Turn 53
An excerpt from the journals of Sir Gareth Arr, paladin of Pikahl,
knight and head of King Arion's personal guard:
-~-~-~-
Misfortune again; the gods do not make this trial of ours easy.
The
temple we came upon deep in the swamp proved to be carved with all
manner of snake-like symbols, from a god of whom I have no
knowledge.
After skillfully bridging the great trench encircling the temple,
we
decided to stay the night and rest, after having searched the
building.
Disaster struck that night. Some manner of slimy creature emerged
from
cracks within the stone floor and simply... absorbed companions
and gear
alike. I remained behind and attempted to save as many of my
party as
possible, but the losses were grave. Only Cole, Wulfgar,
Barbaxle, Cao,
Malissin, and I survived. We spent the remainder of the night
outside.
The next day, we travelled to the lizardman village, where we
discovered the idol, obviously in a place of religious respect,
atop
their totem-like altar. It struck me oddly that "theives" so at
home in
the swamp would leave very obvious tracks and openly display an
item
they would have to know would bring down the human forces upon
them...
unless they did not do it. While the group observed the village,
my
prayer for guidance was granted with an azure beam leading us deep
with
the swamp, away from the villagers. After travel that seemed
inhumanly
fast (I suspect godly assistance again), we arrived at a
semi-flooded
clearing, at the far end of which hulked a monstrous,
flame-gouting
hydra. Cole cast a spell to hide Barbaxle and myself; the two of
us
swam underwater up to the hydra while the archers used flaming
arrows to
distract and weaken the aberration. The strategy at close was for
me to
lop off necks, moving inwards, while Barbaxle seared the stumps.
All
was working fine until Cole remembered a magical item he
possessed, a
magical stick of some sort, and used it to bid the creature away.
Unfortunately, the mage neglected to consider the fact that
Barbaxle and
I were virtually beneath its feet...during its abrupt departure,
it
became a situation in truth for me as the massive thing crushed me
into
the murk, twisting armour and nearly killing me, but for Pikahl's
aid.
Not willing to leave the creature free to roam the swamps, we
tracked it
down to its lair and eventually slew the monster.
A number of treasures and coin were discovered and divided,
though
much remains still... a definite quest for training a future group
of
knights. The extreme heat and moisture will also teach them the
importance of knowing salves and healing herbs, not to mention
building
up their endurance for the battlefield. For my choice, I
retrieved a
beautiful cherrywood bow, quite similar to father's. Considering
his
reputation as an archer, I believed it to be a fair, if
sentimental,
choice. Ah.. but I digress, for we found another surprise within
the
hydra's lair, an elven male by name of Jahl. Claiming to be a
warrior,
he explained that he had been captured by strange shape-changing
creatures and left as a treat for the hydra, apparently a common
situation. This would explain the absence of bodies from these
shape-changers' actions. As we know it, they appear to be able to
shapechange into human, lizardfolk, and a strange man-tiger form.
I
have heard rumour of such creatures, Rashaka, or Rakasha, or
something
similar.
Again were we visited by godly vision, praised by the gods,
healed,
and given simple silver rings of obviously magical creation. A
path was
shown to us, heading back in the direction we had just travelled,
and we
were told to follow it.
Along our trek back, we heard noise within the foliage, and
upon
investigating, discovered a party of four from King Arion,
checking on
our status: Gaerik, Alista, Sammual, and Erin, a fellow paladin of
Pikahl. Shortly thereafter, we encountered the glowing lights
they had
been following. Two glowing orbs of energy, apparently sentient.
Despite our peaceful greetings, they attacked, injuring several of
our
party before we destroyed one of them. The second immediately
cried for
mercy and offered us information on the shapeshifters for its
life, to
which we agreed. When I attempted to heal a mortally-wounded
Wulfgar,
the shock of the misfire (or was it the creature in spite?)
knocked me
off my feet and back several more. We left the remaining creature
alone.
The endpoint of the godpath proved to be the lizardfolk village
again, so a number of the group volunteered to proceed in with me
while
the rest remained as reinforcements should trouble occur.
After speaking with many of the very peaceful and polite
lizardfolk -
using Malissin as translator - we were directed by the chief to
speak
with the shaman of the group, which we did, noticing a very
familiar
ring upon his finger. Although the shaman did not believe our
story, he
was willing to meet us half-way. He offered us a chance to prove
our
story, by bringing in one of these Shifters. To that end, he
explained
a powerful, reliable, and safe scrying magic he could cast... for
a
price. Barbaxle sacrificed a ring found at the hydra's cave, and
I my
new bow, still unfired - what irony. The result: "Beware the
monster in
form of friend; north of the temple [various directions leading
back to
the one in which we had slept], look for the sign of the wolf." I
convinced the chief of the village to send 5 observers/warriors;
the
additional strength did not hurt, and it would serve the truth
much if
the lizardkin had members of their own confirming our story.
Many hours of travelling later, we arrived at the given
location.
Surprisingly, Jason (our companion killed in the first town we
encountered) and a lizardman stepped out into a clearing before
us. We
heard a female voice cry out, then realized that the two before us
were
casting; Barbaxle and myself found ourselves magically held - side
note:
the Rakasha seem to be able to cast normally, despite the wildness
of
most magic. One of the two creatures mascarading as friends was
killed,
reverting to the man-tiger form I suspect is their natural one,
but the
other turned invisible and fled. A third one was captured in the
next
clearing. There we discovered Arilyn, a young female elven
warrioress,
the next victim to be of the catvillains' hunger. We invited her
to
join our group, as we had Jahl.
Our company decided, I am again proud to say, to track down the
fled
shifter and slay it lest it harm others. During our search, we
encountered a trio of lizardmen from a lost tribe faction. The
old
village leader apparently disappeared into the swamp some time ago
with
a number of followers on premise of going to pray to their god...
but
never returned. The lizardfolk within our group spoke with them
and
found that the last Rakasha had been seen to the north; we
followed
directions to the site, but the lost ones chose not to remain with
us.
The Rakasha cave proved relatively easy to find with the
lizardkin
aid. In the process of entering, we braved magical darkness,
webs, and
even a freezingly powerful ice blast. Nevertheless, we pierced
the
inner sanctum and slew the runaway. More coin was found (another
quest?), though the lizardfolk declined any of it when we
mentioned its
location to them.
Our return to the village was successful and the observers'
comments
supported our captive's confession. He claimed that he was one of
four
banished to the swamp from their homeland. They had been planning
a
forced return, but required that the humans and lizardfolk were
both
exterminated. What better way than to steal from one, blaim the
other,
and watch the two communities destroy each other. The statuette
of
Krahs proved to be the perfect subject. Distracting everyone with
his
speech, the creature drew a secreted dagger and slew himself. Our
party
debated seeking the fourth Rakasha, but another vision from Pikahl
struck me: if the idol was not returned soon, the humans would
march
into the swamp and annihilate the lizardfolk. We received the
statuette, were assured that the lizardfolk would defeat the final
man-cat, and were guided back out of the swamp to Port Capri. The
king's second party was dispatched back to Dragonmeyr with a copy
of my
journal and Cole's map to report on our travels and check on the
other
groups. We bid them good speed and safe travels.
Faith has enabled out success, but with cost as in most things.
The
gods' attention is back on the world, and such is good for all
mankind.
May Pikahl watch over all and shelter all. Long life, my King.
Sir Gareth Arr, servant of Pikahl
Turn 59