My hovercraft is full of eels.
Nymm 15, 998 YK
Towering Wood in the Eldeen Reaches
I handed off the torch to Defender and decided to cast fire from my hand instead, as we saw movement in the webs. Spiders of many different sizes poured out of the webs as we cleared them, some were nearly as big as Alayi’s wolf companion! I was bitten at least seven times and felt my strength sapping by the time we cleared the hallway and subsequent chamber of the creatures— nearly two dozen of the very large bugs littered the area by then.
Now that the way was clear of spiders, we had a chance to examine our surroundings. The big chamber had murals and engravings of hobgoblin warriors on the walls, a well, and an altar. The altar had a “dragon motif” and was of interest to Tomas, who found a hidden compartment in the base. Inside, he found a box containing a mirror, a magically-lit torch, coins, a valuable blue spinnel, and a statue of the dragon Eberron cast in gold. It is all very nice, but not, I think, what the “evil” that sent the golem here was looking for.
As much as we wanted to check the well, there was no easy means of climbing down and we all needed a good long rest. We cast what healing we could on each other and let Defender get to hammering the dents out of his body, planning to check the well in the morning, or at least whatever was passing for morning since we couldn’t see the sun.
After a long respite, we felt recovered enough to continue. Defender offered to climb down into the well— though the original access to it either involved a now-rotting ladder or pulley system (now sans rope), we had to resort to carefully making our way down the rocks. It was a good 40’ down, with about 3’ of water at the bottom. He carried a torch down, and Tomas ran back to the corridor with the lakefront view to see if the glow of Defender’s torch was visible, but couldn’t see it. Defender did declare the well bottom to be fairly safe though, so the three of us climbed down.
We found ourselves in a hallway filled with niches containing bones and ossuaries. The bones we could see appeared to be hobgoblin. More halls of reliquaries branched off of this main corridor. We continued on and eventually came to pair of stone doors with a circular indentation where a lock would be. Tomas inserted the adamantine disk we’d found on the golem and the doors swung open. Inside, we found a 30’ by 30’ chamber with skeletal hobgoblin guards lining the walls, leading up to an altar. We walked between the guards, half expecting them to animate, and examined the altar. While there were no hidden compartments on this one, there was a clay tablet sitting on top of it— perhaps the item sought by the evil that sent the golem? While my friends tried to determine if it was safe to pick up, I lifted it from the altar— if it was the item sought, it was better to be in our hands than left alone guarded by dead hobgoblins. Flame be praised it wasn’t trapped in any visible manner. The tablet is in some language that none of us can read, so we carefully wrapped it and placed it in Defender’s pack for now.
We wandered some more then, mostly because none of us were looking forward to the long climb back up the well. We were fortunate that we came upon a stairwell and so climbed that. It lead to a mostly-dead end, but Alayi found there was a slight breeze and dim light above us, and climbing up on Defender’s shoulders and then carefully picking her way up the rest of the way, she found herself back on the forest floor. She returned with her rope so the rest of us would have an easier time of it. I admit it is good to be above ground again, though we will have to check that last tunnel with the lake in it just to be sure we have everything that needs retrieved.
We killed a lot of spiders and as I repaired myself my companions searched the room. They found some interesting things, and a pit that goes down to another area. I went down first and soon everyone followed. We walked for a few feet then came to a door. The human used the disk thing to open it and we found a tablet on an alter. We took it with us as we left and locked the door behind us. After some searching a stairway up was found. We went up, then climbed out a hole in the ceiling. It’s a nice day, so we are going to go back down and search the other end of these ruins.
Defender climbed down the rope very slowly. Slowly enough that Tomas decided to kill two birds with one stone and perched himself on Defender’s shoulders. Defender yelled at Tomas about how he was NOT a pack mule, but Tomas hung on tight! Alunys was laughing at them both, but then Defender decided to hit bottom quite literally, letting go of the rope with about ten feet left to fall. Although Tomas rolled away and wasn’t hurt, Alunys got an awful look on her face and started climbing down, yelling about Defender’s backpack... uh, oh.
Sure enough, the tablet was smashed to fragments and dust. Defender rolled the whole mess up in my bedroll, insisting that we could magic it back together at a later date, and Tomas made a rubbing of what fragments we could piece together. He stuffed the paper into his own bag, then picked up something that had fallen out of the tablet when it smashed. Another six-inch disk! This one had a sapphire in the center, and a different map. It looked like the shadow marches, to me. We talked about how to find out more - perhaps the injured gnome? - but first we had to check out the passage that we’d walked away from before.
Instead of stopping at the water’s edge this time, we walked right in. Defender carried a torch over his head, while Tomas dragged his magical torch through the water, hoping to see anything coming his way. The water reached three feet deep, and then we walked out of the passage and into a long vaulted chamber with openings to each side. Defender walked to the closest opening and peered in. More carved walls showing hobgoblin warriors, and green stones - slime-covered benches - stuck up out of the water.
Across the hall, we found another room that looked the same. I looked at the aberrations the hobgoblins were fighting, recognizing several from my own experiences... but then, Defender walked inside the room and was attacked! Tentacles in the water! He was grappling with several; all we could see were tentacles and suction cups and a big beaked mouth. I shot right at it - but the arrow bounced off! Thank heavens Defender’s arm sword cut right through and killed it easily. Especially as Tomas and Alunys were shouting that more were coming from down the hall and across the way!
I got hit by a tentacle while putting my bow away - ow! And pulled my scimitar. Defender was shouting, as he was now at the rear of the battle instead of the front, leaving Tomas and Alunys to fight as best they could. That meant Tomas hitting me with an arrow and a fast apology! Another tentacle hit me, but I was ready with my scimitar and slashed at it in return. Still nothing; the blade bounced away. I backed off, realizing that I could not do anything but get out of Defender’s way. Sure enough, he killed it with a single blow again. Must be the magic in his sword?
I backed down the length of the room, healing myself, alongside Tomas. Alunys was ducking and weaving around the tentacles, while Defender dispatched the creatures as fast as he could. When all were dead, we walked to the end of the hall and discovered a set of doors with large brass rings to pull them open by. Water and age made them stiff, but finally we were looking through the doors at an even larger chamber. Defender stepped inside and promptly fell down a set of underwater stairs...
We waited for the glow of his torch to return; he asked us to wait a bit while he searched the lower halls, then made his way down the steps again. We saw him turn a corner, and his light fade away. Tomas hadn’t even gotten bored yet when we saw the light coming back at a faster pace! He came up the steps, yelling, and broke the surface while waving a skeletal arm and shouting, “They’re coming!!!” Sure enough, several skeletal hobgoblins were following him up the stairs.
As Defender stopped and turned, swinging his fists at the skeletons, Alunys pulled out her holy symbol and held it up. When the skeletons ignored her, I headed for the doors, shouting to the others that we should get back so I could close them up again. Tomas was already there, but Defender kept fighting to “hold them off” and Alunys was trying to get him to come with us. I got one door closed, and held the other ready, and then Alunys decided to raise her holy symbol and turn the skeletons a second time.
They crumbled to dust, collapsing in front of her! Defender will be a willing convert yet, I think! But first, he waited a while in case more skeletons were coming, and then walked back down for one last check of the area. He found more rooms and halls, rotted wooden doors, and nothing more of interest. Finally, he too was ready to head back to Mossmantle.
When we reached the surface, Alunys had a surprise for us - she has a unicorn companion! The unicorn healed several of us, but it disappears sometimes as well. At least the rest of out trip back was uneventful. And the gnome was still in Mossmantle! Poor guy needs some serious healing for his legs, still, but he was curious about what we’d seen and found. Eventually we showed him the “new” key, and decided among ourselves to check out the Shadow Marches to see where the map led to. Alunys is still following her vision prophecy, I want to make sure this isn’t a threat to the Towering Wood, Defender is following Alunys, and Tomas just wants to see a city.
And we have to go to a city to catch a lightning rail as the fastest route to the Marches. (Hope Fang is willing to put up with this adventure). But we have to pay attention; the gnome thinks demonic possession is a big part of why things are coming up evil that normally wouldn’t be. And the entity is obviously interested in the same thing we’re trying to figure out!
Nymm 19, 998 YK
Mossmantle in the Eldeen Reaches
After a short break we decided to climb down the rope and check that last tunnel. I am unsure of what exactly transpired, being slightly preoccupied with the realization that the Flame had provided me with a companion (more on that later), but Tomas and Defender were having some sort of argument as they both went down into the ruins, resulting in both landing badly at the bottom of their descent. I was yelling down to them that the Flame would not want me to waste divine healing on tomfoolery, when I realized that Defender had landed on his back, his backpack under him. Alayi and I were down the rope in a flash, and in time to see Defender pull the broken remains of the clay tablet, carefully rapped in Alayi’s bedroll, from the crushed pack. I asked Tomas to just do a rubbing of the larger pieces and collect up the rest, but not all was lost; the tablet had contained a disc or key like the one that we’d found on the golem, though this one had a sapphire in it. Alayi said the map depicted on it looks like swampland in the Shadow Marches. This felt like it must be what we were looking for, but to be safe, and since we were already damp from our previous excursion, we opted to do a cursory search of the last unexplored area of the ruins.
We wandered through some halls with waist deep water, examining murals depicting hobgoblin warriors battling against denizens of Xariat (prior to the time the gates leading there were sealed). Some areas contained green stone benches and… something with tentacles! Defender was grabbed by something, but cut it in half before we got a good look at it. Not to worry though, as it had three companions! Gricks, with their sharp beaks and grasping tentacles were coming towards Tomas and I as Alayi’s weapon bounced off another. I was hit so hard by one I had to ask Tomas to please look for me if I slipped under the water. Defender killed two more, and I was able to hit one, but the warforged really did most of the damage to our assailants— he would make a fine addition to the holy warriors of the Silver Flame. I was pretty weak afterwards, but I would not summon my companion for our first meeting while in the dank hobgoblin ruins.
Fortunately no more of the gricks were to be found, and we came to a large pair of wooden doors, swelled shut from age and water. Once we broke through that, Defender took a step in and disappeared from view! He was back a few moments later, telling us he’d slid down a flight of steps. He suggested that he go down and explore alone, since he was the only one of us that didn’t require air, so armed with a magic torch he again disappeared down the steps.
He soon came back up, flailing a skeletal arm over his head and yelling that they were coming right behind him—and sure enough, ten and a half hobgoblin skeletons were following him up the steps and attempting to attack him. The three of us that had waited above the water backed quickly to the doors, planning to close them if the skeletons proved too much, but I had to try to turn them at least. Thank the Flame, the entire lot were turned to harmless dust.
Defender took another walk around the watery level, but found no more undead to put to rest, so we decided to leave.
When we got to the surface, I felt it was safe to call my new companion to me, and did so. I am doubly blessed by the Silver Flame, as not only is my companion a sturdy mount, but also a healer. A unicorn appeared as if just stepping out form the trees beyond us, introduced himself, and provided healing for those of us that needed it. This is apparently another creature that Tomas knew nothing of, but at least allowed Ravanquar to heal him. The unicorn stayed with me for about half the day each leg of the trip, departing to a higher plane in between times.
Four days of blissfully uneventful travel ensued, and we found ourselves safely back in Mossmantle, for we had agreed that we needed to speak to that gnome again. Professor Bramble, the poor thing, is still there, he needs some serious healing, more than I can provide certainly, if he ever hopes to walk again. After a few questions to be sure that he was truly not responsible for the golem’s behavior, we shared the disks we found with him— he had known about the first one, which had also been found in a tablet (which, translated, told some story about the demon wars) in the Morholds. It had been stolen from Morgrave University, and he had actually tracked the thief from Aundair to the ill-fated airship, not realizing the thief was under demonic influence.
We need to talk to someone from the Church, I think, as my knowledge of demonic possession or binding is far from complete, and the gnome needs proper healing that we’d only find in a bigger city. While I would be pleased to have my new friends in Thrane to celebrate First Dawn in a few days’ time, time may be of the essence. We’ll have to take the lightning rail to the nearest big city and perhaps, from there, go to the Demon Wastes.
Companion sheet: Ravanquar [Unicorn mount of Alunys]
We went back into the well after a short break and traveled as far down the other path as we could together. Some squid things attacked us on our way, but we took care of them. We came to another large door and after opening it found the water was hiding a set of stairs. The others can’t breathe under water, and I don’t need to breathe so I went to explore on my own. I had to return quickly due to skeletons attacking me. I got in one or two hits before they all crumbled into dust. Maybe this Silver Flame my one companion keeps talking about likes me. I explored some more and found nothing so we headed back to town. Thankfully the only interesting thing was this unicorn who was there one moment and gone the next. In town we met with the gnome and they talked for a bit. Now we’re heading to a larger town and possibly a great adventure.
Nymm 21, 998 YK
Between Mossmantle and Varna
Before we left Mossmantle, Defender insisted on buying horses for Tomas and Alayi (I have Ravanquar). Defender (and of course, Fang) will be able to keep up on foot. I received a letter from the gnomish professor to post at a Sivis message station. We hope to reach Varna in six days; I regret that I will miss the First Dawn celebration in Thrane, but am sure that the Flame still leads me on an important quest.
We traveled for a day, camped, traveled again, and were setting up camp near the forest the second evening when we were attacked. A large bony-plated wolf, acid dripping from its lips, charged us. Thankfully Defender and Ravanquar were able to dispatch that, as our arrows bounced harmlessly off its hide. We were busy enough fighting four other wolves that suddenly appeared, and I saw that Tomas had fallen as they surrounded him. I dropped my own guard to attempt to reach him, and was pulled down myself. Alayi and Fang had trouble of their own as three more wolves joined the fray. It took much effort to defeat them; it did not help matters that the grass we stood on suddenly grew to entangle us. We felt sure that our true assailant was hiding from view, but we could not detect evil (or anything, for that matter) in the woods; Ravanquar made a quick search when he was clear of the grass, but found nothing. For safety’s sake, we let him take the two adamantine map plates with him as he left us for the evening, hoping whatever attacked would not follow to his plane.
We bought some horses ant traveled for two days before we were attacked by wolves. When the dead wolves started to disappear and the grass around us began to grab us we figured there was another enemy out there hiding. I’ll have to keep alert in order to catch this one. My friends are sleeping now, We move on in the morning, and should reach Varna in about four days.