Planting 1, 593 CY

It took many, many boring hours before my companions started to finally regain consciousness. Dora was first, but was barely strong enough to cast some healing on herself. Since she was propped up against a wall, she offered to watch for a while so I could rest. A few hours later, Alexander was awake and provided them all with some more healing, and soon Triaa was awake as well. All were still weak from the spider attack, so we stayed put for a few more hours. We pretty much sat in the same spot for an entire day, eating dry rations and staring into the dark.

Finally, everyone felt strong enough to stand and carry our meager equipment. I was even able to restore some strength to Triaa; Yondalla must think there is hope for him! Other than the rope and shaft we’d climbed and fallen down, there was a halfling-sized hole in one wall, with a pick and shovel beside it. Alexander decided to dig the spot bigger even though it was already big enough to walk through without needing to crawl. Dora stepped through the opening to check it out— Triaa and I followed her in. Alexander soon gave up on digging and joined us.

We found ourselves in a huge chamber which contained a platform and pedestal. The pedestal had three indentations on it: a star, a diamond, and a circle. It also had an adult human male corpse on top of it— the corpse had a black-fletched arrow protruding from it.

Checking against our list of missing humans though to be on the island, we were able to determine by process of elimination that this was the body of Mirval Kojar, whose journal had led us to this very place. A quick check of his pockets revealed 12 silver pieces and 8 coppers (I can’t imagine there is anyplace around here to spend it), a dagger, flint and steel, and the adamantine diamond that apparently fits in the otherwise-defunct pedestal.

We looked around the room, and discovered engravings telling a story on the walls. We weren’t able to tell what direction the pictures were meant to be read. They were all variations on a theme: the first showed the six-armed, bug-eyed people with floating cities, under which were humanoid constructs, under which were humans. The next scenes showed humans tearing down the cities, constructs and humans fighting, and a bug-eyed creature in the center of the battle, holding a glowing orb that was blowing away the figures around it.

Having no idea what to do with this information, we departed through the shaft to the floor above. There had been one passage we hadn’t tried yet, but of course it turned out to be a collapsed tunnel. We recalled another spider hole near the ruins, so we clambered out onto the surface and then down into a well-traveled shaft just past the tree line.

We traveled downward, eventually coming to a small cavern. The only exit other than the one we’d entered through had totem poles on either side of it made of wood, skulls and blue and red feathers. A little way beyond that we found a locked grate blocking the tunnel— Dora easily opened that and we continued on.

We soon heard some hissing and arguing ahead— in the draconian language. Suddenly, a troglodyte rounded the corner and spotted us! Alexander tried to talk to it, but we could tell it wasn’t working by the noxious smell it began producing. Not wanting it to call for reinforcements, I hit it with a rock— and it went unconscious (luckily I hit it before Triaa had a shot, or we’d have had no troglodyte to take with us). Dora snuck further into the troglodyte lair, and determined there would be more trouble ahead, so we took the lizard creature with us back to the surface.

We provided enough healing for it to regain consciousness, and Alexander bound it long enough to warn it not to call out or try to run. Alexander acted as a translator for us as we asked questions about the island, the ruins and the inhabitants, and also suggested making a truce between our small group and the troglodytes. The lizard told us the “smooth ones in the stone pillar were killed by the smooth ones from the water.” We think that means the family in the lighthouse was killed by the undead pirates. It is going to take us to its leader. Though I sense evil in it, I did not detect any deceitfulness at least. I will attempt to befriend it with food (it apparently doesn’t get as much to eat as many of its fellow troglodytes); Alexander is of the opinion that it would be better to try and redeem these creatures than slaughter them.