18 January 2019

"From the journal of Caius of Reckenmark, date unknown"

We made our way over the dark lake towards a place where Shuushar knew a natural salt deposits. Guided by Shuushar, we came across a landing with a beach of black sands where we found a herd of Rothe had laid claim to one of these deposits. Unwilling to attack or drive off these mostly docile creatures, we elected to mine from a small side cave away from the Rothe.

Perhaps in reckless haste, we failed to spot a pair of holes in the roof of this natural cavity and we were promptly ambushed by two sets of deadly hooks emerging from the ceiling. It is a fortuity that Autun and I were the ones who braved this crystalline caverning quest, for I fear that our other companions would have easily been torn asunder by what we later learned to be hook horrors. A name well suited to these unnatural beasts for I nearly met my end to them. It was all I could do to shield our compatriots from a similar fate.

I have rarely seen righteous might more fierce than what Autun displayed that time, more than once he channeled the powers of the gods to imbue his weapon with a holy wrath. Aided by otherworldly light brought forth by Bree and Kais’ swift arrows, the horrors were soon brought low. Fearless in a way only the small folk can be, Bree explored the lair of our latest victims and found treasure among the remains of the creatures previous meals.

Amongst other things, we found a quiver with embossing very much like that on the scabbard Kais carries with him. It had the depiction of a flowery pattern, and some study revealed it to be a Quiver of Ehlonna. This led us to believe that the disturbances caused by the demonic influences had been going on for some time. The previous owners must have been sent on the same quest as our Autun to restore the natural balance.

We were startled from our revery by the sounds of a distressed Rothe Bull however and were shocked to see that one of the stalagmites had come loose and attached itself to the head of this now panicking creature. This underworld is rife with strange dangerous monsters. Had we chosen to do our mining there, it might easily have been one of us being suffocated by what Shuushar named a Darkmantle. Unwilling to meddle in the natural way of things, we decided to not intervene and made our way to our small boat instead.

The following days were uneventful and I passed the time telling of Tales and Legends recalled from my studies in the Reckenmark Library. I was astounded when Kais revealed that he is the son of Dian Cecht, a legendary Elven warrior mentioned more than one in the records of the academy.

I must admit that I was not able to keep track of the time we spent traveling in this way. It could easily have been a ten-day of rowing in darkness without reprieve. It is perhaps a few months now since we have seen the sun and sometimes I fear I shall never again bast in its warmth. It was at that moment that we heard anything other than the oars, creaking of the boat and the unsteady dripping of water. On the edge of hearing, something made a strange yipping sound and we decided to carefully investigate from a distance. It was Bree who explained to me that on the limits of her eldritch sight, a strange tentacled pantheresque creature was being hounded by what appeared to be a small pack of dogs. The creature was difficult to position and the dogs disappeared at times, only to reappear some other place.

I counselled caution and the consensus was reached to avoid these critters, but that was when Bree suddenly convinced Autun to inflict some of his magics on the hunting pack and their quarry. Whatever it was that he did, the beast and one of the dogs fled but the remaining two dogs took a friendly interest in us. We approached them and were met with the kindness I normally would expect only from trained hounds. Autun fed them and that sealed the friendship, he certainly has a way with animals. I must admit that the scene was a very welcome change and I felt the gloom that had started to seep into my heart dissipate a little. It also helped to be out of that cramped boat and to be able to stretch our legs once more for the first time in many days. Emboldened by the presence of our new friends, we chose that spot to make camp.

It was a very welcome change to the monotony of our routine, though unfortunately some of us were haunted by terrible dreams once more. We had learned earlier that because dreams precursed the destruction of Sloodublop, it would be prudent to share our dreams. I fear that the recounting of my days at Reckenmark cast a grim shadow over what joviality the previous night had brought us all. In a subdued silence we said our farewells to our new friends and we once more made our way over the dark lake towards the home of Stool, a renewed hope in my heart that from there we will be able to find our way to the surface once more.

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Dreams:

Autun dreams of a wedding of some kind, an occasion with friends and family. Upon awakening he realizes that the "extras" in his dream are not people he knows in waking life.

Shushar dreams of a festive occasion - something like a graduation.

Jimjar had some kind of nightmare and won't talk about it.

Caius dreams of humilation by his family at Reckenmark.

Bree dreams of being blackmailed by people in her village who discovered her kleptomania, and forced her to steal for them.

Both of the latter are real events from the characters' pasts.

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Prior: 11 January 2019, All: Play_Sessions, Next: 25 January 2019

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Inventory

Gained

• a Quiver of Ehlonna (like a bag of holding, but only for long thin objects). Carried by Kais.
• 55gp, 70sp, 22cp
• pouch with incense (worth 5gp)
• 2 gourds of antitoxin (gives 1 hour of advantage on saving throws against poison)
• 1 flask of holy water (carried by Autun)
• a lot of salt

Party inventory (excluding Gained items above)

• 58cp 41sp 151gp
• all of our original possessions, except disposables
• a lot of fish
• a Dwarvish recipe book
• a Dwarvish poetry book
• Bree's Book of Shadows
• 24 +1 arrows
• a bone flute
• a strange hourglass (worth 2gp)
• bracelet (silver) worth 6gp
• spell component pouch
• 2 potions of healing
• silver hand mirror
• small wood box
• silver headdress
• 3 rings with gems (from dead drow)
• blue cap mushrooms
• water orbs
• 11 unicorn hooves (goodberry)
• 43 arrows
• 2 longbows (one kept by Kais, one kept by Autun)
• 12 spears
• necklace with 3 headed flail
• misc gems worth 15gp
• 7 gems x 2gp each
• decorated quiver (5gp)
• 18 rations
• drow underwear
• 1 studded leather armor (kept by Kais)
• 1 bag of pitons (kept by Kais)
• 2 short swords (kept by Kais)
• 3 daggers (kept by Kais)
• 1 hand crossbow (kept by Kais)
• 2 cases of 20 crossbow bolts (kept by Kais)
• 1 bag of caltrops (kept by Kais)
• some rope
• a bunch of hairpins (fished out from between the teeth of the elf-Quaggoth)

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Prior: 11 January 2019, All: Play_Sessions, Next: 25 January 2019