11/17/03 (Real world)

<Note: All text hereafter, except the heading, is written in a coded form of
Draconic>

IF THIS JOURNAL IS FOUND, THERE IS A SUBSTANTIAL REWARD FOR ITS RETURN TO HANREL TANNISON, IN THE CITY OF ERDAENOS

To: Hanrel Tannison
Order of the Erdaenos Collectors
Library of Erdaenos
City of Erdaenos

From: Dain Lonair
Lake of Lost Voices
2 Days Walk South of Gahanis

Re: Mission Report 6

Date: 18 Fifthmonth 1757

Putting my concerns over Nefenr aside for the moment, we safely spent the night in town, and struck out the next day in search of supplies and a cure for our ailing friend, Roksha.

It didn't take us long to locate a talented herbalist. Unfortunately, his assessment of Roksha's condition was grim. While the Faen races appear immune to the mushrooms, all others suffer addiction from consuming the fungus. Ending the consumption of the mushrooms only results in increased illness, and hardening of the skin. However, while continued use of the shrooms can temporarily stave off such ill effects, it results in worse harm with time. Apparently it wasn't the consumption of the mushroom that caused his addiction, he only ate the one bite after all. It was the spore cloud from the phungoid goblin creatures that caused an instant addiction.

The only solution is a shock dose of herbs, followed by regular herbal consumption over a period of one year. During this treatment, the ill effects should be lessened.

Some of the necessary herbs can be gathered from the forest, or we can pay for them at something between 200 to 400 gold for the initial dose, and about 10% of that for following doses. The herbalist will know more in three to seven days, and he appeared willing to negotiate the price or barter for some service.

We attempted to reassure Roksha that we would all do everything we could to help him out. He appreciated our encouragement, but seemed downtrodden nonetheless. He again emphasized that, under no circumstances was he to be allowed within sight of any more mushrooms. This caused me to decide to tuck my pouch with the mushroom sample far down in my backpack, wrapped tightly so that no smells might escape.

Later that day we bought and sold some further supplies, the details of which are uninteresting.

Of some interest, however, was the discovery of the history of my new Scimitar. I persuaded Iyri to cast an object loresight spell on the weapon five or six times. Ordinarily, such a number of castings would not yield information about the magical nature of an object. However, using my knowledge of magic, I came up with a scheme to bypass some of the otherwise necessary steps in the uses of that magical spell.

I first asked Gür to hold the scimitar, and to declare himself the owner of that object. He balked at first, exclaiming that he needed to engage in the ceremony of ownership and or gift giving to perfect such a transfer. I explained such would be unnecessary for this matter, since he would be releasing ownership back to me shortly. He thought on it a while, and eventually agreed to forgo such ceremonies, for now.

Iyri then cast the spell, enabling her to skip over the steps concerning information about the prior person who touched the object, and the prior person to own the object, since this was information she already possessed.

She learned that the sword was 100 years old, that a mand named Redathor was the creator, and that Redathor was a mojh. He created the sword as a gift, while he resided in Gahanis. Finally, the object emits a slightly enchanted aura, typical of first stage, novice/apprentice type magical items.

I thanked Iyri kindly, and after some discussion Gür released ownership of the weapon back to me. I gave the scimitar a few swift flurries, testing it's weight and balance, and found myself quite pleased with this new blade.

Thereafter we spent the day on the road towards the Lake of Lost Voices. The road was not well-traveled, and meandered through many hills, and along the path of a streambed.

We spent one night uneventfully in camp off the side of the road, and marched on the next day. We used the time to identify a few potions we had found on Merril Yannis. Iryi wisely used a few spells to assist her, and we were able to identify them with no difficulty.

After a short while on the road, several of us heard some grunting sounds coming from several yards off the path. I recognized the sounds almost at once - a bear!

Sniktari nodded in acknowledgement, and swiftly but stealthily moved through the underbrush to investigate.

While I did not see it happen, Sniktari recounted for us later the events that then transpired. Facing down the bear, claws extended, Sniktari roared in challenge at the bear, waving his arms about in a threatening manner
[Note: Natural 19 on Intimidate check]. The bear, apparently fearing the angry Wolverine-Totem, fled.

The rest of us quickly caught up with the scene, and saw laying on the ground a rapidly dying humanoid, who had been badly mauled by the bear.

I noted there felt like something wrong concerning the bear, but couldn't put my finger on it. Moving on, I inspected the creature on the ground.

On closer examination, I identified the creature as a Rhodin, one of the race of usually foul-tempered and nasty creatures that often roam the hills and mountains.

The Rhodin quickly succumbed to the pain. But before he did, he spoke: "Beware her - she wants the sphere to destroy us all. Don't let her have the orb."

An orb? This sounded very much like an object of power. I had to know more!

I persuaded Iyri again to use her healing magic on the creature, in the interests of discovering more about this orb and woman who wishes to destroy us. She was reluctant, as always, and I felt empathy for her dilemma. But, in the end she relented.

The Rhodin came around, and struggled immediately to get away. Sniktari tackled him, knocking him back out again. Again, Iyri healed its wounds, and this time Sniktari was on top of him immediately, preventing further attempts at escape.

After we removed the blue dagger which was imbedded in his back, he warmed slightly to us and through intimidation (mostly with Snik's claws close, and my soothing words in his ear), the Rhodin admitted the following: The woman who wants the orb is the Blue Knight. The Orb is at the Lake of Lost Voices. He was sent to deliver a message (the one he had repeated to us earlier). He doesn't recall the bandits, and in fact strangely cannot recall who he works for or what his full mission was.

Though my initial reaction to the beast-man was disbelief, everything in his demeanor said that he was telling the truth.

Few things could erase a man's mind like that. I knew what one of them was, however - a powerful Akashic. And, who was the most powerful Akashic in these parts? Nefenr!

My suspicions could not be confirmed, however, by the Rhodin. The creature knew nothing else. We briefly discussed the matter, but since the Rhodin had answered our questions, and did not appear to be a threat. We gave him some food, and sent him on his way. He was thankful, and hurried off into the hills.

As we resumed our march down the little-traveled path, I contemplated the possibility that Nefenr had altered the Rhodin's mind. There was no way to prove it, nor would speculation render any further information. Difficult as the thought was, I filed it away in my memory, and tried to move on.

Shortly, we came upon a large mound. Near the mound was a woman. We approached slowly, offering words of welcome.

Before we could finish our greeting, however, she attacked! Spikes of energy flew away from her, striking towards Sniktari. In response, Snik charged her, ripping into her flesh with his extended claws, as another bolt of energy struck out at him. Roksha was equally swift to act, thudding several arrows into her from afar. She fell without a word, dead where she lay.

I got to her side within moments, but I was too late. There was no clue as to her identity on her person. Only some padded armor, a club, and a witch bag. The bag would come in handy for Snik, who was intrigued by the witchery arts, and he happily accepted this item as his own.

While the others discussed what could have caused the woman to attack, I examined the mound closer. There I found a large stone marker in the face of the ancient mound. The text was so ancient that I was having tremendous difficulty reading it, despite my long studies in such forgotten lore. Fortunately, Iyrianna was able to decipher the script, and identified it as an ancient form of common, used long ago, before even the dramojh. I was definitely intrigued!

The text read as follows: "It came from sky but not from our makers. We fashioned it into a magnificent orb, the symbol of our homes and dreams. Instead it was full of nightmares. It has taken the lives of our city, but is now safely sealed in the temple, Should this fall into the wrong hands, our nightmares will be shared in a plague of dreams. Heed this warning and avoid the orb at all costs."

Yes! This was the key to our quest, I felt certain. The ancient text we were pursuing must have something to do with this orb, which the Rhodin had warned us about as well.

But who were these now-lost people? What city had fallen? And what exactly did this malevolent orb do to them?

We moved on a short ways, and made camp for the night. As I stared up into the stars that evening, my thoughts drifted to the orb. An ancient artifact with power over nightmares. Older even than the Dramojh invasion. It was precisely the sort of artifact the Order wanted me to retrieve.

Despite my worries over Nefenr, I slept well that night, feeling closer to my goal than ever before.

The next morning we marched on at a brisk pace. A short ways down the road, we heard someone coming from up ahead.

Swiftly, we scurried into the bushes to the side of the path.

Soon, we saw the source of the noise - and I knew right away who it was. Nefenr!

My heart skipped a beat, and I must have stepped on a twig in my moment of inattention, for he swiftly spotted me in the brush, and called out.

I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready to face Nefenr down, not without further information. But ready or not, I had to do something. I stepped forward, onto the road, and greeted him warmly.

Nefenr said he was out here painting, though I saw nothing on him that looked like paint-related materials. [Quote of the day from Roksha: "I'd like to request a detect bullshit roll"]. I told him that our friend, Roksha, was infected with the mushroom virus, and we were searching for herbs to cure him. Nefenr said he wanted the rest of my group to come out of the bushes, and I tried to reassure him that he was safe. He didn't feel satisfied by this, so I offered to walk with him a ways away from the rest of the group so we could speak in private - and he agreed.

I explained that we were also following up on some clues we had found near Battlehome. He pressed for further details, but I again repeated the answer, with slight variation in the words used, but not the meaning.

I asked him if he could send a message to Erdaenos, should I discover something important. He explained that he could send a message in one to two days, if it was very important, or overland by weeks, if it was a package. He would not tell me how he could contact the Order, suggesting such information was beyond my rank in the Order.

I asked him if he had read the writing on the mound, and he said he had deciphered the script at some point, but knew nothing of the orb. I asked about his apprentice, Harrowland, and he again backed up Harrowland's story.

All this time I was trying to figure out what to do. I still had no solid evidence that Nefenr was in truly in league with the bandits. Clearly he had some dealings with them, and had probably just come from their lair. But it was still possible he was using them in an attempt to obtain the book and/or orb on behalf of the Order. That didn't seem likely, but it was certainly possible the Order did not trust me fully, and had sent a second agent out to achieve the same goal, hoping that at least one of us would get through on our own, independent of the other.

I couldn't attack him, not without further proof.

We parted amicably, and he said he was returning to Gahanis and his home, and could be reached there when we returned in a couple of weeks, or less.

I returned to the party, uncertain if I had let a criminal get away, or aided a fellow member of the Order in the accomplishment of his mission.

We moved on, all the while discussing the encounter with Nefenr. Iyri eventually came to the conclusion that we should have killed him, and Sniktari started to agree with her. I made the case that we still didn't know what his involvement might be with the bandits or the plot surrounding the book and orb, and that we needed more information. Iyri said "I guess I can see your point that we shouldn't kill people on instinct." Indeed.

I didn't mention that I thought it possible Nefnr had messed with the memories of the Rhodin. Better to not spook my party even further, or Nefnr would be dead before I had my answers.

We traveled swiftly, and came finally to the Lake of Lost Voices. It was quiet. Unnaturally quiet.

It was getting dark, and we made our camp, some ways off from the lake. Iyri and Gür joined forced to identify the snake-skin armor we had retrieved from one of the bandits, and discovered its short (5 year) history, and that it was also mildly enchanted. Snik was pleased, and donned the armor happily.

The night passed otherwise uneventfully.

The next day Snik departed to scout around the perimeter of the lake, while the rest of us lay in ambush off the side of the road, waiting for bandits to come by. None did. Snik returned, reporting that he had found a raft tied to the lake, and nothing else. When he approached the raft, strange voices seemed to speak to him, whispering as if behind him, but nothing was there. He said it happened when he came within about 25' of the lake, and he thereafter stayed no closer than 30' from the lake.

Curious, I went to look in the lake myself. As I peered in the otherwise calm waters, a barrage of whispers intruded on the silence, speaking to me as if they were in my head. They told me "Join us below the surface," and "Join us in our sunken city," and "Join us in our grave". This mantra was
repeated over an over again, and I ran away from the lake. Alas, the
whispers did not stop! Over and over again the voices repeated the same chant, beckoning me to join them in the lake.

I ran back to the party, and fell to the ground, holding my ears and rocking back and forth. I told them what the voices said, and Iyri tried to reassure me that everything was alright.

It took a full 6 hours before the whispering voices finally ended. I collapsed in exhaustion.

We slept then, having discovered little that day. No bandits, and no sign of their lair.

The next day, we decided that Sniktari would venture in one direction around the lake, while I would travel in the opposite direction. The rest of the party would again lay in ambush beside the road, waiting for our return.

About a quarter of the way around the lake, I finally spotted something. There, off in the distance across the lake, was a cave, abutting against a cliff. It was obvious from here that the cave would be missed from the other side, as it was quite hidden, and one would have to peer far over the side of the cliff to even be able to spot it far below from that side.

Despite the plan to meet Sniktari at the center-point around the lake, I decided to head back to camp. Our entrance was now clear, and our time would be better spent making our way towards the cave.

On returning the party agreed to venture to the cliff and make our way down
it to the cave, but only after Sniktari returned. Soon, he did return, and
we traveled to the cliff.

Now that I had seen it from the other side, it wasn't difficult to spot the place. We tied our rope to a nearby tree, and the other end around Sniktari, and he began to walk toward the cliff, with Gür holding the rope just in case.

Unfortunately, we had not anticipated the impact the voices of the lake would have on Snik. I do not know what they said to him, but he suddenly decided he needed to dive into the lake, and no rope was going to stop him.

He jumped off off the cliff, falling sharply down, and coming up short from the ground. His body thudded hard into the side of the cliff, and Gür felt the sudden tug.

Gür frantically started to haul Snik back up, but alas, Snik had other plans. He cut the rope with his sharp claws, falling the remainder of the way to the ground. Again we heard the crash as his body hit the shore below. And again he rose, and started to make his way towards the lake.

Iyri and I ran to the cliff edge, calling for Snik, but he did not respond. Meanwhile, Gür quickly spliced a second rope onto the first. Tying the other end around himself, he ran for the edge of the cliff.

None of us knew Gür's plan. Had we, perhaps we would have tried to stop him. However, there was no time. Seeing Snik run into the lake and begin to dive down, Gür leaped off the cliff!

Iyri and I watched from the edge of the cliff as our friend Gür performed one of the most amazing dives we had ever seen [Gür: Natural 20 on his jump check]. He flew with the grace of a master swimmer, landing with almost no splash in the lake, rather near where Sniktari had disappeared beneath the still waters. [Note: Hero Point awarded by DM at this point. We all agreed this act of heroism deserved such recognition. Way to go Gür! We thought certain Sniktari was lost. Heck, Todd, the player of Sniktari, was already preparing his next character!]

We held our breath and waited. We could see Gür grab for Snik, who still continued to swim further into the lake. He grabbed him, but Snik wriggled out of his grasp. Finally, Gür grabbed him again, this time getting a good grip. Seeing this, I began to haul as hard as I could on the rope, tugging with all my might. Gür and Snik rose, slowly, out of the lake, and over to the shoreline.

Snik stopped struggling after a while, and we knew we were finally out of danger. Roksha went down, I lowered my armor, Iyri followed, and finally I went down the rope. My climbing skills were quite good now, without my armor burdening me, and we all made it down safely.

Now stands before us the mouth of the cave. The whispers of the Lake of Lost Voices do not taunt us, for now, but they may start again at any moment. I fear what we may find inside, and yet look forward with excitement to locating the book, and the orb!

In the name, the word, and the symbol of the Order of the Erdaenos Collectors,

Dain Lonair, apprentice.

<750 experience points each party member>
<50 bonus experience points each party member for excellent roleplaying >
<100 experience to Sniktari for RP Vote>
<100 experience to Dain for the log >
<1 hero point to Gur for his heroic rescue of Snik.>