Journal Entry 6

To The Keep

The Lord of Winterhaven has finally come out of his befuddled state and is acting more like a leader. I have high hopes that the town is going to right itself very soon and be back to normal. We each received 100 gold pieces for the salvation of the city which was accepted with gratitude. A hero's work is never done however, and we need be off to see to this keep where great evil lay plotting the demise of this world. We headed out of town under a grand celebration with the Lord of Winterhaven leading the cheers. It was then that we noted our party had gained an additional member. Valthrun, now apparently with a more clear mind and appearing fully clothed was at our sides. I was and still am suspicious of him all of the sudden joining us given how he prefers the shelter of his tower where he can worry himself about trivial things such as the state of his dress. He even had the nerve to hand me his pack to carry like a servant. I let the pack drop and met his eyes straight on. I wanted to be clear with him that his route of solitude and research was not the one I will choose. I've had enough academia for now is the time for action, not study. Valthrun picked up his pack and accepted that I was no longer his apprentice. No longer his indentured servant is more like it.

We set out along the main road towards the keep. The road became more and more overgrown as few travel up this far. Eventually, Shade and Lodi were blazing the trail as we followed. Zar'za and I never let Valthrun out of our sight. There isn't much trust given the shape-shifters as of late. Fortunately, those we have run across are no longer drawing breath. The same will become of Valthrun should we discover he is also a facade. As we continued on the trail, it came to our attention that the Sinister Rib was unguarded as Valthrun was in our company without it. He assured us that it was safe in his tower. His assurances did very little to comfort us given the trouble we had gone through to get it to his tower in the first place. We had little choice in the matter as our only option would be to return to Winterhaven and try to reason with Valthrun which appeared to be futile. The party bucked up and continued on towards the keep.

Evil Ahead

The path eventually became more worn down which normally is a good sign. Unfortunately the tracks belonged to the evil that has come to this part of the world. We were close. Just how close we were became instantly obvious when the forest simply stopped. The land turned to black ash in an instant. Shade and Lodi looked out into the dark land and saw nothing save a large opening in the ground. Certainly not inviting to say the least. Entering onto the black plains instantly brought a coldness and sense of despair. The evil here was great indeed. Zar'za suggested a quick rest before we head on into the depths of whatever hellspawn ruled this land. Entering back into the forest provided an instant sense of relief from the dark feelings of dread. I witnessed Zar'za offering to take Valthrun's pack to which he gladly accepted. I then took note of Shade performing a cursory examination of the pack. I took a moment to smile. The look on Shade's face (what I could see through his hood) did not change any. I took this to mean he did not find anything to change our opinion of Valthrun either way. He shall continue to be under our watchful eye.

After the rest we headed back into the dark land. The evil returned as it fully permeated our beings. We moved out to see the opening in the ground had a set of stairs descending underground within them. Shade and Lodi went into their stealth modes and descended the stairs. Once again, the stealth was uncovered as I saw Shade quickly take out his bow and let loose his arrows. Unfortunately, his arrows did not silence the guard at the bottom of the stairs. I began to furiously recall my spells to put them to the most effective use. I hoped Valthrun would be able to add his magics to our cause but he was much more interested in documenting the entire event. I wondered why we were bothering with this waste for a moment and then concentrated once again on the enemy we faced.

I began my ascent cautiously down the stairs. Two thrown javelins, one striking Shade in the thigh, reaffirmed my cautious approach. The little imps were shouting all kinds of taunts and dares, feeling a bit of courage given their success with the javelin throw. Lodi was a bit more anxious to get into battle as was Korva. They both sped down the steps and into a dark room. Four pillars were arranged and provided Korva, Shade and Lodi some cover. Zar'za drug Valthrun down after all of us. He'd prove to be more than worthless in a fight as we quickly discovered. Coming down to the bottom of the stairs I saw Korva fighting with something. I couldn't get a good look so I threw up a fast light spell against the wall to illuminate the target. That worked wonderfully as I let loose with a magic missile. Shade opened up on a goblin across the room, spilling his guts with several arrow strikes. Lodi looked to press the advantage and close with the opposing crossbow cretins when the floor gave away. I saw him fall into a pit where the floor instantly began to move. In a land this evil, I knew that couldn't be good. Lodi's shrieks confirmed my instinct. Korva finished off the foe and closed the distance with the remaining enemy avoiding the pit while Shade did the same from the opposite side. I had my ghost hand retrieve the rope from my pack and tie it off to a pillar to allow Lodi a better chance at getting out of the pit. I went over and saw that the pit contained a horde of rats. Vile creatures. I put up a light on the wall of the pit to better illuminate the path for Lodi and he came straight up out of it. I came to his aid as I cast a sheet of flame down the hole in an attempt to dissuade the rats. Unfortunately the little beasts that remained were undeterred and continued up after Lodi. The battle on the other side was going much better where Korva and Shade each finished the remaining goblins with their blades along with knocking one of them into the pit before coming back to assist with the rats. Once Lodi was up and out of the pit, he ran back to the safety of the stairs where I saw him bleeding from several open wounds. Zar'za performed her healing magics to the best of her abilities. I did my best to fry more of them with my scorching orb but they were not turned or sated and continued on towards me. I backed away from their scratching and clawing but not before they tasted some of my flesh. Nasty little buggers. Korva came around and was able to stomp out the last remaining rats. We took stock of our situation, noting that our "stealthy" entrance had not drawn out any more of the enemy. We bound our wounds as much as we could and set out to further explore the area.

Where There's a Whip...

Exploring the area didn't reveal much. We found a looted store room behind a tapestry that proved to be flammable. After the pit trap, we didn't want to fall into any other sorts of surprises that might be set. We came across a large iron door which was unlocked. Cautiously, we ventured inside. After descending some stairs, we could hear the sounds of miners coming from an illuminated area ahead of us. The miners spoke in draconic tongue suggesting that they were goblins or the like. One was in charge and shouted obscenities at the laborers to encourage them to dig harder and faster. They were looking for something; whatever it was wasn't clear at all. On our way down the hall to get a better look, we came across another hole in the hall. This one was totally dark. Shade requested I cast a light spell on a rock to which I obliged him. He tossed it down into the hole where nothing could be made out. Some movement was heard from the depths but nothing more. Shade insisted that we need to deal with whatever was down in the hole before going any further. Putting some thought into what might be down there, I figured it was simply some unintelligent creature that was wandering around in the hole and was not worth our time. The light may even keep whatever it was at bay. After a quick debate, the party elected to leave the hole and it's contents be and continue down the hall with Lodi and Shade leading the party. We came to the source of the noise and could see that the area was well lit. Our ranger and spy had a quick glance and reported that this was indeed a dig site. One goblin with a crossbow was overseeing the work while a pair of lizard-like dogs patrolled the area. I recalled them from our encounter in the other dig site where we secured the Sinister Rib and knew they would be trouble. Shade and Lodi figured they could dispatch the overseer quietly. We decided to let them try. Shade came around the corner and let loose with two fast shots. Both found their mark and the overseer fell over dead without so much as a peep. Work continued on below. So far so good.

The party got into a good ambush position and sprung the trap on the remaining workers. Korva stormed down a dirt ramp and engaged one of the workers. Shade and Lodi let fly their arrows while I fired off my magic missiles. Zar'za and Valthrun kept an eye on the hole to ensure we wouldn't have any surprises pop up behind us. My compatriots were much more accurate than I in the fight as I tried to bring down the lizard-dogs. The fight was short and decisive as Korva dispatched the workers while Shade and Lodi eviscerated the lizard-dogs. One of the lizard-dogs took a bite out of Shade before meeting its end however.

We patched up ourselves once again and began to head out further into the depths of this hellhole. Our path became clear as we backtracked towards the initial entrance and discovered another descending stairway. The evil emanating from this fouled land intensified as we looked further downwards. Only our courage allowed us to continue the descent.