Lord Channis Lauros Journal

After the initiation

When the ceremony came to an end, we all ran to look after Ibizar with concern but it seemed the dwarf was all right. He somehow managed to resist the powerful binding compulsion. Then we all gave our congratulations to the Knight of Abraxxas and had a little chat with the priest Father Angus.

He told us he could consecrate again the altar to Abraxxas but needed the statue to be rebuilt. I asked for resources to the task but this seemed to annoy the priest and refused to give us any monetary help. After some wonderings about what new steps the followers of Abraxxas would take, we all decided to leave the cave and use the arts in order to teleport to Rjurik, to the headquarters of the Church of Good and the Scarlet Brotherhood.

With Malek’s help, we appeared outside Rjurik and started to walk toward the city gates. The guards recognized us and let us pass promptly. An air loaded with sulfur notes could be felt while we were walking down the streets of the city of paladins, although there were too many devils at that time.

While we were advancing through the city streets, Bahmut’s sword, Goldwind, started to shake emitting a bright light, a typical sound when the powerful sword felt demonic presence. Bahmut tried to calm down his sword to avoid calling unnecessary attention to us, but it seems it was too late. A powerful demon appeared from nowhere and challenged Bahmut with contempt. Bahmut firmly told the demon he should take care when addressing a Lord of Rjurik. The demon seemed to be intimidated by these words, mumbled a threat and disappeared from scene leaving behind a fine sulfuric dust as a trail. After this incident Bahmut, Addon and Ibizar decided the city was no more a friendly place for paladins, so they decided to leave the town immediately. The rest of us continued our way alone with Alesco, Father Angus and the knight.

After the incident mentioned above, nothing else happened and we managed to reach the central plaza. There we coordinated with the followers of Abraxxas for future contact and we started our departure from the once bastion of goodness. We started to fly over the city when two vrocks approached immediately arguing it was prohibited to fly inside the city. We identified ourselves as lords of Rjurik and continued our way on foot. It was really sad to see the city ruled by demons, but this problem would not be solved by using brute force.

Outside the city, we found our friends arguing about the new order of things inside Rjurik.
Suddenly, Alesco appeared without notice and asked to go with us to our lands. We agreed and started the two day journey to our keep.

During the two day journey to our lands, we had time to share ideas with Brother Alesco, he confessed to us his feelings about the initiation of the knight. He thought it had not been a good idea. When we asked why, he told us Abraxxas was not exactly a God from the Second Pantheon. Abraxxas was a powerful entity beyond mortals and Gods.

Alesco also told us the Scarlet Brotherhood didn’t worship a single deity, instead they allowed their members to show allegiance for any god of the second pantheon, but it seemed Abraxxas was not on his list. When we asked which god he had allegiance with, he preferred to maintain such information in private. We respected his decision but this episode left us with some questions about brother Alesco and his motives.

Priorities

We arrived with no serious incidents at our keep and found Arath, the priest of the sun, with good news to give us. His immunity to compulsions was confirmed and we could proceed to remove from his chest the painful dark seed. I immediately contacted Eladan mentally so he could speak to one of the druids. After a couple of hours a giant eagle descended outside our chapel of Moradin. Once over firm ground, Jaana took human form and said hello.

We gave the good news to the druid and he told us about the risks of killing the dark seed. The priest would receive physical damage equal of the one inflicted to the seed. We all helped the priest with items and spells so he could resist more punishment and Jaana started to invoke a powerful incantation, a Horrid Wilting conjure. After the chant, all moisture seemed to evaporate from Arath and the priest screamed in agony. He was alive. Jaana then confirmed the seed was destroyed using a spell for plant detection. Arath smiled and cured himself. I must notice half the damage inflicted to Arath was received for Addon, the peregrine priest. He casted some type of share pain spell over Arath. I was amazed of the sacrifice done by Addon for someone he had just met.

We then gathered at the chapel of Moradin in order to discuss our pending quests to order them by priority. I have written a list to the tasks we had to accomplish:

- Go to the Great Harvest God to look for a new administrator.
- Fix the precarious peasant situation in our lands.
- Gather some wizards from Mathgathmna to help us clean our keep from potentially dangerous spells.
- Implement some sort of security system in our lands and our keep.
- Talk to the student in Mathgathmna that is natural to Antaria.
- Check what’s happening with the gathering of the Horde.
- Find the legitimate heir from King Cyril.
- Find out about the map found by Canrith in the ancient temple.

We decided to start with King Cyril quest and along our way try to complete the minor tasks concerning our lands, our keep and our people. But first I convinced Bahmut and Malek to talk to Alesco about some endeavor of mutual benefit.

I presented Alesco with a proposal for conceding administration rights to the Scarlet Brotherhood in exchange for a royalty fee. They would be in charge of the temple, and their responsibility would have to protect and maintain the relics inside it. They would charge their followers for a tithe and give us a percentage. All the administration plans and preparations would be ready in one month. With this pact, we should better prepare for a big number of visitors to the temple. A lot of people would gather around our lands and this could bring economic prosperity. Maybe we could be the founders of a small city around the temple. Only time will tell.

Visiting Rjurik again

After our conversation with Alesco, we left our lands and traveled to Rjurik one more time. We have found that in order to start with the King Cyril’s quest, we needed the relics we once gave the Church of Good into custody, the sword and armor of the King Cyril.

We had no surprises in our trip more than a couple of bandits that were not brave enough to attack us. But when we approached the city, we could notice the outside farms filled with decadence and poverty. It seemed the peasants were having a pretty bad time with this cambion as king. I knew that wouldn’t be happening under the reign of the old king.

Before entering the city, Bahmut hid himself inside one of Malek’s bag of holdings. We didn’t want to start a fight in the middle of the city. Then we entered the city and went directly to the Church to claim for our possessions.

We found a cleric who promptly gave us our magical items. Everything was indexed in a big book managed by the priests so they could easily find our belongings. We dumped everything inside our bag of holdings and went out to find a secure place to teleport out from the city.

Vazud

Malek handled the arts to teleport us the best he could near Vazud, because our next destination would be the Great Library of Vazud, a suitable place where we could look for some answers. It would be nice to visit my old man here. Definitely those days I was having more affection to Vazud than to Rjurik. It was a good idea to find a secure place for my father here at the Great Library.

We identified ourselves at the entrance and call the gnomish chariot driven by a dwarf, our preferred form of transport inside Vazud. The driver threw us a happy smile and seemed to be pleased to meet us once again. We headed directly to the Great Library and while the trip took several hours, it was good to witness prosperity had embraced most parts of the busy metropolis.

We arrived at the library and as usual, several people were gathering at its entrance. Some of my friends used their nobility status to claim preference while others paid a hustle fee of 150 gold pieces. At the end of the day, all of them had meetings with the scholars and commissioned them with research tasks of several topics. While we were waiting, my father came out and surprised us. I smiled at him and gave him a strong handshake and emotive hug. As I expected, my old man was more than happy here.

When my friends finished their endeavors, we all went with my father to his private office where we had a little chat. After some considerations, we decided to show our map to the city’s cartographer, who according to my father was one of the best cartographers in the whole world.

We found the cartographer Trevor at his workplace in the central plaza. Of course we got there using the dwarven chariot, our favorite way of transportation here in Vazud. I entered the place with my father alone and my friends waited inside the chariot, to avoid calling too much attention.

My father introduced me to Trevor and he inspected a copy of the map. Unfortunately, the copy was not good enough for him to find some clues about the locations in the map so I had to go out again to ask my friends for the original map. With the original map in my possession I entered the building one more time and showed it to the expert. This time Trevor immediately recognized we were talking about the great mountains dividing Cohen and Rjurik, with the Sea of Sand and the River of Agony as geographical notorious accidents.

Trevor made me notice four thousand years ago, the Sea of Sand was part of the ocean. It seemed the sand had somehow gained terrain to the waters during this period. Another thing that came to light was the big X marking a spot in the map. It seemed the mountain chain was continuous but at some point of time the Dark Passage was created, because the X was marking a location right at the middle of the Dark Passage. We could give no more information to the cartographer and went out with my friends with the news. My father came with me and we all stepped into the chariot for another travel to the Library.

We had to wait several days in order to receive the information from the Great Library, but it seems we were uncovering parts of the ancient history of the world with our recent findings. We were talking about these matters when the chariot suddenly increased his speed noticeably. When we asked the driver about this he was too busy driving with a frightened expression on his face. He only managed to scream two words: “The mist!”

Lord Channis Lauros Journal

An alternative solution for the dilemma

We all knew the ritual concerning the initiation of Sir Sigard could not be performed without an altar, but it seemed Malek had found a solution in our absence. There is another altar, the tomb of the ancient champion known as the Knight of Abraxxas, inside the Silver Lake. We should maintain this in secret if we want to succeed in our endeavor. Right now, I trust no one.

When the battle against the gargantuan psionic worm came to an end, we all decided it would be safer to prevent growing of the dark seed inside the chest of the priest of the sun, to let the priest rest for a couple of days inside the chapel of Moradin. It seems the priest has become immune to compulsions so it is possible he is completely unaffected by the geas spells. However, he will know after a couple of days and let us know so we can communicate with the druids. I hope we could bring our friend back to his normal form without harm.

Preparations for the ritual

After long discussions outside the desecrated temple, the party decided it would be best to go directly to the tomb of the Knight of Abraxxas, hidden beneath the surface of the Silver Lake. So the group chosen to go was conformed of:

- Ibizar
- Malek
- Bahmut
- Canrith
- Addon
- Channis
- Sir Varen
- Sir Siggard
- Father Angus
- Brother Alesco

We decided to bring Brother Alesco with us, as a way to show our appreciation for saving Sir Siggard’s life. Alesco quickly agreed and seemed to be very happy. We also decided to bring with us no squires and no other member outside the mentioned above, for security reasons.

When we arrived to the temple, the doors were closed but Father Angus prayed to Abraxxas in order to grant us secure passage. We entered the tomb and found it just the way we left it. With the image of a nasty undead behind the doors, the two iron golems flanking the altar and the support for the Axe of Abraxxas above the altar. The dome was supported for several columns and we could hear the whisperings of the water outside the tomb.

Brother Angus claimed he needed another two days in meditation in order to be ready for the ritual. Meanwhile, some of us remained guarding the tomb for possible intrusions and Malek teleported to diverse destinations in order to obtain two more relics: the Coin of Abraxxas and the Axe of Abraxxas, located in the church of Good and the Temple of Life in Vazud respectively. He returned after two days safe and sound and everything was ready to begin with the ceremony.

The initiation

It is still not clear to me if this was the right thing to do, because we are sure now Abraxxas was not a God embracing goodness or evilness. I personally think Abraxxas is more like a force of some sort, speaking to his followers in the form of a God, yet he seems to be the leader of the first pantheon.

Father Angus dressed himself with clerical attire in order to perform the ceremony. He seemed incredibly weak, probably due to the lack of food and water during five consecutive days. He started praying to Abraxxas in a very special manner, “Oh most holy father, please grant me the knowledge necessary to speak in your name”.

It seemed the words spoken in the ritual had to be an exact duplicate of the phrases spoken between Abraxxas himself and his first knight, more than four thousand years ago. From this moment on, Father Angus seemed to speak with a loud grave voice, not the one we were used to listen from the cleric.

Sir Siggard kneeled before the old man with his face showing expectancy, humility and profound respect. As the priest spoke, we all sensed the cave flooded with a great power of some sort, but I couldn’t assure it was divine. We saw lights from time to time surrounding Father Angus and Sir Siggard as a sign we were waking up something from a very long and deep slumber. I’m not a man who frightens so easily, but there was a moment during the ritual I doubted we were doing the right thing.

Father Angus words described Abraxxas as a god beyond gods, beyond good and evil, even beyond neutrality. This God does not believe in balance, he believes in being loyal to your own nature. Good or evil is not inherent for humans, so this god claims goodness or evilness is not for us to decide. He claims we are confused by the gods themselves who taint us to choose a side. For Abraxxas, humans should have no side as long as we remain loyal to our own nature. Whether humans chose goodness or evilness, they are only compelled to accept the consequences of their own actions. Abraxxas teachings show that if humans do not take responsibility for what they do, they are betraying their own nature and such behavior deserve punishment.

My thoughts were flying high as the ceremony progressed. Sir Siggard seemed to be in some sort of trance that was not to be interrupted. However, in the climax of the situation, Ibizar grabbed his war hammer and charged to the altar with clear intention to destroy it. A quick glance was enough to realize he was in some sort of trance, without complete control of his actions. Nobody was fast enough to react. Fortunately, Ibizar seemed to be strong enough to resist such powerful magic. We all knew what was this all about. The binding spell on him was finally active. Ibizar fell to the ground screaming in agony. Nevertheless the mighty dwarven warrior successfully resisted the incantation. The ritual came to an end and Sir Siggard the Welldoer was no more. Long live the Knight of Abraxxas.

Diario de Canrith: Más malas noticias

Somos unos imbéciles. No ha pasado un día desde mi última entrada en este diario y por nuestra falta de visión y fe hemos perdido el templo.

No voy a comentar sobre la batalla con esa aberración gigante en forma de gusano, pues francamente pese a su tamaño huyó al cabo de unos segundos y sus tentáculos no fueron más que un fastidio para mis habilidades. Además estoy seguro que el místico cubrirá a detalle ese encuentro en su diario. No, quiero aprovechar estos minutos de paz para llorar al templo desacrado.

Mi nuevo grupo sigue sin confiar en el Hermano Alesco, motivo por el cual no permitieron que nos acompañe cuando regresamos a revisar el templo. El hechizero pudo abrir la puerta tal como Alesco lo hizo en su momento, con una oración de fe. Creo que se ha convertido a los dioses del Primer Panteón. Una vez dentro uno de sus encantamientos le permitió detectar compartimientos secretos en las bases de las estatuas.

Fue un juego de niños abrir las puertas de estos compartimientos, empezando por el de la estatua de Abraxxas. Encontramos dentro un Libro Sagrado de Abraxxas y varios artefactos divinos con los que los mortales no deben jugar. Estábamos dispuestos a revisar las cosas a detalle cuando el recién llegado Sacerdote decidió salir a tomar aire dado que al parecer no tiene la fuerza de voluntad para romper algunas reglas en busca de lo que es necesario hacer para salvar al mundo.

Fue ahí donde empezó todo. En la puerta uno de los lacayos del castillo nos informó que el caballero que estaba en camino a ser ordenado en el templo había sido atacado. ¿Es que todos los que llegan a ese maldito recinto sufren la misma suerte? En nuestro apuro por salvarlo cometimos el más grave error del día: dejar sólo el templo.

El Hermano Alesco pudo, a pesar de haber recibido insulto tras insulto a su honor por parte de los miembros más desconfiados del grupo, curar al caballero. Pero mientras nosotros estábamos alejados, el templo fue atacado y el altar de Abraxxas destruído.

Lo que pasó después lo recuerdo poco, pues la desesperación me embargaba. Algunos se fueron a buscar al Sumo Sacerdote que venía en camino para la ceremonia. Otros nos quedamos en el templo, donde descubrimos un mapa en partes oculto bajo todas las estatuas.

Tenemos el mapa completo, pero no sabemos a dónde nos llevará. Tenemos al caballero vivo, pero no sabemos cómo hacer para ordenarlo. Tenemos el templo, pero le hemos hecho más daño en unas horas que lo que le pudieron hacer los miles de años que estuvo en espera.

Una sola cosa es clara: Las religiones del segundo panteón no tienen el poder para detener lo que se viene, aunque esto implique salvarse a sí mismas. Ya en estos momentos están haciendo alianzas con representantes del primer panteón y rogando que los ayuden. El cambio está más cerca de lo que imaginaba.

Lord Chanis Lauros Journal

Prelude before a heavy day

It’s very early in the morning and a pale sun is starting to rise over the horizon, yet we’ve already been in grave danger. The potential first Knight of Abraxxas almost died and Brother Alesco has been severely wounded. However, we managed to survive one more time and it’s time to spend some time writing my journal.

The Party finally joins

Yesterday morning, Malek, Ibizar and the peregrine priest arrived using a teleport spell. We immediately put them up with the latest events and it was time to plan our counterattack. Malek told me one important fact, the Church of Good had requested a helping hand from Abraxxas and they had made a pact. The outcome of such a pact was the next ordeal of the first knight of Abraxxas in many millennia. The chosen one was a knight of pure heart known as Sir Sigard the Welldoer. This event could bring some attention to our lands, so it would be better to be prepared for nasty surprises.

We took some frugal breakfast served by Alfie and then followed the trail of ashes toward the Ancient Temple of the First Pantheon. Nothing interrupted our journey and within one hour we arrived at the temple, only to find Brother Alesco and the rest of the monk, camping outside of it.

When the group finished the proper introductions we asked Alesco to remain outside while we explored the temple for any traps or other perils. Their impatience was notorious. Unfortunately, after several tries we couldn’t open the heavy doors guarding the entrance to the temple and nobody spoke of battering them down. Once again, we recurred to Brother Alesco, he replied it was easy to enter the temple. We only needed “faith”. Unfortunately in my case, my faith in the First Pantheon was little more than nonexistent so I looked to the priests to see if they had any bright ideas.

After several minutes, no one in the party could open the doors. Even some of my friends resulted injured due to some powerful magic protecting the entrance. However, Malek remembered the words from Brother Alesco: “you only need faith”. To our amusement, Malek kneeled before the doors and started muttering some words in a strange language. The doors finally opened and we had before our eyes twelve statues of the gods of the first pantheon, equally flanking both sides of the main god, Abraxxas. Malek took some steps towards the last one and kneeled before him. He was praying showing an intense devotion I have never seen before on the young wizard. The rest of us started to search the place for answers.

Inside the temple of the First Pantheon

We immediately starting analyzing the statues inside the temple, and started looking for secret doors and hidden corridors. After inspecting the enclosure, we found nothing of interest and decided it was secure to let Brother Alesco and his comrades to pray inside the temple. I went out to tell the man the good news. They were very excited.

Brother Alesco also told me they listened by casualty some of our conversation inside the temple and they overheard something about the crowning of a knight of Abraxxas. We made a mistake to discuss these matters with the monks of heightened senses around but the harm was already done. I didn’t know the details about the ceremony so I couldn’t help the monk with more information. However, the monk wanted to know when would happen this event in order to be present. Malek decided we would inform them all in due time.

While the monks were praying, Ibizar continued his inspection of the statues and found secret compartments in two of them. We decided to let the monks pray only for a few more hours, so we could inspect those secret doors alone.

The time arrived and the monks left the place. Before leaving, Brother Alesco asked for clean water and a place free from intrusions for the rest of the night. He argued they needed to perform some sort of purification ritual, so they needed solace and a peaceful environment. They should not be interrupted during the ceremony. I assured him there would be no problem with his request.

After the monks left, we closed the entrance and Malek used a spell to detect secret doors. A strange coincidence surfaced, all statues had secret compartments on their bases. At first we weren’t sure about opening them or not, but he had to take action. The rogue Canrith used his skills to find a way to open the hidden compartments, making sure there was no kind of nasty traps protecting the sanctuaries.

We decided to explore the base of Abraxxas statue first. We found a black book and some other relics. The book had the symbol of Abraxxas on its cover. Nobody wanted to touch the items. The power inside this chamber was overwhelming. We really felt intimidated.

We continued searching the place for a long time but Addon didn’t agree with our methods, he thought we could be desecrating the place. I think there was an obvious danger only by messing around with godly stuff, but we needed to find some answers if we wanted to be useful in this plot.

When Addon left the place, he found Gerald at the entrance, very worried and with ill news to share. He told us a knight in our keep was attacked and he was dying with a horrible wound in his torso. We made a bad mistake here, we all teleported immediately to our keep leaving the temple completely unprotected.


Sir Sigard the Welldoer

Leaded by Gerald, we found in a hut a heavily wounded knight. He was in pretty bad shape. It seemed he was affected by the same extraordinary attack suffered by Seven, Malek’s moondog. Our healing priests didn’t know how to heal this guy. They only knew he could die any minute.

We had no time to waste. Brother Alesco was the only living being around with the knowledge to undo the harm done to the knight. However, we faced a little complication, the monk asked specifically not to be disturbed during the purification ritual he and his comrades would perform during the night. We decided we would interrupt such a ritual because we were facing a life and death situation.

Ibizar and I, with Gerald on the dwarf’s back, flew directly to the hut where the monks were performing their ritual and saw several candles inside the enclosure. We asked Gerald to announce us specifying urgent matters.

Brother Alesco was obviously upset by such an interruption, but we had no time to waste. We asked politely for his help. He accompanied us to the cottage and found the knight lying on his bed.

At this point in time, we suddenly found in the middle of an impasse. Our friend, Arath, the priest of the Sun, invoked an incantation known as Zone of Truth, which creates an area where no one can speak a lie. Obviously, this could be considered an offense by lords and knights, and this was not an exception. We tried to stop him but it was too late, Brother Alesco was visibly offended and started to walk away toward his cabin. His last words were “My honor was been insulted twice tonight. Be thankful I don’t call for a duel”.

I couldn’t utter a sound and so my friends. Brother Alesco continued his path. The wounded knight, who introduced to us as Sir Sigard the Welldoer, could die any minute. We started an argument about what to do, but it seems this was not his time. We were advised Brother Alesco changed his mind and would cure our friend, the knight. We breathe relieved and Malek took the inmate to the monk’s cottage. After a few minutes, Malek and the knight returned and Sir Sigard was walking on his own. We celebrated the outcome and welcomed the knight to our lands, apologizing at the same time for not providing him adequate protection.

Desecration

We returned to the temple and decided to stay inside until the ceremony of initiation of the Knight of Abraxxas is finished but we found a nasty surprise. When we entered we discovered the statue of Abraxxas shattered down. The altar had been desecrated. The ritual was not going to happen.

One more time, hell unleashed and the Party discussed trying to find the causes. I decided to patrol the roads near our farm in order to find Brother Angus who was the priest sent by the Church of Good, in charge of performing the initiation ritual. Malek and Bahmut joined me and we all departed. The dawn was cold and sad, like our spirits.

We found a white chariot leaded by two knights. We made them a sign to stop and introduced ourselves as the lords of these lands. One of the knights introduced himself as Sir Baren the Heistings and the other one was a Scarlet Brotherhod member who never spoke. We asked to speak with Brother Angus but we were told he could speak with no one before the ritual. We told them about the desecration and decided to go to the temple and think what to do next. We escorted the chariot directly to the temple.


The gargantuan psionic aberration

I contacted Malek and told them we were arriving with Brother Angus, so they could wait for us outside the temple. I received positive answer and we continued our way. What we discovered at the entrance of the temple made our blood freeze and a shivering tremor traversed our spine. A gargantuan worm was blocking the entrance and was clearly attacking something.

We didn’t stop wondering the danger. We asked Sir Baren to remain there while we dealt with the monster. Ibizar, Bahmut and I flew directly to the aberration, but it was still several hundreds of feet away. We saw how the monster grabbed our friends and tried to swallow them. They defended bravely and harmed the monster, with Sir Sigard fighting courageously riding his noble warhorse.

When I approached the aberration, a danger sense clearly invaded my brain as I realized I was facing a creature with deadly psionic powers. The monster seemed to recognize another psionic entity on the vicinity and without hesitation, targeted me with a powerful psychic blow. I had to react quickly and retreat several feet away to avoid my brain being toasted.

A blade barrier spell summoned by the peregrine priest, Addon, was inflicting heavy damage upon the monster. Still the aberration remained alive. Ibizar charged the monster trying to kill it but the monster used one of his numerous abilities to flee from the fight. We have won this battle, for now, but danger was far from over. I could feel it around.

In the havoc of the battle we haven’t realized a body was lying on the ground near the creature. When we approached, we discovered Brother Alesco, unconscious. Bahmut healed the monk and he got up, muttering thankful words. He told us the aberration was a pet trained by the Splintered Mind to do their bidding.

Diario de Canrith: Un pequeño descanso

Tengo sólo unos momentos, escondido en el adarve del castillo de los héroes que son ahora mis aliados (no más que una atalaya si me preguntan, pero ellos le dicen "castillo"). Prometí escribir un diario cuando empezó mi misión, pero las cosas se han movido tan rápido que nunca pude dedicarle tiempo. Es sólo ahora, que no sé si estaré vivo en unas horas, que me he sentado un momento a escribir la primera página. Espero que no sea la última.

En pos de mi seguridad pienso mantener dos reglas. La primera, escribir en mi idioma natal y no en la lengua que aquí llaman "common", a manera de hacerle un poco más difícil la tarea a quien pueda tenerlo entre sus manos sin ser miembro de mi cofradía. La segunda, no revelar aquí nada de mi pasado, pues suficientes problemas tengo ya.

Debo confesar que los eventos de los últimos días han resultado totalemente distintos a mis más delirantes fantasías. Dicen que las malas noticias se propagan más rápido que la viruela en un burdel, pero la verdad es que en el caso de estos Héroes, lo que se sabe y se comenta en los pueblos cercanos no se acerca en nada a la realidad.

Llegué a su castillo encargado con la misión de unirme a su grupo y ayudarlos en todo lo necesario. No soy un tipo desprendido, al contrario, suelo ser de los que trabaja sólo y poco le importa el bienestar de un grupo de aventureros... pero la manera en que se me plantearon las cosas me dejó claro que era imperativo ayudarlos o ya no quedaría siquiera un mundo en el cual gozar los frutos de mi profesión. Pero la verdad me está costando bastante aceptar que estas personas puedan ser los elegidos para rectificar el orden.

Desorganizados, caóticos, apresurados... y a veces simplemente tontos. Diplomáticamente negados, no sólo se atropellan unos a otros en las conversaciones (de manera que si uno está haciendo de milagro un buen trabajo, el otro se encarga de arruinarlo) sino que sus mensajes son inconsistentes. ¿Será una estrategia para que sus enemigos no puedan predecir sus movimientos?

En el poco tiempo que estoy con ellos se las han arreglado para ser atacados por sorpresa y saqueados en su propio castillo, han aceptado que un hechizero los trate de obligar mágicamente a realizar tareas en su nombre para luego retractarse y ganarse su ira, han dejado que el Alcaide del castillo y más de la mitad de sus vasallos mueran, incluso he descubierto que encontraron un Templo de los Antiguos Dioses en su territorio para dejarlo abandonado como quien encuentra un infiel al costado del camino... Y sin embargo se nota que tienen contactos de gran importancia en el mundo. He visto a los miembros del Consejo de Druidas dirigirles la palabra y a unos místicos hechizeros venir en su ayuda cuando las cosas se estaban poniendo feas. ¿Será que, al igual que el zorro tonto de los cuentos de niños, la virtud de este grupo de hombres consiste en hacer las cosas sin darse cuenta? ¿Será que todo no es más que una charada para mostrarse más vulnerables de lo que realmente son, mientras sus mentes ágiles consideran todas las ramificaciones de sus actos? ¿Será que los dioses los favorecen? Y si ese es el caso, ¿lo sabran ellos?

No existen palabras para describir la furia que se reflejaba en el rostro del hechizero traicionado mientras nos atacaba. ¡Qué poder! Si no hubiera sido por la ayuda externa de los místicos orientales la batalla habría terminado, con nuestra muerte, en sólo segundos. Como se dieron las cosas al menos los miembros del grupo están todos con vida y me dicen que ya encontraron a un sacerdote que nos ayudará en el futuro. Yo no puedo dejar de pensar en el Templo ¡Los secretos! ¡El destino! Y pensar que a ellos ni les interesaba entrar y prefirieron esperar afuera mientras Alesco, sus guardias y yo nos aventurábamos en su interior. Y peor aún, me parece que quieren dejarlo olvidado una vez más mientras se dedican a perseguir otras pistas. ¿Es que no entienden acaso que de nada sirve dibujar en la arena cuando hay una ola que se aproxima?

Debo dejar estas páginas por ahora, los minutos han pasado sin que me de cuenta y me esperan abajo. Si sobrevivo a la batalla de esta noche, regresaré para seguir contando lo que encuentre.

Lord Channis Lauros Journal

Muido helps me

Two full days have passed since the last time I wrote my journal, yet these are the very first moments of calm in my troublesome agenda. The varieties of colors present at the rise of the dawn remember me of the prismatic sphere we’ve faced yesterday. But I’m going too fast. Let’s remember step by step the last series of events…

We left the druid groove feeling stupid. We had been easily fooled by probably the most malevolent being of this realm. I still blush with anger when I think how naive we were. This damned demigod of magic never removed the binding spell on master dwarf. Everything was a charade. Adventurers of our experience should never fall in such mouse traps. This is just an example about how even the most brilliant minds can fall prey of sudden moments of cloudy thinking.

The druids were tolerant with us and didn’t kill us, which is saying a lot considering they are not famous for their patience. But they asked us to eliminate the threat represented by myself and the priest of the sun. My friends remembered the great power of my master Muido and told the druids about the possibility of receiving help from him. One of the druids told he could reach the City of Sand with me and talk to Muido. The rest of the party remained at the Druid Groove trying to find a solution for the priest of the sun.


The druid and I arrived to the city and as usual, we found several traders at the front gates announcing their cheap and high quality products with loud voices and overstating gestures. Good thing to be back at home, although only for a short period of time. Even the air I breathe at the City of Sand seems to purify my body and strengthen my spirit as if preparing me to face the nearby dangers ahead in my path.

We didn’t waste time at the traders and went directly to Muido’s Temple, the most important of the city. Peasant gossips speak about a legend where Muido himself is responsible for hiding the city from unwanted guests. My inner thoughts seriously consider those rumors are probably true knowing the incommensurable power of my master.

I found Muido at his temple, floating in the air, meditating in the usual lotto flower position with both eyes closed. Yet he recognized me and welcomed me. I apologized to my master for asking him a great favor, beyond my actual level of psionic powers. To my surprise, the mere mention of the Demigod of Magic, Khal the Drak, made him open an eye. That was a situation I never witnessed before when I was a child training under his command. A moment later, his eyes were closed again.

When I was stating my case to my master, I felt something amiss around the air. A feeling I never felt before but that clearly spoke of immediate danger. The lives of my friends were at risk, I had to go there right then, and so I told to Muido. The old man’s face darkened. He quickly agreed to help me with the geas problem, using the psionic power known as Bend Reality. Within a moments thought, I felt the magic of the geas vanishing from my body, collapsing before the powerful mind of Muido. It was gone forever. One problem solved thanks to my master, but there was no time to lose with well mannered frivolities. He knew I was thankful. The druid returned to the council after confirming the geas spells were gone.

The decision taken by the druids regarding the priest of the sun

A few hours later, I would know the decision behind the case involving the priest of the sun. The druids decided to give him something called a Dark Seed, which was some sort of root that when eaten, would prevent the target to damage the tree, by crushing his heart. According to the druids, we had two weeks to dispel the geas on the priest, or the seed would grow and the priest would be converted in one of the druid’s shambling mounds, to remain inside the groove as a guardian for the rest of his days.

The battle against Lord Darn Trasilik

Meanwhile, at the City of Sand, Muido and I departed to our lands again using the psionic abilities of the old man. We arrived at the middle of a battle and my eyes hardly believed the desolation around my keep. I saw maybe one hundred bodies lying on the ground, presumably dead by some powerful magic judging for the rigor mortis of the corpses. I also saw a glabrezu attacking my friends and behind the demon, the puppeteer, Lord Darn Trasilik, the High Priest of the Demigod of Magic, protected inside a nine circle spell called Prismatic Sphere. His deadly scythe was hovering around his head, ready to chop anyone who dared to attack him.

When Muido and I appeared at the scene, something immediately changed. My master spoke directly to the demon using the infernal language. He called it Odium. The demon bowed to my master as if doing a reverence and then left the scene leaving behind a fine dust charged with a sulfuric odor. I was astonished wondering about the respect showed by the chaotic evil demon to my master.

The high cleric spoke:
- You!! You have no right to be here!

My master, without opening his eyes replied:
- Yet we are here to stay.

His words seemed to cut the air and two other people appeared flanking Muido. The three of them never opened his eyes.

- You CAN’T intervene. And you know it!!! – The voice of Trasilik denoted anger and hate.
- Yes we can’t – replied Muido – but HE can.

As my master spoke, another warrior appeared at the scene. I couldn’t recognize him at first, but Bahmut clearly knew a summoning had been conjured to bring to the fight the Great Master Kensai of Japan. The evil high priest smiled with a horrible grin, presaging disaster.

- Ok. It seems you are going to lose one of your champions today.

Trasilik invoked a powerful spell, clearly annoyed for the intervention of Muido and his companions. I had time to see a giant fire tongue engulfing me and my friends and managed to protect me with some degree of fire resistance. Just before the fire covered everything around us, I managed to watch at Bahmut right at the center of the powerful invocation, helpless and about to be consumed by the magic. A part of me wouldn’t allow him to die. It was no magic or psychic ability, just mere willpower leaving my spirit and avoiding my friend to die horribly. When the last fiery clouds dissipated, I saw Bahmut right on his foot, seriously burned and scorched, but alive. He looked at me, I was also heavily wounded. It seemed he realized I did something, but there was no time to find out explanations. The battle was far from over.

The Great Master Kensai took his katana, and performed an incredible prowess attacking the prismatic sphere several times in rapid succession. The sphere started to disintegrate before our eyes with each hit of the blade. Later we found the name of that mighty sword: Masamune, one of the two most powerful weapons ever forged.

The sphere was destroyed, but the warrior fell to the ground after such a display, bleeding and unconscious. Shardia, the paladin, didn’t hesitate and healed the kensai restoring him some strength so he could continue battling at her side. Bahmut followed her example and projected a healing aura among the party members battling the evil caster. The dwarf Ibizar then attacked the caster with rage. Every hit of the dwarf was enough to shatter a stone wall, but the caster seemed to withstand such heavy punishment. Trasilik used another spell, this time a negative energy one. A black mantle covered Ibizar and Shardia, draining health from their bodies, weakening them, and killing them slowly. It was his last curse, because the next second the Great Master Kensai charged him wielding Masamune and performing an unstoppable blow, cutting the evil caster in two pieces, which dropped to the ground, turned into ashes and were absorbed by the earth along with all his equipment. The great master kensai fell to the ground again and the fight was finally over.

Unfortunately, Shardia and Ibizar were in a complicated and urgent situation. They had mere seconds before the dark magic of Trasilik kills them without mercy. Shardia immediately returned to Mathgamna and we started to think how to save our dwarven brother. I used my psionic powers to dispel one of the maladies upon the dwarf, but there was still the most dangerous spell on him. Malek immediately took the dwarf and both of them teleported to the Church of Good in search for a priest. That was the last time I saw them, but later I discovered, via a telepathic link, that Ibizard was alive, and they’ve found a new peregrine priest of Good who offered his help to our group.

After my friends left the scene, the Great Master Kensai held a brief conversation with Muido and his companions, and then returned to wherever he came from. My master then told me another of his famous riddles: “Be ready for tonight’s battle and remember that today events were not random. Someone wanted these events to happen this way”. After his mysterious words, he and his comrades vanished, leaving me, Bahmut and Canrith the rogue, alone with plenty of dead corpses around our desolated lands.

The Scarlet Brotherhood appears on the scene

There was no time to mourn the peasants. We needed to act quickly. I decided to fly over our lands looking for survivors, but as soon as I took off, I saw a mysterious dark trail leaving the scene of the battle going south, towards the ancient temple of Abraxas and the old pantheon. The rogue immediately smelled a fresh clue and was unwilling to let it go, so we started to follow the trail.

While following the clue, Brother Alesco and his comrades appeared from nowhere and saluted us. We stopped and had a little chat with them. They claimed to know we had problems and decided to stop by to offer their help. We diplomatically declined and explained them we were following a fresh clue. They offered to join us in our endeavor, no matter how dangerous it could be. The whole group continued to move, some of us flying and the monks running very fast. We soon reached our final destination, only to confirm our initial reasoning proved to be correct, the trail leaded directly to the ancient temple of Abraxas.

I decided to stay away from it without more help from Ibizar and Malek, but Canrith was eager to find out more. He and the monks entered the temple and Bahmut remained outside with me. We noticed the temple was not completely sunk as always, it seemed it had emerged from the ground a couple of feet, as if some strong telluric movement had occurred.

When the monks and the rogue left, I began to brief Bahmut on the situation, the appearance of the Scarlet Brotherhood and our issues with Khal-the-Drak. In the middle of our conversation, we listened to the creak of the temple doors opening and closing. They managed somehow to enter the temple. I tried to telepathically contact Malek without luck so I started to worry about Ibizar, I didn’t know he was alive or what was happening to them at that time. Such uncertainty was simply killing me.

After a few minutes, Canrith and the monks appeared again. The first one explained to us the trail divided in two inside the temple, one path leading to Yoal-Baden-the-Regen, and the other one leading to Grumsh. I didn’t understand any of this and my head was starting to get dizzy. We needed to sit down and analyze the situation calmly. The monks were very excited about the temple, they calculated it had about four thousand years old and they offered to pay us if we let them come and pray, as if the temple was some architectonic touristic attraction. We told them we needed the approval of all the party members, and although they didn’t like our answer, they accepted our decision. Unfortunately, Bahmut was a little more energetic in asking Brother Alesco to leave our ground, and it seems this behavior was not pleasant to the monk who immediately asked Bahmut for shelter, as a noble knight. Bahmut was obliged to fulfill his requirement and installed the monk and his comrades in the house of the late Danilo, our administrator, killed by Trasilik’s dark magic. Now our crops would be in danger. The old man was an expert farmer and administrator.

After this episode I actively tried to find more survivors, and managed to find more than thirty people, completely scared because of the recent events. Many of them found themselves suddenly ripped away from their families. Husbands, wives, daughters and sons were killed without mercy by the evil priest in the glimpse of an eye. I assured them it was our mistake and I pledged to them I would do everything in my power to protect them and to compensate them the best I could for their losses. I also asked them to go to the borders of our lands and remain there for an undefined time, until our keep becomes secure once again. While I watched them walking away slowly, seeing most women crying without finding solace and thinking that some children could grow without their parents, a deep sorrow invaded my heart and I couldn’t stop a tear to wet my cheeks. Then, the sorrow was replaced with anger, aimed at the one responsible for the mass murdering and I solemnly swore to myself that this horrendous act wouldn’t remain unpunished.

I tried again to contact Malek telepathically and succeeded. I explained them our situation and urged them to return to the keep as soon as possible. Then I went to the battle zone and created a circle of fire to burn the bodies in order to maintain them away from being carrion food. The monks joined the act and remained in respectful silence for some minutes. I couldn’t assure if they were praying.

Later I contacted Malek again. To my regret they hadn’t find any means of returning, so I contacted Eladan to see if he could help us. He promised to send one of the Fallen Leaves to Rjurik for our friends, and I promised to owe them a favor in return.

After an hour and realizing that nobody arrived, I contacted Malek for the last time to see what had happened. It seemed our friends from the Fallen Leaves could not help us, and Ibizar, Malek and the peregrine priest started the long journey from Rjurik to our lands. They would arrive too late. In a last desperate resort, I looked for Brother Alesco’s help, but the monk had no means to help us in our dilemma. Nevertheless I thanked the knight-monk for his time and left his chambers.

A restless night

Bahmut, Canrith and I have passed a restless night inside a rope trick waiting for a battle that never happened. My confusion is greater than ever. I simply don’t understand what’s going on. I only hope the arrival of Ibizar, Malek and the peregrine priest. Maybe they have a better idea of what to do. I think we are burying ourselves every time deeper in a battle of higher powers, with little chance of success. We could even die before comprehending the ulterior motives of the master minds behind the plots. Nevertheless I have to remain alive and with all my senses keen to solve these mysteries. I don’t think Trasilik is dead, because a dead body simply remains dead, and this was not the case. Also one of Muido’s party members stated that Trasilik could not die. Probably they are aware of something we don’t.

One thing is sure. I made a pledge to the people of our village and I intend to fulfill it. Trasilik killed innocent people without mercy. They never stood a chance.

There was no need to kill them, Trasilik. You know that. I hope you’re scrying me while I write my journal, because at the end of the day, if you never understand why we keep chasing your head or why we never cease in attacking your church and disbanding your followers, there’s one thing you’ll surely understand. Killing innoncent helpless peasants was an awful act even for you. There was no need to do it. To be more clear, that… was a mistake. And you know what happens when mortals, ascendants or gods make mistakes? Please pay attention to this. There are… consequences. Yesterday you signed a more powerful contract than any cooperative geas you may have casted before. Congratulations, you’re about to face our wrath, because you signed a contract to have a tireless enemy, the Heroes of Law.

Lord Channis Lauros Journal

The mouse trap

Looking a this hidden paradise full of legendary animals, huge, ancient and beautiful trees, listening to the muttering of a nearby water torrent, all in perfect harmony, my mind falls to the delusion that our problems belong to the past, that our cities shine in prosperity and peace, and our home has not been surrendered to the will of evil mages with obscure agendas. Unfortunately, the firm voice of the Great Druid awakes me from my dreams, and once again, I realize with horror, that we have probably unleashed upon us the anger of one of the most powerful beings on this realm. Get your tickets for a free mighty evil enemy (demi-god) that will vanquish you with a mere thought!!!! Don’t let it pass!! This is a one time FREE offer!!!! And it’s free!!!! Did I say it’s FREE??? All that is required is a bunch of morons without a pinch of common sense!!!!

Ok. I think it’s enough moaning like an unpaid bitch. What would think the future archaeologists that find my journal on my tomb? I’m not a coward. Just a stupid moron, but that does not make me a chicken dancer. What would people read on my graveyard?
“Here lies the psion who let an evil high priest (and 24 other clerics by the way) cast a “geas spell” on him and his party, on the solemn promise that the deal will be good for them.” (Note just to make matters worse: They were inside the shrine (The Jade Palace) of the ancient evil demi-god known as Khal-the-Drak, worshiped by this evil high priest, who happens to be FAMOUS for trickery and treason) It is almost a fact of no relevance that this demi-god is responsible, among other things of:
- Kidnap the goddess of Nature, torture her and steal her power. (Funny thing that this demigod did this BEFORE ascending to demigod status, when he was a just a mortal wizard)
- He is an ally of powerful demons, including a demon cambion, son of Grazzt, who is right now the king of Rjurik.
- He was responsible for the war between Rjurik and Heiloom.
- He was behind the ascension to greater god status of the God of the Undeads.
- In short, many of the realm disgraces happen because of his schemas.

We are so screwed.


I can hardly believe what we’ve done. We deserve to die for sure.

Ok, Khal the Drak. You won the first round, I give that to you.
Now it’s our turn to play.

The mouse trap explained

It is of utmost importance to annotate the sequence of events in order to illustrate how we ended up in this predicament. I’ll use the time here at the Druid Groove because we may never see the sunlight again, at least I want to organize my thoughts.

Everything started a week ago when we received the visit of the Scarlet Brotherhood. That same night, a group of monks (we don’t know their allegiance), attacked us in our own keep and let our friend the dwarf with a binding spell. We thought the high priest of the demi-god of magic could help us to remove this binding spell on our friend Ibizar, but we ended up with even more problems.

The high priest, whose name is Darn Trasilik, induced us to sign a blank magical contract, known as a “geas” spell, to help his god to do his bidding. I don’t know what strange power made me and some of my friends accept his deal, we didn’t listen the undeniable logic of our friend the rogue, we just let him cast a very powerful geas on ourselves and we were pleased for that. The high priest did this in form of a cooperative spell, so he received help to add more difficulties to our situation.

The exact wording for the geas spell was as follows:

1. The participants accept to permanently disband an ancient group of power to be mentioned at a later time and whose main agenda is to control the world fate.
2. The participants accept to return the power of the city to be designed at a later time to its rightful owner.

As we though the geas involved the Scarlet Brotherhood and the city of Rjurik, we agreed without suspicion. Unfortunately, the truth was an entirely different matter.

Our brand new “geas” missions are:
1. Permanently disjoint the Council of Druids.
2. Return to his rightful owner the city of Antaria.

¿?

The High priest told us he would send us some information to complete the tasks after two days. As a sign of trust, he asked the dwarf to follow him to the presence of his master (the famous ancient evil demi-god of mighty power) so he, in his infinite gloriousness, could remove the binding spell on master dwarf. Our friend Ibizar followed the high priest like a puppy following a sweet cookie.

Before leaving the hall, the high priest mentioned that he and HIS MASTER would feel PISSED if after helping the dwarf with the binding issue, we forget to honor our end of the bargain. The party swallowed hard and muttered a weak…”ok”.

The dwarf returned to the hall after some minutes, where we were still feeling miserably cheated and looking at each other with an awkward expression on our faces. The enchanter Malek noticed that a strange anti-magic-field emanated from master dwarf, but the high priest told us it was because of direct exposure to the power of a demigod. We took that for granted (fools). The high priest then teleported us to our home for free (so nice). Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the party asked the high priest to use his powerful magic to “protect” our keep from further intrusion. Darn Trasilisk promptly accepted our request (so nice).

The next day, the high priest arrived at our keep, accompanied with other spellcasters, to give us more details about the missions. He started with the first of them:

1. Permanently disjoint the council of druids, BY KILLING THE FIRST TREE CHOPPED BY MEN, which is located at the Holy Druid Groove. That will cause the council to disband because they cannot meet at any other place but around that holy tree. As a courtesy, he wanted to make our mission easier by giving us a pouch containing some strange POISON that we had to pour over the venerable tree in order to kill it.

He said he would give us details of the next mission after we complete this one. Then he left, leaving his minions in our home. The party remained silent for five minutes, and then hell unleashed. Our expressions were a resemblance of absolute despair and misery. We decided that we would never complete that mission because the druids were not our enemy. The fact that we were about to kill a venerable tree using a powerful poison was not even mentioned. Sigh…

Now we started our own quest, the quest to get rid of the incredible amount of spells we had on us without dying in the attempt. However, the incantation involving the geas spell was powerful enough to prevent those affected to take some actions that would otherwise affect our “mission”. Fortunately for us, some party members were smart enough to remain free of this malefic curse.

This is how Malek decided to cast a domination spell on Ibizar, in order to take the dwarf before the presence of the High Priest of Moradin at Mount Silvermane. The rest of us remained at our keep waiting.

The meeting between the dwarves and the mage are a secret to me, but basically the results are as follows:
- The dwarves can dispel the “geas” on the dwarf, but not on me or the priest of the sun.
- There is something strange in this plot because a god cannot interfere directly in mortal matters.

We noted this and the next step was to contact the druids in order to warn them of the danger represented by this evil demigod of magic. After a series of telepathic coordination I managed to contact Jaana and Eladan’s Party, the Fallen Leaves, to find if they could help us in reaching the Druid Groove and the Council of Druids.

When Jaana knew about the situation, she warned us that the druids could choose to kill us to avoid the problem. Malek and Ibizar, the last one now free from the geas spells, decided that it was better to polymorph the priest of the sun in a turtle and to dominate the psion. The geas spell on us was simply too dangerous.

Jaana’s magic helped to reach our destination and we found ourselves before the mighty Council of Druids trying to defend our position.

This is the part where I feel most embarrassment and I really prefer not to describe my feelings when meeting the druids, but I really need to say two things:

1. The druids think there is something strange in this plot.
2. They explained to us some details about this Khal-The-Drak and how he became demigod.

All I can say right now, before leaving the Druid Groove, is that we have won a powerful enemy, a demigod who imprisoned and tortured a goddess when he was just a mortal wizard. What could be his powers now that he is a demigod? Do we really stand a chance against this being? I don’t want to sound apocalyptic but I think our power is not even nearly close the power of a god.

The fact that the minions of Khal-The-Drak are right now at our keep placing “protective” spells on it simply means that we are HOMELESS. I wonder if there are still people on our keep who we can trust. I wonder if they are even alive. We are about to discover how “screwed” we are. I hope it’s not too late to fix this mess.

Lord Channis Lauros Journal

After the Rod of Seven Parts

If we take a look at the current social and political environment of Rjurik and other nearby provinces and if we consider some of the last strange events, it seems to be that vanquishing Mishka “The Wolf Spider” was a simple task, an important goal that changed nothing, a celebration with a bitter taste. I feel evil is still in the air. A black veil hangs upon Rjurik and over the Heroes of Law and troublesome brotherhoods lay ahead in our path, waiting, stalking and plotting.

A long year have passed since the last time I’ve seen my friends and I’m eager to meet them, even if we have to face the darkest creatures of the Abyss once again. Fortunately, my father is secure in Vazud, working as a librarian and helping us with some research about Rjurik’s throne successor, the party of Abraxas and the Scarlet Brotherhood from the Suel Continent. It seems we are dealing with many obscure and ancient topics surrounded by unfulfilled prophecies of dark gods and selfish organizations. This is a heavy weight upon our shoulders, a weight that we must lighten….fast.


Home at last

I arrived to our keep this morning. I decided to travel all night because I couldn’t wait any longer to see my friends again. As a result of this I ended up completely tired and with a dry mouth. Fortunately for me Alfie and Lehr were happy to see me and prepared some refreshments with the water from our well.

I’m happy to see Danilo has done a great job with our crops and our cattle. It would be great if I could just spend the next months taking care of the farm without worrying about ancient angry gods with an irresistible desire for vendettas.

Early in the morning, while flying approaching to our keep, I saw Ibizar McKillar down there walking toward our home too. He can fly perfectly just like a Vaati but he prefers to walk. In a world that is changing so fast, it’s glad to see some things never change, and Ibizar is like an adamantium rock in this regard.

Young Blood Malek opened the front door and smiled at us. He looked tired. It seemed he had been part of a recent battle. Later he told us about an attack suffered by Magathmna. The orthodox mages were behind the attack. They even managed to take the fight inside the city. I think they are simply insane. Unfortunately, they are also dangerous crazy sorcerers.


The realm calls for our help

Night arrived at our lands, and it seemed to be my premonitions were true. We had a lot of bad news. The horde is gathering to the south, exactly near the zone where the Scarlet Brotherhood is approaching our continent and if that were not enough, the evil cambion is still at Rjurik’s throne.

As we are the renowned Heroes of Law, it seems everyone seems to need our help nowadays. In our absence we’ve received a letter from the priests of the Church of Good who were asking for our help. Also, the High Priest of the Demigod of Magic claims he has something of utmost importance to tell us. He found no better way to visit us than teleporting himself in the middle of the night and right at the middle of our crops emitting a strong light from the top of his staff. Thanks for calling the attention of Grazzt, subtle mage.

According to the wizard, it seems something is threatening our realm (again? great!). It is an event similar to the one that happened 5000 years ago, when the Age of Apocalypse started. I definitely don’t like the word “Apocalypse”.

The Council of Druids also wrote us apologizing for trying to finish the world as we know it (sigh…) and they are inviting us to discuss the future of our realm. Fantastic, but I don’t think I’d like to plan anything with the morons who pissed off the Wild Hunt and the Goddess of Nature at the same time.

Oh, great, Gerald the Herald is with a lot of work tonight, I’m trying to write my journal but he announced a man in gray robes accompanied with a bunch of gray robed freaks. I better go and ask what’s going on.

Strange visitors in our humble home

I found a group of monks led by a man who introduced himself as Brother Alesco, nothing less than a welcome committee from the Suel. Excellent, as if I liked politic babble. Fortunately, they are gone and I can keep writing. I want to sleep. Oh, not you again Gerald. It seems there’s another weirdo at our door.

Humm…. finally good news, some help from our friend Lady Narae, a rogue called Canrith. But we are all tired so I simply choose the biggest room for myself and let my friends argue about the other ones. Tomorrow will be a big day.

First night, first encounter

I’d like to write the first night in our keep was restful and quiet. But the harsh truth is that I’m almost dead, Ibizar has a binding spell of the eight circle of power placed on him and Seven, the moon dog of Malek, can die at any minute. I’m really pissed off. Our enemies don’t seem to respect us in our own dominions. I can’t sleep so I’ll try to write some more lines. I find a rare peace when I do it.

Well, let’s see if I can remember what happened last night. I was sleeping and dreaming with the ocean when a strange noise waked me up. I just opened the door of my chambers when a man in gray robes attacked me with some strange but very effective martial arts techniques. Hell unleashed. I managed to escape the attack and conjured a dimension door to Malek’s room in order to plan the counter attack, but the monks seemed to be very well prepared. Before we could coordinate something Canrith was paralyzed, Ibizar ended up locked in a room bathed in blood, Seven, the moon dog, was victim of a technique called “Freezing the Lifeblood” and our new friend, the Cleric of the Sun, who I guess arrived to our keep late at night, was also paralyzed. GREAT!!! Everyone ended up paralyzed or nearly dead. The monks also easily stole some of our items in the middle of the mess. I don’t know how we survived.

The peasants are frightened, they don’t feel secure anymore with The Heroes of Law, and they are right, it is not secure to stay around us. However we’ll do everything in our hands to protect them.

The next day

A new day has arrived and Brother Alesco appeared with our stuff and told us a hard-to-believe story. But we had proof of nothing. He healed Seven but Ibizar is still in grave danger. Alesco told us about the Splintered Mind, another organization from the Suel, with similar characteristics to the Scarlet Brotherhood but with an opposite agenda. It seems they tried to kill the Father of Obedience, the maximum leader of the brotherhood. Their motives are unknown to us. We need to dig in further if we want to solve this mystery.

It’s time to go for now. We’re going to make some visits today, but right now, I really don’t know who is telling the truth and who is trying to play games with us. I feel a bit like a puppet. By the way, Bahmut Castel is lost. I hope he’s all right.