to my surprise, that it could be attacked, and soon,
everyone was pummeling at the wall. Several rocks fell down, felling myself
and Indigo. Finally, the wall gave way, and the sylvan Gyre picked up the
shard. There were some other interesting sights, like a small cavern full
of crystals(untakable), and a small graveyard.
