4722-10-01: Handshake

I have been assigned a mission along with three traveling companions to investigate a long, lost elf-gate by a Dr. Ritalsin and Professor Wreidt of ICE. All of us are gatewalkers and none of us know any more information than the others. Dr. Ritalsin has the resources to fund our expedition, but still knows nothing more than we do.

4722-10-03: Sleep signal interrupted

During Thulnir’s firewatch, a giant man-bat and a swarm of vampire bats descended upon us on the trail to Poiana. Initially, we had not questioned their motive under the assumption that they were simple beasts acting purely out of instinctual desires, but the more I thought about it, the more I question why the man-bat was wearing pants. I’m wearing the pants right now, though, I can’t quite say what has compelled me so. My once-human core seems to still have base desires.

4722-10-04: Poiana confirmed

In the morning, we arrived in Poiana. Typical of Ustalav, the locals are distrustful and superstitious. The bar had ancient runes meant to keep away bad spirits with bold claims about the powers of garlic. The barkeep was nice enough; even told us about a local legendary beast. Kiren seemed interested in the man. He gave us tokens for a free drink. When we redeemed the tokens at the tavern in the room opposite, the man behind the bar did not seem thrilled, but accepted them in kind.

 

Charles is confident that the man-bat that attacked us in the middle of the night was a were-creature. It’s a good thing nobody was bitten.

4722-10-04: Bug in the church

We arrived at the dilapidated church in the late afternoon. We found unnatural plants, trees and vines that attacked us, along with two areas of painful cold. The church’s steeple had fallen over inside which housed an angry swarm of empowered wasps. My chassis proved to be no match for the insects. They found their way inside my core and caused me to go dormant.

 

Inside, we found the hole to what was once a trap door leading below the earth into a cellar complete with a ladder. As soon as Kiren touched one of the coffins that was laid within, skeletons rose from their slumber to attack us. I am currently wielding a magical scimitar taken from the undead.

 

Treasure is the bane of any adventurer. Truth be told, there are unmeasured riches waiting to be discovered and many adventurers willing to die for such treasure. We found a torch, lit not by flame, but by some kind of magic. No heat. No burning. Just light. As soon as we touched it, a nearby statue rose up to punish us. As a group, we were victorious, but what if it were just one of us down here?

 

Further into the cellar, we were attacked by yet another swarm of insects. Cockroaches this time. It’s amazing to consider how ravenous they can be when numbered in the thousands. This time, I kept my distance and Thulnir played the part of the sacrificial lamb.

 

Continuing on, we discovered a bit of treasure perfect for Kiren: a magical necklace of knives that produces a knife as sharp as steel, whether the wearer chooses to conjure one of wood or stone instead. I sometimes think of how wondrous these things, this magic is that exists in our world, then I am reminded that I was once a creature of flesh and blood. Although I can’t remember how or why I have arrived at this point in time in this body, I would do well to remember that the magic is within me as well.

 

A haunted ghost named Lena lashed out at us in her traumatic state. I laid her spirit to rest and promised to seek vengeance for her.

4722-10-05: Handshake protocol

Lena’s hand. We found it in the underground ruins of the temple of Erastil because it jumped out at us and tried to strangle Charles. After dispatching the animated thing, we pulled a ring from it that was engraved.

Spirit of Lena – haunt – was laid to rest and as the party made their way back to the surface a talking skull introduced itself to the party. Geist Durfane. Imprisoned for hundreds of years for creating a limmrick about a count and/or countess Ralneck. The party is taking Geist with them.

The party visits Lena’s old farm and is attacked by a redcap. After searching the farm and returning to the inn, Mutu has a chilling vision as he recharges his core. It feels almost like a memory or a dream. I cannot recall the experiences of my mortal life before, when I had a body. A human body. But my mind… Something is shifting. I think I am feeling emotion again.

4722-10-06: Quicklings

Kiren and Charles spent some time while I was recharging my core and their investigation points at Olaf, a marchant peddling suspect wares. We’re setting off soon to talk to him and see what he knows about the black sand.

When we got to Olaf’s house, it was clear that a struggle occurred. What’s not clear is why a bag of gold was left out in plain view. If this were a robbery, they would have robbed Olaf. Charles spotted tracks and fresh blood. I knew what we had to do at that moment and we set off into the woods to save Olaf. As pure as our intentions were, a scene in the forrest equally as dastardly awaited us. Olaf was beset by three Quicklings. They prodded and questioned him about his deeds while telling him that there was no excuse for his treachery. Clearly, Olaf was in leaugue with the shifty fey. I stepped out from the brush to confront them and they murdered Olaf with their great speed. Two of them took a beating, but made off into the forrest at a pace we would never be able to match. The strongest of them made the mistake of sticking around and ultimately met its end. Olaf’s body was altered somehow. Maybe due to his contact with the black sands.

4722-10-07: The Schloss

We almost lost ourselves today in the woods. A fey called the Beast of the Dunkerwald lured us into the woods while we were traveling with the caravan and we luckily snapped out of it before any damage was done. It followed us for a while before we arrived at Schloss Wulfin.

When we did arrive, we were questioned by two mephits that seemed to lack any real personality. We were able to convince the butler to allow us an audience with the Lady of the manner and during negotiations, we discovered that the Lady’s daughter, Oleksandra, was in trouble. I kicked down the door to a scene of a room and rushed to save the girl as quickly as I could.

Oleksandra was lying supine on the floor with a creepy doll looming over her. As the doll finished sewing her mouth shut, it began to attack us and it was powerful. Both Kiren and I took quite the beating before it escaped the manor and fled into the woods, singing sickening rhymes along the way, vowing that we would meet again.

Lady Beatrice rewarded us with saving her daughter’s immedaite life, even though we were not able to defeat the doll. I think we have a rare opportunity here to save an innocent girl, destroy some evil, help the Lady, and gain help in researching the knowledge we seek, if not gaining the knowledge outright, with the elf gates.

The Lady agrees to help us with what we seek if we investigate the attack on her daughter.

4722-10-09: Back to the crypt

We had to make one more trip to the crypt below the ruined church of Erastil in order to investigate what we think is an elf gate. Before we could conduct the inquiry, we were attacked by a gelatenous creature powered by the black sands. After the scuffle, we met an oddly carefree mortician named Diana with an odd creature in tow. She deilvered an elixir from Professor Wreidt that allowed us to decipher a message that was written around the gate in elven.

Andon Olui Hó, aiudura of Desna the Song of the Spheres, the Great Dreamer, and The Wandering Star. May the spirit of the great horned owl show you the way and keep you safe from the terrors that lurk in the shadows of the inbetween.

Tonight is the blood moon and we won’t be traveling back to Lepistadt until it passes.

Baba Dania explains her disdain for the elf gates. Although the gates are wormholes that connect two points in space, she explains that you still have to step through a place that connects them, and there’s no telling where that place is and who is watching. She explains they are dangerous and should be left alone.

The spirits were angry tonight and a scared man almost met his doom when he lifted a window. A shade got in and pulled ripped his shadow from his body. It took the light of Saranrae and our new friend’s affinity for ghosts to expel it, but we did succeed in saving lives. I asked Diana if she would join our group, but it seemed like she had better things to do.

Traveling back to Lepistadt

It took us three days to arrive back in Lepistadt and there was no shortage of creepiness that occurred on the road. The first night passed without harassment, but the second night, we were attacked by a scarecrow with a flaming pumpkin for a head. The group seems to think that this thing was merely security for a farmers field, but I know this abomination is more sinister than that. I can’t believe that a farmer would sacrifice the life of any person for what everyone else thinks it was protecting. Diana thought it was a good idea to set the scarecrow back up after we killed it, but while they were sleeping, I destroyed the effigy. I thought it was a good idea to tell a lie about what happened. I thought wrongly. I forgot myself and my oaths in the presence of such eclectic company and The Dawnflower burned me for it. Realizing my idiotic mistake, I asked for forgiveness and, true to her feelings on redemption, she granted me a reprieve. I should take care to know and remember myself while traveling with this crew. No doubt there will be several opportunities to cover up truth with untruth, but my path is clear…