12/15/03 (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
Housed under guard of Minorath the Peacekeeper
City of Gahanis

Re: Mission Report 10

Date: 22 Fifthmonth 1757

We are all nervous, here under the house "protection", under the authority of Minorath the Peacekeeper. Our decisions over the next twelve hours could very well result in our arrest.

Allow me to review for the moment what brought to this decision.

As I wrote last journal entry, we captured or killed the remaining bandits, and assessed the rooms on the upper level of the temple. To provide further detail, now that there is time for writing, I will specify further details of those rooms now.

There were six basic areas to the upper level of the temple.

The first room contained a table and chairs, and looked like a meeting room. Here we found numerous books (mentioned earlier), a diary with extensive details on the raids of the bandits, some further notes, and maps with strike marks indicating bandit attacks and assault plans. Obviously, this would be of value to the town guard as evidence these are the bandits they are looking for.

The next area contained some pigeon coops, with 15 birds contained in three coops. Marking each bird was a symbol on one leg, a square with a circle around it. This symbol was familiar to me, as it was the same as that found on the map to this lake of lost voices that we found earlier in battlehome.

The next room was a bedroom. The bed was large, made of oak, with four posters. There was also a nightstand, lockers, some books (also mentioned earlier), an ink stamp with the bandit symbol, a parchment, three paintings of Gahanis landscape, and some clothing (including some ceremonial robes and traveler's outfit).

Nearby we uncovered a secret door, which led to a treasure trove of goods (detailed in the last journal). In addition to this treasure which the bandits likely plundered from nearby caravans, we found a cylinder of jet black, though it reflected light. It stretched from floor to ceiling, and a fault line crossed it. In addition, I spotted a hole chipped out of it in the middle, which came to believe later was the result of the bandits cutting in to the object to obtain the orb hidden within.

Nearby was an 80' wall, which contained a large fresco, split into 10 sections. It looked rather ancient, and was created by very skilled craftsmen. It appeared to portray the activity of the ancient folk who
lived in the long gone city beneath the lake. In chronological order, the fresco portrayed the following: 1) An ancient city in a ridge valley which looked to probably be the one beneath the lake of lost voices now, 2) a comet in the sky over the city at night, 3) priests digging up the orb, 4) priests revering the orb as holy in a ceremony, 5) the priests taking the orb to this temple, 6) the orb being laid to rest in a chamber, 7) the orb hovering over the city, with a calendar etched in the back, 8) the construction of the orbs container, being the pillar we had seen earlier, 9) Left blank, 10) Left blank.

I took careful mental note of each section of the fresco, committing the whole thing to memory for replication later for the Order. Fascinating!

On the same level, we came to what I determined must have been Odthow's private room. Here, we found some of the treasure I mentioned in the last journal, in addition to some bear furs and cushions, and little else.

There were steps going up from this level, and I sensed the strongest magic I had ever felt, up there in the reaches of the temple. I discussed this with the party, and we agreed to gather our captured bandits, tend to their wounds, and sleep for the night in the bedroom. We would deal with the magic upstairs tomorrow.

During the night there was a strange occurrence. A beautiful hawk appeared, and landed on Roksha's shoulder. He seemed at peace with the hawk, and took to it right away, despite the startling the rest of the group. It would seem we have a new companion.

Before sleeping, and after waking in the morning, we healed ourselves with powerful magic. Sniktari began to sing to heal our wounds, and each wound seemed to heal as we recounted for him how we were injured for him, our words wrapping with his melody, and vice versa. Gür also healed himself through some arcane magics of his own creation.

In the morning, Odthow came around, and we interrogated him. As usual, I played nice guard to Sniktari's evil intimidation, however this time our target did not give in. After many hours, we were forced to resort to Iyri's compelling questions, backed by daunting magic. We asked him the most important question on my mind - What was his relationship with Nefnr. He answered, under compulsion, "Leader".

Next we needed to find out who was the leader, Odthow, or Nefnr. Iyri again compelled him to talk with her magics, and again he answered - Nefnr was his leader.

Odthow looked disgusted with himself for admitting this, which was a sure sign he had told the truth. So, Nefnr was a bandit. And, he was their leader.

We carefully walked the steps up the magical room above. There, we found the orb, just as it was portrayed in the fresco below. Tortured and screaming faces seemed to skip across it's dark surface. There was also a cushion, and a parchment, with a quill and ink. The parchment had three basic sections - one which stated that concentration was the key to "charge the stones", a second that said that the Jaren might be hunting the orb without telling "him" (the author) about it, and a third which said that a hunter, a female, was hunting the orb. Obviously, this last must be the blue knight. I strongly suspected these were the words of Nefnr, and carefully folded the note away for further study.

Finally, there was the book. The Inmagis Libellum, our goal. It was opened to an interesting page which detailed the orb, so called the Malace Morphia or the Sphere of Nightmares. There was a detailed drawing of the orb, along with text that said the orb could be used as an "enhancing tool", but more as a weapon. When broken on the third midnight of a full moon, it would release it's nightmares. Or, so one Ven Bryon, an akashic scholar, thought would happen.

I read the rest of the book, committing it to memory in preparation for a reproduction later for the Order. Nothing else was directly relevant concerning the orb.

My mind was made up. Nefnr had captured the orb, and rather than return it to the Order along with the book and his other discoveries, he had kept it for himself. Indeed, he had formed the bandits under his leadership, raiding the countryside, as he plotted with the orb.

While I admired Nefnr's single minded dedication to the goal of recovering such a powerful artifact, I despised him for withholding the orb for himself and going to such means with the bandits. Perhaps the orb had corrupted him in some way, or perhaps he was just evil all along. But he had to be stopped.

It was time to leave, and I wasn't about to leave the orb behind for Nefnr to recapture it. I felt powerful magics from the object, but nonetheless I approached, and grabbed it with a blanket I had found downstairs. The thing moved strangely, as if it stuck in the air wherever I left it, but it was moveable. I emptied the contents of my backpack into other pouches, and placed the covered orb within the backpack.

We left the upper reaches of the temple, carrying the most portable portions of our loot, and the bandits (dead and alive), back down to the stables. There we informed Feb that we were the new owners of the place, and wanted to hire him on better terms than Odthow had hired him. We told him that the bandits had spoken ill of him, which surprised him a bit, and he agreed to work for us. He gave us as many horses as he had, and we packed up that loot which we could easily transport, along with all the bodies of the bandits, both dead and alive, and headed back towards the town of Gahanis.

We released our own prisoner who had successfully bargained for his freedom with information, giving him also a horse, food, and a gold piece. He agreed to never breath a word about us, and we about him, and we parted ways on neutral terms.

The ride back was long, and would take until the next day, so we made camp along the way. With the orb in my backpack, we were all nervous that this mysterious Blue Knight might come along in the middle of the night for it. So, we kept a double guard.

Good thing too, since she did indeed come along in the middle of the night. The attack was a surprise, but we were ready. I woke Sniktari the moment I heard something in the brush nearby, and he ran to investigate...smack into the Blue Knight. She swung a mighty blow deep into Sniktari, and he nearly collapsed with the immensity of the wound. Swinging around, she then struck Gür twice with her mighty greatsword, while also summoning a magical shield to her arm. Meanwhile, our blows seemed to slide off her heavy breastplate without effect, and that shield.

Fortunately, one of Roksha's arrows flew true, and we finally drew some blood from the evil woman. Iyri was the next to damage the furious woman, slamming a magically enhanced mudball into her with more impact than even her usual balls seemed to have. Finally, Sniktari, angered by his wounds, cut into her hard with two chops of his nasty claws, bringing her down.

We stripped her goods quickly, finding 32 gold pieces, a stone which I senses was magical, a longsword with many spikes which I determined later to be both Dire and magical in nature, and a possibly magical breastplate. Around her waist were her calling cards - 5 sapphire daggers.

We bound and healed her, bringing her around for interrogation. We quickly realized the woman was insane. She was a champion of death, as revealed by the symbol on her shield. She sought only death, for others and herself. The orb was her goal, only because it too would bring death and destruction. None of us could find any redeeming qualities about the evil woman, and were torn as to what to do with her. Iyri made the decision for us, slitting the woman's throat. I do not know if it was in mercy, or vengeance, but the deed was done.

We brought her body along with us as well, and finally made our way into town. I left the others on the outskirts of the city, with the horses and bodies and loot, and walked in.

I first went to the Jaren, and delivered the book to them. They needed time to review it, and would deliver the reward later tonight.

I next went to see Minorath the Peacekeeper, and reported our conquering of the bandits, including the witch, the blue knight, and those that still lived. He quickly sent for my companions, and put us all under enforced "protection" for the evening. I would not be permitted to complete my visit to the Jaren for the reward, nor retrieve proof of the banditry from the temple, until the morning.

We sit here now, discussing what to tell the guard. Could we keep the loot? Should we try to find it's true owners, or sell it for the greater good of ridding the world of the orb and artifacts similar to it. And, speaking of the orb, what were we to do with it? Give it to the Order, as I suggested, or destroy it here and now?

Many questions, and on the answers rode our future, and possibly our lives.

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

Dain Lonair, apprentice.

<600 experience each>
<150 experience to Dain for Role Playing vote>