Quite a motley crew I have fallen in with on this journey. On the whole, my little adventuring party seems split between two opposites: the pious and the scoundrels. On the holier side, we have Thad, a devout follower of Pelor. Kalian is also a devout man, a follower of St. Cuthbert, but more of a fighter type. Both of these men are human. Our two scoundrels are also human: Paxil and Baldassar.
I am writing down our adventures in this journal, starting on our fourth day in this strange dungeon. We nearly lost one of our group yesterday, and we are forced to rest a few days before we press on. Perhaps I will look back, years from now, and read this journal with an amused reaction at my youthful exploits. Or maybe I will write many volumes, only to die with the work in my hand, still unfinished--like the dead titan.
The dead titan marked the end of my overland journay and the beginning of this underground exploration. I had recently met Thad, the young acolyte of Pelor, and we approached a large body lying on the group. Three others also approached--Kalian, the holy warrior of St. Cuthbert, and the two soundrels, Paxil and Baldassar. The titan appeared to have died of old age. There was nothing of note on the body, except for several pages written in an unfamiliar script. I used one of my scrolls to allow myself to comprehend the strange tongue. The titan's name was Breysus. His writings mentioned his brother, Barcelus, and that Berysus was hoping to see his brother again one day. The writings also mentioned that Breysus was guarding something, but I did not have enough magical power remaining to read further.
The five unlikely companions, strangers mostly, agreed to enter the cave formerly guarded by Berysus. I guess we all assumed that we could always exit and split up, if we could not work together. But the gods conspired to keep us together, for once we entered the cave, we came to a strange black barrier. We were able to pass through the barrier, but could not exit the same way.
We came across three orcs, who did not attack us. I talked to them, briefly, but they seemed rather apathetic and unwilling to parlay much. They said they were waiting, but would not elaborate on for what they were waiting. The orcs asked us to leave, and as they had not threatened us, we left.
There were two doors leaving the orcs' chamber. (We later discovered that they both led to the same room.) The door we used led to a foul chamber, with many dead bodies in it. We quickly tried to depart that room. There were several doors out of the room. One of the exits led to a room with even fouler smells; even some of our hearty souls unaffected by the first room were nauseated by the second chamber. We decided to exit through a different door.
It has only been a few days since entering this complex, but already the details are fading from my mind. We ventured into a lot of rooms. Some were empty; some contained only rubble. Sometimes the rubble was literally rubble from the ceiling; we later experienced violent tremors which loosened the very ceiling above our heads at night. In other spots, the rubble was comprised of smashed furniture and other common objects.
We have encountered some strange animals. Rats of unusual size, dire enemies indeed! And we even fought some strange, flying creatures which were obviously tained by fiendish blood. We could fight only one or two battles before our resources were depleted and we were forced to rest. But after several of the small battles, we began to work together more effectively as a fighting team. We could also see each other's skills improving as time went on; I, myself, felt even more of The Stern's holiness and protection flowing through me. I was able to help one companion resist some foul disease, and I have never been able to cast as many spells as I do now!
As I can not recount every detail, I will write down only the most interesting encounters we have in this dungeon. And one of the most interesting occurred on the third day in this place. We entered a room which no sound could penetrate. Following this chamber, the next showed a map of my homeland, the Flinty Hills. This greatly puzzled me, for the Flinty Hills are several months journey across the Flanaess. When I thought of another place, the room changed and showed a map of the current place in my thoughts.
The next chamber was stranger still. There were four pillars, one in each corner, with water flowing down the side of each pillar. As we entered the room to investigate, an ogre rushed from behind a pillar to attack us. The combat was not going well, and one of my companions lay crumpled on the ground. As a last, desperate measure, I issued a magical command to "Flee!" which the beast obeyed! He returned a few moments later, but with a much more defensive posture. An uneasy truce was initiated after I spoke with him. I learned his name was Bragdar, and he agreed to let us pass through his chamber if needed. I promised to bring him some food (if we find any), because he was sick of eating rats and the flying creatures (which tasted like smoke).
We travelled far beyond the lair of Bragdar, and that is where we almost met our doom.
We entered a chamber with several of the flying fiends. We were not faring well against their attack, and when we retreated Paxil was nearly dead. But his god must watch over him, for all hope was not lost. The healing arts of myself and Thad were able to heal some of our injuries and bring life to Paxil once more.
It is here that my journal must end, for I have caught up to the present time. The next time we have an extended rest, I will add more to the tale.
Gaerennraer, devout servant of The Stern
Postscript: At night, we secure all doors, for we hear many beings travelling down the passageways. Our first night, we camped in the orc room for they had all been slain (most likely at the tentacles of the flying fiends), and I spoke to a small creature who spoke the Draconic tongue. I did not open the door before he scurried away, so he did not enter the room and I did not get a good look at him. He asked if we were the ones who had escaped. I have no idea what that means, for he would not elaborate.
We continued our trek through this large complex.
Our scoundrel companions had some trouble with a trap. We encountered one previously which kept firing arrows made of acid and they could not disable it. Today, they again had this problem, but with a trap that kept exploding. This nearly killed one of them, and we had to forego searching that room.
We did explore several other rooms. We fought many of the same creatures, and even passed by the sites of our previous battle. Some of the rooms did contain other creatures to fight. In one chamber, we actually encountered some large skeletons. Thad, with the might of Pelor on his side, reduced them to ash in just seconds.
Another room contained powerful traps to ward off trespassers. We were able to bypass the traps and enter the room. We were greatly excited to see a box--unguarded--which radiated magic. But to our disappointment, when we opened it, inside all we found were some pebbles. What hoax is this?
More fiendish vermin tried to swarm us. But the battle was more annoying than life-threatening.
We did find some magical clubs later--they seemed to have some sort of permanent light enchanted upon them. Useful, for my human companions require even more light than I do.
We finally encountered a group of humanoids that posed a threat to us. A group of kobolds, led by a magic casting runt of some sort. Though they utilized a powerful webbing spell to stop us, we were able to burn down the web and continue our assault on the group. And when we were finished, we discovered that some of their gear was actually magical. That was quite a boon for our group and its meager supplies.
And after running through these endless corridors, more good news! Though we have not found an egress from this place, The Stern himself has blessed me. We all continue to increase in prowess, but recently I began to glow with the light of Gaerdal Ironhand! I found that I can extinguish the light at will. My companions were a bit startled by this new ability of mine, but found the new light source useful.
Gaerennraer, devout servant of The Stern
I have lost track of the days in this wretched place, so I shall being keeping a more detailed record of our "little" adventure. I shall call tomorrow "Day 8" although I do not know that it is truly the eighth day of our exploration.
We have slogged through more rooms in this accursed place. Apart from the usual fiendish creatures (of both the flying and crawling variety), we have had a few interesting encounters. There was one series of room that seemed to be attuned to the elements. We definitely encounted some sort of sonic area, a fire area, and a frigid, icy area. While traipsing through this portion of the dungeon, I felt some odd sensations. The feelings left me quickly, but something was different. I know not yet what it means, but I will find out in time, I suppose. I do not know if anyone else had the same sensations.
There was one survivor of the kobold group we vanquished. He agreed to come with us and actually proved to be quite useful to our group. I was actually beginning to trust him, for he was true to his word and even helped us in a few battles.
We learned from our kobold companion that his group had entered the complex along with a much larger group, led by some orcs. We came across these orcs, and asked to speak to their leader. He was uncommunicative and eventually attacked us. We easily slew him and the orcs agreed to traverse the dungeon with us. What fortune--we now had a small army with us and thought that our passage through the complex might be eased. Such foolish thoughts we had! It took just one trap--a bolt of lightning--and most of our new companions died. The new leader of the orcs, oddly enough, died most nobly. He threw Thad's unconscious body out of harm's path, thus saving Thad's life. This noble act proved his undoing--the trap went off again (as almost all traps in the accursed place do!) and he died instantly. While we were relieved that we had all survived, we were saddened by the loss of our new companions. In the short time we knew them, they acted nobly and true. One can not ask for much more than that, especially in the forsaken prison we now find ourselves in.
Prison. Such an apt word. My strangest encounter thus far in the dungeon just occurred. We came across a dead body. It looked to be a typical human, but there was something odd about it. When I touched it to remove a ring from the corpse, I was transported elsewhere. Not literally, physically transported--but spiritually. In a few seconds, I learned that the body belonged to an archon (a mightly celestial) named Alsap. He was stalled on his journey to paradise--until I touched him. He told me that the place he fell (the very dungeon we are trapped in) was a prison. We had seen some evidence of this earlier, and I felt a small thrill that this powerful spirit confirmed our suspicions. He explained further that something went wrong and the prisoners escaped. He fell while trying to correct the situation. He also asked me if I would continue his work--to track down the prisoners. When I agreed to this task (what else, pray Gaerdal, am I going to do while trapped here?!), he then asked if I would accept his gift. Again, I agreed. He touched me and I felt a powerful surge of energy going through me. I knew instantly that he had increased my power--both physically and spiritually--for the upcoming trials.
Again, The Stern has led me to this amazing gift. All praise to Gaerdal Ironhand! The Stern is preparing me for some momumental task and I believe I know what that task will be. When we get out of this prison, I will be ready for The Stern's work.
Gaerennraer, devout servant of The Stern
The eighth day of our captivity has arrived. Though we grow stronger, we nearly met our match. Though we are quite powerful, stronger foes await us. Though we work together as a team, a single foe nearly annihilated us. But the Stern smiles on our work, and we are victorius! After bypassing yet more traps, and clearing out more rooms populated by minor evils, we found an exit to another level. We were stumped by a secret door we could not open. But nearby, we found another door. The door was barred, but some sort of sigil on the door matched the ring I received from the archon Alsap. The ring opened the door.
We decided to finish vanquishing the foes of this level before entering the door. As I wrote above, we did not find too much of interest, save for one chamber. In the foul room, we almost met our doom. But, praise Gaerdal Ironhand, we emerged victorious! In that chamber, we first saw another swirling portal into the Abyss. We were then attacked by what we later determined was a powerful sorcerer, who was served by a imp from Hell itself. The two proved most formidable, and several of my companions tred dangerously close to death's door. The sorcerer was flying during this combat, and his imp companion could turn invisible at will. Though they wore us down, with some judicious healing during the combat, all survived to take down the foul caster and his wretched familiar. When done with the combat, we discovered a powerful symbol of good--a small figurine of a gryphon. By holding this figure in hand and focusing on the portal, we were able to partially close the portal to the Abyss. Continuing our efforts, we manged to close the portal entirely! Alas, when done, the figurine crumbled to dust. Though I was sad to see such a powerful artifact of good destroyed, its purpose had been nobly completed.
Before descending the stairs, we asked Bragdar (the ogre) to accompany us. We explained that all the orcs and kobolds were dead, and the only way out we had discovered was the stairs. While he accompanied us to the stairs, and descended with us, he would go no further. He now awaits us at the entrance to this portion of the prison, in the hope that we will find a way out. I wish he would traverse this dungeon with us, for I worry about his safety. Perhaps, when we do find a way out, he will accompany us and be led to the light of the Stern! He would be a most formidable acolyte, assisting the gnomes of the Flinty Hills in escaping their oppression....
We slept before we descended the stairs; the fight with the flying sorcerer depleted our resources and we were forced to rest before continuing. So, it is now Day 9 of our trek.
This portion of the prison is interesting. We came across some very clever traps, including an odd room which had some sort of retractable bridge across a deadly snake-filled pit.
But the most interesting room (so far) is the room of mirrors. Thad stepped into this room, and was immediately cut off from the rest of us. It seems the Paxil had not noticed a trap! Eventually, he was able to reset and then disable the trap and Thad once again joined our group. There were several doors in the mirror room, and we began to explore them one at a time.
Gaerennraer, devout servant of The Stern