Khalo's Journal: Busy Days at the Bent Elm

By Ozgander's account and my own admission, I was not an exemplary student, particularly when it came to the written word. However, by virtue of being alive for over four decades, I learned how to write with clarity and purpose, so that anyone who reads my written words can comprehend their meaning and my intent. At least I hope so - the candidates for our team's new trap finder hinge somewhat on these skills. More on that in a bit.

The creature known as Blackbriar has wandered this realm much longer than I have. One would assume, therefore, that he has learned the art of writing a letter that the intended reader can understand. I will note that it is possible that Blackbriar did not write the note that sent us into the Black Lotus and into the waiting arm of Yallathune's cultists - but he is the most likely candidate. Once we had seen the situation for what it was, it became apparent that the writer of the note had wanted us to know about the location of this coven, but the specifics of the syntax had initially led us to believe we were being requested for a meeting.

Whether or not this had been Blackbriar's intent, he certainly cannot be any more pleased with the result than we are, and perhaps considerably less so, seeing as how we handily defeated several of Yallathune's cultist minions. Of particular importance is the knowledge that by killing the living cultist, we destroy their undead servants by proxy. But now they have the very note we received, and any subterfuge the ancient redcap hoped to employ by keeping us in the know or them in the dark about his allegiances has gone belly up faster than the Sauhagin in Bornos Bay. These events are likely to have far-reaching ramifications, both in terms of future encounters with this cultist sect, and in potential future dealings with Blackbriar.

In the meantime, some rest and study period required by Orenthal allowed me to pursue the goal of recruiting a replacement of sorts for Ostar - or, more accurately, a replacement of the skills Ostar possessed. I had hoped to involve Jace more in the search process, but his focus has been rather single-minded towards this fighting for entertainment enterprise. Hence, I prepared an advertisement, and with Ozbert's assistance, distributed it to appropriate venues around the city. We are now considering three candidates for the position:

Horash - I don't think Horash is anyone's first choice. Although we should be able to overlook his physical infirmity, some in our group can not do so. But more troubling is his thoughts on what his value can be to the group, which is not in line with what we perceive to be our moral compass. Even if somehow we do not choose one of the other two, I doubt we will be employing Horash.

Tamlin - I get the feeling that Tamlin would be the pick by popular vote. He is forthright, eager to be part of a team dynamic, and possesses the minimum skill to get the job done. My only concern is that he is not the MOST skilled candidate we have interviewed. However, I could overlook this if he is willing to devote himself to the development of his trap finding and scouting to the exclusion of other talents going forward.

Hoechlin - Hoechlin is likely the most skilled of the trio, but there are some questions about his character. I could see potential conflict with some of the others. In addition, he was born in Bornos, and does not seem to be particularly driven to explore or adventure. That could prove incompatible somewhere down the line. However, it's plausible that ongoing adventure would provide him with enough material wealth to keep him motivated.

When I next record my thoughts, I will report on our choice, and expound upon the reasoning.

Entry concluded.

Soromir's Journal Entry 21

I don't have a lot of time for this entry - there is a zombie hoard marching toward the Bent Elm now. There are three things that I want to capture with this post.

1. I am getting the Dark Blade repaired by Kenneth. I had to join the Blue Star Lore Seekers to get access to their shops to buy the mithril required for the repair but it was worth it.

2. Vas-Ra is a dude and lived a very long time and his tomb is likely in the Domelands. However, I am skeptical of the general existence of Vas-Ra. For Cultists, no one in the Cult has been able to communicate with Vas-Ra from beyond. Seems like he either doesn't want to talk or isn't real. I'm leaning toward the latter.

3. Leito can summon demons and other-plannar beings. Leito and I rummaged through the remains of the Three Mugs and I found a pair of goggles of minute seeing. We also found Leito's belongings. With his belongings and a few basic supplies, Leito was able to summon this demon. And the Dark Blade was made by the Mad Elf Lenotha. Also, in relation to #2 above - when summoned, these other plannar beings do not have any info on Vas-Ra, again leading me to think that Vas-Ra isn't real.

Of note but not worth numbering - I was attacked by an elithid. It wasn't fun and I'm lucky to be writing this.

Until next time. Zombies.

Khalo's Journal: Transpiration

From Ozgander's teachings, I learned that water moves through plants from root to leaf, and when the water reaches the leaf, it evaporates in the sunlight. The name for this process is transpiration, the active term for which is transpire. This is also the word in the common language for the occurrence of an event. The common denominator between the two meanings is that they both refer to a thing that happens.

Down below the streets of Bornos, several things were happening. Among them, I saw fit to utilize my transformative powers to become a porpoise, and in the form of that porpoise I defeated several sharks. This form of combat felt more natural and purposeful than many of my encounters in dwarf form; they wanted to eat me, and I wanted to survive. Some of my other encounters have been imbued with the same purpose, but they are all too few. 

We also moved past the troglodytes to encounter a new subterranean foe - the Sahuagin, so named by Jace, who has a talent for this sort of random identification. They are a hybrid of fish and man, and they seemed to have a bustling city below the ocean, very near to Bornos. Upon discovery of this city, we had intended to leave and return to the surface, but first, Orenthal advocated for the excavation of an ancient room, and enough of us agreed that Osbert was overruled, and we opened the door. Within, we found the tomb of something (Jace called it Vas Ra), and Orenthal was mystically compelled to disturb the sarcophagus, which seemed to awaken the creature from it's doubtlessly long slumber. At that point, our group felt it was best not to hang around, and we returned to the surface alongside Leito, a prisoner of the Sahuagin whom we had rescued. Leito had been looking for the tomb of Vas Ra, but was satisfied enough by our report that he did not feel compelled to see for himself. 

We returned to Bornos, and I to Mome Rath, who had been waiting patiently for my return these past two days. I immediately saw to his care, grateful for his loyalty, and intent upon repayment of the debt. From there, we returned to the Don't Go Inn, but were soon attracted to the docks along with a good portion of the rest of the town to see the sight of thousands of Sahuagin and shark corpses floating on the surface of the water. No great leap in logic was required to attribute this genocide to whatever was occupying the tomb of Vas Ra.

In plants, the transpiration process is considered by some to be wasteful, for while the water that courses through the plant is necessary for its survival, only a small portion of that water ends up being of use to the entity, which is why the majority must be evaporated by the sun through the leaf. And yet, this evaporated water will serve some purpose once it becomes a cloud, then rain, giving life to another part of the earth, perhaps even sustaining the very plant that guided the water from underneath the ground. Similarly, as I reflected on our time in the sewers of Bornos, I was tempted to consider it time wasted, at best some form of training for my eventual life's purpose in the Domelands. But I should know better than this. I would do well to remember that every action - all that transpires, is part of the thrumming organism that is life and existence. These events may not have a considerable impact on my life, but they are certain - and not just for the dead - to be important to many others. 

Entry concluded.

Soromir's Journal Entry #20

First things first - some servant of Vas-Ra or maybe Vas-Ra itself - killed the Fishman family. Shalom.

More importantly - Leito gave a solid lead as to the final whereabouts of the tip of the Dark Blade. It's being wielded as a spear-tip by an ogre mage in the mountains north of here. Good, I enjoy killing Ogres, Trolls, Goblins, etc.

Something that I am not clear on having talked in these last few hours with Leito is the possible enslavement of Beholders to those robot/borg high-elves we keep running into. The language written on the Tomb we entered and the sarcophagus The Juice opened was written in "The Language of the Dominion" which is reference to "The Language of the Dominion of the Beholders" and it kinda sorta sounds like the Beholders are scribes for the Borg.

Whatever the case, and if followers of Yallathun were looking for ruins in the harbor district, I'm pretty sure we got their first. Eat it, you mind-less turds.

There was probably a Red-Cap tailing us the entire time while we were in the sewers and underwater and opening graves. I'm just going to assume they know what we did and I'll wait and see how this plays out.

Onward to Ogre Mountain and the completion of the Dark Blade.

Soromir's Journal Entry #19

We are about to head into a lagoon that may or may not lead out of the sewers. It seems to lead to open water but we're going to have to swim.

A note about fighting oozes - they will dissolve flesh and metal; enchanted metal will take damage and is resistant but will need considerable repair before it can be used again. I learned this with the Dark Blade. The femur bone club I used on them worked very well and didn't take any damage. Overall, they are easy to kill but can take a lot of damage. Some will even split upon taking damage.

We made it through a "puzzle" rooms and the offering required was blood. That revealed a small "treasure" room. Really, it seemed like a lot of work for not a lot of treasure (meaning the person originally hiding the treasure went to a lot of trouble.)

Just heard something stirring in the water....FML. Fish-men.

Khalo's Journal: Under Ground, Under Town

My friends elected to go down below the streets of Bornos to kill troglodytes, and by the time I realized that's what was happening, we were already in the Harbor district, getting information from one of the city's ridiculously uniformed law enforcement officers. Fortunately, I was prepared. I am always prepared. The same could not be said of Jace and Soromir, who were outfitted for galavanting about town, their colorful clothing being a code for virility, and yet, they did not do so to attract a mate. I once encountered a frog who was afflicted with such confusion. His inability to make logical decisions led to his being devoured by a pelican. This gave the pelican a good deal of intestinal discomfort, but the bird was determined to digest the frog down to the last ounce. I suppose my point is that living creatures can behave erratically at times, in ways that do not serve their self interest.

Mome Rath would not accompany us down below to the sewers, and so he was left to stand guard. As for the rest of us, we explored the tunnels and found several troglodytes. They gave us quite a fight on two occasions, depleting our team of nearly all their fighting resources. I managed to conserve a few tricks, and so had magic to spare when the fighting was finally over, but the others - particularly Norris, upon whom we rely greatly - needed a break. And so we find ourselves resting here in a pipe system, regaining our strength.

For me, my most effective strategy in these encounters involved the summoning of allies to fight on my behalf. I do not wish to become dependent on this strategy, lest I start to become predictable, and unable to adapt, but this time, it served us well, particularly when I was able to unleash bats to help us fight in the dark. The troglodytes are comfortable in the dark. I am also comfortable in the dark, but only on my own, and I have no wish at this time to be alone. That is a vestige of my being a dwarf, which I must remember is something I may have additional information about soon.

Entry concluded.

Soromir's Journal Entry #18

So far we are doing okay against the troglodytes. Their shamans are throwing some powerful magic but we're killing them. That's all that matters.

The darkness is going to be an issue. They can see us without light but we can't see them. When we get out of this, I'm going to look into getting something to help with that. We've been in a lot of low light or no-light scenarios and it sucks.

Right now we are resting in a pipe. Best I can tell, it seems like this is pipe that carries water TO the cistern we were just in. I'm not sure if this pipe is still and cistern network is still working.

Osbert just killed a blob. So there are other blobs down here too. We also discovered some potions on the skeleton sharing the pipe with us. They'll come in handy are we're likely to be swimming soon.

Khalo turned into a dolphin. Let that one sit with you for a minute. He did that because there are snakes down here too. The skeleton we're bunking with was killed by a snake, based on the snake skeleton that bones is embracing.

Not much else to write. We'll be in this pipe for a while to heal up and the casters can rememorize and restore their magic bombs.

Before I forget - when I get out of here, I'm going to leave a message to these God-king pricks on the shrine to Bajol.

And the troglodytes speak draconic. Good night.