Well marinated and humiliated

Xx/xx
 
My good Berry, ah. He waited so patiently for my return, our shared happiness to be reunited moved me to tears. But what suffering to see him so dejected as I was packing up to leave yet again. I wish I could bring him with me — I thought I'd be able to now that I acquired treasures I could exchange for some armor for him. But one of the mercenaries burnt down the general goods store and all the traders have gone into hiding.
I refuse to bring Berry without at least some armor and I fear he is starting to hold it against me. He's free-spirited and loves to run and roam, I truly wish I could bring him with me and show him more of this world.
But what I've seen so far is nothing but hostile environment — without proper protection, no beautiful sight is worth venturing out for.
Still, there must be something out there that will help me in keeping him safe.
 
After visiting the collector's Folly and finding no small amount of magical items, I had been thinking. I've come across a few structures and buildings within the forests and especially for towers, it appears they fall into two categories:
Either they are built to hide something and hinder access to it.
Or they are built as means of communication between long distances.
Quite often, they are built to fill both purposes.
The Collector's Folly was certainly not hidden, so I would have assumed it a part of a defense system. Runak's presence there, however, made it seem more like the tower itself was being protected, as there absolutely was enough loot that needed protection. So I figured it was, once again, a combination of both purposes.
 
With this vague guess, I gathered a party to charter south east into unexplored territory, which roughly mirrored the Collector's Folly. As we were preparing, we heard other mercenaries speak of a shadowy deer figure they had seen and I managed to coordinate a translation of texts someone had found relating to this. The deer...sounds incredibly interesting. As do the people who wrote the texts. I wonder if their settlement is, in any way, similar to what my tribe was. People in tune with nature. I also wonder what the nature of that "beast" they write about is. To respect and to fear... To fall if he falls... I wonder if it is a patron or a guardian and if so, whether he is a merciful one.
 
While I'd hate to walk myself into danger, I can't deny that I'm curious. I hope to catch a glimpse of the figure — maybe I will know more when I see it.
 
Either way, our first day of travel remained blissfully unspectacular. Aside from the drunken bees I encountered while collecting food for everyone. I really ought to make some mead soon...
 
Xx/xx
 
The unexplored territory turned out to be a nightmare for gathering. The Rocky hills we encountered slowed us down, but steadily led us to quite a beautiful valley not far off the coast. The forest, however, presented a large open space with a curious circle of stones placed in the middle. One of the small rocks was clearly missing, so we made it our quest to find the missing stone.
Using my detect magic and Coleopatra's psychic skills, we managed to find the rock somewhere in the water some way off.
Once placed in its original spot, friendly sprites popped out their heads.
They were very excited about being reunited and took a liking to Cole, blessing him as a small gesture of gratitude.
 
Solving the mystery of the missing stone did take up a decent amount of time, but at least there was food I could gather here. And, most importantly, it was incredibly refreshing to help the little sprites and encounter creatures in this place that do not want to see us dead.
 
The rest we take tonight is the first that did not leave me restless since we ventured out. I hope that won't turn into a problem.
 
Xx/xx
 
Cursed. Absolutely cursed. There's salt everywhere. Nothing else. Truly, salt is invaluable and one of the most precious treasures nature has to offer. But though one needs salt to live, water is needed to survive. Even just trying to draw up water here exerts so much energy. There definitely is water somewhere very deep down, but I'd spend days filling my waterskin if I tried to use this as a source.
There is, however, a white tower in the distance.
I don't know if I should feel good about my theory proving itself correct. Looking at the huge salt plains we have yet to cross to reach it, I am tempted to call it quits and go back.
 
But that would be embarrassing, especially after I was the one who caused people to go here. So we shall carry on.
 
 
XX/XX
 
I have salt in places where salt should not be — but I'm still in one piece so the burn in my injuries might as well be a reassuring hand, telling me that I did okay.
To be quite honest, I think this has to be my worst performance yet.
Here's the thing: we got to the tower and as Tarfu's familiar tried to check it out, some hovering asshat appeared and squashed the poor bird into nothingness.
Wouldn't be the last time the guy appeared to make our day worse.
 
We made our way into and up the salt tower, picking up valuable trinkets along the way. At some point, my rusty language skills came in handy enough to make out the inscription "Sodom". Took like five minutes for a "celestial fiend" to appear, almost made me puke my guts out with the shite magic. Devil guy vanished and left us a gem-y golem to fight and this is where things turn into a cursed comedy.
 
Coleopatra, bless him and his little hat, immediately drank one of the mystery potions we found and VANISHED. Just noped out immediately — even though he was one of the few of us who would have had a good chance of dealing some damage to the golem AND the one who had been blessed by the little sprites.
I can't even be too mad cause I didn't gather any renown for myself either.
Turned into my archer starry form because hey, we need to get rid of this guy before he gets rid of us! I shoot one guiding bolt at him and miss — I've never been so grateful to miss my shot. As my bolt shoots past him, I can see some light reflecting from the gem bits on his body.
Had that landed, I'd have dealt some serious radiant damage — which he would have reflected. And hurt us big bad.
Nobody back home ever taught me about stuff like this but who would have expected me to be fighting something like that anyways?
I learned a valuable lesson that day, that's for sure.
My embarrassment did not stop with that, though. The devil re-appeared with a sandstorm and obliterated the tower. I got stuck in sand. I was just flailing about, trying to drag my butt out of it, as we slid down the salt mountain with that devil just watching for a bit as Stefn and the golem pushed each other's faces into the salt.
Amongst the chaos, Tarfu went down too. Phuntom got to watch the show from the air and seemed to be at quite a loss.
 
Anyways. Somehow we all managed to survive. The thing is.... Now we found ourselves in front of an entrance of sorts. Underneath the tower, a seemingly huge dungeon complex was hidden. I assume that's where I felt some of the water....
After how chaotic everything was here, I don't plan to be the first one to step into that.
We gathered our loot, filled our bags with as much salt as we could carry and started to drag our well-marinated bodies back to the outpost.
While the tower confirmed that my brain is somewhat up to par, it also magnified just how lacking I still am.
I wish I had taken my training back in the tribe a little more seriously. Maybe I could have learned more and done a better job.
I can feel the elders nag me in the back of my mind.
Curses, this place keeps making my life more and more difficult.
 
Once I'm back in the outpost, I'm taking a long mud bath to sooth my skin from all this salt. Might just stay in there for a week. I wonder if Berry will want to join in...