#2: Through the King's Forest to Minroe (2/28/2021)

When we found ourselves back in the Lonesome Tankerd after our somber journey back from The Haunted Halls. I couldn't really bring myself to meet Lord Tesseral's gaze at first. I could see how much she was hurt by the loss of the young woman, and the other four who had been abducted and murdered in a similar fashion prior to our unwanted intrusion on the cult festivities. Even in normal circumstances I am loathe to lead the conversation and defer to Ember and Naivara, but especially now I lean on the strength of my Elven companions to get me through the difficult meeting with Lord Tesseral. She mentions that she has heard of additional abductions in Minroe, a long trek through The King's Forest. We decide that we will head there in search of answers and share a pleasant meal with Lord Tesseral before we retire for the evening to our rooms.

The next morning arrives and as we are eating breakfast Lord Tesseral approaches. "I'm glad I caught you before you left. Here is something that might interest you, I cannot discern its purpose, can you?" She proceeds to hand Ember a grapefruit sized spherical object made of metal with bands around it. It appears that some pieces are clearly designed to be moved. Ember casts Detect Magic and discovers it is a magical item from the school of enchantment. Whilst playing with the object four coins come out and Ember smiles. She may not know the exact purpose yet but so far it has been a fruitful acquisition.

We take our leave of Eveningstar and begin our journey south along the Starwater Road. Our first stop will be the town of Dhedluk, about three days travel. It is a serene early Spring morning and the enormous trees of the massive ancient forest beckon me today. We won't actually get to the King's Forest until about halfway through the second day of travel, and it couldn't arrive soon enough for me. I always find peace in the woods, I may not be attuned to them the way my Elven friends are, but I've found solace in their verdant sanctum many times in my life, a life too often defined by tragedies like the one witnessed the previous day. "In spite of all the problems I ran into at home, I still miss the woods dearly" Naivara said softly to Ember, mercifully derailing me from my dark train of thought. "Yes, I too feel most comfortable here" Ember replies. We continue along the trail and spend an uneventful night camping under the stars as we prepare to enter the ancient forest the next day.

After rising we make our way further along the trail. Our morning was spent walking at a moderate pace. I was feeling increasingly at peace as we got closer to the woods, and I was happy when around noon we finally reached The King's Forest. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I say to no one in particular. "It most certainly is, you know this used to be the home of many Elves, they are all gone now though" explained Naivara. The three of us all seemed to appreciate the quiet of the woods, sporadically colored by the sounds of woodland critters. I'm not sure any of us really know what our goal is since we started adventuring together, I just know I am glad to have Ember and Naivara around, especially on a several-hundred mile journey through The King's Forest, where no giant is as tall or mighty as the ancient trees themselves.

On the third day it began to rain, and as our increasing discomfort with the cold, wet conditions was only matched by the growing darkness that made it difficult for me to even see. Ember and Naivara of course were not troubled by this at all, being elves they can see in the dark as if it were the moon light. We didn't run into any thing of note on this day, I think it was one of those situations where everyone was so uncomfortable that we all simply silently focused on being agitated by the weather and trudging slowly along to Dhedluk. We encamped for the night but I found myself restless and unable to sleep, my previous love of the forest not completely forgotten with her leaving the sunlight. Several times when I awoke I looked over and noticed Ember awake as well, the weather didn't seem to bother Naivara though, or at least it didn't prevent her from sleeping. I just wanted to get dry and eat a good meal.

Our fourth day of travel began with an unseasonably hot sun to make the last leg of travel to Dhedluk more enjoyable than the misery of yesterday. We arrive mid day at our destination. Dhedluk is a small town surrounded by a stockade, it is a gorgeous farming town known for the wood carving skills of its residents. They are not used to adventurers passing through and we are the recipients of many sideways glances. Ember approaches a man and asks him where we might get a bite to eat and stay the night. "The Blushing Maiden Inn is the place you are looking for. It's run by Lord Thombir, who is also leader of our town. Best meal around and comfy lodgings for travelers...such as yourself." The man paused a bit at the end of his glowing review of The Blushing Maiden Inn, it seemed to us that he perhaps wasn't sure if it was perfect for travelers such as us because he so rarely encountered a party such as ours. Be that is it may Ember thanks him for the advice and we head to the inn. 

"What can we do for you?" says a man who we can only assume to be Lord Thombir. I can tell he is not overly excited to see us in The Blushing Maiden, as the tone of his greeting conveys a certain uncomfortableness with our party. I decide to lean right into his suspicions that we are not ordinary travelers by asking him if anything out of the ordinary has been going on recently. "I take it you are adventurers" he declares without answering my question. We respond in the affirmative and he curtly tells us not to overstay our welcome. We rent 2 rooms and replenish our ammunition before retiring for the evening. We leave Dhedluk the next morning and so our ends our uneventful, short stay.

It's a cool, clear day on the road to Waymoot along the Ranger's Way. The road through The King's Forest gets less safe the further one gets into the woods and we maintain extra vigilance on our travels. The only other creatures we encounter are a few deer on this day and we make camp with rotating watch as usual. On the sixth day after leaving Eveningstar we awaken to another beautiful day for travel. Only a few hours from Waymoot we run into a man in dark green leather armed with bow and arrow holding a brace of rabbits. I instinctively place my hand on my sword in case he presents trouble as Ember and Naivara shout out a greeting to him. "Hail fellow traveler. Any trouble in the woods these days?" Naivara, as glib as I am reticent, cuts right to the point with the stranger. "I wouldn't know, that's the council's business." he replies. He further introduces himself as Taran, a hunter and trader of animal pelts. He explains to us that Waymoot has a large population of former soldiers and the council that runs the village is comprised of retired military officers. He graciously lets us know that a trip to The Moon and Stars Tavern should be enough to find a member of the council to whom we can direct our questions. We continue to head for Waymoot with our new companion and wish him well after entering the gates of the town before we make our way for the inn.

A man named Telandro greets us with a hearty salutations as we enter The Moon & Stars. The reception we are given by this man is markedly more friendly than that which we got from Lord Thombir in Dhedluk. After sharing pleasantries Ember and Naivara tell him we have business we would like to discuss with the council. "Ahhh you need rooms" he proclaims, completely sure he will be doing business with us and smiling. We tell him we would like 2 rooms as is custom, one for the ladies and one for me, and when he asks us for 10 gold per room we immediately balk. "This is the finest inn in the land and you will be most satisfied." We agree to terms and then Ember once again asks him about the council. "The one you seek is Falken, he sits on the council, though at present he sits in the corner right over there."

We walk over to the corner of the dining room and Falken immediately invites us to sit down. "We are travelers on a quest to aid the people of Eveningstar with some troubles they've been having as of late. You'd help us greatly with our quest if you let us know of anything unusual here in Waymoot," Naivara says to Falken hoping to finally get some help on the road to Minroe. "Nothing unusual here. We are retired military officers who like the quiet life. Not only that, unusual is such a vague word. What exactly do you mean?" he asks Naivara. I quickly grow weary of the soft, old, retired officer and I ask him if anyone new has passed through town. "Other than you?" Falken responds with a grin. I turn to Naivara and tell her to just tell the man about the abductions. "What abductions?" Falken says as he straightens up in his seat, suddenly more attentive to our quest. We tell him about all that has taken place in Eveningstar and again ask him for assistance. He essentially makes it clear that they prefer to have no trouble in Waymoot, and they can offer us no help. Telandro does however mention that he has heard of problems in Minroe lately. I see nothing in front of me but a soft, weak man who has no desire to fight the evils of this world. Not a soldier at all, and certainly not an officer who should lead men into battle. Falken sends us to Rosalyn's General Store when we ask him if he knows where we could find a healing kit and we bid him good day.

After acquiring a healing potion got a princely sum at the general store we return for an uneventful night's rest at The Moon and Stars. We rise early the next morning and as we are leaving town a few people outfitted like soldiers begin to walk with us. Upon learning they are traveling to Espar we agree to travel with them for the the first 2 days of our 4 day journey when our paths will split. Our first day on the way to Minroe passes with ease and we make camp for the night and rotate watches as usual. On the 8th day since leaving Eveningstar conversation begins with our two companions. We learn they are brothers named Tegen and Semil heading to Espar to see their sister. Tegen and Semil are also quite familiar with The King's Forest and tell us where to find the turn off to get to Minroe, it is not a real road and more of a path through the woods. The next morning we party ways and begin the final leg of our journey through the ancient woods.

The party does not get very far on our first day off the road. It is much slower going through the woods on this unfinished path. It is also much less safe according to our friends Tefen and Semil. We are extremely alert as we make our way south west and we camp for the night making sure to keep vigilant watch.

The party is alarmed when rising we find ourselves in complete darkness. Massive storms are brewing and it is difficult for me to see. "Drop your gold and be gone!" I hear from somewhere off in the distance. I reach for my sword and call out to the unseen marauder. "That best be the last we hear from you for your sake!" Even in the darkness I am able to see a man about 25 feet ahead of me and I race towards him at full speed and for the first time in what seems like ages I am able to land a vicious sword strike at my opponent. This turn of good combat fortune does not go unchallenged however as the bandit cuts my left side badly in return. Once again Naivara's prowess in these situations comes through and an arrow from her bow cuts through the brazen bandit's throat and he slumps to the ground.

Unsure wether or not the dead bandit is alone, Ember casts Fog around us to hide our position. Almost immediately after the wizard enshrouds us several crossbow bolts come flying through the mist. I look at Naivara as she moves outside the cloud and she calls out to us that there are two more bandits. After Naivara's arrow fails to connect, Ember casts firebolt which hits one of the bandits in the chest without felling him. Fortunately my crossbow bolt strikes his companion in the belly. At this a third bandit reveals himself behind us and looses an errant arrow. "Return to the fog Ember!" I yell to my companion. "You will not be able to help us in melee with these goons." While Ember stays safe in the fog Naivara and I are able to dispense with the two wounded thieves and their friend. As I stand over one of the dead criminals I feel my skin crawl: the purple sunburst. The skull. This man wears the mark of the men who destroyed my village. I enter into a state of irrational rage and scream into the darkness.

"I told you when we met that day in the woods that one day I would kill the men who burned my village, the men who took everything from me!" I yell to Naivara and Ember as we continue on to Minroe. "You mean the day we saved your life. The day when your blind rage at your enemies led you to tackle a group of enemies you had no chance to match." Ember forcefully responds. The purple sunburst with the skull in the middle is the symbol of the god Cyric, the deity of murder, lies, trickery and conflict. The god of evil. "Anyone who follows him must die." I say to no one in particular as I stare dead ahead, lost in the smoke and ashes of a village and a time gone by.

We arrive in Minroe that afternoon. We encounter a man at the gates who in the course of conversation gives us an unsolicited history of his town. We learn that Minroe was a gem mining town long ago. The gem mines ran out and the town consequently suffered. Fortunately for the people of Minroe new mines were recently discovered. We let him know we are exhausted and seek lodging. The old man points us to the Fancy Tree Inn. A woman named Arkalis greets us and asks us what we need. Naivara, Ember and myself are in no mood to gather information on this night and we acquire rooms and immediately head to sleep, our long journey through The King's Forest finally complete.

The next morning we rise and find Arkalis. When we ask her if the town was experiencing any trouble as of late we hear a story eerily similar to that which we found in Eveningstar. Arkalis blames it on the new mine. "How is a mine responsible for kidnapping?" I ask her matter of factly. "That mine is haunted. There are ghosts there and other abominations. Five or six young women have been abducted recently and I know it has to do with that mine." "Is there someone who can help us learn more about this?" Naivara asks the innkeeper. "Go see Arelor, she is the governor.

We find the governor on the other side of the dining hall enjoying her breakfast. She is half-Elf and greets us with a warm smile. When we ask her about the abductions she tells us that Minroe simply does not have the manpower to handle something like this. Some tried to explore the mines but never returned. The party decides to let Arelor in on everything that happened in Eveningstar and The Haunted Halls. Arelor says she hasn't seen anything like that here. Arelor gives us directions to the mine, it is about a half-day out from town and she tells us it is mostly flooded. We thank Arelor and sit down for a quiet breakfast with the kind governor before heading for the mine.

On this day it is raining and storming. We make it to the mine by mid-day and begin our descent underground. About 100 feet into the mine we see a door leading to a room on our right. The door is open so we head in. Upon passing through the doorway we are all immediately charmed and find it impossible to move. In front of us is an Elven woman holding a dagger above a young woman on a makeshift altar. To our horror we see yet another maiden murdered in cold blood. The blood of dead girl goes into a bowl and the Elven cultist casts some sort of spell. Upon the conclusion of the spell, a long sword materializes. I notice there is an eye in the pommel looking around. Alive. She immediately cuts down the men helping her. The blade immediately kills the men, their eyes becoming blackened and leaking smoke. The woman looks up at us. "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought Varzand took care of you. I'll take it up with Roland and the Eight." She then disappears into a point of light similar to the cult leader in The Haunted Halls, who I now assume was Varzand. We notice two people in the room into which she disappeared, and though a window; water.

After coming out of the charm we investigate the altar. I notice a circle on the altar with three other circles inside of it, it looks like an eye. Ember tells us it is possible the Elven cultist was referring to the mysterious Circle of Eight when she mentioned "The Eight". This was a council of the 8 best wizards in the world, representing the eight schools of magic. Ember tells us even kings don't know who they are, where they live, or if they are good or evil...or indifferent. For that matter it is unknown if it even truly exists. We decide to head back to Minroe and arrive by evening. We tell the governor what happened and she is sorry to tell us she does not know anything about the circle symbol or the Eight. The four of us share a few drinks and grieve the loss of yet another innocent life. "I suppose now we must head for Suzail." I say with a tired voice to Ember and Naivara. My Elvish companions agree and we retire for the evening, deeply dissatisfied with results of our hard journey through The King's Forest to Minroe.

#1: There Have Been Abductions Lately (1/31/21)

It was a crisp, early Spring morning in the farming town of Eveningstar. Though it is a small town of only 400 to 500 people, it was quite prosperous due to its location at the crossroads of The High Road and Suzail Road. The scenery around this small but wealthy town was breathtaking, what with it being at the base of the eastern Stormhorn Mountains to the north and with the gargantuan and ancient King's Forest to the south. Aside from the beautiful views and the wealth of its small population of farmers, this was not much different from the many other farming towns that dot the landscape of Corymyr. The arrival of three strangers in town that morning caused many raised eye brows at the Lonesome Tankard Tap Room and Inn, a place that didn't see too many people like the three adventurers eating breakfast at a table in the corner.

Ember brushed a a few crumbs of stinky cheese off of her gray robes. Naivara drank a glass of water as if she had just traversed a desert. The two elves were different in many ways though they were both strong women who had seen many trials and tribulations in their years. Ember's fiery red hair and grey robes stood out about as much as the large wizard's staff she had resting against the wall. Eveningstar was not a town that attracted many magical types. Naivara kept a close eye on the few patrons in the room eating that day, for her many recent troubles made her perhaps too alert to the possibility of danger, perhaps sensing it where there was none. Wood elves are always alert, but Naivara prided herself on never letting anyone get the jump on her, something she considered essential to the thief's trade. Their companion Torvald paid no attention to anyone else in the room, including the two elves. He was battle hardened enough to know when danger was afoot, and he sensed none in this high-end tap room. He simply ate his plate of sausages, bacon, ham, and a single piece of fruit and enjoyed the quiet of the meal, as he was never one for superfluous conversation, which is why he let out an audible sigh when a wizardly woman approached their table to strike up conversation.

"Would ye mind if I sat down?" asked the beautiful woman standing at their table. Ember greeted her and bade her to sit. "I am Lord Tesseral Winter, ruler of Eveningstar. You three aren't from here, are you?" Torvald lifted his head and began to speak but was immediately and instinctively cut off by Naivara, who quickly learned when Torvald was about to be cross with a stranger, which was almost always. "We are travelers on our way south, what is on your mind Lord Tesseral?" She began to tell them about a series of abductions that had been occurring in the town recently. Since Eveningstar's population of adventurers, warriors, and wizards was exceptionally low she was hoping that perhaps Ember, Naivara, and Torvald could be of some assistance in helping uncover the mystery of these recent troubles. "What's in it for us?" Naivara said with a grin. Taken aback Lord Tesseral offered them 100 gold pieces and maybe more to save any abducted townsfolk. "Who has been abducted?" asked Ember. "Some men, some women, but mostly younger women. This quiet farming community has never had troubles with anyone and we like to keep it that way. Would you help us?" After conversing amongst themselves our adventurers decided to take on the mission to the Haunted Halls, where Lord Tesseral Winter said she suspected there could be some answers. The three decided since it was early they would finish eating and head north west immediately.

The trail to The Haunted Halls meandered north west along a gorge. It was about 30 miles from Evening Star to their destination. Ember, Naivara, and Torvald started walking along the river when around noon-time Naivara heard a growling and scratching in the distance. She continued walking and ignored it for a bit when with a piercing screech a large, bear-sized creature with feathers and the face of an owl appeared about 50 years away with blood dripping from its maw. The fierce monster stared at the party as they slowly backed away hoping to avoid angering the creature. It watched them for a minute and then returned to its meal. As evening approached the party set up camp for the night, only about a half-day away from their destination. A watch rotation was agreed upon and the night was uneventful. All three party members were confident this was be an easy mission and a fine treasure to boot. They fell asleep soundly and were eager to rise again and continue along the trail.

After waking up the party continued their march towards The Haunted Halls. They arrived at two large cracks in the gorge and went into the north crack as Lord Tesseral Winter had indicated. the crack was clearly man-made and was about 10 feet wide. The party came upon a pair lichen covered doors and entered. They moved softly (with Torvald the warrior inadvertently doing everything he could to sabotage the efforts of the elves to remain quiet) and entered a dimly lit room. On either side of a doorway straight ahead was a skeleton in tattered leather armor holding a sword. Naivara suddenly has the urge to check the walls for secret doors. Though she was able to determine there was most likely a hidden door, her and Ember collectively could not ascertain the trigger. "Hello Sir!" Ember jokingly said to one of the skeletons when to her surprise both began to come to life. Springing to action Naivara shot an arrow at one of the skeletons and easily knocked its head clean off and it once again fell to the ground. Sensing the danger his wizard companion was still in being so close to the other skeleton Torvald charged at the undead foe and cut off its non-sword arm with a swing of his long sword. Ember haplessly missed the skeleton with her staff to which the skeleton responded with a swing of his own sword. Torvald attempted to stand between them to no avail and Ember felt the sword stab into her. Thankfully Naivara's bow work once again was on point as she landed another head shot causing the second skeleton to de-animate and fall to the floor. 

After collecting themselves for a moment the party walked through the door. Ember immediately put her arm in front of Torvald and Naivara and hushed them. She whispered that she could hear something coming from the hallway to the left. They stealthily moved down the hall and now all three could hear an unknown language in a room about 10 feet down the hall. They looked into the room and saw what used to be quarters, there were broken beds and old chests. There were also three creatures in front of a make shift altar. One of the creatures was facing Torvald as he led the way into the room and held a jagged dagger. The chanting stopped and the creature with the dagger looked at the party with an evil grin. It was a human male wearing blood-red plate armor and a black hooded cloak. "Can I help you?" he asked in a sinister way. The other two men in the room were wearing masks and standing at the armored man's side. "We were just exploring and heard voices," said Ember, ever level-headed and even tempered. "You are liars!" exclaimed the man in the blood-red armor. "What are you three doing here?" inquired Ember. The man then held a dagger to the throat of a young woman on the altar and demanded the party leave or she would die. Torvald was becoming increasingly agitated as he knew there was only one way this was going to end regardless of the actions of the party, and he was proven right when the man in the blood-red armor drew his dagger across the young woman's throat, ending her life in the flower of her youth, right after Ember asked him why she must die. 

Riddled with righteous rage Ember loosed a firebolt at the murderer and missed. Torvald followed with a shot from his crossbow and managed to hit him in the shoulder between two plates of armor. At that the evil man extended his arm and made a fist. He raised his arm as if pulling some up, and two skeletons animated from the ground. Immediately a skeleton moved on Torvald. One of the cultists next to the apparent leader unsheathed a scimitar as Naivara hit him with an arrow to the stomach. Torvald turned to the two elves and angrily said, "pity the arrow was loosed after the throat was slashed." Ember in turn unleashed a magical bolt of lightning at one of the scimitar wielding cultists and hit him directly in the chest, nearly killing him. Torvald turned to a skeleton and proceeded to swing his sword with the fury of all his years of battle and severed the spine of the foul creature and it immediately fell apart. At this point the cult leader looked at Torvald and the elves and smiled "This has been fun, but I'll see you another time." A pin prick of light appeared and opened into a doorway into which he disappeared along with the door itself as the light went out. The party had no time to consider the extreme oddity of what they'd just seen, for they still found themselves in combat with two scimitar wielding cult members and an undead skeleton.

The two cult members looked at each other panicked and unsure what to do without their leader. It is possible even they were unaware he held such power. They were shaken out of their stupefied gazes when Naivara shot an arrow towards them, which missed wildly and hit the wall behind them. Her unusual lack of accuracy was punished by a slashing cut to the arm from one of the cultists. Ember momentarily forgot her lack of melee combat abilities and ran to her injured friend with noteworthy courage. She proceeded to run right up to the cultist and try to push him into the fire, totally ignoring the difference in weaponry and strength. Torvald then swung his sword at a skeleton and missed badly, to which that skeleton responded with a punishing cut to Torvald's chest. As each member of the party continued to miss on one attack after another their situation grew perilous. In the raging melee Naivara finally managed to kill one of the cultists with a forceful stab of her rapier into his chest. Torvald was once again cut badly, this time in the chest as the other cultist began to fight like someone afraid for his life now that it was just him and one of the skeletons. Ember too was now hurt badly as she was wounded by one of the skeletons. As Naivara swung her rapier with all her might at the remaining skeleton she cut right through his spine and the skeleton fell to the ground. She looked at her two mortally wounded companions and swung her rapier once more, this time at the last cultist, knocking him out and saving the party from tragic doom in the Haunted Halls.

After tying up the cultist the party rested for the night to regain their strength. After rising Torvald looked at the cultist and told him about the large owl-faced monster they had seen on the way to the Haunted Halls. He then told the cultist the party would feed him to the monster if he didn't explain the abductions and the meaning of the ritual they were conducting. The terrified cultist tells the group that their leader forced them to conduct the ritual and that five people had been abducted and killed thus far. At that moment the group reflected on the fact that when they saw the cult leader disappearing into the light doorway, he was going into a nicely furnished, stately room, not at all like the dingy room in the ruins of the Haunted Halls. The cultist then told the party that his name was Bram and that their leader had promised him wealth and power one night when he was drinking at The Old Man's Face inn in Tyrluck. The party headed back to Eveningstar and had an uneventful two days trip. Naivara entered town alone and found Lord Tesseral and told her of their adventure. Torvald and Ember then brought Bram to the small town jail. Lord Tesseral was visibly shaken by the body of the young woman, deeply moved by the murder of such a lovely young woman that she felt personally responsible for, as she did for all the denizens of Eveningstar. Torvald looked at Lord Tesseral and asked her if there have been any abductions anywhere else lately. "Minroe to southeast and perhaps Suzail further south on the Dragonmere. The party decides to head for Minroe all the way on the other end of the ancient King's Forest. The party agrees to spend the night at the inn and get some rest before the long trip, for on this day they had nearly perished in The Haunted Halls.