Planting 3, 593 CY, Fairhaven

We succeeded in our quest, after a fashion, and have returned home with the Heart of Truth, and a bigger mission.

We departed from that great hall and found all manner of wondrous things. We were attacked by several stone statues, found a secret cavern (in which we were attacked by oozes) and even walked through an archway into a snow and ice-covered landscape, and eventually rested in a kitchen that probably hadn’t been used for centuries (or at least a very long time).

The next day, I found a neat iron box with a trap on it. Deactivating it revealed coins, onyx gems, healing potions and an amulet with six red arrows on it (I’m told that it belonged to someone who worshiped Hextor, an evil god). We also found an armory with a bunch of magic stuff in it; my human companions are equipped with new weapons now, and Strum is sporting magical chainmail too.

I think we had almost given up on ever finding that kobold. My companions and I headed back to that great hall, raised the trapped floor again, and were just about to leave, when we decided it wouldn’t hurt to check out a door we hadn’t gone through before.

It is fortunate that we did! The room contained a raised platform and an altar, which was flanked by four skeleton guards, a robed figure, and the kobold. We didn’t need to have Strum or Ben to detect for evil– it was palpable even to Grundl and me.

Before we could attack these obvious adversaries, the robed figure spoke, saying that he had been waiting for us so that he could return the Heart of Truth. For reasons entirely unclear to me, we let him continue talking, though first we asked him who he was. He called himself “Arkon” and lowered the hood of his robe– revealing the dry leathery husk and pinpoint glowing eyes of a lich! While I’m sure we were no match for such a powerful undead creature, I’d have been more than willing to fight him, but I decided to take my lead from the paladin and wait.

Arkon had information for us about an artifact called the Hammer of Trinity. The Hammer was made from three other artifacts, the Heart of Truth, the Head of Justice and the Haft of Faith. A cult had stolen it from Fairhaven (apparently using the kobolds as both minions and a handy distraction) to release an arch demon. When we pointed out that as long as the Heart was safe with us, the Hammer could not be constructed, Arkon told us that the Hammer could also be used to destroy the demon; whereas hiding the Heart could lead to the cult eventually finding it again and succeeding in their evil quest. The lich was willing to admit that it was in his best interest to have the demon remain unreleased.

When asked how we’d find and use the other parts, he told us to use the Heart to read the journal we’d found– how handy! With that, Arkon gave the Heart to us, and then he and his underlings disappeared. Having what we’d quested for, we headed home.