#4 A Healer's Nightmare

The Principal Performers:
Arrai Sahazar, Varis, Davric, Sir Martin, Aidoneus Luc, Luis
 
Supporting Cast:

Gonethin Laranonel - Kardan Guard Escort

Eris Dlaralthor - Kardan Guard Escort

Dulbin Rarnohu - Dead Guard Associated with Rhosyn

Katrine - The Unfortunate

Galiel - Random Mostly Dead Traveler

Shalareal - The Healer Natural

Angharad - Half Elf Musician

Egos Mithmirelen - Guard Captain of Kardan

After receiving our directions, our party made our way to the healer's shop. There was quite the line of people outside of it and amongst them was Luis, who came over to greet us. Some polite questioning of the townspeople waiting outside the shop revealed that many were sleep deprived due to nightmares. Nightmares involving loved ones who were meant to be dead and were acting abnormally. The dead who do not die? Perhaps related to the strangeness of the temple. Luis made it to the front of the line and got the healer's attention for us, directing her to our mortally wounded traveler. The healer's name is Shalareal, a no nonsense sort that seems brusque but I believe that she cares more than she'd like others to know. She does not charge for her services which either indicates a longer con or a genuinely caring heart.
 
We brought Katrine and the still unconscious traveler into the healer's shop and she began her ministrations. As she was working on the unconscious man, I spoke up about the possibility of them being possessed still and that she shouldn't disturb their bindings. This brought her up short and she refused to continue working on them if they were, but she herself had no way of discerning if they were or not. She has a single charm that could remove such a possession, but only one. The party discusses what to do and after much discussion, our only course of action seems to be to question them about their memories. If they are in fact the Glaistig, then they would have to lie to us about what they remember and hopefully we could catch them in such.
 
The unconscious man is awoken, his name it seems is Galiel and as we ask him questions about his past, he begins to ramble. A lot. About his past loves and not-so-loves. I'm not sure if the situation unhinged the man or if he is just normally this dense but he did not seem to be lying as far as we could tell.
 
Luis leaves to find Angharad and upon returning we question Katrine with her help. She seems to have no trouble remembering things that the Glaistig should not have knowledge of, so it is almost certain that she is not possessed. As the party gathers the two up to take them to the guard station, Luis and Sir Martin get in to a discussion with Shalareal about her overabundance of patients. It seems that she's preparing a sleeping tonic to help them get rest, but it is mostly just booze that she brews herself. The healer shows some interest in the dead guard's body that is still outside with the horses, and Luis comes to an agreement to trade the body to her for a couple bottles of booze if Sir Martin gets to keep the plate mail. The rest are amenable to this and the trade done, we strip the body and place it where the healer asks.
 
The party takes the two now most likely not-possessed captives, still bound to be safe, to the guard station on the other side of town to give our findings to Egos. Angharad is sent by Luis to give the news to Morgan that we've brought back his daughter. Varis, Luc, and I entered the guard station where Egos was waiting for us inside. We took our captives in to a separate room and explained the situation to Egos, stressing that it did not seem as if the two were possessed anymore. Egos, unfortunately, could not let Katrine go. Regardless of whether she was not in control or not, a man was dead and there would have to be a deeper investigation. It was also revealed that the meeting the guard captain had been in was concerning the temple, which he explicitly told us that we were not to mess with as they were waiting on people to investigate them at the Lord's behest. A cleric was also meant to be on the way to ensure that Katrine was no longer possessed, but until then she would remain in custody. The two guard escorts were brought in to verify what we told the captain and the rest of us were dismissed. Varis chose to stay behind as the rest of us headed back to the inn to rest after our exhausting trip.
 
A decent amount of time later, I awoke in the inn and grew restless. Checking in on the others, I tried to use Detect Magic to see if there were any spells being actively cast against us while we slept. These nightmares have piqued my interest some and I wonder if they are connected to the Glaistig in some way. Finding nothing, I decided to go to what passes for the town's archives to do some research on the worm that took Gathan. If it is something that has been around in this area for quite some time as we keep hearing, then there may be some mention there. A bit of searching through the stacks and I came across a torn bit of parchment. A note from an adventurer who not only encountered the worm, but was able to detail what they found after returning to the town. It does not appear that they are around for questioning though as it looks like they went back out to avenge their friends and likely never made it back. I'll include a copy of the note at the bottom of this entry. On a whim, I cast Detect Magic again while in the stacks.... and discovered two magical scrolls! They will certainly serve us better than they would laying about gathering dust so I pocketed them for later study. One is a scroll of Thunder Step that I believe shall prove quite handy once I've added it to my spellbook. The other is one for Divine Favor, not something I can learn but may prove its worth against the undead. I believe as long as a party member has some aptitude for casting spells then they should be able to make use of it.
 
I made my way back towards the inn and ran into Luis who was also out and about. I mentioned the adventurer's note in passing but they seemed to be busy so I left them to what they were doing. Returning to the inn, I decided to purchase a new set of dice from the innkeeper as I had lost my personal set at one of my stops during my journey, and retired to my room. I catalogued the bits of equipment we gathered from our foray out to the Stumps to set aside what we could sell for a bit of extra money, and then called it a night and went back to sleep after reading some more of my book. I've read it from cover to cover of course, but it is good to remember where one's come from sometimes.
 
Items Gained: Adventurer's Note, Scroll of Thunder Step, Scroll of Divine Favor, and a Dice Set.
 
Items Lost: None.
 
More Item Details:
Adventurer's Note Plaintext
"made it back to town. Barely. That thing ripped through us like we were nothing.
 
We had set up camp to the north of Kardan. Gavius thought it best to rest up as soon as darkness fell. When we stopped at Kardan to pick up supplies, he had heard rumors of the things one could run in to during the night. But nothing could prepare us for what found us.
 
The first watch was uneventful, I was on second watch with Qilue when it attacked. I don't know why it chose then to come out but maybe it had something to do with Qilue playing her lyre? She always liked to practice it when on watch and it got her first. It focused on her first, then the lyre when it made a discordant noise after it fell from her corpse. There... was just so much blood.
 
It was massive, gargantuan in size as it reared up out of the earth. The sounds it made as it made short work of Qilue woke the others. I tried to hit it with my crossbow but couldn't get past its thick hide. Yenzor barely managed to finish his spell before it was upon him. The crash of thunder would have woken us up if the monster didn't but didn't seem to faze it other than making it sway some. Sensitive hearing perhaps? Our barbarian, Dugzaf brought their axe down on it's head as it rushed towards them but didn't make much of a dent. I threw that bottle of stinking pigswill Yenzor liked to drink at it thinking maybe I'd try to light it on fire, it swayed again after it doused its head with it and... I ran.
 
I'm writing this in the hopes that maybe others will be able to kill it. The worm out in the forest, it's real and it is terrible. I will go back there in the morning. I don't know how I got away from it, but I can't live with myself if I don't try to avenge my friends. If I do not return, then please know that Sarun Hohra died with some scrap of honor if not the entirety of it intact."