Entry the Seventh

Having resupplied ourselves, Neebo suggested we pause to study our enemy's habitat. We had noticed in the ogre's den a series of oil paintings depicting various evils visiting the mortal world. As we contemplated the ways the worshipers of Bane sought to destroy us, Deiter realized there was a secret woven into the fabric of the painting, literally. The painting canvases had extra stitching in the material, each spelling out cryptic riddles. I've written them down here, sure that we will be tasked with solving them before long.

Who are you?
What do you bring?
Where are you now?
Why have you come?
When shall I be free?
Who am I?

Neebo and Koda also discovered a secret passage, a retractable wall that led us down a dark corridor opening into a broad, well lit room. Before progressing further, Neebo suggested we try some other hallways in the maze-like temple and try to find more ways to resupply with minimum threat to our safety; as the secret path would obviously have some treacherous mechanism to test us. Personally I live for proving myself against such obstacles, but I concede to the troop leader's wisdom as a superior strategist. Dear reader, you've just witnessed my rarely witnessed mastery of the subtle art of humility. Take that, emotional spectrum!

Along another path we found a door that was the exact opposite of what Neebo was looking for. This was almost the most threatening thing I'd seen this day. The passage was blocked by a door carved in the shape of a howling demonic face. It's mouth was agape in an almost audible shriek, and it's eyes were shining gemstones. We think it was made of ebony stone, but it showed no signs of the craft, no worker's carving tool had ever graced it's surface. The nostrils were flared in outrage, it's brow twisted and curled around eyes of gleaming emerald. It's expression was of defiant rage at our presence. Since Neebo had suggested we try to minimize the threats to our health and sanity, we reverted to the secret passage.

The illumination at the end of the secret hallway was provided by a sphere of pure mystical energy, spinning furiously throughout the room, an erratic buzzing torrent of force. It was unlikely that any of us could cross the room without being touched by the orb. Koda dared to take a few quick steps and realized the were further secrets in the chamber. One hall led through a more pedestrian route to the ogres' den, and a hall on the far side led to a new section of the vile temple. But the greatest mystery was a glass door. It seemed sealed tight to keep in another mystical sphere - like a black star, radiating intense darkness but with a crimson hue at its edges. He was only able to discern its existence before he hastily retreated back into the secret passage to share his findings. We debated the nature of the spinning sphere and decided that it must be some sort of guardian or trap. Deiter took a stab at disarming it by summoning an ethereal hand and pushing it out of it's winding path, but to no avail. The magic ball moved right through the magic hand. Shrugging in frustration, Rikka picked up a small rock from the floor and threw it at the spinning trap. The results were even worse, as the rock disappeared in a blinding flash and the sphere doubled in size, as if it had consumed the stone. We experimented with the effect, and found it seemed able to dissolve anything we threw at it, but it always made the orb larger. We studied the phenomena until it maxed out at teen feet wide, almost the height of the room itself. We'd hoped to overload the orb until it swelled beyond it's own limits of capacity and destroyed itself, but no such luck. Neebo discerned that the sphere might be capable of killing any of us who touched it as we tried to traverse the chamber, and since there was no apparent means of disarming it, suggested we invest our intellect against other obstacles, such as the grimacing devil door.

We returned to the door and spent a full ten minutes trying to figure out how to open it. The fanged mouth proved to be no workable handle to even Rog's terrible strength, and Koda suggested focusing on the gemstone eyes. He studied the optics closely, looking for a way to move them, (or I suspect to pocket them) when his face became placid as a lake on a calm day. Koda has always been guarded, to the point of being labeled an introvert, but this effect was uncanny. After several moments of not blinking, his eyes watered until he finally pulled himself away. He muttered the eyes were key, but that they were overwhelming for his mind before he curled into a fetal ball in the corner. Deiter said that his arcane prowess would likely protect him from the door's assault, but I had to step in his way. Ever since being taken in by the warrior priests of the Order of the Pointed Stick, I've been taught that it was my purpose in life to protect others. If anyone was going to risk mental injury in a contest of wills, my sharply honed psionic brain would be the first to face the challenge.

I gazed into the eyes of evil itself. I saw movement in those stones, like an endless tumbling of acrid smoke lay within. I could hear winds roaring past me, but felt nothing. Then came a tingling, like the pins and needles of a foot when it falls asleep, but this was rippling through my entire body. I held my ground as sizzling lightning poured out of the emerald eyes and into my mind, but I took the pain and stood firm. If the others said anything, or tried to stir me it must have failed to register as the only sensation I experienced was the screaming force pouring into my head. I dared not look away, knowing that any hesitation or reluctance could shatter my adamant resolve and allow this evil to take hold in my soul. For a brief instant, I thought I heard laughter, and visions of endless tentacles flickered before dissipating.

And then there was silence; and the rest of the world returned to my senses. Only then did I realize I'd broken out in a cold sweat. I stayed motionless, waiting for a second assault but the double doors silently parted to grant us access. I mentioned to Rog that among the list of my accomplishments I can now list winning a staring contest with an inanimate object. He chuckled, and asked what most of my words meant. I shook my head and walked in first ready to take the brunt of whatever lay beyond such a foreboding entrance, but there was only the dark and silence of a tomb.

Someone lit a torch and illuminated a dining hall, with a well using feasting table and an enormous pit that went on for some unknown depth. None of us wanted to explore the edge, knowing that something horrid lived here. Koda had briefly composed himself, though still visibly shaken, and while we fanned out he went to the table and called out that it was covered only with bare, stripped skulls. He lashed out violently, standing on the table and kicking away plates and goblets, as craniums scattered about the room shouting that we were being attacked. Then there was laughter. I don't know if it was spoken aloud, or if it was an echo in my mind from my encounter with the door. I responded out loud, demanding that whatever had tried to attack my mind to come and challenge me face to face and get what was coming to him. For the first time, I can now say that my bravado was misplaced.

A figure appeared between me and Rikka, our eyes had simply been ignoring him this whole time. It was wearing robes with a high collar, it's flesh was a sickly bruised purple and it's head was like that of an octopus, a tangled mass of tentacles. It revealed itself by lashing out with telepathic bolts of anguish before wrapping it's pseudopods around the young fighter's face. I cried out and tried to pull the fiend away, demanding that he face me. Yet as my first blow struck he vanished, only to reappear beside Koda and Neebo. For the record, I teleport a lot and this fiend teleported like a girl. Rog and I moved to flank the creature before he took flight again. The room shook as he cried out and I felt him trying to pry into my mind, but I withstood the blow. Others were not so lucky, buying the monster precious time to dart about us, skirmishing only when he saw fit. Each time we started to surround him he was able to slink away to a safer vantage point to unleashing psychic agony on all of us; each time filling me with outrage at my inability to keep him in my sights. As I hurtled like lightning across the room, using every trick in the play book of the Pointed Stick I saw him staring into Rikka's eyes before she bolted over the edge of the pit. Despair snuck into my heart; I felt my own strength waning after so many assaults from the hideous abomination.

Then something wonderful rang in my ears; a triumphant song of exalted joy proclaiming my strength and righteousness- never before had I been so invigorated and inspired. Neebo had begun to pluck on his lute, prodding us to return to the struggle with new found reserves of energy. His throat parched, I saw him down the potion to renew his efforts before he clamored down into the darkness of the pit. Rog and I briefly struggled with the horror until I saw a flying boot catch him between his spiraling tentacles. I knew Neebo had brought Rikka back to the fray.

As we all moved to surround him, the creature's tentacles extended fully, and he cried out with a sound that bored its way fully into my mind. I felt his suckered digits extending into my brain, pulling my limbs like those of a puppet on his infernal strings as each of us turned on each other. After my hammer pounded into Rikka I regained my senses, only to have to weather a blow from my giant barbarian friend. I focused only on the puppet master, waiting for the others to regain their senses. I saw his next psychic onslaught coming and braced myself, only to see Rikka fall from its blow. She did not move again. Only after several more exchanges, daggers and axes and magic bolts against howling madness did the fiend eventually fall. As Koda's daggers slit his throat, Neebo hurried to Rikka's side, an invigorating note pouring from his throat but to no effect. Rikka was gone.

I write this now in the beast's chamber. We have closed the door behind us, confident no intelligent servant of the temple would have dared enter this room if it could avoid it. When my time at watch is finished I doubt I will sleep much. We said words for the soul of our departed ally, and I was surprised to hear that Rog has decided to worship the god of justice, as Rikka did. Though her spirit is at rest, we have no way to honor her earthly remains, and have elected to lay her in repose in this chamber. We've slain her killer, but my own sense of justice demands more. I vow to avenge her on every evil doer in this foul place. Bane himself will answer for this.

Entry the Sixth

From the ashes of the Fire Mephits, we found a key to the Fire Temple. Deiter was able to combine the two into a Grand Key, which would grant us access to the cult's inner sanctuary. We found a safe hiding spot and bedded down for the night. Before letting my defenses drop to sleep for the night, I continue to update the log of our adventures. I wish I could recall the date. My friends and I have been down here so long, we've lost all reference points to the calendar. It feels like many seasons, but I suspect it's been a few weeks in reality. I chuckle at the notion of reality. I've been known to slow down time, and bend space to move across battlefields instantly. But for now the best title I have for these entries is to list them in sequence until I see the true sky again.

This morning we began our march back to the large gate of the Outer Thane. Neebo strummed a lute, singing a dirge of our inevitable triumph over the foul cult that infests the mountain's veins. After a few hours of walking, we could hear a roar throughout the caves. It was like the crashing of a wave, but never ending. Soon we could make out voices, screaming for the blood of the intruders. Neebo suggested we move faster.

Eventually they caught up to us - a horde of robed Doom Dreamers, servants of the Earth and Water Temples. An eclectic mix of every race I've ever known, and many I did not. Although they often took swipes at each other with whatever weapons they had on hand, the majority of their rage was definitely focused on us. We neared our goal, but was a long desperate dash to reach the enormous door that had kept us from reaching the temple's Inner Thane. Vertical columns of gargoyles outlined the door, callously observing our hectic approach. Koda was the first to reach the door, and used the newly formed Grand Key. As I caught up to the less armored heroes, I took no notice of whatever lay beyond the threshold, my only thought was to escape the screaming hordes behind us. Fortunately we all made it in time to slam the door shut before any of the cult members could stop us from locking them out.

Beyond the door was a vast chamber, oppressively silent. There were statues of female figures carved in stone, but their heads were gloating pyramids. They cast a haunting yellow light throughout the chamber. The statues made my eyes water to look at, not from the bright light but because there was something wrong about the light they cast. It seemed thick, like the room had been preserved in amber before our entry. It was only after shrugging off the effect did I notice the treasure.

Treasure! An enormous pile of it in a twenty foot wide pit! A small army could be equipped by the polished weapons and armor littering this horde of finance. I could plate the entire Temple of the Pointed Stick with so much gold. I knew that this could help us triumph over whatever forces lay inside the Inner Thane, so I went to investigate. Koda and Neebo shot angry looks for my distraction, that I had not taken time to secure the area. I froze in place, chided and embarassed like a school child. I had just turned to join my team when I noticed a rippling effect in the pile of coins. Neebo continued to move to the corners of the room, preparing to investigate the chamber's forked exit, when he literally bumped into a red dragon.

In his defense, the dragon had been invisible. She revealed herself in all her glory, radiating outrage. Her formidable form stood between us and the only exit. She screamed in the draconic tongue, and demanded to know how we gained entrance. Neebo argued politely, that we were agents of the Fire Temple. Surprisingly, I saw our clothes shimmer and change. We were now clothed in the raiments of the Fire Temple. The dragon hesitated, and considered our leader's tale. She wanted to know who had sent us. Neebo explained we were agents of D'Gron, ruler of the Fire Temple. There had been a plot by the other temples to combine forces over throw them, and we had flew inside at his command to escape servants of the other temples. The Dragon refused these credentials, and lunged to kill the bard. I had to scramble to join the fray while the others tried to flank the beast. The dragon managed to maul Rikka before I was able to get her full attention. Finding herself surrounded, she billowed flame over the whole team, but we held firm. To escape, the beast screamed with such force that I can barely remember what happened next, but when I shook off the effect I saw the she had fled to the other side of the chamber. Clearly she didn't realize what she was dealing with. I got a full running start and bent the space between us, crossing the pit instantly. I held the beast in place while the others caught up. Unfortunately, wrangling with the lizard took the last of my strength. It's jaw clamped around me and drug me to the ground. I awoke to find that the others had finished the job. After Neebo patched up my wounds I helped in dividing up the dragon's horde. It was easilya greater haul than we could carry, but I found a new shield and finally a suit of armor that could contain Rog's girth.

We would have loved to rest at that point, but Koda knew there was no way to fortify this room from the temple's servants. Neebo declared the chamber had a splendid acoustic quality, and began to play. He knew a tune with a power to dull those who heard it, to lull them into a tranquil state Of course it would have no effect on his friends while Koda scouted ahead to find a place to rest. The cat man left silently, his movements muffled by the haunting melody. He reported back that there was a den of enormous ogres, resting as though they'd had a holiday feast. We weighed our odds and decided to ambush them where they napped.

Koda darted in first, with a hissing battle cry throwing knives into the sleeping giants. With the signal given, I moved like lightning to establish a choke point. The element of surprise had granted an enormous yield. Unfortunately, the giants layed hands on the nearest, biggest objects - their patio furniture - and lobbed it straight at me. The ogres wielded vorpal recliners, made of solid wrought iron and covered in barbed spines. I was knocked senseless by the blow. Have no doubt in your mind, reader, that these atacks have had any effect on my descriptive capacity. This was the meanest set of furniture I'd ever laid eyes on. Rog retaliated by walking past the choke point to wade into the middle of the room and started swinging like the wrath of the god of your choosing. I was disappointed that my strategy was ignored, but at least giants were split clean in two. I saw a bundle of robes fly over my head as Rikka leapt and kicked every single ogre square in the teeth before returning to my side. When my ears stopped ringing, I heard the most magnificent sound - my own name lauded in song. Neebo spun a wondrous tale of my blinding speed and strength. Thusly honored, I had no choice but to rise to the occasion and return to the fight. The giants fell quickly, their own armor lacking the fortitude of their living room furniture. Unfortunately, the ogre's den would be just as hard to fortify as the dragon's chamber, and we pressed on. Scrounging through a supply room, Koda found a potion to revitalize ourselves as the day grew long. It's effects were promised to be monumental in scope. The team agreed that we would only drink the potion as a last resort, as there was only enough liquid for three sips.

I wish I could say that it was not needed, but the potion was drank before the end of this terrible day.

Entry the Fifth

As we walked deeper into the caves, we came upon a nest of fire scorpions. The brutes were especially difficult, though their spiked carapace eventually yielded to my psionic crab-claw-cracker technique. Yet after that melee, we had to plow through an entire hive of enormous ants. I suspect the cult's allowance of the abyssal influence into the cave network has twisted and broken the local wildlife. Yet another crime for which they will be punished.

After accosting roughly a googleplex of aberrantly deformed arthropods, we emerged at the outer-most fortifications of the Fire Temple. Our team stepped into an enormous chamber lit up like Bahamut's birthday by an enormous sphere of combustion. Defining the edges of it's searing heat was a series of pillars. Some mysterious, inhuman faces peered at us from the cavern's distant and foreboding shadows.

At Neebo's suggestion, I walked in first and introduced myself and my reputation. Surely by this point in our exploits, they've heard of me. There's actually a cadre of wizards who beam pictures of me into the primordial realms - as a warning. The faces were suddenly very well illuminated when their flesh ignited, revealing they were made of living flame. I decided that if they hadn't heard of me by now, I was going to give them autographs signed in warhammer. They decided to set me on fire. I heard Deiter call them "mephits" before his arcane missiles flew over my head. I struggled to hold the front line from within the blaze, and my patent-pending Iron Fist technique held firm against the heat. Rog and Rikka tried to move through the flames as best they could to surround them, but the demons radiated heat in all directions; being surrounded simply played into their strategy. A steady barrage of Dieter's magic missiles finally doused the fire devils.

Deiter poked and prodded the source of the arcane fireball at the center of the cavern. He deployed an ethereal hand to push and guide the fire's power source, an orb at the center of the inferno. Moving the ball drew the flames with it around the cavern, which resulted in minor singing for the rest of us. Knowing that such a fire would be all but useless against the Fire Temple, the wizard put it to good use by pushing it back to the second biggest nuisance of the day.

Operation Insect Ignition was a rousing success.

Entry the Fourth

By the cheap use of tawdry profanity, I had sullied my perfect mind. I had to serve penance. As the party drew near to a forbidden chamber, we carefully undid the seals. To be fair, I desecrated the unholy burial grounds of the damned, and some seals were broken. What we uncovered was dire indeed.

It was huge, reclining in it's ebony throne. I'll never know how long the evil had rested in it's tomb. The stench of decay poured off of it, filling the room. As it stirred from it's throne, I knew it would suffice to serve my penance. I approached the necrotic spell-caster, arms at my sides, and demanded he do his worst, because it would be his last. I heard the others rush in behind me as his gaze burned into his mind.

I awoke in a daze on the floor moments later. The insidious evil had indeed done his worst - molesting my mind and using me as an instrument of his own malicious intent against my teammtes! Fortunately Koda was able to drop me to the floor before I levvied my awesome might against them. Lucky for the others I'm constrained by the laws of gravity.

For now.

The Dark One was successfully removed from the land of living, to languish in the hells permanently. I was horrified at the heinous infection it placed on my mind, combined with my earlier guilt. But having punched the fiend's ticket I redeemed myself in the eyes of the Order of the Pointed Stick and was ready to move on, though I knew I would never be as pure as I was. Slaying the evil took all of us acting in concert, and it felt good to be part of a real team instead of laboring as a guard on my own. If a battle master levies his talents against an abomination, and he has no audience, is it still awe inspiring?

As Rikka and our furry rogue snuck ahead in search of the Fire Temple, I wondered how she came to be in this cave. When I queried her before, she only answered that her presence was the will of Bahamut. I plainly refuse to place my bets on tempermental deity who may or may not dain to help us, but her faith is fast. I suspect she entered the mines as part of the local temple's youth group, on a "Teens Embracing Bahamut" field trip. She probably just got lost and tried to pet the gnolls.

Before long the stealthy spelunkers had segued us to a cave lined with a liturgy of lichens. (Alliteration is another value of the Order of the Pointed Stick) They sensed a trap and proceeded with caution. They found whispers in the dark, voices urging someone called Koba to wait for interlopers to fall into their trap. The two returned to us an explained the interlude. Neebo hoped to avoid further violence, and went into the cave and claimed we had an appointment with Koba. While I admire his cunning, Koba was not willing to parley, and our gamble failed to pay off.

A man in tattered earth tone robes had been talking to "Koba," his enormous pet wild bear! I kept the beast's attention while Reeka pelted him with punches and pugilism. Sadly, even my steel resolve failed to protect against being mauled by the ursine foe.

Eventually the druid relented, rather than see the bear choke to death on my armor. I retrieved my hat from it's maw and we made peace. The druid served the Doom Dreamer of the Fire Temple before he was betrayed and exiled. He had been laying in wait for the temple's agents, and siccing his hirsute partner on them whenever they met.

The druid explained that each temple had it's Doom Dreamer, and each carried one of the keys we sought to gain access to the temple's inner chambers that may thwart the cult. After we had gained two keys, we could progress to the black tower in the center of a vast lake at the crater's center. We thanked him for laying bare* the temple's weaknesses and prepared to bed down for the night. I take this time before resting to update my log of our tale. I know that when we emerge from these mines after triumphing over the worshipers of the Death God, there will be quite a story to tell. I see Neebo also taking notes for an epic ballad. I look forward to seeing my part in the song.

* Battle Pun!

Entry the Third

We pressed on, of course. Koda moved forward like the aftermath of a dwarven dinner party - silent but deadly. After searching the gnoll barracks, the party possessed two elemental keys, but of separate elements. Neebo explained to me that they had briefly encountered a Kuo-tah, a man-trout agent of the water temple who explained the temple's key system. We would require two keys of the same element to gain access to the inner temple, if we wanted to do some real thwarting.

Eventually we came to the sandy shore to a vast, underground lake. I suspected we were close to the Water Temple, the next victim in my ledger under the column "Maximum Thrashing!" I stood on a pier, taking in the sight of the lake when a living wave crashed upon the shore and grabbed me by the throat. The team moved in to save me from its grasp when the same breed of slimy fish men began to march out of the water. As we piled on the elemental with sundering blows, the fish men began to pitch tridents at us. But know this, Jaxton Chase fears no dire man-trout, no matter how big his spear.

As the wave submitted to my righteous pummeling, the soaking wet party split to engage the fish-wizard and his guard. Immediately another party of fish men came from the opposite end of the beach. Dreading a pincer maneuver, Deiter remembered the fish-men's great weakness - they are entirely susceptible to explosions.

Our first engagement with the water temple concluded, we set out to continue searching our surroundings for the next key in the set. We found an enormous chamber containing only a pit lined with spikes, clearly intended to keep something wthin. Neebo shivered at the notion of penetrating the dank hole, sensing the obvious trap, so we pressed on.

Koda advanced stealthily on his own, leaving us to wait as he infiltrated a dwarven forge. He came back to us muttering about a flying sword. Much to his consternation we insisted on witnessing the levitating weapon for ourselves. I surmised we could recruit the blade to our side, gaining a potent weapon against the sanctuary's transgressors, but the blade was not listening to our recruitment pitch. It simply lunged for us as we moved through the forge. Neebo, Deiter, and the surprisingly dwarf-literate Rog tried to reason out some way of disabling the sword, but nothing short of Jaxton-brand pummeling seemed to put it down. Rather than destroy a valuable artifact, we evaded the blade and left the chamber to emerge in a darkened cave. As Rikka's faith somehow illuminated the room, it revealed flickering movement in the shadows.

Rikka's light quickly revealed two large bipedal reptiles, with wide circular mouths lined with serrated teeth and hunger for man-flesh. But today all they'd found was a league of top-notch adventurers ready to dispense castigation to would-be predators. I wrangled the beasts into position while the others focused on putting them down. One of them reared back and lashed out at Rog with it's savage maw. As he fell, I was incensed at the idea of my new friends dying at the hands of these creatures. I had toiled in mundane labor for too long to lose one the chance at true adventure now.

I am not proud of what happened next. As you know well by now, my mind is my greatest weapon, and it is a sacred vow that I must wield it in the name of heroism. If I were to use my powers for a lesser cause, or sully myself in the trappings of a lesser man, a weaker soul, it would undercut all the epic deeds that lay before me. As the beast struck, my entire mind was seized with outrage. I wish I could blame it on my frustration with the dwarven blade, or our search for the key. But it was no other falling than my own weakness.

I swore with all my psionic might. Loudly and profanely, in clear violation teachings of my order. Although my outburst felled the beast and helped my friends, in doing it I sullied myself. I had failed to be all that I could be, and succumbed to a weakness of his spirit. It was a method only used by the tawdry, the cheap and common man. It was not the way of a true hero, and for my failure I new I would have to pay penance.

Entry the Second

Having triumphed over Kaiden and his lackeys, we recovered the remains of the fallen heroes, Rook and Darwin. As a divine warrior of Moradin, Darwin would most likely have wanted his remains stored in the nearby dwarven sanctuary. Rook was apparently not the religious type, but no matter - his body had curiously petrified, rendering him a solid mass of mineral stone. We let his spirit rest in the earth he protected. With valuable allies departed fro this world, it's up to the remaining six of us to lay siege to these temples and save the entire realm from Bane himself! If the very notion doesn't stop your heart for a full ten seconds, then dear reader, you are probably already dead!

Sullen but determined, we pressed on to find stone carved hallways which we hoped would lead us to the next temple that needed a thrashing. I wonder how many unassuming employees of the mining company have fallen in these corrupted halls, dragged here to be sacrificed on an altar. If only I'd known earlier, so much of this could have been prevented. Alas, the only thing that remains to be done is to avenge them and give these damned cultists the thrashing of a lifetime! Maybe two lifetimes!

Koda, the furry sneak, was able to scout ahead and identify more barracks, protected by one sleeping guard. We prepared to storm them in their beds while Koda punished the guard for his lack of attention span. As he silenced the guard, Reeka, Rog and I each picked a barracks door and kicked it in. I expected a guard, maybe two at most. What I found was yet another poontangle of gnolls, with a separate pack behind each other door as well! I feared what lay ahead for my allies I waded into the sea of dog-men. I may survive a dozen blows and come back for seconds, but my friends are less fortified, Rog especially. The giant dwarf goes off like a cannon, scattering his enemies only to leave himself wide open to attack.

Just like your mother's supple thighs.

Deiter and Neebo guarded the rear and sent magic bolts whizzing over head as we each struggled to hold our own against the jackals. Rog bellowed like a volcano, only to whimper a moment later. Rikka struck only empty air as the gnolls surrounded her. I held my own against my pack without much difficulty, surprising no one. As I was swarmed by the slobbering beasts, it occured to me that making a pelt from their skins afterwards would really be quite comfortable. But smelly.

With Deiter's help I was able to break free from my temporary gnoll skin coat and dashed like lightning to come to my friends' aid. In the future, we shall not take the chance of being separated like this so lightly.

Entry the First

Dear Journal - I have recently found in the tattered belongings of my vanquished enemies a handsome leather bound book, filled with lined paper. After removing the first few pages filled in with some abyssal gibberish, the book is ready to be filled to the brim with riveting adventures of me - Jaxton Chase!

Since my previous entries were written on scraps of loose paper, I've transcribed my first few entries into this new tome, with slight enhancements to spelling and grammar. Not that I made any mistakes, these are simply "enhancements" to get the full impact of my heroics impressed upon you the reader.

* * * * *

Finally, excitement! I've been laboring in this mining town for weeks, guarding these miners from what I thought was an imagined threat. There were rumors of strange noises and workers going missing, but I had seen none of it. As I returned to the mines each day, I contemplated looking for work elsewhere when we were molested by a massive rust colored beast! It had tunneled through the cave walls right on top of the working crews. I sprang into action, along with another guard, a wizard named Deter. We managed to put the beast down, but the miners had already run off screaming like infant banshees crying for their mother's collective teat. Without the miners, or a map, Deter and I wandered the mines for days.

We were about to run out of rations when we spied a patrol of orcs. Knowing that orcs are savage brutes who were probably up to something that needed thwarting, we struck with haste; only to realize there was another haberdashery of orcs waiting further down the tunnels. (A haberdashery is the technical term for a group of orcs in the wild.) We were forced to retreat and fled deeper into the cave network. In our wanderings we had realized the mines went down further than any of the miners could tell; we'd seen signs of ancient people actually living in these dank caverns and erecting temples left to ruin. After two more days we stumbled upon a dwarven shrine of some sort, where we encountered adventurers! A group of diverse races, from all walks oflife and wielding all manner of weapons, magic and armor - a more obvious sign of a band of heroes questing there is not.

Deter and I introduced ourselves, but our heroes were reluctant to reciprocate. They had learned that some of the mountain was still inhabited by a cult of Bane worshipers, populating a series of elementally affiliated temples. These heroes had tried to conquer a temple of Wind infested with the death cult. One of them had fallen in battle and was resurrected in the service of the Dark Lord. Surprised by the betrayal, two more of their comrades had fallen, further breaking their spirits. They retreated back to safe ground and mourn for their lost allies.

I was incensed! I had finally found a task worthy of my skills! By all the teachings of the Order of the Pointed Stick I was obligated to help them avenge the fallen. They finally agreed and we returned to the temple, encountering a foul warlock named Kaiden, his orc sergeant at arms and a poontangle of gnolls. Deiter and a warrior woman, Rikka, a Bahamut worshipping punch master, felled the dog men with ease. This left me and a savage brute named Rog, some variety of half giant, half dwarf, half bull elephant seal to work together to vanquish the orc sergeant. He tried to deny me the privilege of facing him, focusing on the barbarian, but I went upside his head with my hammer and got his attention forthright!

The warlock tried to resurrect his fallen gnoll servants, but Deiter was able to suppress the smelly furred nemeses. Kaiden unleashed a vile torrent of potty talk in frustration, and I was so incensed by his sass-mouth I threatened to wash is mouth with the soap of righteousness! His defenses were formidable, but with my endless pursuit to slow him down the others were able to surround him and introduced his insides to his outsides.


The enemy vanquished, the party took a moment to grieve for the triumphant dead. Leaving them to mourn, I found a pack from which I sought to replenish my depleted rations. I found the belongings of an orc warrior, some primitive battle master of wild magic and armor. His name was Rook, and he had attempted to chronicle his adventures with primitive chicken-scratch drawings. They have journeyed far and long, triumphing over dragons and even something that looks like a grell, unless there's some other "Giant Flying Hate Brain" menacing these lands I don't know about. And there isn't!

Although an almost feral brute, Rook was on to a smashing idea. I've been adventuring since I left the Order years ago, and although I'm fabled in song and tale (probably) I've never physically contributed to establishing my own history. I can hardly read Rook's balderdash hand writing, but it makes a thrilling tale. While I've been complacent defending these miners, Neebo has lead this band into terrible dungeons, abyssal haunts, and whatever it is that Rook mistook for an evil bakery. I'm sure he's in error, but for a moment I wish it could be true - I'd much rather be in a sweet smelling den of haunted baked goods than some dank rotten cave inhabited by scaly fish men and umber hulks. While I'm more of a raconteur than Rook, I must attest his scrawlings add much flavor to the narrative. I shall continue his practice, chronicling my own epic tale joined with this troupe of heroes as long as I am able. This legend has much left untold.

Rest assured, dear reader - there is glory ahead!